JayJay POV
I skipped school for a week.
Told them I wasn't feeling well — and it wasn't a lie. My body felt like it had been stitched together with exhaustion. My chest ached in ways I couldn't name. Even blinking felt like effort.
So I stayed home.
Wandered the mansion like a ghost.
Percy was chaos incarnate. He hadn't stopped moving since the day he showed up — slamming doors, yelling at lawyers, threatening to "accidentally" leak contracts. He was a walking storm with a heart of gold and a mouth that didn't know how to whisper.
Jare was energy. Focused. Sharp. He didn't yell like Percy. He just moved — fixing things, replacing locks, installing cameras, calling lawyers, checking in on me without asking questions. He didn't need to. He already knew.
He's my twin.
And somehow, even after all these years apart, he still knew how to read me better than anyone.
Sometimes I'd find him sitting outside my door, just waiting. Not saying anything. Just being there. And that was enough.
And then, just when I thought the house couldn't get any louder…
Luna arrived.
My best friend from New York.
She didn't knock. She didn't text. She just showed up — calm, composed, and radiant in a way that made people pause. Luna had that kind of beauty that didn't ask for attention but always got it. Clear eyes. Quiet confidence. A voice that could cut through noise without raising volume.
She walked into the mansion like she belonged there.
And somehow, she did.
Within hours, she'd settled in like she'd lived here her whole life. She didn't rearrange furniture or throw glitter around — she didn't need to. Her presence alone shifted the air. She brought warmth. Stability. A kind of quiet rebellion against everything that had hurt me.
She made Percy slow down. Made Jare blink twice when she spoke. Made me laugh — real laughter, the kind that made my ribs ache.
We stayed up late talking about everything and nothing. She didn't ask me to explain what happened. She just listened. And when I couldn't speak, she filled the silence with stories from New York, with memories of us before everything cracked.
I noticed the way Jare looked at her.
Not obviously. Not dramatically. Just… softer. Like he didn't know how to process someone like Luna. Like he was trying not to stare but kept failing.
And Luna?
She teased him. Challenged him. Met his quiet with her calm. But I saw the way her eyes lingered when he left the room. The way she smiled when he wasn't looking.
They didn't say anything.
Of course they didn't.
But I saw it.
And I didn't mind.
Because Jare deserved someone who could meet him where he was. And Luna deserved someone who wouldn't flinch at her strength.
It didn't fix everything.
The bruises were still there — not just on my skin, but in my memory. I still woke up some nights gasping, heart racing, my stepfather's voice echoing in my head.
The way he used to grip my shoulder too tight.
The way Jenna told me to "be quiet, it's not that bad."
The way I learned to shrink myself just to survive.
But Luna was here.
And Jare was here.
And Percy was here.
And for the first time in a long time, I felt like maybe — just maybe — I wasn't alone.