WARNING****** Lance has a small panic attack during January 15!! If you skip it, let me know and I can give you a short summary
Stay safe :)
Also, I accidentally did 2 Lance POVs in a row oops
///////////
December 24, 2095

The house was loud with the combined smell of cinnamon and cumin, an ambiance of dimmed light and colourful strings of lights lining the home. The adults were conversing in the kitchen with a mix of English and Spanish, and Lance's siblings and two cousins were in the living room watching Home Alone.

Lance was sitting next to Keith on the couch who looked immersed in the film with a blanket wrapped around him like a burrito and only his face was sticking out. His cheeks were slightly flushed from when Lance's tia Maria gave him a long sip of her wine a few minutes ago. Keith, of course, made a disgusted face from the yucky taste of the wine, to which Lance patted his arm in understanding of the torture of alcohol.

While meeting his family, Keith had been polite and quiet, saying 'hello' and 'nice to meet you too' like the good gentleman he was. During dinner, Keith was enjoying the food but kept to himself, only speaking when talked to.

Lance tried to comfort him by holding his hand underneath the table, which seemed to let Keith relax a bit. He gave Lance a thankful smile and continued eating after a quick squeeze of their hands.

Lance was actually impressed that Keith hadn't run away yet, especially after his family's loud debate over technology during dessert. In fact, he thought for sure Keith would come up with an excuse to leave like food poisoning or a fake a heart attack, just to get away from the commotion.

Despite all the possible ways Keith might've felt overwhelmed, he was still there, watching the movie intently despite being very outdated from how old it was. He looked so at peace in his buzzing home and it made Lance happy.

Though, Keith always made Lance happy.

"We should prank the old people." Came Luis' voice. He was standing and looking down at them with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He was fourteen, making him the oldest out of the bunch so they normally followed his every step.

"I'm in!" Cheered Marco, his unruly hair getting into his face.

Luis grinned. "Okay, but you have to be quiet."

"What are we going to do?" Veronica asked with excitement, her round glasses taking up the majority of her face.

"I was thinking clear wrap and chicken feathers, like what Kevin did." Luis said, pointing to the television screen.

Lance looked over to the television where one of the thieves chased Kevin, covered in chicken feathers.

"If we get grounded you're letting me play your new game on the Xbox." Lance warned and Luis hesitated for a moment before sighing.

"Fine, but only once."

"Can Keith play with me?"

"Sure."

"Yes!" He then grabbed Keith, pulling him from his spot on the couch which made him whine in protest. "Me, Leo, Milly and Keith are getting the feathers."

Lance dragged his best friend to the backyard with his two cousins following. The sun was almost fully down and there was the faint sound of crickets chirping soundfully. They headed over to the chicken coop and Lance opened the gate to get into the enclosure.

"We should've brought a bag." Said Keith, his blanket still wrapped tightly around his body.

Leo and Milly both nodded in agreement which made Lance glare at them. Dammit, why did Keith have to be so smart?

"Why didn't you just say so before we came all the way out here?" Lance crossed his arms with annoyance, the sound of clucking chickens in the background.

Keith shrugged. "Didn't feel like talking."

If only death glares could kill.

Leo and Milly, who were a few years younger, giggled at the exchange.

Lance looked down to the litter of loose feathers on the ground and furrowed his brows in concentration. He looked up to see Keith who was looking off into the distance where the sun was setting, still bundled in his blanket.

"Give me the blanket."

"No."

"We can carry the feathers in it."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yeah-uh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Um-" Milly interrupted. "We can just use our arms?" Leo nodded in agreement.

Lance huffed stubbornly after giving Keith the stink eye. "Fine." Then began to bundle the feathers in his arms, many falling by the slightest movement. Each time one would fall, he would give a death glare to the blanket hog, who was having even more trouble than him because of the blanket being in the way.

This was going to take a while.

"What took you so long?" Luis complained when the four returned.

"Keith was being mean." Lance replied.

"No I wasn't. It's all your fault." Keith sneered, placing the blanket on the ground, revealing a pile of white chicken feathers being held in it. "I've lost my blanket because of you."

Lance stuck his tongue and blew, causing Keith to flinch back from the spit attack.

Luis rolled his eyes but ignored the bickering duo and stood tall with his hands on his hips. "Okay, men. Let's get started."

"But I'm a girl." Came Rachel.

Luis groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dios mio."

Veronica sat up the fan and Marco and Luis taped the clear wrap on the entrance of the living room after coating one side with oil, all supplies they got while Lance and the others were on feather duty.

"Who should we do it to?" Veronica asked.

"Anyone but mamma and abuelita." Marco instructed, causing everyone to shiver in fear of that happening, even Keith.

"How about papi?" Rachel suggested.

The others nodded in agreement. Lance's papi was wearing contacts that night, which meant he was more blind than usual. Perfect for a prank like this. Luis gave Rachel and Marco the job to do the first throw of feathers and the others had fists full of feathers for a second attack.

Veronica cried out for papi's "help".

The man was seen approaching and Marco turned on the fan. Everything went perfectly, Lance's papi getting tangled in the clear wrap and the feathers directly blew onto his oil covered body. The kids screamed with warrior cries as they pelted the man with even more feathers, leaving him dazed and confused.

The man blinked and looked down at what he had become and the other adults came in to see what the ruckus was about. Half of them looked shocked while the others tried to hold in their laughter.

