#prekerb (unrequited/puppy crush) #sheith
Keith fidgets beside his best friend, he barely touched his burger. Shiro notices because of course he does. They both know each other too well. Keith knows Shiro notices his distress just as he knows that, in thirteen seconds-

--Oh, six. Six seconds is what it takes Shiro to wrap one arm around his shoulders and pull him closer.
And Shiro knows him and won't ask him what happened unless Keith lets him know he's willing to share.
Won't stop the man from consoling his best friend.
"It's cold out here."

Keith hums his response to Shiro's little lie as he looks at the horizon. The desert has always been more beautiful at night, the sky is clear and he can name almost every star he sees. The ones he can't recognize, he knows Shiro will.
The temperature does drop, though.

"It's cold" he repeats and snuggles closer to Shiro's warmth.
His chest is warm too.
He never met someone who made silence so comfortable. Like the desert he loved so much.
Shiro squeezes.

Friday afternoons spent out of the Garrison are their routine. Sometimes they can take two hoverbikes and race. On unluckier days, when Shiro can't charm his way into Iverson's soft spot, they'd take only one hoverbike.
Like this friday.

But it's not so unlucky if Shiro shrugs and sits behind him, and lets him ride because he's selfless and knows Keith needs the rush. It's not so unlucky when he feels his best friend's arms around his middle, the wind on his face and Shiro's laughter in his ear.

It feels nice, and it makes Keith nervous.
He never had a best friend before. He's not used to having such a good life.
He wants to hold onto this friendship forever.

It hasn't been a good week for either of them.
School wise, it's never a good week for Keith. He can't manage to fit in, or worse, they try to make him fit in in ways it makes him uncomfortable.
He swallows when he thinks about it.
Shiro's week? Well, Shiro got dumped.

The desert may be cold but that doesn't excuse the way Shiro's hug shifts, or the hand that hovers over Keith's head after minutes of silence.
"If your hand smells like meat and ketchup" Keith warns, "I don't want it near my hair."
The hand falls on his head anyway.

Keith groans and rolls his eyes but lets Shiro ruffle his hair anyway, because Shiro is laughing, and that's a sound Keith adores with all his being.
"Are you gonna eat that?" Shiro asks.
Keith's burger is still wrapped, untouched.
He turns to press it to Shiro's face, who gasps.

"You can have it" Keith says, "just don't drop food over my head."
Shiro laughs again and takes the burger. He says nothing when Keith opens his jacket and hides his cold hands in the warmth within.
Keith presses his face to his friend's chest and inhales softly.

He hears the paper crumble and closes his eyes. He feels Shiro's steady heartbeat and Shiro's jaw touches his head as it moves, the older man sighs just once before continuing his happy munching.
Keith inhales again.
"A girl asked me out today"
He feels Shiro tense immediately.

Keith tries to bite back his annoyance. The girls is pretty, smart and popular, and her attention has earned him more glares and ugly whispers from the other classmates.
But she's pretty and she's kind to him. He thinks she's nice.
But Keith has never been in love before.

Shiro keeps quiet and Keith realizes he's waiting. So he looks up to meet his eyes. It's getting dark, but he can still see enough for Shiro's face, and he doesn't like the expression he sees.
"What did you say?" Shiro asks, voice calm.
"I," Keith sighs, "Panicked. Walked away."

Shiro's serious expression breaks and his eyes go wide. "Oh boy."
"How do I tell if I'm in love with her?"
"----Oooh boy."

Romantic love is not something Keith has ever experienced. He didn't want to sound pitiful and say "love" in general wasn't something he experienced much in life either.
Aside from his father.
Aside from Matt's friendship.
Aside from Shiro.

"She talks to me" Keith says, "even when I don't reply as much. She made me lunch once."
Shiro looks away, letting out a nervous titter.
"I'm not the best at this," he says when he looks back at Keith, a small smile on his lips.
Oh right. Adam.

Keith pulls away, and apologizes. Shiro just got dumped and here he is talking about a possible girlfriend.
Shiro shrugs, his smile widening "I'm just telling the truth, I'm bad at these stuff."
But Keith shifts and tries to sit a little far from his best friend.

