"That center was supposed to help you! What the hell was that?!" Egypt yelled.

"Do you really think yelling at her is gonna help?" King asked and she cocked her head.

"First of all I don't even know you, you got a pass for saving her but don't stand here trying to tell me how to speak to MY child!" She snapped and Bryson stood in front of her when she tried to get in his face.

"Since das yo mom, I'ma keep quiet." He replied looking at Renae.

"Is this another cry for attention?" She asked picking up the house phone and Kingston shook his head disappointedly."

It was obvious Renae did not want to speak but she was forcing it.

"That's alright because you're going right back, you have no reason to be depressed anymore! We have a roof over our heads now! So there's no ex— I KILLED SOMEBODY!" Renae yelled cutting her off.

Everyone turned their attention to her.

Egypt dropped the phone and took a step closer.

"What?"

"I killed someone..." she repeated, Kingston squatted down in front of her and she stared into his eyes.

"It was an accident."

"What do you mean accident? What in the hell is going on?" Egypt asked taking a seat in the nearby chair.

"What happened?" Kingston asked holding her hands and she shook her head.

"It was an accident, I didn't mean to." She cried wiping her face angrily.

"And someone died trying to help me. YOU WEREN'T THERE!" She screamed pointing to her mom and Egypt furrowed her brows taken aback by her sudden mood change.

She was about to reply until Bryson stopped her.

He noticed that Renae seemed more open when she was around Kingston.

"Don't do dat Nae, it wasn't her fault ma." King tried to tell her but she nodded furiously.

"SHE sent me there! If she would've just talked to me I would've told her. YOU! Sent me there! This is your fault!" She snapped getting up trying to go towards her but King stood up sure to stand in her way.

"Those men beat and assaulted me! Every fucking night, sometimes there were two! Sometimes it was just that one. I almost died in there... TWICE! This is your fault!" She screamed trying to walk around King but he wouldn't allow her.

Egypt couldn't even say anything, she was still stuck on the dead man part.

How did she not see the signs?

"It's her fault and you know it!" She yelled pushing King back.

"She didn't know Nae." He spoke calmly as he allowed her to push him again.

"Yes she did! She did!" She cried hitting on his chest.

"She did" she repeated as she broke down in his arms.

Shaking his head, he went down to the floor with her and pulled her body into his as she cried harder.

"She did it!" Was all she kept repeating as she hit her fist into the floor repeatedly.

Hurt and slightly upset with himself, Bryson walked Egypt out the room just as she herself ended up having a breakdown.

Ever since the incident Renae has held resentment towards her because she felt if she didn't listen to the nurse and listened to her then she wouldn't have went through what she did.

But since Egypt chose the nurse over her, Nae hated her for it.

King listened for 30 minutes straight as Renae blamed her mother for what she went through.

And he had to listen to 10 minutes of Egypt apologizing and asking her why she didn't tell them.

Seeing that things weren't gonna get resolved, Bryson walked her to her room and King helped Renae pack a few things.

They didn't need to be in the same house right now, their emotions were all over the place.

Once they got inside the car, Renae kept her head rested against the window as she rubbed at her old scars.

Not wanting to upset her anymore, King just pulled out the driveway.

Things were more complicated than he thought.

**

The next day

Hearing the back door open, King got up from doing his pushups and made his way out the living room.

Seeing Renae in the chair, he watched for a moment.

She looked up at the sky for a while and said something before dropped her head and cried softly.

It's all she's been doing since they got to his place yesterday.

She didn't want to talk, only thing she could do was cry.

Pulling her knees into her chest, she wrapped her arms around herself and cried harder.

It wasn't just the stuff she went through that hurt her, it was knowing that someone else's life was taken all because of them trying to help her.

That was really eating at her conscience.

Not being able to just stand there and watch her cry like that, King stepped outside and sat in front of her.

"Babygirl?" He called, sniffling, she wiped her face before she lifted her head.

"What do you need me to do?" He asked and her bottom lip trembled.

"How can I help ma?"

"I don't know." She answered defeatedly and he pulled her into him.

Sitting in the chair, he sat her on his lap and rubbed her back soothingly as she cried.

"Whatever you wanna do I'm there with you."

"Ok?" He asked and she nodded.

"You don't gotta hurt no more."

"I'm here."

2 hours later

Putting the dishes away, Kingston pulled out a pack of peanut butter crackers out the pantry and a bottle of Powerade.

Heading out the kitchen and towards the stairs, he walked up them with some things weighing heavy on his mental.

Once he reached his room, he walked over towards the bed and sat the stuff down on his dresser.

"Nae?" He called shaking her, "Nae?" He repeated shaking her again.

Turning his way, she rubbed her now puffy eyes.

"Eat these crackers for me ma." He spoke grabbing the crackers off the dresser.

"I'm not hungry." She replied softly as she turned back over.

"Just eat a few of dem ma, you haven't ate since yesterday." He told her, closing her eyes she shook her head.

"Just do it for me Nae, I just wanna help." He pleaded, "Do you think I'm crazy?" She asked staring at the wall.

"You know I don't Nae." He answered.

"I think so." She mumbled. "Don't say dat, that's exactly what they want you to think." He told her.

"I killed someone though."

"It was self defense." He corrected. "I still killed him though." She stated. "He was trying to hurt you Renae." He reminded.