He looked over at the children who were laughing loudly but looked seconds away from bolting at any sign of attack. So he attacked, embracing each child to get the oil and feathers all over them as pay back. Squeals of delight filled the house and some of the adults joined in by capturing the younglings for Lance's papi to smother them.

Lance looked over to see Keith beaming with laughter as he wrapped himself in the blanket, as if that would help him hide from the threatening adults. Lance went over to hide with him and they both shook with laughter under the tent of fabric and squealed when it was ripped away from them and they were suddenly in the grip of an oil covered dad.

Christmas mornings were always Lance's favourite part of the holiday. The thrill that overcomes him once he wakes up, the rustling of his siblings rushing out of their beds, the smell of coffee and pancakes, and of course, the presents.

Lance excitedly shook Keith awake where he was sleeping beside him. The boy groaned in protest, snuggling deeper into the covers to bury his face in their shared pillow.

"Red." Lance whisper shouted. "Hey, Red. It's Christmas!"

"It was Christmas yesterday." Keith grumbled out, voice muffled by the pillow.

Lance laid on top of him resulting in the other boy to let out an 'oof', but didn't struggle under Lance's weight.

"Reeeeeed!"

"Whaaat?"

Lance poked at Keith's cheek, making him sink further under the sheets to get away from prying fingers.

"It's Christmas morning! We have to open presents!" Lance began patting at the spot where Keith's head should be like a drum, which resulted in a reply of another groan.

"I don't have presents. You go by yourself."

Lance laid his cheek on Keith's head. "Of course you have presents. Mama and papi and I went to the store to get presents for you."

There was a pause and Keith began to lift his head, so Lance did as well. Dark navy eyes were staring up at him with confusion and he had a thin trail of dried saliva on the corner of his mouth.

"Why?"

Lance rolled his eyes. "Santa gives presents to everyone, Keef. Even Marco doesn't get coal."

"Hey, dumb nuts!" Speaking of which. "Get up! Present time!"

Lance smiled wide and shook Keith some more due to his excitement. "Come on, Red! Let's Go!" He bounced off the bed and dragged Keith out when he was moving too slow.

Lance raced down the stairs, dragging a disgruntled Keith, and passed by his papi who was taking his time walking down the stairs. His mama was found already in the kitchen, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes.

Everyone else from last night left to their homes at midnight and everyone was too tired to clean up so they left everything for the morning. Unwashed dishes stacked up high and even the table cloth was still not put away along with empty wine bottles. Oil and feathers still covered the floor of the living room and his mama made it clear of her distress when she stared helplessly at the mess from her spot in front of the brewing coffee.

Lance would've felt more bad if he didn't know he and his siblings will be the ones to clean that up.

"Hi mama!" She smiled at him and opened her arms to give him a hug. She also gave Keith a hug to which he reciprocated awkwardly.

"Buenos días." Her accent was more thick because of her drowsiness and her smile showed large dimples and laughter lines. "Go sit, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Lance nodded and took Keith's hand again before bounding into the living room where the rest of his siblings were sitting by the Christmas tree. He sat down at his usual spot, the right side of the massive tree, but Keith didn't follow, instead he started to walk away, tugging their hands in the process.

"Where are you going?!" Lance asked, trying to mask the fear in his voice.

"I need to go to the bathroom, 'cause somebody didn't let me go."

"Oh," Lance calmed down, relief flooding his chest as he began to stand up. "I need to pee too."

"Well we're not going to pee together."

"Oh," Lance repeated and slowly sat back down. "I'll wait."

Keith raised a brow and looked at their still connected hands. Lance lurched his hand back quickly and mumbled an apology before Keith headed towards the bathroom. There was a huff of laughter from across him and Lance over to see Luis giving him a knowing look.

"What?"

Luis shook his head. "Nothing."

"Mama! Luis is being confusing!" Lance called out.

"Let your papa handle it." Was her reply.

"Papi! Luis is being confusing!"

"Let Veronica handle it." Papi replied.

"Veronica!"

"I'd rather not."

"Don't worry about it, bro." Luis smirked. "You'll figure it out some day."

Lance tilted his head in even more confusion. "I don't get it."

Keith then came back and settled down before Lance moved to the bathroom and when he came back and sat down, he linked hands with Keith. They didn't notice the knowing looks Luis shared with his parents who caught sight of the action as well.

Opening presents had to be the most exciting thing during the holidays. It brought him joy watching his family open their presents and it's definitely better when he's the receiver. Lance's first present was a lego kit of the ship in the new Star Wars film and Lance was already itching to open it. Maybe Keith will help him build it. His second gift was a book on all the stars in the galaxy, since he was so obsessed with space.

A small box messily wrapped with themed paper was then placed in front of a surprised Keith. Lance's excitement doubled.

"But I didn't get you anything." Keith protested.

"That's my gift!" Lance exclaimed with pride and squeezed his best friend's hand.

The announcement didn't seem to help Keith and instead he just seemed very shocked.

"Why?"

Lance snorted. "Open it!"

Keith pressed his lips into a thin line but obliged anyway. He unwrapped the box as if he was unwrapping something fragile and lifted the lid with bated breath. Inside was a neatly braided friendship bracelet with three pieces of yarn in three shades of blue.

"My favourite colour is blue," Lance started to explain eagerly. "So you can think of me all the time! I have the kit in my room so we can make more friendship bracelets, too."

