Chapter Text
One thing that dancers know is how brutal rehearsals are. They seem to stretch on forever, every joint in your body hurts, and there’s a weird smell of feet and sweat in the air that your nose eventually becomes numb to. However, rehearsals aren’t always bad. It’s not so bad when you’re stuck with some of your best friends in a room for three hours. It’s like working on a group project that everyone actually wants to work on. Pidge, Hunk, and Lance were currently stretching and had a long day ahead of them. Blaytz was off somewhere and Lance took the opportunity to play some of his own music. The Cheetah Girls soundtrack was blasting through the speakers and Lance was shouting along the lyrics. Every once in a while, his friends joined in.
“I’m really glad we all decided to be dancers,” Pidge commented. Lance scoffed, offended.
“Excuse you, I am a fantastic singer.”
“Maybe in your dreams Lance.” Lance flicked her off but there was a smile on both of their faces. This was always how their relationship had been. Pidge was like another sister to him and Pidge had once let it slip that she thought of Lance as another, very obnoxious big brother. Lance would ruffle her hair and Pidge would punch his arm playfully but there was a deep love in every middle finger and curse would they flung.
The three of them were working on their regularly scheduled trio. Ever since they were young, Hunk, Pidge, and Lance had been dancing together. It was like they were fated to come together and perform. Lance was the showman, all smiles, and winks to the judges that they just ate up. Hunk was the strongman who helped them do all their lifts and without him, their routines would fall apart. Hunk had told him once that he felt like he didn’t add anything to the group and that Pidge and Lance would be better off finding someone else to learn the choreography.
Hearing that had broken Lance’s heart. Without Hunk, their dances would be irrelevant and insignificant. He was more than a base for lifts; he was the anchor and whenever Lance got too much or Pidge needed the extra push to work through whatever was going on in her brain, Hunk was there. During rehearsals, he kept Pidge and Lance from jumping at each other’s throats over stupid things. His brain absorbed choreography like a goddamn sponge. Everyone at their studio appreciated Hunk a stupid amount and if Lance had to tell Hunk that every day then he would.
Pidge was their flier. She was tiny compared to Hunk and Lance and they could fling her around like a rag doll. However, she was also one of the most precise dancers Lance had ever seen. Each movement was carefully placed and repositioned to create intricate patterns and waves. Watching Pidge dance felt like playing Operation; there was so much care and precision put into her routines. While she could stun people with the crazy isolations she could do, Pidge was much of a showman as Lance was just in a different way. Her energy was low and sunk into the floor, creeping up their spines and putting them on the edge of their seats. As she slid and moved and stomped on stage, people caught their breath and waited to see which way her body flipped next.
Apart, they were great dancers. They could hold their own on a stage all by themselves and they had done it multiple times. People would watch them with baited breath while they performed their solos and it was an amazing feeling. Together though, they were fantastic. They were unstoppable. Together they created magic and told stories and captivated audiences for 2 and a half minutes. The energy was electric when they danced together and he had never felt anything like it.
Well… that used to be the case. The only thing that had ever felt close to dancing with his friends was dancing with Keith.
God, he had to stop thinking about Keith. It was only going to end in disaster for Lance and he didn’t want to get his heart broken again. He fell fast and hard and he always got himself hurt in the end. It was his senior year; he didn’t want to put himself through that again. Even if it did turn out to be nothing more than a silly little crush, Lance didn’t trust himself to not make it more than it actually was. His mind was really good about blowing up things that didn’t matter.
“What are you thinking about?” Pidge asked with a tone and a smirk that made Lance know she knew exactly what he was thinking about. Or who he was thinking about rather.
Lance groaned throwing himself out of his butterfly stretch and onto his back. “Oh, shut up.”
“Yeah, let’s not talk about this okay? I’ve already had to hear extensively about how nice his butt looks and how pretty he is when he dances,” Hunk teased, shoving his foot into Lance’s side. He reached out with a hand, half-heartedly trying to swat at him.
“Oh my God, leave me alone. I’m never telling you guys anything ever again.”
Pidge snorted. “That’ll be the day.”
“You guys suck.” Above him, Hunk appeared with his hand stretched out and he rolled his eyes but accepted the hand anyway. Hunk looped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close and Lance couldn’t help but smile. Pidge snuck her arms around his waist and rocked them all so they swayed back and forth. Laughter bubbled out of their chests and Blaytz walked in on a group of almost hysterical teenagers which truthfully, wasn’t all that surprising in this studio.
