Page 120 of Falling Into Gravity

He paused, hoping he was saying the right shit, hoping it was coming out right. “I wanna deserve you.”

Her hand slid up to his cheek. “You already do.”

“You say that now?—”

“I mean it now. Youbuildin’ -that matters. You love me - that matters.”

His throat worked like it hurt to swallow. “I just feel like…I don’t wanna be the reason you ever feel stuck.”

“Yousavedme, Malik. You don’t even get it.” Her voice cracked. “You the first man that made me feel like home was a person.”

He stared at her like she was the prayer he didn’t even realize he needed answered. Then he kissed her. Both hands cupping her face like he had to hold her to keep from falling into her.

When they pulled apart, she said, “Don’t sell it unless it feels right. Don’t take nothin’ that wants to change your app into some watered-down bullshit.”

“They already asked if I’d be open to rebranding. Said the name ‘Plugged In’ was too coded.”

Aku blinked. “Coded forwho? The culture?!”

He laughed. “That’s what I said. I told them I ain’t changin’ it…told them Crescent made me.”

“See, you already know what to do.”

“But, if they got a check with enough zeros?—”

“Then we write our own check with the rightrespecton it. Malik, you’re worth more than they even know. You gon’ have a billion-dollar company one day. You don’t need them to tell you that - just build that shit.”

Malik grinned. “Look at you, tryna be my spiritual advisor now.”

She shrugged. “I’ve been that. You late.”

He leaned back again, pulling her with him. “You better not leave me once I’m up.”

“You up now, baby,” she smiled, curling into him. “I’m up…you ain’t know?”

“Hmmm,” he hummed. “You love me?”

She nodded. “Too much.”

“I love you too, Dorothy.”

Her chest tightened. “Then love me. No excuses. No backtracking. No trying to protect me from your shadows. Just…let me be light.”

He closed his eyes. “That’s all I want.”

They lay there, quiet again, but it wasn’t empty - it was full. Full of the future they hadn’t named out loud, but had already started building with every look…every touch, every time they didn’t walk away.

Rain tapped like soft applause against the glass.

He kissed the side of her face. “I’m still gon’ buy you some dumb, expensive shit one day.”

“I already got the most expensive thing on the planet,” she mumbled into his hoodie.

“What’s that?”

“Your heart.”

Aku rested her head on his shoulder. “No matter what happens tomorrow, I need you to know I’m proud of,” her throat clogged. “So fuckin’ proud of you.”

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