FEBRUARY 14, Thursday

It was the night of the Altea High Valentines Day dance, everyone was going to be there. Some to dance and make-out in the bathroom, others to expose a certain student for the monster that he is

MCCLAIN HOUSE

Lance is in his room, putting on his blue tuxedo jacket, and frowning at himself in his mirror. He just felt like crying right now, he should be going to the dance with Matt, not some blackmailing murderer with bad hair, but he had to keep Matt safe no matter what.

Rachel And Marco walk into his room

Marco: Hey, you look great.

Lance: Thanks. His smile falters a little. Rachel holds his hand

Rachel: Are you gonna be okay?

Lance: Probably not. I feel like throwing up right now.

Marco: Sighs Well, if Keith tries anything, you run out that school, and don't look back. Okay? Lance nods

Rachel: And if that doesn't work, kick him in the balls.

Lance: Laughing Oh my God!

Marco: Why is that your go-to for everything?

Rachel: 'Cause it's funny!

Their laughing ceases when they hear the sound of a motorcycle engine outside

Rachel: He's here. You sure you don't wanna back out? We could say you broke both of your legs.

Lydia's voice is heard

Lydia: Keith! Welcome! Lance is still getting ready.

Lance: Too late. Thanks anyway. He straightens his tie, then walks into the living room where Keith is waiting. He forces a smile Hey, Kei-

Without letting him finish, Keith pulls him in by his waist and kisses him vigorously while Luis, Rachel, Marco, and Veronica watch with disgust

Luis: Heh. Okay, just doing that in front of us. That's nice.

Lydia: Ooh! I need photos! She pulls out her phone

Keith finally stops kissing Lance, then places his hands on his hips as Lydia takes a couple of pictures

Lydia: A few more. Lance, mijo. Move in a little closer, he's your boyfriend.

Lance, uncomfortably, wraps his arms around Keith's neck. He wants to strangle him so bad right now

Lydia: Perfect! She takes more pictures

Lance: Mamá, I think that's enough pictures. He removes one of Keith's hands from his hip

Lydia: One more?

Keith: C'mon, Lance. He puts his hand back on Lance's hips One more? He whispers in his ear You still want Matt alive, right?

Lance: ... Alright. He forces another smile as Lydia takes another picture W-we should get going.

Lydia: Have fun, mijo! You deserve it!

Veronica: Don't get in any trouble. He sends one more glare in Keith's direction

Lance and Keith leave the house, and head to the dance on Keith's motorcycle

Shirogane/Kogane house- Shiro is walking out the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn, and talking on the phone

Shiro: No, I'm not going... Well, I don't have a date, and dances aren't really my thing... I was hoping this one guy would ask me, though... Yes, auntie, I will send you the pictures of Keith... Okay, love you too. Bye.

He hangs up and heads to the living room where he notices Keith's phone on the couch armrest

Shiro: Oh, he left his phone. Better text Lance. He grabs Keith's phone and taps an app, thinking its messages, but is instead the documents Whoops. He notices the title of one of the documents "Assholes keeping me away from Lance"? What's this? He opens the document and reads the list Nyma, Rolo, Lotor, Kuro, Plaxum... Matt?! What the fuck?...

He immediately starts to think the worst. The way Keith has been acting lately and reacting to the murders with such apathy. Lance's sudden depression and fear, the tension between the others

Shiro: No. No, no, no... He runs upstairs to Keith's room and searches through the drawers for his blade Where is it? Where is it?!... Oh my God. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and tries to call Lance, but it goes to voicemail Lance, I'm coming to the school right now! Stay away from Keith!

Shiro runs down the stairs, and when he opens the door, he finds Adam, wearing a suit and tie, and about to knock

Adam: Oh! H-hey, Shiro. I know it's kinda late, but... Will you-

Shiro: Yes! Let's go! Hurry! He runs to Adam's car and gets behind the wheel C'mon!

Adam: Excited A-alright! He runs to the car and gets in the passenger's seat Don't you wanna get in a suit? It's kind of a formal-

Shiro: There's no time! He drives to the school

ALTEA HIGH SCHOOL- GYM

Keith and Lance walk into the gym and find most of the students already dancing, making out, and getting drunk from the spiked punch

Keith: He looks around and sees Matt by the snack table I'll go get us some punch. Don't talk to anyone while I'm gone, got it?

