Word count: ~3.0k words

Back at it with another chapter!!

Warnings: Panicking (panic attack kinda), swearing

"Sophie, can we talk for a bit?" Edaline asked.

Grady was standing beside her, so she figured it was important. Keefe and Fitz seemed to have the shop under control.

"What's up?" she asked.

Edaline and Grady shared a look. "Not here. In our room."

Well, that was a little weird. It wasn't that often that she went in their room, she liked giving them privacy and they were rarely in their room in the first place.

Sophie walked with them there. It was a light, airy room, decorated a little bit but what always grabbed Sophie's attention were the picture frames. The ones of Jolie, especially, as pictures of Jolie weren't found anywhere else around the house.

"We need to talk about Keefe," Grady said.

Sophie turned to him. "What? Is something wrong?"

Grady just looked at her, Edaline too, though her gaze was more sympathetic.

"Sophie, we're happy to have Keefe here and all, and we've refrained from asking too many questions, but don't you think things are a little strange?" Edaline asked.

"No government ID, they haven't been able to even give me a last name, and they're just relying on your name for income. You know they can't rely on you for everything, right?" Grady continued.

...I think I rely on them more than they do me.

"Are you kicking them out?" Sophie blurted out, feeling dread build up.

"No," Edaline said, while Grady said "Not yet."

"Seriously, kiddo," Grady said, "it couldn't have been that long since you've known them, otherwise you would've told us about your 'online friend'. The lack of last name, that's what gets me. How could you know that they're what they say they are?"

"I know their situation, I've seen it," Sophie murmured.

"You've also seemed more stressed since their arrival," Edaline added.

Sophie felt bad, because she was right, but somehow, the more time that passed, the less she felt like blaming Keefe, even though it was very much their fault.

"We're worried for you, and the toll everything will have on your heart. You've been looking more blue lately."

Sophie blinked, getting the basic idea, but she was so confused at the weird way they were going about saying it. "I'll be fine," she said.

She truly hoped that the more she said it, the more she'd grow to believe it.

"We're still housing them," Grady said, "and even if we did kick them out, we wouldn't leave them with nothing. But you come first, remember that."

Sophie nodded.

•~•~•~•~•~•

"So... you want to go on a date?" Fitz asked. "Later today?"

"Sure," she agreed. A date with Fitz! She wanted to do a little dance, even though it'd been a few days since she officially became Fitz Vacker's girlfriend.

"We could go watch a movie."

"But if Foster leaves, what am I supposed to do?" Keefe said, appearing out of nowhere.

Fitz rolled her eyes. "Sophie's not your mom."

They grinned. "I know. I'm older."

"That's not what I meant. But how old are you?"

"That's a secret!"

Sophie held back a sigh of relief. Though, she did wonder how old they really were. She remembered how they said it'd been at least a year since they were turned into a siren. They looked to be around her age, maybe slightly older.

"Fitz and I want some alone time, no third wheeling," Sophie told them, because she really wouldn't put it past them to spy on her date. Sure, there were going to be moments where she'd be tempted to kiss Fitz, but she knew not to risk anything.

"Me? Third wheel? I would never."

They continued working their shift and after that they got ready for their date. She took out a cute top Biana bought for her but she said she'd never wear. A date with Fitz! She felt like the same giddy highschooler that she'd been back when she first fell for him. When he came back to pick her up, she linked elbows with him and they drove to the movie theatre.

The movie was fine, although a cliche romance story. She honestly paid more attention to staring at Fitz, holding his hand and feeding him popcorn more than anything else.

This was what she'd wanted so badly. His eyes on her, smiling his charming smile at her. For him to feed her popcorn too, to hold her face in his hand, his eyes flitting down to her lips and—

Sophie kissed his cheek before she could be too tempted and do anything more.

"I don't want to rush you," he whispered, but she could see disappointment flash in his eyes, "do you know how long until you can..?"

"I don't know. I want to, I really do, but I can't." She kissed his other cheek, and this time, his expression softened. "Not yet. But I will, one day."

He took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips. "As I said, I'll wait for you."

He turned back to watch the movie, and she turned away too. I'm sorry, she wanted to say. I must be disappointing you so much, aren't I? You waited all these years for me, and...

She didn't even notice when the movie had finished, or when Fitz had walked her back to the car, only when Fitz was calling out her name and she absently picked up a bottle of water in her hand did she realize that the world had muted. She weakly opened the cap, downing half the bottle, noticing how hot she felt. It was the withdrawal again, but she had taken a bath not that long ago...

"Sophie," Fitz whispered, "are you okay?"

She nodded. "Sorry."

God, she couldn't even go through the whole date without making things go wrong. Though she felt a little better, Fitz still insisted on helping her inside.

"So, you two, how was the date?" Keefe asked from the dining room table. "Oh, Foster doesn't look well."

"Nothing that a little rest and hydration won't fix," she replied.

Keefe looked at her, then shrugged. She figured they got the message.

"We could have our next date next week?" Fitz asked. "On my birthday?"

