How Far I've Come (Keith x Reader)

? Hanging Out; Chapter Twenty ?

"Sorry," Keith says, slithering his grip off of you. "I'll get it, stay here."

He gets out of the bed, sliding out of the safety of the sheets and leaving you alone with a warm bed and dark skies. Bye lightning. The swish of opening doors catches your half-woke eyes, and since you had been forced awake, you needed a second to catch up.

"Oh, my apologies. I thought that this was Y/n's room, I must have mistaken my directions." A soothing British voice speaks, though trying to sound apologetic. Not like he's lying, but like he's trying. He probably knows that Keith will show him a cold tone anyways. Keith does. "It is her room. I'm staying in it."

"I've come to have a talk with her, there are some things I- and I think, she as well- would most likely prefer that we discussed before my presence is a norm on the ship." Lotor explains, and in all honesty, he's right. Things need to be discussed, at least, when both you and Keith have enough level-headedness.

"I'm fully aware that you're both romantically involved, I just think a proper conversation is in order." The ex-prince adds, fine tuning himself into a channel for Keith of whatever he wants to hear. "I understand if you're skeptical. I would be as well, if I was still in your position."

"Well you're not."

A part of you wanted to defend Lotor, he's done terrible things in his past that you want to look over and move on from, but there was a faint feeling of flutter in your deepest gut from hearing Keith stick up for your glory. Does romance always give people joy in blurring out the right thing to do?

"Keith," You say groggily, finally getting your mind in a mode to think straight. Heaving yourself out of bed, you slink to the door. "Be nice. I don't date bullies."

"I remember you talked about the dating!" Lotor pitches in.

You turn to him. "We do need to talk, and if you must," you turn to Keith this time. "you can come if it makes you more willing. It's going to happen either way."

The one outside of the room looks pleased with the idea, while the one with your hand on his shoulder folds his arms and scowls as the ground. "I have to be there if you're going to do it alone. Take it personally if you want, but I don't trust you, and if I ever do, it'll only be a little bit."

"Keith, that's not nice-"

"He has every right to feel that way. I used to be a lovesick fool, and your past always finds way to keep your karma rolling. Let me know when you want to talk things out, alright Y/n?" He asks in a clear 'if Keith can chill out' tone. You nod, giving him a short wave before letting the doors close. Keith has already walked away from the conversation, sitting on the bed with tense posture.

"Keith, there are going to be things that you just can't fix by being mad. Avoiding it will only cause more tension." You say, sitting next to him.

"What about that time I dropped out of school and ran away? 'Avoiding it' made me a Defender of the Universe, so I'd say it's working pretty well for me."

You sigh. "Keith." Your fingers graze his, trying to open up a hand he doesn't want to surrender. "There's going to be times where you can't protect everyone. And, I know that in those times, you have a hard time coping with that. But I've learned a lot since the last time you sat down and talked with me, and I can take care of a lot of things on my own now."