Lance: Sighs Yeah.

Keith: Good. He walks over to the table and confronts Matt Hey.

Matt: Oh. Hey Keith. I didn't expect to see you here.

Keith: Why would I miss this? He grabs two cups of punch from the table

Matt: Well, I know dances aren't exactly your thing. He sees Lance standing alone by the bleachers, looking forlorn, and frowns Alright, let's cut the crap. The others and I know exactly what you're doing. I would've gone easy on you if you had only stuck with murder, but I draw the damn, fucking, line at raping Lance. He gets in Keith's face So enjoy this night while you can.

Keith: Not threatened at all, he smiles Oh, I will. He walks away

Allura and Romelle approach Matt, looking worried

Allura: What did he mean by that?

Matt: I don't know. Is Pidge getting everything set up?

Allura: She's almost done. When this is all over, Keith will never hurt Lance, or anyone else again. She looks around and sees Lance, drinking his punch, and looking uncomfortable as Keith trails his hand close to his crotch That girl better hurry the fuck up or there's gonna be a sixth dead student.

A slow song begins to play

Romelle: Oh! I love this song. She takes Allura's hand and guides her to the middle of the gym

Couples begin to flood the gym floor and slow dance to the song

Keith: C'mon Lance. He pulls him to the gym floor and places his hands on Lance's waist as Lance places his hands on his shoulders

Lance: Um, your hand is a little too close to my-

Keith: I think you know by now that I can place my hands wherever I want. He lowers his hand a little bit to prove his point Now just let this happen. He tightens his grip, making Lance wince This wouldn't be happening if you just stayed away from Matt. Then he places his other hand on Lance back, and pushes him in closer

Lance: ... Keith... You wanna know why I tried to commit suicide? It was because of what you did to me in the closet.

Keith: What?

Lance: You can kill whoever you want, I don't care anymore. At this point, I'm so used to seeing blood and stabbing victims that I've been desensitized. But if you so much as lay a finger on Matt, He grabs Keith's wrist and tightens his grip, much tighter than when Keith did this I will end you. Monday, you will be out of our lives forever. I can finally go to bed without waking up, scratching the air, and kicking, and everyone will know the pain you've put me through. You're done.

Instead of hitting, yelling, or dragging him out of the school to beat him senseless, Keith just calmly responds

Keith: We'll see, Lance.

Hunk and Shay are dancing together, and are watching them a few feet away, they heard everything

Shay: I'm glad Lance is finally standing up for himself.

Hunk: Yeah, but I don't like how calm Keith looks. I feel like he's planning something. His phone vibrates in his pocket. He pulls it out and sees a text from Pidge

Pidgeon:
Now!

Hunk: She's done. Let's go. He and Shay make their way through the crowd and pass by Allura and Romelle Pidge finished it. Let's go.

The two girls follow Hunk and Shay. Suddenly, a voice cuts through the crowd

Pidge: Excuse me!

The music stops, and everyone turns their attention to the stage where they see Pidge, holding a microphone and standing in front of a projector screen

Pidge: Yes! Hello! Eyes up here! Look at me! Thank you! Alright, now I know you're all having a good time. It's Valentines Day, a time of love, that's great. And I'd like to make a shoutout to some friends of mine. Lance McClain, and Keith Kogane, our school power couple. Give 'em a hand, people!

Everyone in the gym gives them a round of applause, much to their confusion

Lance: Turns to Keith What's going on?

Keith: No idea.

Pidge: Alright. You're all amazing! Now, you all know Keith. School emo with 80's hair. There's some scattered laughter He seems like a nice guy, right? Always treating his boyfriend right, loving him unconditionally... Wrong. The whole room goes silent Keith Kogane is an abusive jackass. He hits Lance, and touches him without consent, constantly!... Don't believe me? Hunk, start the slideshow!

Hunk turns on a projector, and images are shown on the screen

Pidge: These are pictures proving that Keith is abusing Lance. She notices Keith glaring at her Up yours, Kogane. Now, this slide shows bruises on Lance's arm. This picture was sent to us by Lance's sister, Rachel. Everyone gasps Sorry for doing all this behind your back, Lance. Next.

