Elysian (After Stellarlune)

32. Keefe's POV

 The first words out of Sophie's mouth when Keefe picked up his Imparter were not what he expected. He thought she'd say, "Hey!" or "Hi." or whatever she was in the mood for. But Sophie got straight to the point.

"Can you come over?"

"Yeah." Keefe said as he already started packing up his pencils and notebook. "But, might I ask, what do you need?"

"Um, well, I'll just tell you when you get here. Hey," Sophie said, glancing at the tools in Keefe's hands. "Are you drawing?"

Keefe was, in fact, drawing. A lot had happened within the last few weeks, and he hadn't been able to find the time. When he finally scrounged out a piece of free time, Keefe jumped at the chance to update his notebook of all the things he'd been wanting, yearning to draw.

"Yeah." Keefe answered Sophie.

"Why don't you bring the stuff here? Once we're done, you can draw some more, and I can take a peek at what you've already drawn."

Keefe wasn't sure that was the best idea. Most of his drawings had been of Sophie. And even though they were dating, it still might be a little weird for Sophie to see Keefe draw all of those painful or happy or angry moments that he'd shared with her.

Trying not to care too much, Keefe replied, "Alright, sure. See you in a sec." Keefe stood and held up his Havenfield crystal.

As he glittered into view right outside Havenfield, Keefe could already smell delicious desserts wafting in from the front door where Sophie stood.

"Hi!" She said, jogging towards him and wrapping Keefe into a hug.

"Hey, Foster!" Curious about the sudden embrace, Keefe chose to say nothing, as he could sense the fear and anger wafting off of Sophie. It was so strong, especially the fear, that it made him crinkle his nose. That was all it took for Sophie to fling herself as far away from Keefe as possible and say, "Sorry! I know my emotions are strong right now."

"It's fine, Foster. I'm all good. You, on the other hand, don't seem to be. Why did you need me to come?"

"Come inside." Sophie said in lieu of an answer as she grabbed Keefe's hand. He figured she'd spill it right as she closed the door up in her bedroom.

"Come on." Sophie said, tugging at Keefe's hand as she raced up the stairs.

"What about the delicious smells coming from the kitchen?" Keefe said, feigning ravenous hunger.

"Later." Sophie replied as they reached her door.

Sandor was waiting outside, ever the faithful bodyguard. He nodded to Keefe, who nodded back, surprising even himself. Sophie gave him a funny look, and Sandor seemed to almost smile.

Once safely in the room, Sophie turned toward Keefe and asked, "What was that? No snapped retort? No funny quip? You nodded back like you were an adult, which you most certainly are not. Why no sarcasm or humor?"

Keefe thought about the question, trying to answer it for himself as much as Sophie.

"I care about you Sophie. A lot. And this past week, since we started dating, I've really been able to dive deep into those feelings and embrace them, because for the longest time I tried to shut them out. Us dating, and saying 'I love you,' has made me realize just how much you mean to me." He paused, then said, "More than anything in the world. I would give anything for you, including my life. Which is a dark thought, but also true. So I honestly feel protective of you. Even with the knowledge that you can, and will, take care of yourself, I'm compelled to feel protective of you. And not in a possessive way; just in a deep, loving way. So I think I have a newfound respect for Sandor. He stands there, everyday, knowing that it could very well be his last, because you never know with the Neverseen. But he's willing to do it; for you. Not just because you're his charge, but because he genuinely cares about you. And so do I. So very much. So I understand now where Sandor is coming from when he goes all 'super protective bodyguard' mode. And I'm right there with him."

Sophie, still stuck in her standing position near the door, just stood and contemplated Keefe's big confession that he hadn't known he had. But getting it all out- to both Sophie and himself- was a relief. Even though Sophie still didn't seem to know what to do with Keefe's words.

Keefe patted the bed beside him, and Sophie glanced up suddenly, shaken from thought, as she walked over.

When she sat, Keefe put his right arm around her shoulders.

"I... don't know what to say, Keefe. That was so adult, so mature of you. It's surprising, to say the least."

Keefe laughed, and Sophie smiled as she rested her head on his arm.

"I love you, Keefe. And I feel the same way about all the other things you said. Hearing it aloud, I guess I do understand Ro better now. Even though she's still very annoying."

"How am I annoying?" Said a voice in the closet, making both Sophie and Keefe jump.

"Ha! Surprise! The look on your faces." Ro mimed snapping a picture as she walked out of Sophie's massive closet.

"Ro! I- Hi!" Sophie stammered, as shocked by Ro's appearance as Keefe.

"Hey Blondie! How've you been?" Without waiting for an answer, Ro turned to Keefe. "Ah, yes, it's Lord Jerkyhair. That's your name now; forget that other bet. That stunt you pulled? You're in for loads of trouble." Keefe felt himself go visibly pale. He'd known Ro would be back at some point; Keefe just was not ready for this conversation. Not yet.

While Keefe shrank under Ro's withering glare, Sophie said, "Good to see you, Ro. But how'd you get through Sandor's security?"

"While I love how much faith you have in my sneaking skills; I had Sandor let me in to scare you. He agreed that Lord Jerkyhair deserved it., and much more." Ro smiled wickedly.

Changing the subject, to Keefe's relief, Sophie said, "Um, Ro, me and Keefe were kind of doing something, and I think it needs focus and no distractions, so could you maybe wait outside with Sandor? We can catch up when we're done."

Ro studied Sophie for a second. "Wow; you were Feisty Foster when I left; now you're basically Ferocious Foster. The old Sophie wouldn't have said anything; but you stood up for yourself without a second thought. And you said it so nicely too. I like it." Ro winked at Sophie as she backed out of the room, shooting Keefe another one of her "This is not over" looks as she closed the door.

"Alright," Keefe clapped his hands once he was satisfied that Ro wasn't spying. "What was it that you wanted to tell me before I got all sappy?"

Sophie gave a small smile, then began talking.

Omg. That took longer than it was supposed to.

Sorry!

I'm in the middle of an EXTREMELY good book series (Throne of Glass; I mentioned it in an earlier part. 100% recommend!), and so I've really been procrastinating about writing, because I want to read, and again, ToG is much darker and sadder and angrier than KOTLC, and I don't want that to affect this fanfic too much. But, I'm at a not-that-interesting part right now (my two fav characters/my OTP for the series just had to go to two separate places to do separate things that'll probably take months to do which is so sad for me cause I love them together so in protest even though there's nothing I can do I've been holding off on reading (but I'll read it tomorrow; I know it)

Anyways, besides ToG, I've been crocheting and doing other things that I'd rather do than write even though writing is fun cause I'm just procrastinating.

Question: Who is the most underappreciated character in KOTLC? I know most people are gonna say Dex, which is true, he gets ignored a lot, but there are others as well. Like Maruca. She definitely got a bigger role in Stellarlune; I know. But still. She's a psionipath. I just didn't feel like we got to see enough of her, not just because of her ability but because her personality is awesome as well.

Ok, for like the millionth time, it's late while I'm writing this, so imma go.

Keep on reading, and Bookworm out!