Archive of Our Own

Things between him and Keith had been great ever since they got together. 

They told their friends the next day at school, receiving congratulations from all three. Though it was obvious that no one was surprised by the new development, Allura and Hunk still rushed to give them both big bear hugs while Pidge dramatically collapsed against her seat, loudly sighing and grumbling out a short, “Finally!” before beginning to gripe about how annoying it was to watch them pine. 

Lance was also happy to let go of the guilt that’d been weighing on him from spending time with Keith as Spider-Man. Now that they were both on the same page about who he was, they got to see each other out of school a lot more. Often, he’d text Keith to meet him during his patrols or drop by if he was passing through the area. No matter what, he always found a way to squeeze in some Keith time every night, even if it was just a quick knock on the window for a good night peck on the lips.  

All in all, it had been going as smooth as it could be. 

So, of course, that’s when everything went wrong. 

Lance had been on his way to meet Keith on their usual rooftop. Normally, they would meet up at three on the weekends, but he’d been running late. It was five past four when he landed on the top of Keith’s apartment building, except when he looked around there was no Keith in sight. At first Lance had assumed he got tired of waiting or had to do something and left; that is until he spotted the white sheet taped to the backrest of Keith’s chair. 

When he walked closer he saw that it was a folded piece of paper with his own spider emblem plastered to the front. Dread coiled in the pit of his stomach as he reached for the paper, hoping beyond belief that it was a simple note from Keith telling him he was busy or coming back later and that Lance was completely overreacting. 

Unfortunately, he wasn’t so lucky. 

As soon as he peeled off the tape and undid one of the folds, something small slipped out from between his fingers. It floated down to the ground, skipping a couple feet every few seconds as the wind picked it up and dropped it once again onto the concrete. 

Lance quickly shot a web out to grab what appeared to be a single polaroid picture. He flipped it around to take a look and his heart stopped in his chest. The air in his lungs seemed to magically disappear, leaving him gasping for breath as the nice breeze brushing against him suddenly turned to ice. 

There, centered in the small frame, was Keith. He was unconscious on the ground, lying in front of the door connecting the roof to the inside of the building. His hands were tied in front of him with rope and a dart was sticking out of his leg. Shadows from whoever took the picture draped over his body and Lance could make out the shape of a gun in two of them. 

A bone chilling coldness slithered down his back as he scrambled to open the rest of the paper. There was nothing on the inside of the sheet except for an address scrawled right dab in the middle with a cursive - See you soon, Spider-Man. - underneath. 

Lance pocketed the picture and swung off the building, forcing his webs to pull him through the air faster and faster until he was practically flying. 

He wanted to be angry, wanted the rage to fuel his body to be quicker, to get to Keith quicker , but he couldn’t hold on to that heated fury with so much icy fear coursing through his veins. His terror doused any fire he tried to summon within seconds as his mind unwillingly conjured dozens upon dozens of horrifying scenes taken straight from his nightmares. 

That pretty much summed up where he was now, staring down at the open warehouse from where he’d hidden himself in the overlapping shadows on the ceiling. Despite the fact that the sun wasn’t even close to setting, the space was dimly lit and the warehouses exits, besides the main one, were all securely blocked off- likely so he’d only have one way of getting in or out in order to ambush him. Too bad they hadn’t realized there was a sizable hole in the ceiling boards that he was able to squeeze through. 

He scanned the area, searching for any signs of the person he was attempting to rescue. At last, there, in the opposite corner of the room from the main entrance, was Keith. He was completely tied down to an old looking metal chair, his arms separated and connected to the handles with rope and his legs in the same condition with the seat's front legs. There was a gag stuffed into his mouth so he couldn’t speak, but he was clearly awake, glaring harshly at a man in a fancy suit leaning against the wall. The rest of the people in the room were all in black, carrying large firearms either on their backs or in their hands. The guns matched the shape he had observed in the polaroid picture. Most of them were stationed around the front entrance, ready to shoot as soon as Spider-Man swung through the doors, while a few others were scattered around the room. There were two men standing at attention on either side of Keith, talking quietly amongst themselves. 

“Where is he!? I’m getting tired of waiting!” The man in the suit, who Lance dubbed the one behind all of this, paced back and forth, his face twitching unattractively with irritation. 

“He’ll be here. We’ve got his little boyfriend, there’s no way he’s not going to come barreling in to take him back,” The man to the right of Keith assured, shoving the back of his gun against the raven haired boy’s shoulder. Lance clenched his fists as Keith flinched away from the movement.

The man in the suit huffed impatiently, “Well he better get here soon.” He turned around, marching up to Keith and looking him over thoughtfully, “Hmmm, perhaps he needs more incentive.” Keith’s expression didn’t show any kind of reaction, but his shoulders jerked back at being on the receiving end of that cynical glare. 

Finally, Lance decided enough was enough and shot forward, firing a web at the light switches and effectively trapping them on the side that read: off. 

Immediately, the already tense environment turned chaotic. 

Bullets rang out from every direction, but since no one knew what they were shooting at it was easy to dodge. He shot web after web, disarming the lackeys and efficiently sticking one after another to the wall of the warehouse once they were knocked out. He scanned the room with his night vision when he was finished with the men by the front entrance. There were only a few more after that; the two guarding Keith thankfully left his side, pulling at the webs over the electrical panel. By the time they finally managed to pry the webbing off and switch the lights back on, he was standing behind them. They only had a moment to be surprised at his casual proximity before they were strung up with their coworkers a few feet off the ground. 

He heard a muffled yell behind him and swiftly turned around, just in time to dodge a bullet aimed straight at his chest. Another stifled shout echoed through the air, making Lance look up from his crouched position to find that the man in the suit had picked up one of the abandoned guns and was pushing it into the back of Keith’s head. 

Lance slowly walked forward as the man laughed triumphantly. 

“Ah, Spider-Man, I’m glad you could finally make it,” He grinned smugly. Lance continued advancing at a crawl, not taking his eyes off of the gun. The guy paused, waiting for a response from the usually chatty hero. The longer he didn’t speak, the more nervous the man seemed to get as Lance kept getting closer. His smirk wobbled and his grip on the weapon became unsteady as he shifted uncomfortably, “I was worried there for a little while that you weren’t going to sho-” 

The man was cut off as Lance aimed a web at his face, covering his eyes. He shrieked and flailed, desperately pulling at the webbing and dropping the gun in the process. As soon as the weapon left his hands, Lance was on him. He barely had a moment to pull off the offending substance before Spider-Man punched him hard enough to knock him out on impact. 

With that done, Lance made his way back to Keith. He tore off his mask and kneeled down to level himself with his boyfriend, gently untying the gag. 

“ Lance, ” Keith sighed once the gag was fully off. Lance nodded, not able to say anything quite yet. He continued untying Keith’s wrists and ankles, taking it painstakingly slow as to not hurt him. When he finished, he threw the rope away from them and pulled the boy in front of him close. Keith came willingly, wrapping his arms around Lance’s head and squeezing his eyes shut as the brunette shoved his face into Keith’s neck. Lance smoothed one hand up and down his back as he moved the other to clutch at Keith’s hair. 

“It’s okay. I’m here now, I’m right here,” he whispered reassuringly into the other teenager's chest. The ravenette merely nodded in response, swapping places with Lance as the silent one. “Can you stand up?” he asked. 

“I don’t know,” Keith croaked back. “It’s hard to move,” he admitted as Lance pulled him up from the chair. The hero stepped back a little to test Keith’s control over his appendages, moving right back in when he was only able to hold himself up for about twenty seconds before his legs gave way. 

“Whatever drug they gave you is probably still working through your blood system. How are you feeling? Is anything in particular hurting? Do you think you’re going to pass out again?” Lance was frantically looking around, trying to figure out what to do next. 

“ Lance , slow down,” Keith pleaded, his fingers tightening where they were grasping onto the taller of the two’s biceps. 

Lance froze at the sound of Keith’s voice. He’d heard him in destress before, but never like this. He took a moment to breathe, focusing his attention on Keith as he finally let it sink in that he was alive and unharmed, and safe, in front of him. 

At least that’s what Lance thought until his eyes made it to the other boy’s face. He’d been reaching out to cup Keith’s jaw and pull him in for a kiss, but stopped short as his brain registered the large red splotch covering his left cheek. Lance inhaled sharply, and this time that blinding anger had no problem bubbling to the surface. His blood absolutely boiled to the point that he swore he must’ve actually been on fire. 

