"Keith… Keith!' Lance shook him, hoping to stir him. When he didn't, his face pale and peaceful, the very appearance of death itself, Lance thought he might start hyperventilating.
Years of taking CPR and first aid classes for his job back on Earth- his lifeguard position- came back to him. Not even sure himself how he managed to think straight, he moved as quickly as his trembling fingers allowed.
Tilting Keith's chin slightly, he put his palms together and placed them to his chest.
His mind acted on his own, almost tunnel visioned with the task.
Before he knew what he was doing he began compressions. He was pleading with Keith, begging him to return. "Come back to me. Please. Please Keith please. Come back." he croaks.
By the 15th compression, Lance was crying.
By the 20th compression, Dravla was slowly inching closer, knowing they had to get moving but- he couldn't' bare to tear him from Keith now.
"Lance-"
"No!" he sobbed smacking the Coeihns hand away before continuing with the compressions, "No… no no…" this couldn't be happening. Please, someone please, tell him this was a sick joke. A horrible nightmare.
Even with compressions, that didn't insure his heart would restart, would it? No it-
Tears blurred his vision. The world fell quiet around him, the battle of Coeihns and Galra nothing but white noise.
He couldn't lose him.
Not when he had just started to- they hadn't even-
"Please don't do this me," Lance sobbed. "Keith, please. P-Please…" he bit back a sob, trying to keep his focus on his tasks, pausing every so often to tilt Keith's chin back, plug his nose, and breath into his mouth, waiting till his chest lifted enough.
Dravla's hand was slowly moving to his shoulders, holding him. "Lance," he whispers softly, "He's gone."
Lance shook his head, a distressed cry breaking his voice. He couldn't just accept that Keith was gone. He couldn't!
Dravla's hand trembled, gripping Lance's shirt, "Lance," he turns his head away, unable to bare the sight. "I'm sorry,"
Lance shoved him away, delirious in his despair. Nothing had ever hurt so much. How was he supposed to keep on going after this? He had been fine before he met Keith! He was happy and things were great. He could keep going then with no problems at all, even if things got a little grim.
He had lost people, sure, and things were sad for a while but nothing- nothing like this. He couldn't even will his feet to move. That timer for when half of the Galra ship would explode was ticking down and he didn't care.
He wanted to go down with it.
He couldn't breath. He could think. He couldn't- not without Keith. Lance didn't even realize how lonely he had been until he met him and now he was gone.
Lance screamed, lifted his fits, and brought them down hard against the red paladin's chest.
It was Keith's fault!
He took his heart the moment his stopped beating and it wasn't fair.
Who was going to smile at him in the mornings? Who was going to piss him off and make him smile? Who was he going to love more than this stupid mullet-wearing jerk?
One hit. Two. He was dead, and Lance could punch him all he wanted, but he still wasn't coming back, was he?
"You asshole!" Lance screeched, placing his hands together and slamming them down ruthlessly to Keith's heart, "You can't-!" Keith couldn't just leave him alone. He hated him. He loved him. He needed him to be okay or else Lance would never be.
"Please!" he begged. Another hit, and Keith shifted under his fingertips.
His body suddenly jolted alive. Lance jumped so far that he fell back against Dravla, who was screaming in shock.
Keith was gasping, air returning to his till lungs too fast for him to comprehend it. He sat up, his wild and feral, scanning the area, looking ready to kill whatever unlucky soul came into his vision first.
The Galra was lucky that Lance was the first thing he saw
He was sobbing, he face ugly with heavy tears and red cheeks, "Keith! God Keith- oh my god," he gathered the panting red paladin into his arms, tears streaming from his face. Keith limply allowed this, blinking in confusion.
"Lan-?" his voice was too hoarse to talk.
"I love you, Keith."
Keith inhaled, opened his mouth to question Lance, but was cut off but a kiss. Then another.
Lance was mumbling deliriously between them, "I love you. I love you. I love you," he kissed him and kissed him and cried and just broke down- too happy to care about the fighting and bloodshed around them.
"I can't… breath…" Keith gasps. Lance was smothering him.
