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Keith wakes up slowly, the world seeming to fade in as he lay in an unfamiliar bed, distantly aware of the voices around him.
"He's been bitten by a love bug. It causes the victim to feel a deep infatuation for whoever they first come into contact with after being infected. Which means it's most likely to be you, Lance." He hears the voice of coran explain patiently.
"Keith is going to... Be in love with me?" Lance sounds disbelieving, like he's still in shock about the whole thing. Keith is equally confused. The more he thinks about it the more he comes to the conclusion that Coran must have been wrong about what had bitten him, he didn't feel any different.
'That's because you're already in love with him, dumbass' a distant voice in his head asserts. Then it strikes him, he had been handed a golden opportunity. He could tell Lance how he feels, pour out everything he had been holding back and when the day is done they don't have to linger on it or risk it ruining the team because it'll all be blamed on this stupid love bug. Maybe it's impulsive, and horrendously self indulgent, and a little selfish if he's being honest, but Keith had already begun to act before he could even consider what he was doing.
He sits up suddenly, gaining a brief tunnel vision and singling out Lance as soon as his eyes snap open.
"Hey, Lance, I-" he cuts himself off when he considers the audience he would have if he were to confess right here right now. Sure, he could blame the love bug, but he'd rather not have to do this in front of the entire team. His face flushes red at the thought.
"Um, could I speak to you? Alone?" Keith settles on to take this conversation somewhere more private. They all exchange knowing looks, assuming this is the beginning of his symptoms from the love bug. Lance, on the other hand, looks sympathetic "Sure, buddy. How about you let Coran check you out first, make sure everything's okay?"
"Oh, yeah, okay. Probably a good idea." Keith looks away, speech coming out jittery and face burning. Despite how he had wanted to do this, Keith suddenly feels inexplicably nervous. Not that he wanted to back out, though. He couldn't if he tried at this point anyway, he had already asked Lance to speak alone, he had to tell him something significant. And right now he didn't have the brain capacity to think of a convincing lie, thoughts filled with acute embarrassment combined with his determination to finally say the truth of how he feels out loud.
Before long Coran has given him the all clear and Lance is escorting him out of the medical ward and away from the rest of the team. His demeanor is remarkably normal, if a little awkward, considering the fact that he's under the impression Keith is feeling deeply, hopelessly in love with him. "So, where do you wanna go to tell me whatever you gotta tell me?" He inquires as they fall into step side by side, wandering aimlessly.
"Uh, I don't mind really. Just somewhere private." Keith stutters out "somewhere nice." He adds as an after thought. If he's only going to do this once and then pretend like it never happened for the rest of all time, he may as well do it properly, romantic setting and all. He thinks on it a few moments more before thinking up somewhere that lance might appreciate "How about the observatory? You like it there, right?"
Despite the excuse Keith has to hide behind, he feels his face burning at being so open and forward with his feelings for Lance. And he hadn't even gotten to the confession yet, this was just the prep work.
Lance's expression on the other hand is a mixture of emotions, a little surprised, mixed in with a little forlornness. It's bittersweet, and Keith can't quite understand it.
"Yeah, I do. Sounds good to me." Lance confirms, leading the way to a part of the castle he had visited frequently. The rest of the walk there is mostly quiet, with Lance occasionally making comments or humming to himself to fill the silence. Keith uses the opportunity to allow himself to simply observe Lance, to be able to openly admire in a way that he normally wasn't able to do. If Lance noticed the lingering looks Keith was giving him, he didn't comment, and so Keith continued trying to commit his profile to memory.
When they arrived, Keith wanted to cut right to the chase, unwilling to waste another second but also not knowing how to begin. The observatory was beautiful, long glass windows covering the perimeter of the room affording them a breath taking view of all the distant stars and planets. They stopped somewhere near the middle and simply looked out for a few minutes, pausing to allow themselves to simply bask in the beauty of it all.
Though Lance appeared unwaveringly patient, allowing Keith to proceed at his own pace without any nudges or pushes from him, Keith felt an itching desire to begin crawling up from underneath his skin and consuming him as each minute ticked by. The words were difficult to grasp in his mind, but he began as best he could nonetheless.
"Lance?" He let out hesitantly as a way to get the boys attention.
"Yeah, buddy?" Lance's voice is soft, gentle, encouraging despite the fact he must have known what he was about to hear was a love confession.
"This room... It's really pretty, isn't it?" Keith eases into the conversation, not quite knowing where he's going with it but knowing he has to get into it somehow.
"Yeah, it is. I really like this place, reminds me of laying out in my backyard at home, looking up at the stars and just wondering what's out there. It's funny, now we're out there." The atmosphere is still, peaceful, with both of their voices kept low as though if they raise them too high it will shatter and break something in the moment.
"I did a lot of that when I dropped out of the garrison. The desert is really good for star gazing."
"I can imagine."
