He gripped a fistful of hair in his hands tiredly, his head spinning and his heart racing. He was hunched over, head almost between his legs, as he sat on the edge of his bed. She slept soundly behind him- as she should be. He worried mostly about waking her and less about how he personally felt. She had been spending the night frequently- enjoying quality time with him and soaking in whatever time they had, period. At that thought, he shook his head angrily, trying desperately to clear his thoughts.

Why did there have to be only a limited amount of time left?

Why did he have to feel so sick and weak?

With a shaky hand, he reached for the water bottle that was on the floor at his feet. Twisting off the cap and holding the bottle to his lips, he drank in the water like the liquid itself was providing him life. It calmed a fever he had not known he had and helped to settle his stomach as his room and vision righted itself. He breathed through his nose evenly and exhaled as slowly as possible out of his mouth, blinking a few times before sighing and resting his bottle back on the floor. With a short-lived yawn, he leaned backwards and settled his head next to the side of her stomach. His legs dangled off the bed and kicked off the water bottle that he had not bothered putting a cap on. His first reaction was being insanely pissed off, but the cool water actually did continue to calm him and as he dipped his toes in the steady pooling he felt the rest of his fever melt away and his eyes fluttered closed.

He couldn't have been asleep for more than five minutes, (or so it seemed to him), before Natalie was up and moving around. He was roused by her footsteps on the floor and when he opened his eyes, albeit blurry- he saw her standing in the middle of his room in nothing but a towel, with a serious expression on her face.

"G-Goodmorning." He stuttered, half in yawn and half in amazement.

"Don't act like you haven't seen me half naked before," she rolled her eyes. "Or naked completely, for that matter. Did you take my bra?"

"Yes, partner, I'm wearing it right now." He responded, sitting up a little too quickly for his dizzy head as he rubbed his eyes free of his sleep.

"Shutup, Keith, I'm serious."

"No, I didn't," he responded matter-of-factly, "but if I had I wouldn't tell you anyway."

She simply shook her head and ignored him, continuing to rummage around until she found it.

"Finally!" She screamed triumphantly, (and a tad frustrated).

"Why are you up so early?"

"Because we're going out." She stared blankly at him.

"We are?"

"How could you have forgotten?"

She seemed disappointed and incredibly awkward.

"What's today?"

"The 29th...The day of my college dorm stay. You said you wanted to come with me."

"I did, didn't I?" He asked, remembering his words and the date now.

"Keith, you don't have to go. I know that you aren't go-"

"-Going to college because I'm dying, I know." He sighed and stood quickly, turning from her.

"You know that isn't what I was going to say, Keith, I-"

"-Oh really, Natalie? Then what was it that you were going to say?"

She retreated internally, blinking quickly before taking in a calming breath and turning from him as well.

"You don't have to come." Her response was quick and flat.

"Natalie, I want to go, alright? What time is this shin-dig anyway?"

"We're already late and I'm staying all night."

"You mean, we are staying all night?"

"Keith," she warned nervously, pulling on a faded pair of jeans. "The dorms are co-ed, you can't stay with me."

He smirked cunningly and shrugged off his T-shirt, sweat covering the neck-rim.

"Who said I was staying with you, partner?"

Author's Note: I am super excited to be writing a new Keith fanfiction and I wanted to start Chapter One out with just the bare essentials and get my feet wet again. I also wanted you all to see simply that this is later in the movie, (If not after the Goodbye Scene and before his death, I have yet to choose), I do not know his fate yet, (or do I?), and I want to do a lot of Out-of-Canon things that are fun and heartbreaking. I hope you all enjoyed Chapter One and are excited to see Keith at this College Fair with Natalie. I really just thought it would be a really fun and poignant environment at the same time and there is a lot of opportunity there. So please read and review, let me know what you would like to see and I may take your comments into consideration and use them! I love interacting with ya'll over reviews or Pms as it really keeps me motivated to write, so interact and enjoy the story!

-Sarah