"I got a call from school today"

He froze in the doorway.

"Woah, how many times have you heard that?"

He shrugged and looked at his shoes.

"Are you okay? I was told you got in a fight"

He held out his palms and Shiro came over. They were grazed and had dried blood running from the cuts.

"Oh. That's not good"

He stood up and got a cloth. He poured water on it and walked back to Keith.

"This might hurt a bit but it helps, okay?"

Keith nodded

"What does a ten year old have to fight about anyway?"

He held Keith's wrist and dabbed his palm. Keith opened his mouth but closed it again. He searched the room and looked at Shiro.

"I'm almost done, I'll get you paper soon"

He nodded

Shiro stood up

"Now what was I doing.."

Keith dried his hands on his pants.

"Paper, right"

Shiro offered the paper and pen to Keith. He took them and sat on the floor to write.

'He was talking about my family'

"Oh.."

'I got mad'

"Sorry"

'You? Why?'

"You shouldn't be treated that way"

'Yeah'

"What are you gonna do until dinner?"

'The puzzle'

"Oh yeah, you were working on that weren't you? How's it going?"

'It takes a long time'

'When is Matt coming over again? He's fun'

"I'm not sure, when do you want him to come?"

'Now'

He grinned as he held up the paper. Shiro chuckled.

"I don't think he can do now, but how 'bout Saturday?"

'Saturday? That's too far away!'

"It's two days Keith"

'Still too far away'

"I should ask him to bring Pidge.."

'Who is that?'

"Oh, Matt's younger sister. She's about your age"

'Yes she should come!'

__

"Hey! Answer me."

"You deaf or something, answer me"

He shoved him backwards without resistance.

"James stop it!"

He scoffed

"Like you can do anything gay boy"

Lance winced.

"Wanna bet?"

He stood up straighter and quirked an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't stand a chance."

He walked up to Lance. He paused and glared down at him but continued walking past. Lance breathed a sigh of relief and turned around.

"You okay?"

He took a step back and nodded.

".. Are you sure..?"

He paused but nodded.

__

Lance led him to the table where his friends were.

"Hey Keith"

He smiled and waved

"Hold on, you know each other?"

"Yeah we met when we were kids"

Keith nodded to confirm

"Well I just met him"

He turned to Keith

"Hi I'm Lance"

Keith nodded

"...Not much of a talker are you?"

He shook his head and sat down next to Pidge

"Right.."

__

His hands trembled but he was still able to turn the handle. He dropped his bag at door and sat down on the stairs. Kosmo pounded over and jumped up on Keith. He was only a

puppy but could knock Keith over if he wasn't careful.

"Hey Kosmo, I missed you"

He looked up with his big eyes and his tongue out.

"You've got a lot of energy did you sleep all day?"

"Woof"

"I met someone new today"

His fingers traced through Kosmo's fur.

"He stopped James from hitting me too hard"

Kosmo's ears perked up

"Yeah he was pushing me around again today"

Kosmo turned away and barked

"Keith?"

His eyes snapped up and he froze. Kosmo whined and pushed his head up into his hand. Keith snapped out of his daze and looked down. His hand was shaking again. He clenched it to hide the tremors. He pushed himself up and leapt up the stairs. He scrambled into his room and locked the door.

__

There was a knock and he heard Kosmo whining through the door.

"Keith"

He got up and grabbed his book and pen.

'I'm not here'

He slid the note under the door

"Keith come on. We should talk about this"

'I'm not talking about anything'

"But you were"

'I wont'

"Why"

'I'm not saying'

"Why?"

'Too painful'

He stared at the page

"What.. Too painful?"

'Why'd you pick me'

"Pick you? What do you mean?"

'At the orphanage'

'There were plenty of better kids that would have been a better match for you'

'I know I'm a screw up'

"You're not a screw up"

'Don't lie'

'You wish you'd gotten another kid'

'A good one'

'One that deserves you'

"Keith.."

'You can still send me back. Its not too late and they would understand'

"Kids get sent back to the orphanages?"

'It was mostly just me'

'There were only a couple of others from my orphanage that were sent back'

"How many times.. How many times were you sent back"

'Too many'

"What's the number"

'Ten. The longest I stayed with a family was 8 months'

'That's why I stopped talking'

"You mean you decided not to talk? I thought you couldn't"

'I talk to Kosmo'

'When you're not home'

"Why when I'm not there?"

'I dunno'

".. Okay"

'What?? You're just gonna leave it like that? You know I'm lying'

"Yeah I know you're lying and yeah I'm curious but I'm not gonna push for answers you don't want to give"

'You'd be one of the first'

"What do you talk to Kosmo about?"

'I tell him what happened during the day'

"So what happened today?"

