-Sophie felt like she deserved a break. She had been studying with her cognate intensely recently, and hadn't had much time to just hang out with her friends, so she invited for them to come over. Tam and Linh were busy with Black Swan stuff, and Keefe was permanently on the dark side, so only Dex, Biana, and Fitz were coming today. Oh no. What a tragedy.

Biana was the first to arrive. She was a little early, so early that she had time to do Sophie's hair and makeup. Currently, she had Sophie sitting at the vanity while she brushed her hair into a high ponytail. "I'm fine," she assured Sophie, "really. It was a good wake up call, and after the things he said about how he felt, I'm glad it's over."

"Are you sure?" Sophie asked uncertainly, her eyes stretching to look back at her friend.

"Yeah," Biana started elastic her hair back, and once she finished, Sophie turned around to look her in the eye to make sure she wasn't lying. "It's true!" Biana laughed a little, smiling, though her eyes weren't, "I'm more worried about something else."

"What is it?" Sophie asked curiously, gauging Biana's reaction.

The bright eyed fashionista took a breath before sighing, "I light leaped to Dex after I saw Keefe, and I didn't specifically light leap anywhere, I just sort of..." Biana's cheeks reddened, "appeared in front of him, when he was shelving at Slurps N' Burps."

Sophie's brow furrowed, "I've never heard of anything like that."

"We hadn't either! We did some research at his house and it turns out that when you light leap without a clear destination, you end up wherever the person you... love..." With her voice trailing off, Biana didn't meet Sophie's eyes, but then snapped back into the conversation with her usual pep, "Dex is a good guy, I'm just confused, that's all."

The information took a while to sink it, but as it did, a knowing smile spread across Sophie's face, "Wow..."

"What?" Biana asked, eyebrow raised, jokingly defensive in a way.

"It's just... wow..."

"Excellent use of words, Sophie. Yes, you're using your talent as a polygot well. It's no wonder you've studied to go to the silver towers a year early," said Biana sarcastically, her cheeks bright red at this point.

"Sorry, sorry," she put her hands up in defense, "It's just that I never saw this coming, but..." Sophie tried to pick the right words out of her brain for a second, "it makes sense."

The tension Sophie hadn't noticed in Biana's shoulders relaxed, and relief washed over her face; like the ocean creeping onto the sand, hope dawning in her eyes, "Really? You think so?"

"Yeah, I mean, you guys have been hanging out a lot, been nicer to you than Keefe ever was..." suggested Sophie, who quietly prayed that it made sense to Biana so she didn't have to try and elaborate. It was kind of hard to explain really, it was just one of those things that felt... right... you know?

"But all friends do that," Biana pointed out, and now Sophie's brain really had to think.

"Do all friends stare into eachother's eyes?"

Biana snickered a little, "But you and Fitz do that all the time."

It was Sophie's turn to blush, "Th-th-that's-"

"Different? Nuh-uh," giggled Biana, and a small part of Sophie was glad that she was acting like herself.

"It's a cognate thing, it's like meant to be, but in a different way," defended Sophie.

"So that means you're really meant to be then?"

"What?" Sophie asked, confused, "That doesn't even make any sense."

Biana held up her pointer finger, "Cognate," she then held up the same finger on the other hand, "your undying love for him," Biana then proceeded to bring her hands together so the two representations touched, "really meant to be."

"Anyways," Sophie changed the topic quickly, not wanting to stay on the topic, "I'm not surprised about you and Dex." Sophie turned back around to the mirror so Biana could do her usual primping, "So, are you going to tell him?"

"Are you going to tell him?" Biana subtly teased Sophie about Fitz.

"Tell who what?" Fitz asked as he walked in nonchalantly, hands in his pockets, looking like something out of a magazine,  a kind of perfection no one but Biana could ever even get close to achieving. Stupid Vackers.

"Whoa! You can't just walk into girl talk like that!" Biana scolded her brother, shaking her finger like a stereotypical mother would.

Fitz frowned, "What? I brushed my hair."

"I don't mean that," Biana rolled her eyes, "I mean the fact that you just, like, walked in without knocking, and you eavesdropped a little."

"Oh," his ears shown bright red, "I-um... Sorry? I just thought that we were related or cognates-"

"No buts! Go wait downstairs!" Biana pointed to the door with a pout.

Fitz's eyes widened slightly, "What? Come on Biana-"

"Nope, you heard me," she crossed her arms and Fitz looked to Sophie for help.

She giggled, "Sorry, I'm not in charge here."

Reluctantly, and with a sigh, Fitz left the room, and Sophie couldn't help but laugh, asking Biana, "Why were you so harsh?"

"Because I knew you'd be too soft," chuckled Biana, and with that, they continued to get ready together. Correction- Sophie continued to let Biana dress her up in hopes of her mending her heart even more along the way.

