Sophie prayed desperately that Fitz had left the house, perhaps in a fit of wild anger. Leaving would prolong the conversation that was bound to come along and would also prolong the apology. Leaving would give him a chance to think it over and cool off, as well as help Sophie sort out everything that happened and what she should say. But no, it was too good to be true: Fitz was right there as Sophie left the room, looking hurt and confused. He was sitting on the bottom stair and his elbows were on his knees and his palms were cupped his face in a very unmanly way.

He didn't look up as Sophie opened her door. She watched him for a while, as he sat there staring into space, doing absolutely nothing other than thinking. She took a deep breath and thought over the long speech she had tried to rehearse. Unlike old times, she was actually going to say this and not be sidetracked because this, this was important. She cautiously stepped out of her bedroom and closed the door gently. Fitz still didn't seem to hear, unless he was deliberately ignoring her, in which case, she should probably go back inside...

No, she was not backing out of this. Her whole relationship, future marriage, and friendship with this boy was on the line! She needed to do this. Sophie thought, Nothing could go wrong. Obviously I was an idiot, but he'll understand, right?

Another part of her brain scoffed at her angel side. Excuse me? Of course he's not going to understand. You were a big jerk and he's never going to forgive you.

Yet another evil, sick, warped part of her brain responded. Don't worry. You've still got Keefe if you lose him.

Sophie felt ashamed at her brain even daring to think that thought. But it was true.

Sophie sighed. She felt as if there were angels, demons, and plain common sense all relying on her to fix this, like in those movies where the actors talked to their own imaginary figures. She calmed herself down as best as she could by taking deep breaths and closing her eyes and imagining the good that could come out of this. Not that there was a lot...

Sophie shook her head. After pulling out some eyelashes, she walked down the stairs, slowly... slowly... one step at a time.

All too soon, she was at the third to last step. Fitz was ignoring her, she had decided, because he must've heard her footsteps by now. She took another deep breath and took the last two steps. She sat down beside him, not too close, but not too far. Just the amount of space a friend would have with another friend.

He looked up. He pretended to notice her for the first time, but his acting was terrible. Finally, he gave up. "What do you want, Sophie?"

Sophie cringed. His tone was cold and sharp. She cleared her throat, hoping she wouldn't stumble over her words. "I just wanted to say something." She did.

Fitz looked at Sophie, fixing her with an almost-glare—but no, Fitz never glared— his teal eyes darkening, if that was even possible. "Well then, spit it out. Please hurry up. You've interrupted my thoughts. I just want to be alone." Sophie nodded and he had a second of shame before it left. "Never mind. Just say what you want to say. Please." Sophie winced and dove right in.

"Fitz, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I did. I know that it was wrong and incredibly stupid—"

Fitz mumbled, "Not to mention rude."

Sophie sighed, but said nothing back to him about it. It was rude. She continued, "But I just wanted to say sorry and I hope you'll forgive me."

Fitz looked at her. "Forgive you? For what? For going back on your word about wanting to be with me, for running away from me after you kissed me—"

Sophie was indignant. "What are you talking about? You're saying that I kissed you?"

"Don't even try to deny it, Foster." Ugh, he was using Keefe's nickname for her, which meant he was really angry.

"Well, I'm just going to say, I did no such thing and it's not my fault that you are a jerk, not to mention an idiot!" Sophie cringed. Oh, she definitely shouldn't have said that. She didn't even have a reason to back up her choice of words.

She tried again. "Look—"

Fitz cut her off. "Excuse me? I'm an idiot? Look who's talking." He scoffed and turned away from her, as if he were dismissing her, as if he had the right to dismiss her.

Sophie took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. "Fitzroy Vacker, you listen to me right now!" she shouted. "I'm trying to say that I'm sorry and I'm also trying not to get mad. Let me just tell you one thing. We're not even married, we're barely dating, and we're already fighting like cats and dogs!"

Fitz looked confused. "What?"

Sophie sighed. She had forgotten he didn't know human phrases. "Never mind. But we're arguing already! I honestly don't know what to say to you anymore. All you do is lie, accuse me of things, and now I'm just trying to get through an apology that you won't even accept!" She swore and then covered her mouth; it was so unlike her.

