Sorry this kind of sucks but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

TW: Parents arguing. A lot.

The shouting downstairs was circling Lance like a shark circled its prey. He had an arm around his little sister who had been crying since the argument started and was whispering soft words into her ears as she trembled and sobbed. His other two siblings were old enough to cope with the yelling on their own so, luckily, it was only Rachel that he needed to comfort. 

"You're so fucking useless! Ever since you lost your job, all you do is sit around the house! I thought you were going to make an effort to get a new one!"

"I was but the kids are so demanding all the time! Take me to school, papá, we're out of milk, papá. I have to help them too!"

"You spent the entirety of today sat in front of the TV watching football. You don't even like football!"

"You can't tell me what I like! Stop trying to tell me what to do and who to be!" After a loud crash, Lance moved his hands so they were covering Rachel's small ears. She gripped onto her big brother, fists clutching the material of his green jacket as if it was her only hope of safety. Lance didn't mind helping her: he was the rock of the family, after all. What bothered him was that he was forced to listen to every word. Every insult. Every swear. Everything.

"I'm not! I'm just saying, we're in so much debt and it's your fault for not doing anything all the time. If you had a job, we would be so much better off!"

"It's not my fault the factory shut down!"

"Well it is your fault that you can't look for a new job! I work overtime every day and it means I hardly get any sleep. I'm... I'm tired, Antonio."

"Well if you're so fucking tired, why don't you stop working?"

"Because we can't afford to look after the kids anymore! The electricity is going to be shut off soon because we can't pay the bills. We might even get kicked out because I don't think I can find any more excuses to give the landlady."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"I don't want you to say anything. I just want you to get a job."

Lance started to rock both him and Rachel, squeezing his eyes shut as a weak attempt to drown out the voices. Even though he heard them almost every day, he didn't think he would ever get used to it. It hurt to know his parents weren't happy. For a long second, he reached out for his headphones and pulled them onto his head. He then returned to Rachel, covering her ears up again so neither of them had to witness the falling apart of their parents' marriage.

It stopped an hour or so later and the house was enveloped in that heavy kind of silence that feels more suspicious than safe. Lance didn't question it and, instead, basked in the peace. He tucked Rachel into bed before laying down himself and trying his hardest not to let his own thoughts take over.

-

Rachel was sleeping over at a friend's. Lance was alone. Though he continuously wished his sister was free from the shouting, it meant he was free to cry and hug one of his pillows with a wish that he had someone to hold him through the hardest times. Instead he was stuck inside an empty room, too afraid to move and grab his headphones from where he had left them downstairs. 

"I tell you to do one thing! One thing, Antonio!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't cut it. You left Lance out in the pouring rain. Now he's going to get sick and his exams are next week!"

"He'll be fine. You're just being dramatic again."

Lance rubbed his tear-filled eyes, guilt swarming through him as he realised the argument was all his fault. All he had wanted was to meet up with Hunk and Pidge but he'd ended up having to walk the entire forty minutes from Pidge's house in the middle of a storm because his dad had forgotten to get him. Once he had made it home, he was soaked to the bone and shivering so much that his teeth were chattering. Snuggled up in blankets, Lance was meant to be feeling better but, instead, he just felt guilty.

"You can't keep treating us all like this."

"Like what?"

"Like dirt! Lance is embarrassed by us and so are the other kids."

"How do you know that?"

"He never brings his friends over! I asked him if he wanted Hunk or Pidge to stay the night and he refused because we live in a dump! I'm embarrassed about us!"

"Lance is pathetic."

"Don't call mi hijo pathetic!"

Tensing up, Lance let out a gentle sob. It was muffled from where he had his face buried in his pillow. It seemed like forever before the shouting died down and Lance cried himself to sleep, still holding onto his pillow.

-

"Uh, mamá?" Lance called out, flicking the light switch up and down with his index finger. The lights remained shut off and the room was still coursed in darkness.

"Si, hijo?" His mum yelled back from where she was sat in the living room, a magazine sitting on top of his lap. 

"The lights won't come on."

"Mierda... They shut off the electricity..." Lance just about heard her whisper. He dropped his gaze to his feet, unable to make out anything in the darkness. He sighed and turned back to the hallway to grab his bag from where it was hung over the banister. He poked his head around the door of the small living room, forcing a smile.

"I'm going to walk to Hunk's so we can get some studying done before school starts."

"Okay, have fun."

"I'll try." Lance walked out of the door, swallowing thickly as he tried his hardest to suppress the urge to cry. Despite his effort, tears still gathered in his eyes as he turned left in the direction of Hunk's. It was a twenty minute walk but Lance could do with the time to let his emotions out. There was no way he was crying in front of Hunk.

-

Okay, Lance didn't plan on crying in front of Hunk. It just... happened. When Hunk's little sister opened the door with a big, gleaming smile across her face and a rather beaten up panda bear in her arms, he couldn't help it as he burst into tears. Hunk's sister stumbled back with wide eyes before nervously calling out for her brother.

Lance catapulted himself forward into his friend's arms, burying his head into his chest as his entire body shook with sobs. Hunk didn't say anything as he lead Lance into the living room so they could have some space. He rubbed Lance's back and offered him a small smile once they finally pulled apart. "I'm sorry." Lance mumbled. He clenched his hands into weak fists and wiped at his eyes, only succeeding in making them redder.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Hunk asked, holding back the curiosity that urged him to ask a million more questions. 

"I- I can't talk about it."

"Oh," Hunk sounded disappointed but tried his best to cover it up with an empathetic smile. "That's okay. We can talk when you're ready."

