Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey, Shiro? What’s this?”

Keith picked up the document from the kitchen counter to flick through.

Shiro peeked over Keith’s shoulders to see what he was on about on his way to the sink. “Oh yeah, we got that old house on Oak. I forgot to tell you but it’s finally going on the market. It needs to be touched up a bit before we can even attempt to sell it, but hey, we’ve dealt with worse. This one actually has all four walls.”

 “Hey! You were the one who didn’t tell me we weren’t taking that house. It’s not my fault I signed the papers thinking it was fine.”

“I left you six voicemails.”

“Yeah… Well…” Damn, Shiro had him there. “You should’ve left me seven.” Keith crossed his arms, still holding the documents.

“Uh-huh, I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” Shiro flicked the water from his hands at Keith’s face as he walked past into the living room. “I get the keys tomorrow so I’ll be there about lunch time. Is that good for you?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Keith picked up his jacket that was hung over the chair at the table and shrugged it on. “I’m hanging out with Pidge for a bit. Be back later.”

“Are you back for dinner?” Shiro called out after him.

“Maybe?”

“I’ll save you some anyway. Have fun.”

“You’re such a dad sometimes, you know that?”

“What kind of big bro would I be if I didn’t act like your dad sometimes? Now do I need to give you a curfew or will you behave?”

“Goodbye, Shiro.” Keith walked out the door before Shiro could actually enforce that curfew.

---

Keith was in the middle of making a sandwich when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled out his phone to a message from Shiro.

Have you left yet? I need you to go get the keys for me. They’re at the office. I can’t make it, something came up. I’ll tell you about it later.

Keith sent a quick “sure” back and looked back at his sandwich.

“The keys can wait five more minutes.”

---

The house was only a half hour drive from the office, a bit less if he was coming straight from home, which is nice when compared to their previous job that was almost an hour’s drive out.

The door opened with a creek as Keith stepped in. The house was cold – colder than it should be for the time of year. Keith wondered why the house was abandoned in the first place as he wandered through it. For its time, it was very modern, spacious as well as well lit. This house should’ve flown off the market.

Keith continued down through the house, making notes of what needs to be done. He noted that the floors needed to be redone, the walls desperately needed a new coat of paint and in general, it just needed a good and deep clean. Easy. The reports said that the structure was fine, save for a bowed veranda out the back that was a potential hazard. But again, that was an easy fix. It looked like Keith won’t need to spend as much as he had thought to make the house sellable again.

Keith took a minute at the last bedroom, studying it from the doorway. It looked like more effort had gone into this room than the others and it definitely stood out. Maybe the previous family only had one kid. It was the only one painted a different colour than the light grey of the others. The walls were blue and there were red curtains that had faded to a dusty pink in the lack of care. He bent down and scratched at the carpet. Thick dust flew up into the air but it revealed a light blue carpet underneath. He was about to stand up when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed some writing on the door frame. It was small and child-like in handwriting, hiding in plain sight.

Miss you buddy

Keith let out a small laugh. Cute, he thought. The kid must have really loved the house to write that there.

Keith stood to head back to the kitchen to finish up but a chill passed completely through him. The curtains then began to move slightly, despite the windows being closed. Keith looked back down the hallway to the front door, which was closed, debunking his thought that he’d left the door open.

He shook off the unease circling his mind and headed back to the kitchen. “Drafty house, I guess.”

He leaned up against the island in the kitchen, finishing up his notes on the house. He and Shiro would be able to get the painting done in a few days and clean it all up before the floorers and repairmen came. They could knock that out easily in a fortnight, especially since it’s their only job at the moment. Then hopefully in a month and a bit they can have their first open house.

A jingle broke Keith from his thoughts and his eyes flew to his keys resting at the other side of the table with his wallet. It sounded like the lion key ring Allura had bought him. Maybe there was wind chimes or something he didn’t see when he made his rounds. He was staring at his keys when they moved. Keith jumped back, eyes wide and unmoving from the keys. There’s no way a draft could have moved them like that. He took a step towards them to investigate.

Suddenly, the keys went flying straight towards him. He caught them before they could smack into his chest but his wallet followed and smacked him in the face. Keith let out a scream that Shiro will never know about before grabbing his wallet and notebook and running out the door, slamming it shut but not stopping to lock it. He sat in his car and stared at the house. He prayed that he hallucinated that, but the red mark on his forehead says otherwise.

Keith was still in his car when he saw Shiro pull up behind him. The thud of Shiro’s door closing behind him snapped Keith from his trance. He got out as well and headed up to Shiro.

“What were you doing? You didn’t just get here did you?” Shiro had a disapproving tone in his voice, but he noticed the spooked look on Keith’s face. “You okay, there?”

“Shiro there’s something in there. Something isn’t right,” Keith pulled Shiro’s sleeve before he could head to the door.

“What? Was there a possum in the roof that scared you again?” Shiro teased and ruffled Keith’s hair.

“No! I swear!” Keith tugged harder when Shiro tried to pull away.

“Hmm, must’ve really spooked you. We can call a catcher now if you want.”

“No! Not a possum! I,” Keith felt stupid even thinking that it was a ghost, but nothing else could explain his wallet and keys flying at his face. “I think it’s haunted.”

Shiro let out a laugh and broke free of Keith’s hold. “Come on, Keith! I’d expect this from a child, but you’re 23. It’s probably a raccoon or a draft or something.” Shiro tsked at Keith when he opened the unlocked door and walked through.

“My keys moved by themselves, Shiro!” Keith followed Shiro into the house, despite really not wanting to. “A draft can’t do that.”

“Okay, I get it now,” Shiro dumped his keys on the island and pulled out his own notebook. “This house has been abandoned for a while so you want to tell me it’s haunted so you can scare me. Well, it isn’t going to work. I see through your plan.”

“No, Shiro. I’m not playing a prank.” Keith’s eyes darted around the room looking for… well, he wasn’t really sure what he was looking for.

Shiro said nothing and left the kitchen, leaving Keith alone. Everything was fine and it made Keith paranoid that maybe he did dream that whole thing up, until he felt a chill again. The same chill he felt at the door of the bedroom. Keith spun around but there was nothing there. His attention was brought back when he heard a scraping on the island. He turned back slowly to see Shiro’s keys moving across the table. Completely by themselves. No rodent or breeze.

“Shiro!” Keith shouted in panic. Shiro quickly came back and he poked his head into the kitchen. Keith pointed to the table, breath heavy. “Your keys. They’re moving.”

“Uh, Keith? They aren’t moving.” Shiro didn’t look pleased, and it left Keith confused. The keys weren’t moving anymore.

“No, but they were. I swear.”

“Okay, whatever you say.” Shiro left but popped back in to add, “You’re acting is very good though. I’ll give you that.”

Keith took a step closer but froze again when Shiro’s wallet began to move. It opened and out slid all the bills from inside. They floated closer and closer to Keith, who hesitantly reached out to take them. He was about to take them when they flew quickly upwards, and then up to the top of the pantry where they were put down.

“Hey! Give that back!” Keith shouted, now slightly pissed off at whatever that was.

“What was that?” He heard Shiro call from somewhere in the house.

“Nothing!” He called back. Keith looked around and found an old crate to stand on to retrieve the cash. Who has cash anymore? This is your fault, Shiro, he grumbled as he tried to reach the bills poking over the edge.

“Keith? What are you doing?” Keith was startled by Shiro’s voice and he spun around, nearly losing his footing on the small crate.

“Oh, uh, I was just seeing if there was, uh, something up there, that, uh,” Keith ran his hand through his hair. “Might be causing all this weird shit.”

“Okay, then why is my wallet open?”

“Uh.”

Shiro wasn’t looking as amused as he was before at this whole thing. “Is that my money up there?” Yep. That stern voice was not fun-loving Shiro.

“…Yes?”

“That’s enough, Keith. I need that money for Allura. It’s important. Drop this whole “ghost” thing now, alright?”

“Shiro, I’m not lying-“

“Keith, I said drop it. I’ve had a rough day as it is. We had to put down Betsy at the shelter.” Shiro picked up his stuff. “Come on. We’ll compare notes and discuss a plan later. And I better get every cent of that back.”

Keith let out a frustrated sigh as Shiro walked out, leaving him alone in the house. He slumped against the pantry. He hated making Shiro upset, even though this wasn’t his fault. And Betsy. That was Shiro’s favourite dog at the shelter he volunteered at with Allura. That must’ve been hard. Maybe he should pick them up some Chinese food on his way home.

Keith ran his hand through his hair. Guess I’m on my own with this one, huh. There was movement caught his eye, however. It was the money. The notes were moving down towards him, slowly this time, with a different energy. Almost like the being felt bad. The notes stopped just above Keith’s hands and he took them, much more at ease than he previously was.

“Thanks.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Just as Keith had predicted, Shiro was asleep on the table and more than likely drooling all over the invoice underneath his face. Keith chuckled at how ridiculous Shiro looked. It reminded him of when Shiro was still in college and Keith would walk in to make a coffee in the morning to find Shiro snoring away over his textbooks after studying all night.

Shiro worked super hard then and he still does now. Managing a business as well as volunteering at the local shelter drained him, but he always told Keith that he enjoyed it. Keith always scoffed and said that he was in denial, but Shiro never looked happier than when he was working with his friends or saving a puppy. Keith guessed that that was rewarding enough for him. And that giant fucking TV he bought after a particularly large commission that they play video games on whenever they’re both free.

Keith dropped his keys next to Shiro’s face and watched him snap upright, almost toppling out of his chair.

“Good morning,” Keith smirked. Keith may be an adult, but that doesn’t mean that he has to stop being the annoying younger brother.

Shiro looked at his watch and sighed. “I have to have this done by tomorrow.”

“No, you need sleep by tomorrow. Coran will understand if you don’t have it all done. Go eat something then go to bed. ” Losing their parents was hard on them, and it made Keith pull in on himself and develop anger issues. Shiro didn’t handle it well either. Shiro was in his second year at college and after the funeral, all Shiro did was pour himself into his work. He got amazing grades, but his body suffered. Keith, on the other hand, lashed out at anyone and everyone, which resulted in him dropping out. Shiro transferred to a school near Keith and rented them an apartment. Their great aunt was just happy that Keith was gone since he was causing her so much trouble. They needed each other and they grew closer. Shiro became very protective of Keith and Keith of Shiro. In the end, they became each other’s support. They became each other’s parents, in a way. Keith went back to school and Shiro graduated, and their life became as normal as it could be for them.

Shiro stood and rubbed at his eyes. “Yeah, okay. How much did you get done?”

“Oh uh,” Keith thought back to his evening with Lance. He didn’t exactly do much at all besides add punching a ghost to his bucket list. “I left some stuff here that I needed, so not a lot.” It wasn’t a complete lie. They have a giant scraper that Keith couldn’t find.

Shiro pulled out some left overs and flopped down on the couch. “We can do all that tomorrow.”

Keith took a seat on the other end of the couch and stared at Shiro. “Wanna play a quick game before you go to bed?”

“You know it.” Shiro shoved as much food in his mouth as he could while Keith set up a one-v-one shooter for them and handed Shiro a controller.

“You’re going down, Kashi.”

As expected from calling Shiro that, a pillow came flying fast at his face from the other end of the couch. Oh well, he’ll just have to beat Shiro’s ass even harder for that.

---

Keith moped around the house all morning while he waited for Shiro to get back from the office. He was not looking forward to being in that house with Lance while Shiro was there too. It wasn’t Lance being a ghost that made him anxious, he can deal with Lance. It was what could possibly go down. How would Shiro take it? Would Lance be an asshole? Anything could happen, and that uncertainty had Keith unsettled. He decided that it was probably for the best that Shiro and Lance don’t meet, not until he knows what Lance’s deal is and if he really is as harmless as he appears.

Shiro returned and found the big scraper. Shiro had tucked it in the rafters, so even if Keith did see it, he wouldn’t have been able to reach it. On their way they picked up some lunch and a coffee –“Uh huh okay, you “forgot” your wallet” “I swear I don’t know where it is” - and a couple sample paint colours, all the same-ish colour as the previous coat was since it matched the kitchen.

“Keith,” Shiro said in a disapproving tone as he saw the mess left over from the previous night. “What did I say about leaving messes?”

“Relax, it’s not like this house is going up tomorrow.” Keith pushed past and put the paint pots next to the mess on the table. Right next to his- “Found my wallet.”

“I’ll start up the back of the house then, you take the kitchen and dining.” Shiro gathered everything he needed as well as the small stereo they brought along and wandered away to the back rooms.

“Boo!”

Keith jumped at Lance’s voice and spun to see Lance standing right behind him. “Hey, keep it down. I don’t want Shiro finding out about you yet.” Shiro had his stereo on, but when it comes to Keith, Shiro has superhuman hearing.

“What, am I not good enough for him?”

Keith just rolled his eyes.

Lance relaxed in his posture, fiddling with his own fingers. “So, uh. Sorry about yesterday.”

“Woah, you’re apologising?” An apology was not something he expected.

Lance’s gaze fell to his hands. “Yeah. I mean, it’s kind of been a while since I’ve talked to anyone.”

Oh. “How long?” Keith asked hesitantly, unsure of how much Lance was affected by his apparent isolation.

“A few years? I don’t really know.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. There were a bunch of teens in here a little bit ago, but people sort of just, run away when they see me.” Lance looked up and all insecurity was gone from his face, pushed behind a forced smile. “Turns out people don’t like ghosts. Who would’ve thought?”

If Keith was honest, he was impressed at how calm Lance was. He was a ghost who hadn’t had any interaction in years and here he is, cracking jokes.

“So, why are you a ghost?”

“Oh, I, uh…” Lance became visibly uncomfortable and was shifting in his spot. He opened his mouth again to speak but was cut off by Shiro calling out for Keith.

“I should go see what he wants. Don’t touch anything. Actually, don’t do anything. At all.” Keith still didn’t trust Lance, but maybe now he’ll tone himself down and let Keith get on with his job.

Shiro just needed Keith to hold the ladder steady while Shiro climbed up into the roof to check for anything that would need to be taken care of – namely possums. Shiro had suggested multiple times that they should buy a new ladder, but Keith would come back with tape and tape up the uneven leg to stop the wobble. At this point, the ladder was more tape than anything else. To be fair, the ladder becomes an afterthought with most supply runs, only to have them arrive at their new project cursing because we walked past the ladders four times, Keith!

“Hey Lance, I’m ba- what the fuck!” Keith was gone all of five minutes, but in that time, Lance had managed to open the paint samples and draw a giant penis on the wall.

“You alright, Keith?” Shit. Shiro heard that and then Keith heard footsteps making their way to where he, and the giant dick, was.

“Lance,” Keith hissed but he didn’t appear anywhere in the room. There’s no way he’s covering that up in time.

“Keith? Did something happen? Oh.” Shiro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Keith we needed that sample. What’s gotten into you?”

Keith stood there but said nothing. There was nothing for him to say. Even if he wanted to bring up Lance, that would just make things worse.

“Well, you can go get us another one then.” Keith nodded and Shiro left to continue his own work.

“Lance! Get out here.” He was careful not to make too much noise. He didn’t want Shiro to come back anytime soon.

“Sup.” Lance appeared next to his masterpiece.

“I asked you for one thing and you had to go and do that?” Keith spat.

“Okay in my defense, I didn’t think those pots were important.”

“They’re not really. It’s just inconvenient. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. Just let me do what I have to do, okay? Leave me alone.” Keith turned his back to Lance and turned his attention back to the wall he was supposed to be prepping.

Keith expected a retort or something in return, but instead, he was met with silence. He looked over to where Lance was, but he had gone. He actually left Keith alone. He worked in silence, save for the soft music coming from down the hallway where Shiro was.

Paint chips were falling from the wall he was about to move to. They were falling from the smaller scraper that was floating up the wall. Was Lance pulling more shit?

“What are you doing?”

“I feel bad so I’m helping you.” Lance’s words fell out of the air, the only way of knowing where he was.

Keith said nothing but let Lance continue. He seemed genuine enough, so he left lance to finish the living room while he began the hallway that headed down past the bedrooms. He ended up back where he started, finishing off the last bit that Lance hadn’t gotten to yet.

Keith was still ticked off, but Lance helping him out was really appreciated and finished in good time. Shiro would be done his part soon as well and they can start deciding on which colour to use.

Keith leant up against the kitchen counter and Lance appeared against the wall opposite, twirling the scraper in the air in front of him.

“If you throw that at my face you’ll have more than being dead to be worried about.”

Lance chuckled. “Alright, alright. Calm down, mullet.” He sent the tool over to the pile and let it crash down. Keith flinched at the sharp sound. “Happy now?”

“Just a little bit.” Keith pushed himself up to sit on the counter, kicking his feet as the dangled. Silence fell over them briefly, awkwardness tugging at the edge of it, so Keith spoke. “How long have you been dead?”

A glimpse of surprise brushed over Lance’s face before it fell neutral. “It’s been about eight years, but it feels like forever.” Lance let out a bitter laugh.

Keith really did want to ask how Lance got here, but judging from his previous response and how easily any question surrounding that topic made Lance upset, he thought it best to save it, or wait for Lance to open up on his own. If he learnt anything from Shiro, it’s that pushing for answers just makes things worse, and he really didn’t feel like making a ghost angry.

Lance chirped back to what Keith knew as his normal self. “So, what colour are you guys thinking of painting this place?”

“Something similar to the paint we just chipped off, that way we won’t have to redo the kitchen.” A soft smile spread across Lance’s face. Guess he approves then. “I like the darker grey we have, but Shiro likes the lighter one. You’ll see when we swatch them.”

“Do I get a say?”

Keith felt the corner of his mouth lift in a smirk. “That depends if you can behave yourself or not.”

Chapter Text

Work at the office unexpectedly picked up for both Keith and Shiro, meaning the house took a back seat. They managed to get the majority of the house painted before they were left unable to visit and Keith only ended up covered in paint from Lance once, which he counts as a win. Keith was able to pop in a few times over the week to finish off and touch up the paint job. The contractors couldn’t make it out for another few days, which was convenient considering how busy Keith and Shiro had been. Sure, they could’ve gone elsewhere to get the flooring done, but they get discounts working with this place and Shiro is in good with the boss there, and since they didn’t have a huge budget for this house, they were more than happy to wait and do other things in the meantime.

Keith didn’t stay long during his visits but Lance always kept him company, whether he wanted it or not. Lance would greet Keith at the door as soon as he pushed it open and he’d pout whenever Keith said he didn’t know when he’d be back. It reminded Keith of the dog he had when he was younger. He loved that dog but he didn’t expect to get another one so soon.

It had been a week since Keith was able to visit the house properly. Things had quieted down at the office so he was free to continue working on the house. He planned on pulling up the carpet and taping off the skirting boards since were due in a few days to redo the floorboards and lay new carpet in the rooms. He also planned to start clearing out the back yard because the skip finally arrived. Shiro told Keith to wait until Shiro’s day off since he’d need help, but he could clear up the patio by himself so that the workers can get to the collapsing structure.

