0SoulFire0 – Yea it definitely will be. He won't be coming out of this unscathed.
The Best Guesst – That's a great prediction, as always! But guess you'll have to read to see if you're right. ;)
Azun26 – you're close! I'm sure something like that will happen… ;)
Chapter 14: Drunk Confession
Whew! It's been a while since I've posted. College has been kicking my butt! It's definitely kept me busy. Not to mention I'm having issues with my car insurance about an accident. Well, anyway, I'm sure y'all don't want to hear 'bout my life. :) I'll be writing when I can, but it'll probably be a while till the next update. Onto the chapter!
Lance plopped onto his bed, homework and books scattered around him. He stared at the clock wondering when it had gotten so late: 12:43am. So much for going to the Kogane house tonight. After discovering the pattern that Keith is always worse on Mondays, Lance had wanted to 'pay a visit' to the Kogane house on a Sunday night. He wanted to find out what made Keith like that. This Sunday, however, just wasn't the night. Between homework, chores, and babysitting his siblings, there was no way he could get out of the house. Both his parents were gone for the weekend for their anniversary, so it was just him and his siblings. He sighed, knowing it's going to be another week until he can try again.
Lance had gotten his sisters and brother to bed around 9 then went back to finishing his chores. He had just finished the dishes when he finally dropped onto his bed to work on homework. He looked over his homework, trying to figure out what he wants to start on first. He had work from almost every class but already finished his math. "Well," he thought aloud, "might as well get the hardest out of the way." He reached for his French book and dropped it in front of him. He was just about to open the book when he heard something outside. "Major no ser esos malditos niños…" he mumbled to himself as he headed to the front door. Not too long ago there were a couple neighborhood kids playing pranks at different houses. Lance suspected it was them again. He groaned and opened the door to look out.
There was a kid… only one though. That got Lance suspicious. These kids usually stayed together. Cautiously, Lance headed outside and towards the kid. The kid had one hand on the house and he was leaning forward, swaying a bit. He looks like he is trying to keep his balance. As Lance slowly got closer, he noticed something. I'd recognize that mullet anywhere!
Just as Keith was about to topple over, Lance rushed forward and caught him. "Keith?! What the hell are you doing here?!"
"Mm no shrr…"
Lance had to strain his ears to hear anything, but it just sounded like mumbled nonsense. Then he smelled something. He pulled one of Keith's arms around his shoulders to support him. As he pulled Keith closer, he figured out what that smell was. "Keith, are you- are you drunk?" The two of them headed back inside and if Keith answered him, he didn't hear it.
He pulled Keith back to his room, trying hard not to wake his siblings. This would be hard to explain away… his underage friend (who is probably being abused) shows up in the middle of the night, drunk of his ass. When he dropped Keith onto his bed, the boy immediately tried to stand back up.
"Noo I can' stay herr," Keith slurred.
Lance puts his hands on his shoulders and pushes him gently back down, which isn't hard. "You can and you will, at least until you sober up. You can barely stand right now, let alone walk."
Keith just shook his head, trying to stand back up. Instead, he ended up falling backwards onto the bed.
Lance left him laying down and dropped into his own desk chair, watching the intoxicated teen. "How did you even get here?"
Keith just held up a heavy hand with two fingers out making a walking motion.
Lance stood up. "You walked?!"
Keith shrank away from the sudden outburst. It wasn't loud enough to wake the younger residents but loud enough to remind Keith of his father.
Lance sat back down. "Sorry." He took a breath. "It's just… walking all the way here, in that condition… that's dangerous."
Keith relaxed just a bit. "'M surry."
A long sigh escaped Lance. "It's fine, you don't need to apologize. I was just worried." A long silence followed before Lance decided to say something. "Keith…" He isn't sure what to say. It's not like he was expecting something like this to happen. He didn't even know Keith drank! He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Why, uh, why do you smell like tequila?"
Keith nodded lethargically. "Cus iss her favrrii."
That immediately got Lance's attention. "Who is her?" He watched for a minute as Keith tried to push himself into a sitting position. He got there eventually and Lance repeated his question. "Keith, who is 'her'"
Keith just shook his head.
