Keith hadn't seen Pidge all week. He called her. He called Matt. He called her parents. It was like she had disappeared from the face of the planet.
It was six in the morning and Keith couldn't sleep. He came home from work at four in the morning, took a shower, and fell asleep. Then he heard a loud bang that woke him up and he's been awake for the last hour or so.
His work at the gym was tiring. He sparred for money. Boxing, that is. He did it to stay in shape, but also to distract himself. He had too many problems and not enough solutions, or money, for those problems.
For example, his apartment. Keith looked around at his room. He sighed and got up to get dressed.
His room was probably the only room in his place that was properly furnished. He had a queen-sized bed, a dresser, clothes in his closet, a lamp, and a bedside table. That was basically all he really needed. The rest of the apartment was a different story. Keith walked out of his room in a bright red hoodie and black joggers. His living room had a wall-mounted television, one of the newest gaming consoles (Pidge insisted), and a chair. That's it. No couch, no book shelf, no rug. Just the cold, unforgiving hardwood floor.
He had three photos up in that room. One with his dad and him. Keith flashing one of his rare smiles, his two front teeth weren't grown in, but Keith was happy. Genuinely happy, something he hadn't been in years. The second picture was him and Pidge. Pidge was on Keith's back, grinning so hard it seemed like her face would split in half. Keith wasn't smiling, but his eyes were happy. They were back in high school and Pidge had hacked into the online ticket thing to get tickets for the new amusement park.
The last picture was one of him and Shiro. Neither of them was looking at the camera because they were trapped in their own world. Keith's dad had taken the picture without them knowing. Shiro was giving Keith a snow cone covered in so much red syrup it looked like blood. Keith had gotten in yet another fight because Keith was one of the only loner students, not like he really cared. Keith was small, had no backup, and looked like an easy target.
Keith tore his eyes away from the pictures and went to his small kitchen. The one where there was no table, only a counter that wasn't even the one where you could sit an eat. He opened the fridge and all he saw was an empty jug of milk, three sticks of butter, some lettuce (from when he attempted to be healthy), and ketchup.
He closed the door with a heavy sigh and grabbed his keys and phone. Tugging on his boots, he ran out of the house, hopped on his bike, and drove to the nearest coffee shop…which just happened to be Voltron. The place looked the same except there was a little more color. It seemed there were separate corners of the café. White booths with blue accessories and flowers on the table. The entire counter where you got served was yellow. The wall near the door didn't have black mirrors and was painted purple. Near the bathrooms were slashes of red. The high seats where Pidge probably would have loved to mess around on her computer were all green.
As he went up the counter a familiar face looked back at him.
"Welcome to…oh, uh hello there," the white-haired girl said.
"Hi. Can I get a large coffee? Black, please?"
Allura was still for a moment before nodding slowly and getting to work.
"For here or to go…uh, Kent?" Allura asked. Keith fished around his pockets for a couple of dollar bills that he smacked down on the counter.
"For here," Keith replied. "And it's Keith. Keith Kogane."
"Ah, right."
They drifted into an awkward silence as Allura finished up the coffee. Just before she put the lid on it, she accidently bumped a stray container of cinnamon and a large clump fell into his drink, but unfortunately Allura didn't notice.
"Here it is." Allura handed Keith his coffee, smiling brightly.
"Thanks. Is this enough? It might not be, I don't really know the prices all that well."
Keith took a small sip as Allura counted the money. A customer came in and stood behind Keith, waiting.
"It is. Is there anything else I can get you?"
"No." Keith said shortly, surprising Allura. Allura wasn't one to be pretentious, but she was a little surprised Keith didn't ask for her number or something like that. Most men, and some women, tried.
"Oh! Okay, then. Enjoy!" Allura's eyebrows furrowed. Keith was strange. No smiles, not even a nod in acknowledgement.
Allura tended to her customer as Keith sat down and drank his coffee, taking out his phone and began texting Pidge.
A few minutes later, after Allura had served her customer, who left, someone came out of the back.
"Hey, Allura, what do you call a mix between an angel and a-," Lance stopped suddenly looking at Keith.
