"𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗘 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱"

"𝐈 𝐝𝐮𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

Treasure wasn't looking for love. Not after everything she's been through. New city. New start. Same pain. She promised herself she wouldn't trust anyone again... and definitely not someone like Kentrell. Kentrell got money, fame, and a name everybody knows-but none of that fixed what's inside. At just 16, he already lived a life most people wouldn't survive. He don't go to school, don't let people get close, and don't believe in love. Until one night at a gas station... a girl who wasn't scared of him changed everything. Treasure didn't care who he was. Kentrell wasn't used to that. What starts as nothing turns into something real-late nights, deep talks, and feelings neither of them know how to handle. But love like theirs was never meant to be easy. Rumors spread. Trust gets broken. And the past don't stay in the past. Now they both gotta decide... walk away before it hurts worse, or fight for a love that was never perfect- but always real.

In the shadows of Baton Rouge, she grew up where sirens never really stop and survival is a language everyone learns young. Surrounded by addiction, violence, and a family slowly lost to the streets, she made herself a promise early on-she would never become what the hood made everyone else. She would escape. But promises get complicated when Kentrel Deshawn Gaulden walks into your life. He's everything she swore she'd stay away from-gang affiliated, armed, living deep in the life she's been trying to outrun. Yet behind the hardened reputation is the boy who swore to protect her, the one person who's always had her back... no matter the cost. Now he's her closest friend. Her protector. Her plug. Between late-night talks, quiet loyalty, and feelings neither of them dare to name, their bond grows into something neither expected-and neither knows how to survive. Because sometimes the person who feels the most like home... comes from the very world you were trying to escape.

read to find out.

Still in the Rouge

"Nah that's my best friend."

Dr. Nylah Rae Mercer took an oath to heal minds, not fall into them. She built her career inside locked wards and white halls, treating patients the world had already given up on. Distance was her armor. Control was her gift. Until she opened a file stamped with one number that changed everything. 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 doesn't scream. He doesn't beg. He doesn't act insane the way they expect him to. Kai Beton is quiet, observant, dangerous in a way no diagnosis can explain. A hood nigga with violence in his history and intelligence they keep underestimating. Everyone sees a monster. Nylah sees a man who learned how to survive cages long before this one. Their sessions become the only place he softens. The only place she feels seen. Boundaries blur. Warnings get ignored. And the deeper she goes into his mind, the more she realizes the truth no one wants to admit-Kai isn't broken. He was buried. When the institution tightens its grip and Kai's life is quietly placed on the chopping block, Nylah is forced to choose between her oath and her heart. Between safety and truth. Between the life she built and the man who feels like home. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧. 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲. Cover @trenchlordtales <3

Neleia and Kentrell were never meant to be easy. Since 2017, their love has been a cycle-intense, passionate, and always falling apart just as fast as it came together. In the middle of it all, they created something pure... their daughter, Kaeli. The only thing they ever got right. But even she couldn't fix what was broken between them. Now, years later, they're living completely different lives. Neleia has moved on, building a stable relationship and making a name for herself as a powerful R&B voice in the industry. Kentrell, on the other hand, is still stuck somewhere between who he was and who he's supposed to be.. which married, successful rapper, but he's emotionally lost. And instead of facing his pain, he runs from it. From Neleia. From the past.
Even from Kaeli Inconsistent calls. Missed visits. Empty promises. The little girl who looks just like him is slowly learning what it feels like to be loved but from a distance. But no matter how far Neleia tries to go, Kentrell always finds his way back through late night texts, unspoken tension, and a yearning for a connection that refuses to die. They know the truth: they don't work.
They never have. But when history, heartbreak, and unfinished love collide... walking away isn't as simple as it should be. "Rear View" is a story about toxic love, lingering feelings, and the damage left behind when two people can't let go, especially when a child is caught in the middle. Because some things don't stay in the past... no matter how fast you try to drive away. 𝙖 ᵏᵈᵍ 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮.