"Timeless" Part 1

[CarolinaCutie]

[glow=maroon,2,300]Special thankx to sweetgapeaches for helpin' me out with this one! This was truly fun, lil' play sis![/glow] ;D

[glow=black,2,300]“I chose the road of passion and pain/Sacrificed too much and waited in vain”
—Mary J. Blige: I Used to Love Him
[/glow]

After tying a multi-colored silk scarf around her kinky mass of curls, Kiara put on her favorite pair of jeans, some Reebok classics, and a navy blue sweater. The air was unseasonably cool for an April night.

“Yo, Peaches! I’ma drop by Mike’s place for a while. He put off his flight until lata on tonight because he said he has somethin’ important to tell me!”, Kiara smiled as she came walking out of her bedroom. She was hoping that Michael was going to finally pop the question to her.

“Another business trip, right?”, Peaches replied trying not to sound out of line with her girl. After all, Kiara was letting Peaches stay with her in the extra bedroom she had for family while her home was being remodeled. They had always been there for each other from day one when they met and became instant friends at a styling salon three years before. They just happened to have the same hairdresser until Kiara decided to go au natural with her ‘do.

“Yes, Peaches…it’s another business trip. Mike is top dawg at his company now so he has to go out of town more than eva’ before. But that’s somethin’ I’ve learned to accept. Especially if we’re gettin’ married in the near future.”, Kiara sighed as she headed for the door. She and Michael had discussed marriage in between more than their share of relationship troubles in the past. However, in her heart, Kiara had been having her doubts about his last-minute business trips out of town lately.

“Well, ya know your boy, Mark, is supposed to be comin’ by with Tamir. Maybe he’ll still be here by the time you get back.”, Peaches stated. “Ya know, I’m beginnin’ to think that he likes you in a different way.”, she smiled after changing the subject. She knew that if they stayed on Mike for too long, it would get a little ugly. He wasn’t one of her favorite people in the world.

“Girl, please! Ya know that Mark and I will always be special friends; I’ve been there for him and Lord knows he’s been there for me plenty of times; especially when I was goin’ through with Mike! But that’s where the line is drawn.”, Kiara giggled as she headed for the door. She was also blushing a little bit because she was having these crazy and confused feelings about Mark. She felt like she was beginning to take a different liking to him even though she was still involved with someone else. “Well, I’m out. Tell Mark I said w’sup in case he’s not here when I get back.”

“Aight, I will! See ya lata!”, Peaches replied as she watched Kiara close the door behind her.

“Lord, please help her to see the light with that man!”, Peaches stated out loud as she headed to the back to change out of her sweat pants and t-shirt into some jeans and a red pullover blouse. She then pulled her ponytail down and ran a comb through her hair before putting on a coat of sheer lip-gloss. She had to look good for her boo, Tamir, since he was on his way over. She hadn’t seen him since Tuesday night.
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“Let’s take this home one mo’ ‘gin, and then we’ll call it a day!”, Larry joked as he and the rest of Dru Hill stood at their mics in the booth of a popular recording studio. They were working on their 5th album as well as a song for a movie soundtrack that would be dropping in a few months. The movie would be a thriller starring Nia Long and Mekhi Phifer with a cameo appearance by Dru performing their song. They would be flying out to Cali in another month or two to film their scene. And they also planned to make a few promo appearances while in Cali for their upcoming project that would be dropping in time for the holidays.

The song they were working on for the movie was written by Mark and was entitled, “Timeless”. After they were finished with their session, everybody began to pack up for the night.

“Yo, this was on point! But we still have a few more things to work on. So, let’s say we come back in around five tomorrow evening.”, James suggested.

“I’m coo’ with that if the rest of yall are.”, Rufus replied with a nod of his head. The others agreed that the meeting time was cool with them also.

“Aight, well let’s be out! See yall tomorrow night around 5.”, Larry replied as they gave each other a pound.

“You on yo’ way ova to see your girl?”, Larry asked Tamir as everybody headed for their rides.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen her in two days so I’ma go get my quality time in tonight.”, he stated with a wink.

“Aight then, well yall take care!”, Rufus replied as he climbed in his ride with Larry and sped out of the parking lot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Yo, man! Ain’t that Mike over there?”, Larry asked Rufus as they sat at a stoplight. He observed Michael hugging a woman goodbye before she began to climb in the back of a taxi.

“Yeah, that’s him! I wonda’ who that girl was though because that definitely wasn’t Kiara.”, Rufus stated with a surprised look.

“Man, that’s juss straight messed up!”, Larry stated as he shook his head. “I feel sorry for both Kee and Mark. She has a man that’s straight doggin’ her and Mark is really feelin’ her. He’s makin’ it quite obvious how he feels about her, but yet she doesn’t see it or doesn’t want to see it!”, he stated as Rufus began driving again.

“Yeah, man! You right about that!”, Rufus agreed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Where yo’ girl at?”, Mark asked Peaches as he walked inside Kiara’s apartment with Tamir and James.

