The Best Guesst – Yes Lance finally knows. He doesn't know the full extent of physical abuse, but knows that John is verbally abusing him. Also, hmmmm, I might have to check out that series!


Chapter 8: A Light in the Storm


Keith packed an extra set of clothes in a plastic bag before heading to school. It had been raining all night and was still raining now. With no other way to school than to walk, he knew he'd need to change by the time he got there.

About halfway to school, he started hearing thunder in the distance. He was completely drenched by the time he made it to school. Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro looked at each other, all wondering the same thing. Why was he even walking to school in this weather, especially with thunder looming in the distance?

Pidge was the first to speak up. "Keith, you're gonna get sick like that." However, Keith simply waved a hand at them and kept going to the bathroom. The others looked at Lance as he got up without a word and followed Keith.

After emerging from a stall, with dry clothes on, Keith found Lance leaning against the bathroom wall.

"Hey. What's up?" Lance had a kind, gentle smile on his face.

"Oh uh, just changing into some dry clothes." Keith had tied his wet clothes into the plastic bag he had. He knew that Lance knew something about his situation. He wasn't sure how much, but he was grateful he didn't ask questions. Keith looked in the mirror and frowned.

Lance chuckled. "Yea, your mullet is still a sopping mess."

With that remark, Keith shook his head, swinging his hair form side to side and splattering Lance with rain water. He smirked at the indignant look on Lance's face.

"Was that really necessary?" Lance wiped his face with a paper towel before turning back to Keith.

Keith smiled and had the most innocent look on his face.

"Anyway, do you need supplies for today?" When Keith looked at him, Lance felt his heart jump. He had this sincere look on his face, eyes wide with slight confusion. Sweet Jesus, this boy is adorable! He's like a lost puppy! Lance ignored his thoughts and continued, internally cringing when his voice cracked a bit. "Well I just mean," he cleared his throat, "I noticed you don't have your backpack with you. Did you want to borrow some stuff from me for the day?"

Lance watched the confusion disappeared from those violet eyes. "Oh. Thanks, but I actually have some extra supplies in my locker." The small smile Lance received made his heart squeeze. They headed back out to the others in the commons, waiting for classes to start.

"What happened to you?" Hunk pointed to the wet spots scattered around the tops of Lance's shirt.

Lance sighs and points a thumb to Keith. "Fido over here decided to shake out his hair out… on me."

They all laughed at Keith's smirk just as the bell rang for first period. They all waved each other off as Lance and Hunk headed for Algebra, Keith and Pidge headed for Geography, and Shiro headed to Brit Lit.


As the day went on, the storm only seemed to get worse. The rain came harder as the lightning grew brighter. The lightning and thunder were only about a second apart now. This storm seemed to be the main subject of talk at lunch. Keith hated it; he hated the sound of thunder and flinched anytime he saw a flash of lightning, mainly because he knew thunder would follow. He wasn't entirely sure why he hated it so much, but it certainly set his nerves on edge. He thought he was doing a good job of hiding his fear of the storm. That is, until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Lance had been watching Keith through lunch. He seemed fine for the most part. However, he noticed Keith flinching at any flash of lightning or tensing at the sound of thunder. They were such small movements, the others easily missed them, but they did not go unnoticed by Lance. When he placed a hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him, Keith flinched, a bit harder than his reactions to the lightning. Lance retracted his hand.

"Oh, sorry, man. Just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh um yea, I'm fine. Th-thanks." Keith smiled as he got up to throw some trash away. He didn't even have to sit back down as the bell rang.


When English started, the teacher was announcing that she had finished grading their projects. Keith looked up, hoping they made a good grade, not that he really contributed to the project much. The teacher called their names and Lance walked to the front to get their work. As he sat back down, he had a grin on his face.

"What? What'd we get?"

Lance turned the papers to him. The top page had 100% written in big red numbers along with a 'good job!'.

Keith smiled. "Great. It's all because of you Lance."

He was so sincere that Lance was even more excited to show him the next part. "I wouldn't be so sure." He pulled out one of the papers and handed it to Keith.

Keith blinked. It was his scarlet letter design. It was a large scarlet A in a calligraphy style. It had swirls of reds and a shining gold trim. At the top of the page was a sticky note. 'Beautiful design! Probably the best one I've seen!'

