KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

The Talk (Keefe POV)

Now that they'd made it back to the Lost Cities after their chaotic time at Elysian (or was it with Elysian, since it turned out Elysian was a person rather than a place? This was all so confusing), Keefe knew he needed to clear the air with Fitz—and the sooner the better.

Foster had given him an account of her conversation with Fitz, how she'd told him about her and Keefe—even told him they'd kissed—and how hurt Fitz had been.

Honestly, Keefe kind of wished he'd asked her to just tell him rather than letting her show him the memory.

That was his best friend, and he, Keefe, was the reason Fitz looked so devastated.

But he also know, beyond any doubt, that Foster would always be worth it.

He was still kind of shocked that she'd finally chosen him.

And from what Foster told him, he apparently owed Ro a debt of gratitude when she came back. She had forced Foster to accept that Keefe's note really did profess deep feelings for her.

Because leave it to Foster to always try to explain away any moments when someone might think she was worth their affection.

Huh. One more thing they had in common.

She'd told him that once Ro informed her that Keefe had been holding out hope for a long time, she started thinking back over their friendship and seeing his actions in a new light.

And then, began realizing how her reactions were pretty indicative too.

He was still living in a sort of dream-like euphoria that he now got to kiss her whenever he wanted. That he could hold her hand without needing an excuse. That he didn't have to worry about getting caught staring at her.

It was okay. She was his girlfriend.

Though, girlfriend didn't sound like enough either. It made it sound frivolous, temporary.

He intended her to be his forever.

But he had to try to smooth things over with Fitz. The longer it festered, the harder it would be to fix.

So he hailed Fitz—and may or may not have held his breath, hoping desperately that Fitz wouldn't ignore him.

He didn't. But his face definitely looked conflicted and subdued as he said "hi."

"Are you busy? I...would really like to talk about things now if it's a good time."

"I did say we needed to talk about it, didn't I?" Fitz said with a sigh.

Keefe smirked. "You sure did."

"Come on over."

So Keefe quickly went to tell Grady, who was out in the pastures, where he was headed and asked him to let Sophie know once she woke up.

And he leapt to Everglen. It was still weird to see it without the gates.

Once they were in Fitz's room, Keefe took a deep breath and decided to plunge right in. "Listen, Fitz, I—"

"How long?" Fitz interrupted.

"How long what?"

"How long after I told you how I felt about Sophie did you decide you liked her too?" Fitz shook his head. He looked more sad than angry, despite the accusation.

"It's not like that," Keefe said quietly. "Don't forget I'm an Empath. I knew right away how you both felt about each other, before you told me. Before you even seemed to realize it yourself. But it was easier to hide my own feelings from you."