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“Kevin, truth or dare.”
Jean didn’t look up from where he was snuggled into Jeremy's side on the floor of Renee and Allison's hotel room. An extremely tipsy Cat had her legs draped over Laila's lap and her head nestled against Jean's shoulder, looking moments away from dozing off.
Scattered across the room, most of the Foxes were in similar degrees of inebriation. He didn’t understand why they were so easily inclined to embarrass themselves, but at least Jeremy had been nursing the same bottle of beer for the last hour. It rested, forgotten, on the counter beside him as he silently played with the curls at the back of Jean’s neck while listening to the conversation taking place around him.
Jean nudged his boyfriend for a quick check in, and Jeremy smiled at him and pulled him close. “I’m okay, baby. Leaving the banquet early was a good idea.”
“Not sure there’s anything good about spending our free time with these heathens.” Jean said grouchily, even as he melted further into Jeremy's side. Allison pointed her very red, very alcoholic drink at him. “You’re on thin ice Frenchie.”
“Allison,” Renee chided, while sending a small smile in Jean's direction.
“Truth.” Kevin answered finally. Jean studied him from across the room. He wasn’t as catastrophically drunk as he usually tended to be at these events, but he was far from sober. His bottle of Absolut sat on the floor between him and Andrew, but it was still more than three fourths full. Beside him, Neil was asleep on Andrew's shoulder.
“I have a good one,” Nicky Hemmick crowed from where he was lying on the floor beside Aaron, “Kevin, who was your first kiss? Thea can’t be the only person you’ve ever kissed, that’s just too sad.”
Jean stiffened against Jeremy’s shoulder and pointedly ignored the questioning look his boyfriend sent him.
Kevin’s mouth opened, and then it promptly fell shut again. And then it opened again robotically. “It’s not Thea,” he said finally, sounding extremely reluctant. That only served to make the Foxes nosier than they already were.
“Okay,” Allison pressed with a little smirk, “so who was it?”
Kevin turned red and reached for his vodka. Jean glared daggers at his bottle of water. Unsurprisingly, it was Andrew Minyard who put it together first.
“Things are about to get really interesting for Kevin ‘It’s easier to be heterosexual’ Day,” he deadpanned.
Kevin choked on his sip of vodka, getting himself in check before quickly turning to Andrew with a warning in his wide eyes. But the damage had already been done.
“A BOY???” Nicky screamed hysterically. Jean decided he really didn't like this particular Fox.
Kevin shrunk under the undivided attention, as his teammates descended on him like a pack of starving hyenas. “I just said it was easier to be straight, I didn’t say I was straight," he protested weakly.
“Why won’t you answer the question, Kevin?” Dan teased.
When Kevin just continued to shuffle pathetically like a bug under a microscope, Jean decided he'd finally had enough. He'd kept waiting for Kevin to shut them down like he would if he was sober. Figured Kevin Day would become more of a sniveling coward under the influence of alcohol.
“Oh, for fucks sake,” he bit out, “your goalkeeper is the only one of you with a single working braincell.”
Every single person in the room apart from Andrew and Neil turned to gape at him. “What other man did you think he would be kissing in the Nest,” Jean sneered, “Riko?”
“Holy fuck.” Nicky was the first one to recover, “Kevin, you were necking Jean Moreau, and you kept it from me?” He groaned and pulled at his hair in an extremely unnecessary show of dramatics. “That’s so unfair, men that attractive shouldn’t be allowed to be together.”
“We are not together,” Jean snapped so viciously it made Nicky hold his hands up in surrender, although the amusement never left his face.
“Are there any straight people left in this sport?” Aaron grumbled under his breath.
“You,” the whole room replied in unison.
Thoroughly tired of this interaction, he shifted back against Jeremy and found his boyfriend significantly stiffer than he'd been before. Jean wrapped an arm around his waist and poked his ribs until Jeremy broke into a reluctant smile and kissed Jean’s forehead.
“Please, can we move on now?” Kevin asked, “It was ages ago, we were children.”
“They are a very attractive couple,” Allison appraised the two of them, ignoring Kevin’s plea entirely, “Go sit next to each other, I want to see how you look side by side.”
“We were never a couple." Jean insisted again, refusing to budge, "I was bleeding out on him when it happened. It was just a trauma response.” Kevin finally looked at him with his big, sad green eyes. Jean felt the sudden, violent urge to clobber him on the head with his vodka bottle.
