A Chance at Love (1)

Here you go, another one, hope you enjoy. XOXO

                                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Argh Candi this dress is too tight!" Nicki complained while trying to pull the dress down in front of the mirror. "no it's not Mrs Doubtfire" Candace retorted while slapping her hands away "besides the point of tonight is to get you a man and most importantly get you laid!" Candi completed with a chuckle earning a pout that quickly turned into a glare from Nicki, "What you mean, I got a man, a perfect one at that too" she smirked thinking she had one over Candace, one of her best friends.

Tonight was a dreaded night according to Nicki. It was the big day where she would hopefully find suitors by means of speed-dating. This however was in no way her idea, she had just finally succumbed to her best friend's constant nagging about her being single for the last two years. 

Going on blind dates was never up her speed as she never understood the concept. What, so you put two strangers together in a restaurant and hope for the best, when both are probably suffering internally from the awkwardness and most importantly the continuous pretending that they are in any way interested in the person who sat opposite the them when all they really wanted was to be at home in their PJ's? Yeah - that was a complete waste of time to Nicki.

Speed-dating however was a new and interesting concept to her. The room's constant buzzing of all parties that are genuinely interested in meeting a partner, the unknown excitement of it all was the main deciding factor for Nicki, even though her agreement was a little reluctant.

"Onika, Dom doesn't count, you need to stop using him as a shield to block men out of your life!" Candace advised while putting final touches to Nicki's hair.

At the sound of his name Nicki smiled at probably one of her greatest gifts. Three years ago she was blessed with a tiny angel with chubby cheeks and curly hair, her son Dominic. The pregnancy was not planned but it was welcomed regardless, she was only 22 years old; young, wild and carefree, a baby wasn't in her sights but with the support of her friends, family and boyfriend she managed to pull through her pregnancy and was blessed with little Nic's life.

"Bitch how many times have I told you to stop calling my baby 'Dom'? He is NOT the main character in the movie Fast and Furious so either say Nic or his full name!" Nicki huffed "next thing I know you will be calling him 'Torreto'!" She continued her rant.

