~ A new life - Is what his father would call it every time they were travelling down the highway at forty miles an hour with a trunk load of their belongings and stat-icky music bleating from their beaten up radio.
A new town. Full of new faces and places and things. A new terrain to explore and to come to despise all the same until the moment they moved away again. What was there to be excited about? Moving to someplace new wasn't something Keith was unaccustomed to. This would be just like all the other times. His father gets a business deal and then the family is packing their unpacked boxes into the moving truck again and setting destination for the next shit hole to suffer in.
There was no way this time would be different. Right? That's what Keith always told himself anyway. Don't look forward to anything because it's not worth it. He knows the process thorough and through, it's engraved in his brain. Practically second nature. Get through however much time they'll be spending here and then move on to do it all over again. It's just how his life went.
Why couldn't it be different? He wished it were. With different people and different circumstances. But obviously what Keith wanted wasn't something fate would give him. He just wanted to be a normal kid, growing up in a normal neighborhood with normal friends.
But that's not possible for someone like Keith, the epiphany of 'abnormal'.
"Alright everyone, ready to start fresh and anew?" His father chirps as he claps his hands together. Keith rolls his eyes, pulls his hood up over his head and kicks the door open. He's lost count of how many times he's heard the man say those same words. His brother and mother following his lead as they pop the trunk and begin to unload.
In the meantime Keith comes to face and paint peeling halfway house that just screams 'bomb site' or even 'bong site' works too since it seems uncannily like a drug dealers home. Long, dry, prickly grass. A fruit tree that looks burnt and dead in the front yard. Nothing but a charred black collection of eerie arms reaching out from hell itself. The beige picket fence Keith assumed was once a cloudy white color was falling apart and the mail box wasn't even on its fucking post.
Keith was used to seeing the house he'd be living in in this sort of state. But shit - this was a literal pile of trash. He sighed to himself and hopped up the steps to the porch. A couch, worn and withered sat resting against the wall. Keith imagined that would be a place he'd find himself hanging out at a lot whilst he was here, so long as he never found out something had died on it.
The windows were each covered with a broken fly screen, torn from its frame and a doorbell on the doorframe was lathered in old, dusty spider webs. Keith cringes. He turns around to look back towards the street. As far as he could see the other houses in the neighborhood weren't looking all that more spick and span. Better but not much. The street was pretty much dead still. Not a person, not a car. Somewhere in the distance a dog was barking like a maniac and the sounds of a motor bike was roaring down the freeway.
"Well isn't this just-" Shiro, his brother, began before his foot got caught in the fence gate and the whole thing snaps clean off its hinges. He stumbles, yelps and kicks it away, dusting his hands off on his jumper as he looks around, trying to play it off like it didn't happen. Keith, unamused, raises a brow at him.
"- charming?" Keith finishes for him. Shiro smirks and shrugs his shoulders.
"I was gonna say something along the lines of ruinous, miserable, demoralizing but charming works too." He says as he makes his way up the steps, ruffles his little brothers hair and unlocks the front door. The first thing that comes to mind when Keith walks into the house behind his brother is old. The place smelt like aged leather and china pieces, obviously an old lady had lived and probably died here a while ago.
Keith tried to minimize the amount of air he inhaled as he looked around the bare walls and floors. At most it was average, ordinary box rooms, a small kitchen and three bedrooms. The bathroom was a disaster. A tight fit and uncomfortable as all hell. The bath was a fucking rectangle box with no curve and was connected to the shower, the mirror was smudged and the light was letting off this weird, useless yellow glow, he could hardly see himself in his reflection. Keith sighed again. Great.
He decided to pick himself a bedroom. Obviously his parents would get the biggest room. He honestly didn't care what his room was like, so long as it was quiet and fit his necessities. The one in the middle of the house was okay, but the cupboard didn't shut properly and there was a small hole in the roof above the old bed. Keith decided he'd rather let Shiro deal with the spiders and ghosts as he wandered back out to check out the last bedroom.
This one was at the back of the house and the moment he stepped into it he realized that it obviously wasn't designed to be a bedroom. It was literally half of the houses back sun room cut off by a book shelf. The walls were mostly windows behind thin linen curtains and it wasn't very big at all. The rest of the sun room beyond the cupboard wall was the laundry and the back door to the scratchy old backyard. He slipped his backpack off his shoulders and slung it into the corner of his new 'room'.
Well, at least it was far away from the rest of the house, the back exit was right there and it got nice sun in the morning. In all honesty it wasn't that bad, he'd just have to adjust to being rather cold in the winter and hot and stuffy in the summer. He'd live. It was only temporary anyway.
