it turned out that keefe's whole 'there doesn't have to be a name for what we have' thing was bullshit, because as soon as they finished kissing he asked tam out. & tam said yes. obviously.

the second they went back into the living room, where elwin was treating sophie's new murcat bite because of course, biana squealed. tam didn't know how she did it, but the first thing she said was, you guys are dating now, right?

tam blushed bigger than he thought was possible. next to him, keefe beamed. yeah, it's official. i have a sexy emo boyfriend.

tam bit his lip. & um. i have a sexy blonde boyfriend? he covered his face as linh screeched. yeah, i know, i didn't think i would end up with a blonde either, okay?

linh couldn't hide her beam. then she thought for a minute. are you going to tell mom & dad you're gay? oh wait, sorry, are you gay? or are you like bi or something? never mind none of my business whatever but are you gonna come out to mom & dad?

tam smiled a little. for the record, i am gay. i think. i mean, to be completely honest, labels are kind of dumb because i feel like elves can like anyone, it just depends on who they meet & stuff, but as of now i have never been attracted to a girl. & why would i want mom & dad to know? they didn't come see me when i almost shattered. who i date is none of their damn business. they don't deserve to know.

keefe ran his fingers through his hair. i don't think i'll tell my dad. he's obsessed with appearance & shit, so he won't want anyone to know i'm bi. he'd probably keep me locked up at the waves of wimpiness so i couldn't come see you & tell people.

dads suck, tam said.

agreed, said keefe.

biana couldn't keep her goofy grin from growing. i can't believe this is actually happening. are you going to tell our friends?

tam looked at keefe. keefe shrugged. i guess, he said.

wait, said sophie, who was being slow both because she was a generally oblivious person & because she currently had murcat venom running through her bloodstream (which was a little distracting), so you guys are dating?

yeah, said tam.

sophie looked at biana triumphantly. see? i told you keefe doesn't like me!

keefe snickered. no, i definitely liked you. president of the foster fan club, remember? but i'm over that, cause now i have a boyfriend who i can be depressed with instead of about!

wait, you're depressed? asked sophie.

tam came dangerously close to facepalming.

later, sitting together on tam's bed, tam said, i didn't expect it to be like this.

keefe stayed silent. he knew tam well enough that he knew he wasn't done.

i wanted to forget the things that happened, tam said. i hated you at first when you came because i felt vulnerable. but if i forced myself to forget what happened, i wouldn't be able to accept it. & i still have a ways to go, i think. but it's better like this, with someone else who can understand.

keefe squeezed his hand. same for me, i think.

i love you, keefe sencen.

keefe smiled, unclasping one of tam's hands & using his now-free hand to tug playfully on tam's bangs. you too, bangs boy. you too.

tam glanced into keefe's icey blue eyes. the world didn't shift. it stayed exactly the way it was.

exactly the way it should be.

a/n: & that is the end of 'this is our legacy now'! i can't believe it's over. i have had so much fun creating this story (especially the sad scenes where all they do is talk about their feelings, idk why but i love writing those)! but don't worry, since three more gay kotlc books that will likely include a bit of kam are coming.

if you liked this story & want to read more like it, i strongly suggest you follow me. that way, you'll get my announcements about the next books in the series and know when they're out. there's going to be one more chapter in 'this is our legacy now', a bonus linhiana chapter that takes place after linh leaves to find biana in 6.

there are three more books in the legacies series. they're pretty obvious, but i'll give the first person to guess their ships a shoutout.

thank you all for reading my story. it means a lot. have a good day xx