November rolled into December, and Christmas was approaching soon. It was supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, and yet, Keith was in his bed, tossing and turning.

It had been four weeks since he did the shoot with Lotor, who had told Keith of Allura's apparently dark past, and Shiro had been going on more and more dates with Allura.

"Keith, I'm going out for tacos with Allura!"

"Keith, Allura and I are going secret santa shopping!"

"Keith, I'm going to Allura's to help her set up the Christmas tree!"

Nothing seemed to have changed between them.

Keith had begun to doubt Lotor's warning, but the voice in the back of his mind kept gnawing at his conscience.

Nothing seemed to have changed between them. Yet.

How could he keep letting Shiro go on these dates when he knew that she could turn on him any second? Then again, Shiro was a grown adult. He could handle himself. But on the other hand, Shiro's mental state was more vulnerable than the older man liked to admit. The issue was tearing him apart from inside, and it fucking sucked. Even if he did want to talk about it, who was he supposed to take it to? His new friends were Allura's friends first, and on top of that, the woman was famous. Public opinion would likely tip in her favor. It would be best for him to keep his mouth shut, then.

Keith groaned when his phone started vibrating under his pillow. Who dared call him while he was in the middle of an intense moping session?! He squinted from the glaring brightness of the screen. Hunk. He had to take this one. Begrudgingly, he dragged the green horn to the middle of the screen and put his phone to his ear, putting on a sickeningly sweet tone.

"Hey there handsome, how are you?"

"I'm doing pretty well, beautiful." Hunk crooned through his phone, turning the tips of Keith's ears as red as his beanie. "Hey, you live in the city center, right? Wanna go secret santa shopping with me?"

Shit. He'd forgotten all about Allura's secret santa party on boxing day. He'd drawn Pidge's name from the hat, but he had no idea what to get the kid. On the one hand, he was in no mood for shopping, but on the other hand, Hunk might actually know what they like.

"Yeah, sure. I can tag along." Keith said. "How long would it take you to get here?"

"Uh, about half an hour?" Hunk mumbled as he presumably did the math.

Keith turned onto his back, twirling his long hair between his fingers like a lovesick teenager. He hated that trope in any movie, but this time, he was the one in love, and it felt good dammit. "Sounds good to me. I should probably take a shower first, though… I'll put a key under the doormat, okay? I don't wanna make you wait out in the cold."

"Thanks, Keith. I'll be right there. See ya."

"See ya." Keith smiled as he ended the call.

Yeah. He was in love, and it felt good.

Shiro was pushing to his very limit. His face burned bright red, and a pathetic whine escaped his throat. There was no way he could keep this up much longer.

"You can do it, Shiro, you're almost there! Just a tiny bit further." Allura encouraged from behind him, gently placing her hands on his hips, steadying him. Or so she thought.

Startled from the sudden sensation, Shiro jolted, losing his balance, falling face-first into the Christmas tree if it wasn't for Allura jerking him backwards by the waist. They tumbled backwards, luckily landing on the couch.

"You okay up there?" Allura croaked from under Shiro, who scrambled to get off of her.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He asked as he carefully helped her up. "The star is okay, though." Shiro said, proudly holding up the delicate ornament that should have gone atop the pine tree.

"Well done." Allura giggled, patting Shiro's chest. "I think Coran might have overestimated our height when he got this tree." She said, glaring up at the top of her christmas tree. "Come on, I'll get a stool to stand on."

"Keith? You in here?" He heard Hunk call from the hallway.

"Yeah! I'll be out there in a sec." He gritted out as he tried to tie his hair in a bun, cursing in frustration, why did everything have to go wrong now?! He jolted when Hunk knocked on the bathroom door.

"Everything okay in there? Anything I can help with?"

"My hair… Won't… GAH!" Keith groaned.

"I do my niece's hair all the time. I could do yours if you want…" Hunk suggested, speaking through the door.

What an absolute sweetheart, Keith thought to himself. The thought of Hunk doing his hair made his heart flutter, but could potentially be very embarrassing. He hadn't known Hunk for very long, and he wanted the man to date him, not take care of him like some incompetent toddler. Keith was a grown-ass man, who didn't need anyone to take care of him, thank you very much. And so, he tried for a few more seconds, but ultimately, he slumped over to the door in defeat, turning the lock to open it.

Hunk opened the door just a crack, carefully peeking inside. The sweetest smile came to his face when his eyes fell on Keith's little pout, effectively melting the photographer's heart. "What seems to be the problem?"

The smaller man shamefully buried his face in his hands. "There's a hair tie stuck in my hair and I don't wanna cut it out…"

"Okay, no need to panic. Go sit down somewhere, we'll take care of this." Hunk smiled, picking up the brush from the sink.

Keith could just about die of shame as he left the bathroom and sat down at the dinner table. A gasp left him as Hunk grabbed his shoulders and pulled him against the back of the chair, forcing him to sit upright. When Hunk got to work on his hair, he was surprisingly gentle, only brushing the tangled spot to undo the knots. Slowly but surely freeing the elastic from his hair.

