Outer space | klance au |

24: cacti

warnings: mentions of suicide and depression! please don't read if you are uncomfortable with the subject matter.

Lance wandered the isle again. He glanced at every potted cactus until they all basically blended into the same image. His head was swimming and he just wanted to go home. "I can't do this." He heard himself saying.

His friend suddenly appeared beside him and he saw her bright eyes work through the cacti just as he had. "Just pick one." The blonde woman practically pleaded and he shook his head. He really couldn't chose. Lance felt like he might actually start crying. He was just so overwhelmed. "It's like picking your favorite color. What's your favorite color?" Lance glanced down at all the blooms that sat on top of the cacti.

"I don't really have one at the moment." Why was he so unsure of himself that he didn't even have a favorite color anymore? Romelle pouted at his answer. "I mean I guess lately it's been red." She smiled at the answer and picked up the closest plant that had red flowers adorning it. Lance held it close to him as they walked to the register.

"You have to remind me to take care of this because I will forget." Romelle laughed and brought out her wallet.

"You're a terrible plant mom." Lance teased and fished in his pocket for his money. Romelle stopped him with a wave of her hand. She took his plant and he quietly protested. "You didn't have to do that." The sudden feeling of helplessness and guilt settled on his tongue and in his words.

"Nonsense. I dragged you out here so I'll pay." She pinched one of his cheeks between her cold fingers before skipping the rest of the way to the register. Romelle really had doctor hands. Her fingernails were painted a pastel pink and were kept short as not to scratch a patient. He wondered how his own would look if he ever decided to paint them. She came back with two small green bags. The blonde woman thrusted his at him and he quickly captured it in his hands. "I expect you to take good of it!"

"Promise." Lance said softly. She fumbled with her phone for a second and unlocked it. He noticed that her lock screen was a picture of her current celebrity crush. Lance has to admit he was pretty cute.

"Can we take a picture together?" She said somewhat shyly. Lance's chest almost exploded with her cuteness.

"Of course! Let's take loads more together." He slung his arm around her and the grin that took over her features made his day. She snapped a few cute ones of them together before shoving it back in her pocket. "Where to next?" He asked. They were technically supposed to be studying together but he didn't mind the distraction.

"I'm not sure. We could explore for a cute coffee shop or something." Romelle shrugged. He felt like now was the time to ask about the whole psych thing. Whatever it was the flashed in her eyes when he brought it up haunted him when he couldn't sleep at night. "Or we could just go back to mine and talk for a bit." She added like somehow she knew that was what he would prefer. Lance did. He wondered how she could tell exactly what he was thinking.

"Yeah I would really like that." Lance mumbled somewhat shyly. She gave him a weak smile. "They say that the third year of medical school sucks." He tried to lighten the conversation.

Romelle rolled her eyes and threw him her keys. They took turns driving. "I don't believe the word they use is 'sucks'." The smile was back in her voice and Lance felt relief flood his chest. "I know that most students tend to become depressed this year. We should keep an eye out for each other." Romelle said slowly like she was tasting the words as she uttered them. "I would hate if you wouldn't come to me to talk. This year is brutal and you're a lot younger the rest of us." She got into her car and quickly buckled in. Romelle had a point. Lance was practically two years younger than all of his classmates.