"You're back early.."

"I'm going to bed"

He walked past her but she stuck an arm out and he bumped into it.

"Axca, I am so drained just let me sleep"

"Matt told Pidge"

He pressed a palm against his forehead and sucked in a shakey breath.

"Just thought you like to know, he said you let him"

He nodded and it was all he could do to try and keep his breathing steady.

"I have been trying for hours to tell Lance. I just.. I can't do it."

"It doesn't have to be today"

"But he needs to hear it from me"

"Do it when you're ready"

She placed her hands on his shoulders

"Okay? You can wait if you have to"

He heard the door open and turned to face it. Someone ran up to him out of breath and paused in front of him. A couple moments passed before they launched themself to squeeze their arms around him.

"Wh-"

"I'm sorry. I fell really bad, I was a dick. I won't forget.. I-"

"Pidge"

He braced himself against their shoulders and dropped his head.

"It's okay. You didn't know, it's not your-"

His voice shook and his hands tightened.

"Fault. It's not your fault"

Pidge shook their head into his chest but no words came out. They squeezed harder and he choked back a sob. He dropped his head on theirs and tears fell into their hair while he trembled.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you"

He whispered into their hair

"I'm sorry I can't do anything right"

"No. Don't say that"

"It's true, I'm useless and everything that happens just falls apart"

"No. No! Keith. You're my best friend, quit.."

They shuddered a breath

"Stop saying.."

He held his breath and shook with the effort. Red pushed her face into his leg and he sucked in a breath. He stepped back and pushed against their shoulders.

"I should.. I should sleep. Stick around, we can talk in the morning"

"Okay.."

__

His arms wrapped around red and she sighed and relaxed. He shuffled around and frowned. Axca leaned her head against the door frame when she passed.

"You alright?"

"Can't sleep"

She sighed, nodded and walked into the room.

"I mean you did kinda promise Pidge that you're gonna explain things"

He buried his head into the pillow

"Don't remind me."

He huffed and flipped around then sat up. He rubbed his head with his hand.

"I should plan what I'm going to say"

She chuckled and pushed his head down.

"You should sleep"

"But-"

"You can plan in the morning. How long has it been since you slept for a reasonable amount of time?"

He made a sharp inhale

"Axca, the nightmares."

"Okay, but that doesn't happen every night"

"I only find out when I sleep"

"You can't just not sleep though"

"It works"

"It doesn't work."

"No. No.."

"Hey"

She caught his hand and squeezed it lightly.

"I can stay here if that would help"

"Yeah"

"Just to be clear. I'm not staying here to chat, I'm staying here to make sure you sleep"

He laughed and squeezed her hand

"Thanks"

__

He twitched and his fingers clenched around red. She woke up and rubbed her face into his hand until he settled down and she went back to sleep. 

__

His eyes cracked open and he blinked multiple times to try and wake up. He pushed himself up and Axca's hand dropped onto the bed. Keith slowly made his way to the kitchen, yawning the whole time and made himself a coffee. He held the cup in his hands and muttered to himself.

"There was an accident... Um, 4? I think it was 4 months.. Uh.."

He traced the pattern of the tattoo as he thought and laughed when he heard red drinking out of his cup.

"I should have known you'd steal it"

She made a proud sound and he sighed and got up to fill and boil the kettle again.

"Shiro was there and he- the truck.."

He sucked in a breath and clenched his hands to stop the shaking.

"I can't. I can't plan it."

Red ran up his arm and knocked her head against his neck.

"Keith.?"

He took a few moments to breathe before answering.

"Yeah Pidge?"

"You okay?"

"I.. Don't.."

"Do you need anything"

"Water?"

"Coming right up"

He gave a small smile and nodded.

"Okay"

"What?"

"Come sit down, I'm gonna try cover the important things"

"Oh.. You.. Don't have to. If you don't want to"

"Just sit down"

The chair scraped as they pulled it away from the table.

"Well, 4 months ago.. There was an accident and I lost my sight."

He sucked in a breath

"It was a car crash and Shiro was driving. You remember Shiro right?"

"Yeah"

"This.. Like, truck, came out of.. The truck collided with the front of the car but more on my side. Shiro got lucky and.."

"Keith?"

"Axca, I'm trying to.."

He waved his hand around but no words came out.

"But.."

"You don't know this either. You can just sit down, okay?"

She sucked in a breath and sighed

"Okay"

"Now just, try not to interrupt. I don't think I'm going to have the nerve to say this again."

