AUTHOR POV
The villa was still suffocatingly quiet three days after the prank that had broken them both. Jay Jay hadn't let Keifer out of her sight, yet she had barely spoken a word, her fragile ego and raw emotions clashing in a silent war.
Keifer couldn't take the heavy tension anymore. They needed to escape the memory of that plush rug, the screams, and the guilt.
Without asking, Keifer stepped into her bedroom, walked right past her defensive glare, and scooped her up into his arms.
"What are you doing? Put me down, you giant tree!" she kicked her legs, her voice cracking with a tiny hint of her usual fire, but she was too exhausted to fight hard.
"We're leaving," Keifer said softly, tightening his grip so she felt completely secure.
He carried her down the steps, out of the villa, and straight onto the private ship waiting at the dock. The massive vessel was fully staffed and stocked, ready to take them away to the other island—the secluded family retreat that everyone in their circle knew about, but where no one would bother them.
The journey across the open water took hours.
Jay Jay refused to sit on the deck, choosing instead to lean against Keifer in the main cabin, watching the ocean spray blur against the glass. By the time the ship's engines slowed down and the anchors dropped near the private island's shore, she was completely drained, her eyes heavy from the salt air and the lingering emotional toll. Keifer lifted her dead weight from the cabin bed, carried her down the gangway, and brought her straight up to the beach house master bedroom, where she instantly drowned in a deep, undisturbed sleep.
They had been on the island for nine days now. Nine days of absolute isolation, heavy heat, and slow healing. But with Jay Jay's recovery came the return of her infamous, dramatic tantrums.
On the morning of the ninth day, the bedroom looked like a tropical cyclone had hit it. Silk dresses, linen shorts, and designer swimwear were scattered across the floor. Jay Jay sat in the middle of the bed, wrapped tightly in a bedsheet, her bottom lip pouted out so far it was a wonder she could breathe.
"I am not wearing them," she declared, glaring at the pile of her own clothes. "Everything is scratchy. The humidity makes the fabric stick to me. I look like a wrinkled mess, Keifer. I'd rather stay in this sheet forever."
Keifer stood by the closet, a massive black cotton t-shirt of his own hanging from his hand. He looked at the chaos on the floor, then at his, stubborn fluff.
"Jay, we're supposed to go down to the beach side in twenty minutes," Keifer said, trying to maintain his patient, soothing tone. "You can't wear a bedsheet to the beach."
"Watch me!" she snapped, crossing her arms tightly beneath the linen. "My clothes hate me today. They are too tight, too bright, and too annoying. I am on strike."
Keifer let out a soft, breathy laugh. He walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge and holding up his giant shirt. "Fine. If you hate your clothes, wear mine."
Jay Jay squinted at the massive piece of fabric. "That looks like a tent. I'll drown in it."
"It's soft. One hundred percent cotton. It doesn't stick," Keifer coaxed, pulling her gently toward him. "Come on, brat. Let me help you."
"Fine," she huffed, letting the sheet drop just enough so he could slide the giant t-shirt over her head.
The shirt engulfed her completely. The shoulder seams hung down past her elbows, and the hem fell well past her knees, making her look incredibly small and fragile. Keifer carefully pulled her arms through the sleeves, his large hands working gently to smooth down the fabric.
Jay Jay looked down at herself, swimming in his scent and his clothes, a tiny, reluctant smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "I look ridiculous. You did this on purpose so nobody looks at me."
"I did it because you're stubborn," Keifer murmured, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "But you look perfect. Now go back to sleep for a bit. You're still yawning."
With a dramatic sigh, Jay Jay flopped back onto the pillows, the oversized shirt pooling around her like a blanket. Within minutes, the soft sea breeze filtering through the curtains knocked her out cold again.
The quiet midday heat was suddenly broken by the rhythmic, roaring thud of helicopter blades cutting through the island breeze. The sleek chopper touched down on the concrete pad near the beach house, its engines whining as they began to spin down.
Before the rotors even came to a complete stop, the cabin doors slid open. Four men stepped out onto the grass. Angelo, Aries, Percy, and Yuri had arrived. They hadn't come because of the drama from nine days ago—they knew absolutely nothing about the fake heart attack or the tears. They had simply missed their sister and wanted to check in on her.
"Tell me the sea humidity isn't wrecking my hair," Percy muttered, running a hand through his perfectly styled locks as he adjusted his collar. "I didn't fly three hours across the ocean just to look like a wet mop for my favorite little sister. Honestly, look at this lighting, though. It does wonders for my jawline."
"Shut up, Percy," Aries snapped, shoving past him with a heavy scowl. His eyes immediately scanned the perimeter, locking onto the beach house structure with deep suspicion. "The less time we spend here, the better. I still don't get why we had to come to this island. Keifer's probably already annoying her. I just don't like his face."
Yuri walked at the back of the group, his hands tucked casually into his pockets, entirely neutral. "They wanted space, Aries. Let it go. We just got here."
The front doors of the villa swung open, and Keifer stepped out onto the veranda, keeping his posture tight as the four brothers approached.
