Keeper of the Lost Cities: Unlocked: A Fan-fiction

Chapter Twenty - Keefe

"Hey, can we talk?" an accented voice said from the doorway of Keefe's room. He looked up to see Fitz standing there awkwardly. Keefe nodded, getting out of his bed where he had been sitting, just thinking. After Forkle had left, Keefe had leapt away from Havenfield because Foster was telling him he needed to "rest". He would have argued, but she'd felt pretty exhausted herself, so he'd given in.

Stella was with Wylie, who happened to be with Linh, and Linh happened to be with Tam. So, basically, Stella was with Tam.

And now Fitz was here. Keefe didn't know if he had the energy to talk to him at the moment, but Fitz was already there, so he'd have to deal.

"Hey, Fitzy," Keefe said, standing and high fiving Fitz. "How've you been?"

Fitz paused. "Alright," he said after a moment. "Like I said before, I'm really glad you're back. No one's been making jokes about Lady Galvin or Gulons or Foster for a while now, and it's gotten on everyone's nerves." He attempted a smile.

"Well, I'm back! I'm fine, man, really," Keefe said, avoiding Fitz's eyes. He was fine. There was nothing wrong with him, even if he was losing parts of his memory, according to Foster and Forkle.

Things between him and Fitz had just been tense, ever since Alden had visited Keefe that day. Keefe had known – and knew – that Alden was right. Fitz was better for Sophie. He was who she wanted. It still made his stomach extremely queasy whenever he thought about it (which was a lot), but he could endure for his friends. Now that Fitz and Sophie had broken up, though, he didn't know where that left them all.

"That's good," Fitz said, shuffling his feet.

Awkward silence.

"See, the thing I wanted to talk to you about is..." Fitz started. He took a deep breath. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we haven't really been hanging out as much lately. I feel like, somehow, we've been kind of... growing apart. And, I don't want that anymore. I... I miss my best friend." Fitz looked at Keefe with a nervous expression.

Keefe couldn't believe it. Had that actually just happened? Fitz had really just said that? But, that was good. Keefe had been noticing that, and it had been bugging him as well.

He cleared his throat. "Um, of course. I've been seeing that, too. It's just been... busy. And complicated. But we should... do something fun sometime," he said with an internal wince. Ro, for once, was right. Communicating with a fellow teenage boy was extremely difficult. But his point had been made.

"Totally," Fitz said, a real smile alighting on his face for the first time in a long while. "Tackle Bramble? Base Quest?"

"Definitely," Keefe said, a small grin stretching his face. "It's been too long."

"Way too long," Fitz agreed. There was another silence, but this time it wasn't suffocating, only empty.

"Keefe, there's one more thing I wanted to talk about," Fitz said after a moment, an uncomfortable note back in his voice. "I know you know Sophie and I... we broke up."

Keefe's heart picked up speed. Was Fitz going to tell him that it was okay to make his move now? That it wouldn't hurt him anymore?

"I wanted to let you know that I'm going to get her back soon. She just needs a little time to cool off. But I know we're perfect for each other. We're both incredibly powerful, and attractive, and, we're cognates. So I know we'll be together again soon. I just... don't get your hopes up, okay? This is only a short break. I don't want you to get hurt," Fitz said, a sincerely worried look on his face.

He should have known. The worst of it was that Fitz was right. Sophie and Fitz were perfect for each other. They were both attractive, and powerful, and cognates. And they would be together again soon. He needed to accept that, before his heart tore in half – any more than it already had.

Keefe took a moment to collect himself, then cleared his throat. "Of course. I know that. Silly Fitzy. Of course I know that! It's so obvious, and I'm happy for you!" He put on the brightest smile in his entire fake collection, but Fitz seemed to buy it.

"Thanks, man. I'll let you get some rest, but, again, I'm really glad you're back. Things haven't been the same," Fitz said, grinning as he made a beam of light on the ground. His sincerity was murdering Keefe's heart. How could one hate someone with only good intentions?

"See you around, Fitzy," Keefe smiled back. Fitz leapt away.

Keefe sank onto his bed.

Ugh.

Stupid emotions. Stupid communication. Stupid, sincere, awesome, stupid friends.

But he sat up again as a loud growl came from somewhere in his room. Keefe saw glittering, furious, red, murderous eyes.

Ro came out of the shadows. Keefe had never seen her so angry.

"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!!!"

***

After an entire (loud) minute of forcibly restraining Ro from murdering his best friend (with foot-induced telekinesis), after which she finally calmed down enough for him to let her go (still breathing heavily through her nostrils like a rhinoceros), Keefe's imparter rang. When he picked it up, it was Mr. Forkle.

"Hey, Forkle," Keefe coughed, turning so the winded Ro behind him wouldn't be visible. "What's up?"

Mr. Forkle blinked at him. "I found what I was looking for, and I would like to show you and Miss Foster. Your father has already agreed to let us over, but I wanted to let you know we were coming, in case you wanted to ready yourself –your appearance – for... people."

Keefe jolted. Forkle couldn't know – he'd kept it hidden – oh, no.

"Um, thanks, Forkle," Keefe said, and clicked away in panic.

Five minutes later, his dad rapped coldly on his door. They were here.

"Hey, guys, fancy seeing you here," Keefe joked when he met them in his dad's pristine living room. "Foster, Forkster, Bodyguard." He frowned. "That last one didn't rhyme. Any-hoo, what's going on?"

"Keefe," Sophie said gently. Keefe shook his head.

"Uh-uh. I'm fine. No 'Keefe'-ing me." Even though I love your worry, he added silently in his mind.

Mr. Forkle coughed. "May we get to the point?"

"Please," Keefe said, relieved.

"I needed to go through several files when I leapt away from our meeting a short while ago, because I had an idea. However, I wasn't positive it would work. I was trying to see if there was any way I could help Mr. Sencen manifest his ability, as I did with Miss Redek."

Sophie gasped. "I can't believe I didn't think of that before! I'm so stupid!"

"That is not true, nor on topic, Miss Foster." Forkle took a deep breath, then smiled slightly. "I was correct. It's highly possible I could help you, Keefe. It's time for us to conduct a small test of our own."

One word – Ugh!!! I hate and love this chapter! Oh, I don't know what to feel...

Okay, so, just because I'm curious, I'd highly appreciate it if everyone reading this story commented here, just like, "hi". I love everyone's comments during the chapters, but I'd love to see actually how many people are reading this. You don't have to, of course, but I'd be grateful.

Please vote if you enjoyed! Or if you hated it! *Me, muttering, "jerk" under my breath. My poor baby Keefe.*

Word count: 1274

Thanks for reading!

- Total_KOTLC_Fan