KEIFER POV
"If you're going to die," I said quietly, trying not to cry, "don't make me hate you first."
She stopped walking.
"I'd rather lose you loving you," I continued, "than spend the rest of my life wondering if you ever did."
She turned around slowly.
My eyes gave up. Tears streamed down my face. I didn't wipe them.
"You think pushing me away will make this easier?" I asked. "It won't."
She didn't speak. Not for what felt like forever.
Then—
"How do you know?" she whispered.
FLASHBACK
After the party, I went to Jay's house.
I was using the bathroom. Didn't mean to eavesdrop. Didn't mean to hear the thing that would break me.
I was walking down the hallway. Her door was slightly open.
Soft. Shaky.
"Please, Kuya… not today."
Percy.
His voice was low. Rough.
"When are you going to tell them?"
Silence.
Then—
"I really don't want to say this today… but Jay, this can't wait."
My chest tightened.
I stepped closer. Just enough to hear. Just enough to ruin everything.
"Yes, this can wait," she said.
"What the hell, Jay? You're about to die and you're telling me that can wait?"
The world stopped.
I couldn't breathe.
"You're about to die."
I pressed my back against the wall. Felt the air leave my lungs. Felt the truth slam into me like a car crash.
I got up from there. And I went home.
I didn't talk to anyone. Didn't turn on the lights. Just opened the cabinet and started drinking.
One bottle. Then another. Then another.
Thirty.
I lost count after that.
Why does this always happen?
Why, God?
Why do you always do this when I'm happy?
Why do you always take the sunshine of my life?
First my mom. Now Jay.
I cried. Harder than I ever have.
Not the quiet kind. The kind that rips through your chest and leaves you gasping.
I slept like that. Curled up on the floor. Empty bottles around me. Tears still fresh.
The next morning, my phone rang.
Jay.
She asked if we could meet. Said she had something important to say.
I said sure. Told her to get ready in twenty minutes.
I went to her house. She was already by the door.
She saw me and said, "Let's go."
I nodded.
We got in the car.
I didn't say anything. Didn't cry. Didn't ask her why she was leaving me.
We went to a quiet park. Empty. Still.
She told me she wanted to break up. Said she didn't love me. Said she just wanted revenge.
Lie.
She can't lie. Not to me.
I know her eyes. I know when they're telling the truth. And I know when they're begging me not to believe her.
End of Flashback
I told her everything.
Every word I heard. Every tear I spilled. Every second I spent trying to forget her and failing.
She didn't interrupt. She just listened. Eyes wide. Breath held. Like she knew this moment would break us both.
"Please, Jay," I said, voice cracking. "Don't do this alone."
I was crying now. Not quietly. Not politely.
The kind of crying that comes from the deepest part of you. The part that still believes love should be enough.
She ran to me.
No hesitation. No words.
Just arms around me. Tight. Desperate.
I held her like she might disappear. Like if I let go, she'd vanish into the air. Like she was already halfway gone.
She buried her face in my shoulder.
Her body trembled against mine. I held her tighter. Like if I squeezed hard enough, I could keep her here. Keep her alive.
"I don't want to leave, Keifer," she whispered. "I don't want to die."
"And you won't" I said
I closed my eyes. Her words sliced through me. No warning. No mercy.
"I know," I said, voice barely there. "I know, Jay."
She sobbed into my shirt. I didn't care. Let the world see. Let the world hear.
I'd carry her pain if it meant she could breathe easier.
"I'm scared," she said.
"I am too," I whispered.
We stood there. In the quiet. In truth. In the ache.
Her arms around me. My heart is breaking in slow motion.
She pulled back just enough to look at me.
Her eyes were red. Her cheeks wet. But she was still the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
"I didn't want you to find out like that," she whispered.
"I know," I said.
"I thought if I made you hate me, it would hurt less."
"It doesn't," I said. "It just hurts different."
She nodded, like she already knew that. Like she'd been carrying that guilt too.
"I didn't want to be your heartbreak," she said.
"You're not," I told her. "You're my everything."
She broke again. Right there in my arms. And I let her.
No more pretending.
No more lies.
Just us.
And the truth.