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

•twenty-eight•

He went and sat on the bench, and with hesitation, she walked a bit closer. "Why do you care for Edwin so much? Last time I checked I knew nothing about you before you moved here because he never talked about you. Now, when I get up in you—"

Her eyes furrowed. "Stop."

"You start crawling to him, somehow. Any way you could. I noticed. Were y'all doing this over the phone when he was with Tiffany before you moved out here? Am I missing something?"

"Zion—"

"No wait, wait. I don't care what y'all did before me. But Mari, I'm right here, your boyfriend. We can work this out alone because this our business, but Amari,"

"Yes?"

"Be honest with me and tell me why you felt the need to tell Edwin everything and more, REGARDLESS if he's your best friend. Why go to Edwin when things get hard between us? I don't give a fuck about that best friend shit. I don't want to hear that." His voice wavered. His eyes were glossing over as his head shook back and forth slowly with disappointment.

If she were to say anything wrong there was a very large possibility his anger and frustration would get the best of him, and he'd leave her. Right then. He wasn't playing anymore and didn't like beating around the bush. It was an occurring theme and he had to get to the bottom of it.

Amari couldn't help but stand there awkwardly. She could honestly say she'd never seen Zion this emotional and didn't know how to deal with it. There were tears in her eyes, but what was she going to cry for? He was crying because of her doing.

"You really don't care what we did in the past?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No."

"Well," At this moment she chose to kept the distance. "I never got around to telling you this because I didn't think you'd care to know, but when I was about 18, Edwin and I hooked up and I ended up getting pregnant."

Zion's eyes shot open. "Wait so.. happened to the baby?"

One lonely tear fell down her cheek but she wiped it away quickly. "Miscarriage."

He kind of sat there, staring at her dumbfounded. She continued, nonetheless. "We never were in an actual relationship, but every time something went wrong I'd always go to him out of habit. He was always a good friend. Sometimes we use to talk, sometimes it went passed that. But we stopped because no one was benefiting and I got pregnant."

"I—"

She shook her head and calmly sat next to him. "No need.  That's the reason I moved out here, though. My family kicked me out after they found out. Edwin moved out here a while after that happened, then I came a year later and moved in with you. If it soothes your soul in any way, he respects the relationship. Hell, he wanted to happen after he actually saw us interacting. It just so happened we had bumps throughout and I went to him to fix them because that's how it's always been."

She looked in front of her holding in her tears like a big girl. "So, I'm sorry my old habits hurt you. This is the only valid excuse I have for that. I'm sorry.  No matter what you choose to do, I'm going to love you, and I'm going to have this baby."

This was one of those moments where he couldn't stop looking at her. Usually, he would say something but there's nothing he could say. She had revealed the method to her madness that drove his insecurity— her and Edwin. It made sense and the dots connected. Either way, she did some bad shit, but he couldn't get on her like he used to anymore, specifically about Ed because it's justifiable.

He felt extra guilt though it wasn't a guilt trip. She showed her truth. Guilt trip or not, he felt like shit. Utter shit. Even selfish. Not about them kissing, no. He still would not ever forgive the way they acted there, but his actions towards her and him doubting her love were not necessary. He needs Amari and vice versa. He can't believe that it had been two times he almost pushed her away.

He then grabbed her hand, guiding her to stand up and took her into the biggest hugs he's possibly ever given someone. Zion squeezes her tight against his own body as her arms fly around to hug him back. Their hearts were beating so fast and they didn't know what else to do.

Zion and Amari sat there for about three minutes. They were hugging intimately as the sun was at its edge of the setting. Finally, Amari began letting tears go as she sobbed, making a wet spot on his shirt. He ran his hand slowly up and down her back as her nails gripped his shirt within the embrace.

"I'm sorry, you didn't deserve any of that. I don't know why I'm such a hoe." Her cry was muffled into his chest. "You don't deserve a hoe."

He couldn't help but crack a smile here. He almost laughed. It just seemed like such an inappropriate time to make use of the word hoe, but there they were.

It had only been a few seconds. "You're my personal hoe. In the bedroom, though. I've dealt with them, remember? You aren't hoeing. Okay, wait that wasn't an insult that was a compliment I swear."

She began to weep more, but actually, she'd begun to giggle as she processed his sentence completely. She then stopped and pulled away from the hug. In all honesty, neither of them wanted to really pull away. They could admit to that, too. Both of them took a moment to take each other in. Zion took his large yet soft palms and cupped them around Amari's delicate face, which brought her closer to him. Her face was still wet with leftover tears and he grazed his finger over her cheek to dry them while holding in his.

This was truly the most intimate moment they've ever had, and they've had sex multiple, countless times at this point. Yet, this moment made it feel like their souls weren't at war anymore. They were finally at peace and it felt damn good to understand and care for one another.

Amari's small hands grab a hold of his wrists as she looked him in the eye and said;

"I love you, Caleb."

He smiled softly with a reply.

"I love you, Amari."

And that's all it took.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

a/n: The epilogue is up next. Maybe an announcement somewhere in between about a new story I hope you read? Yea. I really hope you'll read it-- I plan on making it longer and more in-depth than this but take that as you will.