Bottom Of The Ninth - xfulcrumx (2024)

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Lance’s POV

"The amount of change that has happened to me in the last week has been...insane” Lance thought to himself. He had known for months that this change was going to happen, but he never thought it actually would.

Lance had played baseball his whole life. His father had taught him from a young age, and the makeshift sand lot a few blocks away from his house had become like a second home to him. Lance had never even gone to college, instead going straight to playing professionally in the Cuban League for the Industriales. He had to move out of Varadero to Havana to join the team, despite his mother’s objections. She told him that if he had to go, he should be leaving to go to college, not play baseball. He hadn’t listened.

Now, he couldn’t believe it, he was going to play for an American baseball team. Playing in America had always been his dream. Playing in Cuba was great, it had provided him with a lot of experience and improved his skills greatly, but moving to America and making a living playing baseball had always been his dream. He would’ve settled for a spot on a minor league team, but the major leagues had snatched him almost immediately.

He took in a breath, remembering his tearful goodbye with his family, and let it out as he gazed upon the stadium he was going to be playing in for the next season. It looked slightly smaller than the stadium his previous team had called home, but he was excited.

Adjusting the bag he had slung around his shoulder, he walked into the stadium confident.

“I’m gonna be the best damn pitcher they’ve ever seen,”

He had to ask for directions, but he eventually found his way to the locker room. Lance looked around the room, and his eyes landed on a locker with his number on it, 23. He checked to make sure it was empty before unloading his bag. He was in the middle of shoving his empty bag into the locker when a voice boomed at him from behind.
“You must be the new guy!” Lance jumped a bit, he thought he had come early enough to be the first one in the locker room, and turned around. His eyes were met by a man with black hair, but with a bleached puff in the front, and a large scar across his nose.

“My name’s Shiro, I’m the shortstop.” he beamed, offering his hand.

Lance smiled and took it, “Lance, the new pitcher,”

Shiro smiled, and let go of Lance’s hand, “I know, you’re from the Cuban League right?” Lance nodded in response.

“Those guys play so well, I really admire them, I’m sure you’ll be a great addition to the team,”

Lance smiled, “Thanks man,”

“Want to join me in the gym? We’ve got some time to kill before practice starts,” Shiro asked.

“Yeah sure! Let me just grab my water,” Lance replied. He quickly grabbed his bottle and followed Shiro as he led him to the gym, pointing out where important things were along the way. Lance tried to pay attention but found his mind wandering. He couldn’t help but to think about how great this whole thing was going to be if everyone was as nice as Shiro. His mind was racing, imagining what his other teammates would be like.

“We’re here!” Shiro said suddenly. Lance followed him into the gym, and looked around, his competitive side already itching to one up Shiro in someway, he smirked.
“Let’s get to work,”

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“I swear Shiro, you’re actually a beast,”

Lance and Shiro’s work out had gone extremely well. Lance always worked better with a partner, since his competitive edge made it impossible to slack off when another person was in the room, and Shiro had been exactly the kind of partner Lance needed. The athlete was extremely built, easily outdoing Lance at everything, the only thing Lance had even come a little close to beating him at was sprinting, but Shiro had still managed to win their races.

“I swear, one day I’ll beat you at something,”

Shiro chuckled, “I’m sure you will Lance,”

They walked out onto the field, freshly showered and bottles refilled, Lance was practically bouncing with excitement.

“Here, I’ll introduce you to Hunk, then I’ve got to go talk to Coach,” Shiro said.

They walked over to who Lance assumed was Hunk. He was bigger than your average baseball player, in fact he seemed more like a football player, but Lance didn’t question it.

“Hey Hunk!” Shiro said, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder, “This is the new pitcher,”

Hunk turned, smiling at Lance “Hey man! Lance right?”

“That’s me,” Lance nodded. His eyes widened as the bigger man pulled him in for a hug.

“Great to meet you!” Hunk exclaimed, letting him go, “I’m the third baseman”

Shiro smiled “Alright guys, I’m gonna go talk to Coach real quick, talk to you again when practice starts,”

“Bye Shiro!” they said in unision.

“Alright 23, I’m gonna be your personal guide to The Lions, it can get pretty insane here so trust me, you’ll need one,”

Lance laughed as Hunk swung him around, pointing to various players and naming them.

“That guy over there is Ulaz, he’s pretty chill, he’s one of the outfielders, Colivan is next to him, he’s also an outfielder. Over there is Thace, he’s the first baseman, and the guy next to him is Keith, the catcher, him and Thace are pretty tight…” Hunk continued to name off players, but Lance’s eyes stayed on Keith. The catcher gave him a weird vibe, Lance couldn’t place a finger on what it was, but he didn’t think he liked it. Well that’s great, the one person Lance knew he had to work well with was the one person he took an immediate disliking to.

“And Shiro is talking to Coran, he’s our coach, and he’s definitely...unique,” Lance managed to tune in right as Hunk had finished telling him all the names of the men on their team.

“What do you mean by unique?” Lance inquired.

“Well, he definitely whips us into shape, his practices can be brutal, but what he’s really known for are his team building exercises. One time he locked us all in the locker room and we had to work together to escape through the air vents,”

“Oh my god, no way!” Lance laughed “That’s insane,”

Hunk chuckled, “Yeah it is, but somehow they always work,”

“ALRIGHT YOU LAZY SLOBS, GATHER ‘ROUND,”

Lance looked over in the direction of the noise and saw the players jogging to Coran, and took it as his cue to do the same. He started and Hunk followed, as they reached the area the players were gathering, Coran spoke again.

“Alright boys! As you know we have a new addition to the team this season. McClain! Get up here!”

Lance immediately felt blush dance across his cheeks, the idea of getting up in front of all his new teammates was nerve wracking, but nonetheless he found his legs moving him closer to the front of the semicircle the team had formed. He smiled nervously at his coach and turned to face his team with a shy smile.

“Hey guys,” he tried his best to mask his nervousness but failed. Most of the players smiled back at him, a few said hi. Coran clapped loudly, “Okay now that that’s out of the way, warm up time! We’re starting off with suicides around the bases today,”

The team collectively groaned, and Coran took that as an invitation “Oh did you guys get soft during the off season? Okay, you guys get to do push ups while you wait now,”
Lance could see the team deflate, but they didn’t groan, they had learned better. As they walked over to the bases, Lance found Hunk.

“Hey tour guide!” Lance exclaimed, “I’ve got a question,”

Hunk beamed, obviously pleased that Lance was embracing Hunk’s invitation to show him the ins and outs, “Yeah buddy? What is it?”

“Um, so, what’s a suicide? I thought that was like, killing yourself? I dunno, English isn’t my first language…”

Hunk chuckled, “Nah it’s okay dude, I get it. Suicides are when you run to the first base, then back home, then to second, and back home, and you keep going until you get all the way around the diamond,”

“Oh…” Lance could understand why everyone groaned.

“But you’re right about what suicide actually means, and trust me, you’ll wanna jump off a bridge while you’re running,” Hunk said, his tone changing from lighthearted to heartbroken, “and now we don’t get a break before or afterwards,”

They walked over to home base, and started to do push ups while Coran called players up in number order. He kept a close eye on the men who weren’t running, and yelled at them when their form got shabby or they slowed down too much.

“23! You’re up!” Coran called. Lance was grateful for the break his arms received. He ran his hands through his hair as he walked up to home base.

“Alright McClain, you’re gonna run at your top speed the whole time, got that?”

Lance nodded, a determined look blooming across his face. “You got it, Coach,”

He took off, the first lap was easy, but by the time he got to the third base, he was panting. He still had to run back to home and then around all the bases twice. Lance wanted desperately to throw himself onto the ground, but he willed himself back to home base, “Okay, just have to get to this base two more times,” he thought to himself. Despite his attempts to encourage himself, he could feel his body slowing down. He forced himself further, but by the time he had reached second base, Coran had noticed that Lance definitely wasn’t at his top speed.

“Pick it up 23!” the coach yelled. Lance only grunted in response, he dug down deep, trying to find some sort of motivation. All it took was the realization that this was going to be his Coach’s first impression of him for Lance to take off again. He felt like he was actually running faster than when he had first started.
He made it around the last half with ease, then turned around and started running the other way. He could feel his heart pound against his chest, and his pulse booming in his ears, his breath was ragged, his legs felt like jelly, but he was still motivated by the thought that Coran might think that Lance wasn’t capable. He finished his last lap before he even realized it, and ran past home base and almost tripped over Shiro, who was still doing push ups with the team. He came to a hard stop, just in time, as Shiro let out a startled yelp.

“Sorry...Shiro,” Lance panted. He took a few seconds to try to catch his breath, then got down and joined the rest of the team in doing push ups. Coran called up another player, and Lance realized that it was Keith. He watched the catcher go up to home, and quickly took stock of his features. Pale skin, slightly shorter than himself, but also slightly more muscled, and he had long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Keith took off before Coran could even start his spiel, but it was obvious he didn’t need to be told to run fast. Keith was had finished his suicide before Lance had even caught his breath, and he came out without looking the slightest bit tired.

Lance couldn’t believe it, he wanted to punch Keith in the face. Lance had struggled so much and Keith had done the suicide without even breaking a sweat. Lance’s anger and competitiveness swelled, and he found himself doing push ups much faster than before.

By the time all of the athletes had finished their warm up, Lance had managed to regain his breath, but his arms had gone back to being sore. He walked over to the dugout and grabbed his bottle, and drank as much as he thought he could without getting a stomach ache.

“Man,” Lance said to no one in particular, “I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated water as much as I do right now,”

“Really?” Keith asked as he sat down on a bench, “I didn’t think the warm up was that hard,”

Lance had to do everything in his power not to punch Keith in the balls. Of course he just had to be a show off, didn’t he? Not that Lance wasn’t a show off, he just couldn’t stand other people who were (no, he’s not aware of how hypocritical that is).

“I dunno man,” Shiro said as he grabbed his own bottle, “It definitely wasn’t easy,”

Keith shrugged, “Maybe I’m just used to that kind of stuff,”

“Or maybe you’re just an alien,” Lance retorted, earning a snort from Hunk. Keith only rolled his eyes in response.

“C’mon men! Break time's over!” Coran yelled.

The team quickly finished whatever they were doing, and jogged over to Coran, who was waiting on the pitcher’s mound.

“Alright boys, get ready for the most intense practice of your entire lives,”

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Lance plopped down hard on the bench in the locker room, then shifted to lay across it. Coran had just beat the sh*t out of him without ever actually touching him. Luckily for Lance’s ego, the rest of the team looked just as dead.

“Oh my god,” Hunk exclaimed, sitting on the bench across from Lance “Coran always makes the first practice tough, but that was just plain cruel,”

“A good way to kick the season off though,” Shiro said, wiping his neck with a towel.

“You do realize you don’t always have to be optimistic, right Shiro?” Keith asked, walking toward them and pulling his hair out of it’s ponytail, “it gets a little annoying sometimes,”

Lance groaned. He really couldn’t stand this guy.

“I guess it takes one to know one, doesn’t it Keith?” Lance snarked, sitting up.

“Oh, how original,” Keith said, rolling his eyes, “Bet it took you a while to come up with that, good job,”

“Thanks man, I really had to mullet over,” Lance retorted, putting as much emphasis on the word “mullet” as possible. He wanted Keith to know without a doubt that he was making a pun at his expense.

Keith visibly tensed up, it was like looking at a dog whose fur was on end. Lance smirked, too proud that his missile had hit his target to realize what the consequences of his pun might be.

“Ha okay guys, great banter, like 10/10, but you know what’s not great? Fighting on the first day,” Hunk said, trying his best to defuse the bomb that had just begun its countdown, “Lance, why don’t you take a shower?”

As much as Lance wanted to use Keith for batting practice, he listened to Hunk. The reasonable part of his brain finally making an appearance by telling him that getting punished on the first day for in-team fighting was not a smart play.

The shower was calming. The hot water running over his body washed away much of the stress Lance wasn’t even aware that he had. He could feel the tension in his shoulders release as the hot water hit his skin. He wasn’t looking forward to the mess his hair would be after the shower, but that was a small price to pay for this level of relaxation.

Leaving his family, his friends, joining a new team, in a new city, in a new country, that spoke a language other than the one he grew up with, it was a lot. He knew he’d miss his family and home country like crazy, but he also knew he could call or videochat them as often as he wanted. Luckily, he felt like he had found some people that would help him in his transition to his new life when he met Hunk and Shiro, and hopefully he’d befriend the rest of the team as time went on.

One thing he really couldn’t seem to make peace with was Keith. He really didn’t like Keith, but he knew that he was going to have to get along with him on some level, at least when they were on the field. A team could easily fall apart if the catcher and pitcher couldn’t mesh.

He sighed, turning off the water, and grabbing his towel from the rack he had hung it on. He quickly wrapped it around his waist and made his way over to his locker. He was surprised to see that Hunk was already showered and dressed, despite getting in the shower well after Lance.

“Hey man,” Lance said, “You still here?”

“Yeah, I wanted to see if you were up for hanging out tonight. I figured someone should show you the sights,”

Lance smiled, “Yeah that sounds really nice, I just wanna head home to get some better clothes and some cash,”

Hunk beamed back “Sure man! Give me your address and I’ll come get you later tonight,”

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Lance looked at himself in the mirror, trying to decide if what he was wearing was okay. Unfortunately, Hunk had been quite vague as to what they were going to do, and Lance had no way of knowing if he was overdressed, underdressed, or just right. Eventually, he decided that blue jeans, a black button up and a pair of Tims was the perfect mix of formal and casual. He was about to peel himself away from the mirror before he noticed how preppy he looked. Shrugging, he undid the top two buttons on his shirt, hoping that would make him seem less uptight.

He checked his phone, Hunk had told him that he would text him when he was here. He hadn’t received one yet, so he decided to scroll through his Twitter while he waited. He had been surprised to see that his number of followers rose when they first announced that he was coming to MLB, but nothing could prepare him for what he saw when he went to his profile. A little blue check mark next to his name. Wasn’t that something only celebrities got? Being...verified? Was that what they called it? Lance smiled, this meant that people actually cared about who he was, and he hadn’t even played a game yet,

His phone vibrated, and a message from Hunk appeared across the top of his phone screen. Lance read it quickly then started to head out, grabbing his jacket as he walked through the door of his apartment.

When he exited the apartment building, he heard a car honk its horn and saw Hunk waving to him from inside his car. Smiling, Lance hurried over and got in the passenger’s seat.

“Where we headed?” Lance asked.

“Well, I know I said we were gonna see the sights, but there honestly aren’t many sights in this city, unless you’re interested in looking at bridges and trudging through museums, so I figured I’d take you to the best bar in town,”

Lance grinned, “I hoped you would say that,”

“Perfect!” Hunk exclaimed as he started to drive away from Lance’s apartment building, “This will be fun, we can bond a little, pick up some chicks, get wasted,”

Lance chuckled. This was exactly what he needed, a bit of fun with a new friend.

“You’re right, it will be,”

The majority of the car ride was either them jamming to the music on the radio, or Hunk pointing out some cool, touristy things about the city. Lance quickly discovered that Hunk was really into food, since every other comment the man made was about a restaurant they passed and how the food was.

“Hey man, can I ask you something?” Hunk asked suddenly.

“Yeah sure, what do you want to know?”

“Well it’s nothing big, but I’m curious. How come your accent is so subtle? Like, it’s there, but I was expecting it to be really heavy,”

“Oh, well you see, my older brother moved to America when I was little. He taught me English, and I came to visit him pretty often, so I developed a pretty good American accent,” Lance explained.

“Ohh okay, that’s cool! What does your brother do?”

Lance’s face lit up at the opportunity to talk about his family, especially his older brother, “Ah well, he’s always been really good at drawing and stuff, and he went to school for animation. He applied to work at Pixar and they snatched him up,”

“No way!”

“Way!” Lance grinned, “He lives in California right now with his wife and kids, he’s actually working on the new Incredibles movie,”

“Holy sh*t man! That’s so cool,”

The rest of the car ride consisted of Lance boasting about the other members of his family. He really loved talking about them, it made him feel as if they were actually with him in America, and not hundred of miles away back home in Varadero.

Eventually they made it to the bar, it was called “95”. When Lance asked Hunk about the name, he said that it was the year the owner’s first child was born.
Hunk said hi to a few people as they walked in. The bar was nice, soft music played over speakers and set a calm mood, it wasn’t overly crowded, but there was a good amount of people in the building.

They made their way over to some seats near the bartender, hoping that being close to the worker would get them drinks sooner.

“So,” Hunk said, sitting down “What do you think of your new team?’

“Oh, they all seem pretty nice,” Lance said, tossing himself into a chair and letting the seat spin to face the counter, “Coran is just as unique as you said, but I like him, Thace seems chill, Shiro’s pretty hot…” Lance was going to continue but stopped when he saw the look of befuddlement on Hunks face.

“Is, uh, is something wrong?”

“Okay okay okay, correct me if I’m wrong,” Hunk said, waving his hands around, “but, uh, I thought you said you wanted to try and pick up some girls tonight, but like, you’re gay?”

Lance chuckled “No you’re right, I’m bi,”

“Oh, duh,” Hunk said, facepalming, “That makes sense, okay,”

Lance smiled, then continued with his previous thought, “But yeah, all the guys seem pretty cool but Keith is just...I barely know him but I can hardly stand him,”

Hunk nodded, “Yeah, it takes a bit of time to get used to him, but he’s actually a really cool guy once you get past that brooding, moody exterior,” Hunk suddenly grinned, a mischievous twinkle appearing in his eye, “You might even end up getting along with him really well,”

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well,” Hunk started, with a tone that hinted that he knew more than Lance did about something, “Keith is gay, you’re bi, you never know what could happen,” He wiggled his eyebrows and nudged the leaner man with his elbow.

Lance groaned, “God, you can’t seriously think that I would be interested in him, do you? And just because we’re both into guys doesn’t mean we’ll have feelings for each other,”

Hunk raised his hands defensively, “I know, I know, just saying,” he paused, and his body language shifted, “Oh, now that I think about it, you might wanna tell Pidge about being bi,”

“Who’s Pidge?”

“She’s the team’s PR manager, so like, if there’s something you wanna keep private you have to let her know,”

“Ah okay, thanks Hunk,” Lance didn’t think he wanted to actively hide his sexuality, it had never been something he was afraid or ashamed of, but he didn’t want the press making a huge deal out of it either. He figured he would just ask Pidge to keep it quiet without ever actually closeting him, that way he could avoid all the press headlines but wouldn’t have to worry about what would happen when or if he got a boyfriend.

The men sat and chatted, ordering drinks here and there and getting to know each other. Conversation flowed freely between the two of them, never quite stopping. They talked about everything and anything that popped into their minds. Lance was honestly surprised when Hunk could keep up with his ability to change topics at the drop of a hat, most people either got confused or annoyed, but Hunk let each topic flow into the next without questioning why it had led there. Hunk told him about his engineering degree, and how he worked at his father’s business during the offseason (despite not needing the money) because he loved engineering so much. Lance found as many opportunities to slip in mentions of his family as he could, and reminisced about his home with Hunk.

Time flew by, they had been there for two hours when Hunk nodded his head to the side.

“Hey man, I think that girl over there has taken a liking to you,”

Lance grinned, turning his head in the direction Hunk had indicated. Sure enough, a girl was over there, she waved at him. Even from this distance, Lance could pick out her dark eyes, smooth olive skin, and thick, wavy hair. She was beautiful, and Lance knew exactly what to do.

He winked at her, and then turned back to face Hunk.

“You’re not going over there?” Hunk asked, baffled.

“Nope,” Lance replied smugly, “She’s coming over here,”

“I don’t...I don’t get it,”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned Hunk, it’s that girls like a chase,”

A sudden wave of realization washed over Hunk’s face, quickly replaced by a look of shock, “She’s coming over,”

“Told ya,” Lance said, turning to face the bar. He only had to wait a few seconds before the girl took the open seat next to him, smiling.

“Hi, can I buy you a drink?” she offered.

Lance already had a glass, but it was resting on the table and could easily pass as Hunk’s.

“Sure babe, whatever you want,” He replied, turning to face her. She giggled, and called over the bartender, asking him for some sort of beer, Lance wasn’t really paying attention.

“So, beautiful, you’ve got a name?” Lance asked.

She giggled again, “Yes, it’s Nyma,”

Lance grinned, “Oh okay, I was just gonna keep calling you beautiful, but I like the sound of Nyma better,” This earned another giggle from Nyma, and a scoff from Hunk. Lance wanted so badly to tell Hunk to shut it, but he couldn’t risk losing the obvious mojo he had with this girl.

“What’s yours?” Nyma asked.

“It’s Lance,”

The girl smiled, “Hey, I really love your accent, where are you from?”

Once Nyma found out that Lance was from Cuba, she begged him to say something in Spanish. When Lance complied, you would’ve thought that he had put a spell over her, the way Nyma reacted.

They flirted long enough for Lance to have to order another round of drinks for the two of them, poor Hunk being completely forgotten at this point. Eventually, one of Nyma’s friends was pulling her away, but she didn’t leave without giving Lance her number.

“Call me!” she said, while being quite literally dragged out of her seat.

Lance turned to Hunk, a sh*t-eating grin splayed across his face.

“I cannot believe that you just picked a girl up without even really trying,” Hunk said in disbelief, “I also can’t believe that she fell for all that cheesy bullsh*t,”

Lance shrugged, “If it works, it works,”

“Guess so, you’re gonna have to give me some tips,”

Lance grinned again, “Anything to help out a bro,”

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Chapter Text

Lance POV

“Hey Coran!” Lance said walking into the coach’s office, “Where do I find Pidge?”

It was the day after his night out with Hunk. Lance wanted to make sure that he got all this stupid PR stuff out of the way before he forgot, he had even set a reminder on his phone the night before to find Pidge after the next practice.

Coran looked up from his computer, “Last I saw, she was on her way to talk to Keith about something,”

“Thanks Coach,” Lance replied. He walked out the door, grinning at the thought that Keith was probably being reprimanded by the PR manager at this very moment.

Guess he’s not so perfect afterall.

Luckily, Lance had passed by the catcher on the way to Coran’s office, and knew that he was at the gym. He quickly made his way down there, hoping he would be able to get there in time to see Keith get yelled at. He walked in during the middle of their conversation.

“You need to listen to me about this sort of thing Keith, there’s a reason why I’m the PR manager for this team,” said the woman that Lance assumed was Pidge. She looked much different than Lance had imagined. She came up to Keith’s shoulder, had short brown hair, and large round glasses, and was dressed in jeans and a green T-shirt. The outfit was what threw Lance off the most, he had imagined that working as a PR manager would require clothing that was a little more formal, guess he was wrong.

“Yeah,” Keith agreed, doing his patented eyeroll, “That’s because you’re friends with me and I put in a good word,”

Pidge scoffed, “No, it’s because I know what the hell I’m doing. So when I tell you that you need to smile more when talking to fans, you smile more when talking to fans!”

Keith sighed, and hopped onto a treadmill, turning it on, “It’s not like I never smile, I think I even smile more than you do,”

“Well I’m not a celebrity, so I can afford that luxury, you can’t,” Pidge said, turning away from him, “Just do what I say so that your fans don’t end up thinking you’re a dick,” The short woman said, walking away from Keith, who mumbled something in response.

“Hey!” Lance said, finally moving from his spot at the door, “You’re Pidge right?”

The woman nodded, and stopped walking, “And I’d assume that you’re Lance, what can I do for you?”

“Um..” Lance wished she had kept walking, that way he could tell her what he wanted without Keith having to hear. But, he figured that the suspicions that Keith would have if he heard Lance ask Pidge to speak somewhere more private would be worse than the actual truth, so he stayed, “So, I’m bisexual and I was hoping you could like, not closet me but make sure that it’s not something that the press will be all over?”

Pidge grinned, “Oh of course Lance! That’s completely doable, are you in a relationship right now?”

Lance blushed, “Well no…”

“Okay, then we don’t have to worry about it. Just let me know when you are, specifically if it’s with a guy, because then I’ll have to talk to the media outlets about what kind of stories they can write and when. But you have to tell me as soon as possible, I can’t stop the press from writing something you don’t want out there if I don’t know it’s happening,”

Lance grinned, relieved that she had been so nice about it, “Okay! Thank you Pidge!”

Pidge smiled back, “You know, you’ve got a nice smile. Maybe you can teach Keith to smile a bit more,”

“Hey!” Keith yelled, obviously offended.

Pidge chuckled and shook her head, “He really needs the help. It was nice meeting you Lance!” she said as she walked past him and out the door.

Lance turned to Keith, not being able to resist the opportunity to rub something in his face, “So, having trouble being a nice person? That’s surprising,”

Keith shook his head, “Not smiling doesn’t equal being nice,”

Lance shrugged, “Not with fans dude, you’ve gotta be as charming as possible with them,” he walked over to Keith’s treadmill, “But lucky for you, Prince Charming himself just joined your team,”

Keith rolled his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time since Lance met him, “I didn’t know they set the bar so low for royalty in Cuba,”

“Hey man, don’t diss Lance’s charm,” Hunk said, walking through the doorway, “I watched him practically put a spell on a girl yesterday.”

Lance smirked, “See! I’m good, so I can help you whenever,”

Lance turned to look back at Keith and saw some sort of emotion fly across his face, breaking his usual apathetic visage. It was so brief that Lance wasn’t quite sure what it was, but he decided it had been shock.

Keith turned his head away from Lance to look at the treadmill as he adjusted one of the settings, “I’ll keep that in mind,”

Lance didn’t know what to say next, so he just shrugged and turned to Hunk, “Hey man, wanna go get something to eat? I’m starving,”

“Definitely, I could always go for some grub,” Hunk replied as they both started to walk out of the gym, “Speaking of Nyma, how’s it going with her?”

Lance grinned smugly, “We’ve been texting all day, she’s really nice and funny. I think I’m gonna ask her out to a movie pretty soon,”

“Dude!” Hunk exclaimed as they entered the hallway, “That’s great!”

They continued walking down the hallway, discussing where they wanted to get dinner at. Then Lance saw something that can only be described as the cutest thing to ever occur on the planet Earth. A tall girl with caramel skin and hair whiter than Lance thought was possible ran toward Shiro, who caught her in a hug, lifting her off the ground.

Lance smiled, “Awww,” he cooed, “Hunk, is that goddess overthere Shiro’s girlfriend?”

Hunk laughed, “Yeah, that’s Allura,”

“Wait,” Lance said, confused, “How’d she get back here? Aren’t only people who work here supposed to come back here?”

Hunk nodded, “That and the press. She works for one of the local newspapers as a sports reporter,”

Lance raised an eyebrow, “But she’s dating Shiro? Doesn’t that cause some sort of conflict of interest, or something?”
Hunk shook his head, “Not really, Allura is really good about keeping bias out of her writing. But her newspaper only sends her over here when they want her to use her connections to get a story they really want,”

Lance nodded, turning his head back toward Allura, “I wonder what she’s here for then?”

Lance watched as Allura said something to Shiro that he couldn’t quite make out, and was more than a little surprised when Shiro pointed to him in response. Allura’s eyes met his, she smiled, and started walking toward him.

“My name’s Allura, I work for Altea Weekly,” She said, offering her hand.

Lance smiled, “Hey Allura, I’m Lance, but I get the feeling you already know that,”

Allura laughed, “Yes I do, I was hoping that I could schedule an interview with you sometime? People really want to get to know the new pitcher for The Lions better,”

“Ah well, if it’s for the fans then I guess I could do an interview,” Lance teased. When works best for you?”

“How about tomorrow after practice?” Allura offered.

“It’s a date,”

--------------------------------

Allura sat down in a chair across from Lance, a voice recorder in her hand.

“Alright,” Allura said, “First question, you had a lot of teams trying to scoop you up, what made you pick The Lions?”

Lance thought about it, “Well, to be honest it was their location. I wanted to live in an area where it wouldn’t be too expensive to fly out the Cuba and visit my family, or for them to fly out here, and Altea was the city that had the cheapest airfare,”

Allura smiled, “That’s sweet, so family must be quite important to you then?”

Lance smiled fondly, “Yeah, they’re everything to me, moving so far away has been hard,”

“I bet,” Allura nodded understandingly, “Onto the next question, what was it like playing for the Industriales?”

Memories of playing on the Cuban team quickly flooded his memory, Lance smiled again, “Oh it was a fantastic experience, the men on the team really took me under their wings. There’s no way I’d be the player I am today without having worked with them,”

“What got you into baseball?”

The answer to that one was simple, “My father,” Lance replied, thinking back to the many games of catch and batting lessons he had had with his father, “Baseball had always been his favorite sport, and he was basically my coach when I was a kid,”

Allura smiled again, “You really are a family man, people are gonna love that. My last question is how have your first few days been?”

“Oh it’s been great, I’ve made some friends on the team and everyone here is really, really nice and welcoming and they’ve been really helping me with this big change,” He replied, “And I’ve only known Coach for a few days but I can already tell he’s gonna be one of the best coaches I’ve ever had, and I’ve had some good ones,”

Allura smiled, “Well I’m glad,” She turned off her recorder, “Thank you Lance, this will make for a nice story,”

“Oh anytime! Hopefully we can do something like this again soon,” Lance replied.

As Lance walked back to his car, a wave of nostalgia washed over him. Allura’s interview had really cued him into how homesick he was. He took out his phone, and scrolled through his contacts, stopping to click on the word “Home,”

He put the phone to his ear, each ring increasing his desperation for one of his family members to be home and answer their old landline. The phone stopped ringing, and he smiled.

“Hola mamá,”

----------------------------

“Ok team, let’s go over the goals for this season,” Coran said to the men sitting around him. He had started off their third practice with a team meeting, and had practically dragged all of the men into the meeting room that Coran often used to go over strategy.

“One!” Coran boomed, “Make it to the World Series. Two! And this one is the most important, wipe the floor with The Galrans!” The team cheered in agreement.

Lance leaned over to Shiro, who was just about the only member who hadn’t jumped out of his seat at the mention of The Galrans, “Who are they?” Lance inquired.

“Our rival team. Everyone here hates them with an intense passion, especially Coran.

Lance nodded, rivalries were something he was very well acquainted with, not only because of baseball but because of his own tendency to petty competitiveness. In fact, one of the reasons he loved baseball was because the rivalries between teams were so intense, it was the kind of stuff Lance lived for.

“Those are our two goals this season! And I want you to keep that in mind when we practice. It’s not going to be easy, so I need each and everyone of you giving 110% percent, can you do that?”

There was a chorus of “Yes sir!” and Coran smiled, “Alright then boys, let’s get to work!”

The mood of the team as they stepped out onto the field for practice can only be described as electric, each man with newfound determination. Coran sent them to batting practice first, and went over the signals he was going to use this season. He was smart, using new ones every year to make sure that other teams were never able to pick up on what he was signaling the players to do. His signs were simple, consisting of things like him tapping his shoulder twice, or digging the toe of his left shoe into the dirt. Lance was glad Coran kept the signals subtle, he had often gotten annoyed with the coaches who really got into it and did things that looked more like elaborate mating dances than hand signals.

Lance quickly realized that Shiro was the best batter on the team. The man never missed any of the balls the machine in the batting cage hurled at him, and Hunk told Lance that the shortstop never struck out more than 10 times in a season. It was also the day that Lance finally realized that Shiro had a prosthetic arm. Needless to say, Lance was beyond impressed, being as good of a player as Shiro was, combined with having a prosthetic arm, was the type of thing legends were made of.

Eventually, Coran split the team into groups, sending some to do catching and throwing drills in the outfield, others stayed in the batting cage to practice bunting, and he had Keith and Lance practicing together in the infield.

Coran wanted them to use this time to get Lance used to the signals the catcher was going to use to call what kinds of pitches Lance was going to throw. For a while the practice was effective, Lance quickly picked up on what Keith’s signals met, and followed Keith’s direction with ease. But, it all went to sh*t when Coran sent the rest of the team over to practice their batting with the catcher and the pitcher. In theory it was a good idea, the batters would get live practice with a catcher who knew what their weaknesses in batting were, and pitcher who was supposed to be able to listen to the catcher. The batters could work on their weaknesses and the catcher and pitcher could work on connecting on the field. What Coran didn’t account for, however, was Lance’s overconfidence and his unwillingness to listen to people he didn’t like. Adding actual batters into the mix made Lance’s competitive side flare, eager to prove that he was better at calling the shots than Keith.

Hunk came up to bat, and Keith signalled for a fast ball. Lance, however, was absolutely sure he had a better chance of getting the big man out if he threw a cutter. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the pitch he was about to throw, positioning his hand just the right way so that his throw would manipulate the ball the way he wanted it to, and then exploded. He watched with pride as the ball flew threw the air, then suddenly veered to the side, away from Hunk. Keith’s eyes widened as the ball suddenly moved to the side, and quickly shifted his stance, he was about to raise his glove to catch the ball when the last thing Lance expected to happen, happened.

Hunk hit the ball.

It flew over Lance’s head and into the outfield.

“Woo!!” Hunk exclaimed, resting his bat on his shoulder.

Keith threw his mask off, “What the hell was that McClain?? I told you to throw a fastball,”

Lance shrugged, “Technically a cutter is a type of fastball,”

Keith marched over to the pitcher’s mound, obviously pissed, “It’s fast, but not fast enough. Hunk is a good batter but his size makes him slower than most players, and his arms are much longer than your average player, so he can easily reach balls that curve away. If you’re trying to get him out, you have to throw a straight ball at your top speed,”

Lance blinked. It was obvious to the reasonable part of his brain that Keith knew more about the players and their weaknesses, and that he should listen to the catcher. Unfortunately, the competitive part of his brain was too busy planning Lance’s “in your face dance” for when Lance was able to get the next player out, without doing the pitch that Keith signalled for, to listen to the logic that the reasonable part of his brain was yelling at him.

“Yeah whatever,” Lance replied.

Keith sighed, and walked back to home, putting his mask back on and crouching down.

Despite all the fact that Lance knew better, and failed attempt after failed attempt to strike a batter out, Lance still wouldn’t listen to Keith’s calls. When the sixth batter to come out hit the ball all the way to the fences, Keith couldn’t hold his sh*t together anymore.

“I can’t work with him!” Keith yelled, throwing his mask off and marching over to Coran, “He isn’t listening to any of the signals I give him!”

Coran looked from Keith to Lance, then to the rest of the team, “Shiro, you’re in charge, run an infield box drill for a bit then a bunting drill. You two,” He said, pointing to Keith and Lance, “You’re coming with me,”

Lance sighed, flipped his baseball cap around so it rested backwards on his head, and followed Coran as he led him off the field. He started psyching himself up for his first “talking to” of the season, coming up with as many ways to pin at least part of the blame on Keith as possible. By the time they got to Coran’s office, Lance had only come up with three.

You can imagine the surprise on Lance’s face when Coran didn’t tell them to sit down, and merely grabbed the keys to his car, then walked out of his office and started heading out of the stadium.

“What is he doing?” Lance whispered to Keith, “I thought for sure we were dead meat,”

Keith sighed, “I think we’re about to have our first team building exercise of the season,”

Lance’s eyes widened with realization as they walked out of the stadium, remembering what Hunk had told him on his first day. He could’ve handled being yelled at with ease, he was no stranger to getting in trouble, but now he had no idea what was coming next. Lance would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous for whatever it was Coran had in store.

They all hopped in Coran’s car, waited in anticipation as the red-haired man drove to an unknown destination. It was 5 minutes of nerve-wracking silence as Lance imagined what kind of heinous activity Coran would have them do in the name of team building.

Coran pulled into a large, abandoned parking lot, leaned over and grabbed something from the glove compartment, then got out of the car. Keith and Lance exchanged a look of trepidation, then followed suit.

The moment Lance’s feet hit the ground, Coran threw his keys, and a piece of cloth at him. Lance caught them, then looked at Coran, puzzled.

“What are these for?”

“You’re going to drive my car,” Coran explained, “Blindfolded,”

Lance’s eyes widened in terror, “Uh, no, no no, what if I crash? It’s your car Coran! I don’t think you wanna…”

His terrified rambling was cut off by Keith, who said, “Coran, I don’t understand how Lance crashing your car is supposed to make us work better together,”

Coran smirked, “I haven’t explained the whole thing yet, Keith. You are going to be his eyes,”

Keith’s jaw dropped, “Coran...I don’t think this is a good idea..”

“OH HELL NO,” Lance exclaimed hysterically, “There’s no way I’m trusting Mr. Hothead over here to not crash your car!”

Coran nodded, “Exactly, you need to learn to trust Keith, and what better way than to have him be the key to your survival,” Coran grinned, “Now get in the car and start it, put on the blindfold, and do what Keith tells you to do. Keith, stay here so I can tell you what the directions are,”

Lance groaned, and did as he was told. He waited patiently for a few minutes until he heard the passenger door open and shut.

“Okay, go straight,” Keith said.

Lance gulped, and pressed on the gas just enough for car to move at a snail’s pace.

“Coran wants us to go at least 10 miles per hour, you’ve gotta go a little faster,”

“Oh no, no way, no way in hell hot shot,”

Keith sighed, “Look, 10 mph isn’t fast enough for us to die,”

Lance shook his head, “Nope, doesn’t matter,”

Keith groaned, “Look, I’m in this car too, whatever happens to you happens to me. I promise I won’t make us crash, now stop worrying and trust me,”

Lance sighed, trying to push all the bad scenarios that were flooding his mind out of his head, and pressed a little harder on the gas.

“Ok,” Keith said, “Now turn right,”

Lance did as he was told, and then went straight when Keith told him too. They continued like that for a while, and each passing second made Lance a little more nervous.

“Are you sure it’s okay to be going straight? I don’t remember this parking lot being very wide…”

“Lance, we have plenty of room,”

“Maybe I could just, take a peek, it’s not like Coran will know..” Lance said, moving a hand to lift up his blindfold.

“No!” Keith said, grabbing Lance’s hand and putting it back on the steering wheel, “We need to do this, and you need both hands on the wheel,” Keith’s hand was still holding Lance’s against the steering wheel firmly, but something about his grip seemed tender.

“Okay, okay,” Lance breathed,

Keith’s hand slid off of Lance’s, and Lance found himself missing the comfort of the touch. It had helped calm him down and cement him in the present, rather than what could possibly go wrong.

“Now, stop,” Keith directed. Lance stopped hard, and felt himself jerk forward as the car came to a halt.

“Woah,” Keith said surprised, “Okay, now make another right,”

They continued on like that for a while, and although Lance was still understandably nervous, he could feel himself getting calmer. By the time Keith told him that he could take off his blindfold and put the car in park, Lance felt like he really was able to trust Keith.

They got out of the car, and Lance was smiling, “How ‘bout it Coran? I think we totally crushed that crazy trust exercise,”

“Yes you did, but now it’s Keith’s turned to be blindfolded,”

“Kinky,” Lance said, grinning.

Keith looked at Lance horrified, “What the f*ck dude??”

Lance shrugged, “Jokes are my coping mechanism,”

Coran chuckled, “Alright Keith, you’re up,”

Keith grabbed the keys and blindfold from Lance, “I don’t understand why I’ve gotta do it when we were working on Lance trusting me,”

“Trust goes both ways,” Coran said, as Keith climbed inside the car, who mumbled something in response, “Now Lance, I want you to have Keith do a figure eight with the car, then a K-turn, then go to the other side of the parking lot and back. He has to have the car going at least 10 miles per hour,”

“Sure thing, Coach!” Lance replied confidently as he walked around the car to the passenger’s side. He repeated the directions back to himself to make sure he didn’t forget, then hopped in the car.

“Alright Keith, make a wide right turn,” Lance said, Keith followed Lance’s directions perfectly, “Okay now straighten out,” Lance said when Keith had turned the car enough for Lance to consider it the top curve of an eight. Wordlessly, the catcher did as he was told.

Lance quirked an eyebrow, and leaned over to check how fast Keith was going, 10 mph exactly, “Hey man, are you sure you can’t see through this thing?” Lance asked, waving his hand in front of Keith’s face, “You’re doing this way too perfectly,”

“No,” Keith replied, “I’m just good at following directions,”

Lance shook his head in disbelief, “If you say so,”

As Lance took Keith through the rest of the figure eight, he couldn’t help but notice something about the catcher that he hadn’t before. He was hot. Lance couldn’t wrap his head around why he hadn’t noticed before. The man’s face was flawless, his hair would’ve looked ridiculous on anyone else, but somehow accented Keith’s best features. Not only that, but his arms were absolutely gorgeous, and Lance could only imagine how toned other areas of Keith’s body would be.

Lance had almost completely forgotten about the fact that he was in a car being driven by a blindfolded man when Keith suddenly spoke up, pulling him out of his daze,

“Um, Lance? We’ve been going straight for a while…”

Lance’s head snapped away from Keith’s body to look straight ahead. His eyes were met by the sight of a light pole that was way too close for comfort.

“Stop!” Lance panicked, Keith slammed on the breaks in response.

Keith ripped off his blindfold, and saw the pole that was only a few inches in front of the car, “What the hell Lance??” he yelled, “Why’d you let us get so close?”

“I..I wanted to test your reaction time,” Lance bluffed. Keith raised an eyebrow, obviously not buying Lance’s poor excuse for a lie.

“Fine,” Lance conceded, “I zoned out...got lost in my thoughts,”

“Well don’t do it again,” Keith huffed, putting back on his blindfold, “What’s next?”

Lance looked at him dumbfounded, he couldn’t believe that Keith still trusted him after he almost let Keith crash the car. If it had been him, he would’ve walked right out of the car and refused to go back in. Maybe Keith wasn’t as bad as he thought.

“Well, Coran said to do a k-turn, now would probably be perfect for that. But first, back up a bit so we don’t hit the pole,”

Lance took Keith through the rest of the directions Coran had given him, making sure to stay focused this time. After the k-turn it was quite literally straight forward, and the two finished the exercise without almost crashing again.

When they got out of the car Coran wasn’t even mad, which surprised Lance. He would’ve been furious if someone had come that close to crashing his car. But luckily for Lance, Coran was more concerned with the fact that Keith and Lance had learned to trust one another than the condition of his car.

Coran held out his hand, and Keith returned the keys to him, “Well boys,” Coran inquired, “How’d it go?”

Keith looked to Lance, “I think it pretty much worked,” Keith answered.

“Yeah!” Lance said, “I like, don’t hate Keith right now, and I think I’ll be more willing to trust him on the field now,”

“Perfect! Our work here is done boys. Now, let’s get back to the stadium,”

-----------------------------

Keith POV

“Pidge, I’m dying,” Keith whined, his face resting against his kitchen table.

“No you’re not,” Pidge said, opening Keith’s fridge, “You’re just realizing you have a crush,”

“I wasn’t aware there was a difference” Keith grumbled, sitting up. Pidge walked over, and sat down, a slice of cold pizza in her hand,

“This is true,” She said, taking a bite.

“I just, I thought he was gonna be a straight f*ckboy that I could just look at and appreciate without ever getting attached because he’s not only a dick, but also straight,” Keith groaned, “But then he was bi? And nice? And funny? And charming? And adorable?”

Pidge patted him on the shoulder, “There there,” she offered. Pidge was really the worst at comfort.

Keith groaned again and let his head drop down to the table again, but it dropped too fast and he smacked his nose on the hard surface.

“f*ck!” Keith cried, grabbing his nose, “As if I’m not in enough pain already,”

Pidge chuckled, “Honestly Keith, this would be sad if it weren’t so funny,”

“Shut the f*ck up, Pidge,”

She shrugged, and took another bite of her pizza, “Okay, Keith, I’m gonna hit you with some wisdom because you obviously need it right now,”

“Fine,” Keith mumbled, checking his nose for blood.

Pidge drew in a breath, “Lance seems really nice, and I seem to remember overhearing -and before you start, no, I wasn’t eavesdropping- that he’s already getting some action. So if you’re gonna make a move, you’ve gotta do it quickly, before he gets claimed by some rando that’s not even half as good as you are. Which is hard because you’re pretty terrible,”

“You’re right,” Keith sighed, “Rude, but right,”

“As always,”

Keith shot her a glare, but let the comment pass,”My only thing though,” Keith continued, “Is that I don’t have a very good track record with making the first move,”

Pidge nibbled on her pizza, thinking about what Keith had just said, “Well,” she said thoughtfully, “You’re just gonna have to take a chance,”

Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Chapter Text

Lance POV

Lance was excited. It was their very first exhibition game of the season. The Lions had been practicing for about two weeks, and had become a well oiled machine. Lance was surprised at how quickly he was able to fit into the team’s chemistry, and he would be lying if he said that that didn’t give him an ego boost.

He had gotten to know the rest of the players and got along with them well, even Keith, after the insane trust exercise that Coran put him through. Hunk had been right, the catcher was nice, maybe not friend material, but he was definitely a person Lance could work with.

Lance hardly had to think about what he was doing while they went through their infield warm up, passing the ball to each other in a pre-set pattern. At this point, the drill had become muscle memory, and the monotony helped Lance to focus on the game that they were about to play.

They were up against The Galrans, their rival team. Coran had requested to play them first, saying that how a team does on their first exhibition game is often a good indicator of how they would do the next season. Lance wasn’t so sure if that was true, he had been on teams that improved greatly after their first game, and teams that had sputtered out. But he figured that Coran was looking at more things than just who won and who lost and by how many runs.

Before he knew it, the ball came back to Lance, and Coran blew his whistle, signalling that warm up was done and the game was about to begin. Lance adjusted his stance on the pitcher’s mound, and closed his eyes, then flipped his hat to rest backwards on his head. When he opened his eyes, he quickly threw the baseball into his mitt twice. The familiarity of his pre-game ritual calmed him, and he smiled.

