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Chapter Text

Keefe rarely knew what he was doing. As much as he's trying to convince himself otherwise, he's mostly just—there. Okay, that's a little dramatic but he certainly doesn't know why he's at Biana's birthday party kissing Tam.

"What's happening?" he mumbled against his mouth—his mouth. What is happening right now?

"Dare," came Tam's unnecessarily wrecked answer. Keefe breath caught in his throat. Damn, that must have slipped his mind. "Ten more seconds."

He could definitely hear the counting now. Very slow. Those could not be a second apart. Then his attention was dragged back to Tam's hands on his face and his shoulders, and his back against the couch, and his lips back on his, and his overwhelming emotions—or were those his own?

As soon as Keefe came back to his senses and realized with slight horror he'd been kissing back this entire time, it was over and Tam was pulling back.

With his eyes half lidded and trailing Keefe's lips, and his face very red.

Keefe could only thank the Stars that the others had already moved on with the game and they wouldn't sense his mental panic.

"I still don't like you," he said, mostly for himself. Something please get his thoughts off of Tam Song's mouth.  

"Likewise," he replied with a huffed laugh—the final nail in Keefe's coffin, he was gone.

"Ro, this is horrible news, I think I'm gay."

Ro didn't look up from sharpening her knife. This was not the biggest revelation in Elfland since Forkle's hundredth secret identity.

"I kinda thought you were more in between but—"

"I mean, yes, but that's not the point!" He told her. "It's Bangs Boy."

This time Ro dropped her knife. Now that was a revelation. "Where's your notebook?" she demanded. "I need to start the poems now."

Keefe held that laugh back. "It's not funny! And I think I blacked out during that kiss so maybe it's just a concussion."

"You kissed him? God forbid a girl visits her father," she mumbled to herself. "How'd this runt pull in the three days I wasn't here? Tell me everything."

Keefe sighed. "To be totally fair, it was on a dare."

"And I'm lost," Ro said. "You're dead to me."

"That kiss altered my brain chemistry, Ro. This is not the time to decide you're not amused by this."

Ro sighed. Why'd she let her dad convince her to be here? "Well, you know what to do. Kiss him again, see if you really want that."

"Never phrase it like that again, my mind took permanent damage from those twenty seconds." The more of this Ro hears the more she wants to die on behalf of the poor kid, honestly it's a little pathetic. She told him as much.

"Remind me to never come to you for advice," he said and told her everything anyway.

Ro wasn't helpful, he found. Neither was this entire school. Half of which were at that party. Most of which were also playing that stupid game.

Biana had finally made it to their lunch table, with a frightening gleam in her eye that Keefe might have been able to decipher if he wasn't pretending to not stare at Tam.

"Holy shit, get a grip," he thought to himself.

"You guys hear that rumour going around?" Biana finally said, and Keefe's head snapped up. Tam was busying with his food, talking around his spoon when he answered, with a glance at Keefe.

"What? That we're gay for eachother?" Keefe almost choked.

He schooled his expression as quickly as he could and laughed, stealing some of Tam's food in the process. Hoping that he'd glare at him and he'd feel normal and not think that was hot.

"No see, I mean, I'm not straight but if there was a guy I'd date, it would be Tam." What is he even saying? He would not be saying this shit three days ago. He mentally smacked himself, shoving the umber leaf in his mouth so he wouldn't have to—couldn't— add to that.

Biana smirked like she knew something. She really needed to stop trying to steal his role. "How do you feel about that, Tam?"

Keefe dared to look at Tam and swore he was imagining how flushed his face was. "It's not helping with the rumours," he said simply.

"I think the kiss you guys shared on my birthday wasn't helping with the rumours," Biana fired back. She was winning, Keefe couldn't let her win.

How much deeper could his grave get?

"Yeah, I just hate that he didn't give me enough tongue."

The grave could get much, much deeper.

Other than needing to ignore the dreaded truth to that statement, Keefe was ready to get far away from Tam and never come back, he was done for. He was already saying a silent goodbye to that slowly budding friendship when a laugh beside him shook him out of his thoughts.

Tam laughed at that.

Okay?

Keefe had to recalibrate, that was the last thing he expected. He laughed himself, more relieved and shocked than anything.

"Something's deeply wrong with me."

"Something's been wrong with you, Keefe." And okay, fine, that's true but have a little sympathy, Dex.

"Okay, but hear me out—" Keefe didn't get to finish.

"I already know you like, Tam," Dex said. "I saw the way you were looking at him at lunch." That saves him a lot of explanation.

"Did you see the way he was kissing me, too? Tell me what to do, Dizznee, I'm begging you." Keefe feigning a more dramatic state of despair. "Ro is no help, she just said to kiss him again."

"I also think that would fix your problem." When Keefe set out on his way to Slurps n Burps, he wasn't actually going to ask Dex about this. However it was the only thing on his mind and it just spilled out.

Proof enough he needed a solution. Fast.

And that Dex was no help.

"Okay, think of it this way. Marella took pity on my pitiful, pitiful appearance—"

"Are you even on your own side, right now?"

"—and made Tam kiss me, because I was unfortunate enough to be sitting next to him—"

Dex finally put his gadget down. "Truth or dare is the worst."

