Jay Jay's POV:
I grip the couch cushion like it can protect me from whatever's on the other side. My chest is already tight. Please don't be who I think it is. Please. Please—
The door swings open.
"Jay Jay."
OH MY GOD.
My soul leaves my body. It's Kuya Angelo. Standing there in his uniform, looking like he just came from a crime scene instead of the barangay hall. His eyes laser past Keifer and lock on me instantly.
Busted.
"I knew it." His voice is low. Dangerous. "Get your bag. We're leaving."
I squeak, halfway standing, halfway stuck to the couch. "K-Kuya, wait—"
Keifer doesn't move aside. He stands in the doorway, taller, broader, calm but sharp like a knife pulled halfway out of its sheath. "She's fine here."
…EXCUSE ME!? DO YOU WANT ME DEAD?
Angelo's eyes narrow. "Fine? At your house? Without telling me?" His voice hardens. "Step aside."
My stomach somersaults. The air feels too thick. It's like watching two storms crash into each other.
Keifer doesn't budge. "She is safe here!"
Angelo lets out a short laugh, but it's not funny. It's sharp. "thought this was safer? here, with you?"
The tension is so thick I could slice it with a plastic spoon. Keigen and Keiren are frozen in the background—Keiren's clutching his chips like a shield, Keigen just muttering, "Oh crap, oh crap…"
"Kuya—" I try again, stepping forward, but Angelo's glare pins me in place.
"Bag. Now." His tone brooks no argument.
Keifer's jaw tightens. His voice drops, calm but firm: "She's not a child. She can decide where she feels safe."
HELLO?? EARTH TO KEIFER?? PLEASE STOP MAKING IT WORSE.
The air practically vibrates between them, two forces waiting to explode. And me? I'm stuck in the middle, praying neither of them decides to throw the first punch.
The air is so thick I could choke on it. Kuya Angelo's glare could set the whole house on fire, and Keifer's standing there like a brick wall that refuses to move.
I can feel the explosion loading.
Nope. Not today.
"STOP!" I blurt, my voice way too high-pitched. Both of them snap their heads toward me at the same time. Oh god. Wrong move.
I raise my hands like a referee about to get tackled. "Okay, listen, before one of you decides to throw hands, let me explain!"
Kuya's jaw is so tight I swear it might shatter. "Explain? Jay, you disappear after school, don't answer your phone, and I find you here?" He points at Keifer like his finger is a dagger. "With him?"
"Hey," Keifer says evenly, eyes narrowing, "don't talk about me like I'm some criminal."
…HELLO SIR YOU LITERALLY LOOK LIKE ONE RIGHT NOW, CAN YOU NOT.
Angelo steps inside now, closing the door behind him with a slam that rattles the frame. "Stay out of this. This is between me and my sister."
Keifer's voice drops a notch lower, dangerous calm. "She's already in it. And so am I."
My entire nervous system: ERROR 404. TOO MUCH TENSION. PLEASE REBOOT.
"Okay, okay!" I practically throw myself between them, arms spread wide like a human barricade. "Kuya, I wasn't hiding, okay?! Someone was following me after school!"
That makes him freeze.
Finally. A crack in the glare.
"You what?" Angelo's voice softens, but not in a good way. In the terrifying, barely-contained kind of way.
My throat tightens. "I didn't know what to do—I panicked, I ran, and Keifer found me and—" I gesture wildly toward him "—and he made me come here because he thought it'd be safer!"
Keifer's eyes flick toward me, just for a second. Calm. Steady. Like he's telling me: Good. Tell him the truth.
Angelo stares at me. Then at Keifer. Then back at me.
"You should've called me," he says finally, his tone sharp, cutting.
"I tried," I blurt. "You didn't pick up!"
His jaw clenches again.
Keifer crosses his arms, voice even. "I wasn't going to let her walk home alone after that. If you don't like it, too bad."
OH. MY. GOD.
Did he just—did he just backtalk my Kuya to his face?!
This is it. This is the end. Goodbye, cruel world. Tell Ci-n he can have my hoodie collection.
Silence.
Dead, suffocating silence.
Even Keigen stops muttering. Keiren's chip bag crinkles in his death grip.
Kuya Angelo's eyes sharpen, his voice like ice. "What did you just say?"
Keifer doesn't flinch. Doesn't even blink. "You heard me."
HELLO?? SIR?? THIS IS A SUICIDE MISSION.
I fling my arms out again like a human barrier. "STOP! Okay?? Just—both of you—chill! This isn't… this isn't a gladiator match!"
Angelo's glare slices through me. "Jay, you don't understand—"
"I DO understand!" My voice cracks, but I force myself to keep going. "Someone was following me! I freaked out, and Keifer was the one there. I'm not saying you wouldn't have helped, Kuya, but you weren't there. He was."
Kuya's jaw tightens. "That doesn't mean I trust him."
Keifer's voice is steady. Firm. "You don't have to trust me. You just need to know she's safe with me."
OH. MY. GOD. WHY DOES HE TALK LIKE THIS. DOES HE WANT ME BURIED SIX FEET DOWN.
Angelo's glare sharpens. "Safe? With you?"
And then—Keifer goes nuclear. His tone doesn't even rise, but every word feels like a bomb.
"She said yes. We're official. Whether you like it or not."
…
The living room implodes.
Keigen chokes on his own spit. Keiren actually drops his chips. My soul ESCAPES my body, takes the next bus out of town, and leaves me here to die.
"WHAT?!" Kuya Angelo's voice shakes the walls.
"KEIFER!" I squeak, practically throwing the pillow at his face. "WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!"
He just shrugs, calm as ever, like he didn't just set my funeral date. "Because it's true."
My brain: ERROR. SYSTEM FAILURE. GOODBYE WORLD.
Angelo's already on his feet, eyes blazing. "You—WHAT—you think you can just—"\
Angelo's glare swings back to me. "Jay Jay, you—you agreed to this?!"
I flail both hands. "NO—YES—I MEAN—IT WAS A JOKE—"
Keifer's voice cuts through, steady, maddeningly steady. "Not a joke."
OH MY GOD. SOMEONE GET ME A SHOVEL.
"Kuya!" I squeak, latching onto Angelo's arm before he lunges. "Don't murder him! Please! I like my life without police investigations!"
Keigen mutters from the couch, "Honestly, we might need police investigations at this point."
Angelo points past me at Keifer, voice like thunder. "You think you can just declare something official without talking to me? Without asking—"
Keifer doesn't move, doesn't even blink. His eyes are locked on Kuya's, sharp, unwavering. "I don't need to ask. It's between me and her."
…
DEAD. I AM DEAD. PUT ME IN A COFFIN. LOWER ME SIX FEET UNDER.
"Keifer!" I shriek, smacking his arm. "Stop TALKING like that!"
"Why?" he asks simply, calm as ever. "It's the truth."
Angelo's jaw tightens so hard I swear I hear it creak. His chest rises and falls, his fists clench, and I know—KNOW—if I don't say something right now, my house is going to become a WWE ring.
So I blurt the first thing that comes to mind.
"GROUP HUG!"
Everyone freezes.
Keigen actually chokes again. Keiren mutters, "She's lost it."
But hey—at least no one's punching.