"OH! Sorry! Sorry sorry-" he pulled away, brushing dust and dirt out of Keith's face, "I'm freaking out- sorry! You were just- you're alive and Ijustcan't-"
Keith kissed him, "Stop talking,"
Lance chokes, which is something Keith can't bare to see. Was he crying because of him?
Pressing his forehead to Lance's, he does his best to sooth his trembling form.
Behind them, Dravla leaned back against the box he was placed at and sighs in relief, smiling at the two.
"These two are gonna give me a heart attack," he concludes
Manson chuckles, patting his friend's shoulder, happy to see things had turned out well.
"I'm gonna- I swear, I lose 5 years of my life every day with you," Lance tells Keith
"...," Keith blinks at him, "W...What did you just say?" Lance repeats himself, but Keith shakes his head, "N-No, before. You said that you- right after I came back alive- You said you lov-"
At just the mention of Keith's heart-stopping, Lance leaned forward, cutting off any more conversation.
When they kiss, it is this mix of saliva, sweat, and blood- probably one of the best kisses of Lance's life.
With one last peck, one that was very wet and tender, Lance pulls away at the sound of an explosion a few floors down.
"W-We have to go," Keith was alive. The timer was still ticking. Sweet parlog, they had to get out of here. "We got 8 minutes!" he calls to Manson, officially panicking. He just got Keith back, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let him die here! "We-" he cuts off when he tries to pull Keith to his feet and the Red paladin screamed in pain. "Y-Your legs," Lance stammers, realizing what the problem was. His ankle was turned in the opposite direction, completely broken in half. Wanting to reach out and touch them but stopping at the last moment, Lance looks up to meet Keith's eyes.
"I can't walk." Keith grunts, eyes stuck on Lance, mesmerized. He didn't seem to even be thinking about his broken ankle in that moment. He was reaching up, cupping Lance's face, who was looking around wildly for a way out. Lance didn't seem to notice this.
If he had, he would have realized how much adoration Keith held in his eyes. How he brushed his thumbs to the soft skin of Lance's face, touched at his lips gingerly, fawned over his cute ears-
"Guys, we gotta get going," Lance looked down at the timer in his hands, "This place is about to get some serious redecorating."
"Here," Manson helps Keith, lifting his form carefully. "Let's go." With a call, he commanded his people to start heading down the steps, towards the escape pods.
"Right." Lance and the rest of the Coeihns start running, glad to get out of this hellhole. The entire run back to the escape pods below, Keith is staring at Lance.
He doesn't care about his broken ankle.
He doesn't care about the Traveks. Or the Galra. Or how this place was about to be set ablaze.
All he can think about is what Lance said.
Lance said he loved him.
Lance loved him.
In this exploding base, with burning sentinels and fighting aliens, Lance McClain had confessed his love to him.
It was the best day of his life.
0000-00
Just as Vel had told him, the explosions were going off just as they shot off in the escape pods. Since Lance was the only one who really knew how they worked, he made sure to be the last escape pod to leave with Dravla and Keith, insisting that Manson go down first in case something went wrong.
To Lance's utter shock, they had gotten out of there without much problems, every Coeihns making it out with their lives.
As the pods shot downward from the Galran ship, the other side of the Galra ship haul began to erupt in flames, just as planned. It was oddly… perfect? He half expected some giant beast to suddenly appear and ruin their flawless escape, but it never did.
"How did you know the other side was going to explode?" Dravla inquires, curious
"The Blade of Marmora," Lance tells him honestly, "They are a rebellion Galra group. Most Galra are lead by Zarkon, but they fight against him. They are on our side,"
"I see," Dravla nods, "I am grateful for the assist,"
Happy that Dravla was so chill with the Blade of Marmora, worried for a second that he would judge them simply for being Galran, he was glad to see him looking almost inspired to grow to be allied with them.
"I'm gonna go check on Keith," he tells him
"Yeah, go ahead. You two have been through a lot," Dravla pats Lance's shoulder, "I'm glad you both came out alive."
"You too, Dravla," Lance smiles at him.
Moving towards the back of the pod, which had begun to move over the city, self-piloted to land in a set location, Lance joined Keith.
