Keith didn't return to visit Lance in the following days.

Maybe its bullshit, but he took Lance's words seriously, and decided he shouldn't bother Lance anymore. Maybe it would make him feel better, and just give Lance a space so he could recover from everything that happened. Maybe Lance felt a little embarrassed about what happened, even though Keith didn't saw everything that happened, but he saw Allura's expression as she left Lance's room as he waited outside, leaning against the wall of the hallway.

"Is everything alright with him? Is he going to be okay?" Keith asked as soon as he saw Allura.

She looked at Keith, a little surprised to find him there in the hallway.

"Keith!" She said with fascination. "I thought you were already gone from the hospital."

Keith ran his fingers through his hair, and turned his attention to the door of Lance's bedroom that was half-open. Through the crevice he could only see a small part of the room. Unfortunately the bedroom door concealed his view of Lance.

"How is he, Allura?! Keith asked worriedly.

Allura followed Keith's gaze, and sighed.

"It may not seem like it, but that's just an effect of his treatment," she said in a condescending tone, and taking notes from her faithful clipboard.

"How is this treatment helping him if every time I see him, Lance seems to be getting weaker?" He complained. "He looks worse and worse every day, Allura!"

"Keith," she said and Keith fell silent, acknowledging the firm note in her voice. "I understand you're worried about Lance's condition - believe, we all are - but the treatment he's getting is best for his condition, and in a few weeks will start to appear results of his improvement" Allura explained "Trust what I'm telling you"

Keith glanced again at Lance's bedroom door and slowly, he nodded.

"Alright," he said.

Allura watched Keith for a few seconds, leaving the boy a little uneasy over the load of her gaze.

"You really care about him, do not you?" She asked inquiringly.

Keith turned his gaze to the door of Lance's room, wondering how to answer Allura, even knowing what his answer was. Even if he considered lying, Allura would know he wasn't telling the truth.

"Yeah," he said in a low tone.

Allura's expression changed. She walked over to him and placed her hand on Keith's shoulder, a gesture she had done many months ago when Shiro had been hospitalized and Keith spent half of his time having anxiety attacks.

"He's going to be fine, Keith," she said softly. "Lance is strong and tough, I'm sure he's going to get out of it."

After his brief conversation with Allura in the hallway, Keith went back to Shiro's room to retrieve his backpack from the chair near the bed where Shiro was lying and walk away from the hospital, thinking of going back there after a few days away. He was feeling mentally tired, because now having to worry about Shiro, Lance came into his life, somehow managing to gain some space in his heart, and now Keith couldn't stop worrying about him.

"How can I stop coming to the hospital, Shiro?" He asked his brother, who was still unconscious in his bed. "If I fail to come one day and something happen to you? Or with Lance?" He said exasperated "How can I stop worrying for a few days?"

He watched Shiro, waiting for some kind of response. He watched as his breathing continued steady, just like the previous days, just as he was admitted to that hospital.

"You would probably say I need some time for myself, that if I go on as I am, it won't do any good." Keith let out a chuckle without a shade of joy, shaking his head. "I cannot do this, Shiro, I can't"

He rubbed his eyes, where the tears were trying to escape. He'd sworn to himself that he wasn't going to cry anymore, he needed to be strong.

Keith straightened his pack on his shoulders, and went toward the door, but stopped for a few seconds to look again at the figure of his brother lying unconscious on the bed.

"See you tomorrow, Shiro," he said, and left.


"Dude, you look terrible" was the first thing he heard when he opened the door to his apartment finding Pidge fully tidy with her backpack on.

Keith suppressed a yawn and rubbed his eyes, trying to disperse the still heavy sleep in his eyes. He blinked a few times to try to focus his vision on Pidge who was staring at him, a smile on her lips.

"What do you want, Pidge?" He asked a little irritably. He hadn't been able to sleep all night with his thoughts lost on Lance and how he was the last time Keith had seen him.