“Alright guys, let’s get started. Do you want to run it once while I pretend to be really engaged in Facebook?” The trio nodded feverishly. Blaytz chuckled and pulled up the music as Lance, Hunk, and Pidge headed to their opening spots for the number. Lance slid across the floor on his tap shoes, coming to a stumbling spot dead center with Hunk on his right and Pidge on his left. They both seemed to have a kind of nervous energy and Lance felt the same thing deep in his bones. For the first time, they would be doing a tap trio. Normally, they did hip-hop or jazz routines. Once, they tried to do a sad contemporary but none of them could take each other seriously enough so Allura morphed it into an edgier routine about a battle between a human, an angel, and a devil.
Lance’s taps rattled against the floor, nervous energy pooling in his right toe. Hunk placed a comforting hand on his bicep and Lance’s toe stopped moving. He wanted this to go really well. He knew it wouldn’t- the first time never did- but, he longed to be the best. He longed to be good.
Suddenly, “Sing” by Ed Sheeran was playing and Lance was in the zone. His muscle memory took over and he was moving. The sounds and rhythms were natural and instinctive from all the hours of practice he had put into this- not just with his friends, but on his own as well. Whenever he was having a particularly shitty day, Lance would send a text to Allura, slip into the studio and practice. He would tap out all his anger, dance out all his sadness and frustration and every other explosive feeling that threatened to tear him apart. He punched, kicked, bled, and sweat until he felt more like himself.
With his arms out naturally to his side, Lance’s feet began to move of their own accord. Tap wasn’t as showy as he was used to but Lance always found a way to put on a show. In a brief moment of suspension, he sent a wink towards invisible judges before falling into the next step with his friends. They moved in almost perfect harmony. Pidge messed up the rhythm tap turn and Hunk was a bit too quick on his solo part but beyond that, the group of friends was killing this routine. While they all knew that Blaytz was going to find a million things to correct, the trio found themselves living in this brief minute of perfection. There was nothing except their taps, their sounds, and their friends.
When they ran out of choreography, the group busted out laughing. “Oh, that was awesome!”
Pidge sniffed, pushing her glasses up higher on her nose. “I wouldn’t say awesome but it was pretty damn close.”
Lance rolled his eyes. “Can’t you ever let yourself just live in the moment Pidge?” She fixed him with a look that clearly meant no. He laughed before turning to his teacher who was observing them with a fond expression. “So teach, what’d we do wrong?”
Blaytz shrugged, pushing off the mirror he had been resting on. “Honestly? Not that much.” Behind Lance, Hunk cheered.
“Really?”
“Yes, really. This routine has shaped up a lot better than I thought it would. I’m pleasantly surprised,” Blaytz said with a chuckle. Lance grinned and he felt Pidge grip his forearm in excitement. There was always this fear that whatever the dancers put on the floor wasn’t going to be enough for their teachers. Their teachers were being judged just as much as the dancers so they drilled perfection into their students. Achieving perfection on the first go was unheard of. Yet that was what was exactly expected of them at competitions. “But there are still things we need to fix and we need to finish the routine. You guys ready?”
They nodded and Blaytz took his spot in front of the group, his taps clicking against the floor. The three of them spread out behind him and prepared for his corrections and choreography.
An hour passed and then another and Lance could feel his energy draining out of him. This routine took up so much of his energy with trying to stay on rhythm but also exciting to watch that his normal stamina had faded hours earlier than normal. They only had half an hour left to go through; Lance could hold on for that long. Luckily, they had finished the routine today and from now on, it would only be cleaning and tweaking minor things. Lance always felt incredibly accomplished when he finished a dance but now he was tired and wanted to go home. Well, he wanted to go home and take a shower.
“Hey, are we still on for tonight?” Pidge asked, wiping a towel over her face. She slung it over her neck and Lance nodded.
“Hell yeah, we are.”
“Language!” Blaytz called and Lance murmured an apology. That was one way they were different, Lance and Blaytz. His teacher was adamantly against swearing and said it was dirty and made us lesser people. Lance just thought it was fun.
