From Pidge Yesterday 11:00 AM: Keith please text me back. I'm worried about you

From Pidge Yesterday 5:03 PM: Keith

Pidge 12:37 PM: Keith if you don't answer me I'm coming over

Keith looked down at all of his text messages and unviewed Snapchat stories, sighing and staying curled up in bed. He'd somehow even managed to avoid his best friend in all of this mess.

Clinging to Lance's green jacket and wearing his Gucci hoodie, Keith squeezed his eyes shut. His scent, his smile, his laugh. It had only been a few days, but he missed Lance more than he ever thought was possible.

He hadn't left his house since the get together at Shiro's, feeling like it was pointless without Lance with him. Clingy? Keith was way worse than that. He was sure he'd start getting withdrawal symptoms if Lance didn't show up and cuddle him soon.

His doorbell chimed, causing Keith to groan. Kosmo barked and leapt from the bed, scrambling toward the front door.

There were only two people that this could've been. Pidge or Shiro. Or James- if he somehow got over the wall again. Keith shook the thought away and carried Lance's jacket with him. He looked back at the bed, where there was a hippo stuffed animal sitting by the pillows, the one Lance had won for him at the fair.

Stop.

He had to stop before he drove himself crazy.

Approaching the door, Keith stood on his tiptoes and looked through the peephole. He pulled the door open and looked down. Who else would it have been?

" Oh. So you are alive." Pidge remarked and made her way inside the house. " You made me and Shiro worried sick! Are you okay? Why haven't you been on your phone?"

Keith looked down.

" I've been wallowing. Can't you tell?" He whimpered and pulled Lance's jacket against his chest. Pidge looked at what Keith was wearing, and what he had in his hands as well, and it all started to make sense.

" Keith. You can't just lock yourself in here because of that. That's not healthy." She folded her arms and shut the door.

" I miss him..." Keith admitted and looked down, and Kosmo stopped panting in a happy way. He loved seeing Pidge, but the tone in Keith's voice made him concerned and nudge against the omega's thighs.

" I know." Pidge said, putting a hand on his shoulder. She never anticipated the two getting that attached to each other so quickly. " But you can't just hide in here. Remember how we got your agoraphobia to almost go away? We can't have you going back to your old ways."

Keith knew that she was right and that he needed sunlight and warmth on his skin. He probably should've gone somewhere, but where even? He had forgotten what to do with himself if he didn't have Lance there with him. It felt strange.

" Fine. We can go somewhere I guess..." Keith caved. Even under the circumstances, it was nice to see Pidge. She was his best friend, after all, and they hadn't been hanging out a lot ever since he and Lance got together.

Pidge smirked to herself. She felt really triumphant for having convinced him considering how stubborn the omega could be.

" Sweet. Are you down to go to Starbucks?" She asked. " It's hot out there and I could go for an iced coffee."

" You can always go for an iced coffee." Keith teased, mustering a laugh. " But sure."

He knew that he needed to get his mind off of Lance and do something that made him happy, brought him joy. Then it hit him, and smile took hold on his face.

" Oh no. What's that look for?" Pidge grimaced.

" Wanna ride my motorcycle there?" Keith asked. " I feel like I haven't taken it for a spin in a while."

" If you get us killed I blame you." She folded her arms. She'd seen how Keith ripped around the streets with that thing.

" How can you blame me if you're dead?" He arched a brow.

" Fine. I'll haunt your afterlife. Just- you get the point."

Keith chuckled and rolled his eyes.

" I'll be careful." He assured and hung Lance's jacket up by the front door. If it was hot out he couldn't go out wearing clothes like that, as tempting as it was. " I just have to change and then we can go."

Keith went back to his room and pulled out a plain black t-shirt, then found some red leggings to go with it. He put on a pair of red and black boots he had, then knelt down in his walk-in closet. That was where he kept them, in a drawer on the way bottom. His fingerless black leather gloves. He wore them whenever he rode anywhere on his motorcycle, so this was the occasion to bust them out.

Keith wanted to take Lance out on his motorcycle someday, show him what it was like. But until then, his best friend would do.

After petting Kosmo goodbye, the two walked out into Keith's garage. It was pretty normal for the most part. An extra fridge stood in the corner by the door, and a few bins for storage were in the far end. It had two cars, and his cherry red motorcycle in the corner.

He lifted up the seat and handed Pidge a helmet, seeming to check around the bike for anything weird. It was like Keith was inspecting it.

" What are you doing?" Pidge asked, shoving the helmet on her head.

" N-Nothing!" Keith stammered and shut the seat, putting on his own helmet. They wheeled it out into the driveway and shut the garage, both getting on. Getting through the gates with it was always annoying, but once they'd gotten past and were ready to hit the actual road, Keith smirked. Pidge held onto him from behind as he revved the engine.

" Your neighbors must hate you-"

Keith took off, fast. He couldn't hear her.

Oops.

...

It was like stewing in a pot of boiling liquid. Without an omega, without Keith, without comfort... there wasn't a worse feeling in the world. Lance groaned to himself and laid there. His sheets were completely soaked in white liquid, sweat, and who even knew what else.

