I should have uploaded this like 5 days ago but I kept switching things around and taking them out of this chapter and putting them in the next and vice versa. But since we have a whole world wide pandemic going on right now, I guess the best time for me to finish up some of my stories would be now.

"No."

"No what?

"To everything." I replayed that over and over in my mind, I did not mean for it to come off as harshly as it did, but it needed to be said. It was hard not to notice the sudden look of sadness in Hunter's eyes, i'm sure he knew deep down that whatever conversation he wanted to have was not going to be had for a long time, if ever. It has been five and a half, maybe six months since we broke up? The last time we spoke was the day I was removed my personal items from his condo. We both had so much to say, neither one of us had wanted me to go, but you simply could not ignore the events of the night before. I was not ready for it, I was not ready for this conversation and it was not fair of him to try to spring it on me with a poor man's bribe of a walk on the beach.

Honestly, I had only began to heal a while ago, and wow did that take longer than I am proud of admitting. I knew I loved Hunter, I knew I loved him more than anything or anyone I ever thought I was capable of loving, and most shockingly, I didn't know how deep it was. How could I have missed the signs that said we were clearly deeper in love than either could have imagined? We rarely argued, we made the most basic and pointless things funny and exciting, we lit up a room wherever we went, and we laughed more than we talked. Our bond was stronger than a thousand holds, I didn't think we'd ever let go. We had a love deeper than deep, we had a type of spiritual connection, a God like aura. I had never in my life felt such a sensation where the very presence of him walking through a door could lift me off my feet, my body would set on fire when I saw him, melt, when he touched me. I was his and he was mine, and I was going to do everything in my power to please him and be there for him. I was smooth flowing silk snaking through his hands, twirling around the fingertips and falling effortlessly in the palm of his hands.

And what did he do? he crushed me.

I'm not ashamed to say I would have done absolutely anything for this man, I am ashamed to say I am just now figuring out that feeling may no have been the same.

"Well thank you" I said as I put down my glass and stood up "I never knew I needed to know the life history of your favorite shoe designer"

"Ugh, her story is legend" Mandy gushed as she looked over at Shawn with disgust as she tapped his forehead with her sharp finger a few times.

"Wh..Whaa?" Shawn stammered until he came to.

"Nothing man" I said calmly as I stared out the window for a few seconds "well I'll see you guys later, goodnight"

"Goodnight, I enjoyed out conversation Hunter"

You call that a conversation? I forced a smile and spoke through clenched teeth. "Me toooo, me tooo" while nodding my head.

Mandy smiled and nudged Shawn to get off of her shoulder. "Come on babe, let's get you to bed."

The moment I was in my room I locked the door and placed a balled fist by the side of my head as I tapped my head hard against the cool wood before ripping off my shirt and tossing it to the side. I walked over and flopped down on the bed face first, my thoughts racing, asking questions I knew the answers to and needed the answers to. What was I thinking? I thought as I rolled over, eyes staring up at the ceiling. That she'd just forget that you blindsided her and hurt her? That you threw three amazing years down the drain, and now months later you want to take a walk on the beach and talk about it? How could I have been so stupid? This feels like i'm reading through a bad script and I no longer want to be apart of it.

Despite tuning in and out to most of what she was saying, Mandy did fill me in on the plans that the group had made for tomorrow, I knew with all that was on the schedule that Stephanie and I would not get a moment together. I needed to talk to her, I needed to make things right, even if she didn't want to be with me anymore I needed to know that there would be some hope for the future, a friendship, anything. I could no longer make it without her another day in my life, the flames from this tortuous hell that I caused needed to be put out.

His jaw dropped and his body went limp. "Wait, what? you're breaking up with me?"

"Yes"

"But w-why!?" he asked panicked

"Haven't you seen the signs? I mean clearly we aren't made for one another" she said as she casually bounced her straw back and forth between her fingers before letting out a deep sigh. "I honestly thought you saw this coming."

He racked his brain for answers and couldn't find any, he retraced his steps as far back as two months ago and couldn't think of anything that would have set her off. "But I...we-"

She started laughing and playful punched him in the chest. "Don't be silly, Silly, I was just playing with you" Mandy said as she twirled the straw around with her tongue before sipping on it. "You should really work on your sense of humor, Shawn." Mandy said as she casually spun a full circle in her stool, as if she didn't just put her boyfriend through mental torture for 10 minutes.

