AN (pre-chapter) - Based off Son of a Preacher Man by Tom Goss. The original song is by Dusty Springfield.

watch?v=wJStTqPmcMY

Some of these lines are lyrics taken from this song. This is from Lance's POV. Keith is OOC, somewhat. Thanks to Lance McClain on Pinterest for the other idea in this. Found at link below. There's a lot of random time skipping.

pin/AVrb4GPZZUvs4ER1HszzsJqCbcey_IQ1WWyLIf-hYzU_tJ_lstsE3OA/

ENJOY

"First Corinthians, chapter 6, verses 9 and 10. It talks about things that prevent people from entering the kingdom of God. It talks about all kinds of immoral behavior." said Pastor Shirogane. I don't understand church. It's all a bunch of bull anyways. "But right in the midst of that passage, right in the middle of that verse, it says 'and those who are homosexual.' That's not ambiguous. Let me be perfectly clear, you cannot abide the gospel and be OK with homosexuality. You cannot have faith in God and be OK with homosexuality. You cannot call yourself a Christian, and be OK with homosexuality." I have a weird feeling in my stomach. I look over to the younger two siblings and get their attention to get them to stop pushing each other. I catch someone from the front row glancing back at me, and I smirk. "But this is about love. It would be unloving not to tell someone when salvation is at stake. We must tell the homosexuals the very same thing that I would say to you and you would say to me," Sucker, his friend just nudged him to pay attention. "'it is possible to change. With God, all things are possible.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

"Finally. We can get out of these stuffy clothes." I say as I stand up, popping my back. "Lanza. Cuidado con tu boca debajo de este techo. Así es como Dios quiere vernos cuando estamos en su casa.." (Lance. Watch your mouth under this roof. This is how God wants to see us when we are in his house.) Momma scolds me. "Lo siento mamá." (Sorry momma.) I reply sheepishly, scratching the back of my neck. "Besides, we're going to a barbeque at Pastor Shirogane's house. I hear they're fostering a boy your age." she says as the rest of the family stands to leave.

"Was that the boy in the front row with the mullet?" I ask, bringing up the rear of our line, Momma right in front of me.

"Sí, although he is trouble. So watch yourself around him." (Yes…)

"I will, mamá." (... momma.) I reply, following the family to the door, and I put a big smile on my face as we leave and shake hands with the pastor and his family. I shake hands with everyone, and get to Mullet. "Thanks for coming." he mumbles as we shake hands.

"What's your name, Mullet?"

"Why do you care? I'll be leaving within a month anyways." he turns and walks away, but I quickly catch up.

"So? Can't I know the new kid's name?" I ask as I jump in front of him.

"You first."

"Lance McClain." I hold out my hand.

"Keith Kogane." he answers, crossing his arms. "Oh, boys!" came a singsong voice. Keith rolled his eyes, and I perked up. Everyone in town knows that singsong voice. It's the pastor's wife. "C'mon Keith. Turn around and get a picture with your new friend." "Fine." He turns around, throws his arm around my waist, and sticks out his tongue, resulting in one of his eyes closed. I mimic the pose, except my arm is around his neck and shoulders. His mom snaps a picture and hands me the polaroid. "Hey, I know this really cool place in the woods and field behind the neighborhood." I exclaim. "Really?" he perks up, "Let's go! We can cut through my house."

We get to the woods and I finally start asking questions, "So why do you say you'll leave within a month?"

"Because I'm a foster kid, I always get moved within a month. The longest I've ever been somewhere is exactly a month. They were the only family to ever feel like a family, but then I got pushed into a fight at school. Like, literally pushed."

"I see. So, how old are you?"

"17. You?" he replies with a sigh.

"Same. When's your birthday?"

"August 30th." he replies as he climbs up a tree.

"Wait, really?" I look up at him and he holds his hand out to help me up.

"Yes, why?" he asks as I take his hand and he helps me up.

"I was too. I was born in Cuba on August 30th."

"Oh, that's cool I guess." he drops my hand, realizing he was still holding it.

"What time and where?"

"Uhhh, 6:30am in Quebec City, Quebec Canada. Why?" he looks at me when I don't reply. "Lance?"

"5 minutes."

"What?"

"You're 5 minutes older than me. I was born at 6:35am in Havana Cuba!" I exclaim.

"Interesting." he replies, and I see a sparkle in his eyes as we climb down a different tree.

"Hey look, a pond and some ducks!" I exclaim.

"I thought you knew this area?"

