#protectivekeith

Lance shakes his head, “It’s okay I don’t think I am ready to face my Mami yet.”

They walk in and see Shiro and Allura sitting in the living room watching a movie, it is about midnight and Keith is a little surprised to see them up, they turn around to see Keith and pause the movie, “Keith you are back how was the party?”

Keith shrugs, “Could have been better. I brought somebody home.” Lance steps out of the darkness of the hallway, “Hey guys.” Lance waves timidly then puts his hand back on his hurt arm and does not look them in the eyes.

Shiro and Allura look at each other having a vague idea of what probably happened. Allura stands up, “Lance lets go get some coffee hm?”

Lance nods and follows Allura into the kitchen. Keith watches them go and Shiro walks up to Keith.

“Follow me.” Shiro says.

Keith follows him down to the basement and he sees that Shiro has turned it into a gym, “I didn’t tell you about this because I have not used it as much since my accident but I feel like you could use it right now.

Keith’s eyes zero in on the punching bag hanging from the ceiling and walks straight towards it. Shiro makes him stop to wrap up his hands but then backs away. All the anger Keith had inside of him for Lotor he lets it all out on the punching bag. How dare Lotor hurt Lance like that. How dare Lotor think Keith would ever be afraid of him. That Keith would just walk away when he had Lance trapped like that. All these thoughts running around his head Keith punches more and more. Shiro grabs the bag from behind so Keith can get better punches in. Finally after about ten minutes the anger has subsided Keith is exhausted he sits down and puts his face in his hands. Shiro sits next to him waiting for him to speak.

Finally he lifts his head up but doesn’t look at Shiro, “You know in my record how it says I punched a teacher?” He sees Shiro nod in his peripheral, “It was this gym teacher, Morvok. He always watched the girls when they would run and one day I caught him after school pushing a freshman girl against the wall.”

Shiro puts his hand of Keith shoulder, Keith lets him, “I got expelled but that girl thanked me for what I did and a bunch of other girls confessed that something like that similar happened to them and they got the coach fired.”

“Thank you for telling me.” Shiro says.

Keith turns to look at him, “Up until tonight that was the angriest I have ever been.”

“But you didn’t punch him.” Shiro sort of questions.

Keith scoffs, “I wish I did. I wish I punch him and broke his nose.”

Shiro lowers his hand from Keith’s shoulder, “So why didn’t you? Don’t get me wrong I am glad you didn’t but why?”

Keith look and the punching bag, “I just thought that if I did I would get expelled again and Lotor probably wouldn’t face any consequences and Lance would be alone with him.”

Shiro smiles, “You really care about him huh?”

Keith snaps his attention toward Shiro with a annoyed glare, “Really? That is what you are taking from that?”

Shiro shrugs, “Well.”

Keith gets up, “Me liking him is not the point right now. The problem is some wanna-be model douchebag won’t leave him alone and I can’t beat him up!” He punches the punching bag again.

“What if I am not there next time?” Punch. “Or what if I am too late?” Another punch. “What if Lotor hurts him?” Another. “I’ve been through this before Shiro I know what happened to make Lance so afraid of him.”

Shiro grabs Keith and pulls him into a hug, Keith is crying, “But you were there Keith. You saved him tonight.”

Keith lets himself cry in Shiro’s arms. Keith has not cried in front of anybody in a very long time. He likes Shiro’s hugs.

Keith stops crying and backs away, Shiro looks him in the eyes, “I know you will do all you can to help Lance. We will too. So will Hunk and Pidge and his family, hell we will get his dad’s old army friends if we have too. He will be ok.”

Keith nods and the basement door opens and Allura walks down, “Lance is ready to go home. Thought maybe you would want to say goodbye.”

Keith nods and almost runs up the stairs. He sees Lance putting on his shoes, “Hey.” Keith says.

Lance smiles, “Well if it isn’t my knight and shining armor.”

Keith is thankful for the low light in the kitchen to hide his blush, “You gonna be ok to drive home?”

Lance nods, “Oh yeah I’ll be fine. My Mami is probably worried sick about me last thing I need is to bring a boy home.”

Keith smiles, “Yeah I met her she seems really nice.”

Lance stands up straight, “Oh right remind me to kill Pidge on Monday for that.”

Keith laughs but then it is a few beats of awkward silence before Lance speaks again, “Hey thanks by the way for, ya know.”

