Rivals (Klance)

Chapter 13

Lance couldn't help but be relieved that they arrived late. If they had gotten there at a normal time, Allura would have tried to talk to him before classes started. He wasn't sure how he was going to face her and needed some extra time to figure it out. Even with Shiro and Keith's help, he was still hell bent on getting through it on his own, but he was mad at himself for how he acted when Allura was just trying to help him. He would have done the same thing if she was the one struggling.

The first half of the day flew by with Lance narrowly avoiding falling asleep in class. It seemed that after getting just those few hours of sleep, his body was despite for more. He was definitely going to yell at Keith later for forcing him to sleep last night.

When lunch rolled around, Lance felt his heart rate pick up. He knew he'd have to talk to Allura, or at least see her. Not only that, but he'd have to do it with everyone else present, making it more awkward and frankly more panic inducing.

Fatigue had always affect his appetite, so it wasn't a surprise to him that the thought of food made him nauseous. He took a seat at their usual table and let his head rest against the cool surface while he waited for his friends to show up.

"You should eat something." A voice spoke up from in front of him, startling Lance. He looked up and caught Keith send him a concealed look of worry.

"I'm not hungry." Lance mumbled. The smell of Keith's pizza was making his mouth water and his stomach do somersaults. He was hungry, but he really didn't think he could stomach food.

"When are you not hungry McClain?" Keith asked in a slightly teasing tone. He was trying to make some sort of conversation or banter, hoping for at least a little bit of normalcy for the other boy.

"Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Pidge observed, seeing as Lance was in a sour mood, which didn't happen very often. He was their group's resident goof ball, so when he was upset, everyone noticed.

They didn't know it, but when Pidge said that, they made both boys reflect on the fact Lance had woken up on Keith's chest that morning. Lance was blushing more than Keith, but if you looked close enough, you'd notice the faint pink.

'Definitely the right side of the bed.' Lance thought to himself before mentally slapping himself for thinking it.

"Fuck off Pidge." He mumbled instead, not in the mood to deal with their teasing.

"Oh someone's feeling extra sassy today." Pidge said, their eyes lit up in amusement. Teasing was one of their favorite pass times, and until Lance actually snapped at them, they were going to continue.

"Pidge leave him alone." Hunk said, taking a seat at the table. "Dude, you look like an extra from the walking dead, are you okay?" He asked, concern dripping from his tone.

Lance groaned and didn't look up. "I'm fine, just a headache." He said, not being bothered with the lie because he really did have a headache.

"He's not sleeping." A new voice piped up, accompanied by the sound of a tray being set down on the table.

Lance snapped his head up, wincing slightly at the pounding headache. "What the hell Allura?" He hissed. He knew she'd be mad, but he thought she'd respect the fact he didn't want anyone to know about the nightmares. They weren't exactly something he wanted to share with anyone, let alone the three people that already knew.

"If you won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to us. You're falling apart Lance and if you keep this up, you're going to kill yourself." She said back, her voice just as angry as Lance's, but for different reasons.