He Left Me - KotLC fic (after Unlocked)

Chapter 31

Another Keefe's perspective for ya. 

I paced in the living room of my apartment.

That could've gone better.

I thought of the way she almost begged me to come back. Sophie Foster, the most stubborn girl alive, was actually asking for something. She never did before; she wanted to do everything herself. I had to insist on helping before she'd want me around.

She wasn't dead. I hadn't lost her out of my own stupidity, caused her death by not being brave enough to be around her. She survived, and I still stayed away. I could have had a whole life with her. 

And then when I couldn't answer, she walked away from me. She walked out of my life the way I did to her all those years ago.

If this was how much it hurt her to be the one left behind, I didn't know how she could forgive me.

I leaned my back on the wall. I had let the only girl I ever loved walk away because I was a coward. I was afraid, and now I've lost her again.

I gritted my teeth against the pain in my heart and my eyes welled with tears. Sophie was gone. And knowing her stubbornness, she was probably ashamed of showing so much vulnerability. She wouldn't come back.

I slid down the wall to sit on the floor and dropped my head on my arms. "Why did I let her go?" I whispered.

Sure, it would be hard to adjust to the Elvin life after so long, and things have probably changed, and it would take some getting used to. It would hurt to leave the human cities I had come to love over the years. I would have to work out my unfinished schooling, and find a place to live, and work to start, but surely it can't be as hard as it was to come into a world where I knew nothing at 16 and survive.

It would be worth any trouble to see her even one more time. 

But I had hesitated, out of shock and confusion and pain, and then she walked out.

I recalled the light sound made when she walked out. A clinking of glass on something. I shot upright, wobbling at the speed, and rushed over to the door. I tore apart the front hallway, searching through the coat rack and through the bowl where I kept my keys.

A tiny thud drew my attention. A small home crystal had fallen to the carpeted wood, barely an inch or so long.

A crystal. She left one for me.

Where did it go to?

Before I could think it through, I had held it up to the dying sun and stepped into the light.

I rematerialized outside a small house, made of glass and stone. It was two stories, and perfectly simple. A walkway went from where I stood to the front doors.

In the dark, I couldn't see much of the grounds, but the light on the first floor illuminated the small living room.

I carefully approached and knocked quietly. There was no answer, but I could see a hint of blond hair on the dark grey couch.

I mentally chastised myself, but still opened the door and entered.

Sophie was asleep on the sofa, dressed in only her leggings and a black tank top. My old sweater was tossed haphazardly onto a nearby armchair, like she didn't want anything to do with it.

I slid my shoes off, walking on quiet sock feet as to not wake her. Her face and pressed into her arms, hair falling around her bare shoulders.

Gently, I lifted her into my arms. She didn't weigh much more than she did when I carried her away from the Neverseen. I climbed the stairs to the second floor, hoping I'd find her room.

The first door led to a completely empty room with a glass roof. The stars were bright here, and they illuminated the dark corners.

The next room must have been her office, with a plain desk and walls of colorful books. They reminded me of my sketchbooks.

The last room must have been hers. The bed was simple and plain, the walls mostly empty, but two paintings hung on the wall. I caught my breath as I recognized my own work from when her human parents were kidnapped.

I carefully set her down on the bed, covering her with the comforter. Ella was nearby, and I picked up the elephant with a smile. I was surprised she was still hanging on; human fabrics don't last anywhere near as long as Elvin. Sophie must have had her patched up. I tucked the stuffed animal under Sophie's arm and quietly left.

I really hadn't thought this through. I hadn't brought a leaping crystal to go back to New York, and I didn't know where the Leapmaster was. I wasn't really in the mood for invading her privacy to search the house.

I picked up her sneakers from where they had been dropped near the couch and returned them to the front hall closet. There was a spot waiting for them in the shoe rack. I laughed at the one pair of heels thrown in the back corner.

I went to shut the closet doors, but something caught my eye as I looked up from the floor. Sophie had rows of black capes, almost like the one the Neverseen wore. Toward the end, there were a handful more colors, including one plain silver garment.

I stared in confusion. Sophie used to hate black capes. Why would she have so many?

Shutting the door, I walked back into the living room. I folded the sweater, setting it on the table, and noticed a shelf of photos on the wall facing the window.

Stepping closer for a better look, I realized they were mostly of Sophie and her friends.

Sophie and Biana hugging with big smiles in graduation gowns, Dex and Fitz making the same pose, only exaggerated, in the background.

Biana and Dex's wedding. They must have finally gotten together. Sophie wore a pale blue bridesmaid gown, a thin row of metal flowers around her head. She must have been the Maid of Honor.

Sophie and Fitz hugging on the Tribunal stage, both of them crying and laughing.

That same day, posing with Grady and Edaline, all our friends, Alden and Della, and Dex's parents. More than a few tears were present, but there were big smiles all around.

In Atlantis, sticking out her tongue with Biana and Linh.

Making a face with a serious Fitz standing next to her, regal in their midnight blue Emissary capes.

Smiling with a young adult Amy, the two of them cuddled in Sophie's room at Havenfield.

Sophie under Calla's tree, a thick book open in front of her.

Elwin taking a selfie with a sleeping Sophie, dressed in a tunic covered in ice-blue imps. His mouth was open, half smiling, like "Look what I did!", but his eyes were full of worry.

I grinned at all the happy memories, a few tears falling at the sight of all I had missed. But my smile fell at the sight of the next set of photographs.

Sophie knelt on the tribunal stage, the Council in full regal outfits. She wore a black cape, like the ones in her closet, and Emery was placing a circlet around her head.

Sophie stood in line with the rest of the Councilors, her black outfit standing out among the jewel tones. Her face was hard and cold, none of the warmth that lingered in the earlier photos.

Sophie was a Councilor.

I stumbled into a chair, more than a little shocked. Most Elves had to be at least a few hundred years old before they were even voted for. And my Sophie, who always disagreed with so much the Council did, had been nominated.

And she had accepted.

Hope crashed in my chest. There was no way she'd give up her whole life, change everything, just because I came back. I was a fool for my unspoken hopes that I would finally get the life I always dreamed of with her.