Keith

Hey bby just saw the weather rport. You ok?

Sorry. Need you

Be right there. Hang tight

Sorry

God I'm such an idiot. I shouldn't have sent it. Should have dealt with this on my own. I always used to. He looks away from his phone and shakily reaches out, saving his work and shutting down his laptop. The last time this had happened he'd lost twenty pages after accidentally switching off autosave. He takes a deep breath.

Okay Keith. You can do this. You have to stay calm. You've already messed up by pulling Lance away from work, you are not gonna make this unnecessarily tough for him. Breathe.

He is actually starting to feel a little better when the second rumble hits, causing him to dive behind the sofa and curl into a ball, thoughts racing.

It's not gonna hurt you it's not gonna hurt you, get it together it's just a noise. It's just a noise! Like…Like the percussion in a piece of music, or the sound of an engine, I'm fine with those, so why…why…?

He is crying, diamond tears streaking ivory cheeks. Half out of fear, half out of anger. He knows the feeling doesn't make sense, but his body never listens. His pale hands clench into fists.

A noise, from the hallway. The sound of the door opening and a scuffle of shoes, bag, keys. He hears Lance, concerned.

"Keith, I'm home! Where are you?"

He is about to answer when the thunder strikes again and this time it's much louder, so that all that escapes Keith's lips is a plaintive cry. He takes a breath and tries once more.

"H-here. L-Lance I'm so sorry, I'm so s-stupid-"

He hears Lance's soothing reassurances, and a few seconds later sees the warm, caramel skin, wide blue eyes looking into his own. Feels long arms around him, pulling him close. Feels even more ashamed of himself. How much has Lance done for him?

"Th-this is the third time now, you're…you're gonna get fired because of me…"

"Nah, of course not, I told my boss that it's a family emergency that will happen every so often. He's pretty chill, so he gets it. Now, let's get yo-"

Keith was about to argue, but yet another rumble saves him his breath. Lance shifts a little, Keith knows he's hugging too hard, but can't stop. He feels a hand on his head, fingers combing through the dark waves.

"Oh my god, babe, hey hey it's okay. It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here. You're safe…."

The words are soft, caring and worried.

"W-w-why am I like this, why am I fucking like this, Lance, I c-can't-"

"Shh, let's just get you upstairs yeah? And I gotta get changed, I'm soaked, I can't hold you like this."

Keith doesn't really care about getting wet, but he doesn't want Lance catching a cold because of him. With the other's reassuring hand on his back, he quietly complies.

The bed is soft and comforting – it smells like Lance. Violet eyes peer out, watching Lance as he strips, and Keith is momentarily distracted by the lean, smooth form. He briefly thinks that the other deserves better than him, and shakes his head, bringing his arms up in front of his face as if to defend himself from the thought.

He hears the covers rustle, feels the cool body next to his and the voice, like honey, in his ear.

"Sorry if I'm cold, you'll just have to deal with it."

You put up with so much for me.

Keith feels hands on his wrists, tugging them away from his face, and the blue eyes are looking serious. He averts his gaze.

"Look at me."

"I…no."

I'm sorry. I'm pathetic.

"Fucking look at me. Don't be a coward."

This shocks him into looking up, scowling at Lance, whose expression is unreadable. The rain is pouring through the blue-framed window. Keith's feelings pour in unison.

"Well, clearly I am a coward, right? I love the outdoors, I love nature, but…b-being scared of a fucking thunderstorm, what kind of adult is scared…is scared of that? To the point where th-they need babysitting! What kind of stupid-ass fear…A-a-and having to get you to ditch work to…to…You're gonna be fired, and it's gonna be because of me! I'm so weak, I'm so pathetic, I-"

When the deafening noise comes again, he can feel his breath becoming ragged, his head getting light. Shit. He gasps like a fish, breathing too hard but desperate for air. It won't stop, he can't stop. Nose and fingers becoming numb. Lance's words. Focus on those. Slow your breaths just a little at a time. That's it. There we are. It'll be okay. Lance is here. Man, how the hell did I cope before him?