Keith opened the door, and like the previous times, Lance appeared all bright eyed and peppy. Maybe the dead get unlimited energy.

“Sup.” Lance followed Keith into the kitchen.

“Hey, Lance.” Keith was getting better at drowning Lance out while he worked, which was a good thing for him because he could actually get shit done.

“So,” Lance began and crossed his arms. “I have a question for you.”

The accusatory tone and posture Lance adopted made Keith mildly concerned. This time it didn’t sound like he was going to ask about what the Kardashians were. Maybe Keith could actually answer this question then.

“Why do you keep flinching when you see me?”

“What? I don’t flinch.” Keith was taken aback. He didn’t think Lance noticed.

“Yeah, you do.” Lance focused his gaze on Keith, eyes squinting slightly at his conclusion. “You’re afraid of me.”

“No, I’m not afraid of you.” Keith’s answer came too fast for his liking, and Lance’s too.

“You think I’m gonna hurt you.” Lance’s tone shifted from pointed to something more upset. Keith didn’t think something like that would affect Lance at all. He is a ghost after all and people are scared of ghosts.

“I-“ Keith rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from Lance. He wasn’t exactly wrong. Keith did get nervous around Lance. Nowhere near as much as he used to, but he still did none the less. Lance could easily kill him and Keith would have no way to save himself. Being defenseless around a ghost he’s barely known isn’t exactly a settling thought. “A little bit.”

“Oh, okay.” Oh boy did Keith feel bad. Lance probably thought Keith trusted him. He does, of course, trust Lance, but definitely not as much as he guessed Lance had thought. He thought Lance would understand his concern. Before Keith could speak, Lance did, pushing his upset away which would be concerning to Keith if he knew Lance better. “So, what’s the plan for today? You gonna love me and leave me again or are you staying for dinner?”

A smile traced its way onto Keith’s face. Lance was ridiculous but Keith found it oddly nice. Not that he would ever admit that out loud and Lance most certainly still irritated Keith, but it was a different feeling now. He didn’t feel like exorcising Lance as much as he used to.

Keith explained his game plan for the day as he led them both to the back bedroom where he began to tear up the carpet. Lance watched him from the doorway as he worked. The carpet came up easily, the glue holding it down rotted free a long time ago. The only issue he had was the amount of dust and dirt that flew up into the air as he ripped it up. Shiro gave the place a good vacuum but the age and lack of care had really taken its toll.

He looked up to see that Lance had gone. He shrugged and returned to the carpet. He probably should’ve bought in his dust mask since he was pretty much breathing in all the dust, but the room was small so he didn’t worry about getting it just yet. He’ll grab it when he moves onto the next room.

Or not. Lance cleared his throat to get Keith’s attention. He was standing in the doorway with the dusk mask hovering above his fingers.

“Just because I don’t have lungs doesn’t mean you don’t either.” Lance flicked the mask to Keith, who caught it and put it on.

“Thanks,” he muffled through the mask.

Lance continued to hover around him as he moved from room to room. He wasn’t annoying Keith this time, which was a welcome relief, and he was actually helping. He’d open the doors for Keith when he dragged the old carpet out to the skip. He was finally having a productive day.

It didn’t take him as long as he thought to clear out all the rooms. Sure, he could’ve left that to the floorers, but they charge extra for removal. Extra that they don’t have in their budget. Not since they had to call an exterminator to remove the family of possums that had made a home in the roof.

Keith sat on the island in the kitchen once he had finished the carpet to eat his lunch. Lance sat on the floor opposite him, fiddling with the dust mask Keith had abandoned.

“Whatcha got there?”

“Hmm? Oh,” Keith swallowed his mouthful before answering. “It’s just pasta. Nothing fancy. Shiro made it.”

“Do you cook?”

“I try to. Doesn’t end well though.” Keith chuckled, “I did make some nice eggs the other day though.”

“Good eggs are the key to a man’s heart, ya know.” Lance winked at Keith, who scoffed at the comment.

A silence fell over them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was familiar and warm, a welcome change for Keith. He felt himself smiling to himself around his fork but he couldn’t explain why.

Keith finished his food and put the container back in his bag. He hopped off the counter and snatched the dusk mask from where Lance was still playing with it.

“Rude.” Lance stood up, stretching out his back as he spoke. “So what’s next, captain?”

Keith tossed the mask back to Lance. “I want to try and clear out as much junk as I can from under the veranda so the workers can fix it up.”

“Sounds easy enough.” Lance followed behind Keith as he wandered outside to the old entertainment area.

It wasn’t terribly messy, but it was still a bit of a task. There were old planks of wood scattered around and a stack of tiles that Keith assumed were meant to be laid by the previous people who were tasked with this house. In the long grass, Keith spotted something shiny. He walked to it and found that it was an old trolley that some kids must have left.

He started by sorting through the tiles. If enough aren’t broken, he can clean them up and use them when they landscape the garden.

“Do you want a hand, there?” Lance appeared in front of the stack of tiles.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Alright.” Lance headed back to where he sat at on the doorstep, watching.

Keith hauled the tiles inside to protect them from any more damage. There were enough undamaged ones to hopefully make a nice garden path or a border around a garden bed. It took him a few trips, but he learned the hard way long ago not to take more than he can carry. Shiro was not pleased when he walked in to find Keith on the floor surrounded by paint tins that had burst open in the fall.

He began to move the wood. It was brittle and he didn’t bring his gloves, so he tried to take it carefully. The planks were taller than he was, so he had to drag them one by one around the house to the driveway where the skip was.

Lance must’ve noticed his small hisses in pain whenever he got stuck with a splinter, because he moved up to Keith, asking again, “Hey, are you sure you don’t want any help? I’m not completely useless”

“No,” he said, more aggressive than he intended. “I don’t need help.” He watched Lance back away back to the door, and Keith returned back to his work. He was frustrated because this wood was not making his life easy. It was heavy and his hands were full of splinters and he hurt something in his shoulder trying to hoist the planks into the skip. He bent down to pick up another piece, a smaller piece that he could actually carry.

But then Lance spoke again. “What? You got something to prove or something?” He was only trying to lighten the mood, but it really rubbed Keith the wrong way.

“No! I can do this myself.” Keith span to look at Lance, but as he span, the wood he was carrying knocked the pole holding up the sheets of metal above them.

The pole fell away and the whole structure began to collapse.

“Keith! Watch out!” Lance called out to him but it was too late. The corrugated iron sheets and support beams came crashing down over Keith.

Keith braced for an impact that never came. He opened his eyes and saw the sheets hovering above him. They clattered and fell to the side, revealing Lance who had collapsed on the floor.

“Lance? Are you okay?” Keith ran over and knelt beside him.

“Ha, yeah. Haven’t moved anything that heavy before though. Really drained my ghost powers. I just need a minute.” Lance picked himself up and sat next to Keith and grinned. “That was pretty cool though, huh?”

“Yeah. I guess I should be thanking you.” Keith followed Lance’s lead and took a seat too and looked out over the mess he just made.

“Now do you believe I’m not going to hurt you?”

If anything was going to prove that Lance was legit, it was saving him from being hurt by falling sheets of iron. “Yeah. I do.”

Eventually, they make their way back inside to sit in the living room. Keith leaned up against the wall and Lance joined him.

“So, I’ll take that as you do have something to prove, then?” Lance glanced over at Keith, who was not amused.

“Shut up, Lance.” He’d have to wait for Shiro now to help move the fallen veranda. He’d end up getting a whole lecture about how he should’ve waited for help, even though he was doing fine by himself.

“Alright, alright. At least the tiles are safe.” Keith Just glared at Lance. A silence hung in the air, this time tense. But Keith was thankful when Lance broke it. “Hey, when do I get to meet your big bro?”

“I.. don’t know.” Keith had no idea how he was going to tell Shiro about Lance. He wanted to, but he still hadn’t thought of a way to do it that would make Shiro believe him, or if he showed Shiro Lance there was no guarantee he wouldn’t completely freak out and take matters into his own hands. “Not yet. I haven’t thought of a way to tell him and I don’t want to startle him.” Keith will figure out a way somehow.

“Next time he’s here I’ll just show up in front of him then.”

“No, I think that would spook him and then he’d get all protective and try to convince me that you’re not safe to be around. He can be really stubborn sometimes.”

Lance hummed softly. "Runs in the family."  

They sat in silence again for a while, a comfortable one again. Keith found it nice. Lance played with the dust on the floor while Keith stared at the mess he made outside. At least the contractors won’t have to do much.

“I should get going.” But Keith made no effort to stand.

“Okay. You gonna be back soon?”

“Yeah. It’ll be me and Shiro though.” Keith finally pushed himself up. “Also, there’s going to be some guys coming in to do the floors and I need you not to fuck with them.”

“I can’t guarantee anything, Keith,” Lance smirked up at Keith, still sitting on the floor.

Keith sighed. “Fine. If you leave them alone I’ll leave the radio here for you.”

Lance bounced up, eyes wide and smile huge. “Holy shit, deal.”

Keith smiled to himself, not expecting that to work as well as it did. The poor guy must be desperate to hear music again. He complained about Shiro’s taste in music whenever Shiro had his radio on but Keith still noticed the small bounce in Lance’s movements whenever music filled the air. Who knows when the last time he heard anything he enjoyed was.

Chapter Text

Keith found himself with Lance on his mind more frequently than he thought was possible. He found himself thinking back to when he and Lance were together, Lance always finding something to talk about. Nothing ever deep though, which kept things light between them. Lance could talk for hours about nothing at all. At first, Keith tuned it out, but lately, he found himself listening more and more intently to Lance as he sat on the floor in the room Keith was working in. He found himself wondering what Lance was up to when he was at his desk doing paperwork or lying in bed or watching TV. Did Lance sleep? Does Lance have anything to do there? Maybe Keith should drop off the TV he has in his room for Lance. He doesn’t use it enough to miss it and if it makes Lance happy then he’d be satisfied. Wait. Since when does he care about making Lance happy? When did he start wondering about Lance?

He pushed his thoughts down and chalked it up to the face that Lance is a ghost. A real life ghost. Who wouldn’t be constantly thinking about that?

Lance was more complex than he let up to be, even Keith could see that. The way his face faltered when Keith mentioned certain things about the house or when he would mention stuff about his day when he attempted to return the conversation. There was something else to Lance, something much deeper than his cheery chit chat he used to fill the silence. Almost like he was trying to fill an emptiness more than silence.

Of course, Keith wanted to know what happened to Lance, why he was in the house and pretty much everything about the whole situation, but he hadn’t found the right way to ask. He’d normally be straightforward and blunt, just asking whatever was on his mind, but he felt like he had to be more delicate this time. He doesn’t know much at all about Lance. He has no judge of how Lance would take it. And he doesn’t want to make Lance sad, but not for the fear of him turning vengeful on him anymore. Judging by how his voice wavers whenever Lance mentions things from his past, like songs he enjoyed or movies he’d watch, Lance’s past, or his current state, was upsetting to him.

But Lance never mentioned his family or any friends. This was odd to Keith since Lance was the light of the room, so much energy and joy radiating from him. There was no way he didn’t have any friends. Keith was the complete opposite of him and even he had a friend or two.

Which is why Keith immediately felt bad when the words left his lips. “Do your friends know?”

Lance stilled. His eyes glassed over and growing distant as Keith’s words hung in the air. Keith chewed his lip in the silence, anxious at how far off Lance was, even though he was merely a few feet away. He felt it best to drop the question. He turned away from Lance and back to where he was placing the décor on the bookshelf in the living room, the house finally looking liveable again with everything fixed and furnished, save for the garden out back. 

“Hunk.”

Lance’s voice startled Keith. Not because it was sudden and unexpected, no. But because of how un-Lance it was. So soft. So vulnerable. So sad.

Keith turned slowly to face back to Lance, his chest tightening at the sight of Lance. He was hunched forward, arms crossed but there was no attitude in it, he was holding himself. His eyes fixed on the ground.

“His name was Hunk.”

“Lance,” Keith tried, “You don’t have to-“

“He was my best friend. We did everything together. He was like a brother to me. Sure, I had a lot of other friends, but Hunk. Hunk was so much more than that.” Lance took a deep breath and looked back up at Keith. His eyes had turned red at the sting of tears he was desperately trying to hold back, whether he could actually cry or not. A bittersweet smile grew across his face. “And that dude could cook like no one else. He was also crazy smart too. Could build everything out of anything.” Lance huffed a laugh and Keith waited for him to continue, but he didn’t.

Keith’s curiosity took the helm, spilling out more words before Keith could stop them. “What happened then?”

Lance shifted uncomfortably, the smile dropping completely. “He uh. I- Well…”

Keith’s heart ached at what he was seeing in front of him. It was unusual that Keith was able to empathise so strongly with Lance, but perhaps Lance’s shaky words resonated with him more than he expected that they would. “Lance, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”

“No, it’s alright.” Lance was not alright. “It’s been years, right? I should be cool with it by now. He came here one night and I showed up. He saw me, heard me and I scared him so badly that he ran away and never came back. I don’t know, I just thought that out of anyone, he’d be the one that would stay.” A forced smile pushed its way back onto Lance’s face in a weak attempt to hide his emotion.

“I’m sorry Lance,” was all Keith could offer. He wasn’t good with this kind of stuff. Lance could really use a distraction. “Hey, how does this shelf look?”

Lance took the distraction, smiling fondly at Keith before insulting Keith’s poor decorating skills. Keith was fine with it though, and after an hour of bickering between them over where everything should go;

“Keith, my man, my dude. Please tell me you’re joking.”

“What? What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong with- Keith, take a step back and tell me that that plant looks good there.”

“It looks good there.”

“No it- here.” The plant slid along under Lance’s powers until it was where Lance wanted it. “See?”

“…”

“I’ll take your silence and pout as a sign that I was right and you’re too stubborn to admit you’re wrong.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t have to be so smug about it, either.”

The living room was looking nice. Any family would be lucky to have this house. It was time Keith headed home, so he offered a “see you later” and headed out to his car. Instead of turning it on and driving off, however, he pulled out his phone and opened his messages to his conversation with Pidge.

K: can you do something for me?

P: that depends

K: i need you to find someone

P: sure. one condition

K: what do you want this time?

P: a container of that mac and cheese that shiro makes

K: deal

P: and it better be a decent size

Keith huffed a laugh and tossed his phone to the passenger seat, driving off to convince Shiro to make mac and cheese – enough to feed a Pidge.

---

It was another few days before Keith could get back up to the house to finish the garden. The house would have been ready sooner if Keith hadn’t told Shiro that he could handle it himself. He told Shiro that he could handle the house and Shiro could take more time to work the shelter, easing the load that Allura was dealing with. While it was partially true that Keith let Shiro work the shelter instead of the house because the shelter needed him more, he also had his own motives. He still hadn’t told Shiro about Lance yet. And he may or may not have wanted Lance to be around while he was at the house, which he couldn’t be if Shiro was there.

Keith pushed through the door with a bucket full of gardening supplies in one hand and a tray of flowers in the other. Lance poked his head out from the kitchen and eyed him up and down before bursting into laughter. Keith frowned, confused at why Lance was laughing, but pushed on through the house, dumping his stuff outside by the back door. The house echoed with Lance’s howling laughter but it eventually died down and soon after Lance appeared in front of him, hand over his mouth undoubtedly trying to stifle more laughter.

Keith huffed and crossed his arms. “What.”

“Wow, Keith,” Lance began but paused for a second, taking in Keith once again. “Those really are denim overalls and,” Lance had to calm himself from laughing again before he could continue. “Cowboy boots! Keith! What the fuck? I swear to god if you pull out a straw hat.”

Keith looked down at his outfit. He didn’t think it was that bad. It was practical. Sure, the old button up shirt he wore underneath was big on him, but that was because it was an old shirt of Shiro’s. And he tried ever so hard to ignore the blush rising to his cheeks as he pulled a straw hat out of the bucket. He burns easily, so what?

“You’re unbelievable, Keith,” Lance said, but it wasn’t mean. It was fond. And made more heat rise to his cheeks.

He unloaded everything under the new entertainment area, ready to begin the garden. He stretched out his back, preparing for a day of hunching over dirt and pulled his hair back and up into the hair tie he had on his wrist. His eyes roamed absentmindedly as he did so, crossing over to where Lance was and where Lance was staring at him and quickly averted his eyes as Keith’s met his. Keith didn’t think much of it. Probably just meant more teasing. But it was teasing that never came.

Of course, Lance did speak every sentence in an exaggerated southern drawl, mocking Keith’s outfit. But it was ridiculous in that Lance way that made it impossible not to crack a smile.

Lance sat off to the side and talked away as Keith worked, filling the garden beds with fresh dirt, tipping the mulch all over and planting the plants in the specific way Shiro had drawn out for him. He looked at the drawing Shiro had done and noticed that he had missed a few plants over by where Lance was staring off at the clouds.

“Hey, Lance!”

Lance drifted his attention back to Keith, raising his eyebrows to let Keith know he was listening.

“It’s about time you helped out. I need three holes right by where you are.” Keith tossed his spade over to Lance. “Catch!”

Lance made no attempt to catch the spade that was tossed slightly too hard and it went straight through him. Keith gave a confused look.

“Dude. Ghost. Can’t touch things.”

“But you’re leaning against the retaining wall? You can move things?” This just made Keith more confused. He was also a little mad. Was Lance trying to get out of helping?

“Well, not really.” Lance demonstrated his point by falling straight through the retaining wall and onto the unfilled garden bed behind it. “See? It’s all an act. Gets me all the ladies.” He brought himself back up to fake lean against the wall again.

“But you helped me move the furniture the other day. You can move things!” Keith pushed aside the pang of disappointment at the “ladies” comment to deal with at a later, more convenient time, a.k.a never.

“I mean, yes, I can. But that’s different.” Lance shuffled himself to face Keith. “These are more just ghost powers. Like how I can disappear and reappear. I don’t actually teleport though, but maybe I can unlock that too.”

“Unlock? What do you mean “unlock”?” If Keith thought he was confused before…

“Okay, well, see, I couldn’t always appear and move things. When it all happened, I couldn’t do anything. I floated around invisible and voiceless. Over time I realised that I could actually speak and people could actually hear me. So I thought, “hmm, maybe I can make myself visible.” And, sure enough, after a long time alone to work on these things, I can now do this,” Lance began flicking back and forth from visible to invisible, ending back at visible, “And I can move shit with my epic ghost mind.” He picked up the spade with his powers and slid it back to Keith.

Keith was content with that answer, even though he still had so many more questions, but he settled on one. “Do you wish you could touch things?”

“All the time, dude,” Lance chuckled. “I don’t know what it is though, but I can’t do it.”

