Archive of Our Own

1.

The first time Lance told Keith he loved him, they were still at the Garrison.

It was Valentine’s Day, and Lance found himself developing the tiniest of crushes on his rival, Keith Kogane. Why Keith? He had no idea. But Hunk and Pidge were getting tired of listening to him talk about the top pilot, and “lovingly urged” him to confess.

Forced was more like it.

“Lance, you’re doing it again.”

“What?” he asked. Pidge gave him a you-know-what look.

“You know…”

“No, I don’t,” he replied.

“You’re pining for Keith’s ass like he’s the last man on Earth. And honestly, I’ve seen better asses in my day,” he smirked. Hunk nodded in agreement.

Lance blushed. As much as he would admit he had been admiring Keith, Pidge didn’t have to put it in such a blunt way. And especially not so loudly in the cafeteria either.

“Okay, well, at least I didn’t spend my whole night researching cryptids, Pidge,” he snapped back.

“I’m so offended,” the younger boy responded sarcastically. “Anyway, if you really like him, just tell him. Hunk and I have been encouraging you for days.”

“Right, because forcing me to be in the same proximity as him counts as ‘encouraging.’ Real helpful, Pidge.”

The other gave him a pointed look.

Lance sighed.

“Fiiinnnneeeee,” he drawled out. “I’ll tell him. No time better than the present, right?”

Pidge smiled.

“That’s the spirit!” he responded. “Maybe then you won’t be a lonely, hopeless mess.”

Lance slapped him on the arm. Pidge stuck out his tongue.

The Cuban glanced at Keith, brooding and sitting in the same spot as usual. He always looked so lonely during lunch, even with the group of admirers trailing him around.

He glanced at the clock. Five minutes before the end of lunch. He reminded himself, no time better than the present, right?

“Okay, I’m doing it,” he declared to Pidge and Hunk. They smiled in response, Hunk giving him a thumbs-up for extra encouragement.

Lance stood up, and started walking over to Keith. Veryyyy slowly.

“I’m doing it,” he said. Step. “I’m going to confess to Keith.” Another step.

Really, he was dragging his feet, stalling the confrontation. Pidge got frustrated at him, and he went and marched Lance over to Keith.

“You,” he pointed at Keith. The other barely glanced up from his lunch, grunting in response.
“My friend here, Lance, has something to tell you.”

Keith looked at them, raising his eyebrow.

Lance was dumbstruck. Even in his state of slight annoyance, Keith took his breath away. He was just so… gorgeous. No other way to put it. And his hair looked so soft. He wanted to touch it.

In his state of admiration, Lance failed to notice Pidge elbowing his side.

“Oh! Righty-o, Pidge-eo,” he responded sheepishly. He turned to Keith.

“Can we go somewhere more… private?”

Keith, bless his soul, didn’t question why and merely nodded. He stalked out of the room and Lance was left standing behind him.

Pidge grabbed his arm before he left. “You better get dicked down tonight,” he said. Lance swore his glasses glinted, and sputtered incoherent sentences whilst also slapping the younger boy on the arm.

“He’s escapinggggg,” the other sang while laughing. Lance looked over and sure enough, Keith was halfway out the door.

“I’m killing you later!” he promised to Pidge, running after Keith.

“If Keith doesn’t kill you first,” the other laughed.

Lance went into the hallway and saw Keith waiting there.

Damn. His heart was beating so fast and so loudly, he was sure Keith could hear it.

“Are you okay dude? Your face is all red,” Keith inquired.

Lance flushed an even deeper shade of red, and he nodded.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

Lance looked up, and he just about died. There he was. Keith, the object of his affection for who knows how many months now. Arms crossed, eyes staring, mouth quirked in question. He almost died.

“Well, uh,” Lance stuttered. No turning back now, right? He took a breath and gained his confidence. Looking straight into Keith’s eyes, he confessed.

“I love you. Well, no, not love, actually. It’s more like I like you, love is way too serious and I barely even know you, and it’s not like you’re family or anything so don’t take it too weirdly…” he rambled, eyes darting away from the other’s face.