“Jean…” he began, but Jean cut him off ruthlessly, “I will not do this with you. Not now, not ever, and especially not when you are too drunk to know better. We’re moving on,” he snapped when Allison opened her mouth again.
The blond just pressed her lips together, and then said, “Jean, truth or dare.”
Jean wanted to set this entire team on fire. He’d walked right into their trap.
He eyed the blonde in absolute disdain, wondering not for the first time what someone like Renee saw in her worth protecting. “If I say dare you will make me kiss him?” Jeremy’s arm tightened around Jean’s shoulder, and Jean could see from the corner of his eye that his lips were pressed into an unimpressed line.
Allison shrugged unrepentantly.
“You know his boyfriend is right here, right?” Laila warned with clear disapproval in her voice.
“It’s just a game,” Nicky said lightly, “We dare each other to kiss all the time, it’s harmless.”
Jean hoped Kevin could feel him cursing him to hell in all three of the languages he knew. Jeremy had gone very still beside him, and even Cat had sobered up enough to glare in the Foxes' general direction.
“I don’t care what game you’re playing,” Jeremy said into the silence, his voice transforming into the captain voice he saved for when you were in big trouble, “But what we will not be doing is making him kiss someone he doesn’t want to, are we clear?” The tone was so unexpected from the captain of the Sunshine Court that it shifted the playful mood of the room until they all settled into an uncomfortable silence.
Neil chose that moment to blink awake on Andrew’s shoulder, and he squinted around the room groggily until he saw the look on Jean’s face and straightened.
“What’s going on?” He asked suspiciously.
“We’re playing Truth and Dare,” Allison told him breezily, “It’s Jean’s turn.”
Neil frowned. “I hate that game.”
“We know, Neil,” Matt’s lips twitched in amusement, “Doesn’t stop you from lying to our faces.”
“Truth,” Jean answered, knowing this conversation would never end otherwise. “What would you like to know, Allison?”, he made sure to ask in the most sarcastic voice he could muster, as he simultaneously took Jeremy’s hand in his own and began to rub little circles into the skin of his palm to comfort him.
“What’s your deal with Kevin?” Allison asked immediately, “Why do you keep looking at him like you’d love to send him back to Palmetto in a body bag? You guys were friends, right? Maybe even something more, seeing that you kissed. So, what happened? Why was there never anything more? We want all the details, since Kevin's decided to be boring.”
Behind her head, Jean made eye contact with Neil, who was frowning at the invasive nature of the question, but Jean didn’t need Neil Josten of all people jumping in to defend him.
“Kevin will never love anything or anyone as much as he loves Exy,” Jean opted for the most watered-down version of the truth, “I respect myself too much to play second fiddle for the rest of my life.” Maybe a few months ago this truth would still be difficult to admit out loud, but now he had his Jeremy, with his bright, unguarded smiles, his readiness to drop everything at a drop of a hat to help Jean, the way he broke into a pleased grin every time Jean let him in. Whatever he’d thought he'd had with Kevin felt like crumbs in comparison.
Another clawing, uncomfortable silence followed Jean’s answer. Well, they should not have asked if the truth was just going to make them squirm.
Jean turned back to Jeremy, who was looking at him with concern in his big, brown eyes. With this beautiful, selfless man beside him, how could Jean ever even consider looking at anyone else? He nestled closer, until Jeremy’s lips were pressed back against his hair.
“I’m sorry,” Kevin’s wobbly voice broke through the silence, “I’m sorry Jean. For all of it. I’m sorry I threw away our friendship. I’m sorry I betrayed you and left you behind. I should have come back for you. I should have tried harder.”
Jean just shot him an unimpressed look, knowing that actions spoke so much louder than words, and when it came down to it, Kevin's actions always betrayed him. “You can’t help that you’re a coward, Kevin. I don’t see what you’re apologizing for.”
Kevin’s grip on the neck of his vodka bottle was so tight Jean was surprised the glass didn’t shatter. “I don’t know how to be anything different,” he admitted slowly. Jean faintly wondered if this was his first bottle of vodka today.
One by one, the Foxes’ expressions shifted, as they realized what they had been treating as a fun joke was in fact something much darker. Even Allison finally looked chagrined, especially when she met Renee’s disappointed eyes.
