Sorry for the slacking. I want to use the "I've been busy excuse," and while that was true for maybe about a week, there was still plenty of opportunities to write. I'm just lazy. This suggestion comes from Kenkenny3000! Next is Stina meeting Sophie, then a Keefe POV of him playing base quest with Sophie for the first time. If I don't get any more requests, your other request (Cressida123) of when Dex and Sophie kiss will be after that. THANKS EVERYONE!

I also was able to preorder Flashback, which I'm excited about. Still nervous about the Fitz POV. I feel like I'm going to be punching some walls and screaming into pillows, but oh well.

Fitz POV

"So what do you think of Sophie?" Keefe asked nonchalantly. We were walking through the Foxfire halls during study hall. I'd managed to convince Keefe to do some actual studying, but based off of this question, I started to realize he had an ulterior motive.

Sophie always goes to the library during study hall.

I eyed him quizzically. Deny, deny, deny, right? "What do you mean?"

"You don't seem to talk to her much."

I snorted. "What are you talking about? I talk to her all the time."

With the way he was fidgeting and avoiding my eyes, you'd think he was about to ask me if he could marry her. Because I knew this was about Sophie. You'd have to be blind if you didn't notice the way Keefe fell over himself when she was around.

He pursed his lips. "I guess. But I was wondering…"

"What?" I felt bad about toying with him. Honestly, though, I didn't really want to admit it out loud. Sure, I obviously knew how he was feeling, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

I may not talk to Sophie that much, but that's because of the bile guilt forces up my throat whenever I'm around her. I don't deserve to be friends with her. If I look into those big brown eyes, all I can see is the heartbroken despair that was on her face when she was forced to drug her parents.

I caused that.

And anyway, the ever-flirtatious Keefe just wasn't the right fit for her. That's what I tried to convince myself, anyway.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is, I-"

Sophie chose that moment to barrel in out of nowhere and slam into me. Excellent timing, on her part. I steadied her and was just about to laugh when I noticed the tears glistening on her cheeks.

A pang of guilt resonated through my stomach. I'd seen that look before. Hurt. Betrayal. "Sophie? Are you okay?"

She tried wiggling away, and once she noticed Keefe (who had frozen at the sight of her crying), she struggled more. "I'm fine." The cracking of her voice convinced me otherwise.

I grabbed onto her arms again, trying to calm her down and let her explain. "Hey. What's happened? What's wrong?"

She was really fighting now, even pushing against my chest and trying to dart past me. Maybe I should just leave her alone, but I had to know what had gotten her this upset. I wasn't about to stand there and be useless when she was crying…again.

"Let me go," she muttered weakly.

"Tell me what's going on first," I answered firmly.

"Uh, Fitz," Keefe said hesitantly, his eyes still on Sophie. "I'm feeling some pretty serious rage right now. It's probably not a good idea to annoy her."

Rage? And I wasn't trying to annoy her. She should tell us what's wrong. We're her friends.

"Tell me what happened," I pleaded with her, desperate to understand and stop her tears. What I wasn't expecting was the loud, frustrated screech.

"UGH! Just stop already!" she shoved me away, and I stumbled back, surprised.

"Stop what?"

"Stop pretending like you care. I know your dad put you up to it, okay?"

Oh crap.

Oh crap.

Oh. Crap.

How could she have figured that out? I mean, maybe it was true at first, but it wasn't like that anymore. I had thought Biana had truly found a friend in Sophie, and I'd forced myself through the guilt and talked to her more. We'd hung out and have fun. Did she really think it was all a lie? But then…why wouldn't she? Who knows what she had heard?

"That's crazy," Keefe scoffed, but after he saw my pale face, he grew silent.

"What did Biana tell you?" I asked quietly, ready to chew her out for whatever she had said. After all, where else she could have heard something like this?

"Nothing," she spat. "Neither of you had the decency to be honest with me. I had to hear about from Stina."

Of course it was Stina. It was always Stina. And everyone else at this school giving her hell. "Sophie, it's—"

"I don't want to hear it," she started out angryily, but her voice cracked at the end. Keefe had a mixed expression of worry and disappointment as another wave of guilt flooded my stomach, which he no doubt felt as well.

She ran away, and I started after her, but Keefe held me back. "Better leave her alone."

He might have been the Empath. He might have known way more about her feelings that I did. Heck, he had the right to. He'd hung out with her way more than I had, willingly, I might add.

But still. I should have just gone after her.

But I let her cry all alone, just like I had before.


Later that night, I was trying my best to finish up my homework, anything to distract me from the giant mess that became my social life. Biana was quiet all through dinner, and only picked at her food. I wasn't much different, too ashamed to look either of my parents in the eye.

They didn't ask what was wrong.

I was flicking my pencil across a notebook, and watching it roll back down. How was I going to fix this? I had to fix it. I had to. I wasn't about to lose Sophie as a friend. I couldn't.

I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called absentmindedly, not even looking up from my desk.

"Fitz." It was something in my father's voice that caused me to snap my head up. Raw emotion. His face was tear-stained, his eyes hallow-like.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

"Dad?" I asked shakily. "What's the matter?"

He said nothing, just stared at me. I grew more panicked. "Dad? Dad? Tell me what's wrong. What happened? Dad?"

"It's about Sophie," my heart sank at his straggling voice. "S-She went up to a cave at Havenfield. She hasn't returned, and the cave is completely flooded because of high tide. We found her and Dex's, who was with her at the time, registry pendants in the ocean. They're gone, Fitz. Sophie and Dex…they're gone."

I felt my throat close up. I felt my heart harden.

"Fitz…" my father started.

"Shut up," I snapped. His expression didn't change. "Just go." He nodded, and slowly shut the door, leaving me in my room alone.

I turned back to my desk. She's gone

And it was my fault.

I swiped all of my notebooks and pens onto the floor, but they didn't make much noise against the carpet. I picked up the lamp and sent it hurtling to a wall, grimacing at the satisfying sound it made as it shattered into pieces.

The rage…pure rage built up inside my heart. Something so strong, it clouded over everything else. This was my fault. Sophie was dead because of me.

Why did I let her go? Why did I let Keefe stop me?

Before I knew it, I was surrounded in the broken pieces of my room. All junk to begin with. All meaningless.

She died, thinking that I had betrayed her…that I wasn't really her friend…

And with that final thought, my mind hardened into a shell, oblivious to the rest of the world.

I feel like my voice seems off and awkward…I guess that's what I get for slacking. I hope you still enjoyed!