“She’s gone over to Mike’s place.”, she replied as she and Tamir greeted one another with a hug and kiss.

“Oh.”, Mark replied as he flopped down in a chair. “I thought all of us were gonna hang out togetha for a while.”

“Well, he decided to take a later flight out of town tonight on some so-called business trip because he claims he has something important to share with Kee.”, Peaches stated with a roll of her eyes and a big sigh. “I wish she would juss leave him alone though. There’ somethin’ about his @$$ that I can’t stand!”

“I hope Kee doesn’t feel that way about ‘Mir!”, James laughed while pointing at Tamir.

“Look, fifth wheel, don’t get hurt up in here, aight?!”, Tamir chuckled as he joined Peaches on the sofa. James’ girl was out of town with a group of her friends at a women’s retreat for the weekend.

“Whateva, man! Don’t be mad ‘cuz my baby gonna be refreshed for her man when she gets back home!”, James grinned. “No offense, Peaches.”, he smiled.

“Yeah, right…anyway, gettin’ back to what I was sayin’…!”, Peaches stated with a roll of her eyes and chuckle. “Kee loves all of yall! Besides, ‘Mir is in no way like that shady character she has!”, she stated with a wave of her hand. James chuckled at her statement as he began to head for the kitchen.

“Ya know, I ain’t liked that na from the day I met him! I’m like Peaches, there’s somethin’ ‘bout him I can’t put my finga on!”, Mark stated in a slightly jealous tone.

“When this na gon’ learn that Kee juss wanna keep him in the friend zone?”, Tamir asked as he placed his arm around Peaches’ shoulder.

“Don’t even think about draggin’ me into this!”, she joked with a shake of her head.

“Whateva, yo! Kee’ll come around after while and realize that I’M the only na she needs in her life!”, Mark replied with a sly grin as he grabbed the remote and started flipping through channels to see what was on television. He decided to watch one of the many reality shows that were on.

“Juss make yo’self at home, why don’tcha?!”, Peaches stated as she watched James coming out of the kitchen with a bottle of water, a bag of pretzels, and an ice cream sandwich. Then she glanced over at Mark who had propped his feet up on the coffee table after leaning back in his chair.

“Yall know Kee would go off if she was to come in here right now and see what’chall are doin’ to her place.”, she joked.

“That’s coo’! I like my women aggressive anyway!”, Mark joked as he winked at her.

“Negro, please!”, everybody stated in unison before laughing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[CarolinaCutie]

“What’s all this?”, Kiara asked as she walked inside Michael’s place. She noticed a few small and medium-sized boxes that had been packed.

“That’s what I wanna talk to ya about.”, he replied with a serious look as he closed the door and walked in behind her.

When she noticed some of her items in one of the boxes, she whirled around with a puzzled look on her face as she stared at him. She didn’t utter one word for her eyes made it known that she demanded an explanation.

Michael, who in her opinion was the sexiest man walking on the face of the earth with his chocolate-dipped skin, naturally curly hair, and 6’2 muscular build, seemed like the devil himself as he began to walk towards her only wearing a pair of jeans.

“Listen, there’s no easy way for me to say this…”, he began as he took both of her hands. “…But it’s juss not workin’ out between us.”

Kiara rolled her eyes as she chuckled. Then she shook her head while looking at him. “After two and a half years, huh? So who is she?”

“Kee, stop and listen to me for a minute!”, he begged as his grip grew tighter on her hands. But Kiara wouldn’t stop interrupting him with her continuous question of “who is she?” each time he tried to explain his reasons. However, the last time he tried to give an explanation, Kiara gave him an icy stare.

“You mean to tell me that you’re so much of a bh that you can’t even tell me who the ho is, Mike?”, she calmly asked.

He dropped her hands and pointed his finger at her. “You know what…that’s exactly why it’s not workin’ out!”, he replied as he began to walk away from her.

“No this na ain’t tryna blame me!”, she thought in disbelief. She stood frozen in time as she began to think about the signs that showed that their relationship had been sinking for a while: his going out of town on business more and more, his coming in late from work, and his being too tired to spend time with her or take her out like he used to. She suddenly thought about Mark and how he had been there for her during the times that she was experiencing trouble in paradise. Then without warning, she went off.

“You sorry @$$ bastard!”, she shrieked as she ran up behind him and began punching him anywhere that her tightly clenched fists would land. “After all you’ve taken me through, this is how you gon’ do me?!!! Are you outta yo’ fin’ mind?!!!”

“Get the fk off me!”, he shouted as he turned around and ducked one of her punches that barely missed his face. He then proceeded to forcefully push her down on the sofa while grabbing her hands to keep her from punching him anymore as he knelt on the floor beside her.

“I hate you!!!”, she cried and screamed. “And I hate my stupid @$$ even more for bein’ with you this long!”

