When They Find Out

Chapter 13

A/N: Yay! One more chapter done! Happy Holidays to all of you since I won't be posting tomorrow and Happy New Years if I don't see you before then. Thanks for being so amazing, and here's the chapter!

"Oh no," Sophie gasped.

Fitz's smiling face morphed into a frown as he stared in Sophie's direction. "What happened?" His eyebrows raised in realization. "Oh."

Sophie nodded. "We should probably get going," she suggested. "Before they find us."

The waiter walked up to their table and handed them the checkbook, which Fitz filled with a handful of bills. Sophie's lips curled up slightly when she remembered that this was a date, but not quite enough to mask her frown. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, the two elves left the restaurant in a hurry.

"Where do we go?" asked Sophie, extremely aware of Fitz's arm around her. Her heart beat faster, which was ridiculous. They did this all the time in Telepathy training. Pushing her thoughts aside, she scanned the city.

Fitz pointed to a bus at the corner of the street. "Maybe we can catch a ride on that," he planned. "And then go back to Mrs. Messenger's house."

A few blocks away, Sophie spotted the gleaming patch of the Neverseen. Fitz must have spotted it too as his arm around her tightened and his feet poised to run.

Sophie nodded. "Yeah that's probably the best idea." They both briskly walked to the bus just as it rolled to a stop at the corner. With one last glimpse of the Neverseen, Sophie stepped on the bus.

"Five dollars," the driver requested, his hand held out to receive it. Fitz dug through his pockets when his breath quickened and he transmitted to Sophie.

I used all the money for dinner. I don't have any left.

Sophie took a deep breath, willing herself to stay calm.

Let me check if I have any.

She dug through the purse Biana had given her, successfully pulling out a few crumpled bills. She handed them to the driver who counted them and waved away the two elves to a seat.

Sophie and Fitz took a seat in the first two seats they could find, across from a twelve year old girl with flaming red hair and a two of her friends. The girl was engrossed with something on her iPhone as she and her friends chatted in deep undertones. As the seats squeaked when Sophie and Fitz sat down, all three girls looked up.

The red-headed girl gasped. "You're- you're- Oh my gosh. Is your name Sophie Foster?"

Sophie sighed, thinking that it was just her luck to run into another three fans of the book series she was depicted in.

"Yep," she admitted. "That's me. And, before you ask, yes the book series is real."

All three girls let out high pitched screams, followed by angry "shhh"s from the rest of the passengers. "I can't believe it," whispered the redhead's friend with thick black glasses. "And that means you're-" She pointed to Fitz.

Fitz waved his hand, an amused smile on his face. "The name's Fitz Vacker," he introduced with his thick elvin accent. "Pleased to meet you."

This, of course, brought on another round of squeals as Sophie couldn't help but move closer to Fitz. She knew these were humans and Fitz would never date them, but jealousy wasn't rational. Fitz laughed when he noticed what she was doing.

You know they're just some random girls.

Yeah but... I don't know.

Fitz squeezed her hand.

I'm just trying to be nice.

Trust me. I've been around human girls and they overanalyze everything. But... I get it. I guess I'm just being stupid.

You're not stupid, Sophie. You're far from stupid. You're amazing, and besides, everyone gets jealous sometimes.

Sophie's face warmed at that, especially when the girls giggled.

"Oh my gods!" one squealed. "They're having a telepathic conversation."

Sophie glared at them. "Keep your voice down," she commanded. Then she smiled slightly. "I'm sorry. It's just... Getting us exposed even more would be that last thing I would want."

The redhead nodded, glancing at her phone. "Yeah, I get that."

"What are you doing on your phone?" Fitz curiously asked. The girl had checked her phone at least fifteen times in the last few minutes.

The girl blushed. "It's nothing really. Nothing of huge importance."

Her friend with glasses nudged her, grinning. "It isn't nothing," she teased. "It's a fanfiction."

Fitz frowned. "A fanfiction?" At the same time, Sophie gasped, fear evident in her eyes. She placed her hand on Fitz's shoulder.

"Um, she's right. It's really not important," she frantically added. She had heard of and even come across some fanfictions when she lived in the human world, and they sometimes weren't the most pleasant things. But Fitz looked like he wanted to insist.

The redhead must have noticed too, because she obliged and handed her phone to Fitz, an embarrassed expression on her face. "I'm on chapter 10," she told him. "but you can skip to anywhere you want."

Fitz nodded and took the phone from her outstretched hand. "The Foxfire Formal Ball," he read. "By Inkheadwriter."

"Is that her real name?" Sophie asked.

The redhead shook her head. "No, it's an alias. Everyone has different usernames."

Sophie nodded, watching Fitz scroll through the fanfiction. "What ship is it?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Ship?" Fitz repeated. Then his mouth opened in realization and his face reddened. "Oh! Right, um, it's us. Sophitz."

The third girl, who had been awfully quiet, spoke up. "Wait, are you guys on a date? Like a Sophitz date?"

Now Sophie's face was red as she murmured a "yes."

"This fanfiction is pretty interesting," Fitz marveled. "It's really well written."

The redhead nodded. "It's one of the best ones on the website, which is called Wattpad, by the way."

"I'll have to check it out," Fitz agreed, handing her back the phone. "It's pretty crazy that we have so many fans that are actually writing about us. A bit creepy, but mostly crazy."

Sophie nodded. "Well, we have to remember that they didn't know that we actually exist." She gave the redhead a pointed look. "And it should stay that way."

All the girls nodded. "You have my word," promised the redhead just as the bus driver called out Mrs. Messenger's address.

"Anyone getting off at this stop?" he asked. Both Sophie and Fitz stood up.

"We are," called Sophie. Both elves stepped down the staircase and into the neighborhood, glad to be at the place they could call home.

A/N: What happens next? Only time will tell. Also big thanks to Inkheadwriter for giving me an amazing fanfic to use. What's your New Years resolution?