Chapter Text
“¡Buenas días, mi vida!” sing-songs Lance as he pokes his head around the bedroom’s dividing barrier. This involves pulling back one of the three sheets that are hung from a line cutting the bedroom nearly in half.
“Good morning,” replies Lance’s boyfriend, but with a look that is less than pleased.
“What?”
“You’re not supposed to do that,” warns Keith, referring to Lance having the sheet pulled back.
“Oh oops,” says Lance, letting go of the sheet to let it swing back down to its hanging position. Lance, however, is leaned too far forward so even with the sheet down, his head is sticking all the way through to Keith’s side.
This ridiculous setup is Lance’s and his parent’s compromise to him and Keith dating. At first Lance’s parents were extremely against the two of them continuing to share a bedroom, but they eventually settled for a divider being set up to split the room into separate sections, allowing each boy their privacy and a literal buffer. Lance, naturally, has a problem with staying on his side.
“You’re hopeless,” says Keith with an affectionate eyeroll. He then steps forward to give Lance’s floating head a kiss on the lips.
Right then there’s a knock on the door. It frightens Lance so much, he pulls back his head through the sheets too violently and ends up stumbling back to fall onto his bed.
“What was that noise?” asks Keith’s mother through the door.
“Us having sex,” Keith calls back, sarcastically.
“Keith, no!” squeals Lance, worried they’re about to get in trouble for something they weren’t actually doing.
“Wipe up and come down for breakfast,” replies his mother.
Now Lance squeals for a shocked reason. Keith’s parents are so different from his own. They crack sex jokes around them all the time and probably would let them keep sharing the bedroom properly if they weren’t trying to appease Lance’s parents.
“Ew. She thinks she’s so funny,” grumbles Keith from the other side of the barrier.
“You know what I was thinking,” says Lance, changing the subject. “Something we could do after school today.”
“What’s that?”
Lance walks to the other end of the sheet barrier and opens it up that way so he could catch Keith’s reaction when he says this. “Go get your passport photos taken.”
“Oh that,” says Keith, making a point to get very interested in sorting through his backpack.
“Yes, that. The thing you keep putting off.”
“Because I never said yes to coming to Cuba.” On Valentine’s night, six weeks ago, Lance had asked Keith to come to Cuba for the summer and Keith had answered by asking Lance to be his boyfriend. Lance had said yes to Keith’s question, while Keith had yet to give a straight answer to Lance’s question.
“I know, but when you do say yes, you’ll already have your passport ready to go!”
“Right,” mutters Keith.
“C’mon,” says Lance, picking up the passport application that’s been sitting on the desk for weeks. “You already filled out all the paperwork. The photos are the last step.”
“I know that,” says Keith.
“Know that, but don’t care?”
“I care!” says Keith, defensively. “I just need more time to think.”
“You’ve had six weeks to think,” says Lance with a pout. “Look outside! It’s spring! A whole season has changed over while you’ve been thinking.”
Gone was Lance’s precious snow and near daily rain had replaced it. Lance feels very in tune with this weather change as every time he thinks of Keith not coming to Cuba with him, he also wants to cry.
******
“Keith’s never left the country before,” says Lance.
“Is that why he’s dragging his feet on agreeing to go to Cuba?” asks Allura. The two of them are in gym together (the only class in semester two that Lance doesn’t share with Keith) and stretching out on the mats. They’ve got their legs open, feet touching, and are taking turns pulling the other over by the hands to create a deeper stretch.
“That and he thinks he hasn’t decided if he should be working and earning money this summer.”
“Another bad reason,” says Allura with a frown. “What’s really going on?”
Lance sighs. “I don’t know. It’s Keith! He’s always anxious about something.”
“He should be anxious about missing out on time with you,” insists Allura.
Lance frowns. “I know, right?” Then he shakes off the negativity and adds, “He’ll come around! He loves me!”
Allura’s eyes widen. “And you know that for a fact? Did he say, ‘I love you?’”
“Well… not with words. But, I can tell that he will love me soon and that it’s better and stronger than any of my exes.”
Allura lets go of Lance’s hands right when he goes to tug her back and that causes him to fall back onto his back. “Ow! Why’d you do that?”
“I thought you could stretch on your own, seeing as you’re so good at stretching the truth,” she snarks.
“Allura!” gasps Lance, sitting himself back up. “I’m not lying! He will love me!”
“If he goes to Cuba, I’ll believe it.”
“Prepare to believe me!”
“I hope I do!”
They must be getting too loud because their gym teacher blows her whistle at them, giving this argument a natural end point.
******
“Lance?” calls out Keith from his half of the room.
Lance calls back from his side of the sheet barrier where he’s lounging on his bed. “Yes, mi vida?”
“What’s your favourite song?”
“How am I supposed to answer that?” asks Lance with a scoff.
“I dunno… Verbally… I guess you can also just play the song on your phone.”
“Keith, I mean I cannot just pick one favourite song!” Lance is so passionate about this, he gets off his bed and pulls back the sheet barrier to see Keith lounging on his own bed. “That’s like picking a favourite star in the sky!”
Keith scrunches up his brows then says, “I like the North Star.”
“If it’s so easy, what’s your favourite song?” demands Lance.
“Nothing Else Matters by Metalilica,” Keith answers automatically. Then he takes his guitar off the wall and starts to play it.
“Well that’s not fair,” says Lance with a pout.
“What’s not fair?” asks Keith, continuing to play like he knows this song so well, he doesn’t even have to pay attention.
“If I knew how to play a song on an instrument, it would be my favourite too!”
Keith chuckles. “I learned it because it’s my favourite song. Anyway, if you don’t have a favourite song, just say so.”
“How dare you! I am very much the type of person who has a favourite song! I just need to think about it!”
“Okay,” says Keith, halting his guitar playing.
“Hey, I didn’t tell you to stop,” whines Lance. He loves it when Keith plays his guitar, no matter what song it is.
“I thought it might be hard for you to think of songs while I play,” says Keith, going ahead and hanging his guitar up. “I’ll play the rest of the song for you when you’ve given me an answer.”
