SoKeefe One-Shots

Time

"Is it not what you expected?" Sophie asked trying to figure out the worried look in his eyes.

"It is, and it isn't."

Keefe looked at the ceiling.

"Who could fully know what the future holds beyond the memorized patterns of the past? I knew moving away from my father was something I needed to do but for so many years I was limited by my age to do so. That's something I always found funny about elves, they teach us about how finite human lives are. How we live for so long and that gives us a chance to be peaceful and fix our issues. Then they would tell us horror stories of human abandonment, children running away, and entire dedicated services being put into effect to help the thousands of children who are done wrong by their parents.

Everyone in the class would remark about how lucky they felt to not be part of the human world.

All I could do was sit there and think man could I use some of that right now.

We don't have anything set up for when things go wrong, you know that the best I think. I was stuck where I was just waiting until I was old enough to move away from my father. Knowing there would be no more nights spent listening to fighting, no more dinners intentionally left alone, and no more of their high expectations for me to never come close to reaching.

Here I am, living the dream."

Keefe gestured to the small apartment they were sitting in. It had taken them all day to move him into his new home, especially since Keefe knew fairly little when it came to hanging up pictures and putting together furniture.

"I get to sleep in a quiet house. I can take my time making dinner with no anxiety about who might come to try to talk to me. I am definitely less stressed out and living healthier.

But the loneliness of abandonment is still there.

I ran away from my problems," he paused. 

"No that's not the right word.

I never dealt with my problems, I let him talk to me the way he did for years because I knew it wouldn't be forever but it will.

He still exists and our world is pretty small.

We've got forever to figure out how to live with each other's existence.

I don't know why I never thought of that. I never figured that his words would still be there after I left, his relationships with the people around me still exist. I have to decide if I am okay with letting it all go and try to move forward.

I guess a part of me figured we would hash it out before I left, but he just let me go. He was okay that I was leaving with all this tension between us. Maybe he never really cared that it was there, that I was hurting. "

Keefe sighed and covered his eyes with his arm.

Sophie grabbed his hands, "Keefe, as mature as you were trying to be in this whole situation, I want to point out that you were the kid in the situation. He was the parent, the literal bigger person. It was his job to be the one to navigate your relationship, it's not you're fault how things ended."

He gave her a wary look.

"I know a lot of people look at this kind of a situation and tell you 'it made you stronger' and all that, but you were a kid. You didn't need to be stronger you needed to be safe. Look at me."

His eyes were starting to blur.

"This is not your fault, you dealt with things the best way you could with no support. Say it out loud, 'this is not your fault."

Sophie held his hands tightly.

"This is not your fault," he mimicked.

Sophie tried to refrain her smile, "Stop being a Smart Alek."

The corner of his mouth lifted, "This is not my fault."

"Good," she whispered. "We'll figure it out Keefe, it just takes time."

She looked into his eyes.

"We've got plenty of time."