Ch. 13 Pidge's second Christmas isn't as magical
Pidge comes out of her room, eying her roommate with disdain. The bastard is sprawled out on the couch, dicking around on his phone completely ready to leave.
Is Pidge ready though?
No.
Her ass had to stay up until 6 playing the new game she got for Christmas. She wants to say there's no regrets, but, honestly...there's some regrets.
Like agreeing to the dumbass idea of meeting up at noon for desserts. She could have waited until a better time like 4 but nooo her stomach waits for nothing. Not even sleep deprivation.
To be fair, she knows it's not Keith's fault she's exhausted, but he lives with her and he's just laying there like he doesn't have a care in the world. Like his best friend isn't currently the walking dead and very much not willing to function enough to get ready for this meal like he's waiting for her to.
"Fuck you, Keith." She grumbles on her way past the indifferent asshole on the couch.
"Gonna be a hard pass from me, thanks." Keith responds, entirely unfazed. "Now move you zombie ass, there's some seriously delicious looking dessert calling my name."
Pidge gives him the harshest glare she can currently muster, but the asshole doesn't see it with his head buried in his phone so she goes for the next best option, "Ohhh?" She smirks, "So we're calling Lance dessert now?"
The immense pleasure she feels when Keith's phone drops on his face is indescribable.
"Shut up and get dressed you god damn corpse." Keith huffs, face bright red as Pidge cackles in the most obnoxious possible way while she heads to the bathroom.
Dead or not, as soon as the water hits her in the shower Pidge is up and ready to go. She makes quick work of getting ready, tossing on a green sweater her mom gave her that has a wrapped gift on it with the words 'schrodinger's present' above it in Christmas tree lights.
"Okay, I'm ready." She says, heading out of the bathroom and being greeted with an amused side glance from Keith.
"Nice sweater, nerd."
"Oh please, do you even own anything that's not black or red?" Pidge counters and he goes silent, probably thinking.
"I think I own something purple…? Somewhere." Keith mutters, looking down at his black t-shirt in disappointment, "Maybe."
"Yeah, well, I've seen that purple shirt and it's so dark it's basically just black." She counters, "So don't knock my sweater, boy."
Keith smirks at her, "I didn't know you were so attached."
"Bitch I might be." She counter because it honestly might be her new favorite piece of clothing. It's soft and warm and has schrodinger on it. And really, isn't every present a schrodingers present?
"Well, whatever, you're ready so let's just go." Keith says, getting up and heading for the door.
They have a quick argument about taking the car, Keith not seeing the point with them living so close, and Pidge refusing to walk in the snow. She eventually wins when she points out they will be eating a lot and a full Keith is a sleepy Keith (a full Pidge is, too, but that's besides the point).
When they arrive Keith knocks awkwardly, and honestly way too quiet, especially wiyh the loud ass Christmas music coming from the apartment, so Pidge decides to opt out of being a polite guest and bursts through the door.
"We're here! Everybody better be decent!" She calls as they make their way to the boys, taking great joy in the fact Lance actually glances down at himself.
Like the fucking dork he is.
"You know, most people knock." Lance says, shooting her a look she pointedly ignores.
"We actually did knock." Keith points out, shooting him the same look, "Maybe you could turn down the Christmas music in January and listen for it next time."
Lance looks at him, clearly insulted, "I was just setting the mood for our Christmas, you neanderthal."
Keith glares, "How does that make me a neanderthal!?"
"Because you don't understand the value of Christmas!" Lance yells, stepping closer to Keith until they are both figuratively and literally, bumping heads.
"I understand it! I just didn't know that was what we were doing here!"
"Don't sweat it, Keith." Hunk says, moving around them to place some food on the table.
That's when Pidge sees it.
Literal heaven on a table.
It's full of delicious looking desserts and even dinner. The foods are ones she doesn't know, but has no doubt are amazing. They sure fucking smell amazing.
"Damn I didn't realize we were going to heaven today!" She practically swoons and Hunk laughs.
"It looks good, doesn't it?" He asks, Pidge nodding emphatically.
"It looks incredible."
"Thanks," Lance says, turning his attention for arguing with Keith to look at her, "My mom and I made the meal, with some help from my sister. Hunk and his mom made the desserts." He grins proudly before striking a pose, "My mom made this shirt, too."
Pidge looks over and let's out a small laugh. It's a cute shirt, definitely something Lance would wear. The t-shirt itself is blue, his favorite shade of blue, and in it is a large magnifying glass over a blob ghost, with the words 'search for the bootiful'. "Oh my god, I love it!" She grins, enjoying the pride on her friend's face.
