A soft tapping on Keith's shoulder brought his mouth of his sleep. Rubbing his eyes and stretching, he lifted himself off the papers on the desk and looked over at who woke him.
Lance leaned down to kiss his head, "Hey baby."
Keith brought his head back down to kiss his lips, "Sorry, I fell asleep while drawing."
Lance's eyes ran over the sketches and half-painted pictures. "These are really good. I told you you were an amazing artist."
"Yeah, forever ago." Keith stretched his back and stood up from the chair. "Whatever let's get to bed."
When Keith finally took a moment to notice what Lance was wearing, his heart sank. He shook his head, "No."
Lance followed his eyes down to the jacket and shoes he had on. "Keith, I just wanna-"
"No," Keith crossed his arms.
Lance was taken aback, "I'm not gonna do anything, I just wanna hang out with my friends."
"No." Keith held his ground. There was no way he was going to allow this.
"Keith, I can't just stay cooped up here."
Keith furrowed his brows, "Do you honestly think that I'm gonna let you go out?" He shook his head in dramatic disbelief and rolled his eyes. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."
"Why don't you just trust me?!" Lance snapped and cut through the air with his hands.
Keith clenched his fists and leaned toward him, "Because I found you half-dead in an alley!"
"What? So I'm supposed to just stay here all the time?!" Lance motioned to the house. "It's sickening!"
"What is?!" Keith eyed him with fiery irises. "The house or me?!"
Lance pointed at him, "That's not fair!"
"How is that not fair?!" Keith threw his hands up in frustration. "You're sick of me, just admit it!"
"That's not true!"
"Yes, it is!"
Lance groaned and backed up, "I am not gonna stand here and let you scream at me for no reason." He went out to the living room.
Keith stomped after him, "For no reason?!" He yanked a pillow from the couch and threw it at him. "What the hell do you think-" he threw another, "-I am doing all this for?!"
Lance smacked the pillows out of the air to shield himself, stopping in front of the door. "I thought you said not to fight while we're tired anymore!"
"Are you fucking serious right now?!" Keith chucked another pillow at him, "You're a coward."
Lance rolled his eyes and shifted his weight. "I'm not a coward, I just don't want to fight right now."
Keith crossed his arms, "Because you want to get back to your junkie friends?"
"Because," Lance bared his teeth, "I don't want to leave you like this."
Keith's whole body filled with rage. His veins pumped stinging cold fury through his fingers to the tips of his toes. The amount of love he harbored for this defiant man amazed him. With anyone else, he would have ripped their tongue out long before this point. Keith swallowed the anger in his throat and sneered. "Then don't."
Lance's eyes widened a little as he met Keith's glare. He opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't find any words.
Keith tried to calm his shaky breathing, "Let me make one thing very clear." He spoke slowly and emphasized all the syllables. "If you go out and get high, I will leave your ass."
They fought silently with their eyes for a few minutes. The atmosphere had long shifted and coated their throats. It suffocated them as they waited for any movement to pounce on. Keith held back the tears and bit his lip. What the fuck are you doing?! Don't leave me! Just stay and we'll work this out! I don't care if we don't sleep at all tonight. Let's fix this right now!
The words Keith screamed in his mind couldn't be formed into audible cries. His lips and tongue were paralyzed with heartbreaking fear. The only thing he could do was wait.
After what seemed like hours, Lance sighed and tore his eyes away. He hung his head to avoid looking at him and snatched his keys off the coffee table. "I'll be back in a few hours." He yanked the front door open and stepped out, "Don't wait up, I'm not gonna be stupid."
Keith started to walk forward to stop him, but the door slammed before he could reach him. He stared through the dim room that had once contained their screaming voices. It felt empty and dismal. Much more than it had when they were fighting. Did he believe that Lance wasn't gonna do any drugs? No, but he wanted to.
Keith gave him the benefit of the doubt and listened to his car door shut. When he was too far to do anything, Keith dropped to his knees and held his shaking body. His hyperventilating burned his throat as tears dropped onto the hardwood.
Why didn't he stay?