𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

Jahseh helped put the little kid shoes on then tied them. He was at work, his job was at none other than FootLocker. It was obvious that he would work there since he was a sneaker head. All the sneakers he had in his closet all came from FootLocker and no other place. His job was his safe haven, he was around what he loved most. And even though he had to talk to people, he was fine with that.

"Aight, little homie how it feel?" He asked, helping the little boy up. He watched as the kid walked around then gave Jahseh a smile.

"Good." The little bot answered and Jahseh nodded his head.

"How much are they?" The mother of the child asked, Jahseh look up at her.

"Like a hundred, he's in kids so they cost a lot." He answered her question. The mother look at her son then let out a sigh.

"Fine, I'll buy them."

The little boy got excited while Jahseh took off the shoes. He put them back in the box then all three of them walked to the counter. Ringing the shoes up, he told her the price putting the shoes in the bag. After the mother paid, they thanked him and left the store. Jahseh took his phone out his pocket looking at the time. He had a few minutes until his lunch break and since he had nothing else better to do, he was going to house.

"Oh, hey Jahseh." His coworker, Ava, greeted walking over to him. He gave her a head nod, still looking at his phone since he was texting Blu.

Ava tuck in her lips, "So, I see you go from shopping here to working here. You must really love shoes." She tried making conversation. She had been working here for awhile now and was always here when Jahseh came to shop. Footlocker was always the place where cute boys came in and since she been here, Jahseh have been the cutest one she seen so far.

"Yup, I'm on lunch, so I'll be back." He told her, walking from behind the counter.

"Okay, I'll see you!" She waved, but it was too late since he had walked out already.

Blu sat on the curb outside her house. She watched Jahseh who was muttering something under his breath as he kept untying and retying his sneakers. She wasn't sure what he was saying or why he was doing it, but she was intrigued by it. What she didn't know was it was a habit Jahseh picked up on from his brother. It was how Jahseh learned to tie his shoes when he was younger. And now he was just doing it, even though, he didn't know he was.

"Jahseh..." she called his name and he look over at her. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." He answered, realizing what he was doing. He wasn't embarrassed, he just had a feeling he wasn't going to have to explain himself.

"You sure? It seems like your nervous about something." She said and he shook his head.

"I'm fine, but I have a question. Is your mom home?" He asked, she shook her head.

"No, she works overnight, so she won't be here. Why, what's wrong?" She asked, getting concerned.

"You mind if I come over after work? I really don't wanna go home, not tonight at least." He said and she nodded her head.

"I don't mind, imma be home by myself anyway so I don't mind company. Everything okay at home?"

"My dad is toxic and that's really self-explanatory. I know when I go home, he's going to be on some bull and I don't have time for that." He explained briefly to her. He didn't want to go into details about his life or family at the moment.

"Well..." she leaned her head on his shoulder. "...I don't mind having you over and if I need to beat someone's ass just let me know." she said, chuckling a little.

"You take my stepmom and I'll take my dad."

"Sounds like a plan."

Music played lowly on her tv as they chilled in her room. Blu climbed on top of Jahseh, smiling a little.

"I can move if-"

"Your good." He cut her off not wanting her to get off him. He was fine with her sitting on top of him.

"Okay, anyway I wanna play a game." She said and Jahseh raise his brow at her.

"A game?" He asked and she nodded her head. "What type of game?"

"21 questions. We been hanging out with each other for awhile now and I really don't know a lot about you. So, if we play this game, we can learn more about each other." She explained.

"Ion know." He said making her frown. He was hesitate about the game since he figured she would ask some very personal questions. Questions where he might have to explain his life and he was scared. He wasn't sure how she would look at him. He didn't want to be looked at differently and that's what he feared.

"Aww, come on. You don't have to go into details if you don't want to. It's just a way for us to learn more about each other. Harmless." She tried convincing him, Jahseh look at her then sigh.

"Sure." He finally agreed and she smile.

"Okay, let's start off easy shall we. When's your birthday?" She asked, Jahseh shaking his head smirking a little.

"September 16." He answered.

"Sooo..."

"I got held back in the sixth grade, so that's why." He answered her question and she nodded her head.

"Explains a lot, okay your turn."

"When's your birthday?" He asked her and Blu roll her eyes, smiling afterwards.

"June 19, I'm a Gemini." She smiled. "So, what's your favorite color?"

"Uhh, green." Blu scrunched up her face and he smack his lips.

"What wrong?" He asked and she shook her head.

"Out of all colors, green is your favorite. You should be ashamed of yourself." She remarked, Jahseh suck his teeth.

"You do know your wearing my green hoodie right?" He asked, she nodded her head putting her hands in the pockets.