“Well, there has to be a way, right?”

“I guess?”

Keith picked up the spade and made his way to sit in front of Lance, closer than he meant to but not really caring. He held the spade out in both hands to Lance. “How did you do the other stuff?”

“I just focused.” It was Lance’s turn to look confused.

“Okay, so focus. Take this from me.” Keith pushed the spade further in between them. Lance closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked back at the spade and slowly brought a hand up between Keith’s and up to the spade. Keith’s heart jumped when it looked like it had worked, but he let out a little hum instead when Lance’s hand went straight through it.

“See?” Lance looked defeated and it only served to make Keith more determined.

“You tried it once. Do it again.”

Lance nodded and tried again, focusing and breathing, bringing his hand up to the spade, but then through it. And through it again. And again. Again.

Lance groaned loudly in frustration and fell backward onto the grass. Keith was feeling his frustration too. He let the spade fall to the ground. Lance sat back up and looked at the spade. He pointed at it and it moved upwards, bumping up and down as Lance wiggled his finger. He looked at it with disappointment plastered on his face.

“If we keep working on it, you’ll get it,” Keith offered.

“Yeah, I guess.” Lance perked back up and raised the spade high. “But there's a more serious matter at hand. You do need to pay for that horrific crime that is your outfit.” Lance pretended to lead the spade to Keith’s head, a playful mood falling over them until-

“Hey Keith, Allura was fine so I came to hel- Keith!” Shiro’s shout startled both Keith and Lance. Their attention quickly turned to where Shiro was standing at the door, eyes wide. The loss of attention from Lance sent the spade falling from the air to collide with Keith’s knee. It was nothing major, but Keith yelped in surprise more than pain. That only made Shiro more distressed.

“Keith, get away!”

“Shiro, it’s not-“ He was cut off by more demands.

“Keith. Now.”

Keith looked at Lance, who looked just as shocked as Shiro did when he saw them. Keith stood and hurried over to Shiro, who then lead him out of the house and to his car. The whole way he shouted and begged Shiro to listen. This was exactly how Hunk had left Lance. He had to get Shiro to listen, if not for Shiro, then for Lance, who was probably panicking that another person was scared out of his life.

“Shiro, stop!” Finally, Keith got through to Shiro before he took off. “It’s not what you think!”

“Keith, he was going to hurt you!” Shiro’s panic still did not ease. Keith realised that it was warranted since Shiro did walk in on Lance fake-killing him.

“Shiro, no. That’s Lance.” Keith steadied his voice, frantic replaced with stern calm now that Shiro was finally listening. “He lives there. He’s a ghost but he’s- he’s my friend.” Lance was his friend.

Shiro said nothing, eyes still wide.

“Do you trust me?” Shiro nodded. “Okay. Then trust me.” Keith got out of the car and ushered for Shiro to follow. He did, but very cautiously.

Keith led him back to the house in through the front door, Shiro standing defensively behind him as he called out for Lance. Down the hallway, Keith spotted Lance. He seemed afraid to move closer, so Keith moved up to him.

“So, this is Shiro.” Keith motioned for Shiro to join him, and he did. “Shiro, this is Lance. And neither of you are going to hurt each other.”

Shiro looked skeptical but reacted none the less. “Hello, Lance.”

“Hi,” Lance said and offered a smile and a wave, trying to be as non-threatening as he could be.

“Uh, sorry about freaking out before. It’s just, you’re a,” Shiro rubbed the back of his neck, uncertain of his phrasing.

Lance got him though. “A ghost?” He laughed. “Yeah, I get it all the time. No sweat. Also, sorry you first saw me was when I was fake-murdering your little bro.”

Shiro looked over to where Keith was mediating their interaction. “So, I guess you weren’t trying to prank me, huh.”

The three of them ended up in the kitchen, Shiro still hesitant of Lance and sticking close to Keith, and Lance kept his distance. Shiro asked him the occasional question about being a ghost, and thankfully they were the same as Keith’s burning questions. Yes, Lance does sleep, but it’s not like how human sleep. He doesn’t need it but he does it to pass the time. Yes, Lance is bored and he will gladly take Keith’s TV and also he wants a copy of all the Star Wars movies. And the new ones. Directors cut. Maybe now Lance won't be on Keith's mind as much.

Never has Keith been more thankful for Lance’s overly friendly nature as it seemed to ease Shiro into a more comfortable state around Lance, and soon enough they’re back outside to finish off the garden. Keith will admit that Shiro and Lance’s first meeting could have gone a lot better, and that is on him, but it worked out in the end, and now he doesn’t have to do everything by himself.

But also fuck Lance, because now both he and Shiro are laughing at his cowboy boots and straw hat.

Chapter Text

Keith sat, legs crossed on the couch at their apartment while Shiro sat opposite, playing a new game he bought a few days ago. He picked at the cereal he had poured himself, despite Shiro’s confusion of him eating cereal at almost 10 pm. He might have poured slightly too much out of spite, pouring more while staring Shiro down as he questioned Keith’s snacking habits. The last few spoonfuls had gone soggy, too full anyway to eat them even if he wanted to, so he picked at it instead.

He noticed Shiro looking over to him every so often, almost as if he wanted to say something, but decided against it or perhaps didn’t know quite how. He stayed quiet though, staring at the mess in the bottom of his bowl.

“What do we do about Lance?” Eventually, Shiro spilled his thoughts.

“What do you mean?” Keith looked over where Shiro was still focused in on the game.

“I mean, what do we do with him? He can’t stay there, can he? And if he does, how much trouble will he be to the new owners? I doubt they’ll be as open to him as you were.” Shiro paused the game and pulled his full attention to the conversation, it now losing its casual vibe.

Oh. Keith hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. Surely they could just ask Lance to move on, right? Like, not to another house but move on move on. No more ghost. No more Lance.

No more Lance.

“You seem close with him, and I know how you get with people you’re close to and I worry that you won’t be able to handle whatever happens.” Keith just stared into his bowl. He wasn’t close to Lance. Lance was just a presence that was there when he worked on the house. He was just someone who Keith enjoyed spending time with and went out of his way to spend more time than he needed to with. But that doesn’t mean they’re close.

Asking Lance to leave can’t be hard if he isn’t attached to him. Which he isn’t. He tolerates Lance. But the fact that he spent the night tossing and turning thinking of Lance, and the bite at his chest when he thought of Lance moving on challenged this.

He can handle losing Lance, right?

A few days before their first inspection, Keith and Shiro were at the house making their final rounds, making sure everything was perfect and in place. Lance followed Shiro for the most part, probably because he was new and someone else Lance could tell all his stories to. Keith stomped down on the twist of jealousy that worked its way up, stopping it dead in its path. Shiro didn’t seem to mind Lance bothering him for a while. He made the odd remark to Keith that “that kid sure does love to talk” but would laugh it off and go straight back into conversation with Lance. According to Shiro, Keith could learn a few things about conversations from Lance, like how to engage in one.

Keith found himself watching Lance, noticing small things about his movements, like his hand gestures when he speaks, too much energy to contain to just his words. Lance barely stood still while he talked. It was endearing and something Keith never noticed. His whole body shook when he laughed and… and…

And he was supposed to be dusting, not staring at the way Lance’s eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles. He ran his hands down his face and groaned softly into them. Lance was a friend and he tolerated him. That’s all.  So he turned his back to where Lance was talking to Shiro and finished dusting, pushing away all thoughts of Lance.

It was late in the afternoon when they finished their touch-ups, which meant there was only one thing left for them to do – put up the “For Sale” sign. Normally, Keith enjoys putting the sign-up, a symbol of their accomplishments, especially on larger fixer-uppers like this house. But this time it felt off. It felt wrong, in a way. So when Shiro asked if he was coming out to put the sign up with him, Keith shook his head and followed Shiro to the front door, where he stood to watch.

Shiro frowned. “Just, be careful. Okay?” Shiro whispered to him as he headed outside.

Keith didn’t know what he was talking about. Well, actually he knew exactly what Shiro was talking about, but he was ignoring those feelings, so he had no idea what Shiro was talking about.

Lance followed behind Shiro but stopped next to Keith to watch as well.

“You’re brother’s cool. Much better than you.” Lance’s words hurt more than they should have, not because of what Lance said, no. It was a cute joke and it made Keith smile a little. It was the fact that they were said by Lance. Someone who wasn’t going to be in his life soon.

Lance kept talking but Keith couldn’t hear him, Lance’s words going in one ear and out the other. But Keith did what he always did, what he did best in these situations. He took that dread and upset and feelings and bottled them all up, throwing them off the cliff in his mind. This was stupid. He’d known Lance for barely two months. Life continued before him, life will continue after him.

“-alright? Keith?” Oh. Lance was asking him something.

“Hmm?” Keith came back to reality, pretending to feel better about the whole situation in an attempt to convince himself that he was fine.

“You good, dude?” Lance looked concerned. “You look really out of it.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m good. Didn’t get much sleep last night, that’s all.” It wasn’t a lie, but it also wasn’t the truth either.

It seemed to satisfy Lance, however, since he nodded and looked back out to where Shiro had finished putting the sign on the lawn. A small “L” frame with their agency and phone numbers on a hanging piece that swung in the left over movement from Shiro hammering it in place.

“Alright,” Shiro said, coming back to him and Lance. “That just about does it. You,” he pointed to Lance, “We have our first possible buyers coming for an inspection in a few days, so no touching anything. And you,” He pointed to Keith, “You ready to take off?”

“I think I’m gonna hang back here for a while. Saw some things that needed fixing.” That one was a lie. He and Lance were going to work on touching things. But Keith had forgotten until he saw Lance that morning at the house, the house that he drove with Shiro to. The house he would need to find a way to get home from. There’s probably a bus somewhere he could catch.

Normally he would just make a rain check with Lance, but it was dawning on him that he was running out of time to spend with him. Not that he cared. He threw that bottle off a cliff an hour ago.

“How will you get home?” Shiro looked concerned. He knew Keith was lying, Keith could see it in his eyes.

“Pidge is around here. I’ll get her to pick me up then hang out a bit.”

Shiro sighed but agreed, giving Keith that “be careful” look that he knew all too well, but this time it had a different meaning behind it. Different to the one he got when he bought a motorbike, to the one he got on his first out of state trip. Different because there was danger, it just wasn't physical.

Keith waved Shiro off when he pulled away, turning back to head into the living room where Lance was star fishing on the floor and staring up at the ceiling. It made Keith smile in a way that only Lance had been able to do. He was going to miss that.

Oh well. He pulled himself from his own head and flopped down on the couch, looking over the back to where Lance was still staring.

“So, did you practice at all while I was gone?”

“Yeah,” Lance said flatly.

“I’m guessing it didn’t go well, then?”

“Nope.” Lance never broke eye contact with the ceiling. He must be bummed that he couldn’t pick stuff up yet.

“Alright.” Keith shifted and rested his head on his arms on the back of the couch. “Do you want to keep trying?”

Lance let out a long breath. “Yeah, I guess.”

Keith frowned at Lance’s less than interested answer but continued anyway. He shuffled off the couch and picked up a rubber, yellow decoration piece from the coffee table to use. He worked his way to where Lance was still lying and sat next to him. He held the object over Lance’s face which drew his attention to Keith.

“I’ll drop it on you,” Keith said, reminding him of when he was a kid and he wanted to play while Shiro wanted to sleep.

“It’ll bounce through me, dumbass.” Lance’s answer wasn’t aggressive, but it wasn’t Lance. Maybe he really was bummed about not being able to touch shit.

Regardless, Keith dropped it, and as expected, it bounced right back up. If Keith was honest, the image of the ball thing bouncing through Lance’s face was mildly horrifying.

Keith huffed and sat back on his hands. Lance had the patience to learn all the other ghost stuff he can do, so why not this? It made Keith a little bit annoyed that he was so ready to give up. He slid back onto the floor and kicked his legs out, star fishing like Lance.

“Dude, get your nasty ass feet out of my stomach.” There’s Lance. There was that tone Keith was used to. That tone that never failed to make him feel warm. But also, oh shit. He quickly sat up and pulled his legs back and out of Lance.

Lance followed his lead and sat up too, looking Keith straight on. He was smiling, but there wasn’t the regular glint in his eyes that he always had when he looked at Keith. Keith still smiled at him and held out the ball (he still had no idea what it actually was. Was it a ball? A lemon? An abstract art piece that he wouldn’t understand because he didn’t understand art in any way?) to Lance, who huffed a laugh and readied himself.

They sat there for an hour, trying over and over again to get Lance to pick up the ball. Lance was growing frustrated and Keith had to move after that since his ass had become numb from sitting on floorboards for so long, so he decided that he should try throwing the ball at lance. Maybe it was a reaction thing.

So they spent another hour with Keith tossing the ball across the kitchen to Lance, where it would go through him on each attempt. Lance flicked the ball back with his powers and it turned into a game of catch.

Something was different about Lance though. He wasn’t as talkative as he usually was. He still talked a lot, but it wasn’t as bubbly and his mannerisms were barely half of what they were like he noticed when he watched him talk earlier on. It was completely out of his character. Keith let it go. He didn’t know Lance enough to if it was normal for him to have off days, even though he was fine at the start of the day. He doesn’t know Lance, which is why he isn’t attached. But he still hadn’t bought up the issue of him leaving yet.

The sun had completely set by the time Keith called it a day, his arms aching from throwing and catching aimlessly and ass still sore. He slumped on the couch and Lance took a seat on the floor next to him. He pulled out his phone to text Pidge to come and pick him up, but she replied saying that she wouldn’t be home for a few hours. Keith sighed and slumped down into the couch.

Lance piped up. “You could just stay here tonight.”

That was unexpected. Of course, he could. There was a bed and everything he needed. Would it be weird with Lance there? Of course. But there was something in the way Lance asked it that intrigued Keith. Almost unsure and a little insecure. Keith looked down at Lance who was looking up expectantly at him.

“Yeah. Okay.”

Lance grinned widely, then drew it back, coughing and playing it off like it was no big deal.  “Cool. Wanna watch TV?”

Lance returned to his normal self as they watched bad show after bad show, stupid reality shows and lame TV dramas. But it kept them amused none the less. Lance talked about what he used to watch and they made fun of cheesy dialogue and bad romance plots. There were enough boobs in one of the later shows they watched to start a drinking game if they wanted to and get pissed by the first ad break. Lance cheered every time there was a boob shown on screen which with the frequency at which they appeared, it got annoying really fast. He ordered himself pizza at some point and accidentally dropped a bit on the couch. He freaked out a little considering all the furniture was for display and not actually there’s. Luckily enough for Keith, it only stained a little bit and was easy to cover with a pillow. No one had to know. That was between him, Lance and the couch cushion.

Keith completely forgot Lance was a ghost until he stood for a bathroom break and stepped through Lance.

“Can you feel that?”

“Nah. You’re fine. Step on me as much as you wish.”

“Uh, no. I’m good.”

Soon enough, midnight rolled around and Keith felt his eyes fall down his face with how heavy they had become. He yawned and decided it was best if he went to bed, spending time with Lance be damned. In hindsight, spending time with Lance like that was a terrible idea, considering what he had yet to talk to him about, but hindsight is 20/20.

So he stood, said his “goodnight” to Lance and began to walk out of the room before he was stopped by Lance’s voice.

“Hey, Keith?” Lance had twisted his body to look at Keith.

“Yeah?” He paused and turned back to Lance.

Lance opened and closed his mouth before pausing, shaking his head. “Never mind.”

Keith frowned slightly, wanting to know what he was going to say, but he turned back and headed down to the master bedroom to sleep.

Keith woke to the sun beating down on his face through the thin curtains. He wandered into the kitchen to find Lance watching Sunday morning cartoons. It was oddly domestic and made Keith feel fuzzy. He never felt like this when he stayed at Pidge’s. But that was mostly because had morning classes and she was downing coffee and running out the door with a piece of toast hanging from her mouth. He had also never had a dream about being on a date with Pidge.

Lance poked his head up when he heard Keith shuffle in.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

“Mornin’, Prince Charming,” Keith shot back before he could catch himself, his mind still foggy with sleep. His eyes widened and he covered his mouth, shocked that his own brain would betray him like that.

Lance just beamed. Very satisfied at Keith’s greeting. “Prince Charming, huh? I always thought I had more of an Aladdin vibe.” Lance bounced up and stalked closer to Keith.

“You have no vibes. None at all. Go away.” Keith could feel his face turn red and it only served to make Lance grin harder. He was never going to hear the end of this.

He ignored Lance as best he could and pulled out his phone to ask Pidge to pick him up. He never told her about Lance and probably won’t until he’s gone. Sure, she’ll be mad, but it’s the better alternative when compared to relentless teasing about his “ghost boyfriend.” He could just see his nickname being changed to Ghostfucker.

Pidge showed up shortly after. He said his goodbyes to Lance and reminded him not to fuck anything up before their first possible buyers came through. Lance’s expression faltered but it was quickly covered back with a huge grin as he said his own goodbye. “Goodbye, Sleeping Beauty.”

Keith groaned and slammed the front door shut behind him, hoping the morning air would cool his face before he got in the car with Pidge. As he should have seen coming, Pidge interrogated him with endless questions about why he stayed there the night. She settled on the idea that Keith had a secret lover and his nickname was changed to SideHoe.

---

They didn’t visit the house until the day of the first inspection. Shiro and Keith arrived early to make sure everything was tidy and give one more sweep of the place, making sure not a speck of dust was left. Keith brought a tub of store bought cookie dough and an oven tray to cook them in the oven, not only to make the house smell nice and inviting but also to munch on. Only ever over the sink though or else Shiro will have his head for spilling crumbs all over the clean floor.

Lance didn’t greet them at the door or in the kitchen like he usually did, instead, popping up a little after they got started. Keith was in too much of a hurry to get everything done and perfect to really question it, and Lance left him alone to do so, sitting outside and looking at the clouds.

They had some downtime for a couple of minutes before the people were due to arrive, so Lance came back in and was given a debriefing about what was going to happen. Lance nodded along and agreed to stay invisible and out of it.

The people pulled up and Lance poofed away. He didn’t actually poof, Lance just made that sound effect when he went invisible. Keith could feel that Lance had moved up close to his side, the cold from Lance’s proximity making him shiver slightly.

They knocked on the door and Shiro let them in, leading them to the kitchen where he handed them a pamphlet. The couple were young and looking for a new house to start a family. “Three kids!” the woman had said very enthusiastically when Shiro asked how many they wanted. At least someone was excited about children.

Lance remained quiet and stayed in the kitchen when Keith and Shiro led the couple around the house. They made their way back to the kitchen and the couple took up the offer to wander the house a little longer. Keith was happy when the woman complimented his cookies.

“You always know how to butter them up,” Shiro told him when the couple left the kitchen to wander.