"Whatever hoe, let's get going before we are late" Candace retorted complete with a eye roll and giggle at her friend's dramatic ways

~~~~~~~~

The "event", as one would put it, wasn't as exciting as she thought it would have been. Sure there was a constant cheerful hum and clatter throughout the rented space but that didn't mean the same environment was what could be felt at her designated table. So far all the men that made it around to her table didn't bother to hide the fact that all they were interested in was her body which only annoyed Nicki further therefore making her glad that each turn lasted 5 minutes. As the clock slowly ticked she wondered why she just didn't stand up and leave, what was keeping her glued to her table listening to the same story phrased differently from each of these men. Something at the back of her mind kept telling her that she owed it to herself to at least try and put an effort in and that is what she was going to do.

Nicki had spent the last 3 minutes tuning out the man who currently sat opposite her. Duncan, his name was Duncan, she only knew this by means of the mandatory name tag of all participants. Everything else about this man that came out of his mouth fell on deaf ears as she zoned out of their conversation. The bell rang and Duncan's talking came to an adrupt end, the poor fellow seemed hopefull of this meeting and even slipped Nicki his business card to which she accepted as she didn't want to seem outright rude to the decent looking gentleman. 

As she waited for the next man to get seated, she quickly checked her phone for any texts that could be of importance "oh shit" she whispered with shock at the realization of what time it was. She quickly packed up her belongings as fast as she could all while apologizing to the gentleman who was already seated at her table and was ready to begin his turn.

She stood and did a quick scan of the room to see where Candi was seated and made her way towards her.

"Candi, we need to go" 

"What? Why?" Candi asked puzzled

"It's already 21h30pm and I told the baby sitter that I would be home by 22h00"

"What baby sitter are you even talking about, we left Dom with your mom? I don't think she would mind an extra hour with her grandson"

"Candace I can't have my mom up all times of the night looking after my son, I'm going to pick him up and let her get some rest, now are you coming or not because in case you are forgetting I am your ride" As Nicki said that, the man who was occupying Candi's attention earlier offered to take her home which earned a smile from Candi and finally made Nicki take note of his presence.

"Uh..no...She is good, I got her" Nicki commented as there was no way she was letting this man, whose name she didn't even know drive her friend home. 

"No Nic, it's fine, Tim will take me home" Candace said with a smile. Nicki knew what that smile meant, this hoe was ready to get some and Nicki was ruining it, she chuckled to herself and responded

"Whatever, Timothy is it, you better take care of her and for good measure let me take a picture of you so that I know what to show the cops when I file this little thot's missing persons' report" Nicki said as she took the picture of him with his name tag showing. She didn't even give them a chance to respond before she disappeared from their line of vision completely.

Her head was down as she was focused on putting her phone away and fishing out her keys. At the quick pace she was walking she knew this wasn't a good idea but she did it anyway. Her brisk stride was put to an adrupt end as she bumped into something hard but with a great scent, She was on her way to the floor when the something or rather someone caught her before she kissed the ground.

"Oh my God, Miss are you ok?" Enquired a smooth and concerned voice. Was she ok? She was a little disoriented from the impact and her vision was fuzzy. She began blinking fast trying to regain focus of her surroundings and that is when she saw him for the first time, pink plump lips, smooth caramel skin, a neat beard and clean shaven head. According to Nicki it was like looking at an angel, his arms were still securely wrapped around her and they felt like he puts in a good work out every morning. It when her thoughts wandered to the sound of his voice that she realized that she hadn't answered his question.

"I'm ok, thanks" she managed to croak out as she tried to get back on her feet.

"Are you sure, you looked like you were going to pass out on me there for a second" he responded with concern lacing his tone.

"Yes I am sure, just a little dizzy but I will be fine. I am really sorry for bumping into you like that, I really should start paying attention to where I am going when I am in a hurry" she explained already trying to make her way out the building to her car.

"It's ok, as long as there are no injuries on your part then we are all good. Why were you in such a hurry in the first place, you were like a bullet train, I wouldn't have been able to stop you even if I tried" he asked with a chuckle

Nicki laughed at his statement "I am running late to pic up my son, which reminds me, I need to get going" she started towards the door

"Wait, I didn't catch your name" he smirked trying to prolong this chance meeting with this beautiful stranger

"I didn't give it" she retorted with a smirk

"My bad, my name is Aubrey and what's your's beautiful?" He introduced himself motioning for her to shake his hand, she took it 

"Onika" she smiled showing her deep dimples "my name is Onika" as she continued to shake his hand while looking into his deep hazel orbs and slowly getting lost in them. She would stare at them all night if she could, in fact she could sit and stare at his whole being while admiring his beauty as if he were an exhibit in a art show. Everything about about him seemed like it was designed perfectly by God to suit him perfectly even the way his clothes were put together and fit on him you could tell that he was perfection. "anyway I really have to go now, it was nice meeting you Aubrey" she broke her stare before she ended up with a problem between her legs

"It was nice meeting you too Onika, maybe next time we meet it will be on a less explosive encounter" they both laughed at this as they said their goodbyes to one another and headed into different directions.

A/N: So I thought I could do a story with parts instead of a oneshot, tell me how y'all vibe with this and I might add some more parts quicker than usual. I am not sure how many parts it will have I am just messing about at the moment trying to round up my complete storyline, I also don't want it to drag on and on for no reason. So yeah, enjoy love buckets and tell me what you think. XOXO

Reflections

 Hi all, this is like a conituation of the previous update and has been sitting in my drafts since June, I felt that it wasn't completed, like something was missing - I still feel that way but alas...here we are again. I hope you all enjoy this, I apologize for it being this short but I did not know what else to add on to it. I repeat I am not a writer so no judging lol. Xoxo

The sun slowly rose above her leaving a warm orange glow over the horizon. The sea water tickled her feet every time it came to caress the shore. The salty breeze held a calming effect to her thoughts as she looked around as yet another day came to life and everything returned to normal routine. The palm trees swayed to the rhythm of the wind. The waves rolled in gleeful joy before they crashed on the pier and the seagulls squawked to make their presence known in the clam morning. Nicki had taken a vacation to clear her mind of all that had been happening around her and what better place was there to provide serenity than the beach front? She sat taking in the beautiful, still calmness of the sunrise hoping it would clear her mind but all it seemed to accomplish was to make her wonder about how everything around her could simply go on without a glitch when her world had come to a screeching halt when he told her the one word that she had never dreamed of hearing coming out of his mouth. “Goodbye”

He had said it to her exactly three weeks ago at his concert but to Nicki it was as if he had spoken it a few minutes ago. His voice echoed within her, repeating, almost taunting her with the word. She remembered everything about that night, how he looked when he spoke to her, the boyish out grown curls at the top of his head and the shadow of a beard he had kept neat. How he smelled when he hugged her and the one that hurt her most was how he sounded when he finally let her go. His tone was defeated, his soul was drained and Nicki couldn’t bear the sight. She wanted to run to him and embrace him a tight hug and give him a kiss that would literally take his breathe away but contractual obligations stopped her. Obligations that she had agreed to without fully knowing the dire consequences that would result in them.

Nicki was taken out of her thoughts by the sea water that had now been slowly covering her legs. She decided to go up to her room to shower and maybe catch up on some sleep as she had immediately set for the beach after checking in. she hadn’t even bothered to unpack her bags. She quickly made it to her room and completed her bedtime routine and checked her phone for any important messages before putting it on the bedside table and calling it a night.