After a second or so, he realized Keith hadn’t responded.

“Keith…?” he questioned, looking at his classmate. He was met with anger.

Those eyes. In that moment, they were so black he couldn’t even see the specks of purple usually hidden within them. Those eyes held so much emotion. They reminded him of a storm, trashing and wild.

Lance was confused. Why was he angry?

“Is this a fucking joke?” Keith asked angrily. Lance was speechless. Why would it be a joke?

“I don’t know who bet you to tell me… that,” he spit. Lance flinched at the harshness of his tone. “But I don’t appreciate it. You don’t just play with people’s feelings like that. I’ve had enough of your damn jokes and it’s not funny anymore.”

The angry boy turned around before promptly flipping off Lance and marched away. The bell rung less than thirty seconds later.

Lance was left in the crowded hallway, tears welling in his eyes. Out of anger or sadness, he didn’t know.

Keith was expelled the next day.

2.

Lance was out of it. So out of it.

After he emerged from the healing pod, he fell straight into Keith’s arms. Strange. Was the other waiting there for him? Who knew. He was preoccupied with the strong arms holding him up.

“Hey Lance. You okay?” Keith asked gently. Lance looked up at his face.

“Pretty...” he mumbled unknowingly. There must’ve been something weird in the healing pod, because he felt like he was on a high. Was Keith always this pretty?

Lance reached up his hand to take a piece of Keith’s hair in his hands.
“Soft...” he whispered, admiration in his eyes. Keith’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink. He looked away, coughing in embarrassment.

“I think something happened in the healing pod, Lance. Here, I’ll bring you to Coran,” Keith said softly, eyes still looking away.

“Mm… okay…” Lance breathed. Keith piggybacked him, and Lance buried his face in the other’s mullet. He breathed in Keith’s scent, possibly one of his favorite smells in the universe. Some others included his mom’s tapas, and his sister’s perfume, and clean laundry, and rain, and beach, and…

Lance was crying before he even realized.

“Lance?” Keith asked, voice a little panicked. Lance’s tears were on the back of his neck.

“I miss my family,” the other whispered.

Keith didn’t respond, and Lance didn’t expect him to. After a minute or so, Keith started talking.

“I mean, I can’t really relate,” he said, “But you have us. Me, Pidge, Hunk, Coran, Allura, and Shiro. We can be your second family. We are your second family. And I know you miss Earth, but don’t worry. We’ll visit again soon.”

“Yeah…” Lance replied. He couldn’t understand why Keith was trying to comfort him, but he appreciated it nonetheless. “Love you Keith,” he added as an afterthought, falling asleep less than a minute afterward.

Lance would deny remembering it afterward.

3.

The next time Lance said it, it had been a complete accident.

After Keith had started to help out the Blade, Lance and the rest of the team had seen him less and less. To Lance’s dismay, it bothered him much more than he deemed necessary. He missed teasing Mullet about his hair or his obsession with knives. They had built a certain team dynamic, Keith as leader and Lance as his right-hand man. Without Keith, things felt… off.

Their relationship seemed to have improved tremendously in the short time frame that Shiro was missing. After the heart-to-heart they had, their fights were never real fights, just light banter and teasing insults. Lance was grateful. Their supposed “rivalry” was gone, replaced with some form of friendship.

After actually joining the Blade, though, Keith was a rare sight for the paladins. Unfortunately, the only way they were supposed to interact with him was during calls to discuss future plans for the universe. No big deal, as they still saw Keith from time to time by Kolivan’s side. However, the concerning thing was the fact that Keith seemed to be getting paler and thinner every call. No one else seemed to notice, but Lance did. He always did.

After the biggest battle of their lives and Keith’s suicide attempt, Lance found himself butting heads with the red paladin once again.

“You’re so stupid! What the fuck man, you could’ve killed yourself out there!”

“It doesn’t matter, Lance. The mission always comes first, and at that time the mission was more important than I was,” Keith replies, a little too quietly, voice filled with impatience. He glared at Lance, arms crossed against his chest defensively.

