Sokeefe Forever - *Discontinued*

Chapter 6: 48-hour Cognate Session

1233 words

Sophie's POV

The second I saw Fitz's angered face, I jumped up from the bench. "Oh! Hi! What brings you here?" I said, louder than I needed to.

"We are here to take Mrs. Foster to Aluveterre for a 48-hour Cognate training exercise. We had gone to Havenfield to look for you but there was a note on the front door that said you would be staying here for the next week. We would be happy to give you a room in Aluveterre if you like." Mr. Forkle said. I looked at Keefe, who looked... kinda scared.

Don't worry. I'll stay in Aluveterre for two days, and when I come back I'll stay with you. Is that okay? I transmitted to him. He nodded, so I asked Mr. Forkle to continue. I also told him thanks, but I would be coming back here when it was over.

"You and Fitz will be put in our largest guest room and be left alone to do as many trust exercises as you can. We are hoping you will reach the highest level of trust, so you are prepared for anything."

"Okay, so... just to clarify, you will be putting us in a room for two days, alone, to do work on our cognate skills?"

"Yup! I think it will be great for our relationship and our trust." Fitz said.

By then, Keefe looked ready to punch them all in the face, but he held back.

"Um... okay. When are we leaving?"

"Right now. I suggest you wear your cognate rings and bring and change of clothes."

"I guess so. Just give me a minute, okay?" I said. Now I felt ready to punch them all in the face. I dragged Keefe through the door and into his room to talk for a minute.

"Sophie, are you sure you want to do that? It doesn't sound that fun," he said, as he glared out the window at Fitz.

"I don't really have a choice. I promise you don't have to worry about me and Fitz." I added. He didn't look convinced. "How about this: every once in a while I'll reach out to you on my imparter and talk to you about what's going on. Is that ok?" He nodded, but he still didn't look happy about it.

I grabbed my stuff and gave Keefe a quick kiss and went back outside.

"Are you ready?" Granite asked. "If you say yes, that means you've committed to the entire 48 hours." I gave a small nod and took his hand.

We leaped away before I got to wave goodbye to Keefe.

"This is where you will be staying. There is food in the kitchen and the bedrooms are upstairs. You will have 4 hours of free time during the entire 48 hours. There should be a schedule explaining the rest." Mr. Forkle gestured around the room, and then he left. That was it.

The guest room was more of a house, with 2 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms upstairs, a living room, kitchen, and dining area on the main floor. There was also a large room with only two chairs, which we assumed would be where we would be doing the exercises.

We went upstairs and put our things in our rooms. The bedrooms were a bit like a hotel bedroom. Fancy and pristine. After we put our stuff away, we went straight to the schedule to see what was first.

"Okay... it looks like we're supposed to explore each other's emotional center and see if we can trigger a certain emotion," I read. "Each exercise is supposed to take at least two hours."

"Okay! Let's get right to it then." Fitz said as he dragged me into the training room.

"Who should go first?" I asked, already feeling annoyed that I had to be here instead of with Keefe.

"I'll start. Can I enter your mind?" I nodded, and he closed his eyes and explored my emotions.

Great. I thought. This won't fail at all. It seems like a great idea to have my ex-boyfriend poking around my emotional center.

Okay... I guess that you're feeling... angry? Fitz guessed, and I tried to keep my thoughts under control.

Correct. Now it's my turn. I reached my conscience out to his and found my way to his emotions. When I finally found a way to comprehend what I was seeing in all of the chaos, it didn't seem right. I saw a lot of pink and purple circles, hearts, and squiggles which is not what I expected to see in a boy's mind. Umm... is it pride? I guessed.

No, but kinda close.

Okay... uh... embarrassment?

Does it look like I'm embarrassed?

I guess not. I can't figure this one out! Can you give me a hint?

Okay... give me a second. It took about 56 seconds before he said, I feel this emotion when I see you.

Alright... when you see me you feel... it was then that I realized something. Something crucial. There were hearts among the circles and squiggles. Hearts usually mean one thing, and one thing only.

oh... um, Fitz? I think we need to talk for a second. Out loud. I know what the emotion is.

"Okay, what is the emotion?" He asked.

"Was it love?" I really hoped there was a mistake, and that I had guessed wrong.

But he nodded. And he had a hopeful smile. And he wouldn't look away from my eyes. Fitz still likes me.

"I... I still really like you Sophie. And I was hoping that you and could get back together...?" he asked.

I didn't answer, and I didn't look at him. I hoped that was answer enough because my heart was beating so fast, I thought it would explode.

His smile quickly faded, and I could tell that the emotional center was overwhelmed. But the one emotion that showed on his face was anger. "This has to do with Keefe, right? You like him more than me?"

"I... that's none of your business."

"REALLY?? YOU THINK THAT'S NONE OF MY BUSINESS?" He shouted. "I'm your cognate, and you're supposed to tell me everything otherwise WE CAN'T BE COGNATES."

"Then..." I sighed. He'd find out eventually, and she didn't have the energy to deal with that right now.

"Okay. Do you really want to know what's going on? Ever since we broke up, I have had no feelings toward you. You were mean to me, you shouted in my face, and the matchmaking debacle really ticked you off. So I decided that even if you had gotten on your knees and begged, I would never love you again. That's also when I realized that I love Keefe. I love Keefe more than I have ever loved you, or anyone else." He sat there in silence with a blank expression on his face.

"So... you were hiding this from me?" he asked.

"You would have found out eventually, but... yes."

As soon as I said the word "yes" I felt a burning sensation on my thumbs. Like my thumbs were being dipped in a pit of boiling lava. I quickly threw off my rings, and Fitz did the same. We both watched in horror as our Cognate rings started to melt on the floor.

That's when I realized... I had just broken our bond as Cognates.