As If I Could Ever Fake You

All Eyes On Us

It started with a post.

A blurry photo taken through the café window - Jay laughing with her parfait spoon in hand, Keifer smiling at her like she hung the stars.

Captioned:
"Since when were they a thing? #PowerCoupleOrPR #Jay×Keifer"

And like wildfire, it spread.

People reposted it. Commented.

Some said they looked good together.

Some said Jay must've "trapped" him.

Some dug up old rumors, old whispers - about Keifer's ex, about Jay's silence, her beauty, her "nobody" status.

Jay read every word.

And it broke something.

She didn't answer Keifer's texts that day.

Didn't show up to class the next.

She sat on her rooftop in her hoodie, scrolling and scrolling, fingers numb.

Why did it hurt so much?

Maybe because it felt like the world was saying: You're not enough. You never were.

When Keifer showed up, she didn't look at him right away.

He sat beside her in silence for a moment.

Then softly: "So this is where you hide when you're hurting."

Jay bit her lip. "I'm fine."

"You're lying."

"I just..."
She closed her eyes. "They all think I don't deserve you."

Keifer turned to her.

"Do you think that?"

"I don't know."
A whisper. "I didn't care when it was fake. But this is real now. You're real. And suddenly that makes it scarier."

He reached for her hand. Held it with both of his.

"Jay," he said quietly, "they don't know the girl who held my hand when I couldn't breathe. The girl who made me feel safe for the first time in years. They don't get a say."

She finally looked at him.

He leaned in, forehead resting against hers. "I want you. Not because you're perfect. But because you're you. That's all."

A long pause.

Then: "So come downstairs."

"Why?"

"Because I got us a room for the night."

Jay blinked. "You want to run away?"

"No," he said. "I want to stop pretending the world matters when I'm with you."

Later That Night

The hotel room was quiet. Soft light. No tension.

Jay curled up in Keifer's hoodie, hair tied loosely, face bare.

Keifer was shirtless, brushing his teeth and looking too casual for someone who made girls cry in their bathrooms.

Jay sat on the bed, knees hugged to her chest.

When he joined her, he didn't touch her right away.

Just laid beside her.

Then: "I know you're scared."

Jay glanced at him. "So are you."

He smiled a little. "Yeah. But I'm still here."

Then he pulled her closer.

Let her climb onto his lap, straddle him in silence, hands in his hair.

She kissed him slow.

And this time, it wasn't desperation.

It was healing.

His hands gripped her waist. Her lips traced his jaw.

"You're mine," he whispered.

Jay kissed his chest. "Always was."

And when they fell asleep that night, wrapped in each other under the blankets - no lies, no walls - she knew:

This love would not break.

End of Final Chapter

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