Chapter Text
Keith remained totally miserable for months. Sure, he was in partial remission which was great, but he was also still without Lance. Even worse, he’d totally stopped answering and Adam and Shiro both refused to tell him how Lance was doing. Shiro hated it. Keith was beyond depressed. All he could do was try and keep an eye on him.
That all ended when Lance finally showed up at the apartment. Shiro yanked Keith out into the living room, then pulled Adam into Keith’s room to wait. Lance definataly looked better, but he was still clearly underweight.
“Hey…”
Keith: Why are you here?
“Because… I was being a dick and I’m sorry… I should’ve actually talked to you…”
Keith: You were.
“I know… like I said… I’m sorry… but… I’m figuring stuff out… hopefully…”
Keith: You still look like you’re dying.
“I know… I’m trying… but it’s hard… and it’s not like I can like… actually do anything about it… like… treatment-wise… There’s like no way I can get health insurace… I kinda just have to do it on my own… I’m trying though…”
Keith: Good…
“Can we… like… fix it? I miss you…”
Keith: I don’t know…
“Shiro said you’re in remission…” Keith just nodded. “So… maybe… things can be easier… now that I’m… kinda fixing it… and you’re doing better…”
Keith: Maybe…
“Can we just… lay here and watch a movie or something? I have to go to work soon… but… yeah…” Keith just nodded and pointed to the remote. To be honest, he was still really upset, but it was Lance. He couldn’t ignore him anymore. Once the movie started, he found his way to Lance’s lap and laid down. Keith only made it about an hour before he fell asleep. He hadn’t been doing that much, and Lance just had a way. Sure, he slept well when Shiro stayed, but Keith didn’t feel exhausted when he woke back up for once.
“Hey bud… How was that?” Shiro asked as he sat up.
“I dunno…”
“Well… it seemed like it went okay… You about ready for dinner?”
“I guess…”
“Good… I’m gonna stay tonight.” Keith just nodded and followed him to the kitchen. After dinner, Keith was content just laying back down. He honestly really missed having Lance stay over, even if he rarely got any attention. Usually he would come over really late after work, but stay up all night doing homework. Still, he was there.
The next morning, Keith walked out to find Lance asleep on the couch which was weird since it was a Tuesday, and it was already ten so he should’ve been in class. Keith tried to wake him up, but he didn’t budge. He quickly gave up and curled up beside him. As soon as he was comfortable, Lance wrapped his arm over his waist. He slept all day. Even by the time Shiro got home, he was knocked. He’d already tried his grandmother, so Keith immediately followed Shiro to ask him.
“Has he been up at all?” Shiro asked as he sat down at the desk in Keith’s room to get some work done.
“No… What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s just… exhausted… I don’t think he’s properly slept in… a really long time…” He mumbled. “He’s fine… but he wrecked on the way back to school last night. He said he thinks he was asleep… It took like… a really long conversation with Iverson… but he’s off school for a week… Legally… I can’t be in trouble for keeping him here since he’s considered to be an adult… So… he’s staying here all week… I don’t know what y’all… ended up figuring out, but this has absolutely nothing to do with your relationship. If you don’t wanna talk to him, don’t or go stay in my dorm. Mom said you can use her car if you decide to leave at some point… but I’m taking him in either way. I’ve tried a million times to help him… so has Adam… and I guess he finally gave in… I think he needed for that to happen…”
“So…”
“So… I don’t know. Thankfully he didn’t hit anyone, just a guardrail… his car is barely driveable… I drove it to the school while Adam took him… and it was rough. He wouldn’t let us call anyone though since he’s driving without insurance… He was like freaking out… I also guess he’s no longer on his ADHD meds… so that’s probably not helpful. I don’t know what’s happening. He dodged most of my questions. I mean… I’ve been trying to help for… months. The best I could do was a small shell scholarship to help with school payments this semester… Adam’s gonna try and talk him into letting him like… get temporary guardianship or something that way maybe we can help, but I doubt he’ll agree…”
“Do you think he’s doing better with like… food though?”
“Maybe… Either me or Adam have brought him dinner almost every night for a few months… I don’t know if he eats it or how much because he wouldn’t even speak to us… but I had to carry him in here when we finally got home… He feels less boney…”
“So… What about him working?”
“He won’t be until he’s better. And he’ll be working less hours. He doesn’t know that yet, but I talked to his manager after school… Apparently he thought he was just on drugs or something, but could never catch him with a test… So… He’s got a week off… then he’ll only be working from like four to ten.”
