Lena stood frozen under the storm, her heartbeat louder than the thunder above.
The man before her Jay dropped the gun. It landed with a hollow thud on the wet ground.
He turned toward her, hands trembling, face pale. "It was him, Lena. He would've killed you."
Her legs moved without her permission, stumbling toward the fallen body. Her hands hovered above his chest no rise. No breath.
Her fingers touched his neck.
Cold.
Gone.
But the face… It was Jay's. Just like the one now reaching out to her.
"You weren't supposed to be here," he said softly, rain soaking his clothes. "I followed to protect you."
Lena whispered, "And now one of you is dead."
He looked at the body. "It had to end this way. You know that."
But did she?
She staggered back, unsure if her tears came from heartbreak or horror.
"Say something only *my* Jay would know," she whispered, clenching her fists. "Please…"
He stepped closer. "On our first trip together, you lost your necklace in the river. I dived in and you cried harder than I'd ever seen… not because of the necklace, but because you thought I wouldn't come back up."
Her breath caught.
He remembered.
She wanted to collapse into his arms but doubt curled around her heart like a vine.
"What if he remembered it too?"
Two days passed.
Lena didn't leave her apartment. She placed the photo of the two Jays one alive, one dead inside her drawer, locking it.
Jay moved around the kitchen quietly, trying not to disturb her. He brewed coffee, warmed soup, even played the old vinyl record she loved.
But her eyes stayed hollow.
"How can I be sure?" she asked finally, not turning to face him.
Jay sat beside her. "I don't know how to convince you. But if you want me to leave…"
She shook her head. "No. I just want the truth."
He took her hand.
"I'm not perfect," he said. "I don't have every memory. Maybe none of us do after something like this. But my love for you… it's real."
She looked up.
For the first time in days, she saw something raw in his expression. Not just fear.
Love.
Maybe grief, too.
She nodded slowly. "Then prove it."
"How?"
"Help me dig."
That night, they returned to the cliff.
The storm had passed, but the land still smelled of salt, mud, and something forgotten.
They searched through the underbrush, finding footprints, disturbed earth.
Then something metallic.
Lena knelt.
A chain. Half-buried. Rusted, but familiar.
She pulled it out.
Jay's old keychain. The one she gave him when they moved in together. He used to say it brought him luck.
She stared at it, then looked up at him.
"I dropped this," he said, eyes narrowing. "When I came here… the day of the crash."
Her voice cracked. "Then you were here before the accident?"
He nodded. "I came to tell you everything that night. But someone followed me."
Lena gripped the keychain tighter.
There was more to this story. Buried in memories. In the rain. In the shadows that still whispered the name "Jay" like a curse.
And she would uncover all of it even if the truth shattered her.