#heithsecretsanta2017

There was probably a reason, he thought hazily as he headed to the kitchen. He hardly realized why he was headed there until he got there, and there was a person standing in the middle of it, making what looked like donuts. “Who the hell makes donuts at home?” The man jumped, and Keith’s first thought was Oh. So I said that out loud.

Hunk- yes, that was his name, come to think of it- looked devastated for a moment, and then turned his back and gave a hollow laugh. “I do, silly.”

Keith moved to his side and tilted his head at the other; the longer he stared, the more things were coming back. This wasn’t just ‘a person’. This was Hunk Garrett, his best friend, his lover, his entire world. They’d met while both studying magic, two of a select few apprentices handpicked by Allura herself. She used no titles; anyone who was a magic user already knew why her name was important. They joined a guild of wizards who took important missions like corralling dragons away from highly populated areas. They were good at their jobs, even though their education was still a work in progress, and after working together for months, had grown close enough that Keith spent more time at Hunk’s place than his own. Most importantly, they were happy. Weren’t they?

Unfortunately, the closer he got to the present, the more foggy the story slowly reconstructing itself was getting. It was skipping chapters like someone was fast-forwarding through a movie they had already seen, but, oddly enough, he felt like he hadn’t seen it, even though it was his life. “I had the weirdest dream last night,” he decided that, if he couldn’t remember the past few days, it must simply be a forgettable dream slipping through his fingers, as dreams do. “You know how… usually, if you’re falling, you’ll wake up before you hit the ground?”

Hunk’s shoulders tensed, and he nodded without turning around, clutching the utensil in his hand a little tighter than necessary. “Yeah?”

“I dreamt that I died. And I didn’t wake up.” Hunk flinched, and Keith paused, the rest of the story swept off the table as concern for his lover replaced it. Clearly, this idea disturbed him- a lot. “Hey,” he moved closer, hugging him from behind. “Never mind. It was just a bad dream. Can I help make frosting for the donuts?” Maybe, if he changed the subject, Hunk wouldn’t be so upset.

As usual with anything concerning emotions, Keith was wrong. Hunk started to cry- which, although it happened several times a day, was disturbing in that it wasn’t usually Keith’s fault. Distressed, Keith spoke up, “Hunk, baby, I don’t- I don’t understand. What’s wrong? What did I do?”

“No,” Hunk managed, his voice soft and tortured, and moved the pot of oil for frying the donuts off of the heat- his attention to detail wasn’t compromised, even when his vision was. “You d-didn’t do anyth- you didn’t do anything wrong. I did. It was me.”

Keith immediately jumped to denial. “No way. You’re like a saint, the last time you did anything wrong was stealing candy from Lance, and even then-”

“You died!” Hunk interrupted loudly, pushing Keith off of him to hold him at arm’s length, as if about to shake him by his shoulders. “You died, Keith. It wasn’t a dream. And you know the one rule we’re not supposed to break? I broke it. And I- I wasn’t gonna tell you, because living and knowing you’re with a criminal is awful, but I don’t know what’s more awful, telling you what I did or keeping secrets from you, and now that you know I guess it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re back. And I understand if you hate me, or you wanna go back, but I had to,” he paused, curling in on himself as he cried harder, and finished, “I had to at least say goodbye.” Keith shushed him softly, pushing his arms away from his shoulders to step between them and wrap around his lover once again.

“You never break the rules.” He murmured, awestruck. “You go the speed limit when we drive, and you offer a bite of every meal to the gods, no matter how hungry you are. You never kill the magical creatures we find, even when they try to kill us. And you broke the biggest rule, for me.” Keith felt that he had to say it out loud to even begin to believe it, but once it left his lips, he knew it to be true. He could taste the truth in the words like salt in seawater. So, he decided to ride this wave and keep telling the truth. “I never said it, but I should have. I love you. I love you more than anything.”