“But he’ll still stay up all night to catch up with school…”
“No he won’t. Breaks and lunches he’ll be in my office doing that instead of… Wherever he used to disappear to. That also means I’ll be able to feed him since he still refuses to pay for a meal plan…”
“So… You really haven’t like… talked to him?”
“No… I tried. Until last night all of our conversations have been less than two minutes long…”
“And last night?”
“He called me like… totally breaking down. It was three, so I wonder how long he was just asleep for… but I went and got him… Which I’m glad he did. I don’t think he would’ve made it back to school on his own. His car is basically full of coffee cups from the gas station… He barely made it up the stairs to his dorm when we went to get his stuff… I’m not gonna lie to you, it was bad. I’m really worried about him, I have been. Even if you guys aren’t… getting along still… He’s gonna be around, like I said, if that makes you uncomfortable, we’ll figure something out… but he made you happy… he did a lot… I’m doing this. I should’ve been doing it… but he wouldn’t let me. He’s not even talking to his roommates anymore… They say they never see him unless they have a class together… I guess that’s because he doesn’t go into the cafeteria anymore, he’s gone right after school, and he locks his door as soon as he gets home from work… but yeah…”
“Is he like… mad at me?”
“No. He feels bad about everything… but I’m sure you can understand that most of what he’s said and done… has been… you know…”
“I’m not mad at him… but… I don’t want to watch this.”
“I get that… but he didn’t want to watch you go through cancer treatments either… He still did though… If you want him to be better… maybe he needs a reason to get that way…”
“But he sa-”
“Keith. He didn’t mean that. You aren’t the reason he’s anorexic, you aren’t the reason he’s over working himself. None of that is your fault. He’s stressed out… I feel like you should kind of understand what that’s like… Only you ran from your family… they didn’t throw you out… but you know what it’s like to be on your own…”
“But… he’s not. He has people… I was also literally nine.”
“But you were also born in America… If he doesn’t have a way to pay for school… He’s not gonna be here… He said he’d rather starve to death than be stuck there on his own… You can understand going to… long lengths to avoid going back… right? You can find a way to understand him… and I can tell you still want to be with him… So just do it. He didn’t mean to hurt you… he said that when you said what you did… he realized that he was. That’s why he disappeared… Why don’t you go back out there and wait for him to get up while I do some work?” Keith just nodded and walked back out.
Lance was still dead asleep on the couch under his pile of blankets. Keith decided to just sit on the floor beside him and watch him sleep. He still didn’t wake up until Shiro was done with his work and tried to get him up. It took several tries, but he eventually got a groan in response.
“I’m about to cook… Why don’t you go take a shower? I’m sure it’ll make you feel a bit better…”
“Mhm… M’ tried… N’ my ribs hurt.”
“Okay….” Shiro sighed. “I’ll get you up for dinner then… Can I look at your ribs though?”
“No…”
“Lance… Just let me look. It’s okay.” He just shook his head and glanced over to Keith. “Keith…. Can you go start boiling some water?” Keith nodded and left, only so Shiro could check on him. He still listened from the kitchen though. Shiro just waited as Lance slowly pulled off the blankets and pulled up his hoodie. He tried his best to hide his cringe at how thin he still was and just focus on his ribs. “Is it just here?”
“I guess…”
“I’m gonna feel around… try and stay still.” Shiro said as he held Lance down and tried to get a decent feel. It wasn’t easy through the faint whines and the flinching, but he did feel anything out of the ordinary. “I think it’s okay… It’s probably just where you hit the steering wheel or something since your airbags didn’t go off… Let me know if it gets worse, okay?” Lance just nodded and curled back up under his little nest of blankets. “Are you really that cold?”
“Kinda…”
“You’ve definitely got an iron deficiency… I want you to take some iron supplements from now on… I’ll get you some tomorrow after school.” Lance just nodded and rolled to face away from Shiro. Only a few minutes later, he heard Keith sit down beside the couch.
“Hey…”
“Hi…”
“So… uh… I guess I-”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry… I know you probably don’t want me here… but Shiro wouldn’t let me stay at school…”
Keith: I wish you would’ve been here three months ago actually…
“I know… I’m sorry…” He sighed as he reached a hand out for one of Keith’s. He wasn’t sure it would work, but Keith did actually take it. “I still love you… I know I screwed up… and I’m sorry… but…”
Keith: I love you too… I just wish you would’ve let them help you.
