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Alden looked at Della and said placatingly, "There's no reason to worry, dear." Sophie groaned inwardly as she heard Alden use the phrase, rolling her eyes. Della scoffed, "There is an absolute reason to worry! Our son, as disgraceful as he may be, broke somebody's arm!" Fitz rolled his eyes at his parents, "It's not even a big deal!" He exclaimed, crossing his arms.

Edaline went into full mama-bear mode and in a clipped tone said to him, "I suppose you wouldn't mind if I broke yours then?" Fitz's eyes widened and he mumbled, "No." Her adoptive mother glared at him and said, "Exactly."

"Well, boys will be boys, Edaline," Alden said soothingly.

Della's mouth parted in shock. "What?"

Edaline blinked at him. "Excuse me?"

Alden smiled uneasily. "Well, boys have to get their anger out somehow, right?"

Della blinked at him, mouth agape.

Edaline shook her head, turning away from him.

Sophie suddenly felt a weight around her shoulders as Keefe wrapped his arm around her. His knuckles were still speckled with blood, Fitz's blood, she realized. "Hey, Foster!" He said, smirking down at her. He winced, "That is some pretty strong fear I'm feeling right now." Fitz looked down at the ground, an embarrassed scowl on his face.

Ro swung around the hall, ogre blade in hand. "Ah, Blondie! Hunkyhair's been looking all over for you." Sophie blushed and looked up at him, "You were?" Keefe nodded, flashing a lazy smirk. "'Course I was, what else am I supposed to do?" Sophie felt her face flush fire-engine red, and she whispered to him, "Not right now," she chanced a glance at Fitz and pity swirled through her. "Fitz is here." Keefe rolled his eyes, pulling her closer to him. "Foster, who cares?" Sophie whisper-hissed him, "I do! I care about him, and I don't want him to be sulkier than he already is!"

She dragged him into a more isolated corner of the hall, away from prying eyes and ears.

"You still care about him?" Keefe's voice broke, and he withdrew his arm from her shoulders. Her shoulders suddenly felt cold, and she missed his warmth. "Not like that- it's just that he was the first elf I met!" Hurt flashed in his eyes, "And that makes him better than me?" Sophie grabbed his hand, "No, of course not!" He tried to twist his hand away from her, but she held firm.

He slumped, "Look, Foster, I know we're dancing around how I like you-" Sophie cut him off, "We're not dancing around it!" Ro smirked, "Blondie, you are." Sophie flushed and glared at her. "No, I'm not!" Keefe laughed humorlessly, "Yeah, you are."

"Really?" Sophie said coolly, a quiet calm settling over her. "Yes," Keefe replied tiredly.

Looking up at him, she whispered, "What if I liked you too?"

"Sophie?" His voice was barely a whisper and his expression... there weren't words for it.

"You realize, if we do this, it could get very messy."

Sophie swallowed, and a fear come to life. "Because I'm... unmatchable?" She barely managed to choke out the words.

"No—the Council can feed their Match lists to the gorgodon for all I care. But... I wasn't lying when I said my mom will try to use anyone I care about to hurt me."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I'm already at the top of your mom's list of targets," Sophie reminded him. "Plus, I can Inflict on her!"

She tapped her temples. Keefe caught her hand before it returned to her side, cradling her palm in his. "That might not be enough to stop her."

"It might not," Sophie agreed. "But I'm not afraid of her. And I'm not going to let her control my life, especially when she's locked up in Lumenaria. So if she's the only reason—"

"I think we both know she's not," Keefe said. But he still stepped closer, close enough for her to feel his breath on her cheeks when he asked, "Want me to list off the complications, Foster?"

Sophie shook her head.

She was pretty sure she could guess most of them.

And she didn't care.

"All I care about is how you feel," she whispered. "If you're only doing this"—she held up their clasped hands—"because you don't want to hurt my feelings—"

He twined their fingers together and shook his head. "Trust me—this is what I've wanted from the moment I first saw you, wandering through the halls in the middle of a session covered in alchemy goo. I knew right away that I'd met someone incredibly special—and every minute I've spent with you since has proven how true that is. But is this really what you want?" He squeezed her hand, and she could feel him shaking a little when he admitted, "I can't tell what you're feeling—and it's seriously terrifying."

Sophie's mind flooded with words.

Promises.

Confessions.

But somehow they felt like too much and not enough all at the same time.

So she tilted up on her toes and leaned forward, meeting his eyes as she lined up her lips with his—careful to leave a tiny wisp of space.

