#kidgefest

They had walked past this house many times over the years. On a normal day, it was just a nice house where a nice old couple lived. But on one night a year, it became something completely different. On this night every year, it seemed to grow to be two times its normal size, looming over the rest of the quaintly decorated neighborhood. There were dim lights all around the house, in varying shades of dark purple, red, and orange, casting odd shadows here and there. The windows of the second floor of the house were covered with wooden boards. It looked like on the windows had been smashed up, too.

Rumors flee from the house, about ghosts haunting the place that got real restless on Halloween. The legends said that Joey Thornton, the son of the couple who lived there, had summoned a demon that threw him out the window. Because of his violent death, and the deal he made with the demon, every Halloween, the house became cursed by Joey’s spirit. He spent all of Halloween chasing naughty children out of the house. And they said that if you dared to venture into his old room, the demon itself would come after you.

A shudder ran through him at the thought, reaching up to yank his ninja hood more firmly over his head.

There were a few people milling about out front, chatting quietly, and the front door was propped open. There wasn’t a lot of light inside, just a flickering strobe effect visible through what little he could make out of the entryway.. He gulped as a dark figure loomed in the flickering light, the movements jerky and disconcerting, but then released it when he realized that with was just Donald, the Thornton’s wayward pet cat.

They’d never crossed the street to enter the Thornton’s house before. But, this year, things were different.

“Full. Sized. Candy bars, Amber!” Alfor declared, his words a bit muffled by the thick white bread he was sporting.

Amber cocked her head curiously, tilting the wide brim of her pirate hat up and out of her eyes. “Oh yeah? And how do you know that?” She asked, but her gaze stayed on the house.

“Because that’s what Denny Ramirez told me!”

“You listened to Denny? As in the same guy that got scared when Mrs. Kingston turned off the lights for that movie in class two weeks ago,” She laughed.

Alfor flushed a bit but glared at her. “Fine, if you don’t think you’re brave enough to do it-!”

“I’m more than brave enough,” She cut in, holding her plastic cutlass up and jabbing him in the chest with it, “I just want to make sure it’s worth the trek. I’ve heard some other kids say that all you get is a big ole’ popcorn ball.”

“And who said that?”

“Carol Dickens,”

“Carol Dickens! You believe her over Denny Ramirez?”

“Considering she didn’t pee her pants when the classroom lights went dim? Uh, yeah, I do!”

The older boy threw one hand up before pointing his staff at her in retaliation. “Well, why don’t we go see for ourselves, then? And let’s make a bet out of it?”

Kaden could tell by how his sister’s eyes twinkled that she liked the sounds of this. “What are you thinking, exactly?”

“Winner gets five pieces of candy from the loser. Winner’s choice, of course,”

“Taking Reese’s and Butterfingers off the table, though,”

“Oh, no, they are very much staying on the table! It’s the winner’s choice! Loser doesn’t get to go making demands,” He barked right in her face.

“You’re saying that as if you’ve already won,” She scoffed.

“Because I already have,” He sneered back.

“Why are you two like this?” A third voice chimed, sounding an odd mix of exasperated and anxious. Then again, this was typical of Richter. He always seemed to think all the really cool, fun things that Amber and Alfor wanted to try were actually really scary.

Stealing another glance at the house, though, Kaden couldn’t help but think that maybe he was right this time.

“You’ve got some gall on you to think you can beat me and Kaden that easy,” Amber laughed, causing him to jerk to attention at his name. She reached out and gave his shoulder a small squeeze, flashing him a bright grin. “Ain’t that right, bro?”

Richter seemed to notice his uneasiness, looking from him to his sister. “Hey, Amber, this is between you and Alfor. If Kaden doesn’t want to go then –!”

“Who said I didn’t want to go? I’m just as brave as any of you big kids!” He huffed, whirling to pin the other with a glare. For a moment, his fear of the spooky house was forgotten. He was a Kogane and Kogane’s didn’t back down from a challenge, ever! Richter looked stunned by the response, but he merely sighed and shook his head at the four year old. He should have expected as much from Amber’s brother, really.

