SO sorry for the wait! I finally finished! 

This chapter has the first-ever super-exclusive Fitz's POV! (so exciting, ik) 

Enjoy!

Now that he thought about it, there had been another voice echoing in his head, so quiet that he'd brushed it off as his conscience.

"No, I don't think you have one of those," Fitz's voice dripped with venom. Keefe flinched.

"Get out of my head, please," Keefe said through gritted teeth.

Fitz snorted, and a small presence left Keefe's head, so subtle he hadn't noticed it before it was gone.

"Explain," the brunette hissed, his voice icy. "When exactly did you and Sophie kiss?"

"Let me explain." Keefe held up his hands in surrender, even as his brain was shouting at him for forgetting Fitz was still in his mind. Rookie mistake.

Fitz crossed his arms, his scowl wrinkling his forehead. He waited expectantly for Keefe to come up with the best way to phrase the words that could spell the end of their friendship- forever.

"First of all, it wasn't while you were dating," Keefe told him. "So there was no cheating involved."

Fitz's face softened slightly, and Keefe felt a stab of hurt at the idea that Fitz believed he would kiss his girlfriend. But... they'd almost kissed, hadn't they? And that had been while they were dating... But it hadn't happened. So it didn't count.

Right?

"It happened... earlier today, actually," Keefe hesitated. Had it really been only earlier that day? So much had happened, from his parent's argument to the kiss to Biana and talking to Fitz- it seemed like weeks had passed since that morning, when Keefe had stood in the rain and decided to face the truth.

Fitz's eyebrows pressed together, and he said slowly, "But Sophie and I broke up this morning."

"Right- I-" Keefe cursed himself again. "It wasn't like that."

"Like what? Like, my girlfriend and I broke up, and a few hours later you decided to comfort her and then make out with her?" If possible, Fitz's face became even stormier, shadows darkening his eyes with anger.

"No! I- I didn't plan it-"

"I'm assuming she definitely knows you like her." Fitz waited for Keefe's reluctant nods before continuing, "When did she find out?"

Great. Yet another question Keefe was hoping to avoid. "Well..." he hedged, stalling as much as he could. "She had a right to know... all of her options."

"When?"

"A few days ago," Keefe answered softly. "The...um. Two days before today."

"Did you tell her?" Fitz had obviously made the connection between that day and the day they'd broken up, judging from the clenched fists.

"Not... exactly," Keefe winced. "But before you get mad, nothing happened. And it's not like I planned it, and I wasn't even... nothing happened."

Fitz's foot tapped, and Keefe steeled himself. "We... almost kissed. But-" He added quickly as Fitz drew in a breath, "We didn't! Nothing happened! She pulled away!"

"But you would've kissed her. You would've let it happen, and ignored my feelings!" Fitz was angry. And Keefe really couldn't blame him. "And worse? Neither of you planned on telling me! How long were you going to keep this a secret?"

"Preferably until you were over her." Keefe regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth, and he knew he would have reacted the same way as Fitz's fists tightened and his breath whooshed out of him furiously.

"Oh, I see. So my feelings, my thoughts mean nothing to you? You never thought 'Hey, maybe Fitz actually genuinely likes Sophie, so kissing her and confusing her while they're dating and making them break up wouldn't be a good idea'? And then after you decided to do just that, you thought, 'Whoops! Guess they're broken up now, it's a good time to make my move on Sophie, Fitz will get over it' and then, 'Hey, let's not tell him about it until a few years have passed and he's moved on, and in the meantime, I should try to become his friend again so he'll really feel the good ol' trust stomping that I excel at when he finally takes his head out of his butt and realizes we're dating'?"

His voice broke on the last word. Fitz didn't even sound angry anymore. He did, of course, but he sounded more... resigned.

Betrayed.

Keefe was speechless. There really wasn't a response to that, because it was all true. "I... we're not dating."

"But you would be, if not for me, correct? She does like you, I know that." Fitz closed his eyes, tearing his fingers through his hair. "You're not dating... yet."

The utter betrayal in that sentence almost broke Keefe's heart, and he could feel that somewhere during the conversation, Fitz's emotions had changed from absolute anger to be mixed with sadness, and resignation.

