Intellect: The faculty of reasoning and understanding

Keith pov

"Our mom is outside, I'll go get her" Jana said and rushed off.
Lance took his shoes off and I copied. "You can just put your stuff down here" Lance motioned to a bench beside us.
I placed my bag on it. Kaleb walked up to me and looked at me dead in the eyes.
He then looked me up and down a few times.
Lance watched him closely.
Jana then returned with their mother at her side.
"Ah Keith nice to see you again honey" She said warmly. She had her hair pulled into a bun just like she had the first time I met he

I like Lance's family.
I got lost in my thoughts trying to remember Lance's mothers name. Mariana! That was it!
"Our dad is working right now so he's not home" Lance explained.
"He won't be home until 5 and we'll be long gone by then but he'll love you, I promise" Lance said.
"Come in, Come in" Mariana said ushering us inside further and down the hallway.
"Is Pidge able to come?" She asked Lance.
"Yup, Since Shiro is coming they're allowed to go" Lance replied. Mariana must know about the trip already. "How long are you boys staying? I can make some brunch" She offered.
"Not long Mamá, We're just coming to get some supplies" Lance said. Lance motioned for me to sit down on a couch in the living room. He sat next to me. "Can I get you anything to drink Keith?" Mariana offered.
"No thank you, I have coffee" I said holding up my mug to show her. "Alright, If you need anything just ask" She said smiling warmly at me.
"Ah I should give you a proper tour of the house" Lance said. You've only seen a few rooms.
"Sure" I said getting up.
"Well here is obviously the living room and kitchen" Lance said.
"Next to the front door is the closet and the laundry room. The staircase is there as you saw" He said pointing to the staircase.
"The basement entry is there" Lance said. Lance lead me upstairs. This whole hallway here is the bedrooms. Mine is the middle one, Felix and Candice's is next to mine. Then the master bedroom is down at the end of this hallway" Lance said.
"Then there's another hallway parallel to the wall of bedrooms and there's the office and a bathroom" Lance explained.
"I'm lucky and I have an ensuite and a loft thing" Lance said.
"Well I mean my parents have an ensuite too" He added. "
"A loft?" I asked.
"Here I'll show you" Lance said leading me into his room.
I gasped as I saw his room.
It's so cool!
As soon as you enter on the opposite wall There's a ladder leading up to a very small loft maybe 10 feet wide.
Lance's bed was against the wall right from where we stood. A net like chair hung from the bottom of the loft.
A big window was next to his bed and another smaller one in the loft.
He had a book shelf on the wall to the left of the door.
He had a bi pride flag above the headboard of his bed.
His walls were littered with Pokemon and space posters. What a nerd.
He had another shelf on the same wall as his bed that took up a big portion of the rest of the wall.
The shelf was full of the same size cubicles.
There was dozens of crystals littered on the shelves.
He had a lava lamp in one of them too. Majority of the shelf cubicles were full of crystals.
The closet and ensuite were next to the door.
"This is amazing oh my god!" I cried. His room was a little messy but I didn't care.
"Can I?" I asked him standing at the bottom of the ladder.
"Go ahead" Lance said. I climbed up the small ladder and up into the loft.
A little banister thing was on the edge of the loft so nothing fell out. I couldn't stand up in it because it was only like 4 and a half from the bottom to the roof. I had to duck my head a bit. Two bright blue bean bag chairs were pushed against the same wall as the headboard of the bed.
A few comic books were on the floor. A laptop was under the window.
This is the coolest thing ever.
"Your room is so fucking cool!" I said climbing back down the stairs.
"I know right? It was Felix and Candice's before I moved back upstairs and that's why there's the loft. Felix slept up there while Candice's bed was where mine is.
"You're such a nerd" I said looking at his space posters.
"Yeah but I'm your nerd" He retorted. His walls were a light blue and his duvet had checkers with different shades of blue on it. His bed was unmade.
"This chair is amazing" I said sitting in it.
"God can I just live in here?" I asked. "Go ahead" Lance laughed.
"I just got a new bed since I had a single before but now I have a queen since I'm so tall and I tend to take up a lot of room when I'm sleeping alone. "This is the most amazing room I've ever been in" I said spinning in the chair.
"God when we get back can I please stay over?" I begged Lance.
"Of course" He said. I clapped my hands like a child.
"I'm gonna go get the tent and air mattress from our shed" Lance announced.
"I'll stay here" I said spinning in the chair again. Lance laughed.
"Alright". I got off the chair after getting dizzy. I walked around his room for a bit. I poked my head into his bathroom. A galaxy shower curtain was hanging on a rod over a shower bath combo. He had a bunch of hair products and colognes littered all over the counter with the sink. I laughed and went back out.

Lance came back a few minutes later with a tent in a cylinder shaped bag and a box with an air mattress.