"No. You should work on your sense of humor" Veronica said as she stepped into the kitchen, sitting her rose gold boxing gloves down that had a white trim and straps, and the words "BAD" on the left, and "BITCH" on the right strap written in beautiful gold calligraphy. "I don't believe teasing a heartbreak has ever been funny." Veronica said as she slid in between the small empty space that separated Shawn and Mandy's stools and stared her straight in the eyes. "And I'd like it if you didn't do it again." Her words calm, yet threatening all at once. Veronica has always been more protective over Shawn than any of the guys in the group, he was a lost soul and an only child and always found himself yearning for the love, affection, and appreciation he saw his other friends get throughout the years, be it with family or relationships. It's truly no wonder he constantly finds himself paired up with women like Mandy, Veronica never could see how he couldn't see through her, or maybe he had and he just figured he'd luck out now than continue to put himself through the emotional and mental turmoil that he has been through for the last 26 years of his life.

Mandy, clearly taken aback by Veronica's aggressive approached looked to Shawn for answers, and when she found none she looked back to Veronica's piercing eyes. "I-I" Mandy stammered. "It was just...a joke" she said slightly lifting her hands, palms up.

"Jokes make you laugh" Veronica said as she reached past Mandy and grabbed a few grapes off of her plate "Do you hear laughter?" she asked as she chomped down on the sweet fruit and continued staring Mandy straight in her eyes.

"Vee, it's okay, really, I didn't realize she was joking, it's cool" Shawn said as he offered a warm smile.

Veronica was about to reply when Brooklyn strolled in, he came over and kissed Veronica's cheek and scanned the energy of the room, it didn't take a scientist to tell him what the look she had in her eyes meant. He didn't know what happened, and he didn't need to, but he knew who the cause of the problem was and without a doubt he knew it was Mandy. "Elloo" he said, his thick accent showing proudly.

"Hi" Mandy said softly as she dropped her head to stare at her drink.

"Hey man" Shawn said standing to greet his friend with one of their handshakes "where have you guys been all morning?"

"I just woke up homes, I see my lady has been puttin' in work early this morning" he said smiling at Veronica who was now pulling food out the fridge to cook.

"Yeah, you could say that" Shawn replied as he gave a quick glance to both Veronica and Mandy.

"Eyy homes, you don't have to tell me twice." He said as he glanced over at Mandy and raised both brows "trust me, I know"

"Good morning, good morning" Rebecca said as she came into the kitchen. She was dressed in a tight fitted peach adidas tracksuit that hugged every curve on her body, she wore a white tank top that had a swoop low enough to tease the imagination but covered her appropriately and her jacket was tied snug against her waist. She wore no makeup and her hair was tied back into a loose ponytail which she removed, her hair fell down and parts seemed damp, she smiled at everyone before walking over to the fridge.

"Good morning" Shawn asked as he took in the sight before him "where have you been?"

"I went for a run" Rebecca said as she closed the refrigerator door, a blue gatorade in hand. "They did a few renovations to the park down the street, the new trail is beautiful, it over looks the lake now."

"Stoney Lake? man, I haven't seen that place in so long, I forgot to visit it last year."

"Oh it's beautiful Shawn, you have to go, you'll love it and you can fish there now." Rebecca said as she drank a few sips of the refreshing liquid

Shawn's ears immediately perked up. "Really? they're going to allow that now?" he asked as he placed his hands on the island and leaned forward. Mandy looked on as she watched the two interact.

"Yeah" she said closing the cap on the bottle. "I believe that started last year" she said with a chuckle. "You really did miss out, huh?"

Shawn shook his head. "Man, I miss out on all the good stuff, you guys even went to the circus without me"

"First of all, it wasn't a circus" Veronica cut in "it was the carnival and they just happened to have an elephant there that year."

"Two!" Brooklyn added throwing up his fingers "And I coulda swore I saw a gator man"

"Don't help" Veronica said as she shot her boyfriend a knowing look. "We can't help that you had to leave for business a few days early."

"Well, at least you'll get to fish this time" Rebecca added with a warm smile.

"Shawn doesn't fish" Mandy replied quickly as she looked Rebecca up and down "And missing out on a circus-"

"Carnival" Brooklyn corrected

"Whatever, all the same, doesn't sound like anything to be mad about missing out on, I mean you must know the food is extremely unsanitary, the rides are unsafe and not to mention half of the operators probably aren't certified."

