#lance vld scenario | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kllrciel · 1 year

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Losing The Starboy

// VLD, Klance, angst, violence, blood, death, descriptions of panic attack like scenarios, strong language (reminder that this story was an older written one!)

7315 words

It was dark. It was really dark, he couldn’t see anything even with his paladin armor glowing the way it always does. He tried to summon his bayard but his hand was still empty. Nothing was working, he felt like he was suffocating, his body was heavy. He took a deep breath though he still felt like he could not get enough air in his lungs, he began to panic. “Keith?! Sh-shiro?!! Allura! Hunk! Anyone p-please!” Lance called, his voice echoing back in his ears. His head hurt, the echo of his own words became ringing in his ears. The Cuban winced in pain, falling to his knees as he clasped his hands over his ears. Tears welled in his eyes, threatening to spill down his face. He gasped for air again, squeezing his eyes shut as the salty tears fell down his cheeks and stained his face.

“Lance!!”

The male gasped, coughing as his eyes shot open. Frantically he looked around, seeing Keith on his digital screen in his corner. “Keith? Wh-what’s happening?” Lance asked, his voice strained as he wiped the tears from his face. “You tell me man, you weren’t responding. We’re supposed to be training, sharpshooter.” The taller said through the comms. “Oh..uh, sorry” He muttered in response, placing his hands back on his lion’s controls. “It’s alright Lance, just try to focus” Shiro’s voice sounded and Lance nodded. “Right, you got it team leader” the blue paladin forced a chuckle, putting on his usual facade.

No one asked any further questions for the rest of the training sessions, Lance was left to focus on the other’s voices calling out for backup or planning to take down the bots. After a varga or two, the paladins returned their lions to the hangars and sat at the table to eat what Hunk had made with the space goo. Lance hardly touched his food, even though it was incredibly tempting to eat and smelled absolutely delicious. “I’m going to go eat in my room” Lance said softly, lifting his plate and walking down the dimly lit hallway.

“Hang on, Lance,” Keith called after him, following him to the door of his room. Lance didn’t notice his presence though, nor did he hear the other’s voice. “Lance-” Keith said again, placing his hand on Lance’s shoulder to get his attention. It had the opposite effect though, as Lance fell back into the illusion of pure darkness. The plate of food fell from his grasp, splattering all over the floor as Lance backed himself up against the cold wall. His vision was gone, he couldn’t hear anything but his own voice and heavy breathing. He blinked a few times in an attempt to regain his sight, hoping to be back in the hallway in front of his room. “..Keith?” he muttered out, feeling a slight warmth against his arms. But he heard no response. Lance began to panic again, lifting his arms to feel in front of him. “K-Keith is that you?” he tried again, feeling the rough fabric that covered what felt like a toned chest. A few moments passed again before he finally could hear a faint voice.

“-’m here, I’m right here Lance..I got you” Keith said.

Lance let out a sigh of relief, but that was a mistake. Once again, just like the first time, he couldn’t breathe. It scared him how close the previous blackout was to this one. Was it a blackout? He didn’t know what else to call it. “Keith- h-help-” Lance managed out, gripping onto Keith’s shirt desperately. He didn’t know what to do, he was gasping for air as his body trembled. He couldn’t hear Keith anymore, his ears ringing like the last time as he leaned his weight against the wall. He felt like if he didn’t, he might fall. A sudden warmth enveloped him, the tingly feeling of hair against his neck. Keith must’ve hugged him or something..because that was definitely what it felt like. “..-nce, I got you. Breathe” he heard, Keith’s voice so low in a whisper. Lance took a deep breath and let his eyes close, doing his best to relax in Keith’s arms as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes again, the lights so bright it caused his vision to blur. “I can see..” Lance muttered, but he didn’t pull away from Keith”s comforting embrace. “Thank you..” the boy said as Keith squeezed him tighter. “I’m just glad you’re okay,” the other admitted.

Keith was almost never vulnerable with Lance out in the open like this, but he could hear the raw truth in the taller man’s voice and it made Lance smile. Keith finally let go and stepped back, a squishing sound filled their ears as he did. “Wh..? Oh- Food goo” Keith groaned, “I almost forgot you dropped it.” he chuckled.

“Leave it for Coran?” Lance asked, a playful smile on his face knowing full and well that he would clean it up when Keith left. “Sure.” The red paladin shrugged, taking hold of Lance’s hand gently to pull him into the younger’s room. Lance laughed as he stumbled forward and spun to land on his back on the soft mattress. Keith took a seat next to him, looking down at him with a glint of something he’d never seen in Keith’s eyes. He looked so sweet, so kind, like he had a whole universe of one emotion on his face. “..Keith..?” Lance spoke cautiously, his voice soft and gentle as he sat up; leaning back on his hands to hold up his weight. “Yeah?” Keith responded, tilting his head slightly. His face was so close, it made Lance’s cheeks light up with a soft pink hue of blush. “Uh- N-nothing..” Lance shook his head, moving back slightly.

“Why did you leave dinner so suddenly?” Keith quizzed, turning his body to completely face the other paladin. “I felt uneasy,” Lance told him, it was all he could come up with. He really didn’t actually know why he left, his mind was blank when it happened he almost didn’t remember it. He just felt compelled, like he would suffocate if he didn’t leave the room of other paladins. “Lance.”

“What?”

“Why did you leave dinner?”

Lance sighed, Keith had a way that he spoke or looked at people that made Lance nervous. He always knew when the blue paladin was lying. It frustrated Lance, he couldn’t lie to Keith even if he just wanted to lie to protect him or so he wouldn’t worry. “I..don’t know. I felt like I had to, I guess..I don’t know how to explain it.” The shorter mumbled, glancing away from the other in an attempt to run from his gaze. “Is it because of the panic attacks you had earlier today?”

“They aren’t panic attacks..It’s something else, it’s different than a panic attack. It feels like there’s someone behind it, like someone is doing it to me on purpose.” Lance admitted. Keith raised a brow at him, “Like who? Who could do something like that?” he asked, placing a hand on Lance’s thigh. “I don’t know..Maybe the Galra? Some other kind of aliens?” the other shrugged.

“Whoever it is better stop messing with my favorite sharpshooter.” Keith scowled. “Keith, I’m the only sharpshooter.” Lance hummed, his playful tone returning slightly as he smirked just the slightest. “But, you’re still my favorite one” Keith argued, giving Lance a very light shove to the shoulder. “I’m glad you followed me back here, you always know how to make me feel safe..you make me feel better,” he smiled at him.

A few movements had passed now, and Lance had only had a few more of those “blackouts”, but Keith was always there to comfort him after it. They were all mostly the same; vision gone, breathing gets hard, he can’t hear, but he can still feel if someone touches him. Almost every time it happened, he fell to his knees crying and gasping for air, and then Keith would pull him back to reality with a hug or a squeeze of the hand. It had been about 3 quintants since his last one, it was short and didn’t affect him all too much compared to some of the other ones. Now, they were alone, just Keith and Lance, on the training deck doing the drone exercise.

“Keith, on your left!” Lance called to him, aiming his gun and shooting down the round drone. “Thanks starboy” Keith chuckled, slicing one drone in half when it was just about to shoot Lance. “No problem, Mullet. Thanks for the save too,” He smiled.

Just as he was about to shoot down another drone, his vision blurred. “Wait- K-Keith, cover me. I can’t see.” Lance spoke frantically, his gun turning back into just a bayard now. “Copy that.” Keith nodded, slicing down three more drones before pulling Lance against him in a side hug to protect him better. The warmth flooded Lance’s senses as he regained slight vision. “I need to take a break, like now-” The shorter breathed, leaning weakly against Keith. “End simulation.” Keith called, watching as the drones powered off in front of him and disappeared back where they had come from. The red paladin helped Lance over to the bench on the side of the training deck, Lance’s breathing rigid now as everything got dark. He could still faintly see, it just looked like a really dark filter was over his eyes.

“God I can’t believe how weak you are.”

The stern words coated in venom as he looked up at Keith, eyes wide. “What..?” Lance mumbled, shaking his head. Why would Keith say something like that? He and Lance were friends..and even then, he wasn’t weak, it was the creature seemingly controlling these blackouts. “I asked if you were okay” Keith repeated, a look of confusion on his face. “Uh- Yeah” Lance nodded, taking hold of Keith’s hand carefully. Keith sat down beside him now, the hand that wasn’t holding onto Lance’s was now placed around his shoulders. Lance leaned into him slowly, closing his eyes in attempt to rid himself of the invisible filter.

But unfortunately, it only made things worse. Everything now pitch black, his surroundings now gone only to be replaced by fake ones. Back out on the battlefield, sat inside his lion with his hands gripping the controls as the other lions and their paladins lay unconscious on the rough ground before him. They had visible damage done to them, dents in the sides of the lions or scratches along them. But the red lion..it was the worst of them, one leg gone as well as the tail detached and discarded several feet away. Lance got up quickly, hurrying out of his lion to check on Keith. “Please-!” he cried out, eyes landing on the open jaw of the ship. He made his way to the cockpit of the lion ship, looking around frantically for Keith. But it was empty. Lance panicked, rushing out of the lion again only to trip over his feet and fall to the ground. “Get up.”