"Your hair is so soft, you know that?" Hunk commented. "How did you manage to get it this stuck?"

"A series of unfortunate events." Keith mumbled. His shoulders would slump, had Hunk not been holding him by the hair. "I don't wash my hair that often because I don't like how fluffy it gets, but I thought since I was going out with you, I'd make sure I looked good. But then I had to go and blow dry my hair so it wouldn't snap off in the cold, which only made it fluffier, so I decided to tie it down in a bun, and suddenly I couldn't find my hair tie anymore…"

"You mean this one?" Hunk asked as he triumphantly held the accessory in front Keith's face.

"Yeah, that one! Hunk, you're the best!"

"I know." He said, Keith could hear the proud smile in his voice. "Still want that bun?"

"Yes please." Keith smiled, purring in delight as Hunk's fingers carded through his hair, gathering it all up. "Your niece is very lucky to have an uncle as sweet and skilled as you."

Hunk chuckled. "You're really too generous with your compliments, my dude." He said as he twisted Keith's hair into a bun and finally wrapping the hair tie around it. "All done!"

Keith carefully patted at his hair, not a single stray strand to be found, aside from his bangs. Excitedly, he got up and turned around to get ready to leave. "And you're really too humble, you know? You're the best."

Shiro groaned as he flopped onto the couch, face first. "Ugh, now I remember why Keith and I never set up a christmas tree. My back is killing me…" He whined.

Allura, on the other hand, smiled brightly as she crouched by the man and ran her gentle fingers through his white fringe. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that." She laughed apologetically. "I'd do this with Coran under any other circumstances, but he got caught up at the office."

"Yeah, I know." Shiro smiled, as he pushed himself up from the cushion and sitting down like a regular person. "I was just being a little dramatic, it's honestly not that bad."

"If you say so." Allura got up before letting herself fall into the spot next to Shiro. "Seriously though, thanks. I couldn't have done it without you."

"You're very welcome, princess." Shiro said, comfortably resting his cheek on her head. Her hair smelled sweet, like ripe strawberries. He felt over the moon until he realized that what he was doing was at least a little bit creepy.

"Oh my God, not you too." She giggled, and Shiro's worries vanished like a snowflake in the desert.

"You know, Allura, I've been thinking..." Shiro started, nerves and uncertainty making his voice tremble. "I… uh, you… We've been seeing each other a lot, lately. And, you know, I really like spending time with you. And, uh, well, you've always been, y'know, 'my friend, Allura'... But… Would you maybe like to spend time with me as… 'my girlfriend, Allura'?"

"Shiro…"

Keith sighed as he leaned his back against the front window of a seedy thrift shop. When Hunk had asked him out to buy their secret santa gifts, he hadn't expected to be abandoned outside a shop in a street that was just a little too dark for his liking. Like, it was broad daylight, but he still felt uncomfortable.

What's more is that his black hooded sweater and scarlet leather jacket didn't exactly do much to keep him warm either. His knees trembling and his teeth clacking together. Maybe he should have invested in a thicker, warmer coat. Instead, he opted to bury his face in the Mothman plush he had just purchased for Pidge. It had slowly absorbed some of his body warmth since he bought it, holding it in his arms the whole time, so it offered some reprieve from the icy December winds.

He jumped at a sudden sound next to him, not realizing it had been from the door opening. "Hunk! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"

"Uh… No? Are you okay, though? You look cold..." Hunk noted as he adjusted the handles of the paper bag around his arm.

"Yeah, a little." Keith mumbled.

Hunk hummed as he thought for a second, before removing his own scarf and wrapping it around Keith's neck. It looked ridiculously large on the smaller man, and Hunk couldn't contain a small smile as he tied the ends together, keeping it secure around Keith. "There we go. Sorry I asked you to wait outside, I should have known you'd be too cold."

"It's okay." Keith said, a blush creeping to his face. He could probably get away with blaming it on the cold, but Lord knows it was the warmth in the scarf and Hunk's smell that caused it. "I'm just curious why you wanted to go to this store... and you didn't want me to come in with you."

"Because this is for you." Hunk said, nerves evident in his voice. "And I want it to be a surprise when you opened it."

"Did… Did you draw my name from that hat?" Keith stammered, clinging ever tighter to the soft plushie in his arms.

"Actually, I drew Shiro's… I switched with Lance. He's getting Shiro one of those police outfits for strippers, so that should be fun-"

"No, Hunk, don't you dare change the subject right now! Why did you switch?"

Hunk hesitated for a moment, glancing away, before drawing a deep breath and looking Keith in the eye. "Because I like you. I wanted to get you something nice, and I knew exactly what I wanted to give you."

Keith didn't hear anything beyond those first four words. His heart melted, and his brain might as well have. He wasn't planning on this. He wanted to go slow and steady for once, but that's not what Keith was about. No, he was always fast and loose. Emotional. Passionate. It was then and there that he grabbed Hunk by the collar of his coat, his resolve long forgotten, and pressed his lips into Hunk's.