Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

sharpshooter has added spacedad, mathematics holt, allure, pidgetspinner, quiche, hunkymonkey, and shaymyname to i'm freaking out

i'm freaking out 

sharpshooter: hey ya'll

allure: lance what is this

sharpshooter: group chat lol, ain't it obvious?

pidgetspinner: keith lance took your accent

sharpshooter: o shut up pidget

pidgetspinner: fite me

sharpshooter: u wanna go?

spacedad: kids no fighting

pidgetspinner: but daaaaaddd

spacedad: lance is everything ok?

spacedad: why are u freaking out?

sharpshooter: BCS I HAVE TO PRESENT MY PROJECT FOR IVERSON'S CLASS AND ISTG HE HATES ME

sharpshooter: HE LITERALLY GAVE ME AN F ONCE BEFORE I EVEN PRESENTED

quiche: it's true, i was there

sharpshooter: and my presentation wasn't even bad!

quiche: ...

quiche: well

sharpshooter: .·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.

hunkymonkey: dw lance, you'll do great

hunkymonkey: i've gone over your work like a million times you got this

sharpshooter: thanks hunk <3

hunkymonkey: <3

allure: is there any other reason for this gc?

sharpshooter: yea... i mean we need a gc we've never had one

allure: if you people start spamming me on this chat i will kill all of you personally

spacedad: don't take it lightly kids she's serious

sharpshooter: duly noted thanks

quiche: how do i mute this thing

sharpshooter: my god mullet it's barely been 5 mins

quiche: ya'll r annoying

pidgetspinner: 凸ಠ益ಠ)凸

mathematics holt: wow i go to shower for like 10 mins and now there's a gc

sharpshooter: welcome we have memes

mathematics holt: awesome

shaymyname: the only reason i'm not leaving is bcs hunk is here <3

hunkymonkey: aww <3

quiche: barf

hunkmonkey: ur just jealous keith

quiche: mhm of course

sharpshooter: does anyone else hear that wind or is it only windy near my area

quiche: no it's crazy

quiche: like a tree almost fell

spacedad: keith ur inside right?

quiche: o my god yes shiro im not gonna get swept up into a hurricane

sharpshooter: man i wish

spacedad: lance be nice 

sharpshooter: 9_9

sharpshooter: mullet r u ready for the presentation?

quiche: yea i think so 

sharpshooter: how much time did it take u to finish

quiche: idk i started it like this morning and finished at 4

sharpshooter: ...

sharpshooter: and the annoying thing is ur gonna get an A++++++

quiche: thats not a thing

sharpshooter: OH YEA WELL UR NOT A THING

quiche: ???

hunkymonkey: good one lance 

sharpshooter: ;)

quiche: my god ur insufferable 

sharpshooter: this is biphobia 

quiche: is that ur reply to everything?

sharpshooter: yea sue me

sharpshooter: it's a good comeback, back me up hunky

quiche: i think he left

sharpshooter: ;(

quiche: lol

sharpshooter: hey mullet can u help me with the last part of my project

quiche: sure 

quiche: meet me @ the library in 20

sharpshooter: k

pidgetspinner: owo what's this

sharpshooter: shut ur fudge katie

pidgetspinner: ;)

***

Lance waited in the library, going over his notes. He knew that this wasn't really an important project, but he wanted to impress Iverson anyways. He leaned back in his chair so it only stood on two legs. His mother had always told him not to do it but he was anxious, and swinging for some reason helped him take his mind off of the fact that he knew he was going to fail the project. Of course, though, he fell.

"Dios mío, odio las sillas." He whispered to himself before he heard laughing from in front of him. Keith.

"Very smooth." He smiled, and sat on the chair opposite to Lance's. 

Lance rolled his eyes and huffed. "Yeah, whatever." He stood and picked up the chair as Keith already started looking at the notes on the desk. 

"'Don't stutter'?" Keith read aloud. "How are these presentation notes?"

Lance sat down. "What?" He shrugged. "They help me remember what to do and what not to."

Keith rolled his eyes playfully and continued reading. Lance buried his face in his hands and wanted to scream. Presentations always made him nervous. "How's the work itself, though?" He asked, scared for the answer. He watched as Keith read over the information, his dark brows pinched together. Something must be wrong with it, Lance thought. Was it not detailed enough? Not worded smartly? Were there grammar mistakes? God, Lance hated grammar. What about spelling mistakes? Or what if-

"It's good, calm down." Keith spoke after a minute. 

"I am calm." Lance replied, confused. 

"I can hear your brain stressing from here." Keith said, handing Lance back the papers.

"Really? I- sorry." 

Keith looked up as Lance looked down. "Why are you sorry?"

"Because I'm bothering you with my worrying and my presentation when you're already done and should be asleep by now, actually-"

"Hey," Keith said. "You know I can't really sleep anyways, so it's fine." 

Lance bit his lip in worry. "I know, but I just really don't want to fail Iverson's class again. Plus, you're his favourite student, so asking help from you will hopefully make him like my presentation for once." He chuckled. 

"He'll like it." Keith said, getting up. He took his jacket from behind the chair and swung it over his shoulder. "You'll pass, don't worry." He added, smiling reassuringly before walking out of the library. Lance appreciated that Keith was trying to be nice, but his comforting didn't quite ease the twisting in his stomach.

***

pidgetspinner>sharpshooter

pidgetspinner: how was ur date with keith?

sharpshooter: pidge wtf it's 4 am

sharpshooter: and how was it a date, he literally just looked over my notes

pidgetspinner: i'm sure that's not the only thing he looked over ;)

sharpshooter: i regret telling u everything abt my love life

pidgetspinner: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

pidgetspinner: night lancito

sharpshooter: for the last time, my name is just lance

pidgetspinner: its lancito

sharpshooter: ...

sharpshooter: fine gn

pidgetspinner: :)

***

i'm freaking out 

sharpshooter: good morning ppls

allure: wow .. lance up before 7? that's shocking

sharpshooter: hush

sharpshooter: TODAY IS THE DAY I PRESENT IM NERVOUS

hunkymonkey: don't be nervous dude

hunkymonkey: if keith said it was good then it must be freaking amazing

quiche: it was ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

sharpshooter: sdfghjklkjhgfvgh

pidgetspinner: i smelled pining and came as fast as i could

quiche: pining?

hunkymonkey: pidge spare him

pidgetspinner: aight

spacedad: you have nothing to worry about lance

spacedad: you'll make us proud :)

shaymyname: aww supportive dad so sweet

shaymyname: u got this lancito

quiche: lancito?

pidgetspinner: HAHAHA shay ily

sharpshooter: jesus christ

sharpshooter: MY NAME IS NOT ACTYALLY LANCITO

pidgetspinner: actyally

shaymyname: actyally

allure: actyally

hunkymonkey: actyally

sharpshooter: hUNK U TRAITOR

quiche has changed sharpshooter's name to: actyally 

mathematics holt: nice one keith

quiche: :)

actyally: ...

actyally: i hate u all

quiche: *ya'll

spacedad: see what i have to deal with everyday?

pidgetspinner: how ever do u manage

spacedad: i don;t

actyally: spacedad.exe is dead

spacedad: mood

pidgetspinner: did

pidgetspinner: did shiro just-

spacedad: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

actyally: omg someone write down this date

actyally: it's for the history books

mathematics holt: i'm proud of u babe <3

spacedad: <3

mathematics holt: oHMY GO D shiro has never sent me a heart back

allure: top ten anime betrayals

spacedad: <3

allure: ...

allure: i'm cry

pidgetspinner: WHILE THIS HAS BEEN A NICE OCCASION TO CELEBRATE 

pidgetspinner: pls keep ur icky relationship away from my eyes

mathematics holt: ur such a buzzkill katie

pidgetspinner: fuck off

spacedad: language

pidgetspinner: ...

allure: you heard ur father

pidgetspinner: i'm just gonna go to school now

spacedad: good

actyally: omg no i forgot abt school

allure: how can u forget u were literally ranting all of yesterday and today

actyally: don;t question me

allure: too late

actyally: (ง'̀-'́)ง

allure: lol u know ur skinny ass would lose

actyally: actually i'll have u know that i work out DAILY

allure: mhm i'm sure u do

actyally: i'm wounded

allure: bcs ur so weak

actyally: i gtg to school but this ain't over allura

allure: ok cowboy have fun

actyally: *laser eyes*

allure has changed actyally's name to: noodle boi

allure: :) 

Chapter Text

Keith could tell how nervous Lance was from a mile away. Hell, anyone could. Even though he didn't necessarily understand why Lance was so stressed, he did feel sympathy for him. Keith knew how important grades were for him, so he never questioned Lance's anxiety from school. 

Iverson sat at his desk as one of the students presented their scientific research and analysis on The Big Bang theory, not even paying attention. He clicked away on his computer, smiling at something that had caught his eye on the screen. Keith heard someone take a deep breath from next to him. He turned to see Lance.

"Weren't you sitting, like, two rows behind me?" Keith asked, glancing sideways. 

Lance furrowed his brows.  "What? No." He shook his head with a nervous laugh. Keith raised his eyebrow in suspicion. "Okay, okay. Maybe I did move." He admitted, playing with the hem of his sleeve. How Lance could wear a sweater in such warm weather was beyond him.

Keith stayed silent, as if asking 'why?'. Lance groaned. "I like being closer to the front so I can see other people's presentations," He mumbled, staring at Iverson's cold eyes. "It gives me some ideas for how I should talk and stuff." Keith nodded. It made sense. "You killed it, by the way," Lance added quickly.

"What?" Keith whispered.

"You killed the presentation. It was really good." He smiled. "All that talk about gamma rays and energy concentrations was really smart."

"Thanks." Keith smiled awkwardly. He never knew how to take compliments very well. 

Speaking of compliments, why was Lance being so nice to him? Was it because he was nervous? Probably. Keith's brain begged him to return a compliment to Lance, to not make the atmosphere between them so uneasy. "You'll be fine, I can tell." He said slowly. Lance only smiled in return. That has got to be the worst compliment in the history of compliments, Keith. 

"Thank you, Tom," Iverson's loud voice called. Lance's head snapped towards the front of the room. He must have known he was next because he started gathering his papers already. "McClain, you're next." 

Lance stood up, the scraping of his chair loud against the floor. The whole class turned to him. "Sorry." He laughed nervously. 

He started walking down the stairs to the front of the class, before Keith whispered to him. "Hey," Lance turned around so fast he almost fell. He had looked like he ran a marathon: eyes wide and mouth slightly parted, with sweat starting to bead at his temples. "Breathe. You'll do alright." Keith smiled. Lance smiled back before making his way down the rest of the steps. 

"What is your presentation on, McClain?" Iverson asked as Lance stood in the center of the room. 

"Orbit trajectory." He replied quickly.

Iverson seemed annoyed. "Which planet's orbit?" He asked, as some of the students choked out a laugh. Keith almost turned to tell them to shut the hell up, but decided against it. He was already known for his temper at the garrison, he didn't need to make it worse. 

"Oh," Lance mumbled to himself. "The Sun's. Sorry, I forgot to mention." He added, looking at the professor with hopeful eyes. Iverson simply rolled his and motioned for Lance to start his presentation, and Lance quickly began talking. 

His presentation skills were good. He used hand gestures, like always, and seemed to smile confidently when talking about something he was interested in. That's something that Keith liked. His ability to just light up and talk for hours and hours so passionately. And the sparkle in his eyes as he spoke was captivating. Keith didn't understand why Lance had been nervous about speaking in the first place. He didn't stutter like he thought. Instead, his voice was steady and loud and clear.

Aside from his tone, Lance's information was great too. He showed off the mathematic calculations for the trajectory, and Keith smiled as he remembered how Pidge had helped him with them. He spoke about the gravitational pull and how that had affected the orbit, as well as how the orbit itself affected celestial bodies around it. 

Keith didn't even notice that it was over until the class started clapping, and he quickly joined in. He looked at Lance and smirked, as if saying 'I told you there was nothing to be nervous about'. Lance smiled brightly. That shit-eating grin that he always wore when he beat Keith at something, or when he won Mario Kart against Pidge, or when he ate his favourite food that Hunk made... Keith loved that grin. 

"Thank you, McClain," Iverson said lamely as Lance walked back up to his seat. "We'll finish the rest of the presentations tomorrow."

"How was I?" Lance asked. He seemed scared. Why?

Keith shook his head. "I don't know, it was okay. A little boring." He shrugged.

"Boring?" Lance repeated, confused.

""I'm just kidding. It was amazing," Keith laughed, standing up as he slung his bag over his shoulder. He gave Lance a pat on the back. "You'll definitely get a higher mark than me." 

Lance thought. "I doubt that," He said. "But thank you." He smiled again, before wearing his bag. 

They both walked out of the class together, as Lance struggled to get his phone out of his pocket. "What are you doing?" Keith asked.

"My mom's been pretty nervous for me, so I should text her telling her it went good." He explained, unlocking the phone. Suddenly, Lance got a call. "Or she can call me instead." He chuckled, answering the call. "See you, mullet." He waved, before walking away while speaking into the phone in Spanish. 

Keith was going to wave back, but Lance had already disappeared.

***

pidgetspinner>quiche

pidgetspinner: where r u

pidgetspinner: i will take the last slice of pizza if u don't hurry ur texan ass up

quiche: jc pidge

quiche: i just got out of class

pidgetspinner: oh speaking of class, how was ur presentation

quiche: pretty good

pidgetspinner: kewl beans

pidgetspinner: we r outside on the table, come now or i eat the pizza

quiche: don't u fucking dare u midget

pidgetspinner: watch me

So Keith ran outside to lunch. 