Jean didn’t care to placate Kevin. He didn’t think Kevin deserved anything more from him. But he was also exhausted and holding grudges took up too much effort.
“I grew up with you Kevin, I know you better than anyone else in this room,” Jean said finally, “I never expected you to do anything differently. I don’t hold it against you, but I think we both know we are too far gone to ever be friends again."
When Kevin just hung his head and said nothing, Jean pulled himself to his feet. “I think I’ve had enough of you Foxes for a while. I hope you will not bother me again until we meet on the Court for Finals.”
"Jean," Renee called when he turned to leave. He saw the question in her eyes and said, "Meet me in the morning?" His eyes flicked to her roommate, before he added, "Alone."
Renee nodded, with a small, apologetic smile. "See you in the morning. Sleep well, all of you."
He just grabbed his bottle of water and left the room on silent feet, not bothering to ask Jeremy for their hotel key, because he knew his friends would leave close on his heels.
Sure enough, they caught up to him in front of the elevators. He raised an eyebrow when he saw an irate Cat being dragged along between Jeremy and Laila.
“She gave Allison a piece of her mind,” Laila explained, sounding a little proud, but mostly amused, “I think she would have jumped her next if we didn’t drag her out.”
“How dare they make you talk about your trauma for a stupid game,” Cat seethed, “I should go back and bang her on the head until she gets some trauma of her own—”
“The elevator is here,” Jean cut in, even as he was secretly touched at her bloodthirstiness on his behalf. Cat grudgingly followed them in, but not before shooting one last incensed glare at the door of the hotel room they’d just vacated. Once the elevator doors had shut behind them, Jeremy immediately let go of Cat in favor of pulling Jean into his arms. He had gotten a lot better with confronting his claustrophobia, but being held by Jeremy kept him significantly calmer once the doors trapped him within the narrow space.
“I am fine,” he grumbled, even as he curled into his captain’s arms and buried his face into his neck. Jeremy’s comforting smell of vanilla and honey always succeeded in calming his nerves in a way little else could.
He glanced up to find Jeremy looking at him with soft, adoring eyes. Jean still couldn’t believe he had ever done anything in his life that warranted being with a man like Jeremy, but Jeremy Knox was his now, and Jean was never letting him go.
Something of his feelings must have shown on his face, because a gorgeous flush rose up Jeremy’s neck to his cheeks. “Hi,” he whispered adorably.
Jean brushed their lips together. “Hi, mon cœur.” That only succeeded in making Jeremy’s blush deepen, just as Jean predicted it would. Jeremy dove in for another deeper kiss and Jean was more than happy to oblige, tanging his fingers in soft blonde hair to pull him closer as the kiss quickly turned hungry.
“Uh, not to rush you but...” They broke apart and turned to find an amused Cat and Laila holding the elevator door open for them.
Jeremy laughed unrepentantly and grabbed Jean’s hand, leading him out the elevator towards their room. A neatly made bed sat right next to a thoroughly debauched one. Jean winced when he noticed some of the sheets were torn to ribbons. The two girls raised their eyebrows at the ruined bed, but Jeremy just shrugged. “Have you seen my boyfriend? Besides, that’s why they gave us two beds.”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s the reason,” Cat drawled as she clambered up onto the clean bed. Jean pressed a soft kiss to Jeremy’s neck before following her. Jeremy immediately sat behind Jean, pulling him close and tucking him into his front. Jean settled against Jeremy’s chest, content to close his eyes and listen to the sound of his boyfriend’s heartbeat.
Laila raised an eyebrow as she sat down next to her girlfriend on the bed. “We were never this bad, were we?”
Cat rolled her eyes at them fondly. “I mean, we can still function when we’re not in the same room, so I’d say so.”
Jeremy stuck his tongue out at them. “It’s only been four months, cut us some slack. You two were impossible to be around when you first began dating.”
Jean rolled his eyes at their bickering, but he stayed quiet, a fact that his friends quickly noticed.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Laila nudged gently.
Jean shrugged his shoulders. “I do not know what else there is to say.”
“I didn’t realize things were so intense between the two of you,” Cat mused, before quickly adding, “I mean, anyone with eyes can tell there’s a painful history there, but it never seemed our place to ask. But you can tell us, if you want to.”
