KEIFER POV
I really don't want to share a room with these guys.
One is completely obsessed with himself and his beauty products, acting like he's in a spa instead of a bedroom. While the other—the one holding a grudge like it's his full-time job—glares at me every single time I so much as look in his direction.
I want to make up, I really do. But this asshole is making it absolutely impossible.
Why do I even want to fix things? Mostly because I want to touch Jay without having a stupid rule—she's driving me insane, and I need her close. But the other reason? The real reason? I just want us to be friends again. I miss how things used to be before everything went to hell.
The silence in the room was thick enough to suffocate us until Percy finally spoke up.
"Wow, are we just gonna look at each other now?" Percy asked, looking between us with an amused smirk.
"What else do you want to do?" Aries snapped at Percy, his voice sharp with the tension that had been building since we entered the room.
"I don't know, maybe we talk about the accident," I said. The words hung in the air like a heavy weight.
Percy turned serious instantly. The playful, beauty-obsessed mask fell away, revealing something cold and hollow underneath. Aries went stiff beside him, his gaze dropping to his hands.
"Why don't you ask her rooster what really happened that night?" Percy snapped, his eyes flashing with a sudden, vicious hatred.
I frowned. Why the hell does he hate Yuri that much?
"Well, he's not speaking, so hurry up and tell me what happened that night," I snapped back, irritation finally getting the best of me. I was tired of the riddles and the secrets. I was tired of being the only one kept in the dark about the night that almost destroyed my woman.
"What did you know about that night?" Percy asked, his voice low and accusatory.
I glared right back at him, tired of being the villain in their story. "From what Yuri told me, he saw you and Aries in the car. Then he passed out. Yuri told me… he told me that he thought Aries pushed you off the cliff, Percy."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Aries let out a sharp, hysterical laugh that sounded like glass breaking. He looked up at me, his eyes filled with a raw, agonizing hurt that made my chest tighten.
"He told you I pushed Percy?" Aries whispered, his voice shaking with pure disbelief, his hands trembling at his sides.
"This is why, Keifer, you're so gullible," Percy snapped, stepping toward me with a look of absolute fury. "Aries didn't push me off the cliff! I told Aries to save himself because the car was going down. And Yuri—your fucking best friend—had the chance to save me. He was standing right there! But that asshole froze. He didn't save me, and instead of admitting he was a coward, he blamed Aries!"
I froze. My mind felt like it was short-circuiting, the memories of Yuri's "confessions" to me crumbling into dust.
"Wait... what?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper as I looked at Percy.
"You heard me, Keifer! This is the truth!" Percy yelled, his face turning red with the effort of holding back years of resentment. "Aries spent every second trying to hold onto us, and Yuri spent every second watching us fall. He's been poisoning your mind ever since because he couldn't live with the fact that he watched his friends die and did nothing."
I turned to look at Aries. He wasn't glaring at me anymore. He just looked hollow, like a man who had been carrying the weight of a murder he didn't commit for far too long.
"I didn't push him, Keifer," Aries said softly, his voice dead. "I was holding his jacket until the fabric ripped. I would have gone over with him if he hadn't screamed at me to let go."
The room felt like it was spinning. All this time, I had looked at Aries like he was a monster. I had let Yuri's words dictate
"Why didn't you tell me?" I demanded, looking at both of them. "Why did you let me believe him?"
"Because you chose him!" Aries roared, finally snapping. "The second that accident happened, you chose Yuri's side! You wouldn't even look at me! Why would I defend myself to someone who already decided I was a killer?"
I stepped back, the guilt hitting me harder than any punch ever could. I had been played. Yuri hadn't been the grieving survivor; he had been the architect of the rift that tore us all apart.
"That asshole!" I roared, my fist colliding with the wall. The drywall cracked under the force, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the white-hot rage burning in my gut. Every lie Yuri had ever fed me was playing back in my head like a sick movie.
"Keifer," Aries said, his voice cautious.
I turned to him, feeling the weight of every cold glare and every insult I'd thrown his way over the last few years. "Sorry, Aries. I'm truly, truly sorry. I thought what Yuri said was true... I'm such an idiot for believing that asshole."
Aries looked at me for a long beat. The tension that had defined our relationship for years finally snapped, replaced by something weary but honest.