Keith’s brows furrowed in confusion until he realized where Lance’s gaze had settled. He quickly turned his head away, biting his lip before covering the inflamed area with his fingers. 

Lance lifted his hand further, his intention to wrap it around Keith’s wrist and pull it away to expose the incriminating mark. However, as his fingertips made contact, Keith winced, his other hand whipping up to cradle the apparent injury. Lance sucked in another shaky breath, struggling to suppress the rage buzzing under the surface of his skin.

The ravenette looked up at him with wide eyes and Lance could see the wariness steadily creeping into them. Perhaps that would’ve brought Lance back from the rapidly escalating storm in his mind if he hadn’t been so busy intensely staring at the prominent bruises covering the entirety of Keith’s wrists. They were an awful shade of red, presumably rubbed raw by the ropes that had been bound around them. A quick glance told him that Keith’s ankles were in no better condition. 

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Keith tried. When Lance made no attempt to respond he continued, an edge of desperation tingeing his already stressed tone, “I -uh. I tr-tried to escape when I first woke up. They only tied my hands together, assuming that I wouldn’t be dumb enough to try to run, so I kicked one of the guys next to me and shoved the other. Obviously I didn’t get very far…” He paused his explanation as his voice cracked. Keith pursed his lips, blinking rapidly as he avoided Lance’s gaze. 

“Keith, you don’t have to…” Lance started to say softly, grabbing one of Keith’s hands to cradle reassuringly in his own. The other simply shook his head and Lance got the sense this was something he needed to say. 

“My legs gave in a few feet away from the corner I was thrown in, so. Turns out I managed to kick the one guard in his… sensitive area and he repaid me by- well, you know. After that they secured me to the chair and shoved the gag in my mouth. It happened not too long before you showed up.” Keith shifted uneasily, likely reliving a memory he should have never had in the first place. He shouldn’t have been kidnapped, shouldn’t have ended up bound to a chair. Shouldn’t have been slapped and gagged as punishment. He shouldn’t have gone through any of that and he wouldn’t have if he wasn’t dating Lance. He was the reason this happened. He was the reason Keith was trying to hide the tears in his eyes with his bangs; the reason why he was weakly leaning against Lance with a throbbing cheek and aching limbs. It was all his fault. “Lance, stop! Whatever you’re thinking, stop it. Let’s just get out of here-” 

“Argh~” A groan interrupted Keith’s plea. Lance threw his mask back on and twisted around to watch the man with the suit push himself up, hissing as he poked around the spot that Lance had punched. 

Lance growled under his breath, depositing Keith back onto his chair before rounding on the man. Keith tried to grab at him, not wanting Lance to interrogate the bad guy in his current state; Lance paid him no attention for the moment. His newfound anger was building with every step he took and now he had something to take it out on. 

The superhero briskly reached down and grabbed the front of the man’s suit, hauling him up until his feet were dangling an inch or two off the ground. 

“What was in that tranquilizer? Is it harmful?” He questioned, appropriately lowering his voice like he always did to sound more authoritative in front of criminals. 

Mr. Fancy Suit was no longer smug or smirking. Instead, he was sweating nervously, frantically trying to peel Lance’s gloved hand off of him. 

He shook his head wildly, grunting out a refusal between gritted teeth, “No.”

Lance scowled. He shifted his grip to both his hands and raised the man in the suit even higher off the ground, “You know, it’s funny that you think you’re allowed to say no.” He walked over to the wall and pressed the struggling bad guy against it threateningly. “Now, normally I would’ve had more patience to deal with you, but not today. Today, you’ve made it personal. So, you’re going to tell me what was in that dart and you’re going to tell me now ,” Lance barked out. 

Upon seeing Spider-Man’s intimidating demeanor, the man stammered wordlessly, losing all confidence.

“I-It wasn’t anything harmful! It was just an animal tranquilizer! They’re easily accessible and exceptionally common to buy in the zoo industry. The dose simply contained enough to knock out an average, male teenager.” 

Lance hummed in thought. He’d heard a bit about those animal tranquilizers from his sister, Rachel. She was really into animal rights and supported the idea of switching the zoos, pet store providers, and other animal related businesses’ back up guns to darts in order to prevent innocent animals from being needlessly killed. He knew that the purpose of those darts were to sedate and not injure; still, he didn’t know how that translated in a different species’ anatomy. 

“And it won’t cause him any harm? At all?” Lance questioned. 

“No!” He hastily answered. “No, he’ll continue to feel the effects for an hour or so, but after that he should be fine.”

“And he won’t die from overdose or anything?” Lance pushed some more, wanting to be one hundred percent sure that Keith wouldn’t randomly drop dead in a few hours or something like that. 

“Of course not. We had no reason to waste the drugs needed to kill him as long as you showed up.” 

It only took a second for him to realize his mistake. 

“ As long as I showed up!? What would have happened if I didn’t ?” He snarled. The man’s eyes widened and his face paled so rapidly Lance thought he might pass out. 

“Uh- W-wait! Tha-that’s not what I meant!” he began. Lance quickly cut him off by pulling the man away from the wall before roughly slamming him back against it. 

“Oh no, I’m aware of exactly what you meant. How did you know I would find the note in the first place?” he glowered, even though it couldn’t be seen through the mask. 

“We’ve been watching you for the last two weeks or so. We tracked your visible path throughout the city and discovered that the one place you routinely visit is the roof of the boy’s apartment building. After that it was easy to find you, we just had to watch the boy,” the suited man fearfully hurried out. He was doing his best not to look at the mask, like if he did there would be some unfathomable consequence. 

Shame filled him as he realized that both he and Keith had been followed and spied on for over two weeks. And he had no idea until now. 

He shook his head, silently reminding himself to focus on what was happening in the present. 

“Are there any pictures or documents left over?” He squeezed the front of the man’s attire tighter. 

“Y-yes. In the office,” he squeaked out. Lance looked around, searching for anything that indicated an office was connected to the warehouse. It only took one glance to find a door in the adjacent wall. 

“Is that the office?” He asked, gesturing to the door with his head. The man nodded. “Alright, thank you for your cooperation,” he spoke calmly, dropping the fancy suit and the man in it down to the hard ground.

“What?” He choked out through his fear, a gleam in his eyes that Lance recognized as a combination of hope and disbelief. “I can go?” He asked suspiciously, shuffling around in an attempt to discreetly shift out from between the hero and the warehouse wall. When Lance continued to say nothing, the man in the suit took a few steps back, keeping his eyes on Spider-Man, and bolted. He got halfway to the door when Lance took action. 

“Oh! By the way, I almost forgot, but…” Lance shot a line of web at the retreating figure to drag him back, an intimidation method he’d learned in his time as Spider-Man. Once the man was close enough, he grabbed his tie and pulled him in close. “If you tell anyone about him, and I mean anyone , I will find you and I can’t guarantee I’ll remember that I’m supposed to be a hero when I do,” Lance growled lowly. He kept his words quiet so Keith wouldn’t hear, but made sure he exuded terror in every ounce of his posture and tone. Based on the wet spot leaking down the man’s expensive looking pants, it worked. “I recommend for your benefit that you make sure none of your minions spill the beans either.” 

He waited for the man to nod in agreement to say, “Good.” 

Then, he punched the man once more and watched as he fell to the ground, unmoving besides the rise and fall of his chest. Lance glared down at him, webbing him to the floor right where he laid. 

Once he was sure the man was secure, he turned back to Keith who was silently watching him from his slumped position in the chair. Any remaining outward anger immediately dissipated as he approached Keith, using the time to run his eyes up and down the boy’s body to assess his injuries. 

“All done?” 

“Just a sec’, I’ll be right back.” He ran over to the office door and raced into the room, ransacking everything he could find to figure out where the evidence of his relationship with Keith was hidden. 

Finally, he came upon a drawer with a single, fat file inside of it. He lugged it onto the desk and revealed exactly what he was looking for. 

There were hundreds of pictures inside. Lance spread them out on the desk, realizing that they were arranged in chronological order. In the beginning there were only blurry pictures of him flying through the air or in the middle of a fight. Then, after a while, Keith began to show up. At first it was just a few pictures here and there that captured them walking next to each other on the sidewalk or shots of him throwing something at Keith while he passed by overhead. Usually a candy or some other little gift he’d get for him. Next, the pictures evolved into shots of them on the roof, talking and laughing together, holding hands and sharing secret smiles. They’d even photographed Lance with his mask up to his nose while Keith was holding up a spoonful of ice cream for him to taste. 

