51

                                    

                                          
When Keith awoke the next morning, the room was bathed in soft, early sunlight. He stretched, feeling the soreness of his muscles from the physical toll of his days spent wandering. He checked his phone; it was fully charged now, filled with missed notifications and messages, most from Lance. His heart tightened at the sight.
Keith steeled himself and opened Lance's messages. They ranged from confused and worried to deeply apologetic. Lance hadn't mentioned Allura at all, which made Keith wonder about the nature of their relationship.
Keith shut his phone off and decided on getting in the shower. After a long, hot shower, Keith felt somewhat refreshed but still troubled. He quickly toweled off and dressed in a pair of buffalo plaid pyjama pants and a soft, faded T-shirt with holes in it.
As he ran a comb through his damp hair, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of keys jangling and the front door opening. Lance was back.
Keith paused, heart thumping in his chest as Lance walked in. They made eye contact, both seemingly startled at first. Lance's face softened, and he dropped his keys on the small table by the door with a clatter. "Keith," he said, his voice carrying a mix of relief and something else that Keith couldn't quite place. "You- you're back," he exclaimed. "I've been looking for you all night, are you okay?"
Keith got all choked up, and nothing that he wanted to say would come out. "I have to go," Keith said, leaving the room in an instant without anything on his feet.
"Keith!" Lance ran after him and grabbed him by the wrist to stop him.
Keith spun around, his eyes wide with a mix of anger and vulnerability. "Let go of me, Lance!" he snapped, his voice harsher than he intended. Lance instantly released his grip, hands raised in a placating gesture.
"I'm sorry," Lance said quickly, his expression one of genuine concern. "I didn't mean to— I just didn't want you to run off again."
Keith's shoulders slumped, the fight draining out of him. "I'm not running," he muttered, looking away.
"Well... why don't you come back inside for a moment and we can talk?"
"I don't want to talk right now, Lance," Keith said, but walking back into the room nonetheless.
Lance watched from the door frame as Keith slid on his shoes without socks and grabbed his phone before walking past Lance without so much as glancing in his direction. Lance didn't chad after him this time, he just watched him walk away, his heart heavy with guilt. "It's fine," he told himself in his mind. "I made the right choice." The atmosphere in the room felt heavy with unresolved tension as Lance gently closed the door behind him. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his racing thoughts.
As he moved through the room, picking up Keith's discarded towel and folding it neatly, Lance couldn't shake the feeling of regret gnawing at him. Did he even like Allura?
Lance sat down heavily on the couch, burying his face in his hands as he pondered his own feelings. He couldn't deny that there was something about Keith that drew him in, something intense and unyielding that he couldn't find in his relationship with Allura.
As the silence of the apartment weighed on him, Lance's mind replayed the scene with Keith over and over. He should have handled it differently; he should have been calmer, more understanding. The truth was, he missed Keith, more than he had allowed himself to admit before now.
He knew he needed to give Keith space, but at the same time, he felt an urgent need to make things right between them. Pulling out his phone, Lance debated whether to send a message or give Keith more time. He sighed and sent a message to Allura instead.