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pink in the night, pt. 2

(ao3) - part one cw: underaged drinking

it’s like a summer shower with every drop of rain singing “i love you, i love you, i love you!

---

“Friends don’t kiss their friends,” Keith finally says. His voice is nearly a whisper, lost in the sickening sea of overpowering dance beats, and yet Allura hears it as clear as day.

She can’t bear the look in Keith’s eyes, hardened and utterly expressionless. It’s her least favorite look. Keith pretends he doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeves, but his eyes change like the seasons with every emotion. Knowing Keith better than anyone else, Allura has memorized them all. Now, shielding himself from impending heartbreak, he stares at her like a stranger.

“We’re just…we were just fooling around,” she answers, but it feels like someone else’s words. Allura anxiously tugs at her jacket sleeves, and she hopelessly searches for any hint of affirmation in Keith’s eyes. Her chest feels so heavy, and her voice falters when she speaks.

“…Right?”

If she could just…

Allura reaches for his arm, needing to know and needing him, but Keith pushes her hand away and she flinches.

He’s never done that before, and she can’t understand why.

“I don’t want to fool around with you.”

Keith’s words rip the air from her throat, flow through her veins like fire. Allura’s eyes widen.

“I…this was a mistake,” she says, voice quivering. “Even better, it never happened.”

“Allura, don’t,” Keith exasperates.

Allura shakes her head and closes her eyes, refusing to look at him any longer.

“Take me home.”

For a long time, Keith says nothing. He studies the dark, perfect blush of Allura’s cheeks, the way she avoids his gaze right now, and he comes to some tacit understanding. He frowns, berating his own frustration and impatience. Keith wants so badly to be infuriated with her, to forcibly kiss her until she sees it his way, to forgive and agree with her, to maybe finally move on. Every option fiercely contests within him, but one thing remains vividly clear. And so, he sighs.

“Okay.”

---

Scattered stars shine faintly in the cloudless sky despite the unnatural line of flickering streetlights. Keith and Allura follow familiar sidewalks back to the street they’ve both lived on since she was four and he was five. Eyeing her left, Allura sorely notices the tiny fraction of greater distance that Keith has put between them.

The walk home is unnervingly silent until they reach the front steps of Allura’s house.

Taking a deep breath, Allura turns around to Keith one last time before she heads in. A few seconds pass as she builds up courage.

“See you Monday?”

Keith musters a small smile, and Allura’s heart drops to her stomach.

“Good night, Allura.”

---

“Of course I don’t like him. I don’t like it when you’re with him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? He’s my best friend, Lotor.”

-

“You’ve been weird ever since Christmas. Something happened, didn’t it? I knew you should have come with me to the party instead of your family thing.”

“Nothing happened that night.”

-

“I’m tired of this, Allura. It’s either him or me.”

She’s gotten used to the quiet walks home from school. For mid-January, the sun is unapologetic, and the weather a little too warm. These days, when she’s not attending student government meetings, Allura practices with the school varsity dance team. By the time she finally leaves campus, the sky is already dim, having already decided what color palette it wants to be that evening. Today, it’s elected on cotton candy pink and periwinkle blue.

Allura pulls out her phone and takes a picture of the pastel sky that hardly does the real thing justice. She sighs softly, stuffs her phone back in her jacket pocket and adjusts the textbooks in her arm.

She doesn’t mind the solitude in walking home alone. In fact, she prefers it to the high-energy, dramatic commotion favored by a good number of her high school peers. With Lotor, and his friends by proxy, out of her life, Allura feels a sincere peace she hasn’t felt in months.

Looking forward into the horizon, Allura realizes she’s arrived at the park near her house and sees in the distance a familiar figure resting against the slide.

Grinning, Allura fixes her jacket and looks both ways before crossing the street. She tries to maintain the element of surprise, treading lightly on playground gravel as she approaches the slide.

“Hi, stranger,” Allura greets shyly, peering over curiously.

The edge of Keith’s lips curl into a small smile before he peeks out from one eye to confirm his suspicions. Arms extended behind his head and acting as a pillow, Keith takes in her presence and closes his eye again once he memorizes Allura’s rosy, wind-chilled cheeks and adorably tousled hair.

“What are you doing here?” asks Keith, half-seriously. “I thought we were picking up the decorations for Hunk’s birthday tomorrow.”

“Oh, I was in the area,” Allura replies playfully, setting down her backpack and crouching down to Keith’s level. “I just came from school.”

“Lotor drop you off?”

The smile on her face disappears.

Oh, right.

Allura inhales sharply.

She hadn’t told him yet.

Chest tightening, moderate panic starts to sink down into her stomach. Allura anxiously chews her lip, running through all the possible scenarios that could only follow Keith’s question.

“Um, no. I, uh, broke up with him.”

For every long, agonizing second that Keith is silent, Allura berates herself for not telling him sooner. Who waits this long to tell their best friend that they’d broken up with someone? She stares at him intently, holding her breath for his response.

“When?” he asks quietly. He doesn’t look at her.

“Two weeks ago,” Allura answers nervously.

“Oh.”

Quiet again. Allura wants to hide behind her hair, or run away or something.

“Sorry things didn’t work out,” Keith adds.

Allura teeters uneasily against the edge of the slide, choosing to focus on Keith’s unbuttoned red flannel and plain white shirt underneath.

“It’s fine. We just didn’t agree on some things, in the end. I’m not upset,” she explains, her eyes flickering to Keith’s face.

He doesn’t say anything, but Allura watches the covert rise and fall of his chest as he takes a deeper breath than usual. Then, Keith opens his eyes and turns his head toward her.

“How was dance practice?”

Allura exhales in immense relief, grateful that Keith had decided to change the subject. She hadn’t been ready to explain the often inevitable follow-up interrogation as to why they had broken up, and she certainly hadn’t wanted to tell Keith about the ultimatum Lotor had given her. In fact, while she’d told Romelle and her other friends, she had conveniently forgotten to reveal the real reason why she and Lotor had broken up.