"The mattress is a queen so we good" Lance said.
"I have two sleeping bags downstairs already with the rest of our stuff" He added.
"We decided on only three nights" He explained.
"Three?" I gasped.
"Oh god I don't know if I can survive three fucking nights" I whined.
"Shush" Lance hushed me.
"What will we do for food?" I asked. "Hunk is bringing a small cooler of hot dogs and stuff, I'll bring a few things as well" He said.
"Well I've got everything now" Lance said.
"I've got an emergency kit with a first aid kit, flares, an emergency flashlight and a few other things" Lance said.
"I have lots of flashlights and lanterns too" He added.
"Hunk should be here soon, We're last for pick up since we're in the country" Lance said.
"Alright" I said. I followed Lance downstairs and he put the air mattress box in the bag he'd packed.
He set the tent and sleeping bags next to it.
"Are you hungry yet?" Lance asked. "Nah I'm good still" I said taking a sip of my coffee.
"The last thing you ate was a sno-cone Keith" Lance said.
"Same with you!" I said.
"Okay point" Lance said.
"I'm not worried about myself right now, I'm worried about you" He said. "I'm fine"I assured him.

I followed him back into the living room and we sat down on the same couch we were on before.
"So Keith" Mariana started.
"Lance told me you moved here a while ago. Where did you move from?" She asked. "I moved from San Antonio Texas" I said.
"That's quite a far move, What made you and your family move?" She asked. "Eh just a change of scenery I guess, We were thinking of Arizona but we decided on here" I explained.
"I see" She said. "Do you have any siblings?" She asked.
"I uh...my foster parents have two kids, younger than me. A girl who's 10 and a boy who's 8" I said.
"Are you close with them?" She asked. "Yeah actually, all 5 of us are really really close" I said.
"That's great!" She smiled.
"Well do you like it here in Cali?" She asked. "Yeah I do. It's a pretty big change from Texas. The weather is about the same but all the plants and stuff is so different" I said.
"We went to Santa Monica yesterday and Keith is scared of the ocean" Lance interjected.
"Lance!" I hissed.
"Awe Keith that's okay, I was scared of the ocean when I first experienced it. It's still not my favourite thing in the world but I understand" Mariana said warmly.
I love this woman.
"Lance told me you are gay and that you're comfortable with talking about your sexuality so if you don't mind me asking are you out to your family?" She asked.
"If you don't want to tell me that's more than perfect. I'm just a bit nosey" She said.
"Mom..." Lance trailed off.
"No it's fine! I'm quite open about my sexuality. Yes I'm out to my family and I have been for years. They're all very very supportive and Meenah, my sister loves the fact I'm gay and when I first came out she would try and get me with every teenage guy that we saw in public" I said. She laughed.
"That's adorable" She chuckled.
"I'm happy your family are supportive of you. Lance has been out for a few years too and everyone in our big family are all super supportive of him" She explained.
"Lance has always been a flirt. Since he was a kid. He'd chase after girls at all the time at school. He'd come home upset some days when the girls would reject him" She explained.
I laughed.
Lance looked embarrassed.
"Lance has always flirted with almost everyone his age but most people aren't a fan of his confrontational nature and how up front he is about his feelings" She explained.
"I'd feel bad when he was in middle school and would come home crying because he was getting rejected so often" She said.
"Awe Lance oh no" I said looking at him. He was noticeably embarrassed.
"On another note, I love your nail colour! It's one of my favourite colours!" She exclaimed pointing towards my nails which Meenah had painted.
"Ah thank you, Meenah painted them since I can barely hold the brush" I said.
"That's cute, Candice could never paint her nails well so she'd get Lance to do it for her at times" She said.
"I didn't know that about you" I said to Lance.
"Heheh yeah" He said.
"Anyway, I hope you all have a good time this weekend" She said getting up from the love seat across from us. She headed into the kitchen.
"I'm just gonna use the bathroom quickly" I said to Lance.
"Yeah for sure, you can use mine or use the upstairs hallway one" He said.
I went upstairs and guided my way down the hallway and found it.

Lance pov

"I didn't know Keith was being fostered" My mother piped up from the kitchen. Keith had just went to use the bathroom so it was just me and my mom.
"Yeah, I guess I forgot to mention that" I said.
"He's had a really tough life Ma, He deserves so much and I'm determined to make him the happiest boy alive" I explained.
"What happened to him? I know that's none of my business nor is it really any of yours Lance..." She trailed off.
"He's been through so many foster families. His parents both committed suicide when he was a baby. He was abused by two of the families he lived with. His current foster family treat him so well. Keith told me they helped him out in life immensely and he's changed because of them" I said.
I could feel a lump form in my throat. My mother clasped her hand over her mouth in shock. I could see her start to tear up.
"Oh my god" she said quietly.