"—infecting me with homosexual feelings. Why is he so good at kissing?"

"Being gay is not contagious--Do I need to be in the middle of this breakdown?" Dex said but Keefe knew he was laughing at his pain. Dex stopped Keefe from pacing his workshop and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth as he spoke. "Know what you should do?"

"If I do, will you stop shaking me like a juice box?"

Dex didn't stop. "Talk. To. Him. You're not gonna get anywhere sulking in your room." He let go of his shoulders and Keefe really admired Dex's ability to literally shake sense in him. "Just do your usual thing and flirt with him instead of insulting him. Maybe, he's actually into you."

"You are much better than Ro," he told him solemnly.

"I heard that!" came the call from beyond the door.

Dex laughed and turned back to what he was working on. "Didn't you feel anything from him when you kissed him?"

"Stop reminding me that I kissed him, I'm going to spontaneously combust," Keefe said. "Uh...No, I thought they were just my own."

"You're stupid."

"So, I hear." In reality, Keefe was just avoiding thinking about that night as much as possible. Which isn't a lot, mind you, but he's trying. "Okay, I have a plan!"

"Why would you need a plan to just talk to him?" Dex was more exasperated than curious.

"Because, I'm not going to just talk to him. That's not scientific, you should know that." He heard Dex groan but continued anyway. "Operation: Flirt and Observe starts tomorrow. After, I narrowly avoid killing myself tonight!"

He gave Dex his most not-concerning wink and left his lab, Ro trailing behind him while shaking her head, the door wide open and Kesler poking his head in to find out what the hell that was about.

Dex just shrugged. Nothing that happened in the next week was his fault.

Chapter Text

On Tuesday, Keefe got up refreshed, unharmed from that imaginary suicide attempt, and best of all: oblivious. The sun was shining, his stolen MP3 player was blasting a random song in English, and he was making his way blindly to the bathroom when he passed a mirror and all his suppressed, sleep sedated memories came rushing at him like a freight train.

Granted, his own reflection in the mirror should not have been the thing that reminded him how messy his hair was when he left that party--confused, frustrated and wishing the Lushberry juice was human alcohol so he didn't have to deal with this flashback at the moment.

Whatever! This is fine! He's going to get some answers today, for sure.

Keefe was not fine, he found when he got to Foxfire. First the stares—more than before and clearly not just because of his stunning good looks—seemed to burn through his back. He could hear the whispers, he could hear Tam's name come up a few times followed by giggles.

Fair enough! he thought. He spent a few hours last night doing the same thing, anyway, he can't judge.

The second, more concerning, issue was he couldn't find anyone anywhere. There was a full hour before first session and usually they're crowded around someone's locker. Mostly Foster's locker.

Okay, he'll just hail someone. "Hail Tam Song." Someone else! he barely had time to think before Tam answered.

Woah, he picked up fast, he thought. Wait, what does that mean.

Tam's face appeared on his imparter screen, his eyebrows scrunched together in a way that wasn't helping Keefe's thoughts progress at a normal speed, and Linh and Marella peaking over his shoulder.

"We're at the tree in the back," Linh said before he could ask. Tam was nodding along with her words, his hair glinting in light.

Holy shit, Keefe's so drawing that. Why are his stupid bangs so photogenic.

Wait, no, he shook his head.

"Yeah, I know the one. It was my tree," he smiled and started walking again.

Tam rolled his eyes. "It's our tree, now. Communism." Keefe should not like the way he said 'our' so much.

And Keefe's officially ran out of things to say. Carrying a conversation has never been harder, he's ready to resort to insults again.

So, he stuck his tongue out at the screen and hung up. Yeah, that's the best course of action here!

Ignoring that he could imagine Tam rolling his eyes or sighing louder than he needs to at that stunt, he made his way to their tree at the back of the school.

Keefe has no idea when everyone started congregating at his fifth ditching spot but he got used to it fast so it was really a non-issue. By the time he could spot the group of elves waving him over under the shade he'd mentally prepared himself to put Operation: Flirt and Observe into action.

So Keefe situated himself next to Tam slumped against the tree. He still had that expression on his face like he'd been forced to solve some puzzle.

"What's wrong with you?" Tam asked because of course he'd phrase it like that. Keefe was busy shoving prattles in his mouth after he gave Linh the mercat pin.

He blinked. "Wha' d'you mean?" he replied, his mouth full.

"You hailed me first." He looked at him like it was obvious. "Why would you do that?" Oh, god, he's on to him. Of course, Keefe picked the guy who was constantly on guard.

Keefe looked him right in the eyes and stuck to the plan. "I was already thinking about you."

"The rumours," Tam said slowly, his eyes narrowed.

"Oh, yeah. Those, too."

"Too." He blinked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Yeah, okay. You're concussed."

Keefe almost laughed. "I'm not—"

"Guys," Biana interrupted them from the other side of the tree. "Sessions start soon."

"Skipping," Keefe and Tam accidentally said at the same time. Keefe had an Empathy session and there's no way he's suffering through that. Biana shook her head and walked back with Sophie. "Staying here?" Keefe asked him.

"Are you going to keep acting like a head case?"

"How is me flirting with you a head case?" Keefe scoffed. "God, you're insufferable."