It takes Lance three days to come up with an answer (his final and for sure answer), but when he’s ready, he gets Keith to take him for a drive before he plays it.
“Where do you want me to drive to?”
“Just around,” says Lance. “Maybe through the mountains. Gotta set the scene before I play it for you.”
“Through the mountains? Where do you want to drive to?”
“Oh, Keith. It’s not about the destination. It’s about the journey.”
Keith asks sweetly to borrow one of his parents’ cars to go for a drive. His mom lends him the keys and they get into the car, ready to roll. As Keith backs up out of the driveway, Lance plugs into the aux and music starts playing quietly. Lance leans towards the dash and cranks up the volume. The song that plays is a surprise.
“I didn’t peg you for a nineteen seventies rock fan.”
“These Eyes was written in the sixties, Keith.”
“Still, this is pretty retro for your favourite song.”
“Oh, this isn’t my favourite song,” says Lance.
“I thought the whole point was you were going to play your favourite song in the car.”
“Yes, when we’re driving in the mountains, but before that I have to set the scene. I made a playlist of some of my runners up for favourite song and it will crescendo to my all time favourite, so get ready.”
“Will do,” says Keith, humouring Lance. It’s no surprise that his simple question from the day before was getting such fanfare as an answer.
There’s a few songs Keith doesn’t know, but he recognizes the Spice Girls, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sabrina Carpenter. He also knows Shakira, but there’s quite a few Spanish artists he’s never heard of until now.
Lance sits in the passenger seat and sings every word to every song. His voice is incredible. Keith doesn’t care as much about the songs playing as he does listening to Lance sing along. The sun begins to set as they drive along the winding mountain road. It’s been an hour and the actual favourite song has yet to play, but the view of the sunset is so stunning and Lance’s company so comforting that Keith has no plans to turn the car around. He’d drive all night if it meant listening to Lance sing.
“Okay, it’s the next one,” says Lance, hitting pause on his playlist. “Be ready!”
He hits play and the song begins to play. Keith recognizes the band immediately.
“You like Dave Matthews?” asks Keith. He gets a shush in response. Apparently this will be a no-talking track.
This time Lance doesn’t sing along, but he cranks up the music, giving Keith the chance to experience it in a pure way, no distractions.
‘I walk halfway around the world
Just to sit down by your side
And I would do most anything girl
To be the apple of your eye
Troubles they may come and go but good times they’re the gold
If the road gets rocky girl just steady as we go’
Keith is surprised by how he’s getting a little misty eyed listening to the lyrics. He’s thinking about his relationship with Lance and how perfectly it fits with the song.
‘I'll search the whole world through
I know troubles they may come and go but good times they’re the gold
So if the road gets rocky girl just steady as we go’
When the song finishes, all Keith can say is, “Wow.”
“Right?” says Lance, reaching out to take Keith’s hand. (He only needs the one to steer anyway.)
“I’ve heard that song before, but never like that,” admits Keith. “I can see why it’s your favourite.”
“Mi mamà loves Dave Matthews Band,” explains Lance. “This is my favourite song by them, but it’s just recently become my actual favourite song.”
“What brought that on?”
“I met you,” says Lance, squeezing Keith’s hand.
This feels like the right moment to say, ‘I love you’ for the first time, but Keith gets choked up trying to say the words. Lance doesn’t seem to notice Keith’s internal struggle as he lets go of Keith’s hand to restart his playlist.
“We should turn around,” says Lance. “You don’t want to miss your nighttime shower.” It’s a little tease between them since Lance knows exactly what Keith gets up to in his showers.
“I especially need one tonight,” admits Keith.
“Oh?”
“There’s a reason I shower at night. After a whole day with you, my head is just so full of you that I need to… Sorry. That’s too much information.”
“Keith,” breathes Lance. “That is the sexiest thing anyone has ever said.”
“Really?”
“I wish you weren’t driving right now so I could kiss you.”
Keith puts on his four ways and pulls over to the side of the road. As soon as he’s in park, he’s reaching over to pull Lance towards him. He kisses him and Lance just melts into him. It’s insane how good it feels. They’ve made out before, but nothing in Keith’s life has ever felt like this. If there wasn’t a centre console between them right now, he thinks he’d pull Lance against him and then… let whatever Lance had in mind play out. He wants to give himself up to Lance’s desires. It feels so good being wanted by him.
HONK!
The startling sound breaks the spell. Keith looks in his rearview mirror and discovers there’s an SUV who’s decided having the entire road to drive on isn’t enough and he needs the shoulder of the road clear too before he’ll drive on.
Grumbling to himself, Keith puts his parents’ car back in drive and pulls back onto the road. In the passenger seat, Lance is running a hand through his short hair and rubbing his lips together. Neither of them speak for a good ten minutes and by the time they do, there’s a fresh subject change. Homework. Extremely unsexy. Yet needed as a cool down.
They get home late and Keith’s parents are slightly miffed because it’s a school night, but they don’t dole out any punishments, just tell them to get ready for bed.
Keith takes his shower (and all that implies).
******
Normally Keith doesn’t like doing movies for his date nights with Lance, because he’s always at the theatre for work anyway, but tonight there’s a movie Lance really wants to see. It’s a Spanish language film with English subtitles. Lance is really excited to watch a movie in his native language. It’s been months and months of English TV and English movies! Not to mention always hearing English songs and reading English books for school. It’ll be nice to turn his brain off for a couple hours.
Keith insists on taking Lance out to dinner at the Thai restaurant from their first date. The one Lance went to and Keith didn’t. He figures it’s time they ate there together.
Cuban food might’ve been more fitting for the theme of the night, but there is no Cuban restaurant in this tourist town, so Thai food it is!
They have a yummy meal together and then walk to the theatre. Pidge, Allura, Romelle, Hunk, and Hunk’s girlfriend, Shay, meet them at the theatre. When they’d heard the movie was in Spanish they all wanted to come to support Lance. It was a silly thing, but Lance is really touched by it.
The movie is really good! And Lance loves sitting in the dark, holding on to Keith’s hand. About twenty minutes into the film, Lance looks over to see if Keith’s enjoying it and sees he’s asleep sitting up.
