Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

**This is just some background info that may or may not be stated in the story, so I would recommend reading it but skip over it if you want, it shouldn't matter too much.

Character Descriptions(at the beginning of this fic):

Lance McClain

• Age 20
• Junior in college
• Astronomy major
• Goofy/energetic
• Insecure
• Hopeless romantic
• Functioning bi/disaster bi
• Meme lord
• Roommates with Pidge

Keith Kogane

• Age 20
• Junior in college
• Astronomy major
• Emo/lone wolf
• Insecure
• Disaster gay
• Cryptid enthusiast
• Only cooking skill is making canned ravioli
• Shiro’s younger bro
• Roommates with Hunk

Katie “Pidge” Holt

• Age 18
• Freshman in college
• Computer science major
• Literal tech wizard
• Also cryptid enthusiast
• Meme lord
• Asexual
• Feisty gremlin
• Roommates with Lance

Hunk Garrett

• Age 20
• Junior in college
• Engineering Major
• Super nice and lovable
• Cooks for everyone always
• Really smart
• Kind of a coward but a lovable one at that
• Straight ally
• Roommates with Keith

Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane

• Age 26
• Out of college
• Works as an RA at UCLA and bar tends
• Keith’s older bro
• Overprotective brother and dad to the younger children
• Adam’s boyfriend/soulmate
• Great guy all around
• Has a prosthetic arm bc he used to be in the military

Adam “aDAM” Wakim

• Age 27
• Out of college
• Works as a lawyer at a big firm
• Is very proper
• But also a nerd
• CO-brother and parent alongside Shiro
• Functional gay
• Shiro’s boyfriend/soulmate

Mathematics “Matt” Holt

• Age 26
• Out of college
• Works at google
• Is super duper smart
• But a huge nerd
• Meme lord
• Weeb
• Really funny
• Pidge’s older bro
• Straight ally

Allura Altea

• Age 26
• Out of college
• Works as an actress on a hit tv drama about doctors
• Is super fancy and extra
• Many gorgeous much attractive
• Is an actual goddess
• Pansexual
• Carefree

Shay Balmera:

• Age 20
• Junior in College
• Journalism major
• Super nice
• Likes gardening
• Very reserved
• Likes to read
• Friends with Hunk but doesn’t really know the rest of the group
• Roommates with Nyma

Nyma Beezer:

• Age 20

• Junior in college

• Cosmetics major

• Acts like a bitch

• Because she is a bitch
• Interests include being a hoe
• And also a bitch(surprise!)
• But honestly really loves makeup and has a successful BeautyGuru YouTube channel
• Wants to get with Lance
• Lance is obsessed with her
• But Nyma plays hard to get
• Straight

Setting:

• Laguna Beach, California is where Adashi and Allura live in neighboring apartments
• UCLA for the kiddos still in college, they live in the dorms - Lance and Pidge live together and Hunk and Keith live together. Their dorms are down the hall from one another.
• Set during present time
• Basically everything is the same except for the whole soulmate thing, daily life goes on as normal

Chapter 1: Coffee and Comfort

“Lance! Get up, we have school!”

Lance groaned and sat up in his bed. He wiped the drool trailing down his chin on the sleeve of the baseball tee he wore to bed. Swinging his legs over the bed, he yawns, stretching his long arms above his head. Running a hand through his hair he glances at the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand next to his bed.

“SHIT!”

He leaps out of bed throwing on a fresh baseball tee and some jeans. He grabs his favorite forest green army jacket and sprints out to the kitchen of his small dorm room. He’s met by Pidge, who is sitting at the table, sipping from a cup of coffee and watching Lance scramble to get ready from behind her large circular glasses resting atop her nose. Lance is running around their dorm, throwing bread into the toaster and pouring a cup of coffee for himself, trying to get ready as quick as possible..

“Are you incapable of helping me?” he asks a smirking Pidge while he tugs on his light up white and blue high tops.

She just shrugs and goes back to looking at her computer screen, her smug smile still plastered on her face. Lance flips her off as he walks over to the counter to get his toast. He takes a couple swigs of his coffee and a few of toast. He shrugs on his jacket and bolts out the door shouting a goodbye to Pidge. He walks to the end of the hall where Keith and Hunk are already waiting for him. They all have an early morning class in the same building as they found out after the first week of school, so they eventually started carpooling to save gas. The only problem was: Lance drove them. As everyone knew, Lance was a terrible driver. It was a miracle he hadn’t been in any accidents - though he had been close a few times.

Despite driving roughly over a couple manholes and going over the curb once, they make it to UCLA without crashing, which is always an accomplishment when Lance is driving. They all walk through the doors together, Hunk chatting amiably about some chick in his Calculus class. Shay was it? Lance can’t remember, he kind of zoned out while Hunk was talking. Keith on the other hand was listening intently, though you wouldn’t be able to tell by his crossed arms and expressionless face.

Eventually they split up, Hunk going to his engineering class and Lance and Keith going to their astrology class.

Keith and Lance always sat next to each other, but they never talked unless it was to bicker. They didn’t hate each other, but Lance was convinced that Keith was always trying to one up him. Keith knew he was better than him and Lance was sure he beat him at things to make him look stupid. Lance even created this fake rivalry of sorts. In reality, it wasn’t Keith’s fault that he was just better at certain things. He didn’t even “beat him” on purpose. It’s not like he gloated or anything either, Lance just always pointed it out whenever Keith did something better than him. Keith played along sometimes, teasing him or throwing out an insult since it seemed to be what Lance wanted, but he didn’t by any means hate him. He actually kind of liked being around the boy. He was funny and kind, and in those rare moments when he would actually shut up for once, he could actually be a good listener. Plus he was hot. But Keith didn’t like him like that. He couldn’t.

Lance was obsessed with Nyma anyways. He flirted with her any chance he got. Which was a lot considering that they saw each other basically every day. They had a lot of classes together. Which was fine except there was one problem - Keith was in every single one of those classes.

It wasn’t that Keith is jealous or anything - because he doesn’t like Lance so he can’t be jealous - he just thinks it’s stupid that Lance flirts with her. She always brushes him off and treats him like shit. She’s obviously not interested and he can do so much better than that hoe. Under that goofy, flirtatious exterior, is an amazing human being. Lance is such a good guy, he deserves so much. But Keith doesn’t like him. Definitely not.

oOoOoOo

All throughout class, Lance thought about his soulmate. What they might look like, how they might act. He even thought about writing on his arm. He had never tried it before, and was curious to see what his soulmate would do. He had seen all the movies and heard all the stories about what it was like to write and receive things, but every time he thought about doing it, he chickened out. It had been 4 years and he hadn’t written anything. Even though he was a hopeless romantic. Nobody thought that though because of all his shameless flirting, but he truly was. He wanted to settle down with the one more than anything. He had always hoped that his soulmate would be someone he knew, like Nyma. He really liked her, but she didn’t seem to return his feelings. He always thought Allura was pretty too, though she was older and when he thought of dating one of Shiro’s closest friends, he got a weird feeling in his chest. So he easily ruled out that one. But Nyma was gorgeous. With her blond, flowing hair and almost purple eyes, she always took Lance’s breath away. Her personality was… not the best but Lance thought maybe he could learn to love her. If they were, in fact, soulmates then they should be meant to be together, right?

Although Lance normally pictured himself with girls, he sometimes imagined being with guys too. He knew he was bisexual, and had for a while. It was obvious he was attracted to guys too, as he did flirt with them sometimes, though not as often as girls. Everyone knew he was bi, it’s not like he tried to hide it. Guys would seek him out and he never shied away.

Although he tried to portray himself as super flirtatious and outgoing, it wasn’t who he really was. It was all a mask - a disguise. He really just wanted to love someone who loved him back. And Lance hoped that that person was his soulmate.

Sometimes Lance would stare at the tan skin stretching along his toned forearms, wondering why his soulmate had never written anything. Some people thought that the whole idea of soulmates was stupid. Is that what his soulmate thought? Maybe they were just scared. Or maybe his soulmate already hated his guts. Maybe Lance would never get to meet them, or maybe-

A hand placed itself on his shoulder and shocked Lance out of his head and back into reality.

“Hey man, you alright?”

Oh, it was just Keith.

Lance nodded, feeling the anxiety and insecurities slowly slipping away, though the tight feeling in his chest remained.

Lance felt the hand retract. He frowned slightly at the cold, empty feeling that replaced Keith’s warm hand. Keith gave him a concerned look, but didn’t say anything. Lance was grateful.

Lance threw himself into his notes for the few remaining minutes left in class, trying to distract himself. Anything to keep him out of his head and the thoughts churning there. His thoughts from earlier put him in a bad mood and all he wanted to do was go back to his dorm and watch sad rom-coms and cry into a pint of chocolate chip ice cream. He needed to get out of there so when their professor dismissed them, Lance grabbed his things and took off down the aisle, going two steps at a time trying to get out of that classroom as fast as possible. But right before he reached the door, he heard someone yell his name. He stopped in his tracks, whipping  around. He scanned the room, looking for the person who had called out to him, ready to shout at them for disrupting his escape. But then his eyes rested on Keith who was looking down at him, struggling as he tried to simultaneously cram his textbook into his backpack while zipping it up and flying down the steps of the forum room. Lance laughed a little at the sight of Keith being flustered. He considered just ditching him but ultimately decides to duck out of the herd of stampeding students and wait for Keith.

When Keith reaches him, Lance notices that his breathing is a little heavy, probably from all the effort it took to get down to Lance at the speed he did. Lance gives Keith a minute to catch his breath as they start walking together toward their dorm building, their strides syncing up almost effortlessly, though neither boy realizes it. They walk in comfortable silence for a while before Keith breaks the ice, asking, “Are you okay, Lance?”.

“Yeah, yeah, of course I’m fine.” Lance brushes off the question, knowing damn well he wasn’t fine but refusing to admit that to Keith.

“Are you sure? Because you don’t look fine.”

Lance scoffs. “Wow, thanks Keith.”

“Come on, Lance. You know that’s not what I meant.”

Lance doesn’t respond, keeping his eyes trained on the ground, hearing the crunch of the leaves as his high tops crush them into the pavement.

“Lance, I know we aren’t super close or anything, but-” he pauses, taking a second to collect his thoughts. “But, you know you can talk to me, right?”

Lance laughs darkly, trying to lighten the mood, but failing. The tone of his voice is harsh and accusing.

“Please, like you’d want to listen to all the shit in my head. No one ever does.” He mutters the latter, thinking Keith wouldn’t hear him, but he does.

“Lance, I do. Especially if it’ll make you feel better. And I know it will, because you’re the kind of person that pretends to be happy all the time but keeps your true emotions on the inside until it all gets too much and you explode. Getting it all out is the only way to clear your head.”

“I’m not pretending, I’m fine.” Lance says, knowing he’s lying and knowing that Keith knows that too.

Keith gives him a knowing look, making Lance look at the ground again.

“It doesn’t matter.” he mumbles.

That’s when Keith grabs Lance firmly by the forearm, stopping him from walking away. Lance stares up into Keith’s eyes, waiting for him to say something. “Lance, it does matter.” Keith says seriously. “ You matter.” he says, never breaking eye contact.

Lance’s face twists into a pained look and he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

im back, trying

Keith searches Lance’s eyes frantically, trying to find some sort of reaction. Lance is wringing his hands, looking like he wants to do something, but not sure if he should.

“Lance?”

Lance looks up at Keith, his eyes shiny with tears ready to fall. And before Keith can say another word, Lance is throwing himself into Keith’s arms, wrapping his own tightly around Keith’s torso.

Keith tenses, clearly shocked, and a little uncomfortable by the action, but quickly composes himself. He wraps his arms around Lance’s thin frame and hugs him, trying to calm down the fragile boy.

“I’m sorry, Keith. I’m so, so sorry.”

Keith rubs small circles into Lance’s back, trying to comfort him as Lance’s arms tighten around him.

“For what?”

“You were just trying to be nice and I was being a dick to you because I’m stupid. I’m so so stupid-”

“Lance, stop. You’re not stupid.”

Lance stops rambling, but doesn’t let go for a couple more moments. Being the middle child in such a large family, he didn’t get a ton of attention. The older kids were busy doing their own thing and his parents were busy dealing with the younger ones. He didn’t have anyone to talk to. So he learned to keep his emotions to himself. He didn’t want to be seen as a burden. The others were more important than him, anyways. So he bottled it all up and put up the goofball act to hide what he was truly feeling. He wouldn’t admit this to Keith, but he had described him to a tee. Which was kind of odd, as they barely knew each other.

“Lance?” Keith asked timidly.

“Yeah?”

“What do you think about getting some coffee?”

oOoOoOo

After about a five minute wait, Lance and Keith finally made it to the front of the line. Caribou had been busy so they found the nearest Starbucks instead. Lance, being the basic hoe he is, ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte with a straw, because apparently, ‘it’s a necessity, Keith’. Keith ended up ordering straight black coffee, saying it represented his soul or some shit, whatever the hell that meant. Once they got their coffee, they found a table for two on the patio outside the store. Keith took a sip of his bitter brew and watched Lance’s lips purse around his straw, sucking up some of the beverage as he looked at the scenery around him. It was early October, so some trees had green leaves and others had oranges, reds, and yellows. It was truly stunning.

Lance’s eyes traveled past Keith and to the busy street behind him, and the small shops around it. He spotted one of the vintage stores he really liked and a smile slowly spread itself out on his face. His gaze traveled further until he was brought back to Keith, who was watching him intently.

“Can I help you?”

Keith chuckled, his shoulders shaking a little as he laughed. Something tugged in Lance’s chest but he wasn’t quite sure what it was. It was probably because of all the stress from earlier. Yeah, that must be it.

“So.”

“So.”

“Are you going to tell me what got you so worked up in class today?”

Lance winced, thinking of the self deprecating thoughts that forever swirled in his head. Keith noticed and his eyes softened, wanting to help the boy but not knowing how. He wasn’t very good at this whole… emotions thing.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I just thought it might help a bit to talk to someone about it.” Keith backtracked, trying not to pressure Lance into telling him what was bothering him.

Lance sighed. “No, no, you’re right. It’s just- it’s stupid.” He looked down again, something Keith noticed he did whenever he said something bad about himself.

“Lance.”

“I know, I’m an idiot.”

“Lance, you’re not-”

“You don’t have to pretend you care, I don’t even know why I thought-”

“LANCE!”

Lance’s head shot up, a hint of fear in his eyes at Keith’s tone. A couple of people even glanced at them at the yell, but it was the only way Keith could think to get Lance to stop rambling.

“I was going to say that it couldn’t have been stupid if you got that worked up over it. Plus, I’m not pretending I care, so I would appreciate it if you stopped saying that I am.” he said with a small smile on his face.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry, you have nothing to be sorry for.” Keith’s tone was gentle, no traces of harshness at all, which was unlike him. He was being uncharacteristically nice to Lance, but he didn’t care that he was going soft. Not when it came to Lance.

“Sorry- shit, right, okay.”

“So you gonna tell me? Or are we just going to sit here and drink our coffee in silence?”

Lance told Keith everything. About not writing anything for the past 4 years, why he’s scared to try, and his anxiety about what could happen if he did. Keith didn’t say anything while Lance talked - only listened. Which was what Lance really needed. Keith only spoke after Lance had finished speaking, and he waited several moments to make sure he was done.

“It’s not stupid Lance.”

“You don’t have to say that, Keith. I know it is, it’s stupid that I’m so scared.”

“Well, if it’s stupid, then I’m right there with you.”

Lance looks up at Keith, eyes hopeful but confused.

“I’ve never written anything either. Or gotten anything, for that matter.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Lance let out a deep breath.

“I thought I was all alone. Like I was some freak or no one wanted me or-“

“Lance, please stop.”

“Why? It’s true!”

Keith sighed, palms dragging down his face with the last bit of his patience barely hanging on.

“Lance, why do you think so low of yourself?”

Lance’s head dropped as he suddenly became very interested in his latte. But Keith waited, knowing Lance would answer eventually.

“I guess,” he started out, taking quietly, “I guess I just don’t think I’m important. Everyone’s better than me at everything, especially you! I always tried to beat you in everything, even the stupidest things like who could chug a can of soda first because I wanted to prove I could be good at something.”

Keith was shocked at the words he was hearing. Lance really thought that he was better than him?

“Are you serious?” Lance looked confused.

“Yes?”

Keith laughed. “Dude, you are so much better than me at so many things. For one, getting dates and picking up people at bars and shit. Just talking to people in general, really. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of a loner. And you’re just so kind and caring to other people, and you don’t expect anything back when you’re there for them. It’s incredible really. You’re so amazing, Lance.”

“You really think that?”

The look in Lance’s eyes pulled at something in Keith’s chest. It was intense, but lasted only a second. Maybe he was having a stroke? Could 20 year olds even get strokes? Whatever, that was probably what was happening. It seemed plausible.

“Of course. I think so highly of you, Lance. I actually get kind of jealous sometimes. You’re just so good with people.”

“Oh. I always thought you hated me because you always tried to beat me in everything. With that whole rivalry thing.”

“Lance, are you joking? I thought you hated me ! You’re the one who started the rivalry!”

“But you were still part of it! Hell, you even started it at times! It takes two people to be in a rivalry, ya know.”

“I only did that because I thought you wanted me to! I was just playing along!”

They stared at each other in silence for a moment before bursting out laughing. The whole situation was just a big misunderstanding. It was kind of ridiculous.

When both boys calmed down, they just sat there staring at each other with smiles still plastered to their faces. Lance was the first to look away, feeling uncomfortable with staring for so long. But it didn’t take long before they were comfortable again, falling back into easy conversation about school, and work and just everything.

“I can’t believe we could’ve been friends this whole time.”

Lance’s face fell slightly at that.

“Were we not friends before?”

“I mean, I wanted to be, but I always thought you hated me so I just kind of kept my distance.”

“Oh.” Was all Lance said. Keith noticed Lance looked a little upset and that feeling in his chest came back. He felt the urge to make Lance stop hurting. He needed to do something.

“But I’m glad we worked through that so we can get closer now. You’re a really good guy, Lance.”

Lance’s eyes widened at the praise, a strange look taking over his face.

“Lance? Are you okay?”

“Oh, uh yeah. It’s just weird.”

“What’s weird.”

“Getting complimented like that.”

Keith felt a sharp pang in his heart. The thought that Lance never got complimented ate him up inside. No one deserved that, but especially not Lance. There was so many things to compliment him on, it shocked him that no one had taken the time to tell Lance just how amazing he really was. No wonder Lance was so insecure.

“Well, get used to it because I’m not going anywhere and you deserve it. I’ll make sure you know just how incredible you are.”

Lance blushed slightly, not at all used to the praise he was receiving, but loving it nonetheless.

“Thank you, Keith. It means more than you know.”

Keith just smiled, pleased with his ability to make Lance feel better. Usually, he didn’t care about other people’s feelings, but when it came to Lance, everything was different.

They left the shop shortly after, both having homework to get caught up on, and tests to study for. They walked back to their dorms together, Keith walking Lance to his door. They both stood outside of it , neither wanting to leave each other’s company. Keith wanted to say goodbye, but it didn’t seem like enough. A handshake seemed to formal, and a hug… was it too personal? Keith wasn’t sure how Lance would feel about it and he didn’t want to-

Lance interrupted his thoughts, hugging Keith. Apparently he didn’t mind. Keith recovered faster than their first hug, holding on tighter since the boundaries between the two were starting to become blurred. They had become a lot closer today, learning more things about one another, things not many knew. It connected them, bonded them together in a way not many people had. So of course, a hug was okay.

Keith hesitantly pulled back after a couple moments, not wanting to let go but knowing he had to. Lance let go reluctantly too, standing awkwardly.

“Well, I should probably get going.” Lance started to turn around but Keith grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“Wait.”

Lance turned back to look at Keith, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“Give me your phone.”

Lance cocked an eyebrow, but handed over the phone anyways.

Keith typed away for a few seconds before handing the phone back.

“Now, if you ever have something you need to let out, you have someone to talk to. Don’t hesitate to text me. I’ll see you in class tomorrow, okay?”

Without waiting for a response, Keith turned on his foot and walked down the hall and stepped into his dorm room.

When he made it inside, he closed the door and walked to the kitchen table, finding a note that read:

I figured you’d be hungry, so I made dinner for you. It’s stir fry, your favorite! It’s in the fridge waiting for you :)

-With love, Hunk

Keith smiled, silently thanking Hunk for being so amazing. He warmed up his food and went to his room to study.

Meanwhile, Lance sits in his room staring at the new contact on his phone.

Keith Kogane(Your Best Rival❤️)

Lance wasn’t sure what this meant, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he and Keith were now friends. He had never felt so okay in his life. For once, he wasn’t feeling depressed or anxious or useless. He felt good. And it was all thanks to Keith.

He really hoped Keith wasn’t joking about all the things he said today. He wasn’t sure how long Keith would be able to put up with him. Most people found him annoying and left after a while. The only friends who hadn’t were Pidge and Hunk. But one thing he knew for sure. He was going hold on to Keith for all he had. Because now that he had him, he never wanted to let go.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2:

“Keith! Breakfast is ready!”

Keith groaned and pulled his pillow closer around his face, not wanting to get up. He lied there for a few more moments until he smelled the delicious aroma of Hunk’s famous bacon. His stomach grumbled and he couldn’t deny any longer how hungry he truly was. He sat up in his twin sized bed and stretched his arms over his head, yawning. He threw on some sweats and his moth man t-shirt and walked out into their dining room.

Hunk greeted him with a warm hello. He was way too cheerful this early in the morning. Keith mumbled a quiet “morning” before sinking into his normal seat at the table, grabbing the cup of coffee Hunk was offering. Hunk hummed softly to the tune of some unknown song, swaying as he scrambled some eggs. Although he often didn’t have classes until early afternoon, Hunk always woke up early to make Keith and himself some breakfast. He was just a ray of sunshine. Sometimes Keith even wondered if he was like some guardian angel sent down to make sure he didn’t starve to death. It’s not that Keith didn’t know how to cook, because he did. But that cooking skill was strictly limited to making a bowl of cereal. And canned ravioli. Man, that Chef Boyardee is such a gem.

But anyways, Keith never cooked. Like, ever. It was always Hunk. It didn’t help that Hunk loved cooking and was spectacular at it. Sometimes Pidge and Lance would even walk over to eat dinner with them. Hunk would whip something up and we would all eat it and do homework. Surprisingly, Lance was good at cooking too, but he always spent so much time studying and doing homework that he was always to busy or exhausted to actually cook. So Hunk stepped in and saved them all from dying of hunger. Bless.

Once Keith was done eating his eggs and toast, he went back into his room to get ready for the day. He slipped on some ripped, black skinny jeans and a gray V-neck. He opened up his closet and took out the box of his dad’s things, grabbing the red cropped jacket he wore every once in a while. He sat down on the bed and put on his white, red and black boots, lacing them up and standing to look at himself in the mirror. His almost black eyes glinted purple in the mirror and he stared at his reflection, taking in his pale skin and unruly “mullet” as Lance so affectionately called it. Thick, black strands of hair swept over his face, sightly covering his eyes. He liked his hair out of his face, but he had lost his last hair tie a week ago. Oh well.

Keith walked back into the main room of their dorm right as a knock sounded from the front of the small apartment. He sauntered over to the door, opening it to reveal Lance, standing awkwardly glancing around the hallway.

Once he realized the door was open, Lance smiled brightly. “Hey, Keith!”

“Um, hey Lance. What’s up?”

“Oh, I’m just here to tell you that I’m ready to go when you are, since we’re carpooling and all…”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I’m ready to go. I just need to grab a couple of things. Come on in.” Keith waves Lance into the dorm and leaves to go grab his things from his room. He grabs the heavy textbook off of his nightstand and stops to check himself in the mirror hanging on the wall. He tucks a strand of his raven hair behind his ear before deciding to throw on a beanie.

“Alright, let’s go, sharpshooter .” Keith says in a bothered tone as he walks over to where Lance is chatting amiably with Hunk.

Lance laughs at the nickname.

“You’re still mad that I killed you in Fortnite a week ago, aren't you?”

Keith just elbows Lance in the ribs and mumbles something about a “lucky shot”, as Lance laughs all the way to the car.

oOoOoOo

Lance and Keith walk to their class together like always, though this time they make easy small talk, finding out small, but meaningful details about one another. They used to walk in awkward silence, but now there’s never a break in conversation. Granted, Lance talked for most of the time. But Keith was finding he didn’t mind too much. He actually enjoyed listening to the boy talk. He generally liked listening more than talking, anyways. And there was just something about Lance’s voice that made him feel at ease. It was in the way he spoke; in how the words rolled off of his tongue so effortlessly, so smoothly. It was like listening to the softest music that made you want to drift asleep. It was so relaxing Keith could listen to him for days on end, just-

“Keith? You still there?”

Keith’s head snapped up and his eyes met Lance’s, which were dazed with slight confusion.

“Huh?”

“You okay? You kinda just zoned out for a minute there.”

Keith face palmed internally. He tended to get so caught up in his thoughts that he tuned out everything - and everyone - around him. That’s probably one of the reasons he didn’t have a lot of friends…

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m fine. Just thinking about the essay due for class in a week.”

“Oh, shit. I completely forgot about that! Fuck, fuck, fuck, what am I going to do? I’m not gonna have time to get it all done, it’s all gonna be shit, I’m gonna fail this class and then I’ll never get my degree and I won’t be able to get a good job and-”

Keith could see the panic rising in Lance, as he started rambling faster and faster.

“Whoa, whoa, Lance. Buddy, calm down. You’ll be fine.” Keith tried to reassure him.

“But what if I’m not? What if I-”

“Stop right there.” Keith interrupted, tired of hearing Lance doubt himself. Lance immediately shut up when Keith spoke, and Keith was slightly taken aback. Lance usually never stopped talking when someone told him too. Probably why most of their professors hated him in class. He would never shut up during their lectures.

“You still have a week to finish the essay. That’s plenty of time.”

“But-”

“No. No buts. I’ll even help you write it. You can come over to my dorm and we can work on it together. I’ve only started the beginning, so I’m not very far ahead of you.”

Keith could see Lance slowly start to deflate, relief washing over his face.

“Okay. Thanks, man.”

“No problem.”

“We could even have a sleepover!”

Keith cocked an eyebrow at Lance. He couldn’t be serious, could he? But with the look on his face, he looked pretty serious… No. He was definitely serious.

“Lance, no.”

“Aw, Keith! Why not?” Lance pouted and Keith had to will himself not to squeal. It was absolutely adorable. Wait, what?

“Lance, sleepovers are lame. No guys have sleepovers in college.”

“Come on, man. It’ll be so fun.” Lance pleaded. Man, he was really set on this sleepover thing. Keith knew there was no way Lance was giving up, so he caved.

“Fine, we can have a sleepover.”

“Yay!” Lance screeched, jumping up and down like an excited school girl. Keith shook his head but laughed. Lance was truly something else.

“Can I put a face mask on you?”

“Absolutely not.”

oOoOoOo

As they drove to the university, Lance and Keith fought over the aux cord. Keith claimed he was the guest of the car so he deserved to pick the music, to which Lance replied that it was “his car, his tunes”. Eventually, Keith gave up and Lance told him to turn on Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira. Keith obliged - though he wasn’t happy about the selection - and clicked on the song.

Lance bobbed his head along to the intro as Keith watched him since he had nothing better to do. But then as the song switched into the first verse, Lance started swaying, repeating the lyrics word for word.

“ I never really knew that she could dance like this, he makes a man wants to speak Spanish!

Como se llama? Sí! Bonita. Sí! Mi casa, su casa. Shakira, Shakira…”

Keith was mesmerized at the tone of Lance’s voice. He had never really liked this song, but Lance made him want to. The tone of his voice was so soft and smooth, and they way the Spanish rolled off his tongue…

“Lance, are you fluent in Spanish?”

“Sí! I’m bilingual. I grew up in a Cuban family, so I spoke mostly Spanish at home. But my mom wanted me to be successful in the United States too, so she taught me both. She wanted me to succeed, but also to remember where I came from.”

“She sounds like an amazing woman. Are you close with her?”

Lance sighed, though he didn’t sound sad, just reminiscent.

“Yeah. She was my best friend growing up, besides Veronica. I could talk to her about anything and everything. She lives in Florida now with almost the rest of my family. Marco is married and has two sons, Antoni and Sebastian. They live just down the street from my parents and Luis. He still lives at home, but he’s trying to find his own place, once he’s more financially stable. Veronica actually has an apartment in Arizona, where she used to go to college. She isn’t that far away, but we’re both so busy we never have time to see each other. I really miss everyone. It’s hard being away from everyone but it’s not like I can just drop out. I want to pursue a career that I love, even if it means being away from my family. I just wish that I could see them more.”

Lance’s face twisted into a sad expression and Keith hated it. He hates seeing Lance look upset, kills him to see Lance hurting.

The silence between them is deafening. Sadness had filled the air, making everything feel heavier.

“I’m sorry, Lance. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to be away from the people you love. I guess it’s hard for me to relate, since my parents died before I could really get to know them and Shiro and Adam only live 5 minutes away. And with Shiro being an RA, he can drop by my dorm and see me anytime he wants. Now that I think about it, I guess I just don’t have a lot of people I love to miss since I don’t let anyone get too close.”

“I mean, it’s just hard being away from them, is all. I feel like I have no one I can go to, since I don’t really see my mom or Veronica anymore.” Lance paused. “Well, I did. Now I have you.” Lance smiled brightly.

“I’ve never really talked to anyone about this kind of stuff. Thanks for being there for me the past couple of days, Keith. It means so much more than you know.”

“It’s really no problem, Lance. In all honesty, you’ve really helped me too.”

Lance tilted his head slightly, eyebrows furrowing together.

“What do you mean? All I’ve done is complain to you about my problems.”

Keith chuckled.

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t really have friends.”

Lance scoffed.

“What do you mean? Are Pidge, Hunk and I not your friends anymore?”

“No, but have you ever seen me hang out with anyone besides you three?”

Lance looked down, thinking hard.

“No…”

“My point exactly. I never let people get close to me. The only people I’ve confided in before you were Shiro and Pidge. Shiro was my rock after our parents passed. I told him everything. I took their deaths hard, and he made sure I didn’t do anything too stupid. And Pidge was there for me when Shiro couldn’t be. He was busy trying to live his life, and I didn’t have anyone. But Pidge stuck with me through thick and thin. She never judged me for anything, either. I used to do some stupid shit when I was going through my “rebel” phase, but she never saw me differently. I’ve talked to Hunk about some stuff, but nothing super deep. I didn’t want to burden him with all of my emotional baggage. I felt like if I let people get close, then they would just end up leaving me like my parents did. It’s really hard for me to open up, but with you-” Keith paused in thought. “With you, I can’t help it. I don’t even think about the fact that I’m telling you things I’ve never told anyone before. There’s just something about you that makes me want to open up.”

