"Keith?"

His eyes flicked up He mumbled a 'sorry'

He wrapped it over his arms. Lance waited until they were side by side to start walking again.

They were almost at Lance's house and Lance's jacket still hung off Keith's arm.

"You aren't gonna wear it?"

"It's fine, my arms were the only things cold"

Lance exhaled a laugh and glanced sideways.

"Well, we're here"

Keith held out his jacket but Lance shook his head.

"You've still got to get home, you can give it to me tomorrow"

Keith tucked it back under his left arm

"Well, goodnight"

He made a small wave and headed up to the steps with a smile. Keith waited until he was inside and the door closed before he started moving. It was suddenly colder, being alone and he shivered. He looked down at the jacket in his arms. His eyes flicked back to the house and then tugged his arms through the sleeves.

__

As soon as he walked through the door, Shiro greeted him.

"That you Keith? I'm in the kitchen"

Shiro called around the corner. Keith slid out of his shoes and walked through the archway. When he saw the state of Shiro, and the kitchen, he laughed. Shiro, as well as most of the kitchen, was covered in flour. Shiro smiled when he heard Keith laugh.

"I'm attempting to make something, but it's gone off the rails so much that I don't know what I'm making anymore"

Shiro looked up to see Keith leaning against the wall, grinning.

"Hey, whose jacket is that?"

Keith shrugged but Shiro saw his smile grow.

"You've got dirt everywhere"

Keith raised an eyebrow and pointed to Shiro, so he looked down.

"You're right, I look like a mess too"

Silence hung over the room and Keith looked towards the stairs

"Night"

He turned around and ran up the stairs.

__

He woke up to find his face buried into Lance's jacket. Keith suddenly sat up and got off his bed, his face red. Lance said he could give it back today, but he'd wash it tonight. He checked the time and after a couple minutes, finally decided that he should be able to make it to school.

He stared into the mirror in the boys toilets. This was a mistake. The bruise next to his left ear was growing towards his eye. He brought his fingers up but winced at the contact. He knew James was bad news, but was too slow to dodge. His knuckles were also bruised but not narely as much, just a slight purple tint. Keith flexed his fingers, going slowly as to avoid any more pain. He'd had enough. He was leaving. He didn't know how many more stares of shock or pity he could handle without lashing out again. Keith kept his head down and rushed his way out of the gate. As soon as he stepped outside of school grounds he sprinted to the first place he thought of. He paused at the cemetery gates, not sure yet if he wanted his dad to see him like this. He stood there, pulling at his hair until he turned and walked away from the rows of tombstones. The bark felt rough as he slid down the trunk, landing on the ground. He wiped away the tears dripping down his face. He didn't know when he started crying. He brought his legs up. Keith dropped his head into his legs. He moved his hand up and tangled his fingers with strands of hair.

__

He woke, slowly remembering where he was. He pulled his hand out of his hair and let it drop down. Keith turned his face because movement caught his eye. Lance had just turned the next page, skimmed a little and flicked his eyes over to Keith. He smiled

"Hey"

Keith frowned

"How long have you been there"

He shrugged and pulled out his phone

"About an hour"

"You don't have anything better to do?"

"I like reading"

Keith's finger twitched and Lance glanced at it. Lance frowned when he saw the purple speckled on his skin.

"What happened to your hand?"

Keith dropped his head back onto his knees and wrapped his arm around to secure it. He shook his head so Lance shuffled to his front. He touched his hand and Keith flinched.

"Sorry, does it hurt?"

His hand tightened around his knee. Lance gently lifted his fingers up and ran his thumb over his knuckles. Lance bit his lip and got lost in his thoughts, which made his thumb pause. Keith rose his head up after a minute. His eyes caught their hands between them before looking up at Lance's eyes. He snapped out of whatever trance he was in when he felt eyes on him. Lance's frown deepened, seeing the bruise on Keith's cheek. Keith frowned and touched his face. He whinced and pulled his hand away.

"Are you okay?"

Keith stilled. His ears rang with a piercing buzz and the hair on his neck started an electric spark along his skin. His hair prickled his fingers when he went to touch it.

"Keith?"

"Mmm, fine."

Lance scoffed

"Obviously not"

"Why'd you even ask then?"

He shrugged. His thumb started running over Keith's knuckles again. Keith's eyes flicked up to Lance's face where a worried expression lay.

"What happened?"

"Nothing"

"Oh yeah, because people just show up with bruises"

Keith huffed

"You're not gonna let this go, are you."

"Why would I?"

