The rain didn't just fall; it hammered against the mansion windows, a relentless rhythm that matched the violent pulsing in Jay's lower back.
By 9:00 PM, she was no longer just in pain-she was drowning in it.
She came out of washroom and just sat at her desk, her knuckles white as she gripped the edges of her chair.
Every wave of cramps felt like a serrated blade twisting in her gut.
To make matters worse, her emotions were a chaotic, frayed mess.
One moment she felt like screaming at the walls, and the next, she felt like she was the smallest, most insignificant person in the world.
Keifer stood by the bed, watching her shoulders shake. He had never seen her like this.
"Jay what happened."
"Oh! Nothing." She tries to act normal. But failed terribly, her pain was clear on her face.
"Jay, I know it's not nothing."
"It's just girls problem, you know , don't think more sleep." She forced a smile.
But her mood was getting worse by his every question.
He keep asking her, he keep trying to help her but she was also determined to push him away.
"Jay, please. Let me do something. Does it... I mean, how does it feel? Is it like a stomach ache?" This question broke her last thread which was holding her mood swings.
Jay snapped. She spun around in her chair, her face pale, eyes red-rimmed and flashing with a raw, jagged irritation.
"A stomach ache?" she shouted, her voice cracking. "You think this is just a stomach ache, Mark Keifer? It feels like someone is reaching inside me and wringing out my internal organs like a wet rag! It feels like my lower back is being crushed by a hydraulic press! And on top of that, I feel like I want to die and kill everyone in this room at the same time!"
She began to sob-not the quiet, polite crying of a "Sunshine Girl," but loud, ugly, gasping sobs of pure exhaustion and agony.
"So no, it's not a stomach ache! It's miserable, and I'm miserable, and I hate that you're standing there looking so... so functional! Stay away from me!"
Keifer didn't flinch. He didn't get angry at her shouting. He walked straight to her, despite her weak, trembling hands trying to push him back.
He scooped her up from the chair, and though she tried to resist, the sheer force of an abnormal cramp folded her in half, leaving her breathless and clinging to his shirt.
"I'm sorry," he whispered against her hair. "I'm an idiot. I'm learning."
He laid her down and immediately went to work.
She thought finally he was gone.
But....
He only disappeared for ten minutes, returning with a heating pad, a mug of hot ginger tea, and a bag of supplies.
He plugged the pad in and slid it under the covers. Then, he did something he had never dared to do: he climbed into the bed beside her.
Jay didn't push him away this time. She couldn't. The pain was too heavy, and his presence was the only thing keeping her grounded.
With a broken whimper, she buried herself into his chest, her forehead pressed against the firm muscle of his sternum.
When a fresh cramp peaked, she shifted, hiding her face in the crook of his neck and shoulder, her tears soaking into his grey t-shirt.
"It hurts," she sobbed into his skin, the mask completely gone.
"Keifer, it hurts so much."
"I know, I've got you," he murmured, his large hand stroking her hair in a slow, steady rhythm.
In a moment of desperate vulnerability, Jay reached down and grabbed his other hand.
Her fingers were trembling as she pulled his palm toward her. She tucked it under the waistband of her pajama pants, pressing his warm, heavy hand directly onto her lower abdomen, right over the heating pad.
"There," she breathed, her voice small and shaky. "Just... stay there. The warmth... it helps."
Keifer froze for a split second, the intimacy of the gesture hitting him like a physical blow.
He had never touched any girl, atleast not like this.
He could feel the tension in her muscles, the heat of her skin, and the frantic beat of her heart.
He adjusted his position, pulling her closer until there was no space left between them, his hand acting as a steady, grounding weight on her pain.
The clock on the mantel ticked toward midnight, the only sound in the room other than the rhythmic, soft breathing of the girl held firmly against his chest.
Keifer didn't sleep. He lay there, his arm draped protectively over Jay's waist, keeping her tucked into the curve of his body.
In the pale moonlight, her face was stripped of the exhausting "Sunshine" mask.
She looked fragile, her eyelashes casting long shadows against her skin.
He realized then that he wasn't just protective of her; he was captivated by her.
He didn't want to let go, not even for a second.
But his eye shifted to her back.
Through her T-shirt, he could see a mark on her back, like a bruise.
He wanted to see, to touch, to ask, but he didn't.
She was sleeping this peacefully after many years, which he doesn't know and she also don't want him to know.
He just rested her head on his chest kissed on the top of her head and his chin on her forehead.
As the first tendrils of dawn began to bleed through the curtains, the bedroom door creaked open just a fraction.
Donya Elena stood in the threshold, intending to check on Jay.
She paused, her heart swelling at the sight.
They were still tangled together, Jay's head resting in the crook of Keifer's shoulder, his chin resting atop her hair.
They looked like two pieces of a puzzle finally clicking into place.
Elena smiled to herself, seeing the promise she had made to Jay's mother blooming into something real, before she quietly closed the door.
A/n :
Hey guys how's the chapter, is it giving you the same kind of butterflies, it is giving to me, if yesssss, then plz , leave your love in comments and I'll surely collect it.
Bye 👋 ❤️
Love you all ❤️