"You're the best."

"So are you, Lance."

-

"They're going to evict us." Lance's dad said, all while shaking his head and skimming the letter in his hands. Lance had just so happened to be lingering in the kitchen as he searched for something to make his siblings for dinner: his mum was at work and, if it were up to his dad, they'd live off instant noodles.

"Oh." Lance responded. He distracted himself from his own anxieties by fiddling with a tin of baked beans in the cupboard. 

"We can't afford this shit. We're going to lose the house."

"I'm sorry, dad. I- I can get a job if you want?" Lance turned to look at his dad who was gripping onto the piece of paper with all of his might. His body was shaking and obvious tears were glistening like sad stars in his eyes. 

"I can't ask you to do that. This is all my fault, isn't it?"

Lance didn't know how to respond to that so chose against saying anything. He hit the jackpot as he found half a bag of pasta at the back of the cupboard, collecting dust. He pulled it out and placed it down on the side. 

"It is. I'm useless. You- You deserve a better papá." Again, Lance didn't respond. He filled the kettle up and let it boil whilst he poured the pasta into a pot. "I can't live like this anymore, hijo. I've messed this entire family up."

"Papá-" Lance finally tried, hating seeing his dad so distraught. The tears and hunched up posture made him look so vulnerable and broken, far from the man Lance had once looked up to. He let out a gentle sob, burying his head into his hands and letting the paper fall onto the table in front of him.

"This is all my fault. I'm sorry, Lance." Lance's dad pulled himself onto his feet and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. He threw it over his shoulders and shoved his feet into the shoes he had abandoned under the table at some point.

"Where you going?" 

"I need time to think." With that, he left.

He didn't come back.

-

"Mamá, did you pay the rent?" Lance asked with a tint of hope laced in his voice. His mum's response was to stare directly ahead without saying a word, eyes empty and emotionless. "It-It's going to be okay." He made his mum a cup of tea before darting out of the house without saying another word. He found his way to Hunk's and knocked on the door with every intention of coming clean about his situation. 

When Hunk opened the door, he was wearing a yellow apron that was covered in flour. He smiled widely at Lance and gestured for him to follow him into the kitchen where he was preparing a cake. "I need... need a favour." Lance mumbled, playing with his hands in his lap. Asking his friends was a serious last resort but, if he didn't, his whole family were going to be homeless by the end of the week. Rachel already struggled with sleeping on their shared, uncomfortable mattress; there wasn't a chance she was sleeping on the streets.

"Anything."

"I need some cash."

"How much cash? And what for?"

Lance refused to meet Hunk's gaze, finding something incredibly shameful about asking for financial help. "Mamá's behind on the rent. We're going to get evicted and- and I don't know what to do." With that, Lance burst into tears. "It's well over a thousand and mamá's salary just doesn't cut it. Papá walked out on us but it's not like that makes a difference because he never worked."

"Oh my God, Lance..." Hunk pulled his friend into a warm hug, rubbing his back in the most comforting way possible. "I had no idea you were struggling so much..."

"The- the- electricity has been cut out a few times too and I think mamá might be depressed. I- I can't take it anymore."

After a moment full of hushed whispers and muffled sobs, Hunk murmured, "I have some savings put away."

"I can't take all of your money-"

"I didn't know what to spend it on anyway."

"I'll pay you back every cent. With interest, even. I just need to get a job."

"I trust you. Take your time, alright? And- And I'm here if you need to talk."

"Thank you so much."

-

"I got some money and I paid off what we needed to pay," Lance announced to his mum who didn't seem to have moved at all since he had left the house that morning. "I'm going to get a job so this doesn't happen again."

"Where did you get the money?" was all his mum asked. The wrinkles were clear on her face as she squinted her eyes and attempted to pick Lance apart.

"It doesn't matter."

"Lance, tell me where you got a hold of over a thousand dollars in a day."

"Hunk leant it to me, alright?"

"We're not charity cases, Lance. Give him the money back." For some bizarre reason, his mum seemed angry. She was scowling and had moved her arms so that they were folded and making her emotions as clear as day.

"I will but we need it right now."

"His family is going to pity us and that is not what I want. We could handle it ourselves."

"No, we couldn't. We were going to get evicted!" Lance didn't mean to raise his voice but he couldn't help it: his blood was boiling. He let his hands clench into fists as he took a threatening step towards his mum. "I will pay him back because I'm going to get a job. We can't keep living like this!"

"I know," Lance's mum's voice had begun to tremble and it was just seconds before she was buckled over in sobs. "I know... I'm so sorry I failed all of you."

Lance didn't say anything as he slid into the free space beside his mum on the sofa. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, just letting her cry into his chest.

-

It took a few weeks for Lance to even get a job interview and then another couple for him to hear back. When he got the news that he was being invited to a training day at an independent coffee shop known as Altea, he had to hold back a scream. The first person he called was Hunk who responded similarly, both of them dancing on their individual sides of the lines.

He had his first day the Monday after he got the call and fell in love with the coffee shop immediately. He worked alongside a couple of others, including a boy his age named Keith who was nice enough. 

Around a month later, he received his first pay check. It went straight to Hunk to pay him back for everything he had given Lance. It still wasn't enough but Lance was willing to put in even more hours to earn all he needed. 

His mum was reluctant to let her own son help support the family but ended up forced into agreeing when she didn't have enough money to pay for food one week. He ended up paying and he even bought Rachel a new stuffed toy that she instantaneously fell in love with. 

In the end, it all worked out. Even if it wasn't perfect, they were happy together as a family and that was enough.