K-TH76

Chapter 5

Keith stared tiredly into the mirror. He has been having gaps in his memories for almost a month now, and it was terrifying. What has he been doing? He took a deep breath pulling himself together before heading out for breakfast.

"Hey Keith," Hunk greeted from the kitchen before he made a concerned face at the state of his friend. "You look horrible."

Keith couldn't agree more. There were dark bags under his eyes and his hair was starting to get greasy from stress. "I haven't been feeling well. I'm having blackouts and I don't know what to do."

Hunk gained a guilty look in his eyes. That made Keith confused. Why would Hunk feel guilty? It wasn't like it was his fault he was so weird. Hunk suddenly steeled himself before walking over to set a hand on his shoulder.

"Keith," he said. "There is something we need to tell you."

After the conversation, Keith retreated to his room to freak out in privacy. However K had other plans. K wandered around the castle into the commons room where the team sat feeling guilty for not telling Keith sooner. "Why is Keith so upset," K asked looking at them in suspicious confusion.

"We told him about you," Shiro explained. "And your adventures that caused the black outs."

K suddenly blanched. "So he knows about me now," he asked frantically. At the confused nod, K put his hands to his head mumbling frantically. "Nononononononononono he can't know. We might....I might disappear!" He whirled toward Lance as the blue paladin approached in an attempt to calm him down. Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. "I finally found happiness." The tears leaked down in rivers as he stared at them in fear and sadness. "I don't want to disappear!"

Lance ran forward to wrap him in his arms as he silently sobbed. "No K," he tried to soothe. "I'm sure you'll be able to stick around. No one is going to make you disappear." He kissed his forehead gently. "Now come on. Since Keith can't take care of himself I'll have to help you take care of him."

Gently Lance gathered him into his arms to carry him to the bathrooms. After helping him wash his hair, Lance gave him his shirt to wear and a pair of boxers. He wanted to chuckle at how cute K could be. The personality was clingy now that he knew they would never hurt him and loved to be cared for in small ways.

Lance started to go to the door to lead K to Keith's room when K gripped his wrist. "No," K mumbled. "I wanna stay here with you. Please. I don't want to be alone." Lance hesitated considering how Keith would react to waking up beside someone who was his rival. Then he saw the lost and desperate look on K's face. He couldn't just leave him.

With a small smile, Lance pulled K toward the bed and held him close. K snuggled into his chest and fell asleep feeling safe and warm. Lance started to drift off knowing that in the morning he would probably be awakened by Keith's frightened or disgusted scream but for now he was content to hold K. For now, all was right in the world.