"Not a morning person, gee, I know," she said sarcastically.

Keith rolled his eyes and waved a hand at her, motioning for Pidge to continue.

"Remember when I told you that there's going to be a new game inspired by that 80's cartoon called Voltron?" She asked, but didn't wait for Keith's response and continued to talk "So, Game Stop had announced a few days ago that they were going to reveal a surprise related to Voltron today, and a few minutes ago they announced that they would sell 50 copies today when they opened the stores before the official release of the game, and that anyone who managed to buy those 50 copies would get a discount, plus an exclusive poster and a shopping card worth $ 700 and we have to be in line in front of the shop and be one of 50 buyers, "she continued to speak as she pulled Keith out of his apartment.

"Pidge, calm down," Keith said, steadying his feet to the ground, preventing the girl from walking. "It's five o'clock in the morning on a Saturday, do you really think there's going to be people waiting in this hour in front of the store?" He asked. running his hand through his messy hair, deciding to ignore why Pidge was up so early. Keith knew the girl very well and knew that she actually stayed up all night.

"Keith, dude, you have no idea how many people are waiting for the release of this game, aren't you?" She asked, clapping her foot impatiently. "Voltron is at the top of the list of most anticipated game releases of this year!" Pidge said exasperatedly "You can't imagine how many people would kill to have the opportunity to buy this game before the official release!"

"Okay, okay, I got it!" Keith replied trying to calm the girl who looked like a ball of energy "Why didn't you call Matt to go with you?"

Pidge rolled his eyes.

"You know very well how Matt is in the morning, he doesn't wake up even if it's raining meteors outside" she said shaking her head and Keith nodded. "Dude, what are you waiting for?! Let's go!" She said agitatedly and pulling Keith by the arm again.

"Calm down," he said, getting rid of Pidge's small hands holding him tight. "Let me change my pajamas into some clothes and then we can go"

Pidge sighed and checked her wristwatch "Alright, but hurry the hell up, you have five minutes or I'll drag you out of here even if you were wearing just underpants!" She warned.

Keith chuckled and returned inside the apartment, accompanied by Pidge who waited for him, arms crossed and fingers drumming her arm, checking her watch every second. Keith changed into a comfortable outfit and quickly put on shoes, not wanting to let Pidge wait for him for too long, because he knew if he past the time she set for him, Pidge would drag him away just the way he was.

He left the room and found Pidge in the same place, checking her wristwatch.

"Finally!" She said as she stopped glancing at her watch. "One more minute and I was about to drag you out of your room," Pidge said walking out of the apartment.

Keith rolled his eyes. "I wasn't that long," he said, taking the keys to the apartment and closing the door behind him.

"Do you really want to discuss how long it takes you to fix your hair in the bathroom?" Pidge questioned as they walked to the elevator.

"It's not my fault my hair is rebellious!" Keith replied defensively.

"Sure," she said and began to press the elevator button compulsively.

"One of these days, you're going to break that button," Keith said, yawning.

"And one of these days, you're going to let that emo phase pass by and turn into a beautiful colorful butterfly that we know you are and is just waiting to spread your wings and fly away" Pidge replied back, still pushing the button until the the elevator doors opened and they entered.

"Okay, Game Stop is less than 30 minutes from here, if we went to the bus stop they were going to be at least a five minutes' walk, ten minutes waiting, and another thirteen minutes ride, costing at least ten people in front of us in the line, we could go with your motorcycle and get there in fifteen minutes, but I'm afraid that you'll kill us at the speed you drive that deadly machine and you haven't been on a motorcycle since the accident, so the best option for us is to get an Uber or cab," she said quickly as she picked up her phone and began typing furiously.

"Wow" Keith said impressed "You really want this game"

"Of course dude! I've been waiting for this game for a long time, since it was announced two years ago!" Pidge said in a tone of desperation.

