Title: The Picnic

Things on Arus were peaceful, and had been peaceful for almost a month. During this temporary cease-fire the Voltron force was enjoying a much needed vacation. The chance to relax during a time of great conflict was welcomed by everyone. On this sunny day Hunk and Pidge had retreated to the lake to a little swimming (though everyone suspected they were going to do more then just swim). Sven had retreated to the solidarity of the woods to try to catch up on his writings. Allura had gone shopping with Nanny for the day. Which left Lance alone wandering the castles with no one to ‘play with’ as he sure wasn’t about go to Coran and he couldn’t find Keith. Though truthfully he wanted to find Keith and spend the day with his best friend.

Lance noticed the light shinning out from underneath the closed library door. "I should’ve known this is where Keith was hiding." Lance whispered to himself before entering the library where he saw Keith sitting in front of a computer screen. "This doesn’t look like relaxing to me." Lance said as stepped over behind Keith. He leaned over Keith’s shoulder and looked at the computer screen for a moment. "Nope. Definitely not anything fun."

"Maybe not but it still needs to be done." Keith said, not even turning the slightest bit to look at Lance.

"But I’m bored." Lance pouted.

"Oh, and that means I’m suppose to amuse you?"

Lance grinned brightly. "Yup. You’re my last hope."

"You are hopeless."

"Pleeeeeeasssssseeeee?" Lance begged. He got down on his knees beside Keith’s chair and grabbed Keith’s hand, looking up at Keith with pleading puppy dog eyes, in an over-dramatized asking, knowing that always seemed to work on Keith. "Pretty please… with sugar on top."

Keith couldn’t help but chuckle at Lance’s antics. "And just what’s in for me?"

"You get to spend the rest of the day with me." Lance grinned.

"That would be more of a punishment." Keith said, trying to keep a straight face as he said it.

"You need to relax too." Lance pointed out in a moment of seriousness. "I’ll buy you a drink of Arusian Ambrosia at the nearest pub."

"You know I don’t drink."

"Maybe you should." Lance started to laugh until Keith gave him one of his patented firm looks. "Look I am bored out of my skull… wouldja please just stop working for a bit and relax, it’d be good for both of us."

Keith sighed deeply, knowing that he would never win the argument. "Alright you win. I’ll work on this later."

Lance let out a loud whoop and hugged Keith. "Thank you. I know you wouldn’t let me down." He jumped up and pulled Keith to his feet, barely giving the other man time to shut down the computer before hauling him out the door.

"And just what is it you want you expect me to do with you?" Keith asked as Lance drug him along through the corridors.

Lance stopped for a moment as though thinking of the answer. "Have a picnic with me."

"A picnic? With anyone else that would sound safe and relaxing… however with you it sounds dangerous." Keith laughed. "Besides I was thinking you were looking for something fun and exciting to do."

"I didn’t say that… I just said I was looking for someone to spend the day with." Lance said.

Keith raised an eyebrow. "Just what is it that you are up to?"

"Me?" Lance asked, point to himself. "Innocent, little me... up to something?"

"Oh Gods, now I know you are up to something." Keith said.

For brief moment Lance looked nervous. "I just want to get you to relax."

"And?"

"And nothing." Lance said. He was beginning to wonder if this picnic was really such a good idea.

"Yeah… I’m not saying I don’t trust you I just… ah, hell I don’t." Keith joked.

"Okay… if you don’t want to…" Lance said hanging his head in dejection.

For the second time Keith released a sigh of defeat. "Okay… okay. I’ll have a picnic with you."

Lance looked up and grinned brightly. "Thank you, Keith… I was hoping you’d say yes. I got everything ready… in my room. We can just go get it and then go to this perfect little spot I found."

"Why do I got the distinct feeling that I have just been suckered."

Lance only grinned brighter and began to once again drag Keith down the corridors of the castle.

@@@@@@@

Lance leaned against a willow tree, leisurely sipping a glass of Arusian Ambrosia as though the liquid gold may somehow give him the courage to do what he had had brought Keith out here to do. Keith was laying on his stomach, he had his head held up in his hands as he stared out across the valley from atop the tallest cliff in Arus.

