Jay POV
I was laughing so hard that my stomach hurt.
The pool war had officially turned into a battlefield.
Aries was trying to splash me.
Keifer was helping him.
Which was honestly rude because my own boyfriend was teaming up against me.
"Traitor!" I shouted at Keifer.
"I'm just helping justice," Keifer said while laughing.
"There is no justice here!"
"There is," Aries said. "It's called revenge."
Before I could answer, I heard two familiar voices.
"Kuya!"
"Ate Jay!"
I turned around just in time to see Keiren running toward us at full speed.
"Oh no—"
SPLASH!
The next thing I knew, both of us were in the pool.
"KEIREN!" I shouted.
"I missed you, Ate!" Keiren said, wrapping his arms around me dramatically.
I laughed and ruffled his wet hair.
"I missed you too."
Suddenly everything became quiet.
A dangerous kind of quiet.
I looked toward Aries.
He was staring at us.
"What did you call her?" Aries asked.
Keiren blinked.
"Ate?"
"Again."
"Ate Jay?"
Aries narrowed his eyes.
Before he could say anything, Keifer wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"Of course she's his Ate," Keifer said proudly. "She's going to be his future sister-in-law."
WHACK!
Aries smacked the back of Keifer's head.
"Ow!" Keifer complained.
"No, she's not," Aries said.
Keifer looked offended.
"What do you mean no?"
"She's my sister."
"She's also my girlfriend."
"My sister."
"My girlfriend."
"My sister."
"My girlfriend."
I buried my face in my hands.
"Can I return both of you?"
"No," Keigan said as he finally joined us.
Everyone burst out laughing.
After another half hour of chaos, splashing, and Keiren almost drowning me with his hugs, Keifer finally called one of the butlers.
"Please bring some towels before these idiots catch a cold," Keifer said.
"Hey!" I protested.
The butler smiled politely.
"Right away, sir."
A few minutes later, all of us were sitting together drying off.
Somehow, we naturally ended up in a line.
Keigan was drying Keiren's hair.
I was drying Keigan's hair.
Keifer was drying mine.
And Aries was drying Keifer's.
I looked around and laughed.
"Why does this feel like a kindergarten?"
Keigan laughed.
"Because we're taking care of children."
"I heard that," Keifer said.
"Good."
I felt Keifer gently rubbing a towel through my hair.
"Hold still," he said.
"I'm literally sitting still."
"You moved."
"I blinked."
"Exactly."
Aries snorted.
"Now you know how difficult she is."
"Kuya!"
Everyone laughed again.
For a moment, everything felt peaceful.
Comfortable.
Like family.
Soon after, we headed inside for breakfast.
The dining table was filled with food.
Pancakes.
Eggs.
Bacon.
Toast.
Fruit.
Enough food to feed an army.
Keiren immediately started eating.
Keigan followed.
Keifer was somehow stealing food from my plate.
And Aries...
Aries was barely touching his food.
I frowned.
Something felt off.
"Kuya," I said.
"Hm?" Aries replied.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
I narrowed my eyes.
"You don't look fine."
"It's just a little headache."
"It's okay if your foot hurts."
For a second there was silence.
Then everyone started laughing.
Even Aries laughed.
"That doesn't even make sense," he said.
"It made sense in my head."
"That's concerning."
I stuck my tongue out at him.
Aries rolled his eyes.
But even while smiling, he still looked pale.
Too pale
Something definitely wasn't right.
I stuck my tongue out at him.
Aries rolled his eyes.
But even while smiling, he still looked pale.
Too pale.
I watched him for the rest of breakfast.
The more I looked at him, the more worried I became.
Something definitely wasn't right.
After breakfast, Keigan and Keiren started arguing over what movie to watch.
Keifer was trying to convince everyone that his choice was better.
Which it wasn't.
Meanwhile, Aries quietly walked toward the living room and sat down on the couch.
That alone was enough to make me suspicious.
Aries never sat still.
Ever.
I excused myself from the conversation and walked over to him.
"Kuya?" I asked.
"Hm?" Aries replied.
"You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Liar."
"I'm not lying."
"You're a terrible liar."
Aries sighed dramatically.
"It's just a headache, Jay."
I frowned.
Something felt off.
I sat beside him and casually placed my hand on his arm.
The second I touched him, I pulled my hand away.
"Oh my God!"
My voice came out much louder than I intended.
Everyone immediately turned toward me.