Lance suddenly burst out laughing and Keith stared at him confused. Did he say something wrong?

“Wow, that -that was just beautiful.”

“Whatever, Lance.”

The Cuban just laughed even harder, wiping at his eyes. As they got out of the car and began walking into the building.

“Oh my god, you’re so emo, I can’t.”

Keith shook his head, but laughed along with the boy. He couldn’t help it, his laugh was just so contagious.

“I can’t believe I’m friends with you, you’re so mean to me.”

Lance snickered and nudged Keith in the side before saying, “Oh, come one, Mullet. You know you love me.” before leaving Keith to go get settled in his seat.

Keith wasn’t quite sure what it was, but there was something about Lance that made him different. Better. He felt lighter on his feet. Something had changed between them. Maybe it was them realizing the whole rivalry was fake and they didn’t actually hate each other. Or maybe it was because they had opened up to each other in a way neither had with another person. But whatever it was, Keith didn’t want it to go away. He didn’t want Lance to go away. He could feel himself changing for the better. And with everything that happened with his parents, Keith wasn’t sure he could handle letting another person in just to have them leave again. Especially not Lance.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Keith shoveled his food into his mouth quickly. Hunk had made him one of his favorite meals, spaghetti and meatballs, but he didn’t have time to enjoy it like he normally would. He had midterms to study for. It’s not like Keith really cared about school, he just didn’t want to get his ass whooped by Shiro. As an RA, Shiro didn’t have clearance to see grades, but that didn’t stop him from dropping by Keith and Hunk’s dorm once a week to check in. Keith loved Shiro for it, he really did. But he wasn’t the greatest student in the world - he just didn’t love school as much as Shiro had. And it didn’t help that having Shiro be disappointed in you was one of the worst feelings Keith had ever felt. But for some reason, he was determined not to fail this year. It’s not like he failed in his past years, he just… let’s just say he passed. Plus, he had promised Lance he would help him study for midterms since he was stressing so much over them. They had their “sleepover” or whatever tonight. Even though that sounded like hell, Keith was glad he was going to be spending time with Lance. Ever since the two had become “friends” - since that’s what they appeared to be now - Keith had felt the urge to be around the boy as much as possible. He wasn’t quite sure why. All he knew was that he felt better when he was around Lance. And that was a good enough reason for him to hang out with Lance.

Once Keith finished his dinner, he excused himself and went off into his room to start studying. Lance had told him on the drive back to their dorms that he would text Keith when he was ready for their “sleepover”. Keith didn’t understand why they couldn’t start studying right away. It’s not like they didn’t have the time. It was a Friday, which meant no classes tomorrow. Lance told him he had to “prepare”, whatever the hell that meant. Keith saw on Lance’s snap story that he was at Target with what looked suspiciously like a cart full of face masks. Keith just shrugged it off though. In all honesty, he would do whatever Lance wanted. All Keith wanted to do was spend some time with him. Oh, and studying. Studying is good too.

After a half hour of reading through his Astronomy textbook, his phone vibrated from his bed. He wheeled his swivel chair over to his bed and snatched up his phone, reading the notification on the screen.

Lancey Lance

It’s time to paaaaarrrrrrttttyyyyyy!!! Come over to my dorm whenever you’re ready :)

Keith chuckled. Somehow Lance’s texting style was identical to how he talked in real life. It was really quite extraordinary. Keith typed out a reply saying he would be there shortly and clicked his phone shut, setting it back onto his desk. Keith carded a hand through his hair as he packed his overnight bag. Some sweats and a t-shirt, toothbrush, and the school stuff he needed for studying.

He called out to Hunk as he walked out the door, telling him he would see him tomorrow morning, to which Hunk replied, saying he would have breakfast waiting for him.

Keith walked down the hall to Lance and Pidge’s dorm, sticking his hands in his pockets. It was starting to get cool out. Maybe he should’ve brought a sweatshirt….

Suddenly a door to his left slammed open and Keith jumped, rightfully startled.

A voice called out, “Byeeee Tailor! See you in the morning!”

Keith stood frozen in his tracks, still stunned by the abrupt noise that pulled him out of his daze when Pidge emerged from behind the door that had just swung open.

“Oh, hey Keith.” Pidge waved as she recognized the boy standing in the middle of the hallway.

“Um, hi Pidge.”

Pidge quirked an eyebrow at him but dismissed whatever suspicious thought she had been holding in that genius head of hers. “Where are you off to?” Keith cleared his throat.

“Oh, to your room, actually. I’m going to be studying with Lance.”

An unsettling smirk formed on Pidge’s face. “Ohhhhh. The sleepover . Right. Have fun.”

“Thanks, Pidge.”

Right as Pidge walked past Keith she mumbled, “I stan”, though Keith didn’t hear.

“What’d you say?”

“Oh, nothing. Have fun with Lance!” She said with a wink. And with that, she disappeared down the hall.

“Creepy.” Keith mumbled to himself as he knocked on the door to Lance’s dorm, wondering just what he had gotten himself into.

oOoOoOo

“You have got to be shitting me.”

On the table in front of Keith lay a wide variety of face masks. Clay masks, charcoal masks, mud masks, sheet masks, exfoliating masks. You name it, Lance has it.

Keith stared dumbfounded at the table, trying to understand why the hell Lance thought all of these were necessary.

“Lance, what the hell?”

Lance chuckled.

“I know, I know. I’m a bit of a cosmetics enthusiast.”

“You’re kidding, right?

Lance quirked a flawless eyebrow.

“No?”

“I can’t believe you bought all of these. We’re only going to use 2!”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I use at least 3 a week. Whatever we don’t use will be gone within a month or two.

Keith’s jaw hung open. How in fucks sake did Lance have the money for this?

“I can’t believe I’m letting you do this to me.”

Lance just smirked as he clapped a hand on his shoulder before looking at Keith seriously.

“So what’ll it be? Time to pick your poison.”

oOoOoOo

Keith ended up choosing a charcoal mask. Of course he did, it was black. Lance lead him to the bathroom where everything was already laid out on the sink. Keith felt like he was in a BeautyGuru’s YouTube video and he hated it.

“Alright, Keith. First order of business. Your hair.”

Keith’s face scrunched up.

“What’s wrong with my hair?”

“Nothing’s wrong with your mullet, Keith. Calm down. We just have to put it up.”

“What? Why?”

The only people who had ever seen him with his hair up were Shiro, Hunk and Adam. He was self conscious about it, okay? He only ever put his hair up at home.

“Because we’re putting on face masks, Keith. You don’t want to get charcoal in your hair, it can damage it.”

“What do you care? You hate my hair.”

“Al contrario, Keith, I don’t mind your hair. In fact, it’s fantastic. It looks soft and it looks like you take good care of it. I just like to make fun of you.”

Once again, Keith was surprised.

“Are you kidding me? This whole time you’ve actually liked my hair?”

Lance just smirked as he dug around in his drawer. Eventually he pulled out a hair tie. Keith held his hand out, waiting for Lance to give it to him, but he never did.

“Lance?”

“Nuh uh. I am not passing up the chance to touch your hair. It looks luscious.”

Keith laughed. “God, you’re so weird.” He thought about resisting to Lance putting his hair up. It seemed almost too intimate, but also really natural. Keith was just so confused when it came to his feelings for Lance. He used to think Lance hated his guts but now their whole dynamic was changing so fast and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. They could still tease each other, that hadn’t changed. But there was a different feeling whenever there was a pause between them. Something new, that hadn’t been there before. Keith wasn’t sure what it was. But whatever it happened to be, he just pushed it to the back of his mind. Maybe he was overthinking this too much.

Lance rolled the hair tie onto his wrist and pulled the sleeves of his baseball tee up over his elbows. Lance really did have nice arms. Wait, what?

“My dreams are finally being fulfilled.” Lance whispered.

“I can’t believe you’ve wanted to touch my hair for all these years. You’re so weird, you know that? Who has a dream to touch someone’s hair, anyways?”

Lance chuckled.

“Me, apparently.”

Lance carded his hands through Keith’s hair, playing with it a little. This may be the only time he’ll ever get to touch Keith’s hair and he is not going to waste it.

Keith closed his eyes at the feeling of Lance running his slender fingers through his raven hair. He didn’t want to admit it, but it felt really good. He had loved having his hair played with when he was younger. His mom would always lay with him in his bed until he fell asleep. She would play with his hair until he drifted off to sleep.

Lance ran his hands through Keith’s hair a couple more times before gathering the locks into a high ponytail.

Keith opened his eyes again when he felt Lance’s hands leave his head.

There was a moment of silence between the two when they locked eyes in the mirror. Lance was the first to break away and Keith followed not long after, coughing a little awkwardly.

“Uh, thanks Lance.”

“Yeah, yeah. No problem.”

Keith cleared his throat.

“So, what’s the next step?”

And just like that Lance was back to his normal energetic self - bouncing on his toes as he explained to Keith the importance of skin care. He then proceeded to help Keith wash his face and apply his charcoal face mask. But not before he made Keith change into his red robe and lion slippers, to which Lance had a matching pairs in blue. Lance sent Keith out into living room once he was done applying his face mask.

Keith sat down on one end of the couch, observing Lance and Pidge’s dorm room. It had the same layout as Keith and Hunk’s, but looked drastically different because of what Keith would guess to be styling. Lance’s dorm had a much more welcoming feel to it - there was colorful furniture, and paintings, and the lighting was soft. There were pictures everywhere too. Keith noticed one on the side table beside the couch. Keith grabbed it from where it was sitting and looked at it. Keith guessed it was taken a couple years ago, when Lance was in high school. He looked pretty young. Pictured in the photograph with Lance were two young children, looking to be about 4 and 6. They were adorable and had a striking resemblance to Lance.

“That’s Antoni and Seb.” came a voice from the hallway.

Keith looked up to see Lance with foamy scrub slathered on his face, leaning against the frame of the opening, watching Keith intently.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snoop, or anything-”

Keith made a move to set down the picture but Lance crossed the room and grabbed his wrist gently before he could.

“Don’t worry, Keith. I don’t mind.”

Lance took the picture out of Keith’s hand, looking down at it with a sad smile on his face.

“My mom took this when my parents, Marco’s family and I took a trip to Cuba. We were visiting my grandparents who still live there. Lived there, I guess.”

Keith understood by the tone in Lance’s voice what he had meant by that last part.

“Lance, I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t be. It happened 3 years ago. I’ve had my time to grieve.”

Keith didn’t pity Lance. He really didn’t. He sympathized with him. He knew how it felt to lose someone you were close to. It took him more than just a couple years to get over the death of his parents and that had happened over a decade ago. Hell, sometimes Keith wasn’t sure if he truly was over it.

“Still, you deserve time to mourn, Lance. You don’t have to feel like you need to move on so quickly.”

“Keith, you don’t get it. I had to move on. I had to be strong for the rest of my family. They needed me to be strong, so I pushed it aside. They needed me more than I needed the time to mourn. I had to be there for them - to be strong for them. My feelings weren’t as important.”

Keith’s heart broke as he listened to Lance explain. The fact that Lance was so selfless he pushed aside his feelings of grief over his grandparents so that he could be strong for his family made Keith adore Lance just that much more. But on the other hand, knowing that Lance felt as though his feelings didn’t matter as much as the rest of his family’s or at all ripped Keith up inside.

“Lance, I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

“You don’t have to pity me, Keith. I’m over it.”

But Keith could tell by the waver in Lance’s voice that he wasn’t.

“Lance, I don’t pity you - I understand. I get that it’s hard-”

“Really? Do you? How could you possibly know how I feel?”

Keith could hear the anger starting to rise in Lance’s voice and knew he had to tell him. No matter how hard it was for Keith. His need to make Lance understand was too overpowering.

“I know how it feels because I lost my parents when I was younger.”

Lance’s face instantly filled with regret. He obviously hadn’t meant what he had said, but nothing could change the fact that he had said it..

“I was eight when they died. They were driving home from some charity event one night and some drunk guy swerved into their lane. They didn’t make it home.”

“Keith, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Lance, it’s fine. Really. I mean, I still get sad about it sometimes, sure. It’s hard to talk about because I don’t think I’m really over it yet. But I have people around me to help me through it. Like Shiro, Adam and Hunk. And you too.”

Lance didn’t say anything.

“Lance, it’s really fine. You don’t have to worry, I know you didn’t really mean it. People say things like that when they’re hurting. I understand.

Lance nodded.

“Thanks for understanding. I really am sorry about what I said.”

Keith could hear the remorse in his voice.

“Don’t worry about it, Lance. Really, I’m fine.”

Lance nodded, though he still felt bad about the whole exchange.

Keith didn’t want to dwell on the conversation they had just had so he changed the subject.

“What do you say we get some studying in before we have to take these face masks off?”

Lance smiled. If there was one thing that could make him feel better, it was the thought of all the skin care to come. And the possibility of getting better grades, of course. Grades were very important to Lance. Though it may seem like he doesn’t care, Lance is very serious about school.

Lance grinned.

“Let’s do it.”

oOoOoOo

Lance threw his head on the back of the couch and groaned loudly.

“Keith. Dude. I cannot do this anymore. I just can’t.”

Keith laughed, looking up from his textbook.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m deadly serious, Keith. This is the most painful thing I’ve ever had to endure.”

“Lance, we’ve been studying for 20 minutes.”

Lance groaned again.

“Feels like an eternity.”

“My god, you’re so dramatic.”

Lance lifted his head off the couch to look at Keith and clutched at his chest, a look of mock hurt flashed on his face.

“Keith! You wound me!”

Keith just rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his astronomy textbook. He had promised Shiro he wouldn’t let his grades slip. He knows how stressed Shiro is already, no need to make it worse. The thought of a disappointed Shiro made him shudder. It was truly the worst.

“Get back to work Lance, or you’re gonna fail your midterm.”

Keith started reading again, but got distracted by the silence. Usually Lance would hum a tune to some random song, or start rambling on about something unimportant. But now, it was eerily quiet. Keith looked up to find Lance staring off into the kitchen, with a blank expression on his face. His eyes, though, showed fear.

“Lance?”

“Do you really think I’m going to fail my midterm?”

Keith sighed sadly, knowing what Lance was thinking. Keith hated when Lance got down on himself.

“Lance, you know I don’t think that. You’re a smart guy, you’ll do fine.”

“But how do you know that? What if-”

Keith reached across the table and put his hand on top of Lance’s to get his attention. Keith didn’t want to listen to Lance ramble off a list of why he wasn’t good enough. Lance stopped talking instantly and stared at Keith.

“Lance, you’re going to do fine. I won’t let you fail. What was tonight supposed to help with anyways? I’ll try harder to keep you on task and we’ll get some good study time in. We’re both going to pass this exam with flying colors, I promise.”

Lance nodded, feeling a little better knowing that Keith was going to be by his side through this. Keith balanced him out, kept him sane. He could do this.

“Okay.”

“Good. Now let’s get some work done, yeah?”

Keith retracted his hand and turned back to his textbook and notes.

Lance missed the heat from Keith’s hand on his after he removed it. Maybe it was just because he was so stressed, but when he was around Keith he felt better. Keith just made him feel so relaxed. When he felt his anxiety bubble up Keith was there to make sure it went away as quick as possible. The only other people that have ever been able to help with that were Pidge and Veronica. Lance wasn’t sure how, but Keith was quickly becoming a very important part of his life. He wasn’t sure what would happen if Keith left. Things would go to shit, probably. He already had enough anxiety about people abandoning him because he was too annoying, and would drive them away. He did not need more. But somehow, Lance had a good feeling about Keith. He could just tell, Keith wasn’t going anywhere for a long time.

oOoOoOo

Lance and Keith studied for another hour after Keith’s pep talk, surprisingly getting a lot done. They took a quick break to take off their face masks and get some snacks. But not before Lance put Keith through his entire skin care routine. Keith hated every second of it. Though, he did keep his hair in a ponytail. He surprisingly didn’t mind if Lance saw him with his hair up. In fact, he kind of liked it. It kept his long hair out of his face which was convenient when studying.

But by the end of going through notes, and rereading practically their entire textbook, Lance felt a lot better about his midterms next week.

“Thank you so much for doing this, Keith. You have no idea how much I needed this.”

“It’s really no problem dude. I needed this just as much as you. Besides, I like hanging out with you. You’re much more tolerable when we’re you’re not insulting me 24/7.”

Lance laughed.

“Yeah, who knew hanging out with mullet-boy could be so much fun?”

“No no no. I will not let you call me that anymore. Not since you’ve admitted you love my hair. I won’t accept it.” Keith crossed his arms.

“Oh, come on, Keith. Just because I admitted your hair wasn’t so bad after all doesn’t change the fact that you still have a mullet!”

Keith shook his head, holding his ground.

“Nope. You may no longer make jokes referencing my hair. I forbid you.”

Lance snorted.

“You forbid me?! Bro, what age do you live in?”

“The one where mullets are in style, jackass!”

They both kept silent for a moment, processing what Keith had just said. Until Lance started laughing. Then Keith joined him and the pair were laughing uncontrollably. Both boys clutched at their stomachs and rolled around on the floor, unable to contain their laughter. They laughed for what must’ve been minutes straight. It wasn’t even that funny, but neither boy could stop.

Eventually they settled down - though it took them several more minutes since every time they looked at each other they just started laughing again.

Lance wiped away a tear running down his face with the back of his sleeve before flopping his arms on the ground, chest heaving from laughing so much.

“I hope you know I’m not gonna stop making fun of you.”

Keith sighed in defeat.

“Yeah, I figured. What can ya do though? I don’t really mind that much. Especially now that I know you actually like my mullet.”

Lance sat up and smiled at Keith.

“You know it.”

Keith sat up too, clutching at his stomach that still hurt from all of their giggling.

“You wanna watch a movie or something? I can make some popcorn too. I mean, what’s the point of a movie without popcorn?”

“I’m down for a movie. And popcorn sounds great. Unless you put that gross cheese shit on it. Then count me out.”

Lance gasped. “But Kernel Season's! It’s so good, what are you talking about?!”

“HEATHEN!” Keith yells, chucking a pillow at Lance, who easily dodges it. I can’t believe you don’t like Kernel Season's. You’re a disgrace in this house.”

Keith laughs. “Whatever. At least I don’t own every face mask ever created.”

“SKIN CARE IS NOT A JOKE, KEITH!” Lance yells from the kitchen, followed by a grumpy huff and the slam of a microwave. Keith just laughs and shakes his head. Lance really is something else.

Keith turns the TV on and starts browsing for movies they could watch.

Keith turned his head a little towards the kitchen so Lance could hear him and yelled, “Want to watch The Shining?”

A very loud “fuck no” sounded from the kitchen making Keith chuckle. Alright, so that’s a no to scary movies. Keith kept searching, not finding anything even remotely interesting. After a couple of minutes Lance walked into the living room and plopped onto the couch next to Keith. He sat a little ways away. Not too far, but not too close. He knew Keith wasn’t super comfortable with touching, so he was always a little more cautious around him.

Lance watched Keith scroll for a few moments before something caught his eye. He gasped and screeched dramatically, “BRAVE!”.

Keith jumped at the sudden outburst. “You seriously want to watch a Disney movie?”

Lance nodded his head vigorously. “Bro, we don’t even have to watch Brave but we need to watch something Disney. Please? I’ll let you pick out the movie as long as it’s Disney.”

Keith looked at Lance who was giving him puppy eyes. God he was so adorable when he did that. Wait.

“Okay, fine. I cave.”

Lance clapped eagerly, glad to have easily convinced one of the most stubborn people he knew.

“Alright, what movie are we gonna watch then?”

Without hesitation Keith answered, “Beauty and the Beast.”

Lance gaped. “Are you serious? Of all the movies you could have chosen, you picked that? I mean, I knew you were emo but damn.”

Keith punched him lightly in the arm. “Whatever, sharpshooter. It has a deep meaning and you said I get to pick. So start it up!”

Lance shook his head, though he was still smiling as he searched up the title.

The boys watched the movie and snacked on the bowl of popcorn sitting between them, just enjoying relaxing and being with each other. Eventually, the popcorn was gone and Lance moved the bowl to the floor before scooching closer to Keith, nestling himself closer to the other boy. They now sat shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee. Keith could feel his cheeks heat up as he became hyper aware of every place he and Lance were touching. Keith didn’t think it was because he liked Lance, definitely not. It was just because he didn’t liked to be touched, right? But if that was true, then why did he like being pressed against him? It must’ve been because he was tired. Yeah, probably that.

As the movie was finishing up, Keith felt Lance’s head drop onto his shoulder. He turned his head to look at the other boy and found Lance sound asleep, breathing softly. And Keith just couldn’t find it in himself to wake him up. So he turned off the TV and pulled the blanket over him and Lance, making sure they were both covered before he rested his head on the back of the couch. And even though Keith knew he would have a kink in his neck the next morning, and probably a sore arm, he couldn’t bring himself to care. Because in that moment, he was content with the situation.

That night, Keith slept the best he’d ever had in his life. Even though he was on the couch, with a person sleeping on his shoulder, he was the most comfortable he’d been in a long time. And it was all because of one person.

Keith was falling. Fast and hard with no signs of stopping. Man, what had he gotten himself into?

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Dinners and Dates

As sunlight drifted in from the window, Lance’s eyes fluttered slowly, trying adjusting to the bright light. He yawned and blinked a couple more times. He felt warm and sleepy. Maybe just a couple more minutes…

Lance drifted back into a light sleep, just “resting his eyes”. He could feel a weight on his shoulder, heating his whole arm. It felt quite nice. Until he felt that weight shift. Whatever was holding up his neck was moving. So Lance woke up again out of curiosity, wanting to make whatever was moving stop so he could go back to sleep. He was really tired. He opened his eyes to see a pale hand resting on his shoulder. Lance turned his head 180° to find Keith, who was still moving slightly in his sleep, with his arm draped across Lance. Lance held his breath and tried to be as still as possible to avoid waking Keith. He was kinda cute when he was sleeping. But in a totally platonic way. Yeah, definitely.

When Keith finally stopped moving and settled into place, the boys were even closer than before. Keith had tightened his arm around Lance’s shoulder and nestled his cheek on top of Lance’s head, into his shaggy brown hair.

Lance wasn’t quite sure what to do. He didn’t remember falling asleep in this position, so something must’ve happened after he had fallen asleep. Who knew Keith was so cuddly in his sleep? Lance guessed it made sense since he was such a lone wolf. It must be hard for him to be so alone and cut off from everyone else all the time. Lance couldn’t even imagine what that would do to a person, especially himself. Keith was so strong, it amazed Lance. He had been through so much shit; endured so much. He really deserved better.

But even though Lance was a little confused as to how they got into this position, he didn’t really mind. He was a cuddly person by nature, especially growing up with Cuban culture where affectionate touches were a sign of friendship. So having someone close wasn’t an unfamiliar concept for him.  For Keith though, Lance wasn’t sure how he would react when he woke up and realized he was cuddling with another guy on a couch. Lance knew Keith was gay, he had told their group one night when they were hanging out. He had made a gay joke and outed himself. He was embarrassed, of course, but everyone was completely accepting of him. Pidge is asexual and out, and Hunk is a straight ally. And Lance, as many knew, was bi. So it wasn’t really a big deal. But still, Keith might not be comfortable with this whole interaction. Keith just wasn’t a very “touchy feely” person, even with close friends. He liked to keep to himself. Which was fine, Lance just had to be a little more careful around him. But if Keith really cared that much, than how were they in this situation, in the position they were in? Lance thought maybe Keith really did like affectionate touches, but he was just scared that if he let people in they would just leave like his parents or his “friends” from when he was younger. It made Lance sad to think that Keith had to go through such a miserable time in his life alone. He wasn’t completely alone, he had Shiro. But was that enough?

Lance was determined to help Keith come out of his shell. He was almost sure Keith didn’t truly hate cuddling and hugs, if their current position was any consolation. He wanted Keith to know that it was okay to let people in, to let him in. Keith needed more supportive people in his life. Pushing people away and being alone just isn’t healthy. He needed someone to talk to about the difficult things; someone who won’t judge him. He needs someone to just listen and tell him, “your feelings are valid”, and “you matter”. Because without that, it’s no wonder Keith closes himself off. Whenever he has tried to express his feelings he’s gotten a lecture or been told he’ll get over it. Lance knew he could help. He wasn’t going anywhere. Keith meant too much to him now. They could help each other. Keith could be there to help Lance truly mourn his grandparents and help with his anxiety and Lance could help Keith be more open with others. Lance needed to properly mourn his grandparents and Keith needed to learn to confide in others and that expressing your emotions is okay. It was going to take time, but with each other, Lance was sure they could do it.

oOoOoOo

Some time passed, and Lance just enjoyed feeling half asleep and warm. He was close enough to Keith’s chest to where he could hear his heartbeat. It was slow, and rhythmic, like a song Lance would dance to with Veronica when they were younger. She would always give him dance lessons, saying, “you’ll need it when you finally get yourself a date and want to have a romantic dance together!”. It was really relaxing. Lance could even feel his heart beat sync up to Keith’s, both beating together. Until Keith’s started to speed up. It started slow at first, but quickly increased, beating faster and faster. And then Lance felt a hitch in Keith’s breath.

Keith inhaled hard, a sign that he was waking up from a dream. Lance closed his eyes again, not wanting Keith to know that he had been awake for a while, admiring his face and heartbeat for what had to be at least an hour.

Keith’s eyes snapped open, waking up suddenly and violently. His head snapped up where it had rested on Lance’s as he took in his surroundings, breathing heavily. Another nightmare. This time though, it wasn’t about his parents’ death. It was about Lance. They were at school, in a class. But when Keith walked in, Lance wasn’t sitting in his normal spot where he and Keith always sat. He was talking to some random people in their class. Keith and Lance locked eyes. Keith smiled, which Lance usually returned. But this time, Lance turned to a girl standing next to him. He whispered something in her ear and the two started laughing. The rest of the group around him were laughing too, and suddenly, the whole class was staring at Keith, laughing, mocking. Keith didn’t know what to do. What did he do wrong?

All of a sudden, Lance stepped forward towards Keith. He walked to him until he was only inches away. Lance leaned in close, whispering into Keith’s ear. “You are nothing to me. You never were. You’re just some stupid emo kid I took pity on. Who would want to be around you, you’re such a loner. You’ll never find anyone, Keith. You’re always going to be alone.”

Keith backed away from him, turning on his foot and sprinting out of the door, out of the building with tears streaming down his face. He stood in the middle of the road crying. How could Lance say those things to him? Was what Keith thought they had all fake? Did Lance only pretend to like him because he pitied him? Maybe he was just a stupid loner. He didn’t deserve anyone. He was always going to be alone, wasn’t he?

Then out of nowhere, the sound of a car’s brakes screeching against the pavement pulls Keith out of his thoughts. Keith looks up and sees the car coming towards him, going too fast and already too close to stop. It just kept coming, and coming until-

Keith’s chest heaved up and down from the memory still fresh in his head. He reached his right hand up and dragged it down his face, trying to calm himself down after that horrible nightmare. Maybe it was stupid to let it affect him. But he truly believed those things Lance was telling him in the dream. Him opening up to Lance the past couple of days must have caused this. Keith was sure of it. He was starting to let him in and this was his brain telling him to be careful. The only problem was… Keith didn’t want to be careful. He wanted to tell Lance everything. He didn’t know why and it terrified him. He didn’t know how to handle everything he was feeling. He couldn’t talk to Lance about it, because he wasn’t quite ready to tell Lance he might have feelings for him. Especially with all of Lance’s anxiety about soulmates. Lance probably didn’t like him like that either. Why would he? He was just a loner emo guy, no one wanted that. He needed to tell someone, though. Maybe he could hang out with Shiro and Adam later. He hadn’t seen them lately, so it was a perfect opportunity.

Lance started to stir, pulling Keith out of his thoughts. Lance opened his eyes and looked up at Keith, a smile starting to form on his face.

“Good morning, Keith.”

Keith smiled back.

“Morning, Lance. How’d you sleep?”

Lance yawned, blinking a few times. He could feel Keith’s hand still around him. Why hadn’t he moved it yet? Maybe he hadn’t realized yet. Or maybe he didn’t want to…?

“Pretty good, actually. When did I fall asleep?” Lance glanced to the blank TV and then back to Keith. “I don’t remember turning that off.”

Keith shook his head.

“No, you didn’t. I switched it off after you fell asleep. You actually kind of fell on top of me when you passed out.”

Keith laughed when he saw Lance’s cheeks start to heat up.

“Don’t worry, Lance. I don’t mind. You kept me warm, anyways. Though my shoulder is still asleep.”

Lance sat up, lifting himself off of Keith’s arm.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! You know you could’ve just shoved me off, right? I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

“Stop worrying, Lance. It’s fine. I actually kind of liked it…” Keith trailed off.

Both boys were now blushing and avoiding looking at one another. What was happening to them? God they were such disasters.

Keith cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Um, I should probably get going. I’m gotta plan dinner with Shiro and Adam.”

Lance nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, yeah. I should get started on some homework anyways…”

Lance went into the kitchen and started making some breakfast while Keith walked around the dorm, packing up all of his things. He shuffled over to the door, glancing to the kitchen where Lance was turned away from him, swaying to some nameless tune.

“Bye, Lance! Thanks for having me over.”

Lance turned around, facing Keith with a smile on his face.

“Of course, Keith. We should do this again sometime. Text me later, yeah?”

Keith nodded.

“Yeah, sure. Though it might not be until later since I’ll probably be at Shiro and Adam’s for a while.”

“That’s fine, I’m usually up late anyways. Talk to you later then.”

“Okay. Bye, Lance!”

“Bye!”

And with that Keith walked back to his dorm. Time to focus again. He should probably text Shiro. Keith pulled out his phone and started typing.

To Shiro:

Hey Shiro. Is it cool if I come over for dinner tonight? I wanted to talk to you about something.

Keith slips his phone back into his pocket and opens the door to his dorm.

“Hunk, I’m back!”

A loud “finally” comes from the kitchen. Keith drops his bag by the door and shuffles over to Hunk who’s busy cooking up something delicious on the stove.

“You came home at the perfect time, lunch is almost ready. I’m making seafood risotto, I hope you like it!”

Keith smiles thankfully at Hunk.

“If it’s coming from you, I’m sure I’ll love it.”

Keith pats Hunk on the shoulder before going to his room to get ready for the day. He takes a quick shower and throws on some black skinny jeans and a a dark red button down. He normally didn’t wear anything really nice but he thought Shiro would appreciate it. He knew Shiro had nothing going on tonight so he would definitely say yes to his offer.

Keith brushed his hair, running his hands through it a couple times after to make it look more natural. As he brushed his teeth, he looked at himself in the mirror. His skin looked almost as if it was glowing. Probably from Lance’s face mask, Keith guessed. Once he was done brushing his teeth he looked at himself one more time before deciding to put his hair up. He realized he kind of liked his hair up after last night. All thanks to Lance. He thought he looked good in it, so why not? He tied it up with his last remaining hair band and walked out of the bathroom, satisfied with his appearance.

