Chapter 19
"I'm curious..." started Lance in an annoying tone that Keith knew was going to end up pissing him off.
It was early on a Saturday morning and the three roommates were in the kitchen as Hunk prepared breakfast before his busy shift.
Lance was sitting next to the Asian, casually scrolling through his phone in boredom as he waited for the food to be done and Keith was losing his mind as he scribbled a pen across a sheet of paper.
His scheduling wasn't adding up like he needed it to which in return was driving him insane.
-Pidge got off at eight that night.
-The guys at the shop were in agreement to clear out by seven.
-She was off the next day to give them some time to settle after he told her... everything.
-Their regular Chinese order had been made and would be picked up by Shiro at eight thirty and dropped off at her door.
-His last customer was picking up their bike at five.
All was perfect, except one thing...one of the side mirror replacements came in broken and wouldn't be arriving at the shop until seven. That didn't give him enough time to install it before he needed to leave to pick her up.
which meant he needed someone else to do it.
"When I asked you if your plan was a five year plan, did you take it into consideration as an idea or what? Because you are taking an awfully long time to tell her," Lance finished with a smirk.
Keith glared at him. There the Cuban went, pissing him off. "It hasn't been that long."
He chuckled in bewilderment, "Are you kidding me?! It's February 1st, dude. This is a plan that has been in motion for four months."
"Lance, leave Keith alone," Hunk warned gently from the stove. "He can tell her at his own pace."
"Hopefully, before we are all six feet under."
"Keep talking and that'll be soon for you."
"At least something will be because your plan sure isn't."
The mechanic slammed his pen down and narrowed his eyes at his roommate, "Why does it bother you so much?! Is it that hard for you to keep your mouth shut for this long?"
"Yes!" Lance yelled back but not out of anger. Childlike excitement lit up his features. He always loved when he could get a rise out of the Asian. Lance was the fucking embodiment of younger sibling energy. "For the love of god, it's killing me watching you dance around her without actually doing anything and it sucks even more that she doesn't know why you're doing it!"
"No one said you had to watch."
"Where's the fun in that?"
He was going to kill him. He would never get the chance to tell Pidge because he was going to be in prison for murder. "Shut up, Lance."
The Cuban snickered but let it go. "What are you doing anyway?" he asked as Hunk placed eggs on his plate.
"Not that it's any of your business.." the mechanic began. His tone was tense but his expression lightened once he was certain his roommate was done messing around with him. "I...plan on telling her... tonight."
The fork stopped mid way to his roommate's mouth as Hunk stopped shoveling food from the pan onto his own dish. "Wait, really?" the florist asked, as Lance's mouth was too busy hanging open.
Keith felt a little uncertain of answering when they stared at him in such a way but he nodded nonetheless. He folded the sheet of paper up and tucked it into his pocket. He noticed the way Lance's eyes lit up at the piece of notebook paper and he didn't want him getting any ideas on snatching it. "Which, by the way. Hunk, would you mind getting some peonies ready for me? I can pick them up and pay for them during my lunch break."
The burly man nodded but as always, he waved the payment part aside. "Don't even think about bringing your wallet. Especially if they are for Pidge."
He nodded in thanks and didn't dare argue.
The Cuban sat up in interest, "How are you going to do it?"
"Once again, that's none of your business." He stood up from his stool, having opted out of breakfast due to the nerves that had been swarming his stomach all morning. "You're having lunch with her today and I don't trust you."
"Oh, come on! I've kept my mouth shut this long!"
Keith smirked, "Not risking it." He whistled for his dog as he made his way for the door and grabbed the pup dog's leash. "I'll see you guys later."
"Goodluck!" Hunk called from the kitchen and he closed the door and left.
Kosmo hopped around energetically in the fresh snow as they walked to the shop. With it being so cold, he normally would have opted for his bike or let Hunk take him to work on his way to his own shift. He didn't always work on Saturday so it wasn't ever a problem but that day was different. That day he was going in early so that he could get what he needed done work wise and still be able to pull off what he had planned.
