MARRY YOUR KILLER
Chapter Sixty-Four: The Tears
---
The morning came gray and cold.
Keifer woke alone. The bed was empty. The sheets were cold. The room was dark. He reached for her. She wasn't there. He sat up. His heart was pounding. His hands were shaking. He hadn't felt this fear since the day she left. Since the day she walked out the door. Since the day she broke his heart.
He walked through the house. The hallway was empty. The kitchen was empty. The study was empty. The garden was empty. The steps where they had sat were wet with rain. The flowers were dying. The leaves were falling. Winter had come to Manila. Winter had come to his heart.
He found her in Lyra's corner.
She was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall, her knees against her chest. Her face was buried in her arms. Her shoulders were shaking. She was crying. She was crying alone. She was crying in the corner where Lyra used to stand. Where Lyra used to watch. Where Lyra used to wait.
He stood at the edge of the corner. He didn't move. He didn't speak. He watched her cry. Her body was small. Her hands were shaking. Her face was hidden. She was trying to be quiet. She was trying to be strong. She was trying to be the woman who had saved him. The woman who had left him. The woman who had come back.
He knelt beside her. His hand was on her back. His voice was low.
"Jay."
She didn't look up. Her shoulders shook. Her breath came in gasps. She was trying to stop. She was trying to be still. She was trying to be the woman who never cried. The woman who never broke. The woman who never needed anyone.
He pulled her close. His arms were around her. His face was in her hair. "I'm here. I'm here."
She held him. Her hands were cold. Her face was wet. Her body was shaking. "She's gone. She's gone and I couldn't save her. I couldn't—"
He held her tighter. "You saved me. You saved all of us. You—"
"I didn't save her." Her voice cracked. "She took a bullet for me. She took a bullet that was meant for me. She died for me. She died and I couldn't—"
He pulled back. His hands were on her face. His eyes were steady. "She died because she loved you. She died because she wanted to protect you. She died because she chose to. And she would do it again. She would do it a hundred times. She would do it for the rest of her life."
Jay looked at him. Her face was wet. Her eyes were red. "I should have been faster. I should have seen him. I should have—"
"You should have let her protect you." His voice was soft. "You should have let her be the woman she was. The woman who stood in this corner every day. The woman who watched. The woman who waited. The woman who protected the people she loved."
She looked at the wall. At the place where Lyra used to stand. At the place where she had stood for hours. At the place where she had watched the street. Where she had waited for Alex. Where she had been alive.
"She was going to get married," Jay said. "She was going to marry Alex. She was going to have a life. She was going to be happy. And now she's gone. Now she's—"
Her voice cracked. She couldn't finish. She couldn't say the words. She couldn't say that Lyra was dead. That Lyra was gone. That Lyra would never come back.
Keifer held her. His arms were around her. His face was in her hair. "She's not gone. She's here. In this corner. In this house. In our hearts. She's always here."
Jay held him. Her hands were shaking. Her face was wet. "I miss her. I miss her so much."
He held her. "I know. I know."
---
The hours passed.
They sat in the corner. Her corner. The one where Lyra used to stand. The one where she had held a knife to Alex's throat. The one where she had let him stay. The one where she had told him she loved him. The one where she had died.
Jay leaned against Keifer. Her head was on his shoulder. Her hand was in his.
"She saved me," Jay said. "In the warehouse. In the street. Every day. She saved me every day."
Keifer kissed her hair. "She saved all of us."
Jay looked at the window. At the street below. At the place where Lyra used to watch. "She was always watching. Always waiting. Always protecting. And we never knew. We never saw her. We never—"
"She saw you." Keifer's voice was soft. "She saw you and she loved you. She loved you like a sister. She loved you like family. She loved you like the woman who saved her. Who made her real. Who gave her a home."
Jay closed her eyes. She saw Lyra's face. Her blank face. Her empty eyes. Her small smile. Her hand in hers. Her voice in her ear.
"I love you," Lyra had said. In the warehouse. In the hospital. In the corner. "I love you."
Jay opened her eyes. The corner was empty. The window was dark. The street was quiet. Lyra was gone. She would always be gone.
But she was here. In her corner. In her house. In her heart. She was always here.
---
The door opened. Alex stood in the doorway.
His face was pale. His eyes were red. His hands were empty. He had been in the corner all night. He had been sitting where she used to stand. He had been waiting. He had been watching. He had been hoping she would come back.
He looked at Jay. At Keifer. At the corner where they were sitting. At the place where Lyra used to be.
"She would hate this," Alex said. "She would hate seeing you cry. She would hate seeing you sad. She would hate—"
His voice cracked. He stopped.
Jay stood up. She walked to him. She took his hand. "She would hate seeing you alone."
Alex looked at her. His face was wet. "I'm not alone. I have you. I have all of you. I have—"
He stopped. He couldn't finish. He couldn't say that he had nothing. That he had no one. That he had lost the only person who had ever seen him. Who had ever loved him. Who had ever made him real.
Jay pulled him close. Her arms were around him. "You have us. You have always had us. And she knew. She knew you were never alone. She knew you had people who loved you. She knew—"
"She knew I had her." His voice was low. "She knew I had her and that was enough. That was always enough."
Jay held him. "She knew. She knew."
---
They stood in the corner. The three of them. The people who had loved her. The people who would never stop loving her. The people who would carry her with them for the rest of their lives.
Keifer put his hand on Alex's shoulder. "She saved us. All of us. She saved Jay. She saved me. She saved you. She saved everyone who walked into this house. Everyone who needed her. Everyone who loved her."
Alex looked at the window. At the street below. At the place where she used to watch.
"She was always watching," Alex said. "She was always waiting. She was always there. And now she's gone. Now she's—"
"She's here." Jay's voice was steady. "She's here in this corner. She's here in this house. She's here in our hearts. She's never going to leave. She's never going to be gone. She's always going to be with us."
Alex looked at her. His face was wet. His hands were shaking. "She loved you. She loved you more than anything. She would have done anything for you. She did do anything for you. She—"
"She loved you too." Jay's voice was soft. "She loved you from the first day. From the moment you walked into her corner. From the moment you said her name. From the moment you made her real."
Alex closed his eyes. He saw her face. Her blank face. Her empty eyes. Her small smile. Her hand in his. Her voice in his ear.
"I love you," Lyra had said. "I love you."
He opened his eyes. The corner was empty. The window was dark. The street was quiet. Lyra was gone. She would always be gone.
But he would stay. He would always stay. In her corner. Waiting. Watching. Loving.
---
END OF CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR