I Love You Keith

Light'em Up

👆not relevant but funny

Keith POV 

I laid in bed with James, thinking. He had long since fallen asleep, his arms wrapped around me. I had totally forgotten about the mission. And the risk of Shiro not coming back. But I couldn't tell them that. Him and Adam would baby me for the next four months, and avoid the subject. And James, I loved him, and I didn't want to hurt him. I'd open up to him even more than Shiro and Adam, and I'd probably take my frustrations out in him. Whenever I thought about Kerberos, I wanted to laugh, to scream, to yell, to cry, to hit something. And I didn't want that something to be him. James was one of the best things that ever happened to me, and I couldn't risk damaging our relationship. I took a shakey breath. I had to stay calm. As  looked at the sleeping boy next to me, and I realized, it'd be okay. Shiro had promised that he'd come back, and while he was gone, I'd have James and Adam. It was only a year and a half. Then Shiro would come back, and him and Adam would get married. I'd continue at the Garrison, and maybe, someday, me and James, and the others,  would go to space. Together. I sighed and snuggled into James's chest. It'd be alright. I'd be alright.

NEXT MORNING 

The sun shone in the window, and I groaned. The downside to being in Texas, it was almost always sunny. I looked to my side and saw that James wasn't there. He must have already gotten up. I stood and stretched, and went to the kitchen. Shiro and James were sitting on the couch watching TV. Adam was in the kitchen, doing something on the stove. He smiled when he saw me "Hey Keith! You must've been really tired! Its almost 11!" I smiled "Hey Adam. Yeah, I guess I was."  He handed me a plate with some eggs on it "Here. Eat up. Its breakfast , or lunch, whatever. Its food." I smiled and sat on the couch next to James. He put his arm around me and kissed my forehead. "Hey baby. You good? You were up pretty late last night." I shoved some food in my mouth and shrugged "Couldn't sleep." "Hey, manners bro. And what do you mean?" Shiro said, raising an eyebrow. "I couldn't fall asleep. Nothing else." "You sure?" James asked in a concerned tone, and I nodded. "Yeah. Now shut up, I wanna hear this." The TV was playing some Netflix show,and it looked really interesting.

We spent the next few hours binge watching Netflix and eating junk food. Around four, Shiro said "Hey, should we put the lights up?" I shook my head "Nah,  not right now. It's too hot." "Hot damm." James said with a smile, and Shiro did too. "Call the police and the fireman." We looked at Adam expectedly. He sighed "I'm too hot." "HOT DAMN!" Me, James and Shiro yelled, and we all laughed. "But seriously, when are we doing the lights? If we don't do it today, it ain't happening." Shiro said, and Adam shrugged. "Well then let's do it. We have time, and Christmas is in four days. And we still need to do presents and cookies." "Ooh, don't forget the traditional burning of the food." I said with a smirk. Shiro glared at me and the others laughed. "Oh yeah, we can't forget that. And then there's the traditional fast food order. I'm thinking.... pizza this year?" Adam said with a smile. "Rude." Shiro grumbled. Adam rolled his eyes "Come on, stop pouting. Let's get the lights."

We spent the next three hours in the sweltering heat of the mid-day Texas sun, plastering lights all over the house. It took forever because Adam insisted that it be just right, and Shiro kept changing his mind about what lights to use. James tried to help, but all but gave up when Shiro, when we were almost done with the house, decided to change the lights. AGAIN. I mean, seriously, what's the difference between white and icicle? They both look the same! When Shiro and Adam were finally satisfied, we went inside, and I fell onto the couch. "UUGHH! I'm tired." James just fell on the floor on his back. He laid there, silently, staring at the ceiling. Shiro laughed "You good James?" "Too hot." Adam smiled "Hot damn." I flipped him off "No."I sat up "And why didn't you help?" Adam shrugged and smirked "I was supervising."Shiro smiled and sat in the chair "Yeah, and it wasn't that bad outside today. It's only 80 degrees." "But we were out in the sun for THREE HOURS." James said from his spot on the floor. "Don't worry. It won't be nearly as hot as tomorrow. Besides, now the lights are done, and we can relax and be lazy for the next day or so." "Buh buh buh. We still have to bake and do presents." Adam said. James got up and stretched "Okay. So what, we go in duos and buy stuff? I'm like, almost broke." "Yeah, me too." I agreed, and Adam sighed. "It's not like we're gonna have a Grinch Christmas. But everyone needs at least one gift. And you can make it. Its the thought that counts." I raised an eyebrow"So if I think about getting you a present, but I don't, it still counts, right? It's still a thought."I deadpanned, and Adam rolled his eyes "No Keith. That doesn't count. Thoughts are not a gift." "Thots be gone." Shrio said with a smile. "Shut up."' I said with a glare.

"But yes, ideally, we'll go in pairs. I'll take you tomorrow James, and Shiro, after we get back, you can take Keith." Shiro nodded "Okay." he smiled evily "And I know exactly what I'm going to give to everyone." Adam glared at him "If you wouldn't open it with Mr. and Mrs.Holt around, you can't get it." Shiro frowned "Buzzkill." "And the gifts can't do that." James said with a smirk, and me and Adam laughed. Shiro rolled his eyes "Fine. I'm gonna go shower." H stood and left, and James soon followed "Yeah, me too. Don't use all the hot water." Shiro nodded "Of course not." 

It was kinda weird. Him and Adam fit so naturally into me and Shiro's dynamic. Same senses of humor, same jokes, same attitude. They made the house seem, fuller, almost. They just clicked. I thought that'd it be super weird, like at Cornyval, but surprisingly, it wasn't. They were both pretty normal, and hadn't done anything that said they'd want to hurt one another.  It was like we were all different pieces of a puzzles. we fit well together in paris, but as a whole, we were much better. "In deep thought?" Adam said, and I almost jumped. "Shit. I forgot you were there." He smiled and sat next to me "I know. But it's fun scaring you. So, whatcha thinking about?" I shook my head "Lots of things. But mainly how weird all of this is." He gave me a questioning look "What do you mean?" "I- its just weird, you know? I mean, first, it was me and Shiro. Then you came along, but almost nothing changed. I was all still, I don't know, normal. I thought it'd be weird at first, with you first moving in. But it wasn't. And I thought that this was going to be a super long and awkward week, with Shiro giving James the dad looks, and you giving his the dad lectures. But its not weird. Its like, we all fit together. You can add or take away someone, and we're still fine, but together, we're at our greatest." Adam nodded "I know what you mean. And I expected that from Shiro too. Speaking of dad, I seem to recall you saying that you'd start calling me and Shiro that." I smiled "Yeah, thats probably not happening." He sighed "I figured. It sounded really sweet at first, but then, as I thought about it, it just seemed weird." I nodded "Yeah. Its one of those "in the moment" kind of things." "Yeah. And I get what you mean when you say that it, this" he gestured around us "Seems weird, and all that. I really do. But I also can't explain it. Some people work well together. Some people don't. Its just how life is." I smiled at him "Thanks Adam." I said, hugging him "No problem." He pulled back "Now go shower. You reek." I nodded "Yeah, I do. That's why I hugged you." He glared at me "Keith! Why?" I smiled and went to my room. Adam was right. Some people work really well together, some people don't. Its a just a fact of life. And me and James worked really well together.