When Keefe looked back at her, Sophie realized her mistake. Of course, it wasn't necessarily a mistake, but rather a misjudgment. There was nothing wrong with Fitz; rather, it was her own heart turning gears. Any sane person could admit Fitz was hot; this didn't help his naturally kind and loving nature. So, of course, Sophie had fallen for Fitz at first. But what she hadn't seen when she was blinded by the seemingly-perfect self of Fitz was Keefe. He had always been there for her, even through his pain. He was so caring that he willingly gave up trying to flirt with Sophie when he saw his best friend who knew he had a huge crush on Sophie with her. And he decided, then and there, that he would just be her friend.
"Thank you, Keefe," she found herself saying.
"For what?" He asked her.
"For always being there for me," she smiled sadly, remembering how time and time again he had come through for her. Sure, he had made some extremely stupid decisions, like challenging King Dimitar to a sparring match and had run off to join the Neverseen like an idiot, but everyone makes mistakes.
He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, and she responded by hugging him too.
"Aw, gross guys! PDA much!" Biana called out with a laugh as they turned around to see her and the gang out already.
"What happened to the party?" Sophie asked, taking a step or two away from Keefe.
Dex shrugged. "It turned into a bunch of people dancing, which led to hugging and kissing, so we decided to leave."
Linh started bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Come on, let's go to the slumber party!" She squealed. Tam folded his arms and looked at the ground like a true emo kid.
"So let's GOOOOOOO!" Biana shouted, grabbing her light leaping crystal. "Everyone ready?"
"Sure," Keefe called out, running over to meet them. "We should go before there are any more problems. Besides, I think Foster's gonna fall over if she has to stand in those heels any longer."
Sophie glared at him for pointing out her fall.
But that, of course, was just before she noticed Fitz walking behind everyone else. She decided she'd try to talk to him before anything else happened.
So when they arrived at Everglen a few seconds later, she walked slower so Fitz could catch up with her.
"Hey," she said awkwardly.
"Hey," he responded, still looking at the ground.
"You doing okay?" She asked. He smiled sadly back at her.
"I'm okay."
"You sure?" She asked.
He shrugged.
"Hey, just so you know, 'friends' doesn't mean 'awkwardly being near each other and never speaking to each other again'. You will always be one of my best friends, and nothing can stop that. All that changed was the awkward undefined area between us has been solved and we can be true Cognates now, okay?" Sophie said, grabbing his hand and looking him in the eyes.
He stared at her for a second longer before smiling with truly happy eyes and saying, "okay. So now we don't have any more secrets, right?"
"Yep!" She smiled. "Great! How about we start training this weekend?"
"Deal!" He fist-bumped her. She gave him a quick hug to prove there was no hard feelings, and ran off to find Keefe.
"Hey," she heard his crisp, deep voice.
"Hey Keefe," she turned around to see him sitting on the rocks. She joined him and copied his deep-thinking-pose just like he did.
"I have a question," he eventually asked. Sophie turned to him and nodded.
He stared at her for a few more moments before bursting out, "what are we?"
It suddenly dawned on Sophie that she didn't know.
"What do you want to be?" She asked.
Keefe looked back and forth before sighing and saying: "look in my head. That should say enough…"
Sophie opened her mind to his and was stunned.
It started as they did, behind Foxfire, kissing in the shine of the beautiful moonlight. He imagined all the times they would be together, all the struggles they endured, how everyone else could leave them but they were always there for each other, and how eventually, even if it was to be branded a bad match, he would propose, down on one knee, and how she would say yes. How a family would start, and they would watch their prodigy children grow and graduate Foxfire.
The image soon faded from Keefe's mind and Sophie, now seeing things for the first time, came out of his mind and looked into his eyes. If eyes could smile, his would be. A sad smile, not a happy. Sophie now understood all those times he had made jokes about her was his way of flirting. She now understood why his eyes always looked with longing. She now saw that their friendship had meant more than his life to him.
He had done everything for her.
Just as Sophie was about to respond, everyone else arrived, laughing and ready to have fun.