His vision is a little blurry, but he is no longer gulping for air. He feels the other's hands on his cheeks, lifting his face to gaze at him.

"Listen to me, amor. You do know I'm frightened of ghosts, right? Y'know, if I saw one, I'd scream my lungs out and leap to high heaven? Even though the chance of meeting one is statistically low? Even thinking about it gives me the creeps…It's called an irrational fear babe. You're not an idiot – you know that thunder isn't gonna hurt you, I know that. The same way I'm not really sure what a ghost could do to hurt me. We're just scared. Irrational fear. Doesn't make sense, it just…it just is. And I'd be willing to bet that every damn person on this planet has one. And yours-" he kisses Keith's cheek "just happens to be thunder. I'm your boyfriend. It's my job to take care of you. So, you aren't allowed to feel guilty. Cos if we ever get trapped in a forest at night, or a spooky castle, I'll be relying on you to protect me. And I sure as hell ain't gonna feel bad about it. Okay?"

Are you a magical? Are you a wizard? How the hell did you just make me feel better?

"…O-okay…"

"And now, you are gonna listen to some tunes and I'm gonna cuddle you until this is over, okay? 'Lance knows best, listen to your La-ance! '"

Keith feels his lips twitch and doesn't try to stop the laugh. He would still never admit that he'd enjoyed the film though. The earphones slide on, and he hears a guitar begin to play.

The music strategy had been Lance's idea originally, and the other wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. Lance had a playlist for when he slept, and although it didn't drown the noise out completely when storms were right overhead, Keith still found the slow, gentle tunes quite a good distraction. Although this is the third time Keith has contacted Lance in work, there have been in total five storms since they started living together, and a routine has arisen. Music and cuddles until the storm is over. Then Lance goes and makes them hot chocolate and they spend the rest of the day in bed, watching TV or doing their own thing – Keith reading or playing on his phone, Lance knitting or gaming. But staying together, healing themselves.

Keith moves closer to his lover, inhaling his scent.

Keith had been utterly, utterly convinced that he would always be alone.

It made sense, after all. He pushed people away. He knew he did it, but he had to protect himself. He didn't know how it would go down if he became close to someone and they rejected him, but he instinctively felt that it would tear his heart to pieces.

Anyway, he was used to being alone. Can't miss what you never had, right? He could just go merrily along with his life. Focus on what he wanted to do. Find…what was it? Job satisfaction. Didn't need intimacy and sappy romance crap.

He threw himself into his studies, and into working out, and he became good at them. Oh, he heard what other people said. But as far as he was concerned he was the one living his life, not them. Why care about what others had to say?

Then there was that guy. Keith had just been sitting, eating some cake and reading, when he realised some loon was staring at him. Has he spaced out? He's looking pretty intense though…Have I pissed this guy off somehow? Is he after a fight? I don't think I know him…Whatever.

"Um…can I help you?"

"Huh?"

So, he had been spaced out? No, he looked like he'd been caught in the act. What was his deal?

"You looked like there was something you wanted to say."

"Nah, sorry, but…"

Hang on…Oh, wait, he knew him. Sort of. He recalled seeing him a few times in class, but only really clocking that the boy was very tall and lanky, and a little loud. Keith wished he would get to the point.

"Yeah? What?"

"…Eyes. Violet. You have. Um."

What a way with words. Still, if that's all it was then there was no trouble. Keith had received comments on his eyes before, so this was nothing new. Guys tended to insult him for them though, no idea why, and he braced himself.

"You wanna try that again?"

"I..I've never seen violet eyes before. They're pretty cool man. Awesome." The guy grinned sheepishly.

Oh.

Is this what they mean when they say 'a dazzling smile'?

It's fucking beautiful.

Embarrassment welled, and Keith instinctively drew back at the compliment.

"Uh…thanks."

And that was that, boom, gone he thought bitterly a few months later. He'd found out later that the Cuban's name was Lance, and Mr Loud, Annoying, Won't-Leave-You-Alone-For-Five-Seconds Lance had somehow progressively wormed his way into his life.