Lance mentally cursed at his naivety. Of course someone was going to notice them eventually. How could he be so stupid?

He’d gotten too comfortable with the idea that no one was watching. Or that if they were, he’d notice. Clearly Lance was wrong and now Keith was paying the price. His one consolation was that none of the pictures seemed to show their dates or interactions during his nightly patrols. 

Lance grabbed a lighter from the desk and set the pictures on the floor before lighting them on fire. He searched and found the camera they’d been taken on and a USB labeled SM Bait. Idiots . He smashed the devices and quickly hacked into the main computer to delete any traces of Keith from the system. 

Once it was done he picked up the office phone and dialed 9-1-1, saying that there were gunshots coming from the building and supplying the address when asked. He let out a breath of relief, happy that he could finally get him and Keith out of that blasted warehouse. 

Keith was attempting to stand when he walked out, pushing himself up with the help of the backrest only to fall back down when he tried to let go. 

Lance rushed to him, circling his arms around the smaller boy’s waist to steady him, “Don’t try to stand by yourself yet, the drug is still in your bloodstream.”  

“Okay,” Keith whispered.

“Let’s go.” Lance picked him up and waited for him to wrap his hands around his shoulders, cradling Keith to his chest as he swung them out of the building. He made it about five blocks before Keith caught on to where they were heading, or more specifically where they weren’t heading. 

“Wait, what are you doing? We’re going in the opposite direction of my apartment,” Keith looked around at the lively New York landscape, confused. 

“We’re not going to your apartment.” 

“What? Then where are we-” 

“We’re going to the hospital,” Lance stated, cutting him off mid sentence. Keith’s head snapped up and Lance could see the panic bleeding into his expression. 

“No! No, Lance, we can't go to the hospital!” Keith proclaimed. 

“Yes we can. You were kidnapped Keith, you need to get checked out. We’re going, ” He declared, leaving no room to argue. 

In all honesty, he should have known better than to try something like that on Keith of all people. 

“Excuse me? You don’t get to make that decision for me! Bring me back to my apartment now, Lance!” He commanded. The ravenette started thrashing against him, wriggling around and twisting in Lance’s hold. 

Lance yelped as Keith almost slipped out of his grip. A spike of adrenaline and terror shot through him as he squeezed Keith’s body against his own using a bit of his super strength, unwilling to risk dropping Keith because the boy wouldn’t stay still. He landed them on a nearby rooftop, thumping down hard. 

“Don’t do that Keith!” he hissed. “What if you fell?”

Keith scoffed, rolling his eyes, “Then you would have caught me!” 

“You don’t know that for sure! Don’t do that again,” Lance snapped. 

“Well then don’t try to take me to the hospital when I tell you not to!” Keith hurled back. 

“You need to go! Just let me bring you to the ER.”

“No!” 

“Why not!?”

“Because I said no!” 

Keith turned his back to him, crossing his arms stubbornly. Lance knew they were both upset, tired from the rollercoaster of emotions and trauma they'd been through in only the last few hours, but he kept pushing anyway. 

“Yes, but why!? Why won’t you go? Give me one good reason why!” Lance stalked towards him, yelling at this point. 

“Because we can’t afford it!” Keith finally broke, his voice cracking as his chin lowered in shame. “Shiro and Adam always say that we’re fine, that we have plenty of money to support us and while that’s not a complete lie it’s also not the whole truth. Their plan didn’t include caring for a child, so when they took me in they had to make sacrifices to keep me fed and sleeping in a warm bed. I know they’ve struggled a lot because of my needs and the multiple times I have gone to the hospital. I can’t do that to them again. Yes, both Adam and Shiro have better jobs now and they can support us without having to do anything drastic, but I know how expensive medical bills can be. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t go unless I was unconscious, unable to refuse,” He took a deep breath, blinking away the tears threatening to escape and raised his head. “I’m not going Lance and if you try to make me I swear I will fight you every step of the way,” he finished, determination sparkling in his eyes. 

Lance recognized that look; usually it was endearing, but right now it kind of made him want to scream in frustration. It meant that Keith was set on his decision and would not let anyone sway him. It meant there was nothing he or anyone else in the world could do to convince Keith to go get proper help. 

Lance sighed internally, at his wits end for the day. He understood Keith’s reason, could even distantly admire it, but it didn’t make their situation any less aggravating. 

He wanted Keith to be safe and happy… and this wasn’t that. Quite the opposite actually. Instead, he was flushed, resisting the urge to cry and absent mindedly rubbing his wrists- presumably to try soothing away the ache. 

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to fall in love, unable to keep their stupid, lovestruck smiles off their faces not fighting in the middle of the city about whether or not Keith’s injuries required him to go to the ER. 

A wave of dread encompassed him as he realized what he needed to do. 

“Alright,” He whispered, defeat and resignation clawing at his throat. 

Keith’s jaw dropped at how fast Lance gave in, but he didn’t speak. There was nothing else to say. 

They arrived at Keith’s fire escape within minutes. Lance swiftly opened the window and guided Keith over the sill. It took him no time to find the bruise salve that Adam had been providing him for the past months. 

He wordlessly led Keith over to the bed, pushing lightly on his shoulders to get him to sit down. Keith was looking at him, worry building on his face the longer Lance refused to speak. 

“Lance.”

He took Keith’s hands in his own and pulled his sleeves up to reveal the damage caused by the ropes. It was even worse up close: irritated red everywhere, wide scrapes pulling across his skin in lines, and dark spots where bruises were forming in a mess of black, blue, and a sickly pale green. 

“Lance.”

It was hard to look at, ugly. Ugly and so, so wrong. So wrong and out of place because nothing about Keith was ugly… but these were. These were and it was the furthest thing possible from okay. 

“Lance, can you hear me?” 

He got up and went to the kitchen, returning with a wet rag and some ointments to treat the scrapes. He crouched down in front of Keith and began applying the home treatments. He tried to block out the flurry of self-loathing thoughts surrounding and suffocating him. 

“Lance, please say something.”

Thoughts of how selfish he’d been, how stupidly overoptimistic. He’d chosen to ignore the risks of being with someone while continuing to be Spider-Man and now look at what happened. 

It was all his fault. 

“Lance!” Keith’s shout startled him back into reality. 

“Sorry,” he muttered. Keith shook his head and dropped his hands on Lance’s shoulders. Once Lance looked up at him, he slid his hands up to the place that his mask met his suit. 

Keith pulled the mask off, sending him a small, nervous smile as he set it on the bed, “There you are. What’s going on in there? What are you thinking?”  

Lance dropped his gaze, not able to make eye contact with Keith. 

“How’s your cheek?” His question visibly caught the other off guard. 

Keith stuttered at first before replying with a short, “It’s fine. Doesn’t even hurt.” The look on his face was unreadable in a way that Lance couldn’t stand. Another burst of guilt stabbed at him at the realization that he didn’t know if Keith was lying or not. He wasn’t sure the answer would make him feel better either way. “Lance, seriously. You’re trembling, I know something’s wrong. Talk to me,” Keith pleaded, but Lance just squeezed his eyes shut. 

He could feel the tears leaking from the corners of his eyes and soon there were arms winding around him, whispering warm comforts into his ear. Fingers tangled into the hair at the back of his head before smoothing down his skull. The petting was nice, it brought him a sense of ease… and because of that he couldn’t enjoy it. Lance’s shoulders tensed so badly it ached as he pulled away. 

He didn’t deserve this type of comfort right now, especially from Keith. 

“Keith,” he rasped. 

“Yeah, Lance, it’s me.”

“I- I’m sorry.” 

“Hey, shhh, it’s okay. You saved me and now I’m here- safe and alive because of you. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” 

“No, Keith. I’m so sorry ,” Lance looked up and he knew Keith could see the anguish in his eyes. His brows scrunched as the gradual understanding that Lance was talking about something more descended upon him. “I’ve been an idiot for thinking I could do this. I put you in danger and today you could have died . Because of me. Because you’re dating me and they found out. I want to be with you so much Keith, I’ve never felt like this about anyone before, but I can’t be with you knowing this could happen again. And if we stay together it will.” Keith’s eyes turned glassy as his mouth opened and closed in unspoken words. “We have to break up.” 

“What are you talking about!?” Keith sputtered. “After everything that happened today, you really wanna break up with me now !? After all that, you’re just gonna give up on us!?”

“I’m not giving up, I’m trying to do what’s best for you! And ‘all that’ is exactly why we can’t continue dating,” Lance persisted. 

