Walking Home (Decadence and Candira)

Sophie groaned as she tried to figure out what to say to him. She felt awful for ignoring him like this, but she really did need a moment to figure out how she felt about him. Her moment turned into 20, and she felt like an ice cold bitch as the professor strolled in and Keith was left to himself for the whole class. If it was any consolation, she hadn't been able to focus for more than a few minutes at a time. And then the announcement was made that their grade was now dependent on a project to be done with a partner.

She forced herself to focus, wondering why this sort of thing had to happen today of all days. Sophie had just unfolded her slip of paper to find his name when he practically shouted what she'd been thinking. She looked up and over at him from where she was sitting, her expression somewhere between surprise and stress. This day just kept getting better and better. Then, class was dismissed and the redhead grabbed her things and started toward the exit, which brought her closer to him with every step. "Well...that was...unexpected," she said, once she was at his side. She was referring mostly to his earlier confession, but the assignment also fit there. "Listen...about before. I honestly had no idea, and I'm not sure what to think or feel. I might need some time to figure that out..."

She frowned and looked into his eyes. "But we can still work together. I promise not to avoid you," she said, still feeling insanely awkward.

He watched as Sophie turned around and looked at him with the same widened eyes he had. How was this possible? Maybe it was some kind of sign, or Professor Layton was working some kind of fucked up joke. Either way, he was now forced to confront her again.

He slowly got out of his seat as she came up to meet him. Keith just stood there, staring at her quietly, wondering what they were going to base their project on. Then thoughts of his academic future relying on how well they could videotape each other filled him with a sense of dread.

"I hope you're not camera shy," he said, walking with her out of the auditorium. He tilted his head down at her as she shared her feelings with him, nibbling at his lip a bit. He nodded quietly after she was finished, meeting her eyes when she frowned. Hearing the word promise made him feel uncomfortable. Not in a bad way, but in a way which nearly caused tears to well up his eyes.

He spread his arms around her and pulled her into him, holding her tight. "And I promise not to hurt you," he answered.

Thoughts of her being recorded did make her feel a bit nervous, but not in the way that made her want to run away from it. Mostly because their current situation would have been the perfect thing to use for the project in question. She chose to keep this to herself for the moment and figure something else out with him later on. And then he was making promises.

"I...uh..." She simply could not put into words the shock she felt as he pulled her into his arms and held her close. It took her a moment to register what he'd said. He promised not to hurt her...what a loaded statement. She stayed there for a moment, motionless, and then she returned the embrace, forgetting for a moment that he had once been the reason she debated staying home from school on a weekly basis. She forgot everything about their past and present for a moment and just returned the hug of someone who needed comfort, and was comforting her as well. And then she snapped back to reality.

"Okay," she said softly, looking up at him. "I believe you." She let him go and smiled softly. "But if you do, I reserve the right to kick your ass." She smiled and stuck her tongue out before checking her watch. "I have to get going--my next class is in like two minutes. I'll talk to you later, okay?" That said, she started off to her psychology class.

This was a new feeling--no wait, this was an old feeling being unearthed again. Ancient archaeology brushed from the ground. As he felt her hug him back, he felt himself healing inside, like she was curing something in him. She was so serious and straight up, such that it made any kind words coming from her that much more meaningful. You'd think that was something Keith didn't like, but it was something far more endearing to him than any of the passing thrills he'd experienced these past several years. Everything else seemed transient and temporary, except for anything which was associated with Sophie.

"So you believe me," he said, smiling. "That may be your first mistake."

He then looked around. "I'm done for today," he said, before realizing she had to go immediately, so he greeted her and watched as she rushed to class, smirking as he turned around, heading to his (stolen) car.

Sophie went through the rest of her classes that day a little distracted by the events that had preceded it. It occurred to her that somehow, she'd forgiven Keith for at least some of his jack-assery today. But he had a lot of pain to make up for. She wasn't sure that she completely trusted him--that sort of thing didn't just change overnight. The academic was just beginning to wonder if he thought this would make everything different....but she doubted it. He was smarter than that.

Despite his failing grades, his poor attendance, and his poor pick up lines, Keith was someone who had a lot of potential. He really was smart and had a penchant for remembering things that people forgot. If half of the illegal activities he bragged about were true, he was clever and resourceful as well. There was no doubt in her mind that he could turn things around if he really wanted to...but she wasn't sure he did, and that made her a little sad.

