Bella crossed her arms again, still pouting even though a smile was already threatening to break through the stubborn expression on her face.
"Don't ever stop talking like that, okay? Ever. I don't care what drama is happening, what secrets you're keeping, or what stress you're under. You don't get to disappear on me. Deal?"
Jay's expression softened immediately.
He looked at her, and something in his eyes shifted. Gratitude. Affection. The quiet warmth of found family. The kind of bond that didn't need blood to exist.
"I'm sorry, Bella," he said quietly. "We both got so stressed. And I'm very bad at hiding things. Like, catastrophically bad." He gestured at himself helplessly. "That's why I had to avoid you and Bro. One look at my face and you both would have known something was wrong."
Bella raised one eyebrow slowly.
"You think?"