He was going strong, though he was just one step short of crawling to Keith and begging him to come help. Normal Lance wouldn't have done that. Normal Lance was a soft boi uwu. But this Lance? This one was desperate to knot Keith.

Thank mercy that he'd deleted Keith's number from the contact temporarily. Lance didn't have his number memorized, so he couldn't call and make Keith feel bad.

His right arm was so sore from everything he'd been using it for, and his manhood was raw and burning from not being with anyone.

It was hell. Actual hell. Why did he have to do this? Why did he have to struggle when it was so simple as convincing Keith to help? No- stop.

Lance's alpha instincts weren't concerned with Keith's past traumas and were making Lance think all sorts of selfish things. He tried his best to shake away everything running through his head, not wanting to do something he'd regret later.

Screaming from frustration, he panted and slammed his face into a pillow. It hurt so fucking bad, like a blowtorch was constantly spraying on him.

He couldn't stop thinking about Keith, but then turned over. Keith had given him something on the last time they'd seen each other, something that was supposed to help ease his symptoms even if only a little.

It was one of Keith's shirts, one the omega had worn just before Lance's rut. He'd essentially given it to him right after, wanting to make sure it had a strong sense of his scent.

Lance hid his face in the fabric and cried, biting back the sobs.

He could do this. For Keith, he would wait.

...

As they pulled up to Starbucks, Pidge was winded and hopped down from the motorcycle. Keith hadn't held up his promise about being careful, that was unless his version of careful was speeding everywhere and ripping around each corner.

" You're fine." Keith rolled his eyes, laughing. He lifted up the seat and put their helmets in there.

" Am I? Am I really?" Pidge asked. Keith was such a daredevil with the bike that it scared her.

Keith only laughed to himself more and they proceeded to go inside. She held the door open for him and they walked in, trendy music greeting them. It also had a strong smell of coffee, as well as baked goods.

" I love this place." Keith smiled. Maybe that made him a basic bitch, maybe it didn't. He could go for a pumpkin spice latte every now and then, but still... he tried not to stick to one drink every time.

" Me too." Pidge said.

People whipped their heads around as the two walked in. In a city like LA, where so many YouTubers and celebrities lived, it was hard to keep a low profile.

" Oh fuck it's Keith- the Keith." People whispered, and some even squealed.

Keith awkwardly waved to fans as they grinned, but luckily there were only a few of them. It wasn't like they were going to be mobbed. If they were in the mall, it would've been a completely different story, but whatever.

They both got in line, looking up at the board.

" Man, I could really go for something." Pidge looked down at her tummy. She, Hunk, Lance, and her brother had bad habits of eating junk food a lot, and she was constantly hungry. It was just something she'd gotten used to, though. " Maybe I'll get a grilled cheese with my tea." Pidge smirked.

Keith made a perplexed face.

" Here? I didn't know Starbucks had that." The omega said.

" They do." Pidge folded her arms and stuck up her nose proudly. " And it smacks."

" If you say so." Keith teased.

They got up there and he ordered a double shot caramel Frappuccino with extra whip. Pidge got a chai tea and her grilled cheese and they went and stood by the end counter to wait.

" So... you doing a little bit better now?" Pidge asked.

Keith scratched his wrist and looked around, seeing that no one was trying to mess with them.

" Yeah." He answered. Taking their drinks and Pidge grabbing her sandwich, the two went and sat in a tiny booth near the corner.

Thinking about Lance... it made the omega grimace and look down. All the pain that the alpha must've been in right then, and all because he couldn't-

" Keith." Pidge eyed him. " I really don't think you're being honest. It's okay to miss him, you know. You can talk to me about it."

Keith licked the whipped cream that was sticking out from his coffee cup dome, then looked back at her. He really wanted to just spill his guts about everything, since she was his very best friend in the world.

It was just difficult, since he knew how volatile Pidge could be when she got angry. She wasn't the best at hiding her feelings and tended to wear them on her sleeve.

" It's just... is it wrong that I don't feel safe when he's not around? It's... it all feels weird, like something's missing." Keith admitted, staring downward. He felt pathetic about wanting the alpha there with him for protection, but it wasn't even about that. It was about emotional and moral support as well.

" What do you mean you don't feel safe?" Pidge leaned a little over the table, resting in her palms.

Keith gulped.

She didn't know anything about James and the most recent picture incident.

" Just... James has been messing with me lately and I don't feel right when I'm home alone. Yeah, I have Kosmo and everything, but without Lance to cuddle up by... it feels cold and I don't know what to do with myself..." Keith explained. He was definitely more attached to Lance than he'd previously thought, and all it had taken for him to realize that was Lance being separated from him. It was like a quarantine.

Pidge sighed deeply, trying to keep herself in check. She took a giant sip of her tea.

" I think... well- do you want to know what I think? I think you're starting to fall in love with him..." She said.

Keith's eyes bulged and he nearly sprayed whipped cream everywhere.

