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Keith sniffled as he pulled his knees into his chest. Fuck Shiro. Fuck this maze. Fuck Halloween. Fuck all of this hay in his hair. Fuck that specific pumpkin over there. Fuck…
He snapped back to his senses as he heard someone approaching him.
Or rather, it’d be impossible not to hear whoever was approaching him.
“Scooby Dooby Doo, ¿dónde estás? Hay cosas por hacer.” The loud, off-key singing was interrupted by a snort before the voice continued. “Scooby Dooby Doo, ¿dónde estás? Necesitamos tú ayuda.” The mystery singer was basically belting out the lyrics at this point. Incredibly, Keith was starting to miss his solitude.
“Would you shut up?!” Keith yelled from his corner. He curled his knees closer to his chest. If he had to wait for Shiro and Allura to find him, he wanted to at least be able to do it in peace.
Unfortunately, his words only seemed to rile up the other boy.
“No way!! There’s someone else here,” the boy said as he rounded the last corner. Keith could finally put a face to the voice. It was just as goofy as he thought it would be, but the boy was also a lot taller (and cuter) than he had imagined. “Are you lost, too?”
Keith pursed his lips. “I’m not lost. I just can’t find my brother and his girlfriend.”
The boy rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty sure that’s what lost means.” Keith frowned. “Well, don’t worry. I’m lost, too! We can be lost together. I’m Lance by the way,” he said as he plopped down uninvited next to Keith.
“I’m Keith,” he muttered in response. Normally, Keith would have at least attempted being friendly, but he wasn’t in the mood. He continued his sulking and stared at his shoes. It didn’t seem to bother Lance too much.
“Man, this maze just keeps going on and on forever. How big do you think it is? Do you think you could see it from space? I’d love to go to space. Not to see the maze, but just in general, you know?” Lance turned to Keith expectantly. “So Keith, how’d you find yourself here?”
Keith didn’t want to talk about this, so he just shrugged.
Lance just nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, dude, same. Honestly, I have no idea how I got lost. One minute I was running around with my friends and the next thing I knew they weren’t behind me anymore. I tried retracing my steps to find them, but then I went down a different path and everything looked the same with all the hay and the random pumpkins everywhere.” He sighed. “In any case, I hope they’re alright.”
Keith huffed a short breath into his folded arms. “They’re probably doing just fine without you. Don’t worry too much.” He hadn’t meant to sound so callous to someone he had just met, but he couldn’t help himself. The ache in his stomach was bubbling over.
But Lance only laughed lightly and said, “You’re probably right. Hunk and Pidge are geniuses. They probably figured out this maze in ten seconds flat without me and are calling the SWAT team to rescue my sorry ass as we speak. We’ll be out of here in no time!” Lance grinned and Keith had to wonder if anything fazed this boy.
Burying his face even further into his knees, Keith said, “Sure. Whatever.”
Lance’s smile fell away from his face and Keith thought that he had finally managed to scare off his unsolicited companion, but instead Lance placed a tentative hand on Keith’s elbow. “Keith, are you okay?"
Keith almost pulled away, but instead, for some reason, he blurted out, “I hate my brother.”
He expected Lance to recoil or at least flinch at the harsh words, but he only turned towards Keith more. “Did something happen? Is that why you’re on your own right now?” Keith could tell Lance was trying to make eye contact with him, but he staunchly ignored it.
“He’s just… this was supposed to be our day together, but then he brought his girlfriend along and then they were so wrapped up in each other that I just thought…” he paused for a moment before finally admitting, “I thought that they wouldn’t notice if I just took one wrong turn.” He laughed bitterly. “And you know what? I was right. I stayed put right after I took that turn. I haven’t moved from this spot and it’s been half an hour! They didn’t realize I was gone. They couldn’t be bothered to try to find me. And… they didn’t come back for me.” His voice lowered to a whisper as he said the last part.
Lance, for once, was quiet as he awkwardly rubbed Keith’s arm. Strangely, it only made Keith ramble on even more.
