Gasolina - Klance Mechanic/Racer AU

Chapter 20

"Sh-Shiro?! What the fuck..." I growled, storming towards where Shiro and Adam were approaching. I dragged Shiro to the side, hissing, "Why are you here? You should be resting."

"I thought you might decide to pull something stupid, so I came to keep you in line." He replied, then inclined his head towards Adam. "I needed someone to drive me."

"Fuck, Shiro." I groaned. "Race Night is supposed to be secret."

Shiro leant close to me. "I think you should be worrying about someone else." He pointed to where Lance stood near my bike. Prodigy had sidled up close to him, and they seemed to be deep in conversation.

Jealously burned inside me.

"Blue! Come here!" I shouted, interrupting them. Lance looked around, his eyes fixing on me. He said something to Prodigy, then jogged over.

"Thanks." He breathed. "You saved my ass."

"What did that asshole want?" I growled. He had no right to be so close to Lance – not that I had any right to be jealous, but still. He had to be up to no good.

"Being a jerk." Lance replied, brushing off his jacket.

"Did he say anything weird?" I demanded, leaning closer. Lance looked visibly uncomfortable; if Prodigy had anything to do with it, I would kill him.

"Not really..." Lance mumbled. "Well...kind of. It's nothing." He looked at Shiro. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be resting."

"This?" Shiro laughed, gesturing to his right arm – or lack thereof. "This is nothing. I have somebody I need to speak with."

He readjusted his jacket and walked into the centre of the gathered cars. People looked up from their conversations, talking in hushed voices about him. I clenched my fist, ready to hurl myself at them one by one, but Lance grasped my upper arm in his massive, strong hand.

"Keith, no." He hissed.

"Keith, yes." I grumbled, but didn't leap forward. It pissed me off that everyone was looking at Shiro like he was weak, when I knew how much strength it had taken him just to leave the apartment. I knew I wouldn't make it very far with Lance watching, though – and while I hated having him constantly keeping me in check, I knew it was all in favour of keeping me safe. Stupid Lance and his stupid kind heart and stupid handsome face and sexy body-

"I know what you're all thinking." Shiro shouted, demanding the attention of the gathered people. Their eyes were cool; judgemental. "'White Stripe, you lost the race, you're banned from racing' and 'White Stripe, you're injured and can't race'. Well, I'm here to tell you all that I do not go down easy." He turned to where Prodigy stood with his posse, his expression amused. "I'll be back, Prodigy, and when I am, you'll wish you hadn't crossed me."

"I wait eagerly for the day you return, White Stripe." Prodigy taunted. "Run away, now-"

He was interrupted as a rider sped into the canal. They were slender, and wore purple and black gear, and a black helmet with a purple design on the side. They skidded to a halt beside Allura, who was stood near Chief's car. They pulled out a folded piece of paper from their pocket and handed it to her, then revved their engine once before racing away. The canal was silent for a moment after they left, watching Allura read the note.

"Leo," She said eventually, looking directly at me. "You've been challenged to a race next month...by The Wanderer."

There were whispers around me, but I didn't hear them. The Wanderer...the one who'd been rumoured to race me...had just turned up and challenged me. It had to be a hoax. The Wanderer wasn't real. The Wanderer was rumoured to ruin racers...why did they want to take me on? I was just a no-name newbie with no reputation. How did they even hear about me? None of this made sense...

"Keith." Lance's voice broke through my thoughts, startling me back into reality. "Keith." He said again, putting a hand on my shoulder. I noticed Shiro had come back over, and was wincing a little.

"Y-yeah." I mumbled, shaking my head.

"We're leaving." Shiro said calmly.

"But-" I began, looking at Allura.

"We'll deal with this later." He interrupted, rolling his shoulder. He seemed to be in pain. "We can go to the bar if you don't want to go home just yet."

I shook my head. "No, you and Adam should head back. I'll find something to do."

"Alright." He sighed. "Don't get home too late. Cosmo was a bit agitated to be left alone."

"Shit..." I hissed, remembering the anxious dog I'd left at home. I turned to Shiro, who was getting into Adam's car.

"We're going back to Adam's place." Shiro called. "You can have the apartment to yourself tonight." He slammed the car door closed and they drove off, leaving me and Lance to stand speechless. Shiro, you moron, I thought. He'd clearly assumed Lance and I were interested in each other, when it was obviously clear that Lance was totally straight.

"So..." Lance said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "Who is Cosmo?"