"It's great, isn't it?" He asks and she nods.
"Is that, like, your business shirt?" Keith teases as he fills up a plate, "Gonna wear it to the next haunted place?"
"Damn right I am." Lance smirks, "Don't worry, I'll have mom make one for you, too." He laughs a little at the horror on Keith's face before heading over to the cupboards to get everyone a glass.
The stare down Keith has with the now exposed flesh of Lance's hip is too obvious and Pidge can't help herself.
"Pretty tasty looking spread, isn't it?" She teases, smirking when Keith starts choking on air before giving her a harsh look, "What? I'm just saying...dessert looks good. Doesn't it, Keith?"
"Pidge," Keith hisses, trying not to drop his plate, and she can't help but laugh.
"You wanna take a bite, Keith?" She asks, enjoying how increasingly red his face is getting, "Bet I can guess where."
Keith's face looks about ready to combust she he leans in and with all the venom he can muster, whispers "You're a monster," before heading to one of the couches.
Pidge can't help it, she sets her plate down and doubles over laughing, soon joined in by Hunk who is quietly chuckling to himself, no doubt aware of everything that just happened.
"What the hell guys?" Lance asks, eying everyone suspiciously, "What the hell did you do to Keith?" He asks, gesturing to the still blushing boy on the couch.
"Nothing," She manages to get out through giggles, "Just picking on Keith for how excited he is about dessert."
"FUCK YOU, PIDGE!" Keith yells from the living room.
"Gonna be a hard pass from me, thanks!" She counters, bursting into laughter again at the frustrated groan he makes.
"...Right…" Lance mutters, looking between the two a little more.
"So how are your families?" Hunk asks as they all finally head into the living room to join Keith, him and Lance sitting on the couch next to Pidge and Keith's, Lance not-so-subtly making sure to sit on the end closest to Keith.
"It was good, it was fun," Pidge says before taking a bit of food and continuing, "Keith's brother cried because he thought his baby boy was having a torrid affair with a Kansas man without telling him."
Hunk's eyes widen and Lance laughs.
"That's not why he cried, Pidge!" Keith fumes, glaring at the girl.
"But he did think that you were having a torrid affair?" Lance asks, covering his mouth to try and stifle his laughter.
"He didn't think it was a torrid affair, but he did think I was dating someone in Kansas, yeah." Keith admits and Lance bursts out laughing.
"You?"
"I've had more relationships than you, lover boy." He counters and Lance quickly goes quiet as Pidge looks at the two curiously.
Just how much did they share on the ride to Kansas?
"Anyways, he was upset because he could tell I was keeping a secret and went off to Kansas, he thought maybe we were gonna move. For some reason Matt thought I was seeing someone in Kansas." Keith explains and Lance can't hide his amusement at the while thing.
"Why would he think that?" He asks and Keith goes bright red.
"Fuck if I know, Matt's weird."
"I still can't believe he cried."
"It's not funny, Pidge! The guy never cries, I felt like the biggest asshole. All because I was too embarrassed to say we were ghost hunting." Keith explains, frowning.
"Welp, that's what you get for not telling daddy Shiro what you were doing." Pidge teases and Keith quickly levels her with a look.
"Do not call him that. Ever. Again."
"So when do we get to meet daddy Shiro?" Lance asks, smirking at Keith's frowning frustration.
"What did I just say!?" He yells before sinking back into his seat on the couch, "Never, if you call him that again."
"Awwww, come on, mullet." Lance whines before pouting at his food, "Too bad, I bet he's hot, too."
"What makes you think that?" Pidge smirks, "Because Keith is hot?"
Lance and Keith go bright red, the latter's fork making a loud clang when it falls to his plate, "Th-that's not...what I meant! I-I just meant...um...b-because...your brother is dating him, right? He can't be ugly…"
"Matt could probably fall in love with a burlap sack if it had Shiro's personality." Keith points out and Pidge snickers.
"No doubt." She agrees, "Shiro obviously doesn't care about looks, either. I mean, he fell in love with Matt, after all."
"Yeah," Keith nods, "Matt looks way too much like you to be attractive."
"Ugh, whatever. Shiro looks nothing like you, thank god." She says, instantly regretting it when the smirk on Keith's face drops to a deep frown.
"Do we really not look alike?"
"Ugh, of course you dweebs look alike. Literally anyone who sees you walking by can tell you're brothers." Pidge groans, relaxing a little when Keith smiles.
"So," He looks over to Lance and Hunk, "How were your families?"
