A/N: Woo last part let's gooo
Tam trudged through the mess. He and Ro had parted ways after a few minutes of searching, both too consumed in their own heads to handle being around each other. Tam's mind had gone completely numb as he wandered aimlessly. He had cried so much he had emptied himself of emotion.
The ruins seemed to go on forever, surrounded by an eerie silence. Tam knew it was hopeless trying to find Keefe's already dead body, but he couldn't let the Neverseen steal Keefe away from him again. He kicked a small rock in frustration. It skittered across the ground, the noise echoing across the rubble until it disappeared in the dust. The silence returned momentarily, but then the unexpected happened. The rock rolled back to his feet. He stared at it in confusion.
"Hello?" he called out, his voice hoarse from crying. A figure slowly appeared from the dust. Tam froze as the silhouette took shape. His eyes must've been playing tricks on him, it was impossible for him to be there.
"Tam?" the figure asked from the shadows, and there was no denying who it was now.
"Keefe?" Tam whispered in disbelief. The dust cleared to reveal that Tam was right. It was Keefe. He looked exhausted, his hair was a mess, and he was covered in dust with blood on his hands. But he was alive, and slowly limping towards Tam with tears in his eyes.
"Yeah, it's me," Keefe said, and Tam ran to meet him, his eyes somehow finding more tears to send down his face.
They met in a tight embrace, Tam burying his face in Keefe's neck. They clung to each other for at least a minute before letting go, still standing just as close to each other. Tam placed his hands around Keefe's face, as if to see if he was really there.
"I'm not dreaming, am I?" he asked. Keefe took Tam's face in his hands as well.
"Of course you're not," Keefe said softly. They both smiled at each other, and Tam tried to give Keefe all the feelings he had in that moment. Keefe's eyes shone in understanding.
Then, at the exact same time, Keefe and Tam gently pulled their faces together and kissed. Tam felt as if he'd completed himself, finally found peace. His hands found their way through the back of Keefe's hair, and he pulled Keefe closer into him.
They broke apart smiling, their faces red. They both started giggling, and pressed their foreheads together.
"Wow, not bad, Tammy," Keefe teased breathlessly.
"Shut up," Tam replied lovingly. The both laughed silently.
"Where is everyone else?" Keefe asked after a few moments.
"Somewhere around here. I should hail them." Tam reached for his imparter, but Keefe stopped him.
"Hang on, did you all see me…"
"Dead?" Tam finished, his voice breaking. Keefe nodded. "Yeah, we did." Keefe intertwined his hand with Tam's as he hailed Sophie, who answered immediately.
"Hey," she said. "What is it?"
"I think you better come here," Tam said, trying not to smile as to not give the surprise away. "Bring everyone else too." Sophie's eyes widened. She nodded and quickly hung up. "Ready to give us an explanation?" Tam asked Keefe.
"Yup," Keefe answered, suddenly kissing Tam on the cheek. "I have a feeling its going to be awhile before we're alone again," he explained.
A few minutes later, everyone arrived with a POP. They all froze in shock when they saw Keefe standing with Tam. Then Sophie and Ro ran forward and tackled Keefe in a hug, nearly knocking him to the ground. Everyone else followed and joined the hug. Sophie was sobbing and laughing at the same time.
"What happened?" Sophie asked as the hug dispersed. Keefe explained how he had woken up next to his mother and was saved by Fitz. Sophie pulled Biana close as Keefe sadly told them Fitz's dying words. They stood in silence for a few minutes.
"We should get out of here," Grady said, breaking the silence. Everyone murmured in agreement. "We can all go back to Havenfield. I'll hail Elwin and everyone else."
When they got to Havenfield, they all collapsed on the couches, Edaline giving them massive hugs before supplying them with endless mallowmelt. Elwin arrived soon after and began checking everyone for injuries. When he got to Keefe, his eyebrows knit in confusion as he flashed orbs in his face.
"That's not right," he muttered.
"Actually…" Keefe started.
"What did you do?" Elwin asked in exasperation.
"Um, I kind of died."
"Are you kidding me?"
"He's not," Tam chimed in. Elwin took a deep breath.
"Well, don't do it again," he said, giving Keefe a quick hug before moving to check on Linh and Marella. Tam turned to face Keefe.
"I agree with Elwin. Don't. Do. That. Again." he stated, leaning into Keefe.
"I won't," Keefe said, placing his arm around Tam's shoulders. "I promise."
