"Exiled?" 

Sophie felt as if the word had crumbled up and dried- along with her throat. 

She couldn't speak, couldn't think; all she felt was shock.

"Sophie?" It was Fitz. "You know that's just a theory right?" 

But Sophie wouldn't listen. Horrors flashed within her mind. 

Grady and Edaline once again not speaking to anyone, faces tearstained with grief. 

Living alone, with no one to accompany her.

The Black Swan, forced to postpone the plans they had for her. 

Her friends, torn with sadness. 

Solitude. 

Forgotten.

Grief.

Guilt.

"Foster?" Keefe had taken hold of her shoulders, forcing her to look at him in the eyes. "We don't know that for sure. It might just be a guess. But I know one thing is for certain, I won't let them exile you- we all won't." 

At this, everyone in the room started nodding solemnly. 

Keefe continued, "Sophie," Keefe only used her first name when he was serious, "As your friends, we will do anything we can to prevent them from exiling you." He flashed his famous smirk," Even if that means we have to go up to the Councillors, yelling and waving our arms, and growling like a verminion. Heck, I would even ask Dex to make us a elixir that could make us turn into gigantic blue poofs! Oh, and maybe Gigantor can join in with us!" 

Sophie felt her traitorous lips lifting up into a smile. "Well, we wouldn't want to be turning into giant Iggys wouldn't we? Especially Sandor."

Sandor shot Sophie a glare. 

Keefe glanced at Iggy, bouncing in his cage, his blue, fluffy fur lifting up and down to match his frantic jumping. Dex had just changed his fur color a couple of days ago. 

Keefe smirked. "Well, Foster," he leaned closer, "I just don't know... maybe a new, blue poof elixir is just what you need from the Gift Master." 

Sophie playfully shoved him, "You are ridiculous." 

Keefe draped an arm across her shoulders, leaning even closer- so close that Sophie could see his eyelashes, long and dark. Her heart switched to hummingbird mode.  

"Foster, you may think I'm joking at times, but I'm really just telling the truth." Keefe smiled- a real smile, although there was something different about this one. His gaze was so intense that it made Sophie's cheeks feel warm. They heated up even more when he leaned just a tiny bit closer and added, "And you look cute by the way." 

Keefe touched her hair, and Sophie noticed that his cheeks were tinted pink.

Was he blushing?

Nope. No. Nada. A guy like Keefe could never, could ever  like her.

But, Sophie felt her heart start to pound as they gazed into each other's eyes, warmth running through both of them. 

Brown into ice blue. 

Her breath caught.

Keefe opened his mouth. "Foster, I..."

Someone cleared their throat. 

Sophie whipped her head around, trying to see who did it. 

It was Fitz. His jaw was clenched so tight that Sophie worried if he might've cracked a tooth. "Sophie," he started, "I want to let you know that we all are there for you."

Sophie met his eyes and blushed, confused about her strange emotions. 

She had always had a crush on Fitz, but just recently, she had started having the same feelings toward Keefe as well.

Shaking her head as if to set her emotions on the right track, she said to Fitz, "I know.'' Sophie gave him a grin, blushing when he returned his movie star worthy smile.

Keefe jumped in, "Foster, is something wrong? I can feel your emotions shifting a lot." He  smirked, his hands carefully patting his artfully styled blond hair. "Maybe because you just can't resist the Hair," he added.

Tam rolled his silver-toned eyes. "Ugh, how many times are you going to mention the Hair?"

"As if yours could ever match its beautifulness, Bangs Boy, " Keefe snapped back. He turned to Sophie, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. She smiled; Keefe had changed a lot. He was no longer the person who thought that he was the hero and whatnot; he was always watching her back.  

He was a true friend, and she felt closer to him than ever before.