Lance could not get that stranger's name out of his head. It just kept ringing.

Keith.

He wondered why the name seemed so familiar. He spent every moment he wasn't actively doing something, thinking about it. His showers were used to try and place where he'd heard the name before. When he was lying in his bed trying to will himself to sleep, he'd find his thoughts plagued by the stranger's name and face. Trying to unlock some hidden memory he must have had.

He was carrying his baby sister home from a playdate at her friend's house, his other two younger sisters trailing behind him talking about things like fashion and music. Which was strange for him to hear from a six and eight-year-old. But Lance chalked it up to the change in time.

Being twenty-one now, he had no idea where he was going with his life. He was content to stick with his parents and take care of his siblings. He had a part-time job at the veterinarian's office he took Blue to, but that wasn't enough for him to live alone on.

"Who's that?" Lance heard from behind him.

He looked back and found his six-year-old sister, Lisa, pointing down the street in front of them. When he turned to investigate further, he found Keith approaching them. His posture was slumped and his hands were shoved into his pockets. His hair was a mess and Lance was pretty sure that he was wearing the same clothes he'd first seen him in.

"Hey!" Lance called cheerfully. He hugged his baby sister, Katherine, closer to him and stepped in front of his other two sisters. "How's it going, Keith?"

Keith waved at him before he quickened his pace. "It's going?" Was the awkward answer as he neared the group of siblings. "Who's this?"

Lance's sisters clutched the back of his pants. Wary of this strange man with his haggard appearance. "Keith, these are my sisters. Kathi," He gestured to his baby sister in his arms, "and hiding behind me are Lisa and Fran."

"I'm not hiding!" Fran cried, scandalized.

Lance laughed at her expense. Keith gave a soft smiled of his own that Lance almost missed.

"So, where are you heading?" Lance asked as he shifted the baby in his arms when she fussed.

"Uh, nowhere. I was just going for a walk." Lance could detect the underlying message of 'looking for you', but he didn't comment on it.

"You, uh… want to go back to my place and hang out? I mean, there'd be a sh-" his blue eyes flicked to his little sisters and censored himself, "a lot of people there already so…it's fine if you don't want to." Lance shuffled his feet awkwardly.

Keith flailed his arms around as he answered, "No! No! It's fine." He settled his arms at his sides, "I'd lov…" Keith's face flushed a little, "like to come over and hang."

"Sweet!" Lance cheered as his sisters giggled from behind him. "Alright, everyone! Let's go!" At his command, he led his small entourage back home.

When the group arrived, the two sisters ran inside to their room. Lance shook his head in exasperation before he turned to Keith. "I'm just going to go tell my mom that we're back. You can hang in my room for now."

Keith nodded and walked down the hallway Lance had indicated. His mother was helping his younger brother with homework at the kitchen table when he found her.

"Hey, mama." Lance greeted, "We're back."

"Oh, Lance. Can you help us, please? We've been looking at this problem for ages and the way the teachers want Andre to solve it just doesn't make any sense."

Lance figured that fifth grader homework couldn't be too hard as he approached. He leaned over his younger brother and mother's shoulder to inspect the problem. It was a multiplication problem. The examples on the worksheet above indicated there was this weird method of finding the product.

It looked like it involved circles and strange grids that Lance couldn't decipher. He looked at his brother and mother's eyes and found desperation.

"Why not just solve it the old way?" He asked. Lance's mother clapped a hand over her face with a sigh as Andre began to pout.

"No! I have to learn how to do it this way!"

"I have been trying to get him to solve this problem for ages and that's all he says." Lance's mother explained.

Lance looked back down at the homework with a sigh, resigning himself to learning this new style of multiplication. He plopped into a chair across from his mother at the head of the table where Andre was sitting. He looked out of the kitchen and into the rest of the house and found Keith standing just outside of the kitchen awkwardly.

"Oh, mom. I brought a friend over." He wasn't really a friend, per say, but he seemed friendly enough. "His name's, Keith."

His mother snapped up to look at him. "O-oh. That's nice, dear." She recovered. "When did you two meet?"