“Then that makes two of us!”, he shouted back. “And yeah, juss so you know, I do have someone else! I can’t help that you became so routine to me!” When he realized the intensity of his words, he cursed himself as he jumped up and walked over to his patio door to look out into the night.

As Kiara slowly gathered some of her strength back, she sat up on his sofa and buried her head in her hands while crying. “Oh God! Why are you doin’ this to me? After all that I’ve done for him, why punish me?!!” She stood up and began to head for the door.

Michael ran over and stood in front of her to keep her from leaving. “Look, I’m sorry for what I said and I…”

“Save it, aight?!”, Kiara stated as she walked around him. When he ran and stood in front of her again, she bit her bottom lip and slapped him with every ounce of hatred that she had for him at the moment. “Go to hell!” Then she stormed out of his place without gathering any of her belongings.

Once she climbed in her ride, she sat and cried like crazy for a few minutes as her head rested against the steering wheel. She repeatedly heard Michael’s words about his finding someone else echoing in the back of her mind. When she was finally able to pull herself together, she started her ride to head home while blasting her system. She cursed the music as Lil’ Mo and Lil’ Kim’s “10 Commandments” thumped through the speakers though.

“Chile, please! That’s not always true! I’ve done everything and more for that ma that yo’ lil’ @$$ is singing about!!!” With that, she switched to a jazz station so she wouldn’t have to hear anyone singing about this crap called love. She’d wait until she arrived home to have her musical pity-fest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m gettin’ a lil’ hungry. Why don’t we all go out and grab a quick bite to eat?”, Tamir suggested after watching tv for a while.

“Yeah, cuz Kee really didn’t have anything in the kitchen.”, James replied as he stretched.

“Correction; she doesn’t have anything in the kitchen, now!”, Peaches joked as she put up a finger. “You prolly ate everything that she did have up in there!”

“Whateva!”, James laughed. “Mark, you wit us, man?”, he asked. Mark was so wrapped up in what was on tv that he had tuned everybody out. Or so they thought. His mind was actually on Kiara. For some reason, he was thinking about her more than usual tonight.

“Yeah, I’m coo’ with the plan to grab somethin’.”, he replied with a nod of his head as he continued to watch tv without really paying any attention to it.

“Aight, well let’s head out then!”, Tamir stated as they stood up to leave.

“Kiara will prolly be here by the time we get back since Mike’s flight leaves in another hour or so. You’ll get to hang out with her then.”, Peaches smiled as she gave Mark a wink.

“I hope so!”, he grinned as they headed out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Good, nobody’s here!”, Kiara sighed with relief as she pulled her ride into her apartment building’s parking lot. She didn’t see Tamir’s ride. More than likely that meant that he and Peaches were out. “The only company I need right now is Mary and my bottle of Hunch Punch!”, she thought to herself as she grabbed her bag from the passenger seat. She had made a quick stop to pick up something to drown her sorrows in. This was something she hadn’t done in a long, long, long time.

Each step she took towards her apartment seemed to be more difficult than the last. Reality was going to hit her especially hard when she went inside because of pictures and other reminders of Michael.

“Anybody here?”, she asked as she stuck her head inside her place. When no one answered, she walked in and threw her purse on a nearby chair as she headed for the kitchen to get a glass for her drink.

“Well, Mary, looks like it’s juss me and you, girl!”, she told the “My Life” CD as she slipped it into her stereo and put it on repeat. Each time a ballad played, she would sing and cry along with the lyrics. During the up-tempo songs, she would cuss and fuss about Michael while cheering Mary on with “Sang it girl! “ or “You know the pain I’m feelin’!”. Kiara did this for what seemed like an eternity while downing one drink after another.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What I tell ya!”, Peaches chuckled as she turned around to look at Mark who was sitting in the back with James. She spotted Kiara’s ride in its regular parking space as Tamir pulled his ride up alongside of hers.

“Yeah, you right! I gotta holla at my girl since the night is still young!”, Mark grinned as everyone climbed out.

“Ummm, last time I checked, she was Mike’s girl!”, James joked as he patted Mark on the shoulder.

“Whateva! Yall juss watch…it won’t be long before I’m able to steal her away from him!”, Mark beamed.

“That’ll be the day!”, Tamir laughed while slipping his arm around Peaches waist as they walked ahead of James and Mark.

“Don’t think I didn’t hear what’chu said!”, Mark laughed as they headed inside.

“Somebody playin’ their music kinda loud ain’t they?”, James asked when they stepped off of the elevator onto Kiara’s floor.

“I know right. Sounds like it’s comin’ from our end of the hall.”, Tamir replied.

Suddenly, Peaches stopped in her tracks. “Oh no! It’s gotta be Kiara! When she’s upset, she has a tendency to crank her music up a bit too loud!” She let go of Tamir’s hand as she quickly headed for Kiara’s door. Tamir, Mark, and James quickly followed behind her.