"That's basically the gist of it" I said. "That poor boy...He seems so wonderful Lance. He's so happy" She said wiping her eyes before any tears escaped.
"I trust you when you say you'll treat him well. You better treat Keith like literal royalty. No one should have to go through that, Especially not someone as sweet as Keith" She sniffed. I got up and hugged her managing to keep my cool.
"It's okay mamá, He's doing so much better. He has a loving family" I said comforting her. She wiped the sadness from her face as quick as a snap.
"I want him to know he's accepted in this house too" She said.
"I think he knows" I smiled.
Keith then came back downstairs.

Keith pov

When I came back downstairs Lance was hugging his mom.
I felt like I was intruding on something. I paused before entering the room. Lance saw me.
"You're good Keith. Come in" He said letting go of his mother. I hesitantly sat back down in my spot. Lance checked his phone.
"Oh Hunk is here" Lance announced checking his phone.
"Alright" I said getting up.
"Have fun" Mariana said giving Lance a big hug.
"You too Keith" She said holding my hand briefly and giving it a slight squeeze.
She looked at me with loving warm eyes.
"Thank you" I said. We grabbed our stuff and put our shoes back on. "It was nice to meet you Keith!" I heard Kaleb call from upstairs.
"You too man!" I called back. Mariana called a last goodbye and we exited Lance's house.
"Oh that's cute" I said to Lance motioning to the porch swing.
"Right? I love it" Lance said.

I was greeted with a large tan coloured jeep on the gravel driveway.
I saw Hunk's friendly smiling face in the drivers seat. Lance opened up the back of the jeep and carefully placed out stuff on top a few other suitcases. He shut it.
"Are you okay with sitting in the back?" Lance asked me.
"Yeah that's fine" I replied. Lance then got into the passenger seat and shut the door. The backseat door suddenly opened.
"Get in  dork!" Pidge commanded. I got into the backseat. Pidge was sat in the middle and Shiro was on the other end. "Hi Shiro" I greeted.
He waved.
I shut the door behind me and buckled up my seat belt.
"Everybody's in?" Hunk asked.
"Yup" Pidge responded. Hunk started the jeep and headed off down the gravel driveway.
"You look nice" I complimented Pidge. They were wearing high waisted shorts, a white crop top with green hems and grey sneakers with white knee high socks.
"Hey thanks man" They replied.
"How has your summer been so far?" Shiro asked me.
"Ah pretty good" I replied.
"It's only going good because he's spent like every fucking day with me" Lance cut in.
"Ooh really?" Shiro asked.
"Yeah Shiro" Lance said.
"Let him speak dickhead" Hunk commanded.
"Yeah me and Lance have spent lots of time together so far" I said shyly.
"Awe you guys are too cute" Hunk gushed.
"N-No no, We're just friends!" I said. I've had to say this so much.
Lance didn't say much but quickly changed the subject the began to blab.

"Lance can you shut up for literally 5 minutes??" Shiro snapped.
"I bet he cant!" Pidge cried.
"Yes I can!" Lance yelled.
"Prove it!" Pidge said.
Lance nodded and gave a 👌🏻

"More specifically what have you been doing Keith?" Shiro asked.
"Well I've been doing chores, hanging out with my family and spending time with loudmouth Mcclain over here" I explained. Pidge snorted.
"He's just been coming over and staying over at my house quite a bit" I added.
"Oooh spicy" Hunk giggled. The four of us chatted as Lance sat quietly.
"It's been five minutes" Lance finally yelled.
"Dammit" Shiro scoffed.
"Hey!" Lance hissed.
"Keith hold my hand" Lance demanded. "Wh-Why?" I stuttered. "Just do it!" Lance commanded. I hesitantly held my hand out for him. Lance brought his hand back to grasp mine.
"Why?" I asked him.
Good old friendship y'know?"Lance said.
"Try not to be really gay in front of everyone, And if you're going to fuck just wear gags so no one has to hear that shit" Pidge said.
"Pidge stop!" Lance yelled.
"We're not dating!" I barked.
"Pidge!" Hunk gasped.
"You swear so much, you're just a kid!" "I am not a kid Hunk, I'm 15" Pidge objected.
"Well you're the baby of the group" Hunk said.
"Yeah but I can kick all of your asses" Pidge exclaimed.
"Well yeah, Maybe me, Lance, and Keith's asses but definitely not Shiro the beefcake over here" Hunk said motioning to Shiro.
"Oh shush, Shiro wouldn't hurt a fly" Pidge huffed. Shiro laughed.
"They're right" He agreed.
"Okay dude I need to ask you; What is your workout routine?" I asked Shiro. "Like man you're jacked, Holy shit" "Keith!" Lance cried.
"What?! Am I not allowed to ask him that?" I said.
"Well I bench press often and just basic stuff like push ups and sit ups, you know all that good stuff" Shiro explained.
