🌙 Chapter 67: A Chance
By evening, the fever had gone down a little.
Not completely.
But enough for Keifer to stop looking like a man abandoned by society.
Jay sat near the balcony doors with a book she wasn't actually reading while rain poured outside again. The island looked darker during storms. The ocean turned rough, waves crashing harder against the rocks below while wind rattled softly against the windows.
The villa felt smaller tonight.
Warmer too.
Keifer had been asleep most of the afternoon, and somehow the silence started bothering her after a while.
Which was stupid.
Because peace used to be all she wanted.
Now every quiet moment felt too loud inside her head.
Jay turned a page without reading a single word.
Then heard movement upstairs.
A few seconds later, Keifer slowly walked down the stairs wearing a black shirt and grey sweatpants, hair messy from sleep.
He still looked sick.
But less dead.
Jay glanced at him briefly before looking back at the book.
"You survived. Disappointing."
"I fought bravely."
"You lost against temperature."
Keifer smiled faintly before sitting on the couch across from her.
The rain filled the silence between them for a moment.
Then—
"Thank you."
Jay immediately looked suspicious.
"For what."
"Taking care of me."
"You had fever, not a personality transplant. Don't make this emotional."
"That sounded nervous."
"It sounded truthful."
Keifer leaned his head back against the couch quietly.
For a while neither spoke.
The island storms always made everything feel slower somehow. The lights flickered softly while rainwater slid down the glass windows in endless streams.
Then quietly—
"Can I ask you something?"
Jay frowned slightly.
"You're already asking."
Keifer huffed a tired laugh.
Then looked at her properly.
"Can you give me another chance?"
Straight to the chest.
Jay's fingers tightened slightly around the book.
There it was.
The real conversation.
Not teasing.
Not distractions.
Not flirting.
Just truth.
The dangerous kind.
Jay stared at him silently for a few seconds before looking away toward the rain.
"You really choose terrible timings."
"I've noticed."
"You drugged me."
"You keep bringing that up."
"Because it's psychotic behavior."
"I know."
Silence again.
Then softly:
"But I'd still do anything to fix this."
That sentence hit harder than it should've.
Jay hated that.
She hated how sincere he sounded lately.
It would've been easier if he acted like an asshole.
But instead he cooked for her.
Remembered small things.
Looked at her like she mattered.
And now sat there waiting quietly for an answer like she held something important inside her hands.
Which she probably did.
Jay closed the book slowly before speaking.
"You hurt me."
Keifer nodded immediately. "I know."
"No, you don't."
His expression tightened slightly.
Jay looked down at the floor quietly.
"When you said you used me…" she whispered, "I actually believed you."
The room became painfully quiet after that.
Even the rain sounded distant suddenly.
Keifer swallowed hard.
"Jay—"
"I kept replaying it in my head," she continued quietly. "Trying to figure out if everything before that was fake too."
"It wasn't."
"But it FELT fake after."
Her voice cracked slightly on the last word.
Barely noticeable.
But enough.
Keifer looked like someone punched him directly in the chest.
"Nothing about you was fake to me," he said quietly.
Jay laughed softly.
Not happy.
Just tired.
"That's the problem with people, Keifer. They say things they don't mean when they're angry… then expect the other person to forget it afterward."
"I don't expect you to forget."
"Good."
The storm outside grew heavier now.
Lightning flashed briefly through the windows before disappearing again.
Jay hugged the book closer against her chest absentmindedly.
Then after a long silence—
"You know what the funniest part is?"
Keifer looked at her quietly.
"I still missed you."
That confession hung heavily in the air between them.
Raw.
Embarrassingly honest.
Jay laughed again softly, shaking her head.
"Isn't that pathetic?"
"No."
"Yes it is."
"It's human."
Jay looked away immediately after that.
Because hearing understanding in his voice hurt more than anger sometimes.
For a few seconds she just listened to the storm outside.
Then finally whispered:
"I'm a graveyard of secrets, Keifer."
His brows furrowed slightly.
Jay stared ahead quietly.
"There are things about me people don't know," she admitted softly. "Things I buried so deep even I try pretending they never happened."
The room felt colder suddenly.
Or maybe that was just memory.
"You see me now and think I'm strong," she continued. "But most days I'm just trying not to fall apart in public."
Keifer's expression softened painfully.
"Jay—"
"I don't even know how to explain myself properly anymore."
Her voice stayed calm.
Too calm.
That was always when she was hurting most.
"I have so much anger inside me that sometimes I feel sick from it," she admitted quietly. "And sometimes I don't know if people love me because they care… or because they're trying to fix me."
Keifer moved slightly closer.
Not enough to corner her.
Just enough.
"I'm not trying to fix you."
Jay looked at him then.
Really looked at him.
"Then why are you still here?"
His answer came immediately.
"Because I love you."
Silence.
The storm outside crashed violently against the island while Jay's chest tightened painfully.
Keifer looked exhausted saying it.
Like the truth itself weighed something.
"And they know," he admitted quietly afterward.
Jay frowned slightly. "Who."
"Section E."
Her expression changed instantly.
"What."
"The whole section knows."
Silence.
Then:
"…You told them?"
"I didn't have to."
Jay stared at him blankly.
Keifer rubbed his face tiredly before continuing.
"After London… after everything that happened… they figured it out themselves."
Jay's throat tightened unexpectedly.
"The way I talked about you," he admitted quietly. "The way I reacted whenever your name came up…"
A weak laugh escaped him.
"I think even strangers knew at that point."
Jay looked down at her hands again.
Her heartbeat felt weird suddenly.
Too fast.
Too loud.
"You idiot," she whispered softly.
"Probably."
"You really suck at hiding things."
"You make that impossible."
The storm outside slowly softened after that.
Rain still fell, but gentler now.
Like the island itself was calming down.
Jay sat there quietly for a long time.
Thinking.
Feeling too much all at once.
Then finally—
Very quietly—
"I can't promise forgiveness immediately."
Keifer nodded instantly. "Okay."
"I'm still angry."
"You should be."
"And if you hurt me again, I'll actually kill you."
"That sounds fair."
Jay exhaled slowly.
Then after another long pause—
"…But maybe."
Keifer looked at her carefully.
"Maybe," she repeated softly, "I can give you one chance."
The look on his face afterward almost broke her completely.
Not because he looked victorious.
Because he looked relieved.
Like someone finally gave him permission to breathe again.
And somehow—
That hurt the most.
....