"Rival! Keith, you're here!" Lance shouted out, surprising Keith back to reality.
"Wha-rival? I-," Keith cut off, licking his lips. In the light, Lance could see Keith's lips swelling and his face steadily getting redder.
"Hey Keith?" Lance moved from behind the counter.
"Uh?" Keith turned and wheezed at Lance. His throat was closing, and he felt extremely nauseous all of a sudden. He didn't know what was happening, but then it hit him.
"Hey, Keith, buddy. You okay there? You're looking a little…red."
"Thinnabon?" Keith wheezed out looking at Allura, who understood what he was saying.
"No. It was just a straight black coffee, just like you asked." Allura looked around the counter space where she prepared his coffee but saw an overturned container of cinnamon and a distinctly cup shaped, clean space where the cinnamon was freckled around.
"Oh. There was cinnamon. It must have been knocked over. Do you have an Epi-pen? Or do you just need an allergy pill?"
Lance and Allura suddenly started to ask him questions. Too many questions for him to answer with a rapidly closing throat. So, he did what he could do.
Keith stood up suddenly, making his head spin. The Cuban boy and the white-haired girl immediately were silenced and
"Pidge." Keith huffed before passing out, hives breaking out on his neck and on his face.
*******Three hours later….
Keith awoke to a very persistent beeping sound. He cracked open his eyes, immediately regretting it since the bright lights almost blinded him.
Slowly, Keith opened his eyes again and took in his surroundings. He was in a hospital bed with a blue curtain around his area and a scratchy hospital blanket on his hospital gown covered chest. He momentarily panicked as he thought of some rando doctor seeing him scar-covered and mostly naked.
He slowly sat up, and pulled down the blanket, sighing in relief that he still had his pants on, but then wondered where his sweatshirt was. He coughed as he realized he had a breathing mask on his face and pulled it off, just as a nurse walked around the curtain to see Keith.
"Oh! You're awake. That's good because you gave us quite a scare with almost dying and stuff." She giggled, seemingly only a few years older than him.
"Yeah, uh. Who brought me here?" Keith scratched his head in confusion because the last thing he remembers seeing was Lance's horrified face as he fainted.
The nurse was near him and started listening to his breathing as Keith thought of what happened and his face lit up in embarrassment.
"Oh, are you shy?" The nurse flirted. Her boobs were practically pressed up against Keith as she batted her eyelashes. "Am I making you nervous?"
Keith's eyebrows suddenly drew in as the nurse flirted with him.
"Uh, no."
"Yeah right, cutie! I don't usually do this, but-,"
"Keith!" Lance threw open the curtain and strode over to Keith.
"Lance," Keith said before he looked at the nurse who had a predatory look in her eye. "My boyfriend, Lance! Thank goodness you're here…babe?"
Lance was caught off guard as Keith reached out towards him, but finally caught on when Keith shot a desperate look and a quick nod of the head to the nurse.
"What? Oh. I mean, yeah! Babe, thank goodness you're okay!" Lance sat on the bed and took Keith hand, awkwardly intertwining their fingers.
"Oh! You're-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-I'll call in the doctor now." The nurse scurried out of the room, ears firetruck red.
As soon as she left, Keith sighed and let go of Lance's hand. There was an awkward pause before Lance spoke.
"So, babe-," Lance teased, which caused Keith to glare at him.
"I just wasn't interested in her. She's not exactly my type." Keith mumbled causing Lance to raise an eyebrow.
"Why? Too old? Too blonde? To chesty? Not chesty enough? Too bold?" Lance listed smirking and getting up in Keith's face.
"No. Too female." Keith rolled his eyes and licked his lips. They started to tingle again.
"Oh!" Lance was taken aback, but quickly realized how he sounded and backtracked. "No! Not oh like bad oh. I meant that. I mean-So you-never mind. But, uh me too. Not all the way, but about half," Lance paused. "Because I like both. Guys and-,"
"Lance."
"Yeah."
"I got it."
"Oh. Um, okay then." Lance felt his face get hot and turned away from Keith. Luckily, before the silence got too uncomfortable the doctor came in.
