"Jesus. I really did just disappear, didn't I? How could I have done that?" Keith sulked around his room, pacing. "At least I gave him a reason. At least he knew that it wasn't his fault...right?" He sat on the edge of his bed, holding his hair in his hands and lightly tugging. "For Christ's sake, Keith, you had sex with him and then just jumped out the window! What's wrong with you!" His anger-filled voice began to hitch as tears filled his mouth. Keith flopped backwards onto the bed, rolling over and smushing his face into the pillow, so his mother wouldn't hear him.

He felt a vibration from his back pocket, and took out his phone. A text from Lance. His stomach twisted and he dropped the phone onto the bed beside him, where it began to ring, a special ringtone he had set just for Lance. Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender". Elvis' silken voice rang out three more times before Keith answered, wiping his eyes and sounding full of defeat. "Keith here." He heard nothing on the other line for a few moments, and was about to hang up when he heard, "Why did you leave?" 

Keith was speechless. "We could've talked," Lance sniffled on the other end. His voice broke on his next sentence. "We could've talked and w-worked things out." Keith found his voice, and oddly enough, it was a comforting tone. 

"Lance, I know it wasn't right that I left. I know I should've stayed. But in the moment, I freaked out. I panicked. And it's not something I want to talk about now, not over the phone, but when you come over at 5 I will tell you why." Keith sniffled, fresh tears spilling from the corners of his eyes. "Please forgive me," he whispered. "Please know I didn't mean it." Silence, again, on the other end of the line, before a response came. "I'm sorry too," Lance sighed, sounding like he was barely keeping it together. "I want this to work. Come meet me by the docks at 5, tell your mother you'll be out for a good long time. Pack some warm clothes." With that, Lance hung up, and Keith was left staring at his phone in disbelief. 

"Well, you want this to work, right? Then man up and put on a sweatshirt," he mumbled to himself. Then he yelled to his mom, telling her the plans for the evening. Her repsonse was, "Ok, have fun, you're having leftover tuna when you come back!" Keith made a face. Maybe he would just stay over at Lance's again.

2 o'clock. Three hours until he told the truth to someone besides his own head.