The Story of Us

19 - Keith

Lance is shivering in my arms, having stopped crying a little bit ago. Now, he just mumbles things into my chest every now and then, trying to work through his thoughts. 

"Keith?" He says, twirling my shirt in his fingers. 

"What is it buddy?" I say back, looking down at him. 

"Can...god this is awkward...I mean. If you don't mind could you...talk?" 

Okay, now I'm confused. "Talk?" 

Lance nods. "Talk. Like how we do on the window sill,"

Oh. "Yeah, I will. But...why?" 

Lance sniffles and shrugs. "I just feel like we're focusing on me too much right now, and you've had it worse. I wanna help," 

I chuckle sadly. "You can't fix me, you know," 

Lance sits up and shakes his head. "That's not why I want you to tell me. I'm not trying to fix you, I'm trying to understand you," 

I take his hand, fiddling with his fingers like I normally do. "Okay..." 

[Flashback]

I'm sitting on the roof, next to my only friend. His name is Jerry. He's the one who got me into weed in the first place. 

"Do you ever think about jumping?" I ask, looking at the ground below. 

Jerry laughs. "Not really, no. Why?" 

I shrug, feeling a little silly for asking. Why would he, anyway? Jerry might not have a perfect life, but he's definitely happy where he is. 

"Why would you, specifically, want to jump? Doesn't matter how bad shit gets, you can always jerk off to your hot mom or something," 

I tense up. "What," I seethe, "the fuck did you just say? First of all, I'm gay as hell. So that ugly ass whore doesn't have any appeal to me, understand? Not only that, but do you know what she and her stupid fucking husband do to me every night? No. And I'm not fucking telling you either, Okay? So shut the fuck up about my 'hot mom' when you don't know what I would give to get away from her!" 

I stand, kicking a rock off the roof, and climb down. I hear Jerry do the same, and we both slide into my room via my window. Jerry just picks up his stuff and walks out, slamming the door behind him. I pace around my room, anger clouding my vision. 

I let out an enraged scream, kicking one of my books across the room. Why does this have to happen to me and why can't I be normal and-

I ram my fist into the wall, leaving a hole in the plaster. I pull my hand out, seeing the redness of my knuckles. I hit the wall again and again, imagining it's Shelby. Because she deserves it, you know? She and Carl and stupid Jerry all fucking deserve to be punched. 

My door flies open, and all my anger is replaced with mind-numbing fear. 

Carl stomps in. "Oh, was that your friend who just ran out of here?" 

I nod shakily, pressing myself up against the wall and wishing I could be anywhere else right now. 

"You're not allowed to see him anymore," Carl sneers, "you're for me and my eyes only," 

With that, he growls and takes a step forward, then another, then another, until he's right in front of me. He places his hands on either side of my body and forcibly turns me around. I bite back a scream as he presses his body against me, biting the back of my neck. 

I can feel his hard-on through his pants, and I want to scream. So I do, in the hopes of getting someone to come to the door and just stopping him. 

Nobody does, and before I know it, I'm on the ground, sobbing and naked. Carl leaves after knowing what he's done to me. I try to stand, but the pain is too much. I curl up and blindly reach out, attempting to grab some clothes in case Shelby comes in and decides to follow Carl's example. 

Just my luck, that as I get onto my hands and knees, both of them show up with a whip. 

"Keith," Lance whispers. Tears roll down my cheeks, as I remember what those monsters did to me. 

"A-and they wouldn't let me take showers after they did that, s-so I always felt dirty and used. And they did it for so long and I was always so, so scared." I sob into my hands, leeting go of Lance's fingers. 

I feel a hand fall over my own, gently pulling them away from my face. "Don't cover your mouth," Lance says kindly, "you need to be able to breathe," 

I nod, clutching his hands in mine. "I just wish I'd done the dishes and that I'd cut everyone off and that I'd never left my door unlocked and that I'd gone to school on time and that I'd never watched that movie and th-" 

Lance cuts me off with a slender finger barely pressing against my lips. "Hey, look at me. I promise that I'm gonna keep them away from you, okay? I'm gonna keep you safe. I swear," 

I whimper, not out of fear, but because I don't want to cry again. It's a weak attempt, but what he said really moves me. Tears leak from my eyes, making their way down my face as I  try furiously to wipe them from my cheeks. 

"I promise..." 

Okay, this chapter is way overdue. You see, I was gonna make it a Pidge POV but I couldn't figure out where I wanted to go with it. So like...two hours ago I opened up my laptop, deleted everything I had, and wrote this short chapter for the New Year. As usual, feel free to comment all of my mistakes. Bye!