POV: Third person Word Count: 1227
Context: It is the day after Fitz broke up with her.
As Sophie slouched against Calla's panakes tree, she turned up All Too Well on her headphones trying to forget.
" Foster?"
She started trying to brush off her tears and straighten her tunic.
" Oh, hi Keefe, why, uhh, are you...... here?" She willed him not to see the tears staining her face.
" Soph, I can feel your emotions, you don't have to pretend you're fine with me, that might work with everyone else, though I seriously doubt it, it won't work on me. And I'm here because Edaline hailed me and asked me to come here, but she didn't say why, so can you?"
She realized with a blush he could feel everything she felt. " I, uh, it would be better if I just showed you." She turned to him, putting two fingers on his temples.
Then the memory began and it was worse the second time.
As it replayed, tears fell from her eyes. The memory seemed to go on forever, drawing it out, building the suspense leading up to the big event.
When the climax hit, she felt the tears start to flow freely, not caring if he saw. An arm wrapped around her shoulder, telling her he was there and ready to comfort her. She felt the tears run slower.
" Soph, are you okay?" She was taken back by his caring tone.
" I-- Yes. I'm fine." She knew she sounded like a mess, but on the bright side, good thing it wasn't the day she decided to try makeup.
" No, you aren't--"
" I know I'm a mess, you don't need to tell me."
" Not what I was going to say." He moved to he was looking into her eyes. She reached up for her eyelashes, but he grabbed her hand, wrapped his hands around it and held it between them. " I was going to say that you aren't fine. You're going through your first breakup, dealing with the Neverseen, trying to do everything at once. You. Aren't. Fine. But you can get through it. If anyone can, it's you."
" Why?" As moved by his words as she was, she had to question them.
" Because you are Sophie Foster. And if I know one thing about you, it's that you can do whatever you put your mind to."
" Thank you." She wondered where all of this wisdom came from but didn't dare ask for fear it would go away.
" But-- ah, if this isn't too touchy of a thing to talk about, was whatever you had with Fitz healthy?"
She thought back to the moments she and Fitz shared; when Fitz brought her to the elvin world, when he was jealous of her classes in the elite levels, when he blamed her for Alden breaking, when he apologized and she forgave him without a second thought, starting cognate training, when she and Fitz met with Keefe, and Fitz didn't trust Keefe, when he left at Alvar's tribunal, when they were stuck in the healing center, when they almost kissed, and the night before.
She realized it wasn't healthy. He got mad at her, then expected an apology. And he only liked her because of her abilities but done for, now that she was unmatchable.
" It..... wasn't. I don't know how I didn't see it." She felt a tear fall down her cheek.
He reached up and whipped the tear away. " Even though you didn't see it this time, doesn't mean you can't use this later in your life. You will have other boyfriends, and now you can see it easily."
" I'm not going to find anyone else. No one wants to deal with that. No one wants that." Or at least she thought.
" Foster, if someone really cares about you, then they won't care. And it's kind of a plus if you think about it, you don't have to worry if someone really likes you or not." I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood, and honestly, he was right. If someone was willing to be a bad match they'd practically be willing to stop time for her.
" That's.... actually a good idea. Thank you, Keefe."
" No prob, Foster. Anytime" He was shaking his head, almost in... regret, but at what? " Foster?"
" Yes?"
" Could you..... uh, stand up and close your eyes?" He had a look in his eye that she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
" Uhh, why?"
" Just..... Please." The look in his eye was.... brighter, more distinct, but.... she still couldn't put a label on what it was.
"Fine, I will, but if you throw anything at me, then you're done for."
She stood up and closed her eyes. She started to feel deja vu, but she had no idea why. What happened that was even close to this. This didn't feel like an everyday thing. It wasn't, but then why did it feel like this had happened before.
Then it hit her. When she kissed Dex, she asked him to stand up and close his eyes. Is this what was happening? No, it couldn't be, right?
His lips touched hers, and she froze. This couldn't be happening. But, she was kissing Keefe Sencen. Keefe. Freaken. Sencen. She started to kiss back, wrapping her arms around his neck. One of his hands found her waist while the other cupped her cheek. They stayed like that for what felt like hours. Sophie pulled back, and they were both breathing heavy.
In that moment she realized that she did like Keefe. She had just brushed him aside, assuming she liked Fitz. What an awful thing to think. Keefe had always been there for her, even when she was sort of dating Fitz. He even felt what she was feeling. He knew. But he also knew that if she liked Fitz, and Fitz liked her, then who was he to step into his best friend's territory. He really was a good friend.
" Uh, Foster, you good? You just zoned out for a second."
" Oh, yaa I'm fine. I just....... got lost in my thoughts?" She tried to save it, but it just came out as a question.
" I know I have awesome kissing skills. You can say it." He smirked as she blushed.
" Not where I was going with that. I was having an..... Epiphany." She didn't sound sure of herself, but Keefe knew better than to doubt her.
" Soooo, what was your epiphany?"
" I...... I realized I was wrong all this time. I didn't like Fitz. I never did. I.... just convinced myself I did. I..... liked....... you. I always did."
She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting herself be vulnerable with the one person she let herself be vulnerable with. He wrapped his arms around her lower back, pulling her closer.
" Fo-Soph, ummmm, Do you, uh, want to go out with me on Friday?" He looked so nervous that she had to hold back laughter.
" I-- I would love to." She blushed as she realized what she said, and as she watched him smirk, she realized that this was what she wanted. Whether that meant for now or for forever didn't really matter to her.
Hi, So this is my first chapter. I came up with this one, and I know this has been done a million times before, but I just wanted to do it. I think it turned out well. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. First one to comment gets the chapter dedicated to them.
Please vote and request.
