Knocking, Keith could hear repeated knocking from afar. He brought his arm slowly to his face and rubbed his eyes. He groaned he felt like he couldn't force his body to move even if he tried. He felt a vague soreness but couldn't exactly place it. As he took deep breaths the smell of ocean water and something else began to fill his nostrils. He began to hear muffled yelling. Keith groaned louder he tried to sit up but felt a restriction around his waist. In alarm, Keith opened his eyes and looked to the side of him. Centimeters away from his face was Lance's

His body lurched backward away. He moved hard enough to free himself from Lance's grasp. He slapped his hand over his mouth ensuring no other sounds escaped. He quickly sat up and looked down at the bed assessing his situation. Lance's body was completely covered by the large comforter that they had both shared. Keith, however, did not have as much coverage.

"Shit..." He mumbled, he looked down at the ground and located his shorts. Now the yelling vaguely sounded like his name. "Don't be Shiro..." He mumbled he bent over and groaned as he picked up his shorts. He slowly slipped on his shorts and rubbed at his eyes. He looked around Lance's room not fully appreciating it beforehand. The decor was pretty modern for an older beach house. He recognized a couple posters from various TV shows.

Keith pulled up his shorts properly and slowly made his way to the door. He stepped on a wrapper on the way there. He didn't look down fearing the worst. Keith looked back at Lance safe in bed before he left the room. He closed the door gently and began walk hobbling towards the door. He was positive that the person on the other side was Shiro. He stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath before he slowly cracked it open.

"Jesus Christ, what took you so long?" Shiro said dramatically, Keith opened the door fully and crossed his arms.

"I was asleep," He said simply. Shiro was dressed in a wetsuit and held one in his hands.

"Well obviously, I swear I was out here for at least an hour." Shiro's words slowed as he got a proper look at Keith. "Did you...go out last night?" Keith crossed his arms tighter against his chest, almost hugging himself.

"No." Shiro looked skeptical, his eyes widened as a thought dawned on him.

"You didn't-"

"Why did you wake me up so early? Work shifts haven't even started I should be allowed to sleep in." Keith cut in, ignoring the concerned look in Shiro's eye.

"Well...I know you're probably tired but Pidge and I were about to head out to the coast for a quick check. Make sure no turtles or other animals are stuck near the nets there."

"Why do I have to go?"

"Well, you've already met Hunk and Lance. I'm guessing you know at least one of them pretty well." Keith narrowed his eyes, he hated the implication that was in Shiro's voice. No matter how true it may be. "So I wanted you to see the coast and maybe get to know Pidge a little more."

"Fine. What's that?" Keith gestured to the wetsuit.

"It's cold in the mornings it's better to wear this even if we don't go underwater. The splashes are enough to chill you to the bone." Shiro threw the suit towards him, Keith didn't move at all to catch it instead just letting it drop to the ground.

"How do you know my size?"

"You're my cousin I know all," Shiro said in his attempt to sound mysterious. Keith's face showed no reaction. "We'll meet us at the bottom of the house, we'll be waiting. You...can take a shower if you want." Shiro's eyes scanned over Keith's body once more before he turned and headed down the stairs.

Keith crossed his arms feeling too transparent at the moment. He closed the door and locked it behind. He slowly bent down and picked up the wetsuit ignoring any pain.

Keith made his way to the bathroom and took a shower as quickly as his body allowed him. As he dried his body he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Hey Lance, could you make it any more obvious?" He mumbled, his neck was littered with hickeys going from light to dark. Keith sighed and rubbed at them hoping magically some would go away. He looked around at many bathroom supplies that Lance had. None of them being concealed.

Keith sighed and slipped on the wetsuit, he was just glad the wetsuit had a small turtleneck. Covering the worst of the hickeys. He couldn't think of anything else he needed so he left the bathroom and headed outside.

In a considerably worse mood than before Keith closed the door harder than he had closed Lance's door. He hoped that it was enough to wake Lance up. He looked out at the view in front of their beach home. He had to admit it was calming. The sky was still orange with the emerging dawn.

"Hey, are you coming down or what?" Shiro called from the bottom of the steps. Instead of answering him Keith just began slowly making his way down the steps. His general soreness began to get numb with each step. By the time he stood next to Shiro he was able to ignore it. "Come on we've kept Pidge waiting too long." Shiro began walking forward, Keith silently followed behind.

Keith tried to remember the events of last night. He wasn't intoxicated but everything happened so quickly it was hard to place events. His cheeks reddened and he stared at the back of Shiro's head to calm his overactive brain.