Jean thought about it and realized he was ready to talk about Kevin, now that he was well and truly in Jean's past. He chose his words carefully. “When I first came to the nest, I was barely fourteen and could not speak a word of English. Kevin was older, and the only person who was kind to me. I quickly became infatuated with him, but it was all very depressingly one sided. That kiss was simply him indulging me when I was gravely injured. It never meant anything more, not to him.” Jean swallowed down the uncomfortable taste at the back of his throat before continuing, “Whether he did it intentionally or not, Kevin has always used that infatuation against me to get what he wants. He knew Riko had forbidden me from speaking French, but he still asked me to teach him in secret. Then, when his hand was broken, he spoke in French and betrayed us both to Riko. The day he fled, he lied to me so I would unknowingly distract Riko, because he knew I would never have left him if I knew he planned on running. He knew Riko would assume I conspired with him, he knew Riko would take his anger out on me, but he still did it, because it was his only chance to escape.”
He stopped when he heard Jeremy let out a ragged breath into his neck. Jean blinked at the conflicted expression he found on his face, as Jeremy slowly asked, “He never…he didn’t even ask you to go with him? I always assumed he tried to get you to go, and you said no.” He sounded so upset Jean had to softly pat his knee in comfort.
“I wouldn’t have gone with him,” Jean agreed, “He couldn’t risk me giving him away to Riko.”
“That’s not an excuse,” Laila pointed out, “He was your friend. You said he used your feelings against you. That means he had some idea of how you felt, and he still manipulated you. You're forgiving him too easily.”
Jean just shook his head, even as his stomach clenched in a painful reminder of what came next. “He protected us both by ignoring my feelings, Laila. Riko…relationships were forbidden in the Nest and I... have never been good at hiding how I feel. When…Riko caught me looking at Kevin once. He told me there would be no queers in his Perfect Court, and he would rid me of the affliction one way or another.” He laughed dryly with humor he did not feel, “Now that I think about it, he got exceptionally unlucky with me, Neil and Kevin.”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Laila asked, her voice freezing over, “Queers are not what?”
Jeremy’s arms around Jean began to tremble, even as he pulled him in tighter, like if he held Jean tight enough now, he could somehow protect him from his past. Jean didn't know how to comfort him, so he pressed a kiss to his jaw, before turning back towards the girls.
“Riko being a raging homophobe cannot come as a surprise to you. Why do you think it took me months to properly look at Jeremy without forcing myself to look away? Riko made me terrified to show affection to men. I know it is not wrong,” he hurried to add, “but it took a while for me to stop looking for him in every shadow. Kevin...he sees Riko a lot more vividly than I do.”
His confession was followed by a charged silence, which Cat finally broke by cracking her knuckles, looking like she was preparing for war.
“If I die,” she seethed, “and my ghost finds Riko’s ghost in the afterlife, I’m going take a ghost knife and I’m going to stab his ghostly body a hundred times.”
The three of them just stared at her with varying levels of bafflement. “I hate him,” she concluded stormily.
“Sometimes I think he got off too easy,” Jeremy agreed into Jean’s shoulder. It was such a shocking thing for Jeremy to say that it had Jean turning to him with wide eyes.
Jeremy’s jaw was clenched in an attempt to tamp down his anger. “He hurt you,” Jeremy said insistently, “He hurt the man I love. You can’t expect me not to wish he suffered more instead of taking the coward’s way out.”
Jean’s heart expanded to three times its size as four words kept echoing in his head. “What did you say?”, he whispered, even though he thought he would never forget. The man I love.
Jeremy blinked, as his brain finally caught up with his mouth. Then he went beet red.
“Uh…um…” he cleared his throat, “that is…so…I…”
Endearing as he was when he was flustered, Jean decided to put him out of his misery. He cupped Jeremy’s cheek, effectively cutting off his rambling. “I love you too,” he said gently, “I love you very much."
Jeremy's eyes softened into pools of chocolate, and then he melted into Jean’s arms. He angled Jean’s head closer so he could press their lips together. “I love you; I love you; I love you,” he whispered into Jean’s mouth as they kissed, soft and fervent.
Then he pulled away and immediately frowned. “Can’t believe our first ‘I love you’ was during a conversation about Riko Moriyama.”
