Keefe laid in his bed at Candleshade and stared at the ceiling listlessly. The Neverseen were not happy that he hadn't gone to Biana's Winnowing Gala, forcing them to have to move their ambush plans to Sophie's, which was to be a month later, and he didn't know how much time he had before they'd send him to the poles. Before he made that choice, they had been more lenient on the blasts, giving him more freedom to make choices for himself. Giving him more chances to live like a real, normal elf. Though, at this point, it didn't really matter anymore to him. Pretending to be himself for Biana and her friends hadn't made him feel anything he use to, but he could now remember what the feelings were and how those felt, though in all likelihood, even those memories wouldn't last long. Nonetheless, some of his memories had been jogged, that had to be something, right?

He wondered how long he could pretend he was still in a relationship with Biana, because when they found out he lost the foot into the door for good... bye bye Keefe. Slowly, he sat up and looked around the room, knowing that in recent days, there was very little evidence that he lived here. There was a box of drawings on the dresser which had a few clothes inside, and only one book on the shelf that was his. The book pulled his mind to it like it had just lassoed him, tugging him closer and closer until suddenly, he was right there in front of it, his hand centimeters away from the spine, his breath bouncing off the surface until he could smell the fresh pages. The book was brand new with a jade green fabric covered cover with silver argyle lines along the edges as decoration. Time and time again he had been drawn to this new book, yet he had never had the guts to open it.

He couldn't open it- no, he shouldn't open it. He had a job to do, and these memories didn't matter anymore, they'd only get in the way, slow him down. Why he started to do all this didn't matter anymore either, he was already this far, he couldn't turn back. Turning these pages wouldn't turn back time. He had dug his grave, now he had to lie in it.

Traitorously, his fingers pressed against the spine, and in the back of his mind he wondered what would happen if he opened this photo album that had been a gift from the girl he use to love.  A few heartbeats later, his trembling hand lifted the book off the shelf, and for a moment he just stared at it in his hands. The feat had seemed like ages to complete, even though it was such a simple task. The weight of his thoughts and his past life was holding him back, causing him to hesitate before easing the front cover open, the new material crackling with excitement as if to whisper, yes, keep going. Look at the pages. Remember. Suffer. So he did.

Keefe tried to skim over the words written on the very first page in neat print, but his eyes seemed to be glued to every word.

'Dear Keefe,

I know you have a photographic memory and all, but sometimes it's hard to find the highlights. Hope you like it!

-Sophie'

She had given him this photo album of memories as a present after his mom was... you know... sent back after her last day with the Neverseen, after her betrayal. Keefe had found her that day, ragged and beat, blood on her lip as she babbled nonsense, her eyes excitedly wide, but dull. Around her neck was a delicate green ribbon, the edges curled, and a note attached that explained how she had sabotaged their biggest plan to destroy the humans yet, so they experimented their new technology on her: the blasts. The note also said that because his mother hadn't fulfilled her contract and was unable to, he would have to step in or his friends would pay the price- Sophie in particularly, as well as his parents. It gave him directions and instructions and he was rattled by seeing his mother in such a state that... he went along with it. He often wondered what it would have been like if he had said no, if he had gone to the Black Swan instead. Who would be together? Who would be hurt? Who would be dead-

He released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and blinked a few times before turning the page. It was a picture of everyone at lunch, the time Dex had slipped a hair potion into Fitz's hair, turning it bright pink. He saw himself laughing on the floor next to his once best friend for a few moments, almost hearing the laughter coming from the cafeteria in the memory. Sophie's head swiveled, and he could see Dex behind her, laughing quietly, and hiding. She then looked to Fitz, whose face was as bright as his hair, looking angry. Keefe couldn't help but snicker a little, old feelings bubbling up in his throat.

Feeling braver, he flipped the page to see Biana and himself stacking cups on a sleeping Dex's back as he laid flat on the floor like a dead man. It had been at a group sleepover, and though Dex had fallen asleep second, a pink haired Fitz was under the protection of Sophie, much to Keefe's dismay, seeing as wonder boy's head rested on her lap... So Dex was the next best thing. He watched as they stacked the cups higher and higher in a hushed fit of giggles until eventually, their model woke up and they all crashed down on the unsuspecting Dizznee.

As he turned each page he got lost into this world of memories, eventually sitting down on the floor in front of the bookcase, legs crossed like a child. In all honesty, when seeing these memories, he felt like a child again. Carefree, curious, happy, alive. The growing ache in his chest only grew the more pages he stared at in wonder, but that didn't stop him from going back through them all over again once he had reached the last page. Then again. Then again. Then again and again and again and again until the sun set and was starting to rise again, the light streaming into his bedroom window, revealing the tear stains he hadn't realized were created sometime ago.

Soundlessly, Keefe closed the book and stood up, resting it back on it's place back on the dust sprinkled shelf. Then, almost as if he were in a trance, he walked across the room to his desk, pulling out a piece of parchment, an ink pot, and a quill.

As the ink of the quill hit the page, he could feel the weight of everything evaporate off his shoulders ever so slightly. He felt like he could breathe again, and smiled a little as he began to write,

'Dear Sophie'...

---

Dex was nervous. He knew that Biana had specifically asked for him to put a picture of him into the golden lily locket to cover Alvar's face a while back, but now she had also asked for him to change Keefe's too- which he had absolutely no problem with at all. The only problem was that he didn't know who to put in his place. He could always split up Tam and Linh's picture or Alden and Della's, but then where would he place who? He didn't want to make it seem that one parent or friend was better than the other by moving them to a certain petal. Dex knew he was probably stressing out over nothing, but he wanted this necklace to be perfect for the girl he loved... for the girl who loved him back.

