(( Guyssss! I'm so excited! I finally included a couple characters that I've been meaning to for the longest time!))
Lance didn't know which option was more dreadful. Staying in the apartment where someone could've been taking pictures of him and Keith at any given moment, or leaving into the world where someone could've been lurking anywhere.
He'd hastily shut the blinds and covered up all the windows with anything he could find. Lance's alpha side was cursing the tears that rolled down his cheeks as he privatized the apartment as best he could.
Eventually, he'd calmed down enough where Keith could get through to him.
Lance winced while Keith disinfected a couple cuts on his face, dabbing some rubbing alcohol on him. There was a little bit of blood in Lance's left eyebrow from the cut there. For having such a short tussle with James, they'd definitely gotten at each other a lot.
" Sorry..." Keith mumbled, wiping away the trace amounts of dried blood.
Seeing Lance like that made Keith completely livid. Whoever dared to lay a finger on his alpha better have watched their back.
" Are you going to tell me what this is from?" The omega asked in a low tone.
" Does it matter?" Lance responded diffidently.
" Yes, actually..." Keith told him, pulling back to look at Lance in a concerned way. " You don't get in fights... you're not like that."
Lance looked to the side, feeling even more guilty about it. He kept telling himself that he could have fought off his inner alpha. He could've restrained himself from tackling him and starting a shitstorm that- if it had lasted longer- his coach would've seen.
" He..." Lance began. " It's- Keith, nobody gets to talk about you like that." He stammered, growling in the back of his throat. And on top of calling Keith wimpy, and belittling Lance, he'd also commented on Veronica's bracelet. Somehow James had managed to insult two of the most important omegas on the planet.
Keith's eyebrows furrowed.
" Who?" He asked.
" There's this dipshit on the team named Jack or James or something like that. And him and this other guy were being homophobic and I tried to ignore them... but..." The taller boy felt Keith tilt his chin so they were looking at each other. " Then they brought you up... and I just-" He grit his teeth, biting back his emotions and anger toward himself. " I lost it."
" I hope they look worse than you do." Keith smiled a little, able to tell that Lance was beating himself up more than even that James kid had. The omega wrapped his arms around him, hugging his alpha in close and holding him in a reassuring way.
Lance sniffled a little, but managed to keep from breaking down into a fit of sobs yet again.
" I love you... I'm sorry I left you here." He whimpered, burying his face into Keith's shoulder.
" Nobody got me." Keith tried to tell him, though he was genuinely petrified while thinking about potential repeats of what had happened. " You have school and everything else... you can't blame yourself." Being there for Lance was something that was sapping a lot out of Keith right then. He was pregnant, and sore, and tired all the time. Add being terrified for his babies into the mix, and he was never able to decompress. " Plus... I'll have work tomorrow. I won't even be here alone for very long."
" What if-" Lance cut himself off, whining a little as he held himself back from crying. " What if they get in here? What if they hurt you and the babies?!" He panicked a little more, breathing rapidly. " God, if I wasn't such a fuck up you'd be safe!" Lance exclaimed, and a few more stray tears slid down his cheeks and dropped to Keith's shoulder.
Keith's eyes widened.
" No." He said.
" No what?" Lance sniffled.
" Don't say that ever again." The omega growled at him a little. " If I hear you trashing yourself like that again I might just have to fight you." He pulled back, cupping Lance's cheeks- gently of course since he was bruised. " You're perfect, so shut up."
Lance's blue eyes beaded back and forth in an obviously vulnerable way as Keith stared into them.
" I don't deserve you." He pouted.
Keith didn't know what else to do to bring Lance back down to Earth besides stand on his toes and kiss him. That was the only thing that seemed to work indefinitely when Lance got like this, and began spiralling down a hole of unhealthy thoughts.
Lance found his facial expression softening as Keith kissed him. His posture sank as he relaxed into the familiar and comforting feeling. His hands traveled down Keith's sides to settle on his hips until the kiss parted. Lance rested his forehead on Keith's, staying in the embrace with him for what felt like forever.
" I love you..." Lance murmured, dusting Keith's cheek with a few light pecks.
Keith smiled, relieved that he'd calmed him down.