Keith looks Lance in the eyes, “Of course.”

Now it is Lance’s turn to blush, “Well I got to go but, I’ll see you Monday?”

Keith wakes up screaming for his mom. He looks around the room realising he is at Shiro and Allura’s house and his mom is gone. This isn’t the first time he has had this dream and it won’t be the last. He checks his phone and sees that it is three in the morning. He groans and lays back down but he knows he isn’t going back to sleep. He decides to make the best of it and gets out of bed and goes to his desk where he keeps his sketchbook. He turns on his desk lamp and begins sketching. He draws a woman surrounded by darkness and blood dripping out of her eyes.

He does not know how much time passes but the sun has begun to rise and an alarm on his phone goes off. He check his phone and it reads “Get Ready For School”. Shit he forgot about that.

He closes his book and rises from his desk. He has about two hours until he needs to get to school and he wants to go for a run. He changes into his work out clothes which are a pair of old black gym shorts and a gray tank top that hangs loosely on him. He pulls his hair up into a ponytail and grabs his music.He grabs his new running shoes that Allura swear he needed before he runs out the door.

As he is running he is thinking about his new school. His schedule is not that bad. He starts the day in Shiro’s AP Physics class, has art with Coran after lunch, and ends the day in Allura’s AP Literature. He has other classes mixed in there as well like but he has not gotten the chance to meet those teacher.

He ends his run about an hour later and gets in the shower to get ready for school. In the shower he remembers the dream that he had and tries to shake it away. He does not need to think about that right now. After his shower he decides that he is going to wear his black skinny jeans with rips on the knees, a plain black t-shirt, a red and black flannel tied around his waist, and his black Doc Martens that he came with. He takes a look in the mirror and takes a deep breath then heads downstairs.

Shiro and Allura are sitting at the kitchen table enjoying their morning coffee, they do not notice Keith walk in so he head over to the coffee pot to get his own.

After pouring his cup Keith goes to sit with them at the table, Shiro and Allura both look up, Allura smiles brightly, “Good morning Keith! Did you sleep well.”

Keith shrugs and takes a sip of his coffee.

Shiro senses that is all he is going to say so he tries to continue the conversation, “Well we plan to leave for school in about twenty minutes. Does that sound good?”

Keith nods and mumbles a quiet, “Yeah.”

Allura speaks, “I heard from Coran that he showed you around school so you knew your schedule?”

Keith looks at her, “Yeah I am in both of your guy’s classes.”

This time both of their faces light up, “Really?”

Keith smirks, “What? Are you guys surprised I am in your AP classes?”

“No that’s not it at all-” Shiro begins to say but seeing the smirk on Keith face stops, “We are just excited to have you is all.”

Keith smiles and they finish their coffee in silence before all heading out the door together to go to school.

Keith is grateful for them being teachers because they can get to school before the rush of students. He decides to walk his schedule one more time to make sure that he knows it. When he reaches Allura’s class he wants to say hi but she is not there. He shrugs and walks back to Shiro’s classroom because people were starting to arrive. He gets to Shiro’s classroom and can hear a quiet conversation going to he waits to walk in. He recognizes Shiro and Allura’s voice but there is one other voice he somewhat recognizes. The third voice speaks, “Why would you bring a delinquent like him to this school?” Keith now recognizes the voice as principal Zarkon.

Shiro speaks up, “He is not a delinquent.”

Zarkon scoffs, “His record says otherwise.”

“Principal Zarkon,” Allura’s firm voice adds in, “Keith has had a rough life. Shiro and I have been getting to know him and I do believe he is not a bad kid.”

“Really?” Zarkon says, “Mr. Kogane has already threatened some students.”

“When was this?” Shiro asks?

Keith can sense the sinister smile on Zarkon face, “Last week after your practice. According to my sources Keith had intent to harm Ezor and Acxa.”

Out in the hall Keith is shrinking in on himself, he did not want to cause problems for Shiro and Allura, he was just trying to help Pidge, he was not actually going to hurt those two girls.

To Keith complete surprise Shiro speaks, “Whatever Keith did I’m sure he meant no harm.”

Allura speaks those somewhat mumbled, “I do not believe we can say the same for those two girls.”

Keith smirks, he likes Allura.

Zarkon scoffs, “Nonetheless that boy is trouble and if something happens it will be on you two to fix it.”