He is sitting, staring out the window. "Hey," he says to him.
Startled a little, Keith turns to him with crimson cheeks. Not sure what he was blushing about, he raises an eyebrow, "You feeling okay? Are you woozy? Need something?" he asks, fussing over Keith. He had been dead for a few seconds- you couldn't blame him for being clingy and wanting to make sure Keith was completely comfortable.
"I'm fine…" Keith nods. "Are you?"
"I'm fine," he reaches forward, brushing at a little bruise on Keith's cheek, "Nothing happened to you… right? Nothing too bad, that is. I-I mean, I know you uh-"
"I died," Keith says, still struggling to come to terms with that himself
Lance nods solemnly, "For a bit, yeah. But before then. Did anyone uh- do anything you before we met up?" he asks cautiously.
"Do you mean with Rashra?" Keith guesses
Lance flinches then nods, "He said he was going to try to, uh…" he trails off, not even able to say it. It made his tongue burn.
"He didn't," Keith assures him. "I'm fine. What about you? What happened to you after you were taken?"
"Had a talk with Rashra, got saved by a Blade of Marmora guy named Vel, and then met up with the King. Nothing that bad,"
"You look like hell," Keith frowns, not fully believing him.
"Oh, right- correction to my previous statement. Had a talk with Rashra, got beat up by Rashra, got saved by Vel, met up with the King."
"Why that no good- I'm glad I stabbed him," Keith growls darkly.
Lance's eyes doubled in size, "You stabbed him?"
"He tried to- you know, get me with him, so I stabbed him."
Lance's eyes held an unknown expression, "Did he touch you?"
"It's fine, Lance-"
"Did. He. Touch. You?" he repeats, unwavering and deadly. Knowing he wouldn't drop this till he got an answer, Keith averts his gaze, feeling a strange wave of butterflies in his stomach, the good kind- the ones that made him curl his toes in excitement, from Lance's change in tone. It was so much deeper than it usually was. Of course he should focus since Lance was mad, but he couldn't help let his mind wander.
"My chest, a little…. tried to kiss me too,"
Lance lifted a finger, swiped it along Keith's lips, then brushed said finger against his pants. Like he was rubbing something off, he took Keith's chin into his hands and kissed him.
Keith melted, gasping when Lance pulled away, commencing that toe-curling thing he mentioned earlier, "...What was that about?" he murmurs shakily.
"Now it's me," Lance tells him, "I'm the last one who tried to kiss you now."
Keith shivers, "Like there would be anyone else I would even want to kiss," He tugs him back in for a second one.
Lifting himself next to Keith, pulling him closer, uncaring to any Coeihns that might be watching, Lance hums between their lips, "How can you taste so good after all this?" he inquires, breathless.
The Red paladin chuckles, then lowers his gaze. Messing with his pants a little he peeks up at Lance shyly, "So uh… about what happened before- When I died…."
"You scared the living daylights out of me," Lance shifted a little closer to him, taking his hands into his.
"Sorry." Keith trails off, "But after that," he says, hoping he didn't sound too awkward
"After?"
"W-When I started breathing again?"
Lance blinks a few times, not understanding, "When you started breathing again?" he repeats.
"W-What you said," Keith clears his throat, "Did you mean it?"
"Huh?" Lance inquires.
Keith fumbles, pouting, "What you said before… you said you l-loved me." he curses his stutter at the end of the sentence, blushing furiously.
Lance freezes up, eyes wide. He had said that, hadn't he…? There was no way to avoid this, so honestly, he should just come clean. It wasn't like he was planning on hiding it from Keith anyway.
With a raging heart, he nods, "I did."
"Did you mean it?" Keith insists again, leaning towards him. Caught in his gaze, Lance felt something overwhelming him.
He breathes in, then out, "Yes,"
Keith is smiling, and Lance knows he's fallen hard, "You did?"
"Of course I did," He looks everywhere, purposively avoiding Keith's gaze before he works up the courage to ask, "And… you? What about you?"
Keith blinks at him, oblivious.
"Do you love me too?" Lance scratches his cheek.
