jay (pov)
i dont why i said that i just made at myself that i couldnt
save him i felt usless i tried so many times to forgot him but i
just cant forget him i even toke sleeping pills everyday to easy
my pain
JAYS (POV) FLASHBACK
We were 5
Always 5
Always loud.
Always together.
Robin was laughing in front of us.
Ben was arguing with him about something stupid.
Mia was telling them both to shut up.
Keeper was walking behind us like he didn't care—but he always stayed close.
And me…
I was just trying to keep up.
"Jay, hurry up!" Robin called back, smiling.
"I am hurrying!" I shouted.
Ben laughed. "You're slow!"
"I'll push you off a roof," I muttered.
Mia gasped. "Jay!"
Keeper actually smiled a little.
Robin turned back to me.
That soft smile he always had.
"You'd miss me too much."
I rolled my eyes.
"…No I wouldn't."
He just laughed again.
Like he didn't believe me.
Like he knew better.
BEN (POV)
We were arguing about nothing.
As usual.
Robin kept teasing Jay.
Jay kept pretending she didn't care.
But she always walked closer to him when he slowed down.
Always.
I noticed that.
Even back then.
Mia noticed too.
Keeper… he always noticed everything.
MIA (POV)
It felt normal.
That's the worst part.
It felt like nothing could ever go wrong.
Robin was in the middle of everything.
Making us laugh.
Making Jay roll her eyes.
Making Ben loud.
Even Keeper was more relaxed when he was around.
I remember thinking—
this is forever.
KEEPER (POV)
we were teens
we didnt care
we always fought
we were always fighting
we always thought nothing could stop us.
JAY (pov)
byee monkey see you tommrow i said laughing at him
hoy AM NOT MONKEY DONKEY robain said flickring my forehead
OW i said while wincing in my pian.
byeee jaybird robian said while waving at me
byeerobi i said waving back
FLASHBACK – ROBIN'S APARTMENTJAY (POV)
We made it to his apartment.
Barely.
The hallway smelled wrong.
Like something already burning before we even saw it.
"Robin!" I shouted, pushing the door open.
"Jay, wait—" Keeper grabbed my arm.
But I pulled away.
Inside—
smoke.
Thick.
Everywhere.
Ben coughed instantly. "This is bad—this is REALLY bad!"
Mia froze at the door. "Oh my—"
Then—
a sound.
A loud crack.
Keeper's face changed instantly.
"MOVE!"
EXPLOSION
Everything happened at once.
A BOOM.
The wall shook.
Fire burst from inside the apartment.
The force threw us back.
"JAY!" Ben screamed.
Keeper grabbed Mia and pulled her back instantly.
"OUT! NOW!"
But I wasn't moving.
Because I saw him.
Robin.
Inside.
Still there.
Still trapped.
"NO!" I screamed.
I ran.
BEN (POV)
"JAY STOP!"
She didn't.
She ran back in.
Keeper swore under his breath.
"BEN—MOVE!"
i ran after her
We couldn't let her go alone.
We couldn't lose both of them.
KEEPER (POV)
Everything was collapsing.
Fire everywhere.
Walls cracking.
Jay disappeared inside the smoke.
"JAY!" I shouted.
Mia was crying now. "We have to get her OUT!"
I ran in after her.
Ben followed instantly.
We saw her.
She was trying to reach Robin.
He was deeper inside.
Barely visible.
"Jay, we have to go!" I grabbed her arm.
"No!" she screamed. "HE'S THERE!"
Another explosion shook the building.
Everything went red for a second.
Heat hit us like a wall.
JAY (POV)
I could see him.
Barely.
Robin was still there.
Reaching.
Trying.
"JAY—GO!" he shouted weakly.
"No!" I screamed back.
I ran again.
And then—
something hit me.
Hard.
Fire.
Heat.
Pain.
Too fast.
I fell.
Everything burned.
My arm.
My shoulder.
My skin.
my blood
but nothing was impotant than robian
I remember screaming.
I remember hands pulling me back.
Ben yelling my name.
Keeper grabbing me.
Mia crying.
And Robin—
still inside.
Still there.
FLASHBACK – HOSPITALJAY (POV)
The first thing I remember was white.
Too much white.
Too bright.
It hurt my eyes.
Then the beeping started.
Slow.
Steady.
Too calm for what I felt inside.
I tried to move.
Pain shot through my arm instantly.
"Ah—!"
"Jay!" Mia's voice.
She was there.
Right beside me.
Her face looked… broken.
Ben was standing near the door, frozen like he didn't know whether to come closer or run away.
Keeper was sitting in a chair, head down.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
MIA (POV)
She woke up.
Finally.
But she looked like she was somewhere else.
"Jay… don't move," I said softly.
Her eyes searched the room immediately.
"…Robin?"
Silence.
That one word broke everything again.
Ben turned away instantly.
Keeper didn't move.
I couldn't answer her.
I couldn't.
BEN (POV)
I knew what was coming.
The question.
I didn't want to hear it.
But she asked anyway.
"…Where is he?"
No one spoke.
Not me.
Not Mia.
Not Keeper.
And that silence—
that was the answer.
JAY (POV)
I looked at them.
One by one.
Waiting.
Hoping someone would say something different.
Something better.
But no one did.
And I understood.
Slowly.
"No…" I whispered.
My hands started shaking.
"No—no he was right there—"
Mia grabbed my hand. "Jay…"
I pulled away instantly.
"No!"
Pain.
Confusion.
Everything at once.
"NO HE WAS THERE!"
My voice broke.
I tried to sit up—
but the pain stopped me instantly.
I fell back.
Breathing too fast.
Too broken.
KEEPER (POV)
I finally stood up.
Slowly.
I walked to her.
"Jay…"
She looked at me like she didn't trust anything anymore.
"…We tried," I said quietly.
"I know it doesn't feel like enough."
"It wasn't enough," she whispered.
Silence.
I couldn't lie to her.
None of us could.