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𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐞
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🏀

Hampton University
Sat. Sept. 24th, 8:12 am
"Passionate"

"And I'll take the Egg Benedict." Stephen ordered, handing the waitress the menus, caressing the woman's hand the same time.

Dess watched the two of them interact, and found it cute and weird. Seeing your father flirt wasn't a sight a daughter would want to see ever in life. Still, she was happy for him to be able to do that. She remembered like it was yesterday at how awkward her dad used to be when it came to flirting. Women would look at him like something was wrong with him. Stephen tried his hardest to hop back into the dating world but always struggled.

You can say he had trust issues and fell in love way too easily. And he didn't get like that just because. He turned that way after his first girl, Dess's mother, Natalie broke his heart. She was a pretty white woman with a whole lot of sass and boldness. That's what attracted Stephen to her in the first place. She was a whole lot of something that he couldn't seem to explain. He knew when he looked into her blue eyes that she was the one.

That's what he thought at least.

Things always took a turn when a woman ends up pregnant. It made their relationship even more complicated too. Her parents still had the late 80's and 90's mindset. They did not want their white daughters to date black men. No excuses allowed. Stephen and Natalie had to hide their relationship from the beginning which lead to them hiding her pregnancy too. It didn't work out too well since her parents found out soon after she took the test. Despite her parents disliking him, Stephen had plans on marrying Natalie. He saw a future with her even if not her people disapproved.

However, Natalie, shut him down without hesitation and made it known their relationship couldn't last past Dess brith. That soon led to Stephen being a single father at nineteen. His parents weren't too happy, but what parent would be when their son was about to be raising a child so young. Stephen had help to a certain extent, but everything else was on him. He was so worried about his child that he didn't take the time to worry about himself. Dess loved that her father was now thinking of himself.

He deserved it.

The waitress finally walked away, leaving Stephen with a huge smile on his face. Dess chuckled, Stephen looking at her.

"Sorry about that." He apologized. Dess shook her head, holding her hands up.

"Don't apologize. She's pretty." She complimented the waitress. Stephen nodded his head agreeing as he sipped his orange juice.

"Yes...she is." he muttered.

He cleared his throat, "Anyway, we didn't come out here to flirt." he changed the subject. After taking off his jacket, he leaned back in the chair.

"You sure?" Dess jokingly asked. Stephen shook his head, smiling to himself.

"Yes, I'm sure. How's school going lettuce? We haven't talked since move-in day, I've been worried sick about you." he said.

Dess shook her head, leaning back in her seat. "I don't know why. My school is the safest place out here dad. I'm upset you haven't went home." I admitted, Stephen tucking in his lips.

Dess stared at her dad, upset a little. The father and daughter lived all the way in Minnesota, a good 20 hour drive and $466 flight. The plan was supposed to be Stephen heading back home after move-in day, but he was so anxious about Dess being away from him that he booked a hotel for a few days. A few days that quickly turned to three weeks. He tried to stay lowkey, but forgotten him and Dess shared locations.

When Dess found out he was still here, she was upset. It made her feel like he didn't trust her enough to be by herself. Though that wasn't the truth, she couldn't help but think that way.

Stephen sigh, pulling on a strand of hair that was out of his ponytail. "Lettuce, please don't be mad," he began. "However, I had to. I couldn't even think about the fact that you wouldn't be home with me. I had to stay a little longer just to make sure things were alright."

"Dad, I'm literally staying at a safe university that's filled with security guards. Why can't you accept the fact that I'm alright?" Dess questioned. The tone of her voice filled with sadness.

"Until you become a parent, you wouldn't understand." Stephen answered, Dess frowning.

"When you say that, it makes it seem like you don't trust me to be alone. I'm grown." she told him.

Stephen shook his head quickly. "No, you're still a child."

"I'm seventeen."

"That's not an adult." he told her in a slight aggressive tone. "I understand you're in college now and will be on your own. But, you're still a kid, Dess."

"That's not fair." Dess muttered, crossing her arms.

Stephen stared at her, feeling bad for what he said. He loved Dess to death and knew how much her independence grew over the years. However, he feared for her emotional and mental safety. It wasn't hard to point out that Dess was a friendly individual. They always had an issue with her wanting to speak to strangers while she was little. That huge smile she always walked around with was going to get her into trouble eventually. That's what Stephen feared the most when it came to raising a daughter.