"Flirting?" Tam echoed, pointedly ignoring the 'insufferable' comment. "With me. Healing center, right now." A smile was slowly creeping across Tam's lips like he wasn't just calling Keefe insane.

Wait, is that progress? That counts right?

"Only if you come with me?" If he ignored the mutual insults, he'd say he's doing pretty well with the plan. So far. He's not sure how much longer he could do this and he's pretty sure if Tam looked at him again he was going to crash out.

Tam sighed loudly and pushed his hair out of his eyes—which, okay, you have to be patient with Keefe. It's been two days, maybe he's just being silly.

Now that he's looking, he noticed how red Tam's ears are. The red was creeping slowly across his face and Keefe couldn't help but stare. No one Keefe's ever come across lacked for the standard Elvin beauty but Tam was just...pretty.

He feels sick.

"You know, unless you wanna go to the library," Keefe suggested before his eyes started to melt.

Tam made a face. "Ugh, never again. If I run into another couple making out between the bookshelves, I'm killing them and then myself."

Before Keefe could say something stupid like double suicide, he heard heels clacking against the corridor and jumped.

"Oh, no, no, no," he mumbled, pulling Tam from where he was sitting.

"What is it?" he asked, already agitated.

"It's Lady Belva. So, unless you want to get caught, get out of her sight." And then the worst possible senario happened.

Keefe cursed as he tripped on a root and fell against the other side of the tree. Pulling Tam along with him who barely caught himself from falling right on him. So, now Tam was leaning over him, his hand against the tree next to Keefe's head and his face so close he could feel the heat rising on his neck. He couldn't put himself in a worse situation if he tried.

Before he could think, Keefe's eyes flickered down to his lips. It barely lasted half a second but Tam noticed and he had no idea what that expression meant.

Keefe started planning his planting in his head. He opened his mouth to say something but Tam shushed him, putting a finger over his lips. "Don't move."

Oh, he'd completely forgotten about Belva. The noise from her heels had been quite for a while now, she was probably still there. Then the clicking started up again and faded off.

"Jeez," Tam sighed and moved from over him. "We're never staying out in the open again."

Keefe's brain still hadn't caught up with the events so he said the first thing that came to mind. "So, there's gonna be a next time?"

Tam got the puzzle-solving look on his face again. "What game are you playing, Keefe?"

"Wha— Huh? Game?" Keefe answered, eloquently as ever.  Tam's stare was getting hard to hold—he just kept looking at him like he's searching for something. A sign? An answer?

Keefe thought he was being pretty obvious all morning.

Then again Tam as always looking for an ulterior motive.

"Okay," was all Tam said and Keefe decided he suffered enough today.

Day One was officially over, barely before it started. God, he's a mess.

"So? How'd it go?" Dex whispered to him during study hall. Keefe was busy rolling a crumpled up ball of paper between his hands, trying hard to forget that Tam was almost literally on top of him.

"So much harder than flirting with girls." And Dex startled him with an unexpectedly loud laugh.

"Who knew it was so easy to fluster you?" he said, after shying away from the supervising mentor's shushing.

Keefe sputtered. "Hey, I was not— Okay, anyone would be flustered in that situation!" Dex cocked his head, looking for an explanation. Keefe sighed. Heavily. "He fell on top of me," he said quickly.

"What?"

"It was an accident—don't look at me like that! Then, I looked down at his mouth and he saw me look. Do you know any good, low-key criminal, telepaths?"

Dex was just giving him a look. "All this would not have happened if you just talk to him."

"Dare I say I need it to happen again?"

"I knew you were a whore."

"Die, Dizznee." Dex stuck his tongue out at him.

"I still think you should just talk to him."

"I also think so," another voice interrupted, making Keefe jump out of his skin. Sophie raised an eyebrow. "Forget I was here?"

"Oh, never."

"Anyway, I think you're overthinking this. You're making it more complicated than it has to be."

Keefe turned to Dex. "You did this."

"I did not tell you to do anything." Dex raised his hands in surrender and Keefe could hear Sophie laughing behind him.

"It's really weird seeing you so flustered," she said poking at his cheeks. "You're all red."

"The fact that I have no memory of the first ten seconds of that kiss might have something to do with that." Keefe groaned and dropped his head in his hand. Dex and Sophie exchanged a look over his head. "Okay, day two's gonna be better!"

"You recover fast," Sophie commented.

Dex wasn't so thrilled. "You're still doing this?"

"I need to commit to the bit, Dizznee," Keefe said determined. "Plus, I think it's actually working."

"Somehow, I doubt that," Foster added.

Her honestly hurtful negativity aside, Keefe had a new plan. He also needed to plot out the worst case scenarios so that doesn't happen again.

But not until after he drew and discarded too many sketches of Tam with his hair shining in the morning sun with Ro teasing him after each one.

Chapter Text

It was Wednesday. Other than being Keefe's least favourite day of the week (Elwin picks lock flavours on Wednesday) he hadn't seen Tam all day. 

Then he spent the last three hours of the day wrestling with the fact that it actually bothered him and now he was walking to detention with Day Two declared null. Linh said she let him sleep in because he was awake all night—insomnia—but that doesn't explain why he was missing from lunch. 