'Nothing special'

He sighed

"So what makes you talk or not talk to people"

'Words'

"Haha. I meant like when do you talk to people"

'When I feel like it..'

"You haven't felt like talking to me in six years?"

'I guess not'

"Keith.."

'I talk to people or in front of people once I trust them'

'I used to trust everyone'

"What happened with that family..?"

'Nothing'

"Right, well do you want Kosmo to come in?"

He heard the lock click. The door pulled open slightly. Kosmo leapt up and ran into the room. The door closed again. Kosmo jumped onto Keith's lap and licked his face. He couldn't hold back his laugh. Shiro sighed and walked downstairs.

__

The steady drumming of the rain filled his ears. Kosmo curled around Keith's hand and whined.

"It's okay Kosmo, it's just water"

Someone left the door open while it was raining. Their dog watched the door until the next thunder clap when he bolted out the door.

"Oh shoot. Lance can you go get him back?"

"Dang it. Why me?"

"You're the fastest runner, now go catch him before he gets lost!"

"Yeah yeah"

He tugged on a jacket and ran out into the rain.

Kosmo hated the rain. It always made him nervous and restless. He curled up closer to Keith, trying to hide from the sounds. Keith looked down at Kosmo and ran his finger through his fur. But Kosmo wouldn't sit still. He kept shifting and flicking his ears. He looked towards the window and whined.

"What is it?"

Kosmo walked over to the window and pawed at the glass. He looked back at Keith and whined. He got up and walked to the window.

"What's wrong buddy?"

He scratched Kosmo's head. Kosmo looked outside and whined. He heard a muffled whine from outside and saw a small white dog hiding in the bushes. He opened the window and leaned out, catching the rain in his hair.

"It's not that fair down"

He pushed himself up on the window stil and jumped out.

His shoes landed with a squelch in a puddle of mud.

"Hey, are you okay?"

He crouched down and stuck his hand towards the dog. He put his paw on his hand and it shook.

"Nice trick but you must be cold.."

He slowly moved towards the dog and when he didn't flinch away, Keith picked him up. He bent over to protect him from the rain and to help him warm up. His collar jangled when he moved and Keith turned it to read it.

'16 Stone Avenue'

"You ran far didn't you?"

He looked up when he heard footsteps.

"Hey have you seen a small white dog!"

"Yeah. It's here"

Lance huffed and walked up to him. The dog had stopped shivering and was playing with the zipper on his jacket. Keith looked down because of a tug and chuckled at the sight of his zipper in his mouth. He heard him laugh and smiled a slobbery grin up at him.

"Hey, I know you"

He looked up suddenly.

"You're the one that James was bullying today, the one who doesn't talk"

"Uh.. Yeah"

"Oh you do talk?"

"Not usually to people"

"Oh so like demons? Ghosts?"

Keith chuckled

"Dogs"

"You have one?"

"Yeah up there"

He pointed to his open window.

"Did you jump out!?"

He frowned

"It wasn't that far"

"So you did."

"I do it all the time."

"Why didn't you just go out the front door?"

"Your dog was shivering and it would have taken too long"

"Right.."

The light flicked on and Keith shifted to stand up but the dog whined so he stayed put. Shiro twisted his head around the door to look around and stepped outside when he saw two people in his lawn.

"Keith? What are you doing, and weren't you just in your room?"

"Sorry for coming onto your property, just getting my dog"

He picked up his dog from Keith's lap and turned to walk away.

"No that's okay, why don't you stay for a bit? It's cold"

"Really? That's okay?"

"Yeah of course, come in"

He held the door open wider. Lance smiled and nodded

"Thanks"

"Keith? You coming?"

He looked up suddenly but nodded. He rose and walked over to the door. He slid off his mud covered shoes.

__

Kosmo and Rocki were playing together. Shiro had made hot chocolates for the pair. Lance held it in one hand while talking about his family. Keith's had been left untouched on the table. He hugged his knees and stared into the cup. He looked over at Shiro and Lance and felt a stab in his gut. He looked back down at the cup and his face fell into a frown.

"Keith"

He jumped slightly and looked up

"You alright?"

Before thinking he nodded

"You sure? You haven't even touched your drink"

He poked the cup and turned his head away from Shiro. Shiro sighed

"Right"

Shiro turned around and walked back to his side of the couch. Keith's eyes followed his back and fell onto Lance's eyes. They were filled with concern. Keith broke his gaze and shifted so that he wouldn't have to see the pity.

Keith couldn't sit in the same room as them anymore so he got up. He muttered a quiet

'night' and went upstairs.

"Hey is that normal?"

"I guess but he's been kinda off today"

"You aren't gonna talk with him?"

