*Two weeks later*

Michael, Jayden's friend, had decided to throw a surprise birthday gathering for Jayden in the house. Mrs. Benson had been informed of it since it was her house.

He had invited a couple of Jayden’s close friends to the house while another friend had purposefully kept Jayden out of the house.

The maids, as per Michael’s request, had prepared a variety of dishes, drinks, and desserts for the gathering.

What nobody knew was that this was going to be a completely unforgettable gathering.

Jayden approached the house with his friend, Mandy.

The past weeks had been more stressful. His father had still not confessed his infidelity to his mother, claiming that his mother had not fully recovered yet, even when she had been yelling helter-skelter at the remaining maids to do their jobs properly.

Brie was still around, his father's silence on his infidelity buying her more time in the house.

She would smirk anytime she walked by Jayden, mumbling a ‘Daddy knows best’ just to spite him. A real devil, she was.

Lara’s birthday had come to pass. She had requested for a day off to spend with her family. All Jayden could do was to merely wish her before she had left that morning. He had also gifted her a golden necklace and she had kindly accepted from him.

Ever since their break up, they had expected a downpour of bad blood and drama between themselves. However, things had seemed easier. Conversations were simpler and more refreshing, smiles were more polite and sincere. Things were good.

Jayden pushed open the entrance door and as soon as he stepped in, everyone shrieked, “Happy Birthday!”

Surprise immediately hit Jayden, a chuckle tumbling from his lips.

“What in the-“

“Surprise, surprise,” Michael exclaimed and everyone surrounded Jayden as they hugged and wished him long life and prosperity.

He saw friends he hadn’t spoken to in ages, mates from university and lots of new faces.

But after the embracing ceremony, as the crowd dispersed away to chat with other people, his eyes found Kira’s whose eyes had instantly found his, a soft smile gracing her lips.

He immediately made his way towards her beautiful frame.

“Hey,” he smiled.

“Happy birthday,” she returned the smile and included an embrace, to which he gladly accepted.

“Thanks, it’s so good to see you again. Were you in on the surprise?” Jayden inquired because Kira hadn’t a friend from his squad, so it baffled him to see her here.

“No. I came over because today’s your birthday and I wanted to gift you. But, there were so many people here already, and I figured they were planning on surprising you.”

“Your presence is a gift in itself,” Jayden assured, but she still went ahead to bring out a blue parceled box and handed it to him.

“Here you go.”

Holding her gaze and watching the way the corners of her lips softly curved into a smile, Jayden couldn't help but thank the Heavens for how things had changed for the better. Six years ago on this day, he had put tears in Kira's eyes for the very first time. He had disappointed her.

Now, there were no tears. No disappointment. Just happiness and friendship.

Jayden regarded the box with a smile, wondering what she had gotten him, “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

Kira scanned the room and asked, “Where’s Lara?”

Scanning the room himself, Jayden spotted her having a conversation with Dana and Brie.

Jayden signaled for Lara to come over when their eyes had met, and she cautiously made her way towards them with a tray of four glasses of champagne in her hand.

“Happy birthday, Jayden, for the 5th time today,” Lara said. She turned to Kira who had a warm smile on her face. Lara returned her smile and Jayden decided to leave them to talk since they had never spoken to each other. Lara had once mentioned it to him that she would have liked to talk to Kira if she had gotten the chance.

“So,” Kira began, regarding Jayden's personal maid, Jayden's most recent ex, the girl Jayden had had immense feelings for, the girl who had broken Jayden's heart twice. The first time being the moment she had roared her accusations at him without giving him a proper chance to defend himself, and the second one at the lakehouse weeks ago when she had relentlessly used his past as a weapon against him in a battle that did not require such weapon.

“So...” Lara awkwardly continued, scrutinising the renowned Kira, the sacrificial girl who had saved Jayden from Florence's hands, the one he had hurt but had still been there to support him during his worst times, the one Jayden had put on a sacred pedestal.

This was their first one on one meeting.

Kira went ahead to say, “I hope you’re doing fine, especially after the split.”

Lara nodded, “Yes, things are smoother now between us. We want to take things slowly. How are you doing?”

“I’m good.” Kira nodded. After scrutinising Lara a little bit more, she didn't beat around the bush.

“I know you know about my past with Jayden.”

Receiving Lara’s careful nod, she continued,

“And I know what happened in the lakehouse.”

“I don’t really want to talk about that," Lara said, "It’s in the past-"

“Oh, but we must. If we don’t have this conversation, things might get worse if you and Jayden decide to rekindle your relationship.”

