Breath

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Listen to the audio while you read. It's good mood music hehe. But, for the record, it's more about the music, not the lyrics. Enjoy!

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"I. Hate. Everything."

The moment Keefe heard the words, he knew he'd arrived just in time for a Sophie Foster Rage Fest.

But that just made it more necessary to walk through that door and see her perfect face.

No. Sophie Foster was perfectly imperfect. And that was why she was so amazing.

As he walked in, glancing around for flying objects before going too far, he saw Sophie's wide brown eyes — full of a deep, deep pain — lock on his. He absolutely lost it on the inside when she did that. "Oh! Keefe... hi."

She sighed and flopped back on her bed. "So, how much of that did you hear?"

"Oh, not much," Keefe said, attempting his safety smirk that shielded his real emotions from the world. "Just things about hating liiiife and stuff like that. You're perfectly fine!"

Sophie rolled her eyes and buried her face in Ella. Oops. Maybe not the time for trying to lighten the mood. Stupid...

Keefe sighed, and walked over to sit next to her on the bed, putting a hand on her shoulder he hoped would be comforting. Or reassuring. Or something.

"Foster, what's up?" he asked gently. When she didn't respond, but buried her face deeper between her stuffed animal's ears (that always enhanced her own cuteness, whether she knew it or not), Keefe decided to test his boundaries and hug her close. Maybe he could give her some sort of warmth that would make her feel happier.

He stopped breathing for a second as she buried her face into his chest instead of into the blue elephant. He'd never admit it to any outside force, especially Sophie, but she was probably comforting him more than he was comforting her in that moment.

But the moment ended too soon. She pulled away. Only a little bit — just enough to look into his face — but just enough to break the illusion he fell into again and again: that maybe something had changed between them. Maybe she'd decided to really be done with Fitz because...they were meant to be. But no, he couldn't think like that. Fitz was his best friend. He couldn't let his own feelings convince him that Fitz and Sophie weren't soulmates. That would be selfish.

"Keefe, I... It's never felt this bad before. Never. They've never been this bad before."

She sounded so... fragile. That wasn't the Sophie Foster Keefe knew. He'd have to do something about that.

"You mean the Neverseen? Foster... Look, please don't blame yourself for their jerkiness. You're doing all you can to fix this, but... it's not fair to take all this on your shoulders by yourself. Let us help you. Let me help you. It's okay to need it."

What he'd wanted to say was it's okay to need me, but now really wasn't the time. She was still crying, and she looked more broken than Alden had a year ago.

When she didn't respond, but instead whimpered and tucked her head back against his shoulder where tears soaked straight through his shirt, Keefe sighed and gently took both her hands in his, whispering softly, "Would you mind turning on your enhancing for me, Foster?"

Without a word, she nodded, then closed her eyes in concentration. A second later, he felt the rush of warmth spread straight up his arms, filling his whole being with a sense of empowerment.

Shaking off the initial shock, Keefe took a deep breath and sent a breeze of peace into the one girl who really deserved to feel it, but never let herself without him. And, when he saw the tears slow and a sweet little smile creep across her face, it felt like he'd accomplished something... incredible.

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