Chapter Text
Lance woke up the next morning with a few texts from Pidge, Shiro, Hunk, and Allura. However, the only ones he cared immediately about were the ones he saw from Keith.
“hey loser, thanks for taking me out, I really had a lot of fun, hope we can do it again sometime!” with a few choice emojis. It was sent at 1:30 AM, right after being dropped off at home. He was probably all cozied up in his bed, and Lance let himself imagine that he had a big, goofy smile on his face just before falling asleep.
He must have reread the text about a million times before deciding to reply.
“no way thanks for coming with me bby!” he was going to add ‘you’re the coolest’, ‘I really want to kiss you’, or ‘will you marry me’, but he figured that those could wait for another time.
Lance felt as if he could conquer the day. He jumped out of bed, ran downstairs into the kitchen without putting a shirt on, and kissed his momma on the top of her head. She shot him a look, a smile tugging on her lips, wordlessly awaiting an explanation.
“Just a boy, momma, nothing to worry about.” Lance had grabbed up their brand new little baby corgi, lovingly named Lluvia, and began dancing with her around the room. She tucked her big ears flat against her head and drew herself closer to Lance’s chest, looking for safety. Lance’s mother looked at him with wide blue eyes after what he had said. Her eyes were identical to Lance’s, they were the only two with blue eyes in the entire family. His dad loved to tell her ‘he has your eyes’ any opportunity he could. She resumed smiling as she told Lance to leave the poor puppy alone while he flashed his own teeth at her.
“A boy, Lance? Oh my god. How long has it been since your last boyfriend?”
“Not that long! And I dated a few girls in between that too.” Lluvia whined for pets, Lance obliged.
“Whatever you say. You know people only like you because you’ve got my looks.” She snapped her fingers and shook her hips, “Irresistible!”
“Gross, mom! No way!” Lance made an exaggerated disgusted face as they both laughed. Lance’s nephew and niece came bounding into the room after hearing all the commotion. They were seven and ten respectively, and their tío Lance was hands down their favorite living person. Sometimes he did their homework for them because it was relatively easy for someone his age, sometimes he let them paint his nails or draw on his face, among other rather embarrassing things. Needless to say, the two wild, sweet, and round eyed children never failed to make Lance want kids of his own.
His nephew, Vincent, clung to his thigh while his niece, Alexia, grabbed Lluvia and head-butted his stomach. He grunted at the force but began laughing once he regained his breath. They were over for the week while their parents were celebrating their anniversary. Lance loved it when they stayed over, he was suffering more from the empty nest syndrome than his mother was. He loved having a full, happy house that was always dancing with chatter and laughter. He hated feeling alone.
“Tío Lance! Tío Lance! Come play Mario Kart with us!” Vincent put his chin on Lance’s hip, looking up at his face from down below. Alexia’s eyes sparkled the color of a polished violin with hopeful excitement from where she was standing next to Lance’s mother in the kitchen, Lluvia squirming in her arms.
“Okay, okay, you know I can’t say no to you guys. But you only have an hour or so until you have to be ready for school!” Lance led the children (who, at this point, were groaning at the mention of school) into living room where all the entertainment stuff was, grabbing a slice of tostada cubana and a café con leche for himself from the counter. He was off for the day, anyway.
-
Keith awoke to his door being knocked upon. He shook his head, hair an absolute mess, and threw on some shorts and a baggy t-shirt before slowly approaching the source of the noise. He checked his phone, and there were about a million more texts from Rolo. He saw the texts from Lance and his heart shot up into his throat. Omg he called me ‘bby’? He could feel a smile break onto his face naturally as he remembered their sort-of-kind-of date and how he hated that he got tired so quickly. Maybe if he had stayed awake long enough to have Lance walk him home, they could’ve maybe shared a kiss. Sighing, he checked the rest, all from Rolo.
The most recent message made Keith’s eyes pop open and awaken immediately.
“here”
WHAT?
He nearly threw his front door open, eyes completely confused as he came face to face with his older friend. Their eyes met and Rolo snickered at how caught off guard Keith appeared. He shivered nervously as he noticed his older friend look him up and down.
