Lance turned the page of the worn book he was currently reading. Romelle was eating her sandwich and Shiro was between the pair ranting about whatever patient happened upon the ER. It was amusing really, so much so that Lance had to bite his lip to keep his smile contained. He was waiting for something to disturb their peace and the disruption came in the form of a question.

"Are these seats taken?" A voice spoke behind Lance and Romelle began choking on her lunch. It seemed to be a reoccurring incident whenever someone approached their table. She coughed harshly into her hand and groaned. Shiro leaned over and opened her water for her and she took grateful gulps. Lance had set down his book to turn and look at whoever asked the question. He was surprised to see James and his friend Kinkade. No wonder why Romelle had looked taken back. The two doctors had their lunch trays in their hands and Lance saw a light pink dusted James's cheeks. They looked good and a certain fluttering rose in the doctor to be's chest.

"Nope," Lance said and gestured toward the many empty seats around them, hoping he didn't look as nervous as he felt. "They're all yours," he smiled at the interns.

"I told you they were coming," Shiro mumbled to the blonde woman as the pair sat down. Romelle moved some of her things to give Kinkade more room. "You knew and you were still shocked?" Shiro gave her an incredulous look while James laughed at the exchange.

"I guess I was surprised?" She looked suddenly shy. Romelle twisted her water bottle cap on and off.

"That's just how Romelle welcomes people to the table," he teased her. "She did the same with you," Lance reminded. That made the pair think back and simultaneously remember because Romelle suddenly flushed red and Shiro laughed.

"This is mortifying," Romelle whispered and tried to cover her face.

"I think it's kind of cute." Kinkade's soft voice broke over the light conversation that fell over the table and Romelle began stammering. Lance looked at her curiously but tore his gaze away from his friend when James spoke.

"You might just make the poor girl faint." James laughed as Kinkade shrugged. He seemed to be unbothered by his friend's statement because he went back to eating his salad. James shifted his gaze on Lance. "That book looks well loved," he joked.

Lance tore his eyes away from the story to really look at Keith's book. The cover looked folded and bent in some places and the margins were covered in blue ink but the pages felt nice when he turned them. He sort of flushed. "It's my..." Lance trailed off. What was Keith to him? "My friend's?" Friend didn't seem like the right word and James seemed to know it. He raised his eyebrow at him but didn't say anything.

"Are you going to watch the show after you finish?" He nodded to the cover. Lance remembered what Lotor has said about the TV show and shrugged. He imagined The Handmaid's Tale a certain way and was afraid that the show would take over the story that played out in his head. "I've heard it's good." James smiled and Lance relaxed as the tension left the surrounding area.

"It's only my to watch list," Shiro piped in with a smile. "When I have time I mean," he added. He couldn't imagine what Shiro's schedule was like but he knew he would be facing it in a few years and that was an exciting thought.

The last days of his neurology rotation were passing by quickly and he hated it. Lance liked where he was and didn't want things to change. As much as he hated to admit it, he was even going to miss Kaltenecker. The older doctor had told his favorites that his floor would always be open to them, his time always available and Lance wanted to stay so badly in the safety of his routine. The doctor to be turned back to the book and tuned out the small talk around him. He quickly glanced over the comments in the margin letting his mind wander to the writer for a brief moment.

Lance liked reading Keith's annotations.

That was probably his favorite part of reading the other man's books. The quick pen strokes and neat underlines made him almost feel like Keith was there with him, sitting beside him sharing the story. It gave him a feel of what Keith liked and disliked. When Keith adored the writing his annotation reflected it in the lines were a little less neat and his letters tended to connect like he was writing so fast his mind couldn't keep up. Lance had even found a few smiley faces within the pages which had surprised and delighted him. When he didn't like something, Keith tended to sound more clinical in the margins. Lance adored all of it and was probably just as excited to read Keith's annotations than the book itself. Which was why Lance found it weird when he turned the page and it was blank.

Blank wasn't the right word because it wasn't necessarily all blank. No notes or doodles decorated the open spaces on the page. Two dark lines underlined the six worded sentence. His eyes were automatically drawn to, skipping ahead to read June's musings. He clung to the words that somehow made his chest heavier than it already felt. He needed to do something, there was this impending doom creeping on him. It lurked in the background and felt like words stuck on the tip of the tongue. Lance wanted to call Keith.

"Sorry I'll be right back," he mumbled to no one in particular and left before any of his friend's at the table could stop him. Lance felt like he was going to faint. His vision was black around the edges and he felt strangely dizzy. He approached the door and practically fell to crawl a few steps in the empty stairwell. His fingers nimbly picked through his pockets for his phone.

Keith's contact photo was one of them from when they met. Romelle smiled between the two of them and he wished to be in that moment again. He'd do anything to be there again. There was a ringing in his ears and he waited for a long moment. The panic was building and he anxiously bit at his nails.

Keith finally picked up and Lance heard the sound of a door closing in the background. "Hey, are you okay?" Keith sounded out of breath and worried. Relief flooded his chest and Lance actually smiled even though he knew Keith couldn't see him.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Lance's voice cracked and he cleared his throat. It was silent on the other side of the line. Lance just continued to grip his phone until his hand was cramping. He wanted to tell Keith that he wasn't but couldn't think of the right words to say so he stayed silent.

"I thought something might have happened. Aren't you on shift?" Keith said and breathed out. The worry was still present but he seemed to have relaxed some.

"Am I interrupting something?" Lance asked. A bitter taste crept into his mouth. He didn't want to be a burden but also wanted to stay on the phone.

"Not at all," Keith said. He still felt like he was and tried to remember the other man's schedule.

"You should be in class right now," Lance said meekly and felt awful about calling. He ran a hand over his face. "I'm sorry." He added and tried to think of a way that he could end the call without worrying Keith.