“You… it… ohdhsoidhs…. ‘IT DOESN’T MATTER?!’” Lance practically yelled.

“Of course it matters Keith! Even though you ditched us for the Blade and all, you’re still an important part of the team. We need you here, Keith. I need you here,” he finished softly.

Keith just stared, annoyed expression slightly crumbling. He looked defeated.

Lance didn’t like that expression. He wanted to wipe it off Keith’s face, replace it with the smile that knocked the breath out of his lungs and hear the laugh that seemed to fill a room with sunshine and warmth no matter the current situation. Wait, what the fuck?

He looked down to the other boy.

Keith looked like he needed a hug.

And damn it all, the million ways this could go wrong. Lance ended up hugging the guy.

He slowly stepped into Keith’s proximity, wrapping his arms around the other boy’s waist and squeezing, just enough to communicate, “We’re here for you. We need you. You’re important to us.”

At first, Keith didn’t respond, which was actually quite concerning. Lance still stayed rooted in his spot, hoping that the other would do something, anything, give some sort of sign that he was okay with what was happening.

After what felt like an eternity, Keith reciprocated the action. Hesitantly, he lifted his arms and wrapped them around Lance’s waist as well, loosely gripping it. His shoulders relaxed the slightest bit, and he let out a little puff of air into Lance’s chest.

Lance stared up at the ceiling, not saying anything, just breathing in Keith. God, he smelled like a hospital and he wasn’t in his paladin uniform but he was still so Keith. He still smelled like Keith despite the hospital scent, and Lance loved it. He missed the way he smelled, he missed the stupid way Keith used to sometimes nap with his uniform on, he missed bickering in the training room, and he missed Keith so, so much.

After a period of time, Keith started to pull away, Lance doing the same. They didn’t make eye contact.

Suddenly, Kolivan’s voice rang through the room. “All Marmora agents will need to head back to the ship now; I repeat, all Marmora agents need to return to the ship immediately.”

The two boys briefly glanced at each other, and Keith started walking out the door.

“Bye, Lance,” he said, almost sadly, giving a small wave on his way out.

“Hey, Mullet!” Lance called, hoping Keith would stop, even if it were just for the briefest of moments.

“What, Lance?” he turned.

“Come back safe so you can help us kick Lotor’s ass when he backstabs us; I can just feel the bitch’s betrayal.”

The side of Keith’s mouth quirked a little, the smirk doing inhuman things to Lance’s weak heart.

“Okay, dumbass. I’ll miss you guys. See you when I see you,” he replied, the smirk still there and a teasing twinkle in his eyes.

“Okay, love you,” Lance replied automatically, not thinking about it before the words were already out of his mouth.

“Shit, did I say that, I just meant see you later haha it was just reflex you know… big family and all,” Lance rambled nervously, waving his hands to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal that he just told Keith he loved him. His cheeks were tinted a slight pink, and he silently prayed to all the gods above that Keith wouldn’t be creeped out or something. They were bros, right? And bros don’t tell their bros “Love you.”

Much to his surprise, Keith gave him the softest look, a smile grazing his delicate features.

“Yup. See ya,” he said simply, saluting Lance and leaving.

The other boy melted, became a puddle of water and steam. Oh was he fucked. What kind of look was that? What was he supposed to do with that look? Keith should’ve gotten arrested for looking at Lance that way because wow was he mooned for this beautiful boy.

Lance stood in the room like an idiot for the next ten seconds before burying his face in his palms and screaming, out of embarrassment or happiness, he wasn’t sure.

4.

Months passed. Maybe even a year or two. Lance wasn’t sure. Keith was back from the Blade of Marmora, finally. Though their reunion wasn’t as touching as Lance imagined in his head, he didn’t expect any less. Time was of the essence in that moment. But it wasn’t anymore. Shiro, the real Shiro, was back, Lotor was technically “gone,” and Haggar and Sendak were yet to be heard from. The paladins were making their way back to Earth. They were finally going home.