Another image appears on the screen. The picture was taken through a crack in the door, showing Lance about to put an ice pack over his black eye

Pidge: This was taken by Lance's brother, Marco. I'm sure Lance has told you that he slipped on the wet floor and fell on the water fountain mouthpiece. Well, he was lying. Keith punched him.

The students and faculty send Keith dirty looks. A few look at Lance with concern

Pidge: Alright. Now, She pulls out her phone I will play a recording of their conversation from a few weeks ago. Lance, feel free to cover your ears if this is too much for you. She plugs her phone into a speaker and plays the recording

Keith: Good. Remember who loves you, Lance.

Lance: Y-you do.

Keith: And you love me?... Lance?... Do you love me?... Then say it!

Lance: I love you!

Keith: That's right. I do, no one else. Don't ever forget that.

The entire room gasps, shocked as to why someone would hurt their significant other in such a way

Pidge: Yes, gasp. But, not only is Keith abusive, but he's also a sociopath. You all remember Nyma. Sweet, dead Nyma. She was stabbed to death in the hallway... Keith has hated Nyma ever since she and Lance started dating. Even when he and Lance started dating, he still saw Nyma as a threat. Here's another slide.

The next slide shows screenshots of the last text message Nyma received before her death

Pidge: Someone texted Nyma, claiming time be Lance, and told her that they wanted to get back together. If you look closely, you'll notice that this is actually the number for Keith's old phone! Matt, take the stage.

Matt walks up to the stage and takes the mic from Pidge

Matt: Thanks, sis. Anyway, Rolo makes fun of their relationship, calls Keith a weirdo, and assaulted Lance at the mall. He's choked to death at Lotor's Halloween party. A party that Keith went to!
Lotor and Kuro almost raped Lance. He notices Lance cringing Sorry to bring that up, Lance. But anyway, they're stabbed to death in the woods. And Plaxum. Sad to see her go. She was close to Lance... Then she was mutilated... Keith owns a blade, and all but one were stabbing victims. More gasps are heard throughout the gym Keith almost had a sixth victim, James Griffin. A guy Lance met while on a date with Keith at Arus Diner. Lance asked him for help, but Keith didn't like that, and threatened him.

A video plays on the screen, showing James

Allura: Start from the beginning, please.

James: Alright, so I see this guy at a table looking uncomfortable. He gestured for me to come over to his table, I do, and then he wrote "Help Me. I'm scared" on a napkin. I remembered there was another guy sitting next to him, Keith, so I thought he might be the problem. I offered to get him out of there, but then Keith shows up and threatens me, telling me not to look at his boyfriend. Then he threatened to kill me! "If you value your life, you'll walk out that door." Seriously, that's what he said!

The video ends, Matt turns his attention back to the audience and sees them all whispering amongst themselves and inching away from Keith. Some even attempt to pull Lance away, but are met with sneers from Keith

Matt: It's over, Keith. He walks up to Keith with a hate-filled glare Allura called the police. They're on their way...

Lance notices Keith's hand moving towards his pocket. Knowing what Keith is planning to do, he pushes Matt out of the way a second before Keith can stab him in the chest, but instead, he gets stabbed in the shoulder, making him yell in pain

Romelle: LANCE!

Keith pulls his knife out of Lance's shoulder, making him wince, and points the bloody weapon at Hunk, Shay, and Allura, who were about to help Lance

Keith: STAY AWAY FROM HIM!

Hunk: Are you serious right now? YOU STABBED HIM! Lance should be staying away from you!

Pidge: She helps Matt up You were gonna kill Matt, weren't you?!

Keith: He tried to take Lance away from me!

Lance: Holding his shoulder He didn't take me away from you! He staggers a bit I don't belong to you, or anyone!

Keith: You do belong to me! I love you!

Lance: I DON'T LOVE YOU! Keith steps back a bit I have put up with your possessiveness for a long time! I didn't think you were hurting anyone, and yet, you kill five people, and then you tried to kill the person I love! You told me you loved me, how is hitting me, killing people, and raping me loving me?!

