Roommates (Klance College AU)

59

Lance sat in the dim light of the library; not the campus library, but a much smaller, more relaxed one close by, his eyes intently focused on the vibrant images displayed on his laptop screen. He was in the zone, meticulously adjusting the brightness and contrast to bring out the subtle hues in his sunset photos. The quiet click of the mouse accompanied the soft hum of computers around him, and the flipping of book pages, created a symphony of productivity that filled the room.

His phone, which he had placed beside the keyboard, buzzed quietly. Distracted, Lance glanced at it, expecting maybe a reminder or a message from Keith about their casual dinner plans. However, the screen displayed an Instagram notification—a comment on the the post he had made a few nights before, the one of Keith asleep against him during their movie night.

Curious, Lance clicked on the notification, pulling up Instagram's interface. "Who the hell is James?" Lance whispered to himself as he clicked on the comment. The comment read: "Keith always did like to keep things... fresh. 🤔 #rebound"

Lance stared at the comment, his initial confusion quickly morphing into a mix of irritation and concern. The use of "#rebound" was blatantly snarky, and the insinuation that Keith was simply using him as a rebound didn't sit well with him at all. Who was this person, and why would they say something like this?

Frowning, Lance clicked on the profile linked to the comment. The profile that loaded belonged to a James Griffin, filled with pictures that seemed to scream an affluent, almost carefree lifestyle. There were shots of exotic beaches, high-end parties, and quite a few cozy yet ambiguously intimate pictures with various people. Lance clicked over to see the posts he was tagged in, noticing how there were only a few, and most of which being from years ago.

Lance's eyes immediately stopped at a post of James and Keith together, both smiling broadly at some outdoor festival, clearly in a close embrace. The date on the post was over two years ago, but it was obvious they had been more than just acquaintances. The caption read: "Third wheeling these lovebirds 🙄💕"

Lance scrolled down further; the oldest post he was tagged in was four years ago, it was a selfie taken with a girl, though James wasn't even looking at the screen, and appeared unamused. Lance scrolled through the posts, looking at each individual photo. After scrolling up to the third-oldest post, he saw a picture of James sitting at the beach, blinded by the sun and flipping off whoever it was taking the picture. Lance slid to the second slide and it was a selfie of the same girl from the other post with a peace sign along with another girl, one with dark brown pigtails. Lance slid again, and it was just a photo of the water with the sun setting over the horizon. He slid one more time and halted before he could slide again. Was that... Keith? He looked different, but Lance could tell it was him. He wore mostly black swim trunks and a black, short sleeve T-shirt. He stared blankly ahead, ignoring the camera that was capturing his side-view.

Lance swiped thought the same post again, and it was a picture of the girl with the pigtails sticking her tongue out. He swiped again to the sixth slide, seeing a picture with that James guy again. This one was a selfie taken by that girl again, and she held him in what looked to be a rather tight hug, and he appeared to be very annoyed, and the photo was shaky, as if she was struggling to take it over him trying to fight her off of him. Lance swiped to the seventh out of tenth slide, and his eyes narrowed, seeing James sat criss-crossed on the beach with Keith laid horizontally, his head on James lap with his eyes closed, facing towards the sky. James hand was rested on Keith's head, his bangs pulled away from his face with the hand. How long were they together exactly?

Lance found himself going through a big internet rabbit hole, and ended up not being very productive at all. He forced himself to put his phone away after a few hours, and left the library to go back home. As he walked back home, his mind buzzed with thoughts and questions. He couldn't shake off the unease that James's comment had stirred within him. The insinuation that Keith might see their relationship as nothing more than a rebound gnawed at Lance, despite his efforts to dismiss it.