Sokeefe - Until She Was Ready For More (unedited)

16

"Happy birthday!" 

A blast of color flew in front of my face - confetti. 

"Keefe!" I scolded, trying not to encourage him my laughing.

"What?" he smirked. 

"Now I'm covered in confetti!"

"A necessary celebration. You're sixteen now. Plus," he wiggled his eyebrows. "Grady will finally let me date you. That's totally worthy of a confetti bomb." 

I laughed and shook my head. If I was being honest, I was totally giddy that I could date Keefe, so maybe his logic wasn't totally off. Maybe.

"And now I can kiss you again," he added, giving me a cheeky grin. 

"Who said you could kiss me?" I raised my eyebrows. 

"You did, Lovely Lady Foster," Keefe winked as his face inched towards mine.

I laughed and pushed him away by the nose. Clearly my acting needed some work. 

"I looooove you, lovebug," he teased. I giggled as Keefe wrapped his arms around me and brought his lips to my cheek. 

"You're such a dork," I smiled, and Keefe gave me a look that revealed his unspoken words. But I'm your dork. 

"KEEFE!"

I jumped out of Keefe's arms. 

"HANDS OFF!" Grady yelled from somewhere off in one of the enclosures. 

"Sir, she's sixteen now!" Keefe yelled back, shooting me a playful pouty look. 

"I changed my mind! You can date her when she's thirty."

"Dad," I whined as he walked towards us. 

"Sophie," he jokingly mocked, but not before throwing a scowl Keefe's way. He clearly still wasn't a fan of that boy. 

"You said sixteen," I pleaded. 

"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I said thirty."

"Mom!" I called towards the house, hoping she would be able to remedy the situation. 

"Sophie, what's wrong?" Edaline asked, running over. Within seconds, though, her expression changed from panic to recognition. 

"Grady, let our poor daughter be," she laughed, pulling on his arm to drag him away. Grady rolled his eyes and Edaline turned to Keefe. "And Keefe, dear, he said sixteen. Don't let Grady bully you." 

"Thank you, Mrs. Ruewen," Keefe replied, a genuine smile lighting up his face. It did fade slightly when Grady tossed a withering glare at him though. 

"Of course," Edaline winked, her twinkling laugh floating away as she dragged Grady towards the house.

Once they were inside, I turned back towards a smiling Keefe.

"So?"

"So, what?" 

"So, can I kiss you now?"

"I don't know, can you?" I asked, faking confusion as I scrunched up my nose.

"May I?" Keefe corrected, rolling his eyes playfully. I laughed and nodded. 

Keefe brushed a piece of hair from my forehead before bringing his hand to my cheek. He lowered his mouth to mine, just brushing my lips with his, and-

"Eww!"

"Guys, no PDA!"

I felt Keefe pull away and sigh, lowering his forehead to my shoulder. 

"I told you we shouldn't have come early!" Dex stated, throwing his hands up into the air. Keefe moved to stand beside me, and I heard him mumble a 'yeah, you shouldn't have.' I tried not to laugh, but it was difficult.

"Hey guys," I smiled at my friends that had just arrived. Everyone quickly wished me a happy birthday, a smile on their faces. 

Well, everyone except Fitz. He was scowling at the ground. Not that that surprised me; he had not taken the news of Keefe and I too well. 

"Should we go inside? Edaline made mallowmelt," I teased, knowing their answer already. A resounding chorus of yeses responded and I laughed. 

As we walked towards the house, a hand grasped mine and pulled me to a stop. Assuming it was Keefe, I grinned and turned around.

"Sophie..." Fitz started and my smile dropped. I really hoped this wasn't about-

"...about you and Keefe," he continued as I sighed through my nose. This was not what I needed right now. 

"Do you really-"

"Can I talk for a second? Please, Sophie?" Fitz asked pleadingly. I hesitated before nodding. "I just want to say that I'm sorry I reacted the way I did when you said you wanted to be with Keefe. It wasn't fair to you, and I'm not angry anymore. I... I can tell he really loves you."

That was not what I was expecting. 

"I forgive you," I smiled lightly.

"Are we still friends?" he asked. 

"Yeah, we are."

I gave him a head start as he walked back towards the house. I needed a quick moment to process.

"What did Fitz want?" Keefe grumbled, approaching me from who knows where. 

"He actually apologized," I answered, giving him a quirky grin. 

"Really?" 

I nodded as Keefe smiled and gave me a hug.

"I told you it would work out."

"Yes, you did," Keefe replied, pressing his lips to my temple. 

"Quit the PDA!"