And here she was thinking of him again. She shook it off and drove home, but on the way, she decided to drive by the old neighborhood. She parked on the curb and got out of her car, sitting on the edge of the hood. She could picture the two of them walking on that sidewalk...so small. They had been friends for a little while. What was it that had split them apart? The move?

He had been walking for a while, passing by the small crack on the sidewalk. It was at the corner of Birchwood and Cedar, and that always meant ten more minutes of walking before they would be home. Keith smiled; he was glad it was still there, as he remembered it. Some things never changed.

He walked past the old wooded fence which used to be missing a plank, and through that gap, you could see a rottweiler on a leash growling at you if you ever felt the curiosity to glance into the backyard. Whenever they walked past that fence as kids, Keith would always make sure he was between Sophie and that gaping hole in the fence. She probably never understand why he did so, since he never brought it up, but he always felt that when that dog was going to go after them, it was better that it got him first, than it did her.

There was no longer a gap in that fence. It had been boarded up. Keith stood there, wondering if that dog was there, so he leaped up to pull himself over to get a glance on the other side. The dog was gone. Although the "Beware of Dog" sign was still there.

As Keith continued to walk down the street towards his (and Sophie's) old neighborhood, he saw a cute, redhead seated on the hood of a car, with her back facing him. She reminded him of Sophie, down to her locks of red hair, and that newly acquired shapely figure of hers. Damn, was she hot. She was probably nothing like Sophie though. She would probably giggle all of the time at the mere presence of him, being in love more with the idea of being with a guy like Keith, than actually being in love with him. It figures.

When he neared her, he began to realize something. Then he stopped, heart racing in his chest. It was Sophie! What the hell was she doing here!

"S-Sophie?"

Upon hearing her name, the pretty girl on the hood of the car turned her head to see Keith standing there. Apparently he was just as surprised to see her sitting there as she was to see him appear out of nowhere. "H-hi," she said, slowly putting her feet back on the street and sliding off of her hood. She watched him for a moment and said, "What brings you here?" She asked with a smile. Now that she thought of it, he was probably there doing the same thing she was--walking down memory lane. She was trying to remember what it had been like with him when they were little and always walked this way, past the big dog behind the broken fence. She hadn't realized it at the time, but he had probably been protecting her by walking between the fence and her on their way home. Maybe he hadn't realized it either, but it was sweet in retrospect. How had that changed?

Now as she stood before him, she wondered if he would ask her the same thing. What would they talk about, if they talked about anything at all? she stared at him, her eye going to that swollen lip again, guilt hitting her. Maybe that sense of being a protector had spurred him to action last night, rather than misguided rage. If that was the case...maybe she owed him one.

"They fixed the fence," he said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. "And that dog's no longer there. I kind of liked that dog." He looked at her as he spoke. She was smiling, and it caused him to crack out a warm smile of his own. "Oh, I just felt like coming out here, after thinking about our project." And about you, he thought, but he decided (out of a misplaced sense of pride) not to inject that into the conversation.

"I think it'd be a good idea if we filmed here once we started, what do you think?"

For the first time in like forever, he felt like something school-related was important to him.

It was impressive to her that she knew what he was talking about right away, and that she actually agreed with him about the dog. What impressed her most, however, was that he'd been thinking about school...outside of school. "Sad. That fence doesn't seem like it should be fixed, ya know? I wonder if the dog died or the family moved? It'd be weird to think of that dog as gone forever..." She frowned and then shook her head.

"Anyway...I like the idea of filming here. But what would we film?" she asked tilting her head. Would they talk about the way they used to walk together in their project? It would be an interesting starting point, and she said so. "What do you think?"

"I like it. I think the focal point would have to involve filming us," he said. "We have a while to work on this anyway, so we can take our time." He then strolled beside her, glancing at her. "I wouldn't mind that."

He stood closer to her as he leaned back against the side of her car. Keith brought his gaze out and studied the sky for a moment. "I never expected you'd remember this place. I was shocked that you did. What do you think happened to us?"

They had started walking home together since the third grade, and after he was finished with Elementary School, his parents couldn't afford the cost of living out here, so they moved to another part of town. It wasn't until High School that he was reunited with her again, but things changed so much in those two years.

