Work Text:
Rosa would kill him if he was late again. He tried so hard to get his little sister and her cousin ready on time, but every time they’re still late. There was always something else that had to be done before they could go. One time they need help tying their shoes, the next they can’t even find they’re shoes. This time, however, they were being stubborn and had decided that they just didn’t want to go to their ballet class. Lance huffed at their rebellion while desperately trying to coax them into going. His mother had promised to take away his xBox privileges if the girls were late to one more class.
“Josie, Bella, if you don’t go, I’ll…” Lance was at a loss. Disciplining kids, especially his own family, had always been difficult for him. Children had a mind of their own and no matter how scary you think you’re being your silly threats never hold ground in their minds.
“You’ll what?” Josie prodded. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as if doubting any punishment her brother could dole out would be of any significance.
“I’ll take away your juice boxes for a week!” Lance seemed satisfied with himself. He felt confident that this would prompt the two girls to attend their ballet class. However, the look on both Josie and Bella’s faces told him differently. They were unimpressed.
“You can’t do that. Only mom can do that,” Josie deadpanned.
“Yeah! Only Auntie Rosa can do that!” Bella poked Lance in the thigh as she repeated her older cousin.
Lance looked down at the pains in his ass and groaned. An idea popped into his head; it was crazy and it might not work, but at this point he’d try anything. He let his face relax as he walked over to the couch and flopped down. This caught Josie’s attention.
“Alright, you win. We don’t have to go to ballet if you don’t want to. Besides, it’s not me who’ll have to face mom’s wrath when you don’t show up.” Lance pulled out his phone and started scrolling through Twitter. He yawned as if he were bored.
“What do you mean? What are you playing at?” Josie had uncrossed her arms and was eyeing her brother suspiciously. He had given up too easily. Damn, she was smart for a nine year old.
“Hmm? I’m not playing at anything, Josie. I’m just saying that we’ve been late so many times already; mom won’t be happy if you don’t show up at all.” Lance turned to look at his little sister. He could see the gears turning in her head. She knew he was right. He had won.
“Fine. We’ll go,” Josie said with a huff. Bella looked up at her in surprise. “It’s just one class, Bell. It’ll be fine.”
“Great! Let’s get going!” Lance jumped up a little too enthusiastically. He went to grab the keys and the girls reluctantly followed him to the car.
---
Lance glanced down at the clock on the dashboard. Josie and Bella’s class started in seven minutes and he was just pulling into the parking lot. They were here; all he had to do now was find a parking spot. It shouldn’t be hard, but with Lance’s luck of course it was. He groaned and took a deep breath in an attempt to quell his nerves. Josie and Bella were in the backseat bickering about something or another which only heightened Lance’s anxiety. He hated being late in general, let alone having the looming threat of having his Xbox taken away hanging over him on top of it.
He circled the parking lot a few more time, but the only open spots he came across were handicapped and motorcycle parking. He silently debated whether or not to just drop them off at the door and find a parking space on his own or if he should just take the motorcycle spot. He looked back at the clock and his stomach jumped into his throat. Three minutes had passed. He had four minutes to get his little sister and cousin to class before his mother’s wrath came down upon him.
“Uncle Lance! We’re going to be late again!” Bella chirped from the back.
“Don’t worry, Bell, I’ll just drop you off by the doors and Josie can take you in. Right, Josie?” He eyed his sister sternly through the mirror, hoping she would pick up what he was putting down.
“Yeah, alright. But mom wants you to stay for the whole class today, remember?”
“Yeah. I’ll find a parking spot and head in.”
Lance pulled up by the doors and felt his anxiety leave as soon as the girls hopped out of the car. However, it came right back as he remembered that the only open parking spots were reserved for motorcycles and the handicapped. He circle the lot one last time just to make sure nothing had opened up while he was dropping off the girls, but unfortunately none had. He sighed and resigned himself to being the asshole that park a mini-van in motorcycle parking. At least it’s a less asshole move than parking in the handicapped space.... And besides, he was only there for half an hour. Of all the times he had been to this building he had only seen a motorcycle there once.
---
Half an hour later Lance was carrying Bella on his back while on their way back out to the car. He was about half way across the lot when he saw it. A black motorcycle was parked directly behind his mom’s mini-van, successfully blocking him in with no way to get out. Lance huffed and set Bella down.
“Yeah, no, that’s fine. It’s not like I have anywhere to go anyway, but who the heck does this -”
“Got an issue with my bike?” Lance was interrupted by a gruff voice behind him.
“Are you kidding? It’s obviously -”
“It’s obviously parked where it’s supposed to be, you know, unlike your car.”
Lance turned around to face this guy, ready to verbally beat his ass. However, what he saw stopped all thoughts and words in their place. This guy - this damn guy - was gorgeous. Lance could feel a blush creep up his face as he tried to quickly recover himself, however unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, motorcycle dude let out an angry sigh.
“Whatever, dude, I’m heading home.” And with that motorcycle guy mounted his bike and turned it on. This seemed to catch Bella’s attention because she instantly let go of Lance’s hand and rushed over to interrogate him.
“Wow your bike is so cool mister. How fast can it go? Was it a gift? Can I get a ride? You look like a superhero, are you Batman?” Bella rattled off question after question without giving the guy time to answer the first one before moving onto the next. She looked up at him with an expression of pure awe.
“I uh…” he stammered.
“Have you arrested someone? Have you ever been to jail?”
“Well, no…” he wasn’t sure how to respond.
Lance watched the exchange with his stomach in his throat. This guy was beautiful. How did he do it? Especially with that mullet! Who even has a mullet anymore. Lance knew he was staring, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Oh no…” He muttered.
“Lance, what are you doing?” Josie glanced up suspiciously at her brother. Lance often made a fool of himself, but it’s not often that he’s at a loss for words.
“I’m just… admiring his… pants?” he squeaked back. He didn’t mean for it to come out sounding like a question.
“Excuse me mister? My brother Lance wants to know where you got your pants?” Josie all but shouted at the stranger. Lance’s eyes grew wide and the blush on his face grew brighter. An involuntary squeak left his mouth. The stranger turned away from Bella to look back at Lance. He gave a small snort and smirked at him. He hopped off his bike and took a few steps Lance’s direction.
“My pants, huh?”
Lance’s heart skipped a beat, his face went up in flames and his stomach was doing somersaults.
“I’m sorry, dude. My sister can really be -”
“It’s okay.” The confident look on motorcycle dude’s face was replaced with one of nervous apprehension. “To be honest, I was kinda checking you out too.”
Lance’s face lit up at that. He hadn’t expected this turn of events. Who knows, he may even get a date all because he successfully took his sister and cousin to their ballet class. With that thought in mind, Lance easily slipped back into his normal suave and charming self.
“Well in that case perhaps we should get to know each other a little better. My name is Lance and I am very pleased to meet you.” Lance bowed low, gripped the stranger’s hand in his own and lightly kissed the back of it. He looked up and saw a bright red blush creeping across the face above him. “May I have your name?”
“Keith. My name is Keith.”