***

noodle boi  has changed the group name to:  i made it guys

i made it guys

noodle boi: i didn't suck ya'll

noodle boi: i tHINK IM PASSING THIS!!

spacedad: we knew u could do it buddy

hunkymonkey: great job man, i'll make garlic knots in ur honour

noodle boi: i don't deserve u hunky <3  ;(

pidgetspinner: tbh no one does

allure: agreed

shaymyname: allura don't u have class now..?

allure: o sHIT

spacedad: ...my girlfriend, everyone

mathematics holt: mine too <3

spacedad: matt u have class with her 

mathematics holt: CRAP

spacedad: and that's my bf

shaymyname: true love

noodle boi: shalluratt r goals

spacedad: shalluratt?

noodle boi: yea

noodle boi: shiro, allura, and matt. u combine the names

pidgetspinner: what genius

noodle boi: tyvm pidgey

quiche: noodle boi?

noodle boi: i'm a skinny boi wht's it 2 u

quiche: nothin

pidgetspinner: keith just choked on his milk laughing

noodle boi: fuck u keith

spacedad: milk?

spacedad: keith ur lactose intolerant 

quiche: ...no

spacedad: ur gonna be the death of me 

hunkymonkey: LACTOSE INTOLERANT?

hunkymonkey: KEITH I HAVE BEEN GIVING U ICE CREAM AND ICE CREAM CAKE FOR YEARS NOW ASDFGHJKJNBV

quiche: i have meds

noodle boi: does this mean keith is gonna die

noodle boi: bcs if so then... :D

spacedad: LANCE BE NCIE

noodle boi: ncie

pidgetspinner: lol

noodle boi: r u kidding me

noodle boi: when i make a typo u guys go all spelling nazi on me and when shiro makes one all u say is 'lol'?

pidgetspinner: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

noodle boi: i hate this fucking family

spacedad: language

noodle boi: i hate this fudging family

spacedad: :)

noodle boi: fuck u

spacedad: (」゜ロ゜)」

Chapter Text

"No way," 

"Why not?" Lance begged. Trying to convince Hunk to watch a horror movie was harder than he had thought.

"I literally don't see the problem in rewatching The Lorax." He argued, folding his arms together. Lance dramatically melted onto the couch next to him and opened his mouth to speak. "No," Hunk cut off. "You know I hate scary stuff, especially movies in the middle of the goddamn night!" 

Pidge gasped from behind them. "Did Hunk just swear?" She laughed. Hunk rolled his eyes.

"Come on, buddy. Sleepovers are no fun without scary movies." Lance whined. He was practically in Hunk's lap at this point, puppy dog eyes and everything.

"Sleepover?" Pidge repeated. "When did that happen?"

"Allura said we could have one since it's Friday and her parents are out of town. And she put me in charge of picking a movie, but Hunk doesn't want to watch anything fun!" Lance complained. 

"Yeah, sorry, Lance, but Hunk will die before he agrees to watch anything horror." She replied, going back on her phone. 

"I don't get it, it's not even that scary." He shrugged, looking back at Hunk.

"You said that about The Conjuring, and we all know what happened then." He whispered, and Pidge let out an obnoxious laugh. "It's not funny."

"It's hilarious." She wiped a fake tear.

Lance sighed. "Fine, we won't watch a horror movie," He said in a monotone. 

Hunk let out a breath of relief. "Thank god." Lance smiled as he got up from the couch and started walking towards the door. 

"I'll see you guys at Allura's." He waved, smiling, and closed the door behind him. 

"Hunk," Pidge said. Hunk turned to her. "Buddy, you really should clean up your place." She gestured to a coffee spill on the hardwood floor.

"Pidge I know it was you, now go get a mop and wipe it up." Hunk shook his head.

"Goddamit."

***

allure has changed the group name to: it's fridayyy

it's fridayyy

allure: lance u got a movie right

noodle boi: yup

quiche: istg if it's mamma mia again

noodle boi: it's not

noodle boi has changed their name to: sharpshooter

shaymyname: i wish i could come but i have like 3 projects to finish :(

pidgetspinner: rip

allure: it's ok shay u can come to the next one <3

shaymyname: <3

hunkymonkey: lance what movie did u pick

sharpshooter: oh oH

sharpshooter: my mom's calling me i gtg sorry

hunkymonkey: laNCE

pidgetspinner: rip

quiche has changed pidgetspinner's name to: rip

rip: rip rip potato chip

allure: jc

quiche: how come ya'll never let me pick a movie

allure: bcs the last time we did u brought in 2 mothman documentaries 

quiche: i don't get how that's a bad thing ??

rip: keith u were the only one watching it

rip: we all went to the living room and played twister

quiche: wait u guys left the room and i didn't even notice?

allure: yea ur eyes were glued on mothman

quiche: and what a man he is <3 

rip: whipped

quiche: mhm

allure: ...ok

allure: see u @ my place 2night

allure: and keith if u even think abt sneaking in documentaries ur done

quiche: ...

quiche: goddamit

rip: rip

***

As soon as Lance got home, he noticed two cars in the driveway. Great, Lance thought. That means that dad's home. 

Him and his dad didn't necessarily have a bad relationship, but they fought very often. Mostly about his grades and about his mom. About how she deserved better. Lance had caught his dad cheating many times, but he'd always been blackmailed to stay quiet. He hated lying to his mom, but his dad threatening a divorce and taking the kids with him would be a disaster. Yeah, you could say Lance's home life was complicated to say the least, and a little toxic too. 

He had spent most of middle school in and out of the counsellor's office, discussing problems at home and how they affected his school performance. He could never make that big of a deal out of it, since they never really hit him or anything, but the constant bickering definitely made Lance want to be away from home as much as possible. 

He wanted to leave as soon as he was done with high school. Move into a dorm or something in his college, but he couldn't leave his siblings alone with his parents. He knew that they'd be so caught up in their fighting that they would never even pay proper attention to the kids. Lance hated the situation they were all stuck in, but he couldn't leave. They were his family. You don't just abandon family. 

He got out of his car and locked it, slowly making his way towards the house. He tried opening the door, but it was locked, so he rang the bell. His little brother Luis answered. 

"Hey, Luis," Lance smiled, ruffling the boy's hair. "Are mom and dad home?" He asked, stepping inside.

Luis gave him a quick hug. "Yeah, but dad's working."

"Did he say why he came?" Lance asked softly. He didn't want it to seem like his dad being here was anything suspicious or rare... but it was.

Luis shook his head. "No," He replied. "Pero parecía enojado cuando vino." He added, switching to Spanish reflexively. 

"¿Por qué?" Lance asked, walking into the living room. His big sister Veronica sat on the couch on her phone with a face mask on. Luis shrugged again, before sitting on the table and drawing.

"Robaste mi máscara." Lance said to Veronica, rolling his eyes.

"I finished mine. I'll get you a new one." She smiled evilly. 

"Yeah, you better." He laughed. "Where's mom?" He asked, searching the house. It was oddly quiet.

"In the kitchen." She replied, not looking up from her phone. Lance nodded and walked to the kitchen.

"Hey mom," He smiled as she gave him a big hug. 

"Hola, cariño," She pinched his cheeks. "How was school?" She asked with a heavy accent.

"It was good," He replied concisely. "Why is dad here?" He asked quietly. He didn't want any of his siblings hearing.

His mother rolled her eyes. "He said he wanted to spend quality time with everyone, but he's in his room working." She shook her head, annoyed. His mom had to put up with so much around the house. Cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children, and now, keeping an eye on his dad. Lance loved her so much for doing everything without expecting anything in return, but he always felt bad. She didn't deserve this. 

He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek, and she smiled a little. "I was going to spend the night at a friend's, but I can stay home if you need me." He told, walking over to the sink. He started to do a couple of the dishes. 

"No, cariño, está bien." She replied, kissing him on the cheek again. "Te quiero."

"Yo también te quiero." He replied as his mom left the kitchen. He wished he could be a better son for her. He wished that she didn't have to worry so much about his grades, or about keeping the house clean, or about cooking every day. He wished he could do all that for her so she could rest for a couple of days. He tried his best to help out around the house, but it was never enough. He just wished he could make his mother proud of him. 

quiche>sharpshooter 

quiche: hey can i ride with u to allura's today

sharpshooter: yea why

quiche: my bike broke and i still need to finish fixing it

sharpshooter: o damn what happened

quiche: some stupid drunk ass driver

sharpshooter: shit

sharpshooter: were u on the bike??

quiche: yea

sharpshooter: are you okay???

quiche: yea just a couple scratches

sharpshooter: ok i'll pick u up in 10

quiche: thanks

sharpshooter: anytime buddy 

Lance left the house and got into his car quickly. Traffic was going to be a bitch.

He started the car, and before he could even put his hands on the wheel, he got a text.

unknown number>sharpshooter

unknown number: hey

sharpshooter: do i know u?

unknown number: lol u don't remember?

unknown number: i'm hurt that u deleted my number

sharpshooter: uh irdk u

unknown number: u gotta remember

sharpshooter: i'm abt to block u

unknown number: i'll give u a hint

unknown number: we used 2 be close

sharpshooter: that's literally not a hint

sharpshooter: and bye

Lance switched off his phone. He put a mental reminder to block the number later and started driving.

***

As Keith waited for Lance to pick him up, he decided to be productive and work on fixing his bike in the parking lot downstairs. Although, squatting and lying down to fix the bike hurt like hell, since he was still sore from the accident. Shiro had freaked out when Keith came home, covered in grease, dirt, blood stains, and bruises. Keith convinced him that some medicine, a shower, and a good night's sleep would make him feel much better. 

In all honesty, it didn't. But he didn't want to stay at home resting and doing nothing. Plus, the accident was yesterday, so at least now Keith knew that he didn't have a concussion. He refused to go to a hospital. He hated them. Every single time he's been to one, it's been bad news. Keith has always been able to take care of his own injuries, colds, fevers, whatever. A small accident was nothing, right?

He started wiping down the bike after fixing one of the wheels successfully. Great, he thought. Now the other one. 

sharpshooter>quiche

sharpshooter: im here

sharpshooter: and damn ur bike is rly banged up

quiche: i know

quiche: i fucking hate that driver

sharpshooter: y didn't u call the cops?

quiche: he was gone by then

quiche: and i didn't get the number plate

sharpshooter: ahh ok

Keith stood up and walked across the street, where he could see Lance's car. He glanced back once to check again if the bike was locked, and it was. 

He walked around to the passenger side of the car and slipped in. "Hey," He said, folding up his leather jacket.

"Hey, man," Lance replied, adjusting the rear view mirror. He then turned to look at Keith. His face fell and was now full of worry. His eyebrows pinched together as his mouth fell open.

"It's not that bad." Keith quickly said, throwing the jacket over his bruised face.

"Not that bad?" Lance repeated, pulling off the jacket. Keith groaned in frustration. "You look horrible." He said, looking at the cuts carefully.

"Thanks." 

"No, I mean," Lance struggled to find the words. "You said it was just a couple of scratches."

Keith nodded. "Yeah," He shrugged. "This really isn't bad." He added, turning to fully face Lance. "I've had worse." He said, which really didn't make Lance feel any better.

"Are you sure? Does it hurt or anything?" He asked, gently holding Keith's chin to turn his face to inspect the injuries.

Keith shrugged again. "It's fine." He said. He was sure his face was turning red from the contact. Thank god it's night time and he can't see. Keith cleared his throat. "We should go."

Lance nodded, dropping his hand. "Yeah, okay," He said, starting the car. "Are you sure you're fine?" He asked again.

Keith chuckled. "Yes, mom. I'm okay." 

Lance rolled his eyes. "Idiot."

"Why am I an idiot?" He asked as Lance started driving.

"You should have been more careful."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who was drunk and driving the wrong direction down a one-way road." Keith retorted as he pulled apart the threads on his black ripped jeans.

"Well, I know, but-"

"But?"

Lance sighed. "I don't know," He said after a while. "Just, try to be careful? You could have gotten really hurt."

Something about the worry in Lance's tone made Keith's heart flutter. "Okay." He replied.

There was a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Keith looked outside the window and saw his face reflecting back. Wow, my face looks worse than I thought. He looked down at his jeans and continued playing with the denim. "What movie did you pick?" He asked. 

Lance grinned. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

Keith laughed. "Poor Hunk."

***

Chapter Text

10 minutes into the car ride and it was deadly silent. For some reason, there were barely any cars on the road, even though it had only been eight at night. No sounds except that of the tires on asphalt. "Mind if I play some music?" Keith asked, already grabbing the aux cord.

Lance shrugged while keeping his eyes on the road. "Sure." Keith nodded and plugged it into his phone which, to Lance, surprisingly wasn't an old Nokia. Suddenly the sound of an electric guitar and Gerard Way's voice boomed through the tiny car. "Oh my god, Keith, what the fuck is that?" 

Keith looked unamused. "Um, My Chemical Romance?" He replied, as if it should have been obvious.

"No." Lance said.

Keith paused. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean we're not playing that," He added sternly. "Hand me the cord." He demanded, extending his hand out to Keith.

"What? No." Keith scoffed, pulling the cord farther from Lance's reach.

"Are you serious? Driver picks music, shotgun shuts his cake-hole."

"Did you seriously just quote Supernatural at me?"

"Give me the cord." Lance said again. Keith groaned and handed him the aux cord. "Thank you," Lance smiled, and kept one hand on the steering wheel as he struggled to plug in the cord to his phone with the other. 

Keith watched in pain. "Here, let me." He rolled his eyes, grabbing the phone as he plugged in the cord. "What song do you want?"

Lance thought hard. "Gasolina." He said, as Keith searched for the song and pressed on it. 

Around two seconds in, Keith stopped the music. "We're not listening to this, either." He said, putting the phone in the cup holder between them. 