She was left preening at his response. “That’s right, Kaden! And when we show Alfie who was right, he’ll owe us each five pieces of candy!”

“Wait, we didn’t say five each! It was five total!”

“The rules of any proper candy bargain apply to any kid that has candy to throw into the ring, meaning that he’s included, too!” She harrumped, sticking her tongue out at him for added emphasis.

“She does have a point, you know. Those are the rules of candy bargain, as deemed by the fifth graders on the playground. And we all know that the fifth graders have this kind of stuff figured out,” Richter agreed with a nod.

Blue eyes narrowed and pinned him, causing him to flinch. “Fine. Wager stays the same, but Kaden gets to be in the pool. Can we get this started then?” He asked, pointing at the house with his staff.

Panic coursed through Kaden as he glanced back over, seeing what he could only call a horned silhouette in the smashed second floor window. “We need a grown-up to go over there!” He proclaimed suddenly, hoping that would be enough to maybe deter it all. He didn’t want to have to admit he was scared, because that wasn’t cool. His Mom and Dad and Amber were never afraid of anything, so he wasn’t going to be either!

At the same time, though, he really didn’t want to go into the creepy old house. Not tonight, anyway.

Amber and Alfor both stopped at the curb, looking from Kaden to each other. “Good catch. Mom and Dad would be really mad if we went to a house without one of them,” She said, shifting to approach her brother again.

“My Dad will definitely take me across the street, so it’s just on you, Kogoons! Come on, Richie, let’s go ask your parents, too!” He blew a raspberry at Amber before turning his attention to the half Balmeran beside him.

“Who said I was going with you guys? You three are on your own!” Richter proclaimed in disbelief.

Amber blew a raspberry of her own in return before grabbing his arm and tugging insistently. “Come on, Kaden. Let’s go talk to Mom and Dad,” She huffed, practically dragging him to where their parents were gathered, a little farther up the street with their two younger siblings. He fell in line with her steps quickly, trying to ignore the way his stomach roiled in response.

Pidge was crouched in front of a stroller, shaking her head with a small laugh. “He’s out like a light,” She said, glancing up briefly at Keith.

He carefully pushed back the floppy dragon’s head of his costume so that he could see much easier. “Is he really? I mean, he’s wearing those goggles,” He pointed out.

She looked up at him with a small smile and held the swirly eyed-goggles up with one finger. “You question my ability to remove parts a costume from a snoozing toddler?” She teased, pushing herself up and grinning at the cooing baby strapped to her husband’s chest. Large green eyes were looking around at everything before her with wonder. “Newt was so excited to stay up late and play mad scientist, but in the end baby sister beat him out, huh?” She mused, reaching over to carefully pluck the tiara from her head.

Aria turned her head to stare at her mouth with her mouth wide open, as if shocked she’d dare to remove the piece of her costume, then let out a quiet squeak when an orange leaf fluttered past her instead.

“She’s probably enjoying all the sights and sounds. All kinds of new stuff for her,” He chuckled in agreement, perking up when he spotted the other two approaching. “Ah, and there’s the rest of our little ones. Ready to call it a night?”

“Actually, Daddy,” Amber mused, putting on her sweetest voice and smile, “can we just hit one more house before we go? Please?”

Keith’s brow knitted a bit. “Amber, sweetheart, you’ve already been to all the houses in this neighborhood. Plus, it’s getting late and we should be heading home,”

“We haven’t hit all the houses, though,” She said, pointing to the house across the street.

“Oh, the Thornton’s house. Looks great, like usual,” Pidge mumbled to herself. The Thornton family had always been fond of Halloween, as she learned after having a conversation with Angie Thornton when they went out for Amber’s first Halloween all those years ago. Angie informed her that while they’d always loved the holiday, they really started amping up their game up about a decade ago. There had been an accident while Joey and his father, Frankie, were putting up decorations that, despite Joey only suffering some minors cuts from broken glass, had grown bigger and bigger because of his friends to the point that an urban legend had been started by the older kids to scare the younger ones. The fact that Joey had been a high school senior and then been a dorm student at the university in the town had only worked to their advantage. Every Halloween, he came back and dressed up like a ghost to help his parents run a haunted house that did pretty well at startling all the kids under the age of twelve.

