Sokeefe AU: The Farmer's Daughter

Part Thirteen.

About five seconds after Keefe left, Sophie was tossed into a tsunami of questions from Grady and Edaline.

Is he okay? What was that all about? Did everyone else hear what I heard? His parents sounded pissed . . . why?

She did not have any answers, and it frustrated her, especially because her own concerns echoed their's.

Her appetite had left, suddenly, even though pancakes were her favorite. She could practically hear Keefe's choked voice, begging for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry---"

What kind of monster did that to their own son? What kind of mother did that?

She couldn't imagine being in his shoes, and normally that was one of her strong suits.

So why did it feel so hard?

"Sophie," Edaline said, softly, and Sophie picked her head up from where she had been staring at her plate.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

She froze. Those three words, that one question, was probably the most asked question in the history of all the world, yet she had no clue how to answer it.

Obviously, lie, because that's what everyone did. You never got a straight answer when you asked that question, and you never answered it straight when asked.

But suddenly Sophie was desperate for truth.

But not for that question. She wanted to know why Keefe seemed so nervous to see his parents. She wanted to know why he didn't want to go home, ever, and why he had a job in the first place.

Her mind flashed to a few weeks ago. Keefe had gone home from work at the Ruewen's healthy, without a scratch.

Yet the next day he has come in with a busted lip and a bruise blooming on his face.

Sophie wanted to know how that had happened.

She was going to find answers.

"I'm okay," she told Edaline, mind whirling. It was a fraction of the truth, as much as she was willing to offer at that moment.

Edaline smiled sadly. She opened her mouth to say something, but Sophie's Imparter cut her off.

Huh.

How coincidental.

Two Imparter calls, both at breakfast.

She hoped with all her might that bee's wouldn't end as terribly as Keefe's had.

But when she reaches into her pocket and pulled it out, her stomach dropped.

It was Fitz.

She had no desire to answer. A conversation with the guy that had stood her up, especially after she had just eaten, was not one she wanted to have.

"I'm gonna take this," she told Edaline and Grady, slipping away from the table.

Dread filled her stomach as the phone-like device continued ringing. It was a tune Biana and Lihn had recorded for her, a soft song song by the two of them about the sky.

She listened to it for a moment as she hurried up the stairs, then pressed accept when she was sure her adoptive parents couldn't hear.

"Hello?"

"Sophie." Fitz's voice was sweet and laced with relief. "I thought you were going to ignore me."

She bit back the reply that she thought she was, too, and instead asked, "Did you need something?"