Chapter Text
"Are you sure it's okay?" Lance asked again, eyes casting over to the 9-month-old that happily bounced on Shay's knee.
"Of course, Lance! Go! Have fun! Hunk, Vivian and I will be here having an amazing time," she insisted with truthful eyes, then glanced down to the little girl on her lap. "Won't we Vivian?" Vivian smiled that perfect little angelic smile of hers, probably in reaction to the high pitch of Shay's bubbly tone.
"But what if-"
"Lance," Hunk cut him off, putting his warm, reassuring hands on Lance's tense shoulders. "It's going to only be a few hours while you go with Pidge to get her tattoo. We're going to be fine. She is going to just fine. Look at her-" Lance did just that, and a small smile spreads across his lips as he saw his daughter giggle as Shay tickled her tummy. "She's in great hands!"
"I know she is," Lance admitted. He sighed, feet shuffling. "I just don't like... you know? Leaving her for so long."
"It'll be a couple of hours."
"She won't know that! What if she gets confused? Like, wonders where I am and thinks I've left her?" Lance exasperated. He noticed Hunk's downtrodden expression and sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm acting crazy, you're right."
"Of course I am buddy." Hunk went back to grinning and gave Lance a comforting pat on the back. "Go on, have fun with Pidge. If you take any longer she's going to be late for her appointment."
Lance nodded, took a deep breath and walked over to Shay and Vivian. He leaned down and gave his daughter a quick kiss on her soft, chubby cheek.
"I'll be back soon Vivi. You have fun with Uncle Hunk and Aunty Shay." She made some baby blabbering noise, arms flailing. Lance smiled and ruffled her dark hair. "Good girl." He looked back up at Hunk. "I guess I'll be off then. Thanks for looking after her for me."
"Anytime Lance!" Shay insisted for her boyfriend.
After a few reluctant steps towards the door, Lance made his way outside of the apartment complex and towards his car. It was the first time he had been alone in months. It felt weird not to have those big blue eyes watching his every move with inquisitiveness and dependence.
Lance sighed and jumped into his car, hoping the guilt would dissolve away.
* * *
"So, what are you thinking of getting?" Lance asked as he his parked the car on the side of the street.
"I'll show you, I've got a picture on my phone," Pidge murmured, now pulling her phone out of her pocket. As she did, Lance turned the car off, peering out the window at the Tattoo parlor as he waited.
"Marmora Designs, huh?" It was a simple looking shop. Black signs and painted exterior - very edgy - but that's what they were probably going for. Along that was large glass windows, that was probably to allow bountiful natural light and to make it not look as intimidating for newcomers.
"Yup! One of my friend's works here. I've known him practically my whole life. He's the best of the best - here!" She said showed Lance an Instagram page that was obviously dedicated to tattoos. The designs were all intricate and a mixture of pretty flowers, skulls, animals, dragons and everything in between.
"What are you getting?" Lance asked as he scrolled down the page of endless photos.
"Remember the robot I made first year in college?"
"Rover? How could I forget! I'll never get the image of him catching on fire out of my head."
"Yeah, well I'm getting a tattoo of them."
Lance wiped an invisible tear from the corner of his eye. "What a lovely tribute."
"I agree," she grinned proudly at herself.
The front door dinged as they walked into the empty parlor. The only life present was the radio playing softly in background, humming something alternative and unfamiliar. Lance glanced to Pidge. He was beginning to wonder if she had made a mistake on the time due to the barrenness when a man walked into the room from the 'STAFF ONLY' door.
He looked like your stereotypical tattoo artist. Dressed in a loose tank top, which seemed to be a strategy to show off covered arms. From here, Lance could see a Lion. Some just looked to be patterns, or symbols. If the lack of sleeves was to not to show off his tattoos, it could also be to show off his muscles, Lance wasn't sure. Even when Lance had time to workout, he could never build himself like that, and they looked a similar height too. How unfair.
From what he could see, the tattoo artist didn't have any other visible tattoos. None on his face or weird shit. Which was probably a good thing. The guy was actually rather handsome.
