JAY'S POV:
My heart was hammering against my ribs so hard I was sure Keifer could feel it through the palm of his hand.
I had already called Jeremy, my voice shaking slightly as I told him I'd be off for the next two days and that he needed to handle everything in my absence.
Jeremy hadn't asked questions; he knew me well enough to know that when I sounded this breathless, something monumental was happening.
Now, standing outside Keifer's front door, the reality of the situation hit me.
From inside, the sounds were unmistakable: a chaotic symphony of loud laughter, shouting, and the distinct, boisterous cackling of the Section E boys.
It sounded exactly like the whirlwind I had spent seven years trying to escape—and seven years secretly missing.
I felt a surge of anxiety, a sudden instinct to bolt. I loved Keifer, and I had forgiven him, but facing fifteen men who had watched our relationship implode? That was a different kind of bravery.
Keifer seemed to sense my hesitation. He stopped and turned to me, his eyes softening with that protective intensity that always made my knees weak.
He didn't say anything; he didn't need to. He simply squeezed my hand and leaned in, pressing a lingering, tender kiss to my forehead.
It was a silent promise: I've got you.
"I can't do this yet," I whispered, stepping back as he reached for the door handle. "Go ahead first. Give me a few minutes. Just... let them settle."
He gave me a knowing smirk, a silent 'you're a coward, but you're my coward,' and stepped inside.
The noise erupted into a roar of greetings and shouting the moment he crossed the threshold.
I stayed outside in the hallway, closing my eyes and taking long, shuddering breaths. In for four, hold for four, out for four.
I reminded myself that these were the people who had known us when we were happy with whom I was happy once,who became my family unknowingly who cleared the dark sky I was living in with a streak of bright light everyday...
Finally, I steeled myself and pushed the door open.
As I stepped into the hall, the effect was instantaneous. It was as if someone had hit a mute button on a television. The loud banter, the clinking of glasses, the booming laughter—it all vanished in a heartbeat.
Fifteen pairs of eyes snapped toward me.
The silence was heavy, thick with shock and disbelief. I felt exposed, standing there in the doorway, but as my gaze swept across the room, I didn't see judgment. I saw ghosts of the past. I saw David's jaw drop, Rory's frozen expression, and then my eyes landed on Cin.
Cin, who had always been the most empathetic of the group, already had tears shimmering in his eyes. He looked at me as if I were a miracle, a piece of a puzzle that had been missing for nearly a decade.
My throat tightened, and the wall of anxiety I had built up finally crumbled, replaced by an overwhelming wave of affection. A small, watery smile broke across my face, and my voice came out soft but steady.
"Hi, guys," I breathed, my eyes glistening. "I missed you!"
The silence lasted for exactly three seconds.
Then it shattered.
"JAY JAY!"
Before I could even process what was happening, Cin practically launched himself across the living room like a guided missile with absolutely no concern for human safety.
He nearly tripped over the coffee table, sent one of Keifer's cushions flying across the room, and collided into me with enough force to make me stumble backward.
His arms wrapped around me so tightly that I actually squeaked.
"Oh my God..." he whispered against my shoulder, his voice cracking in a way I'd never heard before. "You're actually here."
For a moment, I couldn't say anything.
Not because I didn't know what to say—but because somehow, despite the seven years, despite everything we'd survived, that hug felt exactly the same.
Like we were seventeen again.
Like tomorrow we'd all walk into Section E, argue over stolen lunchboxes, copy homework five minutes before class, and pretend we weren't the loudest classroom in the entire school.
A watery laugh escaped me.
"Cin..."
"You disappeared," he mumbled, refusing to let go. "Do you know how many birthdays we celebrated hoping you'd just randomly walk through a door one day?"
My throat tightened painfully.
"I missed you too."
He finally pulled away just enough to look at my face before dramatically cupping both my cheeks.
"You got prettier."
I laughed through the tears gathering in my eyes.
"You got older batang kumang!"
"The disrespect," he gasped dramatically."My own sister insults me."
Before either of us could recover—
"MY TURN!"
David shamelessly shoved Cin aside and pulled me into another crushing hug.
Then Rory followed.
Then Edrix.
Then Mayo.
Then Yuri.
Then Josh.
Then Felix, who somehow forgot I was an actual human being and nearly lifted me clean off the floor.
"Oh my God!" I laughed helplessly. "I still have bones!"
"We missed those too!" Blaster announced before wrapping his arms around me anyway.
Within seconds, I disappeared beneath what could only be described as a stampede of oversized emotional men who apparently believed affection was measured by the number of ribs they could accidentally crack.
"I CAN'T BREATHE!"
"WHO'S ON MY FOOT?"
"DENZEL MOVE!"
"I'M TRYING!"
"JOSH, YOUR ELBOW IS LITERALLY IN MY FACE!"
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE MY ELBOW IS!"
The entire room erupted into absolute chaos.
