What's Meant For You

She loved him when he let her in his home during the chicken epidemic at 10. She loved him at 16, when he swallowed his hatred and took her to homecoming. She loved him on the night of their graduation, when he spent all night worshiping her. She loved him when he left without a trace. She loved him when he didn't call, text, or email for five years.

And, fuck her, she loved him when he turned up out of nowhere, asking for her forgiveness.

Huey P. Freeman x Jazmine DuBois

Romance. Hurt/Comfort. Friendship. Family. Humor.

Rated M

Chapter Three: Forceful

FOR THE FIFTH DAY IN A ROW, JAZMINE WOKE TO PAIN. Her eyes hurt. Her head hurt. Her stomach hurt. Her body hurt. Her chest throbbed. She whimpered as it hit her, tightening her closed eyes and awaiting the pain to fade.

But it doesn't. It never does. She only becomes numb.

Her mind kept replaying that evening over and over. His words. His face. The memories that clung to her body. It was all on replay. And her helpless heart was far too weak to fight her mind.

That night, after everyone was asleep, she packed her things and went to her home. She ignored all calls and texts. She'd only ever watch the screen flash with their names.

Mom.

Cin.

Riley.

Grandad.

Regina.

Never Huey.

She'd spent the last few days shopping. She filled up every room in the house save for one guest bedroom, her basement, and the attic. She worked too hard to fill her home in order to distract her mind that she ran out of steam far too quickly. She couldn't find the motivation to keep going. So today, she planned to remain in bed and sob, just as she had the day before.

Life seemed to have other plans, however, as her bell sounded. She wrapped herself in a black silk robe and headed to the door. She sighed upon seeing who it was but opened the door anyway.

"How did you find my address?" Sarah bit into her lip, causing Jazmine to roll her eyes. "Of course he found it. What can't Huey do?"

"Can we please talk, Jazmine? Please?"

Sarah's eyes were bloodshot and swollen. Her skin was flushed, her hair was thrown together messily, and Jazmine wasn't sure if she'd eaten anything in some days.

She was upset. Livid, actually. But she didn't stop loving her mother. And she'd never be able to.

"Come in. I was just about to make breakfast," she lied.

Sarah followed her silently, looking around at her decor. "Your home looks beautiful."

"Thank you," she said. "Do you want something light or heavy?"

"Light is fine, thank you."

She definitely hadn't been eating.

Jazmine decided on a fruit parfait and some sweet tea. She began chopping up fruit.

"You're welcome to stay even when this conversation is over, but I'd like to know why exactly you're here," she said with her back turned.

Sarah sat at the bar stool beside the kitchen island.

"I came to apologize," she said simply. Jazmine stopped cutting and looked at her. "I saw how broken you were. I saw how much it hurt. But I didn't know what to do in order to make it better."

"You could have told me something."

"You would have gotten yourself killed."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I know you, Jazmine. Because if someone told me that the love of my life had to go away to keep me from being killed, all I would think about was how to get to them. To help them be safe. You being mad at Huey is easier to handle then you being terrified that the next time you see him would be during his funeral."

Despite her anger at the older Freeman boy, she couldn't help the wave of nausea that washed over her at the thought of him being killed. 16% chance of survival.

84% chance of death.

And, of course, Huey fucking Freeman makes it out the other side. As he's been doing since before she met him.

She shakes the thought away. "He couldn't have been in that much danger. He managed to have a child." Sarah bit into her lip and Jazmine rolled her eyes. "What else am I foolishly unaware of."

"You left before he had a chance to explain," she said. "But this isn't my story to tell. You'll have to ask him about it yourself."

"I know how to make a child, Mom."

"You do," she agreed. "But you have no idea how Alicia came to be in his life. If you don't care, I won't force you. If you do, ask him about it."

Alicia. Alicia Freeman.

Jazmine returned to cutting her fruit. Strawberries, mangoes, peaches, blueberries, and bananas.

"How did you find out?"

"Me and Cindy threatened to burn Robert's house down."

Jazmine whirled around at this, eyes wide. For the first time in five days, Sarah smiled. "They didn't take too much convincing. They didn't actually want to keep this secret."

Jazmine took a moment to think about this. "Was it hard?"

"Not as hard as it was on Huey, but not easy."

"Did you ever speak or talk to him while he was away?"

