JAY JAY POV
"JAY JAY!" Mia's voice echoed through the house like a siren. "Are you ready for your bachelorette party?!"
I stood at the top of the stairs, taking a deep breath. These past four days had been a complete blur of emotions and chaos. My birthday was yesterday—turning eighteen alongside Jare was a milestone I'll never forget, but it was also the official countdown. Today was the day the real wedding preparations moved into high gear.
The house was overflowing with family. Grandma and Grandpa arrived two days ago, bringing with them a sense of calm that I desperately needed. I walked down the stairs and headed straight for the sofa, sliding in next to Grandma and burying my face in her shoulder.
"What happened, dear?" she asked softly, her hand stroking my hair just the way it did when I was a little girl.
"Nothing," I muffled into her sweater, squeezing her tighter. "I just want a hug."
"Hmm," Grandma hummed knowingly, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. She knew I was nervous—not about Keifer, never about him—but about the sheer scale of the life that was about to change.
"Aww! Grandma and Jay Jay! Such a perfect photo!" Mia chirped, the shutter of her camera clicking before I could even look up. She was already busy scrolling through the shot, grinning.
"Okay, so about this bachelorette party tonight..." Grandpa started, his brow furrowed as he looked at the itinerary Mia was holding.
"Come on, Grandpa!" Mia interrupted, waving a hand dismissively. "She's eighteen now, and she needs to have some fun in these last three days before the wedding. It's the law of being a bride!"
"I just don't want her out too late," Grandpa grumbled, though the twinkle in his eye gave him away. "She has a big day coming up."
"I'll have her back in one piece, Gramps," Mia promised, grabbing my hand and pulling me up from the couch. "But for the next few hours, she isn't Jasper Jean Mariano, the bride-to-be. She's just Jay, and we're going to celebrate like it!"
I looked back at Grandma, who gave me an encouraging wink. I let Mia lead me toward the door, my heart racing. Outside, I knew Keifer was probably being dragged off to some equally chaotic bachelor party by Aries and the guys.
As we stepped out into the evening air, I glanced at the ring on my finger. In seventy-two hours, I wouldn't be a Mariano anymore. I'd be a Watson. I'd be his. And despite the noise and the parties, that was the only thing that truly mattered.
"Let's go, Mia," I said, a mischievous smile finally breaking across my face. "Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into."
"Where are we going, Mia?" I asked as she maneuvered the car through the evening traffic with a look of intense focus.
"We have to make a quick stop first," Mia said, her eyes darting to the rearview mirror.
"What about the other girls?"
The lineup for tonight was actually pretty solid. Freya and I were on good terms now—which, yeah, I know, is a total shocker. I have Edrix to thank for that. If I hadn't meddled in his love life and helped things click between them, Freya and I would probably still be trying to hex each other.
Then there were the regulars: Amy, Mica, Rakki, and Grace. It felt good to have a solid circle. The only shadow over the group was Ella. From what I'd heard, she was still desperately trying to crawl back into Aries' good graces. But my brother is as stubborn as a mule; he doesn't trust her a bit.
To be honest, I don't trust her either. She's always looked for reasons to pick a fight with me, and I think I finally figured out why. Yuri liked me, and she loved Yuri. It's the classic, messy math of my life. Damm, this is so complicated.
"Get out! We're here!" Mia yelled at me, snapping me out of my thoughts about Ella and the messy Yuri-triangle.
I blinked, looking out the window, expecting a club or a fancy lounge. Instead, I saw trees. "What are we doing at the park, Mia?"
"I don't know, I'm just following orders," she said, acting suspiciously innocent.
"Orders from who?"
"You'll find out soon!" She hopped out and looped her arm firmly around mine, practically dragging me toward a secluded trail.
As we rounded a bend, I stopped dead in my tracks. My breath hitched. "OH MY GOD... This is so cute."
The entire clearing was transformed. Hundreds of tiny fairy lights were draped across the trees, glowing in my favorite shade of blue. But scattered amongst the blue were pops of bright orange. I tilted my head, confused. Why orange?
Then it hit me. Orange and Blue. His favorite color and mine. Sunset and Ocean.
"Go further," Mia whispered, giving me a gentle push.
I walked deeper into the trail, and that's when I saw them. Hanging from delicate ribbons were photos. It was like walking through a timeline of us.
The first one was from the very beginning—we were practically snarling at each other, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. I laughed softly, remembering how much I hated his arrogance back then. The next was a photo of us hugging; we both looked stiff and annoyed, definitely not 'friendly' yet.
Then, I reached the center. I gasped. It was a photo of us kissing. It was a bit blurry, the focus slightly off, but the raw emotion was there.
"Damm it, Ci-N," I whispered, wiping a stray tear. I knew exactly who took this. It had Ci-N's chaotic energy all over it. Only he, Felix, or the rest of the Section E idiots would have the guts to stalk us during a private moment just to get a 'receipt.'
I turned around to ask Mia where everyone was, but she was gone. The park was silent, except for the rustling of leaves and a very familiar scent—sandalwood and expensive leather.
"Do you remember that day?" a deep voice rumbled from behind the largest oak tree.
I spun around, my heart leaping into my throat. Keifer was standing there, but he wasn't dressed for some wild bachelor party. He looked devastatingly handsome in a simple black button-down, his eyes reflecting the soft glow of the blue and orange lights. He was looking at our old photos with an expression so tender it made my breath hitch—a side of him he rarely showed anyone but me.
"What are you guys up to?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
Just then, the shadows around the park seemed to come alive. The Section E boys and all the girls emerged from behind the trees, their phones held up, capturing every second.
