The evening had settled into that perfect kind of chaos—loud, warm, and full of people who loved each other.
Tita Gema had declared dinner a success and was now dozing in her favorite chair, snoring softly. Jay's grandma had somehow convinced someone to bring her a glass of wine and was surveying the room like a queen observing her kingdom.
The karaoke machine had been temporarily abandoned after Percy and Jasfer's duet of "My Way" devolved into a competition about who could hit the highest note. (Neither won. The neighbors probably lost.)
And then—
Ci-n bounced into the center of the living room with the energy of a sugar-fueled puppy.
"GUYS! GUYS! I HAVE AN IDEA!"
Rakki, who had been relaxing for the first time all day, immediately tensed. "No."
"You don't even know what it is!"
"Your ideas are always chaos."
"CHAOS IS FUN!"
Rakki looked at Mica for support.
Mica: "I mean… he's not wrong."
Rakki: "TRAITOR."
Ci-n spun in a circle. "WE SHOULD PLAY TRUTH OR DARE!"
The room erupted in reactions.
Percy: "YES! FINALLY! SOMETHING WORTH DOCUMENTING!"
Mayo: "Truth or dare? How delightfully juvenile."
Kit: "You love juvenile."
Mayo: "I love YOU. There's a difference."
Kit: "Smooth."
Mayo: "I know."
Aries: "Absolutely not. I'm too old for this."
Ella: "You're 22."
Aries: "Which is TOO OLD."
Ella: "I'll make it worth your while."
Aries: "…Fine."
Ella: "That's what I thought."
Drew immediately pulled out money. "I'm betting on the chaos level. Over/under 8.5 on a scale of 1 to 10."
David, somehow awake: "Over. Easy money."
Drew: "You're ON."
Eren looked confused. "Wait, what are we doing?"
Everyone ignored him.
Josh raised his hand slightly.
Ci-n: "JOSH SAYS YES! IT'S SETTLED!"
Josh lowered his hand. He hadn't said anything.
But the game was on.
Everyone arranged themselves in a rough circle on the floor—couches pushed back, cushions scattered, snacks strategically placed for maximum accessibility.
Keigan and Keiren immediately claimed spots front and center.
Keigan: "We're playing!"
Keiren: "We're gonna WIN!"
Jay raised an eyebrow. "It's not a competition."
Keiren: "EVERYTHING IS A COMPETITION."
Keigan: "He's right. We learned that from Kuya."
Keifer: "I never taught you that."
Keigan: "You taught us by EXISTING."
Keifer: "…Fair."
Grazel Jay was perched on Grace's lap, eyes wide and curious. She didn't understand the game but was ready to participate anyway.
Grazel Jay: "I play too!"
Grace: "Baby, you're two."
Grazel Jay: "I'm BIG."
Denzel: "She's not wrong."
Grace: "Don't encourage her."
Denzel: "Encouragement is my love language."
Serina sat gracefully on a cushion, Jasfer beside her. Both looked far too entertained by the prospect of watching the younger generation embarrass themselves.
Jasfer: "This is going to be beautiful."
Serina: "I'm already taking mental notes."
Percy grabbed an empty bottle from the snack table. "I'll be the spinner! Because I'm dramatic and deserve center stage!"
Aries: "You just want to control the chaos."
Percy: "SAME THING."
He spun the bottle.
It landed on—
Rory.
Rory blinked. "Me? Already?"
Percy: "TRUTH OR DARE, HACKER BOY."
Rory: "…Truth."
Percy: "BORING! But fine. Who in this room do you think is most likely to accidentally start a fire?"
Rory didn't even hesitate. "Ci-n."
Ci-n: "HEY!"
Rory: "You once set a microwave on fire heating water."
Ci-n: "The WATER was aggressive!"
Rakki: "Water isn't aggressive."
Ci-n: "This water was! It had VIOLENT INTENTIONS!"
The room cracked up.
Percy spun again.
The bottle landed on—
Freya.
Freya raised an eyebrow. "Truth."
Percy: "BOOOO. Fine. What's something you've never told anyone?"
Freya paused. Then, quietly: "I'm not as confident as I seem. Most of the time, I'm terrified everyone's going to realize I'm a fraud."
Silence.
Edrix spoke softly. "For what it's worth… you're not a fraud. You're just human."
Freya looked at him—really looked.
Then quickly looked away. "Whatever. Next."
But her cheeks were slightly pink.
Percy, sensing the moment, spun the bottle fast.
It landed on—
Mica.
Mica: "Dare."
Percy grinned. "Oooh, brave. I dare you to… kiss Calix. But you have to make it DRAMATIC. Like a telenovela."
Mica: "Easy."
She grabbed Calix by the collar, pulled him close, and kissed him like they were filming a finale scene.
Calix emerged breathless. "I… we should do that more often."
