Team Foster-Keefe one shots!

#40: Help

Sophie knew Keefe would be in his room. He can help her. She needs him right now. She leaped over to Candleshade, rang the bell, and Lord Cassius answered the door. He didn't question her, or the tears streaming down her face, but let her in to see his son. She knew the floor number, yelled it up to the vortinator, and was on her way. She felt the tears on her cheeks turn cold, and start to dry. When the vortinator stopped, she walked to Keefe's bedroom door, and knocked. Now she just had to wait for an answer. 

"Sophie, what are you doing here?" Keefe asked, sounding concerned. He ushered her in, telling her to sit down on the bed. She did so, and he sat down next to her, holding her close. 

"What happened?" Keefe whispered in her ear. She put her head on his shoulder, and tears started coming out, uncontrollably.

"Fitz. He, uh, he just got mad, it's nothing to worry about, it's just-" She started, and then was cut off by her own involuntary sob. 

"Hey, did he hurt you?" Keefe asked, checking her arms and legs for bruises, as Sophie attempted to stop him. 

"Oh, gosh, nothing like that. He just yelled, and threw something at the wall. And then-" She started, and was cut off by her sob again. "And then he broke up with me. Kicked me out of his room, slammed the door behind me, and then I came here" She finished. Her breathing was staggered, often broken by her sobs. Keefe rubbed her back reassuringly, whispering things in her ear, telling her that Fitz isn't worth a heartbreak. Sophie's head stayed on his shoulder, his hand stayed on her back. They stayed there for a long time, as long as Sophie needed. 

"Thank you, Keefe" Sophie said, drying her face with her hand. Keefe moved her hand away and wiped her tears with the sleeve of his shirt around his thumb. Sophie's head involuntarily leaned into his palm, and her eyes closed, revealing one more stubborn tear onto her cheek. She opened her eyes, and found Keefe's to be right in front of hers. She leaned in closer, tilting her head to the right, and kissed him. It was refreshing to kiss someone who actually cared about her. She felt Keefe lean into the kiss, but it felt very cautious. She pulled back, looking at him again, and his eyes looked sincere. 

"That wasn't a sympathy kiss, you know" Keefe said. Sophie smiled her first smile in hours.

"I wouldn't care if it was. I do love you, Keefe. I'm sorry it took a while for me to figure it out" Sophie said. 

"I'm just glad that you did" Keefe replied. Sophie rested her head on Keefe's shoulder again, and Keefe put his arm around her shoulder. "I love you too. And if Fitz treats you like that, he doesn't deserve you. You're worth so much more" he added. "What did he get mad about, anyway?" 

"We were doing a cognate exercise, and when he asked who the first person was that came to mind when he said love, I thought of you. You can imagine how he reacted to that. He threw his cognate rings at me" Sophie said, slightly guilty, though not with regret. She took the rings off of her thumb, feeling relief. She used her Exillium skill to make them explode on the floor. All that was left was tiny grains. 

"Well, I'm flattered. I've been known to break people up" Keefe said, his smirk back, and he bit his lip. Sophie's heart went into hummingbird mode for the first time since she started dating Fitz. 

"Yeah, well, don't do it this time. I want this to last" Sophie said. They hadn't mentioned anything about dating, but Sophie assumed it was implied with the phrase 'I love you'. Keefe didn't seem to mind. 

"I do, too" he said. Sophie stayed the rest of the day, and no matter how many times Fitz called her imparter, she ignored it. He wasn't worth it.