The Realization (A SoKeefe/Keephie story)

Chapter 5 - Sophie

Fitz had never looked so angry before. Sophie scrambled further away from Keefe, her face hot.

"Sophie?" Fitz whispered, looking betrayed.

"I... Fitz..." She tugged on an eyelash and hid behind her hair, not knowing what to say. Thankfully, Keefe did the talking for her.

"Hey, dude!" Keefe walked away from the bed and towards Fitz. "Do you wanna hug too?"

Fitz only scowled and sidestepped him. "Sophie!" He shouted, surprising virtually everyone in the room with his loud voice. Sandor, ever the faithful bodyguard, stepped in front of Sophie as if Fitz was about to hit her.

Keefe stepped in front of Fitz with his hands up. "Whoa, dude. Cool down."

"Shouldn't you be cooling down?" Fitz snarled. "Shouldn't you have combusted from being this close to Sophie?"

Keefe's face fell slightly and he put up his hands as if to surrender. "Dude. Trust me. You don't want to do this. Really. Not right now." He glanced at Sophie, who was still sitting, frozen behind Sandor. When Keefe looked at her, she seemed to unfreeze.

Do what? She thought, wondering about Keefe's strange plea.

"I'm pretty sure I do. If you're trying to steal my girlfriend—"

"She's not your girlfriend anymore!" Keefe shouted, cutting him off. He looked at Sophie sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry," He blurted out, his eyes looking guilty.

"No, it's... fine," She said, looking at the floor.

"Fine?!" Fitz said. Sophie raised her head slowly and looked at him. "Is that what we are now? Just... fine?" Fitz's voice broke on the last word. Then, in a quieter voice, he said, "Are we over now?"

"I'm sorry, Fitz," Sophie said, anger growing in her eyes. "But wasn't it over when you light leaped away and told us that we should take a break from each other?" She said harshly. Fitz's face fell. Sophie knew it was a low blow, but in the heat of the moment, she just blurted out.

Fitz didn't seem to know what to say to that, staying silent. Even Keefe didn't say anything. Sophie couldn't stand the awkward silence.

She opened and then closed her mouth, unsure of what to say. "Maybe I should just... go. I'm causing too much trouble," she decided, tearing her eyes away from the boys and standing.

"Wait, Sophie!" Keefe called out. When she turned to look at him, he carefully twined his fingers with hers.

"Are you okay?" He said, ignoring the venomous glare that Fitz was sending them. But Sophie did notice. And she felt very uncomfortable knowing that his dark scowl was burning into her back, but she forced herself not to think about it. Focus on Keefe, her mind scolded.

"I'm... fine," she said, using her other hand to give her eyelashes a light tug. Keefe frowned, clearly not satisfied with her answer.

"I'm fine," Sophie repeated, stepping closer. "Really, Keefe. You don't need to worry about me."

Keefe pulled her in closer for a hug. "I don't think that's possible," he murmured into her hair. Sophie melted, relaxing against his firm frame.

"Ahem," Fitz cleared his throat, remidning them that there was another person overseeing their moment. But was it a moment? Sophie asked herself, trying to solve that complicated question as if it were a math problem. She soon gave up, noticing the glower that Fitz was sending them now as Keefe and Sophie were still tangled in each other's arms. Sophie felt her face burn red, but refused to let go.

Until she focused on Fitz's face. Is that... jealousy? She thought, confused. Could he possibly be jealous of Keefe? By the glare he was sending at their entertwined fingers, the way Keefe's hands gripped her waist, it was probably a yes.

Sophie felt tears prick her eyes at the realization. What did Fitz have against Keefe? It was probably because of her, she thought bitterly. Everything was because of her.

She felt herself stumbling away from Keefe and caught the savage look of triumph on Fitz's face as she stepped away.

"I—" she hiccupped. "I can't do this right now. I—I need to go." She turned and fled for the door, twisting the knob and opening it. She took one last look at Keefe, drinking in all of his features, before avoiding Fitz's toxic gaze and bursting out of the room.