Chapter Text
Keith opened his eyes upon hearing his phone buzz from the nightstand. He had been awake for quite some time, but didn’t feel obligated to actually get up until he had some motivation. The text tone gave him the opportunity, so he took a few seconds to sit up and adjust to consciousness before reaching over and grabbing at it. The notification was merely three words.
I miss you.
Keith read the name and scoffed, putting his phone back down. He stood up and strided across the room as if distancing himself from the electronic would make him forget about it. Of course, it didn’t work in the slightest. All throughout showering, dressing, brushing his teeth, and the rest of his morning routine, Keith scowled and couldn’t stop thinking about that stupid text. I miss you. What a joke.
He all but stormed out of his apartment, grabbing his helmet and keys on the way, jacket and gloves already on. Class didn’t start for another two hours, but Keith figured a long ride on his bike before then would relieve some stress.
It really did, too. Rather than going straight from his home on the west side to his college on the east side, he went all the way around the outskirts of the city to ride the highways that snaked around the coast. He loved the sky in the morning, and how the sun shone down on the beaches’ shiny sand and glistening waves. Going this fast, he could only catch the view and none of the memories he had made there the summer and spring before. By the time he arrived to his history class five minutes late per usual, he was less grumpy and more like his usual resting-bitch-face self. He burst through the classroom doors, interrupting the lecture. Dozens of eyes turned towards him curiously.
Keith ignored them and climbed the steps that lead to his normal seat in the way back. It was the best seat in the hall that allowed for sneaky phone usage. The professor continued his lecture, and Keith pulled out his cell. His eyes immediately landed on the bubble announcing 1 unread text in his messaging app. He frowned, rereading the text again.
I miss you.
How could he possibly say he missed Keith and then still go everywhere with that sleazy douchebag, following him around like a puppy all the while? It didn’t make any fucking sense, Keith decided, and was total bullshit. He shouldn’t have to be involved in whatever messy love triangle his ex was entangled in.
Keith would like to say he didn’t mope through all of his Friday classes, but of course he would be lying. He sat there staring at his phone nearly the entire time, looking back on old texts and pictures and videos they shared. By the time his literature class rolled around, his last class of the day, he was back to being pissed off. The moment the professor released them he beelined straight to his bike, aiming to take another ride.
This time, it didn’t help. He took the same route as before, but eventually cursed and veered off the road in a familiar place. He had been to this pier with his ex countless times before, to swim, to walk around and talk, or to have sex on more than one occasion. It was their pier.
Keith hopped off his bike after staring for a while, setting his helmet on the seat and then making his way down to the underpart of the dock that was still on land. He found the post where he had taken out his knife and carved something cheesy into the old wood one of the last times they had been there together.
K ♥ L
His fingers brushed over the wood, as if it would somehow magically make it true again. In a burst of anger, he pulled out the same knife he always kept on him and prepared to slash up the wood, but hesitated just before his blade made contact. Keith’s hand began to shake, and he let the knife fall out of his hand. His forehead dropped against the post, and he sighed softly under his breath.
Keith wasn’t pissed anymore, he was just… sad.
Eventually he sat down in the sand and took out his phone, dialing his brother’s number and staring at the ocean until he answered.
“Hey, Keith. What’s up?”
“Hi, Shiro,” Keith greeted, picking up his knife and fiddling with it while he spoke. “Are you still having that party at Matt’s house tonight?”
Shiro fell silent, clearly taken aback. Keith was never much of a big party kind of guy, he preferred small get togethers with close friends, so Shiro was already suspicious.
“Yeah,” he replied after a beat, “But I thought you were heading over to Pidge’s dorm tonight?”
Keith had forgotten about that completely; he was supposed to go over and help Pidge with a project in a class he’d already taken. In the state he was currently in, though, he knew he wouldn’t be much help anyways.
“Well, plans change,” he muttered gruffly. “Are you at Matt’s? Can I come over now?”