"It sure is beautiful view from up here." Keith said as he stared out at the setting sun that glistened across the valley.

"Yeah, it sure is." Lance whispered, though the only sight his eyes were on was Keith.

"Are you sure you don’t want a drink?" Lance offered.

"I don’t drink." Keith replied.

"Why don’t you?" Lance curiously.

"Because I am not suppose to."

"Oh…" Lance said, still obviously confused. "Says who?"

"The people at the rehab center." Keith admitted so quietly that Lance wasn’t sure he had heard him right.

"Rehab center? I thought those places were for people with addictions." Lance said, he set the finished glass aside and moved to lie down beside Keith so he could see Keith’s black eyes.

"They are."

"But…" Lance started to say but Keith was quick to cut him off.

"I have never told this to anyone… but you are not just anyone, you are my best friend. Just promise you won’t repeat a word of this to anyone."

"You have my word." Lance vowed.

"Yes, the Rehab Centers are a place for those suffering for addictions… that’s why I was there."

"You? I mean the only thing you are addicted to is work." Lance said, the hurt look on Keith’s face made him wish he hadn’t cracked a joke about it. "I’m sorry, Keith. It just seems a little hard to believe… I have known you since the academy and never known you to drink… or do drugs."

"It was before that. I was only seventeen when I was in there." Keith said quietly, his yes looked distant as he thought about that time in his life.

"So it was for drinking?" Lance asked.

"Drinking, drugs… the whole nine yards." Keith replied.

"Whoa…" Lance breathed out in a whispered. He kept himself propped up on one arm, and reached over to place a comforting hand on Keith’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure of exactly what he should say, so he said the only thing he could think of. "That’s kinda hard to believe... I mean… if I wasn’t hearing this from you I never would’ve believed it."

"I’ve changed my life around since then." Keith said a little pointedly.

"I know that. And I am glad that you did." Lance said, squeezing Keith’s shoulder. "I’m surprised that the General even allowed…"

Keith cut Lance’s sentence off before he had a chance to finish. "Are you kidding? My father was never home, I was lucky if I saw him once a month. And with five older sisters my mother was always busy with them. Living in a house with six women was not the idea of fun for a fifteen year old."

Lance chuckled. "I thought one sister was bad, I couldn’t imagine her times five."

Keith smiled slightly at Lance’s joke. He was actually surprised at how easy talking to Lance was. "Yeah well… a little while before my sixteenth birthday I decided I had more then enough and that I could take care of myself."

"You ran away from home?" Lance said, sounding quite shocked for the second time that night.

"Yeah. I thought my hundred dollars would get me really far." Keith chuckled at his own naivete. "I made it to the main highway and hitched a ride with a trucker to the nearest city."

"Did your parents look for you?"

"Yeah… and kept looking until I turned up in the hospital on a overdose… I don’t even remember anything about that night."

Lance wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulder and gave him a hug. He wasn’t sure if it was Keith he was trying to comfort or himself, as he thought of how he had almost never known the one person who meant more then anything to him.

"Look… this isn’t what you wanted to come up here for, so why don’t you just let me in on whatever it was that you had planned." Keith said.

"I… what makes you think I had anything other then a picnic planned?"

"Because I know you." Keith said.

"Yeah… well, it can wait until another time." Lance said. "I think right now you need someone to talk to. Everything you’re saying is a lot for a person to carry around alone with them."

Keith turned and looked at Lance, seeing the genuine sincerity in Lance’s eyes. He reached out and brushed back a lock of chestnut brown hair from Lance’s eyes. "You really are the one and only person I would want to share any of this with, you are my best friend."

"And you are my best friend."

"Nothing I say could change that… right?" Keith asked, there was a slight tremble of worry in his voice and it was all he could do to keep eye contact with Lance as he waited for the answer.

"Nothing." Lance assured him. "Even if you told me you were a mass murderer." He joked hoping to ease some of Keith’s obvious tension. Keith still looked concerned so Lance turned serious again. "Look, Keith, nothing is going to change the fact that you are my best friend. I love you far too much to stop just because of anything that happened to you in the past."

