The night was no where close to finished when everyone returned to the cottage yawning, eyes drooping. Neither Y/N or Keith wanted to let go of the blanket on the walk back since it was cold, so Keith walked behind the girl, wrapping his arms around her tight, the blanket enveloping them both. Once inside, he guided her down the hall and into her bed, covering her with the blankets of her bunk right away to stop any heat from escaping.

"G'night, Y/N." He sent a warm, sheepish smile and left the room before Pidge would have mercilessly kicked him out.

When he returned to his room, the air was foul and a sense of worry flooded his systems. Lance sat on the bottom bunk with his head resting in his hands.

"Are you ok, Lance?" Keith muttered, disregarding his blanket at the door. His friend lifted his head and let out a deep sigh, rubbing his cheeks in distress. Rarely did Keith see Lance this conflicted and uneasy. Because it was so rare, it scared him.

"No," Lance admitted.

"What's wrong?" Keith asked, approaching his friend cautiously. He had a feeling what this was about but didn't want to say it right off the bat.

"You know what this is about." Lance looked up with eyes that seemed to be in a storm.

Keith sighed and ran a hand through his mop of hair. "Yeah, I do."

"So back off." Lance snarled. "I'm trying to protect her from you."

Those few words struck Keith in the chest, making his lungs collapse. That was when a realization set in.

"You sent Hunk towards us on purpose, didn't you?!" Keith's questioned. "Lance, someone could have gotten really hurt! I'm not even that fucking reckless!" He bellowed at his friend, trying to keep his voice down.

"YES YOU ARE, KEITH! Unapologetically falling this quickly for my best friend?! You're kidding me!" Lance shot back, his eyes beginning to water ever so slightly. He stood up and faced Keith, towering just a couple of inches above him.

"I thought you were my friend," Keith whispered. "I thought you wanted me to be happy. You told me to get my anti-social ass out of the house and meet some new people because, you never know, I might just find someone who I like. Because according to you, I need someone to fill that lonely void in my chest." He mocked Lance's voice and gestures the last couple of sentences.

"Keith—" Lance knew he was in the wrong. He knew he shouldn't be so protective of Y/N, but he couldn't help it. Keith had the potential to hurt people and he didn't want it to be Y/N.

"This is on you, Lance. You wanted me to find someone I cared about. And guess what? You brought her right to me."

Y/N and Pidge stood at the outside of Keith and Lance's bedroom door listening to the entire argument. Pidge sent a sympathetic glance up at Y/N who had her head resting against the door in agony. She never wanted any of this to happen. All she'd agreed to was a weekend trip with some strangers from the Garrison, not to start a war between friends.

That was when she decided to do something about it.

Y/N crashed through the door and broke Lance and Keith from their argument. They were practically at one an-others throats so she'd apparently timed her entrance well. Both of them looked to her with wide eyes, the vexation in them slowly fading out and replacing with a kind of shame. She was upset with the boys, angry. But she also understood where both of them were coming from. It was impossible to pick a side because no one was really in the right or in the wrong. All she wanted was for the dispute to be settled.

Both boys stared at Y/N waiting for her to speak but it felt like she had no words. She hadn't exactly planned this far ahead. "I—"

"You heard all of that, didn't you?" Lance knitted his brows together and winced when Y/N nodded.

Now Keith really wanted to get out. How was he supposed to explain what he'd said? He had just admitted to liking Y/N, something he wouldn't have done a few months from now if it hadn't just happened. So much for that though because now Lance, Pidge and Y/N knew. If he had his own car and knew the roads back to the Garrison, he'd be out of this place in seconds, sworn to never look Y/N in the eyes ever again. But, he was stuck. He wasn't leaving and he knew it.

Y/N's heart sank when she saw Keith's head drop in defeat, his entire frame crumbling away. He pursed his lips and slumped down to the floor. Y/N then looked to Lance for help but he seemed to offer none, just as overwhelmed and confused as she was. So, she grabbed his arm and dragged him down to he floor with her in front of Keith.

The three sat in a circle, Y/N taking a deep breath and mustering as much courage as she could. "Alright, none of us leave until this is sorted."

"Keith is impossible. We're gonna be here all night..." Lance grumbled.

Y/N smacked Lance's leg. "This is part of the problem! You don't give Keith a chance!"

"Touchè." Lance mumbled back.

"So, how are you guys gonna fix this?" Y/N asked, trying to get Keith at least somewhat involved in the conversation he obviously didn't want to be a part of.

"Lance can stop trying to fuck up my life." Keith tried ripping apart the hem of his shorts anxiously, eyes still glued downwards.

"I was never trying to fuck it up," Lace mocked Keith's voice. "I was trying to stop you from fucking Y/N's up."