"I'm certified to give an ass whooping" Veronica said under her breath to which Brooklyn gave her a gentle nudge before turning his attention to Mandy.

"But that's what makes it fun, the danger of it all" Brooklyn teased

"How would you know what Shawn does or doesn't do?" Rebecca questioned with a raised brow

"And I oop" Veronica chimed in while silently chuckling to herself.

"Because he's my man, and I know what my man does or doesn't do". Mandy responded with same attitude she was given.

"Clearly you don't" Veronica said casually as she continued preparing breakfast. "Does everyone here eat turkey bacon?"

"I do" Taylor said as he and Darius walked in

"Same" Darius said rubbing the back of his neck "Man I slept rough last night." He said as he sat down in the corner of the 8 piece sectional.

"Still have that crick in your neck?" Taylor asked as he flopped down on the black leather La-Z-Boy recliner with a huge thud.

With a quickness Veronica turned around and threw a balled up piece of aluminum foil at Taylor's head. "I told you to stop doing that, it's furniture not a trampoline."

"How the hell did she throw it that far across the room?" Darius asked as he watched his friend rub the top of his head where he was hit. "And with precision"

"I've always said she was a major league baseball player in another life." Brooklyn replied

"With the exception of Darius, you've all given me plenty of practice" Veronica said as she rolled her eyes and turned back to cooking.

"Smells good up in here" Tiffany said as she walked in wearing a yellow halter top and short blue jean shorts, her hair was pulled back into a slick black ponytail that had a million natural curls at the end that bounced when she walked, she too wore no make up and was a beautiful sight to take it. "What's going on?" she asked as she walked over and picked up the aluminum ball that was sitting in the middle of the floor. "Did you miss, Veronica?" she asked as she leaned against the recliner, her back to her brother.

"I never miss" Veronica replied as she turned her head to wink at her friend and then back to the food.

"Who was it for?"

"Your brother" Veronica said, her back still facing the stove "for continuing to treat my furniture like a bounce castle."

Tiffany slapped her brother on the back of the head "she's told you about that"

"What the hell?" he asked as he got up and rubbed the back of his head "is this national abuse Taylor day? and where are the rest of your clothes?"

Tiffany rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her boyfriend. "Neck still hurting babe? I told you i'd rub it"

"There's a great massage parlor down the street" Mandy chimed in "i'm sure they can work it out."

"I'm sure I can too" Tiffany said as she walked over and sat in her boyfriend's lap. "But thank you"

"Okay, we have turkey bacon, eggs, grits, sausage, pancakes, french toast and the biscuits will be done in a minute, can you grab the jelly out the fridge Becca."

"Mmm, mmm! I love it when you cook" Shawn said as he reached over and grabbed a piece of bacon "It's my favorite part of the trip, I never get home cooked food like this back home, it's always something fancy" he immediately regretted his words as everyone went silent and their attention shot to Mandy.

Veronica broke the brief silence with a cackling laugh. "Trust me, we knooow" she said as she changed the conversation "Where the hell are the other two? they're usually down by now"

"Hunter went in a little late last night, he's probably still asleep" Shawn answered as he ate the rest of his bacon, his eyes slowly darting over to Mandy, searching for any signs of anger. She had a blank face and twirled around her straw around like she had earlier.

"I saw Steph out on the patio this morning before I went on my run, I was going to go over and speak but she seemed to be in deep thought." Rebecca said as she placed the grape jelly on the counter and helped Veronica lay out the food.

"Isn't she always?" Darius said as he rubbed the back of his girlfriend

"Depends" Stephanie answered as she came in through the side doorshe still had on her pajama bottoms and a white tank top "mmm, everything looks and smells so good."

"Thank you, I had no help" Veronica teased

"ayyye, I would have cooked the eggs" Brooklyn said, giving his girlfriend a flirtatious smile

"Hey guys" Hunter said as he strolled in, his hair was a mess and he wore gym shorts and no shirt, he too plopped down hard on the other recliner and immediately grabbed his head and ducked when he realized what he did.

"Mmm-hmm, yeah you got lucky" Veronica said she placed the pancakes down on the counter, Hunter looked up at her and they both gave one another a smirky grin.

"Where are my clothes, where are his?" Tiffany asked as she threw a pillow at Taylor and then another at Hunter.

"What I do?" Hunter questioned as he caught the soft pillow and tossed it Taylor who tossed his at Hunter.