"Shotgun." He calls out to his brother. Shiro stomps down the hallway to stand beside his brother. He exhales sharply as he takes in the sight.
"Well at least you now have a reason to not invite your friends over." Shiro jokes as he pats his younger brothers shoulder. Keith shrugs him off and turns to go get the rest of his things out of the car.
"At least I'm not sleeping with weird looking carpet stains and moths in my sheets." Keith says to his brother as he makes his way to the front door. His mum is at the boot of the car unpacking when the fly screen clatters shut, he passes his dad and doesn't spare him a glance as he goes. His mum barely smiles at him when he approaches, she's already in work mode and too busy trying to collect herself and unpack the car before the sun goes down.
"So this is it..." Keith says as he picks up a box of random junk. His mother hums as she tucks a strand of her black hair behind her ear.
"It is. For now at least." She says to him as she picks a few pieces out of a box to put them in the one Keith's holding.
"I'm sick of moving." Keith tells her for how many ever times he's said it now. She stops what she's doing to slowly turn to her son. She smiles sadly and gently places a hand on his cheek. Just like she always does.
"I know honey, I know." Just like she always says. And then she's back to working and her touch on his skin was nothing but ghostly. Keith huffs and heads back inside.
---
"It's just so... Dusty." Keith says as he and his brother walk alongside one another to whoever knows where. Their parents had kicked them out to explore the new turf while they tried to figure out the moving truck plans. Keith hadn't even hesitated to get out of the boring, old pile of shit. He'd rather be wandering around aimlessly then staying cooped up there feeling like his skin was growing dry and ivory with each passing second. He coughs and pounds his fist into his chest twice for effect. "My lungs feel like sand paper."
"Well we better get used to it fast I guess, this is what we're dealing with for the time being. Besides it's not so bad, could be worse, much worse." Shiro says. Keith scowls to himself. His family always tried to find the light heartedness in everything, why couldn't they just see that this town was a heap of crap like the rest of them? Keith didn't understand, he felt like he was the only sane one left in his family. Sane or gloomy, either or.
"Where do you think we'll go next?" Keith asks as he balances himself along the dry gutter. Dried leaves underfoot with a satisfying crunch, the street was barren and lonely and the sun was beating down hot. Shiro sighed.
"That doesn't matter, what matters is we're here now. Try to make the most of it." He tells his little brother, his voice collected and organised like that of a adult. In all honesty Shiro was more like a parent then a brother to Keith. Keith rolls his eyes but keeps walking, even stumbling and losing his balance to the point his brother had to grab the collar of his jumper and pull him back.
"Make the most of this dirt pile because I'm never gonna see it again in a few months. Right." Keith sneers as he pats himself down and Shiro sighs again. It was the same conversation every time.
"Who knows, this time might be more exciting for you. Maybe you'll get yourself a girl, you could even finally get laid." Shiro joked, giving Keith a playful nudge. Keith couldn't stop himself gagging as he lays a punch to his older brothers arm. The two returned to a common state of silence as they wandered the cracked foot path to who knows where. Keith let his mind wander as well and before he knew it he was blurting something he never thought he would say for a long while still.
"You know I've been gay since like the beginning of forever?" He says to his brother and his heart nearly shuts down when the taller male stops in his tracks all the sudden. Keith gulps down a breath and waits for his brothers reaction. He can't believe he just said that. What a fucking idiot.
Shiro looks at him with wide eyes. Like he almost didn't hear Keith. Then his face morphs into something terrifying. His brows crease tight and he looks angry. Oh no, now Keith's done it for sure. He steps forward and Keith flinches when Shiro's hands find his brothers arms and his voice fills the air again. "Why didn't you tell me sooner you moron? I wouldn't have made all those straight jokes or tried to hook you up with those girls last year if you had."
Keith's heart beats again and he's subconsciously washed with relief. He should've know nothing would happen. He felt kind of guilty for assuming his brother was a homophobic asshole. He lets a breath leave his lips and a small smile find his lips. He shrugs stupidly. "Forgot?"
Shiro breaks out in a grin and slings his arm across his baby brothers shoulders. "You little shit. I hope you didn't forget your wallet at least then, buy me a milkshake."
"Yeah yeah whatever you money scab."
The two find themselves at a quaint little milk bar in a booth by the window. Shiro had already gotten into his flirty, flustered state for the pretty dark skinned waitress that served the two and Keith was left to sip his milkshake through a bored pout. He sighs out his nose as he watches people pass the window. Boring looking people in a boring little town.
Keith checks his phone. No new messages. He hadn't received any sort of farewell texts by his 'friends' from his previous schools. He didn't know why he still bothered. They'd obviously forgotten about him or they really just didn't care all along. He frowns and places the phone screen down on the table. He goes back to staring out the window and slurping on his drink. He hears the whining of a group of children and he groans internally, the one thing he hated more than moving was children. He couldn't stand them.
