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“He said no!” Shiro buried his face in his hands. “I thought for sure he would say yes!”
“Cheer up, I’m sure there was just some kind of misunderstanding.”
“It was a plain ‘no!’”
“Well what exactly did he say?”
“He looked at me, a little shocked and confused, and said something like ‘well I don’t know Shiro, my schedule is pretty full so I don’t know if I’ll have time’ and ‘we don’t know each other well so you may not actually want a date’ and then he just kinda ran off with a flurry of goodbyes and sorries.”
Lance sighed as he sat down next to Shiro. “That sounds like Keith.”
“Did I do something wrong? Is he not interested at all? I thought you said-”
“Don’t worry about what I said. Keith didn’t actually say no.”
“He pretty much did.”
“You probably just asked at a bad time. Maybe he was in a rush or something.”
“When else am I supposed to ask? I only see him at the gym and occasionally when I come over here. He did need to catch bus…”
“Just give it some time. Keith has a new job and he’s still getting settled in here. Maybe he just didn’t want something else on his plate.”
“It’s always timing…”
Lance felt for Shiro. He was itching to go on a date with Keith, but Keith may have other feelings. Why couldn’t Keith be more direct sometimes?
“I know he doesn’t hate you,” Lance said in an effort to encourage Shiro. “He’s never said anything bad about you.”
“Has he said anything at all?”
“Well…”
The two boys sat on Lance's couch in silence, that silence being broken a moment later by the sounds of the front door being unlocked.
“Is that Keith?” Shiro whispered.
“He shouldn't be home for another hour and a half…” Lance worriedly looked towards the doorway.
“Lance!” That was Keith’s voice for sure. “My schedule got changed around so I’m here now. What do you want to do for dinner?”
Keith stopped a few steps into the doorway and looked at Lance who was standing in the middle of the sitting area.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah! It’s great!”
Keith slowly nodded. “Well, I’m going to take a shower and then we can eat.”
“Alright!”
Keith pulled his jacket off and held it. “We could have those… uh… You know what? You choose. I don’t really care.”
“I’ll get started!”
Keith walked down the hallway and into his room to take a shower. Lance set out a heavy sigh of relief.
“Is the coast clear?” Shiro asked from in front of the couch.
“Yeah.”
“Did he see me?” Shiro slowly stood from being crouched on the floor.
“I don’t think so. Did you see him?”
“A little.”
“Well now I need to get something ready to eat.” Lance started to walk towards the kitchen. “What do we have in the freezer?”
Shiro walked out from the sitting area and followed Lance to the kitchen. Lance pulled random items out of the fridge, putting most back, in search of items to make a meal out of. He opened the freezer and both he and Shiro looked inside. If only Lance was as creative with meals as Keith was.
“Hey, Lance, do you know-” Upon hearing Keith’s voice, both Lance and Shiro turned from looking into the freezer to looking at Keith who was standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
Keith who had a towel wrapped around his waist and a smaller one in his hand to dry his hair.
“-why the water pressure is almost gone? And why you didn’t tell me we had a guest?”
“Keith! I thought- It’s just- Um…”
“I-I was just leaving!” Shiro stammered. “I need to, uh, get some stuff done anyways and-”
“No, no, Shiro!” Lance tried desperately to aid the situation. “Stay! We were about to eat! Keith! Let’s… have a little chat!”
Lance took Keith by the hand and lead him down the hallway and pulled him into his room, locking the room behind them.
Keith hit Lance’s chest. “What the hell, Lance!?”
“I’m sorry, see, I-”
“No! Was he here before? He couldn’t have shown up within the five minutes I’ve been here!”
“Keith, I’m really sorry-”
“For what? Not telling me someone was over and letting me make a fool of myself in front of him? I just wanted to get here, eat, and take a damn shower, not encounter Shiro while I’m practically naked!”
Lance held Keith by the upper arms. “I’m really sorry, but can he stay? Please?”
Keith shook Lance off. “No! Absolutely not!”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want him here, that’s why!”
“But Keith-”
“I said no!”
“C’mon, it’s Shiro, he’s a nice guy. Why can’t he stay?”
“Because…” Keith bit his lip. “No, I already said no! Stop trying to change my mind!”
“But-”
“No!”
Lance decided to stand his ground. “No. He’s staying.”
Keith looked at Lance with shock. “What?”
“He’s staying. He’s going to eat with us. That’s final.”
