The Hanahaki Disease// Voltron AU

bonus: the end of all things

Playlist: In Case - Demi Lovato

After

Tristen and Jeremy were looking at me like I had gone completely insane. Obviously, they were concerned for Lance and I. For Lance because, clearly, he is very, very sick and they were concerned for me because I had just told them (while hysterically crying I might add) that Lance had thrown up purple flowers, right in front of me and ran off without explanation.

"Aurora, you're not making sense. What do you mean he threw up purple flowers?" Jeremy asked, rubbing my back soothingly as they watched me cry.

"Well he didn't really throw up, more like coughed them up." I explained, wiping at my tears and sniffling as I tried to calm down. "I brought the flowers back." I said earnestly, gesturing to Exhibit A and Exhibit B. The flowers were wrapped in some tissue that I had gotten from my bag. I wasn't going to pick them up with my bare hands because that's kind of gross. I mean, I love Lance but he just coughed up flowers. What if it's contagious? What if he's caught some rare flower disease or something! What if this is going to kill him?

"Like he did a magic trick and threw up flowers? He's sick. He shouldn't be doing that." Tristen says. I shake my head no vigorously.

"No!" I cry out. "I'm telling you, Lance threw up purple flowers. It was no magic trick. He didn't have anything up his sleeves. He was genuinely and truly sick and then those flowers just came out of his mouth." I started to cry again, unable to help myself. I could still see Lance doubled over and in pain, the look of sheer terror on his face at realizing what he had done and how quickly he tried to hide the evidence from me.

"I've got it." Tristen said who had been tapping away at her phone for the past couple minutes or so. "But it's not going to make any sense."

"What wont make sense?" Jeremy asked, frowning and crossing his arms. His eyebrows were furrowed in adorable concern and his stance was very defensive. He hates seeing me cry and I kind of hate crying in front of him but there was no helping it. I didn't understand what was happening. I didn't understand anything.

"The Hanahaki Disease is an illness where the inflicted coughs or throws up flowers." Tristen began, reading from the website on her phone.

"Okay, sounds fake but okay." Jeremy said, gesturing for her to continue. Tristen looks up from her phone, her expression one of complete seriousness.

"That's because it is fake." She looks back at her phone and starts again.  "The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from a one-sided love, where the patient throws up and coughs up flower petals or flowers when they suffer from unrequited love. If the love is not returned, the flowers continue to grow inside the infecteds lungs until the infected dies. This is a popular trope usually found in fanfiction and.."

"Fanfiction!" Jeremy and I manage to shout at the same time.

"You're telling me Lance is dying from some fictionalized Disease?" I demand at the same time Jeremy says,

"You're telling me Lance is pretending to have fictional disease?" I shot Jeremy a look. He sighed. "It can't... it can't be real Aurora. Coughing up flowers isn't something that happens. Flowers can't grow in your lungs."

"Well clearly they are! It's clearly happening to Lance! I brought those flowers." I shouted, gesturing to the table. "I'm not crazy!"

"I didn't say that you were but..." Jeremy scoffed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. "He can't be sick from a fictional disease. It doesn't make sense!"

"Well it's real okay. It's real, I've seen it and it's happening. Lance is dying." I insisted but saying these words out loud didn't make me feel any better. In fact, I felt like throwing up. My guts felt like they were twisted up in knots and my eyes and throat burned because I was trying to hold back my tears. This couldn't be real. It couldn't be real. But the evidence was literally right in front of us.

"Well who the hell is Lance in love with then?" Tristen demands. "He hasn't told you anything has he Aurora?" I wring my hands, staring blankly at the wall across from my bed before I gasp so loudly, it startles the two of them.

"Keith!" I shout. "It has to be Keith it..." but my smile falters because... That doesn't make any sense.

"It can't be..." Jeremy says slowly. My shoulders slump. Jeremy's known about Keith's crush almost as long as I have and that's not because I told him, Keith actually did. He thinks Jeremy's really cool which is understandable since Lance and Jeremy are pretty similar.

"Okay, What do you two know that I don't?" Tristen demands. "Why can't it be Keith? Keith likes Lance right? I don't see the problem."

"Because if Keith likes Lance and Lance likes Keith..." I begin, shaking my head the entire time. No. No. No. No.

"And the Disease is born from unrequited love..." Jeremy continues for me.

"Fuck!" Tristen shouts, finally seeing the obvious. If they both like each other, its not one sided love. Lance has to be in love with someone else. "Keith will be devastated."

"We're all going to be devastated." I correct. "Lance could die from this. That's the secret those three of them have been keeping."

"Three?" Jeremy questions.

"Lance, Pidge, Hunk. Hell, maybe even Matt knows. He's training to be a doctor they could've roped him in to look at Lance's throat or whatever." I say waving my hand out wildly. "Lance is dying because of love. How fucked up is that? He doesn't deserve that." I'm crying again. Tristen is looking at her phone, scrolling through the Wikipedia page on the Hanahaki Disease.

"Does it say how to cure him?" Jeremy asks her. Tristen is shaking her head.

"There are only two options. Option One: Lance admits his feelings and that person returns them and the disease stops. Option Two: Lance admits his feelings, the person doesn't return them and Lance dies, choking on flowers."

"Well those are both terrible. Who else could he be in love with? He hasn't talked about that many people." Jeremy says, his thinking face on as he taps his chin lightly.

"Yeah, you'd think we would notice if he was in love with someone, he'd never be able to shut up about them." Tristen says lightly, sitting down next to me as I rub at the dried tears on my cheeks. Something Tristen said struck a cord in me. You'd think we would notice if he was in love with someone.

"What would you do if I said I love you?"

"No." I whisper. "No it can't be." I'm beginning to hyperventilate.

"Aurora, What is it?" Jeremy asks, touching my shoulder. I grab his hand and squeeze it tightly.

"He asked what I would do if he told me he was in love with me." How long ago was that? A month? Maybe? I can't believe I forgot. It was so weird. I was so worried about him and yet, I forgot a critical conversation we had.

"What? When?"

"About a month ago maybe. The three of us were at lunch. You had gone to the bathroom and Lance started acting... Weird. We talked about love and..."

"And you think he's in love with you?" Tristen asked. With me? No, I'd already ruled that out. But, with one of our other friends? Maybe.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. Maybe he's in love with one of our friends, someone he's close to. It would explain why he wouldn't tell us."

"And why he hasn't talked about the disease with anyone but Pidge and Hunk. Cause he knows none of us feel the same way." Jeremy murmurs. I feel sick to my stomach. I feel like throwing up.

"But... Who then?" Tristen asks lightly.

"I don't know. I really don't know." I whisper. Jermey squeezes my hand but it doesn't help my aching heart.

A/N:
In case anyone's forgotten, the picture is sort of what I imagine Aurora looks like. She's half Asian as I've mentioned a couple of times and has dyed blue hair or purple hair. She alternates lol

And I've been hinting at this for a while but now it's out in the open! How does Lance have the Hanahaki Disease if he likes Keith and Keith likes Lance? Any thoughts? Any ideas about what I might do? Leave a comment!

Also!!!! My story is #2 under the Lance tag on Wattpad!! Thank you all for loving my story so much that I got bumped up next to one of my fav Klance stories on here. It means the world to me!