Langst Oneshots

★alex <part three>★

"Shiro?" Lance questioned when he entered his room to see Shiro standing in the middle of it looking like he had just found a plan to destroy the universe.

"Shiro, what are you looking at?" He asked again, stepping closer and peeking over Shiro's shoulder.

Shiro flinched and jumped around to face the younger. "Lance," Shiro gasped. "Um, sorry. I shouldn't have gone snooping around in your room, I know it's your private space, but-"

"Shiro, what picture is that?" He paused and lifted his right arm to grab it but stopped, lowering it down to his side. Even though he didn't seem tense, Shiro saw his right index finger twitch and heard Lance's sharp intake of breath. "Well?" His voice croaked as he spoke, a sign of him already accepting defeat.

Shiro cleared his throat and glanced down at the small picture again. "Let's sit," he whispered, taking a seat on Lance's creaky bed that was definitely older than Lance himself. Lance lumbered over to the bed and sat next to Shiro, his hands folded in his lap and his head hung, his sad blue eyes staring down at the worn out carpet.

"Tell me about the boy in the picture," Shiro whispered, handing the picture to Lance. He chuckled, broken and ashamed, as he stared at the picture.

"His name was Alex Rivera. He moved here from Miami, Florida. His dad used to be in the army. He loved doing these video diaries and took pictures of anything he found interesting." A crooked smile worked its way onto Lance's face and his eyes were glassy and shining.

Shiro frowned, recognizing the same look from years on the Castle-Ship and in the Lions - how had he not recognized the pain it held until now? "Go on," he whispered.

"We met at one of my surfing tournaments. He was vlogging with his older sister, Kailey. When I went up to surf, he zoomed in on me and said that I was the 'cutest goddamn boy on the planet' and that his goal was to ask out 'the cute boy in blue,'" Lance explained. He let out a watery chuckle, like he was about to laugh but got choked up halfway.. "Of course I didn't know that he said that until he showed me the video after the fact."

"Anyways, after I finished surfing and got third place in the tournament, I was just standing there alone on the beach when I saw this mop of blonde curls coming towards me. And then he just started talking to me like we were good friends that had known each other for years."

Lance sighed, a ghost of a smile creeping up on him. "We talked all night. His dad was in the military, that's why he moved here in the first place, he was absolutely terrified of deep water, he wrote poems, and he loved the stars," he breathed out another sigh. "We watched the sun set on the beach that night and looked at the stars for hours, just talking. I felt like I'd known him my whole life. Have you ever felt that?"

Shiro smiled, remembering his own lover, his Adam, hundreds miles away who thought he was dead. When would he ever see him again? Thinking back to when he and Adam first met, he recalled feeling what Lance felt. Being with someone that should be a total stranger but feeling like you've known each other for a lifetime. "Yeah," Shiro whispered. "I know what that feels like."

Lance broke out in a wide grin and nodded frantically. "Yeah, yeah. Cool." He giggled. "Well, he asked me out that night and, even though I was scared, I said yes. I was so terrified, Shiro. I didn't even know boys could like other boys! Nobody ever even mentioned it!"

"I felt like I was doing something illegal whenever we went out. You know, I lied to my entire family saying I was having a sleepover with Alex when we actually went to pride together. It was the most loved I'd ever felt. Like ever."

Lance looked back down at the picture in his lap and ran his thumb over Alex. He ran his thumb over the edge before setting the picture in Shiro's lap. "I know my family loves me. I know you guys love me, but I can't help but feel like I'm going to disappoint everybody if I ever... you know."