There was no question I was with the right guy.

King was on another level compared to Diallo. Things started pretty well with Diallo in the beginning. But looking back, I did not see the red flags. I did not know how to look for them.

With King, I was on guard to look out for them. Was he controlling? Was he mean-tempered? Could he be psychotic like Todd, and become obsessed with me? Was he a secret womanizer, like Donell? That was the experience I had with guys my age right now.

Or maybe King had some other red flags. I had my guard up.

So that's why even with King showing me he was a great guy, I was leery of it. I had trust issues. I wanted everything to be perfect, but knowing it never would, I did not want to settle for something either.

Cooking for me was nice, I appreciated it. He knew things I liked. That was a plus.

Then he surprised me again another day, taking me out to where our first date was, Bonkers. It felt different being there with him now as his girlfriend. I changed so much since that naive girl on my first date. King showed me then what a great catch he was, I was not ready to see it.

And still...

"King is gorgeous, smart, romantic, crazy about you...what else do you need?" that coming from Chandler as we were hanging out in the lounge on our floor Sunday afternoon, bored with nothing to do but eat and watch TV.

"Yes, and after my brother the loser, that's an upgrade," Gay added, tossing hot Cheetos in her mouth while I munched on Red Hot Riplet hot corn chips my father sent me. Along with all my other favorite St. Louis snacks, like Billy Goat chips, Gus's pretzels, and decadent slices of gooey butter cake.

"Look I was wrong about one guy...I might be wrong about King."

"Then you make the mistake and move on. But you can't go into the relationship already expecting it to blow up," Gay said.

"True!" Chandler piped in sipping her slushie from Quik Trip and eating microwaved popcorn. "They all start great."

"Roomie, you're thinking about this too much. How do you feel about King? That's all that matters. Live for the moment, not worry about tomorrow."

That was easy for Gay to say. Even though she was still seeing Felix, she was seeing other people too and Felix was cool with that. They both were so free with dating, while I could not handle being with one person.

While my friends may be cool with just a link-up, I wanted more than that.

After hanging with my friends and discussing my relationship blues, I called King to see if he wanted to hang out.

"I have this project I'm working on with my study group..." he said with hesitation. "I'd rather be spending time with you."

When he said things like that, I did not doubt he was the one. I liked that King was not overly clingy, wanting to be with me twenty-four-seven. We each had our friends we spent time with and went to our own activities. We tried to see each other every day, but sometimes we just Facetimed and that was okay.

"No worries, I should study as well."

"This won't be an all-night thing. I can swing by later if you want."

I wanted that so bad, but I held back from being clingy. "No, no, don't bother. You'll be tired and need sleep for-"

"Come on Rave, it's no big deal. I'll bring a pizza over if you're still hungry."

"I am always still hungry!" I laughed, even though I stuffed myself with all my snacks. That was not dinner, that was a snack.

After I finished chatting with King, I needed to check in with my father and Angel. Of course, I called Angel before I tried my father.

"Hey, baby girl." It was my father answering Angel's phone, which put me on alert.

"What's wrong? Where is Angel?"

"We're headed to the hospital, baby's coming."

"Oh no! I mean, yay! I'm so excited!" I jumped up and down. "Like now? Now, now? Or-"

"Like hopefully in a few hours," my dad chuckled a bit, "Angel was in labor ten hours with your brother, she's hoping this one is easier."

"Oh wow. Were you going to call me? I can get there in like two, two and half-"

"No, no need for you to come baby girl, we got this. You can come to see your sister this weekend."

Wait that long? I was not there for Symone, I was not there for Jalon or AJ, I was older now, and I wanted to be there for my new sister. I wanted to see her when she was only minutes old.

"But dad-"

"Angel wants to talk to you."

Maybe my stepmother would beg for me to come.

"Hey, little one."

"Angel, I want to come and see the baby."

"Oh, I would love to have you there sweetie, but we don't know if this lil girl will come tonight or tomorrow morning. You better stay put and I will call you later."

"Oh, okay." I was not happy with this, but I let it go. "I love you step mummy. Tell Daddy I love him too. Call me the minute...no the second she's here."

