Authors Note:

Hey!! Thanks again for 800+ followers though this was REALLY late... But y'know... I'm trying my best lmao

And yeah this isn't a NaLu oneshot I'm so sorry I just ran out of ideas so I'm using a "Klance" oneshot that I wrote. This oneshot is also on AO3 under the same username, Jellalipop, and Title! You can read my other Klance stories there if you don't want to wait for me to post them here!

-Sophie

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Lance stood close to Hunk as he watched the crowds of aliens bustle by in large crowds. They were all large, muscular, and rather intimidating. And to be fair, their species' name wasn't something he could build a lot off of before he came to the planet as it included sounds he didn't even knew existed.

"You okay, Lance?" Hunk spoke up, making the blue paladin flinch only slightly.

The shorter boy hesitantly shook his head and stood up straighter. "Huh? Oh... No. I'm right as rain." He smiled, giving Hunk a thumbs up.

The other boy smiled and chuckled lightly, which made Lance way more secure in an instant.

The Cuban boy looked at him quickly before looking back at the crowds of the scary looking aliens again. Why were they here again? Oh yeah, Coran needed stupid parts again. He honestly had no clue what a fibertiss disk was, and he seriously doubt it was a necessity as he never heard Coran, Hunk, or Pidge babble on about it in one of their many heated mechanic conversations. Unfortunately, on jobs like this, the team was split up, as to find the parts seemingly quicker. On the bright side, he was with Hunk... Someone he felt safe and sound with. Sure, Pidge was a good friend of his, and Coran was a great person to talk to no matter the subject... But he doesn't feel very secure with the two for some reason. And then there's Allura and Shiro who weren't always very supportive with a lot of his ideas, although he couldn't blame them. And Keith? He was a different reason. Lance's mind just doesn't seem to function correctly when he is beside him... And even if he never had a heart attack before, he knows that the weird feeling his heart does give him when near Keith makes him guess that he is indeed going to die from a heart attack. All in all, it's either Hunk or the mice. And to finalize that decision... Hunk has opposable thumbs. And a gun.

"Hey Hunk?" Lance spoke up after his little daze, looking to his side, only to be surprised that the yellow paladin was not where he was meant to be. "Hunk?"

Nervously, Lance looked around , the crowd too large to look over their shoulders for his friend. Unbeknownst to him, Hunk had told him that he spotted a vendor that might have the disks they were looking for. But unfortunately for Lance, he was in his own thoughts and didn't hear.

So, not knowing what had happened, he began to walk off into the streets, anxiously looking around.

"Hunk!" He shouted, wincing as he was accidentally shoved in the shoulder. As Lance slowed down unconsciously, he was shoved even more, being pushed down against the side of a building.

His eyes widened as a memory of being shoved into lockers as a kid budded in his memory. That day, his shoulder was dislocated, and he couldn't use his dominant hang to write very well. So, even though he couldn't function correctly, his teachers and fellow students criticized him for his awful handwriting and pooor organization. Lance taught himself to write with both hands as not to risk being teased for that reason again.

Snapping back into reality, Lance pulled himself back onto his feet and snuck into an alleyway to escape the crowd.

The poor boy rubbed his face, wanting to shake off the horrible memories. Sure he loved earth but it had horrible moments. His childhood, for one, wasn't as cheery and happy as he made it out to be. His family was all he had, his only friends. Each member was a guardian angel to him, except once he left the sanctuary of his home, it was hell... Treated like a nuisance and bother to everyone, adults and children alike.

"What do we have here?" A gruff voice spoke up, suddenly towering over Lance. "You lost?"

Lance quickly covered his ears as another unwanted memory popped up in his brain.

