(( Oops. Apparently there's a difference between putting an e or two e's at the end of fiancé? Welp. I feel like a dipshit. Thank you to everyone for correcting me before I could make that mistake too many times and look like even more of an idiot. Constructive criticism is always welcome here, Loves. I will be mindful of that from here on out. Also, ANGST WARNING!!! *grabs megaphone* I REPEAT! ANGST WARNING!))

" Just five more minutes..." Keith tugged on Lance, keeping him from getting up.

" Babe." Lance smiled. " You're going to make me late for work." He settled back into the soft, familiar comforter atop his bed.

" Just drive a little faster on the way there." Keith whined.

" I wish I didn't have to leave you here." Lance mumbled, kissing his omega's cheek a couple times. He moved his hand to caress Keith's belly, slipping beneath the shirt and feeling across his silky smooth skin.

Keith made a pouty face.

" Your brothers better be good." He said, already questioning his ability to watch them.

" Ronny can help you. I promise they'll be fine." Lance pecked his jawline, kissing all over his fiancé's face.

" I just don't like being away from you... I start aching all over if you're gone for too long." Keith sulked.

" Keith..." Lance's face sank into a frown. " I have to close tonight. I won't be back until ten or eleven."

That made Keith's emotions contort and twist into a tight, temperamental ball. For some reason, he was even more unsettled about Lance leaving right then. He didn't want to be responsible for all the kids while everyone was gone. He just had this awful gut feeling.

" I don't want you to go..." He quietly said.

" I have to... you know that." Lance looked Keith right in the eye, wanting to make sure that his words were sinking in. " I'll be back with you soon... all three of you..." The alpha glanced toward Keith's tummy as he rubbed it affectionately. That's when Lance got an idea. He lifted up Keith's shirt, exposing his stomach.

" What are you doing?" Keith sat up a little.

" Shh..." Lance said, getting up close and personal to the baby bump.

Keith watched Lance in fascination, but then realized what he was doing.

" Daddy will be back soon..." Lance talked to Keith's womb, kissing the omega's tummy a couple times. " And he loves you both so much..." He smiled.

" Oh my God." Keith covered his face from embarrassment. " Could you be anymore cheesy?"

Lance chuckled a little.

" We'll talk later..." He whispered to his stomach, planting a final kiss there before putting Keith's shirt back down.

Keith kept burying his face in his hands, knowing it was a practical tomato by then.

" I love you... and I actually need to get going." Lance leaned to peel back his hands. He pressed their foreheads together gently. " Stay inside... don't answer the door. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can."

Lance raked his fingers through the other boy's hair before standing fully up. Before he could leave the room, Keith's eyes shot open. That gut wrenching feeling kept splashing on him like he was a sandy beach during high tide. He shot up, stopping him and hugging him again.

Maybe he was just paranoid. Maybe he was just tweaked out from pregnancy hormones. But even his bonding mark was tingling.

" Please... stay safe." The omega was almost pleading with him.

Lance's face turned very visibly red. The blush couldn't have been any more obvious.

" I will. Nothing bad really happens at my work. Unless I'm spilling shit-per usual." Lance poked a little fun at himself, tucking a strand of hair behind the smaller boy's ear. " You too, okay?" Lance felt like he wasn't really supposed to walk out the door, like Keith was being clingy for a reason.

Damn it, Lance.

He was really trying to work on his instincts, keep them from getting paranoid over nothing.

...

" I don't know how parents do this." Keith sighed, collapsing back onto the couch.

After getting the boys to eat dinner-which was an ordeal in itself- him and Ronny were tasked with keeping them entertained until their bedtime. If they didn't find something occupy them with, the house would surely be burnt down by the time Lance got home.

" I wanna play Mario Kart!" Marco shouted.

" Yeah!" Luis seconded.

Keith looked stumped, so he turned to Veronica. She pursed her lips, diverting her eyes from her phone screen to her little brothers.

" I guess I can turn on the Wii for you." She got up.

Words could not express how relieved Keith was when finding out that she knew how to do that. He had never really fucked around with the Wii, and didn't even have the first idea about how to hook it up for them.

In all honesty, Keith was worried sick about Lance. He might've been overdramatic, but he could've sworn that something bad was going to happen. He needed Lance with him. And he needed him right then. Otherwise he was just going to drive himself progressively nuts as the night lagged on.

He checked his phone, not even sure what he was trying to achieve in doing so. Lance wouldn't have been able to text back even if he tried to get a hold of him.

What was wrong with him?

It had only been three and a half hours.

Keith wanted to blame it on the pregnancy, write it off as hormones. But... he couldn't let it go. He stared off into space, and his vision seemed to blur and switch in and out of focus.

