Chapter 45: Redemption & Confessions
Jay's POV
I stepped into the restaurant, heart thundering like it wanted to break ribs, skip beats, and simultaneously jump into my throat. The red dress clung perfectly—thanks to Honey—and I was hyper-aware of every step, every flicker of candlelight, every person who dared to glance at me.
But of course… one person mattered the most.
Keifer.
He was sitting at the table like he owned the world, and in some twisted way, I knew he did—my world, at least. The moment he saw me, his jaw tightened slightly, his eyes darkened, and… damn it, that tiny smirk. That infuriating, he knows he still has me smirk.
Keifer: "You look… stunning."
Jay: "…Thank you, Mr. Watson." My voice was steady, but my knees begged to give out.
He didn't try anything crazy this time—no hand-holding, no neck kissing. For that, I mentally gave him a point. One point. Don't get used to it, Watson.
Keifer: "May I?"
Jay: "…May you what?"
Keifer: "Sit. Please."
I reluctantly lowered myself into the chair across from him, trying to steady my racing heart. My fingers played with the edge of my napkin, twisting it like it held my courage in folds.
Keifer: "Jay… I need you to hear me out. All of it. I can't live with you thinking I just disappeared for no reason."
Jay: "…I don't know if I'm ready, Keifer. Not yet."
Keifer: "Then let me do this slowly. One piece at a time. Just listen… please."
Jay: "…Fine. Go."
And he did. He started from the beginning, from the rumors, from Yuri, from that hospital bed I thought he abandoned me on purpose. Every word, every explanation was like a balm on the old wounds I had kept stitched shut for years. He didn't just say it—he meant it.
Keifer: "…Jay, I believed lies. I didn't let you speak. I thought you cheated. I let my pride and anger get in the way. And every single day since then, I've regretted it. I've regretted leaving you without an explanation. And I—"
Jay: "Keifer…" My voice cracked, tears threatening to betray me. "…You hurt me. Do you even know how much?"
Keifer: "I know. I know. And I'm sorry doesn't cover it, but it's the start."
Jay: "…I don't know if I can trust you again."
Keifer leaned closer. His voice lowered. "Then let me earn it. Give me the chance to prove I'm not that boy anymore. Please."
I swallowed hard, the tears now burning like acid in my throat. But I knew—I knew—that I still loved him.
Jay: "…Fine. One chance. But no lies, no secrets. Ever again."
Keifer's face softened into something I hadn't seen in years: relief, hope, love.
Keifer: "That's all I needed. That's all I've ever needed."
Dinner continued, but it felt like we were the only people in the world. We talked, laughed, cried a little. Every glance, every touch, every brush of fingers across the table was a promise unspoken but deeply understood.
---
After dessert, Keifer took my hand—no hesitation, no teasing, just firmly holding mine.
Keifer: "Jay… my hotel. I need you to see something. Please?"
Jay: "…Your hotel?"
Keifer: "…Yes. Trust me."
Some part of me hesitated—me? going to his room? But the curiosity, the fluttering in my chest, the pull of his presence, outweighed my caution.
---
Keifer's Hotel Room
He led me inside. The lights were dim, warm, intimate. And then… the boxes.
Boxes stacked neatly on the corner of the room. Small, medium, large. My eyes widened.
Jay: "…What the hell is all this?"
Keifer: "Open them. One by one."
I did.
Inside each box were gifts—carefully wrapped, annotated, placed like he had been planning this for years. Birthdays I never got to celebrate. Anniversaries we never had. Christmases missed. Handwritten notes, favorite chocolates, small trinkets I'd once mentioned in passing. Everything. Every gift meticulously curated. Every gift screaming: I never stopped thinking about you.
Jay: "…Keifer… you… all this?"
Keifer: "Every single one. I was wrong. I missed everything because of my pride, my cowardice. But I want to make it up to you… every day, every moment. If you'll let me."
I felt tears streaming down my face. Every old hurt, every heartbreak, melted into the swell of emotions, a tidal wave that only he could calm.
Jay: "…I… I don't know what to say…"
Keifer: "Say yes. Say you'll try. Say we start over. Just… with me, Jay. Only me."
I reached out. My hands found his, fingers intertwining. My heart thundering in my chest like a war drum.
Jay: "…Yes."
Keifer's smile broke over his face like the sunrise. And then, in one seamless motion, he pulled me close, our lips meeting in a kiss that was slow, desperate, sweet, full of promises. The kind of kiss that said I'm sorry, I'm yours, I've never stopped.
Time stopped.
World vanished.
It was just him, me, the past, and the possibility of a future.
We broke apart for air, foreheads resting together.
Keifer: "…I'll never leave you again."
Jay: "…You better not."
And then, the night blurred into nothing as the world went dark—blackout—leaving only the heat, the relief, and the promise of forever in that quiet, shadowed hotel room.