#where dick is the “nurturing older brother/father figure”

[vaugepostingrant]

Seriously the reason I'm no longer in the DC fandom is bc the "batfamily" is fucking inescapable

[spock-smokes-weed]

Okay Nightwing rant time cus like idk it’s been on my mind

I really don’t understand why fanon so badly wants Dick to be like the ultimate caretaker of the family when like he’s expressed serval times he doesn’t want to do that. Like there is a reason why Dick lives in Blüdhaven instead of Gotham, why he’s put a lot of effort into building an independent life for himself. Yes he’s a supportive older brother and will drop anything to come help if the bats need him, but it doesn’t go further than that and I find it weird that so many people want it to.

Like Dick has learned from growing up with Bruce that it’s not his job to carry the emotional burdens of others, it’s not his job to fix others, Dick honestly has a lot of his own shit going on and honestly doesn’t have the mental wherewithal to be that emotionally catering to others.

I guess the thing that really gets me about this is that Dick’s whole thing is that he does not want to be like Bruce or end up like Bruce. He talks about it constantly. He loves Bruce to hell and back, but he does not want to be Batman, and with all these “oh Dick is the mother hen!” type headcanons and fics, in a way you are making him batman. You’re making him the  caretaker and the mentor, which is Batman’s role, a role that Dick doesn’t really want. Yes Dick is a mentor in many different ways, but not to the same responsibility level that Bruce is.

Think what you want about Bruce, I don’t care, but he’s the one who’s really the nurturing soul here. He’s the one who’s taken on the responsibility of training theses kids so they don’t get themselves killed. He’s the one that hugs them when they cry and gives them advice when they need guidance. He’s not a perfect mentor, but he is a mentor and he tries his best to show up for his family. Erasing that to make Dick the one to do all the emotional labor is literally missing the point of what Dick is all about. 

Because like you wanna know something crazy, the one time he was a full on mentor figure he had to literally become batman. The one person we was a father figure to was Damian, and it was a situation where he had to literally become batman to do it. And anytime Dick has dawned the cape he’s talked about how the weight of it is crushing, and how he made a bunch of misteps. If you want to really know what Dick is like when he has to be the solely responsible one just look at his time as Batman. He’s honestly really bad at juggling the emotional needs of others and made a lot of bad mistakes and hurt the people around him. Painting him as being flawlessly being able to take care of others is just erasing so much interesting flavor of the character and why would you want to do that? Dick being a difficult man that shrugs responsibility, and can often be crushed by the weight of it is so much more interesting than “uwu soft boy mother hen” (while ya know also needlessly throwing Bruce under the bus which is also really annoying)

This post and long and mostly very ranty but what I’m really trying to get at is that Dick is a very caring and nurturing person, he’s a great teammate and a great older brother, but there is a line. A line that Dick explicitly drew in the sand when he became Nightwing. And making him always the most emotionally mature and always being the one to take care of everyone around him is really missing the point of Dick and it just a really bothers me okay????

[dramaqueeenamby]

Waves: Summertime [1]

A/N: Welp. This is the long-anticipated part 1 to the request/collab from the wonderful @letsshamelessqueen-m  (who is Leena) and @kpizzletrash (Jade) pertaining to an, err, situation from Summer’s past that comes back to bite her in the ass. 

Because it’s sooooo much info, it’s being split into two parts. Hope you all enjoy!

masterlist

Let me know though.....how do you see this playing out? Keep in mind, this occurs a few months after her MBJ scandal....

Words: 5K

Warnings: You’ll see...nothin detrimental though.

WAVES TAGLIST: @chaneajoyyy @blockiana51 @killmongersbaby @missyperle @mani-lifes @90sinspiredgirl @amethyst-dreams-and-candy-canes @valkyriesnymph @eratotalles @tashawar @afro-royalty @blackandnoir @periodtcevans @westindianshorty @hello-therree @brittyevans @forbeautyandlife @letsshamelessqueen-m @kpizzletrash

WAVES

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“No, it’s not okay. I don’t even know why she invited you.”

