A/N: Taking a break today from our walk through Keefe's Flashback Healing Center POVs to bring you this one-shot of Keefe's POV from the two chapters in my main story (entitled "Nightmare" and "A Gift")
Keefe was woken up by the sound of his Imparter going off.
Groggy, Keefe looked at the time as he reached for his Imparter. It was the middle of the night, who was calling him?
It was Foster. That was unusual.
"Foster, what's going on?" he asked, still sleepy.
But when his eyes focused on her face, anguished and terrified and crying, he was immediately more awake.
"Sophie, what's wrong?" he asked sharply.
She opened her mouth to answer him, but all she managed was a sob.
Oh, no, what could've happened?
"Sophie, you're scaring me. I'm coming over." He clicked off the Imparter and reached for his Havenfield crystal. The estate and house were quiet, so he sprinted as quietly as possible up to her room.
The lights were on, and Sandor was waiting for him by the door.
"She's not hurt," Sandor told him in a quick whisper. "I heard her cry out so I came in, but she'd just had a nightmare that you had died. But she wouldn't stop crying and was scared to go back to sleep. But she also refused to take a sedative or let me get her parents, so I told her to hail you, just to talk. I thought maybe seeing you were okay would help her."
Keefe nodded, the fear that had briefly gripped him loosening as he felt both relief and compassion flood through him.
He walked toward where she was sitting, wide eyed, staring at him as though she'd never seen him properly in her life.
Or as though terrified she never would again.
He could feel both relief and embarrassment radiating off of her.
Wanting to comfort her, but also wanting to be careful how he handled comforting his frightened girlfriend in her bedroom in the middle of the night—things could get out of hand very quickly—he sat down beside her more gingerly than he normally would have done before pulling her into his arms.
"It's okay, Sophie. It was just a dream. I'm right here. I'm fine. You're fine."
Sophie sank into the hug, clinging to him. "I'm so sorry."
He held her even tighter. "Sorry for what?"
"For reacting like this. It was just a stupid dream. It makes no sense for me to be freaking out like this." But he could feel that she was still crying.
Didn't she know, even now, how incredibly strong and brave she was?
He took her face in his hands and waited for her to look at him. "Sophie, listen to me," he said kindly but firmly. "No one has been through more than you have. You're still the strongest, bravest person I know. But no one can be strong all the time. You can't control your dreams. I'm glad you called me and didn't just suffer through this quietly."
He loved that she'd hailed him. All he'd ever wanted to do was protect her—not just physically, but emotionally as well. He wanted her happiness to be, at least in part, his responsibility.
"Even though it means being woken up in the middle of the night...the night before Foxfire starts back up?"
Keefe shook his head. "I don't care about that, I care about you."
Sophie's breathing seemed to be slowing down slightly. She nodded. "I know. And I love you for that."
She snuggled in, clearly trying to be as close as possible. Feeling distinctly elated that his embrace was what comforted her, he pulled her in tighter.
"It's okay," he whispered. "I'm here. I love you. I'm not leaving you, not ever again."
"I'm scared to go back to sleep."
Keefe looked up at Sandor, thinking hard. "Even with Gigantor here, I don't think your parents would want me to just stay here with you in your bed the rest of the night."
Grady would absolutely kill him for that, and he would be right to do so.
But he could feel her begin to panic again, so he leaned down and swiftly kissed her. "No, don't panic. I won't leave with you feeling this way. But...what if we went outside?"
"Outside?"
They agreed that the Panakes would be appropriate, and Sandor agreed to stand guard and even explain the situation to her parents when they woke up.
So Foster grabbed a blanket while Keefe grabbed a large squishy pillow, and they quietly headed downstairs and out the door, Foster clinging to Keefe's hand. Sandor headed to the Grove to speak with the gnomes.
When they reached Calla's Panakes tree, Keefe dropped the pillow, took the blanket from Sophie and set it down before wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. "This is what's real," he whispered. "I'm right here."
She took a shaky breath before leaning back just enough to kiss him.
So he kissed her, softly at first, but then her hands slowly crept from his face into his hair, pulling gently on the back of his head, bringing him somehow even closer.
And he was more than willing to be closer.
He could feel how desperately she needed to be close to him.
So the moment grew more potent as they kissed, her clinging to him, him pressing his hands into her back, reassuring her as best he could that he was alive, and safe, and never, ever leaving her.
After a moment, determined not to let this moment cross any lines, he broke the kiss and muttered "everything's okay, we're safe".
But he knew she could see the heat in his eyes as he pulled back to study her face, slightly out of breath.
"Come on," he said after a moment. He sat down with his back against the tree, putting the pillow behind him for some cushion, and pulled her next to him. He covered her with the blanket, making sure she was warm enough, and wrapped his arms around her.