Lance groaned in pain as he lifted himself on his arms, craning his neck to look up at the other paladin. “..Keith! You’re okay!” Lance sighed in relief, forcing himself up on his feet. Keith didn’t look happy to see him though, he looked mad, his eyes filled with hatred for Lance. “Keith?” he asked softly, reaching out for him. The taller batted his hand away, scowling at him. “You left us Lance! You betrayed us and for what?! Only to come back and kill the other paladins?!” He yelled, making Lance stumble back. “What..? K-kill..?” Tears welled in his eyes and he turned to run to the other lions to check on the others. They all sat limp against their chairs, their bodies cold by the time he reached them. “No..” Lance sobbed, pulling Hunk’s lifeless body to his chest.

“You did this to him. To all of them. Allura, Coran, Pidge, Shiro. You killed them without a second thought. Why did you attack them? What did they do? I thought we meant something to you..” Keith huffed, grabbing Lance by the shoulder. “And now you act all innocent. This is all your damn fault. At least own up to it you coward! You killed my friends!” Keith lifted Lance by the shirt, raising his free hand like he was going to punch him. “No. I should kill you like you killed them.” Keith scoffed, dropping the Cuban as his bayard materialized in his hand. He raised the weapon, Lance could feel the cold of the blade’s tip against his throat.

“Lance. Lance, can you hear me? Hey..hey buddy, welcome back.” Keith said softly as Lance opened his eyes, his cheeks stained by tears. His chest felt tight, like he couldn’t breathe again. He leaned further into Keith’s warmth, reminding himself that what he saw wasn’t real. “Lance?” Keith spoke softly, moving the hand around his shoulders to his hair. Lance still said nothing, he just pulled his hands away from Keith as he looked down at his shaky hands. His eyes went wide, the sight of Hunk’s blood still coating his palms and fingers making tears well in his eyes again. Keith followed his gaze down to his hands, only they seemed perfectly clean to him. “What’s wrong?” The taller asked, leaning forward slightly in an attempt to look at Lance’s face. “I..killed him..” Lance’s voice wavered, tears falling onto his hands to fade the color of the deep crimson color.

“What?” Keith furrowed his brows, making Lance look him in the eyes.

“Who? Who did you kill?”

“Hunk..Shiro, everyone..You told me that I was the one who..killed them..”

“What are you talking about Lance? Everyone is fine?” Keith shook his head, trying to understand what he meant. “Hunk was dead in my arms..” he said softly, clenching his fists as he roughly slammed them down against his thighs. “It wasn’t real Lance, Hunk is alive. Your hands are clean.” Keith reassured him, pulling the smaller back into a tight embrace. “Everything is okay.”

They stayed like that for a while, until the shaking of Lance’s body died down. When they finally pulled apart, Lance looked back down at his hands and they were, in fact, clean now. He could no longer see the blood, the dark filter was gone, he could breathe again. He could see Keith better, feel his warmth, smell his strong cologne..it was comforting, like it always was. He could never understand why these things made him feel so safe, only Keith had this effect on him.

“Let’s hit the showers, I feel gross from all that training,” Keith chuckled, standing up before stretching his arms. Lance stood after him, nodding as the two left the training deck together.

Lance sighed as the warm water rolled down his back, closing his eyes as he tilted his head back into the stream of water. He felt his body relax again, the way it always did when Keith held him. The warmth of the water on his skin soothed his bruises and sore muscles. He stepped forward after a few doboshes and turned the knob of the shower to make the water come to a stop. He got out of the shower, lazily drying himself off and putting on his everyday clothes before he left the washroom. He saw Keith walking a bit further down the hall, a towel around his neck and his t-shirt in his hand.

“Hey” Lance smiled, walking faster to catch up with the older boy. “Oh- Hey Lance” Keith hummed, “What’s up?”

“Nothing, I just saw you and thought we could walk to the sleep hall together,” Lance spoke, voice soft as if giving Keith the option to say no. “Alright, sure.” Keith smiled at him. The two made the quick walk together, playfully insulting each other and lightly shoving each other. “Your mullet looks terrible when it’s messy- I hope it dries like that” Lance laughed as Keith smacked his arm softly. “You’re one to talk! You look like you were caught in an explosion or something-” Keith huffed with a quiet chuckle. “No, I look like I just woke up. You look like you’re having a really bad hair day,” Lance said as he ran his fingers through Keith’s hair closest to his neck.

Keith flinched at the contact, and Lance immediately pulled his hand away. “Sorry-” Lance muttered, looking down. “It’s okay.” Keith shrugged, “I just wasn’t expecting it. People never really mess with my hair.” Keith explained to him. The shorter of the two nodded in understanding and turned to face his room door. “See you at dinner?” Keith quizzed, hoping that maybe Lance would actually come eat. He missed jokes at dinner, sometimes it broke into food fights or seeing who had the best insults or even just who was the funniest (spoiler: Lance had always won the title of funniest paladin). Keith missed that, even though he spent most of his time with Lance, he always missed seeing him at night.

He missed how after dinner, they would go to the control room to stargaze..or how they would race each other around the castleship or chase each other around for whatever reason. Those things could only happen after dinner. They never had time at all before everyone ate, but now they didn’t have time at all because of Lance hiding away in his room until everyone (even Keith) passed out. It made Keith kind of sad, that their only guaranteed alone time to goof off without anyone yelling at them, was being replaced by Lance’s own alone time. He understood that he needed time to himself with these blackouts constantly bugging him, but Keith thought that maybe returning to how they were before would help distract him and make him feel happier.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

And Keith looked up to see Lance smiling, he was smiling about having dinner with the others. “Stargazing after?” Keith asked, and Lance nodded. Keith was so happy that he pulled Lance into a hug before he disappeared down the hall to his room for a while. Lance’s face flushed a hue of light pink as he backed up into his room and shut the door. He spent the next varga or so to just look back at all the pictures and videos on his phone of himself and the other paladins, as well as the few physical photos he had on his dresser or on his walls. He missed that too, before everything got bad, before Zarkon gained more power..when they were just getting used to paladin stuff.

Lance kept his promise, he walked into the dining hall for dinner and took his seat beside the red paladin. “Lance?” Pidge questioned, and the boy in question looked up to see all the other paladins were surprised that he showed up. The only one who wasn’t in minor shock was Keith, a sweet smile painted his features and he reached over to grab hold of Lance’s hand under the table. “Thank you,” Keith whispered to him, and Lance only smiled at him as Hunk disappeared into the kitchen only to return with an extra plate of food for Lance.

Lance smiled and thanked him, quickly beginning to eat his food. He wasn’t really hungry, he hardly ever was, but he had to pretend for now so he could spend time with Keith in the control room. Keith hummed as he copied Lance, just not as quickly. When the two of them had both finished their food, Lance stood, hand still intertwined with Keith’s, and pulled him up as well. “C’mon!” Lance laughed softly as he dragged Keith behind him, Keith laughed as well as he followed close behind the shorter boy.

The stars shone bright through the glass of the castle’s windshield. Lance stopped as soon as the lights came into view. He wished he could say that they twinkle like they do on earth, but it’s just not true. In space, the stars never twinkle. It was times like these that he wished the castle of lions had an atmosphere like the earth did, he so badly craved the twinkling stars. A sigh escaped Lance’s lips as he let go of Keith’s hand and walked to sit in front of the glass. Keith sat beside him, looking up at the little dots of light.

“I wonder if all those planets have been taken over by the Galra..”

“Who knows..But look, right now let’s just enjoy the view okay? We can worry about them tomorrow morning, Lance” Keith told him, leaning back against the front of Coran’s control station. “Okay..” Lance nodded, laying down with his head in the older boy’s lap. Keith gently played with Lance’s hair, a smile on his face.

“Hey Lance?”

“Yeah..?”

Keith paused, hesitant to continue as the other paladin looked up at him expectantly. “I like spending time with you like this..It kind of feels like we’re a couple,” he muttered, looking away as the red hue dusted over his cheeks. A few ticks passed in silence before he heard Lance let out a quiet giggle.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“You’re cute, mullet,” Lance hummed.

“Wha-?!” Keith blushed way more now, and when he looked back down at Lance the other could see just how flustered one little comment made him. That proved Lance’s point. “But yeah, we do feel like a couple sometimes. It’s nice,” Lance shrugged as he shifted to look better at the stars.

“Maybe..” Keith started, “We should be one.”

This caught Lance’s attention, it was his turn to be flustered now. He sat up and turned to face Keith. “We uh..we should.” Lance nodded, smiling at the other as they intertwined their hands

again. “Wait really?” Keith asked, eyes wide slightly as he looked at the boy in front of him. “Yeah,”

The two paladins looked at each other in silence for almost a full dobosh before Lance finally decided to lean in and kiss Keith. The action took the taller of the two by surprise, he took a few ticks to process what was happening before he kissed back, smiling against Lance’s lips.

Keith broke away first, though they were both smiling like idiots at each other. Lance moved forward to lean against Keith’s chest happily, looking back out at the stars.