“Yeah… I guess I was being kinda stupid…”
Keith: Very… Shiro’s worried…
“I know… Did they tell you about last night?” Keith nodded. “Yeah…”
Keith: And that’s not the first time you’ve done that is it?”
“I always woke up when I hit the rumble strip…”
Keith: Will you please just let them help you?
“I’m trying…”
Keith: And if you don’t feel better later… let me drive you?
“That’s still illegal… I may not have insuance, but at least I have a licsense still…”
Keith: I do have one… I have for like… three months…
“Oh… I forgot it’s been that long…”
Keith: Yeah…
“I think Adam’s gonna take me now though… so… it’s fine…”
Keith: But he’s not gonna come get you that late…
“You should already be asleep when I get off.”
Keith: I never am. I’ll take you home. Just shut up and agree.
“Okay.” Lance sighed. “Lay with me?” Keith just nodded and stood up, then waited for Lance to get situated before laying down behind him and carefully sliding an arm around his waist, avoiding his ribs. “Keith?”
“Hm?”
“Do you think… I could sleep with you tonight?” Lance felt a nod, so he allowed himself to fall back asleep until dinner. Before he knew it, Shiro was pulling him to the table. Lance could feel three sets of eyes on him while he ate, but he tried to ignore it. Eventually, his body decided to take over. Twenty minutes into dinner, he started nodding off. When he woke back up, Shiro was laying him down in Keith’s room. “What?”
“You fell asleep.” He sighed. “I’ll bring you some extra blankets… You can go back to sleep.” Lance just nodded and waited, or tried to. The next time he woke up, Keith was sitting beside him on his laptop and sunlight was blasting through the window.
“Mh… What time is it?”
“Eleven.”
“Are you doing school? Keith nodded. “Hm…”
Keith: There’s food in the kitchen. You need to eat by like one. If Shiro gets you the same kind I took before I got the really strong ones you have to wait two hours after to take them.
“What am I taking?”
Keith: Iron. He told you that last night.
“So we’re anemic together now?” Lance laughed.
Keith: Yours is probably worse than mine…
“Still…”
Keith: I don’t think it’s funny. You’re sick.
“Jesus… I was just trying to lighten the mood.” Lance mumbled at Keith’s scowl before he stumbled out. Keith just stayed and did his schoolwork, but when Lance came back, he just stood by his side of the bed.
“What?”
“Can I lay down with you?” Keith nodded, but Lance just waited. Eventually, Keith got the idea and set his laptop aside. As soon as he did, Lance laid down between his legs and curled up around his thigh. Keith just quietly pulled a blanket over him and started playing with his hair. Lance happily nuzzled closer, but tried to stay awake. He felt bad sleeping so much, but he really hadn’t gotten more than an hour or two a night in months. He needed it. He also needed to fix things with Keith though. Before he could think of something to say, he gave up fighting his heavy eyelids and fell back asleep. This time, he only slept for about two hours though. Lance had accidentally moved to lay on his stomach, immediately making him shoot up with a wince.
“What?” Keith asked with wide eyes.
“My ribs hurt… Sorry…”
Keith: What did Shiro say?
“He said they’re probably fine…” Lance mumbled as he moved to lay beside Keith instead. He honestly didn’t know what to say to him, but he was trying. “So… What’s like… gonna happen…?”
Keith: What do you mean?
“With us?”
Keith: I don’t know… I don’t know if we even actually broke up. You just left and ghosted me… so…
“So… we don’t have to say we did…”
Keith: Is that what you wanted?
“No… I just… did want to deal with anything yet… and I knew if I was around you guys… that would happen regardless of what I wanted… but… I don’t really have an option anymore I guess… Shiro’s already told Iverson everything…”
Keith: Good.
“I guess… So… What does that mean? Like… us-wise?”
Keith: I missed you… a lot… So…
“So? We’re still together?” Keith hesitated, but nodded and let his head fall onto Lance’s shoulder. “Good… Sorry I’ve been sleeping the whole time…”
Keith: You apparently need it.
“Yeah.” He sighed. “Did you finish school?” Keith just hummed, letting him know he’d finished. “Good… Do you wanna go watch a movie?” Keith nodded and grabbed a few of the blankets before pulling Lance out to the living room. He let Lance pick a movie, then get comfortable across his lap before Keith moved the blankets around to cover him fully.
By the time Shiro and Adam got there, Lance and Keith had both fallen asleep on the couch. Lance was still laying on his side resting his head on Keith’s thigh, avoiding the bruises, and Keith had moved to throw his legs on either side and lean back against the arm of the couch. They just watched them sleep for a few minutes before Shiro finally snuck over to get Lance up.