Across the room, Keifer stood near the entrance with his arms folded across his chest, laughing so hard he actually had to wipe tears from the corner of his eyes.
"I leave them alone for ten seconds," he muttered, shaking his head fondly, "and they immediately attempt homicide through affection."
"They're hugging Mariano to death," Calix observed casually.
"As expected."
Eventually, the human pile reluctantly untangled itself, leaving me with ruined hair, a crooked blazer, and approximately seventeen new bruises that somehow made me happier than any award ever had.
Then Drew stepped forward.
Unlike everyone else, he didn't hug me immediately.
He simply stood there looking at me, guilt sitting quietly behind his eyes, so heavy it almost broke my heart.
"...Jay."
I smiled softly.
"Drew."
He swallowed before speaking again.
"...Did you..."
His voice faltered.
"...Did you forgive us?"
The room fell silent all over again.Every smile disappeared.
Even Keifer straightened where he stood.
Sixteen pairs of eyes watched me with the same silent fear—the fear that maybe they had already lost me forever.
I looked at every familiar face surrounding me.
Faces that had grown older.
Kinder.
Healthier.
People who had healed while still carrying the weight of one mistake that none of them had ever truly forgiven themselves for.
Then I smiled.
"...Yeah."
Nobody breathed.
"I forgave all of you a long time ago."
Someone sniffled loudly.
Definitely Cin.
I laughed softly before lowering my eyes.
"...Actually... I'm the one who's sorry."
"NO."
The response exploded through the room so loudly I physically jumped.
Sixteen grown men protested at once, sounding more offended than I had ever seen them.
"No."
"You don't apologize.LIKE.Ever."
"You hear us?" Eren pointed dramatically at me. "Not for this."
"You were the one we failed," David said quietly.
"You don't owe us anything," Rory added.
"We should've protected you better," Edrix admitted.
"We should've listened," Josh whispered.
"We should've fought harder," Felix murmured.
Cin's eyes filled with tears again.
"We're the ones who lost you, Jay."
My vision blurred instantly I shook my head before any of them could continue.
"No..."
Keifer finally spoke.
"Jay."
His voice was impossibly gentle.
"So many years have passed."
He smiled sadly.
"You don't have to carry our mistakes anymore let us carry them,and only US."
Something inside my chest finally let go.
Not painfully.
Peacefully.
I laughed through fresh tears before opening my arms dramatically.
"Fine."
"So..."
"Group hug again?"
The room erupted instantly.
"ROUND TWO!"
"PROTECT THE LAWYER!"
"I WAS ALREADY PROTECTING HER!"
"YOU LITERALLY PUSHED ME!"
"I DIDN'T MEAN TO!"
Keifer pinched the bridge of his nose dramatically.
"They're thirty-year-old toddlers."
"They're your toddlers," I teased.
"They absolutely are not."
Nearly twenty minutes later, the living room somehow looked suspiciously like our old Section E classroom.
Half the boys were sprawled across couches, some sat cross-legged on the carpet, someone had already ordered enough pizza to feed an army, Blaster had stolen control of the speakers, and Keifer was loudly complaining because somebody had already finished his chips.
It felt...
Exactly like home.
Then Mayo suddenly jumped to his feet.
"JAY YOU MISSED SOME OF THESE WEDDING!!!! EVERYONE IT'S WEDDING PHOTOS TIME!"
Immediately every phone in the room came out.
"Oh my God..." I laughed as Freya smiled brightly from Edrix's lock screen.
"You finally married him?"
"He cried," Rory answered instantly.
"I DID NOT."
"You absolutely sobbed."
"I had dust in my eyes!"
"There wasn't any dust."
"There was emotional dust."
The room exploded into laughter again.
Then Denzel quietly handed me his phone.
"Look."
A tiny little girl smiled brightly from the screen.
Curly hair.
Bright eyes.
A missing front tooth.
"My daughter," he whispered proudly.
I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt.
"...She's beautiful."
"Her name's Grazel Jay," Grace said softly.
Everything inside me stopped.
"...Why?"
Grace reached across the table and gently squeezed my hand.
"Because if there was one person who taught all of us what strength looked like..."
Her smile softened.
"It was you."
I couldn't speak.
One by one they showed me everything I had missed over seven years.
Wedding albums.Proposal videos.Family vacations.Baby pictures.House tours.Graduation ceremonies.Businesses they'd built.Dreams they'd achieved.
Seven years...
Reduced to photographs and stories shared across one unforgettable evening.
Finally I looked toward Keifer.
"...Can I..."
He immediately met my eyes.
"...Can I meet...Tita Gema... Aries... Angelo..."
My voice grew smaller.
"I just want to tell them..."
I looked around the room once more, at the people I'd loved once, never truly stopped loving, and somehow found my way back to.
"...that I'm finally home."
The room became silent one last time.
Across from me, Keifer smiled with tears quietly gathering in his own eyes.
"...We'll go tomorrow, Jay Jay."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"I think they've been waiting seven years to hear those words."