Hana

Red Tulip

The smell of food and the sound of voices hit Lance as he entered the cafe. They sat at the bar and Lance had a waitress fetch aunt Julia.

Lance turned to Keith, leaning on his elbow, "Now when she comes, she's gonna be excited."

"And why is that?" he smirked.

"Oh she's been waiting forever for me to find someone," Lance answered sarcastically.

"Oh really?" Keith inquired.

The two laughed and aunt Julia entered from the back. "Lance!"

"Aunt Julia," Lance smiled, "how are you?"

"How am I? I'm great! But what about you?"

"Perfect condition," Lance snickered. He looked to Keith, "Hey aunt Julia, there's someone I want you to meet."

She looked at the boy beside Lance questioningly.

Lance nodded, "This is Keith. He's the one that brought me to the hospital that day."

Julia brought her hand up to her mouth, "Oh my, thank you so much!"

"And-" Lance started, "he is also...kind of...my boyfriend."

Julia gasped, "Is this the neighbor?"

"You told her about me?" Keith teased.

Lance blushed, "Aunt Julia!"

She ignored Lance's whining and looked to Keith, "What's your name, sweetie?"

"I'm Keith."

"Well, you can call me Aunt Julia. My nephew is a handful, so you best be prepared."

Lance hit his palm on the bar, "Aunt Julia!"

She laughed at the embarrassed Lance, "Oh hun, I'm only teasing."

She turned back to Keith and took his hand, "But really, thank you for caring for my nephew. You saved his life, too. You definitely have my blessing."

Keith smiled at her, "It's a pleasure, ma'am."

By the time Lance and Keith left the cafe, it was dark out. Keith started up the car, "Let's head home now."

Lance put his hand on Keith's, "No, not yet. I wanna do something."

"What do you want to do?"

Lance smirked, "I wanna go dancing."

Keith took Lance to his favorite place and parked. Lance pulled off his nasal cannula.

"Wait, wait," Keith panicked, "You're supposed to wear that!"

"It's fine, it's just to help. How am I gonna dance with this thing?"

Keith hesitated, "Are you sure it's alright?"

Lance dropped his hands into his lap, "If something happens, then I will tell you and we can come right out to get it. Deal?"

"Alright, deal."

Lance quickly took his various medications and they headed inside. Keith was able to bring Lance straight in, and he kept an arm around the small boy as he clung to his chest.

Everyone seemed to know Keith and stared when they walked in. At first, Lance thought it was because of his oxygen tank, but then he remembered that he took it off. Music blasted through the speakers and Lance felt the bass in his chest. There was a crowd of people on the dance floor, strobe lights and lasers flashed from the ceiling and stage, and DJs jumped around the platform. Against the left wall, there was a bar with bartenders doing impressive tricks. Along every wall, there were booths to sit in when you wanted a break.