KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Home

Keefe was home.

He pulled away from hugging Edaline--who Sophie dimly registered looked genuinely pleased to see him--and looked up at her wordlessly.

Was he still not speaking?

Or was he just trying to figure out what to say?

It turned out it was the latter, because after several seconds of awkward silence, he managed to force a smirk onto his face--oh how she'd missed that smirk--and said, "...surprise?"

Sophie found herself rushing down the steps to hug him.

Unfortunately, she stumbled on the next to last step and found herself falling clumsily into him.

Thankfully, his reflexes were quick and he managed to catch her without being knocked over.

She found herself blushing deeply as he steadied her, his smirk looking more natural now.

"There's my clumsy Foster," he said quietly. Then he quickly removed his hands from her and stole a glance at Edaline before looking back at Sophie. "Um...can we talk?"

Edaline took the hint. "I was just headed to the kitchen to bake some mallowmelt," she told them. "Grady is out in the pastures. Be sure to say hi to him, Keefe, he'll be glad to see you. Just let me know if you plan to leave Havenfield, okay?"

Sophie nodded and led Keefe back out the door.

They walked in silence for a while, heading for the Panakes, and Keefe was keeping a careful distance between them.

What did that mean?

She had so many questions.

Plus, her heart was racing and her palms were sweaty and he looked so good and...

"So..." Keefe mumbled as they slowed to a stop under the swaying branches, Panakes blossoms slowly falling around them.

"So...you're home?"

Keefe shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I just...I don't know. It's probably still not safe for me to be here, but it was awful staying away. And you were right about the Forbidden Cities. Being around humans is super intense."

"Is that why you came back? The humans were too much?"

Keefe took a small step closer. "Not exactly. My abilities...it's weird. They haven't shut down, or at least my empathy hasn't, but everything else...it feels less intense." His lips tugged into a soft smile. "I mean, I'm definitely picking up on all the Foster Feels you're flinging my way, but it's not overwhelming. Or at least," he said with a smirk, "no more than usual."

There was something different about Keefe.

He'd only been gone for a couple of weeks—though it had felt much longer—but still, something seemed different.

Sophie couldn't put her finger on it at first, but as he talked, she realized.

He hadn't taken his eyes off her for a second.

Even when they'd walked to the Panakes, she'd stolen a few glances at him, and had noticed that he was watching her, too.

This time, Sophie took a small step closer to Keefe. "So you thought maybe it was safe to come home?" She asked quietly.

Keefe shook his head. "I can't go that far. Me coming back was probably really, really stupid."

"Don't say that," Sophie scolded him softly.

"But," he argued, "it was. Nothing has really changed. It's just..." he somehow managed to move even closer, his eyes still staring at her like he hadn't seen her in years. "I really missed you," he murmured, a hand coming tentatively up to her face.