𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐄 | 𝐌.𝐌.

Chapter 16

The soft murmuring of the television could be heard in the background, as Khrys had opened her eyes for the first time in 6 hours. She remembered falling asleep next to Marshall on the couch at about 4 in the morning after a long, drawn out conversation. However, she had woken up in his bed. When she rolled over to look at his side, she was only met with tossled sheets. The only sign he had been there at all.

As she set up and took in her surroundings, she heard a bit of hushed bickering. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she slipped out of the bed and slowly walked out of Marshall's bedroom and to the top of his stairs. The would be padding of her feet getting lost in the plushness of his carpet. 

A look of surprise took over her face as she saw Marshall and Kim having a slightly heated conversation at the front door. She bent down to hear them clearly and thanked God that they couldn't see her from there.

"You already got some bitch cooped up in here Marshall? Really?"

"And if I do, what the fuck ya gonna do about it? I'm a grown ass man Kim and mind you, I don't owe ya shit."

"What you owe me, is an explanation when you have your little playthings around my daughter."

"I wouldn't have needed to provide one if you let me know you were bringing Hailie in advance."

"Since when do I have to announce when I'm bringing YOUR daughter to see, YOU?"

"Since ya got us in this shit."

Khrys placed her hand over her mouth at Marshall's comment and watched as Kim narrowed her eyes at him.

"Aye, what the fuck are ya doin'?"

Kim pushed past Marshall into the house and beelined straight for the foyer.

"Looking for the bitch. Where is she?"

There was a few more curse words thrown around as Kim proceeded to look for whoever Marshall was hiding. In this case, Khrys knew it'd be herself. As she heard Kim's voice get closer to the stairs, she panicked and did her best to run back towards the room without making any noise. And surprisingly, she succeeded.

Marshall was right, he was entitled to having whoever he wanted at his home but she also understood Kim's reason for being upset. She slipped past the bathroom door and hid in the shower, praying that Kim wouldn't look in there. The last thing she needed was to be the reason Marshall didn't get to see his daughter. She'd never be able to live with herself if that happened.

Her heart dropped once she heard Kim's voice, yet again. Only this time, she was on the other side of the bathroom door. She could hear the knob twisting and the door hitting the wall. Goosebumps broke out over her skin and she watched the shadow get closer to the shower curtain.

"Kim, come on. You're bein' fuckin' ridiculous."

Khrys released a breath she didn't know she was holding as she watched a shadow, she knew to be Marshall's, grab Kim's arm and lead her out of the bathroom, but not before she turned to look at the shower.

Kim sighed and hung her head.

"I guess you're right."

The tone of her voice dropped a little and she placed her hand on Marshall's chest.

"I just...miss you and you know how I get. Thinking of you with someone else. I'm not ready for that. You aren't either, are you?"

Khrys scrunched her eyebrows and peeked through the side of the curtain, to get a better look at what she was hearing. It didn't help because the expression on Marshall's face was unreadable. He didn't look pissed, or sad, or...anything. In fact, he looked like he was caught in a trance.