It's finally HERE! The next Chapter!
Sorry, it took so long, but I hope you enjoy this new chapter.
Special thanks to KatieGunderson, haleygur7, RJLadyA, Saskiamq, for leaving reviews on the last chapter.
Keith stared at Katie's home, looking over every detail he could in the dim light. Nothing about the house, at least on the outside, really showed that a family of geniuses lived here. Though the front garden was much larger, then he was expecting.
Keith had heard countless stories about the Holt household and Shiro's time with them. It felt bazaar seeing the house with his own eyes, like visiting a faraway land you only ever heard about and never expected to visit.
Katie got off the bike on her own, his mind was a little distracted by the home before him. Keith's forced himself to look away from the house of a thousand Shiro tales and towards Katie.
Her fingers working on getting the helmet's buckle open, but clearly not succeeding. Keith noted she was heavily relying on her right arm, probably so she wouldn't aggravate her injured shoulder.
A surge of anger pulsed through his veins, Katie's yelp of pain echoing in his head.
"Keith…"
Katie's soft voice broke through his thoughts, instinctively looking back at her. Somehow during his musing, the hair stuffed in her helmet had shifted obstructing half her view as the fluffy mess pressed against the visor.
"Help… please…" Katie asked, sounding both shy and reluctant with her request.
So far, Katie seems like the type to do everything herself or at least not want to rely on others. Something he was guilty of, but unlike him, at least she could ask for help when she really needed it.
"Don't worry, I got it," he assured Katie, dismounting his bike.
A half-smile creeping onto his face, seeing strands of hair poking out of the helmet as if they were fighting their way out.
Her hands fell away from the helmet and closed her eyes. It was such a small sign of trust, but it made Keith's stomach do a happy flip. These gestures of trust were typical for teammates, right? He honestly didn't know, no one trusted him outside of being assigned to take out a target on his own… but that felt distinctly different, then the ways Katie showed her faith in him.
Some of Katie's soft hair grazing over his fingers while he worked on unbuckling the strap. Keith tried his best to slowly take off the helmet, not wanting to cause more knots in her hair. But Katie's fluffy hair practically exploded outward as it was released.
"Thanks Keith" she sighed in relief before grumbling softly as she tried ruffling and brushing her fingers through her long hair in an attempt to tame the chaotic mess.
Keith nodded, leaving Katie to fix her hair as he lifted the seat of his motorcycle, putting the helmet back into its place. His gaze shifting towards the Holt home again.
"Are you okay with dogs?"
Keith blinked, quickly looking over to Katie, "what…?"
"We have a dog, sorry just thought about it, Bea Bea is a sweetie but a little excitable meeting new people she's just barely a year old so got a bit of puppy syndrome still." She explained.
"I like dogs," more often than people if Keith was honest.
"Good," she smiled, gently grabbing the cuff of his jacket and lightly tugging him towards the house "I already checked my phone, my mom's okay with you staying."
A part of him still wanted to argue, tell Katie and her Mom that he would be fine on his own. The only thing stopping him... he honestly had nowhere to go. Not to mention any lie he'd come up with, wouldn't fool Katie. He hadn't had many personal interactions with her, but he could already tell she had a scary amount of intelligence.
Katie's hand tightened around his sleeve as she unlocked the door. Keith, not 100% sure if it was because she was nervous or worried about him bolting.
"Mom?" Katie called out, locking the door behind her then letting his sleeve go.
Yep, she thought he was going to bolt… not that he could blame her... He had been trying and failing to think of ways to leave.
"Welcome home sweetie," Katie's Mom greeted, poking her head out from around the corner, the woman looking surprised as she scanned over them. "What happened? both of you are filthy."
Keith glanced down at himself, he was covered in sand. He probably should have patted himself down before coming in, glancing over at Katie as she came to the same realization looking down at her sandy clothes.
"Keith drove us back in his hoverbike, don't worry he's fully licenced," Katie explained.
