Work Text:
Eight Years Old:
Keith shouldn’t stop. He really should keep going. He has homework and he was supposed to clean his room. He knows he’ll get in trouble for being late but some kids were chasing him the other day, teasing him about his foster situation, and he found this place. They don’t follow him into the building and Keith deems it a safe place. And now he’s hooked.
He pushes open the glass door and takes a deep breath as the air-conditioned coldness ruffles his bangs and welcomes him in from the late August Texas heat. He takes a deep breath and wanders to the children’s section and lets his fingers slide along the spines of colorful books. While each book looks captivating, Keith isn’t really wanting picture books about shapes and colors. He wants something more. He just doesn’t know what it is.
He’s startled when a voice comes from his left side, “Can I help you find something?”
Keith turns to face a girl, probably one of the high-school after school workers. He starts to shake his head but instead he pulls his shoulders up to his ears in an embarrassed shrug.
The girl just smiles at him, “That’s ok. Mind if I ask you some easy questions? I promise it’s just yes or no questions and maybe I can find something for you to read.”
Keith bites at his lower lip, nervous about the interaction with a stranger even though she’s clearly trying to do her job. And she does seem nice, but that doesn’t always mean anything. But he gives in to her smile and whispers an unsure “Ok.”
The girl, her name is Sarah, helps Keith narrow down some options. They’ve concluded he is most interested in magic, sword-fighting, dragons, and outer space. He’s not sure about Greek or Roman mythology. He doesn’t even really know what that means. But in the end Sarah hands him two books to try. There’s no pictures which is fine with Keith and they will definitely take him longer than twenty minutes to read. Possibly even a few days.
Keith takes both books back to the children’s section and settles in on one of the bean bags and picks up the first book. He’s soon lost in a world of castles and magic, and a young boy with no parents and a strange scar.
Several chapters later Keith nearly jumps out of his skin when Sarah touches his shoulder, “We’re about to close for the afternoon.”
Keith looks up and notices the time. 5pm. He is in so much trouble. He shoves the books at Sarah, “I have to go.”
He’s scrambling for his book sack when Sarah stops him, “Do you want to take the books home? I can get you a library card and you can keep them for 2 weeks.”
Keith forgets all about how much trouble he’s in. He can keep the books? Like actually borrow books from here? Sarah takes him to the front desk and asks him a few questions. He’s handed a small card with his name and a picture of a stack of books under the words, Dallas-Fort Worth Library. Sarah explains how the card works, he can take home three books at a time. If he’s finished before they are due back in two weeks he can bring them back and get three more or he can check them out for three more weeks until he’s finished reading them.
He’s smiling as he tucks the books safely in his bag and heads out the door. When he steps back out into the afternoon sun he remembers just how much trouble he’s going to be in.
Keith is punished for the weekend but he doesn’t mind it so much. He finishes his homework early on Friday and spends the rest of his days over the weekend stuck in his room devouring the words that suck him into a magical school, flying broomsticks, a forbidden forest, and a burning hope that he too can find a magical mirror that shows him his real parents.
Fourteen Years Old:
Keith drops his bag on the ground and as it lands it creates a puff of dirt. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a tattered book with dog-eared pages and a cracked spine. He flips through the pages until he finds where he last stopped off then rummages in his bag for an apple that he managed to swipe off the counter before he headed to school.
He’s reading an old battered copy of “The Outsiders” that one of his foster sisters gave him a few years back. It’s one of his favorites and also a go-to book when he can’t decide on anything else. After discovering the library at the age of eight, Keith devoured all seven Harry Potter books, all Percy Jackson books and so many others. He’s come to the conclusion that he will read anything that lets him escape from his shitty life. No parents, no friends, just barely passing grades, and of course the fact that he’s turned into a brooding and angry kid that no one wants to adopt.
He’s just at the part of the book when Ponyboy and Johnny are racing into a burning church to save some kids when all of a sudden his book is snatched out of his hands. He stands up and levels the person holding his book the nastiest glare he can manage, “Give it back.”
The boy in front of him, he thinks his name is James Griffin, just sneers at him, “Or what? You gonna go home and cry to mommy that I took your book? Oh! Wait! You don’t have a mommy do you? She just left you because she didn’t want you.”