Maybe that's really none of Keefe business, though. 

He shouldn't be this worried. Scratch that—he shouldn't be worried at all! 

No, he's fine. Keefe shook his head before opening the door, maybe if he shook it hard enough he wouldn't need a Washer. 

He pushed open the classroom doors with a flourish that died halfway through it's birth.

Then he laughed. Hysterically. 

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Tam was sitting at the desk closest to the door, his head hanging off his hand and his dark circles more prominent that Keefe's ever seen them. He looked so exhausted that Keefe's next joke died in his throat. 

A weird thought about wanting to wipe them off crossed his mind but he decided he wanted nothing to do with it. 

Tam barely looked over at him. "I showed up late and then I fell asleep in Sir Leon's session," then he groaned. "Which is kinda his fault if you think about it! The guy is so boring." All of which had to be the most words he'd said to Keefe in a row, ever. 

"You could always try sleeping at night," Keefe suggested and got an accusatory glare in response. 

Well, he'll think about whatever that means at three in the morning sometime. For now he needed to do something to distract him from the blush creeping up Tam's neck. 

In another universe Keefe would have teased him about it. Not in this universe. In this universe, that would lead to another situation that would haunt Keefe's dreams for the rest of his life. 

"But why are you here?" 

"I'm- always here?" Keefe winced at how strangely that came out. Oh, no. His street cred was gone if anyone heard that.

Tam looked at him strangely. "I mean, what did you do this time?" Keefe must have had it painted plainly on his face that 'Why do you care?' briefly crossed his mind. "I'm trying to stay awake," Tam clarified. 

"I won't be your court jester for free," Keefe said. 

And like the twisted, vicious villain he was, Tam said, "What? You want another kiss?" and Keefe's brain promptly turned off for his own safety. He'll deny until his planting that it caught him so off guard that his face probably turned red but Tam was already laughing at him, so Keefe prayed he didn't notice. 

"That is so not funny. The rumours are bad enough!" Keefe complained, leaning back in his chair after he managed to calm his evil, impulsive thoughts. "It's gotten way passed tension accusations, people think we're dating." 

"With the way you're blushing, you're feeding the rumours more than I am," Tam shot back. That was when Keefe realized there were eyes on him. He even caught the guy he usually sat next to snickering in the back of the classroom. 

"In my defense, I didn't expect you to say that." 

Tam propped his head on his hand. "In my defense, I thought you could handle a little flirting." 

"Flirting?" Keefe gasped. "It is so on, you manipulator." For the second time that week, Keefe made Tam really laugh and he felt like he won a lottery.

...When did he start thinking sappy things like that? 

"What? Why are you telling me this?" Fitz was trying to read his book he was holding over his face. Which, Keefe thinks, is the worst position to be reading in so he dropped himself on top of Fitz and started complaining about his day. He'd just gotten to the part about his pending heart attack in the middle of detention.

"I haven't gotten to that part yet, hang on. So, I wouldn't exactly call Day Two a failure." 

"No, I mean, you usually go to Dex about this, right?"

"Dex is gonna laugh at me if I tell him this. Wait, how do you know that?" 

For a split second, Fitz looked away from his book. He shrugged. 

Keefe narrowed his eyes. "Did Dex tell you something?" He shrugged again. "...Why would Dex tell you?" 

"You're crushing my ribs." 

"And you're nervous!" Keefe accused him. 

"Ignore me, just keep ranting about your super not-secret boy crush," Fitz tried to deflect, with his convenient book over his face. 

"You know I hate that word—" 

"Your denial's getting more violent by the day." 

"—and I'm clearly not the only—" Before Keefe could finish his righteous allegation, there was a unnecessarily loud bang at Fitz' door. 

"Mom invited literally everyone over for snacks so if you don't get down here now, you're not going to any." Biana quickly finished her service announcement and fled, not waiting for a response. Probably so she doesn't get cheated out of her snacks. 

Keefe looked back at Fitz. "What do you think she means by 'everyone'?"

"I didn't know anyone was coming over." Rather than responding to that—obviously passive aggressive—comment, Keefe got off Fitz' bed and ran downstairs. 

"This isn't over!" he yelled back at the door, brushing off Fitz' "Yes it is!" in reply. 

Biana really meant everyone. It was exceedingly rare you'd find their entire lunch table gathered on a Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately for him, Keefe eyes found Tam much too fast.

His attention split between one of the plates of ripple puffs and the interest on Tam's face as he looked into Sophie's Ipod. His eyes were glued to the screen as the earbuds he was sharing with her probably blasted some human song.

"Over the food, Keefe?" Marella made a disturbed face at him. 

"This is your fault," he replied round his pastry in a heartbeat. "Besides, it's not what you think." 

"I think you're looking at him like he's a ripple puff."

"He's eating a ripple puff," Keefe pointed out. 

Marella snickered. "Does he taste like one?" 

"I hate you," Keefe said passionately. "Expect smoke bombs in your locker. A muskog in your gym clothes." For a second, Tam looked up and Keefe could swear he looked right at him. 

No, he was definitely looking right at him. Keefe slightly tilted his head at that and Tam shook his a little and focused on the music again. 

