Book Two: KOTLC One-shots and More

Winnowing Gala: part 2 (Keefe POV)

Earlier today, Fitz had, for the first time, told Foster he loved her...

And she hadn't been able to say it back.

Because she wasn't sure if she truly loved him.

Keefe hadn't even realized they hadn't both already said 'I love you'. But he definitely wasn't sad about it.

Nor was he sad about the fact that she wasn't sure she did love Fitz.

But the fact that he wasn't sad made him feel like the absolute worst friend in the world. And he did hate knowing that Fitz was probably pretty upset right now--and Foster obviously was.

Even so...no amount of guilt could shake the hope trying to resurrect itself inside his chest.

"Well..." Keefe said slowly, trying to keep his face impassive, objective. "If you're not one hundred percent certain that you love him, then it was right for you to refrain from saying it."

"I know. But..."

"But you feel bad about it. I understand. And it explains why you felt weird around Alden and Della earlier. But surely you know they love you regardless of what's going on with you and Fitz."

"I know that too."

"Well then. All that's left to say is that I'm sorry you're struggling with it. Are you...are you still together?" Don't sound too eager.

"Yes. But...I don't know. I've always wanted to be with him, but...if I were going to feel that for him, don't you think I would by now?"

Danger, danger.

Alarm bells seemed to be going off in his mind. That was one minefield Keefe could not let himself wander into. He could not, would not, advise Sophie on where her relationship with Fitz should be headed. It was too impossible for him to be objective on that--his advice might be too self-serving, or else too overconfident in Fitzphie in his attempt to not be self-serving.

"I don't think you should ask my opinion, not on that," he told her. "All that matters is figuring out what you want. And if it isn't Fitz, then you need to tell him as soon as possible, for his sake."

She seemed to take in his words, and he felt her heartache as she said in a very small voice, "he looked so hurt."

Fitz's pain caused her pain too. That much was obvious. So Keefe squeezed her waist gently and murmured, "I know. It's okay, Foster. It's all going to be okay."

Before anything else could be said, the song ended and their dance was over. Almost mechanically, she stopped dancing and let her arms fall to her sides.

"Will you stay?" He asked her.

"Of course. I have to help Marella scope out all the gossip." She tried to smile at him--and he tried to hide how pleased he was that she wasn't leaving yet. Maybe he could fit in another dance with her.

So he simply smirked and replied, "I doubt she needs much help."

And then it was back to making his way through all of his dance cards. Some of the girls were obnoxiously flirty, some were sweet, some were friendly. He realized he was actually enjoying himself--and not only because he was compulsively searching the room for Foster just so he could stare at her in her red dress. It was also just fun to have all the attention on him.

But he definitely loved it when he would catch Foster's eye, because when that happened, she would hold his gaze for several seconds, her expression unreadable, before he had to force himself to look away.