Dark. Just dark. That was all Keith could see until he groggily opened his eyes. There was a shuffling noise that could be heard, the typical squealing creak sound came from his bedroom door.

Lance's arm was draped over him like it normally would be, and he'd been snuggled into the larger boy's chest. Keith sat up slowly, and he rubbed his eyes before he could make out the room. It looked like the middle of the night.

" Good... I want you to see this anyways." There was an all too familiar voice. And that caused Keith to jump from his skin, and make Lance stir.

" Get out!" Keith screeched. The orange jump suit was covered in dirt, mud, and God knows what else. The snowy white hair was snarled, and looked like he hadn't taken a brush to it in days. Of course L'Oréal was hard to come by in jail.

" I don't think so." Lotor chuckled, revealing a gun that he'd been hiding behind his back until then. Keith's breath hitched as Lance finally opened his eyes.

" Keith, what's-" His boyfriend asked. But then he noticed the problem. " You." Lance growled.

" Keith, pay close attention now." Lotor smiled in a crazed way. That was when Lance saw the gun, and he got between Keith and the barrel. He pretty much stuffed the omega behind himself, which wasn't easy considering how stiff Keith was from fear.

" Don't do this." Lance said, and Keith was having a panic attack behind him.

" Keith, what did you say about not being scared of me?" Lotor smugly got closer, keeping the gun pointed at Lance.

" Leave him alone. You can do whatever you want to me... just don't hurt Keith." Lance was shielding Keith with his body, and his heart was visibly racing from the outside of his bare chest.

" Isn't that sweet." Lotor sickeningly remarked.

" L-Lance..." Keith hated himself for barely being able to breathe. For being frozen. For being weak and unable to defend himself when it counted.

" Shh... Keith, it's going to be okay." Lance told him while tears rolled down his tan, freckled cheeks.

" Any last words?" The intruder asked, cocking the gun. Then, boom. It was like an alarm was going off.

...

Oh wait. It was his alarm clock. Keith shot up, choking on his own mouth while trying to catch his breath. The clock on his phone was ringing for school, and he felt hot water racing from his eyes as he sat there.

" Babe... turn that off." Lance, who was next to him, groaned and rolled over. And Keith could only continue to sit there, letting the sound blare. His breath was shallow, and he felt like a literal heartbeat. He couldn't distinguish where his pulse was, because he felt like his entire body was alive with palpitations.

Lance kicked the covers off, sitting up. His eyes were squinted, and his hair was ruffled every which way. He reached over Keith, grabbing the phone and shutting off the excessive amount of alarms with his sleepy fingers. Then Lance rubbed his eyes, seeing that Keith was staring off into space as tears kept spilling from his eyes. Not again.

" Keith..." He frowned and pulled him into an embrace. Keith barely had a reaction, he just let himself be moved. " Did you have another nightmare?"

" Y-yeah..." He took a couple deep breaths, and eventually became less tense in Lance's arms. Just a dream. Lance was still here. He wasn't bleeding out all over the place thanks to that psychopath.

" Do want to talk about it?" Lance asked. He was still out of it from sleep, but was awake enough to comfort his boyfriend.

" No." Keith lowly answered. " Sorry..."

" Don't apologize... Keith, it's okay." Lance raked his fingers through the back of Keith's hair, holding him close and kissing his forehead. " Everything's fine. I'm here."

" We should..." Keith heavily inhaled and let out a shaky breath. " We should get ready for school." He wanted to get his mind off of things. This wasn't the first nightmare he'd had, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

It was about ten minutes later when the boys were dressed, had brushed their teeth, and gotten anything else done that they needed to. They made their way to the kitchen, where Shiro was already drinking his morning coffee.

" Good morning." He said, and Keith grumbled a response while fixing himself and Lance some coffee. Him and Lance liked it about the same way, their choices in creamers just varied.

" Hey, Shiro." Lance sat down at the table and extended his arms above his head in a refreshing stretch.

" Do you wear that jacket everyday?" Shiro raised an eyebrow at Lance before gulping back some of his coffee.

Lance looked down at his letterman jacket and chuckled.

" Well since Keith has sort of staked his claim to my other one, yeah." He smiled, sending a fond look toward his omega, who was just now coming over. " Case in point." Lance gestured to Keith upon him sitting down.

" I like your jacket." Keith hugged the very soft, green material closer to himself. " Deal with it." The smaller male said before going to drink some coffee.

Shiro just watched the two, letting a laugh sound in the back of his throat.

" So..." Lance began. " You excited for the first soccer practice tonight?" He asked Keith.

" That's tonight?" Shiro questioned, looking perplexed. " I thought the season wouldn't start until after spring break."

" Technically it starts today, and this practice determines who makes JV and varsity. Then all practices held during spring break are optional." Lance explained, gulping back some coffee. It always tasted better when Keith fixed it for some reason.

" Well, we won't be here for spring break so..." Keith said.

" Wait, you're going somewhere?" Lance looked very confused.

" We're all going to Allura's lake house, remember?" Shiro reminded him.

