Jay quickly ducked out of the way and pretended not to peer into the glass where Eniola's room was. Her family had come just like everyone else's, and it made him feel some type of way. He was always going to be happy for her, and he wasn't jealous that she had a family.

Definitely not jealous.

Jay caught his reflection in the glass and observed. There were a bunch of bruises on his face, and a bandage that covered a scar on his chin. It kind of made him look kind of badass. He did save the world. Kind of.

He turned and walked down the hallway. The doctors and nurses had left him to walk around since he had nothing too wrong with him, except for the badass bruises on his face. He passed by Iris's room, where her moms and her army of three million siblings crowded the room in hushed worry. Then to Lucia, whose parents and sister had been there. Theo's parents visited Jay, but he wanted them to have time with their actual son.

It was just him. Jay sighed. Everyone had their family.

Jay was just lucky that he had survived and made it back for the show.

As he walked down the hospital hallway, Jay paused in front of another room with a lone figure crouched on a bed. Zaira. Jay almost forgot that she didn't have family here too. At least not yet. She looked shaken and huddled herself into a crouch. She'd fully prepared herself to die inside UTOPIA and was so willing to sacrifice herself.

But Keone took her place and Jay had to pretend that it didn't bother him that no one had any information on him.

Jay wondered if he should go in there. He didn't know Zaira like that. They'd travelled together, but she never really talked to anyone besides her computer. But she looked like she needed someone.

Jay knocked on the door before it slid open instantly.

"Hey," he mumbled.

Zaira looked up at him. "Oh, hey."

"Can I sit?" Jay asked. Zaira nodded.

Jay shifted until he sat on the opposite end of the bed.

"So, you're officially un-dead now, Zaira. How do you feel?"

"I just feel relieved," Zaira admitted. "I don't have to worry about who's watching me or who's out to get me. I can just exist without worrying about running all over the world. After three years it gets less thrilling and more and more lonely."

"I've only been doing it for a couple of months and I'm already over that shit," Jay said, and Zaira replied in hoarse laughter.

"We're the only people here who don't have family," Zaira said.

"Yeah," Jay replied. "My Dad's probably coming. But I think that I already have some of my family here."

"Really?" Zaira asked.

"I do," he replied. "Sometimes you can't choose your family, but you can make your own."

Zaira smiled softly in response. "Thanks."

"No problem," Jay said. "So, who are you looking forward to seeing?"

"Fatima," Zaira said instantly. "I think it's time I finally go on an actual date with her."

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"I hope that goes well," Jay said. "You deserve someone you can love."

"You too," Zaira said. "And I think you've already gotten her."

Jay smiled. "Thanks for the talk."

"Anytime," Jay replied before he slowly stood up and left through the sliding door and back to his room. They didn't talk about Enigma or what had happened in UTOPIA. Maybe they didn't need to.

He walked down the hallway for a bit before he encountered his empty room. But only this time it wasn't empty. Jay's eyes bulged out of his head and he quickly slid the doors open. A lone figure sat on the side.

"Soyeon," he breathed out, and she turned to him with a slight smile.

Jay froze in his place. He tried to see if her real edges were with just the ripples of a hologram. But it wasn't. It was Soyeon. In the flesh. Jay stood in his place. She smiled crookedly, and she pushed her hair back from her face.

"Jay," she hissed under her breath. "It's me."

"What's going on?" he asked finally. "Why are you here?"

"I've come to see you," Soyeon admitted. "Your father is on the plane right now. I came before him. He'll be here to see you."

"Why do you want to see me?" Jay asked. "What are you trying to prove?"

"Once I heard what had happened and that you were in the hospital, I was so concerned," Soyeon whispered. "I needed to see you. I needed to know that you would be okay."

"But you left me," Jay said. "Where the hell have you been for the last nine years? Where were you when I truly needed you, Soyeon? Why didn't you make sure that I was okay all these years?"

Soyeon turned away from him as a tear dropped on her cheek. It was an emotional confrontation. "I'm so sorry. I truly am."

"Sorry doesn't change the fact that I've needed you," Jay admitted, with a waver in his voice. "I needed you more than ever and the only time you've thought to remotely come back into my life is when you needed money from Dad. You left me and Dad in a house you knew was targeted, gambled away everything we had, and decided that drugs and gambling were more important than me. How could you?"

