On Our Block: Monse and Cesar s4

Chapter 11: This Sucks

Monse's POV:
I don't know how Jamal talked me into this. I knock on his window and his blinds go up quick. "Wanna go for a walk?" I smile. "You still mad at me?" He asks. "I don't know." I say honestly. He climbs out of his window and we go. "So what's up?" Cesar asks.
"I shouldn't have said all that stuff. What you did wasn't cool but Jamal told me what happened." I say and he looks surprised. "You were right." He tells me. "I'm not ready to lose you, but I'm not trying to keep you from being happy. If you wanna be with Jamal, go for it." This is what I mean when I said he gives me whiplash. "Cesar, I don't know how I feel about Jamal and I'm not gonna know anytime soon. I'm still not over you. He tried to kiss me-" Cesar cuts me off. "He tried to kiss you?" He asks. "Yeah but I couldn't stop thinking about you." I explain. "Yeah?" He furrows his brow and I nod. "Yeah." I look at his lips and he kisses me slowly. "This doesn't change anything." I pull back. "I love you but we can't keep going back and forth like this. I'll be here whenever you're ready but for now, we need to just be friends." I remind him and he nods. "I know." He says. We keep walking and I hold his hand. "I'm not totally ready to let go." I admit. It's quiet for a minute but I catch him smiling to himself. "What?" I laugh under my breath. "You have a crush on me." He teases me. "Like you don't have one on me." I kiss my teeth. "Who told you?" He says sarcastically. "This sucks." I bring down the mood. "How are we supposed to be friends when we're in love with each other?" I ask. "Monse-" he gets cut off when someone starts shooting. "Shit!" I yell. We have no where to hide so we just run. We both jump a fence but right once I hit the ground something hits my leg. I know we can't stop running but I can't keep going. "Cesar!" I yell and he turns around. "Fuck." He helps me make it back to his house. "You can't take me to the hospital." I tell him. "Are you crazy?!" He yells. "They gotta report gunshots to the cops." I remind him. "You gotta see a doctor." Cesar says. "It's just a grave." I look down at my leg. "That doesn't matter." He tries to get me in the car. "Cesar just listen to me!" I yell. "If we go to the hospital you're gonna get arrested." I take deep breaths. "I'm calling Jamal." He sits me on his table. "Why?" I ask. "Maybe you'll listen to your boyfriend." Is he really being petty right now? I get lightheaded and I look back down and my blood is dripping from the table to the floor. "He's on his way." Cesar looks at me and I can tell he's freaking out. "I'm ok." I can barely keep my eyes open. Jamal comes in a few seconds later and so does Ruby. "Why isn't she at the hospital?!" He yells. "She won't let me take her." Cesar explains. "So you're just letting her die?!" Ruby screams. "She's not gonna die 'cause you're gonna convince her to go." He tells Jamal. "Cesar." I whisper but I can't breathe. They keep yelling. Ruby walks over to me and I'm squeezing the edge of the table. "You're gonna need to catch me." I tell him right before I pass out. God I really hope he did.
I wake up at the hospital and Cesar's asleep in a chair next to me. "Are you wearing Jamal's clothes?" He wakes up right away. "Are you ok?!" He stands up and puts his hand on my cheek. "I got shot." I remind him. "Why am I here?" I ask. "You passed out. Me and Jamal swapped clothes so I could come without a having a target on my back." He explains. "You look weird." I say and he kisses me. "Mm. Good to know we're still going back and forth." I smile. "Nah, that was a platonic friend kiss." He laughs. The doctor walks in and Cesar backs up. "You're up. I have good news, you don't need surgery. Just crutches until you can put weight it. The police need to ask you a few questions so he has to follow me." She explains. "I don't really remember anything." I grab Cesar's hand. "Ok so you can tell the police that." She opens the door. "I'm gonna go change into something less Jamal but I'll be right back." He tells me. "What if I say the wrong thing?" She asks. "You won't. I took a risk coming here. Whatever happens next is on me." He kisses me again before he leaves.
Cesar's POV:
"Where is she?" Jamal's still at my house. "They told me to go while she talks to the cops." I explain. "Is she ok?" He follows me inside. "She's good." I tell him. "Yeah, thanks to me." He says and I turn around. "I'm the one who called you." I remind him. "Because you couldn't handle it." He laughs. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Monse's in the hospital I just wanted to help her." I furrow my brow. "What's wrong with me?! What's wrong with you? You keep putting Monse in danger. You scare her, you treat her like shit, you treat everyone around you like shit. You're not the only person who fucking matters, Cesar." Jamal doesn't stand up for himself a lot but when he does, it's brutal. "You're a shitty person. You're always gonna be a shitty person. If anyone ever calls you out, you just handle them like a Santo. You're not even good at that!" He says. "Fuck you." I laugh and he punches me. Jamal doesn't stop until someone pulls him back. "You good now?" I get up off the floor. "You're gonna get us all killed." Jamal storms out. "What the hell are you doing here?" I ask Bianca. "Can't I visit my favorite cousin?" She asks. "Not when my girl's in the hospital." I ignore her, change, and go right back to the hospital.
"How'd it go?" I ask Monse. "Good. What happened to your face?" She asks. "Jamal." I explain. "He hit you?" I don't get why she's so surprised. "Yeah." I nod. "Can you guys please get your shit together?" Monse asks. "I think you're gonna have to pick one of us first. He's not gonna be cool with me until you do." I explain. "I already did." She smiles.

Author's note:
Thank you littlegurlpt2 for all the help! I literally couldn't have wrote this without you.