Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"This place is gorgeous" lance states in awe.

"It really is! I wonder if any of these plants can be used as spices!" Hunk says franticly looking at all of the plants surrounding the team.

Keith looks around at the environment as well, trying to take it all in. Flowers of all colors bloom all around them, opening their buds and releasing vibrant petals. Reds, greens, blues, yellows, and more sprouting everywhere, spreading a lovely fragrance into the air. The light blue, glowing trees surrounding the path hang over them like willow trees, and cast a beautiful light show over the flowers. The sky itself is a deep blue, with purple clouds splashed across it. The whole planet looks like it came straight out of a dream.

Even the path itself is made out of glowing blue, green, and purple pebbles. Little lightning bug type creatures fill the air, and fluffy animals run around the grass. Everything is so stunningly beautiful and peaceful.

Keith's attention is stolen from him as Lance runs past him. He runs straight up to Hunk and starts happily chatting with him. Keith can't help but stare at Lance as the lights dance across his face, and his smile stretches even wider as he talks. He's glowing, and Keith can only admire that.

Suddenly, Keith feels something tickling the side of his neck. He panics slightly, and tries to catch the attention of the other paladins without moving.

"Guys... there's something on my neck" he franticly whisper shouts. The other paladins seem to freeze and turn around. Their eyes widen for a moment, and Shiro tells them all to put their helmets on to keep themselves safe.

"Keith, don't move"

"What does it look like I'm doing right now, Lance? Do I look like I'm dancing or something?" He angrily whispers back to Lance. He can feel a cold sweat take over his body, and he's desperately hoping that whatever is on him is safe.

"Allura and Coran both said that everything on this planet is safe! Why are we all panicking?"

"They haven't been here in well over 10,000 years, Hunk. It'd be best to not trust their judgment right now" Lance states.

Suddenly Keith screams out in pain, and falls to his knees as his arms fly to his neck. The whole team freak out as lance runs over to Keith.

"Keith! Buddy, are you ok!? Get the lions ready, we need to get him to a pod!" Lance franticly shouts. The other paladins rush to get the lions ready as Keith seemingly passes out. Only Shiro remains, as pidge and Hunk were the only one's who's lions were flown over here. Soon enough the lions arrive, and the team loads up and flies back to the ship.

Once back on the ship, Keith's violet eyes open to see everyone surrounding him. They glance at each person before finally landing on Lance and lighting up. The other paladins gather around the two in confusion as Keith continues to openly stare at lance.

"Keith? Are you doing ok? You were kind of out of it a minute ago." Lance asks as he crouches besides Keith.

"Woah" Keith mumbles as he gets a closer look at Lance's face. "You're so handsome, Lance. You're eyes are so pretty."

Everything comes to a startling halt. Everyone's bodies freeze, items that were once held fall to the floor, jaws fall open, and breaths are held.

"What?"

Chapter Text

"What?" I squeak out.

I could've sworn Keith just called me beautiful, but that would never happen. I must be going insane. That, or whatever bit Keith made HIM go insane. There's no way this is normal Keith talking.

"You're so pretty." He says again as he leans further towards me, and reaches his hand out to me. I stand up, and back away before he can touch me. Something's wrong with him.

"Dude, what the hell happened to Keith?" Hunk asks as he snaps out of his shock.

"Nothing happened to me?" Keith says as his eyes widen, his head tips to the side, and his lips form the smallest pout. He looks like a confused puppy, and I can physically feel someone punching me straight in the heart.

"Oh wow, ok that one hurt buddy." I say as I jokingly clutch my chest. The second I complete the action, Keith's face changes to fear and concern as he quickly jumps to his feet to rush over to me.

"Are you okay!?" Keith asks as he grabs my face with his hands, and franticly pulls my face in all directions.

I try to keep a straight face, even though I'm definitely not straight, but I can't stop the shock from showing. Keith caring about me? That's new. Since when did he give a shit about me? Now that's a joke.

I quickly snatch my face out of his hands, and look away as a frown replaces the shock.

'He doesn't care, Lance. This is just a result of whatever that thing was that bit him.' I think to myself as my frown gets bigger. I'm suddenly snapped out of my thoughts as a hand softly lays on my cheek, and gently pulls my face towards the owner. As I lay my eyes on the person touching me, I'm met with Keith staring at me with a soft look on his face.