She gives him a tired smile.

“Exhausting. Nationals are coming up so we’ve been running through our routines pretty hard.”

“Think you’ll place?”

“We have to believe that, don’t we?” Allura shrugs.

Keith nods languidly in agreement, turning back to face the sky and setting sun. Because he surely won’t notice her, Allura takes the time to admire the relaxed expression on his face. Keith has always preferred the outdoors, and basking under the light of the fading sun, he seems to belong inside a portrait of earthly nature, an exquisite product of the stars. Most importantly, he is her best friend and she’s made the right choice. Desiring his attention, Allura gives in to the urge to grab onto Keith’s flannel shirt and acts upon it without a second thought.

Just as she expects, Keith promptly glances down at her hand, and then to the rest of her.

“What are you thinking about?” Allura asks.

“What I want to eat for dinner.”

Allura presents an unamused look at his absurdly mundane answer. Keith sits up on the slide, finding her hand and keeping it pressed against his waist.

“My mom has a staff meeting tonight and Dad’s on a double-day shift. It’s just me so I don’t feel like cooking,” he explains.

“Well then,” Allura begins, eyes now glimmering with excitement, “Would your feelings change if you had to cook for two?”

“I don’t like where this is going.”

“My parents are going out on a date,” she clarifies, “So I’m home alone all night. I was just going to order pizza, but if you’re cooking…”

“Are you seriously inviting yourself over for free food?” Keith quickly interrupts.

Allura pouts a little too innocently for Keith to easily disregard and he sighs, unfortunately aware that he’s never unable to deny her when she presents herself in such a way. He grasps her hand a little tighter.

“Fine,” he says, to Allura’s genuine delight. “But it’s just going to be leftover ramen.”

“I love your dad’s homemade ramen though! I want extra chashu with mine,” she grins.

“No green onions?”

Allura nods eagerly, and Keith can’t help but chuckle. He releases Allura’s hand, but she doesn’t care to let go.

“You’re helping with the dishes though.”

“Of course.”

Keith plants his hand firmly on top of her head and stands up. He bends down and snatches Allura’s backpack, swinging it over his shoulder.

“Come on, let’s go,” he says, and Allura gladly springs back up to her feet. They walk down the winding, concrete path, back to the street, in the direction of Keith’s house.

“Oh, and can we go out for milkshakes after? My treat.”

“Who’s going to drive?” Keith asks rhetorically.

Allura giggles, skipping a step sideways and hugging his arm tightly.

“You.”

Keith rolls his eyes but quietly leans into her touch.

“Didn’t even need to ask.”

---

“You fell asleep on me last night,” Allura grumbles as she slams the passenger door to Keith’s old, red pickup truck. “Hold this.”

Keith takes the lavender coffee mug from Allura’s waiting hand. As soon as her hand is free, Allura dumps her textbooks in the space between them and quickly fastens her seatbelt. Sighing dramatically, Allura closes her eyes and slumps into her seat.

“I tried to stay awake but who studies until two in the morning?” Keith explains, staring at Allura’s frazzled appearance with deep amusement. With the mug still in his hand, he steals a sip from coffee but immediately makes a face.

“Gross. Hazelnut.”

“It’s always hazelnut. Give it back,” Allura pouts, anxiously extending her hand out for her much-needed caffeine. Keith carefully sets it back in her hand. “I have six tests today. My teachers are conspiring against me.”

Allura brings the lid opening to her lips and drinks a long sip of hot, creamy hazelnut coffee as Keith pulls out of her driveway and starts their way to school. After a moment, Allura rubs her eyes and forces them open, intently fixating on the gloomy sky in front of them. Keith glances over, catching her in the act, and frowns.

“How much sleep did you get last night?”

Allura sighs and tiredly pulls at the jacket sleeve falling off her shoulder.

“I don’t know, two hours maybe. I was still awake at four, I think.”

“I wish you’d slept more.”

“I know, so do I,” Allura replies wistfully. “I was just so worried and lost track of time. I’ll make it up tonight, I promise.”

Keith chuckles.

“I don’t think it works like that.”

“I know that too. Junior year is the worst.”

Allura huffs and grabs her AP physics textbook from the pile, finding her page marker and opening the book to the chapter where she’d left off for one final review.

“You’ll do fine,” says Keith. He turns to her and smiles encouragingly when Allura looks up. Her shoulders relax. She takes a deep breath and responds with a small smile of her own.

“Thanks. Now stop bothering me.”

For the rest of the day, Allura’s mind focuses obsessively on passing her tests. After Keith parks his car in the student parking lot, they stop by their lockers – Keith’s first so he can pick up his economics textbook, and then Allura’s, where their friends like to congregate before first period. Braving the cold February weather as they stand in front of her locker, Allura, Hunk, and Pidge discuss and exchange notes for the test, while Keith, Romelle, and Lance socialize unobtrusively. A moment later, Pidge ducks out of the group, phone in hand, stating some important business related to Matt and Nyma that Allura doesn’t care to question, preferring her flashcards on the rudimentary theories of magnetism and optics.

Allura flips incessantly through the pages of her physics textbook, ignoring the nearby commotion surrounding Matt’s loud declaration, his showy red and pink poster, and Nyma’s blushing delight. Absorbed in theorems and equations, it takes a moment for Allura to realize that the first bell has rung.

“Time to face the music,” Hunk groans, snapping his textbook shut.

Allura sighs solemnly and shuffles through her notes one last time. She glances over her wrist and gasps.

“Oh no, I forgot! Keith, could you –”

She spins around and sticks her arm out, and Keith dutifully tugs her lucky scrunchie off her wrist. He steps behind her and quickly collects her silver hair, combing his fingers through loose tangles. In her periphery, Allura can’t help but notice and think that Lance and Romelle are staring at her as Lance whispers into Romelle’s ear. She inhales sharply, trying to recite physics equations in her mind. Finally, Keith ties her hair up into a tight ponytail, and Allura suddenly turns around to face him.