“Are you serious? I’m not eating with him! He-” Keith stopped himself.
“He what?”
“He…” Keith looked around nervously and lowered his voice. “He asked me out.”
“And?”
“Lance, I said no.”
“Why?”
“Because… I just did, okay? It doesn’t matter! I still don’t want him here!”
“I think that it would be good if you two spend some more time together.”
“And I think that it would be bad. Very bad.” Keith opened Lance’s door and started to head towards his own bedroom. “I’m going to rinse the rest of the shampoo out of my hair and if he isn’t gone by the time I get back I’m going to kick your ass.”
Lance watched Keith slam the door to his bedroom behind him. Lance sighed and went back to the kitchen where he found Shiro sitting at the table.
“Sorry about that. Are you okay?”
Shiro sat with his head in his hands. “Why do I have to have feelings? Why am I like this?”
Lance leaned against the doorframe. “Should I say ‘you’re welcome?’”
“You’re awful.”
“I mean, you did just get to see him in just a towel so…” Lance walked over to where Shiro was. “You’d better help me find something for the three of us to eat.”
“I thought Keith said that he would kick your ass if I stayed here?”
“You heard that?”
“He wasn’t exactly quiet.”
“Well, I can take an ass kicking every now and then. Get out some rice to cook. I think we have chicken. I can whip something up.”
Lance and Shiro cooked a simple meal, though Shiro didn’t do much work actually cooking because of his lack of culinary skills, but he gladly dipped the food onto the plates.
“Give Keith slightly smaller portions,” Lance said to Shiro.
“How come?”
“He usually doesn’t eat much in the evening.”
Shiro put the three plates of food onto the table and Lance followed with drinks. Everything was almost set on the table when Keith returned. He was wearing an oversized pink t-shirt with sleeves that almost met his elbows and a collar that fell off of one shoulder. His grey sweat pants fit fairly well, except for the fact that they were about three inches too long. His hair was still a little wet and the slight wave was more defined. This new look made Shiro have to catch his breath. Man was he soft for Keith. However, Keith gave Lance a not so subtle glare when he saw that Shiro was still around. Keith gave no regard to whether or not Shiro saw his hatred towards him at that moment.
“I made chicken with rice and vegetables,” Lance said.
“That’s fine.” Keith sat down at his place at the table with the others. Shiro sat across from him and Lance sat to his left. Keith made eye contact with neither of them. Lance was the last one to sit. He and Shiro looked at each other and then at their food. They only started to eat after Keith had taken a few bites.
They ate in silence for a few moment.
“So, Keith,” Lance began, “how was work today?”
“Just fine. Nothing out of the ordinary.” Keith did not look up from his food.
“What about you, Shiro?”
“Oh, same as usual. It felt like a lot of people came in for surgery today though. You?”
“I responded to a call about a kid getting his arm stuck in a saxophone. We also had a guy who got nasty burns while working with hot sugar at the culinary academy. It was pretty bad.”
“Sounds like you have a rather interesting day.”
“I suppose you could say that.”
After that, no one spoke. Shiro and Lance looked at eat other every now and then, but the silence remained. Keith never looked up from his food and finished eating first. He put his plate in the dishwasher and started to leave the kitchen.
“I’m going to read so don’t be loud.”
Lance and Shiro watched Keith go into the sitting room and find a comfy place on the couch to read.
“Does he act like this a lot?” Shiro asked with some concern.
“No, not anymore. He’s gotten better at saying how he feel instead of keeping it inside.”
“Hmm…” They finished their meals and cleaned up the rest of the food, remaining silent for Keith. Shiro leaned against the counter and looked to where Keith was, though he Shiro’s line of sight was blocked by the back of the couch.
“So what made you like Keith?” Lance asked as he washed the greasy pans.
“Oh, I don’t know. It was nice seeing a new face. He’s cute and funny.”
“That’s it? He’s cute and funny?”
“Well, he’s smart too, and I liked hearing about his work, especially overseas.”
Lance began to put away plates. “Really Shiro? Nothing else?”
“Well…” Shiro thought for a moment. There were plenty of things that he liked about Keith when he met him. His smile, his laugh, his strength, how smart he was, how tidy he was, how independent he acted. “He was just different than other people I had met.”
