❝𝖨𝖥 𝖸𝖮𝖴 𝖫𝖨𝖪𝖤 𝖸𝖮𝖴𝖱 𝖢𝖮𝖥𝖥𝖤 𝖧𝖮𝖳, 𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗧. 𝖸𝖮𝖴 𝖢𝖠𝖫𝖫 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖲𝖧𝖮𝖳𝖲 𝖡𝖠𝖡𝖤, 𝗜 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗕𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦.❞ SHORT/QUICK STORY 𝐃𝐄𝐂 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐

" I don't even like you like that." Her face scrunched up in disgust watching water drip from curls in his hair. " 'Cause you love me. Just like I love you." He retorted with a grin, disregarding the deflecting she was doing. --- They were two sides of the same city-until one move split them down the middle. Elijah and London were inseparable once, bonded by childhood summers, beat-up bikes, and secrets too deep for anyone else to know. Unfortunately, when Elijah's mom packed up and moved her family across Onyx to a rival neighborhood, everything changed. She always thought when she spoke to him again he would've changed like her. She was witty, sarcastic, and had a low tolerance, but he was still the same calm , sweet, cute boy with a heart the size of the sun. Some things haven't changed. Some things never change. The pull between them, the memories that still burn etched marks in their brain, and the words they never said out loud. In a world where loyalty can be life or death, and love isn't always enough to cross old lines, Elijah and London find themselves circling each other again. --- STARTED; MAY 26th, 2025 PUBLISHED JUNE 6th, 2025 FINISHED; SEPTEMBER 27th 2025

"Beautiful things don't ask for attention." In a world that thrives on conformity, August is an anomaly. Raised in a secretive overbearing family, she was chosen to leave its hidden grounds-not for freedom, but for duty. Sent to college to become the strategic mind for her generation behind the family's growing empire, she tries to move through the world like a ghost, draped in gothic shadows with secrets too heavy to share but her style is just too much to go unnoticed by judging eyes unscathed. Then she meets Kason through his older brother. A rising rapper with a reckless charm and a hunger for something real, dealing with battles of his own, he's instantly drawn to August's eerie demeanor and the quiet storm that lingers behind her dark mysterious eyes. She's nothing like the women he's used to-unbothered by trends, and untouched by the need for validation. The more she resists, the deeper he falls, his infatuation turning into an obsession he can't shake. One he cant let go of. As their worlds collide, the slow burn of their connection threatens to ignite everything August has been taught to suppress. With her past closing in and expectations pressing down, she must decide if she's willing to defy everything she's ever known for the chance at something dangerously real. In a society that demands she fit a mold, August stands in defiance. Unfortunately, love has a way of making even the strongest question their silence. STARTED; February 22nd , 2025 PUBLISHED; MARCH 18th, 2025 FINISHED; MAY 27th, 2025

"Tell me you don't feel it. Tell me I'm imagining this, and I'll never bring it up again." He looked at her for a long moment, and she could see him fighting himself. "I can't tell you that," he said finally. "Why not?" "Because it would be a lie." -- Naomi "Nay" Shields is a 24-year-old lifestyle YouTuber with over a million followers, known for her beauty, travel vlogs, and "perfect" relationship with longtime boyfriend Messiah "Si" Banks. On camera, they're couple goals. Off camera, she's just surviving him. Messiah is a flashy, manipulative drug dealer in Atlanta-respected in the streets, but emotionally abusive behind closed doors. After cheating multiple times, he traps Nay further with a viral public proposal in Tulum. Now, she feels stuck-scared to leave the brand they built and scared of him. But everything shifts when Messiah's older half-brother, Zyair "Zy" Banks, returns home from a four-year federal bid. He's the opposite of Messiah-quiet, gritty, observant. And he sees right through Nay's pain. When Messiah gets shot in a setup and ends up bedridden, Zy moves in to "keep things in order." As tension brews and the house grows quiet, stolen glances turn into whispers... into touches... into something neither of them planned. What happens when love grows in the shadow of abuse? When the one man who sees you is the one you should never want? And what happens when Messiah finds out? 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝- 06.28.25 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝- 07.09.25 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝- 08.20.25

Two guarded souls who recognize the ache in each other, trying not to fall too hard but drawn together anyway. Their love simmers beneath the surface-fierce, quiet, and complicated. He's her storm in silence; she's his peace in chaos *Unedited 𝑷𝑼𝑹𝑷𝑳𝑬𝑹𝑨𝑨𝑰𝑵 _® Started: 12/13/22 Published: 12/23/22 End: 12/29/23

Damn, college really is the best part of yo life. Especially at an HBCU.

The porch still remembers. The silence still hurts. And him? He ain't dead... but he might as well be.

In a world where loyalty means everything, Brielle Banks must choose between the family she's always known and the man who could destroy it all. Caught between revenge and unexpected attraction, sparks fly behind bars. Will she fall into Sincere's dangerous world-or will their violent past rip them apart?

Kyzion knew that life wasn't about becoming someone better, but about finally allowing himself to accept who he'd always been. The only person he could thank for his 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭, was Nalani.

Before Kelsey, before Paris. The Carter boys were following in the foot steps of their dad. Making a come up for themselves they planned to exceed their fathers reputation in the streets. Building an Empire from scratch.