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The door opened with such ferocity that when it hit the door, Shiro jumped. It was too late for everything; Adam was already asleep in the master bedroom, and Shiro stupidly thought he could enjoy a nice cup of tea and maybe a chapter of his favorite book before bed. Like a normal person.
But no.
At almost half past midnight, in strolled his stupid and perfect baby brother in his 24-year-old glory. Keith didn’t even pause; he just kicked his shoes off so hard when flying into the leg of the dining chair and stormed up to Shiro. He slapped both hands on the counter, looked his brother dead in the eye, and said, without so much as a greeting:
“Take me ring shopping.”
_____
“Babe.”
“Mm…” Adam swatted weakly at Shiro, face still in his pillow.
“Babe, wake up.”
“Mm!” Adam finally cracked one eye open, groaning into the pillow, hair sticking up in ways that should make physicists analyze it. “What? What do you want…?”
“Keith just asked me to take him ring shopping,” Shiro whispered harshly.
Adam stared at him for a full three seconds. Then, he rolled over. “Goodnight.”
“Adam, no!”
_____
“Why do I have to take you ring shopping?” Shiro asked, back in the kitchen. He really hoped he didn’t sound as panicked as he felt.
“Because,” Keith said flatly. “I need to buy an engagement ring.”
“For who?”
Keith just stared until it clicked.
“For Lance?” Shiro’s heart dropped straight to his stomach. “No, no, no, no no no --”
“What? Why not?”
“Him?” Shiro hissed. His chest was tight. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. This must’ve been a dream. A bad dream. Like when your teeth fall out. He must’ve been drinking too much tea, fallen asleep on the counter, and hit his head quite badly.
“Yes!” Keith threw his arms up. “Yes, him.”
“No!” Shiro cried. “No, you’re not proposing to him --”
“Why not?”
“Because!”
“Because why?”
“He’s -- he’s a -- a -- a -- he’s a --” The word himbo lay right on his tongue, and Shiro bit down on it hard.
“A what, exactly?” Keith narrowed his eyes.
Shiro ran his hand through his hair, pulling his bangs slightly to get himself to shut up before he said something that really would piss Keith off.
“You’re 24.” He decided on it instead.
“So?”
“You’ve only been with him for -- for --”
“Two years.”
“But one of them was in college!”
“So?”
“So? So, you’re too…too…” Shiro couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Say it.” Keith demanded. “Young? Stupid?”
“It’s not you, so much --”
“Him?”
“Yes! Yes, okay, it’s -- it’s Lance.” Shiro finally admitted.
“You don’t like him?”
“No.” Shiro stopped himself. “No, I like him. I mean, I don’t like him. I just…I tolerate him because you’re dating him. But now if you want to marry him…”
“But what?” Keith demanded again. “So you’ve just been tolerating him?”
“No -- well, yes, but --”
“I love him.” Keith hissed. His hands turned into fists at his sides. “I don’t want to be with anyone else. I just want him.”
“You’re too young.” Shiro insisted, but the argument failed on his tongue, his voice cracking under hopelessness and hypocrisy.
“You and Adam were married by the time you were 24.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“It -- It just was.”
Keith just scoffed. “Are you going to take me ring shopping or not?”
The word not rang harshly in the kitchen. For a second, they just stared at each other, Keith glaring, Shiro only slightly afraid. Keith was still the same emotionally fragile and reckless kid he was ten years ago, when he stole Shiro’s car for spite.
And he wanted to get married.
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea right now,” Shiro said finally, keeping his voice as quiet and fragile as he could manage.
“Why not?” Keith spat. “Because you tolerate him? Why does that have to affect our relationship?”
Shiro hesitated. “Keith, buddy —”
“Don’t buddy me right now. Are you taking me ring shopping or not?”
“I’m —” Shiro stopped himself from saying what he truly meant. “I’m wondering why you want to marry a man who, three years ago, you hated.”
That seemed to genuinely stump Keith. He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a weak, “I never hated him.”
Shiro snorted despite himself. “Keith, every weekend before you started dating him, Adam and I had to sit through what we thought would be a nice dinner catching up with you, but no -- you spent the full half hour or 45 minutes ranting about the ‘asshole next to you in computer science.’”
Keith’s mouth was still open, yet no reply came, so Shiro kept going.
“And yes, fine, when you started dating him, I wasn’t thrilled. But I thought it was temporary, Keith. I thought it was going to be a three or four-month fling. And now it’s been three years, and you want to marry the man whom you once felt so much hatred towards, you prayed for him to fall down the stairs.”
Shiro let that sit. “I don’t get it.”
“You don’t have to get it.” Keith finally answered quietly. “It’s not for you to get. Your job is to support me.”
“Well, I can’t. Not now. Not at…” Shiro squinted at the clock behind Keith’s head. “Almost one in the morning.”
“I --”
“Just…Just go to bed. Please”
“Shiro, I’m not --”
“Go to bed, we’ll talk about this in the morning. With Adam. And coffee.”
Keith scoffed, hesitated, and then -- to Shiro’s immense relief -- stormed off to his old bedroom that neither Shiro nor Adam had the heart to change, even though Keith had moved out over a year and a half ago. And Shiro knew he should go to bed, but his mind was still racing with the fact that his baby brother wanted to marry some himbo he couldn’t seem to decide if he loved or hated.