Lance and Keith had also started dating. Keith wasn’t as vocal or touchy as Lance was in their relationship, but that was fine with him.

For the most part, at least.

Sometimes, it hurt.

Sometimes, Lance couldn’t help but feel sad.

Sometimes, he wanted someone to give him soft kisses in the mornings and sweet pecks on cheeks goodnight. Sometimes, he wanted all the love and affection that he was always willing to give. Sometimes, Lance wanted the stupid relationships like in the movies.

Sometimes, Lance wanted to feel more loved.

It wasn’t that Keith was doing anything wrong. It was just that he seemed so… uncomfortable with Lance. When Lance would hug him, Keith would shy away. If it were Hunk or Shiro or any other paladin, the other would gladly reciprocate. When Lance flirted with him and complimented him, the other would blush, growl, and tell him “Shut up!” Never in a malicious way, but Lance still noticed how Keith would accept other’s compliments with a warm smile.

It didn’t help that Keith always seemed so embarrassed to be with Lance. As if he were ashamed of him. There were times when Lance would stand up and loudly declare in the castle that this beautiful man was his boyfriend, and yes, he was extremely blessed.

Keith always stayed silent in those moments, tugging him down and hushing him, telling him he was disturbing the peace. Lance always faked a smile afterward, but Keith didn’t seem to notice. He stopped after a while, not wanting to embarrass Keith anymore.

Lance wondered what he was doing wrong.

He wondered if he wasn’t good enough.

He wondered if the other loved him as much as he loved Keith.

He wondered if he was falling in too deep.

And he cried.

“I love you,” he whispered softly to Keith, tears falling down his eyes.

Keith slept peacefully, unaware of the sobbing boy next to him.

5.

After falling asleep together a few times, Lance learned a lot about sleeping Keith.

First of all, Keith was a little spoon. It was both adorable and terrible for Lance’s heart.

Second of all, Keith snored sometimes. It wasn’t loud or boisterous. More like a humming sound, constant and never really bothering Lance.

These discoveries were all fine and dandy, but Keith also occasionally had nightmares. That was not as fine and dandy.

Though they happened rarely, Lance’s heart always broke a bit after Keith would suddenly wake up, sobbing and heaving.

He often felt useless, limited to hugging Keith and petting his head, whispering sweet nothings into his boyfriend’s ear. He wouldn’t ask unless Keith wanted to tell, and more often than not, he didn’t.

“It’s okay love, I’ve got you,” he whispered. “You’re okay. You’re here with me, and you’re safe here.”

He kissed the top of Keith’s head, softly wiping away the tears that never seemed to stop flowing.

Hugging him, Lance started talking softly.

“You know, sometimes I think about how my family would react if they met you. My abuelita would love you. I bet she’d pinch your cheeks and then force you to eat. She’s always complaining about how skinny I am.”

Lance could feel Keith giggling a little underneath his arm.

“My mom… I don’t know how she would react. But I bet she’d give you a bear hug and then tease you for being so handsome. Maybe not. Maybe she’d just stare in wondering of how I managed to find such a perfect boyfriend.

“My older siblings… they’d welcome you with open arms. But my nieces and nephews, they would adore you. Especially with that funky mullet you’ve got going on.”

Keith laughed, a hiccupping sound. He seemed to have calmed down a little.

“But the point is Keith, I know they would love you. We all love you here. I know Hunk is always worrying about whether or not you’ve eaten, and Pidge asks me where you are all the time. You better not find mothman with her and cheat on me because that would suck,” Lance smiled.

“Allura seems to have something to discuss with you and Shiro no matter the time, and I’m 500% sure Coran enjoys your company helping him with castle maintenance over mine… I think I almost caused him to throw out his back once.

"And Shiro… well, Shiro is an obvious one. He’s your brother. You both travelled to the ends of the universe to save each other, literally, and your relationship is something beyond words. And me…”

Lance sucked in a breath.

“You’re my universe, Keith. I love you so much it hurts sometimes. And it’s crazy to think that a love bloomed from a measly crush at the Garrison.

