Thank you so much for the support! I'm keeping the last AN up just because the comments on it just made my heart melt. I wanted to publish a bunch in a row, but... I'm working on eight! I didn't want to just publish one chapter and then disappear again, so let's hope I'm back for good. I've just been so busy with school and I'm suffering from major creative blocks! I can't write, read, anything! But, I hope the blocks ending and I'll be back to writing! Thank you for staying faithful to this story and I hope I don't disappoint!

(But the quality of the last AN was just horrible!)

He loves me. He loves me. He said he loves me. I looked up at him and his face looked as calm as usual. It didn't look like he'd made that huge of a confession at all. Was I reading this all wrong? Maybe, he's just trying to play it cool. No, he only loves me platonically. I peered up at his face again, trying to see if he could love me as something more, but he pulled me in tighter against his chest.

"You know I love you, Sophie. Dex loves you, Biana loves you, Keefe loves you, I love you… Marella loves you, so does Linh, I- I think Tam does." He chuckled and I laughed softly into him.

"If he loves me, he's got a weird way of showing it."

"What?" He feigned surprise. "Lurking around corners and glaring at you is the proper way of showing someone that they're loved."

"Well. Now I'm hurt. You've never been remotely creepy, do you not love me?"

He snorted, "Creepy like taking pictures of you?"

I faltered, "What?"

He suppressed another snort, "The other day I caught Valen taking pictures of you after school when you were calling Marella." My mouth dropped into an 'o' shape. "I took his camera and asked him kindly to leave." I nodded.

"Where's his camera?"

Fitz blew a raspberry over my shoulder, "Who knows? I tossed it into my room randomly. All that matters is that there isn't some creep who owns pictures of my Sophie." He teased me with that brilliantly white smile of his as he pulled back and ruffled my hair.

His smile dropped and we just stayed there, staring at each other. And then he leaned in close and I thought he was going to kiss me. I watched him. His lips parted. Once. They closed again, then opened again. Twice. A small puff of breath escaped his lips. Three times, now. Three times that he parted his lips and no words came out.

Then I was back in his arms. His face buried in my hair all of a sudden. "God, Sophie. You are more loved than you'll ever know." I could feel tears prick my eyes as his voice hitched slightly when he said my name. "Sophie…" I pushed him away and laughed when he looked surprised at my tears.

He leaned forward to wipe them away, and I was so touched that I didn't bother pushing him away or feeling ashamed for being weak. "You're not weak." His thumb wiped away a stray tear and I forced myself to push his comforting hand away as I laughed.

"Stop it… I don't like being-" he gave me a stern look but my smile didn't fall. He gave me a lopsided grin. My heart fluttered. It wasn't cocky like Keefe's nor was it overly awkward like Dex's. It was just Fitz being Fitz.

"You're anything but weak."

He stared at me. Four times now. He ran a hand through his perfect hair before it fell behind his neck and rubbed. Five times. "Sophie," he breathed my name like it was a prayer.

I shuffled toward him and reached for a hug, an eyelash itching as I looked up at him. Six times. He sent that same genuine Fitz smile to me before complying and enveloping me in his arms once again.

His genuine smile. Not the perfect reassuring one to show he was my rock. It was the cute, nervous, seeking reassurance of his own, Fitz smile.

I fell asleep to thoughts of Fitz and his smile.

"Woah. Look what we've got here." I looked up sleepily to see Keefe grinning down at us. "'Sup, Pineapple." I blushed as I consciously smoothed my hair down. Biana came from behind Keefe, giggling as he smirked. I sent Fitz a knowing smile and, when they thought we weren't looking, Biana leaned in to kiss Keefe on the cheek. He automatically let go of her hand to bring his arms up. When he released her hand, however, she moved swiftly aside, as if she vanished and reappeared next to him.

She bent down and began brushing my hair, twisting strands of it, pulling it up, and tying it into an intricate design. "There we go."

She went back to Keefe's side and they stared down at us. "So, what have you guys been up to?" Biana. Always digging for gossip. Annoying.

Fitz laughed, "Nothing. Sophie and I were wondering if you guys wanted to play Base Quest."

