a dangerous combination [discontinued]

~ F O R T Y - T H R E E ~

Sophie had a lot of explaining to do when she returned to Havenfield three days after the partially-failed mission.

She had decided enough was enough. She was not going to hide from the harsh reality of her life anymore. She was wasting valuable time.

Regardless of what had happened with Keefe, she still had a focused goal: defeat the Neverseen.

And that meant no more pretending that life didn't suck.

When she'd arrived, she'd been greeting by a tearful Edaline, a furious Grady, a demanding Biana, a confused Fitz, a distressed Dex, and relieved Song twins.

And a very disappointed Collective.

The disappointment wasn't directed at her, however. Mr. Forkle was deeply irritated about Keefe's betrayal. He'd seen what had happened at the base in Michigan in Sophie's mind, and was now muttering to himself angrily.

The rest of the Collective was agitated about the fact that Keefe had been able to shield his secrets from the probing he'd gotten before joining the Black Swan. Sophie hadn't even thought of that, but it proved that he had been even more prepared than she had thought.

That definitely didn't help her current feelings about him.

Now she just wanted to hurt him more.

Sophie forced herself to take a deep breath. All of that would happen in good time. From this moment onwards, she would plan her every move carefully.

She was done with careless mistakes.

+++

Sophie was obsessing over what had happened the previous day at Havenfield when she heard some rather strange noises coming from the room at the end of the hall.

Although Sophie had lived in Havenfield all her life, even she hadn't ventured through all the rooms here. If she had to guess, this was one of the many storage closets in the house.

She opened the door to explore without a second thought.

Turns out, she probably should have thought before looking inside.

Because inside the huge room, which may have once been a bedroom, was Tam and Biana.

Biana had her head bent, and seemed to be crying. Their words were low and whispered, but Sophie could tell that Tam was trying his best to comfort her.

Sophie felt that she had somehow intruded on a private moment, and was just about to leave when suddenly, Tam cupped Biana's face gently.

Biana glanced up at him, and just like that, their mouths molded together.

They were kissing.

The two of them were facing away from Sophie, completely absorbed in each other.

Any other time, she might have gagged and made fun of them, but seeing the two of them together, made her feel strangely...sad.

Sure, she was happy for them. She had been able to tell that Biana had liked Tam. Every time he walked into a room, her gaze was directed to him. And Tam was a good guy. He definitely wouldn't betray Biana.

Unlike some people.

Now they were together, secret as it may be. And while Sophie tried to suppress it, she was feeling more than a little jealous.

She could have had that with Keefe, if he hadn't been such an idiot.

Sophie gritted her teeth. She hated him. She didn't like him anymore. She would not think of what they could've been anymore.

She closed the door on the oblivious elves and turned away.

Love is overrated, anyway.

~~~~~~~~

Oh you poor, tortured soul 😫

IM SORRY I DID THIS TO YOU

oh yeah, we now have a set schedule. We will be updating every two days, unless something happens that delays a new chapter, in which case we'll post an announcement (most of the time the reason will be that we're lazy.)

We ARE trying to wrap in the book before august, however, so updates may be even more frequent lol

(edit from the future <11/15/20> HAHAH GOOD LUCK)

aNyWaYs after that boring part, thanks for reading :)

Love you guys! <3

- riya the chicken-drumstick-addicted and sleep-deprived writer wannabe

Chapter written 6/13/20 at 1:08 am (yes your girl couldn't sleep again and wrote two chapters in a night. what did u expect lol)