“ You don’t get to decide that! I don’t want to end our relationship, Lance. I don’t want to throw away this amazing thing we have between us because some scumbag thought they could kidnap me and get away with it! And that’s the whole point, you rescued me today; you saved me and now everything’s fine. Those guys are going to jail and you and I are here, together,” Keith reasoned, though there was the slightest quiver in his voice that gave him away. 

“It’s not fine, it’s not even close to fine and you know it. You may not want to admit it, but you forget I saw your face in there. I saw how scared you were and I don’t ever want to see that much hurt on your face again. I’ve seen you afraid too many times already, but that was different. It was… I don’t even think there’s a word I could use to describe it.” Keith averted his gaze as the color in his cheeks drained away. 

“You’re right,” He let out a humorless laugh. “I’ve never felt like that before. I didn’t know what was happening or where I was. They left me alone at first and I thought I could make it out before they used me against you. I was wrong, I didn’t even make it ten feet… and then they were grabbing me and forcing me back.” Keith paused for a long while, “I haven’t felt that defenseless, that helpless, in a long time.” He huffed out a breath that sounded more like a choked off sob, small droplets dripping down from under his long eyelashes. 

Lance reached over to gently wipe them away, “That’s why we need to break up. I refuse to put you through that again.”

Keith pulled away from him, dragging himself further into the bed to sit against the headboard. 

“We don’t need to break up, stop acting like we have no choice. There’s always a choice. I understand what’s at stake and I’m aware that it could have ended way worse than it did! I’m not denying it, I just don’t think we should jump to breaking up! As far as I’m concerned, nothing really has to change. How many times do I have to say that you saved me and that I’m okay before you believe me?” Keith set his feet on the floor and approached Lance slowly, trying to persuade him to rethink his decision. 

“Yeah, I saved you… this time, but what happens when I don’t get there in time? What happens if I can’t do whatever they’re asking me? What happens when they want revenge, not blackmail? We were lucky this time, it seemed to me that the guy was some corrupt businessman that wanted to use Spider-Man to help prove him innocent. I wouldn’t count on that happening again. I’ve made enemies as Spider-Man, one’s who won’t hesitate to kill you to make me weak. I let myself believe that everything would be okay and look at what they did to you. You’re living proof that I was wrong.”

“It’s not your fault though. You didn’t force that guy to kidnap me!”

“No, but I made you a target! If you were dating someone else you wouldn’t have ended up in that situation in the first place!”

“Stop focusing so much on what could have happened, it‘s only going to drive you crazy! I get that you’re scared, but that’s no reason to dump me! We can get past the fear, overcome it, together!”

“This isn’t some conquerable hang up of mine we can solve, this is my reality! It comes with being a hero. I have to be alert and ready to fight all the time! I’m never supposed to relax or else something bad will happen. Case in point. ” He meaningfully gestured between them. “I would be insane if I wasn't scared!” 

“That’s not healthy! You have to learn to let some of that fear go-”

“How can I do that when my fears are coming true!?” Lance yelled above him. 

“UGH!” Keith shouted in frustration. “Why can’t you work with me here!? I’m trying so hard not to freak out right now because I’m terrified of losing you and it would be really helpful if you could at least try to give me something !” The room fell silent around them. Lance let it, unable to process anything at this point other than the need to get out. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to belittle your feelings, I just wish you’d trust me!” Keith cried, hitting his emotional limit. 

A pang of regret spread through him and he briefly wished he’d saved this conversation for a different day. 

“I trust you more than I trust that the sun will rise every morning and set every night. It’s me that I can’t trust… and if I have to choose between your happiness and mine, then I choose yours.” 

Lance spun on his heels, grabbing his mask off the bed and heading for the window. He was halfway out when he heard Keith choke out under his breath, “If you really think I’d be happier without you, then maybe you don’t know me at all.”

Lance did his best to ignore the way his mask was growing uncomfortably wet as he swung home. 

Keith would move on. He’d get over Lance and find someone better. 

~*~*~*~

Keith woke up groggy and disoriented, having barely gotten any sleep after his and Lance’s fight. He’d tossed and turned all night, unable to stop thinking about what Lance said before he left. 

It made him so angry; Lance didn’t have the right to tell Keith what made him happy or not. He’d screamed into his pillow half the night just to restrain himself from punching a wall. Keith replayed the events of the day in his head over and over until he was splayed out on his bed watching the golden light spill into his room. It certainly didn’t help when a new reason to explain Lance’s behavior slipped into his fatigued mind. 

What if Lance was using this as an excuse to break up with him… because he didn’t want to be with Keith anymore, plain and simple? 

What if Lance no longer wanted to be his boyfriend, but didn’t want to tell Keith because he was afraid of hurting him?

Doubt settled like a rock in the pit of his stomach and he’d curled up against his bed, laying there and staring out into nothing until he could hear Shiro and Adam getting up and ready for work. He forced himself out of the comforting warmth of his blankets and into his school clothes as his lips thinned and eyes hardened with a newfound purpose. 

If Lance wanted to end their relationship because his feelings for Keith were gone then fine, he’d figure out a way to deal with it (maybe… probably, he didn’t want to think too hard about it just yet), but if Lance really was trying to leave to protect him? Well, he had to try very hard to successfully stomp down the urge to find Lance and beat his stupid, self sacrificing head with his bookbag. 

Keith left the apartment quickly, avoiding Shiro and Adam as best as he could. 

Along with the anger that’d plagued him all night was an unending well of sadness. Lance was such a light in his life and now Keith was on the verge of losing him. He never imagined them breaking up, always thought that his and Lance’s lives would be intertwined from thereon; that they would support each other and spend years growing together. 

Maybe it was a little much for how long they’d been dating, but he couldn’t imagine anyone would ever put as much time and effort into getting to know him as Lance did. Now it seemed that dream was proving to truly just be a dream as more and more time passed without a call or text from said boy. 

Keith didn’t know what to do. 

He barely made it through his first few classes, exhaustion biting at him the whole time. He’d yet to see Lance anywhere, though he almost ran into Pidge and Allura a few times. 

Keith sighed as the bell rang, startling him out of his thoughts. He stood, packing up his notebooks from another class he’d pretty much slept through and would have to catch up on later. He didn’t have the brain capacity to think about that at the moment though. All he could think was how he was ready for lunch, having forgotten to eat breakfast in his rush to get away from the scrutinizing gazes of his guardians. 

He walked into the cafeteria out of habit, freezing at the doorway as he saw them. 

At the far end of the large room, Allura, Hunk and Pidge were sitting at their table. The sight of them was like a punch to the gut. 

Lance wasn’t in his usual seat, probably held back in class to talk to a teacher or something of the like. He couldn’t be there when Lance showed up, he wasn’t ready to face him yet. 

Keith turned on his heel and stepped back out of the cafeteria, giving himself a moment to rest his tired body against the wall as he looked around the hallway for any sign of Lance. 

“Guess today’s my lucky day,” he muttered sardonically to himself as he started off down the corridor. 

It took him a bit, but eventually Keith found an empty classroom to eat his food. This was how he used to eat when he was tired of the loud lunchroom: he’d find an empty spot in the school and sit by himself. 

It’d been a while since he’d last eaten lunch alone. Silence echoed through the room without Lance’s wild stories, Pidge and Hunk’s captivatingly ingenious projects, and Allura’s passionate and ambitious ideas. A frown tugged at his lips as he realized this could become his new normal during lunch period. Just food and his own company. 

He had no doubt that their friends would side with Lance if they broke up. Why wouldn’t they? They’d known the brunette much longer, it would only make sense that they stick with him. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if they were mad at him on Lance’s behalf. 

Another piece of his heart cracked as it began to set in how alone he was. Again. 

Keith pulled out his sandwich and snacks and carelessly dumped them on the table, not in the mood to be gentle. He was able to take a few good bites of his sandwich before the door opened ever so slightly. 

“Wha-?” Keith mumbled through his mouthful of bread, cheese, and turkey as Hunk peaked through the crack. 

“Yep, he’s in here,” Hunk said, speaking to someone outside the room. Two someones to be exact. 

The three strided in, not saying anything else as they pushed the desks so they were all lined up in a circle and sat down. Keith stared at them in astonishment. 

“What are you doing here?” He asked, bewildered. 

“We’re eating lunch. Isn’t that obvious?” Allura blinked at him, nonplussed. 

“Yeah…” Keith’s gaze bounced from one person to the next, only receiving mildly confused looks in return for his surprised one. “But why are you having lunch with me ? What about Lance?” 

