You're the Reason// A Sokeefe Human AU

Part 15

Rain slid down Sophie Foster's window as she lay in bed, holding up the teddy bear. She didn't know what to make of the message relayed to her. Perhaps it was another one of Keefe's jokes or pranks. It seemed.. too unreal.

"What I wanted to say is that I like you. A lot. I've liked you since the moment we've met till now, Sophie Foster. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to tell you."
"There are a million times I wish I could have told you, but my thoughts get all tangled, and my heart starts racing.. Weird, right? So that's why I decided to tell you like this, where I can say all the things I want to."
"Anyways.. That's all. I hope this doesn't make you feel awkward at all. Looking forward to hearing your response."

His voice cut off there and she just held the teddy bear in her hands, looking deeply into it's beady eyes as if it could explain what the heck she just heard.
Oh, and this would definitely make things awkward.

                                                                             KEEFE'S POV

   Keefe tossed and turned all night. She probably listened to the message already. He felt regret and relief all at once, because he did want to tell her how he felt for a long time, so at least he got it off his chest, but also, he had these thoughts spiraling around in his head for the past couple of hours:

She'd never look at him the same way again.
What if she didn't feel the same way?
What if she DID FEEL THE SAME WAY?
What if...

Well.. You probably get the point.

Confessing his love through a teddy bear might have been one of the more ridiculous things that he'd done.

But hey, at least he told her! He couldn't ignore the rising dread in his stomach, nor could he stop checking his phone every five minutes to see if she contacted him, but at least Ro would be proud of him. She'd been nagging him for the past couple of weeks.
It looked like he would not be sleeping tonight.

(A/N: He finally confessed his ✨ love ✨ I just had to make you guys wait until the fifteenth chapter. 😅)

                                                                                      At Work

Maybe she could avoid him.
Wait a second. Why should she avoid him?
Right. She had nothing to avoid him for, she thought as she hid herself in the bathroom.
Yet that's exactly what she was doing.

She heard a knock on the door and jerked her head up.
"Is there anyone in here?" The voice was quite frantic.
"Yeah, just one second." Sophie replied, suppressing a sigh. She couldn't hide out in here for much longer, which was further proven when the lady kept knocking on the door.
"Please miss, I really need to use the restroom!"
Sophie put the poor woman out of her misery and opened the bathroom door with an apologetic smile, which was met with a rushed slam of the door. She really needed to go.

Sophie tried to race her beating heart. She probably wouldn't run into him. Why was she so worried? He was probably in his office or something. Yeah.
She glanced left and right. Coast was clear. No disheveled blonde hair in sight.

She quickly scuttled out of the bathroom entry and to the door of her office. She put her hand on the door handle to open it, but someone else had already done so. She, however, realized that moments too late, because she already crashed headfirst into him. Him? Him!

The very person she'd been trying to avoid all morning. How did she have such terrible luck?

Keefe hadn't expected someone else to be behind the door, (much less her of all people,) so he had impulsively walked forward. Sophie nearly fell over from surprise but Keefe caught her before she could do so. Though she might have preferred he just let her take the fall, because
now they were somehow in such a position where Keefe was basically cradling her in his arms.

"Hi Foster."

His icy blue eyes seemed to dance with amusement as he looked down at her with a smirk. She couldn't do much except gape at him, and, much to her frustration, feel her face get hotter. Taking advantage of their predicament, he swooped her off the ground.

"Put me down Keefe." She demanded.

"I didn't expect to see you here." He said, ignoring her request.

"At my office? Where else would I be?" She said mockingly. He cleared his throat.

"Keefe put me down, people will see us." She whispered.

"Who cares if they see? What is there to see anyways?" He asked, carrying her into her office.

And sure enough, heads turned to them.
"They can mind their own business." He said calmly, as if that would reassure her. He finally set her in her chair, and she sort of wished she could bury herself in a deep hole so she wouldn't feel embarrassment burning through her body or hear people whispering.

"Get back to work or you're all fired." Keefe said, putting his hands on his hips and making himself seem authoritative. It actually worked a little too well because the entire room fell dead silent.

Sophie put a hand over her heart. At this point she would consider herself very lucky if she didn't have a heart attack or cardiac arrest.
"See, it worked." Keefe said, leaning on her chair and peering at her blank computer.
"Yeah, I guess so." She said, powering on her computer and beginning to type. Maybe he'd go away if she pretended he didn't exist.
He began talking to her, trying to break her focus, and she was mostly successful in ignoring him until he brought this up;
"Did you like my present?" He asked. She stopped clicking her mouse and turned to him.
Realizing he had grabbed her attention he glanced down at her with a sly smile.
"I mean the painting."
She exhaled, trying to clear her head. Right. The painting. Not the other one.
She relaxed her shoulders and turned back around to continue her work. "I love it."
"Really?" He said tentatively, as if he wasn't expecting that answer.
"Of course. Who wouldn't?"
"You should see my parent's trash bin. My art is apparently only valuable enough to be thrown in there." He meant to say it lightheartedly, but his tone fell flat.
"They don't like your art? That's ridiculous. It's amazing."
"Not necessarily, they just don't like the idea of me pursuing anything other than business. They say art is too distracting if I'm to be the future heir. I actually wanted to go to art school, but.. Well. You can probably guess what they had to say about that."

She stopped typing again.

"But what's holding you back? You don't seem like the type to just back down because someone told you to."
Keefe went silent. "My dad can be pretty intimidating, and I don't know where I would start.."
"I'm no artist, but I know for a fact that your art is good enough to be in a museum, so you shouldn't have much of a problem getting in. Just create a submission. You have the money to attend, right?"
Keefe went silent again, presumably turning over the idea in his mind. He had never even really opened up to the idea of pursuing a job he actually enjoyed, because every time he had brought it up his ideas were immediately shot down.

"Just think about it." She said with a smile, turning around to face him. "And even if your parents don't support you, I will.
Something clicked in his brain. It was as if her words flipped a switch, because his eyes suddenly lit up.

"You're actually right." He looked at her with new determination.
"I'm going to start looking for a school to attend."

Their eyes met and both of their smiles widened.