He nodded at Sandor, who had reappeared nearby.
She was finally calm, and buried her head in Keefe's chest as he gently ran his fingers through her hair, whispering "I love you" and "I'm right here" until she fell asleep.
And he didn't know how long he sat there, Sophie asleep in his arms, thanking the stars that things had finally, finally begun to turn out the way he'd hoped.
But eventually he, too, fell asleep again.
Keefe awoke the next morning—feeling distinctly stiff—with an overwhelming sense of peace.
Foster's distress and his aching back notwithstanding, this had been the best night of his life.
But as he opened his eyes, he saw Grady standing in front of him, eyebrows raised and arms crossed.
Thankfully, he didn't look angry. He didn't look particularly happy with the current situation, either, but he wasn't angry.
"Time to get up?" Keefe asked quietly.
"Yep."
Keefe looked down at Foster. If Grady hadn't been standing there, he'd have kissed the top of her head. Instead, he softly began rubbing her arm, trying to wake her. "Alright, Foster, it's time to wake up."
She groaned, not fully awake, and merely tried to nestle in closer to Keefe and bury her face in his chest. Ohh, he loved that. He wished he could spend every night with her asleep in his arms.
But when Grady rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, she jerked up, scrambling away from Keefe. He felt the wave of awkward discomfort emanating from her and wanted to laugh.
But all Grady did was help her to her feet, hug her, and say, "I'm sorry you had such a rough night, kiddo. But I'm glad Sandor and Tha...Keefe took good care of you."
Keefe, standing up slowly, couldn't help but smile softly to himself. Had he finally earned his real name back?
While Sophie and Grady talked, Keefe began taking stock of everywhere he felt stiff or achey after adopting a strange sleeping position. He began stretching it out as best he could, but also made a mental note to give himself enough time to visit Elwin for an elixir.
Keefe straightened up when Grady addressed him with a warm smile. "Thank you for taking care of our girl last night."
Grady turned and headed back inside. Keefe, unable to suppress his grin at Grady's praise, attempted one more stretch to loosen up his muscles as Foster turned to look at him.
Keefe laughed. "Sleeping with my back up against a tree is...not great," he admitted. But then he reached out and lightly traced his fingers along her cheek. "But sleeping with you in my arms might have been the best thing I've ever done."
Might have been? No—absolutely was.
Foster blushed. "Thank you for that. For all of it. I woke up from that dream and felt like I was drowning. It reminded me of how I felt with the shadowflux...like even when I was awake I couldn't escape it. And then you came and pulled me out of it."
He could feel how thankful she was, but she also felt embarrassed. He couldn't have that—didn't she know how much it meant to him that she'd hailed him, even though it was the middle of the night?
He stepped closer. "I know you feel a little embarrassed about it, but please don't. You gave me an amazing gift last night."
She looked at him, confused. "A gift?? How was waking you up and scaring you and crying irrationally in your arms a gift?"
Keefe smiled as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her in closer. "Because it's my arms you wanted around you. I know we've been together for several months now, but it still feels almost too good to be true that you chose me. I could feel how much you trust me, how much you love me. You needed me last night. You don't know how amazing it feels to be wanted and needed." He brought one hand up, hooking one finger under her chin to tilt her face up towards his. "And you gave me a glimpse of what my future holds, getting to fall asleep next to you at night, being the one to protect you and comfort you."
With that, he tilted his head down and kissed her.
She felt much calmer this morning.
After a moment, she pulled away and said "you already do that so well."
Keefe snickered. "What, kiss you? Believe me, I know how much you like that. Empath, remember? It's obvious that I make you weak at the knees, but honestly, who could blame you?" He smirked. He couldn't help but tease her, even though he knew exactly what she meant.
She rolled her eyes. "Well you're not wrong, but that's not what I meant. I was talking about how you already protect and comfort me. You always have."
His smile turned much sweeter. "I try. It's been my main goal from the start. Pretty much from the moment we met."
"I know. I really do love you, you know," she said with a smile.
"I love you too," he whispered. Then he kissed her forehead. "Guess I'll head out, but I'm sure I'll see you at Foxfire later."
Foster started to turn to head inside, but at the last moment Keefe grabbed her and spun her back around, pulling her close.
She was the one that had the nightmare, but he was the one now feeling clingy. He just...didn't want to leave.
But he knew it was time for them to both get ready for school. So without a word, he kissed her, slow and sweet, before resting his forehead against hers for just a brief second. His hands gently squeezed her waist as he pulled away. Then he gave her a sweet smile and pulled out his crystal to leap back to Foxfire.