requested by VoltronMoon thanks sm! Enjoy!! <333
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"Heh, are you bankrupt?" Pidge laughed, taking the dice from Lance.

"Uh...no of course not hahah." He lied, throwing the rest of his money onto the board after landing on  Pidge's property.  

"Sureee." Pidge said, snatching the money. "Just admit it, you suck." She teased.

"Uh-huh sure, comb your hair gnome." He said, standing up and tousling her hair. 

"Heyy." She laughed, trying to recover the decency in her mid back length honey hair. Lance got up from the living room of Hunk's house, heading to the kitchen, where Hunk was.

"What are you doing bro? Pidge is kicking my butt." Lance laughed.

Hunk laughed, tying his orange headband around his head. "I wanna look at this new recipe my mom got me! It's a pasta I've never heard of but maybe I can-"

"As long as I can eat it, I'm sure it's gonna be great man." Lance chuckled. Hunk beamed at him.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Lance! Go get it." Pidge called from the living room.

"Whatt, why me? I'm so comfortable." Lance said, quickly sitting down.

"Because you lost to me." Pidge said. 

"Hunk never even played!" 

Another knock. 

"Lance." Pidge said stubbornly. 

"Ughhhh." Lance said, before slumping over to the door. "It's prob' just Hunk's mom back from the store." He said. 

"She has a key, Lance." Hunk said from the kitchen.

"Yeah, yeah." Lance said as he opened the door.

"Hello?-" 

It was Keith. The boy from the haunted house. 

Halloween night had been a few weeks ago now, but the trio still remembered the boy. 

"Hi." Keith said. 

"Oh uh- hey." Lance said suspiciously. 

"Who is it?" Pidge asked, coming from the living room. Then she saw Keith. 

"OH." 

Keith slipped into the house, causing Lance to frown. 

"You gave me the house numbers so I..." Keith started quietly. Pidge grinned at him. 

"Yeah dude come on!" She grabbed his hand and welcomed him into the living room before calling Hunk over. 

Lance scoffed as he closed the door. "Nicer to a stranger than to me..."

"So Keith, what's up?" Pidge asked as Lance came into the living room and sat next to Hunk.

Keith wore the same clothes as he had been when they all first met, Hunk wondered if anyone else noticed that. 

"I just wanted to..." He frowned, staring at his chubby hands. "I'm not sure why I came here."

"That's ok!" Hunk smiled. "I'm boutta make pasta, want some?" 

Keith's stomach growled loudly. "Yes, thanks."

"Sure." Hunk said before going to put his water on the stove. 

"So, are you still hanging out in that house?" Lance asked.

Keith didn't look at any of them. "Yeah."

"Why?" Pidge asked laughing. "It's not that scary anymore." 

Keith's fists clenched against his pants and he bit his lip. "I guess not."

Pidge, Lance, and Hunk looked at each other in confusion. 

"Uh, you ok Keith?" Lance tried.

Keith nodded a little too fast. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come here." He said quickly, before getting up and starting towards the door. 

"Wh-what?? Keith!" Pidge said. 

"What about the pasta?" Hunk asked, pouting.

Keith shook his head. "It's fine, I'm sorry. Don't try to come see me. Please." And with that, he left. 

"What. Just. Happened." Lance asked, confused.

Hunk shrugged. "I have, no idea."

"Hm." Pidge said, her mind already working a mile a minute.

...

The kids spent the rest of the afternoon playing board games and cooking pasta, before coming together at 7 p.m to eat and watch a movie. But when Hunk's parents went upstairs, Pidge decided it was time to advocate her plan for the night.

Once she had the boys' attention, she started.

"We have to go back."

"Go back?" Lance asked.

"Yes. To Keith's." She said.

Hunk chuckled. "What? You're joking, right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" She asked blandly. 

"Er, no." Lance said. "But, Pidge, Keith specifically said to leave him alone. Plus, you yourself said the place was boring." 

"Yeahhh, I would rather not go there..."

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Idiots, don't you see?? Keith is clearly going through some trouble."

"He...is?" the boys asked in unison.

Pidge facepalmed. "So dense..."

She sighed. "Keith was super hungry when he got here, right? We all heard his stomach growl."

The boys nodded.

"He was wearing the same clothes he wore on Halloween." 

Hunk nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that!" 

"Plus, he doesn't seem to leave that house..." Pidge finished. "What do you guys think is the problem?"

Hunk frowned as it began to dawn on him, but Lance took the more positive route.

"Maybe, he just skipped breakfast. And maybe he really loves that outfit! Heck, if Mama let me, I would wear this shirt everyday!-" He gestured to his blue and white baseball tee.

"Yeah, yeah Lance no." Pidge stopped his rant. "Come on, it's clear."

Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Keith is homeless." Hunk said. 

Lance's eyes widened. "Ohhh." Then he frowned. "Oh."

"Yeah." Pidge said.

 "We gotta help him." She stood up. 

"Who's with me?" 

"You know I am." Lance stood up grinning. 

"Uh..." Hunk said sheepishly. "My parents think we are having a sleepover. Here. We can't leave like that." 

