Keeper of the Lost Cities- Deathgrip

The agreement

Keefe's hands held steady as he picked up the deep purple envelope sitting on his desk, which was cluttered with papers, detention slips and drawing all stacked haphazardly on top of it. Even so, when he fingered the seal, Sophie swore she heard his breath quicken slightly. After all, he did hold both of their futures in the palm of his hand. No biggie though.

His hands froze, holding the paper of doom up in the air. "Keefe?" Sophie asked, her heart beating a mile a minute.

His blue eyes found hers, a determined glint replacing the hopeful one he had had a few minutes earlier. "Sophie."

She plucked the envelope from his hands easily, gazing down on it. "Well? Aren't we gonna open it?"

A long silence passed, long enough for Sophie to look away from the purple paper and look up at him. "Keefe."

He took a deep breath and fell back onto his bed. "No, Sophie. We're not."

"What?!" She frowned, her anticipation simmering down to confusion.

He looked at her, a tiny smile on his face. "I think we should wait. We're not even out of our teens yet! Most elves our age don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend, much less a partner for life! We already have enough problems right now. Leave this one for future Sophie and Keefe to deal with."

Sophie looked down as his words sunk in. Keefe was right. Why was she trying to rush into everything?

A part of her wanted to run away with the envelope, screaming 'you can't catch me' and open it. But mostly, she was incredibly relieved. They were happy.

"That's... actually perfect."

Keefe grinned and wrapped his arms around her in a crushing hug. They held each other for a few seconds longer, before Keefe leaned in and whispered into her ear. "But... aren't you just so curious?!"

Sophie jumped back, a smile breaking onto her face. "Omigod, so curious! ...D'you wanna just..."

"Yeah, let's open it," Keefe said, a devilish grin on his face.

Sophie smiled, hitting him playfully on the arm. "No... not after such a beautiful speech!"

"Yeah, it was pretty inspiring, wasn't it?" Keefe asked, stroking an imaginary beard. He bent down to take a bow, dramatically removing an invisible hat.

She laughed, tossing the match list under his bed. "You aren't opening that without me though, Keefe, you got that?"

He nodded solemnly. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Good. AndIthinkweshouldbefriendswithFitzagain," She blurted.

Taken aback, Keefe's eyes narrowed. "Sophie, you have to stop. How many times has he come crawling back now? I'd like to say enough times for him to find new friends. Even a few days ago when I talked to him, he kinda blew me off."

She sighed. "I know... I talked to him today though. He seemed really sincere. And he was the reason I came back to forgive you!"

"Hey Soph?" Keefe asked, a fake smile plastered on his face. "I think you might be forgetting one little detail. He kissed you."

"Yes, he kissed me. But... it still kinda felt like he knew it was wrong. He's a total Keephie shipper now."

Keefe laughed. "How about this. We set up a game of base-quest with everyone. If Fitz doesn't act like a total dufus, I'll consider it, yeah?"

"Yeah," Sophie agreed. "It's on."

A/N: thanks for all your thoughts on the matchlists! Had to put a spin on it though :P

Hope you enjoyed the part!