The smile that spread across Keith's face made Lance so happy, yet... so sad. He was so genuinely proud of his work receiving such a compliment, but at the same time he was so genuinely surprised at having received one. It was almost like he didn't believe he'd done such a good job. At that moment, Lance wanted to always make Keith feel like all the work he does is absolutely worth such praise.

Lance looked over to see Hunk and Pidge high-fiving. Pidge held up their paper to him: 95%. He heard Hunk say something about Pidge's grammar.

Suddenly they all heard a loud clash of thunder just as the whole school was thrown into darkness. Lance rolled his eyes as there were a few screams. What are we? 3rdgraders? He could hear the teacher trying to calm everyone down just as cell phones were being brought out. The classroom was filled with a dim light as Lance took out his own, seeing Hunk and Pidge do the same. He shined his light up and noticed Keith wasn't in his desk.

"Keith?" Lance stood up. His questioning call caught the attention of Hunk and Pidge. Not the rest of the class, though. They were all in their own conversations about the blackout and paying no attention to the three friends searching the back of the classroom.

"Keith!"

Lance looked at Pidge, who had dashed to a nearby corner. She crouched down next to someone.

Lance and Hunk dashed over as well. His heart broke as he saw Keith. His was backed into the corner, knees pulled up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them, face buried, and his body was shaking ever so slightly.

When Pidge laid a hand on his knee, he flinched and lifted his head. "Keith?" she spoke so quietly and gently. Tears were streaming down his face and around his eyes was red and puffy.

"Hey, buddy. It's just a blackout from the storm." Hunk's soft voice barely reached the boy's ears before he buried his head again.

Lance waved at the two to get their attention. He motion silently, asking to give him some time with Keith. The two nodded before backing away. Lance sat with his back against the wall next to Keith and set his phone down for a bit of light. He crossed his legs with his hands in his lap. He knew Keith didn't like touching, or at least, didn't seem to. He flinched at the slightest touch, no matter how gentle, and always apologized profusely if he accidently touched someone else. Now, knowing what he knew, Lance couldn't help but wonder if someone was feeding ideas into his head.

Lance wanted to get angry, but now was not the time. Keith needed someone. So Lance sat there and talked. He just simply talked conversationally about anything and everything, as if nothing was happening. He praised Keith on his letter design, saying it wasn't surprising to him after seeing the designs for his hover bike. He made fun of Pidge's grammar, saying it was the only thing that kept them from 100% their project. He thought he heard Keith chuckle at that. The casual talking seemed to distract him a bit, though he still jumped when he heard thunder.

Hesitantly, Lance place a hand on Keith's back. Keith flinched, but only slightly, so Lance left his hand there. As he began rubbing circles in his back, Keith seemed to calm down. He felt the tension leave his muscles; he was surprised when he felt Keith leaning into his touch. Slowly, he eventually drifted towards Lance and leaned into his side. Lance had his arm around him, hand on Keith's arm, pulling him close.

"I wish you would talk to me," Lance whispered near Keith's ear. His only response was a small nod.

After a moment, Lance looked up to see Hunk and Pidge whispering something to each other and smirking. As soon as they saw Lance glaring at them, they quickly turned away, still smirking. Lance rolled his eyes.

When Keith continued moving and eventually ended up laying in Lance's lap (much to Hunk's and Pidge's amusement) Lance finally realized he'd fallen asleep. He smiled softly at the peaceful look on his face. That only lasted a minute, though. When he noticed his breathing hitch and his eyes squeeze harder, he wondered if he was having a nightmare. Lance started running his fingers through his soft hair, brushing it out of his face. He continued combing his hair gently until he seemed to calm. They stayed like that for who knows how long. (He's pretty sure he saw Pidge snap a picture on her phone)


When the lights finally came back on, Keith was startled out of his sleep. As he sat up, it took a minute for him to realize the position he'd been in. His face turned a furious shade of red. Lance thought he looked so cute when he's flustered like that. He stood up apologizing, and Lance just smiled at him. He couldn't help but wonder if he remembered his words before he fell asleep. I wish you would talk to me.


So, some angst with a bit of fluff. An alternative title I had thought about for this chapter was Talk to Me. If y'all like that better then I might change it. Let me know! Also, the next chapter will be fairly short, but the chapter after will be up pretty quick. This story isn't getting as many reviews as I had hoped. I hope everyone is enjoying the story. :/ Until next chapter,

NyteXade