Rivals (Klance)

Chapter 11

That night Lance's emotions and anxiety were so out of wack and all over the place, that he didn't even fall asleep. He stayed awake all night, staring at the ceiling. It gave him a lot of time to think.

Maybe Shiro and Allura were right. Maybe he did need help. But he was so tired of being a burden, someone that everyone else had to look out for and protect.

He had never been strong enough to stand on his own. He was so weak he couldn't save himself. He killed Marco.

The sound of Keith's alarm clock pulled Lance out of his thoughts, finally. He was so drained, that he just didn't want to move, but at least he wasn't lost in his own head.

Keith crawled out of bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He caught sight of Lance, and was surprised by the boy for a second morning in a row. "You look like shit, did you even sleep at all?" He asked, Lance's fatigue clear as day.

"No." He responded simply, not seeing a point in trying to hide it. As soon as he left the room, if he could even manage that, Shiro would know exactly why he looked like a zombie.

Startled by the answer, Keith elected to ignore it and just get ready for school. Walking out of his room, he headed down the stairs to see if Shiro was heading to work later than yesterday, which happened quite often. He had a really flexible schedule, so it was always a toss up if he was home when Keith woke up or not.

"Good morning." Shiro said with a smile from the kitchen, sipping on a cup of coffee. Keith was never a morning person and it was always amusing to watch him try and wake up in the morning.

"What did you two talk about yesterday?" Keith asked. Curiosity was burning in him to find out. What had made Lance stay up all night?

"Huh? Why're you asking?" Shiro asked lightly, knowing that Keith wouldn't ask unless he had a reason.

"Lance didn't sleep at all last night. I woke up and he was just staring blankly at the ceiling. It's... creepy." Keith said with a small shiver at the memory of how lost and abandoned Lance had looked that morning.

Shiro's face fell at the news. He was half hoping that after telling someone the nightmares would have gotten better, not paralyze him with so much fear he doesn't even allow himself to sleep. "Do you need anything else out of your room, or are you ready?" He asked Keith, already formulating a plan in his head.

"No, I'm good." Keith said with an odd expression.

"Ok, then head to school. If Lance didn't sleep, there's no way he'll make it through the school day without collapsing." Shiro explained.

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Keith spent most of the day trying to figure out what was wrong with his rival. Why did he feel guilty that he slept perfectly last night and Lance was awake the whole time?

Lance, on the other hand, spent the whole day the same way he spent the night. He couldn't sleep and he didn't have the energy to do much of anything else besides stare at the wall.

He was left alone for most of the day, Shiro not being able to stay home from work that day due to a meeting. The isolation probably wasn't the best thing for him, but he was alone completely alone for a few hours before Keith came back from school.

Dropping his bag at the door, Keith hesitantly walked into the living room. Lance was laying on the couch, staring at the ceiling. "Have you... been like that all day?" He asked softly, slightly worried about spooking the boy.

"Yup." Lance said back, not missing a beat.

Keith wasn't expecting the answer or for it to come so quick. "Do you, maybe, want to go upstairs and, I don't know, sleep or something?" He asked, purposefully trying to get Lance to sleep.

At the mention of sleeping, Lance shot up. He was so tired, he was becoming slightly delusional and he didn't need to have his eyes closed for the nightmares to flash through his mind. "No! No sleeping. Please, I can't- Don't make me- I don't want- Please-"

Keith was stunned. He had no clue how fragile Lance actually was at the moment. He was having a full blown melt down on his couch and Shiro wasn't anywhere around to help him. Keith was on his own and he was clueless.

His body seemed to move before his mind could think, resulting in him sitting down next to a shaking Lance. He had no clue how to comfort someone, so he just did what Shiro would always do during the panic attacks he had when he was young.

He wrapped one arm around Lance and pulled him closer. He used his other hand to move his head to rest on his chest. It was a little odd at first seeing as Keith was shorter, but he made it work. His main focus was grounding Lance and getting his breathing back on track.

"Calm down Lance, just focus on your breathing, okay? Try and match it to mine." Keith instructed in a soothing voice. He was taking deep, slow breaths, trying to make them easy to follow.

It took a few tries and about fifteen minutes, but eventually Lance had calmed down and was just quietly sniffling on Keith's chest. "You should really try to sleep." Keith pointed out, absentmindedly combing a hand through Lance's hair. He really hadn't even noticed that he was doing it.

"I really don't want to." Lance said. He was so shaken up, that he didn't even consider how strange it was for the two to be basically cuddling on Keith's living room couch. He just didn't want to let go for fear of slipping back into panic.

Keith shifted them so that his back was resting on the arm rest of the couch and Lance was laying comfortably on his chest. "I don't know what you're so scared of, but I'm not going anywhere. Whatever it is that's keep you from sleeping, try to forget about it. I'll still be here. Nothing's gonna happen to you." He said, not knowing why he was trying so hard to comfort the kid he had been feuding with since pre K. It just... hurt his heart to see him so distraught.

"Promise?" Lance whispered, already starting to slip off.

"Yeah, I promise."