Lance smiled. Keith looked past Lance's shoulder and saw a person coming towards them. Lance turned his head too and recognised his sister.

He let go of Keith's hand and dropped his hands into his lap. Keith looked down at his suddenly colder hand and saw Lance's hand gone. Lance gave an apologetic shrug.

"Rach"

"Lance"

"Everything good?"

"Mum and Vera are having a disagreement"

"So everything's normal then"

Rachel sighed

"Unfortunately"

"Why doesn't she just move out?"

Rachel flicked his forehead and his hand flew up to cover it.

"Rachel!"

"She hasn't moved because of you knuckle head"

"Me?"

"Uncle Lancey Lance is the favourite"

Keith scoffed

"Lancey Lance?"

Rachel leaned over to look at Keith and Lance spun around with a red tint to his face. Rachel grinned.

"It's what everyone in the family calls him. Our sister's kids started it"

Keith nodded and Rachel turned her attention back to Lance.

"Who's your friend"

"Oh this is Keith"

Keith gave a half hearted wave and looked up at the trees branches. Lance sighed and turned back to Rachel.

"So you came here to avoid whatever is happening at home?"

"Yeah pretty much"

She sat down next to Lance and saw the bruise on Keith's face.

"So Keith, what happened to you?"

Keith huffed

"Slow reaction time and a bitch"

"James?"

Keith tilted his head down to look at Lance.

"I hate that guy. What does he have against you?"

"I usually struggle with talking and he gets annoyed that I don't respond and has come to the conclusion that I'm deaf"

"Man. That sucks"

"Oh believe me, I know"

Rachel and Lance turned to each other. Keith took one look at them and decided that was enough. He turned away from them and looked up slightly at the tree.

"Well uh.. I'm sure whatever's happening at home would have calmed down by now"

Rachel looked up at the sky

"And besides, it looks like it's gonna rain soon"

She stood up and pulled Lance up too

"We should get going"

She gave a quick smile and walked away with Lance's arm still linked around hers. Keith sighed and watched them go, chatting.

Keith was halfway up the tree when the first drops fell. At first he just sat there but he hurried down when it started pouring. He landed in the mud and slid into a root. His hands flung forwards to catch himself and his sleeves got some mud on them. Keith groaned and pushed himself up again.

He passed the light on the porch but kept walking. The rain had settled so what was left was just a soft mist. He kept mindlessly wondering. Keith turned around the corner and recognised the area near the orphanage, he paused and inhaled a sharp breath. Something knocked him forward and he spun around. The person had a hand to their forehead and had stumbled back a bit. Keith watched the light of a car come towards them and he turned his head, following the car.

"Keith?"

He spun around.

"What are you doing?"

"What are you doing."

He huffed

"Well I was coming to see if you went home after we left"

"I'm going home"

"I'll come with"

Keith spun on his heel and walked towards the lights of the orphanage.

He paused on the footpath with a glow of light from a building. Lance bumped into Keith's back again and looked around.

"You can leave now"

"Keith, this isn't your house. I've been there"

"I never said I was going to my house. I said I was going home"

"Isn't it the same"

"Not for me"

He started walking forwards but Lance grabbed his arm.

"Keith what is this place?"

"Where the closest thing I have to a family lives"

"Wha-"

Keith ripped his arm from Lance's grip and pointed to a stone block with writing in it. 'Orphanage'.

"Oh"

Keith folded his arms and held them into his chest, still facing the orphanage.

"I always end up coming back here"

Lance frowned

"Now what about Shiro?"

"I never count foster caregivers."

"Was he ever terrible to you?"

"No he was great. Or at least better than all the rest."

"The rest? Shiro's not your first foster.. How many times have you been sent back here"

Keith growled and turned away from both Lance and the orphanage and started down the hill. Lance stepped off the concrete and started slipping. He looked down at his shoes which were pushing around mud.

"Keith wait"

He started forwards again but slipped, swinging his hands in circles to keep from falling over. Keith had made this trip down many times, some of the times were even at night so he was pretty confident making his way down. However he heard Lance struggling and slipping behind him. Lance found the hill suddenly steeper and this time when he slipped he couldn't stop himself from falling. Momentum carried him downwards as he yelped and scraped for any rocks or roots that would stop his descent. He knocked into Keith's legs, which stopped him but pushed Keith over.

"What are you doing!"

"Sorry but it's hard to get grip when everything is so slippery"

Keith huffed and stood up. He looked down and the bottom half of him was covered in mud.

"Does Shiro know that you were planning on leaving"

"No"

"So what was your plan with getting back in there?"

