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 Fifteen: Broken Surface
JAZMINE WAS AWAKE BEFORE EVERYONE. This didn't surprise her at all. It was a traumatic and exhausting day for them. Something she would apologize for as soon as she could. But for now, she would enjoy the peace.
She made a cup of chamomile tea and settled on the couch, forcing her mind to be completely blank. And it worked. At least until a pair of tiny footsteps made their way to her.
She looked up in time to see Alicia round the corner and stare at her. At first, neither spoke, they simply took one another in. It was Jazmine who broke the silence.
"Will you come sit with me, my little love?" she asked. Alicia moved quickly, climbing up the couch and into her lap. They snuggled together.
"Are you okay?" Jazmine asked. Alicia shrugged. "A little confused?" She nodded. "Do you want to talk about it when Daddy wakes up?" She nodded again. "Do you want to help me make a nice, big breakfast for everyone?" She nodded again.
Jazmine pulled away enough to really take Alicia in. She felt tears burn her eyes. "I hope you know," she said slowly, "that I love you so much. And I would do anything for you. And I'm so sorry I scared you." A tear fell from her eye.
Alicia wiped it away, as Jazmine had done for her so many times since they met months ago. "I love you too."
Jazmine smiled at her. The first smile she wore since arriving to the mall yesterday. "Come on. We have a lot of people to feed."
Huey's eyes shot open and he sat up quickly. The space where Jazmine slept was empty but slightly warm, and the smell of breakfast floated up into his bedroom. He made his way downstairs quickly.
Just as he had some weeks ago, Jazmine say in the kitchen with Alicia making breakfast together. But there was something so different from this moment than the one before. Something he couldn't quite identify.
He heard Sarah's quiet, familiar steps. She stood beside him, watching as well.
"I think they had a small talk," she said. He looked at her then with a raised brow. She released a small laugh. "There's an understanding there. The way she's listening and the way Jazmine watches over her. It looks just like me and my daughters."
With that, she left Huey's side and made her way into the kitchen. Jazmine offered her a small smile.
"Good morning, my loves," Sarah greeted. She gave each of them a kiss. "It's so nice of you two to get up and make breakfast for everyone."
"I figured we had some things to discuss, so we may as well do so over breakfast."
"That's very considerate of you."
Huey walked in then, watching the loves of his life working together. When Jazmine noticed him, she looked down at Alicia and then turned to her mother. She opened her mouth to speak but Sarah gave her that knowing smile before nodding her head towards Huey and moving to take over for the rest of breakfast.
Jazmine gave her a grateful look before taking Alicia's hand and heading towards Huey. He kissed her gently before picking Alicia up and kissing the top of her head. With Jazmine's small hand in his, he brought them back up to their bedroom.
He shut the door gently before setting Alicia down in the middle of the bed and sitting beside Jazmine so that they formed a triangle, able to look at one another. He allowed Jazmine to lead.
"I can imagine that you are very confused and have some questions. Whatever they are, you can ask, and I will answer them as best as I can, okay?" Alicia nodded. "Take your time."
And she did. Despite her young age, she was highly intelligent and keen on the emotions around her. Huey imagined that she'd never forget the image of him pulling Jazmine out of the water and begging her to come back. Of her cold, pale, lifeless body as she rested on the freezing concrete. She didn't shed a tear, but Huey guessed that she went into shock when everyone began to panic.
"What happened?" she asked simply.
Jazmine took a deep breath as more tears stung her eyes. Huey took her hand and she used it as a lifeline. As her strength.
"I went to get a present for Daddy, even though I wasn't supposed to. While I was out, my father found me and took me away. He was very angry and wanted to take it out on me, Granny, and Ti Ti Cindy. But luckily your daddy found me on time and he didn't take me away,"
"Why is he angry?"
Jazmine took a moment to think. "To be honest, little love, I'm not really sure. But he's been very angry for a very long time. Longer than you've been around for."
She seemed to process this information. "Did they catch him and put him away?"
"No," Huey answered. "But Daddy is going to make sure he never tried to hurt any of us again."
She nodded, still looking to be in thought.
"Don't leave alone," she said to Jazmine.
"I won't. Ever again," she promised. She looked between the two of them. "I love you two more than anything. And I'm so sorry I scared you."
Her voice broke and more tears fell. Alicia climbed into her lap and Huey held them both close.
"I almost never saw you again," she sobbed. "I was so scared. I just kept praying you knew how much I loved you. That you know how strong I'd need you to be if-"
"But it didn't," Huey interrupted, fighting the lump in his own throat. "And it won't. I'm right here."
They stayed like that for some time, holding one another. It wasn't until Huey heard the tale tell signs of his family waking that he spoke.
