Chapter Text
Thirty minutes.
Keith was thirty minutes late.
Pico chewed on the filter of his cigarette. Where is he?
It had been nearly a month since they had set up this little routine. Unless Pico was busy or Keith wanted a day off, the two would meet up at the bus stop at noon. Pico would hand him his card, they’d go about their separate business, then meet back up at midnight. Neither of them had mentioned anything about needing the day off…so…
Where the fuck is Keith??
Pico, being himself, decided to try to rationalize.
Maybe he decided he didn’t want the deal anymore? That’d be best, but why wouldn’t Keith just let me know? It’d be no harm to me, fuck, it’d be a favor. Hm… maybe he’s sick? It’s been raining a lot lately, it wouldn’t be a fucking surprise. Fuck it, should I just leave? If he’s late, it’s his own fault.
Maybe he’s hurt.
Pico froze for a second before shaking his head. He mentally scoffed at the intrusive thought. Keith seemed like a cocky dumbass, sure, but Pico was confident that he’d be smart enough to mind his own business.
…almost confident.
He growled and snubbed his cigarette before turning on his heel. Why was he walking towards Keith’s neighborhood? Why did he care ?? If the little jackass got himself killed, that’d only be a benefit to Pico. He wouldn’t have to deal with someone bumming off of him, wouldn’t have to deal with the annoyance, wouldn’t have to deal with the guilt . He should’ve just turned right the fuck back around and continued his day. Continued his life the way he always had.
Alone.
Still, it didn’t stop him from walking straight into the slum and up to Keith’s place. He rapped his fist on the metal wall a few times, hoping he was just sleeping.
Nothing.
Pico took a deep breath to prepare for whatever crime scene he was about to walk into and reached for the door. He didn’t even get a firm hold on the handle before the door swung open, nearly knocking him out. Keith stepped out, a wild look in his eye before his vision landed on Pico.
“Jesus fucking Christ, dude, you scared the shit out of me!” he said, sheathing a knife he had (apparently?) been holding and pocketing it.
Pico, on the other hand, was livid . He collected himself quickly, the initial shock fading quickly to annoyance. “Where the fuck were you?! I thought you died!”
Normally when Pico yelled at someone, they’d cower in fear. He wasn’t exactly the friendliest guy around and made sure to let people know just how unfriendly he could be.
Keith…wasn’t most people.
Instead, he grinned.
“Aww~! You were worried about me, how sweet of you!” he drawled as he nudged Pico’s side with his elbow.
Something in Pico’s brain snapped. He shoved Keith into the side of the container hard , pinning him down via a hand on his neck. He leaned in, keeping eye contact as best he could as he growled.
“Get this through your mind, you fucking pest. I don’t give a fuck what you get yourself into. I’ve got shit to do today, and I don’t need you oversleeping to make me late. Got it?”
He punctuated his statement with a shove as he let go of Keith and stepped back, fully expecting the kid to piss his pants any second.
Keith laughed instead.
“Whatever you say, casanova,” he replied, rubbing his throat slightly. “Could at least take me to dinner first before choking me out, you know. Not very polite of you.”
Pico’s face burned. “You’re dense as fuck, you know that? I’m surprised you’ve managed to stay alive.”
“I’m not dumb, Pico,” he said, shrugging. “I just know when I’m actually being threatened, and when someone is just trying to scare me.” He began walking, pausing for just a moment to look at Pico over his shoulder. “You act all big and scary, but I know you wouldn’t do shit to me.”
Pico was stunned into a frozen silence. Who the fuck does this dude think he is?
I could kill him. I could. It’d be so easy.
He closed his eyes and sighed through his nose. Whatever. He had shit to do.
~~~~~
Keith bounced his leg as he and Pico waited for the bus to arrive. He sighed, turning to the other man. “What are you in a big hurry for anyway? If it was that big of a deal, you could’ve just kept the card for the day, y’know.”
“Well,” Pico started, taking the cigarette he’d been gnawing on out of his mouth. “The thing is, I’m headed to the bus stop closest to the park anyway. I figured we’d just ride together. I’ll swing by the park to pick you up when I’m done.”
