"Daveed, stop following me." Odessa said, causing a larger smile to form over the man's lip.

"Nope." He chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets as he walked beside of her, his smile only widening as he glanced over at the scowling girl.

"Why are you following me? What are you getting out of walking to my house with me?"

"Making sure you're okay, wouldn't want something to happen to you." He said with a smirkish smile.

"Oh go fuck yourself." She said, rolling her eyes.

"What? Honest!" He said, throwing his hands up in the air in a defensive stance. "I wouldnt want anything to happen to my favorite lady."

"Oh, where is Caitlynn?" Odessa asked, and Daveed froze for a second, his smile dropping and a scowl forming over his face.

"It was three years ago, Odessa." He said, still continuing to walk beside of her.

"It was four, three since you left me." She corrected, glaring up at him.

"You needa let it go." He said, shaking his head slightly as they started to head up towards her apartment complex.

"Oh yeah, I'll let go of the fact that my best friend in the entire world left me behind for some bitch." Odessa said, rolling her eyes. Daveed bit on his lower lip to stop himself from saying something that he might regret. He sighed quietly as he walked over to the door of her apartment complex and opened it for her.

They walked inside, Odessa taking the lead as Daveed followed behind of her. The pair walked up a flight of stairs or two before Odessa took a left turn and headed towards her apartment. Once at the door, she unlocked and pushed it open, Daveed following her inside and shutting the door behind of him.

When he turned around, Odessa was walking into the kitchen. He quickly followed after her, stopping in what would have been the door way had it had an actual door and he leaned against the frame.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly, the tension thickening in the room as he said it. Odessa kept her back facing Daveed, stopping in her tracks as he spoke. The silence lingered between them for a few moments before Odessa spoke.

"I wish I could say it's okay." Odessa sighed heavily.

"Then just say it, Odessa. I miss you like crazy."

"But it's not okay, Daveed. When I needed you the most, you weren't there." She said quietly, shaking her head as she walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a couple of bottles of water. "We better get going, rehearsal starts in ten." She whispered. Daveed sighed heavily and nodded, waiting until she passed by him to head towards the door.

***

The walk back to the practice and the rest of practice was awkward to say that least. Daveed's eyes never left Odessa, and she did everything she could to avoid him and his eyes. But it was nearly impossible to hide behind of anyone and away from his eyes.

He couldn't help it, the fact that his eyes were completely glued to her. Her words were haunting him, 'When I needed you most, you weren't there.' He had little to no idea what she could possibly mean, but it still pulled at his heart that there was time that Odessa was in need of someone and he wasn't there, meaning there was likely no one there for her.

He wasn't stupid, he knew that Odessa was awful at making friends. She always had been, the only reason the two of them were even friends was because their mothers worked together. Having met when they were only 5 and 6, it wasn't hard for them to get along. But, after that, Odessa tried and tried to make new and more friends, though it normally failed and Daveed was left to pick up the pieces.

Something he had managed to fail out quite a lot the last couple of years, as far as he could tell.

A small sigh escaped his lips as Anthony walked over to Daveed, standing beside of him with his head slightly tilted up so he could see the taller man. "You okay?"

"I uh.. Yeah man." Daveed said, nodding his head slowly. Anthony rolled his eyes as he turned and leaned against the wall that Daveed was standing beside of, his eyes glancing back and forth between Odessa twirling and dancing, a small smile on her lips, to Daveed whose eyes traveled everywhere that the girl was. Anthony smiled slightly as he watched, before he spoke.

"So, what's the story between you and Odessa?" Anthony asked with a slightly raised eyebrow, and Daveed shook his head slightly.

"I'm an idiot, nothing more, nothing less."

"What do you mean?" Anthony asked, watching as Daveed fell back against the wall beside of him.

"I just made some mistakes that really hurt her and our friendship. Its bothered me since the day that I left." Daveed said softly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Left?"

"I left. I thought that I love this girl, and I chased her out here to New York. I didn't tell Des I was leaving. I just got on a plane one day, and I left. I dropped any and all communication with her, she tried to reach out for a while but after a little bit, she just stopped trying. About a year after I ran out here, the girl broke it off with me. I tried to get ahold of Des, she had changed her number. I went home, ran to her house. Her mother told me she left, didn't say where she was going. After that, I flew back here. Two years later, I heard about Hamilton. That's when I saw her for the first time, and now it's just me trying to prove how sorry I am."