Which, she realized, was probably part of the reason her daughter was so interested in it now.

“Hmm. I don’t know. You might still be too young for the haunted house,” Keith chimed worriedly. He knew that Frankie and Joey kept an eye out for how old the kids coming in were, and adjusted their behavior to accommodate, but he still tended to worry about exposing the kids to things too far from their comfort zone.

“Alfie’s Daddy is gonna take him to the haunted house,”

“Oh, well if Lance is totally cool with mentally scar his child, then I should be, too,” He said flatly, rolling his eyes a bit.

Pidge flashed him an exasperated look and lightly shoved his shoulder, but his dry joke still got a snort out of her. “Oh, be nice. Ari’s still doing well, and since Newt’s asleep anyway, I can take her over real fast while you watch the other three,”

“No, Mommy, Kaden’s coming with,” Amber chimed.

That gave her pause, as she looked from Amber to her older son. His gaze had flickered back to the house, eyes wide and glossy. Sensing eyes on him, he whipped around to look at his parents. The discomfort was clear in his face, but Pidge could also see the gleam of resolve. “Y-Yeah! I wanna go to the scary house, too!”

She and Keith exchanged glances, both of them knowing exactly what was going on. When she turned back he was still staring at her, clearly gearing himself up to argue about how he actually did want to go. She stole a glance over to see that Lance was approaching with Alfor, he and Amber already starting on another animated exchange of playground taunts. She was a bit relieved to see her distracted. While she appreciated how close the pair were despite the age gap between them, she sometimes worried how Amber’s control over her brother could be unknowingly used against him.

Pidge walked a bit closer and knelt down in front of her son, being careful of the long white coat of her own costume as she did. “Kaden, you can come with us to the spooky house if you want to. But you need to make me a promise, okay?” She asked, making sure to keep her voice gentle.

“What?” He mumbled.

“I want you to stay close and hold my hand real tight, okay? Mommy doesn’t really like going into spooky houses,” She said softly.

His eyes widened on her, disbelief obvious. “Really? But you’ve fought big scary monsters before! Nothing ever scares you or Daddy!”

She laughed and pulled him closer to her. “Sometimes, we’ve had to push past our fear to help take care of each other or to help protect other people. And just because we’ve faced all those scary things before doesn’t Daddy and I still get scared sometimes. We get scared about bad things happen to you or your brother or your sisters. I know Daddy gets kinda scared if he’s stuck in tight spaces. And I get kinda scared of spooky houses. We can help keep each other safe while we’re in there, you and I,” She explained softly.

Kaden took a deep breath and nodded, indicating the handle of one of his toy katanas strapped to his back. “I’ll protect you, Mommy. No scary monsters are gonna get you, cause I have those,” He vowed, some of the fear in his own belly settling a bit, reaching over and taking her hand. She smiled and led him to join the other two kids. He squared his little shoulders and puffed his chest up a little, feeling much better about everything. Knowing that his Mommy and Daddy felt scared sometimes made him feel better, and he felt even better knowing that his Mommy didn’t like spooky houses, either.

"I don't think so..." She trails off, turning back to her parcel, which was written to the brim with explanations and formulae in precise cursive. She'll have to finalize her essay before submitting their class worksheet. Her hand grabs the quill and dips the tip of the feather into the pink ink.

Some shuffling caught her ears and she tilts her head to the sound. She pauses. Keith must be having a hard time with the equipment. Pidge lays the quill by the edge of paper, careful not to let the pink wet tip blotch the parcel. She straightens from her seat and turns to her partner, who has his face scrunched up at the test tubes before him.