Poor Keith. He’s been putting in a lot of effort with school and work and showering Lance with attention. He’s obviously worn out. Lance doesn’t take it personally, but when their friends hear about it on the way out of the theatre, they have opinions.
“Dude, no way you fell asleep during a date!” chuckles Pidge.
“How is it a date if you’re all here?” asks Keith, going on the defensive.
*****
“Where’s Lance?” asks Acxa, poking her head into their bedroom.
“Grocery store with mom,” Keith answers from his desk. “Why? Do you ask? Miss him?”
“Naw. He owes me money.” Instead of leaving, Acxa strolls deeper into the room. She looks down at Keith’s desk and picks up the papers sitting there. “So the thing about passport applications is you need to actually hand them in to Passport Canada to apply.”
“I know that,” says Keith, snatching back the application papers from his sister. “I just haven’t gotten my photos done yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because I haven’t totally committed to going to Cuba for the summer.”
Acxa gawks at him. “Are you stupid? Do you know how awesome of a summer you’d have! Plus you’re so attached to Lance that you can’t even have separate bedrooms, how are you going to feel about breaking up with him in June?”
“No one said anything about breaking up!” snaps Keith.
“But that’s logically what’s going to happen if he moves back home and you just stay here.”
“Shut up,” says Keith, he gets up from his desk and drops himself down onto his bed. “Don’t you think I’ve thought of that? But what’s going to Cuba going to do? Give us two more months together?”
“So you don’t want two more months?”
“Of course I want two more months with Lance! I want two more years with Lance! Twenty more years with Lance! But I won’t get to have that because no matter what we’re going to end up back in different countries, so what am I supposed to do?”
“Obviously go to Cuba and enjoy the two more months.”
“So I can - what? Fall deeper in love with him? Lose my virginity to him?” Keith balls up his fist and punches it into his open palm.
Acxa stares at his hands for a moment then asks, “What exactly do you think sex is?”
“I’m in too deep,” says Keith. “I love Lance so much, but we can’t be together forever so maybe going to Cuba will just make the end even harder.”
“It just sounds like you’re scared of getting your feelings hurt,” says Acxa. “But life isn’t about protecting yourself. It’s about living it the best you can. You’ll regret not giving this relationship your all, even if it has an expiration date.”
“Thanks for the advice, but… you really just want me out of the house this summer, huh?”
Acxa gives his shoulder a pat and says, “I’m going to turn your room into my art studio.”
******
Lance is going to make one of his favourite dishes special for Keith tonight. He’s gone to the grocery store with Krolia to get everything he needs. He can’t wait to get home and see Keith and get started on cooking. The only thing is, when he gets home, Keith isn’t there.
“He told me to tell you, he had to go to the theatre for a shift,” says Acxa.
“But… he just came from one, right?” asks Lance. Looking into his texts where Keith specifically said he was home from work and would be there when Lance got back.
“I’m just telling you what he told me to tell you,” says Acxa, throwing up her hands.
*****
When Keith gets home, his family is having dinner, but Lance isn’t at the table. When he asks where he is, his mom tells him he’s in their room and that Keith better check on him.
This really worries Keith and he feels a lot worse when he pulls back the dividing sheet to Lance’s side and finds Lance sitting on his bed and crying.
“What’s wrong?” asks Keith, rushing over.
Lance doesn’t look at him, but frowns down into his lap. “I think I’m mad at you,” he says.
Keith is taken aback. “And that’s why you’re crying?”
“Of course that’s why I’m crying!” exclaims Lance. “I don’t want to be mad at you, but you’re falling asleep on dates and not being home when you say you’ll be home and you won’t even give me an answer about this summer! You can just say no to coming to Cuba! A no would be better than forever waiting for you to make up your mind!”
“You’re right, you’re totally right,” says Keith. “That’s why I want to give you this. He holds out an envelope, offering it to Lance.
Lance looks at it suspiciously. “What’s it for?” he asks, taking it.
“Our two month anniversary,” says Keith.
“That’s next week.”
“I know, but I want you to open this today.”
Lance’s grief-stricken face turns into one of excitement as he tears open the envelope. When he’s got it open, he shakes out the contents into his hand and stares at them.
“Oh, it’s wallet sized photos of you… to remember you by?” Lance's voice cracks, like he’s about to start crying again.
“What? No! They’re my passport photos,” says Keith, imploring Lance to take a second look. “I got them done finally. It’s my way of letting you know I’m coming to Cuba this summer.”
Lance is silent for a beat, then he looks up at Keith with wide eyes. “You know you have to give these to the government, not me, right?”
Keith laughs a nice tension breaking laugh. “Of course, I’m just showing you first. I’m Express mailing them with my passport application as soon as you’re done looking at them.”
“I’m done,” says Lance, practically shoving them into Keith’s hands.
Keith looks at the photos then back at the wide-eyed Lance. “You didn’t react at all to me telling you I’m coming.”
“I’m going to believe it for real when that application is actually in the mail.”
“Then let’s hit the post office!” says Keith.
Lance’s whole face transforms with a huge grin. He lunges forward and plants a huge kiss on Keith’s mouth. Then another kiss. Then another.
“No time,” says Keith, pushing Lance back off him. “Post office first, remember?”
“Right!”
Lance then runs out of the house so fast, Keith watches him forget to put on shoes.
*****
“Big announcement,” declares Hunk at their lunch table.
Lance automatically looks down at his hand that’s holding Keith’s hand. What announcement could this be, but the announcement of their summer plans. He clears his throat, ready to take it from here, but Hunk speaks first.
“We booked the campsite for our graduation trip!”
“Got the confirmation email this morning,” says Allura holding out her phone screen so the others can look.
Lance just sees a blur of English words and then the phone is swept away.
“When is this?” asks Lance, because he certainly didn’t catch the date.
“Don’t worry,” says Hunk. “It’s the weekend before your flight back to Cuba so…” Hunk trails off while looking over at Keith. “Oh… is this sad to talk about?”
“No, it’s okay,” says Keith.
“Because we have our own announcement!” declares Lance.
“You broke up!” guesses Pidge in a tone that’s too excited for the subject matter.
