Chapter Text
“Listen, I know you hate me, message fucking received,” Keith tells her, the anger in his voice rounded out by deep sorrow. “But I’m here for you anyway. I always have been. I let you have him to yourself as much as I could, but when shit was rough, I was there.”
“Yeah right,” she huffed, rolling her eyes.
“I was. When you had appendicitis and your dad was holding you on the way to the hospital, who the hell do you think was the one driving you guys there like a bat out of hell? Kosmo? Who do you think talked both your dads out of that ridiculous fucking plan to make you come to the wedding? And the finals care packages that never had one of those sappy notes Shiro loves writing? Me. And I never expected you to turn around and like me because of that, I wasn’t planning to call in a favor from it. But it looks like now I am. I need you to quit treating me like some kind of evil step-monster.”
“Why?”
“Because it upsets him. It always has, but he really doesn’t need this shit right now, so I need you to be civil with me.”
“I mean why would you do all that shit? I’ve been pretty actively tormenting you for like fifteen years. I know I wouldn’t’ve done any of that crap for you.” She crosses her arms and leans against the back of the booth. Keith tries not to bristle. That won’t help anything. He takes a deep calming breath the way Shiro taught him to do so many years ago, and when he lets it out he tells her,
“Because you’re a part of him, and I promised to love and protect all of him. And there’s no way I’m gonna half-ass those vows. I’ve got your back too. As long as I live.”
“You mean as long as Dad lives.”
“I mean what I said. Even if you never want my help, I’ll always be here. Whatever happens with Shiro, you’re part of my promise too. He’s it for me - I’m not making that kind of vow to anyone else. If I spend the rest of my life trying to live up to the man he is, it would be enough.”
“That’s fucking sad, Keith.”
“My husband would be dead, I hope it’s fucking sad.”
“I meant pathetic.”
“I doubt my pride would enter into much of anything at that point.”
“Do you have a romantic tragedy line for everything?”
“I was going for witty one-liners, but I guess you just don’t know my humor yet.” He raised an eyebrow at her. It was true. Fifteen years and she didn’t really know a damn thing about Keith other than what she blamed on him.
Curtis had been transferred - offered a much better job on the east coast, and he wanted it bad. It was the next step up in his career and there were no upper level positions near coming available in Arizona. He’d broached the topic to Shiro after Katie had gone to bed that night, sitting down in the extra chair in Shiro’s study as he poured over papers.
“You what” Shiro asked, looking up abruptly from his work, though his voice was without affect.
“I take it from the lack of ‘congrats, babe’ that you’re not psyched about that idea.”
“I just - Katie’s school -”
“Is far from her favorite place to be. And I know twelve is hard, but it really is kind of the last chance for us to move her. Once she gets to high school it gets complicated with college and friends.”
“But what about -” Curtis pursed his lips, understanding Shiro’s real meaning.
“Your friends?” Shiro ground to a halt and he wanted to somehow defend himself. But was it really such a horrible accusation, to not want to move away from his friends - the only real family he’d ever had. He said as much, and Curtis frowned.
“Katie and I are your family.”
“Family’s more than that. I don’t have relatives, I have the paladins. I have the Holts. I have -” He paused again, grinding to a halt as he realized that the natural third beat “I have Keith” was no longer true, and hadn’t been for some time.
“Yes?” Curtis knew what that pause had been about too. He’d put up with Shiro’s months of grieving for the estrangement, as he puzzled over how the best friend he’d ever had, the one-time twin soul, had just fizzled and faded away. Curtis had been sorry for Shiro’s distress, but never seemed too bothered about the absence of Keith himself.
“I don’t think I can leave them,” Shiro confessed. Curtis crossed his arms, standing from his seat.
“Well you can’t ask me to just give up on my career because you’d miss game night with your bros.” Shiro closed his eyes, hands tensing on his knees.
“You know it means more than that.”
“I thought I meant more than that.”
“I never thought you’d make me choose.” It was all so very quiet, this fight they were having, so long overdue.
“What are we gonna do about this?” Maybe they should’ve slept on it. Maybe they should’ve let themselves get angry and wake Katie and then fixed it right then and there if only to make her feel better. But that wasn’t who either of them were. So they stayed in the office. Curtis sat back down. They reasoned it out, and came to the only conclusion that led to both of them keeping what they deemed essential: divorce. They did decide to sleep on it then. Curtis didn’t have to give work an answer until the end of the week, so they gave themselves until then to ruminate and decide if they wanted to go through with it. Shiro moved into the guest bedroom that night. Despite the ostensibly trial nature, he didn’t think he’d be back.
The feeling was confirmed the next morning when he went into work and left his wedding ring in the glove compartment. A couple coworkers commented on it, and he brushed it off, saying he forgot it by the sink when he was shaving that morning. He still felt unburdened somehow, like he was returning to himself in a way.
Then next day, only the biggest gossip of the office asked about the ring. Shiro said it didn’t fit back on his finger when he tried, blamed it on a salty dinner.
The third day of no ring, everyone kept their comments to themselves. Shiro hung his hand out the window to drive home, wondering how long it would take for the tan line on his finger to be the same color as the rest of his hand.