"Hey, I am Doctor Towle. How're you feeling today, Keith?" A large man came in; broad shouldered, tanned skin, and brown-haired. He had a southern drawl and day-old stubble marring his face.
"Oh! I'm-," When Keith actually looked at the doctor, his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and started to water.
"Keith?" Lance asked, but Keith shrank into the bed, and shook his head.
"Keith?" The doctor asked, but Keith slid out of the bed, clumsy and head-spinning. Lance immediately got up and held Keith's arm to steady him.
The Half-Korean boy swatted Lance's grip away and looked at the IV drip on his arm. He grabbed ahold of it and walked with it to the front desk.
"C-Can I be discharged? My name, um, I'm Keith Kogane and I'm fine, so can I be discharged? Please?"
The lady at the desk looked confused but nodded.
"Do you have a parent or guardian with you today?"
"I'm, uh, twenty-two. An adult. I've been to the hospital before so can I just get the papers and leave."
"Did you-,"
"Keith! You can't just run off like that you had an allergic reaction and-," Lance came up out of nowhere. He trailed off though when he saw Keith's expression.
"Hey. What's wrong?"
Lance reached out and put his hand on Keith's arm and Keith let a few tears slip out. Keith sniffled and shook his head.
"Nothing. I, um, I just want to go home."
Lance wasn't buying it, but let it go.
"You should get checked out first." Keith looked like he was going to protest but gave up and nodded.
He sat back on the bed as the confused doctor checked him out.
"Any allergies to any medicines?"
"No. The only thing I'm allergic to is cinnamon," Keith said in a small voice.
The checkup continued for another half hour before the doctor gave him a prescription.
"Normally, we'd hold ya for another day or so, but you haven't given any signs of a biphasic reaction, so I can discharge ya. Do you live with anyone or do you have any family members that can watch ya today and throughout the night?"
"Yeah, my-," Keith broke off, thinking of his mom, then Pidge, and finally Shiro. "Um, no. I, uh, I don't."
"Okay, then. If ya don't then we might need to rethink that-," Seeing Keith's panicked expression as the doctor spoke, Lance cut in.
"I can watch him. I don't have any classes today or tomorrow and I can get Hunk to cover my shift." Keith said more to Keith than to the doctor.
"Okay then. I'll get the papers and your stuff and y'all can just… yeah."
Dr. Towle walked off and Lance sat beside Keith on the bed.
"Thanks." Keith said.
"No problem."
Once Keith got discharged, he walked out only to see Krolia, Pidge, Pidge's mom (who was in the car), Allura, and Shiro standing there waiting for him.
"Keith!" Pidge said, before smiling up at him. "Why the hell are you at the hospital?"
"Allergic reaction. Why weren't you answering my calls?"
"Matt, kind of, sort of, blew up my phone because Rover 2.0 peed on his laptop. So, we've both been grounded."
"How-never mind. I know better than to ask. I have to talk to my mom."
Pidge nodded and Keith ducked his head walking towards Krolia.
"Sorry."
Krolia smiled sadly and put her hands-on Keith's face, lifting his gaze.
"It's okay. You're fine." Krolia reassured him. "Kolivan's mad though."
Keith cracked a smile and turned his sight on Allura who immediately flushed.
"Why are you here?" Keith's voice came out sharper than he wanted it to, but Allura didn't seem affected by it.
"Kevin-," Allura started out.
"It's Keith." Keith and Shiro said at the same time.
Keith looked at Shiro who had a brotherly sort of concerned look on his face.
"No, it's fine. I…can't deal with this right now. I have a bus to catch." Keith started to walk away but stopped. "And, um, It's fine Allura. I know you didn't mean it. I gotta go."
Quickly waving bye to everyone, Keith walked briskly to catch the bus that was, thankfully, just rolling by.
He got a seat on the bus when Lance slid into the seat next to him.
"Wha-What are you doing?" Keith questioned, genuinely confused.
"I promised to stay with you today, remember?" The Cuban boy answered, smiling.
"Oh, I just-I thought you were just saying that."
"No. You live by yourself, you could get…whatever the doctor said and die in the middle of the night." Lance exclaimed, seemingly dead serious.