His appearance probably deserved more than a 'rather handsome' but the one thing that took him down a notch was his hair.
"A mullet? What year is this?" Lance murmured under his breath as he approached.
"That's the first thing you comment on?" Pidge murmured back.
"Haven't chickened out yet?" Mullet Man asked, picking up a sketch book and put it on the counter. Lance took a quick glance at it.
"No, and if you insist I am again I'll gut you Keith." So, Mullet Man's name was Keith.
"Duly noted. Is this your moral support?" Keith said, and it took a moment for Lance to realise he was actually talking to him, grey eyes overlooking him intensely.
"Yup." Lance said popping the p. Nine months ago, Lance would've nailed this guy with some smooth ass pick up line. But shit changes and it's been too long since he's actually spoken to an attractive stranger.
"Lance," Pidge supplied when he didn't. Keith nodded.
"Cool, nice to meet you. Let's go get organised. Follow me." Keith turned around, leading them up a few steps and into a separate area of the shop where there was a large seat, a bench full of appliances, rubber gloves and a few other bits and bobs Lance wouldn't know what were. The walls were also covered in designs, and there was an open display folder with pictures of tattoos he had obviously done in the past. They looked good. Lance was confident this guy wasn't a dud and wasn't going to ruin his friend's skin.
"Pidge, this your first tattoo, right?" Keith asked. "I feel honoured."
"You'd kill me if I got one that wasn't done by you," she said with a grin. Lance hadn't realised how chummy these guys were. He wondered why they'd never crossed paths before.
"Good. Glad you're aware. We should go through some safety shit to start with. But first, I need you to sign this consent form-"
By this stage Lance had successfully zoned out and was flipping through the folder with photos of Keith's work just for something to do. He was really good, just like his Instagram page implied. He'd done a lot of tattoos on both males and females and on every body part imaginable; ankles, wrists, necks, fingers, ribs, arms, legs and even few butts and breasts.
"You looking for something yourself?" Keith's voice brought Lance out of his own mind. When Lance looked up, he noticed that Pidge had the sleeve of her shirt rolled up, and Keith was wiping the area with what smelt like disinfectant.
"Me? Oh, no. Just looking. They're cool. You're talented. I can't even draw stick figures," Lance blabbered out awkwardly. Keith smiled nonetheless.
"Thanks. Tats aren't for everyone. I get it."
"More like Lance here is afraid of needles," Pidge supplied smugly.
"I am not!" Lance lied with a huff. He didn't want to look like a loser in front of the handsome man who worked with needles for a living. Fucking Pidge, throwing him under the bus like that.
Said handsome man just chuckled, throwing the disinfectant wipe in the bin. He then pulled out a stencil of the design Pidge had picked out and ink (not of the permanent kind).
"You wouldn't be the first person who has walked in here who didn't like needles. They're not the nicest things," he said, brows bunching up concentration as he pressed the stencil to her arm and began to fill it in. When he was finished, he pulled out a mirror and showed her the design that was on the top of her art where her shoulder was. "How's this? Remember, it's going to be on there forever, so make sure you're happy with it."
"I love it," she smiled excitedly, looking like an eager child in front of an ice cream store.
Thinking of children made Lance feel nauseous with guilt for leaving Vivian. He checked to make sure there weren't any messages from Hunk or Shay. There weren't. That was a good sign... right?
"Cool, let's start this then." Lance watched in horror as Keith pulled out a massive killing machine. It looked like some sort of torture device. In a way it kind of was.
Lance felt his stomach go queasy.
"You ready?" Keith said and Lance knew this wasn't directed at him, but he was in no way ready for that to jab the fuck out of Pidge's arm.
Lance must of missed the part where Pidge said yes or nodded her consent because then Keith turned on the unholy device.
Lance suddenly felt light headed.
"Dios mío," Lance mumbled under his breath before he passed out.
* * *
"Welcome to the land of the living," a voice pulled Lance out of unconsciousness. He looked up to see a blurry figure. At first, he thought it was Pidge, but the voice was all too familiar and distinctively male.
