Keith was in his room. Surprisingly, he wasn't blaring My Chemical Romance. Instead, he was thinking. . .

Shiro came in. "Oh, there you are. I had a hard time finding you because you weren't blasting mu—"

"Shiro," Keith interrupted. "I need advice. . ."

"About?" Shiro leaned against the wall.

". . .I've been feeling—weird lately," he reluctantly confessed. "It seems like (Y/N) and I are starting to not hate each other."

"What's so bad about that?"

"EVERYTHING—" Keith cleared his throat. "I mean, every time I see her—and you better not tell anything this—all I can think about is how. . .cute she looks."

Silence struck for the first few seconds. Suddenly, Shiro broke out into laughter. Keith had a look of confusion on his face.

"Ah, bud. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone!" He smiled, patting his shoulder. Then Shiro remarked to himself, "it's not like anyone would believe me anyway."

Keith crossed his arms. "What do I do about it? I want to stop feeling like this!"

"You can't prevent love."

"IT AIN'T LOVE—I LOVE NOTHING."

Shiro shrugged. "Well, why don't you just ask her out then?"

"What do you mean—" Keith raised an eyebrow.

"What I said; see if she is the one for you."

"I don't want to—that'd be awkward. . ."

Shiro began to head back. "Fine, whatever you want. But maybe a date would be good for you two."

Keith fumed, "why. . ."

"Because you're both exactly alike? I mean, think about it. It's obvious."

"I don't want to—get out of my room, old man!"

Shiro saluted him in a jesting manner before exiting. Keith was left more annoyed than ever.

Last time I ask him for any advice. . . Keith just stayed there, still in thought.

Meanwhile, you were in the kitchen. Obviously, you were sharpening some forks. This time—it wasn't for fun, you were stress-sharpening. Your mind was like an unsolved puzzle, new feelings were erupting. You were anxious about it, and frankly a little scared. You knew you were starting to like Keith, but that was the door to all kinds of drama. You wanted to avoid it at all costs.

Then Allura came in. You decided to seize your opportunity to talk to her. After 10,000 years, she has to be wise—right? Even though she was frozen through most of it. . .

"Hey!" you called out. Allura spun to you.

"Oh, hello, (Y/N)! How are you feeling today?" she asked with a kind smile.

"Not that great, honestly. Could we talk?"

"Sure. What about?"

"Keith," you answered in a shy tone.

"Ohhhh." Allura's mature expression transitioned into a smug smile. "I see. Go on~"

"I think I'm starting to like him, 'cause like, all I think about when I'm with him is. . .not pure hatred! WHY—"

Allura passed you a relaxing cup of tea. "Okay, okay. It's simple, (Y/N)! You're starting to like him. And I bet he feels the same way."

You hissed upon hearing the truth. Her words were like kryptonite—numbing your very existence with each statement. "Never lie to my face again, Allura." You got up and left. Allura only hid the pain.

But what if she was right? All this angst was starting to give you a headache. So, you rested yourself on the couch and tried taking a nap.

After a while, you woke up. You heard some talking off in the background. You decided to go investigate. Turns out: the group was talking about a trip to Earth. A vacation sounded quite nice.

"What about Hawaii?" Hunk mentioned.

"No, I'm not playing lifeguard for you kids," Shiro laid out.

Pidge suggested, "Disney World?"

And for Matt, "what about Lego Land?"

"No. Too expensive."

"How about—"

However, Lance was rudely interrupted by Keith. "Texas."

"'Kay, no questions asked. We're going there," Shiro declared. Lance felt betrayed.

"FINE. DON'T HEAR OUT MY IDEA, LIKE ANYONE CARES!" Lance crossed his arms.

". . . 'Cause we don't?" Pidge responded.

"IT WAS GONNA BE CALIFORNIA BECAUSE OF THE CUTE GIRLS!! THERE, I SAID IT."

"We didn't even ask—"

"Don't question it, guys." Shiro sighed. They all listened and finally came to an agreement. Texas it was. Even though the agreement was a bit useless because Shiro was having them go there whether they liked it or not.

You approached them. "So, we're going to Texas?"

"Yeah," Shiro answered. "Keith's idea." He gestured to him. Keith crossed his arms, not facing in your direction. How frustrating.

"Sooo, where in Texas?"

Keith answered, "my hometown."

"And the name?"

Keith suddenly had a look of determination on his face. His reply was, "Pigskin Settlement."

Oh, dear. You mentally facepalmed.

And after a quick trip on the Lions flying back to Earth, you all approached a rustic sign in the state of Texas with bold metallic lettering spelling, Pigskin Settlement. No, Keith was not kidding.

"Soooo, you grew up here?" wondered Pidge. Keith nodded.

"Wow, I just—woooow." Lance was speechless.

"Lance just doesn't wanna get his high heels dirty!" Matt retorted.

Lance screeched back, "I DON'T WEAR HIGH HEELS!"

You turned to Keith after coming out of his Lion. "So, where will we all be staying for the night?"

"I have a hotel picked out," Keith assured. That gave you a little bit of relief.

After trekking down the road, a beautiful yet simple-looking inn came up from the right direction. Its theme was quaint and homey. Bluebonnets were planted around the fencing and windows—a lovely sight for sure.

"Wow, Keith. This looks amaz—" Before Pidge finished her compliment, Keith interrupted her by pointing to the next motel on the left side of the road.

Turns out, he didn't reserve a night for the nice one. Instead, he went cheap and made plans to stay at the shady concrete block with no aesthetic whatsoever. Its name was Last Resort Motel.

"I would actually rather sleep in my car," Matt commented.

Pidge replied, "the car is probably more comfortable."

"Let's just see what it's like. Don't judge a book by its cover!" Shiro beamed. Everyone except Keith groaned.

You reluctantly followed behind, coming closer to the real-life nightmare by each second. There were a few jalopies out in the front, lazily parked outside the yellow Crayon-drawn parking lines. Maybe it was a bad idea to wear decent clothes for this occasion.

"We'd like a room for. . ." Shiro took a second to count them all. "Seven."

"We only have one room, my dude," the hippie clerk said. "Here's the keys for room 21."

Shiro was handed plastic forks on a keychain. You suddenly got interested.

"O. . .kay, then." Lance was the first to scurry off to the room. He did a poor job of hiding his fear.

"Tell me again why you chose the worst place on Earth?" you asked Keith.

He responded, "this is where my Great Aunt stays when she comes to town."

"Why?" Lance asked.

"Her plastic surgeon works out of room 13."

You were left with no words, honestly. Hunk was at the door, he pointed something out.

"The door number was drawn on with a Sharpie—that's literally Sharpie."

Opening the door, you all witnessed the sight of a bland moldy room with a mattress, fleece blanket, a very firm pillow, and a bathroom the size of a broom closet. It looked like trash.

Matt commented, "this smells worse than Dad's Michael Jackson cologne." Pidge nodded in response.

"Yeah, it's like, dank," you agreed. "We better be doing lotsa stuff tomorrow, I will actually sit in the Lion if I'm here for more than 15 minutes."

Keith rolled his eyes. "You guys are too soft. It's time to be REAL MEN—"

The situation was now even more awkward for you, Pidge, and Allura.

"I call dibs on the bed," Lance stated. But once he took a closer look at it, he changed his mind. "You know what? The girls can have it."

For now, you all scattered across the floor, trying to find a halfway decent place to sleep. Most of them were fighting over the tub though.

Let's just hope for the best. . .