So Scarlet (It Was Maroon)

Chapter Ten

AN UPDATE ON THIS POST BC NOVA REMINDED ME THIS FIC EXISTED LMAO HERE YOU GO!

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"Sophie? Sophie, we need to talk."

Sophie spun around at the sound of his voice and soon she was looking into familiar teal eyes. Regardless of their recent argument, she smiled. "Hey, Fitz. Listen, I'm sorry for the other day—"

"No. We need to talk, right now." He grabbed her wrist and tugged her into one of the darker corners of Foxfire Academy, his usually relaxed face tense and set into hard lines. "Listen, I don't like you hanging out with Keefe."

Sophie laughed. "What? What do you mean? Fitz, I'm going to fail if he doesn't tutor me in art, you know this." She crossed her arms and leaned back, still unsure of where this was going.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it. You guys haven't been hanging out just for tutoring lately. You keep canceling our dates because of them. Hell, Biana said she saw you two hugging on the roof last night!"

"She told you that?" Sophie replied in disbelief. Biana was one of her closest friends. She wouldn't do that... right?

"She's my sister. Of course she did."

"Listen, Fitz, he was having a bad day. His dad—"

"I know about his dad," he growled, interrupting her. "He used to be my best friend. At least until—" He shook his head, sighing in frustration, tearing through his neatly combed hair. "That's not important. Do you think I'm stupid or something? A blind man could see how you look at him. You've never looked at me that way."

"Fitz," Sophie hissed, disregarding the fact that he and Keefe used to be best friends for the moment. "You're being fucking ridiculous right now. Do you even hear yourself?"

He scoffed so loud, a nearby student turned back to look at them both, then scurried along at the ferocity of her boyfriend's glare. "You've been hanging out with another guy when you've got a boyfriend and I'm ridiculous for being upset about it?" He shook his head and looked away, directing his glare to the walls. "Keefe's had quite the influence on you. Both of you are so defensive, even when you're wrong."

"You have to stop being so controlling all the time. You need to understand that having a guy friend doesn't mean I'm hooking up with him."

Fitz's jaw fell slack in surprise and Sophie almost felt bad, but then his ears turned bright red and she knew she had won the argument—at least for now. "We are having this conversation later," he managed to grit out just as the bell trilled delightfully. He spun on his heel and left her alone in the hallway, students walking past her still form like flowing water around a rock.

"Foster?" A deep, soothing voice said suddenly in her ear, and Sophie's stiff form immediately relaxed in his presence.

"Hey," she replied meekly, trying her best to project as much energy into her voice as possible. She didn't do a very good job of it, though, because Keefe frowned and tilted his head.

"You good?" He nudged her shoulder gently. For the first time, she noticed how striking his ice-blue eyes were. Then she noticed the broken person behind them, the lines of his iris reminding her of cracks in a glass, and chastised herself for finding him attractive when he was clearly still hurting.

"I should be asking you that question," she replied in turn, nudging him back. He shook his head and smiled.

"I'm great. As long as I have you." The words sounded somewhat...intimate, and Sophie found herself looking at her shoes ro hide the color creeping slowly onto her face. As long as I have you. As long as I have you. As long as I have you. "Foster, you coming?"