"Yes! Yes of course!" 

"Really?" 

"You are truly remarkable Lance. I can't thank you enough for fulfilling my dream." 

Allura's eyes sparked as she clutched the slightly wilted Juniberry flower in her hands. Even though the sun had set and only her front porch light illuminated her face Lance thought that she was as gorgeous as she had ever been. She was completely enamored with the delicate petals. 

"Well, where do you want to meet up? Or should I pick? Considering that you're new in town." The sunny boy winked. 

"You decide! Clearly you know much of the wonders of this town and I would be delighted to see them." She jumped up and down  in her excitement. 

"Alright." Lance shot her a proud grin and then remembered. "Here let me." 

He gently took the flower from her hand and tucked it behind her long, swooping white locks. The stark contrast of the two colors was remarkable. The dazzling girl blushed from the gesture and fiddled with it in her hair. 

"H-how does it look?" 

"You look so stunning Allura." 

He took his fingers to brush stray strands of her hair behind the flower. Lance felt like his head was spinning. Lightly his fingers fell farther down to trace the skin under her chin. Immediately he regretted it once she stood back, started. 

"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean--" 

"--Its alright." 

Lance watched in horror as the girl seemed to shrink a little and hugged her arms to herself. 

Shit. I blew it, God, I never think...She thinks I'm a creep.  

A gust of wind blew in between the space that distanced them. The wind chimes tethered to the porch violently clanged against each other into some nonsensical song. The flower delicately resting behind Allura's ear flew away from it's position. 

"No!" Allura grabbed out in desperation. 

Lance stumbled over the furniture as the flower skidded along the wood floor. Seconds before it flew into the darkness of the grass he grabbed it. 

"Thank you." Allura gingerly took it back, without making eye contact. "Shall I see you on Wednesday then?" 

Lance wanted to scream he was so relieved that he hadn't blown it. 

"Yes, yes. I'll meet you here at 4?" He hesitantly said. 

She nodded then retreated into her house. In spite of himself Lance did a victory dance on her front porch as the wind blew in again and the chimes gave him an obscure tune to dance to. 

                                                                                               ~*~ 

Keith slid the back door shut and stood there for a moment. The dark interior of the house surrounded him. He shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets and felt the crumpled petals. It was right where he had left it. He lazily leaned in to the sliding glass door and lightly knocked is forehead against it. This is a mess. This is a disaster. A low groan escaped from Keith's mouth as he let himself wallow for a moment. He ran the silky-soft petals through his fingertips, somehow it felt soothing. 

The dark haired boy threw his keys onto the table and missed. They gave a pathetic clang as they hit the ground. Everything felt pathetic. He flipped the kitchen lights on and went to get himself something to eat.  Angrily, he tore the fridge door open to find it empty again. This was no surprise. Shiro did most of the shopping considering he was the one with the car. When he was gone most days, getting food in the house was pretty rare. Most of Keith's meals were obscure creations made up of left over odds and ends. Today's dinner was a couple of toaster waffles lathered with the last scrapings of strawberry jam. He chewed the limp waffle in slow bites, his eyes glued to the table spaced out. 

It suits you.  

Keith took the flower out of his pocket and examined it. The petals had become crushed and folded in his pocket and had become discolored. The stem had snapped. He didn't know what else to do with it once the reached the mouth of the forest again. It had remained tucked behind his ear for the hour and a half walk back to the parking lot. Lance hadn't said anything else about it since he had put it in it's place. The walk back was silent save for the "watch your steps" and "don't slip on the rocks". After the flower incident neither knew what to say; especially Keith, and he wanted to say something back so desperately. His chest ached thinking about the way that Lance's soft blue eyes inspected him with the Juniberry. He shivered remembering the slightest touch of his fingertips. 

"Shit" He whispered under his breath. Keith laced is pale fingers together and placed his head into them. 

His heart was racing when he was sitting perfectly still. 

