hi boo baes. 🥰 you know the drill, lemme know that you're here.

also, let me tell y'all! I was cracking up at some of y'all throwing a fit over me accidentally hitting publish on this chapter! I wanted to wait until everyone was awake, cause I do be updating late as hell!

but enjoy babies. 🦦

Siraj put out his blunt, exhaling smoke from his nose. He picked up his ashtray, placing the blunt on it as he opened the sliding door. He walked inside, shutting the door to the balcony before walking into his room. Music by Future spilled out of the speaker from the bathroom where Soleil was getting ready.

Siraj placed the ashtray down on the dresser as he passed by it, while also grabbing the spray and spraying himself down, then walked into the bathroom. He saw Soleil standing in front of the mirror, running her hand over her hair. "Boy, that shit loud as hell. Could smell you before you even walked in here," Soleil said, not bothering to look his way.

"You look good as fuck," Siraj's eyes traveled down her body, she wore a black, backless halterneck dress with small cutouts on the side, teamed up with black strap up heels. Her hair was slicked into a high ponytail, as a curled bang fell in front of the right side of her face. She looked at him through the mirror, sporting a smile. He began shaking his head, pursing his lips.

"Why are you shaking your head?" Soleil slightly laughed, untwisting the wand from the tube of lip gloss.

"I'on know, you might not make it out the house ma," he told her, Soleil tried holding back a smile, becoming a little flustered. "You nervous?"

"No," she lied, applying the gloss to her lips. Despite the two now being official, the little gestures he did and the way that he was smooth with his words, made her melt inside. She believed that he genuinely enjoyed watching as she struggled to keep her composure around him.

Soleil felt Siraj place his hands around her waist as he stood behind her, he placed a tender kiss on her neck, his hands beginning to naughtily roam up her body. He cupped his hands around her breasts, giving them a tight squeeze. Soleil tucked her lips as she leaned her head to the side, exposing her neck a little more as he continued to kiss it.

One of Siraj's hands moved down towards the end of her dress, his hand beginning to slip under it. She deeply inhaled, grabbing his hands as she spun around, gently pushing him away. "Okay, stop—cause you're not about to make me or yourself Selah's fourth and fifth victim today." she shook her index finger, before turning back around to put her makeup away.

"It'll be worth it," Siraj replied, shrugging. "You ready?"

"Yes sir," Soleil answered him, zipping her makeup bag closed. She grabbed the speaker and powered it off, before walking out of the bathroom, with Siraj tailing behind her. He grabbed his keys from off of the nightstand, and Soleil went to grab her mini purse from the bed, while also putting away her makeup bag into her overnight tote bag.

"You wanna take a shot?" she heard him ask from the kitchen. She walked out of the room, hitting the light switch to turn off the lights. She saw him opening the cabinet. He turned his head towards her, waiting for a response.

"What do you have?"

He looked back towards the inside of the cabinet, "Don Julio, Casamigos, Patron, Milagro, Cuervo—" his eyes roaming over the different bottles of liquor he had, Soleil approached him, looking inside the cabinet.

"I don't know, cause I prefer brown over white babes," Soleil scrunched up her face, shaking her head.

Siraj looked over at her again, beginning to grin. "White makes you do some questionable shit, huh?" he teased her, as she nodded in agreement.

"Like pass out in the street? Yeah," Soleil waved him off, Siraj grabbed the bottle of Casamigos and closed the cabinet. "You would pick that one," she whined, as he untwisted the cap from the bottle.

"What do you usually prefer?" he sat the top down on the counter, beckoning her closer.

"Crown Royal," she told him, leaning her head back as he grabbed her chin. She opened her mouth as he then poured some of the liquor into her mouth.

"Whiskey though, bae?" he tilted his head, giving her a funny look. Soleil swallowed the liquor, twisting up her face. She walked over to the fridge, wanting to grab a bottle of cranberry juice. "You like Hennessey?"