"Impressive" I said.
"That's it?" I asked him.
"Yeah that's basically it" He chuckled. "Y-Yeah well I'm hotter than Shiro!" Lance retorted.
I rolled my eyes and let go of his sweaty hand.
"Get over yourself man" Pidge piped up.
"You know what? I'll get over myself when Keith stops wearing those fucking shorts" Lance said pointing to them.
"But I love these shorts" I whined.
"I don't want to stop wearing them" "Exactly!" Lance said.
"That makes no sense" I scoffed.
"Ooh somebody's jeleous" Hunk sang. "I'm not jeleous of Shiro!" Lance yelled.
"You two would be cute together and I'm not trying to interfere" Shiro said. "Well good, You're never getting my southern belle" Lance spat.
"Southern belle?" I snorted.
"Yes!" Lance barked.
"Who the fuck said I'm yours?" I sneered.
"Oh yeah I forgot you're from Texas" Hunk said.
"How come you don't have the accent?" Pidge asked.
"He does kinda" Lance said.
"Say y'all Keith" Lance begged.
"No!" I snapped.
"Awe come on" Hunk said.
"Say it! I wanna hear" Pidge said grabbing my arm and shaking it.
"No!" I repeated. Soon enough everyone was begging for me to say it. I was getting mad.
"Y'all" I said quietly.
"Fffff you're right!" Pidge snorted. Everyone laughed at me.
I yanked my arm away from Pidge and crossed my arms.
"Okay guys that's enough, He gets mad easily" Lance advised. Everyone quieted down.
"Keith it's okay, We're not making fun of you" Lance said putting his hand on my knee.
I brushed it off.
"I am" Pidge said.
"Say yee haw now" Pidge asked.
"That's enough Pidge" Shiro said. We the pulled up to a camping spot. I wasn't paying attention to anything. The bustling city was gone. Trees were everywhere. No buildings.
"We're here" Hunk announced.
Hunk and Lance jumped out of the vehicle.
I got out leaving the door open for Pidge. They shut it when we got out. "Everyone brought a tent right?" Hunk asked.
"Yup" Pidge said. Shiro nodded. "Keith?" Hunk asked.
"We're sharing one" Lance smirked.
"I swear to god if I hear anything from you both I'm coming in there and shutting your fuckfest down" Pidge growled.
I groaned.
"We're not dating!" I yelled.
"I need my sleep" They added.
"I need mine too" I frowned.
"I'll make sure Keith dosen't make too much noise" Lance grinned.
What the hell? Shut up!" I barked at him and shoved him into the jeep.
Lance whined and rubbed his shoulder.
"Stop saying bullshit!" I growled and pointed a finger at him.
Lance looked nervous and gulped.
Hunk went and opened the back of the jeep up.
He dragged a big blue and white cooler out.
It hit the dirt ground with a thud. "Keith has never been camping before" Lance said.
God will he ever shut up?? Good thing his looks make up for it.
"What really?" Hunk asked shocked. "Yeah" I answered.
"All of us are experienced campers so you don't worry about anything buddy" Hunk said giving me a pat on the shoulder.
"Let's set up" Shiro suggested. Everyone grabbed their tents from the back.
They all got to work pitching them. I stood by Lance as he worked.
"Do you need me to do anything?" I asked Lance.
"Nah just stand there and look pretty" He said.
That made me blush.
Everyone was setting up their tents the same way.
They got the black rod things and connected them together and put them through loop things on the tent.
I mostly focused on Lance. There was two rods for our tent Lance crossed them. And hammered these weird metal peg things into the ground with his foot.
"Lance use a hammer" Shiro advised bringing a mallet looking thing over to him.
Lance grumbled something incoherent and hammered the pegs in better.
The tent sprang up when he hammered the last one in.
"Voila" Lance said. The tent is blue and grey.
"Wow" I said.
"Blue of course" I added. Lance grabbed his duffle bag and the sleeping bags.
I grabbed my bag and followed him into the tent which he zipped open. It smelled weird inside.
Stuffy and plasticy.
I'm assuming that's nylon is what it's made of.
Lance set a blue tarp down on the floor of the tent.
He unzipped his bag and grabbed the air mattress out of his bag and began blowing it up with a rather loud air compressor.
I stepped out of the tent.
I took a good look around.
There was a fire pit in the middle of the area and a picnic table a few feet away. Trees surrounded the whole area.
A gravel road was in front of the jeep. The road seemed to continue to what I assumed was more campsites.
Hunk's tent was next to ours.
His was smaller than Lance's and was bright yellow and grey.
Pidge's was grey and was super small. Shiro's was last.
His was the same size as ours and was a few different shades of grey.
"Pidge your tent is so cute, I love it" I complimented them.
"Hey thanks dude, I love this thing" They said proudly.
I'm amazed they all set up in the same span of time which was a few minutes. I feel kinda useless since I'm not doing anything.