“Thanks,” she says a little breathlessly.

Keith grins and gently squeezes her arm.

“It helps you concentrate. Relax, Allura. You already know everything.”

Allura smiles shyly and nods in agreement.

“I’ll see you at lunch.”

“Definitely.”

A hard slap meets the back of her shoulder, and Allura looks to her side and finds Lance staring not at her, but straight at Keith, who abruptly looks away.

“So, Allura, Pidge, and Hunk have a test to take. We’ve got classes to get to,” Lance announces loudly. “Let’s hustle, folks.”

“Good luck, you guys,” says Romelle.

Lance abrasively throws his arms around Keith and Romelle’s shoulders, pushing them forward and dragging them along. Allowing a distracting moment for herself, Allura grins as Keith shoves Lance away before she starts following Hunk and Pidge into their classroom.

As always, Allura settles into her desk and easily finishes the test, turning it in five minutes before the bell. With each consecutive class and test, Allura feels a weight lift from her shoulders. Having taken four tests in a row, she trudges to the art room for lunch, where she inadvertently claims Keith’s lap for a quick nap on Ms. Montgomery’s couch. Despite the riddled anxiety and hazy sleep deprivation, Allura manages to keep herself motivated until the end of sixth period, after she places her literary analysis in the plastic tray on her teacher’s desk.

The dismissal bell sounds, and Allura lets her body give in to exhaustion at last. Haphazardly, she packs her things and walks out of her classroom in a daze. When she somehow makes it back to her locker across campus, Keith is already there waiting for her. Without a word, Allura rushes over and collapses into his surprised arms.

“I survived,” she murmurs into his chest.

“You survived,” Keith laughs, closing his arms around her.

“I’m so ready for the weekend.”

“It’s only Thursday.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Keith’s body is like a furnace impervious to the sharp, chilly air around them, and Allura hugs him tighter.

“What do you want to do now?”

“Go home. Sleep.”

“Guess the answer’s no then,” Keith replies, his voice directed elsewhere. Allura looks up curiously and follows his gaze. Realizing that their friends had been standing around the entire time, Allura feels a flush spread across her cheeks.

“Aw, sure you don’t want to come to Sal’s with us, Allura?” Hunk asks. “Well, most of us. Me, Shay, and Romelle. Lance and Pidge are trying to scam the movie theater so they can see Star Wars again on one ticket.”

“No, we’re not!” Lance contends. “Pidge and I are simply taking advantage of tonight’s couple discount. We are a couple, after all. A couple of friends.”

Pidge groans.

“In other words, scamming. Why didn’t you just ask out that girl from yearbook?”

“She rejected him,” Pidge snickers.

“Oh, poor Lance,” Allura teases, throwing herself into the conversation.

“Wait, Pidge, tell us what happened!” Romelle exclaims.

“No, Pidge! Don’t tell them! And besides, Hunk, why aren’t you and Shay doing anything?”

“We’re going out this weekend. Her parents don’t want her staying out late on a school night.”

“Fine, whatever. So if Keith and Allura are going home, then the three of you can just ride in the back and I’ll drop you off.”

“Sounds good.”

“Maybe we can meet up later,” Allura suggests.

“Sure, just text any one of us,” Romelle smiles.

Allura waves as her friends say their goodbyes and depart for the parking lot. Sighing comfortably once it becomes quiet again, Allura unexpectedly feels a hand in her hair. She looks up as Keith pulls her scrunchie, allowing her hair to fall and cascade down her back. For a while, Allura gratefully lets him run his fingers through her hair.

“You could’ve gone with them,” she eventually says. “I could’ve just walked home.”

“Allura, you look like you’re right about to pass out. I’d rather make sure you don’t fall asleep out on some sidewalk.”

“Thanks, because I feel like I might.”

It starts to rain on the ride back to Allura’s house. Perfectly tranquil, classic rock music plays softly on the radio in Keith’s car. Allura gently leans against the window, and the relaxing ambiance nearly lulls her asleep. She only realizes that they’ve pulled into her driveway when Keith lightly shakes her arm, convincing her to open her eyes and face him.

“Stay, please. I’m just going to take a short nap.”

The slight, affirming smile on Keith’s face is the only answer Allura needs.

Her body meets her queen-sized bed face first, and Allura hastily shoves her phone and keys onto her nightstand. The inviting warmth calls to her, and she gladly buries herself deep under the thick, pink and white covers. Trailing behind, Keith sets Allura’s backpack and textbooks near her desk. He shrugs off his jacket and drapes it neatly over the scarf and worn, pale blue T-shirt on the back of Allura’s chair. Disregarding the general mess of the room, Keith walks over and settles down next to Allura on the other side of the bed.

Allura readily turns toward him, crossing her leg over his, and Keith quietly extends his arm out, letting Allura edge in and rest against him. Keith carefully wraps his arm around her, hugging her tightly and earning himself the impression of a pleasant smile against the side of his chest. Sliding her hand across Keith’s waist, Allura responds by holding him close, never intending to let go. For as long as Allura can remember, Keith has always let her sleep like this, and after years of sharing beds for sleepovers and camping trips, Allura can no longer imagine any other way she prefers to fall asleep.

“Wake me up in an hour,” Allura mutters, her lips tightly pressed against Keith’s sweatshirt.

“One hour,” Keith echoes.

He leans over the edge of the bed and pulls out a class-assigned novel from his backpack, opens to where he had left off. Rain patters against the white-framed windows, and perhaps Allura should feel disappointed rather than utterly content, today of all days, that she’s so tired, stuck indoors, and without a significant other. She breathes in the faint scents of Keith’s weathered book, of mint and citrus, and the lavender of her clean bed sheets. Once she closes her eyes, the soothing, languid strokes of Keith’s hand running down her back are the last thing Allura feels as she drifts into dreams.

