Lance waited at the bus stop waiting for his stepfather to pick him up. It had started raining as soon as school ended.

School had ended an hour ago, and yet he was still waiting, he sat on the concrete floor leaning against the school's brick wall the sun was setting and it was staring to get cold. He pulled the thin brown jacket he wore closer against his body and hugged himself, his fingers were freezing and stiff.

He froze when he heard footsteps from afar and quickly got up to his feet he grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, he leaned further against the wall and waited holding onto his backpack tight and ready to swing if he needed any defense. The steps approached and got closer, and closer, and then someone appeared.

Lance sighed in relief, but he had startled the person and they flinched, they locked eyes and before he knew it Lance was hit with a rather strong blow. He fell to his knees and dropped his head, a stream of warm blood trickled from his nose. "Oh crap! What the hell Lance!?" Keith yelled and quickly kneeled to the ground.  "Pick your head up idiot." He took Lance's face in his hands and lifted it, they both stared at each other.

Lance shivered as soon as he took notice of how cold Keith's hands were and also noticed how he was soaked. "Don't look at me like that, I was just trying to get away from the rain I'm no creep." He stated with a frown, Lance rolled his eyes and wiped away the blood from his upper lip. "Crap I'm sorry really, does it hurt?" Keith asked worriedly.

Lance shook his head in response, he had gotten used to the pain a long time ago. "Alright, just keep your head up." Keith demanded still holding Lance's face, his fingers intertwined within Lance's soft brown locks. "Dude what are you still doing here anyways?" He asked curiously, Lance frowned and looked at the parking lot and drop off driveway. "You waiting for someone to pick you up?" Keith questioned.

Lance nodded. "But it's already been like an hour." Keith stated Lance shrugged and slowly stood up. "Ah wait," Keith released him from the seemingly comfortable grasp and looked through his backpack he pulled out the first aid kit and handed Lance a couple of tissues. "Pinch your nose and look up, if you feel like it's done bleeding then you can stop." He explained.

Lance did as he was told and pinched his nose with the tissues Keith sighed in relief and leaned against the wall. "Do you live close by?" He asked curiously, Lance nodded. "Alright then." Keith shrugged off his jacket and threw it over the trembling teen in front of him. "Keep it on, you're shaking like a leaf." He demanded and looked up at the dark sky. "If we run we'll probably be able to escape the worse of the storm." He said and looked over at Lance who was hesitant to put on his jacket.

Keith frowned. "Just keep it over your head idiot." He sighed and pushed himself off the wall. "You'll have to lead the way, but make it quick I don't want to end up catching a cold." He said in a sharp tone, Lance nodded and removed the tissue from his nose, the blood had stopped gushing from his nose. "Good, now throw it away that's gross." Keith made a disgusted look.

Lance hastily threw away the tissue and walked into the rain catching Keith's attention. "Lead the way." Keith said and followed after Lance who began to jog taking cautious steps careful not to slip and fall. Keith noticed how Lance would nearly slip every now and then, and the way he swayed to one side made him worried, was Lance exhausted? Was Keith pushing him too hard?

Maybe making him run in the rain was a bit too much, especially with such cold weather. "Dammit." Keith muttered and caught up with Lance taking hold of his arm to steady him. "If you slip I'm not gonna carry you home." He stated between gritted teeth, he instantly regretted what he said as soon as he saw Lance's reaction.

There was a flash of pain, but then he tried to hide it by forcing on a smile and giving him a slight nod of the head as if to say he understood and was okay with Keith leaving him behind if he did end up slipping. That made Keith really upset knowing that Lance didn't care for himself enough he wanted to yell at Lance for even smiling at such a rude comment but he bit his tongue refusing to let his anger get the best of him.

Lance was losing his breath after a long while of jogging and Keith really thought he would pass out so they both stopped at a nearby corner store and rested under the roof of the building both catching their breath, it took Lance a little longer to fully regain his breath and Keith stressed over it wondering if he had gotten sick due to the cold weather and rain. He wondered if Lance had a weak immune system by the way he trembled so much.

He shook his head and straightened his posture and patted Lance's shoulder. "We have to hurry." He said and looked up at the sky, dark clouds painted the sky an ugly gray, cold sheets of rain made it harder to see, and Keith could hear soft rumbling. A bad sign.

He prepared himself for the run and looked over to Lance. "You ready?" He asked, Lance nodded and pulled Keith's jacket closer to protect him from the rain he was already trembling so much Keith felt a dull ache in his chest, seeing how Lance trembled somehow made him feel extremely guilty, and he hated it. He growled and cursed under his breath hating himself for caring so much, Lance had done something so unforgivable. He made Keith care. He made him soft.

While Keith was growing up he was taught by his father that if he didn't want to be pushed around he'd have to get stronger, and then his father left his mother and his mother left him. After that Keith came to a conclusion for himself, he swore he would never get too close with someone because he knew that eventually they too would leave him, abandon him just like his parents did.

But now Keith came to realize that he had failed to keep his own promise, he made friends, called them family, and he forgot all about the abandonment. But now Lance was able to get him to rethink his choices, was it because Lance was different? That was something Keith never knew, Lance was the only person that had gotten him so angry, aside from Lotor of course, but he was also the only person he refused to yell at or hurt. Of course he would glare at him and maybe insult him a few times, but when he did he couldn't help but feel guilty.

