Just the Way it is (A Klance AU Story)

Chapter 1: The Boy who Jumped

One cold September morning.

Keith remembered all too well the events of what happened earlier in the morning. Taking his daily/"required" leisure stroll by the seaside bridge, he had an unlit cigarette in his mouth. Shiro, his older brother, would often scold him for placing such a deadly hazard in his mouth, and Keith would constantly have to shut him up about it.

"It's never lit anyways..."

He just liked the way it felt on his lips, the way it reminded him that he was just another step closer to death, just close to it, never coming face to face with it. He would call himself a coward, knowing how much he wanted the sweet, sweet release from all the pain and depression.

It would never come, the idea of being dead, would never come into Keith's head. No matter how hard he would try, he was scared of oblivion. Keith raised his red hoodie closer to his neck, trying to cover the exposed marked area. People were giving concerned looks, and he knew why.

The clear ragged line mark. Always that same mark.

Oh did he try to do it. He tried...But ultimately stopped.

"Coward."

Keith rubbed the bruised line-shaped mark on his neck, trying to push that thought deep, deep down into the darkest parts of his mind as he continued his walk. That's when he spotted HIM. He stopped in his tracks as he noticed someone, a boy similar to his age, hanging from the other side of the bridge, looking towards the ocean. No one was around by that area they were in, so no one was there to demand for the guy to come back onto the other side. Then, it just happened and it caught Keith off guard.

The boy jumped.

"Hey, wait! Stop!" Keith yelled as he ran towards the boy, stretching out his hand to try and pull him back.

It was too late. He had already jumped off, and Keith was too late to save him. Just like that, the mysterious boy...

Was gone.

As Keith stood in front of where the boy jumped, he rested his elbows against the hard wood. He wondered why he even gave an effort to save a complete stranger at all in the first place.

"Why was I so desperate to save him? In reality...I want to die, too."

By the time he got back home to head to school, he explained the situation on the bridge with Shiro. Shiro was sad about it at first, but was glad that Keith didn't jump with the kid either. Still, he was angry with Keith having the unlit cigarette in his mouth. Seriously?

As they arrived to the school, Shiro kept scolding him all the way to his classroom.

Shiro was a high school teacher, teaching an Art class for seniors. Since Keith was now enrolled in the class, he hoped it would help improve his mindset. They opened the door and stepped inside, the classroom filled with other students. Keith sighed as he put the unlit cigarette into his pocket and as he looked back up, his breathing was cut short.

"Shiro, that's-!"

"Ah, Lance!" Shiro said happily as Lance's face seemed to perk up from his desk.

Keith was speechless, his eyes wide as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The boy from the bridge...It was this guy: Lance McClain.

"Keith, Lance will be your desk buddy from now on," Shiro said with a smile as he pointed to an empty desk next to Lance. "That will be your seat for now on. Better hurry and sit as I'm starting the class in a few minutes." Before Keith could say anything more, Shiro happily went to his desk.