“All you have to do is actually bake cookies and offer them,” Keith took another one and took a bite, ignoring Shiro’s cringe as crumbs fell to the floor. “Just putting essence in the oven isn’t enough.”

“Yeah, but they make such a mess…”

It wasn’t too long before the couple found their way back to the kitchen, but their eyes were wide and voices spooked.

“So, uh, thank you but we have to be going,” The man said, the woman nodding quickly in response. They didn’t get a chance to say anything before they hurried out the door and took off.

“What’s up with them?” Keith asked and Shiro shrugged, just as confused as Keith. “Do you think they’ll be back?”

“Doubt it. It’s alright, though. I got a call from Coran that another couple wants to look at the house and the only day they can do it is next Monday, so we have a few days to figure out what freaked them out.” Keith had no idea what it could’ve been. He thought they had fixed everything. Maybe the heater in one of the bedrooms was busted and making a freaky noise. Or there was a new family of possums.

“Lance!” Keith called. Surely Lance might have an idea since he inhabits the place. Lance appeared immediately next to Keith. “You know why they looked freaked when they left in a hurry?”

Lance shrugged. “Dunno. Are the possums back?”

---

The next few days were frustrating for Keith, trying to get someone out to the house to figure out what’s broken. When he could get someone on such short notice, they came up empty handed. No possums, no leaky pipes, no creaky heating, no nothing. Keith was stumped. It must have just been the couple.

Whatever. It didn’t matter. There were new people coming on Monday and besides, the first few people never seem to actually buy, so he wasn’t missing out.

But it was when the new people had the exact same reaction as the previous ones that Keith became suspicious.

“Hey, Lance?”

“Yo!” Lance appeared right next to Keith when he called for him after the people left.

“You aren’t doing what you did to me but to them, are you?” Keith wasn’t accusing Lance. He trusted Lance to keep his word. He just wanted to cover all the bases before spending more money on more guys to come check out the house for problems.

“Nah man, you made me stay out of it,” Lance said and leaned in close. “Besides, your bro kinda scares me so… not gonna make him mad.”

Keith looked back at Shiro in amusement of Lance’s comment. Shiro had taken a sip of his coffee and had some on his nose. Yeah. Scary.

Again, Keith and the people he hired came up empty handed. Nothing was wrong with the house. In fact, it was perfect and completely up to code. He was frustrated and running out of their budget and he was majorly stressing since they had an open house and that meant that there was going to be more than a few people coming through the house. Maybe though, if it happens again he can ask someone before they bolt.

The first people strolled through the door and Lance turned invisible, but not before making a snide comment about the man’s Hawaiian shirt and socks and sandals. The couple had two kids and were looking for a change of scenery.

Keith greeted them and let them wander, giving the whole “we’ll be around if you have any questions” spiel.

Keith mulled around the kitchen with Shiro, waiting for more people to arrive and the others to come back in and ask questions. Keith hated open houses. It meant he had to actually speak to people. Usually, when it was just a couple or whoever coming for a single inspection, he pawns it off to Shiro. He just can’t wait for 4 pm to roll around so he can vent about all the people that came through.

He was in mid conversation when he heard footsteps heading out back up the hallway, but instead of stopping to come into the kitchen with them, they kept going. Keith and Shiro looked out the window where the couple were getting in their car to leave.

“Huh.” Lance appeared again from where he stood next to Shiro, causing him to jump a little, still not quite used to Lance. “What was that guy’s deal? And I don’t mean with his poor outfit choice.”

“Are you sure you’re not pulling any shit?” Keith aimed at Lance, sterner this time.

Lance threw his hands up in surrender. “Dude, no. I said I would stay out of it, so I am.”

“Then what could be doing that?” Keith let out a frustrated groan.

Shiro left to go check it out again but came back with nothing, which just made Keith stress harder.

Two more couples showed up over the next hour and a half but left with the same result. At least the last couple managed a quick goodbye and a poor excuse.

The next person strolled through the door not long after the last left, but Keith had had enough. He followed the man as he wandered, staying out of sight but still close enough to catch what was going on.

He wandered through the living room and then up into the master bedroom, where he spent a lot of time testing out the bed, even though the furniture did not come with the house. Shiro could not have made that more clear. He moseyed on down to look at the bathroom and bedrooms and Keith’s patience was really being tested. His fuse was already short today and coming up empty handed again would only make it worse.

Still, nothing happened when the guy wandered down to the back door and looked outside. He came back in and Keith was about to give up when he noticed the man look back at the wall at the end of the hallway. He looked like he heard something odd but shook it off. Yes. Finally. Keith thought. Finally, he’d know what to fix.

The man looked back again, almost as if someone was calling out to him. Keith saw him freeze, face go wide in fear. What Keith was expecting was a snake, or a spider, or anything really. Anything other than Lance, who was at the end of the hallway, calling out and flickering like he did out in the garden after explaining his powers to Keith. Lance looked up at the guy but say Keith’s head poking out. Their eyes met and Lance disappeared completely. Anger bubbled in Keith’s stomach and he took a deep breath to calm himself as to not ruin his composure in front of the guest, and he stalked into the kitchen where Shiro gave him a confused look.

Keith took another deep breath and waited for the man to leave, which he did very quickly before he shouted Lance’s name, earning an even more confused look from Shiro. But there was no time to explain.

He called out for Lance again, but he still didn’t show.

“Lance!” Keith kept shouting and stormed into the hallway where he last saw Lance, becoming more aggressive as he still refused to show himself.

“Keith, what’s going on?” Shiro hurried to see what the fuss was about.

“Nothing. I’ve got it,” Keith dismissed Shiro. “Lance! Get the fuck out here, now!” Yes, Keith could’ve been less aggressive about it and yes, Keith was shouting probably too loud, but he didn’t care. Lance was the one scaring off people and he was mad. Lance wasn’t fucking with just him anymore, he was fucking with other people and his job, which Keith takes very seriously.

Finally, Lance appeared in front of Keith, head hanging low and expression guilty.

“What the fuck, Lance?” Keith closed the space Lance intentionally left between them. He flinched away has Keith encroached in his space. “We tell you to stay out of it, and what do you do? You get right up in it! You’re scaring away everyone who walks through that door!” Lance wasn’t retorting at all, he just stood there, taking everything Keith could throw at him. Keith could’ve stopped. Should’ve stopped, but he kept going, frustrated and mad. “It was you this whole time. You said you wouldn’t, you said you didn’t! Do you know how much extra we’ve had to spend on this place thinking there was something wrong with it? Unbelievable.”

“Keith, it’s alright,” Shiro tried, but his hand was brushed off Keith’s shoulder as soon as it was placed there.

To be quite honest, Keith wasn’t quite sure why he was so mad. Yes, Lance cost them a lot more money, but they’d make that back when the house was sold and there was still a whole list of people who wanted to see the house. But Keith was mad. If he was a phycologist, he would know that he wasn’t really that mad at Lance, that he was just taking it out on Lance because he had unresolved feelings. He was driving Lance away so it would hurt less when the time came for them to part ways. He was taking out his frustrations at himself on Lance. And Lance just stood there, taking every word spat at him.

But Keith isn’t a phycologist. If he was, he wouldn’t have said what he let spill.

“What is wrong with you? Just leave already. Move on! You can’t stay here anyway, may as well get a fucking move on, then.” Keith snarled and stormed off, ears ringing and muffled calls from Shiro asking about the rest of the open house echoing in the back of his mind. “Finish it yourself, Shiro.”

Shiro met Keith at the house after visiting the shelter so both cars were there. Keith stormed out and sped off in his car, leaving Shiro and Lance behind.

Chapter Text

Keith had done a lot of stupid things in his life, but that took the fucking cake. He had just told one of the only people he gave a shit about to fuck off. The thing is, when he’s pulled this shit in the past, it could be fixed. Both parties spend a few days being mad before he could approach and apologise. Or, depending on what he had said or done, he would send in Shiro. Things would then return to normal. But this, this time it was entirely different. There was no Facebook or texting with Lance. There was no way to reach him outside of that house. And even if Keith could get back in touch with Lance, he’d essentially told Lance that he didn’t want him around anymore, he’d told him to move on. If Lance had really moved on then Keith would have lost him for good. He could scream Lance’s name all he wanted, but nothing would happen.

He pushed through the door to his and Shiro’s place and made it to the kitchen before he collapsed, sliding down the cupboards to come to rest on the floor. The realisation of what he had just done finally hit him like a freight train. The weight of his words pinned him to the floor. Keith liked to think that he doesn’t get close to people because people don’t understand him, that he doesn’t understand people, but the reality of it is that Keith doesn’t get close to people because he’s scared of losing them. He has already lost two out of three of the most important people in his life and if he becomes close with more people, then that’s just increasing the chances of his fears becoming reality. And he doesn’t handle losing people well.

Sure, he still had friends. He had Matt and Pidge, but that doesn’t mean he got a say in it. Shiro had been very adamant about him talking to Pidge after Matt had brought her around for him since Shiro decided that Keith needed someone other than himself to talk to. He got along fine with her and they quickly became friends and he enjoyed her company, but he was never really close with her.

But Lance. Lance was something else, something Pidge could never be to him. He wasn’t close with Lance at all. They knew nothing about each other, but Keith wanted to tell Lance everything. Confide in him about his parents, laugh about slipping over in the mall, talk about his weird ass dreams. Everything and anything. And he wanted Lance to do the same, to learn everything about him and what made him tick. Lance annoyed him, frustrated him at times, but the companionship he found in Lance made his world spin. And he felt something for Lance that he never felt with Pidge. It was like he was being drawn in. Like Lance had a gravitational pull that was just for Keith. And it worked.

Lance just made him feel safe. There was no other way to explain it. And Keith hated it. He hated how important Lance had become to him. He hated that it had only been a couple of months that they’d known each other. He hated the feelings that Lance made him feel. He hated that he could never touch Lance, to feel his skin that would be as warm as his smile. He hated how often Lance occupied his thoughts.  He hated that he knew exactly what would end up happening but he did it anyway. He let himself fall so far for a pipe dream. He was chasing ghosts, literally. Letting his subconscious wants drive his decisions.

He hated that the one time he let his emotions get in his way, it was with Lance.

So he did what he does best, he stayed mad. If he stayed mad, he couldn’t be upset. He can cut his losses and call it a day. He focused on the negatives, what little he could find. If Lance lied to him about haunting the visitors, then what else did he lie about? Probably everything. Everything he said to Keith was bullshit. It was a weak attempt at staying mad and deep in his heart he knew that something had caused Lance to do that, that he hadn’t crossed Keith before this. If he didn’t say what he said, Lance would have told him why. If he asked him. If he had just asked why.

But then again, hindsight is 20/20.

He sat on the floor lost in his mind when Shiro finally arrived home, his footsteps enough to cause Keith to look up. Shiro just sighed when he saw Keith, his expression sympathetic.

“Shiro,” Keith said, although unsure of what he would say next.

Shiro knew the weight of his fuck up too, his way of comforting Keith drastically different to his usual. “You barely knew him. Don’t beat yourself up about it too much. You still have Pidge, and you’ve known her for years. Besides, if I asked you what his favourite movie or song was, could you even answer that?”

Shiro meant well, trying to prove his point that he didn’t know Lance. Which was true for the most part, but the fact was that he did know Lance’s favourite song and movie. He knew his favourite meal and colour. Lance had mentioned them all in passing but Keith remembered. He remembered it all. It took him years to learn what Pidge’s favourite colour was.

Then Shiro kept talking. “It doesn’t matter now, Keith. Besides, he would have only caused us trouble in the long run.” Suddenly the ache in his stomach was replaced with anger at the implication that Lance didn’t matter. He stood and stared Shiro down.

“How can you say that? You don’t know him at all!” Keith didn’t know much, but Shiro knew even less. He wasn’t there when Lance told him about Hunk or when they stayed up watching TV together. He wasn’t there. Lance was the opposite of trouble.

Shiro’s expression softened in realisation. “You’re in love with him.”

Keith could hear his heart beat in his ears as he shrunk back down. He knew, but he could never bring himself to admit it. He loved Lance. He wasn’t in love with him, not yet, but he could see himself falling hard for Lance, and in a way, he already was. And it terrified him.

All Keith could do was stare at the floor. “I fucked up, Shiro.”

But Shiro stayed quiet. Which caused his heart to sink. Shiro was normally full of advice and ways to fix things, not silence, and it only reinforced the gravity of the situation. He really did fuck up this time.

Shiro’s silence was the answer to a question he never asked, but it wasn’t the answer he wanted. “Shiro?”

“After you stormed out he vanished. I tried calling out to him but he never showed up again. I tried telling him you didn’t mean it, but you need to be the one to fix this.”

“What if he’s really gone?" Keith spoke so softly he wasn’t sure Shiro heard. All Keith’s repressed feelings reared their ugly heads.

“Then you make your peace with it and move on.”

But what if I don’t want to move on?

---

He didn’t waste any time in grabbing his keys and heading back out the door, but he was stopped when Shiro’s hand fell firmly on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. He held out a blue lion keyring, the exact same as his red one.

“Allura got another one for me but I think you could use it.”

Keith took it, in too much of a hurry to question why and put it in his back pocket.

He cursed himself out on the drive back, half paying attention to the road, and half to the mess of words bouncing around in his head as he tried to think of what he would say. He needed to think of something because he never thinks before he speaks, and that’s what got him in this mess in the first place. He had to think of the perfect words, but they weren’t coming.

All that filled his mind were memories of him and Lance, and how there was a good chance that all Lance would ever be to him are memories. It made Keith sick to his stomach.

He pulled up in the driveway, not bothering to pull in properly, half of the car spilled onto the lawn. He jumped out and rushed to the door. He forced it open and it banged against the wall. He called out for Lance, desperately looking around the house for any sign of him. Anything at all. He kept calling, shouting and straining, panic rising in his voice the longer he called.

He was too late. He had to be. There was no sign of Lance. He was going to be sick but he called out one more time, defeated. But something pricked his ears. A voice had echoed, or so he thought. He was fatigued and blue and probably hearing things that were giving him false hope. But then he heard it again, just barely over how loudly he was breathing. It was his name.

“Lance!” Hope filled his heart and a new wave of determination overtook him. His legs moved before his brain could catch up and before he knew it, he was standing outside one of the bedrooms – the old blue one.

There, against the back wall was Lance.

“Lance! Thank god, you’re still here.” If the doorframe wasn’t there to catch Keith, he probably would have collapsed, the relief of seeing Lance’s face again overwhelming.

“You came back.” Lance wiped at his eye.

“Yeah,” was all Keith could say. His brain faltered, everything he wanted to say disappearing, leaving him high and dry.

“I’m sorry i-“ Lance began, but Keith didn’t let him finish.

“No, Lance. I’m sorry. I… realised some things and I’m sorry. I don’t want you to leave. We can work something out. Lance?” Lance had pressed his face into his hands and slid down the wall. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just thought,” Lance chuckled, a bittersweet smile gracing his face. “I just thought you didn’t care about me and that you felt bad for me this whole time since you’re the first person I’ve talked to in years.“

Keith stepped in the room and walked up to Lance, squatting in front of him, putting them at eye level, a fond smile tracing his lips. “You thought wrong.”

“You’re the only one that came back. I thought I lost you too. I was so lonely before you showed up and I forgot what it was like to talk to someone and be a friend and,” Lance paused and met Keith’s eyes. “And I guess not ready to let go of you just yet. I’m sorry I did that. I didn’t mean to upset you so much.”

“It’s okay. I overreacted a bit.” Overreacted was an understatement. “Is that why you did what you did? Because you wanted to keep me around?”

“Well, partly yes. But also because this house was my family’s house and it’s the only thing I have left of them.” Lance looked back to the floor.

“What happened to them?”

“They left. After a couple of years after I disappeared the moved states. As far as they knew, I went missing. So they waited in hopes that I’d come back. But I was here the whole time. I just didn’t know how to do all the stuff I can now so they had no idea. They needed closure but they couldn’t get here.”

“It’s okay. We do have to sell the house though, but we can find a family that you like and approve of to take the house.” Lance nodded and Keith let the silence hand for a while before his mind got the better of him and pushed out another question. “Why didn’t you leave?”

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I’m tied to this place. The thing is, I’m not actually dead, just cursed.” Lance must have caught Keith trying to hold back more questions, or he knew that what he said raised more questions than it answered. “Guess I should be open with you. At least tell you the truth.”

Keith didn’t encourage him to spill his story, but he didn’t stop him, either.

“My little brother. He was dying. He had lung cancer and it was too aggressive. He was given a month to live. That poor kid. He had such a bright future. He got good grades, had lots of friends. He was going places. So I found a spell that would trade my life for his. I gathered all the ingredients and took them into the crawlspace and cast the spell.” Lance looked down again, guilt spreading across his soft features. “I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. I thought it would happen when he died but it happened immediately. My life left me and went to him and I fell through the roof to the floor. I thought I was going to die but I never did. I just became a shell of existence. The good news was that he was brought home a week later after a “miracle recovery.” The box is still up there and I think because it’s directly tied to the spell, I can’t move it. I tried but it wouldn’t budge.”

Keith wasn’t one to hug people, but Lance looked so small and vulnerable and he just wanted to take him in his arms and hug away his sadness and dry his tears. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, mullet.” Lance looked back and forced a smile again. “What’s done is done.”

“Wait. I have an idea.” If Lance couldn’t move the box, then maybe he could. If Lance is really tied to the box, then he could move the box and Lance away and solve all their problems and prove Shiro wrong. Keith stood and headed out in search of the ladder to get up into the crawlspace. Lance couldn’t get up there, but he could. So he did. Lance seemed sceptical of his plan but let Keith continue regardless.

It was dark and dusty and smelled musky. Keith flicked on the torch on his phone and felt his way over the beams. He searched the entire roof until he saw a box-shaped lump in the dust. He pushed the dust off the top to reveal a small wooden jewellery box.

“Was it a jewellery box?” He called back down to Lance.

“Yeah!” He heard in reply.

Keith inspected it quickly before attempting to pick it up. But just like Lance, he couldn’t move it. It was like it was fused with the roof. There was no way he was able to pick it up. He sat back up and huffed. It was sat in insulation, there was no way it should be stuck to it like that. So he grabbed the insulation underneath it and tried to lift it up on that. But, again, the box did not budge, and his next idea of cutting it out of the roof went with it. There was no way he was moving it, no matter how hard he tried or how desperate he was. It wasn’t moving.

He had to keep himself from punching the box in frustration. That meant that Lance was stuck there. He couldn’t take Lance away, give him a new life. A new life with him.

He climbed back down and shook his head at Lance, who nodded gently. He didn’t follow Keith like he usually did when he went to put the ladder away, so Keith figured it was best to leave him alone for a while. He walked back to where Lance had taken a seat in the middle of the old blue room and leaned against the door frame, watching him.