But what came with the flurry of small noise makers was enough to make the milk in Keith's mouth drool out the corners of his lips.
Beautiful.
Breathtaking, bewildering. Keith's chest felt tight and constricted. Like he was being squeezed by a python. A boy, his age perhaps, sweet caramel skin and deep blue eyes. Hair soft, chocolate brown and a bedazzling smile to match. The epitome of perfection. Keith didn't even realize he was staring. Shiro turned back to his brother after the pretty lady had waved him goodbye and returned to her work.
"Man, she is something else-" he pauses when his eyes land on Keith's love-struck figure. He glances back over his shoulder to the boy standing at the counter with a collection of kids around him. Most of them only standing to the height of his waist, all of them squealing and squirming as the boy tried to gather an idea of what they all wanted. Shiro smirks and turns back to his brother, he wiggles his brows as Keith blinked himself back into real time. Shiro was practically wagging his tail, sly and devious. "Welcome back."
"Uh..." Is all Keith can say as he wipes his mouth on the back of his gloved hand. Shiro snickers quietly.
"Why don't you go talk to him?" Shiro suggests and Keith's face turns red straight away. He splutters on his straw and knocks his knee against the bottom of the table. Shiro scoffs with an eye roll. "Okay, maybe don't if you're gonna act like a freak."
"I wasn't going to anyway, what would I even say?" Keith slumps back in his chair, sinking into the hood of his jumper as he twirls his cup under a finger and continuously glances from the boy at the counter to the table top. Shiro stares at him helplessly.
"Uh, why don't you start with hi?"
"And then what dipshit? Say it again? Maybe even a third time to really put the cherry on the demise of my pride?" Keith scowls and his brother laughs with a shake of his head.
"If that's what you think will work-" Shiro jokes lightly and Keith groans and looks out the window, not wanting to talk about it anymore. Shiro watches him for a second before he huffs and hauls himself back onto the table so he's leaning closer to his little, sulking brother. "Come on, just go introduce yourself, be cool, mention that you're new here, maybe hit on him a little."
"I don't even know if he's even into guys." Keith says and Shiro raises a brow at him.
"That's why you find out little brother. It's called getting to know someone." Shiro says as he pats his shoulder and gets up to go to the bathroom. Even having the audacity to shoot the waitress a smile while Keith was wallowing. He sighs and slumps some more as he watches the boy and his supposed siblings from behind his nearly empty milkshake glass.
"Will you all just sit still? I can't think when you're all screaming at me." The boy scolds the kids as he fiddled through his wallet. He looks up and gives the pretty waitress an apologetic smile. "Sorry Allura."
"Don't sweat it, I know what it's like." The waitress, who Keith had now come to learn was Allura, smiles a bright, pearly grin at the tan boy. The boys face suddenly turns sour.
"Shit, I'm ten off." He says as he goes to check his pockets again. Keith sucks in a breath and before he knows it he's standing beside the boy at the counter. Why did he have no control over himself? He was so impulsive and relied too much on his instincts and reflexes. Without looking at him Keith hands the waitress the money for his and Shiro's bill and an extra ten dollar note.
"The ten's for him." Keith tells the waitress. He can feel the boys eyes on him and his face feels hot because of it, he focuses on the lady behind the counter so he doesn't go anymore impossibly red. The lady, Allura, smiles kindly at him and accepts the money before she goes to making the tan boys order. Keith turns and begins to leave with his head down until his arm is pulled back and the pretty boy's calling out to him.
"Wait!" The boy says as he pushes a kid off his hip and tells the quarrelsome children to go find a table. Then he turns back to Keith and once again the new kid can't breathe. He's so close, and even more beautiful. The boy gives him a look of concern. "You didn't have to do that, pay for me I mean."
"It's fine." Keith says curtly, just desperate to get away before he breaks out in a sweat. The boys fingers curl tighter around his forearm. Keith's skin burning under his touch.
"You're new here. I've never seen you before. Why don't I show you around then? I don't get payed until next week so I can't pay you back but I can help you get acquainted to your surroundings." The boy offers. He talks fast and urgent. Keith's eyes widen and the burn in his cheeks is pulsing and hot. He feels stupid. He just wants to get out of here. Before his head catches alight from the heat of his blush or something.
"N-no that's okay, it's fine really-" he begins to say when all the sudden he's shoved aside and Shiro takes up his place. He smiles bright at the boy. Keith yelps as he stumbles into a table. When he regains his balance he shoots his brother a dangerous glare.
