Chapter 26 Surprise!
twenty-six
surprise!
Jabari.
I know something’s wrong the second I walk into my flat.
The lights in the kitchen are off but the counters are clean in a way I didn’t leave them. There’s a plate covered neatly on the island. The air smells like proper food, not takeaway or protein nonsense.
Sweetness lingers under it.
Cookies?
I shut the door quietly behind me.
“Jelly?”
She didn’t answer but I know she’s here.
The clock on the stove reads 3:03. She must’ve fallen asleep.
I uncover the food on my counter to see chicken, rice and peas, plantain, and mac pie.
Oh, she’s done with me for real this time.
I knew that instantly. Still, I ate it.
Upstairs, I shower because I can’t climb into bed smelling like airport and pitch and recycled plane air. I take my time under the water, scrubbing the travel off me. When I step out, there’s a towel in the warmer.
My mouth twitches.
Oh, Jelly.
I wrap it around my shoulders and pull on the pajama bottoms she’s laid out for me.
When I step into my bedroom, she’s asleep on top of the covers, curled slightly toward my side of the bed.
For a second, I just stand there.
“Jelly.”
She doesn’t stir.
I sit on the edge of the mattress and brush my knuckles down her arm.
“Jelly.”
Her lashes flutter. Those green eyes blink open slowly, hazy, adjusting.
“You’re here,” she murmurs.
“I’m here, baby.”
Her mouth curves faintly. “Don’t you look refreshed.”
“Thanks to you.”
Her gaze drifts over me like she’s checking for damage.
I nudge her gently. “Move.”
She shifts without arguing, scooting over. I slide us under the covers and pull her into me automatically, chest to chest, legs tangling like we’ve done a hundred times.
Her body fits against mine easily.
“I missed you so much, Frankie.”
“It’s been two days.”
“So?” I tuck my face into her hair. It still smells like whatever oil she uses that makes me dizzy.
I close my eyes.
This is what I wanted when I called her. Not noise. Not celebration. Not cameras.
This.
Her hand slides up my chest slowly and we settle. My body starts to relax in a way it hasn’t since the match ended.
Then—
“We gotta talk.”
I groan into her shoulder. “Tomorrow.”
“No. Now.”
I open one eye.
She’s not smiling.
“Okay,” I say, already bracing.
Her fingers press into my ribs like she needs something to hold onto.
“We can’t see each other anymore.”
I exhale through my nose. “I saw that coming.”
Her head jerks back slightly. “No you didn’t.”
“Please.” I glance toward the door. “All that shit you did for me? The most obvious ‘I’m done with you’ I’ve ever seen.”
“It was not!”
“You even baked me break-up fucking cookies.”
Her mouth drops. “Why are you so negative? They could’ve been celebration cookies.”
“Goodnight, Frankie.”
“I’m being serious, Jabari. We’re done.”
That one lacked confidence.
“Francine, go to sleep.”
She pushes against my chest. “Hi, Hello. I’m in the middle of breaking up with you so if you could take me seriously I’d appreciate it.”
“It’s hard to,” I mutter, tightening my arm around her, “when you’re cuddled up next to me like this.”
“It’s cold in here.”
“It’s not.”
“It is.”
So fucking argumentative. I press my chin to the top of her head again. “Go to sleep. We can talk in the morning.”
Silence stretches.
She doesn’t move away.
She doesn’t untangle her legs.
She doesn’t create distance.
Instead, she shifts closer. Her breathing changes slightly. Uneven.
“You can’t just dismiss me or this conversation,” she says softer now.
“I’m not dismissing it,” I reply quietly. “I just don’t believe you.”
She stiffens. “You don’t see what I saw today.”
“What happened, Jelly?”
“Your mum came down really hard on Zee. She keeps comparing her to you and it’s heartbreaking to watch. I can’t be her friend and be with you. I’m literally sleeping with the enemy.”
“I’m the enemy now?”
She traces lines on my chest as she thinks. “You always have been, I just got caught up.”
It was quiet after that.
“Your loyalty to Za makes sense. I know what you two mean to each other. I knew what I was doing putting you in this position. Putting you both in the position. You’re not the only one hurting Za.”
“Then we should do something about it. What’s happening isn’t right.”
“You’re right,” I say. “But what goes on with my sister and me shouldn’t affect you or us. My family drama shouldn’t be a reason for Za to be upset with you. Or me. She should be mad at mum.”
She goes quiet again.
I run my thumb up and down her spine slowly.
“Can’t you just… knowing how she feels about the situation. Can you be on her side? When your mum comes down on her? She listens to you so you standing up to her can change things.”
“Chinaza is a grown woman, Frankie. She needs to handle this herself or mum will never back down.”
“You can at least say something, Jabari.”
“And what happens if you and I aren’t around? What will she do then? She has to grow a spine.”