"I hate Hennessey, that's one thing, I refuse to drink. I like Crown because it's smooth—and if you decide to get Crown for me, I do prefer vanilla or apple," she explained, taking a sip of the cranberry juice. Siraj nodded in understanding, beckoning her once again. "You want me to take another one?"

"Yes ma'am,"

"Siraj, I feel like you have some type of plans for me later on and I don't like it," she narrowed her eyes at him, walking back over to him.

"I do," he menacingly grinned, pouring the liquor into her mouth again as she tipped her head back.

Soleil held one index finger up, as she started to chase the liquor with more cranberry juice. "High me and drunk me, are about the same—except drunk me, she's a little more..." she trailed off, twisting her cap back onto the cranberry juice.

"Freakier?" Siraj's grin grew even wider, Soleil humming in response. "I'll be the judge of that later on,"

He twisted the top back onto the Casamigos bottle, before putting it back into the cabinet. Soleil grabbed her purse off the counter and walked towards the front door.

"I'm craving some wings," Soleil said, as Siraj followed her out of the apartment. He locked the door before directing his attention to her.

"Where y'all going again?"

"Infinity's,"

Siraj sucked his teeth, "Lot of thirsty ass niggas be in that bitch," he grumbled, walking behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at him, beginning to smirk.

"You know what that means," Soleil singed, doing a little dance as Siraj looked at her with a slightly confused expression. "Free drinks all night,"

"No ma'am," Siraj instantly shook his head, as they stepped onto the elevator. "Niggas be on predatory shit nowadays, if you want bottles and shit, I got you but hell nah," he pressed the button to the garage.

Soleil remained quiet as she held her hand out, Siraj reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. "No baby, your phone," she laughed, stopping him.

"Oh," he then reached into his pocket again to pull out his phone, he unlocked it for her and passed it over to her. "Youn know my code do you?" She shook her head, going to the camera app on his phone to take pictures since the camera on her phone also had a crack in it.

"It's Semaj's birthday,"

"Should've known," she replied, posing in the mirror. Siraj tucked his wallet back into his pocket, watching her as she continued to pose and snap pictures of herself. Once the elevator stopped in the garage, the couple stepped off, Soleil returning the phone to Siraj. As they walked through the parking garage, Siraj slowed down a bit, now recording her.

"Look at them legs, boy. Sexy ass, look at me," he commented, as she strutted. Soleil whipped around, now walking backward, sporting a giddy smile. "You so gorgeous baby,"

Soleil blushed, holding her hand out for him to grab it. "Thank you," she responded, as he grabbed her hand, letting her lead the way to the car. Siraj unlocked the doors, opening the passenger door for Soleil, a small smirk on her face. Lately, Siraj had started opening doors for her, which was something he hadn't been doing before.

Once Soleil was settled in the car, she texted Selah to let her know that she would be on her way. She was a little excited to be having a girls' night out with her sister and her cousins. It'd been so long since any of them had linked up. There was some truth to what Selah said yesterday, her family didn't get together unless it was the holidays.

Otherwise, they only communicated through texts and calls. Soleil wasn't fond of her family's ways, but there was nothing she could do. It was quite sad to her that, that's what it took to bring her family together. The only other exception was funerals. Her family came together after Xahir passed, and for those two weeks, it seemed like her family had understood they needed to spend more time with each other because death was inevitable.

However, that time didn't last for long, her family went back to phone calls and text messages afterward. Soleil understood that everyone had their own lives to tend to, but what is life without occasionally spending quality time with your family?

"We'll try not to be out all night, cause I don't want you driving too late to come get us," Soleil assured him, watching him as he backed out of the parking space.

"You good bae, have fun with your sister and them, I'll be a'ight. Remember, I'ma be at your house anyway," he told her, shifting the gears into drive and pulling out of the garage. Soleil rested her elbow on the middle console, gently biting down on her nail as she continued to watch Siraj drive.

Despite how basic and normal it was, there was just something so sexy, yet satisfying to her about watching him drive.

Siraj approached the stop light on his street, waiting for the light to turn green so he could turn left. As he waited, he snuck a glance over at Soleil, who still had her eyes fixated on him.

