The following week, Lei and her roommates were back to their daily routines. They were slowly getting swamped with essays and assignments, making them become busy and indulged in their own lives. Throughout the week, Lei had gotten better acquainted with Isidro.

Though she found him a little awkward at first, she eventually warmed up to him. She learned that he had just graduated from TSU, and moved down to Florida for a job offer. He gracefully accepted it, since it would mean he'd be closer to his grandmother and his aunt. He planned on going to grad school, however he wanted to take a small break, feeling burnt out from the nonstop work.

Overall, Lei enjoyed talking to him, he held a good conversation and made her laugh — plus she liked the fact that he was doing something with his life.

It was currently Wednesday, and Lei couldn't find the strength to make it out of bed. After carrying a few boxes of Xahir's clothes to donate to goodwill yesterday, she accidentally strained her back. She took some of the medicine that she had been prescribed, hoping that she would feel better in the morning.

Unfortunately, the pain only became worse and more intense, to the point that it brought her to tears. She texted her friends in the groupchat, letting them know that she wouldn't be going to class today.

Shortly after she had sent the text, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Lei said loud enough for them to hear. She watched the door open, revealing Keia holding the heating pad in her hand, that Lei usually used whenever she was in pain.

"Did you take your medicine?" Keia asked him, her heart shattering a little, seeing her friend's face full of tears. Lei shook her head as she laid on her hands, trying to take deep breaths. She hated the fact that the accident, had left her with a bad back, that she was now considering visiting a chiropractor.

Keia walked over to her dresser and grabbed the small bottle, opening it. She shook out one, before closing it and walking back over to the bed. She handed it to Lei, making sure to also pass the bottled water that was resting on the windowsill.

"Hope you feel better, pooh. Let me know if you want me to get you something before I head back this way, okay?" Keia said, plugging up the heating pad, and laying it across Lei's back.

"Thanks," Lei sniffled, getting comfortable under the blankets. "Have a good day,"

Keia waved goodbye to her and walked out the room, shutting the door behind her. Lei heard as her phone dinged from a notification, she looked over at her phone resting besides her and seen that Raj texted her, asking his daily question of seeing if she would need a ride later on.

She ignored it, not having the energy to text back and turned the other way, closing her eyes.

"I think I'ma add silk on the inside of these — aye can you do me a favor? Can you check and see if Kevon finished with those designs yet? That deadline coming up soon," Raj asked Aria, looking over the different color fabrics that was spread across the conference table.

"Okay and if he isn't finished yet, what do you want me to tell him?" Aria popped her gum, typing the phone number into her phone.

"Let him know he got until the end of the week. I'm sick of that nigga fuckin' around when I ask him to do something, he doesn't meet the deadline, then I'm goin' wit' Darius — he already sent his design in." Raj stressed, blowing out a breath of frustration. Aria simply nodded her head, putting the phone to her ear as she walked out of the conference room. Raj plopped down in the rolling chair, opening up his MacBook.

"Hey Raj," Another one of his team members, Moni, walked into the conference room. He hummed, keeping his focus on the screen of the laptop. "Your eleven o'clock is here," she told him.

Raj immediately paused, gazing up at her with a puzzled expression. "What?"

"Yeah, she just checked in."

Raj sat there for a moment, trying to calm himself with deep breaths. "Bruh I told Aria don't book any sessions during this hour, I got shit to do. What the hell, man?" he got up from his chair, feeling an attitude coming on.

He followed behind Moni out of the conference room, and got onto the elevator to go down to the second floor. He saw a girl with her back turned towards him, as much as he needed to finish his work — he couldn't turn her away if Aria really did book her a session for the hour.

"Hey," he spoke, the girl turned around to face him, making him drop his mouth in surprise. "Whatttt?"

"Siraj! How are you?" Raegan, an old friend of Siraj's smiled. A sly smile grew across Raj's face, still shocked that she was standing before him.

