A whole ten years.

Ten years ever since he moved here, and it was a miracle his parents decided to settle down at this little street.

Keefe gazed out of his window, seeing Sophie tapping her pen on her book, doing her homework, which Keefe conveniently forgotten about.

If  seven year old Sophie ever knew that she looked this beautiful when she grew up, she would probably laugh it off, but it was true.

Keefe had to idea whether it was because of those pretty brown eyes, the way she would always seem so comfortable with him, or maybe even just her being her.

But he made a grave mistake.

One that he probably wouldn't wish to change too, if he ever had the chance.

He may have... accidentally... just a little ting bit... nothing to worry about..

Fallen.

Laugh at him if you want, to be crushing so hard on his oblivious best friend, but he was dead serious about it.

He wasn't the best at hiding it, he had to admit, but she was oblivious, sometimes Keefe wished it wasn't so painful, but at least he could keep it from her easily.

That wasn't the important part though, the thing was, she had a crush on Fitz, his closest friend in his class.

Which should have been expected, since he was considered to be a "Golden Boy", and that stung.

A lot.

It didn't help that she would be caught daydreaming about him, especially when he was doing the same about her.

It hurt.

Way more than it should.

He gazed out of the window, wondering if he should drop by.

She seemed to be distracted into a different world with her ear buds in, listening to music as she tapped her feet to the rhythm of the music.

Great, he was staring again.

Pull yourself together, Keefe reminded himself as he got up.

Even though Sophie had warned him every single day about the danger of climbing on the tree, especially when its three stories above ground, Keefe always ignored them.

Well, it wasn't really considered ignoring, because he acknowledged them, but it was cute when she worries.

He carefully stepped on the window ledge and swung himself up on the steady branch on the tree, the familiar movement memorized by his muscles already.

He knocked on Sophie's window, sitting down on the branch, waiting for her to open.

Right, she couldn't hear him.

He peeked in, and waved, trying to get her attention.

Her eyes caught his, and he could hear her sigh even with the window closed.

"Seriously, one day you're going to injure yourself," Sophie huffed, opening the window.

Keefe smriked. "Wanna join me though? It's almost sunset," he asked, holding out his hand for her to take.

Sophie thought about it for a while.

She carefully went to her door, locked it to make sure Grady and Edaline wouldn't freak out to know she was going to do it, and stepped on the window ledge, hesitating before taking a shaky step on the branch.

"Steady there, Foster!" Keefe laughed as her grip on his arm tightened, her body trying to balance.

She finally managed to sit down, and she understood why Keefe liked sitting around here so much.

The view was magnificent, the light rays of orange, pink and yellow colouring the sky, like it was a watercolour painting on the distant sky above them.

She took a quick glance at Keefe, who seemed to be admiring the view too, his legs swings in the space below them.

She realised he really matured.

From the way his features were more sharp, to the growth spurt, although he had always been taller than her, it was unfair by the way.

But he seemed to have really grown up, and Sophie still felt like a little child next to him.

There was something else about him, that she noticed too. She was pretty sure everyone did, but honestly she had to admit he looked cute.

Especially when he has a next idea for a prank, which usually lands the both of them in detention. Oh why, why did she agree to become his little assistant again?

She huffed at her own thoughts, which took Keefe's attention and his curious ice blue eyes looked at her, and she quickly turned away, blush creeping onto her face.

Her heart did a little flip.

Her eyes widened in shock.

Nope, it only did that with Fitz, the really cute boy with teal eyes in Keefe's grade, who she made friends with a few months back, when her stupid crush on him started.

She focused at the sunset, somehow feeling Keefe's presence a little close to her, even though he hadn't moved at all.

Argh, what was wrong with her?

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Keefe knew Sophie had been trying to avoid him right after morning assembly when Fitz had to talk to her.

She didn't utter a word, just grabbed her books from the table and left, not even wanting to meet his eyes.

Truth to be told, he was worried sick, hoping that whatever Sophie was going through she would tell him soon.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Sophie had no idea what she did, or what she was doing to do.

Just hide.

Avoid.

Ignore.

She knew she couldn't keep it up any longer, since they were practically neighbours, and he would still come over.

How was she going to confess?