“Lance isn’t at school today,” Pidge answered. 

“Oh.” 

“Anyway, why wouldn’t we sit with you?” Pidge questioned. Keith hesitated, not knowing what to say. 

“I- because Lance and I got into a fight? Or… split up depending on who you ask,” he  responded, despondently poking at his snacks. He saw them share a look out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, we know about the fight,” Hunk replied. Keith’s shoulders hunched as he waited for them to say something else, to berate him or chew him out. 

“And? Lance isn’t here, you don’t have to pretend to be my friend out of pity or obligation to him. I understand if you’re angry with me, but just come out with it. Don’t beat around the bush.” 

Keith braced himself to see their smiles fade and their true feelings revealed. He expected sharp scowls and harsh insults; instead he felt a pair of arms curl around him, squeezing him so tightly he thought his ribs would break. 

“Awww, we’re not pretending buddy.” Ah yes, Hunk. Of course. He should have recognized a signature Hunk Hug. 

“ Hunk. Hunk let go, I can’t breathe !” he managed to wheeze out. 

“Hunk, for goodness sakes, you’re suffocating him!” Allura got up to pull at his arms. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he shot Keith a sheepish smile as he relinquished his grip. 

“It’s fine,” he assured as he caught his breath. Pidge joined them, standing next to Allura as she put her hands on Keith’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. 

“Keith, you have to know that we’re not friends with you because Lance told us to be. He didn’t bribe us or guilt us into letting you into our friend group. If we really didn’t want to spend time with you, then we wouldn’t. Simple as that. We’re friends with you because we like you. We like hanging out with you and we like who you are,” Allura sternly told him, not breaking eye contact for a second. 

“Yeah, Keith. I don’t go to movies and game nights, and especially comic cons, with people I don’t like,” Pidge added. 

“You’re a great person Keith! It’s not hard at all to be your friend,” Hunk chipped in kindly. 

Despite everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours, Keith couldn’t help the small smile that grew on his face. He could question their sincerity or motives, but honestly they had no reason to lie. It would have been just as easy to ignore him and let him be by himself and yet they chose to be here, cheering him up and trying to comfort him. 

“Yes, I agree. You’ve become quite the necessity to our ‘squad’ as Lance likes to call it. After all, you were the one who convinced Lance and Hunk to let us go stargazing that one night and now it’s tradition to go at least once a week. Plus, you have our beloved telescope,” Allura winked at him. 

Keith chuckled, remembering how reluctant Lance and Hunk had been to go with them. They claimed it would be boring and a waste of time. That is until they arrived and the two were stunned into silence. It was a long way to the field Keith had taken them to, but it was entirely worth it to see everyone’s awe as they lost themselves in the illuminated night sky. When he eventually convinced Adam to let him take the telescope, it’d been a whole ordeal about who got to look through it first. 

“Ohh yeah. You can pry my telescope privileges out of my cold, dead hands,” Pidge joked. She had ended up getting everyone to agree to let her use it first and last before they left. Keith’s pretty sure she had blackmail on everyone but him and learned quickly to stay on her good side as the others side-eyed her fearfully. 

“Now about you and Lance’s argument, and that’s all it was- an argument, it’s true that we’re worried for him. He means a lot to all of us and no one here wants to see him hurt. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t also be worried about you,” Allura continued as she sat back down at her desk, the rest of them promptly following. 

“Thanks, I appreciate it. Though I’m still more worried about Lance and how he’s doing. We kinda got… intense,” his hands fidgeted as he spoke, regret and guilt twisting in his stomach.

“Umm, sorry, but can I ask what happened in the first place?” Pidge cautiously inquired. 

“Uhhhhhhh…” Keith rubbed hard at his face, trying to figure out how to put it without revealing Lance’s alternate identity.  

“If you don’t want to tell us, then that’s okay. I just thought-” Pidge jumped in, not wanting him to feel pressured. 

“No, no. You’re good, I’m just thinking about how to say this right,” Keith asserted. His answer only seemed to intrigue Pidge all the more, even Hunk and Allura were leaning forward in their seats. “Um, basically, Lance and I were meeting up for a date when something happened and I got hurt. It wasn’t his fault and I told him that, but he wouldn’t listen. He just kept blaming himself and I tried to make him feel better about it by telling him that there wasn’t anything he could have done to stop it. He wouldn’t listen to me and it escalated. He was so convinced of his guilt that he declared we had to break up and, I’ll admit, I really panicked. We started yelling and both of us were really upset by the time Lance left. I haven’t heard from him since, but if he wasn’t at school today then…” Keith exhaled sharply, unable to finish the sentence. 

“You’re hurt? Are you okay?” Hunk asked, concern etched in the crinkle of his brows as he peered up and down Keith’s body to search for any visible injuries. Keith discreetly pulled at his sleeves, the anxiety clamping down on his throat at the thought of them seeing and making it irritatingly difficult to breathe. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’d really rather not talk about it though,” he crossed his arms defensively over his chest. 

Allura nodded, “You don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to.” She studied him for a moment after pointedly glaring at Pidge, who had opened her mouth in protest. “Unfortunately, that sounds very much like something Lance would do. He’s very quick to put the blame upon himself.”

“Oh yeah, it can get bad,” Hunk agreed. “He’ll start apologizing for stuff that he really doesn’t need to be sorry for and he’ll, like, freeze up with guilt. It’s awful. We’ve tried to convince him before that he can’t control everything and he doesn’t have to carry that kind of burden, but he won’t believe us either. Once he thinks it’s his fault it’s pretty much impossible to convince him otherwise.”

“Well, it’s impossible for a certain amount of days surrounding the incident. We can help him more once a little time has passed,” Pidge clarified. 

“Yeah, but I don’t want to let any time pass. I can’t wait for him to suddenly be willing to talk about it. I don’t know if or when that’ll happen and what if in the meantime I lose him for good?” Keith worried aloud.

“Don’t think of it as waiting for him to flip a switch and be ready to talk. Think of it more as letting him cool down. Everyone needs time to cool down after a fight, including Lance. He has a tendency to get overwhelmed if you push him too much when he’s not ready to be pushed. Give him some space, but when you do get a chance to talk to him, don’t waste it,” Allura advised. 

Keith mulled it over, comparing her suggestion to what he personally knew about Lance and his state of mind when he jumped out the window. He guessed it made sense. Keith may be impulsive and temperamental, but Lance was more precise in his actions, aside from his instinctiveness in his other line of work. He liked to have time to think things through and process- and to be fair there was a lot to process. 

“Okay, I’ll do that. I’ll be patient… despite how much I resent the concept,” Allura and Hunk laughed while Pidge nodded solemnly in understanding. 

“Patience is an annoyance,” She stated and Keith couldn’t help offering her a fist bump, to which she gladly accepted with a smirk. 

“And you thought we didn’t like you,” Hunk scoffed, rolling his eyes at the two shortest members of the group.

“Yeah, well. It’s hard to digest sometimes, but… I think I’m starting to get it,” his smirk melted into a tiny, satisfied smile. It didn’t take long for them to commence with eating lunch, chatting lightly amongst themselves. It was closing in on the end of their free period when Keith hesitantly reapproached the topic. “So, how’s Lance? I assume since you know about our argument that you know something about how he’s doing.”

Pidge and Allura looked to Hunk who groaned, wiping a hand down his face. 

“He’s… alive? I don’t know. He won’t respond to most of my texts, but I was able to get out of him that he wasn’t feeling well today and that you and him broke up,” Hunk offered. Keith’s heart stopped for a moment in his chest at the thought that Lance truly believed their relationship was over. 

He subtly shook himself, it wasn’t over yet. He wouldn’t let it be. 

“How long do you think I have to wait?” Keith huffed, his body feeling restless with anticipation. 

“Cool your jets. I have a feeling it’ll all work out soon enough,” Pidge reassured him with a smile. He let himself relax, choosing to trust her instead of driving himself insane. She was known as the smartest kid in school for a reason after all. 

…

And what a mistake that was.

… 

Four whole days passed and Lance was still hiding from him. He knew the brunette was back at school by Thursday, though only because Pidge was keeping him updated. Clearly Lance was avoiding him: dodging his calls, ignoring his texts, and straying from the regular routine he used to get to his classes. At this point he might as well have dropped off the radar from Keith’s perspective. He’d even gone so far as to avoid Pidge and Allura as well. 

