Lance and Keith both were on a bench behind the school. They faced the parking lot, and the omega's fingers were trembling as he clicked on Shiro's contact.
" He's going to freak out..." Keith looked down.
" Do you want me to talk to him?" Lance asked. He made sure that Keith's legs had enough room as they rested atop his backpack at the end of the bench. Even though the smaller male was still wearing his cheer shoes, his ankle was noticeably swollen.
" No... it's okay..." Keith pressed the call button. He sniffed while listening to the dial tone. There were damp stains on his cheeks from the crying he'd done.
Lance was infuriated that his boyfriend was in this amount of pain. He didn't want to say 'I told you so.' But that was all he could think as he looked down at Keith, who had his head in Lance's lap.
" Keith? I'm at work, what's up?" Shiro picked up on the other end. The little brother knew he wasn't supposed to call unless it was an emergency. Shiro could get in trouble for having his phone out at work.
" Hey..." Keith said, and Shiro immediately could tell something was wrong. " I need you to pick Lance and I up..."
" What's wrong? You were crying." The older brother left the room where his colleagues were, so he could talk to him privately.
" I-" Keith looked at Lance. " At cheer... there was an accident... and we're not sure if my ankle is broken or not."
" Keith, that was anything but an accident." Lance said.
" What?! You need to tell me what happened!" Shiro didn't even bother telling his boss where he was going. He rushed to the break room and grabbed his keys before bolting out the back door of the building.
Keith shot Lance a 'what the fuck' look. If they told him it wasn't an accident, they would have to explain way more than that.
" I was stunting and my foot landed wrong." The omega spoke, hearing the alarm in Shiro's voice. " It crunched... and... I can't put weight on it."
" No no... what did Lance say?! Did someone hurt you on purpose?!" Shiro exclaimed, slamming the door to his van. He wasted no time in starting up the ignition.
" Yes! That's exactly what I'm saying!" Lance cut in. He was sick of hiding everything from one of the only people who might be able to help them. The alpha couldn't just stand by and watch them go after his boyfriend over and over. He was done.
" Lance!" Keith scolded him. He didn't want his brother to find out about the video or the blackmail. It was humiliating.
" Are you at the school?" Shiro sped out of the parking lot, leaving black tire marks as he took a sharp turn to the right.
" In the back." Lance answered. Keith couldn't say anything from how shocked he was.
" I'll be there in two minutes." Shiro said. It was obvious he was speeding, and his engine could be heard through the phone. Keith hung up before Lance could say any more.
" Babe, what the actual fuck?!" He tried to sit up, but immediately regretted it. There was searing pain clawing at his ankle the second he attempted to shift.
" Keith, I'm not dealing with this anymore. They won't stop unless-" The taller male cut himself off. He wouldn't dare to even say it, so he said something in place of it. " Shiro can help us."
" We'll have to tell him everything!" Keith panicked.
" I'd rather have him know that I fucked you in the shed than have to watch you get hurt again!" Lance raised his voice, not meaning to. And he could tell that it had startled Keith.
" Not everything is up to you!" The smaller male hissed, getting aggravated.
" Someone has to protect you! That's my job... I-I love you... it'll kill me if I have to watch you suffer..." Lance had a less menacing tone of voice. It sounded like he was about to cry yet again. " This is exactly what they want..." The alpha looked off to the side.
" What?" Keith was so confused.
" They want to tear us apart... turn us against each other..." Lance let a couple tears streak down his cheeks.
Keith took a few deep breaths, composing himself. Actually fighting with Lance made his insides hurt more than his ankle did right then.
" That won't work." He tried to comfort him. " I love you... even if we fight..." Keith knew Lance wasn't wrong for wanting to tell the truth, he was just scared. Scared of what Shiro would do, what if he blamed Lance for everything?
" I want to hug you so bad right now." Lance laughed a little while a few tears dripped to the side of his face.
" I'll take a rein check." The cheerleader reached up to caress Lance's dampened cheek. And they both jumped when Shiro's minivan screeched into the back parking lot.
The older brother slammed on the breaks right by the edge of the side walk, almost pulling up and over it. And Keith facepalmed, knowing that Shiro was probably losing it.
" Keith!" He yelled, getting out and almost forgetting to shut the driver's side door.
Lance wasn't all that shocked from how frantic the other alpha was. After all, Keith was his little brother. It was only natural that he felt responsible for him.
" Shiro, I'm okay..." Keith said and Shiro knelt down in front of the bench. He didn't want to move him from his resting spot on Lance.
" You said you don't know if it's broken?" He cupped the younger male's face, examining him.
" We really aren't sure." Lance said, and it was completely obvious how shaken up he was. He didn't want to show weakness in front of him of all people, though.
" Who did this?!" Shiro looked like he was about ready to faint when he spotted the swollen area on Keith's right ankle. " You know what- explain it to me on the way to the hospital!" He exclaimed, putting his hands on his own head.