She wakes to the muted sounds of her parents walking downstairs and the clanking of their garage as it closes moments later. The dead silence makes falling back asleep hard to resist, but Allura wearily opens her eyes anyway, only to see evening darkness from the window. She furrows her eyebrows and squints, realizing that Keith clearly hadn’t kept track of the time.

Emerging slightly out from the covers, Allura looks up and finds Keith fast asleep, his book left open and facing down on his chest. At some point while she had been asleep, Keith had wrapped his other arm around her, and now secured warmly in his embrace, Allura attempts to slowly remove the book and successfully places it aside. She almost doesn’t want to wake him up, preferring to go back to sleep herself, but she nevertheless stretches her neck and inches her body as far up as she can.

“Keith, wake up,” she manages to whisper into his ear. She shakes his shoulder when he doesn’t seem to react.

The shaking appears to work, much to Allura’s relief, and Keith stirs, inhaling deeply. His hand lethargically slides up to the back of Allura’s neck, and his face dives into her hair.

“Five more minutes, Lu,” he mutters.

“No way. Keith, you fell asleep. You were supposed to wake me!”

Keith’s eyes snap open and he pulls back to meet Allura’s annoyed glare. Allura pouts to emphasize her displeasure.

“Sorry. The book was really boring.”

“Now it’s dark out so everyone probably already went home.”

“What should we do?”

Allura sighs, pondering the question as she absentmindedly picks up the drawstring on Keith’s crimson red hooded sweatshirt.

“…Do you have any plans later?” she asks, staring at the drawstring as she daintily twists it around her finger.

“No, why would I?”

“Oh. I thought you’d want to hang out with your other friends tonight…” She trails off, and then pauses for a moment. “I figured I should share you sometimes.”

Keith laughs and reassuringly places his hand on her waist.

“I decide who I spend my time with and when. Not you. Do you want to order takeout?”

Finally looking up from the drawstring, Allura smiles and nods enthusiastically.

“I want Italian. And later, can we rewatch –”

“Don’t say it.”

“– Pride and Prejudice?”

“…Again?”

“Please? I really want to,” Allura begs, batting her eyes in hopes of persuading him.

“You can already recite every line of that movie by heart.”

“So? If I’m going to be lonely and single indefinitely, at least let me indulge in watching my favorite movie ever.”

Keith rolls his eyes.

“You’re not going to be lonely and single forever, Allura. It hasn’t even been two months since you broke up with Lotor.”

“Please, Keith?” Allura asks again. “You’re the only one who’s ever nice enough to watch it with me.” She runs her hand up Keith’s neck and gently presses her thumb against the corner of his lips, having recently discovered this trick and knowing this time that she’ll convince him with it. Keith’s grip on her waist tightens and he frowns.

“Okay, fine, we’ll watch it,” he grumbles.

“You’re the best!”

Keith collapses against the pillow, releasing Allura from his hold as she excitedly climbs over him to grab her phone. He exhales deeply, smiles with uncertainty when Allura turns around and comes back to sit next to him.

“You should just admit you like the movie too,” Allura teases, glancing over Keith’s troubled expression.

“Right. That’s never happening.”

“Oh, but coming to terms with liking something really gives you peace of mind. It’s a lot better than that tense look you have right now. There’s no shame in loving Jane Austen.”

Keith’s eyes widen as Allura leans in and assertively rests her head on his shoulder. Staring down at her screen, Allura swiftly pulls up the food delivery app on her phone.

“Now tell me what you want so I can order it.”

---

In the darkness, the only source of light, flickering as the scene changes, comes from the large television screen in front of them. Delicate British accents speak in low volume, never obstructed by the occasional hum of central heating surging through the air vents close by. Curled up on the couch, Allura stacks a small bowl of pretzels on her knee. They share Allura’s childhood fuzzy blanket, and despite his earlier protests, Keith watches the movie intently.

“I love you. Most ardently,” Allura whispers, her cheek lazily pressed against Keith’s arm. “Please do me the honor of accepting my hand.”

She giggles softly and looks up, anticipating Keith’s reaction, only to see him already gazing down at her.

“I love you most ardently. Isn’t that romantic?”

Waiting expectantly for Keith’s answer, Allura brings a pretzel stick to her lips and snaps it in half with her teeth. Instead, Keith sighs and raises his arm. Following his lead, Allura scoots in closer and lets him drape his arm around her shoulders.

“You always ask that.”

Allura responds with a cheeky grin.

“It’s because I think it’s really romantic.”

“Huh.”

“I wish someone would tell me that. Pretzel?”

Keith raises his eyebrow just as Allura holds up a pretzel stick to his face, letting go when Keith casually leans forward and accepts it with his mouth.

“You want someone to quote Darcy?”

“Well, no, not exactly. Just that they love me, I guess. No one’s told me that before other than my parents.”

Keith stares at her with a strange expression that Allura can’t quite read.

“Lotor never said it?”

“Nope.”

“…Did you ever say it to him?”

Allura shakes her head.

“It never got to that point, I think.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. There was a lot that I liked about him, but I don’t think I ever loved him.” She sets aside the snack bowl and snakes her arm across Keith’s stomach. Clinging onto him wistfully, she hides her face in his chest. “So it’s fine.”

Sensing Allura’s shifting, dejected mood, Keith swiftly surrenders his attention to the movie he’s been forced to see too many times. His hand leaves the armrest and starts gently carding through Allura’s hair. Allura exhales softly and turns her attention back to the screen. When the scene changes again, she pulls their blanket up past her shoulders.

“I could say it, you know,” Keith says quietly. He pauses his hand and his fingers settle in Allura’s hair.

Allura twists her neck and gazes up at him. Illuminated by the light, her deep blue eyes seem to glow.

“Hm?”

“I wouldn’t be your parents either.”

Allura smiles softly.

“Of course not. But you’re my best friend. I already know you love me.”

For a second, Keith’s eyes seem to fixate on the part of her face below her eyes. Allura watches Keith swallow and just barely bite his lower lip, triggering within her an inexplicable wave of self-consciousness. Eventually, Keith laughs, though almost as if he had been holding his breath.