"I know of the area." I reply as Keith chases a duck. I make a quacking sound and help him chase them off. We take the long route home and end up in a small clearing, just bullshitting around. "We should probably get home soon." Keith speaks up after we calm down from laughing at a funny story. "Probably," I agree. "We should hang again." I stand up, brushing my clothes off and notice a slight green tint to the knees of my slacks. "How about tonight?" Keith asks, standing next to me. "What do you mean?"

"Just answer. Yes or no?"

"Sure, why not."

~~~~~~~~~~

tap tap tap*

"5 minutos más momma. ¿Por favor?" (5 more minutes momma. Please?) I mumble sleepily when I hear the tapping.

tap tap tap*

I wake up, and realize it's coming from my window. I look out the window, and see the faint figure of Keith standing there. I turn on my bedside lamp and look at the time, "What the hell, Keith. Do you know what time it is?"

"Like, 2:00am. Let's go on a ride."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I toss my shoes out the window and grab my skateboard, then crawl out the window with his help. We walk until we're out of sight of our houses, Keith pushing a bike. Once we're out of sight, he hops on his bike, "Grab on." I do as he says, and grab the seat of his bike, automatically getting pulled along on my board. We bullshit for about an hour, and then he drops me back off at home. I crawl back in my window, and collapse on my bed, turning out the light, and smiling.

~~~~~~~~~~

End of church, and I'm in the church yard playing with my little siblings and some of the other little ones. "Your turn, bud." I hear Keith yell and feel the slap on my back. "Hold on for a sec." I tell the kids and give chase to the ebony hair colored boy. "Keith?" I raise my voice once I'm on the other side of the church. "Arrg!" I hear him yell and then I'm tackled onto the ground by Keith. We roll around for a bit, trying to tickle the other. We eventually end up with Keith pinching my sides, right under my arm, and my hands on his shoulders. "I give." I say breathlessly. He smirks, and looks at me. The look in his eyes is the same way my dad looks at my mom everyday, and bites his lip. I smile and relax, slightly nodding my head. Keith leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. Not even 10 seconds later, I feel him getting pulled up and off of me. It's his foster dad, the pastor. I scramble to my feet. "I can't believe this! And with my own son!" he yells at me. "Dad, it's not his fault." "Don't talk back to me." the pastor snaps and backhands Keith. "Come on. We are going to the office." He marches us inside and puts us both in chairs in front of his desk. He dials the phone twice. "Why would you do this?" he yells at Keith.

"Why does it matter?" Keith yells back, "I'm not even really your family!"

"You wanna bet?" the pastor shoves some papers into Keith's hands. "As of last Wednesday, you became an official part of the Shirogane family."

I look between Keith and his now father, "What?"

"I've been adopted." Keith just stares at the papers. Then my parents burst in.

"Why would you do this to our family Lance?" my mom yells. I'm actually surprised she's not swearing in Spanish right now. They drag me out of the office, and I look at Keith one last time, seeing the pain from my eyes mirrored in his.

~~~~~~~~~~

Over the course of the next week, I'm not allowed out of the house at all. Then Sunday comes back around. "Say goodbye to that little moment of yours, because Keith is being cleansed today." My mom yells into my room as I lay in my bed, staring at the photo of me and him. I sigh. There's no point in being around anymore. I close my eyes, ready to think about how I should off myself. There's no point in living if I can't be with him. But instead of those thoughts, I think of the moments with him. The only one who could ever reach me, happens the son of a preacher man. The only boy who could ever teach me happens to be the son of a preacher man. I jolt off my bed. I can't lose him that easily. If anything between us was real, I won't lose him then. I quickly pull on some of my Sunday best, and head over to the church. When I burst in, he's standing at the front with his father and 2 other men. They're asking God to cleanse him. He looks up, and moves away from them, towards me. "Don't you dare, Son."

"Oh, let him, Dad!" Everyone looks to the front row, where Shiro, the family's only biological child, is seated. "What?"

"Dad, I'm gay too. I've kissed Matt Holt." Everyone gasps and Matt and Shiro stand, interlocking their hands. Pidge, Matt's sister, whose real name is Katie, squeals in excitment. Keith walks forward, and I meet him halfway, and we embrace in a hug. "Let's get out of here." Keith whispers. I nod, and we let go, and intertwine our hands and start walking towards the door. "Are you two coming?" Keith throws over his shoulder as we get to the door. "Yeah, we are." I hear Matt reply, and then Shiro and Matt's footsteps following ours. The 4 of us break out into a run when we get outside, celebrating our new relationships.

AN (post-chapter) - Thank you for reading! Please leave your comments!