"— so then I found myself as a human. It was scary, but also felt... exciting. New. I started wandering down the beach, which eventually led me to you." Lance smiled to Keith at the memory of their first interaction. Looking back, he realized how inept he acted. The mer's cheeks flared thinking back to when Keith first saw him.
He glanced to his side at the mentioned boy. He was silent, thoughts invading his mind as he soaked in Lance's story.
"Wow."
Keith's lack of words didn't surprise Lance— he had just learnt of the existence of an entire race of mers, folk that he only suspected few to exist, if at all. Lance couldn't wait to see the look in his eyes when he told him that mers didn't only live outside these shores, but all over the planet. He thought back to the times when the Unilu Mers would visit Altea. The pirates would set up shops, "swap moons," to sell goods from their journeys. A warmth settled in his insides when he remembered when Hunk had mistaken scaultrite powder as flour for cookies. It was safe to say that it didn't end very well for their teeth.
Hunk would love human food. Guilt churned in Lance's stomach thinking of how he left his friend.
"Lance?" The mer was pulled out of his thoughts by Keith's voice. No matter, he thought, I'll just have to bring him here sometime.
"Yeah?"
"I, uh—" Keith seemed to itch to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. His hand inched closer to Lance's thigh from where he sat. Oh.
He saw.
Lance pulled his shorts to cover what Keith could see of the scars. He wasn't ready to talk about them.
But Keith was ready to listen.
"I wanted to ask about— aah!" Keith jumped when his phone dung. The sound was awful, like something from the sea monsters; Baku, as Lance's mother called them. It might as well have been, the way Keith's eyes widened when he read what was on the screen.
"Shit! Shit shit-shit-shit-shi—" Keith rambled the swear as he stood up and ran toward the door. He put on a jacket, grabbed his keys, and looked back to Lance.
"I'm late for work! Be back later!" He yelled as he closed the door. Silence filled the room. With Keith there it was comfortable, now, the room felt like a large expanse, cold and unwelcoming. Lance longed to go somewhere else.
He looked towards the ocean, curiosity filling his eyes with the memory of Keith throwing another letter beneath its surface.
~ ♆ ~
Lance ran hurriedly up the steps of the beach house. Drops of saltwater dripped from his soaked hair and clothes onto the wood. The mer only spared a look at the bikes on the porch, one rusted and old-looking. He opened and closed the front door carefully as to not let Keith know of his arrival. The mer tip-toed towards the staircase leading upstairs, being as quiet as possible so that he wouldn't wake—
"Where were you all day?"
Lance froze at the sound of Keith's voice. He'd thought his roommate had been in his room. He turned around slowly, making sure to keep the object in his hand hidden.
Keith sat on the couch. He stared at Lance with an intensity that he couldn't place— smugness, curiosity, annoyance, or all three. When he cocked an eyebrow at the bottle in Lance's hand, the latter quickly hid it behind his back.
"So? What happened to you? You're soaking wet." Come on, Keith. At least make it harder to think of a lie, Lance thought complacently.
"I went for a swim," Lance shrugged. "I was tired of that tiny bathtub of yours."
Keith didn't seem convinced, and continued to pry. "You were gone for hours."
"I explored down the coast a bit. It's been a long time since I felt ocean water."
Keith's eyes narrowed. He stared at Lance for what seemed like an eternity. The mer held his breath as beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. He exhaled when a thin smile formed on Keith's face.
"Don't worry, I'm joking," he said after a single laugh. Lance sighed thankfully.
"Phew, okay. I was starting to think you were mad at me, and after everything that's happened I would be really sad if..." He trailed off, seeing Keith looking to his hands.
"...What is that? Behind your ba—" Keith went quiet.
It was his bottle, the one he threw into the ocean. How was it in Lance's hands?
"Where did you get that?"
"I, uh... saw you throw it in, and was just curious! I can put it back if you want—"
"You knew."
Keith's voice hit Lance like a tsunami. There was an edge he hadn't expected, a shock in those two words that shook Lance's very core.
Keith stood, taking a few slow steps towards Lance.
"You knew the whole time, didn't you?" Hurt now filled his words. "Y- you were the one who wrote back, weren't you?" It seemed as though he was voicing his thoughts as he put the pieces together.
"Keith, I—" Lance reached an arm out, unsure what to say.
"I'm sorry," would be a start. "I didn't mean to," would end badly. "I wanted to help?" No, that was awful. "I didn't know it was you." I'm not that dumb.
Keith was looking at the ground now, face obscured by his black locks. He sighed before speaking.
"At the beach I thought to myself that there were creatures you couldn't even imagine beneath the surface. Today I learned that you are one of those creatures. The same monsters who took my brother. And you knew about it this entire time—" Keith turned to face Lance, a foreign glare filled his eyes. "—yet didn't bother to say anything!"
Lance stepped back in shock. He hadn't expected Keith to be so angry. Well, maybe he also hadn't expected Keith to find out so soon. The mer wanted to lead up to telling him about the letters. It'd even crossed his mind to never tell him. Out of anything, this surely wasn't the way he'd imagined Keith would find out.
"Keith, I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I read your letters. Can we please just talk about it?" Lance stepped forward as Keith backed away. He noticed a silver drop fall down Keith's cheek.
"No, Lance," Keith stammered, trying to stop himself from crying. His voice cracked. It seemed as though he'd been trying for so long to hide his emotions that he couldn't anymore.
"Buddy, please, just let me explain," Lance reasoned. Keith stiffened at the nickname. Tears formed and fell down his cheek, bags that had started to go away formed again beneath his eyes. The man went silent, knuckles white as he clenched his fists.
Lance stepped forward, moving to brush a strand of hair out of Keith's face. The latter stepped back at the action.
"Just go," He whispered so quietly Lance wasn't sure if he heard him right.
"W-what?"
"I said, JUST GO! Leave! Get out of here, Lance!" Keith's outburst caused Lance's eyes to widen. A lump formed in his throat, it became harder to breathe as it grew, like vines growing in his chest, the thorns of roses stinging his heart the closer he got.
Lance could feel himself crying, but nothing came out. Tears were streaming down his face, but Keith would never notice.
"I trusted you," Keith breathed, and for once Lance understood why he'd broken so quickly.
It was too much.
All of it, from his brother disappearing, to not being able to control all of the pain he'd pushed down for so long, to finding out Lance was a merman, one of the very same creatures he claimed took his brother. It just didn't add up...
Both boys jumped when glass shattered on the ground. Lance felt a sting in his leg, but it was nothing compared to the pain he already felt.
The bottle containing Keith's letter lay in pieces on the floor, the letter crumpled under Lance's feet, the soft curves of handwriting becoming hard strokes across the paper. He turned to open the door, softly speaking his last words to the first human he'd met.
"Lo siento. No quería hacerte daño, porque..." the mer took one look back at Keith before leaving, "...te quiero."
Keith didn't understand what Lance said, but it brought tears to his eyes.
A/N:
This chapter hurt to write...
But it had to be done, for storytelling purposes...
*sobs*
As always, thank you for reading!
- Soni <3