Sophie grinned. "You'll spend practically your whole day with me. Movie midnight, sleepover, work, date and party."

"I'll enjoy every minute of it."

"Ugh, gross," Keefe gagged, and both of them turned to glare at them. "You two are insufferable."

"Not as insufferable as you are," Sophie said, rolling her eyes.

•~•~•~•~•~•

Over the next week, she noticed that the withdrawals started to come more frequently, but it wasn't like she could just spend all day in a bathtub. So instead, she bought herself a giant shiny cup to drink water out of. It honestly worked better than she thought it would, and she wondered why she never tried doing this in the past, considering she was usually dehydrated.

"That's strange," Biana remarked, upon seeing Sophie refill the cup after having already drunk the entire cup once.

"I'm in my hydration arc," she told them.

"That's a first," Biana said.

Sophie snorted. "I know, right?"

After her shifts, she usually went out with Keefe to the water for a proper rehydration, plus it allowed for them to do so too. While her afternoon outings with Keefe were already a constant, they began to become something more daily. Going to the water allowed them both to get their water intake plus it allowed for some privacy to talk about any siren stuff.

She knew it meant spending less time with Fitz and Biana, and she wasn't completely oblivious to Fitz's questioning stares, but what could she do?

•~•~•~•~•~•

"I'm getting good vibes today," Keefe declared. "Let's go, I'm feeling that Marella and Linh might be back."

"Oh?" Sophie replied, "good vibes, huh?"

She wasn't the biggest fan of leaving things up to fate or luck, but when nothing new could be learned, or no actions could be taken, luck was really all she had. If Marella and Linh were back, then maybe they'd have figured out an answer and all this siren stuff could be over.

She could go back to her normal life. Keep Keefe in it too, even have Marella and Linh hang around. She wondered if maybe other sirens could use this knowledge too. Wouldn't that be nice? They wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

The two of them headed out, though Marella and Linh weren't there.

Keefe sighed. "Damn it, I was really hoping."

"It's fine," she said on autopilot. "Maybe tomorrow."

"Maybe," they shrugged.

They went on to that little piece of land and laid there on the sand. Sophie turned to look at them, poking their cheek.

"Foster, what are you doing?"

"I'm bored," she said, poking them again.

They poked her back. She poked them again. They kept poking each other, and Sophie laughed, feeling relieved to be able to act so immature, even if for a little bit.

"Keefe?" she whispered, her hand drifting in their hair, ruffling it a little. "'m glad you're here."

Their eyes widened, and they turned to face up. "I thought I was insufferable. Don't worry though, I know. I'd be glad to have me here too. Can't resist the Keefester."

She punched their shoulder. "Oh, shut up."

"Oh, no no no, I will not. You care about me, Foster. Don't lie to me, I can see your heart." She honestly expected them to poke her heart, but instead, they stood up. "Getting late. I think it's past midnight."

"Oh shit?" Honestly, she was disappointed. She got up too, and they swam back to the mainland.

She picked up her phone and started absently going through her notifications, only to see a few missed calls from both Biana and Fitz. There were a few texts from each of them too.

Biana: Sophie? Are you running late?

Sophie?

Sophie where tf are you?

Keefe's unreachable too. Are you with them right? Seriously???

Sophie, did you really forget?

It's past midnight, what the hell. You actually just ditched us?

And then just one from Fitz.

Fitz <3: Where are you?

...and then her phone died. Damn this cold weather.

"Foster? Something wrong?"

"I think I was supposed to be with Fitz and Biana. But I have no idea what it is."

"Huh? Was there something you were supposed to do with them now? Let's just walk to their place, maybe you'll figure it out."

As they walked, Sophie tried to wrack her head for anything. She didn't recall making any plans. She thought of the date: October 27th. It didn't sound significant... what on earth was it that had both Biana and Fitz calling for her so urgently?

When she opened the door, it was to Biana's disappointed stare.

"Did something happen?" Sophie asked. "It's late."

Biana raised an eyebrow. "You mean you haven't figured it out?"

"I'm not a mind reader, Bi," she said, walking in. She looked around for Fitz, but he didn't seem to be around.

"He's upstairs, changing."

"Sorry," Sophie said.

Biana shrugged with one shoulder. "I'm not the one that needs it."

"Sophie? You're here?" Fitz asked from the stairs. "Hey, can we talk?"

Sophie went to climb the stairs.

"Alright, I'm coming with."

"Alone," Fitz continued, glaring at Keefe.

Sophie climbed up as Fitz led her to his room. When they entered it, Fitz locked the door.

"I'm being an awful girlfriend, aren't I?" Sophie asked, unable to look up at him.

A few seconds of silence. "Honestly, yeah. I want you to be honest with me Sophie, do you have a thing for Keefe?"

Her gaze wrenched upwards, looking up at him in shock. "What? No, I don't, why would you—"

"I don't get it. It took you a while for you to be comfortable with Biana and I, but with Keefe, it's effortless. They're touchy with you, just like that. I have been trying so hard to ignore it, because I have no right to control who you're with. But seriously? You ignored pre-established plans, plans for my birthday, when we never skipped our midnight movie, all for someone you've barely known. I'm your boyfriend, no—I'm one of your best friends and it hurts."