Soon the room was filled with people. Alden and Della sat with Biana and Sophie, breaking down when they were told about Fitz. Dex had hailed Jensi, and the two of them talked together as Rex, Bex, and Lex ran around the room. Kesler and Juline talked with Grady and Edaline. Mr. Forkle chatted with Tiergan, Wylie, Meruca, and Stina. Linh and Marella sat quietly, squished together in the same armchair, enjoying each other's company. The councillors were apparently still unconscious, and Tam savored the moments before there would be an inevitable (and very frustrating) trial.
A few hours later, everyone began to leave to get some much-needed rest. Tam, Keefe, Ro, Linh, Marella, Wylie, and Tiergan all said their goodbyes before leaping to Tiergan's home. They all went right to their bedrooms, too tired to make conversation. Linh and Marella gave Tam and Keefe a quick hug before heading off to Linh's room, holding hands. Ro playfully punched Keefe in the arm before he and Tam shut the door, collapsing onto Tam's bed. They shifted closer to one another.
"Hey," Keefe whispered, reaching over to smooth out Tam's bangs. The fondness in his eyes nearly made Tam blush.
"Hey," Tam replied, putting his arm around Keefe, who laughed quietly.
"How did this even happen?" he asked.
"Good question. I guess it just… did?" Tam replied, smiling. "I mean, I'm not complaining."
"Neither am I," Keefe said, and Tam moved forward and kissed him softly.
"Good. You're still an egomaniac though."
"I'm aware. And you, Tammy, are still an emo nightmare."
They both giggled, kissing each other once more before falling asleep in each other's arms.
The next few days were a whirlwind. The councilors held one trial after another, and there was barely any time for a break. Fitz's wanderling ceremony took place before any of the trials. Keefe held Tam and Sophie's hands the entire time. They barely had proper time to mourn as they were whisked to the first trial not even an hour later. Keefe lost count of the amount of times he almost fell asleep during trials with Tam constantly having to shake him awake.
Lord Cassius was revoked custody of Keefe for obvious reasons, and Elwin was set to be Keefe's new guardian. Keefe was more than happy and relieved with the assignment, immediately jumping up to tackle Elwin in a hug.
One of the last trials focused on the issue of matchmaking. The air was tense around Keefe and his friends. He hadn't realized how upset the others, besides Sophie, were about the problem. Sophie immediately stood up and demanded the stigma of "bad matches" to end.
"It's a bigger problem than you realize," she stated firmly. Bronte stared at her skeptically.
"Miss Foster, your personal situation is very specific. But for everyone else-"
"Even if I was matchable, the person I want to be with wouldn't be on there," Sophie said, glancing down at Biana, who was sitting next to her.
"Well, you can't be sure about that."
"Except that I can," Sophie took Biana's hand and Biana stood up. There were whispers and gasps all around. Keefe was surprised to realize he wasn't completely shocked by the revelation. Bronte's face had turned red.
"What do you mean by this?" he asked incredulously.
"I think you know exactly what I mean," Sophie said, and she turned and kissed Biana. The crowd was in an uproar.
"QUIET!" Bronte shouted to only partial response. "This is only your feelings, Miss Foster. You are confusing Miss Vacker. This cannot happen with elves!"
"I can assure you that I am not confused," Biana stated.
"Then you are the only one!" Keefe glanced at Tam, who nodded as a cue for them to speak, a small smirk on his face. But they were beat to it by Linh and Marella.
"Wrong again!" Marella yelled happily, quickly kissing Linh and causing another uproar. Keefe took his chance and pulled Tam up with him.
"Yeah man, I think you need a recount!" Keefe said before smashing his face on Tam's, almost knocking him over.
"YEAH THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" Ro shouted proudly. There was more chaos as Dex and Jensi hesitantly stood up.
"There's definitely more than one!" Jensi yelled, taking Dex's hand.
"ENOUGH!" Bronte shouted over the riot, and everyone finally quited. Bronte took a deep breath. "The council will vote on the matter. All in favor of keeping the matchmaking system and consequences as is?" he asked calmly. Only four councilors, including Bronte, raised their hands. "And all in favor of allowing unmatched couples without fear of reputation or punishment?" The remaining seven, including Oralie, raised their hands. Bronte sighed. "It's settled then. We will now be taking a short recess before dealing with our final two trials."
The conversation returned, some happy, some angry. Keefe embraced Tam before heading over to celebrate with the rest of his friends.
The remaining two trials went quickly and were matters of little concern to Keefe. Edaline announced they were going to have a party at Havenfield the next day to celebrate everything that had happened. Keefe gave Tam a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving with Elwin.
The next day, Keefe was hurrying to get ready for the party. He was still trying to organize his things from moving in with Elwin.
"Are you ready yet?" Elwin asked from his bedroom doorway.
"I would be if I could find my jacket," Keefe responded. Elwin immediately picked something up off the floor.
