Sophie heard a knock on her door. Wondering who it could be, especially since it was near midnight, she strolled over to the door. She opened it and...

Found Keefe leaning against her doorframe, with Ro right behind him.

"I don't mean to be rude, but what the heck are you doing here?" Keefe hadn't let her know that he was coming. At midnight.

Sophie noticed that Sandor also looked troubled, but that might've been because Ro was looking extra giddy and excited today. That made her feel troubled. Whenever Ro was excited, bad things were going to happen.

"Sheesh, Foster, can't I just visit you because I feel like it? It's not like I came here to kidnap you or anything," Keefe said, smirking.

Sophie blushed and shoved him into her room. As much as she was flattered that Keefe said he felt like visiting her, she knew that it must have not been the only reason why he came so suddenly.

"So, what brings you here today?" Sophie asked, quirking her eyebrow at him. "And no–tell me the truth. I know you didn't come here in the middle of the night just to say hi," she added.

She sat down and gestured for him to sit. "Sit your butt down and tell me what is so important you had to come here at midnight." Keefe took a seat next to her.

"Yeah, I need to tell you something," he began without his usual confidence. Sophie gave him a look that said, Go on. Keefe was acting strange. He didn't usually stall for this long.

Keefe took a deep breath and looked at her dead in the eyes. She couldn't help but notice how his eyes always seemed to sparkle and how perfect his hair was, like always. "I need to go join the Neverseen again," he said simply.

Sophie's heart seemed to sink to her stomach. She started to panic. Join the Neverseen? Again? After what happened last time? Even when the Neverseen already knew him as a traitor? Most of all, she didn't want him to leave her again. As much as she hated to admit it, she really couldn't live without Keefe. It would break her.

Beside her, Keefe squirmed. "Wow–thanks for the encouragement you're giving me," he said sarcastically. "That's a whole lot of emotions you're hitting me with."

"How can I not?" Sophie said angrily. "You've left so many times before, and now you're doing it again? If this keeps happening, how am I supposed to know whether or not to trust you? And also, I'm curious to see how you plan to join them again. They already know you as a traitor. If they see you again, they are going to murder you the first chance they get. I mean, if you want to die, go ahead! What you're planning is just a plan for suicide!"

Keefe just studied her like an interesting animal. "You're adorable when you're angry. Did I ever tell you that?"

Sophie just huffed angrily. "Just tell me your predictably crazy plan," she said. "And if this is a prank, I will tear your limbs off. I can promise you that."

"Yeah, definitely. I came here in the middle of the night to panic you and make you want to shred me to pieces," he said. "No! Do you think I would ever prank you with something like this?"

"Yes."

Keefe put his hand over his heart with mock hurt in his eyes. "That hurts, Foster. But anyway, I'll tell you my 'predictably crazy' plan. Damel, you know, the Washer dude, is going to help me out–"

"You know that's putting his life in serious danger, too, right?"

"Yes, I do know, Foster." Keefe rolled his eyes.

"Sooo... He's okay with having a ninety nine percent chance of dying?" she inquired.

"Yep," Keefe answered quite cheerfully.

Sophie sighed and reached up to pull out an eyelash. She couldn't just let Keefe leave again. Was there a way she could get him to change his mind? Was that even possible? She huffed in frustration. Her emotions was a mess. Even she didn't know what she was feeling. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't happiness.

She didn't realize there was a tear rolling down her cheek until Keefe reached up and brushed it away. She felt chills go down her spine, and it wasn't because she was cold.

"What's wrong?" Keefe asked concernedly. There was a softness to his voice that Sophie hadn't heard before. But that didn't make her feel any better. If anything, it fueled her anger.

"Everything! Why do you have to go? It didn't even work out at all last time! Why are you leaving me again? Do you have any common sense left in you?" Sophie said.

"Trust me, Foster, I don't want to do this," he said. "But, Sophie, it's the only way we can take the Neverseen. We're not going to win if I don't do this. I have to go. There's no way we could win if I don't," he said quietly, taking her hand in his. "There's no way that all of us will survive if we don't do this," he whispered, looking at her dead in the eyes.