Keith doesn’t even realize he’s moved until his fist is connecting with a face. He pulls his fist back and watches as James’ face contorts in anger and he rips Keith’s book in half. Keith’s vision goes spotty and he lands another punch. This time James hits back and before too many more hits are landed a group of kids have surrounded them and cheering on the fight. It’s not long after that, Keith and James are pulled apart by teachers and brought to the principal’s office.
Keith doesn’t see one of the teachers pick up the ripped book, he doesn’t see the concerned look when he flips open the cover and see’s Keith’s name inside, he also doesn’t see the sad look when the teacher watches Keith wipe blood from his split lip.
Keith and James are both suspended for three days.
The day Keith comes back to class he has a note on a test he took the previous week to stay after class. He huffed out a sigh and resigned himself to whatever snarky comments his English teacher was going to have about missing work and failing grades and how it would affect his final grade.
The comments never came. Instead, Keith was handed two books. One was his book that James had ripped, the other was a brand new copy of “The Outsiders.” Keith looked at his teacher and back at the books in his hand. He handed back the new book, “I can’t take this.”
Keith’s teacher let out a soft sigh, “Look, I saw what happened. I’m not condoning the fighting, but I know that James provoked you. I tried to get your punishment changed to an in-school suspension but Principal Brown wouldn’t budge.”
Keith glared at his teacher, “You trying to hold this over me for some reason? Trying to bribe me with new things so I owe you? No thanks. I don’t need your ‘gifts’.”
“Keith! Wait!”
Keith left the classroom without looking back.
A month later, Keith’s English teacher left for medical reasons. On Keith’s desk was the brand new copy of the book he had previously rejected. He opened the book slowly and thumbed through it and stopped when he reached the last page there was a handwritten note:
Keith,
I found your book. I’m sorry that it is beyond repair. I know it is never the same but perhaps one day the pages will be just as frayed and well-read as your previous copy. I hear what the other teachers say about you, but I want you to know that you are more than what others think. As your teacher I have access to your files and I know the hardships you’ve endured.
You remind me of Ponyboy. You may be the victim of horrible circumstances but you are more than that. I hope like Ponyboy you learn to rise above those that try to bring you down. Stay gold Keith.
- Shirogane
P.S. Now that I am no longer your teacher I hope you don’t feel uncomfortable accepting this as what it was meant to be, a replacement for your original book that was ruined.
Twenty Years Old:
Keith has an embarrassing new obsession. He loves romance books. It all started when he was sixteen. His former English teacher became sort of a foster parent/big brother to Keith and long story short, Keith moved in with him when the dad of one of the foster families he had been staying with finally got arrested for physical abuse of minors. Being taken in by Shiro also meant being taken in by Shiro’s fiancé, Adam.
Adam was left his parents’ house years ago and decided the summer after Keith’s sophomore year to clean it out. Keith was relegated to cleaning the attic and found a box of books. He hadn’t had a chance to go through them but Adam had told him any books Keith found, he could keep. In total he found four boxes of books.
Finally after the house was cleaned out, Keith finally sat down and took to rummaging through the boxes for something new to read. To Keith’s utter disappointment, all four boxes were full of Harlequin romance novels. Keith scowled and kicked at one of the boxes then shoved them in a corner and promptly forgot about them, until the great blizzard in January that knocked out power and snowed in everyone for fifteen days.
Keith is adaptable but during those fifteen days he became stir crazy and with nothing else to do he reluctantly pulled out a handful of forgotten romance novels in one of the boxes, grabbed his thickest blanket, and pushed the large sofa directly in front of the fireplace and decided to indulge in whatever crap he would unearth in these books.
Since that winter Keith has moved on from Harlequin romance to Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, Jude Deveraux, Debbie Macomber, and the list goes on. He is hooked.
He knows that they are predictable, he knows they all have a happy ending (well, most of them do), and he knows true life never really works that way. But it offers him a different kind of escape. See, Keith was never one to think about having a love life or anything like that, but since that fateful day of dusty books, he can’t stop thinking about it. He’s in love with the idea of finding love, a happy ending, someone that loves every part of you.
Lately, those thoughts have been increased as he watches and listens to Shiro and Adam plan their wedding. Keith has no idea why they waited so long, they lived together for years and were engaged for just as many.