“No,” scolds Lance.
“You’re pregnant?” suggests Romelle.
“What? How?” gasps Keith, while Lance laughs because she’s clearly joking.
“Nooooo,” says Lance, giving Keith’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I won’t be flying back to Cuba alone. Keith will be coming with me for the summer!”
Allura gasps. “It happened? He committed?”
“He committed!” echoes Lance, absolutely brimming with pride.
“As long as I get my passport,” says Keith, trying to put a damper on Lance’s untamable joy.
“Barring any felonies you’ve committed,” says Pidge, “I think you’ll be fine. Now can we go back to discussing the camping trip? Because I want to make it very clear here and now that my brother is not to be invited!”
“That’s not fair,” says Allura, “considering Romelle is dating him.”
“Oh, I’m not anymore,” says Romelle, completely casually.
“What? You broke up? Doesn’t that make living with him awkward?”
“Oh extremely,” says Romelle with a slight smile. “For him anyway. I’m over it.”
With a whimper, Lance tugs Keith’s hand all the way into his lap.
“That won’t be us,” Keith whispers.
“Never ever,” agrees Lance.
*****
Now that their summer plans are set, Lance isn’t dreading the end of the school year. He still gets a bit sad every day thinking it’s one less day in this school with all the wonderful friends he’s made, but he can rest easy knowing he’ll have a full summer of Keith. He’s already got the longest list ever of all the places he wants to bring Keith back home. Two months might not even be enough time.
That same week, Keith gets his acceptance email to the University of British Columbia, his top school. His parents are thrilled and take the family out to dinner. Lance makes sure to be really positive and happy the whole night (even though Keith is being a bit quiet).
When they get home Lance refreshes his email. Then he refreshes it again. Then again every thirty seconds for practically the whole night. At school the next day he’s a walking zombie and when Allura sees him in PE, she’s got questions.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Keith got accepted to UBC,” says Lance.
“I saw that in the group chat.”
“But I didn’t get an acceptance email.”
“Did you get a rejection?” asks Allura.
“No. Worse. They ghosted me. I’ve been ghosted by a University!”
“Lance, these schools don’t send out acceptance emails all in one go,” says Allura, reassuringly. “They do a roll out over months notifying prospective students.”
“Months?” gasps Lance. “I can’t wait months!”
“You may have to.”
“But I need to make my plans for the future now! I can’t stand not knowing if Keith and I will be together next year! Plus I’m keeping a secret from him, which I hate, and it’s one that might not pan out to be anything.”
“Maybe you should tell Keith you applied to the same school as him.”
“No! I’ve kept it to myself this long, I’m not ruining the surprise now! At least, I hope I’ll have a surprise for him that isn’t ‘Surprise! I’m out of your life forever!’”
“Well, what did you tell him about applying to schools? He must’ve asked what you’re planning on doing next year.”
“He did and I said I was taking a year off. An idea which he hates by the way! He thinks I’m too smart to not be in school.”
“Well, the plan is you will be in school,” reassures Allura. “And it’s going to be UBC! They have a good acceptance rate. Sometimes as much as sixty-three percent.”
“Allura!” gasps Lance.
“What?”
“That’s low! That’s like half a chance!”
“It’s two thirds of a chance. Maybe you won’t get into the Maths program…”
“I’m dying,” says Lance, laying down dramatically on the smelly gym mats.
“There, there, love,” says Allura, patting his head. “It’ll all work out.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“If it doesn’t, I’ll get daddy involved.”
“That sounds dirty.”
“I literally mean my father,” says Allura, flatly.
*****
The rain stops and this new, nicer weather has momentum, ushering them towards summer. Keith has a lot of planning to do before his trip to Cuba for the summer. He’s never been on a big trip like this so he relies on Lance to help him make a packing list and because it’s Lance, the list becomes a mile long and Keith has to begin making cuts.
Lance is so cheerful when it comes to talking about their plans for the summer, but Keith notices he goes quiet if Keith mentions his post-summer plans at all. He decides it’s best to not talk about him going to University in Vancouver at all, but that’s very tough when his parents keep bringing it up.
It’s a Saturday morning when Lance is sleeping in that Keith mentions to his family that they should just act like UBC doesn’t exist.
“It’s a pretty big University,” says Acxa, “a lot of people have heard of it.”
“You know what I mean,” says Keith. “Just don’t bring it up around Lance. It gets him sad.”
“Does it?” asks his mom, looking confused. “Because he asks me a lot of questions about it when you're not around.”
“He’s probably concerned for me,” says Keith, feeling a bit sad. “But if I bring it up, he goes quiet. He doesn’t want to think about us being apart and neither do I.”
“You have to think about University at some point,” says his dad. “It’s coming up in September whether the two of you are mentally prepared or not.”
****
“Are you ready?” asks Lance.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” replies Keith.
He reaches out, but Lance says, “Wait! Are we sure we want to do it here?”
“The bedroom is as good a place as any.”
“Okay, you’re right. I just got nervous.”
“I understand,” says Keith. “No one’s ever seen me like this either.”
“Tres… dos… uno… now!”
Keith reaches out to draw open the sheet separating their two sides of the room. Lance does so at the same time so for a moment there’s a tug of war with the sheet until Keith just drops it and leaves it to Lance to throw open.
Lance gasps at the sight of Keith. Keith’s reaction to seeing Lance is to just stare and try to remember how to use words.
“Keith, you look so… regal!” Lance exclaims.
“I think I look like a dork,” admits Keith. He tries to look down at his gown, but that makes his graduation cap slip forward and he has to catch it before it falls completely off his head.
“No! You look like a prince!” insists Lance. “How do I look?”
Keith takes a deep breath as he once more takes in a head to toe view of Lance in his graduation cap and gown.
“You look really handsome,” says Keith, finding the words.
A deep blush blooms on Lance’s cheeks. “Aw Keith! Stop!”
“You asked what I thought,” argues Keith. He’s not actually annoyed, but he does really want to kiss Lance right now, so he does, stepping over the dividing line to Lance’s side of the bedroom and planting a sweet kiss on his handsome boyfriend’s lips.