“It’s not the same, is it?”

“Exactly.”

She beams at him, pleasantly surprised by his sudden offer. Diverting her focus back to the screen, she uncurls her legs and lies down along the couch, using Keith’s lap as a headrest. She grabs another pretzel stick from the snack bowl. More important to her right now is the romantic drama unfolding in front of her eyes.

---

“What the hell, Keith?!” Lance shouts loudly over the music and fervent party chatter, when Keith perfectly tosses his plastic ball into the last remaining red cup on Lance’s side of the table. Meanwhile, at least ten cups remain on the other side.

“Drink up, Lance,” Keith smirks, as James cackles and throws his arm around him in celebration.

Allura grins from where she lounges on the couch behind Keith and James. Watching Keith and Lance compete is always entertaining, even if she’s admittedly biased for one over the other. She brings the edge of her cup to her mouth and finishes her drink, licking the last of cool lime and tequila from her lips. Even in her scarlet halter top and denim shorts, the room feels hot and stuffy.

Lance gripes with his loss as he angrily snatches the cup and drains it of its content. He slams the empty cup down on the table.

“Best two out of three!” he declares. “And this time, Acxa’s on your team! She kept missing on purpose!”

“Hey! That’s not true,” Acxa contests, walking over to Keith as she and James agreeably switch sides.

She shares a sly, knowing look with Keith and Allura quickly averts her gaze and chews on her cup.

“Lance, you’re just delaying the inevitable,” Allura abruptly calls out.

Keith turns around at the sound of her voice and grins at her. He appears to glance her over, and Allura sits up, biting her lip and offering a gratified smile when their eyes meet.

“Oh, shut up, Allura, you always take his side,” Lance snaps back.

Allura laughs, conceding to the accusation. She’s about to get up for another drink when she feels a hand touch her shoulder. Reluctantly, she tears her eyes away from the game and turns to see who it is.

“Allura! Let me do your hair!” Romelle exclaims, coming around the back of the couch and bouncing down into the seat next to her.

“Sure!” Allura happily agrees. “Here.”

Extending her arm behind her head, she pulls out her light blue scrunchie and lets her long, silver hair fall freely down her back. She draws her legs up and crosses them, then angles herself parallel to the couch. Romelle’s fingers excitedly begin to comb through her loose locks.

“I love your hair, Allura. It’s always so nice and soft,” Romelle sighs in admiration. She sections Allura’s hair into three parts, preparing to braid.

Allura looks behind her shoulder and smiles.

“You always make my hair look really pretty, Romelle.”

With cresent-shaped eyes, Romelle gleefully accepts the compliment. Turning back toward the armrest, Allura catches the sight of Acxa grabbing Keith’s wrist and pulling him off to the side. Her growing curiousity is entirely unintentional, and Allura observes them from the corner of her eye as they privately strategize their gameplay.

Once the second match starts, Acxa aims for left cups while Keith aims right. They work well as a team, gaining an early lead against Lance and James, and Allura silently attests the accomplishment to their undeniable compatibility. She tries to recall the history of their friendship. Though Acxa has only been a student at their school for a little over a year, she had easily found her place within Keith’s clique of friends at school as one of the few seniors on the fine arts track. Acxa and Keith especially had been fast friends and almost immediately started collaborating on projects for classes and around campus. For a while last year, Allura would always see her name in Keith’s sparse text messages.

Acxa misses her third toss, and despite her rather empty protests, Keith pulls up his sleeves and drinks the shot for her. Acxa, in her oversized graphic tee and ripped jeans, looks so effortlessly cool when she signals her gratitude and places her hand on Keith’s shoulder. She carries confidence in her posture, but out of everyone in the crowded room, Allura is probably the only one who notices her faintly pink-tinted cheeks. Keith surely doesn’t, engaging instead in defiant trashtalk with Lance.

Allura takes a deep breath. They actually look good together.

And suddenly, she feels so much less significant. There’s an exclusive part of Keith’s world that she isn’t a part of, and in a way, she’s glad for it. In that part of his world, there are people like Acxa who understand all the artistic jargon that Allura never could, appreciate the goodness of Keith’s heart that she’s taken for granted, and provide what a best friend like her can’t.

Allura narrows her eyes, starting to feel the effects of her earlier drink, and decides to take a break from watching the game. She pulls her legs up to her chest and rests her chin on her knees.

“Oops, I messed up. Sorry, starting over,” Romelle giggles and apologizes from behind.

“It’s fine.”

Allura lifts her head when Hunk and Pidge emerge from the nearby hallway moments later, searching for Lance and Romelle.

“There you guys are! It’s almost my curfew, we gotta go!” Hunk chides, clearly sober and the designated driver for the night.

“Five minutes, Hunk! We’re right about to make a comeback!”

Hunk studies the number of cups on the table and frowns.

“Nope, nuh-uh, that’ll take too long. We need ten minutes to get home, and we have exactly that. I’m not getting grounded just for some lame beer pong game.”

“Aw man.”

Lance hands the table tennis ball over to James. He stares directly at Keith as he puts on his jacket.

“This doesn’t mean I forfeit!”

“Yeah, it does.”

When a frustrated Lance passes by the couch, Romelle pouts and lets go of Allura’s half-braided hair.

“I was almost done. But oh well. I’ll see you on Monday, Allura.”

She stands up and leans in for a hug, which Allura reciprocates.

Once they leave, excitement for the game dies down. Acxa backs out to even out the players, carrying her drink over and taking the seat Romelle had just occupied. Now much more evenly matched, Keith and James resume the game, eager to finish and move on.

In her buzzing indecision, Allura misses the chance to start conversation with Acxa, who she still doesn’t know very well despite sharing a mutual close friend. Luckily, Acxa doesn’t seem to mind the silence, opting instead to closely watch the game. Without a purpose, Allura yawns and checks her phone. She eventually realizes that the game is over when Keith saunters over to her with a smug grin on his face.

