Chapter 7

Pidge was warm, happy, and perfectly content with whatever she had snuggled into, that smelled so good. "Katie, get up! You are gonna be late for school!"

Key word. Was

The voice that had yelled at her sounded a lot like Matt and she wondered for only a second why he was home until the memory of the day before came hurtling back. The movie, dinner, Keith, Lance, and Hunk. She even vaguely remembered falling asleep in the chair while they played games.

Matty must have taken her to bed.

Getting up, the brunette grabbed her glasses from the nightstand and gradually, if not reluctantly, walked to her bathroom. The bright illuminating lights above her sink, forced her to squint at her own reflection and she almost squealed at the sight of Lance's hoodie still on her body.

Did he really not take it?

She just assumed he would have had Matt take it off her when he laid her down for bed.

Maybe even tried to wake her to ask for it. Lord, was the jacket what she had buried herself in this morning? Oh no, had he really rode home in the cold night without a jacket?!

Now he was going to be sick. Idiot. She was gonna kill him.

"PIDGE!!" Matt yelled very loudly through the floor. Rolling her eyes, the brunette stripped of her clothes and climbed into the shower. She made sure to hang the hoodie, careful not to wrinkle it, on the hook of the door.

A shower was probably her favorite part, if not the only part, of her morning. It was how she rejuvenated herself and woke herself up to deal with the new challenges of the day. Which now mostly consisted of a certain cuban best friend of hers. It amazed her how much more she reacted to him and thought about him now that her little crush had come to light. She knew she blushed before. He was attractive, how could she not. It was no different then when she blushed around a shirtless Keith. Except...she now sees her neighbor as a brother.

Lance definitely hadn't given her brotherly vibes lately.

But she guessed if the crush was going to pass soon anyways, he would eventually start to. Because this was nothing more than just a soon-to-be fading infatuation.

"Katie, are you listening to me?!" Matt yelled once again, banging the door to her bathroom wide open.

Did he not know what privacy was!

"Matty!" she screeched. "Get the hell out!"

"Why didn't you answer me?!"

Sighing, Pidge pulled the curtain back and gave her older brother a dry look. He was standing in the doorway with a slight miffed look on his face.

The big baby.

"I manage to be on time everyday you're not here to pester me out of bed. What makes you think I can't do it today?" she asked as she closed the curtain back and leaned down to turn the water off.

"Because Keith left for early morning practice and asked if I could wake you up and take you to school."

Wrapping a towel around herself from the rack beside the shower, she started to pull that curtain back. "Ok, thanks for letting me know. Still doesn't explain why you've been yelling like a lunatic all morning though."

Matching her look of calm and aloofness, Matt grabbed the knob to the bathroom door and began to walk out, pulling it behind him. "Well I thought you would have wanted to know that it's currently 8:01 and you are now officially late."

The loud curse that followed after, made the older sibling smile.

"Matt, you could probably stop laughing now," said Shiro from the passenger seat.

The couple were seated in the front of Matt's classic dark green mustang, while she angrily sat in the back. Shiro had been waiting for them outside on his porch, when the brunette had stomped out the door. Her hair was slightly wet in a messy bun on top of her head, not having time to dry yet, and she was still trying to pull her green sweater on. Meanwhile, Matt had unsteadily trailed after her, laughing his head off.

Pidge had ended up slipping on the floor as she exited the shower a little too hastily and after making sure his little sister was ok, the 19 year old began to hysterically walk out of her room and down the stairs.

He could really be an ass sometimes.

At Least his boyfriend had shown some sympathy and concern for her once she had explained to him why his other half was currently having trouble breathing.

"Yes Matt, you probably could stop laughing," she commented grumpily from the backseat. Reaching down into her bag that was seated between her feet on the car floor, she pulled out her phone.

she hadn't had the chance to check it that morning in her haste and had simply chucked it into her backpack.

Messages from her friends covered her screen to the brim.

7:50AM

Emo mullet: Are you really missing our practice.

E: Lance is having a mental breakdown that u aren't here.

7:56AM

E:ok now i'm worried.

E: pidge u are never late.

E: You better not have died without me!

7:00AM

Loverboy: Get some good sleep pidgey?

7:40AM

L: You are on the way right? Keith said Matt was bringing you.