Keith turned to stare back out across the valley, even though the sun had set too far behind a distant hill to see much. ‘I wish he really did that he actually loves me…but he couldn’t… wouldn’t… not when he hears everything and I couldn’t keep it from him just to have a relationship, it wouldn’t be fair.’ Keith thought to himself.

"What are you thinking about?" Lance asked. After a moment Keith still hadn’t answer. "Was it something I said?"

"No. I was just thinking…" Keith said his voice trailed off leaving the rest of his sentence unsaid. He pulled himself up into a sitting position. "It’s getting dark maybe we should head back."

"No. We can do a little bit of camping, we don’t have to rush back yet." Lance said as he sat up.

A moment of tense silence seemed to settle between them until Lance finally spoke and broke the silence. "I do mean it. No matter what you will always be my best friend." Lance reached out and placed a gentle hand against Keith’s check. "Nothing can change how I feel about you… I love you."

Keith looked at Lance. "Do you mean that?"

"Do I mean what? That I’ll always be you’re friend?"

"That you love me."

Lance smiled. "Of course I love you…" Lance paused for a moment. "I am in love with you." he corrected himself.

Keith closed his eyes and turned his head away from Lance trying to stop the tears that burned in his eyes.

"Um… not a reaction that I ever imagined…" Lance said dejectedly.

"Oh, Lance… it just… it could never be."

"Why? Because we are both men?"

Keith turned and looked at Lance. "No, that is really not a problem… not at all. I have been gay since I hit puberty…"

"Then what is the problem? I love you and… correct me if I am wrong but I think you love me too."

"Of course I love you, Lance. You are my best friend and mean more to me then I could ever say… it’s just that…"

"Just what?" Lance prodded. He knew with Keith you either had to push to get him to talk or leave him be to let him talk when he was ready, and you had to know which to do before even trying. Lance felt this was one of those times that Keith needed a little extra push to get him to talk.

"It just could never be… not with everything that has happened in my past." Keith said. This time there was no holding back his tears.

"Keith…" Lance said gently, as he wiped Keith’s tears off his cheeks. "I already told you nothing that happened in your past could ever change how I feel about you."

Keith shook his head. "You won’t want to be with me when you hear about everything I did."

"Shh." Lance said, he gathered Keith into his arms and rocked him gently. "I love you no matter what."

Keith leaned into Lance’s warm embrace burying his head against Lance’s shoulder as the tears slowly subsided.

A few moments later Lance stood up, pulling Keith to where they had spread the blankets out for the picnic. Lance grabbed one of the blankets and threw it around his back, then sat down by the tree. Lance wrapped his arms around Keith and held Keith in front of him, wrapping them both in the blanket.

"Were you glad that your parents found you?" Lance asked quietly.

"Not at first… but I really wasn’t all that with it. After the first couple months I was a little more happy about it then I was willing to admit. After that…" Keith’s voice trailed off and he shrugged. "Nothing was exactly the same… I mean it wasn’t long after that, that I was sent to the academy…"

"So, you were never close to any of your family after that?" Lance asked.

"We were never close to begin with. Here and now with you and the rest of the team… more a part of a family then I ever felt growing up."

Lance hugged Keith closer for a minute. "In a way we are a family… only thing is the family feelings I feel towards you is more a… spouse then a brother."

Keith chuckled softly. "Still… you’re right we are all a family."

"Amazing that has got to be the first time you have ever admitted that I was right." Lance grinned.

"That’s just because it don’t happen very often." Keith said. Before falling into a deep silence once again.

"You don’t have to talk any more tonight if you don’t want to." Lance assured Keith.

"I do want to… I should tell you everything before you decide if you really want to be with me."

"Keith, no matter what I love you. There is nothing you could say that could ever change that." Lance kissed the top of Keith’s head.

"You only mean nothing you can think of. Obvious even with what I told you already I am not exactly what or who you thought I was."

"Yes you are. It doesn’t change who you are. You are Keith... my best friend, captain of this team. You are one of the kindest most compassionate people I have ever met."

"But…" Keith started to object but Lance cut him off.

