Keith hated Valentine's day.

Well, "hated" is kind of extreme. But it wasn't anything he looked forward to, that's for sure. Adam and Shiro were lovey-dovey all day and Keith made sure to stay out late when the sun started to approach the horizon. Now that he was in college, he didn't have to worry about that since he had his own dorm room. But that brought up a new problem: all the couples on campus sneaking into each other's rooms to have unapologetically loud sex. Like, he could hear them over the heavy metal music blaring through his headphones loud.

Luckily, Shiro had insisted on having a family dinner that day. Something about missing him? Loser.

When he showed up, there were flowers on the counter and a couple boxes of chocolate open with a few pieces missing. He tried to swipe one and Shiro slapped his hand away with an eyebrow raised. Keith shrugged and moved away from the counter. When Shiro wasn't watching anymore he picked one out of the box and popped it in his mouth. Getting away with it made it taste even sweeter.

Adam was swaying in the kitchen to the slow music playing from the small speaker next to the stove while he cooked. He glared at Shiro every time he lifted his foot to step into the kitchen and he'd turn away without a word. Keith considered sitting on the couch while he waited, but judging from the pillows scattered around the room and the mysterious dips in the cushions, he decided to sit at the table instead.

Shiro sat across from him, "Anything new at school?"

Keith turned his cup of water around in his hands that rested on the table, "No. My professor is still a dick."

Shiro gave him a smile of pity, "He's still giving you trouble?"

Keith nodded and Adam piped up from the kitchen, "You know, Shiro and I could always go up there and ruffle some feathers. Light a fire under his ass."

"I don't need saving." Keith rolled his eyes, "I can deal with an asshole teacher. I've had a few in my life. Two are in the room with me now."

"This asshole teacher in front of you covered your ass when you snuck out to hang out at a 'friend's' place for the entire weekend while his parents were away." Shiro reminded him.

Adam paused in stirring the pot on the stove's burner, "You did what?"

Shiro smirked at Keith who shot him a withering glare, "By the way," He whispered across the table, "you just admitted to lying to your husband. For years." Shiro's smirk fell away and he glanced worriedly at his husband.

"I was just kidding, darling." He soothed, "I would never do anything like that. And Keith is an angel child. He would never do anything like that."

Keith nodded in agreement and smiled innocently at Adam, "I would never, Adam. And Shiro would never lie to you. He loves you!"

Adam gave him a look that conveyed utter disbelief, but he shook his head, "True, but he can be an idiot sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Keith muttered.

Shiro made a noise of what may have been indignation, but made him sound like a kicked puppy, "An idiot?"

Adam walked out of the kitchen and placed the pot on the quilted pot holders sitting on the table, "Only sometimes." He stuck to his guns, but dropped a kiss on his forehead, "And you're my idiot." Shiro gave him a dopey smile.

Keith gagged, "Do I have to stay out tonight again?" Adam seemed to take his disgust as encouragement and leaned in to lay a long, deep kiss on Shiro's lips, "I'm not even hungry anymore."

Adam pulled away from the kiss and smirked over at him, "It's Valentine's day, Keith. What'd you expect?"

Keith scrunched his nose up, "I took you up on your offer because I was tired of hearing literally everyone on campus fucking." Adam shot him a look at his language, "And the free food. Not to watch y'all stick your tongues down each other's throats."

Shiro chuckled, "You're just jealous." He sang teasingly.

Keith scoffed, "Hardly. I don't need or want a boyfriend right now. I'm focusing on school. Not all that relationship drama."

"I see it now." Adam hummed, "He just wants someone to buy him flowers and chocolate."

"I don't need someone to do that for me. I can do it myself." Keith huffed, his temper getting the better of him, "But have you seen the prices of literally anything? I'm not going out and spending money on flowers just for them to die in a few days in this economy."

Shiro nodded sympathetically and whispered to Adam loudly, "Excuses, excuses." Adam nodded in agreement and Keith pushed his chair back away from the table.

"Oh, fuck the both of you. I can do it myself." He grabbed his keys off the rack by the door and pushed on his shoes, "Just watch."

"What about dinner?" Adam called after him as he walked out the door.

"Not hungry." Keith shot back and the door slammed behind him. Spite and disgust filled his stomach and he held onto it all the way to the closest Walmart. No way was he going to Target. He wasn't spending extra money to make a point. Or…even more money. Whatever.

The store was pretty empty with a few people milling around with carts full of snacks, candies, and drinks. A lot of them were alcoholic since a good majority of the customers were around his age. He glanced through the produce section to see that the flowers were sold out, all bought for the day of love. Keith had no problem as his nose was pretty sensitive and flowers would do nothing but irritate him until they withered.

He followed the seasonal signs to a pretty empty section of pink and red gifts. The stuffed bears that were left over were dirty or misshapen. Keith held one in his hand but put it back as he knew it would find itself under his bed to collect dust. A waste of money.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out, answering before fully comprehending the name on top of the screen, "There's no candy." He said, not looking down at his brother's face, "The flowers are gone and these bears look like they lost a fight with the bog man."

Shiro didn't respond for a moment, "What the everloving fuck is the bog man?" Adam's exclamation of Shiro's name in the background echoed through his phone and Shiro muttered an apology, "Look, there probably won't be any candy in the Valentine's section. Go to the candy section."

Keith grumbled as he walked off, "Then it won't come in a heart-shaped box. That's the whole reason for all this."

Adam said something in the back and Shiro made a noise of agreement, "They sometimes have a separate candy section by the chips. They put festive candies there. I bought a lot of Christmas-themed candy from there the day after everything. Super cheap."

