Purple Hearts

Chapter 5

"Can you stop fidgeting, Lance?" Pidge groaned. "It's super annoying. What are you even worried about anyway?"

I tried to focus on driving as I replied. "It's just complicated." I gripped the steering wheel harder and peered at the car in front of me.

"What is so complicated that you can't tell me?" She asked, seemingly annoyed at how distance I was acting. It was understandable though, because Pidge and I have been friends for a long time. I always tell her things that are bothering me. This time was just different.

I sighed and began to explain. "You know the number I had written on my arm?" I asked. Pidge nodded and I continued. "Well the person we're meeting today, that number belongs to him."

Pidge smirked a little and looked out the window. "So it really wasn't a girl."

"I wouldn't lie about that!" I said. "But anyway, just try not to embarass me today. I know you won't, but me and him are on thin ice right now."

Pidge glanced back over at me curiously, but chose to ignore her thoughts and look back outside. "I support you, Lance. No matter what it is."

○○○

When we arrived at the movie theater, it was way more packed than I thought. The line to get tickets almost reached the door, and children were running around everywhere (almost tripping their parents). As if I wasn't terrified enough, I got even more nervous about trying to find Keith.

We stayed by the entrance and looked around, but since Pidge didn't know what he looks like, it was mostly me looking for him. "Can you find him?" PIdge asked after some time.

"No." I groaned. "Maybe we should just lea-"

"Hey Lance!" I heard someone call from behind us. I turned around and saw Shiro and Keith walking towards us. Shiro was waving at us, like we had known each other for years. While Keith (oddly enough) was staring at the floor and walking beside him. He seemed as nervous as I was.

"H-Hey Shiro." I replied, waving back.

When they reached us, it was clear how tall Shiro was. He towards Pidge, making her a little intimidated (as I could tell). I however, wasn't that short from him. He still was very intimidating, but I had to remind myself that this is Takashi Shirogane. From what I had heard he isn't a bad person, so I wasn't very worried.

"I thought Keith was lying when he said he wanted to meet a friend!" Shiro said. He laughed and playfully pat Keith's back. Keith didn't respond.

"Yeah. That's me." I said chuckling.

"How long have you guys known each other?" Shiro asked. Pidge looked up at me, probably wondering the same thing.

I looked over at Keith, to see if he would decide to say anything. He didn't though. Our eyes met for a short second, and then he looked back down at the floor. It bothered me how distant he was acting, but I made it my goal to make him feel more comfortable. "We've known each other for a couple months." I said proudly. Shiro's eyes widened, and so did Keith's. He jerked up and looked at me, wondering why I lied for no reason. I had a reason though.

"Ooh. How come I haven't heard about him before then, Keith?" Shiro asked. "You can always tell me when you make an awesome friend like Lance."

"How long have you known Lance?" Pidge asked Shiro. I was glad she finally decided to join in the conversation, so it wasn't just me and Shiro anymore.

"I only met him yesterday." Shiro replied. "But any friend of Keith's is a friend of mine. Right Keith?"

Keith looked at me for a second. "Yeah." He mumbled. Then he returned his eyes back to the floor. I was confused as to why he was getting nervous now. I mean, at the party he wasn't anything like this.

"Well then," Shiro began. "Let's get our seats! I hear this movie is supposed to be as good as the last one!"

Pidge jerked up. "You've seen the last Glactica?" She asked.

Shiro chuckled and nodded. "I've seen all the Glactica movies. They are pretty cool."

Pidge jumped up in excitement of having a new friend to geek out with. Though, Shiro didn't seem as into Glactica as Pidge was. As we began to walk through to movie theater, Pidge was locked in a conversation with Shiro, leaving me and Keith walking behind them silently.

"So... how are you?" I asked. It was my best attempt to start a conversation.

Keith sighed. "Fine, I guess."

I groaned and looked away. "Are you still mad at me?" I asked.

"Oh course not." He replied. "I told you I accepted your apology."

"Then why are you acting so distant?" I asked aggressively. Now I wasn't just angry at how Keith was acting, I was angry I had to pry information out of him. I didn't want to have a one-sided conversation where I ramble on about stupid stuff. I wanted to actually get to know him.

"It's not easy meeting you for the first time, okay?" Keith finally replied. He raised his voice a little, but not too much so Shiro and Pidge wouldn't hear. "I don't want to fuck it up like I did at the party."

"I don't want to either, but we aren't going to get anywhere if we don't talk about at least something!"

Keith sighed and looked up at me. I stared into his eyes. They were mesmerizing. Different shades of gray, purple, and blue we staring right at me. I couldn't help but stare back.

"Were you even listening to me?" He asked.

I shook my head and was pushed back into reality. "Sorry I was just thinking about something." I said. I could feel my heart speed up, and I tried to ignore it as we walked down the hall, but for some reason it wouldn't stop.