Lara kept silent, prompting Kira to carry on,

“I’m going to tell you something.” Kira began, “There have been several stages in my past and current relationship with Jayden which I'm going to break down. Twelve-year-old Jayden, I cared immensely for him and sympathised with him. Sixteen-year-old Jayden, I hated him. I was disappointed, hurt and deflated. However, Twenty-two-year-old Jayden? I care deeply for him. very much.”

Lara remained still as Kira went on,

“Each of us has the opportunity to change and grow until our very last breath. And that is exactly what Jayden did and is doing.”

With a pause, she informed, “He grew up. He refused to be defined by his past and refined his soul, which is what I always wanted from him from the very beginning. He has proven to me that people do change. People can change. People mature."

"I agree," Lara contributed, "I've personally witnessed that side of him."

"Which is what brings me to the lakehouse incident," Kira said. Straightening up, she advised, "You should never try to discourage a person who, one, has accepted that they are at fault. Two, has taken measures to rectify the effects of their mistake. Three, has willed to change. And four, has visibly turned on a new leaf concerning their life towards the future."

Fixing her gaze on Lara, her heavy words seeped into Lara's skin, "If you judge someone by their past, knowing that they are no longer at that stage in their life, it makes you inconsiderate and plunges that person back into their hell even though they have a lifetime of memories to pay for it.”

"I wasn't judging him," Lara defended, but Kira informed,

"When you truly love someone, Lara, you don’t strangle them with mentions of their past. You leave it there and be happy that their future belongs to you."

Kira clearly was schooling Lara, from Brie, Katy, and Dana's points of view.

Dana asked the girls who had their eyes fixed on the two girls conversing by the dining-room door. "What d'you think Kira is telling her?"

"Beats me," Brie shrugged, "But she's definitely acting like she knows Jayden better than anyone."

Katy defended, "Maybe because she does? I doubt his own mother knows him like Kira does."

Lara remained still as Kira then went on to ask, "So I’m curious to know, do you love Jayden?"

Placing the tray of champagne glasses on a nearby table, Lara spoke, “When I said those things at the lakehouse, they were out of anger. I didn’t mean any of it. Of course, I love Jayden.”

“Well, keep in mind that you shouldn’t say things permanently hurtful to anyone just because you’re temporarily upset.”

“Lara, a month ago when I told you everything about my past, you never behaved this way. Why now?”

“You’re judging him. You of all people. That’s my point.”

Jayden shook his tilted-down head disbelievingly, “Me of all people?” he looked up, “If anyone’s judging here, it’s you.”

“Your father loves you more than anything but you’re going to let this come between you two when it should be dealt with him and your mother.”

“He hurt my mother who is currently in the hospital, did you know that? Also, her hospital admittance could be because of his lover.”

“You hurt Kira.”

“What does Kira have to do with my father’s infidelity?” he exasperated. “Why are you using this against me? I opened up to you in all truth, trust, and honesty, and you’re using it against me?” he beseeched her. “What is with the comparison? Is this a game to you? A game of whose sin is bigger?”

*

An awkward silence ensued between the two girls. Lara regarded the young lady before her, dressed in a nice white blouse, denim jeans which accentuated her curves, wedged heels, and had her raven black hair fall loosely over her shoulders. Her beauty was one to behold. Her strength was another thing to hold in esteem. And the way she defended Jayden had Lara boiling with questions.

Lara released a consenting sigh, however, from Kira’s deep speech, Lara needed to know one thing from her.

“I have to ask,” Lara carefully paused. She needed to be sure. “Do you love Jayden?”

Kira halted for a moment- a moment that didn’t go unnoticed by Lara.

Swiftly suppressing a tiny lump in her throat, Kira answered, “I care for and love Jayden. Quite the phenomenon, he is. It’s intriguing.” she shifted her gaze to nothing in particular as if she had drifted off into her thoughts, “I had promised him the first day we met that I would be his saviour. And I always keep my promises, no matter what. Fortunately or unfortunately."

Kira added, "It turned out that he ended up being my second saviour. My first saviour being myself.”

“Second saviour?” Lara inquired confusedly. “How?” How was she referring to the boy who hurt her when she had only tried to help, as her second saviour?

Kira responded, wrapping her arms around her chest in a comforting embrace, “When he, himself, reported the crime and reported the culprit, he became a saviour, as twisted as that sounds. Many people knew what happened, yet no one, not a single one of them spoke on my behalf. None of them stood beside me because they had chosen to back his mental instability. Jayden was the only one who hurt from my pain. He was the only one who felt what I was feeling. He tried to appease me by attempting to put an end to the culprit’s life but that wasn’t the way to go. Killing was a crime, and he did not need to use that route."