“And don’t get me wrong, I like Allura and all, but Shiro and I were finally supposed to hang out together like we used to and then he had to go and break his promise again. Like he does every time. He doesn’t even care about me anymore.” Keith’s eyes stung and furiously he squeezed them shut. He was too old for this.
It was silent for a while and Keith would have forgotten Lance was there altogether, if he hadn’t broken the silence by saying, “That’s rough, buddy.”
At that Keith looked up and just stared at Lance, who looked completely serious. Unable to control himself, Keith basically spat all over Lance’s face as he exploded into laughter. Lance seemed startled at first, but suddenly a smile broke out onto his face and he was laughing along with Keith. Their laughter only egged each other on and soon Keith’s eyes were watering again, but for a completely different reason. As they started to calm down, Keith made the mistake of looking Lance in the eye again and their laughing fit started all over again. Keith was laughing so hard that it sounded more like short, muted wheezes. Lance had fallen over onto his side, practically gasping for air.
After what felt like an eternity, their laughter finally died down to small, uneven breaths. Keith wiped the tears from his eyes while Lance weakly pushed himself off the ground and collapsed onto Keith’s shoulder. Keith snorted a bit, but didn’t push him away.
“I can’t believe that your only response to me pouring my heart out was ‘That’s rough, buddy.’”
Keith felt Lance shrug his shoulders. “Ok, so maybe I’m not the best at pep talks, but I did get you to smile again.”
Keith blushed a little at that. Lance wasn’t wrong. He didn’t feel completely better, but the frustration and anger boiling in his stomach had subsided and he actually felt kind of content sitting here covered in hay with this strange boy.
“Lance?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks. And uh, sorry if I was being a jerk earlier. I was just taking it out on you.”
Lance chuckled. “Were you? I didn’t take it personally because you seemed like the kind of brooding emo kid with outdated hair and fingerless—ow!” Lance clutched his abdomen and rubbed the sore spot that Keith had hit. “I’m just saying, it’s no big deal.”
Keith scoffed and said, “I’ll have you know I am actually a very happy person on the inside. You just caught me on a bad day.”
Lance slightly shifted away from Keith and for a moment he was kind of disappointed until Lance murmured, “Any chance I can catch you on a good day sometime soon?”
Keith couldn’t see the look on Lance’s face, but he could see the tips of his ears were red. Keith’s chest tightened and he felt his own ears grow hot. “Oh, um, yeah. Yeah. I’d like that,” he stammered. “I’d like that a lot.”
Lance whirled around with a grin so eager and open that Keith thought his heart would stop. “Really?” Keith nodded, hoping his face wasn’t too flushed. “It’s a date then?” he asked sheepishly.
“Yeah. It’s a date.” Keith’s face was definitely red now.
Lance looked at the ground and cleared his throat. “Well, if we’re ever going to make it to one of your fabled good days, we have to get out of here first.”
Keith realized he had forgotten that they were still stuck in the maze and had been for almost an hour. With a groan, he looked up to the darkening sky and shook his head. He was actually kind of embarrassed Lance had managed to distract him so well.
Lance was standing up now, surveying the situation. “Well, I know it’s technically cheating, but desperate times… Keith, get on my shoulders.”
Keith spluttered. “You want me to do what now??”
“Hey, there’s no sign of help coming any time soon and it’s getting late. Just have a quick look around and try to find the exit.” Lance clapped his hands together before crouching down and beckoning Keith towards him. “So let’s go, pretty boy.”
Keith rolled his eyes, but reluctantly walked over to Lance and gingerly placed one foot on Lance’s shoulders. He latched his fingers into a small crevice and propelled himself upwards, desperately clinging on to fistfuls of hay to keep himself upright. Lance grunted under the strain of the added weight, but he didn’t waver. Instead, he firmly grabbed onto the back of Keith’s calves and slowly started to stand upright. The firm grip Lance had on his legs was extremely distracting, but he pushed those thoughts down as his head started to peek over the wall.
“See anything yet?” Lance said through gritted teeth.
“Hold on. Just a little more.“ Scanning the area, Keith saw a big gate and a frantic looking couple talking to two other kids Keith’s age. “Hey! I think I see the exit. And I think… Shiro! Allura! Over here!!” He waved his arms frantically.