She frowned, standing next to him as she looked up at the sky as well. "I remember this place. I lived here a little while longer than you did, you know? But I remember walking home with you. We used to be pretty good friends." She sighed as he asked what she'd been thinking through most of high school. "I don't know. I guess we grew up away from each other so we grew apart. you picked on me a lot in high school, so I started to really distance myself out of self defense. And because I started to hate the way you acted." She groaned a little. "I know that sounds so whiny-victim, but I'm being honest at least. But I do remember you actually being nice sometimes. It was weird, but it was good to see that you weren't as bad as I thought..."

She looked at him now. "I probably could have been a bit more tactful with the delivery of that little speech, but it feels good to get it off my chest. And all the time you were mean to me, I kept thinking about when we were little and how you'd changed so much. Truth is...I kind of missed you growing up, but we didn't know where you'd moved to..."

Keith's eyes widened. "You 'kind of' missed me?" He straightened up, exhaling loudly. It wasn't more of surprise, but more of exasperation and a little frustration thrown in for good measure. "You broke my heart on Valentine's Day before I moved! How could you say something like that! You never cared about me. You only saw me as a...friend! At least that's what you always referred to me as. While I..."

He then paused, stammering a bit, catching his breath. This was weird, very weird. "I'm...sorry," he said, looking away. "Sometimes I'm not sure what to think of you."

So that was it.

She'd broken his heart. Years ago. On Valentine's Day. Ouch.

"Well no wonder you hated me...but did you really hold a grudge all that time? Of course I cared about you. Precisely because you were my friend. I...I didn't think it had meant that much to you. I'm sorry..." she frowned and thought for a few moments on this new revelation. All those years ago when the furthest thing from her mind was a boyfriend...he'd really liked her. He'd wanted to be her Valentine, and she'd thought that meant something else. Confused, she looked at him again, following him with her eyes.

"Ya know, I never know what to think of you. I didn't know then, and I still don't know. But...I guess heart-breaking kind of explains why you picked on me so much."

He was ready to storm out of there, really. All of this admitting, guilt, and childhood grudges was too much for him. It sounded so petty now that they were practically grown up, and here he was admitting to her that this had nearly ruined his life. She was probably pitying him now. Sophie looked like she needed a real man, and not this angry little boy who was standing here before her. She had attained womanhood and left him at the playground.

"You probably think I'm still a kid," he said, turning away from her. He paused for a moment, sighing. Well, being twenty wasn't exactly seasoned anyway, but still. "Honestly, who am I kidding. You're beautiful, smart, honest, and hard-working. I wish I could look you in the eye as I'm saying this, but I can't. You're everything that I want, but I'm just too much of a mess right now."

She frowned and took a few steps closer to him. "You...are the farthest thing from a child. What you are is a guy who doesn't think he's worthy of a lot of things. I know you're a smart guy, Keith. And if you really cared about school and stuff, I bet you could turn your life around."

Sophie felt like he was confused and she definitely was. "Look, you're a good guy deep down. I know you are. And if you beating the crap out of Jeff doesn't prove it, I don't know what does." She smiled and then let him go. "Don't dismiss yourself so easily. You won't get very far...much less what you want." That said, the redhead leaned against her car and looked up at the sky.

He turned and looked back at her, eyes beginning to shine from the tears threatening to well up. He had promised he wouldn't ever hurt her, but how could he fulfill that if he couldn't even get his life together? Hearing her words changed all of that. It melted all of the pain away--in fact, was there even a pain to begin with, now that the most beautiful girl in his life instilled the faith back in him?

Keith walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. It was easier the second time; he was taking baby steps.

He hand stroked her soft, red hair. "Have I ever told you were the worst, and the best thing that has ever happened to me?"

She wasn't quite sure what to think of that last bit, but she was more accepting of the hug this time. She responded by returning the embrace almost right away and she let him stroke her hair. Obviously what she'd said had hit home for him. Maybe he didn't hear things like this often, but she knew he could do it. So she hugged him back and chuckled a little at his comment. "I'm not sure what to say to that," she said. "So I guess I'll just shut up and enjoy the moment," she said, staying still, doing just that.

He took some time to breathe and take it all in. She was so quick to accept him, and he was beginning to allow himself to see her that way again. That close friend who understood him. Things may have been more complicated now, but he had faith that some things just never changed, and his relationship with Sophie had been that.

"So, enough about me," he said. "Tell me what's been bothering you."

The warm, fall breeze brushed by them in the afternoon. The sky was blue and the autumn leaves, vibrant and orange in hue, fell to the earth without a sound.