"I know and just so you know, I'm not giving this back. Your cologne is all over it and it smells so nice."

"You can keep it, I have more." He told her and she nodded her head.

"Aight, back to the game. What's your biggest insecurity?" He asked putting his arms behind his head.

"I see we're asking personal questions now, okay. Anyway, one of my biggest insecurities is my lips. They're a little big and ion really like that." She replied, running his hand over his lips.

"Your lips are fine, nothing wrong with them..." he took his hand from behind his head, running his thumb over her bottom lip. "...your lips are beautiful."

Blu bit her lip, grabbing his arm. "Listen, Jah, don't start nothing cause I'm telling you now, you won't be able to finish." She told him and he chuckled.

"Aight, I won't start nothing." He said placing his hands on her thighs. She hummed a little, squinting her eyes at him.

"Your something else seriously. But, I wanna know something you regret in life. Anything." She continued the questions, Jahseh tuck in his lips.

"Seriously?"

"Yes, I wanna know. And if it's anything personal, you can trust me. Everything you tell me won't leave this room. I promise boo." she told him meaning it. She had a feeling whatever he regretted was bad, something he wanted to forget and never talk about again.

He let out another sigh, "Aight, there's two things I regret that I feel as though was my fault entirely. And if I would've shut my mouth then they would've where they are now." He began.

He cleared his throat before continuing, "I regret the day I asked my brother to spend one more day together before he went off to the military. If I hadn't asked, then we wouldn't have been stopped by the police, and my brother wouldn't have been shot five times for no reason. I felt as though it was my fault and I'm the reason why he's not here right now. If I would ever mentioned anything then we would've be in the house that night, he would still be here to help me with my issues."

"That's not your fault though, Jah. It's the officers fault, the police think just cause they have a badge they're above the law. You shouldn't be blaming yourself for that." She told him.

"But, I am though. I'm the blame-"

"But, your not though." She cut him off, shaking her head. "Your not, I promise Jah."

"Yeah, but-" he paused letting out another sigh. "You know we didn't even have a proper funeral." He mentioned.

"All my dad did was bury him in a cemetery and left it at that. His birthday is in thanksgiving and I know for sure my family is going to act like it's just a regular day. Not even going to acknowledge that my brother is turning 23. And everyone just walks around like nothing happened. Like their son, nephew, cousin, grandson didn't died months ago. And then when I have my moments where I'm pissed off at the world, depressed, and wanna punch everyone, I'm the problem. I'm the bad guy and I'm seen as a threat to the world. The shit is bogus."

"Does anyone help like your dad or your mom?"

He scoffed, "My dad is a piece of shit and my mom is a crackhead. Ever since I was diagnosed with anger issues and bipolar depression, my dad took it as a joke. He always told me there was nothing wrong with me and I was looking for an excuse to be treated differently. And my mom, she always babied me. You would think that would help, but it did the complete opposite. Everything got worse when my mom got addicted to drugs. That's another thing I regret ever happening. My life is really fucked up." he shook his head.

"What happened to your mom?" Blu asked, wanting to know more. She didn't expect all of this to happen to him, but you never know what might someone be going through.

"She got addicted to drugs while she was pregnant with my little sister." He answered.

"Damn." she said and he nodded his head.

"Yup, the doctors prescribed her the wrong drugs and that's how it all started. She then turned to much harder stuff like opioids, I walked in one day and she was foaming out the mouth in the bathroom. After she went to the hospital, she was suppose to go to rehab, but that didn't happen. And since then, she's been on the streets. Four whole years she missed and I doubt she's going to get better, but it doesn't matter. I'm used to the shit now." He told her.

Blu frown hearing him say that. She felt bad about what he was going through and the fact that you would never know really upset her. She lean down towards him, so they were close.

"I'm sorry for everything you been through and I want you to know that I'm here for you. So, if you need to talk or just vent, I'm here. I don't wanna see you sad cause if your sad then I have to fight everyone and they mama. And I really will do it." She mentioned, Jahseh chuckled.

"I don't need you to fight anyone for me, but I'll talk to you if I need to." he said, licking his lips. The two of them stare at each other like how they stared at each on on Halloween night. They was experiencing that feeling again and this time they decided to act on it.

They inched closer to each other, they're lips touching and they shared a passionate kiss. They pulled away for a second, Blu bit her lip then kissed him again. Their kiss lasted for a few more minutes before they pulled away from each other again. Jahseh lick his lips and Blu chuckled.

"You must've been waiting for that." She said.

"Maybe." He answered, his voice a little deeper. Blu smirk then peck his lips again.

"Well, I was."