Chapter 97: A Love Like War

 

Drake

 

“So are you ready for Mylan’s showcase?” Nae smirked at me. I stared her for a minute and figured that she knew what Mylan was doing.

 

“Does everyone know what she’s doing except for me?” I looked between her and Mere.

 

“Nicki doesn’t know but everyone else does,” Mere nodded.

 

“So how are you feeling about this whole Nicki situation?” Nae casually asked.

 

“I’m on the borderline. I guess I just need a push to show that this is worth saving. I think it would be easier to just break up and be concerned about our kids,” I answered honestly.

 

“You’re serious about getting a divorce?”

 

“Like I said before, I’m on the fence. I love Nicki with all of my heart but don’t you guys think it’s gone far enough? We’ve been doing this for the last nine years. We had great times and maybe it’s time to just move on. We’re adults and have more important things to worry about.” I’ve been contemplating this decision for a while and I never knew how to fully answer the question.

 

“You said you love her with all of your heart. Love is a strong word Aubrey. Once you love someone,” Mere trailed off.

 

“You can never fully let go,” Nae finished for her.

 

“I know that.”

 

“If you go through with this then you’ll have to fight your feelings for her for the rest of your life. Sometimes you might randomly be hit with memories of the two of you. Sometimes you might randomly miss her. You never know when those things could pop up. Love can make you do some fucked up things,” Mere continued.

 

“What kind of fucked up things?” I eyed her. She snapped out whatever daze she was in and looked at me.

 

“Nothing. I have to go call Ryan about something.” She quickly got up and left the living room.

 

“What was that about?” I asked Nae.

 

“It’s a long story. She’s right about that though. It makes you do some fucked up things. I know the more you love someone, the more they can hurt you. I know Nicki hurt you. Everyone can tell that she hurt you but she’s your wife Drake. She loves you and she’s miserable without you. You don’t know how many nights I have stayed over and listened to her cry about you. She fucked up and she knows it,” she admitted.

 

“I just don’t like the fact that she went to him. Why step out on our marriage period? I understand her getting frustrated but I don’t understand why she would cheat,” I sighed.

 

“I don’t really understand that either but you never know what went on in her mind during that time. She lost her baby due to the stress you caused. You should remember that because that’s what pushed her completely into his arms. That fucked with her head and I know she’s still hurting from it,” she shrugged.

 

“I guess I have fucked up a lot,” I nodded slowly.

 

“Don’t let a good thing go.”

Nicki

“But Mommy,” Levi pouted but I shook my head. He was not gonna pout his way out of this outfit. It was required to wear.

“It’s a formal showcase. You have to dress nicely,” I told him. He just huffed and went to put on his shoes.

“Mom! I can’t find my heels!” Mylan rushed downstairs. She looked like the world was about to fall apart from the way she was rushing.

“They’re in the living room sweetie.” She’s been nervous all morning. Her showcase is today and a lot of college scouts are coming out. It was extremely nerve racking for her.

“Dad’s gonna be there right?” She asked as she put her heels on.

“He promised you that he would,” I reminded her. I knew that Aubrey wouldn’t break his promises to her anymore. He was trying to be a better father and I truly applaud him for focusing on our kids.

“Alright,” she sighed as we got in the car. “Can you make sure that you sit next to him?” She looked over at me.

“Why would I need to sit next to him?”

“Please just do it. I just want you two to be together when you see it,” she pleaded. She’s been hinting about us throughout the last few days concerning this performance.

“Okay.” As soon as we arrived, she rushed backstage. We had to be here early since she was performing.

“I’m bored.” Levi twirled around in circles. I kept trying to figure out what Mylan was about to do. I tried to connect dots but I just get lost so I stopped trying.

“Little man,” I heard Aubrey say from behind me. We both turned and saw him walking up to us.

“Daddy!” He rushed into his arms.                                                  

“Hey.” He smiled slightly at me.

“Hi.” I gave a small one back. We were at such an awkward place in our relationship and I had no idea where we stand. It’s honestly just confusing.

“Can we talk after this?” He questioned me and we shared a knowing look.

“Yeah,” I nodded. We’ve pushed this conversation back long enough. It’s about time we sat down and talked about it like the adults we were. I just hoped that this conversation led to the same place I wanted it to.

Blake

“I have to go to the bathroom,” I told Paris and Ciara. I didn’t want to miss Mylan but I couldn’t hold it anymore. There were two acts before her so I think I could hurry up.

“Hurry up before it’s Mylan’s turn,” Paris hissed.

“Okay.” I hopped up and went to the bathroom. I did my business and walked out of the stall. I stopped when I saw Mere reapplying her lipstick. Nae made me feel like a complete ass for the way I treated Mere. I guess I was standing there too long because she spoke up.