They drift back into silence for a little while. Keith looks at Lance, truly looks at him in the soft light of the room, silhoutted by a halo of stars, caramel skin appearing to glow with the same celestial quality of the cosmic scene that surrounded him. His hair was lightly tousled, eyes bright as he gazed out of the ship and into the unknown. Keith could feel himself sinking deeper and deeper into this feeling, growing and flourishing within him all throughout their time together in space.
He was in love.
He was in love with this beautiful, ethereal boy in front of him, who was selfless, and brave, and talented, and a little too loud most of the time, and good humoured, with a laugh so bright you could almost see it light up the room, and a smile that set his heart soaring and exploding in his chest like fireworks. He was in love with this boy, who got under his skin and forced him to feel, who didn't sneak past his defences but instead strolled straight through, who always found a way to include him even when he felt his most isolated.
He had known he was in love, had felt it from the tips of his fingers to the depths of his stomach, underlying everything he did. But now he felt full to the brim with it, and he realised he had to tell him. Lance needed to know. He deserved to know.
"Keith, I think I'm in love with you."
It was a statement that Keith wasn't expecting in that moment, to say the least. He almost thought he had imagined it, what with how utterly unexpected and sudden it had been.
"Uh- You're... I mean? What?" Keith stutters out incoherently. He was supposed to be the one confessing that, not the other way round.
Lance is looking at him now, smiling a little with crinkles in the corners of his eyes.
"Is this a joke?" Keith manages to grasp at the words, trying to make sense of the situation.
"No, not a joke, I promise. It's just..." Lance trails of a for a moment before resuming having found the words hes trying to say "You may not understand this right now, but you've been affected by this bug and it's supposed to make you feel things for me that aren't necessarily true. And I just wanted to have said the truth of how I feel about you out loud before this love bug makes you say things that you won't really mean when all this is over. I guess it doesn't really make all that much sense now I say it out loud."
"You're in love with me?" It comes out more vulnerable and wounded than he intends. He's utterly dumbfounded at Lance's confession.
"Yeah, I think I am. You make me want to be a better person, a better version of myself. I guess you always have. And you're fierce, and strong, and brave, and you care so much it's astounding. There's something in your gravity that just pulls me in, Keith. You're beautiful."
"Lance..." He breathes out at barely a whisper "The bug- didn't work on me."
"Oh." Lance looks mortified, but also distinctly melancholy at Keith's statement. His entire posture changes as he shrinks in on himself and seemingly deflates. "I guess my confession was, uh, uncalled for then" he attempts at humour but falls a little flat.
"I think it didn't work because... Because I already..." Keith flounders for a minute, trying to find the words to reassure Lance and to communicate the depths of what he was feeling. He had been so sure of himself a few moments ago, but now confronted with the idea that maybe his love wasn't so far out of reach as he had thought, he was at a loss. Keith was used to being brash with his decisions. He knew he could say and do what felt right for him at the time, and when it came down to it nothing much changed because nobody had to deal with the consequences but him. He was used to being left behind and forgotten. He was used to being tucked away when his outbursts were too much, too intense.
This wasn't like the other times, though. Lance had never left him behind; he had done quite the opposite, he made sure he kept up with Keith no matter what unexpected turns he faced. At the garrison, Keith had moved classes to the fighter pilots and Lance had made it his mission to join him there. Then he had left altogether, and before long Lance cropped up in his life again, storming in and stubbornly planting himself on the back of Keith's motorcycle so there was no way Keith could shoot off without him. He had followed him into that cave where they found the blue lion, followed him right up into space and into the heart of an intergalactic battle. They fell into step when Keith had been vulnerable and hurting during Shiro's disappearance. No matter where Keith went, Lance seemed to be a constant in his life as though it were easy and effortless.
And now they stood side by side, Keith terrified at the possibility that this time he would follow his heart and just have to hope that the outcome would be kind to him. He knew what he felt, had never been so sure of anything in his life, and yet he stayed silent, rooted to the spot and stuck in his own head.
But then Lance turned to him. He looked at him with soft blue eyes, hands in pockets and head a little bowed. He looked at him, and simply waited. And suddenly, it was as easy as breathing, to love this boy.
Before he knew it Keith was leaning forwards, intertwining his fingers into the chest of Lance's jacket and gently, gently pressing their lips together. His eyes slid shut, but somehow the backdrop of starlight shone brighter than ever as Lance moved his hands to Keith's hips and responded with an equal tenderness. They were two stars, crashing into each other and creating a universe.
"The love bug didn't give me any feelings for you because... Well, I already had that covered." Keith says in a low tone when they eventually break apart, faces remaining just inches away from each other. His eyes are drawn down to Lance's lips, curved into a warm, happy grin that leaves him breathless. That smile is for him, he made that happen. He can't help but mirror it in his own expression, filled to the brim with a bubbling joy that threatens to overflow with the intensity of emotion he is feeling.