Fly Away From Your Troubles (Klance AU)

7- Snowball Fight!

I scanned the numbers on the houses as Shiro and I drove down the street, looking for the right one. Once we arrived at the house, we parked, walked to the front door, and rang the bell. Soon the door opened, and we were greeted by a man with ginger hair and a large mustache.

"Oh, Keith! And Shiro! Allura told me you two would be coming. Come in, come in!" The man said, very enthusiastically. We entered the house to see that Shiro and I were the last ones to arrive. Lance and Pidge appeared to be playing video games while Matt watched them intensely, Allura was in the kitchen cooking something, and Hunk was chatting with her, and also tasting whatever it was she was making.

Allura smiled when she saw Shiro and I, and walked over to us.

"Hello! Glad you two could make it," Allura said as she hugged Shiro. See, Allura seemed to know everyone. She was Shiro's ex-girlfriend(they broke up when Shiro realized he was gay, but they were still close friends), Pidge knew her from her brother, she was a frequent customer at the café Hunk worked at, and I assumed Lance just tagged along with Hunk. And me, I knew her from Shiro, but also because she was the manager for the Blick store I worked at.

I walked over to where Hunk was tasting the food and picked up a cookie.

"Hey, Hunk," I said.

"Oh, hey Keith," Hunk replied, but his voice was muffled because he was eating a cookie at the moment. I started to walk towards the living room, but Hunk stopped me.

"Oh, also, did you see that news article about a monster in the square the other day? Cause, I mean, that's where you were, so Pidge, Lance, and I were just wondering if you might've seen anything... strange?" Hunk asked me, putting on a smile and a glimmer in his eyes. It had been four days since my near-sighting, and I had really hoped no one would ask me about it. I guess that plan failed.

"I– uh, no. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Sorry." I hoped my coverup worked. Clearly, I wasn't very good at lying. I walked into the other room to avoid any further questions. Lance and Pidge appeared to be having a very intense battle in some video game. I didn't recognise it, but it looked like some sort of fighting game. Matt was standing behind the couch(well, leaning on the back), and was cheering on one of the two players. Pidge, I presumed. I sat on the leg of the couch, my legs were propped up in front of me, and I leaned sideways on the back of the couch.

Lance appeared to be concentrating extremely hard; Pidge on the other hand was easily defeating him. A red "GAME OVER" sign flashed across the screen.

"YES! Ha!" Pidge celebrated as she high-fived Matt. "You lost, Lance. Pay up," The teen said, a smirk on her face. Lance made a sound of defeat, but handed Pidge ten dollars nonetheless.

"Fine. But next time, I will win."

"Sure," Pidge responded sarcastically.

"What was the money for?" I asked them.

"We just bet on who would win," Lance said, grumpily. He was clearly angry about losing, even though it wasn't really that big of a deal. Matt and Pidge started a new game, and then Lance turned to me.

"So, Keith, I heard there was a strange creature near where you were the other day. Did you–" I cut him off before he could finish.

"No, I didn't see anything strange. Why do people keep asking me that?! It was just a normal day, nothing out of the ordinary!" I walked over to talk to Allura and Shiro. Though as I turned, I saw a hurt look on Lance's face.

Soon, the nine of us grew bored and made our way to a small park that was nearby. There was at least ten inches of snow on the ground, and we were all bundled in thick winter jackets, hats, gloves, and scarves. It was starting to get closer to Christmas, so there were lights on the trees, buildings, signs, and pretty much all over the city. (Then of course it was daytime, so the lights were off. But some places had more other things such as wreaths or bows.) We all sat down at a picnic table, the only one that wasn't covered in snow.

"Okay," Shiro began, "We should figure out what we want to do. Since there is so much snow, there isn't very much to do, but we should be able to think of something– such as shopping or maybe just going to a café. What do you guys–" Shiro was cut off as a snowball suddenly hit the back of his head. "Wha–!" he stammered.

"Oh, sorry, Shiro," Lance said, holding back laughter. "I was trying to hit Keith." At that, I picked up some snow, rolled it into a ball, and threw it at Lance. It hit him in the face, and I chuckled.

"Heh, like that?" I said. I had to admit, there was a bit of a flirty tone in my voice. Lance stood still, his eyes wide, and gaping until he shook the snow off his head. He then smirked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"You've just made a big mistake, Keith," Lance said as he picked up some snow.

"YES! Snowball fight!!!" Hunk shouted suddenly, two large snowballs already in his hands. He chucked one at Pidge, and the other at Romelle, who had just recently joined us. (Coran was her uncle, and he was a good friend of Allura's father, who had passed away some years ago.) This ensued a very intense fight; between everyone except for Shiro. At least, at first.

"All right, guys," Shiro said, trying to stop the fight, but just ended getting many snowballs thrown at him. One hit him in the face, and then I think he probably had enough.

"Oh– oh! Okay, now, it's on!" He shouted, and threw a snowball straight at me. I dodged it. (Always being the victim in high school dodgeball ended up being useful for something after all.) We continued chucking snowballs at each other; even Coran joined.

"Oh, come on!" Lance shouted as another snowball hit him in the head. By now, his hair almost seemed white because of the amount of snow on it(then again, mine did as well).

After almost half an hour of the snowball fight, we calmed down. Everyone was wet, covered in snow, and freezing cold(The winter jackets weren't so useful anymore). We decided to go to the café, which happened to be nearby. Everyone ordered a coffee or hot chocolate of some kind; anything hot since we were so cold. We proceeded to walk back to Allura's house, and hung out in front of the fireplace.

"Well, that was fun," Lance said as he wrapped himself in a blanket.

"Yeah, it was," I said, sitting down next to him with two mugs of hot chocolate. I handed him one of them, and he took it gladly.

"Shiro, you and Keith are traveling during Christmas, correct?" Allura asked.

"Yes, we're visiting Krolia," Shiro responded.

"We're leaving the 22nd," I added. Every year during Christmas, Shiro and I would visit our mother, Krolia, in Arizona. I loved seeing her, especially since she was the only other person who knew about my secret. I could talk about anything with her, which was good because there has been a lot on my mind lately.

We spent a few more hours at Allura's, then went home. That night, I sat on the couch bundled in blankets and pillows, doing some school work until I picked up my sketchbook. I didn't have a plan of what I wanted to draw, just let my mind go wild. What I finished with was something I hadn't expected to draw, but was pleased with nonetheless. On the page was a profile drawing of Lance, but with white hair, elf ears, and V-shaped markings under his eyes. I drew flowers and stars around him, then looked at the drawing. I smiled, added one more detail, then turned to a blank page.

A/N:
Hey! I don't really have much to say for this chapter, but hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!
~Soni