FULL CIRCLE

O6.

🎶 Now playing: In the Morning by J.Cole and Drake.

"Oh boy she bad, nigga, what you 'bout to do with that?" Roman spoke through the cloud of smoke he'd just blown out.

It was going on 11:15 pm and they were still outside, sitting on Antonio's doorstep. He was still smitten over the encounter from earlier. "She... she is pressure." He agreed.

Roman laughed lightly, shaking his head at Antonio, "So what are you doing about Justine? I saw the way you looked at Reign..."

Antonio sat upright to express himself freely to one of the only people that listened without judgement, "You ain't gon' judge me right?" He asked, making Roman smack his lips. He proceeded. "Truthfully speaking? I've been done with Justine for months now. I left that relationship mentally a while ago. I could never tell her how I truly felt because... we don't really talk or have good communication. I just don't want to use Reign as convenient bait to break up with Justine." Antonio said as Roman looked up at him.

Even at this time, the small town never lacked busyness, from corner gambling to music playing from someone's stereo. "At the end the day, Reign might not be giving you sex but she definitely gives you something Justine never will; emotional availability. You might not be sleeping with her but you are emotionally vulnerable with her, and that's not something you get from just anyone, that's all I'm going to say." Roman advised, making Antonio wonder if it was the weed talking or genuine.

"Does it count as cheating though?"

"In my opinion, yes, but that's debatable for some people." Roman quickly changed the topic to studio times and new music after Justine strolled towards them. Antonio forced a smile on his face before standing up, "Hey baby." She pecked his lips, holding onto his forearms. "Hey, what are you doing here so late?"

Roman caught his cue and stood up to leave, "We'll talk, man. Miss Justine..."

Justine watched him walk away before looking back up at her man. "I was hoping I could stay the night? I spent the whole day trying to get some of my grandmother's debt sorted out and she threw some more invoices at me, so I don't really want to speak about it..."

"Alright, we can go inside." Antonio spoke,  feeling exhausted from the cyclical nature of their relationship.

"Is your dad home?" she nervously bit her lip, slickly looking around.

Antonio got a water bottle from the fridge before leading her upstairs, "Nope. You never really know with him."

Making sure to shut and lock the door, Justine placed her backpack on the floor and sashayed towards Antonio. "Stop looking at me like that bro..." he chuckled at her sultry eyes. "Or else what?" She teased as she tugged on his shirt, eventually sliding it off his body and head. She slowly kissed on his neck, leaving her mark, then trailed down to his chest and further down.

Reign, on the other hand, caught herself thinking about Antonio a lot. It was more so the platonic chemistry they had. She fought against her feelings in order to convince herself that was the only way she felt; platonic, but was quickly snapped out of her thoughts by Lee, "Is that why you weren't answering my calls? You spent the day with him?" She questioned.

Reign couldn't sleep so she was busy cleaning around her apartment before lighting a warm scented candle soon after. "You know... I actually don't want to like him, but he's so... gentle with me. He didn't even touch me but the way he speaks to me? The way he looks at me? Lord, have mercy." She spoke softly, blushing to herself. She could only imagine how euphoric it would be if they moved on to the next step if his stares had her knees trembling the way they did.