Keith never told her that, but on the other hand, she could have figured it out on her own. That, or she did a thorough background check on him... Katie was definitely the type to do her own research on people.
Mrs. Holt approached them, looking over both of their forms. Keith was impressed by Katie; for looking so natural and masking any pain from her shoulder.
"And you weren't wearing a helmet," Miss Holt stated, giving him a firm look, one that made him freeze in place.
How did she know it was him not wearing a helmet?
Why were all the holts impressive?
Even Sergeants couldn't make him freeze in place like Katie's Mom could right now.
"I only had one helmet," Keith answered, feeling compelled to speak.
The women sighed before looking down at her daughter, "Katie, go have a shower please"
Katie's honey-brown eyes whipped to look up at Keith then to her mother. "Mom…" her voice sounded higher-pitched, almost pleading.
"Katie." Mrs. Holt replied firmly, the two women gaze locking for a long moment before Katie sighed, shooting him an apologetic as she shuffled herself down the hall.
Keith wondering what he was in for.
"Keith, would you like something to drink?" asked calmly, giving him a small smile, "Water, Juice, Tea?"
Keith felt his chest urch at the offer of tea, he hadn't had any since before Shiro left for Kuborous. "Water, please," he asked, mentally ignoring the tight feeling in his throat.
"Easy enough, why don't you join me in the kitchen" The women offered, though Keith swears it felt more like an order.
She guided him into the kitchen, offering him a seat at the breakfast bar as she rounded the other side to grab a glass. Keith quietly sat down where she gestured, his eyes gazing around the place.
Keith tried to picture some of Shrio's stories happening here. About the baking concoctions, Shiro and the holt siblings had worked on in the pursuit of 'science.' The Meals Shiro helped prep with Mrs. Holt while the other Holts were quickly shooed away: banished to cleaning duty for past kitchen crimes. The recipes Shiro learned from Mrs. Holt, ones that Shiro would later share with Keith.
If nothing else, Keith now had a face and a place for those stories.
His eyes returned to the woman as she handed him a glass of water. "Thank you," Keith said, nodding politingly as he grabbed the drink.
"You're welcome," Mrs. Holt replied with a smile, "Keith, why do you need a place to stay tonight?" she asked calmly, her eyes burning through him as she spoke.
Keith's eyes locked with the woman's, not sure what to say that wouldn't get Katie in trouble. He had already ruined enough things for her tonight.
Mrs. Holt's eyes were more of a light brown, didn't have the same golden shimmers like Katie's.
The woman remained quiet and calm as she waited for him to speak. Keith quickly recalling tips Katie drilled into him. Though they were initially about anyone at the Garrison questioned about the break-in. He hoped the same could be applied now that he ruined Katie's first well-crafted plan.
Keep things simple, was the first tip. Tell the truth, but only enough to be satisfying and avoid the key points. Said key points now being: Do not say anything about Katie breaking into the Garrison, and hacking their system.
"I was kicked out of the Garrison," Keith confessed.
Katie's Mom hummed in acknowledgment and didn't seem surprised. Keith mentally cursed; what if the Garrison had called Katie's Mom and told her about what they had done. Mrs. Holt could be testing him now, seeing if he would tell her the truth.
"How did Katie know you were kicked out?" Mrs. Holt questioned.
How much should he say? If he lied and Mrs. Holt already knew the truth, how would she react? Would she kick him out for it?
For Katie, he had to risk it. He had already messed up so much for her. He couldn't lose Katie's trust, not when she was the only hope he had towards finding the truth... and maybe getting Shiro back.
"My phone," he answered a little too quickly, the women giving him a questioning look. "Katie reached out to me about a week after the crash was publically announced... We've been messaging each other since then... Tonight was the first time we met in person." Good everything he just said wasn't a lie; hopefully, wouldn't be too upset.
