Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Keith

“Shit shit shit shit!”  Keith panicked as he bound down the steps of his apartment building, keys in one hand and helmet in the other. His black messenger bag bounced against his side as he ran to his bike. The chrome pinstripes gleamed against the matte black in the afternoon light and he climbed on and turned the key, the engine roaring to life. He pulled his choppy black hair into a low ponytail before clipping on his red helmet and pulling onto the main road. The wind rushed up the sleeves of his deep red leather jacket as he sped to the campus library. It was a grand building, made mostly of brick with marble accents and two grecian  columns at the top of the marble stairs, which were guarded by two stone lions at the bottom of the steps. Keith killed the engine as he coasted into his parking spot, unclipping his helmet and patting the lion as he jogged up the stairs to the heavy oak door.

He’d only been working at the Altean Campus Library for a couple weeks, and he did not want to make a bad impression. His boss, an eccentric older man with an Extremely unruly orange mustache poked around the corner just as Keith punched in, only a couple minutes late.
“Keith my boy! I’m glad you made it, I was beginning to worry.”
“Sorry Coran,” Keith glanced at his feet as he pulled his helmet off, “I lost track of time, it won’t be a habit I promise.”
Coran waved it off, “Ah don’t worry about it, just get cracking,” and with that he disappeared into the office. Keith walked behind the check out desk, stuffing his bag underneath and sitting down with a sigh in the cushy chair. He’d only been sitting for a moment when a short, auburn haired kid appeared at the counter with a smirk.

“Wow Keith, late two days in a row. Better watch out if you don’t want me taking all your hours.” Pidge grinned her mischievous grin, adjusting their large round frames glasses on their nose.
“It’s only the second time in two weeks, keep dreaming.” He rolled his eyes at his short coworker and got up. “You get to work the computer, I’m gonna go reshelve books.”
“You’re gonna have to talk to people eventually you know.”
“Not if I can help it,” he huffed and grabbed the cart full of returned books waiting to go back on the shelves.

Although it was a campus library, it was fairly small with only two floors and five slightly out of date computers. There were multiple round tables, surrounded by plush chairs and a lamp on either half. In the back of the first floor there were two smaller tables with two couches on either side of them with dim lamps, meant for recreational reading and the occasional nap.

Keith pushed his cart past the few large windows on the right, most of the books he had to put back were history novels, and there were no students studying at the moment so he had some much needed quiet. He was in his second year at Altea University as a liberal arts/ art history double major, and he still wasn’t accustomed to so many people. He’d taken up the job as assistant librarian because of his brother's suggestion, and he honestly loved it. Especially since he had been previously working at a 7/11. He hummed softly to himself as he stacked the books in their rightful places, enjoying the afternoon sun filtering through the floor to ceiling window behind him when he heard the door open and multiple students step in. So much for his quiet shift.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Lance

       Lance’s leg bounced excited as he struggled to pay attention for the remaining twenty minutes of class, his striking blue eyes constantly flitting to the clock instead of what his professor was projecting on the board. He had promised his friends that he would meet them at the library as soon as his class was over and the time just couldn’t move fast enough. When his professor finally wrapped up his lecture Lance practically sprinted out of the hall, into the warm afternoon sun, and towards the on campus library.

In all honesty, Lance had only been to the Altean Campus Library a few times in his entire first year at the school, studying just wasn’t his strong suit. It wasn’t that he didn’t try, he just couldn’t make himself focus. The words would just start to blur and float around his head like they were flying off the page and into his peripherals. And self imposed deadlines? Forget it. He knew the guy who made those deadlines and he’s full of shit.

When he approached the impressive building he was almost caught off guard by how grand it was, the sunlight accenting all the deep, earthy tones on the brick walls and highlighting every shiny fleck in the marble. His friends car was parked in front, though Lance had no idea how long they had been there. As he walked in he was greeted by the familiar sight of voluminous white hair sitting next to a burly young man with deep, coffee colored skin. “Hey guys I made it!” He called, only to be shushed from behind the front desk by a very small, very grumpy, freshman.

“Don’t you know not to yell in a library?” They hissed and Lance held up his hands in defense. “Sorry! I forgot.” He half whispered with a sheepish grin before making his way to the table where his two friends were seated, getting a glare from the petite redhead the whole time. “Short people are scary,” he mumbled, seating himself in between his two gorgeous friends. Pretty people really do travel in packs huh.

“Man I thought Pidge was gonna kill you.” A deep voice on his right laugh-whispered. Lance looked over at Hunk with a raised eyebrow, meeting his soft almond eyes with a confused look. “What’s a Pidge?”

Hunk snorted and looked at the front desk, “the librarian dude, they’re in my AM class. Super smart, a little scary.” Lance glanced at the front desk for just a second, then to the young woman sitting to the left of him.

“Allura you need to protect me, I think they might want to kill me.”

“Oh Lance you’re so dramatic, anybody would be mad at someone shouting in a library although, I’d be more worried about him.” She smirked a little bit and looked past the tables towards the history section at a young man restocking shelves. His shaggy black hair covered part of his face, but he was clearly displeased with Lances outburst. He was putting the books on the shelves with maybe a touch more force than necessary.

Lance sank down a little in his seat, now hyper aware of the two librarians that may just have homicide on the mind. “Maybe if I make it look like I’m studying they’ll have pity on me.. nobody can be mad at a poor college student.” He sighed and grabbed a book from the middle of their table, there was absolutely no way he could focus for their study session.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Keith

 “Hey guys I made it!” Keith jumped at the sudden loud voice ringing through the library. He set his book on the shelf and looked at the front door, glaring at the new comer. He was tall and lanky with a warm earthy skin tone, his eyes a brilliant blue. After getting scolded by Pidge the boy made his way to a table with two other students, a burly young man with deep brown skin and warm caramel eyes, and a lethe young woman with flowy white hair and soft sepia toned skin. All three of them were incredibly pretty. Keith huffed to himself and moved down the shelf, putting away the last few books on his cart with a bit more force than he needed to. The new boy was quiet now, but Keith didn’t like how he kept looking up at him and finished stacking books as quickly as he could so he could go back to Pidge’s desk.

“Don't people know to shut up in a library,” he mumbled when he sat back down behind the front desk.

“Don’t worry I told him to keep it down.” Pidge whispered distractedly, she was busy ordering new books on a badly scribbled list from Coran. That man's handwriting was impossible to read, it looked like an alien language. Keith lost track of time as he helped Pidge decipher the last title on the list, he didn’t even notice that only two of the group left, leaving their books on the end of the desk. He groaned loudly and sat back in his chair as soon as the main door closed behind the pair. “Holy SHIT I’m so tired.”

“Dude shut up there’s still a student over there.” Pidge snickered, watching Keith turn a deep red. They loved getting him flustered. The tan boy at the table laughed under his breath at Keith’s outburst. Keith groaned again but much quieter this time. “He’s annoying.” “You’re annoying dude, and it’s your turn to make sure all the books are all sorted right.”

Pidge grinned at him, re-sorting the books was everyone's least favorite job, and since it was the end of Pidge’s shift the job fell to him. He groaned again and got up, shooting her a look and disappearing into the first row of shelves as he tried to remember how the Dewey Decimal system worked.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Lance 

He was right, he couldn’t focus on a damn thing in the empty library. The short liberian had left and he was all too aware of the other boy among the books nearby. He ended up zoning out soon after Hunk and Allura left, staring down the shelves with his head resting on his chin. The library was really quiet, and fairly warm. It didn’t take long for him to drift off at his table, despite the angry emo librarian. Lance woke up to a sudden hard tap on his shoulder, and for a moment he panicked thinking that he’d fallen asleep in class again.

“Sorry Professor!” He yelped before noticing that he was not in fact in his marine biology room. “Wait..” He turned and came face to face with pair of startling greyish eyes, framed by dark choppy hair.

“You’re in the library dumbass.”

Oh right, the other librarian. Lance’s cheeks flushed a little from embarrassment and he quickly looked away. “Right, sorry. I should get going now.”

The dark haired boy didn’t say anything and just walked back over to the front desk, sitting behind the counter and checking his phone. Lance watched him warily for a second as he gathered his things, keeping his head down and hoping the red hadn’t spread to his ears. His steps echoed through the library and he nodded a sheepish goodbye to Mr MCR as he walked out the doors.