He clenched his fingers

"The.. Uh, there was glass from the truck and from our car and-"

He sucked in a couple shakey breaths and he heard chairs move as people reacted to get to him. He shook his head and held a hand out.

"I've got a scar that runs from my eye to just below my jaw on my neck"

He traced the tattoo down as he described it.

"That tattoo is just a bit bigger than it and it was done as like a cover up thing"

"Huge chunk of metal flew off the bumper and just.."

He tapped his jaw.

"Lodged in. And I was thrown back and the windshield shattered and there was no time to.."

His breathing had gotten faster so he placed red on the table and buried his fingers into her fur.

"Most of it just fell to the floor but I watched it happened and couldn't move so."

He waved a hand in front of his face

"Can't see anymore. I hit my head in the initial collision, the metal barely missed my brain and I nearly bleed out on the way to the hospital"

There were multiple sharp intakes of breath. He shrugged and rested his head on the table.

"I get nightmares all the time, and whenever I try to sleep.. I just see it over and over so many times and I know what's coming but if I try to move away I get crushed by the truck. I.. Feel the glass everytime, and its still there after I wake up. I haven't sleep well even before the crash but its so hard to stay asleep."

He dropped his hands to the table

"You know I drew, Pidge, you just.. Didn't know that I stopped that long ago and didn't know why. Well, I can't very well draw if I can't see what I'm trying to draw"

He shrugged

"So.. Yeah. That's it I guess"

Pidge instantly moved and wrapped their arms around him. He sighed and ran his fingers back and forth across their wrist. Keith leaned into the embrace and his eyes drifted shut.

"Do you want me to tell Pidge about the uh.."

She poked her finger to his forehead and slid it down his nose.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that"

"Pidge, you heard the boss"

She gestured with her head and he huffed. Pidge gave him one last squeeze before stepping back and leaving the room. Keith dropped his head onto his hands and red pushed her way through his arms. Someone walked up behind him and placed a shakey hand onto his back and slowly rubbed it. He stilled and after a bit they started drawing circles. Keith choked and shuddered in a breath.

"You okay..?"

"When did you.. You.."

"When Axca interrupted you, she was trying to tell you that I was there. Was that something.. You didn't want me to know?"

"Maybe not that detailed but I did want you to know. I just had to be the one that told you."

"Well, Um. You were off yesterday, I just wanted to make sure you were okay"

Keith gave a sad chuckle.

"I was trying to tell you"

He hissed through his teeth

"Sorry"

He tipped the side of his mouth up and let it drop down again. Lance clicked his fingers.

"I can't see the fireworks'. That's what you meant"

Keith laughed and Lance huffed.

"Oh I am such an idiot, sorry"

He hummed and pat his hand.

"You're not the only one"

Lance interlocked their fingers and Keith squeezed a little. He moved in front of him.

"What does.."

He ran his finger down his nose

"That mean?"

"It's, um, kinda hard to explain but like, everyone has their tell, ya know? You didn't know about it but you accidentally made yours circles."

"Huh, cool"

"It's mainly just subtle touches and hints on who's around without announcing something every time. There's a bunch of others too that's not related to a specific person and I don't know what they mean out loud."

"I could help explain?"

"Oh, yeah go ahead"

"If I need to give him something, I tap the back of his hand and he turns it so he can grab like a phone or drumsticks or whatever. There's like direction ones, so if I'm behind the couch he turns to face me if we're talking so if I change direction I tap his arm and he should get where I am."

"You sure know a lot about me"

She poked his forehead.

"Yeah. Someone has to remember things about you"

He huffed and dipped a small smile.

"Does Pidge have one in mind or do we need to work on one together"

Pidge huffed

"I think we need to come with one together. Axca didn't agree with mine"

He laughed

"Oh yeah, what was it?"

"They were just gonna tackle you each time they saw you"

"Hah"

"What if I just tap your nose?"

"That's not really subtle"

"Does it need to be?"

"Preferably"

"Shoulder"

"Taken"

"Arm"

"Taken"

They sighed

"Why do you have so many friends."

"Um.. Axca are there any free things?"

"Back of your hand. Tap it twice?"

He moved his hand and Lance's fell to his side. Their tapped their knuckles against his skin and he smiled.

"Yeah that works"

"Okay, well. It's late, I just came here right after Matt told me so I should be getting back. I'll see.. Catch you later"

"Yeah"

The door shut and Lance shuffled around.