She was too nice. He knew folks, especially men, were going to take advantage of her kindness. He worried she was going to let it happen because of her inability to identify when she was being used. Maybe he was doing too much, but you couldn't blame him. This was his child.

Stephen leaned forward, placing his arms on the table. "I don't want you to think I don't trust you because I do lettuce. I trust you with my entire life. I'm just scared to leave you because I know the type of person you are. You're friendly and people in the real world are going to try and take advantage of that. I don't want your heart to get broken while I'm hundred of miles away from you. I want you to be able to run to me soon as something happen." he explained.

Dess shrugged, "Dad, I can handle myself better than you think. I may be friendly, but I'm not naive. You out of all people should know that."

Stephen hummed to himself, slowly nodding his head. She was right. Dess was far from an uneducated, naive girl who desperately craved attention from others. She was able to handle herself and she wanted her father to know that.

"Okay, fine. I'll go back home tomorrow." Stephen said and she nodded her head.

"Good, thank you. Now, lemme tell you about college so far cause it's been crazy." She said happily ready to tell him everything.

Stephen playfully rolled his eyes. "Oh boy."

Dess chuckled then started talking, "Okay, so first of the parties at Hampton are beyond crazy. I've been to three so far and I had so much fun. No, I didn't drink or wild out." she answered before Stephen could ask.

"Mhm." he hummed not believing her. He wasn't going to question her though. "Continue."

"Right, so the parties are lit. My classes are good as well, I have all honors. I have A's in all my classes and I plan to keep it that way. I've been studying in the library every chance I could get which is everyday. Oh, I also went out for the cheerleading team and got in." she continued.

Stephen eyes widened. "Really?" he asked and Dess nodded her head. "Congratulations. Do I need to buy anything?"

She tapped her index finger against her chin. "Hmm, I may need a new pair of Jordans and cheerleading shoes." she told him.

"I know you don't need Jordan's for cheerleading, but I'll send you my card info. Is that all?" he asked. Dess tucked in her lips, hiding the small smile that formed on her face. She wasn't sure why she wanted to tell her dad about Shai.

It wasn't like they were anything. However, she told her father everything and felt as though this was something to tell too. She also figured her father would know of him just a little bit and maybe even approve.

"I see a smile and I'm not really liking it." Stephen sipped his orange juice, squinting his eyes at her.

Dess laughed. "So, there's this dude-"

"Nope, not liking it." Stephen cut her off before she could continue.

"Dad..."

"Nope." he shook his head.

"Dad!" she called him sternly getting slightly annoyed at him. He put his hands up and allowed her to continue speaking. He didn't want to hear about any boy, but he still allowed her to talk.

"Back to what I was saying..." she rolled her neck then chuckled. "I met this guy and we're just friends. Maybe even acquaintances cause we don't know each other that well. Anyway, he's a really cool person and I think you might like him." she continued.

"What's his name? How old is he? What does his parents do for a living? What's his plans for the future? I need details." Stephen threw questions at her.

"I-" Dess paused not knowing how to answer his questions. Shai's parents had a reputation and she didn't want her dad to think anything negative. Anyone would when they heard they name Sean Carter.

Lucky enough, Dess didn't have to answer since their food came out. The same waitress placed their plates on the table. Stephen and her instantly went into conversation. She called herself being nice and added a side of hash browns on the house. Dess found this opportunity to disregard their conversation and took out her phone. She went to Instagram and straight to her DM's. The first and only conversation was Shai, she clicked on it and sent him a quick message.

They were meeting up with each other at the student lounge today. She was excited to be able to hang with him. She didn't show her excitement because she knew her dad was going to be nosy. After reading over her message, she sent it to him.

𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐢

𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞
𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞?

𝐨𝐟𝐜

𝐥𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐮

🏀

Dess thanked the person who held the door open for her. Once inside, she headed to the quiet section of the student lounge. It was far in the back out of the way of everything else. Blue and white couches surrounding the area. Students sitting around either doing homework, studying, or sleeping. She ended up seeing Shai sitting in the corner, his back towards her.

She hurried towards him, practically running to him. She walked around the couch and plopped beside him. Shai looked up from his phone at her and smiled.

"I didn't know you were here." he said, pausing his video.

"I literally just walked in." she answered and he nodded his head.

"Okay. It's nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too." she replied, laughing to herself. She took her bag off and placed it beside her then got comfortable on the couch.

"What are you watching?" she questioned, putting her attention on his laptop.