The sun had finally begun to set sometime during Lances library nap, bathing everything in an even golden warmth. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and filled his lungs with crisp, cool air. The red and orange leaves on the tree next to him looked as if they had been kissed by Midas. Despite being used to the humid Cuban summers, Lance had to admit that he loved the chill of Autumn at campus. Frost glistened on the grass growing against the sidewalk and stretching up through the cracks while the sun dipped lower in the sky.

Lances mind began to wander as he walked back home, wondering what was for dinner and if his siblings had gone in his “room” again. He hummed to himself as he walked, although his family lived close to campus Lance liked to take his time and enjoy the scenic route through town. He was just getting to the chorus of his song when his nose distracted him, picking up the welcoming smell of a cafe across the road.

“I have time for a drink.” The brunette grinned to himself and jogged across the road, looking up to read the name of the cafe, “The Lions Den,” he mumbled, “Sounds interesting.” He pushed the glass door open as the smells of freshly baked bread and warm, dark coffee greeted him.  Behind the counter floated a familiar plume of curly platinum hair. “Allura?? I didn’t know you worked at a cafe?”

Allura turned and broke into a grin, “Lance! I thought I mentioned the cafe?”. She glance to her coworker, a short alternative kid with eyes that looked almost red? “Zac you can take a break if you’d like now.” The kid gave her a short, sarcastic salute and hung his apron up as he left, going up some stairs behind a door marked “PRIVATE.”

“He doesn’t seem very talkative.” Lance chuckled and leaned on the counter. “He’s gotta be what like 14? Is that even allowed?”

“Who Zac? He’s 19, he just has baby face.  And his brother is the owner of the cafe so we have to be nice to him.” Allura laughed a little and leaned on her half of the counter. “Can I get you anything Lance?” She had such a pretty accent, except it made his name sound like “Lonce,” but he didn’t mind. Lance was a sucker for her accent.

“Surprise me, something as sweet as you if that’s possible,” he said with a little wink. Lance had attempted asking Allura out during the first month of meeting her, but she had turned him down gently. That didn’t stop him from some friendly flirting every now and then. Allura rolled her eyes and turned to make him his mystery drink.

“So Lance, how’d it go with tall, dark and angry?”

Lance’s cheeks flushed for totally no reason of course. “What do you mean?? Nothing happened I just studied and left!” His voice squeaked a little at the end.

“I don’t know, I figured maybe you’d fall asleep then get woken up by the scary liberian or something,” she turned to smirk at him a little. He had fallen asleep during their study sessions on multiple occasions. Like his brain just had enough and flipped the switch.

“No!! That only happened those two times!” He yelped indignantly, god he was such a bad liar and Allura knew it.

“You fell asleep didn’t you?”

“Only for a little bit,” he huffed and crossed his arms on the counter. He would always pout when she caught him in a silly little lie, mostly cause he was a drama queen not because he was actually upset.

Allura just laughed a little, wow it was an incredible laugh. Like a thousand little bells dancing in the breeze.

“Oh Lance I’m just teasing, here’s your drink.” She smiled and set down a big caramel and whipped cream covered coffee that smelt like pure sweetness.

“Thanks ‘Lura, I’ve gotta get going before Mamá gets impatient!” He grinned at her and raced for the door, he hadn’t realized how late it was and his mother did not appreciate it when he was late for dinner.

He took a sip of his drink as he jogged the rest of the way home, and Boy was it sweet, just how he liked it.

Finally he came up to his family's two story farmhouse. The siding was fading yellow decorated with white trim, it looked like something out of a children’s book. The windows of the attic, his bedroom/apartment were covered with tie dye curtains and fairy lights that were visible from the driveway.

 He tossed his now empty coffee cup in the trash bin outside before hopping up the front steps and swinging the door open. Inside the house was full of talking, and it smelt like warm and familiar spices from his mamás cooking. He sighed a deep sigh and set his stuff, taking in the coziness of it all before his little siblings ran in and brought all the chaos with them.

“Hey! I’m home!”

Chapter Text

Chapter Five: Keith 

As Keith locked the library doors behind him he couldn’t help but think about the energetic brunette that had left just a few hours earlier.  He was used to waking people up in the library so why was this one time any different?  Whatever.

 He gave the door a tug just to double check that it was locked and put his headphones in, slinging his bag over his back and straddling his bike.  In the suns ever fading light the bike was even prettier, the silver pin striping looked like liquid starlight against the smooth black metal as the moon started its climb up the other side of the sky. 

The roar of the engine cut through the quiet streets, most people were home from work already and the roads were nearly empty aside from Keith and his thoughts.  He had gotten stopped at a red light in town, the idle of the bike was like white noise under his music when something to the right caught his eye.  “The Lions Den?” He squinted as he read the gold letters on the cafes sign and deciding that a coffee sounded like a wonderful idea, pulled to the curb and killed the engine. 

When he opened the cafe door it was like walking into a story book with warm yellow lights and the smells of coffee and fresh baked goods. Oh yeah, he could get used to this.  Keith unclipped his helmet and knocked softly on the counter to get the baristas attention. 

“Hi there, welcome to The Lions Den what can I get for ya?” The young woman turned around with a brilliant smile, her silvery hair framing her face in little wisps that escaped from her bun. 

“Um, just a black coffee is okay, please.” Keith couldn’t help but stare at her, even if he didn’t like girls he knew a pretty face when he saw one. 

“One black coffee coming right up.”  She smiled at him and turned to the coffee maker behind her. 

“This may sound strange but were you at the campus library this afternoon?” He asked hesitantly as she made his drink. “It’s just, hair like that is hard to forget.”  Keith smiled a bit awkwardly as she handed him his coffee, she looked like she was going to call him a stalker or something before her face suddenly lit up. 

“Oh my gosh you’re the liberian!  The one that kept glaring at Lance for being loud!” She laughed and held out her hand over the counter, “I’m Allura, pleased to meet you and I’m sorry Lance is so loud.” 

“Uh, Keith.” He shook her hand softly and grabbed his drink. “I suppose I’ll see you around then?” 

“Don't be a stranger Keith, stop by again sometime!” 

He gave her a little wave and left, sitting on his bike and sipping his coffee. ‘Lance…’ He shook his head a little and strapped his helmet back on. Ignoring his thoughts he kicked back the kickstand, letting the engine idle as he sipped some more of his drink.  ‘Guess I should get going,’ he thought, and pulled back onto the road, letting his muscle memory take over the rest of the way home.  

Keith shared an apartment with his older brother not too far from campus and as he rumbled into his parking space their kitchen light flicked on.  Keith could just make out his brother's silhouette in the window waving to him. He waved back and grabbed his things before jogging to the front door and buzzing the intercom. 

“What’s the password?” 

“What are you five?” 

“No, I’m six.  What’s the password?”

Keith groaned at Shiro’s leap year joke and buzzed their neighbors bell, asking them to let him in instead. 

As soon as Keith walked in the door his brother cornered him, his familiar tuft of white hair pushed back with a thin pink headband. “What? Big college Keith is too mature for secret codes now?” 

“Hey Shiro.” Keith rolled his eyes a little and set his helmet down, hanging his coat up on the rack and kicking off his shoes. “Since when do we have a password to get in?” 

“Since just now, because I decided we should have one.” Shiro grinned and ruffled Keith’s hair like his dad used to do to him. 

“So,” Keith asked, following Shiro into their kitchen, “What’s for dinner? I’m starving.” 

Chapter Text

Chapter Six: Lance 

Lance had just barely announced his arrival when his two younger siblings appeared around the corner, although they were technically only his niece and nephew, they were practically his siblings. 

“Lance!!” His niece, Nadia, ran up to him first, pushing her brother out of the way. Lance grinned and scooped her up, spinning around a few times to make her giggle like crazy. 

“What? Did you miss me?” He grinned and set her down, reaching over to Sylvio and ruffling his hair. 

“Lance we played Nerf fight today and Nadia shot me in the eye!” Sylvio piped up, pointing at his sister with a pout. 

“Oh man, that must have sucked. Did she apologize?” Lance asked softly, he knew that the twins would usually blow little things out of proportion. 

“...Yeah she apologized.”