"Hey Lance are you sure you don't need me to do anything?" I asked him once he was done inflating the air mattress. "Yeah I'm sure, Don't worry" He replied.
"Actually hold on" He said.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Can you please grab the two blue sleeping bags from the back of the jeep?" Lance asked me.
I walked over to the vehicle and brought them back to Lance.
"Thank you" Lance said and took them inside the tent.
He stepped out and zipper the tents entrance back up.
"Okay I'm going to teach you how to start a fire" Lance said.
I nodded eagerly.
"Okay so there's dozens of ways to start fires, I'm just going to show you the way I was taught" Lance announced.
I lingered behind him as he took a few small slim pieces of wood from the jeep.
"I asked Hunk to bring these because they make easy fire starters"
"Okay now come here" Lance said kneeling in front of the fire. Lance motioned for me to go in front of him. I kneeled in front of him.
"Make a triangle shape with the pieces facing upwards" Lance said. I did as I was told. I made sure the tops of the pieces were touching.
"Good" Lance said.
"I was taught to put newspaper in the triangle shape but hey we don't have that so we're going to have to make do" "Here take this" Lance said handing me a large cigarette lighter.
"I don't know how to light it" I whimpered.
"Put it in one of your hands and put your thumb on the wheel looking thing" Lance explained.
I don't know what I'm doing at all.
I hesitated and he knew I was confused.
Lance put his larger hand over top of mine and moved my thumb onto the wheel thing.
He put his thumb over mine and rubbed back.
It sparked and a small flame appeared. "Whoa!" I exclaimed.
Lance grabbed a piece of wood separate from the pyramid.
"Light this" He said. He brought our hands carefully towards the wood and the flame touched the wood and slowly lit. He brought the wood down and put it on the pile.
"There you go" He said.
The sticks flame danced on to the others. "Normally you'd light a piece of newspaper on fire and set the pyramid of sticks over it but like I said we don't got that so this will work" Lance said.
I looked intently at the fire.
Lance held his hand out for me and I accepted and he helped me up. I dusted my knees off.
"You've lit your first fire!" He sang. "How do you know I've never lit one before?" I retorted.
"Keith...I'm not stupid"
"You're a little dumb"
" I hate you" He said.
I smirked at him.

Lance then grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder like I was nothing.
"Wait no! Put me down!" I demanded. "You're not going anywhere" Lance laughed evilly.
My arms and torso were thrown over his back so my lower half was facing the same way he was.
Lance began to walk.
"Where are you taking me?" I yelled. "You'll see" He smirked.
He began walking into the forest surrounding the campsite.
Pidge waved goodbye and I gave them the finger.
Lance had one arm around me to support me and to keep me from sliding off.
He then tripped and out of fear I grabbed his shirt.
His hand flew up to my ass.
"Ah sorry I'm just keeping you from slipping" He said flirtatiously.
"Oh yeah sure" I groaned sarcastically. He carried me for a few minutes.
I couldn't see where we were going.
I then heard running water.
Lance carefully put my down keeping his hand on my hip to steady me.
I turned around to see a cute little stream.
"Oh this is nice" I said.
"I love this area" Lance beamed. I gasped when I saw a tan shape moving on the other side of the stream. I recognized the shape as a deer.
It was a female.
She hadn't seen us yet.
I was so happy. There was a fucking deer in front of us.
"Lance oh my god!" I whispered. "Shh" He said softly.
The deer had spotted us but didn't care. She continued to walk.
My hand was clasped over my mouth. Soon enough the deer left.
"Oh my god" I squeaked.
"I've never seen a seen in real life before" I squealed.
"Well there's lots of wildlife here" Lance explained.
"That was amazing" I said tugging at his arm like a child.
We then turned our heads towards the sound of what we assumed was a Hunk yelling for us.
We began to walk back the way we came.
"That deer is a blessing" I said to Lance.
We got back to the campsite. "Where did you guys go?" Pidge asked. "I took him to a nearby creek and steam thing" Lance said kicking a rock.
"And you carried him army style?" Pidge questioned.
"Yup" Lance beamed proudly.
"Keith has never been camping before and dosen't really like nature so he's a princess and I need to protect him" Lance said.
"Oh my hero" I said dramatically. "So you've never been camping huh?" Shiro asked.
I shook my head
"What have you been doing your whole life in Texas?" Hunk asked.
"I don't know, I just haven't been exposed to lots of things" I said sitting at the dirty wooden picnic table.
I looked up and sun was up high and the blue sky was cloudless.
The trees provide lots of shade. It was getting hot now.
I saw a few birds fly overhead.
The trees are all so pretty.
Dozens of shades of green.
Pretty and tall.
I dragged the tip of my shoe in the dirt underneath me.
I traced over an 8 shape I made.
