Doorway Kiss[]
Fitz’s POV
“Fitzroy Avery Vacker you are the most annoying brother in the world!” My sister’s voice echoed through the hallway as she chased me. I smiled to myself. Was I a bit old to be sneaking into my sister’s room and reading her diary? Maybe, but eh, did I really care? Nope.
“‘Hair like gold, eyes like shimmering raindrops, and the most gorgeous face you’ll ever see.’ Wow, like that’s not obvious. I’m physically cringing right now, you know that, right? This Keefe obsession is getting way out of hand.” I teased and waved the diary over her head, where she jumped, trying desperately to reach it.
“How do you know I’m talking about Keefe?” She asked while glaring at me.
“Oh please, I know you’ve had a crush on him since you were 11, plus, ‘hair like gold’? Could you scream ‘Keefe’ any louder than that?” Biana always used to make fun of me about Sophie, this is just my payback, though she actually hasn’t mentioned anything about me and Sophie in a while. I snickered as she finally grabbed the blue sparkled diary and stuck her tongue out at me, but then I heard the doorbell ring. We both looked at each other for a split second before racing down the hall towards the front door. I won and she huffed as I opened the door. Keefe stood in front of me, smiling kind of nervously. That was weird, right?
“Oh, hey, Kee-“ My eyes widened as he stepped forward and pressed his lips against mine. I was surprised by how I reacted. I closed my eyes and slowly melted into the kiss, forgetting everything around me, including Biana. But all too soon the kiss was over as Keefe hesitantly pulled away and rubbed the back of his neck, looking anywhere but my eyes. I stood there staring at him for a moment, catching my breath.
“S-so…?” He finally said, breaking the silence. What was he asking? Was he asking if I liked it? Did I like it? Why did he do it in the first place?
“So…” Was all I could think to say, my brain wasn’t quite working properly yet. He met my eyes and his lips parted, as if to say something, but no words left his mouth…
Keefe’s POV
My words were stolen from me as I stared at his gorgeous eyes. I just kissed Fitz Vacker. YOU JUST KISSED FITZ VACKER! My mind screamed at me. What do I say now? I should’ve asked first, I knew you were supposed to ask someone before kissing them.
“Sorry-“ I heard someone say, and it took me a minute to realize it was my voice that had said it. Why was I apologizing? Because I should’ve asked before I kissed him?
“N-no, don’t be, I- I liked it.” He stuttered and his cheeks flamed pink. I blinked.
“You did?” I said slightly breathlessly and he let out a small laugh as he nodded.
“Yeah, I did.” I didn’t know if I was caught up in the moment or what, but I flung my arms around his neck and smiled into his chest. I felt him stiffen for a moment, obviously startled, then wrap his arms around me too. Then I heard another voice from behind us.
“Wow, that was really hard to watch, but also very romantic. I mean, I’ve shipped it for a while, but I didn’t think I’d get to witness THIS! The birth of Keefitz.” Biana fizzled into view. She was there the entire time?! Fitz’s jaw dropped and I let go of him.
“What?! I thought you liked Keefe! Aren’t you upset? And thinking it’s weird that we’re both boys, cuz even I’m thinking that! No offense, Keefe,” He grabbed my hand. “And you shipped us?” Fitz exclaimed. Biana smiled.
“Okay, A), no, I don’t like Keefe. Not like that at least. B), Pft, no I don’t think it’s weird, humans do this all the time, they even have a word for it. And C), heck yeah! I’ve shipped you since… well… I guess since Dex was out of the picture. The more I thought about it, you two seemed kinda perfect for each other.” She seemed almost proud of herself for predicting this. Fitz raised an eyebrow at her.
“Then what was that poem in your diary about, what was it, ‘hair like gold, eyes like shimmering raindrops, and the most gorgeous face you’ll ever see’? If it’s not about Keefe, who’s it about?” I had to hold back a laugh, that was a very sappy poem, and though I’d be flattered if it was about me, I was glad it wasn’t. Biana crossed her arms.
“Well, if you must know, it’s about Sophie.” She stated, and me and Fitz both stood jaw dropped.
“Wait, so, you have a crush on Sophie?” I asked, and she nodded.
“Yeah, you got a problem with that?” She narrowed her eyes at me and I quickly shook my head.
“No, ma’am.” I said at the same time Fitz asked,
“About the whole love triangle thing… what’s up with that, Keefe?” I sighed, knowing I’d have to explain everything now. Slightly embarrassing...