“Keith, you’re just… too amazing to describe in words. Sometimes I feel like my whole world revolves around you, and maybe it does. I don’t know how to make you see that, and my mind is blanking out on me right now, but you’re just. Keith. You’re Keith, and that’s enough for me. More than enough for me. You’re stubborn and hotheaded and you’ve got a potty mouth sometimes and an ugly mullet, but you’re still you. You have so much discipline and you’ve been through so much that it never fails to amaze me. You’re so caring, even though you don’t show it often. And you’re so perfect, sometimes I feel like dating you is something I just made up in my mind. I look at you and I just… wow. I love you. That’s literally what goes through my mind every single day, you know that? I hope you do. If not that’s just tragic, and we need to fix it.”

Lance felt his arm getting wet again. Shit shit and triple shit. Keith was crying again.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay, alright? I love you, and I’m here for you,” Lance reassured.

“I know, dumbass. That’s why I’m crying,” Keith gritted out, no real threat in his cracking voice.

Lance placed a chaste kiss on his partner’s lips. “Okay,” he whispered, smiling.

Keith softly smiled back at him, eyes twinkling. “You’re the best, Lance.”

He tucked himself into Lance’s chest, falling asleep to Lance gently carding his hands through his hair and the sound of his breath.

Lance still stayed up a little longer. Keith still hadn’t said it.

He stared at the boy in his arms. How much more could he take?

+1.

Keith wasn’t an affectionate person. That just wasn’t who he was. He grew up alone, lived alone, and stayed alone. He was always known as the loner. The only person he really ever had was Shiro, and he disappeared not once, but twice.

He’d always felt empty, to some extent. But discovering Blue, then flying Red, and piloting Black filled that hole. So did the paladins. These new people, they were his family. They were the people that were there for him no matter what. And he found Krolia as well, his real mother. Keith couldn’t have felt less alone. He was surrounded by the people he loved, and he grew a lot in the two years he spent with his mother.

He had Lance now. That was… something. Not that it was a bad thing, but he made Keith so happy. So, so happy. The happiest he’d been in a while. It was suspicious.

Lance’s confession came as sort of a surprise. Even though they’d been somewhat flirting over the months, he didn’t actually expect the Cuban to be serious about his feelings. He’d almost laughed it off had he not noticed how serious Lance looked about it.

Their relationship was nice. It was stable. Even though they still bickered, it wasn’t ever too serious. One time they got into huge fight and both boys were too proud to apologize. The rest of the team locked them in a room and wouldn’t let them out until they made up.

Keith blushed, remembering the events of that day.

He was so grateful for Lance. It was like he’d been in this darkness his whole life, and it wasn’t until Lance arrived that there was light again. His boyfriend made him feel special. So special. Like he was loved, like he really mattered. It was in those soft smiles and silent nights together that Keith fell in love with Lance. Some days, they would just sit in the observatory and talk for hours, unbothered by how late it was or if they had training the next day.

Of course, there were also the surprises and endless affection. Sometimes, Keith would just be wandering the halls of the castle, and Lance would appear out of the blue, attacking him with tickles and making it up with kisses.

He was so sweet. Keith still had no idea how he got so lucky.

So he waited. He waited until he was ready to tell Lance, “I love you.”

That took longer than expected, however. Maybe a little too long.

 -

It was well into a year of their relationship and Keith still hadn’t told Lance.

He tried to express it through his actions.

He comforted Lance on days when the other was feeling insecure again. He hugged him and kissed him more. He became more open, Lance slowly breaking his walls. But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t say, “I love you.” But it was okay, right? Lance never seemed that unhappy to him.

The only other time he did was with Shiro, when they were fighting and the other wasn’t really Shiro. Other than that, he’d never said it before in his life. God, over eighteen years of living before Keith even dared to utter those three words. That’s probably why he, like an idiot, couldn’t tell Lance until it was almost too late. 

 -

Keith was in the training room, letting out his stress after a long day. How long he’d been in there, he had no idea. But Lance walked in, solemn-faced.

