loosely based on a certain taylor swift song (the way i loved you which btw highly HIGHLY recommend bc its the best to scream-cry to). the characters are so so ooc in this one and i. i accept it.
sokeefe angst? yes. sophitz ily but this is not your time.
word count: 2.3k
(dont read the warnings unless you want spoilers)
warnings: grief, couples fighting, death, car crashes
they're fighting. they're not thinking straight. they're tired and frustrated and inside these walls, tempers are overflowing.
"oh, are you gonna leave again?" she's screaming, the fight escalating and destroying any filter between her anger and her mouth. she wants to hurt him with her words, just for a moment. she wants to bark and bite and bloody, grapple for some semblance of power in this helpless moment. "are you gonna leave, like you always do?"
he glares back, eyes shiny and red. he's stricken, she knows, because she knows everything about him, including exactly how to hurt him. but he hides the pain well. "maybe i will," he yells.
"then do it," she tells him, eyes glinting with the challenge.
he only glares back at her, eyes like icy steel.
~~~
"Come on, Sophie," Fitz calls from the front door. He dangles the car keys in one hand. "Time to go."
Sophie hurries down the stairs, finger-combing her hair as she moves. "Right, right. I forgot," she says, a bit breathless.
"It's fine. You look nice," Fitz says kindly. Sophie manages a smile at him, then goes to sit in the car. Fitz slides into the seat beside her, and with that, they're off to Sunday tea with the Ruewens'. They go every week without fail, even if Sophie isn't sure when the tradition started.
Or, no, she's exactly sure, but she doesn't want to think about anything from two years ago.
The drive to the Ruewen house is only about twenty minutes, but it goes by in complete quiet. Before, Sophie would've called this a peaceful silence. A calm haven. A welcome relief. But now her skin itches and her eyes dart around, the quiet unnerving her.
Fitz doesn't seem to mind though. He gazes serenely onward like he always does. At one point he pauses, thoughtfully turning and asking Sophie, "How was your day so far?"
Sophie's been with him long enough to get used to this question, and almost automatically, she responds, "Good. You?"
"I'm good too." And then he turns his attention back to the road, the conversation dissolving into silence. The kind of silence that should be reserved for awkward conversations with people you hardly know, not with people you love—because this was love, it had to be.
And yet, Sophie felt strangely blank. Like a wet match refusing to light.
A thought sneaks its way through the walls she keeps in her mind—even if before, everything had been heartbreaking and messy, it had always blazed with passion—but Sophie quickly pushes it away.
She should focus on the now. She should focus on Fitz, charming and loving and perfect as he is.
~~~
