Green, White, and Blue ~ A KotLC tale...

˗ˏˋ64: Keefe'ˎ˗

"Alvar! Hey man, how are you? How's college been?" I exclaimed, bringing him in for what Foster calls a 'bro hug.'

"I'm good, it's been good." He turned to face Foster. "Hey Sophie, long time no see."

She laughed awkwardly, nodding her head then looking away. I gave Alvar a look that hopefully got my message across, that she's had a rough day, a rough few months. He nodded like he understood.

"Are you back for summer break?" I asked after a moment. He nodded.

"Yeah, I haven't been back for more than a week for a long time, so I figured I'd be back for the entire break. Hopefully I'll be getting to see you two a lot more. Also, Sophie, I heard about what happened to you." His eyes softened as Sophie finally turned back to him. "I'm so sorry that happened to you, I can't imagine what you must've gone through. I'm just glad you're okay now. And on a happier note, I'm a big fan." He winked at the last part.

Sophie just nods again. I know how hard this has been for her, the entire day. I would have to work extra hard to get her to laugh for the rest of the day.

"We should probably keep going." I said, hoping to get Sophie home so she didn't have to be surrounded by strangers whispering about her. "It was nice seeing you, Alvar."

"It was nice seeing you guys, too. And I'll hopefully be seeing you real soon."

"Are you okay?" I asked Sophie when we were a good distance away. She looked really pale. "It's just Alvar, you know you don't have to be nervous around him."

"Yeah I'm fine. Sorry, I'm just tired of everyone bringing it up." I didn't know whether she meant the kidnapping or being Moonlark. Probably both.

"Don't apologize. You did nothing wrong." I reassured her. I looked down in our hands, noticing our melted and untouched ice cream.

"I forgot about that." She laughed slightly and said when I showed her mine. Hers was slightly less melted than mine somehow, but still resembled soup more than ice cream.

"I bet you can't finish yours as fast as I can." I challenged her.

"With the spoon or chugging it?" She asked, her eyebrows raised competitively. I thought for a moment.

"Spoon." As soon as we started, I realized just how flat these spoons were. I was struggling to keep any of the melted ice cream on it, but when I looked over, Foster was almost done. I wanted her to win, that was the whole point, but I didn't want to lose this badly.

So I started cheating. I forgot the spoon and just started drinking it little by little so she wouldn't notice. I jumped when she threw her spoon on the ground.

"Done." She smiled wickedly at me. I couldn't help but smile back at her, the joy on her face that wasn't there moments ago.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "You cheated."

She gasped in shock at my accusation. "I would do no such thing." She huffed, turning away and crossing her arms.

I laughed again, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and leading her on, away from all the stares and whispers I hadn't noticed before.

I wanted to keep laughing with her here, keep making her smile, and I was glad I could do that. But, I didn't believe it. After all the faking she did before her kidnapping, what if she's just completely faking being okay? What if something worse is going on, and she's fooling all of us?"

I'll just keep a close eye on her, and always be there for her. I'll keep her safe, protect her. And with Ro trailing behind us, I knew she would be extra safe. Just as long as I stayed near her.