“Christopher, don't be a dick. It’s not becoming.”

“Yeah, Christopher.”

“Evans, don’t make me smack you.”

The blonde looked over at his friend. “Is she always like this?”

Christopher smiled wryly. “More or less.”

Sensing the underlying tone to his response, Summer punched Christopher in the arm. “Stop being nasty.”

“Evans is a big boy, Pluto.”

She stopped walking as she moved in front of Christopher, noticing Evan’s chuckling in the background. “Pluto? You’re calling me planets now?”

“Technically, it’s not a planet.”

“It’s a planet.” Summer and Evans defended simultaneously.

Christopher lifted his hands. “Tough crowd.”

“Kiki!”

Summer’s scowl instantly morphed into a smile as she spun around. “Do you love me?”

“Are you riding?”

“Say you’ll never ever leave from beside me,” Summer and Jade sang together as the beautician rushed over to the actress, the two women warmly embracing each other.

“I’ve missed you,” Jade shared as the two separated and the older woman gave her a one over. “You getting thicker on me, lil sis?”

Summer stuck her tongue out and turned to the side to wiggle her ass. “What can I say? Life has been good.”

“I think she means me,” Christopher spoke up, moving over by her and pulling her by her hips. “I’ve been good to her.” His hands moved down to her ass, palming it. “Jesus, I love sundress season.”

Summer pushed him away. “Sir, who told you about sundress season?”

“You even have to ask?” Jade laughed, reaching for a hug. “It’s good to see you, Chris.” The two embraced before Evans stepped forward as well. “Evans. Is it okay if I call you that?”

“Of course.” He smiled, accepting her hug. “Jade, right? Keith’s wife?”

“For now.”

“I heard that.”

Summer’s smile was plastered across her face at the sound of her older brother’s voice. Jogging to close the space between them, Summer tossed herself in his welcoming embrace.

“Eat a salad.”

“Suck my dick.”

“Keep cussing, ya hear?”

“Fuck you, nigga.”

The banter between the siblings was a thing of normalcy among all of the Jones’ siblings so it didn’t bother Jade who placed a hand on her hip, using her other hand to shield her eyes from the beaming sun.

“I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Technically, he wasn’t invited-”

“Christopher!” Summer jogged back over and punched her husband’s arm. “You got one more time-”

“Leave the man alone, sis. Damn, your ass is annoying,” Terry complained, walking over to greet the men. “What’s up, Chris?” As the two men hugged, Jade popped her man in the back of his head.

“What have I told your ass about picking with my sister?”

“She only your sister cause I married your annoying ass.”

“And you only still around cause plastic don’t cut it sometimes, so what’s your point?”

“Too much information!” Summer turned up her nose and shook her head, her eyes landing on her niece. “Nia!”

As though on cue, Nia’s head snapped in the direction of her aunt, and she quickly made a beeline for the actress.

“Aunt Summy!” Summer embraced the young girl, stepping back to look her over4. She placed a hand on her hip. “Ma’am! Didn’t I tell you to stop growing up on me?”

Nia giggled. “That’s what daddy said.”

“Where is that father of yours anyway?”

“Still blind, I see.”

“Still asking for me to whoop that derriere, I see.” Summer crossed her arms, glaring at Isaiah, her eldest brother, the soldier also sending her daggers her way. Seconds later, smiles broke stern stares in place of a hug.

“It’s good to see you, Summer,” Isaiah spoke warmly, kissing the top of her head. Summer enjoyed being in his arms.

She was close with all of them, but Isaiah, she could admit, was perhaps her favorite. Equally protective as the rest of them, he held a sense of wisdom and dignity that set him apart from the rest.  He was also especially adept at reading her, and she always knew that she could confide in him about anything.

Well, almost anything.