Dark eyes shone and they stared at the gift sitting dainty in the boy's palms. "Thank you."

"What are best friends for?" Lance asked cheerly and squeezed Keith's hand.

Keith looked up at him with a sad look. "My gift is ugly compared to yours."

Lance blinked. "You got me a gift?"

The other boy nodded weakly.

Lance gasped. "I love it already."

"That's impossible."

"Give it to me then."

Keith seemed reluctant to do so but Lance's pleading eyes work on everyone who has a soul. Lance learned his ways from Rachel.

"Lemme get it." He mumbled before speed walking up the stairs and heading back down a minute later. He had something clenched in his hands and kneeled in front of his best friend.

"Sorry It's not wrapped." Keith apologized in a small voice.

Lance's smile softened and held out his hands for Keith to put the gift in.

An ornament. Shaped like a great white shark wearing a Santa hat. It was perfect.

"It's perfect. I love it, Red." He gave Keith a tight hug and Keith did it back but with less force.

Lance bounced to his feet and moved an ornament on the tree to replace it with his new shark one so it could be right in the middle, front and center for everyone to see. He stepped back to admire it.

"So," Lance's papi started. "Who wants pancakes?"

Two weeks later, Lance's family would be taking down the tree and he would grab his ornament to put safely on his nightstand so he could see it every day.

January 1, 2096

Midnight has passed and the fireworks boomed and crackled in the sky, casting shadows of colours on the ground below. The cold air bit at any revealed skin and the snow reflected the rainbow that shone bright in the sky. It was a cloudless night, showing a crescent moon and the northern star winking in the darkness.

The roof let Keith escape the muffled buzz of kids and adults cheering for the new year with whistles and drums pounding with the sharp sounds of fireworks. A campfire crackles as it burns a tall flame and sets the world below into a golden glow before being disrupted by the flash of vivid colour.

The roof was cold and lingering water from the snow he pushed aside soaked his pajamas, but he ignored the splintering feeling and instead basked in the muffled sounds around him. He was bundled in a thick coat and a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, and gloves that had a hole on the left thumb. His feet bristled from his wet socks which made him regret not wearing his snow boots instead of his sneakers, but he won't admit Mrs. Davis was right when she scolded him before they went outside.

His breath created a fog as he sighed into the busy night and he sighed again just to see the cloud take form and dissipate into the air like a ghost. He did it again and again and again until the crisp air hurt too much for him to breathe in.

Keith fiddled with the cheap thread around his wrist and smiled at the thought of jewel eyes, a pointed nose, soft hair, and long fingers that felt so perfectly entwined with his own. A smile that could outshine any firework and laughter that could drown out the cheers of crowds.

A warmth spread through his chest at the thought of the charismatic boy that set a match on fire and tossed it at Keith's feet to let him burn.The flame of the campfire glitches before burning even brighter, dancing to spread heat and comfort.

His name was being called and he looked down to see Mrs. Davis waving at him from below. Half of her is illuminated with gold and the latter was covered in a shadow. She was calling for him to get down and join them.

Uncertainty crawled on his skin and the strong feeling of not wanting to move from his own little corner of the world was strongly compelling. The memory surfaced of smiles and handshakes, along with hugs from strangers in a house they call home. It was so different and strange, but he stayed. He stayed for the unfamiliar feeling of being wanted in a group of people and the proud smile Lance would give whenever someone would start a conversation with Keith.

Then there was Mrs. Davis, calling him down even after a full minute of Keith not responding. She was trying to coerce him into coming with the promise of smores, hot chocolate and fire for warmth.

Keith already had warmth though, and smores and hot chocolate could be had at any time, but still. The abrupt urge to join grew like there was an unexpected hook wheeling him towards the crowd.

He looked up to the flashing sky, the colour of purple glimmers before slowly dying off as it fell. He looked down and Mrs. Davis was quiet as she waited for a response.

Keith climbed down the roof and Mrs. Davis tried to hide the glittering excitement and pride while she led him to the crowd.

January 15, 2096

The world can sometimes feel like everything at once while Lance was paralyzed. Like everything was frozen, but still moved slowly as if the thing encased in ice is trying to break free from it's hold. It was something so foreign and terrifying that he felt like he had to compensate for the stillness of the world by moving fast.

It would start out with his leg fidgeting in short and fast movements. Then he would start playing with the dried cuticles at his fingernails, his fingers rubbing against the dead skin to make sure every finger could brush the nail folds. He would even continue to do this when all the dead skin fell off.

Another thing he would do was scrape the skin on his lips. He would peel little pieces on the skin to the point where it would start bleeding. His lips were often dry and cracked, spots of red showing where he picked at them. Sometimes it would be so bad where the spots turned purple. His mama would always scold him when this happened and would shove chapstick in his hands as if that would solve everything.

These were habits that seemed so unbreakable. Things that were so natural that he never noticed when he did those things as if they were ingrained in his brain. Normally, they would help and Lance could just move on with his life, but today, with the frozen world, was an exception.

Lance couldn't tell you what triggered it. He couldn't tell you the exact moment or reason behind his sudden desperate need to move. It would come without any explanation and it would be so sudden, even during times that Lance felt happy it could happen. He didn't understand it. Maybe everyone felt this way too. Yeah, that's it. There's no point in telling anyone.