"Raegan? Damn, what the hell? Where you come from?" he chuckled slightly, reaching in to embrace her.

"I was in the city and I asked your sisters about you, they told me you worked here. I'm sorry I made her lie to you, I just wanted to surprise you," she said, gesturing towards Moni who was smirking at Raj.

"It's cool, thanks Moni," Raj lightly shook her shoulder, before she walked away, leaving the two to catch up. "Damn, it's good to see you though. What you doin' out here? You done became famous and forgot about us,"

Raegan playfully rolled her eyes, waving him off. "Oh shut up, I could never forget where I came from, or forget the folks who were there before it all," she shrugged, gripping onto her designer bag tightly.

Raegan was a singer that became an overnight sensation after she dropped her own remix to Donnell Jones's 'Where I Wanna Be'. She posted her own covers to different songs all the time, but after the singer posted her cover to his page, to show appreciation, she gained quite the recognition.

Slowly, she started receiving offers from different record labels that wanted to sign her. After weighing in on her different choices, she finally made the decision to sign with RCA Records. Shortly after, she moved away to Atlanta, where her career soon skyrocketed afterwards.

Nonetheless, her friends and family back home were extremely proud of her, given that it'd always been her dream to make it big.

"Mhm, I guess," Raj narrowed his eyes at her, causing her to laugh. "Glad to know you doin' good, I'm proud of the shit you doin."

"I could say the same thing about you, got your own business, your own building. Out here flourishing," she grinned, gesturing her hand up and down towards him.

Raj chuckled, pretending to dust off his shoulders, making her laugh even harder. "You know I always been a hustler, but nah thank you though, I appreciate it. So how long you in the city?" he raised an eyebrow, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"Well I'm here until Sunday, I actually stopped by because I wanted to see if you wanted to get lunch later on?" She smiled.

"As much as I would like that, I have to pick my son up from school and come straight back here for a shoot. If you tryna link this weekend though, we can," he told her, he watched as she twisted her face up in confusion.

"You have a son? I didn't know that, how old is he?"

"Yeah, Ximena and I ain't know how to chill out bout three years ago," he nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh? You guys still together? That's good,"

"Nah, we just co-parent," he reached into his pocket, seeing the text from Ximena, letting him know that her mom would be picking up Maj from school. He texted back an 'ok' and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"Oh okay, well congratulations either way. I'm pretty sure he's handsome just like you," she said, slipping her purse onto her forearm. "I'll let you get back to your work though, it was great seeing you Raj." she held her arms out again for a hug.

"Yea' you too, just hit me up," he nodded his head, he turned around to walk towards the elevator again to go back up to the third floor.

The rest of the day went by quickly, especially since Raj was swamped with work that needed to be done, that he finished a little later than usual.

Once he did have a little free time in between, he texted a few people back, but noticed that Lei still hadn't replied to his message from this morning. He called her, but hadn't received an answer, making him worry a little.

Once he stopped by to see Maj at Ximena's place, he stopped by Lei's, wanting to check in on her.

He ringed the doorbell and waited a few seconds until finally Joziah answered the door, with a bowl of cereal in his hand. He slapped hands with him, before walking inside. "Lei alright?" he asked, wanting a heads up to prepare himself.

"She been having back pain today, she ain't go to class. We checked on her after we got back, she was feeling a little better but I think she went back to sleep." Joziah informed him, before stuffing a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. Raj hummed and simply nodded his head, jogging up the stairs towards her room.

He knocked on her door, calling out to her. "Lei?"

He heard some faint shuffling coming from inside, until the door swung open, revealing Lei who seemed to still be out of it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he questioned her, studying her closely.

Lei rubbed her eye, shaking her head. "Nah, I woke up like twenty minutes ago. What's up?" she yawned, walking across the hall to the bathroom.

"Nothin' I just wanted to check on you, since I haven't heard from you all day," he said, following behind her.

Lei lifted the knob in the sink to turn the water on so she could brush her teeth. "Yea' I'm sorry bout' that, I haven't been feeling good today, wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone." she told him, grabbing a spare toothbrush.

