KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Father: part 5 (Keefe POV)

Keefe smiled softly to himself. She'd fallen asleep.

He hated that she was dealing with this now, and hated it for Elwin too—but this moment?

This was absolutely going in his gold journal.

Sophie was asleep in his arms.

Sophie was asleep in his arms.

Sufficiently comforted by his presence, by his arms around her, that even in the middle of a personal crisis, she'd fallen asleep.

He didn't know how long he sat there, holding her while she slept, but he relished every second of it.

Grady and Edaline had come by at one point, and Grady looked like he might kill Keefe when he found them cuddled under the Panakes.

Edaline just looked troubled. She seemed to mouth "is she okay?" And Keefe made a helpless gesture, trying to convey "I hope so."

They headed back into the pastures, and Keefe softly kissed the top of Sophie's head.

He was just starting to get sleepy himself when Magnate Leto appeared on the grounds. He took in the scene, and walked toward Keefe and Sophie.

I assume you'd rather speak this way so as not to wake Miss Foster?

Keefe gave him a brief smile. Yes please. She was already exhausted and then the shock she received at lunchtime didn't help. It wore her out.

Well, I'll need to wake her soon, to talk with her. But she can sleep for now. But you should know—I'm going to tell Grady and Edaline what caused her to get so upset today. At least...I'm going to reveal the what, but not the who. The rest is up to Miss Foster. But now that she knows who her parents are—and apparently you do too—it's no longer appropriate that her adoptive parents don't know. I'll check in on both of you after I speak with them.

He started to walk away towards the pastures, but after a moment his voice filled Keefe's mind again. Thank you for looking after her.

Keefe smiled to himself. Looking after Foster was what he'd always wanted to do. From the day he met her.

A couple of minutes later, getting drowsy again, Keefe watched as Leto accompanied Grady and Edaline through the front door before succumbing to sleep, arms still around Sophie.

"You know, they look so cute, it's almost a shame to wake them."

"And here we were worried about them when apparently they just skipped school to take a nap."

Keefe's eyes flew open, Sophie stirring in his arms. They broke apart and sat up straight, looking up at the newcomers.

Dex and Biana had clearly just leapt onto the grounds.

"How long was I asleep?" Sophie mumbled, blushing.

"How should we know?" Biana asked, grinning as she and Dex sat down in front of them. "We just got here."

"I think a couple of hours," Keefe said. He felt like he'd only been asleep for a few minutes, especially since Leto hadn't come out to speak with Foster yet. "And I wound up falling asleep too, I guess."

"So...what's up?" Dex asked. "You guys were at orientation but then you weren't at lunch. We thought maybe detention, but then you weren't in study hall either."

"We tried hailing you both after school and got worried when we didn't hear from you," Biana added.

Sophie glanced at Keefe, clearly trying to figure out what to say.

"Foster just didn't get much sleep last night, and I woke up with a headache this morning. We went to see Elwin and he gave us some elixirs to help, but it just wasn't enough, so we wound up coming back here. We thought the fresh air and the Panakes blossoms would help, and I guess they helped a little too much, because we fell asleep."

Biana looked at him shrewdly. "There's more to that story."

"But no one needs to hear it." Sophie said with a finality to her voice. "I love you guys, but this just isn't something I can share."

Keefe admired her so much in that moment. He could feel how upset she still was, but she wasn't letting it show.

He had some experience with that himself.

Dex looked down at his hands. "I'm your best friend. And you can't tell me what's wrong?"

Foster reached for his hand and squeezed it before letting go. "I would if I could. But I promise it's nothing that affects you guys, it's just some stupid moonlark stuff, really."

"But Keefe knows?" Biana asked.

Keefe shrugged. "Really only by accident. That, and the perks of being her boyfriend."

It was the first time they'd acknowledged the shift in their relationship to their friends, but Keefe wanted to navigate the conversation away from Foster before she lost her composure.

"And speaking of boyfriends...you guys have something you want to tell us?" He smirked at them.

Dex blushed, but Biana just reached for his hand and shrugged. "I've had my eye on Dex for a while," she admitted. "But we haven't wanted to say anything, not with the two of you so obviously together now, and Fitz has been really sad. We didn't want it to look like everyone is pairing off and he's just being left out."

"Okay," Foster said with a smile creeping onto her beautiful face. "But Biana, I still want to hear all about it."

"Dexy, we can totally compare notes if you want," Keefe offered. "On how much more fun life is with a pretty girlfriend."

Dex's blush came back, but he also grinned, flashing his dimples.

But at that moment, Magnate Leto walked back outside and headed toward them.

Keefe felt a wave of nausea that he knew was coming from Foster.

Dex and Biana both turned to look.

"I'm guessing this is our cue to leave," Dex said, standing up and pulling Biana up with him. "Will we see you tomorrow?"

Foster nodded. "I'm sorry we worried you. Maybe you can both come over tomorrow after school and the four of us can hang out?"

"Sounds good."

They said a quick hello to Magnate Leto and then glittered away together.

Foster reached for Keefe's hand and they slowly stood up to face Leto, Foster nearly knocking Keefe over with the combined fury of her anger, betrayal, defiance and nervousness.

"Miss Foster," Leto said quietly. "Please allow me a couple of minutes to intercede on Elwin's behalf."