"Great! My parents found out about Shay and started asking a bunch of questions." Hunk admits, a shy smile on his face, "If it goes well, I'd like them to meet her…"
"They'd love her." Pidge agrees, making his smile brighten even more. "How about you, Lance? Luis give you a hard time about the sweater?"
"Not really. He was a little shit like always, but not over that. Too much." Lance grins, "But Marco and his wife are thinking of getting a puppy! I told them they absolutely have to get it when I come down so I can see it before it's corrupted."
"Aw, man, I miss Bae Bae." Keith sighs, "Dogs are the best."
"I swear Keith loves Bae Bae more than our entire family." Pidge jokes.
"Yup. Absolutely."
"Why don't you guys have a dog, then? Doesn't your apartment allow pets?" Hunk asks and they both shrug.
"We haven't really taken the time to think about it, really. Not to mention with us running around doing these ghost hunting things now it would be hard." She points out.
"Plus, the initial vet bills are insane. Between shots and getting them fixed. Even from the SPCA you still have a lot of things to buy." Keith shrugs, "They are a big responsibility that we haven't really considered yet."
"Someday." Pidge says, meaning it wholeheartedly.
"Definitely someday." Keith agrees.
"Well, alright then. When you get one we need to meet it immediately." Lance grins, "Uncle Lance and Uncle Hunk will always be up for puppy sitting."
Keith smiles at him, "How can I possibly trust you not to turn it against me?"
"I can't keep it here, so I need it to still like you when it goes home." Lance explains and Keith rolls his eyes.
"Dweeb."
"He'll probably end up at our place all the time, or peaking through the windows to look at it." Pidge jokes, her and Hunk laughing with Keith as Lance looks to the raven haired boy.
"Speaking of stalker, did yours bother you at home?" He asks, his face suddenly serious and-
Wait
KEITH TOLD HIM ABOUT-?
"What was his name? Alex?" Lance offers and Pidge looks to Keith in shock.
"You told him about Alex?" She gasps and Keith shrugs.
"You and Hunk were asleep for a long time." He says, in lieu of explaining because he wants to die.
There are a few things Keith never speaks of; his parents death, the fact his dad is from Texas (her fault, entirely, she made so many jokes he just shut the whole thing down), and the fact he had a stalker.
What the FUCK else does Lance know? Because really out of those three the stalker and his parents death are the two he absolutely doesn't talk about.
She feels like she'd know if he told Lance about Texas.
The whole world would know, probably.
"Wait, wait, you have a stalker?" Hunk asks, looking to Keith with concern, "How..?"
Keith groans and looks to Pidge, silently passing the baton to her.
"Well there was a guy who moved to the house on the other side of Keith's, named Alex. He was bi and pinning for Keith forever. Kept throwing hints that Keith never really picked up because he's an idiot." Her story is interrupted by an elbow to her side, "Anyways, he went out with him and dude was crazy intense. Second date I was there and he told Keith he loved him. Second date. Keep in mind they didn't hang out before dating. So, yeah, a few days later loverboy came to his place while it was just us and got really handsy with Keith who kept pushing him away. I finally used a little toy of mine to set his pant leg on fire so he would leave and then Keith broke up with him. Then he kept trying to go back over to hang out, but Keith had to pretty much hide himself when he was home alone."
"Pidge." Keith mutters and she nods.
"Right, sorry. Anyways, one day Shiro caught him at the house and connected the dots and lost his shit. We heard him yelling from my place and Matt ran over to make sure everything was good. Turns out my brother prevented his boyfriend from committing a murder."
Lance frowns, looking to Pidge, and she can't help but wonder how much of this is new information to him, just how much Keith left out, and how much he knows she's leaving out.
Nothing too terrible, they were never one but that one time and nothing happened, but there's still things she knows Keith doesn't want to think about. Like the bathroom in their brothers' house that's now abandoned because Alex would watch Keith in it, or the time he jumped into the car with Pidge, Keith and Colleen when they were going grocery shopping, talkin about nothing but second chances until her mom kicked him out.
Or all the drunken messes he got into in his yard at night, singing songs to Keith from his own yard until someone would call the cops. Usually Shiro.
"He's calmed down." Pidge assures them, and he has, "He doesn't talk to Keith or anything out of fear for what Shiro might do to him, and he pretty much just watches from his windows now. Hopefully it'll fade completely soon."
"Seriously," Lance groans, "It's been, like, two years."
"Lets talk about something else." Keith says and Lance nods.
"So about the next place we're going…" He begins, looking at everyone a little guiltily, "Well, the place I would like to go. We, um...need to discuss some things…"
Pidge suppresses a groan.
She knows exactly what they need to discuss.
A/n this month sucked. You know what didn't though? Season 6