Keith inhales then nods dumbly. "...I-I do!" he had a moment of silence before suddenly kick starting to a reply.
Lance can't help but laugh a little, relief flooding through his chest. "I love you," tilting Keith's chin, he kissed him, cuddling close till the escape pod landed to the Kingdom below.
Helping Keith to stand, they sauntered out to the awaiting Coeihns outside. Most had their weapons out, unsure of to the purpose of the escape pod. When Dravla lifted his hand to quell them, they lowered their arms and cheered.
The came at Dravla and the other Coeihns with dozens of questions, all which they answered the best they could. Dravla continuously stressed how it had been Keith and Lance who had saved everyone at the end of the day.
Trying to shrug Dravla off, or insist that it was a team effort- Lance couldn't seem to convince his Coeihn friend otherwise. Keith simply chuckles and pulled them aside, telling Lance that there was no point in trying to change his mind.
Knowing he was probably right, Lance wrapped his arm around Keith's waist and pressed their sides together, nuzzling into him. "You holding up?"
"I'm fine,"
"Feel dizzy? How's uh- how's your heart?" Lance lifts his hand to trace over Keith's shirt, gripping the fabric above his chest. Fear seized him, forcing him to imagine Keith suddenly falling over, dead and unable to come back this time.
"I'm not going anywhere, Lance," Keith promises him. Placing his palm over Lance's, he gave it a comforting squeeze. Lance believed him.
"LALA! KEEF!"
A second later, they hear an all too familiar squeal.
"Ruru?" Lance gasps, turning to follow the sound.
Before he could even comprehend what was happening, Tellru was in front of him. Her eyes were wide and wet with tears when she hugged him, "Lance!"
"Tellru!" Shocked yet happy to see her, he hugged her back tightly. At his feet, Ruru was scurrying past him to hug Keith who happily lifted her into his arms.
Behind him, Dravla lifted his head, tossing whoever he was talking with to the side, "My love!"
Hearing him, she sobbed and took off running in his direction. Uncaring to his injury, she tackled him to the ground, their daughter soon following the pile. Dravla was crying.
Either from the pain of his leg or from pure joy, it could go either way.
It was sweet regardless. Families were being reunited, Equivalents held close with their mates and children rejoicing. It only took so long for a guard to run up to Dravla and tell him some news.
With a little gasp, the Fifth champion pumps his fist into the air.
"The Galra are retreating and so are the Traveks," Dravla announced, "The day is ours!"
The Coeihns began to cheer, most looking to Lance and Keith, grateful for their rescue.
Manson even came up to thank them personally, shaking their hands, and smiling. When he realized Keith was leaning against Lance for support from his ankle, he called over a doctor.
"We should get that ankle looked at," Manson motions to it. "You two saved our lives today," he smiles, "We are eternally in your debt," as he bowed so did the rest of his people. Lance got a serious Mulan feeling and tried to look cool through the heat pooling in his cheeks.
After that, everything moved so fast. They set Keith's ankle back into place, Lance having to hold Keith's hand as they forcibly returned the bone in place, wincing when Keith screamed.
The Doctor apologized, and put two binds along his ankle, bandaging it to keep them in place. Looking over Lance and Keith for any other injuries, Lance was grateful when the doctor took the time to bandage his head.
He had been hit in the head enough the last couple days. It was probably a miracle he didn't have some sort of brain damage, but perhaps he should be careful going to sleep tonight?
Regardless, the rest of the day was spent counting the day, and rescuing anyone who got caught up in the debris of the Galran explosions. Tellru apologized to them and told them that they might not be able to make contact with the team today, simply because the King had so many things to do with the city in such a weak state.
They both understood and it was important to ensure no other attack would come- plus, they were honestly too tired to make it all the way to the castle.
"You two go get some sleep," Tellru says, "You've done more than enough. We can handle it from here." With a pat to their heads, she grins, "You two did good. I'm so proud,"
Beaming at her, the slowly limped their way back to the apartment. Lance had never been so happy to be there and was ready to collapse on that bed.