"No," she said. "But I did see Alicia when she was a baby."

"How?"

"I went to see your grandmother after your last visit with her."

Jazmine thought back to the envelope Huey gave her. The one she dropped. She was mentally cursing herself.

"Why was she in Italy?"

"Ask Huey."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Because I don't know the answer to that. Your grandmother knows but you aren't fond or Ouija boards." Jazmine rolled her eyes. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. It's not my story to tell. I only play a small part."

"Tell me about your part, then."

"Keep you safe. Report certain changes to Robert. Make sure I speak to you and physically see you often."

"What changes?"

"Any new people around you, any physical changes, or any warning signs."

"Then does he know how hard I took it when he left?"

"No, he doesn't. Robert and I thought it best not to tell him exactly how you were doing."

"Why?"

"Because he would have come home. And potentially brought death and violence with him." Jazmine didn't say anything to this. "He only wanted to keep you safe, Jazmine."

"I know."

"And I'm not saying forgive him right now or even anytime soon. But I hope you know that he looks at you the same way your grandfather used to look at your grandmother." Sarah smiled as she watched Jazmine's cheeks tint. "You are his main vice, Jazmine. You always were."

Anyone who's ever glanced in Huey's general direction knows that he hates many things.

The government.

White people trying to destroy their culture while simultaneously trying to steal it.

Meat.

But in this moment in particular, the one thing Huey hated more than anything was having to wait.

Five days. He hadn't seen or spoken to her in five days. And it was slowly driving him insane.

Sarah insisted that he give her time to come to him or else he run the risk of losing her forever. Huey Freeman, a man of many completely insane tasks, has grown quite fucking tired of taking risks. So, he waited.

But waiting was showing to be useless as well.

He sat in the dining room, glasses on his face, searching for a home and enjoying a glass of water when Sarah walked into the house.

Right behind her was Jazmine.

He didn't bother hiding the way his eyes raked over her body. She was covered now in black jeans and a thick black sweater, but the image of her thick thighs with that beautiful tattoo painting her skin still stuck with him.

"I'm going to go get Alicia up and ready for the day. I have some errands to run but I was thinking of taking her with me and keeping her tonight. Is that okay?"

"That's fine," Huey said. "Thank you. I think she'll like that."

With a nod of her head, Sarah went up to get her adopted grandchild out of bed, leaving Jazmine and Huey alone.

She hesitated for a moment before taking a seat.

"You wear glasses now?" she asked quietly.

"Only when I read."

More silence. "They look nice."

"Thank you."

More silence.

"How has being home been?" she asked quietly.

"I never thought I'd want to be here as much as I did when I was away. You?"

"About the same," she said with a small, nervous laugh.

"Jazmine I never would have left if I didn't feel that I had to. And I never would have cut off all contact if I knew for a fact that no one would try to hurt you."

She didn't respond right away. "Would they really have hurt us is they knew?"

"The only thing I cared about was 700 miles away. If it meant me leaving, they would have done whatever it took."

"They?" Huey's eyes darkened considerably and he looked away from her. "Never mind. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," he said. "I promise to tell you. One day. I swear. But the details... right now I need to process some things. But once I do, we'll sit down and talk about it all."

She nodded then.

Before either of them could speak again, Alicia came downstairs with Sarah behind her carrying a bag.

"Good morning!" she cried brightly.

She ran over to Huey, who picked her up and pulled her into a hug.

"Morning," he said quietly.

She turned to Jazmine and beamed the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen.

"You're Jazmine! I'm Alicia!" Jazmine couldn't help but to smile back.

"Good morning, Alicia."

She wiggled away from Huey and made her way to Jazmine, almost demanding to be held. Jazmine settled her into her lap.

"What have I told you about being too comfortable around strangers?" Huey asked calmly, raising a brow. Jazmine couldn't help but to roll my eyes.

"That I could end up stolen and sold into the slave trade."

Sarah's mouth dropped open.

"Huey Polonius Freeman," Jazmine bit. He turned away from her glare.

"But she's not a stranger, Daddy!" Alicia said, ignoring them both. She turned to Jazmine. "My daddy has so many pictures of you! He used to tell me stories about how nice you were and that sometimes I made him think of you."

Jazmine's glare fell as she looked from Alicia to Huey, whose stoic face was tinted pink.

