ᕙ༼Keifer's༽ᕗPOV
The party at the Fernandez house was in full swing, but the "Section E" chaos was just getting started. Every time Little Rosee leaned in to peck Jay Jay's cheek, shouting, "She's tasty! She's mine!" I felt my protective streak flare up.
"No, she's mine," I countered, pulling Jay Jay in for a possessive kiss every single time Rosee tried to claim her.
She again kiss her "No she is sweet she is mine".
By the fifth round, I decided to end the debate. I pulled Jay Jay into a deep, three-minute tongue kiss that effectively silenced the room—or so I thought.
"Ayyyeee! Look at Keifer go! He's trying to swallow her whole!" Yuri yelled, clutching his chest dramatically while the rest of Section E erupted.
"Get a room, King!" Adrix whistled, while Felix and Calix started chanting, "B-word! B-word! B-word!"
"That's definitely a 'B' for 'Bold'!" Kit Mayo giggled. Mamma Riccee was busy trying to shield Little Rosee's eyes, while Drew and Blaster were taking bets on how long we'd last.
"My eyes! My innocent eyes!" Percy wailed, though he didn't look away for a second.
The girls—Freya, Ella, Grace, Mica, Raki, and Honey—were all squealing, clutching each other and fanning their faces. "He's really marking his territory!" Mica laughed.
The teasing was reaching a fever pitch when the atmosphere suddenly shifted from "rom-com" to "action movie."
THWACK.
Before I could even blink, a fist connected squarely with my jaw. My head snapped back, the metallic taste of blood hitting my tongue.
"I told you to stop with the B-words!" Angelo roared, nursing his bruised knuckles while still breathing heavily from his forced hopping.
"And I definitely didn't give you permission to eat my sister's face in my own living room!"
Jay Jay didn't even hesitate. The second Angelo's fist connected with my jaw, she stepped directly between us like a human shield, her eyes flashing with a protective fire that silenced the entire room.
"Kuya! Touch him again and iam sleeping in the garden!" she snapped, standing her ground against her older brother.
While Angelo grumbled about "corrupted innocence" and "disrespectful kings," I wiped a bead of blood from my lip. I looked down to see Little Rosee—barely two feet tall and wobbling on her toddler legs—clutching Jay Jay's skirt and glaring at me.
"Mine!" Rosee declared, blowing a raspberry at me. "Jay Jay is mine!"
Jay Jay let out a melodic laugh, clearly enjoying every second of the chaos. She looked at Rosee, then back at my bruised jaw, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She wasn't just safe; she was thriving on my jealousy.
I leaned down, getting close enough to Jay Jay's ear so only she could hear me, my voice dropping to a low, dangerous rumble.
"You think this is funny?" I whispered. "Fine. New rule. Tonight, leave your bedroom window unlocked."
She shivered, her smile faltering just a fraction as my gaze locked onto hers.
"I'm coming over," I promised, "and I'm going to show you exactly who you belong to. No toddlers, no brothers, and definitely no more games."
Jay Jay's breath hitched, her face flushing a deep crimson as she realized I wasn't joking.
After an hour
The air in the living room was thick enough to choke on. The "rom-com" vibe hadn't just died; it had been buried under a mountain of family tension. Angelo was still pacing like a caged tiger, nursing his knuckles, while Aries stood like a statue, his arms crossed over his chest.
"She's a woman grown, Ma," Aries argued, his voice low but firm. "You can't keep her under a glass dome forever. She's outgrowing this house, and she's outgrowing your rules."
"Freedom isn't a gift you just hand out like candy, Aries!" Lola snapped, waving a hand dismissively. Tila nodded fervently beside her, the two of them forming a united front of tradition. "She's a girl. A girl needs protection, whether she wants it or not."
I stood by the door, my jaw throbbing in time with my heartbeat. I watched Jay Jay. She looked small between them, her fire from moments ago flickering under the weight of their expectations.
"Protection?" Angelo exploded. "I just caught him practically swallowing her whole! Is that the 'freedom' you want for her? To be some guy's conquest?"
"It's my life, kuya!" Jay Jay cried out, her voice cracking. "I am eighteen! I can make my own choices!"
The room went deathly silent. Jay Jay's mother, who had been quiet until now, stepped forward. There was a look in her eyes—not of anger, but of a cold, hard certainty that made the hair on my neck stand up.
"Eighteen?" her mother repeated. She let out a short, dry laugh that didn't reach her eyes. "Is that what you've told yourself? Is that the lie you're all living by?"
"Ma, what are you talking about?" Jay Jay whispered, stepping back.
Her mother turned to the rest of us, her gaze landing heavily on me. I felt like a bug under a microscope.
"You all treat her like she's ready for the world," her mother said. "You talk about her 'freedom' and her 'rights.' But I am the one who carried her. I am the one who brought her into this world, and I didn't lose count of the years."
