Ride or Die pt.2

If their world wasn't ending.

Two Weeks Later
"Sebastian? Do you think i'll ever be happy again?" I said while drinking my beer. "I believe so yes" he said so confidently. "How? What if I can't move on?" I said doubting myself "Damian, I know you love her. I do to but that doesn't mean our lives have to be over. You know she would want us to be happy." He said. I though about it and it made me smile. I was just hoping that this smile could last forever. "Listen, tomorrow i'm going back home. I want you to live your life like how you were before you even met Jazelle. I want you to go back to doing your mafia shit. I know we can both be happy if we live life like how we did before we met her. Our friendship shouldn't have been made because of Jazelle. It should've happened because we met each other at a random bar or something. Jazelle is our only connection to each other and that's not something we can get over if we continue our friendship." I said to Sebastian. "Yes, I agree our friendship was made because of Jazelle and that's why we must go our separate ways. Either way i'll be sending you 5,000 dollars each month for whatever you or your family may need." He said "Damian I just don't want this to ruin your life because I know it might" he said "it won't" I said. "Good, i'm going inside now. Goodnight" he said and got up from his chair then walked inside. I kind of lied. I was actually going to leave right now instead of in the morning. "Bye" I said quietly. The door opened again. "Bye?" He said and stuck his head out the door. "I'm leaving right now" I said. "And you thought you were going to be able to leave without saying goodbye?" He said with a smile. "No, I would've probably dragged myself back" I said and chuckled. "Come here" he said then pulled me in aggressively and hugged me. We stayed there for a while but it wasn't awkward. I randomly started crying. "Are you crying" he said "happy tears" I said and smiled "why? Cause you'll be able to get away from me?" He said and laughed "yes" I said then laughed. "Go, go live your life Damian. I'll be happy if you are" he said and pulled away then patted my shoulder. I smiled and started walking to my car. He stood there watching me leave. I felt good. I wasn't sad it was more like getting a weight getting lifted off of my shoulders. I got in my car. I rolled down the window. "Bye Sebastian and, FUCK YOU!" I said with a laugh. He laughed too and walked inside. I drove away.
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Six Years Later
   "Hi pretty girl!" I said to my daughter Jazelle. "Daddy!" She said and talked up to me. I picked her up and put her on my side. "Hi babe" I said and kissed my wife Alice. "Hi babe" she said and cupped my face with her hands and kissed me. I had just came back from Camp for the Marines. "How are y'all?" I said and sat down on the couch with Jazelle next to me. "We're here. She's been feeling a little sick" Alice said. Then memories from when Jazelle was dying came flooding back. "It's happening again!" I said loudly "Damian, Babe. DAMIAN!" Alice yelled and shook me hard. "What." I said and the memories stopped. "Are you okay now?" She said "yes" I said and took a deep breath. "This happens every time it's almost February 2" Alice said "I know babe. I'm sorry" I said and held her hand while looking down at the floor. "It was her Birthday right?" Alice said and sighed "yeah, it's also around the time she died." I said "i'm sorry babe" she said. Alice was understanding of Jazelle and knows what happened to her and what she meant to me. It's why our daughter is named Jazelle. "Go get a shower you smell like dog" she said with a smile and kissed me. "I'm going to make dinner" she said and stood up then grabbed Jazelle from the couch. "Okay" I said and stood up and walked to our bedroom. I grabbed some comfortable clothes and walked to our bathroom then took a shower.
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I got out and got dressed then brushed out my hair and my small beard. I put my shoes on then walked out of the room. I started walking towards the kitchen and I saw Jazelle watching TV. "What are you watching?" I said and sat next to her in the couch "I watch Mickey Mouse" she said and pointed at the TV. "That's fun" I said and kissed her hand then got up and picked her up from the couch. "It's time to eat" I said and walked to the table then sat down on the chair next to me. "Momma we hungry" she said and looked and Alice who was finishing up cooking. "It's almost ready Jazelle." She said then looked back at us.
   I could finally say I was in a happy place and not lie about it anymore. It hurt but it helped me grow and could want nothing more but to grow. I was finally happy.
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Sebastian's POV:
   "Mom, Jazelle's birthday is coming up and so is her anniversary of when she-" I said but got interrupted by my mom "I know mijo, I know. You don't have to say it." She said and hugged me. I cried then pulled away. "I haven't kept my promise to Damian about being happy if he was" I said to her "it's okay mijo. He might also be struggling" she said and kissed my cheek. "I hope he's happy" I said and wiped my tears.