Some things were just better kept unsaid.

“Ma’am, you are late.”

“You say that like it’s not a known fact.”

“Sweetie, please grow up.”

“I am grown.”

“Where?”

Summer sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. Seconds later, she was engaged in a warm embrace with Leena Jones.

In many ways, Leena and Summer were very much alike. Leena was never afraid to voice her opinion. She never instigated but always defended. Naturally nurturing, children gravitated to her, sensing her innate motherly qualities. Her love of children led her to pursue clinical psychology, her current occupation, with a specialization in family therapy.

Leena and Isaiah had been together for years. Summer recalled all the times a fourteen-year-old Leena came over and helped babysit Summer, Shea, and Leena’s younger siblings along with Isaiah. Zay and Lee Lee started out as friends. Somewhere along the way dynamics shifted. Neither had ever really explained, but it was never necessary as everyone knew that they liked each other despite some differences in personality.

Isaiah was always the calmest of his siblings, the one who never allowed others to see what he was thinking or what he was planning. He enjoyed the element of surprise, and he rarely raised his voice. He preferred to take the high road in all situations.

Leena, while poised herself, wasn’t always as reserved. The psychologist knew how to remain calm in even the tensest situations, but she was never afraid to hold her tongue. If she had something to say, she was going to say it, no matter what.

And similar to Summer, she was highly protective of her family. During a few of Summer’s fights while growing up, if Leena was nearby, her glasses were quickly shed as she threw herself in to defend the girl she considered a sister. Leena was as loyal as they came, and that was just one of the many qualities Zay loved about his wife.

Isaiah and Leena balanced each other out in so many ways, and their daughter Nia was a perfect combination of both of them.

Summer pulled back and looked her over. She looked so good. From the top of her puff where her edges were laid to the hair gods all the way to the cute black jumper that nicely accentuated her plus-sized, curvy figure. Summer always admired Leena’s sense of style.

“Tell me you made my pecan pie.”

Leena sucked her teeth. “I’m hurt that you even have to ask.”

“I love pecan pie.”

“Fuck off, Evans. My pie.”

Leena smacked Summer’s arm. “Stop being rude.” She looked over at the actor. “I made plenty, so feel free to help yourself.”

“Did he pay his entrance fee?”

“Shut up, Shea.”

The youngest of the siblings, joined by Terry, greeted each other with their personal handshake, something they could admit was a little juvenile, but it was just another part of their tight bond.

“Evans, I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Can I call you Evans?” Nia asked as the men greeted each other.

With a simultaneous ‘no’ from her parents, a groaning Nia pouted and crossed her arms.

Summer laughed, walking over and placing her arm around her niece. “Why don’t we go see if grandma will let us lick the spoon.”

“Already tried.”

“First of all, your ass is too old to be trying to lick some spoon. The hell?” Jade turned up her nose and lifted her brow when Keith started to murmur something. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” he brushed off, motioning to Chris and Evans. “Come on, you can come sit by us. The food probably won’t be ready for another three days.”

“Weeks.”

“I still don’t understand how they get up at the crack of dawn to start preparing and we still don’t sit down to eat until damn near 8:00.”

“It’s the music. As soon as Maze comes on, everything comes to a standstill.”

“Truer words have never been spoken,” Isaiah laughed, noticing the confused expression on Chris’s face. “Come on, Hems, you know Maze. Before I Let Go?”

“AKA the song that had damn near everybody on the dance floor during ya’ll wedding,” Shea commented, half serious, half-joking.

That additional information jogged the Aussie’s memory as he chuckled. “Oh. That one.”

“Shit still playing.” Jade shook her head and jogged over to the women. “Come on, we gotta go save Sierra from-”

“Summer, who the hell else did you invite?”

The women turned around at Keith’s question, Summer furrowing her brows as she followed where they were looking.

“We really are gon’ have to start charging folks.”

Leena looked over. “Who is that?”

