ANXIETY- A Klance Fanfiction

Lotion and TLC

Lance sat on the tile beside the tub, slouched over himself tiredly. A white towel was wrapped around his shoulders but it didn't protect him from the incoming cold, and he let out shivering tremors every so often. Keith was working on turning the heat on, and had left Lance with his thoughts- a dangerous thing to do.
He bit his lower lip in thought, staring blankly at the droplets of water still trickling their way down the side of the tub. His legs dangled into the empty tub, his heels bumping against the white fiberglass as he thought back to all that had happened in the past few days. He purposely shut out the sporadic, paranoia episode, but instead focused on the calming feeling Keith had provided afterwards.
Keith...
He didn't understand that boy. Sometimes he made Lance's heart flutter and his stomach twist itself into knots. But sometimes, Lance also wanted to rip Keith's guts out. It was so frustrating, and what made it worse was the fact he hadn't been totally coherent for the past little bit, for the small amount of time Keith had decided to be with Lance on a one on one basis, and Lance had been making a complete fool of himself
His face lit up and he set his elbows on his knees, burying his face in his hands. He was such an idiot. Why, why, of all people, did Keith have to be the one left behind to help him.
The doors slid open, and Lance looked up at Keith as he came back into the room, brushing his hair out of his eyes. Lance's face heated up even more and he looked down at the fiberglass of the tub, working his jaw as his thoughts sped up, and trying to keep his heart from thudding right out of his chest. He didn't need to have another meltdown right then.
Keith sat by him, after checking the floor to make sure it wasn't wet, and he looked at him. "You feeling okay?"
Lance nodded after a moment, and sat up, popping his back gently. His towel fell off and he pouted at it as it lay on the floor. Keith chuckled softly, and Lance smiled warmly at him, before rubbing at a spot on his arm where the skin had started peeling around where he'd scratched marks into his skin. Keith's smile faded as he watched, and his brows knotted together. Lance looked away a bit guilty, and quickly clasped his hands in his lap.
"Hey." Keith set a hand on Lance's shoulder, and Lance looked at him. "I think Hunk left some lotion to use on your skin, if you want..."
"Is it the lavender honey?" Lance asked hoarsely. His voice wasn't totally restored, and Keith was gradually getting him to drink more water, but the humidity of the shower room had helped considerably, and he was able to actually talk now.
"I think so."
Lance grinned a bit. "Sounds good."
Keith got up again and went to get the tube of lotion. Lance watched him go with half lidded eyes, and yawned slightly while Keith was still out of the room. He returned quickly, and sat back down by Lance, opening the cap of the tube.
"Whoa, whoa." Lance blinked at Keith. "You gonna put it on for me?"
Keith paused and looked at Lance seriously. "Of course I was. You're practically helpless."
Lance scowled. "Am not."
The side of Keith's mouth twitched up, hinting at an amused smirk. "You couldn't even stand ten minutes ago to get out of the tub. I practically had to carry you onto land."
"Did not! I can walk perfectly fine, see?" Lance pulled his legs to his chest and Keith's face fell into a look of alarm as Lance forced himself to get to his legs. He realized this was a bad idea only after he'd managed to get to his feet. He stumbled a bit and yelped as he started to fall back, and Keith scrambled up, catching Lance before he fell and cracked his head open on the tile.
Lance was quivering a bit as adrenaline pounded through his veins, and he stared wide eyed at Keith, gripping the other's arms with his fingernails. Keith quickly set Lance back down on the floor, letting Lance calm down a bit before grabbing the lotion again.
"I think I should help."
Lance nodded numbly in submission. Keith squeezed some of the lotion onto the tips of his fingers and took hold of Lance's arm. He pressed it to the red, irritated skin and Lance inhaled sharply, trying to jerk his arm away. Keith gripped it tighter and ran his fingers along the area, feeling Lance's skin take in the moisture. He traced his fingers along the red area, before squeezing some more lotion onto another part of Lance's arm, and rubbing it in with his palm. Had the skin not been so dry and irritated, Keith could've sworn it would have been impeccably soft. The usual sticky residue lotion left behind was dried and gone within a few minutes, and Keith frowned at how dry Lance's skin still looked.
Lance made a small noise and Keith's head jerked up to see tears rolling down his cheeks. He quickly reached up and set a hand on Lance's cheek, rubbing the tears away with his thumb. Lance pressed his face gently into Keith's touch, another sob crawling up his throat and his body jerked.
"What's wrong, Lance?" Keith felt guilty, and was worried this meltdown was started by something stupid he'd done.
Lance looked up at Keith from where his face was resting in his hand, blue eyes shimmering with tears. Saying it was beautiful was wrong, but it was absolutely stunning. "I-it just... f-feels so good it h-hurts..." he whined pitifully, pressing further into Keith's hand.
"What does?" Keith's voice was soft, feeling choked from hope and anticipation, but also worry and sympathy.
"... everything..." Lance murmured, dazed, and he nuzzled his face into Keith's hand. His hand moved slowly up and he combed his fingers through Lance's drying hair gently. Lance let out a soft noise of content, a deep throated hum, and Keith tucked some hair behind Lance's ear softly.
After a moment of fondling Lance's perfect face, Keith looked down to the irritated scratches on Lance's stomach. "Can I work on these ones?" His hand moved slowly from Lance's face, and he traced his fingers from his jawline all the way until he pressed his palm against Lance's abdomen. Lance followed his gaze lazily, before nodding in a slow and relaxed fashion. Keith turned to get the lotion, and Lance leaned back into Keith's lap, back pressing up against the Red Paladin. Keith's face lit up- sure, this was an easier position to work in, but he hadn't expected Lance to be so forward about it.
He decided to put the lotion directly on Lance's skin this time, and started to rub it in with gentle circular motions. Lance's breath hitched a moment and he tensed against Keith, before letting out a shuddering sigh and relaxing against him, head leaning back and resting gently on Keith's shoulder. Keith could feel Lance's breathing fall in sync with the rhythm of his rubbing, and he smiled faintly. Lance turned his face slightly and pressed his lips against Keith's jawline, his lashes tickling Keith's cheek. His face heated up and he prayed Lance couldn't feel his heart pounding in his chest.
Lance's eyes fluttered open and he looked at Keith with a small frown. "You feel hot..." he murmured, reaching up to touch the other side of Keith's face with his hand. "Are you sick?" He was so dazed, in so much bliss, that was usually a snarky, taunting tone was gentle, and worried, and loving.
It nearly made Keith melt, and his face just got even warmer. "I'm fine Lance." He stopped moving his hands, instead wrapping his arms around Lance's midsection in a hug. "Don't worry about me."
Lance hummed thoughtfully before murmuring a quiet, "okay," and closing his eyes again, relaxing into Keith's hug and setting his hands on Keith's arms to ensure he didn't let go.