Once, around the age of twelve, Lance had gone out to buy a gallon of milk for his mother, getting there wasn't an issue but after buying the milk, he took a wrong turn. A couple of older and taller kids from his school found him and began to harass him, teasing him for being lost and a looking like a failure to his own mother for not completing a simple task flawlessly. Lance took it all, being taught that he should never resort to violence. But with one misstep, he criticized the bully's own mother, earning a blow to the head from the gallon of the milk which was stolen from him and the drink to be completely poured on top of his head afterwards. He got a concussion after that, earning more criticism from his teachers and fellow students as he couldn't think straight... But they never knew, as he was scared to speak up as he did to the bully.

"Look, he's completely out of it." The alien cackled to his friends before taking Lance's face in his large hands and squishing his cheeks.

Lance's eyes watered from the the amount of emotions that were suddenly building up on him, hand weakly trying to pull the hand off his face.

"He's crying!" The alien barked, tightening his grip on him. "How pitiful!"

Lance's eyes shut tightly and let out a whimper as yet another memory forced its way through his brain.

Once in class, Lance had walked in late after being held back by a bunch of upperclassmen who decided to take him off to the side and criticize him for something he didn't even do. So his eyes were watery, his cheeks rosy, and his lower lip was trembling only slightly.

"Mr. McClain." The teacher said sternly, forcing all of the attention onto him. Lance felt the sudden need to cry even more. "You're late. I don't suppose you have a good reason."

Lance wiped his sweaty palms onto his sweater's sleeves. "I was... I was..." He started unable to form a sentence, but a student spoke up even louder.

"He was crying!" They snorted, causing others, except Hunk who wasn't yet his friend but would be around graduation, to laugh. Hunk however wasn't paying much attention as he was in the middle of finishing a test that he had missed.

Lance inhaled sharply, stepping back from the embarrassment. "I..." Tears fell down his cheeks from all the pressure... Making the poor boy rush out of the classroom, losing the guts to come back.

Lance opened his eyes to the alien again, wanting to stand his ground but all the bad memories somehow drained him from whatever energy and strength he had. "Please..." He whimpered, hating the familiar salty taste of his tears. "Please."

The alien chuckled and squeezed Lance's face tighter. "A lost pup... Huh? Why don't I– agh!"

Lance fell to the ground as the alien was suddenly flung away. His buddies stood in surprise before quickly rushing to his side.

"What do you think you're doing?" A voice, Keith, Lance recognized, spoke with a slight edge to his tone. "Leave before a give you more than just a scratch." He threatened, raising his sword again.

The gang scoffed before walking away, leaving the two boys alone.

"Hey Lance, you ok?" Keith said once they were gone, kneeling down in front of him. "Hey... Are you crying? Why are you crying?"

Lance wiped his eyes quickly, saying nothing in fear that he would make his reputation that he worked so hard to achieve after getting into the garrison go down the drain. "Nothing." He hiccuped, shaking his head. "I'm not crying."

"Bullshit." Keith sighed, rolling his eyes before cupping Lance's cheeks and wiping away his tears. "Look at me. I won't be some asshole who judges you for crying."

Lance avoided eye contact but listened intently.

"You don't have to tell me why such lame people like them made you cry." Keith said, not keeping his eyes off of the boy in front of him. "You don't have to tell me anything unless you're comfortable."

Lance blinked away some tears as they began to blur up his vision before looking at the boy in front of him.

"But I want you to trust me enough to know that I'm here for you if you need someone you're age with similar situations to vent to."

The blue paladin, gripped onto Keith's gentle hands, feeling small... Yet safe. "You're...."

"Hm?"

"Warm..." He finished fragilely, shakily tugging Keith into a hug, his eyes still open as he stared up at the uncomfortably unfamiliar sky. "You're warm."

Keith's eyes widened in shock before hesitantly wrapping his arms around the other boy. "Lance..."

"Thank you, for stepping in." Lance breathed, closing his eyes. "No one has ever done so for me..."

Keith's eyes narrowed as he realized the issue, the single sign pointing the the possibility that he must've been bullied constantly. And now that he thought about it, it seemed like Lance was forcing himself to believe he was perfect even when he could hardly believe it himself. "I would do it a billion times. Future... And past."

And with that, Lance cried more, but no longer of sadness.