ARUS DINER- JANUARY 12, SATURDAY

Lance's family was hesitant to let him leave the house after what happened on Thursday, but his parents figured that he'd be okay since he would be with Keith.
Things were going well so far. No threats, no death glares of jealousy, and no inappropriate touching (Mainly because they were in a public restaurant).
They were just sitting in a booth, sharing a milkshake

Keith: Are you sure you're okay? He actually sounded genuine, and not like a psycho You really scared me, I couldn't sleep that night.

Lance: I am. Don't worry about it, Keith. I-I just wasn't thinking.

Keith: Okay, good. Because if you did kill yourself, His hand trails to Lance's arm I'd just snap . He tightens his grip around his arm, irritating the bruises So don't do that again, okay? Lance nods compliantly, and Keith relaxes ... So, who gave you mouth to mouth?

Lance: What?

Keith: Well, someone obviously gave you mouth to mouth, otherwise you wouldn't be here. So, who was it?

Lance: He saw where this was going, and began to panic. He knew Keith would not hesitate to kill one of their friends Why do you need to know?

Keith: They didn't try anything, did they? His voice becomes quieter so no one in the diner will hear him I wanna know who else other than me had their lips all over you. C'mon, tell me. He runs his fingers through Lance's hair and whispers in his ear I haven't had any fun in a while. Maybe you can watch.

Lance: Keith, n-no! He pushes Keith off of him, immediately regretting in when Keith's face morphs to anger Do-don't worry about it!... Please?
Keith, now seeing how scared Lance is, relaxes and nods Thank you.

Keith: Sorry.

Lance: It's okay. Just, don't say stuff like that again. It scares me.

Keith: Okay. He plants a small kiss on Lance's cheek, then continues drinking the milkshake

What Keith had said made Lance have flashbacks of the day after the break. He remembered seeing Plaxum's horribly mutilated body, her skin, pale and dry, her eyes hanging out of her sockets. But, how did he do it? And why so gruesome? Keith would normally just stab people, but he obviously did more than just stab her. It's like he was really angry with her

Lance: ... Keith?... Why did you do... So much to Plaxum?

Keith: What do you mean?

Lance: He lowers his voice so none of the other patrons can hear Well, your previous murders were just... Less messy, but with Plaxum... You did a lot to her. D-did you really have to gauge out her eyes?

Keith: He lowers his voice I didn't want to do so much, but she said something I didn't agree with... Before Lance could ask what she said, Keith answered for him I'm not a bad boyfriend, am I? He put on the most inncocent look he could make

Lance: Uh- No. Of course not.

Keith: Okay, good. His faux concern turned to calmness in a matter of seconds I love you.

Lance: I... Love you... Too... He notices a boy looking at them from a table. He looks concerned, and Lance sees an opportunity Hey, um... Why don't we get a refill on the milkshake?

Keith: Alright. Chocolate-vanilla swirl, right? Lance nods Okay. He grabs the milkshake glass and leaves the table

Once Keith is gone, Lance grabs a napkin, pulls out a pen and writes something on it. He looks over at the boy, and motions for him to come to his table. The boy does so and introduces himself

Boy: Hey. I'm James. Are you okay?

He says nothing. Instead he slides the napkin towards James that reads "Help me. I'm scared"

James: ... What's wrong? Is it that guy? He looks at Keith and Lance nods Is he hurting you? Lance nods again... Alright. I'll get you out of here-

Keith: Lance? He walks back to the table with another milkshake What's going on?

Lance: He crumples the napkin H-hi Keith. Uh, th-thanks for getting a refi-

Keith: Who's this?

Lance: Quickly No one, he's nobody.

James: James Griffin. I hope I wasn't interrupting your date.

Keith: Well, you were.

Lance: Keith, can we just go?

Keith: Now, I don't wanna see you near Lance again, I don't wanna see you talking to him, or looking at him. Got it?

James: Easy, man. We were just-

Keith: He grabs James by the front of his shirt, and brings him down to his level If you value your life, you'll walk out that door. Now.

Lance: Keith, stop it! He looks around and sees the patrons staring Let him go.

Keith: I don't wanna see your pathetic face again. Got it?! James nods Good. Now leave. He releases his shirt, and James bolts out of the diner. He turns to Lance, looking worried Are you okay?