Marella held her hands up. "My bad for helping you."

"It is." Keefe finally turned to her. "Now, please work your magic, again, witch." 

"All magic comes at a price, loser," she said, grabbing another ripple puff. "And I'm all out of money. Besides you have your whole Competitive Flirting thing going on, you'll get there." Keefe did not want to know how she knew about that. Marella had an almost frightening way with gossip. 

"He'll never win this," Keefe declared. For once, though, he wasn't entirely sure. Usually, he went out of his way to avoid the guy, now it just seemed like he steals the lines right out of his brain. 

"I wouldn't be so sure," Marella agreed with his traitorous thoughts. 

He just grabbed another pastry and tried not to notice the stars in Tam's eyes everytime they started a new song. 

Chapter Text

Keefe doesn't know how much more of this psychological torture he could handle. The first thing he was greeted with on Thursday morning was Tam subtly flirting with him. He's very aware that the change in dynamic was his fault. He resents it even. Only because he can't have fun with it since he's too busy trying to stay upright.

"Next time! For sure!" He was telling Dex in the cafeteria line.

"Yeah, right," Dex snorted. "It's so weird—how does he get you so flustered? I'm gonna ask him," he muttered mostly to himself.

"If you ever loved me-" Keefe started before people started yelling at them to move up in the line. "Don't mention this to him, I'll explode. Not like you haven't been telling Fitz." Keefe accused him. He pretended to be very interested in his lunch. "I knew it!"

"I have no idea what you're accusing me of," Dex tried to deflect. "Oh, look at the time. I have to meet Sophie in detention," Dex gave him a smile before walking in the very opposite direction of detention.

Keefe sighed and took that as permission to skip detention, he'd hound Dex about this later. Walking over to their usual table he realized two things: Tam wasn't there and Biana was looking at him weird. Okay, yeah, she's going to ask him a lot of questions. Is it too late to head to detention? he thought.

"Keefe!' she yelled, flanked by Fitz and Foster, immediately disproving Dex's obvious lie. "You know, I was kidding when I was teasing you about the kiss right?"

"Not so loud!" he said, rushing over. "Subtly really isn't your thing." He dropped his lunch on the table and braced himself to joke his way through this entire interaction, granted Biana tries to meddle like he's ninety percent sure she would.

Biana observed him, staring like he was a subject in a lab. "You really are a narcissist."

"Huh?"

"That or you're just autosexual," she mused. Keefe decided not to take that personally.

"I mean, I am pretty hot," he offered. Sophie shook her head and Fitz sighed loudly.

"Prettier than hot."

"Can someone just shoot me?" Keefe stage whispered, recognizing the voice that snuck up behind him. "How do you say this stuff with a straight face?" he asked Tam.

He threw the question right back at him. "How do you?"

"I kinda thought you'd be the blush-y type: Loner, avoids people, allergic to flirting." He counted down on his fingers.

Tam gave him a look. If Keefe was a much weaker person he might have melted. "Huh, you don't know me at all."

"Not to interrupt- ...whatever that is," Sophie said, looking around. Only then did Keefe notice all the eyes glancing at their table. "Are the rumours true now, or what?"

Keefe knew they were kidding, he knew that. his mind couldn't help but wander a bit and by the time he realized what he was thinking about Tam was already looking at him. "...No, I just think it's funny. The banter was getting overdone anyway." And Keefe really hoped he didn't imagine the hesitance in his voice.

"Exactly," he agreed, though he could feel Biana's eyes on him. And Sophie's. and Fitz'. Okay does everyone except Tam know now?

Keefe had half the mind to just tell him right there. He'd been fighting the impulse all week, he figured he'd at least make it to Friday.

Tam's making that almost impossible.

Keefe's not impatient by any means. It'd be more accurate to say he's too curious for his own good and did he mention impulsive. Looking at Tam right then, he'd kill to know what he actually thought about that kiss.

It's had to have wrecked his world view as much as it did Keefe's.

Now, he'd say all that but, "You're really irritating," came out instead. Keefe could almost see the question marks floating over Tam's head. His eyebrows pinched together something between confused and annoyed.

And okay, maybe in the back of Keefe's sick, twisted mind he found amusement in confusing him. Or offending him. Or just getting him to look at him, really.

Wow, he's cooked.

"I didn't even say anything."

"You didn't have to," he said, taking a bite out of his lunch.

Tam turned his body to him. "Hold on, you're acting like you weren't staring at me with that stupid expression for the last minute."

Keefe shrugged "I was thinking about how annoying you are." He shot him a grin.

Tam gave him a look. "So, you were thinking about me?" Keefe's smile faded.

Someone coughed very loudly, saving him from having to respond to that—and explain the rush of red to his ears—though, he immediately erased any gratitude he felt when Marella said, "Get a room already," Linh trailing right behind her as she walked over.

"Oh, come on, I was enjoying the show. It just got good," Sophie said, shaking her head.

"Who's side are you on?" Keefe asked holding a hand against his chest.

"We're ignoring the big picture here, "Fitz interrupted, waving around a prattle, "Which is how easy it it for Tam to get Keefe to shut up, now."

Keefe gasped. "Here I thought you liked my voice."

"No one likes your voice more than you do," Tam snorted.

