Find Me By The Seashore |Klance|

Chapter Ten |Make Me Realize|

Keith feels like he's been dropped into cold water. He answers Pidge numbly, and Shiro comes over to him after he hangs up.

"Keith? Is there a problem?"

"Lance," he swears he hears a curse but ignores it. "I-Pidge said he's in the hospital."

"Oh my God. Keith are you-,"

"We need to go. Now."

"What? We can't just stop band practice for some guy!"

"Shut up James!"

Keith snaps finally. He's been grating Keith's nerves since they got here. And even before.

"Keith calm down. Let's just get to Lance." Keith growls but snatches his jacket and walks through the door with Shiro.

Kinkade stands as well and Adam raises his eyebrows. "I want to see if Lance is okay. And to help Keith."

Adam nods and looks to James one more as if asking him if he would join them. When James glares at the wall Adam sighs and follows out the door.
<><><><>
Pidge has never been this scared before.

She's seen Matt hurt herself plenty; she hurt herself more than once.

But Lance? He's the life of the party; always ambitious, always talking. Always doing something.

And to see him shaking on the ground, eyes rolled back was something scarier than anything else.

He looked so pale, so different and then he was being hauled away. Hunk had called Keith in a bout of fear but couldn't talk. So Pidge spoke for him and then they were on the way to the hospital with her parents.

"What brought this on in the first place? What happened to Lance in these past few days?"

"He-I don't know. He's been off and when me and Hunk confronted him he just said we couldn't help and started...,"

Pidge shakes. She doesn't say what they all know.

"It's going to be okay. Lance doesn't usually have these."

But no one really believed it. Not really. And when they waited at the hospital, their hope dwindled. Keith finally showed up with Adam and Shiro and another; a band member, Pidge thinks.

"How is he?" Adam asks, hand in Shiro's squeezing.

"We don't know. The doctors haven't said anything." Colleen, Pidge's mother says. Her father stands to attention motioning to the seats.

"Take a seat and we can wait together."

And so they waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And wai-

"How did this happen?"

Keith had been so silent this whole time. Thinking to himself. What had caused this? He the last talk he had with Lance was pretty intense. Did Lotor do anything more to him? And why didn't he say anything?

Pidge glances at Hunk. He only sighs and nods. Pidge sits up and the band mates turns to pay attention. "Hunk told me he wasn't sure if Lance was okay so we went over his house to check on him. We overheard him on the phone, he was cryjng...,"

"Why?"

Pidge bites her lip. "Someone was blackmailing him. I didn't recognize the voice but they threatened Matt's job and my project. They wanted...," she takes a shuddering breath.

"They wanted him to stop talking to you, Keith," Keith's eyes widen. What? "They wanted him to stop being friends with you. Cut you off. So he made Lance swear it and then we intervened."