Lance: it IS Disney Channel!
Lance: watching that hot KC girl,?
Shiro: uh, no

Lance: Keith you know what I'm talking about right? Her sassy attitude is out of this world, like her body
Lance: Keith?
Lance: keeiiith???

Shiro: Keith, you all right?

Lance: ha! Probably left the chat due to my obvious superioty over him and the ladies~

Shiro: he'll probably text back soon, he's at school remember

Lance: yeah, with an hour to go!

Shiro: Lance, let's just text him later to make sure he's all right, we're probably annoying him with spam anyway

Lance: fiiiiine
Lance: but I get to spam him later

Three Days Later

"Hhhh..." Keith struggled to open his eyes. Once he did, he was met with a violent light in a white room. It took a minute to adjust his eyes, as a ringing in his ears began to fade, and he looked around. Am I in a... hospital room?

"Keith. Keith, can you hear me?"

Keith looks to his side. Shiro is looking into his eyes with deep concern.

"How are you feeling?" Shiro asks seriously.

Keith tries to sit up, but Shiro blocks him. "You need rest."

"I'm fine, actually." Keith retorted.

"Is that why you got hit by a bus on Monday?"

"I what on... Mon..." Keith's eyes widened as he remembered what happens. The dripping of the rain, the horn on the vehicle... his feet moving out of pure desire...

Keith looked down in frustration, and shame wouldn't allow him to meet eyes with either of his friends in the room.

"How are my vitals?" the boy asked, not sure if he'll be pleased or disappointed by the obvious answer.

"You're doing fine. You need more rest, though." Shiro replied.

"Yeah, man, you almost died! You know what I would do without you? 'Cause I don't." Lance chimed in.

Keith snorted, "Live the rest of your annoying life."

"Hey!" Lance playfully retorted. But Shiro tried to read the expression Keith's body was emitting, and his face turned more shocked and sad than Lance's light mood was.

"Keith, do you mean that?"

"Of course I do!" Keith snapped in frustration. "You think it was an accident I walked in front of that bus? As if I wouldn't have seen it!"

"Keith..." Shiro mumbled.

"Wait, so you... wanted to get hit?" Lance asked, the light mood blown away and replaced with intensity.

It took Keith a minute to reply but he growled, "Yes!"

The room fell silent. It stayed so for about a minute. Lance felt guilty and didn't know what to say. Keith fell silent into his pillows, trying to calm down and not making eye contact with anyone. Shiro felt light tears brimming his eyes.

Shiro was the first to speak up, "I clearly don't know what you're feeling right now, Keith. I just want to be able to help. I'm here for you. I hope you know that."

Keith huffed, "No one is here for me."

"Keith," Lance piped. "We're your friends. We'll always be here for you, even if we don't know how."

"We try our best and we know we're not perfect," Shiro added, "but if you ever need anything, you can always come to me, to us. We care about you and you matter in our lives, Keith."

Keith felt a tear slip down his cheek as he stayed silent. He kept looking away, but his eye contact averted ever so often. He didn't feel like what they were saying was true, but since he felt like an idiot anyway, he decided to trust them.

He nodded, not attempting to manage an "okay."

Shiro patted his shoulder and Lance nodded back. Keith finally met their eyes, and he hoped what they were saying was sincere.

"I got kicked out of school. And my family...-"

"Why don't you stay at my house tonight, Keith?" Shiro offered.

Keith shook his head, "I don't want to be an inconvenience."

"You're not." Shiro assured.

"You can stay at my house if you want." Lance claimed.

Keith snorted playfully, "I'd rather jump in front of that bus again."

"Hey!" The three shared a small chuckle, but the air still felt tense.

"Thanks, guys." Keith noted eventually.

The two smiled.