"Matt?" Lance murmured, feeling like he just came out of a deep sleep. He blinked a few times to clear his vision.
"Hi. How's it hanging?" Matt grinned. Lance groaned in response.
"What happened?" he grumbled, sitting upright on a red sofa.
"You saw the big needle and went night night," Matt's mockery made Lance scowl. "Seriously though, you good?" he asked, now sounding like a good friend; genuinely concerned.
"I'm fine." Lance looked around the unfamiliar room and frowned. "Here's another question; where the fuck am I?"
"The staff room of Marmora Designs Tattoo Parlour. Katie is still getting her tattoo done."
"I am the worst moral support," Lance whined in despair. He had gone out today to join Pidge and be there for when she got her first tattoo and had let her down by passing out at the sight of the needle.
"She's fine. Her and Keith have been friends for years."
That's right, Keith.
Not only was Lance crappy moral support, but he had embarrassed himself in front of the hot tattoo artist.
Awesome.
"Oh, he's awake!" A girl burst into the room with long blonde hair pulled back into two long French braids. She raced over to the couch and put the back of her hand on Lance's forehead. With her so close, Lance can see she has a few petite, minimalist tattoos up her arms and a nose stud.
"Umm..." Lance murmured, glancing to Matt, hoping he knew who this random pretty girl was and why she was touching his face.
"Oh!" She squeaked, retreating her hand. "I'm sorry! My name is Romelle! I'm a nurse - well training to be one anyway - and I checked up on you to make sure you weren't hurt while you were unconscious!" she rambled out quickly like a whirlwind of words. "Are you in any pain?"
"I think I'm fine thank you." Lance murmured out, beyond embarrassed. Suddenly the freight train of realisation hit Lance. "Vivian!" He shouted out and Matt smiled.
"Don't worry, I called Hunk and Shay. She's fine." Lance let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank god." Lance relaxed. He was going to need to do something nice for those two for all this trouble. Like one of those giant teddy bears or something with a card saying 'sorry I passed out and was unable to get in contact with you while left you alone with my infant'.
The girl - Romelle - fidgeted.
"So, are you sure you're alright? You're rather pale," the concern in her voice was genuine. A perfect stranger worrying about his health, she'd be a good nurse.
"I'm okay," he insisted as he sat up. "Pidge is never going to let me down for this one," he grumbled, a hand going to his fuzzy head. Just like the universe had heard him, the door opened and Pidge paraded into the room, cling wrap over her arm.
"Nice to know you aren't dead Lance."
And so it begins.
"I should have just brought Shay. You and Hunk are weak."
"Well I'm sorry I was afraid for your welfare! That thing was going to be stabbing you multiple times!" There was a low chuckle as Keith walked into the room after Pidge.
"You make it sound like it's some sort of murder weapon," he said, a teasing glint in his eyes that had Lance going red cheeked. Humiliated. He wanted to bury his head in the sand. "You okay though? You were out to it when I carried you here."
... huh?
"Carried?" Lance asked and Matt laughed.
"You were super zonked out. Keith bridal style carried you to the staff room couch."
Lance looked down at the couch he was currently sitting on. He hadn't even thought of how he got here. Apparently he had Keith to thank for.
"O-oh." He stammered, face heating up. He's so embarrassed. He goes out for a day without Vivian for the first time in months, passes out and gets carried by an attractive stranger who was also Pidge's tattoo artist and childhood friend.
Lance was never leaving his house again. He and Vivian were officially becoming hermits.
He looked to Keith, who had pink cheeks himself.
"Thank you. I'm sorry about that," Lance apologised, face red as he wringed his hands.
"It's fine," Keith insisted evenly, not quite looking Lance in the eyes. He held a jar filled with red jelly beans out to him. "Sugar?" he asked, cheeks pink. Both Matt and Pidge snickered behind their hands while Lance smiled sheepishly, taking one.
"Thanks."
"Oh Keith, forever the smooth talker. How do you not have a boyfriend I wonder?" Matt pondered out loud, humming over dramatically. Lance piqued at the new information of Keith being into guys as he chewed. Interesting.