"Then why does it have to be you? I don't want you to leave. Why can't someone else go? Like Fitz?" Sophie questioned. She had gotten over her crush on Fitz. She finally accepted that it wasn't going to work out. Also, her feelings for a certain blond-haired boy kept growing, no matter how hard she tried to repress the emotions. When Fitz came over these past few days, she wouldn't blush. She didn't see his eyes the same way anymore. When he smiled at her, her heart didn't flutter anymore.

As she knew he would, Keefe smirked. "Wow, you must be desperate if you want to Fitz to go instead of me. Or have you figured out the love triangle?" He teased, waggling his eyebrows. Sophie slapped him, her cheeks blazing. She actually did figure out the triangle... But there was no way she was going to admit that she liked him.

"But it has to be me because I, unlike the Fitzter, am extremely good at lying and improvising," he said.

Sophie sighed. "Just tell me your plan already," she said with a groan. She knew Keefe was stalling. Sophie noticed how Keefe was chewing his lip and twisting his thumbs together.

He noticed her staring. "What? Do I really look that hot?"

Sophie slapped him again.

Keefe sighed. "Fine. While I'm gone, Ro is going to be your bodyguard. I stole two starstones that lead to the hideout. I'm going to use one of them to get there. I'll sneak in with Damel, and I'll find them and sedate them with these"-Keefe gestured at a few disks that Sophie recognized as the ones she'd used on her family ages ago, "and then Damel will go and erase all memories of me. We'll drag them all to one place, so I can see when they start to wake up, and Damel will leave.

"When they wake up, they'll see me looking at them and they won't recognize me. I'll tell them that I followed some guy who sedated all of the Neverseen there. I will tell them that I tried to stop them, and they'll hopefully believe me. If they don't, well, I'll improvise. I'll ask to join, and they will tell me to prove my loyalty. Admit it, Foster, I'm a genius," Keefe finished with a grin.

Sophie did think it was an okay plan. Not that the whole concept of leaving her was okay. But...

"That's a big thing to improvise, Keefe. What the heck are you going to say?" Sophie questioned.

"I said improvising for a reason, Foster. I'll make it up when I get there. If I get there." But Keefe looked unsure.

Sophie didn't think there was any chance of her being able to convince Keefe to stay with her. She couldn't have Keefe leave her, especially since he made this sound so... permanent. He was talking like he was never going to come back.

Without Keefe, life would have no meaning. Without Keefe, her mind would break. Keefe was always the one who was always there for her. Not Fitz. Not Dex. Not Tam. Not anyone, but Keefe.

Sophie couldn't take it anymore. As the tears cascaded down her cheeks, Keefe pulled her close.

"What if you don't survive? Will you ever come back?" she asked thickly.

"I don't know, Sophie. I really don't know. But if I don't die, I'll come back someday, Sophie. I promise," he whispered.

Sophie watched him reach into his pocket and pull out a beaded bracelet. It had small ice blue beads with one slightly larger violet crystal in the center. "I want you to have this to remember me by. In case you, I don't know, make Fitzphie official," he said in a joking manner, but when he mentioned "Fitzphie," his face looked slightly heartbroken.

Sophie gave a small laugh. "You think I still like Fitz? That was just a stupid crush. I'm over him. He's a friend, and no more," she told him. When she said this, Keefe looked immensely relieved. Keefe slipped the bracelet over her wrist. As Sophie admired it, a thought struck her.

"Keefe, you said two starstones, right?"

He smiled mysteriously. "Yes, I did, Foster."

"So..." Sophie held up her wrist with the bracelet.

"I'll leave that for you to figure out," he said, not elaborating.

The tears stopped, but Sophie didn't feel any better. Keefe brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and let his hand linger on her cheek. Sophie wanted to tell him how she felt about him, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words.

Instead, Keefe started to say something. "Sophie, I..." His voice trailed off. Sophie noticed how he was using her first name more often today.

Keefe cleared his throat. "You need to know something," he started. "I just wanted you to know, in case, you know, I don't survive, I want you to know that, even through everything that's happened these past months, I've always loved you, Sophie," Keefe said. He immediately looked down at the floor.

Sophie was shocked. Keefe liked her? Keefe liked her? Keefe liked her?

When Keefe saw her reaction, he rushed out, "I know you don't like me back, and that you never will, but I just wanted you to know that, in case I never got a chance to tell you in person, or something." He had no idea how wrong he was.

