Lance and Keith were in the mansion's main living room, enjoying all the joyous things that Netflix had to offer. Joyous to Keith, well... that was a horror movie. It was astonishing to him that he wasn't scared of blood after everything that had happened to him. Though the red pigment had leaked out of him and splattered everywhere, though it had gotten on him when Lance shot Kinkade, Keith wasn't frightened of it. The whole situation was just numb, and there was hardly any residual fear. Keith was stuck in the 'shit happens' mindset.

Lance was only scared of blood when it came to the ones he treasured and held dear. Kinkade's blood? James'? Yeah, that didn't phase him. Keith's on the other hand... that was a major trigger.

They were currently binge watching all the Scream movies, because even in a mansion so huge, there wasn't much else to do. Well, there was only so much Keith could do. Lance wouldn't let him do much other than hobble around, though Keith insisted he could walk just fine.

Lance's arm was wrapped around his boyfriend as they chilled on the couch. The couch pretty much ate people. Once someone sat in it, they sank deep down into the cushions and escape was near impossible. Not that either of them wanted to escape. The blanket that covered both of them up, as well as the huge bowl of popcorn that sat atop Keith's lap gave them everything they could've ever wanted.

" I've never understood these kinds of movies." Lance stated through a mouthful of popcorn.

" Why?" Keith asked while glancing up at him.

" I don't know... just... how could the same shit happen to this girl four times? It's not like that many people would want to stab one person and go on killing sprees." Lance shrugged.

" Meh." Keith leaned on him and continued watching the movie playing in front of them.

Pidge walked in the room while tinkering on her phone.

" Hey." Keith greeted.

" Hey." She responded. " Whatcha watching?"

" You know Keith. Horror movies." Lance chuckled. She plopped down on the recliner while scrolling through some things, and Keith and Lance just went back to their own deal.

" Pidge!" Matt rushed in. Pidge dropped her phone into her criss-cross-applesauced lap and her glasses nearly fell off from her jumping up.

" What?!" She heavily exhaled, feeling her heart pumping at an accelerated rate from how startled she was. Matt came and hid behind the recliner.

" You have to help me hide." Matt told his sister.

" Why?" She raised an eyebrow.

Keith and Lance exchanged a glance, then turned to look at the siblings in confusion.

" Shiro's looking for me." Matt whispered, but everyone heard him.

" Why would you be mad about that?" Pidge purred in a joking way. Matt blushed and covered his mouth while crouching and staying down by the furniture. Pidge's eyes widened when she saw his facial expression. " No." She squealed. " No way!"

" I'm so confused. Did Matt fuck my brother?" Keith questioned no one in particular.

" Wait what?!" Lance exclaimed. " Okay, get it, Matt!" He teased while snickering.

" Shut up!" Matt said, and Pidge smirked at him. He looked to the side, and her smirk only widened. " Shut up, Pidge..." He murmured.

" Did my brother finally man up and tell Shiro?" She asked with a shit eating grin. " I don't see you limping or anything..."

Before Matt could say anything, there were footsteps heard from outside the living room. His eyes bulged as he fled from the room and ducked into the kitchen. From there, he was gone.

" What the hell just happened?" Keith snorted, becoming very confused.

Shiro walked in not but five seconds later, and Pidge burst out laughing before slamming a hand over her mouth. She kept it there while looking up at Shiro. Lance giggled and buried his face in Keith's shoulder to keep from making an ass out of himself. Keith's lips folded in on themselves and disappeared as he struggled to not laugh.

" Have any of you guys seen Matt?" Shiro asked them.

Silence.

More silence.

" Nope." Lance finally answered while snickering.

" Was there something that you needed to talk to him about?" Pidge inquired; it was insanely difficult for her not to point in the direction Matt had went. Her brother could be such a wuss when it came to adult things. His feelings were something he often danced around.

Shiro blushed immensely and found his eyes gluing to the floor. He cleared his throat and stammered a bit.

Lance snorted and was soon full out laughing into the smaller boy's shirt. Keith followed, and Lance grabbed the blanket to hide their faces in it. Pidge was shaking in her desperate attempt not to fall victim to the giggles.

" What?" Shiro asked.

" Go get him, tiger." Lance finally let a remark slip. Keith mock catcalled from under the blanket.

Shiro covered his beet red face with his palm.

Pidge gestured over her shoulder, and Shiro went out of the room in the general path that Matt had taken.

Well. That was one way to let the cat out of the bag.

...

Later in the night, Keith had dozed off on Lance's shoulder. How anyone could sleep through the blood curdling screams of the movie, he had no clue.