"Your parents know that you went out hunting for Voltron at this time of the morning?" Keith asked looking at Pidge as she continued to type something on her phone.

"I left a note in the fridge" it was all that she said.

Pidge decided that it would be better to call an Uber, and when they arrived at the entrance of the building where they lived, Keith was surprised to find a parked car waiting for them. Pidge grabbed Keith's arm and pulled him into the car. They entered and Pidge quickly gave the address of the store and turned her attention to her phone. Keith searched for his in the pocket of his black hoodie, but found nothing, forgetting that in a hurry he forgot his phone on the shelf of his room.

"According to twitter there is already at least nine people waiting in the Game Stop" Pidge announced twelve minutes later that they were inside the car.

Keith raised his eyebrow and noticed that Pidge was talking to some group of messages on her phone. Probably other of her video-game-crazy friends who were going to wait in line for four hours until the store opened.

Keith turned his gaze to the car's window, watching as the dark streets and streetlights passed quickly as the car moved. He wondered if Lance was one of those people who would go and wait in a line for hours it opened it just to get a game. His thoughts drifted to Lance, lost in unanswered questions. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice when the car stopped.

"Keith! We're here!" Pidge said, pulling the sleeve of his coat, to get his attention.

Pidge pushed Keith out of the car and paid the driver. Keith looked surprised at the little commotion that was forming in front of Game Stop. He recognized two people from the school in front of the line.

"You weren't really joking," he said impressed.

"Come on, let's take our place in the line before anyone walks in front of us.

They walked quickly through the small crowd and reached the end of the line.

"Damn, there's seventeen people in front of us," she said, looking at the line that had been formed. "If the driver had been faster we could be a little further forward," she complained.

"At least we're here among the ones who got there before 50 people" Keith said as he leaned against the wall of the store. He regretted not having picked up his cell phone to entertain him while he waited in line with Pidge.

"Weak" Pidge snorted "I wish I had arrived first"

Keith laughed.

They waited for a few minutes when a familiar voice called Pidge and the girl jumped in surprise from her place in the line, almost dropping the phone she was holding. Keith turned and stared wide-eyed.

"Hunk! You made it! "Pidge said jumping up beside Keith.

"Yeah dude, I promised Lance I'd get a copy of that game."

Hunk smiled at Pidge and turned his eyes to Keith, who was staring at him. Of all places, this was the least likely that Keith thought he would find Lance's best friend. Or to know that somehow he knew Pidge.

"Hunk," Keith finally spoke, his tone surprised.

"Keith! I-I didn't know you'd be here...! "Hunk answered a little embarrassed.

"Wait," Pidge said, looking between Hunk and Keith. "You guys know each other? How?" She asked, turning her gaze to Keith, waiting for some explanation.

"Uh..." Keith started and felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. He hasn't told Pidge that he'd met Lance, and that somehow they'd become friends.

"Yeah, we uh, we met at the hospital," Hunk answered the question, casting a glance at Keith. "It was Lance that introduced us"

"Oh." Pidge looked back at Keith, who was now staring across the street, trying to avoid looking at the girl, but he could feel the weight of Pidge's gaze on him.

After that, Hunk and Pidge became involved in a conversation about the game, what to expect from the game, how much they would make it look like the cartoon or what the game's features and graphics should look like. Hours after the line was already taking up an entire street and the sun was already shining in the sky, Pidge announced that she was hungry, and Hunk pulled out of his backpack that he carried a Tupperware with homemade cookies and sandwiches while Pidge took juice boxes and distributed among the three. Keith hadn't realized that he was starving until he took a bite of the sandwich Hunk had given him. The three of them engaged in a random conversation as they ate, when a commotion took the start of the line and Pidge began to jump in her place to be able to see.

"I think the store is going to open!" Pidge said excitedly as she continued to jump. "We're going to get a copy of Voltron before everyone else!"

