KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Nightmare/ A Gift (Keefe POV)

A/N: Taking a break today from our walk through Keefe's Flashback Healing Center POVs to bring you this one-shot of Keefe's POV from the two chapters in my main story (entitled "Nightmare" and "A Gift")

Keefe was woken up by the sound of his Imparter going off.

Groggy, Keefe looked at the time as he reached for his Imparter. It was the middle of the night, who was calling him?

It was Foster. That was unusual.

"Foster, what's going on?" he asked, still sleepy.

But when his eyes focused on her face, anguished and terrified and crying, he was immediately more awake.

"Sophie, what's wrong?" he asked sharply.

She opened her mouth to answer him, but all she managed was a sob.

Oh, no, what could've happened?

"Sophie, you're scaring me. I'm coming over." He clicked off the Imparter and reached for his Havenfield crystal. The estate and house were quiet, so he sprinted as quietly as possible up to her room.

The lights were on, and Sandor was waiting for him by the door.

"She's not hurt," Sandor told him in a quick whisper. "I heard her cry out so I came in, but she'd just had a nightmare that you had died. But she wouldn't stop crying and was scared to go back to sleep. But she also refused to take a sedative or let me get her parents, so I told her to hail you, just to talk. I thought maybe seeing you were okay would help her."

Keefe nodded, the fear that had briefly gripped him loosening as he felt both relief and compassion flood through him.

He walked toward where she was sitting, wide eyed, staring at him as though she'd never seen him properly in her life.

Or as though terrified she never would again.

He could feel both relief and embarrassment radiating off of her.

Wanting to comfort her, but also wanting to be careful how he handled comforting his frightened girlfriend in her bedroom in the middle of the night—things could get out of hand very quickly—he sat down beside her more gingerly than he normally would have done before pulling her into his arms.

"It's okay, Sophie. It was just a dream. I'm right here. I'm fine. You're fine."

Sophie sank into the hug, clinging to him. "I'm so sorry."

He held her even tighter. "Sorry for what?"

"For reacting like this. It was just a stupid dream. It makes no sense for me to be freaking out like this." But he could feel that she was still crying.

Didn't she know, even now, how incredibly strong and brave she was?

He took her face in his hands and waited for her to look at him. "Sophie, listen to me," he said kindly but firmly. "No one has been through more than you have. You're still the strongest, bravest person I know. But no one can be strong all the time. You can't control your dreams. I'm glad you called me and didn't just suffer through this quietly."

He loved that she'd hailed him. All he'd ever wanted to do was protect her—not just physically, but emotionally as well. He wanted her happiness to be, at least in part, his responsibility.

"Even though it means being woken up in the middle of the night...the night before Foxfire starts back up?"

Keefe shook his head. "I don't care about that, I care about you."

Sophie's breathing seemed to be slowing down slightly. She nodded. "I know. And I love you for that."

She snuggled in, clearly trying to be as close as possible. Feeling distinctly elated that his embrace was what comforted her, he pulled her in tighter.