A/N

Hey Google, shuffle my playlist.

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"Two weeks ago ever since Samaria came over here. You have been so much better. I'm proud of you. Even picking up some weight again." Keisha pinched her cheeks.

"Sam was right. I needed to get out of that funk. Thank you for making sure I had a warm meal and letting me stay here too. I appreciate it." Chalynn leaned into Keisha.

"You welcome baby." Kissing her forehead Keisha checked her phone. "You ready to go to physical therapy?"

"Yeah. It helps out a lot. After just two weeks I can finally feed myself. I mean, the pain medication helps with that too." Chalynn slowly got out of her chair and stood to her feet as Keisha sat back down. "You not taking me?"

"Nope. You have another ride." Before Chalynn could protest or say anything else she saw Key walk into his mother's house.

"You just let random people walk into yo house?" Chalynn looked between Keisha and Key because he came in as if he had a key.

"You ain't tell her?" He asked sitting down at the island.

"I figured since her lil behind was pretending to be sleep I figured she already knew." Keisha took a sip from her coffee mug.

"Tell me what?" Lay looked between the two of them absolutely confused.

"That Markeyvius is my son."

Chalynn looked between the two of them and burst out laughing. "I knew that. I just wanted to hear y'all say it. Come on sir we're going to be late. Bye motha."

Key grabbed her fitness bag before heading to his incognito car. He helped her inside and put on her seat belt before jogging to his door and getting inside.

Sneaking a glance at her, he noticed how pretty she still looked, even though she was thinner than he first saw her and it looked like she was in pain any time she laughed, moved or even smiled. He was happy to see she was alive.

Chalynn was nervous, should she even be at this point? She had this fine-ass man, thinking he was her Prince Charming.

"Yo granny a nice lady." Key broke the silence as he pulled off towards the highway.

"Oh, Lord. What did she say?" Chalynn wanted to cower in her seat, but she would put herself in too much pain.

"That she always knew we would be together. Since we were lil." She scrunched her face up looking at him. The only way she knew Key was because he was famous, she didn't know him from a can of paint otherwise.

"Mm mm .. ion know Markeyvius. I only know KG."

"You look good in your lil workout gear." He complimented changing the subject because he didn't remember her either, "Ion know naan girl who works out in Chanel."

"Cause you'll never meet another girl like me." She said pretending to pop her collar.

"It's a lot of pussy niggas out here that would die taking two bullets. You a champ." Key shrugged his shoulders, getting off of the exit.

"Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy." Chalynn sighed looking out the window as they pulled up to Naomi's Physical Therapy. "Thank you for the ride. You picking me up too?" She asked, about to open her own door.

"Aight, don't piss me off. I'm finna open the door. I'll be back around here to get you." Key got out of the car to help her out of the car and grab her bag. He even opened the door for her once they got to the front of the clinic.

"Chalynn! Hiya love. Ouu not you have Key Glock escorting you to your physical therapy appointment." Cyn said happily clapping her hands.

Key mugged the girl. He had to feel her out first, women loved to run they mouths especially when it came to people who had some social status.

"Text me when you done." The two of them hugged before he walked out of the doctor's office looking both ways and got back to his car.

"Hey, Cyn! Where's Dr. Alexander?" Chalynn hugged the girl completely ignoring the fact that she brought up KG.

"She's letting me carry out our sessions. She said within these two weeks you have made excellent progress and within the next two weeks you'll have a full range of motion." Cyn was overly bubbly which is one thing that annoyed Lay in the beginning but as they continued they really hit it off.

"Wow. What a blessing. Let's get to it." Lay was ready to be done with this shit. She was trying to watch Wednesday she was almost at the episode where she found out who the monster was.

"Sooo .. you gone tell me how you got him escorting you around?" She asked as they began Lay's first workouts.

"Girl, he's a friend of the family." Lay lifted the weight up to her chest and breathed through the pain. It was much better than her first day in therapy. She cried the first time she ever lifted a five-pound weight now she was up to ten and could do basic hygiene things for herself. Her overall goal was to lift her arms over her head and twist without being in pain.

"A family of the friend you be riding?" Cyn smirked looking at her client.

"You so nosey girl. Nah, it ain't like that." Yet.

Although Lay was in the clear with her abortion situation, she didn't feel right starting anything with Key. Especially sex. She had promised herself that she wouldn't have sex with anybody until she knew for a fact that they really wanted to be with her. Borderline loved her.

"Keep me in mind if you meet a friend like him. You got one of them." Cyn came from behind Lay and helped her lift.

"I got it. I got it! What do you mean one of them ones?" Lay asked lifting the weight slowly to her chest.

"You know. One of them niggas who mean to everybody but his girl. They the best." Cyn stepped away and watched Lay do her lift.