" Oh, right. Yeah I forgot about that. How far of a drive is it again?" Lance asked.

" I think she said like... 7 or 8 hours." Keith sighed.

" I'm happy we're taking two vans because I'd feel really bad if we had to cram everyone in mine." Shiro smiled awkwardly.

" That- and they'd all have to listen to Lance and I." Keith made a face.

" I'm sure Pidge wouldn't mind." Lance raised a single eyebrow and smirked.

...

" You're not supposed to wear your cleats inside, Princess." Lance ruffled Keith's hair. They were in the locker room, changing for the first soccer practice of the year.

" What's the difference?" Keith looked up from tying his bright red shoe laces.

" You'll wear them down." The alpha said, and Matt, who was changing across the bench from them, chuckled.

" Yeah, Keith." He added.

As Hunk walked in, he laughed upon seeing the omega with his cleats on.

" Keith, buddy, you're supposed to put those on once we get to the field." Hunk said in an amused way.

Keith exhaled annoyedly.

" Whatever. I already put them on, I'm not taking them off just to do it again." He folded his arms.

" Cute." Lance teased him, seeing the tiny scowl his boyfriend had. After he had his practice shirt on, he poked Keith's cheek and smiled at him.

" Why do we all have to wear the same shirt? I don't understand it." Keith said. Of course the soccer department had made it required for all of their athletes to wear the jet black Lions tank top. Yes. Black. Even though it was going to be hot. Screwy spring weather conditions were going to be a bitch this season.

" It's more uniform I guess. But last year they were gray, and you could see everyone's sweat and it was really gross." Hunk grimaced. And Lance nodded with the same facial expression. He grabbed his cleats from his bag.

" Babe, come on, I'll take you up to the field." Lance said, and he began leading Keith out of the locker room because Matt and Hunk were taking forever.

" Are you still worried?" The shorter boy asked.

" What do you think?" Lance looked at him with a somewhat anxious expression. He still smiled, however. Making Keith feel bad for this wasn't a goal of his, so he wasn't about to do that by being a drama queen.

" I think I'll be fine." Keith reassuringly smiled at him.

" If the other boys don't kill you, the cardio probably will. That's the only other thing that you need to be weary about." Lance warned him. " Coran is nice and everything, but man, he will make you run."

" Like... long distance?" Keith cringed.

" Sometimes. And sometimes we have to do suicides."

" Suicides?"

" Oh no..." Lance chuckled. " You're going to be dead. They're sprint ladders, and they suck."

Once they got to the field, some people were already up there, but Lance was surprised at the very small number. Him and Keith were already a minute late, but there were only ten other people. As Hunk and Matt came racing up behind them, they looked perplexed as well. They were still putting on their cleats when the coach began addressing everyone.

" Hello, everyone." Coran came up to the group of people. " For those of you who may not know me, I'm Coach Coran, and welcome to the first practice of the season." He looked around, marking people off on his clipboard. " Considering the how few of you there are, I've decided to only have a varsity team. JV is unnecessary."

Lance tensed up, looking down at Keith. Shit. Keith, on varsity? JV would've been bad enough, but now he'd have to go up against a bunch of really good people? Great, just great.

" I'll give you all a couple minutes to stretch, but then I'd like you all to give me three laps." The coach smiled. And everyone groaned. Keith looked confused. Around the field? Not so bad, Lance was just being over dramatic.

" He's definitely not going easy on us, apparently." Hunk whispered once everyone began talking amongst themselves.

" It's just three laps around the field." Keith laughed, and he leaned down to adjust his shin guards.

" Um, Babe, it's not just around the field." Lance put a hand on his shoulder. And he pointed to the baseball diamond, which was far off from the soccer field. " We have to loop around that, and back around the field three times. It's about a mile."

" You're just fucking with me, right?" Keith's eyes went wide.

" I wish." Hunk sighed, and Matt looked up at the sky, knowing he was about to die.

They were soon running, and Keith and Lance stayed in the back of the pack. The omega wanted to go faster, but he wasn't about to make Lance eat his dust.

" Keith!" Lance panted. " Pace yourself or- you won't make it." He noticed Keith was definitely not going at a mile pace. This was not a race, and he'd be down by the second lap if he didn't slow his ass down.

" Just try and keep up with me." Keith looked over his shoulder at Lance.

By the next lap, Keith was regretting it. His face was red and sweaty, and his body had been partially incapacitated. Lance could only smile, because he was still going strong.

" Hey, slow poke. Hurry up~" He panted in a mocking way. And Keith would've punched his arm if he wasn't busy dying.

" Shut... up!" Keith exclaimed breathlessly. They still had another lap to go.

After a couple more minutes, everyone had circled back around again, and Keith was the second to last one in. Hunk was behind everyone, running very slowly. Matt and Lance were still panting, but they weren't nearly as wrecked as Keith was.

" Alright! Nice job! Everyone go get some water and meet back here in a minute or two." Coran smiled at everyone.