“Why are you here?” Keith asked, stepping outside his door. The walkway was so cold on his bare feet that he flinched a little.
“Are you tellin’ me you didn’t read any of the messages I sent you?” Rolo shook his head as a smirk grew on his face. “You and I are going out today. We’re gonna do another shoot. Just you and me. Fun fun fun.”
“Oh. I… I can’t today. I’ve got class at 9:30. And it’s,” he looked away to check his phone, “…8. And then after that, I’ve got work. I should probably start getting ready right now, in fact…” Keith shied away from Rolo’s arm as it came to rest upon his shoulders. Just as he went to let himself back inside his apartment, he felt a hand on his other wrist. Rolo turned him around to face him once again, a confident smile was on his face, but his eyes were somewhat severe. Keith tensed, but did his best to remain calm.
“Busy, busy, busy. That’s what you film students always are. Skip class today, call out of work. I’m taking you out whether you like it or not.”
“As impulsive as I usually am, it’s just not a good idea, Rolo. Now, I’ve really got to run, see you later?” Keith smiled sheepishly, pulled his arm from the other’s grasp, and stepped into his apartment. He lingered in the doorway, waiting to hear Rolo’s reaction before closing the door behind him. Big mistake number one.
“You want action? Fine, me too. I’m in an action-y mood.” Confused, Keith furrowed his brows before being pulled once again from his apartment and into a kiss from his older friend. His eyes blew wide and crossed as he looked into the other’s face. He heard himself make a shocked noise that sounded like a hum of approval, the other offering his own hum in response.
When Rolo released him, Keith sputtered.
“B-b-but, why?”
“Don’t you like me, Keith?”
Keith’s face dropped.
“No! Well, I mean, yes. As a friend of course. And you know that I had a tiny crush on you when I was in high school. But, I mean, now… Well, that’s a completely different story.”
Rolo opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of the Indiana Jones theme song blaring from Keith’s phone. Who the hell could be calling him? He hoped it was Allura calling him in early so he could get out of the strange predicament he was in the midst of. Rolo looked confused this time around and only watched as Keith answered, barely even checking the caller ID.
“Hello?”
“Keith! What’s up? I didn’t think you’d be awake right now!”
“Lance?”
“Yeah! Is this a bad time right now? I’m sorry. I’ll let you go if you need me to.”
“No! It’s fine! Not a big deal. Did you need something?”
Rolo opened his mouth again and Keith gave him the “I’m on the phone” finger.
“If you aren’t busy, I was wondering if you wanted to just come to the beach with me. I’m gonna take my nephew and niece to school in like an hour or so and then I’m free all day. Are you down?” Keith saw an opportunity for escape and decided to go for it. Rolo was still standing there, getting more annoyed by the second, especially after hearing that another dude was on the line, and Keith had to make a move swiftly if he wanted to dodge a real bullet.
“Oh, the schedule, you need this week’s schedule? I’ve got it, let me send it to you.”
“What? I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out, I promise!”
“Here, I’m sending it to you now.”
Without ending the call, Keith went to their established conversation and began typing.
“Lance, do you think you could come to my house like right now? It’s urgent”
“Absolutely”
“Keith I’m on my way, do you want me to stay on the phone?”
“Ok Lance, see you later.” And, if not a little hesitantly, Keith ended the call. Rolo and Keith both stood wordless for a little bit. They stared at each other rather intensely, both afraid of setting off a theoretical landmine. Keith could finally see the boundless affection and desire in Rolo’s eyes. He couldn’t help but be somewhat afraid, and definitely unsure. Without blinking, he went back inside his apartment and closed the door swiftly behind him, locking it as well.
He ran into his bedroom and grabbed the leather jacket from the floor and marched it right out to Rolo, tossing it gently at him. They made eye contact again and Keith sighed, trying his best to make it as not shaky as possible.
“Well? Are you just going to leave me hanging like that?” Rolo asked, traces of pain in his voice as his hand clenched over the returned jacket. Keith ran a hand through his hair before speaking.
