Everything (and nothing, all in one)

7

Days later, Shiro could still feel the ghost of Lance's lips on his. When he ran his fingers over them, he could almost imagine the run of Lance's tongue and the memory of his breath on his skin. Sure, it had taken a while to assure Lance that a singular kiss wasn't going to kill him, but it didn't detract anything from the actual experience and the thrill of actually kissing this guy he's fantasised after for so long.

But with it came this pain that he couldn't have predicted. Every suspicious glance his mother sent him set him on edge, even though he knew she had no reason to suspect him. Lance had, thankfully, left well before Honerva had returned home, and he never let his phone out of his sight these days incase of a stray text that could out the two of them.

A buzz shook him out of his daydream the next morning.

[10:01] Lance:
Thank you so much for last night, like, seriously it was the best night of my life so far :D

[10:03] Shiro: (Draft)
It was mine as well, and I

[10:04] Shiro: (Draft)
Next time moms out, would you be up fo

[10:04] Shiro; (Draft)
I loved it too, but maybe you'd like to be my boyf

[10:05] Shiro: (Draft)
I love yo

[10:06] Shiro:
I'm glad you enjoyed it, maybe you'd be up for coming around again some time?

[10:06] Lance:
You know it <3

He set his phone down on the desk again, and buried his face in his hands. He was so far gone, but if anyone found out, he'd be as good as dead. He needed some form of independence, some way to function without asking his mother for things constantly. If he was going to pull this off, he needed some autonomy.

Shiro pulled open an incognito tab, and started searching.

Turns out credit cards were way too easy to get.

It didn't take much to fake being his mother, and the email confirming a card coming his way arrived in seconds. Okay, maybe he had stolen his mother's bank details, and maybe he'd spent way too long trying to perfect her signature so the card wouldn't look forged, but the rush of acting under Honerva's nose again was more addicting than any drug he'd read about.
With a sigh, he fell back against the back of the chair, lazily clicking off the window and running a cold metal hand over his face. He told himself nothing would come of it, but the glass airlock loomed in his peripheral vision. Compared to stuff he'd asked Honerva for in the past, airplane tickets weren't that expensive. If he ran whilst she was out, Coran wouldn't - couldn't - stop him. He'd take Lance, drive whenever the petrol gauge would allow them and stay there as long as they could. Finally, he'd go to the sea, walk through the surf hand in hand, kiss to the rush of wave and the setting of the sun. He'd do all the childish things he never could; make sandcastles that would inevitably collapse, fight the tide with a splashing contest, piss off the crabs in rock pools and coastal caves.

And yeah, he'd die.
But he'd spend his last day with the new love of his life, at the place he's always dreamed of going. He'd die happy.

If that was the price of freedom, he was happy with that.

"Takashi, sweetheart," a voice called from the airlock, "I'm home!"

As he stood to greet his mother, the dopey smile didn't leave for a second.

~

The next week passed in a blur, mostly mixing into reading, endlessly refreshing various social media sites, and long text conversations with Lance that bled into late night whispered phone calls and grainy video chats. Admittedly, it wasn't much different from any other week Shiro had experienced, but the fresh air that was just so Lance was a welcome change from the monotony.