Pain-sharing AU (Klance)

by itsgonnabemay5

Lance keeps getting hurt but doesn't feel any pain. Keith, however, (his soulmate), feels all the pain as it happens to Lance.

Klance Pain-sharing AU.

Summary: Lance keeps getting hurt but doesn't feel any pain. Keith, however, (his soulmate), feels all the pain as it happens to Lance.

Keith winced as he pressed the cold ice pack against his throbbing ribs. The coldness was nice, but the pressure of the ice against the bruises only added to his discomfort. What was his soulmate doing this time, he wondered?

It seemed like Keith was getting hurt constantly. Last month it was a sprained ankle, followed by a jammed finger, and just today, he was watching TV when he suddenly felt a massive pressure against his chest. It was short and fast, like his ribs had been on the receiving end of a badly pitched baseball. He almost choked on his popcorn as the breath left his lungs and he was jerked back violently against the couch.

After a minute, he managed to get his bearings back and steadied his ragged breathing. Almost hesitantly, he reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it up slowly, scared of what he would find. The whole left side of his ribs were a faint shade of blue, and judging from the immense pain, he knew it would only get worse.

As Keith iced his ribs, the front door of the apartment flew open. It was Shiro, returning from his late-night class. Keith tried to hide the ice pack, but Shiro had already seen it.

Shiro sighed. "What happened now?" Apparently, Shiro had gotten used to his injuries and was now expecting them.

"It's nothing. It's just—" Keith said, and gestured to his chest.

"It's just what, Keith? How bad is it?" Shiro took off his jacket and draped it on the edge of the couch before moving to sit next to him.

"I'm okay. It's just a bruise," Keith said.

Shiro knew Keith liked to be a bit under dramatic, but in Shiro's opinion, these injuries were quite a big deal. Shiro moved the ice pack from Keith's side and saw the bruises. Keith glanced down and saw that they had spread. "Man, Keith. This is bad." He reached out a finger and dragged it lightly around the younger boy's ribs, making him suck in a quick breath. "Hurts, huh?"

Shiro looked up to see Keith nod. "A little."

"Do they feel broken? Should we go to a hospital?" Shiro asked, completely serious.

Keith had never broken anything before so he really didn't know the answer to that, but he really didn't think it was bad enough, nor did he want to go. "No, I think I'll wait it out, just ice it for now."

"What in the world is wrong with him?!" Shiro shouted angrily, which made Keith jump and jostle his side around painfully.

"Who?" Keith asked, holding the ice to his side again.

"Your soulmate! It's like he's trying to hurt you or something. He might be some kind of jerk or maybe he gets in fights all the time."

"You don't know that, Shiro," Keith said, wondering why he was defending some guy he didn't even know, but this guy was his soulmate so he felt like he had to defend him. He was someone Keith would marry one day.

"Well, I don't really like him right now. Everyone knows that around this age, you share each other's pain. Any other idiot would be mindful of that and stop whatever nonsense they're doing to protect their soulmate." Shiro got up to pour himself a glass of water and offered one to Keith as well.

Keith just nodded in agreement. He couldn't help but agree with Shiro that whoever his soulmate was wasn't very considerate.

A whole week went by without any other new pains. Keith took it easy, or as easy as a college student could. He still went to his classes, but all the walking uphill really made his chest ache. The bruises on his ribs were now bright blue and very noticeable and really hurt to be touched.

Against Shiro's suggestion, Keith wouldn't let him take him to the school's health center to be checked out. He argued that it was already embarrassing enough that this happened because of his soulmate and that it would be a waste of time and money if all the treatment would be was to ice them, which Keith had been already doing from time to time.

One Saturday morning, Keith got up from bed and went to the kitchen to get himself a bowl of cereal. Shiro was still asleep, most likely recovering from his last final exam he had taken yesterday. Keith tried to be quiet as to not wake him up. He grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and a spoon and was walking to the table when the most excruciating pain he'd ever felt in his life tore through his right leg. He screamed, allowing the bowl to fall from his hands, shattering into tiny pieces on the hardwood floor.