“You know it’s not like I’m gonna hurt you.”

“You should,” I mumbled before washing my hands.

“I really should but I’m not going to,” she shrugged. 

“Mere,” I started but she cut me off.

“I think Mylan is about to go on stage. We should hurry back,” she said but I stopped her from walking out.

“Did I hurt you that night?” I questioned. I knew that she would never want me to bring that up but I never thought about how she felt. I was always selfishly focusing on myself.

“Blakelynn move,” she cut her eyes at me.

“Answer the question and then I’ll move.” I needed to hear her say it.

“We’re gonna miss Mylan’s performance,” she sighed.

“I’m not moving Mere,” I shook my head.

“Yes you did. Now will you move the fuck out of my way?” She tried to get around me again but I stopped her. “I answered your question so why won’t you let me leave?” She looked completely done with me.

“How much did you drink that night?” I can’t believe that she drunk as much as Nae said she did. She couldn’t have drunken that much.

“I stopped counting honestly,” she admitted.

“Mere I’m so sorry. I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am. I never meant to hurt you like that,” I started but she shook her head.

“We are not doing this right now.”

“Mere can you just listen to me?” I sighed. I’ve wanted to tell her something for months but she kept cutting the conversation off. I could clear up all of the thoughts in her head if she would just let me finish.

“I’m sick of listening Blakelynn. I just want to go and watch Mylan’s performance.”

“Chimere just fucking listen to me!” I snapped. I haven’t called her by her full name in years but I was extremely frustrated. She eyed me before backing me up into a corner.

“I’m done listening and I mean it Blakelynn,” she lowered her voice before leaving. I groaned and mentally cursed myself. If she would just let me finish things could be so much simpler.

Mylan

“You’re gonna do amazing,” Auntie Nae encouraged me.

“But what if I mess up or it makes things worse between Mom and Dad? I might just screw up any progress they made,” I panicked.

“Mylan.” She gripped my shoulders to stop me from moving. “You’re gonna do amazing and your parents are gonna love this song. I promise you that everything will work itself out in the end,” she assured me.

“Thank you Auntie Nae,” I hugged her.

“Mylan you’re up,” Mr. Anderson told me. I nodded and walked on the stage. I looked in the audience and saw all of my friends and family. I walked towards the piano and took a deep breath.

“Um this song is a song my father wrote about my mom nine years ago but never performed it. This song is called Unthinkable,” I said into the mic.

Drake

Right when Mylan said that, my heart started beating faster. I sung it to her when she was younger but I didn’t imagine that she would remember it. I saw Nicki scrunch up her face right before Mylan started singing. She sounded so beautiful and it made me feel proud. Suddenly a slideshow popped up above her. It started with the dance team’s first official picture nine years ago. There were a few more dance pictures and then Nicki’s solo from Worlds popped up. I saw her tense up from the corner of my eye. She has never seen the footage because she never wanted to. Whoever was recording the video turned the camera backstage and I stood there smiling proudly.

The slide went through a little more and our wedding picture flashed. The last picture was from a year ago with all of us as a family. We looked so happy and I almost forgot how that felt. Mylan definitely did my song justice. She finished the song and everyone applauded her. I didn’t even wanna see the look on Nicki’s face. I could barely control how I felt so I knew that she was probably a mess. I felt her grab my hand and pull me out of the theater. We stood in the hallway and I finally looked at her. She had tears streaming down her face. “You wrote that song about me?”

“Yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck not really knowing what to say.

“When?”

“When I fell in love with you. I didn’t know how to tell you at first so I wrote the song instead of saying it at the time,” I explained. I didn’t even remember that I wrote that song until Mylan started singing it.

“That seems so long ago,” she let out a slight smile.

“Nine years ago,” I shrugged. It’s crazy how far we’ve come over these last nine years.

“We’ve been through a lot. I think that slideshow definitely proved it,” she said.

“Yeah we have been through a lot,” I nodded. All of our memories literally slapped us in the face with that slideshow.

“Don’t you think we’ve been through enough Aubrey? Do you really want us to end? I know I’ve fucked up but so have you. We’ve been going back and forth throughout the years. I just want us again. I can’t stand sleeping without you. I can’t stand whatever this is between us right now.” Tears flew more rapidly down her face before she could stop them.

“We’ve made a lot of mistakes and this past year has been a horrible mistake. You’ve forgiven me for the whole thing with Jaymie, for drugging you, for making you lose our baby, and for abandoning this family for my work. After I did all of that you still found it in your heart to forgive me. It would make no sense for me not to forgive you,” I admitted. I can’t hold this against her after everything I’ve done in my past.

“So you forgive me?” She looked at me.

“I forgive you.” I moved closer and wiped her tears from her face. “Come here.” I pulled her into my embrace.

“I love you,” I heard her mumble.

