Fly Away From Your Troubles (Klance AU)

19- Quiet Comfort

Late that night, I slid my helmet over my head and stepped onto my bike. I had just finished my last class of the day, and was about to head home. I looked around before leaving, and saw a hunched-over figure sitting on a bench a little farther down the street. It seemed like their shoulders were shaking, and they were staring down at their phone. Typically I would leave them alone, but I had to head in that direction in order to get home. As I got closer to the figure, I stopped my motorcycle abruptly. The figure wore a forest green jacket, one that I recognized. Their haircut and chestnut-colored hair I recognized. If their face wasn't angled down so that I couldn't see it, I would be able to see their ocean-blue eyes. It was Lance. And he was crying. But why?

I approached the boy slowly. I stood next to the bench, but Lance didn't look up.

"Lance?" I said softly. He immediately gasped and lifted his head to face me.

"K-Keith? What are you..." Lance stopped when I sat down on the bench next to him. He looked at me, his eyes red and tears on his freckled cheeks.

"What's wrong?" I asked him. He looked down at his lap, avoiding the question. His hands fidgeted with his phone.

"Lance." I placed a hand on top of his. He continued to stare at the ground.

"...Do you miss home?" He looked up at me, and nodded slightly.

"Well... yes and no," He said. His eyes became distant, looking out at something that wasn't there.

"I... I do miss my family, but that's not why I'm sitting out here on a bench crying." He forced out a chuckle, then glanced down at his phone, which had just buzzed to show a new text. His face immediately dropped. "Here— it would be easier if you saw it for yourself," Lance said, shoving his phone into my hand. It was open to a texting chat with an unknown number, mostly texts they had sent Lance. I read through them.

"Wha— Lance, who sent these to you?" It was a series of texts from someone, each telling something to Lance about how he was (to quote the person) a "pathetic crybaby for missing his family." They also went into great detail about how they thought Lance was useless, and pretty much telling him that everyone hated him. One particular text said, "no one at home misses you anyways." I felt a pang of anger begin to boil in my chest at this person who was being such a dick to Lance.

"It's someone from home. They... they always hated me, and I always hated them. A few years ago somehow they found my phone number, and started texting me under a fake persona. I- I trusted him, and told him everything. All my secrets, all of my problems. He acted like he cared... and texting him helped me a lot. One day when I saw him and we got into a fight he said something that I had only told the person I texted. I figured it out, and he told everyone I knew the one secret I had begged him not to tell. I blocked him, and of course we still argued when we saw each other in person, but at least I could try to shove him out of my life. But then... last night he- he just started texting me again with a new number. At first he acted like he was sorry for what he did, but of course I didn't believe him, so he started sending those texts you're reading. He said I was nothing... that I was totally useless and nothing I ever did would be important or change anything. I- I know I shouldn't be affected by anything he's saying, but I-I- I am affected, and it's hard to admit, but the things he's saying are true. I- I just can't seem to—" Lance stopped, tears falling down his face.

I looked at him for a moment, stunned by what he just told me. I felt angry at this person who was getting these ideas into Lance's head that he was useless. I felt sad because it hurt me to see Lance like this, the opposite of his usually happy self. And I also might have felt a bit flustered, because man did he look beautiful right now. And as much as I wanted to wrap a wing around him, to hold him until he stopped crying, to comfort him, I wasn't sure how. I didn't know what to say to make him feel better, but I had to do something. I put my arm over his shoulder.