" Keith...?" Ronny tapped his shoulder, concerned. She was startled once Keith stirred from surprise.

" Yeah?" He hummed, snapping back into reality. The boys were racing each other on the TV, and Ronny was looking at him with a very hesitant expression.

" Are you good? Like... you were creeping me out for a second." The girl said, seeming to relax a little, but not completely.

" I'm... fine." Keith got up, going to the kitchen.

Nobody could blame him at that point. Ice cream was his go to food when it came to stress eating. He was getting some hardcore feelings from the mark, almost like it was throbbing. Yeah, his mark was supposed to be even more sensitive during pregnancy. But not like that. Nowhere near that.

He held his hand to his neck, grimacing and feeling that it had its own heartbeat. And, no, it wasn't over his artery. It wasn't just his pulse.

Something wasn't right. Keith knew it as he leaned over the counter. The mark was telling him something, serving as a siren. It was a warning.

...

That night had been really busy, and Lance had gotten his ass sufficiently kicked by the number of tables. The tips were good, but it was still really hard work.

Not to mention all the rude customers he'd had to be polite to. And one who kept spitting while trying to order. Wow, did Lance love being a server.

People were just the best.

Him and Alejandro both were ready to go home by the time closing rolled around.

" See you next time, man." Lance said, and his friend tiredly nodded as they went their separate ways in the parking lot. Their cars were at opposite ends of it.

It was... quiet. There weren't any cars driving by on the street. There wasn't any wind. And there was a strange absence of people. It was a little spooky, and Lance felt that way as he unlocked his car and hopped in.

Even with nobody around, Lance still felt like he wasn't alone. He could feel someone's eyes on him, like he was a deer during hunting season.

He checked the backseat, wanting to make sure that nobody else was in there. And he locked his doors once again, feeling safer once he did so.

His first instinct was to talk to Keith.

Lance opened his phone, seeing that Keith had tried to call him. And he figured that his omega had only gotten nervous and had separation anxiety. He decided to quickly shoot him a text before starting the ignition.

Lance 10:57 PM- I'll be home soon. Love you <3

He slowly backed out of the parking stall, watching his surroundings carefully through the back window.

Something just felt... off.

Lance couldn't put his finger on it. But the lack of anyone being around, plus the darkness outside, and not having Keith by his side made his anxiety way worse. He pulled out of the lot, turning onto the road. And he was about to switch on the radio, just looking for something to fill the eerie silence.

But he heard something rumble behind him. He saw headlights turn on in his mirror, but he made nothing of it. He was just scaring himself.

Lance kept driving, turning on the radio to find Avril Lavigne playing. When You're Gone was on, and he was chill with it.

At his turn, Lance needed to go right, but he accidentally singled the wrong way in his exhausted state. He frantically fixed it, looking over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't confusing anyone. There was a car following him very closely... too closely. And its left signal light changed to a right one the second Lance's flipped over.

That was really... odd. Maybe the driver was tired too, maybe they'd made the same tiny error Lance had. But somehow, the alpha doubted it. He went on with his turn, watching in his mirror and observing the car behind him.

It was a nice, solid black Cadillac. The paint job was seemingly flawless. It had a very... professional vibe.

Lance sped up a little, turning his eyes back to the road. And after he was about ten miles per hour over the limit, he noticed that the car had sped up to compensate for it.

Lance decided that he wasn't about to lead whoever this was back to the house. If someone really was following him, he would've been dumb to take them straight to Keith and his little siblings.

He made an abrupt left turn, not signaling and hoping it would trip the other driver up. But it didn't. Their tires actually screeched as the car left marks on the pavement.

It was still tailing him.

Lance tried to tell himself that it was fine, that he was overreacting. But how could he rationally explain that?

He punched the gas, zooming down the street and coming to a cross road. The back roads were close, and Lance knew his way around back there. He could lose this person. He knew he could.

Once he came up to the intersection, he signaled left, but took a right turn and immediately sped up. And the Cadillac seemed to fall for it at first, but after they turned the vehicle back the right way, Lance could hear the engine roaring in the distance behind him.

Whoever was driving had to have been going at least ninety.

What the fuck was going on here?!

Lance wanted to reach for his phone, maybe call someone. But he didn't have time. He saw the car approaching in his mirror, and it was coming up on him fast.

He felt adrenaline coursing through his veins as he floored it. Whoever this was could eat his dust. Lance didn't know who they were or what they wanted, but he wasn't about to pull over and politely ask them.

He was scared, and rightfully so. He couldn't take any turns, knowing he'd have to slow beforehand and probably get rear ended by the psycho behind him.

