Sophie's heart must have skipped a beat as she leaped forward to snatch the piece of paper as Keefe reached out for it.

"What's that?" He asked, a smirk plastered on his face.

Sophie's brain was screaming the entire time as she blushed and tore it.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with," she mumbled, wishing her heart wasn't squeezing so tight and that her face wasn't red.

"Right," his smirk got even bigger as her fingers shifted nervously with the crumpled paper.

"Why are you here anyway? Do you need something?" Sophie asked, hoping he wouldn't notice the subject change.

Instead, he rubbed the back of his neck.

Was he...

Nervous?

That word was rarely used to describe Keefe, and that made Sophie giggle as he twisted his fingers around, as if wanting to say something.

"Um, I just wanted to say sorry," he started, finally looking at Sophie in the eye.

Sophie frowned. "For what?"

"You know, base quest," his face spun away, cheeks blushing as Sophie was certain that he recalled the thought.

Her cheeks warmed up too, and she mumbled, "It's fine, you're not at fault. If anyone was, that would be Biana."

Keefe nodded in agreement, and silence filled the air as Sophie pondered on what to say next to continue the conversation, and to break the silent tension.

"Do you think Biana did it on purpose?"

That slipped instead.

And she took a second to realize she was the one who asked it as Keefe shrugged.

"She might, and if she really did, I have my best pranks awaiting her," Keefe's smirk came back, and Sophie laughed, very much liking the fact that it wasn't awkward anymore.

Still, she still could feel the tiny bit of warmth on her lips, and that was enough to make her blush madly again.

Seriously though, how was she going to deal with this?

To get it straight, she had two options.

1. Confess about her little newfound crush, and get her heart broken as she gets rejected.

2. Hide her feelings forever, ignore Keefe as long as possible, and wait for the feelings for him to cripple up, wither, and die.

Yeah... that wasn't two very good scenarios.

Still, she had a third option.

3. Run away to the Forbidden Cities, hide there for the rest of eternity and never see him ever again.

A tad bit extreme, but that was all the plans she could think of.

Her mind switched back to the little daydreams of ice blue eyes, until the replay of how shocked Keefe was when his lips met hers.

It couldn't be out of horror... could it?

Sophie's heart plummeted.

If it was, which was totally possible understanding the fact that they were so close they could practically be siblings, that would mean that she was definitely going to get rejected if she confessed.

How was she going to confess?

Should she get it over and done with?

Her mind flicked to different scenarios of her, finally confessing her feelings, but in all the scenarios, Keefe told her that she was like his little sister-

"Foster? Are you listening?" 

A voice snapped her back to reality, although she was pretty sure her heart wasn't paying close enough attention to what it could say in front of specific people.

"I like you!"

It took her close to a second to realize that she actually said it aloud, covering her mouth quick as Kefe stared at her blankly, as if his mind was trying to comprehend what just happened.

Sophie stumbled for an excuse, trying to cover up for her little slip-up. 

"I mean, I like you as in I like you in a friendly way you know? Like I like you as a friend, not anything else, just as friends, you get what I mean?"

Sophie buried her face into her palms, hoping that it was just another night of nightmares she would wake up to.

Instead, she felt Keefe come over to give her a hug.

"It's okay, everyone knows you have a crush on Fitzy, I'm pretty sure you were thinking about him the whole time," he teased, but his words sounded hollow and forced, or at least that was what it sounded like to Sophie.

"No, I don't. Well, at least not anymore," Sophie stated as she stepped back from the hug, Keefe looking rather amused.

"You don't?" he asked, his eyes wide.

Sophie shook her head, the conviction in her very heartstrings.

Keefe must have felt it, since he didn't question it further.

"If... what I said just now... was true, then how will you react?" Sophie whispered, fearing the answer.

But she needed one.

And he opened his mouth to speak. then shut it, as if it wasn't the right thing to say.

"Would it help if I said that I knew it already?" He asked quietly, and Sophie's eyes widened.

"What?" She asked, glancing at his wrist.

There wasn't three skipped beats.

"H- how?" She asked.

So he knew she had a crush on him. And he was okay with it. Or maybe he just didn't want to crush her heart yet.

"Judging from the wave of emotions, I don't think it did. But what if I said that I didn't tell you because your feelings would fade once I did?"

His gaze met her eyes, and she sucked in a deep breath, trying to comprehend what happened.

So... if what she was thinking about was correct... then did it mean that he... likes her?

"So do you... like me?" She whispered, feeling her heart thump against her chest.

"I didn't mean for you to find out this way," he admitted, his face flushing.

Sophie glanced at his wrist.

No skipped heartbeats.

She grinned.

Keefe looked so intimidated.

"Since when then? Did you know, I mean," Sophie clarified.

"When you enhanced me," Keefe smirked.

"But I didn't know whether it was just because you were thinking about Fitz and all, so..."

His voice trailed off, and Sophie bit her lip.

Was she that oblivious?

Still, she nodded.

Then she took the crumpled paper in her hands and passed it to him for him to read.

His smirk became wider after every sentence.

"Okay this was a bad idea-" she laughed as she tried to take it back, only to find Keefe holding it above his head.

"Not until I finished reading Foster. This practically states how much you love me!" He grinned as Sophie tried to reach out for it, but he was simply too tall.

"Keefe Sencen, you give that back!" She yelled as she jumped up and down to catch it, with him just laughing at her failed attempts.

"I could do this all day," he smirked as Sophie glared at him.

Sophie puffed.

And she leaned in to give a quick peck on his cheek.

Which worked way better than she expected, since he literally just stood there shell shocked, and she tossed the paper over to Iggy who gladly started ripping it.

She smiled at him as he gave her a playful glare.

"That's not how you do it. That's a second failed attempt Foster," Keefe stated as Sophie laughed.

"Then we won't make it three."

She pulled him in, and their lips met, just like how Sophie remembered it to be.

It was amazing, way better than her first, no offense to Dex.

Every moment was like fixing a puzzle piece, and it seemed to click like a perfect match.

Sophie gave in to it, ruffling his hair, which was surprisingly super soft like a pillow.

As they parted, both faces bright pink, they looked at each other, and started laughing.

"What are we even laughing for?" Keefe asked in between the tiny breaks for air, and Sophie shrugged in response.

"Are we... a thing now?" He asked, and Sophie smiled, tugging his tunic to make it slop to one side.

"Give me a reason why we shouldn't be."

And the best thing was, there wasn't one at all.

・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.