"Come on," he said. "Let's get cleaned up. We have a lot to get through today."
By the time they made it down, breakfast was on the table and everyone was sitting, watching them.
Jazmine took a moment to take in the scene before her. This was her family. Complete, for now, and beautiful. She waited her entire life for these moments and she almost lost it all.
She could feel her eyes burning again. And though she tried to control it, she couldn't stop her sob.
"I'm so sorry!" she choked out.
Cindy was up in no time flat and quickly wrapped her arms around her sister.
"It's okay, Jazzy. His insanity isn't your fault. There was no way you could have known he was watching you then. Or even that he would go so far," she said. She pulled away and wiped her sister's eyes. "But now that you do, please never leave alone again, okay? I can't... I really don't think I would survive without you."
Jazmine pulled her now crying sister into a tight hug. "I love you so much, Cin. My sister. Everything I dreamed of. I'm so sorry I scared you."
"I love you too," she said.
They pulled away and shared a smile.
"Why don't you sit down, Pumpkin?" Grandad offered gently. "We all should have a good talk."
They took their seats and waited patiently. Regina began speaking first.
"I think I speak for all of us when I say that you have no idea how happy we are that you are here. Not just here, but here and okay. So many things could have happened but we are so incredibly blessed to be sitting here with you right now."
"Amen," Grandad said.
"An we ain't gone let no shit like dat happen again," Riley chimed in. "It's on sight wit dat nigga." Jazmine gave him a small smile.
"We've been trying to work as hard as we can to get this done and have a conclusion be reached without too much being involved. I understand now that this approach isn't getting us anywhere."
Just then, the doorbell chimed. Huey stood wordlessly to get it. He returned with the head of security and two other men. They were offered two spare seats along the wall as Huey returned to his position at the head of the table.
"Everyone will be included in every detail of the investigation."
The only ones who didn't seem shocked were Huey, Riley, Grandad, and Alicia, who wasn't entirely sure what that meant.
"Sir..." the head began.
He ignored him for now. "Everyone will offer every bit of information they have that can assist us in concluding this matter once and for all."
"Sir, I'm really not sure this is a good idea."
Huey remained calm, anticipating this reaction and also understanding why it was so.
"I understand your thought process but our current path brought us entirely too close to a loss we couldn't recover from."
"There would be so much to cover."
"We have nothing but time."
"And the things we would reveal..."
"Should come to the light."
"This could really be difficult t-"
"Dat nigga almost killed my sista!" Riley snapped suddenly, standing up out of his seat and leaning over the table. All but Huey watched him with astonished eyes. "No fuck dat. He did kill her. Bein' in tha dark ain't did shit but put her in danger. It ain't happenin' again. So you do what my brotha say or we find some niggas who will."
Jazmine seemed to be the most astonished. She'd always known in the back of her mind that Riley loved her. She'd never been sure just how much. But it felt amazing to feel so cared for and protected. She smiled at him gently as he continued to glare.
The head cleared his throat. "Of course."
Riley remained in place for a beat longer before taking his seat. He shifted his calm gaze to his brother, who seemed to be sending a message in a way the others couldn't understand. It was a moment before Huey spoke again.
"Before we begin with what we know, I think Sarah should tell us what it is she's been keeping to herself."
Everyone but Huey and Riley turned wide eyes on Sarah. She looked nervous.
"Huey.."
"I understand your intentions behind what you did. And I know that some things are better kept with you until the grave. But Thomas almost stole something very precious to us. In trying to protect them, you're protecting him and making it that much easier to put them in a compromising position. They're strong girls. They can handle it."
"What is he talking about, Mom?" Jazmine asked.
Sarah took a deep breath. "Your inheritance," she said simply. "Some of it was supposed to go to your father but he was ex-communicated from the family just before you were born."
Jazmine took a moment to swallow this information. She thought back to the summers only her and her mother would venture to Italy to see his parents. He was always busy working or claimed to take trips to see them on his own.
"But he always said he..."
"He lied," Sarah said. "I'm not sure where he went exactly, but he never went to Italy. At least, not to see them."
Jazmine seemed to take in this information.
"Okay," she said slowly. "Why was he ex-communicated? Why did no one tell me?" Jazmine thought back to the journal her grandmother left. They recalled tales of her father in his childhood but she mostly spoke of her grandfather and Huey. She noticed then how unusual it was that she had more stories about Sarah then Thomas. But she was so caught up in Huey to think twice about it.
Sarah didn't answer right away. She looked to Huey with tears stinging her bright, sea foam eyes. She inhaled sharply, trying not to cry out as her mind took her back to a moment years ago.
"The last trip we took to Italy together was when I was a few months pregnant with you... Your grandparents believed your father tried to kill you."