[CarolinaCutie]

“Kiara!”, Peaches exclaimed when she opened the door. They saw her passed out in the middle of the floor with her glass still in her hand. She was also cradling a recent picture of her and Michael together on one of their rare nights out on the town.

“Oh isht!”, Mark hissed as he ran over to be by Kiara’ side. He immediately threw the picture that she was holding upside a wall shattering the frame’s glass into millions of pieces. “Punk @$$ ma!”, he shouted.

Peaches ran over to the stereo to turn it off while Tamir closed the patio door that had been left open by Kiara.

“Kee, wake up, boo! C’mon, wake up!”, Mark stated as he lightly patted her face while holding her in his arms.

“Stop! I wanna stay here; juss leave me alone!”, she mumbled as she tried to pull away from him.

James ran over to help. “Kee, c’mon now. You gotta get up for us.” He took one of her arms and threw it around his shoulder while Mark took her other arm and threw it around his.

“That punk @$$ has really done it this time!”, Peaches exclaimed as Tamir pulled her into his arms to try to calm her down. “When he gets back, I betta not see him or that will be it! Look at how he has my girl, ‘Mir! Juss look at her!”, she cried as she buried her head in his chest.

“It’s gonna be aight, ma. She doesn’t realize it now, but he has done her a huge favor if he’s gone for good.”, Tamir reassured Peaches as he kissed her forehead and rubbed her back.

“That’s aight! I’m gon’ take care of his sorry @$$ for the both of us!”, Mark shouted as he and James slowly began to sit Kiara up.

All of a sudden, Kiara looked around at everybody. “Heyyyy!!! Who turned the music off?!”, she whined while trying to figure out what was going on.

“You gon’ be aight.”, Mark faintly stated when she turned back around to look at him. Without saying a word, she burst into tears.

“He said he don’t want me no more. Why he say that? How could he do this to me? I did everything to make him happy, so why he make me feel so sad?”, Kiara wailed. Mark didn’t have an answer for her so he simply brushed a strand of her hair away from her tear-stained face.

“C’mon, sweetie.”, James whispered as he and Mark began to stand her up.

Peaches broke out of Tamir’s embrace to go and hug her girl. “Let’s go get your face cleaned up and get you out of these clothes.”, Peaches stated as she began to head down the hall with Kiara who was sobbing uncontrollably.

“I’ma go put on some coffee.”, Tamir stated as he and the guys headed for the kitchen.

“I’ma kill that @$$hole when I meet up with him! Kee doesn’t deserve to be treated like that by him or nobody else.”, Mark shouted as he pounded the kitchen table with his fist.

“Hey, man! You have got to calm down. He’s not worth gettin’ into any kind of trouble over.”, Tamir stated with a shake of his head.

“Yeah, man. ‘Mir is right! The worst punishment he’ll suffer for treatin’ Kee the way he has is when he realizes what he’s lost. Besides who will she have to talk to when Peaches isn’t available. She surely can’t talk to you if you up north somewhere.”, James joked as he punched Mark on the shoulder.

Mark started chuckling. “I guess yall are right, but he still gon’ hear some isht from me if I eva’ bump into him somewhere. Yall can believe that!”

James’ phone began to ring. It was Larry.

“Hello.”, James answered.

“W’sup, man! Rufus and I juss went by yo’ place and no one was there, then we went by Mark’s and he wasn’t home. Are yall hangin’ out together or somethin’?”, Larry asked.

“Yeah, man. We decided to hang out with Tamir at Kee’s place with Peaches. We’re in the middle of a crisis with Kee right now though.”, James replied.

“Oh, her na actin’ up again, huh?”, Larry asked. “Well, that’s no surprise since Rufus and I saw him huggin’ on some female earlier this evenin’ in front of his place.”

“Word?! Yo, Peaches told us that he was goin’ out of town on some business trip lata on tonight. Kee was over there earlier. I guess she found out then.”, James replied with a shake of his head.

“Maybe Mark can make his move once and for all, now.”, Larry stated. “But anyway, I was callin’ to see if yall wanted to hang out or whateva. But since yall are busy, maybe we can hang out tomorrow night. I’ll talk with ya later.”

“Aight now. I’ll see yall tomorrow.”, James replied before hanging up his phone.

“That was Larry callin’ to see if Mark and I wanted to hang out with him and Rufus for a while. But I explained to him what was goin’ on.”, James stated as they left out of the kitchen after Tamir had finished making a cup of coffee for Kiara.

After having her cup of coffee, Peaches and Kiara talked things over in her bedroom while the guys sat in the living room.

“I’m sorry that I messed up yo’ evenin’, Peachy-Keen.”, Kiara faintly smiled as she sat in the middle of her bed. “I was thinkin’ that you had decided to stay ova at ‘Mir’s place for the night. If you want, you can still go with him. I’ll be fine. Mark said he’ll stay with me anyway.”