Summer shrugged. She didn’t recognize the vehicle, a black Mercedes, the latest model at that.

“Baby?”

Christopher lifted his hands. “Wasn’t me.”

“Maybe he’s lost,” Isaiah suggested, the men naturally moving closer together to form a sort of perimeter that separated the stranger from the women and the entrance to the get-together.

However, as soon as the person stepped out, Summer and her sister-in-law’s suddenly wished the men in their life would move the hell out of the way.

“And now he is found….” Jade trailed off as the man shut the car door before pulling his sunglasses off and revealing his light brown eyes that were a stark contrast to his deep, chocolate complexion. He was tall with a low cut fade, the short-sleeved shirt hugging his biceps nicely, and the bouquet of flowers in his hand giving him the appearance of a model.

“Is everyone in your family fine as hell?”

“He is not in my family,” Summer quickly corrected, the three women linking arms as Nia frowned. She was confused. “He better not be with what I’m thinking.”

“Why do you guys keep looking at him?”

“Go inside, child,” Leena quickly dismissed as Nia groaned, running over to join the other children in the bounce house. “He-”

“Can I help you with something?” Isaiah was the first to speak, the Jones men eyeing the stranger from head to toe.

The man smiled and Summer made an “mmhmm” sound, earning an elbow in her side from Leena. “You must be Isaiah?”

Jade whispered. “He’s got an accent!”

“I’m going to have his children.”

“Bitch, you already have kids.”

“Not his though!”

“Shut up!” Leena hissed at the other two, the three tuning back into the conversation.

“How do you know my mama?” Shea spoke as Summer realized the man must have mentioned their mom, something that prompted her to walk over.

“Hello,” she greeted with a friendly smile, rolling her eyes as Christopher placed his hand on the small of her back.

The man’s warm eyes fell on her. He squinted and pointed. “Summer.”

“That’s me.”

He reached her flowers. “These are for you.”

Summer’s jaw dropped as she accepted them. “Thank you so much.”

“I’m sorry, who are you?” This time, Christopher spoke up as Summer inhaled the pleasant scent of the freshly cut roses. “And why are you giving my wife flowers?”

“Why are you here at all?”

“And how do you know our mother?”

“If ya’ll don’t stop badgering him.” All eyes turned toward Helen who made her way over to the group, hands on her hips. “Acting like I didn’t teach you no manners.”

The man with the deep voice and attractive accent chuckled. “It’s alright, Helen.”

“No, it’s not,” she disagreed as Summer reached for a side hug.

“Hi, mommy.”

“Don’t mommy me.”

Summer’s mouth dropped. “Mama! I didn’t even do anything. I was being nice!” She gestured to her brothers. “It’s Bebe Kids: All Grown Up over here with no couth.”

“Now, you know damn well no to use big words with Keith slow, ‘I had to repeat the second-grade’ ass.”

“Aye! Why you gotta be putting my business out there like that!”

Helen pulled away from her daughter and moved over to the man, taking everyone by surprise as she grabbed at his shoulders and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

In an almost synchronized manner, the Jone’s boys made sounds of protest with Terry being the first to speak.

“What the hell!”

“Kids.” Helen placed her hand on his chest as he moved his arm around her waist. “This is Braxton Hamilton—”

“What kind of Martha Stewart ass name—”

“My boyfriend.”

While Summer, Leena, and Jade squealed loudly, the boys almost had damn near heart attacks.

“Says who?”

“Aw hell no.”

“I’m telling grandma.”

Meanwhile, Christopher and Evans proceeded to introduce themselves as Summer looked at her mother with pure surprise.

“Mama!” Summer exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me you got a man?”

“She didn’t get a man,” Jade chimed. “She got a manz.”

Summer waved her sister off and went to properly introduce herself. “I’m so sorry for all of that. You’ll have to excuse my brothers. They’re idiots.”

“Summer!”