He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, shaking his head. "You look so damn good, man," he placed his hand on her thigh, caressing it slowly. Soleil beckoned him with her index finger, he obliged and leaned in closer, letting Soleil grab his chin as she kissed him, slipping her tongue into his mouth.

"Keep it up, I'ma turn back around," he lowly warned her, Soleil softly laughed and continued to tease him, planting kisses along his jawline, her hand rubbing over where his print was in his pants.

She eventually pulled away, sitting back in the seat. Siraj let out an exasperated sigh, still shaking his head as he looked out of his window.

Soleil held in her laugh, watching him try to keep his composure. For once, she finally was the one that was doing the teasing, and it was quite humorous to watch him struggle like she usually did. He looked over at her, slowly running his tongue over his bottom lip. "I'm glad you find this shit funny, Soleil—matter fact," he said, pulling up a little, grabbing the top of the wheel.

"No, stop!" Soleil cracked up, placing her hand over his, to stop him from making the U-turn.

"Nah, you wanna keep teasing me and shit, I don't like being teased," he side-eyed her, sinking further down in the seat a little.

"Now you know how I feel," Soleil continued snickering to herself, he sucked his teeth and waved her off.

"Man whatever I give you what you want afterward though, you doing this shit, knowing you gone be out for a li'l minute."

"You act like I'm not coming back home to you though," Soleil grabbed his chin again, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.

"The only thing that's saving yo' ass right now, is the fact that I'm not tryna get cussed out by Selah,"

"You'll be a'ight," Soleil picked up her phone from her lap, feeling it vibrate.

"Remember how I had you last night?" Siraj looked over at her again, Soleil sucked her teeth, slumping her shoulders as she passed him a smug look. "We'll see who'll get the last laugh,"

"You dragging it," Soleil tried holding back a smile, playfully shoving him. He adjusted the hat on his head, a subtle smirk on his face. He finally pulled off as the light turned green. "I hate you,"

"That's cool, I'ma have you saying you love me by the end of the night; keep all this same energy, later on, sweetheart," he shrugged, placing his hand back onto her thigh.

The drive to Infinity's was a little longer than expected, due to traffic surprisingly. There was a huge accident, causing them to sit in traffic for about ten minutes. During their wait, Siraj tried his best to keep Soleil's mind on something else other than the accident upfront. When he first glanced over at her, after seeing the flashing blue lights and the totaled cars from a distance, he saw the visibly worried look on her face.

Seeing the accident himself, a few flashbacks appeared in his mind to that fateful night. It was triggering to both to witness any accident—whether it was serious or not.

Siraj finally pulled up to the nightclub, the pair seeing Selah and her cousins standing outside, laughing. They started to walk toward the car, as Soleil gathered her stuff, unfastening her seatbelt. Selah opened the passenger's door, placing her hand on her hip. "I thought I was gone have to come hunt you down, Siraj!" Selah exclaimed, causing him to chuckle.

"Oh, that's him? Bitch, he fine as fuck," One of their cousins, Charmaine, said as they looked into the car.

"And is," Soleil stared at her cousin with a tight-lipped smile, Selah tucking her lips trying not to laugh, both knowing how Charmaine was.

"See you later, ma. Have fun and be safe," Siraj told her, gently grabbing her chin to make her face his way, leaning in to peck her lips a few times. "Check your messages later on,"

She nodded as she got out of the car, Selah waving to him before she shut the door. The sisters locked fingers as they all walked down the sidewalk toward the entrance.

A few hours later, the girls found themselves bar hopping after collectively deciding to leave the nightclub. Although they had fun at Infinity's, Soleil's stomach was beginning to touch her back and she needed to eat something soon, as she was becoming a little cranky. The bar that they were at was a little packed, but they were able to get some food and enjoy the music that the DJ played. So far the atmosphere was filled with good vibes, everyone in the building singing along to the songs that played.

"Soleil?" Soleil heard someone call her name from behind her, over the loud music. She turned around with the cup of liquor in her hand, she jerked her head back a little, seeing it was her ex-boyfriend, Keon, from high school.

