"We're having a what?!" I asked, shocked, as everyone piled into my room with sleeping bags. "There's not even enough room in here for you guys to sleep!"
Shiro rolled his eyes. "Relax Lance. Allura said we only have to stay in here if we fall asleep before she locks the doors. Whoever's still awake gets to leave."
"Think you'll be able to handle it?" Keith raised an eyebrow. He was challenging me, that was certain, but I would beat him. I would never lose to him at anything. Ever.
"If it means not having to share the same room as you." I smirked as he laid his sleeping bag right beside my bed. Did he want me to step on his face? "I'll do anything."
Someone's feeling better, I thought as Keith sat himself next to Pidge. It had been a few nights since we'd been trapped in a room together but we had been talking more than usual, especially since the others had decided that I was the one who was going to take care of him while he was sick. It hadn't been hard. He slept it off, for the most part. The few times he did wake up, I just came in to check on his fever and ask him how he was. There had been no more nightmares, thankfully. At least, he didn't wake up screaming and shaking from any he did have. Looking at him now, he was a lot livelier. As lively as Keith could get, that is. His eyes looked brighter today, like everything around him seemed that much more interesting. I couldn't help but admire his joy. It was nice to see him smiling again, even if it was barely a smirk. I didn't know why I cared so much to see him smile but I never wanted him to be like he was that night ever again. It wasn't fair that he had to think about losing Shiro that often, or even at all. I snapped out of my head and turned my attention back to everyone, slightly nervous as to what was in store. Everyone seemed to be chatting and getting along quite well, only silencing when Shiro cleared his throat to get our attention.
"I think, since Allura wants us to bond tonight." He began, gesturing to all of us. "And since we all seem to be in such good spirits, that we should play a game. Any suggestions?"
Pidge immediately perked up, nearly tumbling forward in excitement.
"Truth or dare!" She shouted, grinning from ear to ear. "Unless you guys are too chicken to play it."
"Never." I smirked at Pidge, noticing Keith eyeing me up. It was on. "Who's gonna start?"
"Since you're so eager, why not you Lance?" She looked me in the eyes, no mercy to be found. I wasn't afraid, there was nothing I wouldn't do. I would beat Keith, no matter the cost. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
Truth was usually someone's way of chickening out but I wanted to wait until we were all doing dares. There wouldn't be a point in picking one, otherwise. Unless I wanted to be tortured and, with Pidge, I had a feeling that she would. I didn't know what she had planned for me but, with that mischievous smirk on her face, I didn't want to find out. Not yet, at least. When the time came, I'd accept whatever it was with open arms.
No matter how uncomfortable it was.
"Have you ever had a crush on anyone in this room?"
"Of course not!" I responded, appalled. "Why is that even a question?"
Everyone, aside from Keith and I, shared a knowing glance as I tilted my head in confusion, wondering what the hell they were thinking. Allura wasn't secretly in this room, was she? I turned around and looked under my bed, empty as usual. There wasn't anywhere else for her to hide, I realized, unless she'd managed to shrink herself down somehow. She was the only one I'd had eyes for here this whole time. I turned to Keith, who looked at me and shrugged. He wasn't in on whatever they were either, which didn't exactly soothe my nerves. This was really weird. Pidge sighed, shaking her head as if whoever it was, was obvious.
"You're hopeless." She laid herself on top of her sleeping bag, chin rested in her hands. "Your turn to pick someone, Lance."
"Keith." I said, without a moment's hesitation. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare." He yawned, stretching his arms back behind his head. This was child's play to him. "I'm not a coward like you.
"Alright then." I looked over at Pidge, locking eyes with her. This was the perfect revenge for them both. "I dare you to kiss Pidge."
"I am not kissing Keith." She buried her face down in her sleeping bag, mumbling something I couldn't quite hear. It sounded like she said she had something, but I wasn't sure.
"What was that, Pidge?" I asked, leaning across Keith to get closer to her. "You have what?"
"I said." She picked her head up, hissing at me. "I have standards. Plus, I'm only fifteen. Wouldn't that be just a little bit weird?
"It's a kiss, Pidge." I raised an eyebrow at her, another idea popping into my head. "Unless, you'd rather kiss me instead."
"No way in hell am I ever kissing you." Shiro glared at her but she ignored him, instead she sat up and turned to Keith whose expression was unreadable. "Let's get this over with."
He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips, Pidge glaring at me as he did. He then turned to me, a smug look on his face. I dug my nails into my palm, so hard that I thought I might've broken the skin. Something inside of me made me want to punch Keith for actually going through with it but it was my dare. I shouldn't have been mad at him for it. As we moved on with the game, I couldn't help but think about it. How he'd done it with no hesitation. He was braver than me it seemed. I doubted I'd have the confidence to kiss someone that fast, even if it was just a game. It was Keith's turn to ask someone now, and I had a feeling I knew who it was going to be.