~~~~~~

“Tell me what you want baby” he whispered into her ear as he kissed the tender spot behind her ear. His lips caressed attentively down her neck as he awaited her response. His aim was not to mark her but he couldn’t help it when it was so easy because of her fair skin. He carefully disrobed her to reveal her ample chest that made his mouth water. His hot tongue was felt circling her left breast and his hand was massaging her right. Nicki gasped and let out a moan, the sensation his lips alone on her chest was enough to send her on a frenzy. Drake was always so caring to her and in her opinion those tender kisses on her skin proved nothing but his care for her.

She felt his tongue move lower and closer to her naval then he repeated “tell me what you want baby” Nicki was so caught up in lust that she almost didn’t hear him. She simply lifted her bottom hinting that she wanted him to pull off her thongs, he got the hint and caught the black lace fabric between his teeth and seductively rolled the material down her smooth legs all the while leaving a hot trail of kisses on her thighs. Nicki couldn’t keep her moans in any longer and let out a breath anticipating his next move. Drake was face to face with her pleasure center but refused to succumb to the gnawing need to quench his thirst “Tell me Nic…I am not going to do anything unless you tell me to” he said in a husky voice. He looked directly at her, his eyes dilated from the strong ambience of lust and sex in the hot air around them. Nicki was paralyzed in that instance the only this she could let herself do was succumb to pleasure. “oh Aubrey, please make love to me” And make love he did wasting no time from tasting his awaiting entrée…

“Damn, why do I always wake up before the good part?!” Nicki let out with a frustrated sigh. That dream had been plaguing her from the day she met him. She always dreamt them when she craved him the most but ever since she got a taste of how it was to be with him intimately, she dreamt of him every other night but whenever they would start doing anything worth anything she would wake up.

She stretched herself on the bed and looked at the time of the bedside clock, it was then that she realized that she had slept throughout the whole day. She then decided a little anonymous night out will do her some good…well as anonymous as she could get given that she was in Miami and it was a Saturday night. She quickly showered and opted for an all-black outfit. Black ripped jeans, Black tank top, Black Biker jacket and black wedge sneakers. She topped of her look with a simple side swept messy ponytail and minimum make up. Just because she didn’t want to be noticed doesn’t mean she couldn’t be cute while doing so. “That’s what we call blending in like a ninja” she giggled at her silliness as she looked over her appearance on the full length mirror.

She decided against the club scene as that would cause a raucous and opted to go to the little bar across the road from the hotel where she was sure no one would spot her. The goal for tonight was to drown her sorrows in alcohol while wallowing in self-pity. And drown her sorrows she did, to the patrons of the bar she was a little shy of a lunatic – taking pictures with everyone, slow dancing to dubstep and twerking to country music. The barman kept the shots coming and she kept the people entertained. It was a win-win.

