All I Want | ✓

40 | talent and skill

"The bitch spat on me, Case!" I yell in annoyance, disgust and anger flowing through my veins with no reprieve. While I've been ranting since we got to his apartment, he's been quiet, doing his own thing, taking a shower and now laying on his bed. I'm in his bathroom, scrubbing my face free of makeup and sweat. My hair is up in a bun and I'm dressed in one of his shirts and a pair of joggers I left over here once.

"Like full-on spat on me. Like a fucking immature ass baby." I scoff, "And I was walking away — I turned my back on that white girl for two seconds and she decided to act like a cave woman and put her DNA on me. She's lucky I didn't curbstomp her."

And yet again, Case is quietly doing whatever it is he's doing that isn't agreeing with my appropriately placed anger.

I poke my head out of the door to see him laying on his back, scrolling through his phone with an annoyed look on his face. My brows furrow, "Am I annoying you or something?"

He shakes his head, "Keep going." His words tell me to, but his tone tells me that he wants me to stop talking.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I reel back, the annoyance growing in me to an insurmountable level, "Am I pissing you off because I decided to defend myself?"

He doesn't look at me, "You're not pissing me off."

My gaze travels to the ceiling, trying to keep the sudden tears at bay. While I might be angry, I'm still on my period and my mood swings are not it.

Lord, can I please go ten minutes without crying at verbal confrontation with my boyfriend that I love oh so much?

"Then what is it, Case? Because you've been quiet since we got in the damn car and it's starting to make me feel like you're not even on my side."

He finally looks at me, "I'm always on your side, Eliana. Always. And you did what you had to — she spat on you."

My brows furrow and of course, my period brain takes offense to his words. Because, I just have to, somehow, find a way for his words to be offensive.

"Are you mocking me?"

He furrows his brows and sits up, staring at me, "Why would I mock you, Ana?"

"Oh, I don't know," I shrug sarcastically, "Just that you couldn't look or sound more uninterested if you tried."

He scoffs, "I'm serious, Eliana. She had that shit coming."

My eye twitches, "Then why the hell are you so quiet?"

"Because I know you need to get it out, babe. When you rant, you tend to get it all out at once and I'm here for when you do." He sighs, "I don't intend to sound so disinterested, I just..." He grabs his phone and motions me over. I plop down on his bed, avoiding resting my face too close to anything since I still have soap on it, "You're on Shaderoom."

Of course I am.

I read the caption under a very candid picture of me dragging Laiya to the floor, "Eliana Oakley gets herself into some hot water at a local Dallas club." I huff, trying to keep the tears at bay, "Do I even want to read the comments?"

He takes the phone from my hand and shakes his head, "No."

I get up and head to the bathroom, finally washing the soap from my face. I catch a peek of myself in the mirror, bringing shock to me.

Is this the kind of person I am? Fighting people in clubs? Well, for good reason.

Maybe Case had a point pulling me out of that club before I ended up killing her, but him doing it still bugs me. Hence why I exit the bathroom and turn off the light before laying beside him.

Silence passes between us for a moment before I turn to face him, "Why did you pull me out of there, Casen?"

His eyes burn into my head, even in the dark, and he turns his body before tucking me into his side. I hold on to his arm, embracing his warmth and smell of toasted almond.

I'm not mad at him, just curious. It already happened — not like being mad at him is going to turn back time.

He sighs, "Because of that, Ana. All these pages are now gonna focus more on your ability to fight rather than your work." This makes me pout. His heart is in a good place, "You don't deserve to be looked at as the girl who 'got herself into hot water' — you deserve to be looked at as the girl who works her ass off to be recognized for her talent and skill."

And there he goes, making me feel terrible for yelling at him. I wrap my arms around his torso and rest my head on his chest. I move his hand to rub my belly. He does it without question and kisses my forehead. "I'm sorry about ruining your birthday, Case. I just... I saw red, babe."

"You didn't ruin my birthday, peach." He informs, "You're the best part of it. Plus, you looked sexy as hell beating her ass."

the way i really could've published this last night but fell asleep 😭