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Three Years Later
   "Natalie, will you marry me?" I said to my girlfriend of two and a half years, and knelt on one knee. "Sebastian..." she said and started sobbing. "I love you, and I know i'm dangerous and wild, but I love you. I want to be with you forever." I said with a smile and I started crying. "YES! Yes! Yes" she said and got on her knees and kissed me then hugged me. I kissed her back and got up from the ground while picking her up. I pulled her hand towards me and out the ring in her. She cried and smiled. "I love you" I said "I love you" she said and kissed me. I then pulled her in and hugged her I held her in my arms and loved her. That's all I could do. "How are you going to be my husband and be the leader of the Mafia at the same time?" She said "I do what I want. It's the good part of being the boss" I said and smiled then kissed her. She smiled and kissed me back. "Tomorrow go pick out your dress with you friends or your mother, get whatever you want" I said and kissed her. "I will" she said with a smile. "I know who my best man is going to be" I said with a smile on my face and thought about Damian. "Who?" She said and looked at me confused "my old friend" I said with a smile. "That's nice" she said and turned around to hug me. I wrapped my arms around her body. "Let's have our wedding next week on Saturday" I said not wanting to wait much longer. "That's so soon" she said with a worried face "We can do it. I'll take care of everything you take care of yourself" I said and kissed her forehead. "Make the venue white and the reception black, or dark" she said giving her idea "anything else" I said looking at her "nope" she said and smiled. I walked to the bed backwards pulling her with me. "No sex" she said with a smirk "Natalia por favor" I said with a whine. "No, I told you I was going to wait till marriage." She said "I know" I said and gave up. I kissed her and put her on the bed then turned her body towards the window and get behind her then kissed her and hugged her. I soon fell asleep and she did too.
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Thursday
   "I'm almost done with setting up the wedding I just need to get music and invite people" I said to Natalie through the phone. "That's good babe" she said "yes" I said and sat down in my chair. "I'm proud of you Sebastian" she said "Gracias, mi amor. Te quiero" (Thank you my love. I love you) I said then smiled. "Te quiero mas." (I love you more) she said. I sat there. "I have to go okay. I need to finish the wedding shit. Call me okay" I said "Okay. I will." She said and hung up. I put my phone on the table and got up then walked out of my office. I walked downstairs and started talking to my men about security and what they were going to do at the wedding.
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Friday
Today I just to invite a few more people and invite Damian to our wedding. I was going to ask him to be my best man. I was nervous because we hadn't talked in a while but I know whatever happened it would be good.
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   "Hey Damian. How have you been?" I asked him through the phone "I've been great. How are you?" He asked me "awesome. Listen i-i'm getting married tomorrow and I would like to know if you would be my best man?" I said nervously. "Married?" He said caught off guard. "Yes, I met this woman two years ago and I fell in love with her." I said and scoffed "that's awesome man. Yes I would love to be there on your happiest day of your life" he said and laughed. "Great!" I said excitedly "I'll be at my house in the morning so come by and let's meet up then we can go from there." I said happy that he was coming "alright man i'll see you then." He said and chuckled "alright bye" I said one last time "bye" he said and hung up the phone.
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Damian's POV:
"Babe, i'm going to be a best man tomorrow. Get clothes for a weeding that's tomorrow and get Jazelle ready also." I said and started grabbing a bag to put all of my things in there "a best man for who Damian?" Alice asked me "Sebastian, he's my old friend" I said and grabbed some clothes. "Okay, i'll go get Jazelle ready and then i'll put her to bed for her nap." Alice said and walked out of the room. I grabbed two different colored shirts and dress pants.
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Alice's POV:
"Baby! Guess what!" I said the Jazelle who was sitting on her bed watching mickey mouse "what mama? What!" She said excitedly "we're going to a weeding tomorrow!" I said and picked her up then kissed her cheeks. She laughed and her laugh brought me joy. "Yay!" She yelled and smiled. "Let's you you ready okay!" I said and smiled then kissed her cheek and put her down. I walked to her closet and got her a light blue dress with white shoes. "This?" I said and showed her "yeah! Yeah!" She said and jumped excitedly "okay, we'll do hair tomorrow okay!" I said and kissed her. "Okay mama!" She said and got on her bed. I placed everything on the counter next to her closet and grabbed her a few extra pairs of clothes in case something happened to that's pair. "Go baby, get under your covers it's nap time" I said and picked her covers up. "I'm not tired" she said with an attitude "okay we'll just watch your cartoons and hopefully you fall asleep" I said and tucked her in with her bears. "Okay! I will!" She said and smiled then grabbed my face and kissed my cheek. I kissed her back and then gout up and walked out of the room leaving the door cracked.
