Too Far Gone (Urban)

29| Old Times

Chenelle glanced up at Rascal, tears brimming in her eyes as she held on to his shirt, which was stained with her tears. Rascal hugged her closer and kissed her head, whispering comforting words in her ear. She had just finished telling Rascal what happened between him a couple of days ago, and for some reason, when she got to what happened in his room, she began to break down. He hasn't talked to her since that day, and it was killing her. His last remarks to her continuously stabbed her heart every time she thought about it.

"I don't like her."

It had stung her like a wasp.

"Nelly, don't worry about him." Rascal spoke up, using his thumb to wipe a tear off her face. "If he doesn't like you like that, so be it." He paused, a smile spreading across his face. "I'm sure there's plenty of guys who do like you in that way."

Chenelle shook her head.

"I doubt it. I know the type of girls men like, and I'm not one of those girls." She croaked, sniffling.

"You don't have to be."
He scooted off her bed and knelt before her, holding her hands in his. He caressed the back of her hands with his thumbs. Her skin was always so soft.

"You don't have to do anything to yourself to be beautiful, because you're perfect the way you are. No one else looks like you Nel, so why would you want to look like someone else?"

Chenelle let the thought process in her head.

"Who cares if he doesn't like you. He was always a ho anyway." Rascal grimaced. "He always slept around on his girlfriend like it was some game. I wouldn't want that for you, and you know that. You deserve way better than that."

"I know." She said, crestfallen. If Pierce didn't like her that way, then why did he pin her to his bed? Why did he examine her body as if she was a painting? Why did he get hard for her? Did he just see her as another one of his sex toys? None of it made sense to her. "But, all this time we've been hanging out, I haven't seen him with another girl, let alone talking to one."

Rascal shook his head, chuckling. "But what about when you're not hanging out with him? You don't know what he's doing."

Chenelle's heart sank again. She wasn't any different from the next chick in his eyes. He was just toying with her this whole time.

Rascal patted her knee. "Enough of this sadness. Let's go get you some Freckle Bitches. I know you're hungry." He glanced at the clock, seeing the time was eleven twenty-five.

Chenelle's stomach grumbled in respond. She felt her cheeks heat up upon hearing it growl. Rascal chuckled, getting up and taking her hand for her to follow him. Together they made their way to her front door. Chenelle slipped on her Uggs, tucking her sweats inside. She slipped her hoodie over her head, then fixed her hair into a messy bun, a few curls falling into her face. Rascal smiled at her before twisting her door open. There stood Pierce, dressed down in a sweat suit, his hand raised in a fist as if he was about to knock. His eyes went directly to Chenelle before quickly shifting to Rascal.

Chenelle struggled to find words to say.

"What do you want?" Rascal scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. Pierce lowered his first, returning the malicious stare to Rascal.

"I should be asking you the same thing."

"She called me and started crying on the phone, jackass."

Pierce glanced back at Chenelle. Her eyes probably looked red and swollen by now, and she could see the guilt in his eyes.

"She already told me what happened, so I don't think there's anything you can discuss with her."

"Rascal..." Chenelle sulked.
Pierce stepped forward to Rascal, towering over him by a few inches.

"That's not for you to decide." Pierce seethed, gritting his teeth together, his fists clenched. Chenelle noticed the rise of his anger and faced Rascal, folding her arms.

"Go warm up the car or something, please?"

Rascal nodded his head, glowering at Pierce before making his way to his car. Chenelle peered up at Pierce, unable to hold her gaze. Pierce hesitantly cupped her face in his hands, stroking her tender, warm cheeks with one of his thumbs. Her eyes remained on the ground.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered, "I don't know what got into me. I didn't mean anything I said that night."

Chenelle sniffled, "So you do like me?" It was the first thought that came to her head for some reason.

Pierce pulled her into an embrace, her curly head of hair tickling his face and nose. He wanted to say yes so badly, but the words couldn't come out of his mouth. He didn't even know if she liked him back. Every dude she meets tried to court her, and what if she already found someone she likes? Besides, if Trinity was pregnant with his baby, he had to be there for Trinity.

"Chenelle..." he sighed, "even if I did like you, it wouldn't work out between us. My life is fucked up."

He felt her squeeze his chest.

"But I do miss you." He admitted, hugging her tighter. "I wanted to call you so many times, but I was afraid."

Chenelle leaned back to look him in his eyes, a small grin on her puffy face. "Pierce gets scared?"

Pierce chuckled and nodded, feeling that sensual sensation creep up on him again. He released his tight grip on her and brushed a stray hair out of her face, something he enjoyed doing since it gave him a chance to gawk at her beautiful hazel eyes. Rascal honked his horn.

"Alright, can we go now?" He shouted out of the passenger seat window. Chenelle looked at him over her shoulder before facing Pierce again. She bit her lip, her bottom curling into her mouth as she glanced at nothing in particular. She hesitated to speak.

"Pierce?"

"Yeah?"

She folded her hands together. "You wanna come with us? We can hang out, just like old times."

Pierce looked towards Rascal's car, seeing Rascal was glaring back at them. "I don't think he'll want me to come."

Chenelle kissed her teeth. "Too bad. I know you're hungry too, fat ass."

"Watch yo' mouth girl." Pierce joked, purposefully pulling out her hair tie. Her hair cascaded into her face, and under those curly bangs, he knew she was glaring at them. He laughed wholeheartedly as she punched him in the chest, grabbing the hair tie from him to put her hair up, then leading him to Rascal's car so they can all hang out again.

Just like old times.

✝