Keith flushed red. "Shut up!" he snapped like a bristling cat. It was quite the contrast from his cool calm and collective guy he first met, it was almost humourous to watch.
"Oh no need to be shy Keith!" Matt insisted. "Now that I think about it, how long has it been since you've been on a date?"
There was a ding outside the staff room door.
"I have to get back to work," Keith muttered before dashing for the door, leaving the four of them back alone.
"Does he know we're technically not allowed back here?" Romelle asked. "Nobody here is an actual staff member." They all exchanged a short look. Matt pointed to the jar Keith left behind in his flurry.
"Yo, we should eat the rest of those jellybeans."
* * *
"Heard you carried a pretty damsel in distress today," Shiro snickered, using the cocktail shaker to mix up his latest creation. Keith glared at his brother from under his lashes. "Thought you'd be a little merrier about that. No need to shoot daggers at me."
"Who even told... Matt." Keith said, answering his own question.
"Matt," Shiro confirmed, pouring the liquid he was shaking into a tall glass. "Here, taste this for me. What do you think?" He asked as Keith took a swig. He put the glass down.
"Tastes like ass."
"So you liked it?"
"Loved it. How the hell do you do that? What's even in this?" he asked. It was a peculiar, very strong alcoholic taste.
"A mixologist must never give away his secrets." Shiro had been working in a bar since he was 18 to help pay his college bills. He majored in business and ended up owning his own bar. He became a mixologist and was one of the best in the area. People came to his bar just to try his drinks. Also, to ogle, but he was famous for his drinks, not his looks. "So, this guy..." he trailed off.
"Lance," Keith supplied reluctantly.
"Lance. Is he cute? Matt said you looked rather smitten. That you were actually nice to him. Gave him a jellybean and all, how sweet."
Keith scoffed. "I'm nice to plenty of people."
"Not when you first meet them. Was he really that cute?"
He really was that cute. Brown skin hidden under jeans and oversized hoodie. His hair was messy and a little under done, like it was supposed to have a certain style that he just didn't have time to attend to or was getting too long for his liking. Eyes blue, very blue. The kind of blue where you assumed it was fake. But Keith wouldn't understand that if he had time to put coloured contacts in when he couldn't put a brush through his hair. But he kinda also looked like he hadn't slept in about thirty years, with dark shadows under his eyes and a nervous stammer.
Despite it, Keith thought he was incredibly endearing.
"And you've been silent for the past thirty seconds thinking about how cute he is... Huh, you really are smitten." Shiro chuckled, elbows leaning against the counter. "You know what you should do?"
"Don't say it."
"Get his number."
"I told you not to say it," Keith rolled his eyes, spinning on the bar stool with a frown.
"I see nothing wrong with you just asking for his number for the next time you see him. You will see him again. He's good friends with Pidge, right?"
"... Yeah."
"So next time you see him just talk to him! Get to know him a little better. Or maybe ask Pidge for it."
Keith's mouth twitched, a nervous habit of his.
"I dunno," he murmured, twirling his straw in his cup.
"There's no shame in trying. Now..." Shiro trailed off, holding out a new drink for Keith to taste test. "Try this one for me?"
* * *
"Ahhh," Lance said, mimicking the movement of opening his mouth. Vivian giggled at his antics, but still didn't open her mouth for her sweet potato. "Ahhh!" Lance repeated with a little more passion. Her smiled brightened enough for her mouth to open, giving him room to slip one last mouthful of goop into her mouth.
It was lunchtime, and Lance's mama and sister Veronica would be coming over to visit soon. The weekly visits were always the best. It was nice to have his family around. Having someone to help look after Vivian gave Lance a couple of hours to get shit done. Like grocery shopping. He needed food in the house that wasn't baby food or baby formula.
Lance used Vivian's bib to wipe off the orange goop on her face with a fond smile. She was in an especially good mood today; all smiles and giggles. These days were the best, the easiest in reminding Lance why he was doing this. That he hadn't made the wrong decision. All those smiles made the sleepless nights all worth it.