"Shiro!" He cried, the tears of pain already pooling in his eyes. He dropped to his hands and knees, willing the pain to stop. There was now blood dripping from his shin, which accompanied the severe pain running from his knee down to his ankle.

Keith heard Shiro scream his name right before seeing Shiro fling open the hallway door. "Keith, what's wrong?"

Keith looked up, his vision clouded over from pain and tears. "My leg!" He clutched it tightly with both hands.

Shiro darted over to the boy. "Did you fall?"

"No," Keith said, sniffling. The pain was starting to lessen just slightly, but it still wasn't going anywhere.

"Did you do something or—" Shiro didn't want to say it. Was this really what he thought it was? "Was this your soulmate's doing?"

Keith nodded and more tears fell, falling in his lap. "Shiro, it hurts."

Shiro grabbed a dishtowel to wipe the blood that had run down his ankle. The worst of the injury was just below the knee.

Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be swollen. Shiro moved a finger to touch the area, but Keith screamed out, "No, don't touch it!"

"Keith, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry your soulmate is doing this to you." He put his hand on Keith's hand that was on the floor. "I think it's time we get you to a doctor."

Keith didn't argue this time, which told Shiro that this really was something serious. Since the health center was closed on Saturday, they went to the hospital. The doctor x-rayed his leg and found that Keith had broken his Tibia, or his shin bone. It wasn't bad enough to need surgery, but he did have to wear a cast for six weeks.

The doctor examined his ribs as well and also took an x-ray. Nothing was broken but they were quite badly bruised and Keith was told to expect them to heal in the next five weeks.

Once the hospital visit was over, the two boys went back to their student apartment. Shiro helped Keith out of the car and helped him navigate with his new crutches. Once he was settled on the couch with his casted leg propped up on the table, Shiro broke the silence. "How does it feel now?"

"I'm okay. Just a dull ache now," Keith replied. He had been given pain pills and they were working very well.

"Sometimes I think that I—" Shiro started, but looked away as if bashful. Then he chuckled. "I shouldn't even say it."

"Say what?" Keith said.

"It's just that sometimes I think I'd like to get in a few punches at whoever this soulmate of yours is. Give him a nice beating 'cause he deserves it." Shiro cleared his throat and continued. "But then I think, but wait. . . that would mean you'd come out all beaten up and the other guy would be unscathed." Then his face took on a sterner look. "It's not fair."

Keith internalized what Shiro had just said and realized how true that really was. He began to grin and laugh. "Shiro, that's like, really funny and really not at the same time."

After a moment of laughter, Shiro said, "Seriously, though, I wish we could meet him. I can't stand anything more to happen to you. It's hard to not be in control of it. I mean, what's next. . . breaking your neck?"

Keith sighed. "I know. I get it completely, and it's scary to not know."

Shiro nodded. He hadn't had any experiences like Keith. He was sure he had a soulmate out there somewhere, but he never felt pain that like. Sure, he felt a couple paper cuts and once his tongue burned probably from his soulmate eating hot food, but that was the extent of it. "Are you hungry? I could make us some lunch."

"Sure," Keith said. He winced when he repositioned himself on the couch.

A few days later, the new semester started. Keith had three classes every day, and it was a daily struggle trying to get to his classes on crutches. It tired him out much faster than walking.

One of his classes was Humanities. It was his favorite class by far because of one cute guy he had his eye on. He even memorized his name: Lance McClain. He had nice hair, a strong jawline, and a nice slim body. Lance sat a few rows in front of him so he had a nice view all throughout class. He also had a lot of comments during the lectures, and Keith enjoyed hearing the sound of his voice.

Today he went to this class and had the opportunity to talk to him. Lance was talking with the professor about something and Keith was usually the last to leave the room because of the crutches. When Keith was almost out the door, he heard the lovely voice call out to him from behind.

"Hey, wait up!" Lance said to him.

Keith turned his head and looked Lance in the eyes, and boy were they pretty. "Yeah?"