I glanced over at the fire which was pretty big now.
I was ripped out of my concentrated state when a bright flash blinded me briefly.
"Oh this will be cute" Lance said holding a lilac coloured polaroid camera.
I was like a deer caught in the headlights as they say.
The picture shot out of the camera and Lance took it and waved it around. 
He did this for a few seconds.
"What are you doing?!" I yelped.
"Oh my god you're too cute" He said starring at the tiny palm sized picture. "Let me see" Hunk squeaked and looked over Lance's shoulder.
"Awe look at him" Hunk gushed.
I got up and stomped over to them.
I snatched the photo from Lance.
I was looking intently into the forest, my sunglasses on the top of my head.
I shoved it back at him.
"I hate it" I scoffed.
"Awe Keith come on! You look adorable" Lance coaxed.
I crossed my arms and sat back down. I put my sunglasses on and crossed my legs. Both my arms and legs were crossed.
"My grumpy man" Lance sighed.
"Hey Lance can I borrow your air pump?" Pidge asked him.
"Yeah for sure" Lance said walking over and grabbing it out of it's box and handing it to Pidge.
"Hunk, Shiro; What are you guys sleeping on?" Pidge asked them both. "I've got these foam things" Shiro said. "I'm sleeping on the ground, I've got my sleeping bag and that's all I need" Hunk announced proudly.
"Ha! Enjoy that" Pidge smirked.
When they were done filling up their air mattress they gave Lance the air pump back.
Lance then sat next to me on the picnic table.
When all of us set up we explored the area a bit more.
Lance showed me and Pidge the bathrooms since we haven't been here before.
"There's male and female bathrooms and a family one so you're safe my small friend" Lance said to Pidge.
They looked very happy.
"The showers are in there too" Lance added.
The whole building was about a 2 minute walk from our site.
Shiro eventually went and found the ranger station thing or whatever so he could check into our campsite finally. Lance explained all the different animals in the area and I wasn't too keen on reading about it.
I shuddered at the mention of cougars and wolves.
"Don't worry Keith, They're just animals" Lance assured me.
"Wow Keith you really have never been camping" Hunk said to me.
When Shiro got back Pidge and Hunk had gone out into the forest to look for flowers.
Pidge had been complaining about the shitty cell service when Hunk suggested they both go and look for wild flowers to make flower crowns with.
The two minutes we had alone before Shiro came back I just sat, staring at my feet.
"Hey I hope you know it's gets fucking cold here at night" Lance said to me when the sun began to set.
We all had just finished a late fancy dinner of hot dogs.
"Ahaha sorry it gets what?" I said nervously.
"It gets cold" Lance repeated.
"Fuck! I get cold so easily" I exclaimed in despair.
"Oh baby I hope you brought a hoodie or jacket or something..." Lance trailed off.
"Don't call me baby" I snapped.
"But no...I didn't bring one" I said.
"You're lucky I have a spare hoodie" Lance said getting up from his little fold up chair.
All of us were sat in chairs in a circle around the fire.
"This thing is a little big on me so it'll probably be a fucking quilt on you" Lance teased.
"Oh haha" I said sarcastically
. Lance brought back a light grey hoodie from our tent.
He handed it to me.
Holy shit it's soft. It was just the regular pullover kind with white tassel string things.
You know the useless pieces of string that hang out of the hood so you can pull it shut?
Stupid fucking thing.
I was getting kind of cold so I slipped it on.
Oh god it is big on me.
The sleeves came far down from where my hands were.
It's so baggy it almost goes down past my shorts.
I left the hood up to protect my neck from mosquitoes.
"Ah you look adorable!" Lance gushed. I jokingly swatted him with the ends of the sleeves.
"Ack look at my small perfect boy" Lance beamed.
"Don't call me that either!" I yipped.
"He's so little you guys" Lance gushed.
He stood behind my chair as he said this.
I was getting mad as usual.
"Lance, better back off man. Keith looks like he's going to bite your head off" Hunk said.
"You would never!" Lance bickered. "Oh really? Are you sure?" I asked him. I heard Lance pause and swallow hard. Heh, he's scared.
"Go sit back down and let me be cold in peace" I commanded.
Lance did as he was told and sat back down next to me.
I brought my hands up and folded the extra sleeve length under them and pressed my hands against my face to warm myself.
I folded my knees up to my chest. Lance struck up a conversation about the wildlife in the area again.
"So there's lots of coyotes here. They're everywhere in California" Lance said. "Mm really?" I whimpered.
"Yeah, they can't hurt you though man" Hunk added.
"There's bears, bats, rabbits, deer, wolves and cougars too" Lance explained.
"Oh great!" I said nervously.
"I'll make sure to zip the tent up good so no bears come and eat you" Lance teased.
"The only thing you guys need to worry about is Pidge" Shiro laughed.
Pidge gave us a joking growl.