Pidge sighed. "Yeah, but what if we have this one chance to really help someone? Don't you think that's a good enough reason to sneak out for one night?"

Hunk frowned. He really hated that house...

And he would hate to lose his parents' trust...

But Keith had looked so sad and alone...

"Mm, finee." Hunk finally gave in, standing up. "But we have to take the leftover pasta." 

...

The trio returned to the still peeling and sagging house. It wasn't as scary as on Halloween, but it was to Hunk. 

"Oh boy.." He said, clutching the warm plate of pasta in his hand, the foil gripped against his soft hands. 

"Come on," Pidge said, creeping up the weak wood of the porch. They stopped dead when they heard footsteps in the gravel behind them.

"I told you not to come." 

The three turned from the house to see Keith, standing in the tall grass, the moon reflected in his dark eyes.

"Uhhh, shoot-" Lance sputtered.

"We need to talk to you Keith, seriously, please." Pidge said, stepping a little closer to the boy. He narrowed his eyes at them.

"We brought pasta!" Hunk added.

Keith tapped his foot, before his stomach growled again. "O-okay, fine." 

They all sat on the cracked concrete in front of the house's gate, letting Keith shovel mouthfuls of Strozzapreti into his mouth. The wind was picking up, and Lance could tell it was getting later. He nudged Pidge. 

She turned to Keith. "Hey, we uh... we want to help you."

Keith went still, noodle hanging from his mouth. "Wha-"

"We know you're homeless." Lance said. Keith's face paled even more.

Hunk smiled. "But we can help. Hopefully."

Keith stopped eating, and let his eyebrows furrow. "Who told you I was homeless?"

"No one." Pidge said. "We could kind of just tell-" 

Keith frowned. "I don't need help, I'm perfectly capable of being on my own." He said, putting his empty plate down and standing up. 

"Really? Cause you seemed pretty hungry on your own to me." Lance said.

Keith glared at him. "Leave me alone." He said to them. "Thanks for the pasta, but I don't need your help." 

He turned and started back towards the house.

"Why won't he just let us help him?" Hunk asked, sounding defeated.

"I'm not sure." Pidge said, eyeing the boy as he walked back to his house. 

"His ego is the problem here." Lance said, placing his hands on his hips. "He won't admit he needs help." 

Pidge laughed. "Yeah, you would know." Hunk chuckled.

"What is that supposed to mean??" Lance asked, his voice high pitched and whiny. 

The three headed home, feeling defeated.

After they were all in their pj's and Hunk had an extra plate of pasta, they decided what their next step would be. 

"Why is he homeless?" Lance asked. "How long has he been living in that place?" 

Pidge shrugged. "Questions we need him to answer..." she said.

"Well, I hope he can see that we just want to help him truly." Hunk said. "I don't want anything to happen to him."

"Me neither." Pidge said, sighing.

"Same." Lance said.

...

Keith watched the moonlight cascade over the molded wood as he tried to reign in sleep. The wind was picking up. 

He felt better than he had in a long time. He had never loved a hot meal so much.

He was confused. How had those kids figured him out so easily, and why did they care?

He wanted them gone, if they did anything, he would get thrown into the system. 

The pleading in their eyes had made his heart soften. They did care about what happened to him. 

It felt nice. 

But the danger of the system...

A strong gush of wind flew in, sending a not so sturdy board crashing from the ceiling. Keith quickly rolled out of the way, watching the heavy board crush where he was just laying. He gasped.

Maybe, the real danger... was here? 

...

"Good morning sleepyheads." Hunk's mom said, as the kids rushed into the dining room for breakfast. 

"How did you all sleep?" She asked, handing them plates of pancakes. 

"Ok..." They all said blandly, receiving the plates with a thank you.

Mrs. Garret watched suspiciously as the kids poked at their food. She placed a hand on her hip, sighing. 

"What's wrong with you guys?" She finally asked, sitting down.

They all shrugged.

"Nothing." Lance said solemnly. 

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Before Mrs. Garret could open her mouth, the kids had started for the door, slipping and sliding in their socks. They threw open the door.

A small scrawny boy, with shaggy and dirty looking black hair, and bruises stood at the door. "Keith!!" They all exclaimed, pulling him inside.

Mrs. Garret watched in confusion as the four of them went to the living room, Pidge talking a mile a minute.

...

"What are you doing here?? Did you change your mind? Nothing happened, right? Are you ok?" Pidge rattled off. 

Keith raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you gonna keep asking questions or let me answer..."

Hunk and Lance laughed at that, and Pidge turned pink.

"I, uh... am thinking about changing my mind. I don't know yet." Keith said. He decided not to tell them about the accident last night, instead steering away from his past.

"How can you guys help me?" He looked between them.

"Uh..." Lance started. 

"We might be able to get you a home, maybe..." Pidge said. 

"Like you could get adopted!" Hunk said.

Keith nodded. "And you guys would figure that out?"

"We have connections." Pidge said, already thinking about her older brother. 

"Hm." Keith said. 

Mrs. Garret was closer now, listening in on the conversation.