She knew that drinking so much was not a good idea but she kept at it anyway. According to her she was having a good ass time and there wasn’t a damn thing anyone could do about it. However the bar closed at 2am and she just decided to stumble on back to her hotel room. She silently thanking her sober self for choosing to just go outside the hotel. She went straight for her phone before losing her nerve.

“*Beep* Hey Aubrey, I know it’s late, I just wanted to check up on you, see how you are holding up since we last met. Anyway hope you are well. Goodbye” click.

“Why aren’t you answering your phone? PICK UP I miss you!” click

“Aubrey?! I know you are not ignoring me for some random ass ESPECIALLY if it’s that bitch again. I am trying to talk to you! Answer ME!!!”

“I’m sorry for that last message. I am drunk. I am going to stop now. Sorry again. Goodnight”

“Well look at you, you are still at it huh? Well aren’t you KING FUCKEN DANGALANG??? You know what? Screw you Aubrey! I hope that pussy you are hitting is weak is FUCK! Fuck this. I am out!”

Nicki angrily huffed and tossed her phone on the bed while grabbing the readily made blunt from its packaging and made her way to the balcony. Her mind was everywhere thinking about what he was doing at this moment when he left his phone unanswered. The alcohol was starting to wear off and all her thoughts, doubts and fears came flooding back. She blankly stared at the sky, Dawn was breaking and she could hear birds start their morning songs and see the stars that continued to glow above. Again, the world around her was going back to normal and it only saddened her further as it reminded her how her entire world ended when she lost his love.

The sun rays pierced her closed eyes as she stretched her sore limbs. Her head was pounding from drinking and the bright sun made her feel dizzy. She rushed to go empty out her stomach. “Argh…why did I drink last night?” she asked herself. Once done she brushed her teeth and freshened up deciding to use the day to recover from the night before. She huddled back into bed and chose a movie to watch on her laptop when her cell phone buzzed. He heart stopped beating. Her throat went dry. Her hands started shaking awaiting the inevitable blow to her soul. She found her phone and unlocked it only to find business related texts. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She disliked to be scolded and more so she disliked to be scolded by Drake. She didn’t think her heart would be able to stand another blow from his rejection. “This is what you wanted though, right Nicki? Why are you not happy?” she asked herself. “Quit being selfish” her tears were falling again and dug herself deep in her blankets.

Hours passed and the tears dried. She was about to call and apologize for the messages when the phone beeped in her hand. It was a text. A text that let her know that not all was lost. A text that gave her hope that they could start rebuilding again. A simple text that somehow managed to make her heart flutter. A small smile made its way to her face as she read it.

Aubs: Come through.

I Bet

"I bet you start loving me soon as I start loving someone else, somebody better than you..."

The winds blew in her face as she sat in the near empty park, staring blankly at the lake. She only had one thought and it was him. The him she let slip away from right within her grasp. She had finally had him after denying him for 6 years. 6 years full of excuses, 6 years full of buried emotions ready to erupt at any moment.

She had always wondered why she had chosen to disregard the feelings she felt for him. She however come to the conclusion that she couldn't betray her then fiancé’s loyalty, little did she know that he was doing just fine on the betrayal part.

She felt herself getting angry at the thought of her fiancé cheating on her - in her house - in her bed. "He would have never done that to me even if he hated me" Nicki thought as she brushed the single fallen tear from her face.

The anger she was feeling soon turn to guilt ridden sadness as the water in the lake turned from the deep, unclear calmness to a little reflective TV screen that replayed a memory of last year's Summer Jam. One of her most recent encounters with him...where things were starting to fall into place...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was after her set backstage and Drake had come to congratulate her...

"Hey Ms. Minaj, that was one epic ass set, thank you for bringing me out" he smiled

Nicki returned his smile 

"Boy shut all the way up with that 'Ms Minaj' bullshit. Why all the sudden formality? Also it was a pleasure boo, you know I can't not bring out the fam when we all here, what Da Kid look like?" she giggled the last part causing him to chuckle.