"I told my professor I was taking a personal call," Keith laughed. "I never take calls and he looked surprised that I even asked." There was a beat of silence. "Is everything okay?"

Lance closed his eyes. "I feel like the word shatter." He breathed out like he had finally gotten it off his chest. Lance heard a sharp inhale from Keith but he chose to ignore it. They weren't even his words yet he felt so connected with them. "Sorry I just wanted to ask about your annotations." Lance tried to laugh.

Keith was silent. "I'm sure you mean lack of." Lance noticed that the next page went back to normal Keith. "I wasn't in a good place when I first read the book. I don't know why but that sentence just stuck with me." That was how he felt! He felt like the words had carved themselves in the innermost layer of him. If he searched in his neurons and the spaces between them he'd find them there. He'd find them under the layers of his skin. He'd find the sentence where his bones made marrow.

"I feel like the word shatter."

"What happened?" Lance heard himself asking before he could stop himself. He didn't want to make Keith uncomfortable but this nagging part of him wanted to know. He wanted to understand why he had underlined the sentence.

"My birth mom reached out to me my freshmen year of college," Keith began. "It was overwhelming to say the least. Yet when I read those words I connected with them in that moment." There was a slight laugh but it was uncomfortable and on edge. Keith obviously wanted to change the subject. "Sorry I don't really like talking about it."

"That's okay," Lance said quietly. "I'm always here if you want to talk about it or even not talk about it." He bit his lip.

"I'm here for you too. I'll always be there," Keith added. "I'm just a phone call away." There was something in his voice that Lance instantly latched on to.

"These sort of things just happen."
"I feel like the word shatter."
"I'll always be there."

Those words haunted him and caused a certain sadness to well up in his chest. Empty stairwells were good for crying anyway. Silent tears fell down his cheeks as he listened to Keith talk. Lance wasn't sure why he was feeling that way but he was and it was such a terrible feeling.

"So I was thinking that we could hang out or something this weekend?" Keith's voice sounded hopeful and Lance felt himself instantly perk up. "We can see a movie or hang out at your dorm."

"I'd like that." Lance sniffled and Keith laughed.

"Woah, I didn't think you'd cry just thinking about spending time with me." Keith joked and Lance wiped his damp cheeks with a huff. "I know my presence can be a bit much but I don't think I ever moved someone to tears." Lance laughed at his remark. "I didn't realize that you were such a crybaby Lancey Lance," Keith joked.

"There's just a lot of dust here and my allergies are acting up jerk." Lance pouted. He wanted to see Keith. His voice sounded so soft–he normally wouldn't associate Keith with soft but that was just how he sounded–over the phone. He wondered what expression was currently playing out on the other male's face.

Keith laughed at his comment. "I highly doubt that there would be that much dust in a hospital." It was silent before his next comment. "Just admit it, you can't wait to see me."

"I can't wait to see you," Lance supplied quickly because it was the truth. He had to lean closer but he could have swore Keith chuckled.

"You're too much sometimes," Keith said breathlessly. "How much more time do you have before you have to go?" Lance looked at his watch and frowned.

"No time," he held his phone closer if that was possible and thought he heard a small sound of resignation. "I better go. I can call you when my shift is done though," he added hopefully. Despite knowing Keith would probably–most likely–answer Lance felt like he needed verbal confirmation that the other male wouldn't be bothered by him.

"Don't tell me things like that, now I'll be waiting by the phone all day." Keith playfully groaned and Lance laughed. "I'll talk to you later man."

"I'll be the one calling," Lance joked.

"I'll be the one picking up," The line went silent and Lance pulled his phone away from his face. He stood up from his spot and felt like the weight on his chest had lessened. Lance stood up and brushed his hands down his pants to soothe the invisible wrinkles. He stepped out into the hall and prepared himself for the walk to his floor alone but stopped when he saw one of his best friend waiting for him. She was leaned up against the wall, twirling the ends of one of her signature pigtails.

"How's Keith?" The blonde woman asked nonchalantly.

"How did you know I was talking to Keith?" They began walking to the elevator together. They walked in sync which Lance always thought was funny.

"I don't know he seems like your security blanket. You tend to go to him when you're feeling bad." Romelle gave him a weary look. Lance knew she was worried about him.

"What's a security blanket?" Lance asked as he pressed the elevator button. His blue eyes found hers.

"You know when you're watching a scary movie and you can feel the tension building and you know there's about to be a jump scare," Romelle exclaimed as they stepped into the elevator. The metal doors slid shut behind them. "You hide under your blanket. Hence it's your security blanket."

"So why do you think Keith is my security blanket?" He asked.

"When you're upset the first person you go to is him despite having people physically around you," Romelle said quietly. "I'm right here," she mumbled even quieter. Her words stung because Lance hadn't meant to hurt her. He felt incredibly selfish.

"I'm sorry," he felt like he had lost his voice. The words barely traveled in the small space.

"Don't be." She ruffled his hair affectionately with one of her hands. "I'm not asking to become your security blanket I just want you to rely on me more," Romelle smiled at him.

"Okay," Lance combed his fingers through his hair to fix the messed up strands.

"Now are you ready to get yelled at by Kaltenecker for being late?" Romelle joked and Lance flinched.

"Sorry I didn't mean to make us late," he said apologetically. He truly felt awful about it now but Romelle just waved his comment away.

"It's not your fault. Besides, it's you and me against the world." They stepped out of the elevator and saw that their favorite doctor was leaning against the nurses station waiting for them. He was talking to Queenie and twirling a pen in his fingers.

"Yeah," he smiled. Romelle grinned back and they walked to Kaltenecker who sort of smiled when he saw them.

"Ready?" Romelle asked and he nodded because he felt ready for anything when he was standing next to her.