Keith Salvatore

She felt more relaxed, being with him here and being able to hold his hand. Rachel wanted to remember this feeling. It was so sweet and soft, and she wondered how long she’d been waiting to feel this way with someone. She couldn’t have imagined the days she’d spent thinking about him would have ever led to this, but she was happy it did. Was this how normal people did things? They just went for it and found other people who seemed to care about them the same ways they did? No nonsense, no mishaps, no magic. Just this real and honest connection. It felt so human. She stood tall, but through the nerves, couldn’t bring herself to fully look at him. “Um, I’ve sort of never done this before,” she started with a small laugh, tucking her hair behind her ear, “So, you’re going to have to hear me out and deal with all my babbling, okay?”

“I just… I wanted to tell you that I’ve been really happy lately, spending time with you. I like being around you and I like the way I feel when we’re together. I-I know I’ve been awkward or maybe not the most normal person you’ve met, and usually that kind of thing scares me, but I’m not– scared, I mean. All the stupid stuff that usually freaks me out doesn’t when I’m with you, I’m just… happy. And, I sorta feel like you’ve been happy too, you know? And, so, running on that assumption, I thought maybe, we could–… If you’d like to…” Rachel took a breath and steeled herself, finally meeting his gaze. “Keith, will you go to Prom with me? Y-You don’t have to, I mean, I don’t want to force you, but I just, if you maybe wanted to, maybe– …Say something.”

“Of course.” Keith smiled, though he was growing steadily more nervous with every word she said. He had already signalled for the singing quartet to approach them, but of course he wouldn’t interrupt her.

He held her hands in his and Rachel couldn’t help but feel so light and warm as her expression softened and she continued to grin. Again, this was Keith. He was with her and knew her and made her feel so different. It was strange to Rachel, but she knew there was something there, a connection. Every time they were around each other, something seemed to click.

They had hung out a number of times before, and steadily gotten closer, which was why Rachel felt like she could finally take a step in the right direction now, and make more of what was in front of her. This could go her way. She tried her best to keep calm and collected even with the questions beginning to sprout. “Um, I just, I–” She stopped and took a breath. “I wanted to see you. Well, actually, I wanted to talk and ask you something, if that’s okay.” Rachel held on to one of his hands and led him by the shore. “It’s nice here, right?”

Keith could feel his heart hammer harder against his chest with every word she spoke. She wanted to ask him something? Him? It shouldn’t be so shocking to him considering how much time they had been spending together lately, but sometimes he even wondered how that was happening. Honestly felt like they might even have a stronger connection than he realised. For a moment, his mind drifted back to that bracelet he had found in his room. It was definitely Rachel’s but gosh, she had never been in his room before so how did it get there?

She heard her name and instinctively froze, suddenly realizing that this was all a mistake. Rachel had never done something like this in her life, what made her so sure this would go well? Nope, no way was this the right choice, this was a disaster. Maybe there was some way she could magic her way out of it– turn invisible and run to her car? Rachel ran through several scenarios in her head as she turned around and froze again, this time for a different reason.

It was truly amazing how much the nerves and butterflies would gather in her stomach when she thought of Keith, but when he was in front of her? She melted. The insane ideas left her and she felt herself smile. This was Keith. He was kind and easy-going and had, on more than one occasion, smiled at her in a way that made her think something more than friends could happen. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea. “Hey, Keith.”

He had still been a fair distance away from her, but his feet seemed to have  mind of their own as they pulled him into a gentle run. Keith’s hands instinctively reached for Rachel’s as his grin grew wider, “Hey.” He repeated, a little more breathless this time, though probably not from the running. He could do this. He could. What’s the worst that could happen, right?

Now all she needed was to see him.

@sweet–salvatore

Okay, so Keith had his own idea of how this day was going to go, but when Rachel text to ask him to meet her at the edge of the lake, well... how could he say no? It didn’t take long for him to rearrange his entire plan, but maybe this would be better. Maybe. God, his palms where sweating. How was this even going to work? He was a sophomore, this wasn’t even his prom. Was he crazy for even considering-...? His train of thought ran off the tracks when he saw her standing there. He couldn’t stop the smile that pulled at his lips before he called out to her. “Rach! Hey!”

I don’t know, man. I’m just tryna eat my sandwich. Go ask the other Salvatore kid about getting a discounted gym membership or better yet, go ask our daddy dearest directly. For all we know, he might be yours too so. Automatic discount.

