Forever

Chapter 26

Sophie's POV:

After hanging out with Stina, Fitz, Biana, and Tam for a while, I knew we had to face Grady. I tugged on Keefe's hand, transmitting, 'Honey, time to go and face Very Scary Mad Dad.' 

He gave some metal protests but in the end, he surrendered. The longer you wait, the worse it gets. He nodded. I thought about the nickname, Biana had practically forced us to come up with them. Now, I was Babe (mental facepalm), and Keefe was Honey. 

Thanks, Bi. 

We clasped hands, and you didn't have to be an Empath to know Keefe was nervous. His hand was clammy, it was almost like Dex's before he confessed his crush to me. That seemed like so long ago.

 I pulled Keefe into the shimmering beam.

Keefe's POV:

I was terrified. Maybe I wouldn't be allowed to see her again. What if he mesmerized me!? I hope he didn't pull what Dex called a Hopper on me (some show called Stranger Things... ) 

Suddenly, I was nervous about our relationship. Sophie pulled me to his office, and knocked. As the door creaked open, I had deja vu from Nightfall. Grady was scarier than any Gorgodon. 

Heck, he was scarier than all of the Gorgodons and the Neverseen combined!

"Come in." he called, and the words caused me to break out in a sweat. His gazed hardened as he noticed me. He took one look at our hands and then Sophie and I were across the room from each other in an instant. Either that was mesmerizing or pure fear, I don't know.

"Sophie, please leave us." I gulped as she closed the door. She transmitted one thought to me, 'I'll be in touch. Can I come into your mind?' I thought back a small, frantic 'Yes!' and so I could feel a presence in my mind of strength and hope as Grady zeroed in.

"Okay. All it was, was just a waist tickle." 'Don't kill me!' I added silently.

'You got this,' my sweet bliztenberry muffin said (yet another nickname, yes, it's cheesy, but hey).

"I know it was, as you say, just a waist tickle. But ANY FURTHER DOWN, and you'll wish you'd never been born, boy." Suddenly, I realized why he was so mad. 

I shoved any images out of my mind as fast as I could, remembering Soph was there. He actually thought I would... do THAT?! 

What did Brant do to make Grady's expectations so low? Literally!

"I would never! I respect Sophie and her boundaries." I said firmly, adding a crossed arms to my cause. 

He glared, and for a moment I was more scared of the thought of him being a Telepath than a Mesmer. 

Not really seeming to believe me. 

Yeah, I was gonna find out what happened with Brant and Jolie. Maybe another ballad? Nah, ballads were Bo and Ro things. I thought to Foster about what I learned, and she just simply shot back, 'Stay careful and just end on a high note.' Okay? Grady finished his lecture. I nodded,

"I'm very sorry about tickling her, sir. It won't happen again, sir." (I quoted Hamilton, another thing Dex had shown me) 'At least, not when you're around.' I thought, and I had to prevent myself from laughing, Sophie's hysterical chortles were killing me! Grad gave me the evil eye for, like, five whole seconds, and then relaxed.

"You may tickle her, just... watch it, Boy." 

Sophie was DYING with laughter, and I couldn't hold it any longer. I nodded frantically.

"Yes, sir." and reaching for the door so I could run into the hallway and collapse. I ran to Sophie's room, and found her rolling on the floor, laughing. I fell down next to her, and we laughed until our sides hurt and tears streamed down our faces.

"I can't believe he thought you might do THAT!" she gasped, clutching her sides.

"Yeah, I am very irresistible though." I winked, joking, of course. She laughed, and curled up next to me.

"Suuuure, Keefe. Suuuure." She then put her head on my chest, and we took a nap from pure exhaustion. 

A/N I'm trying to write a essay on bravery and this, so it might be kinda mixed up...