In all the commotion, Lance still knew where they were. But it was a really wooded area. There were thick groves of trees on either side of the road. And there wasn't a way to get off after that, not until he reached the end of it. It was a very lengthy road, going on for a couple miles.

He hadn't planned on going that way, mainly because he couldn't turn away and get this person lost. But he didn't have a choice at that point.

This had all happened so suddenly, and he was starting to realize that he'd utterly isolated himself from anyone who could potentially witness this. But... witness what exactly? Lance didn't know what was happening, but his gut told him that it was anything but good.

He'd never driven this fast before, and he knew that if he pushed it anymore, he ran the risk of losing control of the car. Adding any distractions like a phone call would definitely cause him to do that.

The car behind him just kept speeding up, and once it was almost bumper to bumper with Lance's car, it steered to the side, crossing the centerline and moving to the other lane.

Lance looked out his window, trying to see inside the Cadillac but the windows had been completely blacked out.

Next thing he knew, the car was side by side with him, steering into him and trying to ram him from the side.

" WHAT THE FUCK?!" Lance screeched, feeling tears in his eyes from terror. He tried to go faster, but the gas didn't seem to be cooperating with him.

The alpha felt a severe jolt when his car was rammed again, but he managed to keep a grip on the steering wheel and stay on the road. The drop off was steep, and the hill on either side of it only led into more trees.

Was this it? Was this the thing that was finally going to kill him after all him and Keith had suffered through? He clenched his fists around the wheel, trying to picture him going home after this, seeing Keith and his family. Lance wanted to hug him one last time, to kiss him once more and savor his mate's softer-than-anything-else lips. He wanted to father their children, to protect Keith and the other vulnerable members of his family.

" GOD DAMN IT!" He yelled. No. This would not be how his story ended. He wouldn't let it be.

Lance got an idea, thinking maybe he could hit the breaks and go back the other way. But in the split second it took him to contemplate it, his car was slammed into from the side. And that was finally enough for one of the front tires of Lance's car to dip off the road. He lost control of it, and there was nothing he could do.

Lance's breathing went shallow as the car barreled from the pavement. His previously wide eyes squeezed shut as he braced for impact. The sound of the windows smashing in was instant, and there were tiny stinging sensations he felt in random places where the shattered glass hit him.

The car kept rolling until it finally hit something else, and that final impact was what ultimately caused him to lose consciousness.

...

Keith had been laying in bed, trying but failing to get any sleep. Lance's text had given him some assurance, but as he continued to lay there, his mark became progressively more painful.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, there was a sharp, searing sensation right over his mark. It was burning like someone was branding him with a hot piece of metal, and Keith cried out loudly, pressing his hand to it and nearly screaming in sudden agony.

This was not fucking good.

He was crying in a matter of seconds, hissing and seething from the unbearable pain.

" Keith?!" Ronny came rushing into the room. " Keith, why are you screaming?!" She frantically asked, seeing the way he was holding his neck.

" FUCK!" Keith yelled loudly.

" Uh-" Ronny panicked, not knowing what to do.

" C-call Lance!" He nearly shrieked.

" What?!"

" JUST DO IT!" Keith growled, and the little sister grabbed her phone to call her brother.

As Keith's pain finally began leveling out... the sensation became more dull... almost nonexistent. He snatched her phone, listening to the dial tone for a couple rings.

" Hello?" Lance said from the other end.

" Lance?! I-"

" Haha! Got you! Leave a message or something." The alpha's voicemail had fooled Keith and he continued crying while finding himself unable to get a grip.

" N-no! No, no, no, no!" Keith yelled. And Veronica looked at him like he was crazy.

" Ronny?" Marco asked from the doorway, and Luis peeked his head out from behind.

" Boys, back to bed. Come on." She ushered them away.

Keith felt a panic attack coming on as he sat there, clutching the phone. Bonding marks only did that when someone's life was threatened, when a bond was in danger. And given the way his had just sparked only to flicker out... it terrified Keith.

He had felt it, the fear, felt his body jolt due to an unknown cause. His and Lance's emotions were tied together, connected.

That pain, that sharp and excruciating pain... Keith didn't know what could've caused it. His breathing was getting shallower after every respiration. But... this time... Lance wasn't there to talk him down.

Lance wasn't there to hold him close, to tell him everything was going to be okay.

Keith felt like a padlock without a key, knowing that he could only get his shit together if Lance could get home. He wanted nothing more than for the front door to swing open, and for Lance to come bounding up those stairs and hug him.

But that never happened.

(( Okay... so... the tears were real while I was writing this. God... I love and hate this at the same time. Maybe Lance should've paid more attention to other times he felt like someone was following him.))