Shiro voice is firm, “Keith is a good kid. Now I will appreciate if you leave my classroom. The bell is going to ring in ten minutes and students will be arriving soon.”

A few seconds later Zarkon storms out not noticing Keith which he is thankful for.

Shiro speaks, “Do you really think he threatened those girls.”

Allura scoffs, “Trust me I know those girls. They were probably doing something Keith did not agree with and he stopped it. I mean you know those girls they are friends with Lotor.”

This time it is Shiro who scoffs, “Oh right them.”

Keith is confused, who is Lotor? He doesn’t think about it to much because the hallway is now filled with people so Keith walks through the door. Shiro and Allura jump, “Keith your back.”

“Yeah.” Keith shrugs, coming up with a lie, “I walked my schedule a few times and just got back.”

The two worried faces in front of him fade, “Well,” Allura says, “I should be heading to class myself. I’ll see you at the end of the day okay Keith?” She tries to hide her emotion in her words like Kolivan does.

Keith nods, “Yeah.”

Allura smiles and gives Shiro and kiss before walking out the door. Shiro watches her leave and that makes Keith smile, Keith does not know a lot about love but he knows that those to are. Shiro tells Keith he can sit anywhere so he opts for his favorite spot which is the far back corner. Shiro does not seem bothered.

Keith takes out his phone and begins scrolling through his tumblr that he is finally able to use when two students walk in. He recognizes one of them as Pidge but the other students looks like, a bigger Pidge?

Shiro smiles, “Pidge, Matt! So good to see you two.”

Pidge smiles, “Shiro will you please tell Matt that he can’t stay?”

Matt smiles, “And will you please tell Pidge that this is my free period and you said I could student assist?”

Shiro laughs, “Yes and I know realise that putting you two in the same classroom might have been a terrible idea.”

Pidge and Matt both mock offense by putting their hands over their hearts and opening their mouths. They look so similar when they do it Keith feels weird.

Pidge finally turns around and notices Keith, “Keith! You are in this class?”

Matt turns to look at who is younger sibling is talking to his eyes narrowing slightly. Keith clears his throat, “Yeah.”

Pidge laughs, “Again with the talking.”

Keith shrugs.

Matt bumps Pidge’s arm, their face lighting up, “Oh right! Keith this is my brother Matt,” They motion to him with a wave of the hand, “And Matt this is Keith. The guy from last week that I told you about.”

At the mention of last week both Shiro and Matt’s faces light up in understanding. Shiro takes his phone out probably to text Allura and Matt softens his expression, “Well it’s nice to meet you Keith, and uh, thanks.”

Keith shrugs, “No problem.”

Pidge looks between them and rolls their eyes, “Yeah whatever. Keith give me your schedule.”

Keith takes his schedule out of his back pocket and hands it to Pidge who is now sitting at the desk in front of him. They read over it, “Sweet we have this class and AP Lit together at the end of the day. Oh and we have lunch together!”

Keith smiles. He is relieved that they have lunch together, more often than not when he starts a new school he sits by himself at lunch but maybe this year will be different.

The other students have now arrived and a lot of them look at Keith before sitting down. The girls whisper to each other and the guys look him up and down probably thinking they could take him. Keith chuckles to himself at the thought.

Once everyone is seated the final bell rings and Shiro begins his class. Keith listens intently because he wants to do well at this school. He reads over the syllabus and takes notes when needed. People will occasionally turn around to look at him but he does not notice.

-----

The rest of the morning goes by pretty quickly. He has three more classes before lunch and those were spent reading over different syllabuses. He has gym right before lunch and the teacher had students take different fitness tests and Keith scored the highest on all of them.

Feeling good after gym he walks over to the cafeteria and buys his lunch. He looks around for Pidge and sees them at a table with two guys he does not recognize. Their backs are facing him but he can tell one of them is telling a story by his arm gestures. He feels nervous but walks over and Pidge spots him, “Keith!” They wave.

Keith smiles and waves back. They guys finally turn around and everything in Keith’s brain stop working for a second. The guy who was telling the story has to be the most beautiful man Keith has ever seen in his life. He has a tan skin that looks amazingly soft that makes Keith want to run his hands all over and blue eyes that Keith feels like he could stare at for hours and never get bored. He’s wearing a blue muscle tee that says “Save the Turtles” on it in bold green letters, his varsity jacket is hanging on the back of his chair. But the part that really takes Keith’s breath away is that the beautiful stranger is staring at him too.