“This is gonna be a good game,” he thought.

He watched as the first player walked to the base, clad in a purple uniform, with wild, curly hair that was pulled into a ponytail. The man was big, but not as big as Hunk.

Lance watched Keith closely, waiting for him to signal the kind of pitch for Lance to use against this player. The catcher rested his forearms on his thighs, and stuck out two fingers from his free hand. Lance smirked, a curveball, his favorite.

He adjusted his hand to the correct position on the baseball -his middle and index fingers on top of the ball, and on the rest opposite side- and waited as the batter prepared himself, hitting the base twice with the bat, and then touching it to his left shoulder before resting it on his right. When Lance was sure that his opponent was ready, he wound up, took a deep breath, then released, turning his hand to the left as the ball escaped his grip.

He watched with pride as the ball flew, arcing up slowly and then suddenly dropping as it neared the batter. Unfortunately for the batter, he didn’t realize the direction of the ball had changed so drastically. He swung, and missed.

“Strrrrike!” The umpire announced.

Lance smirked as Keith threw the ball back to him, proud of his pitch. He already knew what Keith was going to call next, and wasn’t the slightest bit surprised when the catcher signalled for a fastball. It was Keith’s favorite trick, start off with a pitch that will have the batter unsure of where the ball will end up, then pitch the next ball dead center, but faster than the last. Keith tried not to use the trick often, but he usually ended up using it at least once an inning anyways. Lance’s favorite part was watching the flash of panic that would sometimes fly across the batter’s face, he often wished that Keith was able to see it.

The batter fell for the trick, freezing up as the ball came to him, and never even swung. The ball landed in Keith’s glove with a loud smack, and the ump called another strike.

The first batter ended up striking out, and so did the next. The third batter got one strike, but hit the ball on his second attempt, and was able to make it to the second base without getting out. The game continued intensely, The Lions settled into a good rhythm during the game, but The Galrans were extremely talented. Although Lance and his team played extremely well, leaving it all out on the field, the Galrans ended up winning. The Lions walked into their locker room disappointed.

“I really thought we were going to win,” Keith said defeatedly, sitting down on the bench near his locker.

“I did too, but then they got seven runs in the eighth inning and I knew it was all over,” Thace responded, sitting next to Keith. He paused to sip his water, then continued, “I really don’t know how they were able to do that,”

Lance let out a sigh, and began undoing the buttons on his shirt. The loss wouldn’t have been so bad if the team hadn’t had such high hopes for this game. It was supposed to be their chance to assert themselves as the dominant force in their league, and, probably most important to The Lions, a chance to make their coach proud. Lance was wondering what kind of fresh hell Coran was going to put them through next practice when the coach stepped into the locker room.

“Okay team, I’ve got a few things to say,”

The team collectively drew in a breath, preparing themselves for the word-daggers that Coran was about to throw at them. The man hated losing in general, but absolutely loathed losing to their rival team.

“You all did great today, I’m proud of you,”

Lance’s eyes widened in surprised, and he watched as fellow members of his team exchanged shocked glances with each other.

“Today you showed me just how well you guys work together. You guys fell into a beautiful rhythm, made some fantastic plays, adjusted quickly, and all around worked together in a way that I haven’t seen you guys work in a long time,”

“Thank you, Coach,” Shiro said warmly, voicing the thoughts of the rest of the team.

“That being said…” Coran continued, the tone of his voice changing drastically,” “I’ll be damned if we lose again to those purple pricks! A team this good should not be losing to those f*ckers! If you thought the first practice was bad, get ready for tomorrow,”

Coran turned on his heel, and marched out of the room. The team held it together for long enough for him to close the door before bursting into laughter.

“Man, I love it when he gets worked up like that,” Hunk chuckled, “He comes up with the best insults for The Galrans, ‘purple pricks’, I can’t believe…”

Lance grinned as he watched the rest of the team joke around. Seeing the strong bonds between his teammates made him feel good, and a wave of warmth came over him as he realized that these men were his teammates. He was a part of their group, and they had welcomed him with open arms.

Hunk came over and patted him on the shoulder, Shiro ruffled his hair and congratulated him on doing so well his first game. He could feel his heart swell with pride, not just for himself, but for his teammates, his new brothers.

-----------------------------

“Okay Shiro, if you don’t mind me asking, how’d you lose your arm? And how did you manage to make the major leagues with only one arm?” Lance inquired.

“Oh I love this story,” Allura said, her eyes lighting up.

Shiro had invited a few of the players over to his place after the scrimmage, and Keith had dragged Pidge along too. He lived in one of the nicer parts of the city, in a home meant to house more people than just him and Allura. Despite the size of his home and the number of wealthy people living in the area, his house wasn’t gaudy and the neighborhood he lived in wasn’t pompous.

“Ah, well,” Shiro said, leaning back in his seat, “I lost my arm after I got in a really bad car accident junior year of highschool. As for getting into the major leagues, I had always played baseball but when I lost my arm I became even more obsessed with the sport. It kind of became my way to prove to others that I didn’t need their pity, and to prove that myself that I hadn’t somehow become broken. So I spent all my free time training, I poured my soul into baseball. I guess I just got so good they couldn’t ignore me because of my injury,”

“My god Shiro, you’re just inspiring in every sense of the word, aren’t you?” Lance said, half joking, half not.

“He really is,” Allura said lovingly, placing a hand on his prosthetic arm.

“But you wouldn’t believe the hub-ub his prosthetic caused,” Hunk said, “He was just about plastered to the headlines for at least a month,”

Keith chuckled, “Do you remember when they had to get somebody to inspect the prosthetic to make sure it wasn’t giving him an unfair advantage?”

Shiro rolled his eyes, “That was so frustrating. People just couldn’t believe that I was as talented as I was without cheating in some way,”

“Yeah, but everyone who accused you of it looked like complete asses when the guy said that the prosthetic did absolutely nothing to give you an edge up on the other players,” Keith replied, he leaned forward in his seat, and rested his elbows on his knees.

Shiro grinned, “That’s true,”

“Alright, enough about how amazing Shiro is,” Pidge interrupted, “I wanna know more about our new pitcher,”

Lance blushed, “Well I dunno, there’s not a whole lot to say…”

“I heard that you’re about to ask a girl out,” Allura said teasingly, “I need to know the whole story,”

Lance grinned, his ego instantly taking over his personality, “Oh well, what happened was that me and Hunk went out my first night here and while we were at the bar, he pointed out that this girl was looking at me. So I turned to look at her and just winked. Hunk couldn’t figure out why I didn’t go over there at first, but it’s all based off of that movie Hitch, you initiate, but you gotta make sure the girl is the one that closes,”

“Classic,” Keith said sarcastically.

“Actually, it is,” Lance replied, “Anyways, the girl came over and bought me a drink and I wooed her with my charm, and my sexy accent. She gave me her number and we’ve been texting ever since,”

Hunk chuckled, “Honestly I couldn’t believe that the cheesy bullsh*t that was coming out of his mouth was actually working,”

Lance ran a hand through his hair, “I guess I can just pull that kind of stuff off. Like, let’s be real here, I’m pretty damn irresistable,”

“I know the urge to punch you in the face is pretty damn irresistible,” Keith muttered, earning a cackle from Pidge.

“Keith, we both know you could never,” Pidge teased.

“Yeah, my face is just way too pretty,” Lance shot back. Keith glared at him, but didn’t say anything in response.

“Okay, it’s my turn to talk about myself!” Allura declared, “I got a job offer,”

“No way!” Shiro said, “That’s fantastic babe!”

“It would be, if Zarkon didn’t own the company that offered me the job,”

Hunk’s jaw dropped, “No way!”

Lance leaned over to Pidge, “Who’s Zarkon?”

“He’s the millionaire who owns The Galrans, he made his money through a media outlet that’s known for being really shady,”

“Oh,” Lance said, “You didn’t take the offer, did you Allura?” he asked.

“Turned them down flat. There’s no way I could work for Zarkon, let alone a supposed ‘news source’ that’s known for making up almost all of their stories,” Allura replied confidently.

“That’s my girl,” Shiro said, intertwining his hand in hers.

Lance smiled warmly at the couple, they were honestly the definition of goals. Like seriously, look up “goals” in a dictionary, you’ll see a picture of Allura and Shiro gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes. Lance really could only hope he’d end up in a relationship some day that was as strong as theirs.

Pidge made a barfing sound, “You guys are way too couply,” she whined.

“Oh leave them alone! They’re in love,” Lance said defiantly, “They don’t deserve your sh*t,”

“Catch these hands, pretty boy,” Pidge retorted.

“I wouldn’t even have to, I’d just put my hand on your head and hold you away. You wouldn’t be able to touch me,” Lance teased.

Pidge shot him a glare, “I will murder you in your sleep,”

“Don’t be a dick, Lance,” Keith said, trying his best to defend his friend.

“You know you love me,” Lance responded, grinning.

“Yeah right,” Keith scoffed.

“No witty comeback? Looks like I win this round of banter! Not that that’s very surprising,”

“Oh just shut up already,” Keith replied, rolling his eyes.

“Make me,” Lance said, smirking. Keith’s face flashed with a burst of some sort of emotion, embarrassment? No that wasn’t quite it…

“Okay, shut it you two,” Shiro cut in, “Let’s just have a nice visit, okay?”

“Sure thing, Shiro,” Lance replied, smiling. He made a mental check under the “Lance” section of his “Lance vs Keith” chart.

Lance 1, Keith 0.

-----------------------------

Lance loved baseball, but Coran was testing him. The coach had been so incredibly bossy and harsh during practice ever since their loss against The Galrans. Lance understood why, he wanted to whip them into shape and make sure they didn’t relive their loss the next time they faced their rivals. But, like, couldn’t Coran just chill the f*ck out?

His regular hawk-like vision over the team during training had somehow gotten even more intense. Absolutely nothing other than the team’s complete and utter focus was tolerated. It even went as far as Coran making them do push ups whenever they talked to each other. Even if it was one comment, or a teammate asking another player a question. Lance had learned this the hard way when he had asked Hunk a question about the drill they were doing.

When he had complained about it to Shiro, the older player had told him that this was just what Coran does. Give it a week or two and he’d be back to normal. It hadn’t given Lance much comfort and it definitely didn’t change the fact that the whole situation absolutely f*cking sucked.

Lance walked into the gym, bottle in hand, hoping that some exercise would make him feel better. Working out always helped him forget about bad things that were happening. He was only mildly surprised to see Keith there, doing sit ups on the floor with a medicine ball.

“Hey Keith,” Lance said tiredly, setting his bottle down on a machine.

“Hey Lance,” Keith grunted.

Lance sighed, and walked over to the nearest pull up bar, “Coran’s really been kicking my ass in practice,”

“He’s been kicking all of our asses,” Keith huffed, pushing the medicine ball to the side, “I hate it when he gets like this,”

“I know, he’s so damn bossy, I can’t stand it,” Lance said, reaching up to grab the bar.

Keith nodded, “Exactly, and, to be honest, it wouldn’t even be that bad if he wasn’t so condescending about it, but he acts as if we’ve never played baseball in our lives,”

Lance pulled himself up so his chin was well above the bar, “Yes! That’s my problem too, no one seems to get it,”

Lance continued to work his arms as Keith spoke, “Oh I definitely get you Lance, being bossed around is probably the thing I hate the most in this world,” He got up and grabbed his bottle, taking a long drink of water, “I only put up with it because I don’t want to get kicked off the team,”

Lance chuckled, “Yeah, might not be the best thing,”

Keith nodded, “But yeah, Coran’s been a bit of a bitch lately,”

Lance let go of the bar, and shook out his arms, “He really has, gotta love him though,” Lance paused, and when he spoke again, a mischievous tone had entered his voice, “You know what I really don’t love about Coran though?”
Keith looked at him funny, “What?”

“That damn mustache,”

Keith let out a laugh, “I thought I was the only one who hated that thing!”

Lance grinned, “How does he possibly think it looks good?”

Keith chuckled, “I have no idea, it looks like an orange hamster sleeping on his lip,”

Lance cackled, “Ohmygod! You’re so right. An orange hamster,” Lance trailed off, a chuckle interrupting his sentence, “Who knew you were funny? Learn something new every day,”

Keith grinned, “Well I mean, you don’t really know me that well, do you?”

Lance walked over to one of the treadmills, got on and started it, “I suppose I don’t, we should hangout sometime dude!”

Lance couldn’t see the look of shock that was plastered on Keith’s face, but he could hear the surprise in his voice, “Y-yeah? You want to?”

“Sure? Why not, it’s about time we became friends, don’t you think?”

“Oh, yeah...that’s true,”

-----------------------------

Keith POV

“And then he said ‘friends’ Pidge! FRIENDS!” Keith cried, laying on his couch, “And I thought I was doing so well at flirting. But no, ‘friends’, I was so close to jumping off the top of the stadium, Pidge, so damn close,”

Pidge sighed, “Honestly, I would be too. Especially after he was so blatantly flirting with you at Shiro’s,”

“I’m still not sure if that was him flirting or him being a narcissistic dickhe*d,” Keith replied, sitting up.

“I’m almost 99% sure it was flirting, you don’t say ‘make me’ unless you want the person to make you stop whatever it is you’re doing by making out with you,”

“This is...true,” Keith said, “Well, either way, it’s time I kick this crush to the curb,”

“Nooo,” Pidge whined, ‘I was enjoying this,”

“Nope, not doing it anymore. This worthless crush is going nowhere fast. We’re going out, and I’m finding some new guy to crush on,”

“And where exactly are you planning on going? It’s not like we ever go out,”

“Hunk told me about a bar on the other side of town called 95, said it’s the best one in the city,” Keith answered, “That’s where we’re going,”

Keith quickly got on some nicer clothes and walked with Pidge to his car. The ride there was mainly Pidge trying to convince him that this was a bad idea, it wouldn’t work, and even if he did find a guy, Pidge would ruin it for him.

“I’m just way too awkward, I’ll like, laugh when you’re trying to be smooth,”

Although Pidge’s words made him a tad nervous, he was still determined. This crush he had on Lance could not be allowed to become anything more than a crush. It was obvious Lance didn’t have feelings for him, or at least none that mattered, and even if he did, a relationship probably wouldn’t work. They’d break up and then they’d be a mess out on the field and one of them would have to switch teams because they couldn’t work together anymore and it would be detrimental to The Lions. The best way to stop all that from happening, and spare Keith the pain of an unrequited love, was to find someone else that would keep his mind off of Lance.

They walked into the bar together, it was nice, maybe a tad loud, but not unbearable. Keith looked around, and found a booth that he thought would give him the best view of everyone in the bar. He walked over to it and sat down, back facing the entrance. Pidge followed and sat opposite him.

“So, what exactly is your plan Keith? It’s not like this is a gay bar, most people here are probably straight,”

Keith’s face fell, he hadn’t thought about that, “Well...I guess we’re just going to have to rely on our combined gaydar,” He offered weakly.

Pidge sighed, “Well I’m gonna get us some drinks, what do you want?”

“A sex on the beach, please,” Keith replied.

As Pidge walked over to the bar, Keith looked around. There were quite a few guys here that Keith felt at least a little attracted to, but he had no way of knowing whether or not they were gay. Pidge was right, this wasn’t going to work.

Pidge came back, and gave Keith his drink. He nursed it as he pointed out guys to Pidge, asking her what she thought. The woman had exceptional gaydar, she had even known that Keith was gay before he fully knew it himself, but she didn’t give a single definite yes to any of the men Keith asked about. His best chance was a 50/50 shot with a man that, while attractive, seemed a bit young for Keith’s tastes, and he decided he wasn’t going to risk it.

Keith sighed, and slumped back into his booth, “This is a waste of time, let’s go Pidge,”

Pidge looked up from her phone, “No! Let’s stay a little longer,”

Keith quirked an eyebrow at her, “You didn’t even want to come here in the first place,”

“I still have to finish my drink,” She explained, “Besides, never know what will happen in just a few minutes,”

Keith sighed, “Fine, 5 more minutes and then we go, whether or not you finish your drink,”
Keith pulled out his phone and opened up his twitter, he didn’t go on it often, but he needed to pass the time. Four minutes passed, and Keith was just about to get up when Pidge suddenly smiled at someone behind him, waving the mystery person over. Keith instantly filled with dread, already fairly certain who Pidge was smiling at.

He turned, and his fears were confirmed. Lance was walking over to them with a smile on his face, and Hunk was behind him. The bigger man had a grin on his face similar to the one that Pidge had, and Keith got a feeling that this chance meet up wasn’t an accident. This, however, didn’t seem to occur to Lance.

“Hey guys! Funny meeting you here,” Lance said, sliding into the booth to sit next to Keith. Keith widened his eyes in surprise and tried his best not to look too frantic or awkward as he scooted away from Lance.

“Great, just f*cking great,” he thought.

“Yeah it is!” Pidge replied, as Hunk sat down next to her, “What brings you here?”

“Well…” Lance started, with an annoyingly smug look on his face, “I finally asked out Nyma, and she said yes! Hunk and I decided to celebrate,”

Keith’s face fell. Of course. Of f*cking course this would happen. He wanted to punch himself in the face. The look on Lance’s face said everything, he really liked this girl. Keith didn’t have a chance.

Pidge glanced over to Keith, she had a look in her eyes that seemed to be trying to communicate how sorry she was. Keith sighed softly, it wasn’t her fault, he was going to find out one way or another. Besides, this should finally give him the kick in the ass he needed to get over this silly crush.

“Oh that’s great!” Keith said, trying hard not to sound too halfhearted. In a way, it was a stroke of good luck for him, and it was obvious it made Lance happy. Unfortunately, his rationalization of the situation didn’t do too much to relieve the pain in his chest that had formed at the mention of Nyma’s name.

Lance leaned back, eyes focused on the wall in front of them, “She’s really great, I’m excited. I think I’ll take her out for dinner and then a movie,” He said dreamily.

Suddenly, Keith became very aware of how empty his glass was.

“I’m uh, I’m gonna get a refill,” He said, motioning for Lance to move.

“Oh yeah sure! Lance said, standing up, “Would you mind grabbing me a beer?”

“Oh me too!” Hunk added.

“Sure guys,” Keith said, moving out of the booth. He caught Pidge’s eye as he stood up, she looked sad. He couldn’t quite understand why, it’s not like it was her heart being torn apart right now.

He approached the bar, and asked the bartender for a refill and two beers. Keith leaned on the counter as the man grabbed two bottles. While he was waiting for his drink to be made, a sleazy looking older man approached him. He smelled of cigarettes, was wearing a shirt with multiple stains on it, and looked like he was in his 40s. He looked Keith up and down, an unsettling grin on his face.

“Oh, you look fantastic,” He said, the words made Keith cringe. He didn’t even look at the man, let alone reply, hoping that he would just go away.

“Oh c’mon, don’t ignore me,” the man said, getting too close for comfort, “I gave you a compliment.

Keith rolled his eyes, “And that means I’m automatically supposed to be interested in you?”

The man’s creepy grin widened, “Oh you’re feisty, perfect. I love that,”

Keith desperately willed the bartender to hurry the f*ck up so he could go back to his booth and be safe from this creep.

“How much?”

“Excuse me?” Keith yelped.

“How much? I’ll pay whatever you ask,” the man replied.

Keith wanted to vomit.

“I am not a prostitute!” Keith said loudly, “Get away from me you pervert,”

“Oh we both know you don’t want me to do that,” The man replied, closing in on Keith.

Suddenly, Keith felt a hand slip into his. He looked down, and followed the arm up to see his savior’s face. It was Lance.

Keith’s heart just about stopped.

“Excuse me,” Lance said, obvious anger in his voice, “But I’m gonna need you to get the f*ck away from my boyfriend,”

Keith looked at Lance in shock. He must’ve looked so dumb with his mouth wide open. Had Lance really said that? Did he really just call Keith his boyfriend?

From the look on the pervert’s face, Lance really had. He looked about as shocked as Keith felt. Quickly, he tried to recover.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I was actually into him anyways. Just thought his mouth would look pretty wrapped around my-”
Lance snarled. Like actually f*cking snarled.

“Finish that sentence, I dare you,” Lance said, voice low and raspy with rage.

The man’s eyes widened with fear, and he stumbled backwards, knocking over a bar stool. He turned and half walked, half ran away.

Keith would be lying if he said he wasn’t totally in love with Lance at that moment. He had just saved him, stuck up for him, and, although Keith would probably never admit it, Lance had also become like, 10 times more attractive. Keith shivered thinking about how Lance’s voice had sounded when he scared the pervert off.

Lance’s hand released Keith’s as he turned to him.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked, concern heavily laced in his voice, “He didn’t like, hurt you or anything right?”

Keith closed his eyes, collecting himself, “Yeah, yeah I’m okay,” He replied, opening his eyes to look at Lance, “A little shook up, but okay,”

Lance smiled in relief, “Good, I was worried,” His face shifted expression, and his voice suddenly adopted a tone that Keith hadn’t heard it take on before, “Oh, um, sorry if it was weird that I called you my boyfriend. I just...I figured it was the best way to get him away from you,” He said, looking down and lifting a hand to scratch the back of his neck.

Keith smiled, “It was fine Lance, thank you so much,”

Lance looked up at him, the embarrassment washed away from his face, and it was replaced by a look of complete and utter seriousness, “Don’t thank me, I was just being a decent person. Let’s go back to the booth,”

Keith nodded, grabbing the drinks before he followed Lance back. He smiled to himself, Lance had just been so damn heroic, but the man wouldn’t even take credit for it. Lance was actually being humble about it. Keith could feel his heart swell.

“God damn it,” Keith thought, “This was not how tonight was supposed to end up,”

Keith had come here looking for a distraction from Lance, someone for him to redirect his feelings toward. Instead, Keith felt like he was going to leave this pub being head over heels for the pitcher.

They sat back down in the booth, and Keith gave Lance and Hunk the drinks they had requested. He sighed and took a sip of his own drink, hoping it would help calm him down a little.

“Lance! That was so cool, what the hell??” Pidge exclaimed, “I really thought that you were going to beat the sh*t out of that man,”

Lance shrugged, “It’s really nothing, Keith needed to get out of there and I just decided to be a decent person,”

Hunk shook his head, “Oh no, you’re not getting away with that. You just did a great thing Lance,”

Lance smiled softly, but shrugged again, “If you say so,”

Keith chuckled, “I never thought you were this capable of humility, Lance,”

Lance opened his mouth and furrowed his eyebrows in pretend shock, “How dare you! I’m the most humble person I know!”

“What a load of bullsh*t,” Hunk laughed, “If you’re humble, then Pidge is tall,”

“Fight me, dick,” Pidge shot out, punching Hunk in the arm.

They continued their banter, and eventually moved onto other topics. There really wasn’t a moment where none of them were laughing. Somehow, the four of them all got along amazingly. Keith couldn’t understand it, he had never really had a friend group that felt as natural as this one did. Maybe tonight wasn’t such a bust afterall. Sure, he had definitely done the opposite of what he had set out to do, but he was having fun. So what if Lance had asked a girl out? In the moment, all that mattered was the fact that Keith was spending real time with Lance and their friends.

Keith looked at Lance, studying him as the man laughed at something Hunk had said. He adored the way the side’s of Lance’s eyes crinkled when he smiled, how he threw his head back when he laughed hard, how his eyes sparkled when he was happy. Keith was so gone for this man, he couldn’t believe it.

Lance began to turn his head toward Keith, and Keith quickly looked at his drink, not wanting to get caught staring (despite the fact that looking at Lance during a conversation would’ve been completely normal).

“What do you think, Keith?” Lance asked.

“Um, what?” Keith asked, embarrassed, “I wasn’t paying attention,”

“Hunk said that he thinks Pidge got stuck in a dryer when she was young and that’s why she’s so little. Can you confirm that theory?”

Keith grinned, “Oh yeah, that definitely happened,”

“You prick! You’re supposed to be on my side,” Pidge pouted.

Keith chuckled, “Oh right, because you don’t roast me everyday, oh...wait,”

Pidge rolled her eyes, “You need me to roast you, your head would get too big otherwise,”

“Maybe you should work your magic on Lance,” Keith said, nudging the pitcher with his elbow, “He’s practically a bobblehead,”

“Wow,” Lance said, pressing his hand to his chest, “That hurt, hit me real deep,”

Keith shook his head, grinning, “No it didn’t,”

“Yes it did! I feel so betrayed!” Lance cried, “You’re so mean to me,”

Keith laughed, “I’m about as nice to you as you are to me,”

“Bullsh*t!” Lance scoffed, “When was the last time you got me away from a pervert? Oh right, never. That’s some nice ass sh*t right there,”

“I haven’t exactly had the chance to do that,” Keith pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter! I’m still nicer,”

“Whatever you have to say to make yourself feel better,” Keith replied, patting Lance’s shoulder.

“Meanie,” Lance mumbled.

Keith chuckled fondly, Lance was so cute. He was pulling Keith further and further into the abyss that was this crush, and Keith couldn’t stop him, no matter how hard he tried. Keith knew it would end up badly for himself. He’d end up pining and lonely and sad, but right now it didn’t matter. Not when Lance was as happy as he was, how could it?

Keith smiled to himself, he was in for it, he really was. But he didn’t quite care.

Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Chapter Text

Lance POV

The week had been going well for Lance, it was probably the best week he’d had in a long time. Coran had finally lightened up like Shiro said he would, and practice finally became fun for Lance again. He was growing closer to his team every day and he was so glad that this was the team he had chosen to play for, he could feel himself getting better and better. Not only that, but things with Nyma were going great. Their first date had been a huge success, Lance had her laughing the whole time they were at dinner, and they had held hands during the movie. Lance even kissed her when he dropped her off at home, and he was absolutely smitten.

She was funny, warm, nice, smart, and just all around perfect. They had scheduled another date immediately after the first. They had gone ice skating, which worked out very well for Lance. Nyma could barely keep herself upright, so Lance had to hold her in some way the whole time.

He was planning on asking her to make it official after their next date. Hunk didn’t get why Lance was so adamant about it, but Lance insisted that you had to go out on at least three dates before making it official. Not only that, but he wanted to make it romantic, not some lame ass text. He was planning it all out in his head, it was gonna be great.

Every once in awhile he’d float an idea by Hunk, who was spotting him while he lifted. Lance was thinking about how perfect it would be if he asked her while they were on a bridge, looking over the river that ran through the city, as he worked his arms on the bench press.

“Hey Hunk, which bridge has the best view of the river?” He asked.

“Hmm,” Hunk pondered his question, “Probably the one closest to the stadium,”

“Okay, that’s where I’ll ask Nyma,” Lance said, pushing the bar in his hands up, “We’ll take a walk and we’ll go on that bridge and pause to look over the water and I’ll ask her,”

Hunk nodded, “It’s a pretty good idea, I’m sure she’ll love it,”

“Maybe I’ll get her some flowers,” Lance said, thinking out loud, “Girls like flowers...maybe roses?”

Lance did as many reps as he could until his arms felt like jelly, then switched out with Hunk. The bigger man added some more weight to the bar and worked his arms as Lance spotted him. Well, in theory Lance was spotting him, but in reality the man was far too focused on his plans for his third date with Nyma to really be of much use to his friend.

They worked out for about an hour, and Lance babbled about Nyma practically the whole time. He was excited, and he really couldn’t shut up when he was excited. Eventually they left to take a shower and found Keith and Shiro in the locker room.

“Hey guys!” Lance said, he paused to take a sip of water, “What brings you here?”

“We came to train a bit in the gym, seems like you beat us to it,” Shiro explained, walking over to Lance.

“Were you guys leaving?” Keith asked, coming up behind Shiro.

“Yeah, we just finished,” Hunk answered, “We were gonna hit the showers then go get some food,”

“If you wait up for us, we could come with if you want,” Keith said, “But if you guys are like, pressed for time or something you don’t have to worry about it,”

Keith seemed nervous for some reason, Lance really wasn’t sure why. Must be that he feels awkward about inviting himself and Shiro to their lunch. It makes sense, though Keith should really know by now that neither him or Hunk cared that much.

Lance shrugged, “I don’t mind, do you Hunk?”

“Nope! Not at all, sounds fun!” Hunk said, maybe a tad too enthusiastically, but Lance didn’t give it much thought.

Shiro smiled, “Okay! We shouldn’t take too long,”

Hunk and Lance showered, and Lance made sure to take his time. Didn’t make sense to rush himself when they were waiting for Keith and Shiro. He took the time to really enjoy the way the hot water hit his skin, he’d always loved water. He loved it in all its forms, rain, oceans, rivers, showers, baths, the only one he hadn’t seen was snow. He made a mental note to make sure he got to experience it at least once while he was in America. Lance didn’t really know if Altea was far enough north for it to snow in the winter, but he figured that, if he had to, he could always go to a place that was.

When he got out of the shower, it was obvious that Hunk had been waiting for a while, but he didn’t seem to mind. Lance got dressed quickly and checked the time, it had been half an hour since Shiro and Keith started working out. Hopefully they’d be done soon.

As if they could read Lance’s thoughts, the two men walked through the door, both sweaty and drinking from their water bottles. Lance took a second to admire the way the veins were popping out on Keith’s arms from the exertion of their work out. In a completely detached, objective way, of course. One could appreciate the beauty of others and not have feelings for them.

Keith and Shiro got in and out of the shower in about 4 minutes, which Lance thought was insane. He always took 10 minutes at the very least when he showered. They got dressed, and the four of them went out to the parking lot.

“Meet us at the Parkside Diner,” Hunk told Keith and Shiro, “The one we went to for my birthday,”

Shiro nodded, “I remember the place,”

They all went their separate ways, Shiro climbed in his sleek black car, Hunk and Lance got into Hunk’s pick up truck, and Keith walked over to a motorcycle, grabbed his helmet and got on. Lance told himself that that wasn’t attractive, not at all, but when Keith revved the engine of the bike, he really couldn’t keep lying to himself. He made a mental note to get a motorcycle himself, so he could impress Nyma.

The drive was fairly short, and they parked in front of a nice little restaurant. It was one of those diners with the cute outdoors seating and a little chalkboard in the front that listed the daily specials. Hunk told him that he had to get their empanadas, and insisted that the moment Lance tasted them he would feel like he was back in Cuba. Lance really didn’t believe him, nothing could beat his mother’s empanadas, but he told Hunk he would order them anyways.

They all met up and were seated fairly quickly at one of the outside tables. The spring breeze felt nice and brought mouthwatering smells to Lance’s nose, and he instantly became aware of how hungry he was.

While they were waiting for their drinks, Lance decided to gather some information he would probably need if he was gonna get a motorcycle.

“So Keith, that’s a really nice bike, where’d you get it?” Lance asked

Keith smiled, “Oh, I got her from a bike shop back home, why?”

“Oh I was just thinking about maybe getting one for myself, figured it would be a good way to impress Nyma,”

Keith scoffed, “Don’t bother if that’s the only reason. No need to waste your money on something you’ll probably crash doing something stupid,”

Lance gasped, offended, “I would not!”

“You so would,” Keith said, contempt heavy in his voice, “You’d try doing a wheelie to impress her and you’d lose control of the bike,”

Hunk chuckled, “He’s got you there, Lance,”

Lance was taken aback. That really sounded like something that would happen, but Lance would rather go to hell than admit that Keith was right. He couldn’t think of anything that could serve as a decent counter argument, so he changed the subject.

Lance huffed, “Why do you even have a bike? Don’t you have a car?”

Keith shrugged, “I use the car in the winter and when I have someone else with me,”

Finally, the waiter came to take their orders. They ordered quickly, and the man was about to leave but he paused,

“Hey, is that your bike?” He asked Keith, motioning to the motorcycle with his hand.

Keith nodded, “Yeah it is,”

“Oh I love bikes, maybe you could give me a ride sometime?” He said, smiling shyly.

Blush immediately seeped into Keith’s cheeks, “Uh…” he muttered. He closed his mouth, and opened it again, but didn’t say anything.

The man grinned at Keith’s inability to speak, “Cute...think about it okay?” he said, then turned and left.

Keith immediately buried his face in his hands, shaking his head back and forth.

“I cannot believe that that just happened,” He said in disbelief, no longer at a loss for words.

Shiro clapped him on the back, “Damn Keith! You didn’t even do anything! Maybe we should come here more often,”

“Why is it that you always get hit on when I’m around?” Lance said, he had meant for the words to come out jokingly, but was surprised at bitterness he could hear in his voice. It was kind of infuriating that Keith seemed to be a magnet for guys without even trying to be.

Keith pulled his head out of his hands, “You act like I wanted that guy at 95 to come onto me. Besides, this is only the second time you’ve seen someone hit on me,”

“Well it’s only the third time we’ve hung out. That means that 66% of the time I’m with you, you get hit on,”

“Are we not counting all the time you guys spend together at practice?” Hunk asked.

“That doesn’t count because we’re not in public,” Lance explained, “Actually, now that I think about it, Shiro’s house doesn’t count either because we weren’t in public. So that makes it 100% of the time!”

Keith rolled his eyes, “Why do you care so much?”

Why did he care so much?

“Because...because Keith gets hit on so much and I don’t, but I’m like, way prettier,” Lance offered weakly.

“Lance, you literally got hit on your first day here,” Shiro pointed out.

“Yeah, but not since then!” Lance defended.

Keith rolled his eyes, “You’re so needy. Have you ever thought that maybe someone hit on you and you just didn’t notice? It wouldn’t be that surprising, you’re not very observant,”

Hunk snickered and Lance gasped, “You’re so cruel!” he exclaimed.

Keith chuckled, “You’re such a baby,”

“More insults! Shiro! Tell him to stop being mean to me!”

Shiro chuckled, “I dunno Lance, I think you’ll be okay,”

Lance slumped back into his chair dejectedly, “You guys are the worst,” he muttered. The rest of the men chuckled and Hunk changed the topic to something he had heard Coran say about his plans for next practice. Lance wallowed in self pity for a bit, but eventually sat back up when he heard the topic switch to Beyoncé. Talking about his queen was one of Lance’s favorite things to do.

They talked for a bit, and their food finally came out. The empanadas looked and smelled amazing, but Lance couldn’t focus on the food when he noticed the waiter wink at Keith as he placed his food in front of him. This guy was relentless, and very annoying. Was this what he looked like when he flirted? Lance apologized quickly to every person he’d ever hit on.

Keith becameflustered again, and Lance immediately went back to looking at his food. Why was Keith so easy to work up? Did he actually like this guy?

“I mean, he’s pretty cute, but still,” Lance thought to himself.

The waiter finally left them and Lance dug into his food, hoping to distract himself with the empanadas.

“Oh-oh my god,” Lance moaned as the empanada hit his taste buds, “What the f*ck?? These are so good!”

“I told you!” Hunk boasted, “Aren’t they amazing?”

Lance nodded furiously as he swallowed the first empanada, “We need to come here like, all the time! These taste like home…” Lance quickly shoveled another into his mouth, smiling at the taste. They really did remind him of home, he tried not to get too nostalgic, not while he was with his friends, but he knew he’d be calling home as soon as he got back to his apartment.

The rest of them dug into their food, and the conversation pretty much came to a halt as they ate. They were all hungry from their workouts, and basically vacuumed up their food. Lance still had room for more, and was really considering ordering another plate of empanadas when he noticed something on the napkin that had come with Keith’s meal. Wordlessly, he leaned over the table, and grabbed the napkin off of Keith’s plate.

“Hey!” Keith protested. Lance didn’t pay him any attention though, instead he ran his thumb over the indents on the top of the napkin, and unfolded it. On the underside of the napkin was just what Lance had expected: the waiter’s number, his name and the words “Call me!” written underneath,

Hunk leaned over to see what Lance was looking out, “Oooooo! Keith got the waiter’s number!”

“What?!” Keith exclaimed, eyes wide, “Gimme that!” He leaned over and snatched the napkin from Lance’s hand. His look of shock only became more pronounced as he read what was on the napkin.

“Damn!” Shiro laughed, “When did you manage to get that!?”

“I-I don’t know! He must’ve put it there when he gave me my food,” Keith sputtered.

Hunk and Shiro were cackling at the ridiculousness of the situation, but Lance couldn’t help but seethe a little. He was just..so...jealous of Keith. Lance always had to actually try to get someone’s number, and all Keith had done was blush and look pretty. Suddenly, he really wasn’t all that hungry anymore, he just wanted to leave.

Lance didn’t talk much after that. He waited impatiently as the three men he was having lunch with finished their meals and decided it was time to go. He was grateful when he was able to pay for his meal, and because he was a petty little bitch, he didn’t tip the waiter, despite the fact that the man had actually given them some great service. However, he suspected that was more for Keith’s benefit than the way the waiter normally worked.

When Lance climbed into Hunk’s pick up, he felt a little better. Hunk started the car and pulled out of the parking spot.

“Hey man,” Hunk started, a worried tone in his voice, “You alright? You got pretty weird back there after you found the waiter’s number on Keith’s napkin,”

“I’m fine,” Lance said shortly, “I just don’t understand how Keith can do stuff like that so easily,”

“This probably isn’t an everyday thing for him…”

“I don’t care, it just doesn’t make sense,”

----------------------

Keith POV

“Listen Pidge, don’t freak out, but…”

“But what??”

Keith sighed, “You’d know by now if you hadn’t interrupted me,”

“Sorry, sorry, continue,”

Keith rolled over on his bed so he was laying on his side, and let his phone rest on his face without the support of his hand, “So Lance, Hunk, Shiro and I all went out for lunch earlier today, and…”

“And??”

“I think...I think Lance got a little jealous?”

“WHAT??” Pidge yelled into her phone, and Keith regretted not having his hand close enough to his own phone to pull it off his ear, “SPILL EVERYTHING, NOW!”

Keith sighed, he hated feeling like some twelve year old little girl gossiping to her friend about some petty crush, but he had to admit it was pretty fun. Keith described every detail about the lunch he had had. Everything from Lance asking about Keith’s bike, to how riled he got when the waiter hit on him, to how uncharacteristically quiet he became when he discovered the number written on Keith’s napkin. Pidge could hardly contain herself, Keith knew she was practically vibrating with excitement, even if he couldn’t see her.

“KEITH KEITH KEITH KEITH-” She rambled excitedly, “YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS RIGHT???”
Keith winced, he knew what she was going to say.

“HE LIKES YOU!!” She practically screamed, “I’M YODELING KEITH, YODELING!”

“Pidge...we don’t know for sure…” Keith was still skeptical, but the thought had definitely crossed his mind more than once since lunch and he felt extremely validated that Pidge had jumped to that conclusion as well.

“Bullsh*t! I wish I had been there so I could describe to you how broken he must’ve looked when he found the waiter’s number, but I’m sure he did,”

Keith thought back, and, to be honest, there was something resigned about Lance when he ran his thumb across the top of the napkin. Like he already knew what was there, and the realization had made him give up on something. But, who knows, Keith might be distorting his memory to make it seem like there was more to that moment than there actually was,

“I dunno...maybe, you’d have to get a second opinion from either Hunk or Shiro,”

“I’ll ask Hunk later, he seems pretty tuned into Lance,” Pidge replied, “But, now its time for me to give the speech I’ve been practicing ever since you first told me about this crush,”

“Oh no,” Keith sighed, whatever this was, it wasn’t going to be good.

Pidge drew in a breath, “Okay, so I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You need to do something before he gets scooped up officially by this Nyma girl. If he becomes her boyfriend like, officially, you either have to wait for them to break up, or you’ll never get another chance. And I don’t want to hear any of this ‘but the team would suffer’ bullsh*t because maybe it would, but I know you and you’ll eventually sort yourself out. And I don’t think Lance will be weird enough about it that he would prolong the issue. Eventually the team will go back to normal and it will be fine. Especially since you guys are still in preseason stuff right now,”
Keith sighed. Pidge made a lot of sense. He hated to admit it, but, she knew what she was talking about. He couldn’t help but be reluctant though. Telling Lance he liked him or asking him out on a date would make Keith very vulnerable, and he really hated feeling vulnerable. He would be completely at the mercy of Lance, and it was more than likely that the results wouldn’t turn out so well for Keith. Lance practically already had a girlfriend, and he really liked her. Even if Lance had some sort of feelings for Keith, they were most likely buried underneath his smitteness for Nyma.

“I’ll...I’ll think about it Pidge, no promises though,” He replied, after being quiet for probably longer than he should have been.

Pidge sighed, “Alright, but please Keith, take a chance ok?”

“No promises,”

“Alright, well, I think I’m gonna sleep now, it’s getting pretty late,”

Keith lifted the phone from his face, and watched as the screen came to life, 1:00 displayed at the top. Damn, it was a lot later than he had thought.

He rested the phone back on his face, “Okay Pidge, goodnight, sleep well,”

“You too,” She replied, and then hung up.

Keith rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Did Lance really like him? It was so hard to tell without actually being inside his head. Keith and Pidge could analyze Lance’s actions all they wanted, but in the end none of it could be right. They could just be over analyzing or reading too far into simple things. He closed his eyes, trying to find some sort of footing in the whirlpool of thoughts and emotions that was his mind. There was so many conflicting feelings, hope, dread, doubt, assuredness, reluctance, excitement, he didn’t know what to make of it.

Suddenly, a wet nose pushed itself into Keith’s ear. His eyes flew open, “Bailey!” he groaned, rolling over to move his ear away from its attacker.

He met his dog’s eyes, and goddamn, the corgi was too cute. Laying down with his head resting on his paws, with the biggest puppy dog eyes looking up at Keith innocently.

“How are you still awake, pup?” Keith asked softly as he reached out to pull his puppy toward him for a cuddle. The dog was still young, and was about as long as Keith’s forearm. His ears had only recently gone from being floppy to straight, and Keith missed the few days where the pup had had one floppy ear, and one straight ear. Luckily he had taken about a million photos of Bailey to look back on.

The pup didn’t fight Keith as he pulled him close, in fact, the dog nuzzled into Keith’s embrace. Keith smiled fondly at Bailey, getting this dog had been a great idea. He was such a good cuddler and always seemed to know when Keith needed some comfort, even though he had only had him for a few weeks. Keith had gotten him a little after the preseason practices started.

“What do you think, Bailey?” Keith murmured into the dog’s fur, “Should I tell Lance?”

The pup responded by licking Keith’s arm, almost as if he was trying to encourage and reassure Keith. Keith stroked the dog, pondering his own question. Should he? It was a good idea for the most part, the only bad thing was the humiliation that would come if Lance rejected him, but that was just a given when it came to crushes.

He lyed there for a while, thinking of all the possible outcomes of either decision. He was at a stalemate with himself, he couldn’t convince himself that either choice was the better one. Keith checked the time again, 1:15. He knew who he had to talk to, the only problem was whether or not Shiro would be up.

Shiro and Keith had gotten along fantastically when Shiro first started. Despite being the more experienced player, at least when it came to the major leagues, Keith somehow found himself seeing Shiro as the big brother/mentor type of friend. It was hard not to, the player was about two years older than Keith and just exuded the “I’m here to help” atmosphere that made you desperately want to please him.

Keith unlocked his phone, hoping that Shiro would be up and that he wouldn’t wake him if he was asleep, and dialed Shiro’s number. He stroked Bailey’s fur as the phone rang, finding comfort in the softness of it.

“Hello?” Shiro’s voice sounded across the line, thankfully not sounding very tired.

“Hey Shiro, I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No, Allura and I were j-”

“Nope, nope, not interested in hearing about how Allura kept you up tonight,” Keith said, cutting Shiro off.

“That-that’s not what I meant!” Shiro sputtered, obvious embarrassment in his voice, “We were up late playing a video game!”

“Sure man, whatever you say,”

Shiro sighed, “What do you want?”

Keith gulped, “Well, okay, so,” He hadn’t told Shiro yet about his crush on Lance and wasn’t sure whether or not he should leave Lance’s name out. However it didn’t take much thought before he figured that his was Shiro, he could trust him, “I’ve got a crush on Lance, and-”

“Oh I already knew that,”

Keith rolled his eyes. Of course Shiro knew, this is Shiro we’re talking about.

“What tipped you off?”

“Well it was just a few things here and there, but I really wasn’t sure until you asked if we could crash Hunk and Lance’s lunch. You never invite yourself to things,”

Keith sighed, “Well anyways, basically I told Pidge about lunch and she thinks that Lance likes me and that I should ask him out ASAP and I need your opinion,”

“Why does she think he likes you?”

“Well he sorta kinda seemed jealous today when that waiter was hitting on me…” Keith said sheepishly, unsure whether or not Shiro had seen it too.

“Yeah, I did think he was acting weirdly. He could’ve been jealous...that’s actually a really valid explanation,” Shiro replied, “So, tell me what’s stopping you,”

Keith drew in a breath, “Well for one, he’s really into Nyma. He might have feelings for me but his feelings for her are stronger so he’ll go with her, or he might have no feelings at all for me and is just 100% focused on her-”

“True”

“-Not to mention just the whole humiliation of rejection. And it’s a real possibility that Lance’s ego will get the better of him and he’ll tease me incessantly about it, which is something I definitely don’t want-”

“Understandable,”

“-and there’s the fact that we’re on the same team, and we have to work together. If something goes wrong it could really throw off our game, and that wouldn’t be good,”

“Mmm.” Shiro hummed, digesting everything Keith had just told him, “Okay, now how does he make you feel when you’re with him?”

Keith could feel a warmness surging through his body, working its way up and pooling in his cheeks. Lance made him feel things that were just...a lot. It was hard to come up with words for it. He pursed his lips together, trying to think of how to put his emotions into words.

“Well...really f*cking gay,” Keith said with a chuckle.

