Purple Hearts

Chapter 8

As I slipped on my blue jacket and tennis shoes, I called Hunk and waited for him to answer. It ringed a couple times before he picked up. "Where are you guys?" I asked aggressively. "You were supposed to show up like 20 minutes ago!"

"Well... we're not coming." Hunk replied hesitantly.

"What?"

There was a moment of silence before Hunk nervously replied "Pidge and I decided not to go. We just think it would be better for you to hang out with your other friends, without us following you around all the time."

I groaned into the phone. "Hunk, it will be less awkward if you guys are there! So get Pidge and hurry up!"

"Sorry dude, we already decided it. I'm going to be playing video games with Pidge for a while instead." He paused "And I know you'll be just fine. The Lance I know can turn an awkward situation into a... well a not awkward one!"

I was going to retort again, but after some time I just sighed and shook my head. "Okay fine, but next time you guys better show up!"

"No worries." He said, then hung up the phone.

I groaned loudly to myself and put the phone in my pocket. I may be good at starting conversations and making new friends, but with Keith it's different. I don't know why, it just is. Luckily Shiro will be there to help me out.

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I walked into the restaurant and quickly scanned the area. From what it seemed, Keith and Shiro hadn't showed up yet. The restaurant was small enough I could tell by just looking around.

"Hello there." Someone said to me. I turned to the voice and saw a woman who looked to be a waitress here. She smiled and asked "Table for one today?"

"Oh no, I'm just waiting for someone." I replied. Then, luckily for me, Keith walked through the door immediately after, just before the waitress could reply. He looked up at me and managed a smile, but I didn't really notice. I was more focused on the fact that Shiro wasn't beside him.

"Where is Shiro?" I asked.

"He had something else to do..." Keith replied.

"Hunk and Pidge couldn't be here either." I groaned. How ironic that out of all three, none of them decided to show up. It made me think that they planned not being here together.

"So table for two then?" Asked the slightly annoyed waitress. I could tell she was getting impatient with me.

I sighed and stuffed my hands in my pockets. "Yeah sure, is that cool with you Keith?"

"Yeah." He said. I could tell he was feeling uncomfortable about this too. But I guess if we are going to be friends, we need to be able to hang out alone. Without feeling weird about it.

The waitress smiled and walked us to our table in the corner of the restaurant. I ordered a Pepsi and Keith ordered water. Then, we sat in silence for a while and waited for our drinks. Suddenly Keith said "Sorry Shiro couldn't come."

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked.

Keith looked out the window beside us and groaned. "Never mind. What do you want to do after this anyway?"

"Well my original plan was to go to the arcade, but Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro aren't here so we'll have to find another thing to do."

"Okay whatever." He replied, then the waitress arrived with my Pepsi and Keith's water. He started sipping on it aggressively while I tried to figure out what was wrong with him. But I couldn't tell. I just settled on the fact that he might be nervous like me, but shows it more.

We ordered our food and quickly ate. I swear I've never left a restaurant as quickly as I did that day. I wanted to stay longer, but Keith just wanted to leave. It was fine with me though.

After we left I was driving to the arcade, and the sun was setting behind the trees. If I wasn't driving, I would have stopped and took a good look at it. The sunset is one of the things I personally enjoy, but rarely tell anybody. So it took a lot of courage for me to ask Keith "Do you want to watch the sunset together?"

He looked at me weirdly from the passenger seat. "You want to watch the sunset?" He looked a little surprised by my request. I expected that though.

"Yeah." I replied. "Unless you really want to go to the arcade."

"No it's fine." He replied, looking out the window at the faded sky. I felt kind of surprised he didn't say "That's dumb" or something along those lines. It was a first for me. When I told Hunk, he laughed and thought I was feeling sick that day. Pidge thought the same thing and suggested I took a nap.

I sighed and pulled the car up to the side of the road. There was a tall hill with fences lining the top. I quickly walked up to the top and jumped over to the other side of the fence, then sat on it. Keith did the same thing until we were side by side.

There was a long moment of silence before Keith threw his head back and laughed. It was the first time I had heard him laugh, since he usually is quiet around me.

"W-What's so funny to you?" I asked.

Keith looked back at the sunset after he finished his laughing fest. "I just didn't see myself doing this today.

I laughed a little too. "Well I didn't either."

Keith looked over at me and studied my face. Was he looking for a sign that I was lying? I couldn't tell. But I found out why soon after, when he leaned in and kissed my cheek. The sun finally set seconds after that, and the area around us was darker.

I sat there absolutely shocked. Keith just blushed and hopped off the fence. "I'll walk home from here. It's only a couple blocks away." He said and began to walk down the hill.

"Wait!" I called. He turned around super quickly, as if he was waiting for me to call for him. "Why did you kiss me?"

"It was only on the cheek, dumbass." He said, then continued to walk down the hill.

I watched him walk the entire time until he disappeared from my view. All I could think was, I didn't know Keith was that kind of guy. I thought he only liked girls, but I guess it was my fault for assuming his sexual preference.

However it wasn't just that which shocked me, it was also because he liked me of all people! And I found my liking him back as well.