Lance stepped into the rain and urged Keith to follow him, when Keith didn't react he frowned and took hold of his hand, something that Keith wasn't used to. Keith flinched at the sudden touch and slapped the hand away, it felt like ice was being shoved into his hand he shook his head and cleared his mind suddenly remembering where he was, he looked and saw Lance in front of him with a pout as he rubbed his hand, a red mark had appeared.

'Good job Keith, now you fucked up.' Keith mentally cursed at himself and took a step toward Lance stepping into the rain. "I'm sorry, I was just startled." He apologized in a low mumble, Lance nodded with a smile and pointed to a street a couple of feet away. "You live by there?" Keith asked surprised, it was the same street where his apartment was. Lance nodded in response to Keith's question and looked around making sure there were no cars, a flash of lighting startled the pair Lance jumped back and covered his ears as a rumble of thunder rolled in after the flash, Keith took a shaky breath and took hold of Lance's arm once again dragging him along as he ran.

By now Keith was soaked to the bone his clothes were heavy and weighing him down and his hair stuck to his forehead and cheeks he was glad that Lance at least had some extra protection, but then he wondered why Lance seemed to be so out of shape, he was thin and maybe a bit lean but other than that he was out of shape. His legs were already shaking from exhaustion. "Not an outside person huh?" Keith stated, Lance shrugged and took a breath.

Keith smiled despite the rain still soaking him and fixed his eyes ahead he could already see the apartment building coming into view. "How far is your place?" He asked curiously, Lance looked around and pointed down the street passing the building, he lived farther away and Keith was questionably upset about that, he suddenly had an idea that he immediately hated, yet he didn't hate it as much as his other stupid idea's. "Will your parents be upset if you get home late?" He asked reluctantly.

Lance perked up at Keith's question and slightly shook his head as if to test if he had heard correctly. "Is that a no?" Keith questioned, Lance jumped and quickly nodded. "Alright then I'll take you to my place, and as soon as the storm passes I'll take you home." Keith felt his face grow hot and he wished he had his jacket to hide the embarrassing blush that painted his face, Lance who was watching him grinned when he saw the tips of Keith's ears go red.

Another round of thunder made him cringe and he once again covered his ears, he always hated thunder and lightning ever since he was a kid. When he was younger his mother would always allow him to sleep in her bed with her during a storm he remembered how she would hold him close and sing to him to distract him from the noises outside, and she would always stroke his hair and commented on how she loved his eyes.

It took Lance a while to remember where he was the drops of water that hit his face brought him back to reality and he was suddenly cold, he took a sharp breath and whipped his head from side to side. "We're almost there, I think I might have a few clothes for you to borrow, but don't be weird you creep. I'll dry your clothes for you and don't even think about touching my stuff." Keith warned with a growl, this time it was Lance who started blushing, just the thought of being at Keith's place possibly alone...

He bit down on his lip and once again shook his head clearing his mind from any other weird and disturbing thoughts, his face grew more hot and he pulled Keith's jacket lower to cover his face. Big mistake. The jacket smelled faintly of cologne and sweat, it was a somewhat comforting smell and immediately Lance was eased of his worry and incoming anxiety.

Keith cleared his throat jerking lance away from his daze. "You doing okay? I know the jacket isn't that helpful, but it's still something right?" He gave a wary smile, Lance nodded happily ignoring the heat that spread throughout his face, the walk had finally ended as soon as the pair arrived to an apartment building. "This is where I live, and please don't follow me from now on, this is a one time thing." Though Keith really wouldn't mind Lance's company every now and then, he enjoyed being around the silent teen it had been so long since he felt at ease with someone rather than himself and his friends.

Lance was like a breath of fresh air, someone that could calm anyone down just by being in their presence, it was like he was magic or something. Lance looked around taking in every little thing around him and mentally telling himself to remember everything just in case he needed somewhere to take cover just in case things were to go bad for him, like now.

Keith lead Lance to a room and dug through his pockets searching for his key, once he found it he unlocked the door and allowed Lance to go in. The first thing that Lance noticed was how empty the place was he looked over to Keith and gave him a small frown as he signed family Keith felt a strong pang in his chest, he shook his head and walked pass Lance heading towards his almost empty room to search for extra clothes for Lance.

Lance followed quickly behind him giving Keith a pleading look, Keith sighed loudly and glared at Lance. "They're gone okay?" He snapped and grabbed random clothes throwing them at Lance, he huffed and stormed out of the room. "Hurry up and get changed." He muttered and closed the door behind him, Lance winced and looked down.

He messed up again.

He quickly blinked away his tears and got dressed, Keith's clothes slightly hung loosely from his shoulders he looked around the room, a small desk stood at a far corner with a laptop, journals, a stack of paper, and a cup of pencils pens and markers, on top. Lance grabbed a sheet of paper and a black sharpie, he wrote down what he would say to Keith and exited the room the door creaked as he opened the door.

Keith sat on the living room with a damp towel draped over his shoulders, he leaned back. "Sorry about that, it's just...a really sensitive topic." Lance nodded and cautiously sat beside him and with a trembling hand he handed Keith his paper

Keith read the paper his eyes went wide and his heart dropped to his stomach, yet in some odd way he felt relief, because Lance was opening up to him. He just wished it were something more happier.

Lance gave a glum smile as Keith looked at him, the paper had read

  "Mine are gone too."