"I can't wait for it dude! Lance will be so happy when I gave a copy to him! I hate to see him in a bad mood" Hunk said as he jumped along with Pidge screaming with excitement.

Keith looked at Hunk in surprise. What's going on with Lance that might have made him in a bad mood? He turned to ask Hunk, when suddenly the line was moving and Pidge grabbed his arm and Hunk's and began to drag the two of them into the crowd of people.

He felt something heavy in his stomach. Keith couldn't get the bad feeling that whatever was happening to Lance, it was his fault.

After being dragged into the store, Pidge and Hunk ran into a store session that they were sure the game would be, and Keith lost sight of them. Before she disappeared, Pidge asked Keith to wait at the payment counter, and that was where he was. Keith leaned into the corner, watching people rush into the shop desperate for Voltron's copy, and Keith wondered what it would be like if Lance were there. Would he run desperately into the store? Would he make Keith go with him or wait at the counter with Keith?

Keith shook his head. Whatever the answer, maybe he would never find out.

"Keeeeeeith!" cried Pidge appearing in one of the ranks of the shop, running and holding the copy of the game in her hands. Hunk came after her with two copies of the game in his hand. "KEITH, GO TO THE CASHIER!" she shouted above the din of the shop.

Keith realized that there were about three people running after her with copies of the game in their hands shouting to some people who had stayed behind like Keith to do the same. Keith quickly ran to the cashier and noticed that the woman who was waiting in the cashier was laughing.

"I love it when the store makes these announcements," she answered the silent question that was on Keith's expression. "It almost looks like it's a Black Friday"

As soon as the woman finished speaking, Pidge threw herself in front of Keith, with Hunk right behind her, panting because of the race. She handed her copy of the game and a credit card to the woman, handing over a credit card so the woman – Alycia, Keith read the name printed on her shirt - could make the payment. Efficiently, the cashier handed Pidge a bag, along with the game, poster and shopping card that came with the purchase, and Pidge shouted with joy.

They waited for Hunk to finish paying for the two copies he had taken - Keith assumed the second copy was for Lance - and they left the crowded store.

"I can't wait to see Lance's face when he sees what I got for him!" Hunk was saying as Pidge called for another Uber so they could return home.

"Hunk, uh..." Keith paused, looking at the Hunk waiting for Keith to speak, with a confused expression. "Are you going to visit him at the hospital today?" He asked.

"Yeah, he's kind of down lately and I want to cheer him up as fast as possible." Hunk smiled. "Are you thinking of going too?"

"I-I'm not going to the hospital today," he replied in low tone.

"Oh." Hunk looked a little disappointed at Keith's response. "When are you planning to return to the hospital? I know its weekend and you probably have more things to do-

"I don't know when I'm going back to the hospital," Keith replied quickly, clearly lying. He could see Pidge looking at them both.

Hunk was silent for a few seconds, frowning, and Keith could see that he was in conflict.

"You should go visit him soon," Hunk finally said, "I'm sure your visit will make him happier, he won't stop asking about you"

Keith felt his face turn red, and he could hear Pidge laughing beside him. His heart was beating rapidly against his chest.

"R-Really?" He asked and Hunk laughed.

"Really dude," he replied and then spread his arms and wrapped Keith and Pidge in a bear hug. "It was really cool to starting this morning with you guys, we should hang out more"

"We totally should," Pidge agreed.

With that, Hunk said goodbye to the two of them, and left, going home. Pidge and Keith watched him cross the street until he entered one of the shops and disappeared from their sight.

"So, you and Lance, huh" she teased, nudging Keith with his elbow and he turned red again.


Keith decided to visit Lance on Tuesday after receiving messages from Allura and Hunk - Pidge gave his number to Hunk - asking him to go see him. Apparently the boy keeps asking questions about Keith for both of them - Hunk told Lance about their meeting at Game Stop - and Keith was afraid that Allura would get into some kind of nervous breakdown if he kept hearing Lance ask about Keith.