"I should go too. Um.. Now that.. Yeah"

He moved and Keith swung back on his chair to grab his wrist and caught his sleeve.

"No-"

His hands trembled and he clenched the fabric tightly.

"Don't.. Don't leave."

Lance relaxed slightly and moved closer.

"I won't be able to sleep because-"

His voice hitched

"The nightmares.. Just stay. Please"

Lance cupped his face in his palm and stroked his thumb across his cheek.

"Okay"

Keith blew out a sigh and dropped his head into his chest. Lance ran a hand through his hair and kissed the top of his head.

__

Keith shook and his mouth worked without making any sounds. Red meowed and pushed her head into his.

"Keith, hey. Keith."

He rubbed his shoulder and Keith twitched. Lance wrapped his arms around him and rubbed his back. He jolted awake and inhaled. He drew his arms back and Keith leaned into him.

"When did I fall asleep?"

"I don't know, like 15 minutes ago?"

He sighed

"Sorry"

"No"

He pressed his face into his chest.

"You feel safe"

Lance let out a startled laugh and Keith bit down on his tongue.

"Yeah, you too"

Keith smiled but shook his head.

"I don't know how"

"Don't."

Lance pushed his shoulders back and leaned against the couch.

"Don't start that"

"Sorry.."

"You don't need to apologise"

"Sorry"

Keith clenched his eyes shut and sighed. He wrapped an arm against his back and pulled him closer.

"It's okay"

Keith hummed

"I'm gonna lay down, I'm tired."

He loosened his grip on Keith and dropped onto the cushions. Keith huffed a laugh.

"And you shouldn't sleep sitting up"

He knocked the back of his knees and he fell forward with a yelp. Lance caught him against his chest.

"Hey"

Keith sucked in a breath and smiled

"Hi"

"Welcome down"

He chucked and tapped his palm against his shoulder.

"Dick. Don't do that"

"Oh but it was fun"

He tilted his head back so Lance could see his face and quirked his eyebrow.

"Whatever you're thinking.."

"Things being fun is an excuse to do things"

He started counting on his fingers, and his smirk grew each time he added something.

"Now wait-"

Keith nodded to himself and placed his hand on top of Lance's head. He pushed him down gently and hovered his mouth over him. Lance shrieked.

"Did you just spit in my hair?!"

Keith laughed "So fun" K "You are so gross. This is going to take forever to wash out. My hair."

He shook with laughter and covered Lance's mouth while he tried to compose himself. He huffed and dropped his hand away. Keith drew close to Lance's forehead and smiled.

"I've got a very serious question"

"Yeah?"

"Does your skincare routine include caring for your hair"

Lance scoffed

"Of course"

Keith cracked a grin and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"I knew it."

"Oh yeah? How, smart guy?"

"The vibes, and besides when you've got that many sisters why wouldn't you rely on skincare."

"Rely is a bit much"

"Which leads me to my next question, how good are you at makeup?"

For a couple moments, all he could hear was the steady breathing and Lance's fast heartbeat.

"You've got purple in your eyes, you know that?"

He blinked in his surprise and choked.

"What..?"

"There's tiny specks of purple in your eyes, and blue. Dark, dark blue. I bet you didn't even know. What colour are your eyes?"

"Just.. Black"

Lance chuckled and rubbed his thumb across his cheek.

"They're so much more than just black. It's like stars in the night sky"

His mouth fell slack and he pressed himself into Lance's chest. He giggled and held his hand against Keith's head. "And to think, all I had to do to shut you up was compliment you" 

__

"Hey"

"Ugh morning"

Lance brushed hair out of his face and hummed

"How'd you sleep?"

"No nightmares"

"That's good"

"Yeah, rare too"

Keith wrapped his arms around Lance's neck and ran his fingers through his hair. He laughed

"What?"

"Your hair's crusty"

"Yeah you-"

Keith surged up and pressed their lips together and Lance instinctively wrapped his arm around his middle. He rubbed his thumb against his side and Keith jolted back and grabbed his wrist.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm fine"

His voice strained and Lance hummed.

"Are you.. Ticklish?"

His mouth opened and he clenched it shut again.

"You are"

"No-"

He barely traced his free hand down Keith's side before he grabbed that too.

"Stop"

Lance chuckled and hooked his elbow behind his neck.

"Okay"

Keith rested his forehead on Lance.

"I should head off soon"