Impossible

Secrets

"That all you got, foster!?" Keefe yelled, blocking her attack easily. Sweat dripped from her brow and she doubled over to try and catch her breath, three weeks of doing nothing finally catching up with her
"Yes! And how are you not worse then me? You're the one who couldn't leave a bed for three weeks, at least I could walk around!" She asked
"Well, you see, I'm very good a persuading Fitz to play bramble with me. I also run a lot, and have been working out a bit. This kind of perfection takes time" Keefe gestured to his own body, and Sophie flushed at the Image of him lifting weights that had popped into her head
"Less flirting, more stabbing! Wow, never thought I'd say that about you two" Ro cut in from the sidelines
"Fine!" Sophie yelled back, lunging at Keefe with her dull dagger (no sharp edges, no one gets cut. It's safe for practice) and tapping him on the stomach
"One Sophie, zero Keefe" Sandor relayed the score. Keefe stood there for a second before trying to strike back, but Sophie blocked him easily, knocking him so hard the dagger flew from his hands. Before he could scramble to get it Sophie 'stabbed' him twice, once in the shoulder and once in the chest, winning.
"OooOh, Keefe you lost" Ro teased
"No shame in losing to foster" he winked at her, making her blush "good game" he went to retrieve his weapon, Sophie staring the whole way. When she finally averted her attention Ro caught her eye, and she pretended to swoon, fanning her face and putting a hand to her forehead, obviously making fun of Sophie. She just rolled her eyes and looked away, but noted she needed to be even more subtle.
"You good there, Sophie? Getting some weird emotions" he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, coming up from behind
"Yeah, I'm just on a adrenaline rush from that fight, even if it was a fake one" she lied, trying not to be too guilty
"Alright. Just let me know if you're feeling sick again. Can't have you fainting or something" Keefe told her, flashing a smirk
"Will do" she muttered

After practice Keefe and Sophie sat on the ground, slightly out of breath.
"Good game by the way" Keefe told her, lifting a bottle of youth as if toasting her "you did really well"
"Thanks" she said, happy that her face was already a little red from the sun. Hopefully enough to cover her blush "you did good, too" she told him
"Please" he snorted "you won three to nothing. You disarmed me like three seconds into the match" he reminded her
"That's only because of what Ro said. She's been acting weird lately, saying we flirt even more then she usually does" Sophie said, taking another sip of her drink
"We do flirt a lot" Keefe told her with a wink, and Sophie looked away
"No we don't. We talk like friends" Sophie urged
"Oh, the pain. The pain!" Keefe clutched as his chest, dramatically falling to the ground "I know it's not the hair" Keefe said, sitting back up "and I'm obviously super handsome" Keefe thought
"Obviously" Sophie agreed, trying to hide behind a sarcastic tone. I didn't work too well, because Keefe lifted an eyebrow at her and smirked.
"Anyway! How have you been feeling? Any new abilities?" Sophie asked, trying a little too hard to change the subject. If Keefe noticed, he didn't say anything.
"Nope, no new abilities. I'm feeling fine. But my empathy has gotten a bit better. Picking up some things I didn't feel before" Keefe told her. Sophie panicked a little before reminding herself he could feel it, and tried to calm herself down. Keefe leaned in a little closer, whispering "remember, you can never lie to an empath"
Sophie's breath caught as she tried to talk herself down. There's no way he knew. There's no way he knew.
"I never lie to you" Sophie told him, trying desperately to sounds casual
"No. But you withhold the truth quite often" Keefe told her, smirking
"I have no idea what you're talking about" Sophie said, looking away and pulling out a itchy eyelash
"Oh, but I think you do" Keefe said, leaning in and lowered his voice. He looked her in the eye before whispering "I know your secret"
"Ok, fine! You're right. I hope it's not weird.. I just-" Sophie started, hoping to explain before he could do anything
"Why would you not liking Fitz anymore be weird? If anything it's better" Keefe cut her off. Sophie whipped around to look at him, her eyes stretched wide. She searched his face for an inkling if he knew or not, but it appeared he didn't
"Oh, yeah." she laughed awkwardly "yeah, I definitely don't like Fitz anymore. I think we're just better as friends" she pulled out a fist full of grass and tossed it away, knowing if she pulled out as many eyelashes as she wanted to she would have none left
"Hey, what'd that grass ever do to you?" Keefe asked her as she pulled out another fistful
"Nothing, I guess" she said, opening her hand and letting the small pieces slip through her fingers. She watched as they fell back onto the ground, flitting softly through the air before landing silently. She let out the breath she was holding.
"Woah, you ok? You seem stressed" Keefe asked
"I'm fine... I just have a huge thing I have to deal with and I can't tell anyone about it. It's stupid, and it doesn't need to happen, but I can't stop it" she flopped backwards onto the grass, looking up at the blue sky and puffy white clouds floating by on the warm breeze. Keefe laid down next to her, letting silence settle over them before breaking it
"You can tell me anything, foster. And even though I mess up, I'll always try to help you. Even if you tell me you need help burying a dead body, I won't judge." Keefe told her, sliding just a little bit closer
"I can't tell you this. Not this one" she told him, sighing "never this one"