" You're kidding." He wiped his mouth and laughed nervously. " I don't do love."

Pidge deadpanned.

" Keith, don't bullshit me. I've been your friend since I can't even remember, and I know when you're lying."

Keith kept his arms folded across his chest. There had definitely been times when he'd thought of that. It was just... why did he have to give the feelings a name? Names made things more complicated by a long shot. Even if he did feel that way... that didn't mean he had to tell people.

" Okay. Maybe it's crossed my mind a couple times, but I'm not ready to label it that yet." He told her.

Pidge sent him a look, but then tried to understand. After all Keith had went through with James, she could wrap her head around why Keith didn't want to label it. He'd thought he loved James in high school, but things went to shit after Keith got really famous and the money came rolling in. Entitlement was one of Keith's biggest fears and she knew that.

" I get it. I really do." Pidge assured.

Keith was about to say something else, but then there was a loud squeal that could be heard from outside the building. It was blaring, like someone had just met their favorite person ever.

The door opened and Keith and Pidge both looked to see what all the fuss was about. The first thing they saw was white hair, followed by pink high heels and a pink dress.

" Oh god..." Pidge rolled her eyes. " Not her again."

Keith didn't have much experience with Allura. Yeah, he'd seen her a few times, coincidentally one of those times being at Starbucks. It was just... after everything she'd said about Lance, he could barely stand to look at her.

There was tangible tension as Allura smiled and glanced around. She put her hair into a high pony and looked over at Keith and Pidge, just realizing that they were there.

Pidge shot her the dirtiest look ever and adjusted her glasses.

Making her way to the line, Allura ordered her pink drink and then waltzed over to the end counter, glancing over her shoulder.

" Do you wanna just go?" Keith asked Pidge under his breath. He didn't need a scandal.

" No." Pidge scoffed. " I'm gonna sit here, eat my grilled cheese, and if she has a problem, she'll be the immature one. Not me." She took an aggressive bite and chewed, peering over at Allura.

Keith closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had an awful temper, and he hoped things wouldn't lead to it coming out. Once that happened... it was difficult to stop. And the only reason he hadn't let it loose onto James was because he was an alpha, and the scent overpowered him. But Allura? She was an omega, and Keith wasn't going to budge about her.

The high heels clicked on the floor as Allura approached them. Her arms swayed by her sides until she stopped, her eyebrows angling up in concern.

Keith stayed planted in his seat, then looked up to her.

" Unless you're here to tell the truth, get out of my line of vision." Pidge told her with a mouthful, then swallowed, glaring at her.

Allura ignored Pidge, then placed a hand onto Keith's shoulder gently.

" Keith, I know you don't know me well... but... I have to ask. Are you alright?" She questioned, seemingly worried.

Keith made a face.

" Don't touch me." He growled.

" My apologies." She drew her hand back. " Are-... are those bruises from him?"

Keith was confused at first, then saw that she was looking at his neck. There were faint hickeys left there, engulfing his scent gland. He moved his hair, trying to cover them.

" They're not bruises."

Pidge sipped her tea and narrowed her eyes, not able to keep her mouth shut any longer.

" You know damn well that Keith is fine and we know that you don't give a rat's ass about him either. So why don't you walk your too high heels out of here, and go back to blowing your boyfriend, because that's the only thing your sorry cheating ass will ever be good for." She snarled at her.

By then, people had pulled out their phones and begun to record the exchange.

" Well excuse me for wanting to check on him. Omegas have to stick together, you know!" Allura exclaimed. " Especially when people like Lance are concerned-"

" I'm gonna say this once." Keith told her, cold. " Lance has never hit me and is the best boyfriend in the world. I'm just happy that he's not wasting his life on a slut like you."

Allura stood there with her mouth agape, and Pidge only smirked at her while eating another bite of her grilled cheese.

" I suppose any relationship would seem like a dream after your last one." Allura spoke, looking right at Keith.

Keith's eyes widened and began to bead.

" What did you ju-"

" Hold up." Pidge got to her feet, standing before Allura and looking up at her, not caring that the omega was taller than her. " Say that one more time and let everyone else hear you. I fucking dare you."

" What? Like we all didn't watch his video about James." She scoffed. " Apparently he didn't learn anything-"

Pidge grabbed her tea, slamming it down and getting it all over the bottom of Allura's expensive dress and shoes.

Allura gasped.

Everyone around ooed and watched, not believing they'd gotten it on camera.

" Get away from him!" Pidge yelled, and Allura was ready to take a hold of her, but then she remembered something. She could play the victim in the situation.

Her order was called in the back.

" The last time I try to warn you." She sniffled, grabbing her drink from the counter and leaving.

Pidge seethed, and Keith was still sitting there in shock. James. He was thinking about James and everything he'd done.

He put his face in his hands, wishing Lance was there to hold him. But oh right... he wasn't.

Keith had gotten too attached to Lance, and he was paying the price for it in that moment.

(( God damn it! Not the teA! I NEED A MOP ON AISLE PIDGE IS A SAVAGE!))