They soon reached the edge of the beach where a dark grey motor boat was waiting. Pidge was sitting inside her arms crossed and an impatient look on her face. Her wetsuit was identical to the one Shiro and Keith wore.

"We've already missed the best time to go out, what took so long?" Shiro gestured to Keith with his thumb. Keith shrugged his shoulders, inwardly feeling guilty about messing up their schedule. Pidge took a deep breath and shook her head.

"It's fine there's always tomorrow. And don't blame Keith completely, he's probably exhausted and you woke him up at 5:30 am."

"Well yeah, I didn't give him too much flack. Let's just get a move on," Shiro said, he got behind the boat and began pushing it.

"Are you going to get in?" Pidge asked she was holding up some sort of water thermometer. Keith took a moment to realize Pidge had been talking to him.

"Uh yeah." He mumbled and climbed inside. He made sure to keep a healthy distance away from Pidge. He sat on the opposite side of the motorboat and rested his arm over the side. Shiro pushed the into the water and hopped in, sitting closest to the motor. He turned on the motor and the boat shot off into the water. "I thought you had better boats than this?" Keith had to shift awkwardly, the metal seats coupled with his already sore back didn't improve any of his soreness.

"We do, but they are all locked up until beach season. Both for safety reasons and money reasons." Pidge said she had one of her hands over the side of the boat.

"Mostly safety, during the heart of winter even if it doesn't get too cold on land the water is freezing. The waves are also terrifying, and extremely dangerous. A boat like this would get toppled over in a second." Shiro rubbed the head of the motor and looked ahead of them. Keith nodded and crossed his arms, he cringed at the slight splashes of water but they kept him awake.

"So...Keith how was your first night here?" Pidge asked from behind him. Keith tensed for a moment, figuring she had seen one of his hickeys and assumed the worst. He looked over at her and saw nothing but sincerity.

"It was fine, smelled like the ocean."

"Gee I wonder why." Pidge sarcasm was clear but she smiled good-naturedly. "I was worried the sound of the ocean would keep you awake, it's pretty noisy."

"No, I uh..." He couldn't even remember when he exactly fell asleep. "I was fine, slept deeply and stuff."

"Nice, isn't there a two hour different or something from here and Maine?"

"It's a 3 hours difference, and Maine is ahead."

"Gee that's a big difference. Are you not weirded out? Especially going from ice and tundra to the sweetness of the sea?" Keith almost smiled, he shook his head.

"Maine isn't all ice and tundra, it's just colder longer so there's not much to do. Of age people usually just sit and drink a lot. The parties aren't that great either, you can't really go out."

"You went to parties? As in multiple" Shiro sounded completely shocked. "How did Uncle Zarkon let you?"

"What kind of name is Zarkon?" Pidge looked between them baffled. Keith and Shiro respectively ignored her.

"Of course he didn't." Keith crossed his arms again, his head looking back out towards the coast. It really was an amazing view. "But if I didn't I might...I don't know but I went to a couple."

"Didn't you get arrested at one or whatever? Shiro told us something about it but he slurred too many words." Keith felt a constricting feeling in his chest and stopped answering questions. He instead focussed on the splashes of the water, he looked down trying to catch a glimpse of the occasional fish.

"Sorry if that was touchy," Pidge said softly, Keith looked over to see her hands folded tightly in her lap. "Don't mean to act like Lance, but we've been starved of any exciting news since school ended.

"I'm not a tabloid." Keith felt a familiar fire burning in his chest.

"No no, of course, you aren't we're just...nosey sorry. You don't have to tell us shit, and I'll tell the guys to not bother you about it anymore either." Keith looked at her wearily, despite the way he acted he really didn't want to make enemies with everyone here.

"Fine." He let out a small breath, trying to ease the tightness. He leaned down a bit so his fingers skimmed the very top of the water. It was cold, but the constant flow against his fingers set his heart at ease.

"Can you tell me more about Maine?" Pidge asked, her voice sounded curious.

"There's not much to say. I didn't especially like it, it was the worst state I've been to." He didn't turn towards her relishing in the calming feeling of the water. Shiro stirred the boat along a line of buoys.

"Was it that bad?"

"It wasn't bad, just not the best." Keith appreciated Pidge not asking about why he had been to enough states to compare Maine too.

"What was your favorite State?"

"California. I was born here, not in this town but pretty close. I spent a decent amount of time here."

"Is that why you wanted to come back?"