“End training sequence,” he commanded. “Lance? Is something up?”

Lance didn’t respond immediately, choosing instead to look at the ground.

Keith walked over to him, placing his hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“Hey, you okay Lance? It’s not like our sharpshooter to be so unfocused,” Keith quirked his mouth, eyebrows drawing together.

“Not really,” Lance whispered. “But it’s okay. Sorry, Keith, I don’t know what came over me. I was just being stupid again, haha. Sorry to bother you.”

Lance turned around and started walking away, unwilling to continue the conversation.

Keith would have none of this. He knew how bad things could get when Lance was quiet like this. Grabbing his partner’s wrist, he stopped Lance in his tracks, asking, “What happened? Talk to me.”

“Nothing, Keith. Could you leave me alone please? I don’t want to talk to anyone right now.”

“It’s obviously not nothing if you’re acting this way. Can you please tell me what’s bothering you? We can work through this together. We’re a team, remember?”

Lance’s disposition turned cold. “Keith, I said it’s fine. Seriously, dude. Back off.”

Keith, tired from his training on top of his already stressful day, didn’t bother after that. He let go of Lance’s wrist, and said nothing.

Lance stared at him for a split second, maybe reconsidering. He ultimately decided to walk away. Keith didn’t follow him.

- 

Later in the evening, Keith decided that enough was enough. His brain had been gnawing at him to go talk to Lance, telling him he made the wrong decision, screaming at him to go find Lance, now.

So Keith did. He asked around, and none of the other paladins knew where he was. Keith checked Lance’s room. He wasn’t in there. He checked the kitchen. Nope. He went to the lions' hangar. Not there either. He checked his own room. No sign of Lance.

Keith started to panic. Where was he? What happened? Had something really upset him that much?

He went to Shiro for advice. When Lance wasn’t there, Shiro was his man. There was no one else that could calm his nerves as well as Shiro did.

Bursting into the room, Keith breathed out, “Shiroidontknowwherelanceisandithinkhesupset.”

Shiro put down his book and took off his reading glasses. He really looked like a grandpa now with his new gray hair.

“Whoa, Keith, slow down. What happened?”

Keith recounted the events from hours before. Shiro listened, nodding his head and occasionally changing his expression.

“Well, have you checked the observatory? You guys are always in there, right?”

Keith brightened. The observatory. Of course! He completely forgot about it in his rush to find Lance. He thanked Shiro hurriedly, rushing out of the room.

Shiro chuckled, shaking his head and resuming his book.

 -

“Lance!” Keith yelled. “Lance, where are you?”

He scanned the area. The observatory was literally only one room, and Keith still couldn’t find Lance. Damn.

He ran his hands through his mullet, stressed and worried about Lance.

“Fucking shit!” he cursed under his breath. He placed his hand on his forehead in exasperation.

He heard a sniffle behind him. Whirling around so quickly he almost got whiplash, Keith saw Lance folded into himself, head hung between his knees. He let out a breath he was unaware he was holding in.

“Lance,” he breathed in relief. Walking over to the other, Keith kneeled down, embracing him.

“I think…” Lance’s voice croaked. “I think we should break up.”

Keith’s heart panged at what he heard. “What?” he asked, huffing with nervous laughter. “You’re joking, right?”

“No,” came Lance’s reply, weak and small.

“Why?” Keith questioned. He could feel his tears forming.

“Because you don’t love me.”

If Keith thought Lance broke his heart before, it was even worse now. He didn’t know it was possible until now to feel your heart physically break in half.

“Of course I do, Lance. You know I do.”

“No, you don’t, Keith.”

Lance continued talking, talking pauses when he was too overwhelmed to speak.

“It’s been over a year, I think. I mean, I don’t know how long we’ve been in this damn ship but I know for sure it’s been more than a year. I thought I could do it. I told myself, ‘You can do this. You can love him despite it.’

But I guess I was wrong. Your mullet is still too ugly for me to tolerate on a daily basis,” Lance cracked a smile.

Keith couldn’t believe it. He was still trying to make jokes at a time like this.

