Church | Klance

6

It had been over a week. Lance and Keith had their kiss in the park nine days ago, after that everything between them had changed. LAnce didn't respond to any of Keith's texts, he was too

At church two days after the kiss, Lance didn't speak to Keith, he tried to avoid him at all costs, he was too confused about the situation and about his religious struggles to have a conversation with him.

Now, once again on a Sunday, he'd be at church and he'd see Keith again, there was no way around it. His parents wouldn't let him miss church, and if the Kogane's were still trying to 'lead Keith to a holy life' there was no way he'd be able to miss it either.

Lance knew that he wanted to see Keith, he wanted to be able to tell him that he was sorry but he couldn't.

Usually, in a church service, Lance tried to stay sitting down the whole time and be present for the whole hour, but he couldn't. His mind wouldn't let him rest, he turned and looked at his mom, "I need to use the washroom." He didn't need to, but he needed to get out of here and try to relax his mind.

His mom looked displeased with this, "Mijo, can't you wait?"

Lance shook his head, "No, mamá." Selene sighed and waved her hand telling Lance that he could go. He thanked her and quickly stood up, awkwardly walking down the aisle. He could feel everyone's eyes on him as he walked, especially Keith's. He knew that he was watching him, he knew that he wasn't questioning why he was walking out of the service, he was wondering why Lance hadn't spoken to him. He walked faster once he saw Keith watching him, he wanted to leave any awkwardness behind and get to the washroom.

It was just down the hallway from the main section of the church where the service was being held so it didn't take long to get to it.

Lance walked over to the sink and rested his hands on the counter to hold him up as he leaned forward and looked at himself in the mirror. He had faint dark circles around his eyes, his face was splotchy from crying, not over anything that Keith did since he did nothing wrong, but over what he did to Keith. Overall, he looked like a mess.

He turned the tap on with cold water and cupped his hands to splash some water onto his face, usually, it helped him to calm down. He splashed himself three times and with the water running he didn't hear the door open and close.

"You look like shit." Lance gasped and turned around quickly, he hadn't had a chance to dry his face so some drops were still running down his cheeks to his chin where they'd drip off and fall onto the floor. When he turned he saw Keith leaning against one of the washroom stalls with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You scared me, don't do that." He stepped over to the paper towel dispenser and used some to dry his face and hands.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" That was the one question Lance didn't want to get today.

"I'm not." He shrugged, he wouldn't make eye contact with Keith, they both knew he was lying.

"Lance, I'm gay, I'm not dumb. You're lying to me and you're avoiding me. I want to know why. Please, just tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it. If this is about the kiss, I'm sorry. You'd said it was fine then, so I kissed you, but if your mind has changed I'm sorry. I want to make it up to you." Keith pleaded and stepped closer. Lance tried to step back but he hit the counter and couldn't go anymore.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lance stepped to the side and headed for the door, he didn't even get to touch the handle before Keith grabbed Lance's should and turned him around, pinning him to the door with one hand on either side of Lance's head.

He was shorter, but not by much so he was close to eye-level with Lance.

Lance's heart rate sped up and his breathing got shallow.

"Lance, please," Keith begged. After hearing the desperation in Keith's voice, Lance gave in.

He sighed and then took a breath, prepping himself for what he was about to say. "I'm sorry that I haven't been answering your texts. This is but also isn't about the kiss. You're right, I said it was fine, and it is. I'm not mad at you for that or anything else." Keith moved his hands so he wasn't pinning the door closed anymore, he took a step back to give Lance space.

"My whole life I've been told that liking boy is wrong, kissing boys is even worse. I don't know what to do. I like you, Keith. I really really like you, but I can't."

"But you can, Lance. A book that was written hundreds of years ago shouldn't define how you're allowed to feel, you're allowed to like boys, you're allowed to kiss boys. You're allowed to, you're not prohibited to do that."

Lance groaned, "This is so wrong, we can't do this."

"Then why does it feel so right?" Lance didn't have an answer to Keith's response, he was right, it did feel right. It felt natural, it felt like it was supposed to happen.

Keith ran a hand through his hair, "If you feel like you shouldn't be with me, you don't need to. If you want to follow what a book says, you can. But I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me that it's what you want and that you'll be happy."

Lance stayed silent.

"Lance, will you be happy if you follow what the bible says you can do?"

"No." He mumbled as he shook his head, his voice could barely be heard, Keith had just barely caught it.

"If you're not going to be happy, why are you following that then? Religion meant for people to feel better about themselves and society, they should be happy with the result. You shouldn't be limiting yourself because of it." Keith stepped back, "I'm not trying to tell you that you have to be with me, I'm not trying to make you chose now and you don't even have to choose. I just want you to be happy, that's all. Whether I'm in the scenario that makes you happy or not I don't care, because you'll be happy."

Lance held eye contact for a while he knew that he had made his choice. He smiled at Keith and moved towards him, pressing their lips together for their second kiss. This kiss wasn't like the first, the first was cautious and tender. This one, while still gentle, had more passion and more feelings involved.

Lance pulled away from the kiss and smiled at Keith, "I want to be with you. I'll be happy if I'm with you, but, I can't promise that I won't still have times when I get in my head."

Keith smiled, "That's okay, I'm just glad I'll be with you." Lance smiled and turned to open the door, but their smiles both dropped when Keith's father was standing right by the other side with his arms crossed over his shoulders.

The doors were thin enough, that they knew he heard the conversation.

"Boys, you have some explaining to do."