"Yeah, I missed the ocean. The beaches in Maine, when we could go to one, smelled kind of gross. I couldn't relax enough to enjoy the water." He took his numbed finger out of the water. "And I wanted to go to the college here."

"Really? Never thought our college would have anyone traveling cross country." Pidge sounded slightly amused, Keith almost felt inclined to tell her that it was more than just that. Keith shrugged, not sure exactly how to respond to her statement.

"What are you majoring in?"

"Marine biology of course, why else would I spend all my time on a beach?"

"Because you like water?" Pidge and Shiro laughed at his comment, Keith looked behind him confused. He hadn't made a joke.

"Do you know what you're going to get major in yet?"

"Not really, I just hope I get in."

"You'll get in," Shiro said confidently from behind him, he slapped a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith nearly jumped out of the boat, instead, his body shifted up slightly and he turned around. "Don't be so anxious about it, this school barely gets any out of state students." Again Keith shrugged despite the encouragement his feelings didn't change. He turned back around so Shiro couldn't see his blush.

"Hey, do you mind dropping me off at that rock formation? I have a couple of tests I need to run on the water specifically around it."

"Leaving you stranded on a pile of rocks would leave me with a pretty guilty conscience," Shiro muttered he slowly guided the boat towards them regardless.

"Don't worry it follows the mainland, it's just a path that leads all the way out here." Pidge scooted near to where Keith was sitting and pointed out. Keith's eyes followed the curve of the rock formation, he couldn't see the ending as it disappeared back where they came from.

"And if you fall into the water and break your leg?" Shiro slowed the boat down near the side of the formation. Only the very top of the rocks was completely dry, the rest of it had been splashed by the never-ending waves.

"Then I have my handy dandy waterproof radio." She leaned over and grabbed a bag that was a few feet in front of her feet. Keith looked down at her feet, the water shoes she had on looked expensive, the soles looked like they had more grip than any he had ever owned. He wiggled his toes, he hadn't even bothered to bring water shoes before he left.

"Well if you get hurt remember I warned you, and I hope you'll feel guilty about how much I'll worry about you," Shiro said as Pidge climbed out of the boat. She hopped onto the rocks and carefully stuck her feet in gaps to properly get to the top.

"Yeah whatever dad bye! Bye Keith." Pidge waved behind her, she threw one leg up on the rock surface and stood up. The rock formation wasn't especially tall, she was just short.

"Bye!" Shiro called as he guided the boat away from her and the rocks. Keith waved slightly not sure if she saw him or not. He sat in silence as Shiro guided the boat back.

"So, Keith." Keith rolled his eyes, he could already hear the tone of his voice. He wondered if he could just swim back to the coast. "I can tell that you've been...sexually active with Lance. And that's okay but I'm worried about you." Keith narrowed his eyes ahead of him, he couldn't even face the man he was talking to.

"What? Afraid I'm going to get attached to him? Worried that I'm going to use his affection to make up love I never got because I'm an orphan. Do you think I'm going to cling to him and go psycho if he leaves me? Are you going to psychoanalyze me or some shit?"

"That's not it-" Shiro tried to continue but Keith felt like he was on the warpath. He knew he could never say these things to any proper adult, but Shiro never felt like an adult to him. He was always just his stupid overprotective cousin.

"Well don't okay? We had sex, some call it a one night stand. I'm a big boy and I can handle still living and interacting with him. It's a normal young adult thing to do, I'm 18 and I'm a normal young adult. Normal people have sex and move on, so that's that. I'm okay." Keith was scowling ahead of him, he hoped the harder he stared at the fading rock formation the less likely the tears in his eyes would fall.

"Woah Keith, calm down. I'm not analyzing you or anything. And I understand that you're an adult and you can have adult relationships. I'm just saying, that Lance flirts with a lot of people. He's not a bad guy but he's probably not looking for a serious relationship. So you probably shouldn't expect one or get offended if there is never one." Shiro said with as much as calmness as Keith always expected for him. Keith immediately began to feel shitty for blowing up on him.

"Sorry...I just assumed..."

"No it's okay, I guess when you don't always have the most stable home life people must make assumptions or try to figure out your profile."

"Yeah, it gets annoying." He dipped his finger back in the water and swirled it around in the water as they drove back. Shiro was gracious enough not to force any more dialogue on him.

They neared the short relatively quickly. It was much lighter out now if he had to guess the time he might have assumed 7 or 7:30. Shiro stopped the boat as they got deeper into shallow water.

"I'll just push the boat on shore the rest of the way if you don't want to get wet stay on. If you don't mind get of-" Keith didn't wait for him to finish, hopped off the boat. The splash his body made encompassing all of his body. He shivered but felt more alert. "Well okay then..."