"So now they're just going to play dodgeball with my shit" Veronica said to herself as she threw her arms in the air

Stephanie chuckled as she silently fixed her plate and went over to the circular table in the corner, looking out the window at the beach. "Mind if I join you?" Shawn asked as he sat his plate down and slightly tilted his head towards Mandy.

"In trouble?" Stephanie whispered

"There's a possibility."

"Are yall in the CIA, or?" Veronica questioned as she sat down next to Stephanie "What's with all the whispering?"

"Shawn's in trouble apparently"

Veronica let out small chuckle as she glanced over and watched Mandy fix a plate of food for herself. "Don't worry, i'll catch you up" she replied as she gave Shawn a teasing look.

Breakfast along with the rest of the day went quite well within the group, everyone had fun during the various activities that were planned and a nice dinner to cap it all off at the end. Stephanie and Hunter pretty much avoided one another the entire time, not that it was that hard, just as he predicted they would have never gotten a chance to speak anyway with all the mayhem going on around them. Shawn and Mandy spoke very little too, he tried talking to her various times throughout the day but she wouldn't budge. A small argument broke out between Darius and Tiffany but it was over as quickly as it started, those two could never stay mad at one another for long.

"For as long as you've know me, you've never seen any of the Friday movies?"

"Nope" Rebecca said shaking her head

"What about the Bad Boyz or Barbershop movies?" Darius asked

"The Color Purple?" Veronica continued

"Coming to America?" Darius added

"Waiting to Exhale?"

"Boyz N the Hood?"

"What's Love Got to Do with It?, Eve's Bayou, Ray, "

"Set It Off, Soul Food, The Five Heartbeats? Baby Boy?"

"The damn Temptations! please tell me you've seen The Temptations series!"

"mm-mm" Rebecca answered

"Whew" Veronica said as she fanned herself in disbelief

"You better have seen Black Panther or we're going to have some serious problems" Darius said as he cocked his head to the side

"I saw that one!" Rebecca beamed with delight as if she had won something on The Price Is Right.

"Darius and I practically quote something from each of those movies everyday"

"I never catch on" Rebecca said as she put her hands up

"Whew, chile" Veronica said placing her hand on her head and looking over at Darius "we gotta get more black friends" The crew laughed as they all sat around the patio, looking over at the beautiful beach as the sun set.

"Hey" Taylor said throwing his arms up "What about us?" he said gesturing to himself and his sister

"Yeah, what about us?" Tiffany joined in

"Eh, y'all are half and half, do you really count?" Veronica teased

Tiffany laughed. "Look we can't help our biracial genetics."

"Well" Stephanie said as she stood up. "I think i'm going to call it a night"

"Right behind you" Shawn said as he got up and stretched "might as well get ready for the inevitable" everyone knew he was talking about Mandy, her absence from the group did not go unnoticed, nor was it missed. "I'll see y'all in the a.m." Shawn said as he waved goodbye and headed in the house.

"Take it easy man" Hunter said as he stole a quick glance over at Stephanie who was staring off into the distance.

"Come on babe" Veronica said patting Brooklyn on the leg "Let's go in"

"Don't worry about the kitchen Vee, we boys took care of it" Taylor said with a proud smile as he patted his chest

"Oh lord, that means I need to triple check everything" she joked as she and the rest of the crew got up to go inside, Veronica was the last to enter and she watched as Stephanie continued to stare off into the distance while Hunter remained unmoved in his seat. She had been watching them all day, she didn't know if anything had happened between the two and she was not going to ask. They were both two of her closest friends, and she knew if they needed her or her advice they would come for it. She watched for a few seconds more before finally shutting the door, a loud thud followed by the sound of pots echoed through the house, Stephanie remained unmoved but Hunter turned his head. "Vee...here me out, I swear it was accident...what's that?...please don't throw that at me...Veronica!"

Hunter chuckled as he vividly pictured what he knew to be Veronica chasing Taylor around the house with some inanimate object for whatever it was that he had done.

"Why are you still here?" Stephanie's soft voice hushed all previous thoughts and his attention immediately went to her.

"What do you mean?" he asked calmly

"Why are you still out here?" she said as she wrapped her arms around herself and continued to stare at the beach.

"I could ask the same about you" Hunter said as he stood up "You were the first to announce you were going to leave...and yet, here you are."