Lance kisses him back, but then ducks away, a blush forming on his cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” asks Keith.
“I just had the impulse to ask if you’re wearing anything under your robe,” says Lance, shyly.
Now Keith is the one who blushes. Feeling stupid, he says, “Yes, I am.”
“Pity,” says Lance, then he smiles and says, “So I have a graduation present for you.”
“Good because I have one for you too,” says Keith.
“Shush, Keith. I’m telling you about my gift to you right now. As I was saying, I have it for you, but I’m saving it for our camping trip.”
“Why then?” asks Keith, now curious.
“Because it’s going to make sense at the time,” says Lance. “But I’m telling you now so you don’t think I got you nothing.”
“You’re already bringing me to Cuba for the summer,” says Keith. “What more could I want?”
“Cuba is nothing compared to you housing me and putting up with me all year!”
“I didn’t put up with you, Lance. I enjoyed you. I cherished having you here.” The sentiment leaves a lump in Keith’s throat. He worries he’s maybe said too much when he sees Lance begin to tear up.
“Keith,” says Lance, smiling though his eyes were watery. “I just… I just love you.”
There’s a rush inside of Keith that feels more exhilarating than words could ever express. It drives him to not hesitate in saying. “I love you too.”
Lance covers his mouth, as if surprised by Keith returning the sentiment. The idea that this could be a surprise is ridiculous because of course Keith loves Lance. Lance is his person.
“You okay?” asks Keith, rubbing his hands over Lance’s shoulders.
“Yes, I just… I was double checking the translation in my head to make sure I understood your English.”
“You understand English perfectly.”
“Yes, but those three words… I was just worried I’d overestimate their meaning.”
“You can’t possibly overestimate how in love with you I am,” says Keith. He dives in and kisses Lance, capturing his top lip between his own. Lance kisses him back with a ferocity that makes Keith’s toes curl.
“Hold on,” says Keith, dipping out of the kiss.
“What?” asks Lance. “What could be more important than kissing?”
“I think we have enough time before we leave for the ceremony to take a shower.” Keith’s blushing as he says this, thinking he’s being so forward.
Then Lance lifts up his arm, sniffs himself, and says, “I already showered.”
“By yourself,” says Keith, now really blushing. “But I was suggesting we could both shower. If… you want to?”
“Yes!” says Lance, giving Keith a kiss. “I don’t even care that it’ll mess up my hair that I already spent so much time on!”
“Well, if it’s going to mess up your hair maybe…”
“Shut up, Keith! I don’t care about my hair!” says Lance, yanking Keith towards their bathroom.
******
Lance manages to fix his hair in time for Keith’s parents to arrive back from the airport with the special guests. Lance doesn’t even get a chance to kiss his parents before his mother bursts into tears at the sight of him in his graduation gown.
“What’s wrong?” asks Krolia, taken aback.
“My baby is graduating!” says Lance’s mom, pulling her son into her arms and kissing him all over his face.
While Lance is getting showered with attention, he notices Keith’s mother inspecting Keith closely.
“Your hair’s wet,” says Krolia, picking up a strand. “Don’t tell me you’re graduating with wet hair.”
“It’s not like they’re going to withhold my diploma because my hair is damp,” Keith argues.
“But I want you to look nice for photos,” she argues. “Go blow it dry.”
“Which one do you want? Because if I blow it dry, it’ll look fuzzy and I won’t look nice.”
“He looks perfectly handsome,” says Lance’s mom, heading over to kiss Keith on the cheek.
“You see how she treats me nicer than my own mom,” says Keith, directing this at Lance. “I’m also the baby of the family who’s graduating today.”
“Don’t talk like I’m not in the room,” says Krolia, pulling Keith into a side hug and planting a kiss right on his wet hair. “Now where are your caps? Dad’s waiting in the car to drive us to the ceremony. Chop! Chop!”
Lance has learned over the months that ‘Chop! Chop!” means Vamonos so that’s what he does, taking off to their bedroom to retrieve his cap. Keith follows him and when they’re in the bedroom and out of earshot, Lance asks, “Do you think they’re suspicious of us?”
“I hope not,” says Keith, starting to blush all over again.
Lance can’t take it! He’s too cute!
He wants to pounce on him and kiss him, but without warning Lance’s dad walks into the bedroom.
Both boys freeze like they’ve been caught. Pop-Pop scans the room, eyes falling on the barrier made of sheets.
“This stays up all the time?” he asks, directing this at Keith.
“Yes, sir,” says Keith, being oddly formal.
“Good,” says Pop-Pop.
*******
The day goes down in history as the Best Day of Lance’s Life. Between the morning shower and his parents visiting and walking across the stage to get his diploma, Lance is pinballing between smiling and crying, and then smiling while crying. That’s okay because Allura cries too and Hunk. In fact most of the group is at least tearing up when they’re taking photos together after the ceremony.
There’s a formal dinner that night with the graduates and their families, followed by a dance for just the former. Lance spends the entire night on the dancefloor until they kick him out at midnight! ¡Dios Mío! Lance feels like La Cenicienta! All that’s left is for him to lose his shoe for Keith to find! Better than that though, he gets to go home with su principe!
Both their parents are in bed when they get home and Acxa’s out for the night so the house is quiet. As soon as they step in the door, Keith gets a Facetime call from his brother who wants to wish him congratulations on graduating high school. Lance says hi to Shiro then leaves them to talk. He goes and does his nightly skin routine, which he sorely needs because his face is puffy from all the crying.
Being in the bathroom and looking at the shower makes Lance squeal (as quietly as he can). Lance no longer hears Keith talking in their room so he assumes he said goodbye to his brother. Lance finishes up in the bathroom and goes to kiss Keith goodnight. Surprisingly, Keith isn’t on his side of the bedroom, but he is in Lance’s bed.
Lance doesn’t breathe a word of complaint about how they’re not supposed to be sharing a bed. (They don’t really need to, afterall, they have a shower they can share.) He’s just too thrilled to get to cuddle with Keith and unwind.
They do, however, have a brief argument over Keith needing to brush his teeth no matter how tired he claims to be. Two minutes later Keith returns to Lance’s bed smelling minty fresh.