And if all things went right, hopefully Pidge would be giving him a ride in her truck. To her apartment... As long as she didn't kill him.
God, he hoped she didn't kill him or even hate him.
The thought of losing her was almost enough to make him want to back out.
The thought of being more with her though, was what kept him firm in his decision.
Keith needed to be more with her.
As if he was a dying man in need of the sweet relief of lively air.
The breath of life.
She was his breath that kept him going and he didn't know who he was without her anymore. The all independent version of himself that had accepted the terms of being alone forever, was taking a break in the back seat of his mind, fingers crossed and heart open as it awaited her response.
He would never be the same if she turned him down. If she reacted badly and couldn't bring herself to forgive or accept him.
That was a whole different problem of its own. Forget her being angry with him for not being honest and for rejecting her. What if she just...didn't want him like that. What if his plans to get closer as friends backfired and she didn't want him because she had already gotten to know him. The real him. The him that she couldn't see a future with or anything other than a friend.
There were so many outcomes that were a possibility and only one was good.
There was one chance she could be overjoyed...happy. She could want him and need him in return.
But nowhere as much as he did her. It was funny. He was the one that started the rejection but he was now the one that was going crazy over his soulmate. He regretted it and he most likely would for the rest of his life. He hurt her. Keith caused her unmeasurable pain and she was undoubtedly still mentally and emotionally damaged from it, which was why he had to make it better. Make sure she understood that his intention wasn't to hurt her but save her.
From him.
He would make sure she knew that. He would repeat it over and over until his last breath. Every day. It was him. Not her. She was perfect and more, especially to him. He had been afraid to disrupt such beauty and strength with his stain of disappointment and lack of motivation for anything that involved love.
She had surprised him. She had shown him that her perfection only blended with him. In a way that didn't hide his imperfections but instead brought forth what he had been holding back. He was still him but with a little bit of her shining through his actions.
He didn't have a thought without her in mind. He didn't want to take a step without her hand in his and her short stature walking beside him.
After some late nights trying to sleep, he had pondered Matt's words from the night he had scared him to death on the couch in Pidge's apartment.
He wasn't so sure about them healing each other, but he could definitely see how she was healing him. Making him better. Blending him into a person that could only exist alongside her.
Even when terrified, Pidge and her wonderful personality pushed him forward to tell her.
He was going to tell her.
He just needed a little help...
As Kosmo stopped to smell a certain tree, Keith pulled out his phone to send a quick text.
Keith: Hey, Matt. I need a favor. Can you pick up your sister tonight and bring her to the bike shop right after her shift?
The older brother would know why. Shiro knew because he was on food delivery and Keith didn't doubt that Matt had been informed. The two were toxic when it came to gossip but at least they kept it between themselves.
If he could get Matt to do this then it would be his official green light.
His plan would happen. The universe was giving him the okay he needed to move forward.
It both frightened him and excited him at the same time...
Matt the meme: As if I would say no ;) I wish you luck in your planning. Hopefully she doesn't punch you too hard lol.
That... was that. His future was decided.
His final step was in motion.
Whether he was completely ready or not.
///////////////////////////////////////////////
It was a Keith night.
It was supposed to be a Keith night.
So, you could imagine how disappointed she felt when leaving the hospital to find her brother and his vehicle instead of her movie partner and his bike.
From the amused look on Matt's face she assumed it definitely showed.
"What?" he asked in a teasing tone and a smirk. It made her miss the smirk on his lips. The one he always had reserved for her. The one that made her heart and stomach trade places.
"Are you not pleased to see me?"
The red toned brunette rolled her eyes as she climbed into the passenger seat. "No offense, but I was hoping you were someone else."
The older one laughed and turned the engine over, "Oh, I know but I'm the one that's picking you up from work tonight. So, you'll just have to settle for the world's best brother."
