Chapter Text
When Lance first saw Keith, it was through the window of his new room. The McClain family had moved because Lance's abuela needed more help in her older age. Lance was scared to leave his old home and friends behind, that he wouldn't have any kids his age at all to play with, but when he saw the dark haired boy on the other side of the fence playing with rockets, the fear that filled Lance left him. Lance couldn't wait to meet the other boy right next door, and after he was done putting finishing touches to his room, immediately started trying to convince his family into doing a dinner and inviting the neighbors. Luckily, Lance's parents agreed to talk to the neighbors about coming over for a get to know you dinner that weekend. His mom even offered to walk next door the next day to ask. Lance could hardly sleep that night, not because of the creepy shadow and the tree tapping his winder, but because he was excited to meet the dark haired boy with the cool rockets.
The next day, after breakfast was cleaned up and chores were done, Lance and his mom wondered over to the house right next to theirs. When Lance knocked, an older brown haired boy answered the door. He had on a dark shirt with only one arm hole filled. He couldn't be more than 11 or 12 years old. Lance was jumping around in place as his mom told the boy who they are. When the boy moved to the side and called his parents to the door, Lance looked past his, hoping to see the young boy. Lance was rewarded with a small peak at him in the living room. The boy was sitting on the couch facing away from the door, his head bent down slightly. Lance wanted to know what the boy was doing but his mom had grabbed his shoulders and only then, did Lance realize that he was slowly leaning forward to the point that he could have fallen into the house.
The boy's parents were tall. The dad had the same dark hair as the younger boy while the mom had purple hair. Lance's mom explained Lance's idea of a get together and the two other parents quickly and happily agreed to the idea. The boy's dad said he could grill burgers and they arranged a time for them all to meet up. Just before Lance and his mom left, Lance finally spoke up.
"The other boy will be there, right?" Lance tried to look past the adults blocking the door to see the other boy and didn't see the adults shared smiles.
"Yes, he will be there," the boy's mom answered. She glanced back behind her and looked down at the young boy on her doorstep. "In fact, let me check something real fast." The woman slipped into the house and a few minutes later, had the young boy with her. "Lance, this is Keith. Keith, this is Lance. His family and him moved into the house right next to us. Tomorrow, we are planning on having dinner with them." The boy, Keith, was smaller than Lance. Lance smiled and waved to the boy.
"Hi! I noticed you playing in your backyard yesterday when I was decorating my room. Do you want to come out and play with me? I got a few rockets, too. I don't know if I have as many as you but they still exist. I also have a few cars and a few Nerf guns. Maybe we can-" He noticed the boy had been slowly turning redder by the second.
"Isn't that a little weird? To watch people play in their backyards?" Keith had crossed his small arms and glared at Lance, who was a little confused. Before Lance could apologize to the other boy, Keith had turned and stormed back into the house. Lance wanted to follow Keith but knew his mama wouldn't like him entering other people's houses that they had just met. Lance looked up to the adults and back into the house where Keith had disappeared.
"Don't worry about him," Keith's dad comforted. The man had patted Lance's head before continuing. "He is just a little shy. Probably didn't expect being watched by the new neighbor." He had winked down at the worried Cuban boy. When Lance and his mom had said their goodbyes and went back to the house, Lance's mom thumped him on the head and scolded him on watching the neighbors. Lance explained how he wasn't technically watching the other boy, Lance had just noticed Keith playing outside. The two didn't see Keith was looking down at them returning to their own house with red cheeks.
The next day, the McClain family had brought over a few dishes to the neighbor's house and was welcomed in by the older boy. Those who were holding food was herded into the kitchen while the rest were welcomed to grab a drink and go into the backyard. Lance looked around for Keith but couldn't find him. He decided to sit down on the ground and look through the grass when he heard foot steps come up behind him.
"What are you doing?" It was Keith. Lance looked up, red had spread across his cheeks.
"I'm looking for a four leaf clover." Lance bit his lip and stood up in front of the other boy. "I wanted to say sorry for yesterday. I wasn't watching you, I swear. I just had noticed that you were outside. I was kinda scared that there wasn't going to be other kids my age here, but when I saw you, I was really excited. Mama says that when I get excited, I get too excited. I try to work on it but it's kinda hard." Lance bent down to pick a flower from the grass and handed it to Keith. "Please accept my apology?" Keith took the flower and smiled up at Lance.
"I guess I can. Anyways, it gets kind of boring with just Shiro around. There are other kids here too." For the rest of the event, the two were inseparable. They talked about the other kids on the street, and played with Keith's rockets and ships.