The three of them entered the ballroom, standing side by side. The Foxfire Ballroom was ginormous—and in the Lost Cities, that's definitely saying something.
Floating lights that transitioned between colours dotted the air above them but were still beneath the skylight that encompassed the whole ceiling, revealing a beautiful fading sunset sky filled with the faint light of stars appearing. The lights reflected off of the crystal walls, creating beams stretching across the space above their heads. The lights seemed to change with the rhythm and beat of the music which currently slow and soft.
"Why are people looking at us?" Sophie quietly asked her companions as they made their way to one of the crystalline tables lining the circular walls.
"Because we're gorgeous," Biana immediately replied with a knowing smile and wink that made Sophie roll her eyes—though she could feel a little blood rushing through her cheeks.
They set their things down at one of the tables, claiming it as their own for the night, before two of their friends show up.
"Boo," the blonde whispers into Sophie's ear, unexpectedly, causing her to jump.
He and the strawberry-blond beside him started cracking up and Sophie smacked Keefe's shoulder.
"Not cool," she mumbled.
"I couldn't help it," Keefe said when he calmed down.
"Right," Sophie said sarcastically before giving Dex and exaggerated hug. "Oh, my goodness! How have you been! I haven't seen you, in like, six hours!"
Dex was confused before realizing Sophie was just acting friendly towards him to get back at Keefe.
"Where's my hug?" he whined, opening up his arms to embrace her.
"Sitting next to your sense of humour—oh wait, it doesn't exist," she said and Dex, Biana, and Linh coughed to cover their laughs.
He raised an eyebrow—though she saw the corners of his mouth struggling not to curl up—as he went in between Biana and Linh and gave them both hugs. "Well, it's not like you're the only girl in my life, Foster."
After he said that, Biana and Linh shrugged his arms off their shoulders—though Sophie's didn't miss the faint pink on Biana's cheeks—and Keefe rolled his eyes, earning a giggle from Sophie which made him smile.
Sophie had to admit that he and Dex both looked good with their black tuxedos—Dex's shirt and tie tucked in nicely and Keefe's messily untucked and hardly done. Dex's hair was combed neatly to the side and his periwinkle eyes seemed to illuminate from the lights while Keefe's hair—The Hair—was its usual mess, though, it seemed like he did put some effort into brushing it to the side.
She saw Keefe's smirk after he realized she was basically checking him out and she looked away, slightly blushing.
"So . . . where's Fitz?" she asked, changing the subject. "And Tam?"
"Bangs Boy started dancing with a girl—shocking," Keefe answered and Sophie's, Linh's and Biana's widened eyes proved that they really did think it was shocking that Tam would so much as give a handshake to someone, much less dance. "And Fitz is over there." Keefe nodded towards the dance floor.
Sophie felt her heart fall a little when she realized he was dancing with another girl, a smile on his lips as he was looking at her.
"Oh," she whispered to herself.
"Anyways," Keefe said, reaching his hand out for Sophie to take. "I was saving my first dance for you, Foster."
Sophie crossed her arms, but still smiled. "What happened to the other girls in your life?"
Keefe shrugged. "You're the one I want . . . to embarrass, of course."
Sophie laughed at his honesty. "I can do that on my own, thank you."
"Please, Foster?" he asked, still holding out his hand. His eyes seemed genuine and Sophie never realized before how saturated they were and she felt her heartbeat increase the slightest bit.
"Okaayy," she agreed, practically sighing, taking his hand lazily but still wearing a smile.
His trademark smirk made an appearance from his success and Sophie rolled her eyes as they started for the dance floor.
"If I step on your toes a lot, remember that you're the one who wanted to dance with me," Sophie said in advance as a new song started and they started dancing.
He laughed. "I'm sure my toes won't hurt that badly."
"I don't know about that," Sophie told him. "There was a reason that you wanted to name the Healing Center the 'Foster Center'."
He smiled. "That's true. . . ."
He twirled her before they continued on with the steps and swaying. Sophie couldn't help but notice how the twinkling lights above them bounced off of his blonde hair, adding alternating-coloured streaks in it.
"So what number am I?" he asked.
"Um . . . what?" she asked, getting brought out of her daze.
He chuckled. "On your list? You said I was on it, right?"
"Oh, um, right." She felt her cheeks turn pink—if he questioned it, she'd blame it on the lights, she decided. "Yeah, you're up there."
"Really?" he asked, twirling her again. This time her back pressed against his chest as they continued. "But what number am I?" he asked softly in her ear.
Sophie wasn't sure if she should answer. The space—or lack thereof—in between them and his face being so close to hers—even if he was behind her—made her nervous. Though, she wasn't feeling uncomfortable.