“I’ve been thinking,” whispers Keith, as he wraps himself around Lance.
“At what point today did you have time to think?” asks Lance. “Because I haven’t had a thought all day!”
“It’s a multiple day thought,” says Keith.
“Then go on…”
“Maybe I’ll take a gap year too and we can maybe travel together.”
The shock of this makes Lance sit right up in bed. “Keith no!” he whispers, harshly. “Your destiny is in University!”
“No, it’s you,” says Keith, tugging at Lance until he relents and comes back to lying down. “And now that I have you, I don’t think I can be apart from you.”
“We’ll be together all summer!”
“But after that, Lance… I… I just don’t want us to have to break up.”
“Don’t say that!” says Lance, he’s so upset he doesn’t just sit up, but climbs over Keith so he can get up and pace the room. “We’re never going to break up!”
“But the distance –”
“Small, insignificant detail! We’ll make it work!”
“How?” asks Keith.
Right then Lance almost gives up Keith’s present too early. Instead, he crawls back into bed while whispering, “Mi amor, you need to trust me. Now that you have me, you can’t get rid of me.”
“Good,” says Keith, inching over to kiss Lance sweetly on the lips. “Because I love you.”
Lance’s heart is a drum inside his chest. This isn’t the first time they’ve said it today, but it still feels just as momentous.
“I love you too,” says Lance. “So, so much.”
*****
Lance’s parents only stay the weekend, but he doesn’t cry when they leave (not much anyway), because he’ll see them at home in a few weeks time.
“It’s so annoying that we still have two weeks of school left,” complains Keith.
“But it’s wonderful!” says Lance, gripping Keith’s arm. They’re walking together towards school, taking their usual route. It’s only eight in the morning and it’s already getting hot. “It’s more time we get to spend with our friends!”
“No, it’s time we spend taking final exams,” counters Keith.
*****
They all pass their finals. Every single one of them, which means their graduations are truly official. Keith, his boyfriend, and his friends are no longer high school students. The majority of them are University bound.
All except Lance…
It doesn’t sit right with Keith that Lance is taking a gap year. Lance is being so vague about his plans for the future, beyond promising Keith their relationship will go the distance. He’s going to “travel,” but won’t say where. Keith’s gotten worried that he plans to come back to Canada on a Visitor Visa and just stay in Vancouver to be close to Keith. Of course Keith wants Lance in Vancouver with him! But it would be wrong if Lance were giving up on a post-secondary education just for Keith.
Honestly, it’s tearing Keith up a bit inside, but then he remembers they have the entire summer together and it’s not worth worrying about what happens next when September comes.
The campground Hunk and Allura booked is directly on the beach. When Keith pulls up the car, Lance scurries out of the passenger seat so fast, he looks like just a blur. Milliseconds later Lance has his shirt off and he’s running into the water.
“Keith, join me!” Lance yells. Keith hasn’t even turned the engine off yet…
There’s unpacking to do and tents to set up and… oh heck! Keith turns off the car, rips off his shirt, and runs into the water after Lance.
Lance comes alive in the water, diving and splashing, doing summersaults and handstands. Keith isn’t even having a third as much fun as Lance and he’s totally okay with it. He’s just so happy seeing Lance this happy.
“And this is just the start of it!” declares Lance when Keith has finally coaxed him out of the water so they can help the others set up camp. “In Varadero, we’ll go to the beach every day! And I’ll teach you to windsurf!”
“Not regular surfing?”
“We don’t have the waves for it,” says Lance, looking crestfallen. “But we can travel to better spots, do a day trip. I have so much I want to show you!”
“You’re wet,” says Pidge, as they stroll back to the campsite.
“We’re on vacation,” says Keith. He pulls on his t-shirt without drying off because they haven’t unpacked the towels yet. “How are there no tents up yet?”
“Well, you were in the water,” explains Pidge, “the girls are over on those rocks taking pics for Insta, and Hunk is setting up his outdoor kitchen for a beast of a feast later.”
“We don’t need tents,” says Lance. “We’ll sleep under the stars. Ow!” Lance smacks his arm where a mosquito had just bit him.
“And that’s why we’re not going to do that,” says Keith, pointing to the already swelling lump on Lance’s arm caused by the bite. “Don’t they have mosquitos in Varadero?”
“Oh yes! Swarms of them! But they don’t like my blood. Ow!” Lance smacks his other arm.
“The Canadian mosquitos seem to like your blood just fine,” says Pidge.
Lance frowns and Keith takes him by the hand. “Let’s get you soaked in spray.”
“Dirty,” snickers Pidge.
“Bug spray!” snaps Keith, clarifying, as a blush spreads across his cheeks. “You knew what I meant!”
When they’re alone over by the car, Lance asks, “Did you tell Pidge?”
“Tell Pidge what? To get bent? No, but I should.”
“No, like, did you tell them about last week?”
“Pretty sure they know about last week already.”
“Keith! Don’t pretend to not understand! I’m asking if they know about… that shower?”
Now that blush is back. “I didn’t tell anyone. Why? Did you tell someone?”
“No,” says Lance, looking nervous. Keith just stares at him until Lance cracks and says, “Okay, I told Allura! But she’s sworn to secrecy.”
Keith sighs. It’s not unexpected, but it is embarrassing. “Great. Now all weekend I’ll be thinking that she knows.”
“Allura doesn’t care,” says Lance. “She’s the most sex positive person! And she has sexy times too!”
“She does? With who?”
“Nice try! I’m not telling you her secrets,” Lance says proudly. So now he’s tight lipped?
“But she gets to know mine?”
“I was really excited! I had to tell someone. Are you mad?”
“No,” says Keith, not wanting Lance to get worried. “But next time, if you are so excited you need to talk about it, talk just to me, okay?”
Lance grins, then says quietly in a sing-song voice, “You think there will be a next time!”
At this rate, Keith is going to be blushing all weekend. “Yeah, duh. Now shut up about it,” he says, shushing Lance.
“Next time,” Lance sing-songs again.
Keith responds by spraying him with bug spray.