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Damian's POV:
"I got it." Alice said and walked into the room while I was finishing packing since it was only one day. "That's good babe, i'm excited" I said and smiled then sat on the bed. "Me to" she said with a smiled and stood in front of me. "I'm going to go pa-" she said but got interrupted by me pulling her into my arms and sitting her on my lap. "You're gorgeous" I said and smiled then kissed her "Damian..." she said and smiled then kissed me back. We made out for a few minutes and then she stood up. "Aww" I said and pouted "I have to pack" she said and smiled dragging herself from my arms. "Hurry" I said and my eyes followed her to wherever she was walking to. "I'll wear a light brown dress with a slit down my thigh. Yeah?" She said "yes you'd look beautiful no matter what you wear, even nothing" I said and smirked "Damian Hernandez!" She said and laughed "i'm not lying" I said and laughed with her. "Shut up" she said and smiled then picked her dress and a few more. "Are you going to change every hour or what?" I said confused on why she was getting more than one dress. "No, these are in case something happens" she said "oh!" I said and smiled because I realized how dumb I was "yeah!" She said and smiled then put them in her bag.
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By this time she was done packing and we were laying down watching a movie. "I'm gonna go check on Jazelle" I said and got up removing my arm from under her head "okay" she said and lifted her head then gave me a slight smile.
I walked out of the room and into Jazelle's room. She was sleeping and holding her ready bear in her arms as if she was going to lose it in her sleep. I smiled and walked over to her then turned the TV down and kissed her forehead. "I love you" I whispered and smiled. She then smiled in her sleep and my whole day was made. I then walked back to mine and Alice's room and laid back down on the bed. "I'm going to take a nap babe. Wake me up if anything happens" Alice said and kissed me then caved herself into my arms. "Okay, I love you" I said and smiled "I love you too" she said. I then kissed her head and after a few minutes I had fallen asleep with her.
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3:00 AM
   "Babe, Damian." Alice said waking me up from our "nap". "Huh? What" I said waking up "i'm cold" she said and shivered I got up fro the bed and pulled the covers up then she got under them. "Thank you" she said and smiled then went back to sleep. "You're welcome" I said and smiled then walked out of the room and walked to Jazelle's room to check on her. I opened the door and walked to her bed. The light of the TV was hitting her face so I turned it off and then checked on her and walked back out closing the door again. I walked back to my room and payed back down with Alice.
   I got on my phone and sat an alarm for 6 in the morning so we could get up and go to Sebastian's house then have the weeding. After I had done that I turned my phone on and charged it then went back to sleep.
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6:00 AM at Weeding Day
   "Alice, babe. Babe wake up" I said then shook her body slightly and turned my alarm off. "What time is it?" She asked me "6, let's get ready to go" I said and dragged myself out of bed. "Okay" she said groaning and getting up from the bed then making the bed. "I'll go wake Jazelle up" she said and walked out of the room. "Okay" I said and walked to the bathroom then turned on the shower.
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Alice's POV:
   "Good morning baby!" I said waking Jazelle up. She groaned and stretched. "Hi" she said and smiled. I picked her up and she rested her head on my shoulder. "Let's get you in the bath" I said and walked to her bathroom. "It's cold mama" she said shivering. "I know baby, but we have to shower so we can do hair after" I said with a smiled on my face "okay!" She said excitedly. I smiled and turned the water on and undressed her while the water heated up. She was still half way asleep throughout the whole time while I undressed her. I touched the water and it was warm so I filled up the tub. "Are we going to have a good day today?" I asked her with a smile "yes!" Her said happy "yay!" I said and kissed her cheek.
   After a few minutes I looked over to the um tub and it was filled enough so I picked Jazelle up and put her in the tub and quickly started washing her down. She was playing with her toys the whole and never once payed attention to what I was doing.
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   "We're done!" I said and smiled. "Yay!" She said and stood up then jumped in the water making it splash everywhere. I got annoyed. "Jazelle, stop, stop jumping!" I said aggressively since the water was going everywhere in the bathroom and on me. She stoped and stood there and then pouted. I felt horrible. "I'm sorry baby!" I said and picked her up then wrapped her in a towel. She started crying a little and I placed her in the sink counter. "I'm sorry baby" I said and kissed her cheek then drained the tub. She continued crying so I gave her a toy from the tub. She soon stopped crying and instead played with the toy. I smiled. "I'm going to go grab your clothes" I said and walked out of the room quickly and grabbed her clothes from the counter and walked back to the bathroom.
