Alternate Reality (Klance)

Chapter 3

Original universe: -Fluff warning-

Lance woke up in Keith's arms. The were home.
He blinked at the sun that illuminated his face, the white clouds, softly hanging in the air. The scent of juniberries filled his nose and made him catch his breath.
Lance needed a second to recognize the steady heartbeat right next to his shoulder. And then he looked at Keith's smile, directed at him.
The surroundings forgotten, he let his hand trace the other man's left cheek. The scar was weirdly distracting. He hadn't seen that one in quite a while.

Keith grabbed for his hand, stopping his movement, but he kept holding it. An irritated look in his eyes. Full of uncertainty, gathering of courage and hope.
Lance just returned the smile, not moving a muscle. For the first time in weeks, he felt like he was truly home. Where he truly belonged.
Which was kind of odd, considering he hadn't missed his house or the fields, or the work or the cows. Not to mention it wasn't that different on the other side.
But he had missed Keith. This was where he belonged.

"Your marks are gone.", Keith shyly said, just as gone in the moment as Lance was.
Lance grabbed for his face with his free hand, even though he wouldn't be able to feel them.
"They are?", he asked, curious, but trusting in Keith, who only nodded, as he bit his bottom lip.

And Lance felt – relieved.
He chuckled, as he started laughing, happy with giddiness. Allura had been right. He had been trying so hard to get her out of his head, he hadn't realized, he had already moved on. His focus on this attempt being the only thing that made him remember her all day.
He couldn't remember when he had started to move on, but with his mindset freed from the marks, it was clear that he had.
"Thank god.", he muttered, noticing the confusion in Keith's eyes at his words.

Someone coughed, causing them to look up. A motion that was surprisingly mild for their situation. Lance didn't have it in him to jump away from Keith. This was where he belonged. Witnesses could mind their own business. He wouldn't jump aside for the simple means of appearances.

"We'll, erm – we'll leave you two alone for now.", Krolia said, nodding at her son. The others, still confused and irritated at the sudden appearance of Allura and the following return right after, avoided their eyes, already heading towards Lance's house.

Keith opened his mouth to respond, but it was Lance who answered.
"Sure, go ahead. Don't wait for us.", he said, not letting go of Keith. Only now noticing that they were practically sitting on the field of juniberries. Him in Keith's arms, while Keith was kneeling beside him.

Krolia showed him a thumbs up and followed the paladins towards the house, Kosmo was stumbling around the fields, already jumping for a white butterfly. Happy to be back in his own body. He was teleporting between the flowers, while Krolia's back disappeared in the distance.

Neither Keith nor Lance said anything for a while, until Lance sat up a bit more. Keith let him go at the sudden motion.
"No.", Lance instantly said, grabbing for Keith's arm. The man in question froze mid motion.
"Stay here.", Lance said, sitting up even more and snuggling closer into Keith's side. All his worry's, all his doubts ignored.
He had waited forever for this. Not certain whether or not he would ever return to this universe, though his hopes in Pidge had kept him going.

He would only leave Keith's side, if the man would push him away. But Keith didn't. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Lance, hesitant and hyper aware of his actions.

Lance smiled, but lay there quiet once more.

Only the increasing breathing of Keith calming him in a way, nothing else did.
"I'm glad to be back.", Lance admitted, looking into these purple eyes. They looked at him in return, growing more and more self conscious.
"Was it that bad in the other reality?", Keith asked, wording his sentence carefully.