“Are you tryna throw me out?!”, Peaches joked as she came and sat on the edge of Kiara’s bed.

“Nooooo, I’m not tryna throw ya out!”, Kiara giggled as she rolled her eyes. “I’m juss sayin’, I don’t want to take away your time with him. I know yall hadn’t seen each otha in a couple of days and I don’t want to spoil things for ya.” Without warning, tears started streaming down Kiara’s face. “See what I mean?”, she sighed as she brushed away her tears with a smile. “Girl, I don’t want anybody’s relationship to suffer like mine has.”

Peaches placed her arm around Kiara’s shoulder. “I know it’s easier said than done, but you’ll get ova Mike in no time. Besides, there are too many otha men out here waitin’ on someone like you, like say ummmmmmm…Mark?”, Peaches joked.

“Anyway!”, Kiara laughed. “Juss go on and be with yo’ man like I told ya!”

“Aight. I guess we’ll drop James off at his place and then head to ‘Mir’s. But call me if ya need me, okay?”, Peaches stated as she stood up to leave out of her room.

“I promise.”, Kiara smiled.

“Is it okay if I come in?”, Mark asked as he stuck his head in her door after everyone else had left.

“Yeah, sure!”, Kiara replied as she waved her hand for him to come on in.

Like always, Mark lent his ear and shoulder to Kiara’s pain and woes about Michael. But they also laughed and watched tv in between as he held her in his arms until she finally fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning. He went back into the living room where he slept until the next day.

[glow=black,2,300]“You are my trusted friend/On you I can depend/You take me away from the pain/And you bring me paradise”
—Mary J. Blige: Everything[/glow]

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[CarolinaCutie]

[glow=black,2,300]“A dream/A simple fantasy/That I wish was reality”
—Mary J. Blige: Dream[/glow]

After the complete renovation of Peaches’ home, Kiara threw her a surprise housewarming party. Kiara had been planning the party from the first day that Peaches’ told her about the remodeling she was having done to her home. But getting the guests into her home for the party was going to take some good thinking on Kiara’s part. After discussing what her plans were for the party with Tamir, whom she had to beg not to let it slip to Peaches, they decided that he would take Peaches out for a while. He said he would take her down to the beach for a little romantic walk followed by dinner. This way, Kiara could let the guests in easily with no problems since she had a key to Peaches’ place. However, no one else besides Kiara and Tamir had a key to her home.

“Hey, boo! You ready?”, Tamir asked as he walked inside Peaches’ house.

“Almost!”, she replied from the bathroom as she put the finishing touches on her hair. When she walked out, Tamir was very satisfied with her look. “Dn, girl! My baby lookin’ good!”

“Thank you!”, she smiled as she walked over to him to give him a hug and a kiss. She was dressed in a white angel-sleeved blouse that was low-cut in the front, a straight black skirt, and a pair of black, slide on high-heeled sandals. Her shoulder-length hair softly framed her face and she had on a just right amount of makeup.

“You ready to be out?”, Tamir asked as he took her hand.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”, she replied as they left.

Meanwhile, Kiara was running a little behind in schedule as she had just came back from her hairdresser. She figured she needed a new look after what had taken place in the last few weeks. She had her hair straightened, and cut into a bob-style with one side of her hair falling over one of her eyes. Even she was pleased with her new look. Anyway, she decided to grab her favorite outfit that consisted of a long and sheer, black quarter-sleeved blouse that hung off of one of her shoulders and a pair of red slacks with a pair of black high-heeled mules since she didn’t have time to get her toes done. She would change into her outfit once she arrived at Peaches’ place.

About an hour after she had changed into her outfit and had things ready for the party, the guests began to show up. Mark, Rufus and his girl, and James and his girl were the first ones to show up.

“Kiara?”, James chuckled when she opened the door for them. “Is that you, girl?”

“Yeah, it’s me!”, she laughed as she followed them inside. “I felt the need for a change that’s all.” She proceeded to hug and thank them all for being able to come to the party.

“I don’t wanna let go!”, Mark joked when it was his turn to hug her as he held her a little too tight.

“Well, ya gonna have to!”, she giggled while hitting him on the shoulder. “You’re wrinkling up my clothes, for cryin’ out loud!”

More and more guests began to show up as the guys’ girlfriends helped Kiara out with the refreshments and whatnot. Peaches and Tamir would be showing up at any moment because he had called Kiara to see if it was okay to come back home. He said he’d make up something about leaving his wallet at Peaches’ place by mistake.

Mark who was on standby at the window announced when he saw Peaches’ and Tamir drive up.

“What’s all of these cars doin’ parked in front of my house and up and down the road?”, Peaches’ angrily asked. “I hope nobody’s about to have a loud party!”

Tamir chuckled, “No, of course not!” He put his key in the doorknob and stood back so Peaches could walk in ahead of him.

“Surprise!!!”, everyone cheered once she and Tamir walked into the living room.