Shiro laughed, “I mean, I would hope so,”
Keith laughed at the ridiculousness of his statement, but it was true, “He makes me feel...joyful,” Keith began again, more seriously this time, “Like, when he’s not being infuriating, all I can do is smile around him. He’s just so...so full of light. Yeah, that’s the best way to describe it. And even when he makes me wanna punch him in the face, there’s still something just so endearing about him,” Keith trailed off, he knew there was more to say, but it wasn’t coming.

He thought about what had happened at the 95 a few weeks back, when Lance had saved him from that pervert, “He makes me feel safe, and comfortable,” He stroked Bailey’s fur absently as he wracked his brain for something else. It was on the tip of his tongue, but the words just weren’t presenting themselves.

“And...yeah,” He trailed off, hoping he had given Shiro enough to go on.

“How do you feel right now?” Shiro asked. Keith wasn’t expecting that question. But when he thought about it, he realized that he had a stupid grin plastered to his face.

“I feel really...happy,” Keith said, “Ugh, Shiro, I’m so gone for him, this is ridiculous,”

It was silent for a few moments as Shiro collected his thoughts. That was the nice thing about getting advice from Shiro, it was always well thought out. As he was waiting, Keith realized that Bailey had fallen asleep in his arms and smiled warmly at the pup. He didn’t know how he was gonna move without waking the poor pup up, but that was a problem he’d worry about later.

“I think,” Shiro started, “That you should tell him how you feel, or at least ask him out, or do something,”

Keith was both dismayed and reassured. He had kinda hoped to hear that. Telling Lance is really what Keith truly wanted, he just didn’t want the baggage that came with it. But now this meant that Keith was probably going to do it, and when he did, he wouldn’t be able to avoid the embarrassment.

“He obviously means a lot to you Keith, and I’d hate to see you throw away an opportunity just because you’re afraid to take a chance,”

Keith nodded, “Yeah, you’re right,”

“So you’re gonna?”

Keith bit his lip nervously, “Yeah, I think I will,”

“When?”

“Umm,” quickly, Keith tried to figured out where, when, and how would be the best way to pour his heart out to Lance, “Probably...probably after next practice. That’s the next time I’ll see him,”

“You won’t chicken out over the weekend?”

“No, and if I do, you can beat my ass on Monday,”

“I’m gonna hold you to that, you know,”

“I know,”

--------------------

“Okay, okay, today’s the day. In a couple hours, Lance will know.” Keith thought to himself as he walked into the locker room. Practice hadn’t started yet, but he needed all the psyching up he could give himself. This really wasn’t easy for him. He had only asked out a guy once before, and he had thought Keith meant as friends, not as a real date. Keith cringed at the memory as he put his belongings into his locker.

He had told Pidge the morning after Shiro’s advice had convinced him to tell Lance. She had been ecstatic to say the least, and had been offering words of encouragement ever since. They ranged from sickly sweet to just a tad harsh, which was Pidge’s default, but Keith honestly preferred the harsh words. The minor threats and insults kept him from chickening out over the weekend. All he had to do was get through this practice, and he had Shiro to help him out with that. He knew he was going to get a pep talk from Shiro as soon as the shortstop found the opportunity to give him one, and he was looking forward to it. He could really use one right now.

Keith didn’t have to wait long for the members of his team to start filling up the locker room. Most of the players greeted him as they came in. Thace stopped to talk to Keith about his weekend, Hunk gave him a fist bump. When Shiro walked in, Keith could see the glint in his eye that signalled the oncoming of one of his famous motivational speeches.

He strode over to Keith, and in a slightly hushed voice said:

“Alright man, I know this is nerve wracking, but you can do it. I know you can. Just do your best to not dwell on it today so you don’t psych yourself out. Whatever happens, happens. Lance is a good guy, I’m sure he’ll be gracious about it if it ends up going sour,” Shiro held out his hand, and pulled Keith in for his patented bro hug when he took it. Shiro patted him on the back, “Good luck,”

Keith moved out of their embrace and nodded, “Thanks, Shiro,”

Shiro smiled at him, then walked over to his own locker, leaving Keith. He took in a breath, “Whatever happens, happens” he repeated to himself. The words calmed him for some reason.

Keith went about the rest of his pre-practice routine, getting dressed and making sure that his catching gear was pretty much clean. He was about to head out to the field when Lance walked in. The pitcher seemed even more self assured and co*cky than usual, which wasn’t easy to beat. He sauntered in with a smug grin plastered onto his tan, pretty face, and an unusual pep in his step.

“Hellooo everyone!” Lance called out as he neared his locker, “I hope everyone is doing as well as I am,”

Shiro chuckled, “What’s gotten into you?” he asked Lance.

Lance spun around, looking even more smug than before, “I finally did it, I asked Nyma to be my girlfriend,”

Shiro’s eyes widened in shock, and he glanced over to Keith. Keith didn’t see this though, because he was too busy looking at the ceiling, “Oh sweet, merciful god,” he thought, “Please don’t let this happen,”

“...And?” Shiro asked, returning his gaze to Lance.

Lance folded his arms across his chest, leaning backwards onto the lockers, “She said yes,”

Keith could feel his heart break. It was so surreal, he didn’t think his body could actually react like this. There was a sharp pain in his chest, one that wouldn’t go away or subside. It just persisted. He pressed a hand into his chest, hoping to relieve some of the pain. He brought his head back down so it was parallel with the ground, and this time caught Shiro’s eyes. He could see the sorrow and the pity in them.

Of all the damn days he could have chosen, of course this was the one. It was like the universe was purposefully trying to make his life suck. Now there was no way anything Keith could say to Lance would work. Now he had to wait.

Quickly, he grabbed his bottle and walked out of the locker room, not bothering to stay to hear the team’s words of congratulation for Lance and his new relationship. He had to get away before he was forced to pretend he was happy for Lance. He’d be able to do it later, but right now...right now it was too painful.

Keith stepped onto the field, he was the first one out, which wasn’t surprising. What was surprising, however, was when he felt a drop of water hit his cheek. He looked up at the sky, thinking it was rain, but he realized quickly that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Mortified, he raised a hand to his face, and wiped the tear off. Was he actually crying over this?

He was.

A wave of anger overtook him. He was such a goddamn baby. He had known Lance just barely longer than he had known his dog and he was crying over him? What the f*ck? And who the f*ck said it was okay to do this to him? What kind of sick joke was the universe playing on him? The worst part, by far, was how happy Lance had so obviously been about it.

He trudged over to the dugout and sat on one of the benches, thankful when his eyes didn’t produce more tears to display his weakness. He took a sip of water.

At least he had been saved the pain of humiliation. Lance almost definitely would’ve rejected him, that much was obvious. Maybe now he would really be able to move the f*ck on. He still had the waiter’s number, maybe he’d give him a call, take him for a spin on his motorcycle. Keith quickly pushed the idea away. Not right now, he wasn’t ready for that yet. Maybe at the end of the week he’d be able to give the idea more thought.

Keith stared across the field, and almost chuckled when he thought about what Pidge’s reaction to the news would be. She’d be disappointed to say the least. Honestly, she’ll probably scream about how stupid Lance is and how him and Keith are so obviously meant for each other. Then will probably tell Keith that he could do better not even 10 seconds after she finishes ranting about how perfect they would be as a couple.

Keith watched the rest of the players move out onto the field. He did his best to not look at Lance, but it was hard, and he ended up failing. He watched the pitcher as he talked to some of their teammates. How did he have this much power over Keith? It’s not like they even knew each other that well, and yet, Keith had just cried over him. Granted, it was a single tear, but one tear is pretty significant anyways.

Coran blew his whistle, calling the team over to start practice. Keith shook his head, trying his best to clear his mind, then started to jog over to Coran.

Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Chapter Text

Pidge POV

Pidge was sprawled across Keith’s couch, one leg hanging over the side of the armrest. She leaned against Keith, who was in a bottomless pit of emotions.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to see him for hours on end almost everyday! I can’t get away from him Pidge!”
Keith rambled about how unfair the universe was, but Pidge was barely listening. She had been hearing all of this the past few days, ever since Keith found out that he had missed his chance. Pidge and Shiro had both given him as much advice as they could, and Keith took it and understood it, but it did nothing to stop his complaining. Pidge was honestly getting a little sick of it. Not that Keith didn’t have every right to be upset, he did, but did he really have to complain about this every time they saw each other?

Pidge sighed, “When are you gonna stop talking about Lance and how unfair your life is?”

Keith let his head fall back onto the couch and sighed, “Sorry, sorry, I’ll stop,”

Pidge frowned, he sounded so defeated. That wasn’t the goal here. She didn’t want to make him feel bad, she just wanted to enjoy his company, no complaining. An idea started forming in her head, and she smirked.

“Hey Keith, is your bluetooth speaker on?”

“When isn’t it?” He responded, turning to look at her, his tone changed to something much more suspicious, “...why?”

Pidge didn’t respond, she quickly went to her settings on her phone and connected to the speaker. Then she went to youtube, smirk widening mischievously. She found the song she was looking for, and played the video.

Keith looked at her, confused, as car honks and other city sounds came through the speaker as the music video began, but then realization hit him like a truck as the first few opening chords of Katy Perry’s “Firework” began to play. Pidge stood up, and turned to face him, grinning.

Keith groaned, “Pidgeeeee,”

“Dance with me, loser,”

“This song is the worst, no way,” Keith protested, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Nope, you’re done moping. We’re having some fun,” Pidge said, tugging on his arms, “Besides, this song has magical emotional healing properties, let’s go,” She pulled him up with one last heave, although she suspected that Keith let her.

As the chorus started Pidge started dancing. It wasn’t great, but she didn’t look ridiculous, she swayed back and forth to the beat, bobbing her head and singing the lyrics softly.

“You know the words to this song?” Keith asked, eyebrow raised in amusion.

Pidge rolled her eyes, “Who doesn’t? This song was like, the only thing on the radio for months when it first came out. Now dance with me,” She grabbed his hands, forcing him to move his arms. Keith laughed, it was deep and bubbly, and it relieved Pidge. He hadn’t laughed that purely in a few days.

It didn’t take long for him to start moving with her of his own accord. They were swaying and moving, laughing and singing along to the song. Pidge made a mental note to tease Keith about knowing the words to the song later, she didn’t want to do anything to detract from the vibe they had going right now.

Even Bailey got into it, getting so excited he started to jump on their legs. Or really, it was more of a hop, the little dog’s legs could barely push him up higher than Pidge’s knee, which wasn’t very high. Keith laughed and scooped the puppy up, dancing with him while holding the dog in his arms like a baby. Bailey didn’t even try to move, and looked like he was smiling up at Keith.

Eventually the song ended, and Keith set down the dog. Pidge went to turn her phone’s bluetooth off.

“So you make fun of me for knowing the words and then sing them yourself?” Pidge asked, teasingly.

“I was just surprised that you did, it doesn’t seem like your kind of song,” Keith explained, sitting back down on the couch.

“To be fair, it doesn’t seem like your kind of song either,” Pidge pointed out, plopping down next to him.

“It’s not,” Keith chuckled, “But thank you, I needed that,”

Pidge nudged him, “No problem, it’s part of the job description,”

Keith raised an eyebrow, “Really? For being a PR Manager?”

Pidge laughed, “No, idiot, for being your best friend,”

Keith grinned, “I know, I was joking you gremlin,”

“Rude,”

Keith chuckled, and leaned back into the couch, “Hey Pidge? Can I ask you a question?”

Pidge furrowed her eyebrows slightly, she didn’t like the tone of his voice, “Yeah, sure, go ahead,”

“Okay, so, do you think I should call that waiter?”

“The one that hit on you at the diner?”

Keith nodded, “Mason, yeah,”

Pidge blinked, considering. Keith getting back out there would probably be the easiest way for him to get over Lance, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t secretly hoping that somehow the two would end up getting together, despite the fact that Lance is taken. Of course, if Keith were to go out with Mason, and Lance were to find out, he might just get jealous and come to his senses. He so obviously had a thing for Keith. Pidge could see it in the way his eyes brightened when Keith walked in a room, and Hunk had been quite clear about how much Lance talks about Keith when it’s just the two of them. Almost as much as he talked about Nyma. Pidge smirked, Keith going out with Mason was sounding better by the second.

“Yeah! I think that’s a great idea,”

Keith frowned slightly, “I don’t like that look...what are you thinking?”

“Nothing,” Pidge said, waving him off.

“Don’t lie to me,”

“I’m not!”

“Pidge,” Keith said, warningly, “I will sit on you,”

“Pfft,” Pidge scoffed, “You weigh like, two pounds,”

“Pidge, we both know that you’d snap like a twig,”

“I resent that,” Pidge said, looking at Keith, “But you may have a point,”

“So?” Keith prodded, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“I was just thinking,” She began, turning away from Keith, “That if Lance got so riled with Mason was just flirting with you, he’d probably get really fired up if he found out that you guys went on a date,”

Keith groaned, hitting his hand to his forehead, “Pidge! Don’t put those ideas in my head! It makes things a lot more difficult for me,”

Pidge shrugged, “Sorry man, but you made me tell you,”

“You could have lied,”

“I would never,” Pidge said, batting her eyes innocently.

Keith snorted, “Yeah, right,” he pulled out his phone, then got up and walked over to the kitchen table.

“What are you doing?” Pidge asked.

“Texting Mason,” Keith replied simply as he picked up a napkin and looked at it, then typed something into his phone. He walked back over and sat next to Pidge, “What should I say?” he asked.

“Yo bitch wassup? This is motorcycle dude,” Pidge deadpanned.

Keith looked at her in horror, “No!”

Pidge cackled, “Joking! Just tell him that it’s Keith, the guy with the motorcycle from the other day,”

Keith nodded, “That’s better, okay,” He typed the message into his phone then sent it. Pidge leaned over and scrunched her nose.

“Ew, green text bubbles,”

Keith shrugged, “Must not have an iPhone,”

“Well duh,” Pidge said, leaning back into the couch, “It’s just that the color looks so gross on iPhones,”

“True,” Keith said.

Bailey walked over and sat in front of them, staring at Keith.

“What’s wrong, Bailey?” Keith asked fondly.

The dog jumped on Keith’s legs, then ran and picked up a nearby toy, and carried it back over to them.

“I think he wants you to play with him,” Pidge said, smiling, “Sorry, Bailey. Keith is too busy thinking about how much he wants Lance to play with him,”

Pidge felt a sharp slap on her arm, “PIDGE!” Keith yelped.

Pidge cackled, almost falling off the couch. The entire time she laughed, Keith was sputtering embarrassed nonsense, face as red as a tomato. Eventually, Pidge calmed down enough to be able to speak.

“You know it’s true. Besides, it’s not like anyone you and I heard me say that,” Pidge said, giggles escaping her lips as she talked.

“That doesn’t mean you should say it!” Keith cried.

Pidge chuckled, “Did Mason text back yet?”

“Lemme check,” Keith said, embarrassment immediately dissipating. He grabbed his phone, “He did,”

“What did he say?”

“He said: ‘What’s up babe?’ With a winky face,”

“Classic,” Pidge said, scooting closer to him on the couch, “So are you gonna ask him out right away or text him for a bit before you do?”

“Probably the second option,” Keith replied quickly, “I’m not very comfortable with going out with people I barely know,”

“Yeah, I figured,” Pidge said, resting her head on Keith’s shoulder.

The rest of the night was spent half-watching terrible comedies and playing with Bailey. Pidge made sure that Keith never dwelled too much on Lance, threatening to play Firework again whenever he seemed to get too mopey. By the time she left, Pidge thought that Keith seemed a lot happier and a lot lighter than when she had arrived.

-----------------------

Lance POV

“Lance, are you sure I can be back here?” Nyma asked nervously, “I don’t want you to get in trouble,”

“Nah it’s fine babe. Shiro’s girlfriend comes back here all the time,” Lance assured her, rubbing circles into her hand with his thumb as they walked down the hallway to the locker room. He didn’t bother mentioning that Allura had to come back here for her job. It was an insignificant detail, “Besides, I want you to meet my team before the game starts,”

It was the very first game of the season, and Lance had been practically bouncing off the walls the whole week leading up to today. The Lions had done well in the preseason scrimmages, and today was the day they were going to carry that momentum into the actual season. The only bad thing is that they weren’t going to play The Galrans today, but rather some team called The Arusans that all the players on his team had assured him were pretty much irrelevant. Lance was excited to finally introduce Nyma to his teammates though, he couldn’t wait for all of their jaws to drop when they saw her holding his hand.

She was way too pretty for him. She looked like a goddess, in a tight black halter top and high waisted, light blue skinny jeans. She had on some golden bracelets and hoop earrings, her dark hair was tied back into a ponytail, and she had a black baseball cap on that she had insisted on wearing. Lance had been speechless when he picked her up from her apartment.

They walked into the locker room, and Lance sent up a silent prayer that the men inside would be decently covered up. Luckily, they all were. Lance stepped in with a huge smirk on his face, he couldn’t help it.

“Hey guys!” He said, drawing the attention of the players in the room.

“Hey Lance! Hey Nyma!” Hunk said, walking over to them.

“Oh so this is Nyma,” Shiro said, walking up offering a hand to her. Nyma let go of Lance’s to shake Shiro’s, and Lance silently cursed Shiro for making his girlfriend break their contact. When Nyma’s hand returned to his, he smiled, more smug than before.

“Hi everyone,” Nyma said, smiling.

Lance grinned, “I asked her to come watch us play today,”

“It should be a good game today,” Shiro said, “You won’t be disappointed,”

“Oh I know,” Nyma said, leaning into Lance a little.

Lance grinned and took her around the room, introducing her to each of his teammates. They all were pleasant and a few even teased Lance, asking him how he was able to trick her into saying yes. She giggled at each of Lance’s responses, which were almost always along the lines of how much of a lady killer he was. Eventually he made it through everyone in the room, well, almost everyone. Keith was the only one left, and was standing in front of his locker, earbuds in.

“Keith! Buddy!” Lance said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Keith turned around, taking an earbud out. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when his eyes landed on Nyma. A flicker of emotion passed over his face before he smiled.

“I’m guessing you’re Nyma?” Keith said pleasantly.

Nyma giggled, “Yeah,” She nudged Lance, “You must talk about me a lot, everyone here already knew who I was,”

“Well of course I do! Who wouldn’t talk about such a gorgeous woman non stop?” Lance replied, grinning at her.

Keith shot a look at Lance, but then turned back to Nyma, a small, maybe even forced, smile on his lips. “It was nice meeting you, I hope you enjoy the game,”

“Oh I will!” Nyma said. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and checked the time, “Oh, I should probably get going. Good luck, babe!” She pressed a quick kiss to Lance’s lips then walked out of the room, waving behind her.

Lance watched her walk out, smiling fondly. He knew he was gonna get teased for looking so dopey, but he didn’t really care.

“She’s beautiful, Lance,” Keith said, turning back toward his locker.

“I know,” Lance said softly. He really couldn’t believe that she was his.

“Okay, stop gawking Lance,” Shiro said, pulling him out of his stupor, “Coran wants to have a team pep talk,”

Lance shook his head, trying to bring himself back to reality, “Right, right,” Quickly, Lance got dressed into his uniform and followed the rest of the team. He fell into step next to Keith, who didn’t seem to realize Lance was next to him.

“Huh, must be really focused on the game,” Lance thought to himself. Keith had a weird, single minded focus when they practiced, nothing else really mattered to him. He only seemed to be thinking about whatever drill he was doing. He threw himself entirely into training, and Lance really admired that. He could only imagine how focused Keith would be for a game if he was like that for practices.

They made it to the meeting room, and Lance was a little surprised when Keith took a seat on the other side of the room as himself. He had thought they would sit next to each other, since they were like, sort of friends. Also there was the fact that they were the catcher and pitcher, and those positions usually stuck together before a game. Not to mention that they had walked down here together. Lance shrugged it off though, Keith must be really in the zone right now.

Coran was already there, and waited patiently for all of the men to be seated before he began.
“Okay team! The Arusans got some really good players this year, and they did well in the preseason games. They aren’t going to be easy to beat, I need you all to put everything you’ve got into this game. Your minds have to be focused on nothing but baseball, got it?” Coran paused as a chorus of grunts and words of agreement came from the team, “You guys are good, but don’t get co*cky. Find your rhythm, follow my calls, adapt, and make smart plays. The Arusans usually are pretty slow at getting the ball back infield if it’s hit into the outfield, so focus on getting the ball out as far as possible unless I tell you otherwise. We’re batting first, play well,”

Coran led the men out of the room to the dugout, there was a little chatter as they walked, but most of the men were silent, doing what they needed to to get themselves ready.

Lance caught up to Hunk and bumped his shoulder with his own, “You ready, dude?”

Hunk grinned at him, “Oh hell yeah. How about you? Nervous at all?”

Lance shrugged, “It’s nothing I haven’t done before, but I’m excited to show Nyma how good I am,”

Hunk chuckled, “I’m sure you are,”

There was something in Hunk’s voice that made Lance uneasy, he frowned, “Hey, what do you think of her?”

Hunk shrugged, “She seems nice enough, I don’t know her that well though. What’s important is that she makes you happy,”

Hunk’s words were nice enough, but the last part came out as if Hunk didn’t think she did, which was bull. Lance hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

“Well, she does,” Lance said, a lot more defensively than he had intended.

“Good, I’m glad,” Hunk said, smiling, obviously not thrown off by the tone of Lance’s voice, which was a huge relief. Lance didn’t want his teammate to have a problem with him before their first game. That could lead to a whole mess of things and bring the team down. Luckily, Hunk was actually an angel and had shrugged off Lance’s sharp tone.

Eventually they stepped into the dugout, and Lance took a deep breath of the fresh air. It was nice, warm, the field looked sunny and he couldn’t wait to get on the mound. But they were batting first, so Lance was going to have to wait.

He sat down with the others, and eyed the paper hanging up near the exit to the field. It had the batting order on it. Keith was up first, then Thace, then Lance. He grinned, excited. He felt like he could barely contain his energy and was bouncing his leg rapidly. He hoped it didn’t annoy Hunk. The team waited for what felt like forever, and then a man walked out to the mound to throw the first ball. Lance didn’t recognize the man or his name, but the crowd seemed to know who it was. He threw the ball to Shiro, who was at home plate, and the game had officially begun. The Arusans ran out to their places on the field, and Shiro came back and took his place on the bench as Keith put on his helmet and grabbed his bat.

Lance watched Keith as he walked up to the home base, he stopped just before the base and took two experimental swings, then stepped up to the plate. Once there he rested his bat on his shoulder and tapped the bottom of it twice with a gloved hand.

“Interesting” Lance thought to himself. Most players had some sort of good luck ritual before they came up to bat, but it usually consisted of hitting the home plate and/or their cleats with the bat. Even Lance had a batting ritual, granted it was shorter and less important than his pitching ritual, but it made him feel better. He had never seen someone simply tap the bottom of their bat.

Keith waited in the ready position for the pitch. He looked so calm and collected, Lance was convinced he’d hit the ball on the first swing. Which is why Lance was so shocked when he didn’t.

The pitch hadn’t been tricky, just a regular changeup (goes straight at like, a medium speed), but Keith stuttered. He went to swing, and if he had followed through he probably would’ve hit the ball, but suddenly he froze up, and the ball flew into the catcher’s mitt.

Lance’s jaw dropped. He gave Hunk a puzzled look, who looked just as confused. Lance returned his gaze to Keith, who was rolling his shoulders. The pitcher wound up, and Lance could just tell from his stance that he was gonna throw a fastball. It was a good strategy, Keith had choked on the first pitch, so a faster ball was sure to get them another strike.

Which it did.

“What’s wrong with him??” Lance asked Hunk in a hushed tone.

“I dunno dude, usually he doesn’t get psyched out this easily,” Hunk replied.

Lance furrowed his eyebrows in concern. Keith had seemed so focused before, something was very wrong. Lance sent up a silent prayer that Keith would snap out whatever funk he was in soon, Lance needed him to be able to call pitches. Also, he really was concerned, Keith was a nice guy and he liked him alot. If something was bothering him enough to mess with his game, then his life really must not be going too well at the moment.

He looked back to Keith and could feel the frustration radiating off of him. He could see it in the spark in Keith’s eyes as he glared at the pitcher, could see it in the way he tightened his grip on the bat, could see it in the way his legs seemed to become stiffer. Lance knew that Keith was either gonna utilize his frustration so well that he’d hit it to the fences, or it would make him strike out. There was no inbetween. Lance crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.

But Lance wasn’t that lucky. Keith struck out.

The man walked back to the dugout, aggravation apparent in each step. He threw his bat onto the ground and tore his helmet off, somehow managing to not have helmet hair.

“Hey man, good job out there,” Lance spoke up.

“f*ck off,” Keith hissed before sitting down on the bench next to Thace, who stood up to grab his batting equipment.

“What the f*ck is your problem?” Lance growled. He could feel anger boil up in his chest. He was just trying to be nice and encouraging and Keith had the goddamn audacity to lash out at him! He hadn’t done anything to Keith, it wasn’t his fault Keith struck out!

“Just give him a bit to cool off,” Hunk said quietly, “Nobody can talk to him when he’s like this without him getting pissy at them,”

Lance huffed. If they weren’t in the middle of a game right now, he wouldn’t have let Keith get away with that. However, there was nothing stopping him from giving Keith a piece of his mind after the game.

Lance seethed for a bit while Thace walked up to the plate. The player hit the ball on his first try, which visibly pissed Keith off even more. When the bat had struck the ball, Keith had slammed his hands on his thighs in frustration.

Now it was Lance’s turn to bat. He grabbed his helmet and his lucky bat, the one he had bought when he gotten a spot on the team for the Industriales, and headed for the plate. He quickly did his ritual, tapping the side of his left cleat with his bat before bringing the bat up to the ready position. He glanced over quickly at Coran, who tapped the side of his nose, the signal for Lance to hit the ball somewhere behind third base. Easy peasy. The pitcher wound up, and Lance settled into his stance, becoming totally focused on the task at hand. The pitcher let the ball fly. It cleared the distance between Lance and the pitcher’s mound quickly, but not quickly enough to psych him out. Lance swung, putting as much force as possible into the swing. When the ball changed direction, he dropped his bat and ran. He watched as Thace dashed away from the first base to make room for its next occupant. He didn’t have anytime to check to see if the ball had gone where he had wanted it to until he got to first base. He spotted the ball quickly, it was way out in the outfield, behind third base. He grinned, proud of his precision, but quickly realized that Thace had moved to third base. Lance didn’t hesitate to race after him, and was able to make it to second before he deemed it was too dangerous to continue.

He quickly glanced over to Coran, and the coach looked pleased, a smug grin on his face that Lance quickly copied. He was on his A-game today, and it felt really good.

Suddenly, he remembered his girlfriend was in the stands and quickly scanned the rows of seats to try to find her. He had gotten her good seats and knew what area she would be in, but couldn’t seem to pick her out of the crowd at this distance. Probably a good thing, it would keep him from constantly looking back at her and getting distracted.

The game continued. Both Lance and Thace were able to get runs, much to Lance’s delight, but no one else managed to round the bases in the first inning. Colivan, who batted after Lance, had gotten close, but had gotten out at home base.

The further they went through the game, the more apparent it became to Lance that whatever was bugging Keith was really getting to him. He kept making calls for pitches that seemed random and not thought out, which was the opposite of what usually happened. A few times he had even called pitches that simply hadn’t made sense. He even called a cutter for a man as big as Hunk! He had yelled at Lance for using that pitch against Hunk at their first practice! But, Lance still did as he was told. He trusted Keith, maybe he was trying to do something that wasn’t clear to Lance yet.

The consequence for Keith’s bad calls was that the Arusans almost never struck out. Which really f*cking sucked for Lance because it made it seem like he was the problem, when in reality he was doing exactly what he was supposed to do. This wasn’t how he wanted his first game in the American Leagues to go down, this was a bad first impression for anyone watching him play. The worst part was that Nyma was there to watch.

Luckily, everyone besides Keith was having a damn good day. The infielders were getting the Arusans out left and right, and the outfielders were getting the ball back infield so quickly that Lance was honestly convinced that they were using a wormhole to do it. Their combined efforts more than made up for Keith’s blunders, and The Lions were able to do a good job of keeping their opponents from gaining points.

The game was over before Lance knew it, and they had won, 7 to 4. It had been a good game overall. Lance laughed and congratulated his teammates as they headed back to the locker rooms. Once there he immediately stripped off his shirt, thankful to get the fabric off his body. He had gotten way too warm by playing.

Coran walked in, his stance just screaming that an announcement was about to be made.

“Good game men! That was a good way to start off the season, there are things we need to work on though,” His eyes immediately landed on Lance, then flickered to Keith, “Lance, Keith, I want to see you in my office,” He said sternly, then he strode out of the room.

Lance sighed, and pulled on the t-shirt he had been wearing before the game, then walked out of the room, not bothering to check if Keith was following. Once he got to the door to Coran’s office, he paused, mentally psyching himself up for the verbal beating he was about to receive, then he opened the door and walked into the room.

Coran was looking out the window of his office and Lance took a seat in one of the chairs placed around Coran’s desk. It didn’t take very long for a body to take the seat next to him. Lance assumed it was Keith, but he refused to look, he was still pretty pissed off.

“The performance I saw out there from you two today was unacceptable…” Coran began. Lance took in a deep breath. He knew this would happen, but it made it no less frustrating when he was blamed for mistakes he didn’t make. “I don’t know what happened out there, but you two were obviously not working together,” Coran turned to look at Lance, “I thought we had worked out this problem Lance, but you can’t ignore Keith’s calls, you have to li-”

“Coach, it wasn’t his fault,” Keith spoke up, a weird edge of confidence in his voice, “He threw every pitch I called. I’ve been off today and it threw off my judgement,”

Lance whipped his head around to look at Keith, mouth wide. Keith was looking straight at Coran, something akin to defiance, but also strangely soft, radiated from him. Keith was sticking up for him? Not letting Lance take the fall? He hadn’t expected that from Keith, they were on good terms, yes, but they didn’t know each other well. Maybe that’s why Lance was so surprised, maybe he just didn’t know Keith well enough yet to know that he had a high level of integrity. Maybe Lance could let it slide that Keith had been a total dick to him, he was obviously having a rough day, yet he still took the blame.

Coran looked at Keith like he had just gotten run over by a truck, “That-That’s very unlike you…” He gulped and brought his eyes back to Lance, “Sorry Lance,”

Lance shrugged, “It’s okay,”

Coran brought his eyes back to Keith, “Don’t let this happen again, Keith,”

“Yes sir,” Keith nodded.

“Alright, you two can go,” Coran said, dismissing them with a wave of his hand before he sat down at his desk.

Keith practically bolted out of his seat, almost running toward the door, but Lance wasn’t letting him get away that easily. He got up and followed Keith, catching up with him about halfway down the hall.

“Keith, why’d you do that back there?” Lance asked.

Keith shot him a puzzled look, “What do you mean?”

Lance shrugged, “You could have let me take the heat for that, but you didn’t,”

Keith looked shocked, and a little offended, “Lance, I’m actually a decent person you know, I’m not that awful,”

Lance laughed, “I guess that’s true,”

Keith didn’t respond to that, and instead turned his head to look in the direction he was walking. Lance furrowed his brows a bit and pursed his lips, “Hey man, I don’t know what’s got you so worked up today, but you can always talk to me if you want,”

Now that Keith did respond to, he whipped his head around to look at Lance, emotions ranging from shock to pain flashed across his face, “Uh...thank you, Lance,”

Lance nodded, and walked next to Keith in silence. He wasn’t really expecting Keith to take him up on his offer, but he figured he should tell him anyways. Sometimes it’s just nice to know that support is available if you need it, and Lance understood that.

“It’s just...uh...stupid honestly,” Keith spoke up again, surprising Lance. Keith chuckled, “Honestly it’s so stupid. It’s a crush that’s got me so worked up. I really can’t believe that I let myself get so messed up by it,”

Lance widened his eyes in surprise. That was the last thing he was expecting to hear from Keith. The man had always seemed like the kind of person who didn’t really want a relationship. Lance had been expecting some sort of family or friend drama.

“Crushes suck man,” Lance said after he worked himself out of his shock, “Especially when the person you have feelings for doesn’t feel the same for you. That’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, especially not you,”

Keith gulped, he looked like he was about to choke on air. Lance guessed he must’ve really hit the nail on the head, “Yeah...it really is the worst,”

Lance nodded, “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you so certain he doesn’t like you back? Any guy would be lucky to have you, Keith,”

Keith widened his eyes in shock, reflecting the emotions Lance was feeling. Where had that come from? It wasn’t the sentiment that had made it weird, but rather the way Lance had said it, heavily laced with some sort of emotion Lance had a hard time pinning down. Was it pity? Oh no, did Keith not do well with pity? Lance didn’t want to make this any worse for him than it already was.

Keith looked down to the floor, “He, uh, he has feelings for someone else. He told me,”

Lance smiled sympathetically, “I’m sorry dude,” He searched his brain for something else to say, and suddenly his smile widened mischievously, “You know what you have to do? You have to get back out there!” He clapped his hand on Keith’s back, “The best way to get over a guy is to get under another, am I right? Besides, the guy probably is a major dick if he can’t see what’s right in front of him,”

Keith cracked a smile, it looked a little awkward but there was a trace of amusem*nt there, “That’s scarily similar to what Pidge said,”

Lance tapped the side of his head with his fingers, “Great minds think alike my dude. But seriously, you’ve gotta try to find another guy. I can take you out if you want, play wingman. Oh man I’m a great wingman, I promise,”

Keith looked forward again, “Thanks but, that’s not really necessary,”

“Aw c’mon Keith! It would be fun!”

Keith shook his head, “Sorry Lance, it’s not going to happen,”

Lance groaned, “You’re no fun, you know that?”

“Yes, yes I do,” Keith deadpanned, then smiled smugly at Lance. Lance felt his heart flutter a little. Keith had such a nice smile. Smiles were always Lance’s favorite things about people, they were always so unique and beautiful. Though no one could beat Nyma’s smile.

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Keith POV

Mason, 10:52 PM: How’d the game the go?

Keith read the message and smiled despite the splitting headache that was throbbing in the back of his skull. He had just gotten home from the stadium. The game had ended a little after 10 o’clock, and he was tired. Normally he would still be buzzing from the postgame energy, but the last couple hours had been exhausting. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Nyma hadn’t been there. He had been getting better at wrapping his head around the idea that Lance couldn’t be his, but when he saw Nyma, it just brought back the harsh reality of his situation. She was absolutely gorgeous, and Lance looked like he was absolutely in love. It had destroyed Keith’s ability to focus. The entire game he could only think about Lance, or Nyma, or Lance and Nyma at the same time.

Keith, 10:54: We won, but I could have done better.

He flopped down on his couch, massaging his head as if it would help relieve his headache. Bailey hadn’t greeted him at the door, so that meant that the pup was probably already asleep. He was a little disappointed, he could really go for some cuddles right now.

Mason, 10:55: You’re too hard on yourself, I’m sure you did great.

Keith smiled bittersweetly. If only Mason knew what had happened today. Keith wasn’t going to tell him though. How could he? Keith would have to admit that he was basically just using Mason to get over a crush.

“Yeah, not a good idea,” Keith thought to himself.

He stared at his screen for a while, not exactly sure how to respond. Eventually he just decided to tell Mason that he was probably right, even though Keith knew he wasn’t.

Keith set his phone down and stared at the ceiling. Now he had two people telling him to try to get over Lance by finding someone else. He smiled slightly at what Lance had said, he had no idea that it was himself he had been talking about, that much was apparent. But the amusem*nt quickly washed away from him. Something about this really didn’t feel right to Keith. He wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe he had hang ups about using Mason so heartlessly. Maybe he just preferred to suffer at Lance’s hand. As much as crushes sucked, there was something addictive about them, something that felt good.

Lance made him feel good, he made Keith feel so relaxed and calm and comfortable. He didn’t want this feeling to go away. He reveled in it when he was with Lance, it wasn’t often that he felt so at ease. If he got over Lance, there was no assurance that Keith could ever find another person who did for Keith what Lance did for him. Though, if Lance was the only one that could do this for Keith, then maybe he wasn’t supposed to get over Lance.

Keith quickly pushed the thought out of his mind. It was way too deep and sentimental. He couldn’t handle that right now, not with this headache.

Keith got up quickly and went into the kitchen. He was hungry, and making food and keeping his hands busy would help clear his head. He quickly threw together a sandwich, turkey, cheese, lettuce and potato chips. Pidge always made a comment about the chips when he made one of these sandwiches around her, she didn’t understand why he didn’t just have them on the side.

He got himself a cup of water before heading to his living room to eat. Keith ate the sandwich slowly, taking the time to appreciate the food. He took a sip of water and he wasn’t sure if water had ever tasted so good. He must be really dehydrated, he hadn’t even noticed, that must be why he had a headache. He ate a little quicker after that, and went to refill his glass after he finished.

He stood in the kitchen, sipping at the water. He looked up at the clock on his microwave, it read 11:17. He really should go to bed, but he knew he would just toss and turn for hours. He was wide awake. Keith finished off his water and walked back to the living room, grabbing his phone as he sat down on the couch.

He wasn’t surprised to see a message from Mason, he didn’t really feel like talking to him right now so he ignored it. He was surprised to see a text from Shiro.

Shiro, 11:09: Hey man, how are you doing? You were really off today.

Keith smiled, he could always count on Shiro to check up on him.

Keith, 11:18: Yeah I’m okay now, seeing Lance and Nyma together just really messed me up.

Keith didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

Shiro, 11:19: I figured as much. If there’s anything you want to talk about, I’m here.

Keith chewed his lip, thinking. He definitely needed advice, and Shiro was the best person to go to for advice, but did he feel like talking about it now? He took a deep breath, he had to suck it up.

Keith, 11:21: Actually I did want to talk.

Shiro, 11:21: About what?

Keith, 11:21: Two people have told me that I should try to find a new guy to get over Lance with, but I’m not sure I want to.

Shiro, 11:22: Are you worried about being rejected again?

Keith, 11:22: No, not at all. In fact I’ve been texting the guy from the diner so I don’t even really have to find someone.

Shiro, 11:23: So what’s holding you back?

Keith, 11:24: I’m not sure. Part of me thinks I’m just not like, ready to move on yet, and the other part of me says that I don’t want to use Mason as a way to get over Lance.

It took a while for Shiro to respond this time, so Keith figured that he was contemplating what Keith had said. He turned on his TV and watched an old rerun of Supernatural while he waited.

Shiro, 11:27: Well you need to get over him when you’re ready. Don’t feel rushed to move on. But at the same time, make sure you don’t get hung up on him. As for the second part, don’t feel bad. Just keep it casual and if you feel like it’s not going anywhere, call it off. You can see how it works out with Mason without leading him on.

Keith smiled when he read the message. Shiro always knew what to say to help him out. Honestly it was uncanny how Shiro always had the right words. He must know Keith really well, or maybe he just has a knack for advice. Probably a bit of both.

Keith, 11:28: Thank you, Shiro.

Shiro, 11:28: Anytime, Keith.

Keith turned off his phone and set it on the armrest of the couch. Shiro was right, he needed to move at his own pace, no pressure. Eventually he’d move on, but right now he wasn’t quite ready for that. It might hurt, but in the end, Keith was okay with that if it meant he got to feel the way he felt when Lance was around. That was priceless, and he was okay with a little self sacrifice to get that, at least for now. At some point that wouldn’t be the case, and then, and only then, would he be ready to move on.

Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Chapter Text

Lance POV

Electric.

That’s what Lance felt like, standing on the pitcher’s mound. It was the last inning of their fourth game, and damn they were doing amazing. It would take a miracle for the opposing team to win, but that did absolutely nothing to quell Lance’s competitiveness. Lance wanted to stomp this team into the dust, assert The Lions’ dominance over them. And they had been. Lance had been striking out players left and right, with the help of Keith’s calls. On the off chance that the batter didn’t strike out, they almost never made it back to home. This whole game the opposing team only scored 2 runs, and The Lions had 9 right now.

Lance could feel the same electricity radiating through his team, with him at the center of it at the pitcher’s mound. They hadn’t lost a single game so far, and the team’s morale was insanely high.

Lance was giddy to say the least, but he needed to center himself. He was about to pitch, he had to be focused. He closed his eyes, then went through his ritual, flipping his hat backwards and throwing the ball into his mitt twice. He opened his eyes, immediately feeling more tuned into the game.

The first batter of the inning stepped up, looking a little nervous, but very determined. Lance smirked, getting this guy out was going to be fun.

Lance brought his eyes to Keith, who made eye contact with him, and made a fist with his mittless hand that was dangling between his thighs. A splitter. Lance took a deep breath, and adjusted his hand. When the batter seemed ready, he wound up, and threw the ball.

He watched with pride as the ball flew straight across the field, then dramatically dropped toward the plate at the last possible second. The batter didn’t stand a chance, he swung as if the ball had never changed height.

Lance grinned ecstatically, and he could see the same smile reflected in Keith as he threw the ball back to Lance, despite the catcher’s mask covering his face.

The two of them really made a great team. Keith was smart about what he called, and Lance was a damn good pitcher, executing each pitch flawlessly. Their teamwork translated to other parts of their game too. It was like they thought the same way, or could read each other’s minds. Lance and Keith almost always knew what kind of play the other was going to make. It was almost scary. Even in batting, they seemed to know where the other was going to hit the ball, and were able to determine whether or not moving from their current base was the best option based on that instinct.

Lance ended up striking out the first batter, then the next. He thought he would get the next one too, but on his third swing he hit the ball, and ended up making it to second base.

The fourth batter came up, and Keith called for Lance to throw a curveball, and Lance complied. The batter was prepared though, and didn’t swing.

When the ball landed in Keith’s mitt, he did something Lance wasn’t expecting. Instead of throwing it to Lance, he hurled the ball to third base. Lance quickly snapped his eyes to the base, and saw the runner trying to steal. He was almost there, and dropped down to slide to the base. Just when Lance thought that the runner was going to make it, Hunk caught the ball, his foot on the base, and got the runner out just before he was safe.

Lance’s jaw dropped. There was no way Keith should’ve been able to throw the ball that fast. The runner had probably been halfway there before Keith had even gotten the ball in his mitt, let alone thrown it.

Lance turned to look at Keith, still shocked. The catcher took his mask off, smirking co*ckily. It made Lance’s heart flutter a bit, because damn Keith was hot. If he wasn’t dating Nyma, he wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t be trying to get with Keith. The man was just, very, very attractive.

Lance grinned back, and jogged over to Keith.

“My god! Dude! That was amazing! What a great play,” Lance said, grinning widely while wrapping his arm around Keith’s shoulders.

Keith grinned at Lance, “It was pretty good, wasn’t it?”

They started to walk to the dugout as Lance replied, “Of course it was! How’d you manage to throw the ball so fast man? I swear, it’s like it went through a wormhole or something,”

Keith rolled his eyes, “You do realize that you throw pitches that are faster than that, right?”

“Do I?” Lance asked, surprised. Keith nodded in response, “Well...I’m the pitcher, I’m supposed to hit those speeds, you’re not,”

“Ah yes, of course,”

‘I’m not appreciating the sarcasm, Keith,” Lance chuckled, “But still, that was a great play,”

“Thank you, Lance” Keith said, grinning. Lance pulled away from Keith and walked a little faster so he was about two steps in front of him, then turned to walk backwards.

“Yeah, yeah. Now don’t get co*cky, kid,” Lance grinned, shooting finger guns at Keith. Unfortunately, Lance didn’t catch the wave of redness that crashed onto Keith’s face before he turned around.

-------------------------

The Lions had, unsurprisingly, won their game. The opposing team could hardly hold them back from scoring runs during the bottom of the ninth inning, and The Lions brought their score up 4 points, further rubbing their win in the opposing team’s face. They had played so well that Coran invited the whole team to his swanky apartment for an after-party to celebrate.

Lance walked through Coran’s door, freshly showered and in an outfit just slightly more formal than what he had gone to the game in. He strode into the living room, and was a little embarrassed to see that the rest of the team were dressed more casually than he was. Lance wasn’t going to let it get to him though, he looked too good to worry about being a tad overdressed.

The team was in its usual cliques. Colivan, Thace, Ulaz, and Antok were in the living room, Shiro, Allura, Keith, and Hunk were sitting at the island in Coran’s kitchen, and the rest of the members of the team were floating around. Coran was rushing around the kitchen, making some sort of dish.

“Hey guys!” Lance said as he walked up to his friends.

“Hey Lance!” Hunk grinned, “No Nyma?”

“It was too short notice, she said she already had plans,”

“Oh okay,” Hunk said, nodding.

Lance looked away from Hunk and caught Keith looking at him. He wouldn’t have thought anything of it if it hadn’t been for the look on his face.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked.

Keith’s eyes widened in shock, but he recovered quickly, “I was just surprised that you could clean up so well,”

Lance grinned, looking down at his ensemble. He had on a simple, white button up, with a pair of dark blue jeans, but what really made the outfit look good was the suspenders he was wearing. He looked back up at Keith, still grinning, and lacing his thumbs underneath the straps before pulling them away from himself slightly, “You really shouldn’t be, I have good taste. But, I’m glad you like what you see,”

Keith’s eyes widened at that, but he was able to disguise it as an eye roll.Well, almost. It was a good attempt. Lance grinned, he liked it when he caught people off guard.

Hunk chuckled, clapping Lance on the shoulder, “But seriously dude, you weren’t wearing that when you walked into the locker room today. Did you change for this?”