"But nothing. It doesn’t change who you are. I know who you are simply by looking into your eyes where I can so clearly see your beautiful soul."

Keith was grateful that it was dark and Lance couldn’t see his face so Lance couldn’t see him blush.

"If you don’t want to talk anymore tonight then I won’t make you. Whenever you are ready to talk some more I will be there to listen. I will always be there for you, no matter what."

"Thank you, Lance." Keith said as he snuggled closer to Lance. "But I think I need to talk now… for my own peace of mind."

"I can understand that."

"I wasn’t exactly on my own for those two years… and that’s why all this is so… why I know… why I think you won’t exactly be wanting a relationship with me after I tell you everything."

"I promise you nothing you tell me will make me love you any less." Lance said. "Was it someone you met on the street? Another runaway?"

"Yes and no…" Keith sighed. "Let me explain some things first. Like I said I only had a hundred dollars, and I soon found out that didn’t go very far. After a week of renting some place to sleep and buying food… I was broke and roaming the streets. I had never actually spent much time off the base and needless to say I was a little… naïve about the ways of the street…."

Lance held Keith a little tighter, he had heard enough stories about the terrors that happened to young, naïve runaways on the streets and was worried about what had happened to Keith. Lance pressed a tender kiss against the top of Keith’s head. "What happened?"

"I ran into a bit of trouble with these three guys… I had never been so scared in my whole life, I thought they were going to kill me right then and there…" Keith’s voice trailed off. "This guy came along…Corby, he saved me for them and… took me in under his wing."

"Oh? Did he try to get you off the streets?" Lance said, though there was a hint of skepticism in his voice."

Keith chewed his bottom lip nervously for moment wondering if Lance really meant what he said, that nothing could change the way he felt. "Well… in a way I guess… at least I had somewhere to stay and didn’t have to worry about my next meal."

"He just… gave you these things?" Lance asked. He could feel Keith tense in his arms. "It’s okay Keith, don’t worry nothing you say will change how I feel about you, just relax." Lance said, as he stroked both of Keith’s arms with his hands.

"It’s… just complicated… it wasn’t for free. You don’t get anything on the streets for free… but I didn’t know that at the time." Keith said, admitting the last part in a quiet whisper.

"What did that jerk do you?" Lance asked. Making a vow that if he ever saw this man, Corby, that he would kill him for any pain he caused Keith.

"Corby… it’s very, very complicated, Lance. And I… hell I never even told my parents much about it… I haven’t told anyone about everything that happened between Corby and me…"

"You don’t have to if you don’t want to."

"Yes, I do. I can’t be in a relationship with you and not tell you about what happened… I mean… it’s like talking about an old boyfriend or girlfriend in any other relationship people are in, only… a little more complicated."

"So, Corby was you boyfriend?"

"Basically. Corby was little bit older…"

"How much older?"

"He was thirty-one."

"Shit! He was 15 years older then you… almost old enough to be your father."

"I know." Keith said quietly.

Lance hugged Keith. "I didn’t mean to yell, I was just shocked."

"I seem to be shocking you a lot tonight…"

"Don’t even say it."

"Say what?"

"That I might change my mind because of all these shocks. I love you. Nothing is going to change that."

Keith smiled slightly at how Lance had guessed exactly what he was going to say, but of course he had said it a lot in the past couple hours. "Corby was my boyfriend… he was the first person I was ever with but… when I look back at it I know love had nothing to do with it… at least for him. He said he loved me but…" Keith drew a deep trembling breath into his lungs and slowly released it. "He also said that I made him angry and when that happen he’d… get a little rough he was very into… bondage games."

"Oh… Keith." Lance hugged Keith close. "I’m so sorry… I want to kill that son of a bitch for hurting you."

"I don’t hate him for it."

"I do. If I ever were to met him I’d make him sorry he even looked at you."

"It was a long time ago…" Keith said.

"It don’t care if it was few years or few days ago. I’ll stay kill him."

Keith couldn’t help but smile at the protectiveness in Lance’s voice.

"If he hurt you why did you stay with him?" Lance asked curiously.

