Citrus. Klance AU

Chapter 5

I was walking down the street on a dull winter's day. I had my large, fluffy coat wrapped around me and black gloves covering my tanned hands. My tartan scarf was wrapped loosely around my neck and, every time I breathed, I could see it rise into the air. I had stolen some loose coins from Lotor's desk, ones I knew he wouldn't miss. He didn't ever let me have money so I had to be sneaky about it.

As I was walking down the street, I heard a baby screaming their tiny lungs off. I glanced around at the noise to see a small woman hunched over a buggy, hushing the child. She ended up picking them up and rocking them in her arms. The baby was in a penguin onesie with little mittens on their hands. It was the cutest thing.

I ended up at a coffee shop. It had a bright, multi-coloured sign hanging above the entrance with the words 'Lion Coffee: Coffee With A Roar' on it. After peering inside, I noticed it wasn't anywhere near as busy as the Starbucks on North Street that Lotor loved. It looked like a quiet, independent shop. I pushed open the front door with my gloved hands and a bell jingled above me. The sound made me jump ever so slightly.

There was a man behind the counter with a rag, washing the sides. He was tall and rather built up, a flash of white dyed into the front of his hair. He was wearing a black button up shirt and, once I got closer, I noticed it had a lion logo sewed on it, just below his large shoulder. The shirt was rolled up to his elbows and a long scar was spread across the bridge of his nose.

I turned my attention to a couple sat by the window, sharing a hot chocolate. It had masses of cream piled on top of it and three large marshmallows. Lotor would have sneered at them and muttered about how they wouldn't last. How relationships weren't built on love but control and understanding. At the beginning, I would have disagreed but I knew better by then.

The girl had a bob that sat nicely on her shoulders. Her shirt was oversized and it had Jake from Adventure Time on it. A smile brightened up her face as she leant forward and took a sip of the drink. The man opposite her, presumably her boyfriend, was wearing a hoodie and had a large coat draped over his chair. He had his head leant on his dark hands as his eyes bored into the girl's.

"Are you alright, Sir?" The person behind the counter asked, making me jolt my head around. Redness spread across my cheeks as I realised I had been staring at the couple.

"Yeah, sorry. Can I- uh..." I thinned my eyes as I scanned the board above the counter with the menu on. All the drinks had names such as "crater's chai latte" or "lacerta's latte" and I had no idea what it meant but it was cute. "Can I have the hydra's hot chocolate, please?"

"Marshmallows and cream?" (Fun fact: this book was almost titled Marshmallows and Cream)

"Pardon?" I stared at him as if he was crazy. My mouth fell open ever so slightly and my eyebrows furrowed. Lotor would never get me marshmallows or cream so I hadn't expected to be asked for my opinion. "Oh... yes please." I dropped the coins into his open palm and he counted them slowly before handing two twenty and ten pieces back.

I sat down on one of the seats by the counter, my legs dangling down. The man turned away to start making the drink whilst I watched. He clearly knew what he was doing because his arms were moving like lightning and, within about a minute, he had made the drink and slid it in my direction. I instantaneously wrapped my hands around it to heat them up. Even though I had been wearing gloves, my hands were still bright red from the cold.

"Hey, Shiro. I'm just here for my shi- Lance?" I turned at the mention of my name and tensed up as I realised who had spoken. Urging the ground to swallow me up, I tried my hardest not to make eye contact with Keith, the guy who I had had a one night stand with.

"I should go." I mumbled, standing up and being fully prepared to leave the drink.

"No, you can stay. I think we should talk anyway."

I numbly nodded as Keith walked behind the counter. His shirt was red so he stood out much more than Shiro. Keith leant his head on his arms, staring up at me expectantly. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I can't stop thinking about you." As soon as the words escaped his lips, my stomach did a back flip. My mouth fell open as I stared at him in complete awe. I had expected he would walk away from the one night stand and completely forget about my existence. I hadn't thought about him much at all.

"You... what?"

"I can't stop thinking about you." He repeated, as if I just hadn't heard him. I most certainly had. It just didn't make any sense: why would someone like Keith think about someone like me? Nobody loved me except my boyfriend whilst Keith probably had people lined up to date him. He was so much better than me in every single way.

"Keith... it was a one night stand. It didn't mean anything." The more I spoke, the more panicked I felt. I couldn't start getting involved with another guy when I had a boyfriend at home. Lotor would kill me if he knew I had even talked to somebody.

"I know but- but you're just... really cool. I really feel we hit it off that night. With my stupid pick up line and you coming home with me and stuff. I want to see you again. Do you want to go out together sometime?"

"I can't... I- I-" Keith was watching me with raised eyebrows, waiting for my excuse. "I have a boyfriend!"

"You what?!" He looked so taken aback that he backed up a little. I sipped at my hot chocolate before wiping the cream away from my lips.

"I have a boyfriend. I cheated on him with you after I had an argument with him. I fucked up so bad." Keith was literally speechless. His mouth kept opening and closing again, reflecting his shock. "I know."

"Does he know?"

"No and I really can't let him find out. He'd kill me."

"I'm sorry I asked you out again... I'd still like it if we were friends though?"

"I- I- no. Sorry."

"Why not?"

"I can't have friends... I don't- don't deserve them."

"Uh... yeah you do?" I shook my head slowly and Keith's eyebrows noticeably furrowed. "Why wouldn't you deserve them?"

"No one likes me."

"Shut up. I've known you five minutes and I already think you're awesome."

"You're just being nice... I'd like it if you left me alone."

"Okay, but," Keith picked up a napkin off of the pile on the counter and scribbled something on top of it. "If you change your mind."

"Thanks." I took the napkin and shoved it into my pocket with every intent to trash it as soon as I got home.