A house is only as fun as your house mate

Chapter 4 and 2/3: Keith

I headed up to bed and tried to ignore the anxious but excited feeling building up in the pit of my stomach. The house had grown cold again and I had no clue where to even begin to look for a thermostat. I went into my room and attempted to do what I did last night. My head hit the pillow and I pulled the covers tight around my body. I must have lain there for a good hour and a half. Nothing. Feeling a little more confident now, I left for Lance’s room. I knocked, in the hopes that he was still awake. He was. “come in.” I heard, but his voice was hoarse. I rushed in, begging him not to be doing what I thought he was. I should have known that my begging wouldn’t do anything. He wiped at his eyes as I walked in and tried to hide his face away from me. I came over and sat directly in front of him. Holding his cheeks in my hands and forcing him to look at me directly. “damn. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know I had made you cry. I’m so sorry Lance.” I still didn’t drop his face out of fear that it would break. He placed his hands on my wrists, gently pulling them away from him. “it wasn’t you, my confusion just got a hold of me and I don’t know, I broke.” He smiled weakly and tried to give a chuckle but he ended up coughing because of the hoarseness of his throat. “please, talk to me.” I continued to beg. He thought about it. “okay, just promise me, you won’t freak or leave because of what I am about to tell you.” I nodded, still not dropping his hands. “Keith Kogane, I think I might like you. Before you say anything or hate me forever for it, I am not entirely sure because I’m supposed to hate you but that night in front of the sunset really made me think about how I felt about you. I mean, Allura was still in my life at the time and of course I liked her but you were different. That’s why I posted those updates. You were always in my mind and I wanted to find you. Now I have you and I know that I am still supposed to hate you but I don’t know, I still feel what I felt back then. I just don’t exactly know what it is but I do know, that I like holding you, I liked kissing you. I like you being here with me.” He blushed and then turned away. I grabbed his face again and pulled it towards me and kissed him. It was a little deeper than the last one but he took it well. He was tense to begin with before finally melting into my kiss and my touch. I could feel him pressing into me now, as if trying to switch roles of dominance, I let him, willingly. We broke away shortly afterwards. “im going to take that as a good sign then.” He chuckled.
“Yes.” I said breathlessly and smiling. “ I feel exactly the same as you.” He rest his forehead against mine and held my arms tenderly. “this is such a relief.” He sighed. I nodded. “so why are you here in the first place.” He asked raising a brow as usual.
“You didn’t turn up the heating.” I explained and looked down at the floor.
“Oh uh my apologies. We may have one problem though. I don’t know how to.”
“what do you mean, you don’t know how to?” I said, lowering my voice to the point it sounded almost threatening. “i uh, broke the thermostat years ago and from that day on, my room is the only one in the house that gets heated and it doesn’t ever stop. That’s why during the summer I stay in the room you have now and during the winter I stay in this one.” He said. I gave a frustrated yet exasperated sigh.
“how the hell did you manage to break a thermostat?!” I half yelled. He flinched slightly at my sudden change in mood. “i don’t know, I was messing with it and the dial snapped off along with the thing that actually turned the dial in general. I don’t know why my room is the only room that heats though, it is a little unbelievable.” He defended.
“I should have known.” I moaned. “so what do I do now, if every night is going to be unbearably cold to the point I can’t sleep?”
“You could always sleep in this room. I don’t mind sleeping in yours.” Lance suggested. I couldn’t do that to him in a million years. I declined the offer instantly. “No, I don’t care what you say but I am not robbing you of your room.” He looked at the floor deep in thought before finally looking at me with his eureka face. “i will sleep on the floor and you can take the bed.” He said as if he had fixed a world problem.
“i refuse to let you do that either.” I continued to counteract everything he came up with. “i will take the floor and you can take the bed. After all, who knows how long I will end up staying and if you end up sleeping on the floor the entire time, I couldn’t forgive myself.” He shook his head.
“I don’t want you to sleep on the floor.” He paused, knowing exactly what else could come next. “That leaves only one other option.” He declared.
“Don’t say it,” I begged.
“The only other option would be to sleep in the same bed, I mean it’s big enough for the both of us.” I considered his proposal. The thing is, secretly, I would love spending more time with Lance like this but would he actually be up for it. “are you sure?” I asked feeling extremely anxious that I could ruin things. I looked at him as I saw a playful glint in his eyes. He gave me a sly smile before grabbing my waist and pulling me onto the bed next to him. He was a lot stronger than he was back then and so it was harder for me to escape him. I started laughing as I lay limp in his arms, defeated and vulnerable. He let me go and lay next to me, laughing himself. “does that answer your question?” he asked.
“what? The fact you tackled me. Yes it does.” I said sarcastically while rolling my eyes. He chuckled and looked at me deeply. “i am happy with anything you decide.” He told me.
“well, I would rather not die of hypothermia and sleep deprivation so I think I will take you on your offer.” I told him. He smiled happily at my answer and turned his head so that it was resting in the crook of his arm between his elbow and looked at me. “hey, Keith?” he whispered. I hummed in response and looked at him the same as he was me, so we were both in mirroring positions. “thank you for answering my calls.” he blushed and dropped his gaze but refused to turn away from me. I kissed his forehead gently to the point my lips barely met the skin there. I stood up before I could read his expression, just a little tease that I could pull on him. He whined as I walked away and approached the other end of the bed. I set myself down and kicked my legs up next to me so that I was lying fully down on my back. One arm draped over my chest and the other by my side. I didn’t bother getting under the duvet. I was already warm enough as it was just being in the room. I felt Lance readjust next to me and wriggle under the thick duvet himself. “like it toasty?” I chuckled. I didn’t look at him but he got the hint that I meant him. “you know it.” He sniggered before turning off his bedside lamp. “night Keith.” I heard him say as he bustled down. I couldn’t help but glance over at his now still body and saw his chest move with every shallow intake of breath. I had to hold back the urge of moving his fringe away from his eyes. “goodnight Lance.” I settled with instead. I fell asleep shortly afterwards myself.