A/N: I am once again offering you all a new chapter, as well as another apology for being late. The past few months have not been kind to me, and alternating between 10 hour opening and closing shifts each day isn't exactly helping. Unfortunately, I once again fell asleep while trying to edit an update last-minute. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and that any of you going back to school at this time have a good semester! I'll try to get started on updates earlier in the month, so hopefully the next one will be on time!

Friday afternoon when Shiro returned to his dorm after his aviation class, his phone rang. He propped his backpack against the side of his bed and dug his phone out of his pocket. Keith's name lit up the screen.

"Keith?"

"Hey, Shiro."

"Are you doing okay? Do you want me to go home?"

"No, you don't have to. I'm feeling a lot better today."

A silent sigh of relief slipped between Shiro's lips. "Good. Are you going to stay with the McClains for a while?"

"I'm staying over another night, then I'm going back home tomorrow."

"Are you sure? The McClains wouldn't mind if you want to stay with them longer. Or I can go home for the weekend and stay with you so you aren't by yourself."

"Thanks, but I won't be alone, actually. Lance is coming with me. He's staying over for the weekend and maybe a few days into the week if I need him to."

Shiro nodded to himself, then a small smile crept across his face. "Oh, Lance, huh? No wonder you want me to stay at school so bad. Well, don't worry, I won't bother the two of you," he teased.

"Shiro!" Keith squeaked. His voice dropped to a whisper. "For the last time, I don't—"

"Don't have a crush on Lance? Sure. You've been obsessed with him since you guys met in, like, sixth grade."

"That was his stupid rivalry thing!"

"And that was him also being obsessed with you. Mutual obsession."

"Shut up."

"I'll shut up when you ask him out."

"No! Even if I did like him, which I don't, he doesn't like me! Not like that!"

"He's bi, Keith."

"Just because he likes dudes doesn't mean he likes me!"

"He dropped everything to go pick you up last night, talks about you non-stop when you're not around, and he gave you flowers."

"He helped me out because we are friends, and he bought the flowers for Shay! Then he remembered she has really bad allergies and gave them to me since I like red!"

"Just because Lance said he bought the flowers for Shay, doesn't mean he actually did. Lance literally carries allergy medicine for Shay because they are friends, and he didn't just happen to forget. He was lying so you wouldn't realize that he likes you."

Keith growled on the other end of the call. "Don't you have a class to be in?"

"Not for a few more hours."

"Maybe you should go sit in on another one, since you clearly have a lot of free time."

"I can't attend a class I didn't pay for."

"Then go bother Matt!"

"He's working at the IT Center right now. Oh, by the way, he was with me last night when you called, so he overheard a little bit. I ended up telling him about dad and the fire. I hope you don't mind."

"Matt? No, I don't mind. I trust him, and it sounds like you do, too."

"Yeah. He's a pretty good guy."

"He must be if you two were hanging out last night."

Shiro hummed in agreement. "We were watching another dumb movie."

"Another? At eleven o'clock at night?"

"Yes?"

"Alone? In your dorm?"

"Yes?"

"Reaaaaally."

"Keith."

"You're giving me shit, and meanwhile, you are watching movies in the middle of the night with your 'friend' who you never shut up about."

"Because we are friends, and friends spend time together.."

"But you like him."

"I—"

Shiro was interrupted by Lance's distant voice on the other end of the call. "Holy shit, Shiro got a boyfriend?!"

"I have a friend who is a guy."

"He's literally all you talk about. Every time we text. I can't remember the last time we talked about something that didn't involve Matt or past trauma." Keith countered.

"It's not like I have any other friends to call home about."

"You could talk about Eurus, or your classes, or some idiot who keeps using the equipment wrong at the gym. That's what you used to do. But ever since you met Matt, I swear he's all you talk about."

"That doesn't mean—"

"Is he cute?" Lance interjected before Shiro could defend himself.

Shiro paused for a moment. "Uh, I mean, yeah, but—"

"So you do like him!" Lance accused.

"No! Well, actually I might—"

"Shiro, my dude… Ask. Him. Out."

"I can't. I…." Shiro trailed off. He sighed. "Matt is the first friend I've made since I started going to this school. For years, the only people I talked to on a regular basis were teachers. I finally have someone to hang out with, and even after I told him about most of the shit in my life, he still wants to be my friend. I can't risk losing all of that over some dumb crush. Besides, just because he's gay doesn't mean he's into me."

Lance started to counter Shiro's explanation, but was interrupted by Keith. "I get it."

Silence fell over the three. Shiro could almost feel Keith's heart thumping in his chest miles away on the other end of the line.

