Keith doesn't want to believe his luck as he walks out of the dentist's office, with his mouth firmly shut.
The brackets and wires feel sharp and enormous behind his lips, and he groans as he runs his tongue through them once again.
He's supposed to meet Lance at his house in twenty minutes. Between the recent finals and the suffocating stress from classes and exams, the semester was finally over, and the two boys had planned a relaxing afternoon to watch some movies (and possibly get a few hours of sleep). And as much as Keith wants to go, one part of him just wants to turn around and walk in the opposite direction, to his house, and hide for a whole year.
The fact that he is already seventeen years old and getting braces is bad enough on its own, and Keith was already expecting the braces to make him look a lot younger. But all the self-consciousness he felt before seeing himself with braces for the first time increased tenfold when he actually did.
He keeps walking, trying to ignore the increasing pressure in all of his teeth. The dentist had told him his mouth would hurt in the next few days, and he really hopes it won't be too bad.
When he finally arrives, the door is already open.
"Hey, come in," he hears Lance's voice from inside, before he actually appears in front of him, "I've been waiting for you! You're late!"
Keith shrugs apologetically, and comes in, closing the door behind him. When he gets to the living room, he immediately knows Lance has put some effort into this movie session. The room is dark enough, the television already set up, a pile of blankets ready for the two of them to crawl underneath, and there are two buckets of microwave popcorn in the coffee table, next to a bowl of Keith's favorite jellybeans.
Uh oh.
Jelly beans. Which according to his dentist, he can no longer eat, not while he has braces. Keith is fighting back a frustrated groan when he realizes the popcorn is no longer an option either. Even if it was, he's not too sure he wants to even try to eat. His teeth are becoming quite sore.
"So, what do you think?" Lance asks, throwing himself to the couch. "I bought your favorite jelly beans."
Keith purses his lips. Lance cannot know about his braces, Absolutely not.
"Great." He says, with his mouth as closed as possible. Lance frowns in suspicion.
"Are you okay? You sound weird… you're not coming down with something, are you?"
Keith sits down next to him and tries to turn away a little. Hopefully the darkness of the room will play in his favor.
"I'm fine," he says, "why don't we watch the movie?"
Lance doesn't look too convinced, but finally agrees. The movie starts, and the two boys are snuggled up beneath the blankets, their feet intertwined, Lance with an arm around Keith's shoulders. Keith, on the other hand, is very tense. When Lance is distracted enough with the movie, he takes a hand to rub his jaw, trying to soothe the pain away, but it doesn't seem to be working.
Halfway through the movie, Lance has gone through his entire popcorn bucket, and some of the jelly beans. Keith, of course, hasn't even tried either of them, and he really hopes Lance won't notice.
But he does.
"Hey, you haven't touched you jelly beans," Lance straightens up a little.
"I'm just…really interested in the movie." Keith says, hoping his answer is enough for Lance.
It isn't.
"I would believe that if it wasn't for the fact that this is a comedy movie and I haven't heard you laugh once. And you didn't fall asleep either." Lance turns to him, looking into his eyes, and holds his hands. "Look, I know we've been stressed because of the finals and all that, but it's over now! You can relax!"
Keith nods, at a loss of what to do. Should he answer? Should he tell Lance? Should he just stick with the original plan of hiding for a whole year until his teeth are straight and he doesn't need braces anymore?
And then…
Lance pokes his side, with a devilish grin on his face. Not too hard, but hard enough to make him jump in his seat. Keith's eyes widen in fear, and he wraps his arms around himself protectively.
Oh no.
"Lance…" Keith warns him.
Lance lets out a laugh before poking harder, attacking his stomach next, and his armpits, "just laugh!", until Keith can't take it anymore.
"Hey…your teeth are…glowing…?" Lance stops the tickling. "Wait…"
Keith buries his head in his hands.
"Did you get braces?"
Keith is now a blushing mess.
"You did!" Lance exclaims. "Come on, let me have a look!"
Keith shakes his head. Lance tilts his head to the side, and pouts. Keith knows what's next.
"Pleeaase…?"
The puppy eyes.
Keith removes his face from his hands and sighs. It's a lost battle.
"Wait, wait, let me just-" lance gets up quickly and opens the blinds, letting the sunlight invade the room completely, and pauses the movie, "-okay, much better. Now, let me see."
Keith forces a smile, for Lance.
And then it's Lance who is blushing. Which makes Keith blush even harder. He closes his mouth and stares at his lap.
"I know it looks awful-"
"Awful?! You look adorable!" Lance exclaims
Adorable?
"You even got blue elastics! My favorite color!" Keith can't help but grin at Lance's excitement.
But still…
"I'm seventeen, and now I look like a middle schooler with bad teeth." His tone is heavy with bitterness.
"I'll have to disagree," Lance brushes a strand of black hair away from Keith's face, "I think you rock them."
"Thanks." Keith says sincerely. He still doesn't feel too certain about his appearance, but Lance did make him feel better.
Lance's expression then changes.
"Does it hurt?" Then it dawns on him. "Oh, so that's why you weren't eating! I'm so sorry!"
"No, no, it's fine." Keith assures him. "It's a bit painful, yeah." Lance seems worried.
"Only a bit?" He knows him well.
Keith sighs, "Maybe a little more than a bit."
Lance gives him a light kiss on the cheek, and gets up with a soft smile. "I'll go get some ice cream."