“You didn’t paint over it.” Keith followed where Lance’s finger was pointing. It was to the “miss you buddy” written on the door frame by Keith’s leg. Shiro must have left it there when he painted the back rooms.

“I guess we didn’t.”

“This was my room and my little brother write it there when they finally left. I watched him write it.” Lance’s gaze kept on the writing.

“Hey, so I’m going to get going. It’s been a long day.” Keith didn’t want to leave, but they both needed a bit of space, or at least he did. He had to catch all the feelings and thoughts and words he wanted to say before they all escaped.

“Yeah, okay. Bye, Keith.”

Keith turned to leave and reached into his pocket for his keys, but felt something else stuffed into his back pocket. The lion. He turned back to where Lance was sitting still, his eyes at the doorway where he had watched Keith leave.

“I uh,” Keith reached into his back pocket and pulled out the keyring, finally understanding why Shiro gave it to him, but it wasn’t the reason he gave to Lance. “I got this for you, to uh, you know. Practice with. So, uh, you don’t break the decorations.”

He tossed it gently to Lance who looked down at it and smiled. “Blue. My favourite colour.”

Keith headed home to avoid Shiro and be alone with his thoughts, but he promised Lance that he would be back for a little bit the next day. After all, Keith had made it his mission to get him to touch.

Keith wouldn’t call himself weak, and he wouldn’t say he had many weaknesses, but when it came to love, that was his kryptonite. When it came to love, he didn’t understand it and it scared him, the endless possibilities and outcomes, both positive and negative, overwhelmed him.

It’s rare for Keith to fall in love, but when he does, he falls quickly, and he falls hard.

Chapter Text

“We got an offer.”

“What?” Keith stopped in his tracks and his heart sank. He knew an offer was bound to happen, but so soon? It had only been a few days since the open house.

“It’s a big one, too. We’d be mad not to take it.” Shiro stirred his coffee, leaned up against the counter in their kitchen.

“We can’t. We just can’t.” Keith shook his head in disbelief.

“Keith. If Coran finds out we turned down such a big offer we will be in serious shit. This is way above asking. What would we tell him?”

“Then we don’t tell him.” Keith would feel bad crossing Coran again. He was always so lenient towards Keith’s mistakes, especially when he was a rookie.

“Even if I would allow that, it’s not possible. The offer went through him. I got the call a little while ago. He was ecstatic that we could bring in such an offer. I think he has big plans for you, Keith, so please think this through.” Shiro sipped his coffee and watched Keith where he stood in the middle of the kitchen.

“But Lance…” Keith was going somewhere with his thought but he trailed off. He told Lance that he could have a say. What if he hates this family? He would have to live with them for god knows how long he would have to put up with them. He would be even more alone than he had been with no one in the house. He would hate Keith.

“Blame me,” Shiro spoke, short and sharp.

“No, I can’t.” It wasn’t fair to blame this all on Shiro. He was just doing his job, which is what Keith was supposed to be doing.

“There’s nothing we can do, Keith. The least we can do is put the blame on me so you aren’t the bad guy in Lance’s story.”

Keith just sighed and walked away back to his room to think Shiro’s offer over. Shiro was so kind to offer that, to take the fall for a possibly life-ruining decision for Lance.

He slumped on his bed. He had to be at the office in an hour but that was the last thing on his mind. He knew he would have to part with Lance at some point, but he never thought it would be so soon. He thought he would have more time to accept his reality than this. At most, they had a week. A week for Keith to soak up as much of Lance as he could. There was still so much he hadn’t figured out how to say yet. He really did want to tell Lance how he felt, tell him that he had become his reason to wake up in the morning. Love made Keith lose control. All Keith could think about was Lance. How he wanted to hold him, wake up next to him, learn everything about him. To go on cute dates and long drives and to watch him dance around the kitchen to his favourite songs while he cooked his favourite dinners. Keith wanted nothing more to make Lance happy, but knowing what Lance had told him, Keith would be doing the exact opposite. And he would just be another person that left his life.

There was no way Keith could confess to Lance. And if Lance felt any of what Keith felt back, it would rip him apart knowing that there was nothing that he could do. The two of them would be lost to fate.

But instead of distracting himself from his sadness, he dove in head first. He let his mind fill with old memories of conversations and times with Lance, from the childhood tales he told Lance about himself and Shiro, to all the way back to when they were painting the house and Lance had splattered paint all over Keith’s face. Keith wanted to murder Lance.

What he would do to be back there again. Annoyed and pissed off at Lance instead of hopelessly in love and headed towards heartbreak. Oh if he could only go back and tell his old self to not fall for his feelings.

His stupid, stupid feelings.

There’s a reason he bottles them up and throws them off a cliff.

There was a knock on the door and Shiro’s concerned voice. “You alright? We have to leave in five.”

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’ll be out in a sec,” He called back. He heard Shiro’s footsteps tread back down the hallway. He groaned and rolled off his bed, barely managing to throw on his work clothes and brush his hair in time to leave.

“I know I said five minutes but it can be six if it means you brush your teeth,” Shiro said when Keith met him in the kitchen, ready to go.

Keith busied himself in his paperwork all day, determined not to let Lance cross his mind at all. The last thing he needed was to fill something out wrong because he was distracted.

On their way home, Keith stared out the window, watching the power lines race each other across the sky above while Shiro drove.

“You should be the one to tell him,” Shiro spoke, breaking Keith from his trance and bringing him back to Earth.

“Yeah.” He does have to be the one to tell Lance. And knowing that sucks ass.

“The buyers are coming down tomorrow to sign the papers, just so you know.” Keith turned back to watch the power lines. That meant that he had even less time than he thought. If the papers are signed tomorrow, then the keys would be handed over in about four days. Fucking great. He still had no idea what to say to Lance. He thought about not telling Lance and just running, never facing this problem again. But that would weigh too much on his conscience. Everyone in Lance’s life left without a goodbye – Lance left without a goodbye, and it would only be cruel for Keith to do the same.

Keith trodded behind Shiro and followed him into the house, stone faced.

“Don’t pretend to be all stoic this time, alright? You’re allowed to have feelings and you’re allowed to let them out. You don’t have to act like you aren’t affected by this,” Shiro called out after him as he headed down to his room. Keith didn’t acknowledge Shiro, but he heard his words.

If he pretended he didn’t feel anything, then he could convince himself that he didn’t right? Fake it till he made it. And the sooner he did that, the sooner he could stop feeling so ashamed at how quickly these feelings had overwhelmed him.

He shrugged off his work clothes and threw on his casual stuff. If he had to tell Lance that he was leaving, he may as well be comfortable doing so.

Shiro said nothing but gave a small nod when Keith emerged from his room and headed out to leave.

The drive back to the house was tense for Keith. He was frustrated at Shiro for taking that offer and making him tell Lance. He was frustrated at Lance, for being so loving and pretty and warm. And he was frustrated at himself, for seeing all those things and more in Lance.

He had to tell Lance. He didn’t want to though. He didn’t want to be the one to tell Lance that their time together was up. He didn’t want to tell Lance that his family home was no longer his. He didn’t want to tell Lance that he was just doing his job. He didn’t want to tell Lance. He just didn’t want to.

He stood at the closed front door, taking calming breaths. The minute he stepped through that door he would have to tell Lance. And telling Lance would just make the reality set in. As soon as he told Lance, they would only have a few days together before all the paperwork was signed and the keys were handed over.

As soon as he stepped through the door, Lance was there just as bouncy and peppy as ever.

“Hey! Didn’t expect to see you so soon.” His excitement visibly left his body upon seeing Keith’s sorrowful appearance. “Dude, what’s got you so glum?” Lance’s words were casual but they were full of concern.

“I have some news.” Keith walked into the kitchen, refusing to look at Lance.

“I’m guessing it isn’t good?” Lance frowned and crossed his arms, standing opposite Keith and waiting for him to explain.

“It’s about the house,” Keith began, already feeling the sink in his chest. “We got an offer and we have to accept it.”

“Oh. Okay.” Lance bit at his lip. “So, how long do we have?”

Keith winced and looked up at Lance. “They sign the deeds tomorrow so, about four days. I’m sorry, Lance.”

A vacant pass crossed Lance’s face. “No. You don’t need to apologise. You’re just doing your job, right?”

The lack of emotion emitting from Lance crushed Keith. He knew it wasn’t okay. But they had four days left and he’d be damned if he was going to waste them moping about. “Where’s that lion I gave you?”

“Uh, I think I left it in my room. Why?”

“Well, we have four days left, right? So we better make the most of it.” Keith offered a small, reassuring smile.

Lance’s lips quivered before quirked upwards slightly. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

There was something different about Lance, however. He appeared to be fuller, not weight wise, but in his transparency. He looked more solid than he did previously. But then again, Keith’s head had been all over the place so there was a good chance Lance had always been like that and Keith was only just now noticing. He tended to be unobservant when his mind was elsewhere.

Keith heard the jingling of the lion keyring as Lance bought it back out. Realistically, he should be boxing up all the contents of the house that were on display, since it was all on loan to them and it had to be gone so the new owners could move their own stuff in. He could always ask Lance to start while he was gone, but he hardly thought that was fair. This wasn’t Lance’s job and it would only prove to make things worse for him, another reminder that Keith was leaving.

The evening sun poured light into the living room where they sat on the floor. Keith couldn’t help but admire how stunning Lance looked in this light. His dark skin illuminated in a golden haze like Keith had never seen. He could only imagine how breathtaking Lance would look if half the light didn’t go straight through him. He was stupid. Why would someone as ethereal as Lance ever fall for someone like Keith?

“Umm, dude?” Oh shit. He was staring.

He cleared his throat and snatched the lion from Lance. “Four days. We can do this.”

Lance smiled and nodded, taking his position and steadying himself. As expected, Lance tried and tried, but nothing happened. He would reach out and try and take the lion, but to no avail.

“Tell me what you’re thinking about,” Keith spoke as Lance’s frustrations grew. It was an interesting turn of events as for the first time, Keith wasn’t the one becoming frustrated. He was actually able to provide the support he wanted to give.

“Just regular stuff. Ya know, family, friends, sometimes I clear my mind completely. Everything I did when I was learning the other ghost powers. Doesn’t seem to be working though,” Lance grumbled.

Keith wiggled as close as he could to Lance, so close that if Lance wasn’t a ghost, their knees would easily be touching. “There must be something you haven’t tried yet,” Keith’s voice was soft and all up in Lance’s space, but Lance didn’t pull away.

Instead, he looked straight at Keith. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes. He kept them closed for a long time and Keith almost spoke, a little concerned. But before he could, Lance opened his eyes again and looked at the lion Keith held out for him. He took his hand, like he had done a hundred times before and hovered over the lion. He lowered his hand and pinched the head, but this time something was different. Whatever Lance had focused on had worked. The lion began to move, but just a little bit and Keith’s heart soared. Then, the lion fell from Lance’s grip, falling through him.

“Lance! You almost did it!” Keith cheered. “What were you thinking?”

“I, uh. I wasn’t really thinking.” Lance averted his eyes in an almost embarrassed manner, leading Keith to believe there was actually something on his mind when he shook the lion. He looked back to Keith and smiled. “Shit, dude. I almost did it.”

“Well, do it again.” Keith grinned harder than he’d ever smiled before. He felt proud, even though it wasn’t what they had expected, Lance picking up the lion just a little bit was still a huge step. There was also that feeling that had become so familiar to him over the past months flowing beside the joy he felt for Lance. That love he tried so hard to deny.

Lance looked excited as well. He was bouncing where he sat, his eyes gleaming and smile as wide as Keith’s.

Lance returned to his calm state, breathing deep and preparing himself to try again. “You got this, buddy.” Keith offered in support.

And so Lance tried again. Tried to reproduce their previous result but with a new level of determination. But, to both of their disappointment, the lion went straight through Lance. Lance huffed but tried again. Keith watched as Lance centred himself and reached out and Keith watched as the excitement fell from Lance’s face as he tried and tried again but failed to even so much as budge.

Lance flopped backwards to the floor and sighed.

“Maybe we should take a break.” Lance was clearly frustrated and Keith thought it would benefit him to take a time out to gather himself, or maybe try again the next day. He didn’t want to spend his last days with Lance all tense.

But Lance didn’t want to. “No!” He sat back up. “I can do this. I have to do this. Hold it out again.” There was vigour in Lance’s voice that Keith didn’t expect, so he obeyed and held out the lion.

Again and again, they came out empty handed, or at least Lance did. Nothing Keith could say or Lance could do seemed to make a difference. Keith was at a loss and he could tell that Lance was too.

“Keith. I can’t do it.” Lance threw his head in his hands.

“Yes, you can. I know you can.” If Keith could, he would place a reassuring hand on Lance’s shoulder, but since he couldn’t, he settled on having to use his words. “I believe you can.”

That just seemed to make things worse. Lance let out a shout and flung up, fisting his hands in his hair. “I can’t! I just can’t do it!”

Lance was mad. Something other than frustration bubbled underneath his surface. He took the lion from Keith and tossed it across the room.

“Face it, I failed! I failed this! I failed this house! I failed you!” Something stirred in the room and it put Keith on edge. He crawled slowly backwards and away from Lance and towards the sliding door that led to the drive way, an escape if he needed it.

“Come on, Lance. We still have four days-“ Keith tried.

“Four days nothing,” Lance bit. Something was changing in Lance, and it worried Keith because he knew it had to be curse related and that was a whole bag of stuff he didn’t know how to deal with.

Keith pulled in on himself when the curtains began to shake and bellow in the breeze that Lance had created. The lights began to pulse on and off before the globe above Lance shattered and glass rained down through him. Panic rose in Keith’s chest but he still tried to get through to Lance. “Lance,” He begged. “Please calm down! It isn’t important.”

“Don’t you get it?” Lance had begun to glow bright white and it almost blinded Keith. He shielded his eyes with his arm. “It was never about whether or not I could pick something up. It was about you. I have three days left with you and I couldn’t even do this one simple fucking thing for you. It was always about you, Keith. And I failed.”

The light grew brighter and brighter and Keith felt the raw heat of it on his skin. He hissed in pain when the light pulsed from Lance’s body, leaving him and ejecting around the room, knocking over the TV and smashing all the windows. Thick pieces of glass from the sliding door whipped around, slashing at Keith’s skin and he cried out in pain. He felt blood trickle down his face in multiple places and a particularly large gash on his forearm where he was shielding his eyes.

Keith balled up in on himself in an attempt to ride out Lance’s storm but nothing else came. An eerie silence fell over the room, broken by the occasional tink of glass falling from its pane.

“Lance?” Keith called softly. He stood up and felt the glass crunch under his feet as he walked the room over to where Lance was kneeling on the floor, arms wrapped around his body. Keith knelt down in front of Lance, but before he could say anything, Lance disappeared.

“Lance, please,” Keith tried again, but nothing. He looked around at the aftermath. All the windows in the kitchen and living room were shattered, the TV was knocked over, the couch had little nicks on it from where glass had cut it, and the light globe exploding cracked the lampshade. Shiro was going to be pissed. “Shit.”

He called Shiro down, ready for whatever he had to say. He arrived and let himself in, face dropping when he saw the carnage. His face turned to that of anger until he saw Keith leaning against the kitchen counter, blood all over his face and clothes and holding a tea towel to his arm.

“Oh, Keith,” Shiro said and hurried over to him. He could probably see the marks of the tears he let fall in the dried blood but Keith didn’t care. He was allowed to cry. It was Shiro that told him that.

Shiro was confused when Keith had told him to bring up tarps and tape but he understood upon seeing all the broken windows that left the interior open to the elements. Keith attempted to help Shiro tape up the tarps to the windows but Shiro brushed him off and said he would take care of it. He seemed pissed underneath the concern he wore on his face and the drive home was tense.

Keith headed straight for the shower once they got home, ignoring Shiro’s calls for him to have a talk. The water ran pink for a second when the blood was finally washed off. It stung, but he felt numb to the pain. He blamed himself for this, of course, he did. If he had of walked away or distracted Lance with something else or anything, none of that would have happened. He wouldn’t be bleeding, the house wouldn’t be a mess, and he wouldn’t know that Lance felt at least something back for him. He sat down and let the water wash over him, imagining his thoughts and feelings being washed from his skin and circling the drain before disappearing down it, never to be seen again.

As much as Shiro wanted to, no, needed to talk to him about the house, he gave Keith his space for the rest of the evening. But he did pull Keith into a tight hug and whisper to him, “Don’t blame yourself, okay?” Keith appreciated it and it soothed him a little bit, but there was no way we wasn’t going to blame himself.

Shiro had other, more important things to do the next day, so it was up to Keith to return to the house and clean. He would’ve done it himself anyway, feeling guilty that he caused this mess. Shiro did promise that he would order the windows, which was nice. One less thing Keith had to worry about.

None of the cuts were deep enough to warrant needing stitches or medical care, but he still wrapped his arm in a bandage anyway, just in case. It made him want to scratch at his arm more though, and Shiro slapped his hand away when he was scratching at breakfast.

The house was quiet when he stepped in with his broom and dustpan, save for the crinkles of the tarps moving in the wind. He called out for Lance and did a quick lap of the house to see if he was anywhere. He couldn’t have left, that wasn’t physically possible. So it just meant that Lance was ignoring him. Not that Keith could blame him. He would do the exact same thing. It hurt a little bit though, to know that Lance was ignoring them when they had such little time left as it was.

He got to work sweeping and trying to pull bits of glass out of every surface. Actually inspecting the damage in daylight revealed the true extent. They would have to pay for all the furniture that was damaged now and Coran would not be happy. At least the TV didn’t shatter and still worked. It’s the small miracles that save Keith’s hide.

As the day went on and the buckets filled with glass and broken decorations, Keith grew continuously pissed every time he called out to Lance and he would show up or even reply. Typical. Lance does all this damage and leaves Keith to clean it up. Shiro and Coran would be mad at him for this and Lance can’t even show himself to apologise? Fuck that.

Keith let the anger bubble up and smother every other feeling he once held for Lance. Good. This is good. He can stay mad at Lance and leaving wouldn’t have to be difficult. He can stay mad at Lance forever.

Or so he thought until he went to leave and he heard his name called quietly behind him.

“Oh wow, look who finally decided to show up,” Keith didn’t bother to hide the venom in his voice but it all melted away when he turned to look at Lance, immediately regretting his choice of words when Lance flinched away.

His eyes were red rimmed and his shoulders were pulled forward, his eyes staring at the floor in front of Keith’s feet. He looked so guilty and sure, Keith was still mad, but he had never seen anyone look so devastated over something before. It pulled at Keith’s heart. He knew how shit Lance must be feeling. Besides, he can’t stay mad at someone he loves. Yes. Loves. Fuck it. They have so little time left so he may as well let himself feel the love before he can’t anymore.

