A/N: Keith isn't who everyone thinks he is.
*Contains mentions of self harm, suicide attempt, child abuse and strong language*

Over the course of being him, he has always been labeled something wither it was the truth or not.

Orphan.
Freak.
Loner.
Emo loser.

Drop out.

Idiot.

Reckless bastard.

Hot head.
Moron.
Mistake.
Nothing.

Over the past week, the others were slowly noticing that something was off with Keith, more off then usual. He had been more quite and distant than usual, but that didn't stop Lance from picking on him and in his way trying to make Keith feel something other than whatever he was feeling at the moment.

So when one day they hadn't seen Keith all day, the other paladins set off to find their missing team member, friend and brother.

They made their way towards the training deck because that was one of the very few places Keith always went. As they walked they talked among themselves about Keith and what could be up with him. As they talked, Shiro lowered his head slightly and just hoped that what he was thinking was wrong.

All of them made it to the training deck but the doors were locked. They could see Keith's silhouette through the blurry window on the door. Lance knocked loudly upon the door, yelling out Keith's name but nothing they did gained them their friend's attention. So Pidge got to work and began to hack the door, it only took a few minutes before the training deck doors swooshed opened before them. Lance and Hunk gave Pidge a high five before turning their eyes inside the room. Their eyes widen at the sight. 

Keith was shirtless, revealing multiple scars among his body, no longer having something to hide them. Long lines of scars laid upon his back, that looked painful. Keith turned around quickly, throwing his sword down in frustration. Everyone's eyes widen when they saw tears rushing down Keith's face plus the scars on his wrist.

"K-Keith?" asked Pidge took a step forward. 

Hearing his name caused Keith to jump. His violet eyes widen at the sight of the others in the room, then they grew more when his mind caught up to him. He was shirtless. Everything was revealed to them and that was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want to be judge or made fun off.

Anger slowly filled him up as he narrowed his eyes over at them before locking his eyes on Shiro.

"What are you doing in here?!?!" questioned Keith loudly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"We came to see how you were. You've been acting well...not you'' said Hunk. Keith let a small chuckle escape his lips as he marched over towards the bench and threw on his t-shirt and jacket.

"What happened to you mullet?" asked Lance, his voice dripping with both concern and mischief as usual and Shiro caught onto it.

"Lance, not now'' warned Shiro as he took a few steps away from the paladins he entered the room with and walked closer towards Keith.

"You get into a fight hot head?" asked Lance with a tiny smirk. Keith just quickly turned to him and it made everyone gasp. 
For the first time they actually all saw him, they saw him raw and without his walls up.

"Yeah'', said Keith. "It's from my foster parents.'' Keith then looked over at Shiro and shook his head before heading towards the exit.

"Keith..."

"Stop. It's fine, I'm used to it. The loner, emo, reckless loser always getting into trouble. So there's no need to pity me. I'm used to it." said Keith as he pushed the door open but stopped when he heard Shiro's voice.

"Keith, When everyone already has their mind made up about you, sometimes it is easier to have them think the worst but it doesn't have to be like that, you decide who you are, not them. So, you don't have to hide anymore. You can-" said Shiro but Keith glared at him angrily. 

"Fuck you Shiro! Fuck you!'' yelled Keith as he stormed out of the room. Shiro wanted to go after him, but knew that Keith really needed a moment to cool down before he was able to go to him and try to help him any.

"What the hell was that about?" questioned Lance and Shiro sighed before turning around to face Lance and the others.

"Keith...he's been though a lot and many people have called...or labeled him something and instead of trying to change it or tell them the truth, to show his true self he jut hides behinds those titles. He never dropped out, he was kicked out'' Shiro said.

"Kicked out? Why?" questioned Pidge, they all have heard that Keith dropped out and now knowing that wasn't the truth shocked them. But it also made Lance feel bad, because he has made a few hurtful comments about Keith dropping out.

"He told me that he was upset because of my 'death'. He wanted answers, he needed them but they weren't giving them to him. So he acted out slightly, during testing he would crash the ship on purpose and say that it was pilot error like how they calmed was the reason behind what happened on The Kerberos Mission. He was alone, lost and wanted answers but had nothing. His past was haunting him, he experienced child abuse growing up in the system. He had...has many nightmares about it. I was there to help him, but that was before I left, before I was gone and left him all alone with nothing and the whole world judging him." said Shiro and looked up at everyone's sadden faces.

"Wh-What about the scars? All of them?" asked Hunk.

"The ones on his back are from one of his foster parents, who whipped him no matter what. The one on his stomach was where his one drunk foster father stabbed him for not grabbing the right beer can that he wanted out of the kitchen'' Shiro said.

"And...and the ones on his wrists? Are those....'' began Lance but Shiro stopped him from continuing on. 

"They're self harm scars. He was a cutter, or maybe he still is, I'm not totally sure about that. I had helped him become clean after...'' said Shiro but then shut up, not sure if he should bring this up or not to them.

"After what?" asked Pidge, concern laced heavily within their question. Shiro inhaled sharply, getting himself ready to say it, say the thing that has haunted and pained him many years now.

"After his suicide attempt'' said Shiro. The room was filled with gasps and tears flowing from Hunk's eyes.

"I-I...I should go check on him" whispered Shiro as he turned to leave the room but a hand upon his shoulder stopped him. He looked back to see Lance looking at him.

"No. We should go check on him together. We've...I've been so wrong about him. He's our team mate, he-" Lance said.

"He's our family! Our brother'' clarified Pidge and Shiro smiled at them and nodded his head. All four of them headed towards Keith's bedroom and could hear the sound of crying coming from outside his door. Lance knocked upon the door.

"Mullet...." Lance said and sighed. "Keith?" he said, it felt slightly odd to say his name instead of a stab or a nickname that he has come up with for the loner paladin. They received no response, and Shiro stepped forward and pushed the door open.

It slowly swoosh open to reveal the true Keith, the true red paladin, friend and brother to them. He was sitting up on his bed, his knees drawn tightly to his chest, his arms wrapped around his knees with his head buried as he sobbed out. 

"Oh Keith..." whispered Hunk, causing the red paladin to slowly lift his head up and look at them.

"I-I...I'm sorry'' cried out Keith and buried his head once more as he cried out loudly. None of them waited. They all entered Keith's room and sat down upon his bed and brought him into a tight group hug, hushing him as they held tightly onto him as he cried.

Keith eventually cried himself asleep, for the very first time in such a long time he felt loved and safe and it meant everything to him.
They all remained by his side the whole night, never leaving  because they were too scared that if the did leave they would only make him feel unloved or alone again, and they absolutely didn't want that. They all knew the truth now. They all saw the real Keith and not the one that they thought or first met. This Keith was broken but totally not fixable, he just need some support, kindness and love for once in his life and his other paladins, friend, intended on doing just that. Being there for him no matter what and helping to make him and everything better.

Keith wasn't a loner, he was just misunderstood or wasn't given enough time to figure out.

He also wasn't an orphan anymore either, for he had found his family and they had found their Keith, who in some ways reminded them of a scared, tiny kitten.

He had a family.
He was cared about.
He was safe and he was loved.