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It was a calm day today. The wind creating a gentle, cool breeze against the warm air. The ocean calm as children splashed together, and parents tanned while watching on with eyes filled with love. Parks full, and grassy hills covered with first date picnics. Elderly couples taking strolls and relaxing, weathered hands grasped between each other. It was a calm day as Lance watched the waves crash against the rocks beneath him. He sat atop the railing on the bridge as he felt the wind run through his hair, closing his eyes with his head leaned back in peace and relaxation. Breathing in the salty smell of the ocean, and the smell of meat coming from the barbeques occupied in the park close by. It was a calm day as Lance heard the familiar motorcycle approaching, leaning his head up and getting ready to stand so he can wave as Keith passes by. He hasn't seen him in a few days, due to Keith's work keeping him quite busy, so he misses him a lot. Granted, his major pining crush on the guy may add on to the sheer amount he misses him, but you wouldn't catch Lance saying that if his life depended on it. It was a calm day, but of course that couldn't possibly last. All it took was a glance from Keith. His eyes watching the bridge as he approaches it, making sure there are no cars in his way, when his eyes spot a figure on the railing. He watches as the person leans forwards and stands up, and he catches sight of their face. It's Lance. His smile is inevitable as he sees it's him before quickly dropping as panic overtook his brain and body. He pulls over to the side, slamming the brakes onto his motorcycle as he practically jumps off of the vehicle. His motorcycle smacks onto the ground behind him as he runs as fast as he can towards Lance. The boy is already taking a step forward before he can get to him, and he freezes as he shouts his name. “Lance!”I whip around in surprise at the raw vulnerability and fear ripping it's way out of Keith's mouth in the form of my name. He's standing there, breath rushing out of him in short panicked breaths, with his eyes vigorously searching my face for something I don't understand. He must see the shock on my face because he raises his hands as though he's just approached a vicious beast ready to pounce.I continue to stand there in shock, as I watch Keith collect his thoughts and try his best to regain his hysterical breaths. His chest rises and falls at a shuddering and fast pace, his eyes tearing up as he refuses to shift his view from mine. I look on in confusion, but am unable to move from the shock at seeing someone like Keith so vulnerable. I've seen Keith laugh at rare occasions, and only when we're completely alone. I've seen Keith have a few small panic attacks when he'd allow me in, and even once or twice a bit of crying. I've seen his beautiful smile as I'd work through a few of his walls by telling him stories of my family, or when I had watched my 6 year old niece braid his hair and babble to him when my sister came to visit that one time. He was a happy and loving person, it just took a lot of work to see that side of him, and it was always worth it. This, however, this sheer panic and terror as he watched me like I'd disappear and abandon him in an instant was something I'd never even think of seeing in my entire life. I wish I never would have seen this as well, I can already feel my heart shatter as I feel panic and the impractical volume of need to protect him at all costs. “L-Lance please don't” Keith says in a cracking and quiet voice that I'm barely able to catch. I look at him in confusion, but his eyes seem to be looking right through me. He's not seeing me at all, and I don't have a clue what's going on. I'm trying to put together the pieces of this puzzle, but I'm missing over 3/4s of the picture and don't have a clue what to do about it. “I-I can't lose you too, L-Lance. Please don't le-leave me. I can't do it without you, I can't keep trying without you by my side.” He cries out. My heart shatters even more at his words, but I don't have a clue what's causing him to say those things. My mind is running a mile a second, my thoughts jumbled and tangled together, and panic and shock making me even more scatterbrained. “I-" The tears drip down his face in streams, his throat choking out a sob. “Lance please, I-I'll do anything. I'll make you your fa-favorite omelette, the one with those fried ba-banana things you love, every single morning. I-I'll save money up so we can visit your family in Cuba together again like we did that one Chr-Christmas. I'll get you as many face creams or masks, bo-body care products, books, or CDs you want. I'll even let you braid my hair like you always beg to do, even though I was too afraid of how I'd react if you did. I'll listen to you practice on your guitar and singing, and attend every single show you do at that cafe despite it being so crowded. I'll h-help you study for your classes when you struggle with them, and I'll l-let you try to teach me some Spanish even if I don't think I'll be good since you always wanted one of your friends to let you do that. I'll watch those crappy romance films with you every Friday, and I'll finally go to those trips to the beach with the group that I always refuse. I'll come over for those game night sleepovers, and I'll even go to one of those crowded clubs or parties you've been begging me to go to for 2 years now. Anything, just please don't jump!” Keith shouts as he chokes his way