Lance only looked down at Keith with a fond smile. He debated waking him up or not. It was about midnight, so Lance figured not. He carefully slid away from Keith and peeled back the blanket from him.

Even in slumber the smaller boy made Lance's eyes twinkle and shine with a loving gleam. Once his feelings began budding for Keith, it wasn't a gradual process. They snowballed, and soon Lance had more love than he knew what to do with.

He scooped Keith up into his arms, carrying him bridal style out of the living room. The secure hold he kept on him spelled out how much he valued Keith's safety and well-being. There was no way Lance would ever let Keith get hurt again. He knew that he'd told Keith that after he'd been kidnapped, but now Lance was dead serious. If he had to watch Keith get hurt again, he might've lost it.

Once arriving to Keith's room, Lance laid his boyfriend onto the bed in the gentlest way he could. He pulled the covers over him, and Keith's face stirred.

Fuck.

" Lance..." The smaller boy mumbled, sitting up a bit.

" Shh... it's fine. Just go back to sleep." Lance said while combing his hand through Keith's bangs in a comforting manner.

Keith yawned, looking at Lance with glossy eyes. He wanted Lance to stay with him, hoped he would.

Lance sighed, tugging off his shirt and throwing it aside. He crawled in bed with Keith, not bothering to take off his sweatpants. Though he hadn't been planning on going to bed right then, there wasn't a way in the world that he could resist those puppy dog eyes.

Keith hummed in a content manner while Lance wrapped an arm around his torso and spooned him. He settled into the contour of the taller male's body and soon drifted off back into slumber. It took him away, and Lance was stolen by the same sleep not much later.

...

It was just like it had been on that night, the one that Lance wished he'd never have to revisit. There was nothing that had changed at first. Keith, being Keith, went for Kinkade for the challenge of taking on the big guy. And he himself was left with James, who for whatever reason felt like he had the same level of fighting ability as Lance. He definitely was nowhere near his skill when it came to punches and kicks.

The fight replayed over and over, or at least it seemed to. Lance was lost in the mountains of the warehouse, losing focus on what was really going on.

That was until darkness started overtaking the room. One by one, the overhead lights went out and left them with less and less illumination until it was nearly pitch black. Unluckily enough for Lance, the light that had been left intact was shone down like a spotlight on Keith and Kinkade. Apparently they hadn't noticed the goings on, because their fight raged on.

No matter how much Lance rushed to stop it, Keith was sliced and began bleeding everywhere. There was nothing he could do but shoot, shoot some more, then empty all of his bullets into Kinkade.

It was one of the worst things Lance had ever done, one of the most savage acts he'd found himself behind. It wasn't going away. As long as he lived, it would've been in the back of his mind. To save Keith, someone else had to die. Lance had killed at least one person, and he'd have to carry that with him for the rest of his days.

He rushed over to Keith, screaming and trying to help him however he could. His hands jittered as he found them useless. They were too overcome by nerves to listen to anything his body commanded.

" Lance." Keith tried to say.

" Shush... you're fine!" Lance yelled, scrambling and nearly puking from the pool of blood before him.

" Lance!" Keith exclaimed.

...

Lance found himself shooting up in bed, sucking in deep breaths and shaking as he sat there. He was still half asleep while screaming Keith's name and sobbing. The arms that wrapped around him were something that scared the living hell out of Lance at first, but once he heard the voice, he found that he was becoming less tense.

" Lance, hey." Keith told him. " I'm right here. It's okay." He used a soft voice while rubbing Lance's back.

The taller boy quivered while breathing heavily and moving to hug Keith with his trembling arms. He held him with a firm, supportive grip. Keith hugged him back, still partly asleep. He could still process what was happening as Lance sniffled and leaned by his neck, though.

" It was just a nightmare." Keith whispered.

" I'm sorry..." Lance croaked, letting a couple tears leave his eyes. He felt horrible about waking Keith up like that. It was all because he couldn't handle his own feelings, his own issues. Now Keith was paying the price for that. If Lance could've kicked himself in the gut right then, he would've.

" Don't be." Keith mumbled.

It was a couple minutes later by the time Lance's breathing finally leveled out. He had let his boyfriend go somewhat and ceased in hugging him so close.

" Do you want to talk about it?" Keith asked him quietly as they both laid back down and settled under the covers. Lance snuggled up to Keith again, being as clingy as ever.

" I don't know." Lance responded into the pillows. " I don't want to weigh you down with all my shit. You have enough of your own to deal with."

Keith ran his hand along Lance's cheek, looking at him in a loving way.