Matt lived in a house with a few other guys from their college near downtown, so it usually ended up being the usual party spot due to its size and location. It also happened to be the usual place Keith could find his brother, what with him and Matt being best friends and all.
“Uh, we’re still at the liquor store, and we gotta go pick up snacks, but we’ll be back in an hour. Where are you?”
Keith hesitated to respond. Shiro knew what this place meant to him.
“The pier.”
Shiro huffed. “Keith-”
“It’s fine,” Keith interrupted, standing up and brushing himself off. “I’m fine. It’ll take me awhile to ride over there, anyways, so I’ll just meet you there. Bye.”
He heard Shiro begin to protest, but he was already hanging up the phone and putting it away, along with his knife. He really did not need the lecture right then. He knew he was in deep shit, but it wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t the one that disappeared halfway through summer, only to come back a few days before school started as some douchebag’s arm candy. No, none of this was Keith’s fault. The only reason he was even thinking about it was because of the text from this morning. After weeks of coexisting on the same campus with no contact, a random ‘I miss you’ text as if he was the one to run off without explanation.
Keith was definitely pissed off, and all he wanted to do was get wasted and bring some nameless home with him. He’d be damned if anyone got in his way, whether it was his brother, or conflicted ex.
He at least tried to calm himself down before entering Matt’s house well over an hour later. The two older boys were setting up chip bowls and coolers.
“Hey, Keith!” Matt greeted chirpily, taking a second to wave before going back to his task. Shiro narrowed his eyes at Keith in concern, who opted to ignore him and promptly lie down in the middle of the living room. He took his phone out, opened the texts, and thrust it into the air. His brother grabbed it and read the latest text, and his expression softened.
“Oh, Keith.”
“Don’t you ‘oh, Keith’ me,” Keith snorted, taking his phone back. “I’m fine. Just get me drunk.”
Shiro didn’t respond, deciding to back off. He knew how invested Keith was in that relationship, and how devastated he was when it fell apart. He also knew Keith better than most, and trusted his younger sibling’s judgement on the matter. Partying was a better coping mechanism than locking himself in his apartment for days on end, in his opinion at least. He went back to setting up for the party.
“I know my floor is the most comfortable thing you’ve ever laid on,” Matt called to Keith from the kitchen, “But just make sure to move somewhere more socially acceptable once people start arriving, kay?”
“Never in your fucking dreams, white boy,” Keith quipped back, smirking. “My ass is gonna stay glued to this carpet all night.”
Matt responded with laughter. He may have been closer with Shiro, but he always enjoyed Keith’s company. They joked around for a while longer, Keith eventually giving up his battle and moving to one of the various comfortable couches all around the living room. He at least waited for the first few guests to arrive before picking up a drink.
Shiro and Matt’s friends came first, so Keith opted to sip his beer and listen to their conversations since he didn’t know them all that well. It wasn’t unusual for him to hang around Shiro, so the group took no notice of him, leaving him to drink by himself.
By the time the party of a dozen had expanded to four dozen, his casual drinking had given him quite the buzz. Buzzed Keith was extremely more social than sober Keith, so although none of his close friends were there, he was still chatting up a storm. It wasn’t long before a small group of drunk girls started flirting with him, and as gay as he was, he couldn’t find it in him to turn them down. He opted to party with them instead, which quickly turned into a drinking game of some sort, with the only goal being to get wasted.
It was two shots past his usual cut off when he happened to glance toward the door only to see the newest addition to the party.
Lance.
His new boyfriend was in tow, and Keith couldn’t help but gape. Minor panic had begun to set in. He hadn’t seen him once since the campus opened up again, and the first time he tried to do something to take his mind off of what he lost, the cause of his troubles was right there in front of him. He watched Lance turn around and whisper something that made his arm candy laugh. When he turned back around, their eyes met from across the room. They were both clearly shocked to see the other there.
Keith looked away, and took another shot.