“We will talk about this when I am ready. Please, go home.” Keith locked his door again. And he felt numb and weightless as he wandered into his kitchen to start brewing coffee. He heard Rolo curse to himself as he stormed down the stairs. From his phone, he excused himself via email from his class that morning—his nerves were utterly wrecked.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed, but all of a sudden, the timer for his French press went off, his doorbell rang, and his phone blared to life; and these combined things only grated on his fragile nerves ever the more. Cursing, he finished his French press and answered his phone, another call from (hopefully) Lance.
“Lance?” he breathed more than said as he wandered over to his front door again for the millionth time that long morning. He peeked out of the peephole and saw Lance’s wonderful face contorted with worry. He hung up again and threw his door open. Lance rushed inside and saw big, angry waves of frustration forming in Keith’s absolutely amazing eyes. His heart was aching, longing to kiss them away, but Lance knew better than to think those selfish things when what Keith needed was a friend. Lance smiled when he saw Keith’s pajamas.
“Keith are you ok? What happened? Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not yet.” He shook his head and his voice came out vicious, sharp with frustration. Lance could only compare it to the sound of shattering glass in his mind. The other’s face softened when he realized that he had snapped at his friend. Keith walked up to Lance and smacked his head right into his shoulder, and wrapped his arms around his waist. Lance tentatively patted Keith’s hair, and put his other hand over his shoulders. Keith was so, so cold. Lance radiated warmth.
“I’m here for you. It’s ok if you don’t want to tell me. Just know that you’re ok.”
“I’m literally so damn angry, Lance. My body feels like it’s on fire.”
“Well, if it makes you feel better, I accidentally knocked on the wrong apartment door and had to hide when the people came out. Basically, I dingdong ditched your neighbors.” Keith’s tense lips half smiled at that.
“Idiot.” He sighed, pulling away from the embrace to wander into his kitchen. Lance was screaming internally at not only being in Keith’s apartment, but also at the cute shorts he was wearing, the baggy shirt, and the way his hair was still rumpled from sleep. These all added up to disastrously adorable in Lance’s book. And when Keith emerged from his kitchen with two cups of coffee, Lance knew he was doomed.
“I don’t know how much sugar or milk you like, so I left yours black.” Keith smiled, eyes clearly tired and not quite ready for facing the day. He looked into his own mug before taking a long giant gulp of the stuff. Lance mimicked him despite the fact that it was black and he hated bitter coffee more than anything else on the face of the earth.
“Thanks, dude.” He shivered at the bitterness, “Listen, you don’t have to go to the beach with me. And don’t feel bad about it! I want you to be okay first, ok? You can come with me if you wanna drop my niece and nephew off at school. And then after that we can get breakfast or something? Or we don’t have to do anything. But I want you to be cool, so just tell me. I won’t be mad if you don’t feel up to do anything.”
Keith bit his lip. He wanted to go with Lance so desperately. He knew the other was being as understanding as he could. If anyone could help bring his mood up, it would definitely be Lance. He had texted Pidge, but she was probably in class at the moment, and she never checked her phone during lecture. Keith finished off his coffee, feeling Lance’s eyes on him the whole time, and met his gaze as he lowered his mug.
“Let me get dressed.” Keith saw Lance’s eyes sparkle. It warmed him thoroughly to his core.
Maybe today would get better.
-
Lance was nervous to bring Keith into his house. Not only would his mom be extra investigative because he wasn’t Hunk or Shiro, but so would his niece and nephew, who sported crushes on the aforementioned two respectively and generally didn’t get along well with others. When Lance pulled into the driveway and parked, he turned to face Keith, who looked nervous and raised an eyebrow at him, shrugging away just a little bit.
“Uh, my mom and niece and nephew are annoying. But please try to bear with them. We’re all so close-knit that it’s weird when someone new pops in. If they’re weirding you out too much, just tell me.”
“Is that it? Dude you should see my distant relatives. They’re vultures.” Keith laughed into his fist.
