[HUMAN AU]

"Surprise!"

Sophie looked up from her book, delight etched across her features. She caught sight of a tall, lean guy with artfully styled honey-blond hair leaning against the hallway. Her face lit up with a grin.

"Keefe! What are you doing here?"

He flashed a smile, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, I figured I should check on you. It's been a while since the last time we met."

Sophie suppressed a smile. "We literally saw each other at school just an hour ago."

"And this would've been the most painful hour of your day."

Sophie raised her eyebrows. "What makes you say that?"

Keefe smirked. "How many times has my name crossed your mind since school ended today?"

Sophie bit her lip. She wanted to say 'a few times', but both she and Keefe would know she would be lying. The truthful answer would've obviously been 'too many to count'. During every second Sophie spent without Keefe, she was constantly thinking about him—his tousled hair, his crystal clear azure eyes, the feel of being in his embrace, his lips pressed onto hers. Sophie caught her gaze straying towards Keefe's mouth and she looked away hastily as her cheeks reddened and a sheepish smile took over her face.

"You win this time," she mumbled.

Keefe gave her a triumphant smile and walked over to the couch she was sitting on, legs outstretched in front of her. He kissed the top of her head. "I would know, Foster, because I spend just as much time thinking about my girlfriend."

Sophie's heart tripped over itself. They had been dating for almost a year, but hearing him call her his girlfriend still sent a thrill of joy through her. She felt her lips twitch upwards.

Keefe walked over to the other end of the couch. In one swift move, he lifted Sophie's feet, plopped down on the couch, and propped her legs up on his lap.

"So, whatcha doing?"

"Reading. Want to join?"

Keefe scoffed. "I'm sorry, have you met me?"

Sophie let out a short chuckle. "Well, I'm returning to my book, so make yourself at home."

She turned her focus back to the book. Sophie watched as the words before her blurred together, forming a black outline that danced before her vision. She was having too much trouble concentrating—Keefe had resorted to tracing patterns over the skin on her feet, and his touch left trails of burning warmth across her skin in its wake. She could feel her heart rate respond by speeding up almost instantly. She snapped the book shut and sat up straight.

Keefe had a suspicious twinkle in his eye. "What's the matter, love?"

"Do you maybe want to go somewhere on a spontaneous date instead? I don't feel like reading anymore."

Keefe sighed dreamily as the smile he had been trying so hard to hide finally broke free in his face. "See, this is why we're perfect for each other. You knew exactly what I was thinking and said it out loud."

"Mhmm, a total coincidence indeed, " Sophie said dryly, as she leaned in and kissed him on the side of his face she could reach. She smiled as his cheeks flooded with a tinge of pink, and stood up. She let her hand out towards him.

"Shall we?"

Keefe took her hand in his without a moment's hesitation. He smirked, though his voice didn't match his coy smile. "You know I can never say no to you."

"When you said our date's gonna be unforgettable, I didn't exactly have this in mind."

Sophie stared at the playground bathed in sunlight in front of them. Shouts and squeals echoed around them as children ran around the perimeter of the playground in joy. The loud commotion was already getting on her last nerve—it seemed to be triggering a headache.

Kids.

"I am deeply offended, Foster" Keefe huffed. "This playground used to be my happy place. The noise helped to distract me from a lot of things I didn't want to think about. I'd always come here when..."

He trailed off, staring into a spot above the swings. She could hear the words he hadn't spoken in her mind.

When things weren't so great at my house.

Sophie took his hand in hers and interlocked their fingers. She placed a finger to his forehead to smoothen the crease lines that formed.

"Well, if it was your happy place, I'm bound to be happy here too. Besides, imagining a tiny Keefe running around this very spot is way too adorable."

Keefe grinned. "I'll admit, young me was a catch, but I don't think you've missed much. Just look at me."

He turned towards her and puckered his lips. It was a pretty hilarious sight; Keefe couldn't go for two seconds in that position without breaking into a smile. Sophie chuckled and reached over to muss his hair playfully. Her laughter grew more pronounced as Keefe's hand flew to fix his hair ridiculously fast. She did agree with him on one thing—she was one lucky girl.

"We're not stopping here though. There's a park a mile ahead; we can find a quiet place to sit." Keefe led her forward.

