Sokeefe AU: The Farmer's Daughter

Part 19

Everglen always shined too bright.

At least, that’s what Sophie always thought, and maybe she was making it up, but as she stepped out of the beam of light, with Keefe’s slightly shaky hand in her own, she had to shy away.

The fence, tall and standing over her in all its glory, glowed with an intenseness that instantly gave her a headache. The sun didn’t help, and she was momentarily blinded.

Swaying, she gripped the nearest thing to her--which happened to be the hand she was still holding.

“Are you okay?” Keefe asked, steadying her, and she felt lightheaded all over again with the sneaking suspicion it had nothing to do with the fence and everything to do with the boy she was leaning up against.

“Yes,” she breathed, closing her eyes for the count of three and willing, praying, hoping that she wasn’t telling a lie. “The fence is a little bright, is all.”

Keefe tilted his head and turned to look, like in all the times he had been there, he’d never considered it. “Huh,” was his reply, and Sophie suddenly wanted to laugh.

She had a bad habit of that, laughing at things that weren’t funny.

“You good, now?” he asked, holding up their clasped hands as a gentle reminder that she was still gripping his fingers, hard.

She nodded, feeling like her face was on fire, and pulled away.

But she couldn’t make her feet move. She stared at the fence, the giant, massive fence, and everything felt closed in. Like she wasn’t there. Like she could never be there.

“Woah, hey,” Keefe’s voice flooded her ears, and she would have turned to look at him if she could move. He grabbed her hand, again, and squeezed it softly, moving in front of her. She stared into his cool, ice-like eyes, feeling her heart beat out of her chest. “What's wrong?” he asked, softly, gently.

“Nothing,” she mumbled, finally shifting her eyes to the ground.

“I’m an Empath. I know what fear feels like,” Keefe said. “The question is, why?”

She could have answered him. She really could've. But how did she explain that the day had hardly started and already she wanted to quit, wanted to take a walk in the forest, get lost, and never come out again?

And on top of that, he might not even understand why. It’d been impulsive to tell him Fitz had stood her up, impulsive and stupid, yet she had. How to explain that it was so much more? How to tell him that despite the fact she knew all along that she was overreacting to it, she couldn’t stop?

So instead of being honest, like she knew she should have, she carefully lifted her eyes and stared into his. “I’m not scared,” she told him, pointedly, and she knew he could feel the lie like a blow to his teeth.

He looked down at her, quiet for several moments. Eventually he must have found what he was looking for, because he nodded and dropped her hand, glancing away. “Okay.”

For some reason, Sophie hadn’t expected him to give up that quick. She stood there, somewhat stunned, and isn’t that all she ever felt? Shell-shocked? Tired?

She wanted to thank him for dropping the topic, but she didn’t say anything else as she turned back towards the massive fence, starting the long walk.

After a moment she heard Keefe following.

It was silent for what felt like too long, but Sophie ignored it as she finally reached the fence, ringing the buzzer. Waiting.

Keefe stood just behind her. If she fell back, she’d fall into his chest, maybe right over his heart.

For a moment she entertained the idea, but then Biana was there, smiling and opening the door.