Hm. Cute. She snorts. The sound of her voice lifts him from his indecision and he lifts a brow.

"Is there something on my face?" He asks. She shakes her head, smile blooming on her face with flushed cheeks. Pidge approaches his side of the table and lifts a test tube filled with insects.

"Take a half of this," She pours half of it on cauldron, where the is already broiling in dark purple, and stirs the mixture clockwise. Three times. Counterclockwise for five more times. She returns the test tube on its holder and takes another one that sparkled cut obsidian gems. She glances at him, feeling her cheeks heat at his unreadable stare. Pidge clamps her upper lip from curling and returns to her work, explaining the procedure.

"And so.." She continues. Every stare draws shivers down her spine. Her eyes once again finds the date on the parcel, and her mind drags out a reminder that the annual Halloween ball is only two days away. Her mind also likes to feed out a little factoid that word around the class says that Keith doesn't have a date. She thinks of the emerald ensemble sitting at the back of her closet already ironed and scented with vanilla.

Her volition drives those unsaid thoughts back at the closet, locked and sealed as she finishes the procedure. She's been rambling instead of explaining now, and she notices that he notices that she notices so Pidge says nothing more but a smile and places her attention in fixing her things.

Their worksheet has already been polished and ready for submission. She smiles at her penmanship, scanning the paper one last time before leaving her seat. A hand grabs at her wrist and she turns to her partner.

"Hey," he says and then goes on with a few verbal crutches before shoving a small piece of paper into her palm. He abruptly stands up and manages to blurt a farewell before rushing out of the classroom, his face obviously beet red for reason she can't come up. Her gaze flickers to the long line of students submitting their paperwork and then back again to the mysterious paper. Her heart rate shoots up as she straightens out the crumpled paper. Written out on legible printed font was:

Will you go out with me? - Yes - No

When Keith looked at her, he pursed his lips.

He didn’t bother to deny how his heart squeezed a painful lump in his throat that made it difficult to breathe when they were in the same room. Nor when Pidge smiled at him he could sense that he lost all feeling to his limbs. It was normal by then, having his body and mind being consumed by this ray of emotions and physical attachments when he reconsidered his position and somewhat transition as a paladin of Voltron and now a temporary covert soldier in Blade of Marmora. It stayed consistent of the influence that her voice still carried him when he thought he couldn't go forward during his darkest hours.

Who knew that love would end up being a powerful tick for Keith to cherish as he went on missions. For months love became the right tool to keep him motivated and successful as he plotted and sabotaged the Garla forces. When he forged himself a solitary air around the halls he walked on and stood when he was in the middle of a crowd he felt confident about all the progress he was able to make.

His name may have been casted off to fame, but his own face remained as a shadow.

Which was in some ways a great relief. Especially when he wanted to be alone or was in the middle of a mission. Yet, there he was, gripping onto his reality as his own feelings became too heavy to bear. She was his center, his light and all he could do was skip around the edges because of his nerves. Keith never considered himself to be a coward. But when Pidge glanced at him, smiled at him, and asked for him he found himself frozen.

All she had done was be herself and Keith became smitten.

No snazzy outfits, or outrageous backstories Pidge was just perfectly flawed. She was brave, smart and determined. Like himself, they both strived to overcome all that was plastered in front of them. And in that slope Keith couldn’t shake her smiles when he tried to quiet his mind. It wasn’t like he wanted to complain, Keith only just wanted to find a balance in his life again. To feel like he was himself again and not some fool that couldn’t help but blush when she came too close to him.

He was truly hers.

Pidge felt like she woke up once every hour that night, her restless brain unable to relax for a single minute. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see the earnest expression on Keith's face as he held her hand and told her she was incredible. And in the little bit of time when she was able to sleep, she dreamed that she hadn't run away. That she'd stayed and somehow ended up wrapped in his arms, warm and safe, almost as though they were more than just friends.

