What is Love Anyways? [Klance]

Chapter 10

The Genopians were decidedly not informed of Keith's actions with the Lark stone and luckily none of them had been there to witness otherwise. The Rebels were jailed temporarily in the Castle of Lions. Pauli was extremely angry with these arrangements and his demands to be freed kept his cell mates awake but couldn't be heard through his cell door.

For now, Matt was helping lead the rebel forces along with some of Pauli's more calm generals. Kolivan has spent more time with his son than he has planning an attack on the Lark stone and Lance had a sneaking suspicion that he had put all thoughts of destruction on hold after his son had scared him for the second time that year.

Still. The Genopians were guarding the stone at any point that Paladins weren't- and even when they were there was often an extra Genopian on the inside of the cave just in case something got out of hand again.

After a shower from Keith and a group dinner with the Blade members and Matt and Chorrol, Lance pulled Keith away from the others to the holodeck. He put on the rainy-day Keith had made for him and sat on the floor, patting the spot beside him for Keith to join him.

Keith curled into his side and tucked his head under his shoulder, sighing with contentment as Lance threw an arm around him to pull him closer. They sat in silence, just letting the rain be a backdrop to their thoughts until,

"Keith." Keith hummed in acknowledgment but didn't move. "If this is going to work, we have to be honest with each other." Keith tried to move out of Lance's hold, but he just tightened his grip, so he settled back in before he spoke.

"I swear that I'll be honest with you." He said it with as much conviction as he could muster. There was a pause as Keith took a breath and bit his lip. "You don't have to say it back or anything but," he closed his eyes as he whispered, "I love you."

Lance, to his credit, didn't flinch or stiffen even though the words struck his very core. They made his heart soar and plummet at the same time and the pull of it hurt. If he was being honest, he was still furious with Keith. He knows that he should just let go of his anger but every time he thinks he has, he closes his eyes and sees Keith lying face down in the sand. He hears him say "Let this happen." And the heat of the anger is back tenfold.

If Keith had told him he loved him on their first date, he probably would have said it back. But it was too late now. Until Lance could let go of his anger the most sour part of him would hold those words hostage. Let Keith feel the hurt that Lance felt. The hurt that came from caring for someone so deeply just to find out they weren't afraid to sink the knife in your back.

Lance kissed the top of Keith's head, getting a whiff of that rain smell before turning back to watch the rainstorm. He still smelled like home no matter how mad he was at him.

"Now that we're being honest with each other, when I was guarding the Lark stone before everything and I called you- were you really not projecting anything?" Lance asked.

"I really wasn't. I was just training; I had no idea what you were talking about. And when I went down for my shift... Were you...?"

"No, I wasn't projecting anything either."

"Huh."

They looked at each other for a moment before they stood, not a word passing between them to know each other's intentions. Keith turned off the projection and the two of them made their way out of the castle.

The Genopians let them pass freely into the Lark chamber, though they did seem curious as to why they weren't in the armor, even if they didn't voice such.

Together they approached the intimidating red crystal.

"Now what?" they stood a few feet away as they stared. Lance grabbed Keith's hand- memories of his body on fire and unresponsive flashing through his mind. Keith pushed reassurance and apologies his way.