KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Alternate Ending: Stellarlune 42

Sophie's mind flooded with words.

Promises.

Confessions.

But somehow they felt like too much and not enough all at the same time.

So she tilted up on her toes and leaned forward, meeting his eyes as she lined up her lips with his--careful to leave a tiny wisp of space.

A chance for him to change his mind.

Keefe closed the distance between them.

And then...everything was new.

The soft press of his lips against hers.

The way their breath seemed to fall perfectly into sync while her heart and her brain screamed, FINALLY!

Some tiny part of her had always wondered if kissing could really be as great as everyone claimed.

But kissing Keefe was So. Much. Better.

He was the one to finally pull away, leaning back to study her in the shimmering light. "You're okay, right? No regrets?"

She grinned. "Absolutely none."

His relieved smile was the sweetest thing she'd ever seen--but it faded a little as he leaned his forehead against hers. "I don't want to mess this up," he whispered. "Please don't let me mess this up."

"I won't," she promised, tilting her chin up to steal another quick kiss.

"This," Keefe whispered, "is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm actually not convinced I'm not dreaming."

"You're not," Sophie assured him. She looked around again at their surroundings. "Even if this place does seem ethereal."

"The most ethereal thing in this clearing is you," Keefe told her, kissing her softly. "Wow, it's nice being able to say those things out loud now."

Sophie thought her heart might burst from swelling. That was exactly the kind of thing she'd have expected the heartthrob in a romantic movie to say.

"And," Keefe continued, "bringing you here wasn't exactly an accident. I didn't expect this to happen, but I was hoping to help your brain make connections between me and romantic moments." Keefe confessed with a mischievous smile.

"I'm glad you did, it's perfect here. But my brain had already started doing that, almost from the moment I found your note. All it took was Ro convincing me I wasn't misunderstanding it, and telling me we needed to get you home so we could finally get on with the kissing, and then I couldn't stop picturing it. I had to keep yelling at myself to stop thinking about you. It was really distracting. And embarrassing, when I accidentally yelled at myself at Foxfire and no one knew why."

Keefe smirked at her. "Remind me to thank Ro when she makes it back. But..." his smile faded. "What about Fitz?"

Sophie shook her head. "I already told you the other day. That's over. He said he wanted to consider getting back together and I said I'd think about it, but I just kept thinking  'but what about Keefe?' So I figured that was pretty telling. I care for Fitz very much, but I'm realizing that the crush I had on him is fading. I hope we'll always be close—and not just for the sake of our being Cognates—but I think we're better off keeping it platonic." She moved her hands from Keefe's shoulders, bringing them to rest on either side of his face. "Meanwhile, I'd prefer if you and I stopped being just friends."

"Oh I'm definitely good with that. And I don't care who knows it. Though...I'm a little scared of Grady. He might try to feed me to Verdi."

"He'd better not," Sophie said with a grin.