******
The weekend passes by way too quickly. During the day they swim and fish and go on hikes. (Lance gets eaten alive by mosquitoes in the forest, but he stays positive about it.) At night Hunk feeds them so much food, they can barely move, so they just sit around the campfire, drink beer, and reminisce about their year together. It’s heartbreaking to think this is their last weekend together as a friend group and that next year they’ll all be in different places.
On the last night, Keith’s sadness is beginning to win him over. He’s had the best year of his life and now it’s drawing to a close. At least there’s the summer in Cuba to sustain him, but he’s worried the two months will go by way too fast and he’d have to say goodbye to Lance.
That night Keith sits on a log beside Lance and keeps his arms around him the entire time. He can’t stop himself from planting the periodic kiss on Lance’s hair or cheek. He does this display of affection towards Lance without worrying what the others might think and that’s a big step for him, being so open.
At one point Lance tries to extract himself from Keith’s arms, so he just holds on tighter.
“Mi amor, I need to pee,” whines Lance, finally squirming his way free.
“Don’t get lost,” says Keith, eager for Lance to return so they can resume their cuddling.
“Give the boy some breathing room,” snickers Romelle, directing this at Keith.
“I am,” says Keith, ready to argue the clingy allegations head on. Then suddenly Lance is already back, having been gone way too short a time to actually pee. On top of that, he’s holding out a large gift bag and smiling down at Keith.
“Your graduation present,” says Lance, answering the question Keith was about to ask.
“Thank you,” says Keith, accepting the gift. He’d completely forgotten Lance had told him he’d give him a gift on the trip.
“Open it! Open it! Open it!” chants Lance, excitedly bounding on his heels.
The memory of Lance presenting Keith with the homemade gingerbread replica of his house flashes through his mind. Lance is an incredible gifter so Keith’s really curious to see what it is this time. He reaches inside the bag and pulls out something soft. It’s bunched up so he shakes it out and takes a look in the dim firelight. It takes a moment for him to register what he’s looking at.
“A UBC sweatshirt,” says Keith, surprised by the simplicity of the gift, nevertheless he’s grateful and thanks Lance (though it reminds him they’ll be apart next year and actually kinda bums him out).
“There’s something else in there,” says Lance, still a ball of excitement.
Keith reaches in and pulls out… “A second UBC sweatshirt…” Now he’s less able to act grateful because it’s just the same sweater twice.
“Huh,” says Lance, tapping his index finger on his chin. “That’s weird. But I guess that one will fit me.” With that, he pulls the sweatshirt out of Keith’s hands and pulls it on over his head.
“Thank you?” says Keith, not wanting to call out Lance on how weird it is to get himself a gift for a University only Keith is going to.
“There’s one more thing in the bag,” says Lance.
Keith is pretty sure it’s empty and when he reaches in, the absence of anything substantial nearly confirms this, but at the bottom he touches a piece of paper. Assuming it’s a card, he pulls it out, but instead finds a printout of an email.
At first glance, Keith sees this is an acceptance email from UBC so he assumes this is his own acceptance email. It’s strange that Lance went into his email to print this out when Keith has already seen it. But then… the name at the top catches his eye.
“Lance… did you get accepted to UBC?”
“I got accepted into UBC!” he says, grinning his face off. Keith doesn’t react. Lance’s face falls. “Is that not okay?”
Keith finally unfreezes and says, “Of course it’s okay!” He jumps to his feet and leaps on Lance. They stumble in their embrace so badly, Hunk has to jump up and block them from falling into the fire.
It takes a moment for Keith to realize he’s crying into Lance’s shoulder. It’s not the time to cry, but to be happy, but for some reason he can’t stop. It’s like there was this huge dark cloud over him made up of his worry of having to say goodbye to Lance forever and suddenly, it’s like the sun has come out!
“Keith, if you keep crying…” Lance’s voice cracks. “I’m gonna cry too.”
“And me,” says Hunk, with a sniffle.
“And Hunk’s gonna cry!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” says Keith, finally releasing Lance so he can wipe away his tears. He notices he’s left a wet spot on Lance’s new sweater.
The sweater!
It becomes necessary for Keith to get his on immediately so they’re both wearing them because they’re both going to the same University!
While Keith is putting on his sweater, the others are congratulating Lance on his University acceptance.
“I don’t understand,” admits Keith. “Did you apply late and got in?”
“No, I applied in February and got my acceptance email last month.”
“And you’ve been keeping this from me?” asks Keith.
“He started planning this in January,” says Allura. “That’s why I was helping him get through all his finals. But he got in on his own merit. Daddy didn’t even have to step in.”
“I didn’t want to say anything,” says Lance, “just in case I didn’t get in. Then I did get in and I wanted to tell you but decided to make it a graduation surprise. Are you mad?”
“No,” says Keith. “I mean… really surprised you kept a secret this well. But… wow. Is this really happening?” The question comes out full of awe.
“It’s really happening!” says Lance. He’s smiling, but now there’s tears brimming in his eyes. “I just… I wanted to always be with you.”
“And it’s a good school,” says Allura, cutting in. “Lance will be getting an education along with being lovesick.”
“I love you,” says Keith, pulling Lance into him so he can kiss him. He’s so insanely happy, he needs to show Lance with all his heart and body.
Embarrassingly, their friends decide this kiss warrants a round of applause.
*****
Later, when the topic has turned to other things and Lance and Keith are cuddling by the fire in their matching UBC sweatshirts, Lance suddenly says, “Wait, Keith! You said you’d have my graduation present for me too. Where is it?”
“Oh that,” says Keith, acting shyly. “I decided not to give you that.”
“What?” cries Lance. “Why?”
“It’s too embarrassing,” mumbles Keith, under his breath.
“It’s not! Just give it to me!” demands Lance.
“Yeah Keith,” agrees Pidge. “Just give Lance your virginity already.”
“It’s not that!” snaps Keith, making everyone laugh except Lance. I mean… he’d take it… (The portion he hadn’t taken already anyway.)
Keith gets up, breaking off their cuddle completely.
“Are you going to whip it out now?” asks Allura, being cheeky.
“It’s in the car,” says Keith, walking away.
“You keep your virginity in the boot of your car?” asks Romelle.