Lance lifted the baby out of the high-chair and placed her on his hip as he went to the couch to play some quality peek-a-boo. They did this until the doorbell rang, signaling his mother and sister's arrival.
"It's open!" he called out, lifting Vivian so that her feet were on Lance's thighs. Her toes curled as she squirmed excitedly as he held her in the standing position.
Lance's mama and Veronica walked into the room all smiles and grins. His mama didn't waste a second before she scooped Vivian in her arms and coddled her with kisses and smiles. And to think Lance used to be the favourite...
Veronica smiled. "You look like you've been sleeping better," she noted as she sat down beside him on the couch.
"I have been getting a solid 5 hours."
"Impressive," she snickered. "She's grown. Her hair is longer."
It had only been month since Veronica had last visited due to a long business trip out of town. A month was a long time when it came to babies. Vivian had grown so much in that short amount of time.
"Lance, sweetheart," his mama gained his attention. "I was thinking of cooking you some meals, you're not eating enough. Do you have any ingredients?" she asked and Lance flinched. She tutted, shaking her head. "Go down to the shops mijo, I'll make you a list. Veronica and I can look after Vivian while you're gone." She looked to her granddaughter and booped her noise. "We can have some quality, girl time."
Lance remembered the last time he had left Vivian and hesitated. It had been two weeks ago, but the embarrassment of passing out was still burning hot in his stomach.
"Do I have to?" he asked antsy. She gave him a frown that was as enough answer as any. "Fine." Lance grumbled, stalking over to Vivian who babbled as he placed a quick kiss to her head. "I'll be back soon Vivi. Be good. Okay?" He grinned down at his little girl as she made a noise and extended her arms out to Lance, obviously wanting to be held. "Sorry sweetpea, I gotta go to the shops so I don't have to eat your baby food."
"Pa," she managed out.
"Uh-huh, Papa will be back later," he told her although she didn't really understand. He looked down to his mama and pouted. "Hope you have fun. She's going to cry the second I walk out that door."
She huffed, holding Vivian closer to her chest. "I can handle a screaming child. I raised you, didn't I?" Lance chuckled and gave Vivian a final kiss to the cheek before he turned and grabbed his keys.
The rattle of them was enough for Vivian to begin to whimper. Keys meant leaving. He forced himself to not look back over his shoulder as he left the apartment. By the time he had closed the door he could hear the onset of tears.
"Told you so," Lance muttered softly as he reluctantly walked away.
* * *
Lance was reaching for the mixed spices when he heard his name.
"Lance?" The voice made his head turn. It didn't sound completely unfamiliar, but not instantly recognisable.
When he did look, he saw the same man he completely humiliated himself in front of two weeks prior. Keith was wearing dark joggers, a sleeveless hoodie and had his dark hair was swept back into a pony tail.
Holy mother of god how dare he look that good.
"Oh- uh, hi!" Lance stumbled on his words, face already pink as he forced his eyes to stay on Keith's face.
"I thought that was you," the man smiled, it wobbled shyly as he seemed stuck on what to say. "How are you after the other week?" he asked, taking a step closer to get out of the way of an elderly lady walking down the aisle who gave him (and his tattoos) a dirty look.
"Oh yeah! Totally fine! Super! Superb even," Lance blurted, ending with a cringe worthy laugh. Oh, how he wish he wasn't so awkward. He really needed to get out more.
"That's good to hear," he smiled softly. "I was wondering if you were free next weekend? Pidge and I were talking about having a group gathering since we have so many mutual friends. She said she wanted to invite you, but apparently you're busy a lot, so she wasn't sure if you'd be able to come."
Pidge had mentioned it to Lance offhandedly a couple of days ago. But it had gotten lost in the tangle of everything else on Lance's mind. She'd told him a few friends were going and that sounded instantly tiring for Lance, meeting a new bunch of people.
God, Lance had changed so much in such a short amount of time.
But knowing Keith was going to be there - handsome, sweet, hot as hell tattoo artist Keith - made the idea seem much more appealing.