Hunk looked up from his plate of food and gave Keith a once over.

“Damn, Keith. You’re looking sharp! Why are you so dressed up?”

“Oh, I’m going over to Shiro and Adam’s place for dinner tonight. I want to talk to them about something.”

Hunk raised an eyebrow.

“Are you okay? You know you can talk to me, right?”

Keith nodded.

“I know, thanks Hunk. I just-” Keith took a deep breath. “I don’t even know if what I’m feeling is real and I don’t want a ton of people knowing if it turns out to be nothing. But I promise to tell you if I figure anything out.”

Hunk nods.

“Okay, Keith. I’m here for you if you ever need to talk about anything, okay?”

Keith nods once again.

“I know. Thanks. Sorry I won’t be here for dinner though. Don’t make anything too good without me, yeah?”

Hunk’s face flashes with a look Keith can’t quite interpret.

“Hunk? What are you not telling me?”

Hunk looks down, guilt and excitement both showing on his face.

“I may or may not to dinner tonight with Shay… on a date...”

Keith’s mouth hung open.

“What? Hunk, that’s great! She’s the barista from Balmera Cafe, right?”

Hunk nodded, a proud grin displayed on his face.

“I asked her out this morning when I got my daily coffee. And she said yes! We’re going to that fancy steakhouse in downtown LA that’s supposed to be really good. I’m really excited.”

Keith clapped a hand on Hunk’s back.

“That’s awesome, Hunk. I’m so proud of you buddy.”

Hunk smiled at Keith.

“Thanks, man. It means a lot. So neither of us are going to be eating here tonight, huh?”

Keith shrugged.

“Guess not. Your food is at least going to be good, though. Hopefully I won’t die of food poisoning. I should be alright as long as Shiro doesn’t cook.”

All of a sudden, Keith’s phone buzzed inside his pocket.

He fished it out and saw a text notification from Shiro.

“Well, speak of the devil.”

Shiro:

Of course, we would love to have you over! We should have time to talk about whatever you need to talk about too before I have to leave for my shift tonight. Does 7 sound good?

Keith texted back a “sure” and slid his phone back inside his pocket.

“So Hunk, what time are you and Shay going out?”

“We have an early reservation for 5:00 so I thought I’d leave to go pick her up around 4 ish since she doesn’t live super close to our campus. When are you going over to Shiro and Adam’s?”

“Seven.”

“Guess you’ll have to sulk around here for a while then, huh?”

Keith shrugged.

“I’ll find something to do.”

Hunk shook his head.

“Okay, dude. Whatever you say. Maybe you could try hanging out with someone? I hate when you isolate yourself and brood.”

“I only do that ‘cuz I have no one to hang out with. Who would even want to hang out with me?”

“Oh I don’t know, Lance? He seemed to really want to hang out with you yesterday, right?”

“I guess, but I slept over so he’s already seen me today. I doubt he’d want to again.”

Hunk sighed.

“Dude, Lance loves being around you. Anyone could see that. And you don’t know that he won’t want to hang out with you unless you ask.”

Keith groaned.

“Ugh, fine. I’ll text him.”

“You have his number?”

Hunk wiggled an eyebrow suggestively.

“Shut up.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Did he give his number to you? Or did you give it to him?”

Keith didn’t respond, focusing on pulling up Lance’s contact on his phone.

“Oh my god, you gave it to him, didn’t you?”

Keith sighed, knowing Hunk would never let him live this down.

“It’s not a big deal, Hunk. Come on.”

Hunk laughed, doubling over.

“Oh my god, you are such a disaster gay it’s ridiculous.”

Keith punched Hunk in the arm lightly.

“Go to your room, I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Okay, mom .” Hunk replied sarcastically, laughing as Keith flipped him off from the couch.

“By the way, your food’s in the oven staying warm so you can eat it whenever you want it.” Hunk called before shutting the door to his room.

Keith texted Lance after dishing up his meal.

Lancey Lance:

Hey, man. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out for a bit before I go to Shiro’s for dinner. Totally cool if you don’t just thought I would ask.

Keith could feel his heartbeat increase rapidly as he reread the text making sure it didn’t sound too weird. God, he really was a disaster gay, wasn’t he? Keith held his breath as he hit the send button. He clicked off his phone and shoveled a spoonful of rice into his mouth. All he could do now was wait. But not even 15 seconds later, Keith’s phone vibrated. He quickly grasped his phone to see the reply.

From Lancey Lance:

I would love to hang out with you, Keith! When do you want me to come over?

Keith grinned at the text, probably way too excited over a text. He was just happy he was going to hang out with Lance again. That wasn’t a crime, was it?

To Lancey Lance:

Does now work? I’m not doing anything and I’m super bored.

Keith added that last part so that he didn’t seem too desperate. God he was really overthinking this.

Lance replied instantly.

Lancey Lance:

Sure! Be there in a minute.

Keith turned his phone off and finished the last bite of his lunch, washing off his plate and setting it in the sink. He would do the dishes later tonight. He would let Hunk enjoy his date; he deserved it.

Suddenly a knock sounded at the door. Keith sauntered over to the front of the dorm, undoing the lock and opening the door to let Lance in. But it wasn’t Lance who was at the door, it was some random blonde chick. She looked vaguely familiar. Maybe she was in one of his classes?

“Uh, can I help you?”

“Are you Keith Kogane?”

Keith tilted his head slightly in confusion.

“Um, yeah. Do I know you?”

“Stay away from Lance.”

“Excuse me?”

Keith was really confused.

“I don’t want to see you hanging around him anymore. He wants me, okay? So back off, emo boy.”

“Listen here, bitch. I don’t know who you are, but-”

“Nyma?!”

Keith looked behind Nyma to see Lance standing a little ways down the hall.

“You know this bitch?”

Nyma scoffed.

“Yeah, she’s my friend. Why are you calling her a bitch?” Lance’s voice held an accusatory tone and Keith hated it. It’s not like he did anything wrong. She was being a bitch and Keith hadn’t even done anything.

“Yeah, what the hell, Keith?” Nyma said, her face showcasing a look of innocence. God, who was this bitch?

“Are you kidding me?! I didn’t do anything! She just came to my dorm to tell me to-”

Nyma cut him off, butting into the conversation.

“I was just trying to say hello to him because I know you guys know each other, but he started calling me all these names and telling me to back off. I think he likes you!”

“What the fuck are you talking about? I never-”

“Keith, why would you do that? She’s never done anything to you!”

Keith was beyond confused. Why was Lance taking her side over this?

“Lance, I don’t even know this chick. She just showed up and started telling me to-”

“Keith, come on. Why would Nyma lie about this?”

Keith was completely flabbergasted. How could Lance believe this hoe over him? He didn’t even ask him what happened, he just believed her right away. Why was he being so dense?”

“Are you kidding me, Lance? I didn’t even do anything! She’s lying! You’re not even gonna ask for my side of the story?”

Lance had disappointment in his eyes.

“I think I’ve heard enough. Calling someone a bitch for no reason was really uncalled for, Keith. Let’s go Nyma. I’m sorry about this.”

All Keith could do was watch as Lance walked away with Nyma, telling her he was sorry for how Keith was acting. But what really made Keith reach his breaking point was when Nyma turned around with a sly smile on her face, knowing that Keith knew she had won.

“Whatever, Lance. Who needs you, anyways? If you’d rather trust this whore over me, go for it. I never want to see you again!” Keith yelled down the hallway before slamming the door, sliding down it as he clutched at his knees. He started to shake, the realization of what he had just done hitting him full force. God, he was such an idiot! He just had to go and lose his temper. He always pushed people away. He was so stupid. He just had to go and fuck everything up, didn’t he? He had just lost one of the only people who cared about him. How did this even happen? One minute he and Lance were going to hang out, and have fun, and the next Keith was screaming at Lance that he never wanted to see him again as Lance walked away from him with some stupid bitch. Nyma. This was all her fault. Keith hadn’t done anything, she just came and attacked him out of nowhere and fucked up the only good thing in his life. God, why did bad shit always happen to him? What had he done to deserve this?

Keith could feel the tears streaming down his face. God, he was such a mess. Keith wiped away his tears with the back of his sleeve, trying to calm himself down. He didn’t know what to do. He really needed to talk to Shiro.

Shiro would fix all of this. He would tell Keith what to do to fix all of this. He always did. Man, seven o’clock couldn’t come fast enough.

oOoOoOo

For the rest of the afternoon, Keith sulked around the dorm. Hunk didn’t leave his room until 4 to go pick up Shay. Keith was in his room so he didn’t have to deal with Hunk asking him why his eyes were so red and puffy. Although Keith would never admit it, he cried a lot that afternoon. He usually didn’t care if people left him. He told himself he had gotten used to it. But when it came to Lance, this whole situation was eating him up inside. He really just need to talk to Shiro.

Eventually Keith made it to Shiro and Adam’s apartment, right on time. He had composed himself since his little “breakdown” and was ready to have a nice, happy evening.

“Keith! So glad to see you!”

Adam embraced Keith in a warm hug and invited him inside the apartment.

“I made lasagna tonight, since I know you like it.”

“I helped cook too!” Came Shiro’s voice from the kitchen.

“Oh god, I’m not gonna make it home tonight, am I?” Keith joked, he and Adam laughing when they heard Shiro yell, “I heard that!” from the kitchen.

Adam clapped a hand on Keith’s back.

“Don’t worry, I only let him put the lasagna in the oven. I would never make you eat something Takashi cooked.” Keith laughed.

“Bless you, Adam.”

They all sat down at the table and ate dinner together. They made small chat, catching up on each others’ lives. Though Keith avoided mentioning anything related to Lance. He had pushed anything that even remotely reminded him of Lance to the back of his head. If he thought about it, Keith wasn’t sure if he’d be able to keep himself from crying.

Keith was noticeably disengaged from the conversation, though. Both Shiro and Adam could tell something was wrong. Towards the end of their meal, Adam locked eyes with Shiro, giving him a firm look. Shiro nodded in understanding.

“Hey Keith, wanna go talk about whatever it is you wanted to? I’ve got to leave for my shift in a little while, so…”

Keith nodded, not wanting to say anything more.

Adam and Shiro exchanged a worried glance, but didn’t say anything. Shiro stood up from the table and led Keith to the guest bedroom where Keith would sometimes sleep when he stayed over.

They both took a seat on the bed, though Keith was looking down at his hands, not saying anything.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s made you so sad?”

Keith looked up at Shiro with a confused face.

“What, how’d you know-”

“Keith, come on. I’m your brother. I can tell when you’re upset. Anyone could see that. At the table, Adam and I could both tell something was off.”

Keith sighed, feeling all of his emotions rushing back to the surface.

“I just- I… I did something stupid, and I-”

Keith couldn’t finish the sentence. He knew if he kept talking he would start crying and he didn’t want Shiro to see him like that. He didn’t come over here to cry like a baby.

“Keith, please tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help you unless I know.”

Keith looked up at Shiro and saw the worry in his eyes.

“Shiro, I fucked up. I fucked up really bad. I just… I lost my temper and said stupid shit, and now he hates me and I’ll never see him again and-” Keith choked on his words, the emotions were too much. He felt the sting of tears behind his eyes and couldn’t hold it in any longer. The tears dripped down his face and Keith started shaking again, unable to control the reactions his body was having.

Shiro enveloped him in a hug, just holding Keith as he let everything out.

“Shh, it’s okay Keith. Just let it out, it’s okay.”

“It hurts, Shiro.” Keith sobbed. “It hurts so fucking bad .”

Shiro frowned, hating seeing his little brother hurting so much.

Once Keith had calmed down a little, Shiro let go of him, waiting for Keith to start explaining. He had learned not to pressure Keith into talking. He would tell him when he was ready.

“His name is Lance.”

Shiro looked at Keith, who was staring down at his hands.

“Okay. So what’s he like?”

Keith laughed.

“Oh god, where do I even start? Well, he’s tall. His skin is really tan since he’s Cuban, and he had dark brown hair. He’s really attractive.”

“Wow, Keith. That’s pretty gay.”

Keith slapped Shiro’s arm.

“Shut up.”

“Keep going.”

Keith nodded, trying to think through what he wanted to say.

“Well, he’s in my astronomy class. And he’s roommates with Pidge. They live in the dorm just a couple down from Hunk and I.”

“Wait, Lance McClain?”

“Uh, yeah. How’d you know that?”

“Keith, I’m an RA. I know everyone that lives in your building.”

Keith internally face palmed.

“Oh right.”

“Tell me what happened then.”

Keith’s face fell flat as he remembered that day’s events. He was not looking forward to reliving them.

“Well, we started getting close a couple days ago. I helped him through some of his anxiety and we just talked over some coffee. We figured out that neither of us actually hate the other and we sort of became friends. But anyways, the next day Lance was stressing over his midterms so I offered to help him study and he suggested we have a sleepover.”

“Wait. Keith Kogane? Studying? Never heard of it.”

“Shut up, Shiro. I’m telling my story.”

“Right, sorry. Continue.”

“As I was saying, We had a sleepover. He made me put on a face mask and after studying we watched Beauty and the Beast.”

“Gay.”

“Shiro! Shut. Up.”

“What? It’s true!”

“Whatever. But anyways, he fell asleep at the end of the movie. On me. So I covered us up with a blanket and let him sleep on my shoulder. That was yesterday. So then today I was bored so I asked him if he wanted to hang out. He said sure but right before he came over some bitch named Nyma showed up. She started saying all this shit telling me to back off of Lance and that’s when Lance actually showed up. He came right as I was calling her a bitch and thought I was doing it for no reason. That whore lied and said I was calling her names and telling her to back off and Lance believed her. I tried to tell him she was lying but he didn’t even ask for my side of the story. And then he walked away, telling that bitch that he was “sorry for how his friend acted”. So I yelled at him that if he wants to believe that bitch over me than I don’t ever want to talk to him again. I didn’t even know who she was.”

“This is a really messed up situation, huh?”

“You’re telling me. I really liked him Shiro. And I just had to go and fuck everything up. He’s never gonna want to see me again.”

“I mean, you did tell him you never wanted to talk to him again…”

“But I didn’t mean it! I was just mad he was taking Nyma’s side and not even asking for mine. He believed her without a second glance. I didn’t actually mean what I said, I just stay stupid shit when I get worked up.”

“I know.”

“Wow, thanks Shiro.”

“Well, I know that because I’ve known you for your whole life. Lance has only just started to get to know you. How would he know that you didn’t mean it?”

Keith stayed quiet, knowing Shiro was right.

“I really fucked up Shiro.”

“Yeah, you did. But now you gotta fix it. It sounds like Lance is really important to you. If you opened up to him, he must be special. So if you want him back, you need to go apologize for what you said and explain to him what you just told me. If you still want to be friends with him, you need to talk to him.”

“You’re right. But what if he doesn’t want to talk to me? What if he already hates my guts and never wants to speak to me again?”

“Then you have to make a decision. Either keep fighting, or move on. That’s all you can do.”

Keith sighed, knowing what he had to do, but not liking it one bit. It was going to be hard, but this was Lance they were talking about. Keith wasn’t going to let him walk away like that. He was going to fight like hell to get him back. They need each other. Keith needed more friends, anyways.

Keith knew, deep down, that Lance knew Keith cared about him. He had to. Because if he didn’t, he probably wouldn’t talk to him and give Keith a chance to explain. Keith couldn’t let Lance go. It would ruin him. He had just started opening up again. If he lost Lance now, Keith didn’t think he’d ever be able to trust again.

Hopefully Lance would at least give Keith the opportunity to explain himself. At least then, he could say he tried.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5:

Keith chatted a with Adam and Shiro for a while after his talk with his brother before leaving their apartment. He didn’t really want to go back to his dorm. As much as he hated to admit it, Keith hated being alone in the dorm. He found it creepy and actually really liked the company of others, even if he seemed like a lone wolf on the outside. But nevertheless, he headed back to campus, not wanting to be a bother to Adam since Shiro was leaving for his bartending shift anyways. It’s not like he had anyone to hang out with, either. Hunk had texted him, telling him not to wait up because he and Shay were going back to her dorm for a while. Keith guessed he could text Pidge, but they weren’t super close and it would probably be pretty awkward. And Lance - that was an obvious no. So Keith decided to just mope and watch horror movies.

When Keith got home, he quickly did the dishes before plopping down on the couch and turning on Scream. Although Scream was one of his favorite movies, Keith found himself lost in his thoughts, not even paying attention to the film. All he could think about was the situation with Lance. He knew he needed to fix it, he was just scared. Scared of all the things that could go wrong. Lance could hate his guts and tell him to leave him alone and never talk to him again; he could confront him and say horrible things like in his nightmare, or he could just ignore Keith all together.

But, at least he would know, right? It was better than having nothing but your imagination, conjuring up horrible, but possible, outcomes. At least Keith would have some sense of closure. Hopefully.

Keith tried to push it to the back of his mind and focus on watching the movie, but he just couldn’t take his mind off of it. The pain and guilt were eating him alive. He had been eyeing his phone for the past 20 minutes, debating whether or not to text Lance.

Eventually he built up the courage and said, “fuck it”. He grabbed his phone off of the coffee table and opened up messages.

To Lancey Lance:

Lance? Look, I’m really sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean it. I really need to talk to you.

Keith pressed send but kept his phone open, praying Lance would reply. He was terrified of Lance’s reply - or lack thereof. He was watching the movie, but nothing was really processing. He glanced at his phone sitting next to him on the couch every 15 seconds, making sure he didn’t miss a notification. Even though his ringer was on, he didn’t want to risk it.

After a couple minutes, his phone dinged and Keith scrambled to quickly grab his phone and read the incoming message.

From Lancey Lance:

Why should I even respond to you? What happened to i never want to see you again huh?

Keith frowned, knowing he deserved that. He fucked up bad.

From Keith Kogane(stupid jerkface): Lance, please. I need to apologize. I messed up, please just at least let me say I’m sorry. You don’t have to forgive me, I know I don’t deserve it, but please at least let me apologize.

Meanwhile, Lance sat on his bed in his dorm room, watching a sad rom-com on his laptop and eating from a tub of mint ice cream. He wanted to hate Keith. He did. But for some reason, he felt disappointed. Both that Keith would do something like that and in himself. For thinking that Keith was different. He didn’t think Keith would want to leave him just like that. He thought they had gotten closer recently. Especially last night. But Lance guessed that was just Keith doing what Keith does best. Pushing people away. But although he was mad at Keith, he didn’t hate him. Lance didn’t think he was even capable of hating Keith. He deserved a second chance. His mo taught him that everyone deserved a chance. Keith seemed really sorry, too. Though it was hard to tell over text. If Lance was going to let Keith apologize, he needed it to be in person. Then, Lance could decide whether or not Keith was being sincere.

To Keith Kogane(stupid jerkface): Fine. You can come over in 5 minutes. Door’s unlocked.

Keith sighed in relief when he saw Lance’s text. Thank god Lance was at least giving him a chance. He didn’t know what he would’ve done if Lance wouldn’t have. Probably mope around for weeks. He hadn’t been close with Lance for long, but it had felt like they had known each other for a lifetime. It was an indescribable feeling. Keith threw on his slides after turning off his movie. He still had a couple of minutes until he was supposed to head over to Lance’s dorm.

Keith was so scared he was gonna fuck this up too. Lance was giving him the opportunity to fix what Keith had broken, and there was a good possibility Keith was gonna fuck it up. Just like he fucked up everything.

Keith took a deep breath. He could do this. All he had to do was not lose his temper, explain to Lance what happened, and show Lance how deeply and truly sorry he was. Piece of cake. Keith could do that. Lance was worth it. He was worth being better.

By the time Keith was done psyching himself up, it was time to head over to Lance’s dorm. He left his own and walked up to the door, taking a deep breath. Keith knocked twice and turned the knob, opening the door slowly and cautiously. Lance had implied Keith could let himself in when he told him the door was unlocked, but Keith didn’t want to cross a line. It seemed like they had both been doing that a lot recently.

“Come in.”

Keith opened the door a little more, stepping inside the dorm. Lance was sitting on the couch, forearms resting on his thighs, head down looking at the floor.

“Lance?”

Lance only pat the spot on the sofa next to him, not looking up at Keith. Keith slipped his slides off by the door and padded into the living room, sitting on the other end of the couch. He didn’t want to sit too close to Lance. Who knows what he might think of him after what the lying whore Nyma said to him.

“So, are you going to apologize? Or are we just going to sit here in silence?”

Keith took a deep breath.

“Lance, I’m really sorry for everything. I shouldn’t have said those things, and-”

“Like you never wanted to see me again?” Lance looked up and met Keith’s eyes. Keith could see the hurt dwelling there and it tore him up inside, knowing it was him who put it there.

“Yeah, like that. I didn’t mean that, Lance. You’ve gotta believe me.”

“It sure sounded like you meant it…” Lance trailed off and the pain was evident in his voice. Keith wasn’t the only one hurt in this whole interaction. Keith had hurt Lance too.

“I know you don’t know me super well, but after talking with my brother about what happened, I realized why I said those awful things.”

“Do enlighten me.”

“I lose my temper very quickly, especially when I feel attacked or threatened. And when I’m mad, I kind of lose my filter and I say shit I don’t mean because all I want to do is make the person that hurt me feel the same pain I do. Nyma lied. She made it all up, and you believed her without asking for my side at all. I don’t even know who she is.”

It was Lance’s turn to look down. They were both at wrong here.

“Then why was she at your door?”

Keith shrugged.

“Your guess is as good as mine. I don’t know who she is. She just showed up and told me to back off of you. I was about to tell her off when you came. All you saw was me calling her a bitch, so I can see why you thought I was attacking her. I was just trying to defend myself. I don’t even know what I did to make her do that shit. You don’t have to believe me, but I wanted you to at least her my side of the story.”

Lance didn’t look up, thinking through everything he had just heard. Keith’s side of the story made sense, but why would Nyma lie? Pidge and his other friends didn’t seem to like her and said that she gave off bad vibes or whatever, but Lance liked her. But Keith was his friend. What would he gain from lying? He did sound really hurt when he had yelled at Lance after the confrontation. Maybe Nyma was lying? Her story didn’t seem right. The things she described didn’t sound like things Keith would do. Even though Lance didn’t know him that well, it seemed like he and Keith had been friends for the longest time. And Keith was right, Lance didn’t even ask him for his side of the story. He jumped straight to conclusions.

“I’m sorry for not asking for your side of the story. That was a dick move. From what it looked like when I got there, you were attacking her for no reason. But I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. And your story makes more sense than Nyma’s, so…”

Keith sighed as relief flooded his body. This was going a lot better than he had expected.

“Thanks. But that still doesn’t excuse the things I said to you. I’m really, really sorry, Lance. I didn’t mean what I said, I really don’t want to lose you.”

Lance could here the sincerity in Keith’s voice. In all honesty, Lance couldn’t bear to lose Keith, either.

“I don’t want to lose you either.”

Keith smiled, glad that they were getting over this.

Lance scooched closer to Keith, hugging him tightly. Keith hugged him back, so relieved to have his friend back. They pulled apart after a couple moments, the tension in the air finally resolved.

“We both messed up here, but I’m happy you came to me to apologize. I tend to hold grudges for a long time, so…”

“I didn’t expect you to even reply to my texts, so this turned out way better than I had hoped. I thought you hated my guts and wouldn’t want to even see my face ever again.”

Lance chuckled.

“I could never. I need you, ya know.”

Keith grinned.

“Me too.”

The boys hugged again, both feeling much better now that the situation was resolved.

“So, what are you gonna do about Nyma?” Keith asked hesitantly after he pulled away. He wasn’t sure what Lance would do now that he and Keith had made up. Keith was almost positive he would need some more bitch repellent if he wanted to keep being friends with Lance. He had only hung out with him twice and this chick had the audacity to come to his dorm room and tell him to back off. Like, who the fuck did she think she was?

“I’m not sure. But I trust you, not her. I’ll make sure she won’t bother you again. I’m sorry she did that. I used to like her, but all of my friends say she’s a bitch, so.”

Keith laughed.

“She is definitely a bitch. And I’ve only known her for a day.”

Lance laughed.

“I’ll talk to her. She needs to learn her boundaries. What she did was not okay and I don’t have much respect left for her.”

“Good. I thought she had corrupted you for a minute. I’m glad you trust me, though. Not many people do.”

Lance gave Keith a sad smile.

“You haven’t given me a reason not to. We’re friends Keith, any relationship needs trust, right?”

“Right.”

“You trust me too, right.”

And for the first time, Keith didn’t hesitate when he said yes. He normally took time to open up to people. Like, a really long time. This whole “trust” thing was new to him. He really only trusted Adam, Shiro and Hunk. It took a long time for him to open up to all of them, but he had been friends with Lance for less than a week and he had already told him things he hadn’t told anyone before. He wasn’t sure why, but everything was easier with Lance. He knew for sure now, Lance wasn’t going to just leave him. After working through this, Keith was confident that he and Lance could get through anything. They were stronger than some stupid thot.

“Well, I should probably get going. I don’t want to intrude on your night.”

Lance shook his head.

“Really, it’s no problem. I could actually use the company. Pidge is spending the weekend with her family in Arizona, so she won’t be here until tomorrow. I’m just watching rom-coms in my room, if you’d like to join me? You totally don’t have to though, feel free to go if you want to. I know we’ve been hanging out a lot recently and I don’t want to seem clingy…”

Keith smiled.

“I would love to.”

oOoOoOo

Pidge cursed under her breathe as she fiddled with her keys, struggling to unlock the door. She finally inserted the correct key and twisted her wrist, stepping into the apartment.

“Lance! I’m home!”

Pidge dropped her overnight bag by the door and kicked off her shoes. She looked around the small dorm, not seeing Lance anywhere. She quirked an eyebrow. Lance always greeted her when she came home. Maybe he was just in his room and couldn’t hear her? She shrugged. Barging into his room seemed like a great idea. It’s not like Pidge was exactly known for her consideration of other people’s feelings. She was a hacker after all. So Pidge barreled through Lance’s door, calling:

“What up, bitch?”

She searched the room, not seeing Lance until she saw stirring from the bed. She assumed Lance would’ve been at his desk doing homework; it was unlike Lance to sleep in. She stepped into the room and walked over to Lance’s bed, ready to screech and shake him and tell him it was time to get up. It was almost 11, and she knew Lance hated it when he woke up late because he felt like he was wasting the day. But laying next to Lance, she saw another figure. One with long, raven black hair. Pidge gasped. Wow, that was really gay.

Pidge couldn’t believe her eyes. Lance? And Keith? Sleeping in the same bed? Spooning? Though she couldn’t say she was surprised that Lance was the little spoon. He had always been a very touchy person but he loved held even more. Keith’s right arm was under Lance’s neck and his other was draped over Lance’s torso. Lance was curled up with his back pressing into Keith’s chest. Pidge had seen Lance asleep countless times, but she had never seen him look so at peace as she did now.

Surprisingly, neither Lance nor Keith had woken up from Pidge’s loud entrance. They had stirred slightly, but both remained asleep. If anything, Keith curled his arm tighter around Lance, holding onto him more closely.

Pidge wasn’t sure what to do. She wanted to smile and barf simultaneously. They were so cute she felt gross. But she was happy for Lance. All she wanted was for him to get the love he deserved. Because he did deserve it.

For now, Pidge decided to let them sleep. Lance had been so stressed lately with school and the whole Keith situation - though it seemed they had worked it out - he needed some rest. He hadn’t been his normal upbeat, casual, easy-going self. He had been super uptight and overwhelmed lately. Keith was good for him. Pidge had always hated that Nyma chick anyways, so when Lance told her about what Keith did she almost took his side. Almost. She knew Lance needed support in that moment, and saying she agreed with Keith would have made everything worse.

Though Pidge may be leaving the pair alone, she was not that nice. She whipped out her phone and snapped a picture of the two boys cuddling, always glad to have more blackmail. She snickered. She would give Lance shit for this later, but for the meantime, she was starving. Pidge looked back at the couple one more time before quietly shutting the door and heading into the kitchen.

oOoOoOo

 Keith’s eyes opened slowly, his whole body feeling warm and heavy. When his eyes adjusted to being awake, he noticed a mop of brown curls directly in front of his face. Lance?

Keith flexed his hand, trying to regain feeling. He saw the movement of his fingers on the other side of Lance’s head. That’s when Keith finally realized the position he and Lance were in.

Keith was spooning Lance, with one arm under his neck and the other curled tightly around his abdomen. How did they always end up like this?

Keith thought back to last night, trying to remember what happened. He and Lance had started a Harry Potter movie marathon - Keith had insisted - and tried to watch all 8 movies straight. Though, halfway through the third movie Keith googled how long it would take and found out it was over 20 hours. No fucking way. The last thing Keith remembered was Lance comparing Keith’s mullet to Harry’s hairdo in the fourth movie. He guessed they fell asleep shortly after that. They didn’t even make it halfway, what a shame. Keith looked past Lance’s head to the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand.

11:45?!? How had they slept so late? Probably because they binged Harry Potter until 4:30 in the morning. Oops.

Keith slowly withdrew his arm out from under Lance’s head, astonished that he didn’t wake him up. He grabbed his phone from the ground on his side of the bed and turned it on, finding 1 missed call and 1 text from Shiro, and 16 text messages, 4 missed calls and 2 voicemails from Hunk. Keith, being the genius he is, chose to answer Shiro first. He had asked Keith how things had gone with Lance and also told him to talk to Hunk ASAP. Keith replied, saying everything was good and that he would call Shiro later. Keith then clicked on his roommate’s voicemail, dreading a disappointed Hunk.

Keith couldn’t really understand his message though. He was talking hurriedly, and his words were so blurred together Keith couldn’t really make anything out. So he clicked on the unread text messages instead.

Hunk (Sunshine and Cinnamon Roll)

(8:22 am) Dude, where are you? I need to talk to you.

(8:45 am) Keith, I’ve called you twice already, where are you?

(8:57 am) You didn’t even leave a note, I’m starting to get worried.

(9:00 am) Keith, please answer your phone. I really need to talk to you.

(9:00 am) Shay is coming over today, and I want you to meet her.

(9:30 am) Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me, or something?

(9:36 am) Keith please pick up your phone. You know how nervous I get.

(9:55 am) Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead.

(10:00 am) Where the hell are you? I’ve tried calling and texting and you always respond. Are you okay?

(10:01 am) Do you need me to come get you?

(10:10 am) I stg Keith, if you’re dead I will bring you back to life so I can kill you again for making me concerned.

(10:11 am) I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that last one. I’m just worried about you.

(10:30 am) Okay Keith. I’m done waiting. I’m texting Shiro.

(10:35 am) Now you don’t even tell Shiro where you are? What happened, Keith?

(10:50 am) I’ve tried texting Lance but he isn’t responding either. Why won’t you answer your phone, Keith?