through each sentence. His throat is raw and scratchy by the time he finishes, and I can hear how painful it is.It all clicks for me when I hear his last sentence, and I feel like a fool for not figuring it out earlier. He saw me on the edge of a bridge, and thought I was going to jump. It all makes sense to me now, it was all just a simple misunderstanding. He starts speaking again, and I'm in even more shock to be capable of answering right now. “Please say something Lance! I already lost my family, I can't lose the only person I've ever thought of as more than a friend!” He seems shocked as the words leave his mouth, as though he hadn't meant to say them. “You-You like me?” I ask in absolute shock, the words spilling out without a single thought as my mind worked on autopilot. “I-” He pauses in shock before some determination comes back to his glossy and vacant eyes. “Of course I do! You accepted me! When I lost my parents, everyone turned their backs on me! My friends left with hushed and hurtful whispers, my teachers barely acknowledged me, and all I ever saw of other people was either disgusted faces, their fists flying towards me, or their backs as they walked away! You were the only one to reach out...” He got quieter again before looking right into my eyes with determination burning once more. “we met on the 26th of September on our Freshmen year in Mrs.Greenwood's Literature class, and it was approximately 2:35pm as we were just about to be dismissed for our buses. It was your first day noticing me, but I knew you since the first day. You were always so bubbly. The class clown, but not in the usual bad way. You didn't disrupt the class and act obnoxious, you cheered up the class when a big test was coming and put a smile on everyone's faces when they were feeling down. You were friends with everyone, and god only knows how much you flirted with everyone too. The star of the class no matter which class it was. I was always the one in the back. The one in the dark corner of the room, too afraid to reach out to anyone in fear of abandonment and being made fun of. I wanted to talk to you so badly, wondering if you'd accept me like you seemed to accept everyone else. I tried so hard not to stare or listen to your conversations with others, but I couldn't always avoid it. The day you came up to me, I thought you were going to yell at me or something because you caught me staring. Then you just held your hand out and introduced yourself. You had thought I was a new student, and when I said I wasn't you immediately apologised for never having noticed me before. You immediately dragged me to your friend group without even asking me. I was so shy and scared, but you always lead the conversation for me and helped me answer when I was unable to. You eased me into the group, and worked hard to get me comfortable. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done to me in my entire life. I didn't have a family, nor did I have friends. For some reason though, you saw something in me that no one else could. You pushed yourself through every single wall I had, never once walking away and giving up even when I'd put them right back up. You stuck with me through thick and thin, and you never once even thought about giving up on me. The group tried as well, but never as much as you did. Soon enough we all became friends, and I think it was inevitable that you were easily my best friend. I wouldn't have had it any other way for a while, but then you still didn't give up. You didn't just accept friendship and stopped fighting for more, you continued to break down my walls and try to get even closer to me. I started to notice more things about you at that point. How happy you got when I agreed with you or did something with you, how pretty your smile was when you were at your happiest, how soft your hair was whenever I'd brush against it somehow, how smooth and warm your hands were when you'd reach out to hold mine, how your face would light up when you saw your family, how you'd go out of your way to find a place with lactose free ice cream so I didn't end up feeling left out, how beautiful your laugh was even when it would turn into breathless wheezing when the joke was extra funny, and how perfect you were overall. Your beautiful ocean blue eyes, your infatuation with where you grew up and the foods your mom would make, your addiction to cookies and cream Ice cream, your love for reading and listening to or making music, your compassion for all living beings, and your need to always make others happy even if you yourself are not. I realised that being friends with you was enough, but that I would do anything to be best friends and more. I also realized that I had been secretly pining for you since high school, and that I'm oblivious as hell to only have noticed it after six years with you. Now it's been seven and a half years since I met you, and I would give anything for it not to end here.” He ends his speech with a cherry red blush covering his face all the way down under his shirt, and his eyes shifting unable to maintain eye contact throughout the entire thing. His hands are being wrung together as well as he shuffles his feet in embarrassment and shyness. “I- Keith I wasn't going to jump...” my mouth sputters out before I'm able to properly think. His head snaps up to mine, his cheeks stained with tears and his face somehow even more red then before. His eyes are wide and slightly unfocused as he stares me down from his spot, seemingly unable or unwilling to move a single muscle. “W-What? What do you mean you weren't going to jump!?” he shouts out in an embarrassed squeak. “I was trying to tell you, but I was so shocked that I couldn't even think of the words to say. I was just sitting on the railing so I could watch the waves and relax! I didn't think you would misunderstand that, and I had no clue why you were upset until you said what you thought I was doing.” “You… You were going to move towards the edge though!” He shouts out in panicked confusion, trying his hardest to grasp the situation that neither of us seemed to have any control of. “I was standing up so that I could wave to you! I missed you and wanted to say hello, I didn't think that would scare you!”