"You know the worst part?" Fitz raised his head, and his eyes were filled with equal fury and regret. "The worst part is that I was right. I knew this would happen, but because I acted on that, I made it happen."

"Fitz," Keefe whispered, guilt filling his mind. "I'm... so sorry. I wish I could go back. I wish I could..." But he couldn't finish the sentence, because he wouldn't go back. He wouldn't change a thing about what had happened even though it ended up here. And he knew that made him a terrible person but he still didn't want it to change, because now he was (sorta) with Sophie.

"I wish this didn't have to happen," he said finally. This, he meant. Because he missed Fitz, and he wished they could be friends again. He wanted them to be young, before any of this mess had happened and they could just be kids again.

But they couldn't, and Keefe had made his mistakes. Now, all he could do was hope for Fitz to accept his apology.

But the telepath shook his head.

"That's not good enough. I can't... look at you, or her without seeing you kissing, hours after we broke up. I can't trust you."

"So... what?" Keefe whispered, bracing himself.

"I think... I need some time. Maybe I'll be able to be friends with you again. I want to be able to trust you... but... I don't know. I need to think," Fitz told him, his voice soft. He looked away, but not before Keefe caught a hint of tears in his teal eyes.

His own ice blue eyes started to water at the thought, but he nodded. He'd said all he could. It was up to Fitz now.

"For what it's worth," Keefe murmured as he held his home crystal up to the light streaming in his window. "I trust you. And she always did."

Fitz glanced over, holding his gaze as the blonde began to glitter away. His mouth moved, but Keefe didn't catch the words that came out before the warm feathers whisked him away, teal eyes burning into his vision for a long while later.

...

(Fitz's POV)

He couldn't move. He could hardly breathe.

Functioning didn't seem to be an option at the moment.

His mind whirled, but he didn't have the energy to straighten out his thoughts. They jumbled together in a mix of emotions and feelings that would take hours to untangle, and Fitz was sick of feeling this way.

It had happened too often in the last few months; ever since Fitz and Sophie had started dating, there would be moments when Fitz struggled to separate his thoughts and identify his feelings.

Maybe it was because every emotion related to Sophie turned into a big fat blob whenever Fitz thought about it too long. Not that it disappeared; it just became more and more confusing with every second.

He had a crush on her; that much was certain. Whenever he looked at her his stomach fluttered and he was sure she noticed the way he couldn't tear his eyes away from her face (although maybe not- she was pretty oblivious). He loved spending time with her, and he relished the smiles that appeared on her face whenever he gave her a present.

He trusted her, but that trust had been broken (and it was his fault), just like Keefe had broken his trust as well.

Anger and sadness warred in his stomach, tinged with regret and confusion.

He was an idiot.

The door banged open, and Fitz jumped, almost falling off his bed, much to Biana's amusement as she strode into the room.

"Spill," she ordered before he could get a single word out. "Now."

So he did.

The entire story spilled out of his mouth, starting when Keefe came into the room.

"And now," he finished. "Now, I don't even know how to feel, because... because... I don't know."

Biana winced, and Fitz glared at her. "What?"

"I... may or may not have encouraged Keefe to tell her-"

"You what?" Fitz shouted, instantly on his feet.

"Wait! Listen to me!" Biana held up a hand, and Fitz felt the urge to sit down meekly in the face of her tilted chin. He resisted, making his glare as withering as possible.

"I... encouraged Keefe to tell Sophie, but only because I wanted Sophie to have all her options open," Biana explained. "Plus, I wanted Keefe to stop being mopy and sad every time Sophie blushed at you-"

"So you... make him tell Sophie, also without considering how I would feel about it, because you didn't want your poor crush Keefe-" Biana's eyes sparked with anger, but he continued before she could interject- "to be sad that he couldn't get the girl he wanted?"

Okay, maybe that was a low blow. He knew Biana didn't like Keefe anymore. But he always said things he didn't mean when he was angry- he was trying to work on it, but sometimes his temper got the better of him again.

"It didn't affect you!" Biana flared, her teal eyes bright with annoyance. "Sophie deserved to know, she's not an object to fight over-"

"I know that!" Fitz defended. "That's not what I meant!

