"It's been how long since you told me you loved me?" Sophie asked with a sly smile as her hands were wrapped loosely around Fitz's neck.

Fitz laughed and brought Sophie closer to his body, almost tripping as Fitz pushed Sophie backwards towards the bed. "A few months."

"Yeah, it's been a few months, and you still haven't kissed me," Sophie pointed out, yelping when she fell backwards onto his bed.

"I know, I'm just . . ."

"Waiting," Sophie finished for him, knowing this is how their conversation will go every time. "Waiting for what?"

Fitz straddled Sophie on the bed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear before looking into her eyes. "I really don't know."

"You should really figure it out because I'm getting impatient," Sophie teased.

Fitz laughed again and lied down next to her, staring at the stars through the high, glass ceiling. "Me too," he said softly. "Me too."

* * * *

"I love it when the sunset is purple," Sophie said, staring at the violet streaks in the darkening sky.

"Yeah? Why?" Fitz questioned, resting his head on her shoulder, his hands wrapped around her waist.

Sophie nodded. "I just really like it. It's pretty."

"Maybe I should figure out how to change my eyes purple," Fitz joked.

Sophie giggled. "You shouldn't. I love your eyes."

"Really? You love my eyes?" he asked, his smile fading slightly, though Sophie couldn't see it.

"Mhmm."

"Is that why your favourite color is teal?"

"Possibly," Sophie said with a quiet giggle, turning around in his arms to face him.

"Huh," he mumbles before kissing her forehead. "It's time to go back inside."

Sophie sighed, wishing to be outside longer. "One more minute?"

Fitz smiled and hugged her tighter. When the minute was up, without warning, Fitz picked up Sophie in his arms, bridal style, and brought her back inside.

"What the—"

Fitz dropped her gently on the bed, yet she still yelped.

"Get ready for bed," Fitz said, moving the decorative pillows from the mattress, getting it ready to sleep on.

Sophie sat up and, with a small smirk, said, "Kiss me first."

Fitz smiled and jumped on the bed in front of her. He leaned in close—really close—and Sophie's heart started beating faster. Fitz gently held her head in his hands and glanced down at her lips. "You really want me to?"

Sophie hesitated a split second before nodding. "Yes, I do," she said. She may not love him, but that doesn't mean she didn't want him to kiss her.

Sophie straightened her back slightly, her elbows propping her up backwards as her eyes fluttered to Fitz's mouth. Fitz stared into her eyes, strain and pain evident in his eyes. His beautiful teal gems flitted to Sophie's plump lips. Sophie looked up at Fitz, waiting for him to lean in. His eyes lingered on her face for a minute, then he looked away. He sighed and Sophie looked at him in frustration.

"Fitz?" Sophie questioned quietly.

He only sighed again as he continued on with getting ready for bed. "Go change," he told her, facing away from her.

Sophie only sat there, wondering what she did wrong for him to turn away.

"Sophie," he said, his tone hardened. "Go."

And Sophie knew that meant she should go to her own room.

After a few seconds, she blinked, and blinked again, getting out of her frozen state. She got off his bed and walked towards the door. Before she could close it, she said, "Goodbye, Fitz."

She closed the door and leaned against it, feeling tears well up. This is stupid. I can't feel this way over a stupid kiss. Over a stupid guy.

Through the door, she heard Fitz throw something and it hitting the wall before he sat on his bed.

Sophie sniffed and started walking away, going towards her room. Then a thought occurred to her. One that made her want to smile with joy and cry out in pain.

She's alone in the hallway. No one would see her leave.

I can go, she thought.

"Sophie, wait," Fitz called through the door, knowing she was able to hear him.

Before Sophie could decide to do anything, Fitz opened his door slowly. His hair was ruffled and he just looked at her.

"If you had to choose . . . me or the Black Swan?" he asked, and Sophie could see sadness in his eyes.

"I—I don't know," she answered truthfully.

Or what she thought was the truth. But Fitz was her cognate. He could read her mind. He knew what her answer really was.

He walked towards her and enveloped her into a tight hug. She responded by wrapping her arms around him.

"Don't ever love someone, Sophie," he said into her ear. "Just . . . don't."

* * * *

"I'd do almost anything for you, Sophie," he said, twirling her hair. "I'd steal you the moon if you stayed the shining sun in my life."