“Pidge, I don’t think I can deal with this any longer! You said it would work itself out, but an entire week of school has passed and I haven’t even seen him once!” He ranted to her over the phone, two hours after school let out on Friday. 

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t think he would ignore you for so long. We’re trying to work on it, but he’s not budging.” 

“Urgh! This is ridiculous,” he grumbled, collapsing onto his bed with a pout. 

“Yeah, Allura’s about reached her limit with him, too.” There was a pause and Keith could hear her mutter something under her breath. “Alright, seems Allura just reached her limit. She’s actually kinda upset now so Hunk and I are going to go deal with that. Why don’t you head over to Lance’s house? Allura guarantees that Lance’ll be there if you go now.”

“Wait, like, right now?” He asked, dumbly. 

“Yes! Right now!”

“But I thought I was supposed to let him cool down . If he and Allura just got into it then shouldn’t I hold on a bit before I go banging on his door?” 

“That was before Lance decided to pull his little disappearing act. Anyway, it sounds to me that if Allura couldn’t get him to open up then it has to be you.”

“What about Hunk?” He questioned. 

“We’re lucky he’s making any contact with Hunk at all. As far as he’ll tell us, Lance only gives him brief daily updates. He won’t even acknowledge the fact that he’s ignoring us.” Keith could practically hear Pidge rolling her eyes. He’d come to realize that Pidge wasn’t good at dealing with her worry, so she covered it up with bland irritation. Keith scooted onto the floor, sitting back against his mattress as multiple emotions hit him at once. Excitement over finally getting to see Lance again, anticipation for their upcoming confrontation, dread from not knowing what the outcome was going to be, and determination to make Lance understand his side. He let it wash over him, not able to do much else under such an immense amount of pure feeling. His moment was broken by Pidge’s shrill cry of, “Keith, what are you still doing on the phone? GO!”

He jolted back into reality just in time to catch his phone, which he let fall in his shock. With a quick mutter of thanks, he ran out of his room, grabbing his jacket and clumsily hopping around as he shoved both sneakers on his feet, one after another, while scuttling out the front door and down the hall.

The route to Lance’s was relatively short; however, today it seemed to take forever. He spent every second going over tactics to convince Lance to hear him out and what he could say if he did. The second the bus stopped, Keith raced down the steps and into the city’s typical, busy sidewalks. He ran as fast as he could, only stopping once he got to the doors of the apartment complex. 

Just as always, he gazed up at the tall, nice looking building. He’d never been inside, but he knew that the apartments were bigger and more expensive than the one he currently lived in. Honestly, Lance’s family was huge and they needed the extra space. Keith knew that his father had a really good paying job that took him away from the city a lot. Lance had confided in Keith once about how he didn’t like his dad’s long work hours and the demand for him to travel so often, but he understood that he was doing it to provide for their family. Like father, like son Keith guessed. 

He looked down at his phone where Pidge had sent him Lance’s apartment number and back up at the line of buttons. It only took him a moment to find the right one and, after taking a deep breath of air to calm his antsy body, he pressed it. 

“Hello?” A voice spoke through the intercom. A voice he could recognize anywhere, even over the crappy sound system. 

“Lance, it’s Keith. Please let me up, I wanna talk.” 

There were a few seconds where he didn’t get a response, anxiety exploding in his chest as the silence continued. Thankfully, or maybe not so thankfully, he didn’t have to wait too much longer before it was broken.

“I don’t wanna talk right now Keith. Go back home,” his words were strained and rough even through the machine, probably a result of whatever happened between him and Allura.  

“I know, but when will you ever want to? We should talk now before we push it off for too long,” Keith persuaded. This time there was no answer, just ominous buzzing that suddenly cut off. With a start Keith realized Lance had walked away from the intercom. Away from him. 

The raven haired boy pursed his lips, stubborn determination chasing away his nerves. 

He pushed the button again, “Lance, come back! I know how these things work and I know you can still hear me. I’m not letting you do this! We need to talk, you can’t just decide something this big on your own without at least giving me a real reason!” Keith spoke fiercely, unable to come to terms with the fact that he might leave empty handed. 

“Hola? Dear, Lance left the room. This is Keith, Lance’s novio?” A woman's voice came through, thick with a heavy spanish accent yet undeniably chipper. 

Keith stuttered, realizing one of Lance’s family members must have heard him, “Uh-um. Yes?” 

“Ah, bueno. I have been wanting to meet you for a while. Come on up,” Instantly there was a higher pitched buzzing and the door popped open. 

Hesitantly, he walked through, feeling almost dazed at the unexpected turn of events. When he made it to the correct apartment, he quietly knocked on the well-kept wood. A part of him secretly wanted the sound to go unheard. Sure they’d talked about introducing Keith to Lance’s family, but they hadn’t officially decided before everything happened. It felt wrong that this was how he finally met another McClain. 

His breath caught with surprise as the door suddenly swung open, revealing an older looking woman in its wake. She was certainly old enough to be one of Lance’s aunts or his mom. Although, going by the sheer likeness of her appearance compared to Lance, he was gonna go with her being his mother. 

“Come in, come in! I am so glad you are finally here! Lancito has been in such a bad mood lately, you being here will cheer him up!” She ushered him inside, barely letting him take his shoes off before she was pushing him towards a stool in the kitchen. 

“I- um. Hello? Ma’am!” He added the ma’am hastily, not wanting to seem disrespectful. Despite his concern, she only laughed. 

“Oh, you are so polite, but there is no need! Lancito’s amigos call me Mrs. McClain, though you feel free to call me Esperanza,” She smiled at him sweetly and Keith got the feeling this wasn’t some casual request offered to anyone who walked through those doors. 

Hmmm. Lance must not have told her about their fight. 

“Oh, uh. I appreciate the sentiment Mrs. McClain,” Keith discreetly let out a sigh of relief when she didn’t look disappointed. If anything her smile only grew. “Is- Is Lance in his bedroom?” he hesitantly asked. 

“Oh yes. He has been moping all around the house since Allura stormed out. I was hoping she would help him calm down from whatever is bothering him, but they began to argue instead.” She brought a tray over to the counter he was leaning against and placed it right in front of him. There were a few metal containers, two mugs, and a thermos full of some drink Keith couldn’t name, but smelled delicious. She poured the liquid into the mugs and glanced at him. “She was so angry when she left, I was surprised the door did not break on her way out. Mi Lancito has been so blank all week, it worries me that he will not tell anyone why. He barely even speaks at all, which I am sure you know is very unusual. It is hard to describe. This is the worst I have ever seen him.” 

Keith looked down in shame. She didn’t know what it was about, but she definitely knew about their fight. He could tell from the way she studied him, trying to connect the dots. 

“I’ve always thought of it as him shutting down. Like when he gets really freaked out or anxious, he’ll, kinda, lock himself in his head and put on this emotionless mask for everyone else’s sake. It scares me when he does it, especially because he’s such an outgoing person. I’ve seen it last for a few hours or a day at most before someone figures out how to pull him out of it, but if he’s been like that for this long already…” Keith trailed off hopelessly. 

He crossed one arm over his chest, using the other to scrub at his face desperately as the thought finished in his mind. 

Then maybe he’s right about us breaking up. 

Maybe I’m not the right person for him if I’ve caused so much pain. 

“I have faith everything will end up as it is meant to,” Mrs. McClain interrupted his spiraling thoughts. 

“How?” He implored, the conviction with which she spoke hitting him hard. What gave her that confidence when Keith felt like he was on the verge of crumbling in defeat? 

“I have lived with Lance all his life. I know when he is here and when he is not, when he pretends to be listening but is actually off in some other world. When he shuts down, as you say, he is not here and he has not been here the whole week… except for a few seconds earlier. Watching mi hijo return, seeing the light shining in his eyes again, even for a moment, gave me all the assurance I need.” 

That caught Keith’s attention. 

“What was it? What got through to him?” He practically begged. Perhaps he could use whatever it was to calm Lance down enough so they could talk without him running (or swinging) away. He was willing to do anything at this point. 

Mrs. McClain pinned him in his seat with an intense stare that Keith couldn’t decipher. It felt as though she was waiting for something, even as her eyes warmed and she answered. 

“Your voice, the first time you spoke through the machine.”

Keith’s eyes widened in surprise and he blinked uncomprehendingly at her. He sputtered, searching for what to say in response to that. 

“I-he? W-wait. Wha-” Mercifully, Mrs. McClain cut him off with a small chuckle. 

