Work Text:
It was already Friday and Lance hadn't shown up to school once the entire week, he had seemed fine last Friday and when they talked on call over the weekend but when Monday came around there was sudden radio silence from Lance. Whenever Keith messaged him the most of a reply he would get would be the thumbs up emoji or just his texts being shown as marked as read, and it was starting to make Keith restless. He tapped his foot as he waited for the bell to ring to dismiss him from his last period of the day.
Finally the loud ring of the bell sounded through the halls and Keith quickly collected his backpack and headed to his locker. When he arrived at his locker to pick up one of his textbooks to study over the weekend, he found Pidge and Hunk waiting for him.
He didn't really know them that well. They were more Lance's friends than his, they've hung out together before but he still found it awkward to be around them without Lance there to guide conversation.
Hunk spoke first, he looked hesitant and awkward as Keith felt, "Have you heard at all from Lance this week?"
Keith felt himself relax and tense a little at the same time, maybe it wasn't just him getting ignored, "No, why? Have you?"
Pidge glared a little, "No. We just wanted to make sure it wasn't because of you." Pidge didn't warm up to Keith as much as Hunk did. They always seemed suspicious of him. Hunk nudged them a little at that comment, obviously that wasn't what they scripted.
"What? No, I don't think I've done anything wrong..." Keith trailed off a little, had he and not realized?
"Whatever." Pidge scoffed and turned away, already walking away. Hunk hesitated looking between the two, "Sorry, they're usually nicer, they're just worried." He quickly whispered before following behind Pidge.
Keith was a bit dazed by the quick interaction, but gathered his stuff and began to walk home. He knew Pidge was nice by the way Lance talked about them but sometimes he didn't always see them as nice.
Keith walked slowly through the cold fall air, kicking every pebble he spotted. He just wanted to know why his boyfriend seemed to be avoiding him and everything else. He sighed and dialed Shiro. He had been a big help throughout the week, and just in general. Keith was sad when he graduated earlier in the year, but in three years he'd be graduating too.
The phone didn't ring for long.
Shiro picked up and Keith could hear the smile in his voice as he greeted him, "How's my favorite sophomore doing? Has Lance reached out?"
Keith sighed again and watched his cold breath appear, "No. He didn't show up to school today and apparently hasn't been talking to his friends either." Keith stopped walking and sat on the half wall of a random park he passed everyday on his walk to and from school.
They talked about it for a while before Shiro finally said, "Listen bud I've got to go to a class but just listen, Lance probably just needs someone and doesn't know how to ask, just talk to him directly."
After they hung up, Keith began speed walking in the opposite direction.
Keith nervously stood in front of Lance's front door for 5 minutes before finally knocking, he could hear a bit of shuffling before someone opened the door, It was Lance's mom.
"Oh Keith, come in, it's so cold out!" She beckoned him to enter and he shuffled in and took his shoes off.
"Thank you Mrs. McClain, I just came by to drop off some homework for Lance." He gestured to his backpack awkwardly.
"That's good, he's been feeling under the weather recently, he should just be in his room!" She pointed to the stairs before walking off into a different room.
Keith slowly walked up the stairs, looking at all the details of the house, the family photos, the trophies and awards, the small messes left around like a toy truck resting on one of the stairs or a blanket recklessly laying in the middle of the hallway. His favorite detail might be of the crayon drawings that were never washed off the wall made by Lance's younger siblings.
He finally knocked on the door of Lance's bedroom, and he heard nothing. "Lance, It's me."
He suddenly heard a loud crash like someone falling out of bed and a lot of scrambling before the door clicked open and there he was, Lance leaning against the door frame as if he hadn't been skipping school and ignoring everyone's messages for the past five days. "So, what brings you here, mullet?" Lance teased playfully.
Keith could tell he was putting on a charming front but his tired eyes and the dark circles under them gave him away. He couldn't even say anything, He just leaned forward and hugged him as if he would never be able to again.
Lance suddenly seemed concerned but wrapped his arms around him, "...Keith?"
"Why haven't you responded to me? Or even just show up to school?" Keith whispered, leaning into the hug, not minding the fact Lance smelled like he hadn't showered in a while and just quickly threw on deodorant.
Lance went quiet, and just led Keith into his room and closed the door behind them. "Sorry, I have just been feeling sick." Lance lied with a fake laugh.
Keith gritted his teeth a little, "Don't lie to me, please."
"What, I'm not lying!" Lance seemed to get defensive.
Keith backed away a little, looking Lance up and down as if he had just committed a felony, "Yes you are! Look at yourself, look at your room! It's all a mess! Being sick doesn't excuse ghosting everyone!" Keith shouted, he was getting frustrated.
"Shh, dude my mom is downstairs," Lance whispered, putting a finger over his lips to motion quiet.
Keith sat down on his bed and sighed before whispering, "Can you just talk to me?"
Lance's eyes softened, he got into bed and laid down and motioned Keith to lay down next to him, Keith obliged and laid down next to him, leaning into him. The room was quiet. Neither speaking, Keith could tell they both needed the silence to calm down.
After fifteen minutes passed, Lance rested his head on Keith's chest, and whispered, "I don't feel normal. I feel like I'm useless, and like I'll never amount to anything, on Monday the thought of school and just everything was too much... and I couldn't handle it."
Keith felt his heart ache a little at that, he didn't know what to say, he wasn't that good with words, so he just lightly played with Lance's messy hair, "I'm sorry I yelled earlier, I should've been more patient... Do you want me to talk or just listen?"
There was a small pause, before Lance just whispered, "Can we just lay like this for a while? I haven't slept well lately..."
Keith nodded and that's just what they did. They laid there all night and for the first time in a while both of them got a full night of sleep.