𝗌𝗈𝗄𝖾𝖾𝖿𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗍𝗌

『𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖼𝖺𝗍𝖼𝗁 𝗒𝗈𝗎』

clack, clack, clack.

Sophie's shoes thumped on the cobblestone. She was running. Fast. She couldn't afford to look behind her. Someone's shoes pounded next to her. 

dammit.

They caught up. But why were they still running? Sophie looked over to her left, her eyes sweeping over the dark green of the forest behind her.

"Keefe?" Sophie asked, looking surprised.

"Keep running." He huffed, eyes forward. Sophie obliged and kept running forward. She looked around at the beautiful forest. She must've been slowing down, because Keefe grabbed her hand and started running faster.

"There." He let out a breath, and took a sharp turn left.

"Where are we going?" Sophie asked. They were currently running from the Neverseen, after another awful encounter. Sophie's hands shook. She was losing blood. She looked down at her leather pants and slick black top. They were covered in red. Sophie didn't know where the rest of her friends were. All she knew was that she had to run.

"Not sure." Keefe said, his words short. Fear shot through Sophie's body. They kept running for a good ten minutes or so. They eventually stopped at a steep drop. There was land below, but still, it was far.

"Where'd they go?" Someone said far back. 

"Quick." Keefe said, letting go of Sophie's hand. He jumped. A large whimper escaped through Sophie's bleeding lips. She let out a shaky,

"Keefe?" Her hands came up to her mouth. She started to cry until she heard a

"Jump!" From down below. Relief took up 99% of Sophie's emotions. 

"What?" She asked, hands shaking.

"I'll catch you."

"I- Keefe, I can't jump!" Sophie said, backing away. 

"Sophie, I would never and will never ever, ever, ever, ask you to do anything if it wasn't safe. I love you too much for that." Keefe's low voice said from beneath.

"Okay." Sophie said. She started running and then jumped off. Wind blew through her hair, her shoes flew off, lost in the forest. Her stomach dropped. She felt like she was going to throw up. Then she started to see the mossy floor. She screamed. But before she could hit the ground, strong arms grabbed her waist. Keefe pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Good girl." He murmured into her hair. Sophie let out another whimper. She was panting very hard.

"Lets go." Keefe said, grabbing her arm. But before he could sprint, he scooped her up into his arms, bridal style. Only then did he start running. 

"Keefe, I can run. You're probably just as tired as me." Sophie said, failing to squirm out of his strong arms. Keefe pulled her even closer to his body. Somehow after all that he still smelled good.

"You doing that is making it way harder. Trust me Foster, I'm fine." Sophie felt a flow of uselessness through her body. Could she be this purposeless? Keefe kept sprinting, not acting tired at all. They eventually found a clearing.

"Are you okay?" Keefe asked, setting Sophie gently on the ground.

"How are you not tired?" She asked, not bothering to respond to his question. Keefe raised an eyebrow at her.

"Care to answer my question, Foster?" He said and gave her a smile.

"I'm fine." Sophie huffed, not looking at him. Keefe knelt in front of her, his eyes layered with worry.

"Can you transmit to anyone?" He asked.

"Yeah." Sophie said, cursing herself for not thinking of that. How was his head so clear? Sophie's brain was all fogged and her wounds hurt and she felt like dying. Though she really didn't want the latter to be a reality, so she transmitted to Fitz, since they had the strongest connection.

"They'll meet us here soon. It might take a while, but they're all safe as of now." She said.

"Great." They sat there in silence until the others came.

"Are you guys okay?" Biana panted out as everyone else came running into the grassy clearing. The rain started pouring down out of the starry night sky. Keefe and Sophie immediately stood up. 

"Yeah. You guys?" Sophie asked, bear hugging Biana. They both shed a few tears. 

"Yep. Dex is a little hurt, but Stina helped him."

"I'm glad." Keefe said behind them. They all sorted it out and eventually levitated up to the top of the cliff just to jump off and teleport to Havenfield. Everyone else went back home, but Keefe chose to stay with his girlfriend in Havenfield. Sophie starred at herself in the mirror of her bathroom vanity. She looked at her blood-covered body in horror.

"Need help?" A voice came from the doorway. Sophie's gaze moved over and saw a lean figure leaning against the doorframe. She looked back at her reflection and managed a nod. Keefe walked over. He took a washcloth and washed off all the blood from her face. He helped heal her cuts and brushed the tears that were slowly flowing out of her eyes. Sophie's mind kept moving back to the moment when she was caught. When they were slowly torturing information out of her.

"Hey. Focus on me, okay?" Keefe said, cupping her face in his hands. His touch was so gentle. Sophie swallowed and did as he said. She could see relief, comfort, reassurance in his eyes. His face slowly lowered down to her face, and he kissed her. All of Sophie's worries and thoughts were swept away by the happiness that Keefe gave her.

"I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you." Sophie murmured. 

"I love you too." Keefe's hands were guided towards her waist. Sophie's arms wrapped around his neck.

"I'll catch you whenever you fall." He said.

"Even in love?"

"Especially in love."