stolen time

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ⏯️: ʀᴇᴀʟ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ ʙʏ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏɴᴇxᴛᴅᴏᴏʀ

ATLANTA, GEORGIA📍𝓓𝓮𝓐𝓷𝓭𝓻𝓮 𝓡𝓪𝔂𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓾𝓷 𝓑𝓪𝓷𝓴𝓼

The scent of cheap perfume, spilled champagne, and expensive weed always hung heavy in the air at Onyx, settling over the flashing purple and red neon lights like a second skin. It was just another Friday night in Atlanta, and the club was packed to the brim with high rollers, local rappers, and street dudes all looking to blow through cash they probably didn’t have. For you, the bass vibrating through the floorboards wasn't a vibe—it was just the background noise to your survival. Every spin on the pole, every fake smile flashed at a stranger, was just another step toward making rent in a city that had grown colder by the day.

You had never planned on this life, never thought you'd be standing under these harsh lights trading your peace of mind for stacks of crumpled singles. But Atlanta didn’t care about your plans, and it certainly didn't care about a girl with a broken home life and no safety net. Once upon a time, you had someone who made the city feel small, someone who made the dark nights bearable. But he was gone, a ghost of your teenage years, and the memory of him only brought a sharp, familiar sting to your chest.

It feels like a lifetime ago when you met DeAndre Banks freshman year of high school. You were both just kids trying to navigate the chaos of the West Side, carrying bruises from lives that had already asked too much of you. Your home life was a disaster, a constant cycle of shouting and empty cupboards, but the moment DeAndre walked into your life, the noise faded. He became your anchor, the only person who could look at you and know exactly what you needed without you saying a single word.

For years, you two were inseparable, practically joined at the hip as you navigated the messy transitions of growing up. There was a pull between you, a heavy, unspoken tension that everyone in your circle could see but neither of you had the courage to name. You were each other’s person, yet fear kept you both locked in a frustrating situationship, dating other people just to keep from crossing the line and risking the only good thing you had. You stayed in your lane, and he stayed in his, even when the jealousy burned hot enough to leave scars.

DeAndre’s own edges were sharp, forged by a tragedy that happened before he even drew his first breath. His father had been gunned down in the very streets DeAndre now walked, leaving his mother too broken and overwhelmed to raise her own son. She ended up giving him to his paternal aunt and uncle, hoping they could give him a fighting chance at a real future. They tried their absolute best, raising him with love, boundaries, and a sense of pride, but the streets of Atlanta were always whispering his father’s name.

His aunt and uncle did everything right, but the pull of the pavement was too strong for a boy who wanted answers about the man he never knew. By seventeen, DeAndre was already slipping out the window, finding his own footing in the local crew and learning how to navigate the cold hierarchy of the streets. He was smart, calculated, and possessed a quiet intensity that commanded respect, climbing the ranks until he made a real name for himself. He was a gangster, cold to the world, but with you, he was always just Dre—the boy who’d walk you home in the rain just to make sure you got there safe.

He started making real money, trading the schoolyard fights for high-stakes street runs, but he never let the dirt touch you. He’d buy you food when your kitchen was empty, hold you on his aunt's porch when the weight of your home life became too much, and look at you with those deep brown eyes like you were the only clean thing left in his world. "I got you, lil mama," he’d always whisper, his voice a low, soothing promise against your temple. No matter what, I got you." And for a long time, you actually believed him.

But then, two years ago, the promises shattered. Without a single word of warning, without a goodbye or an explanation, DeAndre packed his bags and vanished from the city, leaving you standing in the cold with nothing but a disconnected phone number and a hollow chest. The rumors said he had to run, that some street business had gone left and he had to clear out before the law or his enemies caught up to him. But none of those rumors paid your bills, and none of them comforted you when the reality of being completely alone finally sank in.