"Hi, I'm Lance. Would you wanna study for the test?" he asked. The test Lance was referring to was the music and arts test where the students had to listen to classical music and study pieces of art and name the exact titles and authors. The professor had warned that there would be lots of memorizing in this class.

Keith's heart almost beat out of his little chest. "Me? Well, yeah, I could use a study buddy I guess."

"Great! I'm not very good at memorizing. I could use some help. By the way, what's your name?" Lance asked.

"I'm Keith."

"What'd you do to your leg if you don't mind me asking?" Lance walked side by side with Keith slowly down the narrow hallway.

"Oh, I uh, fell down the stairs," Keith said. He decided to lie because he didn't want to talk about soulmates right now, and it seemed cooler than saying if just happened to him randomly. Because of how often he was getting injured, the whole thing felt embarrassing.

"Oh, really? I had a little spill down the stairs myself about a week ago. Sorry about your leg." Lance opened the door for Keith and they both walked outside into the warm summer air. Along the way, they came to a wild blackberry patch. Lance stopped to pick a few of them and plopped one in his mouth. He reached for another and a sharp thorn stuck to his index finger. "Stupid thorns. Always in the way." He threw the thorn aside and ate another berry.

Keith felt a sharp prick to his own index finger and he held it up. There was a bead of blood on it, the same place that Lance's fingers had been pricked. It started to throb, and Keith put it in his mouth to suck it clean.

"Well, Keith. It was good meeting you. I've gotta run. Don't want to be late to my karate class." Lance turned to leave until Keith spoke urgently.

"Wait, Lance! Don't go to your karate class," Keith said.

Lance looked at him like he was mad. "Why not? What do you mean?"

"Something bad's going to happen. I can't explain it, but I just do."

"Are you psychic or something?" Lance asked, frowning.

"Something like that. Just please, don't go tonight, okay? I'll explain later."

After a moment's hesitation, Lance agreed. "O. . .kay. . . I guess I could skip just today."

"Promise?" Keith asked, desperately.

"I promise." With that, Lance turned and walked away.

Keith hoped he didn't look like an idiot in front of his crush, but he couldn't let him go to karate tonight. His body couldn't handle it.

Keith's leg was starting to throb, with random pain shooting through the break. His ribs were also hurting a lot by the time he reached home. "Shiro!" he called out as he put his backpack on the couch.

"What is it?" Shiro called and was out in the living room in a flash. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. You might want to sit down for this. I have some news," Keith said, grabbing the frozen peas from the freezer. Shiro helped Keith to sit down on the couch, not missing the look of pain on his face when he sat.

"Are you okay? You don't like you're fine. Is your leg hurting?" Shiro asked. He placed the crutches on the floor next to him.

Keith nodded. "Can you pass me the heating pad, too, please?"

Shiro handed it to him and then plugged it into the wall. Keith placed the heating pad on his ribs while Shiro put the frozen peas on his leg. "Thanks."

"So, tell me, what's up?" Shiro said.

"Well, I met a guy today." Keith explained the crush he's been having on Lance and how he asked to study with him.

"Oh, that's great."

"Well, it gets even better. I think he's my soulmate." Keith smiled.

Shiro gasped, his eyes wide. "You're not serious? What makes you think that?"

"He picked a blackberry from the bush and whenever a thorn pierced his finger, I felt it, and there was blood on my finger."

"Oh, wow. I can't believe this! You've found him!"

"Yeah, and he told me he was about to go to. . . get this. . . karate class! I told him not to go and to just trust me."

"Maybe that's how he's getting injured so often."

Keith then told him about Lance saying he had fallen down the stairs last week, which is exactly the time frame in which he broke his leg. It was all making sense.

"Imagine if he did go to karate today?" Shiro thought horrifyingly.

"I don't think I could handle getting beaten up today," Keith said.

"You're gonna have to tell him the truth. It's the only way to get him to stop being so reckless."

"Isn't that being too forward, though? I mean, I just met him. Hi, my name's Keith and you're going to marry me one day," Keith mocked.

Keith had a point, but it was still dangerous to not tell Lance. "I know, and I get it, but he's putting your physical body in danger, and it's not fair to you to have to constantly suffer."

