With Pain Comes Pleasure

Four

Angelica

I walked inside to hear Maya and James arguing. "I'm sixteen!" Maya yelled. "Exactly you're still a child." James countered. "How old were you when mama and daddy let you date? Or Ricky? Or Angie?" Maya questioned. I walked farther into the house to see them sitting in the dining room. "Gigi!" I turned to see Jayden wiggle out of Ricky's arms to rush over to me. "Hey, papa." I sang scooping him into my arms squeezing him.

"Now why are you two yelling?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen. "She wants to go on a date," James said. "And?" I asked. "She's too yo—" "You and Ricky were dating at 13," I said looking at James. "Hmmm," Maya said crossing her arms. "Why you gotta bring me into this?" Ricky asked. "Just proving a point," I said. "Just get a chaperon for the date," I said.

"What? Angie—" I looked at her causing her to shut up. "Look I gave y'all an option that can work for everybody. Y'all don't like it keep arguing." I said. "I can deal with it if you can," James said. Maya looked at me. "Only if Angie's the chaperon," Maya said. I looked at her wide-eyed. "Please?" She begged. "Please, Angie." She continued. "Please Gigi," Jayden said smiling. I chuckled. "Only because Jayden asked," I joked. She smiled. "Deal." She said doing the handshake we came up with as kids. "Good, now let's eat," Ricky said.

--

Two days flew by and I found myself sitting in the quad at school with Kassi when I got a call from Cortez. "Hello?" I asked. "You got any more classes today?" He asked. "No, but I'm waiting for Lala to get out of class. Why?" I asked as I picked at the table.

"Let Kassi drive your car home." He said. I narrowed my eyes. "Why?" "Christian and I want to take you to lunch." He said. "Really?" I asked causing Kassi to look at me curiously before a smile broke out across her face. "Yeah." I turned around when I heard Christian's voice behind me. "What are you two doing here?" I asked as they sat on either side of me. "I told you we want to take you out for lunch," Cortez said. "You both want to take me to lunch, why?" I asked looking from Cortez to Christian.

"We figured if we showed you how serious we are about you, it might make your choice easier," Christian said. "How did you two know where we were?" I asked as they glanced at Kassi before looking at me. I looked over at her to see her smirking as she sipped her coffee. "So, will you join us?" Cortez asked.

"Yeah, Angie will you join them?" Kassi asked with a big smile. "Well y'all know I don't turn down free food," I said causing them to laugh. "Fat ass," Christian said. "A fat ass that you want, " I said poking his nose before he smiled.

I sat next to Christian looking around the restaurant feeling both of them glance at me. I sighed and looked at both of them. "This is weird," I said. "What?" Christian asked. "Us. Here. Together." I said. Cortez chuckled. "Why is this weird?" He asked. "We haven't gone out together in years," I said. I looked down at my hand seeing Christian playing with my fingers. "But it's nice though," Christian said as I looked from him to his brother.

"I guess it is," I said as I felt warmth take over my body. "Our mom wants us to invite you over for a cookout," Cortez said. I smiled looking at him. "As much as I would love to have some of your parent's ribs, I just don't think we're at the stage of family visits yet," I said. "Yet? So what you're saying is we will be in the future?" Christian asked wiggling his eyebrows. I chuckled mushing him. "Hush," I said as we laughed.

--

Four weeks of lunch dates, early morning coffee dates, and dinner dates until it came to a stop when the twins had to go out of town. It had been 3 days since I had seen them in person, and it hit me that I missed them more than I thought I would. They had been texting to make up for their absence, but I found myself missing their presence. I fell back into my pillow annoyed at myself and them for digging up these old feelings I thought I had gotten over.