Sophie rested her head on his shoulder and let him just relax for a few moments before he spoke again. She let go of him and pulled back a little, tilting her head to the side. "Me? Well, I haven't really had much to bother me really. I missed my best friend. And then, in high school, I found out the hard way that you hated me. And now...I don't know what to think or say or do anymore because I never really wanted to not like you, but you kinda made it hard for me not to." She brushed some red hair behind one of her ears and watched him. "Beyond that, stress from school and my parents wanting perfection." She shrugged.

"But you're already perfect," he said, looking down into her gray eyes. He loved them because they sometimes looked blue, then they seemed green, and then they were gray again. He could look into them for a long time and keep guessing, as though there was some solution to that puzzle. And then there was her. The big picture, when you zoomed back. The curly red locks framing her pretty face. Keith always preferred red hair over everything else. It just looked more exotic and unique, something which he oftentimes associated Sophie with.

She smiled at him when he told her that. It was really sweet of him to say so. She stared back into his eyes, always finding the warmth in them to be comforting. She smiled at him and his green eyes, seeing him in a new light for the first time. He was sensitive and kind, and somehow she'd hurt him. She'd contributed to some sort of neglect that had hurt him. Without thinking her hand came up to his face and she stroked his cheek pushing some of his brown hair out of his eyes. "Thanks," she said softly. Her fingers ran over his swollen lip and she frowned a little. That was her fault too. She kissed his cheek softly and then let the hair fall back. "I have to go, but give me a call," she said, handing him a card with her name and number. "And before you make any jokes, I got them for people I'm in groups with so I could just hand them a card. Email's on the back." That said, she smiled and then unlocked her car, sliding into the driver's seat.

He kept his eyes on her, as he slowly pushed the car door closed. Keith watched her as he did so. His cheek still felt warm from where her lips were, and he had this thought about not washing it for a while. It was an innocent, old way of thinking he'd never think would resurface again. He pocketed the card in his jeans and back away from the car, allowing her to pull out of the curb.

He was already missing her.

Sophie felt a little bad leaving him there, but he could talk to her whenever he wanted now. She drove home to see her parents for dinner and to pick up the laundry she'd done just that weekend. She told them about Keith and how he'd apologized to her and that they were partners now. Her parents seemed thrilled. After more conversation, she finally went home to her apartment. Once there, she put her clothes away and stowed the leftovers her mother had made her take with her in the fridge. And then she sat down at her desk to do her homework, her mind wandering to Keith every spare moment.

Somehow, she had to help him see that he was worthwhile. That someone cared about him and what he did. She had to show him that even though she wasn't sure how deeply her feelings for him ran, that she did have feelings for him.

Even if Keith had stolen all of the cars in the world without getting caught, while forming the largest harem of the sexiest, most lavishly promiscuous girls from around the nation, he still wouldn't be as happy as he was now. He made his way back to his (stolen) car, smiling wistfully. Thoughts of Sophie danced in his head, them jolly red plums on Christmas--and he wasn't even sure how that metaphor went, but it matched how he felt nicely.

Anything could happen to him now, and he'd still be happy. In fact, when he saw a police car trailing behind him, sirens blaring to all hell, he didn't even care. He pulled over with the same, wistful smile and rolled down his windows, looking out at the officer who just stopped him. "What'll it be today, officer." He said.

Apparently, he had been too slow to cover his tracks for this one, and so it came back and bit him in the ass. Hours later, he was sitting in a jail cell, still thinking about Sophie, grinning to himself. Some of his fellow inmates thought he was insane smiling so much, so they left him alone, watching him from the corners of the pen like vultures, waiting for him to show just a little bit of vulnerability.

He asked the guard for his phone call. They led him out of the cell towards the phone, where he took it and held it up to his ear. He twirled Sophie's card in between his fingers, before resting it on the steel counter. He then dialed her number, hearing her phone ring on the other line.

It had never occurred to Sophia Renard that she would ever be the "one phone call" allotted to someone when they had been arrested. She just wasn't the type who had friends like that. Nor was she one that she thought someone would think of first. She was about to be proven wrong on both counts.

After she'd come home, Sophie had done her homework like a good girl and written down some ideas for their project together. The A/C broken in her apartment, she took a quick, cool shower immediately afterward. The unsuspecting redhead had just finished her post-shower routine when she heard her phone ring. She hit speaker as she pulled on some fresh clothes. "Hello?" She hadn't recognized the number, so she had a feeling it might be Keith, but she had no idea in what capacity he was calling.