"..Keith. Keith wake up class is over!" An irritated voice sounded rousing Keith from his frankly uncomfortable sleep. "I need you to do me a favor." Keith grumbled and sat up to look at his friend speaking to him.
"Whas' wrong, Pidge?" Keith slurred still half-awake. He rubbed at his eyes and got a better look at Pidge. They had slight dark circles around their big brown eyes and their eyebrows were slightly knitted together.
"I need you to give Lance his books. He left them in our dorm yesterday." Pidge responded and pulled out a bunch of textbooks needing delivery.
"Why me?" Keith groaned only half upset. He has an almost crippling crush on Lance; everyone seems to know about it but Lance himself. He enjoyed the other boy's presence greatly. The way he smiled and how his bright laugh gave Keith a warm feeling in his chest. Lance was a dear friend, but Keith yearned for more.
"Shiro, Allura, and Matt are across the building, so it'll inconvenience them the most. Me and Hunk are meeting to work on a project in a few so neither of us can deliver it either. You have nothing planned for a while, so please deliver the books." Pidge almost begged.
"You can always deliver it later."
"Keith, my man, we both know pretty damn well you want to talk with him. Besides, Lance said he needed his books ASAP." Pidge said as-a-matter-of-factly. Keith slightly flushed at their words and decided he couldn't argue with her. They were right after all.
"Fine." Keith agreed and stood to take the books.
"Thank you! Dream boy is in the library!" Pidge said with a radiating smile on their face and walked with haste out of the classroom.
Keith walked out of the classroom soon after and made his way down the halls to the library. For the most part, the hallways were empty. A rare sight to see in their university. He approached two large wooden doors with a glowing sign that said "Library". Some of the letters had burned out. Keith paused for a moment to collect himself and his dignity which he very well may lose during this simple interaction. He opened the doors and stepped inside. He spotted Lance in a corner looking almost as though he wished for no one to find him. Keith walked closer and noticed a girl approach out of nowhere and . . Straddle Lance as he sat in his seat. What the hell, Keith thought. What's going on? Keith dared to take one more step forward and his eyes instantly widened at the sight before him. Lance and the mystery girl had kissed. Keith stood there in pure shock. They broke apart and laughed. That smile was meant to be for me, dammit. Keith thought to himself angrily. Before he could lose himself to his emotions, Keith stormed out of the library. He was absolutely livid. Did Lance forget that someone was coming to give him something? Making out in a public library- how indecent!
Keith made it halfway to his dorm when he realized two things. The first was that he couldn't be upset with the couple for being together. It was immature and petty. The other thing that Keith had realized was that he probably never had a chance with Lance in the first place. When his friend had come out as bisexual to their friend group, Keith foolishly thought he stood a chance. Lance never liked him. Lance will never like him. As soon as Keith felt his eyes burn, he picked up the pace. He held the books close to his chest and let a sob rip through his throat. His chest felt tight and his vision was blurry from the tears he tried his best not to let spill.
By the time Keith had made it back to his dorm, he was sure that dried tear stains were left on his now salty cheeks and that his face was flushed red. Pidge was with Hunk working on their aforementioned project. They both whipped around and saw their fellow friend in this sorry state.
"Keith what happened?" Pidge asked in shock.
Keith contemplated ignoring them as he kept walking in the direction of his room before whipping around and exclaiming, "Lance has a fucking girlfriend now, apparently." He sniffed.
"Oh, Keith. ." Hunk mumbled loud enough to hear. The pity was evident in his voice.
Keith let out a humorless laugh. "Yeah, I saw them sucking face in the library. Clearly they have yet to learn about getting a fucking room."
There was a tension filled silence among the three before Keith turned around and continued to his room.
"I can deliver the books later-" Pidge had began but Keith slammed his bedroom door before they could finish.
Oh, how badly he wanted to throw the books to the ground and completely destroy them. Step on them. Punch them. Spit on them. Burn them, even. However, he couldn't bring himself to do it. These books didn't belong to him. As much as he'd hate to admit, Keith still cares about Lance greatly. He loves him, even. He gently rested the books on his desk and moved to his bed. He lay down on the fake mattress and hesitantly looked over at the books across from him. 'Lance McClain' was hastily written on each of them. Keith quickly turned around on his bed to face the wall once a wave of anguish began to suffocate him.
Despite having taken a nap earlier, Keith squeezed his eyes shut.