The silence that followed was deafening. Jazmine swallowed.
"I'm sorry... What?"
"We had no way to prove that he tried," she answered quickly. "It's just..." She shook her head, tears falling. "I tripped but he was right there. When I settled at the bottom of the stairs, I just remember him staring down at me. But then everything went black and when I came to again, he seemed to worried. But it was too late. They made him leave and had me stay there."
"So you were apart up until I was born?" she whispered, her eyes darting about as she tried to wrap her brain around what her mother was telling her.
"Longer," she whispered. "I stayed in Italy with you until you were almost ten months old."
"What?"
"He called every single day. Wrote letters. Sent emails. Videos. Swore up and down that he would never. That he was in shock and didn't know what to do."
Jazmine only stared blankly. She almost didn't register Cindy's hand on her arm.
"I believed him. And I went back home. The second he saw you, he was a different person. All he wanted to do was be around you. He took weeks off of work to spend time with you. He changed you, stayed up with me, fed you. Of course I didn't trust him completely, so he wasn't alone with you until I felt you were old enough to articulate if something went wrong."
Jazmine remembered that day. She was seven. For weeks her mother taught her how to dial 9-1-1, how to defend herself despite her size, and how to lock and escape from certain areas. She didn't think at the time that the person she was protecting her from was her father.
"What made you stay?" There was no judgement in her voice. Only barely there curiosity. Huey watched Jazmine closely for any alarming signs.
"I loved your father. And I believed that during that time, he loved you. But your father had a past he didn't often speak on. Secrets that I suppose your grandmother took to her grave." Only Riley noticed the small shift in Huey's gaze.
"Okay," she said slowly. "Then what happened? What made him flip when we were teenagers?"
"I wish I could tell you. Maybe the stress of work. Seeing you grow old. I don't know. But he slowly began losing himself..."
A silence followed.
"And then Cindy came," Huey offered.
She looked at him before looking down at her hands.
"Yes. My Cindy came. And he wasn't too happy about it."
Cindy scoffed.
"I couldn't let her stay with her parents. They were negligent. Idiotic. They were terrible people. And they treated her horribly."
Sarah looked at Cindy, who had tears in her eyes. Cindy swallowed and gave her a small nod, telling her to continue.
"They were going to use Cindy to build connections when they got older. Like some lowly creature." Riley tensed beside her. "And I wouldn't allow it. I told them exactly what I thought of them. Told them that all of their dirty secrets would come to light if they didn't give her to me. Forever."
Sarah gave Cindy a meaningful look. "The only time I've ever felt the way I did when I signed those papers was when Jazmine was born. You two are my everything. There is nothing in this world I am more proud of than being your mother."
Cindy swiped away a stray tear and gave her a watery smile.
"Unfortunately, Tom didn't feel the same way. He thought I should just let them hurt you. And we fought. And fought. And fought about it. He began to blame so much of his misguided behavior on Cindy.
"And one day, it went too far."
Tears fell so freely from Sarah it seemed as if they would never stop.
"It was late at night," Sarah said. "You two were dead to the world. Jazmine and Huey were close to graduation and you and Riley were doing so well for your basketball teams. You spent the night celebrating. Tom and I had been going at it all day and I almost begged you two to stay with the Freemans but you refused."
"I remember that," Cindy said softly.
"Me too," Jazmine seconded. "He'd been acting too increasingly strange. We didn't feel comfortable leaving you alone with him all night."
Sarah shook my head. "I wish you would have. Because he got entirely too close to Cindy..."
"What are you talking about?"
"That night he tried to go into your room and drag you back to your parents. Pay them to take you back and do whatever they wanted to and with you. He tried to get to your door but I fought with all that I had to keep it from happening. Unfortunately, he pushed me back and against the bedroom dresser. The sharp metal ends stabbed into my back and cut along eight inches over my spine."
The only mouths that didn't fall open were Sarah's and Huey's, though the disappointment and disgust was evident in his eyes.
"He saw how badly I was bleeding and changed his entire tune. He helped me clean up, bandaged and tended to my wounds, and he promised me that he would leave you be. That was the day I decided that as soon as I could, we were going to leave. I just needed Cindy to graduate and I was taking my kids and getting the fuck out of there.
"But as you know, just before she graduated, he snapped. The rest is history."
"Oh my God," Jazmine breathed. "Mom... why did you feel like you had to carry all of that alone?"
"They were painful memories that can't be undone," she said. "But if it can help keep my children safe, then I'll give you every bit of information I have."
The girls were out of their seat and surrounding their mother in no time. They held on to one another like this day would be the last chance they had.