"Um, hey," she spoke, sizing him up. She passed her sister a look, who was already weirdly staring at Keon.

"I thought that was you, I just wasn't sure. What's up? It's been a minute," he said, his eyes traveling up her body, as he bit down on his lip.

"Nothing much," Soleil dryly replied, shrugging, wanting to quickly dismiss the conversation. "Y'all want the rest of these wings? I'm full," Soleil pushed the plate away from her, that carried three buffalo chicken wings. Her cousins grabbed the last few wings off her plate, swaying their bodies to the music.

Soleil got up from their table, still holding her cup. "I have to pee, come with me," she told Selah, her sister quickly obliged and stood up, taking one last sip of her liquor before grabbing Soleil's hand.

"Leave your drink," Selah pointed to her cup, Soleil nodded her head, also taking one last sip of her drink. As she started to put her drink onto the table, someone bumped into Soleil, spilling her drink on her a little. She sucked her teeth, holding her cup out in front of her as she looked down at her dress.

"My bad, shawty," The guy apologized, continuing to follow behind his friends. Selah narrowed her eyes and looked over to the drink Soleil held in her hand. Selah instantly grabbed the cup out of Soleil's hand and approached the guy, tapping him on the shoulder. As he turned around, Selah splashed the drink in his face.

A few bystanders with shocked expressions on their faces. "You stupid fuck!" Selah cussed at him, throwing the cup at him. His friends immediately pulled him away, as Soleil did the same with Selah.

She continued to mug the guy until he was out of her view, "That's exactly why I told you to leave your drink, niggas like to pull predatory shit like that. He lucky I didn't have my shit, I woulda laid a hot one right in his chest," Selah frowned, as they finally made it to the bathroom.

"Thank you, Selah. I wouldn't have drank it either way, cause I know how guys are. He was bold to do that, even though he saw I was with people," Soleil shook her head, going into one of the stalls, her bladder felt as if it were about to explode.

"You don't have to thank me for being a sister," Selah responded, leaning against the counter, watching the stall that she was in. She heard sniffling from beside her, causing her to glance over to her right. She saw a girl, with a face full of tears, texting on her phone.

She looked away, folding her arms over her chest. "Are you ready to go, Soleil?" she asked her.

"Yeah,"

"Did you text Siraj?"

"Nah, I'ma do it in a minute,"

Selah heard as the girl next to her began crying, making her look over at her again. The girl held the phone to her ear, wiping her face with the back of her hand. She pulled her phone away from her ear, ending the call. "Are you okay?" Selah finally asked her, a little curious as to why the girl was in the bathroom by herself, bawling her eyes out.

The girl shook her head, looking at Selah through the mirror. "My friends left me, and I can't reach none of them. I texted them and they're not texting me back," she cried, tossing her phone onto the counter, and burying her face in her hands.

"Them not your friends, baby girl," Soleil said from the stall, Selah nodding in agreement.

"You don't have a ride or something?" Selah questioned her, feeling bad for the poor girl.

"No," The girl sniffled, grabbing a paper towel to wipe her nose. "I came with them, it's like if y'all were going to just leave me why would y'all even invite me out in the first place!"

"Right, how did they leave you? Did y'all get separated or something?"

"I was in here cause I had to use the bathroom and when I went back to the table we were at, they were gone. I went outside and I didn't see them anywhere," she explained, wiping her face again. Soleil shook her head as used her foot to flush the toilet and came out of the stall, eyeing the girl that Selah was talking to.

"That's fucked up, I wonder why they left," Soleil scoffed, approaching the counter to wash her hands. "Do you have another way to get home?"

"They were talking to some boys before I came in here, and I'm going to order an Uber,"

"Now if they left you for some goofy ass niggas, that's green as fuck," Selah curled up her lip in disgust. "Listen, if you want, you can wait with us until your Uber gets here. You really shouldn't be by yourself,"

"Thank you, I really appreciate it," The girl gave them a weak smile, patting her face dry. "I'm Tiara,"