A Beginning, A Middle, An End

Chapter 2 - Starlight

It was nearly eleven o'clock at night and Keith was still in the library, studying. Currently he was going through an advanced engineering book. Yes he was in the Garrison to train as a pilot, but anything could happen so it never hurt to be prepared. He was so focused on the task at hand that Keith didn't hear him approach.

"Advanced engineering? Huh, I thought you were studying to be a pilot." Shiro said, accidentally making Keith jump.

"Shiro! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!?" Keith exclaimed spinning around, as much as his chair would allow, to face him.

Immediately Shiro raised his hands in submission. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Now-" since there wasn't any chairs, other than Keith's, at the table he made his way to another table and dragged a chair over. He then sat down before continuing. "-advanced engineering?" he asked.

Keith shrugged. "Anything could happen up there. Doesn't hurt to be prepared."

"Once again, Keith Kogane's proving why he's the top of his class!" Shiro said, a smile written across his face.

Keith rolled his eyes and shook his head. Shiro could be ridiculous sometimes, but that was one of the things he liked about him. That's when it occurred to him. From what he knew, Shiro didn't have any reason to come to the library this late at night. So, why was he here? "Alright. Why are you here? I doubt you'd come all this way to the library, this late at night, without some sort of motive."

Shiro laughed. "You caught me! I went to your dorm, looking for you, and your roommate said I could find you here. I wanted to show you something."

"What did you want to show me?" Keith asked.

"Well you'll just have to follow me and find out, won't you?" With that Shiro got up from his chair and made his way towards the library's exit.

It had been a couple of months since Keith had beaten Shiro's high score and had accepted his offer to meet him in the cafeteria. Since then they had hung out quite a few times, but not nearly as much as Keith would've liked. Now Shiro had presented him with the perfect way to spend more time with him and there was no way in hell he was going to miss out on this chance. Keith closed his book, got up from his chair and went after Shiro.

Keith liked Shiro. He liked him a lot . How could he not? He was clearly the most attractive man in the Garrison. Only thing was he got the feeling that Shiro didn't feel the same way. That's why he hadn't mentioned anything about how he felt to Shiro. He was terrified of scaring him away. Every time he'd thought of bringing it up the next time they were together a little voice in him told him to do it. What did he have to lose? Truth was, he had everything to lose. These last couple of months of getting to know him had been the best of Keith's life and he knew he wasn't going to be able to go back to how he'd lived life before getting to know Shiro. As a result he was content with ignoring his feelings. Even if it meant him being unhappy.

Keith shook his head and began to push those thoughts to the back of his mind. He had plenty of time to dwell on those later. Right now he had to stay focused on whatever it was that Shiro wanted to show him. It was at this point he noticed that they were heading straight towards the NORTH EXIT!?

Keith decided to start slowing down. "Umm, Shiro? I could've sworn we weren't allowed to leave the Garrison!" he called after him.

Shiro turned to face Keith. "Don't worry! I got permission! We just have to make sure we're back before sunrise." he replied.

"Are you sure?" he asked. The last thing he wanted was to get kicked out of the Garrison because he broke one of the major rules. If he did get kicked, he had nothing to go back to.

Shiro gave him a reassuring smile. "Positive!"

Feeling a little better about the whole thing, Keith continued to follow Shiro. Outside waiting for them was a red hoverbike.

"What's this?" he asked.

Shiro chuckled "What does it look like?"

Keith crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "You know what I mean." He was shocked at how natural that came out. Usually Keith would need to know a person a lot better, but it seemed, with Shiro it all came naturally. He didn't feel the need to pretend to be someone he wasn't.

"What I want to show you is in the desert so-" Shiro patted the side of the hoverbike "-we're going to need this to get us out there." Shiro then got onto the bike, turned slightly and offered his hand out to Keith. "Come on, let's go."

Keith gladly took his hand. He couldn't describe the happiness that filled him as Shiro pulled him onto the bike.

As the bike took off across the desert Keith had to wrap his arms around Shiro's waist so that he didn't fall off. He enjoyed the closeness, even if it was just for a little bit.

It wasn't long before they reached this large sand dune and Shiro stopped the bike. As Keith unwrapped his arms from Shiro he scanned the area. All around them, for miles, was absolutely nothing. He frowned. Why would he bring him all this way to see nothing?

He turned back to Shiro and before he could ask what they were doing in the middle of the desert Shiro pointed to the dune and spoke. "What I want to show you is up there. Come on. We don't have long."

Shiro hopped off of the bike and began to make his way up the dune. Keith followed.

When they got to the top Keith heard himself gasp. Like anyone in the Garrison, or around the world for that matter, he'd seen the stars, but never like this. Up above them, covering the night sky, was the Milky Way.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" Shiro said, pulling Keith out of his trance like state.

"Breathtaking is more like it." he replied.

"Like you then?"

Before Keith was able to react to what he had just said Shiro pulled him in close and kissed him. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, but those few seconds meant the absolute world to Keith.

When they pulled away Shiro let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head. Keith didn't need the light of the stars to know that he was blushing. He found it funny. Out of the two of them it should be him getting all nervous and not knowing rather than Shiro. Taking advantage of how he was feeling currently Keith decided to speak.

"Shiro, do you know how long I've been waiting for you to do that?"

Suddenly Shiro's mood completed changed and he was somehow no longer nervous. "I think I have a rough idea." he replied before pulling Keith in for a second kiss. "And please, call me Takashi."

For the rest of the night they stayed out there stargazing and talking, finally getting to know each other properly. Both Keith and Shiro lost track of time and nearly didn't make it back to the Garrison before sunrise.

Being the gentleman he was, Shiro walked Keith back to his dorm. As the pair silently made their way down the hallways they talked in hushed whispers.

Once they had made it back to Keith's dorm Shiro pulled him in for one last kiss.

"I'll see you later today, yes?" Shiro whispered.

"You know it." Keith whispered back.

They said their goodbyes and Keith entered his dorm. He shut the door carefully so that he didn't wake up his room mate.

Keith silently made his way to the bathroom to change to more appropriate bed attire. As soon as that was done he made his way to his bed.

Keith was asleep pretty much as soon as his head hit the pillow, but that didn't stop his last conscious thought from being about Shiro and the night they had just had.