"It's a high bar, I admit."

The conversation fizzled out to more general topics, to Keefe's relief because he really needed to think. He was losing track of the plan earlier than he expected, Day Three had already surpassed his quota and it was only lunch. What now? The two words played over and over in his head.

He's spiraling; he's aware of that.

Then a wisp of a thought cut through his, through the chatter at their table, making his mind go cold. 

You okay?

And all Keefe could do is stare and stare because when did they reach that stage? That Tam's bothering to shadow whisper like he cares about his feelings?

"I need to be put down," Keefe barely mumbled, palm to his forehead hoping no one noticed his flushed cheeks.

Tam snickered next to him.

"If you two start making out in front of my food, I'm burning the school down." Undoubtedly, a remark from Marella, who just never fails to be a massive hater.

"That is not a something we do now," Tam lamented. "No way my reputations ruined three weeks into going here."

"You're welcome," Keefe sighed.

"I don't know. You seemed pretty into kissing him," Fitz, the traitor, pointed out, looking right at Tam. At this point Keefe was looking at him too.

"I'm... I plead the fifth?" he said, glancing at Sophie.

Sophie snorted. "Yeah, you used that right."

"Now, hold on a second," Dex, who suddenly decided that his dramatic exit needed a dramatic entrance to go with it. He grabbed a seat between Sophie and Fitz and snatched a pastry off Fitz's tray.

Keefe noted that Fitz didn't react in the slightest and he needed to tease Dex about that later because he won't be going down alone.

"No one kisses a guy like that out of commitment to a dare." Dex had a wry smile on his face, like he knew something, and Keefe knew better than to doubt that he definitely did. Maybe he'd been knowing. Was that traitor playing both sides?

He didn't like that Dex was stealing his lines. Lines that he'd be using if he wasn't frozen in his spot, cautious that if he moved he be forced to give in to his annoying impulses.

He wondered if the others had the same dilemma or if they'd just rather not get involved.

It was more likely to be that second thing with the palpable tension in the air now. Whoa, that got serious fast.

Whatever silent war they had going on ended quickly when Tam sighed dramatically and said "Fine!" through the last of his lunch.

The rest of the table burst into chatter as Dex doubled over laughing.

"So, anyone gonna explain what the hell that was?" Marella asked, looking at Linh.

"I'm as lost as you are," Linh mumbled.

"I'll explain later," Tam told her, pinching the bridge of his nose. He downed the rest of his Bottle of Youth and stood up, grabbing Keefe's arm and dragging him up.

"What is happening right now?" Keefe felt like he was talking to himself as he numbly let Tam lead him to...wherever he was going.

"Make good choices!" Dex yelled in his direction. Both Keefe and Tam flipped him off at the same time, not really helping their case and sending Dex into another laughing fit.

-

"So, they're gonna make out, right?" Biana mused.

Pretty much in unison the rest of the table agreed, "Definitely."

Chapter Text

Tam's not blind.

He knew from the moment Keefe had to convince himself he 'still didn't like him' after they kissed that something was up. Well, maybe he was reeling from the lack of oxygen to his brain because even if Keefe agreed beforehand it seemed like he stopped breathing when it happened. 

He's been thinking about it too much. At first, Linh was a little concerned. Of course, he told her it was fine, that got her to back off a little. Or maybe he just didn't notice because he pretty much zoned out for the rest of the party. 

Tam refused to admit that he liked him even a little bit before Marella gave him that dare, so there's no chance in hell she was doing it out of the kindest of her heart. Either way she needed to die really, is what he was thinking as he tried to convince Linh that he did not like Keefe. (He started sounding a little too much like a kid from one of Sophie's human shows for his liking.)

The problem was that he did. It was too stupid, irrational, irritating for him to come to terms with. Maybe he'd been long gone—but he was doing a decent job of ignoring it. 

For the most part.

"All I'm saying is that—based on Marella's descriptions, at least—you seemed really into him. Gross, by the way," she added afterwards, making a face. He rolled his eyes and leaned back against the tree. 

"You're thinking about it too much. It was a dare, remember? I was literally required to kiss him."

"Yeah, kiss him," Marella cut in. "Not make out with him in front of my perfectly good cookies." If any more heat rose to Tam's head he was going to explode.

Sophie looked over. "You really were all over each other what was that about?"

Dex made a face that Tam learned meant he was going to say something he wouldn't like. "Pretty sure there was t-"

"Okay, shut it!" With scarily perfect timing his imparter started buzzing, Keefe's face appearing on the screen with a bright smile like he was mocking him. "What the fuck? Is he haunting me now?"

"Maybe, you were on his mind," Linh suggested, looking way too smug for his liking. He quickly answered partially to shut her up but that didn't stop her form punctuating the call with, "I give it a week." 

"A week might be too long," Tam surrendered.

A day might even be too long, he was thinking when Keefe tripped them both and Tam almost fell on top of him. He had to put all his energy into not looking at him because if they locked eyes right then it was so over. 

So he kept his eyes up, trained on Lady Belva as she walked away and got off him as soon as she was gone.

The incident plagued him pretty much all day and he'd barely gotten any sleep that night. 