"Can I use a surfboard?" Keith asked, his fingers wiggled in the sand.

"Yeah go ahead, but I'd suggest keeping the wetsuit on. It's still freezing." Keith nodded and began walking forward, he paused and looked back at Shiro.

"Thanks." Shiro nodded in return, Keith continued walking forward and back on shore.

He walked to the main meeting house. Surprised with himself that he had actually remembered. He opened the door surprised to see people inside. A beautiful girl with rich tan skin equal in tone to Lance was leaned against the table. A bowl of cereal was behind her, she smiled warmly as she spoke to Lance. Lance's body language and smiled read flirty, exactly how he'd been with Keith the previous day. One arm was on the table she was leaning on and the way he leaned into her read nothing else but desire.

Keith didn't know why he felt shitty, but he understood he had no right to be. Afterall Shiro was right. He shouldn't feel special. He grabbed the surfboard closest to the door and quietly closed the door. He took deep breaths and trained his mind to only think about the harsh ocean he was about to try and navigate. He held his surfboard under his arm and took off.

*****

"Sh-" Keith tumbled off of his board again into the cold water. He barely felt it anymore, but he did feel the waves attempting to pull him down deeper and deeper. He struggled against it, his arms clawing at the water until his head resurfaced again. He took a deep breath filling his lungs with much-needed oxygen. He scowled at the red board, wondering if it was cursed. "Maybe it's just me," He mumbled. He swam to the board again. He threw an arm over it holding it in place so that he could throw his leg over as well. He panted on the board on all fours, all of his limbs were shaking from exhaustion but he couldn't bring himself to stop.

He struggled to his feet his legs shaking. He didn't trust himself to even balance anymore. His arms stuck out trying to level himself out.

"Hey! If you wipe out again you might drown!" A voice shouted from the shore. He turned his head too quickly trying to locate the sound. He gasped as the waves shifted the board slightly and he fell backward into the water. He tensed as he braced himself. Something about this fall really threw his body for a loop. It took him a moment to orient himself in the water. For a split second, he had worried that he was too far down to get up in time. He calmed himself and slowly made his way to the top, his vision almost blurry with lack of oxygen. His head reached the surface and he gasped for breath, parts of his hair getting plastered to his face.

"Dude I thought you were about to drown!" The voice called. Keith looked around finally finding the source of call. Of course, it had been Lance, he was holding two plates in his hand and had a towel thrown over his shoulder. Keith kept his face calm and swam back to his board. "Listen you can't get back on that thing again! You barely know how to surf and it's fucking 7:30 at night!" Keith grabbed his board regardless, he tried to lift himself back up but he just couldn't. His pruned hands could barely find grip.

As much as he wanted to cooly ignore Lance he was ready to fall asleep in the water. He began pushing his board back towards shore swimming behind it. When Keith got on land he dragged the board far enough until it was just white sand. He dropped the board and almost fell back in the sand.

"Woah Woah Woah, stop you'll get sand all over the place." Lance approached him power walking with two plates of waffles in his hand. "Take this," Lance thrust his shoulder Keith's way, wanting him to take hold of it. Keith slowly reached out and grabbed the towel, he rubbed himself down with it. At some point during the 12 hours, he had been outside he had changed into just swim shorts as the weather warmed up. He took his time drying his torso and appendages.

"Dude you've been out here all day, do you even know how to surf?" Keith looked up at him then back down continuing to dry.

"I did when I was younger, I should remember again."

"Cut yourself some slack, you have longer appendages and weigh more. Have you even eaten today yet?" Lance asked he held the waffled closer to Keith, the smell made his stomach rumble. They had to be delicious they were even dotted with strawberries. Keith had to think about it, he did have to take a couple small breaks on the beach to soak up some sun and warm out. But he hadn't actually gone inside any of those times.

"No."

"Well, no wonder you were shaking like a jellyfish." Lance walked to the other side of him. "When you're done with the towel put it on the board." Keith followed Lance with his eyes, he nodded and quickly finished drying. When he finished he placed the towel on the board. Lance knelt down and put the plate on the towel. "Come on and eat with me."

"I don't want waffles." Keith crossed his arms.

"Don't lie to me, everyone wants waffles." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out hand sanitizers. "One squirt and the magic begins." He waved it in the air. Keith frowned but slowly knelt down too. He held out one hand towards Lance, he looked away not meeting his eye. If Lance noticed the coldness he said nothing about it, he squirted hand sanitizer in Keith's hands then his own.

