HI YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is a new one shot!!! (I will post the ending to Last Day soon!) I am hosting a SoKeefe one shot competition and I figured I'd write a one shot to the first prompt as well! I'll write the prompt at the end so those of you don't know what the prompt is won't know what's coming! 

For those of you who do know the prompt and are in the competition- we're almost done with the first round and all of your entries were so good! I know for a fact that my interpretation of the prompt and my writing is nowhere near as good as any of yours, nevertheless, I hope you enjoy!!!

The colors blend together like a symphony. Each highlighting the other, emphasizing the beauty. The gold, rays of sun. The brown, the deepest void, a comforting darkness. It's been a while since I painted. He's managed to make me feel worse about myself than I thought possible, made me feel like more of a disappointment every time I picked up a brush. It's funny, really, the humanity, the pettiness in all of us. I could want to hate my parents, my creators, with every bone, every cell in my body, and still ache for their satisfaction. For my mother, regardless of the fact that to her, I'm no different than a powerful asset, to smile at me, to tell me I've done well. For my father, who has judged everything I've ever done as long as I can remember, to approve of something I enjoy, something I'm good at.

Each yell, each fight, each scolding, each telling I'm not good enough, makes me want it more. Makes every particle, every being of my body yearn for praise, for belonging.

For a place in this twisted, crooked world.

It's why I paint. It's like a drug, calling to me, whispering that it will take all my worries away for a little while, allowing me to lose myself to the vibrant colors, the brush strokes, the quiet.

More so than not, I find myself subconsciously painting flowing golden hair made of pure light and sparkling brown voids that are far more than eyes.

Sophie is perhaps the one thing that keeps me going. The one thing in this world that stops me from ending it all together. From slitting my wrists and letting the blood spill upon my sheets; a glorious crimson on a blank, open canvas. If it wasn't for the elixirs that conceal the circles that form under my eyes, I might look dead. I may as well be.

There's no point in living if there's no point to life.

Sometimes I wish everyone would tell the truth; my friends would tell me what they really think of me, if Sophie's just my friend because she pities me. Other times I wish everyone would just tell me what I want to hear. I wish I could control it all.

Our bodies are built to crave affection, love. Without it, we wish for it more. I know it's missing in my life, I can feel it clenching in my chest, a hole, a deep void almost as deep as her eyes, although being lost in yourself is more painful than one can imagine.

A splotch of water, one that could have only come from my eyes, lands on my paper. I rock my head back in annoyance, groaning as quietly as I can. I don't want him to have any reason to come into my room. But the world is against me.

I should have known by now.

My door swings open, screaming on its hinges. I cringe when it hits the wall with a loud bang. I know that saying something snarky to my father will only result in worse consequences, so I bow my head, embarrassed to be caught.

"Do you think it's funny to completely disregard what I tell you? To go against it entirely just for the heck of it?" His face is red and the anger is very much present. If the situation was different, I might have poked fun at his face, but I've seen him like this before, it only ever results in bruises and cuts.

"I'm sorry," I mutter quietly, hoping that just for once he'll back down and leave me alone. "You're right, I shouldn't have gone behind your back and..." I know he won't give in, it would be wishful thinking to assume so. Instead, as I ramble I fold my painting of Sophie up and slip it into my cape pocket.

Whenever I paint I make sure I have a getaway plan ready. A crystal. An imparter. A dagger, just in case. My window's open, the moonlight is strong, and I know I'll be able to escape his wrath. The question is, do I want to?

When I come back will it be worse?

Will I be able to come back?

Is it selfish to leave and seek refuge with Sophie? I know it's late in the night, but maybe just this once I can do something for myself. Don't I deserve that?

Before my father can realize what's happening, I push my chair back and leap up. The distance from where I was previously sitting to where the light can reach me is a good ten meters, but if I run fast enough I'll make it. I fumble for the leaping crystal in my pocket. I know it's there I put in my pocket before I started painting! He realizes what I'm doing as I pull it out of my pocket. It's too late for him, though, because I've already stepped into the light.

It's funny how sometimes when you most wish to escape and find refuge, you're merely met with something far worse. I glitter into Sophie's room silently. It's a crystal I specifically carved to take me to her room, this isn't the first time I've used it in a situation such as this one.

