Ceo Couple-Jayfer-Chapter 29 - 28: The Diary

Saturday afternoon. Mariano family home.

Jay’s parents were renovating. Which meant cleaning out EVERYTHING. Old rooms. Old boxes. Old memories.

Jay volunteered to help. Keifer came along. Because where Jay went, Keifer followed.

"You don’t have to help," Jay said, carrying boxes.

"I know."

"Then why are you here?"

He almost-smiled. "You."

She kissed his cheek. "Soft."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

He did. Quick. Sweet.

Percy walked past. "GROSS. Get a room."

Jay threw a box at him. He dodged.

"What’s in here anyway?" Percy opened it. Old notebooks. School projects. Random stuff.

Then he froze.

"NO WAY."

Jay looked over. "What?"

Percy held up a small notebook. Pink. With a tiny lock. Broken.

"Jay’s diary. From when she was THIRTEEN."

Jay’s face went white. "PERCY. GIVE ME THAT."

She ran. He ran faster.

"KEIFER! READY TO LEARN SOME SECRETS?"

Keifer raised an eyebrow. "This should be interesting."

Jay chased Percy around the house. "PERCY I SWEAR TO GOD—"

He dodged. Opened the diary. Started reading dramatically.

"DEAR DIARY. Today was the WORST. Miguel looked at Maria in math class. NOT me. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even know I exist. My life is OVER."

Keifer bit back a smile.

Jay hid her face. "STOP."

Percy continued. "I’m going to be an actress. Or a singer. Or a CEO. Something AMAZING. Then Miguel will regret NOT looking at me."

Keifer chuckled. Low. Quiet.

Jay peeked through her fingers. "You’re enjoying this."

"Very much."

The commotion brought everyone.

Jasfer walked in. "What’s happening?"

Mama Reycee followed. "Why is Percy running?"

Aries and Ella arrived. Keifer’s family had just come over too. Both families. Full house.

Percy waved the diary. "JAY’S CHILDHOOD DIARY! FROM AGE THIRTEEN!"

Keizer’s eyes lit up. "READ IT. READ EVERYTHING."

Serina smiled. "This should be good."

Keigan pulled out his phone. "Archives. Special edition."

Keiren tugged Serina’s sleeve. "Mommy, what’s a diary?"

"It’s where people write their secrets, baby."

Keiren gasped. "Kuya’s girlfriend has SECRETS?"

Everyone laughed.

Percy flipped pages. Found another gem.

"Dear Diary. I told Mama I want to dye my hair pink. She said no. I’m going to run away and join a band. Then she’ll be sorry."

Jasfer laughed. "I remember this phase."

Mama Reycee nodded. "Lasted three days."

Percy kept going. "Today I decided I’m in love with Leo. He’s in eighth grade. He has a lip ring. So cool. We’re going to get married and travel the world."

Aries snorted. "Leo? The guy with the terrible acne?"

Jay groaned. "I WAS THIRTEEN."

Keifer’s lips twitched. "Lip ring?"

"SHUT UP."

Percy found more.

"Dear Diary. I hate my brothers. Percy stole my favorite shirt. Aries told Dad I broke the vase. I’m changing my name and moving to Antarctica."

Percy grinned. "Antarctica? Really?"

"I WAS DRAMATIC."

"You still are."

"I WILL KILL YOU."

Keifer pulled her close. "Let him finish."

She glared. "You’re supposed to be on MY side."

"I am. This is entertainment."

She punched his chest. He didn’t move.

The entries continued.

Crushes. Fights with brothers. Dreams of being famous. Complaints about school.

Then Percy stopped. Got quiet.

"What?" Jay asked. "What now?"

Percy looked at her. Soft for once. "Page 47."

He read aloud.

"Dear Diary. Today I thought about the future. About who I’ll marry someday. Not someone boring. Not someone who doesn’t see me. I want someone who looks at me like I matter. Like I’m the only person in the room."

The room went quiet.

Percy continued. "He doesn’t have to be loud. Actually, quiet is good. Quiet means he’s listening. He has to be smart. Smarter than me, even. So he can challenge me. Keep up with me."

Jay’s face changed. She looked at Keifer.

"He has to be cold to everyone else but warm to me. Protective. Loyal. Someone who would fight for me. Someone who would show up when I need him. Without me even asking."

Keifer’s hand tightened around hers.

Percy’s voice got softer. "He has to love his family. Even when they’re crazy. Because mine is crazy too. He has to fit into the chaos. Not run from it."