"But you don't get to withhold information from her just because of your own feelings!" Biana's voice was equally as loud as Fitz's, now. "You're mad about Keefe wanting to tell Sophie so that he could 'win' her or whatever, but Sophie is not a game to be won! Getting the girl isn't just another game of Bramble for Keefe to cheat at! So stop telling me I'm in the wrong because you're bitter you lost a game of tug-of-war!"

"That's not what I-" Fitz cut himself off. "Can you not just assume my feelings are so fake that I'd disregard Sophie's feelings for pure pettiness? I thought you understood me better than that. I thought you trusted me more. And I never thought you'd actually think that I'd think of Sophie as a game because that's not how I view her."

"It sure sounds like it," Biana frowned, crossing her arms angrily.

"You're wrong," Fitz said shortly. "I had- have- genuine feelings for Sophie. And that's why I'm angry. Not because I lost some kind of game. But because you- she- Keefe- you all technically betrayed me by going behind my back like that. You tell me to respect Sophie's feelings, but what do you think of mine?"

"Yes. You're right," Biana surprised Fitz, twisting her fingers together as she apologized. "I'm sorry. But... keeping this information from Sophie isn't fair to her. Or to Keefe."

Fitz took a deep breath, biting down the words on the tip of his tongue as he did.

He had a tendency to speak without thinking.

Especially in sensitive situations.

But now, he tore his fingers through his hair, working through the situation.

"True," he admitted finally. "But what other choice do I have? If Sophie knows... and she does, now. She knows, and... she chose him. Just like I knew she would."

Biana nodded slowly. "I know."

"She always chooses him, you know."

The vanisher flinched slightly, and Fitz's gaze zeroed in on her.

"Don't tell me-"

"She did." The words burst out of her lips as if she'd been holding them back. "I've gotten... so many perspectives on this, Fitz. You, Keefe, and Sophie always hail me first, for some reason. I always get the news and talk to you about it and help you work through and-" She held up a hand to stop Fitz as he opened his mouth- "Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I love that you three trust me enough to talk to me and everything, but I've been juggling all three of your feelings and everything for months. And I have to remember what you know, and what I can tell you, and what Keefe understands and then I have to encourage all three of you to talk to one another, and let me tell you, it is... kind of exhausting."

"You came in here, you know," Fitz said defensively (and maybe with a touch of guilt). "You aren't exactly beating us away with a stick."

"I know, and it's not your fault. My point is, this... whatever this is, between you three? It has to stop. You need to figure out your feelings together. And I'm going to tell you this because I think you deserve to know."

Here, Biana stopped, placing her hands on Fitz's shoulders. "She chose Keefe, Fitz."

The words barely made it through his head. He knew they were true, but he didn't want them to be.

"How do you-"

"Like I said," Biana told him gently. "I get every point of view. After the... kiss... happened, Keefe hailed me and told me what happened. Then, I talked to Sophie with the girls. And now I'm here."

"Don't tell me you-"

"Every time, Fitz. Keefe and Sophie hail me every time anything major happens. And this was pretty major."

"What did... what exactly did she..."

"Keefe and Sophie are a match. And we... helped her realize it."

Fitz nodded, his neck bobbing as he stopped himself from asking what they'd said. It was none of his business... and he wasn't really sure he wanted to know, anyway. He wasn't even angry anymore.

Annoyed, confused, sad, maybe a little jealous.

But his anger was gone.

"It'll be okay, Fizzy," Biana whispered, using his (rather unimaginative) childhood nickname as she wrapped her arms around him.

He let his arms wrap around her waist. 

Maybe he even believed her.

"Thanks, Bee."

Okay so-

I just-

I don't know what happened with that one-

It was basically me trying not to villainize Fitz while making him feel all the things I thought he'd be feeling.

Then I remembered that Biana is literally Keefe and Sophie's go-tos for advice and everything and like-

So yeah.

Sorry about that, Fitz. You're sad, and when you're sad, I'm sad.

But he'll feel better.

Anyways, comment below if you liked it, etc etc, I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing!