JayJay POV
I closed the door behind me and leaned against it.
Exhaled.
Tried to breathe.
Tried to pretend everything was fine.
It wasn't.
Keifer's name was still on that list.
Circled.
Twice.
With a dagger doodle.
I dropped my bag.
Sat on the floor.
And cried.
Quietly at first.
Then not.
Because it wasn't just the list.
It was the weight of it all.
The secrets.
The pressure.
The fear that I was the reason everything was about to fall apart.
I didn't hear the footsteps.
Didn't hear the door creak open.
Didn't realize I wasn't alone until someone sat beside me.
Kuya Jare.
He didn't say anything.
Just handed me a tissue.
I took it.
Wiped my face.
Still didn't look at him.
"You okay?" he asked, voice soft.
I nodded.
Lied.
He didn't buy it.
"Jay," he said, "you're crying on the floor. That's not your usual brand of chaos."
I laughed.
It came out broken.
"I'm fine," I whispered.
He waited.
Didn't push.
Just sat there.
Quiet.
Present.
Safe.
And that?
That made it worse.
"I found something," I said, voice barely there. "Something bad."
He didn't flinch.
Didn't joke.
Just nodded.
"Do you want to tell me?"
I hesitated.
Then pulled out my phone.
Showed him the photo.
Watched his face shift from confusion to horror to something sharp and protective.
"Yuri made this?" he asked.
I nodded.
"And Keifer's on it?"
Another nod.
He exhaled.
Ran a hand through his hair.
Then looked at me.
Really looked.
"You're scared," he said.
"I don't want to ruin them," I whispered. "They've been best friends forever. And if I say something—if I'm the reason they fall apart—"
"Jay," he said, cutting me off gently. "You didn't put Keifer on that list. Yuri did."
I blinked.
He continued.
"And if Yuri's planning something, Keifer deserves to know. That's not betrayal. That's protection."
I looked down.
"I don't want to be the reason everything breaks."
"You're not," he said. "But you might be the reason it doesn't."
I stared at him.
He smiled.
Soft.
Steady.
"Besides," he added, "if Yuri tries anything, I'll fight him."
"You'd lose," I said.
"Absolutely," he agreed. "But I'd look great doing it."
I laughed.
For real this time.
Then I cried again.
Because I was tired.
Because I was scared.
Because I was in love with a boy who didn't know he was on a list.
And I didn't know how to tell him.
Jare pulled me into a hug.
Held me like he used to when I was little and the world felt too big.
"You're not alone," he said. "You've got me. You've got Percy. You've got Luna. And Keifer? He's not just yours. He's ours now. So if Yuri wants to start something—he's starting it with all of us."
I nodded into his shoulder.
Didn't speak.
I didn't need to.
Because for the first time since I saw that list?
I felt safe.