Now or Never~klance

Chapter Six

Keith stands in the shower with tears streaming down his face. The tears sweep along with the flow of the water. The boy hasn't cried in years, but today he feels broken into a billion pieces. He is Galra, and he hasn't seen his father in 4 years. To make things worse, Lance saw him today differently. He made a promise to himself years ago that he wouldn't let anyone see him vulnerable. But here he is now. Lance needed to rescue him. Then Keith let himself fall asleep in front of him. Everyone knows that you look at your weakest when you sleep. 

That wasn't even the biggest thing that was bothering Keith. Today he has realized that he has feelings for Lance and he basically ruined everything. He didn't want Lance to see him weak, so the only way in his mind to be strong is to be angry. Sometimes being angry doesn't make you look strong, but like a total asshole. 

Everything just feels so wrong, with his family, Lance, and himself. Keith bangs his head against the stall. He washes the shampoo from his hair then proceeds to get out of the shower. Keith puts on a black tee and some shorts. He goes to lay on his bed and contemplate everything. Tears are still running down his pale cheeks. There's no way Lance would ever want to be close to him after he flipped out on him again. Lance is going to leave him, just like his mother and father. The thing is, Lance was never his to have.

--

"Lance are you okay?" Pidge says looking up from her project. She noticed Lance was being pretty quiet. Lance is never quiet, so this was a rarity.

Lance pauses before he answers. He was about to say "I'm fine," but he really wants to get this off his chest. "No, I don't think so Pidge."

"What is it Lance? You can tell me." Pidge says with a smile.

Lance bit his lip, "I think I like...er... yeah LIKE LIKE... Keith," He glances up to see Pidge's expression. She is beaming.

"LANCE YOU MUST BE KIDDING!" she yells. She always thought Lance and Keith would be cute together, but she assumed they were both as straight as a pole. 

"Haha...I'm not kidding. But I think I screwed everything up," Lances says.

"What did you do this time Lance?" Pidge says with a warning tone in her voice.

"We were having a really good time together today, but then I asked about his family and he got super upset. Then Shiro told me that Keith doesn't have a family, so Keith must be peeved at me. I am going to go talk to him after he gets out of the shower," Lance explains. 

Pidge nods as she hears the explanation. "I'm sure if you offer Keith an apology, he will forgive you."

"I really hope so," Lance hears the shower turn off in the room across the hall. "Oh god, I guess that's my cue." Lance stands up and is about to leave, then adds, "I'm sorry I wasn't much help with whatever the heck you are building."

"It's fine Lance. Good luck with your lover boy!" Pidge says while shooing him out of her room. Lance walks across the hall and stands outside of Keith's room. He inhales deeply and says through the wall, "Hey, Keith. Can we talk?"

Keith's eyes instantly widen as he hears Lance's voice. He wipes the tears from his face and sits up. "Um, yeah come in." The door swiftly opens and Lance stands at the door for a moment before coming in. Immediately Lance notices the redness in Keith's eyes. Keith isn't the type of person to cry, so Lance just assumes he got soap in his eye in the shower. 

"Keith, I'm actually really sorry. I didn't mean to set you off," Lance apologizes.

"It's fine." Keith says blankly.

"Actually, Shiro told me about your... family." Lance says looking at the ground, expecting Keith to go off and tear Shiro's head off then and there. Keith just sat silently. Lance decides to go on, "I'm sorry, I didn't know how hard your life was... I just assumed you had grown up with a family just like me."

"What did Shiro tell you?" Keith asks. He feels completely hallow. There is no emotion to describe how he feels at this moment.

"He just said that your Mom left you, and then so did your Dad so you moved in with him." Lance said while trying to read Keith's emotions. 

"Did he mention anything about... the day?" Keith asks, hoping Shiro didn't disclose his worst day. 

Lance smirks, "He didn't say anything about it... But now that you mention it you have to tell me." 

Keith stares emptily at the floor and stays silent. Lance laughs and adds, "Don't worry, you don't have to if you don't want to." 

Keith shrugs and replies, "I might as well tell you now so you don't end up bugging me about it for the rest of my life. Sit down wherever you want." Lance beams as he thinks about seeing Keith for the rest of his life.

Lance takes a seat on the bed next to Keith. "Oh boy! I didn't think you were actually gonna tell me!"

"Shut up before I change my mind." Keith starts, "A few days after I was born, my mother left me. I know nothing about her. I was left to grow up with my dad. He wasn't very kind, but he was alright as fathers go. On my 12th birthday, which he had forgotten about,  I asked him about my mom and we got into a huge fight. Then... he just..." Keith's voice cracks as he speaks the last words, "Left me." Keith gulped, he left out so many details that make the story come alive. Keith thought about the words his dad said and fought back tears. He can't cry in front of Lance. "Then I found out I am Galra, and I don't even... know who I am anymore."

Lance sits in shock. He can't even imagine his own dad leaving him after one fight. Lance is about to reply, but he sees a tear fall onto the bed sheets. It wasn't his own. He looks up to see Keith silently crying. Tears are running down his face. Lance softly puts his arms around Keith. He slowly pulls Keith down to lay next to him on the bed. He wipes away Keith's tears as he cradles him in his arms. 

Keith wants to stop crying so bad, but Lance was holding him so tight it just felt right. He feels so weak. So vulnerable.

Lance runs his fingers through Keith's jet black mullet, "It's okay Keith." As Lance speaks, Keith breaks out of his trance. He had just let himself slip away. He doesn't want Lance to think of him as weak. Shaking, he sits up. 

"Lance... Please... Get out." Keith says in the sharpest tone he could muster. 

"Wait, it's okay to cry in front of me! I want to make you feel better!" Lance begs. His heart breaks from Keith's words. 

"No. Please leave." Keith replies as he shuts his eyes. He certainly does not want to see Lance's reaction, it would just tear him apart.

"Okay," Lance says. His body feels numb. He adds in a compassionate tone, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this." Keith opens his eyes to find Lance standing next to the door with tears in his soft eyes. Lance sighs and leaves the boy's room.