Ella sat beside Jay on the cold steps outside the building, knees pulled close, voice quiet.
"You know… I used to think Aries was just… strict," Ella said softly.
Jay looked at her. "Strict…?"
Ella smiled a little. Not happy. Just tired.
"I told myself he was protective. Honest. That he only talked that way because he cared."
Jay's chest tightened.
Ella kept staring at the ground.
"But one day I realized something," she whispered.
"I was always scared of upsetting him. I was always fixing myself before he even complained."
Jay's fingers slowly curled into her sleeve.
Ella turned to her.
"Does Yuri make you feel small when you try to explain yourself?"
Jay didn't answer.
Her silence was enough.
Ella went on gently.
"Does he tell you who you should talk to… and then calls it 'normal'?"
Jay's breath shook.
"…yes."
Ella nodded.
"Aries used to say the same things."
Jay's eyes lifted.
"What… things?"
Ella's voice was steady now.
"That I was too sensitive. That I misunderstood him. That other people were putting bad thoughts in my head."
Jay froze.
Because Yuri had said that.
Almost word for word.
Ella leaned a little closer, not touching her.
"Jay… listen to me. Aries and Yuri are not different."
Jay whispered, confused and scared,
"But… Yuri isn't always like that…"
Ella smiled sadly.
"Neither was Aries."
The words landed softly.
And deeply.
Ella continued, very quietly.
"They both use the same trick.
They hurt you… and then make you feel guilty for being hurt."
Jay's eyes filled.
"But he says he loves me…"
Ella nodded slowly.
"So did Aries."
Jay's lips trembled.
Ella touched her own chest.
"I stayed because I thought love was supposed to feel heavy."
She looked straight at Jay.
"It's not."
Jay's voice broke.
"…Keifer never makes me feel heavy."
Ella didn't smile.
She just said the truth.
"That's because Keifer doesn't need to control you to keep you."
Jay lowered her head.
Tears slipped onto her hands.
And for the first time—
The picture in her mind shifted.
Yuri's words.
Aries' words.
They sounded the same now.