"So," Fitz crooned, "how does it feel to be in love?"

Fitz, Keefe, Tam and Dex were in Keefe's room. Although that was probably the last place Tam wanted to be, and Dex probably wasn't thrilled at the idea of hanging out with Wonderboy, they all needed some bonding time, and anyway, Biana had kicked Fitz out of Everglen so they could have their girls-only sleepover. Fitz smirked to himself at the idea of Sophie being forced to do girly things by Biana and Linh.

"Shut up," Keefe said, smacking Fitz's arm. "Actually though, it feels pretty good to have someone who appreciates you and loves you no matter who you are. Like, I know you all care about me as friends," - fortunately, he missed the eye roll from Tam in the corner of the room - "but this is different, somehow. And I feel glad that the person I love, Sophie Foster, chose me."

Fitz nodded. He didn't seem all that bothered by Keefe and Sophie being together, but he could have just been hiding his feelings. Dex, on the other hand, looked at the floor and refused to make eye contact with Keefe. He didn't look angry or jealous of Keefe, because he already knew Sophie didn't love him in that way, but there was sadness in his eyes, and Keefe couldn't help feeling a little bit guilty, even though it wasn't his fault.

Tam, noticing the awkwardness, cleared his throat. "Base Quest, anyone?"

"Sure," Fitz said, sitting up. Keefe nodded and Dex shrugged. "What are the teams?"

"I think it should be Fitz and I versus Dex and Tam," Keefe declared.

"What? That's not fair," Dex protested. "You guys have had way more experience playing Base Quest than the rest of us."

"Why don't we do a random draw?" Fitz suggested. Keefe relented, and Fitz grabbed a paper, tearing it into four and writing one name on each. "The team are.. Dex and I, versus Tam and Keefe!" Keefe pouted and Tam sent a death toward Keefe, as if to say, You'd better do well if you're on my team, or else.

The four boys rushed to the staircase, and it spun them downstairs. Heading towards the door, Keefe yelled: "First team to have both members to the forest gets to quest first!" Then he took off running, sending a pointed glance at Tam before he went.

Tam ran as fast as he could toward the forest (which, he admitted to himself, wasn't particularly fast compared to Keefe or Fitz). Keefe arrived first, then Fitz. Tam glanced to his left to find Dex next to him, panting and running hard. Tam ran even faster, and in the end, he got to the forest first. He and Keefe would quest first.

"Yes!" Keefe yelled, high-fiving Tam so hard it hurt Tam's hand.

"That wasn't necessary," Tam mumbled. Then he and Keefe began counting to one hundred to allow Fitz and Dex time to choose their base.

An hour or so later, four exhausted boys stumbled back into Candleshade. Keefe's parents were upstairs, so they headed to the kitchen, where Keefe grabbed lushberry juice for all of them. They flopped on the couch and drank their juice.

All of a sudden, Keefe asked, "Fitz, did you like Sophie? Are you upset that I'm with her and.. you know. I'm sorry for being so direct, but I care about you and I wanted to know how you feel about this."

Fitz blinked. "I did used to," he admitted. "I liked her ever since bringing her to the Lost Cities, and for a while I felt like she would never think of me as more than a friend, but eventually I met someone else and I got over Sophie." Fitz smiled an uncharacteristically shy smile and a faint pink tinge spread across his cheeks.

"Aww, Fitz is blushing!" Keefe exclaimed. He reached out and pinched Fitz's cheeks, but Fitz quickly swatted his hands away. "Anyways, I think we all know Tam never liked anyone."

Tam sat on an armchair in the corner. He let out an amused chuckle but didn't respond. Let them think what they want. It's not like it matters what they think anyway. Besides, their oblivion is amusing.

Nobody mentioned Dex's feelings about Sophie. Although they didn't know the details, they knew something along the lines of Sophie rejecting him had happened, and they didn't want to hurt his feelings on such a sensitive topic.

Keefe let out a sigh of relief. None of his friends were jealous. None of them also liked Sophie. He wasn't hurting any of their feelings by being with Sophie. Maybe, despite all his issues, despite his messing everything up and despite his parents and despite everything he would be okay. After all, he had supportive friends and he had Sophie. Thinking of her beautiful smiling face left him feeling warm and fuzzy inside, like someone had lit a campfire and he was sitting nearby snuggled up in a blanket.

The rest of the night, Fitz, Tam and Dex were constantly wondering why Keefe had a happy, idiotic grin pasted on his face. And Keefe was oblivious to it all.

A/N: I'm sorry Sophitz shippers but I did state that this is a SoKeefe story. I love Sophie and Keefe :3 That last part is inspired by the song "Everglow" by Coldplay.

Also, 3.5K views? 20 reviews? I know compared to some people it's not that much but it's a lot for me, so thanks everyone and please continue to read and review! Thanks so much just for sticking with me for so long!