~Galra Difficulties~ (Voltron Keith)

~Secrets Revealed~

Third P.O.V

Lance watched as Keith slept. He looked so peaceful. You wouldn't think this was the same boy who constantly frowned and closed himself off from the team. The same boy who always stood a few meters away from everyone else. The same boy who never seemed to smile and would give death glares to anyone who so much as looked at him. While sleeping, Keith looked like a kitten with his mouth slightly open and his arms under his head as a second pillow.

"Your surprised he looks so different when he's sleeping, aren't you?" Shiro said, catching Lance off guard. Lance turned to face Shiro and smiled at him.

"Yeah. Keith is always so angry. But when asleep he looks... peaceful" Lance said, rubbing gentle circles on Keith's leg. "It's weird to see him up close without his evil glare"

"I know. I wish he smiled more." Shiro said, giving Keith a sad smile.

"I never understand why he looks so angry all the time. Does he hate us all or something?" Lance asked. Shiro let out a chuckle.

"It's quite the opposite actually. He doesn't know whether you guys like him enough to talk to him. He finds it hard to get close to people"

"Of course we like him. Sure me and him have a rivalry but doesn't mean I don't care about his stupid mullet." Lance said, chuckling slightly.

"I think he just finds it hard to get close to people out of fear that he'll lose them" Shiro said hesitantly. He knew that Keith wouldn't like the idea of Lance knowing, but Shiro felt like Lance should know.

"Why's that?" Shiro sighed.

"I really shouldn't be telling you this, but I'm going to tell you anyway" Lance gave Shiro a confused look but Shiro continued anyways. "Keith is an orphan. He's been an orphan for a long time. That's why he finds it hard to get close to people"

"O-Oh..." Lance couldn't believe it. Keith was an orphan? He thought Keith just had temper issues or something. Did Keith's parents die? Did they abandon him? Lance had so many questions but he doubted Shiro would answer anything else. Lance was about to say more when Keith started shifting in his sleep.

"Is he waking up?" Lance asked, looking back at Keith. That's when Keith started to mutter.

"I-I don't think so. I think he's having a nightmare" Shiro said, standing up and sitting by Keith's head. "It wouldn't be the first time"

"He has nightmares?"

"Yeah. Quite often actually. That's why he always has bags under his eyes. Because he barely sleeps." Shiro said, running his fingers through Keith's hair.

"How do you know all this?"

"He's told me. It took me a while to get him to trust me but eventually it paid off. He told me about his family, his nightmares and some other stuff about his childhood. He also made me swear not to tell anyone but you knowing is for the best" Shiro explained, feeling Keith's forehead and wincing at the temperature. Keith's muttering was starting to get louder and he was shifting more.

"D-Dad.... d-dad..." He muttered. Shiro shushed him gently but Keith continued to mutter and whimper. Lance felt a pang of sadness in his chest. He had no idea Keith was going through these types of things. He looked at Keith but saw a completely different version of him. He didn't see the heartless, strong warrior with no heart. He saw a scared boy who just needed someone to care about him. He only wished he had known about this sooner. Keith suddenly opened his eyes and bolted upright, panting slightly.

"Keith, you okay buddy?" Lance asked, worried for the red paladin. Keith looked around for a few seconds like a scared kitten then finally seemed to understand what was going on. He gave Lance a small nod and hugged his knees, thinking about the nightmare he had just had. Shiro put his hand on Keith's shoulder and Keith flinched.