"Are you okay, Lance?" He asks me with a small frown on his face. His eyes shine with barely there tears, his lips forming another pout, and his cheek showing a faint pink hue. I try to think of anything else, but the one thought that keeps appearing is, 'He's gorgeous' and I can't say that I'm honestly upset at that thought. Who could possibly be upset with the truth?

"I'm fine keith" I whisper as I rip my eyes away from the sight in front of me. I feared that if I kept staring, I'd never be able to stop. Maybe I was also bitten by whatever got Keith. It could be contagious.

I quickly shake my head to rid myself of those thoughts, and try to focus on what my teammates are saying.

"So Coran, do you know what got Keith by any chance?" I ask coran as a distraction.

"Ah, I think I do, but I'd need some confirmation before I say what I think it is. Did any of you see what the bug looked like?"

"Maybe about the size of my palm, pinkish, kind of heart shaped, vibrant, had wings, and maybe 4 legs?" Pidge asks as she pushes her glasses up.

"Aha! That, my friend's, is what we call a love bug!" He shouts in excitement. The whole team, once again, freezes at those words. It only takes about a minute before Pidge falls to her knees laughing, Hunk slaps a hand over his mouth to stop the giggles from escaping, and Shiro hides his smile from lance. Even Allura sends Lance a soft smile and a few giggles. They all think this is funny, but Lance only feels hurt by the news.

'No wonder he's acting like this. The poor guy is being forced to feel something for someone like me. He's probably not even gay, and yet these feelings are being forced upon him.' I think as I force my head not to fall, and a frown to not replace the forced smile on my face.

"So what you're saying... is that keith... emo, 'I hate everyone, don't touch me' Keith... was bitten by a... love bug!?" Pidge gets out between violent bursts of laughter. Her whole body shaking as she desperately tries to force the question out.

"So what does this bug do exactly?" Shiro asks, trying his best to be responsible and mature about the situation. However, even he has to force down a couple rounds of quiet laughter.

"Well it does quite a few things!" Coran states, excited by the prospect of getting to explain something new to the paladins. He looks over to Keith and Lance, only to see lance sitting down with Keith's head in his lap sleeping, as Lance cards his fingers through his hair. He faintly smiles at the two.

"The love bug specifically finds a target that has particularly hidden, strong feelings for someone. For example, if I were to be deeply in love with Hunk, but decided to either deny or try to hide those feelings, I would be a target. What the bug does, is bring out the targets inner desires. It basically removes all of the targets restraints, and makes them completely open to doing what they truly want to do. It seems like keith has quite the crush on the blue paladin, and craves both attention and touch from said person. So this bug makes Keith's inner restraint disappear. Instead of holding back from expressing himself, he'll act on what he wants, and will be much more open to interaction, touching, and speaking his thoughts. The bug's name actually only covers part of it. It targets hidden love, but actually acts more as a truth serum then anything else. He won't really be able to lie at all during this time, so please don't take too much of an advantage of this." Coran finishes with a slightly uneasy smile.

"So... What you're saying is that Keith... loves Lance?" Hunk hesitantly asks as his eyes widen with the new information.

"Precisely!" Coran shouts.

Hunk looks over at Lance to see his face a bright red as his movements have completely stopped.

"So, Keith likes me?" I ask as I finally fills my lungs back up with oxygen.

"Much stronger then like, but I guess you can say that. The bug only targets people who are in love. It's why it was given that name."

I glance down at the person in my lap, and my heart flutters.

"Keith loves me... He really loves me back"

Chapter Text

"Keith loves me... He really loves me back" I state in disbelief as I stare down at the boy, who's head is in my lap. I continue to card my fingers through his hair as I listen to the soft snores he's releasing against my leg. His hair fans around his head as he shifts slightly, and smiles in his sleep. He's gorgeous.

I look up to see Hunk sending me a big smile. He's been there for every single keith rant I've ever given, and I know that he's just as happy and relieved as I am right now. I return his smile with a bright one of my own before Allura starts to talk.

"So it's reciprocated! That's amazing, I'm so happy for you both!" She cheers in excitement, before quieting down when she notices Keith starting to wake up. He shifts to sit on his knees and butt in front of me, and brings his fists up to rub his eyes. He looks like a cute little baby, and I can once again feel solid punches straight at my heart.

"Why is everyone so loud?" He asks with a soft, tired voice as he continues to rub his right eye with his fist. He yawns before putting his fist down, and I can honestly say that I've never seen something so soft in my life.