Lance and Keith just got back to his house after a full day of running around with the chickens in the backyard and building snowmen. His mama was in the middle of making dinner and Lance had offered to help his mama a total of four times, which she then declined four times. She suggested for him to help his papi with the car he was fixing, so Lance dragged Keith into the garage to plead to his papi if he needed help. His papa's laugh made the pit in Lance's stomach grow. The two boys were then kicked out to rest on the couch.

They were now watching a show on the television, Keith completely enthralled in the colour coded power rangers. Lance was not able to pay attention through the whole thing. All of his fidgeting disasters were up on the surface as he dug himself into the couch, leg twitching, and lips being peeled.

He looked to the window that was close enough that he would make it if he jumped and crashed right through. He pictured himself running away from the house and into the streets and never stopping. He pictured himself screaming at the top of his lungs so someone could hear his hopeless need to escape the world.

He looked over to Keith who was watching the show intently.

"You wanna do something?" Lance asked quickly, hope was the only thing that was keeping him from actually running away.

Keith shrugged, eyes still on the screen. "Not really."

Lance's breath caught in his throat.

"Are you sure? You don't want to go for a walk or something?" Lance tried to not let the fear escape his voice.

Keith turned his head to look at him and Lance looked away. "We've been walking all day, Lance. Let's rest."

"But I don't want to rest. I want to do something." Lance ignored the stinging of his eyes and bit his lip.

"Then do something." Keith replied, looking back to the screen.

Lance furrowed his brows and wiped at his nose despite there being no snot. He could just do something by himself, but he couldn't just leave Keith in his house as Lance frolicked away. His mama would yell at him for doing that. Lance looked over to Keith, his hair was starting to get a little longer and poofed out at odd angles.

Lance jumped up to his feet.

"Can I play with your hair?!" He yelled excitedly and a little desperately too.

Keith blinked and put his hand on the back of his exposed neck. "But my hair is too short."

"No it's not. Just wait here!"

Without waiting for a response, Lance ran up the stairs to gather hair clips and hair ties and anything else he could find to put in Keith's hair. He sprinted back downstairs with big bundles of hair accessories and a hairbrush. Keith rolled his eyes when he saw Lance's collection but didn't say anything.

Lance hopped onto the top on the couch to be directly behind his friend, legs hanging from either side of Keith's body. He didn't notice that his hands were shaking this whole time until Lance started brushing at Keith's tangled locks. Lance forced himself to take long, even breaths to make sure Keith didn't notice his shaking.

They didn't talk as Lance put colourful clips of bows and butterflies, decorating Keith's hair. Ponytails stuck out in several directions, the one holding his bangs up made Keith look like a unicorn which had Lance stifling a laugh.

The longer Lance worked on Keith's hair, the calmer Lance got. His heartbeat slowed down and his insides didn't feel like they wanted to be ripped out. He was only slightly shaking as he ran his hands in the thick hair and he forced himself to focus on the way the hair parted for his fingers like water instead of dreading the sudden attack of panic that just occurred.

"You should grow out your hair so I can braid it." Lance said after he was sure his voice wouldn't waver.

"But only girls have long hair." Keith said in confusion, his head tilted and Lance forced his head to go back straight.

"That's not true, dumb dumb. My tio has hair that goes down to his shoulders and he lets me braid it all the time." Lance explained while adding another butterfly clip.

Keith was silent for a few seconds. "Okay."

"Okay?"

Keith nodded. "I'll grow out my hair."

Lance gasped in excitement, the lingering shaking dissipated. "Really?"

Keith craned his neck to look up at Lance. "Sure. If you like it, then why not?"

"You're the best, Red!" Lance pulled him into an awkward behind hug.

Keith didn't say anything back, but he returned the embrace.

Lance then continued to add in clips and hair ties and readjusted everything to make it all look perfect, just to make sure he was back to normal. Lance was able to convince Keith to keep it all in during dinner, where Lance had also pridefully showed off his work to his family. He didn't dare mention the crushing feeling he felt just a few hours earlier.

February 4, 2096

"I wanna fall in love " Lance and Keith were sitting in Lance's living room as they watched the snow fall heavily onto the waiting ground. "My mama and papi fell in love before they started dating. It's so romantic."

"You want to be in love first?" Keith asked beside him on the couch.

Lance took a while of watching the white snowflakes drape onto the driveway before he said anything. "I think if I fall in love first... she'll be the one. The girl I'll forever be with."

"Does it have to be a girl?" Keith inquired, turning towards Lance.

Lance shrugged. "I don't know. They are who I like."

Keith frowned, obviously not satisfied with the reasoning. "Did you decide that or someone else?"

Lance's smile deterred as he thought for a moment.

"Did someone drink too much eggnog?" He put on his smile as he gestured towards the empty glasses on the table.

Lance didn't think he could ever get used to Keith's sudden Shower Thoughts that he would spring out so suddenly. It was always like a gunshot in the middle of a quiet desert - loud, sudden, and impactful. Each time, it would take time for Lance to recuperate and push aside Keith's weekly god-like thought with a forced joke.

Later, when Keith and Lance would part ways that night, Lance would have to fall asleep late from all the thoughts and questions Keith had sprung up earlier that day. It was mentally exhausting, but Lance liked that about Keith - he made him think and reconsider the world in a new point of view.

Lance pushes his mending thoughts for later and instead settles for the moment. Just Keith and Lance sitting on the couch, talking while his mama prepared dinner in the kitchen right next door.