It is the first time that there's ever been someone else in the room as well. I can't tell who it is. Their clothing is dark and it blends in with the shadows in Sophie's room. I sink to the back of the room, out of their eyesight. The visitor begins to reach into one of the pockets of their cloak, it's when they pull something out do I see the patch on their sleeve.

The Neverseen.

Whoever it is wields a long, curved knife of some sort. In front of them is Sophie, sleeping blissfully, entirely unaware of what's happening around her. I'm glad she isn't having nightmares. However, what is about to play out in front of me is definitely something that has occurred in my nightmares. I've got to stop it.

Without thinking, I pull the dagger from my boot and approach the invader. In a quick motion, his hood is back and my dagger is to his throat. It's Gethen.

"Fancy seeing you here," I joke, making sure to keep my voice down. Maybe I can get rid of him and not even have to wake Sophie up, but judging by the size of his knife, he's here for the kill. "Small world isn't it! I feel like everywhere I go it's, 'look! There's Gethen! You guys, it's Gethen! How've you been old chap?"

He tries to shrug me off, but I'm holding on tight. He's not harming anyone tonight.

"We should have killed you when we had the chance. You and your stupid friends always manage to ruin everything."

"If I had a luster for everytime someone said that, I'd be richer than the Vackers. But I don't want money. I want to know what you're doing here."

"Same as you. Secret rendezvous, get in a few kisses while the parents are out."

"I did not come here to-" Gethen uses my momentary distraction to escape, but I catch him again all too quickly. I'm behind him and I press my blade against his skin harder, threatening to break it.

"Let's try again. I know you're a slow learner so I'll do my best to elaborate. What. Are. You. Doing. Here." This time he just grunts in response. I press the dagger harder against his neck.

"The knife."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I figured she needed a haircut, didn't have time with all the stress of trying to stay away from you." This time I do break the skin. Not enough to scar, but enough to let him know that I'm capable of doing so.

"It's covered in a special poison. It makes whoever's been impaled speak their mind entirely, no lies. The knife itself is especially sharp. Sharp and long enough to cut through multiple people at once. The blade is quite thin as well, so blood loss is minimal, it's the poison that kills. The plan was to stab the brat-" A quick amount of pressure on my dagger encourages him to try again, "the girl in a fatal place, but one that wouldn't kill her right away. Her parents are knocked out downstairs. She and your little whistleblower gang are always in the way and have proven to be more powerful then we had originally suspected. We figured we'd eliminate their source and structure, but get our fair share of information out of her in the process."

With the truth poison, I think to myself. It's actually kind of smart and I have no doubt in my mind that Gethen would have followed through. I silently thank my father for barging in on me.

"And what do you plan to do if I let you go?" I ask, applying pressure on my knife again. Goating him to say the wrong answer.

"You're not going to let me go. I'm not an idiot Mr. Sencen."

"It's not 'Mr. Sencen,'" I reply furiously, hating to have anything in common with my father. He takes advantage of my anger once again and shifts in my grasp, but he doesn't try to get away from me. He probably just knows that I'll catch him again. "Answer the question," I push again, "if you like not having a flower necklace with a 'G' charm carved into your skin."

"I planned to do this actually," he responds, laughter in his voice.

I have absolutely no time to react and I'm frozen in place as he pulls his arms from my grasp and in one fluid motion plunges the curved knife through his stomach and through my chest. The knife is curved in such a way that where he stabbed himself isn't fatal, but it curved to a place that would be fatal for me.

"Hey look," I remark, not quite feeling the pain yet, "You made an Elvin shish kabob! Would you mind sending me the recipe when you get home?"

I realize this has been his plan since the moment he knew of my presence in the room, why he adjusted himself in my arms. He had even hinted at it with his comment about stabbing multiple people at once.

After a quick second, he pulls the knife out of the both of us. Both his blood and mine on his hands. Then he leaps away, leaving me collapsed on the floor in immense pain. The blood has already soaked through my jerkin and the pain is overwhelming. The poison has also already started to manifest. I can feel waterfalls of words threatening to flow through my mouth. If I'm in the room with Sophie, I'll most certainly tell her what I've been trying to keep a secret all these years.

I love you.

