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"Wassup loser lovebirds," Ashtray greeted the couple as they walked into his room, not taking his eyes off his monitor where he played GTA.

"Hey Ash," Mariah mumbled, not wanting to talk but also not wanting to ignore him like a bitch.

Ashtray raised an eyebrow at her dry tone, looking away from his screen for a second to look at Mariah. He met eyes with Fezco before he could say anything, who shook his head as a way to tell him to shut the fuck up as Mariah made her way through Ashtray's room and into the kitchen, then disappeared down the hall to Fezco's room.

"She good?" Ashtray asked Fezco as he locked the door.

"Nah."

"The fuck happened to your hand?" Ashtray eyed his brother's hand stained with now dry blood and bruising knuckles.

"Blood ain't mine," Fezco sighed. "We goin to bed early kid, night."

"Night," Ashtray said back, watching Fezco exit his room and walk down the same path Mariah did to his room with her spend a night bag hung from his shoulder.

Mariah was grabbing one of Fezco's shirts from his dirty laundry basket and slipping it on when Fezco walked into his room, not minding that it was dirty since it smelled like his cologne, and not his laundy detergent.

He set her bag down by his closet as she kicked her shoes off, then got into his bed, grabbing Coco in her arms from where she rested on Fezco's bed. She had forgotten her there the last time she slept over, feeling sad for forgetting but then feeling happy when Fezco sent her a picture of him hugging Coco as he tried to go to sleep.

Fezco watched her snuggling up in his bed, carelessly pulling her fake eyelashes off and setting them on the bedside table, along with her phone.

He leaned over his bed as she laid back in place, wiping his thumb from his clean hand under her eyes to get rid of her tears before he gave her a quick kiss.

"Ima go check on my grandma real fast, I'll be right back," He whispered to her.

Mariah nodded in response, letting him back up and walk out of the room. After Fezco checked on his grandma and made sure everything was all good, he glanced down at his aching hand before going into the bathroom to wash the blood off and clean it up.

Mariah listened to his footsteps walk passed his room and then into the bathroom, then heard the bathroom door close and the lightswitch flick up.

She got up out of his bed and walked out of her room, softly knocking on the door. Fezco opened it a little and peeked outside as he ran his hand under the sink, eyebrows raising for a second at his girlfriend before he let her in and closed the door again.

Mariah watched him wash the blood off his hand, then watched him dry the water off with some toilet paper.

"Do you have a first aid kit?" She asked
from where she partially hid behind him.

"Yeah," Fezco's eyes flickered up to meet hers through the mirror, nodding his head as he opened the mirror cabinet and pulled the box out.

Having to beat the shit out of someone wasn't new to Fezco, although he didn't do it often. But he found himself having to bandage up his cut up hands and bruised knuckles every once in a while, sometimes even Ashtray's.

Mariah grabbed the bandages as soon as Fezco opened the first aid kit box, moving to stand by his side as she softly grabbed his hand.

"You gon be my nurse?" Fezco asked her.

She broke out into a smile at his question as she wrapped the bandages around his knuckles, hoping it wasn't too tight as she layered it.

"Yeah, das what I like to see," He whispered, poking his index finger into the single dimple she had on her left cheek that only appeared when she smiled or laughed.

"You know what I like to see?" Mariah asked him, glancing up at him for a second as she pursed her lips to hide her smile.

"What's that, ma?"

Mariah shrugged her shoulders, glancing down at his bandaged hand, then at the blood on his white long sleeved tee.

"You should take your shirt off," She said and looked back up at his eyes.

Fezco squinted down at her with a small smirk, "Yeah?"

"Yeah, there's blood on it," She let him know, trying not to smile.

"Oh," He said, glancing down at the blood stains.

"But also cause I'd like to see what's under," Mariah admitted as he reached behind him with his uninjured hand to pull his shirt off.

Fezco smiled as he brought his shirt over his head, feeling Mariah poke both his dimples with her index fingers once it was off.

I really hope our future babies get both dimples like him, I don't need them having only one dimple like me and fucking Miguel from Coco the movie

Dimple, no dimple, dimple, no dimple

Fezco let his eyes trail down from her pretty face to the red marks on her neck, licking his lips and letting out a sigh.

