KOTLC After Stellarlune-A Sokeefe Story

Confessions

SETTING: At Havenfield, late night/early morning. Sophie and friends have just filled in the Collective on the evening's events. Mr. Forkle has decided that everyone must head home for a few hours of rest while the Collective begins researching and discussing how to move forward.

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    As their friends glittered away in the moonlight, promising to reconvene the next day so they could process everything together, Sophie couldn't help but notice that Fitz lingered a moment longer. She was pretty sure he was communicating telepathically with Keefe. It only lasted a moment and she didn't think anyone else had noticed. After Fitz left, she took a shaky breath and turned to Keefe. He opened his mouth to speak when Grady cleared his throat. "It's been a long night and you both need to get some sleep," he said pointedly. But Edaline grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back inside and saying "But you can have a moment to say goodnight." The sappy look on Edaline's face made Sophie blush.

    Keefe smirked. "At least I know one of them likes me."

    "I don't think any dad finds it easy to like the boys hanging around their daughters. Especially when--" Sophie stopped herself. She shouldn't have brought it up. Why did she do that? Keefe reached up, lightly touching the worry crease in her forehead, smoothing it out.

    "Especially when what?"

    Sophie hesitated. "It's in the past. I just meant, he's having to learn to trust you again after you left to join the Neverseen." She reached out to take his hand.  "I understand why you did what you did, and I think deep down he does too. He likes you, I know he does. But especially considering how Jolie died ...I think it's hard for him to trust me getting close to anyone. Especially because he saw how hurt I was. And he's been harder on you from the start, I think because he could sense what I was clearly so oblivious to for so long. I think he knew it was going to be you."

    Keefe studied her for a moment, his face serious. "It was a stupid, arrogant mistake and I SHOULD have to pay for it." His frustration with himself was obvious, but he quickly shook his head and then grinned. "But I'm sure Grady will come around to this eventually. He'll be on Team Foster-Keefe in no time!"

    Sophie laughed, but could feel some reality settling in along with her exhaustion. She didn't want to keep bringing it up, not when Keefe clearly still regretted leaving the first time, but she knew now why she had so quickly jumped to Grady's mistrust of Keefe. She bit her lip, unsure if now was the time.

    "Okay, even with my messed up abilities right now, I can feel some pretty strong emotions coming off of you." He fanned the air with his free hand. "Worry? Fear? What is it? You afraid Grady will hate me forever?"

    "No, of course not. It's just..." she paused. Be honest, she told herself. "I thought I was going to lose you again tonight. When you pretended to offer yourself up to your mom. Fitz told me you had a plan, but for a moment there, I thought I would lose you again. And I thought...he just keeps leaving me. And especially now that I've realized how I feel about you, the thought of you deciding the only way to save everyone is to leave again..." She looked away, embarrassed as tears filled her eyes.

    Keefe moved closer. "Sophie." He waited for her to look at him. "Both times, I thought I was doing what was best. Especially after these awful abilities my mom gave me, I am still worried about what kind of damage I could do. But I've realized something. Leaving--hiding from the world, trying to bottle up my new abilities--it's not the answer. It won't help. We're stronger together, all of us. We are a team and both times I left proved to be a huge mistake. I'm not going anywhere. The only way we can finish this is for all of us to band together."

     He paused long enough to release her hand, bringing both of his hands up to cup her face. As he held her gaze, her stomach--once again-- filled with fluttery things. She briefly wondered how it had taken her so long to understand what that meant. "And I'm definitely not leaving YOU," he whispered, his warm breath tickling her cheeks. "I meant what I said. I DON'T want to mess this up. I'm not going anywhere." His thumbs traced lightly along her cheeks, brushing away her tears as he leaned in to kiss her. It was short but very, very sweet.   Sophie was thrilled with how comfortable it was. No anxiety, no panic. How could everything be so new but feel so right, so strong, so sure? Then he smirked as he pulled away slightly. "You're stuck with me, Foster. Well--unless you eventually get sick of me and order me away." He said it lightly, as a joke, but Sophie could see a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.

    "That's definitely not going to happen. You might as well get used to it. You're stuck with me now too," Sophie teased, though her heart ached as she knew full well why the idea of someone truly wanting him by their side was so hard for him to trust. "I can't imagine anyone not wanting you around," she added, all teasing gone from her tone. He needed to know where she stood. He needed to know he was important and wanted. "It's why the thought of you leaving again is so scary." Keefe's gaze somehow grew more intense, warming Sophie down to her toes.  He quietly whispered her name as he pulled her in and kissed her once again.

    Eventually, Keefe pulled away again.  "So...what do you want to do about this? Do you want people to know? I mean personally, I want to shout it out as loud as I can, maybe make matching tunics that say 'Team Foster-Keefe always wins!'" He exclaimed with a fist pump, Sophie laughing along with him. "But what do you think?"

    Sophie considered for a moment. "I honestly don't think anyone will be surprised to know. I think most of our friends have been waiting for this to happen. But...what about Fitz? He was pretty hurt when I told him about us. Won't it be harder if we are flaunting it in his face?"

    "Poor Fitzy. I do know a little bit of what he's going through. But he's tough, and I think in time he will acknowledge that it wasn't going to work. He's going to need someone on his match list. Not everyone can appreciate the uniqueness of our Mysterious Miss F," Keefe pointed out with a smirk and a poke in her ribs to relieve the tension. "But I'm going to talk to him tomorrow."

    "Is that what he was transmitting to you earlier? That he wanted to talk?"

    "Noticed that, did you?" Keefe smiled. "He just transmitted that he thought we needed to talk about it, figure out how to handle things now. I told him that was probably a good idea and that I don't want to lose my best friend. I think it'll be okay."

    Relief flooded through Sophie's mind. "I'm glad. I didn't want to hurt him. Maybe...maybe we don't have to shout it from the rooftops. Don't try to hide it, but don't shove it in Fitz's face either. Besides," Sophie laughed, "when you come back to Foxfire and all the girls find out you're taken, the crying will be endless."

    Keefe smirked. "The occupational hazard of being this good looking. You're one lucky girl, Foster. But for now...we should probably both get to sleep. Will you be okay?"

    Sophie shuddered at the thought of trying to go to sleep, though she was exhausted. "I'll ask Silveny to help keep me calm. And I'll look forward to having you to see when I wake."

    Keefe reached out before she could turn towards the house and wrapped his arms around her. "I think I've owed you a big supportive hug for a while now," he whispered into her hair. Then he gently kissed her forehead and turned to head to the Grove.