SoKeefe One-Shots

Ice Cream

Sophie ran her fingers through Keefe's hair as he napped with his head in her lap. It had been a long day of base quest and swimming with their friends. Keefe, though passionate and energetic throughout the games, had promptly fallen asleep as soon as they returned to his house. She smiled to herself, feeling content in this little moment of happiness.

Observing his face with the peace of sleep brought flutters of joy to her heart as she thanked the universe for allowing her to fall in love with the beautiful boy. Her feelings of love became apparent at this moment and it scared her, caught off guard by how quickly her feelings seemed to be realized.

But suddenly it made sense to fall in love, like finally choosing a flavor of ice cream with confidence. She suddenly wished there was someone around her to tell, but that seemed to happen with most of her revelations. Like the world gave her the peace to understand but in return, she had to carry that understanding alone. She always thought moments like this would be more cinematic. As if she would be in the middle of an important fight or crying in the rain not laying on Keefe's bed waiting for dinner. Not comparing love to ice cream. But sometimes big things turn small once they're realized so the analogy stuck. 

She had been afraid to fall in love, she'd admit that now. To her, all those stories were filled with tales of lovers coming together and realizing all they needed was each other but she didn't want to need someone else. She was okay with being alone. She was okay with the idea that she might never find love and that became just as exciting as finding it. Of being able to have freedom in all forms, never have to schedule her life around someone else, never have to compromise, never put another person at risk; it was an attractive lifestyle.

But she met Keefe.

She resisted at first, liking him. Hoping the feeling would pass and her future wouldn't change. He didn't do anything different than the others, didn't try to woo her nor overstep a boundary. He became her best friend. A best friend that she would enjoy having for a long time, but didn't have to. He made that clear for her. So it made sense to fall in love and she did. 

So often had she seen those cheesy romance movies where the teen girl fell in love with her best friend and never dreamed of finding herself in such a cinematic moment. 

A part of her knew that this kind of love was mocked. The passionate stories of two teenagers falling in love. But Sophie disagreed, while those relationships may seem childish or unrealistic on screen, it is the ideal kind of love exampled for someone who hasn't felt it before like the intended young audience. The kind of love craved by individuals who've experienced the world without that loving hand to guide them, without the kiss goodnight, or the safe embrace of a parent when they needed it. To those kinds of people, love IS something that seems improbable because if your own parents didn't love you the way they should have, why would someone else. The very notion that love could mean holding hands and never wanting to let go, loving every one of your quirks that have been ignored, or the idea that love means they don't get tired of you when you aren't what they expected. That is the kind of love that, while seemingly silly in a teen rom-com, is so treasured by those who haven't felt it before.

A part of her worried about falling in love so young in a seemingly endless lifespan. She had grown up with the comfort of knowing that one day there would be an end, that her actions had consequences because she spent her time well, that falling in love young could last a lifetime. There was no lifetime anymore. If they fell in love and it worked then they would have forever, but she didn't really need to worry about that. No decision is permanent and right now, she loved Keefe. That was all that really mattered for now.

Falling in love may be like picking out ice cream, but picking out an ice cream flavor can seem incredibly difficult sometimes, even if it is a small thing.