Lance shrugged shyly, “In Cuba we always dressed nicely for our after-parties, I figured it would be the same way here. Guess I was wrong,”

“I think you look really nice,” Shiro said.

“Thanks, man,” Lance smiled and sat down at the free chair between Hunk and Shiro, “I can always count on you to have my back,”

“I always tell Shiro to dress up a little for these things, but he never listens to me,” Allura said, grinning, “Maybe you could convince him,”

The five of them fell into easy chatter, congratulating each other on their performances in the last game, learning about what the others had been up to recently. Allura talked about a story she was working on. Hunk talked about a new recipe he was excited to try. Lance took every opportunity he could to brag about Nyma. The others, Keith especially, seemed to get a little more annoyed each time he brought her up, but he just couldn’t resist.

“Hey! You stole my seat, you dick,” Lance turned to the source of the voice, and saw Pidge walking up to him.

“First of all, rude,” Lance said, “Second of all, you weren’t here, that means it’s up for grabs,”

“It’s not my fault I had to go to the bathroom!” Pidge said defiantly, “Now get out of my seat,”

Lance chuckled, “Fine, but only because I don’t think you’d be able to see over the counter without a chair to sit on,”

Lance grinned as the others laughed at his joke and Pidge flicked him off. He got out of his seat to let Pidge sit, and walked around the island to the one seat that was left. He plopped down next to Keith, and opened his mouth to say something, but was suddenly interrupted.

“Quiznak!” Coran yelled, suddenly reminding all of them that he was there, “I need sour cream to make this dip but I forgot that I’m out!” He looked frustrated and tired, and Lance felt bad for him. He had spent so much time preparing this food, and all that time was going to go to waste if he didn’t have one ingredient.

“I can run to the store and get it if you want,” Lance offered.

“Really? That would be such a huge help, I still have to make the drinks,”

“Yeah sure,” Lance said, standing up, “And while I’m at it, I’ll get some really good tortilla chips for the dip,”

“Oh thank you so much Lance!” Coran turned to look at the others around the counter, “You should all aspire to be like this man, by far the best addition to the team I’ve ever had,”

Lance chuckled, “I’m touched Coran. I’ll be back soon!” He walked over to the coat rack and grabbed his jacket, and was surprised to see that Keith had followed him.

He quirked an eyebrow at him as he put on his jacket, “What are you doing?”

“I figured I’d keep you company, plus I know a store nearby where we can get everything,” Keith said, grabbing his own jacket, “Let’s go,”

They walked down the hall to the elevator, and didn’t have to wait long for the door to open. They walked in, and Keith pushed the button for the ground floor.

“The store is about a block away from here,” Keith said, “We can just walk there, it’s too close to justify dealing with city traffic,”

“Alright, that sounds fine,” Lance said.

They walked out of the building in comfortable silence. Lance wasn’t quite sure what to talk about, so he just let Keith lead him down the sidewalks. They passed by a few restaurants, a bookstore, an art gallery, and other things that seemed too posh for Lance’s tastes. It made sense that Coran would love in this part of the city, the man was extremely cultured, his own apartment seemed more like a museum than a home.

It only took five minutes to get to their destination. It was a cute little store, and it seemed too homey for this part of the city, but Lance was glad it was here. He followed Keith to the back of the store, and they quickly found sour cream.

“Alright, let’s go,” Keith said, turning to walk to the registers.

“Hold up, hot shot,” Lance said, grabbing his wrist to keep him from walking away, “Tortilla chips, we need tortilla chips,”

Keith turned back to him, his face lacked any sort of empathy, he quirked an eyebrow, “I don’t think Coran would be making dip if he didn’t have chips,”

Lance let go of Keith and waved him off, “He’s got a whole baseball team full of hungry men at his house, another bag of chips couldn’t hurt. Now c’mon!” Lance marched off down the aisle, not bothering to check if Keith was following. He wandered around a little bit, trying to find the chips.

“You do realize that you could look at the signs above the aisles, right?” Keith asked, after Lance wandered down a third aisle, unsuccessfully.

Lance looked up, he hadn’t thought of that. He continued walking, and strode past Keith “Of course I do! I just was curious how long your patience would hold up,” He said, completely bluffing. Then he paused, and looked back at Keith, flashing a smile, “Apparently not very long,”

Keith groaned, “I let you roam around aimlessly for like, 5 minutes. That’s pretty long if you ask me,”

“Keith, my dude, you’re not helping your case,” Lance said as he continued to walk. He paused to look up at a sign, and was pleased to find the word “chips” listed. He strode down the aisle, determined to find the brand of tortilla chips he had eaten so many times with his family. Lance wasn’t even sure if they sold them in America, but that wasn’t going to stop him from looking.

He made his way down to the tortilla chips, and searched the bags, looking for the familiar logo. He was about to give up and grab a random bag when he spotted it. The bag was hiding in the back of the shelf, and it was the last one. He grinned, and quickly grabbed it.

“Yes!” He said excitedly, “You guys have these in America! I was worried you wouldn’t!”

Keith cracked a smile at him, “Did you guys eat these a lot at home?”

Lance nodded, “I think my entire family is obsessed with these things, and that’s saying something. There’s a lot of us,”

“Well then I can’t wait to try them,”

“Oh, man, the moment these hit your taste buds you’re going to wonder why you ever settled for anything else,” Lance replied, walking down the aisle, in the direction of the registers, “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole team gets hooked on these babies,”

Keith chuckled at that, and Lance felt his chest puff out a little. It inflated his ego a little bit each time he made Keith laugh. The man didn’t laugh often, so that meant Lance had to be pretty funny if he could get him to laugh.

They checked out after some arguing about who was going to pay. Keith insisted on paying for at least one of the items, but Lance wouldn’t let him. This was his favor for Coran after all.

Their walk back involved more conversation this time. Keith asked about Lance’s family, and he happily answered all his questions. Honestly, he caught himself rambling a few times, but he couldn’t help it. Lance loved his family, and talking about them made him feel good. He was having a good time, reminiscing with Keith, he was happy.

At least, he was happy until he happened to glance into the window of one of the restaurants they passed.

He froze. Keith continued walking for a few steps, but paused when he realized Lance was no longer next to him.

“Lance?” Keith said hesitantly, “Lance, are you okay?”

Lance blinked, hoping the image he was staring at would go away when he opened his eyes again. It didn’t. His eyes were met with Nyma, sitting at a booth by the window of the restaurant, having dinner with a man he had never seen before.

She was laughing, smiling, and Lance instantly recognized her body language. That’s what she looked like when she was flirting. He blinked again.

“This can’t be real...she wouldn’t...would she?”

Lance thought back to all the times he had invited her to something and she had said she already had plans. Were all of those plans dates with another guy, like this one was? Lance could feel his heart pounding, his pulse throbbing in his ears. His fists clenched, but he was only aware of this when he felt his nails digging into his palm.

Keith followed Lance’s line of sight, and his mouth fell open when he realized what Lance was seeing.

Lance suddenly made a break for the door of the restaurant.

Keith’s eyes widened, and he lunged out, grabbing Lance’s arm, “Lance! Don’t!”

Lance jerked his arm out of Keith’s grasp, but he didn’t get far before Keith wrapped his arms around Lance’s torso.

“Keith!” Lance yelled, “Let me go!”

“I can’t do that Lance. Think about what you’re doing,”

“I am!” Lance spat out, struggling against Keith’s vice-like hold, “I’m gonna kick his f*cking ass! Let me go!”

Keith started dragging Lance away from the restaurant. Lance tried his best to free himself, fighting Keith the whole way, but it felt like the more he fought, the tighter Keith’s hold on him became. Keith pulled him into an alley, but didn’t let go.

“Lance, you need to calm down,” Keith said smoothly. The calmness of his voice pissed Lance off. How could he be so calm? How could he expect Lance to be calm??

“My girlfriend is cheating on me, Keith!” Lance cried, “Let me go!”

Lance struggled to free himself again, but to no avail. Keith was too strong. Keith was murmuring into Lance’s ear, voice low and tranquil, trying to calm Lance down. Lance was barely listening to Keith, only enough to register the tone and timbre of Keith’s voice. His mind was raging with a flurry of emotions: anger, confusion, jealousy, betrayal.

Suddenly, the reality of what he had seen hit him. Nyma was using him. She didn’t care about him, not as much as he cared for her. He could feel tears begin to well up in his eyes. What was she using him for? Attention? Sex? Fame? Money? He stopped struggling, and hung his head in defeat. What had he done wrong? Was it his fault? Did Nyma not feel fulfilled in their relationship?

He felt a tear slip out, and he cursed himself for it. He hated crying, it made him feel vulnerable and weak, and the last person he wanted to see him cry was Keith. But it was too late now. The tear had fallen onto Keith’s arm, and he spun Lance around to look at him.

Lance kept his face down, but Keith placed his hand underneath Lance’s chin, and lifted his head up so that they made eye contact, “Hey, Lance, it’s okay,” Keith’s voice was still so smooth, but it had a tinge of pity in it. Lance choked out a sob., and let his head fall onto Keith’s shoulder.

Lance doesn’t know how long he cried, it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, but it felt like forever. The whole time Keith was holding him, rubbing his hand up and down Lance’s back. It comforted Lance, but he was too busy crying to really think about it.

“Do I even matter to her?” Lance asked softly, voice a little hoarse from sobbing. He was able to control his words now, but tears still flowed, staining Keith’s jacket.

“Shhh,” Keith said slowly, “Don’t think about that right now, okay?”

Lance wrapped his own arms around Keith, and fell back into his sobs. He knew what that meant. It meant no, no he didn’t. Of course he didn’t, she wouldn’t be cheating on him if he did.

“Lance, listen to me, okay? She doesn’t deserve you, you’re way too good for her,” Keith spoke slowly, pronouncing each word clearly, as if it would help Lance accept the statement as a fact.

Lance could only shake his head in response, smearing more of his tears onto Keith’s jacket.

“Hey!” Keith said, pulling away just enough to force Lance to look him in the eye, “I’m serious. If she can’t recognize what she has, she doesn’t deserve someone as great as you,”

Lance gulped. Keith’s stare was intense, and the way he searched Lance’s eyes sent shivers down his spine. Lance could hardly hold his gaze, but he did. Something about it intrigued him, there was something hidden there, he could tell, he just couldn’t pin it down.

Lance sniffled, and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He must look like a child right now, crying because they fell down and scraped their knee. He felt so embarrassed.

Keith pulled him in for a hug, and Lance embraced him eagerly. He didn’t want Keith to see his face, puffy and red from crying, and something about the way Keith’s arms wrapped around him was extremely comforting. Keith never lessened his hold, and kept his arms tight around Lance until he chose to let go.

When Lance pulled away, he felt a little better. Well, maybe that’s not the right way to describe it. More like numb, he had cried out all of his emotions, but the pain was still there, lingering in the back of his mind. He felt empty.

“You okay?” Keith asked, his voice achingly sincere.

Lance nodded, “Yeah, for now...Thank you,”

Keith smiled softly, “You’re welcome, Lance,”

Lance took a deep breath, then turned around, “We better get going. The other’s are going to be worried if we don’t show up soon,”

Keith nodded, and followed Lance as he walked out of the alley and turned into the sidewalk. He tried to strike up a conversation with Lance by asking about his family again, trying to bring back the last thing they were talking about. Lance appreciated Keith’s attempts to distract him, but he didn’t really want to talk, he just wanted silence. But still, he felt bad if he just brushed Keith off, so he responded anyways, clearly not as enthusiastically as before.

They made it into the elevator, and they stood in silence for a little bit, but suddenly Lance spoke up,

“What do you think I should say to her?”

Keith looked at him with wide eyes, clearly surprised that Lance had initiated a conversation, then his look softened as he pondered Lance’s question. He pursed his lips slightly, thinking.

“I think...I think you should just ask her how her plans went and what she did,” Keith started, “See what she says. There’s a chance that that wasn’t actually a date that we saw. If she lies about what she was doing, then I think it’s pretty clear she was cheating and you can call her out,”

Lance let Keith’s words hang in the air for a few moments, digesting them, before he replied, “Should I...should I break up with her if she was?” Lance asked sheepishly, chewing on his lip.

Keith sighed, “Look, I might not be the best person to ask about this, but I stand by what I said before. If she cheated on you she clearly doesn’t deserve you. You don’t have to stay with a person who doesn’t treat you right, Lance. There’s someone out there that’s much better for you, who will actually appreciate you, I know it,”

Lance gulped, “So...that’s a yes?”

Keith nodded solemnly, “Yes, it is,”

Lance closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He had already known that that was going to be Keith’s answer, but he needed to hear him say it. He needed the encouragement. The idea of breaking up with Nyma filled him with so much dread. He really liked her, like, a lot. He didn’t want to not have her in his life anymore, but he knew Keith was right. Lance had to take care of himself, and that definitely didn’t involve staying with a girlfriend who cheats on you.

“You’re right, thanks again, Keith,” Lance said, opening his eyes again.

Keith’s gaze met his immediately, and once again, that look was there. The one that so obviously had something hiding in it, but Lance simply wasn’t able to read what it was. How was it that Keith could so clearly be expressing such a deep emotion but also be hiding it from Lance at the same time? It’s like this man was from another planet.

“No need to thank me, Lance,” Keith said, voice completely flat, but it softened, “I don’t like to see you hurting, if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. Okay?”

Keith’s words filled Lance’s heart until he thought it was going to burst. That was so sweet of Keith. He honestly had no idea how much Lance was going to need that support, or, maybe he did. Either way, it meant so much to Lance that he would offer to be a shoulder to cry on. Although, Lance had just cried on his shoulder, hadn’t he? Guess he should’ve expected Keith to be good to him about this.

Lance nodded, and let out a shaky breath, “Okay,”

The elevator door opened suddenly, and the two men stepped out into the hallway. Lance wanted to thank Keith again, but he knew Keith would just tell him that there was no need to thank him, so he didn’t. The two walked in silence to Coran’s apartment. Thankfully it wasn’t that far down the hall.

They stepped in, and Keith immediately walked to the kitchen and set the plastic bag with the food in it on the counter. Lance had honestly completely forgotten about it, almost everything had disappeared from his awareness when he had seen Nyma. Well, everything except for Keith.

Lance took off his jacket, and made it into the kitchen just in time to hear Allura question why they had taken so long.

“The first store we went to didn’t have what we needed, so we had to walk to another one,” Keith replied cooly. Lance smiled, relieved. He didn’t want to tell everyone what happened yet, not at this party. He wanted to feel normal and have fun with his friends, and not have to deal with the pity and the resurgence of his pain.

It was amazing how well Keith understood him, even if Keith was giving Lance what he needed coincidentally. Keith was so in sync with him, it was kind of amazing. It’s like they operated on the same wavelength.

They took their previous seats as Coran quickly grabbed the sour cream and finished his dip.

“Thank you boys so much, really, thank you,” He said.

“No problem, Coach,” Lance replied, smiling.

Coran set out all of the food and drink he had prepared. He had made more than enough, two pitchers of some sort of alcoholic drink, chips and dip, and about six other types of hors d’oeuvres. Everything looked extremely fancy, and Lance almost didn’t want to eat them. Hunk dug in immediately, grabbing a toothpick with an assortment of little foods on it. Pidge immediately poured herself a drink, and Allura made a break for the chips.

“Taste one of those chips without the dip,” Lance said as Allura opened the bag.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, “Okay,” Skepticism obvious in her voice as she grabbed a chip, but she didn’t hesitate to put it in her mouth. As she chewed it, her eyes widened, “What the hell?” She exclaimed, while chewing, “Holy sh*t! These are so good??”
Lance grinned, “Damn right they are!” He leaned over and grabbed one for himself, and popped it in his mouth.

Keith furrowed his eyebrows,”There’s no way regular old tortilla chips can be that good. They aren’t even flavored!”

“Eat it and weep,” Lance said, motioning to the bag with an eyebrow raised.

Keith gave him a look of contempt, but accepted the challenge anyways. He grabbed a chip and inspected it for a moment, then bit into it experimentally. Lance couldn’t help the smug ass grin that crept onto his face when Keith’s eyes widened in shock.

“Good, huh?” Lance said, still grinning, as he nudged Keith’s shoulder with his own.

Keith nodded, “Pretty good, could be better,” He deadpanned.

Lance gasped in mock offense. “How dare you! These things were handcrafted by God himself!”

Allura nodded, grabbing a handful of chips, “I have to second that,”

“See!” Lance said, gesturing his hands wildly, “Allura gets it!”
Keith flashed him a smile, and Lance’s heart almost stopped. It was so pure, so joyful. He’s not sure if he’d seen Keith smile like that before, and he found himself wishing that Keith would smile like that more often.

“They’re really good, Lance,” Keith said, reaching for another, and dipped it into the dip that Coran had made.

“I know,” Lance replied smugly.

The seven of them talked for as long as they could before Coran kicked the team out so he could sleep. The more time he spent with these people, the more Lance fell in love with them. Each of his new friends were so unique, so pure, so kind. They all gave each other sh*t, but it was never out of malice. Banter bounced back and forth, from person to person. Conversation flowed freely and easily. And Lance couldn’t have even dreamed of finding people as good as Allura, Shiro, Coran, Pidge, Hunk, and Keith. He wasn’t sure if they’d ever know the extent to which he was grateful for the way they had accepted him wholeheartedly.

Lance left feeling lighter than he had when he arrived the first time, and much happier than he had when he had arrived with Keith. In fact, he had almost entirely forgotten about the events that had happened on his and Keith’s little trip to the store. But that bliss didn’t last very long. It hit him as he was driving, when he was about halfway home. He wasn’t quite sure what suddenly brought the crash of emotions back. Maybe it was the love songs on the radio, or maybe the party had worn off.

Lance didn’t cry this time, which he was thankful for. Crying was exhausting and definitely not the best thing to do while driving, but Lance was still alone with his thoughts. All he could think about was how happy she had looked, how she had acted just like that with him. Were her feelings ever genuine? Was she faking it the whole time, or was this more recent? He didn’t know, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

Suddenly, he found himself wishing that Keith was here to comfort him. He shook his head, “Where did that come from?” he thought.

I mean, he couldn’t blame himself for wanting comfort, right? Of course not, he was going through some rough sh*t right now. And it made sense it would be Keith he wanted. Keith was the one with him when he first discovered Nyma’s betrayal, the one who comforted him immediately after, and the only one, besides himself, who knew what had happened. That was it, that was all there was to it.

Right?

“Right.”

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Allura’s POV

Allura finished typing a sentence into her computer, then checked the time for the tenth time in the last five minutes.

“6:20, ten more minutes and then I can get out of here,”

It’s not that Allura didn’t love her job, she did. It’s just that tonight was date night with Shiro, and she’d much rather be spending time with him than be writing a stupid article on the change to the local hockey team’s mascot.

Being a sports journalist sounded great until the news got slow. They came up with the worst excuses for articles when the sports world wasn’t super busy.

She forced herself to write a few more sentences, and then her phone rang. She picked it up quickly, grateful for something that would hopefully be a bit more interesting to pass the time with.

“Hello? Is this Allura?” A voice said through the phone.

“Yes it is! May I ask who I’m speaking with?”

“My name is Haggar, I work for The Vrepit Times,”

Allura rolled her eyes, but didn’t let the groan that was on the tip of her tongue escape her lips.

“What could they possibly want now?”

“Hi Haggar,” Allura said politely, honestly surprising herself with her ability to keep the annoyance and disgust she was feeling out of her voice, “How can I help you?”

“Well, it has come to our understanding that you are very close to some of the team members of The Lions,” Haggar began. Allura could tell she wasn’t going to like where this was going, “We were wondering if you would be willing to become an insider for us? We’ll pay you for any information you give us,”

Allura blinked, processing Haggar’s request. Had this witch really asked her to do that?

“I’m sorry, but if you think I would betray not only my friends, but my boyfriend as well, then you’re extremely mistaken. No thank you,”

“Are you sure? Name your price, we’ll give you as much as you want, within reason of course,”

“I’m absolutely sure. Don’t call me again,” Allura said with finality, and hung up.

Honestly, who did they think she was? Some sort of sleaze bag? Allura had never felt so insulted. She checked the time again, unfortunately she had another three minutes to kill. She sighed and got back to work, typing more bullsh*t about why changing the mascot’s name was so important.

“Shiro! Great to see you again! I was meaning to talk to you about something that I think will help your team in the outfield!”

Allura grinned at the sound of Slav’s voice, and rolled her chair out of her cubicle so she could see her boyfriend, and her coworker interact.

“Oh really?” Shiro said, obviously not interested but too polite to say anything, “What is it?”

“Okay, so, if you keep your locker open at a forty-five degree angle, it should increase your team’s accuracy when they throw by 40%! But you have to be careful, if you’re even two degrees off it’ll decrease the accuracy by 67%” Slav said.

Allura giggled, she loved how quirky Slav was, but she always found it funny how awkward Shiro got around him. The two were complete opposites, and Slav’s behavior had a way of getting under Shiro’s skin in a way she had never seen someone else be able to do.

Shiro looked like he was in real physical pain, but was still able to respond in a kind tone, “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Thank you Slav,”

Shiro took this opportunity to continue walking to Allura, who quickly pretended like she had been working the whole time. Allura smiled as she felt lips press onto the top of her head.

“Hey, Princess. Ready to go?” Shiro said in a singsong voice.

Allura felt her smile widen as she saved the document she was working on.

“Yes,” She said, pushing her chair back and standing up, “Let’s go,”

Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Chapter Text

Lance POV

Lance took a deep breath as he sat down on his bed. He stared at his phone, which was in his hand. He knew what he had to do.

“You can do it,” Hunk said softly, sitting next to him.

Lance nodded, and turned on his phone. He opened his chat with Nyma, cringing slightly at the blue heart emoji next to her name, and began to type.

Lance, 12:07: Hey! How’d your plans go last night?

He turned his screen toward Hunk slightly, so his friend could read what he had typed. Hunk nodded, and Lance gulped, then sent the text.

Nyma replied quickly, thankfully. Lance knew his nerves would get worse if he had to wait.

Nyma, 12:07: Great! I had a lot of fun.

Lance winced at that, and Hunk placed a hand on his shoulder. Silently urging him to continue.

Lance, 12:08: What did you do?

Nyma took longer to reply this time, which made Lance more than a little uneasy.

Nyma, 12:09: Me and a few girlfriends went out, why?

Lance chewed his lip as a flash of emotion burst through him. He really didn’t know what it was. Anger? Grief? Disappointment? Probably all three. He typed his response out furiously.

Lance, 12:10: Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I saw you having dinner with a guy last night?

Nyma, 12:11: What the hell Lance? Were you spying on me??

Lance, 12:12: Nope, I just happened to pass by the restaurant on the way back from picking up something for Coran.

Nyma, 12:13: That’s such bullsh*t.

Hunk patted his shoulder, “Don’t let her pin the blame on you,”

Lance nodded, and began typing.

Lance, 12:13: It actually isn’t, but that doesn’t matter. Who was that guy you had so much “fun” with?

Nyma, 12:14: He’s my cousin, stop being an overprotective tool.

Lance laughed, like actually cackled.

Lance, 12:15: If he’s your cousin then why did you feel the need to lie about it?

Nyma, 12:15: Because I knew you’d act like this??

Lance, 12:16: Bullsh*t, Nyma. I’ve literally never been overprotective. Besides, I’m not blind, I can tell when you’re flirting. So unless you’ve got a really weird relationship with your cousin, you should stop lying to me.

Nyma, 12:17: f*ck, Lance…

“Do it,” Hunk said. Lance took in a deep breath, and released it as he sent the text.

Lance, 12:17: I don’t even want to hear it, Nyma. We’re done.

Nyma, 12:18: Lance! You can’t do this!

Nyma, 12:18: I love you, baby, please.

Nyma, 12:18: I’m sososo sorry, I can’t tell you how sorry I am.

Nyma, 12:18: Please don’t break up with me, give me another chance.

Lance didn’t get to respond, or see any other texts she sent, because Hunk ripped his phone from his grasp. He closed his eyes, thankful for Hunk taking it away from him when he did. Lance wasn’t sure if he would’ve been able to hold his ground. He opened his eyes to see Hunk typing something.

“What are you texting her?”

“I’m telling her that you guys are finished and that she needs to stop texting you or else you’ll block her number,”

“Thanks buddy,” Lance said, lying down.

Hunk threw the phone onto the bed and sat next to him, “Are you okay?”
Lance stared up at the ceiling, “I really don’t know,”

“That’s okay. Do you want to talk about anything?”
Lance paused, there was a lot he wanted to get off of his chest, but he didn’t know where to start, “Yeah...just, not right now,”

Hunk nodded, “You wanna go watch a chick flick?”
Lance’s head shot up, “And eat ice cream?”

“Of course, we’re not heathens,”

Lance smiled slightly, “Alright, let’s go,”

Keith POV

“How’s he doing?” Keith asked, unable to keep the concern out of his voice.

“Well,” Hunk started, “He’s doing better than before, still not in very good shape though,”

Keith sighed, and switched his phone from one hand to the other, pressing it to his ear, “Are you sure I can’t visit?”

“Definitely not, Lance just discovered Ed Sheeran’s new album and he has that, Lemonade, and Katy Perry blasting,”

Keith winced, “Is it all sad music, or?”

“About half of it is sad and the rest is really encouraging and inspiring...he’s been going through some intense mood swings,”

Keith groaned, “I just want to help, I hate not being able to do anything,”

“I know buddy, I know, but Lance didn’t even want me to see him like this. I don’t think he could handle anyone else,”

Keith groaned again, and was about to reply when Hunk cut him off.

“Oh no, Happier just came on. This song really messes him up. I’ve gotta go,”

Keith sighed, “Alright, take care of him,”

“I will,”

With that, Hunk hung up the phone. Keith let his phone fall onto the couch as he stared up at the ceiling. He felt so restless. Lance was hurting, and the only thing he could do was sit here and wait.

Hunk had filled him in on the details of Lance and Nyma’s break up and it’s aftermath. Lance had been fine for a while, but suddenly everything hit him and he was a crying, sniffling mess. He had almost kicked Hunk out, but luckily the bigger man was able to calm Lance down enough for him to realize why Hunk had to stay. Not only was he providing comfort, but he was making sure Lance didn’t end up taking Nyma back.

It had only been a few days since the break up, and Lance had taken it hard, but Hunk assured Keith that he was getting better. Unfortunately, baseball hadn’t stopped for Lance, but Keith was surprised at how focused he had been during their practices and games. It was like Lance forgot about his life outside of baseball when he stepped into the stadium. It was kind of impressive, most people on the team didn’t even know anything was wrong, only the people who had been told had any idea of what happened.

But Keith couldn’t shake this feeling of restlessness, he needed to do something to help Lance.

Bailey hopped onto the couch next to him, and he instantly began to pet the pup. Well, technically he shouldn’t call Bailey a pup anymore, the little dog was fully grown now. But Keith just couldn’t help himself from thinking of his little corgi as a puppy.

The dog curled up next to him, soaking in the attention. Keith smiled softly, wondering if the dog knew that Keith was on edge and needed the comfort. Bailey always seemed to know when he needed some love.

“What should I do, Bailey?” Keith asked softly. The dog didn’t respond, as he expected, so Keith continued to pet him, and stared at the wall. He wracked his brain for anything, any idea that might help Lance. Something that made Lance happy…

Suddenly, Keith lunged for his phone, causing Bailey to yelp in surprise. He had an idea. He knew what to do. Quickly, he dialed Hunk.

He waited impatiently, praying for Hunk to pick up the phone. When he heard Hunk’s voicemail he groaned. He hadn’t expected Hunk to pick up, he was probably comforting Lance at this very moment. It didn’t make it any less frustrating though.

Keith began speaking when the phone beeped, “Hunk, I need you to get Lance’s mom’s number. Or his dad’s number. Just get me a number that I can call to talk to his family back in Cuba. Don’t tell him you need it though...just like, sneak onto his phone and get it. Thank you,”

Keith hung up and immediately went to Google, searching up available flights from Cuba to Altea.

Keith thought back to the times when he remembered Lance being the happiest. Really, truly, genuinely happy. There was one thing in common with all of those memories, Lance had been talking about his family. The best thing Keith could do for Lance right now was bring his family to him, and that’s exactly what he was going to do.

---------------------

Hunk POV

Hunk flopped onto Lance’s couch, completely spent. Taking care of Lance was exhausting, the man changed moods so fast it gave Hunk whiplash. One second he’s crying about how much he misses her, the next he’s laughing and declaring that she doesn’t know what she’s missing. He was happy to do it, though. Lance had quickly become one of his best friends, and he knew Lance would do the same for him. He thought back to all the times he had needed a little help the past few months, Lance had leapt at the chance to give him a hand each time. Lance never complained, and was always willing to do more for Hunk.

He grinned, thinking about the time he had broken Lance’s microwave. He had accidentally ripped the handle off the little machine, all Lance did was laugh. Hunk had insisted on paying for a replacement or repairing it himself, but Lance wouldn’t let him.

“I needed to get a new one anyways, this one came with the apartment and it’s obviously older than I am,” Lance had said, effectively cutting off any more argument from Hunk.

Lance was a good friend, and Hunk was more than happy to help. That, however, hadn’t stopped the wave of relief from crashing over him when Lance declared he was going to take a shower. Knowing Lance, he’d be in there a long time, especially if he was going to go through his skin care routine, and it gave Hunk some time to just sit and relax.

He picked up his phone, which he had placed on the arm of the couch about an hour ago, and was a little surprised to see a voice message from Keith. He really shouldn’t be, Keith had barely been able to leave him alone since he had found out that Hunk was Lance’s main line of support. Hunk chuckled, Keith was really, really, head over heels for Lance. It amazed him that Lance hadn’t picked up on it yet, Hunk figured it out within the first two weeks of preseason practice. Keith had never actually told him, but at this point he knew that Hunk knew.

He pressed the play button and listened to the voicemail, Keith’s voice came over the speaker, still sounding concerned but with the brightness that comes with having a new idea:

“ Hunk, I need you to get Lance’s mom’s number. Or his dad’s number. Just get me a number that I can call to talk to his family back in Cuba. Don’t tell him you need it though...just like, sneak onto his phone and get it. Thank you, ”

Hunk furrowed his eyebrows as he set the phone down, this wasn’t going to be too easy. Hunk had relinquished the phone to Lance so he could listen to music in the shower. He was going to have to sneak in, assuming the door wasn’t locked, and probe around on Lance’s phone for the number.

He sighed, his best chance was doing it now, while Lance was distracted by his shower. Hopefully the music would cover up any noises he made.

Hunk got up, phone in hand, and walked to the bathroom. He could hear Lance singing to himself in the shower and smiled in relief, that would provide even more cover for him. He turned the doorknob slowly, thankfully it was unlocked, and opened the door a crack. Lance’s singing became louder, no longer muffled by the door, and Hunk poked his head in.

The curtain to the shower was closed and the water was still running. Hunk tip-toed in, being as careful as possible so he wouldn’t alert Lance to his presence.

He grabbed Lance’s phone from the counter and typed in the passcode, which Lance had given to him after the break up so he could check Nyma’s texts without Lance having to see. When the phone opened up the music skipped, and Hunk held his breath, hoping Lance would just ignore it. He heard a soft “Weird,” but other than that, nothing.

Hunk sighed in relief, and opened up Lance’s contacts. It didn’t take him long to find “Mama” on the list, and he quickly took a picture of the contact with his own phone, set Lance’s phone down, and started walking toward the door. His hand landed on the doorknob when he realized he hadn’t exited out of the contacts app before he turned off Lance’s phone.

He threw his head back exasperatedly, and turned back around. He opened the phone again, relieved when the music didn’t skip, and exited out of the app. He turned off the phone again, set it down, and snuck back out of the room.

Hunk leaned against the door in relief, Lance hadn’t noticed, and he got what Keith had asked for. He was going to have to ask Keith why he had to be so sneaky, and why he couldn’t just ask Lance himself.

As he walked back to the living room, he sent the picture to Keith and then flopped onto the couch. It didn’t take long for Keith to respond.

Keith, 8:27: Thanks buddy!

Hunk, 8:27: Why did you need it?

Keith, 8:28: I have a plan, Hunk.

Keith, 8:28: It requires your full cooperation.

Keith, 8:28: You are essential to my mission.

Hunk furrowed his eyebrows. Keith was being weird...this couldn’t be good.

Hunk, 8:29: ...okay.

Keith, 8:29: I’m going to arrange for Lance’s parents to visit him. As a surprise.

Hunk widened his eyes in shock, then grinned wildly. This was a fantastic idea.

Hunk, 8:30: OMG! Keith! This is perfect!

Hunk, 8:30: Lance is going to love you for this.

Keith, 8:30: No, no, he’ll love /us/ for this.

Keith, 8:31: It’s going to be a group effort.

Hunk, 8:31: Whatever you say. Let me know if you need my help again.

Keith, 8:32: I will! Thank you, Hunk.

Hunk turned off his phone and smiled. Lance was so lucky and he didn’t even know it. He had a feeling, though, that he would soon. Keith obviously didn’t want to take full credit for this, but Hunk was going to make sure that Lance knew that the whole thing was Keith. Then maybe Lance would realize.

Hunk knew he had feelings for Keith, his body language was only slightly different with Keith than it was with him, but different enough for him to know that Lance didn’t see Keith as just a friend. Hunk could see it in the the way he teased Keith, and the way Lance complimented and congratulated him. It always was just slightly different than the way he was with the rest of the team, with the rest of his friends. Hunk couldn’t quite describe it, it wasn’t that Lance was warmer, it was just that he had a different kind of warmth when he was with Keith.

Hunk grinned, maybe, finally, Lance would be able to realize how happy Keith made him, now that Nyma was gone, and Keith was going to go out of his way to make Lance feel better.

Keith POV

It was four days until Lance’s parents would fly in. Setting up the trip had been surprisingly easy so far, it had only taken two days. Part of that came from Lance’s parents’ huge willingness to drop everything for a surprise visit, and the other part of it came from all of the people helping with this. Keith had made a group chat immediately after Lance’s mom had agreed to his scheme, he needed everyone’s help to make sure Lance was where he needed to be, and that he wouldn’t find out.

Allura, Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk had all immediately agreed to helping Keith, and they had made it so much easier to plan everything. Shiro had figured out when Lance was free, Pidge had helped Keith find the cheapest tickets to buy, Hunk was keeping Lance off of their scent, and Allura had agreed to picking up Lance’s parents from the airport.

The plan was simple. Lance’s parents were to fly in while The Lions were at practice. Keith, Shiro, and Hunk would keep Lance busy as long as necessary while Allura got Lance’s parents to his apartment. Pidge was going to stay the night a Lance’s the day before, so she’d be there to let Allura and the McClains in. Keith was excited, but he felt like he was going to implode when Hunk messaged the groupchat randomly.

Groupchat: Operation Surprise, Bitch

Hunk, 12:31: Hey, so uh..guys

Hunk, 12:31: We might have a problem here.

Keith, 12:32: ...what kind of problem

Hunk, 12:32: I think Lance is onto us.

Keith, 12:32: why do you think that???

Hunk, 12:32: He keeps going out of his way to say the words “surprise” and “plan” and “planning”

Hunk, 12:32: With like, a /lot/ of emphasis.

Pidge, 12:33: Are you sure you’re not just being paranoid.

Hunk, 12:33: He left his search history open on his computer and one of his searches was “signs your friends are planning something behind your back”

Keith, 12:34: whAT TH E f*ck

Pidge, 12:34: okay, fess up, who tipped him off.

Allura, 12:34: I haven’t even seen him in three days.

Pidge, 12:34: neither have I

Keith, 12:35: keeping this a secret is the most important thing in my life rn

Keith, 12:35: so

Keith, 12:35: not me

Keith, 12:36: (if it’s me im gonna throw myself off of a bridge)

Shiro, 12:36: Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, Keith.

Pidge, 12:37: do a flip

Hunk, 12:37: Lance asked Nyma to be his girlfriend on the bridge closest to the stadium

Keith, 12:37: i’ll throw myself off of that one, then.

Shiro, 12:38: >:(

Allura, 12:38: Not to throw my boyfriend under the bus, but

Allura, 12:38: I think it’s Shiro’s fault.

Keith, 12:39: whaT ThE f*ck sHIRO

Shiro, 12:40: Allura!

Allura, 12:40: Just tell them what happened.

Shiro, 12:41: I still don’t see why what I did was wrong but, sure.

Shiro, 12:42: I figured out what day was best by asking Lance what his plans were for after practice this Thursday.

Pidge, 12:42: i’m sensing an “and”

Shiro, 12:43: *sigh* and when he asked why I said “just curious,”

Pidge, 12:43: whoop, there it is.

Hunk, 12:43: hooo, boy

Keith, 12:44: I EXPECT SO LITTLE YET AM STILL DISAPPOINTED.

Shiro, 12:45: I don’t understand why that’s bad??

Pidge, 12:45: Shiro, that’s so sketchy.

Hunk, 12:45: Yeah like, why that specific day? Why do you care enough to ask? Just because you’re curious? No way.

Allura, 12:45: You shoulda just said you were thinking about having a team hang that day or something.

Pidge, 12:46: this is why you need her, Shiro. She’s smart and you’re dumb

Shiro, 12:46: I am smart, Pidge!
Allura, 12:46: sure you are, babe

Shiro, 12:47: :(

Hunk, 12:47: Oh no, guys.

Hunk, 12:47: I bet me convincing him to clean his apartment because it would “make him feel better” and it’s the “first step to starting your new life” seemed real suspicious after Shiro did /that/

Keith, 12:48: I’m not even gonna get off my bike when I drive to the bridge, I’ll just drive right off the edge.

Shiro, 12:48: Keith!!

Allura, 12:49: Guys, guys it’s fine.

Keith, 12:50: Look me in the eye and tell me one good reason why this is okay.

Allura, 12:50: Hunk can just “accidentally” hint that we’re planning a surprise party for him.

Hunk, 12:51: That’s actually a fantastic idea. His birthday is in like, two weeks.

Pidge, 12:52: true, he won’t shut up about it.

Allura, 12:53: Exactly! He’ll think he’s got it all figured out and then BOOM. Parents.

Keith, 12:54: Allura, you are a beautiful human being and deserve nothing but the best.

Allura, 12:54: Oh I know. But thank you. <3

Pidge, 12:55: Operation Surprise, Bitch is saved!
Hunk, 12:56: Okay guys I gotta go, Lance keeps trying to look at my screen. I’ll set up the bait.

Keith turned off his phone, and sighed in relief. He was really worried for a while there. He still kind of is. He just, he wants this to be special. Not that it wouldn’t be special if Lance knew, but he wants to see the look on Lance’s face when he sees his parents, in person, for the first time in months. He wants to see the shock, and the pure joy.

He just, he wants to see Lance happy again, and he knows that being surprised like this brings a unique, overwhelming sort of joy that is hard to replicate. He’s seen videos of people being surprised with being reunited with their loved ones, and Keith just desperately wants that for Lance. It doesn’t matter to him what else results from this, as long as it makes Lance happy. That was his only goal, this wasn’t some grand scheme to make Lance like him, he just wanted Lance to be truly happy again, and bringing his parents here, as a surprise, was the best way to do that.

Lance POV

Something. Was. Up.

That much was obvious. He wasn’t sure how many of his friends were a part of this scheme, but he knew Hunk and Shiro were, and if Shiro was involved then Allura was probably in on it at some level. It was hard to tell with Keith and Pidge, they had really good poker faces, they really didn’t give off many hints.

He’d done some snooping, and figured out what they were planning: a surprise birthday party! It hadn’t been too hard to figure out, Hunk hadn’t cleared his search history and it was full of things like “party ideas”, “cool cake recipes”, and “what kind of alcohol do cubans really love,”. Lance had chuckled at the last one, it was cute. Hunk was trying to bring a piece of his home to this party and he really appreciated that.

He actually felt a little bad for figuring it out. But it wasn’t his fault they were being so obvious! Cleaning his apartment? Asking him if he’s free at an oddly specific time just out of curiosity? Too easy.

Today was the day of the surprise party, and Lance still wasn’t sure if he wanted to pretend like he was surprised or if he wanted to hint that he knew all day. On the one hand, he wouldn’t ruin it for his friends, on the other, he could watch them squirm as they freaked out about whether or not he knew. It was a hard decision.

Lance drove to practice feeling good. For once, his mind wasn’t on Nyma. It had only been a week since the break up but he already felt better, not entirely healed, but better. Hunk and the others snooping around, planning this party behind his back had given him a much needed distraction. It also reminded him how much they loved him.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out why they decided to throw him a surprise party. They wanted to cheer him up. It was actually really sweet.

He smiled, he really did have the best friends.

Practice went as usual. Coran worked them to the bone, but they still managed to have fun. It wasn’t that hard when you’re doing what you love, with people you love. Lance walked back into the locker room with the rest of his team, sweaty, and with that burn in his muscles that made him feel like he had truly accomplished something.

He took his time in the shower, as usual. Letting the warm jet streams of water massage his body. When he got out, he noticed, smugly, that only Keith, Hunk, and Shiro were left in the locker room.

“What are you guys still here for?” Lance asked, innocently, as he walked to his locker.

“We wanted to see if you wanted to come with us to get some pizza,” Shiro said.

“Yeah, then we could head back to one of our places and watch a movie or something,” Hunk added.

Lance grinned, he had been good up until now, but he wanted to see them sweat a little.

“Hunk, asere , that sounds like a lot of fun but I’m kinda beat,” Lance said as he got dressed.

“Oh come onnnnn,” Hunk whined, “It’ll be fun, and it’s not even late!”

“If Hunk is saying it’s not late then you know it’s not late,” Keith chuckled, “The man goes to bed at like, grandpa time,”

“Hey!” Hunk said, grinning.

Lance turned to them, drying his hair with his towel before letting it rest around his shoulders, “Fine, if you really want to,”

They let him take his time getting ready as they decided what pizza joint they were going to go to. Once they decided, Hunk had convinced them on going to to his choice, they walked out to their cars. They all drove separately, which made going to places together after practice obnoxious because then they couldn’t carpool. When they got to the restaurant, they met up again and quickly ordered pizza and found a booth to sit in.

“I cannot believe that you ordered pineapple on your pizza,” Shiro said to Keith as he stared at Keith, who was diving into his pizza.

“It’s good!” Keith responded, chewing.

Hunk nodded, “Usually I don’t like pineapple pizza, but this place makes the best pizza, so the pineapple is like, tolerable,”

Keith scoffed, but didn’t get the chance to retort before Lance cut in, “I don’t care what you guys say, American pizza doesn’t even come close to the pizza in Cuba,”

Shiro raised an eyebrow, “Is there a big difference?”

Lance nodded furiously, “Oh yeah! The dough is thicker, the sauce is sweeter, we use gouda and mozzarella, and our toppings are so much better,”

“What do you guys usually put on pizza?” Keith asked, an eyebrow raised.

“I’ve seen some people put banana on pizza, chorizo is really popular, lobster and shrimp too,” Lance grinned, thinking about the little pizza shop in his town that him and his family used to go to, “My favorite topping is lechon,”

Hunk looked fascinated, “Oh man, that sounds so good! I really want to try it,”

Lance’s smile widened, “You should come with me to Cuba, I’m gonna go home and visit as soon as I get the chance. You could try some pizza Cubana auténtica ,”

Hunk grinned, “That would be fantastic!”

They all continued to talk while they ate their pizza. Lance wasn’t going to lie, thinking about the pizza in Cuba made him homesick. It brought back so many fond memories of his family, especially of his siblings. In the summers they’d all ride their bikes to the nearest pizza place for lunch, with some money Mamá had given them. Thankfully, his friends were here to distract him, and keep him from being too sad about it.

Lance didn’t miss the moment when Keith checked his phone, something he had been doing a lot during their dinner, and nudged Hunk with his elbow. He showed him his screen, Hunk nodded and immediately finished his pizza.

“Must be time for the surprise party,” Lance thought, trying hard to keep a knowing smirk off of his face.

Keith finished his pizza as well, and Shiro seemed to figure out what was going on and followed suit. Lance was the only one with pizza left, and although he only had the crust left, he decided to take his sweet time finishing it.

Keith looked like he was going to explode, bouncing his leg up and down rapidly, “Lance, hurry up,” he whined.

“Why? It’s not like we’re going anywhere,” Lance said, unable to keep the teasing edge out of his voice.

“Who’s place are we going to to watch movies? We can’t go to mine because Allura has some friends over,” Shiro asked.

Lance decided to make this one easy for them, but he was still going to eat at a snail’s pace, “We can go to mine, I’ve got lots of movies, and Netflix,”

“Perfect!” Hunk said, smiling.

Lance took a small bite out of the crust, barely even making a dent. This seemed to be the last straw for Keith. He stood up suddenly, “I’m gonna go pay,”

Lance smirked as he watched Keith walk up to the counter and pay for his meal, then stand by the door, arms folded. He was tapping his fingers against his arms impatiently and kept checking the time on his phone every couple seconds.

Lance let Keith suffer for about two minutes, making his way through the last bit of crust slowly and steadily. It seemed to get under Hunk and Shiro’s skin too, which only increased Lance’s satisfaction. If you could get Shiro to be frustrated and impatient, you knew you were truly annoying, which was his goal.

Eventually, Lance finished and walked up to the counter to pay for himself, but before he could talk to the cashier, Keith was pulling him out the door.

“I already paid for all of us, let’s go,”
“Woah, woah, woah,” Lance said, freeing his arm from Keith’s grip, “You paid for all of us? You didn’t have to do that,”

“It meant that we would get out of here quicker. Besides,” Keith said, flashing a smile at him, “You wouldn’t let me pay for everything we got for Coran, so I guess this is revenge,”

Lance’s heart melted a little as Keith turned to go out the door. That smile was just...too much. Lance was knocked out of his trance when Hunk bumped into him on his way out.