(11:07 am) Nvm. Pidge just texted me. Call me when you wake up.

Keith sighed. Sure he felt bad that he had made Hunk worry, but he was sleeping. What was he supposed to do.

Lance started stirring so Keith clicked his phone off and set it on his stomach, just staring at the ceiling.

Lance uncurled from the ball he had been rolled into and stretched out his long limbs, yawning. He rolled onto his side as he looked at Keith, blinking his eyes groggily.

Keith looked over at him. Man, he looked like an innocent puppy when he was sleepy. It was adorable.

And this time, Keith didn’t even try denying his thoughts. So what if he thought Lance looked adorable?

“Morning.” Lance said tiredly.

Keith chuckled at his tired state.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

Lance smiled and shut his eyes, looking completely in bliss.

“You sure seem happy.”

Lance nodded, though he didn’t open his eyes.

“I slept good. And last night was fun.”

Keith was confused. How could you sleep good with a hand under your neck? And didn’t Lance say he didn’t like Harry Potter?

“What happened to Harry Potter being for nerds?”

Lance smiled.

“It is, stupid. But I like hanging out with you.”

Keith beamed at that, somehow feeling proud at the fact that Lance enjoyed being around him. Take that, Nyma.

“I had fun too. But I should probably get going soon. Hunk has been worried about me since I wasn’t answering my phone and apparently he wants to introduce his unofficial girlfriend to me today.

Lance nodded, finally opening his eyes.

“What time is it?”

Keith clicked on his phone.

“11:56.”

Lance shot up.

“Shit!”

Keith was startled at the sudden movement.

“What?! What’s wrong?”

Lance shook his head.

“It’s nothing huge, I just hate waking up late. I feel like the day’s already gone. It’s almost noon already. Noon! That’s almost have the day already wasted!”

Keith put a hand on Lance’s shoulder, trying to relax Lance.

“Hey, it’s okay. If you want to feel better about it, you could come meet Shay with me? I think Hunk wanted to me to hang out with them so I could get to know her better and I’d hate to be a third wheel alone. You don’t have to if you want, but it might help you feel like you’re actually doing something and the day wasn’t a complete waste.”

Lance stared at the wall behind Keith’s head, processing his offer.

“Sure, why not? I don’t really know either of them that well, so it’s the perfect opportunity to get closer with them! I do love meeting new people, after all.”

Keith smiled.

“Cool. I should probably call Hunk and see what time Shay’s gonna be over.”

Lance nodded and Keith sat up, going into his phone and pressing the call button on Hunk’s contact. It only rang twice before he picked up.

“Keith Kogane, don’t you ever scare me like that again!” Hunk yelled into the phone. Keith cringed and held his phone away from his face at the sudden outburst.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I went over to Lance’s to talk to him about the whole Nyma thing and we watched some movies after we worked everything out and we kinda sorta passed out…”

Hunk sighed deeply, the disappointment evident in his tone.

“Okay, I forgive you. But only if you promise to come over and meet Shay.”

Keith smiled, grateful to have such an understanding and amazing friend.

“Of course, Hunk. What time is she coming over?”

There was a pause on the other end.

“Hunk?”

Still silent.

“Um. She may or may not already be here…”

Keith cursed under his breath.

“Okay, um I guess I’ll just get ready at Lance’s since I look like shit right now. I’m sure Lance can help fix me up.”

He looked over to the Cuban boy as he said that and returned the smile given to him. Lance looked eager to fix up Keith. He could really use it.

“Alright, sounds good. See you in 30?”

Keith looked over to Lance, who was shaking his head no.

“Make that 45.”

oOoOoOo

Lance took a shower first; though there was a lot of arguing as to who would shower first since both boys are stubborn as fuck. Keith normally would be weirded out by showering in a strangers house, but with Lance he didn’t even question it. Until Lance walked out of the bathroom. In only a towel. Dripping wet.

Keith bit his lip. He couldn’t stop staring. Lance was really attractive; but they were just friends. Definitely just friends.

God, Keith was so gay.

Lance caught Keith staring and smirked, knowing the effect his current appearance had on Keith. He was totally a disaster gay.

“See something you like, mullet?”

Keith blushed, obviously caught red handed.

“I-I told you n-not to call me that anymore…” Keith mumbled, tripping over his words. God, why was he such a mess right now? Pull yourself together, Kogane!

“Well, I told you I’m not going to stop. So take that!”

Keith laughed a little awkwardly, still embarrassed with getting caught staring. A moment of silence passed between them, the tension filling the air making it hard for them to breathe.

Things were getting awkward, fast . Lance coughed and changed the subject.

“Um, so I’m done in the bathroom, so you can use it while I do my facial routine.”

Keith nodded and shuffled quickly into the bathroom, needing to get into a different room than Lance immediately .

Keith shut the door, locking it and sighing deeply. God, why did he have to be so awkward? He was with Lance, where everything easy and everything flowed effortlessly. So why were things changing?

Keith undressed and showered quickly, not wanting Hunk to wait for too long. Once he finished, he stepped out onto the shower mat and toweled off his hair. After he was done, he tied the towel around his waist. He opened the door, poking his head out a little. He felt a little uncomfortable walking around Lance’s room covered only in a towel, but he didn’t really think through what would happen after he showered. It’s not like he could change back into the clothes he wore here last night.

All of a sudden Lance walked in the room, sporting a fresh pair of jeans and his signature blue baseball tee. He was holding the green jacket he always wore in one hand and was looking down at his phone held in the other. Lance stopped in the middle of the room but didn’t look up, still preoccupied with his phone.

But Keith, being the graceful human he his, accidentally leaned against the door, falling into Lance’s room. Luckily, he didn’t quite fall to the ground and caught himself in time, though he looked ridiculous. He stood up straight, looking to Lance for a reaction.

Lance watched Keith search his face. He wanted to laugh so bad, it was difficult to keep it in. He found it hilarious that Keith was standing awkwardly in front of him in only a towel, looking extremely embarrassed.

“Well, hiya Keith! You seem…” Lance gave him a onceover, “Comfy.”

Keith blushed.

“Shut up, Lance.”

Lance just chuckled.

“Can I help you with something? Or are you just going to stand there half naked for eternity?”

Keith’s cheeks reddened even more.

“Um, I kind of forgot that I don’t have any clothes to change into…”

Lance turned on his heel immediately, opening the doors of his closet.

“Lance?”

“Yeah?” He called over his shoulder without turning around.

“What are you doing?”

Lance turned to face Keith this time, looking at him seriously.

“I’m lending you some clothes. Duh.”

“Lance, you really don’t have to-”

“Oh, come on, Keith. You don’t have any other clothes and I don’t mind, really. I have some clothes that I think would fit you, anyways.”

Keith mumbled a thank you as he stood awkwardly behind Lance, watching him rummage through his closet.

A few moments later Lance turned around with a pair of black jeans, a red v-neck tee and a black leather jacket. He was beaming as he shoved them into Keith’s hands.

“These should work! The pants were too short on me and I never wear that leather jacket. Plus I think they would look good on you. They match your emo, goth aesthetic anyways.”

Keith chuckled.

“Whatever, Lance. You’re just mad that I can pull it off and you can’t.”

Lance mocked a pained expression.

“You wound me, Keith!”

“Whatever you say, sharpshooter.”

And with that, Keith went back into the bathroom to change into his new clothes.

As it turned out, the pants were still too long so Keith had to roll them a few times. The shirt and jacket fit perfectly, though. Keith had to admit, he thought he looked good.

After running his hands through his hair a couple times, he deemed himself presentable enough, given the circumstances. His hair was still wet, but it would hopefully air dry soon enough.

When Keith stepped out of the bathroom, he looked at Lance who was sitting on his bed playing Candy Crush.

“Well, what do you think?”

Lance looked up and Keith did a 360 ° turn holding his hands out so Lance could see the full look.

Lance had no words. Which was very unlike him. Although the pants were too long, they accented Keith’s legs amazingly. And the way his shirt hugged his chest and how the jacket

Underlined just how toned his arm muscles were, and-

Man, Lance was in deep. But he couldn’t help it; Keith just looked really good in his clothes!

God, was Lance in for a day. Although they probably wouldn’t be doing a ton of activities, Lance would have to endure looking at Keith. And when Keith looked like that ; Lance wasn’t quite sure he could survive. Keith just looked so damn hot . But he liked him just as friends, right? Right?

Keith just had to come in and confuse him about his feelings. He used to hate him. Well, not hate, he was more just envious. But before a week ago, they had never been great “friends”. But what if Lance didn’t want to just be “friends”? What if he wanted more? He knew it was stupid. He had a soulmate out there waiting for him. And Keith did to. Keith probably didn’t like him like that, either. No one ever did.

But Lance knew one thing for sure; he could not jeopardize his newly found relationship with Keith. He was too important for him to lose over some stupid crush. Lance just wasn’t sure how to get over it. Maybe he could try to find his soulmate? If they were meant to be together, than maybe they would be interested in him? But if they hadn’t wrote anything in the 4 years they’ve been able to… they probably didn’t give a damn about Lance. Whatever. He didn’t need anyone. But it’s probably best to just focus on one thing at a time for now. Like how good Keith’s ass looked in those pants. Lance really was in for a treat that day. Hopefully Hunk would cook, too. That man’s food was to die for.

Nevertheless, Lance got to hang out with Keith again. And that was always a good thing. Lance was honestly surprised that Keith hadn’t gotten sick of him yet. Most people did after the first day of meeting him.

Hopefully Keith was different. Lance thought he was. He listened to Lance like no one else did; except for his mom, Veronica and Pidge. Lance just didn’t want Keith to leave him. And if he didn’t act on his growing feelings, he probably wouldn’t. So that was the plan. Don’t let Keith find out. Simple enough. But the staring had to stop. Keith would definitely find out. But maybe he could get away with it today…

Chapter Text

Chapter 6:

Hunk’s deep laugh rumbled in his throat as he tilted his head back and laughed at what Shay said.

They had been sitting at the kitchen table talking for almost an hour now. Conversation between them had always been effortlessly and easy, but in the past week it felt like they had really clicked.

Suddenly a knock sounded from the door. Hunk got up and opened it to reveal two dapper looking boys.

“Well, hello there! You two look very nice. Why’d you dress up, though? I mean, I expect this from Lance, but Keith? I told you that we were going bowling.”

Lance looked over to Keith who was sporting a confused look.

“No you didn’t. You didn’t tell me anything except that Shay was already here.” Keith leaned over and looked past Hunk to the girl sitting at the table and waved. “Hi, Shay.”

She smiled and waved, saying hello to the two boys.

Hunk invited them in and they all walked over to the kitchen table where Shay was still situated.

“Keith, check your phone. I did too tell you we were going bowling!”

Keith located his phone in his pocket and saw 2 unread messages from Hunk. Telling him that they were, in fact, going bowling. Welp. Fuck.

“Oh.”

Hunk smirked.

“Told you so. Guess you’ll just have to bowl in your nice clothes. Where’d you get them anyways? Are they new? I’ve never seen you wear them before.”

Keith smiled, not surprised in the slightest that Hunk had noticed. He was naturally perceptive like that. But before Keith could answer him, Lance responded, beating Keith to the punch.

“Oh they’re my clothes. Keith didn’t bring any last night and didn’t want to walk through the door looking like trash so he enlisted the help of yours truly.” Lance gestured to himself as he did a small curtsy.

Keith laughed.

“Whatever, man. I just needed clothes. I wasn’t about to walk in here with only a towel.”

The grouped laughed collectively at the thought of Keith strolling around the dorm with only a towel on.

“But you can’t deny it. You look damn good, Keith.”

There was a long pause as everyone stared at Lance accusingly.

“What? He does?”

Keith’s cheeks reddened at the compliment. It really didn’t help that it came from Lance, either… Today was gonna be soooo fun. Cue a dramatic eye roll.

oOoOoOo

What was Lance doing? He needed to get his shit together. He had been flirting with Keith for a while now; not even on purpose! He didn’t even realize he was doing it, either. Flirty glances here, soft touches there - no wonder Keith felt uncomfortable. Well, at least that’s what Lance gathered. Why else would his face be as red as a tomato?

Currently, the group was sitting on the couch, chatting amiably. Hunk and Shay on one side, and Keith and Lance on the other. The couch, however, was not very large. They were all squished together, knees and shoulders pressed against each other, nothing left to the imagination.

They had reserved 2 lanes at a local bowling alley for 3 o’clock. It was currently 2:15, so they would be leaving shortly.

Lance could not wait to get out of that dorm. Every moment he spent near Keith was a cross between heaven and hell and Lance couldn’t stand it . Keith in his clothes was driving him near insane. Lance had excused himself to go to the bathroom a little earlier and he stayed in there for a solid 15 minutes trying to pull his shit together. He was acting crazy. He could honestly say he was surprised no one had called him out on it yet. Especially Keith.

The dynamic between Keith and Lance had always been a teasing one, and Keith had never been one to miss a chance to call Lance out on his bullshit. But today, Keith had barely made any eye contact with Lance since the first comment Lance made about Keith’s appearance. Lance was probably making him super uncomfortable with all the flirty remarks. Keith probably hated him. Again . What if he had fucked up his chances at being friends with Keith? Lance didn’t think he could handle that. Their one fight had been painful enough, and that hadn’t even lasted over day. What if-

Lance gasped as he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He jerked away from the touch, shocked from suddenly being ripped from his thoughts. He looked to the hand hovering near his shoulder and followed the arm to meet the owner. Keith.

Keith looked a little shocked at Lance’s abrasive movements. Usually Lance didn’t mind being touched, so this was an obvious red flag to Keith, though he had picked up several recently.

“Lance, are you okay?” Keith said in a quiet tone, trying not to make a scene in case something was wrong and Lance didn’t want Hunk and Shay to know.

Lance swallowed hard, trying to calm himself down. He nodded shakily.

Keith rested his hand on Lance’s shoulder, now that he knew Lance was aware of his presence.

“Lance, you’re breathing heavily and I can feel your pulse. It’s really fast. Are you sure you’re fine?”

Lance looked down. Keith was right, his heart was beating really fast and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. He could feel his chest tightening and it felt like everything was closing in on him. Lance shook his head. He wasn’t alright.

“Do you need to get some air?”

Lance nodded.

Keith reached for Lance’s hand and grasped it tightly, leading him towards the door.

“We’re going to get some air, we’ll be back soon.” Keith called over his shoulder to Hunk and Shay, who barely even acknowledged them. They were too busy talking with each other to really notice.

Keith led Lance out into the hall and Lance sunk down a wall, pulling Keith with him. He pulled his knees up to his chest, curling himself into a ball, and wrapped his free arm around his leg tightly, trying to block out the world. Keith rubbed circles into his back to try and soothe Lance, not quite sure how to act. He hadn’t really dealt with this before, but he figured it was best to just try to comfort Lance until he calmed down. Little did he know, whispering things into Lance’s ear, telling him everything would be fine and that he was here and wasn’t going to leave were just what Lance needed. Keith’s voice grounded him; made him calm down faster.

After a few minutes, Lance had calmed down. He let go of Keith’s hand and wiped the tears he didn’t know had fallen from his eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no. Don’t say that. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Lance shook his head, feeling like a disappointment.

“I’m such a mess. Why do you help me? Why do you even put up with me?”

Keith’s expression remained soft and unchanged, sympathy and caring shining through.

“Because we’re friends, Lance. And that’s what friends are for. I hate seeing you in pain; it kills me. Every time I see you hurting I want to make it go away so bad, but I just don’t know how. It’s worth trying, though.”

Keith paused, gathering his thoughts.

“I don’t put up with you, ya know. Contrary to your belief, I enjoy spending time with you.”

Lance smiled.

“Why?”

Keith laughed, caught off guard by the question.

“What do you mean, ‘why’?”

“Why do you enjoy spending time with me? Most people think I’m annoying…”

Lance looked down again and Keith’s smiled faded into a frown.

“Hey, none of that. Remember our deal? You said you wouldn’t get down on yourself.” Lance nodded.

“And I like hanging out with you because you’re just a good person. You’re nice, funny, honest, the list goes on. You’re just amazing. I can always count on you to make me smile and laugh. Your happiness is kind of contagious.”

Lance blushed and looked away, not used to receiving compliments like this.

Keith blushed too, embarrassed to have said all those thing; they were never meant to leave his head…

Keith reached a hand to the back of his neck and scratched awkwardly, not really sure what to say.

“Um, we should probably get going. I think we’re supposed to leave soon for bowling, anyways.”

Keith cleared his throat.

“Oh, um yeah. Right. Let’s do that.”

Keith stood and extended his hand out to Lance, who was still sitting on the ground. Lance clutched Keith’s hand and was tugged on to his feet swiftly, their two hands holding on to each other’s for a little too long .

“Let’s go.”

oOoOoOo

The crew loaded up into the uber that Hunk had called. The only problem was that the back wasn’t very… spacious, to say the least. Hunk let Shay sit up front, because “the lady deserves to be comfortable”, leaving the three boys to cram together in the back. Hunk sat on the far right side and Lance sat in the middle, leaving Keith to get squished up against the window. And Lance. Fan-fucking-tastic.

The car ride was a little over a half an hour. Not too bad, but too long for Keith’s taste. He disliked cars ever since… his parents accident. It didn’t help that he and Lance had been in this situation several times just this morning . Keith wasn’t sure how he was going to last. Especially when Lance dropped his head onto Keith’s shoulder.

Keith looked down at him, surprised to see that he wasn’t asleep, and consciously made the decision to cuddle into Keith. Keith snapped his head back up and looked out the window, not wanting to get caught staring again.

He wasn’t sure why Lance was being so touchy-feely today. Sure, Lance was normally a very touchy person. But around Keith? Not so much; especially to this extent. Keith wouldn’t have minded two days ago. But something between them had already been shifting and they had just recently landed in the awkward phase where both boys are struggling to figure out what was happening. And how to resolve it.

Keith thought that he might be acting like this in the car because he wants comfort because of his almost-attack earlier. But Keith dismissed that because Lance had been acting weird even before the lead up to it. Hell, he was acting strange before they had even left his dorm! But whatever the case, Keith didn’t know what the hell was happening. He didn’t know why every time Lance would so much as look at him, his cheeks would turn red and his body felt on fire. Or why he was hyper aware of every time he and Lance touched. Or even know, how every place Lance touched him - from his cheek on Keith’s shoulder, his hand clutching onto Keith’s bicep, their knees pressed up against each others’ - oh, shit. Keith liked Lance, didn’t he?

Fuck. This was not gonna end well.

oOoOoOo

Lance was happy. Confused, but happy. He was resting against Keith, who radiated heat. It was cold in the car, so it felt nice. He loved cuddling with people; especially Keith. He was strong, but soft. And his arms were nice. Lance liked to curl around them. He wasn’t really sure why, but he felt safe whenever he was snuggled up with Keith. Maybe it was because he knew Keith was going to be there for him whenever he needed him to be. Or maybe it was because he was strong and warm and made Lance feel happy. Or maybe it was because he didn’t make a big deal about it and Lance could just look at his toned arms, or his pale, creamy skin that stretched over his muscles, or stare into his beautiful violet eyes, and…

Wait.

What was he thinking? He couldn’t like Keith! They were friends, rivals! And Lance was waiting for his soulmate… right? He always thought it was stupid when people dated people who weren’t their soulmates. Lance never understood why you would be with someone who’s just average, when you know there’s someone out there who’s perfect for you, the one you were made to be with. But now, Lance understood. Just because you had a soulmate, didn’t erase your other emotions. Lance never thought he would have a crush on someone other than his soulmate. Well, sure he had liked Nyma and Allura, but that was mostly for their looks. For Lance, a crush included personality, too. Of which Nyma didn’t have. Not a good one anyways. And with Allura, their personalities just didn’t quite… click. She was amazing, and he loved her, but he didn’t have a crush on her. But with Keith…

Oh, god. He liked Keith, didn’t he?

But what would Keith say? Lance could never tell him, it would be too embarrassing. And Keith would probably be weirded out or uncomfortable. But now it made sense why Lance was being so touchy feely with Keith. He tended to do that when he formed a “crush”, though it was more so just being attracted to them. But Lance couldn’t like Keith. It wouldn’t be right and Keith would never want that. They were rivals. They were friends. Lance being attracted to Keith was one thing, but having a crush on him? That would just fuck everything up. No, Lance couldn’t like Keith. Could he?

The car eventually pulled up to the bowling alley. Everyone was sick of being in that car, especially the boys. Being crammed together with two other people for over a half an hour was not fun. At all.

Hunk payed the uber driver and he sped off, leaving the group to walk into the building.

When they walked through the front entrance, everyone was slightly caught off guard. It was dark. Really dark. The only source of lighting were some strobes here and there and some lights along the lanes themselves. Other than that, it was dark. It was kind of cool, actually.

They all go to the counter and get their correct shoe sizes before heading over to the two lanes they reserved. They were the last two, all the way at the end of the large room. Lance and Keith chose the lane closest to the wall, Hunk and Shay going with the lane beside them. Keith didn’t like being around loud noises, so being the furthest away from the rest of the bowlers was probably a good thing.

Once they get their shoes on, they pick out their bowling balls. Keith chooses a red ball, with a sort of metallic swirl. Lance chooses a similar one, but with blue. Keith calls him out, telling him to be unique, and Lance tries to come up with a witty remark back. He fails.

The two boys then work on getting their game set up. After much arguing and bickering, Keith lets Lance control the button pad. Lance sets up the game for two people, selecting no for bumpers for both of them.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. I need bumpers.”

Lance snorts.

“Ha ha, very funny, Keith.”

Lance looks up to meet Keith’s face, which is completely serious.

“Oh my god, no. I am not giving you bumpers. You are twenty years old, for heaven’s sake!”

“Age doesn’t imply skill, Lance! I suck at bowling!”

Lance shook his head.

“No. Nope. I am not giving you bumpers.”

Keith pouts.

“Come on, Lance! Please?”

Lance shakes his head, standing his ground.

“I am going to teach you how to bowl, you sad, pathetic, man child.”

Keith scoffs.

“Fine, you asshat. I am not a man child.”

Lance laughs.

“You are definitely a man child.”

oOoOoOo

So. Keith sucks at bowling. Like, reeeeaaaallly sucks. It’s physically painful to watch him bowl. After a couple of rounds, Keith comes back to the lounge and plops down in his seat, slouching.

Lance snickers at him.

“Man, you weren’t kidding, huh?”

Keith shakes his head.

“I fucking told you so.”

Lance laughs.

“Okay, fine. But you have to admit, it is a little pathetic that you’re this bad at bowling and you are a full grown man, right?”

Keith slumps even further.

Lance shakes his head and laughs, standing up to retrieve his ball.

He walks up, swings his arm back, and releases the ball with graceful strength and perfect technique. The ball propels itself down the lane and smacks into the pins.

A strike.

Hunk and Shay cheer next to them, but Keith just rolls his eyes.

You have got to be kidding me.

When Lance returns with a smile on his face Keith throws his hands up in the air.

“I’m done! I quit! I can’t do this.”

Lance’s smile quickly fades, hating that he caused Keith to be upset.

“Hey, I’m sorry for gloating. Here, let me show you.”

Lance leads Keith over to the bowling ball rack and picks up Keith’s ball, holding it up so Keith can hold it. Keith sticks his fingers in the holes and holds the ball, waiting for Lance’s instruction.

Lance grabs his own ball and shows Keith how to position his hands.

Next to them, Hunk and Shay are watching closely.

“Do you think they know?” Shay whispers into Hunk’s ear.

Hunk shakes his head.

“Not yet. Soon, though. They’re both pining morons, but they’ll figure it out soon enough.”

Shay nods, pressing a quick kiss to Hunk’s cheek.

“Thank you for inviting me out here today. It’s been really fun.”

Hunk grins as he stares at the beautiful girl in front of him.

“Of course. There’s no one I’d rather be here with.”

Shay returns his smile as she stands on her tip toes and kisses Hunk softly.

“I know we haven’t been together for a while, but… Iwaswonderingifmaybeyouwantedtobemygirlfriend?” Hunk spat out much too quickly or Shay to comprehend.

Shay quirked an eyebrow, thoroughly confused.

“Could you say that again a little slower? I don’t know what you said.”

Hunk takes a deep breath.

“I wanted to know, if you wanted to be my girlfriend?”

Shay laughed, making Hunk a little nervous.

“Of course I will!”

Hunk breathes out a sigh of relief and kisses Shay again.

“I was so scared you were going to say no.”

Shay laughed again.

“Oh!” She wiped a tear from her eye. “I thought we were already dating!”

Hunk started laughing with her, both soaking in the happiness the other provided. When they finally pulled apart, they looked over at the lane beside their own, where Lance was still trying to help Keith learn to bowl.

Lance stood behind Keith and he wrapped his arms around Keith’s torso, placing his hands on top of Keith’s to guide him. Even from their distance, both Hunk and Shay could see the redness in the cheeks of both boys.

“God, they are so pathetic. I can’t wait until they start dating.”

Shay laughed at the bluntness of Hunk’s statement.

“Me too, Hunk. Me too.”

oOoOoOo

Keith whooped and hollered as his red bowling ball knocked over eight of the ten pins.

“Oh yeah! Take that, asshat!”

Lance rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, mullet. Watch and learn, as the master shows you how a real bowler does it.”

Keith shakes his head as Lance bows, looking like an idiot; but an adorable one at that. Fuck.

Lance cracks his knuckles and picks up his ball. He walks forward, releasing the ball perfectly, the movement looking effortless.

Hunk, Shay, and Keith were all sitting in the lounge section, watching Lance’s ball roll toward the pins. Keith and Lance were currently on their third game. Keith was finally getting the hang of bowling and didn’t suck quite as much, but Lance had been killing it all night. Hunk and Shay came over to watch after their second game, just wanting to relax for the rest of the evening. A small crowd had gathered around their lane to watch Lance bowl, since he was so good. He had gotten a strike nearly every frame and Keith was so close to losing it.

Lance’s ball slammed into the pins, the crack echoing throughout the building.

A strike.

A couple of workers had even started watching as Lance waited by the rack for his bowling ball to come back up. His shoulders shrugged as he took a deep breath. Again, he strode forward, swinging his arm back and letting the ball fly down the lane. Another crack. Another strike.

The crowd around their lane cheered as Keith stared at Lance with his jaw hanging open. One part of him was glad Lance was doing so well, and even a little impressed. But another, larger, part of him was fucking pissed. Stupid, attractive rival had to beat him in bowling too. Whatever. Keith didn’t care. He totally didn’t care at all.

As Lance waited for his ball to come back up for the last roll, he turned and looked at the lounge area, locking eyes with Keith. Keith froze, wondering why Lance was staring at him. Until Lance winked and turned back around to retrieve his ball.

Wait, what? Did that really just happen? Maybe Keith was being delusional. Or maybe Lance was just messing around. He did flirt a lot. Just not with Keith. Like, ever.

Lance slot his fingers into the holes and stared at the ten pins at the end of the lane. It was now or never. He swung his arm and released the ball, his back foot sliding behind his leg with perfect form.

Everyone watching held their breath as the ball rolled towards the white towers until the sound of pins crashing rang in their ears.

And for the final frame Lance had gotten… another strike.

Everyone cheered and whistled and clapped as Lance did a small curtsy and thanked everyone. Everyone was happy. Except for Keith.

Sure, they were good friends. But they were also rivals. So Keith was mad. He was a sore loser, big time . It was a real problem.

Hunk clapped Keith on the shoulder firmly.

“Don’t worry, Keith. I’m sure you’ll live through this obviously life altering blow you’ve just taken.” Hunk said sarcastically.

Keith rolled his eyes. Whatever. It didn’t matter that Lance was better at bowling than he was. It didn’t matter that he had just completely embarrassed himself in front of a dozen people. Including Lance. Damnit.

Lance walked over to Keith who was standing by Hunk and Shay with his arms crossed, pouting.

“Oh, come on, Keith. You’re not that bad. You’re just learning still!”

Keith turned his back to Lance, exaggerating the extent of his anger.

“Keeeeef. Look at me.”

Keith stood his ground for a moment, debating, before hesitantly turning around. Though he didn’t look at Lance. His eyes remained glued to the ground.

“We’ll go bowling again sometime, okay? I can teach you how to bowl like a pro!” Lance flexed and Keith tried to hide his snickering. He was such a weirdo.

“Promise?”

Lance grinned.

“Promise.

oOoOoOo

The gang ended up staying at the bowling alley for a while, just eating some pizza and chatting about nothing in particular. By the time they were ready to leave, their uber driver texted them saying he had arrived. They all piled into the same car as before. Everyone sat in the same spots except Lance and Keith. Lance was now squished against the window while Keith was sandwiched between him and Hunk. Man, uber rides were just a blast .

Keith ended up falling asleep on the ride home, despite the uncomfortable seating arrangements and the actual ride not being very long. His head stayed up for a couple minutes but eventually landed on Lance’s shoulder.

Why did this always happen?

Lance didn’t move, not wanting to wake Keith up. They stayed that way until they got dropped back off at their dorms.

Lance gently shook Keith awake, telling them they had arrived back home.

Keith was groggy, but sat up and got out of the car. Hunk walked Shay back to her dorm on the floor below theirs’ while Keith and Lance headed to their own. Lance walked Keith back to his door, wanting to make sure he wasn’t too tired to function and hoping to wish him goodnight.

When they reached Keith’s door, they stopped and faced each other.

“Thanks for inviting me out today, Keith. I had a lot of fun.”

Keith yawned, nodding his head.

“Yeah, of course. I had fun too. Still can’t believe you put our names as Samurai and Sharpshooter, though.”

Lance laughed.

“Please, you loved it.”

There was that awkward silence again.

“Well, um I should probably get going.”

Lance nodded.

“Yeah, of course. Um, I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

Keith nodded.

“Yup see you then.”

Neither boy moved, not sure whether to just leave or hug or what.

Fuck it.

Lance moved to hug Keith and Keith melted into it. Who knew hugging could be so pleasant? Especially with Lance.

Their hug lingered for a few moments - maybe a few moments too long - and both boys pulled away.

Lance smiled at Keith before starting to walk backwards towards his dorm.

“Goodnight, Keith.”

Keith smiled back at him.

“Goodnight, Lance.”

Keith unlocked his door and walked inside, collapsing on the couch. Meanwhile, Lance did the same, kicking off his shoes and face planting onto his bed.

Keith fell asleep almost instantly, though he was eventually woken up by Hunk, who insisted he should sleep in his bed so he doesn’t get a crick in his neck. Lance, on the other hand sifted through all the thoughts he had been having all day. The majority about Keith.

God he was falling so hard and fast. It was terrifying. He didn’t want to distance himself from Keith, but he didn’t want to ruin his chance at a friendship with him. Either way, Lance needed to get rid of this crush. And he needed to get rid of it now .