“Good, now let’s go find out what Mom’s making for dinner cause I’m Starving!” He grinned and followed them into the kitchen, where his mom was standing at the stove stirring a pot of rice. 

“Mamá I’m hooome” Lance smiled and leaned against the counter. His mother grinned at him, her eyes crinkling in the corners.

“Ah Lance, how was school mijo? Did you pay attention in class today?”

“Yes Mamá of course I did.” Lance smiled and gave her a hug, which was kind of awkward given his extra foot above her. 

“Did you know you’re short?” He grinned, only to get whacked on the side of the arm. 

“You be nice, you might start shrinking when you get to be my age,” she scolded him, but only as a joke.  Her smile lines were visible even when she was no longer grinning, and her graying brown hair framed them perfectly. She really was a beautiful woman, and Lance would argue anybody who dared to say otherwise.  

“Well, I did fall asleep in the library today..” He said somewhat sheepishly after hopping up to sit on the countertop. She turned and gave him a look, with her spoon in hand resting on her hip. 

“Again Lance? Are you getting enough sleep mojo?” 

“I think so, it’s just that the library is so warm and nice,” he chuckled a little bit. “There’s a new librarian there now too, I don’t think he liked me.  I didn’t know it was possible to put books away angrily.” 

“Ah nonsense, who wouldn’t like you.” His mom smiled at him, her cinnamon eyes full of love. Lance was the youngest child in the family aside from Nadia and Sylvio, so he didn’t mind when his mamá said cheesy things. 

“Well, I was kind of loud when I walked in..” 

“No? You being loud? I couldn’t imagine that.” She smiled at him and Lance blushed out of embarrassment. 

“Mamá! I’m not that loud!” 

She just rolled her eyes and wiped her hands on her apron, which had patterns of rolling pins, cookie cutters, and bags of flour. Lance had got it for her birthday a few years back and she always wore it in the kitchen, no matter what she was making.   

“Mijo, you have always been noisy. Come help me set the table for dinner” She planted a little smooch against his cheek and handed him a stack of plates after he jumped off the counter. 

In the dining room his father was already sitting in his chair at the front of the table, reading the news paper with his glasses teetering on the end of his nose. He gave Lance a little smile when he put his plate down.

 His niece and nephew were running around the table, they were either playing tag or Sylvio had found something gross to stick in Nadias hair, because she was screaming but it was hard to tell if it was playful or not.  

“Hey you two it’s time to eat, get in your chairs before the tickle monster gets you!” Lance set the plates down and crouched down a little, wiggling his fingers at the two, who yelled and ran to their chairs as quick as they could, giggling and laughing once they were seated.

“Thank you guys,” he smiled and set down the plates at each chair while his mom brought out the food.  There was curry chicken and rice steamed cauliflower and it all smelt amazing. She took her seat at on the other side of Sylvio next to his dad so Lance sat next to Nadia, who was poking her cauliflower suspiciously. 

“If you eat your veggies I’ll play house with you.” Lance whispered, and Nadias cauliflower quickly disappeared from the plate.  

Lance sighed with a smile, family dinners were one of his favorite things, but he couldn’t help the nagging voice of a certain librarian from pinging around his memory.

“Lance? Earth to Lance come in Lance?” His father waved his hand around a bit, trying to get his attention. He jumped a little and looked around, confused. 

“What? Did something happen?” 

“You zoned out there kid, I asked how your day was?” His dad looked at him expectantly and Lance smiled a little. 

“Oh sorry papá, today was good, we talked about the effects of hydroelectricity in class today, like how it affects fish and coral and stuff. It was actually really interesting!”  Lance’s eyes lit up the way they did when he got to talk about the ocean, he was studying marine biology and got super excited whenever they talked about something new. 

“And,” his mom interrupted, “he fell asleep in the library again.” She smirked at him, only teasing. 

“It was only a little nap! Besides the librarian woke me up before he closed so it’s fine.” Lance huffed a little, all indignant and embarrassed.  It didn’t help that he couldn’t get the other boys voice out of his head. 

“Well maybe if someone didn’t stay up so late he wouldn’t have to take naps in the library.” His father looked at him over the rim of his glasses, only making Lance more embarrassed. 

“Mamaaá why’d you have to bring it up?” He whined, and his parents just laughed a bit. 

“Because I love you mijo, but your fathers right you should get more sleep at night.” 

“Okay mamá, I’ll go to bed earlier tonight.” He smiled and finished off his meal, still thinking about the dark haired boy he met earlier that day. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven: Keith

Keith sat at the kitchen island, scrolling through his phone while his brother ladled soup into two large bowls.

“How was work today? Did you see Matt at all?”

“Yeah, we had lunch in the break room together with Adam.” Shiro smiled, blushing a little when he mentioned his other coworker.

“I don’t get why you still haven’t asked him out. He clearly likes you too. You should have him over for dinner some time.”

“I dunno Keith, it’s not like I’ve had great luck with relationships.”

“Dude you gotta forget them. Adam is the real deal I can feel it, in my bones.” Keith grinned and Shiro chuckled a little.

“Maybe I’ll ask him out to lunch tomorrow..”

“Hell yeah that’s the spirit” He smiled and got up, setting his empty bowl in the sink. “I’m gonna head to my room for a bit, see you later Shiro.” Shiro waved a little and checked his phone as Keith walked down the hall.

Kosmo’s ears perked up as Keith walked into his room, “Hey buddy I missed you.” He flopped next to the big mutt who’s tail thumped happily against the bed. He rolled onto his back and pulled his phone out of his pocket, deciding to text Pidge.

“If Shiro doesn’t ask Adam out tomorrow I’m gonna do it for him >:(“

…

“He’s not gonna do it”

…

“I think he actually might this time. He said he’s gonna ask him to lunch tomorrow”

…

“He won’t do it both of you are shit at asking people out”

…

“n o >:( besides i’m not even interested in anyone so who would I even ask out??”

…

“I dunno man you were checking out that boy in the library pretty hard today”

…

Keith turned red and just stared at his screen for a second, he had done a good job at convincing himself he didn’t think that boy was cute but apparently Pidge saw right through him.

...

“I was not!! I was just glaring at him cause he was loud I don’t know what you’re talking about”

…

“yeah sure Keith that’s totally the only reason you were staring at him and not cause you thought he was cute”

…

“why do I talk to you?”

…

“cause you love me, later homo ;)”

He groaned and set his phone on his night stand, letting an arm rest across his eyes. “Pidge is a shit, but she’s right.. he was pretty cute. Maybe he’ll come into the library again?” He looked over at Kosmo, who cocked his head and had no clue what was going on. Keith sighed and stared up at the ceiling, he couldn’t get those bright blue eyes out of his mind. “This is gonna be a rough semester isn’t it,” he groaned, covering his face with his hands and wishing for some sort of Men In Black style brain wipe. Keith really hated having a crush.

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight: Lance 

Lance awoke to faint sun creeping past his curtains and the sounds of a hurried breakfast below.  He squinted at the clock on his nightstand and groaned, the time read 8:35am and left a trace green afterglow on the inside of his eyelids.  He grumbled under his breath as he yanked his covers over his head, rolling onto his stomach, “Porque estan levantados tan temprano.. it’s way too early..”  Before the poor boy could sulk any longer there was a sharp knocking at his door 

“Lance! Mijo it’s time to wake up! You’ll be late again!” 

“Just a minute mamááá,” he whined, only shifting to sit up a fraction of the way. “I don’t even have any morning classes, why do you have to wake me up so early?” 

“You do have a morning class today and if you’re not at the table in ten minutes I’m sending Sylvio up for you.” 

Lance groaned and grabbed his phone off the nightstand, squinting at the screen until his eyes adjusted. “I don’t have an AM class today..” he grumbled, pulling up his schedule, scanning it for the day. 

First Year Algebra: 9am

 “Oh SHIT!” He yelped, practically tumbling out of bed and over to his dresser, grabbing whatever was clean off the top and bounding down the creaky stairs to the dining room. “No time for breakfast mamá I’ll grab something on the way!” He paused for just a moment to plant a quick kiss on her cheek, running out the front door before she could protest. 

Lance's phone buzzed in his pocket and Hunk’s name flashed on the screen once he fished it out of his pocket. 

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love: Dude where are you? Doesn’t your class start soon? 