“You okay there buddy?” Hunk asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay,” Lance said, following Hunk to his car.

-----------------------

As they walked up the stairs to his apartment, Lance felt like he was vibrating. He was so excited. He knew what lay behind his door. Allura, Pidge, Coran, and the rest of his team, all there for him. The closer they got to the door, the harder it was for him to keep from hinting that he knew what was up. He couldn’t do that to them though, they had worked hard on this, he didn’t want to ruin it for them.

Keith, Shiro and Hunk were talking about what movie they wanted to watch as Lance took out his keys. To be honest, he was impressed with how dedicated they were to making this seem like a normal outing. Had he not seen Hunk’s search history, he would be having some serious doubts about whether or not his suspicions were right. But he knew he was right.

He inserted the key into the lock and opened the door, readying himself for all the people and the noise that came with surprise parties.

None came.

He stepped into the apartment and looked around, no one. He frowned in disappointment, he had really thought his friends were going to do something for him. Lance turned to take his sneakers off as the others filed in behind him.

“ Mijo, ”

Lance whipped around so fast he almost tripped over his shoes.

“It can’t be…”

But it was. Lance’s eyes fell on his mother, and then his father, who was a few feet behind her. They were there, here, in America, standing in his f*cking living room.

Suddenly, there was a smile on Lance’s face that was so big it hurt, and he was running toward his parents. He crashed into them with a hug, “Mamá! Papá!”

They hugged him back tightly. The embrace was wordless as they took each other’s presence in. It was so much to comprehend. Lance didn’t want to pull away, but he wanted to see his parents’ faces, so he did.

His eyes welled up with tears, “Oh my god, I missed you. Los extraño mucho ,”

His mother and his father smiled back at him, his mother had tears streaming down her face, “We missed you too,” they said in unison, their accents thick.

Lance pulled them in again, burying his face into his mother’s shoulder. Her scent overwhelmed him, he didn’t realize how much you could miss someone’s smell until that moment. Memories of his mother flooded his mind, memories of cooking with her, of her cheering him on during his games in school, of saying goodbye to her.

That sent Lance over the edge. He was bawling. It wasn’t even the cute kind, it was the ugly, face-twisting sort of crying. His sobs were heavy, and his mother just held him, stroking his hair. He felt his father shift to stand behind him, and soon he was engulfed in a parent sandwich. When his sobs lightened, he turned to hug his father properly.

He couldn’t believe this, how did this happen? How did they get here?

He lifted his head to look above his father’s shoulder, and he saw his friends. All of them. Hunk, Shiro, Allura, Pidge, and Keith. They were all smiling at him. Allura had a tear running down her face, Hunk looked like he was about to cry, Pidge was grinning from ear to ear, Shiro had an arm wrapped around Allura’s waist, and he was looking at Lance like a proud father, and Keith.

f*ck.

Keith was in the middle of them, his arms were crossed lightly against his chest, and he had the warmest, most heart melting smile on his face. It was small, but his eyes were lit up as if it was taking up his entire face. Lance could feel his chest tighten.

He buried his face into his father’s shoulder, and tried to wrap his head around everything. This must have been what they were planning, it was never a surprise party. Those sneaky bastards.

He pulled away from his father, smiling uncontrollably. He was so happy, he had been missing his family since the first day he came to America. They were here .

He turned to his friends, “Thank you, thank you so much,”

All of their smiles widened.

“You’re welcome,” Hunk said warmly, “But you really should thank Keith. He’s the one who came up with this and got everything set up, we just helped with the execution,”

Lance looked at Keith, who was looking at Hunk in horror. His eyes were wide, his hands had fallen to his sides, and his mouth was agape. Lance thought he could see a slight blush covering his face.

He smiled, and then barreled toward Keith. Lance wrapped his arms around him and lifted him up. Keith yelped in surprised and Lance held him in the air for a moment before setting him down. He released Keith and he could feel his smile soften, “Thank you, Keith,”

Keith blinked in surprise, then looked down, a hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. His blush was very apparent now.

“It-it’s no big deal,” Keith sputtered out.

“Of course it’s a big deal!” Lance said, throwing his hands in the air, “You brought my parents here! Do you know how much that means to me?”

Keith looked up at him, but he didn’t say anything.

Lance let his hands drop, and he pulled Keith in for a hug, a real one this time, “Thank you so much,”

Keith tensed for a second, then relaxed and hugged Lance back, wrapping his arms around him delicately, “You’re welcome, Lance,” They stayed there, holding each other for a few moments, before Shiro spoke up.

“So Lance, are you going to introduce us to your parents?” Shiro asked.

Lance pulled away from Keith, “Oh! Right!” He walked over to stand between his parents.

“This lovely lady,” he said, holding his arms out toward his mom, “is Esmeralda McClain. And this handsome devil,” he turned so his arms were toward his father, “is Fernando McClain,”

His parents smiled at his friends, and said “Hello,” in unison.

His friends took turns introducing themselves, Shiro was first, then Allura, Keith, Hunk and Pidge. His mother hugged them all and his father shook each of their hands.

“Thank you all for bringing us here,” his mother said, “Especially you, Keith,”

Keith smiled warmly at her, “You’re welcome, Mrs. McClain,”

Lance grinned as his mom scoffed, “Mrs. McClain! Please, call me Esmeralda,”

“Oh, okay!” Keith said, “You’re welcome, Esmeralda,”

Suddenly, Lance realized how hungry his parents must be, “Do you guys want any food? Or anything to drink?”

Both of his parents said they were fine, and the group eventually sat down. Lance’s parents told the others every one of the embarrassing stories they had about their son, but Lance couldn’t even be mad. He was too happy to have them here, to be able to hear their voices and their laughter in person again.

After his friends left, him and his parents switched to speaking Spanish. It felt good to speak his native tongue, he hadn’t realized how much he missed it. Lance gave them a tour of his apartment, and started planning out all the things they could do together while they were here. They told him that they were here for five days, which meant that they could see him play two games. He insisted on taking them out to dinner, and maybe even to see a movie.

He never stopped smiling, not once. And not only that, but all residual thoughts of Nyma were gone, left the station, never to be seen again. This was what he had needed. Something about his parents just being around him was healing.

His dad went to bed first, he had always been an “early to bed, early to rise” type of person.

Lance and his mom were sitting together on his couch, idly watching TV with Lance cuddled up against her. Lance smiled, cuddling with his mom made him feel safe, made him feel just so...comfortable. They had always cuddled like this, all throughout his childhood, and he had missed it a lot. Lance had wished more than once that his mom would be there to hold him and cuddle him while he was dealing with the worst part of his break up with Nyma.

Suddenly, his mother spoke up, pulling him out of his thoughts, “ Keith is a nice boy, ”

Lance furrowed his eyebrows slightly, “Yeah, he’s a pretty cool dude, ”

“You know, he paid for our plane tickets, ”

“WHAT, ” Lance said, straightening himself up, “He did what?? ”

“He paid for our tickets, ”

“By himself?! ”

“Yes,”

Lance sighed, “He didn’t need to do that, I’m gonna pay him back,”

Esmeralda stayed silent, and her gaze made Lance uneasy. It felt like she was looking at him under a microscope. He didn’t know what she was looking at him for, or what he had to hide, but he felt like any sort of movement would make her see right through him.

“He’s important to you, isn’t he? ”

Lance blinked in surprise, “ What? ”

She smiled warmly, “ Do you have feelings for him? ”

“W-what? No! No way! ” Lance sputtered out, “ What gave you that idea? ”

She shrugged, but there was a knowing smile on her face, “Ijust saw the way you were acting with him, you only act that way with people when you like them, ”

Lance scoffed, “I do not like Keith ,”

“What a shame, I think you two would be a cute couple, ” she replied, grinning. She got up, “ I’m going to go to bed, goodnight Lance, ”

“Goodnight Mamá, love you, ”

“Love you too, ” she said, pressing a kiss to the top of his head before exiting the room.

Lance stayed up only a little while longer, finishing the episode of The Tonight Show he and his mom had been watching before heading to bed.

He had been able to keep his and his mom’s conversation out of his head, for the most part, while watching TV, but without the distraction it suddenly became the only thing he could think about. Questions flooded his mind as he climbed into his bed. Why did she ask that? Did she really think he liked Keith? Did others think he liked Keith too? Was he really that obvious?

“Wait, what the f*ck?”

Had he really just thought that? He...he didn’t like Keith, there was nothing to be obvious about.

Except for maybe the way Keith’s laugh made him feel some time of way, especially when it was Lance who was the cause of it.

Or maybe the way Keith’s smile made his heart flutter.

Or maybe the way Keith looked when he took off his helmet made Lance’s chest tighten.

Or even the way Lance’s fists clenched when other guys flirted with Keith.

Wait... other guys? Not just guys in general?

Lance furrowed his eyebrows. Then his hands flew to his face, and dragged down it as the sudden realization that he had been flirting with Keith crashed down on him.

“f*ck,” he thought, “I do have a crush on Keith,”

Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Chapter Text

Lance lunged for his phone, and quickly dialed the only person who he could trust right now with this sensitive information.The only person who’d be able to help him cope with the crushing realization he has a...well... crush on Keith, Hunk.

The man was too pure and good for this world, and Lance valued him to no end. He would be eternally grateful to Hunk for all of the support, kindness, understanding, and companionship he had offered him, especially during the break up with Nyma.

He felt like he was vibrating as the phone rang, in the back of his mind he realized how late it was, and sent up a silent prayer that Hunk would be awake. He needed to talk this out now , if he waited until morning the things he was feeling now would disappear.

He sighed in relief when the phone cut off mid-ring, and Hunk’s voice came across the speaker.

“Lance, what the hell? Do you know how late it is?”

“I think I like Keith,” Lance blurted out.

“...say that again?”

Lance took a breath, and spoke slower this time, “I think I like Keith,”

“Oh, you’re finally picking up on that? I wondered how long it would take you,”

Lance could just hear the grin on his face. If he was with Hunk, he would’ve retaliated by punching him in the arm, or something close to that, but he couldn’t do that over the phone.

“Hey! Leave me alone!” Lance pouted, “Not all of us are good at this whole ‘emotions’ thing,”
Hunk snorted, “That’s for sure,”

Lance sighed, “Okay but, I want to talk about this,”

“Sure thing buddy, start wherever you want,”

Lance paused, and decided the best place to start was when he realized the depth of his feelings for Keith. So, he told Hunk about the conversation he had with his mom, and the thoughts that had occurred afterward.

“...and, I just…” Lance said, after finishing his story, “This is so weird for me...it feels so sudden but it also feels like I’ve always sort of known. You know those things where like, you were aware of something but never really noticed ? Like when you realize what your friend’s eye color is after knowing them for months? It’s like that,”

Hunk hummed in response, “That would be strange and unsettling,”
“Exactly! So I guess I just...don’t know what to do with myself,”

“Well,” Hunk started, “I think you should just keep doing what you’re doing, but like, make your flirting obvious enough for Keith to notice it,”

“What do you mean?”

“We all knew you had a crush on him before you did, but he’s the only one left who doesn’t know. You just have to make it clear to him that you’re interested,”

“But what if he’s not? I don’t want to be embarrassed,”

“That’s never stopped you before, besides, you might be surprised,” Hunk said.

The way he said that made Lance pause. It was like he knew something that he wasn’t saying.

“What do you mean by that?” Lance questioned.

“I’m tired, g’night Lance!” Hunk said with the fakest yawn Lance had ever heard.

“No! Wait!” Lance cried as Hunk hung up the phone, “Dammit,” he said as he turned off his phone and threw it beside him on the bed.

Hunk knew something, but he was the best at keeping secrets. That’s why Lance was so comfortable telling him things. If he didn’t want to give something up, he wouldn’t.

It was possible that he said that because he knew that Keith was interested in Lance. That was the most likely explanation. But there was really no way to be sure.

Lance sighed, it didn’t really matter either way. The best way to go about this was to show Keith that he was interested in him. It would just be nice to have the reassurance.

He shifted to grab his phone so he could plug it into his charger, but noticed he had received a text message.

Unknown Number, 1:37: Lance, it’s Nyma. Can we talk?

Lance rolled his eyes. He shouldn’t even respond. He knew that. He deleted her number for a reason, but something compelled him to answer.

Lance, 1:40: I guess.

Unknown Number, 1:41: I’m so sorry for what I did to you, it’s unforgivable.

Lance, 1:41: Hence why I haven’t forgiven you.

Unknown Number, 1:42: Lance...give me another chance.

Lance, 1:42: Do you think I’m an idiot? Why would I do that?

Unknown Number, 1:42: I promise it will never happen again.

Lance, 1:43: No. I’m finally starting to heal, I’m not getting sucked in again.

Lance took in a deep breath, and thought back to all of his good memories with Keith, and even the not so good ones. Especially the night Lance had found Nyma at the restaurant with the man he still didn’t know the name of. He thought about how supportive Keith had been, how well he had taken care of Lance, and he smiled. He started typing again.

Lance, 1:44: Besides, I’ve got my eyes set on someone who would actually treat me well. Goodbye Nyma.

With a bit of finality, he put his phone on do not disturb and plugged it into the charger. That had felt good . It gave him some form of closure he didn’t know he had needed.

He fell asleep quickly, feeling more at ease with himself than he had felt in a long time.

----------------------

So, as it turned out, figuring out that he had a crush on Keith was one of the worst revelations in Lance’s life.

It felt good in the moment, to finally have an explanation that made everything make sense. But it amplified everything for Lance. Things he was able to casually appreciate about Keith before were now making him weak at the knees. It hadn’t been a problem over the days off the Lions had had on Friday and Saturday, since Lance hadn’t seen Keith at all and spent all of his free time with his parents, but it really made practice difficult when they came back on Sunday.

Lance could hardly keep his eyes off Keith in the locker room. He had been strutting around shirtless, as if it was legal to be so hot. Lance had stared so much that he practically had Keith’s entire torso memorized, but he tried his best not to think back on it, not right now.

Right now he was in the batting cage. Coran wanted him to work on judging whether or not the ball was at the correct level to hit. Lance’s weakest part of his game was judging how high the ball was, and when he struck out, it wasn’t because his timing had been off, he struck out because he had taken a swing on a pitch that wasn’t centered.

“You could be as good as Shiro if you can perfect your ability of judging the ball’s height,” Coran had said.

He settled into his stance, waiting for the next ball to fly at him. The last one had been centered, but there was no telling what the next one would be. Coran had rigged the machine to be random with the height of each ball.

The ball flew out, and he quickly made a judgement, and swung the bat. He missed. The ball had been too high.

“f*ck,” Lance murmured to himself, frustratedly. That was the fifth ball he had missed since he got in here, and he hadn’t been there long.

Lance kept going, and every time he swung when he shouldn’t have he got more frustrated with himself. Which, granted, wasn’t a lot, and was becoming less and less often. But Lance focused on what he was doing wrong, not what he was doing right. He was getting ready to throw his bat down and walk away when he heard a voice from behind him.

“You’re doing great, don’t get frustrated,” Keith said.

Lance spun around to look at him, he was on the other side of the cage, looking at him through the fencing.

“Yeah, well, I keep messing up,”

Keith co*cked his head to the side, “I’ve been watching you for a while, you seem to be doing things right more often than you do them wrong,”

Lance sighed, “I guess it doesn’t feel that way, then,”

“Do you want a tip?”

Lance eyed him curiously, “Sure,”

“Okay, so, this is probably the worst tip ever...but I’ll say it anyways,”

“Get on with it,” Lance groaned.

Keith shot him a look, “I was literally just about to, you’re so impatient. But anyways , I used to have a similarly hard time with reading where the ball was going to go, and Shiro told me that I have to truly see the ball,”

Lance turned back to the machine, knowing it was going to send out another projectile soon enough, “I’m pretty sure I can see, Keith,” he said sarcastically. He might have a big ass crush on Keith, but that didn't mean that Keith couldn't be annoying anymore.

Keith sighed in obvious frustration, “No, not that. You need to be able to focus on only what the ball is doing, nothing else,”

The machine released a ball and Lance hit it, it had been dead center, though.

“Explain,”

“You need....you need to be able to tell how fast it’s going, and know how the direction it’s turning will affect it. Put that pitching knowledge to good use,”

“But my problem is that I can’t tell when regular pitches are too low or too high. I’m good at reacting to tricky pitches, it’s the basic ones that mess me up,”

Keith hummed, “Interesting, okay... Do you know what level or angle your hand has to be at for a centered pitch?”

“Of course,”

“What about a high or a low one?”

“What do you take me for, Keith?” Lance said as he turned to face Keith, totally ignoring the ball that whizzed past him and hit the netting directly behind him, “I’m a pitcher, and a damn good one, of course I do!”

Keith nodded, a smug look on his face that made Lance’s stomach do a somersault, “I know. So you should use that knowledge to your advantage, watch the pitcher’s hand,”

Lance’s mouth opened slightly as he contemplated what Keith had just said, it made sense, and he kicked himself for not thinking about it before.

“Okay, so that’s some great advice. But , it doesn’t help me in this specific situation,” Lance said, gesturing toward the machine.

Keith shrugged, “Can’t help you there. But practice makes perfect, right?”

Lance rolled his eyes, he was so tired of hearing that saying, “Right,”

Keith didn’t respond, and instead stepped into the batting cage next to Lance. Which was definitely not what Lance needed right now. Keith was too distracting, and Lance desperately needed to focus.

He tried his best, but he just couldn’t help it when his eyes glanced away from the machine. Each time they did they landed on a different part of Keith’s body. His arms. His legs. His ass.

Lance shook his head each time in a desperate attempt to keep his mind under control, but he was f*cking up more often now. Not just with his perception of the level of the ball, but with his timing of each swing as well.

Keith, on the other hand, was damn near perfect as always. He hit with consistent, powerful swings, which only made Lance angry. Why was he so good at everything? It was infuriating! And not just in the way it had been before, where Lance was mad that he couldn’t be like that. There was still a hint of that kind of frustration there, but now there was just more of a f*ck-he’s-so-perfect-and-hot-I-can’t-handle-this vibe going on.

Ten minutes passed, but it felt like hours to Lance, and he was grateful when Coran called him away from the batting cage to do a cardio drill with some other teammates.

The rest of practice passed without too much distraction. Lance couldn’t help the occasional stolen looks, but overall he was able to keep his head in the game.

It was when they went back into the locker room that things became a real problem.

Keith stripped off his shirt as soon as he walked through the doors, as was his usual custom, but today it made Lance’s heart skip a beat. It took his mind to places he knew it shouldn’t be, not here, not now.

Lance quickly pushed the all too erotic thoughts out of his head, and did his best to keep his eyes off of Keith. He didn’t need to be thinking these things in a locker room , of all places.

Lance went through his usual routine, peeling off his clothes and taking a shower. He was eager to see his parents, so he actually spent a normal amount of time cleaning off. When he was done, his face fell when he saw that Keith was already out, a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. Lance tried his best to take his eyes away, but he couldn’t. Keith wasn’t facing him, so he took the luxury of really checking out Keith, grazing his eyes over the curve of his ass, noticing how amazing Keith looked when beads of water still clung to his skin, and taking the time to appreciate how damn amazing Keith’s shoulder-to-hip-ratio was.

Lance walked over to his locker and started getting ready to head out, making some small talk with Keith as they got dressed.

“Hey, I wanted to tell you that you were doing really well in the batting cage,” Keith said when there was a lull in their conversation, “I know how easy it can be to get frustrated with yourself, so I wanted to make sure you knew you did well,”

Lance blinked in surprise, suddenly at a loss for words, “Th-thank you, Keith,”

Keith looked over at Lance, mouth opening to say something, when the door to the locker room swung open.

“Hey nerds,” Pidge said as she strutted in.

Keith looked over to her in surprise, “Pidge, you do realize people are changing in here, right?”

She shrugged, “I don’t really care,”

“Figured,” Keith said, “What’s up?”

She punched him in the shoulder, “We need to catch up, it’s been way too long since we’ve hung out. You need to tell me what’s going on in Keithland,”

Lance grinned at them and turned back to face his locker, letting them continue their conversation.

“I mean, there’s not really much going on…” Keith replied.

“You sure?” Pidge said with an edge in her voice that told Lance that whatever she was about to say next wasn’t good, “Nothing at all?

“...no?” Keith said, obviously confused.

“Not even with Mason?” Pidge asked, smugly.

Lance’s heart stuttered. Mason? Who was that? And why did that name sound so familiar?

He spun around to face Pidge, but moved way too quickly. He tripped over his own feet and landed on Keith. He looked up at Keith, who was looking back down at him, face full of shock. Blushing, Lance pushed himself off, trying to ignore how strong and stable Keith felt underneath his hands, and tried his best to gain some semblance of composure.

“Who’s Mason?” He asked, way too innocently.

Keith looked down, his jaw set tight.

“The waiter that hit on Keith at that restaurant you guys went to awhile back,” Pidge answered nonchalantly, “Keith’s been texting him,”

“You have?!” Lance shouted, turning to Keith.

Keith winced, and started to scratch his arm nervously, “Well, yeah...but it’s not serious. We don’t text very often,”

Lance blinked, trying to process what he was hearing. Keith had actually taken some sort of interest in the waiter? And Keith was trying not to make it sound like a big deal, but he could be lying, downplaying it, trying to avoid further embarrassment.

“Great. This is just great,” Lance thought to himself. He spun back around and hastily started putting his things together.

“Well that’s great for you Keith! I’m so happy for you. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, let me know how it works out!” Lance said, speaking much too fast to be casual, “I’ve gotta go, parents to see, things to do. Bye!”

Lance rushed out of the locker room. Leaving behind a very confused, frustrated Keith, and a giggling Pidge.

Keith POV

“WHAT THE ACTUAL f*ck, PIDGE?” Keith yelled as soon as the door closed behind Lance, “What on f*cking Earth made you think that was a good idea?!”
Pidge was still giggling, which made Keith want to punch her in the face. She had just ruined everything and she thought it was funny?! What the f*ck? What kind of friend was she?

“Okay...okay, I did it for two reasons,” Pidge began as her giggles began to subside, “One: I really wanted to see the looks on your faces when I said it. Two: Jealous Lance,”

Keith threw his head back in despair, “Pidge! He’s going to think I’m into someone else!”

Pidge nodded, “He’ll get jealous. He’ll kick into overdrive trying to win you over, he won’t be able to hide and pretend,”

“You don’t know that though!” Keith protested, his anger rising, “You could have just completely turned him off!”

Pidge waved her hand dismissively, “Not Lance. He’s too determined, too ambitious, too self-assured, and definitely has too big of a crush on you to risk letting you slip away,”

Keith sighed, “You don’t know that either! He’s never said he has feelings for me,”

“Did you see the way he stormed out of here? There’s no way he doesn’t like you!”

Keith sighed, “I swear to god Pidge, if you f*cked this up for me, I’ll never forgive you,”

“I didn’t, trust me,”

----------------------

Lance POV

“ Mama!” Lance cried as he stepped into his apartment, “I hate everything!”

Esmeralda poked her head up above the couch so she could see Lance, “What’s wrong?”

“Keith! He’s been texting some other guy this whole time!” Lance whined as he flopped onto the couch next to her.

She grinned smugly, “I thought you said that you don’t have feelings for him?”

“I thought I didn’t, but you made me realize that I do,”

Lance’s father came and sat down with them, looking slightly worried, “What’s going on?”

“Lance has feelings for his friend, Keith, and Keith’s been talking to someone else,”

Fernando raise his eyebrows as he looked over to Lance, prompting him to explain further, so Lance did. He told them what happened at the restaurant so long ago, and what happened today in the locker room.

“I’m sorry, Lance,” Esmeralda said a she pulled him in for a hug.

“Well, at least Keith doesn’t sound too interested in this guy,” Fernando pointed out.

“He could just be trying to make it sound like it’s not a big deal when it is,” Lance countered, “It’s been a long time since Mason gave him his number, if they’re still talking it’s probably more important than Keith made it out to be,”

“Well, either way, there’s only one thing to do, son,” said Fernando, “You have to win him over, ask him out, whatever you kids do nowadays. Make him forget about Mason,”

Lance sighed, “I know, it’s just scary and nerve wracking,”

“I know, son. Trust me, asking out your mother was one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to do,”

“You can do it though, I believe in you,” Esmeralda said as he stroked Lance’s back.

Lance didn’t reply after that, he just cuddled up to his mother, letting her embrace calm him.

-------------------------

It was the first game of the week for the Lions, and Lance had some serious butterflies in his stomach. For two reasons. One: His parents were here and this was going to be the only game they got to see before heading back to Cuba. Two: Keith.

To be quite honest, Lance had ignored Keith the entire time they were preparing for the game, only interacting with him when he had to. He wasn’t proud of it, and he knew it was cowardly, but he couldn’t help it. Keith was into someone else. It was hard to take.

Lance knew he would have to bounce back soon if he wanted a shot at Keith, but he could take a day to get used to this.

Or at least, that’s what he told himself.

The game had already started, and they were on the second half of the first inning. The Lions had batted the first half, and Lance’s parents had been embarrassingly loud when he had hit the ball, and then again when he made it back to home base. But, he’d be lying if he said there hadn’t been a part of him that had thoroughly enjoyed their over-enthusiasm.

He had the ball, and watched as a member of the opposing team (no, he definitely hadn’t forgotten the team’s name already) walked up to home plate. The man was a lefty, which must be why Keith felt comfortable enough to signal for a screwball, it would break away from the hitter instead of angle toward him like it would’ve if he had been right handed. Lance quickly adjusted his hand, and threw the pitch when he felt that the batter was ready. The moment it left his hand, though, he knew something was wrong.

He watched, terrified, as the ball continued straight along its downward path. Lance wanted to throw himself off a bridge. He has just thrown a forkball , not a screwball, what the hell was wrong with him?

Keith’s face flashed quickly with surprise as he adjusted to catch the ball, but it wasn’t necessary. The batter hit the ball perfectly, making it fly out into the dead center of the outfield.

It was when the batter rounded first base that Lance realized what had gone wrong.

He forgot to perform his ritual.

“f*ck! f*ck, f*ck, f*ck!” was all he could think as the ball made its way back to him. He quickly flipped his hat backwards and threw the ball into his glove twice before throwing his next pitch, but the damage was done. This was going to be a bad game, for him, at least.

It didn’t help that looking at Keith made a pang of pain hit him in the chest. Or that he knew his parents were watching him for the first time since he had left Cuba. There was too much pressure, and he had just thrown off his own groove.

Lance didn’t really believe in luck, but he believed in the power of routine. He knew that when it came to things like this, doing one thing differently in your routine could really mess you up, especially when it was the one thing that you had made absolutely essential to that routine.

Lance only struck one person out that inning, the rest of the outs were made by his other teammates, they had actually been some beautiful plays, but it didn’t make Lance feel much better.

The rest of the game went as expected. Lance did not do well. He didn’t do badly, persay, he was still playing at the level a major league ballplayer should, but anyone who knew him could tell that he was off his game today. He struck out on easy pitches, he was too hesitant to get off the bases, he couldn’t execute his pitches as well as usual. Everything went to sh*t.

His team lost, only by two runs, but Lance couldn’t help but feel it was his fault.

“If I had just moved quicker...struck a few more people out…”
He showered quickly, much too ashamed to stay any longer than necessary, and went right back to ignoring Keith. Lance barely even spared him a glance as they got dressed. Lance was, surprisingly, the first one done, and he thought he would be able to make it out, unscathed. He walked through the locker room doors and turned down the hall, desperate to find his parents and get the hell out of there.

But Lance wasn’t that lucky. Not today.

“Lance!” Keith’s voice called to him from down the hall, “Wait up!”

Lance hesitated, not sure whether he wanted to speed up or stop. Unfortunately, this gave Keith enough time to catch up with him before he even got to make his decision.

He sighed, “What’s up?” He asked, trying his best to sound nonchalant.

Keith gave him an unimpressed look, “Lance, I know something is up,”

Lance waved him off dismissively and started to walk forward, “I just forgot to do my routine before my first pitch of the game. If I don’t do it, it f*cks up my game,”

Keith started walking with him, undeterred, and even though Lance wasn’t looking, he could feel the eyeroll Keith was doing, “Lance, you can’t convince me that a player as good as yourself can be thrown off so easily by a small break in routine,”

Lance felt his chest tighten at Keith’s compliment. Which was the absolute last thing he needed right now.

Lance sighed, “Fine, you got me. My parents are here and my nerves got the best of me,”

Keith paused before replying this time, “That might be true, but it’s not the only thing that’s wrong, Lance,” His voice became so soft and tender and caring (and almost sorry?) that Lance wanted to melt into a puddle. How could Keith even exist ? It made no sense to him.

Lance gulped, “It’s fine...I’m okay-” Lance was about to make up another bullsh*t excuse, but Keith cut him off, both with his words and by physically blocking his path forward.

“Lance…” Keith said, so softly that Lance wanted to cry, “You don’t have to tell me anything but please, don’t lie to me. I know you’re not okay.”

Lance bit his lip nervously, he was at a loss for words. He felt so strangely sorry and guilty, but he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Dammit, what is Keith doing to me?”

“I…” Lance managed to squeak out, before Keith cut him off.

“Don’t explain yourself, it’s none of my business. But, it’s affecting the team, and I hate to sound so harsh but...you need to get it together, for The Lions’ sake…” Keith kept going, but Lance had tuned out. What the hell? Did Keith really have the nerve to say that? He had no idea what Lance was going through because of him . That f*cker .

“What the f*ck Keith?” Lance shouted, cutting Keith off mid-sentence, “How can you say that? You don’t even know what I’m going through!”
Keith stiffened, first in surprise, but then in resolve, “Lance...calm down. Listen to what I have to say,”

“No! You listen here, mullet. You can’t just waltz over here and tell me that my feelings are less important than the team without f*cking knowing what’s wrong! My abuela could have cancer!”

Keith quirked an eyebrow, “Does she?”

“Well...no. But that’s not the point. The point is that you’re being an ass,”

Keith ran his hands through his hair, “My god, you’re so infuriating…”

“Right back at ya,”

“Do you even realize how much effort I put into taking care of you?” Keith said, ignoring Lance’s comment, “Because it’s a hell of a lot of effort, you’re more emotional than a goddamn two year old,”

“f*ck you,” Lance said, shoving past him. But Keith was relentless.

“Honestly! You don’t get it, do you?” He said, following closely behind Lance, “I worked so hard to make sure that your parents would be here and that it would be a surprise, just to make you feel better! Then to have you ignore me and tell me that I have no idea what you’re going through...” he laughed bitterly, “It’s almost funny how self-centered you can be,”

Lance spun around on his heel abruptly, the stop was so sudden that Keith bumped into him. Shock overcame his face, but Lance’s was filled with a steady, fuming rage.

“f*ck, off,” Lance growled out slowly. Keith’s eyes widened and he gulped.

Lance searched his face for a moment, daring him to say something, but Keith couldn’t meet Lance’s gaze, and instead looked at his feet.

Lance spun around and took a total of two steps forward before Keith spoke up again.

“I’m sorry, I’m just...frustrated. I get it if you’re mad at me, or even hate me. I’d probably hate me too…”

Lance paused, and turned slowly to face Keith. His rage was replaced by some other form of frustration. How could Keith think that Lance hated him? Was it not clear that he was head over heels? It sure was to everyone else Lance knew. How could he be so oblivious?

“Keith, what the f*ck?”

Keith looked up at him hesitantly, a little fear in his eyes. Lance couldn’t believe it, he really thought…

“How could you think that?!” Lance said, and before he knew it, he was rambling, “Like what the f*ck? How could you actually think that? Are you blind? Can you not see the way I am around you? Do you really not understand why I’ve avoided you today?” Keith blinked, but Lance kept going, “Like, honestly! This is crazy. To be quite honest I didn’t actually know myself until a few days ago...but everyone else knew before me! Except you! And looking back on it, it was screamingly obvious, I don’t know how I didn’t realize it before…”

“What are you talking about?” Keith asked, voice no longer sounding so timid.

Lance looked Keith in the eye, and suddenly realized what was happening. Lance was about to confess, there was no way to get around it now. It had to happen. He wanted to puke.

Instead, he looked away. But Keith’s hand moved to his chin, and he used it to lift up Lance’s face so that they made eye contact again.

“Tell me,”

His voice was so soft. The combination of that, and the hand underneath Lance’s chin made him flash back to the night he had found out about Nyma’s unfaithfulness. He remembered how gentle Keith had been, how he had been so understanding, how he had been exactly what Lance had needed. Lance couldn’t help but be calmed by the memory.

At least he knew that if Keith didn’t feel the same way he did, he would be nice about it. That night had proved that much.

Lance took in a deep breath, psyching himself up, “Keith, I’m crazy about you,”

Keith blinked in surprise, his hand fell away slowly and his mouth parted slightly. He clearly hadn’t been expecting Lance to say that. Lance searched Keith’s eyes, desperately trying to figure out if it was the bad kind of surprise, or the good kind of surprise. Too much time passed, and Lance almost gave up hope, and then it happened.

Keith smiled.

It was warm, electric, and overwhelmingly joyful, and most importantly, solely for Lance .

“I’m crazy about you, too,” Keith said, still grinning.

Lance grinned right back, then started bouncing on his toes, unable to contain himself.

“Really?? You’re being serious?” Lance asked, smile still lighting up his face.

Keith chuckled, the chuckle that was so deep and soft and beautiful and it was the one that Lance absolutely adored , “Yes, I am,”

Lance oh so desperately wanted to kiss Keith. It felt so right. But he had some self control, he knew he had to wait. He had to wait for a little more privacy, a hallway in their stadium wasn’t exactly ideal, and he had to wait to make it as romantic as possible. Not that this wouldn’t be romantic, but he knew that if it happened now, it would be too rushed, too sloppy. If he waited, it would be slower, deeper, more tender, and that’s what he wanted. He also knew that he’d be able to show off his mad kissing skills better if it was slow, and that would make Keith fall for him even more. It was a proven fact.

So, instead, Lance hugged him.

They held each other for a few moments, smiling, burying their faces into each other’s shoulders, and then Lance pulled away.

Lance grinned smugly, “Well, I’m glad you’re so good at catching,”

Keith’s eyebrows furrowed, “What does that have to do with this?”

“Because I’m falling for you,” Lance said smoothly, smug grin still plastered to his face.

“Ohmygod, I cannot believe you just said that,” Keith said in disbelief, shaking his head, but the smile on his face told Lance that he had liked it.

“There’s no escaping my pick up lines now, babe,” Lance said grinning.

“I take it back, I don’t like you,” Keith said, trying his hardest to keep his grin under control, he wasn’t doing too well.

“Nope! Can’t do that! Not how it works!” Lance chuckled.

“I totally can!”

“No you can’t!”

Keith rolled his eyes in response, but Lance could clearly see the joyful gleam in them.

“I’ll tell you what you can do,” Lance said, smug grin growing wider.

Keith quirked an eyebrow, “What’s that?”

“You can let me take you out,” Lance said leaning in toward Keith, he still sounded as confident as ever, but there was a flash of worry in his eyes.

Keith grinned, “Only if you promise to sweep me off of my feet,”

Lance grinned, straightening up, “Challenge accepted! You better prepare yourself for how magical this date is gonna be, I’m really quite charming,”

“Oh trust me, I know,” Keith said, a small grin on his face. He leaned in toward Lance, raising a little bit onto his toes, and pecked Lance on the cheek, “I have to go, text me,”

With that, he walked past Lance, leaving him holding a hand to his cheek, blushing furiously, and unable to form a coherent thought, let alone sentence.

Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Chapter Text

Keith POV

Keith was nervous as hell. Today was his date with Lance, and of course the little sh*t wouldn’t tell him what it was. Something about it “being more romantic” if it was a surprise. Keith appreciated the sentiment, but it did nothing to calm his nerves, especially when he had no idea what to wear.

It would’ve been easier to pick out an outfit if he knew what they were doing, but of course, he didn’t. Keith must’ve tried on seven different outfits before settling on black skinny jeans, a black belt, a pair of black converse, and a red dress shirt that he tucked into his jeans. For a moment he questioned whether or not to leave his hair down, but decided that down was better for tonight.

He checked the time, it was 6:50, Lance was supposed to pick him up in 10 minutes. He didn’t know what to do in the meantime. He tried to watch TV, but he was too anxious.

He needed to actually move . So, he decided to chase Bailey around the apartment. The little dog had short legs, but he was fast. Keith couldn’t catch him until the dog stopped to pick up a toy.

Keith laughed as he scooped Bailey into his arms, who promptly dropped his toy and licked Keith’s face.

“Hey!” Keith said, chuckling. Bailey continued to smother him with kisses until a voice came from the intercom that connected his apartment to the outside door.

“Hey Keith! It’s Lance! I’m here, can you let me in?”

Keith rushed over to the wall where the intercom was and pressed a button that would patch him through to the other side, “I dunno, maybe I’ve changed my mind,”

Keith grinned as Lance let out a whine , “Keith! Don’t do this to me man! I worked so hard on planning this all out,”

“Well...I suppose ,” Keith said, unable to keep the teasing edge in his voice. He pressed another button that unlocked the door for Lance. He set Bailey down, then quickly made sure that there wasn’t dog fur on his shirt. There was a little, but nothing he couldn’t easily brush off with his hands.

He walked over and grabbed his phone as he got as much fur off of his clothes as he could, and then there was a knock at the door.

Bailey went ballistic, barking up a storm and pawing at the door as if his life depended on it.

“Bailey! Stop that!” Keith said with a laugh as he picked up the dog again so he could open the door for Lance.

Lance stepped in, dressed in blue jeans and a white button up shirt, he had his sleeves rolled up to just below the elbow, and the stark contrast between his tan skin and the white of the shirt made Keith’s heart flutter. Lance’s face instantly lit up when he laid eyes on Bailey.

“Hey pupper!” He cooed as he stretched out his arm to let the dog smell his hand. Bailey took a tentative sniff, then licked his hand, Lance laughed and started to scratch behind the dog’s ears, “You never told me you had a dog,”

Keith shrugged, and leaned over to put Bailey down, “Never came up, I guess,”

“Well now I’m fully expecting some quality dog videos and photos, every day,”

Keith chuckled, “Only if this date is absolutely magical ,”

“Oh, you’re on,” Lance said, grinning, he held out an arm, bent at the elbow, “Shall we?”

Keith laced his arm through Lance’s smiling, “We shall,”

As they walked out, Keith realized in the back of his mind that he hadn’t told Pidge about the fact that this date was happening yet. They hadn’t really talked much since Lance asked him out a few days ago. He figured it didn’t really matter though, he would tell her everything tomorrow.

-------------------------------

“No! Nonono!” Keith protested as Lance parked his car, “This is a bad idea!”

“What?” Lance said, grinning, “Scared?”

“I’m not scared!” Keith said, probably a bit too loudly, “I just don’t like ice skating,”

Lance started to get out of his car, and Keith followed suit, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you just don’t want to because you can’t,” Lance said, unable to keep the smugness out of his voice.

Keith huffed, “Fine, you caught me,”

Lance’s grin only widened, “I was hoping you’d say that,”

“Why?”

“Gives me an excuse to hold your hand and sh*t like that,” Lance said matter-of-factly, as he opened the back door of his car and pulled out two hoodies.

Keith instantly felt his cheeks heat up, and he could tell Lance could see the color rising in his face by the way his smile simultaneously got softer and more smug. Keith honestly didn’t know how he did that...was it the eyes that made the smile seem softer? It must’ve been.

Lance handed him one of the hoodies, which was obviously Lance’s, “Here, it’s cold on the rink so you’ll need this,” Keith nodded and tied it around his waist, not wanting to put it on now in the heat.

Lance wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulders, making Keith realize for the first time how real their height difference was, and began to walk them toward the entrance of the indoor ice rink.

Keith honestly had been ice skating once in his life. He and Pidge had gone together in college. She had been surprisingly good, but he had clung to the wall the whole time. He truly hadn’t enjoyed a second of it. But, as much as he was dreading this, he knew Lance would make it fun somehow, he just had that effect.

They walked over to the counter and asked for their ice skates, and Lance pulled out his wallet to pay.

“I’ll pay for the both of us,” Lance said.

“No! Let me pay for myself, at least,”

“No way, pretty boy. I’m being a gentleman and paying for my date,”

“You know, I’m a man too,” Keith said, nudging Lance’s side.

“Oh I’m well aware,” Lance said with a wink, “But that doesn’t mean you should pay! You flew my parents here from Cuba . That’s a sh*t ton of money compared to the five dollars I’m gonna have to pay for your skates,”

Keith sighed, “You have a point,”

“I know I do!” Lance said, grinning, as he pulled out a crumpled ten from his wallet.

They got their skates and sat down to put them on, as they were untying their shoes, Keith spoke up.

“Hey, so how’d your visit go? I know your parents left yesterday,”

Lance smiled fondly, “It was amazing, I really can’t thank you enough Keith. It was exactly what I needed. Saying goodbye was sh*t though,”

Keith frowned, “I bet,”

“I cried like a baby, but so was my mom, and how can you not cry when your mom is crying,” Lance chuckled as he slipped on his ice skates.

Keith grinned, “Well, I’m glad that you had fun,”

Lance smiled back at him, and Keith felt his heart skip a beat. He was just radiating joy and gratitude, it was too much to handle.

Lance stood up, his skates on, and pulled his sweatshirt over his head. Keith finished up tying his skates, then did the same.

When Keith looked back to Lance after putting the sweatshirt on, he was biting his lip slightly, and looked like he was about to implode.

“What?” Keith said, innocently, although his smirk gave him away.

“You look entirely too good in my clothes...damn,” Lance said, unable to pry his eyes from Keith.

Keith laughed, and looked down at the sweatshirt. It was too long for him, and the sleeves ended well past his wrists.

“You should let me keep this,” Keith said, “It’s big and comfy,”

Lance nodded furiously, “Yes, yes, I’m totally okay with that,”

Keith chuckled and started to walk toward the door that led to the rink, wobbling a little on his skates, “C’mon, loser, let’s get this over with,”

“Right behind you,” Lance said with a laugh.

They walked through the doors that led to the rink. Keith was instantly grateful for Lance’s sweatshirt when the cold air hit his face, freezing in comparison to the warm weather outside.

Lance stepped out on the ice with such easy grace that it made Keith jealous. He turned smoothly on his skates to face Keith, holding out a hand for him to take. Part of Keith really wanted to take it, but the other, larger part of him was determined to do this himself.

“I’ve got this,” He grumbled as he stepped tentatively onto the ice, clutching the wall to support himself.

Lance cracked a smug grin, “Sure, babe. But if you need someone to hold your hand, don’t hesitate to ask,”

“In your dreams,” Keith blushed slightly, but managed to get out the retort without his voice betraying him.

Keith pulled himself across the ice, very slowly, putting one hand in front of the other on the barrier. Lance glided next to him, moving only when he had to. Keith was silent, his face scrunched in concentration.

It didn’t take long for Lance to get bored and a little impatient with Keith’s caution. He skated in front of him, cutting Keith off, and grabbed both of his hands, “C’mon!” He said encouragingly, pulling Keith’s hands away from the wall. Keith was more than a little surprised when he realized that Lance was actually f*cking skating backwards in order to pull him forward.

“What the f*ck??” Keith exclaimed, “How are you doing that?”

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, as if what he was doing wasn’t incredible, “What?”

“You’re skating backwards!”

Lance looked down, and then laughed, “It’s not that hard really,”

Keith shook his head, “I don’t get it,”

Lance shrugged, “Let’s worry about that later, right now we have to get you to skate forwards. It’s really easy, just like rollerskating,”

“I’ve never been rollerskating,”

“Well…” Lance pursed his lips, “Then it’s not too different from walking. Just...slide one foot forward,”

Keith did as he was told, albeit much less gracefully, but Lance made it seem like Keith had just moved a mountain, “Yes! Perfect! Keep going,”

They went around like that for a while, Lance skating backwards, pulling Keith forward as he tried his best to mimic the movements of the skaters around them. They got about halfway around the rink before Keith realized something.

“Hey wait, how’d you learn to ice skate? I didn’t think it was very big in Cuba,”

“Oh, it’s not. Warm weather combined with a general lack of hockey teams and ice rinks makes it hard for it to be popular,”

“So how the f*ck do you skate so well?”

“Well, I told you my brother moved to the U.S. when I was a kid, right? His wife loves ice skating so we’d always go when I came up to visit,”

“Oh, okay. That makes sense,”

Lance looked down at Keith’s feet, “Okay, you’re doing good, but now I want you to pick up your feet when you move them forward. You’re not gonna go anywhere sliding them back and forth like that without me helping,”

Keith sighed, but did as he was told. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be once he got the hang of it. It wasn’t that much different from regular walking, just like Lance had said.

Lance grinned, “You’re getting it! Think you can do it without me?”

Keith shot him a grin, “As if I really needed you in the first place,”

Lance shook his head, smiling, and let go of Keith’s hands, “I know you’re trying to save face, but that’s really my thing, not yours,”

Keith hesitated for a second, the fear of falling resurfacing without Lance’s immediate support, then started to skate forward. Lance continued to skate backward, mirroring Keith’s movements, ready to catch him if he fell. Keith grinned as he grew more confident, and started to pick up a little speed, he was still going relatively slow, but faster nonetheless. Lance did the same, encouraging Keith the whole time.