A chance for him to change his mind.

Keefe closed the distance between them.

And then... everything was new.

The soft press of his lips against hers.

The way their breath seemed to fall perfectly into sync while her heart and her brain screamed, "Finally!"

Some tiny part of her had always wondered if kissing could be as great as everyone claimed.

But kissing Keefe was So. Much. Better.

He was the one to finally pull away, leaning back to study her in the late afternoon light. "You're okay, right? No regrets?"

She grinned. "Absolutely none."

His relieved smile was the sweetest thing she'd ever seen—but it faded a little as he leaned his forward against hers. "I don't want to mess this up," he whispered. "don't let me mess this up."

"I won't," She promised, tilting her head up for another swift kiss.

But someone cleared their throat, and Sophie and Keefe practically sprang apart.

Please don't be Grady.

Sophie turned, grimacing as she took in her adoptive dad standing there, a thunderous expression on his face.

"So." Grady's voice cut through the air. Sophie flushed red and remembered they had an audience. With Keefe's arm still slung around her waist, she surveyed the crowd. Their faces ranged from disgust to happiness, and shock. Fitz's face was in a grimace, his lip turned up by his sneer. Edaline and Della were looking at them with sappy faces, promising lots of questions. Alden was mildly confused, and Grady's was... well, Grady.

"Hi, dad!" Keefe quipped, causing Sophie to double over in laughter. "We need to talk, Keefe," Grady said calmly. Keefe smirked cheekily, "'Course!" he exclaimed, brushing his lips against Sophie's cheek. "Love ya, Foster!" He followed Grady off into a different wing and Sophie's heart pitter-pattered. Grady was going to murder him.

"So! Blondie!" Ro said enthusiastically. Sophie groaned inwardly, she had forgotten Ro had witnessed the whole kiss. "How was locking lips with Funkyhair?" Sophie blushed and whisper-hissed at Ro, "Don't say that so loud!" Ro snorted with laughter, "Blondie, everyone saw it."

Sophie was pretty sure her face was a tomato. "Yeah, but you don't need to yell about it!" Ro rolled her eyes and smirked, "You didn't answer my question!" Sophie rolled her eyes and relented, "It was perfect." Ro sighed, "Are you kidding meeeee?? Funkyhair can't be that good!" She whined.

Sophie snickered, "Well, he is." Ro flicked a claw up at her. "What's that?" Ro smirked and explained. "It's a gesture us ogres use to tell someone to shut up rudely." Sophie flicked her hair behind her shoulder and sighed.

Edaline, Alden, and Della were talking in hushed tones, Tiergan having left long ago. Fitz's face was still sullen, and he glared at Sophie. Sophie's heart cracked a little. She didn't love Fitz, but she missed being friends with him. Ro noticed Fitz's glaring and in response, brandished an ogre blade at him. "Stop staring, Fitzy." Ro snarked.

Sophie smiled and asked Ro a question to distract her from dismembering Fitz. "Wait, why is your hair blue?" Ro fingered one of her choppy pigtails. "Hunkyhair and I had a bet, I lost." Sophie smiled, thinking of Keefe. Speaking of Keefe... his talk with Grady was taking a long time.

"So, what was the bet?" Sophie asked, trying to distract herself. Ro smirked, "That you would break up with Fitzy." Sophie flushed, "What?" Ro continued, "He said you wouldn't, and I said you would. And of course, you didn't break up with Mr. Golden Boy until it was too late, and now Hunkyhair chooses my hair color forever." Sophie choked on a laugh, "Forever?!"

Ro nodded, "It hasn't been that bad, yet." Sophie smiled, "Yeah, I like the color." Ro raised her eyebrows, "Of course, you would, Blondie." Sophie sighed, "What was in it for you?" Ro grinned evilly, "He would've had to confess his love to you in front of the entire school, and offer you his hand in marriage." Sophie doubled over laughing, and between breaths, asked, "Really?" Ro nodded smugly, "Yup. Too bad it didn't happen!"

Sophie was about to reply, but she caught a blond flash in the corner of her eye. "Keefe!" She cried, racing toward him. She threw herself into his arms and braced herself for the bad news. "Hey Foster," Keefe snarked, "I need air to breathe." Sophie sheepishly loosened her grip and said, "So, what's the verdict, Sencen?" His grin could have melted glaciers, "We can date, Foster." He said, kissing her on the head. "Team Foster-Keefe wins!"





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