Lancey Lance: I’m on my way oh my goood please tell the teacher that I’ll be there 🥺🙏 I just have to stop and get a coffee 

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love: Will do man, see ya at lunch. 

He sighed and stuffed his phone back in his pocket, deciding to make a quick pit stop at The Lions Den again, even though he knew Allura probably wasn’t there.  The bell above the door jingled softly and the boy behind the counter glanced up from his phone, not that he looked remotely interested. 

“What’dya want?” The teen sort of mumbled. Lance couldn’t make out much of his face but he assumed it was the same emo kid that had been working with Allura the night before. 

“Uhh can I get a large caramel latte with whipped cream and cinnamon? Iced please!” He smiled as nice as he could, the kid raised an eyebrow at him before turning to make the drink.  Somewhere in the back floated the smells of bread and pastries, backed by the faint hum of the oven and stand mixer. 

“So uh how long has the cafe been here?” He asked, he couldn’t stand awkward silence. 

“Uhm..” The kid thought for a second and leaned over slightly to look at a small plaque on the wall. “Four years.” 

“Oh wow, I can’t believe I never stopped, your coffee is so good. I can’t believe Allura works here too, like she’s seriously the coolest person I know.” 

“She’s nice. Kace likes her.” He said that with a little smirk, and maybe a touch louder than necessary. From somewhere in the kitchen a rolling pin dropped and the boy snickered a little. “Here’s your drink, it’s five dollars.”

Lance fished his cash out of his pocket, it was crumpled and a little torn, not that it mattered. 

“Sorry it’s a little messed up,” he smiled kind of sheepishly, handing him a ten dollar bill. The kid just shrugged and stuck it in the register, handing Lance his change before going back to checking his phone. Lance grabbed his drink and waved a little goodbye before jogging the rest of the way to campus, passing other students on the green as he made his way to his first class.  Even though he was only the teacher’s assistant, he seriously could not afford to be late on the first day. 

“1a, 1a, 1a? Where the hell is 1a?” He mumbled to himself, scanning the labels above each door in the hall until he found it. “1a! Yes!” He grinned and pushed the metal door open, accidentally using way more force than he needed to. The door slammed open and everyone in the class turned to look at him.  Faint red tints flushed over his cheeks as he made his way to his seat near the front of the room, by the teachers desk.  As he passed through he could have sworn he saw that edgy boy from the library and almost did a double take, only turning more red.  Lance could feel the librarian's eyes boring into the back of his skull and did his best to just sink into his seat, hoping nobody would say anything. 

The class trickled by, the second hand of the wall clock inching by slower than death.  Lance barely had anything to do, of course he ended up assisting the one teacher who was always on top of their game.  He ended up falling asleep at his seat, leaned back in his chair to the point that his head rolled back slightly. 

By the end of the period Lance had been out for nearly an hour, startled awake by a sharp tap on his shoulder. 

“Do you sleep at all?”

Towering over him was the very same librarian that had woken him up from his nap in the library.  “Seriously? I’ve seen you twice and you’ve been asleep almost the whole time.” 

Lance shot out of his chair, face flushed red.  “Shit did I fall asleep again?!” He yelped, scooting back. “Shit man, thanks for waking me up again… I swear I can stay awake sometimes.” Lance hesitated a second before taking a better look at him, and he was surprised that he actually had to look down a little bit. “Oh, you’re short,” realization dawned on him the second he realized what he’d blurt out and immediately he was scrambling for an apology. “Shit wait I mean you’re uh, wait I meant uh, shit, I meant to say the names Lance.” He smiled sheepishly, shooting an awkward finger gun at him.  

“See you later.” He shot Lance a glare and turned on his heel, leaving the classroom abruptly and slamming the door shut behind him. 

“Shit.” Lance sighed and gathered his things, glad that at least nobody was around to see that. “Why did I call him short?? I mean he was but why did I blurt that out?” He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time, he had another hour to kill before his first class, so he figured he might as well go get something to eat to calm his nerves.

 “I wonder if Allura’s at the cafe?” He wondered to himself, turning out onto the green and heading towards town. 

When he got to the cafe there was a slick black motorcycle parked in front, with a red helmet resting on the seat. He wandered closer, careful not to get near the kickstand. The last thing he wanted was to knock over some strangers Harley. 

“What’re you doing next to my bike?” 

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine: Keith

Keith was up way before he needed to be. His class didn’t start until nine but here he was, wide awake at 7am and using up all the hot water in the apartment building.

“Keith, you'd better save me some hot water! I’m tired of taking cold ass showers!” Shiro yelled, muffled by the water and the sound of the fan overhead. Keith smiled a little to himself, letting the water pour down his shoulders, forming little rivers in the lines on his back. He inhaled the steam that was filling up the room despite the fans modest efforts, and after one last second he let his breath out and turned the knob to off. Once dry he padded out to the kitchen, leaving small, damp, footprints on their hardwood floors. His hair was still dripping, collecting in small pools near his collar bones.

“Did you save any hot water for the rest of us?”

“Absolutely not, suffer.” He grinned across the kitchen at his brother, shaking the now cold water from his hair onto Shiro’s button down.

“Hey!” Shiro yelped, throwing his hands up as if that would stop the water. Keith chuckled a little and sat on one of their three mismatched barstools, the red plaid one was his favorite.

“I can’t believe I have to take high school level algebra in my fucking sophomore year of college.” He grumbled, resting his head on his crossed arms on the island. “Why would they wait till my second year of school?”

“I don’t know Keith, maybe you should have studied more in high school.” Shiro added with a shrug, setting down a plate with two freshly toasted eggo waffles and some strawberries.

“I did study! Math just doesn’t make any sense. If I ever meet the bitch who came up with it I’ll challenge him to a duel.” He grumbled, stuffing the biggest berry on his plate into his cheek, chewing around the words. Shiro just rolled his eyes, grabbing his work bag off the counter.

“Yeah you do that Keith,” Shiro rolled his eyes, heading for the door. “Oh and uh, I may not be home until late tonight so don’t wait up for me.” He sounded a little embarrassed, and Keith’s head whipped up immediately.

“Oh my god are you finally taking Adam to dinner? Ewww that means you’re gonna-“

“It means we are going to have dinner like colleagues do and nothing else.” Shiro shot Keith a look, but the red tinge on his ears was impossible to hide.

“Yeah yeah, have fun at dinner with your ‘colleague.’” Keith grinned, taking another bite of his waffles. “See you tomorrow then,” he grinned and shot Shiro a little finger gun.

Shiro simply huffed and walked out the door, but not before quickly flipping Keith off behind his back. Keith grinned and checked his phone, watching more of the documentary he had started the night before. Before he knew it the time was gone, and he had to go. He grabbed his bag from the hanger by the door and made his way down to the apartment lot where his bike was waiting in the warm morning light.

He clipped on his helmet as he walked over, throwing his right leg over the side and kicked back the kickstand. He turned the key and just let the bike take a minute to rumble and warm up while he made sure he had everything he needed for the day. After one last deep breath of the fresh morning air he pulled out of the lot and headed downtown towards the library, filling the air with a faint, deep, rumble. Keith coast into his spot in front of the library, pulling his helmet off and shaking his hair out as soon as he was parked. The sun was up by then, and he really enjoyed his walk to class.

When he got to his first class there weren’t many people there, which was nice. He liked being early so he could relax before the class started. He pulled his headphones out of his bag, and sat down to watch a little more of his show before the professor was ready to start. So far his morning was nice and uneventful. That was, until the doors burst open and a certain tall, freckled, brunette stood in the doorway. Keith turned and glared at him a bit, he was having a hard enough time focusing, let alone with Lance barging in like that. As the class continued Keith kept getting distracted, Lance wasn’t even doing anything, but Keith couldn’t help staring at the back of Lance's head. Watching him sway slightly as the class went on. By the time it was over Keith was fairly sure he could hear Lance snoring slightly.

Keith gathered his things and made his way to the front of the room, pausing for a second before tapping Lance's shoulder softly.

“Don’t you sleep at all?”

Lance shot out of his chair and Keith stumbled back to stay out of his way, watching the blush spread across Lance's face.

“I’ve met you twice and you’ve been asleep for most of it.”

He watched Lance fidget for a second before turning to leave.

“You’re short.”

Keith stopped in his tracks and whipped around, glaring up at Lance.