"I don't wanna bother him, he's been trying to ignore me"

"Would you like me to talk to him?"

"Won't your family worry about you not coming home?"

"No its fine, I already told my sister that I would be later home than expected"

"You're able to if you want, his room is straight up the stairs"

"Thanks"

He stood up

"And the hot chocolate was really good"

Shiro smiled

"I'm glad you liked it"

He rapped his knuckles against the door

"I'm not in the mood Shiro"

"It's not Shiro"

He heard a pause and some rustling. Lance opened the door and saw Keith sitting on his bed

"What are you looking at?"

He looked up from the photo and hesitated

"..Nothing"

He slid it under his pillow and looked back at Lance

"Did Shiro send you up here?"

"No I offered because he said he didn't want to bother you"

"Oh.."

"Hey why do you call your dad by his name?"

"He isn't my dad"

He looked at the loose threads on his blanket

"So your step-dad?"

"He isn't any version of 'dad'"

"So where is your dad?"

He played with his fingers and exhaled. He reached under his pillow to look at the photo again. Lance moved closer so he could see. He studied the photo, a man held onto the small child with puffy hair, the woman had one arm on his shoulder and the other was being held onto by the kid. There was a building behind them and at the bottom of the photo very tidy handwriting, which Lance presumed was the woman's, and it read 'First day in the new house'. All three wore grins on their faces with the sun beaming down on them.

"Is that him?"

"Yeah. Me, dad and mum"

"So what happened to him"

Keith shifted his gaze away from the photo

"Today's the anniversary of his.. death"

"Oh.. I'm so sorry"

He glanced at Lance but then closed his eyes and moved his hand up to play with his hair. He felt his eyes well up and he began to shake. Lance saw him shaking and opened his arms.

"Hey, come here"

Keith leaned into his chest and he felt arms wrap around him.

He felt a pull on his hand and looked down. A red string danced.

"No!"

He jumped up and slapped his hand down to hold his fingers.

"Keith?"

"I-I'm fine"

"What's up?"

Keith's eyes flicked back to Lance and his shoulders dropped a little.

"What are you searching for?"

"The absence of something."

Keith frowned at his hand.

"Why'd it have to happen again. I thought I was done with this"

"What happened and what were you done with?"

"Nothing"

"Keith"

"Nothing important"

"Anything with that sort of reaction is important"

"I don't want your input."

Lance looked down at Keith's clasped hands.

"You're shaking.. "

"I'm well aware. "

"Do you know why?"

"Yes"

"You.. Aren't going to share?"

"No, because it's the thing I'm trying to avoid."

Lance sighed and stuck out his hand.

"Keith, come here"

He stared at Lance's hand and took a step back.

"Did I do something?"

Keith shook his head.

There was a knock on the door.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure"

The door creaked open and Shiro walked in.

"I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay, there was a lot of noise"

"I'm fine"

"And you Keith?"

He gave a sharp nod

"Are you sure?"

Keith glared at him

"Okay okay"

Keith went to walk out the door but Shiro caught his arm.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Keith closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Keith"

He shrugged away from Shiro and ran down the stairs. Shiro sighed and turned back to Lance.

"Sorry if this is awkward for you, you can leave if you want"

"No it's fine, I'm good to stay"

They heard a door close and Shiro spun around.

"Oh shoot, I gotta go get him"

He ran down the stairs.

Keith closed the door and sat down on the stairs.

"Why are you here"

The red string danced. Mocking him. Keith sighed and dropped his head into his knees.

"I don't want to deal with this again."

Shiro swung open the door quickly and Keith jumped.

"Oh good"

He breathed a sigh of relief. Keith covered his hand and turned his head away from him. Shiro closed the door and sat down.

"What's wrong with your hand?"

Keith clenched.

"Nothing"

"Okay then.. So what's up with you?"

"I'm just not feeling good"

"If this is about the company I can ask him to leave"

"No, no it's fine"

"Well is there anything I can do?"

"Just.."

He looked down at his hand and sighed.

"Don't react."

"Okay"

Keith took his hand away and the string glowed. It pulled back towards the house. Shiro stared at the string and smiled.

"What?"

"I like guys too"

Keith scowled and turned to look at the ground. He chuckled

"Sorry. Does anyone else know"

"One of my foster parents"

"Really, how'd it go?"

"Terribly. They found out that I could interact with my string and made me cut it"

"Well that's not going to happen again"

He looked up.

"You're always surprised when someone is nice to you"

Keith huffed

"If you ever need to talk I'll be here"

"Actually.. I didn't mean to be so.. Mean."

He took a breath

"I miss dad"

"Oh. I'm sorry. At least you're talking to me"

Keith's hand twitched but Shiro didn't notice.