Frosty Flames and Burning Ice|Klance Soulmate/Fantasy AU

(9) Hurt

  "So you just called him a loner like that? What the quiznak is wrong with you?" thundered the burly young man before him. Luis and Lisa had sent a message to Lance, asking him to bring the kids back before the sun set, conveniently allowing Lance time after bringing the kids back home and before his curfew to go over to Hunk's place. Lance flinched at his best friend's harsh tone. Hunk had almost never been this angry before, he was usually sweet and understanding, with a constant and endless supply of hugs and cookies he was always ready to provide. 

  "Well- he called me short!" Lance blurted out without thinking. The other boy just scoffed at him. Lance shivered. Hunk could be really intimidating when he wanted to, and right now his friend's piercing glare seemed to be boring right into him.

  "He was obviously just teasing you, Lance," he snapped at the smaller boy, "You definitely overreacted, and you may have known this if you had bothered to listen to the Pidge before, but you hit a soft spot by saying he was lonely, or he didn't have company, or whatever you said. Hasn't Pidge told you?"

  "About what?"

  Hunk sighed once again, sinking into his sofa. The anger that was in him previously had mostly dissipated, but was now replaced by a sort of sorrow and weariness. Lance watched, puzzled yet apprehensive, as Hunk bit his lip. "Look," Hunk said hesitantly, turning to face Lance, "I- I don't know if it's my place to tell you this, but I think you should know. Keith lost his parents when he was young, so what you said was a really low blow. Not to mention that Keith is especially sensitive about this topic, so..."

  "That doesn't excuse him from not recognising me at all when I greeted him," Lance huffed.

  "Don't take it personally, buddy," Hunk smiled at him, but the smile didn't really reach his eyes, but at least the usual sweet Hunk was back, "he used to not recognise Pidge either, he tends not to be able to recognise his schoolmates when he isn't at school. And when he's in his own world, it used to take a while for Pidge to jog his memory. You gotta realise, Lance, you don't understand him yet, and he's pretty different from the friends you already have."

  The other boy said nothing, but he had slumped against the wall, arms crossed, head bowed down. It didn't seem like he was about to say anything, so Hunk decided to continue.

  "Y'know, kid, from what you told me, I reckon Keith did remember who you were after a while, he was just messing with you afterwards," Hunk tried to catch Lance's gaze, to send him an imploring look, but icy blue eyes avoided Hunk's warm chocolate brown ones. "Hey," Hunk's voice softened, "Look, I can't blame you for getting hurt and reacting like that, but you gotta realise that you hurt Keith as well, okay? You've gotta talk to him and apologise for what you said, and you should tell him he hurt you too. You're both my friends now, I don't wanna see you guys hate each other just 'cos of a small misunderstanding."

  Finally, Lance reacted in the form of a small sigh. "Thanks Hunk, you really helped a lot. I'll consider talking to Keith when I'm ready. But I don't- I mean, I tried to forget about the rivalry we shared, and tried to start a new friendship with him, but you're right, I don't understand him and I can't be friends with him if I don't." A small but genuine smile spread across Hunk's face as he nodded in approval. "It's no problem, I know this is a pretty complicated situation" he reassured the boy, "but know I'm always here for you." Completely reverting to the typical Hunk, he got up and gave the boy a big hug.

*~*~*~

  "Come on, Keith, tell me what's wrong," Pidge pestered, shoving the taller boy as they walked back home. Matt had decided to spend the rest of his evening with Cassidy, telling Keith and Pidge they could head home without him. Along with many sheepish apologies. Pidge had been thoroughly amused, while simultaneously feeling quite annoyed that both boys had left her alone, but decided not to tease Matt or complain, and was fine with exploring the place by herself anyways. She had waited till sunset to text Keith, asking if he wanted to head home. Keith did not respond to any of her calls or messages, and Pidge had gone into a sort of frenzy. After a solid thirty minutes, she had finally found Keith, sitting on a bench and staring blankly into space.

  She had been quick to notice her friend's slightly puffy eyes and pinkish nose, and had since been incessantly asking him to tell her what happened as they walked to the bus stop. But Keith was not about to relent.

  "Hey, look, I'm not good at this comforting thing, Hunk would be good at that, but maybe I could help?" she implored. Keith only responded by quickening his pace, and Pidge was forced into an almost jog to keep up.

  "Not right now, Pidge, I can tell you later" he sighed. The girl took a while to realise that Keith had finally spoken. "Oh thank goodness," she exclaimed, "I was starting to think you didn't realise I was here at all!"

  Keith did not respond after that, and definitely did not tell her later. He did not tell anyone at all, in fact. When he got home and Shiro and Adam asked him how his day had gone, he simply replied with a "Awesome. Tiring." and proceeded to go straight to bed. Normally, Shiro and Adam would have noticed that Keith was in a bad mood and would have asked him about it, but they had simply assumed that the TsumTsums had reminded Keith too much of his mother. Which would perfectly explain the puffy red eyes. And hence, Keith did not tell anyone about what had happened, chosing to once again bottle up all of his emotions.

jdskfjdskf confession: this chapter has not been proofread ahhh i can't bear to read my own work so uh.. yeah sorry :(

Please feel free to leave a comment/message if you spot any errors! Tysm and have a nice day <3