Room 1013

Wolves

Keith could feel the tears sting his eyes, but he held them back. With every step down the hall, his body shook more. The world seemed to go in slow motion as he walked into the living room. Lance was in the kitchen taking a drink of milk straight from the carton. Keith would yell at him for it, but he actually found it rebelliously adorable. Lance said something, but Keith ears were stuffed and bloated. He just watched him with a straight face until he was grounded enough to function.

Finally, Lance's voice could be heard through the cotton in his head. "Keith? You alright?" He screwed the cap back onto the milk and tossed it into the fridge. His soft face held the same genuine concern it had always harbored.

Keith's throat was swollen and sewn shut. He adjusted his grip on the bag to confirm that it actually existed. Strangely, their wedding song ran through his head as he remembered walking down the aisle to a bawling Lance. They had come so far from that day. Keith was cured, they were living together, and Lance was a drug addict. Keith could function as a normal teenager, they were both happy, Lance was a drug addict. Keith stood at the end of the hall with a bag of coke in his hand, they started learning to dance together, Lance was a drug addict.

"Keith?" Lance stepped down from the kitchen area and kept a safe distance by the couch. "What's wrong?"

A few slow breaths brought him back to reality. Keith met his eyes with hesitant lips. He could barely hold his voice steady, "You lied to me."

Lance's face scrunched up in confusion, "What? No I haven't. About what?"

Keith brought his hand up and held out the bag of cocaine. He could see the color drain from Lance's face. He swallowed hard in an attempt to relax his cotton throat. "You lied to me."

Lance was silent for a few moments before cautiously lifting his hands in defense. "Keith, I didn't mean to lie-"

Keith's chest burst in that moment. He stomped past him and stood in the kitchen.

Lance chased after him, staying a few feet away at all times. "Keith, would you please just listen to me?"

"Why?!" Keith clutched his chest and shook his head. "You lied to me!" He cut the air with his arm, "All this time! You lied to me!"

"I didn't mean to hurt you!" Lance's hands trembled.

"Well, you did!" Keith's eyes finally gave away and let out a few tears.

"I couldn't function without it!" Lance tapped his chest, keeping his tone soft and his voice loud. "I needed it so I could take some pressure off you!"

Keith shook his head and jabbed a finger at him, "No, you didn't!" He sniffled, "You had me! Was I not enough for you?!"

"I did it for you!"

Keith's chest boiled with rage. All of the muscles in his body tightened against the anger. "You shouldn't have! I was here!" He took a gasp of breath, "For you!"

Lance gulped and stared at him with regret-filled eyes. They poured mistakes and lies down his cheeks and quivering lips. "I'm so sorry."

"That's not enough anymore!" Keith outstretched the bag back behind him to keep it up and away. "You were sorry last time! You're always sorry!"

"I'll stop! I'll give them up!" He put his hands together in a desperate beg. "I'll get clean! I promise you!"

Keith's face scrunched up with heartbreak. He clamped his eyes shut to avoid looking at him and frantically shook his head. "No! You promised last time!"

"I mean it this time!"

"No, you don't!"

"Baby," Lance lowered down to his knees, "please give me a second chance."

Keith's lungs tore at his rib cage like rabid dogs. They closed his throat with shards of anguish, crying out and bleeding from his eyes. He couldn't calm them. They wanted freedom. To jump from his stained cheeks and crash to the ground. It was the only way out. Keith shook his head and screamed in babbling sobs. "No! I already did!"

Lance pushed himself off the floor and took a step toward him. "Baby, please-"

"Stop!" Keith backed up to the sink and opened the bag.

"Keith, don't!" He took another step.

"Don't come any closer!" Keith faced him and motioned to the bag. "I swear to god, I'll shove all of this down my throat if you get any closer."

Lance held up his hands in defense and kept his body low. "Keith, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say."

With pitiful sobs, he dumped the bag out and turned on the faucet. The coke was splashed over the silver and dragged down. Lance appeared behind him, grabbing his shoulder and pushing him away from the sink. "Keith! That shit's expensive!"

"What are you gonna do?!" Keith shoved the empty bag into his chest. "Sell it?!" He hopped down from the kitchen area and marched to their bedroom.

Keith threw anything he could think of into his suitcase. Outfits, toothbrush and medicines, his phone charger. He stuffed everything in as fast as he could and zipped it closed. Slipping the mask onto his face, he snatched his wallet and keys. When Lance saw the suitcase, he panicked.

"Keith, wait!" He jumped over the counter. "Please don't go!"

Keith whipped around and glared at him with scarlet eyes and drenched cheeks. He yanked the door open and shook his head. "Not this time." As a last goodbye, he shoved his suitcase out the door and headed toward his car. "Get clean, Lance!"

"Keith!" Lance walked after him in his socks. "Please!"

Keith tossed the suitcase into the back of his car and ignored Lance's protests. Tears soaked into his mask as he closed the door and started it up. Lance tapped on his window and begged like a starving puppy.

Keith held his face in his hands for a moment. He didn't want to leave. That was the last thing that he wished for. But alas, here they were. Keith sniffled and backed into the street, leaving a pitiful Lance crying in the driveway.