Confessions and Realizations - A Sokeefe Story

Chapter 5 - Comforting

Sophie's POV:

"Come on, I know something's bothering you." Keefe's voice was coated with concern. Sophie reached her hand up to tug at an itchy eyelash. He intercepted the hand and said, "None of that. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But I will say this, I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you after the last fight with the Neverseen."

There he went, apologizing for the impossible.

"Keefe, don't say that. It's my fault you ended up like this in the first place." That wasn't what was really bothering her, but she did blame herself that she hadn't saved Keefe before Gisela hurt him. She looked down and started to fidget with her hands.

"Sophie, look at me," he took her hands in his, and her heart took a somersault again. "None of this is your fault. You can't blame yourself for it or it'll break you."

She wanted to tell him everything she was thinking, how sweet he looked when he was worried, how warm his eyes were, even though ice blue was considered cold. How worried she was about where their friendship would go after this. What her dream had meant the night before.

She took a shaky breath. She pushed away the first three thoughts and decided to elaborate on the fourth. "I had this dream last night." She described it in detail, while Keefe rubbed his thumbs in circles over her hands. When she was finished, she looked up into his eyes and saw the shock staring her in the face.

"I saw the exact same thing when I was in my coma. I couldn't remember anything except for the names Keefe and Sophie. That was it. But something in my head was telling me what to say."

So that explained why he had called her Sophie in the dream instead of one of his nicknames. Wow, she thought, this is getting really weird. Fortunately, her and her friends were experts with that.

"That's strange. Could it be a new ability that you have?" Sophie hoped it wasn't because she could only take so much new information in one day.

"No," Keefe said, "It doesn't feel new. I think it was something to do with you transmitting it to my head. Maybe when Mommy Dearest was messing with my head, she made a connection between us. You were the last thing that I saw before my eyes closed. Gisela probably wanted to mess with me and make me as miserable as possible, seeing you but not knowing who you were and doubting my entire existence. Then, hoping I would just forget everything and live a sad life not knowing who I was and what I was supposed to do."

She didn't know where he was going here, but only that he needed to be loved. He sounded so fragile, and Sophie wanted to throw her arms around him and cry again, but he was the one who needed comfort this time. He had been through so much with his parents disregarding him, and his time spent with the Neverseen, that he hardly ever had anyone who cared for him like she did.

"Keefe, I'll always be here for you. I promise, okay?" His eyes met hers, and held her gaze, saying a silent thank you. She saw the intense emotions disappear, being replaced with warmth and security. 

Sophie leaned forward and hugged Keefe as tight as she could. She whispered in his ear "I'm here."

She could feel Keefe smiling in her hair, and they stayed there for a while, embracing each other. "Thank you, Sophie."

It took Sophie a minute to realize that he had used her first name.She was surprised how much she enjoyed it, coming from him.