On My Block: One Shots

From Promises to Forever ~ César Diaz

⋆｡°✩ AUTHOR'S NOTE ✩°｡⋆

Hello my lovelies! ❤️

I wrote the original version of this story years ago — back when I was just figuring out what love, heartbreak, and hope looked like on the page.

From Promise to Forever is a full reimagination of that early version — more grown,
more layered,
more raw.
I kept the bones of it: the girl he left behind,
the baby he didn't know about, the love that never really faded.
But I rebuilt everything around it — added the fire,
the family,
the spice,
the soft.

César was always complicated, and in this story, I got to let him be more — more than the streets,
more than his mistakes.
I gave him a future.
I gave her the future she deserved.

And somehow... they still found their way back to each other.

Thank you for giving them a second chance —
and for giving me,
the chance to grow with it.

Now cue the playlist, pour a glass of something good, and imagine him saying:
"I came back for my girls. And I'm never leaving again."

Forever yours,
Amanda 🩵
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⋆｡°✩ PLAYLIST ✩°｡⋆

1. "Find Someone Like You" – Snoh Aalegra
2. "Get You" – Daniel Caesar ft. Kali Uchis
3. "Until I Found You" – Stephen Sanchez
4. "Heartbreak Anniversary" – Giveon
5. "Coffee" – Miguel
6. "Hold Me Down" – Daniel Caesar
7. "Earned It" – The Weeknd
8. "Still Yours" – Bryson Tiller
9. "Promises" – Jhené Aiko ft. Namiko Love
10. "All I Want Is You" – Miguel ft. J. Cole
11. "Love In The Dark" – Adele
12. "Back To You" – Frank Ocean
13. "Forever" – Labrinth
14. "Adorn" – Miguel
15. "You're Still the One" – Shania Twain (for the final chapters — full-circle vibes)
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⋆｡°✩ I: You Still Look Like Mine ⋆｡°✩

Your POV-
It's been three years. Three birthdays. Three candles on a cake he's never seen.

Mars is sound asleep in her Tía's living room right now — curled up in a little ball, clutching the stuffed bear I stitched together from one of his old hoodies. I never told her who it belonged to. I didn't know how.

I used to ask myself every day if César even remembered her name. If he ever thought about the promise ring he gave me on our four-month anniversary. I still wear it. Stupid, right?