"Angelo. Guys," Keifer greeted, stepping down the stairs to meet them.
"Don't 'guys' us," Aries grumbled, crossing his arms. "Where's Jay Jay? If you've been giving her a hard time, I'm tossing you off the dock."
"Aries, relax," Yuri said smoothly, giving a calm, indifferent wave of his hand to keep the peace.
Angelo stepped forward, his sharp eyes evaluating Keifer. He placed a heavy, firm hand on Keifer's shoulder, his voice dropping to a serious, authoritative tone.
"Keep her safe, Keifer," Angelo commanded, his eyes locking onto the younger man's. "This island is secluded. I'm trusting you to stay right by her side. Do not let her out of your sight, and make sure she stays safe while we're gone. Understood?"
"Always, Angelo. You don't have to worry about her," Keifer replied earnestly. The guilt from nine days ago made the promise carry a weight the brothers didn't even suspect.
"Good," Angelo nodded.
"Fine, but if she wakes up with a scratch, I'm coming back with a chainsaw," Aries threatened, pointing a finger at Keifer's chest.
"Let's go see her quickly before we head out," Yuri suggested, already walking past them toward the stairs.
The five men moved silently up the grand wooden staircase, their heavy footsteps muffled by the thick rugs. Keifer gently pushed the master bedroom door open, but as they all crowded around the doorway, the brothers froze.
Jay Jay was not sleeping like a normal person.
She looked like an alien that had crashed from outer space.
Her body was draped diagonally across the mattress. One of her legs was thrown completely over the top of the headboard, dangling precariously, while her other leg was tucked all the way underneath her body. One arm was stretched straight out toward the floor, her fingers twitching slightly in her sleep, and her other hand was awkwardly tangled in her own hair, resting right over her forehead.
She looked completely disheveled, bent in angles that shouldn't even be humanly possible.
"What in the world..." Percy whispered, his eyes wide. "Is she broken? Why is she sleeping like a folded pretzel? I mean, I know she gets her flexibility from my side of the family, but this looks like a medical emergency."
"She looks like a dead spider," Aries muttered, stepping closer. Then, his eyes narrowed as he actually looked at what she was wearing. The blanket had slid off her, fully revealing the massive, oversized black cotton t-shirt engulfing her tiny frame. The collar was so loose it was sliding off one shoulder, and the fabric bore Keifer's distinct, dark scent.
Aries whipped around, his face turning an angry shade of crimson as he glared at Keifer."Why is she wearing your clothes, tree? Did you steal all her clothes? What did you do to her?"
"Aries, keep your voice down," Keifer hissed, gesturing wildly to the bed. "She had a tantrum this morning! She refused to wear her own clothes because she said the humidity made them 'scratchy.' I didn't have a choice. I gave her my shirt so she'd stop screaming."
"You expect me to believe that?" Aries snarled, taking a threatening step forward into Keifer's space. "You're taking advantage of the fact that we aren't here. You probably forced her into that tent!"
"I didn't force her into anything!" Keifer retorted, his own temper flaring slightly, though he kept his voice to a harsh whisper. "If anything, I'm the one being restricted here! Do you have any idea how strict she is right now?"
Angelo raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Strict? Explain."
Keifer let out a frustrated, exhausted sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "She has literally put me on a schedule, Angelo. She gave me strict permission to touch her just for twenty seconds, exactly two times in a whole day. That is it. Forty seconds total of human contact. If I brush her arm for twenty-one seconds, she throws a pillow at my head and threatens to call the cops on me. I am practically living under martial law here."
Percy choked back a laugh, quickly covering his mouth. "Forty seconds a day? Wow. That's harsh. I give my fans more time than that for selfies. You must really be suffering, big guy."
Yuri shrugged, looking entirely neutral as he stared at his sister's chaotic sleeping posture."Honestly, twenty seconds twice a day sounds generous for Jay Jay. I'm surprised she lets you in the same room."
"She's a brat," Aries mumbled, though he still looked incredibly protective. He glared down at Jay Jay's foot dangling off the headboard. "Fix her leg, Keifer. She's going to wake up with a cramp and then she'll blame us."
"I am not touching her leg," Keifer whispered back fiercely. "My forty seconds for the day are already used up. If I touch her now, she'll wake up, realize you guys are here, and then we'll all get yelled at for breathing her air."
Angelo shook his head, a tiny, rare smirk touching his lips as he looked at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. He turned away from the bed, signaling to the rest of the brothers that it was time to move out.
"Let's go," Angelo commanded quietly. "She's safe, she's sleeping, and clearly, she has Keifer completely under control."
Without making another sound, the four brothers turned and walked back down the hallway, heading straight out of the villa and back toward the waiting helicopter. Keifer stood on the veranda, watching the chopper lift off into the blue sky until it vanished.
Turning back inside, he locked the heavy doors, walked upstairs, and cautiously sat in the chair beside her bed—watching over his alien-sleeping girlfriend, perfectly content to wait for his next twenty seconds of permitted time.