“Oh my God! What’s goin’ on?!”, she asked in awe as she looked at the decorations around the room and all of the guests.

Kiara who was standing in front of them gave Peaches a big hug. “This is our way of saying congratulations on your almost-new place!”, she joked. Everyone applauded and began to party some more as someone put the music back on.

“Girl, how can I ever repay you for this?!”, Peaches grinned as she gave Kiara a warm hug.

“You already have by bein’ with me through thick and thin!”, Kiara smiled as everyone mingled and danced around them.

Meanwhile, Tamir showed the guys the engagement ring he had bought for Peaches.

“So you takin’ it to the next level now, huh?”, Rufus asked as he gave him a pound.

“Yeah, man! When you have someone like her, you don’t want to let ‘em get away. I’m gon’ pop the question in a few minutes since her friends and family are already here. I’ve been plannin’ to do it on tonight since Kee told me about this party.”, Tamir stated with a sly grin.

“Well, we’re happy for ya, man!”, Mark smiled as he patted Tamir on the shoulder. Just then he saw Kiara as she walked by them to refill the punch bowl. He decided to see to she needed any help.

“Hey, ma! Can I help with anything?”, he asked as he slipped his arm around her shoulder.

“W’sup! Thanks for askin’ but I think everything is pretty much covered. You are such a sweetie though!”, she smiled as she took his hand. Just then they heard Tamir asking for everyone’s attention as Larry turned the stereo down.

“I have somethin’ important to share with all of you as well as Peaches.”, he stated as he took her hand and led her out into the middle of the living room floor. Peaches took a deep gasp when he knelt down on one knee while looking up at her. Whispers from the guests could be heard throughout the room.

“We’ve been together for a while now and you haven’t done anything but bring me much joy and happiness and I would be honored if you would be my wife.”, he smiled as he pulled out a ring.

Peaches was speechless because she felt like she was about to break down right there on the spot in front of everyone. However, after a few seconds, she was able to whisper a yes as a single tear began to roll down her cheek. Tamir slipped the ring on her finger and stood up to hug and kiss her. Then he looked back at Larry and gave him a head nod to turn the music back on.

“Shall we?”, he asked Peaches as Kelly Price’s “He Proposed” began to play through her stereo’s speakers.

All of the guests said “awwwwwwwww” in unison as the two of them began to dance. Peaches felt like she was in heaven.

However, Kiara felt the exact opposite. While she was more than happy for her girl, she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous because it hadn’t been quite a month since Michael had ended their relationship. And because she didn’t want to chance losing her friendship with Mark, she kept her feelings about him to herself. For the rest of the night, she forced more than her share of smiles with everyone until they left.

“Well, I guess I’d betta start cleanin’ up before I leave.”, Kiara smiled as she began to clean off the table and put away the leftovers.

“Nah girl…you’ve done so much already that I’ll do it in the mornin’. Anyway, Tamir and I have some work of our own to do if you know what I mean.”, Peaches laughed with a wink.

“Oh well, you know me…I don’t turn down nuthin’ but my colla!”, Kiara laughed as she gave her a high-five. “But are you sure that I can’t do anything before I leave?”

“Nah, Kee! I got it! Besides I think someone would really enjoy your company right about now.” , Peaches replied as she and Kiara looked over at Mark who was chatting with Tamir.

“Anyway!”, Kiara chuckled as she and Peaches headed over to them.

“Well Mark, since Peaches has declined my offer to stay and clean up for her, I guess I’m ready whenever you are.” Earlier in the evening, he had told her that he would follow her home to make sure she got in safely.

“Aight, well I guess we’ll be out then.”, he replied as he opened the door for her.

“See yall!”, Peaches replied with a wide grin as Tamir held her in his arms from behind.

“Bye!”, Kiara and Mark waved as they closed the door behind them.

“I thought they’d neva’ leave! C’mon!!!”, Tamir chuckled as he took Peaches’ hand and led her upstairs.

“You ain’t said nothin’ but a word!”, she laughed. Just then, her doorbell rang.

“Mannnnnnnn!!!”, Tamir huffed as he headed back to the door for Peaches who was already in her room.

It was Kiara. “I’m sorry to botha’ ya, but I’ma have to leave my car over here because it won’t start. It has to be the battery. But I thought I’d let yall know that Mark is takin’ me home. I’ll be back in the mornin’ to see what’s goin’ on with it.”

“Aight, well that’s cool!”, Tamir replied before heading back to Peaches.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[CarolinaCutie]

Mark noticed that Kiara was unusually quiet on the ride all the way back to her place. She didn’t use a complete sentence until they were inside.

“Well, thanks for the ride home tonight.”, she stated as she gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

“Are you ok?”, Mark asked with a concerned look as he took her hand. “I noticed you really haven’t said much of anything since the party.”

“Yeah, sure! Why wouldn’t I be? I guess I’m juss a lil’ exhausted from the excitement of the party and everything.”, Kiara replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

Mark sensed something deeper than that though. “I may be out of line with what I’m about to ask, but you haven’t seen Mike lately have you?”