“What?”

“Wait wait I meant uh shit wait I meant to say um, My name's Lance. You’re the librarian right?”

Keith frowned at him, still pretty unhappy about the short comment and turned back towards the door.

“See you later Lance.”

Keith left for the library, trying to not stew over Lance's comment. “I’m not short. I’m 5’5 that’s not short.” He grumbled to himself, pulling his keys out of his pocket. Just as he got to the library his stomach growled loudly, he glanced at the time and sighed a little. “I suppose I should eat more than just a couple waffles,” he thought for a moment and remembered the little cafe he’d been to the day before. “I wonder if they have any breakfast stuff.”

He left the campus library’s lot and head back into town, trying to remember exactly where the library was. He admired the towns sights as he drove to the cafe, it was a small town, but lots of it had been renovated in the last few years, giving it a vibrant new appearance. It was early, and most places weren’t too busy yet, but there were a few cars and bicycles parked in front of the cafe when Keith arrived.

He took a deep breath before going in. Instead of the tan and lively young woman he expected to see when he walked in, Keith was greeted by a short, grumpy, emo looking teen who was busy setting delicate pastries and freshly made breakfast desserts in a low glass display case. Keith’s stomach growled against his will as he walked up to the counter and rang the little bell to get the boys attention. He looked up at Keith and actually appeared a little more interested, and even went so far as to put his phone away instead of leaving it playing on the counter.

“What can I get for you?”

He smiled just a little at Keith, it was like night and day compared to how he greeted Lance.

“Can I get a large black coffee with some sugar and uh, one of those strawberry pastry things?”

Keith pursed his lips just a little, looking up at the chalkboard menu to assess his options. The boy nodded and grabbed one of the pastries, setting it in a small white bag on the counter and turning to make Keith’s coffee.

“So, are you a college student by any chance?”

Keith looked up from the pastries when the boy asked him, and just nodded a little. “Yeah, just started my second year. You go?”

“No way shits too expensive,” the boy laughed and handed Keith his coffee. “Only asked 'cause ‘Lura mentioned something about an emo guy who came in the other day and well y’know..” The boy smirked a little as he set Keith's drink on the counter. “Emo to emo communication.”

Keith snorted a little, fishing his wallet out of his jacket pocket. “I can’t believe she called me emo we’ve only met once.”

He huffed a little and handed the boy a ten.

“My name’s Zac by the way.”

“Keith,” he took his change back and sorted it into its respective spots in his wallet before grabbing his things. “Well I guess I’ll see you around, tell Allura I said hi if she’s in today.”

“Will do,” Zac gave him a little sarcastic salute and disappeared into the kitchen as Keith walked out the front door.

The last thing he expected to see when he lowered his coffee cup was Lance, hovering near his motorcycle.

“What’re you doing next to my bike?” He grumbled.

Lance jumped back, holding his hands up as if to show he was innocent.

“Oh hey again I was just looking, promise I didn’t touch it or anything. It’s awful pretty.”

Keith raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t say anything.

“Thanks again for waking me up after class, I can’t stay awake when I’m bored.” Lance smiled kind of sheepishly, stepping around the bike and closer to Keith.

“It’s whatever. Better than Professor Alfor waking you up. He’s intimidating.” Keith mumbled the last part and Lance snorted.

“I dunno, I think he’s hot,” Lance mumbled before turning bright red. “Shit, did I just say that out loud?”

Keith looked at him with a raised eyebrow, a little smirk forming on his lips. “Did you just call the math teacher hot?”

Lance blushed more and tried to hide his face in his hands. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I said that out loud.” He groaned loudly, but peeked through his fingers when he heard Keith laugh. It was just a soft little chuckle, but something told Lance that Keith was hiding his real laugh.

“I’m sorry I called you short earlier by the way,” he added, “it just kind of slipped out.”

Keith sighed a little bit, looking up at Lance. He was frowning again but only a little bit this time. “I’ll have you know that 5’5 is not short. It is a perfectly average height.”

“For a smurf maybe,” Lance grinned down at him. He may not have been that much taller than Keith, maybe five inches or so, but he was still going to be a shit head about it.

Keith shot him a glare at that comment. “Oh shut up, at least I can stay awake in class.”

“Why are you taking algebra now? Isn’t that usually a freshman class?” Lance asked then.

“I mean probably the same way you’re taking the class?”

“Oh I’m just the teacher's assistant, I’ve got all my math credits already.”

“Oh.. I am uh, I’m pretty bad at math.” Keith mumbled, kind of looking down at his feet.

“Really? I could help if you want? I mean I know you work and stuff but if you want a hand sometime you could just give me a call or something.” Lance smiled and pulled a receipt out of his pocket, scribbling his phone number on the back and handing it to Keith.

Keith looked up at him, clearly confused and a little embarrassed. “Uh maybe, thanks I guess. My name’s Keith by the way, in case I hadn’t told you yet.”

“Well Keith,” Lance held his hand out, “it’s nice to officially meet you.”

Keith seemed a little hesitant but shook it briefly. “I guess I’ll see you around then?” Keith asked, much less angry than the last time he said it.

“Yeah! And seriously just send me a message if you ever need help with something.” Lance grinned and shot Keith a couple finger guns, moving around him and heading into the cafe. For a moment Keith just stood there, completely dumbfounded as he straddled his bike, pulling his hair back before grabbing his helmet.

For a moment he just sat there, then decided to put Lance’s phone number in his phone, just in case.

“I’m not going to call him, but just in case.” he slipped his phone into the pocket inside his jacket, zipping them both up before heading back to campus. He had a small shift at the library between classes, and Keith was seriously looking forward to some peace and quiet.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: Lance

With a few hours to kill before his next class Lance was lost. Hunk and Allura were both busy, and he didn’t dare to go to the library and fall asleep again. He checked his phone and groaned, no messages at all. Not that he’d been hoping Keith would message him or anything.

“Well, guess I’ll see how Romelle’s doing at the shop,” he hummed, leaving the cafe and heading downtown towards the thrift store he worked at.

The small wooden sign hanging above the door read “Juniberry Thrift” in pretty calligraphy style writing, painted white that had faded and was chipping slightly. The bell above the door jingled softly as Lance walked in and a pale girl with bright blue eyes and long, blonde, twin braids hanging down her shoulders popped up from behind the counter.

“Hey Romelle!”

“Lance! What’re you doing here? You don’t work today right?”

“Nah, I’ve got an hour to kill between classes, so how could I not come say hi to my favorite coworker?” Lance grinned, walking over and hopping up onto the counter.

Romelle huffed a little when he sat on the counter, but since there were no customers she didn’t bother telling him to get down. “Sooo how are your classes going? Meet anybody cute yet?” She rest her chin on her hands, leaning on the counter next to him.

“Well kind of,” he blushed slightly, holding his hand to the back of his neck. “There is this guy,,”

Romelle grinned excitedly, looking at Lance with wide eyes “Oh my gosh please tell me you’re in the same classes that would be so cute!”

“No I wish, he works at the campus library though. And I keep running into him at that cafe downtown.” Lances face was tinted pink, Romelle was the first person he’d told about this new crush.

She gasped a little and broke into a grin. “You two could have a study date and you could do that yawn and stretch thing! No way anybody could resist that from you,” she had a mischievous twinkle in her eye that had escaped Lance.

“I mean maybe, but I don’t even know if he likes guys. I think he thinks that I’m stalking him, cause I keep showing up at the same places.” Lance whined dramatically, flopping over and resting his cheek on the top of Romelle’s head. “Crushes are stupid.”

“You should still talk to him though.” She smiled sympathetically, she was used to Lances antics by now.

“Well, I did give him my phone number.”

Romelle sat up immediately, pushing Lance off her head, “You gave him your number!? Why didn’t you start with that?”

“Yeah I mean he said he was bad at math and I offered to help him if he wanted, I don’t know if he’ll ever actually use it though.” He sighed, resting his chin on his palm. Right at that moment his phone buzzed in his back pocket. Romelle looked at him quizzically as he fished his phone out, on the screen flashed a message from an unknown sender.

Unknown Sender; “So um, about that math help?”

Lance stared at the text for a moment before he realized who had messaged him. “Oh my god Romelle he messaged me first!!” He jumped off the counter, unlocking his phone and just staring at the message. “What do I even say?”

