Camp Altea (Shance Summer Days 2018)

19th - week 5 - BBQ

Shiro didn't see Lance for ages after that.

Lance dropped him at his apartment block once the rain had stopped and the sun had dipped below the horizon. He bid Shiro farewell with a tender but quick kiss on the steps up, and Shiro heard him drive away as the main doors slid open before him.

If he pressed his fingers against his lips, he could still feel the ghost of Lance there, following him around like a lucky charm. He knew it was selfish, but he wanted Lance beside him again; he asked if Lance wanted to come up, if just for a drink, but the other man refused gently.

If this Lance was a drug, he never wanted to stop.

Apparently, Lance had to go out of town after that - his parents were dropping by a nearby city for a few days to visit him - which Shiro could understand. They still texted pretty much everyday though, Lance sending a good morning text and a selfie every morning without fail; Shiro would often bid him goodnight first, and the cycle would repeat.

The problem was, was that Shiro didn't get to see all that much of him at camp that week either.

He assumed that, since this was a week-long camp from Monday to Friday, he would get to see more of Lance. He thought they could share their crappy canteen dinner one night, or have a repeat of their first date over on sunset hill with cold cider and linked fingers.

Instead, he hardly saw Lance all week, reduced to gentle, tender smiles over canteen halls and the careful brush of knuckles whenever Shiro's camp had archery.

"Is something up?" Keith asked gently on the Wednesday evening, turning his back on the group activity slightly to talk to Shiro, "you've been out of it for like, three days now, something must be wrong."

Shiro shook his head gently, mouth twisting in thought. "Nothing's wrong, Keith, don't worry-"

"Hunk and Pidge said Lance is being weird too," he suddenly interrupted, staring intensely up at Shiro, "did you fight? Did something happen?"

"Keith- god, no, we didn't fight," he replied, running an exasperated hand through his hair as Keith folded his arms in expectation, "nothing's wrong, I've hardly seen him to speak to him."

Keith raised an eyebrow, looking briefly over his shoulder as the crowd roared behind them at the camp football game. "So, what happened? Something must have gone wrong to make you so pissy."

"I'm not pissy," Shiro started, before relaxing again as a few of the leaders glared in distain, "I just think he's avoiding me-"

"Why?" Keith countered, clicking his tongue slightly as he took a deep breath of annoyance, "Hunk says he hasn't shut up about you."

"I thought they said he was acting weird-"

"Exactly!" Keith shouted, rocking forwards on the balls of his feet before falling back, "look, just, for the love of god, talk to him?"

"Keith, please," he sighed in reply, breathing deeply and running one hand down his face, "I'll be fine, he's probably busy, it'll all sort itself out soon."

Keith rolled his eye, turning away to click his tongue in distain. "There's the barbecue on Friday evening, for all the leaders? Talk to him then, promise me?"

Well, it wasn't really like he had much of a choice. He had completely forgotten about the barbecue that was held after the end of every week-long camp, despite him going to every single and generally enjoying them.

Hopefully, Lance would be there, he thought as he returned to the group of leaders to quickly lock eyes with the man on the other side of the circle, hopefully.