“Hi,” he says, leaning against the side of the couch.

Allura slides her phone back in her pocket and turns to him. Ignoring the coarse graze of polyester fabric against the side of her chest as her shirt rides up, she throws her arms around his waist and effectively anchors herself to him. Unlike the room temperature, Keith’s natural warmth is always comfortable.

“Hi. Finally. I’m bored.”

“Not even a congratulations?”

Allura scoffs and reaches up to fix the front of his perpetually disheveled hair. Keith lowers his head, hesitant as he gazes down at her.

“I’m not stroking your ego just because you happen to have unnaturally gifted hand-eye coordination. You don’t even like playing that game.”

She draws her hand back, redirecting it to his lap once his hair is as neat as she can make it.

“Fair point.”

“Can I have that?” she asks, peering at the glass of alcohol in his hand.

“I’ll let you have this, but I’m also getting you water.”

“Ugh, okay.”

He runs an affectionate hand down her arm and lets her take his glass before stalking off to the kitchen.

“You and Keith are really close.”

Allura blinks and connects the source of the statement back to Acxa, exhibiting an oddly concerned look in her eyes.

“We’ve known each other for a long time. He’s my best friend,” Allura responds slowly.

Straightening her back and crossing her legs, Allura eyes the glass in her hand and decides to quickly finish the roughly two shots worth of liquor still left. She winces and coughs after the sharp taste of vodka burns down her throat, then sets the glass aside. Considering that the glass had been full, and that it hadn’t been his first, Allura wonders how it’s even possible Keith hasn’t blacked out yet.

“I know we haven’t talked much, but since you’re close with him, can I ask you something?”

Eager to finally have the opportunity to bond with Acxa, Allura smiles and nods.

“Of course.”

“Who does he like?”

Allura’s eyes widen. Her arms drop to her lap.

“Who does he like?” Allura repeats, trying to make sure she’s heard the question right. It’s hard to focus.

“I’ve tried to ask him before but he wouldn’t tell me.”

Allura blinks furiously, racking her mind with increasing pressure for an answer. Of all the questions Acxa could have asked her, she hadn’t expected this one. Allura is sure she’s asked Keith about it too. If she thinks back, the most recent time she’d asked would have been at the Christmas party, but Allura realizes with sudden clarity that he’d evaded her question by pulling the ribbon from her hair. Who did he like?

“I don’t…I don’t know,” she admits.

Acxa sighs and slumps back against the couch, stealing a glance at Allura before looking down at her drink.

“Sorry, Keith and I somehow never talk about that kind of stuff.”

“It’s fine. I just wish I knew who I was up against. I have some idea, though.”

Deep down, Allura’s known this all along, and she loves being right, so she has no idea why it still feels like all the air in the room has been sucked out. She stares at Acxa, so brave and flustered and beautiful, in disbelief.

“…You like Keith?”

“It’s stupid, right? I bet you know all the terrible things he’s ever done. But I really like him.”

Acxa’s face is red after admitting her crush, and Allura can’t fault her. Keith is talented, rebellious, attractive, and really really nice. He stays up late with friends to help them pull all-nighters, climbs up their rooms when they’re grounded and bored. Allura would even easily confess that she’s thought about Keith’s brilliant indigo eyes more than once. Of course Acxa likes him.

“Oh. Totally.” Allura replies, missing a beat. She doesn’t sound like herself.

“I mean, he is terrible,” Acxa continues. She lifts her head, warily meeting Allura’s detached stare. “We made out once.”

Something inside her chest lurches, and it makes Allura feel terrible. Keith never should have given her his drink – vodka apparently doesn’t sit well with her – and she can’t believe he still hasn’t come back with her water yet. She hugs her arms, hoping they’d help still her wildly racing heart. When she tries to speak, she can’t manage anything more than a whisper.

“You and Keith…”

Acxa sheepishly bites her lip and nods.

“Last October. After I kissed him first. But then he apologized and asked if we could stay friends. That jerk.”

“Did he say why?”

“He said he was still trying to get over someone.”

---

Allura anxiously taps her fingers against the lunch table, taking turns between glancing at her phone and the large cafeteria doors. Her food rests idle, growing cold, in her plastic tray, while Hunk does a poor job feigning ignorance of Allura’s obvious restlessness from across the table as he eats large spoonfuls of parmesan mashed potatoes.

“Allura? You okay?” Hunk asks carefully.

Allura blinks, tearing her eyes away from the cafeteria entrance, and smiles blankly at her concerned-sounding friend.

“I’m fine, Hunk,” she responds, picking up her fork and poking into her bowl of rubbery mac and cheese.

“Waiting for someone?”

Allura’s eyes widen.

“Why – why would you think that?” Allura stutters, turning pink.

“Wild guess.”

“Well, I’m not,” she counters defensively, sending Hunk an irritated look.

“Where’s Keith anyway? Don’t you two usually come together since you’re both in the E building for fourth period?” Hunk inquires.

“Oh, um...I didn’t – I didn’t see him,” Allura says quietly, quickly looking down and taking a bite out of her mac and cheese.

She hasn’t told anyone what had happened at the party yet, and she’s not ready to admit that she hasn’t seen Keith at all since then. The old, red pick-up truck that Keith drives to school had been gone from the driveway when she had left for school this morning. When she had waited, as had become the norm, to meet Keith outside her classroom after fourth period earlier, he had never shown.

“He’s in the art room,” a bright voice explains from behind Allura’s back, causing her to jump. Carrying her lunch tray, Romelle crosses her leg over the bench and takes her seat next to Allura.

Looking down at her lunch even harder, Allura finds the crusty, burnt edges of her mac and cheese particularly unappetizing today.

“I saw him on the way to my locker. He said something about a meeting for all the seniors. Allura, you look like your lunch killed your father and you’re about to avenge his death,” Romelle remarks, casually resting her head on her hand and grinning as she studies Allura’s hard expression with amused fascination.

Slowly, Allura looks up and turns to Romelle.

