The Art of Falling | Szn 1, Episode Fifteen

Love in the Dark | Kiyanne

Kiyanne frowned as Shameek laughed deeply. “Shut up, it’s not funny.”

“The hell if it’s not. What’s wrong, Kiy?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she frowned, trying to sort out how to wiggle out of their plans for the evening. The wide ice rink beside them terrified her, as she’d never been ice skating a day in her life. And she wasn’t about to embarrass herself by pretending.

“Then bring your scary-ass on.”

Her frown deepened as she gazed at him. “I’m not scared.”

“That’s what your mouth says, yet you still aren’t on the ice,” he smirked, stepping into the rink and skating backward.

“Niggas always want to show off,” she mumbled, hesitantly placing one of her skates on the ice, trying to gauge her balance. Holding on to the wall for dear life, she brought down her other foot. Convinced that she was set, she pushed a skate forward, intending to make her way to Shameek. However, her life flashed before her eyes as her feet quickly shot out from underneath her.

Sher arms flailed as she screamed, bracing herself to hit the ice, but Shameek made it to her in record time, catching her before she embarrassed herself.

“Oh, you definitely suck at his,” he chortled, pulling her upright and wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Shut up,” she snarled.

“Don’t get mad at me because you can’t skate,” he smiled. “You should have said something. I got you, though. Big Papa will get you right.”

“I’m going to kill you when I’m back on solid ground,” she fussed, rolling her eyes. “Where did you learn to do this anyway?”

“I’m cultured,” he boasted, making her laugh. “My grandma used to make me do this damn near every weekend with her in the winter. I think it was her way of trying to keep me out of trouble.”

“That’s dope. It must have been nice having people who cared about you.”

“Stop,” Shameek demanded, halting their lap around the rink.

“Stop what?”

“I can already see you’re about to slide back into a negative headspace, but we’re not doing that. The first half of your life may not have been ideal, but your future is on you, Kiy. You’re fly as fuck, fine as fuck, and talented as fuck. I suggest you start. Telling yourself that first thing in the morning from now on because we’re done with you doubting yourself.”

For once, she didn’t have a quick comeback, so she stewed for a moment before responding. “It never ceases to amaze me that you see so much potential in me.”

“Always. I need you to see it, too.”

Clearing her throat, Kiyanne decided to share as much about her past with him as she could to help him better understand her. “My mom died when I was young,g and my father didn’t want me. That’s how I ended up in foster care.”

Shameek frowned. “But you have a brother, right? So your dad kept one kind and gave up another?”

“I was the product of an affair,” she shrugged as they successfully completed a lap. “He and I only share a dad. I was the thing that kept him from having the perfect family image, so that was that.”

“That’s fucked up. His wife allowed that?”

“Allowed?” Kiyanne chuckled bitterly. “She was pretty much the mastermind. At least, that’s what my brother told me. She hated that he cared about me so much. I’m pretty sure at one point, my brother broke every rule they had to check on me and make sure I was as okay as possible. Not that he could do much, anyway.”

She paused and sucked in a deep breath before continuing. “And he didn’t have the best home life either. So when he was 15, and I was 12, we just ran away. My brother ended up getting mixed up with drugs with some other kids at his private school, and while we were on the streets, I ended up in the mix, too.”

“Hence why you were so freaked out after I told you I went to jail.”

“Mmhm,” Kiyanne nodded. “It was rough. And we started doing stupid shit to survive and supply our habits. One day, we broke into a store and tripped an alarm. I have no idea how we even made it out without getting arrested, but they definitely chased us. We had to jump a gate to make it out of an alley, and while he cleared it, I snagged,” she held up her scarred wrist.

“He left you?”

“I made him,” Kiyanne shrugged. “He was almost 18 by that point, and there was no telling what would have happened had he gotten caught. Hazel was one of the nurses assigned to me after I was transported to the hospital. I was so bad off that it used to make her cry when I would suffer from my withdrawals. She never left my side, though. My mama rocked with me every step of the way, even when it came down to showing up at court when I had to go for breaking into the store. I got off with probation; she advocated to adopt me, and after a long process, here we are.”

It was the first time Kiyanne had shared her life story with someone other than her mother. Even Lauren didn’t know the full details of her background. It was freeing in a way, but she was terrified to look at Shameek and see his reaction to everything she’d shared with him.

“So,” she sighed as they completed another lap. “Still think I’m great?”