"Is it too late to buy a car?" She joked, giving her sibling a dull look as she leaned her head back against the seat head rest. Her last shift wasn't too tiring but it was still late and she did have a paper due next week that needed some work done on it. Normally, she didn't get behind and was done way before schedule but her Saturday movie nights took a lot of her time. Sometimes, she was lucky to even get it sent in on time.
But she couldn't bring herself to care or stress about it though.
Pidge could actually say she was getting some much needed sleep on the weekends and eating appropriately planned meals. Meals that consisted of more than the average cup of black coffee and the odd muffin.
Keith always brought take out while she supplied the place and TV. He made her get off the couch and go to bed.
And now...he joined her by staying on the opposite side like a gentleman.
They hadn't once woken up accidentally cuddling but she didn't think it was because he wasn't a cuddler.
No, Keith Kogane was definitely a bed cuddler. The pillow that he would have gripped between his arms told her that much. She guessed it was some type of barrier that he gave himself in order to keep to himself.
Which she appreciated.
At least, half of her did. The other half wanted to know what it felt like. To be in his arms. To feel like the center of his...well, everything.
If only soulmates weren't a thing. If only she could pursue what she felt without having the knowledge that he would abandon her for his soulmate when it was time.
They both stayed away from the topic as often as they could but she knew it was what he was waiting on. It was the thing everyone waited for. To meet their soulmate.
Must be nice...
She was just waiting for the moment her soulmate decided to finish her off. Waiting for her body to suddenly erupt in excruciating pain. It was like dealing with some kind of twisted version of PTSD. Never a moment's peace.
Unless she was with Keith. He would help her if the time came. When the time came. If he was by her side when it happened again, she knew he would take care of her.
She trusted him, which was amazing because she didn't trust most...
It really was a shame she wasn't his mate.
"Am I really not good enough for you?" Matt asked, pulling out of the parking out while pulling her back to the conversation at hand.
"I prefer the bike."
"You prefer its rider," he smirked devilishly which only led her to glare at him.
The nurse didn't even try to ask him what he meant. She knew where her nosey brother was going with that statement and she didn't want to get him started on the subject, so she chose something else to talk about and quickly before that devilish smile grew any further with evil words to follow. "Is there a reason why you are picking me up?" she bit out.
"I'm under orders to take you somewhere."
"Orders?"
Matt nodded, remaining vague. "I'm supposed to deliver you."
"To who?" He didn't answer and it aggravated her. "So we are kidnapping now? Decided to switch sides of the law?"
Her brother scoffed, "As if... I wouldn't kidnap my own sister." he told her as he took a turn down a familiar road. They passed the Italian restaurant she always ate at with Lance and then Hunk's flower shop that wasn't far down the little strip of stores. "You're annoying."
"Oh, and you're such a delight," she commented sarcastically as she watched him make another turn at a stop sign. In the distance, amber could see the bright purple lights of the neon sign that hung over the small bike shop that she had visited a couple times. The lights were bright on the inside of one single garage on the very end. The door was open, slid half way down and as they pulled in and her brother's headlights shined on the entrance, a red leather jacket and burgundy combat boots came into view.
Keith was walking towards her side with his hands in his pockets and what she could see was an uneasy smile on his lips.
No...it was a nervous one.
Pidge looked at her brother and gave him a raised brow but when the door opened Matt only shrugged with a sweet smile. "You're all his now." His tone accompanied with the soft expression he was giving her, made her think what he said meant something else but before she could ponder on it too hard, Keith was waiting for her on the other side of the ajar door. His hand was extended and waiting.
She took it like it was instinct and let him pull her from her seat and onto the concrete below. The mechanic gave her brother a wave and then closed the door, her hand still in his grasp as he pulled her along behind him and up towards the lit garage.