"You like Matt. You want to spend as much time with him as you can. He's one of the most important people in your life, and you want him to stay there. You want to go on dates with him and hold his hand and tell him you love him over and over every minute of every day in case he starts to doubt it. You want to tell him that he's everything and more, and you don't know what you would've done with yourself if the two of you had never met. You don't want to think of a world where he isn't with you. You want to tear open your heart and tell him everything, but you know it could go wrong. You don't know whether or not he likes you back, and even if he does, maybe he doesn't want to be anything besides friends. You don't know if telling him you like him might scare him off, or make him push you away. You don't know what will happen. All you know is admitting that you like him to his face isn't something you can take back, and you're so desperate to keep him with you that you'd rather bite your tongue and remain at his side as his friend than risk losing him completely."

Shiro had no response. The nameless anxieties within him had been put into words in a way so painfully accurate and eloquent that he could never have done it himself. Keith had spoken from the heart in the way he often did, a way none could replicate. It was something bare and personal, so much so that the words were clearly not for Shiro alone. As soon as Keith began to speak, his attention was no longer on Shiro and Matt. Instead, the person in Keith's mind who he was so desperately crying out to was none other than the boy who sat beside him as he always had.

"Keith has a point, I guess," Lance mumbled. "Sorry for getting pushy, Shiro. I got excited because you found someone who makes you happy. You're just, like, a super cool dude and you deserve to have this. I understand, though, if you don't want to tell him. It's entirely up to you."

Shiro nodded to himself. "I know, but… How do I decide what to do? I—I like him. I like Matt. It took me a while to realize that, but once I did, I couldn't look at him the same anymore. Being friends with him has been the best thing that's happened to me in years, but I don't know how much longer I can stand there and shut up before I blurt out something stupid and ruin everything." He ran a hand through his hair, then pressed the ball of his hand into his brow to fend off the growing ache in his skull. "I've barely managed to keep myself together so far, but eventually, something will slip out, and I won't have any excuse to cover it with."

Lance hummed on the other end of the line. "Well, when did this all start? Like, what made you stop and think 'I like him' for the first time?"

"Uh, I don't really know. The feeling just kind of shows up because of lots of different stuff. Sometimes I walk into the IT Center or his room, and he's sitting on the floor surrounded by little pieces of computers and scraps that he's constantly picking through to find what he needs to fix whatever he's working on. He notices me watching him some days, but most times he's so focused on what he's doing that he doesn't know I'm there, and I get to watch him. Once he fixes something, he gets this smile that spreads across his face so slowly… It's like watching the sun rise. Sometimes it happens at random moments, like when we were killing time at a thrift store the other day and he tried walking in heels. He looked like an idiot, but I could've stood there for years and the smile would never had left my face."

"So, your type is nerds," Keith accused lightheartedly, earning a snort from Lance and an eye roll from Shiro.

"Hey, I like his hair, too."

"Isn't it kind of long?"

"It's past his shoulders now, long enough to put in a little ponytail. It looks cute when he wears it up. There was one day, though… It was during the aviation fair. His hair was a little shorter at that point, but anyway, he was standing in the hangar when I started the propeller on my plane. I was taking up some visitors who Matt had led out to the plane, and I caught a glimpse of him before I left. His hair was blowing around his face like…I don't know. As soon as I saw him, I couldn't look away. He was smiling, and he had this look on his face like he was excited for something. Most of my memories from that day just kind of blur together, but that moment stands out."

"Is that when you realized you like him?" Lance asked.

"I didn't recognize it then, but looking back, it was one of those earlier moments when I felt something. So, yeah. In a way, it was, I guess."

Keith began to speak again, but he paused when the distant sound of a bell rang out. "Shit. Sorry, Shiro. We have to go. Class starts in, like, two minutes." Keith's words were punctuated by the faint rustle of items being gathered and bags slipping onto shoulders. "Lance, hurry up!"

"I'm hurrying!"

Shiro swallowed a chuckle. "Be good, and you two be careful on your way to Lance's later today."

"Bye!" Keith and Lance called in unison just before the line went dead.

Shiro shook his head at the two, then plopped gracelessly on the floor next to his bed. He rummaged through his back in search of his homework. Sheets of notes and questions piled up in Shiro's hands, and when the stack finally stopped growing, he sighed and dropped his head against the wall behind him. He had too much work to do, and not enough energy to finish it all. It was especially difficult to focus when Keith's words echoed in his ears and the memory of Matt leaning against his side burned Shiro's skin.

Takashi Shirogane was in love with Matthew Holt. That much, he knew. Whether or not he was willing to risk their friendship for something that could end far faster than it had begun, Shiro wasn't sure. For now, he'd say nothing. He'd wait and weigh his options. Eventually, Shiro would have to decide, but the present wasn't the right time. He had work to do.