The Moon and the Stars - A Sophitz story

Chapter 7

Sophie's Point of View:

"So... wanna come on a date with me this Sunday?" Fitz asks, teal eyes shining.

"As your girlfriend?" I smile at him. We're still so close, I can feel his breath warming my cheeks.

An enormous smile stretches across his lips. "I mean, if you want," He says nervously, biting his lip.

"Are you kidding? Of course!" The look in his eyes makes my heart flutter. He pulls me in for another kiss.

"I love you, Fitz Vacker," I whisper to him before his lips touch mine. I dunno why I said it. 

"I love you too, Sophie Foster. I have and always will," He whispers back, and I think my heart melts with happiness and the feeling that comes with kissing Fitz.

Biana's point of view:

Vespera and Fintan closing in on either side of me. "You are useless." Fintan sneers. "Now Tam and Fitz will die because of you."

"Don't forget Sophie," Vespera adds with a stereotypical evil laugh. Tears run down the sides of my face as I try to push the image of their bloody, burned, and broken bodies from my mind.

Sophie, Tam and Fitz... the three people I care most about.

Vespera takes out a knife as long as my arm. "Time to die, you spoiled little brat." I can't move. I can't scream, or even do anything to protect myself as she moves tantalizingly close; the knife gleaming in her hand. I try vanishing. Nothing.

Fintan sparks a flame, and Vespera turns towards him, thrusting the knife into the fire. It glows white-hot, and she turns back towards me with an evil smile. 

"I hope you'll like it," she purrs. "Your little friends endured all this already. By the time I'm done with them...you won't even recognize them." And with that, she presses the scorching knife against my arm. The pain is too much to handle. Both Vespera and Fintan burst into malicious laughter as I scream and thrash, able to move again. Vespera removes the knife.

"Did you like that?" Her nails elongate into claws, and she slashes me with them. I let out a howl of pain.

"Please," I beg. "Stop!"

"Is it too much for your fragile little skin?" Fintan demands as he stalks closer, making a massive ball of flame appear in his hands. "Because if it is, we'll stop. But we'll go kill Tam, Fitz and Sophie. Would you like that?" He throws the ball of fire at my face. The pain is so intense, 100 times more painful than anything I've ever felt before. Screaming in pain, I cover my face, trying to stop the fire.

I wake up with a gasp and feel my face. No burn marks. "So it must have been a dream," I murmur to myself, getting up. There's no way I can go back to sleep. Then I remember. Fitz and Tam! I scramble to check Fitz's sleeping back. Empty. I'm about to yell for help when I realize Sophie's is empty, too. They must've left together. Aw, cute! I think, picturing them together. Then I check Tam's sleeping bag. He's sleeping peacefully, with his bangs covering his adorable face. I make a split-second decision.

"Tam, wake up!" I shake his shoulder gently. "Tam!"

He groans and opens his silver-blue eyes, sitting up. He scowls, eyes darting around. "This better be important!" Then he sees me. "Biana? What's wrong?" He rubs his eyes and slowly stands up, stretching.

"Nothing," I whisper back. "I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure." He gestures towards the door.

_____

"So... is this about Keefe?" Tam asks as we sit down on the blanket he brought out. It's on a grassy hill overlooking the sea, and it's one of my favourite places in Everglen, mostly because it's so beautiful. "Cause' if it is, I don't trust him either."

"Yeah... he's way too impulsive. I can't believe I used to like him," I bury my face in my hands.

"Wait a sec... you used to like him?" I look up at him, and there's a mixture of hurt, jealousy and something else in his eyes. His fists clench.

"Not anymore!" I say, realizing my mistake. I don't know why I do this, but I take Tam's clenched fist and smooth it out, rubbing it until he relaxes. "I only liked him when I was like 5. Anyway... that's not what I wanted to talk about." I change the subject as quickly as possible. I think my face is fiery red.

"Yeah?" He challenges. "What did you want to talk about then?"

"Um... before that," I look away, too embarrassed to look him in the eye.

"Oh. Um. Yeah." I look back at him, and Tam's rubbing his neck awkwardly. He doesn't meet my eyes. 

"Are you blushing?" I tease.

"I don't blush!" He responds defensively.

"So... your face just wanted to look like a tomato?"

"Yeah... no. Anyways..." He trails off. "Did you want to talk about... my dare?" Now it's my turn to blush.

I nod. "It's fine if you don't want to, I just thought you might want to know that... I wasn't lying when I said I liked you back." He blinks, then a smile slowly curls across his lips.

"Really?"

I nod again, squeezing his hand which is still intertwined with mine. I turn to face Tam, scooting a tiny bit closer. I cautiously rest my head on his shoulder. I can feel him tense, but he slowly relaxes and curls and arm around my waist. I'm happy to stay there forever. 

"Look," Tam points towards the amazing stars, like diamonds in the night sky. I know that's a little cliché, but it really does look like that.

"Beautiful," I say. I'm suddenly very aware of the places that touch him, which isn't very many, to be honest. But electricity still zings through my body when his lips brush my ear as he leans down to whisper something in my ear.

"Not as beautiful as you," He whispers, eyes glittering. My heart explodes with happiness.

"Aw, when did you get so sappy?" I tease, giving his shoulder a playful push. His scowl reappears on his face, only I can tell he's trying not to smile.

"What, you like this more?" He smirks, lying down and stretching. I lay down next to him and curl up at his side. 

"Nah, I like all of you. Except for the grumpy part, which maybe is 75%." 

"What? I-" I interrupt him.

"Oh my gosh, look!" Now it's my turn to point up at the stars, where a blueish-golden comet is shooting through the sky.

"Whoa," Tam breathes. More shoot across the sky, until my eyelids feel heavy. A couple of minutes later, my eyes droop and I fall into a peaceful sleep.