"Excuse me?" Lance glanced at Keith angrily, before quickly averting his gaze back on to the road. They were approaching the highway now.

"Sorry, but that song is shit."

"That song is shi- how dare you?" Lance whispered. Keith shrugged. "It's better than your emo scream thing."

Keith laughed. "That song was not scream. You'd die if you listened to proper scream." He said, shaking his head. 

"Oh my god, you're so edgy." Lance mumbled in disbelief. "It shouldn't be physically possible for someone to be that edgy." 

"Just shut up and keep driving." Keith replied, turning his own phone on again. He played the song from earlier.

"NO KEITH, I'M NOT LISTENING TO THIS!" He practically yelled.

Keith shrugged. "Oh well."

Lance let his head drop on the wheel as the car's horn blared loudly.  

***

it's fridayyy

allure: hey klance where r u @

hunkymonkey: klance?

allure: yea i just refer to keith and lance as klance now

rip: i ship it

allure: now that i think of it... me too

spacedad: can we not ship my brother thanks

mathematics holt: you had no problem when we were shipped in high school, takashi ;)

spacedad: kmn

rip: i was #1 shipper of shatt

allure: SHATT

allure: HAHAHA

spacedad: ...

hunkymonkey: tbh i shipped shallura more

shaymyname: well now we all ship shalluratt so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

rip: yo shay how r ur projects going

shaymyname: good but i wanna die :)

rip: mood

hunkymonkey: aww it's ok, we can hang out once ur done <3

shaymyname: i'd like that <3

quiche: barf

allure: where r u, klance

quiche: klance?

hunkymonkey: scroll up

sharpshooter: we're outside ur house can u open the door

allure: mkay

sharpshooter: cAN U HURRY IT'S FREEZING THANKS

quiche: its not that cold

sharpshooter: keith y r u texting me we're literally right next to each other?

quiche: o shit u right

rip: *facepalm*

mathematics holt: shiro u and i had the same conversation when we were young

spacedad: why do u make it sound like we're 40?

mathematics holt: right ur 6

spacedad: it's not my fault i was born on a leap year

mathematics holt: whatever u say

spacedad: ???

***

"'Lura, I've been to your house so many times but I still get lost," Lance said, walking into the house. "It took me ten minutes to figure out your front garden and where the door was." 

"Lance, you've been coming here since you were ten." Allura replied, closing the door behind the two.

"He could've been coming here since he was born and he still wouldn't remember." Keith interrupted, putting his jacket on the coat hanger.

"Shut up, mullet," Lance hung his jacket too. "It's not like you remembered where her front door was, either." He stuck his tongue out as Keith rolled his eyes.

"Right, but I've only been coming here since, like, sophomore year." Keith said, as the three walked across Allura's massive foyer. A large staircase splitting two ways loomed in front of them.

"That's still a long time," Lance snapped. "Your memory sucks too."

"It's better than-"

"Guys! Do you have to do this every time we hang out?" Allura asked, annoyed. They made their way up the three flights of stairs. Both Keith and Lance stayed quiet as they reached the living room where everyone was. The room was enormous. The back wall had a huge shelf running along it, and underneath the shelf was a large and soft couch in front of a plasma TV. There were two more couches too, which boxed in the table at the middle. The room was split in half: half living room, half mini-kitchen. The kitchen had counters and a small fridge. Nothing too special. Hunk and Pidge were lying on the ground next to the table, playing Mario Kart on the TV. Shiro was making tea in the kitchen as Matt, unsurprisingly, was staring at his ass. "Matt, babe," Allura called out. 

Matt turned to her. "Yes?"

"Your going to burn holes into Shiro's ass with your laser eyes."

Shiro whipped around. "What?" He squeaked, as the cup of tea almost fell off the counter.

"Are you really that surprised, Shiro?" Pidge called out, keeping her eyes fixed on the screen. She was currently in first place, but Hunk was a close second.

Shiro sighed, tired. "No."

Allura flopped on to the couch. "So do you guys want pizza or Chinese tonight?" She asked. Silence. She groaned and turned to Lance, who was now on the other couch. He was scrolling through Instagram. "Lance, what do you want?"

"Pizza always."

Allura turned to Keith. He was still standing with a sort of 'zoned-out' look. "What about you?"

Keith shrugged quickly. "I don't care."

Allura huffed. "IF YOU GUYS DON'T TELL ME I WILL MAKE YOU ALL STARVE." Everyone looked up at once, scared. 

"P-Pizza is fine," Matt smiled, as Shiro laughed. Allura nodded and started dialing on her phone. 

"Godammit, you made me crash, Allura." Pidge groaned. Hunk sped up from behind her and crossed the finish line within seconds. 

"Take that," Hunk smiled. "Now you owe me the answers to the chemistry homework." 

"Joke's on you," Pidge smiled smugly. "I didn't even do the chemistry homework!" She laughed.

Hunk shook his head. "Betrayed."

"That's so sad," Lance said, his eyes still on his phone. "Alexa, play Despacito." Suddenly, Despacito started blaring from the corner of the room. Pidge screamed. "Oh, right," Lance looked up and stared at the shelf. "I forgot you actually had an Alexa." 

"That's fucking terrifying." Keith said, sitting on the floor next to Pidge. 

"How?" Allura asked, eating popcorn from the bowl on the table in front of her.

"Artificial intelligence itself is scary." Keith replied, his voice shaking.

"Here we go again." Lance mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Hey! When robots take over, think back to this very moment. The moment when you rolled your eyes at me, all annoyed," Keith said to Lance, very seriously. "I tried to warn you."

"Robots are not taking over, that's ridiculous." Matt laughed, leaning on the counter next to Shiro as they both sipped on tea.

"Actually," Pidge started. "Scientists say that by 2040, 40% of people's jobs will be stolen by robots and AI." She said as Matt spit out his tea.

Allura looked at Matt dead in the eye. "You're going to fucking clean that up." Her voice scarily steady. He nodded. Keith stared at the Alexa in the corner of the room, as Allura turned her head to him next. "Touch Alexa, and I will kill you." 

"Damn, 'Lura," Lance laughed. "You and Alexa are tight, huh?"

"Well, she orders food for me. I don't see anything closer than that." She explained, as Lance nodded along.

"It has to go," Keith whispered.

"What?" Allura asked. 

"That goddamn robot has to fucking go-" 

"Don't even think about it." She cut him off, bringing her finger up to her neck as she made a slicing motion.

Keith swallowed. "Fine." 

Hunk got up from the floor and walked up to Lance with a nervous look in his eyes. "Hey, buddy," He chuckled awkwardly.

"Hey." Lance replied, looking up at Hunk.

"So," He played with his hands. "About the movie you picked-"

"It's totally fine, don't worry." Lance assured.

Hunk let out a breath of relief. "Oh, thank god." Keith snickered from his place on the floor. Lance turned to him with a deadly stare, and he instantly shut up. "Is something wrong, Keith?" He asked.

Keith looked like he was holding his breath, and shook his head. "No."

"Okay, can we start watching, please? My fingers are about to fall off from holding that controller so tightly." Pidge complained, jumping on the couch, and sat next to Allura. 

Keith stayed on the floor and Hunk sat next to him. Shiro and Matt sat on the second couch. Lance looked around. "Well, I don't want to sit alone!" He said.

"Why not?" Hunk asked, raising a thick brow.

"Uh, because..." It's a scary movie and I need someone to hold on to. "I don't like sitting alone?"

Hunk looked skeptical. "There's room next to me." Keith said, gesturing to the empty space on the floor. Lance nodded and sat down gingerly. He doubted that he was going to hold on to Keith, but another person's presence was always comforting. 

They were all silent for a while. "Lance?" Pidge said.

"Hmm?"

"You forgot to put in the movie."

"Oh, right!" He jumped up, and put the disc inside. Hopefully Hunk didn't see the title on it. He sat back down as it started playing.

"Oh, that's nice," Hunk smiled. "A road trip."

Pidge looked from Hunk to the screen. "Lance, this is-"

"SHH!" Lance turned to face Pidge. Pidge only shook her head before a mischievous look formed on her face, and she looked back on the screen. Lance faced forwards again.

"You're really evil," Keith whispered lowly, making the hairs on Lance's neck stand up. "You know that?" 

Lance tried his best to hide his blush. "I know." He smiled. Keith smiled back, and they both turned back to the screen.

"Why is there a girl covered in blood?" Hunk asked. Everyone remained silent. "Guys? Guys?"

***

unknown number>sharpshooter

unknown number: hey lance

unknown number: still haven't figured it out yet?

unknown number: i thought u were smarter than that

sharpshooter: can you just please tell me who it is

unknown number: no i like keeping the suspense

sharpshooter: ur lucky i haven't called the cops yet

unknown number: why haven't u?

sharpshooter: you want me to?

unknown number: oh ur mad 

sharpshooter: im just annoyed

Lance felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to face Keith. "Uh, you're screen's pretty bright. Who are you texting, anyways?" He asked awkwardly. 

Lance glanced back at the phone. "No one," He said, as Keith nodded, looking back at the screen. No one.

unknown number: well i gtg

unknown number: talk to you later <3

Lance turned off the phone. He knew he had to block the number, or report it or something. But why couldn't he? Maybe it was because he was too curious to find out who it was? Lance hoped that curiosity wouldn't kill 'the cat' this time...

Chapter Text

"Wow, Keith." Pidge said, breaking the silence. 

"What?" He asked. The movie was almost finished, and everyone was mostly calm. Except Hunk. He had been covering his face with a pillow for the past half hour.

"You look like you belong in a movie like this." She laughed, as everyone nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean?"

"You know," Pidge started, staring closely at Keith's face. "All the..." She gestured vaguely to her face. "Cuts and stuff." Keith's hand instinctively shot up to his face as his fingers grazed a cut near his lip. He winced a little, but no one noticed. 

"Yeah," Hunk added. "How'd that happen, anyways?" He asked Keith.

"Bike accident." He replied curtly. Hunk's brows shot up.

"Seems serious." He said, glancing at Lance for some reason.

"Not really." Keith shrugged.

"I guess we've just gotten so used to seeing Keith with bruises and cuts that it seems normal." Allura shrugged as she took another slice of pizza.

"How do you eat so much and manage to stay slim?" Lance asked, head tilting. Allura shrugged. "Lucky."

"Who cares?" Pidge furrowed her brows, eating some more popcorn. "Fat or not, you're still you." 

"Ooh," Lance's eyes widened. "Who knew Pidge was such an intellectual?"

"Literally everyone." Hunk laughed. "Also," He added, turning to Lance. "Thank you, now I'm going to have nightmares."

"Oh, come on," Lance put his hands up in surrender. "It wasn't scary at all."

Shiro shrugged. "Eh, maybe for Hunk."

Hunk whipped his head to glare at Shiro. "So you're telling me that all that blood isn't unsettling?" He asked in a surprised tone. Shiro shook his head thoughtfully. "What about the chainsaw?" 

"It helps if you remember that it's just a movie and all of it is just effects." Allura smiled, throwing a candy bar at Hunk. He caught it swiftly. "Plus, eating always helps you feel better."

"I second that." Pidge added as she bit half the candy bar at once. 

Hunk looked at Lance. "Next time I pick the movie."

"Actually," Keith stepped in. "It's my turn to pick next." Everyone groaned at once. "What?"

"It's just going to be a conspiracy video." Matt shook his head in disappointment.

"What?" Keith waved his hand in dismissal. "Pfft, no..." Everyone stared. "Okay, so what?"

"That's not a movie." Pidge explained, cleaning her glasses with the cloth of her green shirt. 

Keith rolled his eyes. "Ok, fine. You know what?" Everyone stayed silent again. "I'll pick an actual movie this time."

"I don't believe you." Lance squinted his eyes at Keith. Keith shook his head in response.

"Yes, I will." 

Lance turned to Allura. "How much do you want to bet it's a movie about Bigfoot?"

"It won't be about Bigfoot!" Keith said in a high pitch. "I promise." He added, his voice raspy and low again. 

"We'll see about that." Allura laughed. 

"Oh," Hunk quickly said. "Has anyone done the chemistry homework?"

Matt looked around. "No." 

Hunk nodded. "Great," He fell back on the couch. "We're all going to fail."

"What's new?" Lance replied, unamused. He walked over to the empty couch and lay down. "Anyways, I'd appreciate it if you were all quiet now because I'm going to sleep." He smiled. 

"It's only eleven." Pidge's eyebrows raised.

"I need beauty sleep." Lance said almost immediately. 

"Yeah," Keith laughed. "A lot of it."

Lance flipped him off before closing his eyes and turning to face the back of the couch. "Well, I guess I'm sleeping too." Pidge said as she lay down on another empty couch. Matt, Allura and Shiro all shared the third couch, somehow, and Hunk shared with Pidge.

A couple of minutes later, Lance felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around and opened his eyes. "What?" He asked. 

"Move." Keith said sternly.

"Um, no."

"No, I mean move over." He explained, annoyed.

"Why?"

"Because there's no where else to sleep." He shrugged.

"The floor?" Lance suggested. 

"I'm not sleeping on the floor," Keith complained. "Now move over." He almost shoved Lance farther into the couch.

"Okay, okay!" He moved over, giving Keith barely any room near the edge of the couch. Around a minute later, Keith fell. Lance tried to not laugh so loudly because everyone else was trying to sleep. 

"Shut up," Keith grumbled, laying back down on the couch. "Can you move further?"

"Buddy, if I move further I will become the couch." 

"Okay, you know what," Keith began, laying down practically on top of Lance. "I'm sleeping on you."

"This is so uncomfortable." Lance said, trying to push him off.