Straightening up, she continued, "A few mornings later, I was informed that he had turned himself in. My jaw had dropped in awe and for a second, I wanted to be by his side through the hardships of the law, but we both knew that it needed to be done. During our talks about Florence, we knew that no matter what, justice had to be served.”

Kira went on, “His mother wasn’t having it. She was against his decision and tried all she could to change his mind, tell him that nothing was his fault. However, he was smarter than that. He knew it was. The influence had been there for sure, but he was responsible for his actions. No one else.”

Lara couldn’t shift her gaze from the girl who so passionately spoke,

“He saved me from himself even when that meant he would be detaching himself from his own saviour. He faced the music for what happened. He faced it. Knowing that it’s a rare scenario in most cases, I appreciated the move.”

Wrapping her arms tighter as if recounting a lost love, she sighed, “Looking at him now, at the man he has become," her eyes now fixed on someone farther across the room behind Lara, "He has matured incredibly. Those three weeks we had spent together after he had gotten closure from Florence in jail, I couldn’t help but notice his astounding growth. He was a different person. Jayden surprised me. As his saviour, I am incredibly happy to see his growth and evolvement.”

Kira knew that getting over pain was much like crossing monkey bars. You had to let go at some point to move forward. And she needed to move forward as much as he did.

She had also known that she was mentally and emotionally stronger than Jayden was, so her healing process had taken lesser time than his did, however, his evolvement was remarkable.

Lara then followed Kira's gaze and landed her eyes on Jayden who was a couple of metres away beside the entrance door, having a chat with Pierre who had just arrived.

Jayden shifted his gaze to the girls, slightly surprised to see them staring at him. Curving his lips into a soft smile at them, he turned to Pierre who had noticed the girls as well.

With a swift nod from Jayden, Pierre and Jayden made their way towards Kira and Lara who had halted their conversation as the guys neared them.

“Lara,” Pierre pulled her in for a hug, “It’s been ages.”

Lara returned his hug in agreement. “How’ve you been?” she asked, pushing a lock behind her ear.

“Good,” he stretched, “How have you been?”

“Great,” she lied through her teeth.

Pierre shifted his gaze to Kira and flashed a warm smile. “I don't believe we've met.”

“We haven't,” Kira calmly smiled. Pierre began leaning in for a hug, but Kira extended a hand.

When she had noticed his opposing gesture, she explained, “I’m sorry, I’m not much of a hugger.”

Jayden chuckled. He knew Kira hated hugs, especially from strangers. There were only a few people in her hug book. Luckily, he was one of them.

Pierre attached his palm to hers in a good shake. “Pierre.”

Kira.” She nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. Jayden says you’re a special friend. How did you two meet?”

Jayden and Kira both flashed each other a look. They had met while Florence had forcefully been tugging at Jayden's twelve-year-old dick and had been yelling at him to cum under five minutes while the tears streamed down his face.

Wincing like he had received a whiplash, Jayden chugged down the fizzy liquid from his glass, and Kira answered,

“This house. I wanted a job, I met him. We were younger."

"And she became my truest companion.” Jayden finished for her, flashing her a grateful look.

“That’s nice.” Pierre smiled.

Kira glanced at Jayden just in time to find him glancing at her as well. His eyes swirling with emotions: appreciation, care, love.

Lara noticed the exchange between the two and felt her heart sink as the two continued to glance at each other during the entire conversation with Pierre.

If anyone didn't personally know them, they would think that Kira and Jayden were in love with each other.

Just then, Jayden received a phone call and had to excuse himself to receive it.

Lara couldn’t help but feel there was no hope for Jayden and herself. The way he looked at Kira. It was so different. So special.

She had seen that look in his eyes the night during their month of no sexual contact when he had thoroughly confessed his past to her and had realised that she had not passed a single judgement.

That look, he never gave it to her after she had thrown his past in his face at the lakehouse.

Did Jayden inwardly love Kira but didn’t know?

Did Kira feel something deeper for him? Especially after his evolvement?

All of a sudden, the entrance door slammed shut, alerting the people around as a voice boomed, "Where is that bitch?"

"Huh?" people murmured, attention drawn to the main door.

"Where is she?" the voice belonged to Mrs. Benson as she roared, scanning the room of people who now harboured confused and intrigued expressions. "Where is Lara?"