“No! Not at all. I hadn’t even thought about him until Tamir and Peaches…”, Kiara began before she caught herself with what she was about to say. She became embarrassed and pulled her hand from his. Then she proceeded to turn around so he wouldn’t see the hurt she was feeling.

“So I was right.”, Mark thought to himself. “Look, this is Mark you’re talkin’ to, Kee. There’s no need to hold back your feelin's from me. It’s okay if you want to talk about what went on tonight.”, he reassured her as he walked up behind her and wrapped her up in his arms.

She was about to say something when the lights flickered on and off a few times before shutting completely off.

“What’s happenin’?”, Mark asked as they stood frozen in place so they wouldn’t stumble over anything in the dark. The only source of light that they had was the moonlight shining through Kiara’s blinds at her windows and patio door.

After Mark’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he ordered Kiara to stay put while he went to open up the blinds and grab a flashlight/portable radio that she kept on her bookcase.

“There we go!”, he stated once he turned the flashlight on. “It looks like everybody’s lights are out though.” He noticed that the other buildings in the area were dark.

“Lemme grab some candles.”, Kiara stated as they held hands and walked through her place to gather some. She had more than enough of them.

“This is much better.”, Mark smiled once they sat together on the sofa. “Now, gettin’ back to what we were about to discuss earlier.”, he stated as he put his arm around her shoulder.

“There’s no need to spoil the evenin’ with my drama, Mark!”, she heavily sighed. “I’ve got to deal with these things on my own without always draggin’ you and everybody else down in the dumps with me.” She turned away from him while resting her chin in her hand.

“Kiara?”, he replied as he leaned forward and placed his finger under her chin to turn her face around to look at him. “If we’re friends like you say we are, then why wouldn’t I want to help you get through times like these? That’s what friends are for, right?”

A slow smile spread across her face. “What would I do without you as my boy?”

“Not a dn thang because yo’ life wouldn’t be filled with any excitement!”, he stated with a wink and a chuckle as he stood up.

“Yeah, whateva you say!”, Kiara laughed.

“C’mon, let’s go out on the patio and listen to the radio for a while.”, he suggested.

“Aight, I’m with that!”, she smiled as she kicked her heels off. “These thangs have tortured a sistah’s feet long enough!”, she thought to herself.

“Lemme see what’s on.”, Mark said to himself as he searched for something on the portable radio. “No they ain’t playin’ the jam!!!”, he grinned when he came across an old school station that was playing Case’s “Touch Me Tease Me”.

“That was the isht!”, Kiara giggled as she and Mark began to dance with one another. After about 3 or 4 more songs, she decided that she needed something to drink.

“Whew! I need some water or sumpin’! You ‘bout to wear me out, boy!”, she laughed as she swatted him on the shoulder.

“You say that like it’s a bad thang!”, he joked as he followed her inside.

“Whateva!”, she replied with a wave of her hand.

“Listen, you don’t mind if I take this shirt off do ya? It’s gettin’ a lil’ hot for a brotha with the air not workin’ right now!”, he stated as he pulled his shirt up over his head.

“Well, If I did mind, it’s too late now since you have already taken it off.”, she stated with a roll of her eyes and a smile as she handed him a bottle of water.

“Oh yeah…I did, didn’t I?”, he laughed as they sat back down on the sofa to cool off.

“You guys make me sick bein’ so lucky though! Us females have to suffer through hot weather because it’s juss not ladylike for us to start rippin’ our shirts off and isht!”, she sighed as she laid her feet across his lap.

“Go ‘head and take it all off if you’d like! I’d still think of you as a lady!”, he stated with a wink and a devilish grin.

“You are not funny!”, she chuckled while pointing her finger at him.

“I’m not, huh?”, he asked as he took another sip of his water. When he set his bottle down, he grabbed one of her feet.

“Don’tchu dare!”, she warned as she sat straight up on the sofa. Knowing him, he was going to try something slick.

“Wha’? I juss wanna show ya how much of a lady I think you are!”, he said with a sly grin as he began to massage her foot.

“I know you betta than that though!”, she stated with a chuckle. But he had her right where he wanted her. After about a minute or so of giving her a nice foot massage, without warning, he began to tickle it.

She begged and pleaded with laughter for him to stop, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. That is until she took her other foot and kicked his hand away. Then she took her bottle of water and threw some on him. “Here, you need to cool off some mo’!”, she laughed as the water got him on the side of his face. She jumped up to get away from him.

“Uh-uh…you gon’ pay for that!”, he shouted as he took his bottle of water and began to chase her around the living room while throwing some back at her. He missed the first two times, but he caught her by her arm the third time and poured the ice-cold liquid down her back as she tried to break away from him. She let loose with a loud squeal. She took her bottle of water that was in her free hand and was about to come back with another splash to his face when he grabbed her by that arm and pulled her close to him.