   "Jazelle? Jazelle?" I said worried because she wasn't there. My heart dropped instantly and I ran to my room where I found Damian holding Jazelle. I immediately felt better. "Thank god!" I said with a smile "what?" Damian said and smiled "I thought I lost her" I said and sat on the bed. "She's here with me" Damian said and smiled. "Get her dressed, I need to shower I said and put her clothes on the bed then walked to the bathroom in mine and Damian's room. I took my clothes off and got in the shower.
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Damian's POV:
"C'mon baby let's get you ready" I said to Jazelle and laid her down on my bed so I could dress her. "Daddy?" She said "yes baby?" I said "who's we-weeding are we going to?" She asked me and continued playing with her toy. "It's my friends, Sebastian." I said to her and dried her off then started dressing her. "Oh, will it be fun!" She said excitedly "very" I said and smiled then kissed her cheek "okay!" She said and giggled.
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Once I had finished getting her dressed I brushed her hair and turn the TV on for her in my room. She laid down on my bed and watched TV while I did my hair.
"Babe" - "yeah?" Alice said "hurry" I said "okay, i'm almost done. just need to do my hair" she said "okay, i'm going to go start the car and put the bags in the car." I said then grabbed the bags from the bed "okay, Jazelle's bag in on the floor next to the door in her room" Alice said "okay, i'll be back" I said and walked out of the rooms then went to Jazelle's room and locked her bag up. I then grabbed the keys from the counter in the kitchen and walked outside to turn the car on.
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I had turned on the car and Alice was getting dressed so we could go to Sebastian's house then do everything else there. "Babe!" Alice yelled from the bathroom "yeah!" I yelled back "where's my underwear!" She yelled back "I don't know? It should be there!" I yelled and got up from the bed. "It's not! Did you take the bag that was here?" She said and looked at me with serious eyes. "Yeah..." I said stupidly "my underwear were in there. It's okay i'll get another pair." She said and slightly laughed then wrapped herself in a towel and walked to our room. "I'm sorry" I said feeling bed "it's okay Damian" she said and laughed. "No" I said then sat on the bed "yes it is, now...shut it" she said and kissed me then went back to the bathroom "o-okay" I said and smiled forgetting about what had happened.
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"Damain, Jazelle, Let's go!" Alice said walking out of the bathroom. "Let's go!" Jazelle said excitedly "okay babe. Go get in the car." I said and grabbed my charger and my phone." I then followed behind them closing all the doors to the house and finally locking the front door. I walked to the passenger side and opened the door for Alice then put Jazelle in her car seat.
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I then walked to the drivers side and got in then pulled out of the driveway and started driving to Sebastian's house.
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After an hour and a half had gone by we were now 5 minutes from Sebastian's house and I was excited to see him after quite a long time. "Is he nice?" Alice asked me worried "very, unless you are annoying to him like how I am." I said and smiled proudly. "Dumbass" Alice said and laughed then got on her phone.
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"Damian..." Alice said looking at Sebastian's house "woah!" Jazelle said excitedly "yeah" I said and chuckled. "This is huge!" Alice said excitedly "I know, he owns...a company" I said lying to her about what he did for a living so she wouldn't be worried for the day. "Damn!" She said and scoffed "yeah" I said then pulled into his driveway to where I found some of his men standing outside. "Wait here" I said and parked the car then got off and talked to his guys. "I'm Sebastian's best man today" I said to one of the guys so they could let us in. He then took his walkie-talkie and talked to Sebastian. "Yes sir let them in" Sebastian said through it and the guys moved out of the way so I could get inside the garage. "Babe this house is beautiful" Alice said mesmerized "It's better inside" I said and smiled then pulled into the garage and parked my car. "Let's go" I said. I got off the car and the door to the house opened. "Sebastian!" I said excitedly "hey man!" He said then pulled me in and hugged me. "Why haven't you come to see me asshole!" She said "I hate you" I said and laughed then pulled away "ahh me to!" He said and laughed with me. That's when Alice got off the car and grabbed Jazelle from the back then they both walked over to us. "Sebastian meet Alice and Jazelle. Alice and Jazelle meet Sebastian." I said greeting them all. "Hi!" Jazelle said excitedly and Sebastian looked stunned. "Jazelle?" He said and looked at me confused and happy at the same time "yeah, Jazelle" I said and smiled "hey pretty girl!" Sebastian said and waved at her automatically loving her. I smiled and so did Alice. "Hi Alice" Sebastian said and shook her hand "Hi" Alice said awkwardly. "Let's get this weeding going!" I said excitedly "let's get it!" Sebastian yelled happy then a lady came out. "I'll take y'all to y'all's rooms" the lady said taking Alice and Jazelle "i-okay" Alice said and followed her. I watched them leave and opened the trunk to my car. "Help me soft boy" I said to Sebastian "soft boy?" He said and chuckled "yes! Look at you! You're all happy and FINALLY getting married" I said happy for him "I guess so" he said with a smile and grabbing one of the bags since I had already gotten the other two. "Let's go to the room" Sebastian said "okay" I said and followed him to were me, Alice, and Jazelle were staying.