She walked right up to Jay Jay, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her daughter's ear with a terrifyingly calm hand.
"You aren't eighteen, Jay Jay. I don't care what the school records say or what your friends believe. You are seventeen. You have a full year of childhood left, and as long as you are seventeen, you are mine."
The world seemed to tilt on its axis.
Seventeen.
The word echoed in my skull, louder than the ringing from Angelo's punch. I looked at Jay Jay. Her face had gone completely pale, her mouth hanging open as she looked at her mother in pure shock. She didn't even seem to have the breath to argue.
I felt a cold sweat break out across my skin. My mind raced backward—every look, every touch, the words I had just whispered in her ear about coming over tonight. I'm going to show you exactly who you belong to.
The weight of it hit me like a physical blow. I wasn't just the guy her brother hated anymore. If this was true, I was the guy chasing a girl who wasn't even legal.
Angelo's eyes snapped to mine, and for the first time, the anger in them was replaced by something much worse: a grim, triumphant realization.
"Seventeen?" I finally managed to choke out, my voice sounding like it belonged to someone else.
Jay Jay's mother turned to me, a sharp, knowing smile cutting across her face. "That's right, Keifer. Seventeen. Still a child. Still under my roof. Still off-limits."
I looked at Jay Jay, searching for some sign that her mother was lying, but Jay Jay looked just as lost as I felt. The "dangerous rumble" of my voice from minutes ago now felt like a sick joke. The game hadn't just changed; the board had been flipped over and smashed to pieces.
Six times.
I counted them mentally, each one feeling like a stab to the gut. Six times I had held her, thinking I was being patient, thinking I was being the ultimate gentleman by waiting for that "18" on the calendar. I had literally fought my own instincts, killing my own desires for months, just to make sure everything was perfect and legal for her big day. I wanted to be the man who did things right.
But the silence in the room told a different story. The weight of the secret her mother just dropped felt like the floor falling out from under me.
The "legal" certainty I had built my patience on was now a blur of confusion. If what was being said was true, the trust I thought we shared was built on a foundation of sand. My head spun as I tried to reconcile the person I thought I knew with the reality being presented now. I had tried so hard to be the protector, the one who did everything by the book, and now it felt like I was the one who had been blindsided.
I looked at her, searching for some sign of the truth in her eyes, but all I saw was a reflection of my own shock. The celebration we had planned, the milestones we were supposed to cross—they all felt tainted by this sudden revelation.
I stepped back, the air in the room suddenly feeling too thin to breathe. Shame and confusion fought for space in my chest. I had spent months telling myself that waiting was the honorable thing to do, that being patient made me a better man. Now, I didn't know who I was or what I had actually been a part of.
The trust was gone, replaced by a cold, hard knot of doubt. Every memory of the last few months was being rewritten in real-time, and I didn't know if I could handle the new version.
"I don't claim,i stole i—"
Jay Jay didn't just talk; she acted. She pushed me back toward the edge of the bed, her hands firm on my chest. I felt like a ghost in my own body, haunted by the guilt of those six times, but she was vibrating with a fierce, stubborn energy.
"You think you stole something?" she whispered, her voice trembling not with fear, but with conviction. "Let me remind you of what actually happened, Keifer. Because I remember every second."
I tried to look away, but she took my chin and forced me to meet her eyes.
"The first time," she began, her voice low and steady. "I was the one who locked the door. You told me three times we should wait, that we didn't have to rush. Do you remember? You were so scared of hurting me that you were shaking. I was the one who pulled you back. I was the one who told you I was ready."
I swallowed hard, the memory hitting me. I had tried to be the "Broken Protector" even then, but her love had been an irresistible force.
"And the other times?" I managed to rasp. "I should have been the adult, Jay Jay. I should have said no."
"How could you say no to someone who was begging you to stay?" she countered, a small, sad smile touching her lips. "Every time, I showed you that I belonged to you. I chose to give you my trust, my body, and my heart. We weren't just 'doing it,' Keifer. We were becoming one. I wasn't a girl being led astray; I was a woman making a choice for the man she loved."
She leaned in, her breath warm against my skin, grounding me back to reality.
"I gave you my virginity because I wanted it to be yours and no one else's. If I could go back to that night, even knowing I was seventeen, I would do it all over again. Exactly the same way. Six times over."
She took my hand and pressed it against her cheek. "You didn't ruin me. You made me feel seen for the first time in my life. So stop looking at me like I'm a victim. I'm the girl who loves you, and I'm the one telling you it's okay."
The weight in my chest didn't disappear, but it shifted. I still had to deal with the law, her mother, and the fury of her brothers, but looking at her stubborn, beautiful face, I realized I wasn't a monster. I was just a man who had loved a girl who was far braver than I was.