“Bowling right?” Hunk asked. Pidge confirmed it and Lance couldn’t help but smile. Saturday nights were hang-out nights and the three of them always did something together. Sometimes, they would invite other people but more often than not, it was just the trio. Lance had complained about how no one would ever hang out with them once to Plaxum and she had only laughed. Apparently, the trio was very intimidating to hang out with.
“Intimidating? Me? Hunk is not intimidating,” Lance had sputtered. She had placed a hand on his forearm and squeezed it almost condescendingly.
“You guys are really close. It’s hard to fit in with that sometimes. All the inside jokes and whatnot.” God, she was so nice that even when she was kind of insulting him, Lance couldn’t even think about being mad at Plaxum.
“Damn, I’m sorry Plax. I didn’t- we didn’t- mean to make you or anyone feel like that,” Lance said, eyes downcast. She squeezed him again and he looked back up to her bright, shining eyes. She was really pretty and once, Lance had thought he liked her but much like Pidge, Plaxum was nothing more than a sister. He cared about her so much but only platonically.
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it! Anyone would be really jealous and/or really lucky to have a friendship like you, and Hunk and Pidge has.” She said it so kindly, so genuinely, that Lance couldn't help but let it go. She was right, he was very lucky to have his friends.
It was moments of like this that he realized just how lucky he was. There were a lot of inconsistencies in his life but these two people would never be inconsistent. He trusted these people more than almost anyone and he would probably die for them. Hopefully, he’d never have to but should the situation arise, he’d most definitely die for Hunk and Pidge.
“Pidge do you need me to pick you up?” Hunk asked and Pidge beamed at him. Lance would have offered to drive but Pidge had told him in very clear detail just how much she hated his driving the last time he had driven her somewhere. They had been going to a competition and once they arrived Pidge had turned to him, face blank, and told him she thought she was going to die.
Lance turned, twisting to stretch his back and happened to catch a glimpse of a black mullet. “Mullet!” Lance cried and the head of hair stopped and looked back in through the cracked studio door. Hunk had cracked it open an hour ago because the room had gotten too damn hot even with just four of them. Lance grinned and Keith stared back in what seemed to be confusion. His stupid hair was pulled back into a ponytail and he had on those damn joggers that made his butt look stupidly good.
Lance felt very torn when it came to Keith. On one hand, he was very pretty to look at. His skin was flawless and Lance was pretty sure that his hair would be really soft to run his fingers through. At school, he was quiet and kind of a loner but when Lance finally roped him into a conversation, he’d have this small, barely there smile that would make Lance’s heart skip a beat. Well- he was reserved most of the time. It was his second day of school and Lance and Keith had been in Spanish and this kid was being an asshole about using gender-neutral pronouns after one of their teachers had mentioned something about gender-neutral Spanish pronouns. The kid had sneered at the question, saying “There are only two genders. Anyone who thinks otherwise is dumb as hell.” Standard cis people bullshit.
Keith turned away from the “get to know me” paper their teachers had made him fill out and regarded the asshole with a cool stare that made Lance’s blood run cold. He could see the restraint in Keith’s clenched fists and tight jaw. He wanted to blow up at the guy but he was forcing himself to try and remain calm. “It’s not that fucking hard to respect someone’s pronouns. It’s a hell of a lot easier to respect those then assholes like you.”
Somewhere in the classroom, someone whispered a soft, “Oh shit.” Asshole had whirled on Keith so fast, clearly unused to someone telling him ‘no.’ Lance kind of recognized him from freshman English but there was probably a reason his brain had squashed this guy out of his memories.
“And who the hell are you?” The guy had demanded oh so eloquently. “What makes you think you can fucking talk to me like that?” Oh. Lance remembered that this guy was on the lacrosse team. He had a few friends on the team as well and all of them were chill and they all seemed to agree that this guy- Tyler Forks- was the literal worst. “I can respect whatever the hell I want and I’m not gonna play into this liberal bullshit. It isn’t real.” Lance groaned, dropping his head into his hands for a brief moment. He wanted to say something but his mind was overwhelmed with just how stupid he sounded.
“Who do you think you are talking in general? You sound like a goddamn moron. So just sit your transphobic ass back down and stop making yourself look like even more of an idiot.” All of this was said with a thick layer of fake calm. It was clear to anyone in that room that Keith was on the edge of snapping and maybe Tyler knew that because after a brief moment of hesitation- Lance was worried Tyler was going to take Keith up on his offer- he sunk back down into his chair. Tyler was seething the whole class and looked like he was about to say something for the rest of class but never did.