Can you maybe stop being a jackass for like two seconds? Just two seconds out of your entire life?

It was entirely possible that the two of them meeting here the next town over was a complete coincidence. But Rachel knew the town she lived in and she didn’t believe in coincidence.

She smiled in return and thanked any god she knew that she wasn’t acting like an idiot– yet. Maybe it was the time of the night and the fact that her brain was already a little over the edge, but somehow Rachel was able to compose herself just enough and reply. “I just… came out for a drive. I’ve been killing myself over my textbooks all night and I guess I just wanted to get some fresh air.” She tried not to mention that she specifically wanted a drive outside of Havensdale’s drama, since it seemed like Keith actually liked the town he lived in. His opinion alone made Rachel want to reconsider her thoughts about the town, but it wasn’t enough to change her mind.

Though she was proud of the way she was able to maintain her outward appearance, she couldn’t help the awful way her stomach hadn’t stopped doing back flips since she saw him. Rachel tried not to focus on his smile or the color of his eyes in the street lamp’s light, or the fact that she had seen him shirtless. She bit her lip, realizing every moment she stood there saying nothing and getting lost thinking about the boy in front of her, she was losing the cool grip on her demeanor bit by bit. “It’s, ah, really nice of you to run errands for your mom. And how is your family?” Rachel realized she didn’t actually know too much about his family, since she tried not to prod Joey about it, and that the two might have varying opinions.

He seemed genuinely happy to see her, and, god, that made her heart squeeze. Keith was sweet and caring and handsome and she was everything he didn’t deserve. She had been trying and failing to get over her crush on him for the past few weeks and the dorky smile on his face wasn’t helping at all. Rachel’s gaze lingered for a moment on the curve of his lips and she watched, out of the corner of her eye, a street lamp flicker in and out. Her heart stopped and she immediately brought her attention back to be being polite and normal– god, please be normal– and not a mess of a human being.

This was ridiculous. Keith could talk to girls-- he did so every day to the point where they fawned all over him-- but speaking to Rachel was causing him so many problems. Joey’s voice rolling around in his brain wasn’t helping him either. Maybe it was because he didn’t want her to think he was adorable... Not that he wanted every other woman in town to see him as a cute kid, but he really wanted Rachel to know he liked her. Like really really. Being a town treasure was really taking its toll on him.

“Me too. I mean, I came to get things for my mom, but I just got a car and-... well, I wanted to, you know, drive it.” Joey’s voice rang out again and he just couldn’t shift it. Why was he ruining his life even all the way out here? “Uh... my family?” Keith let out a one-syllable laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. He really shouldn’t tell her, right? He shouldn’t tell her about how he hated being in his own home, or that he wished he never knew about Joey, or that his mom would stop trying so hard to please this stranger. He shouldn’t talk like that. It wasn’t Joey’s fault. Keith had to constantly remind himself of that.

He supposed he could tell her that his mom was pregnant, but he had yet to have that confirmed beyond finding the pregnancy test and he didn’t want to be the cause of a false rumour, or worse, a truth getting out that his mom wasn’t ready to share. All that aside though, he didn’t exactly want to lie to Rachel either so he attempted to find some kind of middle ground. “They’re okay. It’s been... strained, but-...” He shrugged his shoulders, “Always wanted a brother so...” Keith laughed again, but his smile barely reached his eyes. God, he really didn’t want to go home now, despite having been heading to his car.

“Hey... Do you maybe want to come get a coffee with me?” He didn’t know where the question had erupted from, but he let it hang in the air, fighting off the urge to stumble over more words.

His hand brushed against hers and when she felt that familiar sense of nerves and warmth, things finally felt normal to her again. “Keith,” she smiled, and while, yes, Rachel usually felt slightly awkward and self-conscious around him, it really didn’t seem like that big a deal this time. He was there, with his sweet smile and Rachel wanted nothing more than to just stay this way for a good while.

“I’m good, fine, really.” She pulled an earbud out and gestured back to him. “What about you, what are you up to?”

Somehow, his grin grew wider when she said his name. Keith had grown up having some kind of crush on almost every beautiful girl-- i.e. all of them-- that crossed his path, but this was different; he could just feel it. Spending time with Rachel was better than anything he could ever imagine, even if the were just sitting there doing nothing at all. It was stupid. He was a kid and he was well aware of how stupid this was-- which is why he never said it out loud-- but sometimes, standing there looking at her, Keith wondered if this was what love felt like. See? Stupid. He was only sixteen. When would he chill?

