Meant to Be: A Sophie X Tam Fanfic - KOTLC

Not Like Them

Sophie's hands folded neatly in her lap, hidden beneath the table to stop the tremors that were running through them from showing. She gave Fitz an awkward smile as he talked, which, thankfully, he didn't seem to notice, as he was too wrapped up in his own words to notice her. She played with the hem of her dress, struggling to decide when a good time to hop back into the conversation was. Why was talking so hard?

The waiter had already collected their plates, and now, Sophie was just sitting and waiting as her anxiety grew by the second. Soon, he would be back with the check, and Fitz would be a gentleman and pay for her, and then he would say goodbye, and she'd throw up all over him because this whole journey would be for nothing. And she really, really preferred that that did not happen. At least, not today.

"Fitz," she interrupted, making him swivel his head toward her. He looked slightly appalled, as if no girl had ever interjected his words before. "Um, I just wanted to say that... this whole date was really amazing, and I really appreciate you paying for me and crap. I'm, um... glad."

Fitz's expression broke into a small, pleased grin. Sophie exhaled slightly as she saw the looked on his face. Evil or not, he was cute. "Of course, Sophia. Someone as pretty as you deserves a night like this."

Sophie mentally slapped herself in the face, trying not to turn red. Focus, you brainless hog. She looked up at him and exhaled slowly. This "shimmy-shimmy around the problem" approach didn't really seem to be working. Maybe... "I do... have one last question," she hedged, her voice wobbling slightly. His gaze sharpened, and she wriggled under his scrutinizing teal eyes.

"Of course."

Sophie locked her fingers together, squeezing tightly. This would be fine. Probably. "I want to know, um, exactly what happened between you and the twins. I still don't even know why they hate you. All I know is you two dated, there was a showdown in Atlantis, and then Tam hit you. I know, I know, we already talked about this tonight, but--"

"He did way more than just hit me," Fitz spat, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. Sophie pursed her lips slightly, not sure how to take the interruption. "He beat me within an inch of my life. Did you know that?"

"Ummmmm," she responded slowly, stretching out the word and pushing back against her chair. How was she supposed to respond to that? "...No?"

"Well, since those two b---uh, brats neglected to tell you the whole story, I will. Is that what you want?"

Sophie tried not to make a face at him. Why did he sound so accusing? "Uh... yes, please?"

"It all started long ago," Fitz whispered, using his hands to paint a picture of wonder. Sophie's eyes trailed after them, and she attempted to keep her expression from dropping into utter concern for his wellbeing. "I really liked Linh. Like, a lot. So, I asked her out to Foxfire's Winter Dance. We dated for around two months after that. I tried to be good to her, I swear."

He leaned back in his chair and exhaled, shutting his eyes. Sophie used this as an opportunity to jump into his thoughts, remembering she needed more than just his side of the story to figure out the truth. She was standing in Foxfire, looking at Linh through Fitz's point of view. She was smiling--nearly sparkling, honestly--and the scene was bathed in deep pinks and reds.

"...It didn't matter," Fitz continued out loud. "She started avoiding me. I still don't really know why--I guess that was around the time everyone our age started talking about matchmaking."

Sophie sucked in a breath just as Fitz rolled his eyes. He gave her a weird look, and she shrunk in her seat. "Uh, continue," she said sheepishly, waving him on. But even as he started speaking, her mind wandered. She'd heard--briefly, albeit--about matchmaking. Frankly, it sounded dumber than she was, but who was she to judge? She had BROWN eyes, of all things. It was despicable, far worse than any The Bachelor-esque traditions the elves had.

"Anyways, I told her to ignore it," Fitz said, dragging her focus back to him. "We weren't old enough to get our packets yet, anyway. Regardless, she'd act all antsy whenever we hung out or went on dates. I remember the day before she'd flooded Atlantis, I'd asked her to go out the next day. I don't know why I was so optimistic, especially since she'd been brushing me off a lot recently."

The scene in his mind slowly swirled into what he was describing--Fitz, looking upset at his imparter. The pink seeped into a combination of navy and ruby, coating his room in purples so dark it was nearly black.

"She said no, obviously. She told me she really wasn't feeling well. Of course, I was concerned," he added, as if she'd assumed he'd left Linh to die. "But she assured me I didn't need to worry. The next day, I went to Atlantis to buy her a gift for our final exams." Fitz sighed, his brow furrowing. "And I saw her. Perfectly fine, walking around with that ffffffff--um, freaking brother of hers. I got so angry. I regret it now, but I stormed up to her to give her a piece of my brain."

Sophie winced slightly as his memories stabbed through her own mind. They were sharp, angry. There she was again--stuck in a distorted, empty Atlantis, red spiking throughout the streets. Fitz, yelling. Linh, crying. Tam shoving in front of her protectively.

"She told me she couldn't stand being around me." Fitz's eyes grew dark, his voice cold. Sophie shivered at the looked on his face. "I just wanted to know why. I kept pushing, and pushing, and pushing. And that's when she raised her hands to the force field and split it open."

Sophie's eyes widened as his memories poured in, the water of Atlantis rushing around her. Once again, the red scene split into purple, and Fitz hesitated before fleeing. "I ran for my life." In the memory, he waddled away through the water, desperately doggy-paddling for the exit.

"The next day, I confronted Linh. Stupidly, I'll admit, in the common area at Foxfire." In his mind, Fitz's soaked appearance whirled into a neat one, his hair slicked back and his expression furious. Dark, red-black hatred stabbed through the scene as he glowered at Tam and Linh. Sophie winced at the intensity of his emotions, trying not to flinch away from Fitz. God, he genuinely despises them both.

"I demanded to know why Linh wanted nothing to do with me anymore. Tam, being the fucking firecracker he is when it comes to his sister, hit me almost immediately." The scene cracked before her, and she struggled to grab pieces of the story-line. Fists from both boys flew, shouts and screams could be heard from students and teachers alike.

Red blood dripped down Fitz's forehead.

It took three mentors to come running, dragging Tam off of Fitz and away, before he stopped struggling.

"I told everyone what he did," Fitz said bitterly, snapping her back to the present. She blinked at him, still reeling from the whirlwind of memories she'd just lived through. "What Linh did, too. She put a lot of people in danger that day. And she broke my heart."

He gave her a smile, leaning across the table and taking her hand in his.

"I'm so glad you're not like them, Sophia."

A/N: I wrote the last three paragraphs at a diff time when I was super sick so sorry if it super sucks or whatever there was supposed to be more. Idk im done love ya bye