"What number am I on yours?" she countered, her voice also low.
He raised his eyebrows. "I asked you first."
"Tell me yours and I'll tell you mine," she compromised.
He chuckled. "Four."
All humour vanished from her expression and she stopped moving. She turned around to face him with wide eyes. "What?"
"You're my number four," he said with a whimsical expression.
"O—oh," she let out. "I'm that high on your list?"
"Yeah," he said softly, his icy eyes looking into her chocolate ones. "You are. And a deal's a deal, Foster."
"Right," she said, looking away as they started dancing again. "Um . . . you're my . . . um . . . number two."
He laughed. "Wow. Guess I'm always going to be second to Fitz."
Sophie's cheeks turned even redder and her flux of emotions made Keefe raise a single eyebrow in question.
"Wait, he is your number one, right?" he asked.
When Sophie answered by just staring at their feet he let out a breath.
"Wait. Seriously?" he asked. "I'm higher on your list than him?"
Sophie managed a weak nod and he smiled.
"Wow," he breathed. "That's . . . whoa. I'm not used to that."
They danced to the rest of the song before moving on to new partners. Sophie was hoping to find her teal-eyed crush but didn't have much luck. Until she started dancing with her fifth or sixth partner of the night and finally saw him getting a drink.
Her hopes lifted for a second, her mind already thinking of a way to get out of dancing the rest of the song with the decently handsome man in front of her, before she realized Fitz was talking with someone else.
Her mood soured even more when she realized he was talking to a flirtatious, curly-haired elf that was still her sworn enemy—Stina Heks.
Stina had her hand on his shoulder as he was getting a drink from the area next to the wall. And conversing with him, apparently, that he found amusing judging from his smile and laughter.
"Are you okay?" the person she was dancing with asked and she snapped out of her daze.
"What?" she asked before quickly wearing a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He raised his eyebrow but didn't question it. "Okay."
And Sophie went back to looking at Fitz and Stina from across the room only to realize she was acting like a jealous girlfriend—which she wasn't and had no right to feel like since she and Fitz weren't dating . . . yet?
She had no idea what she was doing or what to think. She didn't know what she and Fitz were or if he had any idea what she felt for him. She felt confused.
But, somewhere in the back of her mind, she had to admit she felt relieved. It was refreshing to only worry about boys and crushes for once rather than almost dying. She felt . . . normal.
The song ended and Sophie caught Biana and Linh sitting at their table, talking and drinking punch, and decided to join them, needing a break from dancing.
Biana's eyes went wide with excitement when she saw Sophie walking towards them and she stood up and rushed over to her.
"Oh my goodness!" she squealed before loudly whispering, "Fitz was looking at you all night!"
"Um . . . what?" Sophie asked, not sure if she heard her right. Everytime she looked over to Fitz—which was more often than she wanted to admit—he was never looking anywhere near her direction.
"Yeah but as soon as he would see you start to look at him he would look away," Linh told her.
Sophie couldn't keep herself from smiling for a second before she rolled her eyes. "Okay, but what does it mean?" Sophie was finally desperate to ask her friends.
Biana and Linh both furrowed their brows in confusion and looked at each other like Is she being serious??
"He admitted to wanting you to be his number one," Linh reminded her.
"And you two spent that night together—which you still haven't told us about, by the way," Biana added.
"I know," Sophie admitted—believe her, it was hard for her to forget those moments. She slouched in her chair. "We just . . . haven't really been able to talk much about where we stand or what we are. . . ."
The two girls sat on either side of Sophie.
"So . . . then talk," Biana suggested lightly. "You both are in the same place at the same time—A.K.A. here. It's the perfect time for you two to figure out things."
Sophie shrugged. "I don't know . . . he hasn't really come up to me. I just don't want to bother him in case I somehow did misinterpret his feelings."
"Sophie," Linh said calmly before letting out a breath. "You are actually giving me a headache." Linh placed her arms gently on Sophie's shoulders and rocked her back and forth with each word she spoke. "Fitz. Likes. You. You. Like. Fitz."
"Exactly," Biana reassured her. "There is literally nothing standing in the way of you two except your own doubting minds. Just go talk to him—it's the twenty-first century, girl. You can be the one to make the first move, too."
Sophie let out a chuckle, though hearing someone else say that he likes her—she still can't wrap her mind around the fact that Fitz himself told her he liked her—made it seem more real.
"I want to go to him," Sophie said. But, before she could continue, Biana cut her off.
"Don't you dare add in a 'but,' " she demanded with her finger raised in a commanding way. "Go find him, have a dance, and talk!"
"Everytime I try to, either someone else asks me to dance or he's busy with someone else," Sophie explained, being sure to avoid using the word "but" like Biana had previously requested. "He's honestly just the only guy I want to dance with right now."