"Stop." Keith smacked his hand away and put his arms around Lance's waist so he wouldn't fall. Lance tried his best to hide the blush creeping from his neck to his cheeks. His ears felt like they were on fire. "Is this okay?" Keith asked, resting his head on Lance's chest. He was sure Keith could hear the loud and fast beat of his heart now. 

Lance nodded. "Yeah." He said weakly, before putting one of his hands on Keith's back to keep it from hitting the floor. How Lance was supposed to sleep with his heart racing, he had no clue. All he knew was that Keith was here, cuddling with Lance... and Lance kind of loved it.

***

rip has changed the group name to: uwu soft boys 

uwu soft boys  

rip has sent (1) picture(s) to the group

rip: just look at them being all cuddly

hunkymonkey: is that keith and lance?

rip: yup

rip: i woke up and saw them asleep like this ;(

hunkymonkey: why the tear?

rip: because it's just so beautiful and soft

allure: iS THAT KLANCE??

rip: sure is

mathematics holt: no way that's so cute

spacedad: ok even i have to admit that that's adorable

quiche: what is

rip: scroll up

quiche: ...k?

spacedad: he's gonna freak out in a sec

quiche: WHAT THE FUCK WHO TOOK THAT

rip: moi

quiche: DELET

rip: never ;)

mathematics holt: so, keithy boy ;)

quiche: don't call me that

mathematics holt: how was cuddling?

quiche: iT WASN'T CUDDLING

spacedad: it was, look at the pic

quiche: SHIRO NOT U TOO

spacedad:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

sharpshooter: what's up my peeps

allure: scroll up

sharpshooter: ok

quiche: i hate ya'll so much

sharpshooter: PIDGE WHAT THE HELL SDFHJKJHBVB

rip: :)

sharpshooter has changed rip's name to: gremlin

gremlin: wow lance

gremlin: that rly hurt my feelings

sharpshooter: stfu pidgeon

gremlin: :)

spacedad has changed their name to: shirios

allure: um

shirios: get it? like the cereal?

mathematics holt: yea babe we get it

sharpshooter: what IS THIS ??

sharpshooter: you can't change your name, spacedad was iconic

hunkymonkey: ^

shirios: but... i want to

sharpshooter has changed shirio's name to: spaceded

sharpshooter: there, better

gremlin: spaceded?

sharpshooter: oh oops typo

spaceded: no i like it bcs i'm ded 

hunkymonkey: someone give this man a hug

shaymyname: oK BUT KLANCE IS CANON

quiche: ffs

hunkymonkey: hey shay <3 

shaymyname: hey hon <3

allure: glad to see ur one of us ;)

shaymyname: ;)

sharpshooter: not u too shay...

shaymyname: what?

shaymyname: you guys were literally cuddling it's so cute

quiche: it was not cuddling

spaceded: deny it all you want baby bro, it happened

quiche: wow shiro i hate you

spaceded: <3

sharpshooter: any other day i would be proud of shiro for being so witty but...       凸ಠ益ಠ)凸

spaceded: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

quiche: *loudest complaining noise ever*

sharpshooter: loudest complaining noise? what...

quiche: you know... that sound people make when they're annoyed

quiche: you make it all the time

sharpshooter: ..you mean a groan?

quiche: well that just sounds sexual

sharpshooter: no.. that's a moan

quiche: what's the difference?

sharpshooter: ...i actually don't know

sharpshooter: doesn't it sound more or less the same?

allure: i'm not having this conversation

quiche: it's for science

gremlin: i do a lot of things for science and this is not one of them

sharpshooter: but trying to use peanut butter as glue is? 

gremlin: fight me

sharpshooter: 9_9

allure: now is not the time, kids

hunkymonkey: allura is space mom confirmed

mathematics holt: then what am i

shaymyname: you're not a parent, you don't care about any of us

mathematics holt: (゜ロ゜)

mathematics holt: i do!!

shaymyname: i'm just kidding <3

shaymyname: you can be the space dad #2

mathematics holt: but that doesn't sound cool ;(

shaymyname: listen here you lil bitch

mathematics holt: space dad #2 it is :))

shaymyname: that's what i thought

mathematics holt: ⊙﹏⊙

sharpshooter>quiche

sharpshooter: hey pidgeon, can u track down a number for me by any chance?

quiche: this is keith

sharpshooter: oh sorry

quiche: why do you need to track a number?

sharpshooter: it's a long story, i'll tell you at school

quiche: okay

quiche: by the way pidge is busy finishing her robot so she probably won't text you back

sharpshooter: ugh

sharpshooter: keef do you know anyone who can track phone numbers?

quiche: don't ever call me keef again

sharpshooter: keef

quiche: and no, i don't

sharpshooter: >.< okay, thanks for your help anyways

quiche: np

quiche: is it serious?

sharpshooter: um not rly

sharpshooter: just this guy who's been bothering me

quiche: how do you know it's a guy

sharpshooter: it says so in his bio

quiche: what is he doing?

sharpshooter: he just constantly texts me and sends me hearts... he says i know him

quiche: wow i'd beat him up if i saw him

quiche: pestering ppl is an all time low

sharpshooter: i know, it's kinda scary

quiche: why?

sharpshooter: well he knows my name and where i live, and he has that creepy stalker vibe you know?

quiche: you should call the cops if it gets too serious

sharpshooter: i know i told him that

quiche: okay

quiche: you better stay safe

sharpshooter: stay safe? this isn't driving keith

sharpshooter: i don't really have control over what he does

quiche: i mean don't do anything stupid like meet up

quiche: it could just be a stalker

sharpshooter: yeah you're right

quiche: you know what i have an idea

sharpshooter: what?

quiche: you send me his number and i'll scare the shit out of him so he never texts you again :)

sharpshooter: ...let's not do that

quiche: ur no fun :(

sharpshooter: /i'm/ no fun?

quiche: yes

quiche: now bye i have to work on my bike

sharpshooter: okay

sharpshooter: have fun

quiche: i doubt i will but thanks

sharpshooter: see? you just proved you're no fun

quiche: BYE LANCE

sharpshooter: bye lance? more like bi lance

quiche: ok i'm leaving this conversation now, bye

sharpshooter: bye :(

quiche>spaceded

quiche: shiroshiroshiro

spaceded: keithkeithkeith

quiche: some weird guy is stalking lance and texting him

spaceded: woah, did he call the police?

quiche: no he said it wasn't that serious but

quiche: i don't want anything to happen to him

spaceded: awwwwwww

quiche: oh shut up

quiche: what should i do?

spaceded: no it's sweet

spaceded: i'm sure lance is mature and knows when things get out of hand

spaceded: he can handle himself

quiche: i know but i'm still worried i guess

spaceded: that's cute

spaceded: he'll be fine

quiche: yeah..

spaceded: so how long are you gonna keep this crush a secret?

quiche: ...

quiche: forever

spaceded: MAN UP KEITH

quiche: nop

quiche: this secret is going to the grave with me

spaceded: damn matt was right

quiche: ?

spaceded: you're so emo

quiche: 凸(¬‿¬)

spaceded: <3

Chapter Text

uwu soft boys 

sharpshooter: pEOPLE

gremlin: what

sharpshooter: iverson is giving back our grades for the presentation and iM NOT READY

hunkymonkey: come on you know you aced it

sharpshooter: :(

spaceded: don't worry lance you'll be fine

mathematics holt: iverson is a dick don't count on it

hunkymonkey: MATT WE ARE TRYING TO BE SUPPORTIVE

mathematics holt: oh

mathematics holt: don't worry buddy you got this

sharpshooter: ...is this a jOKE

spaceded: can you stop with the sudden capitalization

sharpshooter: nO

gremlin: it's his thing

sharpshooter: hey! i have an /actual/ thing too

gremlin: which is?

hunkymonkey: what do you mean by 'thing'?

mathematics holt: like, something he's known for?

hunkymonkey: ohh

sharpshooter: hunk, what's my thing?

hunkymonkey: uh... making us laugh

gremlin: wow that's pathetic

sharpshooter: PIDGE RUDE

quiche: can ya'll not i'm trying to sleep

spaceded: shouldn't you be getting ready for school?

quiche: school?

quiche: oh yeah

mathematics holt: the fact that he's never been expelled is a miracle

quiche: i've been close many times

gremlin: you should ask how many times he's been suspended

mathematics holt: suspended? why?

quiche: i mean, different reasons for each time but mainly for arguing with teachers

spaceded: why do you sound proud

quiche: how can i sound proud? we're texting

spaceded: your texts evoke a tone

quiche: alright...

mathematics holt: i'd be proud too

mathematics holt: standing up to teachers takes a lot of gut

quiche: thanks matt

spaceded: no, NO, we are not condoning this 

mathematics holt: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

quiche: wanna hear about the time i almost got expelled for bringing a knife to school?

spaceded: /knives/

spaceded: and no get ready for school

mathematics holt: but i wanted to hear the story ;-;

spaceded: go to work matthew

mathematics holt: mY NAME IS MATHEMATICS

spaceded: alright matthew

mathematics holt: (ง'̀-'́)ง

***

"Pidge, I'm going to die." Hunk said quickly, leaning against the tall lockers. 

"Buddy," Lance rolled his eyes. "You're not going to die." He laughed, getting his books out of his own locker.

"Yes I am."

"Nah, you'll be fine," Keith interjected, not looking up from his phone. He was leaning carelessly against the locker next to Lance's. "I don't do my homework 80% of the time and I'm still alive."

"Unfortunately." Pidge mumbled, pushing her glasses back up to her nose.

"That's because teachers love you." Lance replied, slamming the locker shut, making Hunk jump.

"Love me? I've decked all of them." Keith said, putting his phone in his pocket. 

"So... I should punch my-?"

"No!" Lance raised his brows after glaring at Keith. "No punching teachers. Keith here just has a slight anger issue." He shook his head as Keith shrugged.

"But it works for him." Hunk gripped the strap of his bag as he chewed on his lip. "This is the first time I've skipped homework."

"You'll be fine," Pidge said. "I didn't do it either."

"See?" Lance smiled. "You're not alone."

"I guess I'm just used to being the teacher's pet or something." Hunk scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Isn't rebellion fun?" Keith said sarcastically. 

"Get your emo ass to class, Keith." Pidge added just as the bell rang. She turned back to Hunk. "The worst you'll get it a detention." 

"Detention?" Hunk repeated, eyes wide.

"He's never had detention before?" Keith whispered, surprised. "Wow, you really are the teacher's pet."

"And I like it that way," Hunk replied, looking at Keith. "It means I stay out of trouble and get good grades." He smiled.

"I get good grades and no teacher knows about all the bad shit I do." Pidge said, walking towards her class. Everyone followed. 

"I get good grades and all the teachers know about the bad shit I do." Keith nodded, clearly proud of himself.

Lance paused. "I don't even do any bad shit and I still get bad grades."

Pidge shrugged just before she and Hunk entered their class. "Be smarter then."

"Wow, yes, thanks for the advice." Lance flipped her off as they both walked in the door. He rolled his eyes. "Come on, mullet." He shook his head as him and Keith walked to their class with Iverson.

"You nervous?" Keith asked, keeping his eyes on the floor. 

Lance nodded. "Yeah, of course. You?"

Keith shook his head. "Not really." He said as they both turned and walked into the class. They were a minute late but there were still barely any students in the class. Keith walked up to his desk on the second row up, and Lance followed. "Isn't your seat at the top?" He asked, putting his bag down.

Lance shrugged. "I like being closer to the front, I've said this before." He replied, annoyed. He still had a small smile on his face. 

Keith nodded as he pulled out his phone. "Kogane," A sharp voice called. His head snapped to the front to see Iverson sitting at his desk with an angry expression. "No phones in class." 

Keith rolled his eyes subtly before putting his phone away. "Are you ever going to correct him?" Lance asked, laughing. "It sounds like he's saying cocaine."

Keith shrugged. "I've tried. I just let him say whatever he wants now." 

Lance leaned back on his chair. "Well, it's better than being called 'McClame' for the first three years." Lance said. 

Keith's eyebrows raised and chuckled. "That's pretty creative for Iverson."

"Yeah," Lance agreed. "He literally thought 'lame' was in my name."

"Well," Keith thought. "You are pretty lame."

Lance punched his shoulder playfully. "Shut up."

"Alright," Iverson's loud voice hushed the rest of the class who had walked in late. "I'm handing you back your results," He said, getting up from his chair. The chair rolled backwards, filling the awkward silence with the sound of squeaky wheels. "Please stay silent." He took a stack of papers from his desk and started handing them out, serving all the students annoyed looks. 

"How do you think you did?" Lance whispered, leaning closer to Keith so Iverson wouldn't hear them. Knowing him, he'd take off points for just coughing.

"Pretty well. You?"

Lance shrugged. He didn't want to jinx it, but he felt like he did a good job. "I mean, I'll see, I guess." 

Keith nudged Lance's arm with his elbow. "Don't worry." Lance smiled in return. 

They stopped talking as Iverson walked up the steps and closer to their row. A couple of students at the front started to whisper about their grades, and Lance was sure he even saw one girl tearing up. Iverson was a brutal grader, so he wasn't too surprised. "McClain," He said sternly, handing him the paper face down. That was never a good sign. He handed Keith his paper after, also face down, so it probably meant nothing.

Keith flipped his paper as a smile grew wide on his face. "A+, I was expecting lower." He said to himself. "How'd you do?" Lance hadn't turned over the paper yet. In all honesty, he was a little terrified. Keith rolled his eyes. "Just turn it over."

Lance swallowed nervously and flipped the paper, looking at the big letter grade written in obnoxious red ink. There, on the top of his page, was a large, blotchy, F. Lance's heart sank. An F? How did I do that bad? 

"So?" Keith smiled, raising his eyebrows. 