“Just a few, mostly snobby townies and the like.” He nodded and punched in the order. “That should be out in a minute or two, we’re not exactly busy right now.” Cas visibly pales, because he might not have been human in a long time, but he still knows how much trouble he could get in if the owner’s son starts saying he’s been badmouthing the place. “Absolutely, on your dad’s tab it goes. And uh, I wasn’t complaining about the beet juice, just commenting, really. It wasn’t even constructive criticism. You don’t have to say anything to him about this conversation.”

“Right, yeah... Few of those around.” Keith knew exactly the kind of people Cas was talking about, but he wasn’t about to sit there bitching about them in a public place-- and especially not his father’s gym. No, he would save that for the days Jamie, Annie and Dawn needed to vent, or to try to make Bree smile on one of her bad days. “Thanks, man.” He smiled, barely even registering that he had made Cas uncomfortable, hence why his brow furrowed as he continued. “Hey, don’t worry about it. You’re not the one complaining, the customers are. And if the customers aren’t happy with something, my dad would want to know, you know? You wouldn’t be punished for passing along feedback.”

You’re kidding. I mean, it’s not like I’m totally down with the whole idea of moving here, but your pancakes are top-notch and making it slightly easier.

Anyway, you are…?

Yeah, moving to small towns can be hard. Not that I know, since I’ve lived here my whole life and never experienced a move to a small town, but from a lot of the reactions ‘round here, you kind of start to wonder why anyone bothered to come at all. But yeah... at least there’s pancakes.

Welllll, do you have lots of pie or a skateboard orrrr a four wheeler per chance? 

I can make lots of pie? Yes, of course I have a skateboard-- I put those stickers you got me on it-- and... okay, no. I don’t have one of those, but two out of three ain’t bad, right?

I have the strangest urge to complete a bunch of things on my bucket list. I think I’m going to do it. Yup.

Yeah? What kind of things do you wanna do? Can I help with anything?

Everyone around here is always so weird, but it’s like today made everyone lose their minds. Maybe there’s something in the water supply.

Okay, so, not to completely disregard everything you just said, but is that actually Fiji water in your hands right now? Where did you even get that? Pretty sure the fanciest water we have here is Dasani.

Like, am I in a LifeTime made-for-TV romcom right now?

Try telling my brother that. He’s been here almost a year and he’s still not been charmed by the pancakes.

“If you’re here to complain about a drink I can offer my apologies, but please remember that I just ring them up, I don’t make them. Is it the color? It’s the color, isn’t it. We’ve started adding beet juice to all the smoothies–yes we do have a sign about it, yes it is listed under ingredients, no I don’t know why. I can give you a stamp card to make up for the trouble, though?”

“You had a lot of people complaining?” Keith laughed a little and took a seat at the counter, his hands raised. “Don’t worry, I’m just waiting on my dad to drive me home, but I’ll take a Monkey Business while I wait. Can you put it on my dad’s account? You know, Joseph Salvatore? If people are causing too much trouble for you, I can talk to him about the beet juice. Maybe include it as an option, rather than a necessity.”

How did I end up taking such a long nap? I don’t have time to take a nap. — Or maybe this is just my chance to learn how to move at double speed. That’s humanly possible, right? As long as my heart believes.

Nothing wrong with a long nap; means you’ll have more energy to do all the things you need to do! But hey, if anyone’s heart could make super speed possible, it’s totally yours.

Rachel was currently still groggy and very stressed. As her earbuds played the most calming music she could find in her library, Rachel kept her eyes down as she exited the coffee shop, a tea to-go in her hands. If she hadn’t  been so focused on how hot her beverage was, she might have noticed the person walking opposite from her and not bumped into them. “I-I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking! Excuse me–”

“Woah!” Keith hadn’t even seen her until she was bumping into him and, instinctively, he reached out to steady her tea so it wasn’t damaged in the collision. “Hey, don’t worry about it! You good?” He couldn’t stop the stupid grin spreading across his face as he spoke to her. So he was pretty sure he had fell asleep for like a week, but even despite the weird dream, Keith was feeling great. It wasn’t even that awful, to be honest; he had won the lottery and Joey was afraid of him. How cool would that be, right?