Mama Reycee grabbed Jasfer’s arm.

Percy finished. "And when I find him? I’ll know. Because he’ll look at me. And I’ll look at him. And we’ll both know. This is it. This is forever."

Silence.

Everyone looked at Keifer.

Cold to others. Warm to her. Protective. Loyal. Shows up without asking. Loves his crazy family. Fits into hers.

Keifer’s eyes were wet. He didn’t wipe them.

Jay stared at him. Tears streaming down her face.

"Thirteen-year-old me," she whispered. "She wrote about you. Before she even knew you existed."

Keifer pulled her close. Buried his face in her hair.

"I love you," he murmured. "I love you so much."

"I love you too."

They held each other. Everyone watched. Sobbing.

Keizer was a MESS. "THAT WAS... THAT WAS..."

Jasfer finished for him. "DESTINY."

Serina wiped her eyes. "She wrote about him. At THIRTEEN."

Mama Reycee nodded, crying. "Before she even met him. Before any of this."

Aries cleared his throat. Gruff. "Okay. That’s... that’s something."

Ella hugged him. "You’re crying too."

"No I’m not."

"Your eyes are red."

"Allergies."

"INDOORS?"

"STRONG ALLERGIES."

Percy held the diary carefully. Like it was sacred. "Jay... this is... this is crazy."

Keigan lowered his phone. For once, not recording. Just emotional. "I can’t even... this is too much."

Keiren tugged Serina’s sleeve. "Mommy, why is everyone crying?"

"Because love is beautiful, baby."

"Oh." He thought. Then ran to Jay and Keifer. Hugged them both. "I love you too."

Jay laughed through tears. Hugged him back. "Thanks, kid."

Keifer patted his head. "Thanks, little man."

Later. After everyone calmed down. Jay and Keifer sat on her childhood bed. The diary between them.

"I can’t believe Percy found that," Jay said.

"I can. He’s annoying."

"The most."

"But useful."

"Sometimes."

Keifer opened the diary. Found page 47. Read it again. Quietly.

"She wrote this," he murmured. "Thirteen. Dreaming of someone. And it was me."

Jay leaned into him. "It was always you. I just didn’t know it."

He kissed her hair. "I don’t deserve you."

"Stop."

"I’m serious."

"So am I." She looked at him. "You’re everything I wrote about. Everything I dreamed of. And more."

He kissed her. Slow. Deep. Perfect.

When they pulled apart, she was smiling.

"Thirteen-year-old me would FREAK OUT if she knew."

"About what?"

"About you. About us. About how happy we are."

He almost-smiled. "She’d be happy?"

"She’d be ECSTATIC."

"Good."

"Good."

They went downstairs. Diary in hand.

Both families still there. Still emotional.

Jay held up the diary. "This stays in the family. Forever."

Keizer nodded. "FRAME IT."

Jasfer agreed. "Put it in a safe."

Mama Reycee smiled. "Read it at the wedding."

Jay’s eyes went wide. "At the WEDDING?"

"YES," everyone said.

Keifer looked at Jay. "They’re right."

"You want them to read my embarrassing diary at our wedding?"

"I want everyone to know that you dreamed of me before you knew me."

Jay’s heart melted.

"Fine," she whispered. "But YOU’RE reading it."

"Deal."

They kissed. Again.

The families cheered. Again.

That night. Just them.

Jay and Keifer in bed. Her head on his chest. His hand in her hair.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Mm?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being exactly what I dreamed of. Even when I didn’t know I was dreaming."

He kissed her forehead.

"Thank you for writing it down. So I could find it. So I could know."

"Always."

"Always."

They fell asleep. Together.

Forever.

Next morning. Group Chat.

Keizer: I still can’t get over the diary.

Jasfer: Same. DESTINY.

Mama Reycee: She wrote about him at THIRTEEN.

Serina: And he became exactly that.

Percy: I found it. I’M the hero.

Honey: You’re crying while typing this aren’t you.

Percy: ...Maybe.

Aries: It was cute. Whatever.

Ella: He cried for an hour.

Aries: TRAITOR.

Keigan: I got it all on video. The reading. The crying. Everything.

Keiren (via Serina): Kuya’s girlfriend’s diary is MAGIC.

Jay: It’s not magic. It’s embarrassing.

Keifer: It’s perfect.

Jay: Stop being sweet.

Keifer: Never.

Keizer: JAYFER FOREVER.

Perfect.