Sokeefe - Until She Was Ready For More

Chapter 18

"Hey, Linh." Sophie replied, smiling at her. Sophie saw Keefe wave and grin at Linh from the corner of her eye. 

Seeing Linh in person was different than seeing her on the imparter, resulting in a change of height from the elf in front of Sophie that she hadn't noticed before. It seemed everyone had gotten taller. 

"How are you both? It's been ages since I've seen either of you!" Linh exclaimed. 

"We're..." Sophie started to say before trailing off. She didn't want to lie to her friend, but she couldn't exactly tell the truth. She looked to Keefe, finding him already looking at her. He cleared his throat, seeming to understand that Sophie wanted him to finish her sentence. 

"We're okay. A bit frazzled, but okay." Keefe said, giving Sophie a brief smile before turning his gaze forward and back towards Linh.

Linh gave Sophie a concerned look and Sophie returned it with a reassuring smile that seemed to satisfy Linh enough for her to move on. 

Linh waved her hand, beckoning them inside, and they both followed her into the elven mansion. Sophie stopped and gasped in astonishment, turning in a circle to take it in. The inside was just as - if not more - beautiful than the outside. It had a large entryway with ocean blue accents decorated throughout. There were doorways at each of the three walls - not including the front door -, each leading to a different rooms. Linh moved towards the center doorway. 

Once Sophie recovered, she followed Linh into the center room. The room was split in two. One half was a kitchen and the second was a living area. Both parts opened up to each other, giving it a very balanced feel. 

Sitting on the couch were three elves, two of which Sophie hadn't seen in their older forms. Wylie hadn't changed much, only growing slightly taller and displaying facial hair. But Wylie didn't have minute amounts of it like Keefe and Fitz. No, Wylie had a full beard. Speaking of facial hair, Tam was rocking a mustache, with a dyed streak of silver in it, just like his bangs. 

Sophie and Keefe exchanged a look before they both burst out laughing. I can't wait to tell Tam about his future mustache, Sophie thought, still chuckling softly. Keefe, on the other hand, was practically howling with laughter. Even after Sophie had calmed down enough to stop, Keefe was only laughing harder. 

"You- you both lo-look ridiculous!" Keefe gasped out between laughs. "Bangs Boy, your mus-mustache!"

Sophie shot him a glare, internally starting to panic. To everyone but them and Biana, nothing was out of the ordinary. Keefe and Sophie's reaction was uncalled for. And Sophie knew that, that being the cause of her anxiety. 

"Someone must have given him laughing gas." Sophie said, chuckling awkwardly and slowly dragging Keefe towards the door. By that point, Keefe's amusement had died down, but Sophie knew he still needed a stern talking to. 

"What's laughing gas?" Tam asked, giving her a puzzled look. Sophie saw a similar expression on everyone else's face.

"Oh, I forgot. It's a human thing. It's something that makes you laugh hysterically for no reason." Sophie replied, clenching her teeth and subtly elbowing Keefe in the side for the last three words. She continued to tug Keefe from the room, smiling nervously all the while. 

Once she finally reached the doorway, she turned and pulled Keefe into a nearby room, shutting the door swiftly behind her. 

"What was that?" she half-yelled. 

"I'm sorry." he said, having the decency to look slightly ashamed. Sophie sighed, putting her face in her hands. 

"We shouldn't have come. We have no clue what we're doing and we definitely can't pull this off. We were stupid and naive to think we could ever pretend to be them." Sophie dejectedly thought out loud. 

"You're right."

"What?" 

"You're right that we have no clue what we're doing. That we probably shouldn't have come. That we can't be them. You're right." 

Keefe paused, sighing and running his hand down his face, before beginning to speak again. 

"But we're Keefe Sencen and Sophie Foster and, if anyone can do this, it's us. Team Foster-Keefe forever, right?"

"Right." Sophie whispered. The silence surrounded them as Sophie looked into his eyes, probing. Looking for the reassurance she needed and finding it. 

"But that means you can't start randomly laughing at Tam's mustache again!" Sophie scolded, but with a smile in her eyes. 

"But it looks so silly!" Keefe laughed. Sophie shook her head, fondly rolling her eyes. 

"We should probably rejoin the others."

Sophie started towards the door, getting all the way there before stopping. Keeping her hand on the handle, she turned her head back to look at Keefe. 

"I'm scared." she breathed, searching his eyes.

"Me too." he whispered, any trace of previous humor disappeared from his face. 

"I-" she faltered. 

"It's going to be alright. Just breathe." he said, taking her hand. Sophie took a deep breath turning around so she was facing him and squeezing his hand. 

"Thanks, Keefe." she said, completely meaning it. Here Keefe was, also admitting how scared he was, and still being the one to comfort her. There would never be enough thank-you's in the world for Sophie to tell him how much she appreciated him. She couldn't have asked for a better friend. Her heart snagged on the word friend even as her head passed over it. 

Sophie blamed that hitch in her heart for what happened next. 

Still looking into his eyes, she felt a pull, luring her in. She felt herself drawing closer to him, her gaze slipping down to his lips just before her eyes fell shut. His breath was on her face, causing her lips to part in anticipation. Just as she felt a whisper of something warm and soft touch her lips, something hard and cold crashed into her from behind. 

The door had slammed open, causing both elves to come crashing to the floor. Sophie had fallen onto Keefe, barely a sliver of space left between them. Her face turned crimson, as did his, although the latter's a slightly lighter shade. 

"What's going on in here?" Biana asked accusingly from the doorway, her hands on her hips.