"At first he didn’t do those things. He was very… sweet and nice. It wasn’t until about a month later that things started to get bad and I made him angry for the first time…" Keith’s voice trailed off as he thought about what had happened then. He shuddered and leaned deeper into Lance’s warm embrace.

"Why didn’t you leave him then?"

"Because I thought I had nowhere else to go… and by then I loved him. He said he loved me too…" Keith paused for a moment. "I was young and foolish and thought that’s what love was about. That all the things he did was just part of being in a relationship."

"Well it’s not." Lance said firmly. "I love you and I would never hurt you. That is what love is."

"I know that… now, and I wish I knew that then… knew you then."

"I wish that too."

"I know you are wondering… so yes he was the one who got me into drugs and drinking." Keith said.

Lance cursed Corby under his breath. "What kinds of drugs were you taking?"

"A little bit of everything… it got to be a lot easier then facing reality. If I was strung out I didn’t have to think about what I was doing."

"What you were doing?" Lance asked nervously.

"We had no money… the only way to get money on the street is stealing and selling."

"What all did you steal to sell?" Lance asked.

"Usually never stole anything major. Corby stole a few cars but I had nothing to do with that." Keith said. "The things I stole aren’t the only things that were sold…"

"What do you mean…" Lance started to ask when realization dawned on him. "You mean you… that you…"

"Were a prostitute."

"Yeah…" Lance said. He found it hard to believe that Keith has been a prostitute when Keith was very reserved and tended to avoid human contact.

"Like I said we had no money… so Corby arranged for me to work the streets. A lot of people out there are sick enough to want to be with an underage boy… and I had the looks to get their attention and Corby taught me how to give them whatever they wanted… to act how they wanted... to keep them coming back for more."

Lance kissed Keith’s head. "I am so sorry."

"For what?" Keith asked with a hint of nervousness in his voice, positive that what he had just told Lance was enough to make Lance leave him.

"That you had to go through any of that. That there were that many people out there so willing to use you."

"You… you aren’t sickened that I did it… and what to leave?"

"Never. I told you there was nothing you could say that could make me love you any less or ever leave you. I love you."

Keith turned his head and buried his face against Lance’s shoulder as tears began to flow freely down his cheeks. Some tears were of sadness and pain as he recalled his past. And others were tears of joy that Lance was still willing to be with him and that Lance truly loved him. Lance gently stoked Keith’s back whispering soft soothing words until Keith ran out of tears to cry.

"Thank you." Keith whispered quietly.

"For what?"

"For listening. For loving me."

Lance smiled softly. "No charge, skipper."

Keith was quiet for a moment. "After almost two years… things went from bad to worse. I don’t remember much that happened but one day I was fighting with Corby… something about money. I took off to get high… I guess I got a little too high."

"I’m just grateful that you were able to get the help you needed… to cleaned up off the drugs and make such a good life for yourself."

"What helps the most is being surrounded by friends." Keith said. "So… that is why I don’t drink anything anymore, I got a second chance at life and I am not going to blow it."

"That’s good." Lance grinned and kissed Keith’s forehead. "Besides, now that I know I won’t let you blow it."

"I know…" Keith’s voice trailed off for a moment. "I want to be with you but… it’s just…"

"You’re scared. Don’t worry, I understand that it’s going to take time. Good things come to those who wait."

"But what if…"

"If you can’t be with me? Just being able to hold you in my arms like this, Lance kissed Keith’s forehead again, "and kiss you. Is enough to make me happy."

"Are you sure? I mean I could…"

"I am positive. I am not going to force you into anything. Whenever you are ready, and only when you are ready we will… consummate our relationship."

"I love you, Lance." Keith said and tipped his head to brush a tender kiss across Lance’s cheek.

"And I love you." Lance hugged Keith.

Keith shifted his position so he was once again leaning back against Lance, with Lance’s arms wrapped around him, Keith’s arms draped over Lance’s. Keith leaned his head against Lance’s shoulders and they both stared up into the stars, a feeling of contentment washed over them at the comfort and togetherness they felt in each other’s arms. And as a shooting star shot across the sky overhead they both knew their wish, and dream, for love had finally came true.