Lance smiled sadly at his friend and patted his hair.
“Well then, let’s go.”
Upon entering the house, which was quite large for having only a few people currently living there, Keith heard small dog barks and the shrill voices of children bounding just out of sight toward their general direction. Once in view, Keith nearly hid behind Lance, the trio clearly not slowing down in their endeavors. The children bounced like ping pong balls into Lance’s arms, the tiny little puppy waddling right past them to sniff at Keith’s socks. A tall, wonderfully gorgeous brunette woman entered shortly thereafter; her hair was big like the eighties with curly wavy locks draping past her shoulders. Her skin was sun kissed and beautifully brown, while her eyes sharply contrasted this by how breathtakingly blue they were. Just like Lance’s. She scolded the children, a small crease in her brow. She could’ve easily been twenty-one or forty-one, but Keith already knew exactly who it was.
“Mama, this is Keith. He’s my friend from work.” Her eyes pierced through him and read him like a book. He couldn’t help but keep her gaze, fearing that if he faltered, that she would pounce him in an instant.
“Es este el chico que te gusta?”
“No me vayas a dichabar, Mamá!” Lance called out, blush invading his cheeks as his eyes wildly shifted from Keith to his mother. Keith raised an eyebrow as he watched the exchange.
“Esqueleto rumbero! No hable así a tu madre de esa manera!” Lance ducked away at that, not saying anything more. Keith was lost.
“Nice to meet you, Keith. I’m Lance’s mother, Zelia.” She smiled and reached out a hand, Keith took it, hoping his hands weren’t too sweaty and that his grip was strong enough for her. From the corner of his eye he saw Lance leave the room to help his nephew find something, his niece following behind them. His heart began racing. He was alone with Lance’s mom.
She noticed this too, and her perfect face lost some of its edge. She looked away for a moment, formulating, and then looked back at Keith again.
“Are you in school right now?”
“I am. I’m studying film at the moment.” She tilted her head in interest.
“My Lance is doing the same, I’m sure you know.” Keith only nodded, a polite smile on his lips. He wanted her to like him so bad, his heart was still racing. Were his eyes alright? Was his hair nice enough? Was het all enough? He wasn’t sure at all, but he would never let her know it.
“Do you speak Spanish, Keith?” She asked, eyes glittering.
“No, I don’t unfortunately. It’s a beautiful language, from what I’ve heard. I only speak Japanese, English, and French at the moment. I hope Lance will be up to teaching me Spanish.”
“French? Ah, teach Lance French and he’s yours! Darle un mate.” She giggled and Keith couldn’t help but blush. He knew he’d have to ask Lance what that meant later but he was almost scared. “Anyway, it was good to meet you Keith, I’ve heard much about you from Lance.” Her smile was youthful and mysterious as the conversation ended; her head nodding as she eyed Keith up and down one last time. It felt as if she was assessing him, gauging if he was worthy of Lance’s…friendship? Affection? It wasn’t clear.
The two heard Lance and the children return and Zelia left Keith be as she let Lluvia out the sliding glass door to the backyard. Lance gave Keith a look, seemingly asking what he and his mother were talking about, but Keith just smiled at him and followed the trio out front to pile into Lance’s car.
Driving to the school brought Keith’s nerves from the morning down, and he couldn’t help but just look at Lance from his peripheral vision. Lance had the best cheeks, the best nose, the best eyelashes, the best teeth, the best lips… Keith could’ve gone on discovering the bests that Lance had, but his thoughts were interrupted by the chattering of the children in the backseat.
He absolutely adored Vincent and Alexia, they were incredibly sweet. Both were eager to get to know him, it seemed. Vincent was a little timid, but loved video games, art, and singing. Alexia was a lot more rambunctious because she was the older of the two. Her interests included the junior swimming team she was a part of, playing guitar, and cooking (but only because tío Lance’s friend Hunk liked it).
The drive seemed longer than it was because of the lengthy conversations. The children hugged Lance through the window, and Keith couldn’t help but wish he got hugs also.
