Lance was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He knew he should get up but his body was disagreeing with him along with his mind. He wanted to just sleep forever but he also wanted to cry forever, too. Nothing made sense to him and he was having a war with himself. Yes, today was one of those days. He used to go through a day or two of feeling depressed and empty but then the next day he would be fine. They didn’t happen that often, maybe once a month. But recently, ever since they went to go save Slav, he has been feeling out of it. He came to realize that while on the mission, he is nothing more than a replacement. A 7th wheel. He tried not to think like that most of the time, he would think of all the good things about himself. His humor, that he only seemed to laugh to. His flirting, that everyone seemed annoyed about. His sharpshooting skills, that no one seemed to notice. His skin care routine, that everyone makes fun of him for. He would say his smile, but recently he has grown to hate his smile after Keith said how he smiles too much. He started to smile less, talk less, be more quiet, listen more often to everyone, help people when they asked, and when he was not needed then he was either in his room or training.
“ Why are you suddenly training so much? “
“ If you think that it will help you beat me in a fight, then you are dead wrong. “
Those words, those very words that Keith said to him one night after he walked in on Lance training with a sword, hurt Lance more than anything. But he kept on going, kept on training every night until the others woke up. He skipped breakfast and instead went to take a 30 minute nap before training started up again,
“ You need to stop being lazy and wake up more early, “ Keith would always say. All Lance would do is nod and get back to training. One night, Coran was the one to find him.
“ What are doing up so late? You need to get to sleep, “ Coran would always say.
“ Then why are you still awake? “
“ Because Keith told me to stop being lazy. “
Coran would nod and sigh before turning and leaving the training room. Then that is when it spiraled. Everyone was learning how to speak Altean, except for Lance. He would be in the training room instead. When he went to dinner, everyone was speaking Altean and he didn’t understand what they were saying.
“ Can you guys please speak in English? I don’t know what everyone is saying. “
“ Well maybe if you weren’t so lazy and started to learn Altean like everyone else then you would understand, “ Pidge spoke this time. All Lance did was nod then got back to eating. No one spoke in English.
Lance started to get less sleep and barely ate anymore. It wasn’t just one of those days anymore, he knew it after a month went by. He was depressed and just wanted to go home. He started to train more often then move onto learning how to speak Altean. He was trying so hard to catch up with everyone, feeling stressed and overwhelmed every time he made a mistake. Pidge was the youngest and got away with many things, no one dared to yell at Hunk, Shiro was the leader so no one pointed him out when he did something, Keith was a natural at fighting. That left Lance, everyone would turn to him when they needed help but always made fun of him when he needed help. He grew tired of it and stopped asking for help, instead he would just stare at the stars hoping to go home soon then get back to work.
Home. Lance always thought about home. Always wondered how everyone is, how many years have passed by, if something big happened, if they are okay. Pidge’s brother is out in space somewhere, Keith is an orphan, Hunk has a family also but he never seems to worry about them. It is as if everyone forgot home, everyone but Lance.
So now here he lays, staring up at his ceiling with tears flowing down his face. Hunk knocking on the door to tell him that it is time to train while Coran stands beside Hunk waiting for Lance. In Coran’s hands was something that looked like a cake that him and Hunk made. The cake was blue with blue icing and on it was the words, “ We are proud of you, Lance.”
“ Coming, “ The blue paladin spoke, getting out of bed. He made sure to wipe away his tears, going to his bathroom quickly to make sure that he looked decent. While he was checking himself, the others hurried to the door also, gathering up beside Hunk and Coran. They all made sure to get dressed and also made sure to wrap Lance some apology presents that they got at an Earth shop from the mall. After discovering through some video footage of what all Lance has been doing, they already knew it was their faults, They wanted to make it up to him for trying his hardest and for being so brave.
Once he made sure that no tears were visible, he stepped out of the bathroom and headed to his bedroom door. With one deep breath, he opened the door and saw everything. From the cake, to everyone gathered around his door, to all the wrapped presents and everyone smiling, “ We love you, Lance! “
Lance stared at them with wide eyes, tears filling up and dripping down, he fell to his knees with Keith quickly following behind. He hugged Lance, the Cuban boy burying his face into Keith’s chest while sobbing. He was sad or angry at them, instead he was happy. He knew that he wouldn’t be home at Earth for a long time, but with the people he has right now. He knew that deep down inside this was where he wanted to be. This was his home.