Matt was already pulling away by the time she found her bearings enough to question what was happening. "Am I missing something?" Was there a party she didn't remember about? Perhaps one she didn't hear about.
"Uh.." the mechanic started and she could feel from his hand connecting with hers that he was sweating a little. "You could say that."
There he went, just like her brother with being vague. Was it confuse poor Pidge day or what? "Keith, I'm not following."
He chuckled and helped lead her as they both ducked underneath the garage door. "Be patient."
"I hate doing that."
He laughed again but this time it was softer...fonder. Her heart swelled at the sound. She really did love his laughs and how unused and rough they came out. It made her cherish them more.
"I know..."
He pulled her further into the back of the shop and around a couple benches littered with tools before stopping abruptly once in the center of the unorganized area. It was clearly a scarcely used part of the shop. A lot of the tools were rusted and looked to not have been used let alone moved in a while. Dust and rust was evident.
Focusing on the center of the small area where he stopped, Pidge looked around the mechanic to see a sheet covered vehicle in the middle.
A truck from the look of it.
Her truck.
He was done fixing the alternator?
"Is that-"
Keith cut her off by spinning around to face her with an expression that spoke of anticipation. There was no smile or crinkle at the edge of his eyes. Just wracked nerves. "Close your eyes."
"Why-"
"Please?"
The brunette sighed. She was even more confused and befuddled than she had been when they pulled into the shop but she did as he wanted and closed her eyes anyways.
A smile tugged at her lips when she felt the air move around her cheeks. He was waving a hand in her face to make sure her eyes were in fact closed.
It was cute.
Waiting there in her spot, she heard as his boots moved and echoed against the hard flooring when he walked away. She heard the slight crinkle of a sheet falling and crumbling down on the floor and then she heard his voice. "Okay...you can look."
Awestruck couldn't describe what she felt when she opened her eyes.
Her body froze, her mind shut down, her heart stopped.
Green looked brand new. It looked exactly like it had in the photos her father had shown her when her grandfather first bought it.
The paint was unchipped, unfaded. There wasn't a speck of rust anywhere. The window shield even appeared to have been replaced. "You..." she tried to get out but her words wouldn't flow. Her feet began to move slowly towards the chevy and ever so slightly she caressed the shiny hood, moving along the vehicle. She passed the doors and caught sight of the new leather on the inside. The new mirrors. The white stripe that edged the doors was a sparkly white with a glitter finish. It shimmered in the overhead lights like it used to. Her fingertips glided against the smooth surface as if she was touching silk. "You did this?"
"Yeah...changing an alternator doesn't take three months..." he admitted bashfully, meeting her gaze as she glanced up at him from where she stopped at the back, digits dancing across the chevy emblem. He had trailed behind every step as she admired his job.
She barely recognized the sentence that he spoke. All the small nurse could do was let her mind reel over what she was touching and seeing. Her emotions got the better of her and when glancing at him...she couldn't control it, tears rimmed her eyes. Her vision became warped until one drop fell and then another.
For the second time in that garage, she let her feet move on their own accord and she wrapped her arms around his neck with vigor.
He had brought back a piece of her childhood and life that she thought was gone forever.
A piece of her dad....
"Thank you..." she whispered into his neck with a quiet waver in her throat.
Keith wounded his arms around the small of her back and squeezed tighter, tugging her deeper into his warm embrace. The tips of her converse came up and off the ground as he stood straight to his full height. "You're welcome..."
Once again, his voice was so gentle, filled with something he couldn't express. Something he wanted to say but couldn't. Wouldn't. It made her curious. It made her want to ask and seek it out of him. She wanted to know everything there was to know about Keith Kogane. The Keith Kogane that was beautifully selfless so much so that he would dedicate an endless amount of time to fixing a rusty old truck...all because it meant something special to her.
Hell...forget the time...how much did something so extravagant cost? "I'll pay you back..." she said into his neck, money being the first thing on her mind after the initial shock wore off. Pidge had done a lot of research on body work for the rolling memory of her past and she knew that nothing cosmetic about it was cheap. Let alone fixing the engine as well. The Chevy probably put him in debt.