“I’m really sorry, Keith.” Lance’s voice was small and shaky and it broke Keith’s heart at how insecure and was. “I’m really sorry. I get if you’re mad at me and never want to see me again, but I just need you to know how sorry I am.”

“Hey, Lance. Look at me,” Keith said warmly, determined to wipe at least some of that upset from Lance’s face. It didn’t work because Lance winced when he looked at Keith, seeing all the nicks and cuts on his face and arms. “It’s okay. Hey. All I wanted was an apology. You’re okay.” All the confrontation left his body, the words he wanted to yell when he was mad completely vanished leaving the love he felt.

Lance took a cautious step towards Keith, his eyes roaming over Keith’s face. He reached up and cupped Keith’s face, tracing his thumb gently over one of the cuts. Keith leaned into the warm touch, the movement of Lance’s thumb stinging a little, but his hand was warm and right there, cradling Keith’s face. He closed his eyes and took it all in. Embracing the feeling he might never get to feel again.

Wait.

Wait

His eyes snapped open and it startled Lance. Something else was different. He couldn’t see through Lance anymore.

“Lance.”

Lance looked at him, eyebrow cocked in question.

“Lance!” Keith tried again, hoping Lance would come to the conclusion on his own. He didn’t, and he just looked at Keith. “You’re an idiot,” Keith smiled and grabbed Lance’s arm, pulling into a tight hug like he has wanted to do so many times before.

Lance let out a surprised squeak but began laughing. “Holy shit. Holy shit.” The moment clearly hadn’t quite registered in Lance’s head yet, so Keith kept his arms wrapped around him. “Holy shit,” Lance said again, full of realisation and he wrapped his own arms around Keith.

“We did it,” Keith whispered into Lance’s ear.

“Yeah. We did.” Keith could feel Lance’s smile against his neck.

Lance was the one who broke the embrace. He jumped up and down, ecstatic and overjoyed and he grabbed Keith’s face in both hands and squished his cheeks a little before placing an excited kiss on Keith’s lips.

He clearly didn’t realise what he did as he turned away, cheering and dancing down and around the house, bumping into every surface he could find. Keith was frozen with a hot blush staining his pale cheeks and his heart racing at a million miles an hour. His brain was showing nothing but an error sign as he felt the lingering tingle of Lance’s lips on his. He buried his face in his hands to hide his blush and the smile that he wasn’t losing anytime soon.

Thankfully, Lance was too busy doing laps and singing and picking things up relishing in the textures to notice Keith.

Keith eventually calmed down and wandered into the kitchen where he stood and watch Lance wrap himself in the tarp that he pulled down from the window. He laughed when Lance turned himself into a burrito and rolled his way to Keith’s feet, looking up at him with a smile brighter than the sun.

“Look at me, Keith! I’m a real boy!” Keith just laughed, still riding high from the kiss and he nudged Lance away with his foot.

Lance unwrapped himself and got to his feet, dusting off his knees as he did so. His playful mood shifted into something more serious. “Hey, is there any firewood or something to burn?”

“Uh. I think there’s a few logs stacked next to the shed?” Keith didn’t question Lance’s question. He’d just gained the ability to feel things and Keith figured he deserved to do whatever he wanted with that.

Lance bounded off and returned shortly, standing at the door with a log under each arm. “C’mon!”

Keith followed and watched Lance as he went about gathering twigs and anything he could use as kindling. It was clear that Lance was making a fire. Why though was beyond Keith. Maybe Lance was a boy scout or something and he wants to see if he still has it.

He approached Keith and reached into Keith’s front pocket, pulling out the lighter he had in there. “I figured you weren’t that excited to see me earlier.” Lance winked.

“H-Hey!” Keith tried to be outraged, but he ended up flustered.

“Why do you have this anyway?” Lance knelt down beside the pile of wood he made and began to set it on fire.

Keith shrugged. “You never know when you might need it.” It really has got him out of a few jams in the past.

“Uh huh. Sure.” Lance looked back and brought his thumb and pointer together to mimic smoking a joint. “You’re secret’s safe with me.”

Keith just groaned and rolled his eyes. Lance bounced back to stand beside him and they both watched as the fire grew, contained by some rocks Lance took from the garden. “Would ya look at that!” Lance patted Keith on the back. “I’ve still got it.”

Before Keith could register Lance’s words, he bounced off again, leaving Keith alone with the fire outside. He took a seat on the grass while he waited for Lance to return, enjoying the warmth and crackling of the fire.

Footsteps crept up beside him, not enthusiastic like they once were and Lance took a seat next to him. He placed a small wooden jewellery box on the ground in front of him. The box looked familiar.

“Is that the box from the roof?” Keith’s excitement rose again at the knowledge that lance can move his own box now. He doesn’t have to stay here anymore. He can come home with Keith.

“Yep.” Lance seemed less hyped at what it meant to be able to move his curse box.

Lance stood and held the box over the flames. Keith jumped up and pulled him and the box back.

“Woah! Wait! Won’t that end up killing your brother?” Keith said, his grip tight on Lance’s arm.

“I’m the one that was cursed. He was cured, now it’s my turn.”

“But what if it kills you?” Keith was sounding more desperate now. Lance could be free now. He can move his box and he wants to jeopardise that by burning it and possibly ending his life?

“Then that’s a risk I have to take.” Lance shook Keith’s hand off and pushed him away, causing him to stumble and fall back on his ass behind Lance.

He was about to throw it in but he turned to Keith. “If I do die, I need you to know…” Lance took a breath, gaining the courage to spill his own secrets. “I need you to know that I love you. Thank you for everything.”

And before Keith could say anything, to tell Lance that he loved him back, Lance tossed the box into the flames. “Lance!” He cried out.

Lance crumbled to the ground in front of the fire. He let out a blood-curdling scream as the box burned. Lance keeled over in pain and cried out. He held onto himself tightly as he sobbed. Keith couldn’t watch but he couldn’t take his eyes away. Watching Lance like that cut a hole in his chest. Before he could run over to Lance to comfort him, to touch him, to do anything he could, Lance sat up on his knees, eyes white and lifeless. Keith climbed to his knees and was about to crawl over to Lance, but he began to pulse like he did the other night.

Except this time it was a deep purple. It grew deeper and brighter as the box burned and Keith found himself once again shielding his eyes. The light grew and grew until it exploded away from Lance, a ball of energy surging in every direction. Keith braced himself but it didn’t prepare him for the agony the split second of contact caused him. Tears pricked at his eyes as he grit his teeth, the pain gone as soon as it came. His breath was heavy and loud in the silence that followed. He was unaware that he closed his eyes until he forced them open, finding himself curled up on the grass.

His head clicked into gear, Lance becoming his one and only thought. “Lance!”

Lance was lying on the grass, lifeless and limp. The surge had put out the fire and there was no trace of the box left anywhere. Keith stumbled to his feet and tripped in his rush over to Lance, coming crashing down over Lance.

He knelt over Lance and pulled him into his lap. His face was pale and Keith couldn’t feel any breathing. His heart fell through his body and into the floor. He lost Lance. He was so close. They were so close. He was hurting just imaging the agony Lance was in before his death and that there was nothing he could do to stop it. Tears began to fall from Keith’s eyes and landed on Lance’s uncomfortably pale face.

“No,” He wept. “Please, no. Please.”

Keith pulled Lance as close as he could and hunched over to bury his face into Lance’s neck. “I love you, too.” He whispered and let the tears fall and fall as he rocked them both back and forth, whimpering small “no”s and “I love you”s over and over, hoping that wherever Lance was, he could hear him. He needed Lance to know he loved him too. He needed it.

Keith sat there for a period of time he’ll never know, but it felt like an eternity. He sat there, Lance pulled in his lap and holding him as tight as he could like if he let go he would disappear. His heart ached and his body tingled and the cold of Lance’s body only made things worse for him but he didn’t let go. If he let go then he’d have to accept that he lost someone else that meant the world to him.

The world stopped spinning there for Keith. The birds stopped chirping, the wind stopped blowing, and time stopped ticking.

“Keith. Buddy. I can’t breathe.”

It was Lance. It was Lance. Keith released his hold on Lance and sat back up, looking down through his wet eyes to where Lance was looking up at him.

“Lance,” Keith breathed in disbelief.

“In the flesh. Literally.” Lance smiled, his voice a little bit horse.

“Lance!” Keith didn’t bother to wipe his face clean of tears before he leaned back down to Lance and pressed their lips together for lack of something better to do or say. Lance melted right into the kiss. It was messy and desperate and salty but Lance hoisted himself up, not daring to break the kiss, to sit in Keith’s lap and wrap his arms around Keith’s neck, pulling him close.

Lance was so warm. Just as warm as Keith has imagined and more. His energy radiated through Keith and set his whole body on fire with love and hope.

Keith pulled away, out of breath and with more important things on his mind than kissing. He pressed their foreheads together and Lance let out a little giggle. “I love you,” Keith finally got to say. And it felt amazing.

“Really?” Lance pulled away to look at Keith.

“Yes, you idiot. I love you.” Keith pulled Lance back to him for another kiss although it could barely be counted as one since they were both smiling too hard.

Eventually, they became exhausted and they just laid there in the middle of the lawn holding each other, Lance resting against Keith’s chest and fingers entwined.

“We should really get going. It’s getting late and I can hear your stomach from here.” Keith patted Lance on the head and pushed him off to stand.

“Yeah. Can we have pizza? I haven’t had that in years.” Lance followed Keith as he headed out the house but paused at the door, patting the doorframe. “Goodbye, house. It’s been fun.”

Keith smiled warmly at Lance when he re-joined him at the car. The sun was low in the sky, casting Lance in the same golden glow. Keith was right. He was breathtaking. And he was leaving with him. And he loved him. And Keith loved him back.

"Wait." Lance ran off back into the house and Keith called out after him, unsure of why Lance would want to go back inside. But he came back out and as he came closer, Keith could see that in his hand he held the blue lion keychain. "Almost forgot this."

Keith's pocked vibrated when he sat in the car and he pulled out his phone to a message from Pidge.

P: guess who i found

Chapter Text

Keith brought Lance back to his and Shiro’s place. Lance remained quiet as they stepped through the house, just the sounds of two sets of feet alerting Shiro of their presence when they entered the kitchen.

“Hey, Pidge. Just in time. I made that mac and cheese you love-“ Shiro turned from where he was at the sink. “Lance?”

“Sup.” Lance was tense, Keith could feel it in his movements.

Shiro’s surprise was obvious, his eyes wide and mouth moving to say words that never came out. “What? I don’t- How are you-”

“Here? Yeah. Good question. I don’t know either.” Lance shrugged at Shiro, clearly trying to relax. “Pretty sure it had something to do with your bro, though.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, like,” Lance began to gesture with his hands, “I felt this sense of wholeness, like, it’s hard to explain, but there was this pull I felt towards you as well and it only grew stronger as time went on. I think you gave me strength. When I saved you from the veranda, right, I had never been able to lift anything that heavy before and at first, I thought it was just adrenalin or something. But the more I fell for you, the more I could use my powers. When I blew out the living room-”

“And the kitchen,” Shiro added to which Keith shot him daggers.

“I’d never done that before and I’d been more upset than I was that night.” Lance turned down to his hands and fiddled with them shyly. “I think falling for you broke the curse.”

Keith doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of hearing Lance say he fell in love with him.

“Wait. Curse?” Shiro had long abandoned the dishes in the sink in favour of Lance’s story.

“Oh yeah. I traded my life for my brother’s, I didn’t end up dying and became a ghost. It’s been a long day, I’ll tell you all about it some other time.”

“So, if you falling in love brought you back, does this mean there was actually a cure this whole time?” Keith wandered over to the stove and started to pick at the mac and cheese Shiro had made, his attention only slightly divided.

“I mean, it’s possible. I never really looked at the cure section in the spell book. I guess I probably should have, though.” Lance took the bowl of food Keith served up for him but didn’t start eating, he just held it in his hands.

“So what you’re saying is,” Keith tried to hide the outrage in his voice when he understood the recklessness of Lance’s actions. “When you threw the box into the fire, you really didn’t know what it would do?!”

“Nope.” Lance seemed much less concerned than Keith was. “I saw my chance and I took it. Who knows how long I would’ve had like that to do so.”

Keith opened his mouth to argue, but thankfully Shiro had other questions. “Okay, but what about side effects? What has this done to your body? Are you going to suddenly age all those years or are you going to stay at the age you were when it all began?”

“Again. I don’t actually know. As far as I know, I’m still physically 21. I’ll need the book to know for sure. I think I know where I left it though, if it’s still there.”

“Alright, well you can go look for it tomorrow. You both need to eat something and actually get some sleep, so no funny business or canoodling of any sort, especially while I’m here. You’re lucky I’m not making one of you sleep on the couch.”

Lance laughed awkwardly. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Sir.”

Keith groaned and flushed a bright red. To be quite honest, any activity of that sort was at the very back of Keith’s mind, but hearing Shiro talk about it ruined the mood so far in advance for him.

Shiro walked past Lance with his own bowl of food and clapped Lance’s shoulder but leaned in close to whisper, but not quiet enough for Keith to not hear and blush even harder. “He really likes you, you know.” Lance grinned at Keith at that, but the smile quickly left his face as Shiro continued. “That being said, if you ever hurt him…”

Shiro laughed and continued on to the living room to eat and play video games. Keith followed and Lance followed Keith to where they all ended up watching Shiro play some new game he bought that apparently only had single player. Keith will just have to see about that later.

Although the atmosphere was comfortable and calm and Lance had thoroughly enjoyed his first meal in years, he sat stiffly and awkwardly, as if he was unsure of what to do with himself. The difference wasn’t terribly noticeable, Shiro wouldn’t notice, but Keith did. He knew it had nothing to do with Shiro, because they got along fine and probably considered each other friends.

Eventually, Shiro left them to head to bed and Keith decided to find out what was wrong.

He scooted over so he was closer to Lance and placed a hand on his thigh. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Lance gave a small smile to Keith.

“No. Something’s up.” He squeezed his hand a little, rubbing his thumb a little over Lance’s thigh. “What is it?”

“It’s nothing really.” Lance placed his hand over Keith’s. “I just feel out of place, like I don’t belong here. We’ve only known each other a few months and you want me to stay here with you. I feel like I’m intruding a bit.” Lance huffed a laugh. “It’s stupid.”

“Hey, it’s not stupid.” Keith placed a kiss on Lance’s cheek. He was never very good with comforting people or using his words, and having to comfort someone with words was his worst nightmare. He didn’t want to say anything wrong. “Nothing about us has been conventional. I think you’ll settle in. Shiro doesn’t mind and I want you here.”

“Are you sure? I can go somewhere else.”

“Lance. You’re staying here with me. We can find our own place later, or sooner if you still feel uncomfortable here.” Keith rearranged himself so he was laying on his back on the couch, head in Lance’s lap. “I really do want you here, okay? I’m not just saying that.”

A real smile found its way to Lance’s lips. “Yeah. Okay.”

Keith didn’t think it was possible to have a better sleep than the one he had with Lance that night. Lance was dressed in some old clothes of Keith’s but he could still smell Lance as he held him tight, Lance curled up to his chest as they slept.

He gave Lance some of his clothes to sleep in and wear until they could go out and get him some more. Lance looked really good in Keith’s clothes. Lance picked out a pair of old shorts Keith had and never wore because they were way too short for him and he chose a plain t-shirt that was a bit too short for his tall frame and revealed his stomach when he reached upwards.

If there was a temple for how good Lance’s legs looked in those shorts, Keith would pray there every night.

Keith almost died when Lance shrugged on his own jacket over his new outfit which covered Lance’s ass, leaving only a little bit of the short legs to poke out. Keith didn’t think anyone could look so good in his clothes.

Over breakfast, they discussed where Lance remembered hiding the book and they spent a while trying to find where exactly that was. Lance hid it in a reserve, but there’s a lot of them around town. Lance said he remembered a cliff and a canyon. And again, there were a few of those, but it narrowed it down and with the help of Shiro, they managed to figure out which one it was.

Keith tossed his phone to Lance to navigate when they got in the car. He knew his town but not nearly as well as he should.

Keith laughed at Lance as he tried so hard to understand Keith’s phone. Apparently, Lance knew some people who had the first smartphones, but he’d never used them before. Keith had to pull over multiple times to fix the map for Lance so that they knew where they were going. He figured Lance had figured it out when he stopped complaining that technology was stupid.

"Where did you even get a book of spells from?" Keith asked when silence fell over them.

"I paid a creepy woman $450 and she gave me a little book with a gem on the front, obviously," Lance said, like Keith was an idiot for assuming anything different.

"Wait. Really?" Surely that wasn’t right.

"No. The back of the library."

"I don't know if you're joking or not." The library seems the most plausible answer, but this was magic and magic defied all that he knew.

"The old woman. That one was real."

"Oh. Okay. Did you know it was going to work?" Until Keith had met Lance, he didn’t believe in ghosts. Sure, he watched those ghost hunter shows with Pidge but he never bought into any of it. Until he met Lance he didn’t believe that magic was real, it was just dumb illusions that anyone could learn. But Lance came into his life and changed everything he once thought. Lance challenged everything he once knew about not only the world, but himself.

"Nope. That's why I was kinda surprised when it did and I found myself on my ass invisible and voiceless. I didn't actually know if there were any other spells that would have worked, I just did the one she told me to do."

"And you didn't question it?" And Keith thought he was impulsive.

"I was desperate. I didn't see myself having a future like my brothers."

Keith didn’t say anything at that. He couldn’t think of anything even if he wanted to. Lance didn’t think he was worth it. It was a noble thing he did, sacrificing himself for his family like that, but it still hurt Keith to hear Lance say that he didn’t think much of himself. Lance had so much to offer, even if he wasn’t academically the best, he had a lot more people’s lives to brighten.

They arrived at the place Lance hid the book. It was the largest reserve and was an hour out of town. Keith had to park at the bottom of the reserve and they had to hike their way up to where Lance recalled burying it.

"Why did you bury it up here? Seems kind of excessive, don't you think?" They began to dig around where Lance said, the dirt dry and crumbly under their fingers.

"Look. I didn't want someone to find it in case they decided to use it to get me back or whatever. I'd made up my mind." His point was valid and thinking about it, if it was him, he knew Shiro would do whatever he could to stop Keith or reverse it so at the time and he would do the same for Shiro. He could understand why Lance hid it.

After an hour of digging out in the warm sun – Keith was definitely sunburned, Lance called out to him. He made his way over to where Lance was digging in the roots underneath a dead tree.

Lance stood up and whipped around, startling Keith who was slightly out of it and held up a small, brown book with a blue gem on the front.

“That it?”

Lance frowned. “No. I just pulled some other kid’s spell book out of the dirt.”

Keith held his hands out in surrender and then they headed to find a shady spot to look through the book. Keith could feel the burning on the back of his neck as soon as they sat down. Yeah, he was definitely burned.