Once the two went back into the living room, Lance pulled Keith onto the couch with him. They both had been through too much to even think about anything besides each other. Not dinner. Not calling their family and friends.
Lance was flat on his back, resting his head on one of the comfy throw pillows. He positioned Keith to nuzzle between his side and the couch. The alpha could only hold him, sigh and try to tell himself that everything would be okay. Keith was safe. Keith was leaning his head atop his chest, completely fine.
The windows were blocked off, and a chair had been wedged beneath the handle of the main entrance to their apartment. Nobody was getting in.
And that was how they fell asleep, Keith first, Lance following soon after.
...
The next day was something that Lance loathed. When his eyes popped open, he knew that it was early in the morning, and probably about the time he would've normally awoke with his alarm. Keith was in his arms, securely tucked into his chest and sleeping contently.
Lance didn't want to move. He didn't even want to comprehend the idea of leaving again.
Keith needed him. Luna and Kai would need him.
It was never Lance's plan to get as paranoid as he was. Maybe he would've felt better if the people hadn't followed them to Florida, but no. He was yet again terrified to leave Keith's side, for fear that something awful would happen if he did. Even though Keith would leave for work not long after him, Lance hated the thought of it.
After putting it off for as long as he possibly could, Lance knew that he'd have to get up and begin getting ready for school. He couldn't be late to calculus again.
The taller male cringed while trying to slide out from under Keith, who was holding him and leaning on his chest. It seemed like the second he dared to move, Keith was up. His eyes shot open in no time at all, and he instinctively locked his arms around the alpha tighter.
Lance eased back into the couch, deciding not to fight it.
" Hey... you're up..." He smiled, kissing his head and raking a hand through Keith's messy hair.
Keith ever so desperately wished that he could beg Lance to stay. But even as he was still half asleep, he was aware of how selfish it would've been. Lance already didn't want to go, and the last thing Keith wanted to do was make it more painstaking for him.
" Mm..." Keith groaned in response, snuggling by Lance and burying his face in the other boy's scent gland. The comforting aroma embodied any number of promises to him. It spelled out safety, and love, and it reminded Keith of home.
" I'll make you some breakfast before school. Does that sound good?" Lance asked him, trying to ignore the elephant in the room.
Keith would never get over how much Lance put others before himself. He was too tired to argue about it. That, and he wanted to savor every precious second he had with Lance.
" Okay." Keith murmured, barely audible as he stayed hidden in Lance's neck.
" That would mean you'd have to let me up." Lance chuckled a bit.
Keith whined while loosening his arms and letting Lance up.
It was a while later, but Keith was getting ready for work. He didn't spend much time on his appearance, rushing through the whole routine to get back to Lance. After all, he'd be going for school soon enough.
" It smells amazing..." Keith hummed while coming into the kitchen. Lance was all dressed up, somehow bright eyed and bushy tailed while flipping a chocolate chip pancake. " You made my favorite?" The smaller boy smiled while hugging Lance from behind. He leaned his face into Lance's shoulder blade, holding him close.
Lance felt a grin creeping onto his face from the affection.
" Of course." He set the spatula aside while waiting for the final pancake to cook on its second side.
The slightly noticeable bruising on his cheekbone caught Keith's eye as Lance turned around so the two could embrace properly.
" What are you going to do if that asshole says anything today?" Keith asked him, feeling anger bubbling from the sight of the marks. The tiny scratches and cuts were scabbed over, and the bruising was a darker blueish color.
" I don't know. But if he tries to bring you up again, he'll be fucking sorry." Lance told him seriously.
" What if he snitches to your coach?" Keith questioned in a worried tone. Normally he was all for being reckless and not letting people walk over others. But this was Lance's scholarship that was hanging in the balance. Would the coach kick him off if he found out?
" Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Lance pressed a kiss to Keith's forehead.
" Don't throw the first punch. That's what Shiro always told me..." Keith advised.
Lance nodded before moving to take the pancake from the pan and transfer it onto a plate full of them.
This day would be better. Lance was determined to make it go down that way.
...
Keith, even though Lance was pissed that he had to, walked the block and a half to get to Starbucks. It was convenient that his work was so close if he got to have an opinion about it. Between the apartment building and Starbucks, there were various other buildings. There were a couple restaurants, and even an old school arcade called Kosmo's.
