Chapter Five: The Fair

!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!! there is a rape mention in this chapter. Please do not read if its going to make you uncomfortable !! if you want to skip it, skip from "It happened when I was sixteen." to "I'm... that sucks, Lance." I will tell you what happens inbetween those points in the end notes if you want to know.

"Guys- we have to go to the fair!"

Lance was sitting in Pidge and Hunk's room, watching as they played Mario Kart on a makeshift projector aimed at a blank wall. Hunk blueshellef Pidge, and she hissed before adressing Lance.

"Nope. No way. Its too hot."

Lance rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms, glaring at Pidge.

"Then we wont go during the day! We'll go at night. We finally have enough people for the group discount!"

"Its still a no. I hate fairs. There's too many couples, and all the games are rigged, and its itchy and dirty and the closest one to us is sketchy. No thanks."

Lance rolled his eyes and turned to Hunk. "Okay. Fine. Then you bring Shay, and then it'll be enough. Please buddy- come on- I really want this discount and we finally have an even number of people so that nobody has to ride through the haunted house by themselves!"

"Why don't you just being one of your boyfriends? Or girlfriends?" Pidge asked, rolling her eyes.

Lance scoffed. "I'm not dating any of them, okay? Besides- If Hunk brings Shay, they can have a, lets say, romantic evening at the fair.

"So; Shay and Hunk, Matt and Shiro... You and Keith?" Pidge asked.

Lance didn't batt an eye when he said, "Yep."

Hunk smiled. "So like, a triple date?"

"What? No. I'm... no! Keith- we- I'm- Keith and I aren't dating!"

"Yet!" Pidge shouted, overtaking Hunk and sliding into first place. Hunk sighed and put down the controller.

Lance looked at her like she had grown another head. "Yet? Please! He doesn't even like me. I can tell, besides-" he turned back to Hunk. "I'm still trying to go through the entire university. Cant make bad on our bet, buddy."

"This is a one-sided bet Lance, I never agreed to anything-"

"Whatever. Keith doesnt like me and I'm too busy seducing the school anyways."

"You're not even seducing anyone."

"I have had sex plenty of times, all with different people, thank you. I literally did some dude from the baseball team, like, yesterday. And after he left? A chick from the science department. Maybe I should've waited, we could've had a threesome-"

"Okay, thats it. Im done listening to this. Its disgusting." Pidge picked up her laptop and threw a hoodie on before opening the door. "Im gonna be hanging out in Shiro and Matt's gay-ass love cave, so if you want me I'll be there- and yes, Lance, I'll tell them about your weird three-way date idea."

"Not a date- but thank you!"

When the door slammed, Lance turned to Hunk.

"What if I really want to kiss him, dude? I already really want to- what if we get stuck on the ferris wheel together, and we kiss? My plan will be ruined!"

Hunk took a deep breath.

**

When they paid for the tickets, Lance realized his mistake.

He loved the fair- it was bright and beautiful, and he was perfectly content to spend all his money on the rigged fair games. He actually won once, thank you very much- but that was a while ago. The fair, however? Still just as beautiful and bustling and romantic.

But he also hated the fair right now, because it was beautiful and bustling and romantic- and he and Keith were alone.

Not alone alone, obviously. There was a crowd of people surrounding them, of course. But they were together. And Shiro, Matt, Hunk and Shay were nowhere in sight.

"Fuck. We lost them."

"Thanks for the update, Sherlock."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Just- ok we just need to stick together. We'll find the others eventually."

The waited by where they first lost the rest of the group before Lance stood up and grabbed Keith's arm.

"Lance? What are you doing?"

"I'm hungry, okay? Plus I have about $15 burning a hole in my pocket, waiting to be foolishly blown on rigged games. And I am not doing it alone, thank you."

Keith ignored the heat of Lance's hand on his arm.

When they got to a vendor, Lance got them both cotton candy, and then turned around and gasped.

"Holy shit! Keith! Dude! Do you see that giant lion plush- I have to have that- come on!"

Keith laughed and shrugged out of Lances grip. "You go ahead. I'm going to see if I can get enough service to call Shiro."

Lance rolled his eyes and walked over to the game.

Keith stood in the same spot for a minute as the phone rang, and as soon as Shiro picked up, Keith turned away from Lance and focused on locating his brother.

"Where are you?"

"Matt and I are by the dunk tank. We're supposed to meet up at the haunted house. Where are you?"

"I dont know- I'm by a food vendor and some weird baseball game with a giant lion prize. Lemme just get-"

When he turned around his blood ran cold.

"Keith?"

"... Shiro I'm gonna call you back..."