“I don’t mean to interrupt the two of you, but Coran and I will be in here for a while..” Allura spoke, standing in her usual spot in the center of the room as Coran made his way to his control area as well. Lance frowned but he stood, taking hold of his boyfriend’s hand to lead him out of the room now. “Race you to the pool?” Lance asked with a huge grin. “You’re on.” Keith chuckled, and Lance took off running down the hall. Keith laughed and hurried down the hall after him, “Hey! You got a head start, you little cheater!” Keith huffed playfully. He knew he was faster than Lance and could easily catch up, but he didn’t.

Lance smiled as he got into the pool room before Keith did, looking up at the water. They couldn’t swim, obviously, but they could still look at the water or try to find rock shaped items to skip on the water. Keith walked into the room, hugging Lance from behind. “Boo.” The taller chuckled as Lance flinched, turning to give him a ‘really?’ look. The two let go of each other as Lance looked around the room for something to throw into the water.

With no luck, Lance turned to Keith with a small frown on his face. “There’s nothing to throw” he pouted, walking over to Keith for a hug. “I wanna shoot drones again,” he mumbled into Keith’s shoulder. Keith chuckled and nodded, “Race you there then?”

“Again?”

“If you want to”

“Mmh..Okay,”

“Be fair this time.”

Lance rolled his eyes playfully at that, “Never!” he shouted as he ran out the door. “Lance!” Keith shouted after him, quickly following him again. Only this time, Keith actually ran and caught up to Lance. He grabbed hold of him, effectively stopping both of them so he could lift Lance up into his arms. “Okay, let’s kill some bots.” Keith hummed happily as he carried Lance onto the training deck.

“Wait, we don’t have our suits and bayards” Lance realized, “We can try to focus on calling our bayards to us like our lions. I’ve done it once before.” Keith suggested with a shrug. “But what if we get hit by the drones or something?” Keith grabbed his face, “It’ll be fine sharpshooter. Just don’t let ‘em hit you.” he challenged. “I won’t. I’ll shoot all of them down.” Lance smiled.

They began the simulation once they got their bayards, standing back to back to protect each other. Lance hadn’t missed a single shot so far, and Keith had cut down every drone he saw in his peripheral vision. Lance was happy, he could actually focus for once and it was because Keith was the one beside him. Lance raised his gun again, shooting down one more drone.

“Tomorrow, we should mess with the settings. Make it harder,” Lance suggested, risking a glance back at Keith before focusing back on the drones that flew in his direction. He shot down three more before he finally heard Keith’s response. “Alright, sure-” The taller said as he stabbed one of the small drones. “This was getting kinda easy anyway.” Keith said softly as he stepped forward to cut two more drones in half. “Yeah,” Lance agreed.

Lance and Keith practiced for almost a varga before Lance got tired, going to sit down on the bench to rest while Keith kept training a little longer. Lance’s bayard de-materialized in his hand as he leaned back against the cold wall, watching his boyfriend destroy the drones. `

“How do you still have stamina? Damn-” Lance laughed, a little breathlessly. “Y’know what? Fuck you-” Keith rolled his eyes playfully. Lance gave him a look, a look like he was about to make another dumb joke, and Keith had to cut him off. “It’s because I train so much.” Keith told him, slicing down a few more drones as he turned away from Lance. The shorter watched happily from his spot on the bench, silently cheering on his lover.

“End simulation.” Keith breathed with a small smile, his bayard dematerializing as he walked over to greet the blue paladin with a kiss on the cheek. Lance chuckled, smiling up at him. “You’re hot when you train.” he hummed. “Only when I train? Wow Lance,” Keith teased as he sat beside him. “No! You’re hot all the time! Just especially when you train..” Lance complimented with a visible amount of blush on his face, intertwining his fingers with Keith’s. The other laughed at how defensive and flustered Lance got when he teased about anything.

“Lance,” Keith smiled, making the paladin in question look up at him. “Yeah?-” Lance was cut off by Keith’s soft lips connecting with his for a quick, gentle moment. The shorter was surprised by this action but he smiled once Keith pulled back. “Awe, you’re so cute..” Keith chuckled softly, getting up shortly after. “I’m going to shower,” He said before turning away, leaving Lance sitting there with a dumb, lovestruck smile.

“Paladins! Wake up, we need you out here.” Allura said through the comms of the castle, effectively waking the paladins. Lance stood from his spot on the floor, quickly putting on his armor before hurrying to meet Allura, Coran, and the others in the main control room. Lance took his usual spot, he and Shiro were the first there but Keith, Hunk, and Pidge hurried out a few ticks later. “We’ve encountered a Galra enslaved planet up ahead. Be prepared to get out there and fight. They do not seem friendly.” Allura informed the paladins, her hands over the pedestals to pilot the ship. The paladins stayed in their seats as Allura and Coran did most of the work checking the planet’s stats.

“Lance, Keith, you two are the fastest. Go down there and make sure no one is hurt, find out what’s going on.” Shiro commanded them, a stern look on his face. “On it.” Lance hummed, standing from his chair to make his way to the hangar without hesitation. Keith nodded in understanding and ran off towards the hangars as well. They made it to their lions and out of the hangars at roughly the same time, Lance opening up video comm to smile at Keith. “Don’t look so worried, cariño. We got this, we’re just scouting right now anyway.” The blue paladin assured him, blowing him an air kiss. “I know but..What if these soldiers are more dangerous than the others? We’re facing very fortified looking bases, and what looks like..advanced Galra tech. It looks like they’re making more and more progress here–”

Keith was cut off by a shot being fired towards the two lions, he pulled up and out of the way. He trained his gaze on the canon that the shots came from, focusing on dodging the shots. “I’m going in.” Lance said over the comms, and before Keith could object, the other paladin was fading away into the distance, his lion becoming smaller the further from Keith he got until he landed and Keith could no longer see him.

Lance hid his lion, carefully climbing out and sneaking around the corner to see a lot of Galra soldiers patrolling the area, there had to be hundreds of thousands of them. Lance furrowed his brows at the sight. His bayard materialized in his hands, prepared to go into battle if he were found out. The blue paladin pressed his back up against the cold metal of the wall to the base, watching as patrolling soldiers made their way past the small area Lance had been hiding in. “Lance, what’s it looking like in there?” Pidge asked over his helmet’s communication system. “It’s packed. Soldiers everywhere, security is tight. I’m willing to guess whatever it is that’s on this planet is really important.” Lance responded.

“My prince, the preparations are almost complete.” A calm voice spoke, like a woman’s voice. She sounded familiar, but he didn’t know from where. He risked a peak around the corner to see who it was, a tall half-Galra looking girl with short blue hair. And beside her, the “prince”..Lotor?

“We have an issue.” Lance whispered frantically into his helmet as he pulled back to hide again. “Lotor is here.” He elaborated, clutching his gun in his hands.

“You should get out of there. We need–” Shiro started, cut off by Lance speaking again. “I’m going to find out what it is they’re doing here.”

“Stop acting like me, you idiot! Get out of there.” Keith scolded. The younger froze for a second, thinking over his options. “Sorry love, I have to. This could determine our next move.” Lance sighed, tuning out the audio in his helmet as he waited for the two Galra to leave. He took that opportunity to sneak inside the heavily guarded alien base, looking around at his surroundings cautiously. Not once did Lance let down his guard, trying to be as quiet as he possibly could. He made sure to hide when soldiers came close, eventually knocking out one of the guards to take his uniform and mask, hiding his own paladin armor to come back for on his way out.

He was much less suspicious this way, not many soldiers even batted an eye in his direction as he made his way to the data center. He reached into his pocket to retrieve an empty hard drive he’d brought with him from his armor just in case, downloading the information off the computers for Pidge to look at later.

“Lieutenant?” a voice called, causing Lance to hesitantly turn and face the other soldier. He looked familiar, like they had met before. “Yes?” Lance quizzed, imitating a deeper voice. The soldier looked him up and down, as if reading him, but he didn’t ask any further questions. “You’re needed in the 3rd hall in 10 doboshes.” The soldier spoke, to which Lance nodded. The Galra soldier left the room after that and Lance finished his download, shoving it in his pocket before making his way out of the room. He definitely didn’t want to go to the 3rd hall (wherever that was), he could get found out if he went. So, he looked around a little longer just to have more intel for himself since he hadn’t looked at what was now on the hard drive.

He turned to leave, finding the spot he’d hid his armor and quickly changing out. He was in the clear, having only interacted with one enemy who didn’t seem to figure him out. Or at least he thought he was clear but..when he stood and faced towards his lion, he was face to face with the prince of the Galra, Lotor. “..Crap.” Lance sighed, holding his hand out at his side for his bayard. “Hello, paladin.” Lotor hummed, a creepy smile on his face. It made Lance feel uneasy, he needed to leave and he needed to do it soon. “Heyyy Lotor- I was actually just leaving!” Lance chuckled, trying to walk past the prince to his lion. A swift motion stopped the blue paladin in his tracks, sharp cold metal pressed lightly against his neck. “Oh, are you now? I thought you might want to stay for a snack. Or perhaps..forever?” The prince smirked.

