ᴏɴᴇꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ ~ kotlc

42~ Part 1

Note: this starts the morning of the day when Sophie is determined to make sokeefe happen. Also, Keefe is sleeping under the panakes tree. Tell me if you read that as pancakes in the comments. (It's basically a chapter 42 rewrite, hence the name)

Sophie woke up to orange, pink, and purple light spilling through the window, illuminating the cocoon of blankets she wrapped herself in. It was still early in the morning, but she couldn't get herself to sleep more.

She was going to do it.

Sure, she wasn't too nervous. Maybe a little.

But it'd be fine!

Right?

Her insecure mind kept finding ways to tell her that she shouldn't do this, it was too risky. It could ruin their close friendship.

But her heart told her that it was happening. Even if she had to feed potions to her family and Sandor, it was happening.

She tripped down the stairs as she raced to get down. (A/N KF: shock!) The earlier, the better. She'd get it over with. And besides, she just wanted to see Keefe either way.

When she finally got on her own two feet, standing in the kitchen, she grabbed the plate of sugarknots, and headed off to the Panakes tree. She caught Edaline and Grady sharing a look, but they didn't bother to ask her any questions. Which was fine by Sophie. She didn't need any distractions. She needed to stay focused, so she didn't forget her script.

Sophie wrote a whole speech, and she'd read it so much that she could even say it all backwards. She wouldn't forget the speech.

She found Keefe being nuzzled by Wynn and Luna, the soft purple, blue, and pink blossoms gliding around them. His hair was still mussed, probably from all the alicorn nuzzles.

"Hi! I brought you breakfast," Sophie said, with a hopefully friendly smile on her face. She wanted to make sure the flush on her cheeks wasn't too noticeable.

"Oh, hi Foster," Keefe said, turning around to face her. "Great, I really needed to see a friendly face after practicing with the Gradynator all day yesterday."

She rolled her eyes, and sat down next to him. She offered the sugarknots to him, and he gladly took one.

FRIEND! FRIEND! KEEFE! KEEFE! KEEFE! JERK!

Sophie had to bite back a laugh at that one. Wynn and Luna were still calling Keefe a jerk for ignoring them when he was in the Forbidden Cities.

She caught Keefe looking at her. "Let me guess. They're calling me a jerk again?" he asked, and Sophie nodded.

"I mean, they're not wrong," Sophie said, in hopes of keeping the mood light. Keefe laughed, and Sophie felt her cheeks turn warm again. Since Keefe had come back from the Forbidden Cities, and Sophie discovered she liked him, it had been really awkward for Sophie. She seemed to blush every time he just smiled at her.

It became quiet under the Panakes tree again, except for the alicorns' loud transmissions. Sophie didn't know what to say, even though she'd been planning this for quite a while. She didn't feel like mentioning Fitz, especially since Keefe and Fitz's friendship had lately been... questionable. So maybe she should go off of her script.

Wynn and Luna ran off, back to Silveny and Greyfell. That left only Keefe and Sophie, sitting very close to each other.

"I don't think you realize how much I missed you," Sophie whispered, and she regretted it. What kind of conversation starter was that?!

She was going to quickly change the subject when Keefe looked at her in surprise and said a simple but big word. "Really?"

"Keefe, you're my best friend. I missed you. A lot. I was so worried about you. You have no idea how much," Sophie said, reaching for his hand. She intentionally stated the word friend, fighting the burning urge to say something else. To drop a hint.