Linh was concerned when he didn't wake up until eleven the next morning, disoriented and wondering where he hell she went. He'd later find out that she left him and had go to school which, okay, was just rude. At least leave him a note or something. 

Showing up to Foxfire halfway through the day was also a mistake because then he got detention and somewhere in his messed up, sleep deprived brain he thought it would be funny to flirt back. 

Funny and a way to slightly give in to that—very well hidden—desire. 

He did. And Keefe went nuclear. Something he's only seen one other time, right after he kissed him. 

So sue Tam if that was the only thing keeping him awake that afternoon. It was ridiculously satisfying. 

That was when he finally decided to invade Linh's room and tell her because he'd finally had enough.

"What?" she almost shrieked. "How long?" 

"Too long," Tam mumbled. "I have no idea what I see in him," he told her, like a liar. 

Linh started at him so hard he's sure there were holes in his head. "So when Marella made you kiss him—"

"She didn't know. She was trying to get back at me for something I did. Don't worry about it, " he said quickly, still trying to not out Marella's massive crush on his sister. "Anyway, that's not the point. I'm pretty I was flirting with him. Half asleep and drunkenly tired. "

"Last year, that sentence would have made you poof into little specs of shadows," Linh said with a smile, miming and explosion with her hands. "Or glitter."

"I'm leaving," he deadpanned, not moving a muscle. 

"Well, are you going to tell him?" 

"I'm hoping he tells me first." 

"You already know he likes you," she pointed out. "What are you waiting for?"

"It's just a little hard to believe."

That being said, when he immediately caved after bringing Keefe away from the group he wasn't too surprised. 

"Woah, you're really red—are you... okay?"

"I'm—" honestly Tam didn't know where he was taking that sentence. He wasn't totally fine per say, and he wasn't totally bothered by the situation (much to his dismay). 

Dare he say the last few days have been...fun? He wouldn't say he'd gotten super close to anyone other than Sophie since joining the group. She's always said his sense of humor would land well with Keefe and Dex—she was right, of course, but he still resented it. 

Tam didn't expect to enjoy Keefe's company that much, or at all. Especially to be rendered entirely speechless in front of him. 

He concluded that he just sucked at talking sometimes if it wasn't dripping with sarcasm. 

He was about to try that again but before he could Keefe's eyes flicked down to his lips and he choked on his words. Then—

"Do you wanna kiss again?" 

"What?" He's not totally sure what emotion that question elicited. He's not even sure why it was so unexpected he saw this coming. "Wait—wait," he said leaning away. 

Keefe had the decency to look ashamed. "Well, you know, I was thinking—"

"Were you, now?" A flicker of annoyance crossed his features, fond as it seemed, and it was almost grounding. Maybe "grounding" was the wrong word. It was predictable, familiar, something he knew how to deal with. Not whatever that other thing was. 

He almost laughed. 

Keefe started again, avoiding eye contact, "I was thinking that I'm not sure this... whole thing is totally a joke. Anymore," he tacked onto the end.

Tam finally looked him in the eyes. "Yeah, I know." 

"You—wait, what?" 

"I know," he said leaning back on the wall. "You're not subtle." 

Keefe looked offended. "I wasn't trying to be subtle! In fact, I was being obvious on purpose—were you just pretending the whole time?" Tam's no Empath but he's pretty sure Keefe was actually worried. 

Tam wanted to laugh. "Yeah, Keefe, I was pretending to flirt back," he said walking up to him, pointing a finger at his chest. "Just like I pretended to pick up the second you called me even if you've never called me ever, and pretended to get super carried away making out with you in front of half the school." 

Suddenly, he was taken back to the last time he was this close to him. The dimmed lights reflected in his eyes, and the chatter and snickers around them fading off. He asked Keefe if he was okay with it and he just cut him off with a 'Never back down from a dare.'

"Well, when you put it like that—" Tam cut off his whisper.

"Just shut up and kiss me already." Their noses were almost touching and he barely had to lean in. This time Tam's pretty sure he was the one who wasn't breathing, even if it was barely a kiss with Keefe smiling so much for the first few seconds. 

"You know,  you're actually cute and much less annoying when you're blushing." Tam told him. 

Keefe rolled his eyes. "I have no idea what I see in you."

"Likewise," he answered before kissing him again. 

Chapter Text

Unsurprisingly, there were six pairs of expectant stares waiting for them in the cafeteria. Keefe just hoped his hair wasn't too messed up as he was mulling over the fact that,

"You don't get it—it's like my sense goes out the window when it comes to you," was a real thing Tam said to him.

He smiled to himself. He felt so giddy it was honestly pathetic. And maybe he glazed over the interrogation for the first five minutes because Tam held his hand under the table but there's no proof of that.

Like a fool, Keefe thought shit would get easier after that. It did not.

After the mandatory teasing he suffered ("Dude, are you wearing lipstick?"

"No, my boyfriend's a vampire.") — he thought he wouldn't have to deal with his head screaming at his heart anymore.

He was wrong.

He noticed this because one very unremarkable night at Havenfield, while he was arguing with Tam and Dex over Cinnacreme add-ins and toppings, Tam suddenly leaned over and wrapped his arms around him.

