Keefe's Whereabouts

5

It's been five days already that I've been here. And I would think we would've talked about everything. But everytime I wake up in the morning, he's gone for work. And then when he comes back, he looks tired so I can't talk to him about anything. And I've been just staying in his apartment. I was practicing my levitation until I feel my imparter vibrate. I take it out of my pocket to see who it is.

"Fitz," I say answering him.

He looks mad. Annoyed.

"Where are you?" He asks me. "I've tried to contact you, but no one will tell me anything! Do you know how worried I've been?"

"I'm staying with Keefe," I say.

"WHAT?!" He yells.

"Look, we aren't going to do a saving the world adventure without you-"

"You are going to stay at his house, but you would never stay at mine?" He cuts me off.

Wait what? He's not mad because he feels left out but because I'm staying at Keefe's house?

"I haven't seen Keefe in 5 years-"

"So what? I'm your boyfriend," he cuts me off again.

"Look, Fitz calm down-"

"What are people going to think when they figure out my girlfriend is going to stay at another guy's house and not even her own boyfriend's house?!" He says.

At this I can feel my anger bubble up. My patience is slowly breaking. "Of course you would say that. You're always about appearances, Fitz. Oh no, I'm sorry, Lord Vacker," I say sarcastically.

"At least I have a name for myself," he says angrily. "The only way you could've been this prominent in the lost cities is because of me, do you understand?!"

I'm so shocked, my mouth hangs open.

"Not even a real elf at this point, you're just an experiment," he says again.

Oh he did not-

"You should stop when you can," Keefe's voice speaks behind me, causing me to jump a little. I didn't hear him come in. "Or else you're going to lose someone really important to you," Keefe finishes.

I look at Keefe and feel taken aback at how hard his face is. His eyebrows furrow and I notice his jaw lock.

"It's fine, you can keep her," Fitz says. "Have fun. But watch out, she likes to flirt and talk with every guy but her own boyfriend."

The screen blanks out and I'm left in silence. Rather than cry, I want to punch something hard. Really hard. But then I remember-

"Keefe," I accidentally say out loud. "Did you just get home?"

"I quit my job, today was my last day. And it looks like it's good I can early or else you were about to destroy this apartment," he says trying to crack a joke, "Not that I wouldn't mind, I'm not a huge fan of it either."

I sigh and lean back on the chair. "I'm sorry, I told him I was staying with and he thinks..."

"Yeah, I get it. Still doesn't excuse him from that behavior, I swear I've told him a million times to fix that," he grumbles.

I surprise myself as I don't feel like crying from Fitz's words but rather I feel warm at Keefe's kindness.

"I feel like I have hardly talked to you since I came here," I tell Keefe honestly. "Even though that was the whole point of me staying with you."

Keefe nods and scratches his neck nervously. "To be honest, Foster, I'm a little scared about talking about it all. But I forced myself to tell my boss about quitting this week so that at the end of it, I can't avoid it."

I nod understandingly. "Should we go for a walk?"

He looks at me in thought then nods after a few seconds. "I think that would be for the best."

I stand up and go upstairs to get my cloak. When I come downstairs I notice Keefe looking at me. 

"What?" I ask him. 

"Not that I don't think you look cute Foster," he says, causing my face to heat up, "But I think you should wear one of my jackets. So you can blend in."

My heart is still racing as he hands my his jacket. I take off my cloak and slide it on. It's big. But warm. And it smells like him. 

"You ready?" he holds out his hand for me. 

I nod and link mine with his. This isn't weird. We are just holding hands. That's all. We used to do it a lot when we were kids. This isn't any different. I force myself to tame my emotions. He's a damn empath, Sophie. You need to chill. We walk down the sidewalk towards a park. It's snowing, but not too hard. When we get to the park we both sit on the swings. 

"Foster, what happened all these years?" He asks me. "Edaline said you've changed."

I sigh. "I don't know what exactly changed. I think I've just prioritized my work and finding you, so everyone thinks I'm different. But I'm the same."

A moment of silence passes through us. "I'm sorry."

I look over at him surprised. "You've wasted these five years looking for me. You didn't even get to enjoy your life. I'm sorry, Foster."

He's kicking the snow and swinging slightly. 

"I don't regret anything," I say. "If I could do it again, I would pick you again and again."

I notice a little smirk pop up on his face. "You've changed, Foster. You're much bolder. But you still don't realize what your words do to me."

He looks up at me and I can feel butterflies again. His ice blue eyes reflect beautifully as he keeps his eye contact with me. 

"Keefe-"

"Am I interrupting something?" a familiar voice cuts me off. 

We both turn our heads and I can hear Keefe chuckle. "Hey wrinkles, long time no see."

"Mr. Forkle," I say. 

He stands there, smiling softly at us. "Sorry to cut you short, but it's time to go."

"You got everything?" he asks us both. 

Keefe nods. He stands up, letting out a breath. He looks over at me and holds out his hand for me. "Let's go, Foster."