Chapter Text
Keith awoke with a start and glanced at the clock. 7:15. Why did he wake up? He didn’t have anything until… Crap! He was supposed to meet Lance for their date at 7:00! He rose quickly, sucking in a gasp that immediately sent him into a coughing fit. Regaining his breath, he hopped into the shower and made himself look as presentable as he could, racing out of his apartment at 7:20. He would rather look bad than risk Lance thinking Keith was standing him up and blowing his chances with him. Keith had finally worked up the nerve to ask Lance out, and, surprisingly, the taller boy had said yes. Keith had been looking forward to this day for nearly two weeks, as both he and Lance had busy schedules with winter exams rapidly approaching. He snuffled into his wrist before he pulled his helmet on and sped off on his motorcycle towards the café he was to meet Lance in.
Lance sat alone in the quaint café; he was content watching other customers enjoy themselves for the time being, but as time passed, he began to worry that Keith wasn’t going to show. That would be so embarrassing! What if Keith had been playing him the whole time? Was the date just a cruel joke? The thirty-minute mark of no Keith rolled around, and he was beginning to get upset. Right as he was about to text Hunk for comfort, the door opened and in rushed a very concerned and apologetic looking Keith. He was delighted to see that Keith had made it, but a little peeved that he hadn’t even bothered to text him that he was running late.
“I ab so sorry, Ladce. I accidedtally fell asleep add whed I woke up agaid it was 7:15. I got here as quickly as I could.”
Lance’s annoyance vanished as he took in the appearance of the flustered man before him—Keith was deathly pale except for a flush resting high on his cheekbones and his nose, his eyes were glassy, and his hair was wet. Not to mention the obvious congestion in his voice. Lance knew immediately that Keith was ill, but he avoided calling him out on it, maybe he would bring it up at some point on the date and Lance wouldn’t have to force it out of him. Lance knew from being frenemies with Keith throughout college that the shorter man was very stubborn when it came to admitting illness. He watched with thinly veiled concern as Keith removed his coat, walked up to the register, and ordered them both drinks. A girly Frappuccino for Lance and plain black coffee for himself. Lance quickly averted his eyes to stare at his phone as Keith looked back at him for a moment, raising them again when he saw the jerky movements his boyfriend (could he call him that yet?) was making—oh, he was sneezing. That was the deciding factor, Lance was either going to have to force Keith into admitting his illness, or he would have to stealthily care for him throughout their romantic evening together. He decided on the latter, he was always up for a challenge.
Lance launched the first part of his plan into action as soon as Keith came back with their drinks, noting the light shivers that ran through Keith’s form every once in a while.
“Thank you!”
Lance said cheerfully.
“Do probleb.”
Keith replied stuffily, trying to suppress the shivers that coursed through him.
He tried to subtly shrug his coat back on but Lance, much to his dismay, seemed to notice.
“Sorry about the draft, I shouldn’t have sat so close to the door. Do you want to move?”
“Do, do, it’s fide. I’b dot eved that cold.”
He said, shrugging his coat back off. Lance looked skeptical, but thankfully he went back to drinking his Frappuccino. They made small talk for a while, Keith allowing Lance to do most of the talking, while he desperately tried to mask his seemingly worsening symptoms, and Lance trying to pretend he wasn’t noticing them. After both of them had finished their drinks, Lance decided to put phase two of his plan into action.
“So, I was thinking, I don’t really wanna go out tonight and see that movie. I’m kind of tired, y’know? Maybe we could stay in and watch some television or something?”
Keith tried not to let out a sigh of relief, the last thing he wanted to be doing was muffling his sneezes and coughs in a dark, cold room full of strangers, silently counting the minutes until it would be appropriate to go to the restroom to blow his nose without becoming suspicious.
“Sure, that would be great.”
Lance beamed, making Keith’s heart leap, then the taller man’s face shifted into a playful smirk, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“My place or yours?”
Keith shrugged, kind of hoping Lance would choose his and Hunk’s shared flat over Keith’s small apartment.
“Well I think Hunk and Shay are spending their date night at my place tonight, so do you mind if we go to your place?”
Keith shook his head and smiled, not trusting himself to speak without sneezing.
He led Lance outside to where his motorcycle was parked, realizing he’d forgotten his spare helmet. He tried to subtly disinfect the area around the nose and mouth of the helmet with his sleeve before handing it to Lance. Lance didn’t want Keith to be riding around in the snow with damp hair, but he figured making him stand out in the snow arguing about who was to wear the helmet would be more detrimental to his health, considering Lance knew he would be wearing the helmet in the end. Keith didn’t mess around when it came to the safety of his passengers. As they zipped around the city, Lance could feel every movement Keith made. He could feel his lungs heave with suppressed coughs and sneezes, and he was certain that Keith had a fever. After what seemed like an eternity of Lance feeling concerned for Keith, they pulled up to his apartment complex.