She Will Be Remembered

Chapter 28

     PRE-WARNING: EXTREME FANGIRLING AND CUTENESS OVERLOAD.

     "What do you see?" Keefe asked as Sophie tried to crack the door of the shed open.

     "He's still wandering around the garden near the porch," She muttered in frustration. Alvar still hadn't given up after ten whole minutes of searching.

     Sophie closed the door and slumped against a large flower pot. Keefe joined her in her misery. They probably weren't going to be able to follow through with their plans of pranks. Apparently Keefe had a whole backpack filled with 2 dozen eggs and twelve rolls of toilet paper for nothing.

     Keefe voiced her complaints. "We're never going to get to uglify the Vacker palace at this rate!" He let out a loud sigh. After the noise of his frustration faded away, an awkward silence commenced. Sophie started pulling at her eyelashes—a nervous habit that she hadn't done in ages—because it was getting so unbearable. They clearly had things they needed to talk about, but neither was brave enough to say it.

"Man, you're stubborn," Sophie stated when Keefe still wouldn't apologize for what he had said earlier that day.

Eventually, Keefe sighed. "Look, I would be lying if I said I didn't mean any of that. I really try not to lie to my friends, but if that's what you want to hear, than so be it. I didn't mean anything I said. I'm just some stupid idiot that doesn't think before he speaks."

Sophie would've probably been offended if it wasn't for the last sentence. He had been completely sincere when he said that he didn't think about what he said. At least some of it was a confession.

Her anger still flared, though. "That last sentence is one-hundred percent right. You barely even know me and what I've been through, so you can't just say that I've lived a perfect life with no struggles at all. I bet you didn't know that my parents committed suicide after I ran away from home when I was 4 years old. I used to beat kids almost-to-death just because they told me I was weird or different. I joined a freaking gang just to learn to control my anger and crave for battle. I've killed more people than I can count just because of some loose hope that things might get better for me, but guess what? Nothing ever gets better for me. Each day just keeps getting worse. I've dug a hole of deep depression for myself just because the leaders of that stupid gang would assassinate my parents if I told them that I was a part of it. My only friend can't even go to my school because he was bullied so bad. I don't even want to go to school because of how bad I get bullied. If you think the Vackers are bad, you should get to know Stina. She tried to kill me once, and I almost killed her. Look at me, telling you my whole life story just because of some dumb comment you made. All I'm trying to say is that you need to look deeper into a person before you accuse them of something." She wasn't really mad, just trying to prove a point.

     Panic started swelling in her chest and Sophie had to take a deep breath to smother it. She had just told Keefe about the Black Swan. He was going to die because of her slip, and she couldn't do anything about it.

     But, instead of backing away and sprinting for freedom—which is what Sophie expected anyone to do if she told them her secret—Keefe entrapped her in his arms. He pulled her onto his lap as she completely broke down. Sophie buried her tear-stained face into his shoulder and slid her arms around his waist. They stayed like that for a while until Keefe decided to break the melancholy silence.

     "I was completely wrong about you. I've always thought my life was hard, but my life-long struggles are nothing compared to just a day of your struggles. Sophie, you know you don't need to face this alone, right? No one should have to carry all of those burdens on their own. Everyone deserves a chance to live a little. Sophie, look at me." Keefe gently folded his fingers around her chin and slowly moved her head to face him. "You need to let people into your life to help carry your burdens. You don't have to carry the weight of the world all by yourself. You don't deserve any of this weight on your shoulders, but I know you can't just get rid of it. I won't let you keep all of your problems to yourself anymore. I promise you will eventually get to experience a normal life, and the first step to that is to tell someone what you're going through." Keefe let out a breath.

     Without warning, his eyes fluttered closed, and the distance between them slowly decreased. Sophie's breath caught when his face was just mere centimeters from her own and her eyes involuntarily fluttered closed, too. His breath was soon on her lips, and all she could do was wonder what it would feel like if his lips were on hers.

     All too soon the warmth of his breath left Sophie's lips, and she felt his lips come to her cheek instead. Keefe then rested his forehead against hers.

     "Sophie, I made my promise, now you have to make yours." She slowly opened her eyes to look into his. "Please promise me that you will tell me when things get to be too much for you to handle. And please, Sophie, please let me help you," Keefe whispered with a look of pure dedication. He really did want to help her.

     Still, Sophie couldn't make the promise, so she looked away. "I don't want you to get hurt. I can't let anyone else I love get hurt." A tear slipped down her face and fell into the palm of her hand. She stared at it for a long time before she managed to bring her gaze back to Keefe. "I'll still make the promise, though. Just know that you are digging your own grave by making me do this." She tried a smile, but it was more like a grimace. "Keefe, I promise to tell you when I can't handle things. I may not let you help, but I'll still tell you."

     Keefe gave Sophie a half smile as he nodded and took her hand. He helped her up off of the floor and wiped a tear off her cheek. Before they decided to peek out of the door again, he whispered into her ear. "Thank you."

꧁A/N꧂
     AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! IM HAVING A CUTENESS OVERLOAD FROM MY OWN CHAPTER!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

     I'm preeeeeeeeeetty sure that chapter was worth the wait, right? Maybe? I'm honestly really happy with that sorta intimate chapter because I normally suck at that type of stuff.

     I'm really sorry that they didn't kiss, but they're not quite ready for that yet, y'know? Yeah... you guys are probably gonna screech in my face lol.

     Well, who liked this extremely cute chapter? BECAUSE I KNOW I DID!! (I'm literally fangirling over my own writing LMAO) ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

     I'm in such a great mood today!

~Penguin out ❤️✌🏻