“¡Chao pescao!” He saluted them.
“¡Y a la vuelta picadillo!” They waved.
Lance watched them run off, a distant smile on his face. He turned to Keith, then.
“Breakfast on the beach?” Lance leaned toward Keith, raising his eyebrows and batting his eyelashes, which Keith noticed in that moment were very well taken care of, very plush. Keith blushed of course, looking from his friend’s eyelashes to his lips, before biting his own and responding.
“Breakfast on the beach.” He shook his head, hoping to dispel some of the want that was dusted across his entire being.
-
It was 8:32 AM when they reached the breakfast joint. It was a perfect little shack, about twenty feet away from the sand of the beach. There was also an equally as perfect little coffee stand right around the corner, where all the table seating was. Keith noticed that the very first sign visible upon entering the door says in big, red and white letters framed by palm trees:
CASH ONLY
Ah. He only carried his card around, and his tips were somewhere in his house. He tugged on Lance’s shirt to get his attention. They were waiting in line to place their order. Lance laughed at Keith threw his arm around his shoulders.
“Don’t worry about, dude. It’s on me.” Keith noticed how close Lance’s face was to his. All he had to do was get up on his toes and he could probably kiss him right there. The thought jumpstarted his heart.
“Wait. It was on you yesterday too! You can’t buy both days!”
“Well, let’s see.” Lance cocked his hip out and moved his hand down by Keith’s hips. “Cash only. Keith— that’s you, has no cash. Lance— that’s me, does. I don’t want to lose our place in line to go to an ATM, so it’s settled. My treat.” Lance was smirking down at him, arm still around his shoulders, and Keith was visibly blushing at this point. The people around them were watching. Some of them were smiling and others were looking at Lance. Lance wasn’t looking at anyone besides Keith.
“That just means I owe you two meals now…” Keith muttered mostly to himself, but Lance bumped Keith’s hip with own and shot him a look.
“What are you gonna get?” Lance asked, handing him a menu. He didn’t move from his position of hand on Keith’s hip, with the shorter of the two hoping he never would.
In the end, Keith got a traditional breakfast plate that had eggs, potatoes, bacon and toast. Lance got a breakfast burrito that weighed about the same as a newborn baby. They were sitting on the sand now, watching every wave crash over the sand before them and fighting off seagulls that tried to get their food. Lance was subtly moving them closer to the water, so much so that at some point, the tips of the waves kissed Keith’s ankles and he didn’t realize it.
By the time they finished their food, they were just lounging on the sand, laying on Lance’s blanket from his car. Lance was staring at the ocean, and Keith was staring at Lance.
At the store, on the other side of town, Pidge was ten minutes away from clocking in. She was sitting at the partner table in the back, trying to do some homework so she could just relax when she got back home. She stood, and shut the door to the employees only bathroom when she saw two people walking into the back. It was Nyma and Shay. She rolled her eyes to herself. She didn’t really like either of them particularly, as they were the resident drama starters at the store. Not so much Shay as it was Nyma, but Shay certainly didn’t discourage the other from running her mouth.
Pidge was about to blow off their whole conversation when she heard just what they were talking about.
“So, what’s up with Keith and Lance?” Nyma. Pidge squinted her eyes before whipping out her phone.
“I dunno, they seem like they get along well. That’s about all I can say, right?”
“I’m not so sure. They seem like they’re a lot closer than that. I think they might be dating or having sex or something.” Pidge could only imagine what she was doing, probably standing all contrapposto, with her head cocked back, dripping with confidence.
“Keith works today! I could talk to him if you want me to and ask him about it!”
“It’s honestly not that big of a deal, Shay. Don’t worry about it! I was just a little curious is all.” She giggled after that, and Pidge’s stomach soured.
When she heard the two girls go back onto the floor, she emerged from the bathroom. She grabbed her phone, still expecting a response from Keith about earlier as to what happened with Rolo that morning, but there was no luck. She clocked back in and tied her apron on as she sighed heavily, frustrated.
“He needs to get it together, I can’t pick up all the pieces for him.”