"Umm..." He'd need to get a baby sister. Maybe Veronica or his mama could pull through for him? There was a certain amount of guilt that came with that though. He didn't like to rely on his family too often since he was the one who was adamant that he could raise Vivian on his own.
"I will try my best," Lance said and why the hell would he say that? "I should be able to," he added on to sound a little more confident. Idiot!
Keith smiled. Worth it.
"Sounds good," he said and gestured to Lance's shopping cart. "I should let you get back to your shopping."
"Yeah," Lance chuckled, ready to push his shopping cart away, but Keith spoke before he could.
"Oh, Lance before you go," Keith murmured as he dug his hand into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. "Can I get your number? That way you can let me know if you're coming." Lance's eyes widened a little, glancing from the phone back to Keith's eyes.
"Sure," he decided. Because why the fuck not? Yes Lance, you give your number to a hot dude. Fatherhood hadn't changed shit, he's still got it.
He took the phone from Keith's hand with shaky fingers, put his number in, then rang his own phone. He always used to call himself after giving his number away, a kind of 'now we've both got each other's' . When was the last time he had pulled that trick? Old habits die hard apparently.
"There we go," Lance smiled as felt himself blush brighter when Keith grinned.
"Cool, let me know if you can come. Pidge would be happy if you did. You guys seem close."
"Yeah we are, I met her through my best friend Hunk," he explained to him, not sure why he felt the need to. Keith nodded like he gave a damn.
"Her brother Matt is my brother's best friend. We've always gotten along," Keith elaborated his own side. "I was surprised when she asked me to do a tattoo for her. She always called me a thug for mine." A laugh escaped Lance's lips which seemed to catch Keith off guard.
"That does sound like a Pidge thing to say. I think you're too sweet to be a thug though." Lance felt proud of himself when he saw Keith's face go red. Oh yeah, he's still got game.
"Thanks," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll let you go now."
"I'll see you later Keith," he said politely before pushing the cart away, nearly slamming into the spices shelf since he wasn't looking where the hell he was going, a silly little smile on his face.
* * *
When Keith knew that Lance had fully turned away and pushed his cart around and down the aisle, he pumped his fists in the air in a silent victory.
* * *
Lance could hear giggling before he even opened the door. He had four large bags filled with ingredients, two in each hand. It was a bit of an effort to open the door and grab his keys from his back pocket, but he eventually got it.
From inside the front door, he could see Vivian crawling from in between Veronica and his mama. A squeal of delight left her mouth as she spotted him. He gave her a quick wave of hello and it was an immediate success because her course changed from crawling to Veronica to him.
Vivian McClain at nine months old was an expert at crawling. Lance fancied himself to say that she'd be an Olympian one day, but for now, crawling was plenty enough. She chased after him as he walked to the kitchen. The baby babble was loud and expressive at his feet while he put the groceries away.
It went a little something like this.
"How was your time with your Abuela and Tía Veronica?" Lance asked.
She went on in her babble, none of it making not even a wink of sense.
"Wow really? Tía Veronica did what last weekend?" Lance looked over his shoulder at his older sister. "How scandalous." Veronica rolled her eyes. "What else did you do?
She went onto another little ramble for about thirty seconds.
"No way!"
She giggled at his tone.
"What else?"
Vivian went onto babble a little more, sitting her butt down on the ground, sick of crawling.
"Now tell me, were you a good girl?" he asked, leaning down to pick her up. She giggled, light and high. "I'm happy to hear that. You're a little angel, huh?" he asked, pressing a few loud kisses to her cheeks.
"You're in a good mood," Veronica noted as Lance carried Vivian back to the couch. He sat her on his knee, grabbing her rabbit blanket - affectionately named B.B (for Bunny Blanket) - to keep her entertained while his mama got up to go make him enough food to last him a month. God bless her soul. "Did something good happen while shopping?"
Lance instantly thought about handsome tattoo artist Keith and flushed red. He cleared his throat and noticed the way Veronica's brow raised, intrigued.