Uh oh. If Lance moved an inch, Lotor would attack him. He was stuck here in a dark hallway lit by fuchsia lighting, with fucking Lotor. This had to be somewhere on the scale of hell for sure. “Uh- Sorry man, I got stuff to do haha-” Lance muttered, bringing up his hand to gently move the blade away after turning his comms back on. “I won’t even attack you, your highness. I just gotta—”

Lance was cut off by a sharp pain in his leg, the black fabric covering his thigh had been sliced open just as easily as the soft skin of his leg. Blood trickled down his thigh, wetting the fabric of his armor with the liquid. The paladin groaned in pain, leaning on his good leg in an attempt to take some pain away from the deep gash. “Whoops, Sorry” Lotor hummed, moving to slice the skin on Lance’s arm after cutting more of the thin black bodysuit under the heavy armor plates.

“Dammit-” Lance huffed, taking a step back as he raised his gun to shoot at Lotor’s chest. He missed due to the injuries on his arm and leg, and the gun was heavy for just one hand. He stumbled back with the force of the shot, and Lotor took that as an opportunity to strike again. The paladin was lucky to dodge it as his bayard changed from a heavy gun to an Altean master sword. It was easier to maneuver the light meatal, surging forward he swung the blue sword at the prince as hard as he could, effectively cutting through his chest plate but not harming him too much. Lance groaned again, this time in annoyance at the fact that it hardly did any real damage to Lotor himself.

“Lance, do you copy?” Keith’s voice sounded through the helmet’s communication system, and Lance immediately responded. “Your favorite paladin is alive but not so well. Could use some help down here- agh- I’m wounded and trying to fight against the prince with daddy issues.” he chuckled, stepping out of the way when Lotor swung again. “Watch your mouth, earthling. You aren’t in such a position to mock me.” The prince scowled. Lance rolled his eyes at that, going in for an attack. It hurt to move, his whole body felt like it might give out at any second but he couldn’t give up, he just needed to aim for the spot on Lotor’s chest where his armor was broken. “I’m on my way for you, Lance” Keith spoke, and the paladin let out a sigh of relief when he heard it. His moment of distraction was what allowed Lotor to strike him again and make his state worse. The action sent him into another blackout, he couldn’t see or hear anything anymore. Fear filled him as he frantically looked around. “Wha.. Keith? Lotor?!” he called, how could he go into another stupid blackout in the middle of a battle? When Lotor had just moved in to attack. The paladin armor covering his own chest cracked, having been pierced by the Galra prince’s sharp blade..but not only that, it pierced through Lance’s skin and left a deep stab wound.

Lotor drove the sword further into the human’s chest, causing him to cough out a large amount of blood. The crazed prince watched as the thick red trickled down Lance’s chin and dripped onto the floor as the blue paladin fell to his knees. Finally he snapped out of it, once again able to see and hear and feel more than just sharp pain. “Your comrades won’t be able to save you, Lance.” Lotor laughed, “You’ll die before they arrive.”

He didn’t want to believe that, he wanted to believe he could make it. He needed to believe that he could spend more time with his boyfriend after this. He can’t die here, he still had to marry Keith and save the universe! He can not afford to die now at the hands of some stupid banished prince. Lance tried his best to stay standing, but when Lotor pulled the sword out from the wound..he fell to his knees and coughed up more blood as it also gushed out of his wound.

“Should I behead you too?” Lotor mused, raising his sword to place it gently under Lance’s chin. “You don’t need that dumb helmet now,” He scoffed, walking forward to remove it from the paladin’s head. “Please..” Lance managed out just as the red lion came into view from above. “Pathetic. Human’s truly are such weak creatures.” He hummed, squatting down to the other’s level.

“Lance!!” Keith shouted as he hurried out of his lion, bayard in hand. The other paladins had made it into view as well now, but only Shiro landed to assist Keith and Lance. It was the black paladin who drew Lotor’s attention away from the lovers, so Keith could help Lance. But the sight of his boyfriend that way..Keith couldn’t bear it. He fell to his knees beside him, clutching Lance close to his chest. He could tell his lover was weak, he couldn’t survive all the way back to the castle of lions to get to a healing pod, he was close to death already. Keith did all he could to suppress the bleeding as tears welled in his eyes. He watched as tears pricked the corners of Lance’s eyes as well, and he tried to speak but the taller shushed him. “Save your energy baby..” Keith sniffled, cupping the Cuban’s face lovingly.

“Stay with me, okay? Stay awake.” He said softly, “You’ll..you’ll be okay.” he sobbed out.

“I love you..” Lance muttered out, weakly lifting his hand to place it over Keith’s hand holding his face. “I-I love you too, Lance. Don’t leave me..” He pleaded. Keith didn’t know what else to do now, other than lean down to kiss his partner in fear it would be their last. Keith’s tears fell onto Lance’s face as they hesitantly pulled back from each other briefly. Lance opened his eyes one last time to see his boyfriend’s beautiful face, smiling up at him weakly.

Keith hugged him close as the blue paladin took his final breath and went limp in the taller’s embrace, his hand falling to rest idly against the floor. Keith felt him go limp and immediately clutched him closer, clenching his jaw as he cried. “Dammit! Wake up Lance..Come back. You stupid..handsome man.. Come back to me, I need you.” Keith sobbed, his knuckles turning white with how strong his grip was. He couldn’t believe he was actually gone..Lance was gone forever, he couldn’t come back..

For a while, Keith struggled to get over Lance. He kept thinking about him, kept thinking he heard his voice or saw him but he knew it wasn’t true. Shiro helped him through the phoeb that he was struggling, even directed him to writing letters to Lance even though he would never read them. Keith kept a notebook of letters written to his deceased lover, and it weirdly did bring some sort of comfort.

And now, voltron had a new blue paladin, Princess Allura. Keith wasn’t too happy about the fact that they chose a new pilot so quickly, but they did need all five lions to form voltron so he couldn’t be too upset about it either. It was definitely quieter without Lance running up and down the halls, or training with Keith until midnight, or starting play fights, or playing video games with pidge. Everyone seemed to miss him a lot, the whole team’s spirits were dampened by his passing..but they seemed to all be doing better than Keith.

He stood in the middle of the training deck, bayard in hand, but no simulation going. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he remembered the way he and Lance would stand back to back while they fought off Altean drones. He couldn’t go anywhere in the castle without being reminded of the Cuban boy. He let out a heavy sigh as he wiped his tears and started up the gladiator simulation. He gripped his sword tight in hand and swung harshly, nearly missing though he did manage to scratch the bot up a little. His training always started like that now, missing the first swing and coming back to take down the gladiator as quickly as he could. He hoped if Lance was anywhere, he could see him and be proud of him for not giving up on what made him happy and helped him focus.

Every time he was in here, he let himself forget about everything for a while. He let all his attention and focus be on the simulation. That’s how he kept going for vargas at a time, sometimes he went until breakfast time. He never just trained for a little while, it was always a bit too long for the other paladin’s liking. After he was done, he’d always go shower and then sit in the main control room to stargaze.

Shiro even came to join him this time, and he thanked him for being there. “Are you doing okay?” Shiro asked, placing a comforting hand on the other’s shoulder. “Yeah. I just miss him.” Keith responded with a small smile, both paladins looking back out at the stars. “He’s still with us, he’s really our star boy now.” Shiro chuckled softly. “Yeah, I guess so..” Keith nodded in agreement, “I’m sure he’d be very happy to know that.” he added. Shiro and Keith sat there for a few doboshes in silence, before the team leader finally stood up. “Let’s go get you something to eat,” Shiro offered his hand out to Keith, who took it with minor hesitance.

Everything would be okay.

He missed Lance, but it would all be okay.

#voltron #vld #vld lance #vld keith #vld klance #klance #keith voltron #lance voltron #lance mcclain #keith kogane

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panda-noosh · 6 years

Text

Lifegaurd Duty{Lance x Reader}{2/2}

Words: 8k

Summary: The cute lifeguard never failed to catch your eye whenever you visited the pool. He was always there, smiling and looking like he was having the time of his life. Honestly, you were perfectly fine with him ignoring you, but what happens whenever he finally notices you?

Genre: fluff - elements of angst?? - lifeguard!au

Warning: mentions of death and grief

Notes: part 1 - masterlist

---

“You look lovely.”

Those were the first words out of Lance's mouth whenever you opened the door to him twenty minutes later – both of you had ended up being late, but you weren't complaining. After the ten minute mark had passed, you had only just dried your hair and was in no fit state to go and greet the man you had been crushing on for nearly two months.

You blushed, looking down at the outfit you had managed to pull together in your haste; you wore a striped shirt that was half-tucked into a pair of light blue skinny jeans, matched with a pair of grey boots. Lance wore a grey shirt underneath a blue jacket, with a pair of basketball shorts.

The two of you set off walking towards the coffee shop. You were slightly wary about where you stepped, not wanting to walk too close to him in fear of making him uncomfortable, not wanting to walk too far from him in fear of making it seem like you didn't want to be there – gosh, having a crush was difficult. Everything you did whenever Lance was in your presence felt wrong, as if you should regret it for some unknown reason.

“My dad was talking to me about your dad the other day, you know,” Lance said.

You looked over at him, one eyebrow raised. “Oh yeah? They know each other?”

“I don't know. My dad thinks he knows everyone just because he knows their names, so I don't know how close they actually are.” You chuckled, and Lance grinned as if he had made some massive accomplishment. “But he was telling me that your dad is back at work now. Busy, too, apparently.”