Mariah noticed what his eyes stared at, making her look away to put the first aid kit back so he'd stop, feeling lowkey embarrassed.

She blinked back the tears that her eyes held all night and couldn't seem to get rid of as she put the bandages back in the first aid kit, feeling Fezco gently turn her head to face him again.

He stared into her eyes, just her eyes for a few seconds, his heart breaking a little each second that passed at the tears that filled them. He wished he could get rid of them in a way other than wiping them from under her eyes, he wanted to get rid of them permanently.

He reached for her hand, lacing her fingers with his and lightly tugging on it.

"C'mon, let's get to bed," He drawled out tiredly, reaching behind himself to open the door to the bathroom before he pulled them both out of the bathroom.

He led her to his room, closing the door once they were both in and watched her get back into his bed while he kicked his shoes off and then to the side before he started to undo his belt and unbutton his jeans, making Mariah wish she could've kept her word about the I missed you head she was gonna give him.

Fezco had long forgotten about that, all he wanted now was for his girl to be good. He emptied his pockets out onto his dresser, placing his glock on the bedside table by Mariah's lashes before he pulled his jeans down, side eyeing her with every movement he made, sort of checking on her.

Mariah tried to keep herself from staring at him, moving from laying on her side like she had been while she watched him in the almost completely dark room to stare up at the ceiling.

It wasn't until she finally felt the bed dip besides her that she turned her head to look at Fezco again, feeling his arms sneak around her to pull her closer to him.

She placed her head on his bare shoulder, making herself comfortable in his arms as he pulled his blanket over them before he reached for a blunt and his favorite lighter off his bedside table.

He placed the blunt between his lips, taking a few seconds to light it, then took the first hit and gave the pretty girl on his lighter a kiss before he set it back on the table and put the blunt back between his lips.

Mariah watched the smoke that left his lips float above and around them before the blunt came into her sight, held out for her to take.

Too lazy to actually grab it, she leaned her head forward and took a small hit, resting her head back on his shoulder as she blew the smoke out her mouth.

Fezco smoked about half with the occasional help of Mariah. She stared at him the whole time, bashfully looking away when he met her eyes for a split second to stare at the blunt he held up to her lips instead, catching her watching him.

The adoration she held in her eyes while staring at him gave Fezco butterflies, licking his lips as he put the half smoked blunt out before reaching over and dropping it on the bedside table. He laid back in his bed, getting comfortable with Mariah in his arms as he trailed his hand up the side of her body to her head, moving her hair out of the way to give her forehead a kiss.

Mariah practically melted inside at feeling his lips against her forehead, thankful that he wasn't staring at her face to see her blush. The way that he was the sweetest person ever after he almost killed someone for her warmed her heart. She swore it could burst.

"I love you."

Heart officially bursted.

Fezco's whispered confession had her heart fluttering, dropping, stopping, bursting–everything. Mariah froze for a second, processing his words and trying to figure out whether she was high and hearing shit, or if she heard him right when he spoke again.

"I-I know it's like...I know we haven't been together long, but I can't think of another word to explain what I'm feelin for you," Fezco explained in a drawl, his low eyes sneaking a glance at her before they looked up at his ceiling.

He didn't know what it was–shit, maybe it was the weed, or maybe it was the fact that he knew his girl needed some love after today–but he felt this sudden surge of confidence, wanting nothing more than to take the chance to express what he had been holding back for her, but soon started to almost regret it when she remained silent.

She stared at the side of his face–god his side profile is everything–while he nervously waited for her to say something, anything, his own heart literally beating out of his chest, but dropping when he turned his head to face Mariah, watching a few tears fall from her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, pulling his eyebrows together in worry and confusion, fighting the regret he almost felt for saying anything.

But what he said was all she ever wanted to hear.

All she ever wanted was to be loved, and while she definitely felt that around Fezco–he said it.

Those three words meant the world to her.

Mariah looked up at him to meet his eyes, unable to fight the smile that formed on her face or the butterflies in her stomach.

Was he being serious? Did he really just tell her he loved her? Did he mean it?

