Staying around Glimmer was pretty messy and also weird. She sometimes went by Glimmer, and sometimes went by Rayni, depending on her mood. She also shared her very sad backstory. Her parents were a bad match but her father was a matchmaker and faked it so it was a good match by tweaking the answer of one of his questions in his packet. It made Sophie glad that she and Fitz were a good match and didn't have to go through all that.

Fitz had been rather glum ever since Elwin had broken the news to him that to make a complete recovery, he was going to need two whole weeks more. Shorter than it had been originally, but he'd missed visiting Sophie. Also he was very behind on schoolwork. Keefe had come by several times to fill him in on the stuff he'd missed, but Fitz wasn't taking the same elite levels as him. Most of their stuff was similar, but ambitious Fitz had tackled more subjects than Keefe could handle.

So it came as a shock and was quite pleasing to Fitz when Elwin announced that he was being discharged early. Nothing too strenuous and he needed to get enough sleep each night, but otherwise, he was fine.

Sophie hardly saw Fitz for the first month that he got back to school. He even stopped talking to her at night and wasn't around at lunchtime. She thought herself selfish for wishing he was still in bed and she could see him whenever she wanted. She wasn't having any problems with her classes. Fitz wouldn't either if he didn't have so much to catch up on.

It took Fitz an entire month to catch up with all the coursework, and he appeared at Havenfield one day looking extremely regretful. Sophie wasn't even sure if she wanted to answer the door. She'd missed Fitz a lot, but Rayni was there.

Rayni had been admitted into Foxfire, surprising as that was, and she was in Sophie's year and class. She was behind on education and came to Havenfield to study with Sophie a lot. Sometimes Tam joined them, and rarely even Linh joined. But Linh hung out with Biana, Maruca, Marella and Stina mostly.

As soon as Sandor announced Fitz's arrival, Rayni jumped to her feet. "Thanks for the help, S-Sophie! I'll just go now!"

"Wait! Fitz hasn't met you yet!" Sophie called, but Rayni leapt into the leapmaster and vanished.

Rayni still had a nexus, since she couldn't light leap yet. Her concentration wasn't strong enough. Sophie found herself staring at the leapmaster before Sandor prodded her and said, "Should I open the door for Mr Vacker?"

Sophie was lost for a moment, then remembered. "Fitz! Oh, right, yes please."

Bo snorted. "I would never let her treat me like a servant. You're too tame, goblin."

"Could you stop being a pain?" Tarina asked.

The door swung open and Fitz stepped inside. He looked extremely guilty and Sophie was trying not to look pleased as she crossed her arms, leaning against the dining table, eyebrows raised.

Edaline poked her head out from the staircase before going back upstairs. Sophie honestly couldn't blame her.

"So... you were really busy, were you?" Sophie asked. Fitz had left a note in her locker that day apologizing, and she'd returned him one that said she wouldn't believe him until he turned up in person.

Fitz shifted from one foot to another. "I'm sorry... there was so much coursework and-"

She threw her arms around his neck, cutting him off. "I really missed you," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Please don't do that to me again."

They hugged for what felt like forever, but when they pulled away, it wasn't enough. Sophie sobbed as she embraced him. She'd missed him so badly, and despite gaining Rayni as a friend, nobody could replace the one and only.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Sophie and Fitz jumped apart.

Grady stood at the front door. He looked pretty calm, but Edaline's hand was on his arm, something she only did when she knew he was getting out of control. Grady was shaking with anger, and Sophie wasn't sure why.

"You," he said to Fitz.

Fitz took a step back. "Yeah... me... why?"

"You abandoned my daughter for weeks, a month even, and you stroll back in here like nothing happened? You didn't even check in with her at night. She hasn't been sleeping very well. And do you know how many times she's cried?" Grady barked.

Fitz's eyes slowly moved over to Sophie, and she flushed, wanting to hide behind anything that moment. Edaline whispered something to Grady but he shrugged her off, his eyes smoky as they locked onto Fitz's.

"Well? Explain yourself!" he snapped.

Fitz's eyes lowered to the ground. "I... I didn't forget Sophie if that's what you meant. Every afternoon, I planned to visit Sophie, but then I had so much homework and it was already midnight, and..."

"It's fine, Grady," Sophie insisted.

Grady shook his head. "It's not. He doesn't deserve you."

That got Sophie flared up. "No, I don't deserve him! It doesn't matter if he hasn't been around in a while. How many people would care about me? How many people even talk to me?"

"A-" Grady began before stopping himself.

He'd noticed Sophie's implication. And she was right, hardly anyone ever spoke to her. Which was why she'd been exceptionally lonely without Fitz. Even Biana and Linh, her longtime friends, hadn't so much as glanced her way. Even though Biana was in Team Valiant. Stina ignoring her Sophie could tolerate. Not like she saw Wylie around much. And Dex was crushing on either Biana or Marella, so she couldn't blame him.

"Yeah, not many, right?" Sophie asked softly. She couldn't help it, she couldn't stay angry at Grady. But she wasn't happy with the way he had lashed out at Fitz.

"You forgive him?" Grady asked quietly, his voice questioning but not mad, more... inquisitive.

"Yes, I do," Sophie whispered. "And I think Fitz and I need to talk a bit - alone."

Grady looked like he was about to have an angry outburst again, but this time he listened when Edaline placed her hand on his arm, and she Conjured up a tray of delectable desserts, which made Sophie want to skip the talk with Fitz and just sit down and eat.

But she couldn't. Too much had gone on.

"Come with me," Sophie said, and led Fitz up to her bedroom.