Secrets Revealed: a KOTLC story

Unmatchable: Distractions

A few days later, Sophie was leaning against Calla's Panakes tree when she heard a familiar voice calling to her from a little ways away.

"What's up, Foster?" Keefe asked, continuing before she could utter a word. "And don't tell me nothing's up. I could feel your stress vibes all the way from the front of the property. And I've been feeling them for the last week," he remarked, sitting down beside her.

She scowled in reply. Empaths.

"Come on, Foster! You can tell me," he urged, "I know you've  already confided in the Fitzster, since I've felt his distress lately, too. And because of the whole 'cognates have to tell each other everything' deal." He leaned a little closer and put on a more serious tone as he said, "I know I'm not your cognate, but I am your friend. I'm here for you, whatever you need. But I can't help if I don't know what's going on." He smiled and switched back to his normal mannerisms as he continued, "Besides, since I can feel what you're feeling, I'm stressed too, so I would at least like to know what we're stressing about."

Sophie sighed. He did have a point. She should probably tell him, but she didn't want to worry another friend about her future. "There's nothing you can do about it," she told him, "There's nothing anyone can do about it."

"We'll see about that," he accepted the unintentional challenge with a twinkle in his eye, "I'm sure I can figure out something. If you tell me what's wrong."

In response, Sophie tugged out an itchy eyelash.

"You know I'm going to keep nagging you until you tell me, right?" Keefe sighed.

Sophie had no doubt that he would. So, taking a deep breath, she confided in him, "I'm unmatchable."

The silence that ensued grew more awkward by the second. Every time she said it out loud, it made her situation feel that much more real. Sophie turned to look at Keefe, afraid to see how he was reacting. But he was just nodding slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I see..," he said. "That actually makes sense. Not that you're unmatchable," he clarified, "But that is why both you and Fitz are upset. I know you were hoping..." He glanced at Sophie, who was tugging out another eyelash. "You know what?" he asked, getting to his feet, "Why don't we do something to get your mind off of it?"

"Like what?" she inquired as Keefe helped her to her feet.

He thought for a moment before his face brightened as an idea came to his mind. "We could play with the baby alicorns!" he exclaimed.

Sophie couldn't help but grin at the suggestion. "Deal!" she approved, taking him by the hand and leading him to the pasture where the alicorns were staying.

They played for a few hours, watching Wynn and Luna chase each other through the grass as Silvany and Greyfell snuggled on the sidelines. 

Sophie and Keefe soared through the air on Silvany's back, his arms wrapped around her waist. As they gazed at the tiny creatures and trees below, Sophie's mind wandered to the time she and Keefe had flown to the Black Swan's hideout to get her abilities reset. She had thought life was hard at the time, but everything had become so much more complicated since then. So many more close calls. So many more losses. She almost wished she could go back. "It's just like the good old times, isn't it?" she reminisced.

Keefe nodded, leaning forward to whisper to her. "Yeah. Just you, me, and Glitterbutt," he sighed, "This is definitely my happy place."

"Mine, too," Sophie agreed.

Soon enough, the sun began to set and it was time for Keefe to go home. They stood in the pasture, where the alicorn family had snuggled up for the night. 

"Thank you, Keefe. For... everything," Sophie told him, "If it wasn't for you, I probably would have spent my afternoon pouting about—"

"Na-ah," Keefe interrupted, "We're not going to go there. The whole point of today was to get you away from that."

"Anyways, thank you," she repeated, giving him a quick goodbye hug.

"Anytime, Foster. Anytime," Keefe replied before turning to go.

"Ahem," Ro cleared her throat from just outside the pasture, where she had been stationed so she wouldn't scare the alicorns. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she hinted.

"Oh yeah..," Keefe groaned, turning back to Sophie, and stopping just a few inches in front of her.

Sophie looked at him inquisitively, his ice blue eyes fixed on her's. They flicked away for a second, but then he met her gaze with a new determination. She thought his cheeks looked flushed, but it was hard to tell in the dim light.

"Please don't hate me," Keefe breathed, "Ro dared me to do this."

"Keefe. How many times have I told you I could never ha— What are you doing?" she cut herself short when he put his hand under her chin and tilted her face to study her. 

In response, Keefe closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against Sophie's.

So, this story progressed a lot faster than Secrets Revealed. But then again, I had a whole nother book to go off of as a starting point. Don't worry, this isn't the end, though. I hope you enjoyed!

Please vote and comment below. Thank you so much! 

P.S. I was wondering what normal families talk about over Thanksgiving dinner. Can anyone fill me in? This year I learned that my uncle always wears one red sock and one blue sock, because he believes that if he wears two blue ones, he'll have a sad day, and if he wears two red ones, he'll have a stressful day. Other discussions we had include ones about weird food combinations (that members of my family have eaten and possibly enjoyed). Also, no one in my family drinks, but my cousins' grandpa pumps Vodka into the fish tank, and it actually benefits them, which caused conversation in ridiculous voices on what qualified as fish food ("Blood?" "FISH FOOOOOD!"  "Tangerine? nah, not so much fish food." etc.).

Also interesting tips my uncle also shared: Congratulations is a great filler word (Ex: "I need to use the bathroom." "Congratulations!"). Also, when you are using a public restroom with only one toilet, like at a gas station or something, make sure the door is locked, and instead of saying "It's occupied," or whatever when someone knocks, say "Come in!" People will be so confused.

These are only the conversations I remember. Not that I mind having a quirky family. I'm just curious to know what normal is like. Sorry for rambling, but I felt like my author's note was too short.

Goodbye! Thank you soooooooooooo much for all the views, comments and votes! I mean, I've reached 3.5K views!!!!!!! This is amazing!!!!!!!

(Silvany is chanting, VOTES!!! VOTES!!! VOTES!!! THANKS!!! THANKS!!! THANKS!!!)

One last thing, thank you for your patience with my long, obscure, and quirky author's notes. See you next time!!!