Being around the sunny boy made him feel like he was melting; like the rest of the world could just smear like a raindrop running down the petals of a flower budding in the spring. His tanned freckled skin glowed along with his joking and aloof self like he was the literal embodiment of the giant star. He was weird and loud and energetic and very likely crazy but Keith couldn't care less. Being around Lance made him feel warm--his brashness snuffed out the silence that usually hung around him. 

The past couple days had been insanity. Ever since Lance had come over on Friday Keith's head felt like it was spinning trying to decipher what had happened. He felt indescribably drawn to the other boy as they sat shoulder to shoulder. There was something that burned inside of him and looking at him like that; he couldn't catch his breath thinking about what he wanted to. I wanted to kiss him. 

Keith shut his eyes shut and raked his fingers through his hair. I'm crazy. I'm loosing it. 

His mind wandered back to the forest and to that little patch of Juniberries and Lance's fingertips. Keith knew that it was unmistakable. In that moment, he had the exact same feeling...and it wasn't going away.  Memories flowed in and out of his mind, painting images as clear as they had happened: cleaning Lance's scrapes, watching him hork down blueberry pie, watching him laugh from the backseat of Pidge's car, smashing buttons on his GameCube controller, viciously sucking at his juice pouch, his eyes sparkling under the twinkle lights in his own room. 

Keith cringed. Dwelling on all of those insignificant things shouldn't have mattered so much but he couldn't ignore them. 

The garage door creaked open and snatched Keith back to reality. Within moments his cousin entered the house with a few grocery bags in his hands. 

"I got us some dinner! I was thinking about making some pasta." Shiro's eyes wandered to the half eaten waffle on Keith's plate. "...If you still have the appetite for it?" 

Keith nodded gratefully and helped Shiro unpack the food. 

"How was work today?" Shiro kindly asked. 

"The usual, not too many customers, made a couple bouquets and some flower crowns for a birthday party; watered some stuff...you?" 

"Just a few calculations, the outpost out here doesn't get too much action." 

Then where are you all the time?  

"Ah." 

"And after work?" 

"Wha-what about after work?" Keith felt embarrassed for reasons unknown. 

"Didn't you get off at noon?" 

"Oh. Yeah. I did." 

"And?" 

"I went on a hike..." 

"A hike? That's unlike you." 

"Yeah, you know...trying new things." 

"Where did you go?" 

"Arus Woods." 

"Arus." Shiro smiled to himself as he put a pan of water on the stove. "I remember when I used to take you there. Feels like forever ago." 

"Yeah." 

"You just decided to go by yourself?" 

"Uh--no--" 

Shiro turned to give a proud grin to his younger cousin. "Who with?" 

"Lance...that guy from the other day." 

"He seemed...nice." It was in situations like these that Shiro still wasn't the best at playing his fatherly-like role. He was still awkward when it came to talking to Keith about his personal life. 

"He's...cool." Keith said then cringed, his head flashed the image of Lance in front of him once more, sweeping his hair away. The feeling stung in the back of his throat. Absentmindedly he ran his fingers over the flower in his pocket once more. Once he realized what he was doing he clenched is fists in his pockets. Why can't I get that out of my head?  He hurried to continue helping is cousin cook. 

                                                                                           ~*~

The two sat together side to side at their old wooden kitchen table, with Shiro at his usual spot at the head. They sat in silence under the solitary light above them, their pasta steaming, the only sound to be heard was their gentle blowing on the food to cool it down. Most meals together were eaten like this and neither of them seemed to have a problem with it; it was that weird unspoken promise that kept their two lives separate. Shiro shifted back and forth in his seat, there was something about him that seemed different. Living as long as he had with the older boy Keith had picked up on his mannerisms: the air of uneasiness around Shiro was foreign for the usually headstrong boy. 

"Keith, there's something that I need to tell you." 