Lance cleared his throat as he stuffed the paper into his bag. His heart was beating fast now. How did he even get so low? He wanted to get a good mark so bad. He had researched his ass off, studied all night, and practiced presenting over twenty times. He did his best...but it wasn't good enough. 'It never is', Lance thought. He looked up back to Keith to see hime expectantly waiting for an answer. He started pulling the thread out of his jacket's sleeve. "I did fine. Congratulations on your A+." He smiled. 

"Thanks." Keith replied, but his eyes lingered suspiciously on Lance for a couple of seconds longer. 

Lance looked back to the front of the class as Iverson was still handing out the rest of the grades. All he remembered was the F. Of course, he had failed before, but he really didn't expect to fail this time. He could hear his heart beating now, louder and faster. It sank with every pulse as he thought more and more about it. I failed. He had forgotten that he had failed three out of five of his projects, which was going to affect his grade significantly. Why am I failing? Why am I not smart enough? I'm trying so hard and I'm studying so much...am I just that stupid? He let out a shaky breath and started to play with his fingers. He couldn't sit still and his heart was still racing. He could hear himself breathing now too. He bounced his leg up and down, hoping it would distract him - but it didn't. He started frantically raking his fingers through his hair. Maybe it would calm him down? 

"Hey," Keith whispered from next to him. Lance looked up. His hair was messy and his eyes were wide. Please don't notice that I'm panicking. "Are you okay?" He asked. His voice was steady and full of... worry? Concern?

Lance nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah. Fine." His leg was still bouncing. He knew that the second he stayed still and let his mind roam free, his anxiety would kick in and surely he'd have a breakdown. A voice echoed in his mind. Am I just that stupid? 

"You don't look-"

"I'm fine." Lance snapped again. The last thing he wanted was for Keith to have to deal with Lance's stupid emotions. Keith didn't look entirely convinced, but let it go as Iverson made his way back down to the front of the class and started the lesson.

***

Keith couldn't pay attention to any of the class. He glanced over at Lance every five minutes, watching as his brows pinched further and jaw clenched tighter. He could tell that Lance wasn't paying attention to anything. Not to the class or to the worried looks Keith had been giving him. His breathing started getting faster and faster, and Keith was getting extremely concerned. He didn't know why Lance wasn't talking. Normally, he'd be spewing out his thoughts and how he felt, but Lance said nothing. 

Class went by excruciatingly slow, but as soon as the bell rang, Keith got up, expecting to follow Lance out of class to ask him what the hell was going on. Instead, Lance stayed seated in his chair, hands clasped together as he stared at the front of the class. "You coming?" Keith asked, putting his bag on his shoulder.

Lance nodded. "Yeah, don't wait up." He said, and practically flew down the stairs with his bag in his hand. He walked up to Iverson's desk and started speaking to him quietly as the class quickly pooled into the hallway. Keith left the class too. I'll just talk to him when he comes outside, he thought. He walked out of the school and to the table outside where everyone would eat lunch.

"Hey." Pidge smiled, working on a robot which was placed in the middle of the table.

"Can you move that?" Hunk asked. "I literally have nowhere to put my food."

Pidge scoffed. "My robot is more important than your food."

Hunk gasped. "Excuse me?" 

Keith laughed. "How many more robots are you going to make?" He asked. He was sure this was the fifth one he'd seen, and those were only from the ones Pidge brought to school. He knew there were many more back at her house.

"As many as I can without getting arrested." She replied simply, and went back to typing away on her laptop. "Where's Lance?" She asked, keeping her gaze on the screen.

Keith shrugged. "I don't know, he was talking to Iverson."

"Oh, speaking of Iverson," Hunk subtly pushed some of the robot parts away to put down his sandwich. "Did he fail you?"

Keith shook his head. "No, I got a perfect score, surprisingly." 

"'Surprisingly'? Keith, you're a genius. How is this a shock to you?" Pidge laughed, looking up at Keith through her smudged glasses. 

"What about Lance?" Hunk asked, rolling his eyes as Pidge reached over his sandwich for a wire.

"I don't know," Keith shrugged, sitting down. He put his bag on the ground. "He said he did fine."

"That's good," Hunk said, biting his sandwich. "I know how much he wanted to get a good mark on this."

"Yeah." Keith agreed quietly.

"So..." Pidge looked around. "Where is he? Normally he's following you around like a lost puppy."

Keith furrowed his brows. "A lost - what?" 

Pidge shrugged. "I always see you two together."

"Soft boys." Hunk whispered with a laugh.

"Hunk," Keith turned to look at him with an annoyed expression. "Are you twelve?"

"On a scale from one to ten, yes, he is." Pidge smiled evilly. 

Keith shook his head. "No, he's way higher than that."

Pidge nodded. "True."

Hunk blushed. "Aww, guys!" He gushed, taking another bite of his sandwich. "But seriously, where's Lance?" He said seriously.

"Maybe I should go look for him." Keith suggested, getting up. He slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Good luck, samurai." Pidge called out.

"Samurai?" Hunk laughed.

"Have you seen how many knives this boy has?"

"Bye guys." Keith waved, before heading back into the school.

 If I were Lance, where would I be? He sighed as he walked aimlessly around the halls. The galaxy garrison was big. Lance could be anywhere. Keith took out his phone quickly.

quiche>sharpshooter

quiche: hey lance

quiche: are you okay?

He waited a couple of minutes, but didn't get a reply. He started checking the washrooms, even though he knew it would take forever. He walked around for what seemed like twenty minutes, before getting a notification on his phone.

sharpshooter>quiche

sharpshooter: fine

quiche: where are you?

sharpshooter: why?

quiche: i wanna make sure you're okay

sharpshooter: i said i was fine?

quiche: i don't believe that

sharpshooter: ...

sharpshooter: first floor bathroom near Iverson's

quiche: omw

Keith walked over to the bathroom that was surprisingly close to where he was searching, to see Lance sitting on the floor. Keith sat down next to him silently, leaning against the wall as he put his bag aside. "What's wrong?" He asked after a couple of moments of silence.

Lance shrugged. "Nothing."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Keith shook his head. He just wanted Lance to tell him why he was upset. Even though he said he was fine, Keith knew something was wrong. He wasn't acting like himself. He was still bobbing his leg up and down and his hair was strewn all over the place, like he'd been running his hand through it desperately. 

Lance sighed and stayed silent. He played with the loose string of his sleeve as he bit his lip. He shook his head, "I failed, Keith." He said quietly. Keith almost missed it. "And I know it wasn't really an important project but it was my only chance to bring my grade back up and I blew it. I don't even know how I did that bad, I tried so hard and I really studied and I prepared really well - at least I thought I did," He rambled. "And I asked Iverson why I did so bad but he just..." His voice cracked and Keith was pretty sure his heart broke a little. That was the worst sound he'd ever heard. 

"Hey," Keith said gently. He took Lance's wrist to stop it from anxiously playing with the loose string. "It's okay."

"No, it's really not okay," Lance sighed. He let his hand go limp in Keith's lap as Keith gently rubbed circles on the inner side of his wrist. It almost looked like he relaxed a little. "It's not okay because I'm failing his class and this was my last chance to try to bring it up, but now I'm literally going to fail this class and I'm pretty sure you know how hard my dad is on my grades, and even if he wasn't, I just wanted to do good, you know? I never do well in his class, or in any other class for that matter, I just thought that maybe if I worked hard I could do it and that I'm not a complete failure who's just really stupid. But it turns out that no matter how hard I try, I'll always f-"

"Lance," Keith's sharp voice cut off his ramble. "You are not a failure." He said angrily. How could he think that? 

Lance brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them, and Keith could tell he was trying to hold back tears. He didn't know why, but the sight of seeing Lance so sad was painful. He wanted to do anything to make him feel better, but he had no idea what to do. So he leaned in quickly and hugged him as tight as he could. Lance froze, before wrapping his arms around Keith and burying his head into Keith's shoulder. He felt something wet seep through the fabric of his shirt. Tears. Keith's hand somehow made its way up to Lance's head and he slowly started playing with his hair and waited as Lance became less stiff in his arms. 

"Iverson is a dick and you know it," Keith said as Lance choked out a laugh. "What did he say when you asked him about it?"

"Something like it wasn't developed enough and the presentation was bad, I don't know," Lance replied, his voice muffled from Keith's shoulder. "I was a little busy panicking, so..." 

"You know that's not true, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"All that stuff you were saying about being stupid and a failure. That's not true," He repeated, still massaging Lance's scalp. He seemed to relax from it, so Keith kept playing with his hair. "Not just anyone can get into the garrison. You deserve to be here just as much as anyone else," He continued as Lance smushed his face farther into Keith's shoulder. "And so what if Iverson didn't like your presentation? There's always next time," He said. "And you know he's just being hard on you like he is with everyone. Your project was honestly really good, and I'm not just saying that to make you feel better." 

"Thank you." Keith felt Lance smile as he lifted his head, cheeks stained with a couple of tears. Keith quickly wiped them away with his thumb and Lance turned red. It's probably because he's embarrassed. "You didn't have to do..." He motioned to them. "This."

Keith tilted his head. "Of course I did, idiot," He laughed. He looked down shyly. "I-I care about you." He whispered as he felt his own face going red. He hoped that his hair was covering his face. He looked up to see Lance smiling one of the biggest smiles he'd ever seen. Something inside Keith fluttered. I did that. 

"I care about you too, mullet." Lance tried hiding his smile once Keith had seen it. Keith got up and extended a hand to help Lance up. The bell rang shortly afterwards. 

"Don't let it get to you, okay?" I love you. "Idiot." Keith shook his head.

Lance laughed a little. "Okay," He said, getting his bag. Keith started towards the door. "Thanks," He called out, as Keith turned back around. "I...really appreciate it."

"Anytime." Keith smiled, before walking out of the bathroom. His smile quickly faded as a thought came into his head. Now it's time to kick Iverson's ass.

Chapter Text

hunkymonkey>sharpshooter

hunkymonkey: hey lance

hunkymonkey: you left school pretty quick. is everything ok?

sharpshooter: yeah it's all good

sharpshooter: just got a bad grade is all

hunkymonkey: iverson?

sharpshooter: who else smh

hunkymonkey: well it couldn't have been that bad

sharpshooter: i failed

hunkymonkey: wHAT

hunkymonkey: how?? it was so good

sharpshooter: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

hunkymonkey: are u ok?

sharpshooter: yeah i feel better now

hunkymonkey: are you gonna tell your parents?

sharpshooter: i have to at some point

sharpshooter: probably gonna get grounded for a week but

hunkymonkey: this sucks :(

hunkymonkey: did you talk to iverson?

sharpshooter: yeah but he was kind of a dick

hunkymonkey: what's new

sharpshooter: yeah lol

hunkymonkey: you wanna come with us to get froyo

sharpshooter: FROYO?

hunkymonkey: yeah keith pidge and i were gonna meet up 

sharpshooter: ohmygosh YES i'll be there in 15

hunkymonkey: mkay see u

sharpshooter: ur buying tho

hunkymonkey: ?? why

sharpshooter: bcs... im heartbroken

hunkymonkey: u said u were fine

sharpshooter: ...

sharpshooter: whaaaaat

hunkymonkey: bye lance

sharpshooter: bye ಥ_ಥ

uwu soft boys

allure: so how'd u do lance?

gremlin: yeah i've been WAITING for an update

quiche: jc pidge just get your froyo 

allure: ??

quiche: we're at menchies and she's been at the cake batter pump for 7 minutes now

gremlin: i'm texting

quiche: in front of the pump?? other ppl want cake batter too yk

mathematics holt: i saw 'cake batter' and here i am

gremlin: i'm not getting any for u, matt

mathematics holt: betrayed

quiche: cake batter sucks anyways

allure: excuse me

gremlin: um keith i will kill you

mathematics holt: let me guess, ur favourite flavour is plain

quiche: i don't think they have a plain

gremlin: idek i thought they did

quiche: and no that's not my favourite flavour

mathematics holt: is it the disgusting coconut one

sharpshooter: no it's black cherry tart bcs keith literally gets no other flavour

quiche: stop exposing me dammit

allure: excuse me matt what did u just say about the coconut flavour

mathematics holt: it sucks ass

gremlin: so do you

sharpshooter: ooohhhhhHHHHHH

quiche: *sigh*

allure: the coconut is the best flavour how dare you

mathematics holt: best is cake batter

gremlin: agreed^

allure: lance what's ur fave flavour

sharpshooter: pina colada sorbet

mathematics holt: yOU'RE KIDDING THAT SUCKS

gremlin: lance how

allure: ok um no lance

sharpshooter: allura it's practically coconut ??

gremlin: and pineapple!! pineapple sucks

hunkymonkey: what did you just say about pineapple

quiche: oh jesus

mathematics holt: pineapple is the worst thing

sharpshooter: no it isn't!!

gremlin: it is

sharpshooter: no it isn't

sharpshooter: tell them, keith

sharpshooter: tell these heathens how good pineapple is

hunkymonkey: <3

allure: doesn't keith hate pineapple

quiche: i actually like it but i'm not... obsessed ig

mathematics holt: fucking BETRAYED

quiche: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

sharpshooter: HAH thank you keith

gremlin: keith get out

hunkymonkey: <333

quiche: love you too, pidge

gremlin has changed quiche's name to: fucking disaster

fucking disaster: where's the lie tho

spaceded: what is going on

mathematics holt: babe quick, pineapple: yes or no

spaceded: yes ofc

allure: you're spaceDED to me

mathematics holt: good one allura

allure:  (◕◡◕✿)

hunkymonkey: we will always win u haters

gremlin: ...

fucking disaster: guys 

sharpshooter: ?

fucking disaster: GUYS

sharpshooter: what is it ???

fucking disaster: THEY ARE OUT OF BLACK CHERRY TART

allure: ... this boy

gremlin: how? literally everyone hates black cherry tart

fucking disaster: nOW IS NOT THE TIME GREMLIN, I'M HAVING A BREAKDOWN

spaceded: is he really?

sharpshooter: no he's just staring at the pump with an empty cup in his hand

spaceded: mkay tAKE UR MEDS KEITH

fucking disaster: i hate you

hunkymonkey: wait...

hunkymonkey: keith aren't you lactose intolerant 

fucking disaster: that's never stopped me before

hunkymonkey: KEITH U CAN'T JUST GO AROUND HAVING DAIRY

fucking disaster: watch me

sharpshooter: his name makes a lot of sense now

spaceded: keith istg it's like you WANT to get sick

fucking disaster: all i WANTED was black cherry tart

spaceded: oh well

fucking disaster: 凸ಠ益ಠ)凸

gremlin: maybe now you have to have cake batter

fucking disaster: i'd rather die, thanks

sharpshooter: cake batter isn't bad

fucking disaster: it's the worst

allure: ok... well guess you're not having any froyo

fucking disaster: guess not (つ﹏<。)

sharpshooter: awwww

gremlin: keith is an uwu soft boy

fucking disaster: i'll kill you

gremlin: love you too, keith <3

hunkymonkey: someone's abt to get punched

spaceded: i hate this family

mathematics holt: shiro you can't say that in front of the kids!!

spaceded: woops

allure: smh

***

"I'm just waiting for you to get the worst brain freeze of your life." Pidge laughed evilly, watching as Lance ate half the cup in one spoon.