Three words that could turn her world upside down, especially if I'm gone. I know she has a thing for Fitz, but I've also felt her emotions. And I think it's possible... she just doesn't realize. It would be evil of me to force it upon her right before I die... especially if I'm right.

A little rustle alerts me that Sophie's moving in her bed a little which probably means she'll wake up soon. Not something I should be here for. I know I won't be able to light leap anywhere in my current state, and I don't have any crystals that will bring me somewhere beautiful. I'm an artist, I'd like to savour my last few moments of life in a rare, spectacular place, in this world. Luckily, there's one of those in walking distance: Calla's tree.

My whole body is screaming in pain and it's nearly impossible to stand up. I grab the side of Sophie's bed to help me stand up and once I'm standing I have a little bit more control over my body. I know my state will continue to get worse and it's better to get out of here as soon as possible.

There's blood staining Sophie's floor. She's going to know. She's going to find me. I can only hope she doesn't find me soon enough.

Fortunately, my head -and hair- are okay, so I'll be able to levitate myself out of Sophie's room once I make it to the window, but those five feet seem like a much longer trek having been impaled moments before.

It takes all my effort and an excruciating amount of pain, but I manage to start to limp to her window.

Swish. Thump.

Swish. THWACK!

Before I realize something's in my way, my foot hits a short tower of books. I wince and stand there, frozen in place, as they tumble to the floor. I swear they're trying to be loud. I don't dare look in Sophie's direction, perhaps if I don't see her it'll make it all untrue.

Nope.

"Keefe?" I suck in a sharp breath at the sound of her voice. Soft, melodic, healing. The voice I love so desperately with everything in my heart. My punctured heart. "Keefe, what are you doing here?" She seems concerned, the way she usually is when I come to her room at night. It usually means that I had a fight with my dad, and tonight it did as well... originally.

"Eh," I start, fighting to keep the overwhelming pain from making it into my voice, "I felt like a secret rendezvous was long overdue," It's true, but on a much darker premise, "but you were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you, but then I did..." They're both truths, they just came from different times. "Sorry, anyway I'll just be going now you go to bed and I'll-" I want to say I'll see her in the morning, wash all doubt from her mind, but I can't because of this stupid poison. I revise my sentence, "I hope to see you in the morning!" I do hope to see her in the morning. I just know it's impossible.

"That's not why you're here, Keefe."

"There's the stubborn Foster we all know and love!"

"Keefe, turn around."

"Ooh, no can do Fos-Bos," I joke again, I really need her to let me go. The longer I'm in here the more of a chance that I'll spill.

"Please, tell me. I won't judge you, you know I'm always here for you."

Her voice is so soothing and the poison so strong, that I can't stop myself from saying, "Well, Gethen was in your room with Mr. Pointy and he was going to... hurt you... I stopped him." Maybe she won't believe me. I try to open my mouth to tell her about the truth poison, but I'm not able to. Is this one of the side effects? It won't let me tell her?

"What?!" Before I can stop her she's out of her bed and standing before me. She covers her mouth with her hands at the sight of my blood soaked shirt. She lets out a little sob and it provokes an insane amount of guilt inside me. I don't want her to cry. It's why I wanted to get out of here.

"No, Foster, don't cry-"

"You took the blow?"

"Yep! I'm a certified shish kabob now, glad I can cross that off my bucket list," perhaps I can convince her I'm okay. It's highly unlikely, though.

"This isn't a laughing matter! Keefe you're... you're.... Really badly hurt- I'm calling Elwin. Lay down on my bed!" It makes this all worse because of how much she wants to help. I know if I don't say something else the "L" word will make an appearance.

"What happened to no stinky boys, Foster?" I ask, reminiscing a little about our younger years, when everything seemed just a tad bit easier. There's sadness there as well and I think Sophie hears it because she responds with empathy and something else I can't quite place in her eyes.

She turns to me, her hair dishevelled from being asleep moments before, dark circles beneath her eyes, and baggy pajamas, and yet, she is still the most gorgeous girl I have ever laid eyes upon. Inside and out. I hate seeing her like this, beyond worried, frantic, desperate. I know there's nothing that anyone can do to fix this. We don't even know what the special poison is. Besides, I can't even think straight. I'm in so much pain.