“I got’cha now!”, he laughed. Their laughter began to die down as they stared at one another. However, when Kiara was about to look away from him, he caught her mouth with his and planted a kiss on her that made her weak in the knees. When he realized what he was doing, he immediately stopped and let go of her.

“I’m sorry…”, he began before Kiara reached up and covered his mouth with her finger.

“There’s no need to apologize. I have been dreamin’ about this for a long time.”, she shyly smiled. “I guess what I’m tryna say is that I’m fallin’ in love with you.”

“Are you serious?”, he grinned as he wrapped his arms back around her. “Well, I guess I can finally let the cat out of the bag and tell ya that I fell in love with you a while back. But I didn’t want to say anything because you were with that ni…”

She interrupted his statement with a passionate kiss of her own. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”

The next thing he knew, they had made their way into her room. However, before taking things to the next level, he hesitated. “Wait, are you sure you want to do this? I mean if you are, then I have no problem with it. But at the same time, I don’t want you to feel the need to rush into anything that you’re not ready for.”, he stated as he kissed the tip of her nose.

“Maybe this will answer yo’ question.”, she replied as she handed him a very necessary necessity.

“Alright, but you know that once I take you there, you’re not gonna wanna come back!”, he joked with a sly grin.

“Mark…”, she sighed with a roll of her eyes, “…Shut up!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[CarolinaCutie]

“What’cha thinkin’ ‘bout, boo?”, Tamir asked Peaches as he ran his fingers through her hair. Her head was resting on his chest.

“I’m juss thinkin’ about how much tonight has meant to me, and how I neva want it to end.”, she smiled as she looked up at him.

“As long as we’re together, nights like this will neva end.”, he stated with reassurance as he wrapped his arms around her.

“I love the sound of that!”, she giggled.

Tamir drifted off to sleep a few minutes later as Peaches lay awake in his arms. She looked out of her window at the full moon’s glowing light and thought about Kiara. “I hope she’s okay. I know how much she hates to be in complete darkness. But maybe Mark is there with her until the lights come back on.”

Suddenly, Peaches began to chuckle as she thought back to earlier in the evening when she and Tamir had their own private party going on. They were both thinking that their party was going so well that they had accidentally knocked her lamp over, making the light go out. Afterwards, however, when Tamir reached over to sit it back up, that’s when he discovered that the lamp was still standing. He turned the switch a few times without producing any light.

“Girl, did you pay yo’ light bill for this month?”, he joked as he went through the rest of her pitch-black house with a flashlight.

“Don’t start with me!”, Peaches laughed as she walked over to her window and saw that her neighborhood was in total blackness. That’s when they both discovered that sure enough, there had been a blackout.

“I’ll call and check on her first thing in the morning.”, Peaches thought to herself as she began to fall asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What have I done?!”, Kiara frantically thought to herself as she looked up at the ceiling. She had been tossing and turning for about an hour after Mark had fallen asleep. She turned over on her side and glanced at him. She couldn’t help from smiling because he was so adorable as he slept. He was lying on his back with one of his arms resting on his head while the other was across his stomach and he was snoring with a wide-opened mouth.

However, doubts kept creeping into her thoughts. It was true that beforehand, both she and Mark admitted how they felt about one another and they proclaimed their love once again after things were over. But she was still uneasy with their present situation of being a couple now.

She reached over and lightly stroked the side of his face with one of her fingers as he continued to sleep. “I don’t wanna lose you because I know that I truly love you! Dt, I juss don’t know what to do now!”, she thought to herself.

She turned her back to him and pulled the sheets up around her shoulders. That’s when she noticed that the candle on the nightstand across from her was on its way to flickering out because of the cool breeze that would come in through her window every now and then.

A few seconds later, she felt Mark as he rolled over. He placed his arm around her and pulled her close to him and began to snore again. The moment he did that, all of her doubts went out of the window along with the vanishing flame’s thin cloud of smoke from the candle.

[glow=black,2,300]“You brought the light/When my life was so dark/You took the fight/And you made it your own”
—Mary J. Blige: Beautiful[/glow]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[aDRUfan4LiFe]

It's good! It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.
I skipped some chapters at the time that I posted I guess it wasn't done! It's still good!!!!
*Maybe CC or Peaches can help me with my next story--whenever I finish my current one! lol

[Drulady03]

Great Job ya'll. ;D I'm lookin forward to the rest.

[CarolinaCutie]

Thanky yall! ;D

BTW, adrufan, juss say the word and I'll be happy to help (although my brain freezes up on me from time to time...peaches is a witness to that--lol).

[sweetgapeach]

Whatever ya need help with, i'm there!!!
AS long as you start the thiking process 4 me, i think i'll be able to finish it! LOL ;D ;D ;D ;D

But seriously just ask and you shall recieve. My brain is your brain.

[aDRUfan4LiFe]

That's cool!