"Sorry Keith, I just got excited" Allura states sheepishly.

"It's ok... I'm just really tired all of a sudden."

"Ah! That would be the bite. It's probably completely wiped you out, so I think it would be best if we all got some rest right now since it's late anyway. Tomorrow morning we'll get back on track and figure everything out." Coran states with a firm tone. We all know there's no fighting Coran when he has that tone.

"Wait... what about Keith?" Hunk asks. I can't help but to groan knowing what's inevitably going to happen.

"Can't I stay with Lance?" Keith asks as everyone's heads snap to him once again.Everyone's gonna have whip lash by the end of this. I can already feel the headache forming.

"I don't know about that" I say to him. His face briefly flickers with hurt, but it's quickly hidden as his expression hardens into a neutral expression once more. I flinch at the change as subtlety as possible, but I can tell Hunk noticed the interaction.

"Why not give it a shot just for tonight. We don't know the full effect this will have on keith, and him staying with you for now can only help the situation." Hunk speaks softly as though he doesn't want to cause any commotion.

"He's right. The more time Keith spends with you, the faster the bite will heal, and the effects will wear off. Of course, if this will only make things harder for you, or you need a break we can easily help." Coran states with a comforting smile.

"I'm right here..." I hear Keith mumble under his breath as he looks down with his hair covering his face. My heart clenches with guilt.

I have to remind myself that Keith isn't like this normally. He hides his feelings behind a steel fortress, and this bug is making him do the exact opposite. He loves me back, but that doesn't mean he's completely comfortable with his feelings being carried on his sleeve. I'm only making things harder for him by making this awkward. The least I can do is stick by him in his time of obvious need.

"It's fine. He can sleep in my room. I just didn't want to make things awkward." I tell them with a smile on my face. I can tell by the hesitant look on Hunk's face that he doesn't completely believe what I'm saying.

We all get up and head to our rooms, Keith falling behind me with his head down and his arms wrapped securely around his torso. He looks... sad almost.

I quickly unlock my door as we reach it, and head to my bathroom to shower and get changed. Once I'm finished, I exit my bathroom in my pajamas and wet hair to see Keith curled up in his boxers and shirt against the far corned of my bed. I slip in beside him, and face the opposite direction after turning off my lights.

After a few minutes of trying to fall asleep, I hear a soft sniffle and my whole body freezes. I listen closely for the noise as my curiosity gets the best of me. After another minute I hear another sniffle and a very quite wimper come from the body laying behind me.

Is Keith... crying?

No, he can't possinly be crying. He's KEITH. Keith doesn't cry. Perfect, star student Keith Kogane would never cry. He's too strong for that. I'M the type to cry. The type to cry at night thinking about how much he misses his family. Keith doesn't have a family though, does he... Does he ever cry at night thinking about that? Does he wish he had someone there for him?

My thoughts are soon cut off as i hear yet another, barely audible, whimper come from Keith. I slowly turn around in the bed to face his back, only to realize that keith was already facing me. He quickly freezes up and goes to cover his face, but I already saw the tears streaming down it. It breaks my heart to see him try to cover up his tears.

"Keith?" I whisper as I reach my hand up to touch his. He flinches away for a second and whimpers again, only this time it was a bit louder. "Keith, buddy? I'm not going to hurt you" I whisper again as i finally place my hand atop his. I gently pull his hands off of his face, and uncover it.

His face has dried tears and new tears creating tracks across his cheeks. Running down them like those drops of water you'd watch race down your window, as your parents drove down the street on a rainy day.

His cheeks wore splotchy red patches as his trembling lips sucked in a desperate breath. His eyes glistening as he physically struggles to stop the tears from continuing. He's a mess, yet he's still just as beautiful as always.

"Keith, what happened?" I ask as I stroke his cheek to wipe it free of the salty drops still falling. His eyes try to follow the movement of my hand, but end up crossing instead.

His eyes meet mine for a moment, but then quickly look away as his bangs cover the violet jewels. I can't help but to feel a little hurt by him seemingly ignoring me, but I quickly brush that thought away.

Keith mumbles something under his breath, but I can't make what he says out. I lean in to hear him better, but he only tries to shift further away.

"Keith, I can't hear you." I say as I try to keep the hurt from my voice.

"Do you hate me?"

Chapter Text

"Do you hate me?" Keith whimpers out as he chokes on his tears.