“I love you too baby.” I pulled back and kissed her. I’m not gonna lie and say I didn’t miss her. It’s been complete hell without her and that alone shows me that I’ll never give up on us.

“Yes!” I heard. We pulled apart and saw Mylan standing there with Levi.

“It worked My!” Levi beamed. I could only shake my head at these two.

“So are we a family again?” She looked at us.

“We’ve always been a family and we always will be.” I wrapped my arm around her as Nicki picked up Levi.

Nae

“And it’s true,” Jessi laughed. I shook my head with a smile. She does some crazy things and it’s hilarious.

“You are absolutely crazy,” I chuckled.

“I have a question.” She suddenly changed into a serious expression on her face.

“What is it?” I asked cautiously. I started to hate questions ever since I came back here.

“Why do you hate Blake so much? Before you disappeared, y’all were in love. I just don’t get it,” she scrunched up her eyebrows. I looked down and tried to think out my words carefully before actually saying them. I had a bad habit of not thinking before speaking.

“I don’t hate her,” I started. That should be said first. Everyone thinks I hate her but I could never hate her. I could extremely dislike her but hate is too strong of a word. I just hated what she did to Mere.

“Then what’s wrong?” She questioned after I went quiet.

“She has done some things that I don’t agree with. Just because I was gone doesn’t mean I didn’t know about what was going on here. She has done some things that I wouldn’t expect from her,” I said.

“There has to be more to it than that. Did she do something like to Mere or someone?” I sighed and debated if I should tell the truth or not.

“Mere and I have gotten really close over the last year. She’s someone I can confide in and vice versa. Blake did something stupid and Mere flew all the way to Texas the next day. She was a mess and that’s honestly when we became close. I saw her at her worst and she’s seen me at mine. I just can’t get the image of how Mere looked out of my head and it’s every time I see Blake. It just angers me and I’d rather not be around her,” I admitted.

“Would you ever get with her again?”

“You couldn’t even pay me. After everything she’s done in the past year, I just can’t do that. I don’t even see her in the same way anymore and I don’t think I ever will,” I shook my head. She was a completely different person but I guess in a way I was too. A year changes a lot of things.

“Is it because of Mere?”

“She’s part of the reason. The way Blake treated her was cruel and horrid. Mere might let things like that slide but I don’t. There’s other reasons which ties into why I left but I really don’t wanna get into that,” I responded. Jessi nodded in understanding. “You know, if you’re gonna listen in on our conversation you should at least do it right,” I called out.

“Who are you talking to?” Jessi looked at me like I was crazy. I hopped up and opened her door revealing Blake. “How’d you know she was there?”

“I know her. I’ll see you later Jess.” I moved past Blake and walked out.

“Nae,” I heard her say.

“If you listened to anything I said then you’d know not to talk to me,” I threw over my shoulder and walked out the house.

Jaymie

“Five minutes,” Daven pleaded. I let out a huff as I eyed him. He spent the day with Carson and he finally dropped him off. I was trying to get him to leave but he’s too determined.

“You have four.” I walked towards the couch and sat down. He sat across from me and I waited for him to talk.

“I’m sorry Jayms and I know that won’t change anything but I fucked up alright? I was wrong about everything and I shouldn’t have accused you of cheating in the first place,” he sighed.

“I told you three years ago that I was a different person than I was when we first got together. You agreed for us to start over yet you kept holding shit over my head.” He never knew how to truly start over.

“I’m sorry but I was hurt the first time you cheated on me. You were toxic back then yet I kept going back to you,” he shrugged.

“The funny thing is that you accused me of cheating but you helped Nicki cheat on Drake. You turned her into a cheater,” I let out a dry chuckle.

“You weren’t here so I went to her for comfort. I already told you that Jaymie. You left me. You left without telling me anything. All that was there was a note cursing me out,” he reminded me.

“You fucked up and I’ve made some mistakes too but the only we can do is learn from them and parent our child the best way we know how,” I admitted.

“So you’re not gonna even consider getting back together?” I looked at him and let out a laugh.

“You’re hilarious Daven. You were just messing with Nicki and now you wanna be with me? You’re all kinds of fucked up if you think that’s gonna fly. Lock the door on your way out.” I stood and went to check on Carson. I don’t know who he thinks I am but I’m not running into his arms. I’m happily single and Carson is the only boy I need in my life.

Shad

“How did I let a woman like that go?” I mumbled to myself as I watched Cassie pull off from my driveway.

“I don’t know,” I heard from behind me. I turned and saw Alexis staring at me. “How did you?” She questioned.

“I don’t know Alexis. It was a big mistake,” I sighed.

“Maybe you should fix it,” she offered.

“That’s impossible,” I shook my head. She was about to say something but there was a knock at the door. I opened it and Cassie was standing there.