After that, Lance felt his admiration grow immensely for Keith. At least he was an ally. Lance may not know if he was gay but the possibility was there. Lance didn’t know if he had a full-blown crush on the guy but there were definitely weird, twisting feelings in his heart that made it clench whenever Keith smiled or laughed his small, soft smile.
On the other hand, however, Keith was definitely Lance’s rival. Keith was the opposite of Lance in almost every way and seemed to excel at that. He was amazing to watch, his technique was stunning, and he could pick up choreographer almost as fast- faster- than Lance. Everything Lance thought he was good at was being usurped by this new guy and it made his blood boil. For years, he had struggled to get to where he was and he wasn’t going to have all his hard work ripped away within one week of Keith Kogane showing up to the studio.
“Oh, hey, Lance,” Keith said.
“Don’t leave him in the doorway Lance,” Blaytz called out from the other side of the studio and Lance gestured for Keith to enter the studio. He looked to the side and Allura stepped into view. She nodded and the pair entered the room: Allura confidently and Keith a little hesitant. “Do you want to see?” He asked and Allura nodded enthusiastically.
“Oh yes! I’m very excited to see how this routine has come together. I have a feeling it is going to be one of the best you three of done,” she says to the trio who has picked themselves up off the floor with varying groans. A sharp spike of anxiety shoots through him at her words but he forces it down. “Keith, do you mind if we delay our rehearsal for a few moments?” He shakes his head, arms crossed tight against his chest. He’s leaning against the mirror and Lance can’t help but admire the sharp planes of his figure. Keith is all geometric lines and sharp angles.
“Rehearsal for what?” Lance finds himself asking.
“I am getting Keith caught up on the routines to insert him into the pieces before our next team rehearsal.” Lance had to bite his tongue from saying something stupid. He wanted to say something stupid and probably would later but hopefully only in front of Hunk and Pidge. He wanted to say something about how it wasn’t fair Keith was getting put into routines they’d been working on for months or some bullshit about how they were all going to have to pick up his slack. But that was dumb and Lance didn’t feel like being an asshole right now.
They took their places and Blaytz nodded to them once before hitting play on the music again. By now, the beat of the music felt like his own heartbeat. The heavy strum of the guitar was his blood pounding through his veins and the lyrics were his own thoughts running quick and constant in his mind. Everything felt familiar and like home. Every step was habitual and he ran through them all with a practiced hand. The ending was a little clunk but those were new, just developed habits that haven’t been fully ingrained in him yet.
While he danced, Lance was hyper-aware of Keith’s eyes on him. They followed him and tracked every moment. He was moving too fast and was too focused on his routine to catch the expression on the other guy’s face but he hoped it was a good one. Normally, Lance would feel pressured and insecure under such scrutiny but he forced himself to use it to further his dancing. If Keith wanted something to watch, Lance was going to put on a show.
He had no energy left in his body but he dug some up from the deep recesses of his mind and powered through the last thirty seconds of the number. His feet flew and his heart was pumping but the change in the air was palpable. Now Lance was giving it his all and the difference was subtle but completely noticeable at the same time. The sounds of his taps were that much clearer and his arms were sharper and more purposefully placed. Pidge and Hunk seemed to feed off his energy, increasing their own precision for the final stretch.
When the dance ended, Allura broke into furious applause. “That was fantastic! I’m so proud of you three. It’s moments like these when I really get to see how much you’ve grown as dancers.” Lance grins at her feeling an immense swell of pride. “It was very good at first but in the last few moments, something changed. It was especially noticeable in you Lance,” Allura said with her accent putting an ‘o’ instead of an ‘a’ in his name. He blushed and hoped she would mistake it for exertion. Hunk nudged his shoulder with his own and Lance didn’t have to see the devilish grin on his friends face to know it was there. “Blaytz, you’re choreography is fantastic as always.”
“Ah, thanks. I’ve got great people to teach,” he sends a wink to the trio and they all can’t help but smile.
Lance turns to Keith expectantly, anxious energy rocking through his body. He shouldn’t care what Keith thinks but he does and the guy has been scarily quiet. Lance wasn’t expecting him to jump for joy or openly hate it but, he needed something. “So?” He prompts. “What did you think?”