"What happened?" Keifer asked, standing up.
"He's burning up!"
The room instantly became quiet.
"What?" Keigan asked.
I touched Aries' forehead this time.
My eyes widened.
"Kuya, you're literally on fire!"
"I'm not," Aries muttered.
"Yes, you are!"I said
"I'm fine." he said
"You are not fine!"I said
Aries tried standing up.
Bad idea.
The moment he got to his feet, he swayed dangerously.
"Whoa—"
Before he could fall, Keifer quickly grabbed his arm.
"Easy," Keifer said.
For once, there was no teasing in his voice.
Only concern.
"I told you," I said.
Aries closed his eyes for a second.
And that was enough for me to panic.
"Keifer."
"I know." He said
Keifer immediately helped Aries sit back down.
Keigan walked over and asked ..."How high is the fever?"
"I don't know," I admitted.
"Let's check."
A few minutes later, one of the staff brought a thermometer.
We waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Then it beeped.
Keigan looked at the screen.
His eyes widened.
"Oh."
"What?" I asked.
"Oh, that's not good."
"KEIGAN." me and keifer said union
"It's pretty high." It is 104 *C
I looked at Aries.
He looked exhausted.
How had none of us noticed sooner?
Probably because he spent the entire morning pretending to be okay.
Idiot.
Complete idiot.
"Jay."
I looked up.
Keifer was holding a glass of water and some medicine.
"Can you help?"
I nodded immediately.
I sat beside Aries again.
"Kuya."
No response.
"Kuya."
He slowly opened one eye.
"What?" he asked disgusted like i am a type of annoying robot to him right now.
"Medicine." I replied
"No."
I blinked.
"What?"
"No." He said
"You need it." i said try to convince him .
"No."
I looked at Keifer.
Keifer looked at me.
Then both of us looked back at Aries.
"Drink the medicine," I said.
"No."
"Drink it."
"No."
"Kuya."
"No."
I groaned.
Why was he acting like a child? I whispered to myself .
Keifer crouched beside the couch.
"Aries." he said
"What?"
"Drink the medicine."
"No."
"Aries."
"No."
"Aries."
"No."
Keifer sighed.
Then a very evil smile appeared on his face.
Uh oh.
I knew that smile.
"Drink it," Keifer said, "or I'll tell Jay all of your embarrassing childhood stories."
Aries immediately opened both eyes.
"You wouldn't."
"I would."
"You can't."
"I absolutely can."
I grinned.
"Now I'm interested."
"Jay, don't encourage him." Aries looking at me directly with widen eyes.
"Too late." i said
Aries looked betrayed.
"You're supposed to be on my side."
"I am." I said
"Then stop smiling."
"No."
A few seconds later, Aries grabbed the medicine.
"Good choice," Keifer said.
"I hate both of you." he said pointing toward us
"We know," I replied.
After taking the medicine, Aries finally stopped arguing and leaned back against the couch.
The fever clearly wasn't making him feel any better.
I grabbed a cold towel and carefully placed it on his forehead.
For the first time all day, he didn't complain.
That worried me more than anything.
The room slowly became quieter.
Keigan and Keiren stopped arguing.
Keifer sat nearby.
Everyone was watching Aries.
Like we were all waiting for him to suddenly be okay again.
But recovery doesn't work that way.
Sometimes even the strongest people need to rest.
And Aries had spent years taking care of everyone else.
Maybe it was finally our turn to take care of him.
Aries POV
The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that something felt heavy.
And cold.
I frowned slightly and slowly opened my eyes.
What in the world...
I looked down.
Then froze.
Jay was asleep.
Her head was resting carefully beside me while one of her hands was still holding the cold cloth she had been using on my forehead.
The cloth had slipped slightly.
So had she.
At some point, she must have fallen asleep while taking care of me.
Idiot.
I smiled despite myself.
I carefully sat up and fixed the cloth before gently moving her.
Jay stirred slightly but didn't wake up.
"Always making me worry," I muttered.
I carefully pulled her closer and adjusted her position so she wouldn't wake up with a stiff neck.
Then I fixed her arm.
Then her legs.
Then covered her with a blanket.
A few strands of hair had fallen across her face.
I gently brushed them away.
Still asleep.
Like a rock.
A very annoying rock.
I chuckled quietly.
The moment I leaned back against the couch, I heard footsteps.
Fast footsteps.
Very fast footsteps.
Keifer.