“I know you boys are fighting,” She raised an eyebrow as he flushed, embarrassed at being so blatantly called out. “I have never seen Lance so sad, it breaks my heart. You expect me to be angry as his mother, si? Maybe I should be, pero… he has been glowing ever since the day he came home saying he had un novio. Lancito smiled so big that night we worried his face would split in two. You have no idea how much it means to me that he has been so happy. That you make him so happy.” The grin she directed at Keith was so bright he was tempted to cover his eyes.   

“He’s not happy now,” he muttered, dejection written all over his downtrodden expression. He didn’t know why he was trying to argue with her, it just slipped out from his lips without his permission. 

“Yes, that is true, but that does not mean he cannot be again. Even the best relationships have their ups and downs. Do not let this be where it ends; my Lancito is stubborn, but he knows when to listen to his heart. Go to him and say everything you need to say and then when it is all over at least you know that, no matter what happens, you did everything you could. Though I doubt it will be long at all before Lance is reciting sappy poems about your hair and your eyes to his siblings' annoyance again.” 

Keith’s cheeks shone red as he processed her comment. It could have been a joke or over exaggeration, but knowing Lance it probably wasn’t. Especially when he’d had Pidge complaining to him about something similar a few weeks prior. 

“M AM Á!” A shout called out behind him. Keith spun in his seat to watch a mortified Lance turn a particular shade of pink he didn’t think he’d ever seen on a human before. At least they matched. 

“Ah, Lance! Finalmente, I was beginning to think you would never join us.” While the smile remained on her face, there was a sharp gleam in her eyes that could only be described as a mother scolding her child without having to say a word. 

Sure enough, Lance curled into himself a little, casting his gaze to the side in guilt at being caught eavesdropping. Which… wait. What!?

“Wait! Wait a minute, you’ve been listening to our conversation?” Keith spouted without thinking. 

“Yeah, well. It’s not like you guys were being secretive about it. Plus, you know I could hear you from any place in the building, Keith,” He whispered the last part as he passed by the ravenette to kiss his mother on the cheek as an apology. 

“I will leave you two to talk mijo. It was nice to meet you Keith, I hope to see you much more in the future,” She reached out and squeezed his shoulder, a gesture that felt loving even though they’d met less than ten minutes ago, and swept out of the room. Keith was left gaping after her as the warmth from her hand spread through his chest and found its way to that tiny ache in his heart he always did his best to ignore. 

Shiro and Adam were all he could have hoped for as his guardians and more. They were amazing and they meant everything to him, but there was something about a mother figure that he’d always longed for. Somehow that little bit of contact filled him with comfort and hope and he knew that was the effect of a mother’s touch. 

“So.” 

Keith turned his attention back to Lance who was crossing his arms, glaring intensely at the counter. 

“I think your mom left that for us,” Keith stated, holding off the confrontation just a little longer. He’d been so impatient till now you’d think he would want to jump right into it. He probably would have if there wasn’t something in the back of his mind telling him that this was important. This was the moment that everything would get better between them or impossibly worse and leave their relationship unsalvageable. He needed to be tactful about this, to think through his words and actions before he went through with them. For once. 

Lance’s eyes lit up as they found the two mugs centered on the tray, “Oooh, yes! I love Hunk, but nobody can beat my mam á’s hot cocoa.” He picked up the cup and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes to revel in the scent. Keith followed his example, surprised by the sheer chocolate-y deliciousness in the aroma alone. He quickly blew on the steaming liquid and took a sip, practically moaning at the heavenly taste. 

An amused chuckle brought him back to the present. He looked up at Lance, finding a smug grin on his face that had Keith sheepishly placing his cup back on the counter. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, abashed. 

“No, no, don’t apologize. I think that was the cutest noise I’ve ever heard,” Lance’s smile widened, much like his mother’s only minutes earlier. 

A blush rose to Keith’s cheeks as he rolled his eyes, trying to cover up his embarrassment, “Shut up, this is just really good.” 

“I told you~” Lance teased him, stretching out the you at the end of the sentence in a sing-song tune. Keith couldn’t help but snort as his eyes met Lance’s. They stood there for a moment, both frozen and hopelessly unsure. 

Keith sighed, “See, this is what I’m talking about. We’re good together Lance, why does that have to change?” 

Immediately Lance’s face hardened, “This is how it’s supposed to be Keith. Nothing’s changed except that I’ve stopped pretending it was okay in the first place.” 

Keith felt his own expression steel, though his was with resolve, “What wasn’t okay? Us being together and making each other happy?” 

Lance growled in frustration, “No! It wasn’t okay to date you when I’m… well, you know who.” 

“You know what’s not okay? Making that choice for me. I should be allowed to have a say in this kind of decision,” Keith argued. 

“Yeah and I know what you’re going to say, but you know what? I’m allowed the right to choose whether I want to continue this relationship or not. You can’t ignore me when I say that we’re over because you’re upset, that’s not how it works. I don’t want to be together anymore and you’re just gonna have to accept that,” Lance’s gaze drifted to the side as he spoke, a hint of desperation coloring his deceptively snappish tone. 

Keith blew out a long breath, closing his eyes as he felt the unforgiving despair consume him. He fought through the blood rushing in his ears to center his mind. He needed to be in control for this conversation because, clearly, Lance was not. 

“You’re right, I shouldn’t try to force you into something you don’t want.” He watched as Lance’s shoulders slumped, though if it was in relief or disappointment he didn’t know. His head was purposefully turned away and it hurt Keith more than he would have thought that Lance refused to look at him now of all times. On the other hand, if Keith was right and Lance was avoiding him because he, himself, was hurting? That meant there was still a chance. “ However ,” he continued sharply. “If this decision is solely based on the fact that you don’t want me to be in danger then I’m not going to accept it. I’m not letting you break up with me because of last weekend.” Keith paused, sneaking a glance around them to see if anyone was listening. He didn’t hear or see anything, so he continued, determinedly whispering, “You take a conscious risk every day to save the people of this city and I am allowed to take a conscious risk with you to be your boyfriend. Don’t break up with me because you feel obligated to. Break up with me because you don’t like me anymore. Break up with me because you can’t stand being around me. Break up with me because being with me isn’t worth the hardship that’ll come with it. Because I’m not worth it.” His fierce voice wobbled a little towards the end with pent up emotions that he refused to give in to. By then, Lance was shaking in his seat. Keith felt a little bad, but he needed to finish…  needed to get it all out in the open before he broke down and wasn’t able to say anything more. “Look me in the eyes and say it and I’ll walk out that door and never bother you about this again, but I need you to say it. Right now,” Keith waited for Lance to say something, anything. All he did was sit there, face turned away enough that all Keith could see of it was his reddening cheeks. He grew impatient with Lance’s lack of response, hissing out one last time in an attempt to get Lance to break his facade and be real with him, “ Say it! ” 

Just like that, his charade shattered. 

Lance abruptly twisted in his seat, dropping his head into his arms on the counter. He wasn’t quick enough for Keith to miss seeing his face fold into itself and tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I can’t! You know I can’t,” He accused, voice muffled by the sleeves he shoved against his lips. Finally, he raised his chin and their eyes met. “I can’t say any of that. It’s not true. None of it. I like you so much I can’t even begin to express it. I could never hate being around you. You’re worth everything to me Keith: every battle, every test, every day. I could never think any of those things about you! And that’s the problem… how am I supposed to be your boyfriend knowing that at any time you could get hurt because of me? Anyone who figures out Spider-Man is emotionally involved with you will use you against me!” Lance cried. 

“So we make sure that nobody finds out,” Keith stated. 

“That was the plan last time and look how that turned out,” he said. Keith shook his head and leaned forward with his elbows pressed against the counter top. 

“The solution is simple: we make sure that Spider-Man shows no inclination towards me. At all. I know that we both got excited at the idea of being able to see each other more, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be seen so often with the same person. We had countless dates together with you in costume and you’ve stopped to walk with me a number of times on the street in front of everybody.” Lance’s face grew more distressed as he spoke, so he quickly added on, “Not that it’s your fault! That part is on both of us, we should have realized we were being too obvious. So, this time let’s just not be so obvious. We’ll make a ground rule that we don’t talk to each other when you’re in your suit and on the off chance that we have to, we’ll pretend that we’re strangers. Truthfully, I should have thought of this sooner, I just got caught up in being able to spend so much time with you.” Keith smiled shyly as he finished, feeling his heart thumping hard in his chest as Lance’s eyebrows furrowed in thought. 

He was actually considering Keith’s proposal! 