“I’m only gonna explain this once, so listen carefully. Last night I was lying in bed staring at a picture I painted of me, you, Sophie, and Biana, when I realized I painted you and me next to each other and Biana and Sophie by each other. Then I realized in the picture you were looking at me, and I wondered why I did that. First I thought it was because I didn’t want you looking at Sophie, but then I thought some more. This is the complicated part… I started to think about how when I was around you and Sophie I was always kind of annoyed with you, and I always thought it was because I was jealous of you because Sophie liked you better, but then I realized it was because I was angry that you liked Sophie better than me. We used to hang out all the time, and now you just liked to be around Sophie. Slowly I began to understand that it wasn’t Sophie I liked, it was you. And the reason I didn’t want Sophie to like you? It wasn’t because I wanted her to like me, it was because I didn’t want you two to end up together. I wanted you to myself…” I finished, and Fitz’s eyes were watery. Why was he crying? Did I do something wrong? Was he upset with me now because of my jealously?
“No no no why are you crying, you weren’t supposed to be upset-“ I started, but then he kissed me on the cheek, and then blushed a bit.
“That’s so sweet I don’t even know how to react. Now I’m starting to wonder if I ever liked Sophie or if I just thought she was cool and thought it was cool that I found her and she wanted to be my friend because sometimes I got jealous of her and who gets jealous of their crush, isn’t that a bit weird?” Fitz spit a million words out at once and my brain seemed confused by the lack of punctuation, but I mostly understood what he was saying, and it made me happy. The love triangle was finally over. No more wrong and confusing feelings, just me and Fitz. I smiled at him and he smiled back, and I felt on top of the world.
Truth or Dare[]
Keefe’s POV
“Sophie, truth or dare?” Fitz asked. I stared at him, trying to be mad, but I was kind of failing at it. He had said last week that he wasn’t ready to tell anybody about us yet, and I was not happy about it. I wanted the world to know that Fitz Vacker was my boyfriend. We've been together about a month now.
Sophie thought for a moment.
“Ummm… dare.” She said. Fitz smirked.
“I was hoping you’d say that. I dare you to kiss Biana.” He said, and I could hear the smugness in his voice. I knew that he was trying to find a way to get Sophie and Biana together since he found out Biana liked Sophie, and I knew he thought this was his chance. He’d invited all of us over to Everglen for a sleepover, immediately saying he wanted to play truth or dare. Sophie blinked. Biana was bright red. Sophie turned to Biana, who she was sitting next to. She smiled a bit, though looked embarrassed, and leaned in to kiss her. Their lips met for just a moment, but Biana looked ecstatic. Sophie cleared her throat, fighting the blush away from her face, and turned to me.
“Keefe, truth or dare?” She asked, and I smirked.
“Um duh, dare!” I yelled, she just rolled her eyes. Though out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Fitz glaring at her. Was he jealous…?
“Okay then, I dare you to pick the next game.” She said, clearly done with truth or dare. I thought about Fitz’s Sophiana plan, and mentally debated between Spin the Bottle and Seven Minutes In Heaven, both of which were human games, like Truth or Dare. I decided on Seven Minutes in Heaven because it was easier to rig.
“Seven Minutes In Heaven.” I said smugly, and everybody groaned. Tam glared at me. “You just had to pick the worst game ever, didn’t you?” I nodded, beaming. Marella on the other hand clapped excitedly.
“Yay! There is gonna be some dramaaaaaaaaa. Oo, can we play the no fakers version?” She asked.
“Obviously,” I scoffed, “We gotta make it juicy.” No Fakers was our own alternate version, you weren’t allowed to leave the closet until you at least kissed once, and it was obviously Marella’s favorite. Of course we had no way of telling that you actually kissed, but it was just the honors system. Marella was always trying to get us together, and she said this was the best way to do it.
“And my rule, if there’s a spark, you have to tell me!” She stated, and we all rolled our eyes and nodded. We all wrote our names down on pieces of paper and threw them into the bowl. I pulled out the first two names.
“Tam and Fitz. Wait, Tam and Fitz?!” I blinked at the slips of paper, then glared at Tam. Of all the people it could’ve been. He glanced at Fitz, who looked at me. I narrowed my eyes at him, sending a message saying ‘don’t you dare’. But, of course, being the infuriating little boyfriend that he is, he grabbed Tam’s hand and walked into the closet. I glared at that door in silence for the entire seven minutes, then finally I heard the timer go off, and they both walked out. First came Tam, whose face was expressionless, but then there was Fitz. He looked slightly flustered, and I was the only one who noticed, besides Marella of course.