“No,” he answered swiftly, crushing her.

“Figures,” she murmured. “Thanks for being honest with—”

Her words morphed into a gasp as he spun her so she was facing him. Shameek kept his arms tightly around her waist so neither would fall.

“I don’t think you’re great, Kiy. I think you’re a fuckin’ queen. It doesn’t matter what you did or didn’t do in the past, Kiy. You were a teenager. The people who brought you into this world were supposed to mold and guide you. When you lost your mom, your pops left you to the fucking wolves to fend on your own. You did what you had to do to survive, and any mistakes you made along the way are just that. Mistakes. All that matters to me is who you are right now, and that’s a woman who had everything in life thrown her way and beat every obstacle to become the person she is today. That’s not something to hide, Kiyanne. That’s something to be proud of and shout about every day.”

Overcome with emotion, she blinked back tears before blurting, “I think I love you.”

They both laughed as he cupped her chin. “Mmm, you sure?” he flashed his dimples.

“Okay, maybe not love. But definitely deep like.”

“I deeply like you too, shorty,” he murmured, sealing his words with a kiss.

***

“So,” Shameek cleared his throat. “When did you realize you were deeply in love with a nigga?”

Looking up from where she sat curled into the egg chair in the corner of her bedroom with a sketch pad, Kiyanne rolled her eyes. “Please tell me you’re not about to drag this.”

Stretched across her bed with the TV remote in hand, he grinned. “Oh, you damn well better believe I am.”

After leaving the skating rink, they stopped to get food and returned to their complex. Shameek only left her to shower, then returned to her apartment to finish the night with a movie.

“Eh,” Kiyanne scrunched her nose. “I’m not really sure. If I had to pick a moment, it would be when you touched me, and I wouldn’t shy away as I normally would. When did you know you were deeply in like with me?”

“When you had me out here buying gifts like you were my girl. I’ve been tripping since we met,” he said, sitting up. “As a matter of fact, I think I’m too invested in you. I need a side piece to help even out my feelings.”

“Shameek, I’ll put my foot so far up your ass, you’ll need surgery to get it out. Don’t play with me,” she snarled.

Pulling himself off the bed, he strode across the room and gently pulled her sketchpad from her hands. “Hmm, is that jealousy I hear? I thought that wasn’t your style.”

“It’s not,” Kiyanne wrinkled her nose. “You corrupted me.”

“Mmhm,” Shameek hummed, kissing her gently.

What started as an innocent display of affection swiftly evolved as heat flooded Kiyanne. Standing, she gently pushed his chest until he fell back on the bed, taking her with him. Her breaths grew shallow as Shameek’s lips moved from her lips to her collarbone, pulling a moan from her. The feel of his fingertips against her stomach made her flinch with pleasure as she relished in the moment.

As he pulled back, Shameek’s eyes searched her face. “You sure?”

Instead of offering a verbal response, Kiyanne kissed him again. No more words were exchanged.

**(Sorry, y’all I’m prohibited from adding the rest of the chapter to this site ..but the rest of the scene is available via Patreon.)**

They lay together, their limbs tangled until Shameek lifted his head, still attempting to get his breathing under control. “You ain’t been nothing but a trap since I met you,” he joked, causing her to laugh.

“Boy, whatever,” Kiyanne giggled, pushing him away. “Get off of me. Trap that.”

“You know we go together now, right?” he grinned, rolling off her.

She snorted, “I’m not about to play with you.”

“Who’s playing?” He replied earnestly, climbing off the bed to follow her to the bathroom. “Might as well tell your hoes you have a man now, Kiy.”

“They’ll jump you,” she tittered.

“Yeah, a’ight. I’ll fuck all them niggas up.”

“You are insane.”

“And I suggest you remember that.”

They cleaned up and returned to her bed, where Kiyanne almost immediately dozed off in his arms. Despite her fatigue, something on her mind wouldn’t let her rest until she shared it with him.

“Meek,” she nudged him to see if he was awake.

“Hmm?” he hummed sleepily.

“You really want to know when I fell deeply in like with you?”

“Yeah.”

“When I realized that a little while after we met, having you in my life silenced the nightmares I suffered from.”

“I hate that you struggled with feeling alone for so long, Kiy, but as long as I’m around, you’ll never feel that way again. Believe that.”

“Promise?” she inquired with a yawn.

“I promise, Sweetheart.”