My body freezes up, and I can't bring myself to say anything. It's like every part of me is refusing to function right now.

"What am I even talking about... Of course you hate me. You say it all the time. Lance... did I do something to you? Am I just the type of person everyone hates? You always ignore me. I'm always the only person you don't give a hug to after a mission. The only person you don't compliment or ask to spend time with. I can't really blame you though because everyone kind of does that. I get that I'm not very approachable or happy looking, but I don't like being left out of everything... It's either you ignoring me, or you purposefully picking fights with me. Keeping up this stupid fucking rivalry. I don't want to be rivals! I NEVER wanted to be rivals! You just keep forcing it though! I mean at first the arguments were kind of playful and fun, but now they just hurt. It's constant insults and fighting, and I hate it... but when I don't fight back or play along you just look so disappointed in me, and I don't know which hurts more. I don't know what I did... What did I do that makes everyone hate me and leave me all the time?" Keith shouts as he stars sobbing. Tears pouring down his face and he chokes on each sob, trying desperately to take a breath. He starts to hyperventalate as I stay frozen in place, unknowing of what I could possibly do to help.

All of a sudden he sits up, and throws the covers off of him, as he scoots to the bottom of the bed and goes into the fetal position. Hugging his legs as he rocks back and force while clawing at his arms. Long, angry welts show up on his arms as he scratches them. He's deathly pale as a layer of sweat forms on his skin, and his breaths get quicker and less frequent. I realize that he's hurting himself, and I jump into action.

"Keith! Keith, buddy, it's ok. Calm down, buddy. Take deep breaths, ok? In... and out. In... and out. You're doing great. Keep breathing, and listen to my voice. I don't hate you, ok? I actually, like you a lot more than you realize. I only made up the stupid rivalry because I was afraid you would never feel the same way as I do. I admit that before we rescued Shiro, it was more about jealousy, but not anymore. I've liked you for a long time Keith. I didn't realize how much it hurt you, and I'm so sorry about that. I should've considered your feelings more. I promise I won't keep up that facade anymore, ok? So just calm down, and let's go to sleep. We can start over tomorrow, and we can work on what bothers us more. We'll work this out together. We just need to have patience, and give it time. We need to communicate though, Keith. No ignoring each other or keeping things hidden. It's the last thing we need right now... So, how about you come over here and we both get a nice big hug before we fall asleep, and rest up for tomorrow? I finish with heated cheeks and arms outstretched.

He looks up at me as he wipes his tears away, and waits for a split second before launching himself into my arms. His legs wrapping around my waist as he sits on my lap, and his face nuzzles into the space between my neck and shoulder. I hold him tight as the last few tremors of his sobbing runs through his body.

"I was so scared, Lance. So scared that you hated my guts just like everyone else. I didn't want that. I wanted to be friends at first, but being with you every day made me want so much more. That scared me too. Not knowing if the words you spoke while we fought were truthful or not, and wondering if you'd ever feel the same. The more my feelings grew, the more scared I was and the more it hurt... but now, I've never been happier in my entire life" He finishes up as he pulls his head back to face me. Our faces are inches apart, and he has the biggest, brightest smile on his face.

I stared at his face in pure awe as I resisted the urge to pull him into a bruising kiss. 'Not yet, we have too many things to work through before we get to that. We can't rush this' I thought to myself as I returned his smile.

My smile grew as I tightened my arms around his face and a mischievous look crossed my face. Keith's eyes widened in surprised as I flung our bodies to the side so we fell onto the mattress. We laid there for a while laughing, smiling, and facing each other with our legs wrapped together. He was beautiful, and I just hope we can stay this way forever.

Maybe we really can...

Chapter Text

My eyes open as I hear noises in the hallway. I guess someone else is also awake now. I wonder what time it is back on earth? Before my thoughts darken with questions about my family, I shake my head to rid of them. My eyes shift to the body curled up in front of me.

Our legs are crossed together as his arms are bent to his chest with his hands forming small fists. His body pressed against mine as his hair frames his face. I lean back a bit to admire him. His pale, smooth skin that has a few faint scars on it from past fights in school. His long eyelashes that flutter every so often as he shifts in his sleep. His small hands that are curled together against my chest. I admire everything about him.

I raise my hand, and brush his bangs away from his eyes to tuck them behind his ear. He shifts slightly from the action and nuzzles into my hand making me awe at the cute sight it makes. I keep my hand on his cheek, and run my thumb across the smooth skin. As I do that, I notice the faint freckles splattered across his cheeks and nearly cry from the realization of how absolutely breathtaking he is.