“Well saying ‘hi’ might be a good start,” Romelle smirked a little, sarcastic as always.

“Ha ha, thank you for your wisdom Romelle.” Lance rolled his eyes and started typing, then erased it, then typed something else and erased that too. “Ughhhh this is so hard I don’t know what to say to him. I don’t wanna just be, like, study buddies,” he groaned, letting his arms droop, and as soon as his hands lowered Romelle snatched his phone.

“Hey! What are you doing?” He yelped rather indignantly, reaching over her shoulder, but she was too fast and scrambled away.

“I’m sending him a message cause you’re such a baby!” She grinned and started typing furiously, while Lance could only sit helplessly and pray she wasn’t doing something drastic.

                           …

Keith’s phone buzzed on the desk next to the computer mouse. He had been staring at his math assignment for so long that the numbers just looked like incomprehensible scribbles.

Unknown Sender: “Sure, but only if you buy me a coffee first;)”

He grabbed his phone, eyebrows knotted with frustration. He didn’t recognize the phone number, and certainly didn’t recall asking anybody on a coffee date. As he swiped open to his messages realization dawned on him, the lanky ran boy he’d kept running into had given him his phone number.

“Shit what’d he say his name was again?” Keith groaned and laid his forehead on the desk with a soft thump.

The library was empty like he’d expected, and he’d been attempting to tackle his math homework but to no avail. Desperately he had messaged Lance, but now was starting to regret it.

Keith: “I guess I can. I didn’t know there was going to be a catch to this.”

Unknown Sender: …

Unknown Sender: …

Unknown Sender: “I guess you’ll just have to learn algebra all on your own, poor thing ;-;”

Keith groaned, staring at the messages on his screen.

Keith: “Fine, I’ll get you a coffee if you teach me math.” He sent the text with a sigh, and for a few minutes there was no response and he was left alone with the numbers on the papers in front of him.

Another moment later and his phone buzzed again.

Unknown Sender: “Meet up after classes then?”

Keith: “Alright, meet me at the cafe at 3.”

Unknown Sender: “Great! See you there Keef ;)”

Keith let out a sigh and glared at the nickname for a moment before realizing that he probably shouldn’t leave Lance’s contact a mystery, so he changed it to “Lance,” and after another moment of hesitation added a single blue heart next to his name.

“Well, guess I’ll put this away,” He grumbled, shuffling his papers messily into his bag, grabbing his sketchbook and a pencil out instead and settled in for a long afternoon of quiet.

                          …

Lance snatched his phone back from Romelle who was giggling profusely.

“Well loverboy I got you a date,” she grinned at him, absolutely full of herself.

Lance read through the messages and couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. “Romelle you’re the best! Why did you call him ‘Keef’ though?”

“Cause you need a cute contact name,” she smiled at him, then glanced at the clock, “you may want to get going if you don't wanna be late for your class.”

Lance looked at the clock and scrambled off the counter, “Shit!” He grabbed his things and headed for the door, waving a quick goodbye as he left for campus.

On his way to class he passed the library, and of course he noticed Keith’s bike sitting outside. He blushed a little to himself, for no reason of course, and looked down, heading to his class as quickly as he could.

Lance could have sworn that he felt each and every second dragging on. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy his classes, he just had something, or someone, on his mind and it wasn’t the coral reefs that his professor was talking about. He was doing his best to pay attention, even though he already knew quite a bit of the information on his own. He tore his eyes away from the clock as the minute hand crawled across the face and looked down at his miniscule notes. There were a few doodles of corals and other sea flora on the border of the page, and some things that he didn’t already know scribbled down. His handwriting wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t great either. Some sort of strange combination of print and cursive, with just a touch of chicken scratch. By the time his class was done Lance was ready to run, his knee bouncing frantically as he made his way to the campus green, itching for some fresh air.

There were still a few hours before he was supposed to meet Keith and he dreaded the wait between classes. Desperate for some sort of interaction he pulled out his phone and messaged Hunk.

Lover Boy; huuuuuunk i’m so bored and i’m supposed to meet someone later and i’m anxious come soothe me

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love; you’re meeting someone? who is it? do i know them?

Lover Boy; noooooo well actually maybe,,, i don’t think so?

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love; wait a minute.. is it the librarian? the emo one?

Lover Boy; whaaaaat no of course not! why would i be interested in that mullet?

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love; oh my god it is! since when??

Lover Boy; ugh hunk you’re too smart what the hell,, i gave him my number earlier today

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love; nice ;)

Lover Boy; NOT LIKE THAT

Lover Boy; why did i think you would help

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love; don’t know, have fun on your date ;)

Lance glared at his screen and stuffed his phone back in his pocket, he had no idea how to pass the time before meeting Keith. Lucky for him, time passes whether you’re ready for it or not and before too long he was on his way to the cafe again, only like half an hour early. He found a seat at one of the booth tables, so there would be enough room for Keith’s things, and tried to distract himself on his phone until Keith showed up. After what felt like an eternity the sound of a motor cycle echoed outside, and the door bell jingled again, and Lance recognized a familiar black mullet just over the top of the booth. He got up and waved at Keith, hoping he’d see him, which of course he did, how would he miss that? Keith looked a little shy, which was a strange difference from the scowl that Lance had grown so accustomed to.

“Hey, math that hard already?” Lance asked as Keith sat across from him, setting his bag and keys on the table. A little bigfoot figurine clunked down amongst the various keys.

“Yeah it’s uh, it’s not good.” Keith sighed and fished his crumpled math sheets out of his bag, pushing them over to Lance to take a look. He looked over what Keith had written down and then looked back at Keith, eyebrows knotted.

“You were not joking about being bad at math huh.”

Keith groaned and let his head fall onto the table with a gentle thunk, earning a strange look from someone across the cafe. “It doesn’t make any sense, it’s stupid and I hate it.” He mumbled into the wood, getting a chuckle from Lance. “Oh sure laugh at my pain, see if I still wanna buy you a coffee.”

Lance couldn’t help laughing more at that and did his best to smooth out the crumpled worksheets, “Come on Keith it’s really not that bad, you were close on a couple of these. But uh, how about that coffee before we start? Caffeine for the brain?”

Keith looked up at him with a soft scowl before getting up and walking over to the counter, Lance following behind. “Order whatever, I don’t care.” He mumbled while Lance surveyed the board.

“Okay I'll have uh, I’ll have a vanilla pumpkin spice latte, iced please?” Lance asked the barista, not noticing the disgusted look Keith was giving him.

“Pumpkin spice? If I’d known you were gonna order that I never would have accepted your help.”

Lance gasped dramatically, turning to Keith with a hand on his chest, “Keith, you wound me. Pumpkin spice is delicious!”

“No. No it definitely is not.” He smirked a little and turned to the boy at the counter who was watching them with a little grin. “I’ll just have a black coffee please.”

“Of course you drink black coffee. I should have known.” Lance huffed, crossing his arms over his chest like he was offended. Keith just rolled his eyes and paid for their drinks, grabbing his and going back to their table.

When Lance came back with his own drink he slid in the booth next to Keith, earning him a weird sideways glance.

“I just figured it would be easier to look at the papers together on the same side.” Lance smiled, only half lying.  It would be easier for them to both see the papers like that, but it would also be easier for him to sneakily put his arm over Keith’s shoulders. 

Keith sighed and took a sip of his drink, grabbing a pencil and eraser from his bag and pulling the papers back to their side of the table. “So, how the hell do I even start this?” He grumbled, pointing at the first exercise on the page.

Lance leaned over Keith’s shoulder slightly, just to “get a better look” at the problem. “Oh that ones pretty easy! You were close with what you already have but decimals are difficult and trip lots of people up.” He smiled a bit and grabbed Keith’s pencil, erasing one number and replacing it with another. “So instead it actually goes like that, and it’s positive, not negative.”

Keith stared down at the page with furrowed brows, he still looked confused. “It still doesn’t make much sense.”

“It’s okay, you’ll get the hang of it.” Lance beamed at him, not really noticing how Keith turned away to hide his blush.

“Here let’s try this one, so this number,” he paused to point at one, “goes over here..”

                          …

Lance was explaining Keith’s algebra papers to him, but Keith couldn’t admit that the numbers were just going in one ear and out the other. On top of being confused he wasn’t sure how much longer he could handle Lance sitting so close to him.