Lance and Keith returned to the apartment. Lance went to leave, but Keith grabbed his shoulder and asked him to hang out at his house for a little. This made his palms sweat in his jacket pockets, heart race, and his head light as a feather. Looking over at Keith brought their eyes together, and Lance wanted to look away so bad but he fought every urge and kept his eyes locked with Keith’s. Keith ducked away first, blushing hard as ever. Keith: confident, wonderful, fiery Keith, and he didn’t want to look Lance in the eye. It made his heart sob to think about.
“What time do you work?” Lance’s voice came out grainier than he expected and it surprised Keith as well as himself.
“Not until…two.” Keith paused, checking his phone for the time. He saw there was a new message as well. Pidge. He pocketed his phone, deciding to check it out later.
They came upon the staircase. Lance waited for Keith to start ascending before following right behind.
“This is stupid. Like, he’s perfect. His hair is beautiful, his shoulders and arms are beautiful, his hips are perfectly curved and round. His—oh estimado Dios en el cielo! His ass, right here, practically in my face! Es maravilloso, hermoso, mortal.”
Lance nearly fell on top of Keith as they reached the top. The other only laughed nervously.
“Do you want to talk about what happened earlier? Or are you still not ready. It’s okay if you aren’t, no pressure. I just want to be there for you if you need it off your chest, y’know?” Keith smiled warmly, the kindest, sweetest smile that Lance had ever been graced with. Am I in love?
Keith unlocked the front door and opened it, grabbing Lance’s hand in his and guiding him inside.
“I don’t mind talking about it. Besides, I think I’m going to need help making a decision.” Lance swallowed all the moisture in his mouth and throat at that. He fumbled around the word in his head, and for some reason it worried him more than it probably should have.
They kicked off their shoes and plopped down on the sofa. Keith looked to Lance and smiled again, like he was the happiest kid in the world. Lance’s heart felt like it was going to explode. He added chronic heart burn to his list of new things that were happening to him (as a result of knowing Keith).
“So, there’s this guy that I knew in high school, right?” He paused, and Lance threw him a look. “Wow, that’s always a great way to start off any conversation.” Keith said, chuckling as he shook his head. Lance was completely bewitched. He compelled himself to respond.
“Oh great, do you like him or something?” He hoped his eyes didn’t give away what he was thinking.
“Why does that matter to you?” Lance flushed harder. Keith smirked. “Anyway, I used to, when I was like seventeen, but now, I don’t really see him as much more than a really great friend. He’s a professional photographer, and he’s taught me a lot about all that stuff. And a little bit about life too I guess.”
“Okay, then what’s the problem with him?”
“Well, now he likes me. But like I said, I don’t feel it. Also he showed up at my house and may or may not have kissed me. Then you called and completely saved my ass. I felt like Aladdin or something, narrowly escaping danger.”
“Nice. You’ve just ruined Aladdin for me.” Lance giggled, gently punching Keith’s shoulder, Keith’s cheeks flared with blush. Keith sighed, shakily, shifting his eyes to glance at Lance’s lips…
“Sorry, didn’t mean to.”
“Wait, did you say he just kissed you? He didn’t even, like, ask or anything?”
“No, he didn’t. But I guess that’s okay, because I haven’t figured out how to tell him yet, but there’s someone else that I really, really like.” Keith leaned closer to Lance then, and Lance stiffened where he sat. Oh shit…do you think…?
“Oh…really? Do I know him?”
“Maybe.” Keith rested his head against Lance’s shoulder (for the second time in twenty-four hours, Lance noted), and sighed again. His heart settled as Keith’s face wasn’t so close to his anymore.
“This has just been a long, stressful week for me so far.”
“It’s only Monday, Keith Kogane. And even then, it’s like what, noon?” Keith snorted.
“I know.”
-
“He purposely didn’t answer my question, Hunk! What do you think that means?” Lance paced the (hilariously small) bathroom floor as Hunk showered. He could hear his friend laughing to himself at the predicament.