Mariah hadn't even thought of these questions, being overcome by the pure and raw joy that his words gave her–she didn't care about the answer to those questions in the moment anyway. Whether Fezco meant it or not, Mariah loved him back. Without a single doubt or second thought.

So you would imagine her response was given without a single doubt or second thought, too, although she took a good minute or two to say anything.

Fezco broke their eye contact, stuttering out an apology that Mariah interrupted before he could even get it out.

"I love you too," Mariah almost whispered, the overwhelming but good feeling of being told those three words making her a little shy as he fell silent, turning his head to look down at her again.

"Word?" He hadn't expected her to say it back, although he was hoping she would, hoping that she did love him.

She placed her hand on his cheek, scooting up a little to rest her head on his shoulder, eyes locked on his, heart bursting once again at the hopeful glint in his eyes after his question.

Mariah just connected their lips in a quick kiss, rubbing her thumb along his cheek. It was Fezco's heart's turn to burst.

He really does love this girl.

All of her. The good and the bad, although as far as he had seen or known, the only bad thing was her ex, and he got rid of that.

Fezco couldn't remember the last time someone told him that they loved him, without it being some drug addict looking to score. And nobody had told Mariah that they loved her–genuinely and from the heart–since her mom died.

Neither of them knew that about each other, but they didn't need to in order to fulfill one another's desire to be loved.

Because after all, although they probably shouldn't, all the two wanted was to be loved.

—$—

Mariah woke up the next morning, no longer feeling Fezco's arms around her or feeling him next to her.

That was a first–she almost always woke up before him, and even if he woke up first, he always stayed in bed with her.

She felt around the bed with her eyes still shut, brows furrowing when her feeling around confirmed that Fezco was actually out of bed. She opened her eyes to see him standing by his closet, pulling a shirt over his head.

Her eyes took a second to see him clearly as it was still dark out, noticing that he was almost fully dressed, illuminated by the lava lamp on his lil table.

Fezco grabbed some shoes before he carefully sat on the edge of the bed to put them on, making Mariah scoot a little closer to him.

"Where are you going?" She finally spoke after he stood up off the bed once he put his shoes on and started grabbing his things from the dresser he placed them on last night.

Fezco glanced over at his girl, watching her tired eyes follow his movements as he stepped closer to his bed, grabbing his phone off the bedside table next to hers.

"Sorry, I gotta go take care of sum," He whispered and slid his phone into his pocket.

"But it's still dark out," She stated the obvious, holding her hand out for him to take so she could pull him back into bed.

"Business is business, ma. Ima be back quick," He told her, taking her extended hand in his and giving her knuckles a kiss. "Don't want no shit wit Mouse."

Mariah felt uneasy at the mention of Mouse, wanting Fezco to stay even more than she did just a few seconds ago. Mariah didn't mind the drugs and all the other shit that came with Fezco–she loved all of him.

But she was already unspokenly pretty worried and uneasy about the whole Fezco beating Danny 97% to death in a parking lot with Mouse and Custer present.

Now he was about to go do something for Mouse, of all people, it just worried her even more. Mariah knew how he was–ruthless. Guess this meant that Fezco wouldn't be the only protective one in the relationship anymore.

Fezco sighed lightly at the look Mariah stared at him with, leaning down so his face was just a few centimeters away from hers.

"Go back to sleep, ima be back when you wake up," He whispered and gave her forehead a kiss.

"I can't if you're gonna be out this late. Or early, whatever. It's still hella dark out," Mariah told him, making him smile a little at her care for him.

"I know, but don't worry about it, mama. You want like, melatonin gummies or sum?" He asked her.

Mariah let out a small laugh, "You wanna drug me?"

Fezco kissed his teeth, nudging her head with his hand. "Just don't want you stressin. Everything's gon be all good, Ash in his room if anythin."

Mariah reluctantly nodded, sighing when Fezco leaned in and brought her into a kiss. She placed her hand on his jaw to deepen the kiss, feeling on his damp beard as she moved her lips against his.

He pulled away after a few seconds, but not all the way, keeping his eyes on Mariah, who still hadn't let go of his hand.

"Be safe. I love you," She told him.

