A/N: Keith is sad about leaving the team and just pretending that everything is alright until he can't anymore.

Keith slipped his Blade of Marmora hood over his head as he cast one last glance at the castle, at his home, his family. Keith doesn't start crying until a few hours later when, one by one, he see all of the lions fly out into space. Everyone but him. He's not a paladin anymore. It's not anything but fact, but the words still make Keith stiffen in his bed.

So he tries to just focus on training and missions with the Blade. To just pretend that everything is alright, that it is okay that he isn't with them, that it doesn't hurt him not being with Red.

Keith comes to the idea that he's useless. Keith's been never good enough for lots of things: his parents, his foster families, the Garrison, Voltron – but he's never been so bad that he couldn't get the pain to die down and to bury in down deep inside himself. It was an aching pain held up inside his chest, making every single day so much harder. With this pain and feeling this way only made Keith that much more angry. So he pushed himself harder. Trained way too much, just so he could be better. So that he wouldn't be a failure at something else. That maybe he would finally be good enough for once. 

But the pain inside would not leave him be and it was slowly beginning to affect his work with The Blades.

What Keith doesn't know is that Kolivan has reached out to the paladins for some help with Keith for he and the other Blades do not know what is the matter with him, especially when he says that he is fine all the time.

Keith is held up in his room with his knees to his chest as Kolivan stands in the doorway, informing him that The paladins will be here soon. Keith can't help but pull his legs closer towards his chest.

Keith swallows before finally looking up at Kolivan with heavy eyes. "Have I done something wrong? Do you think that they mad at me?"  

Kolivan looks at Keith, searching for some kind of answer but he can't find one. He slightly turns his head to the side for one moment before returning his gaze back to Keith. "You're behavior has warrant some concern and I felt it was best to contact the paladins for they are similar to you. As for them being mad, I wouldn't know. What would they be angry with you about?" says Kolivan.

"Lots of reasons," Keith sighs as he remembers their faces right before he left, how easily they let him go. It's his own fault, he was the one who decided that it was the best to go so no one else would have to, so no one else would be hurt just like he is right now. Keith is the extra piece in everything. In all the foster homes, at school, even with Voltron and now with the Blade. He is extra and truly isn't needed for anything. He knows that. But he still doesn't want them all to look at him like that again,  to see him as a failure again. 

"I couldn't be the leader, I couldn't listen and now I left them only to fail once more. I can't... it becomes too much at times but it's my own fault. I did this all on my own and I shouldn't have become another burden to someone else. I just don't...." says Keith.

His heart ached for them, for he had come to consider them some sort of family he never got the chance to have back on Earth. But he just couldn't handle being seen as a failure once again in all of their eyes. He just wanted to lay down and disappear.

"What?" questions Kolivan but Keith just shakes his head and slowly lower himself down upon his small cot, pulling the thin blanket over his shoulder.

"I'll....I'm fine" Keith whispers and Kolivan gives him a small nod before he closes the door behind him. Outside of his room, Keith doesn't know that all of the paladins where standing out there listening to his conversation.

It didn't matter how much pain he was in, for he decided that he would keep pretending everything was alright if that meant that they were okay and safe. That his family was okay.