Day 21:

Allura checked her cellphone for what felt like the millionth time. Then she once again called herself from her desk phone to make sure the number on her card was correct.

"Yep, that's it alright," she frowned.

By now he should have called her, right? Maybe they do things differently here in the U.S., maybe girls giving boys their number is considered taboo. He could have lost the card. He could think she's unattractive. He could be gay for all she knows.

"Oh, quiznak, maybe he found out about those horrible rumors!"

Panic started to creep in until a text from Pidge gave her a much-needed distraction.

Going to see the winner of Star Search noon tomorrow at MIT, wanna come with?

The university was a short distance from her workplace, and she did get an hour lunch. Plus, she needed to get out more, what with all the extra hours she'd been putting in at the consulate. Impulsively she texted back.

Sounds great, meet me here and we'll walk together.

Day 22:

Allura's shoulder was killing her, the heavy bag full of casual clothes plus business shoes weighing her right side down considerably. She was hoping to have time to change before heading to the concert later that day and brought something that wouldn't make her stand out in a college setting.

The doors of her train car swished open and she pushed her way in as quickly as possible. Turning to look out the window she saw him. Keith was running to make it before the warning announcement. Leaping through the doors on the other end of the car he barely escaped his foot getting caught.

She watched curiously as he leaned on the pole, frantically trying to catch his breath. He apologized to the woman standing near him as his guitar case bumped into her once the vehicle started moving. His face was sweaty but in a very attractive way. Other women seemed to notice it, too, which bothered Allura for some reason.

Too quickly they reached their stop; she kept her eye on him as they disembarked. Once they'd made their way to the street she had managed to work up her nerves enough to approach him.

"Keith," she called, waving her hand to get his attention.

He saw her and waved back, weaving in and out of human obstacles to get to her.

"Hey Allura," he answered as soon as he reached her. "Sorry I haven't called, I've been out of town."

Either he was an excellent liar or completely telling the truth. She opted to not grill him any further.

"So, now that you're back—"

"Right, about that," he cut her off, nervously running his fingers through the long hair on the back of his neck.

Oh, he's trying to be nice. At least he'll let her down easily. She bit her bottom lip, waiting for the axe to fall.

"I'm going to be at MIT today, maybe we can meet up there?"

Well that was unexpected. And terribly lucky.

"Yes, I'm actually going with a friend of mine. She said someone was singing, do you know them?"

His mouth opened to speak but instead just emitted a strained guttural noise. "I guess you could say that," he finally eked out.

"I guess we'll see you there," she smiled. This day was getting better after all.

Soon it was half-an-hour until noon. Allura changed in the bathroom, attempting to smooth away the stray hairs in her bun before deciding to simply unpin it and let the loose tendrils fall to her waist. Jean shorts and a pink lace tank top completed her ensemble. Fifteen minutes later she was walking towards the school with Pidge, whose unkempt hair and baggy clothes made her look even more the part of a student.

They reached the campus just before noon, looking around to get a bearing on where they should go. Soon the booming voice of an announcer directed them toward a large courtyard.

The number of people was overwhelming, and it was standing room only. Allura couldn't help but think it probably wasn't worth using her extra time to be here. She gave up a chance for a Friday off, instead opting to take the rest of today. It made sense when she requested it, since chances were the show would last more than an hour.

As the emcee was winding up the introductions she had to cover her ears to dampen the shrill screeches of the girls standing near her. Pidge seemed less phased for some reason, her attention drawn to the sound mixer on the edge of the stage.

The guy was cute, she'd give her that. Tall and lanky with a lady-killer grin. Not at all Pidge's type, she thought. Granted up until this point she was half certain her friend didn't have a type at all.

Eventually the din of the crowd started to diminish, the sound of music taking over. Allura froze as soon as she heard the familiar vocals.

No. Freaking. Way.

Quickly she grabbed her smartphone and clicked on the Google search bar.

Star Search winner 2017

The results brought up photos of a very familiar face, one that had graced her dreams the last three weeks. Pidge noticed her shaking hand and looked over at the screen. Then she looked up at Allura, her mouth dropping open at the realization.

She mouthed, "Is that the guy from the T?"

It was the most Allura could do to nod "yes" and not pass out. She looked to the stage, noticing that Keith had spotted her in the audience. Not breaking from his song, he simply smiled and winked in her direction, sending a gaggle of young women near her into a frenzied state.

After the first song ended he issued a hand gesture to the guy on the board, who offered a thumbs-up in return. Keith walked over to grab a tall stool from the corner of the platform, setting it in front of the microphone he was now adjusting to his new height.

Notes began to fly at the movement of his fingers, his eyes glancing directly at her as he crooned the words.

By the end of his set she had lost all feeling in her body.

The tune he ended with renewed her hope that she'd see him face to face once again. As he exited the stage to an adjacent building, ushers swept the remaining onlookers back into the streets. Seemingly out of nowhere, a large man approached her and her friend. The two women were a bit nervous until he broke into a huge smile.

"Are you Allura? I'm Hunk, Keith's bodyguard. He asked me to come find you."

He motioned for the two ladies to follow him and they found themselves in an empty locker room near the gym. Soon Keith and his technician emerged from the shower facility with dripping wet hair and wearing only towels around their waists.

Pidge and Allura gasped in shock but were slow to turn away.

"Hunk! You were supposed to bring them to the classroom next to the locker room," the other guy shouted.

"Sorry Lance, my bad!"

Well, now she knew the other guy was Lance. And that both he and Keith could easily be models.

She stepped into the hall with Pidge, leaning over to whisper, "glad I took the day off after all. With any luck, I'll be calling out sick tomorrow, too."

