Living in a Blur: a Sokeefe University/Road Trip AU

Chapter 11

When Sophie woke up, the first thing she registered was that Keefe was still lying beside her, and the second thing was that they'd spent the night before making out until they crashed.

Welp. She definitely owed Biana an update.

Sophie silently rolled out of bed, careful not to disturb Keefe. He looked so peaceful lying there, she couldn't imagine disturbing him. She blushed as she picked up her shirt from the floor, making the gesture as stealthy and sneaky as possible as though there were anyone but the two of them in the room. Keefe's was on the floor next to hers, and after she slipped hers back on over her head, she picked his up and folded it neatly, setting it down on the bed beside him.

She slipped into the bathroom, pulling out her phone. "Please be awake," she murmured under her breath as she clicked Biana's contact. It was late enough that she might be, depending on if she'd been out late the night before, and Sophie needed to talk about whatever was going on between her and Keefe with someone who wasn't him.

They'd already talked about it. They technically hadn't defined the relationship, but they wanted to date. They'd already confessed to liking each other, and Keefe had opened up to a degree that seemed abnormal and a little uncomfortable for him—like it was one of those things he didn't really do.

He did it for her, though, and the thought made her heart swell.

She wished they would have talked about it further once they got back to the hotel room, but the second the word "kiss" got brought up in the elevator, all of her senses became set on one thing, and she got it. She got it, all right, and...

...It was great.

Really great.

But they still didn't have a label. Sophie was really beginning to feel like she was doing this all backwards.

Biana picked up after a few rings. She was still in her bed, but her hair looked like she'd run a brush through it a few times, so she'd probably been awake for a little bit. "Sophie? Ooh, calling me from a hotel bathroom. Let me guess. Something happened with Keefe."

Sophie rolled her eyes, her cheeks heating slightly.

"Knew it!" Biana squealed, sitting all the way up in bed. "Okay. How did the conversation go? Does he need to get punched, or...?"

"Nope, no punching necessary. He was actually really..." Sophie felt the corner of her mouth curl into a genuinely happy smile.

"Okay, that's the sappiest look I've ever seen on your face," Biana informed her. "So it went well?"

"Well, he told me a lot of stuff about himself that it felt like he didn't usually tell people. That was after I told him I liked him, but didn't know enough about him to do a relationship, so he's clearly..."

"He's trying," Biana said, sounding impressed and more surprised than Sophie would have liked. "For you. He's trying... specifically for you. Huh."

"And he took me on a date."

"Ooh, where?"

"Olive Garden."

"Really? With his kind of money?"

"You underestimate how expensive Olive Garden is."

"Not to someone like Keefe."

Even though Biana and Maruca had already been theorizing that Keefe's parents only adopted him for good press, the fact that he didn't have the kind of money everyone expected didn't feel like her secret to tell. So instead, she said, "It was my idea. He wanted to take me to my favorite place, and Grady and Edaline used to take me to this Olive Garden near my house as a kid, so I'm just kind of attached to its menu, you know?"

"I guess. So... is that all?" Biana asked, a little twinkle in her eye implying she already knew there was more—which was insane! She could totally have just called to debrief her about their conversation! There was no reason there had to be more.

But there was, and Biana could see it on her face. "I knew it! Spill."

"Okay," Sophie mumbled. "So, we went back to the hotel room—"

"Only one bed?"

"No! There were two, we just..." Sophie realized they had, in fact, only used one bed.

"Oh gosh, you slept in the same bed anyway?! That's even crazier than only one bed."

"I didn't say that!"

"I'm right though, aren't I?"

Biana always seemed to be, lately. Sophie didn't respond, and Biana rightfully took her silence as a yes. She squealed, burying her head in her pillows to muffle it before coming back up to look at the phone. "Okay. Okay, so like, you guys totally made out, right?"

"Says who?!"

"Says your blushing cheeks, the fact that you started this entire thing by making out in a pool, the fact that you two somehow ended up in the same bed despite the fact that there were two and you obviously didn't just climb in together for fun, and the fact that I know you wouldn't go any farther than that. And I'm right, aren't I?"

"You know me way too well," Sophie grumbled.

"Oh my goodness, you two made out again. But this time you're dating? Wait, did you guys talk about whether or not you're dating? You went on a date, so that's a yes, right? He's your boyfriend? I'm right again, right?"

Sophie took great pleasure in saying, "Nope! Wrong!" before she had to follow it up with, "We actually didn't talk about much of anything once we got back to the hotel room."

Biana grumbled something about not putting two hot people in a room alone together. "You need to talk about that."

"I know."

"When are you going to?"

"Whenever Keefe wakes up, probably. I was thinking about it again this morning. Maybe it's a little hasty of me, but..." Sophie shrugged. "I want to be his girlfriend. I mean, we obviously like each other..."

"...And can't keep your hands off each other, which might become a problem if you don't figure out what's going on between the two of you," Biana said wisely.

"Yeah," Sophie admitted instead of retorting. At least the blush on her cheeks wasn't a new addition to this conversation. And Biana was right. "And maybe I just don't know a lot about Keefe's other relationships, but I feel like he told me stuff he doesn't tell people. Even girls he likes. Maybe that's naive of me, but—"

"—No, I trust your instincts," Biana said confidently. "You wouldn't jump into something that didn't seem genuine. Now I've procrastinated getting ready long enough, and you need to go have a conversation!"

"Getting ready for what?" When Biana smiled coyly, Sophie guessed, "To see Dex? I'm right, aren't I?"

"Hey, that's my line," Biana complained, laughing. "Okay, okay, I mean it. Bye girl!"

Sophie smiled as Biana's face disappeared. She stood up, looking in the mirror. She combed through her hair with her fingers. She looked like a little bit of a mess since she'd just woken up, but she'd been awake enough for her face to fade into lively color. If she walked out of the door now and Keefe happened to be awake, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for him to see her.

She opened the door, and sure enough, he was awake. He was packing some of his stuff back together, though for some reason he had not yet retrieved his shirt. Sophie wondered if he was purposefully doing that to distract her. "Hey, Foster," he said casually. "So, we're going to a festival today."