“Sorry, mama!”

☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

“You got a job, Stringer?”

“Terry!”

Sierra, Terry’s wife, hit him on his arm as the serviceman glared her way.

“What? The man looks like Stringer.”

“Who?” Christopher to Summer who sat on his lap while finishing up her second plate of food.

“I’ll explain later.”

“I do, actually,” Braxton chuckled, wiping the corner of his mouth with his napkin. “I’m a cardiovascular surgeon at Sentara Hospital.”

Jade started to choke on her water as Leena cleared her throat to conceal her smile.

“Tiene dinero.” Summer commented, smirking as she drank some of sweet tea.

“Algo.”

This time, it was Summer who almost spit out her drink as Braxton replied in Spanish.

Christopher smiled smugly while Helen shook her head. “Serves ya’ll right for being rude.”

“You got proof you a doctor?”

“Shea, do the world a favor and shut up.”

“Come make me, punk.”

“Call me out my name again, and I’ll do more than just make you.”

“Children,” Helen groaned, rubbing her temples. “You are all literally children.”

“He started it, mama,” Summer murmured, leaning back into her husband as Evans came back over to the designated eating area.

“Leena, this pie is absolutely delicious.”

“Thank you,” she smiled kindly. “I knew you were my favorite Avenger for a reason.”

Summer and Christopher protested. “Hey.”

In réponse, Leena waved them off. Summer muttered something in Spanish.

While comedic conversation transpired across the picnic tables, the tension that existed between the Jones boys and their mother’s apparent boyfriend still very much existed. Braxton, however, replied calmly and kindly to all of their questions, no matter how ridiculous.

And there was definitely a fair share of ridiculous queries.

“Summer.” Summer looked over and muttered a quiet profanity. “Hey, cuzzie.”

“Countess,” she nodded in acknowledgment, digging back into her food.

Countess blinked twice before shoving her hand toward Christopher. “I’m Countess, Summer’s cousin.”

“Allegedly.”

Countess glared but regained her wide smile as she accepted Christopher’s handshake. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to make the wedding.”

“You weren’t invited, Countess.”

The self-proclaimed entrepreneur glared at Leena. “Do you mind? This is a family matter. Blood family matter.”

Leena ignored the woman. She wasn’t even worth it. How the hell did she keep finessing her sneaky ass into these get-togethers anyway?

Countess focused on Christopher again, pushing her bleach blonde hair behind her ear, revealing the lace of her wig that was coated in a face powder three shades lighter than her pale complexion. “I’m such a fan. You were so amazing in the Hunger Games.”

Snorts and laughter surrounded the tables. Summer was literally forced to place her plate on the table for fear of dropping it.

“I am going to scream.”

“And ya’ll say I’m the dumb one.”

“Because you are.”

“Shut up, Terry.”

“Countess, that’s his brother, Liam,” Summer wiped her mouth with her napkin. “And you can take your stiff ass, synthetic wig that you been rocking since Gaga dropped Poker Face, back over to the kid’s table. They’re missing the clown.”

Countess scoffed, placing her hand over her hip. “Can you not be ghetto?”

“Can you not come over here trying to fuck my husband? He don’t do great value.”

Her mouth dropped in a mixture of shock and embarrassment. “I would never-”

“By show of hands, who at this table has been personally victimized by Countess the Cookie Giver fucking one of your exes, friends, or significant other at the time ya’ll were dating?” And just like that, a slew of hands shot up as Evans, Chris, and Braxton badly tried to hide their amusement.

Even Helen’s hand went up.

“Well, I never—”

“Know how to keep your legs and mouth closed? We know. All of our graduating class knew.”

“The whole neighborhood.”

“Nigga, the whole city knows.”

“Okay, ya’ll, that’s enough.”

Countess faked a sniffle. “Thank you, auntie. They’ve always treated me so badly just because I’m light-skinned.”

