"I just don't know who I am anymore." He whispers, words said so quietly that he expects them to drift away in the wind and melt in the fading rays of the setting sun.
He's content, or at least as content as he can be if he ignores the angry buzzing in the back of his head, watching the other paladins scramble around from his vantage point on the small cliff he'd found. Lance and Pidge are running in circles around the small clearing they're in, her hands filled with mud and a devilish smirk painted across her face. Lance seems to be attempting to beg for mercy, while Shiro tries to catch and calm either of the two, a furrow in his brow a testament to how long he's been trying. Allura and Coran had stayed in the Castle, giving the excuse that they had several repairs to the ship to take care of, and Keith had barely a second to wonder where Hunk had gone when the boy spoke beside him.
"I do," he spoke, voice soft but still surprising Keith enough for him to jump a few inches.
Keith turns to look at him without thinking about it, too emotionally exhausted from recent revelations to be more than apathetic at whatever the other boy is about to say. Hunk's looking down at the others instead of looking at him, but he looks like he's looking away to gather his thoughts instead of just ignoring Keith, so he doesn't say anything as he waits for the other to continue speaking.
"You're a paladin, just like me," he starts, turning towards Keith with a soft smile. The way the oranges and yellows of the fading sun fall across his face sparks a familiar warmth in his chest. "You're strong, and brave, and you never give up. You're my friend and I love you."
He can feel the familiar heat of tears building behind his eyes, but he's too busy staring at the warmth of Hunk's smile to think much more of them. The rest of the world seems to fade out, and the small spark in his chest roars into a comforting inferno. The tears escape and trek their way down his cheeks before he can stop them, but Hunk's right there, squeezing his shoulder gently as he tries to gather the shards of himself that he'd barely been holding onto before.
The words had been so simple, but Hunk always seemed to know exactly what they needed to hear when they were upset, and this time had been no exception. The tears keep coming, and no matter how much Keith tries to assure himself that he's fine, they won't stop. Hunk's smile quirks up slightly more on one side before he steps forward, the hand on Keith's shoulder shifting to wrap around his shoulders and pull him into a hug. Keith's head lays perfectly in the crook between Hunk's neck and shoulder and before he's really aware of it, his arms have raised from his sides to wrap around the other paladin's back, hands gripping as much of the armor as he can.
Hunk's arms squeeze him a little closer as he rests his cheek against the side of his head, quietly humming as one hand rubs calming circles into his back.
"It's okay to be upset by things changing, but none of this changes who you are. Whether you're part Galra, or part altean, or even part Olkari, you're still you. You're still Keith Kogane, paladin of the red lion, most amazing pilot I've ever met, and you're still the same person I fell in love with."
Keith's heart nearly stops in his chest, and he subtly pinches his arm to see if this is a dream or not. When his hand stings slightly afterwards, his brain short circuits trying to decide what to do.
"I'm not expecting anything from you, and I wasn't even going to tell you originally, but I wanted you to know that I care about you and if there's anything I can do to help you with any of this, I'm more than willing to."
Keith buries his face deeper into Hunk's shoulder when the tears pick right back up from where they had tapered off mere moments before. He can feel the exhaustion that comes after a break down like this flickering at the edge of his thoughts, but he's so happy to be where he is that he pushes it aside. He wants to reply to Hunk, assure him that it'd be impossible for him not to feel the same way, but his brain feels like a foggy mess and it's hard for him to get his thoughts in order.
Hunk pulls back from the hug moments later, wiping the remnants of tears off Keith's cheeks with the same soft smile as earlier.
"I think it's been an exhausting couple of days for all of us, but you especially, so how about we get back to the castle and you can lay down? Shiro warned all of us a little about how you tend to shut down when you get overstimulated, and you definitely seem a little out of it. I can even heat up some of that jarsvitz or whatever it was that you liked so much before."
Hunk goes to step towards the castle, Keith reaching out to grab his hand the second the boy has turned. Hunk pauses, turning back to where Keith's glaring down at the ground, brow furrowed with concentration.
"Keith, are you okay?"
"Stay."
Hunk blinks for a moment, watching as Keith raises his head to meet his eyes, his own shining with determination.
"What was that?"
"Stay. With me."
Hunk seems to figure out what Keith means a few seconds later, bright smile spreading across his lips as he adjusts his hand to better grasp Keith's, lifting it to his lips to press a quick kiss to the other boy's knuckles before walking towards the castle, smiling as he catches the hint of red spreading across the pale cheeks.
Later that night, when Shiro finds the two of them curled together on one of the couches in the lounge, a small smile painted across Keith's lips, he simply throws a blanket over the two of them and leaves to track down Lance and Pidge with the pleasant thought that Keith and Hunk just made him 20 GAC richer.