The thought of Biana Vacker loving him was still an odd juxtaposition to him. Why him out of every elf in the elvin world? He was the son of a bad match with triplet siblings and whose father ran a store called Slurps n' Burps, while his mother turned her body to ice to disguise herself as a leader of the Black Swan. He was weird. He was a technopath who did alchemy who was in love with his best friend for what, 4-5 years maybe? She was Biana Vacker. The gorgeous, talented, charming daughter of one of the most influential families in the Lost Cities who had almost every boy in Foxfire wrapped around her finger. How could he be good enough for someone like her?

He was about to delve deep into a topic that he really shouldn't've when the triplets came bursting into his room.

"Hey Dex!" Grinned Bex excitedly.

"Dex, Dex!" Lex cheered, "Dex, Dex!" A weird chant indeed.

"Could you take a picture of us? Pleaaaaase?" Bex begged on her knees, clasping her hands in front of her like she was praying, and in a way, she was. "We've never had one before!"

Dex nodded for a moment before gasping as a light bulb shone over his head.

Rex frowned, "What is it, Dex?"

"I'm going to put the picture in Biana's locket," Dex said breathlessly, suddenly lup and fumbling around his desk drawer for the camera.

"We're going to be in the locket?" Lex squealed with his sister, and Dex nodded in agreement

"In a nice picture, so go get in your fancy clothes," he shooed his excited siblings off quickly so they could all get ready.

The entire ordeal took about two and a half hours. One hour of getting the triplets dressed, half an hour of getting them to stay still enough for a few photos, twenty minutes to actually get a good picture, half an hour to teach Lex (the triplet with the steadiest hands) how to use the camera, and fifteen minutes for him to take a pretty good photo of Dex. It was completely and utterly exhausting, but it had been worth it. Carefully, he spent an hour attaching the pictures into the proper locket sectors, and let it dry overnight so that he could take it to her in the morning. Wow, did he get a good night's worth of sleep.

The next afternoon during his lunch break he stood at the gates of Everglen, nervous. He rung the bell like he had seen Sophie do a thousand times and Biana came to the gate personally to let him in, which was a good thing too because he really had to go back to the shop to help out his dad.

"Hey Dex," smiled Biana, "What's up?"

"I-I-I brought you your necklace, all fixed," he stammered as he held his palm open, revealing the two new pictures he had set in. When Biana saw it, she gasped, her hands over her mouth like he had just proposed to her. He was starting to wonder if she expected him to get down on one knee for this for some reason before she took the necklace out of his hands carefully.

"Help me put it on?"

Biana Vacker, still in her light pink empire waist nightgown with white lace trim, pulled her hair off to one side as she handed him the ends of the chain. Dex tried to focus on the chain instead of the curls of her hair against her smooth, soft skin, or the way the lines of her shoulder blades  curved like two mirroring rivers.

When he finished, he had barely set the chain back down against her skin for only a few nanoseconds before she swiveled around and hugged him tightly, her smile pressed into his shoulder.

"I love it, Dex! It's so perfect! Thank you, thank you so much," gushed Biana, "it's the best thing I've ever received."

Dex rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "It's not a problem, I'm just glad you like it so much."

"Oh, hey-Do you have time for some lunch?" Biana asked brightly, and he hated to turn her down.

"Sorry, Bee, but I'm on my lunch break, and I need to get back to the shop before dad leaves," Dex quietly prayed that his face wasn't bright red.

"Did you eat yet?" She asked a little suddenly, catching him off guard.

"Uh-um- no, why do you ask?"

"I'll be right back," exclaimed Biana, "don't leave yet!" Definitely blushing, Dex waited for her awkwardly, wondering what kind of scheme that girl could have concocted.

When Biana came back out, there was a picnic basket on her arm and she was dressed in a navy blue, white, and mint green patterned romper, her hair in two twin buns, the golden lily necklace around her neck, and the butterfly earrings in her ears, "Sorry for the wait! I'm ready to go now!"

Amused, he raised an eyebrow, "You're coming with me?"

"Yeah! I figured we could eat these sandwiches I made. They were meant for Sophie and Fitz, but they're pretty wrapped up in cognate-y stuff right now, so I don't think they'll notice. Besides, they're Gordorno petal sandwiches, your favorite."

Dex's heart skipped a beat when she admitted to knowing his favorite sandwich, "The shop can get kind of slow in lunch rush hour, are you sure you want to come?"

"I'm not worried," the gorgeous girl assured him confidently, "I'll be with you so I won't be bored."

At this point, he was so flustered that he didn't do anything but lightleap them away, because gosh dang it Biana was smooth like butter.

It was a fun lunch-date-not-date. They talked about the triplets, Sophitz (Biana's name for Sophie and Fitz, not his), about how next year would be their last year out of the silver towers, etc. It was a ton of fun, but she had to leave late into the afternoon since Fitz was wondering where she was. Usually, he didn't like to see her go, but this time, now that he knew she loved him, he hated it. He hated that she didn't know that he loved her, or even that she loved him, not really. He wanted to run upstairs and shout out his confessions from the rooftops so everyone could hear it, so she could hear it all the way in Everglen... but she wasn't ready yet. So he would wait.