A/N: First of all, I'm really sorry for pasting the last chapter without formatting which tells you how tired I've been.

This is for everyone who's had one of those days/weeks, really likes Jodeci, is or isn't looking forward to season 5, or who's been following me this past year.

Random fact: I'm a HUGE MC Lyte fan so credit to her for the title.

As always, enjoy and thank you for reading.

Monday 7th March 2016, 8.09pm, Peridot Restaurant and Wine Bar, Throgs Neck, Bronx, NY, USA

So far, John had done his utmost to keep Joss in the well-crafted, airy bubble he created for her protection; so much so that she couldn't see she was living in one. In it there was enough room for her to breathe and relax in a way she hadn't in years, but it was still delicate. Nonetheless, that kind of living looked as good on her as the royal blue mock wrap dress and pearl teardrop earrings she wore to dinner. Little did she know the ring box in his blazer felt as heavy as a boulder due to the weight of the question it came with...and the answer. For once he wasn't in control and everything was getting to him, even the collar around his neck that was tightening by the minute.

"Are you okay?" She asked as the waiter in the olive green waistcoat refilled her glass of water.

He cleared his throat and felt a scratchy feeling, as though he'd swallowed chalk. "Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

She smiled and leaned in. "You're sweating."

"Am not." The pools in his armpit said otherwise, although he felt hot and cold at the same time. "I'm just...coming down from that bare-knuckle fight."

"Mm-hmm, all that intensity." He noticed she had some lipstick on her teeth but he didn't say anything. "How'd you find this place? It's pretty hidden, river view..."

"It's not the Adriatic or anything."

It was just like him to put himself down, he never could take a compliment. "I like the East River, John. And I like the man who brought me here."

For some reason, the look in her eyes made proposing harder. The innocence of her glowing skin made proposing harder. And the disoriented jazz band were about to make proposing even harder. Amirah Lamont, the jazz ingenue from Tisch, was supposed to start her set with a romantic jazz standard. After all, that's what he paid for. However, fresh off a heartbreak and spurred on by watching Angela Bassett set the car on fire all weekend, she opened her mouth producing Ella's moan instead of Billie's Very thought of you as she sang, "A woman gets all the blame for everything that happens under the sun, but when it comes to being bad; a woman's not the only one. Trouble is a man; a man who loves me no more, no more…"

8.37pm, Paul's house, Elmhurst, Queens

There were a number of things Paul didn't understand about his son; like why he preferred soccer over football when football was clearly a superior game, or why he was still waiting for Frank Ocean's new album, but there was one thing that had him stumped and he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Why didn't you tell me you had problems 'til you were ready to quit?" Paul asked with the subtlety of a bull in a china shop as Taylor sank into the couch after driving his grandma around all day.

An obscure channel was playing a What's Happening? Marathon, which Taylor couldn't stand to watch unless Dee was on-screen because it wasn't funny without her.

He had no idea how to answer, because he didn't think of it at the time, before, or after. "Don't know."

"Even though I'm the one who's been through what you're going through?" Taylor's silence was telling. "Why are you dropping line?"

He realised it was always going to be awkward telling the truth, when it seemed more peaceful without it. "'Cause I never wanted to pledge in the first place."

Paul blinked. "Never?" He shook his head. "Then why did you rush?"

Explaining his strategy made it seem sillier than it was, like he'd given weight to something that bore no weight at all. "I never thought I'd get a bid in the first place. So if I rushed, and didn't get one then I wouldn't be here, I guess."

"But you did. They wanted you."

"Yeah, and then I thought I had to pledge 'cause you know…"

"I don't know. I don't understand this. You're so close. Is this about John?

"No."

"But you talk to John."

"We live in the same house...kinda."

"He won't understand this. No-one does unless they're in it. That's why it's a-"

"Brotherhood, I know, I know."

In that moment Paul recognised it was a losing game. "And you're still gonna drop. Even though you made it this far and you probably got in. What happened?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Is that why you're home for Spring Break instead of Atlanta with the line?"

"Dad."

"You know it's really hard to talk to someone who doesn't talk to you."

"You don't listen."

"What'd you mean I don't listen?"

"If I say something, you just go back to whatever you were already saying."

"Like what?"

"Like...I don't wanna be a Kappa."

"Taylor, there's a lot of benefits to being a Kappa. When I got back to New York, who hooked me up with a job? Tony. Why? 'Cause we're brothers."

"You're doing it again."

9.45pm, Peridot Restaurant and Wine Bar, Throgs Neck, Bronx, NY, USA

As Amirah lamented on her heartbreak with a rousing striped back rendition of Don't explain, John saw the evening go from back to worse. Not only was Joss lost in it, massaging her belly while transfixed on the mini-stage, but the ring seemed to defy the laws of psychics and burned in his chest like Mount Vesuvius. At least he wasn't sweating.

Joss, I've never loved someone this good for me, and done something about it…

I've loved you, for I don't know how long...

I don't know how long we've got together but...

So you're having my baby, and it means so much to me. There's nothing more precious, than to raise a family…

Granted the last words that came to mind weren't his, but of all the words he thought of, he couldn't find the right words to say. Except one, and it was the worst word he could say all night. "Zoe."

Joss looked up at the sun-kissed could've-been model that was Zoe Morgan, or as Fusco called her, Legs. "Hi Zoe, you been on vacation?"

"Crete."

"Nice."

John didn't know this game they were playing, only that it was over his head. Zoe hadn't missed Joss' bump from across the room so it was unmistakable close-up. "Congratulations, a boy?"

"Two, actually."

"Quelle surprise!"

"Tell me about it."

The awkward dry laughter that flowed conveyed that they weren't friends any more than an apple was an orange. "Well, all the best to you guys." Zoe mustered, because it was the thing to say and she'd just decided she'd rather have her food to go. Because John never told her himself, or returned her call. Because the last time they'd all been in the same room, he watched Joss date someone else and walked her home after. Because it was borderline humiliating, at the least embarrassing, and she didn't do well in these situations.

And again, John didn't just think he was bombing, he knew he was bombing. "You don't look so good." Joss observed, as the band took a break.

"It was supposed to be special."

"It is special. I like this place. And she can blow."

"I brought you here to ask you to marry me." He confessed.

"I know, John." She said, casually. "When Geppetto strikes, she goes in for the kill. That's why she got me these earrings, and why you and Taylor have been in cahoots, and why you dropped your fork three times already." It shouldn't have surprised him that with all the time she had to spare, studying him closely would become a pastime. "Like I said, I want it to come from you, when you're ready. But I appreciate it. So let's just call it Date Night."

He would never understand why she was taking it easy, why she gave him a do-over, or why she went on to have two desserts. Because it should've been a catastrophe, and she should've been more excited, or at least asked to see the ring. The only conclusion he could draw was that she didn't want to get married again; because the jackass had caused irreparable damage and she wouldn't risk it all this time; not even with him. Now the ring box felt like a paper weight, something ordinary. What he never considered was she was comfortable in the bubble he'd created for her. But the thing about living in a bubble was it would surely and inevitably burst.