“It probably means he doesn’t want to tell you, as much as he doesn’t want to tell what’s his face. It’s kinda a private thing. I could see why he wouldn’t want to just spill the beans to some guy he’s barely known for a couple months. Especially if you potentially know who it is.”
“Hunk this is my love life, you’re supposed to be on my side! Also I asked Pidge about this “friend” that bugged him and, mind you he never mentioned this particular detail—the dude is a literal fossil! He’s like, almost in his thirties! He probably has like grandchildren or something! He’s old enough that he could be Keith’s creepy uncle for all I know!”
“Well, I don’t know about that. He already mentioned that he didn’t return the guy’s feelings so there’s no problem there, right? I mean the worst thing that could happen is that they aren’t friends anymore because that kind of thing can get a little awkward. Also, move, I need to get out.” The sound of running water silenced, the steam now hanging in the air.
The pair heard the front door of the apartment open as Shrio walked through the door.
“Finally! Shiro is a romantic guy, right? I’ll ask him! Thanks, Hunk!”
“He’s romantic if you like stale dad jokes…” Hunk’s mutter went unheard as Lance bolted.
“Shiro! What’s up?” Lance hurried over to his friend for a quick embrace. Shrio smiled his ‘tired but happy parent’ smile. It was the most treasured sight of the friend group. Lance’s eyes nearly filled with tears.
“Hey there, Lance. No work or school today?” Lance scoffed, mock offended.
“No, dad. Did you think I’d ditch or something?” Shrio rolled his eyes, gently nudging Lance out of his way with his elbow.
“I was just asking.” The older man said, placing a mock sad hand over his heart as he did, lower lip jutting out ever so slightly as he headed for his bedroom.
Once Shiro and Hunk were situated, they offered open ears to Lance.
“So basically I think Keith is in love with me and I’m definitely also in love with him but I’m not sure what to do from here.” Shiro scoffed.
“You’ve had boyfriends and girlfriends before, Lance. I’m pretty sure you already know what to do about it.” Hunk nodded his head in executive accordance.
“I think you need to take Keith out with us one day. We have to see if he’s the right material for our super ultimate best friend since elementary school. Just saying. If I have to deal with another Lance breakup, I don’t know what I’ll do.” Shiro laughed as Lance pouted.
“Although, you shouldn’t ask him again so soon. You might look super desperate if you ask him to hang out three days in a row. Just a thought.” Shiro offered, but Lance couldn’t quite figure out if he was being a sarcastic jackass or not.
“Shiro please! You’re the hottest person I know! Isn’t romance your thing!?”
“Psh! When was the last time I went on a date? Do you remember? Because I don’t!”
“Well, you know! You’re just super-hot? I figured you’d know how to help me!”
Shiro was cackling in his seat. Hunk joined in not much later. Lance, much to his chagrin, was suppressing a smile and immense laughter as well.
“All Shiro is good for is reeling people in with his looks, dude. There’s no way he’d be able to be smooth enough to get them to date him!” They were wiping tears from their eyes.
“Watch it, Hunk!” Shrio mock threatened, grin still spread wide across his face. The scar from his first (and only) motorcycle accident was stretched taut over the bridge of his nose. He pushed his prosthetic hand through his short hair as the moment faded.
“Anyway, in all honesty Lance, we’ll both support whatever it is you decide to do, as always. I think Hunk has a great point when he says we should meet this Keith guy. If he wants you, he’s gonna get the whole package whether he wants it or not.” Shiro’s face beamed with honesty and wholesomeness. Lance wanted to cry at the mere sight of it. Shiro was hands down the most loyal friend any person could ever ask for.
“Hey! We could go visit Keith while he works tonight!” Lance decided. “You guys can meet him that way!”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Won’t he be, I don’t know, more focused on working?” Hunk folded his arms over his chest as he spoke.
“Hush, Hunk! It’ll be fine!” Lance grabbed up his keys. “I’ll drive!” Shrio and Hunk shot each other looks of concern, but shrugged at Lance’s nonchalance.
Meanwhile, at work, Keith was not fine.
Not fine at all.