Keith glanced up from carefully watching his feet for a second to meet Lance’s gaze, and Keith’s heart skipped a beat. Lance had the softest smile on his face, and was looking at Keith like he was the entire world.

“You know...you’re really cute when you concentrate,” Lance said softly.

Keith felt his face heat up despite the coldness of the room. He was about to respond, but never got the chance to, because, suddenly, Lance fell.

Keith watched Lance’s face change from unguarded fondness to sudden terror as his feet went out from under him, and his upper half started a crash course with the ground. It seemed to happen in slow motion, and would’ve been funny if Lance had been the only victim of the uneven ice that had caused him to fall.

Lance’s legs kicked out, and Keith tripped right over them. He landed on top of Lance with a thud, and Lance grunted in response. Lance and Keith looked at each other for a moment, trying to make sense of what happened, then Lance cracked his patented smug-ass smile.

“Wow, Keith, I guess we really are falling for each other,”

Keith groaned, “Really? That’s what you chose to say? This could’ve been really romantic and you decide that a goddamn pun is the best thing to do?”

“I thought it was pretty sweet,” Lance said, pouting.

Keith rolled his eyes, grinning, “I suppose, but you still missed your chance for a really cute first kiss,”

Lance’s eyes widened, “sh*t! I totally did! Ohmygod, I’m an idiot,”

Keith nodded, “Now you understand,” He started to push himself off of Lance, standing up carefully. Lance snorted.

Keith shot him a look, “What’s that for?”

Lance didn’t even attempt to hide his smile, “You just look a lot like Bambi in that one scene where he’s out on the frozen pond,”

“At least I’m not lying on the ground, blocking everyone’s path, like a jackass,”

Lance snickered at that, and quickly got up to his feet.

They went around the ice skating rink a few more times after that, talking about everything and nothing. At one point Keith had slipped, but Lance caught him, and of course made a quip about how Keith was supposed to be the catcher.

As they skated around, Keith was struck by a sudden realization of just how comfortable he was with Lance. It was hard to explain, but Lance made Keith feel so safe, so normal, so at ease. There wasn’t a lot of people who were like that for Keith.

Keith remembered saying something along these lines to Shiro, but at the time, he hadn’t had the words to fully explain how he felt. Now, he felt like he did.

Lance made Keith feel whole .

-----------------------------

They walked out of the ice rink holding hands. Keith hadn’t thought about it too much while they were skating, even though they had held hands nearly the whole time. At the moment Keith was more interesting in making sure he didn’t fall. But now...now Keith was highly aware of Lance’s hand in his own, and the fact that it was there made him giddier than he’d care to admit.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Lance asked as they got in the car, unfortunately having to let go of Keith’s hand.

“It actually was pretty fun,” Keith said, smiling. He threw Lance’s sweatshirt into the back seat of the car, and Lance did the same.

“Good!” Lance said as he turned on the ignition of his car. He drove through the parking lot, but took ended up taking a left, instead of a right, onto the road.

“Uh, Lance?” Keith said, pointing over his shoulder, “My apartment’s the other direction,”

Lance grinned, “I know,”

“So...why are we going this way?”

“You didn’t seriously think our first date was going to be just ice skating, did you? What do you take me for?”

Keith shrugged, “Normal?”

“Normal?! Keith, I’m so offended. I’m a hopeful romantic,”

“Hopeful?” Keith asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly, “Don’t you mean hopeless?”

“Is it hopeless? I dunno, English has some weird ass expressions,”

Keith chuckled, “So, where are we going?”

“Nope! That’s a surprise!”

“Lance!” Keith whined.

“You’ll find out soon, we’re almost there,”

Lance was right. It only took two more minutes for them to arrive at their destination. A park.

Lance got out of the car and dashed to the other side, sliding over the hood of the car in a manner that was truly Lance, and opened the door for the Keith. Keith smiled at him.

“A walk in the park? You really are a hopeless romantic,” he said as he got out of the car.

“Told ya so,” Lance said, grinning.

Lance held out his hand, and Keith took it, more than happy to have their hands intertwined again. If it were up to Keith, they’d never be apart.

They walked through the gate to the park and strolled leisurely down the sidewalk, stopping every once in awhile to look at something one of them found interesting. Eventually they walked over a footbridge that was suspended over a decently sized creek. Keith paused, leaning against the side railing, and looked out, admiring the view.

The sun was setting, and the sky had turned into a beautiful gradient of orange, pink, and purple. The colors reflected in the water of the creek, and the pond it led to, gorgeously. Keith took the whole scene in, awestruck.

“Wow, I think this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Keith said quietly, almost whispering, as if the beauty would get scared and run off if he was too loud.

“Me too,” Lance said, just as quietly, but there was something distinctly different in his tone. Keith turned to look at him, and was more than a little surprised to see that Lance was already looking at him. Lance’s face looked so fond, and soft . Keith could feel the tips of his ears heat up.

He didn’t know what to say, he was at a loss for words. What were you even supposed to say in a situation like this? Thanks? No, no way.

Keith managed to reciprocate Lance’s soft smile, though he felt like his was a lot more shy in comparison. They held each other’s gaze for a few moments, but it was broken when Lance glanced down.

“Why did he...oh...ohmygod. Did he just glance down at my lips ?” Keith thought.

He had, he definitely had. Lance was leaning in closer to him now, not by a lot. In fact, it was almost imperceptible, but Keith’s mind had gone into overdrive with a strange mixture of excitement and panic, so he was highly aware of the distance between them.

Lance continued to lean in closer, closer, until their lips were barely even an inch away from each other. Lance lingered there, and Keith desperately wished he would just close the distance already. Go for it, f*cking kiss him already goddammit.

But he wouldn’t, he seemed determined to just stay where he was, ghosting over Keith’s lips.

It was agony for Keith, and finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. If Lance wasn’t going to close the gap, then Keith would.

And he did.

Their lips met with all the passion of a first kiss, but none of the franticness that is usually accompanied with it. Their lips meshed together slowly, tenderly. Keith was still leaning on the railing, which was a bit awkward, so he turned his body to face Lance, who promptly took that as an opportunity to bring his hand to Keith’s face.

Keith briefly was surprised at just how big Lance’s hands were. He hadn’t noticed before, but now, with Lance’s palm on his jaw, and his fingers threading into his hair, Keith realized that Lance’s hands were probably as big as his entire face. He only gave it enough time in his head to process the fact that it was hot for some reason.

Lance’s other hand found it’s way onto Keith’s hip. Lance dug his fingers in ever so slightly, and Keith’s heart stuttered.

They were still kissing at a fairly slow pace when Keith wrapped his arms around Lance’s neck, pulling their bodies closer together. This was when Keith realized that he was actually rising onto his toes a little bit to kiss Lance, not exactly on his tiptoes, but his heels were definitely not on the ground.

Suddenly, Lance turned, pushing Keith into the railing of the bridge, making Keith practically squeak in surprise. Lance pulled away slightly, grinning.

“f*ck, you’re so hot,” He said in a voice that made Keith’s knees weak. It was deeper and more hoarse than his regular voice. Keith didn’t have too much time to process it though, because Lance started kissing him again.

Lance pressed into him ever so slightly, but enough for Keith to feel the friction that he oh so desperately had needed. Keith moaned slightly, and Lance took this opportunity to slide his tongue into Keith’s mouth.

Keith shifted his arms to he could lace his fingers through Lance’s hair, and tugged slightly, earning a slight gasp from Lance. Keith made a mental note that Lance liked having his hair pulled.

Suddenly, Lance pulled away, but Keith pouted for only a second, because Lance moved to kiss Keith’s neck. He sucked and bit Keith’s skin, and Keith furrowed his eyebrows together in pleasure, tilting his head to the side to give Lance more space.

Lance continued to work at Keith’s neck, leaving kisses along the line of his jaw, under his ear, everywhere. Keith was in absolute bliss, and he could only focus on Lance. Everything else was lost to him.

Except for the sound of someone clearing their throat that instantly brought him back to reality.

Lance shot off of him in an instant, blushing slightly at the woman standing on the bridge and her child.

Keith’s eyes widened and his face felt like it was on fire, he raised a hand to rub the side of his neck, trying to cover any hickies that might be there already. But he knew it was of no use, they had seen them making out.

“Look, please don’t take this as me being hom*ophobic, but this is a family park. Behavior like that isn’t appropriate around kids. Same goes for straight couples,” The lady said sternly.

Keith’s eyes dropped to the ground in embarrassment, “Y-yes ma’am,”

“We’re so sorry,” Lance said, sounding surprisingly composed.

The lady studied them for a second, then smiled, “You kids have fun now, be safe,” and with that, she walked across the bridge with her son.

As they walked away, Keith heard her son say, “Mommy! I didn’t know boys could kiss each other! That’s so cool!”

He looked up at Lance, and Lance looked back at him, they both shared mortified expressions for about half a second, then Lance broke out into laughter.

“Oh-ohmygod, I can’t believe that actually happened,” Lance said, his laughter breaking up his sentence randomly.

Keith smiled, and started giggling, “Me neither!”

Lance leaned back on the railing, “Hey wait...did she basically just tell us to have safe sex?”

Keith blushed furiously, how could Lance say that so casually on their first date ?

“I-I think she d-did,” Keith stuttered out.

Lance grinned at him, there was no doubt in Keith’s mind that Lance knew exactly what had made Keith turn into a stuttering, blushing mess. But, thankfully, he decided to spare him.

Lance looked up at the sky, which had gotten quite a bit darker since they had started kissing, “But, hey, did you hear what that kid said to his mother?”

“I did,” Keith said, smiling.

“I wonder how much of an impact that whole thing will have on his life,” Lance said, smiling softly, “Hopefully it’s a good one,”

Keith smiled, “Yeah, hopefully,”

They were quiet for a few moments, and then, predictably, Lance broke the silence.

“So, and be honest with me here, aren’t I the best kisser ever ?”

Keith rolled his eyes. Not because he didn’t think that was true, but because there was no way in hell Lance was gonna find that out, “I don’t know man...you were pretty okay,”

Lance grinned, “Oh c’mon, don’t be shy about it!”

Keith shrugged, “I’m not. I’d say you’re pretty average,”

“You’re lying!”

“I’m really not,”

“Oh no way! I was amazing, you pouted when I moved to kiss your neck because I pulled away. Don’t think I didn’t catch that,”

“Are you sure you didn’t just imagine that?” Keith said, turning to walk back the way they came, “Sometimes people make things up to preserve their fragile egos,”

“Oh...oh that is it!” Lance said. Keith turned his head around to see that Lance was coming after him, a devious glint in his eye. So, Keith did the only logical thing. He ran.

He sprinted off the bridge, then down the sidewalk, he could hear Lance’s footsteps behind him.

“Keith! Get back here!”

Keith let out a laugh, “Gotta catch me first!”

Lance chased after him, but it was of no use. Keith was the fastest player on their team, Lance never stood a chance. But you had to give him credit for trying.

Keith heard the footsteps behind him become slower, heavier, and then stop all together. Lance had actually lasted a pretty long time, chasing Keith around the park for a good three minutes. Keith was a little out of breath, but he hadn’t slowed down, at least not significantly. He let himself slow to a jog when he heard the footsteps stop behind him and made sure he was a safe distance from Lance before stopping, just in case Lance was going to restart the chase.

Keith turned to look at Lance. His hands were on his knees, and he was panting. Hard. Keith smirked.

“What’s the matter babe , can’t keep up?” Keith said, crossing his arms and shifting his weight onto one foot, causing his hip to pop out slightly.

Lance looked up at him, his face a deep red, “It’s not my fault you’re a cheetah,” he said through his pants.

Keith grinned, “You’re a little red there,”

Lance straightened out, “Well no sh*t! We probably ran like three miles!”

“In three minutes?” Keith asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, exactly!” Lance said with a huff.

Keith walked up to Lance, “You sure it’s not because of something else?”

Lance’s eyes widened, “Y-yeah, what else would it be?”

Keith shrugged, “Dunno, just curious,”

Lance laughed, but it sounded too forced to be anything besides nervous, “Well, it was from all the running, over exertion and whatnot,”

“Whatever you say, babe ,” Keith said, finding an immense amount of satisfaction in the way Lance’s face got about five shades darker, which didn’t seem possible because he was already so red.

Keith grinned, “So, you can dish it out but can’t take it? Good to know,”

Lance sputtered, trying to come up with something witty to say back, but he just couldn’t form any coherent thoughts.

“Well I-you-I don’t…”

Keith let out a laugh, “Shut up,” he said, warmly, rising onto his toes as he pressed a quick kiss onto Lance’s cheek.

“Wait, no way,” Lance said, suddenly over his embarrassment.

Keith quirked an eyebrow at him, “What?”
“You have to go up onto your toes to kiss me?” Lance said, eyes gleaming and his co*ckiness restored, “Ohmygod. Keith Kogane, Mr. Emo-Tough-Guy himself, is so short he has to get on his tiptoes to kiss me,”

Keith furrowed his eyebrows, “I wasn’t on my tip toes!”
“You totally were, corazon,”

Keith rolled his eyes, “I wasn’t, but say whatever you’ve gotta say to make yourself feel better,”

Lance grinned, “Keith, it was so cute ,”

Keith frowned, “Take me home,”

“Oh c’mon, don’t be grumpy with me!”

Keith turned and started walking away, and Lance followed closely behind.

“Ay por dios, I know this probably won’t help, but damn, you’re really cute when you’re grumpy,”

“Lance!”

“Sorry, sorry. I had to,”

-----------------------------

Lance POV

Lance woke up the next day well rested, and happy. That date had gone extremely well, and he couldn’t wait for their next one.

Something about Keith just made everything so much more fun, more satisfying, more rich. It was amazing. He’d never really experience this on this level with anyone before, not even with Nyma.

As was his usual custom, Lance grabbed his phone, after turning his alarm off, and scrolled through his social media. He went to Instagram first, then Twitter. He scrolled through his feed idly, liking things here and there, then, he came across a tweet from one of the fans he followed.

It read: “Whatever makes them happy #Klance”

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, “What’s this all about?”

He tapped the hashtag, and his jaw instantly dropped.

His screen filled with hundreds of tweets about him and Keith, some were angry, some were supportive. He went to the photo section, and was mortified by what he saw. Photo after photo after photo of him and Keith on their date, all of them were taken at the park.

When Lance saw aphoto of them kissing, he nearly threw his phone at the wall.

“sh*t!” he whisper-yelled. “How the f*ck…”

He clicked on the news section, and this time he wasn’t surprised by what was there.

The first tweet read: “Lance McClain and Keith Kogane: Spotted On Romantic Park Date. What Does This Mean For The Lions?” and includeda link to an article.

The tweet was tweeted by none other than The Vrepit Times .

Chapter 10: Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Lance POV

“CORAN! PIDGE!” Lance yelled as he flung the doors open to the hallway where all the administrative offices were in The Lions’ Stadium. Shiro, Hunk, and Keith followed him. They were already here, getting ready to hit the gym, when he had arrived. Lance had filled them in and Keith was not happy, but surprisingly calm about the whole thing.

Pidge poked her head out of her office, “Pidge!” Lance cried, jogging toward her, “Please tell me you’ve seen it?”

Pidge opened the door and crossed her arms, “I have, and can I just say how utterly stupid the both of you are for not telling me?”

“To be fair, I really didn’t know I was supposed to let you know,” Keith pointed out.

“Bullsh*t, I’m your bestfriend. You should’ve told me for friend purposes,” Pidge said, Keith opened his mouth to speak but closed it when he realized she was right, “But you ,” Pidge said as she turned to Lance, “What the hell were you thinking?!”

Lance ran his hands down his face, “I wasn’t thinking! I just...I forgot and, sh*t. This is such a sh*t show,”

“What’s wrong?” Coran said, walking out of his office with a very confused look on his face.

“Lance McIdiot over here went on a date with Keith and didn’t tell me,”

Coran pursed his lips, “I don’t see why that would be a problem,”

“Because now the press is all over it because I couldn’t stop them,” Pidge explained, walking back into her office.

“Oh…” Coran said, following Pidge with the rest of the group closely behind them.

Pidge sat down at her desk, “Now we have to do damage control...Lance, Keith, how would you guys feel about giving a statement?”

Lance shook his head, “No, no way. I’d rather you just go kick the media’s asses and we let it die out,”

“I second that,”

Pidge pushed her glasses further onto the bridge of her nose, “I mean, we could try that, but there’s no promises it would work,”

“There’s also the fact that you guys are both, well, guys,” Shiro said, “Unfortunately, that fact makes it a lot harder to get rid of this story,”

Lance groaned and leaned on Hunk, who was reading something on his phone, “This sucks,” he whined.

“Hey, uh, guys?” Hunk said, “This article that The Vrepit Times put out said that an insider tipped them off,”

“So?” Keith said.

“Well, only a handful of people knew about this date...so who told Zarkon’s company?” Hunk replied.

“Well, I don’t think it was anyone in this room,” Shiro said.

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember anyone else he had mentioned the date to. His eyes widened as he gasped in realization.

“Allura is the one who told me to take Keith to the park,” Lance said slowly.

Shiro turned to him immediately, “Lance, you don’t actually think…”

“Well I don’t know! She specifically told me to go there, and didn’t The Vrepit Times offer her a job a few months ago?”

“Yeah, but she hasn’t had contact with them since that. Besides, none of that means-”

“If it’s not her then who?”

“Guys, calm down,” Keith said, “Shiro, can you call Allura so we can straighten this out?”

Shiro huffed, “She didn’t do it, but I’ll call her,”

He called Allura and everyone went silent, aside from Pidge, who was tapping away at her keyboard. No doubt getting ahold of various media outlets and telling them to shut the f*ck up.

“Hello?” Allura said, her voice sounding clear through the speaker.

“Allura, before anything happens I want you to know that I defended you,” Shiro said quickly.

“What does that me-”

“Did you tip off The Vrepit Times about me and Keith?” Lance said, harshly.

“What the...Why would you think that?” Allura said, sounding rightfully offended.

“Just answer his question so we can get this over with,” Hunk said, obviously exasperated.

“No. Of course not,”

“See! I told you she hadn’t been in contact with them since the job offer!” Shiro said.

“Well, in truth, they did contact me a few weeks ago,”

“WHAT?!” Lance yelled, causing everyone in the room to flinch.

“Lance!” Keith hissed.

“They asked me to be an insider on you guys but I told them to f*ck off,” Allura said, “I’d never do this to you guys,”

Lance sighed, he knew she was right.

“Guys! I just thought of something!” Hunk said suddenly, eyes wide with realization, “What if it was Nyma?”

“Nyma?” Keith said, “It’s not like Lance talks to her anymore, how would she have found out?”

Lance winced, “She might have texted me, asking for me back, and I might have told her I had my sights set on someone else,”

Keith facepalmed, “Lance!”

“How was I supposed to know?!”

“Guys, we need to calm down,” Coran said, “It’s obvious that Zarkon put this story out there to mess with our team. I don’t have to remind you that our game tomorrow is against the Galrans. We can’t let him get what he wants,”

Shiro nodded, “Coran’s right,”

Pidge waved her hand, but didn’t look up from her screen, “It’s getting close to practice time. You guys get out of here and don’t worry about this okay? I’ll take care of it,”

----------------------------

Lance flopped onto his couch. Practice had been rough today and he desperately wanted to just binge watch Netflix and forget about his troubles. But, he had unfinished business to attend to.

He pulled out his phone, and scrolled through the list of conversations on his iMessage until he came to the one listed “Unknown Number”. Lance didn’t really know why he hadn’t deleted the last messages between Nyma and himself yet, probably laziness, but he was glad he didn’t. Otherwise he’d have no way of contacting her.

Lance, 6:24: Nyma, were you the insider for the vrepit times?

Nyma took a while to respond, and while he waited, Lance actually took the time to read the article that had been published. It talked about the insider and their tip, dubbed him and Keith as “Klance”, and said that if this relationship progressed any further, it would spell out certain doom for The Lions. The author of the article thought that they’d ultimately break up and wouldn’t be able to work together and the team would fall to sh*t.

Which...wasn’t exactly wrong. That was a very real possibility. But Lance felt like there was something different about him and Keith, even if they’d only had one date. Lance had gotten to know Keith very well these past couple months, and he just, he had this feeling deep in his bones that that wouldn’t happen. Keith and him were going to make it, he really believed that.

He had just finished the article, and had renewed his rage, when Nyma replied.

Unknown Number, 6:43: I was. I’m so sorry Lance, I didn’t think it would go this far.

Lance, 6:43: Why’d you do it?

Unknown Number, 6:44: When you told me you were chasing someone else I felt so cast aside. I was angry, I called up the vrepit times and told them to keep an eye on you, that you might be romantically involved with someone soon and it would make good press. I had no idea who it was, I’m sorry.

Lance could feel the rage boil inside his chest. Why had he ever even liked her? Let alone love her? She was so self absorbed and attention seeking. How had he not seen that before?

His thumbs hovered over the screen. He wanted to tell her all of this, to yell at her, to make her understand what she had done. But, he deleted the chat instead, officially erasing all traces of her from his phone. She just wasn’t worth it.

------------------------------

Keith POV

Today was their first game since the article about Lance and him was published, and it just so happened that this game was against The Galrans. If they lost this game, it would be proof to Zarkon that he’d gotten under their skin. That couldn’t happen. There was no way they’d give Zarkon that satisfaction.

So, needless to say, this game was high stakes, and Keith was nervous.

Not so much for himself, the article had added more fuel to the already raging fire that was his hatred for their rival team. And he wasn’t very nervous for the rest of the team, they were relatively unaffected by the article.

He was, however, nervous for Lance.

Lance was weird. There was really no way of telling how the article was going to affect his game. His break up with Nyma had had absolutely no effect on his ability to play, yet simply finding out that Keith had texted another guy had messed him up so badly that it had cost The Lions a game.

Keith walked into the locker room unsure of how his favorite pitcher, and person in general, was going to be today, and that was more enough to make him anxious.

He got dressed quickly, as more and more members of his team trickled in. He was tying his hair back when Lance walked in.

Lance walked in with his usual confident strut, but there was something different about it. The surety with which he moved and the glint in his eye gave him an aura of fierce determinedness. Lance was a man on a mission today, and absolutely nothing was going to stop him.

Keith grinned as all of his fears washed away in an instant. This was the pitcher they needed today. This was the pitcher who was going to make confident plays. This was the pitcher who was going to be striking people out left and right. This was the Lance that was going to lead them to victory.

And boy, was it hot.

Lance wasn’t serious very often, but when he was. Damn. No one could beat that. Something about it just made butterflies fly around in Keith’s stomach. It was strangely invigorating, intoxicating, but, Keith had to focus. They had a game, his head had to be in the game, there would be time to oogle over Lance later.

Lance strutted past him, shot him a wink, and said “Hey babe,”

And that was when Keith was reminded that he’s almost too gay to function.

“H-hey Lance,” Keith stuttered out, tips of his ears burning.

Lance grinned but kept walking, heading over to his own locker, and started getting ready for the game.

Keith shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind, and sat on the bench in front of his locker, and lazily played a game on his phone while he waited for Coran to call them to their obligatory pre-Galra game team meeting. They had a meeting before every game, but when they were going up against The Galrans, the meetings had a slightly different nature to them.

He idly eavesdropped on the conversations around him. Colivan and Ulaz were talking about some new TV show they were into. Thace and Antok were whispering, but from the way they repeatedly glanced over to Lance and Keith, Keith could tell they were probably talking about the article. He knew them well enough to not be bothered by it, he knew they weren’t saying anything bad, Thace was actually a good friend of his. Besides, he couldn’t really blame them for talking about it, he would too, in their position.

Then, he tuned into Lance and Hunk’s conversation.

“You ready man?” Hunk asked.

“ Asere , you’ve got no idea how ready I am to destroy these guys,”

“Oh?”

Lance nodded, “Hell yeah man. It’s gonna be my big ‘f*ck you!’ to Zarkon,”

Hunk grinned, and clapped Lance on the back, “Good, the bastard deserves it,”

Keith grinned to himself. Lance was going to leave it all out on the field today, and that’s exactly what their team needed. They needed to show everyone that “Klance” wasn’t going to ruin The Lions, and, if they could, even show them that the team was stronger because of their relationship.

Wait.

Is that what this was now? A relationship? Keith shook his head again in another futile attempt to get his mind straight. They had only been on one date. Nothing was official yet, but still, Keith couldn’t help but think of Lance as his .

“Coran’s ready for us,” Shiro said, pulling Keith back to reality.

Keith turned off his phone and put it in his locker, mind still lingering on his previous thoughts, and made his way to the meeting room. Before he even left the locker room, Lance was beside him.

Lance grabbed his hand, giving it a firm squeeze, and they walked in silence to the room. Keith couldn’t keep the smile off of his face, this was exactly what he had wanted for months, Lance, and he was finally getting it, or, rather, him.

They sat down next to each other in the meeting room, and Lance let go of his hand. Keith mourned the loss, but knew that it would’ve been distracting while Coran gave them the game plan for today.

The others found their seats, a few teammates cast them knowing looks. At least none of their team members seemed openly against whatever it was that they were. It would make the whole thing a lot easier for Keith and Lance if they had the full support of their team.

Coran walked into the room with the same aura of determinedness that he usually came in with, only this time it was amplified by about one thousand. He walked up and stood in front of his team, observing them silently, before starting his speech.

“Alright team. As you all are sure to know, Zarkon has been using his connections to the media to try to throw us off our game before this big, well, game against The Galrans. But today, we’re going to show him something he’s not expecting, a unified front. It is absolutely essential that you men work together just as you have all season, not as twenty-five individuals, but as one team. If you go out and do this, you’ll cream those purple sons of bitches. Now, who’s ready to play the game of their lives?”

A chorus of cheers came from the team, and Keith felt electric. He hadn’t been this excited for a game in a very long time.

Coran quickly told the team the general plan and what to keep in mind for today, and then sent them out to the field. Keith was more than happy to find Lance’s hand in his own as they walked out of the room. Right before they stepped into the dugout, Lance pulled Keith to the side.

“Let’s go kick some ass, babe,” Lance said, grinning from ear to ear.

Keith couldn’t help but smile back, but didn’t get a chance to reply before Lance pressed a quick kiss to his lips, then stepped through the door.

Keith shook his head, grinning to himself, then followed Lance out into the dugout.

------------------------------

Keith knelt down behind home plate, flipping his mask over his face. Quickly, he tapped the home plate once with his glove (his usual custom), then looked up to see what the rest of the team was doing.

And by “team” he meant Lance.

Lance threw some warm up pitches at Keith, and Keith tossed them back. Each one was powerful, landing with a solid thud in Keith’s glove. They went back and forth about four times before Lance kept the ball to himself, signalling the game was about to start.

Keith watched with a small smile on his face as Lance went through his pregame ritual. Keith honestly thought it was adorable how seriously Lance took it. Truthfully, it was just superstition; how well he pitched should have nothing to do with whether or not Lance threw the ball into his glove twice before turning his hat backwards. But, Lance was even more convinced of the ritual’s effect on his performance ever since he had forgotten to do it, and had sucked. Nevermind that other things were weighing on his mind at the time, it had to be because he didn’t do his good luck charm.

Lance was predictable before the start of each game, he did everything the same. He’d never say out loud how important the routines were for him, but it was easy to tell if you paid attention. It was so bad that if another team member took his spot in the meeting room, he asked them to move.

Which is why Keith was so surprised when Lance changed his routine.

After Lance flipped his hat around in his oh-so-predictable fashion, he f*cking blew a kiss at Keith.

Keith’s jaw dropped slightly. For a second he was surprised that Lance would do that in such a public setting immediately after the tabloids had exploded with their story, and then he realized that it was something Lance would totally do. The man was a show off, it made sense that he’d want to flaunt the fact that Keith had gone out with him. Plus, it was definitely a big middle finger to everyone who thought that “Klance” was going to have a negative impact in The Lions.

Keith grinned, and decided to play along. He reached up with his ungloved hand and “caught” the kiss, then brought his closed fist to his heart. He watched with satisfaction as Lance’s smirk turned into a bashful smile.

As the batter got ready, Keith idly wondered if any cameras had actually caught that interaction, and if they would even air it. It didn’t really matter though.

The batter stepped up to the plate and Keith took all of two seconds to decide what pitch to call. The man was small, he’d be fast but his arms wouldn’t be very long. A slider would be the best pitch for the job.

He rested his ungloved hand on his knee and held out his index finger, signalling Lance what pitch to use.

Even from the distance between him and Lance, he could see the fire light in Lance’s eyes as he got ready to pitch. Splitters were one of Lance’s favorite pitches, that combined with the stakes of this game meant that there was absolutely no chance of this guy actually hitting the ball.

Keith got ready to catch the ball as Lance wound up. The ball flew out and Keith shifted to put his glove in it’s path, and sure enough, the ball landed with a thud in Keith’s glove. He grinned as he threw it back to Lance, and the ump called a strike.

The game continued, and Keith couldn’t help but be surprised by the fire that he could feel in each pitch Lance threw. They were hard, fast, determined pitches, and damn , Lance really meant business today. Which was undeniably hot as f*ck, but, Keith had some dignity and self control. That wasn’t going to distract him during a game, at least, not enough to make him f*ck up.

Lance struck out the first three batters, earning himself a tremendous roar from the crowd. Lance grinned and waved at them as he walked off the field like the true show off he was.

Keith shook his head, smiling, as Hunk came and bumped playfully into Lance.

“Hey man! Leave some work for the rest of us!” he said, grinning.

Lance grinned back, “Not today buddy, I’m striking out as many of Zarkon’s players as I can,”

Keith sat down on the bench, grabbed his water and took a sip. He glanced at the batting order and was surprised to see that he was first up. It had been a while since Coran put him up first. Quickly, he put on his batting gloves, grabbed his helmet and bat, and started to make his way to home plate. Before he even stepped out of the dug out, though, a hand was pulling him back.

He turned to face whoever it was that had a hold on his wrist, he had a sneaking suspicion that it was Lance, and was suddenly met with a pair of lips against his own.

Lance pulled away, grinning, “Good luck babe, not like you need it though,”

Keith smiled back at him, “You’re going to get yelled at for too much PDA, you know,”

Lance shrugged, “May as well get as much as I can in before that happens, then,”

Keith shook his head, smiling, “ I guess you can’t argue with that logic,”

“Nope! You can’t!” Lance beamed, “Now get out there!” Lance said as he pushed Keith out of the dugout.

Keith chuckled to himself as he walked out, but quickly refocused once he saw home plate. Now was his time to prove to the world that that article and all the media attention hadn’t f*cked with him. Lance had already done that for himself with his pitching, but Keith hadn’t gotten the opportunity to do that yet.

He took a few practice swings before walking up the plate and quickly doing his simple ritual. Sometimes he wondered why he even did it. It wasn’t like he was superstitious like Lance, he had just started doing it one day. It didn’t f*ck with him if he forgot, but it was like a little tradition anyways.

He squared up in front of the plate, watching the pitcher intently. The pitcher wound up, and released. Keith had been catching for long enough to know when a pitcher was trying to get as much speed as possible with a pitch. This was going to be a fast ball.

His specialty.

Without even really thinking about it, he swung, heard the ball meet his bat, and ran, dropping the bat as he left home base.

He sprinted, and quickly looked around for where the ball was. It was way out in left field, and Keith was pretty sure he could at least make it to second base. So, he rounded first and kept running to second. He saw that the ball was being passed toward him a little faster than he had anticipated, so he dropped into a slide when he was only a few feet from the base.

The second baseman caught the ball a few seconds after Keith’s foot hit the base, and Keith could hear Lance cheering from the sidelines. Keith stood up, grinning, and shot a finger gun at Lance.

His grin widened in amusem*nt as he watched Lance’s reaction. His jaw dropped, and then he was hitting Hunk on the arm, no doubt complaining about how the finger guns were “his thing” and Keith had “no right” to steal them from him.

Next up was Colivan, who was known for his insane ability for bunts. Keith could either stay, or run, but he didn’t know what to do. If Colivan bunted, it would make getting to third base a little more risky, but if he didn’t move and Colivan kept going after first base, well, that wasn’t good either. Keith looked over at Coran, hoping he would give him a signal for what he should do.

Luckily, Coran was already looking at him, and he was twirling his mustache, which was Coran-code for “go”.

Keith nodded, and turned back around to watch the pitcher, when the pitcher wound up to throw, Keith started running, trying to steal the base. He got to third just as Colivan hit the ball. His eyes locked on the ball as it sailed through the air and Keith quickly realized that it definitely wasn’t a bunt, but rather a pop-fly that was going to land somewhere in the outfield.

Almost as soon as he realized that, he took off running.

He made it to home base before the ball had even made it back infield, but, nonetheless, Lance acted as if Keith had just done the impossible.

“YES!! GO KEITH! HE’S BEAUTY, HE’S GRACE, HE MADE IT TO HOME BASE!”

Keith grinned and shook his head in embarrassment as he walked up to the dugout. As he stepped in, he took off his helmet, complete with his patented hair flip.

“Lance, could you really be any more ridiculous?” He deadpanned, finally able to keep his smile under control.

“Sorry babe, but I have to celebrate your awesomeness for all the world to hear,”

Keith let a small grin slip through as he patted Lance’s face gently, “Well, I appreciate the support, but you really need to take it down a few notches,”

“Yeah,” Hunk said, walking up behind Lance, “I think I’ve lost some hearing from how loud you were yelling,”

“Plus, it’s not very professional,” Shiro said from where he was sitting.

Lance rolled his eyes, “I really don’t care about being professional but, I’ll tone it down, for Hunk’s sake,”

“Aw! Thanks bro!”

“Anything for you, bro,”

Keith watched, half amused and half ashamed, as Hunk and Lance did their overly-complicated bro-handshake. It took them a full minute to complete, and Keith wasn’t sure if he should be impressed that they came up with all of that, or sad that they both actually had that much time on their hands.

-------------------------------

Keith was on the edge of his seat, literally, as he watched his teammates out on the bases. It was the bottom of the ninth, the last chance they had to get ahead, and boy, were they close.

The Lions were only one point behind in what had been a very intense game. Neither team was slacking off at all, they were all bringing everything to the table, leaving it all out on the field. Lance was striking nearly everyone out, but The Galrans’ pitcher wasn’t too far behind, and their rival team was very good at making plays. The two teams had been at a stalemate for a few innings, neither one getting any runs, but The Galrans had caught a second wind during the seventh inning that The Lions were still recovering from.

What was important, though, was the fact that Keith had felt more connected to Lance in this game than he ever had before during this game. It was almost like he could predict exactly what the pitcher was about to do. Keith knew when Lance was about to abandon his pitch to try and get a stealer out, he could predict the plays Lance was about to make.

It was hard to describe the connection, but it was there, and Keith wondered if Lance could feel it too.

Hunk tapped Keith’s shoulder excitedly, bringing him out of his thoughts. He refocused on the game. The bases were loaded, Lance was on second base, and Shiro was walking up to bat.

“How many outs do we have?” Keith asked.

“Two,” Hunk replied, eyes glued to the field, “If Shiro can bring in Ulaz and Lance with this hit, we win,”

Keith nodded, Shiro hadn’t struck out at all this game, it was a surefire thing that he would hit it, what wasn’t surefire, though, was how many runs The Lions could get before someone got out.

That was the thing about having the bases loaded, you could get the maximum amount of runs a single batter could bring in if everything went well, but also the highest chance of at least one person getting out if one thing went wrong.

Keith watched as the pitcher for The Galrans threw the ball at Shiro, it curved down at the last second, but Shiro never even flinched. Keith grinned as the ump called a ball, and the catcher threw the ball back. Shiro was so good at telling where the ball was going to go, Keith never really understood how he did it.

The second pitch was a changeup, and Shiro hit it dead on. The sound of the ball colliding with the bat rang through the stadium as Shiro dropped his bat and ran. Keith watched the ball fly through the air, further, further, further…

“Ohmygod...he’s gonna get a home run,” Keith thought as the ball continued to sail through the air, having covered three fourths of the field.

Keith watched in amazement as the ball flew over the edge of the stadium, and then out of sight. Keith blinked. Had Shiro just hit it out of the park?

He looked at Hunk, and the look on his face told Keith that he had, in fact, seen that right. The crowd erupted into cheers, seemingly realizing what just happened at the same time Keith had.

His eyes snapped to the infield, suddenly remembering that people were on the bases. Ulaz was already walking to the dugout, and Keith watched as Lance jogged across homebase, then Rolo. Shiro was jogging leisurely around the bases, just fast enough to not be dickish, but slow enough to get the point across that he was in no rush. He waved at the crowd, smiling wide.

Keith grinned as he realized what this meant. They had just won . The Galrans weren’t batting after this, and they had just gotten four points, giving The Lions a solid two point lead.

He turned to Hunk, “We won!”

Hunk grinned, “Hell yeah we did!”

Lance walked through the entrance to the dugout, grinning from ear to ear, “Oh my god! Guys! This is amazing!”

Keith grinned back at him and handed Lance his bottle of water, “Here, I’m sure you’re thirsty,”

“I mean, yeah, but water can only quench one type of thirst,” Lance said with a wink.

Keith rolled his eyes as Hunk gagged, “Dude! Do you really have to be so gross?” Hunk whined.

“Keith gave me a perfect opportunity! Do you really expect me to pass that up?”

“Yes,” said Keith and Hunk together.

At that same moment, Shiro walked in, and was instantly greeted with a chorus of congratulations and a sea of fistbumps, highfives, and bro hugs. Truly the greatest show of appreciation a team could bestow upon their team member.

Just as Shiro had finished receiving the immense amount of love his team was giving him, Coran walked up to the dugout.

“Alright men! No slacking off now! Let’s grind them into the dust! Antok, you’re on deck!”

With that, the team got a bit more serious. Antok gathered his things and got ready to go up to bat, and the rest of the team watched from the sidelines. Admittedly, everyone was now much less interested, they knew how it was going to end, there was really no point in watching.

Antok got out at second base a few batters later, and the game was over. The Lions had managed to get one more run before then, though, giving them a respectable three point win. As they walked back to the locker room, Lance pulled Keith over to the side and looked at him with what had to be the most satisfied grin Keith had ever seen.

“We did it! We proved everyone wrong, sent The Galrans crying back to their bitch ass mommy,”

Keith grinned, “Was it everything you dreamed of?” he said teasingly.

Lance smirked back, “Almost, there’s just one more thing I need to make the dream complete,”

Keith raised an eyebrow, “Oh yeah? What would that be?”

“This,” Lance said, just before he leaned in to kiss Keith.

Keith grinned into the kiss. Of course this is what would be the cherry on top of the cake for Lance. It’s that overused ending to every hero story: win the day, get the girl. Or, boy in this case. It would probably fan Lance’s ego for a bit, but Keith didn’t really mind.

Suddenly, Keith heard puking sounds coming from somewhere nearby. He opened his eyes for a second to see Hunk and Pidge making a big show of how disgusted they were. Keith simply flipped them off, earning a cackle from Pidge and a scandalized gasp from Hunk.

The kiss didn’t last much longer, Keith and Lance had, in fact, learned from their misadventure in the park.

As they walked back into the locker room, hand in hand, Keith could only think of one thing, and that was how damn happy he was.

Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Chapter Text

Lance POV

Now it was time for Lance’s favorite part of winning a game.

The afterparty.

He loved to just chill and hang out with his teammates. It was a great way to celebrate and relax at the same time, usually. Compared to most teams, The Lions’ afterparties were more like chill get-togethers at the coach’s house. But, since this game had been against The Galrans, and since they didn’t have a game for a few days, Coran had promised to take them out to a club. It was apparently really swanky, and Coran had somehow managed to reserve the VIP room for them.

So, needless to say, Lance was excited.

Lance walked up to the admittedly scary bouncer, completely bypassing the line and definitely earning some dirty looks, and told him his name. The bouncer didn’t even check his clipboard, just let him walk through the doors. Lance didn’t miss the one or two gasps from the line when he said his name out loud, but he didn’t pay them much attention.

As soon as he stepped through the door, Lance could feel the bass of the music hammering against his chest, a constant drum that almost made it feel like he was suffocating.

He glanced around the room, ignoring the dancefloor and the people moving in time with the rhythm of the bass, and quickly spotted the VIP room. It was hard to miss, since the door literally had a big neon sign above it labeling it “VIP”

He made his way over, and briefly hoped he wouldn’t be the first one to show up, but he knew that he was fashionably late. He had spent enough time picking out his outfit to assure that much.

He walked through the door, clad in a light blue button up, black slacks, and black suspenders, and was glad to see that he wasn’t overdressed. Everyone in the room was dressed at least as nicely as he was. Coran even had on a full blown, metallic magenta, suit, it was definitely overkill, but somehow Coran made it work.

Lance made sure to greet all of the teammates that were there before making his way over to his usual group. Shiro, Allura, Pidge, Hunk, and Coran were all sitting around a coffee table on some very comfortable-looking couches. He flopped down next to Hunk, leaning onto the bigger man slightly.

“Hey everyone, sorry I’m late,”

“Actually, you’re not that late,” Shiro said, “People just started getting here a few minutes ago,”

“Also, I don’t think there was really a set time for this,” Allura pointed out.

Lance nodded, and took in his friends. Coran’s suit had captured most of his attention beforehand, but now that he was used to it, he could really soak in how everyone else looked.

And they all looked damn fine.

Hunk and Shiro were dressed basically the same as Lance, except they lacked suspenders, and Hunk had on a soft yellow shirt, while Shiro had a white one on. And Pidge, Lance had never seen her dressed so nicely before, she had on fitted black slacks, a pastel green button down, and a black blazer. Allura had her hair pulled into a ponytail, and sleek red dress that cut off mid thigh and looked absolutely wonderful against her dark skin.

Lance grinned, “Guys, you all look hot as f*ck,”

Allura and Shiro chuckled at that, Pidge rolled her eyes, but her smile gave her away.

“Thanks bro!” Hunk said, beaming, as he wrapped his arm around Lance and squeezed him.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, my boy,” said Coran, with a sly smile on his face, “That wouldn’t be for the benefit of a certain catcher, would it?”

Lance grinned back at him, “Oh you bet it is...speaking of, where is Keith?”

“He got hit by a car on his way over here,” Pidge deadpanned, causing Lance to almost have a heart attack.

“What?!”

“Pidge!” Shiro said, shooting her a look.

Hunk patted Lance’s shoulder reassuringly, “She’s just messing with you dude,”

Lance slumped back into his seat, glaring at Pidge, “Don’t joke about that sh*t dude. The man rides a motorcycle, that makes him like, a hundred times more likely to get hit by a car,”

Shiro chuckled, “Good to know that Keith’s got someone to worry about him,”

Lance huffed, “If I don’t then he’s gonna do something stupid like try to jump the Grand Canyon,”

At that moment, Pidge’s phone vibrated and she looked at it, then started to type, “Keith just got here,”

“Nice, nice,” Lance said, nodding dumbly.

Allura chuckled, “Oh boy, you really do have it bad, don’t you Lance?”

“Not as bad as Shiro has it for you, though who could blame him when he’s literally dating a goddess,”

Allura grinned, and looked toward Shiro, “He is pretty whipped, isn’t he?”

Shiro smiled back, sickenly sweet, “Only because you’re so amazing.

“You guys are so gross,” Pidge groaned at the same time Lance said “GOALS!”

Hunk chuckled, “The duality of man,”

Lance groaned, “Hunk, you’re such a meme,”

Coran furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, “A meme? What’s that?”

Pidge’s head snapped toward him, “Oh no, Coran, don’t tell me that you don’t know what a meme is,”

“I don’t…” Coran said hesitantly.

Naturally, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance went to work educating Coran on memes. Shiro and Allura even helped to translate their “hip lingo” into “old people speak”. The lesson was so intense that Lance didn’t notice Keith sneaking up on Pidge until he was only a few feet away from her.

Keith’s eyes landed on Lance, and he held a finger to his mouth. Lance got the message, and continued as if he hadn’t seen anything.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lance watched Keith get closer and closer to Pidge, slowly putting his face next to her ear.

“Boo,”

“whAT THE f*ck,” Pidge yelled, jumping nearly a foot in the air, “Keith! You f*cking dick!”

At that, the whole group devolved into laughter, except Pidge, who was seething in her seat, and no doubt planning her revenge on Keith.

He plopped down next to her, “Sorry, couldn’t resist,” he said with a chuckle.

“f*ck you,” Pidge grumbled, slouching into her seat and crossing her arms.

Lance chuckled to himself, “Don’t pout, Pidge,”

“I’ll pout if I want,” Pidge said, settling even further into the couch.

Lance shook his head, chuckling softly, then turned to look at Keith. This time, he really took his outfit in. Keith was dressed in a white button down, grey vest, and matching slacks. His hair was pulled back in that ponytail that Lance just simply adored.

“Good thing you’re here, Keith, Lance was starting to get worried,” Hunk said, nudging Lance with his elbow and bringing him back from his ogling.

Keith raised an eyebrow and looked at Lance, “You were?”

Lance rolled his eyes, and pointed at Pidge “Only because this one said you got in an accident on the way over,”

Keith looked to Pidge, looking mildly surprised. She shrugged, “I wanted to see his reaction,”

Keith grinned, “That’s fair,” He said, leaning back into his seat.

“Keith! You’re supposed to yell at her!” Lance whined.

“Why would I do that?” Keith asked, a ghost of a smirk on his lips.

Lance huffed, “You’re supposed to be on my side, but fine, I’ll just leave you for Hunk. He’d support me better than you do,” He said, leaning onto Hunk and wrapping his arms around him.

Hunk grinned, “Thanks bro,”

“Anything for you, bro,”

Keith rolled his eyes, and leaned over to Pidge, “We’re not that gay, are we?”

