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His chest hurt, burning with the air he needed to breathe. Cramps tugged at his ribs, cutting into what remaining control he had over his breathing. Shoes padded over the grass and wet ground, making slight imprints as he ran. He could still hear them behind him, a few splats of paint coloring the ground around him. The whistle of one directly over his head. He could hear Matt laughing behind him, calling out to the others that he was cornered. The hill seemed to go on forever, the gun in his hands fairly large for a six-year-old - he was now regretting begging to go to the range with Shiro and his friends. Matt yelled out once more as Keith finally made it over the top of the hill, the arena below him. His leg gave out, launching him down the other side as the paintball had hit home, just below his knee. Pain filled him and he couldn't help but cry out, tears already streaming down his face. As he rolled, grass filled his mouth, muffling the cry and his own fear and pain as the world seemed to become blurry made him unable to hear the older kids running after him, concern in their cries.
Shiro was the first to get to him, quickly dropping to his side and holding his upper body still. Matt made it second, instantly holding the young child's leg still, obvious where it had made a clean break. They shared a look, filled with concern and worry,
"Fuck... Colleen's going to kill me..." Matt swore but looked down at the black haired boy who curled into Shiro's shirt.
Keith couldn't help the smile that twisted the edge of his mouth as he pulled into the road, adjusting the rearview mirror to see the road behind him better. The memory played in his mind quietly reminding him of the simpler times before he had known him... He shook his slightly shaggy hair, instead of turning up the music and enjoying the country sights that flew past him. The speedometer read ninety, but even still, the sunlight beating down on empty fields made the world seem like it was going on forever. He couldn't help but sing along to the lyrics of the song that played next, his voice slightly raspy as he remembered the words by heart,
"But oh how it feels too real, lying here with no one near, only you and you can hear me when I say softly slowly..." Keith couldn't help but feel the loneliness creep in as he missed the second voice that had sung with him the first hundred times he heard the song. He missed the way that they used to be, used to sit and watch sunsets on the hill behind his house. He couldn't help the next memory that flooded his mind, even so far as being able to smell the scent of cigarettes that he had long since given up.
Laughter filled the open air as they ran, ducking under the fence in the field and into the corn that grew on the other side. A yellow-clad figure showed them which way to go in the dark, Hunk forcing a path through, Pidge right behind him, still carrying the illegal goods. A hand held Keith's, tugging him along after the other two, the boy's head turning to check that he was still with them. Blue met purple. They laughed once more, almost drowning out the sound of the sirens on Coran's sheriff's car that was stuck on the road nearly half a field away now. He wouldn't have solid proof that the stupid drunk kids that had decided to have a bonfire in a backfield were the Paladude's - as so dubbed by a kid that was in the boy's grade. Keith couldn't help the bubbling of excitement as they ran through the field only to stumble to a stop near the middle where obviously, Pidge had tripped over something and was still too drunk to get her feet under her. Hunk had simply decided to lay next to the thirteen-year-old, both giggling as they tossed the empty cans into the field nearby. Lance looked at Keith, both leaning far too close as the alcohol burned in their veins, causing them to flush and crave even more heat. Lips touched, both drawing one another in and savoring the taste of the stolen beer from Matt and Shiro's hoards. It was perfect until Pidge cut in with an "Ewww... You two look ridiculous!" Hunk simply covering her mouth with a laugh as the fifteen-year-old's blushed.
Keith remembered how that summer continued: Lance and him getting jobs at the movie theatre while Pidge continued with summer classes with Hunk. He remembered more drunk nights spent in backfields, both as a group and sometimes with only the boy who always seemed to be wearing some shade of blue. He also remembered how - in the end - he and Lance had fought, nearly drawing blood as Lance had been bullied in school for dating a boy. Keith's heart had never felt so broken as that moment when he was left in the dust after Lance claimed it was his worst mistake to have ever dated him. That school year, Keith had gotten suspended for punching the teacher, breaking his eye permanently and ended up moving back in with his father instead of living with Shiro. As he drove he recalled the email he had received from the man, calling him back to the small town that Keith had said goodbye to three years ago. Shiro had obviously been broken, the many errors in spelling could attest to that. Keith couldn't help but glance to the back seat where an all-black suit lay, waiting for when it would be worn.
He stood there, still in shock as he realized that this was happening. His body numb as he watched Pidge cry, holding tightly to Hunk who was always present for holding friends as their world was turned upside down. Her hair was cropped short, mirroring that of her brother's hairstyle. Allura stood next to her, gently running a hand over her back, trying to let her know how she was there for the young girl. Keith remembered the bits and pieces of the conversation he had with Shiro the other night, about what everyone had accomplished over the last three years. Allura had moved away to New York in order to start a fashion line for Altea Industries, while Hunk moved closer to the beach in order to run a summer camp teaching children about surfing. Coran stood behind them, his adopted children holding tightly to his hands, not fully understanding why they were at the side of this gravesite. Keith walked over to Shiro, his face finally shaved, but the hair still long even though Keith had tried to get him to clean up some. He was barely holding on, hands gripped tightly as he stared at the headstone still unable to grasp that he had lost one of them so soon. Keith knew the details and yet he still couldn't comprehend how someone so full of life had chosen to end it. Keith looked around once more, his gaze catching once more on the boy with the sea blue eyes. His second wife at his side, placing a flower over the casket, and turning to talk to those who were mourning. Keith couldn't help the tug at his chest as he looked at the tan face of Lance, unable to recognize the cold, hard expression that lay there. Instead, he turned to the grave itself, a single name written on the stone. Matthew Holt. He placed his flower on the casket beside Plaxum's then turned to Shiro and nodded towards the car. He would stay for now.