“So, small hiccup.” Lance looked over to Keith.

“What?” Keith narrowed his eyes at Lance.

“I may have ripped out the page.” Lance gave a weak smile.

Keith sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You ripped out the page? Why?”

“I’m not an actor, Keith. As if I could’ve memorised that spell.”

“Well, where is it?”

“It’s uh. I put it in the box. That we burned.”

“You didn’t think it might be important to take it out beforehand?”

“I don’t know! It was the heat of the moment. Besides, what if burning the page was part of breaking the spell?”

“It doesn’t look like it was. Look at all these other spells that have most likely been cast and are still left in here. There’s a cure section for a reason!” Keith loved Lance, he really did. But man, did Lance really test it out sometimes.

“Okay, okay! Don’t yell at me! I can find the cure. I just have to remember the name of the spell.”

“You really thought this one through, didn’t you?” Keith was hot and tired and covered in dirt and so not in the mood for this being more difficult.

“As I said. I was desperate. Let me do this or you’re gonna be single”

“Single? That implies we’re together.” They hadn’t had that conversation yet but it made Keith glow to think that Lance thought they were together too. Which he guesses they were. Officially.

“I guess it does. So my statement still stands.”

Keith huffed and leaned back in defeat, crossing his arms and pouting. He knew Lance was joking, but still, no, he didn’t want to be single.

He watched as Lance flicked through the pages. He’d never seen Lance so focused and he couldn’t help but smile when Lance poked his tongue out in concentration as he read over the dusty pages.

Keith had fully zoned out when Lance found what he was looking for. Lance shouting “I found it” scared the shit out of Keith. Even though Lance wasn’t a ghost anymore, he still managed to spook Keith frequently.

“Well? What does it say?” Keith shuffled back next to Lance and looked into the book.

“I’m like, 99% sure this is for the spell I used. The title mentions trading life and the cure seems like what happened with me.” Lance traced his finger across the words written on the page. “It says that the curse can be broken by true love. Uhhh, curse yadda yadda, cure blah blah blah-ha! Here. It says that the cursed can be cured by someone falling in love with them.”

“Wow, someone watched too much Beauty and the Beast.” Keith couldn’t help but scoff at how terribly cliché it was. “So you didn’t have to fall in love back? You could have just taken my love and run. Aren’t you a stand-up guy going and falling in love back.”

“As if I couldn’t not fall in love with you.” Lance squawked when Keith shoved him over for his comment. He was already red from the sunburn, he didn’t need blush as well.

Keith was about to climb on top of Lance to pin him down but his phone vibrated instead. It was Pidge.

P: u better be home in an hour

K: Can you be a bit longer?

P: i'll see what i can do

“Hey, we should get going. I didn’t think to bring water and if I’m out here any longer my skin will blister off.”

“Gross.” Lance had picked himself up and was reading over some more pages of the book. “But yeah, that’s smart. I just have to do one thing first.”

“I told you to go while we were at home!”

“Not that! God.” Lance got up and walked over to the railing that overlooked a deep canyon shrouded in trees. Keith watched as Lance hurled the book over the edge and watched it as it fell, hopefully never to be seen again.

Keith stood and walked to where Lance was still watching over the railing. He stepped up next to him and laced their fingers together. “So, did you find out if I’m waking up next to a 29 year old tomorrow or not?”

“Ah, shit.”

The ride back home was slow, they got stuck in traffic for a bit and Lance fell asleep for most of the journey, leaving Keith with himself, the radio, and the yellow car he was convinced was following them.

They arrived home just over an hour after they left and Pidge hadn’t messaged him saying that she was there yet so they must have made it in time.

The pair barely had a chance to step in the back door before a big black dog came barrelling through the house to greet them.

"Oh my god, you have a dog." Lance collapsed to his knees to pat the dog

"Oh yeah. This is Cheese. Shiro must have picked him up from the vet today."

"Your dog’s name is cheese?"

"Yeah. We couldn't think of a name so we used that as a name holder and it kind of stuck.”

Lance rubbed the dogs head and held it up to look at his face. "Hello Cheese the dog- woah!" Cheese head butted lances chest and knocked him back then laid his full body down on top of Lance. "I think he likes me."

Keith was about to go make a sandwich and leave those two alone when there was a knock at the front door.

Lance either didn’t hear it, too busy playing with Cheese or he was purposefully making Keith answer it, having to put his sandwich on hold.

Keith opened the door and as expected, it was Pidge. But next to her was a strange man who towered over the both of them.

“So this is the guy you wanted me to find. Do I get to ask why yet?” Pidge pushed her way past Keith and into the house.

Keith ignored Pidge for the moment, focusing on the strange man that stood next to her. “Hunk.” He was older than Keith by a few years. Keith didn’t know why he didn’t expect that. Hunk was Lance’s friend back before the curse, so it only makes sense that he aged like normal.

“Yeah. You must be Keith. I got your messages. Is it true?” Hunk held his hands close to his chest, picking at his nails a lot like Lance did when he was nervous.

Keith nodded. “Come with me.”

Hunk followed Keith through the house to where Lance was still playing with Cheese.

“Lance…” Hunk said in disbelief.

Lance looked up and stilled. “Hunk.”

Keith called Cheese over to sit with him, allowing the two to have their moment.

“Wait, who’s that guy?” Pidge leaned into Keith while the two others looked at each other, coming back from raiding Keith’s pantry for snacks.

“That’s Lance. He’s my boyfriend and I’ll tell you about it later.”

Pidge snickered. “I knew the night at the house was a booty call.”

Keith let that one slide.

Lance finally stood and took a step closer to Hunk and Hunk to him. Keith thought there would be an exchange of bitter words judging by how they were silent and staring, but that wasn’t the case. Lance jumped into Hunk and Hunk wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him tight, smiles encompassing both their faces.

“Lance, oh man I thought I lost you. I didn’t believe Keith when he said you were back.” Hunk muffled into the top of Lance’s head.

“I never thought I’d see you again.” Lance broke free and wiped a tear from his cheek. “I thought I really fucked. I didn’t mean to scare you off. I’m so sorry. I understand why you never came back.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry I never came back. I really wanted to, though. When I told people that I saw you, that you were still at the house, they thought I was delusional and not handling your loss well. They stuck me in therapy and convinced me it was all in my head.” Hunk reached out and grabbed Lance’s wrists, the excitement returning to him. “But I always knew. I always knew you were there and when Keith messaged me saying that you were here and that I should come and see you and I couldn’t turn it down.”

“I suppose I owe you an explanation then.”

“I suppose you do.”

“Keith, babe, sweetie. Can you put the kettle on and make us some coffee?” Keith hated being called pet names, but he let it slide with Lance. He smiled and nodded at Lance and left to do so.

“Wait. Babe? Sweetie?”

“Yeah. That’s all part of the story.”

It was late by the time Hunk had to leave. They had all ended up in the living room, pulling chairs around to actually be able to have a decent conversation. Lance explained his story and Keith really wished he left out the part with the Ouija board since Pidge would bully him about that for the next week. Lance mainly asked Hunk how he’d been, where he moved to, what therapy was like, and everything he could, really. Turns out Hunk was happily married to Shay, his high school sweetheart and they were expecting their first kid in a few months’ time. Keith could have sworn he saw tears in Lance’s eyes when Hunk asked him to be the kid’s god father. Keith guessed there would be kids in their future judging by how excited Lance was at the mention of kids, whether they be their own or Hunk’s. Keith had better start reading up on how to take care of them.

Lance asked about his family, but hunk hadn’t heard from them since he moved away. It brought Lance down for the rest of the night not getting the answers he wanted to all his questions, especially about his own family.

Hunk was only in town for a few days before he had to leave. Keith would take him to the airport then with Lance but he still owed Pidge for asking her to pick up Hunk when he arrived. Since Hunk wasn’t in town for long, he and Lance wanted to make the most of it and so Hunk would be around the next day to hang out. Keith and Shiro had to work so they’d be home to play video games all day and that plan made Lance buzz in excitement despite how tired he was.

Pidge offered to drive Hunk back to his hotel. She teased Keith saying that she liked Hunk more than him, that he would be a way better friend than Keith. She and Hunk actually had a lot in common. Whatever, Keith and Pidge will always have conspiracy theories.

Keith met Pidge in the kitchen before she left with Hunk.

“So, Pidge.”

“That tone. You want something.” She placed her mug in the sink and turned to face Keith, arms crossed.

“Maybe.”

“What is it?”

“I need you to find someone else for me.”

“Ugh, come on, Keith. I’m not a missing persons unit.”

“I know. I know. Just one more. It’s easy this time.” Keith gave his best puppy dog eyes, not because they worked, but because he couldn’t do them well and it made Pidge cringe into submission.

Pidge rolled her eyes. “…Fine. You owe me big time, though.”

---

It had been a week since Lance had been cured and it was the best week of Keith’s life. He never wanted to fall asleep because he wanted to hold Lance tight all night but he couldn’t wait to wake up to see Lance again. They went out and bought Lance some new clothes, although he still very much favoured stealing Keith’s, but Keith didn’t really mind that much.

Having Lance around was a blessing for Keith. It made his productivity triple and Coran was almost not mad at him anymore for blowing out the windows at the house. He would come home and sit down with Lance and tell him about his day and Lance would tell him about his day and more stories from his life and he would play with Keith’s hair and Keith thought he had found heaven.

Deep down, though, his thoughts still ate at him. As much as he tried to ignore them and Lance told him it would be all alright, he still got thoughts of everything going to shit. Thoughts about losing Lance and being an absolute mess because he let himself fall in love. He’s impressed at the patience Lance has with him and his thoughts, because he will sit there for as long as he needs to while Keith pours his soul and fears and he always knows exactly what to say to make Keith believe that yeah, everything is alright and yeah, he does deserve love.

Shiro also valued having Lance around. He was someone to talk to when Keith was off brooding over something and Shiro wasn’t the only one cooking anymore. And Lance was a damn good cook. He would make them all these fancy means that his mother taught him or something he googled because he wanted to learn something new. Watching Lance cook was mesmerising, he was always dancing and singing as he did so, his movements smooth and slick.

The house just had a generally had a very positive vibe to it ever since Lance moved in. Not that the house had a bad vibe before, but it felt like summer had moved into the house and had an amazing taste in music and candle scents.

Pidge had also finally got back to him and Keith couldn’t wait to surprise Lance this time.

That night after dinner, Keith cornered Lance in the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Lance’s waist and burying his face into the back of Lance’s neck.

“Someone’s clingy tonight.” He knew Lance loved it when he was in a cuddly mood. He tried to be cuddlier for Lance’s sake. Although he did kind of enjoy it more than he thought he would.

“I have a surprise for you, but I need you to pack some things. We’re going somewhere special for the weekend.” Keith let go of Lance and took a step back.

“Alright. Exciting. But also very vague. You’re not gonna murder me, are you?”

“Do you think I’d tell you if I was?” Keith laughed.

“Good point. I guess I’ll go pack then.” Lance placed a kiss on Keith’s lips and walked away to pack.

Keith was needed on Monday at the office since he was taking a new house to sell which, fortunately, just needed an agent to sell it and didn’t need to be fixed up at all. Since he was needed then, Keith only had the weekend to take Lance to his surprise which he hoped would be enough time for the moment. He planned to leave around mid-morning, giving enough time to drive there and to make sure Lance got his required ten hours of “beauty sleep”.

For whatever reason, Lance had packed an entire suitcase, despite the fact that they were only gone overnight.

“Do you really need all these skin creams?”

“You don’t know what my skin might go through.”

“Alright. Do you really need all this makeup?”

“What if I run into a photographer for Vogue? Do you think they’d take photos of me looking like a potato?”

“Alright, well I can tell you right now that you’re not going to need one, two… seven. Seven shirts?”

“I’m prepared for anything, Keith. Let me see what you’re taking.” Lance snatched the small messenger bag Keith had and rifled through it. “Wallet, keys, a single shirt, a hoodie, clean underwear, tooth brush.” Lance tossed it back. “There’s no way Vogue would photograph you with just that.”

“Oh no, what a shame.”

The morning came and Keith was ready in no time at all and was waiting on Lance who finally emerged with just minutes to spare before leaving time. He emerged face made up in makeup that was applied with impeccable skill and a fancy shirt that he tucked into his jeans. He was beautiful and handsome and so extra.

“What’s with the… everything?” Keith gestured to all of Lance’s get up.

Lance’s expression wavered. “What? Don’t you like it?”

“No, no! Of course, I like it. I love it.” Lance’s smile came back, insecurities pushed away at Keith’s reassurance. “It’s just… do we have meeting the Queen that I don’t know about?”

 “Well, since you won’t tell me where we’re going, I have to prepare for any scenario.”

“What if I’m taking you hiking?”

“Keith, babe. You own two pairs of boots, both of which have heels too high for any outdoor activity of sorts. I saw you struggle at the reserve the other day. So, no. We’re not going hiking.” Lance had a point. Keith enjoyed being outside but if that time outside involved typical outdoor activities, he was out. He’d take his book and find the nearest tree. Even walking to his spot on the hill was challenging even though the heels are thick and chunky, especially if it had been raining. The heels did have a benefit though. Wearing them put him at the same height as Lance. And he had amazing calves.

“You could’ve just copied my dress style.”

“You have three shirts that are all the same. I wouldn’t know if you were meeting the Queen or going to clean the chimney.” Another valid point. Keith didn’t see the need to dress up. He would rather be comfortable and then whoever he was meeting would see Keith for Keith, not a projected image of himself. He didn’t care about his image as much as Lance cared about his and while he didn’t understand it, he found that quirk of Lance’s to be very endearing.

Keith walked up to Lance and gave him a small kiss. “Well you look very handsome and I wish I could say we were meeting the Queen, but we aren’t and we’re leaving in five so get ready.”

“Alright but you owe me a meeting with the Queen. I think Liz and myself would be great friends.”

It was an eight hour drive to their destination which was made even longer by Lance’s insistence on playing car trip games and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. Keith thought he was safe after they stopped for lunch when Lance fell asleep, but not even an hour later he heard the unmistakeable sound of Lance’s voice asking him “I spy with my little eye…”

Keith should really count his blessings though as Lance never asked if they were there yet, he just accepted that wherever they were going was far.

The sun was low in the sky when they neared their destination, Keith finally needing to use his phone to guide them the remaining distance. He typed in the address and tossed his phone to Lance to navigate.

“Wait. This is a house.” Lance was confused that Keith had taken him the next city over to visit a house in the middle of suburbia.

“Yeah.”

“Is it a holiday house of yours?”

“No. There’s someone there I want you to see.” Keith tried to be as vague as he could.

“Do you have another cool brother that you haven’t told me about?”

“You’ll see.”

They closed in on the address and Keith pulled up outside. He stepped out and waited for Lance to do the same before continuing up.

Keith led them up to the door of the small house and knocked on the door. He took a step back, placing him somewhat behind Lance, not because he was scared, but for who would answer the door.

There was rustling and the click of the lock before the door swung open, an older woman stood before them.

“Lance!”

“Mama!” Lance ran into the woman who caught him and wrapped him up in a tight hug. Tears fell down her face and soon Lance followed. Keith stood on the doorstep, unsure of what to do as the embrace lingered on.

“Lance! It really is you!” She planted a huge kiss on Lance’s forehead before moving past him and towards Keith. “And you must be Keith. Thank you for calling, this means a lot.” She wrapped him up in a tight hug as well, Keith stiff and unsure of what to do.

“Hi, Mrs McClain,” Keith breathed out, held tight in her arms.

“Mama I think he’s good on the hugs,” Lance laughed and she let go of Keith, clapping him on the shoulder and pushing both of them inside.

“Where are the kids?” Lance asked looking around the house.

“Sweetie, they all moved out. Benji is the closest but he’s the next state over. I’ll give you all their numbers and you can call them.” Mrs McClain wrapped her arm around Lance to comfort his disappointment.

She told the two to take a seat at the dining room table, since she had a big meal planned for them and then Lance can tell her all about what happened. When Keith had called her up after getting her number from Pidge, she was understandably upset and didn’t believe Keith to begin with. It took him a while to convince her that he wasn’t lying and that was never kidnapped and that he was fine. She eventually gave Keith her address when Keith said that he wanted to bring Lance by. Whether she would believe Lance or if Lance would tell her something else was still yet to be seen.

Keith took a seat next to Lance and opposite Lance’s mum.

Lance turned to Keith. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, thank Pidge. She found your mum and Hunk for me.

“Guess I better thank her, too.”

Mrs McClain entered the room carrying a large pot full of something that made Keith’s nose dance in the amazing smell. She scolded both of them when they tried to help, saying that she was fine and that they were the guests. She served them both up huge plates and Keith was determined to eat every last bite.

They began eating in silence, an air of awkward hung over them, questions wanting to be raised and answered but no one knew how or where to begin.

“I suppose you want to know where I’ve been.” Lance must have been even more uncomfortable than Keith was and took it upon himself to set it right.

“I really do,” Lance’s mum answered and put her fork down, resting her arms on the table, attention fully on Lance.

Lance looked over to Keith. He still didn’t know what he was going to tell her. If it were anyone else, he’d say to make something up, but this was his own mother. She deserved to know the truth, no matter how absurd it was. So Keith nodded slightly and Lance looked back to his mother.

“I ran away.” Keith placed his hand on Lance’s thigh under the table. He didn’t want Lance to lie to his mother, but he supported Lance’s decision. He didn’t know if he was ready to tell her or if he even wanted to.

Lance continued to tell his story, detailed and well-thought out. He must have thought it through already at some point as it flowed and there were rarely gaps. He told her that Keith brought him home, that Keith saved him, that he never meant to be away for so long, that he didn’t mean to hurt them.

Keith squeezed his hand tighter and Lance wiped away his tears. His mother forgave him but he kept apologising.”

“What’s done is done,” Mrs McClain reached across the table to take Lance’s hands in hers. “I’m just happy you came back. That you’re safe,” She looked across to Keith, “And found someone that makes you happy.”

Lance looked over at Keith and smiled. “Yeah.”

Lance’s mini breakdown broke everyone’s appetite and the plates were pushed away, to be dealt with later.

Lance checked the time for what Keith noticed was the tenth time in the last hour. “So, when’s dad getting home?”

Silence fell over the table Keith shared a knowing glance with Lance’s mother.

“Lance…” Her tone caused Lance’s face to drop. He looked between His mother and Keith, who could only give him a sympathetic look. “Your father passed away last year.”

“Oh. Excuse me,” Lance excused himself from the table and walked off down the hallway. They heard the soft close of the bathroom door followed by silence.

They both stood to go and follow him and looked at each other. Keith wanted to be the one to comfort Lance like he had before, but this time it wasn’t his place. He couldn’t offer anything close to what his own mother could. So he sat back down. “You should be the one to talk to him.”

