Thank you so much for 10k on my story In Too Deep! It means the world to me, especially when I'm so proud of that book (the beginning of it anyway). I hope you enjoy this one just as much :)

The trigger warnings are in the description! More may be added as we go along and I edit so keep an eye out for that. Now onto the story!

As the bot raised his sword, Keith darted to the left. His feet moved fast beneath him, making the fight appear more like a graceful dance than an intense battle. His knuckles were wrapped around his knife, holding on so tightly that whiteness had begun to blossom across what was once tanned skin. As the bot came to a standstill and began to raise the sword again, Keith ducked and plunged his knife into its chest. A small noise filled the room as the bot collapsed in on itself and began to fade away. "Level five complete. Proceed?" A loud, robotic voice echoed around the room.

Keith opened his mouth to respond but someone else got there first. "End training sequence." The obscure, almost British accent was recognisable from anywhere: Allura. Turning to face the princess, Keith breathed heavily. Sweat was glistening on his forehead, illuminating the white skin and making his black hair stick.

"Allura," He said between breaths. "What are you doing here?" Keith obsessively trained at night, whilst everyone else on the castle was fast asleep. No one was meant to walk in on him. The fact that Allura wasn't asleep and was standing there, dressed in her day clothes, suggested to Keith that something was wrong.

"I need to talk to you." She started, walking around Keith until she was standing in the exact spot the bot had been in. Keith wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his suit, still gripping the knife in his right hand. "I know how you feel about Lance."

Keith's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards. "I- I don't-" He stammered, clammy hands moving to brush against the legs of his armour. Allura was eyeing him closely, her eyes narrowed and her arms folded. She could see right through Keith and his lies.

"Don't deny it, Keith. It's obvious that you have feelings for him."

"I won't let it get in the way of you two," Allura stepped forward, one hand creeping its way around Keith's right wrist. Keith bit his lip, his body stiffening up at the touch. "I'm trying to repress it, okay? I don't want to feel this way either."

"Give me the knife." Her voice was low and menacing but Keith wasn't about to comply. Despite being the authority, Allura didn't have the right to talk to Keith with such a threatening tone. "Keith, give me the knife." Keith darted to the side before Allura could touch him again, his wrist breaking free from her light grip.

"Why should I? I was trying to train before you came in here." Keith muttered, sliding his knife back into its pocket on his suit.

"I could beat you on a one-on-one." Out of the blue, Allura produced her own bayard, the pink object looking fairly innocent before it transformed into a long whip.

"I'm not asking to fight you."

"Then give me the knife. I just want to talk to you."

"I'll drop the knife if you drop your whip." Allura raised her eyebrows but placed the bayard down on the floor in front of her. Keith bent down and put the knife down too.

"You need to stop talking to Lance."

"No, why would I do that?" Keith crossed his arms, his head moving forward to reinforce the question.

"Because you liking Lance is a hindrance," Allura began to run forward until her chest pressed against Keith's and she was able to shove him back into the wall. Having practised hand-to-hand combat, Keith managed to grab Allura's arm and flip her over so that he was on top of her. She let out a huff, grabbing both of Keith's arms with her hands as she attempted to push him off of her. "How would Lance feel if he knew you started a fight with his girlfriend?"

"I didn't start anything," Keith snapped, a fire burning in the pit of his chest. He was always known for his impulsivity and failure to repress his anger. "He'd know that."

"Would he? Everyone knows what you were like before you came to space."

"How the fuck do you know? You didn't know me on Earth."

"The others talk about you all the time," Keith lowered his guard for just a second but it was long enough for Allura to take advantage. Rapidly, she jerked Keith around so that she was on top. "Shiro especially."

"I don't believe you," He gritted his teeth whilst Allura shook her head. "Shiro wouldn't talk about me behind my back."

"You think? Whenever you aren't around, Shiro tells us about how much of a brat you were. How you were troublesome and he only took you under his wing because he felt sorry for you."

Keith let out an inhumane, animalistic growl before using all his strength to push Allura off of him. Allura rolled onto the floor, letting out a loud huff as her back hit the ground. "He took me under his wing because he saw my potential. I was the best pilot in my class."

"That's just what you think," She hadn't tackled Keith again but her smug face was enough to infuriate Keith further. She pulled herself into a sitting position, her arms folded and a half-smirk on her face. "You haven't changed at all. You're still the same angry, bratty, impulsive kid as before. The other paladins know it. That's why they'll believe you started the fight."

