KotLC: Eclipse (KotLC X Magnus Chase)

Chapter 25

[A/N. 2K reads. Yay! 🥳]

Sophie's POV

Grady wiped his hands on a towel, exchanging a quick glance with Edaline before heading toward the door. Jack, still humming Taylor Swift, twirled in the air and declared, "Now we'll finally see what all the fuss is about!"

Grady opened the door.

And there they were.

My friends.

I counted six of them in no particular order - Fitz, Keefe, Dex, Biana, Tam, and Linh.

They all looked exhausted, as if they had been grieving the death of a dear friend - which, to be fair, they had been. Fitz stood at the front, his usually neatly styled hair in a mess and dark circles under his eyes. Biana was next to him, hair unstyled, no makeup, wearing a plain dress, and eyebags to rival Edaline.
Dex, Tam, and Linh looked equally awful.

And then I looked at Keefe.

His features were drawn and tired. His hair hung limply on his head without any form of styling.

He looked hollow. As if he'd stopped trying. His smirk was nowhere to be seen. There was no sign of the usual sassy, rebellious Keefe. Just a broken boy. This was the Keefe I had only seen a few times before.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

Even Jack and Magnus seemed to take the hint that this was no time for jokes. Jack's runes glowed a dim grey.

Biana gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. She launched herself at me with a strangled sob, almost knocking me over with in the process.

That was all it took before the others quickly followed suit, and I was trapped in a tangle of arms that formed around me. Keefe and Tam were the only ones who hadn't attacked me and were standing a few feet away. Keefe was looking at me as if I was a ghost and Tam was just standing, arms crossed and more composed than the others, but I could tell that he was emotional from the way it was written on his face.

Grady coughed. "Should we go to the living room and sit down?"

"Yeah, you nine go ahead, I need to talk to Keefe." I replied, freeing myself from the fleshy knot.

As they filed past us into the other room, Dex walked up to me and said, "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too, Dex."

I looked at Keefe. He still hadn't moved a muscle.

We stood in silence for a long while before I opened my mouth to say something, but he beat me to it.

"How -" his voice cracked, and he cleared his throat before trying again. "How are you here?"

I wasn't sure how to answer that yet. "It's... a long story."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back onto his heels and the balls of his feet and letting out a breath. "Yeah, I figured."

We stood in silence for another second before I reached forward and pulled him into a hug. After a second's hesitation, he hugged me back.

Slowly, I pulled myself out of the hug and held his hand, squeezing it gently. "I'm here, Keefe. I really am."

He exhaled slowly before squeezing back.

That was enough

༺☀☾⟐☽☀༻

The living room felt smaller than I remembered, even though it was still massive compared to its human counterpart. The air seemed thick with unsaid words, but nobody seemed willing to dip their toes in first.