Lance’s mum nodded and walked around the table and placed a warm hand on Keith’s shoulder before looking down and giving a soft, comforting smile then walking off to her son.

Keith sat at the table for a while. He knew what it was like to lose a parent, but he couldn’t imagine what it must feel like for Lance. Keith decided to busy himself, his stomach already a mess of worry for Lance despite knowing he was in good hands – better hands. He took the dishes into the kitchen and cleaned everything, putting the left overs to one side and occasionally picking at it, his appetite returning despite already having eaten more than he would normally eat.

He finished cleaning and took a seat back at the table and shortly after Lance and his mum emerged. Lance was all clean, his tear stained makeup all washed off and his face was fresh, his eyes still a little bit read from undoubtedly crying his little heart out over his loss.

Mrs McClain ushered them both into the living room where she came back with a large photo album that she then placed on the floor. Lance and Keith followed her lead and sat down around the album. They spent the rest of the night on a lighter subject, telling stories of Lance’s siblings and looking at photos of everything Lance missed. It was bittersweet. The atmosphere was light and warm but there was underlying upset.

Keith must have a soft spot for Lance’s mum since she managed to get him to spill a few stories of his own. He was a naturally reserved person, but around Lance and his mother, he felt willing to offer up a piece of him in the form of stories that he would never tell anyone else besides Shiro and now Lance.

Eventually, Mrs McClain headed off to bed, but not before wrapping them both up in one more hug that Keith was totally okay with.

Lance was drained too, his movements sluggish and eyes heavy. The couch was a fold out and they were left with more than enough blankets, so they set up the bed and laid there together for a while.

“Lance?” Keith whispered, unsure if Lance was awake against his chest but not wanting to wake him if he was.

A slow “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you look for your parents as soon as you were free? You said they were a huge part of your life.” Keith didn’t mean to pry, but it didn’t add up. Back in the house, all Lance would talk about were stories of him and his siblings getting into trouble or doing crazy things. Keith thought finding his family again would be his number one priority.

Lance lifted himself to his elbow. “They were, they are but, I don’t know. I guess I was just scared. I really did want to see them though, I was just scared they wouldn’t think it was me or… I don’t know. I guess I thought they would hate me for leaving. I didn’t want to know if they were disappointed in me.”

“Lance, I’m sorry. I should have told you I was taking you here.” Keith sat up to meet Lance’s eyes.

“No, no. It was good. I needed it. I don’t know if I would’ve gone if you had told me.”

“Do you want to stay here for a bit then? I can come and get you next weekend.”

A long pause. “No.”

Keith pulled Lance back down against his chest. Being around his family must make him feel guilty, especially now knowing his fears about seeing them again. Baby steps. Keith rubbed Lance’s back until he felt him fall asleep, and he let himself follow.

They were woken the next morning my Lance’s mum making breakfast. She served them the biggest breakfast Keith had every seen. He was used to his plain toast or a muesli bar that he’d stuff in his mouth on the way out the door. He was in heaven. The smell alone was enough to send his stomach into a growling frenzy.

They couldn’t stay much longer than a few hours if they wanted to make it home before dark but Mrs McClain made the most of the time left with her son. They barely left each other’s side the whole morning as they talked about whatever they could. Keith watched them for a while but had to turn away, memories of his own mother trying to break free of their jar he had locked them in. Keith’s mother used to carry Keith on her hip while she did the housework or cooked and she would carry him like that right up until he became too heavy. Instead, they then would dance around the kitchen together until Shiro got home, to which Keith would then run off and bother him for the rest of the evening.

He thought his mother was invincible. He could tell her anything. He never thought the day would come when he would have to say goodbye. But then it came and he didn’t get to say goodbye. He would sit in the kitchen where the two of them used to dance and he would scream and cry until he couldn’t scream and cry anymore. Then he fell in on himself and he changed forever. Shiro will never understand how much him coming home from college saved Keith.

He was pulled from his thoughts when a warm hand wrapped around his wrist and he was pulled into the kitchen.

“Keith, Mama wants a photo before we leave.” Lance pulled him next to him and wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulder and smiled brightly at his mum, who had a camera ready. Keith wasn’t a photo person, and he only let Lance take one selfie with him after hours of begging, but this was a special occasion, an important occasion.

It was over before he knew and he had no idea when she took the photo, he just hoped he didn’t look too stupid. Mrs McClain showed them the photo and Keith fell in love with it. It was perfect. Lance was perfect and holding him tight and smiling so brightly and Keith was looking at him, the adoration he felt reflected in his eyes. He didn’t look stupid, he looked in love.

There was another round of warm hugs before they left. Mrs McClain waved them off from her front lawn as they drove down the street and back home, stomachs full and hearts warm. Lance didn’t speak much on the way back, probably exhausted and emotionally drained. Keith wished he would play more of his stupid road trip games to keep himself out of his head, but Lance just fell asleep, leaving him with hours to think. Hours to let those jars open in his mind.

It was dark by the time Keith pulled up in their driveway. Lance had woken a while ago but had stared out the window the whole time.

Inside, Lance began to head to their bedroom but Keith stopped him, taking his hand and bringing him into the kitchen.

“What’s up?” Lance asked.

Keith didn’t respond and Lance stayed when he let go to pull his phone out and search for a song. He turned the volume up and placed it on the bench. Even if Shiro was home, it wouldn’t matter to him.

Lance just seemed more confused. Keith wrapped his arms around Lance’s neck. “Dance with me.”

Lance smiled, not knowing why but happily agreeing. He placed his hands on Keith’s hips and they danced slowly and closely around the kitchen. Keith let his head fall to rest on Lance’s chest, breathing him in and losing himself to the music and rhythm. Tears pricked at his eyes and he nuzzled harder into Lance. Lance responded by bringing his arms up and pulling Keith tighter. He could feel Keith’s uneven breaths.

“What’s wrong?” Lance whispered loud enough to be heard over the music but quiet enough to not startle Keith.

“I’m moving on,” He mumbled back into Lance’s shirt.

Lance lowered his head against Keith’s and they continued to dance slow and steady until they ended up stationary, just barely swaying to the music that had long since stopped playing. Keith needed this, but he never knew how badly. Lance held him for as long as he needed, for as long as it took for him to stop crying and calm down.

Keith eventually pulled back a little to kiss Lance, long and soft and loving.

“I think I’m gonna go to bed,” Keith said against his lips.

“Yeah. Okay. I’ll be in there soon.”

Keith hit the pillow with his mind black and soul full and he let himself drift off to sleep. He wasn’t happy or sad, just content. He was moving on.

---

Keith was woken by quiet hicks and sniffles from Lance beside him. He didn’t quite know what was going on, sleep still clouding his thoughts, so he rolled over into Lance and wrapped his arm around his waist. Upon doing so, he felt Lance shaking and tensing, trying to hide his ragged breathing from Keith. Something was up.

“What’s wrong?” Keith was still groggy from being woken but trying to shake it so he could comfort Lance at the best of his abilities.

“Nothing,” Lance said back, voice soft and a little choked back.

Concern twisted in Keith. He’d never seen Lance upset like this before. “You can tell me, it’s okay.”

“I said it’s nothing. Go back to sleep.” Lance snapping at him made Keith draw back a little. He left it alone but he pulled Lance back into him, wrapping him in a tight hold. Lance might not want to talk, but Keith could at least hold him tight and plant small kisses along his neck to sooth whatever ache he was feeling.

Keith didn’t fall back to sleep though, and neither did Lance. He stopped crying after a while, but he kept sniffling and he never fully relaxed into Keith. An hour passed and Keith felt tear drops on his hand that was underneath Lance’s face. Luckily, he wasn’t out of ideas to comfort Lance.

If Lance didn’t want to talk about it, he probably didn’t want to think about it. And Keith knew just the distraction.

“Lance, hey,” He whispered. “Get up and put on some warm clothes, alright?” Keith pulled his hands free of Lance and ran one down Lance’s side, giving a soft pat at his hip bone before he rolled off the bed.

Lance stirred and sat up. “Why?”

“Trust me.” The early-morning air was cold on Keith’s bare chest and he quickly threw on the previous day’s clothes and also donned an extra jacket, knowing that Lance gets cold easily and would most definitely under-dress. He stepped quietly into the kitchen, trying not to wake Shiro as he grabbed his keys and a few snack bars for the both of them which he stuffed into his jacket pocket.

He heard Lance tread into the kitchen to meet him, holding a scrunched tissue in his hand. Keith offered a soft smile which Lance returned before leading him out to the shed. He pulled open the door and searched for a second for the light switch, most definitely touching a few spider webs in the process but not willing to acknowledge it.

He squinted in the sudden brightness and wandered over to a large lump underneath a sheet. He pulled the sheet away to reveal his red motorcycle, shiny and vintage-looking with a gold pinstripe on the fuel tank. “Hey, Red,” he cooed and he tossed a helmet at Lance who seemed hesitant.

“You have to put that on if you want to come with me,” Keith said, tucking his own hair into his helmet.

“Why the bike?” Lance looked nervous.

“You have to ride it sometimes. Besides, there’s just something about riding her that makes you feel free.” Keith pushed his bike out of the shed and out to the road. “She takes away the bounds life tied around you away and she really makes you feel at peace with the world. Just you, the road, and the sky.”

Keith hopped on and held out his hand for Lance to take. Lance put on the helmet and took Keith’s hand, hopping on the back of the bike and squeezing his arms around Keith’s chest tight.

“You ready?” Keith fired up the engine and gave a few revs, the neighbours be damned.

“To freedom!” Lance yelled over the engine and Keith took off, slow at first until Lance had relaxed enough that Keith could actually breathe.

Keith drove and he drove. He drove to his favourite place in the whole world. Up the freeway and through the hills, to the highest peak he could find that overlooked the city. He would come there whenever he was upset or angry at the world. The long ride up would calm him and the peace and view would soothe his aches.

He pulled up and pushed his bike behind a bush, shielding it from the view of the road and clipping their helmets to it. He took Lance’s hand and led them through the paddock they were trespassing and into the trees. Lance held his hand tighter the further they traveled into the darkness the pine forest created and Keith moved quickly to get out so Lance would feel safe again.

The night breeze rustled through the tall wooden figures and it created an almost ghost-like howl. Fortunately for Lance, they stepped out of the trees. Keith heard Lance gasp at the sight that met them. From where they stood they could see the entire city and the surrounding suburbs. The lights stretched as far as their eyes could see. Keith sat down in the grass and Lance followed.

“Wow.” Keith could see the awe on Lance’s face. In the moonlight.

“Yeah. This is where I come to be alone.” Everything was so small from where they stood. A city so big with buildings towering into the sky like urban giants appeared as small as an ant. From a different perspective, everything was so small, so insignificant. It helped remind Keith that every mistake or moment of weakness or pain was tiny in comparison to everything else his life has in store for him. Something that was so big at the time will always become a small memory as time passed, as perspective changed.

Next to him, Keith could feel Lance begin to shiver. He shed the extra jacket and draped it over Lance’s shoulders. He wrapped himself in Keith’s jacket as he stared out over the city.

“This is all so fucked,” Lance said, breaking the calm and silence.

“What?”

“I’ve been stuck in that house for eight years. I have to start all over again. I have to get everything back and I don’t even know where to begin or how to even explain this situation or what story I’m going to tell that people will believe. Everything will say I’m 29 but I’m not. I haven’t aged a day since then. How everyone else will see me isn’t how I really am and I don’t know why it’s bothering me so much.” Lance looked away to the grass and picked at it, tearing it up and watching it blow away out of his hand.

“You don’t need a reason for it to bother you, but for what it’s worth, I see you differently to them. So do Shiro and Pidge and Hunk. We’re all here for you. We all know the truth.”

“I guess. But I was gone for so long and I missed so much. I missed my brothers and sisters and best friend’s weddings and their kids. I missed my own dad’s funeral. I missed so much that I’m never going to get back. Everything is different and I lost the house. The last familiar thing I know is gone. I lost it all.” Lance took a breath and let out a deep sigh, looking down to his lap.

Keith was at a loss for words. Everyone experiences hardships, some worse than others, and he was in no place to tell Lance that his problems were small or that he shouldn’t worry. He had no idea what Lance felt or how he was going to deal with this. To Lance, that could be the hardest thing he’ll ever have to deal with, especially considering how important family was to Lance. All Keith could do was support him through it. Be someone he could confide in and seek support when he needed. Be someone to hold him tight and tell him that he’s loved and that Lance should never give up hope, because it’s hope that drives the determination to become better.

So that’s what he did. He wrapped his arms around Lance, using one to wipe away the tear that fell down his cheek, and placed his head on Lance’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Lance nodded and held tight to Keith’s arm that was wrapped around his chest and leaned to rest his head against Keith’s.

Before they knew it, the sun began to rise over the city, bathing everything in an orange glow as it climbed higher and higher, eventually rising enough to warm the faces of the two still resting atop the hill.

“We should head back,” Keith spoke first, quiet.

“Yeah.” Lance followed Keith’s lead, unwrapping himself from Lance and standing to stretch out his aching back. Keith dusted himself off and began to leave, taking a few steps then stopping when he didn’t hear Lance’s footsteps swooshing in the grass behind him. He turned to see Lance staring at the sunrise. He was picturesque.

“Kinda romantic up here, huh?” Lance said, turning back to Keith.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Keith stepped back to Lance who draped his arms lazily over Keith’s shoulders and placed a small kiss on his lips. “Thank you.”

Keith smiled and nodded. “Now that you know about this place, you better not trash it up.” Keith poked Lance playfully in the stomach.

Lance swatted at Keith’s finger. “I wouldn’t dream of coming up here without you.”

By the time they arrived back home, Lance was complaining about cold fingers and Keith needed twelve cups of coffee since he had work in two hours and had about three hours sleep. Fortunately for him, he was dating an asshole. Whilst making his first coffee, Lance snuck up behind him and pressed his ice cold hands underneath Keith’s shirt and right on his chest. He squeaked in surprise and pain, reflexes kicking in and stomping on Lance’s foot, causing Lance to squeak in pain too. That definitely woke him up.

“You know, some of us don’t have the luxury of being early risers, so if you two could keep it down, that would be great.” Shiro stepped out into the kitchen, clearly woken by Keith and Lance and wandered over to where Keith had begun to make him a coffee as well.

“You got that right, Shiro, so I’m off back to bed.” Lance placed a kiss on Keith’s cheek. “Have a great day at work, honey.” He headed off back down to their bedroom and disappeared behind the closed door.

“Where did you two go last night?” Shiro leaned up against the counter next to Keith.

“Just for a drive.” Keith had gotten an idea that would hopefully help Lance, at least a little bit. If it didn’t backfire, it would give Lance some of the closure he needed.

---

On his lunch break, Keith stepped outside and pulled out his phone and scrolled to the number he wanted. He called and waited for the line to be picked up on the other side.

“Mrs McClain? Yeah. It’s Keith. I was wondering where your husband is buried? I think it would be good for Lance to visit.”

He got the location and redialled his phone to call Shiro.

“Shiro I’m leaving. Tell Coran what you have to and I’ll do my paperwork tonight and whatever else I have to do. Just bring it home for me.” Keith didn’t give Shiro a chance to respond before he hung up and headed to his car and drove home.

When he stepped through the door at home he was hit with the smell of homemade pie. In the kitchen, he found Lance, green goop covering his face and hair pinned back pulling a tray out of the oven. He noticed Keith and smiled, putting the tray down and bounding over to give Keith a hug.

“You’re home early! Wait,” Lance’s face dropped. “Why are you home early? What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Keith smiled reassuringly and traced his finger through the goo on Lance’s face. “What’s that?”

“It’s a face mask. Duh. How do you think I keep this skin so kissable?” Lance pretended to flick his hair off his shoulder.

“Okay, well. Go wash it off. I want to take you somewhere.” He also wanted to kiss Lance without kissing the mask as well, even though it smelled amazing.

“Keith. Always so vague,” Lance tsked. “Alright. Also, don’t touch that pie. It was Allura’s birthday yesterday and Shiro’s bringing her around tonight and he asked me if I could bake something for her.”

Keith watched Lance go into the bathroom and looked around for any sign of anything that might see him take some of the filling that poked through the lattice on top of the pie. And then a little bit more.

“Wow, that’s good,” he mused a little too loud.

“I appreciate the compliment but if you eat any more I will have to kick you out until Allura gets here.” Lance stood at the doorway to the kitchen, amused smile on his face now clean face. “Also, can we take the car? Please?”

Keith tried not to be hurt that Lance wasn’t a fan of Red, but he could understand where Lance’s concern came from. Four wheels do feel safer than two.

They drove for a while up the freeway and into the hills again, like they did that morning, except they passed Keith’s spot. They drove and drove, the road windy and empty of all traffic.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination. There was a small dirt road that led up to old, rusty cemetery gates that were cracked open just enough for a person to fit through. If Lance knew what was going on, he didn’t mention it and followed Keith through the small cemetery.

The site overlooked the city, but not nearly as well as Keith’s spot did. If Keith didn’t know about his spot, he would think that this view was breathtaking.

“Why did you bring me here?” Lance asked as he followed Keith as he searched the headstones.

“That’s why.” Keith found what he was looking for.

On the ground by their feet was a small, black rectangle with gold writing and decoration.

“Robert McClain. This is my dad.” Lance knelt down and ran his fingers over the quote that read:

I will see you again, my son

“Your mum told me that he wanted to be buried up here when he died so he could watch over the city for you. To make sure you were safe. He knew you were out there.” Keith placed his hand on Lance’s shoulder and rubbed gently before stepping away to give Lance his space.

From where he stood, Keith could see Lance talking to the grave, wiping tears away as they fell. Keith tried not to watch Lance too much, seeing him break down over his father’s grave was hard to watch. He wanted to hold Lance but he knew it was better to give him some space to resolve his feelings privately, where he could say what he wanted, what he needed.

Keith wandered the cemetery for a while, reading the names of the people he never knew, wondering why they ended up here and if anyone cared enough to visit. A lot were covered in dirt and dead flowers, leading him to believe that either no one cared, or the ones who did were no longer around to visit.

He looked back up to Lance, who had stopped crying but was still talking, a small smile on his face letting Keith know he was done with the hard stuff. So Keith headed over, quickly entering earshot of Lance’s voice.

“I met a nice boy too, dad,” Keith heard Lance say as he approached. “I really think you’ll love him. I think it might be for ever.”

Keith knelt down next to Lance and took his hand in his own. “I think it might be for ever too.”

The thing about love was that it terrified Keith. The idea of it left him confused and anxious and mad and he would never let himself fall because he couldn’t let himself get hurt. But the thing about love was that it became familiar to him, overwhelming and warm and so so different to what he ever thought it could be. It was no longer his kryptonite. Lance wasn’t his weakness. Lance was his strength. And he wouldn’t trade it for the world because yeah, he did deserve to be happy.