You nodded. “Yeah. Very busy. He's trying to catch up on all the work he missed whilst he was away, so he's doing overtime shifts and stuff like that. I don't think he's had a day off in a good month and a half.”

Lance hollowed out his cheeks, shaking his head in mild disbelief. “Crazy. He must be exhausted.”

“Yeah. But he's strong, as well.”

“It seems like all three of you are.” Lance nudged your arm. You looked at him through the corner of your eye, caught sight of his small smile that made you flush despite yourself. You swallowed thickly, raised your head and pulled your shoulders back.

“So, Lance McClain, you invited me out here so we could learn more about each other. I think it's about time you start spilling some secrets.”

Lance raised a brow, his grin only widening at your sudden change of demeanour. “Secrets? What did you expect me to tell you?”

“I don't know. Anything. Tell me anything.”

“I'm not that interesting, you know. I wanted to learn more about you.” “I'm not that interesting, either,” you said. “But it's not fair just having me talk away about my life. You have to tell me something about yourself, as well.”

“Okay, fine. I will. What do you want to know?”

You pondered on that question for longer than you should have. For months, you had been forming questions in your mind, curious as anything to know every little detail about the man beside you; how he always managed to keep up that cheery aura of his, how he knew of Penelope, where he lived, what school he went to, who he was friends with.

But in that moment, you could only say one word in response to such a question; “Anything.”

Lance's smile wavered as he thought about what to tell you. You watched him closely, watched as he shrugged and looked down at the ground in embarrassment; he clearly thought he should have plenty to say, was embarrassed that his life maybe wasn't as cool as he had once hoped it would have been.

“I come from a fairly big family, to start off,” he said after a moment. “I'm the middle child, but I was never left out, you know? I have nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles who all live in the same neighbourhood as me – I live on West Wing.”

“Oh, the fancy part of town. What made you want to work over here, then?”

Lance chuckled. “West Wing isn't all that fancy whenever you've lived there your entire life. The bad people start to unearth after a while, which was why I wanted to get away from them, if just for a few hours a day.” He shrugged. “Besides, I like East Wing. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it's different, and the people here . . . They just kind of stick together, you know? They're like one massive family, and I just find that appealing.”

He wasn't wrong. Although you had always taken your close bond with the people from your neighbourhood as nothing more than a friendship that had formed over time, Lance wasn't lying when he said you were all like a family. Even the newcomers were welcomed with open arms most of the time, unless they gave the residents a reason not to.

“I guess you could call me a family man,” Lance chuckled.

“You're good with kids, aren't you?” you said. “I saw you with Penelope and her friends the other day, and you were a natural. Penelope was having the time of her life.”

Lance shrugged, a slight blush creeping along his cheeks. “I guess so. I grew up with little brothers and sisters, and then my niece and nephews came around and I looked after them as well. I've just always had little kids to look after, I guess. Plus, Penelope's cool. I like hanging with her.”

“She likes hanging out with you.”

“I like hanging out with you, as well.”

You looked over at him, trying to dismiss the way your breath caught in your chest, the way your heart beat thundered behind your ribcage. He was still looking down at the floor, his slightly damp hair hanging limp over his forehead in a most attractive way. You had the sudden urge to run your fingers through it, push it away from his forehead so you could get a full view of his face.

Instead, you stuffed your hands in your pockets.

“You know, I'm not much,” you replied, quietly. You weren't sure why. It just felt necessary to tell him such a thing, a slight warning that, if he expected you to be some crazy friend to hang out with, he had another thing coming.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Me. I'm not . . . I'm not anything special.” You chuckled nervously, tugging on the collar of your striped button-up. “I'm actually quite an anxious person.”

Lance was quiet for a moment. “So am I, so that's good.”

Your head snapped up, eyebrow raised in question. “You? How are you an anxious person?”

Lance shrugged. “It's not that obvious because I've kind of trained myself to hide that part of me, but I do get nervous, Y/N. I was nervous on my way up to your house. I was nervous about asking you out in the first place.”

Your mouth opened, but no words came free. Lance shot a glance in your direction, chuckled at the shocked expression taking over your face. You knew it was rude; you had made an assumption about him, assumed he was this confident man all the time whenever you should have known full well that wasn't possible – everybody got nervous. Everybody had fears and things they didn't enjoy doing, but it just seemed so out of the ordinary for Lance to show such a side to him.

“Yeah, a shock,” he chuckled. “Asking out a pretty girl will make anyone nervous, though.”

You flushed, snapping your mouth closed and looking back down at the floor abruptly. “Shut up.”

Lance nudged you with his elbow as the two of you walked into the coffee shop at long last. The walk should have felt longer, but it didn't. It felt as if it had only lasted a couple of seconds, and you suddenly wanted to escape the confines of the place and head back out into the open air, just to continue on the conversation the two of you had been having so easily.

You both collected your chosen beverages, with Lance attempting to persuade you to get a coffee one last time; you had said no, grabbed your hot chocolate, and was taking teasing sips of it as you and Lance made your way over to a table on the far side of the shop. You were thankful for his choice of seating – it was far away from everybody else. You had only been inside of the small cafe for a few minutes, and already you could feel the eyes of pity from passers-by burning into your skull.

You didn't want any of it. You just wanted to enjoy your day for once.

“Tell me something, Y/N,” Lance said almost as soon as the two of you had sat down. “What job do you wanna do in the future?”

An odd question, but you found yourself pondering it for a lot longer than particularly necessary. You had only ever had one dream as a child, and that was to become a writer. Lately, with your lack of motivation and the zero words you had to your name, it felt as if that dream was never bound to become a reality.

“A writer,” you replied nonetheless. “An author. Writing stuff.”

Lance raised a brow, curling his lips around his straw. His speech was slurred due to the action. “An author, hm? What kind of stuff do you like to write?”

“All sorts.”

“Well yeah, but like, be specific.”

“Fiction, mostly.”

Lance leaned back in his seat, clasping his warm drink in his hands as he looked at you sceptically. You knew you were being vague, but telling people about your writing was not your forte. You never knew what to say about it, never felt entirely comfortable telling people you wrote anything at all. It always led to the exact same question of Can I read it?

“Fiction,” he repeated. “Once again, a very broad statement.”

You shrugged. “It's nothing interesting, I can assure you. Besides, I haven't written anything in months.”

“I thought I saw you with your laptop over at the pool that day,” he said. “Were you just playing Sims or something?”

You giggled. “No, I wasn't. I was actually planning on writing that day, but I got a little distracted.” You shot him a faux accusatory look that he smirked at, shrugging his shoulders loosely as if to say well, I can't help it!

“I think an author is a very good job to aim for,” he said at last. “Very . . . Academic of you.”

You raised a brow. “Thanks. And what about you? Have you strived to be a lifeguard your whole life?”

Lance scoffed, taking a long sip of his coffee before slamming the cup down as if in exasperation. “God no. I didn't even think about becoming a lifeguard until I realised I needed a summer job and that was the only one I could find that was away from West Wing. I really want to be a pilot, but it's a lot more difficult than you think.”

“A pilot? Can you fly a plane?”

“I dabble,” he replied. “Obviously I don't have access to a jet every day, so I'm a little rusty, but I know a thing or two, and if it came down to it, I could probably save a couple hundred lives if our holiday jet was going down.”

You rolled your eyes, chuckling lightly. “Of course. The hero we didn't know we needed.”

“It's true!” he exclaimed, and he shocked you by lurching forward in his excitement. His fingers gripped a hold of your own, pulling your hand closer to him. You froze under his touch, unsure of how to respond to such a thing, unsure of what to say or whether you should comment on it at all – he was touching you. His fingers were burning into your flesh. You simply stared at them as they lay on the table between you.

Lance was still laughing, one hand messing idly with your fingers whilst the other twirled the straw around in the froth at the top of his coffee.

You swallowed thickly, hoping and praying the sweat coating your palms now wasn't obvious.

“I wanna take you up in a plane one day,” he said. “You and Penelope can come with me and I'll take you on a tour of West Wing. Show you all of the graffiti that people think don't exist because we have big houses.”

You scowled. “Heights aren't exactly my thing.”

He waved his free hand dismissively, as if your fear of heights meant nothing when talking about flying. “Don't worry about heights. I told you already – I could save a couple hundred people if it came down to it. I can take care of two people just as well.”

And you laughed, even though the idea of seeing Lance again sent your stomach into a flurry of butterflies, even though you could already feel yourself enjoying your time with him more than you thought possible. You had known him for a little over two months, had only properly spoken to him a handful of times, and yet you wanted nothing more than to sit beside him for the rest of the day just to hear him drawl on and on about everything and nothing.

---

Summer ended all too fast for your liking.

School had started up again, meaning your time spent with Lance had been forced to the end of your list of priorities. Going into your second year of college left no room to ponder over boys, though actually forgetting about him was much more difficult than you had once believed.

The two of you had spent your final weeks of summer all but glued at the hip. Lance would appear at your house every day, take you out for hot chocolate (though he still tried to get you to try his coffee every now and then) and the two of you would walk around the neighbourhood, talking about anything that came to mind. You had pushed past the stage of asking each other random, trivial questions, and conversation was flowing much more naturally than before.