"This jacket?" he asked, a playful smile on his face.
"Yeah, that one," Keefe sighed, taking the jacket from Elwin. "Okay, now we go." They headed to the leapmaster with Ro. Before leaping away, Elwin turned to face Keefe.
"You know, I'm really proud of you," he said kindly. Keefe stared at him in disbelief. He couldn't remember the last time someone genuinely told him that, if ever.
"Really?" he asked quietly, trying to stop the tears pooling in his eyes.
"Of course," Elwin said, and Keefe bombarded him in a hug, taking Elwin by surprise.
"Thanks," Keefe whispered as they broke apart, swallowing hard. Elwin placed his hand gently on Keefe's shoulder.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Yeah," Keefe said. "Let's go."
Keefe didn't know how Edaline had managed to set the party up so quickly, but it looked great. Colorful lights were strewn across the grounds and a massive table of food was laid out. There was music Keefe recognized from Sophie's old iPod playing. Everyone was dressed nice, but comfortable. Keefe spotted Tam in the crowd and hurried over. Tam smiled when he saw Keefe heading towards him, which made Keefe's heart stop. They met in a tight embrace.
"Hey Tammy," Keefe said, taking his hand.
"Hey," Tam replied happily. "You took your time to get here. I'm really hungry now."
"Yeah sorry, my stuff's still a mess" Keefe laughed. "I guess we better get you some food."
They met Sophie, Biana, Linh, and Marella at the food table. They hugged quickly before grabbing some mallowmelt.
"Like the music, Foster," Keefe commented.
"Why thank you," Sophie replied. "I'm warning you now: I did pick out some slow songs that I expect all of you to dance to." Tam's face went red.
"Um, no," he said.
"Um, yes," Keefe countered, slinging his arm around Tam's shoulders. "You can't always be sulking."
"I do not sulk," Tam scoffed.
"Yes you do," Keefe, Linh, Marella, and Biana all said in unison. Tam rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but Sophie and Biana have to go first," he agreed.
"I accept your challenge," Biana said, dragging Sophie to the empty square of grass that had been reserved for dancing.
"Biana, it's not even a slow song yet!" Sophie protested as she was pulled away.
"Do I look like I care?" Biana replied, spinning Sophie around and causing her to shriek. They all laughed at the sight.
"You know what?" Marella started. "That looks like fun. Come on, Linh, let's go." Linh took Marella's outstretched hand and joined Sophie and Biana. Keefe turned to Tam, an amused look on his face.
"Don't even think about asking," Tam warned.
"Too bad," Keefe replied, dramatically offering his hand. "May I have this dance?" Tam stared at him in exasperation before sighing and reluctantly taking Keefe's hand.
"Why do I put up with this?" Tam asked. Keefe smirked.
"Because you looooove me Tammy," Keefe teased, leading Tam to where the others were dancing.
"How long have you been waiting to say that?"
"You have no idea," Keefe replied, taking Tam's other hand. They started dancing with the music, or at least trying to. They were tripping over each other's feet half the time but still laughing the whole way. Dex and Jensi eventually joined in on the fun, their dancing almost as awkward as Keefe and Tam's. Ro was in her own happily little world, jamming out to the songs which she somehow knew all the lyrics to. Keefe would have to talk to her about stealing Sophie's things later.
After a few minutes, a slower song finally came on. Grady and Edaline joined the dancing, looking happier than Keefe had ever seen them, with so many years of worry and pain over. Keefe leaned into Tam, swaying gently to the music. They stared into each other's eyes, savoring the moment. They didn't need words right now, just each other. The moon shone perfectly in Tam's ice-blue eyes, and it made Keefe's heart melt. The emotions he felt from Tam only heightened his own.
As the song came to an end, Keefe and Tam pressed their foreheads together, breathing in sync.
"You were right earlier," Tam muttered. "I do love you."
"I knew it," Keefe whispered proudly, making Tam laugh. "But I love you too." Saying it out loud for the first time filled Keefe with relief and pure joy. Tam leaned forward and kissed Keefe softly before leading him to an empty area of the lawn. The music could still be heard quietly in the background. They held each other close, never wanting to let go.
"What do we even do now?" Keefe asked.
"Good question," Tam said. "I never really knew what it was like to just… live."
"I guess we've just got to figure it out together," Keefe suggested, smiling softly.
"Yeah, together," Tam agreed.
They kissed again, longer this time, their feelings in control. Keefe never wanted it to end. Lucky for him, he had forever, and so did Tam.
A/N: And that's it! Finally, after a year, I have actually finished a project! I hope you enjoyed, I might write more Kam in the future as the series continues but this is officially the end of Angst and Ego! Thanks for reading!