Shut Up And Dance With Me//Klance//Complete

Glad You Came

---------------------------------------------------------------------

[ THURSDAY ]

The gym is Keith's only safe haven. It's where he goes to think. It's where he goes to be alone. It's where he goes to get away from everything. When he's here, he can get in his own head. Take a moment to think about what makes him tick. Work through his problems while his body engages in mindless activity.

It's refreshing.

It's rejuvenating.

It's relaxing.

And other than occasionally when Shiro and Allura hang out around him, he's usually left alone to do his own thing.

He can just... be himself. No worries. No anxieties. He doesn't have to think about auditions. He doesn't have to think about how him and Lance still have so much work to do, how they're still rocky with choreography. He doesn't have to think about how frustrating it is to work with Lance. He doesn't have to think about Lance, and his stupid smiles and cocky, flippant attitude.

He doesn't have to think about Hunk, and how the big guy is so earnest and pure and quite easily the most genuine human being he's ever met.

He doesn't have to think about Pidge, and how he hasn't realized how much he missed having them in his life and how grateful he is to have a second chance at being close again.

He doesn't have to think about Allura, who's becoming less like just his brother's dance partner and not-quite girlfriend and casual acquaintance, and more like her own person and friend in Keith's life.

He doesn't have to think about Coran, and how the man he's always just seen as just a dance instructor and Allura's brother-friend-thing is slowly becoming more like that weird exotic uncle friend that hangs around because he honestly likes everyone and everyone honestly likes him.

He doesn't have to think about Shiro, and how seeing his brother interact with his friends is making him see a whole new dimension to his brother that makes them feel closer than ever.

Here at the gym, he doesn't have to think about how he's never considered himself to be someone who had or even needed a lot of friends. He's always been fine with just him and Pidge and Shiro. Hell, he even considered Matt a friend at some point. He's never needed more than them. And when they started to grow apart, he had accepted it and hadn't felt the need to fill the void. He was fine like this. He had always been fine without constant companionship.

And yet now he finds himself thrust into a group of friends that he never asked to be part of, but who are, for some reason, determined to keep him around.

And the strangest part? He actually... kind of likes it. He likes them. They're all quirky and fun and just... good people.

And all because he had made the decision to try out for regionals with Lance. Lance with his too loud laugh. Lance with his infuriating smirks. Lance with his irritatingly persistent competitive nature. Lance with his dramatic flair he puts into everything. Lance and the way he fights back against all of Keith's instruction, the way he complains and whines whenever Keith corrects him, the way he really does listen and try despite all of his protests. Lance and the way he actually makes a point to include Keith like it's only natural to do so. Lance and the way he—

But Keith isn't going to think about Lance right now. Him and the rest of the group have been on his mind way too much lately. He's still a little floored that they've all been so ready and willing to accept him, how he just kind of slipped into their lives seamlessly and they've barely had to think about accepting it.