Behind the Mask // Klance AU

Chapter 16

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAACK! Did you miss me? I hope y'all did. You may just be mad I vanished for so long tho. Oh and I believe I have a contest winner to announce... congrats putanotherxonthecalendar on Instagram! Everyones entries were amazing! I'll update the cover soon. I also apologize in advance for the next two chapters. I'm writing on my phone. So.... sorry. I may have my friend fix some stuff for me. The next two will be fairly short but action packed! I love you all. Enjoy the chapter! Content preview: hella gay, sad-ish section, fluff. Mostly cuteness to make up for last chapter and my lack of updates.

Keith woke up and shuffled out into the kitchen, on a wild hunt for Ibuprofen. He almost bumped into Lance while heading towards the medicine cabinet.

"Hey sleepyhead," Lance said. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been worse," Keith replied. Lance, knowing what he was looking for, grabbed the bottle of pain meds for Keith as Keith got a glass of water. Quickly downing two of the heavenly pills, Keith plopped down into one of the kitchen barstools, hissing in pain. Lance was immediately at his side.

"Are you okay?!" He asked, concern and a touch of fear filling his voice.

"Yeah yeah, I think I'm alright," Keith replied, though his voice was tense. Lance was quiet for a moment, still very concerned for his boyfriend.

"Keith," Lance said quietly, sliding into the stool next to Keith. He gently reached his hand out to brush Keith's fingertips with his own, causing Keith to look up at him. "How do you really feel?" Lance asked softly. Keith let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.

"I'm less hurt physically than I am emotionally. Yes, I got beat up too, but..." Keith paused, taking a shaky breath in. "The saying 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me' is a lie. For me- us, even- words can hurt more than anything," Keith said, quickly trying to wipe away tears he didn't know had begun to fall. Lance's grip on Keith's hands tightened as he gasped quietly.

"They didn't-"

"They did."

"Oh my god, Keith I am so sorry..." Lance said, realizing it had been him that had introduced Keith to these people.

"Don't be sorry for something that's out of your control," Keith said, giving Lance a small smile. "They're people. Not all people are good people. One can only avoid the bad people in life for so long."

"Since when are you so philosophical," Lance asked, giving a snort of laughter.

"I guess since the ibuprofen kicked in," Keith said, also laughing.

"Want to watch a movie or something?" Lance asked.

"Don't we have school?" Keith asked, raising an eyebrow at Lance who knew perfectly well they had classes that day.

"I think they understand If you need a day off. And I don't feel like dealing with a bunch of pricks right now." Lance said. The two settled on the couch, deciding on watching Enchanted after a heated argument between that and Barbie Fairytopia. Keith, who was usually not big on physical affection, had snuggled into Lance's side, while Lance ran a hand through his hair. They stayed on the couch watching movies until it was late, and Keith headed to bed. Lance stayed behind, claiming he had homework to do. But long after Keith was asleep, Lance snuck out the window, face hidden behind a mask. He had three assholes the world managed to accept as people he needed to take care of.

This was so hard to write on my phone oh my god. I hope you liked this chapter! Hopefully the next one will be longer but I'm very fed up with writing on my phone and I forgot my laptop. I think this is gonna end at 20 chapters, so we're almost to the end! I have HTH in the works but expect slower updates as of now, I'll update that more often once this one is done. Sorry for the hiatus my beans! Love ya! Remember feedback is always welcome and I love hearing from y'all!

-Lee