Pidge clears their throat making both boys jump, they have a knowing smile on their face, “This is Keith, I met him last week while you guys were at practice. Keith these are my friends Hunk and Lance.”

“Hi Keith! So nice to meet you!” The one Keith gathers is Hunk says.

Keith smiles, he did not notice Hunk right away but he seems really nice, “You too.”

Keith turns to look at Lance again but he is still very obviously staring at Keith. When they make eye contact Lance blushes and Hunk rolls his eyes and Keith swears he hears him mumble, “Here we go again.”

Pidge chuckles and tells Keith to sit down between them and Lance. Keith can feel the heat coming from Lance and Keith tries to move closer to Pidge.

Hunk talks, “So Lance you were saying?”

Lance shakes his head, “Huh? Oh right my story.”

Pidge and Hunk laugh, they love flustered Lance.

“So I take her to dinner right? I’m being a gentleman and listening to her stories which are incredibly boring but whatever. The waiter comes with our drinks and I tell them I don’t want a straw cause you know,” He motions to his shirt, “then she scoffs at me!”

He pauses his story for dramatic affect but Pidge and Hunk just roll their eyes.

“Then this girl starts saying how she doesn’t care about the environment and how she doesn’t even turn off the water when she brushes her teeth because, “It goes down the drain no matter what.””

Hunk puts his hand on Lance shoulder, “Aw buddy I’m sorry.”

Pidge is less helpful, “You have to stop dating cheerleader Lance, it never goes well.”

Lance groans, “But they are so pretty!”

Keith does not say anything, during Lance’s story his heart breaks and he is confused, he thought him and Lance had a moment but he went out with a girl? Is he straight? He can’t be straight.

Nobody seems to notice Keith’s internal dilemma, probably because his expression does not change, but Pidge talks to him, “So Keith how was classes?”

Keith shrugs, “They were alright.”

Pidge lifts an eyebrow, “Care to elaborate?”

Keith shrugs again and takes a bite of his pizza.

Pidge takes that as an answer, “Well are you coming to practice tonight?”

Hunk talks, “Thinking about joining the team man?”

Keith scoffs, “Nah. I just.. know Shiro and Allura.”

Hunk smiles, “Shame man I can tell you would be great.”

Keith smiles at Hunk, he seems really nice.

Keith directs his attention to Pidge, “I might stop by.”

Pidge smiles and Keith gains the courage to look at Lance and he sees a light in his eyes that Keith will never forget. But as soon as the light comes it fades by a voice yelling “McClain!”

Keith turns to look and sees a man with long silver hair that reminds his of Allura’s and is also wearing a blue varsity jacket with a purple t-shirt underneath that clings to his muscles, he is walking over and can feel Lance tensing up at his side.

The new man talks, “Heard you went out with some cheerleader last Friday.”

Lance turns to look at him he is glaring but Keith can see the fear behind it, “What do you want Lotor?”

Lotor smiles, “I just want to know how your date went. I heard that it didn’t go well.”

“Well if you know it did not go well then why are you here?”

Lotor puts his hand on the back of Lance’s chair and leans closer, “You know I like to know these things.”

Lance tenses up and Keith is glaring, who does this guy think he is taking the light from Lance?

Just then Lotor notices Keith, “Who is this?” He looks him up and down.

Lance speaks, “This is Keith, he’s new.”

Relaxation washes through Lotor’s face, “Oh right my father told me about you.”

Keith crosses his arms, “Your father?”

Lotor stands up straight but keeps his hand on the back of Lance’s chair, Keith wants to move it, “Yeah the principal you’ve met him right?” Lotor gives a knowing smile.

Keith scoffs, “Zarkon’s your dad? Figures.”

Lance gives a small laugh and Lotor narrows his eyes, “You better watch it.”

Keith smirks, “Or what? You gonna tell your dad on me?”

Pidge gives a cough beside him that sounds a lot like “Draco.”

Lotor gives one last glare to Keith and puts his hand one Lance’s shoulder, “I’ll see you at practice Lance.”

Lance looks down at the table not making eye contact and Lotor walks away.

Keith whispers to Pidge, “Hey Pidge.”

“Hmm?”