"Fuck off, Pidge," He said with a full mouth. "Froyo loves me too much to give me a brain freeze."

"Yeah," Keith agreed, playing something on his phone. "Mostly because there's nothing to freeze."

"Oh," Pidge smiled. "Burn!"

Lance shook his head sadly. "I thought you were better than this, Keith."

Keith shrugged, putting his phone down. "That's what you get for hating on black cherry tart."

"I never said I hated it!" Lance defended, looking around the table as everyone had looks saying 'really, Lance?'. "I just said I disliked it."

Keith took Lance's spoon from his hand and ate the frozen yogurt on it. Lance stared with wide eyes. "This isn't any better." He finally said, handing the spoon back to Lance. Hunk and Pidge were silent and tried not to laugh. 

Lance shrugged and ate more yogurt. "Haters gonna hate, Kogane."

"You're really going to use that spoon?" Pidge asked with a smirk, raising her eyebrows.

Lance shrugged again. "I don't care. It's not like Keith has cooties."

"I never understood what that was." Keith chimed in, head tilted.

"Some stupid thing kids made up to not get kissed." Hunk explained.

"You know you and Keith just indirectly kissed, right?" Pidge didn't look up from her yogurt cup, mixing around the chocolate chips and strawberries. 

Lance almost choked on his yogurt. "You are such a kid, Pidge. We did not kiss." He said, turning to Hunk, who had a big smile.

"Well you technically exchanged saliva." Hunk whispered. 

"Okay," Keith said, getting up. "This has been..." He looked lost. "Fun, but I need to finish up my bike." He took the jacket hanging off of the chair and put it on, popping the collar.

"That looks stupid." Lance lied. He looked really handsome, actually. 

Keith rolled his eyes. "Still?" Hunk asked as he finished up the last bit of his yogurt. 

"Yeah, it was wrecked pretty bad."

"Don't you have insurance?" Pidge asked.

Keith looked her straight in the eyes. "No."

"Alright then," Pidge shrugged. "Have fun."

"We can come with you, if you want." Hunk suggested, eating some of Pidge's yogurt with his own spoon.

"No, it's okay." Keith replied, taking his phone from the table. He shoved it into his pocket. "Bye, guys."

"Bye." Everyone waved as he left. Lance watched as he stepped out of the store, his dark black hair flying in the wind gently as he hugged his leather jacket tighter. How could he make something like walking look hot? Lance could just imagine his violet eyes. The intensity and passion they held. The flecks of blue and silver that completely mesmerized Lance each time he looked at Keith because how can someone have purple fucking eyes? And his lashes, god, his lashes were the-

"Hello?" Pidge waved a hand in front of Lance, who had still been staring outside the store window. 

He snapped back to reality. "Yeah?" He asked, clearing his throat.

Hunk laughed. "Dude, you are so whipped."

Lance's eyes grew wide. "What? I don't-"

"Like Keith?" Pidge finished, cupping her face in her hands. "You got drunk on your birthday and told us you've been in love with him since freshman year." She looked at Lance with an amused face as he struggled to find words.

"What? No...no, I never did that," He shook his head, pushing the empty cup of froyo towards the middle of the table. Hunk smiled as he nodded slowly. "I-I would never say that."

Hunk rolled his eyes. "We've been friends with you since third grade, Lance. We know when you're lying." He shrugged. Lance groaned and buried his face in his hands. "It's okay, buddy."

"Why don't you just tell him?" Pidge looked at Lance like confessing was nothing.

Lance's head jerked up. "Are you kidding?" He stared right at Pidge. "I've been friends with him since fifth grade, I can't drop a bomb like that on him," Lance explained, pulling the sleeves of his jacket to cover his hands. It was very cold at Menchie's. "It would ruin everything."

"Who says he doesn't feel the same way?" Hunk asked supportively.

Lance almost laughed. "Keith? Loving me? No way," He bit his lip. "He wouldn't even like me like that, let alone be... be in love!" Lance pinched his eyebrows together so hard that his forehead had started to ache. 

"How do you know?" Pidge shrugged.

"Come on. Have you seen the guy? Why would he like someone like me?" Lance asked, looking at his sweater paws. He'd have a habit of hiding in his jacket when he was nervous or flustered. 

Hunk furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

Lance looked at Hunk in shock. Did he really have to explain the obvious? "He's way out of my league, have you seen him?" Lance shook his head in disbelief.

"You're attractive too." Pidge assured. Lance knew that was supposed to make him feel better, but it didn't really.

"I'm not just talking about looks," Lance said. He let out a desperate sigh. "It's hard to explain."

"That's because it's not true." Hunk quickly said. 

"No, it is," Lance replied. "I mean, if you really want me to sit here and pour out my insecurities to you, I can. Then you'll see why Keith would never like me like that." He added. He felt so vulnerable, admitting to his flaws. He never really opened up to anyone. Not because he was secretive like that, but mainly because no one had really asked. And he hated pity, he didn't want his friends sitting there feeling sorry for him. Sorry that he had anxiety and insecurities and that they would kick in at the worst of times. One of those times being right now. 

"Lance-" Pidge began, but Lance abruptly stood up and took the empty cup to throw away.

"I should get home," He said, smiling at Pidge and Hunk. He didn't want things to get too awkward and deep. "I'll talk you guys later." He pushed the chair back in and quickly made his way out of the store, throwing away the cup in a trash can as he left. 

The cold air immediately bit at his skin. It was November, so it was getting chilly now. He hugged his jacket closer in attempts to warm himself up, but he still felt cold. I don't remember it ever being this freezing in November, Lance thought. Maybe it was because it was almost night time? He walked down the sidewalk quickly, and he could see his breath in cold puffs. I really should have brought a thicker jacket. He started walking a little faster, wanting to get home and warm as soon as he could.

The whole walk he was thinking of Keith. Could he really feel the same way? Lance doubted it. He had thought about confessing to Keith many times, but realized that it would completely ruin the friendship if Keith told him he didn't reciprocate. When Keith told him he didn't reciprocate. He let out a long sigh and continued walking all the way home. Maybe his feelings would go away if he never thought about them. Hopefully. 

Chapter Text

To say he was nervous was an understatement. Lance's heart was thrumming loudly in his chest when he saw his dad's car parked in the driveway again. He'd been planning on telling his mom about his grade today. In all honesty, he wasn't sure if he was going to tell his dad. He knew that the reaction would be anything but pleasant. But now he didn't really have a choice, did he? He took a deep breath and walked into the house, the familiar warmth washing away the tingle on his skin from the cold air outside. He saw Luis watching something on the TV.

"Hola," Lance smiled. Luis looked up and smiled back, before watching his show again. "How was your day?" He asked, standing awkwardly in the hallway. 

Luis shrugged. "Okay." 

Lance cleared his throat. "¿Cómo está papá?"

Luis kept his eyes on the TV. "No lo sé." Lance nodded and made his way up the stairs to his room. He shut the door behind him.

His room was the safest place he knew. It wasn't huge, but wasn't small either. The walls were painted navy blue and his ceiling had glow in the dark stars plastered on from when he was five. How they never fell off, Lance didn't know. His bed was in the corner of the room, and it was never made: the sheets always rumpled and full of spare change. Lance was messy. His desk was right in front of the window, but he never really used it. He liked studying at the library better. His desk was decorated with papers and blank sticky notes. He also had a model of a plane on the corner, splattered in white out from when Lance tried to hide the dirt stains. It was an old model, it wasn't perfect. 

Lance flopped onto the bed and let out a sigh. He wanted to just sleep so badly. Close his eyes and pretend that he'd never gotten that stupid fucking F. God, he hated Iverson. Of course Lance had to get stuck with the worst grader out of all the teachers. He had to get stuck with the teacher that hated him the most. Although he never knew why. Iverson's been sour to Lance for as long as he can remember. Maybe it was because he'd been more talkative as a kid? Or more annoying? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that Iverson would literally expel Lance for no reason if he'd ever have the chance. 

There was a sudden knocking on the door. "¿Sí?" Lance called out. The door opened slightly as his mom stepped in.

"Dinner's ready." She smiled. Lance smiled back.

"I'm not hungry." He replied, sitting up. His jacket was slipping off one of his arms. 

"¿Está todo bien contigo?" Rosa asked, shutting the door quietly behind her. Lance sighed and nodded, but his mom didn't look convinced. "It's a grade, right?" She laughed. Lance was always surprised at how well she knew him.

Lance nodded. "Yeah." 

Rosa smiled softly before sitting next to Lance on his bed. He could tell she was trying to hold back her lectures of how he should keep his bed tidy. "You know I won't get mad, cariño. I just want you to do your best." 

"I know," Lance nodded. "But what about papá?" He asked.

Rosa looked confused. "What about him?"

Lance looked down. "You know him." He said. Lance knew he didn't have to explain much. His mother knew what he was talking about. 

She sighed. "It depends on the grade, I guess." She shrugged, frowning. "Was it that bad?" She asked, studying Lance's expression. She must have been able to see how nervous he was, but he was sure anyone could at this point.

Lance bit his lip. "I might have... failed." He whispered. 

Rosa grinned. "It's okay," She brought him into a hug. Lance froze. 'It's okay'? How is it okay? "Just keep trying your best, you have so much potential." She pulled away, fixing up Lance's hair. 

For some reason, Lance wanted his parents to get mad. He wanted them to tell him that failing was unacceptable and that they wouldn't tolerate it, or something like that. Having his mom be so positive and kind to him made him feel so guilty. He didn't deserve it. She believed so much in him and he let her down every time. Being yelled at would be much easier, Lance thought. 

"Gracias." Lance said after a while. Rosa nodded simply, before standing up. 

 "Dinner is downstairs if you get hungry." She smiled, and left the room quietly, leaving the door ajar behind her. 

uwu soft boys

shaymyname: hey

allure: shayyyy

allure: iT'S LIKE YOU DISAPPEARED ??

shaymyname: yeahh my brother dumped apple juice on my phone so i had to get a new one

fucking disaster: apple juice sucks

gremlin: seriously keith

fucking disaster: yeah it's like so sweet in a sour way

gremlin: wtf ... sweet in a sour way...?

fucking disaster: it makes sense

gremlin: it literally doesn't

hunkymonkey: are we seriously talking about apple juice rn

shaymyname: hunkkk <3

hunkymonkey: shayyy <3 i missed talking to you

sharpshooter: s h i p

gremlin: lance do you like apple juice

sharpshooter: yes

fucking disaster: how and why

gremlin: keith says it sweet in a sour way

sharpshooter: wtf keith

fucking disaster: IT MAKES SENSE

hunkymonkey: it doesn't...

fucking disaster: i feel betrayed thanks

spaceded: keith you GREW UP drinking apple juice

fucking disaster: ...what

spaceded: you loved it when you were younger

fucking disaster: ...W H A T

gremlin: keith.exe has stopped working

sharpshooter: shiro

sharpshooter: can i talk to you

spaceded: sure 

gremlin: ...?

sharpshooter>spaceded

sharpshooter: it was just a quick question

spaceded: sure ofc what is it?

spaceded: is it the guy who's messaging you?

sharpshooter: what? no .. keith told you that, didn't he?

spaceded: yeah

sharpshooter: smh

spaceded: stop, he cares about you

sharpshooter: sdfghyujkilkjhb

spaceded: funny... that's what keith does when i...

sharpshooter: when you what?

spaceded: nothing :)

sharpshooter: ...ok

spaceded: what did you wanna talk about?

sharpshooter: just... idk i was thinking of coming out to my dad soon but... i'm not sure if i should do it yet or at all

spaceded: your mom knows you're bi, right?

sharpshooter: yeah

spaceded: and she's had no issue with it?

sharpshooter: well yeah but my dad's different

spaceded: ahh gotcha

spaceded: do you feel ready to come out?

sharpshooter: idk yea i guess

spaceded: what does your mom think?

sharpshooter: she says to give it a little more time bcs he's always in sort of a bad mood

sharpshooter: and idk what he'll say when i come out

sharpshooter: *if i come out

spaceded: i think that when he settles down you should tell him

spaceded: and maybe u can get ur mom to help too

sharpshooter: so i should wait?

spaceded: until he seems a little happier yeah i think so

spaceded: but you definitely shouldn't keep it hidden

sharpshooter: yeah ig

spaceded: are u doin ok?

spaceded: keith told me u were a little upset about a grade

sharpshooter: wow keith tells you everything, doesn't he?

spaceded: everything about you, yeah

sharpshooter: ??

spaceded: nothing

sharpshooter: yeah i'm okay... still gotta tell my dad abt the grade

spaceded: is he super hard on u abt them?

sharpshooter: well not SUPER but yeah

spaceded: i hope it goes well

spaceded: you can always talk to us about anything

sharpshooter: yeah i doubt it'll 'go well' but thanks

spaceded: anytime <3

sharpshooter: <3

As soon as he put his phone down, he heard his dad's voice from downstairs. He sounded angry. Lance quickly got up from the bed to see what was happening. He stood on top of the stairs and listened.