" See what I mean?" Lance laughed at Keith, who was ready to fall into the grass from exhaustion.

Once they got over to the water coolers, Pidge and Allura greeted them. Lance and Keith hadn't brought water bottles for reasons that were better left unexplained.

" I don't understand how you guys are still breathing." Pidge chuckled, filling up one of the water cups and handing it to Keith. Lance stole it from him, took a drink, and taste tested it.

" Okay, you're good." The alpha handed it back to Keith, who gave him an almost grateful look. Lance was honestly the sweetest person on the planet besides maybe Hunk or Shay.

" The running seems excessive." Allura said while getting more waters ready.

" We get used to it." Lance shrugged, taking a cup from her. He downed it instantaneously.

" I'll never get used to that." Keith gulped back the water and continued recovering from that near death experience.

" At least you won't have to do it during spring break." Pidge said.

" Oh yeah, I'm so excited about going to the lake house. You guys have no idea how beautiful and private it is." Allura smiled, and her eyes almost sparkled from even the thought of it. " It's so quiet there."

" It won't be quiet for long if Keith and I are up there." Lance smirked.

Once everyone had regrouped in the field, they split up into partners to do passing drills with the ball. Keith was completely embarrassing himself. Lance could kick him the ball with minimal effort made, like it was second nature to him. Then there was Keith, who could look at the ball and trip over it.

" God damn it!" Keith growled in frustration.

" Did you think you could just walk in and be good at this?" Lance laughed. " It's not easy, Babe." He nearly doubled over from the fit he was having.

" Shut it! I'll get the hang of it!" Keith insisted.

" Oh, Keith. You need to go over by Hunk. He's going to help you train for goalie." Coran said, coming up behind him. And Keith sulked.

" Do I have to?" He raised an eyebrow.

" He wants to be a forward." Lance walked in by the two.

" Well." Coran twiddled his mustache. " He can try whatever he wants, but I still think he can be our reserve goalie. If you don't like it I won't make you, but I think you should at least give it a whirl, Keith."

Keith looked at the net, then back at Lance, who gave him an undecided expression.

" Up to you." The alpha said, wanting to let Keith know that he was okay with whatever the omega decided.

" I'll try it." Keith said, and the coach smiled at him in response.

" Glad to hear it."

...

It was later in the night when Keith and Lance were back home. Lance wanted to spend the night again, so Keith told him it was fine. He just said that they couldn't stay up very late because of how tired he was.

" Aren't you boys going to eat something? I made dinner." Shiro asked from outside Keith's bedroom door. He didn't dare to open it after the last time he'd walked in there.

" What'd you make?" Lance asked, and he sat up slightly, but not enough to disturb Keith, who was resting his head atop his chest.

" Breakfast stuff." Shiro called back. " I have bacon, eggs, pancakes, all that."

" We'll be down in a minute." Keith mumbled. He was completely wiped out after practice, and even the thought of moving was unsettling. But he wanted food, and that was more important.

" You're so cute when you're tired." Lance laughed under his breath.

" Shush." The omega moved a hand over the taller boy's mouth. It was about twenty seconds later when Keith was starting to doze off, and Lance sighed.

" Babe, c'mon... let's go downstairs." He shook him back and forth a few times, and only earned a groan from him. That's when Lance gave up and decided to just carry him. He scooted out from under Keith, untangling the sleepy boy from him. " Keith."

" Hm?"

Lance slid his hands beneath the other male, picking him up bridal style. He sighed while carrying him from the room. It made sense. Keith wasn't used to all that exercise, and it was totally draining. But not eating anything after all that would be horrible for his body.

" What's with him?" Shiro asked once the couple arrived in the kitchen.

" He's really tired from practice. They made us do the mile and everything and he's just... rusty from having to exercise that much." Lance said while setting him down in the chair. " Keith!" He put a hand on his shoulder to shake him, when it didn't work, Lance took a different approach. " Oh my God! Is that Gerard Way?!" He exclaimed, gasping and holding his cheeks.

" I'm up!" The smaller male immediately sat up.

" You can go to sleep after you eat something." Shiro stifled some laughter that wanted to erupt from him. His brother looked pretty pitiful right then, and it was hilarious.

Lance was fixing himself and Keith a plate, mainly because he knew that Keith wouldn't get up for anything. Except for maybe My Chemical Romance.

" Fine." Keith grumbled. This whole soccer thing would be way harder than he thought.

(( Soccer can be a very boring sport to write about, so I'm trying to spare you all from that as much as possible. Anyways, on to the important stuff. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE PARAGRAPHS YOU LEFT ON THE LAST CHAPTER! They were all so sweet and I actually cried because I was so touched. I never realized people liked my story that much, and I feel so grateful to have such amazing readers like you guys. I mean that!

P.S. I will be doing some hints on my Instagram as to how this book ends. You'll all have to figure them out, but I think it's a really fun way of keeping you guys guessing. And not gonna lie, it's fun for me to watch you guys speculate when I know exactly what's going to happen. *evil laughter*))