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   "Babe, babe, DAMIAN!" Alice said waking me up from the nap I had taken. "Yeah!" I said alarmed and woke up. "What are you doing! Why aren't you ready! The wedding is going to start in 30 minutes! UGH DAMIAN! GET UO NOW!" She yelled at me and pulled me out of bed. 30 MINUTES? "WHAT!" I yelled and quickly started grabbing my clothes and changing. "yes! EVERYONE IS OUTSIDE WAITING! Sebastian has been asking for you for the past 2 hours and i've been meeting people with Jazelle." She said "I came in here and find your ass sleeping!" She continued yelling. "ALICE! I'M SORRY!" I yelled and continued putting my clothes on. "I'm almost done!" I said and put my tie on then my shoes and headed to the bathroom. "Whatever Damian, once your done, go to Sebastian's room he's in the with his other guys." She said and walked out. I continued getting ready.
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   Once I had finished I walked out of our room and quickly walked to Sebastian's room.
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   I knocked on the door. "Hey man! Where you been!" Sebastian said opening the door. "I-I was at the store to get drinks but there was a shit ton of traffic." I said lying and walking inside to where I saw his family and some other guys in there "oh okay, it's all good, I was getting worried." He said and chuckled then closed the door behind us. "Let get this wedding started!" Sebastian yelled then everyone grabbed there beers and drank them while I stood there empty handed. "Never in a million years would I have thought that you were going to get married." I said to him and look at him "me either but hey, I love her" he said with a wide smile on his face. "Good, good" I said and chuckled "Jazelle..." he said saying my daughters name and her name. "Yep. Do you miss her?" I asked him "every fucking day" he said drinking his beer. "Yeah me too, but just know that she's here with us" I said and put a smile on my face. "Yes she is" he said then smiled. "Okay boys! We have exactly 5 minutes till we leave here!" Santiago (Sebastian's brother) said. All the guys yelled excitedly.
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   "Alright guys, I want to say thank you for being here on my big day and supporting me through everything I do. I love you all very much and LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Sebastian said and yelled excitedly opening the door and walking out of the room with me then his family and the other guys behind him. We all walked outside to the backyard where I saw Jazelle's family, I started crying when I saw Emma and Lauren. Lauren had a big smile on her face and Emma was now a teenager, not the little girl I used to know. I had talked to them over the 6 years but I had not seen them in those 6 years. It felt awesome to see them both. I then saw and empty chair next to Emma. A chair that had Jazelle's full name and the date she was born to the date she died. I then saw Jazelle's body figure in a white appearance, what I saw was her smiling and looking at both of us then her mist disappeared into thin air and I looked up to the sky smiling and crying. She was here. I continued crying and looked and Emma and Lauren. Emma immediately recognized me and started crying also. "Hi" I whispered and slightly waved. She smiled and did the same thing. I looked at Lauren and she smiled widely.
   I looked around more and saw my family, Alice and Jazelle. Jazelle in Alice's arms happily looking at me and smiling the way they both had always done. I looked at Sebastian and he was already looking at me smiling and crying. "She's here" I said and smiled "you saw her too" Sebastian said with a bigger smile "I did." I said and smiled then wiped my tears and so did Sebastian. I then heard music and finally saw Natalie walking down the aisle. Then Sebastian cried again and chuckled.
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   "If I had only known that this was going to be the outcome of this crazy experience with my Ride or Die. I would have never been so hard on her and I would've never opened the door to my room to use the bathroom. Because that day, that day was the day that I knew my life wasn't going to be fair. And that day was the day I knew she was going to be my forever Ride or Die." -Damian Hernandez