"I forgot," she mumbled.

His birthday. How on earth did she forget that? While she was prone to forgetting most dates, birthdays had always been a thing her brain instinctively kept track of. She'd been excited about it, the gift she bought for him was...

...what was it again? Her head felt heavy as she tried to recall, but it was like the memory didn't exist.

Memory, Sophie thought. A siren, their memories would—

No.

"Forgot," Fitz murmured, "Sophie, are you okay? Ever since Keefe came here, you've been more stressed, you've fainted once and nearly did again all within this month. You've been on multiple of your 'stress walks' and you've been drinking more water. You've been hiding something from me, haven't you?"

"No, I—"

"I won't judge. Even if you accidentally had a thing with Keefe and the reason why they're here is because you're pregnant and—"

"What?"

Fitz stopped talking. Sophie stared at him. "You think I—wait wait wait—"

She nearly burst into laughter, but only stopped herself at the serious expression on his face.

"I've been trying to think of any logical explanation. For your symptoms, for Keefe's presence, because we both—not even us, Biana and even your parents—know that the story you gave us sounds like bullshit. But I accepted it, thinking you'd tell me the truth eventually. I don't get it then, what's going on? And you also said I shouldn't blame Keefe for you being unwilling to kiss me, but isn't that the truth?

"You're hiding something from me," Fitz said taking her hands in his. He held them close to his chest. "I'm hurt that you don't think you can trust me, when we've known each other for so long."

And then, for a brief moment, a blue light drew her attention. Emitting from his chest where his heart was, was a series of blue swirls shaped like a heart. It looked exactly like Keefe's drawing of her.

Heartbreak.

She blinked, and then it was gone, but the pained expression on his face still remained.

"Do you want to know the truth?" she asked.

"Yes! I want you to be honest with me!"

She took a deep breath. She had to tell him, to alleviate that heartbreak. She never wanted to see his heart turn blue like that again.

"You remember what sirens are, right?"

"Mythological creatures that sing and seduce sailors to their death," he said slowly. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"They're real. And I'm—I'm one of them. Part, technically, I'm a half siren—"

"What the fuck are you talking about? Explain. Slowly. Please."

She took another breath. "Sirens, they're former humans who were cursed to lose all their memories and forced to stay in solitude underwater. They have a song that they sing to lure heartbroken humans so that they could pass the curse on to that human, all so that they can become a human once more.

"Keefe was a siren, and they tried to pass the curse down to me—it's not their fault though because sirens live in solitude and they just want to actually live again, but the transferring process went all weird so both of us just ended up as half sirens, though I'm slowly becoming a siren and Keefe human I guess and it means that—"

Fitz put his hand over her mouth, the other moving to wipe her face. Oh, she was crying.

"A siren," Fitz said blankly. "A siren? And you were... cursed? By Keefe?"

He took hand off her mouth. She looked down, afraid to see his reaction.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She looked back up at him, and his eyes were glimmering with tears. "You're going to become a siren? Is that... is that what I heard? Why didn't you tell me?"

His heart shone blue again.

"You believe me?"

"It's ridiculous. It sounds like bullshit," he sighed, running a hand through his hair, "but I'm choosing to believe you anyway. You should've told me earlier. Didn't we once promise each other to not keep secrets?"

("I'm scared, sometimes," Fitz once said, "I think I lucked out, getting to meet you. That we got to be friends. I get worried I'll lose you. Can you... can you promise me that we'll always be together? That we won't push each other apart, that we won't keep any secrets?"

Sophie looked at him, and all she thought was the biggest secret that she could never tell him. That she was in love with him. But that secret... that one would stay hidden, and she would never let it drive them apart.

And then she said... what did she say next again..?)

"I didn't want to burden you," Sophie said. "And you can't solve this problem."

"Burden me? Did you think helping you was a burden? That listening to your problems was a burden? Even if it is, it's a burden I'm willing to carry!" he grasped her hands again, brushing a thumb over the back of her hand. "I'm hurt that you thought I wouldn't always, always choose you!"

His heart shone even brighter. He was so close to her... she cupped his face in her hands, and brought herself closer, close enough to kiss—

Fitz shoved her away. She reeled back and stared at his heart, as it dimmed slightly.

"No. Not like this," he said, "I'm not letting our first kiss happen just because you want to appease me."

First kiss... she... she tried to kiss him, and his heart was clearly so broken—

She staggered towards the door, clumsily opening it.

"Sophie?"

She needed—she needed to leave, she couldn't control herself and she nearly transferred the curse to Fitz—she couldn't stay.

She flung the back door open wide, ignoring the feel of concrete against her bare feet as she ran. Away, she had to stay away, or else she'd ruin things.

...I haven't really gotten much reaction for this fic on here, so I'd just like to know what you all think of how things are so far?