"Something wrong wit' your bathroom?" Raj raised an eyebrow, realizing that she wasn't using the bathroom in her room.

"Keia wanted to use the tub in mine,"

"Oh okay, Jojo told me your back was bothering you, how you feeling now? Need me to get you anything?" he leaned against the doorframe, watching her through the mirror as she started brushing her teeth.

"I feel a little better, my back isn't killing me like earlier. I couldn't even get out of the bed, that's how bad it was." she said after spitting out some toothpaste. "I don't need anything, thanks though,"

"I'm sorry," Raj grimaced, disliking the fact the accident was still affecting her months later. "Next time, just send me a simple text, a'ight? I-I was worried about you,"

After Lei gargled her mouth out with water, she stood up straight and looked at Raj through the mirror, a smile spreading across her face. "I promise, thanks for checking on me. I appreciate it, did you have a good day? How is Maj?" she grabbed a paper towel, and wiped around her mouth.

"He's good, learning new things. He's becoming more comfortable in school, which means he never shuts up now," he replied, as she lightly laughed. "As for my day, it was...extremely busy and just stressful as hell," he profoundly sighed.

"You want to talk about it?" Lei turned to look back at him, as she passed by him to go down the stairs to the kitchen. "Is there still some cereal left?" she asked Jojo, pointing her thumb towards the kitchen. He nodded his head, as he continued to munch on the cereal in his mouth.

"I mean there really ain't nothing to talk about, it was just work overall," Raj shrugged, sitting in the chair at the island as Lei walked around to the pantry to grab the box of Lucky Charms.

"I need to get me a new hoodie, speaking of your business," Lei grinned, shutting the pantry door. She reached into the cabinet, and pulled out a bowl.

"Let me know and I got you," Raj yawned, tapping his fingers on the counter. He watched her maneuver around the kitchen, fixing her a bowl of cereal. "What you doing this weekend?"

"Nothing, I haven't made any plans yet — but I know a few folks that want to throw a party and shit, so I might slide if they say it's a go," she said, putting the oat milk back into the fridge.

"You should come to this party wit' me on Saturday, an old friend of mine invited me." he told her.

A couple hours after Raegan left from seeing Raj, she texted him letting him know that she was throwing a party and forgot to mention it to him earlier.

Raj told her that he would go, given that he hadn't been out in awhile, being caught up with his business and focusing on Semaj. After Xahir died, he didn't find fun in going out anymore, since majority of the time whenever he stepped out, it was always because Xahir asked him to go.

However, he wanted to change that. He wanted to try to get back into the things he liked doing before Xahir died. He was slowly getting back into certain things that he found pleasure in, now that he was coming out of his depression. Also, he figured that it was best to try to ease into it with Lei, feeling as if it would be good for the both of them to try have some type normalcy.

"Am I allowed to bring friends or?"

"Fasho', she told me the more the merrier. Also just to let you know, it's an old school themed party."

"Oh say less, hell yeah I'll go, I already know who I'll go as," Lei laughed, grabbing a spoon out of the drawer. "I hope whoever the DJ is, know some good songs, and not that basic 90's shit that be playin' at every party," she scoffed, stuffing cereal into her mouth.

"Cool," Raj rubbed his hands together. Silence fell over them, as Lei stood and ate her cereal and Raj fell deep into his own thoughts. A conversation that took place between him and Ximena, in regards to how he acted towards Lei.

"How's Lei?" Ximena asked Raj, sitting down next to him on the couch. "She holding up okay?"

"She proposes herself to be, when we talk, she acts normal but I won't truly know honestly because I can tell she's still a li'l closed off when it comes to tellin' me shit," Raj explained, keeping his focus on the movie that played.

"Well, at least she's talkin' to you. She's probably just still warming up to you. After all, you were Xahir's best friend, not hers, so she's probably not used to the attention from you," Ximena replied, propping her elbow up on the sofa, resting her head against her fist.