“I- Of course it did! You scared the hell out of me! I thought I was about to lose you!” He shouts at me suddenly seeming angry as he marches towards me. I start to panic and raise my hands up to try and calm him down, but it does nothing to stop him from marching right up to me. The second he gets there I close my eyes thinking he's going to hit me or something, but my eyes fly open when my body gets pulls forward in a tight embrace. His arms tight enough around me that my back lightly cracks, and my breathing gets restricted. He buries his face into my neck and sobs into it in relief. His shoulders shaking and body trembling as he grapples his arms onto me. My arms immediately grasp onto him as well and I pull him even closer to me, nothing but the railing between us. “I'm sorry, Keith” I whimper out to him, feeling awful about what I just made him go through. “It's fine, I'm just so glad you're okay. I don't know what I would've done if you had actually jumped…” He whispers into my neck with a weak voice. “Keith… Did you mean everything you said?” I ask causing him to freeze up. His body tenses in what I can only assume is fear, and his arms tighten their hold on me. His breathing picks up again, and I can tell he's working himself up towards a panic attack and needs to calm down. “Keith-” I start only to be cut off by his desperate voice. “Please, please just forget what I said. I'm sorry about everything, I wouldn't have said anything if it wasn't for the situation. Please just forget it, we can go back to usual and forget everything that just happened. We don't have to be awkward, or stop being friends, or anything if we just forget everything that just happened. It'll go right back to normal, Lance please.” His voice cracking on most words. “Keith, I don't want to forget-” He cuts me off again. “Please don't say it, Lance. Please I can't lose you right after what just happened. Please don't. I can't lose you” He continues to desperately repeat that last sentence as he starts hyperventilating, his arms tightening once again. “Keith! Listen to me, okay?” I shout out, gently pulling his face up so that I can look into his gorgeous eyes. His breath hitches as we make eye contact, and his lips wobble slightly as he chokes out another sob. My thumbs wipe the tears off of his cheek as I continue to hold his face. I lean forward to rest my forehead on his, and I close my eyes in slight exhaustion. “Keith, I don't want to forget what you just said, and I'd never be able to. If it wasn't during such a serious situation, those words would've made me the happiest man on earth when you said them. I want to be more than just best friends as well, Keith. You don't have to even think about the possibility of rejection or losing our friendship, that would never happen. I promise, Keith. We'll be fine. Everything is fine.” I whisper to him, my eyes opening as I put some distance between our faces and meet his eyes once more. His eyes are finally filled with life again, no longer the lifeless and glassy color they were mere moments ago. I take my right hand off of his cheek as I brush his bangs behind his ear with my fingers. “Now, I may not have a speech like you just gave to show my affection for you, but I do think that this will get my point across significantly well.” I tell him before leaning towards him. My eyes close as our lips mean, the taste of salty tears in my mouth as I slip my tongue into his. Finally kissing the boy I've had my eyes on for years now, and as it may not be how I imagined it it's certainly just as good as I thought it would be. A simple kiss, but a meaningful one nonetheless. “Now,” I pause as I pull away from him. “May I please get over the railing, and take you on the finest of dates to our dorm for a famous McClain dinner, immediate cuddles after for a minimum time of at least an hour, and about a million apologize for ever scaring you to that level even if it was entirely unintentional?” I ask“Ah! Sorry, I hadn't realized you were still on the edge…” He trails off with pink cheeks as he awkwardly backs up. “And, um… I would really like that” He whispers the last part so quietly, that i barely hear a word of it. “Fantastic!” I shout happily. I immediately grab his hand after settling down on the other side of the railing, and start leading him back to his fallen motorcycle. “Ah, and I'm holding you to all of those promises you just made. I'm also playing with your hair tonight, and we're picking up lactose free ice cream and cookies with cream ice cream on the way back. I also better get a goodbye kiss every single morning before you leave, instead of you leaving and coming back from school and work while I'm sleeping.” I tell him matter of factly. I laugh to myself as I leave behind my new stumbling, blushing, and stuttering boyfriend.