Mica: "We should."
Rakki: "GET A ROOM."
Mica: "WE'RE IN A LIVING ROOM."
Rakki: "GET A BETTER ROOM."
The bottle spun again.
Landed on—
Aries.
Aries: "Truth. I'm not doing a dare."
Ella: "Coward."
Aries: "PRAGMATIST."
Percy: "Fine. Truth. What's the most embarrassing thing Ella's done that you secretly loved?"
Aries opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
Ella leaned forward eagerly.
Aries sighed. "She once tried to cook me dinner. Burned everything. Set off the smoke alarm. The kitchen looked like a disaster zone."
Ella: "That's not romantic."
Aries: "I'm not done. She was so upset—actually upset—that she couldn't do this one thing for me. And I realized… no one had ever tried that hard to make me happy before." He paused. "I loved it. Not the burnt food. The trying."
The room went soft.
Ella stared at him. Then, quietly: "I love you, you emotionally constipated idiot."
Aries: "I love you too."
Percy: "OKAY ENOUGH FEELINGS. SPINNING."
The bottle spun.
Landed on—
Keifer.
The room collectively leaned forward.
Percy's grin was evil. "KEIFER. TRUTH OR DARE?"
Keifer glanced at Jay. She raised an eyebrow, curious.
Keifer: "Dare."
The room gasped.
Percy: "BOLD. I LIKE IT. I dare you to… tell us the FIRST time you realized you loved Jay. In DETAIL."
Jay's cheeks flushed.
Keifer didn't even hesitate.
"Seven years old."
Mica: "SEVEN?!"
Keifer nodded. "We were at a family gathering. She was running around, being loud, dragging me to see everything. And then she tripped. Skinned her knee. Started crying."
Jay blinked. "I don't remember that."
"You wouldn't. You were too busy crying. But I remember." Keifer's voice softened. "I sat with her. Held her hand. She looked at me with these big, teary eyes and said, 'You're nice. I'm gonna marry you someday.'"
The room melted.
Jay: "I SAID THAT?!"
"You did. And I thought—yeah. Okay. That sounds good."
Percy: "AT SEVEN. HE DECIDED AT SEVEN."
Keifer shrugged. "I've always known what I want."
Jay looked at him—heart in her eyes.
The bottle spun again.
Landed on—
Jay.
Percy: "JAY! TRUTH OR DARE?"
Jay: "Dare."
Percy: "EVEN BOLDER. I dare you to… sit on Keifer's lap for the rest of the game."
Jay: "That's it?"
Percy: "That's the STARTER. The REAL dare is—you have to whisper something in his ear that makes him BLUSH."
Jay's grin turned dangerous.
Keifer suddenly looked nervous.
Jay stood, walked over, and settled onto Keifer's lap like she belonged there—because she did.
She leaned close, lips brushing his ear.
Whispered something.
Keifer's entire face went red.
His eyes widened.
His mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
Nothing came out.
Percy: "WHAT DID SHE SAY?!"
Keifer: "I—she—that's—private."
Percy: "PUBLIC FIGURES HAVE NO PRIVACY!"
Jay smirked, looking far too pleased with herself.
The room erupted.
Ci-n: "SISTER JAY IS A MENACE!"
Rakki: "I'M SO PROUD OF HER!"
Mica: "WHAT DID YOU SAY? TELL US!"
Jay: "Never."
Keifer buried his face in her shoulder, still red.
But he was smiling.
The bottle spun again.
Landed on—
Percy himself.
Percy: "OH NO."
Everyone: "TRUTH OR DARE?"
Percy: "…Truth. I'm not brave like Jayfer."
Mayo: "What's the most embarrassing thing you've done for attention?"
Percy: "EXIST."
Kit: "That's not an answer."
Percy: "It's THE answer."
Rakki: "Give us a REAL answer."
Percy sighed dramatically. "Fine. In high school, I fake-cried during a school play so people would talk about my 'emotional range.'"
Felix: "You WHAT?"
Percy: "It worked! Everyone said I was 'surprisingly deep.'"
Felix: "You're not deep."
Percy: "I'm DEEP ENOUGH."
The bottle spun again.
Landed on—
Denzel.
Denzel: "Truth."
Grace: "You're no fun."
Denzel: "I'm a dad. Fun is sleeping through the night."
Percy: "What's the most chaotic thing Grace has done that you secretly found adorable?"
Denzel smiled slowly. "She once tried to surprise me by painting the nursery herself. Ended up painting herself more than the walls. I came home to a blue woman crying on the floor."
Grace: "The paint can EXPLODED!"
Denzel: "And I fell in love all over again."
Grazel Jay: "Mommy blue?"
Grace: "Mommy was very blue."
Grazel Jay: "I wanna be blue!"
Denzel: "Maybe when you're older."
