Mirrored Conflicts (a Sokeefe story)

Chapter 26: The Closure

If Sandor noticed that Keefe never came out of Sophie's room that night, he thankfully didn't say anything, which both of them were very grateful for—especially since Grady was still eyeing him suspiciously over breakfast without knowing anything.

He'd slept better than he had in his entire life with her curled up next to him, and given the way Sophie's friends joked about her being an insomniac, he had a feeling the way she'd slept through the night was unusual as well. Not only did he feel like he was floating when Sophie showed affection for him—their relationship was still new and fresh and made him positively giddy—but he was pretty sure both of them had needed that escape.

Especially since today wasn't going to be easy.

"You don't have to do this," Sophie told him for the billionth time. "You can come with me to gently explain things to my human family. They'll probably want to meet you once I tell them I have a boyfriend."

"And of course I want to meet them," Keefe agreed. "But I think I do have to do this, Sophie. He doesn't deserve to know anything, but I think he might need to. I think I want him to. I don't know." Keefe wasn't actually sure why it mattered so much that he finally told his father who his mother really was and why they'd disappeared. It wasn't like his father had ever done anything for him.

But he also hadn't seen his father since he was six.

He hated his father. He did. But there was a sort of emptiness inside of him where he was supposed to have love for his parents.

Doing this wouldn't fix that.

But at least he could be absolutely sure he wasn't the problem.

Sophie pulled Keefe into a tight embrace. "It's complicated. I know. And I'm so sorry you were put into this position. You don't deserve this." Her voice on the last few words was venomous, and Keefe suddenly wanted to see what would happen if Sophie was left alone with his parents, a case of human weapons and no rules about how she could use her abilities.

"Yeah, yeah. My family sucks. Or, well, my biological family." Keefe pulled back so he could look at Sophie's gorgeous face. "I think, in time..."

"I'm already coming to see you as my family," Sophie agreed. "Once again, I want to remind you that you don't owe your parents anything."

"For sure," Keefe agreed. "But I think I have to do this for myself. I haven't seen my father since I was six, Sophie. How am I supposed to know that I'm not the problem unless..."

"You aren't," Sophie said firmly. "No matter what happens, don't let him make you think that, okay?"

Keefe didn't promise, and he was sure Sophie noticed, but she didn't object to his silence as he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek briefly. "Family reunion time."

—

Imagine having a super nice, loving family from a past life to go and reconvene with! Could not be Keefe Sencen.

There wouldn't be any tearful hugs, he was sure. Everything in his memories indicated that his father likely wouldn't even be relieved to see him after all these years. But he couldn't even imagine turning around.

And then there was the moment that the doors opened. Inside those doors was a "home" that had never felt like more than a hostile prison in which he was grateful for nothing but the ceiling during rainstorms. And the man opening them...

He'd known how much he looked like his father. The image lived in his photographic memory, and Keefe had watched himself turn into him slowly every day. Each morning, looking into a mirror, he would get older, and somehow resemble his father even more. And each morning, looking into a mirror, he would look for something, anything he could do to turn down the striking resemblance. In this way, his hairstyle protected him.