"Oh, it's a break down of all Spider-man superpowers and abilities. It's something stupid." He answered, shutting his laptop closed.

Dess frowned at the action. "Why'd you say that?" Shai stared at her then down at his laptop.

He shrugged. "I-well, I thought you might find it weird or childish."

"Never." Dess shook her head. "I love Marvel. I've been a fan since I was a child."

"Really?" Shai asked in a surprised tone. His eyes looked her up and down before he spoke again. "Who's your favorite hero? Your answer will determine our friendship."

Dess laughed. "My favorite hero is Iron Man." she answered. Shai smacked his lips while shaking his head.

Dess laughed again at his reaction. "What's wrong?"

Shai shook his head, disapproving of her favorite superhero. He despised Iron Man for many reasons. The main reason though was because Iron Man was a douchebag. He thought he was superior and better than everyone else. He made sure to take control of everything and when people didn't listen to him, he was always quick to scold them and remove them from the job. His hatred for the superhero was so bad, he watched all the movies with an attitude.

"What's wrong?" Dess asked again, curious as to what was the issue. She loved Iron Man and his dominance.

"I mean liking Iron Man is crazy as hell seriously. He's one of the most superhero villain ever." he answered, slouching down a little.

Dess raised her brow, "Really? Please elaborate."

"Okay, for starters, Iron Man is a certified prick. He's also an asshole. He literally created Ultron hoping he can protect the world from cosmic attacks, but Ultron turns out to exactly that. He also didn't tell the Avengers about Ultron. He thinks he's the only one with the answers and refuse any type of help. Also, he brought Spider-Man into he civil war. A whole teenager was lack of experience then get mad when he messes up. Tony Stark is an ass." he explained throughly for her.

Dess nodded her head understanding where he was coming from. But, he disagreed. "Okay, but hear me out though, in the midst of all that Tony Stark has always had the Avengers best interest. He always wanted to protect them and the Earth. Even though Ultron turned out to be evil, you can't forget the reasoning behind Tony building him...to protect the world. Also, the dude is the smartest out of the group. Everyone else strengths come from their powers, but his comes from intelligence. You can't deny that."

Shai hummed to himself, tilting his head from side to side. "Ehh, I guess. You can't just overlook the bad stuff he done just cause he's trying to help the Earth. Gotta be mindful the Avengers fuck up cities instead of helping them all the time. Tony Stark is an evil individual and superhero." he continued, Dess playfully rolling her eyes.

"Fine, Mr. Iron Man hater, who's your favorite superhero?" she asked, turning to face him. She rested her head on her fist, giving him all of her attention.

Shai smiled to himself. "My favorite superhero is Spider-Man of course. There's no other answer." he responded, making Dess hum.

"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense." she spoke, slowly nodding her head.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She chuckled then spoke, "It's not a bad thing, it just explains your hatred for Iron Man. You know Tony helped Peter Parker and let him join the Avengers right?" she asked.

"Tony didn't help, he just chastised Peter every time he made a mistake. And to think folks said that Tony was a father figure to Peter..." he scoffed, shaking his head. "Yeah, nah. A father doesn't constantly put down their son or put them into dangerous predicaments. They help keep their sons safe and secure, and if they make any mistakes then correct them in a less negative way." Shai went on.

Dess listened and came up with a conclusion quickly. She looked him up and down, and started to feel bad. It was obvious why Shai didn't like Iron Man.

"I feel like we're not talking about marvel anymore," she spoke up, Shai turned his head towards her.

He noticed she was staring at him and felt the sense of her reading him. Judgement as well. He felt so stupid ranting about his father in code. He went reaching for his hair, but was stopped when Dess grabbed his hand.

"It's fine. We don't have to talk about that. Anyway, I know this really cool marvel superhero's fight scenes compilation we can watch. If you're up to it." Dess suggested since she knew Shai was getting nervous and uncomfortable.

Shai found himself smiling. He liked that Dess was able to notice his uncomfortableness. He nodded his head, grabbing his laptop and opening it. He handed it to Dess and she typed in the video. Once she had it, she placed it back on the table and started it. She inched closer to him and hesitantly rested her head on his shoulder. She expected him to move, but he didn't. They both sat there watching the video, a smile on their faces.

It was quieter passionate.

🏀

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Discussion Board:
1. aren't they cute?

2. more coming with these two soon I can't wait😊