"Come on, every time we leave you two alone you're about to kiss!" Biana complained dramatically as Sophie and Keefe separated again, looking anywhere but at each other. While looking at that VERY interesting tree.
"Are you guys like a thing now?" Linh asked shyly.
"Are you, HUH KEEFE?" Tam asked the last part considerably louder than the first.
"And let's talk about something else!" Sophie diverted the topic away from them. A few snickered but that was all.
For the rest of the night they played base quest once in the dark, which didn't end well because of an unfortunate incident where Keefe fell in the lake and managed to bring Sophie with him, which didn't help Fitz's mood, had a competition for best cooker, received a few makeovers thanks to Biana, and arranged sleeping arrangements.
Sophie, Biana, and Linh were sleeping in one room, and Keefe, Tam, Fitz, and Dex in the other. Of course, sleepovers for girls consist of ⅓ sleeping and the rest talk.
"Okay, let's play truth or dare!" Biana suggested as they all sat on the edge of their sleeping bags.
"Okay!" Linh responded with a yawn.
"Cool," Sophie said, her mind still thinking about what she had seen in Keefe's mind.
"Sophie, truth or dare?" Biana asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"Dare." She said without thinking, only able to think about how Keefe had looked at her, his eyes asking the question if she wanted it too.
Linh and Biana giggled. "I dare you to tell us what's going on with Keefe!"
Sophie felt her heart sink.
"Sophieeee!" Linh singsong-called. Sophie sighed.
"I don't really know myself. We told each other we loved each other, but I don't know where we really stand," Sophie admitted, questioning herself.
"OOOH, the drama continues!" Linh whispered. Sophie wanted to just curl up in a little ball and disappear forever.
"Well, you should ask him!" Biana suggested. Sophie considered it and decided to try and talk to him later, telepathically or not.
The night continued, the truths and the dares getting only more and more hilarious until eventually, they called it quits and fell asleep.
Sophie got up to use the restroom before sleeping when she was greeted by a handsome familiar face along the way.
"You just can't stop bumping into me, can you Foster?" Keefe's whisper sounded. Sophie looked to make sure no one was listening.
"I need to talk to you!" She whispered quickly. Keefe looked around and shrugged.
Sophie rolled her eyes. "Not here!" She grabbed Keefe's hand and dragged him away, trying to ignore the fact she was holding his hand.
"What's up, Foster?" He asked, in his calm normal tone, but Sophie knew he was confused and nervous.
She took a deep breath.
"Do you really love me that much?" She asked, replaying that perfectly-captured memory in her head.
Keefe smiled and brushed her hair off her face. "I love you even more than that, and have since the moment I met you."
Sophie felt her that little fluttery thing her heart loved to do and realized what she had to do.
"Keefe, I love you, but I don't think I'm ready for that stuff yet." Each word was a struggle to get out, and she knew how Keefe's crushed face would break her.
He slowly lost his usual Keefe expression and looked away.
"But we can still be together, taking it slow!" Sophie offered quickly, his face crushing her.
He looked over and smiled a forced smile.
"I'd like that," he whispered. He was about to walk back but Sophie pulled him back and kissed him one last time. He looked surprised but gave into the kiss.
After a few minutes, he let go and turned away. Sophie watched as the man of her heart walked further and further away. She felt horrible about hurting him but knew it was for the best. With that thought, she smiled and let herself drift off to sleep.
And down the hall, Keefe made a promise to himself.
"I will never give up on her, no matter how long it might take," he vowed, imagining her beautiful face and smiling. "Because there's no one else like Sophie in this world, and I love her so much, I would die for her a hundred times and more." He promised, crawling into bed and thinking of her one last time before he slept.
The Vanisher let his shape show, after hearing the whole Sophie and Keefe debate. The Neverseen would greatly use this information, as now they had a way to punish Keefe for leaving and Sophie for everything. He told his boss everything before leaving, ready to get some sleep and to be ready the next day. Soon the Neverseen would have Sophie back, and when they did, no one could stop them.