You could officially call Lance McClain a friend. It was a pleasant feeling.

The first week of school flew in. You and Allura busied yourselves with the usual beginning-of-term jobs that all sixth formers had to do, and it was safe to say you were both utterly exhausted by the time the weekend finally rolled around.

Saturday brought good weather. Despite it being September, summer officially over, the sun was still beating down upon East Wing, and you were still trapped in a tank top and shorts, barely able to stomach the idea of wearing anything heavier.

The warm weather also meant that the pool was, once again, immensely crowded whenever you, Allura and Penelope pulled up outside of it on the first Saturday of September.

“Please don't get any diseases from the pool,” Allura said to Penelope as your little sister hopped out of the car and rushed towards the pool. “Don't slip!”

“I won't!” Penelope called back.

Allura sighed, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head like a concerned mother. “Surely it should be you giving her those warnings and not me.”

You looked up from your phone, shrugged casually. “If she hurts herself, it's not my fault.”

Allura scoffed as the two of you made your way over to a table in the cafe. The table was facing the pool, meaning you got a pretty decent view of Penelope and her friends diving into the deep end, squealing and holding hands as they went under. You watched them resurface before turning back to Allura.

“It's weird not seeing Lance here,” you said, unsure as to why you thought that was a good conversation starter.

Allura didn't seem to mind. “He has college, does he not?”

“I think so,” you replied. “I don't know. It's just strange. I'm so used to seeing him in the lifeguard tower that it just seems a little off to not have him there.”

“You'd honestly think you two were married or something,” Allura scoffed. “The way you talk about him-”

“The way she talks about who?”

Your eyes snapped up, immediately widened upon seeing Lance standing over Allura's chair with a smoothie in his hand. Your heart thundered in your chest, your cheeks flaring a bright red colour; Allura smirked, stood up and said, “I think I'm gonna go get myself a drink. Here, Lance. Take my seat. I don't mind.”

Lance raised a brow as Allura sent you a sly wink, stood up and walked away from the table towards the bar. You couldn't help but notice that she didn't actually line up to order any beverages, but instead sat down beside a woman and started casually talking away.

Lance took her seat, grinned over at you. “What a pleasant surprise to see you here.”

You smiled warily. “Yep. It's warm, so I thought I'd come down and cool off.”

“You're not even in the pool. You're hardly gonna cool off sitting in the sun like this.”

You looked up, indicating the umbrella hovering over your head. Lance followed your gaze, rolled his eyes before he thrust his drink in your direction.

“Gotta stay hydrated,” he said.

You chuckled and took the drink he offered, taking hesitant sips before passing it back. The conversation didn't take long to spark after that, with Lance informing you that he had come down for a dip in the pool, had seen you three walking in and had immediately gotten curious as to why you were there in the first place; you didn't want to mention the fact that you had been coming here almost every day in the summer, though the reason behind such a thing was purely to see Lance.

It happened whenever the two of you were speaking.

The scream sounded out above the bustle of the busy crowd, piercing your eyes with its familiarity. You had heard that scream only a few times before, and it never meant anything good. No. The last time you had heard it, you had burst through the door of your mothers room to see your mother lying dead in bed with Penelope by her side.

You were up on your feet before you could even comprehend what was happening.

“Penelope!” you cried out, because she wasn't in sight. The only thing you could see was a patch of blood on the edge of the pool, the water flying everywhere as your little sister struggled to break to the surface.

Her friends were screaming. You were screaming. Your heart was pounding in your chest, and you were already throwing off your shoes by the time Lance had stood up and thrown himself into the pool.

You watched on in horror, hands gripping the railing. Lance grabbed a hold of the tiny limp body. You very nearly buckled at the sight of the blood drenching Penelope's forehead, at the way her head lolled onto Lance's shoulder, the way her arms flopped over his own as he hauled her to the edge of the pool and lay her down against the tiles.

You sprinted over, no longer caring about courtesy. You shoved people aside, ignoring the soaked tiles that could very well have been a hazard in that moment.

You dropped to your knees, grabbed a hold of Penelope's hand as Lance tapped her face multiple times.

“Is she breathing?” you asked. “Lance, is she breathing?”

“She's breathing,” Lance replied, before he ducked his head down and started CPR. You wanted to throw up. Every nerve in your body was buzzing with an unfamiliar feeling of panic; you had seen your mothers dead body, had been there whenever your mother got diagnosed with the illnesses that had eventually taken her out. You had felt queasy because of panic in the past, but this was on a different level. This was an entirely different ball game all together.

You followed Lance's breathing, even though you didn't need to. Part of you wondered whether it would help or not, whether you were somehow guiding Penelope back to consciousness by following Lance's lead.

And then Penelope's chest heaved, and for a second, you were scared it had caved in. You squeezed her hand harder, just as water spurted out of her mouth, soaking Lance's bare chest. She threw herself onto her side, coughing and choking up the remainder of the water that had crowded in her lungs only moments before.

You cried out, tugging her up into your arms and nuzzling your head into the crook of her neck. “Oh god, Penelope, you idiot! You absolute idiot! How did you manage that?”

“My head hurts,” she groaned against your collar bone.

You pulled away then, nodding frantically. “Right. Your head. We need – We need an ambulance. I'll call an ambulance.”

You made to stand up, but Lance's hand tightened around your wrist and pulled you back down. Tears were pouring down your face, and you weren't even sure how you had managed to stand up in the first place with how weak you currently felt.

You looked over at Lance. He gave you a sad smile, shook his head before he was standing up and tugging his own phone out of his shorts pocket. “I'll call them. You stay here and try and control the bleeding.”

You nodded thankfully. Lance walked off then, phone pressed to his ear.

----

“What happened?” your father asked.

He looked slightly worn out, you noticed. You both were. Taking a single step inside of the hospital room had immediately drained every piece of energy from your body, because you remembered these rooms so well. You remembered curling up in a chair in the corner whilst your mother got prodded with needles, remembered sobbing into the pillow whenever even more bad news was delivered, remembered choking down the disgusting hospital sandwiches they had provided for you because you refused to leave your mothers side.

But now you were back. You were leaned against the wall on the far side of the room, your dad sitting on a chair at Penelope's bed side. His hands hung loosely between his legs, and his head was ducked down, his hair falling in his face.

“I don't know,” you replied quietly. “I heard her scream, and whenever I looked over, she was already under the water.”

“And that Lance boy saved her?”

You swallowed thickly. “Yeah.”

Your dad sighed and ran his hands down his face. He was much paler than usual. Whenever you had called him up and told him of what happened, he had hung up before you even had a chance to tell him that Penelope was okay, that she was awake and breathing, but was suffering from a mild concussion that would see her staying in the hospital overnight.

“I don't want you going to that pool for a bit, okay?” your dad said. “Give it some time to settle or else you'll put me into an early grave.”

“Don't say things like that,” you said.

“Sorry.” He turned to look at you then, giving you a small smile. His attempts at soothing your nerves. “You did a good thing bringing her here. Most people your age would have just panicked until an adult took over.”

“Yeah, well, make no mistake – I most definitely was panicking. It was Lance who called the ambulance.”

Your dad raised a brow. “That Lance boy sure has done a lot for us today. He's outside, isn't he?”

You nodded in response. That was a fact you had been trying to avoid for some time now, the fact that he was waiting outside for the final verdict on your sisters condition.

“Remind me to shake his hand whenever I get my head on straight,” your dad continued. “You should go out there and keep him company for a little bit.” “You sure you'll be okay on your own?”

Your dad nodded, slowly turned back in his seat and took Penelope's hand in his own. Your little sister stirred beneath the covers, clapping her lips together as she slept peacefully; she was still alive, which was a relief. Though the injuries hadn't been that bad, you had immediately thought the worst.

You stood up and left your father on his own. It was dark, nurses giving you small, professional smiles as they walked past you, patients wearing paper pyjamas wandering around the halls with walking sticks as aid.

You walked directly into the waiting area, stopped in the doorway whenever you saw Lance curled up on a chair in the corner. His knees were tugged up into his chest, his face pressed against them as he slept soundly – it reminded you of yourself all them years ago whenever you had been in the exact same position, curled up and waiting for results that could be good or bad.

“Lance,” you called out to him.

He shifted immediately, legs clanging to the floor as he shot upright. You raised a brow at him as he turned to look at you, relief washing over his tired and puffy features as soon as he saw you standing there.

“Is she okay?” he asked, scrambling out of his seat and walking towards you with his hands outstretched.

“She's fine,” you assured. “Thanks to you, at least.”

Lance flushed. He placed his hands on your elbows once he reached you, gently dragged his fingers down your arm until he was grabbing at your hands and tugging them together as if in prayer. “I was so worried I'd been too late. CPR isn't my strong point.”

“You did incredible,” you said. “Thank you. For everything. From both me and my dad.”

“It was nothing,” he replied humbly. “As long as Penelope's okay, that's all that matters.”

You nodded along, trying to fight the urge to cry that had suddenly washed over you. You were tired. The days events had worn you out to the point where you were fairly certain your knees were going to give out at any given moment.

