Mostly just filler.

After the first time, it became a past time. Not to sneak out, but to hang out.

Shiro was very hesitant to let Keith hang out with the band of…scoundrels, as he called them.

Matt, who was a very rebellious kid, especially considering his father's rules about bedtime, taught Keith a great deal about breaking the rules, though the younger boy didn't really need help.

Veronica encouraged him to skip class a lot, preferring instead to break him out.

Meanwhile, Shiro was the mature adult, who everyone disregarded.

So…yeaaaaah…

Veronica also got Keith addicted to Starbucks hot chocolate, while Matt encouraged him to eat as many cookies as he could, ever since they discovered that he could eat a lot without feeling any sort of discomfort or resentment towards the taste. Besides, his body digested the excess food faster then a normal immune system, immediately getting rid of the excess fat and transforming it into muscle.

If he hate only a little bit, it kept that tiny bit in cockle around his body and somehow collected nutrients and energy from little tidbits that seemed to never come in handy.

(In a nutshell, no matter what Keith ate, he could never become fat. He always stayed pretty skinny.)

Keith record for how many chocolate cookies he could eat was twenty-three, and then the employees stopped them. It wasn't heathy for school kids to eat so much, they said, as if it was any of their business what kids did.

It was during one of these outings that Veronica mentioned an important topic.

"Keith, I heard that you beat up a kid last Thursday." She said, putting down her hot chocolate cup.

Keith blinked at her, still balancing the cup in his left hand. "Yep."

"Uh…it spread through the GG hallways pretty quick."

"Yep."

"Dude. WHY?!"

"Hey, James had it coming." Keith put up his hands in surrender, shrugging. "He deserved it."

"Wait, James? As in, James Griffen?"

"That's the one."

"I don't even need to hear what he did. He definitely had it coming. He's always out there to cause trouble." Veronica smiled, nodding her head.

"You still should not have punched him." Shiro grumbled, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "You were THIS close to being expelled." He held up his fingers, his pointer finger and middle finger half an inch apart.

"Yep." Keith stretched, looking a bit too smug for his own good.

"Are you seriously happy about that?!" Matt complained, taking a earbud, which had been implanted in his ear, out.

Keith deflated, shrugging a little. "I dunno. I mean…ugh, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I'm thankful that I finally punched James' face, on the other, I feel like I would be disappointing everyone if I don't last a year."

"Keith, you should never feel good about punching someone." Shiro scolded.

"Even if it's James?"

"…point taken."

"Hah! So even Rules-Boy doesn't like Fancy Hair!" Veronica whooped, a few fellow Starbucks customers looking over curiously.

"Stop bending my words." Shiro hissed, glancing at the people watching them a bit cautiously. "James just…isn't the best person, you know? He needs some disciplining. I'm not sure why Keith hit him, but I hope it takes me down a peg."

"Why did you hit him?" Matt asked suddenly, blinking while adjusting his glasses. The light reflecting off them turned them into glowing white disks for a moment become settling properly on his nose.

Keith gapped, mesmerized by the pretty lights.

Shiro and Veronica exchanged an uncomfortable look while Keith stated in bewilderment at Keith.

"Keith?" Shiro snapped his fingers in front of Keith's face, but the boy didn't respond.

"Guys…" Matt whined, shifting from side to side. "He's watching me…"

Sure enough, Keith's eyes followed his movements, seemingly intrigued.

"Here, let me try." Veronica shoved Shiro out of the way by planting her hand to his face and shoving him away. Snapping her fingers, she frowned at Keith. "Hey. Kid. KNIVES."

"Where?!" Keith suddenly snapped out of his daze, blinking expectantly at her.

"Victory!" Veronica whooped.

"That's why you're names's Victoria." Matt realized, smiling in understanding.

There was a pause, everyone blinked uncomfortably.

"Bro. My name's Veronica." Unsurprisingly, it was Veronica who broke the silence.

"Doh!" Matt grumbled, face palming. "Flirting. Attempts. Fail."

Another moment of silence.

"Do you always say every little thing aloud?" Keith asked, frowning in concern. "You're worse then Shiro."

"Ouch." Shiro grumbled.

"Aw, glitch. Did I seriously say that out loud?" Matt grumbled, burying his face in the table.

"Yeah, ya kinda did. But, honestly, you dorks are all failing to keep your crushes on me hidden." Veronica stretched, setting her feet on the table and leaning her chair back.

The employees were eyeing them warily.

"What?" All three of them collectively jumped, pointing at themselves.

"Yep. All of you. And those little comments just proved it."

"Why did we agree to let Veronica be in on the action?" Shiro wailed, covering his eyes.

"Beginning. To. Regret. Crush." Matt sighed, his voice automatic, almost like a robot.

"Alright, Matt's a freak. He's off the team." Veronica made a shooing motion, smirking. "G 'bye."

Matt blinked, surprised. "Excuse me?"

"Bye!" Veronica waved. "It's also your turn to pay the bill."

"Um…again, excuse me?" He looked at the other two for help, and Keith just shrugged.

Shiro, on the other hand, was a bit more helpful. 'She's joking.' He mouthed.

Another peak at the serious woman made his expression doubtful. 'I think.'

"Naw, I'm joking, Matt." Veronica stretched. "Seriously, though, you gotta learn to keep your mouth shut, like Keith hear."

"Hey!" Matt gasped, offended. "Keith doesn't seem that quiet to me."

"He talks more around us." Veronica shrugged.

"Oh." Matt nodded, thoughtful.

"Hold up. I just realized that Keith hasn't talked for a while." Veronica realized, turning back to Keith.

"You know," Keith said, gazing into the distance, "I find it kinda strange how you actually noticed my silence. I also find it strange that after saying knives you didn't mention anything else about said subject. I don't know about you, but I like knives."

"Hey, you still haven't answered MY question!" Matt frowned. "Why did you hit James?"

"He had it coming! But the real question is why DIDN'T I hit him?"

"Kid's got a point." Veronica mused.

"Yeah, yeah, makes sense." Matt agreed.

"I still don't like it." Shiro complained.

"If anything, we should band Shiro for being 'responsible'." Keith mocked, beaming.

There was a second of silence and then the other two were laughing while Shiro sat there, arms crossed and frowning.

Sure, Keith had never had friends before now, and they were way older then him, but for that he was thankful.

After all, everyone else his age was immature.