A/N Sorry I haven't been updating as frequently! Just a question- would you rather I do short chapters often or longer chapters less often? Also, would you guys like it if I had a specific update day? Because when I'm on a loose schedule I feel like I get a lot more done. What days would work?

In other news, my birthday was on Thursday, so that was cool. I got a Good Mythical Morning beanie, which I left at school over the weekend, which freaking sucks. I also got the Hamilton album, which I'm SO excited about. I just discovered Hamilton, and it's amazing!

I also got this trilogy called the Mapmakers, which I really recommend. The first one's called The Glass Sentence, and it's about an alternate universe where something called the Great Disruption sent different periods of the world into different time periods. Because of that, mapmaking is a prominent industry, and not only are there paper maps, but glass, clay, cloth, and metal maps that keep track of things like weather, buildings, earth, and people. It's a really interesting series (I'm almost done with the first book), and all of them are fairly long (around 400 pages).

Also, thank you guys for 1.9k reads! I'm so grateful for all of these people that took the time to read my writing.

Okay, on to the actual (short) chapter:

Grady raised an eyebrow skeptically. "No custard burst. What did Ke- that boy kiss you on the cheek, Sophie?"

"I-" Sophie started to say.

"Yes?" Grady prodded. "I expect an explanation."

"Um..." Sophie stared at nothing in particular. "Keefe, can you, um, leave?"

"Figured." Keefe stood up. "Keep the custard bursts. You're gonna need 'em."

He walked cautiously to the door. As he passed through, Grady gave him an icy glare. If looks could kill, Keefe would be dead before you could say 'kiss.' Sophie shivered.

Grady closed the door, and his expression softened. "What just happened?"

Sophie sighed. "So... um... hypothetically... If you found out I was dating anyone, say, I don't know, Keefe?"

Grady rolled his eyes. "Continue."

"How, exactly would you say you would, you know, act?" Sophie asked sheepishly.

"Something tells me this isn't so hypothetical," Grady said skeptically. He sighed. "You're dating Keefe, aren't you?"

In a small voice, Sophie said, "Yep."

"That's what I thought," Grady said, smiling softly. "So, how'd this happen?"

"You mean... you're not mad?" Sophie asked.

Grady frowned. "Why would I be?"

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "You hate Keefe."

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't," Grady said.

"Really?" Sophie asked. "Because it really seems like you do."

"I know I've been hard on him, but..." Grady started. He took a deep breath. "It's not what you think. I always resented him because of his personality. He acts so much like Brant did... Charming, funny, always ready to prank someone... But the way Brant was was not the way Brant seemed."

Grady trailed off, eyes lost in a terrible world Sophie had never been. Grady had gone through so much. Sophie could barely think of the intensity of all of his life's tragedies without wanting to cry. She knew from experience that seeing someone she loved go into harm's way could be much harder than being in harm's way herself. Sophie didn't know how he did it.

Grady gave a melancholy smile, rubbing his hand against his temple. "Anyways, enough of all that. No matter how much Keefe is similar to Brant, I know in my heart that he's a good kid. I'm not angry at you at all. He makes you happy, and that's enough."

Sophie let out a heave of relief. "Oh, that's good. Does that mean you won't be giving him that big talk?"

"Oh, no, I'm definitely giving him a looong talk," Grady said. "He may care a lot about you, but That Boy is known for his recklessness."

"That Boy? Really?" Sophie commented wryly. "Some things never change."

"I'll stop calling him That Boy when he stops calling Sandor Gigantor," Grady said.

"So never."

"Pretty much," Grady said, starting to leave. "I'm going to go see if Keefe's still here so I can give him that talk. But first- custard bursts!"

He scooped two pastries in each hand and trotted out of Sophie's room.

"So greedy," Sophie muttered. She turned back to her phone, scrolling through pictures of a recent art gallery. She soon turned to YouTube, then the news, until she was lost in a secluded world of her own making.