“If it makes you feel better,” Jean stroked his cheek fondly, “Riko didn’t kill himself, he was shot by his older brother.”
His friends just stared at him, and Jean faintly wondered when they would stop being shocked by each and every one of his confessions.
“I’m sorry, what was that now?” Laila asked finally.
Jean sighed and went back to resting his head against Jeremy's neck. “Riko was always messy. He was the second son, the spare, and he would pull elaborate schemes in the hopes of getting his family’s recognition. But after Kevin left and Neil began publicly antagonizing him, he became a lot more volatile. He stopped being careful. Ichirou does not appreciate messes. He also does not like loose ends.”
Jean immediately realized he definitely should not have said that last part.
Predictably, Laila immediately asked, “What loose ends?”
Jean looked up at Jeremy and then back at Laila and Cat and knew they would not let it go. “His Perfect Court," he admitted reluctantly, "We were all supposed to die with him that day. Don’t panic, it is fine now.” He hurried to add before they had the time to become hysterical.
“Fine,” Jeremy choked out, sounding like he was speaking through a mouthful of sand. Cat and Laila were looking at him as if waiting for him to declare his statement was made in jest. When no denial came, their expressions turned grave.
“Neil made a deal for us,” Jean explained when none of them spoke again, “Ichirou decided it would be more profitable in the long run to keep us alive.”
“Jean,” Cat sounded heartbroken, “You're talking about your life here, you should be angrier.”
Jean looked down at the tiny scars scattered over his hands, trying to think of a way to make them understand. “Angry about what, Cat?" he asked finally, "This is the most freedom I have ever known in twenty years.”
Cat promptly closed her mouth. He had to look away from the twin pitying looks that took over the girls' faces.
“I’ve gone from being my parents’ property to Riko’s property to Ichirou’s,” Jean went on, “At least now I am left alone as long as I do what I'm told. It is the longest my leash has ever been.”
“This is insane,” Laila pointed out, her voice choked, “You know that right?”
Jean small smile was sad. “Laila, I was born into a mafia family. It is not that surprising in the grand scheme of things.”
At the silence that followed, Jean turned to look back at Jeremy, worried since he hadn’t said anything in a while. He almost fell off the bed in shock when he found Jeremy silently weeping behind him.
“Mon cœur,” he cooed, taking his boyfriend’s face in his hands, feeling devastated at the sight of his beautiful face crumpled with fear. “No more of this. I am alive. You will not lose me.”
Jeremy looked at him with red rimmed eyes. “Won’t I? Can you promise me that?”
Jean saw the devastation in Jeremy’s eyes and felt like someone had plucked the heart from his chest and crushed it between their palms. He scooted back on the bed, creating distance between them. “No,” he whispered, as he fisted his trembling hands, “I can’t.”
Jean wondered if this was how their story ended, Jeremy and him, mere moments after they'd confessed to loving one another.
Jeremy must have seen something of the downward spiral Jean's thoughts had taken in his expression because his face turned stricken and he reached out for Jean. “Come back here, sweetheart.”
But Jean didn’t want to get closer and make it easier for Jeremy to end things with him. Instead, he looked down at the ridiculous fluffy puppy slippers by their bed that Jeremy had insisted on bringing along because they reminded him of Jabberwocky and wondered what he was going to do now that the best thing in life was taking himself away from him.
Jeremy scrambled up the length of the bed to get to him, barely giving Cat and Laila time to get out of his way. He took Jean’s cheeks in his hands and turned his face back up to meet his. “Why won’t you look at me, baby?”
He couldn’t handle the gentleness.
“Are you leaving me?” Jean asked in a small voice, before his eyes quickly flicked back down the the sheets beneath them.
Jeremy’s hands froze on Jean’s face. “What? No! Never. Jean, never. Please, look at me sweetheart.”
At the pleading in Jeremy's voice, Jean turned his head up to look at Jeremy with big, watery eyes. Now Jeremy was the one making soothing noises, pressing kisses all over Jean’s face. “I’m not going anywhere, Jean. I promise. I’m just scared.”
“I’m sorry,” Jean said with a sniff, even as his heart began to beat as normal once again. He let Jeremy fuss over him, practically pulling him onto his lap as he ran comforting hands up and down Jean's back and arms.
“None of this is your fault,” Cat said, squeezing his thigh, “No one here is mad at you for anything, we’re mad at the people who did this to you.”