"I bumped into a friend. Not really a friend actually... Probably an acquaintance, but yeah, I was talking to him for a little bit. He's friends with Pidge and they organised a get together and was wondering if I was going and asked for my number and stuff," Lance rambled. Veronica's eyebrows rose higher.
"And does this kinda friend, kinda acquaintance have a name?"
"Keith, I passed out and he carried me bridal style," Lance blurted out with no reason at all. She looked very concerned.
"Passed out? When did this happen?"
"I went with Pidge when she got a tattoo."
"You passed out when you saw the needle, didn't you?"
"I passed out when I saw the needle," he confirmed, making her laugh. "It's not funny! I could've passed out and landed on a needle and died!"
"Okay so why was Keith there?"
"Keith was the tattoo artist."
"Lance no," she blanched.
"What?"
"You're crushing on the tattoo artist? I thought you were done with bad boys?"
"I don't have a crush on him-" lie, "I've only had two conversations with him. I don't even know his last name. And he's definitely not a bad boy." Lance reflected on the way Keith blushed as he asked for his number. "He's... sweet."
"Yeah, and remember what you said about Liam?"
"But-"
"And Georgina?"
"Technically not a bad boy-"
"Don't even get me started on Sam."
"Okay, okay! I get it!" Lance huffed and wrapped his arms around Vivian a little tighter. "It doesn't even matter. I can't date anyone at the moment. He wouldn't want to date me when he realised I was a two package deal," he said, resting his chin on Vivian's head, soft, dark hair soft against his chin.
Veronica sighed in slight resignation.
"You know you could've let mama raise her. Or Luis. They both offered."
"Like hell, she asked me to do it. I'm not going to let her down." Lance said indefinitely, brows scrunched up in irritation. The air turned thick and awkward for a moment. That was the end of that conversation.
"So, are you going to go?" she asked after a few long minutes of silence. Lance frowned.
"I dunno..."
"You should go. You need to get out more. I can look after her for you if you want." Veronica wasn't the first person who insisted he needed to get out more. Lance nibbled on his bottom lip in thought. "And hey, it's not like you have to marry the guy, you could just like... hook up with this Keith guy." Lance blushed, covering Vivian's ears, making Veronica laugh. "Seriously?"
"I feel dirty!"
"Never stopped you before Vivian."
"Now I'm supposed to be a good role model!"
"Lance, you're 22, you're allowed to have sex with some random guy if you want to," Veronica told him with a fond roll of her eyes. "I'll take her. I'll get a shift off at the restaurant. You can have fun for a night."
Lance felt the guilt roll off him in waves.
"You're allowed to have fun Lance. Just because you're a dad now doesn't mean you can't be you. I haven't seen you dress the same since you brought Vivian home."
"I dressed like a hoe."
"That's because you kind of are a hoe."
"Were." Lance corrected. He couldn't remember the last the he masturbated, let alone had sex. He definitely had lost his 'lover-boy' trademark. "You should of see me Veronica, I can barely flirt anymore!"
"You're rusty, that's all. Flirt with Keith. Get back in the groove. You'll be fine Lance."
Lance sighed and thought about the man with the inked up arms and sweet smile.
Something didn't settle right in his stomach at the thought of Lance using Keith as a one night stand, which before Vivian wouldn't of worried him too much. He had one night stands all the time. Flirted to anyone he deemed worth it.
Lance looked to the bundle of perfect in his lap and smiled.
This little girl was making Lance a better person already, and she had only been on this earth for such a short time.
Lance was never going to regret her.
* * *
Keith walked into the bar with a massive grin and shoved his phone in Shiro's face. The screen was showcasing his latest achievement; getting Lance's phone number.
"And you said I wouldn't do it." Shiro grabbed at the phone, pulling it back so he could look at the screen. The corner of his lips curved upwards.
"I'm impressed."
"And I might have convinced him to come to the group gathering and your apartment next weekend."
Shiro laughed as he polished a glass.
"Well I can't wait to meet him and see what has you all worked up," he mused. "Want a free drink to help celebrate?"
Keith slid onto a bar stool and smirked. "I think I deserve two."