Biana herself wore brown capri pants with a sheer sleeveless teal blouse that was gathered delicately at the neck with a navy tank top underneath paired with mint flats. Her hair was done up in a bun, her nails painted cobalt blue, and she wore crystal studs to match the clear beaded bracelet she was wearing. How Biana always managed to look so well put together was beyond Sophie, who could barely match her tunic with her pants.

Biana hadn't picked something out for Sophie yet, so she'd just have to wait and see...

---

Fitz felt slightly dejected as he walked back down the stairs. He had heard Biana ask Sophie, "So that means you're really meant to be then." He didn't really hear what they said next, because jealousy poured from his heart to his ears, bitterly cracking like pop rocks of silence-tunnel vision... but for your ears? He wasn't too concerned with that part, he was more worried about the fact that he was in love with Sophie, and she was in love with someone else.

He was so lost in thought that he stumbled on the last step, and would've tripped if Dex hadn't caught his shoulder, "Hey, you okay?"

Fitz blinked into reality again, "Uh-uh... Yeah... I just..." he paused, "I just got chewed out by Biana for 'interrupting girl time'."

Dex took a few steps back, "Whoa, did you seriously interrupt girl time? That's like, a no go." Fitz thought that the strawberry blond was actually being serious until he cracked a smile, "Relax, they're probably talking about boys."  The word 'boys' was like butter on toast in Fitz's ears.

After hesitating for a second, Fitz admitted, "I heard a little about what they were talking about, actually, and I think they were talking about boys. I heard Biana say, 'So that means you're really meant to be then,' and..."

"You got jealous?" Dex asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively, "they could've been talking about you, you know."

"Well, we are cognates," Fitz nodded, totally oblivious to the fact that that was not what Dex had meant. "Actually... it could not be about me. It could be about you," suggested Fitz.

The confidence in Dex's demeanor melted like ice cream on a hot day and was replaced by a flush so dark, Fitz probably would've thought that his friend got a sunburn... somehow, "W-wh-what are you talking about?"

"Biana told me about the whole-" Realization struck Fitz like a brick. Dex didn't know, "Uh... nevermind." He started to look down when Dex asked,

"About the light leaping thing?"

Snapping his head up again, Fitz was once again, confused, "Did she tell you?"

"I found the page in one of the books... I guess she read it too," Dex Dizznee wouldn't meet his eyes, and Fitz grew suspicious of the red creeping up the younger boy's neck.

"Does she know you know?"

Dex confessed so quietly, he almost couldn't hear the, "No. It would make things... weird."

Now Fitz was getting somewhere, "Why? Why would that be weird?"

Combing his fingers through his hair nervously, Dex said, "Because I like her, and she doesn't know she likes me yet."

"So what are you going to do then?" The Vacker boy asked curiously.

Dex shrugged a little, "I'll wait."

"Really? It may be a long time..."

"I know," he didn't seem bothered by this, "but she needs time, and elves are possibly immortal."

"That's..." Fitz started, and Dex laughed.

"Tragically romantic?" Biana hopped down the stairs with a glammed up Sophie in tow, "Definitely. Anyways, who're you guys talking about?"

"I-uh-um-" Fitz stuttered, his face bright red.

"For my mom to get the next movie from the human world- so no, not romantic, but a terribly long wait," Dex said smoothly with a smile, though Fitz could see the anticipation blended hurt in his eyes.

"Oooh! What's she getting next?" Biana didn't have a clue and Fitz felt sorry for Dex. Hopefully she'd realize sooner rather than later.

"Not sure yet, she threw around the idea of a movie called 'Hugo', but it's about what she can find and how many times she changes her mind between now and the next time she's at a movie store."

Fitz then looked to Sophie, who was wearing a brown sundress that matched the color of her eyes paired with gold eyeshadow, red lipstick, and low black red-soled heels. She wore her medicine bottle necklace and registry pendant of course, but they all contrasted against the brown of the dress nicely in some miraculous way. She had a belt over her dress, black earrings, and her nails were the same color as her lips. She smiled at him, oblivious to the melting of his heart, meeting his eyes before changing the conversation, "Anyone up for a board game?"

They all agreed, and Sophie started to wobble over to the closet where they were kept when Fitz walked up next to her, giving her his arm with a smile, he transmitted "Why'd you let her put you in heels?"

"They matched, and I knew it'd make her happy," Sophie transmitted back with a sheepish smile, "after Keefe... I thought it'd cheer her up."

He smiled at her kindness, and nodded a little before helping her to the closet and picking out a game. They decided on phase ten, which seemed like a safe everyone-was-on-even-level sort of game, but Dex absolutely crushed every round, earning attention, affection, and congratulations from Biana, which clearly made him happier. Fitz smiled, and caught Sophie up on the "Diana" details over their mental connection, holding her hand under the table as they watched their two friends fall in love together.