"I forgive you, Keifer," he said. Before I could respond, he pulled me into a rough, firm hug. "Just trust me again. That's all I ask you to do."
I nodded, gripping his shoulder and hugging him back. "I will. I promise."
Percy, never one to be left out of a dramatic moment, scrambled over and threw his arms around both of us, squeezing tight.
"My babies! I'm so happy we're back on board again!" Percy squealed, practically crushing us. "I still think I'm the better-looking one, though."
"GET OFFFFF!" Aries yelled, trying to shove Percy's face away as the serious moment dissolved into our usual chaos.
THUD.
The bedroom door suddenly swung open—or rather, it was pushed from the outside—and Jay came tumbling into the room, landing right on the carpet.
"Awwww, you guys are back again," Jay said, wincing as she scrambled to get up and rubbed her arm.
I was at her side in a heartbeat, pulling her up and checking her for bruises or any sign that the fall had shaken her up. "What were you doing?" I asked, my voice protective as I scanned her face.
"Well," she said, looking everywhere but at us as she scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "I overheard you guys talking and I wanted to see if you were gonna kill each other before you made up. If the answer was yes, I was gonna stop you. Good thing is, you guys made up and didn't kill each other."
I looked at the doorway, then back at her. She'd been eavesdropping. She'd heard the truth about Yuri, about the cliff, and about the fact that her brothers had finally reconciled.
I pulled her into my chest, resting my chin on her head. I felt Aries and Percy step up behind me, forming a solid wall around her.
"You shouldn't be out of bed, Jay," Aries said, though his voice was thick with affection.
"I couldn't sleep," she murmured, hugging my waist. "Not while my favorite idiots were in here being all emotional."
I tightened my grip on her. We were finally a front again.
Just as the air was finally clearing, Aries's phone started ringing in his pocket. The loud vibration broke the moment, and Jay's mischievous side immediately flared up as she caught a glimpse of his face.
"Aries, I think it's your future girlfriend calling," Jay teased, nudging him with her shoulder.
Curiosity got the best of me—I wanted to see who could possibly handle this hot-headed idiot—so I leaned over to look at the caller ID.
It just said: Amy.
"Who is Amy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A new student! And no, monkey, she is not my girlfriend," Aries snapped, though he didn't look nearly as angry as usual. He swiped to answer and hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
"Amy could totally be Aries's new girlfriend," Jay whispered to me, leaning against my chest. I nodded, secretly hoping the guy would finally find someone to distract him from being such a professional chaperone.
Jay then turned her attention to the next target. "Percy."
"What?" Percy asked cautiously, still smoothing his silk pajamas.
"So, would you rather have your hair dyed purple... or go on a random date?" Jay asked, her eyes sparkling with that dangerous light that meant she was playing matchmaker.
Oh, I knew exactly where this was going. This was going to be fun.
"I would rather go on a date," Percy said without hesitation. "Remember when I dyed my hair purple that one time? Yuck. I hated it on me. It washed out my complexion."
"Great! So based on that, I want you to go on a date with someone" Jay said, clapping her hands together.
"No!" Percy yelled, jumping back as if she'd threatened him with a knife. "Jay, we've been through this before! Freya is the one! I don't care if she's not here right now, my heart is closed for business!"
Before Jay could argue, Percy burst out of the room, fleeing down the hallway to escape her setup.
"Ugghhhh!" Jay groaned, throwing her head back. She looked up at me with a determined pout. "I'm going to talk to him. He's been moping about Freya for too long."
I nodded, letting her go. "Go get him, Queen."
I didn't want to interrupt her. If anyone could talk sense into Percy or get the truth out of Aries, it was Jay. I watched her head off, realizing that despite all the blood and the secrets we'd discussed tonight... we were still just a family. A messy, loud, broken family that was finally starting to heal.
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🌸 Hey everyone 🌸
So you guys can ask me questions about myself, and I'll answer them 💗✨ But here are a few things to keep in mind 🌼🤍
I want to keep my real name private, and also keep my ethnicity, age, and class/grade hidden 🌙💗 It's just for safety reasons — you know how the internet can be 🫶✨
I hope you all understand 🌸🤍
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