Chapter Text

Chapter 7:

Keith yawned and stretched his arms above his head, sitting up slowly in his small bed. He looked around his room, from the dim light drifting in through the single window, to the long mirror by the bathroom door, to the glowing alarm clock on his nightstand.

7:15am.

That should be enough time to get ready.

Keith got up and shuffled into the bathroom, taking a quick shower and blow drying his hair. He then put on black jeans - of course - and Lance’s black leather jacket over a maroon long sleeved shirt. The color pairing from bowling night had really stuck with him. Plus, he thought he looked badass in the leather jacket. It totally didn’t matter that it came from Lance. Nope.

He walked out of the bathroom and into his bedroom, snatching his backpack off of his bed and walking out the door.

He greeted Hunk, who was in the kitchen making breakfast - of course.

Keith sat down at the table and dug into the plate of warm pancakes sitting in front of him. It had been a while since he had had the time to really sit down and eat a decent breakfast. Of course, he always ate when Hunk cooked, it would be rude not to. But he never really had the time to enjoy it. He was always rushing out the door because he just wanted to sleep. Keith wasn’t sure why, but this morning was different. He was feeling good. Happy. He felt better than he had in a really long time. He wasn’t quite sure why, but maybe it had to do with a certain boy dawning tan skin and blue eyes.

Hunk eyed him from his place by the stove, looking over his outfit.

“New look?”

Keith shrugged, trying to play it cool. Hunk was always so perceptive.

“Yeah. I liked the colors together and I think the jacket looks pretty cool.”

Hunk nodded, though his face told Keith that he didn’t buy his explanation. Keith rarely changed things up; he didn’t like sudden change. To get Keith to change his look like this without warning… Hunk knew something, or someone had to have seriously impacted Keith.

“Mhm. Whatever you say, Keith.”

Keith cocked an eyebrow.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Hunk smirked.

“So this has nothing to do with Lance?”

Keith’s cheeks turned red, caught red handed. But that didn’t stop Keith from trying to deny it. He would never be caught dead admitting his feelings. He was known for shoving them deep down until they were completely forgotten. So why did he want to tell Hunk so bad?

“What? Pfft. No! Why would a different outfit have anything to do with Lance , of all people?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because the color scheme you’re wearing is the same as last night. You know, the one Lance picked out for you? And you’re also wearing that leather jacket. Lance’s jacket.”

Keith turned away from Hunk, laughing nervously.

“Haha, what a coincidence…”

He trailed off, both knowing exactly what was going on. But Hunk didn’t push it. He knew Keith would admit his feelings to him eventually when he was ready. He would wait until then.

“Okay, Keith. You look good.”

Keith smiled, grateful his friend wasn’t calling him out on his bullshit.

They both finished their breakfast in comfortable silence, just enjoying each other’s company.

“Well, I should probably get going. See ya later, big guy.” Hunk waved, not looking up, choosing to focus on the book in his hands.

But before Keith could reach the door, it flew open, revealing Pidge, who wakes right in as if it was her own home.

“Sup, losers.”

Hunk nodded and Keith just laughed and shook his head. He wasn’t even surprised at this point.

“Bye, Pidge.”

“See ya, mullet.”

oOoOoOo

Lance and Keith sit in a comfortable silence on the drive to school. Other than Lance greeting Keith when he first saw him, neither boy had said a word. No words were spoken, but there didn’t need to be. Everything was easy, and peaceful, and light.

Lance is softly humming to the song Gasolina, which is playing quietly throughout the car. Everything is just… good.

When they reach the school, they walk in together like always, still not talking. Neither boy knew why, but conversation just wasn’t needed. Nothing was awkward, fortunately, but instead relaxed.

They sat down in the seats next to each other in their astronomy classroom, taking out their notebooks and the other supplies they needed for class. Lance took out a blue felt pen and started doodling on his notebook before class started. Simple designs, nothing in particular. Keith watched Lance draw, as he had nothing better to do. Although Keith wouldn’t have guessed this, Lance was actually very artistic. After a while, he flipped to different pages in his notebook containing actual things, like flowers, a lion, and a futuristic looking gun. They were all very detailed and high quality.

“Lance, I didn’t know you drew!”

Lance shrugged.

“I don’t. I just doodle sometimes when I’m bored.”

Keith was stunned.

“You’re kidding! Lance, these are incredible! You’re amazing!”

Now, Lance was blushing, his cheeks turning a deep shade of red. He still wasn’t used to receiving this kind of praise. It was still new, and strange.

“Thanks, Keith. My sister said I have a knack for it. I find it relaxing, so I doodle when I’m bored.”

Keith pulled Lance’s notebook towards him so he could look through all of Lance’s drawings. They were truly stunning.

When Keith was done looking at the sketches, he pushed the notebook back to Lance, who whacked the pen against the paper, contemplating what to draw.

“What do you think you’re going to draw next?”

Lance shrugged, glancing around the room in hopes to find some inspiration. He didn’t. Until his eyes rested on Keith.

“How about you?”

Keith looked over to Lance.

“What about me?”

“What if I drew you?”

Keith laughed. Wait, was Lance serious?

“Wait, you want to draw me?” Lance nodded. “Why?

Lance chuckled.

“I dunno. You’re attractive and I think your eyes would be fun to draw if I color them in.”

Keith blushed.

“Um, sure. Why not?”

“Cool. I don’t think I will now though. I can’t afford to fail this class.”

Keith laughed.

“Yeah, me too. When were you thinking?”

Lance gazed blankly at around the room, thinking.

“Tomorrow, maybe?”

Keith though for a moment.

“Yeah, I should be free.”

Lance smiled.

“Sweet! Do you want to come over around 6 ish? I could cook dinner for you!”

Keith should a look of confusion.

“You can cook?”

“Yeah! I learned from my mom! She’s an amazing cook. I could make you ropa vieja! My mom would make that all the time. It’s a traditional Cuban dish. It’s basically pulled pork but it’s sooooo good!”

Keith laughed as he listened to Lance ramble on and on about cooking and what he was going to make for him. He was really adorable when he rambled.

“That sounds great, Lance.”

Both boys smiled at each other, maybe a little too long, until they were interrupted by their professor.

Their class was pretty boring. Their professor didn’t give a lecture for once, so they had work time to get started on their reading due next week. The two boys worked diligently for a long time, but eventually Lance got bored (He had never done well working for long durations of time). So he reverted to doodling. Duh.

He pulled out his sketchbook and pens and flipped to a page that already had a drawing started. It looked like… a futuristic pride of flying lions?

“Um, Lance?”

“Yeah.” He said without looking up.

“What are you drawing.”

Lance looked up this time.

“Oh. This is one I’ve been working on for a while now. The idea just kind of popped into my head. So basically, there’s these five robot lions that can fly and then come together to form one giant mega robot!”

Keith laughed.

“So, transformers?”

“No, no, no. Not even close. Voltron is waaaaaay cooler.”

“Voltron?”

Keith threw his head back and laughed hard. God, Lance was such a nerd. It was adorable.

“Hey, don’t laugh at me! It’s a cool idea!”

Keith sighed.

“Okay, okay. Well, do the lions fly themselves?”

Lance’s eyes glimmered, surprised, but excited that someone was actually taking the time to listen to what he had to say. Especially about something that wasn’t even important(although it was to Lance).

“Well, they can, but they’re usually flown by pilots called paladins.” Keith nodded, following along. “The lions themselves have conscious, and are partially alive because of magic, so they can do things independently.”

“That’s actually… really cool.”

“Right? If I could be a pilot, I would want Blue to choose me.”

“ Blue ? To choose you ?”

“Oh, I forgot to mention that. You can’t fly a lion if the Lion doesn’t accept you as it’s paladin. And you have to forge a bond with your lion even after they’ve chosen you. The paladin’s personality is reflected in the lion’s.”

“Tell me about the different lions.”

“Well, there’s Blue, as you know. She’s the right leg of Voltron. Yellow is next. He’s the left leg. The arms are Red and Green, both girls. And then the torso and head is Black. He’s the leader.”

“Which lion would I fly?” Keith smirked, curious as to how Lance might respond.

“Red. Definitely. She’s a little reckless but very loyal and protective. She acts on instinct, and she’s the fastest and most agile of the lions. She’s a little unstable and difficult to master, but I think you’d be able to handle her.” Lance responds without hesitation.

Keith grunted. “I am not unstable.”

Lance just shrugged.

“Have you thought about it before?”

“Mhm.” Lance nods. “I have a very active imagination.”

Keith chuckles.

“Tell me about it. So who would fly the other lions? Since it seems like you’ve thought about it.”

“Right you are. I was thinking Hunk would fly Yellow, since he’s caring and kind. He puts the needs of others above his own and his heart is big. Pidge would fly the Green lion because it has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring, so it suits her perfectly. And for the Black lion, I’m not quite sure. I think you or I could both fly it, but I think we fit more with Red and Blue. Maybe Shiro?”

Keith laughed.

“Wait, my brother Shiro?”

Lance nodded.

“Yeah, he seems like a leader. He’s just got that vibe about him.”

Keith was confused.

“Wait, how do you know that? Do you even know him?”

“Yeah! He’s our RA and I make it my business to know everyone. I’ve talked to him a lot, whenever I see him in the hallways. He’s really cool.”

Keith laughed.

“Yeah. But I guess I can see him in the Black lion. He is a natural born leader.”

Lance nodded in agreement.

“The black paladin has to be in control at all times and be someone whose men will follow without hesitation. I sure would, especially since he’s a beefcake.”

Keith smacked Lance on the arm.

“Ew, Lance! That’s my brother you’re talking about!”

Lance just laughed, shaking Keith off him.

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, Keith doing his work and Lance doodling. While they were working, Lance was thinking about lots of things. Keith, school, his art, Voltron, and… his soulmate. He hadn’t been thinking about it as much as he had before his talk with Keith, but he still thought about it constantly. It plagued his mind, especially at night. He was still having nightmares about it, but not as frequently. Especially the nights he slept with Keith. Keith was like a nightmare repellent. He was slowly realizing his feelings for Keith, but it was hard for him. He was terrified of rejection from anyone, but this time it felt worse. This was Keith he was talking about. They had gotten frighteningly close in the short while they had been real “friends”, and Lance didn’t know what he would do if he lost him. Keith had already helped him in so many ways without even knowing it. Just being there, just his presence put Lance at ease. It was calming and made Lance feel the best he ever had. But while Lance knew he liked Keith, he was starting to become more curious about his soulmate. Every time he thought about why he wasn’t reaching out to them, the reasons seemed more and more stupid. He hated feeling like a coward. What was holding him back?

“Hey Keith?”

Keith looked up at Lance, eyes wide, waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t, Keith reached a hand out and placed it over Lance’s.

“What’s up, Lance? Are you okay?”

Lance nodded, trying to put the words together in his mind.

“I think…”

Keith waited patiently, knowing Lance was struggling to express his feelings and not wanting to push him. He knew Lance would speak eventually, he just needed time.

Lance took a deep breath.

“I think… I think I want to talk to my soulmate.”

Keith opened his mouth to reply, but closed it quickly, suddenly realizing what this meant for Lance. He withdrew his hand, also realizing what it meant for him. Lance didn’t feel the same, did he?

“That’s great, Lance.” He said with sincerity, though there were traces of sadness in his voice. Lance didn’t seem to notice, though. “When are you going to do it?”

Lance thought for a moment.

“I think now.”

Oh. Oh .

“Okay, go for it. What are you going to say.”

Lance inhaled deeply, trying to calm his nerves. He had no clue how or when his soulmate would reply. Or if they would even reply at all.

“I’m not sure.” Lance looked down, clearly nervous and on the verge of panicking.

“Hey.”

Keith stared at Lance, waiting for him to look back at him before continuing.

“You can do this. Just start with something simple and easy. You don’t have to do this right now, if you don’t want to.”

Lance shook his head.

“No. No, I want to do this. I can do this.”

Keith smiled proudly. Lance was so strong.

“Okay. I just want you to be happy.”

Lance reciprocated the gesture. He then dug through his pouch of pens and picked out a turquoise one. He took a deep breath before gripping the pen tightly, pressing the tip lightly onto his left arm.

Keith watched as Lance didn’t write anything, but drew instead. Something easy. Something simple. He started with a circle in the center of his arm, drawing an assortment of petals around it. He added stripes, polka dots, zig-zags, and original patterns in each petal. It was beautiful. Keith felt a pang in his heart when he realized what this meant. Lance didn’t like him. He wanted someone else. Everything he thought he had picked up on recently, flirty touches, remarks, glances, it was all just in his head. He had once again, made it up. God, he was so stupid to think that someone like Lance could ever like him. His heart felt like someone had stuck a knife deep into it and twisted it around, making everything painful. Keith hated this feeling. The feeling of  heartbreak, and knowing that Lance didn’t like him back.

The bell rung just as Lance finished drawing. He put the cap back on his marker and slipped it back into its pouch.

“Keep me updated with what happens, yeah?”

Lance looked to Keith and nodded, before looking back to his arm to admire his handiwork. They both packed up the rest of their things and walked to Lance’s car. On the car ride home, no words were exchanged except the customary goodbye when Lance walked into his dorm room. They barely even looked at each other. Lance didn’t appear to be uncomfortable or realize the change so apparent to Keith. When Keith got into his dorm room, he went straight to his room and lied on his back in his bed.

He had once thought that knowing Lance didn’t like him back would be a good thing. There was something about that that he assumed would bring a sense of closure to him. And it did. But somehow, the closure just didn’t seem to overshadow the pain that resided in his chest. The overwhelming feeling of hurt that had seated itself in his heart and didn’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

Keith didn’t know what was in store for him. He didn’t know what would happen when Lance found his soulmate and Keith got replaced. Lance would most likely realize he didn’t need Keith for anything anymore and would just cut him out of his life entirely. But regardless of what Lance did, Keith knew he wouldn’t distance himself from him, or leave. He wasn’t sure he could. Because with everything Lance had already done for him, it was the least he could do. And Keith wasn’t going to let go unless Lance wanted him to. He just prayed that Lance didn’t want him to.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Long Sleeves and Soulmates

The whole day, and throughout the night, Lance stayed up watching TV, though he wasn’t really watching. He just stared blankly at the screen, his mind sifting through his thoughts from the day. Every couple of minutes or so he would check his arm, and practically any piece of skin he could imagine someone writing on. Still nothing. The more he looked, the more disappointed he became; his night getting worse and worse by the hour. After “watching” several Disney movies, he eventually gave up and trudged off into his room, falling asleep almost immediately. Today was emotionally draining for him and he passed out cold as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Keith, on the other hand, had pushed any and every thought about Lance that day to the back of his mind; so far away that it was finally starting to feel like they weren’t even there. But just as they we’re almost completely faded, that nagging pain in his chest reeled them right back in. Keith decided to spend the rest of the day hanging out with Hunk to try and keep his mind off of… things. Hunk cooked them dinner and they binge watched Queer Eye for hours, judging everyone that came onto the screen. Keith had found that making fun of people made him feel way better about his insecurities. Plus Antoni was cute. Keith wondered if he would be into dating fans. Maybe that would help keep his mind if off Lance…

“Keith?”

Keith’s had whipped around as he snapped out of his thoughts.

“What?”

Shit. That sounded way harsher than he was intending.

Keith saw the quick flash of hurt appear on Hunk’s face and immediately felt guilty. Hunk didn’t do anything wrong and Keith had just snapped at him for no reason at all. Except that he was a dumbass. God, he was such a shitty friend.

“I’m sorry, Hunk. I really didn’t mean that to come off as mean, it’s just… it’s been a long day.” Keith dragged a hand down his face, feeling exhausted. He hadn’t even done that much at all. But he guessed that going through an emotional breakdown without letting anything out externally probably did that to a person. Oops.

“Are you okay, Keith? You’ve seemed really stressed since you got home.”

Keith sighed.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Hunk gave him a look to show he wasn’t buying it. In all honesty, Keith wasn’t buying it himself, either. But since when has that ever stopped him from denying the truth?

“Seriously, Hunk! I’m fine!”

“Mmhmm.” Hunk said, calling bullshit on Keith. “Until you tell me what’s wrong, I’m not baking you cupcakes.”

Keith spluttered.

“What?! Why not? There’s nothing wrong!”

Hunk just shook his head at Keith as he stood up and brought their dinner plates into the kitchen.

“Huuuuuuuunk. Come on, man. You can’t do that to me. That’s so unfair!”

He pouted.

“Don’t you dare guilt trip me, Keith Kogane. You know I usually wouldn’t push you to confess, but it’s obvious this is really beating you up and I hate seeing you like this. I can’t stand it. I’m your friend and it’s part of my job to help you sort through your feelings, even the tough ones. And then make you food to make you feel better.”

“But isn’t threatening not to make my cupcakes contradictory to what you just said?”

“No. I said I’d make you food after we sort out your feelings. Until then you’re just going to have to live off of canned ravioli.”

“Don’t challenge me, Hunk! You know I would totally do it!”

“Of course you would, but wouldn’t you rather have delicious, home cooked meals from your bestest roommate in the world?”

Keith pouted again. Hunk knew him too well.

Keith crossed his arms and turned away from Hunk, not wanting to bring up the pain he had been trying to push away since he got home. But then again, he knew Hunk would do everything in his power to help him, and Keith definitely wouldn’t have to worry about Hunk telling anyone. He could keep a secret until the day he died. It’s one of the reasons Keith loved him so much. He cared so much about others, it amazed him.

“It’s Lance.” Keith said suddenly. But he didn’t want to say anything more quite yet. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to say. Hell, he was still trying to work through this mess himself.

Hunk walked back to the couch and sat next to Keith, a comfortable distance away. He knew how Keith felt about personal space, especially when he was worked up about something.

Keith took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself for his confession. He knew it was just him and Hunk, and given that, he had nothing to worry about. But he hated feeling vulnerable. Except with Lance. Sigh .

“Did something happen?”

Keith nodded.

“But it’s stupid.”

“It’s obviously not if you care about it this much to hide it from me. And if you’re worried about it, it’s not stupid to me.”

Keith winced at his words. He knew Hunk felt hurt when he kept things from him, but his words were more than just a reminder of Keith’s current mistake. He had said something similar to Lance when they had first become “true friends” while getting coffee.

Keith felt stinging behind his eyes but repressed it. He wasn’t going to cry. He wasn’t. It wasn’t worth it; just a waste of emotion.

“Okay. Um, I guess I’ll start at the beginning. So you know how Lance has never reached out to his soulmate because he was scared of what might happen?”

Hunk nodded, leaving the talking to Keith.

“Well, apparently he’s not scared anymore, because he reached out to them today. At school. He drew a flower on his arm.”

Hunk opened his mouth hesitantly.

“And that’s good, right?” He spoke slowly, keeping his eyes on Keith, searching for a reaction to his words.

Keith just looked down.

“Yeah, yeah of course. I’m happy he’s overcome that fear, and he deserves to be happy...”

“But…?”

“But I want him to be happy with me.”

Hunk gave Keith a sympathetic look. He already knew Keith liked Lance, he just didn’t know that he was this far gone. He was surprised that Keith had already admitted it to himself. Keith hadn’t had many crushes over the years. But when he did, he tended to stay in denial for the duration of it. And if he did admit it to himself, it took months, at least. With Lance it had taken days. Unless Keith has liked Lance before they became friends…

“What about your soulmate, Keith? Have you thought about contacting them?”

Keith shook his head.

“Come on, Hunk. You know I don’t believe in that stuff.”

“I know, I know… but why not try? What do you have to lose?”

“Lance.”

Hunk breathed out a sad sigh.

“I don’t want to tell you what to do, but…”

“Just say it, Hunk.”

“If Lance is reaching out to his soulmate, it seems like he believes in it. So why not give it a shot? It might help you get over him.”

“But I don’t want to get over him!” Keith threw his hands up, exasperated. “I just… I want… god, I don’t know!”

Keith could feel himself getting worked up and he hated it. He hated that he couldn’t control his goddamn emotions.

“I don’t care if he doesn’t like me back. I can live with that, but I can’t tell him. That would risk everything.”

“Everything?”

“I can’t lose him, Hunk. I just can’t.”

“Hey, calm down, Keith. It’s okay.”

“No, Hunk. It’s not okay. I don’t know what the fuck to do!”

Hunk put a hand onto Keith’s shoulder.

“Do you want my advice?”

Keith looked down.

“...yes?”

“Okay. I think that you should confess.” Hunk saw the panicked look fill Keith’s eyes and was quick to reassure him. “However, I know you won’t go for that, so I think that staying friends with him is the best option for now.”

“Okay, but… what do I do? Just pretend like everything is normal?”

Hunk shook his head.

“You just have to be there for him like you always are. You can appreciate all the things you like about him without telling him. You don’t have to confess. And if this crush goes away, then that’s one problem off your hands. And if it doesn’t, you still get to be friends with Lance and bask in your feelings for him.”

Keith nodded slowly, processing Hunk’s advice. He let out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

“Thanks, Hunk.”

Keith leaned over and gave him a hug, so grateful to be able to call Hunk his friend.

“I just hope I don’t fuck everything up.”

Hunk laughed. While thinking to himself, me too, Keith. Me too.

“Now how about I get started on those cupcakes I promised you?”

oOoOoOo

After both Keith and Hunk had eaten one too many cupcakes, Keith walked into his room and stood in front of his mirror, examining his pale features. He had never really been self conscious before - had never given enough fucks to care - but now he suddenly hated what he saw staring back at him. If he was being honest with himself, he had never really felt good enough. He wasn’t good enough to have friends, he wasn’t good enough to stay in school, he wasn’t good enough to keep his parents alive…

He especially didn’t feel good enough for Lance. Lance was so much better than he was. He was kind, and caring, and sociable, and beautiful , and he wasn’t worthy. He was some stupid, pale, emo boy. He didn’t deserve to have Lance, not even just in his life. But still, he wanted him in it; needed him in it. He wasn’t sure how he had survived before without knowing Lance, especially with all the shit he had to endure back then. But Lance didn’t deserve this. None of it. He didn’t deserve to have his life dragged down by Keith. He was a screw up; he didn’t make things better. Lance was too good for him.

Keith flopped down onto his bed, wallowing in self pity. He sighed and dragged a hand down his face, hoping to pull his negative thoughts with it. His emotions ran wild whenever he was around Lance and right now he was stranded in the aftermath. He didn’t know what to do. Keith knows he should listen to Hunk, and take his advice. He knows that he’s right. But Keith knows it’s going to be hard. But he guessed it was going to be hard regardless of what he does.

Keith sighed, sitting up on his bed. It was getting late, he should probably get to bed. He shut the light and shuffled his way over to his closet, not wanting to run into something.

Keith shucked off his pants and put on some joggers. He shrugged off his jacket and then pulled his shirt up and over his head. He walked over to the bed, laying down and huffing out a breath. He was exhausted. He pulled his sheets up over his torso, resting his hands atop the covers. His eyes danced around the room as he waited to fall asleep, drifting from object to object. But the dim glow of his alarm clock highlighted something on his arm.

Keith squinted, not sure if there really was something on his arm or if his eyes were just playing tricks on him. He brought his hand closer to his face. Yup. Something was definitely there. Keith sighed, his curiosity getting the better of him, and sat up. It’s not like he was going to sleep, anyways. He threw the covers off of himself and walked over to the door to flip on the light switch. He blinked a couple of times, trying to let his eyes adjust to the new lighting. After a few moments, he regained his vision and looked down at his arm once again.

At the sight of what was there, Keith’s eyes went wide. He blinked a couple of times to make sure he was really seeing this.  Keith ran his fingers over the markings and gasped. They didn’t smudge, only kept their faded appearance.

“Holy, shit.”

oOoOoOo

Keith barreled into the hallway, only stopping when he reached Hunk’s bedroom door. He curled his right hand into a fist and rapped his knuckles against the door furiously, shocked by his new discovery.

Although he heard Hunk yell that he was coming, he didn’t stop the knocking. He didn’t seem to be able to. His body was in hyper drive, not sure what to do with itself since his brain had shut down. He wasn’t able to comprehend what the markings on his arm obviously meant. He knew there was only one possible answer, but he still couldn’t believe it. Didn’t believe it. Someone was probably just playing a cruel joke on him. That theory didn’t even make sense, but to Keith, it made more sense than the other option.

Hunk eventually made his way to his door, opening it to face Keith in his groggy state.

“Whas’ goin’ on, Keef? I thought you were ‘sleep?” Hunk blinked, still in the process of waking up.

Keith only shook his head in reply, stepping past Hunk and barging into his room without permission. Keith sat down on the bed as Hunk turned around slowly to face him. He eyed Keith, observing the panicked, wide-eyed look on his face, and the slight twitching of his muscles. Something was obviously wrong. With this realization, Hunk snapped out of his sleepy state and jumped into mom mode.

“Keith, what’s going on? Are you okay? What happened?!”

Keith just held his arm out to Hunk.

Hunk closed the distance between them and took Keith’s arm in his hand to examine it. On Keith’s arm, in a light blue ink, was a faded drawing of a flower.

“Wait, does this mean-”

Keith nodded, a blank look on his face.

Hunk’s eyes went as wide as Keith’s, starting to understand the extent of the situation.

“Didn’t you say Lance drew something similar to this?”

Again, Keith bowed his head.

“So this means you and Lance are-”

Another nod.

“Oh. Oh . Keith, this is amazing! Oh my god! You guys are-”

“Don’t say it.”

Hunk’s smile quickly left his face at the darkness in Keith’s tone.

“Why? Isn’t this a good thing?”

Keith started to shake, the reality of it all starting to sink in. It all just seemed so crazy. The world started to spin and Keith shivered, suddenly not okay.

Hunk grabbed his shoulders to steady him.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on there, Keith. Deep breaths. Just take deep breaths.”

Keith was unresponsive. He didn’t want to listen to Hunk. Listening to him made it real. Making it real meant he had to deal with it and Keith really couldn’t deal with it at the moment.

“Keith.”

Keith shook his head.

“No. No. No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening. It can’t be. We can’t be… we can’t. Can we…?”

Keith was rambling, slowly descending into a downward spiral. But not for long. Not on Hunk’s watch.

“Keith. Breath with me. In. And out. In. And out.”

Hunk modeled his breathing and after a few cycles Keith joined him, syncing his breaths to Hunk’s before long.

Hunk sat beside him, rubbing circles into his back. He had found early on in their friendship that it seemed to help him calm down.

“There you go, just keep breathing.”

Keith inhaled and exhaled, trying to regain his composure. He let out a shuddered breath and gripped Hunk’s hand. He needed something to ground him.

After a few moments, Keith was pretty much back to normal, just a little shaken up.

“Are you okay?”

Keith nodded slightly, a little unsure of himself.

“Can you talk about it?”

Keith sucked in a deep breath before letting it out.

“I think so.”

“Okay. Can you explain why you and Lance being… you know… is a bad thing? Because I’m kind of struggling to see how since just tonight you were practically drooling over him.”

Keith looked down.

“It’s never going to work.”

“What’s never going to work?”

“Us. Lance and I. We aren’t meant to be together.”

Hunk was thoroughly confused.

“But you guys are…”

“Soulmates.” Keith breathed out. It felt weird to say.

“If you guys are soulmates, then you two were meant to be together, right?”

Keith shook his head.

“Okay. So I’m confused. Since you and Lance are soulmates, that means you guys were literally meant to be together. Like, that’s the actual definition. You two are perfect for each other.”

“That’s what they want you to think.”

“Come on, Keith. Now you’re sounding like some crazy conspiracy theorist. What’s actually going on here?”

Keith sighed.

“Don’t act like soulmates always work out, Hunk. You’ve heard the stories. Everyone has. Even if people are soulmates, that doesn’t mean that they’re guaranteed to get together. And given that chance, I’d rather just stick to the original plan.”

Hunk sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Keith, you are seriously blind.”

Keith looked up at Hunk, confused.

“What do you mean?”

“You are so oblivious it hurts ! That boy is head over heels for you and you can’t even see it!”

“He’s not.”

“How are you so sure?!” Hunk’s arms were flailing at this point, exasperated beyond belief.

“Because he didn’t come after me! He turned to his soulmate instead!”

“BUT HIS SOULMATE IS YOU!”

“HE DOESN’T KNOW THAT!”

Everything became silent for a second, both boys processing what the other had said. Keith did have a point, but Hunk was still pretty positive Keith wasn’t going to lose Lance.

“I get what you’re saying, Keith. But I don’t think Lance will care that you’re his soulmate. I think he’ll be ecstatic, if anything.”

“No, you don’t get it. I can’t lose him Hunk. I can’t. If I did… I don’t, I-I-“

“Whoa, calm down buddy.”

Keith was starting to get worked up again.

“It’s not my decision. You know I’ll help you through whatever you choose to do.”

Keith looked down at his arm and traced over the fading marks with his thumb.

“I need to think about it. I think- I think I’m gonna go to bed.”

Hunk nodded, wishing he could do more to help his friend.

“I’ll talk to you in the morning, then?”

Keith nodded as he walked out the door, not glancing at Hunk once.

Hunk sighed as he shut the door behind his friend and returned to the warm confines of his bed. He was sure Keith would come around eventually. Or Lance. One of the two would figure it out and this mess would be over. Until then, Hunk would do everything in his power to help them both through it. That was why everyone loved him. He was kind and supportive, even when his friends were being dumbasses.

Regardless, there was one thing Hunk knew for sure.

The journey Keith has started on would be a bumpy one. But I’m the end, it would be worth it.

Hopefully.

oOoOoOo

Keith didn’t get any sleep that night. Not even an hour. His thoughts raced around his mind, never stopping, gears constantly turning. He tossed and turned and pleaded with his mind to let him go to sleep, but it was relentless.

When Hunk woke up in the morning, he was surprised to find Keith sitting on the couch, sipping on the coffee in his mug.

“How did you sleep last night?”

“Didn’t.”

Hunk raised an eyebrow.

“Well, then what did you do?”

Keith shrugged.

“Thought about my options. And made up my mind.”

Hunk sat down next to Keith, giving him his full attention.

“And? What did you decide on?”

Keith sucked in a breath.

“I’m gonna write back.”

Hunk clapped happily.

“YES MY OTP!!!”

“Don’t get too excited. I’m not gonna tell him it’s me.”

Hunk stopped clapping immediately and stared blankly at Keith.

“You’re going to do what ?!”

“If he knows it’s me he might not talk to me at all. If he hates the mystery soulmate and stops talking to me, nothing happens in the real world between us. He won’t hate me forever and we can still be friends while I pathetically crush on him forever and ever.”

“ My god . Okay. What are you going to say then? What happens if he finds out?”

“I don’t know what I’m going to say. Maybe just “hello”? I can’t tell him my name though.”

“But what if he asks for it? Won’t it get a little suspicious if you are acting mysterious all the time?”

Keith shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“And what are you going to do if he finds out?”

“He’s not going to find out.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’m not telling him my name. And I’m not going to tell him anything that could relate this, person , back to me. No name. No address. I’m not going to tell him we live in the same area. He might try and look for me.”