"He keeps asking me why you're not visiting him," Allura said on the phone Monday morning. "Every time I walk into his room, Lance asks for you. The first thing he asked me this morning when I woke him up was 'Are Keith here yet?'"

"I'm sorry for what you're going through Allura," Keith said in a tight voice.

"You need to come Keith, or I'll drag you from your school to make you go to the hospital," she threatened and even on the phone Keith could feel the force of her words.

"I, uh ..." Keith paused, looking down to the empty school's hallway. He would be late for class again "I can't today"

"Then come tomorrow," she demanded.

"Allura..."

"I'm going to tell Lance that you're coming tomorrow so I can have some peace, and if you don't come tomorrow I'll restrict your visiting hours and not allow you to stay in Shiro's room after the visiting hours are over" she warned her rather demanding accent on the phone.

Keith shook his head, remembering the conversation and entered the hospital, being greeted by Romelle and Allura who seemed to be waiting for him at the reception.

"Allura!" He said in surprise. "You shouldn't have to be here waiting for me."

"Oh, I should" she replied and turned her attention to Romelle who was obviously holding a laugh. "Romelle, please give Keith his visitor's badge."

Romelle rummaged in something behind the reception desk and handed Keith his visitor's badge. She shot Keith a pitying look, but she had a smile on her lips, demonstrating that she was enjoying the whole situation.

"Come on, Keith," Allura commanded, pointing toward the elevator and Keith sighed, giving up.

"Have a nice day, Keith!" Romelle wished, and Keith glanced at her, who just laughed and turned her attention back to the computer.

The walk between the floors was silent and Keith didn't dare say anything. He knew this was his entire fault for not having the courage to return to Lance's room days ago. Even if Lance had asked him to not come back that day to his room, Keith should have entered the room even when he hadn't got the guts to do it, he should have stood by Lance side as any friend would do.

They stopped in front of Lance's room, and Keith glanced nervously at the door.

"Go on," Allura said.

"Allura, I don't know if I can get in," Keith confessed, turning to face the nurse who now gave him a gentle look. "I-I don't know if I have the courage"

"Keith, of course you have" Allura said, her stance softening "Why do you look so scared to come in and see Lance?"

Keith was uneasy over Allura's gaze, casting glances at Lance's door and into the hallway where the elevator door was.

"I-I don't know," he murmured. "I think after seeing Lance's condition the last time I was here, he left me restless... I don't know, I keep seeing his expression and how he asked me to call you and not to go back to his room..."

Keith continued to mumble a few words as he felt himself being wrapped around Allura's warm arms. He was surprised by her reaction that he almost forgot to return the hug.

"I understand Keith," she said softly. "But Lance is your friend and he needs you now."

"I don't know Allura"

"Keith, since you decided to stop visiting him, Lance was always looking very sad, I could see through his expression, even when he tried to disguise with a smile on his lips" Allura said "I know how badly he wants to see you now, and I know that you'll be the only person able to make him happy right now. I think not even Hunk managed to make him happy after he bought him a game that he said he really wanted "she continued and Keith felt his heart soar.

Allura moved away from him, and took his hand, giving a small squeeze, a sign of support.

"Go see him, I think this will make you both happy" she smiled and then turned away, going in another room at the end of the hallway.

Keith turned to the door, and took a deep breath and knocked. He heard some noise inside the room and an energetic voice answered.

"Come in!"

Keith took another deep breath, and entered the room.

The room looked the same, the curtains were open leaving the room brightly lit, some new flowers were added to the room, Keith noticed a stuffed shark on a shelf, and a new blue balloon was attached to the headboard of Lance's bed "Get well soon" writing in the balloon.

"Hey," Keith said looking at the boy who was sitting on the bed.

Lance looked at Keith as if he had entered the room with some celebrity. His eyes were wide with surprise, and his expression seemed to show adoration.