I'm pretty sure it's supposed to hurt five times worse than this when you're impaled. The pain will probably get worse after about twenty minutes. Just enough time for them to have been able to get a ton of secrets out of Sophie. If she asks me any questions, I'll have to answer with the truth... should I pretend to die now?

I forget that Sophie's waiting for me, and when I look up she's still staring. Although I'm pretty sure she can't really see me because of the tears in her eyes. I feel tears threatening to spill as well, but I have to seem strong for her.

A semblance of strength, that's all I've ever been.

I lay down on the bed. Sophie doesn't move. She looks longingly at me for a moment. I know she's looking me over, trying to find something that'll be an easy fix. I also know she won't find one.

Another wave of pain hits me, and though I try to conceal it, Sophie sees it. She turns to go find her imparter and what I don't want to tell her comes out.

Stupid, stupid poison.

"Foster, there's no way Elwin will know how to fix this." That's true. The fact that I'm not able to tell her exactly what it is, angers me. "There was something on the sword." Another truth.

"What? What was on the sword?" I just nod my head solemnly. "Tell me, Keefe."

"I can't," it pains me to say.

"What do you mean you can't tell me?!" No words come out.

"Foster, I know you always want to help everyone, and you've helped me so much already. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." After a moment, she gets what I'm implying and her hands go up to her mouth again. She hesitantly sits down on the bed next to me.

I look deep into her perfect brown eyes. "There's no way to win this battle. It doesn't matter how many white flags we raise, there is no mercy. There is no end until the end."

"No!" Sophie's sobbing again, and I can't take it. "You can't die Keefe, you can't die!" She quiets. Realizing what she said. What neither of us wanted to admit.

I'm going to die.

Sophie descends into more tears and I want to lighten the mood, make everything better, but I know I can't.

"Hey, listen, I know you love me, but can we talk instead of cry over the fact that you won't get to be with this hunk of meat?" I ask jokingly, but it's not really that funny because there is no humor in my words.

Sophie looks up at me, one hand wiping away her tears and the other fiddling with the hem of her nightgown. "What am I going to do without you?"

"You're going to carry on, Foster. Defeat the Neverseen, marry Wonderboy, have a bunch of children- name one after me, obviously." Despite her devastation, Sophie giggles a little bit, and it takes the pain away just a little bit. "Can you just promise you won't forget me?"

"Keefe, I could never forget you." I don't realize I'm crying until Sophie wipes my tears away. It's the last straw. There's no holding back now. I want to tell her so badly, even though I know it'll be hard for her. I know I couldn't stop myself from saying it even if I wanted to.

"Sophie," she stiffens at the sound of her real name, as if she knows I'm about to tell her something dire, "you've always been the one thing that's kept me grounded. You've been there for everyone, one of my mishaps and mistakes. You've comforted me every time I needed comforting, even when I pushed you away." I was too shy to meet her gaze before, now I look deep in her eyes. "But Sophie, there's no way you'll ever be able to solve my biggest problem."

There is still hope in her eyes and I hate to see it there. "Why? Why can't we get through this together?" There's a flicker of doubt in my eyes, and I know she sees it because she says, "When did you give up?"

"I gave up the moment you looked at Fitz and I knew I had lost the greatest thing in the world." It doesn't quite click yet for her, "I love you."

It's as if someone fired a gun in the room. Sophie scrambles off the bed faster than I thought possible. "No." She whispers, shaking her head. "No, you don't. Take it back! TAKE IT BACK!" She's screaming at me now, and I don't know what to do. There are tears streaming down her face as she stands rooted to her carpeted floor yelling at me.

"I can't, Sophie!" But for a different reason than she thinks. The words won't stop now though. "I am in pain now, but there is no pain greater than what I felt watching the two of you together. A sword longer than the one that's killing me."

"Stop! STOP! Please! I can't take it! You don't love me Keefe!" She seems so conflicted and I don't understand why. "You aren't allowed to tell me that before you DIE! What am I supposed to do now? It's so selfish!"

She's right. Everything she's saying, and I agree with her. Still, every word she says is another stabbing pain in my heart.

"I HATE you, Keefe!" She starts shaking her head again, this time like an animal trapped by its predator.

The final blow.

I swallow.

She won't meet my eyes.

"You said you wouldn't ever hate me."