Keith startled like he hadn’t been expecting anyone to talk to him. “Oh um, it was good. Really good.” It was barely a sentence but still, Lance’s heart was soaring up into his throat. He had to turn his face to Pidge to hide the warmth in his cheeks. Pidge smirked at him knowingly and ducked out of the way to avoid Lance’s hand hitting the back of her head.
“Well, we will let you wrap this up. Thank you for letting us watch!” Allura said to Blaytz and left the room with one last smile in the trio’s direction. Keith followed behind a moment later but right before he left, his eyes caught Lance’s. For a moment, time didn’t matter. There was something indecipherable burning in those violet-grey eyes and Lance wanted nothing more than to figure out what it was. Keith smiled- soft and shy and everything Keith wasn’t- and Lance forgot how to breathe. Then Keith was gone and the world caught up around him.
Lance felt dizzy but in the best way possible. Hunk looped an arm around Lance’s shoulders, supporting him. “God, I’m so gay,” Lance whispered and felt Hunk’s laughter vibrate in his chest.
“I thought you were bi.”
“Yeah, that too.” Lance sighed, deep and dramatic, and pushed himself away to stand on his own feet.
“How about we run it one more time then call it a day?” Blaytz asked and they nodded, forcing down groans at the words. When dance teachers said one more time, it was never actually one more time. But honestly, Lance could have done it a hundred more times and he would have been fine as that one moment would have carried Lance through the tired fatigue that was settling deep in his bones. Something heavy and waiting was in that look. Lance was not a patient person but maybe that something was worth waiting for.
-----------------
To: Keith Kogane
< Hey! pidge, hunk and i are gonna go
bowling tongiht and we wanted to
know if ud wanna come too
< oh, it’s lance btw
> I know it’s you Lance
< oh. Sorry. i didnt know if u had me save in ur phone
> why wouldn’t I?
<good point.
<so? bowling? what do u say?
> why me? we aren’t close.
< i know thats the whole POINT mullet
< we wanna get to know the new guy
> why do you keep calling my hair
a mullet? Its not a mullet
< yes it is but thats not the point
< pleeassee come bowling. It’ll be fun!
Its basically team bonding but with four of us
Instead of all seven
> im really shitty at bowling
< 1. i dont believe that
< 2. pidge and hunk are really bad too so dw
> no i really am bad. And does
that mean that you arent bad?
< i kick ass at bowling. Its really cheap so my
Family would always go when we all got together
For like holidays and stuff
> oh. Cool.
< yeah.
< ok so we’re meeting at 7:30 at the bowling alley
In dale city
> i didn’t say I was going
< see you then!!!
> lance wait i didn’t agree to this
< bye!!
> ...
> is it always like this with you guys?
< oh yeah absolutely
> great.
> see you at 7:30
< :D
------------------------
By the time Lance showed up at the alley, Pidge and Hunk had already secured a lane. He bought his shoes and quickly added himself to their lane. When he walked over to their lane- 12- after picking up his bowling ball, he saw Pidge adding his name to the list. “Hey, loverboy!” She called, attention still fixed on the screen.
“Hey,” he replied, sitting down on the chair next to Hunk to switch his shoes. Around him, sounds of pins falling and cheering created a pleasant buzz in his chest. Lance loved bowling. It was one of the few places that Lance’s enormous family could all go and catch up and have fun together. There were so many memories stored in the lanes and 10-pound bowling balls that it would have taken years for Lance to explain them all. Bowling is good and fun and a much-needed break from the real world. Lance didn’t have to worry about calculus homework or the next day’s rehearsal when he is staring down the lane, trying to calculate the perfect strike.
Pidge sat down on a chair opposite Lance, legs swinging lazily so her toes brushed against the floor. “So, is Keith coming? I will start playing without his ass here,” she said. During their first class together, Pidge had taken an almost instant liking to Keith and they had gone across the floor together. When they were doing stuff center floor, Pidge dragged Keith to stand in the front with Lance and Hunk. Keith had looked so apprehensive about it but seemed to understand that trying to argue with Pidge was futile.
Lance shrugged before checking his phone. Keith hadn’t sent him a text saying he wasn’t coming but maybe he had changed his mind last minute and hadn’t said anything? “Oh, there he is,” Pidge said and Lance turned to where she was pointing behind him.