“Looking a little pink there, Fitz…” She said in a sing-song voice, and of course that made him even more flustered. I decided it was time to move on from this, so I pulled the next names.
“Dex and Linh.” I raised an eyebrow at the slips of paper. This should be interesting. Both of them had been pretty quiet all night, but neither looked embarrassed when they went in. Tam gave Dex a warning look, and Linh must’ve noticed, because she stuck her tongue out at him.
“Oh stop it Tam, you idiot.” She said playfully before dragging a now nervous looking Dex into the closet. They came out when the timer went off, though still, neither were embarrassed, just Dex glancing at Tam cautiously as he sat down.
“Next… names?” Dex asked, clearly ready for this moment to be over, so I snickered and grabbed the next two.
“Marella and Biana.” I announced, and they smiled at each other. They had become really close friends now, actually, so this wasn’t awkward for either of them. They came out when the timer went off and just sat back down. Hm. Not very juicy. This next one better be good.
“Sophie and Keefe.” I read, then blinked. Uh oh, this is NOT what I meant when I said juicy! Dex rolled his eyes at me.
“Oh come on, you totally rigged that, let me see.” He said, walking over to me. I held out the two papers for him to see, and he saw that was really what they said.
“Oh. Nevermind…” He said, clearly embarrassed. But when I looked at Sophie, she looked five times as embarrassed as Dex.
“Well, get goin’!” Marella said, shoving us both towards the closet. She slammed the door shut and I heard the little ding of the timer starting. A few seconds of silence passed as I tried to see through the darkness. Finally I said something.
“So. What’s new?” I whispered.
“Not much…” She replied.
“Well this isn’t awkward.” I clicked my tongue.
“Nope, not at all.”
“Might as well get it over with, right?” I asked, and she was silent for a minute.
“Right. Yup. Let’s do it.” She said, sounding more confident than I felt. If I squinted I could see the outline of her, just enough to be able to not end up kissing her on the nose or something. She leaned in a bit, and I did the same. For a split second our lips connected, then I pulled away.
“Okay. The end. Glad that’s done.” I said, and heard the ding of the timer going off. Well that was a quick seven minutes. The door opened and light flooded my eyes.
“Ugh, my eyeballs.” I groaned, covering them with my hands as I stumbled back to my seat.
“So?” Marella asked, clearly expecting something. When I had a crush on Sophie I had made it pretty clear that I liked her, so obviously everybody was curious how it went. I shook my head and Marella gasped.
“No? Nothing? Oh my stars, that’s quite a surprise.” She said, and I looked at Fitz, who raised an eyebrow at me, but I shook my head at him, telling him there was definitely nothing there. He sighed in relief and I pulled the next papers.
“Keefe and Fitz. Oo.” I didn’t realize I had said the ‘oo’ out loud until I felt everybody staring at me, and heard Fitz.
“Keefe!” He scolded, and I laughed, pulling him into the closet and shutting the door behind us. His lips pressed against mine and when the door opened we were still like that. I only realized time was up when I heard everybody gasp, and Fitz quickly pulled his lips away from mine and jumped back slightly.
“Noooo that wasn’t seven minutes.” I groaned, pulling him back to my chest, where he squirmed and tried to get away. Marella was squealing now.
“Aw that is so cute!” She cried. I worried for a minute that Fitz would be mad at me for letting everyone know that there was obviously something going on between us, but I think they figured that out on their own when the door opened.
“Keefe, seriously?” He sighed. I kissed him on the cheek.
“Yep.” I whispered. “Everybody, meet my boyfriend, Fitz Vacker!” I looked around at everybody for their reactions. Marella was obviously excited, Dex looked confused, Linh was smiling, Tam gave me a really weird look, Biana smirked (she already knew), and Sophie was… well. I couldn’t tell, but I could feel some sort of wave of emotions radiating from her. I whistled.
“Sheesh, Foster. I can barely breathe with all those emotions flooding my nose.” I teased. Her and Fitz were looking at each other now, clearly speaking to each other telepathically. I knocked on Fitz’s head.
“Earth to boyfriend, hey, no telepathic conversations without me.” I pouted, but he seemed too busy glaring at Sophie to notice.
“Just get out!” Fitz growled suddenly, and I realized he was yelling at Sophie.
“Fine!” She screamed back, then leapt away, but not before glaring at me. I felt some serious anger coming from Fitz, and gently pushed him away.