Again, a round of understandable protests as Leena firmly assured, “Girl, shut up. No one cares about you being light skin.” Her accent came out stronger than usual as Isaiah placed a calming hand on her lap. Countess was one of those people who could definitely take his wife to that place.

Summer was completely done with the conversation and looked across the table to see Evans grabbing the last slice of pecan pie. “Dude!”

“What? Lee Lee said I could have it!”

Summer turned to her sister-in-law. “Really, girl?”

Rolling her eyes, Leena informed Summer that there was one last pie inside and offered to go get it for her.

“Naw. That’s okay. I need to stretch anyway.” She turned around to ask Christopher. “You want some?”

“Can I have some?”

“No.”

“Then why the hell would you even—just go.” She laughed and pecked his cheek as he shoved her off his lap.

“Asshole.” He ducked as she went to slap his head, walking through the yard, swaying her hips to the Luther Vandross tune that played throughout the yard.

Summer headed straight for the kitchen, her smile nice and wide as she laid eyes on her favorite type of dessert. God, she really missed home.

“You sure you should be eating that?”

She spun around, smile falling instantly when she saw him. He was leaning against the fridge, arms crossed, that irritating smirk on his handsome face. He looked both the same and vastly different since the last time she’d seen him. Older. The dark bags under his eyes and five o'clock shadow reaffirmed a story that she’d heard on and off over the years. That his life consisted of ups and downs.

Clearly, more downs than ups.

“Alejandro….”

He nodded. “In the flesh.”

She swallowed, frowning deeply. “I didn’t know you were coming.” She smoothed her hands over thighs, leaning back against the counter. “Is aunt Juanita here?”

He gestured with his thumb. “Already out saying hi to Helen.” Summer watched his eyes roam her body, prompting her to cross her arms. “How have you been?”

“Fabulous.”

He bobbed his head. “I guess so.” Alejandro pointed at her ring. “Congrat-”

“What do you want, Alejandro?”

She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t just stand there and engage with him like everything was okay. It wasn’t. It was far from okay.

“Damn, is that how it is now?”

“It’s been that way,” she replied coldly. “And you know it.”

He looked away and ran his hand over his face. “Not gon’ lie, a nigga was kinda hurt when I didn’t receive an invite to the wedding.”

Summer moved her hands to her hip. “Why the hell would I invite you?”

“Why not? We use to be friends.”

“That was a long time ago. Things are different now.”

“Sure are.” He moved to the island of the counter, pulling out the barstool and taking a seat. “Look at you. Hollywood royalty. Got a lil’ extra change in your pocket, an Oscar, your fans, a chico blanco—”

“Don’t.” She lifted her index finger to silence him. “Déjalo fuera de esto.”

Alejandro smiled and leaned back, arms over his front. “Still a ride or die. That’s what I always loved about you, mi amor. You was always loyal.”

“Don’t call me that,” she warned. “And really? You sure did have a funny ass way of showing it.”

His smile waned. “I deserve that.”

“Yeah. You do.”

“Real shit, Summer?” He turned his face away as a brief blanket of silence overcame the room, the commotion outside becoming less and less noticeable with every second. “I never saw it playing out like this.”

She eyed him warily. “What?”

“Us.” He motioned between them, eyes falling to the granite counter. “I was gon go pro, make a shit ton of money and buy us a big ass house. You was still gon’ do your acting thing, but we’d be a family. You, me, a couple kids, shit, maybe even a dog—”

“Well, clearly, that didn’t happen.”

He looked up at her. “It could have.” As if she could sense his next statement, Summer started to shake her head. “If you would have just given us a chance-”

“I gave us plenty of chances, Alejandro, and you know it!” She whispered harshly, looking around to ensure that no one was listening. At that point, Summer was on the other side of the island, palms planted on the cool granite. “We-we were never good for each other. Hell, there never should have been a ‘we’ to begin with.”

His eyes darkened. “Now you tripping.”