"My bad, don't wanna step over boundaries since your man was there and all...” "Boundaries?" Nicki interrupted him "you wanna talk about boundaries when you had me all up in the air and shit? Get real!" they both laughed at her statement.

"OK point taken, lemme rephrase. I didn't want to disrespect him further though he is on the fuckboy side lately" just as he said that Nicki let out a hearty laugh displaying her deep dimples prompting Grizz to seize the moment with a picture. As they noticed, they posed for another and once Grizz was done Drake spoke up

"Nic, were you serious about not letting any girls get in my pants" he asked

"I was dead serious, why? You got somebody in your sights playboy?" Nicki returned with a cheeky smile.

"I know of this one female who I wouldn't mind getting lost in them"

Nicki caught on to what he was implying making her heart flutter and added "Maybe she might"

"Maybe she should" they both smirked and flirted not noticing the film crew filming their little moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nicki smiled with tears on the brim of her eyes as the vision dissolved from the water and the lake went back to its normal dark, unmoving nothingness. It was a clear description of how she was feeling at that very moment. "I should have told him right then in that moment what I meant by that comment instead of playing the games" Nicki said in a meek voice to no one in particular. It was killing her holding this secret, the secret that she guess the world knew but couldn't bring herself to say.  She loved him. She loved him hard. She loved him deep. 

"I am sorry Aubrey, I lied. I do love you but you are not here anymore” she whispered the last bit to herself while wiping her fallen tears.

"...And I Know that it hurts, you know that it hurts your pride, but you thought the grass greener on the other side..."

Drake

It was a cold winter night and Drake was chilling the in studio with Noah. They were going through some tracks for the album, most of it was finalized. They were only now just focused on which song would be more suitable to close off the album. This particular song's importance was as great as that of the song that was selected to introduce the listener to the new story. Like any great novel, the conclusion had to leave the readers wanting more. They were currently listening to a song that Drake had randomly decided to get in the booth and freestyled over the beat. He had left it untitled as he was yet to figure out what was really suitable to call it since he was mostly on his cocky shit throughout the song.

"...Fuck all the blushin', fuck all the discussions and Fuck all the judgement..."

The song had reached that point and all Drake had in his mind was her. No matter how hard he tried he could never understand her. One minute she was all for them being together and the next she would revert to the platonic friendship status. She was a constant conundrum to him, when he thought he finally understood her, she would switch it up and confuse him further. The music in the studio seemed to slowly fade into a whisper as her voice filled his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Drake, I got something to tell you."

"Oh really, does it have anything to do with my good looks" Drake smiled

"Seriously?" Nicki asked with a blank face

"Ok no I got it, you finally ready for this tongue lashing" Drake wiggled his eyebrows as he asked

"HEY WEIRDO! Maybe if you listened to what I have to say you wouldn't be on pervert mode" she giggled

"Whatever you know you want this" Drake teased and Nicki blushed at his response.

"Well yes, but not...” "Hold Up!" Drake interrupted "You said you ready well let’s go then" he motioned to stand up to go scoop her up.

"Aubrey" Nicki whined midair "I am trying to tell you something"

"I'm sorry, I'm all ears" they both smiled wide after he said that trying to hold in their laughter "I made that one too easy" and they erupted into a fit for loud laughter.

They were relaxing at Nicki's apartment on a Saturday evening. Neither wanted to go out so they opted to just have Nic cook them something and stay in for the night

"Anyway" Nicki caught her breath "remember I told you about my PR team planning something for the American leg of my tour?"

"Yes I believe you mentioned that, did they finally let you know what they had planned."

"Yes, well they want me and a certain someone to go on a sorta joint tour but with me mostly as the main act. They are calling it killing to birds with one stone. Promoting both of us at the same time I guess..."

"OK I get that but you do not need promotion to that extent since almost everyone was anticipating your album and therefore by default want to witness the greatness live. Who are the trying to help with sales because I know it is not me, I have enough star power to pull my own audience"

"Cockiness IS NOT cute. Quit."

