galaxies » klance oneshots

2: bloodroses

a/n
this is super angsty. its a hanahaki disease au, so you probably know what's going to happen.

but!! there's two endings to this. the second one will be published directly after this one, so stay tuned 😜

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The first petal fell at 2 am.

He was having a coughing fit, his throat felt scratchy and as if it were to explode.

He had something stuck in his throat.

He moved his hands to his mouth to try to catch whatever it was before it spilled onto his bedsheets. He crawled out of bed and kneeled on the floor, afraid it might spill beyond his hands.

Something fell into them.

He opened them, and almost fainted in surprise.

One bright red rose petal surrounded by blood laid in Lance McClain's hands.

---

"Lance?"

"Is he okay?"

"Why is he on the ground?"

"Is that blood?"

"I'll handle this, everyone get out."

"Wow, demanding much."

Why is everyone here?

Lance heard everyone's feet shuffle out of the room.

"Lance, get up please."

Lance looked up at Shiro through blurry eyes.

"Lance, who is it?"

He coughed again.

"I - you'll (cough) hate me."

"Lance, we're here for you. You can tell us anything."

Lance coughed up another rose petal. Another bright red one.

"Who (cough) do you think it is? Who's favorite color is red?"

Shiro's eyes widened.

"Keith?"

Lance only nodded, and his vision went blurry.

"Stay with me. Don't you dare close your eyes." Shiro kneeled down and picked him up, bridal style.

Blood was running down lance's chin and covered his hands, staining his shirt where he tried to wipe them off. Red rose petals covered his shirt, stuck to it as a result from the blood. A trail of blood covered petals left in their wake as shiro left the apartment.

As he stepped outside, everyone's eyes widened.

The group stayed silent, but their thoughts ranged from "What the hell?" to "Is he okay?" to "Dammit, Keith."

After a bit, Lance managed to sputter out a cough, more blood spilling out of his mouth, accompanied by more petals.

"What - what's happening to him?" Allura stuttered, eyes wide as saucers.

"It's an extremely rare and fatal disease, called the Hanahaki Disease. It's caused by unrequited love. Lance loves someone, and they don't love him back."

"I - is there a cure?" Keith whispered.

"Yes. either the love becomes requited, or he'll have to get surgery and have the flowers removed. But," shiro sighed. "There is a catch. If he gets the surgery, all romantic feelings for that person are removed. If the victim's body is almost fully taken over by the flowers, the victim will also have a chance of forgetting any memories of the person."

"Did he tell you who he loves?" Allura said, 100% serious now. No funny business.

Shiro looked down.

"Yes. But he's afraid we'll think less of him."

"That's surprising, but we still love him! we wouldn't be the people we are now without him. And we all know he's bi, so why would we look down on him because of it?" Hunk rambled.

"It's me, isn't it?" Allura continued.

"No. It's Keith."

Now it was Keith's turn to be surprised.

"W - what? Me? What reason would -" Shiro cut him off.

"Everyone except for Keith, leave. I'm putting lance back inside and they need privacy."

He walked back inside, and set lance down on the royal blue couch near the door. Keith followed.

Lance was barely conscious​.

"I'll leave you two alone."

And just like that, Shiro was gone. Keith began to tear up.

"If... if I had known about you liking me back, n - none of this would have happened."

Keith leaned Lance's body, staring at the boy's features.

His sharp jawline, his pointy nose, his neat eyebrows, his adorable ears that "stuck out too far." everything.

Suddenly, he was leaning closer and closer, until they were nose to nose.

Keith closed his eyes and suddenly, their lips were touching.

They fit perfectly together like two puzzle pieces. Lance's lips were so damn soft. How were they so soft?!

Keith slowly pulled away, and as he did, Lance's eyes were still closed.

Then he saw it.

Lance's breathing began slowing down, his chest failing to rise. his breath became ragged - even more so then before. His eyes slowly opened, and looked over at Keith, sitting on the floor, holding lance's hand.

He let out those last words.

"I lied to Shiro. The roses weren't red. That was just the blood. They were white."

Lance's eyes glossed over and his body went limp.

And Keith coughed up a blue rose, right on top of Lance's unmoving chest.

Keith wished, prayed even. That it had been a nightmare.

---

[754 words]

so! did i make you cry? i almost cried writing this. i have an alternate ending for this, and its much happier! i'll publish it right after i publish this one.

-london✨