Thanks For The Memories [Klance Fanfic] [WIP]

❦ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟❦

     The next few days that followed after that night were quiet and uneventful; neither Keith nor Lance made any attempts in speaking with the other. Sure, they'd run into each other in the halls during school hours and they had to endure the other's presence in a couple of classes, but outside of school they made no contact; Lance stopped going to the florist shop where Keith worked full time now, and Keith hasn't bothered to ask Lance back to his house for dinner. Instead, Keith opted for just looking out the windows in the classrooms while listening to his teachers ramble on about whatever subject they were required to teach. However, as much as he wanted to keep his sight outside, Keith's dark eyes always betrayed him.

     He'd catch himself carefully staring at Lance in the classes they shared together, making sure not to draw attention to himself, and would begin to wonder about how things might've gone differently. Such thoughts were only wishful thinking, and so, the raven would snap his attention back outside or on the teacher. His daily routine has been slightly different nowadays, too, but not in a big or significant way; he'd simply started walking home the quicker route (going past the old house on the hill) without any memories to plague him. His days at the shop were quiet and tranquil enough, but that started to make it boring for him despite him loving the plants and flowers that would surround him while he worked.

     The dreadful day had come too fast for Keith as he busied himself with school and work for the past week that he had no time to mentally prepare himself for it. In years past, Keith was finally able to get through his birthday without the memories bombarding him, but now that the source of those memories had come back he was spiraling out of control. It was a Sunday, which Keith was happy for as that meant no work for him, but that meant everyone he knew, friends or not, would be out and about. He normally wouldn't care about this but Keith was always self-conscious on his birthday regardless of whom he was celebrating it with. Thankfully, Shiro decided to keep his birthday at home and minimal; just how Keith liked it.

     Shiro spent his early morning hours getting things ready, such as bare decorations, cake, last minute gifts, etc. Meanwhile, Keith remained in his room, face buried in his pillow as he tried to think about anything other than what this day triggered within him. Pidge and Hunk were also in the room, having spent the night with the raven, trying to talk some sense into their sulking friend. If there was one thing, among many others, that one should know about Pidge and Hunk it was that they were persistent. The raven didn't want to get out of bed at all, as excited as he was about finally becoming an adult, he was just as apprehensive. He was sure his friends would keep pestering him about getting out of bed if not for Shiro asking for their help, wanting to make the first floor a surprise to his younger brother, and so they hesitantly left the room.

     The raven's room was still unkempt, but it had gotten messier since that night a week ago. The flowers on his desk and the dinning table had withered and died, so they had to be thrown out. Shiro has asked a few times if Keith could bring a new bouquet home for the dinning table, but each time the raven simply replied, "Come by the shop and buy them then." Keith was walking a fine line each time he snapped at Shiro, but he knew his younger brother was going through a tough time so he didn't reprimand the raven. Piles of clothes that were manageable beforehand were now out of control, his desk that was organized and minimal was now covered in stacks of paper and textbooks, his bed he'd spend tme making in the mornings was now left alone each morning and remained unmade, posters and calendars and photos were now either torn off the walls or cut up and thrown into the overfilled trash bin by his desk.

     However messy his room is now, it doesn't compare to the mess it would've been five or eight years ago. So by comparison this was hardly anything. And most of all, Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk had expected it to happen; Keith always threw his room into the blender during the week leading up to his birthday, and now that the origin of all his hurt had come back they were prepared for it.