"Keith!" Lance said with a huge smile, his beautiful blue eyes shining.

Keith felt something warm in his stomach. He was definitely affected by Lance's smile.

He walked inside the room and stood beside Lance's bed.

"I didn't know you were coming today!" Lance was saying, his voice still showing surprise. "I asked Allura, but she said that she didn't know when you could come to the hospital."

Keith frowned.

"Didn't Allura say I'd come?" He asked feeling a little annoyed at the woman.

"No," Lance replied, still watching Keith as if he were some kind of mirage. "Uh, hm, Hunk told me he met with you and Pidge and you told him that you didn't know when you could come to the hospital."

"Yeah, sorry," Keith said, a little embarrassed. "I was... busy"

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, until Lance broke the contact, his cheeks a little flushed. He pointed to the chair and Keith sat down, bringing the chair a little closer to Lance's bed.

"So, um, how are you?" Keith asked and Lance started talking, energetic again.

It was as if they had entered the routine again, they talked about their last days, Lance as always complaining of not being able to do anything in the hospital and Keith laughing when he made a joke at one time or another. The weight Keith felt in his stomach was relieving every minute he spent with Lance, feeling happier and he could see that Lance looked happier too. He wondered why he was such an idiot that he didn't even dare to visit Lance. Lance was the best part of his day.

"Hey we didn't finish the game, and you didn't even told me your favorite movie," Lance recalled.

"Uh, oh yeah, we didn't finish it" Keith said "Do you want to continue now?"

"Yeah!" Lance smirked. "You go first, you didn't told me what is your favorite movie"

"Why don't you ask another question?"

"Why don't you answer mine?" Lance crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows and smiled.

"Ugh," Keith grunted.

"Go on"

"It's uh..." Keith paused and looked down at his hands, feeling his cheeks turn red "It's..."

"Yeah?" Lance inclined his head and moved closer to the edge of the bed, closer where Keith sat in the chair.

Keith sighed.

"It's Beauty and the Beast" Keith admitted "There, I said it and I'm proud of it!"

Lance looked at him for a few seconds before he started to laugh too loudly. Keith huffed crossing his arms, and pouted, feeling a little humiliated.

"I can't believe your favorite movie is Beauty and the Beast!" Lance said, now throwing himself on the bed, still laughing.

"It's not that bad," Keith said his whole face now red. "If you keep laughing like that, I'll leave," he threatened, getting up from the chair.

"No no no no" Lance spoke trying to recover from his attack of laughter. He sat on the bed and took deep breaths before talking again. "Please, don't go" he asked "I promise I won't laugh anymore"

Keith looked at him for a few seconds before seating again.

"Beauty and the Beast its fine a movie" he murmured.

"Yeah, yeah I know," Lance said, biting his lips, trying to hold back his laughter. "But looking at you I would never think that your favorite movie would be anything related to any Disney princess"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you look like an emo," Lance explained, pointing to the black clothes and red jacket. "I assumed that your favorite movie was Halloween or something."

"I'm not an emo," he said defensively. "I don't know why people keep telling me this!"

"Sure you're not buddy," Lance said shaking his head.

"Can we go back to the questions now?" Keith said, now a little irritated.

"Of course." Lance laughed. "The last time we played, you would ask me a question," he reminded him.

Keith was confused for a moment until he remembered the question he wanted to ask. He was a little nervous, not knowing if he was going to ask this to Lance, but it was something he really wanted to know, and Keith was sure Lance wouldn't be upset if he asked.

"Okay," he said, pausing to take a deep breath before asking, "Why are you hospitalized?"

Keith watched Lance's expression shift from confusion to surprise and then indecision. Lance was quiet for two whole minutes, and Keith was beginning to wonder if he had made the right decision when Lance looked at him.

"I have cancer," he answered, and turned his gaze to his hands.