“I forgot to give you Brayden’s inhaler.” She pulled it out of her purse and handed it to me.

“You still look exhausted Cass,” I commented.

“I’m fine Shad. I just have a lot on my plate,” she shrugged.

“I just don’t want you overworking yourself. What’s going on with you?”

“Shad I’m tired and I just got done with my photo shoot. I just want to crawl up in my bed and go to sleep. Is there something you need from me?” She raised a brow and waited.

“Nah,” I gave up.

“What’s wrong with you?” She eyed me.

“A lot of shit but I don’t wanna keep you up.” I had my own shit I was going through.

“Shad.” She looked at me concerned.

“I’ll be fine Cassie. You got your own shit to worry about,” I brushed it off.

“Yeah but I’m still concerned about you. You’ve been looking more and more depressed these days. Did something happen?” She asked.

“A lot of shit went down in my family. Mere and Drake have been busy and I’on really have somebody to talk to. I just figured if I didn’t talk about it then it would go away.” She stared at me for a minute before letting out a huff. She pushed me slightly to the side and walked into my house. “What are you doing?” I closed the door and turned to look at her.

“You were here when I needed someone to talk to. It’s only right that I do the same. We were friends before Shad. I don’t want you keeping it in. I’m here if you need me,” she offered. I let out a slight smile and she chuckled.

“Thanks Cass.”

Nicki

“Are you coming home Daddy!?” Levi asked as we ate our lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. Since Mylan did such a good job, we let her choose where to eat. Of course she would choose this restaurant. Aubrey looked at me and we had a silent conversation.

“Whatever you choose is fine,” I said lowly. I didn’t want to push him if he still wanted a little bit of space. I’d love to have him home but I know that it’s ultimately up to him.

“Looks like I’m coming home,” he smiled at Levi and his face brightened. It’s nice to be together as a family again. I can’t believe that we almost screwed this up.

“Yes!” Mylan actually looked up from her plate. “Can y’all not break up again? I always ask this and somehow you always do,” Mylan huffed. She is right when she says that but something always seemed to happen between us.

“We’re married and this time we’re not taking the easy way out,” I locked my eyes with Aubrey. I don’t think we could ever get a divorce and I’m thankful for that.

“Exactly.” He grabbed my hand and kissed it. I noticed his face changed a bit and that made me question him but Levi interrupted me from my thoughts.

“I need to pee,” Levi frowned.

“Come on.” Mylan got up and grabbed his hand.

“What’s up?” I turned to look at Aubrey.

“I didn’t like the way your hand felt,” he shrugged.

“What do you mean?” I was a little bit confused at that statement. He reached into his pocket and pulled out my promise ring and wedding ring. “Where did you find those?” I forgot where I put them.

“I found them a long time ago,” he admitted.

“Why did you bring them with you today?” I gave him a knowing look with a slight smile on my face. He chuckled and realized that he had been busted.

“I was gonna try and get back together but you beat me to it,” he grabbed my hand. “I never want you to take these off again and I mean that shit this time. I promise you that I will super glue this to your finger,” he threatened as he slid my promise ring on and then my wedding ring.

“While we’re on rings.” I pulled out his from my purse. “I guess we’re both busted,” we let out laughs. I took it and slid it onto his finger. “Don’t take this shit off,” I mocked him.

“I promise.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer in the booth.

“So do I.” I moved in and kissed him. He kissed me back but we heard throats clear. He was about to pull away but I kept him close by his shirt. The kids could wait. I felt him smirk against my lips but he never pulled away.

“Okay come on guys. We’ve been standing here for far too long. Can’t y’all pull apart?” I heard Mylan complain. I pulled away from him and chuckled.

“That’s nasty,” Levi scrunched up his face. We just shook our heads as the kids joined us again in the booth.

“I think Levi should spend the night with Brayden. Mylan wouldn’t it be fun to spend the night with Alexis or Nyra?” I suggested.

“Nasty.  Y’all are just nasty. I don’t wanna be anywhere near y’all at home,” she shook her head.

“That’s fine with us,” Aubrey laughed. I laid my head on Aubrey’s shoulder as the kids finished their food. I think Aubrey and I were feeling the same way because he moved and pulled me closer in his arms.

“I’ve missed this too.” He kissed my head.

Once again, Thursday is chapter 98. Friday is chapter 99 {Part 1}. Saturday is chapter 99 {Part 2}. ~Cliffhanger break~ Chapter 100 {Part 1} is on Tuesday. Chapter 100 {Part 2} is on Wednesday. Chapter 100 {Part 3} is on Thursday. Chapter 100 {Part 4} is on Friday. Saturday is the epilogue that will answer any remaining questions in the story. Then Sunday is the BET Awards and my first day done with the story. Enjoy.