The stare-off between Josiah and Grace continued until Grace became nervous, diverting her eyes elsewhere.

"I know you not sittin' up here tryna tell me you been taking that shit for months?" Even though Josiah's voice was low, Grace still heard the anger.

"Not months." Grace corrected, "Just since Mase left."

"That was months ago Grace!"

She blew out a breath, "I'm sorry."

"Do you remember when we had this conversation after what happened with Hassan?" Josiah demanded, the anger leaving his voice and being replaced by defeat, "Do you remember when you said you wouldn't put that shit in your body anymore?"

"Yes, but I didn't take them every day, just on bad days."

He looked pointedly at the bags she was holding, "How many bad days did you have?"

It may not have seemed like it, but Grace did only take the pills when she was feeling down. She just felt down quite often.

As Josiah sat there watching Grace try to explain her logic behind her taking the pills, he came to the realization that he wasn't enough to make her happy.

Exactly like Isiah had told him.

Unlike Isiah however, Josiah's ego wasn't bruised. It just showed him that their relationship was never going to work no matter how badly each of them wanted it to.

Grace continued to explain herself, oblivious to the conclusion that Josiah had come to.

When she finally stopped talking, she looked up from her hands to see Josiah no longer watching her, his gaze fixated on something else across the room.

Then she noticed the tears that had formed in his eyes, and her heart dropped.

Walking to the bed, she sat cross-legged in front of him, lifting his face to make his stare meet hers, "Josiah...."

"I tried to be everything you needed me to." Josiah told her, his voice breaking as he continued to talk, "But I can't heal you Grace."

"That's not what I wanted." She replied, scrambling for a way to make him see where she was coming from, "I never asked for that."

"You didn't have to. I watch you struggle with demons every day, and I thought we were fighting those demons together." Josiah licked his lips as he shook his head, "But it's only getting worse."

Both of them were crying now, Grace's hand slightly shaking as she reached for his, hoping he wouldn't refuse her touch, "I told you because I want to get better. I don't want anymore secrets between us."

The reason behind Grace hiding her drug use from Josiah wasn't just because he'd asked her to stop taking them, but also because she wanted to hide the mood swings from him.

She thought that she'd already burdened him with so many of her problems, so she'd try to fix this one on her own.

When Josiah alerted her to the fact that he'd already known, she realized that he truly accepted every part of her, every flaw that she had.

And now it was too late.

It could be said that this was just as much as Josiah's fault as it was Grace's though. If he'd relayed to Grace what Isiah had said from the beginning, then maybe she would've stopped.

On the other hand, Grace sought pills out on her own, consciously looking for what she thought was an escape instead of seeking the professional help she knew she needed.

One thing that could definitely be agreed upon as the downfall of their relationship, was the damning lack of communication.

Grace's hand was still gripping his, hoping that maybe he just needed to calm down again.

Josiah didn't respond immediately to what Grace said, turning over the situation in his mind, "I think." He began slowly, "That we need a break."

Her world came crashing down as she heard the finality in his voice, leaving no room for argument, "A break?"

He exhaled and looked at the woman who'd changed him as a person in only the best ways, seeing all the insecurity and sadness he'd worked to counter come back in mere minutes.

Josiah reached for her, pulling her to him so that she could bury her face into his chest as her body was overtaken with sobs.

"I love you so much, Grace." He breathed into her hair, "So fucking much."

In this case, love wasn't enough.

• • •

The alarm beeped as Grace entered her parent's home.

She knew Celina wouldn't be there yet, so she went to her parent's room, barely able to see in the darkness that surrounded her.

Grace didn't bother turning on any lights, sliding off her shoes and crawling in between her parents. Isiah woke up first, but Samantha was the one who reached for the lamp, light washing over the room.

When her eyes adjusted, she saw Grace curled a ball beside her, looking every bit as she had when she was a child, "What's wrong Grace?" Samantha asked, resting her hand on Grace's face as she lay beside her daughter.

Grace's response was choppy, "I f-fucked u-up."

Samantha listened intently as Grace told her of the pills she'd been taking and how Josiah reacted to her telling him.

Isiah was listening as well, something tugging inside of his chest at the cries that left Grace. He subtly rubbed it, trying to decipher what was wrong.

"Grace maybe this is for the best." Samantha stated softly, "You need to get help, and Josiah will still be here when you're done."

Grace shook her head, "I don't need rehab. I'm-."

"I never said anything about rehab. You need to see a doctor, baby. Do it before you lose yourself in all of this."

Though this was Isiah's plan, to have Grace come home, he still turned to face her, "She also needs rehab. You took them almost every day, of course an addiction festered."

Grace said nothing, as she wanted an option that didn't involve her leaving for that long.

"And as your mother said." Isiah continued, "Josiah will still be here when you're done."

She didn't know if she believed that, but all she could do was hope.

• • •

Isiah pressed the phone to his ear, waiting for the ringing to be exchanged for a voice.

"Hello?" Lia answered sleepily.

"We're not doing it."

There was a pause, "What?"

"That plan is off. There's no need for it anymore."

Even when Grace left the hospital that day all those years ago, she never cried. The times when he'd yelled at her or one of the many things went wrong in her life, she'd never cried like that.

So now, now the plan was different.

He could still keep Samantha in the house if she saw he was making an effort to repair him and his daughter's relationship, and maybe Mason would come home when Grace told him about the difference she saw in their father.

Isiah would still get what he wanted, and possibly have everyone be happy at the same time. It didn't matter to him how Lia felt, seeing as her happiness was never his concern in the first place.

"I'll be damned." Came Lia's angry reply, "I didn't do all of this for you to say 'nevermind'."

"If that's how you view it, then fine. This was never about you anyway."

"The hell it wasn't! I wanted Josiah away from you and your family from hell! I've yet to see anything become of anyone besides you."

Isiah chuckled, "And what's become of you Lia? You hold a job that's going nowhere, you're stuck on someone from your past who has only agreed to help because he thinks he has a chance with my wife, your youngest son moved out the day he turned 18 because you've been miserable for the past 18 years, and you're likely going to die miserable."

Three beeps indicated that she'd hung up the phone, but Isiah didn't care. He'd gotten his point across just fine.

As he went to return to his bedroom, he looked up the same rehab facility that Mason had gone to, the new plan running through his head.

Compared to his other ones, this one wasn't that bad.

But someone in the Simmons family wouldn't be around to see it.

• • •

how do we feel ab the break(up)? is josiah right in asking for one? or should he have given himself time to think, as well as maybe waited until grace was in a better mind state to hear that?

who y'all think dying baybeeeee?

holy fuck we hit 7k votes in a little over a month! so very appreciative of you all for reading, voting, & commenting. i love y'all 🥺

my bby novelsbybcj  made the banner for me. luv her! she recently published a new book which is good ASTF, & all of other work is good too. go be supportive 🙂