Page 63 of Unbound
The protective bubble stumbled to a halt.
"What?" Andrew's voice was sharp.
"Rebecca told me. His family—they're not just conservative Christians. His father is one of Covenant's inner circle. And Jesse—" I swallowed hard. "When he was fourteen, they sent him to conversion therapy for eight months. He's been their success story ever since."
"Oh, fuck." Phoenix went pale. "Oh, fuck, Adrian. That's—that's bad. That's really, really bad."
"I know."
"No, you don't understand." Elijah's voice was tight. "My cousin went to school with some kids from that church. When one of them came out, they didn't just disown him. They held a funeral. They literally mourned him as if he was dead."
Diana made a small, pained sound. "And Jesse just—in front of everyone—"
"Yeah." I started walking again, faster now. "I need to find him. I need to make sure he's okay."
But even as I said it, I was remembering Rebecca's words. Conversion therapy. Public demonstration. Making an example of him.
Jesse wasn't just facing rejection from his family. He was facing everything he'd ever been terrified of.
And it was my fault.
By the time we reached the house, I was practically running. My phone had been buzzing nonstop—notifications from every app I had. Jesse Miller and Adrian Costas were trending on Twitter. TikTok. Instagram. Even LinkedIn, somehow.
The video was everywhere.
And Jesse was nowhere.
The front door of the house was already open before we reached it. News traveled fast in our little community, and by the time we made it to the living room, the entire family had assembled.
Jamie was curled up in the corner of the couch, openly crying. But these weren't her usual happy tears—the ones she shed at romantic comedies and surprise proposals. These were upset tears, worried tears.
Sam sat rigid in the opposite corner, arms crossed, their expression thunderous. They'd barely looked at me since we walked in.
"Emergency meeting," Andrew announced, settling into his usual spot.
I remained standing, too wired to sit. My phone was still buzzing constantly—I'd turned off notifications but I could feel it vibrating against my leg like an angry wasp.
"So," Andrew said carefully. "That happened."
"That happened," I agreed.
"Explain," Sam said flatly.
"I don't know what to explain." I ran my hands through my hair, trying to organize my thoughts while the weight of Rebecca's revelation crushed down on me. "We were debating. Constitutional law, civil rights, freedom to marry. Jesse was—God, he was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I've never heard him speak like that before."
"How was he speaking?" Diana asked gently.
"Like himself. Like he'd finally found his own voice instead of just parroting what he'd been taught." I started pacing. "He was passionate, articulate, arguing for love and equality and—and then we finished, and he looked at me like..."
"Like what?" Jamie whispered.
"Like he was seeing me for the first time. Really seeing me. And then he just—" I touched my lips unconsciously. "He grabbed my face and kissed me. I didn't expect it. Hell, I don't think he expected it."
"And then?" Elijah prompted.
"And then he looked at me like I was the devil himself and ran."
The room fell quiet except for Jamie's sniffling.