He said it was so they could both see the work but Keith wasn’t expecting an arm to land around his shoulders while he tried to solve a problem on his own.

“Hey you’re doing pretty good!” Lance grinned, leaning down near Keith’s level to look at the page. “Why’re you so close to the paper though? Forget your glasses or something?”

Keith flushed a little bit and sat back up, shrugging Lance’s arm off his shoulders, and immediately missing the warmth.

“No it’s just a habit, I don’t know why. I don’t feel like I’m getting any better at this though..”

“Well,” Lance hummed, picking the worksheet up off the table, “you got that one right.”

Keith perked up and looked at the problem Lance was pointing to. “I did?”

“Yeah, you got it right and you even did all the steps in the right order.” Lance was smiling at him again and Keith looked down at his coffee, which was starting to get cold, this was going to be the death of him.

“Hey Keith you alright?” Lance spoke up after a moment.

“Huh? Yeah I’m fine?” Keith looked at him quizzically, hoping he wasn’t still blushing.

“Oh good, you kinda zoned out there. Why don’t we take a break? You’ve been working on this for like an hour now you’ve gotta be tired.” Keith frowned a little and looked at his watch, it was nearly 4:30 already.

“Oh yeah I guess,” he grabbed his things and stuffed them into his bag, putting his phone and his keys in his jacket pocket like usual. “Guess I better get going before it’s too late, not that it really matters.”

Lance stood up and stretched next to him, and Keith didn’t miss the sliver of soft tan skin that peeked out from under his shirt. “I’m glad you messaged me, I hope I was actually some help though,” Lance smiled sheepishly, backing out of the booth so Keith could get up.

“I mean I’m still confused but a little less than before I guess,” he shrugged and shimmied out of the seat, following Lance outside.

Lance was looking at Keith’s bike again, still keeping a respectful distance away.

“How come you keep checking out my bike? I mean you’ve seen them before right?”

“Yeah yeah of course!” Lance laughed, standing up to face Keith again, “I’ve just never gotten to really look at one up close, and yours is really pretty.” He smiled, stepping to the side as Keith walked over and straddled his bike, turning it on while they spoke.

“Thanks, she’s pretty special,” Keith smiled with a sort of fondness, then glanced over at Lance again. “Do you uh, do you want a ride? I’ve got a spare helmet.”

Lance grinned and looked like he was just about to explode, “Seriously? You’re offering me a ride?”

“Well yeah why not?” Keith shrugged, standing up and grabbing a spare helmet from the compartment under the seat, holding it out towards Lance. “You just gotta tell me what your address is.”

Lance grinned and grabbed the helmet, clipping it on and adjusting the strap, “Oh sure! It’s 742 Evergreen Terrace!” He looked so excited, like a kid in a candy shop.

Keith smiled a bit behind his helmet and pat the seat behind him after he got back on, “Just try not to move too much ‘kay? I don’t really feel like bailing today.” He said over the engine as he punched Lances address into his phone, it was a short drive, but Keith felt like taking a bit of a detour. He did his best to ignore Lance’s arms around his waist as they pulled away from the curb, ignoring the gps and turning down a side road lined with trees. The branches were hanging over the road a bit, forming a sort of natural tunnel, and with the leaves turning colors the sunlight that filtered through was warm and yellow. The wind was crisp, but not unbearable, and Keith decided to go a little faster, only to feel Lance’s arms tighten around him. He blushed a little, trying to zone out with the sound of the engine like usual, but this time it was just impossible. He could feel Lance’s chest on his back and the warmth spread through his jacket, ignoring the chilly fall air. He was really glad his helmet's face shield was tinted. He sped up a little as they pulled onto the main road and he could have sworn he felt Lance’s breath on his neck, but that was ridiculous right? Lance definitely wasn’t that close to him, he must have just been imagining things.

Keith was almost disappointed when they pulled into Lance’s driveway, he hadn’t realized how nice it was to ride with someone until Lance’s arms left their spot around his waist.  

As they pulled in two little kids came running out of the house and when they saw Keith’s bike their jaws dropped.

“WOAHH IS THAT A MOTORCYCLE!?” One, the little boy, yelled as Keith killed the engine. The girl stayed a bit farther back, just gaping at them.

Lance got off and unclipped his helmet, scooping the little boy up in his arms and spinning him around.

“Tio I wanna ride on the motorcycle too!!” The boy yelled and Lance just laughed.

“Sorry, Sylvio, I think you’re still a bit too small.”

Keith smiled a little at their interaction and took his helmet off, shaking his hair out a bit when he felt a small hand tap his knee. “You have pretty hair.”

Keith looked down to see the little girl suddenly standing right next to him,

“Oh um, thank you. Your hair is pretty too.”

The girl giggled and ran over to Lance, grabbing the hem of his shirt and tugging on it so he would lean down to her level. “Lance is that your boyfriend?” She whispered, only it was definitely loud enough for everyone to hear.

Keith and Lance both turned a bright red at the question. “No Nadia Keith is just a,,” he looked at Keith for a second, “Keith’s just a classmate.”

Keith didn’t know why, but he’d been hoping Lance would say friend.

“Oh..” Nadia said and looked from Lance to Keith, then back to Lance. “Can he be my boyfriend then?”

Keith sputtered and clapped his hand over his mouth, looking away and trying not to lose it.

“I’m sorry Nads but I think he’s a little too old for you.” Lance smiled gently to her, choking back laughter.

“Lance mijo are you going to introduce me to your friend or are you going to stay in the driveway all night?” A new voice asked, and Keith looked up to see a small woman on the front porch, her arms crossed over her flour dusted apron.

“Mama! This is Keith! He’s one of my classmates, I was helping him with some work today at the cafe,” Lance smiled and jogged up to the porch, planting a quick kiss on her cheek and looking over at Keith, who just waved sheepishly.

“Well Keith are you going to stay for dinner?” Lance’s mom asked rather unexpectedly, looking over at Keith with a little smile.

“Oh no ma’am, I wouldn’t want to impose. I’ve got leftovers at home anyways it’s alright.”

“Nonsense, come inside and wash your hands for dinner, Lance can set the table.” She smiled at him, and something in her voice told Keith there was no getting out of dinner with the McClains.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: Keith

The last thing Keith had been expecting when he woke up was that he would be having dinner with the McClains at the end of the day, yet there he was, squished between Lance and his mom Rosa at their dinner table. He kept his eyes down at his plate, which was piled high with seasoned rice, beans, veggies, and chicken. He didn’t want to seem rude but frankly he just did not do well with lots of people and lots of noise, both of which he was surrounded with.

The twins were sitting on the opposite side of the table and arguing loudly about something while Lance’s father, who’s name Keith hadn’t caught and was too afraid to ask again, was scolding them. Lance and his mom were having a noisy conversation with Keith in the middle, and it took every ounce of concentration not to disassociate in the middle of dinner.

“Keith you okay?” Lance asked suddenly, tapping Keith’s shoulder lightly.

He jerked away reflexively, and immediately felt all eyes on him. “Sorry yeah, I’m okay just a uh, had a long day is all.” He lied, glancing up just a tiny bit at Lance, something told him Lance’s family appreciated eye contact.

Lance smiled at him and went back to his conversation with his mom, leaving Keith to stare at what was left of his food and try to tune out all the noise. After what felt like an eternity, but was likely only a few minutes, everyone had finished eating and got up to clear their plates. He lingered at the table a moment longer, when suddenly a tan hand with long, calloused fingers waved in his face.

“Uh hello? Earth to Keith? You there??” Keith shook his head a little and looked to his side, Lance was standing next to him and looked mildly concerned for some reason.

“Yeah I’m fine, sorry.” He got up to clear his plate, but Lance grabbed it from the table before Keith could.

“Nope, guests don’t do chores,” he grinned, wandering off into the kitchen where his mother was doing dishes. Keith could hear the faint chorus of a song he only somewhat recognized. He knew it was an old song, maybe from the fifties? He wasn’t sure. Then he heard a different voice singing along.

“Why must I be a teenager in love,”

Keith stopped what he was doing, that voice had to belong to Lance. Quietly he took a few steps closer to the kitchen, peeking around the door frame just a little bit. He felt like he was spying on something private, Lance was helping Rosa wash up from dinner, his arms submerged in suds as he sang along to his moms radio.