"Key ain't mean. Far as I know." She shrugged slowly lifting the weights over her head without thinking.

"Girl he mugged the hell outta me before he le- .. Chalynn! Are you in any pain right now?" Cyn asked trying not to scare her or get too excited.

"No why?" She asked not realizing what she was doing.

"Look in the mirror!" Cyn pointed to Lay in the mirror and she instantly dropped the weights and jumped up in excitement.

"Oh my gosh! I did it." The two girls hugged each other once again in excitement.

" I guess this means you won't need me anymore?" Cyn made a sad face as the girls broke apart.

"Now you know I'll be back. But right now, I gots ta go!" Chalynn joked, she hadn't realized the whole hour had gone by so fast. She quickly texted Key and no later than three seconds later he was standing in the doorway.

"You ready bg?" He asked grabbing her gym bag once again.

"Yep." She asked checking out of her session. Once the pair was settled into the car and Key pulled off he turned down the radio.

"You hungry?" He asked focusing on the road, his phone began to ring but he ignored it waiting for her response.

"Stay hungry. You hungry?" She asked mocking him causing Key to crack a small smile.

"Duh. You finna spend the rest of the day wit me." Key smirked looking at her through the corner of his eye.

"Oh am I?" A small smile formed on her face as he nodded his head.

"Yeah. Gone head and change. Ima talk to my ma real quick."

Now Playing

✨A Long Walk by Jill Scott✨

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"Thank you for taking her baby. I just had to get some stuff in order here." Keisha told her son straightening up the kitchen.

"You aight?" He asked sitting down at the island. Whenever his mother was upset he could tell, it was all in her face.

"Ima be okay. I just worry bout you. I want you to settle down with a nice girl before I leave this world." She sighed wringing the rag out and putting it in the sink.

"Workin on it but you won't be leaving the world for a min." Key got up from his seat and walked over to his mom. He kissed her cheek and grabbed her hand. "Whatever you stressing bout, we gone face it together. Aight?"

Keisha smiled softly patting his hand. "Okay, you're right." She tried to stay reassured but until she knew how to tell him what was going on with her, she couldn't be. "Where y'all going?" Keisha asked changing the subject.

Key grabbed a fruit punch out of the fridge and took one small sip from it.

"Ima take her to eat and then we gonna make rugs or some shit." He flicked his hands above his head.

"You already had this planned, didn't you?" She knew her son like the back of her hand.

"Yup. Since last week. Lil craft and sip type shit." A comfortable silence fell over the two. "Ma? Can I ask you some?"

"Anything Mar."

"How do you know her but ion know her?" That had been puzzling his mind ever since Hattie said it.

"Flo made it a mission for you not to be around Lay. You'd have to ask her crazy ass about that." Keisha waved off the conversation.

"I'm ready." Chalynn walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face. Somehow she had managed to shower, moisturize, apply light makeup, and slick her natural hair into a curly high bun within thirty-five minutes. She wasn't in pain at the moment but she popped a pain pill just in case.

Key's face lit up when he turned and saw her. It astounded him that she had another pair of Jordans, which so happened to be his favorite kind of shoes. He could tell Chalynn was laid back for the most part and the fact she didn't try to overdo it just to impress him, impressed him.

"Aight ma. We out." Key put up the deuces towards his mother and the two walked towards the front door.

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"Okay! How you know this is my favorite spot?" Lay grinned as she noticed where they were. Chicken was her favorite meal of all time, you could cook chicken any kind of way and it would be good.

"My mama." He chuckled backing into the parking space, for cautionary reasons of course.

"I gotta tell that lady to stop telling my business." Lay shook her head unbuckling her seat belt and was about to open the car door but she felt him put a hole in her face with his eyes. Quickly grabbing his piece and shoving it in his pants he got out of the car, letting her out, and locked the door.

"Welcome to Hattie B's. Here or to go?" The cashier asked smiling at the two of them.

"Here. Tell 'em what you want." Key stepped to the side looking at the menu. Lay tugged on his shirt to get his attention and waved him closer to her. "Huh?"

"Can you order for me?" She whispered, the cashier looked at the two of them patiently.

"Mane, tell that girl what you want and stop playing." Key smacked his lips still looking at the menu. Once he realized Lay wasn't playing he sighed, "What you want?"

"Medium fried tenders with mac, and cheese with baked beans with a lemonade, please." She released his shirt as he repeated her order to the cashier and then placed his own order.

"You can sit anywhere and then when it's ready we'll bring it to you with this number." The cashier handed Lay the red number four to put on their table. Key walked her to the back of the restaurant and sat facing the door.

"Why you actin scary?" He asked laying his gun on the table.

"Respectfully, I was just shot. Can you hide that thing?" Chalynn eyed the Glock that sat on the table and tried not to go into a panic.

"My fault." He put it on the rest of the booth beside him.