7:45AM

L: Last call pidgeon, Iverson is glaring at me for being on my phone.

7:58AM

L: Pidge!! you better not abandon me in first period.

8:05AM

L: That's it. You're dead. Dead. You have to be dead.

Rolling her eyes, the brunette scrolled down through the cuban's many more dramatic texts and stopped on Hunks.

8:00AM

I AM HUNK: Um pidge, I don't think ignoring lance like this, is good for his health.I:He's starting to convince Keith that we need to hang missing fliers. Please message him something if you are sick.

I: You aren't sick, are you?

"Has either of you gotten any concerning text this morning," she asked the two in the front.

"You mean the worried text from your little fan group?" Shiro asked, chuckling. "Not long ago, I had Kieth ask me to ask Matt, if he needed to call dad to come check on you."

"And seeing as Shiro decided not to answer," Matt said, pointedly giving his boyfriend a look as he pulled into the school parking lot. "I got a call from Dr. Kolvian, asking if he needed to make a house call."

Pidge had to laugh at that. The boys could be absolutely over the top when it concerned her.

She couldn't figure out if it was cute and endearing or if she should consider it really creepy and plan to have a sit down with them about it.

She shrugged, Problem for another day.

Stepping out of the mustang and waving goodbye, Pidge made her way to the front office to sign in. The clock above her read 8:40 and she would have cursed, if not for the lady that stood in front of her in the office. She was positively sure that Lance and Keith were reeling.

"It's probably best if you go ahead and wait outside your first period, dear. Once it ends you can hand the teacher your tardy slip and continue on with the rest of your classes." Nodding her head that she understood, the brunette headed out the door.

Lance was gonna have a freaking conniption at this point.

Shoving her bag into her locker and grabbing the books she needed for the rest of the day, she started towards her chemistry class and stood outside the door. Lance had yet to message her anymore since the lesson had started. He might have actually been doing work for once….or finding out a way to completely kill her for ditching him. In a class he had changed for her, no less.

What was she even gonna tell him? Sorry I OD'd on the scent of your hoodie and slipped into an erotic coma.

That'll go over well, she thought sarcastically.

Pulling her phone from her pocket, she decided to send a quick message to Keith and Hunk to let them know she was alive while she waited for Lance.

Pidgeon: I'm alive, just was unresponsive this morning. Already waiting outside of my first period.

They both texted back quickly.

I AM HUNK: yay she's alive. Told you Kieth.

Emo mullet: Took her long enough to say something.Lance is gonna flip shit when he sees you.

P: Trust me, ik :(

Bell ringing and signaling the end of the period, Pidge placed her phone in her back pocket and headed through the front room door. Everyone was packing up and heading out the second door in the back of the class. It was the way that Mr. Rax wanted it. Something about it being more organized with having students coming in through one and out the other.

As she handed it over to the awaiting teacher, Lance caught her eye from his desk.

He was giving her a shocked look mixed with a bit of anger but not to the point that she couldn't see the blanlant concern that he was trying to hide.

The look made her feel warm and agitated at the same time. He was definitely upset with her but at least he cared.

"I hated to see that you were tardy for my class this morning, Ms. Holt." Said Mr. Rax, pulling her eyes back to him. "I do know how much you enjoy my class and I'm sure you would have appreciated today's lesson," he smiled.

Giving the teacher a small smile, she nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry I was late today. I promise to make up for it tomorrow."

"No need. I got everything down for you," Lance spoke as he came to stand at her side.

"Yes, I saw you working quite diligently, Mr. McClain," the teacher chuckled, walking to his white board to begin writing for the next class.

Taking that as their dismissal, the two walked out the back of the classroom, Lance grabbing her upper arm and pulling her out the door. "Where the hell were you?!" He screeched loudly. The halls were filled with noisy teenagers as they headed to their next destination and that meant the cuban had no problem getting loud and pissy with her.

"I was sleeping hard. Matt was about to declare me dead."

She laughed. She wanted to try to ease the mood she could just about feel coming over him.

"You couldn't have texted me that! You left me alone all period and you weren't even at practice. Rolo fell on his face and you missed it." A deep frown was on his lips making his brows furrow.

He looked like a kicked puppy that had given up.