“Am I?” She replied confidently. “Alejandro….being with you….I had to lie to everyone in my life. My mom. My grandma. My friends. My brothers. Your best friend!” She reminded in case he’d forgotten all of the obstacles surrounding their on and off-again relationship. “Didn’t that bother you?”

“Of course, it bothered me, mi cielito.” He sighed. “But you was worth it, and I thought I was worth it to you.”

“Don’t do that.” She closed her eyes. “You know I loved you, Ali. You were my first everything. My first time. My first love. And…yeah, at one point, I thought we’d end up together, but as a woman, as an adult, I see now that there were so many things wrong with us.”

His brows furrowed. “Like what?”

“I was fifteen, Ali. You were nineteen.” Her eyes widened as she mentioned their age difference before she elaborated. “And yeah, we’ve known each other since we were kids, and I’m not going to act like I was ms. innocent because we both know that I was out there, but come on, Ali….what the hell were you doing interested in me at that age?” She shook her head. “I wasn’t the only puta with big titties and a fat ass.”

“I ain’t care about them the way I cared about you, mi cielito.”

“If you cared about me, you wouldn’t have cheated on me throughout our entire relationship-”

“There you go. Bringing up that old shit.”

“And there you go again, discrediting everything I say. You never did listen to me, you just gave me attention, and back then, that’s what I wanted. That’s why we worked, I suppose. We was both lacking something, and we fulfilled it for each other, consequences be damned.” Just revisiting those four years made Summer return to a dark place.

Sneaking around with Alejandro Perez, Juanita’s son, was one of the most trying periods of her life. Alejandro, though a little younger than Isaiah, was best friends with her eldest brother. He was close with her entire family, and to everyone else, he and Summer had a love/hate sibling type bond where they constantly teased each other.

To her credit, Summer did a hell of a job selling the narrative too because behind the scenes, there was nothing familial about her relationship with Alejandro.

Neither was there anything remotely normal.

He was a dog. She knew that. Hell, being brought up around boys, she knew how they operated. Firsthand. She saw and heard about how Alejandro rolled, and even though everything told her to not cross that line, her longtime, secret crush eventually came out after a night of partying where he had to pick her intoxicated self up from a party.

She made the first move, and even as drunk as she was, Summer doubted that he would reciprocate. If anything, he’d be disgusted. Right?

No. Alejandro was far from disgusted and that same night, in his car, sitting in the parking lot of a closed down Walmart, she had her first sexual encounter.

That night gradually progressed and turned into a forbidden relationship marked by fighting, loving, and lying.

But back then, Summer saw the toxic relationship as anything but inappropriate. She had an older guy who “loved” her, who was down for her, and she, for him. They had their problems, but she never considered it too damning.

It was only as she got older, really, when she moved away to New York for college that she finally realized she’d been an idiot.

All of her high school outings like prom and homecoming, she’d gone solo under the guise that she was focused on herself when, in actuality, her boyfriend, who no one knew was her boyfriend, couldn’t come on campus.

Listening to countless lies in the face of tangible proof.   That was the tagline of her high school years, and she didn’t want her collegiate experience to be the same, so, she broke it off during her winter break.

The breakup was far from amicable. A shouting match ensued, objects were thrown, and accusations slung from side to side. In the end, she marched out of the house and his life, never to see or speak to him again.

Until today.

Blinking, Summer lifted her hand to her eyes. She was crying. “Look, Alejandro-”

“I love you.”

She inhaled sharply. “W-what?”

He stood up, making a praying sign with his hands. “Hear me out—”

“No.”

“Summer—”

“I am married, Alejandro.”

He stopped in his tracks, and Summer could see it. The anger building up. “To that chico blanco? Gimme a break, Summer. What can that pendejo do for you?”