"Why do you guys care so much?" Keith asked. "You don't know me."

"We want to know you." Lance said.

"Yeah, and no one deserves what you're going through." Pidge added.

"Plus, we are just nice people!" Hunk grinned. 

Keith smiled at that.

"Do you mind telling us... why you're homeless?" Pidge asked then. 

Keith frowned. Great. His past.

"My uh, Mom died having me. I was born in Texas. Then, my dad moved here to Arizona for a new job but, he never liked me... he always blamed me for her death." 

The three kids listened silently, and Mrs. Garret felt her heart drop. 

"He got drunk a lot, I guess. I don't know." Keith sniffled. "But one day, I woke up, and he was... gone." 

He glanced up at them. "That was maybe, I dunno... a month ago? Two?"

"The broken down house was the best thing for me, I knew no one would come near me there, and I could stay safe from social services.. or so I thought." 

"Oh, is that what you're afraid of? The system?" Lance asked. Keith nodded.

"We are gonna help you, don't worry." Pidge said. 

Mrs. Garret couldn't take it anymore, she had to step in. "Oh, poor baby." She said, before barreling into the room to give Keith a bear hug. Everyone was surprised.  

Keith glanced at Pidge, Hunk, and Lance in bewilderment. 

"That's my mom." Hunk chuckled. 

Keith smiled into Mrs. Garret's chest, feeling safe and warm. Another first for him. 

"We are going to find you a home Keith." Mrs. Garret said. "I promise. And until then, you'll stay here."

"How can you find me a home? Without the system?" Keith asked, biting his lip. "I can't go there, please. I've heard the stories."

"If we can find someone who will take you in on our own, they can take you straight to social services and then your their's. No system." Mrs. Garret said, running a hand through Keith's hair. 

"Ok." Keith said.

"Pidge, Lance, call your parents and see if you can stay another night." She added. "We have a lot of work to do." 

The day flew by, with Mrs. Garret talking to everyone she knew to see if anyone wanted to adopt a little boy. Keith was given a bubble bath, his first ever, which he spent half an hour in. 

Keith ate the rest of the pancakes, and then fell asleep on the couch downstairs. While Hunk and Lance tried to come up with fun games they could teach Keith to play when he woke up, Pidge decided to help Mrs. Garret out.

Pidge knew her brother had a lot of connections. And it was a stretch, but maybe her 16  year old brother could help her out, he had a lot of friends. 

Night came, and Hunk's father returned, with questions.

He liked Keith though, and they all ate dinner together. 

The next morning, Pidge and Lance went home, only to come visit Keith and Hunk everyday for the next week.

And then two weeks.

Three.

A month. 

Keith was starting to believe it was a dead end. No one wanted him, just like his father didn't. 

He liked the Garrets, and he had so many nice clothes now, and toys and a bed. Friends...

He saw them as his first ever family.

He didn't know there was soon going to be an addition. 

Takashi Shirogane, 22 year old Japanese American Male. 

Matt got the call from his friend, the wonderful relief of the man wanting to make a difference. 

When Shiro had heard about Keith, he knew he had to help.

He lived alone, in an apartment downtown from where the Garrets lived, but a good enough distance that Keith would go to school with Hunk, Lance, and Pidge, and be able to visit.

Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Mrs. Garret all took Keith to the meeting. He would meet Shiro, for the first time, his potential new guardian. 

Keith was surprised at how young the guy was. But he looked smart, and mature.

Everyone left them to get acquainted. Outside the room, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk couldn't stop worrying. 

"I hope he's the guy..."

"What if Keith doesn't like him?"

"What if Shiro doesn't like Keith? You know how Keith can be... heh."

"I want this to work out so bad.."

"If we messed this up..."

"Guys." Mrs. Garret said calmly. "You three have done more than enough. I have never been prouder." She smiled at the anxious children. "The fact that you came across this boy and automatically needed to help him, along with the lengths you went to, to save him, shows the strength and compassion you guys have."

"Aww." "Thanks!" "Thank you." They gushed, hugging Mrs. Garret.

"No, thank you." She said back. 

Suddenly, the door opened, and out came Shiro and Keith.

Keith was beaming, his hand in Shiro's, who looked relieved and content. He handed Mrs. Garret a stack of papers. 

They were signed and filled out. 

Shiro was officially Keith's guardian now. 

Keith was safe, and warm, and loved. He had a family. And he would for a long, long time.

Because of Lance, Hunk, and Pidge. 

"When we grow up, this will always be the best Halloween ever." Lance said, the stars twinkling above the heads of the eight year olds.

"We did it. We helped Keith, I still can't believe it." Hunk said, grinning.

"Believe it, Chef Garret." Lance smirked.

"Yeah, we did it." Pidge smiled. 

"I love you guys."

Hunk and Lance grinned before hugging Pidge tight on the green grass of the hill.

"Love you too." 

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hehe i literally love the three of them so muchhhhhh

i spilled granola all over my bed writing this cause i was hungry i guess this is why im not allowed to eat in my room...

hope you enjoyed that final part of the garrison crew halloween!!! much much love <33333333333333