"Oh," Keith said and he could feel the weight of those words falling on him. He suddenly felt a huge urge to hug Lance and never let go, say comforting words to him, say that everything would be fine and that he would get away with it, but he couldn't process his thoughts and force to say everything.

"I'm so sorry" was all he could say.

"Yeah," Lance said, fiddling with the sheets "It sucks"

Keith watched Lance and he tried to say something, anything that would cheer him up, but all he could say was one more question.

"It's was long time that you found out?" He asked.

Lance shook his head, not taking his eyes from his hands.

"No, I found out three weeks before I went to the hospital," he replied and Keith stayed quiet. He didn't want to force Lance to say anything, and he knew that eventually Lance would end up talking to him. "Before I went to the doctor, I started to feel very ill, Mama thought that I might have some kind of flu or a virus, but everything I was feeling didn't go away, and it started to get worse and I ended up losing a lot of weight ..."

"Lance you don't need to-"

"No, I want to tell you," Lance said looking at Keith before turning his attention to his hands. "One night I had a fever that didn't want to pass and Mama decided to take me to the doctor," he continued. "At first the doctor also suspected the same that Mama, but she ended up telling him that my symptoms started to get worse even if she tried to medicate me with something that always worked when I or my siblings had flu"

"He passed a series of exams for me to do and asked me to spend the night in the hospital emergency room to see if he could at least decrease my fever while he waited for the results of my exams." He paused "The next day he went to see me and he us that what I had was something I would never have thought I would have."

Keith listened to Lance's words, watching him continue to move his hands nervously.

"Hodgkin's lymphoma is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes," he said." Lance grimaced as if he had relived a bad memory. Probably he was, Keith thought, "The moment Mama heard that what I had was cancer, she started to cry, she couldn't stop herself from hugging me, and the world around me seemed to stop..." he paused" The doctor tried to calm Mama, but she continued to cry and I was starting to freak out.

"Eventually Mama stopped crying and the doctor continued to explain my situation to us. The good news was that my condition wasn't serious, and if I started doing chemo as soon as possible I could recover and heal from cancer, I would just have to make some visits to the doctor to follow the evolution of my recovery "

Lance stopped and ran his hands through his hair, and Keith realized how tired he looked. Allura was right, Lance hid everything through his contagious smile.

"The bad news was - not so bad, but still bad - I found out after starting the treatment" Lance shot a quick glance at Keith and spoke again "It may have been because of cancer and some kind of infection which I may have had, I don't know for sure, but I ended up developing low immunity, so my reaction to the chemotherapy is very violent, and since chemotherapy can also cause low immunity it all got worse - my hair is already falling down for god sake - so I had a talk with Mama and the rest of my family and decided that it would be better for me and my recovery and treatment if I were to go and stay in the hospital while I was doing chemotherapy, "Lance finished.

Keith was silent, not knowing what to say after everything Lance had just said. He wasn't good with words or feelings, and he was sure that Lance had heard words of comfort before and that wasn't what he needed now.

Without thinking twice, Keith rose from his chair and hugged Lance. The boy was taken aback, and a few seconds later, Lance returned the hug, holding the cloth of Keith's shirt tightly. Keith felt something wet in front of his shirt, and he heard Lance sniffing against his chest. Gently, Keith ran a hand through Lance's hair, and he began to sob.

"M-My hair is f-falling Keith" he tried to say through the sobs "Half the time I'm not feeling well... I just want this to b-be over"

Keith's eyes filled with tears at Lance's words. All he wanted was to take the pain out of Lance and transfer it to himself, he hated to have to see Lance like that.

"It will be okay," he murmured to Lance "It will be okay, it will be okay"

Keith recited the words not sure if they were more for him or for Lance, all he knew now was that Lance needed him.

"It will be okay," he said again, feeling Lance's body tremble against him and the tears continued to fall.

It will be okay, It will be okay, It will be okay, It will be okay, Keith continued to recite in his head.

It will be okay.

It will.