Pidge glanced over to him, “Well, technically we can’t be gay, but I get your point, and no, we’re not,”

“Good,”

Allura chuckled, “You guys are too much,”

Lance grinned at her, “It’s part of our charm,”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that,” she replied, grinning back.

At that, Shiro got up, “I’m gonna get a drink,”

“Oh! Get me one?” Keith asked.

“Sure dude, what do you want?”

“A sex on the beach,”

“Alright, anyone else?”

Hunk looked around at everyone, who either already had a glass or was shaking their head, “I think we’re good, thanks Shiro!”

“Sure thing,” He said, as he walked off toward the bar.

Allura leaned in, “Alright, so like, neither of you have really told us how your date went,”

Lance grinned, and leaned toward her, “Well, I totally swept Keith off his feet,”

Keith snorted, “Literally,”

Lance looked at him confused, “What do you…” and then it hit him. He had literally knocked Keith over when they were ice skating, he had completely forgotten, “Oh...no, no, let’s not talk about that,”

“Oh, I have to hear this,” Pidge said, grinning and leaning toward the table.

Keith snorted again, “Well, Lance took me ice skating for the first half of the date...but the dumbass didn’t know I can’t skate,”

“Hey! I was counting on that! Plus, I was a total gentleman helping you learn how to skate,” Lance glanced over to Allura and Hunk, “It was really cute, he had his face all scrunched up in concentration and…”

“And Lance was skating backwards in front of me to make sure I wouldn’t fall,” Keith said, cutting Lance off, “And Mr. Smooth over here lost his balance on an uneven patch of ice and his legs flew out from under him…”

Pidge snorted, “Don’t tell me…”

Keith nodded, “His legs knocked my legs over and made me fall down on top of him,”

Allura grinned, “Okay but, that’s pretty cute actually,”

Keith smiled faintly, “I suppose it was, but it would’ve been cuter if he had kissed me, but instead he made a pun,”

“Ohmygod,”

Keith smirked at Lance, “Tell them what you said,”

Lance rolled his eyes, “I still think it was pretty cute, but, what I said was ‘Wow Keith, looks like we really are falling for each other,’”

“Lance, you’re my hero,” Hunk said, grinning widely.

“See!” Lance said, motioning to Hunk, “He gets it!”

Allura was shaking her head, with a grin on her face, when Shiro came back to the group.

“Here Keith,” He said, handing Keith his drink before sitting down,”

“Thanks Shiro,”

“Alright, but, Lance. I’m actually really surprised you didn’t use a pick up line on Keith when you fell,” Allura said, “Lord knows you’ve used enough on me,”

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, “Wasn’t that a pick up line?”

“I mean, I guess, but I thought of it more as a cute pun,”

“I think I have to agree with her on this one,” Coran said.

Hunk brought his hand to his chin, “I dunno, it seems pretty pick up line-y to me,”

Shiro tilted his head thoughtfully, “Does it count as a pick up line if you’re on a date already?”

“I think it does,” Lance said, earning a nod of agreement from Hunk.

Pidge grinned at Lance, “Hey, I bet you can’t come up with a pick up line right now to use on Keith,”

Lance gasped in mock offense, “Who do you think I am? I have like, ten pick up lines ready at all times,”

“Prove it,” Keith said, smirking.

“Alright,” Lance said, he took a moment to rifle through the ones he currently had, when he thought of a perfect one, he grinned, “Hey Keith, are you wearing baseball pants? Because…”

“My ass is out of your league?” Keith interrupted, taking a sip of his drink nonchalantly.

Pidge burst out laughing, and high-fived Keith, while the rest of their friends laughed.

Lance’s eyes widened, “Keith!! How could you?!”

He shrugged, “I saw an opportunity and I took it,”

Lance huffed, “Well you ruined that one...now I have to come up with another,”

“Oh c’mon Lance, this should be easy for you,” Allura said teasingly.

Lance sighed, “I’ll come up with another, but it won’t be as good as that one was going to be,” he paused, thinking about what to say. He was drawing a blank. It took him a bit but finally, one came to his mind. It wasn’t great, but it would have to do.

“Keith, I should call you Google, because you have everything I’m looking for,”

Keith raised one eyebrow, and looked thoroughly unimpressed.

“Oh my god,” Pidge snorted.

Shiro cracked a smile, “That was pretty lame dude,”

Lance shook his head in shame, “I know, I tried my best though,”

Hunk patted his shoulder, “I thought it was cute,”

He smiled pitifully, “Thanks bro,”

Coran turned to Keith, “You should try one on Lance,”

Keith’s eyes widened as his head snapped to Coran, “W-what?”

“Yes! Keith, woo your man,” Shiro said with a devilish grin on his face.

Lance grinned, and leaned back in his seat, “Hit me with your best shot,” He said with a smug wink.

Keith slumped forward, “Fine, but I get to look one up,”

“That’s fine, you don’t have an arsenal like I do,” Lance said, grinning.

Keith pulled out his phone, and started typing and scrolling. Every once in awhile he’d show his screen to Pidge, who almost always shook her head no, until the last one he showed her.

“That one, that’s perfect,” She said, looking up at Lance with a impish grin on her face. Suddenly, Lance was slightly nervous, but he wasn’t about to lose his smug aura.

“Can you touch me? That way I can tell my friends I’ve been touched by an angel,”

Lance’s eyes almost popped out of his head. His heart skipped a beat, he could feel heat rushing up his neck, face, ears, everywhere.

“f*ck, did he really just say that?”

The rest of the group seemed to have picked up on how absolutely mortified Lance was, because they were all cackling. But who could blame Lance? Keith had just asked him to touch him. Even though he was fairly certain the pick up line was meant to be innocent, who could blame him for thinking about it that way?

Lance had to do something, and quick, to turn this back around on Keith. He took a second to compose himself and come up with something witty.

“Oh babe, I’ll touch you anywhere you want,” He said, somehow able to reclaim his smug smirk despite the redness on his face.

The rest of the group either made remarks about how disgusted they were, or started laughing louder, but Lance was zeroed in on Keith.

He was blushing, that much was obvious, but there was a spark in his eye and a tilt to his smile that made Lance’s stomach do a flip.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Keith said in a low voice that just did things to Lance.

“Oh my god! You guys are so gross!” Pidge exclaimed, smacking Keith on the arm.

Keith took a sip of his drink, “You technically started this whole thing, Pidge”

Lance nodded, “You should’ve known better,”

“It’s never the victim’s fault,” Hunk pointed out.

Lance paused, trying to come up with a counter, but couldn’t, “Well, I can’t argue with that,”

“Me neither,” Keith said, grinning, “Well played, Hunk,”

Hunk nodded, a small smile on his face.

“Well!” Allura announced, clapping her hands together, “I’m hitting the dancefloor, feel free to join me,” She got up from her seat, and pulled Shiro up from his seat. He didn’t protest, however he did shoot a small, pleading look over to the rest of the group, but the smile on his face gave him away.

Lance didn’t even give it a second thought, he was out of his seat in an instant, “C’mon guys!” he said as he started to follow Allura.

Hunk shrugged and followed suit, as did Coran. Pidge and Keith exchanged a look, seemed to come to a silent agreement, and got up as well.

Allura weaved her way through the decently sized crowd and the rest followed in her wake, taking advantage of the new space. Eventually she stopped in a spot near the center of the crowd. The bass was throbbing, and the DJ was actually fairly good, so it didn’t take long for the group to start dancing.

Lance grinned as he let his body groove to the music, he’d always loved dancing, it’s a huge part of his culture. It’s simply not a party in Cuba if there’s no dancing. He wasn’t quite sure if he qualified as good, however, he knew he wasn’t an embarrassment.

He let a wave ripple through his arms, and then passed in on to Hunk, who let it go through himself with a chuckle, and then he passed it to Pidge. Pidge just stood there, giving him a look.

“Oh c’mon Pidge!” Hunk pleaded.

Pidge rolled her eyes, though a ghost of a grin was on her face, and continued the wave, passing it to Coran. The coach, very enthusiastically, passed it to Shiro, who passed it to Allura, who passed it to Keith. Keith looked a little hesitant, but nonetheless let the wave go through him, and smiled as he passed it back to Allura.

Lance let out a laugh as he watched the wave go through his friends again on it’s way back to him, much more fluid this time. This was one of the many reasons why he loved these people, he could just have fun with them, and as overlooked as that trait often was, it was no less important. He could just sit back, relax, be himself, and have fun, and it meant a lot to him.

They all danced together for a bit, but subgroups were slowly forming. It wasn’t that they separated, everyone stayed basically in the same area, but Lance suddenly noticed how Shiro and Allura were only focused on each other, and how Hunk, Pidge, and Coran seemed to be playing some sort of dancing game. Lance didn’t really know when the group had broken down. He had just kept dancing, not really thinking, yet somehow he had ended up with Keith.

Well, not really “somehow”, Lance had made sure they were near each other, but he didn’t realize they would end up by themselves.

Lance looked up at Keith, who was dancing in front of him. He watched Keith move, and took note on how every movement seemed so natural, which wasn’t normal for Keith. He was actually letting go. His relaxation was apparent in the way his eyes were closed, and the way his head was bobbing to the music as he sang along softly.

Keith had lost himself listening to the music, and Lance lost himself watching Keith.

Keith’s eyes fluttered open quite suddenly, and Lance’s widened, then quickly darted to the ground, ashamed of being caught staring. Lance could feel the sting of embarrassment in his chest, but he didn’t really quite know why. They had already gone on a date, it wasn’t like Keith didn’t know how Lance felt, and it wasn’t like Lance didn’t know how Keith felt, but yet, he was still embarrassed.

Lance’s eyes widened as he felt his suspenders strain against his back, causing him to stumble a step forward toward Keith. He caught himself in time to not fall, and looked up and Keith, who had what had to be the smuggest smirk Lance had ever seen plastered onto his face,

“Admiring the view?” Keith said, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Lance grinned, “Nope, I just happened to zone out in your direction,”

“Mhm,” Keith said, his smile softening, “Whatever you say,”

He glanced down at Lance’s torso, and lifted his hand, hooking a finger under Lance’s suspenders and running it up and down, “Y’know, I like these a lot,”

Lance flashed him a smile, “Well I’d hope so, I look fantastic in them,”

Keith nodded, “You do,”

Lance basked in the compliment, but took a moment to think about how long it had been since he had worn suspenders. A long time, he thought, maybe as far back as the first afterparty he went to, that was the last time he could remember wearing them.

“Wait,” Lance thought, as a knowing smile spread over his face.

Keith quirked an eyebrow at him, “What’s that look for?”

Lance focused back on Keith and chuckled, “Now I know why you were so weird when I got to Coran’s for that first afterparty,”

Keith kept his eyebrow raised, obviously not understanding.

Lance shook his head with a smile, “I was wearing these and you probably had like, a heart attack or something because I’m so beautiful,”

Keith rolled his eyes, “Don’t flatter yourself,” he deadpanned, but the flush creeping up his neck gave him away.

Lance chuckled, “You had a crush on me!! How embarrassing,”

Keith looked at him, utterly exasperated, “We literally went on a date like, literally two days ago,”

“Still embarrassing,” Lance said grinning, “You’ve been absolutely gone for me for months,”

“Oh my god, shut up,” Keith said. Suddenly Lance felt another tug on his suspenders, pulling him closer to Keith. He didn’t even have time to process what was going on before a pair of lips met his own.

The tone of the kiss was completely opposite from their first. There was no tenderness to it, Keith kissed him with a passion and a hunger that was almost startling. But nonetheless, Lance lost himself in it, in Keith, something that seemed to be happening more and more ever since their date.

Lance kissed back, and tried his best to slow the kiss down, make it less frantic. He succeeded to a point, but he could still sense the hunger radiating off of Keith. It showed itself in the way he bit on Lance’s lip, how he slipped his tongue in the moment Lance’s lips were parted. It was as if each time their lips meshed together only made Keith want more.

Keith’s hands were still pulling on his suspenders, so he slowly grabbed Keith’s wrists and brought them upward. Keith seemed to get the message, because he let his arms wrap around Lance’s neck. Lance wrapped his own arms around Keith’s waist, and let them hang lazily.

He did not, however, pass up the opportunity to touch Keith’s butt. He let his free hand rest on the curve of Keith’s ass, and couldn’t resist giving it a light squeeze. Lance relished in the way Keith moaned ever so slightly into their kiss.

He pulled away slightly, needing to take a moment to breath, and rested his forehead on Keith’s. Lance grinned when Keith chased him, trying to kiss him again.

“Slow down babe,” Lance purred, “Give me a second to catch my breath,”

Keith smiled softly, but before he could reply, a voice interrupted them.

“I cannot believe I got all that,”

Lance and Keith simultaneously snapped their heads to look at the source of the voice, and were greeted with the image of a smirking Pidge, lowering her phone.

“Pidge!” Keith roared, “Delete that!”

“Nope! No way! Perfect blackmail material and payback for scaring me!”

“Pidge!”

Lance broke out into uncontrollable laughter, and received a nasty glare from Keith, but he couldn’t help it. It was just too funny, how worked up Keith was getting. Truth was that it didn’t bother him that much if Pidge had that video, it wasn’t like people hadn’t seen them kissing. But it was just so amusing to watch Keith practically vibrate with frustration over this.

Keith lunged for the phone, and Pidge ducked out of the way. He went for it again and Pidge promptly tucked the phone into her bra.

“Ha! Can’t get it now, loser,”

Keith narrowed his eyes at her, “I hate you so f*cking much,”

“I know,” she said with a grin.

Lance’s laughter started to die down, now just an occasional chuckle, “Pidge, you’ll have to send that to me,” he said, grinning.

“Oh my god, you’re disgusting,” Pidge groaned as Keith’s head snapped toward Lance. He looked absolutely mortified.

“Lance!” He yelped.

Lance grinned, and said with a shrug, “What? I’m in the video, it’s only fair,”

Pidge groaned again and rolled her eyes, then grabbed Keith’s wrist, “C’mon, Shiro wanted to talk to you,”

Keith shot Lance a confused look as Pidge dragged him through the crowd. Lance followed in their wake. It wasn’t long before they were out of the crowd and walking toward the bar, where Shiro was sitting with Allura and Thace.

“Keith! Bro!” Shiro said, grinning lopsidedly, as he grabbed Keith’s shoulder in a way that wasn’t very Shiro-like, “I need you to settle a score between me and Thace,”

Keith quirked an eyebrow at him, “Alright, what is it?”

Lance glanced over at Allura, who looked at him exasperatedly. He grinned and walked over to her.

“Shiro’s a little tipsy,” She explained, “And when he gets tipsy he turns into a total dudebro,”

Lance grinned, and leaned against the counter next to her, “I can see that,” he said with a chuckle, “You truly are a patient woman,”

She nodded, “I really am,”

At that, Lance tuned back into the conversation between the three men next to them.

“Alright, so, there’s this drink that me and Thace just had that’s like, insane. Thace doesn’t think you can handle it but I told him that was bullsh*t,”

Keith turned to Thace, “You really think I can’t handle it?”

Thace shrugged, “It’s really strong Keith, I could barely handle it and I drink stronger drinks than you do,”

“I can handle anything you throw at me,” Keith said with an edge to his voice that made Lance bristle. Was that...was he flirting just then? It sounded scarily similar to how Keith would’ve said it to him...but, no. Keith was a competitive guy in general, Lance was just overreacting.

“Didn’t you drive here?” Allura asked.

“I took an Uber,” Keith said, “So I’m good to drink,”

“Hey Craig!” Shiro called, causing the bartender to come over, “Get my bro that drink you just gave us, what was it, a nunville?”

The bartender nodded, quickly made the drink, and slid it toward Keith. Keith picked it up, and smelled it experimentally, crinkling his nose as the heavy scent of alcohol hit his senses, which was absolutely adorable. He looked like a little kitten.

“Gonna chicken out?” Thace said with a grin.

Keith shot him a look, “Not on your life,”

And there it was again, that competitive smirk and determined, yet somehow also flirtatious tone in his voice that Lance was so used to having directed at him. It had never occurred to Lance that Keith acted this way with other people, and he didn’t like it.

He shook his head, trying to clear is thoughts. Keith was competitive. Thace and Keith were good friends. That was it. It made sense for Keith to develop a close friendship with a guy like Thace, but that was all it was. If they were going to get romantically involved, it would’ve been long before Lance ever came into the picture. He was overreacting.

He kept repeating that reasoning to himself, and eventually was calm enough to enjoy watching Keith down the drink after bickering with Thace a bit more.

He lifted the glass to his mouth and drank, throwing his head back slightly. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he was able to get it all down in one go. He set the glass down with a triumphant glint in his eye.

“Told ya,” Shiro said, grinning.

“Okay, but, will he be piss ass drunk now?” Thace said.

“No,” Keith said, “I’ll be fine, it was one drink,”

“The percentage of alcohol in that drink was really high, Keith,”

“Thace, I’m good,”

“If you say so,”
Shiro grinned, and clapped Keith on the shoulder, happy to have won. Thace still wasn’t quite convinced, but didn’t say anything.

“Watch this,” Allura said, grinning at Lance before she turned to Shiro, “Shiro, babe?” she said, with a voice so flirtatious that Lance hardly even recognized it, “I forgot where the bathrooms are, can you point them out for me?”

Shiro nodded, “Right over there babe,” he said, pointing over the bathrooms. But this was no ordinary point, he was flexing, and he was flexing hard. Lance had to cough to cover his laugh, because Shiro looked utterly ridiculous, contorting his arm in such an unnecessary way in order to show off his admittedly huge muscles.

Allura grinned, “Thank you,” as she got up to go to the bathroom, she shot Lance a triumphant smile, “Told you,”

“That was amazing,” Lance said with a chuckle, keeping his voice low to make sure Shiro didn’t hear.

When she left, Lance took her spot next to Shiro at the bar, and he idly listened to the conversation the other three men were having. It was about motorcycles, which Lance really didn’t have a lot of knowledge on, so he just sat back and watched.

Lance didn’t miss when Keith’s eyes started to gloss over, or when his words started to slur together just slightly. The other two didn’t seem to realize, or if they did they made no mention of it.

Lance was a little surprised when Keith ordered another drink, not the nunville, just a beer. But it was Keith’s third drink tonight, and the nunville had obviously been strong. Keith was lean, and built a lot like Lance, so he knew from his own experience that Keith was going to be absolutely hammered after this beer.

He watched Keith nurse the beer slowly as the conversation flowed from one topic to the next. Lance would jump in when he could, but was definitely grateful when Allura came back. They chatted about her work, their families, Shiro, Keith, baseball, anything really. All the while he kept an eye on Keith, just in case.

Allura checked the time, “It’s getting late,” She said, as she tapped Shiro’s shoulder, “We should probably go,”

Shiro looked at her like she had two heads, “Why would we do that?”

She rolled her eyes and looked at Lance, “See what I’ve got to deal with? You guys never see this side of him,” she turned back to Shiro, “It’s past midnight and I have to work tomorrow morning, let’s go,”

“Alright,” Shiro whined, “I’ll see ya later dudes!” he said with a wave as he followed behind Allura. Lance was actually kind of surprised Shiro was able to hold his alcohol so well, besides the slight change of personality and increased touchiness (high fives, fist bumps, random shoulder and arm touches, the whole nine yards) there was no real difference.

Keith took Shiro’s seat, noticeably using the arm of the seat for support, and Thace announced that he was gonna leave as well. Keith objected, asking him to stay longer, Lance tried not to let that get to him.

When Thace left, Keith’s attention finally turned back to Lance.

“Heyyy,” Keith said, grinning at Lance stupidly.

Lance raised an eyebrow, “Hey,”

“I’m gonna find Pidge,” Keith said, standing up from his seat. Lance really had to resist the urge to bang his head against the bar. He wanted to spend some time with Keith, was that too much to ask? Even if he was drunk, at least he’d be entertaining, but it seemed like Keith had other plans.

He watched as Keith stumbled off to find their other friends, and took a deep breath before following. It wasn’t long before Keith found them in the VIP Lounge, which was surprisingly empty.

“Pidgeon! Hunk!” Keith said as he half fell-half threw himself into the seat.

“Hey Keith,” they said in unision.

Lance sat down next to Keith, “Where is everyone?”

“Most people started leaving around twenty minutes ago,” Pidge explained.

“Lame,” Keith said, “Why’s everyone being s’lame? Allura, Shiro, and Thace jus’ left,”

Hunk shrugged, “It is getting fairly late, I myself was thinking of heading home,”

“Ugh, Hunk, m’dude, you disa…” Keith trailed off, eyebrows furrowed, “Disa…”

“Disappoint?” Lance offered.

“Yes! Thank you Lance,” Keith said, grinning at Lance before turning to Hunk, “You disappoin’ me,”

Pidge glanced over to Lance, “He’s not driving home, right?’

“He said he Ubered here, but I think I’m gonna give him a ride home,”

Pidge nodded, “Good, good,”

The conversation between the four of them continued for a bit before Hunk and Pidge decided to go home. Keith called them lame, as it seemed to be his new favorite word, but got up to give them hugs goodbye nonetheless. He took about one step before he stumbled, luckily falling onto Hunk, who was barely even fazed.

“We should probably go too,” Lance said to Keith after they had said goodbye to Hunk and Pidge, “I’ll drive you home,”

Keith yawned, and rubbed his eyes, “M’kay, I’m gettin’ tired anyways,”

Lance smiled softly at him and walked him out of the bar, keeping an arm out for him to lean onto so he wouldn’t stumble too much.

“Thace must’ve been right about that nunville,” Lance thought to himself, “Either that or Keith had more drinks and I just didn’t see,”

The ride back to Keith’s apartment was uneventful, as Keith passed out quickly after Lance hit the road. Lance stole glances at him when he came to stop lights, amazed at how young and peaceful he looked in his sleep.

Waking Keith up was almost impossible, Lance had to actually slap him to get him to rise from his intoxicated slumber. Keith obviously wasn’t a fan of waking up or the slap to the face, but other than a few mumbles curses he didn’t say anything.

Lance brought Keith up to his apartment, which was more than just a little struggle. Keith kept tripping over his feet and wobbling, it got so bad that Lance really debated just picking Keith up and carrying him back, but Keith, stubborn as ever, insisted he could do it himself.

When they go to Keith’s apartment, he insisted on unlocking the door himself. Lance tolerated it for a bit, but after what had to be the tenth failed attempt, he grabbed the keys from Keith and opened the door himself.

Keith stumbled in, and immediately flopped down on the couch.

“Do you want to go to your bed?” Lance asked.

“No,” Keith mumbled into the couch cushion, “Jus’ leave me’ere,”

Lance sighed, “No, c’mon, let’s get you in your bed. You’ll thank me in the morning,”

Keith only groaned in response. Lance rolled his eyes, and grabbed Keith around the waist, pulling him off the couch. Keith made a noise of surprise, but otherwise let Lance pick him up.

Lance set him down so he was standing, but Keith just slumped into Lance.

Lance groaned, “You really are gonna make this difficult for me, aren’t you?”

Keith nodded against Lance’s shoulder, and Lance sighed. He picked Keith up again,one arm underneath the crook of Keith’s knee, the other around his shoulders, and carried him to bed.

He set Keith down softly on his bed, and realized that Keith had fallen asleep again. Lance shook his head, smiling, and was about to walk out of the room before he realized Keith still had his shoes on. He took them off for him, because who wants to sleep with their shoes on, and then left, making sure to lock the door on his way out.

Chapter 12: Chapter 12

Chapter Text

Lance rolled up to Keith’s apartment the next morning with only one goal in mind: taking care of his man.

His man? Could he call Keith that yet? You know what, f*ck it, Lance could. Keith was his god dammit.

He made his way to Keith’s apartment with a bag full of gatorade, something that Lance found often helped with his hangovers, and a spare key that he had grabbed from Shiro earlier that morning.

He walked in quietly, it was only ten thirty, and considering how late they had gotten home last night and how absolutely wasted Keith had been, the idiot was probably still asleep. Lance didn’t want to wake him up.

He set the bag down on the kitchen counter and looked around the apartment. It was really nice, which wasn’t surprising considering the money you get from playing in the major leagues. The apartment had a beautiful view of the city, and the living room was right next to the huge, wall length windows.

Lance snooped through Keith’s kitchen, and was pleased to find that he had all the necessary ingredients for Lance’s legendary hangover pancakes. They really weren’t much different from regular pancakes, but they had nutella, chocolate chips, and peanut butter in them. Lance hesitated for a moment before putting the peanut butter in though, what if Keith was allergic? But then he realized that Keith wouldn’t even have peanut butter in his apartment if he was allergic, and put it in.

He was busy cutting up a banana to put on top of the finished pancakes when he heard groaning and feet shuffling down the hall. Lance smiled to himself and quickly finished up Keith’s pancake. Perfect timing.

Lance was setting up a spot for Keith to eat at his dining table when the man finally emerged from his room. He looked worse for wear, he had bags under his eyes, his clothes from the night before were all wrinkled, and he had just about the most magnificent bedhead Lance had ever seen. He had to resist the urge to take a picture.

“Hey Sunshine!” Lance called, realizing he was a bit too loud when Keith winced, “I made you breakfast,”

Keith blinked, and rubbed an eye, “Thanks Lance…” he mumbled as he sat down in front of the plate.

Lance grabbed the bag from the counter and walked it over the Keith, “I made a run to the store and got you gatorade. That sh*t’s great for hangovers, but I didn’t know what flavor you liked so I just got a bunch of different kinds,”

Keith watched him set the bag down and then looked up at Lance, eyeing him with a confused look.

Lance stared back at him, becoming just as confused as Keith looked, “What?”

“You weren’t wearing that last night, were you?”

“Wha-no,” Lance said, looking down at his sweatpants and t-shirt, “Why would yo-”

And that’s when it hit him.

Keith had just woken up, Lance was in his apartment, and had made him breakfast. That definitely suggested something.

“Oh! OH, oh f*ck,” Lance started rambling, “No, nono, that didn’t… you don’t think that we...cause we didn’t, oh f*ck, no,”

Keith let out a faint grin, “It’s fine Lance, I figured, but I don’t remember much so I had to make sure,”

Lance sighed, his panic subsiding, “Okay…” he grinned, “We did, however, make out last night, and it was hot,”

Keith immediately looked down at his plate, “I do remember that…” he mumbled, Lance took a lot of satisfaction in seeing the redness on the tips of Keith’s ears.

“So, anyways. What you’ve got right there is one of my famous hangover pancakes, they’re godly,”

“It does look pretty amazing,”

“Eat it then!” Lance said, smiling, “Oh! Also! How do you like your eggs?’

“Sunnyside up”

Lance gave him a look, “Okay, why are you so weird,”

“What’s so bad about sunnyside up eggs?” Keith grumbled as he cut up his pancake.

“Nothing!” Lance said as he started to get together what he needed to make Keith his eggs, “It’s just that, like, no one ever says sunnyside up, they always say scrambled,”

Keith shrugged, “I can’t argue with you there,”

Lance worked in silence for about a second before Keith let out a moan.

“Ohmygod, Lance, these are so good,”

Lance grinned, trying not to let the moan followed by “ohmygod, Lance,” get to him too much, “Aren’t they amazing?” he said.

“Yes!” Keith mumbled through a full mouth.

Lance let out a chuckle, glad the pancakes were doing their job. He made the eggs fairly quickly, and gave them to Keith before making his own breakfast. He was about to sit down when Keith asked for another pancake.

“Lucky you,” Lance purred, “I just finished making this one,”

“Thank you, Lance,” Keith said, eyeing the pancake like it was essential to life itself.

Lance made another pancake quickly and sat next to Keith, and noticed that he had picked out an orange gatorade.

“Orange gatorade?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, what about it?”

Lance shrugged, “Didn’t peg you as an orange man I guess, I myself always go for the strawberry gatorade,” He said as he grabbed the drink from the bag, “Though I can’t say that I’m not glad that you left it for me,”

Keith chuckled, then got serious, “Thank you for this, Lance,”

Lance waved his hand dismissively before opening his bottle, “My pleasure,”

“No, really, I mean it,”

“I know you do, and I really mean it when I say it’s my pleasure,” Lance said, smiling softly.

Keith returned the smile, then it melted away a little as he looked at Lance quizzically, “Wait, how’d you get in my apartment if you didn’t spend the night?”

“Shiro gave me his spare key,” Lance said as he began to cut up his pancake.

“Oh okay, that makes sense,” Keith said as he turned back to his food, “So, you’re gonna have to give me the recipe for this,”

“Oh no way,”

“Why not?!” Keith whined.

“Because, one,” Lance said, counting on his fingers, “this recipe is sacred, and two, if you can make them yourself I don’t have an excuse to come here in the mornings,”

Keith raised an eyebrow at him, “You do realize you can come here whenever you want, right?”

Lance shrugged, “I guess…but I also like taking care of you with these hangover pancakes and I can’t do that if you know how to make them,”

Keith blushed a little bit, but his voice was steady, “Well...I like having you wait on me like this so I guess it’s fine,”

Lance grinned as he poured syrup over his pancake, “You guess?’

Keith nodded, stuffing a piece of pancake in his mouth, “I guess,”

Lance chuckled, and then they both went to finishing their breakfast. They talked about the night before, about how funny Shiro was when he was drunk, how the music at the club was, how Thace could never know how hammered Keith became after that nunville, and anything else Keith remembered. Plus a little bit of what Keith didn’t remember.

“No way,”

“Yes! It was hilarious, I never knew you could be so clumsy! And it was like the word ‘lame’ was the only negative word in your vocabulary,”

When they finished, they had an argument about who would do the dishes. Lance was determined to let Keith rest, but Keith was insistent that since Lance had made breakfast, he should do the dishes. Eventually, they came to an agreement. Keith would load the dishwasher, and Lance would clean everything he had used to make their breakfast.

As they were working on tidying up the kitchen, Keith spoke up.

“Hey Lance? Wanna go out for a date tomorrow?”

Lance grinned, happy that Keith asked, but there was still a (not so) small part of him that was still bitter about the lack of attention he’d received the night before.

“Don’t be petty, don’t be petty,” he pleaded with himself, but it wasn’t enough.

“You sure you want to hang out with me?”

“What?” Keith said, a puzzled look flashing across his face.

Lance shook his head, mad at himself, “Sorry, it’s nothing. I’d love to go out tomorrow, where were you thinking?”

Keith shrugged, “It doesn’t matter a whole lot to me. There’s a bubble tea place downtown that might be fun,”

Lance looked at him, head tilted to the side, “What’s bubble tea?”

Keith stopped in his tracks, it was like someone had pressed a pause button as he was loading the dishwasher, he looked up at Lance, “You’ve never heard of bubble tea?”

“No…”

“Ohmygod Lance,” Keith said, standing up to tug on Lance’s sleeve, “We have to go now!”

“What even is it?”

“It’s tea, you can get it hot or cold, or milk tea or regular tea, and there’s these tapioca balls at the bottom of the drink,” Lance scrunched his nose, “No! Lance, it’s not bad! They’re so good, and if you don’t like tapioca you don’t have to get it, they have popping bubbles with fruit flavor in them, or fruit jellies,”

Lance tilted his head, “It sounds really complicated,”

Keith nodded, “It takes a while to figure it out but I can help you,”

“Alright, we’ll go out for bubble tea tomorrow,”

“Yes!!” Keith said, doing a little victory jump, “This will be so much fun, we can get sushi too if you like sushi. The sushi there is amazing, and it’s in a cool part of the city too so we can walk around there! I’m so excited,”

Lance grinned at him. This was absolutely adorable, it really wasn’t very often that Keith was so unguarded and just happy, and Lance was suddenly struck by the realization of just how much happiness Keith brought him. Keith had become so essential to him over the last few months, and even though they’d only been on one date, Lance couldn’t stop the thought that this man, right here, was the person he wanted to wake up next to years from now.

Keith scrunched his eyebrows together curiously, “What?”

Lance grinned, “I’m just thinking about you,”

“Oh?” Keith said with a grin, “What about me?”

Lance shrugged, “Lots of things, but mainly how cute you are when you’re all happy and excited like this,”

Keith rolled his eyes, but Lance spotted the flush on the back of his neck, “I just really like bubble tea,”

Lance snorted, “I can tell,”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t you have dishes to do?”

Lance grinned, “I do…”

“Well do them and leave me alone,” Keith said, with just a twitch of a grin.

“As you wish,”

Suddenly, Keith gasped, making Lance jump in surprise, “Lance!” he exclaimed, “Was that a reference to The Princess Bride?”

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, “No…?”

Keith widened his eyes, “Oh no…”

“What?!”

“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen The Princess Bride!”

Lance shrugged, and went back to washing dishes, “I wasn’t even aware that it was a movie,”

“Lance!” Keith said, looking obviously appalled, “We have to fix this!”

Keith grabbed Lance by the wrist and ripped him away from the sink, dragging him toward the living room.

“But the dishes!”

“Later! You need to watch this movie, you’d love it,”

Keith pushed him onto the couch, which Lance had to admit was hot as hell, and then grabbed a DVD box from his entertainment center. He carefully took it out, popped it in his DVD player, and turned on the TV.

As the movie started playing, Keith sat down next to Lance, their thighs brushing.

“This movie is an absolute classic, I can’t believe you’ve never seen it before. You’re gonna love Wesley,”

Lance grinned at Keith, “I mean, if he’s anything like you then I’m sure I will,”

Keith rolled his eyes, but yet again, the flush on the back of his neck betrayed him, “Shut up,”

“As you wish,” Lance said, grin still in place.

The movie started to played, and Lance was more than a little confused. Why was this grandpa here? This didn’t really seem like the kind of movie he was expecting, but he held back his questions. Turned out that they would be answered soon enough anyways.

They hadn’t even gotten to the part where the grandfather starts reading the story to his grandson when Lance was struck with a brilliant idea. This was a perfect time to use the move. It was lame, yes, and terribly cliche, but Lance liked to think that it was endearing.

So, he leaned back, faking a yawn, and slowly set his arm around Keith’s shoulders.

Keith looked up at him, eyebrow raised, “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Lance said, a smile tugging at his face.

“Fair enough,” Keith said, turning back to the movie, and snuggling into Lance’s side a bit more. Lance did everything in his power to keep the stupid grin off his face, but he wasn’t very successful.

They watched the movie together peacefully, with regular interruptions when Lance decided he had to comment on something. Halfway through the movie, Bailey joined them, jumping up onto Keith’s lap, and eventually moving to Lance’s.

“I guess he likes me more than he likes you,” Lance said with a grin as the dog curled up on his legs.

“That’s not surprising, considering you sneak him treats all the time,”

“I do not!” Lance said in mock offense, “How dare you accuse me of that!”

By the end of the movie, Lance had lied down, his head rested on Keith’s lap, and Bailey was curled up in the space between Lance’s bent legs and the couch. Keith was threading his fingers through Lance’s hair and Lance was relishing in how good it felt.

“So?” Keith prodded.

“It was really good,” Lance said, “and you were right about Wesley, I love him,”

Keith chuckled, “I knew it,”

Lance grinned up at him, “You know me so well,”

Keith and Lance just looked at each other for a moment, taking each other in and drinking the other’s presence. Staring at each other as if there were really no one else in the world.

Then, of course, Lance broke the moment. He raised his hand, and delicately booped Keith on the nose.

“Hey!” Keith exclaimed with a smile.

Lance smiled back at him, “We’re still on for bubble tea tomorrow, right?”

Keith nodded, “Yeah, I’ll pick you up around 4?”

Lance nodded back at him, “That sounds good,”

Keith got a glint in his eye that Lance really wasn’t sure if he liked or not.

“Hey Lance?”

“Yeah Keith?” Lance said, a tad nervous for what was coming next.

“Are you okay if I come pick you up on my motorcycle?”

Lance’s eyes widened, “Uh...yeah?! Of course?! Or, uh, sure, yeah. That sounds fine, if you want. I really don’t care...at all. Nope, doesn’t matter to me,”

Keith grinned, “Alright, I will then,”

---------------------------

“Hunk! I’m screaming! He’s gonna be here in like five f*cking minutes and I look like sh*t!” Lance yelled into his phone.

“Dude, calm down,” Hunk spoke from the other line soothingly, “You just sent me a picture of your outfit and you look fine,”

“Hunk! We’re going get to bubble tea, that sounds so hipster! This look isn’t hipster enough! I’m gonna look ridiculous!”
Hunk sighed, “You’re reading way too far into this, what you have on is fine, more than fine, actually,”

Lance took in a deep breath and examined himself in the mirror for the tenth time. He had on a pair of khakis, a white short sleeved button down with small camels dotting it, and a jean jacket. The jean jacket had a few various patches above the breast pocket on either side.

“Do you think I should wear a baseball cap?”

“Lance, you’re gonna be on a motorcycle,”

“f*ck, you’re right. Okay, I guess this is what I’m wearing, okay,”

“Finally!” Hunk said with a laugh, “You look great okay? Good luck on your date,”

“Thanks buddy, I’ll tell you about it when I get home,”

With that, they said goodbye. Lance scurried over to the front of his apartment where his shoes were, and debated for a solid minute on which pair of shoes he should wear. He ended up deciding on black vans, and then waited for a text from Keith saying he was here. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long because he was entirely too fidgety.

He made his way to the bottom of his apartment building and walked outside, there, he was greeted by an amazing sight.

Keith was standing next to his motorcycle, clad in dark skinny jeans, his helmet, a black leather jacket, matching black leather gloves, a white t-shirt, and...f*ck. Was Lance seeing clearly? He blinked. He was. Keith was wearing a goddamn choker. A simple, black choker that looked amazing against his skin.

Lance was f*cked.

Keith smiled and waved at him when he saw Lance, who had to take a moment to recuperate but was soon walking down the steps to where Keith was.

“You ready?” Keith said, handing Lance a helmet.

“Oh you bet,” Lance said, doing a good job at sounding confident, despite how nervous he actually was.

Keith grinned as he climbed onto the bike, “Okay, get on then,”

Lance smiled, and climbed onto the back of the bike. The seat was surprisingly spacious, it must’ve been meant for two people.

“Okay, hold onto me,” Keith said as he revved the engine. It startled Lance a little bit, making him jump slightly as he leaned forward to wrap his arms around Keith’s waist.

“You know,” Lance purred into Keith’s ear, “There are easier ways to get me to hold you,”

Lance could feel Keith tense for a moment, and he desperately wished he could see the blush that was no doubt spreading across his face.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” He said, and before Lance could retort, he sped off, taking the words right out of Lance’s mouth.

Lance tightened his arms around Keith, and pressed his cheek into Keith’s shoulder, he could feel, rather than hear, Keith’s chuckle, but was too busy trying to reign in his panic to appreciate it.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too long before they came to a stoplight, and Lance was able to breath again.

“You okay back there?” Keith said with a chuckle.

“Perfectly fine!” Lance said, much too enthusiastically, as he tentatively lifted his head from where it was glued to Keith’s back, “I’m just, slightly concerned as to how safe this is, exactly,”

Keith chuckled, “We’re fine, I wasn’t even going that fast,”

“Bullsh*t!”
“Really! I was only going like, thirty five,”

Lance widened his eyes for a second, surprised that it wasn’t more than that, “Well, I guess thirty five feels a lot different on a motorcycle,”

Keith chuckled again, “Yeah, it does. But try to keep your head up this time. Trust me, it’s much more fun that way,”

“Alright…”

The light turned green, and they were off. This time, Lance did keep his head up, and Keith was right, it was more fun. Getting to feel the wind against your face as you watch the people and the buildings pass was invigorating. Lance could see why Keith enjoyed this so much, but it didn’t stop him from feeling like his foot was about to be sanded off every time they turned a corner.

Finally, they reached their destination and Keith parked on the side of the road across from the restaurant. Lance had never been so happy to have his feet on solid ground. Don’t get him wrong, the ride over had been fun, albeit nerve wracking, but still fun. He just preferred standing.

Keith looked both ways, then grabbed Lance’s hand, “Quick, let’s cross,”

He started to jog across the road, and dragged Lance behind him.

“I know how to run without you holding my hand!” Lance said with a smile, not making a move to take his hand away from Keith’s.

Keith glanced back at him, “Was that a Star Wars reference?’

“It was,”

Keith grinned, then turned his head back, “You really are perfect,”

Lance could feel the blush rise to his face as he broke out into a huge, dopey looking smile.

They walked into the bubble tea joint and Lance took a moment to enjoy the interior. The lighting was dim, there was a fireplace with couches in the corner, and tables with large, weaved chairs surrounding them. There was a faint sound of jazz music playing, and the counter that blocked off the eating space from the kitchen was adorned with little succulents.

Needless to say, Lance was right about this place being hipster.

“Okay, so,” Keith began, “Do you like just regular tea?”

Lance shrugged, “I’ve only had it once or twice but I always thought it was really bitter,”

Keith nodded and turned to look at the menu board, “Okay, then you probably want to go with milk tea. What flavor do you want?”

Lance looked up at the menu, “Umm, strawberry?”

“Do you like strawberry milk?”

“No, why?”

“Because that’s what strawberry milk tea tastes like, so I’d recommend a different flavor,”

“Oh alright...peach then,”

They put the rest of their order together, Lance eventually deciding on getting popping bubbles with this tea and some california rolls. Keith got honeydew milk tea with tapioca balls, and some fancy sushi that Lance couldn’t pronounce the name of.

They sat down at a table as they waited for their order, which didn’t take long. Keith started eating his sushi right away, and Lance took an experimental sip of his tea.

“Oh! This is really good!”

“Yeah?” Keith said with a smile, “I thought you might like it,”

“I do!” Lance replied, taking a longer sip this time. Suddenly, he made a startled noise, and spit out two little balls into his hand, “What the f*ck,” he said quietly.

Keith giggled, “Those are the popping bubbles,”

“Well I figured that out now, I just...wasn’t ready for them to invade my mouth with no warning,”

Keith giggled again, “Pop them in your mouth,”

Lance did as he was told, and his eyes widened as the new flavor hit his taste-buds,

“That’s so cool!” he exclaimed, “What are these, mango?”

“I think so,” Keith said, taking a sip of his own tea, “I don’t usually get popping bubbles though,”

They talked for a bit as they sipped their tea, and Lance watched in amazement as Keith deftly used his chopsticks to eat his sushi.

“Okay, don’t make fun of me, but,” Lance said, “How on earth do you use chopsticks?’

Keith paused mid-chew a dumbfounded look on his face, “You don’t know?”

Lance shrugged, “Sushi wasn’t something we ate in my family,”

“Well okay, I’ll show you,” Keith turned his hand so Lance could see how he was holding them, “You want your hand to be loose, one chopstick rests between your thumb and index finger, and the other end rests on your ring finger,”

“Like this?” Lance, placing one chopstick in his hand so it mirrored Keith’s.

“Yes! Just like that. Now the other one rests a little above the first one on your index finger, and the end of it goes on your middle finger, and then your index finger goes on top so you can move it up and down,” He said, while moving the top chopstick up and down.

“Okay, I think I have it…” Lance said, moving the fingers that were holding the top chopstick. It wasn’t nearly as easy as Keith made it look, but Lance thought he could probably pick up a california roll, so he went for it.

He failed the first time, making Keith chuckle a little. He stuck out his tongue in concentration, and was able to pick up the roll this time, but it fell before it reached his mouth.

“Aw, you almost had it that time,”

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, “Dammit, you make it look so easy,”

Keith shrugged, picking up another piece of sushi with ease, “Practice makes perfect I guess,”

Lance rolled his eyes, and then turned his attention back to his sushi. He was determined to pick it up this time. He was not going to look stupid in front of Keith any longer. Gingerly, he grasped the sushi between both of the chopsticks and kept his grip firm as he lifted the sushi to his mouth, not releasing the food until it was in his mouth, for fear of it falling again.

Keith clapped excitedly, “You did it! Great job,”

Lance chewed, with a smile on his face, “Look at you...” he said through his food before swallowing to get the next words out, “being a supportive boyfriend and sh*t,”

Keith froze, his hand hovering midair on it’s way to pick up his chopsticks again, “W-what?”

Lance pursed his lips slightly, confused, “I said you were being a supportive boyf-” His eyes widened, realization striking him like a fastball to the face, “sh*t! I didn’t mean to...well I kinda did...but I didn’t. sh*t…”

Keith composed himself a little, quickly picking up his chopsticks, “Lance?”

“Yes?” Lance said sheepishly, he wasn’t ready for what was gonna come next. The “I’m not ready for a relationship yet” or the “I don’t want to put a label on this,” or the countless other excuses he had heard over the years.

“Do you...do you think of me as your boyfriend?” Keith asked, softly and warmly. Lance was grateful he was being so nice about it, it saved him some of the embarrassment.

Lance ran his hands over his face, trying to avoid meeting Keith’s gaze, “A little...yeah, yeah I do,”

At that, Keith perked right the f*ck up, “Well that’s good,” He said, picking up some sushi, grinning wider than Lance had ever seen him, “Because I think of you as my boyfriend,”

Lance’s hands flung off of his face, hovering in the air oddly, “You do?!” He said loudly, causing more than a few people to turn their heads.

Keith nodded, his grin smaller now but no less bright, “I do,”

Lance slammed his hands on the table, “No f*cking way! This is great! I have a boyfriend! A hot-ass boyfriend with a scary motorcycle!”

Keith quirked an eyebrow, still smiling, “You think my motorcycle is scary?”

Lance waved him off, “Not important right now! What matters is that you’re my boyfriend now and everyone has to know that!” He stood up so fast he knocked his chair over,

“Attention bubble tea patrons!”