" You are my shit." He said, and Lance pressed a kiss on Keith's cheek before pulling him into his chest. " Don't act like I can't help you..."

Kosmo jumped up on Keith's bed and walked over the covers. He did his own thing while circling around atop of them and laying on Keith and Lance both. Lance reached down to pet him, and Keith smiled while seeing his boyfriend's reaction. It felt great to know that Kosmo wasn't afraid of Lance anymore, didn't want to rip him limb from limb anymore.

" I did it again..." Lance said after a while, letting a drowsy haze lace his voice.

" Did what?" Keith asked.

" I killed him again. He's dead... and it's all my fault, Keith." Lance's face sank and darkness filled his blue eyes. If his eyes would've had a time of day, it would've been midnight. " And you still got hurt... I couldn't stop it."

Keith's eyes were somewhat wide as he realized Lance's nightmare. It was about Kinkade, and what had happened on the day he was wounded.

" That wasn't your fault." Keith told him with an unshakable assurance.

" Why? How is it not? I fucking shot him!" Lance raised his voice, and Kosmo's head shot up from how startled the husky was. Keith raked his hand through his dog's fur and eased him.

" You didn't have a choice." The smaller boy insisted. " I would be dead right now if you hadn't done it." Keith moved to cup Lance's cheek and force eye contact between them. " Listen. Nobody blames you for what you did. We all know that you had to. It wasn't like I was trying to kill Kinkade... but he was trying to kill me. Some people just have that shit coming."

Lance swallowed harshly. In that moment, Keith's eyes were beading, but it wasn't from fear. It wasn't from anger. It was some sort of emotion that Lance couldn't read, no matter how much he tried to tap into it.

Was that enough to justify it? Was it considered self defense?

" He's still dead..." Lance pouted. " And Shiro hasn't even talked to me about it. He must hate me for it..."

" Lance, what are you even saying?" Keith's voice wavered as he became extremely worried. He'd come to figure out that there wasn't an in between when it came to Lance. He was either feeling great, on top of the world, or he was down in the dumps. And right then, he was spiraling. " Shiro could never hate you. Hell, he was talking to you earlier just fine. I'm sure he knows that you had a good reason for it, and that's why he hasn't asked ." Keith added.

Lance closed his eyes and pulled Keith closer. He buried his face into the smaller boy's neck, taking a deep breath and trying get a hold of himself. He didn't see a therapist for his problems, but Lance was versed in his anxiety. He knew that deep breathing often helped.

" Thank you... for not leaving me just like everyone else..." Lance murmured.

Keith felt his heart crack from that, then it shattered as he thought about Lance's late family. They'd all been slaughtered from the senselessness of his brother. Keith wanted to tell Lance that he knew exactly how he felt, but Keith had only lost his mother and father. He still had Shiro, and Shiro was enough. He'd never been on his own completely, never been disassociated from all family. Even though Keith had tried to get out of the gang life on multiple occasions, he never had. At that point, he'd given up. Plus... if he left... he'd have to convince Lance to do the same. That didn't look likely.

" I'm not going anywhere." Keith told him with certainty.

It was in that moment that Lance promised himself something. No matter what happened, no matter what befell the family, he had to keep Keith safe. He'd become so attached to Keith that the mere thought of being without him made his stomach turn.

Lance held Keith closer to himself, silently vowing that he'd never let him go.

It slipped out. He hadn't meant for it to, but Lance found himself absent minded and hazy.

" I love you..." Lance whispered into Keith's shirt, causing the smaller male to stiffen from surprise. Love?! The L word?!

At first Keith was stunned, and he wore the look of a disoriented deer in headlights. Lance realized what he'd said, then frantically stumbled over his words and struggled to formulate another sentence.

Keith blinked a couple times, not even having thought about that word. He didn't love easily, and he knew that much because he'd never fallen into it before. Or at least... if he had, he'd never realized it.

" Shit! Just forget I said that!" Lance fumbled, pulling his face back to look at Keith with wide, panicked eyes. He hadn't been ready to say it to him. Yet... there he was doing it again. This time, Keith wasn't barely conscious. He was wide awake, and that was enough to make Lance nervous for his reaction.

" Lance." Keith said, leaning to brush their lips in a light, heartfelt kiss. " It's okay."

Lance wasn't completely relieved. Part of him had been expecting Keith to say it back, but when that didn't happen, he wasn't hurt. Maybe Keith just needed more time.

And that was just fine.

(( Can you guys smell that? The tea is a very strong brew... and it's just about ready. ;) ))