Yeah. Okay. Sure. Why not. Keefe completely blanked on what he was saying five seconds ago. It was one A.M.—his brain was already hanging on for dear life.

And yeah, what if Keefe was usually the clingy loser, it was completely different when Tam did it. "Are you cold, or something?"

"Yeah, I don't know if any of you noticed but Shadowflux is freezing," he said, tucking his face into the crook of Keefe's neck because he wasn't suffering enough. It's not like Tam couldn't regulate his body temperature, right?

"Oh, you're trying to distract me," Keefe accused him. He's a conniving liar. Keefe should've known.

"No idea what you're talking about," was mumbled against his skin and calculated distraction or not it was fucking working.

"Uh, oh, we're losing him," Dex whispered tiredly to Fitz who snickered at his expense.

The only thing cold about Tam was the soul of his dead hair. "Too warm?" Tam asked him.

"Too comfortable, really," he found himself murmuring back.

"You'd never think he was calling him a brainwashed dunderhead over marshmallows five minutes ago," Marella remarked. Yeah, no. Any more of this embarrassment and he's commanding everyone to sleep for the next ten—physician recommended—hours with his shiny new powers.

Keefe yawned again, "Seriously, what the hell is a dunderhead?" He turned his head to look at Tam but all he could see was black hair falling over his face. "What, did he just fall asleep? Am I stuck right now?"

"Good luck getting out of that. I'm pretty sure cat rules apply to Tam, too." And if Sophie meant what Keefe thought she meant by "cat rules" he doesn't see any movement in his near future.

Maybe the whole 'having a boyfriend ' thing was crazy overrated if he had to put up with this and pretend to be normal about it. Wait... No....

"I am normal," he said, convincing absolutely none of his half-asleep friends.

It's over for him. Maybe, he can't handle the domestic whiplash that's arguing for five hours over drinks and then cuddling at sleepovers.

"I can almost see smoke coming out of his ears," someone noted.

"Holy, shit. Am I touch deprived?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we hit the jackpot," Dex announced, like an especially bad game show host. "It took you this long to notice you're crazy bad at accepting affection?"

"Don't set up depressing jokes you don't wanna hear," Keefe said playfully, choosing to take a break from being hyper-aware of the sleeping boy clinging to him.

Dex gave him a look. Keefe made a note to say something devastating when his brain started working again.

"I hope you know it's hilarious that all your 'natural charm' goes out the window when you're actually dating someone."

"Oh, please. You're seething with jealousy," Keefe deflected, pretending that the word dating isn't bouncing around his skull like a scream in an echo chamber. Just as he said it, Tam started slipping off his shoulder and Keefe had to catch him before he got brain damage.

Or worse—woke up.

"Nice save," Dex snorted, as Keefe rested Tam's head on his lap.

"Basically, Spiderman,'' Keefe agreed numbly.

"So, are we gonna talk about the touch depr—"

"La, la, la, la! Can't hear you," he sang, maturely, slipping Tam's earbuds—that he knows he has in his pockets—out and putting them in.

He'd take brain-melting music over the brain-melting therapist conversation Dex was going to torture him with.

Then, again. One day, Tam comes almost stumbling into Keefe's room and flops onto him, mumbling curse words he's never even heard before. "E'win lemme in," he said in lieu of a greeting."

"What's up with you today?" Keefe said with a slight smile. Amused, if nothing else. It was still rare that Tam would let his guard down completely like this.

He didn't answer. He didn't even look at Keefe as he said, "Is it a banishable crime to hug my boyfriend now?" and made Keefe choke on his ego.

"How do you say this stuff, man. Holy shit."

"Makes you blush."

"Copying my personality isn't cute."

"Well, someone has to pick up the slack, while you're too busy being flustered."

"Kill me."

A laugh rumbled against Keefe's chest and he figured the raised pulse was worth it. Of course, he couldn't let Tam know that so he rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

He'd been trying to not pay attention to the flurry of emotions coming from Tam. Whether he forgot direct contact triggered Keefe ability lawlessly or he just didn't care at the moment—but it's hard to not feel all the warm, fluffy feelings piercing his skull like copper bullets.

That one's new, he thought, trying not to think of the depressing implications of that.

He fought the urge to point and giggle, "Haha! You like me!"

Well, he fought it. He didn't say he'd win. "You know, it's getting kinda hard to pick apart our emotions now," he said, casually and not at all strangled and struggling to be comprehensible.

Tam raised his head , a little alarmed. His cheeks got red so fast that Keefe thought he would pass out.

"Shut the fuck up, I hope you go bald." Tam said, hiding his face in Keefe's old superman t-shirt that he got in London. But, Keefe could still see the red blotches on the back of his neck and he burst into almost hysterical laughter.

Or giggles. Hysterical giggles. He's turned into such a sap it makes his teeth hurt.

Amidst almost giving himself hiccups, Tam said something he had to ask him to repeat.

He rolled his eyes. "I said—I like you. Too busy making fun of you for being an idiot to actually say it last time so..." Half way through Keefe stopped processing words. He's actually going to be the death of him. Tam trailed off and looked up at him with a barely held back laugh. He buried his face in his hands "Did you—"

"Shut up."

"Did your heart just skip a beat?"

"Shut up."

Yeah, he's gonna kill him.