Blackout (A Keith Fanfiction)

Chapter 8

"All I'm saying is that strawberry ice cream is gross and overrated," I vindicate, taking another lick of my ice cream.

"And all I'm saying is you're crazy and strawberry ice cream is great," Keith mimics my tone. I glance over at him to see his smug smirk as if he was actually right.

That feeling won't go away. No matter how much I try to push it away and be casual, it doesn't leave. Maybe I'm allergic to Keith... or...- Nope. Memories first. THEN feelings.

I shiver and tense up at the suddenly cold air outside the last shop we were in. Within seconds upon noticing, Keith takes off his sweatshirt and holds it out. For some reason I blush and can't actually process thoughts, "What...?"

"You're cold... and too stupid to bring a jacket," his smirk is still there.

"Thanks," I accept the gray hoodie. It's pretty big on me, so it's kind of obvious to anyone else that it's his.

That probably explains the old alien lady, sitting on the bench. "Ah, young love..." she muses. "It's nice to know it can still be just as sweet as it was in my day..."

I nearly choke on nothing, my face going 10x redder. Keith seems to have the same reaction as we both stutter and trip over our words in surprise as we explain that we're not a couple.

The lady just smiles sweetly at me, as if she didn't hear us frantically denying that we're together, then she looks Keith dead in the eye and says, "She's a special one."

We both just exchange glances and laugh awkwardly before 'casually' walking away.

We proceed to complete the actual mission, getting the information we need onto a flash drive. As soon as I start thinking about how smoothly this has gone so far, I pick up on a hushed conversation between two Galra soldiers.

"We've just picked up some information, sir. They're here. Probably not all of them, but more than one is here and they have information," one informs the other.

The other responds harshly, "Well find them and stop them, you idiot!"

"Did you hear that...?" I mutter to Keith.

"Yeah, we need to get out," he tilts his hat down more and pushes his fake glasses up. I take this as a cue to put the hood of his sweatshirt up. What I don't expect is for him to grab my hand when he starts walking faster towards the escalators. I feel that spark again and the already warm feeling in my chest gets warmer and expands.

We manage to dodge the attention of the numerous Galra soldiers all the way to the exit of the mall. I'mm suddenly filled with dread as I realize how many Galra soldiers were at the exit and all around us, watching the crowd carefully. Keith and I look at each other. One idea sparks in the back of my mind. No... he's not gonna do it... but... ugh... Screw it.

"Kiss me," I tell him.

"W-what?!" he blinks in pure shock at me.

"People get uncomfortable by more extreme public displays of affection," I explain briefly, my face already starting to heat up again.

"Y-yeah, they do."

I actually can't believe I'm about to- I lean in, slightly on my toes, pressing my lips to his with my arms wrapping around his neck. Thankfully, he goes with it and kisses back, placing his hands on my waist.

(Anyone know what that scene was inspired by? lol)

I don't think my face has ever been a brighter red than it is when we pull apart. I immediately look away from Keith, not wanting to see his reaction, but also to make sure that my plan worked. Which it did. Not a single Galra soldier is looking at us, most of them avoiding looking at us. I look down at the ground as we quickly walk out of the mall and back to the pod.

The ride back to the castle is dead silent, which, quite frankly, makes it a million times more awkward than it already was. My face continues to virtually glow a color Keith's lion would envy even by the time we get back and walk into the control room, where everyone is waiting for us. Keith also seemed to be avoiding looking at me.

"Fantastic! You're back in one piece!" Allura exclaims upon our entrance. "Do you have the information?"

"Yeah," I toss her the drive, which she catches. "Just in case it matters, they, uh, know we have it. We got out before they actually found us, but..."

Allura gives me a nod, then moves on to the next topic, "We received a distress call from another planet while you two were away. It'll take us at least a quintent to get there, so I advise you take advantage of the time you have to rest."

I stroll into the kitchen where Pidge and Hunk sat discussing whether the ingredients Hunk is using are actually edible. "Hey," I lean against the counter.

"Hey Valerie," Hunk greets.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask... how was your mission?" Pidge asks with a hint of that smile.

Just the thought of the mission is enough to make me blush again. Dammit Pidge, that was gonna be a repressed memory! "It was fine, I guess," I shrug. "We got what we needed without much trouble, so..."

"Well, yeah, I know that but how was it really?" she leans towards me with a face that suggests she's trying to convey more than what she's flat out saying.

"What are you talking about...?"

She sighs, exasperated, "I was trying to be subtle, but fine. What happened between you and Keith on the mission!?"

Hunk watches us as if he's watching an interesting documentary.

"Nothing happened. What makes you think something happened?" I lie.

Hunk suddenly catches onto what Pidge is talking about and smirks at me, "Well for starters your face was redder than it is now."

"And you avoided even glancing at each other like the plague," Pidge adds.

Allura walks in and then freezes, analyzing the current position we're all in. Pidge is leaning across the counter, getting in my face like a detective interrogating someone, Hunk is smirking at me in a intrigued way, and my face is, as Hunk said, redder than it was earlier. She looks at Pidge, "Is she confessing?"

"Did everyone notice!?" I only half-confess.

"Well duh! Maybe except for Lance... he doesn't really tend to catch onto these things..." Hunk says.

"So what happened?!" Allura materializes next to me, her eyes wide with curiosity.

I look around at them, all looking at me anticipating my answer. There really is no way to get out of this, is there...? I huff, then mutter "Nothing that much... I just kissed him..."

"Really!?" Allura and Pidge almost yell, all of them beaming at me.

"Calm down..." I gesture, "It wasn't anything, really. We were trying to get out of the mall and there were a bunch of Galra and the only way I could think to get them to avoid noticing us was to get them to avoid looking at us. Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable, so..."

"You totally just wanted an excuse to kiss him!" Pidge teases.

"Nu-uh!" I cross my arms and pout like a kindergartner.

"Don't lie! We know about the heart eyes you were giving each other after training!" Allura nearly squeals.

I snap a pouty glare over to Pidge who shrugs, shamelessly, "What? I had to get you two together on this mission somehow!"

"Aw, it's ok Valerie," Hunk consoles, "I think you and Keith would be adorable!"

I groan and go to leave the room, "I hate you all..."

Word Count: 1262

Just as you thought the romantic tension wasn't going to escalate any further... Do y'all have any idea how unbelievably happy writing this chapter made me!? I'm grinning like an idiot right now.

Enough about what I think, though. What did you think?

Thanks for reading!!