"I think I have a crush on a girl in my class." Lance said, changing position to cross his legs. "Her name is Kara."

"She sounds boring." Keith said, blunt as ever.

Lance snorted a laugh. "Then good thing she's not the love of my life. You won't have to worry about her boring you for long."

Keith hummed. "Yeah."

"I can't wait until I fall in love." Lance mused, leaning back into the couch with a dreamy sigh. "Everything will be better. Like birthdays, or school, or the dentist."

Keith looked like he was about to speak but Lance beat him to it when a thought came to mind.

"When's your birthday, Red?"

Keith began to tap a rhythm on his leg. "October 23."

"What?!" Lance was now on his feet, staring madly at Keith who was watching him with a curious gaze.

"That was just three months ago! Why didn't you tell me?" Lance frowned.

Keith shrugged, something he did to seem nonchalant. "It doesn't matter."

Lance pouted then sat next to his friend again. "But you matter."

Scoffing, Keith crossed his arms and stared at the empty cup on the table in front of them. "Sure, Lance."

Lance shook his head. "I don't understand. Why didn't you tell me? Friends are supposed to tell each other things."

Keith gave out a long sigh. "Well we won't be friends for long." He muttered, loud enough for Lance to hear.

Lance's frown increased as he stared into his lap with intense thought. What did Keith mean by that? Did he not want to be friends with him any more? Lance knew he could be too much for people with his loud and extreme personality, but he genuinely thought Keith liked hanging out with him.

"Are you crying?" Keith asked with panic in his voice.

Lance felt his face with shaky fingers and he could feel the fresh tears trailing down his cheeks. His lips were trembling and he closed his eyes tight, afraid of what Keith might think of him. He'll probably leave him just like so many others did at his school.

"I'm sorry Lance. I didn't mean to make you cry. Are you okay?" Lance peeked his eyes open to see Keith flailing his arms around in panic, desperate eyes searching Lance's face.

"Are we not friends?" Lance asked in a quiet voice.

Keith shook his head. "No, of course we are, it's just that..."

"What?"

Keith sighed, pulling his gaze away. "You'll leave me. When you get bored of me you'll leave and I'll be alone just like before."

"That's stupid." Lance decided. His voice was hard and stern, causing Keith to look at him in astonishment. "I will never leave you, Red. You're my friend and I'll never get bored of you. Besides," Lance shoved his arm playfully. "Who's gonna beat you in our races."

"Pfft, you know I always win." Keith smirked.

"As if. I'm too good to beat." Lance flipped his imaginary hair over his shoulder.

"Sure, Lance." Keith then frowned. He reached up and wiped away the stray tears from Lance's face, thumb softly grazing the skin. "There. All better."

Lance smiled. "Want more eggnog?"

Keith raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said I had too much."

Lance waved his hand like he was shooing a fly. "Past me was clearly wrong."

Keith snorted. "Clearly."

Lance smacked his arm but a smile still shone bright on his face.

February 14, 2096

Keith was lying in bed reading when somebody knocked on his door. Immediately, he was filled with irritation of being disturbed. Maybe if he'd be quiet they'll go away.

"Keith! I know you're in there!" It was Mrs. Davis, which made Keith a little bit more okay with being forcefully removed from the world of Hogwarts. He might have teased Lance about reading Harry Potter but that didn't mean he couldn't read it.

"I'm not here." Keith called out. "Leave a message after the beep. Beep."

There was a pause. "Hello, Keith. My name is Mrs. Davis and I'm calling because you have a visitor. His name is Lance."

That made Keith perk up. He shoved his bookmark into the correct page and hopped off his bed. Opening the door he saw Mrs. Davis looking smug in her orange dress and a hand on her hip.

"Shut up."

Mrs. Davis chuckled instead of scolding at his choice of words. "It was nice to finally meet the boy you have become so infatuated with lately."

Keith walked past her hoping she'd leave, but instead she was following him.

"I'm not infatuated with him." He grumbled.

"Right, right. Whatever you say." Her voice was filled with mischief.

Keith turned to glare at her. "It is what I say and what I say is right."

"Of course. I wouldn't doubt you for a second." It was obvious she was trying to hold a smile.

Keith shook his head and continued walking down the hall and Mrs. Davis separated to turn towards the offices while Keith headed straight to the foyer.

It was cloudy that day but sun rays escaped the thick barricade of grey as if desperate to provide some warmth. It allowed a ray of light to shine through the window and into the dim building, creating a spot light onto a hunched figure. It looked like a scene from an award winning movie.

Lance was sitting on one of the benches, elbows on his knees as he looked sadly at the bundle of flowering weeds. Dandelions, yellow wood sorels, and wild violets were held together along with long pieces of grass. It was oddly beautiful despite being weeds.

"What are you doing here?"

Lance snapped his head up at Keith's voice and he was immediately taken aback by the glassy eyes that looked so sad as they looked at him, a halo of light lining his body in gold. Keith was in action, soon at the boy's side and asking what was wrong.

"She said no." Lance whispered and he sounded so broken that it struck a chord in Keith.

"What do you mean?" He put a hand on his back reassuringly.

Lance let out a shuddering breath and clutched the bouquet tight in his grip."At school I asked Kara out because it's Valentine's Day and she said no."

