I need you //klance

Part seventeen

After Keith nodded, Lance moved to his side, putting his hand on his waist and draping Keith's arm around his shoulder carefully, trying not to strain any of his injuries.

Keith grunted a little but allowed him to lead him back to Lance's room.

When they got there, Lance left Keith leaning against the wall on his bed to get his first aid kit from his bathroom.

When he came back Keith looked up at him curiously, "Why do you have a med kit in your room?"
Lance tilted his head and knelt before Keith, "I guess it's just a habit. Plus, it's more convenient."
Keith nodded slightly in agreement and then started when he noticed him peeling his armor off.
"Woah! Calm down, Keith. I need to take your armor off otherwise I can't help you, remember?"
Keith only hummed in response and averted his gaze, he was too tired to think about anything he was saying and honestly didn't trust his mouth right now.

Lance went about removing Keith's armor and gasped when he noticed the  dried blood taking up small patches of the under-suit.
Lance bit his lip as he peeled away the top half of the fabric.

Keith's pale skin was spotted with a range of different colored bruises, all in various stages of healing.
In some places, there were shallow cuts that had reopened, blood still oozed slowly from many of them, although they luckily were all quite shallow.

Keith gulped as he watched Lance open his med kit and set about cleaning and bandaging his wounds, luckily he didn't have any broken bones. He had had a dislocated shoulder but Shiro had sorted that on their way back.
Keith sat silently, mentally preparing himself for the questions he knew would come.

Instead Lance surprised him and stayed quiet.

"Aren't you going to ask anything...?"
Lance hummed, "I already said I wouldn't. Unless you want to tell me something." Lance seemed to be pondering something in his head and Keith admired his handiwork, he was surprisingly good at first aid.

Keith grimaced as he remembered their conversation in the elevator shaft, he supposed Lance probably got a lot of practice.

"So are you actually part Galra then?"
The question caught him off guard. Had Shiro told the others already? Did-
"I'll take that as yes. No one told me anything, if that's what you're worried about. I kinda guessed so.."
Lance sat down beside Keith on his bed.
"How?"
Lance looked up at Keith questioningly, "What?"
"How did you know? How aren't you scared? How are you-"
"Ssh." Lance pressed a finger to Keith lips, "I just started paying more attention to smaller things so I wouldn't be the last one to know again, you know like with Pidge.. It really was just minor things, no one would notice unless they were looking for it."
Keith looked at him in confusion, Lance just smiled at him reassuringly.
"You're still the same person as before and I trust you either way so it doesn't really make any sense to freak out."

Keith still looked unsure. Lance sighed and brought him into a hug. Keith tensed at first but relaxed into it quickly.
Lance rubbed small circles into his back and ran his other hand soothingly through his hair, speaking in hushed tones, "I don't care what so ever. You just need some time to adjust, the others probably will too but they'll end up treating you the same as before either way."
Lance began to notice his shirt becoming damper and Keith shaking ever so slightly in his arms. Lance nuzzled his face into Keith's cheek and carried on playing with his hair.

They stayed like this for a while. Lance whispering reassurances into Keith's ear as Keith sobbed into his chest, until Keith eventually fell asleep. By that point, Lance was too tired to take Keith to his own room and instead laid Keith in his bed and tucked himself in next to him, making sure to keep a protective hold on Keith as he drifted off himself.

Keith woke up feeling a warm presence around him and the calming scent of the ocean enveloping him.
Eventually, Keith's eyes drifted open to see a sleeping Lance loosely holding him. Lance was breathing softly, silent except for the occasional muttered Spanish words.
Keith shifted clumsily to get a better look at him. His face had a healthy splattering of freckles dancing across it that Keith didn't remember seeing before, his skin was glowing a soft caramel brown and his hair was messed up from sleeping. It curled around his face in waves giving it extra fluffy volume.

Keith's movement must have woken him as his eyes fluttered sleepily open. His ocean blue eyes drifted over to meet his own amethyst ones. His eyes reflected the soft smile that lit up his features as they sparked in recognition.
"Mm... Buenas dias..."
Lance nuzzled his cheek into Keith's arm and yawned. Finally crawling out of bed stretching.
"Hm.. I'm going to take a shower and get ready, you can stay a bit longer if you want?"

Keith hummed and stretched, "m gonna get changed.. should I... tell the others today?"
Lance hummed as he thought, sleepiness already gone, "It would be a good idea to tell them sooner rather than later." Lance closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side, "Wait till I get there Okay? I'm kinda worried about the Alteans, mainly Allura. You saw how she was with Kolivan."

Keith nodded and turned to leave a dread settled once again in his stomach.
"Keithy... none of this is your fault. You can't change any of this either so don't beat yourself up over it. Okay?"
Keith turned back to Lance, a small smile on his face again, "Okay. I'll try."
And with that Keith left for his own room and prepared to face his new family as fear filled him up once again.