JAY-JAY POV
Home felt the same… but also different.
Aries was already sitting beside me like I never left.
"You're late," he said again.
"I know."
Kuya Angelo looked up from the table.
"You survived the trip?"
I dropped my bag.
"Barely."
Tita Gema smiled softly from the kitchen.
"Eat first."
That's when it hit me again.
I wasn't explaining anything anymore.
Because they already knew.
Not just them.
Keifer knew.
Section E knew.
And even Adrian, Robin, Cyrus, and Luka…
they all knew about my home.
My family wasn't hidden in one world anymore.
It was shared across both.
I sat down and exhaled slowly.
Aries leaned his head on my shoulder.
"So your chaos group is back in the city?"
I nodded.
"Yeah."
Kuya Angelo smirked slightly.
"And they're all still alive?"
"Unfortunately."
That earned a small laugh from Tita Gema.
Aries grinned.
"I like them."
"You haven't even met them properly," I said.
"I don't need to," he replied confidently.
That made me smile.
Then I looked down at my hands.
"There's Luka…"
Aries immediately reacted.
"The chocolate kid."
"Don't call him that."
"I will absolutely call him that."
Kuya Angelo shook his head.
"And the others?"
I exhaled.
"Adrian… Robin… Cyrus…"
I said their names slowly.
Not like strangers.
But like people already written into my life.
Tita Gema watched me carefully.
"You're attached."
I didn't deny it.
"…Yeah."
A pause.
Then I added softly,
"They already know you."
That made Kuya Angelo look up.
"So they know this place too?"
I nodded.
"Yeah. All of them."
Aries smiled proudly.
"Good. Then they're not strangers."
Tita Gema smiled warmly.
"That's how it should be."
I leaned back slightly.
For the first time…
there was no separation in my life.
No "this world" and "that world."
No hiding who knows who.
Everyone I cared about…
already existed in the same story.
Keifer knew my home.
Section E knew my family.
And Adrian, Robin, Cyrus, Luka…
they all knew where I came from.
Everything was already connected.
And somehow…
that made it easier to breathe.