"It's good to know Katie is talking to someone about that," Mrs. Holt sighed in relief, making Keith give the woman a double-take.
"Katie, refuses to talk to me about it... It's good for her to talk about it, and it's good for you too." The women softly smiled gratitude and relief, filling her features.
Keith wondered why Katie wasn't talking to her Mom about the crash... Was Katie not as close to her Mom as she was her Dad? Did something happen between them? He understood not wanting to tell her about breaking into the Garrison, but why not the 'crash' itself?
"You'll stay with us till you're eighteen," The woman said with a soft smile as she gently patted his hand.
"Umm excuse me?" Keith blinked… he must have missed something.
"Your seventeen, with no other family, correct?" Mrs. Holt clarified.
"Yes, ma'am" Keith nodded.
"Now that you've been kicked out of the Garrison, Foster Care will be after you, and I'm not letting that happen." she stated "So you'll stay here with us. At least till you turn eighteen and if you want to leave after that your free to, or if you need to stay longer, your welcome to do that as well," Mrs. Holt assured.
"Mrs. Holt I can't do that." he didn't want to be a burden on her, what Katie was doing... and Mrs. Holt letting him stay the night was already more than enough.
"Nonsense, take over the guest room as your own room. It will be nice having boys around again, and I think both you and Katie need each other right now" she insisted with a kind smile.
That made a burst of warmth bloom in his chest. Shiro was right; all the Holt's were astounding.
"I have no way to pay for the room or food," Keith added, he couldn't stay... there was no way he could really live here.
"You'll earn your keep the same way Katie does. By doing chores and a few other extra tasks Katie's too short to do" Mrs. Holt insisted.
A small laugh slipping out of Keith, it was surprising to hear Katie's mom jab at her daughter's height.
"Thank you, Mrs. Holt" Keith nodded, he's not sure how long this would last, but he'll take a warm bed and food for as long as he can.
"Sounds like Katie's out of the shower, why don't you jump into the shower as well and I'll try to find you some clothes." Mrs. Holt suggested as Katie slid into the kitchen, a bull terrier dog rushing in with her.
The pup's nails made her slide further, then Katie. The relatively short dog scrambling to stop. Mid breaking the terrier noticing Keith and quickly tried to change her momentum towards him.
Keith leaning down to pet the dog, the short hair pup leaning into his touch while wagging her tail happily.
"Katie after I find Keith some clothes, we are having a talk" Mrs. Holt informed her daughter as she passed by.
Katie's shoulders slumping a little, her lips frowning.
"It's not that bad," Keith quietly told Kaite, when Mrs. Holt left the kitchen.
"She went easy on you; she won't go easy on me," Katie grumbled.
She didn't look worried, more annoyed than anything else. Keith tried to recall some team encouraging practices. He never used them at the Garrison, but he and Katie really did feel like teammates, and she didn't toss him away after making a pretty big mistake.
She was his partner in this, and teammates supported each other.
"KEITH, Showers ready!" Mrs. Holt called.
Keith left his seat, Katie muttering instructions to the bathroom, something about the bathroom being the second door on the right.
He paused next to Katie, thinking over different encouraging gestures. It didn't feel right doing a shoulder squeeze like Shiro would do. So back pats it was. Keith's hand gently patted her lower back since her shoulder was most likely still hurting and sore.
Katie bolted up at his touch, whipping around to look at him, flinching slightly with the movement. Her honey brown eyes staring wide eye up at him.
He did something wrong… even when he tried to be a good teammate, he couldn't.
"Good luck with your Mom," Keith quickly added, hoping it would help, But Katie just kept staring at him. Her honey-brown eyes having that thousand questions look in them again.
Mrs. Holt called for Keith again, and he quickly left the room before he did something else wrong.
This chapter was super long so I ended having to split it into two, but I really wanted to make sure Keith had enough time to interact with Colleen Holt, and absorb the household he had heard so much about.
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