one hundred sleepless nights//klance

Chapter Seven

He should be gone by now.

I poked my head out of the doorway, glancing to the right first, then the left. I'd heard him earlier, talking to Hunk and Pidge. Their footsteps had faded ages ago but that didn't stop me from hiding in here, letting the butterflies build up in my stomach. I had no clue where they were headed. All I knew was that I wanted to hit the training room before dinner. It was the only place that I could be alone in times like these. When I had no direction to follow and needed something to numb my mind. Fighting took my focus off of all of my surroundings. All that there was in my line of vision was the enemy and the desire to win burning through my veins. It spent my energy for the day too, which meant it was that much easier to fall asleep at night. In this current situation I was in, that wasn't something that helped me much anymore. It only hurt me, making our conversations that much shorter. I had stopped fighting for him. I knew what it had meant the first day I'd done it. I was twirling my knife in my hand, sitting on the edge of the arena, when all of a sudden, there was a hand on my shoulder. I'd been so lost in thought that I jumped and spooked whoever it was. He gasped, revealing himself to be none other than Shiro, in the flesh. I hadn't even noticed him come in. I motioned for him to take a seat beside me as I silently thanked the galaxy it wasn't Lance. I'd come here to get away from him but something about it didn't feel quite right. I held the handle of the blade tighter in my hand, Shiro looking down at my hand as I did. It was odd for him to join me here. Everyone knew I liked to be alone when I fought, yet something made me think he knew there was something else on my mind. I turned to look at him and my suspicion was confirmed. His eyes weren't confident and sharp, like I'd known them to be. They were soft and dark grey, like a cloudy sky. I knew in my mind I was lucky to have him here with me but something in that moment made me want to yell at him for coming in. To tell him I was doing just fine on my own and I didn't need any brotherly advice right now, as he'd give me from time to time. I appreciated it loads but not right now. This was something I needed to figure out on my own. I think he knew that, too. He wasn't pressuring me into opening up to him. I didn't know if this was a tactic to get me to open to up to him but a part of me wanted to tell him. I figured it'd be easier to open up now and get it over with rather than let things get worse. I didn't want to lash out at him over something as confusing as love. I tried to start talking but he cut me off with his own words.

"I know what you're thinking." He looked up at me. There was that tone in his voice that told me we'd be here a while. "That I'm not talking to make you start the conversation instead of me."

"That's not-"

"Keith." The strength was back in his eyes. "I'm not here to lie to you. I'm only here to help."

"This is about Lance," My heart sped up. This was gonna be awkward. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah." He pressed his hands into the floor behind him. "I'm not here to make you talk or anything. I know that's probably the last thing you want to do right now."

I nodded, looking across the room. He was right. I didn't even know if I'd be able to listen to him but I tried my best to as he continued on.

"I know you that you tend to hide your real feelings underneath your anger." He paused for a moment as if he expected me to object. It was the truth, even if it stung a little. There was no way I could argue even if I wanted to. That's not what he deserved from me. "And I know Pidge told you to befriend Lance. I can tell there's something more to it than what we can see. Especially on your end, Keith. You're getting impatient a lot quicker when we're all talking about our plans and you've been lingering around him. I'm not here to tell you what to do. I just wanted you to know that no matter how things turn out, we'll all be here to support you both."

A minute seemed to pass with no words from either of us, until something compelled me to speak. It was against my better judgement but I couldn't help myself.