Jean smiled dryly, suddenly feeling unbearably exhausted. “My parents.”
“Surely they couldn’t know how bad the situation would be when they sent you to Edgar Allen.” Laila said skeptically.
Jean tilted his head in confusion. “Laila, they didn’t send me anywhere. They—” he closed his mouth, too late, once again.
“They what?” Cat prodded.
“Nothing,” Jean mumbled, curling further into Jeremy, “It will only upset you further.”
“Jean,” Jeremy took his hand and intertwined their fingers. “These are things that happened to you. You mean the world to us. Of course we’ll be upset, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to know.”
Jean eyed the three of them, searching for a lie. When he was met with three equally earnest expressions, he tried to find the kindest way to explain.
“The Moreaus are a vassal family to the Moriyamas just like the Wesninskis are. I started playing Exy when I was four years old because my parents wanted me to be Riko’s playmate. I was always meant to be his.”
Jean had to take a deep breath before he could get out the next part. “I was always meant to belong to Riko. My parents didn’t send me to America for schooling, they sold me to the Moriyamas to pay off their debts, just like they sold my sister a year later. She was not as lucky.”
He looked up and made himself face the horror in their expressions. He made himself go on anyway, “So when I say I belong to the Moriyamas, I mean it. All three of us do, and we will for the rest of our lives. This is not something we can ever be free from."
“Jesus Christ,” Cat let out a string of the foulest profanities Jean had ever heard, and he was pretty sure only a third of the words were in English.
Jeremy didn’t say anything until he saw Jean’s worried expression. He pulled Jean back against his chest, as if he wanted to curl his body around Jean to protect him from the world.
“What is it?” Laila asked suddenly, “You said Neil made a deal for you. What is it?”
“Oh,” Jean mumbled, “80% of my salary for the rest of my professional career.”
“WHAT?” Cat shrieked so loud Jean winced.
“I don’t care about that,” Jean said honestly, “He can take all of it if he wants. I…I want to live.”
They visibly softened at the earnestness in his voice. He felt a reluctant smile on Jeremy’s mouth against his cheek.
“Guess you get to be Jeremy’s sugar baby for the rest of your lives,” Laila teased suddenly.
Cat choked on a snort, and when Jean looked at Jeremy to ask what 'sugar baby' meant, he found Jeremy blushing furiously.
Never mind, he decided he didn’t want to know after all.
“I have spent most of my life not having access to money,” Jean pointed out, before crinkling his forehead in thought, “The time I sold my car was the first time, I think. Regardless, I will be fine without it.”
“What the hell,” Cat faux sniffed, clutching at her heart, “Buy him nice things, Jeremy."
“Jeremy doesn’t have any money either,” Jean said, thoroughly confused. There was a moment of silence, and then all three of them burst into hysterical giggles.
“God, Jean,” Laila gasped, holding her stomach, “I hope you never change.”
Jean turned back to Jeremy with a scowl. “Why are you laughing? It is the truth.”
Jeremy just plopped down on their bed and laughed until he was crying. Jean wondered if this was a case of shared hysteria. Eventually, Jeremy wrapped his arms back around Jean’s waist and pulled him down, until the four of them were all lying side by side on the bed.
Jean shifted until his head rested on Jeremy's shoulder. Cat curled into his other side, and Laila reached over to turn off the lights, shrouding them in a comfortable darkness.
“How can I be angry, or bitter, or sad,” Jean asked softly into the dark, “when I have this?”
Even when he could not see them, he knew he had their attention. Not for the first time, he marveled at this feeling of unconditional warmth.
“This,” he said as he softly squeezed Cat and Jeremy's arms around him, “is more than I could ever have imagined. It is so much more than any hope Kevin could ever have given me. Nothing good could ever grow in Evermore, but this,” his lips tipped into a pleased little smile, “this is good.”
He felt Jeremy kiss his forehead and swore he heard sniffles coming from Cat and Laila's direction. The curled closer until they were an undistinguishable tangle of bodies and limbs. Jean thought he would be fine if they never unraveled. After all, the three of them would forever remain entangled inside his heart. With Cat’s hand intertwined in his, Laila’s fingers petting his hair, and Jeremy’s warmth pressed against the length of his side, Jean Moreau fell asleep in the arms of the people who loved him.