Usually, Shiro would pull him back into a hug. But he senses Keith's discomfort and lets him put as much space as the boy wanted between them.
Quietly, Shiro returns to his burger and waits.

"I.." Keith pauses. "I have no one to talk to about this."
Shiro chokes. "You can still talk to me."
"... Maybe I could ask Matt."
Shiro coughes. "Absolutely not."

"Matt had a girlfriend once" Keith opens a bottle of water and hands it to his best friend. Shiro takes it quickly and drinks from it almost desperately. When he's done, he gives Keith a disappointed look.
"Commander Holt took away his datapad for sexting bots."
"Oh."

They stay silent for a while before Keith sighs. "Everyone says she's the prettiest, nicest in class. And she is" he says, "everyone talks about wanting to date her."
Shiro says nothing, resuming his burger.
"And I don't think I want to? But how do I know?" Keith swallows.

"Everyone else talks about dating, and kissing and uh," the next thing he says, he hides it as cough into his hand but Shiro doesn't miss it, choking again.
The older man takes the bottle of water again.
"I don't think I want any of that yet" Keith says.

Shiro drains the bottle and sounds breathless when he turns to him, "then don't do any of that yet."
He talks like it's obvious, and it is. But Keith is nervous.
"But what if I never want it?" he asks.
What if I'm broken?
Shiro cocks his head. "Is that what this is?"

Keith feels like shrinking. He looks down at his feet, kicks the air for a while.
"There's nothing wrong with you, Keith" Shiro pulls from Keith's sleeve, coaxing him into sitting closer to him again.
Keith obliges slowly.

"Why do I have to be so different?" Keith wants love. He's not gonna pretend otherwise. Any kind of love he can get, he wants it. He craves and wants. He sees Matt with his dad and wants that. He sees Shiro with Adam and wants that.
He sees Shiro and he wants a hug.

And Shiro knows, and Shiro knows him.
He takes both of Keith's hands and pulls him closer, into his jacket, wraps them himself around his own middle and lets Keith soak in warmth again.
And Shiro hugs him.
Keith could cry. Because it's scary.

Because he's not used to want love and actually get it.

"Because we're all different" Shiro answers, "and if you think that's bad then I'm doomed."
Keith groans and presses his face against his friend's chest. "Ugh, I'm so sorry about Adam."
Shiro's laughter vibrates against his cheek and it feels good.

"It's fine if you don't want it now" Shiro tells him, "and it's fine if you never want it too."
There are other kinds of love, is what Shiro doesn't say but Keith gets it. He has Shiro.
This is love, too.

"Again, I'm no good at this" Shiro laughs and rests his chin on Keith's head. "But let's say romantic love is like... chocolate."
Keith looks up at him. Chocolate is his favorite food. Shiro knows that and he smiles down at him when he continues.

"Few things compare to its taste" Shiro says, "but many people have lived full lives anyway, without ever having it."

Short nails scratch the back of Keith's neck.
"You have all the time of the world to fall in love" Shiro shrugs, "but if it never happens- well that's also not a problem."
He looks up to the sky. "I love space more than anything I could love down here."
That's why Adam left.

Shiro laughs. "Almost anything" he corrects himself, and squeezes his arms around Keith, who doesn't understand it.
But he understands everything else, and it inspires him. Like the cleanest, freshest air entering his lungs.
Keith loves space, too.

Keith inhales sharply. He drinks in the sight of Shiro under the light of the stars inhales the dark of the night, feels the cold breeze against his back the warmth of his best friend against his front.

His eyes sting, but Shiro doesn't coo at him or try to dry his face. He knows it'll make Keith cry for real.
"I just wanna fly" Keith says, then, and it's true. He's not in the Garrison in search for the kind of love the girl wants from him. He's here because he loves to fly.

He wants the stars that call him every night, telling him that's where he belongs.
He wants to go there.

He wonders if Shiro has been told the same by them, because he looks at Keith with understanding.
"Me too" Shiro says, even though he's already a pilot. "Me too."
They jump out the bike and lie on the dirt and stay there past curfew, stargazing.