All that ever mattered

Chapter 4

And now his fingers left the strings,Rachel scooted a little away. Only his moment now and so he sang,exhausted,the hammering in his chest now leaving a melancholy silence. He could no longer hear the pounding of his heartbeat just the patient breathing of his loved ones around him.His siblings,Hunk,Pidge,even Coran now all sat close to him now leaning on their sides facing him,the group had somehow gotten closer and the circle between them smaller as the song had carried on.Family

"Six feet under
I can't help but wonder
If our grave was watered by the rain
Bloom
Bloom

Again"

The last word came out breathless and he could feel his heart flatten and sink the deepest pits of darkness,standing up with a pained smile he nodded at everyone before facing his friends.Almost all rose to their feet and clapped.Allura and Romelle's eyes cried in pain, Shiro's expression matched that of Pidge and Hunk,surprised and guilty and regretful,he reached out a hand hesitantly before pulling it back.He didnt know.Why did he not know.He was used to knowing things.How could he not have known how much the two needed each other.How could he not have noticed the pain and the longing Keith would stare at Lance with everytime he had to pull him away for one thing or the other. Only Keith still sat on the floor,face blank ahead,eyes shining with tears,agony etched over his expression,tilting his head at Lance for a brief second before jerking his head away. His lips trembled and his hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly,his thigh was pressed down upon tightly by his mother.And Lance suddenly realised he hated himself more than anything in this world for making him cry.And in that moment swore out to every cursed star in the night sky that he would never ever be the sole reason for those tears again.

So Leandro 'Lance' Serrano McClain did not run away,true to his namesake,though his weeping flattened heart begged him in dying breaths to please do so,he ignored the compliments and tugs at him turned to alarmed whispers from his family,the sniffles,the voices,he pushed past the paladins and fell to his knees in front of the only star he would never lose faith in.Krolia moved aside to make way for him,and Keith's head looked downwards,fixed away from him and gods Lance needed to see those beautiful eyes again.

Keith's heart hammered faster than a million miles per minute when his cheek was cupped in an oh so familiar cold hand,big enough to engulf him and his head was tilted up and he stared face to face right into those sparkling blue eyes,pooling with water. And Lance smiled,the tears slipping,and he felt the whole room spinning and nothing made sense except them and only them.

Every single moment,every single second of grief,tore his lover apart and it was all his doing and only his, he'd forgotten just how much he needed this part of him,kept pushing it away till he forgot he needed it like air and breathing in the touch sent waves of relief and longing through every inch of his skin and holy fuck he needed to hold him.

Keith looked down,those eyes were dangerous and mumbled "I'm sorry.Im so fucking sorry Lance I didn't mean it I swear I-" his voice cracked and he leaned his head onto his other's.He was so tired and so scared Lance wouldn't want him anymore.His frame shook with cries and he held his hands back from pulling Lance in and clinging onto him forever.The expression on Lance's face brimmed with softness and all the anger and confusion his family felt around them flew in confused vapors. They knew love when they saw it,their baby was in love.Veronica held onto her mother tightly,heart swelling watching the way Lance nudged his nose into Keith's trying to get him to smile.

"Help
I lost
Myself
Again
But I
Remember
You"

Lance pushed his nose against Keith's.They weren't like this.Even before,affection wasn't something they had the time to explore.They grew apart far too quickly to reach the point where they both knew that this was all they needed.Awkward presses of lips,lingering touches,Lance once believed that was all there was to it,but it didn't matter because he fell in love with it anyways.But nothing could ever compare to how Keith leaned in,as the last word left his mouth, Lance only taking seconds to respond.Keith's hands travelled to his waist,cupping his sides perfectly and they were bigger than he remembered and warmer,it enveloped him.He pulled himself closer wrapping his arms around his lover,his boyfriend's neck oh gods,pressing his mouth onto soft lips with a closed smile as the hollering surrounded them from all directions.He bent back his head across his arm and kissed him, softly at first, and then with a swift gradation of intensity that made him cling to him as the only solid thing in a dizzy swaying world. His insistent mouth was parting at the other's shaking lips, sending wild tremors along his nerves, evoking from him sensations he had forgotten he was capable of feeling and he missed this touch and he missed those lips more than anything.It was a homecoming,and the cheers rang loud,a drowned out wave and then every spare glance,every bitter word,all the pain,the paper mache attempts at moving on,all swept under a mattress for due time of course because right now he was kissing Keith Kogane,the future was calling for him.The tears streamed down hard and each time Keith breathed in apologies into his mouth he pushed harder.He was aware that Pidge and Rachel had hands clapped on each other's backs,together pretend gagging.Coran was threw his arm around Shiro with an excited cheer,while the other was grinning wide letting out a snide "Team Klance!"absolutely unbothered by the fact that Veronica was slapping his side in excitement because he was unfortunately the one nearest to him. Hunk was having the life squeezed out of him by Marco and Luis and the 3 were all crying happily,their Hermano was finally happy.Krolia stood by the McClain parents with a proud expression gracing her features.Lance's mother and father held each other,big fat tears rolling down both their faces and they grinned toothily at each other and their baby.Allura and Romelle stood close to each other,hands held together out of sight,laughing and cheering politely.Lance pulled away light headed and ruffled,laughed when he saw his aunt and uncle uncover his nephew and niece's eyes.His father grinned at him and he grinned just as brightly, cloud 9 came through when he felt his tall boyfriend bury his face into his neck. The rest of the family all slowly came to pull the couple up into hugs.Lance could see it all now,perfectly envision what was to come.He could  many many more family hugs to come,he could see the earth being reformed.He could see them winning this war and Keith having a home,and that home being him,a normal life and all the songs he would write and how they'd never be about heartbreak,they could never be about heartbreak again because Keith pulled away and kissed him again and again,like he was worth something,like he was the future,and that was all that could ever matter