Lance moved forward a bit on his seat. "Keith," he began firmly, "did someone force you to drink?"
Keith continued to shake his head. "No, I cannt. Not aloowwd."
"Not allowed? You aren't allowed to say?"
Keith nodded.
Lance thought for a minute. He is still pretty intoxicated so he may give some things away without realizing it. Finally he asked, "Is this 'her' a good person to you?"
Keith was quiet for a moment. At first, it seemed like he was going to try to stand up but seemed to think better of it before losing his balance. He dropped back down before answering. "She sas 'm good," he slurred.
Lance wasn't sure what to make of that. "Good at what?"
Keith shook his head again, mumbling something about 'can't tell'.
Lance noticed Keith beginning to shake a bit. "Are you cold?" he asked, genuinely.
Keith shook his head again. "Noo I don liike it."
"You don't like what she does?"
No response.
Lance could tell something was wrong. Was he remembering something? He tried to put a hand on Keith's arm to comfort him. As soon as he did so, Keith flinched away and his eyes widened. Lance immediately backed his hands away. "Hey, it's okay. I won't do anything you don't want me to." He thought he saw Keith relax a bit, but he still scooted a few inches away.
"Iss my fault. Iss my fault she's gone. I desrve all thiss." Keith seemed to be speaking more to himself than to Lance.
"Are you talking about the same lady?" Lance had heard him mention 'she'. When he saw Keith shake his head again, he continued. "Keith, I don't know who is gone or who is doing things you don't like. What I do know is that you deserve none of it. You don't deserve anything bad th-" He stopped when he saw Keith nodding quickly. Lance could feel his anger rising in his chest. Not at Keith. No, he could never be angry at him. He could feel his anger towards whoever is feeding him the bullshit about him deserving this. Lance was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Keith mumbling something again. He strained his ears to listen. He caught a few phrases: 'dad likes her', 'she has money', and something about this mystery lady liking Keith's work.
"Work? What work?"
Keith looked up and just realized he'd been mumbling.
Lance was beginning to get anxious about this mystery lady. "Please, Keith, tell me who this lady is."
Keith finally stood up this time, shaking his head again. He looked cornered, like he was searching for a way out. He stumbled across the room to the door, mumbling that he has to get back, that he can't disobey.
Lance immediately stood after Keith and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Keith flinched, but Lance didn't back off this time. "Keith, please. It is obvious that you need help. Plus, I'm not letting you leave until you are sober enough to do so." Keith began to back up. "If you have to, you can stay here for the night."
Keith's eyes widened and he tried to push past Lance again, back to the door. "No! He won like thaa! I can't!"
Lance tried his best to stop him gently. "Okay, okay. You can't do that. I'll make sure you get back tonight." That seemed to ease Keith's panic a bit. Lance was able to guide him back to the bed. "Wait here, I'll get you some water and food."
Lance came back in the room a moment later with a sandwich and a glass of water. Lance patiently waited as Keith ate the sandwich and slowly sipped on the water. He looked at the time and groaned: 2:17. I'm going to be falling in sleep in class tomorrow.
Keith looked up at the sound lance made. He seemed to guess what he was thinking. "'M surry." He looked down at his lap with a small pout.
Lance sighed. "Don't apologize," he repeated, "I'm still up because I want to be. I want to help you, Keith, but you've gotta give me more information in order for me to do that."
Keith set the glass aside and stood up. "'M feelin' better now. I thin' I should ge' back."
Lance stood, too. "I'll walk you back. You don't need to be walking alone, at night, and still halfway intoxicated."
Keith shook his head quickly. "No, no. 'M fine. Promise."
Lance resigned, choosing not to push. He walked Keith to the front door.
Keith got halfway across the front yard before stopping. He turned back to Lance, who was still in the doorway, and gave him a small thanks before continuing home.
Another chapter down, another chapter closer to Lance finding out. He still wants to try and sneak by the Kogane house on a Sunday, probably now more than ever! What's going to happen?! JK, I already know. XD Please let me know what you think. Reviews are my motivation! Until next chapter,
NyteXade
* Major no ser esos malditos niños – 'Better not be those damn kids…'
