I have my Secrets (Klance)

In Sickness and in Health (Shiro)

I walk into Keith's room to see Lance still there, a sleeping Keith laying on his shoulder. Lance had been looking sympathetically at Keith before he looked up at me, smiling gently. Keith honestly looked like a sleeping child, just like he did when he was a kid.
"How's he holding up?" I asked.
"I don't know. He just had a nightmare a little while ago from the fever, I think. He still feels pretty hot still." Lance brushed Keith's bangs out of his forehead and felt his head. His face dropped when he did. "He- he actually feels hotter than earlier..." Lance looked up to me, concern grazing his face and i understood. I ran out to grab a thermometer, some cold water, and a cool washcloth. I returned and Lance was petting the top of Keith's hair, who was now laying his head in Lance's lap. I gave Lance the thermometer and squatted next to Keith's bed.
"Keith, you need to open your mouth for me, okay?" Lance asked. Keith responded with a groan and kept his mouth shut. Shiro placed a hand on Keith's shoulder.
"Keith, buddy, you have to listen to Lance if you want to get better. You want that, right?" I knew how stubborn Keith was when he wasn't sick, so he thought his illness would only make him worse like it usually did back on earth. However, once lance asked again, Keith's mouth opened partially, to my surprise. Lance stuck the thermometer under Keith's tongue and after it beeped, i don't know what happened, but Keith stared whimpering and shook a little.
"Keith? What's wrong?" I asked. Lance looked at Keith and he started panicking.
"Hey, Keith, talk to me, okay?" He asked. Keith shot up, gasping, and quickly shut his mouth and tilted his head downwards, his bangs covering his eyes. It was obvious he was struggling to stay upright.
"Keith, buddy, you should lie down. You're not looking so hot." I said. I got no response.
"Keith?" Lance piped in. "Keith, you gotta talk to us, dude. we can't help you if we don't know what's going on." Still nothing. Then I remembered something about Keith and shook Lances leg to get his attention.
"Lance, we should-"
"No." He said flatly. "He needs to start opening up more."
"Lance, I'm serious. Just let Keith be."
"No, Shiro." Lance snaps, getting aggravated. "Hey, Mullet, stop being such a closet-case and say something!" Lance spat, but his eyes went wide and he looked away, guilt covering his face. I sigh and ask Lance to leave the room for a minute. He agrees and walks out, the door closing behind him. Keith pulled his knees to his chest and placed his elbows on top of them, burying his face. I sat behind him on the bed and placed a hand on his back.
"Keith, did you... did it happen again?" I ask softly. I get a faint nod and my face turns to sadness and comfort. You see, Keith lost his parents at a young age. His mother left, and when he was eight, his father died. He lived with his uncle for a few years until he was sent to the a foster program because his uncle would abuse him. He eventually came to my family and we enjoyed Keith so much we wound up adopting him. However, that didn't stop Keith from having horrible night terrors of his past life. He would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night screaming and crying, and other nights he just wouldn't sleep. He's always been underweight from almost a year of being almost starved to death and he hasn't liked to eat much since. The others told me he wouldn't eat while I was gone, and I was scared for him; he didn't eat when our dad got into a car crash and Keith was with him, winding up safe while our dad was sent to the hospital for two weeks. Keith didn't leave his room except for school or to get a book or something. His nightmares became progressively worse every time something really bad happens. One time, after the castle was taken over, he came to my room crying because his night terrors, which i thought had been long gone since I returned, had gotten worse, involving Lance not surviving and me being recaptured. He stayed in my room that night and neither of us slept. If he's still been having those night terrors...
"Keith... have they been getting worse again?" Keith nodded softly and I sighed.
"Oh, Keith..." I moved to sit in front of him and I held his face up. I brushed his bangs out of his eyes to see his broken face sobbing silently. I pulled him into a hug and he sobbed silently on my shoulder. Keith has never been one to cry in public, and when he did, he wouldn't make a noise except for his hitched breathing.
"S-Shiro... y-you were... a-and Lance was... a-and I..." Keith cling to my shirt and we stayed like that for a few minutes until he calmed down enough for me to talk to him.
"Keith, how long have you been having night terrors again?" I asked. Keith looked away.
"Th-they never stopped... I j-just stopped c-coming to y-you..." I gasped silently and felt a pang of guilt hit my chest; how did I not realize? How did anyone not realize? Especially Lance because he had he closest room to Keith.
"Keith, I told you that you need to come to me when-"
"You were gone for a year and I put up with them by myself, Shiro." Keith whispered. I felt terrible; I had been gone for a year when I first got captured, and then after I got captured again after the battle with Zarkon. I'd told him before when we were younger that he could always come to me whenever he had night terrors, yet I'd left him alone to deal with them for more than a year. A full year. And it was my choice to go up to the Kerberos mission in the first place. I knew it would be hard for Keith to deal with the nightmares without me physically being there, but I thought I could've called him from Space. I called for the first two weeks or so, then I just... stopped. I didn't give reason, and I still don't have one, but Keith seemed fine. Then I got captured for the first time. I wouldn't have been captured, and Keith wouldn't have had to learn to deal with the night terrors alone if I hadn't accepted going on the mission in the first place.
"Keith, I... I'm so sorry I was gone for so long. It was my fault. Please don't keep these things to yourself, okay?" I ask. I don't get a response, but I feel Keith's chest rising and falling somewhat evenly, and I naturally assume he's asleep. I lay him down and pull the blanket up as Lance walks back into the room.
"Hey. How's he doing?" Lance asked, his voice shaking. I smiled at him.
"He's good. He had another nightmare, though..." I replied, looking down at my younger brother. I suddenly remember something and look to Lance.
"Hey Lance, how high is Keith's fever? You never said before." Lance looked from me to the ground to Keith, then sighed.
"You're not gonna like it at all... 103.6." He said. My eyes widen.
"That... that's really high..." I look down at Keith, who had a bright red blush across his face. His hair stuck to his forehead and I brushed it aside, feeling how hot his face actually felt.
"Lance, pass me that towel?" I ask. Lance does, and I place it on Keith's forehead. I look at him sadly, then turn to Lance. Keith's probably hate me for this in the future, but Lance deserved to know. After all, I can see the way they look at each other; they may not realize it yet, but they're practically soulmates. That's why I have to tell Lance.
"Lance, there's something I need to tell you."