Fitz looked alarmed. "Sophie... I didn't mean... I still want to be with you, you know... this is just a part of almost-married life!"

"No, fighting isn't supposed to happen yet, especially when we barely just found out we... like... each other!"

"Don't you mean love?" Fitz asked cautiously. The word hung in the air for a moment before Sophie said, shaking her head,

"No. This isn't love. Not when we're already fighting like this. I'm sorry, Fitz. We're just not right for each other." Sophie turned to leave, but as she was walking past Fitz, he grabbed her arm.

"Sophie... I'm sorry, okay? This is just a part of being a Vacker. We fight and then we take a long time to get over it. It's just part of our family. We hold grudges. I can't help that. But... I do love you. And I want to be with you!"

"Yeah, well, I don't want to live like that! I just want to have a happy life, with you, maybe a nice, friendly pet, and some children!" Sophie blushed. That did not sound like she wanted it to. "Scratch that. I just want to be normal. Or as normal as I can be. Yeah, maybe we are supposed to fight, but not when we're dating, and also not when we just found out about each other's feelings! This isn't working out. I'm sorry." She turned away from him, already fighting tears at what she believed to be true.

"Sophie, listen to me right now. Marrying me, or even just dating me, is already a big step. I understand that. I know you're cautious and scared and everything, but I can help you with that. I will try my best to understand your feelings and everything. I promise. Just don't lead me on."

Sophie stopped, utterly confused. "How did I lead you on?"

"I honestly thought that you wanted a kiss! Okay, it was a perfect moment, and yes, I do admit I kissed you, and it seems that I ruined it when I took that step. Maybe it was too much to handle. Fine, we'll do baby steps, okay. Nothing too much." Fitz looked at Sophie hopefully.

"No, Fitz. I don't want to live a relationship where we'll have to ask permission to just give a kiss or something. I understand what you're trying to say—"

Fitz was truly exasperated now. "Sophie, you're impossible! What is it that you want?"

"I just want you and me to be perfect, and have a perfect relationship, live a perfect life, start a perfect family..." Sophie trailed off.

Fitz nodded, "And we can try, okay? But Sophie, you have got to learn to face the facts of life. Not everything in life is perfect, okay? Sometimes, things don't work out like we want them to, but when we're together, we can get through our problems together. I don't care how cheesy that sounds, because it's true."

Sophie's eyes filled with tears. "Fitz, you're not listening to what I'm trying to say!"

"What is it that I'm not hearing, Sophie?" Fitz was adamant. He wanted to know what was going on, Sophie could tell.

She finally decided to just take a leap. "Fitz, I don't know how I feel anymore."

He stopped, taken aback, pain clouding his features. "What do you mean? How you feel about us? Because I can fix that. Because we love each other. Right?" His face looked broken and Sophie could feel her heart breaking along with him.

Tears poured out of her eyes as she said, "Listen to me. I thought I liked you, and I thought I could handle being a part of your family." Fitz opened his mouth, but Sophie held her hand up. "Just let me say this. It's hard enough without you butting in all the time!" Fitz looked offended, but said nothing. She wiped away some of the tears and went on. "I realize that being a Vacker is going to offer lots of challenges. I also realize that being with you especially is going to offer a lot more. Because of who you are and who I am. I do feel something for you, Fitz. You know I do. And, I'm so incredibly sorry, I just don't think I can handle it, even being with you by my side. It's just too much for me." Sophie turned and broke free of Fitz's grasp and ran outside, leaving Fitz all alone, standing by the staircase, shocked and with tears rolling down his face as he registered what she had just said.

Sophie ran outside, hoping to find some alone time. Unfortunately, fate was not on her side. Her tears blurred her vision and she ended up crashing right into Keefe, who had calmed down by the looks of him. His eyes red, he grinned almost bitterly. "What's up?" Then he caught sight of her face. His entire features changed. "Woah, Foster, what happened? You okay?"

Sophie shook her head and buried her face into Keefe's chest. She sat on the front step with him, listening to his soothing voice as he attempted to calm her down. She was painfully aware she was sitting in his lap but he was helping her and she needed all the help she could get as of right now. As he stroked her hair, she turned her head up, and kissed him, hard, and he kissed her back, right as Fitz walked outside.