KotLC Fanfic (The Sweet Secrets We Hide)

Chapter Eleven

Heh. So um. Longest chappie yet! I'm not going to push you to comment this time, though, it's wayyyy too long. Like. 25 Google Docs pages. So . . . hope you like it! I'm kind of proud of myself, despite making it way too long for Wattpad to load, hehe. *says literally nothing about how I left you in the dark for too long. Enjoy! I appreciate your votes, and I love your comments!

"I'm having a disproportionately grand amount of fun smashing things." — Dex Dizznee

As I watched the Ruewens forcing their daughter to promise to stay safe, and squeezing her tight like they never wanted to let go, I felt something coolly sharp rise inside me, overtaking my body, my heart, my jumpy nerves. The hugs were a bit much, honestly. A waste of time, if you asked me, for the stars speckling the horizon had already begun to fade into coral-pink. Gold grazed the horizon past the jagged cliffs where the ocean kissed the waking sky, and trepidation began to tug impatiently at my racing heart.

Not a waste of time. Showing their daughter they loved her wasn't a waste of time just because love was something I'd never receive anymore.

"Dang," I whispered to Keefe, who stood beside me, rubbing his sleepy eyes rather adorably. His hair was more tousled than usual, falling onto the side of his forehead, slightly, and his sharp ice-blue gaze took a moment to focus on me. "These guys are hardcore."

"I know, right?" He smirked, and maybe it was the sweet fatigue behind his eyes, or the crisp morning scent of dew drops adorning every spider's web in the grass wafting through the air and raising my spirits, but it was laced with an honest sense of amusement, brighter and warmer than I'd expected. "My dad just sent me off with a weird look and went back to sleep."

I glanced at him, offering him tentative sympathy, but when he merely grinned back like it was the funniest thing ever, I understood. He didn't want pity. Nor did I. So I merely laughed tiredly, pushing aside the curiosity. "Oof, Keefe."

"What, like your mom said much to you?"

Grinning sheepishly, I admitted, "No, but if I'd seen my mother today, I doubt she even would've spared me a look let alone breakfast."

Keefe laughed at the joy in my voice. "You say that so cheerfully."

"If I cried at every awful bit of my life, I would never stop crying."

For a second, he stared at me wordlessly, debating whether or not to reply. "That's . . . one way to think of it."

Laughing, I tugged my cape tighter around myself as I scooted slightly closer to his warmth absentmindedly. I hadn't noticed, though, until I found the slightest of a smile whispering upon his lips, and his eyes flickered to my shuffling boots slowly closing the distance between mine and his. "A bit depressing, eh?"

"A bit." He grinned, and for a moment, we were just two friends watching the sun rise above the wandering animals in their pastures, listening to birds begin to yawn their first chirps of the morning, and laughing over each others' misfortunes. For a moment, we were just kids living the good life, forever young.

But then my gaze caught Kate's piercing one as she stood not more than four feet away from us. No doubt, she'd heard our every word, and she thought I knew, for confusion flashed behind her expression alongside a level of perceptiveness I didn't want to understand.

I looked away before I could stop myself. She didn't need to know.

Thankfully, before she could say a word, Sophie managed to pull away from the Ruewens' benevolently excessive care, and sent them back inside to catch the last bit of sleep they could before the sun rose fully.