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

•twenty-three•

The two reached home and settled down in their shared bedroom. Respectively, Amari laid herself upon him, stripped of his shirt and his arms back and hands behind his head.

They hadn't said anything to each other since they got in. Almost as if they were scared to speak to each other. What were they suppose to say was the question.  Even after all of that, that didn't know what to do.

Zion gazed down at her, eyes closed and humming some random tune he didn't recognize. He wondered what was going through her head.  Maybe he did too much, but he wasn't in the mindset to lose her.

"Mari."

"Hm?" She continues to hum.

"Why did you let him kiss you?"

It was a good question. Not knowing if she could answer, her eyes fluttered open to look up at him. She stared at him for a moment.

"I made one mistake. You couldn't live it down. I felt alone and thought it was inevitable you'd leave me. So I let it happen. Why did I stop him is the question, Z." She laid her head back down and closed her eyes, continuing to hum the random tune.

He held his breath for a moment. "Oh. It's like that?"

"Yea. It's like that. What do you want me to do? Lie?"

Technically she did. She kissed him. Not the other way around.

"No, of course not." He replied. He removed one hand from behind his head to massage her scalp.

"Okay then."

It was fairly dark at this point, but neither of the two were sleepy. The tension could honestly be cut with safety scissors. It was not even clear to either what type of tension they were feeling.

What's questionable is the amount of ease and peace came with their tension.

Amari's phone dinged. They both looked over at it, as if it were something for him too. She got up and reached over for it on the night stand, her lower body now laying across his Zion couldn't help but smack her ass. She jumped and glared at him briefly.

It was a message from Edwin. Her heart sank. She realized how he must be feeling and how she just shoved him under the bus like that after all that happened. She stared at her screen, the message. She read it so he knew she saw it but she couldn't respond.

"Who was it?"

"Um, Edwin."

He blew air out his nose. "The hell does he want?"

"It's nothing."

Amari turned her phone face down and sat up on top of him and began to kiss him. There was a slight hint of sadness.

They pulled away and she moved the longer dreads from in front his face to look at him for a good minute. His jaw was clenched and his eyebrows furrowed. She ran her finger across one slowly .

"Why?"

"I don't know if I can do this,"

There was a moment where everything froze before her eyes began to gloss over and she let go of the bundle of dreads she held in her hand. She quickly hopped off of him and laid beside him.

He was only telling the truth.

"I hurt you that bad?"

"It's not that you hurt me, baby. I just feel like I need too much reassurance." He confessed his hand taking hers and intertwining their fingers.

"So you want to separate?" Her voice wavered.

Zion shook his head. "Mari, I'm holding your hand."