Hearts don't break around here

Chapter 4:Butter pastries

10th Grade

"Will you please hold still?" Lance says frustratedly, grabbing Keith's chin. "You're going to make me get it everywhere." He pauses, giggling. "That's what she said."

Keith rolls his eyes. "I can't stay still for much longer." Lance's masterpiece is almost done. But it won't look half as good as he wants it to if Keith doesn't stop moving.

"Just a few more minutes." Lance says, sticking his tongue out in concentration. "I just need to do the teeth."

It's Halloween today, and for the first time in about three years, Keith and Lance have plans. There is always an awkward window between trick-or-treating age and partying age, but they have finally entered into the beginnings of the partying stage of their lives. The party is hosted by some asshole in their class who probably was forced to invite the entire grade, but it doesn't matter because they're going to a party and there might even be alcohol !

Lance decided to dress up as a cat. It's not his most original idea, but he liked how he looked with the cat ears on, and the makeup was simple. He doesn't want to scare people away, after all. Keith, on the other hand, doesn't give a shit about scaring people away, and wanted to just paint his face to look like a skull. Of course Keith has absolutely zero artistic talent, so it became Lance's new project to recreate his face. They've been sitting across each other, cross legged, on the floor, for almost half an hour. Lance didn't think it would take so long. Keith is getting antsy. Lance smudges black paint just below Keith's cheekbone, before leaning back and admiring his work.

"Okay! Go check it out." He says happily. Keith huffs, getting up wobbly and walking to the bathroom. Lance doesn't follow him, but hears him gasp happily.

"Holy crap, Lance this is awesome." Keith says from the bathroom, and Lance can hear his grin.

"You like it?"

"It's frickin sweet, thanks." Keith says, still smiling as he walks back into Lance's room. Keith just recently got his braces off, finally, and he's been smiling a lot more since then. He used to be really self conscious about his teeth. Lance remembers how Keith never used to show his teeth when he smiled in pictures. But now he smiles all the time.

The makeup actually looks really cool, not that Lance likes patting himself on the back. Keith has deep black rings around his eyes, sharp, dark lines underneath his cheeks, and black stripes along his lips as teeth. Keith is really, really pale, so the white base paint actually doesn't look that stark or bright against the skin on his neck. His hair is an even darker black than the paint around his eyes, which really pulls together the whole look.

"You look so great!" Lance says excitedly. "I'm pumped."

"You look good too." Keith says, slipping on a black hoodie because he never wears anything else, not even on Halloween.

"Thanks, man. Ready to go?"

Keith takes a deep breath. "Yeah let's do it."

x

As much fun as Spin the bottle was when they were in middle school, spin the bottle is a lot more fun when you've had a few beers. Keith refuses to drink, but Lance was so excited when he saw the cans that he couldn't contain himself. It's like all of the movies, with the red solo cups and the people making out in the bathroom. Only this time, it's real. The beer tastes like shit and burns on the way down but it leaves Lance's brain feeling slow, like liquid, in a very pleasant way. He's never been drunk before, but he imagines this is what it's starting to feel like. It's like the continuous stream of his loud, obtrusive thoughts has suddenly been turned off. He's so used to feeling terrified of what the people around him think but right now he feels like he's finally on the same level as them-- the alcohol acts like a barrier to all of the fear in his brain.