Keith slowly nodded. He didn't understand the feeling of being rejected by a girl since he never had a crush before, but he could tell it must really hurt by how Lance was reacting to it.

"I told you she was boring."

Lance let out a spiteful laugh. "You always gotta be right."

Keith shrugged with a slight smile. "It's my specialty."

There was a tired sigh and a head falling on his shoulder. Lance began playing with a petal of one of the many dandelions.

"I like the bouquet." Keith told him.

"I had chocolates too."

"What happened to them?"

"I ate them."

Keith snorted a laugh and Lance's head bobbed on his shoulder as Keith shook from the action.

"I have two more if you want one." Lance said, reaching into his pocket to pull out two wrapped chocolates.

"You want me to eat your rejected chocolates?"

Lance shrugged. "Chocolate is chocolate."

Keith found himself reaching for the chocolate. Lance started to unwrap his so Keith followed, then Lance held his up as a toast.

"To rejection." The boy said.

"To love." Keith said, then they tapped the chocolate together before popping them into their mouths.

It was sickeningly sweet, enough to feel the sugar grains, and it slightly burned his throat because of how cheap it was. Though at the same time, it was perfect. Maybe it was because of the company.

"Wanna destroy the bouquet?" Keith suggested.

Lance looked up at him with calculating eyes then a slow smirk grew on his face. "Let's go."

Lance then was dragging Keith outside, the cold air biting at their skin, and he handed Keith half of the bouquet.

"After three." Lance said. "One, two, three!"

The weeds flew into the sky and parted like the fireworks on new years eve and bounced when they hit the ground quietly. They didn't go far since they were so light and their throws were pretty weak too, but that didn't stop the duo from yelling out warrior cries as they stomped on the weeds.

Laughter filled the air as the two danced on their destroyed masterpiece. When it died down, Keith walked over to the planted flowers that lined the building. He plucked a red rose and began snapping off the thorns.

"What are you doing?" Lance was a shadow as he stood over a working Keith.

"Just wait."

He checked the stem to see if he missed any thorns then stood up and faced a curious Lance. Keith smiled and softly placed the rose behind the boy's ear and the action made Lance stare at him with wide eyes. Keith avoided Lance's stare, and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

Lance's tanned skin turned into a beautiful shade of red and became even brighter when Keith winked.

"See you later, Dandelion boy." Then Keith was rushing inside to hide his embarrassment and burning face.

Keith fell face first onto his bed and screamed into the pillow while kicking at the mattress.

Why did he do that?

Why did he like it?

Maybe he was infatuated.

March 3, 2096

Something changed between them.

It was the way they always gravitated towards each other, whether they were walking down the snowy streets, laying on the orphanage's roof, or scooting their chairs closer when eating dinner at Lance's house.

It was the touches and the hand holding and Lance running his fingers through Keith's hair. The way they hugged tighter before leaving each other and the way Lance felt himself all fluttery when he caught those dark eyes.

It wasn't just Lance who noticed this. His family apparently knew as well since all his siblings were staring at him from his bedroom door as he made another friendship bracelet for Keith. They all had amused looks on their faces as they finally approached their younger brother and all sat on his blue sheeted bed. Veronica sat right next to him in her orange dress while the others sat across from them in shirts with different animals on them.

Lance tilted his head in confusion as to why they were all in his room with smug expressions.

"So," Marco purred. "Whatcha doing there hermoso?"

Lance dismissed his sibling's weird behaviour and beamed when he started to tell them about his new project for Keith. He was learning how to do a fishtail braid for this bracelet and so far it was turning out very bad. Apparently fishtail braids are very different from normal ones, but that's okay because now he has practise before he'll get to braid Keith's hair.

"How many bracelets have you made so far?" Veronica asked, picking up a yellow string from the set laid out on the bed.

Lance thought about it for a second. "Six."

"Wow," Luis exclaimed. "He's getting a big collection then. He's a real lucky guy."

There was something in his voice but Lace couldn't read between the lines. So, like usual when his older siblings act weird, despite Rachel being only a year older, Lance asked what they meant.

Veronica nudged his arm. "It's just that you seem to be very infatuated with him." Rachel nodded excitedly like she knew something that he didn't and was very happy about it.

"What does in-fat-uated mean?" His pronunciation was off so Veronica repeated the word.

"Infatuated means to be obsessed with someone." She leaned in closer and wiggled her eyebrows, her glasses twinkled in the artificial light. "Romantically."

His face grew in flames as his siblings chuckled. His stomach twisted and his eyes widened in horror.

"You're lying!" He shouted.

"What's going on in here?" It was mama, poking her head into the room.

Before Lance could whine, Veronica put a hand over his mouth.

"We're just talking about how Lance has a crush on Keith."

Lance bit down on her hand hard and she immediately drew her hand back and cradled it to her chest. He grinned in triumph despite the growing heat to his face.

"So he figured it out?" His mama said to his horror.

He stumbled for words as she walked into the room with a smirk on her face.

"I don't have a crush on Keith! We're best friends!"

"Oh come on," Luis began. "You'll look cute together when you get old enough to date."

"But I don't like boys!" Lance argued.

"Of course, mijo." His mama said as she squeezed herself beside him and began to run fingers through his hair. It felt comforting in a time of need. "You have all the time in the world to figure yourself out."

"Yeah!" Rachel added helpfully.

"What's happening?"

