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Laughter echoes out on the patio, but Lance sits on his bench, swirling a glass of red wine.
"Lance?"
He turns and sees Keith, holding the door to the party open. Even though his dark hair is pulled back into ponytail, some pieces have fallen to frame his face. He's ditched his white jacket and tie, opting to wear just his red vest with the sleeves rolled up on his white shirt. His dark eyebrows are pulled together, concern clearly written on his face.
Despite the sadness clawing at Lance's heart, he finds himself enamored with his boyfriend, much like he always is.
"Hey," he says in reply.
Keith lets the door fall shut and walls across the patio to sit next to him on the bench.
"Honey, what are you doing out here by yourself?" Keith asks.
Lance shrugs, bringing his glass up to take a sip. "Just thinking about how she should be here," he replies once he's finished drinking.
Immediately, Keith's eyebrows unfurrow. "Lance…" he starts.
"Allura should be here, you know?" Lance continues. "She should see us get married and have kids and what we look like with wrinkles and gray hair."
Keith sighs. He drops his head to rest on Lance's shoulder and takes his hand, lacing their fingers together. "Do you want company?"
"You can stay if you want," he replies honestly. "I just didn't want to bring everyone down. It's Shiro and Curtis' big day and all."
"I highly doubt they would be bothered by this, but I'll sit with you if you want."
Lance just nods in reply. They sit in silence for a few minutes while Lance sips his wine and holds his boyfriend's hand.
It's been years, and Lance has gotten over losing Allura as a love. He loved her, but he eventually realized he felt platonic feelings for her in comparison to what he feels for the man sitting next to him. But he misses her as a friend, and there's always a bittersweet edge to happy days like today, the day of Shiro's wedding. It's not right that she's not here.
After a few minutes of silence, Keith clears his throat.
"Remember that one planet with the ball?" he asks. "And Allura and Coran had to teach us all those traditional dances?"
He chuckles, remembering the Alteans' exasperation at how bad the humans could be at dancing. Lance had been able to hold his own after years and years of dance lessons with his sisters, but the other four were helpless. Especially Keith.
"You're so graceful in battle," Lance says. "But dancing? It's like your feet have been chopped off!"
Keith laughs. "Remember when we finally gave up on it, and you started twirling Allura through all the Cuban dances?"
Lance smiles fondly. "Yeah. She was legitimately impressed too. 'Lance, you're so graceful!'"
"She loved dancing with you," Keith replies. "You could tell."
The smile on Lance's face falls, just a little bit. He takes another sip of his wine.
"She'd want you in there," Keith continues. "Not sitting out here. By yourself. Drinking red wine. And not dancing."
Lance cuts his eyes at the top of his boyfriend's head, which is still resting on his shoulder. So that's why he brought that story up.
Well, he's not wrong.
He sighs and throws back his last sip of red wine, placing the empty glass on the bench. He stands up, still holding his boyfriend's hand.
"Keith Kogane, the great love of my life," he says, looking into his boyfriend's violet eyes. "Will you please dance with me?"
Keith smiles, like he knew all along he could get Lance out of his funk. Knowing him, he probably did.
"Of course," his boyfriend replies as Lance pulls him to standing. Once Keith is on his feet, he leans in for a sweet kiss and another and another.
"Hey," Keith says, pulling away. "It's okay if you miss her."
"I know," he replies. "But I should be celebrating what makes me happy. Like you. Like dancing with you."
"Even if I step on your feet?" Keith asks.
"Even then." He pulls Keith back towards the patio door that leads to the dance floor.
And Keith does step on his feet, but Lance laughs the whole time. They dance through fast songs and slow songs until it's the end of the night and they're the last ones, twirling and twirling under the sparkling fairy lights.