Kotlc Oneshots

You Lied to Me » Kam

A/N: Jade here !! This was requested by lightofnovas and That_One_Crazy_Fan . Thanks, guys!

words (not including A/Ns): 799
author: Jade / Wolf_Jade999
ship: kam (Keefe x Tam)
prompt: #30 "You... lied to me."

~ spoiler alert: takes place after Flashback ~

Keefe Sencen was tired.

Tired of losing. Tired of waiting. Tired of doing nothing. Tired of being useless.

Tired.

He drew in a long breath, glaring at the walls of his room at his dad's idiotic paradise house. Paradise. No, it wasn't paradise. The Shores of Solace felt more like a prison, if anything.

"Ugh," Keefe muttered, pushing himself off his bed. Sitting around doodling on his schoolwork wasn't helping anyone. Not that there was anything else to do. Keefe left his room, Ro trailing him as he decided to take a walk. He needed to get out of the house. Away from stupid Cassius. Away from his constant doodles of a dark-haired elf with silver bangs. 

Keefe donned his boots and stepped outside. The sky was dipped with shiny sapphire, the moon bright against the darkness. Like silver and black.

Keefe shook thoughts of Tam Song away. He was like a ghost; haunting the corners of Keefe's mind, always lurking in the shadows. It was at the point where Keefe couldn't even face Linh, both from her eyes—so much like his—and from the guilt he still felt for letting Tam join the Neverseen.

It was too much. All of this was too much.

"Ro...? Can I... can I have a moment alone?" Keefe asked quietly. Ro hesitated.

"Don't get in any trouble, Funkyhair," she replied. Keefe listened to her footsteps as she walked into the towering house and closed the door.

His boots sank into the sand as Keefe walked down the beach, staring at the silver-and-black sky. It was so quiet here, so lonely. No different from inside his house.

"Should've called this place the Shores of Solitude," Keefe muttered to no one in particular, bending down into a crouch. He stared at his shadow, hot tears welling into his eyes.

He didn't notice the flash of light in the distance, or the soft footsteps on the sand. He focused on his wavering shadow, trying to force his tears away.

Keefe frowned when another humanoid shadow appeared in his field of vision, approaching him. Was he hallucinating? The other shadow reached out and met Keefe's.

Hey, Keefe.

A gasp escaped Keefe and he fell backwards on his behind in the sand. Tam. That was Bangs Boy's voice.

He looked up to see Tam standing over him. To his horror, the Shade bore the disgusting cloak of the Neverseen, and his eyes held a heaviness that Keefe didn't recognize.

"Tam?" Keefe's voice was rough. "Tam?"

Tam half-nodded awkwardly. "That's me."

A tear slipped down Keefe's cheek, and he wiped it away in frustration. Why did he have to be pathetic? Especially in front of Bangs Boy. 

"What are you doing here?" He tried to muster a smirk or snarky remark, something, anything, but all he could do was stare at Tam Song like an idiot.

"Your mom sent me here." Tam glanced at his feet, his face darkening. "She... wants me to... recruit you."

A cold hand closed around Keefe's heart. Of course. That's all it was.

"Well, you can tell her that I will never, ever join her creepy cause," he snapped. 

Tam inhaled deeply. "I know, Keefe. I know you'd never."

Tam crouched so that he was eye-level with Keefe, but he continued to look at his feet, unable to meet Keefe's eyes. Keefe hesitantly reached out and touched Tam's hand, and the guilt and frustration the Shade was feeling rushed over him.

"You... lied to me." The words burst out of Keefe's mouth, a rant he didn't know he needed.

"What?" Tam's eyebrows furrowed.

"You promised that we'd stick together. I promised too. But we didn't." Keefe's voice broke. "You left."

"I..." Tam tugged on his bangs. "I'm sorry... I didn't—I couldn't..."

"You left us! Sophie! Linh! You... you left me!" Keefe was full-on crying now, and he hated it. "What if Linh needed you? What if you needed us? What if you needed me?"

Keefe punched the sand. "What if I need you?"

To his astonishment, Tam pulled Keefe into a fierce hug, his arms warm and solid around him. A sharp intake of breath was Keefe's only reaction, but then he wrapped his own arms around Tam and rested his head on the Shade's shoulder.

"I'm right here, Keefe," Tam whispered. "I'm here."

Keefe couldn't respond. There was too much of Tam's and his own emotions to handle.

Tam pulled back, wiping away Keefe's tears with his scratchy sleeve. Keefe glanced at Tam's now-soaked tunic.

"I sure hope that was clean," he murmured, his voice choked. Tam snorted.

"I hate you," he grunted. Keefe met Tam's eyes and smiled. Not a smirk. A smile.

He leaned in and kissed him, whispering on his lips.

"I love you too, Bangs Boy."

A/N: ...that was awful. Apologies. Also, if you can't remember Tam's "promise", here's the scene:

"'I don't know what's going on,' Sophie whispered....'But...I'm getting a bad feeling. So promise me--no matter what happens--we'll stick together, okay?'

Tam and Keefe eyed each other for a second before they nodded."

~pg 813 of Flashback (I referred to the book. I don't have photographic memory okay)

It's not really a promise...but it's the best I came up with. Anyways, hope it was okay! ~Jade