"Yeah, right."

"Hey, it's not like you'd care if you lost them all, right? You're used to being the loner, aren't you?"

"Fuck off." Keith muttered, sitting up so he could catch his breath. Allura let out a breathy laugh as she watched Keith hug his legs.

"I think we can make a deal." Raising her head, a smug, tight-lipped smile broke out onto Allura's face. "You isolate yourself from Lance and repress your feelings and I don't tell Lance that you started a fight with me."

"I don't give a shit whether he thinks I started some stupid fight with you."

"Okay, how about we raise the odds? You isolate yourself or I'll tell him about your... feelings."

Keith's jaw tensed up as his body converged towards a statue-like state. He didn't meet Allura's eyes but, instead, kept his gaze fixed on her chest where her arms were folded, insinuating the idea that she was 100% serious. "You wouldn't..." He trailed off, knowing full well that she would.

"I see your feelings are a soft spot for you. Are you willing to test to see if I would or not?"

Silence enveloped the room like an uncomfortable, unwanted hug. Eventually, both Keith and Allura stood up but neither said another word to the other. They picked up their weapons before parting ways.

-

"Keith? Could you go and wake Lance up?" Shiro asked, a small smile tugging at his lips. The man's hair was a mess, the white highlight facing all different directions and integrating with the rest of his black hair. Other than the obvious bed hair, he was well presented for breakfast. He had his black jacket thrown on, zipped right up to the top. It was tight and showed off his impressive body shape, right down to the muscles exuberating his arms. Despite his scruffy appearance, he still came across as authoritative due to the pale scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. To a stranger, it may have made him look like some sort of gang leader as it created a sense of enigma. However, the paladins were aware of Shiro's soft, marshmallow-like personality. He was serious when he needed to be, giving out expert instructions for them to follow without a second thought.

Keith's mouth fell open to form an automatic response but then his gaze met Allura's. The princess was dressed in her dress and it cascaded down to her feet. Her hair had been expertly styled, the curls falling down past her waist. Her eyes were thin and her mouth pursed, as if she was trying to test Keith. "Actually, I've got to... get changed."

"But you're already-" Shiro started but Keith cut him off.

"I wore this to bed." Keith obviously hadn't worn his cropped jacket, black shirt and skinny jeans to bed but Shiro didn't argue with him. As Keith took off down the halls, he wrapped his left hand around his right wrist and squeezed: a technique that used to help subdue the anger running through his veins. It helped right up until the moment Keith opened the door to his room and collapsed onto his bed.

As he let out a frustrated groan, he buried his head into his bed covers so that it was muffled. He didn't plan on changing, not even to make his stupid lie more believable. He laid there for a few minutes before heading back to the kitchen and acting as innocent as possible with Allura's glare fixated on him. Shiro looked up as he walked in, his eyes scanning Keith's body from the waist of his skinny jeans up to the collar of his jacket, but didn't say anything. It was obvious Keith hadn't gotten dressed.

"How'd everyone sleep?" Hunk asked, a wide grin on his face. He had so much energy, considering he had only been awake for a maximum of half an hour. His thick, black eyebrows were perked up and his soft eyes were glistening underneath the light radiating from the lamp above them. He was the team's giant stuffed teddy bear. He gave amazing hugs and always knew exactly what to say. He was genuine and his advice was the best out of everyone's on board the Castle. As a boy who had never judged a single person in the universe, he made an amazing, caring friend. Lance grunted, his own eyes glazed over with exhaustion as he poked at his food.

"I slept wonderfully," Allura responded. Pidge, Coran and Shiro all hummed in agreement, too busy focusing on shovelling the food into their mouth to accumulate an answer of their own.

"Keith?"

Not expecting Hunk to speak to him directly, Keith tensed up and met the other paladin's gaze. "I hardly slept." He admitted but kept his tone monotonous: that way Hunk wouldn't have to worry. He was known on the ship for being a bit of an insomniac anyway, choosing to stay up and practice training instead of getting a good night's sleep. His reasoning was always that it would pay off in the end when they defeated the Galra (which it probably would).

"You really should stop training so late. It can't be good for your health." Keith shrugged, taking a bite of his food goop just to avoid giving another answer. Hunk rolled his eyes and shook his head but soon focused on his own meal as opposed to the conversation.