Stephanie for the first time all day quickly spun around to face him, he was two chair lengths away. He stood with his hair gently blowing in the wind, his hands in the pockets of his khaki chino shorts, the sleeves of his white button down were neatly rolled up past his elbow, his biceps looked like they could burst through the thin material at any moment and the top two buttons of the shirt had come undone, giving her a small glimpse of his chest hair. She had to admit he was quite the sight to behold and any other time she would have blushed at the pure existence of him, but at this moment none of that matter. "And yet you wonder why I won't speak to you, you haven't even attempted to respect my wishes."

"I'm more than happy to give you your space Stephanie, but at some point I would like for us to have a conversation, a real one, please."

"I, I, I" Stephanie mimicked "Is that the only word you know?" she asked rhetorically as she turned back around

"Steph-" he said as he came up beside her

"I was yours damnit" she said shaking her head as she turned to face him, arms still covering herself "yours and yours alone and you threw that away, you threw it all away and for what?" she questioned "and now I guess you finally see the error in your ways and you're begging me for a conversation every chance you get." She said as she angrily moved a strand of hair out of her face. "What if I don't want to talk Hunter? what if I just want to simply move on with my life, what if all I want to do is just be cordial and that's it? but that would never be enough for you, would it? because it's not what you want." Stephanie took a deep breath to calm herself, she promised herself the next time they spoke she wouldn't cry and she refused to crack under him again, she refused to give him that power, the power of knowing she was still hurt, extremely hurt."

"Steph I-"

"I was putty in your hands!" she said as she grabbed his right hand and held it out in front of them, never breaking eye contact."I was fucking putty in your hands Hunter, there was nothing I wouldn't do for you. Nothing." she could hear her voice beginning to betray her and she knew it wouldn't be long before the tears would arrive. "I don't care what you have to say Hunter, I don't" she said shaking her head "because whatever it is, you should have said it 6 months ago" she said before angrily throwing his hand back to his side and brushing past him to go into the house.

Hunter took a moment to rationalize everything she had said, how could he have been so stupid? The perfect woman laid down next to him every night, and woke up to him every morning with a smile on her face. She was the type of girl you read about in books, watched on tv, seen only in your dreams, but never experience in person, and there he was, basking in all her glory and not even realizing it. He was a fool, a damn fool to let her go the way he did, and if he could not get her to really speak to him by the end of this trip, he would never forgive himself for not trying.

The self loathing might not take long because during all of this Hunter had not realized that Stephanie placed something in his hand, it wasn't until he clenched his fist that he noticed something was there. He opened his hand and his eyes grew wide and his mouth fell slightly ajar as he stared back at the locket in his hand. This was the locket he gave Stephanie when they were teenagers during their first trip to the beach home, and until their breakup, she had never taken it off. She was 17 and he was 18 and they had snuck off from the group to go down to the beach and he gifted it to her. He designed it himself and took it to a jeweler to get made, he had never been so proud to give someone a gift like weren't even dating at the time, that didn't come until a few years later, but even then they knew they had something special and he wanted to let her know how he felt when he didn't have the courage to tell her face to face yet.

He purposely designed the locket to have many open slots so every year when he would ask for it back, he would add something new to it, a small diamond with a color she liked, parts of the chain could be switched out and replaced with something else, the back her would save for things like engraving her favorite number or a special day, or pun to a joke they liked, just anything that represented a new year and another chapter to their story, something that represented his love when his words had failed him. Now for the first time in his life he didn't want to receive the locket back, for he knew this was the end and she had confirmed that there was no chance of getting her back.

He flicked the locket open and looked over at the picture of the two of them on the left side. They had taken this picture around this time a year ago when they went on vacation in Palawan. They were in the water and Stephanie was on his back, her arms and legs wrapped around him with her face snuggled close to his and a bright smile on her face, Hunter was holding her up and for a split second turned his head to face her, matching her smile. Unbeknownst to them, a photographer was nearby and had snapped the picture at the perfect moment and walked over and handed it to Hunter while Stephanie took off for a swim, she never knew about it until Hunter had it put in the locket.

He then looked over to the right side of the locket, the one side of the locket that never changed once throughout the years. A shot of pain struck him as he stared at the picture they took at the beach the summer he gave it to her, it was in black and white and engraved in the middle with the word they knew true only to them, the one word that could only describe their love: Forever

Not that anyone gives a fuck, but incase you do, i'm black, so don't take offense to any comments I might have Veronica or Darius say throughout the story lol.

I have the outline for chapters 3-5 written out, so hopefully I won't get bored by my own stories like always and have them uploaded in a timely manner. :)