"Why? Keith? Whats w-"

The man standing uncomfortably close to Lance couldnt have been younger than 40- he had a salt and pepper beard and a balding head, a beer belly, and he practically radiated drunk. If Keith hadnt been disgusted and angry, he might feel sorry for him.

If the man wasnt currently pressed up against Lance with a hand around his waist and his mouth whispering into Lance's ear, Keith might have never even noticed the pervert existed.

But he was there- touching Lance and talking to him and Lance looked downright miserable- the most terrified Keith had ever seen him.

Before he knew what he was doing, Keith was tapping on the man's shoulder and pulling him away from Lance.

"Hey! How bout you back off, asshole?"

The man looked Keith up, and then down, and his snarled grin turned predatory. "What? You want some of this?" He asked, gesturing to Lance- who had frozen in place. "Get your own damn twink, bitch."

The man turned around again, and Keith didnt let him speak before tapping his shoulder again and punching him in the face.

Now, the sound of a crack and the man wailing out in pain was apparently enough for Lance to snap back into reality for long enough to get away from the fight. Keith was glad he was okay. He'd punch a million gross bastards for Lance.

Keith wasn't a big guy- probably only 5"9- but this creep was about 6"3, heavyset, and pissed. Keith? Even more pissed, plus, hed been a blackbelt for almost 4 years. He wasn't taking any shit from him.

When Keith was sure the guy wasn't getting up again without serious medical assistance, he pushed his way through the crowd and found Lance, sitting with his knees at his chest and his head in his hands, rocking.

"Lance? Lance, are you okay? Did he hurt you at all? Deep breath, deep breath. Are you okay?"

Lance broke down in a sob.

**

Lance's father always said crying wasn't manly.

Crying was weak- an effeminate way of showing emotions, or, as his dad put it, "for pussies." So, Lance always did his best not to cry.

He didnt cry at his abuelos funeral.

He didnt cry when he skinned his knee.

He didnt cry when he broke his arm.

He didnt even cry when he got his first rejection letter from Altea. He just kept going, kept pushing, slowly wiping silent tears from his face.

But now? Lance was full-out bawling.

He didn't expect this. It had to be karma, right? Coming on to everyone without even getting to know them and then having the same exact thing happen to him? That was a smack from the bitch herself, Lance could taste it. But the Keith was there. Keith, who did Tae Kwon Do and Kickboxing. Keith, who ran so he wouldnt have to face the world. Keith, who was pretty both inside and out, and made Lance wonder what the hell he was so afraid of.

Keith was there. For him. Beating up someone, for him.

God, he had fallen for him. Him and his hair and the panicked look in his eyes and the name coming out of his mouth-

"LANCE."

Lance realized he was crying, and he stopped.

"Keith-"

"Yea. Hey. Look at me." He did. "Im here. Dont worry about him, hes an asshole. He deserved that broken nose."

"You broke his nose?"

"I mean- unless that pop I heard was something else? Yea. I probably broke his nose."

Lance laughed. Defending my honor, brave prince.

"Hey, Lance."

"Mm?"

"Are you okay?"

Was he okay? Was he fine? Physically, yes. He was breathing. His heart was pumping. Mentally? Also yes. His brain was working and he could think and process. Emotionally? Not really. His breathing was jagged, his heart going way too fast and he was almost sure that he was over analyzing every detail, every freckle on Keith's face because he was so close Lance could kiss him if he wanted.

Was he okay? Two-thirds yes. But thats better than none.

"I sure am. Lets go find our friends."

**

"It happened when I was sixteen."

Keith looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Lance took a deep breath and looked across the fair. They were at the highest point of the ferris wheel- where they could see all the people moving around and they could watch the lights dance over the game booths and vendor stands. It was still beautiful, Lance decided.

"When I was sixteen, my sister was raped."

Keith turned at him, hoping for this to be a cruel joke. But his stomach dropped and he realized- this wasnt. Not when Lances eyes were focused on the lights so he wouldnt cry again. He couldnt cry again.

"It was right before christmas. She had picked up an extra shift so she could buy all of us presents, and it was late and she was walking home, and..."

Deep breath, youre okay.

"And she got home and she was terrible- her clothes were torn and messed up, her makeup was running and she was crying. He just... did what he wanted with her and left her all alone.

"I didnt know what had happened. When she got home mamá told me to go to bed and that we'd talk in the morning. We didn't though- Lana didn't come out of her room for a week, and a month later... a month later we found out she was pregnant."

His face was stony, and he looked like he was physically fighting the tears from falling.

