Kiefer pov.
To be honest, I wanted to apologise and explain everything in the car itself and then take her to the island, so I started talking but when I glanced over, she was asleep.
My heart softened seeing her asleep. She looked so peaceful. I just sat there for a few minutes, admiring the way she looked so soft and peaceful while she was sleeping. So far away from the girl who keeps cursing at me like its her favourite hobby. Also, why is her glare genuinely scary? She reminds me a little of Angelo when she's angry..
I carried her over to the ship. And she still didn't wake up. How much hours did she even sleep for yesterday?
Jay pov.
When I woke up, I saw myself sleeping in a bed that I didn't recognise. I immediate threat in my surrounding. I could hear ocean waves... Did that ulupong take me to a beach? To study? Is he stupid? Actually, don't answer that, I already knew that he is stupid.
I was still in my uniform and I felt tired from the long much needed sleep, so I went for a bath and changed into a comfort set of clothes from the walk in closet, (how does he even know my size?) let my hair fall loose, and walked downstairs to escape that asshole so that I could get out of here.
I had changed into a sleeveless white tank top, beige high waisted denim trousers, and a sage green cardigan with fringe lace. I found a pair of sage green block heeled sandals, so I pulled it on, since I thought we'd be leaving in a few minutes. (Check comments for outfit)
Boy was I wrong...
Kwanan was in the kitchen. Now the main question is not why is there a kitchen I a cottage near the beach, nor did I question why we were even here. The first question that came out of my mouth was-
"Is that food? What are you making?" I blurted out. Damn it jay jay. What happened to leaving without making a noise? ughh why does he have to be making food? Also why is that idiot shirtless?
He turned to look at me, and froze completely. His eyes widened and he just kept staring at me. I looked down at myself to check if I had something spilled or whatever. There wasn't anything so why exactly was this idiot staring?
"Are you still alive Kwanan?" I asked him, that seemed to snap him out of it. He frowned.
"Who's kwanan?" He asked looking mildly irritated.
"You. Also why were you staring at me like I owed you money?" I asked.
"Because you look beautiful." He answered simply. It was my turn to freeze now. I wasn't blushing, it was just hot in here.. Even though there was air conditioning. I rolled my eyes pretending to be perfectly fine.
"Where are we?" I asked instead diverting the topic.
"Your island." He said casually.
"Oh, well when are we leavi- wait, WHAT?! An ISLAND?!"
"No, not an island"
"Oh thank god!"
"Your island"
I stared at him in disbelief. "Howdoes that make it any better?"
He just shrugged. "Doesn't it?"
"NO! What are you trying to buy me? First the chocolates and now this.. Im not aa thing that can be brought by your goddamn money Watson. I'm a person, aa person who can buy hundred islands like this with my own money if I wanted to." I said.
He immediately looked slightly panicked, "No. No jay, I didn't mean it like that. The chocolates were because I know you like those specific ones, and I got you this island because I wanted to give you something you'd like, and I know you don't like material things, so I got you the closest thing I could find to peace. A place that is close to everyone else, somewhere to escape to whenever the world gets too harsh."
I smiled weakly. "It's harsh because of you."
His face fell. "Jay-"
"You want to explain." I said cutting him off.
He looked surprised for a second. "Yeah.. I do."
"What are you even going to say to me now? You already said everything that day... That you used me remember?" I said. He looked like I'd slapped him.
"No, Jay. I didn't. I didn't tell you everything that day. Jay, I know you hate me, and you have every right to. But please listen to me. Just for 2 minutes. Please Jay." He said, almost begging me.
I looked at him for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Explain."
He looked so visibly relieved,it was almost funny. Almost.
"Jay.. The plan was real at the starting." And that was enough for the falls in my eyes to start... Well, falling. Before I even realised it, Kwanan had already wiped away my tears. I noded, silently telling him to continue. I wanted this to end here. Clarity- I wanted it so badly. Because for 2 months I was left in the dark, wondering if anything we had was ever real, or just part of his twisted plan.
Honestly, I thought I was used to getting used at this point. After all, my own mother had used me for money, hadn't she? There was a time when I trusted Jeanna and she had broken it in the worst most disgusting way possible... And then Freya, and Jason, then Cyrus.
I really thought that for once, somebody loved me for me. Not the money, not the power, not the name, not for their own selfish reasons, not the inheritence tied to my existence. Not for Jasper Jean Mariano, but for Jay Jay.
[for those ofyouwho are confused for the Freya part, you'll know soon...]
"Jay, the plan ended long before. It ended just a few days after it started. Because.. I fell for you. You came into our section and you didnt care that we were just a bunch of troublemakers. You fixed us, helped us with our problems. And I really fell so in love with you that it hurts. I love you Jay. I love you more than life itself." He said.
"Then why? Why did you say all those things?"
"Because my enemies were getting too much Jay. My father was threatening you, he said he'd kill you to get to me- and I couldn't let that happen, not again. I already failed to save my mom once. Every time I thought I was strong enough to protect you without staying away from you, I saw you in my mom's place. I saw you like her, bleeding because of that monster. And I knew that I'd never be able to survive that. So I pushed you away to protect you, even when it felt like I was tearing my own soul apart."
"You should've told me! Why didn't you trust me enough to tell me?"
"It's because I trust you that I didn't tell you. Because I know that you'd try to help me and end up getting caught. I thought I'd rather see you hurt then see you dead, but fvck Jay, pushing you away was the hardest thing I've ever done."
I was still crying, and it took me aa minute to realise that we were hugging now. And another minute to notice that- he was also crying. We just sat there, for a long time in each other's embrace...
"Jay do you.. Do you forgive me?" He asked hesitantly.
I shook my head. "I understand why you did it, but trust once broken is hard to rebuild. It's easy to forgive, but not that easy to forget. I can forgive you right now, because what you did was because you love me, but it doesn't erase all the nights I cried myself to sleep, it doesn't erase the mornings I woke and wished it had all been just a bad dream. I need more time to forgive you."
He nodded, looking determined. "I'll wait. I'll wait a thousand years if that's what it takes, but I will keep trying. Im not going to give up, Jay."
"I'm not asking you to.." I said.