" Come here, Babe." Lance carefully slid his hands under Keith ever so gently. He made sure to support his thighs so that his legs wouldn't sway too much.
" Be careful with him." Shiro talked rapidly. And Keith sighed deeply, knowing that his alpha would treat him delicately without having to be told.
" Don't worry... I have him." Lance looked Shiro in the eye while standing up, Keith in his arms. And when the older brother was sure the omega was relatively comfortable, he grabbed the football and cheer bags from the bench.
They eventually got Keith in the back of the van, and Lance stayed right there with him. The couple were especially clingy to one another.
" So... can someone please explain what happened now?!" Shiro exclaimed, and even though he was riled up, he was easy on the gas while pulling out.
" Well-" Lance was about to spill everything, but Shiro cut him off.
" Someone other than Lance."
Keith felt his body tense, God did he hate admitting when he was wrong. He could feel Shiro eyeing him from the mirror.
" Shiro, please don't freak out." The little brother began. " This is sort of a long story..."
" The hospital is about ten minutes away, so it better not take longer than that." Shiro said while halting at a stop sign.
Lance felt his heart practically beating out of his chest. He held Keith's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. He wasn't even sure who he was comforting more, Keith, or himself. But either way, it helped.
" It all started a while back... after Lotor tried to... you know." Keith sounded strained and uncomfortable in his words. " Lance and I..." He exhaled, not believing that they were actually telling Shiro any of this. " Lance and I had sex in the equipment shed up by the football field."
" I'm sorry what?!" The older alpha choked on air. " Keith, what have I told you about doing that in public places? It's dangerous and-"
" Please just let me finish explaining, then you can lecture me all you want." The omega said, and Lance had never been on such an awkward car ride in his life.
Shiro stayed silent, though he really wanted to knock their heads together for being so impulsive. " Lotor is working with someone, which we didn't know then, and she snuck inside the shed and video taped us. We were basically blackmailed with it. Either I had to break up with Lance-which I will never ever do- or we got outed to the entire school. Obviously, we chose each other. The sex tape got leaked, but since it was dark in there, it was really only audio for the most part." Keith paused to take a breath. " The email attachment had a taunting comment, and it was warning that all of this wouldn't be over. So we've been on edge, just waiting for her to do something next."
" And today was when she finally made her move." Lance growled under his breath.
" Why the hell are you just now telling me all of this?! Keith, do you really feel the need to hide things like this from me?! I'm supposed to be there for you!" Shiro raised his voice, but soon realized that this was no time to be yelling. The boys needed a support system, not someone to scream at them.
" We were scared, okay?" The little brother was trying not to start a huge fight with him. " We didn't know how you'd react, or if you'd be mad. I... I was afraid you would blame Lance... and I wouldn't be able to put him through that again." Keith looked down, trying to ignore the pain stemming from his ankle. His right foot was almost going numb.
" I'm sorry, Shiro... I shouldn't have been so reckless to take him into the shed. It's all my fault." Lance hung his head in shame.
" Don't say that, Lance..." Shiro was driving down the road a little too fast. " If this person was really so psycho to purposely hurt Keith, I'm sure they would've done something else eventually." He felt bad that Keith had been scared to tell him. He knew he had to get better at being more of a brother and less of an over protective dad. " You kept saying she... but who exactly are you talking about?"
" Her name is... Acxa." The football player wondered how he could even say her name without his rage bubbling over. " And she purposely messed up the stunt today... luckily Allura and Shay kept him from hitting the ground as badly as the other time. But... this still bites."
" I'm calling the school, I'm calling the police, hell! I'll even call the newspaper! Someone is going down for this." Shiro said in a very deep and protective way.
" That won't work... they won't stop..." Keith had almost lost hope that this would ever end.
" I'll hunt this Lotor guy and his minion down by myself if I have to." The older brother took a curve a little too harshly. The van kicked up slightly, and Keith's ankle bounced against the floor.
" Shit!" He cursed, tearing up again.
" Sorry, sorry, sorry! Oh my God!" Shiro repeated, almost hitting the breaks, but they were on the highway now. They couldn't exactly do that.
" Just drive!" Keith felt stabbing pains shooting through his ankle.
" It's okay, Babe... we'll be there soon..." Lance massaged circles on the back of his omega's hand.
...
They had been in the emergency room for over two hours, and were waiting on Keith's X-rays to come back. Keith had almost fallen asleep a few times, but Lance had made sure to keep him awake.
" How long are they going to make us stay here? It's either broken or it isn't." He impatiently groaned.
" I'm sure it won't take much longer." Shiro assured him.
Thankfully, the painkillers the doctors had given Keith were finally kicking in. He was already grumpy, and with very good reason to be, but it would've been even worse if not for the medicine.
There was a knock on the door a couple minutes later. Shiro and Keith had no idea who this doctor was when she walked in, but Lance recognized her immediately.