The younger boy's nerves began to swell. Shiro's tone had turned serious. 

"What is it?" 

"I'm sorry that I haven't been around as much recently. I'm sure you've noticed and so have I. There's a reason--" 

"You don't have to be sorry, I know that you're working and studying at the outpost." 

"I appreciate it Keith but there's another reason. You have a right to know." 

"...know what?" Keith suddenly felt small under the sincere composure of his cousin. 

"That I'm seeing someone." 

"Y-you? Seeing someone? Like dating someone?" 

Shiro blushed slightly then looked away, attempting to hide his small prideful grin. "Yes. Someone who works with me at the outpost. They just started working there this summer." 

Keith's head spun. His cousin, the stoic Shiro was dating someone. He didn't even think it possible. Everything about the older boy emanated logic and stability, he never would have guessed him to do something that seemed...irrational. At least to him it seemed like it. However,with the distance that had grown between them, maybe there were things that he didn't know about Shiro. 

He toyed with the food on his plate, eyes down. He had no clue what to say to his cousin considering this was a topic they never really discussed. He muttered, "Well...what's she like?" 

Shiro cleared his throat and shifted in his seat as he had been doing before. "He's a data analyst. Mostly for statistical models and stuff. A hell of a lot better than I am. I requested an analyst at the beginning of the summer and..."

Keith swallowed hard. He?  Everything else that Shiro had just said blew past Keith like some kind of breeze that only swiped by his ears. Shiro? And a he? For a moment Keith's eyes brushed over the muscled arms of his cousin, his broad shoulders and his commanding gaze. Keith had only ever just assumed--

"His name is Adam." 

The dark haired boy sat motionless in his seat. Too much had happened that day for him to comprehend. 

"Are-are you mad Keith? I know this is really unexpected but I've only ever wanted to be transparent with you." He brought his hand to Keith shoulder and met him with a softer expression. He gave it a squeeze. "You're my only family here." 

"No, no I'm not mad. I'm just...surprised." 

"I know, I was too."

It suits you. 

Keith tucked his hair behind his left ear. 

"I spent a lot of time thinking it over Keith. God, there were some nights when I couldn't sleep because it was the only thing that I could think about and you just can't name it. But then I thought to myself--" 

"--How did you know?" 

The words had spilled out of Keith's mouth before he could think twice. 

"You mean how did I know that I liked him?" 

Keith nodded, somber. 

"Well, I think it was just this feeling that I got when I was around him and when I wasn't: I just wanted to spend more time with him, and I didn't want it to end. Being around him felt natural; I didn't have to pretend to be anyone else around him. We could just talk for hours Keith, literally I mean hours. One day we stayed at the outpost till 3AM just talking about everything that we could and I still didn't want it to end. I felt like everyday that I would see him I had something to look forward to." 

Keith's chest rose and fell heavy. His heart was pounding and his breath felt short. 

"Keith?" 

"An-and it didn't feel wrong?" 

Once again, Shiro met his cousin's eyes sympathetically. "Yeah. It did...at first, but it's not--"

"How did you make it go away?" 

Keith clenched his fists harder until his knuckles turned white and his fingernails dug into his skin. He head fell as he let his long black hair fall in front of his face. That idiot. That stupid flower. Fucking Flower Crown. 

"Keith? What's going on?" 

Angry tears welled up in Keith's eyes which he furiously blinked away. He kept his head down, embarrassed for his cousin to see his redding eyes. "Answer the question." 

"Okay." Shiro hesitantly began."It did feel wrong, it felt like something deep down inside of me was saying that there was something wrong with me, that I was just confused or lonely or that I couldn't think right. The more that I thought about how it didn't make sense the more it really did. Dwelling on it made me feel sick. You know me, I need to know how everything functions, I need to be in charge and have a hold on the situation and then...well I was way in over my head. I didn't know a single thing about what was happening. But...I realized that I don't have to know. Some things need to just happen. You can't control everything Keith." 