"We were all supportive of her- she didn't want to get an abortion, and she didn't want to go through pregnancy. We told her that whatever choice she made we'd support her, one hundred percent... but my... my dad? He was absolutely pissed- he didn't want her to have the baby because he didn't want a bastard child in the house, even though Tony is, and that's ridiculous but it's my dad and hes always a little hypocritical-- anyways, she decided to have the baby, well, babies- a boy and a girl, Ana and Michael. We all love them and Lana is fine now, and everything is okay, but like... its still difficult for me? Because I always feared soemthing like that would happen to me. It was... It is terrifying not being able to walk anywhere without the fear of being kidnapped, or worse..."

Keith leaned his head on Lance's shoulder and Lance willed his breathing to remain steady. This boy...

"But thats not all- the guys on the baseball team didn't know, and, as boys do, they would joke about this shit. Say things like, 'oh, Alexis is so nice looking, I'm totally gonna tap that. Whether she wants it or not-' and that? That was it. So I dropped baseball, lost my sports scholarship, and got criticized and put down by my dad because of it. But he didn't understand, I couldn't handle the ignorance. I had to get out. So I did."

"Im... that sucks, Lance."

"Yea. But it's whatever. Im over it now, I... I supress my feelings by having random, non-meaningful consensual sex with anyone that lets me. Im fine."

He let out a breathy laugh and looked over the feild of people.

"You don't have to."

"What?"

"You're not the only one with a shitty life, you know. You dont have to deal with your feeling by fucking everything with legs. Other people deal with things in healthier ways."

"Like you?"

"Yea, actually."

Lance looked at him, for the first time since getting on the ferris wheel, and Keith had to calm down. He was so... Lance? All eyes blown wide, a beautiful blue that Keith drowned in. All smile lines and laugher in every word. He was Lance, he was beautiful.

"Well, what's your story, pretty boy?"

Keith snorted to try and distract from the red in his cheeks, and looked at the fairground.

"When I was seven, I was abandoned. My mom left and then my dad followed suit a month later. I mostly grew up in Texas, where I was sent to foster families and group homes. It was the worst nine years of my life- I got moved around a lot, from Austin, to San Antonio, El Paso... Pretty much everywhere. It sucked.

"Granted, a lot of the foster parents were nice. Sophia and Calra Roberts-Sanchez were super nice, and an LGBT home, so I was able to like... not hide in the closet. And then I met Shiro, and that was great.

"But Sophia got sick, and they couldn't adopt me because they had to use the money to pay for hospital bills, so I was back in the system. I wasnt even old enough to age out, so I got sent to a group home. Shiro found out, and his dad adopted me, and that's kind of how it been ever since. But I have abandonment issues, and trust issues, and I have a really hard time accepting certain feelings. And people dont like that- they expect you to be open and okay and say 'I love you' back-- but I can't do that. And it makes me feel crazy that I just, cant do it."

"I dont think you're crazy. I think you're scared, like me. You're fine. I think, eventually, everyone finds someone that they fall in love with, and it doesn't matter what you're afraid of. Because they're above all that."

I am drowning I am drowning I am drowning I am drowning I am drowning I am drowning

"Keith?"

The ferris wheel was on the ground again, and Lance was holding a hand out for Keith to take, and he took it, and they left the ride before awkwardly stuffing hands into pockets again, as they both fell, harder, and faster.

**

"So, Shay? Overall fair rating?"

Shay gave Lance a big thumbs up and squeezed Hunks hand, who was smiling and blushing and trying to hold back a scream.

Lance and him locked eyes and even without words, Lance knew Hunk was thanking him.

In front of them, Matt and Shiro walked, pushing eachother and laughing, Matt holding onto a prize that was way too big for him alone, and Lance's heart hurt.

I was gonna win a prize... until-

"Hey. You okay?" Keith said, nudging him in the arm.

"Wh- uh, yea. Im fine. Just a little sad I couldnt get that lion."

Keiths eyes widened and he smiled, and then pulled a small plush blue lion out of his pocket, and handed it to Lance.

"Wh- what! How did you--"

"When you and Hunk had gone off to get deep-fried Oreos I went back. Sorry it wasnt like, the jumbo prize, but-"

"Are you kidding! I love it! Thank you so much--"

And Lance was hugging him, and Keith couldn't breathe, and everything was too much.

Keith hoped his face wasnt red, but its not like Lance noticed, because he was too focused on the tiny blue lion.

Shiro saw the whole thing, and wouldnt stop smirking.

Keith was fucked.

for those of you that skipped the mentions of rape but want to know what happened: lances sister lana was raped when he was sixteen, and it hit him and his family really hard. she had the twins, lances niece and nephew from ch1. he quit baseball becausw the guys on the team would make rape jokes n he didnt like it. it still affects him.