"I'm gonna go and get some firewood, who wants to come with me?" Lance asked.
"Me!" Hunk and Pidge said in unison. They both shot up and ran over to Lance.
"Shiro, Keith?" Lance asked. I shook my head.
"I'm good man" Shiro said.
"Alright, We won't be long" Lance said and trotted off with the others.
"So, Keith" Shiro said shifting in his chair.
He was right across the fire pit from me.
"Lance told me you're being fostered" Goddammit Lance.
Did he legit tell everyone??
"Um yeah" I said.
I was fostered for about a year and a half when I was 12" Shiro said.
I perked up.
"Whoa really?" I asked him.
"Yeah, When my parents separated my mom was kept in a hospital for that time and well my father was put in prison" Shiro said.
I was shocked. "I-I didn't know that about you" I stammered.
"Well I've known you for a while now, It's about time I tell you. Lance says I can trust you and I trust him" He explained.
"Y-You don't have too if you don't want-"
"No it's fine, everyone else here knows" He explained.
"Uh okay" I said. "I bet you've been wondering how I got this?" Shiro asked pointing to the large scar across the bridge of his nose.
"I did at first" I said.
"You really don't have to do this Shiro, I get how hard it is to talk about this kind of stuff" I said.
"It's fine Keith, Really" He said.
I went quiet.
"Well long story short Me and my mother were abused by my father since I was 3 up until I was 12. He was a horrible man and I'm happy his ass is locked up" He explained.
"Oh god..." I said.
"I got this scar when I was 10, We were all fighting that night and he had slashed a broken bottle across my face and my mothers arm and face as well" Shiro said.
"...No" I said softly.
"The things he did to me were so terrible. Physical and Psychological. I have ptsd from all this and it's common to get a mental illness from childhood trauma" He said.
He seems so cool with talking about it. "I got night terrors a lot and I still do on occasion" He said.
I gasped.
"Me too!" I said.
"Hey really?" He asked giving me a weak smile.
"Yeah, I got them really bad as a kid" I said.
"Well since you told me this I guess I'll tell you a bit about me. I don't know how much Lance told you. I was abused by two of my previous foster families. Not super bad but sure it's caused understandable trauma. It was mostly just physical. I was a bad kid so I brought most of it on myself by fighting with the guy" I said.
"No Keith, It's not your fault" Shiro said.
"That's what everyone I tell says. But it kind of is; I would fight back but I was always over-powered" I said.
"Abuse is never the victims fault" He said.
"I'm glad you told me this. People tend not to trust me" I said.
"I'm much better now. I've you ever need to talk you have my number bud" Shiro said warmly.
"We're back hijos de puta" I heard Lance say.
"What does tha-" I started.
"It means motherfuckers" Pidge said. "The whole way he was planning on what to say when we got back. He wanted to say something in Spanish" Pidge explained.
"Pidge!" Lance hissed. They were all holding a few logs and set them down a few feet away from the fire.
"Lance told us what it meant" Hunk spoke up.
The three sat back down in their chairs. "Hey you okay?" Lance asked putting an arm around my shoulders.
I must've looked deep in thought.
"Oh yeah I'm fine" I said giving him a reassuring smile.
Lance seemed convinced.
I looked back at the fire.
Poor Shiro...What the fuck???
Poor guy.
He didn't deserve that bullshit.
I deserved some of my abuse  because I was a little bitch and copped attitude.
I fought back.
I shivered just remembering the sensation of the hot cherry of the cigar burning into my back.
Those memories are still sometimes fresh in my mind.
Some days they're prominent and some not.
I starred intently at the fire.
The sun had set and the moon was out accompanying the many stars.
I watched the flames dance and twist. My mind hurt just thinking about what Shiro went through.
Through his vague description I tried to imagine the situation.
I wonder why he didn't just stay with other family members when his parents were in their....facilities.
Did he not have other family?
He surely did right?
Was his foster family good to him? Why does he trust me?
I barely know him.
Why did he tell me all this so bluntly? What else did Lance to him about me? "You good Keith?" Hunk said snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah I'm good" I croaked. Everyone was looking at me, worry was flooded across their faces.
"You look sick" Hunk added.
"I'm good guys" I reassured them.
"I'm gonna go splash some water on my face" I said getting up and grabbing a flashlight off the table.
"Want me to come with you?" Lance offered.
"Please" I said. He shot up and came to my side. We began walking to the bathroom.
"What's up?" Lance asked me.
I turned the flashlight on illuminating the small deserted road in front of us. "Shiro told me what happened to him when he was a kid" I said.
"He was just so blunt as he explained it. I told him a few things as well. I just feel so bad for him" I said kicking a pinecone.
"Keith he's okay now. He's doing so much better, he's a happy guy" Lance exclaimed.