What made Keith bitter was that he loved it. He loved him. So much for no sappy romance crap. He wanted to keep his distance. Lance was so open, so friendly and flirty to everyone that surely, even if he somehow accepted Keith's feelings, at some point he would drop him without a second thought. Maybe he could just…Keep things like this. This weird rivalry thing Lance had decided on. Frenemies. Yeah, that was okay. He should be grateful that he could admire from a distance.

Except Keith's insults kept getting softer and Lance kept finding his way further into Keith's personal space and the competitions between them eventually dwindled until all that was left were late-night chats, collaborations over homework and smiling together over the dumb things in life.

Keith was feeling happy. He could only take so much.

When his lips locked with Lance's, he was already screaming at himself that he'd screwed up. But he couldn't stop. He might've, had Lance continued being unresponsive. But when the other began kissing him back, he felt himself losing control completely. Until the old feeling of fear reared its head in his chest.

He broke away, getting a good look at Lance's face. Confusion. That's all he saw.

You ruined it. You should have just appreciated what you had.

Keith had made for the door, but Lance had been quicker, and Keith realised that he'd never seen the other truly angry before. And he was soon told that the anger was because not because Keith had kissed him, but because he was running away. Lance said he'd had enough of Keith burying his head in the sand, that from now on he wanted to see all of his emotions, good and bad, and that if Keith had anything sassy to say to that, then he would shut him up with a kiss.

So, of course the fighter in Keith had responded with a comment implying that Lance wouldn't be able to handle his emotions and that Lance wouldbe the one running away with his tail between his legs.

They both had to cover up hickies the next day.

Over the next few years, Keith came to know Lance as he had never done before. He angrily shielded him from comments from their classmates, despite Lance's protestations that it 'didn't matter', and despite the guilt he felt from having said things like that himself in the past. Because now, he'd realised that a lot of that stuff actually caused hurt. Even so, Lance would never defend himself beyond mock outrage, and that made Keith furious. His boyfriend would joke about Keith being his 'little firecracker', which Keith found odd as no-one had ever found his temper endearing before…But Lance could calm him down like no one else could. Lance had made him feel safer than anyone else had. So Keith was there for him when he bombed his eighth job interview, and then again when his uncle died.

Keith had wished the pain Lance felt was a person, so he could beat the crap out of it, because seeing his lover, who was usually so full of life, break down, made Keith feel like his heart was being twisted and twisted.

He loved Lance so much. That's why he hadn't wanted him to see the pathetic side of him, hadn't wanted to put him in a position where he had to deal with Keith like that. Eventually though, killing the conversation every time it turned to them moving in together grew wearing, and to be honest Keith had wanted to for years anyway…It was just this one little thing.

I mean, it's not like storms happen here often, right? He may never see it.

Keith hadn't known how Lance would react when he found him quivering amongst the broken glass, body stiff with anticipation for the next bout of thunder. He hadn't expected calm, authoritative comfort – and didn't know how to deal with it. That Lance should see this was absolutely abhorrent, Lance wouldn't be able to handle it, Lance would hate him – all of these words were utterly ignored.

Keith was horrified with himself afterwards. For a long time afterwards he felt he could never make it up to him. But Lance just brushed it away with a loving smile, a genuine smile, with that beautiful face and those bright eyes.

The bed is cool. Keith feels long arms tighten around him, and the soft pressure of a kiss on his forehead. The guitar in his ears is accompanied by a piano now. Lance's scent in his nose.

He is the most genuine person I've ever met. His laughter and tears, they're as natural as the wind and the moon and the ocean that lights up his eyes. But it's all been forced aside, time and time again, by harsh criticism from others – and previously even from me. Our bond is so strong now, I can't allow that to happen ever again. I want to be the one person he can be natural around, without fear, because he has seen my own fear and told me 'it's all right'. And he means it. He means it all. He'll reassure me as many times as he needs to, he'll calm me as many times as he needs to. He never sees me as pathetic, doesn't put up with any nonsense and trusts me to be by his side when he needs me.

You have the loyal, caring heart of a lion. You trust me to protect it. That's something you've never given to anyone else.

I feel rich.

Thank you.