"Oh!" Keefe jumped up and down, pulling my hand forward and me up. "Team Foster-Keefe!"

Fitz glared at Keefe who just stuck his tongue out. "Team Vacker!" Biana's hand was in Fitz's, but she was sulking.

"Yeah, Team Foster-Keefe and Team Vacker."

Keefe's grip on my hand loosened but gave a sorrowful look at Biana. She scoffed and looked away.

I looked into Fitz's teal eyes. Should we do something about it? "Come on." Oh, she was seething. "Let's just play."

"Team Foster-Keefe wins again!" Keefe clasped my hand in his own and flung them both in the air triumphantly. "We win, you lose! Na-na-na boo-boo!"

Fitz raised an eyebrow, "'Na-na-na boo-boo'?"

'Na-na-na boo-boo!" Keefe repeated, dancing around wildly as he grabbed my hands, twirling me around with him as we tripped over tree roots and bumped into everything.

Fitz pinched his nose bridge as he chuckled while Biana bit her lip as she watched the boy she liked dance with her best friend.

I caught Biana's stare and tried to unlatch her hands from Keefe's, but the blonde male remained oblivious to both of us and continued to gleefully sing with joy. "Team Foster-Keefe is the best!"

I had no idea what was going on between Biana and Keefe. Sure, I knew that Biana had harbored a crush on the flirtatious boy, and the two had definitely exchanged a kiss or two, judging by what I had seen at least. But, as far as I knew, they had no official relationship status yet.

"Keefe… get off…" I gave Biana an apologetic look, but she averted her gaze to the floor. I looked at Fitz and he nodded.

"Keefe, what do you say about going to Slurps and Burps and putting a little something-something into Tam and Dexs' drinks?" Keefe fist pumped the air and Fitz laughed, sending me a look that said make sure Biana is alright.

When the boys were gone and had trekked back through the woods, I turned to Biana. "Is everything okay with Keefe?"

"I mean, he obviously likes you," Biana gave me a look and I faltered. "I mean, doesn't he?" She shook her head sadly.

"He's been… gently letting me down."

"'Been'? What do you mean 'been'? He hasn't already let you down easy? You guys actually aren't together?"

She blushed, "It- it's complicated." She pulled on a strand of her hair. I knew she would give into the gossip and drama any minute though. "He doesn't like me." The dam broke.

"I thought we already established that." Ouch. Even I knew it came out wrong. But Biana just laughed good-naturedly and waved a perfectly manicured hair.

"Ouch, Soph." I winced. "No, no, it's fine! No, it's not fine…" I looked at her. "I mean, you're fine, but I'm not fine," I resisted the urge to snort. She's not fine? Well if she 'wasn't fine', then what was I?

"It's just… I've liked Keefe for a long time now. Like, a really long time. And we kissed- kind of. And… he's been my first for a while. First handhold with a guy who I wasn't related to, first male hug, first crush, first kiss…" She began smoothing down her hair, finger combing it and tugging on strands, "I'm just not ready to let him go."

"So…" I titled my head, thinking hard. "You don't like him anymore. It's just sort of a… sentimental thing?" She sighed and flopped dramatically on my bed.

"No, every time he comes close I still get butterflies. You know, the ones in your stomach that make you feel nervous yet over the moon at the same time?" Oh, I knew that feeling, alright. "But, I know he doesn't like me. He's said so. He flirts with every girl around me to emphasize his point, but… I can't let him go yet. I just need him to see me as something other than the sister of his best friend or, worse yet, a little sister to him."

Fitz saw me as his little sister… Stop, this is about Biana. Not you. Not everything is about you. Stop. I sighed, "Maybe… I don't know, try getting over him." She glared, giving me a look that seemed to say 'had you even been listening to my spiel?'

"I just mean... you want to get over him, right?" She bit her lip and nodded. "So, I'm not saying to ignore the butterflies, just try to look for other people. And if you think about Keefe again, just know that..." I trailed off. I wasn't so good at this pep talk sort of thing.

But Biana seemed to more-or-less understand as she slumped a bit and gave a slightly reassured but mostly nervous smile.