Keith was shocked for a moment before snorting out a laugh.
"Okay, well, I'm hungry. You want anything?"
"Yeah. I couldn't eat anything because I rode in the ambulance and stayed in the hospital with you."
Keith smiled, but stopped and looked at Lance strangely.
"You did?"
"Yeah, what about it?" Lance asked.
"Nothing. It's just-Actually, never mind. Do you want to get, uh, McDonald's or something?"
"Mc-No! Are you crazy? All that grease and carbs and chemicals would cause my skin to breakout! Like, it took weeks to get this skin looking this good again after the last McDonald's trip. I swear, I would think someone as good looking as you would have some sort of standards on what's put in your body." Lance ranted, glaring at Keith.
"Well, I don't have-wait, good looking? What-?"
Lance scoffed and looked out the window. "Of course, that's the only thing you took out of my speech. I am honestly appalled." Lance grumbled.
"I am honestly aPalLeD." Keith mocked, laughing.
Lance's mouth fell open as he looked at Keith laughing at him.
"That's it. We are now rivals. We have no chance of being friends now." Lance said, dead serious, but Keith kept laughing.
Thirteen insults, three death threats, and a whole lot of laughing later, Lance and Keith got off of the bus and ended up at a grocery store.
"Lance, I don't have any money."
"Hush peasant. I need actual food, so I'll just get it from the store and make it at your place."
Keith opened his mouth to say something but decided against it and motioned for Lance to go first.
Once they got six bags of goods, Lance proposed to go back to his place.
"We can make food there. Unless you want to go back to your place and grab stuff for tonight and then make food."
"No, we're staying at my place tonight." Keith said, crossing his arms as they climbed into a cab Keith called.
"Ha! No. My place has all of my things." Lance protested.
"I don't feel comfortable in some strange apartment with other people. Pidge snores too!" Keith countered. "I'm the sick one and you volunteered to watch over me."
"Sick my ass. You're fine." Lance shouted back as they continued to argue until they made it to 'VOLTRON'.
"Why are we here? I said, Hunk has my shifts covered." Lance asked confused, all previous conversation forgotten.
"I have to pick up my ride." Keith said as he walked across the street to his motorcycle.
"Hell no. Nu-uh. No. I am not getting on that thing."
"Why not? I have helmets and I don't even drive that fast." Keith settled in the seat and put the groceries in the backpack that was, surprisingly, still there. He put the backpack on his front.
"Keith." Lance warned but sat behind Keith anyway. Keith put his helmet on, and Lance did the same, scooting a little closer to Keith.
"Hold on and put your feet on the pedals up there." Keith instructed as the bike roared to life.
"I got it. It's not like it my first time on a motorcycle or anything." Lance griped.
Then they were off, and Lance was screaming.
"STOOOOOOOOP! You are going to fast! KEITH!" Lance screeched, as Keith laughed and made his way to Lance's apartment.
Once they stopped, Lance had his arms underneath the backpack and pressed against Keith like it would kill him to be separated.
Lance was shaking when he climbed off and Keith laughed in his face as he locked his motorcycle and walked in the building to Lance's apartment.
"You are mean. You are the meanest. I don't even know if I want to make you food anymore." Lance said, once he overcame his shock and opened his apartment door.
Despite his previous comment, Lance immediately went to the kitchen and started preparing the kitchen to prepare the food.
Keith took off the backpack and handed the bags to Lance who was busy.
Keith didn't have much to do, so he poked around the apartment. There were two bathrooms and three bedrooms.
Keith out that Pidge and Hunk share a bathroom and Lance has his own bathroom. Keith wondered why when he walked into Lance's room, then bathroom and saw what seemed like a war scene.
Unidentified makeup and makeup products (Mascara, eyebrow pencil, lipstick, eyelash curler, highlight, beauty blender, concealer, a natural eyeshadow palate, foundation, setting spray, bronzer, makeup brushes, blush, eyeliner pencil), tweezers, at least a dozen different nail polishes, eight different face creams, face masks, oils, and face scrubbers littered the surface of his counter. There was also a blow dryer, scissors, a magnifying mirror, hand soap, hand lotion, and towel on his counter.
