twentyseven
Aaliyah's POV
I wake up on top of my comforter.
Still in yesterday's clothes.
Still swollen-eyed and exhausted.
Still hurting.
And my phone is still buzzing.
Still his name.
I turn the phone over so I don't have to look at the screen.
My voice comes out cracked and small:
"Just stop."
But of course he hasn't.
Of course he won't.
He keeps calling until I shut the whole thing off.
Silence fills my apartment...
but it's the heavy kind.
The kind that makes me want to burst again.
I curl into my pillows and breathe slowly.
I can't cry anymore.
I'm cried-out and hollow.
I lie there until there's a knock at my door-
loud, sharp, panicked.
I freeze.
Then Caleb's deeper voice comes through behind hers:
Oh no.
Oh God no.
I push myself up, wipe my face, try to make it look like I didn't cry for hours.
It doesn't work.
I open the door a crack.
Zaria shoves it open the rest of the way and grabs me instantly.
"Oh my GOD-Aaliyah!" she gasps, pulling me into a tight hug. "You look like you got run over by a truck-Caleb I told you something was wrong-"
Caleb moves past her, eyes scanning me like he's checking for injuries.
"What happened?" he asks, voice low and serious.
"Nothing," I whisper.
"That's not true," he says.
I look away.
Zaria cups my cheeks, turning my face toward her gently.
Her expression softens immediately.
"Oh babe..."
She wipes a stray tear I didn't know was there.
"Talk to us. Please."
"I don't want to," I whisper.
Zaria's eyes flick to Caleb.
He crosses his arms.
"Is it a guy?" he asks.
I swallow.
He tenses.
"Is it Leo?"
My throat cinches tight.
I don't answer.
Which is an answer.
Caleb's jaw flexes so hard I hear the click.
Zaria places a hand on his chest. "Caleb. Wait."
"No," he mutters. "What did he do?"
"Nothing," I manage. "He didn't-he didn't do anything. I just... I don't want to talk about him."
Zaria hugs me again.
"Okay. That's okay. You don't have to. Just let us be here."
Caleb steps closer, lifting my chin gently with two fingers-brotherly, not invading-just trying to see my eyes.
"Did he hurt you?"
I shake my head.
But my lips tremble.
That's all he needs.
His expression goes cold.
"I'm gonna fucking kill him."
Zaria gasps, grabbing his arm. "CALEB-stop-"
He shakes her off.
"No. I'm not joking. I'm actually going to beat his ass."
"Cal-baby-please-"
"Did he lie to you?" he demands, voice rising. "Did he play you? Because if he touched you and then went back to someone else-"
"STOP!" I cry.
The room freezes.
I take a shaky breath.
"I don't want to talk about it," I whisper. "I just... I need you guys. Please don't make me explain yet."
Zaria softens immediately, rubbing my back.
"Okay. Okay. Shh. It's okay. You don't have to."
Caleb looks like he wants to punch through the wall, but he reins it in enough to walk over and put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest.
"You shouldn't have gone through that alone," he mutters into my hair. "You call me next time. You hear me?"
I nod into him.
Zaria joins the group hug.
My voice is tiny.
"Can we... just stay in today?"
"Of course," Zaria whispers.
"Yeah," Caleb says. "We're not going anywhere."
We end up on the couch-
Zaria wrapped around me,
Caleb sitting like a guard dog at the end of the sofa,
arms crossed, eyes glaring at nothing.
He mutters under his breath every few minutes:
"I swear to God, if he even THINKS about texting her-"
I curl into a blanket.
My phone stays off.
But somewhere deep in my chest...
I feel the ache of his missed calls.
His messages.
His voice.
His confusion.
I bury my face in the pillow.
Zaria rubs my shoulder.
Caleb's jaw tightens again.
"You don't need him," he says quietly. "We got you."
And I want to believe him.
I do.
But all I can think is:
What if everything I felt meant nothing to him?
What if I was just one night?
What if I was stupid to think someone like him could really want me?
I close my eyes.
And somewhere across town-
probably pacing -
probably calling again -
probably confused and frantic -
someone else whispers my name into an empty apartment.