Today, Keith just so happens to have been dragged along as Shiro and Adam meet with someone about cakes. Shiro told Keith as his best man he had a responsibility to help taste cakes. Keith really can’t complain because he has a major sweet tooth, but he’s not really interested in listening to Shiro and Adam argue for hours over which flavors they wanted before the tasting actually begins. So to fill his time, Keith shoves a book in his back pocket.
As predicted, Shiro and Adam begin disagreeing over fillings. Shiro wants coconut, Adam wants strawberry, but what about chocolate? On and on it goes, so Keith pulls out his book and sits in a corner booth. He’s about halfway into his book, all thoughts of Shiro and Adam and their cake argument is forgotten when a mug of something is set in front of him, “I hope you have the next book, because that one ends on a cliff hanger.”
Keith’s head jerks up and he’s entranced by a pair of ocean blue eyes, a perfectly tanned face, and a spattering of freckles over the most perfectly shaped button-nose. Instead of a proper response Keith’s hand flails around to try and hide his guilty pleasure book and he ends up knocking over the mug of something. Turns out it was steaming hot chocolate and Keith just managed to knock it into the lap of Mr. Cute Guy.
Keith’s face turns an impossible shade of red and with a stuttered attempt at an apology, he does what any responsible person would do after knocking burning hot liquid into a stranger’s lap.
He runs.
Twenty Seven Years Old:
Keith glances at the clock in the kitchen. He’s just finishing up the few dishes from supper and he’s listening to soft chatter coming from the bathroom down the hall. He pauses momentarily to listen to the giggling as the sound of splashing water reaches his ears. He smiles softly to himself as he wipes down the cabinets and puts away the leftover food for tomorrow’s lunches.
He’s just drying his hands off when he hears the sound of bare feet pattering down the hallway and two giggly voices, “Daddy, daddy we’re all clean! Can you read us a story now?”
Keith still loves books, but these days his books consist of pictures and about ten words per page. He’s not complaining when each of his girls attach themselves to his legs. They are four years old and identical in every way. Same brown eyes, same cheeky grin, same smattering of freckles across noses and cheeks and same blonde curls damp from their bath.
He bends down to give them both a kiss on their foreheads, “Go get in bed. I’ll be there in just a minute.”
Keith leans against the door as they run hand in hand with matching PJs to their bedroom. To any stranger, you wouldn’t be able to tell the twins apart, but Keith can tell. Olivia prefers pink while Emma prefers purple. Emma’s eyes are a lighter brown with hints of green while Olivia’s eyes are a deeper brown. Olivia is almost an inch taller, but Emma has a streak of white hair that’s only visible when it’s pulled in a ponytail and her left eyebrow has a streak of white as well.
He’s pulled out of his musings when long tan arms wrap around him from behind and he feels a kiss pressed to his neck. Keith leans back with a smile, “How wet is the bathroom?”
There’s a soft chuckle, “On a scale from one to ten? I think I managed to keep the bathroom from taking on water as fast as the Titanic.”
Keith snorts, “Well that’s better than last week when the bathroom took on enough water to flood all of Florida.”
Keith turns around and wraps his arms around his husband’s neck. He’s met with the same blue eyes and tanned face as all those years ago when he spilled hot coffee onto a stranger’s lap. Somehow he managed to capture the heart of this gorgeous man with his clumsy embarrassment and love of romance novels. He leans in and presses a kiss to Lance’s lips. Before the kiss can become anything more heated they break apart at the sound of their daughters’ giggles, “Come on daddy! We’re ready for a story!”
Lance gives him a slight pout but a small hand pushes Keith away. He watches as Emma grabs Lance’s hand, “Don’t be sad Papa, you can come listen to the story too!”
Not even ten minutes later, Lance is fast asleep leaning against the headboard of Emma’s small toddler bed. She’s sprawled comfortably across his chest, fingers wrapped in his soft t-shirt and just as asleep as Lance. Keith is in a similar position in Olivia’s bed but she’s tucked comfortably against his side while Keith continues to read softly.
Keith runs his fingers through Olivia’s soft hair and can’t help but think his life turned out even better than all those books he likes to read.