Chapter: 3:47 A.M.
✦ Aries POV
3:47 A.M.
I don't know why I woke up.
Maybe it was the silence.
Or maybe it was the fear that had been living inside me ever since Jay started having those nightmares again.
I turned to the side.
Her blanket was folded.
Her pillow was cold.
And she was gone.
For a second, I thought she was in the washroom. I waited. Five seconds. Ten. Thirty.
Nothing.
My chest tightened.
"Jay?" I whispered.
No answer.
I got up quickly and checked the balcony. Empty.
Kitchen. Empty.
Living room. Empty.
My hands started shaking.
No. No. No.
The nightmares.
She kept saying she saw her mom. She kept crying in Keifer's arms, talking about how she was scared she'd "lose her again."
What if…
What if she went searching for her mother again?
What if she ran away?
"Kuya!" I banged on the door of Kuya Angelo's room. "Kuya, wake up!"
He opened the door half-asleep. "Aries? What happened?"
"Jay is not here."
That woke him up instantly.
"What do you mean not here?"
"She's gone!" My voice cracked. "She's not in her room. I checked everywhere."
Kuya Angelo grabbed his phone. "Call her."
I did.
Ringing.
Ringing.
No answer.
My heart started pounding so loudly I could hear it in my ears.
"She wouldn't…" I muttered. "She wouldn't leave like that… right?"
Kuya Angelo looked at me, serious. "Think. Where would she go?"
And then it hit me.
Keifer.
I dialed his number with trembling fingers.
He answered on the second ring.
"…Aries?" His voice was sleepy but alert. "It's 3:47. What happened?"
"Jay is missing."
Silence.
Then I heard him sit up.
"What?"
"She's not here. I think… I think she might have gone to you."
There was a pause.
And then—
"She's here."
My knees almost gave out.
"What?"
"She's in my room."
✦ Keifer POV
The sound of the door opening at 3 a.m. wasn't something I ignored.
I'm a light sleeper.
When I saw her standing there in the doorway… barefoot… wearing the same oversized hoodie… eyes empty—
My heart stopped.
"Jay?"
She didn't answer.
She walked in slowly like she wasn't even fully awake.
"Jay, what are you doing here?"
And then she whispered—
"I couldn't breathe."
That was it.
Three words.
And I understood.
I didn't ask anything else.
I just pulled her into my arms.
She collapsed against me like she had been holding herself together for hours.
She didn't cry.
She just trembled.
Now, as I'm on the phone with Aries, she's asleep beside me. Her hand is gripping my shirt tightly, like she's scared I'll disappear.
"She just came?" Aries asks, voice shaking.
"She didn't even knock properly," I say quietly. "She looks like she sleep-walked."
There's silence on the other side.
"I thought she went looking for her mom," Aries whispers.
His voice breaks.
And I realize something.
Aries is scared too.
Not just for her.
Of losing her.
"Aries," I say firmly. "She's safe."
"…Is she crying?"
"No."
"She was crying every night," he says softly. "But only when she thought no one could hear."
That hurts.
Because she only cries in my arms when no one is looking.
She's breaking quietly.
And we're all pretending she's okay.
"She kept saying she sees blood in her dreams," Aries continues. "She says she hears someone calling her."
I look at Jay's face.
Even in sleep, her brows are slightly furrowed.
"She didn't leave you," I say. "She ran to the only place she felt safe."
There's a deep exhale from Aries.
"I'll come there," he says.
"No."
He pauses.
"She's finally asleep," I say softly. "If you ring the bell, she'll wake up."
"…You'll call me if anything happens?"
"I swear."
There's another silence.
Then Aries says something I never expected.
"Don't let her go."
My grip around her tightens.
"I won't."
After we hang up, I look down at her again.
She moves slightly and whispers something in her sleep.
"Don't leave me…"
I press my forehead gently against hers.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Outside, it's still dark.
3:59 A.M.
But something tells me this is just the beginning of a bigger storm.
And this time…
I'm not letting her face it alone.