We sat in a silence.

"So," she gave me a devious grin, "how was cuddling with Fitz? Anything happen?"

I couldn't help the dopey smile that spread across my lips. She squealed. "Tell me!"

I took a deep breath, wanting to pull out an eyelash. It would probably be weird for her to hear about how cute her brother is or just how much I like him but... "We almost kissed."

Biana's smile fell and I looked at her puzzled. "You… almost kissed?"

I nodded, unsure of what was happening, "Yeah. I- I…" I stared at Biana's face, trying to pick out the emotions in her face. "What? Are you… suddenly upset?" My head was spinning. How dare she act like this. She knew Fitz and I would get together eventually. Or at least she supported us. Supported me.

"No, no. Of course not!" She picked at her cardigan. "Maybe a little." I thought she supported me.

I barked out a laugh. "So you suddenly have a problem with me liking your brother? I thought you were my friend."

Biana looked as if she were going to defend herself. Then she just looked offended. "Look, Sophie. I know you're going through your whole 'the world hates me' phase and I get it, really, I do." I snorted. "But we're here for you. You just push us away and then act like we aren't even trying. Sophie, we are. We are trying and we will continue to. But not everything's about you." I opened my mouth to defend myself but she cut me off. Again.

"And you always bring the topic back to you, you, you. Sophie. We are your friends. I am your friend." I cast her a look of disbelief mixed with hate. "At least I was your friend. Have fun at your pity party, Sophie."

And then she stood up and walked out the door.

Biana and I hadn't spoken since that fight over the weekend and it was already Wednesday. I'd passed her a couple of times in the hallway, but my pride wouldn't let me reach out to her. I talked to Marella about to which she promptly claimed that Biana was just being her bratty self. I whole-heartedly agreed.

She had either been pretending to support me and Fitz, watching me make a fool of myself as I ranted to her about everything I loved about him. Or, she never thought I had a chance in the first place.

I didn't know which was worse. "Stop beating yourself up about it, she's just a girl and he's just a boy," Marella popped a fry into her mouth as Dex nodded.

"Yeah, who needs boys anyway? They're so dumb." I hardly spared him a glance, but I knew he was blushing. I didn't care though, not anymore. In the beginning, it had been weird. I had suspected he'd liked me for a while, but when he told me, a red-cheeked, feet shuffling, stuttering mess, I'd sympathized with him. It must've taken a lot of courage for him to tell me. If only I could tell Fitz.

I peered over Dex's shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of my teal-eyed love interest. He was at Biana's table, looking more than just slightly uncomfortable as her friends fawned over him and openly flirted with him. He gave them all charming smiles and made small talk with them, to which I couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of.

He acted like he knew everyone. Even to strangers, he would treat them like longtime friends. He and I really were friends, and he treated me just the same.

Perhaps he'd treat me differently if I were his-

"Hey, Sophie."

I looked up, heart stopping as I met eyes with, "Keefe?" I rolled my eyes. "What is it?"

He fiddled with the edge of his shirt, "Uh, I just need to talk to you." His eyes darted to Marella and Dex. "Alone." I rolled my eyes again and a look of hurt flashed across his face.

I couldn't bring myself to care though. Keefe was a sweetheart. A flirt. But he was strong and could handle a little attitude. I needed to let off steam anyway. "Yeah, sure. Let's talk. Alone." He flashed me a nervous smile. I just rolled my eyes again. He knew I was going through my own problems, so why wouldn't he just leave me alone?

He grabbed my arm, but I shrugged him off less than a few footsteps later. We ended up in the courtyard where only a few students were milling around. We sat in an awkward silence for a while, and a part of me couldn't help but pity him. That was a small part though. "Sophie, I know you must be mad at me for not liking Biana back-"

"Why would I? It's not like you can force yourself to like someone." He looked relieved. "Besides, there's not much to like anyway." And then he didn't look relieved. "What? Why do you look so angry? You don't like her either, so you can't judge me."

"Sophie, there's a difference between not liking someone and disliking someone. And there's a difference between disliking someone and hating someone. Get yourself together." Keefe stood up and left.

I didn't like feeling so alone.