A house is only as fun as your house mate

Chapter 3 and 1/4: Lance

"What the hell Lance?!" he snapped then. Not the reaction I was hoping for. "why did you just kiss me like that?" I couldn't respond. I thought he had felt the same, he had felt the spark too. Perhaps he didn't. Or maybe he did and refused to accept it. After all, Keith was as stubborn as a pile of iron bars. "well I'm sorry that I read your leaning in to kiss me earlier as something more!" I yelled back. He blushed and stepped away from me. "and what if it did mean something, you wouldn't care anyway. You're too oblivious to take much notice and probably took advantage of the situation just now to pity me." His voice had lowered to an almost growl. "Why the hell would I do that Keith!" I couldn't stop the rage that had found its way within me now. As much as I liked this man, he could certainly stir up anger that I never knew I had inside me. "why the absolute hell would I pity you?! You never pitied anyone else. Even sat watching that sunset together, you never cared about me getting with Allura, you just felt sorry for me. And guess what, she died on me anyway. Thanks a lot for telling me she would love me." I snapped. The explosion wouldn't stop. I wanted to go on but I had to force myself not to. The reaction that littered Keith's face broke me. His eyes had grown glassy and he had sunk to the floor to avoid me. "well if that's how you feel." Was all that escaped his mouth. The guilt, like earlier was overwhelming. I didn't know what to do. Apologising wouldn't be enough and I couldn't exactly tell him my feelings because I wasn't even entirely sure how to label them myself yet. They certainly weren't just friendly but I suppose the other thing was, I wasn't sure how to tell him. Instead I decided to sit next to him. I sat close so that he could kind of get the impression that I didn't actually dislike him or anything. He flinched at my approach yet didn't make any attempt to move. "keith?" I tried. He didn't answer. "this is going to sound so lousy but I promise, I didn't actually mean any of that." He still didn't look at me but continued to stare at his feet. Black socks covering them and reaching up to his ankles. As much as he said that he had changed his wardrobe, he really hadn't. His usual black shirt stretched over his pale but muscular body. He was still extremely strong, just like he was back then. The only thing different about him was his hair, which I won't lie, I did miss. It wasn't just because I couldn't tease him about his mullet anymore but I had often thought about braiding it but never got the chance to. But now that he no longer had it, that dream was gone. His hair hung over his eyes and was closely shaved at the back of his head. It still managed to look messy and unkempt no matter how much he tried throughout the day to flatten it. You could see him every now and again raising a hand and pressing it down lightly. It was kind of cute but I never would have openly admit that until now, because even before, I still think I would have denied my feelings for the man. Tears began to fall from his face as he tried to cover them up. "dammit Lance. Sometimes I really hate you." He said through muffled sobs. I placed a hand on the side of his head and pulled it towards me so that he was crying into my shoulder. He acclimatised to the gesture and gripped onto my faded blue shirt for comfort as he continued to cry. Damn I had never seen him in such a state before. The last ten years must have been hard on him to the point of breaking. It was bound to happen at some point but I just hoped that I was getting it all since I understood all of this far too well. Allura, my family, zarkon. There were so many nights I would fall asleep after a complete breakdown, and I won't lie, it was hard and lonely. Keith had been lonely for most of his life. I was not prepared to stand by and let him be lonely again. He continued to shake softly into me as he drew unsteady breaths. I hushed him softly and stroked his hair tenderly. He eventually begun to let go of my shirt and dropped his hands by the side of his body. I wanted to explain why I kissed him, but something held the words back from coming out of my mouth. "Keith, I promise I didn't mean to say all of that to you. You didn't deserve that from me, I guess I just got mad at your reaction." I faced away knowing fully well that he will have been taken by surprise and so he would want to look up like he always did when you surprised him. "Why did you kiss me?" he asked hopefully. I was almost dreading him asking that so I brushed over it as best as I could without hurting him any further. "i guess, I just wanted to." I said bluntly. His face glittered with something along the lines of excitement. Something I hadn't seen from him since I had met him. "let me get this straight, you wanted to kiss me. You didn't feel forced or like you had to?" I shook my head at his overview. He sighed in relief and looked down at my hand with my fingers splayed out across the floor. He looked like he wanted to hold it so I gave it to him willingly. He took it gently between both his palms and held it tenderly. I rubbed the inside of his palm soothingly. "thank you Lance." He said and lay his head in my shoulder for about a minute before standing up and heading out of the door. "where are you going?" I called.

"Well someone's got to cook dinner." He said rolling his eyes and huffing. He walked out of the room and downstairs. I couldn't help the smile that bore my lips afterwards. Looks like this next period of time in my life, will be fun.