"Well I was wrong, okay?! Sometimes people are wrong, just like I was wrong about you!"

"Foster, no, please!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Why not? Are you that disgusted by me now? Is it so wrong to feel?"

"YES! I don't know why you think you can just all of a sudden tell me and expect me to-"

"I'M GOING TO DIE!"

Silence.

Dead. Silence.

Then she meets my gaze. Sophie huffs and narrows her eyes and laughs coldly at me. I don't know where Sophie went, but this can't be her. She starts to walk towards me and for a second I think she's come to sit down next to me again, but she briskly grabs something from the bed beside me and turns on her heel.

She leaves me alone on the bed to die.

Why is it that in all the times I imagined I would die alone it was never this horrible?

The pain is far worse now and it hurts inexplicably to even breathe.

Sophie's room hasn't really changed since the first time I was in here, but it feels different. I can feel all of the memories and moments the two of us and all of our friends shared. The good and the bad.

I remember how she was always fond of my painting, and praised it when no one else did. I remember why I left my house in the first place today. I remember why I took the painting of her. Why I thought I wouldn't be able to go back.

With slow, painful movements, I reach into my cape pocket to find the last painting I'll ever do of Sophie, but it's not there. In fact, it's not anywhere in my cape.

Sophie took it. She picked it up from beside me. No no no no no no! She can't read what I'd written on there, she'll hate me more than she already does. I felt the hate. Radiating off of her in waves.

They say love trumps hate, but I think hate causes far more change than love does. Hate is so much more powerful.

The minutes pass and it gets harder and harder to breathe. My eyelids become heavier and heavier and I want more than anything to give into the light. I wait, though. With the smallest bit of hope that Sophie will come back into this room and hold me. Is it too much to ask for?

She doesn't come.

I'm doing everything in my power to stay afloat now, but the undercurrent is much too strong. It's cold and it pulls me deeper and deeper and deeper-

There's warmth beside me.

I open my eyes and they meet brown voids that are far more than eyes. Golden hair that is pure light. Beauty more powerful than one can imagine. But I don't have to imagine, because she's right there, beside me.

And she's whispering that she's sorry over and over again.

"God, Keefe, you can't die, please don't die." But we both know there's nothing anyone can do. I'm gone already. I was gone when I made the decision today. When I leaped away from my father. I came to say goodbye. Even if Gethen wasn't here to kill Sophie I would have been gone.

"I only ever wanted to help you," I whisper.

"I know," she's crying.

"I would die a million more times for you."

"I know."

"I always thought there was no point to living if there was no point to life, but maybe death is the point of life. Maybe I was here on this earth to save you, to live and die for you." It's a strange thought, but perhaps it's true.

"No, you were always so much more than that, Keefe. You just never let yourself see it." Maybe she's right, but now we'll never know.

"Like what?" Is it so bad to ask for praise right now?

"Keefe you're an artist, you can create the most beautiful pictures, more realistic than my mind projections. The way you paint is..." She struggles to find the right word, and I smile at her, I understand now.

Sophie pulls a folded up piece of paper from her nightgown's pocket, it's my painting of her. We both think what is unspoken, what I wrote on that paper. I couldn't take it anymore, I was going to end it all.

"I just wanted to see something beyond beautiful before I die," I whisper to her, our eyes locked. "At least I'll get that one thing." Despite everything that's happening, she still blushes a dark red. Then I tell her again, "I love you more than anything in this world, it was you who kept me hanging for so long." The tears are flowing for both of us now. I slowly reach up and wipe her's away. "Do you hate me, Foster?"

"I could never hate you."

"But I felt it-"

"It wasn't for you."

Tears are full in my eyes and the colors blend together like a symphony. Each highlighting the other, emphasizing the beauty. The gold, rays of sun. The brown, the deepest void, a comforting darkness.

"I'm so tired," I realize now it's true, since I can't speak lies. I've spent my whole life trying to find a place in this world. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

"I know, shhhhhhh, sleep now," Sophie caresses my hair. Her emotions are so strong.

"Goodnight, Foster."

She never tells me that she loves me.

But I know. 

Word count (disincluding author's note): 4650

I hope you guys liked it! Please feel free to tell me what you think- constructive criticism is always welcome!