"But he didn't.... I hurt him." She spoke with a shaky voice.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

"Someone is dead for trying to help me... do you know how that makes me feel?" She asked.

"I shouldn't be here... he should be here." She spoke through clenched teeth.

"You're suppose to be here Nae unfortunately da guy just got caught in da crossfire." He told her.

"It's not th—." Her sentence came to a stop when she got the urge to vomit.

Jumping out the bed, she rushed into the bathroom and threw up inside the toilet.

Heading towards the bathroom, Kingston sat on the edge of the tub and rubbed her back as she threw up again.

"You gotta eat Nae, you need something on your stomach." He told her, she went to respond but ended up vomiting.

Once she finished, he helped her stand. Flushing the toilet for her, he went ahead and ran her bath water.

"You gotta eat those crackers after dis." He told her as she brushed her teeth.

She didn't reply or look his way, deciding to give her some space, he walked into his room and she closed the bathroom door behind him.

Laying across the bed, he stared up at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh.

This was harder than he expected.

**

June 7th

"Your sister got a boyfriend?" Keenan asked Dajon as they sat in his living room playing Call of Duty.

"Yeah I think... pops said she told him they haven't gotten serious or they're working their way there, something like that." He replied.

"What's his name? He from around here?" Keenan asked.

"I ain't ask, she grown. He must be keeping her happy."

"Still gotta meet dude to make sure he ain't a clown or fuck boy." He told him and Dajon chuckled.

"I'm sure she'll bring him around eventually, she's probably trying to figure everything out about him still. Until she tells me about him I won't ask."

"Next time I see her, I'll ask. I need to know if he's an opp or not." He said and Dajon shook his head.

"Here you go acting like the crazy big brother."

Laughing, Keenan shrugged. "I mean technically I am the big bro." He replied.

"Right... I just don't claim you when act wild." Dajon stated and they both laughed.

"I only get like that when niggas test me." He said and Dajon gave him a look. "You be going apeshit every deggone day bro." Dajon told him and he kissed his teeth.

"Hell nah."

"Hell yes." Dajon said and they both laughed. "Aye you a cussing dude." Keenan spoke then chuckled.

"Hanging around you made me pick up the habit."

"Don't try to blame me for that, I don't need auntie thinking I'm teaching you bad habits." Keenan told him and they laughed.

"That's because you are."

"Hell nah, that's all you." Keenan replied as they began to play zombie mode.

"Aye don't try to wait until the last minute to get more bullets." He spoke and Dajon busted out laughing.

"You still mad about that?" He asked and Keenan gave him a look.

"Don't try it."

**

The next day

"Good morning." Kingston greeted when Renae walked into the kitchen.

"Morning." She spoke opening the fridge. "Do you want to talk?" He asked flipping the pancakes.

Shaking her head, she went to walk out the kitchen but he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"You gotta eat Nae." He told her as he moved her hair from her face.

"I'm not hungry." She mumbled looking from his lips to his eyes.

"You gotta eat something for me." He told her and she held up the water bottle. "I got all I need." She replied and he chuckled.

"That's not food ma." He said pulling her into him as he flipped the bacon.

"I'm not hungry King." She stated.

"Yes you are."

"You're gonna force me to eat?" She questioned turning around and stared up at him.

"Mhm." He hummed putting the fork down.

Placing his hands on her waist, he stepped back and leaned against the counter.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked and she shrugged. "I slept." She replied simply as she looked down at her water bottle.

"It'll help if you tell me what happened." He spoke taking the bottle from her and sat it on the counter.

"I was gonna drink that."

"Talk to me first." He replied and she just stared at him.

"Can I do your hair?" She asked changing the topic.

"After we eat." He answered and she frowned. "Fine." She mumbled playing in his hair.

Leaning down, he rested his forehead against hers and she smiled softly.

"Am I too close to you?" He asked, shaking her head, she bit down on her lip nervously.

"What you thinking about?" He questioned noticing the look on her face. "Kiss me." She spoke standing on her tip toes.

Licking over his lips, he leaned down and brushed his lips over hers.

Pecking her lips softly, she closed her eyes as her heart began to race.

Tilting her slightly head slightly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

Moving their heads in sync, Kingston pulled from the kiss and moved down towards her neck.

Parting her lips, she gasped softly.

Lowering his hands to her ass, he gripped a handful of it as he started sucking on her neck.

Letting out a soft moan, Renae reached for his T-shirt.

Lifting her up, she wrapped her legs around his waist as a few things fell off the counter when he sat her on top.

Kissing her again, he moved back to her neck and traced his tongue over her tattoo.

Biting down on her lip, she smirked tilting her head some giving him more access.

Sucking on her spot, she moaned softly.

Just as she reached for the strings on his sweats, the doorbell rang.

Interrupting them for a second time.

"Shit." He cursed breathing heavy. "I'll get it." She spoke in between breaths feeling his erection.

Nodding, he pecked her lips before he stepped back allowing her to hop down from the counter.

"I think da kitchen is bad luck." He spoke as they walked out the kitchen and she laughed softly.

"I'm starting to think that." She replied fixing her hair.

He disappeared around the corner and she went to answer the door.

"It's about t—." Keenan paused mid sentence and looked at Renae.

"Keenan?" She asked furrowing her brows, Malik was walking up the driveway with King's game and controller laughing until he saw Renae standing in the doorway in only a T shirt.

"Oh shit."

*

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Uh oh lmao

What y'all think?