“Thank you for the great description.” Lance had a feeling Shiro had a few more attractions to Keith’s physique than he was letting on. Shiro was always a man like his partners to be smaller than him, but that wasn’t an issue considering how large he was. Lance remembered that hug between Keith and Shiro when they first met. That was when he knew Shiro had a thing for his high school bestie. Despite his suspicions, Lance did not pry.
He finished putting away the final plate and started to walk out of the kitchen.
“Well, I’m going to… wash up,” Lance said, his words directed to Keith. “I’ll be back in a few.”
Keith did not respond.
“Should I go?” Shiro whispered to Lance.
“Absolutely not,” Lance whispered back, yanking Shiro down by his sleeve. “You’re going to go out there and talk to Keith to make sure everything is okay.”
“Are you kidding? He hates me!”
“He doesn’t hate you. He’s just… I don’t know but he’s not mad mad. You just need to talk to him about what happened and learn how he feels, okay? Clean things up.”
Shiro sighed and nodded and Lance left. Shiro looked at the tuft of hair that peeked out from by the arm of the couch. Half of him wanted to go out there confidently and tell Keith how he felt and clear up any and all misunderstandings, but the other half just wanted to curl up and die. He took and deep breath and walked out to the sitting area and sat down on the loveseat by the couch. Keith did not look up. If anything, he raised his book so Shiro couldn’t look at him.
“Keith, I’m really sorry about tonight. I was talking to Lance and-”
“You could have just left,” Keith said flatly as he turned a page. “That would have been perfect. All issues would have gone with you.”
“I know, but,” Shiro searched for the words he wanted to use. “I was planning on leaving and then you came early-”
“So is it my fault now? For entering my own home when I wanted to?” Keith lowered his book and gave Shiro a cold stare.
“No, no, absolutely not, it’s just,” Shiro paused. “I would have left but I wanted to see you.”
Keith pursed his lips and looked away.
“I know the other day was awkward and I probably came off to strong or acted too early but, Keith, I really like you, and I want to go on at least one date with you. I don’t want you to be mad and if you don’t have the same feelings as I do it’s fine, I completely understand.”
Keith closed his book and curled up a little tighter. “It’s not that…”
“Is it something I can change? Are you already in a relationship? Do you actually like girls?”
“I just…” Keith could see the worry and anticipation in Shiro eyes. He liked Shiro, maybe just a little bit, and a date didn’t sound too bad, but Shiro just seems so out-of-his-league. He probably had his life together and Keith knew that Shiro wouldn’t want to date someone with so much extra weight and baggage. Many people didn’t.
“Please, Keith, just tell me.” Shiro had moved so he was sitting at the opposite end of the couch as Keith.
“I don’t know if… if I’m ready.” That wasn’t right. Why was this so hard?
“I can wait. It’s fine, I’m patient, and if your-”
“Shiro,” Keith interrupted, “I don’t want you to think I’m not interested, because I am, but…” How was Keith suppose to put this? “I guess there’s just a lot going on and…”
“I understand if you don’t want more on your plate. Moving and your job. It’s okay.”
“I don’t want you to get your hopes up or anything. We can try, but… I don’t know if it will work out in the end.”
Shiro’s face lit up. “That’s fine! Even if it’s just one date. So is that a yes?”
“I…” Keith thought for a moment. “I suppose, but…”
“But?”
You won’t like me because I’m insecure. You won't want to date someone who has no motivation or energy. You'll get mad at me because I get anxious too quickly. You’ll think I’m weak because I let my emotions get the best of me too often. You’ll get frustrated because we’re going too slow. You’ll dump me because I don’t want to have sex right away. You'll end up hating everything about me one way or another.
Instead of saying anything, Keith just felt his eyes start to water. Not this. Not here. Not now.
“Hey, Keith, it’s okay.” Shiro leaned over and took hold of Keith hand. “Are you alright?”
“Y-yeah, I…” Keith wiped one of his eyes. Before he could say anything, Shiro leaned in and engulfed Keith in a warm hug. It caught Keith off guard, but he didn’t hate it. It was nice having someone to hold. Keith put his hands on Shiro’s back and closed his eyes as he rubbed his face into Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro was a good person to hug.
I knew it would work out, Lance thought as he watched from behind the bend in the hallway. Keith just had to open up a little and Shiro helped him do just that.
Lance smiled, Keith squeezed his eyes tighter, and Shiro wondered if everything would be alright. Maybe things would work out in the end for them. But not every story has a happy ending.