"what am i now? what if i'm someone i don't want around? i'm falling again. i'm falling again. i'm falling" (Harry Styles, Falling)
TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains mention and character use of alcohol
Unlike the previous one, this mission had been a complete success. The two teams seemed to unify better under Shiro's command, something Iverson was very pleased with. Something was off though. The paladins had expected Keith to be waiting for them when they returned, but he was nowhere to be found, at least in the hangar where he had first left them that is. Considering it was late, most of the paladins didn't think anything of it, Shiro however was a twinge worried.
"What are you, like, his mom? He's probably just in bed, catching up on the sleep he clearly didn't get last night. Speaking off-" Lance interrupts himself with a yawn, "I'm beat. I could use some beauty rest myself".
"As much as I hate to be on Lance's side, I'm gonna have to second that. Night guys," Pidge replied as they loosely followed Lance to the sleeping quarters.
"I think I'm heading to bed too Shiro. I mean, unless you need my help looking for him. Are you really gonna go looking for him?" Hunk rambled.
"I am, but it's ok, Hunk, thank you. You did great out there today"
"That means a lot coming from you. Sure was weird not having Keith with us though."
"Yeah. . ."
"Anyways, goodnight," and Hunk too departed towards his own room.
Shiro took the paladin's advice and went to check Keith's room first but ran into one James Griffin, making his way to his own room after sorting through archived files all day. This alerted Shiro, Keith was supposed to be with him, if James was still up, why wasn't Keith?
"Griffin, are you just now finishing? Where is Keith? Wasn't he with you?"
"Left me to finish up about an hour ago. And why should I know? I'm not his keeper or anything. We're not even friend now"
Shiro found the defensiveness in James' voice to be unusual, and his volunteered "we're not even friends now" even more than. At this moment though, finding Keith was more important. With Shiro's lack of reply, James stomped off to bed.
Shiro made it to Keith's room at the very end of the hall, first knocking the door but earning no response.
"Keith?" He called. Still nothing. He figured the next step would be to walk right in. It's not like in all their years of knowing each other he's never walked in on Keith in a compromising situation. They'd survive. He wanted to make sure he was ok, even if it meant some temporary embarrassment for the two of them. Shiro opened the door cautiously and poked his head in finding Keith on his bed. Not however in the way he thought he'd find him. Keith appeared to be curled up in his bed, hugging himself almost. What was more concerning was the empty case of beer on the ground next to his bed. After further inspection, Shiro noticed the 4 empty, smashed cans of alcohol littering the floor and a 5th one opened and half full on Keith's nightstand.
"Shiro-" a groggy voice called out to him.
This alerted Shiro as he previously thought the boy was asleep.
"Keith- are you- what is- why would- Keith what is going on?!?!," Shiro sputtered in confusion. He didn't know whether to feel angry, disappointed, or more concerned. He reached for the light on Keith's nightstand and flicked it on. Any anger he had in him quickly vanished as he saw the state of Keith laying before him. He saw Ketih, obviously drunk, grasping his shoulders in the tightest "self hug", his eyes red and puffy not just from intoxication but from crying.
"Oh, hey" Shiro said softly as he kicked beer cans out of the way and dropped to his knees beside Keith's bed. His hands immediately going to stroke Keith's arm and hair.
"Shiro-", Keith's voice even softer than the last time.
"C'mon, talk to me man. Goodness, Keith. What's going on?"
"I- don't know what to do, Shiro" Keith's voice came out in broken sobs. Keith began to slowly sit up, making room for Shiro to sit next to him.
"About what, Keith?"
"I- I- I"
"Keith. Whatever it is, this isn't the way to go about it. Let me help you, drinking won't solve anything. Let's talk when you're sober ok," Shiro, still holding Keith, attempted to coax him back to bed.
"No. Now. Hic- Please-" Shiro didn't say anything, giving Keith space to speak.
There was a long pause, the only sounds being of Keith's uneven breathing until he finally spoke up, "James. . . It's James, Shiro"
"What did he do this time?" His overprotective brother instincts kicking in.
"No. He didn't . . . It's just", Keith started. Shiro squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Keith started again, "I feel like. . . I feel like if I say this out loud hic- If I say this out loud, there's-there's no going back hic-. If I say this out loud. . . it means. . . it's real"
"If you're truly thinking that, it probably means it already is real. . ." Again, Shiro made room for Keith to talk.
Keith let out a shaky breath, "I've spent all this time hic- being bitter about what he did to me. . . I've spent all this time. . . convincing myself that I- that I hate him. . . but now that I'm back I- . . . hating him would be so much easier than this"
Shiro stared in confusion, "You're saying you don't hate him anymore?"
"I'm saying I never did. Even after that night, I didn't hate him. Even now I don't hate him. I don't know if I could ever hate him because I- . . . . . . . I love him. Shiro. Even after everything, I still love him. . . . I love him and it fucking terrifies me."
Imagine waiting a month for someone to update a story and when they do it's a chapter like a 1/3 of the size as the others. Yeah sorry. I didn't wanna cut this scene but I didn't quite fit in the chapters before or after it so it ended up getting its own meaning it's a lot short. I still rlly enjoyed writing though. Hopefully, you enjoyed reading it. Very few people read this book but I am grateful for those few bc I've worked really hard on this story. Anyways, enough with that sappy shit. Like always lmk what you think in the comments. Stay hydrated, and get good sleep, you're doing great. Bye! <3 <3 <3
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Us Again (Jaith)
RomanceKeith had long imagined his return back to Earth. He however didn't imagine I'd go like this. . . He wasn't sure what was going to kill him first, the war against the Galran Empire or being forcefully partnered with his ex-boyfriend, James Griffin. ...
