color coded [klance]

four

for a while, keith's only colors had been light blue and yellow. lance was desperate to see them change, and finally, they did, but not in the way lance was hoping. he was hoping for a green one of these days, but instead, the message on his screen made his heart drop to his stomach.

keith: orange

  lance called him immediately, keith answering after a few rings.

  "keith?" lance whispered, peering outside his window. it was about six in the afternoon on saturday, and the sun was already setting.

  "lance, i'm-i'm really scared," keith whimpered, so lance shot out of his bed.

  "do i need to come over?"

  "please," keith whispered, before something rattled in the background. "please come over soon, i-i really want to end this."

  "you want to end what?" lance asked, shooting his mom a text and telling her he'd be at keith's.

  "end this, end this fucking pain and bullshit and anxiety and depression, i can't do this anymore," keith choked out and lance's heart immediately sped up, his hands shaking as he got into his car and sped off, not even bothering with his seatbelt.

  "no, don't talk like that," lance muttered, trying to prevent his voice from sounding too shaky.

  "it's the truth," keith spat. "i'm worthless and the world would be so much better without me here."

  "my world wouldn't," lance admitted, his eyes burning with tears. "i'm almost to your house, please tell me you haven't done anything."

  "i haven't," keith whispered.

  "promise?"

  "i promise."

  lance pulled up to keith's driveway, parking crooked as he rushed to kill the engine and get out of the car, ending the call as he knocked on keith's door. a head of black hair quickly appeared as it was open, lance hugging him tightly as he walked into the house and closed the door with his foot. keith stumbled back a bit, but regained his footing and hugged lance back, burying his face into lance's neck.

  "i'm sorry," keith whispered, gripping lance's jacket tightly in his hands.

  "don't apologize," lance murmured, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to slip down his cheeks. "i-i can't live without you, keith," lance admitted, his hands shaking against keith's back. "i promised you i would never leave, now you have to do the same."

  "i can't promise you that," keith muttered, tears wetting lance's shirt. "and i'm sorry for that."

  "fucking promise me, keith," lance snapped, pushing keith back so they were face to face, keith instantly noticing the tears that tracked down lance's cheeks "you have to promise me that you're not going to fucking kill yourself."

  "i'm not going to make a promise i can't keep."