KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Alternate Ending: Flashback 27

"Hey," he whispered softly. "I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"I know." That was all she could manage to say.

"But you're hurt anyway," Keefe prodded.

Sophie shrugged.

"No, Foster, please talk to me." Keefe looked pained. She knew he hated that he'd hurt her feelings.

And it really wasn't his fault.

"I have no reason to be upset," she finally said in a small voice. "You have every right to keep secrets. I just...there are so few secrets between us. Or at least I thought there were. I've shared pretty much everything with you. You know me, even the things I don't say, I can't really hide them from you. And that irritated me at first, but now..." she smiled slightly in spite of herself. "Now I know I always have you. And you know me better than almost anyone. I just thought...I thought it was the same for you."

Keefe frowned.

Ro cleared her throat.

Keefe scowled at her and mumbled, "shut up" before turning back to Sophie.

"I just...don't think it's time to share all my secrets," Keefe explained quietly. "Trust me, Sophie, you know me better than anyone too. I haven't opened up to anyone like I have to you."

He scooted his large chair closer to hers, his ice blue eyes holding her gaze steadily, begging her to understand. The warmth and intensity she saw there made her stomach fill with fluttery things.

"I've always kind of pushed people away," he told her. "I've had a lot of superficial friendships, but was never really close to anyone other than Fitz. And it took a long time of hanging out with him before I really started letting him see how bad things were with my parents. And we don't talk about it much. When he found out, things changed. I already hung out at their house a lot, but they started inviting me over even more often, and asking me to spend the night, or stay the weekend. Alden has always known, and encouraged Fitz in our friendship. but he let me and Fitz figure the rest out on our own. Let me decide when to trust Fitz enough to let him in. We wouldn't really talk about it, we still rarely talk about it, but he knows and he's looked after me in small ways--the whole family has."

Sophie nodded. "They're good people that way."

"They really are," Keefe agreed. "And that's why I promised..." But he shook his head and changed what he was about to say. "But even with them, even though I knew it would be a safe place to talk about the hard stuff, we don't usually. But with you? It's like...even though I know Fitz wouldn't judge me or push me or pity me any more than you would...sharing these things with you has been easier. So please, please believe me when I say I can't share this one big secret with you, but that it's not because I don't trust you or because you don't know me."

Sophie was quiet for a minute, trying to process what he said.

He'd admitted how much he trusted her, told her how he confided in her in ways he never had with anyone else.

She liked that. A lot.

Like...it was kind of confusing.

Why did that confession make her heart swell and pulse quicken? It wasn't like she...

Did she?

She tried to tuck that thought away into Things To Think About Later, but it was struggling, insisting on staying in the front of her mind.

And why, even after all of that, after he let another mask fall and confirmed that they were every bit as close as she thought they were, was she still feeling hurt?