The bottle spun.
Landed on—
Ci-n.
Ci-n: "DARE! GIVE ME THE WILDEST DARE!"
Percy: "I dare you to… do an interpretive dance of how you feel about Jay."
Ci-n: "EASY."
He stood, took a dramatic breath, and began.
The dance involved a lot of spinning, pointing at Jay, hugging himself, more spinning, some kind of interpretative crying, and a dramatic fall to the floor at the end.
Ci-n, from the floor: "THAT MEANS I LOVE HER LIKE A SISTER AND WOULD DIE FOR HER."
Jay: "I'm honored. And concerned."
Ci-n: "BOTH IS GOOD."
Rakki helped him up. "You're ridiculous."
Ci-n: "I'm PASSIONATE."
The bottle spun.
Landed on—
Edrix.
Edrix: "Truth."
Freya: "Boring."
Edrix: "I'm a boring person."
Freya: "You're not boring. You're just quiet."
Edrix: "Same thing?"
Freya: "No. Quiet is mysterious. Boring is… well, boring."
Edrix: "So I'm mysterious?"
Freya: "I didn't say THAT."
Edrix: "You implied it."
Freya: "I didn't—" She stopped. Realized she'd been trapped. "You're annoying."
Edrix smiled. "And yet here you are."
Freya opened her mouth. Closed it.
Percy: "THEY'RE FLIRTING. IN PUBLIC. DOCUMENTING."
Freya: "WE'RE NOT FLIRTING."
Edrix: "We're not."
Percy: "Your faces are flirting."
Freya: "FACES CAN'T FLIRT."
Percy: "YOURS CAN."
The bottle spun again.
Landed on—
Keifer. Again.
Percy: "KEIFER! TRUTH OR DARE ROUND TWO!"
Keifer, still red from Jay's whisper: "…Truth."
Percy: "WEAK! But fine. What's the most romantic thing you've ever done for Jay that she DOESN'T know about?"
Keifer paused.
Jay looked at him curiously.
Keifer: "When we were apart—when she was with Yuri—I still checked on her. Every day."
Jay's breath caught.
"I had Rory set up alerts. Not to spy. Just to know she was safe. That she was okay. Every time she smiled in a photo, every time she laughed in a video, I saved it." He swallowed. "I have a folder. On my phone. Called 'Jay's Smile.'"
The room went silent.
Jay's eyes glistened. "Keifer…"
He shrugged, embarrassed. "I told you. I've always known what I want."
Jay kissed him—right there, in front of everyone.
Soft. Sweet. Full of years of love.
When she pulled back, she whispered: "Show me that folder later."
Keifer smiled. "Okay."
Percy: "I'M NOT CRYING. YOU'RE CRYING."
Mica: "I'M DEFINITELY CRYING."
Rakki: "SAME."
Ci-n: "KEIFER IS THE MOST ROMANTIC PERSON ALIVE AND I WILL FIGHT ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE."
Even Aries looked moved. "That's… actually really sweet."
Ella: "You're soft."
Aries: "I'm NOT."
Ella: "Your eyes are wet."
Aries: "ALLERGIES."
Ella: "It's night."
Aries: "NIGHT ALLERGIES."
The bottle spun one last time.
Landed on—
Jay. Again.
Percy: "JAY! TRUTH OR DARE! FINAL ROUND!"
Jay, still glowing from Keifer's confession: "Dare."
Percy's grin widened. "I dare you to… kiss Keifer. But you have to dip him."
Keifer: "Excuse me?"
Jay: "Done."
Before Keifer could protest, Jay stood, grabbed him, and dipped him dramatically—one arm supporting his back, the other cradling his face.
She kissed him.
Thoroughly.
The room ERUPTED.
Ci-n: "SISTER JAY IS A GODDESS!"
Rakki: "THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND!"
Mica: "QUEEN BEHAVIOR!"
Percy: "THIS IS THE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!"
Keigan covered Keiren's eyes. "You're too young!"
Keiren: "I WANNA SEE KUYA BE ROMANTIC!"
Keigan: "NO!"
Grazel Jay: "TITA JAY KISS! TITA JAY KISS!"
Grace: "Baby, look away."
Grazel Jay: "BUT IT'S PRETTY!"
Denzel: "She's not wrong."
When Jay finally pulled Keifer up, he was breathless, red-faced, and smiling like an idiot.
Jay: "Good dare."
Percy: "I KNOW."
Keifer pulled her close, forehead resting against hers. "You're going to be the death of me."
Jay: "But what a way to go."
He laughed—real, full, happy.
The room dissolved into chaos again—laughter, teasing, bets being paid, and Percy still documenting everything.
But in the center of it all—
Jay and Keifer held onto each other.
Surrounded by family.
Surrounded by love.
Exactly where they belonged.