"Come on Alicia, let's go have some fun," Sarah said with a smile on her face.

Alicia hugged Jazmine before going over to Huey.

"I love you," he whispered against the top of her head.

"I love you too, Daddy." She kissed his cheek and took her leave.

They fell into silence again.

"She reminds you of me?" Jazmine asked quietly.

"Sometimes," he said. "Surprisingly enough, she has mush more of her father's personality than her mother."

Jazmine's eyes widened. "What?"

"Alicia isn't my biological child. She is, however, my biological cousin."

Jazmine sat silently, awaiting his explanation. "Her father was killed as a result of this stupid ass, pointless feud we were dragged into and her mother passed during childbirth. She couldn't really handle the pregnancy anyway, but after her husband died, it all kind of went downhill and she couldn't really take it.

"But either way, a healthy child was born. I knew that I couldn't leave her in Chicago. The generation we're left with is too reckless and irresponsible. If I left her she may have ended up in a position she should never be in. Or dead. If not both."

"So you adopted her."

"So I adopted her."

"Was the process hard?"

"A twenty-year-old black boy with an extensive record trying to adopt a little girl? Yes. But I got the job done."

Jazmine suddenly felt a little silly for not allowing him time to explain. She hated the fate that Alicia's parents met. But she's also happy that Huey hadn't found anyone else and created a child with them. She wasn't sure how she'd be able to process a change that drastic.

"Do you plan on telling her?"

"One day. I'll tell her everything. But for right now, I need her to just be a kid."

Jazmine made a hum of understanding before rolling her eyes. "Stop telling her incredibly graphic tragedies that could happen to her."

"Ignorance never saved anyone, Jazmine."

"It saved me, didn't it?"

She was met with silence. For the first time since he returned, she smiled at him.

"Can you forgive me, Jazmine?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," she said. "I can. But you being back with a child is going to take some time to adjust. Our friendship took a hard hit and it's going to take some time to get it back."

"Is that all you want? Friendship?"

No. "I don't know, Huey. But maybe we can find out together?"

He stood and made his way over to her. In one swift motion, she was sitting on the table with him standing between her legs, arms wrapped tightly around her.

She could count on one hand how many times Huey had ever hugged her. And they were all in response to a hug she'd given him.

This... this was new.

So she wrapped her arms around him as well. She couldn't help but to notice the way he held her. His hands roamed all over her back, shoulders, sides, hips, and thighs. His face was in her neck, in her hair, breathing her in.

She realized then that he couldn't believe it. That he couldn't believe he was back here with her. That she was alive. That they were okay.

Her heart broke a little more then and she held him tighter.

She didn't know how long they sat like that, but eventually he pulled away and stepped back, allowing her room to stand.

"I'll be right back," Huey said before walking away. He came back a few minutes later with her envelope. She took it and ran her fingers over it once more.

"I shadowed your trips to Italy," he said. She looked up at him, stunned. "I know how much she meant to you and I needed to make sure that everything went perfectly. I also needed to ask her if she'd be willing to help me should anything happen to me."

He gave her a moment to process the information. She blinked once, twice, three times before nodding her head.

"With her being in Italy with high security of her own, I figured it would be harder to get to her but I had to be sure. I would go see her after you left. I'd stay for a few days each time."

"How much did she know?"

"Everything," he said simply. "She knew everything."

Jazmine nodded. "What's in here?"

"From her, a journal she started during my first trip. From me, a CD. You can still watch it, if you'd like to, but I think you should read the journal first."

She looked down at the large envelope and a sad smile played on her features. "She's given me so much. A home in Italy, the money to live the life of my dreams, and memories that I'll carry with me always. I didn't think she could possibly give me anything else but I see I was wrong."

"She loved you. More than she loved anyone else," he said quietly.

She looked up at him again and that's when she saw it; the same look her grandfather wore whenever her grandmother walked into the room.

Thank you all again for hanging out with me. I'm really enjoying writing this.

That Huey is quite smitten, huh? What lengths do you all think he'd go to in order to have her? How do you think Jazmine's going to take these new changes? I'm excited to work with 'father' Huey. Love has an insane way of changing your ideas about the world you live in.

Please leave your comments, I love reading them. I'm so happy that you all are here with me and I hope you're having just as much fun. See you Saturday. Much love.