Despite how hard he tried to ignore him, Keith could feel Lance’s eyes burning into the back of neck for the next hour. He threw himself back into the party, trying desperately to ward off any tempting impulses. The most extreme measure he could take was to allow one of the drunk girls- Alex, or maybe Allie, he thought- to grind on him, if only to turn him off as much as it could.
One moment of weakness ruined everything. He had just barely glanced over the girl’s shoulder to where he knew Lance was watching him, and their eyes met. Lance bit his lip, and it was over.
They had been together long enough for Keith to learn every tick Lance had, and biting his lip could only mean one of two things: anxiety, or lust. He figured it was the latter.
Keith pushed the girl off of him and beelined straight over to Lance. His boyfriend was nowhere in sight, so he grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the empty hallway, shoving him far enough down that no prying eyes from the party could see them.
“What the fuck is your problem?” Keith snarled, anger flooding his features. Lance stared back at him, perplexed at the outburst. He wasn’t sure what he expected when Keith stormed over, but it wasn’t that.
“What?”
“What the fuck is your problem?” Keith repeated, crossing his arms. He was pissed.
“Nothing!” Lance barked out, immediately defending himself. He lowered his voice. “Nothing,” he murmured, “I just… how are you?”
Keith blinked at him.
“What?”
Lance shifted nervously on his feet, but swallowed and put on a confident face for the sake of appearance.
“How are you?”
Keith narrowed his eyes, bewildered.
“You don’t care. Why are you here?”
“I do care. I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t care.”
“You wouldn’t have ignored me for months if you cared,” Keith spat back. Lance bit his lip, glancing down at the floor. That stung.
“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” Keith continued, uncrossing his arms to let them hang at his sides. He was frustrated, but the sharp edge to his voice had all but disappeared.
“Because… I miss you.”
Lance reached for Keith’s hand, but the other pulled away before he could come close.
“You don’t miss me, you miss the sex,” he accused, taking a step away from him in case he tried for his hand again.
“Well… yeah, I miss the sex, but-“
“That’s what I thought.”
He turned to leave, but Lance called out before he could take a step.
“Please, wait. Why can’t we just go back to what we had?”
“You just don’t fucking get it, do you?” Keith snapped, whipping back around. Lance just stared at him. Keith sighed, shaking his head side to side. He took a deep breath before continuing on, struggling to control his anger.
“It was never just sex for me, Lance,” he explained, voice straining from the faux calmness. “There were... feelings… involved. At least for me. I can’t pretend they went away in the weeks we’ve been apart just because you want a quick fuck.”
Lance blinked at him, surprised. He took only a few moments to let the shock set in before wiping his expression and regaining himself. He stepped forward and placed a hand on Keith’s hip, looking down at him.
“I still miss you,” he murmured lowly, his voice coated in lust.
In one swift movement, Keith pushed Lance against the wall, locked his arms on either side of his face, and stepped between his legs, using a thigh to grind against his cock through the tight denim. Lance gasped and Keith leaned in even closer, their parted lips mere centimeters apart, near enough to kiss.
“How can you miss me when you’re still with him?” Keith rumbled, brushing against his lips with every sound.
Lance’s head lolled to the side, clearly too turned on to register the question. Keith wouldn’t have it, and grabbed his jaw, jerking Lance’s face towards him.
“Tell me, Lance,” he growled, holding his head in place and pressing harder with his thigh, “I’m curious. Do you actually miss me, or do you just miss me fucking you into the mattress?”
Lance’s eyes widened, but rather than deny it, another moan escaped his lips. Keith snorted, releasing his grip and stepping away altogether just as quickly as he had strode in. Lance nearly collapsed, scrambling to catch his bearing against the wall to avoid falling down. He looked up at Keith in shock, face red and eyes completely black from lust, but the other was already beginning to leave. Before disappearing back into the crowd, Keith added one more comment over his shoulder.
“If you’re willing to take me- take us- seriously, you know where to find me.”
Lance watched him blend back into the crowd, and then slid down the wall. He was drunk, horny, and without Keith. That did not go as planned.