"He what?" His dad said. "And he didn't think to tell me?" His voice grew slightly louder. He heard his mom saying something back to him, but her voice was quiet and he couldn't hear well. "Yes! It is a big deal!" He replied. 

Luis quickly came up the stairs. "Que esta pasando?" Lance asked quietly, looking over the rail of the stairs. 

"Es sobre ti." He answered, before going into his room. Luis hated arguments. He disappeared quickly before they ever got too heated. Lance's heart skipped a beat. It's about me? 

Lance walked downstairs slowly, to see his parents in the living room with angry expressions. His mom looked over to him and the crease in her brows became smooth immediately. His dad, on the other hand, seemed to get even more mad when he saw Lance. "Is everything okay?" Lance asked, looking over at Marco who was sitting on the couch with a nervous expression. 'Go upstairs', Lance mouthed to him. Marco complied and practically ran upstairs. 

His dad turned around to face Lance fully. "You know it isn't cheap, right?" His dad asked in a clear voice. His dad was American, so he didn't have an accent like his mother did. 

"What?" Lance was confused.

"Your school. It takes a lot of money to keep you there."

"What are you ta-" Oh, Lance quickly realized. He found out about the grade. Lance's brows furrowed. How? His mom probably told him. 

"The least you can do is try and get good grades." His dad's voice wasn't loud anymore, but he was angry. 

Lance debated whether or not he should reply. "I do try." He said. 

"No," His dad shook his head. "No, you don't." Lance kept quiet. "And it does matter if you fail," His dad glanced quickly at his mom. "Do you think you can get into a good college with the grades you have? Do you think you can get a good job?" His jaw clenched. "Do you even think you can stay at your school with all these F's?" His dad shook his head, clearly annoyed. "You have no idea how many times I've gotten emails from your teachers saying that you were failing the class and that they thought I should put you in summer school." Lance's eyes widened. "Your teachers told me you wouldn't even be there if it weren't for that one kid that ended up expelled." His dad whispered the next part. "And Iverson thinks you should be expelled too."

Lance felt himself go cold. "What?" 

His dad nodded. "So I suggest you start getting yourself in order before I pull you out of that school myself."

"Tom-" 

"No," His dad cut Rosa off, holding a hand up. "Why should I waste my time and money on someone who isn't even good enough? Who doesn't even bring home decent grades?" Lance gaped like a fish. He had no idea what to say. "The answer is: I shouldn't." He stepped closer to Lance and he could feel his heart beat quicker. "And I won't. You don't deserve it." He spat, before he sped past Lance and out the front door, slamming it hard. 

Lance looked back at his mom, mouth open. "I'm sorry." She said, quickly hugging Lance. "Nothing he said was true," Lance was too shocked to hug back. Would he really pull me out of the school? "I'll pay with my own money if I have to."

Lance shook his head. "It's okay," He said. He smiled at her. "I won't fail." He added cockily. 

Rosa stepped back and choked out a laugh. "What an asshole." Lance burst out laughing. "Don't listen to him. You deserve everything, you are the sweetest son anyone could ask for."

Lance smiled. "I love you."

His mom looked at him with a happy look. "I love you more."

***

It was two in the morning and Lance still couldn't fall asleep. He still couldn't believe that his teachers had talked to his dad about his grades without him knowing. An uneasy feeling pooled in his gut. 'Iverson thinks you should be expelled too'. Could the school even expel students for bad grades? He groaned and turned his head, watching his phone lay on the side table, charging slowly. He took it quickly and opened up chats.

sharpshooter>fucking disaster

sharpshooter: hey

sharpshooter: you up?

fucking disaster: yeah

sharpshooter: cool

sharpshooter: how's ur face doin?

fucking disaster: it's ok

fucking disaster: why are you awake?

sharpshooter: idk .. got a lot on my mind

fucking disaster: is everything ok?

sharpshooter: kinda

fucking disaster: kinda?

sharpshooter: yeah.. just an arguement

fucking disaster: do you wanna talk about it?

sharpshooter: i told my parents about my F

fucking disaster: oh

fucking disaster: what happened?

sharpshooter: well my mom wasn't mad but my dad was

sharpshooter: apparently a lot of my teachers email him about how bad i'm doing? iverson even said he wanted to EXPEL me, which... dramatic much?

sharpshooter: anyways my dad just kinda said that if i continued getting bad grades he'd pull me out of the school bcs i'm (and i quote) 'a waste of time and money' who 'is not good enough' and 'does not deserve it'... whatever 'it' is

fucking disaster: lance

fucking disaster: you know that's all a fucking lie, right?

fucking disaster: you are not a waste at all, how the hell can someone even think that? 'not good enough' my ass, you are literally one of the smartest people i've met.  you know how to handle yourself and tough situations, you keep everyone in check and happy whenever something's wrong. you are so so caring and loving and funny and you make anyone and everyone's day so much more brighter and you are worth it. you are worth so much because literally lance there is no one like you. you are irreplaceable and people could only wish to have someone as amazing as you in their lives. AND BTW YOU MAY DO BAD ON TESTS BUT U KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT SPACE AND MATH AND SCIENCE AND SCHOOL IN GENERAL just because you freak out sometimes over tests doesn't mean you're stupid so please don't ever think that...

sharpshooter: ...oh my god, mullet

sharpshooter: i was not expecting that

fucking disaster: i guess it makes me mad when ppl try to make u think ur worth anything less than what u r

sharpshooter: im

sharpshooter: literally speechless

fucking disaster: you needed to hear it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

sharpshooter: thank you so much keith

fucking disaster: anytime

sharpshooter: uwu

fucking disaster: ok i take it all back

sharpshooter: keeeeeeith~

fucking disaster: i'm just kidding

sharpshooter: do the uwu

fucking disaster: what? no

sharpshooter: pls?

fucking disaster: no

sharpshooter: pleaseeee?

fucking disaster: n o

sharpshooter: pretty pls (◕︿◕✿)

fucking disaster: ...fine

fucking disaster: uwu

sharpshooter: YYYYEEEESSSSS

fucking disaster: dork

sharpshooter: （●＞ω＜●）

fucking disaster: ASDFGHJKL

Chapter Text

uwu soft boys

sharpshooter: are we ever changing the group name?

gremlin: no

sharpshooter: why not? >.<

gremlin: bcs i said so 

hunkymonkey: and bcs u and keith are uwu soft boys

sharpshooter: all bcs we slept on the same couch?

gremlin: you blind ass bitch it was cUDDLING

hunkymonkey: ^

hunkymonkey: also i'm just curious but who woke up first

sharpshooter: whyyyy are we talking abt this??

gremlin: answer the damn question, coward

sharpshooter: idk when i woke up keith was in the kitchen w/ shiro??

gremlin: inch resting

sharpshooter: how?

hunkymonkey: u guys r gonna be late for school if u don't get ready soon

gremlin: hunk i'm already READY 

gremlin: i was B O R N ready

sharpshooter: can't relate

fucking disaster: can ya'll shut the FUCK up

fucking disaster: every morning i gotta wake up to this?

sharpshooter: hush mullet, it's the best way to wake up

fucking disaster: agree to disagree

gremlin: hey keith

fucking disaster: what

gremlin: what happened when u woke up at allura's sleepover?

fucking disaster: well

fucking disaster: i opened my eyes, and got up from the couch

hunkymonkey: what abt the cuddling??

fucking disaster: istg

spaceded: guys shut up and go to school

gremlin: rip space dad is angry

spaceded: not yet but i will be if u keep this up

sharpshooter: i'm quaking

spaceded: LANCE

sharpshooter: ok ok i'm getting ready 

fucking disaster has changed the group name to: ur all cancelled

gremlin: that's a mood

spaceded: pidge put the phone down

gremlin: ...

gremlin: fineee

***

As late as Keith got up, he still always managed to get to school early. For some reason, arriving just on time would stress him out. Maybe because of all the students rushing to get in and to their class. He hated crowds. Arriving early gave him a chance to get to class and wait before the mob of teenagers would come and shove people in the hallways, getting all close and personal. Keith wouldn't call himself claustrophobic, but when people got too close, it felt like his throat would close up, stopping him from breathing till he got to a more open area. He was always like that. From overcrowded foster homes to bustling side walks - he just felt suffocated. 

He glanced up at the clock from where he had been sitting in the library, reading some random pages from his physics textbook. 7:45. School started at eight. As he was thinking of what to do while waiting, an idea suddenly clicked in his mind and his legs started moving without him even realizing. He walked quickly down the hall, dodging the students who were blindly rushing past. He practically ran up the stairs, skipping a step each time, and jogged down the hall a little. Why he was in a hurry, he had no clue. Before he knew it, he was standing outside of Iverson's classroom. After taking in a breath, he knocked on the door. He thought he'd be more nervous about confronting a teacher - and a teacher like Iverson at that - but he was strangely calm and collected. 

"Come in." Iverson's faint voice grunted from inside the class. Keith pushed open the door to see the teacher sitting at his desk, flipping through papers with a bored look. He looked up at Keith and raised his eyebrows. "Did you need something?" He asked, clasping his hands together so they rested on the desk. Keith hadn't said a word and Iverson already looked angry.

"I, uh... I wanted to ask something." Keith stuttered. Iverson listened closely. "For a friend." The teacher stayed silent, pushing Keith to clarify. Keith cleared his throat, not wanting to beat around the bush anymore. He watched as Iverson's face grew more annoyed. Keith let out a breath. "Why did Lance fail?"

The question lingered in the silence of the enormous classroom. The only sound that could be heard was the quiet buzzing of one of the lights above. Iverson looked surprised. "Mr. McClain has already talked to me about his grade." He said smoothly, looking back down at the papers on his desk, like it was his way of telling Keith the conversation was over.

"Right, but I'm just asking," Keith winced at the bad lie. Iverson looked back up with an amused face. "I just don't think he deserved what he got." He added a little more loudly. 

This seemed to catch Iverson's attention. "How I grade my students shouldn't be any of your concern." He said sternly.

Keith was getting annoyed now. "It is if it's unfair." Iverson's jaw clenched tightly. Oh, how Keith was going to get in trouble. 

"Excuse me?" Iverson's voice shook, his eyebrows knitted together in anger. 

"Lance didn't deserve the grade he got. It was unfair." Keith shrugged. "Unless you have an actual reason for failing him."

Iverson stared at Keith for a couple of seconds. His eyes then flicked to the clock, and then back to Keith. He let out a sigh. "Your friend's presentation did not only fail to meet the criteria, but was presented in a way that made him seem unsure of the topic and himself, and as you know, I do mark confidence and presentation skills. Not only that, but he didn't have enough information to match the level of the rest of the students', and whatever information he did have was not detailed enough." Iverson explained, an unknown emotion in his voice. The way he went on about Lance made it seem like he really hated him.

That's bullshit, Keith wanted to say. He knew that everything Iverson had listed was untrue. "What about mine?" Keith asked in a small voice. "Why did I get a perfect mark when I clearly didn't do as well as he did?"

For once, Iverson looked speechless. Something cold pooled inside of Keith's stomach. It seemed like Iverson hated just Lance. Like he was extremely biased and opinionated. Like he had something personal against him. But the garrison wouldn't hire a teacher who was biased, would they? 

"Keith," Iverson began. "I can go on and on about why your presentation got a perfect score and why it was better than your friend's, but I simply do not have the time," The teacher pointed at the clock. "If you'd like to discuss your grade further, please make a meeting with me after class." He smiled, before motioning for Keith to leave by nodding his head to the door.

Keith clenched his jaw and nodded, before leaving the classroom. If Iverson really was biased, Keith could gather more evidence and potentially get him fired. He took a deep breath and made a mental note to talk to Shiro about it later. Shiro was a teacher at the garrison, he probably knew the protocol for this sort of stuff. 

He made his way to his locker to see everyone standing around it, getting their books out of their own lockers. "Hey," Hunk smiled as Keith walked up to them. "Where've you been?"

Keith shrugged. "Walked around."

Lance slammed his locker as Hunk flinched, and looked at Keith with a suspicious glare. "I don't know," He eyes Keith up and down. "Seems like you murdered someone."

Pidge laughed. "Keith couldn't murder anyone, he gets emotional whenever we kill a fly." She closed her own locker and shoved the books in her dark grey backpack. 

"Yeah," Hunk agreed. "Keith's too soft."

"What?" He squawked. "I'm not soft." 

Lance laughed. "Pidge is right, buddy," He grinned. "Remember when you accidentally killed that moth..." He turned to Hunk. "What was his name?"

"Morty."

"Morty, right." Lance nodded and turned back to Keith. "You cried when you killed Morty."

Pidge laughed. "He was your 'pet' for all of three days."

Keith shook his head. "H-He was close to me."

Lance smiled at him. "Soft." 

Keith elbowed him in the ribs playfully as Lance pushed back. "Enough flirting," Pidge shook her head. "I've seen enough of klance for a lifetime."