The next day, Keith made sure to linger after class in order to talk to Lance, and it worked. "Hi, Lance," Keith said.

"Oh, hey. How're you?" Lance asked as he gathered up his things.

"I've got to talk to you about some things. Can we talk in private?" Keith asked. He limped along on his crutches as he followed Lance to a deserted part of the building.

"What's up?" Lance asked.

Keith put down his crutches and winced when he sat down too hard, jostling his ribs. He cradled them with his hand and looked up to see Lance looking at him with a worried expression.

"You okay?" Lance took Keith's crutches and placed them up against the chair.

His face still in a grimace, Keith answered, "It's fine. My ribs are a bit bruised, but I'm okay."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize that," Lance said. "So, what'd you want to talk about?"

Keith wanted to answer back saying, it's okay. It's not your fault, but in reality, it really was all his fault, but he wasn't that mean of a person. Instead, he said, "Lance, this is going to sound silly and bizarre, and please don't take it the wrong way, but I have reason to believe that you're. . . you're my. . . my soulmate."

Lance's eyes narrowed. "My what?"

"You don't believe me, do you? Well, I mean why would you? We just met." Keith's hands were sweaty and he wiped them on his jeans.

"What makes you think we're soulmates?" Lance asked, scooting back in his seat.

Keith bit his lip.

"I'm not mad or weirded out. I genuinely want to know."

Keith drew in a long, unsteady breath. "Well, remember I said I fell down the stairs and you said you did, too, last week?"

"Yeah?"
"Well, I didn't really fall down the stairs. I randomly felt a horrible pain in my leg as I was making myself cereal that morning." Keith watched Lance's face for a reaction. He could tell it had gotten Lance thinking. "Remember how you plucked out that blackberry thorn like it was nothing? Like it didn't hurt you at all? Well, it hurt me. I felt it, and there was blood on my finger."

Lance grabbed for Keith's finger and examined it. He saw the small scratch on his finger, the same finger as Lance's. It was making sense. "And your ribs. . ." Lance started, piecing together the puzzle. He put a hand to his chest. "Did you feel a forceful kick to your chest a while back?"

Keith nodded.

"I got kicked in the ribs at Karate one week. It didn't hurt at all, but I do remember it. I had a strong opponent, that's for sure."

Keith saw him staring at his chest. "I guess I could show you." Keith lifted his shirt to reveal his colorfully dotted chest: blues, purples, and bits of green outlined his bruised ribs.

Lance gasped at the sight.

"Now do you believe me?"

Lance looked sad. "Keith, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen to you. I honestly didn't think I had a soulmate."

"You didn't? But why not?" Keith prodded. He thought everyone believed they had one.

"Well, it's hard to think you have one when you don't ever feel their pain. Don't you ever get hurt?" Lance asked. "I mean, on your own?"

It's true. Keith never got hurt and wasn't clumsy. Sure, he'd sprained his ankle when he was eight years old, but once he got to college, the age that pain-sharing starts, he really hadn't hurt himself at all from what he can remember. "Well, I guess I don't really, and actually, the injuries I've absorbed through you have actually withheld me from doing anything dangerous. Instead of taking risks, I'm held up at home healing."

Lance held his head down. "Oh."

Suddenly, Keith felt bad. "No, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry. That came out wrong."

Lance held up a hand. "Don't apologize. It's my fault you're injured. I should be apologizing to you." Then the thought hit him. "Now I get why you didn't want me going to karate. You don't want me to hurt you anymore."

Keith nodded shyly.

"How much longer will you be in that cast?"

"Five more weeks," Keith said.

"Maybe I should just quit Karate then?"

"What? No, I don't mean for you to do that," Keith said. "Maybe just be more careful?"

Lance smiled. "I'll try harder, just for you."

The two of them got up from their seat, Lance helping Keith back on his crutches. "So, Keith, now that we know we're soulmates, wanna go on a date? I know a great place to eat tonight."

"Yeah, I'd really like that."

Lance and Keith had a really great time that night. It was a start of something beautiful.