Both girls giggled at her insinuation as they waited for the boys to join them. Once the latter arrived with Hunk they finished introducing themselves. Lance started to toss a pickup line at Allura but was stopped short by Keith's glare. Instead he bent over to speak to her red-headed friend.

"You know I totally have a thing for gingers," he cooed, shooting finger guns in her direction.

Apparently, Pidge was somewhat put out by his initial dismissal of her. She curtly responded with a "you don't say" before walking away.

"So, how about we all grab some lunch," Allura suggested, realizing just how hungry she was getting. A small deli down the street was perfect for conversation so they decided to go there.

Talking while eating, they each shared their histories with one another. Lance claimed to recall hearing about Allura before but admitted he paid closer attention to the local scene. Keith seemed most surprised at her reputation, scoffing when she recounted some of the things the tabloids had said about her.

"What about you, Keith? What did you do before all this?"

The table grew quiet with Lance and Hunk paying newfound interest in their half-empty plates.

"I was in the Air Force," Keith began, pausing for a deep breath. "I received a dishonorable discharge for insisting they find my flight partner…and then taking off to do it myself when they wouldn't."

Allura felt a surge of concern as she reached across the table to grasp his hand.

"I'm so sorry," she began, not knowing what to say next.

"It's okay, I just—" he stopped once again, tears brimming his eyes.

"You don't have to tell me, it's okay."

Hunk looked at him and nodded, silently agreeing to finish the tale.

"He and Shiro were flying reconnaissance. They were shot down on the North Korean border and had to eject. Keith was found, Shiro wasn't. The government won't even acknowledge that either of them were there."

For someone whose fortune was built on military might, Allura had a deep-seated hatred for war. Nothing good had ever come from one, and the idea that another one may start again soon left her frightened and enraged. Good men and women, once whole, coming home broken. Pieces of them left behind on the battlefield.

Keith rose and excused himself from the table, making his way to the restrooms in the back. When he didn't return after several minutes Allura decided to go look for him. She found him facing the wall next to the kitchen door, his forehead pressing against the cheap plywood which was buckling under the weight.

Unsure how to approach him since they technically didn't know each other that well, she simply stepped up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders in a comforting manner. Her concern seemed well founded when she felt his body tense under her touch. He slowly turned to face her and she could see the tracks his tears had followed.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Keith. I didn't—"

Her thought was cut off when he pulled her into an embrace, his face buried in her shoulder and his body shaking as he cried.

They stayed that way for several more minutes. Allura hoped the others didn't get the wrong impression, but it couldn't be helped. She'd let him cry for as long as he needed to.

Once he regained his composure they rejoined their friends. Lance was making inroads with Pidge it seemed, while Hunk was busy checking Twitter on his phone.

"Hey, anyone want to hit the pubs? I'll buy the first round," Lance offered cheerfully. It was obvious he wanted to spend more time with Pidge.

"Nope, no, we need to get back to the hotel. Keith doesn't need to get drunk and start punching people again. The papers would have a field day with that," Hunk reminded him.

"That was one time, and the guy totally had it coming," Keith snapped, "but I'm not in the mood to go anywhere so let's head back, okay?"

"Cool, I can show Katie the awesome suite we got," piped Lance.

"Who is Katie?"

Lance looked at Allura like she had two heads. "You don't even know your best friend's real name?"

Allura looked to Pidge, no Katie, with confusion. The smaller girl just shrugged her shoulders like it didn't matter to her either way.

The hotel was a short walk from the Park Street station so the girls agreed to check it out. Stepping into the lobby they realized it was easier said than done. A large crowd of fans blocked the path to the elevators.

"Shit, they figured out where you're staying," Hunk complained, "How are we gonna get past them?"

One of the gaggle of fangirls turned towards the entrance and in a panic Allura shoved Keith into a nearby alcove.

"Uh, guys, she's coming this way," Lance whispered loudly, "make sure she doesn't see you."

Keith grabbed Allura's arms and pulled her closer, "Any chance you ever fake kissed someone?"

Allura could only give him a blank stare before realizing what he meant.

"Technically I've never kissed anyone at all, so, um, what do I do?"

"Follow my lead," Keith responded, tilting his head slightly and bringing his nose into touching distance with hers.

Allura was afraid to move a muscle. She squeezed her eyes shut but couldn't resist the urge to peek at his face. His lips were dangerously close to her own.

Finally, it was too much for her to bear and she decided to go for it, closing the gap until her mouth found his. She could always say she slipped.

It lasted for half a second before Hunk was dragging them out and towards the exit.

"Make a run for it you two, we'll hold them off," he barked as a stampede of girls rushed them.

Keith grabbed Allura by the hand, bursting through the glass doors and running for the entrance to the subway. He didn't stop until they'd gotten past the turnstiles. They turned to see if they were still being followed. Quickly they found a bench hidden by a large pillar, resting while they caught their breath.

"So, um, you kissed me," Keith murmured.

Allura was embarrassed but tried to play it off. "Sorry, it was an accident."

He threw her a disbelieving look, his soft lips quirking up on one side.

"You don't know what a fake kiss is?"

"I don't know why we needed to fake kiss to begin with," she huffed, "my hair probably hid you anyway."

"It was a good plan if you asked me," he teased, "worked in my favor at least."

For that he earned a playful punch to his upper arm, which of course he played wounded for sympathy.

A minute later the thunderous sounds of his rabid fanbase approaching reminded them they were on the lam. Allura grabbed Keith's hand and started to drag him towards the tunnel, slithering through the masses like a conjoined snake.

"Any clue on where we should go?"

"No idea, any suggestions that will get me away from them are fine with me," Keith panted.

"Then we'll go to my place," Allura offered, pulling him towards the B Line platform.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Fair warning that there may be more accidental kissing involved."

"But not from anyone besides you, right?"

She winked teasingly at him. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."