So, because of Keith, Lance had already decided that joggers should be made illegal. Now, he was going to have to add jeans to that list because how the hell does anyone look that good in pants. Lance had seen Keith in jeans at school but not these jeans. No, these jeans, were black with rips in them that were probably made from natural causes. They seemed to cling to the contours of his legs and Lance really wanted to die. He had a simple grey t-shirt on and what looked like a necklace of some kind hanging around his neck.
“Lance, are you okay?” Hunk asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Please murder me,” he said seriously, turning to Hunk with wide pleading eyes. Hunk laughed as Pidge snorted and muttered something about him being hopeless before hopping out of her seat to go meet Keith. Lance watched as they chatted casually while Keith bought his shoes and his games. He seemed so at ease and totally oblivious to the looks a group of girls was giving him. Either he didn’t care that these girls were totally checking him out or he really didn’t notice. What he did notice though, was Lance staring at him. Keith waved a hand in greeting and Lance spastically flung up a hand in response. Hunk laughed at him and continued to chuckle quietly even after Lance smacked him on the arm.
“Hey Keith,” Hunk said as Pidge and Keith sat down across from them.
“Hey.” What a man of words. “Hey, Lance.”
Oh, fuck that’s me. “Oh, hey Keith.” Casual. Nice. “You ready to get your ass kicked in bowling?” Competition is Lance’s safety zone. There is no weird grey area when it comes to winning; you either win or you don’t. He doesn’t have to second guess himself, he doesn’t have to try and read into things. Everything is laid out nice and clear.
Keith’s chest puffed out a bit and Lance grinned. Something he had learned about Keith early on is that Keith is just as competitive as Lance but not as quick to show it. Last week in jazz class, their teacher had had a fun little fouette competition. They had them all the time and no one except Lance took it very seriously. Then Keith showed up and suddenly Lance wasn’t alone in that.
“Does anyone want to try and beat Lance at this?” Their teacher had asked jokingly. Lance wasn’t particularly great fouettes but when he set his mind to something, he was determined as hell and wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way. As expected, everyone had fallen to the edges of the classroom. Everyone that is, except Keith. He stepped up beside Lance with an easy expression that meant he really didn’t know what he was getting himself into.
“Are you sure about this mullet?” Lance had taken a liking to calling Keith that, mostly because it seemed to irritate him.
Keith sighed, tugging on the ends of his hair. “It’s not a mullet.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“And yeah, I’m sure. I don’t know what the big deal is.”
On the outskirts, Pidge scoffed. “He’s annoying when he wants to win that’s what the big deal is.” Lance stuck his tongue out at her and she stuck hers right back out.
“Alright boys, you ready?” Lance and Keith nodded. In the mirror, Lance caught Keith’s eye and quirked a questioning eyebrow. It was ineffective and Keith kept his same, neutral expression. “Prep on 7, 8 okay?” Another nod and then their teacher was clapping out their 5,6,7,8.
Lance lost.
Keith wouldn’t admit it but he was excited he won. Lance could tell in the raised eyebrow and sly smirk he sent Lance after he landed his turns. It made Lance’s blood boil and would have demanded a rematch if their teacher hadn’t quickly moved on to the next step. Honestly, he probably moved on so fast because he knew Lance would want to try again. There were very few things Lance hated more than losing.
Keith seemed to have the same memory as Lance because a familiar smirk bloomed on Keith’s face. It made Lance’s chest clench and blood sing. “I don’t know Lance. You didn’t exactly kick my ass at the fouettes did you?”
Lance clenched his jaw and shot up from the seat to match Keith. Lance poked his chest. “Don’t forget you’re the one who told me you were shitty at bowling.”
The smile on Keith’s face was so patronizing it made Lance want to scream. “Maybe I was just trying to make you feel better. Did you think of that or is your ego too big?” Lance would have been really hurt by the words if not for the playful tone of Keith’s voice. The insecurities in his brain were yelling at him to overthink it and that Keith did think Lance was arrogant but he refused to sink into that deep hole… for now.
“Oh, it’s on.” Lance hissed and stomped to the screen. No one had entered a nickname for Keith yet. “What do you want your name to be?” Lance asked over his shoulder, the competitive drive lowering to a low simmer. Keith walked over to look over Lance’s shoulder at the screen and he was suddenly very aware of how warm Keith seemed.
