Then came the knock on my door.
"Come in," I said.
Jare stepped inside, hands in his pockets, eyes flicking between me and Keifer.
"Can I talk to my sister alone?" he asked.
Keifer looked at me.
I nodded.
He leaned down and pressed one more kiss to my forehead—soft, grounding,—and then walked out, closing the door behind him.
The second it clicked shut, I got off the bed and walked straight toward Jare.
He smiled a little, relieved, like he thought I was coming to hug him.
I wasn't.
I swung my fist and punched him square in the jaw.
He stumbled back, eyes wide. "OW—JAY! What was that for?!"
I shook out my hand, glaring at him like he deserved every bit of it.
"You know exactly what that was for."
His mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
"Okay—okay—fair," he muttered, rubbing his jaw. "But can we talk before you break the other side?"
I crossed my arms.
"Start talking."
"Yes, I escaped Eden... like, right after you left for the Philippines," he said.
I raised my hand again, and he immediately stepped back like I was holding a weapon instead of just my fist.
"I couldn't come because I couldn't," he rushed out.
"Why didn't you?" I asked, voice low, steady, dangerous.
He swallowed. "Because, Jay... Jas left. And then you left. And I didn't see the point of going home without my sisters."
My chest tightened, but I didn't let it show.
"So you just... stayed gone?" I asked.
He looked down, jaw clenched. "I didn't want to walk into that house and feel the empty spaces where you two should've been. I couldn't handle it."
I stared at him.
"But that didn't mean I let you live your life without us," Jare said. "I came to the Philippines. Grandpa gave me pocket money every week—same as you and the others."
My eyes narrowed. "So Grandpa knew where you were?"
He nodded.
"That old man... he's gonna get it from me," I muttered.
Jare continued, "I came here and saw Jenna. Saw how she treated you. I wanted to take you out of there right away, but Grandpa stopped me. He said it would be more dangerous for you."
My chest tightened.
"Then after that night," he said quietly, "I argued with Grandpa and sent you to Angelo."
I froze. "Wait... how do you know about that night?"
He hesitated, then said, "Don't worry. The guy in black—that was me."
Everything clicked.
The way he grabbed me.
The way he protected me.
Of course it was him.
My throat tightened, tears threatening, but before I could say anything, Jare pulled me into a hug.
I tried to push him off, but he only held me tighter.
"It's okay," he whispered. "You're safe now."
My voice cracked. "Then why the hell didn't you show yourself to me?"
Jare's expression softened, all the bravado draining out of him.
"Because I wanted you safe," he said quietly. "And the only way to do that... was to stay in the shadows and watch over you."
He leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead—like he used to when we were kids, like he was trying to remind me he never stopped being my brother.
"If you leave me again—" I started crying a little bit
"You'll kill me," he finished for me, a smile tugging at his lips.
He wiped away my tears with his thumb.
"You have snot on your nose," he said, grabbing tissues from the nightstand and shoving them at me.
"Asshole," I muttered, wiping my nose.
He laughed—actually laughed—then walked to the closet and started pulling out old photo albums.
"I haven't seen these in a long time," he said, brushing dust off the covers.
"Yeah... I had to sneak in here to get the album with me and Jas in it," I said without thinking.
Jare froze.
Then he turned, marched over, and flicked me on the forehead.
"See? This is exactly why you can't keep yourself out of trouble, you little stubborn monkey," he said.
I glared at him, rubbing my forehead. "I'm not a monkey."
"You are," he said. "A loud one."
He dumped almost ten albums onto the bed, the stack wobbling like it might collapse.
"Why did you come here?" I asked.
"Because I knew Eden would kidnap you," he said simply.
I nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, fingers brushing the old album covers.
"Why don't you trust Yuri?" I asked.
Yuri was my friend.
But even I couldn't deny he'd been acting... off.
Jare let out a slow breath, sitting beside me.
"Jay... I don't trust him because he's unpredictable," he said. "He switches sides too fast."
I looked at him, eyebrows pulling together. "What?"
"I'll explain more tonight," he said, waving a hand like it was nothing. "Somewhere that rooster won't come."
I laughed under my breath.
"Do you know why Percy hates Yuri so much?" I asked.
"From what I know, it's something about that girl Freya," he said.
I nodded slowly. "That's all I know too... but I feel like there's more to the story."
"There probably is," he said with a shrug.
Before I could ask anything else, there was a knock.
"Can we come in?" Ci‑n's voice called through the door.
"Yes," Jare answered immediately.
The door opened, and Ci‑n walked in like he owned the place, dropping himself onto my bed without asking. Behind him, the rest of Section E filed in—Calix, Eman, Felix, David, everyone. Aries and Ella slipped in last.
"Are you okay?" Aries asked, coming straight to me.
I nodded.
He didn't look convinced, but he didn't push. Instead, his eyes shifted to Jare, narrowing just a little.
"Aries," Jare said, stepping forward and holding out his hands like he wasn't sure if he was greeting a friend or preparing for a fight.
Aries stared at him. "I don't know if I should be surprised or angry."
"Both," I whispered.
Aries heard me.
Of course he did.
He let out a slow breath, then pulled Jare into a quick, rough hug—the kind that said I'm glad you're alive but I'm still mad at you.
"You idiot," Aries muttered.
"Excuse me, I'm a genius," Jare shot back.
Aries pulled away and flicked his forehead. "Shut up."
Ella snorted.
Section E tried to pretend they weren't watching every second like it was a drama series.
Then Keifer reached for the albums.
"No—don't open them," I said quickly, almost tripping over my own words.
He paused, hand hovering over the top album. "Why?"
Before I could come up with a lie, Jare answered for me—because of course he did.
"Because there are probably a lot of pictures," he said, exactly knowing why I was stopping him.
I shot him a death glare.
Keifer looked between us, confused. "Pictures of what?"
Jare smirked. "Of Jay and her."
"JARE!" I snapped.
Keifer looked even more confused, but that didn't stop him—he opened the album anyway.
His eyes lit up instantly.
"Wow... I didn't know my baby was this cute when she was a baby," he said, holding up a picture of tiny me with ice cream smeared all over my face.
My soul left my body.
"Keifer," I warned, voice low, dangerous, absolutely useless.
He smiled like he'd just discovered treasure. "You look adorable."
Ci‑n leaned over his shoulder. "ADORABLE? She looks like she fought the ice cream and lost."
"Ci‑n, get out before I hurt you," I warned, pointing at him like he was a misbehaving toddler.
Ci‑n stuck out his tongue at me. "Make me."
I grabbed the nearest pillow.
His eyes widened. "WAIT—"
Too late.
I launched the pillow at Ci‑n's face. He yelped, flailed, and fell backward off the bed—grabbing David's sleeve on the way down.
David toppled with him.
"Ci‑n, let me go!" David yelled, trying to untangle himself.
"No, Grandpa Dabid!" Ci‑n shouted back, clinging to him like a koala.
"Get off me!" David shouted, trying to pry Ci‑n's arms off like he was wrestling a very determined toddler.
After what felt like a full minute of arguing, yelling, and David threatening to "call the authorities," Ci‑n finally let go of him.
David stumbled back, hair messed up, shirt wrinkled, dignity absolutely gone.
Ci‑n stood up, dusted himself off, and said with complete confidence,
"You're welcome, Grandpa Dabid."
David pointed at him. "Stop. Calling. Me. That."
Ci‑n grinned. "Can't. It's your brand now."
Felix saluted. "Grandpa Dabid forever."
David groaned
Jare leaned toward me. "Are they always like this?"
"Yes," I said. "And it gets worse."
He blinked. "Worse?"
I nodded