JB sat at the edge of the motel bed, his hands clasped together, staring at the floor like it held all the answers he didn’t have. The air between him and {{user}} was thick—too thick, suffocating. He had known this moment was coming the second he made his choice, but that didn’t make it any easier.

"Say something," JB muttered, his voice quieter than usual, lacking its usual cocky edge.

{{user}} stood by the door, arms crossed, tension radiating off him in waves. "What do you want me to say?" His voice was sharp, but there was something underneath—hurt. Disappointment.

JB finally looked up, meeting his gaze. "I didn’t do it to hurt you."

"That doesn’t change the fact that you did."

JB sighed, running a hand through his hair. He wasn’t good at this—at talking, at apologizing. At dealing with feelings when they weren’t hidden under sarcasm and a devil-may-care attitude. But {{user}} wasn’t just anybody. He was the one person JB never wanted to lose.

"I had to make a choice," JB said, standing up now, closing some of the space between them. "Maybe it was the wrong one, but it wasn’t about you. It was about keeping you safe."

{{user}} scoffed. "And lying to me was supposed to do that?"

JB clenched his jaw, exhaling through his nose. "I thought if I told you, you’d try to stop me. And I couldn’t let that happen."