“Lance, please no. Sit down!” Keith whisper yelled at him, but it was in vain.

“I would like to announce that this beautiful man right here, yes, this one who’s serving some fire looks today, is my boyfriend!”

A few people smiled and clapped, but for the most part people just went back to what they were doing. Lance, being himself, bowed a few times before he fixed his seat and sat down.

Keith was bright red, and shielding his face, “I can never come back here again,”

“Oh sure you can,” Lance said nonchalantly, taking a sip of his tea as if nothing had happened.

Keith shot him a look that could kill a man, but Lance was on cloud nine and therefore completely immune to his fiery gaze, “I hate you so much,”

Lance shook his head, “Wow, barely into this relationship and we already need to see a shrink to work out our problems. That’s okay though, I’m willing to do what it takes to keep us together,”

Keith rolled his eyes, “You’re an idiot,”

“Yeah but I’m your idiot,” Lance retorted as he took another swig of his drink

“No you’re not,” Keith deadpanned, leaning back in his chair, “I’m breaking up with you,”

Lance almost did a spit take, but was able to swallow before anything bad happened, “What?!”

At that, Keith couldn’t hold it together anymore, and burst out laughing.

“You dick!” Lance said, giggling, “That was so mean!”

Keith rubbed his face, still laughing, “I wish-I wish you could have seen the look on your face,” He chuckled, “Priceless,”

Lance shook his head, “You’re the worst,”

“I know,” Keith said with a smile.

“I have half a mind to break up with you,” Lance said, picking up some sushi.

“No you don’t” Keith said as he lifted up his tea to take a sip.

“Yeah you’re right,” Lance said with a smile.

“I mean, you don’t even have half of a mind to want to break up with me with,”

“Keith! That’s it! We’re done!” Lance said dramatically, “I can put up with this abuse no longer!”

Keith grinned, but then schooled his expression to something more sad and desperate, “No! I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”

Lance turned his head away, “I don’t know if I can…”

Keith reached across the table and turned Lance’s head back to face him, “Please, I’ll do anything,”

“Hmm,” Lance said, tapping his chin, “Oh! I know!”

“What is it?”

“Take a selfie with me so I can post it on instagram,”

Keith grinned, “Okay,”

With that, Lance grabbed his phone, opening up snapchat and lifting the phone up for a picture, “Kiss my cheek,” he said. Keith complied, and Lance snapped the picture. He brought it closer to them so they could look.

“Ohmygod, we’re so cute,” Lance said as he saved the picture, “That’s going on my story,”

Keith grinned and leaned back in his chair, “You wanna take a picture of our food while you’re at it?”

Lance shot him a look, “Shut up,”

Keith’s grin widened, “As you wish,”

Lance rolled his eyes, then typed something on his phone, “There! I posted it,”

“Good,” Keith said with a chuckle, “Can we finish our sushi now so we can leave? These people probably hate us,”

Lance smiled, “Yeah, sure,”

Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Chapter Text

Keith POV

It had been three weeks since him and Lance had become “official” boyfriends, and they had easily been the best three weeks of Keith’s life. Full of laughter and fun and stupid pick up lines and more cheesiness than Keith had thought he could handle before dating Lance.

Most of all though, was the happiness and the relief of finally being able to call Lance his, something Keith had wished for since almost the very beginning of preseason training. Keith found it funny, how he had thought, or rather hoped, that the crush would pass quickly. Months later and it hadn’t budged, just continued to grow and grow, so big now that the term “crush” seemed hardly appropriate.

Keith was reflecting on all of this as he idly watched the landscape go by the team’s bus. The Lions had done extremely well, but not well enough. They ended up snagging a wildcard spot and making it to the playoffs, but The Galrans had won the division, making Coran more than a little pissed off. Today was the first game. They were headed to an away game against the very first team they had competed against so long ago, The Arusans, who had also won a wildcard spot. Needless to say, the team was excited. The Arusans hadn’t been too hard to beat last time, it wasn’t that they weren’t good, they had won a wildcard spot, so they had to be. It was just that they weren’t as good as The Lions, and unless they had improved a lot, Keith was expecting history to repeat itself.

But, Keith still had something to prove. During that first game, Keith had been very, well... off his game. He shuddered as he remembered how affected he had been when Lance brought in Nyma and showed her off as his girlfriend. This time, there would be nothing to get in his head like that, he’d redeem himself in front of The Arusans, and Lance and him would strike out everyone who stepped up to the plate.

Lance shifted in his seat, causing Keith to freeze up. Lance had fallen asleep on his shoulder about fifteen minutes ago, which was adorable, but a hassle. Keith felt like the tiniest movement he made would wake Lance up, which was ridiculous because the man was a notoriously heavy sleeper, but Keith put up with it so Lance could get his rest.

He glanced over to the other side of the aisle curious as to what his other teammates were doing. Hunk had stopped taking pictures of the two of them being “sooo adorable” about ten minutes after Lance had fallen asleep, which Keith was grateful for. Now, Hunk was scrolling through something on his phone that Keith couldn’t make out. Shiro was on the other side of Hunk, listening to music and watching the landscape pass, which wasn’t surprising. Shiro liked some alone time to himself on the trips to away games. He said it helped him focus and get in the zone, Keith wasn’t so sure that was true.

Shiro didn’t really need time to himself at home games, Keith had spent enough time with him before games to know that much. Privately, Keith believed that Shiro still got very nervous in cars, as a byproduct of his accident so long ago, and used music to calm down. But, Keith would never bring it up, there was a reason why Shiro never talked about it with him. He didn’t know what that reason was, but he respected it.

Keith turned his head to look back out the window. They weren’t too far from the stadium now. They had just taken the exit to get there. Gently, Keith moved his hand onto Lance’s thigh and squeezed lightly, trying to wake him up. It didn’t work, Lance didn’t move and kept softly snoring on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith sighed and shook his head, and moved his hand up to Lance’s face, poking it a few times. This got Lance to move, but only enough to shift himself away from Keith’s invasion.

Keith furrowed his eyebrows, “Lance,” He said as he lightly slapped his boyfriend’s face, “Wake up, we’re almost to the stadium,”

Lance’s eyes fluttered open, and he blinked once before registering what Keith had said. “I don’t want to move,” Lance said, snuggling further into Keith’s side.

Keith couldn’t stop the fond smile from protruding, but he was able to keep his voice from becoming too soft, “You don’t need to move right now, just stay awake,”

“I will,” Lance promised, as he shifted in order to get his phone from its place under his thigh.

Keith watched silently as Lance went onto snapchat and opened some of the snaps he received. Mainly streaks photos, but there was one from Hunk that was exactly what Keith was expecting, a photo of them, taken a little after Lance had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

“Aw,” Lance cooed as he screenshotted the picture, and although Keith couldn’t see Lance’s face, he could hear the smile that was no doubt on it, “We’re so cute,”

“We? No, you’re the one who makes that picture so cute,”

“What?!” Lance exclaimed as he jolted upright, looking visibly offended, “No, no no. That’s entirely wrong,” Lance went into his pictures to look at the screenshot he had taken, and zoomed in on Keith, “See that? Adorable,”

“You can barely see my face,” Keith said as he looked at the picture, “Your head is covering it up most of it,”

“Yeah but look,” Lance replied, “You look so happy. Like, I can’t see your mouth but I can tell you have that cute little smile of yours on your face because of the crinkles by your eyes. And look at you, staring out the window like the emo you are, so cute,”

Keith chuckled, “I guess, but I still stand by the fact that you’re the one producing the majority of the cuteness in that photo. Look at how peaceful your face is when you sleep, and your hair is a little messed up too,”

Lance smiled, “I suppose,” He leaned in and kissed Keith’s cheek, “You’re so good to me,”

Keith smiled, “Only because you’re so good to me,”

Lance’s smile widened, and a faint rosy color appeared on his cheeks, “Who knew you were such a sap,”

Keith grinned, he took pride in getting Lance to blush, it didn’t happen very often, and he always knew he had really made Lance happy if he called him a sap.

Lance went back to his phone after that, and Keith continued to look out the window, one hand on Lance’s thigh. They sat in comfortable silence, only broken by the occasional post or meme that Lance wanted to show Keith. Soon they got to the stadium, were given directions to their locker room, and made the team made its way there.

Although Keith was pretty sure that this game against The Arusans would give them a win, he could feel the nervous energy radiating off the team. It was the first game in the playoffs, it would set the stage for the next couple games they played, and if they lost today’s game, with Coran still fuming over The Galrans’ winning of the division...the results wouldn’t be pretty.

The team changed into their uniforms in a tense silence that Keith wasn’t very accustomed to. It happened from time to time before big games, but he was never able to get used to it. Luckily, he was saved from his discomfort when Shiro broke the silence.

“Alright team, I know today we’ve got a big, stressful game ahead of us,”

That one sentence, loud and full of the confidence that came so easily to Shiro, was enough to get the attention of the whole room. All eyes were on Shiro, who was standing in the center of the locker room. Keith didn’t know how he did it so easily. Keith could do it if he really wanted to, get up in front of everyone and speak, but he sure as hell didn’t have the same comfort with it as Shiro did.

“...but, we can pull through this with a win. The Arusans are good, but we’ve beaten them before and we can beat them again. Work together as a team like you have this whole year, don’t get co*cky, and we’ll be fine,”

“That might be a problem for Lance,” Hunk quipped with an good-natured grin on his face. A chuckle rippled throughout the team and Lance put his hand to his chest and gasped in mock offense, in the over exaggerated way that only Lance could,

“Me? co*cky? Never,”

And with that, the team went back to getting ready for the game, but with easy, relaxed conversation between players instead of the anxiety-filled silence, though Keith could still feel the nervous energy. Shiro’s speech might have heightened morale, and Hunk’s joke might have put the players at ease, but neither of those things could change the fact that this was a big game.

----------------------------------

They were in the third inning, and so far the game had been pretty intense.

The Arusans’ outfielders had gotten quicker since the last time The Lions had played them, and were able to catch more of the fly balls and get the ball to the infield faster, which had resulted in more outs. Thankfully, either their batters hadn’t improved much or The Lions’ catchers and pitchers had gotten even better, and not that Keith would mention it, but he did notice that him and Lance struck out more batters than the other catcher and pitcher combos on the team.

As of right now, the game was tied, three to three, and him and Lance were taking up their positions on the field. Keith squatted down behind home base, and watched as Lance went through his pre-pitch ritual. Keith would never understand why he was so devoted to doing it, but it didn’t make it any less adorable to watch.

As Lance finished up, Keith heard a yell from the crowd.

“GO KLANCE!”

Keith looked around, trying to find the person who yelled it. To be honest, he was more than a little surprised, the hype around him and Lance had died down quite a bit at home. They were still everyone’s favorite sports couple, but the “Klance” chants and the cheering, or in some rare cases, booing, had pretty much gone away.

He looked over at Lance, who was, predictably, being his charming self and interacting with the fan who yelled it, who he must’ve been able to find. He gave them a set of finger guns and blew a kiss before getting ready to play.

Keith sized up the batter as he came up to the plate, and wasn’t able to see any super notable weaknesses when he practiced his swing. There were minor things that could be exploited with the right pitch, but it was the pitch that was Lance’s worst. The man was a phenomenal pitcher, easily one of the best, if not the best, in their division, but Keith learned quickly to not call slurve balls with him. He could never figure out why that specific pitch caused Lance so much trouble, because he rarely had trouble with other pitches, even ones that were similar to a slurve. But maybe it’s similarity was why, because whenever he threw a slurve, it looked more like a slider, curving to the right much more sharply than it should.

So, Keith quickly decided that a splitter would do nicely, not only would it curve down like a slurve, but it was also Lance’s favorite pitch. Keith balled his free hand into a fist to signal the pitch to Lance, and saw Lance’s face light up ever so slightly.

When the batter had settled in, Lance wound up, and threw the pitch. Keith kept his eye on the ball, of course, but he still noticed when the batter started to swing, and saw the slight flinch when he realized he had miscalculated. Keith flipped his glove hand down, caught the ball, and threw it back.

That was one strike, now to get another.

Keith tried to think as quick as possible when calling pitches, and a lot of the time this meant going with his gut instinct. So that’s what he did, he called a changeup.

Lance executed the pitch perfectly, but the batter was ready, and hit the ball. It landed between second and third and rolled into the outfield, causing Colivan to scramble forward as Shiro ran back to get it. Colivan got to it first, but well after the batter from the other team made it to first. Colivan threw it to the secondbasem*n, just in case, and then the ball was returned to Lance.

The inning progressed quickly. Together, Lance and Keith struck out the next two batters, and the rest of the team on the field got the last out as soon as it was hit, Hunk had caught a pop-fly. The Arusans were only up one run, something The Lions could easily handle.

The team walked back into the dugout with confidence, they were playing well, no reason for that to stop now.

Keith quickly looked at the batting line-up, and let out an audible growl when he saw he was one of the last batters. He hated it. He hated just sitting there and waiting forever, oftentimes not even getting to go because other members of his team produced the three outs needing for the inning to end. Being able to talk to his teammates and friends usually made it better, helped the time to go by a little faster. He hadn’t looked at the line-up long enough to see when his friends were going, so he hoped there would be at least one person with him the whole time.

Ulaz made his way up to the plate, and it looked like Hunk was on deck, since he was getting his gear on. Lance and Shiro came over and sat next to him as he grabbed his water bottle and took a much needed drink.

“You made some good calls out there,” Lance said, giving him a playful nudge.

Keith shrugged, “They only work because you’re such a good pitcher,”

Lance smiled, and was about to say something in response when Shiro cut him off, “You can’t forget about us infielders though, we did a pretty good job,”

“Pfft, you mean Hunk, right?” Lance said with a smile, “He did all the work, catching that popfly and all, I think you’ve gotta start pulling your weight, Shiro,”

Shiro hung his head in mock despair, “You’re right Lance, I’m so ashamed. I don’t contribute as much to this team as I should,”

The three of them were silent for a moment, but then Shiro turned to look at them with the most forlorn expression Keith had ever seen, and they all burst out laughing. The whole thing was ridiculous, the idea that Shiro didn’t contribute to the team, and then the sad-puppy look Shiro had given was the icing on top of the cake.

To Keith’s dismay, Lance went up to bat after Hunk, and then Shiro went up to bat after Lance. All three were on the bases, and even though Hunk would be back soon, Keith didn’t want to just sit there, bored out of his mind. He scanned the dugout, and spotted Thace a few feet down the bench, talking to Antok.

Keith grabbed his bottle and made his way over, sliding next to Thace on the bench.

“Hey guys, what’s up?”

They talked about the game for a bit, roasted the other team a little, and just generally had a good time. Thace got Keith laughing, and before he realized it, Lance was back.

He turned away from Thace, still chuckling, to greet Lance.

“Hey babe,”

“Hey,” Lance said in a tone Keith wasn’t used to hearing from him, dismissive and maybe even a little frustrated?

Keith furrowed his eyebrows, “You okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine,”

Keith frowned, not buying it, “Did you get out or something?”

Lance sighed, “Yeah, got out at third,”

“Ah, well, no big deal right? Just kick their asses next time you pitch,” Keith said with a smile before placing a kiss on Lance’s cheek.

He turned back to Thace and Antok, and tried multiple times to work Lance into the conversation, but he was reluctant. Sure, he’d offer up as much talk as he needed to in order to be part of the conversation, but Keith could tell he was holding back. Usually he jumped right in, fully engaging himself in, and sometimes taking over, the current conversation, but right now he stayed very much on the sidelines.

It made Keith wonder. It wasn’t like Lance to get this upset over an out. Sure, sometimes he would make a fuss, but it was usually more for the jokes than anything else. He was actually a really good sport. It made Keith think that there was something more, something Lance wasn’t telling him.

-----------------------------

The Lions ended up winning that game, 7-5. Normally there would be some sort of party to celebrate the win, but they had to get back to Altea, so instead of going out, the team hopped on the bus.

Lance seemed fine, thankfully. He had been a little sour for the rest of that inning but got over whatever it was that was bugging him once he had to pitch. Despite him being okay though, Keith wanted to talk about it. He simply did not buy into the story Lance had given him.

He hesitated for a second, wondering if now was really the best time to ask about it. They were on the team bus, anything that happened would happen in front of the team. Eventually, Keith convinced himself that most of the guys weren’t paying attention to them, and whatever had bothered Lance probably wouldn’t lead to anything that might get out of hand.

“Hey, Lance?” Keith said, drawing Lance’s attention away from his phone.

“Yeah babe?” Lance replied. Keith felt the back of his neck get hot at the pet-name, but he ignored it.

“I was just wondering, are you sure that you were upset over the out? It’s not really like you to react like that,”

Lance looked caught off guard for a second, but then was able to school his expression into something more nonchalant, “I dunno, guess tensions were too high or something. Don’t worry about it,”

Keith pursed his lips, not really knowing whether or not to believe what Lance had said, “Well...alright, but just know that if there’s something you need or want to talk about, you can talk about it with me,”

Lance smiled, “I know, I know” and pressed a kiss to Keith’s cheek, “Everything is fine, okay? I promise,”

------------------------------

Lance POV

Lance flopped down onto his couch, a bowl of popcorn at the ready, as Hunk popped a DVD into his PS4 for them to watch. Pidge was there too, but at the moment she was in the kitchen. Tonight was a squad movie night, except half the squad--Allura, Shiro, and Keith--couldn’t make it, for various reasons. But if they thought that would keep Pidge, Hunk and Lance from watching Rogue One, they were gravely mistaken.

Lance liked hanging out at Hunk’s place, something about it was just so comfortable and welcoming. He was always able to instantly relax and take his mind off of whatever was bothering him the moment he stepped in through the door. Except for tonight.

He knew deep down that this whole Thace thing would be a problem if it wasn’t resolved somehow. But he also knew that his jealousy and protectiveness was unfounded and unreasonable, and since he knew he was overreacting it seemed silly to bring it up to Keith.

Lance sighed, not really knowing what to do. The sigh obviously caught Hunk’s attention, because suddenly he was right next to Lance on the couch, giving Lance one of his patented “I know something is up and I’m concerned” faces.

Lance sighed again, giving into The Face, “Okay so like, don’t laugh or anything but...I’m a pretty protective person, right?’

“Right,”

“Well you see, Thace and Keith have just kind of been bothering me recently,”

Hunk tilted his head to the side curiously, “Why’s that?”

Lance shrugged, “I dunno, I guess I realized that the two of them have a really similar dynamic to the one Keith and I have and it just makes me nervous,”

“That Thace and Keith’s relationship could end up looking like yours and Keith’s?” Hunk asked with a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah, and I know it’s stupid but…”

“What’s stupid?” Pidge asked as she walked into the room and sat on the other side of Lance.

“Thace and Keith’s friendship makes Lance feel insecure,” Hunk explained, making Lance squawk at the word “insecure,” Hunk glanced over to him, “Am I wrong?”

“...no,” Lance replied.

Pidge scooted backwards on the couch, “Honestly I can’t blame you, but you have nothing to worry about. If they were ever going to get together they would have a long time ago, besides, Thace is straight,”

“I know that but telling myself those things doesn’t really help,”

“Does Keith know?” Hunk asked in a voice so soothing it caused some of the tension to leave Lance’s shoulders.

“No, he doesn’t,”

“Well then, tell him, it would probably help alot if you got some reassurance from him,”

“I know but…”

“But nothing,” Pidge interrupted, “I’ve known Keith for a long time, this is something he would want to know, and it’s something he would be very good about. You don’t have to worry about it making him think less of you,”

“You think?” Lance asked, sounding a lot more pitiful than he had wanted to.

“Yeah of course, trust me, Keith is no stranger to jealousy. He used to be really bad,”

“Wait, really?” Lance asked, furrowing his eyebrows, “I’ve never had any problems with him being jealous,”

Pidge nodded, “Oh yeah, to the point that his first boyfriend broke up with him because of it, but he recognized it wasn’t good for him to be like that and learned how to tone down that part of himself,”

Lance blinked, in awe in just how much self-discipline his boyfriend must have if he was able to turn that part of himself around, “Wow…”

“Yeah, to be honest I think it still gets to him sometimes, but he figured out a way to deal with it that’s healthy and that’s what matters,”

“Hey!” Hunk chirped, “Maybe he could show you how he deals with it, Lance!”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Pidge said, stealing a handful of popcorn from Lance’s bowl. He tried to slap her hand away, but she was too quick, and simply popped a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth with a triumphant gleam in her eye.

Lance sighed, “Alright, fine. I’ll talk to him about this the next time we hang out,”

“Good,” Hunk said, finally relaxing, and sitting back in his seat, “Now, let’s start this movie!”

Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Chapter Text

Keith POV

Keith checked the clock, 7:57, he only had three more minutes until Lance was supposed to be at his apartment. He glanced around his living room, making sure everything was in some semblance of an order.

Even though Lance and him had been together for a while, and known each other even longer than that, Keith still didn’t like the idea of having Lance over with his home messy. Keith couldn’t really say why, but it bothered him a lot, so he always spent the hour before Lance came over tidying up his place.

He decided that his living room was acceptable, then moved to the dining area. Quickly, he scooped up some dishes from the dining table and put them in the dishwasher. Bailey padded out into the kitchen and sat next to Keith’s feet, begging for food.

Keith smiled at him, “Sorry boy, I’m not cooking right now,”

Bailey tilted his head to the side, making Keith’s smile widen and his heart melt a little. He bent over to scratch the dog’s head, and heard Lance’s voice come through the intercom.

“Hey man! I’m here, can you let me in?”

Keith rushed to the little metal panel and pushed the button that would unlock the door to the apartment building. Once more, Keith quickly looked around his home for anything too messy to be left alone, he didn’t find anything though, and sat on his couch to wait for Lance.

Lance coming over still made Keith anxious. He was starting to get used to it, but he still couldn’t help the fact that his heartbeat started to race when he knew Lance was in the building. Keith knew that once Lance was here and they actually started to hang out, it would go away, but it didn’t make the feeling any less agonizing.

After what felt like a million years to Keith, but was in reality only two minutes, there was a knock at the door. Bailey beat Keith to the door first, barking and jumping onto the door. Keith laughed and pushed the dog away so he could get the door open.

When his eyes landed on Lance, it was like everything was right in the world. He didn’t feel nervous anymore, but rather excited, as Lance smiled at him and said hi, then greeted Bailey with that voice he reserved for dogs.

Keith smiled as Bailey flopped over for Lance to pet his stomach, then started walking toward the couch.

“I dunno what you want to do, watch a movie, binge some Netflix, play some video games?” he said as he turned back to look at Lance.

Lance patted Bailey’s side once then stood up, a smirk on his face, “Netflix and chill always sounds good to me,”

Keith rolled his eyes but couldn’t keep the smile off his face, or the blush off his neck, and turned away from Lance ,”Oh yeah, I’m sure,”

He hopped onto the couch, and was soon followed by Lance.

“Actually,” Lance said, suddenly sounding very sheepish, “Before we get into that, can we talk about something?”

Keith quirked his eyebrow up, confused. Lance’s mood had shifted so fast, it almost made Keith feel uncomfortable, seeing Lance in such a shy, timid state. He wasn’t used to it at all.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Well…” Lance sighed, rubbing his hands together and looking away from Keith, “Don’t laugh at me okay?”

Keith tilted his head, “C’mon Lance, you know I wouldn’t do that. You can tell me anything,”

Lance sighed, “Okay, this is going to sound so stupid because there’s no reason for me to feel this way...but it’s been eating me up for a while and Hunk and Pidge told me I should talk to you about it and…”

“Lance,” Keith cut him off, lifting his head up so Keith could look him in the eye, “You’re rambling, just tell me,”

Lance shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them, he told Keith.

“Thace makes me nervous,”

Keith furrowed his eyebrows, confused, “How does he make you nervous? Are you like, scared of him or something?”
Lance shook his head, “No, not like that...I’ll rephrase it I guess. When you and Thace like, talk and stuff and have a good time, I get...well…”

Keith raised his eyebrows slightly, everything finally clicking, “Jealous?”

Lance nodded, eyes downcast.

Keith took a minute to process what he had just heard. It was surprising to him. He had never seen Thace as anything more than a friend, he couldn’t imagine what there was for Lance to be jealous about.

“What about me and Thace makes you feel like that?” Keith asked, gently.

Lance shrugged, “I don’t know...it never really bothered me until the night we went to that fancy afterparty. I guess I just kind of realized that you two have a really similar dynamic to what we have, always competing and teasing each other and stuff…”

Keith nodded, “I can see why that would be intimidating,”

Lance looked up at him, surprised, “You do?”

Keith shrugged, “Yeah. It makes you think that I could develop feelings for him the same way I did for you,”

Lance nodded, “Yeah, basically,”

“I used to be pretty bad about jealousy myself,”

“Yeah, Pidge told me when she was convincing me to talk to you,”

Keith nodded, “Yeah, that makes sense,”

“She said you got better at it?”

Keith nodded again, shifting so his whole body was turned toward Lance, “Yeah, I had a boyfriend a few years back and things ended pretty badly because I let my jealousy get out of hand,”

Lance tilted his head to the side, “What did you change?”

“Well...” Keith paused for a moment, thinking back to the few weeks after that break up, trying to remember what he had decided to do differently, “I made a point of actually getting to know the guys who made me feel jealous, because I realized I wouldn’t get jealous if whoever I was with was around my friends, but I would if they were around someone I didn’t know,”

“That makes sense, I guess I don’t know Thace very well either,”

Keith nodded, “If that didn’t help, I would do what you’re doing now and come to my boyfriend about it in a healthy, relaxed way as soon as I noticed it was becoming a problem. I had a tendency to keep it bottled up until I was ready to explode and then I would, well, explode,”

Lance grinned, “Anything else?”

Keith shrugged, “Besides breathing exercises and stress-relieving activities, I don’t really have much else. Does that help at all?”

Lance looked away and shrugged, “It helps but I don’t really feel better, you know?”

Keith, grabbed Lance’s hand, and rubbed his thumb back and forth across his knuckles, “Well, would it help you to know why I have feelings for you, and not him?”
“Yeah...I think so,”

“Well…” Keith said, pausing to gather his thoughts, “You...you’re so much more…full of life,”

Lance tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

Keith leaned back, “Well, you’re just so, expressive, and energetic, and charming...and enthusiastic about everything. Thace is fun yeah, and we like to compete and push each other’s buttons but he’s so much like me. He’s angsty and serious, and I have enough of that for two people,”

Lance chuckled at that, “Yeah, you’re right about that one,”

Keith smiled, “I just...you provide such an easygoing, carefree aura, one that I’ve never seen from another person,”

Lance smiled, a blush creeping on his face, “Well, thank you,” soon though, the bashful smile turned cheeky, “You think I’m charming?”

Keith furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember if he had said that...and...he had. Dammit.

Keith rolled his eyes, “I did, now I’m not so sure,”

Lance nudged him, “C’monnnnnn,”

“Now you’re just being annoying,”

“Keith!” Lance whined, flopping over his lap, “Just give me validation this one time,”

Keith rolled his eyes again, “Fine, yes, I think you’re charming,”

“Yes!!” Lance exclaimed, sitting straight up, “Finally!”

Keith sighed, “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope!”

“Does the Thace thing even matter to you anymore?”

“Not at all,”

Keith shook his head, “I cannot believe,”

Lance shrugged, “I mean, that whole thing made me feel a lot better but now I’m on top of the world! The Keith Kogane, emo supreme, thinks that I’m charming,”

Keith chuckled, “I had more to say too, but it looks like you don’t need it anymore,”

Lance bounced on the couch, “No! What did I say? Top of the world? I meant I’m still wallowing in despair,”

“Nice try,” Keith said, smirking, as he turned on the TV, “But I think I’ll keep those to myself for now,”

“Ugh,” Lance groaned, slouching against the couch, “Fine, but I get to pick what we do,”

“Go for it,” Keith replied, handing Lance the remote.

Lance immediately changed the input to the one Keith had his PS4 hooked up to, then grabbed the two controllers and popped a game into the console.

“Figured that Call of Duty would be good,” He said as he handed Keith a controller.

“Sure,” Keith said, grinning, “You know I’m going to win again, don’t you?”

“Nope! You’re not. Wanna know why?”

“Why?” Keith asked smugly.

“Because I’ve been playing with Pidge and she’s much better than you,”

“That doesn’t mean you’ve improved,”

“Yes it does!” Lance said, leaning back on the couch and starting up the game.

“Willing to bet?” Keith asked, smirking.

Lance turned to look at Keith, grinning widely. Keith knew that Lance would always take up a bet, he was too competitive not to.

“Oh, you’re on,”

“If I win,” Keith paused, thinking, “If I win…” Nothing. His mind was drawing a blank, he could literally put anything on the line and Lance would accept but now was when his brain decided to crap out, “you owe me...a favor,”

Lance raised his eyebrow, obviously trying to seem nonchalant but there was something in his eye that told Keith that he was otherwise, “A favor?”

Keith furrowed his eyebrows, confused, “Yeah? A favor? Like a thing you do for someone else? I know it’s lame but I couldn’t really think of anything else so I went with something generic,”

Lance snorted, and covered his mouth with his hand, “Oh, okay. A regular kind of favor,”

Keith tilted his head, “A regular kind of...oh”

It took him a while, but he finally understood why Lance had laughed, and why he was trying to act nonchalant but wasn’t. Dear God...Keith could already feel his face getting hot. He buried his face in his hands.

“...ohmygod…”

Lance tried to stifle his laughter, “No Keith, it’s fine,” he chuckled, “I can’t say I would be opposed to that sort of thi-”

“Lance!”

“Sorry!” Lance said, laughing, “But like, damn, do you know how hot you are?”

Keith groaned, “Just tell me what you get if you win,”

Lance smiled, “Fine….hmm, what should I get if I win…”

Keith looked up just in time to see the devilish smirk appear on Lance’s face. Suddenly he wasn’t so ready to hear what Lance had to say.

“If I win, you have to sit on my lap the entire time we hang out with the squad next weekend,”

Keith’s eyes widened, “No! No way,”

Lance shrugged, “If you’re so sure about your ability to win this round, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about,”

Keith had half a mind to argue, but he knew Lance would be relentless, so he relented, “Fine,” Keith pouted, “But this means that you have to do whatever the favor is if I win, no objections,”

“Deal!” Lance exclaimed, holding his hand out for Keith to shake. Keith eyed it for a moment, debating on whether or not this was really a good idea. He sighed, and shook Lance’s hand.

Lance grinned, “Okay, so, obviously we’re playing one on one,”

“Obviously,”

They went through the process of picking and customizing weapons and choosing which map they wanted, which took longer than expected. Both wanted the map they were the best at, and both knew the other would have an advantage on the map they wanted and were adamant about not using it. Eventually, they decided to use a map they both had never played before.

They started, and much to Keith’s delight, it didn’t take long for him to get in the lead. He was having a fairly easy time sneaking up on Lance’s character and taking him out. Lance was obviously getting frustrated, each death resulted in another exasperated sigh or whine. Lance was holding his own, sure, but Keith was firmly in the lead.

Eventually, though, Keith couldn’t find Lance anymore. It was like his character had vanished, and he refused to look at Lance’s part of the TV screen and be that person. He was crossing an open courtyard when suddenly, he died.

“What?!” Keith said, taken aback, “Where the hell did that come from?”

Lance smirked, “Oh I forgot to tell you, Pidge taught me about how finding a good hiding place and picking off players is a great way to rack up kills,”

Keith furrowed his eyebrows, “Fine, I just won’t go to that area of the map anymore,”

Lance shrugged, “You can try that, but I spent the last couple minutes finding spots,”

Keith shot Lance a glare, which only gained him a smug smile,

“It’s not too late to back out of the bet,”

“In your dreams,” Keith said as he hit the respawn button. Lance wanted to play the sniper game, eh? Fine, Keith would just up the ante.

The rest of the game was intense, Keith was able to find Lance in his spots and set up bombs there so if Lance came back, his character would die, and he was more diligent about sweeping areas before entering them and checking above his character. But, Lance still was able to pick Keith off like he was nothing. The match seemed like it was at a stalemate.

That is, until Lance got in one last kill and hit the kill limit they had set, ending the round and winning himself the bet.

Keith stared at the screen, unable to believe what had just happened. Lance had just beaten him; the same guy who still couldn’t understand how to aim a grenade.

“So, I’m thinking that I should be referred to as ‘Sharpshooter’ from now on,” Lance said while leaning back into the couch, “It has a nice ring to it,”

“f*ck off,” Keith said as he got up to get himself some water.

Lance laughed as he walked away, “Oh c’mon! Keith! Don’t be mad just ‘cause I won the bet,”

Keith could hear footsteps behind him, but he didn’t bother to turn around. He just went about getting his drink. He was filling up the glass with water when two arms wrapped around his waist.

“Don’t be mad,” Lance said into Keith’s ear as he rested his chin on Keith’s shoulder. It was so tender, not exactly sad, but soft. It sent a shiver down Keith’s spine.

“I don’t want to do it,”

“What, sit on my lap? It’s not like you haven’t be-”

“Lance!” Keith whined.

“Fine,” Lance said with a chuckle, “Only on one condition, though,”

Keith turned around, “And what would that be?”

Lance grinned, “You let me kiss you,”

“Ew,” Keith said as he picked up one of Lance’s arms so he could get out. He was almost sad he couldn’t see the look on Lance’s face.

Lance laughed, ‘Haha, real funny Keith” but suddenly his tone changed when Keith didn’t respond. He caught up with Keith, “You’re joking,”

Keith wanted to smile, he really did, but he was enjoying this too much.

“Nope,” he said as he took a sip of his water and sat back down on the couch.

Lance stood in the middle of the room, staring at him, dumbfounded. Keith took another sip, more to cover up his smile and stop himself from laughing than for thirst.

“You can’t be serious,”

“Oh trust me, I am,” Keith said, letting a little playfulness slip through.

Lance squinted at him, then smirked, “Well okay then, I guess you wouldn’t mind if we watched a movie?”

Keith shrugged, “Sure, pick what you want,”

Keith was expecting Lance to just pick something off of Netflix, so he was surprised when Lance made his way over to the cabinet where he kept his old DVDs. But, the reason for this became very apparent. Instead of kneeling or squatting, like a normal person, Lance made a show of bending over while picking out the movie. Obviously trying to show off his ass and be a tease.

“Hm..” Lance hummed as he ran a finger over the movie titles, “Nothing good on this shelf,”

Suddenly, Lance dropped into a squat, except it wasn’t a normal squat, of course. His ass was way too shoved out. Keith had to cover his mouth to keep himself from laughing. Lance was trying so hard it was comical.

Lance made a show of popping the DVD into place and sauntering back to the couch. Keith had been able to keep himself from laughing, thankfully, but his composure broke, ever so slightly, when Lance did something he really wasn’t expecting.

Lance sat in his lap.

Keith couldn’t keep the shock off his face, but thankfully Lance was focused on the TV.

“Um,” He squeaked, “I, uh...I can’t...see the TV,”

“Oh right!” Lance said, flashing a smile over his shoulder, “Sorry babe,”

Keith could feel his face heat up at the pet name, which he still wasn’t used to, and Lance was well aware of that fact. Keith really wanted nothing more than to jump off a bridge. He should have known Lance would get back at him.

Lance slid back onto the couch and started the movie, not even glancing at Keith but still knowingly smug. Keith composed himself quickly, he had to make Lance pay for that.

It took him about three seconds to come up with a plan. Keith looked around at Lance’s feet, and cracked a smile when he spotted his laptop.

“Oh, I should probably move that,” Keith said as he got off the couch.

“Move what?”

Keith made no attempt to control his smirk as he moved to his knees in front of Lance’s feet. He picked up the laptop, “This,” he said as he rose up a little and leaned across Lance’s lap to place the laptop on the table next to the side of the couch, making an already suggestive position even more so.

It had the desired effect on Lance, who was suddenly a blushing mess. But Keith couldn’t let him off the hook that easily.

Keith leaned back, making a point of looking Lance up and down, “You know, I could get used to this view,” He said with a smirk.

Keith had to hand it to Lance, other than the bright red ears and pink face, he didn’t seem flustered at all.

“So could I,” Lance replied, voice steady.

Now that did something to Keith. Lance’s voice was so deep and almost hoarse. Keith was a little disappointed that his plan was set up solely to be a little sh*t.

Keith placed his hands on Lance’s knees, and slowly moved up. He could see the excitement growing in Lance’s eyes...and elsewhere. But then, he smiled at Lance, and sat right the f*ck down on the couch.

“Hey, what movie is this?” he asked, glancing over at Lance.

It took a lot for him to not lose his sh*t when he saw Lance’s face. Jaw on the floor, staring at Keith as if he had just slapped him in the face.

Keith raised an eyebrow, “Seriously, what movie is this?”

Lance blinked twice, picked his jaw up off the floor, and nearly growled, “You dick,” before grabbing Keith by the shirt with one hand and crashing their lips together.

Keith couldn’t say he was surprised by Lance’s reaction, but he was surprised at how aggressive Lance was being, and he couldn’t say that he didn’t like it either.

Lance pulled Keith onto his lap and immediately grabbed Keith’s ass with one hand and held his face with the other...yeah, Keith really couldn’t say he didn’t like it. (#)

They kissed roughly, tongues exploring each other’s mouths. Lance caught Keith’s lip between his teeth, causing a moan to escape from Keith as he threaded his hands into Lance’s hair, pulling on it enough to make Lance lift up his head. Keith took the opportunity to kiss his neck. Keith made his way across Lance’s jawline to just below his ear, which Keith had learned was one of Lance’s weak spots. Keith bit lightly and sucked harshly, earning himself a handful of tiny, dick-twitching moans from Lance. Keith pulled backand examined his work. It would definitely leave a mark, good.

Lance took that as a cue to start kissing Keith again, slotting their lips together with an intensity that had Keith melting.

Keith grinded against Lance, who gasped and moved his hand from Keith’s ass to the hem of his shirt. He tugged it off quickly, and Keith watched as Lance scanned his torso. Keith knew he should feel exposed under Lance’s gaze, as if he was under a microscope or something. That’s what they always said in those cheesy, fake-ass romance novels, right? But he didn’t. Truth was, he was completely comfortable, and he felt like that was the way it should be.

Lance smiled softly, something that seemed out of place when he had been so rough just a few seconds ago, “God, you’re so beautiful,”

Keith smiled back, he felt like he should say something, but, he knew himself. Actions speak louder than words, right? So, he kissed him instead. The shift in Lance was intense. Instead of rough and domineering, he was suddenly soft and tender, kissing Keith in a way that made him feel so warm, so loved. As if he was the only thing in the world that mattered to Lance.

Loved? Yeah...yeah, he felt loved. It was a weird realization to come to, when neither person had actually said they loved the other.

Did Keith love Lance? He knew what the answer to that was, he really did, but he pushed it out of his head. Right now he wanted to focus on Lance, not get caught up in his thoughts.

It suddenly struck Keith that he was the only one shirtless, which seemed a damn shame, so he tugged at Lance’s shirt, who quickly got the message and threw his shirt to the side.

That was when Bailey reminded them of his presence by jumping up onto the couch next to them. He put his front paws on Lance’s leg, wagging his tail excitedly and obviously expecting to be pet.

Keith and Lance glanced at each other, Lance cracked a smile, and Keith couldn’t keep it in. He snorted loudly, and started giggling. Lance reached out and scratched behind Bailey’s ears.

“I suppose we should probably move,” (##)

“Yeah prob-” Keith couldn’t even finish his sentence before Lance suddenly stood up and hoisted Keith onto his shoulder in one fluid movement.

“Put me down!” Keith said, laughter bubbling up and interrupting his words.

“Sorry! What was that? Can’t hear you,” Lance replied as he walked toward what had to be the bedroom.

“Lance!” Keith said, lightly pounding on his back. Lance didn’t respond that time, so Keith had to just be content with watching a very excited Bailey follow them as Lance carried him across the apartment.

Keith heard the door open, and Lance took a few more steps before throwing Keith down onto the bed. Keith couldn’t keep his laughter under control as he moved further onto the bed. He rested his weight on his elbows as he watched patiently as Lance pulled off his pants and tossed them aside.

Lance got onto the bed and slowly crawled over to Keith, pressing his lips against Keith’s and continuing to push forward so that Keith was lying flat on the bed. The kiss was deep and passionate, and Keith never wanted it to end. Lance, however, had other plans.

He redirected his attention to Keith’s neck, and Keith let out a whine. Lance just looked up at him with that co*cky smile and that glint in his eye that Keith simultaneously hated and loved. Lance didn’t spare Keith, not one bit. He went after every single spot that he knew drove Keith crazy, taking his time and surely leaving a trail of marks down Keith’s neck.

In the back of his head, Keith wondered if Lance was making such a point of leaving hickies in the most obvious of spots because of this whole thing with Thace. It would make sense, those kinds of issues don’t usually just disappear after one conversation. But, Keith didn’t know and he didn’t really care, all that mattered to him was that it was hot.

Once Lance was satisfied with his work, he pressed a quick kiss to Keith’s lips and then moved away. Keith tried to chase after him but Lance gently pushed him back down. Instead, Lance unbuttoned Keith’s jeans and slid them and his underwear off slowly, keeping eyes on Keith the whole time.

For once, Keith was at least outwardly calm, was his heartbeat going 100 miles an hour? Yes. But was he blushing? No. Though, that could possibly be because the blood was going somewhere else.

Lance smirked at Keith, then slowly licked up Keith’s length. Keith immediately grabbed onto his sheets, he was in for a wild ride.

Lance wrapped his hand around the base of Keith’s dick and flicked his tongue across his head. Keith watched, wanting nothing more than to throw his head back, but he wouldn’t let himself. Not with Lance looking at him like that.

Lance kissed the tip, and then took Keith into his mouth. Keith was surprised at how far Lance was able to go before stopping. He could feel Lance’s tongue work on him before Lance started to bob his head, sickeningly slow, keeping his eyes on Keith the whole time.

Keith knew exactly what Lance wanted. He wanted Keith to get impatient with his teasing and ask for more, and he wanted to make sure he could see Keith growing more frustrated. But, despite knowing what Lance wanted, he still did it. He had tried to hold out, he really did, but he’s not very patient to begin with.

“Lance,” Keith whined.

Lance didn’t stop bobbing his head, simply raised his eyebrows in a wordless question.

Keith sighed, Lance was really going to make him say it, wasn’t he?

“Faster,”

Lance did as he was told, but took his damn sweet time doing so, slowly and steadily picking up speed, stopping occasionally to flick his tongue across Keith’s head or randomly slowly way down before picking up speed again.

Keith was becoming unraveled, and absolute mess, both hands clenching the sheets and small, breath ragged and pitiful moans escaping from him every time Lance did something unexpected. Keith wasn’t watching Lance anymore, he had given up on that and let his head press into the pillow as his eyes screwed shut.

Lance slowed down for longer than Keith wanted him to, so Keith bucked his hips just slightly. Lance immediately placed one firm hand on his hip, holding him down in a way that drove Keith crazy.

Keith could feel himself about to burst, and Lance must have picked up on it too because suddenly he was using both his hand and his mouth to get Keith off.

Keith looked down at Lance, and that sent him over the edge. He spilled into Lance’s mouth, back arching and Lance’s name leaving his lips.

Keith laid there, breathless, eyes still shut and body numb. He wasn’t sure if he could even move.

He could feel Lance coming up toward him. He placed a kiss on Keith’s lips, tasting of salt, and brushed some of the hair out of Keith’s face. Keith opened his eyes, Lance was looking at him with a strange mixture of smugness and fondness. Obviously proud of himself for leaving Keith in the state he was in, but something else was there.

“God,” Lance said softly, “you are so f*cking beautiful,”

Keith tried to smile, but he felt like the expression came out more pained than he wanted it to. He just could not get ahold of himself, he was still coming down from his high.

Lance watched him for a little bit, then said “Wow, I really did a number on you, didn’t I?”

Keith nodded, it was all he could do, he still hadn’t quite caught his breath.

“Hm,” Lance said, “Well, if you’re going to be like that for a while, would you mind if I get myself off? Not sure if I can go much longer,”

Keith nodded again. Did he want to get Lance off himself? Yes, but he didn’t want to keep Lance waiting too long and there would always be other times. Besides, watching Lance jacking himself off would be hot as hell.

Lance pulled his dick through the opening in his boxers, and wasted no time. Keith watched as he spread his precum and started moving his hand up and down his length. Keith noticed, a tad bitterly, that Lance didn’t bother going slow with himself, just started out fast. But, Keith could forgive him for that because the faces and the sounds Lance were making were heavenly.

What made it so hot was the knowledge that Lance was getting off to him. Keith knew that he was the only thought on Lance’s moon. If it wasn’t obvious by the moans of Keith’s name, it was definitely obvious by the fact that every time Lance’s eyes opened, they were glued to Keith.

Lance came quickly, spilling out into his own hand and lap. He sat on Keith’s bed, breathing heavily and coming down from his high. Keith had, by this time, fully recovered, so he quickly grabbed a towel from the bathroom to wipe Lance off with.

Keith cleaned Lance off, then laid down on the bed, pulling the covers over himself and snuggling into bed. Lance went and turned off the light before climbing into next to Keith.

“By the way,” Keith said as they cuddled, that counted as letting you kiss me so I don’t have to go through with the bet.

“No it didn’t!” Lance exclaimed.

“You never said when the offer ended, you just said I had to let you kiss me, which I did. Plus I let you do a lot more things to me,”

Lance sighed, “Fine,” but there was no real disappointment in it.

They laid there, cuddling, exchanges chaste kisses and sweet nothings until they fell asleep. Keith had never been so happy.