“How are you going to cover up the markings? What if he sees them when you’re at school?”

“Long sleeves, I guess.”

“What if they’re on your hands? How are you going to cover those up?”

“I don’t know, Hunk! Okay?! So just, lay off!”

Hunk through his hands up, surrendering.

“Okay, okay. I just don’t want to see either of you get hurt.”

Keith looked down. He wanted to try this out, but he also understood where Hunk was coming from. He was taking a risk. But to Keith, telling Lance was a bigger risk than merely pretending to be someone else.

“I know you don’t. I’m just… scared. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push too far.”

Keith shook his head.

“No, it’s okay. I think I was still in shock for a while and it’s just now hitting me. You know how I am with emotions… especially when they involve Lance.”

Hunk smiled, knowing that this was tough for Keith, but also that it would end well. Probably. Hopefully.

“You can do this Keith. I believe in you.”

Keith laughed and hugged his friend.

“So… are you going to do this, or not?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Gremlins and Greetings

Keith sat at the dinner table, holding a red, felt pen shakily in his hand. His breathing was uneven and weak. Anyone could see from a mile away that he was scared out of his mind. He looked... well, like a mess, to put it bluntly.

Hunk stood behind his chair, peering over his shoulder. He wanted to say something, but held his tongue. Keith was obviously stressing about this whole “ordeal” and he didn’t want to make it worse. He knew how Keith got when he got pushy.

Keith inhaled sharply, still debating in his mind whether or not he was actually going to do this. This was single handedly the most terrifying experience of his life. Or, at least, that’s what Keith was expecting it to be. His mind was racing a hundred miles an hour, and his heart beating a thousand times faster.

Keith sucked in a breath as he made up his mind. He was doing this.

His hand shook with slight tremors and his anxiety started bubbling up slightly.

His hand stopped in it’s path.

“Hunk, I don’t know if I can do this.”

Hunk sighed sadly, getting slightly frustrated with his friend. He landed a hand on Keith’s shoulder as he tried to reassure him.

“Keith. Buddy. You need to respond now or Lance is going to be a wreck at school. You know how important this is to him.”

“And you think this isn’t important to me?”

Hunk just looked at Keith, trying to read his face which was currently contorted with several emotions.

“Keith. You can do this. I know you’re nervous-“

Keith scoffed.

“That’s the understatement of the century.”

“Okay, but the longer you wait, the more stressed out you get. It’s not healthy.”

Keith looked down at his arm while he processed Hunk’s words. He knew he was right, but that didn’t make him feel any better.

Keith sighed and lifted the pen to his arm’s level. His hand was still shaky, but less so than before. He held his breath as he lowered his hand, making contact with his pale skin. He dragged the tip over his flesh, feeling the wetness that the ink left behind on his arm. He made a few more strokes before he put the cap back on the pen and admired his handiwork. Only then, did he release the breathe he had been holding in.

Hunk let out a confused sound.

“Keith?”

“Hm?”

“What in the fresh fuck is that?”

On Keith’s arm was a single word and nothing else.

Hi.

“I thought I should start off simple and easy, don’t you agree?”

Hunk shook his head.

“I can’t believe you sat here for over a half an hour debating whether or not to write “hi”, of all the things you could have picked! You’re ridiculous, Keith. But I am really proud of you for building up the courage to do this.” He knelt down and wrapped his arms around Keith, giving him his famous “love and support” hug.

“I know this was hard for you and I haven’t been super supportive of your decisions with everything that’s been going on lately, but I truly am proud of you.”

Keith shook his head, a smile on his face.

“No, Hunk. You’ve been amazingly supportive. I’m so grateful that you choose to call me out on my bullshit. Not a lot of people do that, and I really need it, though I may not think that in the moment.”

Hunk nodded, smiling back at Keith, releasing his roommate after a few more moments. They sat in silence for a while, both not quite sure what was supposed to happen next.

“So... what now?” Hunk asked.

Keith shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess there’s only one thing we can do, right? Wait for a response?”

Hunk nodded.

“I can’t think of any other options, so sure.”

The boys went quiet again until Hunk broke the silence.

“What are you going to do about seeing Lance at school?”

Keith tilted his chin down and stared at the wall behind Hunk thoughtfully.

“Just act normal. I mean, what else can I do? I already made up my mind. I’m not going to tell him. I’m pretty good at hiding my emotions, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Actually, you’re pretty shit at hiding your emotions. Especially when you’re around Lance.”

Keith scoffed.

“No I’m not!” Keith’s voice wavered.

Hunk laughed at the boy’s voice crack and placed a large hand on his shoulder.

“Whatever you say, Keith. Whatever you say.”

Keith huffed out a breath. He was mad at his friend for two reasons. One, Hunk had called him out on his emotions, always a no-no in the moment. And two, he was absolutely right and both of them knew it. But still, Keith denied his feelings. He would never admit them to Lance. It was a risk he was not willing to take. It was a secret that Keith was prepared to bring to the grave. Because there was no way in hell that Lance could feel the same way. All the evidence pointed in other directions. It was completely one sided, of that Keith was sure.

oOoOoOo

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

HOLY SHIT.

Lance gaped at his arm as he stared at the two simple letters that resided there.

Hi.

whAT.

How was this happening? Was it really happening, or was he just imagining it? Lance pinched himself, wincing slightly at the stinging sensation, before looking back to his arm.

Yup. This was definitely real.

Lance was in shock. When he had woken up, he had not expected there to be anything written on his arm. Nothing at all. He hadn’t anticipated his soulmate responding at all, given neither of them had reached out to the other in all the years they had been able to.

Pidge walked into Lance’s room where he was sitting on his bed, still staring at his arm in disbelief.

“What’s up, dude? What are you-”

Pidge stopped speaking when she noticed something was off with Lance.

“Hey, are you okay?” She said softly.

Lance looked up at her with a blank expression on his face, the shock still not having worn off yet.

“My soulmate replied.”

Pidge quirked an eyebrow.

“What do you mean your soulmate replied?”

Lance held his arm out and Pidge strolled up to him to take it in her small hands. Low and behold, the faded flower and the slightly pathetic “hi”.

“LANCE CHARLES MCCLAIN! WHEN WERE YOU PLANNING ON TELLING ME THAT YOU WERE TALKING TO YOUR SOULMATE?!”

Lance didn’t move, and neither did his expression, despite his friend screeching at him. His face remained emotionless. He went to respond, but struggled with his words, stumbling over them and stuttering.

“I-I don’t know. It all, just- I don’t know! It happened so fast, and I didn’t expect anything to come out of it!”

Lance was rambling now, his words flying out of his mouth stringed closely together.

“I didn’t think they would respond and I thought it was stupid and I only doodled a flower, and who even knows if they would have seen it, right? It could be cold where they live and they could be wearing long sleeves all the time, and never see it! Or they just saw it and didn’t give a shit. I mean, all the possibilities and the fact that I’ve never tried to reach out during all these years, and-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down, dude. Take your time. Tell me what happened.”

Lance took a deep breath, attempting to pull his shit together before he started.

“So, while Keith and I were at class, we had work time, right? And you know that when I’m left with my thoughts, I start thinking about everything. Like, everything . There’s nothing that I won’t think about and it’s all-”

“Lance.” Pidge interrupted. Lance was getting off track and when he wandered too far, it became exponentially more difficult to get him back on it.

“Right, sorry. Anyways, I started thinking about what was really holding me back from reaching out to my soulmate and I couldn’t find a good enough reason. So in an impulsive move, I decided to “contact” them and draw a flower.”

Lance turned his arm to display the blurry doodle to Pidge.

“I didn’t think they would respond so fast; or at all!” It’s just - god, it’s so crazy! I can’t believe this is actually happening! And to me, of all people! I’m going to find my soulmate!”

Lance’s heart rate sped up even faster than it already had and he was getting excited just thinking about it.

“Well, what are you talking to me for? Answer back!”

Pidge left Lance’s room, ignoring him calling her back and questioning where she was going. A moment later she appeared with a blue pen, similar to the one Lance had originally used.

“Here.”

She thrust out her hand to Lance, who took it with trembling fingers. Of course he was excited. But he was also really nervous. He had no idea what to expect.

Lance popped the cap off of the pen and held his arm in front of him, turning to the other side of his forearm.

God, what was he going to write?

He thought about it for a couple moments. Maybe he should start off simple and easy. Just like Keith had told him. Just respond to what they had already said. Just a greeting. He could do this.

Lance inhaled sharply, knowing whatever he inked onto his arm would set the tone for the rest of their… “relationship”, if he could even call it that. But relationships didn’t need to be romantic, so it seemed fitting.

Lance pressed the tip of the pen to his skin, feeling the point drag along the surface. Although he was simply writing on his arm, the action felt so much bigger than that. A shock of energy coursed through him, spurring him on.

When Lance finished, both he and Pidge looked at what he had written, smiles on their faces.

Hello. How are you?

Lance looked up to Pidge, who was still standing in front of him, searching for approval. She nodded her head in conformation, proud of her friend for what he had done. She knew how much Lance had struggled with the idea of having a soulmate, and she knew how hard it was for him to man up and actually contact them. He didn’t have to tell her for her to know that. He was growing emotionally, and she was so grateful to be able to witness it. It wasn’t everyday you got to see that.

Lance put the cap back on the pen, hands much steadier now that it was done and over with. God if he got that worked up about his soulmate talking to him, how was he going to ever be able to meet him in real life-

Wait. No. Lance couldn’t get ahead of himself. He didn’t want to get his hopes up. They might not even reach that point. If Lance suggested it, he might just stop responding altogether and ghost on Lance. There was no telling what could happen. Because Lance didn’t know this person. But god, if he sure as hell didn’t want to.

“You should go get ready for school. If he responds again, then you can reply later.”

Lance blushed.

“How do you know it’s a guy?”

Pidge rolled her eyes.

“How dare you doubt my genius?”

Lance laughed, but obliged. He got off his bed and saw Pidge out of his room before heading into his bathroom to take a quick shower.

Throughout his whole time showering, he traced his long, tan fingers over the singular word on his arm, feeling something... indescribable. It was almost like a bolt of electricity coursing through his veins, or a fire burning behind every place his fingertips touched ink. Almost.

After throwing on some clothes, he shuffled into the kitchen where he was met by Pidge, who was busy eating a bowl of Galra O’s. Lance chuckled at his friend.

“I’ve never understood why you like that cereal so much.”

Pidge looked up at Lance from behind her circular glasses.

“They’re delicious, Lance.”

“But they turn the milk purple!”

“They’re. Delicious. Lance.” Pidge said firmly through gritted teeth. She didn’t take shit from anyone. Especially when it was about her Galra O’s. So Lance backed off, throwing his hands up in the air in surrender, not feeling like getting pummeled into the ground by some feisty gremlin this early in the morning.

Even though he and his soulmate had barely talked - technically not even that, yet - Lance was already imagining what was to come between them in the future. He didn’t know what was in store for them, but he couldn’t wait.

Of course, there was always the chance of getting his heart broken. And he knew that. But for some reason, Lance had a good feeling about him - whoever he was. He had a feeling before, but now, he was sure his soulmate was a guy. He didn’t know how, he just knew he wasn’t wrong. It felt right.

Lance often found himself wondering what he might look like. Like, all the time. It was starting to become a problem.

But Lance found he didn’t mind too much. He had always entertained the idea of having a soulmate, and what they would look like. But that was before he actually had someone to talk to - that would respond back to him, anyways. Now he had something to base his thoughts off of.

Lance sighed, still feeling a bit jittery from the morning’s excitement.

Time to go to school, I guess.

oOoOoOo

Lance and Keith chatted about nothing in particular on the ride to school. Lance really wanted to tell him about his soulmate - he had helped him with it so much already and Lance felt like he deserved to know - but he wanted it to be a surprise. He was planning on telling him a little ways into class. Well, he was more going to show him than tell him. He imagined that words might fail him; that tended to happen when he was nervous or excited. In this case, both. And it didn’t help that the excitement from this morning hadn’t quite worn off yet.

Lance wasn’t sure how Keith was going to respond to this whole situation either. He guessed that he probably wouldn’t care a lot, since he had seemed pretty okay with him contacting his soulmate the day before. But that was different than actually getting a reply. Maybe Keith would be sad or mad or even jealous that Lance had a soulmate to talk to. He knew Keith had never reached out to his own, and that they hadn’t reached out to him either. Lance didn’t want to put him in an awkward position. But Keith was his friend. And friends were supposed to support each other. Even when it’s tough. Supposed to being the key phrase .

“Lance?”

Lance was shocked out of his thoughts by Keith speaking to him. He tried to play it cool, but it was pretty obvious that he had zoned out. Maybe he could try and play it off like he was just resting his eyes or something?

“Hm?”

“You missed the turn to get to our buildings.”

Lance looked in his rear view mirror and gave himself a mental facepalm.

Shit.

So much for playing it off as being tired.

“Oh, uh, sorry. Just zoned out a bit.”

He pulled into an empty parking lot and did a U-turn. Lance remained quiet but Keith wasn’t having it.

“Lance.”

“What?”

“Are you okay? You seem off today. Not bad, or anything, just... different.”

Lance shook his head vigorously and spoke quickly.

“No, no. I’m fine, really. Just a little tired from last night.”

Keith could tell Lance was getting uncomfortable. Fuck, did he know? That Keith was his…? No. He couldn’t know. Could he...?

Oh fuck, he definitely knew, didn’t he? That’s why he was acting so weird today. He was weirded out by Keith being his soulmate.

God fucking damnit.

You always find a way to fuck things up, don’t you Kogane?

oOoOoOo

They arrived at school shortly after the missed turn and walked to their class together. The silence was similar to that of yesterday’s, except for the fact that it wasn’t similar at all. They were both still quite, of course, but something had shifted. It wasn’t quite a negative energy… well, not from Lance at least. Keith was radiating negative energy. Though, that could be expected when someone thought that they’d fucked over their closest friendship. Lance however had an anxious, though excited, energy emanating from him. They walked with their heads down, staring at the sidewalk and avoiding the eye contact of the other. Awkward didn’t even come close to describing it.

A minute or two later, they’re walking into their classroom. But today, instead of taking the seat directly next to Lance like he usually does, Keith sits one seat down from Lance and opts to put his backpack in the seat between the them.

Although Keith hadn’t realized it yet, he was already starting to distance himself from Lance. And nothing had even gone wrong yet! Not really.

Lance set his bag down behind his chair and looked over at Keith, confused by their irregular position.

“Um, Keith?”

Keith looked up at the taller boy, knowing what he was going to ask. And panicking because he didn’t have an answer. He knew that he had sat further away from Lance. He knew that. But what he didn’t know, was why.

“Hm?” Keith heard his voice crack a little and swallowed audibly. God, he was so socially awkward, even around Lance. But he was keeping a secret, so cut him some slack!

“Why are you sitting over there?”

Keith looked down, trying to invent a good answer from thin air. He was really bad when put on the spot.

“Oh, um I-I’m getting sick and I d-don’t know if it’s contagious or not. Rather be safe than sorry, right?”

Keith’s palms were sweating and his voice was getting higher pitched than normal. He sucked ass when it came to lying. And it didn’t help that it was to Lance, his best friend. And soulmate.

Snap out of it Keith!

Lance went to press the back of his hand against Keith’s forehead, but Keith suddenly jerked away. Lance paused for a moment, making sure Keith was fine, before letting his hand travel on its intended path a little slower than before.

Lance wore a slightly confused expression, but let the unusual movement go. He knew Keith didn’t like it when people kept pushing to get something out of him. All he could do was be supportive and give him space.

Keith’s forehead felt normal, but Lance trusted him. If he said he was sick, he would believe him. Lance offered him some water, but Keith just shook his head. Something felt wrong, Lance just wasn’t sure what.

In class today they only had a lecture. Boring. As. Hell. Keith sat quietly, keeping to himself. This wasn’t unlike him, though sometimes he would write notes to Lance when he got bored. Although they weren’t the kind of notes you would expect. They pretty much consisted of “I want to fucking die” and “Professor Slav is a dumbass”.  But from Keith, that wasn’t too surprising.

But today, Keith hasn’t said a single word. He just sat still, listening to Professor Slav. Even if Keith didn’t write Lance notes, he would usually stare blankly at a wall looking ready to jump out a window. Something was definitely up. Lance thought he might as well tell Keith the news now before he gets grumpy and won’t even let Lance talk to him.

“Hey Keith.” Lance whispered. He couldn’t be too loud, or Professor Slav would go on a 20 minute rant about how he wished he could jump to an alternate reality where he wouldn’t have to deal with annoying children all day. And no one wanted to deal with that.

Keith looked over to Lance, question in his eyes as to what Lance was going to say.

“Um…” Lance started. Why was this so hard?

“What is it, Lance? Are you okay?”

Lance nodded, dismissing Keith’s concern.

“I’m fine. I just- I want to show you something.”

Keith turned in his chair to give Lance his full attention.

“Okay. What is it?”

Lance took a deep breath and rolled up his sleeve, exposing his left forearm. He was a little disappointed to see that his soulmate hadn’t responded to his second message yet, but Lance wasn’t expecting him to. It would take time for them to see it.

Lance turned his arm over and displayed it to Keith.

“My soulmate responded!” Lance whisper-yelled, struggling to contain his excitement.

Keith was confused. Wasn’t Lance uncomfortable that Keith was his soulmate? And why was he referring to him as “his soulmate” and not just telling Keith he knew it was him? Unless… he didn’t know?

Lance read the expression on Keith’s face, his excitement quickly turning into worry.

“What’s wrong? I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you feel bad or anything, since I know you haven’t reached out to yours yet or anything, and-“

Holy shit, he didn’t know!

“No, no, it’s totally okay! Just a little surprised that they responded so fast after not even attempting to talk to you for so many years. I’m not mad at all, I’m happy for you.”

Lance quirked an eyebrow.

“Really? Because you don’t seem very happy.”

“No, really, I am. Just a little tired, is all.”

Lance still didn’t believe him. He didn’t look happy at all about Lance’s situation. He almost looked… confused? That said, he didn’t quite look upset either, so Lance decided to let it go.

oOoOoOo

Shit.

Lance had already responded to his message. God, why was he getting so jittery about four fucking words? Pull yourself together, Keith.

Keith wasn’t expecting Lance to tell him about “his soulmate” - AKA himself. He knew that he had responded to Lance, he remembered doing it, but actually seeing it on Lance’s arm felt different than just knowing. It sent a shiver down his spine and a weird tingling feeling throughout the rest of his body. It was hard to describe.

And now, Keith didn’t know what to do. When he had pictured class in his head, this was not how he had imagined it. Nothing was going as planned.

When he thought about how things would be with himself knowing he was Lance’s soulmate and Lance staying oblivious, he didn’t realize it would be this hard. Keith hadn’t understood just how fucking difficult this whole situation would turn out to be.

Keith took a deep breath. He needed to figure out how in the hell he was going to keep this a secret from Lance. If today was any indication, he was in way over his head.

A little ways into class, Lance noticed that Keith was constantly scratching at his arm and staring off into space. Keith would zone off during class sometimes, but never like this. Keith had a weird expression on his face that filled Lance with worry. He had been trying not to push Keith to tell him what was wrong, but he couldn’t hold back any longer. Seeing Keith like this and not being able to say anything was driving him insane.

“Keith?”

Keith stopped scratching and looked up at Lance.

“Yeah?”

“What’s going on with you today?”

Keith opened his mouth to tell Lance that he was fine, but Lance interrupted him before he could, knowing he was going to do exactly that.

“And don’t you dare give me that I’m tired bullshit, because we both know you’re lying. I’m sick of you dodging your feelings all the time! Why won’t you talk to me?”

Keith’s jaw hung open. He had never seen Lance get mad like this. He was a little intimidated, if he was being completely honest. And if Keith was intimidated, that was really saying something about Lance’s current demeanor.

“I-I, um…”

Lance stared at Keith, waiting for an answer.

“Well? Spit it out!”

Man, Lance was really upset. Keith needed to come up with something fast . And it had to be believable.

“Um. W-well,” Keith stammered. “I guess that since you’ve been talking to your soulmate, I’ve been thinking about mine, and I’ve been kinda thinking of reaching out. But I don’t know. I’ve just been feeling a little weird about it.”

Lance’s face immediately softened, feeling slightly guilty. He had caused this. It was his fault that Keith was acting so weird and that he was even feeling this way in the first place.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you start thinking about it. I didn’t want to make you feel bad or anything...” Lance frowned.

Now Keith was the one who felt bad. He didn’t want to make Lance feel bad either. It wasn’t Lance’s fault. He didn’t do anything. And what Keith said was mostly a lie, anyways.

“No, don’t be. I’ll get over it in a little bit. I’m really happy for you, I am. I just want you to be happy. And I’m glad you told me. I want you to be able to talk to me.”

Lance gave Keith a sad smile, but left the conversation at that. He was surprised that Keith had actually told him his true feelings, even though they had gotten closer recently. Keith was still a bit closed off, but he was getting better. Although lately, Keith had been acting weird around Lance. Weirder than normal.

Lance pushed his thoughts to the back of his head and focused on his work. Class ended not too long after the boys’ conversation, and they both went back to their respective dorms.

Lance began to study for the next astronomy test, which Professor Slav had announced was on Friday. A couple days to prepare should be fine. He had been studying throughout the beginning of the unit anyways.

Keith, on the other hand, had been sitting on his bed, staring at his arm for the past hour, thinking of his next move. So far, he had nothing.

“What the fuck am I gonna do?”

“Whoa there.”

Keith’s head snapped up and saw Shiro standing with Hunk in the doorway.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well hello to you too, Keith.”

Keith apologized as the the two men crossed the room to sit next to Keith in his bed.

“What’s going on?”

Shiro looked down to Keith’s arm and saw the words printed there.

“Looks like you’ve been busy.”

Keith looked down to his arm. The flower had already faded. Keith had felt a little disappointed when it had; it was truly beautiful. He felt proud to be able to be the receiver of such art, even though no one else knew it was there but him. A part of him even wanted to be able to show it off to people, but the more rational side of him knew that wasn’t possible.

“I’m sorry, Shiro. I was going to tell you, but-“

“I know, I know. Don’t worry, I’m not mad. I know that it’s a crazy situation and you’ve been a little out of it lately. And Hunk was telling me that it’s more of a recent development, too. It’s hard to find time to talk to your big bro, I get it.”

Keith leaned around his brother and looked at Hunk, who was looking at the ground guiltily.

“Hunk, you told him?!”

Hunk shrugged.

“I thought he should know! You were really out of it and I knew you wouldn’t listen to me, so I called him and-“

“Wait, you called him here?”

Hunk’s eyes remained glued to the floor.

“What does a man have to do to get some privacy in his life?” Keith sighed. “So I guess everyone knows about my nonexistent love life then, huh?”

“I only told Adam.”

“And I only told Pidge.”

“Wait, so Pidge knows too, now? How the fuck am I supposed to keep this secret if the whole goddamn world knows about it?!”

“First of all, language. And secondly, why are you trying to keep it a secret? If you guys are soulmates, aren’t you meant to be together?”

“That’s what I said!” Hunk exclaimed.

Keith sighed.

“I’m surprised Hunk didn’t tell you everything.” Keith said as he glared at Hunk. But he told Shiro everything he explained to Hunk the night he first saw the flower.

After he was done, Shiro didn’t say anything. He just sat there, thinking.

“Shiro? Please say something.”

Keith and Hunk both stared at the older man, waiting for a response.

“I call your BS. I think you’re just scared.”

Keith opened his mouth to defend himself but Shiro cut him off.

“ But, I have some ideas as to how you can hide it from Lance. If you really insist on keeping this secret, I’ll help you. Even if I think it’s a stupid idea and that you’re both Really gay for each other.”

“Okay. Then what’d you have in mind?”

“Well, I was thinking you could write down your number so you don’t have to hide the marks on your arms as much.”

“Okay, well… as good of an idea as that is, it’s not going to work.”

“Why not?”

“Lance already has my number. If I give him that one, my contact will just pop up and he’ll know it’s me.”

“Oh.” Shiro looked down. “That was really my one, big idea.”

“Wait a minute. This could still work.”

Keith and Shiro looked up at Hunk, who was now leaning against the closet door.

“We could get Pidge to get you a fake number! She’s done it for me a couple times and it’s never gone wrong.”

Keith nodded. “That could work. She already knows about Lance, anyways.”

Everyone nodded.

“Any other ideas, Shiro?”

He shook his head.

“Nope. That was the only one.”

“Alrighty then. I guess it’s time to consult the gremlin.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: Baristas and Boyfriends

“You are in some deep shit, Keith.”

Keith frowned at the younger and crossed his arms.

“Well? Can you help me or not?”

Pidge pushed up her glasses.

“I guess I could.”

She paused and Hunk sighed.

“Why do I feel like there’s a “ but,” coming?”

“Because there is, Hunk.” Pidge snapped. “I could help you Keith, but I’m not sure I want to. Lance is my best friend and I don’t feel very comfortable lying to him like this. He’s been nothing but kind to me, ya know? Except for when he’s being annoying, which can be a lot… but I love him. But regardless of his somewhat annoying personality, it’s right to do this to him.”

“Wait, you’re not going to tell him about me being his soulmate, are you? Please don’t tell him, Pidge, I can’t let him find out!” Keith pleaded, his voice becoming hysterical at the thought of Pidge revealing his secret to Lance.

“Calm down, Mullet Boy, I won’t tell. You’re lucky he’s out studying with some chick he’s friends with. I think her name is like Plaxum or something. I don’t know, but she sounds exotic.”

Keith looked down. Pidge probably wasn’t going to help him and Lance probably didn’t intend to be just friends with Plaxum. Everyone knew how Lance was. Keith knew this was too good to be true.

“However,” Pidge smirked. “I do ship you two. A lot. You’re kind of my OTP. So if I did do this, I could go down as the one who got you guys together. It would probably go under the biggest achievements in my small, pathetic life.”

Keith looked up.

“So is that a maybe?” Shiro asked. He wasn’t super comfortable with this whole situation and he he actually sided with Pidge. But all he wanted was for his brother to be happy. That’s all he’d ever wanted for Keith. And it was obvious that Lance was good for him and made him a better person. No one could deny that Keith had changed dramatically since he and Lance had recently bonded, and for the better, no doubt. There was an extra bounce in his step and he wasn’t as abrasive as normal.

“Sure. I guess I’ll help. I could use some practice hacking anyways. And, as always, Klance is canon king, so I gotta pull through.”

Keith raised an eyebrow.

“What the fuck does that even mean? What’s a Klance?”

Pidge just laughed creepily while the rest stared at her like she was some kind of evil genius.

“Just give me five minutes and you’ll be able to anonymously text “Loverboy Lance” to your heart's desire.”

Keith blushed and looked away as Shiro and Hunk laughed. He handed his phone over to Pidge and she plugged it into a cord connected to her laptop.

“Hey Pidge, why is there tape over your webcam?” Shiro asked.

Pidge looked up at him with a straight face. “Because they’re always watching, Shiro. Always.”

Shiro gave Pidge a weird look and decided not to push it any further. He was afraid of what she might tell him. Though he was a little surprised to see a Keith nodding along as Pidge explained her theories of there being an FBI agent watching her through her devices; of which she had many .

A few minutes of hands tapping away at a keyboard and a few clicks of the mouse here and there and Pidge was finally done. She unplugged Keith’s phone and handed it back to him.

“Alright. If you go into your contacts, you should be able to see your new, private phone number. It’s under the contact name Klance.”

“Why does it have to be Klance? Why won’t you tell me what it means?” Keith threw his hands in the air, exasperated.

“Calm down, Mullet. It’s your ship name with Lance. Ya know, Keith plus Lance equals Klance.”

Keith grumbled at the nickname and looked away, trying to hide his blush. This whole ship name thing made him uncomfortable. He hated that he loved it. Keith wasn’t the romantic type, but Lance made him want to be.

“As I was saying before you rudely interrupted me ,” Pidge said in an annoyed tone, “You can find the number in contacts and write that on your arm so Lance has it. It’s different from your current one, so your contact won’t pop up in his phone when he enters in the new one. He won’t know it’s you unless you slip up somehow.”

“So there’s absolutely NO chance that he’ll find out?”

Pidge slaps a palm against her chest.

“Keith, you wound me! Do you doubt my skills that much?”

Keith shook his head, letting out a sigh.

“I just can’t let him find out. But Pidge, thank you so much for all your help. Seriously, you’re amazing.”

“I know. I’m a saint.” Pidge said as if it were a know fact. “Now leave this place and go get your boyfriend!” Pidge screeched, pointing to the door as the men headed towards it.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Keith called over his shoulder.

“Not yet!” Pidge yelled back, laughing maniacally when Keith slammed the door behind them with a huff. When she caught her breath she pushed her glasses up and muttered to herself.

“God, I am a fucking queen. I should be idolized.”

She chuckled to herself again at her inner thoughts before averting her attention back to her laptop. It was time to get back to hacking her way into the pentagon. And as one could easily imagine, it wasn’t just a one day ordeal. Shit takes time, ya feel? Life is hard when you’re an amazing, mischievous, teen hacker with plans to overthrow the government. ;)

oOoOoOo

That night, Keith sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had run all the possible situations that he could encounter at school the next day through his head. Surprisingly, most of them ended pretty well. Though, that was after he texted Pidge for confirmation that the chances of Lance finding out about their… situation because of an error on her part was slim to none. He was still nervous, but he trusted her abilities. She was a child prodigy hacker, after all.

Keith almost wrote the number down on his arm a couple of times, but he always chickened out. He planned on doing it tomorrow morning, but he was starting to get impatient - one of his main, defining traits.

Eventually, he fell into a deep sleep, the emotions of today exhausting him. And Lance, being the last thing he thought of before drifting off, appeared in every dream - some ending well, and others horribly. And there was this one that just consisted of their first fight and the aftermath of it; he woke up sweating from that one. Each and every one of Keith’s dreams was plagued by Lance. He couldn’t seem to get him out of his head.

The worst dream of them all was probably the one that went the best for him. It may sound ironic, but it’s true. In that one, he and Lance ended up together and overall had a happy relationship. Keith had felt the happiest he had ever been. But then he woke up and remembered that it wasn’t real and he felt even more depressed than before he had went to sleep. Happy dreams were truly the worst.

When he woke up, Keith wasn’t sure what he was feeling. Different contrasting emotions churned inside of him like a tornado. He could already tell that today was going to be rough. Might as well get it over with now, right?

Would Hunk want to watch? Meh. Probably not.

Keith grabbed a pen from his nightstand drawer and popped the cap off. He took out his phone and unlocked it, searching for his contacts app; he could never find the damn thing. When he eventually found it, he clicked on it and scrolled until he reached the K’s, which didn’t take a long time since he didn’t have a lot of contacts in his phone to start with. What? Keith didn’t get out much, okay?

Keith smiled when he finally found the contact.

Klance❤️

Bless Pidge’s heart.