Keith walked down the aisle slowly, taking in all the candy opposite the bags of chips, "I want the heart-shaped box." He sounded petulant, even to his own ears, "There's, like, those heart-shaped candies, but they're too bitter for me." He huffed and set his phone up against a bag of Doritos, "This was stupid and, since it's your fault I'm here, you're stupid." Someone walked into the aisle from Keith's right, the click of their shoes catching his attention.

"Adam said only he can call me stupid." Shiro said into the phone, though Keith wasn't listening to him anymore. He watched the person walk behind him in the mini portrait of him in the corner of his screen and turned his head slightly to see them clearly.

The guy was dressed up, way too fancy to be in a Walmart at seven at night. He wore a beige blazer and matching pants, a sheer black shirt, and black boots which must've given him an inch or so of extra height. He even had a pearl necklace on. Way too fancy for Walmart. He had deep brown skin and, what looked like, brown eyes. His nails reflected the fluorescent lights of the store, his fingers long and nimble. Keith felt his breath catch in his throat and heat spread through his body.

Shiro kept talking, but his tinny voice faded away from Keith's realm of existence. The guy was browsing the Valentine's candy, just as Keith was. He grabbed a small bag of Reese's and then a bag of Skittles. He made his way down the aisle and Keith kept his attention on him through his periphery, but kept his head down, feigning indifference. The guy tilted his head at the options before turning slightly to gaze down the aisle. He must've seen something because he turned quickly and backed up a bit.

Keith mirrored him, looking up and turning to face him. His eyes were in fact a deep brown. And he had freckles. Oh, Keith was fucked.

He smiled sheepishly, "Oh, I'm so sorry!" He backed up a bit more, "Are you recording?" The suddenness of the moment caught Keith off guard.

He felt his face heat up, "No! You're fine." He laughed slightly, breathless, "You're good! I was just- um, I'm-" He felt embarrassment burn away to mortification as his tongue failed him. He stumbled over his words, starting and ending sentences before they were finished, "I was getting candy." He pointed across the aisle to the candy, "You- uh, Valentine's…day. Um." The guy was smiling politely, but it was clear he was concerned. Or put off. Keith closed his eyes for a second to gather his thoughts, "I was looking for the heart-shaped boxes." He finally got out, "With the chocolate."

The guy nodded, but instead of answering his question, he just tilted his head and furrowed his brow slightly, "Are you okay?"

God. Keith had never wanted the Earth to swallow him up more than in that moment. Or let aliens invade and kill them all. It would be so much better than the hell he was living in.

Shiro was very loudly cackling over the phone. The bastard. Keith tried to ignore him and appear sane for the guy, "Yeah, I'm fine. You're fine." The words clicked in his mind immediately and his mouth decided to run damage control without his permission, "We're fine." What the fuck is his problem? "I'm sorry." That seemed reasonable.

The guy let out a laugh and Keith wasn't sure if it was at him or the situation, but he didn't mind. It was a pretty laugh.

Oh God, he's so fucked.

Shiro's laugh grew in volume and Keith had half a mind to hastily grab his phone to end the call, "Just- hold on." He fumbled around for the red button and, finally, the braying of a jackass was gone. He let out a small sigh and attempted to ignore the burning of his cheeks. The guy was watching him with a poorly hidden smile, "I was looking for those heart-shaped boxes of chocolate." His mouth finally worked the way he wanted it to. He was so happy he could fall to his knees and cry in the middle of this Walmart, "Uh, I couldn't find one."

The guy accepted the first understandable sentences from Keith and stepped back over to the rows of candy. He shoved an arm into the back of one of the rows and produced a large, red, heart-shaped box of chocolate. He held it out for Keith to take, "I think one of the workers may have been hiding it for themselves." He spoke effortlessly and Keith was thankful that one of them could carry the conversation, "I'd be careful on my way out. Don't let them catch you." He joked.

Keith laughed, it sounded off to his ears, heart still stumbling in his chest and nerves frayed. He grabbed the box from the guy, "Uh, thank you." The guy nodded and smiled at him. Keith felt a smile grace his face before he thought of doing so, "Thank you." Hadn't he already said that? He was really just shoving his foot farther and farther down his throat.

The guy chuckled and began to back away, "Of course."

Almost instantly the guy was out of the aisle and lost in the store. Keith stumbled back onto the shelves of chips and panted heavily. He really shouldn't be allowed to go out without supervision. Let someone else handle the talking. When he made it back out to his bike, with his box of chocolates, he felt his phone vibrating in his pockets, but he ignored it. He needed to leave before he did something else humiliating.

Before he even opened the door to Adam and Shiro's place, he could hear laughter. They must've heard his pitiful footsteps dragging up to the door because it opened for him. Adam was trying to bite back a smile but was failing miserably. Shiro was bent over the table, shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

Keith stepped inside and toed off his shoes by the door. Shiro sat up straight in his seat and wiped at his eyes, "Oh, man. Keith, I love you, but that was hard to watch."

Adam shut the door and hummed, "I wasn't even watching and it was a hard listen."

"When aliens invade I hope they take out both of you first, then me." Keith flopped down at the table and set his chocolates in front of him, "This world is full of nothing, but pain and misery."

"And a pretty boy who makes you tongue-tied?" Adam prodded.

Keith grunted in agreement, "You should've seen his smile. Or heard his laugh."

Shiro stared at him, "You became the one thing you swore to defeat. How do you feel?"

Keith sighed and sat back in his seat, "Yeah."

Adam winced, "Oh, you're fucked." Shiro turned his incredulous stare over to Adam, "Tell me I'm wrong."

"No, no, you're right." Keith was staring dreamily at his chocolates, "I am so unbelievably fucked."