Misfit |KotLC AU|

Chapter 18 |The Leaning Tower of Pepperoni|

She didn't know they were vegetarians.

Sophie probably could've figured it out herself.

Maybe.

There had been...several obvious hints. First, Alluveterre, the most well-known restaurant in the entire town, only had food made of vegetables and fruit. When she started working there, nothing had seemed suspicious until she noticed that the Spaghetti and Meatballs had no Meatballs (there was really no point in calling it that) and that no one seemed bothered by it except her.

But, whatever.

Second, to get pizza, she had to take a bus out of town, over a bridge, and into a more populated part of the city, where the pizza place had a line so long she must have been waiting there for a little bit over 10 minutes until she got two delicious smelling pepperoni pies and one pineapple special.

They were still hot when Keefe opened the door for her, looking her up and down before getting that weird smirk on his face and letting her in.

"I brought food," she told him.

"I can see that."

She set the pizza boxes down on the kitchen island, remembering Biana doing the same thing not more than four days ago. There hadn't been any meat in that food either.

Sophie turned to find Keefe leaning on the sink, watching her with an eyebrow raised.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Then he grinned. "Sophie brought food!"

The four that had been sitting on his sofa all looked up like a family of Meer cats.

"Oh." Fitz was the first to stand. He smiled and walked over. Biana, Tam, and Linh followed.

Biana yawned. She eyed the boxes warily before using a perfectly manicured finger to lift the lid of the one on top. "What—?"

"It's pizza," Keefe said slowly. "With pepperoni."

Biana froze, her face contorting like she had just eaten something sour. The other three looked equally conflicted, but they hid it well.

Sophie stared. Keefe smiled.

"Pizza..."

Keefe nodded. "Foster brought it."

"Sophie brought...pizza?"

"Yeah." Sophie wondered if Biana was having trouble hearing. "With pepperoni. But there is one that has pineapple if you—"

"I am not eating that!"

"Biana—"

"No," she interrupted, turning her back to her brother before he could continue. "Sorry, but I'm not eating that stuff."

"You know," Keefe flicked open the box, a lazy smile playing his lips, "you could just take the pepperoni off."

"Bye," she called from the door. "You guys coming?"

Sophie turned to them. Fitz tried to pull the smile back onto his face, but it looked more like a grimace. "Actually, I..."

"Maybe later." Tam waved at her as he left. Linh gave her a small, apologetic smile before following.

"Why..." Sophie paused, not really knowing what she was asking.

"They're vegetarians, Foster. Its the sad truth."

"Oh." It was then that everything began clicking into place, and all the obvious hints that had previously not been so obvious began to come together and make sense.

"Sophie, I'm really sorry I—"

"No, no, no!" Sophie waved a hand at Fitz, the smile on her face feeling awkward. "It's okay, really. I just didn't know."

Fitz was worried, Sophie could tell, and probably feeling a little guilty. He could see how red her face was—her embarrassment.

"I have to go," he said, and he rushed out the door.

The silence stretched on for almost two minutes.

Sophie sighed. "I'll just take these over to—"

"No!" Sophie jumped. She blinked as Keefe's face began to redden. A grin twisted his lips. "Oh, come on, Foster." He opened a box and picked out a slice. He pulled a circle of pepperoni off before taking a bite.

He chewed slowly, his face pulled into a nonchalant expression.

Sophie burst out laughing.

"What?"

Sophie smiled at him. She shook her head. "No, nothing."

Keefe eyed her, and then smiled. "At least they're letting me spend a little more time with you."

"What are you talking about? I've spent the last few days in this apartment."

She had, she suddenly realized. The day after the dinner party, she had knocked on his door and found him cleaning; dusting shelves, wiping tables, and sweeping. She started helping and almost ended up falling asleep on his couch. The next few days were just hanging out, since Keefe and Sophie always seemed to be the only people in their little social group that didn't have things to do, jobs to toil, or families to spend time with. At one point, they had walked all the way to the end of town, where the buildings suddenly changed into endlessly green forests of trees, and then walked all the way back, talking about random things like the weather and Foxfire, the school they would all be attending when September arrived.

Most days Sophie ended up sitting in his apartment, looking out the window while he drew something. I like looking out the window, was what she said when he asked her what she was doing. The view was better from this side than in her abode; trees and a picturesque landscape when the sun was setting, so it wasn't like she was lying. She never said she liked being around him, but deep down that was a partial truth.

Sophie stared at him, suddenly finding their eyes locked and that he had leaned a bit closer. The space between them felt small.

"I always wish there was more."

Sophie looked down at her hands, and when she glanced back at him he was still looking at her with eyes that could have been mistaken as mirrors reflecting the beauty of a summer sky. She felt a blush spread over her face like a hot flash, so hot she was boiling in her light windbreaker.

Keefe had turned away and started looking out the window when her heart had finally calmed down.

"Me too."

The pile of pepperoni grew.