"Do you remember how much we used to hate each other?" Keifer asked, stepping closer until he was right in front of me. He shook his head slowly. "Because I don't. Looking back at everything we've been through, I only remember loving you."
"Keifer…" I breathed, my heart drumming against my ribs.
"Jasper Jean Fernandez Mariano, and very soon-to-be Watson," he said, his voice dropping an octave as he slowly sank to one knee in the grass.
My vision began to blur as tears pooled in my eyes.
"I know your answer to the question I'm about to ask," he continued, looking up at me with raw honesty. "And even though our wedding is only hours away, I want to propose to you the right way. I want to do this properly. I'm doing this because the first time we decided to get married, I didn't give you the proposal you deserved. I didn't give you the choice."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, revealing a ring that sparkled even in the dim light.
"My Jasper Jean. My everything, my life, my wife," Keifer started, his hand trembling just a little. "You chose me every single time. Even when I broke your heart, you always waited for me. You stayed, even when I didn't deserve it. You saw the man I could be when I didn't even see him myself."
He took a deep breath, his eyes locking onto mine, ignoring the cheering and recording of our friends in the background.
"I don't want to just be the man you were forced to marry by circumstance or family. I want to be the man you choose every single morning for the rest of your life. So, before the world calls you Mrs. Watson... will you let me be the luckiest man alive? Jasper Jean, will you marry me?"
A sob broke from my chest, and I couldn't even wait for him to finish before I was nodding.
"Yes, Keifer! Yes!"
He slid the ring onto my finger, and as he stood up, he didn't even give Section E a glance. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me with so much force it felt like the entire park vanished.
"DAAAAAMN! WATSON'S GOT GAME!" Edrix's voice shattered the romantic silence, followed by the deafening whistles and cheers of the boys.
"She's officially off the market, boys! Clear out!" Ci-N yelled, waving his phone around like a trophy.
Keifer pulled back just an inch, his forehead resting against mine. "I love you, Jay until scientist find the end of universe"
"I love you too, you arrogant jerk," I whispered, laughing through my tears. "Now let's go get married before you change your mind."
"Never," he promised, tightening his grip on my waist. "Not in this lifetime or the next."
The romantic bubble lasted all of ten seconds before the reality of having Section E as a family crashed back down.
"OKAY EVERYONE! Keifer, if you're done with your future wife, we're borrowing her from you for the night!" Mia announced, stepping in and physically unpeeling my arms from around Keifer's neck.
"Wait, what?" Keifer asked, looking completely dazed and blinking like a confused puppy. "I just proposed, Mia! Give me a minute!"
"The clock is ticking, Watson! The bachelorette party has officially started," Mia warned, pulling me away toward the girls. "Go to your side of the park and don't come anywhere near Jay until the wedding! It's bad luck!"
"We will take care of that," Percy said, appearing out of the shadows like a sentinel. He clamped a hand on Keifer's shoulder, holding him in place so I could be dragged away.
Jare walked up a moment later, looking suspiciously composed. "So, the whole proposing thing is done, right? Everyone is officially engaged?"
"You missed the whole thing!" Mia scolded him, though she didn't look that mad.
Jare didn't say anything; he just leaned down and planted a lingering kiss on Mia's cheek.
"Eww! Don't do that again!" Aries barked, stepping forward with a scowl, though his ears were a little red. He looked at Mia and then at me. "But yeah, that was the point. We stayed back because we knew Keifer and Jay were going to kiss, and we didn't want to have to kill Keifer for doing it in front of us. We gave him a five-minute grace period."
"My hero," Keifer muttered sarcastically to Aries, trying to shake off Percy's grip.
"Don't push it, Watson," Aries warned, but there was a smirk playing on his lips.
I looked around at the empty trails, the perfectly placed lights, and the lack of any random joggers or families. A realization hit me.
"Wait... so you bought the whole park for the night?" I asked, looking back at Keifer. I remembered Mia telling the boys to stay on "their side" of the park. You don't have "sides" unless you own the place.
Keifer shrugged, his eyes softening as he looked at me. "I wanted us to have our time without any interruptions. So yeah, the park is ours until sunrise."
I shook my head, laughing softly. Typical Keifer Watson—always going big when it came to us.
"Alright, billionaire, enough with the romantic grandstanding," Mia interrupted, tugging my arm again. "The girls are waiting, the champagne is getting warm, and I have a strictly scheduled night of fun that does not include you."
"Move it, groom," Percy said, finally dragging Keifer toward the other side of the clearing where the rest of Section E were setting up what looked like a very high-stakes bonfire.
"Jay!" Keifer called out over his shoulder as Percy and Aries continued to haul him away toward the dark side of the park. "Don't let Mia talk you into anything too crazy!"
I was about to shout back a witty promise when Felix's voice cut through the air, amplified by his cupped hands.
"And definitely don't drink, please! We don't want the Barracuda to destroy the venue, Jay!"
My face heated up instantly. The 'Barracuda'—my infamous, legendary drunk alter-ego that usually ended in property damage or me trying to fight someone twice my size.
"Asshole! Come over here and say that to my face!" I yelled back, shaking my fist at him.
The only response was a chorus of roaring laughter from the boys as they disappeared into the trees. Even from this distance, I could hear Edrix cackling.
"They aren't wrong, though," Mia muttered,
We headed to our side of the park
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
💙✨ BIG ANNOUNCEMENT ✨💙
I WROTE A NEW BOOK 😭💙 Please check it out and tell me all your opinions in the comments — I love reading them so much 💬✨
The story is called:
💙 Unplanned, Unbroken (JAYFER) 💙
Go read it and let me know what you think 🌙🤍✨