You swayed a little on the spot. Lance's eyes shot open even wider before he was tugging you into him, wrapping one arm around your shoulders whilst the other kept a grip on your hand.

“Hey, hey, hey. Stay with me, L/N. Do you need a nurse?”

You shook your head dumbly. “I'm fine. I just – I think I need some fresh air.” Lance led you outside without question, keeping one arm wrapped around your shoulders to make sure you didn't topple over. Once upon a time, you may have swooned at the feel of his arm around you, but you were much too tired to concentrate on such a thing right now.

Lance pressed you against the wall outside and stood protectively over you.

“Take deep breaths, okay? Clear your head a little bit,” he advised. “Trust me, I know what I'm doing. I'm a lifeguard.”

He was trying to make you smile. You looked up at him through heavy lidded eyes, trying desperately to stop the dizzy spell from completely flooring you. It was wave after wave, nausea caused by the exhaustion and stress chasing away any reasonable thought in that moment.

Lance's smile fell away once he caught sight of your slightly dishevelled face. His grip tightened on your arms, pushing you a little harder into the wall as a way to keep you upright.

“Okay, I'm serious now,” he said. “Keep breathing. You look like you're about to pass out.”

You swallowed thickly, closed your eyes and leaned your head against the wall. It was all coming down on you now. You didn't know where it was coming from, what had triggered it, but every little thing that you had been pushing to the side was suddenly crashing down upon you, and there was nothing you could do about it.

A tear fell from your eye, traced down the bridge of your nose before sinking into the concrete at your feet. Though your eyes were closed, you could feel Lance's shock reverberating through your body, could feel his hands tightening on your arms and could hear the sound of him taking a sharp breath.

“You're crying,” he said. “Y/N, you're crying. What's wrong? What did the doctors say whenever you were in there?”

You refused to open your eyes. Part of you felt like ripping yourself away from Lance right now, whilst the other part of you wanted nothing more than to wrap your arms around his middle and bury your head in the crook of his neck.

“Please look at me,” he said. “Open your eyes.”

You did so. He was inches away from your face, observing each and every twitching muscle with a worried expression glossing his face. You bit down on your bottom lip, trying desperately to fight off the fresh wave of tears that was threatening to explode right now.

But it was no use.

Not whenever Lance tutted, swung his arms around your shoulders and tugged you into him without you even having to ask. Your head crashed against his chest, your own arms instinctively winding around his torso as you huddled into his warmth, chased the comfort you felt like you so desperately needed right now.

Because it had happened again. As dramatic as you knew it was, it had happened again. Your little sister could have very nearly died today whilst under your care. If it wasn't for the grace of god and the fact that Lance had known what to do, she could have drowned.

Another person you couldn't save added to the list.

“It was too close,” you sobbed into Lance's chest, even though he had no idea what you were talking about. “What if you hadn't had been there? What could I have possibly done? She would have died!”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Lance cooed, running his fingers through your hair. “Come on, now. She's okay and that's all that matters.”

You squeezed your eyes closed, tightening your grip on his waist as if he was the only thing keeping you anchored right now. In a way, that's what it felt like. If you let go of Lance right now, everything would fall apart and crumble, and you would be left with the aftermath once again.

“You're just startled,” Lance whispered. You felt his lips on the top of your head, moving slowly with every word. “It's all gonna be okay. She's gonna wake up tomorrow and they're gonna discharge her, and you're not even gonna think back to what happened today.”

“Unlikely,” you grunted.

Lance pulled away, but his arms were still on your shoulders. You could feel his fingers slightly nipping at your shoulder blades when he held you at arms length, looking into your face with the most serious expression you had ever seen him wear.

“Okay, maybe you won't forget about it completely,” he said. “But you're one of the strongest people I've ever met, Y/N, which means you won't let it take over. Will you?”

Your lower lip trembled. Lance caught the slight movement, brought his thumb to your mouth and gently ran it over your lips. You closed your eyes at the feeling, the soft touch that sent sparks running through your system at a hundred miles per hour.

“Will you?” he repeated, quieter this time.

You nodded slowly. Lance's fingers fell away from your mouth, drifted past your shoulders until he was grabbing a hold of your waist and pulling you into him again. You reached up and hugged him back, because that was what you truly needed right now; you needed his warmth, the comfort of somebody else. You didn't want pity, didn't want to be reminded of the things you couldn't change – you just wanted to be comforted, and Lance was offering that with his whole heart in this moment.

The two of you stood there for what felt like hours, tangled in each other's embrace with Lance's lips pressed against the side of your head and your face buried in the crook of his neck. Even after the tears had stopped falling, you stayed locked in each others company, refusing to move. Because moving away would mean the moment was over, and you weren't sure you would be able to hold yourself together if Lance wasn't there to keep the pieces locked in place.

---

The crick in your neck was enough to wake you up.

It must have been hours later, though you weren't entirely sure. You were positive that the moon had been in the sky whenever you had originally fallen asleep, though as your eyes peeled open now, they were greeted quite obtrusively by the glowing sun shining through the hospital windows.

You grumbled to yourself, stretching your neck that little bit to try and make the pain go away. It was only at this movement did the lump beneath you shift, startling you enough to have you flinching away from the chair and landing in a tired heap of exhausted limbs on the ground.

You looked at the chair you had just bolted from, eyes wide whenever you saw Lance groaning, stretching his arms high above his head. Had you two been curled up on the same chair? Had you two fallen asleep together?

Your eyes widened against your will; you knew looking shocked was only going to embarrass you. From what you could remember of the previous night, you would already have enough to be embarrassed about. You remembered hugging Lance, clinging to him like some kind of support as tears streamed down your face as you cried about nothing at all.

He hadn't minded. That was another thing you remembered, though you remembered it pleasantly. The way his arms had curled around your hips, the way he had hugged you into his chest, the way he didn't seem to mind the fact that you were having a full-on breakdown in his arms.

Now, you watched as he ran a large hand through his brown hair, his eyes slowly opening to meet your own.

“Ah, good. You made my arm go numb by laying on it.”

You flushed. “I'm sorry. I don't even – I don't even remember how-”

“You fell asleep against the wall outside whenever you were crying,” he explained, and the flush only grew worse. “So I carried you in here, sat you on my lap. I thought your dad would come out to get you, but I ended up falling asleep before he made an appearance.” He shrugged as if it meant nothing, looking down at his arm that had been wrapped around you only moments before. “You're a good pillow, though.”

You hollowed out your cheeks, running your hands through your bed head. “Your parents are probably worried sick about you right now.”

Lance shrugged, standing up and stretching once again. You tried to ignore the flash of skin that appeared as his shirt lifted up; you would not be one of them girls who lost their heads over the showing of a tiny bit of flesh.

“I called them and said I was helping out some friends. They won't mind if I don't come home for a few more hours; I want to help you get Penelope back home safely, at least.”

“Lance, you don't have to do that. What you did back at the pool was enough.”

“It's not for anybody's sake but my own,” he said, chuckling nervously. “I don't think I'll be able to sleep right unless I know she's gotten home safely.”

You opened your mouth to speak, though you had no words planned. You could have quite simply stood there and stared at him in shock, his kindness and his selflessness never failing to take you by surprise, no matter how many times he showed it to you.

You tried to reply, but the doors to the waiting room were opening before you had the chance. Your father came waddling out from the automatic doors, two hospital bags looped around one arm whilst his other arm was draped loosely over Penelope's shoulders.

Penelope looked a lot better, a grin adorning her chubby features almost as soon as she laid eyes upon Lance standing before her. You could see her try to lurch forward towards him, but her face paled at the sudden jolt of her body and your father had to drop one of the bags to keep her upright.

“You two are finally awake, I see,” your dad said, finally deciding to simply toss you the hospital bags and scoop Penelope into his arms.

“We are,” you replied. “Sorry I didn't come back to the room last night. I got kind of-”

“You were cuddling with Lance!” Penelope giggled, pointing a trembling finger in your direction.

Your eyes widened, a flush immediately taking over your face once again. You could hear Lance trying to hold back a laugh behind you, clearly finding the bluntness of a seven year old highly amusing; it wasn't amusing to you, not whenever you heard it all day to the point where it became more of a burden than a form of entertainment.

“Right,” you grunted, clapped your hands as you readied yourself to change the subject of conversation before your fathers gaze could become any more stern. “Lets get home then, shall we? The house will probably need a good clean when we get in.”

Your dad grunted, nudged your arm as he walked past you. Taking one look in his direction, you could see that the attempt at a subject change had not quite worked on him; his gaze was almost of warning, as if telling you to take at least three steps away from Lance.

You did just that, carefully stepping to the side and flashing your father an over dramatic grin, to which he rolled his eyes and continued out of the hospital.

You sighed, shoulders slumped forward. “So they did see us.” Much to your surprise, an arm wrapped around your shoulders. “Hopefully they got a picture of us together. I'm sure we looked bloody adorable, huh?” Lance looked down at your mortified expression, burst out laughing as the two of you followed your dad and little sister out into the car park.

----

To your greatest surprise, it was Lance who ended up carrying Penelope up the stairs to her bedroom once the four of you had finally arrived at your home.

