standing by and waiting by your back door || chapter 4
A/N: HI. SO.
it’s been a year but i hope ya’ll have been patient.
also, the part i featured in the snippet was moved to the next chapter.
anyways, here we go!
The afternoon sun was just about to set when Katie reached the streets of the neighborhood she shared with Shiro.
Contrary to popular belief, the times when both of them went to school and came home in the others’ company were few and far in between.
Shiro was an athlete -a star athlete at that- and that only meant he spent his mornings jogging before going to school in his family’s pickup truck and going home late after practices. Pidge never really had it in her to be an early riser and had way too much to do at home to stay at school too long after hours, so the bus was the only way to go for her, and maybe the occasional rides on Keith’s bike or even with Hunk and Lance if they had the time.
Her front lawn was already in view. Almost there, she thought.
Katie walked into her house and welcomed the comforting smell of freshly mown grass with open arms as she tiredly trudged the rest of the way.
Even if she wasn’t actually on the field with her boys, practice that day wasn’t any less strenuous for her.
This time she kept her laptop in her bag and instead had a pen and notebook out, ready to note down any flaws during practice and other player specialties she didn’t already know about to incorporate into the final strategy.
Official member or not, Katie was willing to do her part in beating Galra High.
And at last, she arrived at the door.
“I’m home!” Pidge called as soon as she entered.
Of course, the first to respond was Gunther, who immediately dashed to the door at the sound of her voice.
Smiling, Katie knelt down to stroke him between the ears, just like how he liked it. “Missed you too, boy.”
Excitable as he was, Gunther was a heavy sleeper and wouldn’t even as much as move when Katie left in the mornings or spent her nights in the living room binging away.
If she had to be brutally honest, she both cursed and thanked the fact that she and Shiro got to spend time together without being interrupted by Gunther’s barking.
“Hey, Baby Sis!”
Katie turned to Matt’s voice, finding him on the living room couch. “How are the Lions doing?”
From her peripheral, she noticed that her brother’s normally tall figure was hunched, most likely bent over his laptop and other schoolwork he had scattered all over the coffee table and couch cushions.
She stood up. “They’re doing pretty well. I only just barely laid out a flexible strategy they can use against Galra.”
“But?” he asked absent-mindedly.
“But it’s not foolproof.” She made her way to lean her forearms on the sofa backrest. “Still have to review all the past footage to see if there’s anything else they could do to counter their defense.” Pidge took the moment to scrunch her nose at the mess Matt had created. “By the way, Shiro said he’ll text you.”
“Got it.” Matt turned to his sister with a nod. “Thanks, Katie-cat.”
She wrinkled her nose again at the childhood nickname.
“Speaking of Shiro,” Katie started as she walked over to the unoccupied easy chair. “We’ll be powering through Hell Week here this Sunday.”
She didn’t miss the brief narrowing of Matt’s eyes in her direction. “By we do you mean just the two of you?”
Katie tried her best to feign nonchalance as she flopped onto the seat. “Nah, we got Hunk, Lance, and Keith with us this time.”
“Good, good.” Matt shifted as he moved his papers around. “Remind me to clock Shiro the next time I see him? Haven’t seen the guy in ages.”
“Hey, you know he’s just as busy as you. Maybe even more so.”
“Yeah but somehow he managed to find the time to binge watch all of Defenders of the Universe with you.”
Katie stiffened as her brother scowled at her.
“I still haven’t forgiven you for that.”
And just as easily relaxed when he dropped the look. Relieved to find Matt not intending to question more into the topic, she stuck her tongue out. “That’s what you get for working late shifts with Dad.”
“Hey, I need the job experience!”
“Right.”
“Still though.” Matt leaned back. “Shiro rarely ever showing his face here yet somehow always squeezing in the time for you. There something you’re not telling me, Pidge?”
She shook her head. “No, Matt.”
Nice try.
While Matt may have known about her not-so-subtle crush on Shiro ever since her last year of middle school, he had yet to discover the fullest extent of her feelings.
This included the quiet pining which lead to her more recent slip-ups and her current… emotional dilemma.
She watched as her brother turned back to his laptop.
Matt didn’t know a thing and Katie planned to keep it that way. It was one less person to keep a hawk’s eye on and Pidge was going to take any blessings she was gonna get.
“You know he’s dating Allura.” She added easily.
Matt seemed to buy it just as quickly. “Oh yeah.” He briefly looked up from his work, as if mulling the thought, then looked back down. “Would’ve thought Shiro would marry into the family someday.”
Katie fought back how her body suddenly stiffened.
With a click of her brother’s tongue, she relaxed.
“Shame, Mom and Dad would have loved having him as an in-law.”
“ You marry him then. Pretty sure he’d say yes in a heartbeat.”
At this, Matt looked up with a snort. “Yeah, and we could be bros for life.”
“ Bro.” Pidge joked, “Tell the whole world that we’re bros. Why’d you whisper? Coz you’re my whole world, bro.”
“Bro.” she and Matt chortled in unison before dissolving into a fit of laughter.
Matt put up a serious face. “Shiro, would you be my bro, forever and always?”
Pidge reached for her phone in her pocket to open her messenger app.
“I dare you to text him that right now.”
“Doing that right now.” She said with a grin and hit SEND. She and Matt often had their moments of being in perfect sync.
Holt sibling telepathy, Katie mused.
But then again there were some things Matt had yet to know about Katie and vice-versa, so maybe it was more of a coincidental happenstance.
Damn, Katie thought. Allura’s vocabulary has really been rubbing off on me lately.
Her phone beeped.
Shiro: Pidge what the fuck
She hadn’t expected Shiro to respond so immediately, much less curse while he was at it.
Katie didn’t bother to stop the onslaught of cackles that erupted from her mouth.
“ Bro!” she laughed again.
Matt moved his laptop to the coffee table so he could turn to face her. “What’d he say?”
The resulting chortle from her brother as she read the text out loud for him was more than expected.
“Don’t be fooled Baby Sis, he’s totally considering the idea.”
“I can hear the bells already. But seriously though.” She paused to pocket her phone. “I don’t think he’d ditch his girlfriend for anyone, Matt.”
Especially not me. The thought was quick to voice itself in her mind and she was just as fast to shove it back.
“Nope, Shiro and I successfully and dutifully live by the Bro Code.”
Katie let out an unladylike snort. “What, to delete the other’s browser history in case one of you dies?”
“No, Katie-cat, bros before hoes.” He shifted to gesticulate. “Pals before gals. Friends, dudes, and playahs before Lady Lunafreyas.”
“Isn’t that from-“
“The point is, Baby Sis, is that Shiro would always put friends first. If he had to choose between his best friend and his girlfriend, the best friend would always come first.”
Innocent as the statement was coming from her oblivious brother’s mouth, the words still end up stunning her like a direct contact with a live wire. Her already overworked mind began to flurry a scenario, and Pidge had to fight back a wince as she shot it down.
No.
Matt didn’t mean it that way.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Okay.
“You doing okay, Pidge?”
“I’m alright. Just remembered I have some things to finish up due tomorrow.”
“Oh okay. I’ll yell for dinner.”
Pidge didn’t even bother giving her brother a second glance before trudging up the stairs with her backpack and heading straight into her room.
Read the rest on AO3 here -> x