HE WHAT?!

Everyone turns their attention away from Lance and Keith, and see Shiro, sweaty and out of breath, standing at the doorway with Adam behind him. The look on his face is somewhere between rage and denial

Shiro: Keith, is this true?

Keith: No! It's not!

Allura: Don't believe a single word out of his mouth, Shiro! Keith has been hitting Lance! He's raped him! And he's killed five people!

Keith: Shut. The fuck. UP!

He runs over to Allura, and tackles her to the floor as she kicks and screams. He wraps his hand around her throat, intending to choke her to death. Romelle and Pidge try to pull him off, but he uses his other hand to point his blade at them, and they sustain a few scrapes. When Allura finally stops kicking, Keith gets off of her, and receives a punch in the face from Romelle

Romelle: YOU BASTARD! She kneels by Allura's limp body, and tries to wake her up 'Lura, please.

Shiro: What the hell, Keith?!

Keith: SHUT UP!

Everything was falling apart. Keith had to get out of there, they were gonna take Lance away from him. Seeing no other option, he grabs Lance's arm, pulls him in close, pulls something out from the inside of his jacket and points it to the side of Lance's head

Pidge: KEITH, NO! Tears stream down her face as Shiro holds her back

Hunk: Come on. Think about this!

Adam: Keith. Put the gun down, and let Lance go.

Lance: Crying Keith, please!

Keith: No! I was supposed to keep him safe from everyone! I couldn't even do that!... Now call off the police. Say it was all a mistake. He slowly backs out of the gym as the students part for him, not wanting to meet the business end of the gun... Don't come looking for us. Matt starts to take a step forward You think I won't shoot my boyfriend? I will! He presses the gun to Lance's chest What's it gonna be?

Hunk: Okay! Just stop! He pulls out his phone and is about to call the police

It's over. Keith won. Lance would be his forever. Hunk lost his best friend, Romelle probably lost her girlfriend, Shiro lost his brother, Pidge couldn't save him, and Matt lost the one person he ever loved

Lance: Do it.

Romelle: What?!

Matt: Lance!

Pidge: Think about what you're saying!

Hunk: Lance, please-

Lance: I tried to kill myself once, might as well do it right. He glares at Keith Do it! End my pain! Do one good thing for me! I would rather die than spend the rest of my life with you!

Keith couldn't shoot him, he just couldn't. He looks to Matt. His fault. It was his fault! If that asshole had just kept his mouth shut, he wouldn't be in this mess! He and Lance could've stayed together, Lance would be his, Lance wouldn't ask for death. It was Matt's fault! He did this!

Lance feels the end of the gun being removed from his chest. A part of him is glad he gets to live to see another day, but the other part, a dark part, wishes that Keith had blown his heart out. He needed this nightmare to end. When he looks up, he finds that Keith has a new target

Lance: MATT!

Keith: You did this! This is your own damn fault!

Matt: Put the gun down, Keith! The police are almost here!

Keith: You deserve this!

Something sparks inside of Lance when he sees the look of fear in Matt's eyes. He's been protecting him, now it's time to return the favor. Seeing Keith about to pull the trigger, he pulls himself out of Keith's hold, it wasn't easy, but he did it, and ran in front of the gun, just as a bullet came shooting out

Time suddenly slows downs for Lance, something he only thought happened in movies. He sees the shock on Keith's face. He should've expected this from the Cuban. Then he sees the terrified expressions on Shiro, Adam, Pidge, Hunk, Shay, and Romelle's faces. He'll miss them. Now he sees Allura's limp body on the floor. Would they see each other soon? And finally... The look of heartbreak Matt has... Lance did this because he loved him. Now he sees two men in police uniforms running towards Keith. Heh. Took them long enough

Time speeds up again, the bullet goes right through Lance's chest. There are cries of anguish, his and everyone around him. He falls into Shiro's arms and starts to lose consciousness. Still aware of the situation, he hears everyone telling him to keeps his eyes open, sees the tears on their faces, and he turns around to see Keith kicking and screaming as the officers cuff him. He even bites one of them on the arm

Despite everyone's encouragement to stay awake, he just can't. And closes his eyes, ready for the Lord's embrace