“I… guess that makes sense. The likelihood that we’d be found out would be a lot less if I stopped acknowledging you while I’m in costume. Just… are you sure you want to do this? I wouldn’t blame you if it’s too much. I know you’re stubborn, but if you’re having doubts I would understand,” Lance searched his expression, sincerity oozing from every inch of his body. 

“Lance, you’ve heard me rant about how much I like you before we were even dating! You know how I feel about you and no enemy of yours is going to make me change my mind. I don’t have any doubts about that, but…” Keith trailed off tentatively. This time it was Lance who had his full attention on Keith and Keith who was avoiding his gaze. “I’ll admit that I’m scared -and having doubts- about if something like this happens again. Not for the reasons you think though. I’m afraid that you’re gonna flip out again and leave me and that I won’t be able to get you back next time. What am I supposed to do then?” Keith admitted. He hadn’t initially meant to tell Lance any of that, except something came over him and he had to get it out. He needed Lance to assuage his fears before they became something he obsessed about and lost sleep over like so many other things in his life. 

Keith heard Lance walk around the kitchen island to stand next to him. Suddenly, a hand was gently grasping his chin and oh so carefully pulling it up until he couldn’t see anything but Lance. 

“I’m sorry, I realize how much I hurt you by leaving that day. I should’ve stayed with you and comforted you, fight or not. I won’t make that mistake again, I promise. When you need me, I’ll be there for you like you’ve been there for me. I won’t run away again and I won’t go through with anything rash, at least not before talking it out with you. Well, with the exception of when I’m Spider-Man and I don’t have the time, but that’s beside the point,” Lance rambled, pulling a tired giggle out of him. 

He wrapped his arms around the taller boy, pulling him in for a chaste yet meaningful kiss. They stayed like that for what felt like years, letting themselves just be together for the first time after everything that occurred. 

Reluctantly, Keith pushed himself out of the embrace, “Wait, so does that mean you’re not breaking up with me? We’re officially still boyfriends?” 

Lance laughed, “Yes, we’re still boyfriends. That is if you’ll still have me?” 

He grinned, “There’s nothing I’d like more.” 

With sappy smiles and relieved sighs they cleaned up their mugs, depositing their dishes in the sink before Lance grabbed his hand and led him into the living room. 

“Do you wanna play a game? Mario Kart?” Lance offered, throwing Keith a game controller when he nodded his assent. 

They bypassed the couch entirely to sit on the floor in front of it, shoulders leaned together and knees brushing. It was a bit awkward at first, Keith could acknowledge that, because of the lingering tension from the past week. Nevertheless, it didn’t take long at all until they were lost in the game and in each other, laughing and yelling at the tv as they played all the while knocking into one another to try and get ahead. After a while they decided to take a break and watch a movie, gathering snacks and blankets as they curled up on the couch together. 

Lance was whispering a mocking remark about one of the characters into his ear when a question popped into his head. 

“Hey, wait a sec,” He wiggled to the side enough to be able to see Lance from where he was sitting beside Keith. “I almost forgot. What happened between you and Allura? I heard you guys had some sort of fight?” he questioned. 

Lance visibly winced, “Uhh, yeah I guess we can call it that. I definitely need to apologize to her soon… as well as Pidge and Hunk.” 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but they really deserve an apology. They didn’t do anything to be ignored, you know. You should do it next time you see them,” Keith suggested. 

Lance hummed, pressing his forehead into Keith’s shoulder, “You’re right, as always. I’m sure Pidge is gonna hold this over me for a long time.” 

Keith snickered, “Ohhh yeah. Get ready to be guilted into experiments and midnight snack runs for the rest of the foreseeable future.” Lance snorted, pushing himself back on the couch to throw and arm around Keith and brush his nose against his raven colored hair. “So… Allura?”

Lance stiffened behind him, the hand resting on his arm tightening briefly. 

“I-uh. She came over to confront me about avoiding you guys. At first she was understanding about me being upset over what was happening between you and me. She kept trying to reach out and help me, but I wouldn’t respond to anything. She just kept going on and on about how I could open up to her and what I was doing wasn’t okay and I know it wasn’t okay, I didn’t need her shoving it in my face. So I snapped at her. I told her to get out… I told her I didn’t want her help and I didn’t need her or anyone else trying to fix me. Of course she didn’t take it very well, I wouldn’t have expected her to. She started saying how I had to suck it up and talk to her or Hunk about whatever was going on so I could begin to feel and act like myself again. She only got angry for real after the third time I blew her off. After that she began ranting about how I was pushing everyone I loved away and that if I wasn’t careful I’d lose them- lose you. It hurt to hear it out loud. So, instead of telling her the truth like I should’ve, I told her that maybe that’s what I wanted. She couldn’t even say anything, just flushed the darkest shade of red I’ve ever seen and stomped out,” he explained. Keith felt the way Lance pulled him closer, not loosening his grip for even a second. 

“And what is the truth?” He asked. 

There was a long pause, “I… I was ignoring you all because I thought I’d screwed up for good this time. I figured that once you were able to process everything you would be angry. Rightfully so. I assumed that the others would be angry as well, so I hid. I couldn’t face all that rejection at once. Hunk was the only one I thought would still be willing to talk to me. After all, Allura is very hard headed with what she believes is right and Pidge can be rather vindictive when given reason. Before you say anything, I get that it was ridiculous to think.” 

Keith struggled to get out of Lance’s super powered grasp, finally managing to turn around and cup Lance’s warm cheeks, brushing his thumb under his eyes as if to wipe away the tears before they could fall. 

“I don’t think that’s ridiculous at all. In fact… I originally thought the same thing. On monday, during lunch, I went to find an empty classroom to eat in instead of our table because I didn’t think they’d want me around anymore. I also assumed they’d be mad and I tried to hide too, but they found me anyway. I was so sure that they were your friends and that they only put up with me because of you and then, since we got into a fight and almost broke up, I figured they’d stop pretending to like me and I’d be alone again,” he whispered. 

Lance looked heartbroken at his announcement, frantically shaking his head, “Keith, no! That’s not the case at all!” 

He had that look on his face that told Keith he was prepared to do whatever it took to make Keith see the light (an expression Lance used entirely too often).

“Shush, let me finish. So, they found me in that random classroom, wallowing, and waltzed right in. They assured me that I have a place in the group and that no matter what happens between you and I, they’re still going to be there for me. And they’d be there for you too. Allura may be stubborn and Pidge may be cynical at times, but they love you. Even when Allura stormed out of here, she was still thinking about how to help you. That’s actually why I came over when I did. Allura texted Pidge and the two of them let me know that you were home, gave me the address, and encouraged me to come talk to you,” Keith filled him in.

“You…” Lance cut himself off and Keith worried something was wrong. His worries proved to be unfounded when he caught sight of the soft curve of Lance’s lips that lit up his entire face. “You have absolutely no idea how happy I am that you finally understand we all care about you. It’s not just Shiro and Adam who want you in their lives anymore.”

Heat rapidly rose to his cheeks, “That wasn’t the point of the story!” 

“Maybe not, but I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long! Of course they’re your friends! Anybody with good taste can see how wonderful you are. There’s not a doubt in my mind that they wouldn’t still be friends with you, even if we did split up.” 

Lance squeezed him hard, practically squealing in excitement at Keith’s realization. The ravenette held him back, though not nearly as tight with his lack of super strength. 

“That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you, stupid.” 

Lance broke away from their hug to press their foreheads together in an intimate gesture of trust and love. Something Keith only knew how to verbalize one way.  

There were still things they needed to do. Things Keith needed to discuss and apologies Lance needed to make, but he knew now that it was all going to be alright. He and Lance had been through a lot together and the one thing that would never change, that mattered above all, was that neither of them were alone anymore. 

For the first time since he was adopted by Shiro and Adam, Keith felt a rare type of warmth blooming in his chest. Belonging. 

Not just with Lance either, with the whole gang. WIth Allura. With Hunk. With Pidge. 

He finally, finally felt like he belonged. 

A mix of elation and contentment filled him as he gazed softly at Lance. 

Lance, the first person outside his family to give him a chance. Lance, the one who introduced him to their friends. Lance, the person that had saved him not only from back alley brawls and insane criminals, but also from the loneliness he’d thought he would carry to his grave. 

Lance, his hero in every sense of the word. 

Suddenly, he knew. He’d thought about it from time to time, but staring into those blue eyes that held so much goodness in them made him certain. 

“I love you.” 

And from the gleam they repaid him with, he knew the feeling was returned. 

“I love you too.”