She groaned, then slapping her hand across her mouth, remembering she was still hiding in the corner of the library.

She sighed.

Keefe couldn't find out.

Nope, for sure.

But she had to tell him, who else could she confide into?

But that might ruin their whole friendship of ten years!

Sophie was highly conflicted, weighing the pros and cons of the whole situation.

She had no idea how she was going to do it.

She glanced at her watch.

She could make a run for it, reach home, ignore him all day and never speak a word about it, although that would cripple her emotions.

Or, she could just pretend to be normal until they reach home and she would tell him everything, hit their friendship would be on the line.

She let her hand rip through her hair, not knowing how it all led to here.

She would tell him the truth, she decided, since it was hardly any use to lie to him, knowing that one way or another he would get the truth out of her, so she might as well get it done and over with.

She heaved out a huge breath, hoping that it wasn't a mistake at all.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

She knew that Keefe knew there was something wrong, since it was so hard to hide anything from him.

She sighed, letting him come through the window.

She say snow on her bed in silence, and he followed, not really pushing anything.

"You okay?" He finally asked, breaking the silence.

Sophie nodded, not really wanting to meet his eyes.

"You don't have to tell me what happened if you're uncomfortable, you know," Keefe reminded, his tone soft.

Sophie nodded again, taking in a deep breath.

"Fitz said he liked me," Sophie started, and she could feel Keefe's eyes widen.

"But I realised it was just an infatuation," she continued before he could say anything.

"And can you promise me something?" she asked.

"What for?" He asked as she finally looked at him, his expression a little amused.

"We'll be friends no matter what right?" Sophie asked, cringing at how desperate she sounded.

Keefe laughed. "That's easy, of course."

"Okay good. I think I like you," Sophie said really quickly, closing her eyes tight, not wanting to see his reaction.

Keefe was stunned shock.

He had not expected that at all.

"This isn't a sort of prank right?" He asked, a little nervous, not wanting his own emotions to be crushed.

Sophie shook her head, still closing her eyes tight.

How did she manage to look adorable doing that?

Keefe nodded, even though Sophie couldn't see him.

Then before he even knew what he was doing, he leaned in, and kissed her.

Sophie's eyes opened wide as she felt a pair of lips touch hers, and she could feel her cheeks heating up.

He was... kissing her?

She sat there, uncertain of what to do next as her lips did nothing.

Then she sprang back to life, kissing back as she leaned in too.

The seconds were amazing, each feeling like jigsaw pieces that fianally found their own place and clicked perfectly with the rest.

It felt like everything else was just nothing at all, and all that mattered was that he was still there, kissing her.

She close her eyes, just taking in everything in the moment.

When they finally parted, Sophie played with her fingers.

"So, you didn't reject me," Keefe stated, unsure of what to say.

"Seriously? Who wouldn't?" Sophie asked, laughing.

Keefe smirked, then Sophie spun to face him.

"Wait, did you... like me?" Sophie looked at him.

"Since middle school," he admitted and Sophie gasped.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.

"It would be awkward. Besides, when did you start liking me?" He retorted, and Sophie blushed.

"I don't know, I guess since forever? But I only admitted it to myself when Fitz confessed," Sophie shrugged.

"Where does that lead us to now?" Keefe asked, looking at her.

She smiled.

"Anywhere you want to go. But can we watch the sunset again? It's almost five," Sophie pointed to the sky.

Keefe nodded, climbing out first, then letting Sophie grab his hand.

Sophie still struggled a little for balancing on the branch, and it did not turn out well.

She had a little slip and a small scream escaped her lips before Keefe grabbed her back, hugging her before she could slip down.

Her face flushed red as she quickly adjusted her seat, making sure that she didn't fall again as Keefe laughed.

"You know, you were my first kiss," Sophie admitted, swinging her legs as the set started to set.

"You were mine too," Keefe smiled at her, and that somehow made her feel special.

"It was nice," Sophie blurted as Keefe started laughing again, nodding his head in agreement as Sophue blushed redder from embarrassment.

"We could try that again," Keefe suggested  and before Sophie could have a say, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, in which she returned the favour.

The sun set from in front of them, the view of 6th Street slowly sparkling from the rays of light shining on them.

Somehow Sophie knew that she had found the one.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.