Candles were everywhere and there were five different body things next to the shower in a basket (body scrub, a loofa, conditioner, shampoo, and lotion).
It was like every single beauty supply store he's ever seen threw up in Lance's bathroom.
"Keith! Where'd you go? I need your help!" Keith heard Lance call.
Keith took one last look and went back to the kitchen.
"Where'd you run off to?" Lance questioned as he motioned for Keith to help him with something.
"I looked around. Found your room. Lots of products in your bathroom." Keith said, as he helped Lance take some strangely wrapped food out of the oven.
"Yeah. I don't wear all of that stuff though. I gave up on lipstick and eyeshadow a while ago. I only wear a little bit of make up now. Like, I don't know, uh…," Lance paused blowing out as he took the plantains off of the stove. "Highlight, foundation, concealer, eyebrows, mascara. That's it. If I'm going somewhere super fancy or something, it's the whole sha-bang. Most days, though, if I'm late I just go with highlight after I wash and moisturize my face."
Lance put taquitos and plantains on two plates for him and Keith, who was shook.
"Wow." Keith said, as Lance walked over to the couch and sat down. Keith sat beside him and dug in moaning at how good it was.
"Good?" Lance questioned as Keith eyes fluttered.
"Yeah." Keith said with his mouth stuffed.
They finished their food in a comfortable silence.
"We can go to your house." Lance finally said as he finished the last of his food.
"Huh?"
"I'll stay at your place." Lance repeated.
"Oh, okay. Cool." Keith avoided Lance's gaze and tapped his thighs. "Do you want to get your stuff?"
"Yeah, I'll just be a minute. You can come with."
The boys went to Lance's room and Keith sat on Lance's bed as the Cuban boy flitted around gathering clothes and cleaning up as he went.
There were pictures of Lance's friends and family members on his dresser and nightstand. His room was fairly clean actually. Posters of space, some tropical country, and major cities were scattered on Lance's blue walls.
There were glow stars on Lance's ceiling and a few items of clothing on Lance's floor.
Ten minutes later, Lance was done with a small duffle bag in hand.
"Why do you have so much stuff?" Keith questioned as they walked out to his motorcycle.
"Just in case I break out in the middle of the night. Also, I need options."
"For pajamas?"
"Yes, for pajamas. I don't know how hot or cold your apartment is."
Keith shook his head and climbed onto his motorcycle, Lance behind him.
This time the ride was a lot more pleasant and Keith wasn't trying to actively terrorize Lance.
They arrived at Keith's apartment like building. It looked a lot larger than it actually was. It had stairs that led up to the one-story townhouse-apartment building. He had neighbors, but they had a different building. His was by itself.
"Wow, this is…," Lance trailed off as he took in Keith's horrible neighborhood. "Cool."
Keith laughed, took the helmets, and went up the stairs to unlock the door. He turned on the lights and took off his shoes, putting the helmets on the ground. Lance was right behind him.
"Where are your pictures?!" Lance exclaimed, as he saw how barren Keith's apartment was. "Wait. Where is your couch?! Where am I supposed to sleep? What? Is this a chair? What? I'm leaving. I'm going home. I cannot stay here any longer." Lance rampaged, causing Keith to laugh.
"I'm sorry. It's not funny. I'm actually poor." Keith continued to laugh, sitting on the floor because he couldn't stand anymore.
After a minute, Lance started laughing too. They both laughed so hard that they had tears in their eyes and were squirming on the floor.
"It's not even funny, it's sad." Keith sighed, after he composed himself.
"Yeah. How do you have a whole flat-screen T.V. and a gaming console and like twenty games, but no couch?" Lance questioned to which Keith shrugged.
"I'm a college student living by myself."
They both giggled a little more before Lance crawled over to the T.V. and turned it on. He hooked up the games and held out a controller toward Keith.
"You…game?" Lance laughed.
"No. That was a horrible pun." Keith shook his head, trying to suppress a smile.
"No! I'm sorry, but seriously. You wanna play?"
Keith smiled.
"I'm game."