“Haha, do I?” laughs Allura humorlessly. “I guess I’m just worried about my calculus test tomorrow.”

“Didn’t you say it was on Wednesday?” Romelle asks pointedly.

“Oh, right. Wednesday,” Allura corrects herself, taking another stab into her cheese-drenched bowl.

“Allura, is something wrong?” Romelle frowns.

Allura’s eyes darken and avert Romelle’s concerned gaze.

“I don’t know why people keep asking me that.”

Unsettled by her best friend’s unusually moody response, Romelle narrows her eyes. She shoots a questioning glance at Hunk, who simply shrugs. Unsatisfied by Hunk’s answer, Romelle stands up, grabbing Allura’s arm and causing Allura to drop her spork in surprise.

“You’re coming with me, Allura. Hunk, stay here and watch our stuff,” Romelle directs.

“Uh, sure,” Hunk answers, accepting the task but not quite understanding the situation.

“Where are we going?” Allura asks as Romelle pulls her away from the lunch table, down the walkway toward the cafeteria exit.

Romelle looks back at Allura, and picks up her pace, taking them out of the cafeteria and into the empty hallway. She stops in front of a row of lockers and spins around to meet Allura face-to-face, dropping Allura’s arm. Allura dreads the conversation she knows she’s about to have. While she might have been able to avoid telling the others, Allura should have known that Romelle would have approached her sooner or later.

“I thought something was up when I asked Keith where you were and he completely ignored me. And now, you’re acting like this,” Romelle explains in a low voice. “Did something happen between you two?”

Allura winces at the accusation. Crossing her arms, she locks her eyes on the obnoxiously glittery senior prom poster from the corner of her eye. Allura takes a deep, shaky breath.

“I kissed Keith.”

“You what?!” Romelle shrieks, turning the head of a wide-eyed freshman as she walks by.

Allura frantically presses her hand against Romelle’s mouth.

“Shh! Not so loud!” Allura exclaims, her cheeks flushing darkly.

Romelle peels Allura’s hand off of her mouth, signaling her return to composure.

“You kissed Keith?” Romelle hisses, grabbing Allura’s arm again.

“It was at the party. After you left.”

Romelle starts to grin before she abruptly frowns. Allura raises an eyebrow at Romelle’s polarizing expressions.

“And then what happened?”

“He told me he was in love with me, but I…” Allura trails off, biting her lip. “I told him he was my best friend.”

Frustratingly for Allura, Romelle’s eyebrows furrow in deep contemplation. There’s something she’s missing, something Romelle isn’t telling her.

“Then I said it was a mistake and asked him to take me home,” Allura finishes impatiently. She forces a quick, nervous glance past her shoulder before returning to her perplexed friend standing in front of her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“So you’re not…Oh, Allura,” Romelle sighs.

“What?”

Romelle’s expression turns serious, and she stares at Allura long and hard. Allura feels uncomfortably hot, clutches the hem of her sweater.

Gently, slowly enough to soften the blow, Romelle explains the apparent elephant in the room.

“You know, we all kind of thought that maybe, you and Keith were already dating.”

The revelation stuns Allura entirely. Her jaw drops, her cheeks burn with a sudden flare of heat. She can’t control the jumpy pace of her heart either. Unfolding her arms, Allura gapes at Romelle’s enviously unaffected manner.

“Me and Keith? No way! I – I’m not, we’re not…we’re just friends,” Allura contends, trying to dispute Romelle’s wild claim.

“Are you?”

“Of course! A-and we like different people! Like Lotor. I dated Lotor. Keith has Acxa.”

The last few words leave a bitter taste in her mouth as Allura begrudgingly recollects the fleeting memory of Acxa confiding in Allura her crush on Keith at the party.

“That was so long ago. And Keith doesn’t like Acxa that way.”

“Keith and I are just friends. We hang out a lot because we’re friends. That’s it.”

“Have you seen yourselves these past three months after breaking up with Lotor? Even Lance thought your flirting was too much.”

“We don’t – we haven’t been…”

And suddenly, Allura remembers Lance’s comment so clearly, the way he had groaned with a cup of hot coffee in one hand when he had seen them in the courtyard. She’d been sitting in Keith’s lap, trying to fix his messy, unkempt hair after he’d overslept that morning. Lance had promptly asked them to cool it and proceeded to complain about the early morning before heading to class. His reaction had been so strange to her at the time that she had just shrugged it off.

Allura chews on her lower lip, refusing to rethink every late-night text, every casual arm around her shoulders; she pushes back as she recalls the perfectly innocent cuddles on the art room couch, at home, and the warm touches that she realizes now had perhaps been too easy, too much for the others.

She inhales sharply, having forgotten to breathe under the scrutinizing pressure.

“I’m Keith’s best friend. I’m not in love with him.”

She’s certain. She has to be.

“Have you ever thought that you could be both?”

---

KK

Keith >

4/23 4:47 PM I didn’t see you at school today I have so much to tell you Imagine this: bubblegum, liquid nitrogen, and Iverson’s eyepatch

4/24 10:05 AM So bored Get me out of class?

4/25 1:34 PM Keith?

4/27 8:19 PM Sorry, I’ve been busy Senior project

Oh, right

Good luck ♥ I miss you. Read 8:22 PM

Today 10:36 PM Can we talk?

---

Allura curls into herself across her bedsheets and stares and stares at the radio silence. Blankly. Waiting. Before she realizes it, the barren string of texts in front of her start to blur, and Allura rips herself away from the lonely brightness of her phone screen. She’s never cried over a dumb boy before and she refuses to start now, but she can’t stop the tears from brimming over and sinking into her pillowcase. She can’t lose her best friend. Not like this.

Pretending it never happened hadn’t worked.

And in all honesty, Allura doesn’t know why she had thought to pretend in the first place, when she can still remember, two weeks later, the magnetic purple gaze and the intoxicating taste of vodka infusing with her cherry pink lipstick. Her breath catches at the memory again, of Keith, the kiss, and how he had ruined their friendship. She bites her lip.