Angel chuckled. "Love you too...and we will see."

I hung up before I started to cry. They didn't want me there and that's the only place I wanted to be right now. Both of them did not want me there. I know I had class tomorrow, but I did not care, I wanted to be there with my family.

So there I was, in my bed, crying my face off feeling all alone again.

Even when I heard my phone ping with an incoming text, I ignored it.

Then there was a knock on my door. I did not want to see anyone, but I reluctantly wiped my tears and went to the door. Gay stood there holding her phone.

"Yeah, she's here. What's the problem," Gay said to whoever she was talking to.

"I'aight, I'm on my way up." It was King she was talking to.

"Why are you talking to King?"

"Girl, he tried to call and text you, and when you didn't answer he got worried. Sheesh! Had that boy worried for nothing." Then she hung up on him and went back into her room but did not close her door.

I forgot King was coming over. I rushed to my mirror and rubbed my face, trying to hide my bloodshot eyes. I blinked a couple of times, not that it helped. I took a face-cleansing cloth and wiped away any stained tears. I grabbed some chapstick, swished my mouth out with water, and sprayed on something that smelled good.

My clothes were wrinkled and I still looked like a mess. King would see me and wonder why he was with me again.

I grabbed my phone and looked at a missed call and texts from King.

Sorry I missed your text

Then I waited for him at the door. King walked down the hall, pizza box in hand and a Starbucks blended strawberry lemonade drink. That boy had time to stop and get pizza and a drink for me.

"You good?" was the first thing he asked me.

I did not want to sound like a whiny, spoiled brat and tell him all my woes. I nodded and let him in. He walked in and set the pizza and drink on the counter. He came over and took my hand.

"Come on Rave, something's up. You missing my texts means something is up. I'm sorry I couldn't spend time with you earlier. I couldn't miss out on this group project. You know how it goes, half the group slacks so the rest of us do all the work."

"No, that's not it. I'm fine."

King gave me a look over and shook his head. "No, you're not. You've been crying."

I couldn't even hide my misery from him. I walked over to the pizza and opened the box. I grabbed a slice of the pepperoni pizza and took a big bite. If I had food in my mouth I could not talk.

"What did I do? Did I do something?"

"No! It's not you." I was in my feelings and hurt, but not by King.

"You want to talk about it with me?"

I stuffed more pizza in my mouth. "Not really."

"You know you can talk to me about anything." He grabbed a slice and took a bite. "You shouldn't hold it in and let it fester away in that pretty brain of yours."

I smiled at that. King always knew how to make my day.

"Aw!" He leaned over and touched my cheek. "There's that dimple I like."

"My stepmom's having my baby sister right now and they don't want me there!" I blurted out.

"What do you mean they don't want you there?"

"They told me not to come. Said I need to stay here and see my sister later. I don't want to see her later, I want to see her now. I want to be there with my family while she is being born. I didn't get to do that for my other siblings."

"Did you tell them you wanted to be there?"

"Of course I did. My little sister could be here right now and I have to wait to see her."

"You don't have to wait. If you want to see her now, go see her now."

"But my dad said-"

"Listen, sometimes our parents just get it wrong. Obviously this is stressing you out and it doesn't need to. They don't see how important it is for you to be there. Be a part of this. I think you should go."

I did not know if I was ready to defy my father.

"Uh...my father will kill me...and Angel will be upset...but I-"

"It's up to you. Do whatever feels right to you, no matter what others think, including your parents. Better to ask forgiveness sometimes than ask permission."

I stuffed more pizza in my mouth and thought through it. I'm sure my father would be mad for a while, but then he would get over it. So would Angel. I could be there before the baby came, or right after. Still no word from Angel.

"Will you come with me?" I asked King.

"You want me there?"

"Yes, I want you there."

"Then I'll drive." He grabbed me in a kiss. "Grab the pizza, we can eat it in the car."

This is the kind of boyfriend I had. A ride or die. Because if my father was truly upset with me, someone was going to die.

A/N: I fall in love with King with every chapter I write. Why weren't there guys like him while I was in college?

What should Angel and Hook name the baby? I have no idea right now 🤦🏾‍♀️