"Well this would help"

Keith pointed to his face

"What caused this to happen"

"I need a reason for feeling like this"

"Like what?"

"Like the universe hates me"

Lance scoffed

"You don't think you have a reason?"

"What do you mean"

"Your dad's dead"

Keith sharply inhaled

"I don't remember him so it doesn't mean much"

"There's another one"

Lance paused

"What was the reason going to be if you went back?"

Keith could feel his goosebumps under his damp clothes when he held onto his elbows.

"I don't know"

"You don't?"

"I was gonna make one up if it happened"

He turned his face towards the direction where he knew the lake would be. Lance groaned

"What now?"

"Hey no one is forcing you to be here. You can leave anytime you want"

Lance stood up and linked their arms

"Well then where are we going"

Keith huffed and a slight smile made its way onto his face. He continued down his path leading Lance with him. He stopped when he saw the water. Lance was concentrating on not slipping but once he stopped he looked up. A small lake was closed off by the surrounding trees and there were a variety of flowers on the muddy grass. The purple, star speckled, sky reflected into the water so that it was impossible to tell how deep it was.

"Holy... When did you find this?"

"I've known about this place for a while but it wasn't like this when I found it"

"What was it like? "

"The water was all muddy and there was rubbish everywhere. It took a couple months to clean up but now all the kids come down here regularly"

"You did all this!?"

"Well yeah, me and a couple others from the orphanage. But I was the one who planted most of the trees as saplings and got the fish and rabbits in here"

Lance grabbed Keith's hands in his

"You're amazing! It only took a couple months? My family has a big backyard and we're growing lots of plants but it's constant work"

Keith chuckled and shifted his gaze. He ran a hand through his hair

"It's not that big of a deal"

"You brought this place alive Keith, how isn't that a big deal"

Keith huffed and moved towards the water

"Do you want to wash the mud off or are you good?"

Lance smirked and scooped up some mud at his feet. He threw it at Keith in a swift motion which made him shriek. He spun around so fast he almost lost his footing.

"What was that for!?"

"You can't take a compliment"

Keith huffed and jumped in the water. Lance laughed and jumped in after him. Keith sat on the wooden platform with his eyes closed, swinging his legs back and forth in the water, splashing some up at his face every once and a while. He didn't hear Lance come up behind him so he yelped when he was pushed forward. Lance was giggling and Keith smiled. Keith had tried to get the mud out of his hair before but Lance felt like it was his responsibility since he had thrown it there. Keith swung his legs as Lance stroked his fingers through his hair, trying to get the mud out without hurting him. Keith sighed and dropped his head into Lance's lap.

"Keith?"

"Shh it's fine"

Lance smiled down at Keith and shifted his gaze behind them. Lance hushed and whispered down

"Hey look, it's so cute"

Keith opened his eyes to see Lance looking back towards the grass. He tilted his chin up so that he could see whatever it was without moving much. A small bunny sat close by, it's nose twitching. Keith smiled and moved a hand towards it. It stood up, seeing if there was any danger. The bunny hopped forwards a bit, each time pausing for a few seconds before continuing. It pushed its face into Keith's hand and the whiskers tickled him which made him laugh. Its ears perked up and it turned its face back towards the trees then scampered off. Lance pushed a strand of hair behind Keith's ear. He froze and looked back at Lance but relaxed a bit when he saw a smile on his face.

"Do you wanna see your family?"

"What"

"Tomorrow we can go to the orphanage because most people would be asleep by now. You can see the people who you consider your family and we could stay for a while, but you're not staying forever and you'll go back to Shiro's house when you're done"

"You want to come?"

"Well I've gotta make sure you leave don't I?"

Keith chuckled

"Yeah you do"

Keith sat up next to Lance's side. Lance was playing with his hair, making tiny plaits.

"How are you still so warm?"

"What do you mean?"

"We jumped into the lake and the sun's been down for ages"

"If you're cold we could got back to my house and you could have a shower"

"Your parents won't mind?"

"Ehh it'll be easier for tomorrow"

Keith huffed

"Sure"

Lance shuffled which made Keith sit up so that he could move. He stood up and reached down. Keith pushed himself off the ground. He huffed and lowered his arm.

"Come on lets go"

Keith saw Lance cross legged on his bed, reading a book. Lance looked up and smiled. 

"Warm now?"

"I guess"

Keith sat down on the floor next to the bed and faced the door.

"What's your book about"

"A bunch of elves trying to kill each other and end up the winner"

"Like an elf war?"

"In a way"

Keith huffed and dropped his head on the bed.