“Mh… What?”
“When did you eat last?”
“Mh… long time…”
“Okay, go take one of those pills. We’ll eat in another hour or so.” Lance gave a faint nod and stumbled into the kitchen. By the time he got back, Keith was awake, curled into Shiro’s side. Lance felt a twinge of… not necessarily jealousy, but something not too far off. He’d been so busy since everything happened he hadn’t really had the time to think about the fact that he was basically alone now. He knew Keith didn’t have many people either, but he had Shiro. Lance had grown up believing that family was the most important thing in the world. Now he was without that, and the way it looked, he wouldn’t get it back. Adam must’ve caught on to the fact he was upset about something.
“Lance…”
“Hm?”
“Come here.” He furrowed his eyebrows a bit, but walked back into the kitchen where Adam was standing. Almost as soon as he was close enough, Adam pulled him into a tight hug. It wasn’t what he really wanted, but it was still nice. It took only seconds for Lance to melt into his chest. “You alright?”
“Mh…”
“You wanna tell me why you seem more upset than before? Did something happen today?”
“No… Can I go lay down again?”
“Yeah.” Adam sighed. “You have to get up for dinner though, okay?” Lance just nodded and leaned against him for a few more seconds before disappearing. Until they came to get him that night, Lance didn’t even realize how much he missed human contact. He’d always been a very physically affectionate person. Between his huge family and his friends, he very rarely went without. Keith was great too, but on the rare occasion Shiro let his hand linger on his shoulder or Adam actually offered a hug, it felt like his brain would short-circut. He was kind of a dick to them for months even though they were just trying to help, so the fact they constantly reassured him in different ways meant a lot.
“Come eat.” Shiro said as he peaked his head in just over an hour later.
“Mh…”
“Remember what we agreed. You atleast have to come sit in there with us.”
“I’m tired…”
“I know. I’ll bring you back if you start falling asleep again, but you’re gonna come out.” Lance rolled his eyes, but still followed Shiro out to the kitchen where Keith was sitting on the counter watching Adam finish whatever he made.
“Did you finish that essay?” Keith nodded. “Good. What’d you end up doing it on?”
‘Social control and cults.’
“Wow…” Adam sighed before turning to Shiro. “Your kid scares me.”
“Yeah.” Shiro laughed. “It was a good essay though, he let me read it. I’d honestly never heard of half of it, so I think he’ll get a good grade.” Lance watched Keith beam a bit at the praise as Shiro pulled out some dishes.
“So that was a final?” Keith nodded.
“Yeah, I think he’s gonna be done early… Someone didn’t want to go back to real school though…” Shiro sighed. Keith just shrugged and hid a glance to Lance. “Maybe next year?”
‘What’s the point in that? I’d rather just do my senior year right after and be done.”
“The point is… you’re going to college… and… given the options in the area… You’re probably gonna live on campus… And I think it would be better for you to go to a real school that’s a bit smaller for a while before… to get you used to that again…”
‘I can do it online too…’
“I want you to go to a real campus. You’ll actually learn stuff there… plus you won’t be eighteen yet… so I actually do get a say.”
‘I really don’t want to go back there…’
“Then there’s the highschool like fifteen from here.”
‘Not there either.’
“You have a few months to figure it out.” Shiro said, ending the conversation as he brought his own plate of food, as well as one for Lance over to the table. He just watched him poke around as the gears in his head spun.
“Lance.”
“Sorry…” He said quietly as he ducked his head.
“Don’t try and count it, just eat it.”
“Bu-”
“Lance, it’s fine.” Keith watched from the kitchen with Adam as Shiro tried to convince him to eat something. They had a muffled argument before Lance finally gave in, then Adam pulled Keith back over. Only a few minutes into dinner, Lance got up and disappeared into Keith’s room. Shiro and Adam seemed to have a silent conversation before Adam nodded and followed. Keith did his best to listen in, but really didn’t hear much. When Keith did finally get to slip away, he found Adam sitting on the edge of the bed watching Lance sleep. His face was red and splotchy.
‘What happened?’
“He’s… just having a hard time with it…” Adam sighed. “You going to bed?” Keith nodded. “Alright… well… we’ll be home around the same time tomorrow.” He said as he stood up. “Be good. Call one of us if either of you need anything.” Keith nodded again and watched Adam slip back out before Lance moved slightly to be closer to him.