Hana

Rhododendron

Lance woke up with a cough brewing in his throat. He quickly jumped up and rushed to the bathroom. When he was finished, he headed into the kitchen to make some tea. On the way as he threw on the first thing he saw, he noticed a sleeping Keith in his bed, and the memories of last night came back. Rolling his eyes, and scolding himself, he made coffee as well.

A groggy Keith wandered into the kitchen, and Lance greeted him, "Coffee is made, there's sugar in the cabinet and creamer in the fridge."

"Good morning to you, too," Keith said, sleep in his voice.

Keith prepared his cup, and looked over to Lance. He was sitting at the dining table, one leg up with tea and book in hand.

Keith sipped his coffee, "You drink a lot of tea."

"Tea is good for you," Lance answered in a monotone voice, not taking his eyes off the book.

Keith stared for a second longer, then spoke up, "Hey, you know, about-"

"You can leave whenever," Lance interrupted.

Keith took a deep breath and set down his mug on the counter, "I'll get out of your hair."

Lance listened to Keith get dressed and gather his things, forcing himself to keep his eyes reading. After he was ready, he walked back through the kitchen, "I'll see you."

Lance replied with a half-hearted wave, eyes remaining on the pages. After the door shut behind Keith, Lance let out a cough. In his fit, he reached for his handkerchief that lied on the table, coughing pale pink into it. Lance clutched it in his hand as he walked to the bathroom for a shower.

Taking a shower, pampering his skin, and drinking a cup of tea was an excellent pick-me-up for Lance. After getting dressed, he decided it was time to clean. He pulled the sheets from his bed to wash them, and threw away all the leftover food. Lance noticed that he hadn't opened his fortune cookie. He couldn't locate another one, so Keith must have opened his. Lance almost threw it away, but decided to open it.

While ripping open the wrapper, he laughed at himself, "This is stupid." He broke open the cookie and unwrapped the paper. Your deepest wish will come true. Lance scoffed, "Yeah, fuckin' right." He crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash.

After cleaning up the house, Lance decided it was time for a meal. He wanted to go out, but didn't want to run into Keith, so that wasn't an option. Lance didn't necessarily like to cook, so he didn't want to make anything. In the end, he decided on a red bean bun and a glass of milk. Lance hadn't been eating very much since he moved to the city, so he had gotten a lot thinner. The clothes that he had seemed to always hang off his shoulders and he had to buy new jeans, since the others were too big. It worried Lance a little bit, but the doctor said that it was common for dramatic weight loss to happen.

After finishing his "meal," Lance took out his planner. He checked his schedule for the week. He talked himself through it, "Okay, doctor appointment tomorrow..." He thought for a moment, then wrote in something else, "Visit aunt Julia after appointment..." Lance sat back in his chair, tapping his pen on his chin, "Nothing today..." He clicked his tongue a few times, thinking. "What to do..." He checked the time: 1:42. He took a defeated breath and shut the planner, clipping the pen to the front cover. Lance pushed the book to the side and pulled out his phone, bringing his left foot back up to the chair to rest his chin on his knee. He went onto Instagram, scrolling through photos of people he left behind. He didn't like doing this, but he needed to see how he was doing. One picture caught his attention: a boy was taking a selfie while sitting on a surfboard, holding up a peace sign; behind him, you could see a girl bent over on her own board, laughing. Lance checked the caption: having lots of fun in Hawaii together!! He coughed a few times and exited the app.

He grabbed his headphones and plugged them in, finding his favorite Pandora station. A calming, but upbeat song came on and Lance stood up, sliding around in his socks. He spun and slid over to his bookshelf, browsing the titles. He picked one, pulling it out and spinning as he opened it. He bobbed his head and dance-stepped around his living room as he read. He made his way over to the couch, picking up his blanket and twirling to wrap it around himself with one hand, then plopped down on the couch.

A love song came on the radio and caused Lance's mind to race. Memories of a boy whose smile is warm and loving. A boy with a talent so good, he seemed to control the water beneath his feet. Lance forced himself to stop thinking about him, shaking his head. Instead, the memories of last night played back in Lance's head.

He pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them. What the fuck am I doing?