If she were honest, it was cute. She found it absolutely adorable that he was so down over her not being there. Even to the point where his go-to grin was gone. It was rare to see anything other than his flirty smirks and charming smiles and the brunette had to say….it was cute….he was pouting.

Looks like I'm not the only one.

"Oh get over it you big baby. I'm here now. Besides, Rolo is a stoner, when isn't he falling on his face."

"Yeah but now I only have one class with you," he said, stopping and looking down at her. He had apparently walked her to her next period. She hadn't even noticed. Too busy watching his expression.

"But we also have lunch," she replied.

"Not enough, not acceptable."

She laughed when he snobbishly lifted his head high and crossed his arms. "I need more time."

His mood was officially evaporating and she guessed she was in the clear.

"Fine, you can drive me home and stay for a bit."

"Actually I have a better Idea," he said, dropping his hands on his knees so he could look up at her and in the eyes.

And boy, was his eyes blue.

She had always admired his beautiful azur eye color. They were nowhere near the same color as other blue eyed people. His weren't the darkest blue or the coldest ice. They were aquatic. Mostly vibrant. Almost like the ocean right before sunset. Not too bright and not too dark. They weren't cold or hot...just warm. Like he always made her feel.

She had a feeling he knew that they had some effect on her and that's why he always made sure to go down to her level when he asked her something. She probably could never say no to the ocean orbs and definitely never lie to them.

"Abuela is going to be making her famous Ropa Vieja and I know how much you both love seeing her and eating her famous food dishes," he smirked.

She almost wanted to cry at how controlled he had her with that simple smirk added with those teasing but kind eyes. It didn't matter If she loved seeing Abuela or loved her food. There was no way she could have said no to him.

"Fine but you're taking me home."

"Naturally."

"Does this mean I've been forgiven for my absence?"

"Of course, querida," he smiled and then turned to race to his next class. Leaving her there, absolutely weak kneed and red faced, making her wonder if he knew exactly what he did to her.

Bastard.

"She lives!" Hunk shouted as she joined them all at the lunch table.

Today, she sat perfectly in her usual spot between Keith and Lance. The former, instantly wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "How hard were you sleeping?" He snickered.

"Apparently hard enough that Matt busted into my bathroom this morning to yell at me."

"I did ask him this morning to get you up."

"I'm guessing he never went home from walking Shiro over?" Lance asked Keith.

"Home is wherever the other is," the asian answered, biting into his taco. Pidge only nodded in agreement before asking her own question.

"Matt walked Shiro home?"

"You didn't know, Pidge?" Allura asked from where she was seated in between Hunk and Lotor.

"Pidge fell asleep before we all left," Hunk answered her.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask," a large smirk grew on Keith's face as he said this.

Pidge knew that smirk and braced herself as it was directed at herself. "Did you ever give Lance his hoodie back?"

The brunette would have probably found her expression as comical as everyone else did, if she had noticed that the cuban wore the same one behind her. They were both bright red and wide eyed.

She should have known wearing that hoodie last night was gonna come back to bite her in the ass.

"I must have forgotten," she glared at the emo. "I was kinda in a hurry this morning."

A hand in her Peripheral vision caught her attention and she watched as Lance grabbed a cheeto from her bag.

That was becoming a bad habit of his, she noticed. She had to strongly resist the urge to smack his digits away from her junk food. The cuban obviously not seeing a problem, simply shrugged and ate it, "It's fine, I'll get it later."

"It's just," Keith spoke, catching her attention once again and smirking at her wider. Hunk, who sat next to him, looked to be trying to stifle a laugh. "I thought that maybe you would have remembered it. Weren't you wearing it when Lance carried you to bed last night?"

Lance choked and her cheeks absolutely flared. Hunk had to actually bury his face into Allura's long white hair, to keep himself from bursting at the seams.

Why was he even laughing! What did Keith tell him?!

Instead of forcing her anger out on her neighbor immediately, Pidge turned towards her best friend with a questioning brow raised. The Cuban's face was pink as he tried to clear his throat with his water bottle.

The way Keith had worded it had probably embarrassed him. Not like it did her though. The emo had said it like it meant way more than a friendly gesture. He was probably embarrassed and mortified of having the thought of carrying her to bed like that...in his head.