"Careful," Lance says as he helps Keith into the room and over to the bed, helping him to sit down. Making sure he was comfy, he reached up to scrub at Keith's cheeks, seeing how dirty it was. Deciding it would be best to clean their wounds to make sure they don't get infected, Lance moved to grab a wash cloth and other supplies, returning it sit before Keith.
An hour had passed, not a single word spoken between the two.
They were seated on the edge of their bed, a set of first aid supplies set to the side, their bodies turned to face each other.
It was an intimate moment- one almost too much for Lance to bare.
It reminded him of the first day they had been brought here to this apartment, where Keith had taken a cloth to his wounds after his rite for citizenship. Seated in a similar position, Keith gently dabbing at the scratches along his cheek, it held so much more passion now that he could see Keith's eyes.
The two never broke eye contact, purple meeting blue in a heavy stare down. Emotions swirled within Keith's irises too fast for Lance to really put a name to each other, but it was mind blowing.
Those eyes were his, he thought.
Taking a few second to work up his courage, Lance opened his mouth, his voice coming out in a crackly sound, "Keith…?"
"Yeah?" he asks, just as soft.
"I never gave you an answer before,"
Not sure what he means, Keith looks puzzled. "And answer for what?" he brushes his thumb over one of Lance's eyes brows.
Lance leans into the touch, "Yes," he tells him. Keith still doesn't understand, blinking rapidly when Lance kisses his palm. Left to wonder what Lance meant, the gears in his mind start to turn.
("Would you be mine, Lance?")
Sucking in a little breath, like it was hard for him to breath right now, Keith covers his mouth. Lance smiles and leans in a bit, pressing his forehead to the red paladins.
"Yes," he repeats.
Keith is trembling, reaching out. He hesitates and then hits Lance's shoulder. Hard
"Ow!" He yelped in surprise, the intimate moment officially broken, "What the hell Keith!"
Looking overwhelmed, almost ready to start crying, Keith snaps at him, "Shut up! How could you have done this?!"
Lance blinked rapidly, not sure why he was upset "W-Which part in particular? Because a lot of shit has happened lately, Keith!"
"The challenge Rashra gave you!"
"Are you still on that?" Lance gawks at him. It was almost impressive how long Keith managed to hold a grudge, but man was it annoying too! That was just one of the things he supposed he loved about him though.
"That is what started this whole mess to begin with!" Keith turned to brush his hand to the corner of his eyes, brushing away a tear.
"I didn't have a choice!" Lance yells. Despite yelling at each other, he reaches forward to cup Keith's face, using his thumb to wipe away another tear.
"Yes, you did! You could have said no! You wouldn't have gotten hurt then!" Keith doesn't pull away, but continues to scream at his face, his voice breaking. The sound made Lance's heartache.
"You would have been taken away..." he shakes his head, knowing Keith was just upset. Too many things were placed on him that he hadn't had the time to properly be upset or angry about them. Now they were crashing back down on his emotions. "I couldn't let that happen," this sucked. All this yelling made him want to cry too, dammit.
"I would have been fine!" Keith babbled, "Y-You should have just- let me go to Rashra!"
Lance felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and his gut tightened. He grabbed Keith shoulders, "Never!"
Startled, Keith lost his anger for only a moment, heavy tears slipping down to his chin "Lance-" he choked.
"I didn't want the creep anywhere near you! Do you have any idea what he wanted to do to you, Keith?! What he would have tried to force you to do?!" Lance leans a closer, then closer- Keith ends up falling back against the mattress, his raven hair splaying out before Lance, framing wet and very wide eyes.
"L-"
Lance doesn't let him talk, and follows his descent to the bed, looming over him, "It kills me just thinking about it…" he tells Keith, "To think that there was a small chance it might have happened! He wouldn't have treated you right, Keith. He wouldn't have treated you like the gift you are!" He poured his heart out, upset and exhausted, too tired to care about how much he was yelling, or how raw it made his voice feel. Tomorrow's problems were for tomorrow's Lance after all, "He wouldn't have cherished you! Or been gentle with you! He wouldn't have told you that he cared about you, or that he loved your smile and your laugh. He wouldn't have seen just how beautiful you are and how wonderful your very soul is," tears are clouding his eyes.
