SoKeefe One-Shots

Secret Siren

The water was calm and the air was crisp, he took a deep breath. Nothing felt right anymore, nothing fit properly, his head felt full. His quick walk to clear his thoughts had turned into midnight escapade and he was quick to recognize that it probably wasn't a good idea to stay out so late but he didn't want to go home. 

She actually left.

He kicked a rock out from a loose spot in the cobbled road. Keefe let out a sigh that turned into a bitter laugh. As much as he had wished for one of his parents to leave so they would stop fighting, for some reason he hadn't thought it would be his mom to do it. His dad seemed much more likely, he was rich and self-involved. Keefe could see his dad living happily by himself for the rest of his life. His mom on the other hand...

He knew she wasn't a good parent but he had always thought she was the one keeping his dad home, not the other way around. She had always seemed to like Keefe, he never thought that she would be the one to leave. To turn around and not even say goodbye.

The world seemed too calm to reflect his mood, he wanted it to rain. For the clouds to block the light of the moon and the storm to chill him to the bone. He wanted to run down the wet one-lane streets and scream into the thunder. Instead, he made his way down the winding stone paths and towards the moonlit beach. The buildings along the road were all white with brown accents, all uniform. All perfect. He looked at the stars and wondered how their beauty was able to bless a world so full of wrongs. Nothing felt right, but maybe the calm of the night was what he needed to comfort him. His thoughts didn't seem as heavy as when he had first run out of the house, his shoulders didn't feel as tight. What had happened well, happened. There was nothing he could do, nothing he could say to make anything change. 

The water was calm and the air was crisp.

The beach seemed weird empty. Growing up in a beach town made him used to tourists crowding the area at all times of the day. He was often joined by his friends during the down season to enjoy a quieter swim but he almost never came alone. At least, he had never come alone when the beach had been empty before. He would never admit it to Fitz but, the ocean freaked him out sometimes. Another deep breath. The night brought a sense of magic to the salty air. Carefully he pulled off his shoes and socks and placed them under the steps that led down to the main beach entrance. 

Closing his eyes he stepped onto the sand and felt the cool sensation that followed. He felt tension leave his shoulders. He looked back at his town, few lights were on but he noticed that not one came from a house, only street lights. Everyone was asleep, he was truly and utterly alone. No one was coming and no one could witness his much-needed decompression. 

What made a parent leave? Even when you know the exact reason it was still completely surprising to him that there was a part of them that was okay leaving a child behind.  Their child. She spent nine months carrying him and brought him into the world only to find she could live without him in it. He didn't want it to hurt as badly as it did either. He had a bad relationship with his mom and he'd always wished she would come to understand how much their family's derision hurt. He couldn't take the screaming matches, the lack of privacy, the high expectations, the unconscious belittling. It was just the fact that she could leave that broke a part of him he didn't know he still had. A part of him that still wanted to be loved by his mother. A part of him that was now unfixably shattered. Even if she did eventually come back, even if she came back right now. He would always know that at some point he hadn't been enough. 

A soft sound brought him out of his reverie and he looked around to see the source of what sounded like a young woman's singing. He wandered further down the beach towards the dock that lay near the rocky cliff walls that cut the beach off from the rest of the ocean. It was a sad song, filled with vibrato in a minor key, but he couldn't quite catch the words that explained the singer's pain. He now stood at the edge of the dock and looked around to find no one around, just as it had been when he'd arrived.