At the doorway was his papi and Lance groaned miserably. Who's next? The chickens?

"We're talking about how Lance has a crush on Keith and doesn't know it yet." Marco explained and yelped when Lance kicked him.

"Oh." Papi leaned on the door frame. "I bet it'll take over ten years for them to get together."

"Nah, I vote for 8." Veronica added.

Lance never wanted to leave his family so much at the very moment as they all placed bets. So, Lance got up, leaving the bracelet kit behind him and walked out.

"Where are you going?" Shouted Luis. "To see Keith?"

The bedroom was filled with laughter and Lance continued to stomp away with a growl in his throat. He moved downstairs and fell into the couch making it whine underneath his weight. Lance curled up against the arm and played with the red bracelet around his wrist that Keith made for him.

It was not in the least perfect, with broken strings hanging out and obvious mistakes showed clear as day. It was beautiful anyways and he wore it with pride, a warmth filled his chest.

They were best friends and that was that. Nothing more and nothing less.

Besides.

Lance only liked girls.

March 17, 2096

Ian has noticed Keith's sudden good mood lately, which leads to more teasing. At some point, Keith had enough and joined Ms. Davis in the staff room for lunch. He had entered without a word, head down and food in his hands as he sat right next to her. She stared at first but then continued eating and discreetly slid over a chocolate pudding towards him as a sign of welcome.

It was going well for a while. Keith would eat in the staff room, and he would spend all his time either reading in the confines in his bedroom or meeting up with Lance. Apparently, Ian was not fond of having no daily dose of "Harass Keith" in his system. So about a week into this, Keith comes back from a full weekend of being at the McClains and walking into his bedroom to see a complete mess, books splattered on the floor and his few articles of clothing draping haphazardly over the wide open drawers. Then he sees his box, filled with memories of his dad, strewn on the floor as if someone dumped the whole thing without a sense of care.

Keith runs. Runs toward the ruins, picking up each piece of his past with shaky hands and a stinging nose. He searched for each one, each photo and book that he had kept safe for so long. The photo of him and his dad on the porch, on the roof stargazing, on the hover bike looking over the edge of a cliff, all captured moments showing bright smiles. The Doctor Seuss books that were already worn from use. It was all there, some bent but they were there and he held them so close to his chest to give himself some needed breath.

There was something missing. Keith lifted the box from when it was facing upside down and there was nothing to reveal. He carefully placed the photos and children's books in the box, which was deemed harder than it should've been since his hands were trembling in shock.

Then he was frantic. Frantically storming around his room, under his bed, under the nightstand and the sheets. Everywhere and it was still gone.

His mom's knife was gone.

The next few minutes was a blur. Keith had sprinted out of the room and began yelling for Mrs. Davis. She came along with Mrs. Wender, both confused when looking down at Keith. "Someone stole something from me" he kept yelling, over and over again when he was asked what was wrong. Kids were crowding in and Keith could only search the many faces that could've stolen from him.

Then his eyes landed on Ian. He was leaning on the side wall, a devilish smirk on his face and his eyes glinted with the coldness that no child should ever bear. Keith could only see red. He stormed up to the other boy and surprised himself when suddenly his fist was colliding with a cheek. It hurt his knuckles, but at the moment he couldn't feel anything except for rage.

"Where did you put it." Keith sneered at Ian who was reeling from surprise.

"Keith!" Mrs. Davis came up beside him and gently pushed him away from Ian. "What has gotten into you?"

"Please, Mrs. Davis, this child has always been a problem." Mrs. Wender sneered.

Mrs .Davis straightened and gave her co-worker a hard gaze. Keith didn't think he's ever seen her so mad before. "There has to be a logical reason behind this and I will not let you undermine a kid." She turned toward him, face automatically switching back to her usual soft self. "What happened?"

Keith swallowed. "He destroyed my room and stole something from me."

Mrs. Wender scoffed. "Ian has already told me you stole his Pokemon cards and so he got them back."

Keith blinked completely fazled by this obvious lie. "What are you talking about? I don't even like Pokemon! It doesn't even matter because he ruined all of my belongings!"

The older woman was taller than him, but if his hands weren't so numb, he'd punch her face too. She towered over him and smacked her thin lips. "I would care more about your situation if Ian had not found a knife in your room."

Mrs. Davis stood beside him. "A kitchen knife?"

"No. A dagger."

The younger woman gasped and looked at Keith with shock. "You carried a dagger with you this whole time?"

"Do not worry," Mrs. Wender began, already walking toward the staff room. "I have confiscated it where he cannot find it."

Keith was screaming, begging for his possession back, but she left without a glance. He began to plead with Mrs. Davis but she looked conflicted and disappointed as he tried to explain. She began to walk away, leading Ian to the infirmary with a sad frown on her face. Ian looked back at Keith and gave him a triumphant smirk.

There was no way he just lost his mother's knife, the only thing he had of her. He couldn't breathe, think or hear the crowd of students dispersing and whispering under their breath about the psychopathic kid. He sprinted out of the building and welcomed the fresh air like a lifeline.

Then he crashed into someone and felt their hands on him to steady them both. Keith looked up to see brown eyes, warm and friendly and they gazed at the boy with so much worry and kindness that Keith couldn't hold back his tears anymore.

He was wrapped in strong arms and three voices surround him with comforting words that bring him back to Earth. He feels grounded in their arms, a warmth that he hasn't found in a long time. He sobs into a neck, letting out all of the frustration that has built up since the death of his father, since just a moment ago when the last piece of his mom was ripped away.

