Abroad - Klance

14: IN WHICH THE VERDICT OF PROM IS REVEALED

SO I KNOW ITS NOT WEDNESDAY BUT I FINISHED EARLY SO HERE'S YOUR GIFT FOR 1K

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
THE PRIDE OF MOUNT VERNON!
UR MOM
OOOOOOHHHHHH!
I'm laughing. You can't tell, but I'm laughing.
I'm tired.
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Wow that intro was on crack. That was about a year ago. Jeez. Here I am. Back on my bullshit.
And jesus i was so precious,,excited for 1k.
I never thought I'd get that far,,
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The whole crew sat at the table outside of the closed door, all posed in anticipation.

This was the time.

Lance took several breaths in, holding most of them for half a minute, then exhaling.

Could he call it coping?

"Lance, could you stop doing that? It's freaking me out."

Lance nodded, worrying his lip absentmindedly as he mumbled, clearly out of it, "Yeah. Sorry, babe."

Keith gave his hand a squeeze.

"Hey, look at me."

Lance complied, moving out of his daze to look at the boy beside him.

"No matter what," Keith paused, clarifying his hold on Lance's attention, "we are going to be okay. If we didn't win, it's going to be okay. We'll just get singles tickets, yeah? We'll be fine. Maybe in your senior year you can get even more changes. But either way, we'll be okay. I'm pretty sure Pidge's rant won them over, anyway."

Lance paused, toying with Keith's fingers as Keith often did to him.

He remembered the day the posters had been posted.

Pidge blew up at Mr. Craig the first thing in the morning.

("Are you kidding me?! You are perfectly aware that Lance and Keith, the foreign exchange student, are dating and you put out this on the day after Lance publicly asked him? Mr. Craig, I don't know if you know this, but my friend has been through a lot. He just suffered two years in an abusive relationship with a woman who drained him of his life, because he was afraid to ask for help. He only recently returned to himself after his father's death, and now has found love, love that has made him feel fresh and new, and you're denying his chance to enjoy the one high school event that is the most memorable next only to graduation? That, sir, is ridiculous. My friend, my best friend is the most precious force in this universe. He has been through complete hell. And he's met the person who has made him smile honestly again, a person who has picked him up from the dumps and helped him become a better version of himself, put back the sparkle in his eye. So if he does not get the night of his life at this prom, then you and your cold dead heart are going to answer to me, Mr. Craig." And spun on their heel and left.)

"...we'll be fine." Keith murmured.

"I just want everything to be perfect. Is that unfair?"

"It's fair. And if it's not, we'll just go get pizza, okay?"

Lance giggled softly against Keith's clavicle. "Okay."

The sound of the door opening jolted everyone from their thoughts.