They didn't end up in the same space on purpose. Brooklynn is the quiet type. Not shy... just tired. Tired in the "life been heavy for a while now" way. He minds his business, goes to work, comes home, and keeps his world small because that's how he breathes. Azyir is the opposite. Loud, funny, always in motion. ADHD running the wheel every day. Talks so much he forgets to say what he really means. Laughs loud so nobody asks if he's okay. They sit in the same trig class at their HBCU, but they don't talk. They don't dislike each other either. They just... live in two different worlds. Messiah Markell is their professor. Older, calm, strict in the quiet way that makes people sit up straighter. He owns a club downtown called Desirable, but in class he keeps everything controlled. He doesn't like watching people drown in silence or noise. He sees them both slipping. Not failing. Slipping. So he tells them to stay after class. Every day. Not for tutoring. Not for discipline. Just to sit, breathe, work, or not work. A room where nobody has to force themselves to be "okay." And somehow, without anybody planning it... The quiet one. The loud one. And the man who teaches them how to stay. Start learning how to need each other. Not in a fast way. Not in a dramatic way. In the way real connections happen: Slow glances. Shared exhaustion. Walking home together because home doesn't feel safe tonight. Sitting in silence that doesn't hurt. Being seen without having to explain. This is a story about: Black boy rest. Soft dominance. Messy feelings. Learning how to stay present. No fake deep. No forced love. Just real people figuring out how to breathe.

𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐱𝐛

- bestfriend . you just have to read to find out 🥰

Read to find out...

"𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘?" 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐘𝐀𝐇, 𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐂 𝐖𝐀𝐒 a disaster, chaos within tragedy, wallowing in his feelings every day. Never expressing what he felt, yet was so angry at everyone for not noticing. Angry at himself for not expressing anything. Angry about the circumstances he was forced into. Then he meets her. Aaliyah, the girl whose eyes sparkled with adoration when he came around. The girl whose actions were never malicious, radiating kindness everywhere she went. When he loses her, he stays quiet, packaging himself into a persona that's easier for people to digest. Until Isaac sees Aaliyah again. Until he has a chance to make things right. Until Isaac gets the person who never once made him feel small or misunderstood. The person whom he thinks he could be with for 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

When city-bred Siané takes a wrong exit on a solo trip to Alabama, her flat tire becomes a twist of fate. Khaizon, the big, slick-tongued mechanic-slash-landowner with a past dipped in trap and trauma, stops to help-and never lets her go. He ain't never seen a woman so damn neat. And she ain't never met a man so damn dirty...in all the ways that matter. What starts as a roadside rescue turns into late-night FaceTimes, surprise CashApp drops, and trips to the backwoods of Georgia where she finds out he can cook, fuck, and fight-and all three dangerously well. But when his past spins the block and hers gets exposed, will their love survive the ride...or crash out?

• Baby, I'm Just Too Hooked On You • Kendell never thought he would find actual love, He always craved real love, but I don't think meeting his future man at a party was ever, ever on his bingo cards... or maybe it was.

𝐍𝐛𝐚𝐊: 𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐊 𝐱 𝐍𝐁𝐀 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐨𝐲 & 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐲

❝ ɪ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ꜱᴜᴍ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ. ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴀʟʟ ɴᴇᴡ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ. ❞ STARTED: FEB 19TH, 2024. ENDED: FEB 4TH, 2024.

when jordan needed healing the most.