His arms surrounded her back even more, pressing her curves into his body and into the few centimeters of air that were left between them. "No. It's a gift."
She huffed an unbelievable bout of breath against his skin and if she had been paying attention she would have found goosebumps that followed. What had she done to deserve such a gift from him? "For what?"
"The last few months..."
Now that caught her attention. The last few months? The few months of movie nights or the last few months of knowing each other, and why were they important? Why were they so important that he went broke for her? That he would do a job this huge for her?
Pushing against him in order for his hold to loosen, she slid her arms from around his neck and down to his shoulders, but they stayed there as he only allowed her to back away so far. Keith kept his arms wrapped around her small waist, leaning down so that she could rest comfortably on her feet.
His neck was bent, his back slouched, but his lavender grey eyes connected with hers. She searched his gaze for answers to all his hidden meanings and he let her. He didn't speak, he didn't further explain himself, he just let her watch him like it was the most usual thing.
Like being intertwined the way they were was meant to be... and it felt that way.
Oh god...did it feel that way. She could feel the warmth of his hands as they lay flat against her scrubs. She could feel the rise of his chest against her own. She could feel the intensity and see it in his eyes as he gazed down on her like...like she was his everything.
Was that always there? That look? That feeling?
Had he been looking at her like that this entire time because it was foreign and yet...so familiar, achingly so.
She suddenly felt like the glass bowl she had been staring into had been moved.
Like her contacts just came into focus.
Pinch her, she could be dreaming but ...did Keith Kogane return what she felt?
Had she temporarily stolen the heart of someone else's soul bond?
"What did you find that was so great about the last few months?" She found herself asking with numb lips. His eyes were paralyzing.
"You..." He confessed with little hesitation, one of his hands sliding from its place on her back and up her arm. Her breath shook with an uncontrolled shiver as his calloused fingers moved to cradle her left cheek. He swiped away the tears that had settled under her eyelashes. "I found you."
"Me?" She questioned just for the sake of speaking as the tension built and heated like a flaming incinerator around them.
Keith leaned closer and her hands gripped his shoulders either in excitement of what was about to happen or to pull him closer. Everything but the fluttering feeling of butterflies in her stomach was unreal. She couldn't tell what was happening.
But she wasn't going to stop it.
"Keith..." she called feebly. "What are you doing?"
He shook his head, black hair sliding along the back of his jacket as he had it tied back low at his neck. "I don't know." He wasn't being vague or hiding anything. He was being absolutely honest. The mechanic didn't know what he was doing, a lot like she didn't. He was simply following what he felt. What felt like it should be.
What fell into place.
He caressed her cheek again with a rough but warm textured thumb and inched closer. "But I've wanted this," he breathed and her heart thudded against her rib cage. All of a sudden her skin lit on fire. Every nerve blazed with admission at his boldness. "Katie...I've craved this."
Straight gasoline soaked her flames and ignited her into action.
Katie Holt moved first and pushed herself up on the rubber tips of her converse, closing the distance that separated the two.
Screw his soulmate. They were taking their time.
In that moment, in that garage, he was going to be hers for the little amount of time she had him.
And she was going to explore every second.
His hands might have been overworked and rough but his lips were the exact opposite.
They slid over hers, hugging her bottom lip between his own. He was reciprocating with urgency and It felt better than silk. Better than cotton. His warm lips enveloped her soul, bringing her into a dimension that wasn't real. Her heart stopped at first touch but then sped up the minute he pulled her into him again, accepting her mouth like a blessing.
The mechanic glided his appendage from her cheek and into her hair. He gripped the short locks at the back of her head, drawing her in and taking whatever she gave him. He wasn't being greedy but he was nowhere near being ungrateful.