Fezco bashfully smiled as he nodded, noticing how easily the words came now, grabbing his blanket to tuck her in. "I love you too."

He glanced behind her at Coco laid against the wall, grinning before he grabbed the bunny and placed it in her arms.

"Here, sleep wit Coconut," Fezco teased as he stood back up straight.

Mariah rolled her eyes, "Oh my god, get out."

"Thought you didn't want me to leave?" Fezco squinted at her with a smirk.

Mariah just flipped him off, hugging on Coco and making Fezco laugh. She ended up falling back asleep shortly after he left although she told herself to wait up for him. Last night was just super fucking tiring–the whole ass day was.

At least when she woke up, Fezco was back like he said would be, now sitting at the table while counting his money with the money counter after he gave his grandma her morning meds and a sponge bath, eyes occasionally drifting over to Mariah as she made him and Ashtray breakfast.

"I was playing GTA last night," Ashtray announced as he poured himself some orange juice.

"Cool?" Mariah laughed, giving him a weird look before looking back at the stove.

"Yeah, it is cool. I went to the strip club, you know, with all your girlfriends and shit," Ashtray told her, making her laugh out loud. "And I got a lap dance, maybe one day in real life you could–"

"Hell the fuck no," Fezco interrupted from where he added some numbers together in his notebook, slightly shaking his head. "Yo lil ass ain't gettin no lap dance from my girl."

Ashtray scoffed, "I don't want a lap dance from your girl, I want one from one of her fucking friends."

Fezco and Mariah exchanged looks before laughing, making Ashtray give them both ugly looks.

"Stick to GTA, Rollingtray," Mariah giggled, shoving his plate into his hands after putting it together.

Ashtray shot her a glare before noticing the light fingerprints on her neck, brows furrowing as he tried to make out what the marks were.

"Ash," Fezco called out, earning the kid's attention. He shook his head at his little brother, making him walk over to the table and sit with him.

"What the fuck happened to her?" Ashtray asked quietly.

Fezco licked his lips, glancing at Mariah before he looked at Ashtray. "Some shit with her ex."

Ashtray narrowed his eyes, "He did that?"

Fezco just nodded in response, clenching his jaw at the thought as Ashtray eyed his bandaged hand before he snuck a glance at Mariah, who had just placed Fezco's plate in front of him.

"Thanks beautiful," Fezco mumbled, dropping his pencil on the table and exchanging looks with Ashtray.

Mariah cheesed at the nickname, her all time favorite along with my girl. Ma was cool too, they all gave her butterflies, but being referred to as beautiful just hit different.

After breakfast, Fezco kicked Mariah out the kitchen so he could wash the dishes, telling her to go get ready instead.

"C'mon, ima do these, you go take a shower or sum," Fezco playfully pushed her away from the sink, laughing at the eye roll he received. "I gotta hit the grocery store, and you know you gonna wanna come wit me."

He knew she would rather die than leave the house to go out in public looking all bummy, though to him, she was pretty as fuck either way.

"Maybe I can get you those cookies you been wantin, iono," Fezco shrugged with a smirk, making Mariah squint at him.

"Fine," She backed away from the sink, standing on her toes to give his cheek a quick kiss before she disappeared down the hall.

Ashtray scoffed from where he finished eating his own breakfast, shaking his head as his brother turner the water on. "Soft."

"Shut the fuck up," Fezco shot back, only adding to Ashtray's amusement.

He entered his room about 20 minutes later, having kept himself busy with the dishes and then back to sorting the drugs he received yesterday, watching Mariah pull her hair back in a slicked low bun.

"Hey, I'm almost done, I just need to lay my edges down," She advised him as if he knew what that even was.

"Nah, take yo time," Fezco assured her, leaning down behind her where she sat in front of his mirror to press a kiss to her neck.

His eyes fell onto the clear skin, free of any marks she had earlier in the morning, giving Fezco a straight punch to the stomach at the fact that she knew good and well how to cover the marks that Danny left on her.

He hated thinking about how many times she had found herself having to do the same, but at least now, once those marks faded, she wouldn't ever have to.

Because Danny was half dead in an abandoned parking lot, like he deserved.