She looks at me with those big, beautiful, glow in the dark eyes full of worry and guilt and says, “Please, big man. For me?”
Francine Campbell has never asked for my help with anything. Not once. She’s accepted help before but never asked for it out right. And that made me forget everything I said.
“Of course. I’ll do it for you.”
The worry relaxes a bit and she returns her head to my chest.
Silence rings out again. So I ask, “You still leaving me?”
“I—” she freezes. “I really don’t know.”
“If you wanted to end it, you wouldn’t be here in my bed.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do.”
“There’s ‘right,’” I say, “and then there’s what you can actually live with right now.”
She doesn’t answer.
I tilt her chin up gently so she has to look at me.
Her eyes are glassy but steady.
“You planning on walking out tonight?” I ask.
“No.”
“You planning on telling Za tonight?”
Her lips part.“No.”
“Then what are you doing?”
She swallows. “Delaying the inevitable.”
“Or buying time,” I counter.
“For what?”
“For you to figure out whether you’re ending this because it’s best… or because you’re scared.”
Her nostrils flare slightly.
“I’m not scared.”
“You are,” I say gently. “You’re terrified.”
Her fingers curl into my shoulder. “She needs me and I can’t lose her.”
“And you think losing me will be easier?”
She looks away, unable to answer.
I don’t push.
Instead, I pull her back into my chest and press my lips to her temple.
“Sleep,” I murmur.
“We’re not done talking.”
“We are for tonight.”
My eyes are heavy. The flight, the match, the adrenaline crash. I’m not even in the mental space to argue properly anymore.
“Just a couple hours, Jelly,” I mumble against her hair as I start to nod off. “Gimme a few… hours and… we’ll—”
“I can’t lose you either,” she blurts. My eyes open instantly and she keeps going. “I want you in my life for a long time. Believe it or not, against my better judgement, I care about you too. A lot.”
Now I’m fully awake. I shift back slightly so I can see her face.
“Do you love me, Frankie?”
She freezes.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
Her brow furrows. “Excuse me?”
“I can feel your heart running,” I say quietly. “You’re practically vibrating.”
She presses her palm flat to my chest like she can feel mine too.
“I don’t know,” she repeats, but this time her voice cracks. “I feel a lot of things about you. It ain’t always nice. Some days I can’t stand you. Some days I think you’re arrogant and irritating and you push too much.”
I nod slowly. Fairs.
“But some days,” she continues, swallowing hard, “most days… I don’t know how I breathe without you. It’s crazy.”
Her eyes search mine.
“Fuck,” she breathes. “I’m in love with you, ain’t I?”
A grin pulls at my mouth before I can stop it.
“Yup. Madly.”
She squeezes her eyes shut. “Bloodclaat.”
I laugh softly. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, babe. Everyone loves me.”
She smacks my chest. “Oh shut it. You in love with me too?”
I don’t hesitate.
“Francine. I fell in love with that girl I met in primary school and I’ve been chasing her since.”
That knocks the sarcasm clean out of her.
She just stares at me. There’s history in her eyes. From the soccer pitch to soap powder to training days and closet kisses. From us fucking to fighting. All of it.
“We should tell Za,” she says finally.
I study her face carefully.
“You ready for that?”
“She needs to know.”
It’s not defiance this time. It’s resolve.
“Okay—”about fucking time—“If that’s what you want.”
The room goes quiet again.
Great. Now I can’t sleep. My heart is doing too much. My brain is wide awake with what I wanted to say. So I just ask for it.
“Frankie?”
“Hmm?”
“Lock in with me.”
She narrows her eyes slightly. “If you’re asking me to be your girlfriend, you should do better than that.”
I prop myself up on one elbow so I’m looking down at her properly.
“Francine Campbell,” I began.
“Yessss,” she sings out.
“I love you,” I continue. “And I’m ready to take the next step with you. So please. For the love of God. Be my everything.”
She tries to hold the seriousness but her lips twitch.
“Fine,” she mutters. “Since you asked so nicely.”
I exhale a breath I didn’t realise I was holding.
“I do worry though,” she sighs and my chest tightens again. “About the lime light.”
Oh thank God.
“As someone who has had his fill of fame, I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe from it. You don’t have to announce it ‘til you're ready. We don’t have to announce it at all actually.”
“Ugh! More hiding.”
“Privacy Francine. We deserve our privacy. But that’s a bridge we can cross when we get there, let's focus on family first.”
“Fine. Now go to sleep,” she adds. “I’m sick of you keeping me up.”
I pull her closer until there’s no space left between us.
“Goodnight, Jelly.”
I sit in the driver’s seat with the engine off, hands resting on the steering wheel, staring at my parents’ front door.
Frankie went in five minutes ago.
Five very long minutes ago.