When he left, your world collapsed. With no family to lean on and no support system to catch you, the struggle became too heavy to carry on your own. You tried working regular jobs, tried scraping by on minimum wage, but the city was moving too fast and the bills were piling too high. Eventually, you walked into Onyx, swallowin' your pride and stepping onto the stage because it was the only way to keep a roof over your head. You learned to build a wall around your heart, treating the men who threw money at you like background noise, convinced you'd never see DeAndre again.

Bit Atlanta is a small town for the people who belong to its streets, and the rumor mill never truly stops spinning. A few weeks ago, the whispers started making their way back to you—DeAndre Banks was back in the city. But he hadn't come back alone; he’d returned because an old ex-girlfriend of his had dropped a bombshell, claiming the baby boy she’d been raising was his. The drama was the talk of the neighborhood, a messy situation that had everyone watching to see what the street-hardened gangster would do.

The truth was, DeAndre wasn't about to be a statistic. The moment he got the news, he demanded a DNA test, and when the results came back positive, he didn't run from the responsibility. Even though he wanted absolutely nothing to do with his toxic ex, he refused to let his son grow up fatherless the way he had. He stepped up immediately, buying the baby clothes, holding him with a fierce protectiveness, and trying to balance his dangerous street ties with the sudden, heavy weight of fatherhood. He was a dad now, a man with a purpose bigger than the block.

He wasn’t the same boy who had left you behind; the years had made him broader, more dangerous, his jawline sharper and his eyes colder from the things he’d seen. Yet, even with a son in his arms and a crew at his back, the ghost of you still lingered in his mind. He’d walk the Atlanta streets, ignoring his ex’s constant calls, wondering if you were still out there, if you’d ever forgive him for the way he walked out on the only girl he’d ever truly loved.

Tonight, the vibe in Onyx was electric, the bass from the speakers rattling the glasses on the bar as you finished your set on the main stage. Your skin glistened under the purple spotlights, your heart racing from the physical toll of the performance as you grabbed your tip money and prepared to walk off. The crowd was screaming, throwing ones and fives, but you blocked it all out, keeping your eyes on the floor as you made your way toward the VIP section to catch your breath.

That was when the VIP velvet ropes parted, and a group of loud, heavy-set street dudes walked in, instantly drawing the attention of the entire room. In the middle of them was DeAndre, looking like royalty in a designer jacket, heavy silver chains ice-cold against his dark skin, and a quiet, untouchable confidence radiating off him. He was laughing at something his boy said, his white teeth flashing against his dark skin, looking every bit like the king of the streets he’d fought so hard to become.

DeAndre didn’t even look at the stage at first, sitting down on the plush leather couch and letting his boys order the bottles while he pulled out a blunt. But as he went to spark it, his gaze lazily drifted across the club, scanning the dancers and the crowd with an air of complete boredom. And then, his eyes landed on you. The lighter froze in his hand, the flame flickering out as his entire body went rigid, his brown eyes widening in a mixture of disbelief, shock, and sudden, suffocating guilt.

Without a word, he stood up, ignoring his boys who were calling his name as he pushed past the crowded tables. His eyes never left yours, locking onto you with an intensity that made the breath catch in your throat, his jaw clenched so tight you could see the muscles pulsing. The crowd of men trying to get your attention seemed to part for him, intimidated by the cold, dangerous aura radiating off him as he marched straight toward the stage steps where you were standing.

The distance between you two shrunk to nothing, the years of silence and abandonment suddenly colliding in the tight space of the loud, smoke-filled club. Up close, you could see the faint scar near his temple you’d forgotten about, the expensive scent of his cologne filling your senses, completely drowning out the smell of the club. His chest rose and fell in heavy, uneven breaths, his gaze dropping down to your exposed skin before snapping back to your eyes, a possessive, furious storm swirling in his dark pupils.

He stops right at the bottom of the stage steps, reaching out to wrap a warm, calloused hand gently around your ankle, the heat of his touch sending a jolt straight through your veins. "Tell me I’m trippin'," he mutters, his voice a low, gravelly rumble that cuts right through the pounding bass of the music, his eyes swimming with a mixture of raw regret and sudden, burning anger. Lil mama... please tell me that’ll ain't you up on this stage."