Forbidden Cities

Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!

Yep, look at that title. 

Sophie wakes up, feeling horrible. Her nose is stuffy from crying all night, and she didn't even change out of yesterday's clothes. She climbs out of the bed, legs wobbling and threatening to collapse beneath her. Sophie walks through the dark toward the rectangle shape she believes is the door. What if Keefe is wide awake? She does not want to deal with any of that drama right now, but she also wants to fix it desperately. Fighting with Keefe is never pleasant. 

She opens and shuts the door quietly, taking slow and exaggerated steps so she won't wake Keefe. If he isn't already awake. Sophie tiptoes to the couch, finding a sleeping Keefe. He looks just as bad as she does, with crumpled clothes and hair. She watches him for a beat too long, studying his gray sweatpants and green hoodie. You can tell this fic was written by a woman, can't you? Sophie has similar clothes on, but instead of sweatpants she is wearing checkered pajama pants and Keefe's red hoodie. She is about to go grab some yogurt from the fridge, when there are about a million loud bangs at the door. 

Keefe jerks awake with a gasp. He turns toward Sophie. 

"No one has been at our door since we came here," She whisper yells over the banging, tugging Keefe off the couch and on his feet. She doesn't let go of his hands. 

Keefe grimaces as the knocking gets louder, "Maybe it's a package?" 

Sophie flings a hand toward the door, "Does that sound like a freaking package, Keefe?" 

He sighs, pulling his hand away to run it through his hair. He gestures for her to hide behind the counter. Sophie doesn't budge. Whoever is banging on the door that insistently isn't here to make friends. With that in mind, she runs to her duffel bag and takes out a melder. She points it at the door Keefe is in front of, hand lingering on top of the doorknob. His eyebrows scrunch together at the sight of the melder. 'How long have you had that?' He mouths. 

Sophie shrugs, nodding toward the door. She straightens her arms, preparing to shoot as soon as the door opens. Keefe quickly turns the knob and hops out of the way. Sophie shoots, eyes squeezed closed. She keeps shooting until she hears two bodies hit the ground with grunts. 

"Sophie!" Keefe whisper shouts, making her pry her eyes open. 

There, laying on the ground frozen, are Sandor and Ro. 

----

"What are we supposed to do with them?" Keefe asks, looking at Ro and Sandor's frozen angry expressions. Earlier, both of them had to drag their bodies to the couch, and Sophie insisted putting them in polite, tea party positions. 

Sophie looks at Sandor, "I don't know." She gets up to pace in the space between the bodyguards and Keefe. "Here are our options: Let them drag us home by our hair, wait until they're conscious again to try and reason with them, or... run away again."

"I don't like how the first option is sounding... and the second option definitely won't work... but the third option doesn't sound very appealing either. Luckily, you shot them so much we have at least a day to figure it out." Keefe grins, but it doesn't reach his eyes. 

She gasps, "I shot them that much? Oh my gosh, Sandor's going to kill me."

"You know they can hear and see everything that's happening right now, right?" Sophie thinks back to when she was hit with a melder, and she does remember seeing everything happen. Oh gosh. 

Sophie face palms, "Oh gosh... I-I can't... I can't do this!" She doesn't realize she's crying until Keefe wraps her in a hug. "Hey, hey, Foster... It's okay. We'll figure this out. Together?" He pulls back, studying her face. 

"Really? Together?" Sophie asks. She thought Keefe wanted her to go home last night. 

Keefe smiles, "Together." He brings his lips to her forehead, kissing her tenderly. "Everything is going to be fine." 

"As heartwarming this is, I think we should be escorting you home now, hm?" Ro says, snapping her gaze up. Sophie yelps, accidentally shooting Ro with the melder again. She freezes completely. 

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh-"

"Foster! Foster, It's okay. Come here." Keefe grabs her by the waist, guiding her into another hug. "Maybe we can try to reason with them while they're still... frozen?" 

Sophie pulls away to study Ro, "How did she get unfrozen? I thought you said it would last at least a day." 

"She must have known you took a melder with you and brought that weird powder that can undo the effects. I don't know how she got the powder on her skin, but it's Ro. She probably already released some amoebas." 

Sophie sits on the floor, leaning against the front of the couch. "Okay... Ro and Sandor? Gosh this feels so weird when they're practically dead." She face palms, looking up at Keefe with an embarrassed blush coating her cheeks. "You go first." 

"Nuh uh, no weaseling your way out of this one, Foster. Come on, you got this. I'm right here with you." Keefe sits beside her, placing a hand on hers. Keefe is always so supportive, it's crazy to imagine how much he helps her. And how little she helps him. And on that thought, she brings her lips to his. Just a soft peck of Sophie's lips to Keefe's. 

Almost immediately, she pulls away, "Keefe, I'm so sor-" She's cut off when Keefe kisses her again. He places one hand on her cheek, the other on her waist. Their breathing falls into perfect sync as Keefe deepens the kiss further. So far, Sophie is being pushed back. She responds in kind. 

POV: Sandor and Ro watching this and not being able to do anything. 

Keefe is the one that pulls away, "Wow." 

"Wow." 

He chuckles, "I can't believe we just did that in front of Sandor and Ro."

"It was bound to happen someday." Sophie can't calm the heart that is beating outside of her chest, and the extreme butterflies in her stomach that feel more like a punch to the gut rather than cute little insects. Keefe is a really good kisser. 

Keefe smiles timidly, rubbing the back of his neck. Sophie clears her throat, turning back to Sandor and Ro. She swears she can see Ro smiling, despite her entire face being completely frozen. "Okay this changes things. I mean, if this is a this- it doesn't have to be-"

"We can be a this if you wanna be, Foster. All I can say is I definitely wanna be a this." Keefe is grinning from ear to ear when Sophie nods. 

She glances at Ro, "Can we finish... this later? I feel weird doing it in front of them." 

"Yeah, yeah." 

Sophie sighs, "Okay, so what do we do with them?" 

"I think we just wait for them to wake up."