Keith wasn't going to lie. The fresh air was nice, even if it hurt his back to stand for too long at one time.
Once he arrived, he was met with a handshake and warm smile at the doors. It must've been Kimberly, his new boss.
" Great to meet you, Keith." She smiled.
" Great to be here." Keith chuckled. He couldn't have been more grateful that someone was even willing to hire him, given the fact that he was pregnant and would need to go on leave sooner rather than later.
" It's so nice that you have experience with Starbucks. We don't even have to train you very much." She said, leading him in. Keith followed her. The smell was familiar. He'd been to Starbucks more times than he could count, though he could never quite put his finger on what made them all have similar scents. " Romelle!" Kimberly called behind the counter.
There was a blonde girl with very magenta colored eyes who turned around instantly, clumsily knocking over a bottle of vanilla flavored syrup in the process.
" Yeah?" She chuckled nervously, frantically setting it upright and coming toward the two of them.
" This is the new guy I told you about." Kimberly explained.
" Ohhhh!" Romelle grinned. " Hi!"
" Hi..." Keith chuckled a little. Romelle seemed like just the sweetest person ever. He was excited to work with her.
...
Hours had passed by the time Keith was finally able to clock out. His feet ached and his back felt like it had cramped up to the point of breaking. Those twins sure weren't getting any lighter.
Keith didn't have much to learn besides where certain things were kept, so the day had gone by rather smoothly for the most part. And he'd gotten to know his coworker, Romelle, already. She reminded him a lot of Hunk. She didn't walk around shining like a ray of sunshine like he did, but she had a happy disposition and was a little clumsy.
It was about four in the afternoon, and Keith wasn't used to the hot weather as he stepped outside. But, hey, it was Florida. There wasn't really much for his favorite season of autumn. It was just muggy, and the sun's heat was unforgiving. Luckily he wouldn't have to be out there for very long.
He had brought a sweatshirt with him, mainly because it smelled like Lance, but it wasn't long before he'd shrugged it off.
Keith was walking by the alleyway, ready to just get out of the sun. But then he heard something. He stopped, backtracking to glance over to the spot in between the arcade and the other buildings.
There was a quiet whimpering noise. It was almost too tiny for him to pick up on, but Keith could hear it better as he took a couple steps closer.
Behind the dumpster, he found that the noise was loud and sad.
Keith's eyes widened as he saw a puppy, a rather young looking one. It was squirming around, whining and shivering even in the summer-like temperatures. The greyish blue, with a hint of black fur was tugging on his heartstrings. Didn't it have a mom?
Keith looked around with furrowed eyebrows, concerned and filled with pity. He scanned the distance, hoping to find a bigger husky coming back to claim the pup. But that was when he saw the lump in the road. Clearly an animal had been hit, and Keith felt his heart sink.
That explained it.
" You poor guy..." Keith knelt down, looking around to see if there were any other puppies down there. There weren't any. This little husky was all alone, like a wolf in a pack of one. It kind of did look like a wolf, but Keith knew it wasn't. This little puppy was definitely a husky.
Keith, despite seeming a little standoffish, had a big heart. And being pregnant himself, he wondered what he would've wanted someone to do if he ever was unable to take care of his babies. And he would've wished someone would've swept in and helped.
They might've had a lot going on, but Keith made a decision right there and then. He set down Lance's sweatshirt, petting the puppy's fur and setting him atop the warm fabric.
" It's okay... I'll take care of you, buddy..." Keith assured, and the puppy only whimpered a little. It sniffed around in the material of the sweatshirt, not squirming much.
He would've had to get in contact with a veterinarian eventually, but Keith wasn't very worried about that much at the moment. He was just happy that he'd found the puppy before someone else had. Who knows what would've happened. As far as he was concerned, his and Lance's home was ten times better than any animal shelter.
Keith would make sure it got everything it needed. Food, shelter, and love.
He held the sweatshirt close to himself while walking past Kosmo's arcade, making his way toward the apartment. He hoped more than anything that he was making a good choice. Keith didn't really consider himself a 'do gooder' but... something told him that this puppy needed him.
Boy, would Lance be surprised when he got home.