I muttered a yeah and then fell silent. "It's just...Shiro didn't do anything to deserve that" I cried.
I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. I'm gonna cry in front of Lance once again.
"I know he didn't. You didn't deserve what happened to you either" Lance choked out.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
"I deserved everything that happened to me" I said.
"No you didn't Keith!" Lance protested. "Yes I did!" I screamed.
My voice bouncing off the trees.
Lance was surprised of how upset I am. "I was a fucking terrible kid Lance! I was horrible to everyone I met for no reason! I'd get myself beat because of this. All the calls home I'd get because I'd given kids a blow to the face or a bloody nose just because they came near me. I'd get punished for that. I refused to accept being the smaller person and I'd fight both of those guys. The foster dads. They were both the same. The second one was worse. I should of just accepted the fact that I was wrong and accepted my fate. I always thought I was right. I deserved every little thing that happened to me. The burns, the slaps across the face, even the kicks" I sobbed dropping to my knees. I wanted a car to drive down the road and hit me right then and there.
Lance kneeled down next to me and hugged me.
I'm so weak.
"Keith, Nobody deserves that. Especially not you. All those people should of shown some sympathy for you. They should of imagined what you went through. I'm not trying to remind you of this but they should of imagined what it's like to have no family. The foster parents that treated you like shit. They should of just stopped and thought why you acted the way you did. You were protecting yourself Keith. You're so strong. Please realize that!" Lance shouted his voice cracking.
I was full on sobbing.
Lance is trying not to cry to not work me up more.
"We should get off the road" Lance said helping me up. He moved me to the side of the road and we walked the last 30 seconds to the bathrooms.
I was regaining control.
I pushed the big green door open. Nobody else was here.
I sighed a sigh of relief.
How awkward would it be if you were taking a piss or just getting out of the shower and two teenage guys entered. One hysterical and one on the verge of tears.
Boys aren't supposed to cry.
I gently turned the faucet on one of the sinks and rolled the sleeves of Lance's hoodie up. I then took the hood off and splashed some cold water on my face.
It feels nice.
We were both quiet.
I shut the faucet off and dried my face with my hands.
"I'm sorry" I said quietly to Lance.
"Shh don't worry" He whispered and kissed my forehead.
I looked down at our feet.
The white tile floor was really clean for a fucking campground bathroom. Actually the whole bathroom is super clean.
"Oh fuck" I said.
"What?" Lance asked frantically.
I dried my face with my bare hands and I didn't even wash them first" I said and quickly scurried back over to think and washed them.
"Oh my god" Lance groaned. I finished and dried my hands with paper towel. "Are you okay now?" Lance asked. "Yeah" I said pushing the memories to the back of my mind for now.
Ha another mood swing!
"C-Can we go to bed?" I asked him softly.
He laughed lightly.
"Yes, you need some rest" Lance replied.
"I'm gonna wash my hands so I can touch you without you worrying about germs" Lance said.
"Thank you" I laughed and smiled weakly.
"There's that smile!" Lance sang.
That made me smile bigger but shyly.
I slipped the hoodie back on.
Lance dried his hands and we walked back to the bathroom.
The air was colder now. I shivered. When we got back to the campsite everyone looked so worried.
"You guys were gone a long time" Shiro said wearily.
"Sorry" Lance mumbled.
"What time is it?" I asked Lance.
He took his phone out of his pocket. "Quarter after 10" He responded. "We're gonna go to bed, We're both tired" Lance said.
"Boo!" Pidge complained.
"Why so early guys?" Hunk asked.
"I'm really tired, I don't know about Lance" I said rubbing my eyes.
"I'm not too tired but I could use some more sleep" Lance replied.
"Well sleep well then guys" Hunk said. "Use protection!" Pidge called.
Lance gave them a thumbs up and I elbowed him roughly.
We got inside the tent and I took my shoes off and left them by the door. Lance zipped the tent up.
He closed the nylon flaps that were over the mesh window things.
"I didn't bring any long pants either ugh" I complained.
"You'll be good I promise" Lance reassured me. I ain't sleeping in jean shorts.
No way.
That's some uncomfortable shit.
I kicked them off and shoved them into my bag which was next to the air mattress. Lance had set it up so the two sleeping bags and pillows were next to each other. I guess that's how two people sleep on one of these.
Whatever, It's cute.
I'm going to leave the hoodie on.
"I know you like the right side" Lance said taking his jeans off.
"Ah you remembered" I said happily getting into the sleeping bag.
It was nice and soft like just the hoodie. I could hear the soft chatter or Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro and the soothing crackle of the fire.
The fire illuminated the tent slightly so I could see everything decently.
Lance slid into his sleeping bag next to me.
I'm on the right side of the air mattress when you look at it from the entrance of the tent.
My actual right side was facing Lance.
I was of course on that side and Lance was facing me.
He looked longingly at me and stroked my hair.