Lance: I was fine, you overreacted!... Keith's concerned look shifts to anger I... I'm sorry, I-

Keith: Bathroom. Now. He grabs Lance's wrist and drags him into the bathroom, then locks the door I try protecting you. I try keeping creeps and perverts away from you. But you just won't let me do my job and keep you safe!

Lance: I don't need protection from anyone! And it's bad enough that you're killing students, please don't kill some random guy.

Keith: He was trying to take you away from me!

Lance: He didn't try anything! I wanted to talk to him.

Keith: What?!

Lance: He saw that something was wrong! Anyone could see that something is wrong! You're a psychopath! You hurt people! You hurt me! You're- He's cut off when Keith struck him across his face. He's shocked at this action ... Keith...

Keith did it. He actually hit Lance. Something he's never done. He's shamed him, hurt him emotionally, violated him, but never hit him. He felt some remorse, but he liked doing it. He showed Lance that he had the upper hand. Lance had to obey him. He was, and will always be his

Keith: ... Don't cross me ever again. Don't talk to me like that again. Got it? When Lance doesn't respond, he grabs both of his wrists, and pins him to the wall Got it?!

Lance: ... Yes...

Keith: He smirks Love you... Tired of waiting, he digs his nails into Lance's wrists and watches him wince in pain Don't you have something to say?

Lance: I love you too. This was said with no emotion at all

Satisfied, Keith changed his demeanor and released Lance from his grip

Keith: Good.

McClain House- Allura knocks on the door. Rachel answers moments later

Rachel: Guys? I haven't seen you all in a while. How have you been?

Allura: Fine. Um... May we come in?

Rachel: Sure. Of course. They walk in the house and settle down in the living room where Luis, Veronica, and Marco are watching a movie. They turn away from the tv and are shocked to see the group

Marco: Oh. Hey, guys. Lance isn't here. He's on a date with Keith-

Hunk: We actually came to talk to you guys about them. You guys may have noticed their relationship isn't exactly the healthiest.

Veronica: Yeah. We picked up on a few things. Lance told us some stuff.

Allura: He told you guys what's been going on? He'll barely talk to us at school.

Luis: Well, he was in a very vulnerable state when he opened up to us. And, maybe he knows that Keith can't get to him here like he can at school.

Allura: I guess that makes sense... Did Lance mention anything about abuse?

Veronica: ... Sort of. But, have any of you noticed anything about Keith? Like, is he... Does he frequently touch Lance without consent at school?

Matt: What are you trying to say?

Veronica: Sighs When Plaxum was found in the library, and Lance came home, I found hickeys on his neck... And he told me that Keith... He... He-

Marco: Seeing Veronica about to cry, he steps in Keith raped him! Okay?! And Lance won't break up with him, or tell anyone else about it because he's terrified of him!

Allura, Romelle, Shay, Matt, Hunk, And Romelle are shocked, disgusted, pissed, all at once. And right now, they just wanted to raise some hell. They knew Keith was messed up, but they never thought he would stoop so low as to rape one of their friends

Pidge: He. Fucking. Raped him?! Oh my God! I'm going to kill him! I'll do it in ways that haven't been invented yet! I'll just... GAH!

Shay: Oh my God... Why... Just... Why wouldn't he tell us something like this?!

Rachel: Lance is terrified of him! He won't even tell our parents because he's worried that Keith will hurt him!

Matt: Raping isn't hurting him?!

Marco: We know we should've told someone!

Hunk: Yeah! You should've!

Luis: But Lance won't let us tell anyone! And he told us he would break up with Keith, we don't know what changed his mind!

Matt: Alright, enough! Look, Hunk is right when, you should've told someone that Keith raped Lance. And did something happen that may have changed Lance's mind about breaking up with Keith?

Marco: No, we don't know what happened! When we confronted him about it, he just gave us that whole "He's trying to change" spiel.

Matt: Sighs Well, we're trying to gather enough evidence of Keith abusing Lance so we can let everyone know that's he's dangerous. We were hoping you could take pictures of Lance's bruises.

Veronica: Keith's been hitting him?!

Shay: Have you seen him without his jacket on? There are bruises all over his arms!

Luis: We'll do it. We don't want that cabrón anywhere near our brother!

Shay: Okay, but don't let him onto you. When we started asking questions, Keith just kept distancing himself and Lance from us.

Luis: So we have to keep letting him in our house?

Romelle: Have them leave the door open, record any of their conversations. We are going to take that bastard down.