"Oh, it was a while ago." A week. "We, uh, really hit it off. We kind of crossed paths on my way back with the girls and I invited him over." Lance paused. "Is…that okay?"

"Yes. Of course, Lancito. I'm glad you're finding people your own age to hang out with."

"Mooom!" Lance complained, feeling his face heat up because of Keith's presence. "Keith, get in here and quit being a creeper."

"I… didn't want to interrupt." Keith mumbled as he shuffled closer.

"You're fine!" Lance's mother assured him. "I'll let you Lance go hang out with you after we figure out this problem."

"Maybe… I could help?" Keith offered. Lance and his mother immediately pushed the paper closer to where Keith was standing at the table.

"Please." They said in unison.

Keith's eyes widened a fraction before he looked down to hide his smile.

"Oh, I remember having to do this in middle school. It was a new thing so even the teachers had to learn it." Keith explained with a laugh.

Lance, Andre, and their mother watched in silence as Keith explained how to solve the math problem using the process shown above. Andre was paying rapt attention and when Keith finished he smiled brightly.

"Thanks! You're much smarter than Lance!"

"Andre! That was not a nice thing you said to your brother!" Their mom snapped warningly.

Lance felt a little twinge of pain as well as a moment of jealousy. "Well, since he's so smart maybe you can get him to help you with all your homework from now on?"

Andre looked back at him challengingly, "Maybe I will?"

"That's enough, you two! Now I want you to apologize to your brother, Andre." Her younger son glared at her before she narrowed her eyes.

"Fine!" He pouted. "I'm sorry, Lance."

Ever the forgiving big brother, Lance gave a small smile. His hurt soothed. "Alright, you're forgiven… as long as you realize what you said was mean."

"That's right." Their mom interjected. "Everyone's smart in their own way."

Keith stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do and feeling like the entire thing was his fault.

"Keith?" he looked up at Lance's mother as she said his name, "Would it trouble you to come here and help out with Andre's homework? I'm sure with you here he can get it done quickly and then you can spend time with Lance here before you have to go back home."

"Uhh, sure. I don't mind helping you out. As long as you guys don't mind me being here every day?"

"Keith," she looked at him seriously, "if I didn't want you here, I wouldn't have asked."

"Y-yes, ma'am." Lance's mother was terrifying.

She smiled, "Good. Now are you going to be staying for dinner?"

Keith had one of the most fulfilling days he'd had in a long time. He felt like he belonged here with Lance's family already. Any time he would feel himself becoming out of place, one of Lance's family members or Lance himself, would drag him along to involve him in some grand adventure.

He'd been forced to be a photographer for Lisa and Fran. After Andre was done, he would often ask Keith about how his school life had been and why he was so smart. Kathi would gurgle at him from her mother's arms as the woman asked him about where he was staying. Lance's father seemed to be out late tonight, so he didn't get to meet him.

Lance, in particular, seemed to always know when Keith was feeling down. He would swoop in and pull Keith into some ridiculous conversation that often had an argument in the middle somewhere that ended with them smiling.

Keith ate dinner at the McClains' that night, and reluctantly left after he'd helped clean up.

He waved farewell to Lance, who had walked him to the front gate, before he trudged down the sidewalk. He turned back after a minute to make sure Lance had gone inside. He found the McClains' front yard empty before he turned and walked between the houses to go up to the woods behind the neighborhood.

He walked along and found his half-assed set up tent and his meager belongings along with his motorcycle. He'd have to go into town and get some more clothes. Lance had been eyeing him all night and Keith knew that he was looking at his dirty clothes.

With a sigh, he pulled off his boots and lay down on the ground under the tarp he was using as a tent. He turned over on his side and could see the McClains' house through the trees and underbrush. He knew in the back of his mind this was probably creepy… but what was he supposed to do? He'd found him… Lance. Surely there was some big meaning for this.

There had to be a reason that he came back. He wouldn't deny it any longer. He came back for a reason. His parents died for a reason. He'd suffered alone for a reason. Suddenly, Keith knew. Lance was his reason.