"Then what did you do?" 

"Isn't it obvious? I let it happen. I let myself think about him. I let myself wonder and--" He chuckled. "Daydream." 

Keith chuckled slightly in response. Shiro daydreaming? 

"I finally came to the realization that Adam and I are just people and people fall in love everyday so why couldn't I?" 

Shiro reached up to squeeze his cousin's shoulder one more time. 

"You know that you can tell me anything, right Keith?" 

Under the veil of his hair Keith took out the Juniberry and studied it once more. His eyes stung holding back more unwanted tears. It looked pathetic in his hand. 

"Keith?" 

The younger boy lifted his head, feeling exhausted. He used his palm to wipe away and spare droplets. He placed the crushed flower in front of his cousin and sighed deeply, the air just barely entering his congested nose. 

"Lance gave me this." 

Shiro sat upright, that unspoken barrier between them shattering silently. 

"Everything that you just said, I-I've felt all of that too." 

Keith's vision clouded with a memory of that day in his room, just upstairs from where the two of them sat. He had mulled over it dozens of times and each time he was left feeling the same. Now, it was unmistakable. 

"I didn't want it to end. I can't stop thinking about the smallest things Shiro. It's driving me insane..." Keith took both of his hands and clutched clumps of his hair tightly. "I can't make it stop, that night when he came over I wanted to...I could have ruined everything; I have ruined everything. 

"Keith, calm down. Stop, look at me, you're not making sense. You haven't ruined anything." 

"You don't know that!" Keith's words came out of his mouth tangled in rage and despair. He blinked hard at the tears attacking him. 

"Then tell me about it!" Shiro's authoritative voice challenged. 

Keith fought back sobs as his body shook with desperate inhales. 

"I LIKE HIM! Keith slammed his fists on the table. A swell of emotions ran up out of his aching chest and got caught in his throat so thick he thought he was choking. The tears ran freely out of his eyes. 

"That's..great!" Shiro perked up, trying to remain steady as he watched his cousin turn inside out in front of him. 

"It's not..." Keith toyed with the strings of his hoodie before he brought his sleeves up to cover his face. He smelled it. The seawater mixed with the slightest bit of something else. He finally knew what it was. It was like maple syrup and pine. Lance. 

"Why not?" 

"He could never think of me the same." 

It had been unbearably hard to listen to Lance talk about the girl he had met. The more that Keith had thought about it he more he felt hopeless. Admitting it was one thing, but it wouldn't do anything. Never in his life would Lance give him the lilac that he had been thrilled to give her. 

"All the time that we spend together...that won't happen again if he knows. An-and I don't want it to end, even if it means that he doesn't ever know." 

"Keith, how can you be sure?" 

"I-I--" 

"If there is one thing about you that has never changed, it's that you don't listen Keith." He pushed the flower towards his cousin. "You're doing the exact same thing that I did." 

"What?" 

"Don't try to stop yourself. "Shiro flashed him a hopeful smile. "Come on, finish up your food and take a shower. You need to clear your head." 

Keith's cousin returned to eating his dinner silently. Outside of the sliding glass doors, the wide expanse of the sea sloshed back and fourth, and sparkled slightly with the white of the moon. The sound of cicadas rang rhythmically in patterns of ebbs and flows. Keith sat back catching his breath, feeling more tired than anything else. The Juniberry on the table stared back up at him, the magenta petals still barely holding on to the yellow bud. 

It suits you.  

"But I don't suit you."  Keith barely whispered, shoving it back in his pocket. 

                                                                                   ~*~  

On the evening of Lance and Allura's meeting dark clouds of rain covertly disguised themselves the evening sunset . Grey cotton balls invaded the typical blue summer blanket of the sky. A chill held in the air with the coming rain with promises of a torrential downpour to come. 