He clicked on the name and set his phone down on the bed, glancing down at his arm. Lance’s question was still legible, but fading fast. It was probably getting close to the 20 hour mark. He had to hurry.

He switched the pen over to his right hand and took a deep breath before he began to write.

I’m doing good.

Good start, Keith. Good start.

I was thinking texting would be easier since we might run out of space on our arms. You can text me at this number:

Keith looked at his phone and copied the number down onto his skin. Then, he sucked in a breath and put the cap back on his pen.

It was over and Keith could finally breathe normally.

Welp. Time to carry on with the day.

Keith got out of bed and threw on a long sleeved shirt and black skinny jeans. He ran a hand through his hair and called it good before brushing his teeth. After a quick glance in the mirror, Keith went out to the kitchen. He had expected to find Hunk there, but the room was completely empty. Keith checked the living room, but still nothing. Keith needed his breakfast. Like, now. He did love his cereal, but he could only eat so much before he got sick of it and ran back to Hunk’s delicious home cooking.

Where in the world could he be? Oh, maybe he’s in his room.

Wow, Keith. You’re soooooo smart.

Keith walked back down the whole and opened Hunk’s door without knocking.

“Hey buddy whatcha-“

Keith stopped when he saw Hunk lying in bed with another person sitting next to him.

“Oh. Uh, hey, Shay.”

Shay looked away from Hunk to meet Keith’s gaze.

“Oh, hey Keith! I hope it’s okay that I’m here, Hunk invited me over.”

“Oh, it’s totally fine! It’s Hunk’s dorm too, not just mine. But, uh, can I ask why you’re here? Not that I mind at all, I’m just a bit confused.”

Shay laughed.

“Oh. Hunk is sick and I don’t have any classes today so I offered to come over and stay with him and help him get better. I’m basically here to help him with anything he needs.”

Keith looked behind Shay to see a miserable Hunk holding a box of Kleenex. He seemed to have just woken up.

“Oh. Hiya, Keith.” Hunk coughed hard, wincing at the pain.

“Jesus, Hunk. You look like shit.”

“Aw, thanks man. Love you too.” Hunk said sarcastically, though some of the effect was lost because of his hoarse voice.

Keith made a heart with his hands and smiled at his roommate.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I made some breakfast. There’s extra pancakes in the oven if you want them and the syrup and some other toppings are already sitting out. Oh and I brought you a coffee from my parents shop! But you don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to.”

Keith gasped.

“Oh my god, you two really are soulmates. Shay, feel free to come over whenever you want. Seriously.”

Shay laughed.

“Thanks, Keith. That means a lot.”

“Are you kidding? You come over to help my roommate and you make me breakfast? You can stay forever for all I care.”

Shay laughed again.

“Well, thank you. But you should probably grab some food before Lance picks you up for class.” Shay winked at him.

“Wait, Hunk told you, too? He said he only told Pidge!”

“We are dating, Keith. And he was high on cough syrup, so don’t be too mad. He was super loopy and he didn’t have the greatest inhibitions at the time. Cut him some slack.”

Keith huffed out a breath.

“I know, but still.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell Lance, or anyone else for that matter, if that’s what you’re worried about. You can trust me.”

Keith sighed.

He walked over and gave Shay a hug.

“Thank you, Shay. I’m really glad Hunk has someone like you. He’s a lucky guy”

Shay smiled and glanced down at her boyfriend who had already fallen back asleep.

“Trust me, I’m the lucky one.”

Keith smiled at the two, knowing just how perfect they were for each other. Anyone could see that from a mile away.

“Alright, I’m gonna go grab some food and head out. Thanks again for coming over and helping Hunk out.”

“It’s really no problem. Go eat!”

Keith thanked her again and walked back to the kitchen.

He took a sip of coffee and silently thanked whoever sent the angel Shay down to earth to feed him.

15 minutes later, Lance knocked on his door and off to school they went.

Throughout the whole car ride, Keith talked with Lance. And it wasn’t the normal “Lance talks while Keith occasionally interjects with his opinions”. Keith was the one doing most of the talking. They weren’t talking about anything important, just about school, and other things, but Keith suddenly had a lot to say.

They got out of the car to walk into the buildings and Keith was still talking.

Until there was finally a break in conversation and Lance took it upon himself to let Keith know he knew something was up. There had to be a reason that Keith was acting the way he was, and Lance was going to get to the bottom of it.

“Keith?”

Keith looked over, a smile dancing across his lips.

That was new, too. Keith rarely smiled, and when he did it was usually because someone got hurt and he thought it was funny.

“Did something happen that I’m not aware of? Why are you so happy? And talkative?”

Keith chuckled.

“Can I not be happy without a reason?”

“No! It’s not normal!”

Keith laughed again.

“Shay came over and she brought Hunk and I breakfast. I like food.”

“But you weren’t like this when I made you my food! Did you lie when you said you liked it?”

Oh boy.

“No! I loved it! I just, I don’t know! It was nice seeing Hunk and Shay being all coupley. They’re good for each other.”

Lance raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t believe you. You hate anything romantic.”

Keith sighed. That’s what you think.

“I don’t know, okay? I’m just feeling good today, is that so horrible?!”

Lance panicked. He had clearly hit a nerve.

“Hey, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to make you upset. I’m sorry.”

Keith inhaled deeply, trying to get a hold on his feelings.

“No, no. Not your fault. I’m the one who should be saying sorry. I snapped at you without a reason. I just-“ Keith sucked in a breath. “I don’t know what’s been going on with me lately. I know I’ve been moody, and I’m sorry. I get it if you don’t want to put up with me anymore-“

Lance laughed. Keith stopped talking, thoroughly confused.

“Um…”

Lance laughed hysterically, not stopping for a solid 30 second.

“I’m sorry, I just-“ and he burst out laughing again. “You think I’m going to leave you because you’re moody of all things? I was just going to say the same thing about you.”

Keith’s eyes went wide and Lance realized what he said.

“Oh, no! Not that I’m going to leave you! Because I’m not. But I thought you might want to leave me because I’m annoying and don’t know when to stop.”

Both boys fell quiet.

“Well, I guess neither of us have to worry, then.”

Lance looked up at Keith with wide eyes and a smile on his face.

It was in that moment that the two boys came together in a tight hug, holding on like there was still a chance they would leave each other.

Keith buried his face into the space where Lance’s neck met his shoulder and sighed. Hugs were still relatively new for him, but he was finding that he actually really liked them. He would never admit that to anyone, but all it took to know was a single glance at the two boys in their embrace. They were both still oblivious. Keith attributed his longing to hug Lance to the fact that he was still new to expressing his feelings and was currently feeling overwhelmed.

Emotions are fuck!

Eventually the boys pulled away from each other, though smiles were spread across their faces and the twinkles in their eyes still danced on. They just felt better together - two halves of one whole.

God, Keith really needed to get a hold on himself or he would let the secret slip for sure. There was something about Lance that just made him more… vulnerable. He couldn’t explain it, but he was able to let his guard down around him.

“Well, we should probably get to class. We don’t want to be late-“

Keith pulled out his phone and checked the clock.

“Um, Lance?”

“Yeah?” Lance stopped walking towards the doors and turned around to look at Keith. Why wasn’t he following him?

Keith clicked his phone on and showed it to Lance.

Fuck. They were already 20 minutes late to class. It didn’t matter a ton in college.

“Isn’t today a study day? Does it matter if we’re late?”

“Well, technically no…” Keith drifted off, a smirk starting to form on his face.

“Oh no. I know that face. What are you plotting?”

“What are your thoughts on skipping class?”

oOoOoOo

Lance and Keith laughed as they walked into the Caribou a couple minutes drive from the school. The line was a little longer than they would’ve liked, but neither were complaining too much. All it did was give them more time to talk to each other.

The amount each contributed to the conversation had balanced out since the car ride to the school. They were equals.

It felt nice.

When it came time to order, Lance already knew what Keith wanted. So he ordered for himself, and then for Keith.

“You remembered what I liked?”

Lance smiled as he looked at Keith.

“Of course! We’re besties!” He said in his best “cliche white girl” voice.

Keith cringed but couldn’t help himself from laughing. And if he thought he was happy this morning, Lance had increased it ten fold.

Keith saw Lance reach for his wallet, so he grabbed his arm to stop him. Lance had already ordered for him, and Keith wanted to repay him. Plus, he recently started thinking about wanting to pay for his boyfriend’s things and be a gentleman, and be romantic and - oh my god, he was going soft! When did he become such a romantic?

“I got it.”

Lance hesitated.

“Are you sure? I really don’t mind paying-“

“I’m sure. You payed for me last time, anyways. And, you remembered my order which won you some brownie points.” Keith winked.

Wait, what? Did he actually just wink at Lance? Who even was he anymore? Keith couldn’t tell you. But one thing he knew, he certainly wasn’t the same Keith from a little over a month ago.

“Let’s go grab a table, shall we?”

They walked over to the corner of the shop, not wanting to sit outside like last time since it was a bit chilly today.

They both took their seats and fell back into easy conversation almost immediately. A good 20 minutes later, a barista finally comes over to their table with drinks in hand.

“Here’s a hot press brew for you,” she set down the beverage in front of Keith. “And a caramel cooler for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, um, I just wanted to say something really quick.”

Lance and Keith both looked up to her with confusion. What would a barista want to say to them ?

“Uh, okay. Go for it.”

“You guys are such a cute couple, you look so cute together! So me and some of my other coworkers wanted to give you two free coffee cards that expire in a month.” She handed each of them a card. “We’ve seen you come in a few times recently, and we couldn’t help but notice how adorable you two are together, so we wanted to give you a little gift!”

Keith raised his hands in protest.

“Oh, we’re not-“

“Oh my god, you are the sweetest thing! Thank you! What’s your name?”

The girl smiled and answered through the giggles.

“Romelle.”

Now that Keith thought about it, she was pretty adorable. She couldn’t have been older than 16.

“Well, Romelle , thank you so much. My boyfriend and I will definitely be coming back to use these very kind gifts. But could I ask how you knew we were dating?”

“Oh, it was so obvious. The way you guys looked at each other gave me hope for love. I hope to have something as real as what you two have.”

Lance nodded, the smile having never faltered.

“Thank you so much for the gifts, Romelle. We hope to see you soon!”

Romelle grinned and nodded happily, giving a small wave before heading back to the counter to giggle and gossip with her coworkers.

Lance was still smiling at the girls huddled at the counter while Keith sat with his jaw on the table. He was dumbfounded at what had just happened. Those girls had really thought that they were dating? Was Keith that obvious? But if Romelle was telling the truth, apparently Lance was looking at him the same way…

“Lance?”

Lance looked back over to Keith, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“Why the fuck did you pretend to be my boyfriend?”

Lance chuckled.

“Are you kidding? And lose the chance to score free drinks for a month? Plus, she would’ve been embarrassed to have gotten it wrong, so it’s a win-win.”

Lance looked away when he was done talking and Keith could’ve sworn he saw a red tint to Lance’s cheeks.

“Is it getting hot in here? I’m feeling really hot.”

Lance rolled his sleeves above his elbows to expose his forearms.

“Holy shit!”

Keith’s head whipped around to look at Lance.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! It’s good news, I promise.”

“Well, what is it?”

“My soulmate responded!” Lance turned his arm towards Keith showing of the new ink. “And with a phone number, too! I didn’t even ask for one! Man, I’m better at getting numbers than I thought. I’m awesome!” Lance smirked.

“That’s great, Lance. I’m happy for you.” Keith said with a genuine smile. He really was happy, especially since it was Keith that caused Lance to be this happy.

Lance pulled out his phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Texting my soulmate to say hi. Duh.”

“Oh, okay.”

Wait. FUCK.

If Lance texted the number, his phone would still get a notification. Oh, fuck. He did not think this through.

Keith stood up quickly, his chair making a screeching noise as it was pushed backwards. He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his back.

“I have to go.” Keith said, the panic evident in his voice.

“What? But we only just got here?”

“I’m sorry, Lance. I have to go.”

“Wait, Keith-“

Keith made it to the door in three long strides and started sprinting to the dorms as soon as his feet hit pavement. He didn’t stop until he reached his dorm room, slamming it once he was on the other side. He slid down into a crouching position, pulling his knees to his chest. His breathing was sharp and ragged from the running and the panic, his chest rising and falling quickly. He remembered the steps he taught Lance, and started his breathing exercises. Within a few minutes he had caught his breath and was feeling almost back to normal.

Everyone had warned him. They had told him that this wasn’t a good idea. And he didn’t listen. Only know, did he truly understand what they were so worried about.

Keeping this secret was going to be the death of him. Of that, Keith was sure.

oOoOoOo

Lance sat at the deserted table alone, still sipping his cooler. He eyes drifted from the empty seat across from him, to the abandoned drink, to the free drink card sitting near his own.

Lance sighed.

Just as he thought he and Keith were making progress, he pulls this shit again. He just left without any explanation, and he didn’t even take his drink and card. Maybe he didn’t like that Lance had rolled with the whole “boyfriends” thing. Lance didn’t think that it was a big deal. She probably mistaken Lance’s looks of friendly affection - cough, heart eyes, cough - for looks of love. Which they were, but they were completely platonic; not romantic at all. Nope.

Lance stood up, grabbing his things. He threw his cup away and grabbed Keith’s along with the two drink cards. He might as well go check on him. It hadn’t been too long since Keith left, so he couldn’t have gotten far. He should probably wait a little bit though. Keith seemed in a rush to get somewhere, so he probably wasn’t in his dorm.

Lance wasn’t sure what Keith was going through, but he was going to help him through it. If Keith needed a shoulder to cry on, Lance was going to provide it. Keith may think Lance doesn’t care that much, but he does. A lot. Keith may not open up to him, and that’s fine. All Lance can do is stick by his side. No matter what happens. Because they are friends; inseparable. They can withstand anything. They can make it through this. Lance needs to be there for him, so that’s exactly what he’s going to do.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: Hallways and Home

Lance walked slowly through the hallways of their dorm building, not sure what he was feeling about what had happened with him and Keith. There was a lot to unpack there, but he didn’t want to deal with it. Not yet, at least.

Lance shuffled past what felt like a million doors before he finally reached Keith and Hunk’s dorm. He knocked three times, then stood back and waited for a response. Fortunately it didn’t take too long.

“Hey, Lance! What’s up?” The smile on Hunk’s face faltered when Lance’s eyes met his. “Wait, are you okay? You seem upset.”

“Is Keith home?”

Hunk shook his head.

“He left a half an hour ago, sorry.”

“Did he say where he was going?”

Again, Hunk shook his head. There was a long pause between the two of them, both trying to make a decision about what to say next.

“Lance,” Hunk started. “I know you came looking for Keith... but it really looks like you could use someone to talk to. Do you want to come in?”

Lance hesitated. Did he really want to do this? Spill his emotions, thoughts, feelings, everything to Hunk? Lance took a deep breath as he made up his mind.

He nodded and Hunk stepped aside to let him in.

Lance set down Keith's free drink card on the kitchen table before they both walked over to the living room and took adjacent seats on the couch.

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

Lance sighed. He might as well tell someone what had happened, right? Normally, he’d just keep his feelings to himself; bottle everything up until he exploded into tears and ate his way through a pint of ice cream in his room. Or, like he had started doing recently, he’d go and talk to Keith. For some odd reason, he always felt the urge to open up to him when they talked. Plus, Keith had told him that talking to someone about his feelings was way healthier than bottling them up.

Oh my god. Was Keith his therapist?

“Lance? Buddy?”

“Huh? Oh. Sorry. I just zoned out for a bit. What were we talking about again?”

“You were going to tell me why you were upset. And looking for Keith.”

“Oh. Right. Well, Keith and I were out getting coffee, right? And when the barista brought our drinks over she told us that her and her friends thought that we looked like a cute couple. They wanted to give us some cards that would give us free drinks for a month, so naturally I went along with the whole “boyfriends” thing. I mean, who wouldn’t to get free drinks for a month, right? And Romelle would’ve been super embarrassed, and she looked really young and I didn’t want to do that to her, and-“

“Lance, you’re rambling.”

Lance took in a breath.

“Right, sorry. But as I was saying, I rolled with it and said that we were happy she thought so and then took the cards. And after she left I was about to text my soulmate and Keith freaked out and left. He didn’t even tell me why! I mean, it could have been because of the whole fake boyfriends thing. I mean, he did look kind of uncomfortable throughout the whole experience… or maybe he got upset about the me texting my soulmate? I know he said he’s happy for me, but he didn't seem very happy when he said that and I still don’t know if I believe him.”

Hunk sighed.

“Come here, buddy.”

Hunk pulled Lance into a hug, Lance relaxing in his friend’s arms.

“I’m sure that Keith has a good reason for why he left so suddenly. You know how he is with emotions. Or maybe something came up and he went to go talk to Shiro about it. That’s what he always does. Well, what he did do... until he met you.”

Lance let out a breath.

“Not anymore, if he’s with Shiro. Or if he’s alone. Or if he found someone else... At first I thought that I was helping him, especially since we had gotten closer. But now, I’m starting to think that I’m just making things worse.”

Hunk pulled away to look into Lance’s eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m causing more problems than I’m fixing. He doesn’t need me, Hunk. I need him . He’s already helped me more than he knows and I really don’t want to lose him. I don’t know if I can lose him; I already have anxiety because of my past friends leaving me. I can’t go through that again. Especially not with Keith.”

It took every ounce of will power Hunk had to not spill everything to Lance right then and there. He was fairly certain that Keith had ran because he knew if Lance texted him, his phone would buzz and reveal his secret. Keith always assumed the worse when it came to situations, and he was not one to think things through… or turn the ringer on his phone off. He probably didn’t think to silence it and continue to sit and talk with Lance instead of panicking. But, Hunk understood that he was scared. And when Keith got scared, he had a tendency to revert back to his old ways - also known as running away from his problems and into the waiting arms of Big Brother Shiro .

“Lance, you don’t have to worry. You’re not going to lose Keith.”

“But how do you know that? You’re not inside his head, you can’t tell me that he won’t leave for sure!”

“Trust me, Lance. I know him better than you think. You’re not going to lose Keith. I promise you. And if he tries to leave you, then I’ll force him to stay. You guys are so good for each other; I refuse to let that go to waste.”

Lance smiled.

“Thank you, Hunk. You’re seriously amazing.”

“I know.” Hunk chuckled. “You’re welcome here any time, buddy.”

“Thanks, man. That means a lot.”

Lance gave a sad smile and sighed.

“Will you tell Keith that I stopped by? And maybe tell him to text me or something when he gets back…?”

“Of course. See you later, Lance.”

“See you, Hunk.”

oOoOoOo

Keith knocked frantically on Shiro’s apartment door, chest heaving up and down. He had run to Shiro and Adam’s apartment complex from the coffee shop without stopping. He breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath, though it wasn’t doing anything to help. All the running and anxiety from what had just happened were constricting his lungs and making it harder and harder for him to breathe.

Suddenly the click of a lock from behind the door sounded and the door opened to reveal a laughing Adam and Shiro.

“Keith! What brings you here?” Adam and Shiro were still giggling. They looked almost drunk… no. They weren’t almost drunk, they were fucking plastered. It was literally 6 at night.

“Something happened. I need advice.”

Shiro looked down at Keith with a confused expression.

“What happened? Are you in trouble? Do you need money?”

Adam giggled beyond Shiro, still not aware of Keith’s dire situation at hand. Shiro, on the other hand, seemed to be sobering up pretty fast at the sight of his younger brother in distress.

“No, I’m not in trouble. And I don’t need money! I just- I messed up. Again . I just- I needed to talk to someone but it looks like you’re busy so I’ll just leave…”

When Keith started to turn around, Shiro broke out of his boyfriend’s grasp and reached for his brother’s wrist, stopping him from going any further.

“Wait! It’s really not a problem. Please come in, Keith.”

Keith put his head down.

“Look, Shiro, it’s okay. We can talk later, or-“

“No, no. It’s fine. Come in. We can talk.”

“But it’s your and Adam’s date night…”

“That can wait. This is more important right now.”

“But baaaabbbeee! You said we were gonna-“

“Adam! Snap out of it, babe! Keith needs our help!”

Adam stared blankly at his boyfriend.

“Keith’s in trouble?”

Keith and Shiro both face palmed internally. Damn, Adam must be really wasted.

Shiro sighed.

“Yes, babe.

“Then let him in! Date night can wait for an hour or two.”

“Looks like it already started…”

“What’d you say, Keith?”

“Nothing, nothing…

oOoOoOo

Keith was laying down on the men’s long couch in their living room, his head on a small throw pillow and fingers intertwined and resting on his abdomen. Sometimes Adam and Shiro would do this to simulate a therapist session. It was kind of stupid, but it seemed to help Keith, so they did it anyways.

“And then, I ran away. Without giving him a reason. God, I’m such a fucking idiot.”

“Alright. Two things. One, language. We’ve talked about this.”

“Whatever, old man.”

Adam snickered as Shiro sighed.

“And two, you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. You got scared, and you reacted. You can’t fault yourself for that.”

“Well, I do. I’m stupid. I’m fucking up one of the only real friendships I’ve ever had. And to think, I could go further with him. I can’t even be his fucking friend first, how the fuck am I supposed to get with him?! I was so naive to think that this could actually work.”

Shiro gave his brother a pitiful look, truly feeling sorry for what he was going through. He knew that keeping this secret, especially like this, wasn’t a good idea but that didn’t change the fact that he hated seeing his brother like this. He knew that if Keith lost Lance, he would never be like this again; happy, constantly laughing, smiling. It had been too long since Keith had been like this. The last time he remembered seeing Keith like this was… when their parents were still alive. He knew that it had taken a toll on Keith, but he hadn’t realized just how much it had until now. Keith was truly happy when he was around Lance, and Shiro was going to do everything in his power to make sure that didn’t go away.

“It’s going to work. And if Lance somehow finds out, we’re going to work through that together. We’re here for you, Keith.”

Shiro put a hand on Keith’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

Keith gave a sad smile back.

“Thanks, guys. But I still don’t know how I’m going to explain why I left to Lance.”

“Just tell him that there was a family situation that occurred recently and that you suddenly got triggered by something you saw outside the shop and needed to talk to someone involved, so you came here. I mean, you are family and this is kind of an emergency, so it’s not a complete lie.”

Shiro smiled at his boyfriend, though he was slightly surprised.

“Wow, babe… that’s actually a good idea!”

Adam smiled back at his boyfriend.

“I know, I’m a genius.”

Keith laughed at the couple, though seeing them so happy made him feel a little dejected. When he first found out that he had a soulmate, his whole world view had changed. He had never imagined that someone like him would ever get the chance to experience something like what Shiro and Adam had. Though, he guessed he probably wouldn’t get to experience that anymore. The fact that his soulmate was Lance made everything so much more complicated. But he was sure that he wanted to work through this. He had never been so sure of anything else in his life. To Keith, Lance was worth fighting for. He wasn’t going to give up. He couldn’t let go of Lance.  He wouldn’t. He was going to do whatever it took to keep Lance by his side. He needed Lance more than anyone could comprehend.

oOoOoOo

Lance sighed as he checked his phone for the hundredth time that night. He didn’t know why he was still waiting for Keith to text him. It was getting late; nearly midnight, and still nothing from him. He probably wasn’t going to answer him, especially not tonight.

Lance got off of his bed and walked over to the door to turn off the lights. But the moment before he long finger flipped the switch, a ping sounded from his nightstand. He turned back around and made his way back to the bed, scooping up his phone on the bedside table. He had a single notification that read:

From: Keith Kogane(My Best Rival❤️)

Hey, Lance. I’m really sorry about leaving so suddenly like that… something came up. I had a family incident recently and I just got triggered by something outside of the shop and needed to talk to Shiro about it. I know it was a dick move so I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me. I’m guessing that you’re asleep already, so I’ll talk to you in the morning if you still want anything to do with me.

Lance sighed at the message. He understood Keith’s situation, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. He knew that it was a family emergency and Shiro would probably know the best ways to help him, but it hurt to know that Keith didn’t even feel comfortable enough to tell him something was going on. It had happened recently, so there was definitely time to let him know. He didn’t even need to know the details. Just knowing that something was wrong and that he could stand by Keith and support him and just be there for him would have been enough. Lance knew that he shouldn’t really feel upset about this, but he couldn’t help it. Keith hurt him. But it was his fault, anyways; for being the kind of person he is. Keith didn’t need someone like Lance in his life. But even if that was true, Lance was going to go work things out. He needed closure on the situation. Last time they fought and didn’t make up right away, he was a mess.

To: Keith Kogane(My Best Rival❤️)

I’m awake. Can we talk? If you want to, of course.

Lance pressed send and clicked his phone off. He sighed, trying to mentally prepare himself for confronting Keith about how he was feeling. He didn’t want to make Keith feel worse, especially since he had had an episode already today. But he also needed to get his feelings out in the open. Keith was the one telling him he needed to talk about his emotions instead of bottling them up anyways, right?

A few seconds later, a ding sounded from Lance’s phone. He turned it over and read the new message from Keith.

From: Keith Kogane(My Best Rival❤️)

Of course. Meet in the hallway between our rooms?

Lance sighed with relief, glad to know that Keith was open to talking. And that he was in his dorm and not still at Shiro’s. That must mean he’s feeling a little better, right?

To: Keith Kogane(My Best Rival❤️)

Sure. Meet you in a minute.

Lance clicked his phone off and threw his bed covers off of his legs. He walked over to his dresser and threw on some pajama pants. He didn’t bother wearing a shirt. He was hot, and Keith probably wouldn’t mind seeing him shirtless, right? He just wanted to talk to Keith as soon as possible and putting on a shirt seemed too time consuming.

He slowly turned the handle on his door and pushed slowly, cringing at the creaking sound that followed. He slipped through the crack and tip toed his way to the door. He didn’t bother putting shoes on, either. Again, time consuming. Plus, the hallways were carpeted, so it wasn’t too uncomfortable to walk barefoot. The distance between their rooms wasn’t far, either.

Lance shown the flashlight on his phone on the ground so he could see his path to the door and quietly made his way to the entrance to his dorm room. Soundlessly, he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Lance looked around the pitch black corridor, seeing nothing. That is, until, a door a little ways down the hall opens, soft light flooding the once dark hallway. A dark figure steps out, and glances around like Lance had done a few moments earlier.

“Lance?” A familiar voice called out, though it was quieter than usual.

Keith.

“I’m here.” Lance whispered back.

They both walked towards each other until they were only a foot apart, standing awkwardly. Neither one knew what to say, or how to start off their conversation.

Lance cleared his throat as Keith kept his eyes glued on the ground, almost looking guilty.

“Um, I guess I should probably start by apologizing. I know I messed up just leaving like that without any explanation or reason. I know I’m an asshole, and I didn’t expect you to be awake at this hour, let alone talk to me- oof!”

Lance slammed into Keith, wrapping his arms around Keith’s torso tightly, feeling like if he let go he might lose Keith forever.

“You have nothing to apologize for. You had an emergency recently, which I completely understand by the way, and you got triggered. That’s enough of an explanation for me.”

Keith returned the hug, circling his arms around the older boy.

“Thank you, Lance.”

Lance pulled back a little so that he could look at Keith, though his features were hard to make out due to the darkness of the hallway.

“For what? I haven’t done anything.”

Keith pulled back as well, smiling at the boy in his arms.

“You’ve done so much for me, Lance. You just being here is helping me more than you know. You’ve always been there for me, whether it was being my rival when we first got to know each other, or like now, as my friend, my shoulder to cry on, and someone who supports me no matter what. So thank you.”

Lance blushed, never having been told something quite like this before. And by Keith, too. It meant a lot coming from him, because Lance felt the exact same way towards the other boy.

“I am a little mad at you, though.”

Keith looked up at Lance, worry shining in his eyes.

“What? Why?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not horrible. I just felt a little hurt that you didn’t think to tell me something had happened with your family. I didn’t even need details; just knowing that something happened and I needed to be there for you would have been enough. I thought we were close enough for you to be able to come to me about those kinds of things, but I guess not…”

Both Keith and Lance looked away from each other; Lance, because he felt hurt, and Keith, because he felt guilty. If there actually had been a family emergency, Keith didn’t doubt that he would have gone to Lance right away. However, this whole situation was a lie to cover up the fact that Lance was his soulmate. Keith could tell Lance anything and everything… except for this.

“We are, Lance. I just- I didn’t know how- I-I, fuck. I’m so sorry, Lance. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I really didn’t. God I’m such an asshole. I just didn’t know how to tell you, and it’s hard talking to anyone about it, besides Shiro and Adam because they’re involved too. I’m really sorry, Lance.”

Lance nodded.

“It’s okay. Just- please tell me next time something happens. I want to be there for you, but I can’t if I don’t know what’s going on.”

Keith nodded, the guilt eating him alive. He hated making Lance feel like this, but he couldn’t know. Lance cared about him; they were friends. And when Keith got a friend, he never wanted to let them go. It was too scary to have to let go of something you cared about. Especially when he cared about Lance as much as he did… a lot.

“I’m sorry, Lance. I promise I’ll tell you next time. And about this time, I-” Keith’s voice caught in his throat. “I don’t think I’m ready to talk to anyone other than Adam or Shiro about it. You deserve to know, but it’s really personal and it’s hard to talk about. I’ll tell you when I’m ready, I promise. I’m just… not ready yet.”

Lance nodded in understanding.

“It’s fine, take all the time you need.” Lance pulled Keith back into another hug. “I’ll always be here for you, Keith. If you ever need someone to talk to, or just to cry with, please tell me.”

Keith nodded, though Lance couldn’t see that.

“Thank you, Lance.”

Keith buried his face into the nook between Lance’s shoulder and neck and breathed deeply. He loved how Lance smelled; it was a mix between coconut, vanilla, and sunshine. It was so comforting that Keith’s muscles relaxed almost immediately. Lance always smelled so good.

Keith smiled to himself and the realization that just wormed its way into his brain.

Lance smelled like home .

Chapter Text

Chapter 12:

Keith’s eyes fluttered open as the light from the tiny window drifted into his small room. His head turned head to the left, registering that the clock on his nightstand read 7:30am. He groaned before grabbing the pillow next to him and smashing it against his face. He was still so tired. Thank god today was a Saturday. Though, he might as well get up, right?

A few moments went by, but Keith still hadn’t moved. Did he really want to get out of bed? The answer was no.

Keith sighed, rolling onto his side. His hand reached for his phone, eyes blinking groggily as they tried to adjust to the harsh lighting eminanting from his phone.

He saw 2 text notifications when his eyes finally became accustomed to the glare. Ugh. Why did people want to talk to him so early in the morning?

The first message was from 7am, sent by Lance.

Lance? What did he want so early in the morning? They had just talked last night... or, rather, very very early this morning, since it had been past midnight.

