Web of Sins

Shame and Guilt

WARNING: This fic starts out relatively light-hearted and cute, but let me warn you now that stuff will get significantly darker, eventually. I promise that none of the dark stuff is ever glorified; this is not a kinky story. This is a story of two boys trying to overcome the dark past, together.

***

*bzzz* *bzzz* *bzzz*

The blue blanket covering Lance shuffled off of him as he gasped awake, eyes wide and breaths coming out in heavy wheezes. He pursed his lips together, ignoring the tangy taste of morning breath in his mouth as he turned to face the ceiling. There was an uncomfortable amount of sweat caking his pillow, but physical comfort was the last thing on his mind right now as he reflected on the dream he had just had.

The ocean-based dreamcatcher that hung from the ceiling right above his bed caught his eye, comforting him and reminding him of where he was right now as his fingers curled into the bedsheet. Gradually, his breathing returned to normal, and his eyes and body went lax as he let the anxiety from his dream drift away.

Only once he had calmed down did he notice the buzzing noise of his phone's alarm, and he reached over to grab it, glad to have something to focus his mind on.

He tapped the dismiss button to get rid of the alarm, panic shooting through his body as soon as the screen cleared up and showed him the time.

Noon? I set the alarm to noon?! He scrambled to sit up, tossing his blanket off completely as he swiped across his phone, praying that his clock was messed up and that he hadn't actually missed his morning shift; something he had never done for as long as he'd worked at the Web.

As soon as he saw texts from Pidge and Hunk, his heart began settling down, and he fell back against the headboard of his bed with a deep sigh of relief. Right - he had the morning shift off today and promised the two of them that he would go see them.

Between waking up from a familiar nightmare and having a brief panic attack from thinking he had missed work, Lance was feeling pretty shitty already this morning, so he took a few extra moments to lay in bed to recollect himself. He opened up his text messages to respond to Pidge and Hunk, but paused in surprise when he saw he had a message from a new number.

'Hey, it's Keith, sorry that I didn't text you as soon as I got home. I collapsed, like, right away. Anyway, I figured I'd do it now right before heading off to school, since, better late than never. Good morning, I guess'

Lance's lips curled up in amusement, and he couldn't help the snicker that overtook him as he read through Keith's text. He was so awkward and dorky that Lance wasn't even sure what to call him anymore. Even a virgin had more seductive flair than Keith did.

Whatever the case, all that mattered was that he had decided to go through with texting Lance, which meant he was interested. Sure, he may have acted suspiciously strange the last time they met, but at the end of the day, he was a customer who would give Lance money, and that was all that mattered.

He quickly typed up replies to Pidge and Hunk's texts, assuring them that he was on his way and that he hadn't cancelled on them, before setting his phone down to get ready for the day. He flicked the bathroom lights on and immediately looked at himself in the mirror, the color of his own eyes bringing up images of the ocean, which in turn caused his mind to drift to the words from Keith's text.

'I figured I'd do it now right before heading off to school'

He sighed, tearing his eyes away from the mirror to turn on the sink water. The only reason he was thinking like this was because of the dream he had had; it wasn't important. He'd already put everything behind him.