Falling Too Hard - Klance | completed |

s i x

Lance had been awake for about an hour.

The gunshot hadn't been fatal. It had only clipped him, but the shock was enough to make him pass out. He never opened his eyes, never gave anyone any clue he was awake. He liked to listen to the hushed voices around him, try to make out what they were saying.

The doctors and nurses didn't say much about anything he cared about, at least, not in front of him. The only things he'd heard talk about was the fight in the staff room, the latest episode of Breaking Bad, or answering a question one of his friends had asked.

His friends had come to visit. Pidge and Hunk stayed for about a half an hour, joking around for most of the time after they'd learned Lance had no chance of dying from his wound. Keith had been there since he'd woken up, though he didn't know how long he'd been there before. He hadn't opened his eyes since he'd been awake, besides the occasional peek at Keith's face when he wasn't looking.

Keith was messed up. He kept burying his face in his hands and staying like that for minutes at a time. He kept asking the nurses when Lance would wake up whenever they'd walked into the room. They always had the same response. 'Any minute now. He's in good enough shape to leave, if he wants.'

Keith occasionally mumbled to himself when he thought no one was listening, and Lance found that hilarious. He had to bite down on his tongue to keep from laughing when he'd heard Keith say 'curly fries' over four times in one sentence.

Lance wasn't quite sure why he didn't open his eyes. If he did, he could go home. He could see Chiquita. He could maybe kiss Keith, if the Landlady walked by. What was he doing? Lance didn't know. He was chasing delusions of kissing a boy who had no feelings for him whatsoever.

And it's not like Lance actually liked liked Keith. Keith had laid it out nice and neat for him. It was all fake. Keith only needed Lance to provide shelter until Lance had fixed his window. His window that Lance had broken after he'd been stupid and climbed a building.

And still, Lance found himself wanting Keith to stay at his apartment for as long as possible.

"Please wake up," Keith whispered, breaking Lance out of his trance. Lance almost responded, almost opened his eyes. He froze when he felt Keith brush his lips against his, soft and hesitant. Was the Landlady there somehow? Was Keith trying to prove to someone that they were, in fact, dating?

Lance could hear his heart monitor spike, beating much faster than before, and Keith jerked back. As if on cue, a nurse strolled into the room, checking Lance's vitals. She paused, and Lance wondered if she'd been the one Keith was trying to impress.

"He seems to be responding to stimuli," she walked around to the other side of his bed and Lance could feel her eyes on him.

"Did you do anything that could have caused his heart to jump?" She asked, directed at Keith. Lance could feel him hesitate, feel him stare down at Lance. "...no," Keith said after a moment. He sounded more shocked than anything, and Lance felt his fingers twitch.

When had Keith taken his hand? He felt warm fingers curled around his, and Keith jumped at the sudden movement. Keith quickly released Lance's hand, and the scratch of the nurse scribbling something onto her clipboard was the only sound heard.

"I think he's waking up," she muttered, voice distracted. "The heart spike could have just been a flash of confusion. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

Oh, Lance's heart had definitely been subjected to a flash of confusion, she'd gotten that part right.

Wait, he was waking up? Lance had to play the part, of course. He groaned, rubbing his eye with his good arm and pretending to be groggy. He almost thought he could feel Keith's eyes on the strip of skin showing where his shirt had raised. He didn't say anything, though, and instead, he squinted up at the bright white ceiling.