story belongs to sunbeamed @ ao3
>keith<
keith didn't go to class the next day. he couldn't be bothered with physics, especially now that lance was in the hospital. hunk told him that he was still in a coma, that he wouldn't be able to talk to or see or touch keith even if he wanted to. he still insisted on going to the hospital. polite arguing. hunk was always so polite, even when he was telling keith that he really shouldn't visit lance in the ICU quite yet. he didn't mean to be patronizing, wasn't being patronizing at all. keith still felt patronized.
"it's for the best keith," hunk said, words dripping in genuine sugar and concern, "he wouldn't want you to see him like this, trust me." and keith did. he had always trusted hunk.
keith supposed he could stay away from lance's hospital room at least until he wasn't in a coma anymore, maybe longer if lance really didn't want to see him. he promised himself that he could stay away for a little while. after all, it is what i'm good at.
boy was he wrong.
>keith<
keith put up a good fight. he went back to classes, managed to resume a normal life without lance always around. he didn't like doing it but, for the sake of his friend, he did his best.
he lasted about 4 days.
4 days was exceptionally good for keith, all things considered. it was physics that finally broke him. they were being lectured on gravitational energy, of all things. his professor was explaining newton's law of gravitational attraction to some half-wit by the name of rolo, or something along those lines. a scoff. lots of coughing. it wasn't hard to tell that his peers were bored and, frankly, keith didn't blame them. this is high school physics stuff. but as the lecture picked up, keith found himself mesmerized, deep in the words of the woman standing in front of them.
"you see, rolo, each object in the universe has a gravitational pull, an attraction, on every other object scattered throughout the cosmos. isn't that fascinating, astonishing that at this very moment you are both attracting and being attracted to everything within, and beyond, the scientific understanding of mankind?"
rolo didn't seem to get it. if keith was being completely honest, he didn't think that the imbecile at the front of the lecture hall deserved her words. honestly, keith didn't think he deserved those words either.
those words were selfish. made him think that maybe in some mixed-up scientific way he and lance were drawn to each other. along with everything else, of course. her words pushed him into thought, nearly persuaded him that somehow, someway, he and lance in a hospital bed and hunk spending his nights in the ICU so his best friend wouldn't have to be alone and his brother shiro who he never has the chance to see anymore and that headass axca who's sleeping six feet under now and everyone and everything else he knew all belonged to him, if only for a moment. that they all belonged to each other and, for once, keith felt connected to the cosmos.
he really needed to get out of this class.
but he specifically really needed to get out of this class to see lance. the gravitational attraction between them, pulsing like the heartbeat keith had thought disappeared yesterday afternoon. no matter how small, it made keith a little more at peace to know that if nothing else, at least science was on his side for this one.