"Who said I would have?!" Keith snapped, his voice breaking. "I'm trying to change! Trying really, really hard. You know that!"

This weekend, Keith truly had been doing all he could to be a better person. He was trying to learn to enjoy life like everyone else did and not hate it so much. Y/N just happened to be part of the entire process.

"Just because you change doesn't mean you're perfect all of the sudden!" Lance hollered, his face turning red out of pure aggravation. Sure, the boys fought on a regular basis, but it was never this bad. Their arguments were usually about who drove, what movie to pick, or how many minutes a bag of popcorn was supposed to stay in the microwave for. But this? This was real life and real emotions. Arguments like these could leave real scars.

"Maybe I'm not the one fucking her life up, it's you." Keith snarled. "None of this would have happened if you'd kept your selfishness out of it!"

Lance didn't even respond. He just froze. "I wasn't being selfish, I was trying to protect her!"

"There's a fine line between protection and imprisonment, Lance." Keith breathed heavily. "You never asked her how she felt, did you?"

Lance blinked quickly, trying to clear his watery eyes.

Keith looked to Y/N. "Right? He never asked you how you felt about all of this?"

Y/N tried to swallow but her mouth felt dry. The world was spinning a little too fast and her breath was uneven. "I—uh, no."

"Well?" Keith said loudly. "How do you feel? Lance already shouted it to the world how I feel! There's no secret there apparently!"

"I—I don't know." Y/N muttered. This was all brought on so fast, how was she supposed to know? Sure, Keith was someone she enjoyed spending her time with and had shared many memorable moments with this trip, but she'd hardly known him two days. Someone might argue that that was enough time to fall for someone, but Y/N wasn't quite so sure. Keith was still sort of a stranger, despite clinging onto one another an entire treacherous car ride, spending nights under the stars, and a full day out in the water with one another.

"How can you not know?! It's a yes or no!" Keith yelled.

Y/N's body tensed and Keith wanted to punch himself in the face. He'd broke. He'd returned to his old self, screaming at people carelessly. Y/N's eyes became glassy and his heart broke in his chest. This was all his fault and he had no excuse. Y/N would hate him forever and he'd never see her again.

"How can I not know?" Her voice rumbled quietly like approaching thunder in the distance. "Because, I've known you for two days. I came here because Lance wanted me to break out of my shell. I wasn't looking for someone to fall into a relationship with. I think you're an amazing person, but I haven't thought that far ahead! I was just glad to have a new friend who I got along with!"

Keith's heart sank a little. "I though you—"

"What?" Y/N scoffed. "Had madly fallen in love with you over the course of a couple days? I'm sorry, Keith. But things don't exactly work like that. Maybe, in your world they do, but in reality they don't."

Keith now knew what he sounded like to other people. Harsh, somewhat careless and to the point. She'd done it on purpose: to give him a taste of his own medicine. He knew he often lived in his own world too much, disregarding reality. He was a dreamer and couldn't help it. What she said next wasn't what he was expecting.

"That doesn't mean I'm not willing to give it a shot, though."

Lance squawked and hit Y/N's shoulder, making her laugh. In such a serious time, Y/N was laughing like the world was alright despite it being a total disaster.

Keith just sat there staring at the girl, a flustered mess, hands shaking ever so slightly. He wished his hoodie was just a little bit bigger so he could hide even more. If they were real, he might just have asked for a wormhole to transport him to the opposite side of the universe.

"Wait—you—"

"Would be willing to get to know you better?" Y/N smiled. "Of course."

Keith felt really stupid. He'd played this entire situation up in his head like he had to make Y/N like him back by the end of the trip. Truth was, he had all the time in the world. She would be at the Garrison all summer, just like him. It wasn't like after this trip he'd never see her again. Currently, he couldn't believe what a mess and a fool he'd made of himself. All he had to say was, 'want to hang out when we get back the Garrison?' Yet, instead of those few words, he'd nearly caused the collapse of his closest friendship with Lance.

"Now, you two hug or whatever guys do and promise to not have no hard feelings." Y/N demanded.

Awkwardly, Lance initiated a half-hearted hug and made a pinky promise to not hate Keith for spending time with Y/N. He also promised to help Keith along the way as he does all he can to better himself and his relationships with others. After all, Lance was the friendly, social one and could help Keith in more ways than one.

"Alright, are you guys cool now? Because I want to go to sleep." She snagged the blanket Keith had left by the door and threw it over her shoulders, laying down on the floor. Lance and Keith laughed, grabbing their own blankets and laying on either side of her. Sure, the floor might not have been the most comfortable place, but everyone was too tired to care.