Sophie giggled and pressed her face into the pillow. "That's so cheesy."

"But it's true," he said with a grin, his heart fluttering at the thought that he made her laugh.

"Really then?" she questioned with a smirk, bringing herself closer to him in the bed. "How exactly would you steal me the moon?"

"Trick question," he simply answered, a grin on his plump lips. "The moon is just a piece of rock floating in the vastness of the Space around us. It gets it's true beauty from the light of the sun. And the light of the sun is already in your eyes."

"Right . . ." Sophie dragged out, wishing her heart would stop beating so fast, adjusting the blankets to cover her more. "But that doesn't explain how you'd steal the moon."

"True . . . So if your eyes are the light of the sun, then wherever you look . . ."

"Would cast the beauty of the moon?"

He tapped her nose. "Smart girl."

Sophie inched closer towards him. "So if I'm looking at you, then you'd be a floating piece of rock illuminated by me."

He grinned. "And you'd be a ball of gas."

"Hey!" Sophie protested and lightly slapped Fitz's exposed chest, though she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "I'd be a giant ball of gas."

His laughter boomed around the room and he unconsciously moved toward her. His heart felt like a bomb. Like any second, it'd explode and let out an explosion of feelings he wanted to keep from arising to the surface.

Because if those emotions truly arose, he didn't think he'd be able to survive it.

* * * *

"You say that you love me, yet you won't kiss me," Sophie brought up, starting to raise her voice. "You say you'd do almost anything possible for me, yet you won't let me go outside! Why?!"

"Because you ran away from me!" he argued, raising his voice to match her's. Then his voice and eyes softened. "You ran away from me, Sophie."

Sophie stood still, unsure of how to react to that. She had run away.

"Fitz—"

"Don't. Just please . . . don't," he said, looking away from her.

"Fitz, I'm . . ." Sophie knew what she wanted her next word to be, but she couldn't find herself saying it.

"Sorry?" he questioned. "No, you're not, Sophie. If you were, you wouldn't choose the Black Swan over me."

"I never said—"

"You didn't have to say anything." Sophie heard a slight voice crack. "After everything I told you about them, why would you want to go back?"

"Because . . . I . . ."

"Because they're the ones you've known to be good? Because they're your family? Because you can't believe that what I said was true? Because all the evidence in the world would still make you choose them over the Neverseen . . . Over me."

"Stop that!" Sophie wanted to scream, but it barely came out as a whisper. "Stop reading my mind!"

"You think I want to?" Sophie saw tears threatening to fall from his beautiful teal eyes. "You think I want to hear your thoughts about escaping? Or about how you constantly think about Keefe . . . and the rest? Or about how you love the sunsets? Or about how you love my eyes? My eyes, Sophie, not me. That's why I won't kiss you. Because if I have to watch over you every second, I don't want to let myself believe that maybe you really do love me when your thoughts tell me you don't. And kissing you will only make me want to jump off a bridge every time you think about escaping. About . . . leaving me again."

"Fitz—" Sophie couldn't say anything more than that because she could barely breathe, feeling woozy from his words, feeling tears well up in her throat.

"And every time you say my name," he said, his voice definitely cracking as tears started to slip from his own eyes, "every time I want to steal a star for you. I want to go somewhere far away and watch the sunset with you. I want to turn back time and . . . and change myself to be someone who you truly love."

"Then do all those things," Sophie begged, running into his arms. "Fitz please. I just want to leave. But I do want to be with you."

He took a step away from her. "I can't."

"Yes, you can," she said, trying to ignore how much it hurt her to see him go away from her. "Please, Fitz. Please." She fell to the ground, kneeling, crying in to her arms.

Fitz wanted to throw something. Punch something. Kick something. Anything to get his attention away from seeing the love of his life from crying. Instead, he laid down on the floor only a few feet away from her. Tears were still falling from his eyes, obscuring his vision.

He focused on the ceiling, on seeing through the glass and into the night sky. Seeing the stars sparkle like the gold glints in Sophie's eyes. In that moment, the bomb in his chest erupted, but he didn't want to live with what came out of it.

They both stayed there for who knew how long, crying at their broken relationships and lives.

They both knew who they were, who they had to be, and who they had to serve.

But they were also both traitors to their hearts. 

*~*~*~*

Thank you TeamFoster-Keefe for editing! :)

Thank you for reading.
~Nuela <3