"Amen." Hunk sighed.

None of them noticed how Lance had turned cherry red with his eyes wide, or how Keith looked down in embarrassment. 

"I-" The bell rang as Lance tried to speak, and Hunk and Pidge waved goodbye before making their separate ways to their classes. 

Keith cleared his throat. "Uh, we should-"

"Yeah." Lance nodded quickly, and they both sped down opposite ends of the hallway, to their next class.

***

All of class, Keith couldn't keep himself focused. Just man up and do it, he thought. Tell him you're in love with him. Keith groaned as his mind thought of everything that could go wrong. What if Lance didn't reciprocate and it ended up making the friendship awkward? What if Lance made fun of him? What if Lance was interested in someone else? The thought made Keith's heart sink. He took a deep breath and looked at his desk closely, inspecting the swirls of the shiny wood and the ruler marks at the edge of the table. He studied the pencil drawings in the corners and the skid marks from eras-

"Kogane!" A voice called. 

Keith snapped his head up to see the teacher looking at him with an annoyed face. "Can you answer the question?" She challenged. Keith swallowed as he saw James snicker from the corner of his eye. God, how he hated James. "Well?"

"I didn't hear you." Keith answered.

"You didn't hear me or you weren't paying attention?" His teacher folded her arms. Keith suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Why was she asking questions that she already knew the answer to? 

"I didn't hear you." Keith repeated stubbornly. His teacher glared at him for another second or two before turning back to the board to explain the answer to the question he was supposed to answer. He let his mind drift back to Lance. How do you tell your friend that you've known for eight years that you're in love with him? He rolled his head back in frustration. If only he could text Shiro now...

The bell suddenly rang, calling students for lunch. "Read chapters ten to twelve for homework." The teacher called out as everyone pushed their way out of the door. Keith packed up slowly so he could avoid the stampede in the hallway. He watched as James came up to him.

"What do you want?" He asked. Keith wasn't really in the mood to beat someone up today, but when he saw James's face, that changed. 

The boy shrugged. "Where are you going for Winter break?" He asked, his thick eyebrow quirking up. 

Keith froze. "What?" He was not expecting that.

"You traveling anywhere? Visiting anyone?" James added, hands clasped behind his back. He was normally very hostile towards Keith. Why is he being nice?

Keith shrugged. "No." He swung his backpack over his shoulder, letting the other strap fall behind his back. He could never wear a bag on both shoulders. 

James looked curious. "Why not?" Even the teacher had walked out of the classroom. It was just them.

Keith tried pushing past James, but he stayed planted in place, firm. "Do you mind moving?" Keith was getting annoyed now.

"Oh, I forgot," James thought to himself. Keith tilted his head in confusion. "You don't have anyone to visit."  He smiled.  

"What do you mean?" Keith asked.

James avoided Keith's eyes with a smug look. "You don't have any family. Any friends. Any parents." Keith almost shoved the boy into the wall behind them.

"So?"

James only smiled. "Must be tough," He looked at Keith, his gray eyes staring into Keith's violet ones. "Being an orphan."

Keith sucked in a breath, only making James smile grow wider. "It's alright." Keith replied.

"Why'd they leave, anyways?" James asked, voice dripping with fake curiousness. 

"They didn't leave." Keith gritted through his teeth. He wished he could just punch the boy and get it over with, but he knew that wouldn't be smart.

"Oh," James nodded. "Is it because they didn't love you, then?" He folded his arms against his chest. Keith didn't answer. "Aw, that's a shame." James smirked. "Poor boy didn't get any love as a-"

"Hey," A voice came from behind them. James turned around quickly to see who it was. Keith looked past him to see Shiro standing in the doorway. "Everything okay in here?" He asked with a challenging tone. James looked back at Keith with a more nervous look.

"Y-Yes." He stammered, before waving at Keith. He rushed out of the classroom, bumping into Shiro along the way.

Keith rolled his eyes. "Are you alright?" Shiro asked, stepping into the classroom. "I heard some things at the end-"

"I'm fine, Shiro," Keith's jaw was clenched so tight he thought his teeth would break. 

Shiro smiled simply. "If you're sure." 

"Why are you here?" Keith asked. 

"I got a message from Iverson," Shiro explained as Keith walked closer to his brother. "Said you were being disrespectful to him before school." He shrugged. "I don't believe that, though." He laughed.

"I was just asking him about Lance's grade." Keith said honestly.

"Lance's grade?" Shiro was confused.

"I think Iverson's really biased, Shiro," Keith ignored his brother's question. "Like... to the point where he fails kids he doesn't like."

Shiro's eyes grew wide. "Iverson's been teaching here since the garrison opened. That's a pretty big accusation to make." Shiro replied.

Keith shrugged. "It's hard to explain, but..."

"If you really feel that way you should ask around, see if it's true." Shiro suggested.

"Would it get him fired?" Keith asked, looking up at Shiro.

"I mean, if it's true, yes." He answered without skipping a beat. "But you should be sure before you... you know." He made hand gestures that made no sense.

"Yeah, I know." Keith nodded. Shiro nodded back, and they both stood in silence. 

"I should get back to-"

"Wait," Keith looked nervous. "Shiro, how should I tell Lance?"

A smile grew on Shiro's face. "Tell Lance what?"

Keith rolled his eyes. "You know what."

Shiro laughed. "Whenever the opportunity rises, take it. And don't think into details too much." Shiro said, before he ruffled his little brother's hair.

Keith squinted his eyes. "What the hell does that even mean?" Shiro laughed again before he started to walk away. "Shiro." Keith whined as he disappeared around a corner. He let out a sigh. He was never someone to do really romantic gestures, and he didn't want to make it that big of a deal in case Lance rejected him. But Shiro said to wait till the opportunity rose... when was that going to even be?  

He walked out of the classroom and rounded a corner only to bump into a stiff figure. "Watch where you're going, mullet." Lance said jokingly. 

"Sorry." He quietly said, before walking next to Lance, wherever he was going.

"Where were you? Hunk wanted you to try some new pasta recipe he made." Lance asked, glancing over at Keith. Was now the right time? 

"Hunk brought pasta to school?" 

"You know Hunk," Lance replied. "He even brought lobster to school once." He laughed. 

"Guess so." Keith nodded. It didn't feel like the right time... but then again, how was Keith supposed to know when the right time was? Was it supposed to be some sort of emotion or signal he got? Or-

"What's up with you?" Lance asked, slowing down. They were walking the halls aimlessly, another twenty minutes before lunch ended.

"Nothing." Keith frowned. "Why?"

Lance shrugged. "You seem kind of spaced out."

"Oh," Keith tried thinking of something to say but his mind was racing thinking 'is now the right time?'. "Uh..." Keith thought if he should tell him now. But he couldn't just bring it up as they were randomly walking around. It wasn't something he could just casually slip out like 'hey, Lance, I'm in love with you. Have been for a year now.' ...Shiro was right. There had to be a certain... mood, almost. He let out a breath, feeling nervous. 

"Keith." Lance stopped walking suddenly. Keith turned around to face Lance.

"What?"

"Something's wrong. What is it?" Lance asked as Keith walked back to him. Something flickered in Lance's eyes. Concern? Keith hoped so. He hoped Lance cared about him as much as he did. 

Keith shook his head. "Nothing is."

Lance looked at Keith for what felt like forever. Keith prayed Lance wouldn't see the blush creeping on his cheeks or hear the loud thrumming of his heart as Keith grew more and more aware of Lance's proximity and the way his eyes lingered on Keith's, and the way it seemed like his hands were twitching to push a loose strand of hair back, and the way his eyebrows pinched so hard together in what Keith thought was worry that his eyebrows would literally touch. Lance bit his lip. "Are you sure you're okay?" His voice was soft and Keith thought he'd melt.

He swallowed. "Yeah." Lance didn't look like he bought it, but let the topic drop anyways. 

"Okay." Lance smiled, before they both started walking down the hall again. "How was class?"

Keith groaned and explained how much he hated his engineering teacher and how she'd called him out in class. He tried his best to not act nervous around Lance, but something about him made Keith's heart flutter. Whether it was his messy dark brown hair, or his big navy blue eyes, or his flawless tan skin that seemed to glow, or how he smelled like lemon and the ocean... if the ocean even had a smell... "-Right?" Lance laughed.

Keith cleared his throat. "Sorry, what?"

"You're not listening to me." Lance whined, and Keith almost laughed. 

"I am."

"You're not."

Keith sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Soon, he told himself. I'll tell Lance soon. "I've just got something on my mind." 

"I knew it," Lance replied quickly. He raised his eyebrows. "What is it?"

Keith bit the inside of his cheek, and decided to tell Lance about his encounter with Iverson in the morning instead of what was really on his mind. "You what?" Lance's mouth fell open when Keith was done talking. "You went to Iverson to ask him about my grade?" He looked mad for some reason.

"Yeah." Keith answered.

"Why?" Lance asked. 

"Because-"

"Oh, look who it is," Hunk's voice came booming down the hallway. Both Keith and Lance snapped their heads up to look at their friend walking down the corridor. "The guy who decided to ditch my pasta."

Keith chuckled. "Sorry."

"No worries, buddy," Hunk slapped a hand on Keith's back. "I'll make sure to give you extra next time." He added as Keith smiled. 

Pidge ran through the doors and to the group. "Guys."

"What?" Lance asked. 

"Someone broke my fucking robot." She said angrily.

"Are you fucking kidding? I thought it was something serious." Lance rolled his eyes.

Pidge gasped. "You did not just-"

Hunk ran a supportive hand down her back. "Deep breaths, don't smack him."

Keith laughed. Lance turned to face him with a relieved look and smiled. "Pidge couldn't take me."

Hunk's eyes grew. "Oh, she could."

Lance shook his head. "Wanna test the theory?" Pidge cracked her knuckles.

"No." Lance squeaked.

"Good."

***

After school, Keith threw his bag on the floor and jumped on the couch with a groan. The day was so mentally exhausting. From studying for his tests, to thinking of Lance and Iverson. His heart still felt funny, like Lance was in the room with him. Keith sat up immediately as he heard a ding from his phone.

sharpshooter>fucking disaster

sharpshooter: hey keef

fucking disaster: don't call me thatttt

sharpshooter: keef

fucking disaster: 9.9

sharpshooter: i have a question

fucking disaster: i might have an answer

sharpshooter: why did you ask iverson about my grade..?

fucking disaster: ig i just wanted to know why he failed you

fucking disaster: especially when you didn't deserve it

sharpshooter: why do you care so much?

sharpshooter: i mean ofc i appreciate it but

fucking disaster: bcs ur my friend, lance

fucking disaster: obviously i care about you

sharpshooter: thank you... for talking to him

fucking disaster: np

sharpshooter: what did he say tho?

fucking disaster: just some bullshit abt you not meeting the criteria (which u did btw)

sharpshooter: ugh sometimes i just feel like iverson hates M E

fucking disaster: has he ever... idk, failed u for no reason?

sharpshooter: lmao yeah a bunch of times...

sharpshooter: why?

fucking disaster: i think he may have something personal against u idk

fucking disaster: and that's rly wrong for teachers to do... it can get him fired

sharpshooter: woah what

fucking disaster: i mean i'm pretty sure it's obvious he gives u bad grades only bcs he dislikes u

sharpshooter: i thought that too but 

sharpshooter: that can't be true

sharpshooter: he's a teacher, he can't do that

fucking disaster: u have the evidence, and i'm sure he does it to other students too

fucking disaster: it can get him in big trouble yk

sharpshooter: wow... i never thought i could /actually/ get to fire iverson

fucking disaster: yeah ig lol

sharpshooter: so

sharpshooter: hru

fucking disaster: fine

sharpshooter: you didn't seem fine today

sharpshooter: you can talk to me

fucking disaster: i already told you... i had some shit on my mind

sharpshooter: like what?

fucking disaster: more like who

sharpshooter: ...??

Keith took a deep breath. Was this it? Was now the time? His mind was frying as he thought of Shiro's advice. 'Don't think into details too much'. Keith bit his lip. You know what? He thought. Fuck it.

fucking disaster: lance

sharpshooter: yeah?

fucking disaster: i need to tell you something

sharpshooter: you're scaring me now lol

fucking disaster: im

Keith's heart was beating out of his chest. Was he really doing this?  

sharpshooter: you're?

fucking disaster: i'm in love with you

fucking disaster: and before you say anything, i know you don't feel the same way and i rly hope this doesn't ruin our friendship but i've been in love with you for around a year now idk... i'm not keeping count

fucking disaster: i just love /you/ and the way you make me smile whenever i see you and the way you make everyone else's day brighter and the way you don't even know how much you mean to people

fucking disaster: i also love the dorky stuff about you like how you watch star wars every week religiously and how you make everyone around you watch it too just so you can throw popcorn at them when they try to get out of it and i love how you scrunch ur nose up when ur confused and how you tilt your head when you don't understand something and how you sometimes snort when you laugh but try to cover it up by saying it was pidge. i love how you cry when you get rly happy and how you mess up ur hair when ur nervous and how you wear those dumb face masks to make ur skin so perfect bcs god it rly is amazing and soft and nice and i love how you have that shit eating grin when you get something right and how you stick your tongue out when you make fun of ppl and how you pout when ur disappointed and how u whine when u complain and sometimes ppl find it annoying but honestly i think it's cute and i love everything about you and every small thing u do and i just love /you/

sharpshooter: keith

sharpshooter: i literally have no idea

sharpshooter: what to say...

fucking disaster: crap i'm sorry

fucking disaster: i knew i shouldn't have said anything and i'm sorry for making things awkward

fucking disaster: i should have thought this through, right..?

fucking disaster: shit shit lance i'm so sorry

fucking disaster has blocked sharpshooter