Lance happily waltzed out of the grocery store with his plastic bag in hand. His head gravitated up to the terrifying looking sky as the first drops of rain began to fall onto the pavement and pattered on his forehead. Quickly the sunny boy took to his bike stashing the treasure inside of his backpack. The wind picked up it's pace, throwing his olive green jacket all around him. Ladies and their shopping carts rattled behind them as they rushed to their cars. If anyone could outrun the rain, Lance would have bet all the money had had on himself. 

Hands buckled to his handlebars he began to pedal with all of his might. The atmosphere of the stormy skies made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. Lance liked to call it his sixth sense that he could predict the exact moment before the rain would fall, Veronica just liked to tease him back and call him Karen from Mean Girls. 

Lance shook any thoughts distracting him from his head. The rain was coming any minute now and we was just about to Allura's home. His chest rose and fell heavily with each pedal. Slightly he hoped to just catch the rain as he was sure he had drenched himself in sweat. He prayed that the contents of his backpack wouldn't get wet, that would ruin the whole purpose.  

At last he reached Allura's home to the backdrop of the sea looking darker and more tumultuous than he had ever seen it before. Upon seeing it like that he felt his knees lock. He could almost feel the salt water filling up his stomach and his lungs. He clumsily dismounted from his bike with his eyes fixed on the horizon. The ocean looked like it could rise up and pummel the land in an instant. He stood petrified in front of Allura's porch. 

One by one the raindrops fell, slowly at first, but then all at once in sheets. 

"Lance? Lance are you alright?" 

The angelic girl bounded towards him barefoot. Immediately her silver-white hair melded together under the rain. 

"Lance?" 

He hadn't noticed that Allura had grabbed him by the arms and taken him inside until all the sounds around him seemed to come to a silence. The tranquility of Allura's home was like being in a dream. The only thing stirring seemed to be the tick of the wall clock. 

"My goodness, you are soaking wet. I'll go get us some towels." 

Allura's footsteps softly thumped against the hardwood floor. 

Lance's mind slowly came back to him as he observed his unfamiliar surroundings. The inside of Allura's home had a type of cozy beach house feel to it. Seashell and lighthouse decorations were scattered around. Inside of the house he began to feel like himself again, like he was safe. He suddenly felt freezing as the air conditioning met his wet skin. 

"Here." Allura came from behind him and wrapped a fluffy towel around his shoulders and began to wipe him dry. 

"You don't have to do that." Lance gently took the towel from her. 

"What were you doing standing out there like that?" Allura brought her eyes to Lance as he stood only a couple inches away. Her mesmerizing eyes were clouded with concern. 

"I don't know." He returned softly. 

"Is everything alright?" 

"Yeah...yeah. Just looking out there reminded me of that day when we first met, I really thought that I was a goner." 

Allura smiled back sweetly to hand Lance an over-sized t-shirt and some swim trucks. "Sorry, this was the best I could find of my father's clothes. You need to dry up so you don't get sick." She took the towel back and began to messily dry Lance's hair. 

"I could get used to this." Lance muttered, his inner thoughts somehow escaping from where they should have been kept inside. 

The breathtaking girl groaned and stepped back to disappointingly look at the boy standing across from her. 

"A thank you would have sufficed." 

Lance smirked and sarcastically quipped "Thank you for getting me out of the rain." 

Allura rolled her eyes then fell into a reclining chair near to them. 

"I guess this means that we're trapped here until the rain stops huh?" Lance mopped up with the towel where he had been dripping on the floor. 

"I suppose so." She coldly remarked. 

In a way, Lance thought that she was adorable when she acted feisty like this. It only made him want to scoop her up in his arms even more. She had changed into sweatpants and a loose fitting shirt and still looked effortlessly beautiful. Lance gulped back hard swallows trying not to swoon. 

"Hey, I got you something." He grinned mischievously as Allura refused to look at him. 

From his backpack Lance drew out the plastic bag, the inside still dry. 

"Ta-da!" 

