caring isn't for everyone | z.k •PRETTYMUCH AU•

•twelve•

a/n; sorry it took SO long.

Zion took her word and began placing all the alcohol on a higher cabinet like the ones over the fridge instead of discarding it like he was doing previously. It was even a bit of a stretch for him, so almost impossible for her.

The fact that his urge was to get rid of every single alcoholic beverage in their apartment proved how much he wanted to prevent something like that-- or anything of that manner happening again between them.

Amari walked out of the room, a large tote over one shoulder and one of his hoodies on the other. Specifically, a blue one.

"You about to go?" He asked, motioning towards the bag she possessed. He searched her facial expression for anything, but nothing.

She nodded, her eyes low. "Yea."

He walked over to the dish and grabbed her keys to the apartment, tossing it to her with no hesitation. She caught them, looking at them as if they were something she hadn't seen before. She gazed up at him, a bit in disbelief.

"There you go." Was all he had to say before continuing to place the glass bottles above. He continued like it was something so purposeful, that he didn't even bother to look back to see if she was going.

But she was looking at him to see if he would. Mari stood there for a moment before she just accepted it. She pushed the keys down into her pocket and left.

That's when he turned around.

~*~*~

Amari took an Uber down to Edwin's house, texting him in advance about what time she'd be there.  Even though it's probably against Z's wishes, where else does she have to go?

The ride was relatively quick, taking her only a few minutes to show up, knocking softly at his front door, Z's hoodie thrown over her shoulder and her bag over the other.

The door swung open, Edwin giving her a sympathetic look. He looked a bit different, his head shaved lower with that platinum blonde color.  He didn't give her any time to ask when the hell he had time to do that to his hair. This is Edwin, after all.

"Everything okay?" He says, bringing her into a large hug.

"We're on a break. Like, a real one. He's not going to come busting in here looking for me again." She spoke into his soft t-shirt, dampening it with her light tears.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. I got you." He kept his arm around her, bringing her inside.

Nick was sitting on the couch as they walked by, his arm still secured around her tightly. He stood from the couch with a quickness. He slipped his hands in his pocket.

"What's going on? Why is she crying?" He asked as his eyes followed the two as they went to the stairs.

Edwin sucked his teeth. "You don't need to worry about it," He says, squeezing her arm briefly for comfort.

"She's my friend."

"You're the source of this though," He spoke back, stopping in his tracks as she began wiping her tears.

She shrugged off Edwin's arm and took a step back to look at him, then over at Nick. "Can you guys not do this while I'm here? It'd be appreciated."

"Sorry," They both apologized in unison. Amari gently pushed his arm from around him and walked back towards the room her and Zion shared a for just the night a few days ago. She closed the door behind her and set her things down.

There was a brief conversation going on between the two divas who seemed to not be getting along too well on the other side of the door.

Nick shook his head. "Well?"