"I just didn't feel like ordering. My voice is tired." She smiled like a badass little kid. She really wanted to see if he would step up to the plate to order for her or not.

"Thought sumn was wrong wit you." He waved her off, "What you like to do?"

"Mm .. that's a good question. I study, work, try to stay out the way to be honest. I like to hope for better days, make money, and try to move out my mama's house. Cause shit ain't good there can't lie." Chalynn clicked her fingernails against the wooden table.

"Whatchu mean? I mean if you wanna talk bout it." He shrugged leaning back into the booth.

"Mm. She just .. abusive but this is supposed to be a date and I've done enough crying this past month." Key nodded his head.

"When you supposed to graduate?" He understood that she didn't want to talk about it so he didn't want to push her and make her talk about anything she didn't want to.

"May of 23' praise God. I'm ready to get the hell up through." She smiled thinking about the day she crossed the stage.

"Save me a seat. Ima be there wit some flowers or some shit. You like flowers right?" Key and Chalynn both laughed at his comment and how he did his hands.

"I do like flowers. Red, pink, and white roses to be exact. You did good with the ones you brought to my job. Lillies too, you like flowers?" Chalynn asked, it was nice to see him smile and he got a genuine laugh out of her. That was a plus, she wasn't smiling to laughing much these days.

"I mean shit. Ian never got em before, I could. Ion know."

"I didn't ask you what you liked to do. What does Key Glock like to do on a regular?" She asked scoping her surroundings. Ever since she got shot she kept her head on a swivel and didn't like leaving the house.

"You wanna get to know Key Glock or Markeyvius? Ain't gone work if you not tryna know me for me." Chalynn bit her lip nervously, the hell? Are they not the same person? Come on girl, think quick.

"Being honest? I wanna know all of you. Key Glock, Key, Markeyvius, Tony, Louie. What makes you who you are but on the same note, taking shit slow." Ever since the two had first met they had been keeping shit real with each other. Well, she was more than him.

"We doing that. Taking it slow. Feeling each other out. You watch my interviews?" Key smiled and rubbed his goatee referencing the interview specifically where he mentioned his personalities. She was quick on her feet and he liked that, you never know when it would come in handy.

"Mhm. I'm a fan but I don't want that to mess up anything we potentially got going on. Ian dick pressed or nothing like that." Seeing Chalynn open up to him made him happy he couldn't lie. He didn't know how this was going to go. Most of the girls he messed with always told him they weren't dick pressed but then turned out to be total psychos.

"Here's your food. If you need anything please let me know. Alsooo ... you two make a cute couple. I watched the interview and lawd. The chemistry was unmatched." Lay knew it was coming especially since the cashier was so young and looked to be a fan.

"'Preciate it." Key looked at the young girl and nodded his head. She was telling them things he already knew.

"Thank you sweetie. That was too kind." Lay stated, they chatted with her for another minute or two before she left. They said grace and dug into their food.

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"So you can choose from these different rugs to make and then after that you guys will move on to the painting section. The instructions are next to your frames. Key just text when you finish up and I'll come back to clean." Chalynn was in awe, he had brought her rug tufting. Something she had always wanted to do and had tweeted about before she had gotten shot.

They could choose from the designs that were already drawn out.

"You know what we should do?" She asked him looking at the twenty centimeter rugs.

"Hmm?" He asked already knowing what she was about to say.

"We should make one for each other. Go over there while I pick one that I think you'd like and then I'll do the same while you pick one you think I'll like." Key chuckled and followed her instructions. She picked one of Huey from the boondocks he was holding a machine gun. She took it and turned her frame opposite of Keys so they would be facing each other.

Chalynn put backing material on the back of their frames so they couldn't see what each other picked.

There was a light ambiance playing in the background and it was only the two of them in there.

"So you asked about me, what about you? Why don't you have a lil girlfriend or anything like that?" Lay asked, since the rug guns were kind of loud they had to pause in order to talk.

"You know it's plenty of people out here to fuck on. I was messing with Aubree from my boy King's club but she wasn't ready to leave there and I got tired of sharing but we ended that bout six months ago." Chalynn nodded her head, she would've never thought that he would take anybody serious.

"King? As in House of Cards, King?" She asked peering over her frame.

"That's him. My brotha." He nodded his head proudly.

"Did you love her?" Chalynn asked nosily, she needed to know if she had any competition.

"Never loved a female that was not related to me." Key spoke honestly, he had strong feelings for Aubree and even had love for her but he had never loved a woman before.

"So, if she texted you and told you that she was ready to leave you wouldn't drop me and go back to her?" Chalynn raised her eyebrow, there was no way she was going to even attempt with a nigga who had another girl on his mind.

"Nah but what's yo story with Dorian nem?" He changed the subject off of him.