“Babe, you’re giving me a headache.” I informed him and he mumbled,
“I’ll be back in a minute…” then walked out. I sat there extremely confused and heard Tam clear his throat.
“Anybody have an idea what that was about?” He asked, and everybody shook their heads. “All I know is Sophie’s angry at both me and Fitz, and Fitz is seriously angry at her, and maybe at me?”
“Fitz isn’t angry at you.” Linh said, and I raised an eyebrow at her.
“How do you know that?” I asked and she shrugged.
“I can just tell, I may not be an Empath, but I’m pretty good with emotions.” I sat back down in my original seat, and suddenly Fitz came back in.
“Linh’s right, I’m not mad at you.” He said, sitting down next to me. “I’m just mad at Sophie for being a stupid, cold-hearted, envious idiot.” I couldn’t help but snicker.
“What’d she do?” I asked.
“I don’t really want to tell you what she said because it might make you upset…” He confessed, and I grabbed his hand.
“I can take it.” I smiled, and he looked at me for a minute.
“Okay. I believe you. ‘And you broke up with me for being Unmatchable? Here you are with a boy who, let’s not forget, ran off with the Neverseen and abandoned us? Whose mother have we had to deal with for so long? Oh, right, his. Why of all people would you choose the stupid blonde puppet?“ He finished quietly, I hugged him and buried my face in his hair.
“Sorry she said that to you.” I whispered, and he scoffed.
“Are you serious? I don’t care about that part, I’m just angry because nothing she said about you is true. You know that… right?” He sounded unsure. I shook my head and let out a broken laugh.
“No, she’s right. The only reason I exist is so my mother could use me as her puppet, and I’m not good enough for you. You’re Fitz Vacker, gorgeous, smart, famous. I’m Keefe Sencen, dumb, puppet, legacy boy. I think it’s better if we don’t date, and if we stay away from each other…” I said, standing up to leave. He grabbed my arm.
“Keefe, stop it, that’s not true, any of it. Please don’t leave, please stay. I’m happier when you’re here, don’t you want me to be happy?” His voice cracked at the end.
“Keefe, I love you, don’t go.” I froze at first.
“You what?” I turned around and looked at him. He had some tears on his face and his eyes were wet.
“I love you.” He said again, and now there were tears in my eyes too.
“I love you too, I love the way when you’re embarrassed your ears get red, how you try and act tough but really you’re shy, I love that ever since we started dating you stole Biana’s pink lemonade lip gloss and put it on every day, hoping I won’t notice. I love that when you go shopping you discreetly look at all the skirts, secretly wanting to try one on but not wanting anyone to judge you. I love you so I'm leaving you, I hope you understand that it’s what’s best for you.” I reached for my bag and pulled out a leaping crystal, one that went to the Forbidden Cities. I kissed him one last time and held it up, stepping into the light and pulling away from his tight grip on my arm.
“You’d look amazing in a skirt.” I said before the light stole me away, and I stood in the Forbidden Cities.
Gone[]
Fitz's POV
I blinked. The spot where he had stood was empty, and he was gone. I couldn't help but let a laugh slip out.
"It's my fault. He left because I told him what she said- I never should've- it's my fault." I knew I probably sounded hysterical, but I didn't care. I tore my hands through my hair. Biana stood in front of me now, she grabbed my hand. That's when I realized everybody else was gone as well.
"They're just in the kitchen, I figured you probably didn't want them all in here right now." Biana said quietly. She hugged me and I let her. "He'll be back, you know. He'll come back. he always does, I think he's just a little shaken." I nodded. I wanted to believe that. I needed to believe that. That little sliver of hope. "But you better get your own lip gloss, mine is off limits." She said, and I handed her the tube of pink lemonade lip gloss. She shoved it back at me. "I don't want that one anymore!"
Tam's POV
I couldn't believe it. Fitz and Keefe. That hurt on so many levels. He likes guys. I should've taken my chance when I had it, if I had told him how I'd felt then maybe... maybe it would be me by his side instead of Fitz. But it was too late now, he was gone. I glanced at Fitz and Biana walking in and I completely understood why Keefe was into Fitz. The Vackers were gorgeous. Linh seemed to understand how I was feeling, she grabbed my hand and smiled a bit. She was the only one who knew how I felt about Keefe.
"We're only teenagers, Tam. It's not forever." She whispered to me. That was true, at least there was that. But the way he'd looked at Fitz... that seemed like a way he could never look at me.