Purple Hearts

Chapter 9

"I'm serious! He really kissed me!" I said angrily to Pidge in the hallway. We were standing outside my dorm room, and I knew that people in nearby rooms could hear. I didn't really care though.

"Yeah sure, Keith kissed you. I'm sure you're just saying that to look cool again to Hunk and I. Well I'm not falling for it this time." Pidge replied.

"You need to believe me!" I said. "It was on my cheek!"

"Sorry Lance, but I just can't this time." She said.

Pidge, practically the only person I can trust with anything, thought I was lying about the kiss. I was surprised that she believed me when I said I could write to Keith on my wrist, but couldn't believe a simple kiss. Well I guess most of it is my fault. I had lied about kisses in past relationships to make me seem cool. Only a couple times though!

"Fine then. Don't believe me, that's all I called you over here to talk about." I said.

I groaned and then fled into my dorm room, where Hunk was waiting for me on the top bunk. He looked away from his comic book and glanced at me. "Did you guys finish talking?" He asked.

"Yeah, thanks for waiting." I replied. I had to make him stay in the room, because I couldn't risk him finding out about the kiss. For all I know, he could tell Shiro or even Keith personally. My trust with them would go down the drain.

"No problem." Hunk said while I sat at our desk. He focused his attention back to the comic book, and then looked back over at me. "But did Keith really kiss you?"

"HUNK! You ease dropped?!"

"Only a little, but I can't help it. I'm too curious!" He said with genuine regret.

I sighed and brushed my hair away from my forehead. "You think I'm lying too, don't you?"

"Actually I don't." He said smiling. I was shocked to hear him say that, but he is really gullible after all. I think Pidge was smarter to not trust me.

"Okay well don't tell anyone. Anyone!" I ordered.

Hunk waved the situation off and went back to his book. "Don't worry about a thing, Lance. I wouldn't tell a soul." He said. That didn't make me feel any better though.

I turned around and glanced at my wrist to see any writings. There was one thing in the middle of my arm. "Instagram: @thekeithkogane".

I smiled and pulled up Instagram on my phone, then typed in the account he gave me. I was super excited to see his account show up. I knew it was him, because his profile picture was him and Shiro. "I hope someday that can be me beside him" I mumbled to myself. Damn, I am deep in love.

"What did you say?" Hunk asked.

"Nothing." I said, Hunk quickly ignored me and I tapped on Keith's profile.

The first thing I did was press follow, and then I noticed his most recent post. It was me! It was from yesterday when we ate at the restaurant. In the photo I was scrolling through my phone and sipping on my soda. He must have taken it when I wasn't looking.

Once I noticed it was me, I wasted no time clicking on the picture and reading the caption. "Out with someone awesome" he wrote, and then there were a couple random emojis.

The entire thing made me blush. First he kissed me during the sunset, then he puts a picture of me on his Instagram account. That has to mean something, right?

I closed my phone and sat at the desk for a good 5 minutes, just thinking about how amazing Keith is. I realised that I might have had a crush on him for longer than I thought. Why else would I have been so worried about looking good for him, or managing to keep a good relationship with him? It all made sense now. I was wondering if Hunk (or maybe even Pidge) could tell I liked him.

As I sat at the desk I felt a wave of sadness rush over me. That random feeling that I had at the library. I didn't think much of it at first, but I grew worried when the feeling got stronger and stronger.

"H-Hunk." I groaned while clenching my chest.

He looked down at me and noticed my pain. "What's wrong, Lance?"

"We need to see Keith, so d-drive me to Hillcrest.. Please." I managed to cry out. The pain was only getting worse, and it was hard for me to act normal.

"Lance I know you miss Keith but we ca-"

"NOW!" I shouted. I rarely raise my voice, so Hunk knew something was wrong. He didn't waste anytime after that to get on his jacket and help me outside to his car.

○○○

I didn't really know what I was expecting to do when we arrived at Hillcrest University, but all I knew was I needed to find Keith. At that point when we arrived I had lost my desire to talk. I felt like if I did all the tears I was holding in would spill out. I cried a little on the way there, but it was so little that Hunk didn't notice. I was able to just wipe away at my cheeks and continue looking out the window.

We had parked the car and began walking around the campus. It was a good thing we didn't wear anything that shouted "Hey, we go to Ivybrooke!". Otherwise we would have been the center of attention.

I kind of wobbled around while Hunk followed me. The campus seemed empty, except for a couple people here and there. It wasn't until about 10 minutes that Shiro saw us. He walked up to us with a concerned face. "Hey guys. What are you doing here?"

"W-Where is Keith?" I said weakly.

Shiro studied me, then finally decided to answer. "He went to the library a little while ago." He point behind us to a small building near the outside of the campus. "That's the library. What do you need him for?"

I started to walk that direction without answering. Hunk and Shiro just followed me. I could hear Shiro questioning Hunk from behind me, and Hunk replying "I wish I knew myself". I ignored their conversation and quickly reached the library. I was about to walked in when I heard groans from the side of the building.

I peeked my head through the corner and found who I was looking for. Keith! But he was pinned against the wall by a couple guys from his school (judging by their Hillcrest jackets). I also noticed Keith had a couple decent sized marks on his face, probably from punches, and he was being held up by his shirt from one of the guys.

"What the fuck are you doing with him?!" I shouted and ran into the small ally by the library.

Everyone's attention turned towards me. I saw Keith's eyes widen when he noticed who I was. The three guys surrounding him turned to face me, and the one holding Keith up dropped him onto the pavement. "And who might you be?" Asked the tallest and leanest one. He had bright white long hair and dark skin (A/N: Yes this is Lotor, but he can't be galra so let's go with that).

"Leave Keith alone you fucks." I choked out. The feeling of sadness was leaving, and I found my ability to talk normally again.

The tallest one chuckled. "And why should we do that, hm? What're you gonna do? Fight us? You look like you couldn't even break a stick!"

He wasn't wrong. I'm pretty weak by myself, so I was getting super nervous. Luckily, Hunk and Shiro showed up behind me and glared at the group of guys. That's all they really needed to do, because the two guys behind the tallest one started shaking. "H-Hey Lotor, isn't t-that Takashi Shirogane?"

The tall one (who I now assumed was Lotor) turned around and glared at the two. "We can take him guys, stop being pussies."

"But he's really close with the teachers dude." Said another one. "W-We could suspended."

Lotor glared at Shiro, then focused his attention to me. "Don't think you're all that for what happened today." He said, then walked away furiously.

Once he passed the corner and was out of sight, I ran up to Keith and looked around for any injuries. Luckily, there was only the mark on his cheek.

"Lance... what're you doing here?" He asked weakly.

I sighed. "I felt your pain again, and what kind of person would I be to just ignore it?"