Keith properly sat down on one side of the surfboard rubbing his hands. He wondered if he was supposed to eat with his hands. He glanced at Lance who had already picked up his waffle. Keith shrugged and copied him, he picked up his waffle and took a bite.

They ate in silence, Keith finished his waffle a decent amount of time before Lance. Slightly embarrassed, he nibbled on the strawberries. Leaving the blueberries the only thing left on his plate.

"You going to eat the blueberries too?" Lance had finished his waffled and had a strawberry in his hand.

"I don't like them," Keith said simply, he didn't want to seem ungrateful but he hated the way blueberries tasted in his mouth.

"Huh." Lance put down the strawberry and placed it on Keith's plate. He began transferring all his strawberries onto Keith's plate and took Keith's uneaten blueberries.

"What are you doing?" Keith asked.

"Making it fair." Lance shrugged and ate a blueberry.

"But you like both."

"But it's okay if I only eat one. Now eat your strawberries." Lance casually continued on eating blueberries and looking out at the almost setting sun.

When they had finished Lance stacked the plates and threw the dirty towel over his shoulder. He looked at the board.

"That's not even a beginners board,"

"There are different board levels?" Keith asked genuinely confused. Lance chuckled and shook his head.

"You have much to learn, why don't I give you a proper lesson or something?" Lance stood up and stretched out his legs. Keith stood up as well he picked up the board.

"Would you?" He didn't want to accept much more from Lance but the offer was too good.

"Of course I would. Why wouldn't I?" Keith couldn't think of a reason for why he would or wouldn't. It wasn't like them having sex seemingly affected him. "Hey, I'll take these to our place wash it up. You return the board and meet me there?"

"Uh yeah, sounds good. But..."

"But what?" Keith looked down at the sand.

"Why did you make me waffles?" Keith hated how small he sounded.

"Well, I was making myself waffles. Then looked outside, saw you, and made another waffle. That's all, see you soon." Lance turned around and headed back towards their house. Keith felt a small smile on his lips, he cleared his throat burying the hopeful feeling and began walking to the meeting house.

After he had returned the surfboard he quickly headed home, he hated how quickly he walked back. Not sure what was pulling him faster to the house. When he entered he could hear the sound of running water. He entered and slowly guided himself to the kitchen. He watched as Lance hummed his way through dishes. He placed the last dish on the rack and turned around meeting Keith's eye.

Keith wasn't sure why he blushed when Lance looked directly at him. His eyes flickered to Lance's hands slowly drying themselves. Lance put the dish towel down and slowly approached him. Keith was in the doorway but didn't find himself moving. His heartfelt in his throat, his brain told himself to move out of Lance's way but his body was stoic.

"Hey," Lance said slowly, he smiled but it wasn't uncomfortable, or even very flirty, it just made Keith feel strange and light headed.

"Hey, about...last night..." Keith didn't know where his words were going, or when the room started feeling this way, or why he felt so exposed.

"What about it?" Lance quirked an eyebrow, he almost seemed amused but not taunting. Keith hid his hands behind his back fidgeting with his fingers rapidly. Keith didn't know what to say, he didn't know what his body wanted anymore. He felt so confused, Shiro's words were floating around in his head, and he couldn't get the smell of waffles out of his nose.

"I'm...not sure."

"Did you like it?" Lance hadn't moved an inch closer to Keith, but Keith felt like they were already touching. The space between them was too hot.

"I dunno," His said his words being carried on the whisp of his breath.

"Was it okay for you?" Lance asked he sounded the slightest bit concerned, Lance's hand moved closer to him it hovered near his arm.

"Of course, it was fine I wanted it." As soon as he said the words his mouth dried out, he had never been so direct. Not with any of the few people had been with. Lance made a small sound of pleased acknowledgment.

"Do you wa-" Keith stepped closer and kissed him. He couldn't listen to Lance say those words, he was sure his ears would melt off, and his heart would beat too fast. He separated himself from Lance after what felt like an eternity of heat. He looked at Lance waiting for any distinction of disgust. Lance only aided him with a smile.

"You taste like strawberries." He said after a second.

"And you...taste like blueberries?" Keith wasn't sure if that was a smart or cute thing to say, but it made Lance smiled.

"Let me change that," Lance whispered, setting Keith's entire body ablaze. Lance slipped his hand around Keith's waist and leaned in for a much deeper kiss. Keith closed his eyes his letting himself be guided by Lance's lips. Maybe he wasn't okay, but the heat felt nice.