The Boy Next Door

I Did Something Bad

The next day felt like total hell for Keith.

His eyes were red, and not from crying, but because he had stayed up into the early hours of the morning replaying that one scene in his mind. All he could see every time he shut his eyes was the image of Pidge and Lotor kissing, and it hurt him to think about it. What pained him most, though, was the fact that Pidge was the one who initiated the kiss. It felt like stab in the back coming from her, but he knew he had no right to feel that way.

She was never his to begin with, anyways.

His Saturday morning was spent blasting Hamilton through his headphones at six in the morning after getting about two hours of sleep. Pidge didn't get home until almost one, Lotor's girl gang dropping her off before driving off into the night. She looked okay, but exhausted at the same time. Keith had looked at her through his curtains, biting his lip before turning around and collapsing into his bed.

He had only gotten a grand total of three hours of sleep. It was so going to bite him in the ass when they had to meet up at Lance's house to continue working on Voltron. The science fair was, after all, only a few months away.

Keith was just exhausted, both mentally and physically. Mentally because he had to prepare himself for trying to act like he always did around Pidge to not arouse suspicion and physically because, well, he was running on five cups of coffee after three hours of sleep. He could barely keep his eyes open.

"Keith?"

Keith blinked and glanced towards the entrance of his room, Shiro peeking around the doorframe with a concerned look.

"Keith?" He repeated once again, his voice holding a concerned tone. Keith just sighed softly, turning his attention towards the ceiling.

"Yeah?"

Shiro frowned. "Want to talk?"

Keith snorted, a ghost of a smile on his face. "What is there to talk about?"

Shiro sighed and entered Keith's room, wearily eyeing his younger brother. "You know what we have to talk about."

Keith groaned. "Shiro, I'm fine. We went over this last night, can you just drop it?"

Shiro sat on the corner of Keith's bed, Keith refusing to meet his brother's eyes.

"Keith, you and I both know that you'll say you're fine when you're really not. You don't have to be ashamed of feeling hurt," he added after Keith rolled onto his side to avoid looking at Shiro.

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Keith."

Keith frowned and the two sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes before Keith finally sighed and closed his eyes.

"I was so stupid."

Shiro frowned sympathetically and leaned ver to place a hand on Keith's shoulder. "Keith, you're not stupid for feeling hurt."

"No, I just feel stupid for falsely believing that maybe she could like me back."

Shiro sighed. "Keith, one kiss doesn't mean anything, especially at a party. She isn't going to end up with Lotor, you know her. If you just tried-"

"Try what, Shiro?" Keith snapped, suddenly twisting his body into an upright position to face his older brother, his brows furrowed in anger. "If I couldn't tell her I liked her before all this happened, what makes you think I'll be able to admit it now that she's probably run off into Lotor's arms?" He asked, throwing his arms up in exasperation and anger. Lowering his gaze, his angry expression faded into that of a sorrowful one, with him looking down at his hands in his lap, his lip out in a slight pout. "It's too late," he said, the words coming out out of his mouth sounding like a whisper.