Team Foster-Keefe one shots!

#49: Somewhere Along The Way

Everyone knows that Keefe is a flirt. It's the the first thing anybody finds out about him, because he's always flirting with someone, even when they first meet him. Sophie's first time meeting him was much the same, but it seems that he just doesn't stop, ever. It's as if he has an obsession, or an addiction, but nobody really complains, because whoever he flirts with likes it.

But Sophie seems to be an exception. She's always the exception to something, no matter how hard she tries not to be. Because every single time she finds that Keefe is flirting with her, her chest always gets tight, and she can feel the tension in the air, as if she could pull it apart and rip it to shreds, and it kinda sucks. She hates that he can get into her head, when she's very literally impenetrable to that kind of thing. But this is a completely different type of brain breaching, because he does it so effortlessly. Like he has a key for every single entrance to her emotions, and knows exactly how to manipulate it.

All she knows is that it won't stop, and she doesn't know how to feel about it. It's like she wants it to stop, but she knows she'll be disappointed if it stops. Of course she doesn't like him that way, and she knows he's just doing it so Biana will finally realise that he doesn't like her, but at the same time, it's nice to have the attention.

And right now, they're sat on the couch doing nothing, sitting far closer than Sophie had intended, and Keefe looks like he's bored. She's sitting at the corner of the couch, legs criss crossed and leaning against the arm with an old book from her human bedroom in her lap, and the sounds of Grady and Edaline training the animals in the pastures rings throughout the residence, giving Sophie a feeling of comfort for the first time in a long time. And yet she can't help but feel like something is wrong.

"Keefe, how long have you been reading over my shoulder?" Sophie asks, closing her book and turning to look at him. He has his eyes on her book and looks away when she tries to make eye contact with him, seeming to act nonchalant in a deliberately joking way. She smiles a little bit, knowing he's going to say something ridiculous.

"Long enough to know that your former species believe in the weirdest things," he says, rolling his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest and huffing as he throws himself against the back of the couch, looking like a five year old having a tantrum.

"They believe in us, don't they?" she throws back at him, watching as his mouth goes agape.

"Did you just call your own species weird?" he asks in a mock surprise voice, and she tries to hide her smile at his joke, but he just somehow coaxes a small laugh out of her.

"I don't think anything is normal anymore, Keefe. I'm just saying that elves are one of those things humans don't think exist," she tells him, looking at the way he looks at her, taking in every word she says like it's going to guide him to some sort of valuable treasure. He stops fake pouting long enough to look intense and serious for just a split second, and it makes her heart jump. How he quickly changes from this jokester with a smirk to an intense person with a heart shaking stare, Sophie will never know.

"Say my name again," he says, putting his arm across the back of the couch, definitely almost around her shoulders. He gets a little bit closer and Sophie can't help but move farther away, only to find that she can't. Where did the flirting suddenly come from?

"What?" she asks, a confused look on her face. He smirks at her and meets her eyes.

"I like when you say my name," he explains, no hint of a joke on his face. But Sophie isn't ready to give in so easily. She's taken aback by his sudden confidence, because this isn't his usual flirting. This is him actually hitting on her, if that's even the appropriate word to use.

"You're ridiculous," she says, rolling her eyes at him.

"No, I'm being serious!" he whines, making her heart go into hummingbird mode. But his loud register helps to lighten the ever changing mood of the moment. In a matter of five minutes she's been calm, nervous, and then confused. Hanging out with an empath has really been messing with her emotions.