Suddenly, they heard someone cough behind them and they all jumped in their seats. When they turned around, Biana smacked the person who scared them.
"You didn't have to sneak up on us like that!" Biana told him and he laughed.
Sophie's heart swelled at the sound of his laugh—though it almost stopped beating when he made eye-contact with her.
"Sorry, you guys just seemed like you were having an important conversation," he said with a smile. "And I've learned not to interrupt your girl talks."
Biana rolled her eyes. "Whatever." But she perked and made eye contact with Linh before pushing Sophie out of her chair and towards Fitz.
Sophie, being Sophie, stumbled . . . right into the arms of her teal-eyed elf.
"Aw, you two are so adorable together!" Linh squealed.
"Go dance!" Biana exclaimed, shooing them away.
Fitz chuckled and looked at Sophie. "You heard the woman."
Sophie smiled as Fitz took her hand in his and led the way to the dance floor. Before things could get awkward with them, Fitz took initiative and placed his hand gently on Sophie's waist while keeping his other hand in hers and they slowly started to dance to the soft music that began to play. The lights dotting the open air above them change into a scheme of red and pink and white, romantic colours coupled with the romantic song intended to bring couples to the dance floor. Sophie didn't want to admit how much she enjoyed sharing this dance Fitz.
"You look so beautiful tonight," he murmured and smiled as he twirled her. "The lights are really making your cheeks red."
Sophie smiled and looked down at their shoes. She knew he knew it wasn't the lights bouncing off her cheeks that were making them red.
"Thanks," she replied, her voice a little shaky. "You're beautiful, too."
Sophie mentally facepalmed herself as Fitz's grin grew wider.
"Yeah, you think so?" he asked, placing his other hand on her waist and she loosely wrapped her arms around his neck as they continued to sway to the music. "I really wanted to impress you tonight."
Sophie let out a nervous laugh. "What? R—really? Um . . . why?"
He smiled and Sophie quickly realized how close they were to each other. "You're . . . perfect. And amazing. And beautiful without even trying. And I can't compare to that at all. Even if I tried, I still wouldn't be as good as you."
"That is definitely not true," Sophie quickly said and looked him in the eye.
He blinked slowly. "And you're so humble. You don't let your abilities get to your head—so to speak. That's what I really, really, really . . ."—with every "really," the space between their lips somehow got smaller and smaller—"like about you."
Sophie saw his gaze shift from her eyes down to her lips and Sophie couldn't help but look at his own. This time, Sophie took Biana's advice and went for the move herself, and she kissed him.
Their kiss had only lasted for a few seconds, but it was like their cognate connection was on fire, automatically connecting the two's minds together. Their every thought and every emotion openly shared between the two. There were no more secrets between them, everything had spilled in those brief seconds where their lips touched. Sophie could feel what Fitz's words couldn't possibly have portrayed—what not even the most brilliant writers of all time would have been able to express through words.
When they pulled apart, they were both surprised.
"Whoa," Sophie breathed. "That was . . ."
"Intense?" Fitz offered.
Sophie smiled and nodded. "Yeah. But it was good."
Fitz brushed a strand of her loose hair behind her ear. "It was really good."
They danced for the rest of the song, not saying anything because everything had already been expressed between them, with wide smiles and occasional blushing (mostly coming from Sophie).
Once the song was done, they returned to the table Sophie and her friends previously resided at to find Keefe and Biana talking about something.
"Hey," Sophie said as they approached them.
Keefe's eyes immediately went to the sight of Sophie and Fitz's hand-holding and offered a smile. "Hey. Looks like you two had a good time dancing."
"Yeah," Sophie admitted with a sheepish smile, feeling giggly and happy.
"You two are so cute together!" squealed Biana, clapping her hands together. "I can't wait to plan the wedding."
Sophie and Fitz suddenly broke out into a fit of coughs after hearing her comment.
"Um . . . anyways," Keefe said, changing the topic. "The after-party is at my place, tonight, after the dance. You two are coming."
"Do we have to?" Sophie questioned, not sure if she would want to go to party when she's already feeling tired and super sweaty from all the dancing.
"Of course," Biana interjected. "But don't worry, Sophie. We're changing outfits before we go—which means no more high-heels for you . . . tonight, anyways."
Sophie smiled. "I'm sold."
~*~
In my previous A/N for this chapter I said that this was a short chapter compared to my other chapters... oof because 2,600 words is sooooo short... (I've gotten so lazy that the chapters I write now are super short because I just take shortcuts and quit dragging stuff on for a million years.)
Song: SEVENTEEN - "Highlight"
Thanks, lovelies! -Nuela <3
Edited by EllenH2006