My hand slowly slides from his cheek, down the side of his body. Running over his shoulder, across the side of his chest, into the dip of his waist, and laying it on the bump of his hip. My thumb continues to draw small circles into his hip as I admire his face once again. I can't hold myself back from pressing my lips onto his unblemished forehead and smiling into the kiss, as he mewls happily in his sleep.

I feel tears prick my eyes as I realize how truly lucky I am to have such a person in my life. Someone so talented, amazing, beautiful, adorable, and smart. Someone so perfect, for me and to me.

I pull my lips off of his forehead and resume drawing shapes into his hip once again, as I replace my lips with my forehead. I close my eyes again as I bask in the moment of pleasant, happiness.

Soon enough Keith starts to shift in his sleep again, and I lean back to watch him wake up. His mouth opens to release a small yawn, as his eyes flutter open to reveal my favorite eyes in existence. The violet jewels glisten with sleepy tears, and he brings a small fist up to wipe them away. He looks up to me with a tired smile on his face.

"Morning Lance"

"Good morning Keith. Did you sleep well?" I ask him as I return his smile. His smile stretches wider after seeing mine, and I feel my heart flutter in my chest.

"Best sleep I've gotten in years. It usually takes me forever to fall asleep, but with you it came easily"

"Well you're always welcome to join me if it'll help, or even if you just want to. I grew up with a big family, so cuddling and sharing beds is something I'm always open to and happy with." I tell him.

A bright red travels across his cheeks and nose, all the way up to his ears and down to his neck as he covers his face with his hands.

"C-Can I really?" He asks me in a muffled voice from behind his hands.

I carefully pull his hands away from him, as I look into his eyes. I put on the most serious face I can to answer his question.

"Keith, you are always welcome to sleep in my bed if you want to. You are always welcome to cuddle, hug, hold hands, or have any sort of physical contact with me and the other paladins as long as you ask. Never assume that we won't give you attention. All you have to do is ask for whatever you want, and we'll do the best we can to accommodate to it. Ok?"

"O-ok" He stutters as his eyes tear up, and his dimples show as he smiles at me.

I can feel the butterflies banging around in my chest, and I slowly lean towards Keith. His eyes fluttering down to my lips, and then back to my eyes as a light pink dusts his cheeks. He starts to lean forward as well, and his eyes slowly close.

As soon as our lips touch I feel a strong warmth fill my entire body, and a weight lift off of my shoulders. There's no roughness, tongue, or grinding involved. Just a soft, short kiss shared between the two of us as we smile into it. I couldn't have asked for a better first kiss. We both pull apart with huge smiles on our faces as we giggle together. I feel like a million bucks, and I can only imagine he must feel the same way.

We share another small laugh as we dive into another short and soft kiss. Spending the next 10 minutes or so showering each other in quick kisses across each other's faces, making sure no spot is left unkissed. We giggle the entire time, and I know deep down that this is the happiest I've been in years.

Being in the middle of space, with the boy I love, cuddling in bed, and sharing soft kisses back and forth. No danger, war, fighting, stress, depression, anxiety, or fear. Just a happy moment shared between the sheets.

After awhile we reluctantly pull apart from each other, and smile. As I stand up from the bed I reach a hand out for Keith to take, and pull him out of bed as well. We rush to get dressed, making it a race between the two of us, and then rush to the dining area for breakfast.

"I WIN!" Keith shouts as he beat me by just a couple of seconds. I smile at the little dance he does and lift him from the ground. His eyes widen as his hands grasp around my neck, and his legs wrap around my waist.

"So I see you guys are getting along quite well" i hear Pidge's smug voice.

Our heads both snap to Pidge to see everyone gathered together at the table, watching our every move. My face turns slightly red as Keith's burning face hides itself on my neck. His hold tightens as I can see the blush spread down his back a little, and I once again awe at the sight.

"Pidge, don't tease them. They may make it WAY too easy, but that doesn't mean we should do it." Shiro states with a smirk on his face, and a chuckle.

I quickly put Keith back down on the floor causing him to release a sad pout and look down. I quickly grasp his hand in mine and lock our fingers together to show him everything's fine, and I'm rewarded with a bright, dimpled smile.

Yah. Everything's going to be okay.