Her reply was instant. “Everything that you never could.” Before he could continue, she took the opportunity to elaborate. “He loves me with everything in him. Not just because my ass is fat and my titties are big. He loves me as a person, my personality, my attitude, my determination. And he treats me like a queen. I literally want for nothing because of him, and I love him more than I could ever describe.” Summer stepped closer with each declaration of love. “And if you honestly think that I’m going to or even want to risk what I have now for the likes of you, you’re even dumber now than you were back then.”

Nose flared, eyes burning with anger, Alejandro’s jaw clenched. “So that’s it? Everything we been through, and this is how it ends? All of our history gone for some foreign ass white boy who probably laughs at your black ass behind the scenes with his white ass friends. His personal nigger bitch—”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Summer’s closed fist made a perfect meeting with his nose. Seeing the blood made her smirk. She hoped she broke it.

“We’re done here—”

Without another word, she quickly turned around and grabbed the pie off the counter, moving past him when he spoke.

“You gon’ regret this shit, Summer.”

Rolling her eyes, she gave him one last look and exclaimed, “I regret a lot of things when it comes to us, Alejandro.” A beat. “This sure as hell ain’t one of em.”

☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

“Stop looking at it!”

“Why?”

“Because it’s ugly! Burn it!”

“My phone?”

“Yes!”

Christopher laughed, swiping to the next photo. “So that’s where you learned to do that?”

Summer walked over to the toilet seat where he sat and saw that it was a photo of her doing a split, pom poms in both of her hands, a fake smile on her face.

She groaned. “Picture day. God, I still remember that.”

“I don’t know why you’re so upset. I think it’s cute. My wife was a cheerleader.”

She immediately hushed him. “Not so loud!” He smiled as Summer went back to oiling her scalp. “I’m going to kick Shea’s ass.”

“He thought I knew!”

“Why would you know? I burned my uniforms and everything! Hell, he helped me do it.”

“Yeah. We’re going to have to discuss that at a later date, Sparky.”

Summer used one hand to flip him off as he chuckled. “Hey, baby.”

“Yeah?”

Summer waited and placed the top back on the bottle of Jamaican Black Castor Oil before tying her silk scarf around her edges.

Christopher dropped his phone in his lap and wrapped his arms around her as she stood between his legs.

“Thank you. For today. I know my family is….”

“Fine, Summer. Your family is fine.”

“Let’s not lie.”

“Okay, everyone in your family, except for you, is fine.” She pushed on his shoulder as he kissed her stomach. “Really, I love your family. You know that.”

“I know. I just…” She smiled softly, chewing on the left side of her bottom lip. “Thank you for accepting them…and me.”

He returned her warm smile and stood up, pulling her close as he leaned down to whisper. “Nothing in life is free, Summertime.”

Smirking, she turned around and cocked her head to the side. “Oh, really?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Well then, how do you propose we handle this?” Summer squealed when he tried to grab her from behind, turning around and smiling as she walked backward, out of the bathroom. “Wait, nothing too crazy, we have chu—Christopher?”

She stared up at him watching him scowl as he looked behind her. “What the hell?”

Rightfully curious, Summer turned around and saw what had caught his attention. It was the TV. The news was on, a breaking segment being discussed on a major network.

“And now returning to a story that broke just under an hour ago, a sex tape involving actress Summer Hemsworth and an unidentified man, has been leaked and is currently circulating online. It was uploaded by a Twitter account with the handle RegretMeNow and captioned with “I hit it first,” an apparent lyric from a song by rapper Ray J.”

“These stories get more ridiculous by the day,” Christopher grabbed the remote and shut the television off, shaking his head in disgust. “We don’t even have a sex tape.”

Eyes falling over to his wife, he frowned when he noticed that she was holding onto her stomach, her head down, her shoulders gradually lifting and falling with each deep breath that she took.

“Sweetheart?” Waking over to her, he placed his hands on her hips. “Are you—”

“We don’t have a sex tape,” she breathed, her stomach knotting as she lifted her head to face him. “But, I do.”