Lance presented to her a medium sized teddy bear that was colored light pink and red with little black glossy eyes and hearts on its feet and on its palms. On its white stomach was embroidered a couple of pink roses like a type of off-brand Care Bear. 

From the corner of her eye Allura allowed herself to look. She caved seeing how lovable it looked in Lance's tanned hands, as the sunny boy hopefully studied her with doe-like eyes. 

"This is also sufficient." She said as she snatched the bear away. "So cute." 

"Read the tag." 

"I've got a rose on my tummy because I want to show you that you are SO sweet. I admire you and I hope that you admire me too! Confession Bears LLC confessionbears.love.com Made in China? What does this all mean?" 

Lance couldn't help but giggle a bit to himself. "It means exactly what it says!" 

"What part of it?" Allura tiled her head, puzzled. 

"Well, I mean, the first part." Lance felt his heart quicken. 

"You have a rose on your tummy?" 

"No! No, no, I think you are..."

"Sweet?" 

"Yes! Yes." Lance breathed a sigh of relief. 

"You think I am sweet?"

"Yeah, and well, a lot of other things..."

"You admire me?" 

"I-I do--listen, I know the bear is really cheesy and everything but what I am trying to say is that--" 

"--I admire you too Lance." 

"I know this is really sudden and we've only just met but I needed to tell you that since I met you that day with the roses--wait, you, you admire me too?" 

Allura nodded quickly yet there was still a hint of hesitation written across her face. "You found the Juniberries for me. I haven't known anyone who would do that just for me." 

Lance's heart was just about ready to beat out of his chest. All he could think about was being closer to her; bringing her closer to him. He swiftly knelt down next to her as she sat. 

"I can't believe that you feel the same way." Lance chuckled hysterically, letting himself slip away. 

Nervously Allura smiled back at him, still a bit confused about his whole display. "Are you alright?"

"Yes! Yes!" Lance beamed and took her hands in his. "Allura, there is so much that I want to do with you, places that I want to bring you to, I have this whole last summer and I want to spend every moment of it with you, and-and I get you all the flowers I can and I'll take you to the Juniberries--" He voice came to an absolute stop. Lance who had already been overwhelmed with emotion couldn't take it much longer. There in front of him looking into his eyes and his eyes only was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. 

God she's gorgeous. 

 "Lance?" 

"Allura you are breathtaking. I think I'm dreaming..."

"Dreaming? But you are not asleep--" 

Slowly Lance rose to press his lips gently on her forehead, letting them linger there for a couple seconds. Her skin felt so warm. Allura was frozen. 

"Wha-what--? Allura blushed. 

"I'm sorry, I know that came out of nowhere but you just looked so..." 

"--It's alright." 

"Are you sure?" 

"...Yes." She tucked her hair nervously behind her ear, prompting Lance to do the same motion after her. The white strands were still wet on his fingers. 

"What do we do now?" Lance was smiling obscenely. 

"I suppose I can make us something to eat?" The angel-like girl quickly rose. 

"I would love that." 

Lance lingered behind her for a moment, sitting on the hardwood floor trying to process everything. This was all so unbelievable he shuddered at the thought that he really might have been dreaming. He remembered the soft  warmth of Allura's skin. This has to be real. 

Lance smiled gleefully and took his phone from his bag. 

Keith, lets meet up tomorrow, you won't believe it.  

                                                                                                  ~~~

That took me quite some time to get this one out, sorry about that! I'm in the middle of final exams so its been a bit crazy but starting next week I should have plenty of time to update! 

This one is another long one haha. Honestly I was having a hard time writing this chapter, I really wanted to write Keith coming to his feelings the right way so I did a couple rewrites, but I'm happy with how it turned out! :) 

~Whats gonna happen when Lance tells Keith about all the new developments?~ 

Next time: The gang hangs out again and Keith is having a hard time dealing with keeping his feelings to himself...