Lance is so confused that for a second he does picture Keith going to get his virginity out of his car, then worries that he doesn’t remember where he left his own!
The others keep cracking jokes until Shay tells them all to settle down. Keith returns then, not with a virginity freshly gift wrapped and ready to hand over, but with his guitar.
Lance laughs off some of his nerves. “You’re not embarrassed to play guitar!” scolds Lance. “You play it for me all the time!”
“Yeah, you, but not…” Keith nods his head towards their five friends.
“We’re not going to make fun of your guitar playing,” says Shay, confidently. When no one agrees, she adds in a pressing, “Right?”
The others mumble agreement. Lance speaks up and says, “If his playing is my gift then you all better keep your mouths closed!”
Keith sits opposite Lance and begins the task of tuning his guitar. All conversation has halted as now everyone’s expecting Keith to start playing for real. Keith looks up at the group and says, “I need a minute. Talk amongst yourselves.”
Romelle immediately launches into a story about a guy she dated back in England who used to recite cringey poetry to her and how she felt such secondhand embarrassment from it.
Lance looks over at Keith, worried this story is going to make him too embarrassed to go on. Lance really would love nothing more than to be serenaded by his beautiful boyfriend in front of a campfire. It’s so romantic! It feels like a dream!
“Ready,” says Keith, interrupting the story as he begins to strum.
“I wasn’t –” begins Romelle, but Lance shushes her so loudly, she actually stops speaking for once.
Keith’s playing for him and it’s so beautiful that it takes Lance a couple bars to realize he knows this song. Leave it to Keith to come up with a guitar version of a song done on the piano!
Lance wonders if Keith will sing him the words, but at the moment the lyrics are meant to come in, he realizes that no, Keith’s leaving that up to Lance.
“I walk halfway round the world,” sings Lance, “just to sit down by your side.” That’s true. He would walk halfway round the world to sit down by Keith’s side. “And I would do most anything, boy, to be the apple of your eye.” Dave Matthews sings this song to a girl, but Lance goes ahead and flips the gender.
***
When Lance played this song for Keith in the car, he didn’t sing along, but he does now and it’s the most beautiful Keith has ever heard his voice.
“Troubles they may come and go but good times they’re the gold
If the road gets rocky, boy, just steady as we go.”
Keith’s playing this song, wanting the message to reach out to Lance, but instead Lance is singing the message right back at him. The two of them in perfect harmony. Steady as they go.
******
Keith wakes up to a bright, sweaty morning. Every night’s been sweaty since he and Lance have been sharing a single sleeping bag. Keith wants to blame it on it being Lance’s idea, but the truth is Keith forgot to pack a sleeping bag for himself (on purpose). He’s loved every single one of these mornings, waking up spooning or being spooned by Lance, unlike their mornings at home where he wakes up to the sheets dividing the bedroom in two.
He wonders what the sleeping arrangements will be in Varadero. Probably Lance’s parents won’t suddenly get cool about them sharing a bed. Then another thought occurs to Keith… him and Lance are going to be going to UBC together next year and that means living in Vancouver. They have to find a way to live together! Preferably also sharing a bed!
When everyone’s up for the day (Lance has to get dragged out of bed), they begin the process of packing up the campsite. The mood is a little somber. They’re cracking jokes and goofing, but there’s a bit of a heaviness to the air.
“I’m going to visit Romelle in Manchester,” says Allura as they pack their bags into the cars. “And of course you’ll all have to come to England and visit me on my estate.”
Lance looks at Keith with wide eyes and mouths the word “estate.” Unsure what to say, Keith shrugs back at him.
Suddenly, it’s feeling real that these new friends he’s made this year are moving back home and that he won’t see them everyday. It makes him sad. Also, knowing he’s leaving Hunk and Pidge for the summer. He’s never really gone anywhere so he’s used to seeing them everyday year round. It’s all coming to a close so fast.
Keith climbs into the driver's seat and Lance climbs in next to him. His boyfriend reaches out his hand and takes it, giving it a squeeze.
“Steady as we go,” says Keith.
Lance responds with the title of Keith’s favourite song, “Nothing else matters.”
******
“You’ve got everything? Passport? Snacks? A change of underwear?”
“Yes, please stop asking that,” says Keith. His mom asked him the same question three times on the drive to the airport and now she just asked it again steps away from the security line.
“Do you have the dildo I packed in your carry on?” asks Acxa.
“Not funny,” says Keith, but now he’s a bit worried she’s not joking. He’ll have to check.
His mom turns her attention to Lance and makes a much bigger fuss over him than she’s ever made over Keith. She gives him a big squeeze and tells him how wonderful it’s been to have him and that he’ll have a home with them anytime he needs a soft place to land.
Keith says goodbye to his dad, giving him a big hug.
“Call nightly,” says his dad.
“I won’t. Phone calls are the worst. I’ll text.”
He turns to face his big brother next.
“I can’t believe I just got home and you’re leaving,” says Shiro.
“I didn’t plan it that way,” says Keith, stepping forward to give his brother a hug. “But at least you’ll get your bedroom back for the summer.”
“Am I allowed to take down the No Sex Curtain?”
“Please. Burn it.”
“You will not burn my sheets!” snaps Krolia.
Shiro laughs then gives Keith a playful shove. “Have the best time this summer.”
“I’ll try,” says Keith. But he knows he’ll be with Lance and that’s what matters the most. He’ll be happy no matter how the summer turns out.
It’s Lance’s turn to hug Acxa then their dad then Shiro. He kisses Shiro on the cheek and this time it doesn’t bother Keith (at least not much).
Keith accepts another hug from his mother, then he finally relents and hugs his sister.
“Don’t be weird,” says Acxa and Keith isn’t sure if this is in regards to the hug or instructions for over the summer. Likely, it’s both.
Eventually all the goodbyes finish up and it’s time for Keith to actually go take his first ever international flight so he can spend the summer in a place where he doesn’t speak the language. He’s nervous, but Lance takes his hand and the nerves melt away.
“I love you,” whispers Keith, squeezing Lance’s hand tighter.
“I love you too,” says Lance, pulling him along towards their next adventure.