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Lance's first real boyfriend was Keith. They were young and dumb, and they knew so little about life and love. Lance thought that Keith's bad-boy aura was hot and that the guys Keith hung out with were cool – they were a bit older, but they didn't treat Keith and Lance like children.
Then he tasted alcohol on Keith's lips one day. They were only 17. Keith brushed it off and promised that he wasn't having too much. But that flavor was there more and more often until it was a constant part of Keith. Lance could tell that Keith was getting it from his friends.
Lance realized that, cool though Keith's friends seemed, they weren't a good influence on someone as young as Keith. He tried to convince Keith to leave his friends, finally laying down an ultimatum -- "Me or them."
Keith chose his friends.
After graduation, Lance moved away, choosing to go to college in another state rather than stay in town where every little landmark reminded him of Keith.
~*~
Lance met Hunk in their freshman year of college. They clicked immediately, and they became best friends so easily that it was like they'd known each other for their whole lives.
In their sophomore year, Lance fell in love with Hunk. It took him a while to confess, but once he did, Hunk confessed that he liked Lance too. They started dating, and they were really happy together.
Hunk said that they'd make it through college, to graduation, and beyond that. He talked happily about a sweet, domestic future for the two of them.
In junior year, they got an apartment together. Hunk took care of the household stuff. Lance pursued his music. Hunk only had one rule: Be home for dinner. Of course, some nights were exceptions, like when they had events or something else going on. But, in general, Hunk wanted Lance to come home for dinner, and he especially didn’t want Lance to stay out late playing music on the street corner like Lance usually did. Lance tried to reason that he needed to keep pursuing his music, that it would all be worthwhile in the end. Hunk told him that all he wanted was stability. He just wanted them to be normal and to be happy together. Was that so much to ask?
As much as it pained Lance, he knew that it was too much to ask. He had to keep going with his music, even though it was hard. So, he had to say goodbye to Hunk. They kept in touch, and they eventually repaired their friendship. But they would never again be lovers.
~*~
People will tell you that love at first sight doesn't really exist, but Lance had no better way to describe how he felt about Allura. From the moment he saw her, the moment he looked into her stunning eyes, he fell hard. And after the first time they talked, Lance knew that she was the one he wanted. He could hardly believe it when he asked her out and she said yes.
Things were going well for them. Really well, in fact. Allura completely supported Lance's choice to pursue music. She was a visionary in her own right, though she went about it in more "respectable" ways through business and politics. She was the kind of person who had the potential to change the world, and yet she still loved Lance and his music. He couldn't even believe how lucky he was.
One of Allura's peers, a man named Lotor, was pushing for the legalization of a drug called Quintessence. At first, Allura was adamantly opposed, but Lotor asked her to speak with him about this. He told her about the drug's positive effects in small doses for boosting energy. Allura started to sway. Lance told her that he didn't like this, but Allura wouldn't listen. She started to take the drug in small doses, and she began to really enjoy it.
Still, other than a minor disagreement, things were going really well for them. Lance bought a beautiful engagement ring and asked Allura on a fancy dinner date, planning to propose. But... she never showed up. She didn't answer his calls. She wasn't at her apartment. Finally, Lance drove out to Lotor's apartment and found both Allura and Lotor half-naked in each other's arms and completely overdosed on the drugs. When they sobered up, Lance was prepared to attack Lotor for drugging and seducing his girlfriend, but Allura shamefully admitted that it had been her idea, not Lotor’s, to try the higher dose and that... that she'd had her eye on Lotor for a while now.
Lance stormed out, only looking back once before leaving Allura's life forever. He gifted the ring to Hunk, who used it to propose to his girlfriend Shay. At least the ring was being put to good use.
~*~
Some romances are doomed to fail before they even start. Lance was a busy musician with a budding career, and Pidge was a freshly-graduated scientist who was already being called a genius and a protegee by her bosses and coworkers in the prestigious company Olkarion. Lance knew that his relationship with Pidge could never last, but he couldn't stay away from her. He loved her attitude, her intelligence, and her wit. He loved the way she lit up when she talked about the things she loved. He loved her.
They kept the romance a secret. They weren’t able to go out on dates often, but when they did, they looked cute together, in Lance’s opinion. He loved taking pictures with her. She wasn’t as fond of selfies, and she’d usually pull a face for each picture, but Lance loved how unique each and every picture was because of that.
They never really broke up, exactly. They just... it was long-distance most of the time, and they sort of stopped talking so much. Even when they did talk, they sounded more like friends than lovers. Then, one day, the messages just... stopped.
They simply didn't have time for each other.
Lance didn't regret the relationship, and he felt no desire to try to rekindle it, but still... he couldn't help but think about Pidge anytime he was in the area. He hoped she was doing well. She deserved someone who could give her all of their time and attention.
~*~
"I'm bad at love," Lance admitted, looking up at his current boyfriend, Shiro. Shiro was everything Lance had ever wanted, and everything Lance would ever want, he was sure, which just made him more afraid of messing this up somehow.
Shiro gave Lance a small, reassuring smile. “I don’t think you’re ‘bad at love’. Relationships fall apart. It happens.”
“But…” Lance looked down, not meeting Shiro’s eyes. “All of my relationships have failed.”
“Sometimes, certain people aren’t right for you.” Shiro put his hand on Lance’s shoulder in a reassuring gesture. “Maybe I’m not even the right one for you. But that doesn’t mean that you’re broken.”
Lance looked up and met Shiro’s eyes. “I want this to work.”
Shiro smiled at him warmly. “Me too.”