So, he poured himself a second cup of tea and enjoyed the silence.
_______
Keith didn’t get into bed. He didn’t even change into the sweatpants he had left here. He lay on top of the covers, hands folded behind his head, still in jeans and a sweatshirt.
I’m wondering why you want to marry a man who, three years ago, you hated.
Stupid Shiro. Stupid for being right.
God, Keith hated his past self, who ranted and ranted to Shiro and Adam about Lance. He had needed someone to rant to, and they at least pretended they were interested and sympathetic while he tore into the “cocky asshole” next to him in class.
Did Keith know he’d end up falling in love with the guy?
No!
He never would have said a word to Shiro or Adam otherwise.
But no. Lance -- stupid, flirtatious Lance -- had been so goddamn charming that Keith had tripped over his feet falling for him.
He remembered hating Lance. Truly hating him. Lance was the biggest asshole Keith had ever met; cocky, convinced everybody liked him, ridiculously smart, and not at all shy about it. He had claimed him, and Keith had been “rivals” ever since they got their first quiz back in computer science, and they scored within 1% of each other. And for months after, he’d made Keith’s life a living hell.
Keith hated Lance those first few months.
And yet --
“You say you hate me,” Lance chuckled, lips brushing Keith’s, hands still on his hips. “But then why do you still come over?”
“I --” Keith could barely breathe, his back against the wall, his chest pressed against Lance’s.
“Why do you still come to my apartment every weekend, hm? I don’t even invite you over anymore; you just show up. What if I was busy? What if I turned you away at the door?”
Lance kissed his lips, jaw, and then neck. “You’d come back the next week, wouldn’t you? Like an adorable fucking puppy, always showing up, hoping for a treat.”
And that had…well, that had been the start.
Keith rubbed a hand over his face. Lance talked shit, but he wasn’t an asshole in bed the way he was in real life. He was the exact opposite. He was gentle. Genuinely caring. Always watching, always pausing when Keith flinched or froze or even hesitated. Always cautious. Giving more than he ever took.
And slowly, that non-asshole part of Lance had bled into the day. Until Keith learned Lance was nothing more than a guy who wanted to be popular, too, overshadowed in his childhood with a large family; a guy who made up for insecurities with an ego that didn’t really exist; a guy who, deep down, was the most gentle, loving, and loyal person Keith had ever met.
He wanted to marry Lance. There was no doubt about it. But how was he supposed to explain that to Shiro and Adam, who didn’t know him and only remembered him from the times Keith had hated the guy’s guts?
Fuck.
_____
“Sit.”
“Ow -- my ear!”
“Sit.” Adam practically threw Keith into the chair, finally releasing his ear. “You don’t get to try and sneak out of the house at 6 in the morning to avoid an awkward conversation with your brother.”
Keith just glared at him, rubbing his head, pointedly not looking at Shiro, who sat across the counter with a mug of coffee and dark circles under his eyes.
“This is stupid --”
“Shut it.” Adam silenced him with a look. “Your brother tells me you want to propose.”
“Yes.” Keith grumbled. “But I don’t --”
“Shut it.”
Keith gave up, slumping into the chair in defeat with his arms crossed tight over his chest. He was reminded painfully of the time he was a kid and stole Shiro’s car. The interrogation and lecture he had gotten was set up similar to this -- them on one side of the counter, him slumped in a chair on the other side.
Adam studied him for a long moment, stirring his coffee. And finally, he slid it across the counter and said,
“Talk.”
Keith caught the mug and answered immediately. “You just told me to shut it.”
"Keith."
"You only know him from before."
“Yes, that’s generally how time works.”
“You know what I mean. You only know him from when I hated him. And I only hated him because I didn’t know him. Or all parts of him. And then I did, I got to know him, and I realized he’s not a bad person. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have even dated him.”
Shiro opened his mouth to reply, but Keith kept going.
“We’re not like that. We haven’t been like that since we started dating. He listens to me, and he remembers stupid things about me. He cooks for me. He’s scared of you guys.”
“Good.” Adam cracked a smile.
“I’m not asking you to -- to love him or even like him. I’m just asking you to…to at least see why I would.” Keith hesitated. “And understand that I’m not rushing into this. I’m ready. He’s ready. We…it’s just us. And that’s what we want.”
Keith watched Shiro and Adam exchange glances, one of the wordless ones where their eyes say more words than their mouths ever could. And finally, Shiro rubbed his eyes.
“Jesus Christ.”
Keith cracked a smile, even as Shiro set him with a serious stare.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Shiro hesitated. “I -- god, Keith, if he hurts you in any way --”
“ -- he’s dead. I know. He knows. He has two older brothers.”
“He doesn’t get to hurt you. Ever.”
“I know,” Keith answered softly. “And I trust he won’t.”
Shiro’s jaw worked as he ground his teeth. Adam cleared his throat.
“And maybe before we take you…ring shopping…Lance should come over.”
Keith stared.
“To meet us. Properly. Not from short interactions when he drops you off. Not as the asshole from computer science. But as your boyfriend. Deal?”
“Deal,” Keith answered immediately. “So -- no ring shopping today?”
“No ring shopping,” Shiro answered firmly. “Not today.”
Keith nodded.
“But soon. And…" Shiro sighed. "I’ll...chip in.”
Keith beamed.