IMPORTANT

PLEASE READ THIS

(I apologize in advanced for the long note)

So I need your help. I want to add a ship to this but I'm still contemplating how I want it to play out but either way I need help. If I'm writing romance I will need feedback! I am not entirely experienced in that category so I will need help writing it in a realistic way. Thanks a bunch!

Pen .edge (For some reason your name wouldn't show up last time I don't know what happened. Sorry about that) Shout out for being my first follower! Thank you sooooo much!

Saraoh781: Yay! My second fav. Story! Thank you so much!

Hailey: Guess you'll have to wait and see. (maniacal laugh) No, but seriously I can't say or it will like, spoil the plot but I hope I don't disappoint.

ForeverFreeFall: Omigosh I've never had a self-proclaimed biggest fan before! Thank you so much I hope you like this chapter!

Pen .edge: Well like I said I don't know who I'm pairing her with yet. You can always comment and I will think about who would fit better with her in this particular story. But I want to make sure they fit.

Keeper: That totally makes sense. I mean, I know it sound bad, but I really like when there is imminent danger or a tragedy in a story. It shows people's true colours and what lengths they will go to for each other or how much it affects them. But you know, add some hope to it so its not super depressing. I hope I'm doing an okay job of capturing that sentiment. And thank you!

Okay *Huge sigh* I think that's it. *clears throat* TO THE STORY!

Dex POV:

He had been back for a week now but everything still felt wrong. It was quarter to six in the morning but it dint matter. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in days. That was the least of his problems though. It wasn't just that Sophie was gone, though that was a large part of it. Everything had a certain offness to it, like coming home and all your furniture had been moved a few inches. Nothing visible on the surface but completely wrong.

Part of it was the stares. The whispers, and this time they weren't about his parent's bad match or strange family. It was the little things. Like how his whole family was so careful around him now. It was Grady and Edaline back into seclusion. It was his tree in the Wanderling Woods. It was the little scar on his side or the more pronounced ribs on his chest. It was the sympathy. It was the fear. But worst of all, it was the absence of his best friend, who he would normally be here to talk about all this to.

It was strange, how in less than a year Sophie had become such a pivotal part of his life. He was perfectly fine before she had arrived, but in a matter of months he had grown incapable of imagining a life without her. But now he had to. And it wasn't fair. If his world was a machine, it was now missing a crucial piece. How was he supposed to function?

It just didn't feel right. He thought back to when his rescuer told his Sophie was dead. Not missing. Dead. If that was how everyone had felt for nearly two weeks he owed them an apology, because no one deserved to feel like that. But he had been hurt and confused. He would have believed it if he was told his arm had been cut off and the sky was green then. Now he had questions, and no one to ask. Maybe it was denial. Maybe he was desperate or just plain crazy. But it didn't feel like Sophie was dead. He would know. He would feel it. Wouldn't he?

His wondering was cut short when Keefe suddenly appeared in his room. Add that to the list of things off. For once he looked completely serious. "I need to talk to you."

He scowled but sighed. He didn't have the energy to fight. "At six in the morning? What about?" But he was pretty sure he knew what.

"Not here. I have a couple other stops to make. Come with me?" He thought about protesting but honestly he was curious. He nodded.

"Where are we going?"

Keefe grinned and grabbed Dex so he couldn't pull away, "Everglen."

….

Keefe POV

Sheesh he has some stubborn friends. Seriously, not one of them could say they weren't suspicious just a little about everyone's story about Sophie just dying. It was crap. But everyone else was content to sit at home crying over someone they all unanimously agreed might be alive. They were going to trust the council who was known for keeping secrets from them. And for being a real rule-enforcing pain. But mostly for being a secretive and stuff.

Of course he was upset about Sophie. He was devastated. Before her, he felt like he had to pretend everything was fine at home and that he was a goofy player. Around Sophie, he always felt like he could be himself. Flaws and all. He could be vulnerable without feeling shameful. He could've bared his soul to her and she wouldn't have judged him. With his parents, that was new for him.

And he missed her. Like, really missed her. More than he knew you could miss someone. This was why if there was any way in heaven or hell that he could get her back he was going to and if he had drag his lovesick and mourning friends out to help him he would. So he did. Just then in fact.

He grinned at them: Dex, Bianna, and Fitz. They didn't seem as enthusiastic as he was. Actually, Bianna looked ready to throttle him. That might have had something to do with him gathering them all in her room at six a.m. Before she was awake. In the dark. But details. They had to meet somewhere. And Fitz had trashed his room again.

Keefe looked at Dex, who looked like he had bruises under his eyes. Fitz, whose knuckles were scabbed from hitting so many walls and refusing to heal them, Bianna, who hadn't bothered with her hair or makeup or possibly even showering since Sophie disappeared, the usual light in her eyes dull and weak. Well, that part might have been her just waking up, but either way they were pathetic. Do I look like that? He asked himself. Probably. You've been a wreak. The voice in his head answered.

You need to stay strong for them. Be the goofy friend you always are. They need that. The voice told him. But…I'm doing about as well as they are. Then don't let them see that. He shook his head. Was he really having and internal battle right now? His voice of wisdom was right though. He cleared his throat and, in his best impersonation of Dame Alina he said, "I suppose you are wondering why I have gathered you all here?"

"More like why now." Bianna grumbled.

"And in the dark." Dex added.

"Precisely!" He shouted in his own voice. "We have gathered here, in the early hours hidden in the cover of darkness for secrecy my friends!"

Fitz raised his eyebrow. "Secrecy?"

Bianna scrunched her tiny little nose. "Why do we need to talk secretly?" Keefe rolled his eyes.

"Because we're going to spy. Secretly. Without our elder's knowledge. Possibly break the law! Rescue Sophie!" He looked at their blank faces and sighed. "We all know something fishy is going on. Don't deny it. What could it hurt? We were already told she's dead."

"…Keefe, I don't want her to be gone either but… I trust my dad. Maybe we are all grasping at some fantasy because we don't want to accept that she's really gone." Fitz seemed sure but Dex just frowned. Bianna did nothing.

"You think I don't know that? I wasn't about to place all my hopes on some fishy 'she's dead'. So I asked some questions. Tested their answers. I can tell you, those older elves are good at watching what they say but there was something off about their answers. Your dad for instance. They are hiding something about her and we are going to figure it out."

For a brief moment they all sat in silence. The Dex surprised all of them. "I'm in."

"Wait really? I thought we were going to have to beg you to work with them."

"Well by all mean feel free to do that but something has felt wrong about it since I got back. If she's out there, I want to help find her."

Bianna looked up, a spark of hope returning to her eyes. "You-you really think there's a way she may not be gone?"

He nodded, "I do."

She took a deep breath, "Then count me in."

They all turned to Fitz. "If Sophie's out there somewhere then we're going to find her. Together."