Sophie smiled briefly and looked up at him. "I thought you were an Empath. Don't you know that I love you? Don't you know that I've loved you all this time? Don't you know that I was to stupid enough to realize it?" she told him.

Ro suddenly jumped up and let out a loud, "YES! I KNEW IT! YOU OWE ME, KEEFE! I WON THE BET! BE PREPARED FOR SOME EPIC HUMILIATION!" Sophie felt as if her cheeks were on fire. They bet on whether she liked him or not?

They both ignored Ro. Sophie became painfully aware of how close they were sitting. There was barely an inch between them. Keefe's ice blue eyes now looked even more beautiful than before. His hair started to look even better, if that was possible.

Keefe reached up and cupped her cheek with his left hand. He stroked her cheek with his thumb, and his breath felt warm on her cheeks. Another centimeter was gone between them. Two centimeters. Three.

Before Sophie knew it, Keefe slowly pressed his lips to hers.

Sophie felt a shiver run down her spine, and she kissed him back after a few seconds of shock. He wrapped his arms around her, and Sophie ran her fingers through his hair. Their lips fit perfectly together, and it scared Sophie how much she liked it.

From that moment, Sophie knew she loved Keefe with all her heart. She could barely hear Ro's squeal. As she kissed him, Sophie wondered why she'd ever been chasing after Fitz. Unlike Keefe, he wasn't always there for her.

Keefe pulled Sophie closer, which shouldn't have been possible. She marveled at how soft his lips were. Much to Sophie's disappointment, Keefe pulled away.

"Sophie, you're making this even harder than it already is," Keefe complained.

Sophie smiled. "Good. That was what the whole point was."

Keefe pouted. "It's supposed to be me teasing you, Foster, not the other way around," he said grumpily, his arms still wrapped around her, his broad shoulders sheltering her smaller frame protectively.

Keefe looked as if he never wanted to leave, and for a moment, Sophie thought she really changed his mind. But Keefe sighed and with great reluctance, he said, "I should probably get going. Damel is probably waiting."

This time, Sophie felt the tears coming. As she cried silently and begged him to stay with her, Keefe wrapped an arm around her shoulders and whispered, "I'll come back, Sophie, and we can be together. I'll come back when this is all over, when the Black Swan wins. I'll come back, Sophie. Someday."

He kissed her again. It wasn't like their first kiss. It was a slightly heartbreaking one, but just as passionate. Sophie wrapped her arms around his neck. She never intended to let go.

Keefe pulled away and held up the starstone. "Goodbye, Sophie," she heard as he glittered away.

When he was gone, she broke into another fit of tears and collapsed on her bed. She was heartbroken. Sophie could only count on Keefe's promise that he would come back someday. But she didn't know when that was. It could be in a year, ten, or a hundred. It was too indefinite.

But as she sobbed uncontrollably, Sophie knew he'd keep his promise.

And plus, since when did Keefe Sencen not come back?

A/N: I know that was HORRIBLE. I hate myself. I can't write. I'm having a mental breakdown as I look at what trash I just wrote. (BTW, just so you know, Damel doesn't have the other starstone.) But I am soooooo sorry for not getting this chapter done sooner. The thing is, life got in the way. I had tests, projects, tests, tests to study for, projects, but I am completely responsible for this one thing: I always forget to save what I write. I write, like, ten paragraphs, and then I FORGET TO FLIPPING SAVE IT! That happened about ten times. I am sooooooo mad at myself.

But anyway, thank you SO MUCH to those who reviewed, followed, and favorited. BUT I WANT MORE, GUYS! Tell me how i'm doing, tell me that I'm doing horrible, give me suggestions, and all that good stuff!

-ChickenButter888:)

A/N(February 17, 2019): Wow. I read that over today again, and I just realized that it really is trash. I hate it. It's horrible. But I don't want to change it either, because I'm too lazy. I'll edit it some other day.

A/N (March 14, 2019) Yay, I edited! It's still not as good as it can be, but... we'll stick with that. When I read that over, I cringed so hard that it still hurts. I'll go fix my other chapters. They're even worse than this one. Seriously, thank you guys so much! I don't know how you bear reading this cat poo, but you guys are seriously amazing!

-ChickenButter888