“That makes sense. Sucks that I’m gonna lose out on some extra tips, though. Why don’t you just stick around for a bit when you’re done…doing whatever the fuck it is that you do and watch me for a bit?” Keith paused. “What… do you do, anyway?”
Pico hesitated. “No offense, but I’d rather not stick around. Nothing against you, I just wanna get home as soon as possible.”
He avoided the second question, Keith noticed, but that was to be expected in all honesty. Pico wasn’t exactly an open book. Keith understood, though. Lord knows there were plenty of things he never wanted to talk about.
“Fine, but you owe me a burger or something. Y’know, since you’re basically stealing from me,” Keith teased.
That got a small chuckle out of Pico, who looked over at Keith out of the corner of his eye. “You’re awfully cocky for someone so short.”
Keith crossed his arms and huffed. “You’re short too, dickhead!”
Despite himself, Keith smiled along with Pico. It was strange but not unwelcome to see Pico enjoy himself. In high school, he was just known as that douchebag people avoided like the plague, but now that he and Keith were something close to friends, he could really see that there was more to Pico than that. He was just…some guy who liked to have fun, same as everyone else.
The bus arrived shortly after and they boarded, luckily finding an empty seat near the back. Pico took the window seat, which pissed Keith off slightly, but he held his tongue. As the bus took off, Keith decided to ask the question he’d been wondering for weeks. He just wanted to wait until Pico was in a fairly good mood.
He leaned in slightly. “So…um, how’s the habit?”
He knew Pico didn’t like to talk about it, but Keith just had to ask. It had been almost a month since his little brush with death, and as far as Keith could tell, not much had changed. He didn’t show up to the bus stop high every morning, but Keith could see it in the bags under his eyes.
Pico instantly frowned. “Still alive, ain’t I?”
“I know. I just…wanna check up on you, y’know? I’m here for ya.”
“You ain’t my fucking therapist, Keith,” Pico spat quietly. He was visibly starting to shut down from the conversation. “It’s under control. Don’t sit there and try to pretend like you’re a fucking saint for acting like my friend or whatever.”
He expected the anger, honestly. “I do genuinely care about your health. I’m not gonna push it,” Keith responded in an even tone. “And for what it’s worth, I’m not pretending. I like to think of you as a friend.”
“Fuck makes you think we’re friends?” Pico snorted. “You don’t even know me.”
“To be fair, you don’t really talk about yourself,” Keith retorted.
“Maybe you should take the hint.”
Now, Keith was a fairly level headed man and all, but fuck was Pico pushing all of his buttons. He narrowed his eyes as Pico looked away to stare out at the passing city streets.
“You know what, Pico? I think you’re full of shit.”
Pico only glanced at his direction, so Keith continued.
“I know you’re on this ‘lone wolf’ bullshit, but you constantly forget that without me, you’d be dead. Not to mention that you keep me around for some reason. You wanna know what I think?”
“Enlighten me,” Pico all but growled.
“I think you want a friend, but you’re too scared to admit it. Either to me or yourself, it really doesn’t matter. And you wanna know what else? I think you like having me around!”
In a matter of a few moments, Keith went from sitting upright in the bus seat to being shoved to the floor, his head just barely missing the seat across from them. The few other passengers on the bus barely spared him a glance, but he caught sight of the bus driver looking in the rearview mirror with disdain in his eyes. He looked up to see Pico, staring him down with bared teeth.
“You don’t know shit about me. Remember that.” He muttered a couple words in Spanish before completely turning away, his body curled into itself and facing the window.
Keith only stared at him for a moment before sighing and getting back up to sit at the bench across from Pico. It wasn’t much longer until the bus reached its stop. He got up and stood behind Pico, staring daggers into his back.
What a fucking dick.
“Don’t bother picking me up at the park. If you wanna be an asshole, fine. Don’t include me in your shit.”
Pico didn’t even attempt to turn around as he answered, “Gladly.”