"Yes, he would love that, absolutely! I'm Shiro and this is my younger brother, Keith." Shiro says as he holds a hand out to take the boys. He returns the smile. Keith can't believe what's happening. This fucking dickhead-
"I'm Lance. So I was right about you being new, mind me asking where you moved from?" Lance questions and Keith feels himself shuffle from foot to foot. Trying to look anywhere else but the beautiful boy. Shiro hasn't stopped smiling.
"Altea. We move around a lot." Shiro tells Lance. Keith feels stupid, he can sense the tan boys eyes glancing to him every now and then.
"Altea? That's a big change." Lance says and by the increase in the volume of his voice Keith can tell he's facing him now. He sneaks a peek upwards and sure enough Lance is looking at him. Keith tinges red some more, he looks away.
"We're used to it." He mumbles quietly, Lance smiles softly and nods. Somethings a little lighter in his eyes. Shiro can hardly contain his happy squeal.
"Hermanooo, Gabe smacked me!" A little girl with coffee brown hair and toffee skin came scampering up to Lance and latched onto his shirt. A boy her height following in suit.
"I did not! She's lying, there was a bug on her shoulder I was just getting it off!" The boy retorted, clinging onto Lances other side. The guy didn't seem phased by the kids. He merely sighed and looked to Shiro and Keith with a smile.
"Sorry about them, they're horrible." Lance says and Shiro laughs. Keith feels his lips twitch and he hangs his head a little lower, hoping his hair covers his face well enough to hide his stupidity.
"They all yours?" Shiro asks. Lance shakes his head.
"No, just these two. The rest are cousins and friends." Lance explains as he smacks the boy upside the head when he goes to kick his sister. Keith frowns, fucking kids. "Gabe leave your sister alone you little shit."
Lance huffs and flicks some hair away and out of his eyes. He looks back to Shiro. "Why don't we exchange numbers? It's always nice to have a helping hand in case you get lost around town."
"Sure, that'd be great." Shiro beams as he slips his phone out of his pocket and the two share contact info. Then Lance is back to yelling at his siblings. The kids scatter off to their table and Lance huffs again before looking back to the two brothers.
"Alright, well it was nice to meet you Shiro and Keef." Lance grins childishly in Keith's direction and the poor guy can't help but jump with the skip in his heartbeat. Quickly he goes back to frowning.
"It's Keith." He tells him.
"Right sorry Mr. mullet." Lance winks. "Anyway, welcome to this desert shit show. See you around!"
Keith watches him go, he can't help it. He's pretty much staring like a lost puppy until Shiro lays a hand on his shoulder and he flinches. His older brother chuckles and ruffles his hair as Lance sits down at the booth with his siblings. He leans down a little so he's beside Keith's head. "Come on lover boy, time to go."
Keith blinks rapidly as Shiro begins to drag him away. Waving to the pretty milk bar lady as the two went. As soon as the door chimed shut and they were standing in the warm breeze of outside Shiro turns to his dazed younger brother. "Want his number?"
"Yes please."
-
Keith's night after that little episode consisted of packet Ramen noodles for tea, mindless unpacking and setting up his room and then laying on his bed to stare at the ceiling for the next three hours. His mind was long gone, thoughts racing through his head at light speed. He had even made a bad habit of constantly opening up his phone to stare at his contacts for a few minutes before putting it back down again.
Lance. The boy of sunset skin, who smelt like spices and tangy fruits. The boy with a big family and obviously a big heart. Keith knew nothing about him, but he wanted to know everything. It was beyond him how just a few shared glances and a couple meaninglessly exchanged words were enough to have Keith completely ship wrecked on Lance Island.
No, he couldn't let it get to him. There was no point, soon he would be moving away again and Lance would be nothing but a blur of tan in the past. He knew this, thorough and through.
He shouldn't let himself get involved in things like that. It was not only pointless but also dangerous. Keith didn't want to put anyone in danger, especially not someone like Lance who played no role in his life. It should remain that way.
Keith sighed for the hundredth time that day and stretched out his back against his slightly uncomfortable bed. He brings a hand up to his face, examining it with careful eyes, and then slowly he removes the black glove that stuck to his hand like a second layer of skin. As soon as it was off Keith took a deep breath and held it in his chest. His mind focused.
The room began to fill with a warm, golden glow. The light illuminated Keith's face and body and heat caressed his skin. His finger tips were hot enough to burn but it did him no harm. Keith watched as the flurry of fire on his fingers flickered and swayed in his breezeless room.
This was his secret. The flame in his fingertips. The scorch in his skin. The blaze that resided in his body.
Keith was the epiphany of 'abnormal'.
He was the boy born from fire.
"A new life, heh, what a joke."