Stupid Keith. This is all his fault.

Her phone suddenly vibrates in her hand. Holding her breath, Allura glances at her lock screen.

Okay

Allura gasps softly, feeling heat rising in her cheeks. She sits up in her bed and hunches over the phone in her hands, letting her long, silver hair fall past her face and graze her lap. Typing anxiously, she sends a response.

Meet me at the park in 5 minutes

Allura reaches for the first jacket she sees, until she realizes it’s the one that Keith never reclaimed after last year’s Christmas party. She had since made it hers, wearing it on weekends when she had stayed in and read magazines, and once – no – twice to dance practice. Allura hesitates and draws her hand back. Then she grabs it, puts it on. The sleeves still fall past her wrists.

Tonight, under the cloudless sky, the moon is round and brilliantly golden, illuminating her path toward the park. When she walks, Allura can make out the deep green leaves of trees, even point out the mesquite tree at the corner that she’d dared Keith to climb when she was seven years old. He had climbed as high as his weight on thin branches would allow, and of course, Allura had taken his hand and followed. That adventure had ended with scraped chins and elbows, when Allura had been too scared to climb back down and jumped, shaking, into Keith’s arms on the ground.

From across the street, she sees him leaning against the wall next to the old, metal slide and staring blankly down at the gravel. Under the moonlight, half-obscured by darkness, Keith’s pale skin seems to glow. He’s so beautiful, and Allura understands now the racing of her heart, the shortness of breath she could never explain whenever he had looked at her, smiled at her, accepted her in his arms. Really, truthfully, all this time she had never thought of him as just a friend. Trying in vain to calm her nerves, she gently rubs her flushed cheeks and takes a deep breath.

She steps forward.

“Why are you frowning?”

Allura’s quiet voice startles Keith out of his thoughts. His head shoots up, nearly colliding into hers. She’s bending down and peering up at him curiously. He stares at her with wide eyes. He knows she remembers it too.

Keith quickly stuffs his hands in his pockets.

“I…wasn’t.”

“You’re a bad liar.”

She steps back with a small, teasing smile. She has to tilt her head up to face him properly. Keith looks at her speechlessly.

“You’re also really bad at pretending you’re not avoiding me.”

“Sorry! I wasn’t trying – I didn’t mean to!” Keith blurts out. “I just…I needed time.”

“I know,” Allura replies softly. “I was really annoyed before…but that was just because I missed you.”

“I’m sorry,” he says, calmer this time. “I won’t do it again. Not talking to you has been awful.”

Allura cracks a grin and carefully tucks her hair behind her ear.

“Of course it has. I’m the most interesting thing in your life.”

Keith laughs, pulling his hands out of his pockets. He starts to reach out for her, but stops himself before Allura can react. Instead, he lets his arms fall down either side of him and looks away.

“You are.”

Allura swallows nervously, trying to make sure she says her next words right.

“Keith, about what I said at the party…”

“You were right. It shouldn’t have happened.”

Eyes widening, Allura shakes her head furiously.

“No, I was wrong. Listen, earlier that night, Acxa told me something I didn’t want to hear, and I got really upset. But it wasn’t her fault. It was mine.”

“What?”

Keith immediately straightens, looking concerned.

“And do you remember when Darcy got really aggravated when Lizzie mentions Wickham after he had just confessed to her in the rain? I was like that.”

“Wait, hold on –”

“Let me finish. Basically, I was jealous. Because you kissed Acxa even though you just saw her as a friend and not…and not me.”

“Allura…”

She’s sure she’s blushing hard now because her skin feels like it’s on fire, but she has to explain herself. She needs him to understand. She places her hand across her chest and slowly takes another deep breath.

“What I’m trying to say is, I wanted you to kiss me that night. But I didn’t know it then. So I told you it was a mistake.”

Allura grabs his hand, and it’s cold and bare, chilled by late night April breeze. Keith curiously follows her gaze as her eyes wander down Keith’s face and linger on his lips. His breath catches in his throat when he sees a flash of desire in the color of crystal blue. He brings his other hand to Allura’s face and gently smooths her cheek. He’s more than relieved when Allura leans into his touch. When she looks back up, he does too.

“It wasn’t a mistake.”

“It wasn’t?”

“You’re my best friend in the whole world. I like it when we talk all night long and that you always know how to make me happy. I like it when you hug me and run your fingers through my hair and look at me like I’m important to you. But most of all, I really liked it when we did this.”

She takes a small step forward and lightly presses her lips against his. He tastes like electric mint, home, and cosmic stars. Kissing him is just as wonderful and thrilling as she remembers. Smiling shyly against his lips, Allura pulls back while she can still control herself and lets Keith process everything she’s told him. She wants to remember every second of this. Keith stares at her for a moment, and gradually, a grin emerges on his face.

“Do you remember what I said after?” he asks, smirking now. Allura would be infuriated if she didn’t think it made him look incredibly attractive. So, she plays along and pretends to think.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“I said I was in love with you.”

He lets go of her hand and slides his arm around her waist, pulls her incredibly close. Allura gasps and she thinks she can hear the sound of her heart exercising rapidly inside her chest. She places her hands on his shoulders.

“What about now?”

“I’m still in love with you,” he responds quietly.

Allura could say that he steals her heart with that confession, but she supposes – has an inkling – that maybe it’d always been his. She’ll have to ask him, later, when exactly he had given her his own. What she wants to say next comes to her so easily.

“I love you too. But Keith?”

He looks at her expectantly.

“I have a question.”

Allura runs her hands up and around to the back of Keith’s neck. To further stress her intention, she makes sure he sees her lick her lips, and the corner of his mouth twitches upward. Brushing past her ear, Keith lifts his hand from her cheek and into her hair.

“Ask it.”

“Can I kiss you again already?”

---

and i know i’ve kissed you before, but i didn’t do it right can i try again, try again, try again?

(pink in the night, mitski)

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