"Thank you for sharing, Sarah," Huey said. "It's important for us to not only understand his behaviors but also to understand just how far he would go and what he would sacrifice in the long run."
The men nodded their heads.
"Not that we know this, I want to make sure you're aware that we're ramping up security. We have people combing through the cities of Maryland. We haven't found anything solid but every lead we have, we'll be following. With this last stunt, he's left behind evidence such as receipts items used to aid his wrongdoings. And now that his face is all over the state, it'll make it incredibly hard for him to hide out. That being said, we're missing something I believe will help us to understand why he's behaving in such a way, which can in turn help us to understand his mindset, find a pattern, and hopefully pinpoint him and find out his end game."
"How do you plan on doing that? The reasoning should be buried with his parents," Sarah said.
"That's not entirely true," he said. "The answers are in Italy, but I believe them to be far from buried."
Jazmine raised a brow. "What are you talking about Huey?"
"In the conversations had with your grandmother, there was a subject she didn't touch on often; Tom. But once she told me that should I ever need answers or help, to return "home to Italy". I would always find the answers there."
"What makes you think that's what she was talking about?"
"Timing," he said simply. "I'd been going there for some time at that point, but it was only after a vague conversation regarding her son that she looked me in my eyes and told me that I would find what I was looking for there."
"So you're going to Italy?" Cindy asked.
"Yes, we're going to Italy."
Jazmine hated that she had to give herself pep talks now before getting into the shower. Once a lover of water, it now made her stomach flip. But after a very long day of crying, talking, and planning, she needed it.
"Can I join you?" Huey asked from behind her.
"Please," she breathed. She could hear him strip down before he swept past her, taking her hand and pulling her into the shower with him. The hot water was much more inviting when she was pressed against the hard lines of his body.
She rested her head against his chest with her face turned away from the stream. The water still spilled over them quite a bit.
"How are you feeling?"
She didn't answer right away.
"Tired."
"That's understandable," he said. "But we'll get through this."
"Do you promise?"
"I do," he said. "Before you know it, you'll be married with a dog, another little one, and another on the way."
This made her giggle. "That sounds like a lot of children."
"I want a starting five," he mused. She laughed a bit harder before looking up at him.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too."
He bent down and captured her lips in a kiss. He could feel that familiar desire tug within his stomach.
"Huey," she moaned against his mouth. "I need to feel you."
Not breaking their kiss, he bent down and hooked his arms around her legs so that her legs draped across the bend of his arms and his large hands were still able to roam along her back. She moaned when her harden nipples pressed against his chest.
She pulled away just enough to look into his eyes. He adjusted so that his dick was pressed up against his stomach before pulling her against it. She gasped as her clit touched the hard, warm surface of him. Slowly, he moved her up and down along his length and she rolled her hips in time with him.
"Fuck," he whispered against her lips. "You feel so good."
She held him tighter in response.
Their gasps and moans were lost in the steam as they moved slowly against one another, sharing kisses and sweet nothings.
"I'm so close," she breathed into him.
"Cum for me. Cum with me."
She pressed harder and rolled her hips just right, moaning his name as her release found her and his cum covered her stomach and slipped between him and her weeping core.
They breathed heavily together. He had yet to let her down.
"I won't let anyone take you from me," he promised.
"I know," she said. "We were meant for a lifetime together."
They bathed quickly and crawled into bed naked. Huey held her all night and she held fast to him. Find sleep was far from simple, but having one another made the anxiety in their minds seem far away.
Thank you guys again for rocking with me. I'm so happy you enjoy it. I am releasing a day early as I do have quite a day ahead of me tomorrow so I hope you enjoy. Please continue to read and review and I really, really hope you liked this chapter.
Thick Black Girl: Thank you so much for always commenting. I really can't begin to tell you how encouraging it is to see.
Bulma's Ego: You're my dog! You know that. Love seeing your comments and I love reading your fiction. 3
Guest: I love comments and I love questions. So sorry for any confusion you faced. As far as the police; you encounter all kinds of them. Some who love the people they protect, some who just collect a paycheck, some who are truly human, and some who would plant evidence on a person. Huey happened across some who understand his girlfriend was almost just brutally murdered by her father. Just officers who understand a human reaction. As for the missing report, who is that in relation to? Tom is still missing so the investigation was ongoing. If you mean Jazmine, that was closed when they tracked her down. If you mean Huey, they never filed a missing report for him. If you are talking about something else entirely, please let me know so that I can make sure everything makes sense for you. Thank you again for taking the time to even read this, let alone comment and actually be interested. It means so much to me.
It has been dark as fuck. Not going to lie. So we are going to have some brighter and more romantic days ahead. Thank you again for rocking with me. Love you guys. See you in the next chapter.