Eventually, The Shirogane's go inside the building but Shiro stays, leading them towards a bench that sits outside the stone building. Keith pulls his knees up and stares at the grass that was slowly coming back to life after the cold winter. The air was chilly with only a shirt on and his feet were only safe with the protection of mismatched socks.

"So," Shiro started and Keith physically flinched at the upcoming questions. "What do you think of coming over to our house for dad's birthday? Does that sound good to you?"

Keith looked up at the older boy. "I was just sobbing into your neck and you are asking me if I want to come to your dad's birthday party?"

Shiro smiled and Keith didn't know how he felt about that at the moment. He felt too hollow to feel anything at the moment. "Pretty much. It'll just be us four, no one else."

Keith frowned. It wasn't an ideal situation, having to be social with this family who were making such a grave mistake to spend all of their efforts on Keith. He was surprised they lasted this long at all. They were going to realize that they don't want him sooner or later and Keith won't let himself be crushed again once it happens.

"Just think about it okay? It's not until a week so you have time." Keith nodded and wiped at his nose with a sniffle.

They stayed in silence for a short moment, Shiro staring up at the sky where the few clouds flew lazily above, and Keith stared at the ground where dead leaves lied.

"So what got you so upset?"

Ah. Keith knew the question was going to come up, he just didn't know when. Shiro was weird like that, always surprising Keith.

"A kid stole from me." Cause why not tell him after ruining his shirt with tears.

"Did you get it back?" Keith shook his head and clutched his hand, a phantom feeling of a hilt in his palm.

"Good news!" A voice called out and the two boys turned to see Shiro's parents walking out of the building, both smiling. "You know, when they said a kid stole something from you we were expecting it was a stuffed animal or a book. Not a dagger." Mrs. Shirogane waved said dagger in her hand and handed it to Keith, hilt facing him.

He held the knife gently in his grasp and ran his finger over the cloth that was still wrapped around the symbol just as he left it. "How-"

"We sweet talked Mrs. Wender into giving it to us." Mr. Shirogane explained and handed Keith a tissue.

Mrs. Shirogane sat on the arm of the bench next to Keith, giving him a wide smile. "We saw what you did to that kid. Didn't know you have such a mean hook."

"Wait what?!" Shiro exclaimed. "You punched a kid?!"

Keith shrugged after lightly blowing his nose in the tissue. "He deserved it."

"Heck yeah he did!" Mr. Shirogane lifted his hand for Keith to high-five and the boy stared at it for a moment before finishing the gesture with a clap.

Unfortunately, this meant Shiro was able to see his bruised knuckles which sent him into mother-hen mode and grabbed Keith's injured hand with talk of alcohol and bandages.

"Calm down Takashi," Mrs.S chided. "Everyone should punch someone at least once in their lives. Your father did in high school when a guy was hitting on me and I punched the same guy after your father lost the fight." She was demonstrating the action by punching the air with a smug smirk.

"You didn't have to bring that up." Her husband mumbled.

"Is everyone just gonna forget that Keith carries around a big scary dagger?" Shiro asked with disbelief.

They both shrugged. "If he wants to talk, then he will talk." said Mrs.Shirogane.

The strange thing was that Keith did want to talk, but what would they say? They'll call his family a freak show just like the kids call Keith at the orphanage. Yet those smiles that they were giving him, so open and trusting, were telling him that it was okay. It's okay to open up to people.

"It was my moms. It's the only thing I have of her besides from a few stories my dad told me." He was fiddling with the dagger, sharp and glinting with questions he'll never have answered.

There was a hum. "I guess your mom was a real bad ass. Like me!"

Keith queried an eyebrow at the woman who was showing off her biceps. His lips twitched in a small smile, because yeah, she was badass wasn't she?

"Mom, stop teaching him swear words."

"Please, he probably knows all of them. Anyway, did Takashi tell you about his dad's birthday?"

Mr. Shirogane perked up at the mention of the day. "You gotta come, Keith. I'll only be turning forty-two once!"

They all stare expectantly, waiting patiently for his answer. They looked so alike, so much like a family where each of them belong. Keith interrupting that was not something he wanted for them, they deserved far better.

"Why me?" He asked. "Isn't there another kid that you'd like to bring that's a better choice?"

They all frowned at his answer. Then Mr. Shirogane was kneeling in front of him, his hand massive and calloused around Keith's. "Keith, the moment we met you, we stopped looking for kids to adopt. We knew in our hearts that you belonged with us."

There was a hand on his shoulder, thumb rubbing soothingly like a mother's touch. "It would be an honour for you to join us Keith. We genuinely love being around you."

"What do you say kiddo?" Shiro's hand ruffled Keith's hair. "Join us?"

He imagined his dad, a sturdy hand pulling him through aisles of the library with the scent of old paper and the distant sound of pages flipping. He picked Keith up onto his shoulder so he could search the top shelves. They find a secluded spot and cuddle together, Keith in his father's lap as he read out loud in a soft whisper. The feeling of belonging somewhere felt so nice, his heart filled up on love.

The Shirogane's could never replace his dad, but he could give them a chance if it meant that he can feel loved again.

/////////////////

Lance is the reason Keith grew out his hair and I find that hillarious
-VertigoReader101