He came running out of the kitchen.
The second he saw me awake, he rushed over.
Without saying a word, he immediately placed his hand on my forehead.
I blinked.
He blinked.
I blinked again.
Then he checked my temperature again.
Like he didn't trust the first result.
Only after a few seconds did relief finally appear on his face.
"Finally," Keifer said.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Finally what?"
"You're awake, Sleeping Beauty."
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
Then I threw a pillow at him.
"Ow!"
"Don't call me Sleeping Beauty."
"But you were sleeping."
"I had a fever."
"Still counts."
I rolled my eyes.
"You're getting influenced by Percy."
Keifer looked offended.
"Excuse me?"
"Too much time around him."
"That's rude."
"That's accurate."
Keifer grabbed another pillow.
I pointed a finger at him.
"Don't."
He slowly lowered the pillow.
"Good choice."
Then something suddenly clicked in my head.
I looked toward Jay.
Then back at Keifer.
Then back at Jay.
"Why did you let her sleep like that?" I asked.
Keifer immediately sighed.
The sigh of a defeated man.
"I tried moving her."
"And?"
"She threatened me."
I laughed.
"You got threatened by Jay?"
"Yes."
"What did she say?"
Keifer pointed dramatically.
"She told me that if I moved her even an inch while she was taking care of you, she wouldn't talk to me for a week."
I burst out laughing.
"That's all?"
"Do you know how terrifying that is?"
"No."
"It is."
I laughed harder.
"You're unbelievable."
"No," Keifer replied. "Your sister is unbelievable."
Before I could answer—
DING DONG.
The doorbell rang.
Keifer frowned.
"Who is visiting now?"
"I don't know."
He walked toward the front door.
A few seconds later—
Silence.
Then:
"Oh no."
I immediately looked up.
That tone never meant anything good.
Keifer returned to the living room.
Looking traumatized.
"What happened?" I asked.
He pointed toward the entrance.
Everyone turned.
And there they were.
The entire Section E.
And Percy.
Leading the invasion.
"KEIFER!"
Before Keifer could react, Percy launched himself forward.
He wrapped both arms around Keifer.
"Awwww, my darling baby!"
Keifer looked horrified.
Percy kissed both of his cheeks dramatically.
"I missed you so much!"
"EWW!"
Keifer immediately started wiping his face.
"You ugly idiot!"
Percy placed a hand over his heart.
"You wound me."
"You deserve it."
I couldn't stop smirking.
"Now you know how I felt yesterday."
Keifer glared at me.
"Traitor."
"Deserved."
The others burst out laughing.
Then Percy's attention shifted.
Straight toward me.
His eyes widened.
"ARIES!"
Before I could escape, Percy was already beside me.
"How are you feeling?" He asked
"I'm alive." i replied
"My baby is sick!" percy said
"I'm not your baby." i said
"You are today."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
I regretted waking up.
Then Percy suddenly noticed Jay sleeping beside me.
His expression instantly softened.
"Aww."
Everyone looked down.
Jay was still asleep.
Completely unaware of the chaos around her.
One hand was still loosely holding my thumb.
Like she had fallen asleep without realizing it.
Percy immediately pulled out his phone.
"Oh, she's adorable." and looking like a cute monster .
"Percy—" I warned.
Too late.
CLICK.
The picture was already taken.
"Perfect."
"Delete it."
"Never."
Then Ci-N immediately ran forward.
"I'm waking her up!"
Both Keifer and I spoke at the exact same time.
"NO."
Ci-N froze.
"What?"
"Let her sleep," Keifer said.
"She's tired," I added.
Ci-N sighed dramatically.
"Fine."
Then the entire group somehow ended up sitting on the floor.
Playing UNO.
Because apparently nobody knew how to behave normally.
Jay remained asleep beside me.
Keifer sat on one side.
Percy sat on the other.
And Section E had completely taken over the mansion.
"UNO!" Mayo shouted.
"YOU DIDN'T SAY UNO!" Yuri shouted back.
"I DID!"
"YOU DIDN'T!"
The argument immediately exploded.
I rubbed my forehead.
Then pointed toward Jay.
"Lower your voices."
Everyone immediately looked at her.
Still asleep.
Still peaceful.
Still somehow sleeping through all this noise.
Lucky.
Very lucky.
Meanwhile, I was stuck supervising a group of idiots.
And judging by the way Percy was already planning another selfie—
My headache was definitely coming back.