Chapter Text
They sat next to each other by gate 34B, Keith’s exit. Lance had spent the past 30 minutes crying with no end, and Keith had sat there with him and soothed him like so many times before. How crazy is it that we attach ourselves to people so easily?
In front of them, gazing out the floor-to-roof windows, stood Raven with her back towards them. In the reflection on the finely polished glass they could see the faint picture of her face, stretched into an appreciative ‘O’. Her first time flying.
She wouldn’t stay for long, they’d agreed, only for long enough for Krolia to catch up with her and learn a thing or two about her. Then she’d fly back out to the US with Romelle where Lance would await her return.
Keith’s hand smoothed over his knuckles gently, his gaze fixed on the form of Raven as he spoke over the music in the speaker above their heads. This early in the morning, few people sat or laid here and there. Most asleep.
“Will you still be here when I return?” he asked in a hushed, raspy tone.
“Will you return?”
“Of course, you dumbass.”
“Then, yes. I’ll be here, you dipshit. I always will.” He said and rubbed his tired eyes, red and puffy from crying.
“Promise me not to do anything stupid, now, will you? I won’t be there to protect you.” He tried for funny, but it came out a lot more deprecating than he’d intended. The song above their heads mingled in their silence.
Darling, we're both scared
But where love is, fear won't tread
“Lance…” he started and wiped away the tears that had rolled down his cheek so tenderly Lance felt like his heart would burst at the seams so carefully sown by those same, pale, calloused hands.
“It’s OK.” He interrupted him and placed a hand over his where it rubbed softly at his cheek, “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me, alright? You’ve worried enough for a lifetime. Go. Enjoy yourself. Find your truth. Figure it out. And then, when you feel ready, come back to me, Keith.”
I guess it's because I just do
Following heaven's clues
This is a big mystery
How I found you found me
He smiled at him, brightly and whole-heartedly and without a single filter to cloud it. For the first time in a long time he felt completely at home. More so than he had ever felt before in his own house. Not the one in NYC, nor the one in Cuba. This right before him was his home.
From beside them, Raven giggled at something outside. She was pointing and talking but none of them were listening.
Keith took a deep breath, then took his other hand in his. He placed his knuckles to his lips and kissed each one lovingly and slowly and with such care that the dam broke and tears streamed down his cheeks. This time they were silent.
He looked up and into his eyes, and for a moment Lance saw the universe look back at him.
And you are changing now
Your part of me somehow
And I will never be alone
“Lance,” he said, voice steady as his gaze flickered between Lance’s tear-soaked cheeks. He seemed to steel himself, then:
“When I come back to you, may I stay forever?” he asked.
Lance’s world seemed to fall off its axis for a moment as his brain tried in vain to analyze those words. His breaths came short, his tears overflowed, and his eyes felt as though they would bulge out of their sockets. He cleared his throat and then, shakily, asked, “What do you mean…”
Keith stopped and waited, and stared right into him, and analyzed every movement, and time stopped around them. The song above their heads was the only melody, that and the announcement over the speakers telling them Keith’s flight was ready for boarding.
In your darkest hours
Will I love you still?
I have and I always will
“When I come back to you, will you marry me?” he whispered.
“Yes.” He whispered back, and later, as he watched him board his flight, he whispered it into the silence around him once more.
“Yes.”