"Woman please, we all know it’s cute when I do it, answer my question though" Nicki rolled her eyes at his comment.

"It’s Meek" "Meek? As in Meek Mill"

"Yeah him..." Nicki responded apprehensively

"Ok, he good people, just got outta jail, tryna get back in the game, it makes sense. Why the apprehension though?

"Coz I aint finished telling you the rest of the deal" she answered slowly scared of his reaction. Why? She doesn’t know either, it’s not like she and him were doing anything anyway...or were they...?

"Ok tell me, it can’t be that bad" Drake coaxed

"They want us to pretend to be a couple until the end of the complete tour, they say it will..."

"Stop, don't continue...COME AGAIN?" Drake half yelled with confusion.

"I said they want us to...” "I didn't mean it Nic" Drake groaned "I heard you loud and clear the first time. I am trying to process why this is even an option right now, why are you telling me this?" Nicki drew in a deep breath trying to stay calm and went on to explain

"I think it’s a good idea and I want your honest opinion"

"My honest opinion..?"

"Yes please, Honesty is all I need at the moment"

"OK I got your honest. This arrangement is crazy, stupid and reckless." 

Nicki looked at him to elaborate and he did just that without having her ask him what he meant. He was going to let her know that this entire set up was insane and wouldn't stop until she understood his reasoning.

"It is crazy because What The FUCK?, stupid because this is some dumbshit that you dont need at the moment and most of all, it is reckless because you recently just got out of a 10 year engagement that ended badly and Publicly and yet they think that it will be a good idea for you to parade around with a new man not even months after your break-up. How will that make you look? Trust me, this will not end well." Drake huffed getting a little frustrated

"Aubrey I moved on from SB and I don't think any harm will come from this, it’s just a few months of IG pics and random appearances. I dont see why this is a big deal" Nicki tried to reason.

"First of all, you don't mourn a 10 year relationship in 2 months. I don't care the type of relationship or the people involved. You just don't so drop that 'moved on' shit" he stated bluntly and before she could respond he continued "secondly, THIS is a big deal to me, where does this leave me? Us? Onika I thought we were finally working on something" Drake said feeling his frustration levels rising by the second as this conversation didn't seem to have an end anytime soon.

"Well yes baby we are, but I want to wait until the end of summer"

"To wait? Until the end of summer? Onika you can't be serious now" now he was getting angry.

"Well yes, it won't be long baby, just a few more months" Nicki tried to soothe while holding both sides of his face so that she could make him understand where she was coming from.

"After making me wait for 6 years? You thought that wasn't enough, you want me to wait some more?

"Drake this is for my career and Barbs, quit being selfish" Nicki regretted saying that the minute it left her mouth as he detached himself from her embrace. The rage that was slowly building in Drake's eyes finally became a fire that was set ablaze by her statement. 

"SELFISH? After making me wait all these years? After making me listen to your selfish ass discussions and selfish ass reasons, YOU have the nerve to call ME Selfish? No Onika I am not the one who is selfish, YOU ARE, YOU THINK OF NO ONE BUT YOURSELF!" he ranted

"Brey, please listen, let’s discuss this babe." 

"FUCK YOUR DISCUSSIONS NIC!"  

“LOOK NIGGA! I was just letting you know what the label had planned and that I...” 

"You what?" now Drake was livid, how could she. How could she continue to put him last? What he had done to deserve this treatment from her, he thought while waiting for her response. "What did you do?" he looked at her and she couldn't bring herself to look at him in the eyes and dropped her head. Drake walked towards her and lifted her head up with his finger. "Please don't tell me you already agreed." she still wouldn't look at him even though he was holding her head up with his finger. "Onika? Baby? Did you?" Drake tried to get a response from her, she did not budge but weakly nodded her head. Drake felt his crushed soul leave his body as his hands left her face and draped along his body loosely. "No, Don't nod, tell me what you did to us." Drake said in a defeated tone. Nicki finally looked up at him with tears in her eyes. They were staring at each other, sketching one another's appearances to memory. Drake wiped her tears that had fallen as she spoke out in a childlike voice "I agreed to the agreement"...Drake simply nodded his head and left a kiss on her forehead he pulled away slowly "Call me when the puppet master cuts his strings" he said walking away from her as he got his phone out to call about a flight booking back home to Toronto at 6pm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The song ended and Drake was brought back from his depressing thoughts. He shook himself "40, I choose this song as the final track" 40 nodded and agreed with his selection stating that it would be closing off the album with a BANG! This earned an awkward chuckle from Drake. "Yeah I feel you, I feel like this would be a proper closure for a chapter y'know?" 