"La-" Keith is reaching up, clinging to his shirt, trying to tug him down.
"He would have torn you apart- he would have treated you like an object- - he would- would have…" Lance choked a little, "H-He-"
"Stop," Keith cups the sides of his face, sounding close to breaking, "Stop Lance.."
Lance shudders, his breath heavy on Keith's neck. As their eyes met and held, the tight atmosphere turned into something else entirely, something with a lot more care.
Lance, barely brushing his lips against Keith's before he whispered, "I will never let someone like that take you away from me,"
Keith inhales, lets the feeling tighten in his chest, and then exhales, feeling so much lighter than before. Taking Lance's face into his hand, he kisses him, his entire body feeling molten—liquid and hot.
Honestly, how was this Cuban boy even real?
After a few water works and some small kisses, Keith pulled away to stare at him, his gaze so intense that it made Lance feel self-conscious. His hands slowly slithered up Keith's arm, tugging on his sleeve like a child wishing for attention.
"Hey…" he says quietly. When Keith doesn't reply, he tries again, wanting Keith to talk to him, "Say something."
Keith kissed him.
Lance ducks his head down, red to his ears. Keith leaned in closer till his lips touched those reddening ears, nipping at them lightly.
"K-Keith… "Lance stammers.
"Lance," Keith cuts him off, takes his face into his hands, and says with wide eyes, "I… I don't want to waste another second,"
Lance blinks, "What do you mean?"
"I don't want to rush anything or do something you aren't ready for but… But I think we've taken plenty of time. I know what I want and that is you, Lance."
Lifting his hands to grip Keith's wrist, Lance blinked rapidly, "...Y-Yeah?"
"Yes," Keith tells him. Taking a few deep breaths, he presses his forehead to Lance's. "I learned today that anything could happen, and one day you might not be here, or I might not be here. So I want to make every moment count."
"What exactly are you saying right now Keith?" Lance whispers,
Keith's finger shyly reaches up, brushing Lance's lower lip. Licking his own, Keith says, "I want you to be my equivalent, Lance… You won me in the games all those months ago so now I want to- I want you to make it official."
"You do?"
Keith nods sheepishly, "Do you feel the same?"
"Yes," Lance kisses him. Pulling back, Keith grips his shoulders, his breathing coming out in shuddering gasps of anticipation.
"Are… Are you sure?" he asks, not wanting to push Lance into anything.
"I've wanted to for weeks now, Keith," Lance admits. Reaching out to take his face into his hands, Lance brings them closer. "Will you be my Equivalent, Sweetheart?"
Keith falls apart, practically throwing himself onto of Lance to kiss him. Taking only a moment to kiss him back, they scoot a little bit more onto the bed without breaking contact, tossing pillows back and forth and kicking the blanket off.
They are awkward, to say the least.
Squeezing in weird places, pulling and smacking their lips together so desperately, they have no true pace.
Lance couldn't even remember losing his glasses within the moment, but that didn't matter when Keith reached under his shirt a little. His fingers were freezing and made him jump.
"Jeez-" Lance reached down to grab them, holding them between them to warm them up, "Why are you so cold?" he murmured against his lips
Keith pants, "I dunno…"
"Are you scared?" Lance inquired softly, realizing the red paladin was trembling.
He blinks, then presses a little closer, "A little, but I'm okay," with a heated gaze, his slowly drags his eyes don't Lance's body, reaching downward with his free hand
"What about your ankle?" Lance looks down at it wearily, "Maybe we shouldn't do this. At least not tonight. I don't want to strain it- EECK!" Lance shrieked when Keith's hand slide between his legs. "K-Keith?"
"My ankle is fine." Keith says with a solemn determination. "I want to do this and I don't want my ankle to stop this."
"B-But… Um…" Lance nervously reaches down to grip Keith's wrists, "A-A little bold, are we?" he says with a weak smile.
"Oh uh... W-We have to do foreplay or something, right?" Keith looks unsure suddenly, wondering if he moved too fast.