The way he drew her in made her push further because one thing that she was not afraid of admitting in the situation, with his mouth on hers...was that she was definitely going to be greedy.
She had more at stake. He would find his soulmate one day. This wasn't forever.
It stung but it also motivated her. It motivated her to take it all.
So, she adjusted and took his bottom lip between her own instead.
And she nipped it.
The gasp that followed made her weak, as did the look he gave her when he pulled back. His breathing was slightly labored as was hers and his eyes were black with rimmed lavender. She did that to him. She made him feel like that, and that filled her with pride. Joy.
Lust.
Keith was the one to dive in next. He could see that she wasn't going to push him away or tell him no.
Her own craving was written all over her face and he grabbed onto it like a lifeline. His hands grabbed onto her like a lifeline. They tangled in her hair while his body pressed her back against the truck. She could do nothing but grip his shirt and let him now experience what it felt like to be greedy.
He pushed and she pulled. If he moved, she followed.
It became hot quickly. Their bodies turned warmer. At least, hers did. Something about her skin turned into a raging furnace. Something on her skin but she paid it no mind. She couldn't
She would have but Keith pulled her from the truck only to let the tailgate down by the latch. He lifted her up by her hips and his touch almost guided her thoughts to the very place he held her but then she was tasting him again and that took control over every thought that entered her longing filled mind.
The brunette couldn't believe herself. She had this, the opportunity to be with him like this, sitting on the edge of her couch almost every Saturday night.
He slept on her couch.
He slept in her bed!
What if this had happened in her bed...?
He bit her lip, enticing a small sound out of her and she could feel him grin against her lips.
The smug bastard grinned...
Why was that so attractive?
Burying her fingers inside his jacket, The small nurse decided to be bolder and push more, take more. Her greedy little hands slid down his arms, pulling the sleeves of his jacket down and the leather off of him. It thudded against the hard flooring.
Pidge roamed the warm skin of his upper arms as he was wearing a short sleeved shirt and in the muddled waves of her brain she noted that this was a first. She had never seen him in a short sleeves much less touched the flesh of his arms.
It was different. They looked slender in his jacket but in reality they were hard. Firm. She imagined that they had to be in order to do what he did. All the heavy lifting. All the hard work and long hours.
She shifted her nimble little digits down further and Keith breathed against her lips, pulling away but only to busy himself with her neck. Her hands paused, her neck arched with her spine at the sensation of his lips on her skin.
Pidge whimpered and he devoured the moan by pressing deeper into the crook of her shoulder.
Her hands began to move again, wanting to touch everything on him, all of him. Wanting to remember inch by inch before it was ripped away from her.
The tips of her fingers chased what felt like more heat but instead of a spreading warmth or flushed skin, the heat was...localized..
One arm only. One spot.
His left forearm blazed with warmth, pulling her hazy mind back to focus as she noticed that a spot on her hip did the same.
The spot.
Her right side had been what was practically boiling her skin this entire time...Her mark.
Her mark was on fire.
Gathering herself as best she could, Pidge leaned her head down a bit, alerting Keith to her movement. He let her neck go, backing away just a bit to see what she wanted.
He probably wished he hadn't though.
She wished she hadn't.
Vibrant green filled her vision. A uniquely colored flower with the exact lines that stared at her everyday she changed clothes or took a shower.
Red combats. Red leather jacket. Red bike. He was her red.
Keith Kogane was her red peony
The man that she had come to trust the most. The man that tore down her walls and barreled past them without lifting a finger.
The man that made her feel so much when she thought that she was incapable because of how damaged she had let herself become.
He was her red.
And while having already met her at the time...
he had still rejected her...
He rejected her.
The Asian felt her stiffness and after figuring out what had happened, what she had found, his eyes widened.
That told her.
He knew who she was before rejecting her and he knew the entire time they had been friends.
Every movie night. Every lunch date. Every time they hung out with friends.
He knew.
And her heart shattered...