"Pidge." Not what I was expecting him to say but I wasn't going to complain. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth." She huffed, wriggling her way into her sleeping bag. Something told me she wasn't going to get out of it again tonight. "At least this way I won't have to kiss anybody."
"About you not wanting to kiss me." His voice was soft, as if to not hurt her with what he was about to ask. "Was it really because you're dating someone back home?"
She said nothing, instead just stared down at the floor beneath her. She'd frozen up. Hunk and Shiro's faces fell, alongside the rest of ours. I looked away, guilty about what I'd dared Keith to do. I really did get caught up in our rivalry too much and this was something I couldn't take back. I doubted that girl was one to get mad about a kiss in a game but I could tell Pidge thought otherwise. Tears hit the floor and splashed back up against her face as my heart broke in two. She took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes, raising her face back up to the rest of us. The heartbreak in her eyes was indescribable, as if she'd just found out her family had died and that she was dying too, all at the same time. I hadn't even thought about what she was going through. None of us had.
"Yes, I was." She whispered, emotions nearly choking her words up. "I don't know if you guys knew her, Mei? I know she had more classes with you, Keith."
All of us nodded along, a few more sobs echoing throughout the room. None of us had realized how hard it was for her. Not only was she unsure of the state of her family, but she didn't have the person she loved the most beside her to support her, to tell her they'd come back to her someday, even if she couldn't believe it herself. To sit with her on the loneliest of nights, the ones where she felt hopeless, and whisper lovingly into her ear. To be someone she could trust to open up to, without any hesitation. She was Pidge's support.
The hardest thing to leave behind at a time like this.
"She would be proud of you, Pidge." She leaned her cheek on his knee, a little smile crossing her lips. "She was a friend of mine, you know. She was a really good kid. We'll get you back home to her."
"I do miss her a lot. More than I thought I would." She wiped her tears out of her eyes, taking off her glasses so she could dry them on her shirt. "Thanks Keith. She looked up to you a lot, you know. You were the whole reason she worked as hard as she did."
We all sat in silence as Pidge regained her composure, all of us nearing tears ourselves. I had a feeling we'd all end up sleeping in here tonight, not because we were tired, but because we all wanted to be here for her. If we could keep this game up enough to make her smile again, that would be enough. I didn't want me being a dumbass to ruin her night, especially since I'd ruined it for myself in the process. I glanced over at Keith, who I could tell felt terrible about the shit he'd said about her having to focus on the team rather than finding her family. Now we knew why she'd been extra concerned about it. There was a part of me that didn't want him to leave, for us to talk alone, like normal. It was the only time I really felt comfortable talking to anyone, and I liked it. It was the one thing I could learn to look forward to. Something felt off all of a sudden. I looked up to see Pidge staring straight at me with that merciless grin of her's. Someone was feeling better, or worse, but either way, her expression didn't look promising.
This couldn't be good.
"Lance." Her eyes didn't waver. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare." I said, after a minute. "It's only fair."
"I dare you to kiss Keith."
"K-Keith?" I stuttered, at a loss for words. Why was I so flustered all of a sudden? "Can't I just kiss you?"
"Now that you know I'm taken, that wouldn't be very kind, now would it?" She wasn't going to negotiate this one. "It's not like you like him or anything, right?"
"Nope!" I was sweating now, it was only a little but I could feel it building up. "Not at all!"
It was my turn to face Keith, who seemed to be more scared than I was. His cockiness wasn't there, nor was his smile. Instead, his hands were folded in his lap, fingers lacing and unlacing themselves together, at such a pace that I almost couldn't keep up with it. My heart was racing, but a dare was a dare, and I wouldn't back down for something like this. We'd forget all about it a few months from now. It wouldn't matter in the long run, so why was I this anxious? There was no reason I had to be nervous. It was just a kiss, right? There would never be anything between us, right?
It's not like I had a crush on him, right?
I leaned in and pressed our lips together, feeling the blood rushing to my cheeks. His were soft and warm, which made me regret my chapped ones. I felt myself reaching out for his hand but I stopped myself. That wasn't normal of me at all. I quickly pulled away, not wanting to look at him anymore. Why did this feel so weird? I couldn't meet his gaze and I didn't think I'd ever be able to again. From around us, the others said nothing. There wasn't a single whisper floating anywhere throughout the room, instead it was shrouded in silence. There was no point in being awake anymore. I wanted to sleep forever or until the morning, at least. They would get the message to leave. Without warning, I stood up and crawled into my bed, burying myself under the covers. We'd never live that down, would we? I'd never played this game until now but a part of me told me this wasn't how it was supposed to feel. You were supposed to laugh it off and joke about it for months to come. Only, I didn't want to joke about it. There was nothing to joke about. I could hear the door open, but I didn't bother to ask the others if they were staying the night. I simply let their footsteps answer me, my hand falling limp beside my bed. It took a while but I stopped my heart from racing and the world became emptiness around me. As I drifted off to sleep, I could've sworn someone grabbed my hand and held it in theirs.
It was probably just my imagination.