"What the hell kind of stuff did Dravla teach you?" Lance mumbles
"...A lot of weird things." Keith stares him dead in the eye,
Lance can feel his pulse shooting a mile a second. Oh boy...
(THIS BE WHERE THE SMUT WOULD BE- IF IT WERE HERE... But it isn't. So if you want to read it, got to my Archive of my Own page to "smiles4voltron" to the story "Let Me Catch My Breath (The NSFW side of the story)" and read it there if you want to)
He couldn't hold himself up if he wanted to and he needed this, this closeness.
Falling against Lance, he waited until he had softened enough to slip out of him naturally- Somehow, that loss was immediate and almost painful.
Below, Lance sobbed his name.
He… Was he sobbing?
There were definitely tears in Lance's eyes and he had no chance to stop them, so he just clung to Keith, gripping his shoulders tightly. It was an eternity before he felt fingers in his hair, gently massaging his scalp.
"Lance?" Keith rasped, clearly worried and Lance's gut clenched because that was the last thing Keith should be feeling after what they had just done.
"Sorry," he sniffled. "Sorry. I'm just…overwhelmed." He swallowed and forced himself to look up, giving Keith a watery smile. "Do you…That was just so different from the first time. This was so much more than that. So much more. I loved it," He shuddered and buried his face into Keith's chest. He wanted to tell Keith how much he loved him and how terrified he was—terrified all the time—of ruining everything. He wanted to, but the words wouldn't come.
Keith, though, in some measure, seemed to understand, and he wrapped his arms around Lance and held him tight.
"What about you?' Lance lifts his head up to him nervously, eyes wide, "Was it…. Okay?"
"Okay?" Keith smiles, "It was better than okay, Lance. It was perfect."
Years seemed to lift from Lance's shoulders after hearing that and he tugs Keith a little closer, kissing him.
"We should clean up," Keith finally murmured, but he made no move to release Lance. He wouldn't until he knew that Lance was okay, taking his time to kiss away each little tear.
Loving the gentle affection, Lance nuzzled into him.
"I don't want to move,"
"Me either," Keith agrees.
Lance's chuckles vibrate from his chest to Keith's, and the two felt so warm. "I love you…" Lance yawns.
Keith tightens his grip, and shifts to spoon Lance within his arms, "I love you too,"
Despite saying they should go clean up it didn't take long for Lance to fall asleep, tucked safely in Keith's arms, right where he belonged.
Sleep didn't come as easy for the red paladin, who stared at his new Equivalent in dumbstruck awe.
Taking the time to appreciate Lance, Keith cradled him, brushing his fingers up and down the side of his slumbering face.
"I love you," he whispers quietly, kissing Lance's forehead. "I love you…" repeating the line a few more times, dreading the next day to come, Keith brought Lance closer, unwilling to part with him.
They shouldn't have had sex, he concluded painfully. Not because he regretted it- never that, but because now he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to part with Lance when tomorrow came.
He had been called possessive before and thought he was getting better at it- but now it felt like all that progress had just been tossed down the drain.
Whatever feelings he had for Lance's previously, they had only increased. He had never felt so protective and loving to anything in his entire life, and the thought of that terrified him.
I somehow managed to get this chapter out really quickly 0.0
Reviews:
AngiMK: YES! IT IS JASON TODD ;-;
Pinkdoughnuts: I'm sorry XD I'm so sorry. I hope this chapter made up for it
Adrainna Agray: Oh my gosh thank you so much!I may or may not make you suffer on purpose XD
Ewink18: I'm sorry! Look! They do! Thet got to do all of that in this chapter! Everything is okay now! XD
.X: I'm sorry poor heart! HE DIDN'T DIE THOUGH! YAYYYYY! XD hahahaha thank you so much for commenting
Ashlielle: They were so close, and yet so far~ I'm kind of sorry! XD WE are friends! I promise! I'm just a friend who likes to stab you in the heart!
DeathLord-92: Oh my gosh / That is the sweetest thing ever. I love Dirty Laundry and having someone compare my stuff to them makes me so happy. I can't even breath. You are the best, and you review made me soo happy, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Probably one of my favorite reviews so far!