"Yeah man. But what would you name it?" Drake thought for a while..."6pm in New York"

"Ok that is not random at all but ok, I like it" Noah added his bit while dapping Drake.

To Drake it wasn't random though. It was a reminder of a time and place his heart stopped beating. A time and place his world stopped making sense. A time and place she dealt her final blow. 6pm in her New York apartment.

~ 6 months later ~

Drake’s first set was a success and he was currently preparing for another great one at Coachella. He was a little anxious as he had heard rumors that she would be there as well. He hadn’t spoken to nor seen her since she revealed what she was going to do and sure enough, she did it. He had hoped that she wouldn’t go through with it realizing that he had a point but she didn’t. Instead she was posting pics of them at clubs and chilling randomly. What hurt Drake the most was her actually going to the All-star game with him when he had begged and pleaded for her to go with him. Anyway he wasn’t going to let Onika dampen his mood again so he focused on the crowds of people just beyond the stage that were beyond eager to listen to his set.

As he was getting into his zone he saw her sashaying towards him. It was like looking at the vision of perfection walk closer and closer to him.

“Hi Aubrey” she smiled a smile that made the world around them stop, “how are you doing” he was so lost in her beauty that he couldn’t speak for a moment “umm…hey Nic, I have been great thanks and you” he cleared his throat and managed to croak out a sentence as he hugged her. They were both feeling awkward wondering how they let their epic friendship result to awkward small talk.

“That’s a nice color on you but I prefer you with your black hair” he stated smiling small.

“Thank you, we thought I could switch it up a bit y’know” she answered.

“We? Who is we?” Drake asked forgetting about the shadow that followed her almost everywhere “Wait, never mind, don’t answer that question. You didn’t bring him with you did you?”

“No Aubrey, don’t be silly, he doesn’t follow me around everywhere, and to answer your question, no he is not here.” She answered already feeling glad about her decision. Having Meek around would have made talking to Drake harder than it should have been. “Anyway, I just came out to support you and hang out for a while before the start of my tour…like old times…” she said that quietly fearing his reaction would be that of rejection. Upon hearing that Drake’s mind wanted so badly to flashback but he couldn’t afford that right now. He was doing so well without her clogging his mind that he didn’t need to relapse just before his show. He feared that every single second of every memory they shared would replay around his mind and all the emotions that he had buried deep within would resurface and cause havoc to his heart. He couldn’t afford to let her know that she still had the same effect on him after her continued rejection. He was determined to remain as nonchalant as possible while still maintaining his ‘cool’.

“I see the rumors are true” he asked

“What rumors?” Nicki asked confused.

“The Engagement ones, that is a nice ring” he took her hand and examined the gaudy ring and its nature “not particularly my style, but a nice ring nonetheless” he added while slowly releasing her hand and looking up at her. He noticed that she had been feeling some type of way about this whole arrangement and it was getting to her but for the life of him he couldn’t understand why she didn’t call the whole thing off nor did he want to know.

“Aubrey, it’s not...” before she could finish, Drake stole a kiss. This kiss was different from the ones that he would usually steal from her. This one held a finality. It felt like a goodbye kiss. Nicki didn’t like this feeling at all. Once he pulled away they stared at each other again, committing the way they looked at the very moment to memory “Shhh, you don’t have to explain…you are in too deep now. I just want to congratulate you” Slowly he let go of her, both physically and metaphorically. It was no use holding onto her when she couldn’t bring herself to hang on to him. This was goodbye. For good.

“And right now it’s killing me cause I have to find someone else when all I wanted was you…