Soyeon looked to the ground in a sick shame. "I'm sorry I left you and your father because I knew I couldn't be the mom I was supposed to be to you. I didn't want you to have issues."

"Well, I got those regardless of if you stayed or not," Jay deadpanned. "Why are you here?"

"I'm not saying that you have to forgive me, but I just want you to know more," Soyeon continued. "I've been in therapy and I've been reflecting. I've been admitted to a rehab facility and I start next week, but considering the circumstances, I might start later. But I just wanted to tell you, that I want to be in your life and I want you to forgive me, but you aren't under any obligation to do it. If you want, I'll leave."

Jay looked at the woman who had given birth to him. The one who had cared until she got wrapped in a world of drugs and gambling. The woman didn't warn them they were being targeted. The woman took advantage of his father for money and never cared about his son.

But maybe this was also a broken woman. A woman who told him about the stars and the hope they could give him. Jay wasn't hurt because Soyeon didn't love him. He was hurt because Soyeon loved him, yet she didn't know how to do it. It was painful. It was so brutal.

Despite what he thought, the weight of his resentment lay on top of him like a weight. Then the words came out. "I forgive you."

She suddenly looked up, as a lump caught in his throat and his breath went short. "What?"

"I forgive you," he said, wavering until his voice broke and a tear dripped down his cheek. "I want to hate you, but I can't."

"Oh," she whispered before she moved up to him and cupped his cheeks. Warmth exploded through his cheeks, and he closed his eyes. He didn't repulse at the touch. He didn't need to.

◣

Jay was back on the bed in his room, his mind full of thoughts. He looked over to the small cot on the side where Soyeon had already collapsed on into sleep. Jay didn't know why she was tired but he didn't question it. He wondered when he'd be able to call her Mom again. But Jay suspected that would be for a long while.

His Dad hadn't arrived yet and Jay wondered what took him so long. Everyone else's parents, and even Soyeon, had come. Now that Soyeon came back, was his father supposed to abandon him automatically, like some twisted fate?

Jay sighed. He shouldn't look too much into it.

Suddenly, his door slid open, and he sighed into a smile once Eniola had appeared on the other side. She was in flannel pyjama pants and a t-shirt with an old cartoon caricature on it.

"Are you sleeping?" she asked.

"I'm very much awake," Jay admitted.

Eniola walked before she stopped in her tracks at Soyeon, who snored on the cot.

"Who's that?" she whispered.

Jay inched his finger towards her before she slipped onto his bed and into his arms.

"It's Soyeon," Jay whispered back.

Eniola turned to him with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Soyeon came to Australia," Jay said. "She came for me."

Eniola looked back at her sleeping figure. "For real?"

"I think so," Jay sighed.

Eniola slipped her hand into his and held it. "That's amazing."

"Yeah," he simply replied.

For a moment, they just sat there in loud silence. Maybe they didn't need to talk to each other to know what the other felt. They weren't talking the first night in the safe house when Jay admitted he loved her and Eniola loved him back. Heat ran through his body at the thought.

"Jay," Eniola suddenly said. He hummed in response. Yes.

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Of course," Jay said. "You know that."

Eniola gulped. "Back in the safe house, something happened that I didn't tell anybody."

"What happened?"

"When Keone first woke up," Eniola began, then paused. "I think the suspension tank made him delirious. Because we started talking, and then..."

Eniola stopped abruptly. Jay peered down. "Then what?"

"He tried to force himself on me."

It was like her words were an electric shot that sent a jolt to him. "He did that?"

"Yeah," Eniola replied with a shaky voice. Jay held on tighter. "I fought him off, but I don't want to think about what it would've been like if I hadn't."

Jay held his breath. Keone hadn't changed and Jay knew that. It took Eniola a long time to open up about all the things he'd done and it made Jay sick to his stomach. Their relationship had taken turns and gone deeper, but Jay never wanted to force Eniola to open up unless she wanted to. A million thoughts swam in his head. How could this have happened?

"Eniola," Jay said in a low breath as he looked over to her in the eye. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. "I'm not even surprised that it happened. I'm just... repulsed."

"Oh," Jay said. He ran a hand down the side of her face. Jay would kill Keone if he weren't already dead-adjacent. But right now, Eniola didn't need someone to fight. She needed someone to be there for her.

Jay shifted and wrapped her in his arms again. She sighed. Jay would never get used to this.

"Jay?" Eniola said again.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"There's one more thing I need to tell you about me and Keone."