“If you’re serious, I’ll chop it off. I’ll get a buzz cut if that’ll make you happy.”

Lance let out a choked laugh, cut off by a hiccup. It was a terrible sound. Keith would do anything to make sure Lance never had to force a laugh like that again.

“I’m just kidding, mullet. If you actually do that I definitely won’t be able to love you.”

Keith thought he wouldn’t continue. He opened his mouth to speak, but Lance beat him to it.

“You probably know why, actually. Why I’m… why I’m breaking up with you. I think it’s for the best.

“I’m just so tired, Keith. I’m tired of feeling like an outsider in my own relationship. Yeah, we’ve gotten so much better, but at the end of the day I still feel so… broken. Sometimes it feels like you don’t care, even though I know you do. And I know you love me. I mean, who wouldn’t? But I need more.

“I need someone who will make sure I’m happy all the time. I need someone who notices when something is wrong. I need someone who will let me know they love me.

“It’s not your fault. Don’t you dare blame yourself. You probably will anyway, being the selfless idiot that you are, but this one isn’t on you. I tried to be okay with it. Having you as my boyfriend was enough, until it wasn’t. I’ve told you so many times, Keith. And I know that you need time for stuff like that. I know you have a hard time opening up, and I’m so happy to have seen a side of you that no one else has. But I’m just not happy anymore.

“I love you, Keith. I love you so much I let myself die a little to be with you. But I can’t keep doing that. I can’t keep pretending everything is okay when it’s not. I can’t keep smiling when I can’t help but want to cry when I see you sometimes. So I’m breaking up with you. Right now. Don’t try to talk back, you know I’ll fall for your charms.”

Lance wiped the tears flowing from Keith’s eyes. When had he started crying?

“Please don’t,” Keith sobbed, clutching Lance like he would lose him. In this situation, he probably would.

Lance’s voice cracked. “I love you Keith. This is the last time. But I’ll always love you. Te amo, mi amor. I don’t think I ever told you that.”

“Saranghae, Lance,” Keith sobbed. “Saranghae, saranghae, saranghae.” His voice was muffled in Lance’s jacket, but he couldn’t stop crying.

“Don’t leave me. Please. You’re my sharpshooter. You’re my sunshine. You’re my fucking cinnamon apple.”

Lance smiled slightly at his reference.

“You’re my other half,” Keith whispered. He looked at Lance, eyes filled with tears.

“I know, I know it’s too late to tell you this, but I’m ready now.”

Lance stopped him before he could.

“It’s okay, Keith. You don’t have to. I know what saranghae means, I watched a lot of Korean dramas back on Earth,” Lance told him gently. He had a slight smirk plastered across his handsome face. Bastard.

“I love you.”

Lance blinked, looking at Keith. His resolve would not be broken now.

“I love you, Lance. Even though you think I don’t,” Keith paused, taking in a deep breath. Crying was annoying. It made talking too difficult. “I do. I love you so much. Lance, my love for you is wider than this universe. There aren’t enough stars in the sky to measure up to the amount of love I have for you. It’s deeper and more vast than any ocean on any planet we’ve visited. I love you, Lance. I love you, and I always have. But if you’re happier on your own, then I understand. I want you to be happy. I want that for you. And if it’s not with me,” Keith paused, heaving away a sob. “Then that’s okay.”

Keith felt Lance shaking, and he was startled. The other was crying now.

“Fucking,” he let out. “Fucking mullet. I told you I wouldn’t be able to resist your charms. I fucking hate you right now, you know that?”

Keith looked up at Lance, hope in his eyes. Lance still looked gorgeous when he was crying. It was unfair, really.

“I love you too, Keith. Maybe we can give this another whirl. Lance and Keith, neck and neck. Of course you had to beat me at ‘I love you’ too.”

Keith smiled, the widest grin he could manage. He probably looked like a lunatic, all puffy eyes and joker smile, but Lance didn’t seem to mind. He hugged Keith anyway, embracing the other in his arms and giving him a kiss on the head.

They would be okay.