Not gonna lie, that kinda hurt her.

"I thought Matt carried me to bed," she stated but it came out a bit like a question. Why wouldn't her brother have taken her to bed?

Lance blushed a little brighter, confusing the brunette. "Uh no, he was kinda busy with Shiro, so I offered."

He was lying. Pidge had known him long enough to know when he was lying. His long and lanky arm was stretched behind his head as he scratched the side of his neck and he couldn't make even the slightest eye contact with her.

Eye contact was always important to him. He always had to be looking at the person he was talking to. It was how he related to people's emotions so he knew how to act. Lance never wanted to make the mistake of saying something inappropriate in a situation where he could avoid it by just watching a person's expression.

Putting his foot in his own mouth was not something he enjoyed.

So when he himself didn't make eye contact, that meant he wasn't telling the truth because he was afraid of having to watch someone read the lie off his face.

Usually she would push him. Ask what he was hiding. But the giggling Hunk across from her and the smirking emo behind her

told her now was not the best time. "Oh...well, thanks," she smiled.

Lance nodded, going back to eating. He was slouched over his food, a blush still covering his face and eyes still avoiding hers.

His whole aura just read uncomfortable and she didn't know why. Was she missing something?

Watching him for a good second, She finally looked away as allura pulled her attention elsewhere.

She was probably the only one who missed the glare the cuban immediately sent to the asian next to her.

"Are you gonna make this entire year hard for me?" Lance asked as he sat down. Keith was seated in front of him, his feet propped up on the empty desk beside him.

It was now his 5th period social studied class with Mr. Regris. One of the two classes he shared with their resident mullet.

"That depends," the little shit head mullet smirked.

"On?"

"Is it going to take the entire year to tell her." Keith asked.

Lance glared, "I don't ever plan to tell her."

"Then I will forever make this hard for you," he smiled.

The mullet smiled the biggest shit eating smile he had ever seen on him.

"Why are you pestering me so hard about this?"

Honestly didn't the guy have better things to do and worry about. Like his own problems.

His own relationships.

Maybe how long he was gonna continue to grow that god awful mullet. "Don't you have your own little infatuation to be drooling over?"

"Nope. I don't do relationships," he replied calmly, leaning back further into his chair.

Lance gave him a dry look, "Andwhy is that?"

Mullet shrugged, "I don't like people."

"What about Pidge and I?! We are people, you like us."

"Pidge doesn't count in this situation. Pidge is kinda like family. I'm stuck with her, nothing I can do about it."

"Well that nice," Lance said sarcastically. "What about me?"

Keith looked at him for a good second. His expression, blank and empty.

"I never said I liked you."

Lance spluttered.

"Then why do you talk to me?!" He asked, trying to keep his voice hushed as the teacher started his lesson. The emo still didn't move from his relaxed position.

"Because you talk to me."

Lance wanted to snap his neck. He could feel as his right eye twitched in disbelief and stress. How pidge dealt with the boy was beyond him. "So you're saying that you talk to me, because what? I'm a social object that you respond to out of habit?"

The mullet sat straight and turned around to pay attention, "Pretty much."

And that was the end of that conversation.

Eyes bulging and mouth hanging wide open, Lance had to admit he was offended. How dare someone he considered an important somebody in his life, say he was just a social cue.

Grabbing his phone, Lance tucked it under the desk so the teacher wouldn't catch him and pulled up Pidge's contact.

Loverboy: I'm truly hurt Pidgeon. Mullet just said I wasn't a friend. Just something he responded to.

Pidgeon: I thought we established this? You two only get along because I'll kill you if you don't. Also, shouldn't you be paying attention?

L: That's Not what's Important right now! I thought mullet and I got past the mutual friend stage. I thought we were buds :((

P: Are you listening to yourself?You know Keith is just messing with you. You are part of our little crew. :)

L: Excuse you, I'm a founder of our little crew, thank you. I'm like the Superman of the Justice League and you and Keith are my Batman and Wonder Woman.

P: I'm batman ;) Keith can wear high heels and a skirt.

L: He does have nice legs.

A vibration sound made him glance up as Keith turned towards him slightly, holding his phone. "Why did Pidge just text me that you think I have nice legs?"

P: ;))