game over ❇ 'level up' trilogy

(7) a siren drowned

Lance's arms fell, "Oh..."

Keith nodded, "Yeah... Whoever is doing this is harassing me, not us."

"Does it have anything to do with why you ran out of the lunchroom yesterday?"

"No," Keith lied. He knew the person he was talking to the day before was the one doing everything else, "I was only so freaked out because it was someone I hadn't thought about in a very long time... My ex... He just... He wasn't good to me. He got me roped into some very bad things. He never hit me or anything like that, but he wasn't good to me," he wasn't lying about that.

Lance nodded, "That's why you said it was someone you'd rather leave in the past..." he reached over and held Keith's hand, "Zack never hit me either, but that doesn't mean he wasn't abusive towards me. Don't devalidate what this guy did to you just because he never hit you."

Keith chuckled a bit, "That's not a word, but thank you."

Lance frowned, "I'm serious Keith, real word or not. People can abuse you in many more ways than hitting you."

Keith sighed, "I wouldn't call Carson abusive. More of a bad influence and shitty boyfriend. And he was very manipulative. He was more so someone I had sex with than an actual boyfriend... I was already drinking when I got placed in the new foster home that got me enrolled in his school. But he and his friends, Cleo and Seamus, got me into drugs... I told you my coping mechanisms in the past weren't exactly healthy, but I got clean at my next foster home. Anyway, things started to get really bad. I don't want to go into detail... It was just really bad, and I separated myself from them. When I did, Carson freaked out. We got in this big fight, we were both drunk. I said some pretty nasty things and he tried to hit me, but I dodged it. I had gotten pretty good at it after dealing with my dad beating me up for the first 13 years of my life. After he tried to hit me I never spoke to them again. Not long after, I got sent to a different foster home. I thought they were behind me forever. But when I got those messages yesterday... I freaked out," He didn't lie, but he didn't tell the whole truth.

Lance sighed and pulled Keith into a hug, "I would've freaked out too. And I understand why you didn't want to tell me about him, bad memories are hard to talk about."

Keith hugged him back tightly, "All I care about right now is that you're not mad at me anymore."

"Mi amor por ti es mayor que las estrellas," Lance pulled away just enough to kiss him, "I could never stay mad at you. No matter how much you piss me off."

Keith smiled, "I love you."

"I love you too," Lance kept hugging him, nuzzling his head into Keith's neck.

Keith sighed, feeling glad he had told Lance some of it, but guilty because he didn't tell him the rest. He let Lance go, "Let's get inside. It's our last day of high school. Let's make the most of it."

Lance smiled, nodding, "We finally get to see Pidge's project, and you guys get to see her new hair."

Keith looked confused, "Her new hair?"

"Yeah, she cut her hair last night. It's really short but she likes it," Lance shrugged, "She did it herself, most likely very impulsively due to all the stress going around," he sighed.

The warning bell rang, they heard it from where they sat but it was very muffled.

Keith held Lance's hand, "I'll walk you to homeroom."

Lance smiled, "Okay."

The two grabbed their bags and walked into the school building, hand in hand.