Cherreads

Chapter 41 - Her pain

đŸ–€ Scene: The Quiet Day After

Keifer's POV

Morning feels
 off.

---

Not because of noise.

Because of absence.

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She's already up.

But I don't hear her.

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No footsteps near the kitchen.

No small voice asking something random.

No presence pulling attention without trying.

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Just silence.

---

I walk down anyway.

She's there.

---

Sitting with Ciel.

Talking.

Laughing softly.

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But when I step closer—

her voice lowers slightly.

Just a little.

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Then she stands.

"I'll help Mama," she says.

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And leaves.

Without looking at me.

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Ciel watches her go.

Then looks at me.

"
she's been like that since yesterday."

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I don't answer.

Because I already know.

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🌙 Later

I try again.

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"Jay."

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She pauses in the hallway.

Doesn't turn fully.

"
yeah?"

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Just that.

Flat.

Careful.

---

"Did you eat?"

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"Yeah."

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Lie.

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I frown slightly.

"
you didn't."

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She finally looks at me.

A small polite smile.

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"I did."

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Then walks away again.

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đŸ–€ Keifer's POV

This isn't anger.

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This isn't even distance anymore.

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It's
 adjustment.

Like she changed her position around me.

---

So I don't disturb anything anymore.

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And I don't know how to fix something that's already reorganize itself without me.

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🌙 Night — Liam Scene

It's late.

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I'm walking past the corridor.

I stop.

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Her door is slightly open.

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A voice inside.

Soft.

Shaky.

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I shouldn't listen.

But I do.

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đŸ–€ Jayjay's POV (inside room)

I sit on the floor.

Liam's photo in my hand.

---

My fingers tremble slightly.

"I tried
"

my voice breaks a little.

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"I really tried
"

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Silence.

---

I swallow.

---

"
I was so stupid to think it would be different."

---

My breath shakes.

---

Then softer—

"
why isn't he like you?"

---

A pause.

---

"I thought I was doing better
"

small laugh that hurts

"
I wasn't, was I?"

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My hand tightens on the photo.

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"I don't know what I'm doing wrong
"

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Silence.

---

And I whisper:

"
I miss when it didn't hurt to try."

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đŸ–€ Keifer's POV (outside)

I freeze.

---

Completely.

---

Not moving.

Not breathing properly.

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Because I hear it.

All of it.

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Not anger.

Not blame.

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Just
 exhaustion.

From trying.

From me.

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And the worst part?

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She isn't talking to me.

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She's talking to someone who can't answer.

Because it feels safer.

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My hand tightens slightly.

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And I realize something I didn't before.

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She didn't stop loving.

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She stopped believing it's safe to show it to me.

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🌙 Ending

I step back quietly.

Don't enter.

Don't interrupt.

---

Because for the first time


I understand something clearly.

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This wasn't just a fight.

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It was something I caused to settle inside her.

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And now it lives there.

Quiet.

Heavy.

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