Lifesavers~ Klance

14

Lance frowned. "Time to go home, huh?" In the pit of his stomach, something that felt like guilt was churning. He hadn't seen his siblings in ages. He missed them, as much as he wanted to stay with Keith, and he realized he hadn't texted or called them as much as he should have.

"At long last." Keith smiled reassuringly. Don't worry! Your family misses you like crazy, I'm sure, and besides, I'll still see you every day." Lance pouted. "Yeah. Okay. You wanna come inside? It's kinda hot and I make a mean lemonade," he offered, popping the car door open. "Plus, it'd be weird for my family not to know who I've been staying with for the past few weeks." Keith shrugged, putting the car in park and opening his door. "Yeah. Okay."

Lance fumbled with his keys as they both stood in front of the pale yellow door. It opened with a creak, and Lance called out for his mother immediately. Her footsteps thudded down the stairs, and Lance noticed Keith swallow hard, shuffling a little bit behind him. "What, you nervous?" He teased him quietly, squeezing his arm in reassurance. Keith looked at him, eyes less frantic, and released a small, affectionate huff. "Me, nervous? As if." 

As if on cue, Lance's mother rushed to the door. "Lance, mijo," the words pushed past her lips and she reached out to give her son a hug. "Ah- mama-" Lance managed, grinning wide from inside her embrace, and leaned his forehead on her shoulder. He missed her a lot. More than he thought he did. When she put him down, her eyes skimmed over the other boy in the doorway. 

"Mama, this is Keith," Lance said, pulling Keith forward, who let out a gasp. "He's the friend I stayed with." Keith gave a cautious smile. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. McClain. I'm sorry for keeping your son so long." Lance watched Keith give another tentative smile, and he saw how his mother softened a bit at his shy voice. Did Keith know, he wondered, how sweet he was? Of course my family would like you, Keith, because you're so sweet and funny, and even though you're rough sometimes and you treat everything as a competition and you're kind of oblivious to things, I like you, so of course they would like you. Lance's mother lifted Keith's chin with her forefinger, giving him a knowing smile. "Rosa is just fine, dear. Thank you for taking care of Lance. You are welcome here any time." She held her hand to Keith's cheek, and Lance's heart thumped once at the way Keith melted into it, pursing his lips and averting his eyes at the invitation. It made him wonder if Keith ever felt lonely at home. If maybe- maybe his being there helped Keith just as much as it helped him. Somewhere in the distance, Lance heard his mother telling them she had to pick up the kids from school, and felt her whisper to him that they would talk later. Keith glanced at him, then, and Lance blinked, not quick enough to pretend he wasn't looking at him. Crap. Crap, was I staring?  Did he see me?  Keith frowned a little, a small line forming in between his eyebrows. Lance fidgeted. Since when did he notice things like that? 

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Keith reached up and flicked Lance's chest, and he jolted. Keith's eyebrows were knit together slightly, his pale cheeks slightly flushed. "Are you good?" He leaned closer to Lance, and Lance could see the faint purple shine in his grey eyes, and he gulped. Had those eyes always been that color? Had his hair, falling over long, dark eyelashes, always looked so soft? Crap, crap. Crap. Lance let out a shaky breath, still captured in his thoughts, before he realized that Keith's shoulders looked a little tight, and he wasn't confidently looking at him the way he usually was- instead his eyes were darting between Lance and the room around them. He was worried, maybe, maybe he felt like Lance was thinking something not so great about him, since Lance definitely had stared long enough. Lance wanted to reassure him, tell him obviously that's not what's happening, I couldn't think something bad about you if I tried, but he didn't. Instead, Lance willed himself to move, and not think about how good Keith looked in his home, how he had looked like- like he had belonged just a little bit in his mothers arms, and he managed to say, eloquently, "Um."