Anthony was silent for a moment, before he shook his head. "You're an idiot." Anthony said plainly, and Daveed nodded his head with a chuckle.

"I know." He whispered quietly, watching as Oak jogged over to them, leaning against the wall as well.

"Is this where the cool kids are hanging out?" He asked with a goofy smile.

***

After rehearsal that night, Odessa slipped out of the building undetected by anyone. She smiled quietly to herself as she wrapped the jacket she had brought around her, the nights in NYC being a lot colder than the days. Her hand gripped the bag handle tightly as she walked. Normally, she would have drove to the dance studio since it was further away that the theatre, but she had grabbed a ride from the theatre to the studio with Oak and then with Daveed back from eating.

She didn't mind the walk though, New York was beautiful and she was beyond happy to be blessed enough to live in the city. She couldn't help the small smile that formed across her lips as she glanced up, looking at all the buildings that lit up the night sky to the point that it didn't even look like night time anymore.

Odessa looked back down from the city lights and to her feet, her eyes barely glancing up every once in a while so that she didn't end up walking into anyone. Her apartment was still quite a ways out, and the cold night was taking it's toll on the girls legs underneath her thin leggings.

She sighed out quietly, adjusting her bag on her shoulder before a voice pulled her out of her own thoughts and over to the road beside of her.

"Odessa? Is that you?" Daveed called out and the girl stopped, turning towards where the man had parked on the side of the road. "What are you doing?" He asked and she shrugged her shoulders slightly as she glanced back in the direction of her apartment.

"Heading home." She replied quietly. Daveed rolled his eyes as he looked at the girl.

"You're about 10 blocks out from your house. Get in the car, let me give you a ride."

"No thanks." She replied, and Daveed let out a large sigh.

"Please, Dessa." Daveed said quietly, watching the girl glance between him and the street ahead of her. She sighed quietly as she walked over to the passenger side of his car and slid in. Daveed looked over at the girl with a bright smile on his face, and the girl simply rolled his eyes as he did. Daveed glanced over his shoulder to make sure that no one was coming before pulling back onto the street and heading towards the girls house.

As they drove, the music over the stereo caused the girl to raise her eyebrow slightly. The voice that was rapping the music, was Daveed's. So the girl reached forward and turned the music up slowly, focusing strictly on the music.

"We who are about to bang these drums, beatin' on a dead body, Talkin' that shit, bitch bite your tongue.
See that ship over your city, better run, run. Your war is like a board game where it come from, already bored, claiming your gang, 'Pyong!' go the gun."

"That's clipping." Daveed said happily, and Odessa nodded her head. "Other than Hamilton, it's my passion."

A small smile tugged at the girls lips as she thought back to when they were younger and Daveed swore on his life that one day, he'd be a rapper and no one would stop him.

"Whatcha smilin' about?" Daveed asked, glancing over at the girl who's eyes were glued to the radio ahead of her.

"I just know that you've always wanted this. To have a rap career. I'm glad it finally happened for you." She said with a nod her head. Daveed smiled, nodding his head as well.

"I really love it, it's where my happiness comes from." He said, and Des nodded her head.

"I know. It always has been." She said, the two of them falling into a silence that was slightly awkward, but not nearly as awkward as it had been in the past. More like a silence that was holding words that needed to be said, words that could fix everything. Daveed couldn't find the words he was looking for to make everything okay again, so he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"I miss you, Des." Daveed said softly.

"I know." She replied, folding her hands in her lap and staring down at them.

"I know what I did was stupid. And I'm really sorry."

"I understand that Daveed. But you really, really hurt me and I just need some time, okay?" She whispered quietly as Daveed pulled up in front of her apartment. Odessa unbuckled his seat belt and opened up her door.

"Bye Dessa." Daveed said, his voice slightly quiet.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Daveed." She
said as she shut the door and turned on her heel, walking into her building. Daveed sat there for a few minutes after dropping her off, his hands gripping the steering wheel till his knuckles were turning a slight white color. He was angry, with himself. He had made stupid mistakes, dumb choices that caused him one of the best friendships he had ever been.

He pulled away a few minutes later, driving back towards his house while blaring music so loud that the car shook slightly. When he got back to his apartmemt, he slammed the door behind him. Stripping off his shirt snd jeans, he pulled on a pair of sweatpants and laid down in his bed. The man pulled out his phone, pushing the power button so that it would light up but one notification in particular caught his attention.

TWITTER
@ Odessadessa started following you!

***

Sorry for all of the time jumps in this chapter ♡