From Lancey Lance:

Hey! I’m sure you’re tired since we were both up late last night, but I was wondering if you wanted to hangout or something? Pidge’s brother is in town and wanted to do something with our group. Hunk is invited too and he can bring Shay if he wants. Matt said the more, the merrier so ask Shiro and Adam to come. Oh, and Allura and her boyfriend, I haven’t seen her in forever.

Keith blinked at his phone. What? A group hangout? How many people would that even be? If everyone was able to come… 8? Jesus christ, that’s a lot of people. Good thing Keith didn’t mind being around those coming. Assuming that they were all going.

Well, it’s not like Keith has anything better to do.

To Lancey Lance:

Sure, that sounds fun. Is it cool if I just make a group chat to ask everyone? I think I have everyone’s numbers, so it would be easier to do it that way.

Keith didn’t wait for a response from Lance and when to check the other notification, this time from an unknown number.

An unknown number? That was… sketchy.

From Unknown Number:

Hey! Guess who… It’s your soulmate!

Keith’s jaw dropped.

Oh fuck. He’d almost forgotten about that.

What the fuck was he going to do now? He did not think this through. What was he going to reply with? What was he going to say? What does one say to their soulmate? Nothing could have prepared him for this. And it didn’t help that his soulmate was Lance. His newfound best friend, and receiver of his huge ass crush. Who didn’t know he was talking to Keith. Great.

Keith took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He knew getting worked up about this wouldn’t do him any good.

To Unknown Number:

Hello. It’s nice to finally talk to you again.

Keith nodded to himself. Good start. Now he would just have to wait for a response. And make sure to put his phone on silent to avoid yesterday’s situation…

Keith’s phone dinged.

Had Lance responded already? Oh shit, he hadn’t even hit send yet. Never mind.

From Lancey Lance:

Go for it! I guess that means you’ll be coming, then? :)

Oh. So Lance did respond, just not the unknown number Lance. This was starting to get confusing. How the hell was he going to keep track of them? But was there even a “them”? They were technically the same person...

Keeping his identity a secret was going to be harder than he thought.

To Lancey Lance:

Yup. What are we going to do? And where are we meeting up?

Time to make that group chat.

Keith’s phone dinged again. God, who was it now?

THE FUNKY SPACE BOIS - Lancey Lance + 6 others

Mathematics: WHATS UP NERDS??? This is the group chat for everyone coming to the hang out today, hosted by yours truly. WELCOME MY PEOPLE.

Keith snickered. Matt was so fucking weird. But less work for him since Matt beat him to making the group chat.

Shiro:

Matt, what is this. Why am I in a group chat.

Mathematics:

Because you are hanging out with us today. Duh. Didn’t you read my last text?

Shrio:

I am not hanging out with you.

Adam:

Yes we are.

Shiro:

I am hanging out with you.

Pidgeon:

Bahahahahahaha you’re so fucking whipped Shiro.

Adam:

I did well, didn’t I? It’s my one day off from the firm, I’m not spending it sitting around.

Princess Allura:

Am I invited as well?

Mathematics:

Duh. That’s why you’re in the group chat! Can you come?

Princess Allura:

Yes! The show is still shooting today, but Lotor and I don’t have any scenes. I’m free for the day!

Princess Allura:

Should I add him in the group chat?

Pidgeon:

No.

Matt:

No.

Shiro:

No.

Princess Allura:

Oh, ok.

Matt:

Even if you wanted to, in the only one with admin status. I made sure to block Katie.

Pidgeon:

Matt I told you to call me Pidge. You know I hate generic white names like Katie. *shudder*

Matt:

Bite me gremlin

Pidgeon:

Whatever, Mathematics.

Princess Allura:

Well, despite that fun conversation, I’m so excited to see you all again!

The Best Cinnamon Roll:

Me too! I haven’t seen you in forever Allura!

Princess Allura:

I have missed you as well, Hunk!

Shay:

You guys are so pure it makes me want to cry <3

Lancey Lance:

Wait, so can everyone come?

Keith:

Seems like it.

Shiro:

Oh my god, the emo boy has come out of his den! Someone call the police!

Keith:

Fuck off old man.

Keith clicked off his phone, though the dinging didn’t stop. Well, that was one hell of a conversation. That he totally participated in.

Keith ignored his phone for the time being and threw on some dark wash jeans, a black t-shirt and his dad’s jacket. He was feeling casual today. Plus, he had no idea what they were doing. It was Matt; they could be going fucking skydiving and no one would be surprised.

Keith looked at his phone again and sighed. There were over 50 notifications.

Keith skimmed through the messages quickly. Apparently they were going to Disneyland. For the entirety of the day. Yay.

Keith sighed as he set down his phone. Not only did he have to spend the day hanging out in a large group setting, they were also going to be at a place filled to the brim with more people . But of course Matt would choose to go to Disneyland. Keith wasn’t shocked in the slightest. Though that didn’t mean he was happy about it.

Keith sighed and headed out into the kitchen where he heard distant laughter. When he appeared in the small room he was met by Hunk and Shay at the table.

“Hey Keith! Ready to go to Disneyland?”

Keith sighed, but there was no hiding the smile on his face and excitement behind his eyes. Sure, Keith was feeling anxious about being in a place with so many people, but he had wanted to go to Disneyland since he was a little kid. He had never been before.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

Hunk laughed, rather cheery this morning.

“Whatever you say, Keith. I’m so pumped! I haven’t been since I was a kid and now I am definitely tall enough to ride every single ride in that park. And I get to be there with my wonderful girlfriend, which is always a plus.”

Hunk swooped down and planted a chaste kiss on Shay’s lips, struggling to contain her giggles. What was going on with them?

“Are you guys okay? You’re acting really weird…”

Hunk and Shay started giggling again and that’s when Keith decided that it was time to slowly back away.

“No! Keith, come back here! We’re just excited for today, is all. It’s like a double... double date!”

Keith cocked an eyebrow. He had stopped moving backwards, but he wasn’t coming any closer either. His head tilted to one side in confusion.

“What do you mean a… double double date?”

Hunk put on his smart person face; the one he used when he was about to explain one of his complicated theories.

“Well, thank you for asking, Keith. My point is, me and Shay are going, a couple. Shiro and Adam are going, a couple. Allura and her boyfriend are coming, also a couple. And then you and Lance! There’s like, 2 extra wheels since the Holts are there, but it’s still like a quadruple date!”

Keith shuddered at the thought of a… quadruple… or double-double… oh whatever. Who cares. But the thought of it made him cringe. Plus,

“Lance and I aren’t a couple!”

“Not yet…!” Shay said, wiggling her eyebrows at Keith.

Keith pinched his knows and scrunched up his eyes. Why was everyone trying to set them up? Sure, he liked Lance. Like, a lot. And they were soulmates(but that’s what they wanted them to think!). But Lance didn’t like him back! So it was pointless.

Ding!

Keith sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Fuck. Lance - soulmate Lance - had texted him back.

Unknown Number:

So… what’s your name?

Fuck. Shit shit shit SHIT!

What was he going to do?

Suddenly, a light bulb lit up in his head.

Keith smirked to himself. He was a genius.

To: Unknown Number

Sorry, I don’t feel comfortable to tell you that. For now, just call me Red :)

His smile faltered only when he realized what was happening. He was getting better at lying to Lance,  which was an unexpected - and unwanted - consequence of this situation.

Keith sighed. The crisis had been avoided, but at what cost?

Hunk and Shay’s noise had died down when as they watched Keith’s face morph into the several different emotions flowing through him.

The couple at the table glanced nervously at each other. Hunk was worried about his friend. He didn’t know what was going on inside his mind, but he could tell it was bad. He didn’t want to push Keith too far, but he was more worried about what would happen if he didn’t say anything at all.

“Keith? Buddy?”

Keith looked up from his phone and his eyes met his roommates. Though, their eyes weren’t really locked. Keith was looking at Hunk, but his mind was in a far off place, thinking about other things than his friend calling out his name.

“Did something happen?”

Suddenly, the glazed over look in Keith’s eyes disappeared and he was back in the real world. Keith sighed, knowing he might as well clue Hunk in, and handed his phone over to his friend.

Hunk read the messages over a few times, trying to decipher what it all meant. Keith wasn’t giving him much context to go off of; he didn’t say anything before handing the phone over and he had yet to make the unknown number into a contact. He had held off because he couldn’t figure out what to put as the contact name. Lance was already a contact, so putting that would only make things more confusing.

Another ping sounded from Keith’s phone. Keith looked over to Hunk and Shay, who were now reading the new notification. A moment of silence went by before the couple slowly looked up at Keith.

“Keith…” Shay started. “Is this person your messaging… Lance?” Her eyebrows furrowed with worry, afraid she had overstepped her bounds. They hadn’t gotten to know each other very well yet, but she had the same, loving nature as Hunk and wanted to help. But in order to do that, she needed information.

Keith held his breath, and nodded.

Hunk passed the phone back over to Keith, not having said a word since he had received the phone.

Keith let out the breath he had been holding in and looked down at his phone.

From Unknown Number:

Well, to make us even you can call me Blue ;)

Keith groaned. Why did he have to be so fucking cute?

“What are you going to say back?” Hunk asked quietly, hoping he wouldn’t hit a nerve. But surprisingly, Keith was handling everything better than he normally did.

“I’m not going to say anything back. Not yet, anyways. I just want to enjoy spend today enjoying real life with Lance. As Keith , and not Red .”

Hunk and Shay exchanged smiles, happy to see their friend finally make a positive, healthy decision on his own.

“Sounds good to me.” Shay stated, smile still present on her face.

Hunk grinned at his roommate and girlfriend.

“Who’s ready for Disneyland?!”

oOoOoOo

A breath released itself from Keith’s throat as he watched the stores pass by in a colorful blur. They had been driving for almost a half an hour now. And it didn’t help that the car conditions were as they normally were - hot and cramped. Although that was true, Keith was finding he didn’t mind too much. Because one normality of their rides had changed: Hunk was driving. And that meant that Lance and Keith were both in the backseat. In close proximity to one another. Alone. Even though it was just them in the back seat - the rest of the group had carpooled or drove separately - Hunk’s car was not big, and the back only fit two people. And fit was being generous.

Keith could feel Lance’s knee pressed against his own and had to will away the red tint growing in his cheeks. In addition to their knees, their shoulders and thighs were also pressed together. Warm bouts of heat blossomed around the areas of Keith’s body that touched Lance. He tried desperately to regain control of his body, but his struggles were useless. So, he had taken to staring out the window. No use letting Lance see his blush and figuring out the huge secret he was currently keeping from him.

But that had been at the beginning of the car ride. Since then, Keith has started to calm down and managed to get a hold on himself.

“Hunk, are we almost there? I hate long car rides.”

“Just hold tight, buddy. We’re almost there! We’ve only got 15 minutes to go!”

Keith could feel Lance physically deflate at the news. He knew Lance got anxious when he was coupled up for too long. He had noticed he had been becoming more tense a few minutes ago, but had imagined that it was from being in the same position for so long.

They eventually made it to the parking lot of Disneyland, though it had taken longer than expected. The place was packed . But it was the weekend, so it was stupid of them to think that it wouldn’t be, even if they came this early in the morning. Plus, the weather was great too; what was Matt thinking?

After another half an hour, they finally made it into the park. Shay said that she texted the 2 other cats were running a little late and that they were the first ones there. Lance and Keith found an unoccupied bench to rest on while Hunk and Shay went to the information desk to find a map of the park.

Lance yawned as he stretched out his long limbs.

“Man, am I happy to be out of that car. I could feel my anxiety coming up and it freaked me out a little bit.”

“Yeah, I could tell.”

“Wow, thanks Keith.” Lance said sarcastically, though Keith could hear a little hurt in his voice.

“You know that’s not what I meant. Are you okay now?” Keith asked, not wanting to pry but feeling a need to check up on him.

Lance nodded, and Keith knew he was telling the truth.

“If you get anxious again, you’ll let me know, right?”

Again, Lance nodded.

“No, I want you to say it. Promise me.”

Lance looked into Keith’s eyes, gratefulness flooding his own.

“I promise.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Hunk walked over to their bench with Shay, a smirk dancing on his lips.

“Just about how you were taking forever getting back.” Lance jabbed back, and Hunk chuckled.

Keith raised an eyebrow. When had they gotten so close? Sure, Hunk and Lance would y’all occasionally when the group hung out, but since when did they tease each other like that? The answer was never. It wasn’t something they did. But he was probably overthinking it, so he didn’t bring it up.

“WHAT IS UP MY PARTY PEOPLE?!”

Keith noticeably jumped at the voice directly behind him, and turned to meet the owner.

“Matt? Why are you in the bushes?”

Pidge crawled out next to him, a huge grin on her face.

“It’s been on his bucket list for as long as I can remember.”

Keith tilted his head in confusion, still trying to slow his racing heart.

“So you’re telling me that “crawl through the bushes at Disneyland” has been on Matt’s bucket list since he was a kid? What the fuck?”

Matt just laughed maniacally while the rest of the group - with the exception of Pidge - stared at him like he was crazy. Because he was. Is , Keith corrected.

“Hello, everyone!”

Everyone looked past Keith and Lance to greet Allura and… oh. Lotor. Great.

Hunk ran into Allura’s open arms and hugged her.

“I haven’t seen you in forever! How’s the show going?”

Allura smiled.

“It’s going well! Lotor and I are having a lot of fun shooting, and our costars are all amazing. Have any of you watched the show?”

“We have.” Adam piped up as he walked over to the group, joining the circle they had formed between Lotor and Shay.

“Takashi and I make date night out of it.” Adam smiled lovingly at his partner, who was gazing back at him with the same amount of affection.

“I watch it, too. Regularly.” Keith added.

Lance’s eyes lit up at Keith’s comment.

“Wait, you watch her show, too? I thought I was the only one!”

Keith laughed.

“Lance, I’ve known Allura since before she got famous. So have Shiro, Adam and Hunk. You really think I’m just not going to support her and watch her show?”

Lance looked down, suddenly embarrassed by his stupid question.

“Yeah, right. Why didn’t I think of that?” Lance said, trying to lighten the mood but his voice falling flat. Everyone was silent, not sure how to respond to the awkward silence growing between the boys. Keith’s teasing face faltered at Lance’s reaction to his teasing. He was just joking around, he wasn’t trying to make him feel bad.

But Hunk, ever so cheery, cut through the growing tension with his soft voice.

“So who’s ready to go on some rides?”

oOoOoOo

Lotor groaned for the umpteenth time, leaning against the bars that outlined the long line to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.

“How much longer are we going to stand in this wretched line? I can’t lie in wait much longer.”

Keith wanted to laugh in Lotor’s face at his choice of “fancy words” as Lance liked to call them, but he held back. He knew how much Allura liked him and knew he would feel guilty if he came between them. So he didn’t say anything, even if Lotor was a dick. Matt, however, didn’t have the same reserve as it.

“Well, Lotion, according to Travel and Leisure, a prestigious magazine company , says that this ride is the third best at Disneyland. So you can shut your trap because the internet says it’s worth the wait.”

And with that, Matt turned around and started up a completely different conversation with Pidge and Hunk.

Everyone’s jaws were hanging open. Matt had absolutely no filter, that was common knowledge, but for him to say that to Allura’s boyfriend, the famous actor, Lotor Dibazaal, of all people, was insane!

Lotor looked like he was offended, but he didn’t say anything; only stood against the bar with a rigid posture and a shocked expression on his face.

Allura’s face wasn’t as simple. One emotion Keith could immediately identify on her face was amusement. Allura obviously found Matt telling her boyfriend off to be hilarious, as they all had before the shock of who Matt was talking to settled in. Allura wasn’t uptight, so Keith was assuming she wouldn’t be mad at Matt for what he said. But he also saw a little distaste on her face, probably because although it was funny, it was her boyfriend. Someone she cared about and wanted to defend. The last emotion was guilt. Allura felt guilty for not wanting to defend her boyfriend. Everyone knew Lotor was kind of a presumptuous asshole, but they also knew how much Allura loved him. So they put up with him, for her. But apparently Matt had had enough of Lotor’s shit. Allura knew he wasn’t perfect too - it was evident on her face - but she had learned to look past that and she loved the person she saw on the other side. Love was complicated, and Keith felt sorry for Allura. She was in a tough situation. But Allura was strong; Keith was positive that she was going to work through this and make it out an even more amazing person on the other side. That’s just the kind of person she was.

Finally, after another 20 minutes of waiting, they made it to the front of the line. Pidge and Matt were practically bouncing because they couldn’t contain their excitement. Matt, despite being 26, looked like a little kid who had just gotten exactly what he wanted for Christmas. Everyone else looked relatively excited to ride the coaster, with the exception of Lotor, who wore a bored expression on his face.

Matt punched him in the arm, a little too hard for it to be playful, and grinned. “Loosen up, man! We’re next to get on!”

Lotor rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. I’m not excited to spend the day at a child’s amusement park with a group of... children!”

Allura placed a hand on Lotor’s shoulder and silently pleaded with her boyfriend to calm down. Keith felt bad for Allura. Lotor was being a dick, but he was being provoked by Matt, so Keith didn’t really blame him. Except that Lotor was a dick without provocation… so there was that.

“Next.” Called the employee at the podium. She looked bored out of her mind. Disneyland really does suck the life out of their employees, huh?

They all got their tickets scanned before they went to go stand in the next set of lines for the boats. Thankfully, this wait was only a few minutes.

The boats were fairly large. They had 6 rows, each able to fit 3-4 people. In the first row, from left to right, sat Lance, Keith, Shiro, and Adam. The row behind them sat Shay, Hunk, Pidge and Matt. And in the next row, Allura and Lotor sat with random strangers. Allura had probably decided that isolating Lotor from the rest of the group momentarily was probably a good idea, and Keith agreed. No one wanted his pouting, perfect, British face around while he was in a bad mood.

After a minute or two of the workers checking that everything was ready to go, the boat jolted forward and Keith felt a tight pressure around his hand. He looked down to his hand to see it clasped with Lance’s. Keith’s eyes trailed from their intertwined hands up to Lance’s face, which was lit up with excitement, and a faint spark of fear. Keith smiled. He was glad Lance wasn’t panicking. He knew that rides like this could be a trigger for people with anxiety, and to say he was nervous for both him and Lance would be an understatement. Fortunately, they were both enjoying themselves.

Their boat drifted down the makeshift river at a slow pace. Keith would have felt relaxed, if he hadn’t known what was to come. Rocking from side to side, their barge floated around the bend, the sound of water the only thing the riders’ senses could perceive. The tunnel was almost pitch black, except for the few lights illuminating the waterfall a ways ahead.

Keith could hear the riders behind them scream, just now realizing that they would be going under that waterfall. Keith didn’t say anything, but anyone would be able to tell he wasn’t happy about getting his hair wet by taking one look at the expression on his face. He hated when his hair got wet, especially when he didn’t have anything to dry it off with.

Lance suddenly gripped Keith’s hand tighter in anticipation and Keith’s heart rate sped up significantly as he realized what he was doing. He was holding hands with Lance. The Lance McClain that was also his soulmate. Fuck.

Keith squeezed back to let Lance know he was excited for the ride too, and the boys shared a smile with each other before staring back at the waterfall now only 10 feet in front of the boat. They both ducked their heads as the rest of the passengers screamed, Lotor’s voice loud amongst the chorus, as they went under the waterfall. Lance shook his head to try and get the excess water off, but ended up getting it on Keith instead. Keith let out a sound of disapproval as he untangled their hands. He ran his fingers through his hair to get out as much water as possible. He hated the feeling of water running down his neck, it made him feel gross.

Their boat continued meandering along the river, flashing lights and audio of pirates saying things like “your fate has been sealed”, and “dead men tell no tales” adding a spooky atmosphere to the ride. All around them were props of treasure chests filled with gold coins, and fake skeletons, which were probably terrifying to the children in their boat. Keith had seen a couple get on behind him, and he couldn’t imagine how scary this would be for a small child.

As their boat made its way further along the river, it came up close to a shipwreck, with it’s torn sails flapping around from hidden fans, and flashing lights to make it look like a storm. Only when the lights flashed, could they see anything. This part of the tunnel was really dark too.

As they came around the bend, Keith could see some rapids, and water falling in front of them.

“Oh, fuck!” Shiro yelled next to him as their boat plunged into the water below, splashing up and landing on him and Adam while narrowly missing Lance and Keith.

Keith laughed as he nudged his older brother. “Stop swearing, there are kids on this thing!” He spoke loudly above the energetic music playing ahead of them. Shiro only rolled his eyes and attempted to wipe the water off of his face. This part of the ride was better lit, and not as mysterious. There were pirate animatronics and fake ships everywhere. Their boat passed through a canal of a city, streets and buildings on either side of them. Keith just smiled and enjoyed the ride, even though he could hear Lotor complaining behind him.

He heard a few people scream when the sound of an explosion went off, but Keith didn’t flinch. He had been to Disneyland a few times and he hit this ride a lot, so he knew what was coming. Eventually the tunnel got dark again and the props changed to pirates behind bars in a cave, and more fake skeletons. He heard a little girl scream when one of the animatronics started yelling and felt a little bad. Keith wasn’t a huge fan of kids, but he had enough sympathy to feel sorry for her.

30 seconds later and they were back where they started. Keith, Lance and Shiro got out of the boat as soon as the workers gave them the okay and followed the exit signs until they made it back outside. They waited for the the rest of the group on a bench by the exit, which was shaded by a tree that was behind the fence the bench was up against. Those remaining followed behind pretty quickly, but no one got up. A small break was fine. Keith could still feel the water in his hair and groaned, dreading walking around the park for the rest of the day looking - and feeling - like a wet dog. Lance watched Keith frown as he ran his fingers through his hair as he got an idea.

“Hey Matt, did you bring you Disneyland bag?” Keith looked up, looking for a distraction from the wet shirt sticking to his back.

Matt looked at Keith and grinned.

“Are you kidding? Of course I brought my Disneyland bag!” Matt dropped the backpack from his shoulder and tossed it to Lance, who caught it effortlessly. Lance unzipped it and began rummaging through it, searching for the specific item in his head.

Keith watched with curious eyes, wondering what Lance could possibly want from Matt’s bag.

“Aha!” Lance exclaimed, proud to have finally found what he was looking for. His hand grasped the item tightly as he pulled it out of the backpack and tossing it to Keith.

Keith caught the towel in his hands and smiled.

“Thanks, man.” Lance just smiled in return, watching Keith towel off his hair. After a minute Keith’s hair was a bit drier, and the other who had been sitting in the front two rows had started to dry off.

Matt smirked as Lance returned his backpack and looked around at the rest of the group.

“Who’s ready for the next ride?”

oOoOoOo

Lance fiddled with a loose string on his pants, anxious thoughts wandering his mind. The next ride they were about to go on was the cause of his nervous energy. Every time Lance thought about it, he could feel the panic starting to churn in his stomach, squeezing his chest and crawling in his throat. So he tried to push it as deep into his mind as possible. Tried being the key word.

Keith watched Lance’s fingers loop the string around themselves, digging into the flesh there, turning it a dark shade of red, before the string was released, and everything started all over again.

Keith had noticed Lance would do this when he got anxious. It was a bad habit, but he knew it helped Lance cope. Though, by the worried look on Lance’s face, Keith was pretty sure this time it wasn’t working. Keith walked closer to Lance, leaning close to whisper in his ear, “Hey, are you okay?”

Lance snapped out of his thoughts and look over at Keith. He swallowed audibly and nodded. He cleared his throat and said, “I’m fine”, but his voice betrayed him.

Keith gave him a sad look. Lance wasn’t fooling him.

“Are you sure?”

Lance nodded, but the movements quickly turned into head shakes.

“No.”

Keith looked at the others walking ahead of him and sighed. He figured that the anxiety was because of the next ride they were going on. Rides like it had a tendency to trigger people. The thought of it might be what was getting to Lance; Keith knew Lance had been to Disneyland before, and guessed that he’d been on it before and had a… not so pleasant experience.

“I’ll be right by you the whole time, you have nothing to worry about. I’ll be right next to you, okay?”

Lance swallowed again, his face gaining a little color back, but his anxious expression remained. He nodded slowly.

As they arrived at the gate, Lance wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. He was feeling really overwhelmed, and they hadn’t even gotten to the line yet.

Keith glanced over at Lance, ridden with worry for his friend, crush, and soulmate.

“It’s not a long ride. Everything’s going to be alright.” Keith tried to reassure him, but the words seemed to die before they reached Lance.

They eventually made it inside, and to the front of the line. The line for It’s a Small World was shorter than the line for Pirates, but still pretty lengthy. The whole time they stood waiting, Lance worked to get his breathing under control, with little luck. It was somewhat better, but not enough to make his feel less worried. Lance wasn’t sure what it was, but something about the It’s A Small World ride gave him the worst anxiety. It was always a horrible experience and he tried to avoid it at all costs. But today, his insecurity of being a burden to those in the group who wanted to go on it kept him from speaking up. He knew that if he told his friends why he didn’t want to ride it, they would understand and move on to a different ride, but that voice in the back of his head silenced him. It was constantly holding him back from doing what he really wanted to do, and it made him sick to his stomach. He felt like a prisoner in his own mind, but his warden was himself.

They eventually made it to the boats, which were similar to the ones from the Pirates ride. There were 5 rows in their boat, each holding 3-4 people. However, there were no smaller groups to go in with them, so Keith and Lance sat in the back by themselves. Pidge, Matt, Shiro and Adam were in the row in front of them, and the next row held Hunk, Shay, Allura, and Lotor, followed by other random park-goers.

Lance took a deep breath as he tried to calm his thoughts. Keith being right next to them helped, especially with no one around them, but he was still really nervous. He could hear the song playing further down the tunnel and he could feel his heartbeat rising steadily. Lance wiped his hands on his jeans, trying to get a hold of himself.

Suddenly the ride jolted forward and Lance shut his eyes in anticipation. He really, really didn’t want to do this.

Their boat glided slowly along the river as they entered the tunnel, the music Lance had heard earlier getting louder and louder.

Lance felt his breaths starting to get faster and noted his heartbeat was still beating as rapidly as it had before. Fuck. Fuck .

Keith looked over at Lance, watching his eyes dart around the tunnel from one creepy, singing animatronic person to the next. Keith could see the panic quickly rising in Lance but he didn’t know what to do.

Out of nowhere, their boat jolted to a stop. The lights went out and the audio loop stopped. People in their boat, as well as the people in the boats both ahead and behind them, started screaming. Hell broke loose.

“Keith?”

Keith whipped his head around towards the sound of Lance’s voice. His hand felt around until it reached the warmth it was searching for and closed around it.

Lance felt Keith’s hand clasp his own, his thumb rubbing soothing circles into the back of Lance’s hand.

“I’m here.”

Lance squeezed Keith’s hand, struggling to get his breathing and heartbeat under control.

“Hey, you’re okay. I’m right here. We’re gonna get through this.”

Lance released a breath and felt a little bit of the tension release it’s hold over his body.

Out of the blue the dimmer lights highlighting the animatronics turned back on and the audio loop started again.

Shit. The tension was back.

Keith felt Lance become stiff again and squeezed his hand tighter. He continued to rub his thumb over the back of Lance’s hand, doing his best to comfort him but knowing that the situation they were in was not good. The song playing behind the dimly lit and barely visible animatronics was creepy as hell.

The song cut out for a second as an employees voice sounded over the speakers.

“The ride has stopped due to unforeseen technical difficulties. It should be back up and running shortly. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

Oh yeah, so sorry for the inconvenience of ruining my mental health. Fucking assholes.

Lance gripped Keith’s hand like his life depended on it. Keith was whispering encouragement in his ear, trying to help him get a hold over his fucking body. He was doing the breath focus strategies he learned a while ago on YouTube, and it was working, slowly but surely.

A couple minutes later the rest of the lights came back on and the ride started moving again. Lance didn’t let go of Keith’s hand until it was time to get out of the boat and exit the ride.

A minute or two after they got out of the building, Lance’s mental state was pretty close to back to normal, albeit a little shaken up. At least it was over.

Shiro walked up to Lance and placed a large hand on his shoulder. He had been walked a little behind Keith in the back of the group. Shiro had noticed Lance’s panic attack on the ride and was worried about him.

“Hey, Lance. Are you feeling alright?”

Lance’s eyes widened.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine. Why?”

Keith raised an eyebrow at Shiro’s action but almost immediately recognized the look on his brother’s face. It was his dad face. He knew then and there that he was going to ask Lance about his panic attack on the ride. He must’ve noticed, even though Lance and Keith sitting alone in the back row. Keith knew Lance was feeling fine now - after he had asked him several times if he was sure he was okay - and thought that it might bring the two closer, so he walked a little ahead and joined Pidge and Matt’s conversation about Mothman.

Shiro retracted his hand and scratched at the back of his neck, suddenly feeling intrusive. “Oh, uh, I just noticed that you were freaking out a little on the last ride and I wanted to make sure you were fine.”

Lance’s face went beet red and he hid it in his hands.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you saw that.”

Lance was so embarrassed. He didn’t think that anyone else had noticed. But Shiro was quick to reassure him.

“No! No, it’s totally fine, no need to be embarrassed! I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I know what it can be like having anxiety.”

Lance pulled his hands away and looked at Shiro.

“Wait, you have anxiety?”

Shiro nodded.

“And mild PTSD. I don’t know if you know this, but I used to be in the army. That’s how I got this.”

Shiro raised his prosthetic arm and flexed a bit.

“Oh.” was all Lance could say.

“People don’t like to ask because they don’t want to offend or trigger me, but it’s really okay. Not a lot of people know about my anxiety or depression either, besides Keith and Adam, but it’s not a big deal. I just don’t really tell people about it.”

Lance nodded, not quite sure how to respond. He felt grateful that Shiro cared enough to check up on him though, so he should probably thank him.

“Thanks for checking up on me Shiro, I really appreciate it. It really helps to know that I’m not alone in my struggles. It means a lot.”

Shiro smiled warmly at Lance and clapped him on the shoulder again. He felt a wave of emotions crash over him at Lance’s words. Not only because they were kind, but because right then he understood why Lance was Keith’s soulmate. Shiro had also noticed Keith comforting Lance when the ride shut down, but it wasn’t until now that Shiro realized just how much they needed one another. They balanced each other out and brought out the best in the other. Keith was so much more vibrant after becoming friends with Lance… well, Lance looked better too. His smiles seemed more genuine, and less faked. He was sitting back more and enjoying others around him instead of trying to be the center of attention all the time. He seemed more relaxed, and at ease. They both needed each other, Shiro knew that now.

Hopefully, his brother and his soulmate would stop being so oblivious and figure this whole situation out. He could see that Keith was stressing about it and Lance looked like he had a missing piece in him that he just can’t quite find yet. They needed to snap out of it quick, or there was going to be an intervention, either from himself, Pidge, or Hunk. One way or the other, confrontation was going to happen. Shiro just hoped that everything would go smoothly when that day did come. Little did he know, that day was a lot closer than he had imagined.