Confessions and Realizations - A Sokeefe Story

Chapter 11 - Broken

Keefe's POV:

As Keefe opened the door to his bedroom at the Shores of Solace, he noticed that Ro wasn't right behind him as usual. 

"Ro?" he called. Not that he was concerned about her or anything.

"Ahhhhh!" He screamed when Ro jumped out from behind the door. 

"Hahahahaha!!!!" Ro started cracking up as Keefe held his hand over his chest, steadying his breathing. "Who knew you screamed like a little kid!" 

"Ro..... don't ever try that again or I'm gonna kill you!!!!!" Keefe lunged for Ro but she ducked easily. He already had other things he had to worry about, mainly.....Foster. Ugh, he thought, leave that for later.

"But, Keefe, that was such a classic! And don't even think about fighting me, we both know I'm stronger than you." She laughed and stretched across his bed.

"Fine. But what was that for, anyway?" Keefe joined his bodyguard on the bed and laid his hands across his stomach, giving Ro a glare. He really didn't need anyone bothering him with silly things like that right now.

"I was sick of you moping over Blondie! I had to see you with a different expression than: deep thought and wistfulness." Ro said the last part in a low voice, imitating Keefe pretty accurately.

He sighed and closed his eyes. Ro just wouldn't give up. She always knew how to hit Keefe in the worst spots. 

"See? There you go again. So boring. I need my pranking buddy back again."

"Ro, it's not....I just can't....I won't......ugh, whatever." Keefe got up and walked over to his desk, and picked up a sketchbook. 

He absentmindedly started drawing, not bothering to look closely at the paper until he was mostly finished. 

"Okay, we really need to do something about this. Now you're drawing Blondie on a paper without noticing that you were drawing her? I need to go make a call." Ro crossed her arms and walked swiftly out of the room.

Keefe sat there with the picture of Sophie in his hands. He thought about how she had always been there for him when he needed her, how much she cared. It physically hurt when he reminded himself that he didn't deserve her. She would probably be happier without him. He stated making excuses, but he knew that if he did tell her he loved her, she would never realize that she loved him back. The tears started falling, slowly trailing down his cheeks. 

"Oh, I see what you mean. It's getting worse." Someone else was in the room, but Keefe didn't care. "Yes, I'll call him, and see if he has any suggestions on what to do."

Keefe didn't register anything in the next five minutes, just sitting at his desk, stunned. Someone started shaking his shoulders, and he decided he should probably be embarrassed to be seen crying like this. But the thing was, he wasn't embarrassed. He loved Sophie. She loved him too, under the tricks her mind was playing. Simple, right? Far from simple.

He wiped his tears away, and cleared his throat, looking around the room. He saw Elwin, with a worried expression. Tam, who actually looked concerned. Ro, who had a look of.....genuine sympathy? He pushed that thought away, and smirked at the trio.

"Hey, guys! Thanks for inviting me to the party!" He joked, thankful that his fake smile held.

Elwin spoke first. "Keefe, you can't stop denying yourself like this. You'll literally break." 

"You sound like Foster, ugh." At the mention of her name, his face fell for a millisecond, before he regained composure.

"Okay, he seems to be okay physically...." Elwin flashed his light around Keefe, reporting that he had just had a mental breakdown. "The thing is, if these breakdowns were to happen more often, you could actually break your mind."