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It ends not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Shiro supposes he should have seen it coming. He’d never been good at relationships - too stubborn for the give-and-take that they required, too dedicated to the bigger picture to focus his attention where it really mattered. So when his husband slipped him a stack of papers one morning over breakfast, a sad smile on his face, he wasn’t particularly surprised.
“You long for something more than this, Shiro, something more than a simple life at home. You need something I can’t give you.”
It hurt. All endings do. But Shiro couldn’t help the relief that settled into his skin. He could stop pretending this was enough for him. With a few simple pen strokes, it was done.
“Thanks for making this easy, Shiro. I wish the best for you, I really do. I hope you can find true happiness out there.”
He wouldn’t be able to explain why he called Keith a few months later. They hadn’t talked in years, yet here he was, dialing the number that he memorized long ago. Keith’s voice came out tinny, marred by light-years and things left unsaid.
“Shiro?”
Hearing his name left him raw in a way the divorce never had.
“Keith, I... It’s over.” The words spill out of him, a gash in his aorta that overflowed with each pump of his heart. “He’s gone. Divorce. I didn’t know who else to call...”
“Give me your coordinates. I’ll be there.”
Shiro’s not sure why he’s so taken aback when Keith arrives a few days later. He had promised after all, and if there was one thing Shiro could count on, it was Keith keeping his promises. They meet outside the old shack that Keith brought him to so long ago, the one that Shiro had made his home since the divorce.
Keith has changed in the years since Shiro last saw him. He wears the suit of a Marmora elder now, his hair chopped shorter. A scar runs from his forehead to just below his eyebrow, mirroring the scar Shiro left on his cheek in an odd sort of way. He carries himself with a confidence Shiro had only caught a glimpse of in the tail end of their time together.
“I missed you.” It’s simple and honest and Shiro doesn’t know why he hasn’t let himself admit it before.
“I missed you too.” Keith leans his body against Shiro’s and it brings back memories of when they felt like the only people they had were each other.
“It’s been a while.” A vast overstatement, Shiro knows.
Keith lets out a hollow laugh.
“You look good, Keith.”
“And you look like shit.”
Shiro knows it’s the truth. There are bags under his eyes that run deeper than he ever would have thought possible. He’s tired and he knows that it shows.
“I feel like shit.”
“The divorce?”
Shiro shakes his head and sits down on the ground, taking in the desert scenery in the fading afternoon light.
“No. Not really. I would have thought so, but no. I knew from the beginning that this wasn’t going to last.”
“Then why did you marry him?”
Because I couldn’t have you
.
It sits on the tip of his tongue, the secret that he’s kept so carefully for so long. How he wanted to confess but the word “brother” kept coming back to haunt him. How he dated half-heartedly and fell into a relationship without really expecting marriage to come from it.
“I guess I hoped I could make it work.”
They sit in silence for a while, watching the day turn to dusk.
It’s Keith who breaks the quiet.
“I loved you, you know.”
“I know.”
Keith snorts. “No you don’t. Not really. I told you that you were my brother but that wasn’t it. I was scared. I didn’t want you to leave me once you found out that I loved you. But it’s never been brotherly.”
Keith isn’t a liar, but Shiro doesn’t quite believe him at first. It takes a minute before the seriousness of Keith’s tone hits him and he realizes that Keith means it.
“I’ve always loved you, Shiro. And I know that the timing isn’t great but -“
“I love you, too.” The words that had been building up inside him for years finally break free.
Keith’s eyes go wide.
“Shiro, if you’re fucking with me, I can’t -“
“I think I realized it when we were stuck on that planet together and you came to save me.”
“Which time?”
Shiro chuckles. “The first time. When we were sitting around the fire and I made some dumb joke, expecting to die. But you never gave up on me. Never.”
“And I never would. Shiro... come with me. Help me with the Blade’s missions. Just... Stay by my side.”
“Always.” He wonders why he didn’t before.
He reaches for Keith’s hand, interlacing their fingers as they watch the sun set one last time on Earth.