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Keith looks in the mirror one last time before grabbing his keys and walking out of his apartment. He walks to his motorcycle, gets on, and heads towards Lance’s house. Lance had asked Keith if he could pick him up, and Keith had said yes since he only lives 15 minutes away. (He probably would’ve said yes even if Lance lived farther away, but… whatever.)
Driving his bike gives him some time to think. He’s feeling a little nervous because it’s a date. With Lance. His first date with Lance... Hopefully not his last.
When he pulls up to Lance’s house, he takes a deep breath and goes to the door. Earlier, Lance had sent him a text telling him the blue and yellow door is his. He knocks on the said door and takes a step back. From inside, he hears a familiar voice shout, ‘I’ll get it!”, followed by loud footsteps.
The door is flung open to reveal Lance with a big smile on his face. “Hey,” he starts, stepping to the side to let Keith in. “Hunk’s making grilled cheese right now. We can eat and then leave in like 30 minutes and we’ll make it in time.”
“Cool.” Keith eloquently says, smiling at Lance. Looking around, he notices the living room is cleaner than he thought it would be, considering the chaotic people who frequent the house.
“Hunk! We’re going to my room, call us when it’s done, pleaseandthankyou.” Hunk says okay, and he will, and then Lance is dragging Keith to the back of the duplex by his wrist. They pass the first room, and Keith catches a passing glance at a red flag with a blue rectangle in the top left corner. “Okay. Here we are.” Keith looks up to see Lance opening the next door.
Keith looks into Lance’s room and sees lots of things he expected, and lots of things he didn’t. Most noticeable is a big flag on the wall. It has five stripes (2 white and 3 blue) and a tilted red triangle with a white star in it. There are lots of smaller posters and pictures hung on the wall as well. There are posters with aliens, ballet shoes, and pictures of lots of different people. (His family and friends?) “The flag?” Keith questions.
Lance hums with a smile. “Cuba, where I’m from.” He walks over to the pictures. “These are my family.” He points at a picture of him, Hunk, Pidge, and a tall woman with long white hair and dark skin in front of this house. “This is when we first moved in. We had been planning to live with each other since I moved here in Sophmore year.” He points to another one of just him and the tall girl. They both had makeup on and were making silly faces. “This is Allura. You haven’t met her yet, but she lives with Pidge. We’re going to see her perform tonight.” Then he turns to face Keith and adds uncertainly, “Unless you want to do something else.”
Keith smiles. “No, that sounds great.”
Lance opens his mouth to respond but Hunk calls for them. Walking into the kitchen, Keith is hit with the most wonderful aroma he’s ever smelt. All of his senses are blessed when Hunk sets plates on the table and reveals grilled cheese with tomato soup. As they sit, Lance smiles while giving Keith a knowing look and says, “It tastes even better than it smells, as unbelievable as that seems.”
Keith takes a bite and is transported to heaven. “Wow.” Is all he says before putting more into his mouth.
“Do you want ice tea?” Lance asks. Keith notices the way he pronounces “ice” sounds more like “eyes”. Keith nods and Lance goes to get it. He comes back with two cups and starts to eat as well.
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“Okay Hunk, see you later. Love you!!” Lance says before grabbing a basket and leading Keith out the door.
“Love you too, be safe!” Keith hears Hunk shout as the door closes.
“Okay let's go.” Keith brings Lance to his motorcycle and hands him a helmet. Lance puts it on quickly and nods. “Have you ever rode before?” Lance quickly shakes his head no. “Okay, just hold on.” They get on and Lance wraps his arms tightly around Keith. As they take off, Lance lets out a squeak.
After five minutes of riding, Keith realizes Lance has relaxed. He isn’t holding on as tightly and he laughs when they go around turns. Keith chuckles and speeds up.
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When they get to the place, a small park with Christmas lights hung all over the place, Lance quickly jumps off the bike. He rips off the helmet with a laugh and runs his hands through his hair. “That was great!”
Keith can’t think straight with Lance’s big smile and bright eyes shining in the lights. “Yeah.” He mumbles.
At the sound of loud music starting, Lance jumps and grabs Keith’s wrist. “Let’s go! We have to get a good spot.” He leads Keith to the front in the middle ( “I mean, we could sit on the sides by the speakers, but the kids start getting bored and running around halfway through. Also, older people have to use the bathroom and will block the view. Trust me.” )
They sit, and after about two minutes, a figure walks onto the dark stage. People start to clap, and the music starts immediately. As soon as the lights on the stage go on, the girl is moving around on stage, doing leaps and turns. Keith feels eyes on him and instinctively turns to find Lance looking at him with a small smile on his face.
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After the woman is done dancing, Lance leads Keith to the side of the stage. “I go to Altea School of The Arts with Allura. Every weekend, they send someone to perform. Next week, me and Allura are going to be performing with some kids from the music program.”
“Cool,” Keith says with a small smile, hoping Lance understands that he isn’t bored, just bad with words.
Both boys turn when they hear a door opening. “ ‘Lura!” Lance shouts. “You did so good! Way better than Lotor’s crusty a-”
“Lance! Thank you, but please. Take a breather.” She then turns to Keith and introduces herself. “Hello, I’m Allura.”
“Hey, Keith.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m sorry, but I have to go, Romelle and I are going to Sal’s.”
“Have fun, stay safe, see you later, love you,” Lance shouts as he grabs Keith by the wrist and drags him away. Allura shouts her response, and Keith barely has time to wave over his shoulder before Lance is pulling him around a corner.
They end up at some swings surrounded by nothing but trees. “She’s so good at dancing.” Lance blurts out.
“Yeah.” Keith agrees. And he does mean it, Allura looked weightless on the stage. She did things Keith didn’t even know were possible.
“Maybe… Maybe next week, you can come and see me and Ally dance together.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Lance lets out a relieved sigh. “Great.”
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“I had a lot of fun tonight. Thanks for coming.” Lance says with a small smile as Keith drops him off in front of the duplex.
“I did too, thanks for the offer.” Keith starts, before adding hesitantly, “I’ll see you next week?”
“Yeah! I’ll have to be there earlier than you, so I don’t need a ride, but I will text you the info.”
“Great, thanks.”
There is a moment of silence, then Lance quickly goes on his tippy toes and gives Keith a quick kiss on the lips. Keith is shocked for a couple seconds, before he leans down and returns it. Lance pulls back with a small smile.
“Text you later.”