"And trust me, I understand that. I do li'l stuff here and there for her, without her even having to ask me. I know she's comfortable around me, but I want it to reach a point where she comes to me on her own, and not me having to initiate it." Raj shrugged, throwing his hoodie over his head to cover his ears, as it was freezing in Ximena's house.

"When you say, 'li'l stuff'...what do you mean?" Ximena raised an eyebrow, her curiosity getting the best of her as per usual.

"Like I'll ask her, if she needs anything. Take her food if I'm out or gettin' some for myself, pick her up from class after I get Maj—you know, simple shit,"

Ximena hummed, perching her lips tightly. "You don't think you should chill off that?" she cleared her throat, looking down at her legs.

Raj furrowed his eyebrows, ripping his attention away from the TV. "What you mean by that?" he asked her, watching as she picked a piece of lint off of her leggings.

"Like you don't think that may make her a li'l uncomfortable? She probably haven't said anything because she doesn't want to come off unappreciative or rude, but sometimes you can be a li'l too caring Siraj," she further explained.

"I mean..." he trailed off, thinking to himself for a second. "Lei would definitely tell me if it makes her uncomfortable, she knows I'm an understanding person — what are you really tryin' to say Ximena? You think I'm doin' too much?"

"No!" Ximena quickly answered, shaking her head. "I think it's sweet that you're doing that for her, but still, you're more of a 'I'm going to do this for you because I want to, and you're going to accept it' type of person. You don't really give people a chance to let you know whether they want you to do things for them, you just do it."

"Okay? I can't help it, that's just how I was raised." he frowned a little. Ximena grabbed his face with both hands, as she got onto his lap.

"I know that Siraj, I'm not tryin' to make you upset, I'm just saying, you may want to ease up a li'l."

"For what? Why does that bother you?" he removed her hands from his face, before removing her from his lap.

Ximena jerked a head back a little, "Why does it bother me? It doesn't, I just think it's overbearing because you practically avoided the girl for two damn months and now all of sudden, you're going out of your way to do all of these things for her," she scoffed, gesturing towards him.

"You so damn self-centered bro, the moment I fall back from you, you got an issue wit' me doing shit for another girl. Oh so, if I'm not doing shit for you or my family, I can't do shit for no one else?" Raj got up from the sofa, and slid his feet into his shoes, now irritated with her.

"I don't care what you do for another girl, if you're still hurt about us and what I said, then okay fine, but don't go throwin' that into the mix of this situation to make it seem like I'm being bitter or selfish," Ximena argued, getting up as well to follow behind him.

"Hurt?" Raj instantly turned around to face her, "What nigga wouldn't be hurt by the fact that the girl he done put up wit' for so fuckin' long keeps leading him on, and then when he tries to initiate a relationship between them again, she turns him down? I'm not hurt that you don't want to be in a relationship wit' me, no — I'm hurt by the fact that you knew what you wanted this whole time but didn't care if my feelings were gettin' involved, just as long as my attention was on you, right?" he started to vent.

"I'm not gone put the blame solely on you, because I'm a grown ass man, I let you do the shit that you do because I love you. Part of the reason why my relationships never work out wit' other women because I'm always letting you put shit in my head about them and I always end up runnin' back to you— but that shit ends today." he shook his head. "If it has nothing to do wit' our son, I don't wanna hear your opinion on shit, and what I do for other people."

"Fine," Ximena shrugged, rolling her eyes. "But when those bitches do you dirty, don't come runnin' back to me, saying you should've listened." she followed him to the door.

"Raj?" Lei waved her hand in front of his face, after she realized he wasn't responding to her. He snapped out of his daze, and hummed. "You okay? You just zoned out there for a minute."

"Uh, actually," he sighed, leaning forward on the counter. "I need to ask you something,"

"Okay? What's up?"

"The stuff I do for you...does it make you uncomfortable?" he questioned her.