“Keith, could you try not jumping on my shoulders?”
Keith glanced down and stopped his unconscious movements. “Oh, my bad, but I think they saw us Lance. You were right this was a pretty—“ Keith paused as he remembered what Lance said to him earlier. “Wait, Lance, you think I’m pretty?”
Lance choked and jerked away from the wall, causing Keith to topple forward onto the hay bales for support.
“Hey, watch it!” Keith said as he sprawled out over the top of the wall.
Lance stumbled as he yelled, “It’s your fault! You’re bringing this up now?!” Lance grip wavered and one of Keith’s feet slipped from Lance’s shoulders
“I didn’t notice it earlier! Would you stop flailing around? We’re gonna—“
The hay bales shifted from underneath him and began to lean forward.
Oh shit.
Keith tried to back away from the collapsing wall, but it was too late. He only managed to slip off of Lance’s shoulders and fall onto his back as they came crashing down to the ground. The air was knocked out of Keith’s lungs as he landed on top of Lance.
Keith blinked slowly at the night sky and struggled to get his breath back when he faintly heard, “Do you mind?”
“Oh fuck, Lance, are you ok?” Keith swiveled his head, which he now realized was between Lance’s legs.
“I will be when you get off of me.”
Keith quickly rolled off of Lance and spun around to check on him. “Sorry, sorry. Are you good?”
Lance was lying face down in the hay pile, but with a groan he turned to his head towards Keith. “It’s all good. The hay mostly broke my fall. And also got in my teeth,” Lance said as he spat some stray strands out of his mouth. “Do you have a Band-Aid by any chance?”
“Shit, I don’t. Did you get cut somewhere?”
Lance propped himself up onto his elbows and smirked wickedly. “Yeah, must’ve happened while I was falling for you.”
Keith stared open-mouthed at Lance before bringing his face into his hands, blushing furiously. “I cannot believe you just said that. You’re the worst.”
Lance weakly shot him a finger gun and said, “Hm, should you be saying that to the person who just got you out of that hellhole? Look.” He gestured vaguely into the distance.
Keith lifted his head and saw Shiro, Allura, and two other kids running towards them. Their fall had caused a ripple effect and three whole walls had collapsed into the neighboring pumpkin patch, meaning they were finally free. Lance was already getting up to greet his friends while Shiro and Allura came barreling towards Keith.
“Keith!! Holy shit, are you ok?” Shiro scooped his brother up into a tight hug and suddenly, Keith didn’t really feel so angry anymore. He hugged his brother back.
“I’m fine, Shiro.”
“I am so, so sorry we lost you. I'm the worst brother ever.”
Allura put her arm gently around Keith’s back. “We really are incredibly sorry Keith. How can we make it up to you?”
Keith chuckled. “Well, ice cream for starters. And Shiro has to help me beat Portal 2 when we get home.”
Shiro ruffled Keith’s hair. “You got yourself a deal.” Keith let himself bask in the warmth of the hug for a few seconds more before he remembered Lance.
Looking wildly around, he saw the owner of the farm berating Lance and his friends as one of the farmhands escorted them off the premises. The owner turned towards them and started to head their way. Quickly he turned to Allura and asked her, “You gotta pen and paper?”
Allura wasted no time and soon Keith was sprinting across the pumpkin patch, dodging the old farmer.
“Lance!”
Lance and his friends spun around at the sound of his name.
“Keith?”
Finally catching up, Keith took advantage of Lance’s surprise to give him a quick peck on the cheek before shoving the scrap of paper into his hands. “Message me later?”
Lance nodded mutely as he lightly touched his cheek, face turning beet red. “Yeah,” he croaked. Keith heard faint snickers from Lance’s friends.
Keith smiled shyly. “Good.”
With that, he ran back to Shiro and Allura who were being told they were never allowed back at G. Alra’s Pumpkin Farm ever again. As they walked to the car, Keith felt his phone buzz. His could barely contain his giddy laughter as he read.
(5:48 PM) Hey, it’s later. Do you think tomorrow might be one of your alleged good days?
Keith typed back.
(5:48 PM) It already is.