color coded [klance]

six

"lance? is everything okay?" keith's voice asked softly on the other side of the line. lance had just called him on impulse - he didn't know who else to turn to. it was as if instinct had taken over and lance's brain had told him to call that one person; his everything. "lance, you're scaring me."
 
"she's gone, keith," lance choked out, his hands shaking as he tugged desperately at his hair. "i-i didn't even get to say goodbye."
 
"lance, i'm so sorry," keith whispered, his voice full of sincerity, even though he didn't even know who lance was talking about. "do you want me to come up there?"
 
"i don't want to burden you."
 
"lance, you're not," keith murmured, a bit of shuffling heard on his side of the line. "just shoot me the address and i'll be right there."
 
"o-okay. can you stay on the phone with me?"
 
"of course."

---

  keith immediately hugged lance to his chest, rubbing his back as he felt lance's tears wet his jacket. he didn't mind, though, instead whispering sweet and encouraging words into lance's ear, letting him know that he was right here and he wasn't going anywhere.
  keith spotted lance's parents easily, as he'd met them a few times, and his heart broke a little at the sight. crowded around them was three more children, and all five were sobbing and attempting to comfort each other.
 
  "i-it was abuelita," lance murmured, his voice cracking. "she's been sick, but the doctors were confident that she'd be fine. i didn't think - i thought i had more time," lance choked out, his knees wobbling, but keith kept him upright. "the last time i saw her was a month ago. she p-probably died thinking i didn't care about her anymore."
 
  lance's knees completely gave out and he fell to the floor, still clutching onto keith. he was sobbing so hard his lungs burned and he had to heave in big breaths to bring air in.
 
  "lance, don't think like that," keith whispered, rubbing his back softly as he held lance, leaving him room to breathe and not feel overwhelmed or too crowded. keith softly kissed lance's temple, before he pulled back and wiped away his tears. lance just stared at the ground, his sobs slowly turning into small cries, and then reduced to hiccups. keith brought him in again and helped him stand, taking him back over to his family.
 
keith sadly watched from a distance as lance mourned. and keith didn't know abuelita, but his heart broke and a few tears slipped down his cheeks.