You had fully expected him to simply watch from the car, make sure you all got in safely before driving off. That seemed like the wisest thing to do, but before any of you could question it, Lance was grabbing Penelope from the back seat and hauling her into the house of his own accord.

You trudged in behind your father, lugging the two hospital bags along with you. Your dad walked slowly in front of you, head ducked down in the way he often held it whenever he was deep in thought; you didn't bother asking him what the matter was. Not whenever you had two extremely heavy bags hanging off of your arms.

You grunted as you swung them onto the counter. You took a glimpse up the stairs to see Lance disappear behind the railing, and it was only then did your father turn to you, an amused glint in his eyes that startled you. He had looked so forlorn all day. Seeing him suddenly brighten up with this look of bliss shocked you into a wary silence.

“So you and Lance,” was the first thing he said, and you immediately regretted not being the one to grab Penelope.

“Dad, no” you said. “No. I do not want to have this conversation.”

You tried to escape, stepping around the counter, but your dad was quicker. He stood in front of you, blocking your exit.

“Dad, please.”

“I saw the way you two were cuddled up earlier on.”

“We weren't cuddled up. I fell asleep, and Lance was . . . He was just there, okay? There was no funny business.”

“I never said there was funny business.” He was still smiling, not once taking his gaze off of you. “But you can't deny that you both seemed extremely close.”

“Oh my god, you sound like Allura.”

“Sometimes I think that whacko friend of yours makes some good points,” he said, casually. “Do you like him?”

Your eyes widened. “Dad, he's upstairs!”

“He can't hear us,” your dad insisted, though you very highly doubted that was the case. Your father had a tendency to raise his voice whenever he was excited, and there was no doubt in your mind that Lance could hear every word he was speaking right now. “You can trust your old man, can't you? Do you like him as more than a friend?”

The blush that rose to your cheeks must have been answer enough. You had every intention to deny the accusations, perhaps even shove past him and storm up the stairs like the teenager you were, but your dad had caught on long before you could even move; he was too smart for his own good.

He took one look at your flushed cheeks and his mouth fell open. He grinned from ear to ear, reached out, placed a hand on your shoulder and squeezed, forcing you to look up at him.

“That is . . . Adorable,” he said.

“Please don't get all protective.” You took his hand from your shoulder, held it in your own tightly. “Nothing is going to happen, I promise. He doesn't like me back, so there's no point in-”

“Doesn't like you back?” your dad burst, making your eyes widen. You lurched forward, shoved him backwards into the living room in any attempt to get as far away from the staircase as humanly possible.

“Keep your voice down!”

“How can you say something like that?” he hissed. “The boy clearly has feelings for you, for Christs sake.”

“No, he does not.” You paused, looked towards your dad with a raised brow. “How do you know? Have you been watching us?”

He shrugged. “I know, because I looked at your mother in the exact same way Lance looks at you.”

Of all the things you had expected your dad to say, that had been the last thing on your list. As soon as the words crossed his lips, your heart shattered in your chest. You felt winded, as if he had just sliced you in the stomach and left you to gasp for breath on the floor.

Ever since your mother had died, it was rare that your dad ever made an attempt to talk about her. Sure, she would show up in conversation sometimes, but only ever briefly and he would never let the conversation go on much longer than a few minutes. It was his healing strategy – perhaps if he didn't talk about her as if she was in the past, he could pretend she was still there. He could pretend nothing bad had happened, that those last few months of her life were merely figments of his imagination.

But ever since Penelope had found her dead that evening, your father had not once spoken about their relationship. Any time he did speak about her, it was purely to tell you and Penelope how much she had loved you both, how much she cared for you both. Not once did he ever elaborate on the love he had for her.

Not until now.

“Dad,” you whispered. “You don't have to...”

“No, I do.” He stepped forward. The amused glint had disappeared, replaced by one of sadness and remembering that made your heart shatter all over again. “Lance looks at you the way I looked at your mother, and that's how I know he cares about you. That's how I know he would care for you – why else do you think I've let you hand around with this boy all summer?”

“Lance and I are just friends...”

“And do you want to be just friends with him?”

You closed your eyes. “What if you're wrong? What if he doesn't like me like that?”

Your father startled you further, letting out a soft laugh as if he truly couldn't believe your stupidity right now. “I can promise you, sweetheart, that I'm not wrong. I know a man in love when I see one, because I was once in the same position as him.”

---

Perhaps it had been the talk of your mother that pushed you to do it. Maybe it was the look in your dads eye as he spoke about her, the way he rung his hands out in front of him in nerves. Perhaps it was that suddenly overwhelming feeling of love that overcame you that pushed you to walk up the stairs towards Penelope's room, with one speech set in your mind.

You reached Penelope's door, reached out a hand to open it, but you didn't have to do such a thing. Lance opened it long before you had a chance to and was walking out, a broad grin on his face that slowly disappeared when he saw you; oh, how stressed you must have looked. If your physical features were portraying just how nervous you felt inside, you were fairly certain you must have looked a frazzled mess.

“Y/N? Are you okay? You look like you're gonna pass out again,” he said. He reached forward, gripped your elbows in the same way he had done the previous night. “I can take you out to get some fresh air again.”

“Can we go to my room and talk for a second?”

You said it quick, just wanting to get it over with.

Lance flushed at your request, at just how broad such a statement was, but nodded anyway. You nodded back, though you didn't need to, whirled on your heel and made your led him across the hall into your room.

“Penelope's trying to get some more sleep,” he was explaining. “I left her some water as well, so if she wakes up-”

You closed the door, whirled on him. “I like you.”

There was no other way to really do it. At least, that was what you had convinced yourself of. You just needed to say it, get it over with, and that was exactly what you had done.

For a second, the room was silent. Lance was simply staring at you, his mouth open a little bit. The sun was glaring down on his golden locks, and once again you were able to see them perfect little features that were so hidden during the day due to him bouncing around, never giving anyone a moment to just look at him and appreciate him for what he was.

And then he spoke. “I like you too.”

“No, you don't understand,” you hissed, waving your hands in front of you. “I like like you. I think you're an incredible person and stuff like that – I mean, I like you as more than a friend. I wasn't gonna say anything, because I didn't want to make a fool out of myself, but my dad's just spoken to me and I've realised that things like this shouldn't wait, because you never know when the love of your life is just gonna drop dead one day, you know? My dad told me he wanted to say so many things to my mum before she died, and he never got the chance to, and I just don't want that to happen to me. Like, you could walk out of my house and get run over, and I never would have been able to tell you that you're one of the sweetest guys I've ever spoken to, and I get butterflies whenever we make eye contact and that's why I sometimes babble on and on about stupid stuff – talking is a coping mechanism, I think. You should have seen me whenever I first saw you. I spoke so much that Allura genuinely got up and left the cafe because she-”

Your words were cut off by a pair of lips finding yours.

God, you were grateful for those lips on top of your own. Not only did they feel perfect, but they shut you up. They stopped you from making an even bigger fool of yourself.

You groaned, pushed yourself onto your tippy toes in any attempt to chase the sweet taste that came with kissing Lance McClain. You were numb, locked in total bliss, and despite the static-feeling coursing through your body, you couldn't ignore the heat that spread from your hips where his fingertips were burning holes in your flesh. Your own hands had found their way around his shoulders, were messing idly with the small flicks of brown hair at the back of his neck.

He pulled away all too soon.

He gasped as he did so, a small noise that made you giggle with the desperation of it. The sound of your life prompted him further, and he continued to press light pecks to your lips on a continuous loop until you were forced to pull away from him.

“I'm sorry,” you said. “I didn't mean to start talking so much.”

“Don't apologise,” he replied quickly. His eyes were still lingering on your lips, as if he had been waiting years to finally be able to kiss you and now that the chance was being given to him, he was ready to take everything he could. “Never apologise for talking. I love your voice. I love what you have to say.”

“But you did hear what I told you, didn't you? In between all the useless bullshit-”

“I like you too, Y/N,” Lance said, finally looking into your eyes. That spark was back within them, so bright it made your legs weak. “Whenever I said that the first time, I meant it as more than a friend. Every single time I've said I like you these past few months, I never meant it as a casual, platonic thing. I've liked you from the moment we started talking at the pool.”

Your eyes popped open. “You're kidding.”

He shook his head. “Afraid not. If I'd have known you felt this way, I wouldn't have spent so much time trying to impress you.”

You scrunched up your nose. Lance chuckled at the expression, pressed a feather light kiss to the reddening tip of your nose before he lowered his head and caught your lips in yet another tender concealment.

You melted into his grip all over again, ready to lose yourself once and for all. Because your father had been right – at the end of the day, we don't know how long we have on this earth. We cut things short, we don't take risks, we think we have all the time in the world to do the thing, but that wasn't always true. Your mothers death was proof enough of that – she had been young, had so many years left in her to watch her daughters grow old, to watch them fall in love, but all of that had been cut short, and your father had been left with unspoken confessions perched on the edge of his tongue that would never again reach the light of day, because the person he wanted to say them to was no longer around.

You wouldn't be like that. Not now. Not with Lance. Not whenever everything was so unpredictable and unsure. You would do your best, make yourself the happiest person in the world by going for the things you wanted.

Lucky for you, the person you wanted also wanted you just as much.

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