" Mrs. Holt?" He perked up, seeing Pidge and Matt's mother. He'd forgotten that Colleen was a doctor.
" Lance, nice to see you." She smiled, and the omega figured out her identity based off of the last name. " Even under the circumstances." Colleen scratched the back of her neck awkwardly.
" So... tell us, doctor... how is Keith?" Shiro asked, eager to get to the point.
" Right, yes, of course." She sat down at the rolling desk chair near the room's computer. " I have some good news, and I have some not so good news. Which one would you like first?"
" The bad news." Keith sulked.
" Your ankle has been fractured." She pulled up an image of the X-ray on the screen. There was a very small crack in the bone, and she pointed it out with her index finger.
Lance began trembling with anger, about ready to hit a wall. Acxa had hurt his omega, his beautiful boyfriend whom he loved way too much. She was going to pay.
" What's the good news?" Shiro had lines beneath his eyes upon finding this out.
" It's very minor, so a cast won't do very much for the healing process. We can go about treating it a lot like a sprain, meaning that there's a shorter recovery time." Mrs. Holt adjusted her white lab coat uncomfortably. She hated being the barer of bad news.
" So no cast?" Keith asked.
" Nope, nothing like that. You'll need a brace, and obviously some crutches. But you should only have to do that for about two or three weeks. Fractures as small as this heal easily and quickly. You're really lucky, you know." She smiled.
" Right." The omega rolled his eyes. " I should buy a lottery ticket." He said sarcastically.
" Please excuse him." Shiro evil eyed his brother. " He's just so shaken up."
" It's completely fine." She said, standing up. " I'll be right back with the brace and the crutches and you'll be on your way." Mrs. Holt left the room.
" Keith... two weeks will go by in no time." Lance tried to cheer his boyfriend up. He hated seeing him in distress; it only made his alpha instincts more difficult to control. Lance wanted to hurl his fist as something, more specifically, someone.
" I'm helpless..." Keith muttered. " look what I let her do to me? Now everyone is going to think I'm weak." He stared at the white tile floor, hating that he was so powerless. He was already an omega, and some people treated him like fine china because of it. Now he was an omega that couldn't even walk.
" You're not weak, Babe... you're so so strong." Lance was devastated to hear his boyfriend talking that way. And Shiro was just shocked, never having heard his brother say things like that.
" Right. So strong that I cried in front of everyone." Keith clicked his teeth. " I'm the absolute pinnacle of strength."
" Don't say things like that..." Lance hugged him. " Anyone would've cried if that happened to them."
" Not someone who's strong."
...
Lance carried Keith up the stairs to his room. He had the crutches in his other hand, and the omega couldn't have felt more shitty. Not even being able to go up and down the steps by himself was just another reminder; he was weak. Lotor and Acxa could do whatever they pleased and he couldn't do a damn thing about it.
" You can put me down now..." He sighed once they reached the upper level of the house. And Lance was careful while giving him the crutches, and slowly lowering him to the floor.
" Take it easy." The alpha said as he opened the bedroom door for him.
" I can do it myself." Keith insisted.
" Why are you pushing yourself so much? You don't want to get hurt any worse." Lance let Keith go ahead of him. The smaller male looked so gloomy, but not yet defeated.
" I won't let that bitch win." He said in a snippy way.
" What are you talking about?" Lance sat in the red armchair in the corner of the room. And Keith just stayed silent.
Lotor and Acxa had already taken his pride, and they were planning on driving a wedge between him and Lance as well. They definitely weren't going to succeed in breaking him physically on top of everything else. They weren't going to make him even more helpless than he already felt.
" They've done too much for me to just lay around and allow myself to be babied." Keith said.
" You're not making much sense." Lance was beyond confused at his boyfriend's actions. " Are you sure you didn't hit your head, too?"
" Never mind." He huffed while easing into bed. Keith hadn't changed out of his practice clothes, but at that point, he couldn't have cared less. He had a ridiculously uncomfortable and itchy brace on his ankle, and on top of that, Lance didn't understand. Of course he wouldn't. Alphas weren't treated fragilely.
" No, wait..." Lance came over by the bed. " talk to me."
" My ankle is broken-"
" *Fractured" The alpha corrected. And Keith could only grit his teeth.
" Whatever. Most people already take pity on me... I don't need you to do it, too." The smaller male covered his entire body with the comforter.
" Sorry..." Lance looked down. He knew Keith loathed feeling weak, or like he was out in the open. " But you do know it's okay to be vulnerable sometimes, right? You should be able to tell me when it hurts... I'm right here with you."
But it wasn't okay. No part of it was alright. Lance would get Lotor and Acxa even if he had to get his hands dirtier.
(( Thank you everyone for all the votes and comments! I never would've imagined my story could come so far! I couldn't be any happier with all my awesome readers! I know the past few chapters have been a little... angsty and dramatic. But I'm planning on lightening the mood. ))