“Just Keith.” Pidge and Hunk booed.
“Boring! Pick something else!” Hunk called out and Keith threw a questioning glance his way.
“That’s my name. How is it boring?”
Pidge sighed, shaking her head. “Oh, my poor confused friend. When we bowl, we all pick different names to play with. Real names are for the real world and the bowling alley is not the real world.” Lance nodded in agreement. Time seemed to be suspended in an alley. It was the real-life version of the Lotus Casino. He tapped the screen which displayed their current names. Hunk was RckLvr4- long story-, Pidge was Rover and Lance was LvrBoy.
Keith sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Fine then. How about Red?”
Lance huffed but typed it in any way. “We’ll work on it.” Keith seemed to be in his head, staring at the screen like he could melt it with just his vision and Lance bumped his shoulder into Keith’s to get him to relax. Violet-grey eyes snapped to his and Lance was simultaneously very glad and very regretful of his actions. How did he have such pretty eyes?
Movement caught Lance’s eye. Pidge was up first and was picking up her bright green ball. Keith cursed and then ran off to pick up the ball he had forgotten to grab. Pidge had stepped up onto the wood before the lane but turned to Lance with a shit-eating grin.
“What you gremlin?” Lance asked, immediately suspicious. That was never a good look for Pidge to be wearing.
“He likes you.”
Immediately, Lance was a sputtering, protesting mess. “Wh-what? He does not!”
“I think he does buddy,” Hunk agreed and Lance looked wildly between his best friends.
“We’ve known this guy for three weeks! How could you even possibly begin to know that?”
Pidge shrugged. “He acts differently when he’s talking to you.” A quick look at Hunk told Lance that he agreed with her. “He gets in your face. He talks. He never talks in class.” Lance wanted to argue with that but any argument in his head sounded weak. Lance had noticed that Keith talked to him the most out of anyone in their classes but he thought that was just because they had classes together at school.
“We don’t even know if he’s gay. Or bi. Or pan. Or whatever! He’s probably straight.”
Hunk snorted. “He is definitely not straight but go off I guess.”
“And how do you know that?”
Hunk leveled him with a pointed look. “What straight guy wears pants that tight?” Well, fuck. Hunk did have a point.
Lance sniffed. “Well, I’m not going to say anything or do anything until Keith tells me himself.”
“Until Keith tells you what?”
Lance screeched, jumping around. “Ah! Um, nothing?” Lance scratched the back of his neck and forced a smile onto his face. Keith just looked confused but shook his head and placed his ball on the belt. Lance wasn’t all that surprised to see that it was red. “Is red your favorite color?”
Keith nodded. “Yeah, it has been since I was a kid.”
“Nice. Mine’s blue.” Lance reached over and tapped the blue bowling ball.
“We’re opposites then.”
Opposites attract.
“Yeah, I guess we are.” An easy silence fell over them until the clattering of pins disrupted them. Lance looked up at the screen and his eyes blew wide to see that Pidge had gotten a strike. The girl was jumping up and down and Lance rushed to spin her around. Pidge laughed, slapping at his arms to set her down.
“Yes! Go Pidge!” Hunk cheered and Lance ruffled her hair. At Keith’s confused look, Hunk explained. “Pidge never gets strikes. She thinks she can calculate the angle or some shirt but it never works. Well, almost never works.”
Pidge was grinning and it made Lance’s heart swell like the Grinch. Pidge was so sarcastic all the time that seeing such a genuinely happy smile made her seem so young. Lance often forgot that she was only 15. “You’re up Hunk!” Pidge called with a slightly smaller but still just as bright smile on her face. Pidge took her seat and Lance fell across from her, watching as Hunk grabbed his bright yellow ball.
Hunk got a spare, Lance got a strike to no one’s surprise and much to Lance’s dismay, Keith managed a spare. “I guess I’m not as shitty as I thought,” he commented casually and Lance huffed. Pidge laughed at his expense as she got up to take her next turn.
The night continued and they played game after game. Lance won the first one and they all had to bear witness to his winner dance. Hunk and Pidge simply rolled their eyes at Lance’s obnoxious movements but Keith had looked on in horrified curiosity. Once he was done, Keith said “Well that was horrible” and Lance shrieked out a protest.