She wanted to cry when her alarm cut on, signaling loud and clear that it was time for her to get up and get ready for the day. She moved sluggishly, her whole body heavy as she went about her morning routine. She brushed aside Matt's concern for her, leaving the house before he could start to really worry and ask questions.

The rest of her day went about the same. Time dragged on, she ignored her friends' worried looks, only answered questions from her teachers when they were directed her way, and ate the bare minimum of food to keep her going. All she wanted to do was go back home and collapse in her bed, hopefully to get some actual sleep. Pidge didn't want to think about the fake love letter or about what Keith said to her anymore.

She just wanted to move on.

She sent off a quick text message to Lance, letting him know she was going home for the day so he wouldn't waste time searching for her, and then she began the long walk to her car, which she'd purposefully parked in a different place in hopes of throwing off her newest tormentor.

Pidge's kept her head bowed, her senses stretched thin as she listened for noisy chatter and footsteps and watched for approaching shadows in order to avoid bumping into anyone. It was only when she got near where she parked that she looked up.

Keith was there, hands shoved in his pockets, looking thoroughly uncomfortable as he stood there. His hair was down and was mussed at the back of his neck, as if he'd spent a lot of time tugging his fingers through the longer strands, a nervous habit Pidge knew very well from their study sessions together. He raised his eyes as she slowly approached, but said nothing until she was standing right in front of him.

“Keith?” she asked, unable to keep her exhaustion from coloring her voice. “Is something wrong?”

“I'm sorry,” he blurted out. He visibly winced, closed his eyes, and breathed out before opening them again. “What I said yesterday, I meant it. You're one of the most amazing people I've ever known and not just because of how smart you are. You're kind too. And patient. And...” Keith clenched his hands at his sides, struggling to get the words out. “I'm the one who wrote the letter.”

Pidge felt the world tilt around her.

Keith had written the letter.

Keith, her friend, had written a love letter and left it for her to find.

Keith, who she'd developed a tiny, miniscule crush on, liked her back.

It wasn't something she'd prepared for. She wasn't ready. Every part of her screamed to run away, to collect her thoughts, and then respond to what was going on, but there was that one little voice that held her steady.

Running away never helped, it only hurt people.

“Pidge, please say something?” Keith's voice was soft, as if he was afraid speaking any louder would cause her to bolt.

She planted her feet firmly on the ground. “You wrote the letter?” she asked for confirmation, raising her eyes to meet his. “You like me?”

“I did. I do,” Keith stumbled over his words. “I like you, Katie. I have for a while. I just didn't know how to tell you and thought writing it down would help, but it didn't. And then I thought... I thought giving you the letter was the right way, but what if it ruined things between us? I'd rather have you as a friend than nothing. So that's why... I'm sorry. I didn't know.”

Pidge was at a loss for what to do. She'd never dared to fantasize that he would return her feelings. Was she supposed to admit that she liked him back? Should she hug him? How did other people handle situations like that?

And then she heard it. A quiet melody, slowly growing louder. A very distinctive and familiar love song.

Keith frowned and looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. If he strained his ears, he could make out the sound of a heated argument between Hunk and Lance as they continued their debate over the proper music to use, even after he'd turned down their offer of playing “mood music” during his confession.

Pidge couldn't help it. She giggled at the cross expression on Keith's face, the tension inside of her snapping at long last. She recognized that song at once. It was the same one Lance spent nights playing outside of Hunk's bedroom window, serenading the boy until he laughingly agreed to go on a date. She understood immediately what was happening.

Poor Keith.

Lance really didn't have as great of a grasp on romance as he thought.

“Keith,” she murmured, stepping closer to him. She reached out and took his hand. And maybe it was because of the music playing in the background or maybe it was because she was already sure of Keith's feelings, but suddenly she didn't feel so afraid of her own. “I'm glad it's you. I've, um, had a crush on you for a while too.”

He stood there, frozen in front of her in wake of her own confession, and then gave her a dazzling smile. His fingers laced together with hers, warm and comfortable.

And for a moment, everything was perfect.