Sophie pouted. "But what about your happy place?"

"That's okay. I have a new one now." He winked at her, and Sophie felt her cheeks grow hot.

The sky was ablaze with hues of amber and fiery orange. The sun dipped below the minuscule hills in the distance, setting the clouds above on fire. A breeze picked up around her, which made Sophie's dress billow around her and sent goosebumps rippling across her skin. She felt a gentle tug on her hand, and moved closer to Keefe. She looked over, and her breath caught in her throat. Keefe was drowning in the gentle evening sunlight, his honey hair now more of champagne blonde.

He looked stunning.

Sophie couldn't believe he was hers.

She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek—she couldn't help herself. He looked at her, raising an eyebrow, and she grinned back as she swung the arm holding his forward.

They came to a stop in front of a gigantic tree on the top of a hill that held a picturesque view of the park below. A small gasp left Sophie's mouth. Keefe's smile turned triumphant.

"You want to see something better?"

He motioned her over to the opposite side of the tree, where a swing hung from a branch overhead. It overlooked the entire park and looked very inviting. Sophie glanced over at Keefe. She was sure by the mischievous look in his eye that they both were thinking of the same thing. But she was much quicker.

They ran towards the swing at the same time, but she reached there first. She sat on it, winking as Keefe came to a stop beside her. She smiled sweetly.

"Sorry, but I came here first."

He scoffed. "You can have the swing. I'm gonna go climb the tree."

She scrunched her nose as she thought of the rough bark digging into her skin. "Why would you want to?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

She shook her head as her lips twitched upwards, and propelled herself forward with her feet. She could hear the rustling of leaves and scraping of Keefe's foot against the tree bark. A smile broke free at the thought of that. The smell of pine enveloped her as the breeze blew beneath her face gently. She closed her eyes in bliss.

"How did you know about this place?" She whispered softly.

"I told you, I found another happy place."

Her eyes sprung open. "What?"

Keefe's voice came from above her, and she was surprised he had climbed so far in such a short span of time. "This became my second happy place."

Sophie's cheeks heated. "Oh. But I thought..."

She could hear the smirk in Keefe's voice. "What did you think was my happy place?"

Sophie stayed silent. Sometimes, she felt as though she falls into these traps herself.

Keefe chuckled. "You didn't let me finish. This became my happy place…five minutes ago. I found this the last time I was here, about two months ago."

A small smile spread across Sophie's face. She had a feeling the reason his happy place was this was because of her, though she couldn't explain it. She couldn't explain the sudden rush of happiness coursing through her either. She pushed the ground with her legs to propel herself and swung forward, feeling as though she was five years old again.

"Alright, I'm done with this. I'm coming down."

Sophie chuckled at the frustration coating Keefe's voice. "But you haven't even been up there a full minute.

"it's not my fault, I miss my girlfriend."

Sophie honestly felt silly at how her heart—once again—thumped against her chest wildly at every mention of the word 'girlfriend'. Shouldn't she be used to it by now? A coy smile took over her face as she mouthed 'I'm his girlfriend' over and over, feeling her heart erupt with joy. However, it faded just as fast as something fell from right above her and landed inches away from her face. A squeal escaped Sophie's lips as she jumped, startled. It took her a minute for her rush of adrenaline to fade and another for her brain to focus on the pair of startling ice-blue eyes right in front of her.

"You. Scared. Me." She panted at her boyfriend hanging from the tree branch directly above them, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart and resisting the urge to slap (or kiss) him across the cheek.

"Like what you see?" Keefe winked, or so she assumed—his face was inverted to her, so she really couldn't tell.

Now her heart was racing for a completely different reason.

"I-"

"I meant the view of the park behind," Keefe smirked; Sophie could tell he had definitely NOT meant the landscape. She felt her cheeks heat up, but tilted her head forward to cover her flaming cheeks with her hair and forced herself to pull her lips up to form the sweetest smile she could muster.

Two can play at that game.

"No thanks. I prefer the view right in front of me."

She allowed herself a short chuckle at the absolute shock painted on Keefe's features before she cupped his face with her hand, mussed his already tousled hair, and kissed him full on the lips. She couldn't help but smile against his lips as the same thought crossed her mind once again.

She was one lucky girl.