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Stalk me on my Tumblr~ mostly art lol
Inspired by This
It had always been 'Lance and Keith, best friends forever'. Ever since childhood, they were together. You'd never see one without the other.
Keith was an adopted child, with an older brother never around and a single dad.
Lance had a big, blossoming family which he graciously shared with Keith.
They did everything together. Every weekend, they'd ride their bikes to the forest and climb the trees, laughing and smiling.
Another popular spot was Keith's backyard, under his father's supervision, though he was usually too busy drinking to watch.
Lance and Keith had so many good memories. They grew up together.
Every weekend, Keith and Lance would walk their bikes back to lance's house and Lance would say goodbye to his best friend, before sprinting up to his balcony to wave goodbye.
And every weekend, he was greeted with the same happy little smile.
Every summer, the two families would get together at the beach and barbecue. Lance and Keith usually went off alone, to splash in the water.
"Oh, sick!" Lance heard Keith yell from a few feet away. "Come see this!"
Lance ran over and Keith was gripping a small squid.
Lance poked it. "Weird."
They didn't know that while they giggled, Keith's dad was getting more and more buzzed, more aggressive. He was starting to piss off the other adults.
Lance and Keith, meanwhile, had stripped down to swim trunks and ran down the dock together.
They kept pace with each other, hands gripped tightly.
They both jumped, yelling in excitement.
Keith and Lance both emerged from the water, soaked and laughing.
They arrived back to watch lance's dad holding Keith's dad back from doing something unclear to them.
Keith ran up and shoved his dad back, which was apparently enough to send him stomping away, tossing his half drunk beer bottle to the sand while Keith shot Lance an apologetic look and hurried after his dad.
Lance's dad tugged him to his side as they watched Keith and his dad leave.
Not much changed, Lance and Keith kept hanging out until their late teenage years.
Which is where everything came crashing down.
Lance was over at Keith's house.
It was summer.
Keith said he had needed someone other than his dad to be with, and Lance was over in a heartbeat.
Keith had told Lance about his father's reaction to him coming out.
He had seemed almost... disappointed.
He sent Keith up to his room. That's when he called Lance.
Lance said nothing after arriving.
He just hugged Keith senseless.
They hugged for God knows how long, when they finally pulled apart.
Then Lance kissed Keith, feeling something in his chest bloom as Keith's mouth moved against his own.
It started to heat up, Lance's hands fumbling with Keith's shirt and hauled it over his head, Keith pulling Lance on top of him, tugging lance's shirt.
Then there were nails scraping gently at Lance's smooth brown back, and it was just too good—
Lance left later that day, and then it happened.
Keith's dad was drunk as hell again.
Keith was still marvelling about earlier, when his very drunk father burst into the room, screaming and yelling.
"Dad, what the fuck?!"
The words were barely out of Keith's mouth before he was yanked up by his shirt and his dad yelled something slurred in his face, breath smelling of alcohol.
Keith was thrown back onto his bed, head hitting the wall.
Then, the man he called "dad" for so long attacked him.
Keith deftly tried to shove him away, but he was shaking too much, terror pulsing through his veins.
"If I see you with that boy, I'll fucking kill both of you!"
That's when Keith started sobbing. He nodded pitifully and his dad left, probably to get more of his God damn alcohol.
As soon as his father was gone, Keith curled into a shaking ball and cried.
He cried until his pillow was soaked and his eyes were puffy. The very next day, his father brought him to the place where he worked, and Keith helped him sand down some pieces of junk.
It was as if the whole thing was forgotten. His father was praising him and patting his back.
Keith was still stiff and tired from he previous day.
Lance was self indulgently walking trough the junkyard, as it was another former hotspot for childhood memories.
He spotted Keith and his dad doing some work, and Keith's father shoots Keith a look.
Lance waved. Keith walked over. His father was still staring, eyes narrow.
Then Keith did something that made Lance's heart split.
He yelled.
Keith yelled at him, telling him to leave him the fuck alone.
Lance gulped as Keith yanked his shirt.
"What the fuck, dude?" Lance cried. "What are you doing?!"
"Leave me the fuck alone. Okay? Go away."Keith lets him go and the father and son go back to work, leaving Lance shaken and horrified.
He manages to catch a scrap of conversation.
"Is he going to leave?"
"Yeah, yeah. I told him."
"Good."
Lance's eyes teared up and he left.
When he got home, Lance walked onto his balcony. He stared at the street corner that Keith would always grin up at him from.
Just thinking of Keith made him remember the afternoon a pitiful day ago, where they had kissed.
Tearing his gaze away, he walked off.
The very next day, Lance was going for his usual morning walk. He turned a corner and saw Keith.
However, to Lance's dismay, he wasn't alone.
There was a girl- a fucking girl.
And they were holding hands and talking. The girl had dark skin and silvery hair, with bright blue eyes.
Lance wanted to say something so badly but the lump in his throat wouldn't let him. The looks they exchanged looked like the looks that Lance and Keith had exchanged for so long.
Lance wants to cry.
But he doesn't.
Four months go by.
He doesn't see, talk to, or contact Keith at all.
His parents deliver him some sad news.
Keith's father had died from getting drunk and driving. He had crashed then the car exploded.
Lance dreaded seeing his childhood friend and crush at the funeral, especially because that girl would probably be there, eyeing him.
But he was going to go anyways. Even if Keith was an ass and broke his heart, he wanted to be there for him.
So he goes. He stood apart from everyone, avoiding Keith and his stupid girlfriend.
He could hear the priest guy talking, but he wasn't listening.
A few minutes go by and everyone disperses, leaving Keith to stand there alone.
His girlfriend tried to comfort him but someone tugged her away gently.
Keith knelt down and rubbed his face.
Lance watched him sit there from afar, knowing that even though his father had been the biggest homophobic asshole who beat Keith at least once and drank way too much, Keith still loved him.
Lance watched Keith walk away before walking towards a set of stairs.
He settled down on the top step and just... remembered.
Lance remembered him and Keith's childhood, giggling and hand holding and secret forts.
He remembered teenage years, with hair ruffles and laughing and hugs.
He was pulled from his thoughts by a tap on his shoulder.
Lance retaliates and turned to look, and it was Keith.
His eyes were pained and regretful and he just looked so defeated.
Lance bit his lip.
Keith didn't respond when Lance placed a gentle hand on his cheek and another on his shoulder.
A second goes by, and Lance did exactly what he did all those months ago.
He hugged Keith.
Keith buried his nose in Lance's shoulder and they stood like that for a minute or so before they broke apart.
Lance spotted Keith's girlfriend at the bottom of the stairs.
Keith hurried down the stairs, and his girlfriend dragged him away.
Lance doesn't know what to say but he watched Keith look back at him, eyebrows knitted and eyes tired.
Lance turned and walked away hesitantly.
Keith told his girlfriend to give him a minute. She had nodded and walked towards his family.
Keith's heart was pounding. He knew he was never going to be accepted.
Not in society.
Not with his family.
Not even with Lance.
He had abandoned his best friend for months. Lance had gone through so much pain to be with Keith and all Keith did was tell him to leave him the fuck alone because his dad controlled him.
Keith's heart snapped.
Lance would be better off without him.
Everyone would.
Keith walked towards the cliffs.
He could see the beach where their families had camped, the forests him and Lance had explored, and most importantly, the docks they'd jumped off of.
Keith stepped closer to the edge.
Then he did exactly what him and Lance used to do all the time there.
He jumped.