After game two- which Hunk won but only because Lance and Keith were too busy trying to show one another up to actually play well- they ate some shitty alley pizza and disgusting cheese fries that they were all going to regret later and spent an embarrassing amount of money at the arcade that was tucked into the back corner of the building. Lance and Keith latched themselves onto the claw game while Hunk and Pidge played skee ball. They both knew trying to win anything at this game was stupid as hell but they were both stubborn enough to try.
In some weird series of events, Keith ended up grabbing the tail of a shark plushie and Lance had almost decapitated the head of a hippo. “Who puts hippo plushies in a claw game?” Lance wondered, inspecting his winnings.
“Hippos are the most dangerous creatures on land, why wouldn’t they put them in a claw game?” Keith huffed.
“Keith, buddy, my man, I think you proved just why they shouldn’t put them in a game for kids.”
“Well, sharks are the most terrifying creatures in the sea.”
“Fuck you, sharks are great.” A mother and child were passing by as Lance and she gasped, clasping her hands over the ears of her son. Lance blushed and muttered an apology. Keith was snickering and Lance threw the hippo at Keith. He caught it with ease then tossed the shark too Lance.
“Opposites,” Keith said with an impossibly soft smile that made Lance feel his insides feel like mush and his knees like Jello.
“Opposites.”
Soon after that, Pidge and Hunk dragged them away for their third and final game. It turned out to be down to the wire and if Lance wanted to win, he’d need a strike. Keith tried to distract him by calling him names or trying to get his attention for something really important but Lance simply smirked and tuned him out. When you grow up with four siblings, you get very good at ignoring very annoying people.
He took a deep breath to steady himself, then he bowled. His breath was caught in his throat as he watched the ball roll down the lane. Then he let it out in a massive whoop when all the pins clattered to the floor. Turning around, Pidge and Hunk seemed content with the outcomes of the game while Keith had sunk low in his chair with a pout. “Oh cheer up Keith,” Lance said with a light kick to his shin, “we can have a rematch another time.” Keith nodded with his lower lip still pushed out like a child.
The four of them began to pick up their things to let someone else use the lane. They pushed through the doors, the spell of the bowling alley slowly fading. Outside, the sky had started to fade to black but Lance didn’t feel tired. He considered asking the rest of his friends if they wanted to go eat some actual food or maybe some ice cream but one look at Pidge mid-yawn told to cut off the thought. Had he asked, Pidge would have powered through but he knew that she didn’t get enough sleep as is and he didn’t want to be the cause of her losing anymore. “Alright, I’m gonna get her home.” Pidge protested weakly but Hunk slapped a hand on her shoulder to steer her toward his car. “See you guys on Monday!”
“Bye!” Lance called as they disappeared into the parking lot. Lance sighed shoving his hands into his jeans. “So, I guess this is goodbye?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Keith said. Neither of them moved.
“Hey, would you wanna do something else? I don’t really want to go home right now.” He loved his family but they were so loud and attentive and in his face that sometimes, Lance needed a break.
“Me too.”
Lance found himself asking if everything was okay.
“Oh yeah, everything’s fine, it’s just I’m all alone in the house tonight and it’s too quiet.”
Opposites.
“What are your feelings on pancakes?”
“If you’re asking if I could eat some pancakes right now, the answer is fuck yes.”
Lance beamed. “Awesome. I can text you the name of the place and I’ll meet you there?” Keith nodded and Lance took out his phone to quickly type out the message. “Alright, see you in a couple minutes.
“See you then,” Keith said and the two smiled once last time before splitting off towards different ends of the parking lot with warm, happy feelings in their chests. Nervous energy coursed through Lance but he took a deep breath and tried to quell it as best he could. It was pancakes. It was just breakfast food. But when it came to Keith, everything seemed to feel like more. Colors were brighter, sounds were louder, Lance felt more. It was scary in the best way possible. Keith Kogane felt like ziplining; when you stand on the edge, the nerves and anxiety builds up to the point of unbearable but once you take the leap of faith and jump, it’s better than anything you could have imagined.
Right now, Lance was teetering on the edge and that was okay. He was content with the fantasies he could conjure up in his mind of what it would be like to take that jump into the unknown. Eventually, though, Lance was going to take that risk and leap and all he could hope was that Keith would be there to catch him.