“Why, does the rain, fall from up above, why must I fall in love?”

Keith felt a blush creeping onto his cheeks and quickly stepped back from the doorway, he figured that was his que to leave.

“Thank you for dinner Mrs McClain, I think I’m going to head home now, I’ve got a bit of work to catch up on.” He said, in the kitchens doorway again. Rosa turned with a smile and pat her hands dry on her apron, walking over to Keith with a small tupperware full of food. “It was so nice to meet you Keith, take some leftovers for yourself hun.”

“Oh, thank you Mrs McClain, that’s very generous.” He smiled back, taking the container and setting it carefully in his bag.

“Nonsense, and please, call me Rosa.”

“Okay, thank you for the meal, Rosa,” Keith smiled a little and turned towards the door, after stealing one quick, not so discreet, glance at Lance before he left.

As soon as he walked out the front door Keith let out a huge sigh of relief, breathing in the crisp autumn air. He looked back towards the kitchen window, and could have sworn he saw Lance watching him. He shook his head and pulled his helmet on, not taking time to let his bike idle before taking off. He took the scenic route home again and tried not to think about Lance squeezing his sides when he sped down that same road earlier in the day. He allowed himself to get lost in other thoughts for the rest of the ride, anything to get those eyes out of his head.

…

“Sooo Lance, riding home late from school with a boy on a motorcycle?” Lance froze when his mom asked that, looking over to see her grinning like a cheshire cat.

“Mamá it’s not like that, Keith’s just a classmate I barely know him.”

“Mm okay, but I saw you looking out the window when he left.” She smirked at him, resting her soapy hands on her hips. He blushed a tiny bit and quickly looked back down at the sink, suddenly very invested in the plate he was scrubbing. Rosa just laughed and returned to her side of the sink, rinsing the dishes as Lance handed them to her.

The second they were done with the dishes Lance left for his room, closing the door behind him and face planting into his bed. Against his better judgement, Lance let the days events play over in his head, and his thoughts kept spiraling back to being on the bike with him.

“It’s not weird to hold a friends waist right? I mean it was on a motorcycle so it’s gotta be fine.. I think.” He groaned and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. “But maybe it’s a little weird to sniff them..”

He sighed, staring back to the ceiling and tried to bring back the cedar-cinnamon smell that he assumed with Keith’s shampoo. “This is stupid.” He grumbled, pulling his phone out of his pocket. No messages.

Lover Boy; hunk is it weird to think your friends smell nice?”

…

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love; uhh no? wait what are you talking about??

…

Lover Boy; i uh,, may have gotten a ride home with the cute librarian on his motorcycle and i may have leaned closer than i had too

…

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love; you’ll invite me to the wedding right?

Lover Boy; shut up!!!

Lover Boy; >:(

Lover Boy; i come to you in my hour of need and you heckle me

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love; that’s part of my job man. if you really like him tho just like? try to find more time to talk to him. maybe spend some time in the library for once ;)

Lover Boy; i am choosing to ignore that sarcastic smiley, but you’re right

Lover Boy; maybe i’ll bring him a coffee at the library tomorrow

Hunka Hunka Burnin Love; that’s the spirit! go get your man!

Lance smiled a little and spent a while scrolling through his phone, he wanted to get up and do something but he had no idea what. Eventually he decided to text Keith.

…

Lance; thanks for the ride home

…

Keith; no problem, i don’t have people on my bike too often tbh

Lance; am i that special then? ;)

Keith blushed a little bit, not entirely sure how to respond to that last message.

Keith; i just took pity on you that’s all

Lance; what to do mean pity >:(

Keith snickered a little to himself, reaching over to pet Kosmo who was laying next to him on the floor. His laptop was open on the coffee table in front of the couch, currently presenting a slideshow for his art history class. He scanned over the screen rather quickly, jotting down notes and important information on the periods artistic trends. “What is it with people and religious paintings back then?? And why are they all naked?”

Keith; classical artists Really had something against clothes

…

Lance; what? are you talking about??

Keith; this slideshow for class is about art trends through different centuries and stuff and like none of them are wearing clothes

Keith smiled at his phone a bit, leaning back into the couch to take a short break. Normally he preferred to sit down and power through all his work but there was just something about Lance that drew his attention away.

Lance; they knew what’s up clothes are for losers

Keith; oh really?

Lance; yeah like who actually wants to wear pants

Keith; um me? and most normal people

Lance; booooring dresses are so much more fun then pants

Keith; you wear dresses?

Keith stared at the messages on his phone, not sure he understood what Lance meant. He didn’t strike Keith as the type to wear dresses but he hadn’t really known Lance that long at all. Maybe there was more to him than Keith thought. When Lance didn’t respond right away he decided to get some more work down and set his phone face down on the pillow beside him, leaning forward to finish the slideshow and accompanying notes. He realized about an hour later that he should probably check and see if Lance had responded, and boy did he.

Lance; yeah sometimes, they’re pretty comfy

…

Lance; you there? i didn’t weird you out or something did i?

…

Lance; keith? you okay?

“Oh shit,” he mumbled, quickly opening his phone to type in a response.

Keith; sorry i didn’t mean to disappear!

Keith; i was reading the slideshow again and lost track of time

Keith; i don't think it’s weird to like dresses

He sighed and waited a moment, when Lance didn’t respond he figured he had just gone to bed or something and decided to head to his room, after locking the front door and putting his notes away.

Keith’s room wasn’t very big but that was okay.  He had posters pinned to some of the walls and soft yellow christmas lights hanging from the ceiling that gave it a comfortable sort of glow. His desk was pushed in one corner near the small window and was cluttered with open sketch books and loose art supplies, a pallette covered with dry paints sat next to a coffee cup that now held grayish-purple paint water in it, labeled with a sticky note that said “Do Not Drink” in his small scribbly writing.

He tugged his socks off and rolled onto the bed, squishing his large blue hippo plushie that had been laying there. His phone buzzed in his back pocket and he rolled onto his stomach, pulling it out and nestling his arms around the hippo. There was a message from Lance, with a picture attached.

Lance; it’s okay, i was busy for a little bit. have you ever tried face masks?

Directly below the message was a picture of Lance's face covered in a greenish paste. His short hair was pushed back with a green headband that had little frog like eyes on the top. A little bit of his collar bones peeked out from his pajama shirt and well, Keith couldn’t help but stare.

Keith; no i don’t think so

Keith; nice headband

Lance; aw what seriously? you should totally try them sometime. we sell homemade ones at the store i work at and they’re sooooo nice. i’m wearing one right now! it’s cucumber and mint scented :)

Keith; oh? where do you work by the way. we didn’t really get to talk much about that sort of stuff earlier

Lance; yeah i’m sorry about my mamá, she gets really excited when i bring people home

Lance; not that i like brought you home or anything cause we’re not dating or anything like that i mean like you know what i mean right?

Keith; i liked your mom, she’s nice

Lance; i think she liked you too

Lance; oh and to answer your question i work at juniberry thrift downtown, not far from the cafe actually!

Keith; a thrift store? that sounds like fun

Keith smiled a little bit, he wasn’t sure why but he was really excited to get to know Lance more. He was pretty sure he knew where the thrift store was too.

Keith; do you work weekends there?

Lance; sometimes :( but Romelle is super cool so it’s not really that bad

Keith; well what about tomorrow?

Lance; um yeah i think so why?

Keith; just curious

Keith; i’m gonna go to bed now, night Lance

Lance; aw okay goodnight Keef!

Keith rolled his eyes a little at the nickname and wriggled under the covers, plugging his phone in for some mindless scrolling before he passed out. It’s not gay to dream about your pretty new friend holding your waist right?

Chapter Text

Chapter 12; Lance

Lance groaned as his alarm sounded that morning, sure it was only eight in the morning but he would much rather have preferred sleeping in.  He rubbed the sleep and goop away from his eyes as he grabbed his phone off the nightstand, shutting the alarm off and feeling slightly disappointed at the lack of messages from a certain raven haired boy.

 “He’s probably not up yet,,” he mumbled as he sat up in bed, scrolling through his feed before getting up and dressed. 

Once clothed he padded down the stairs as quietly as he could manage, being a Saturday his family was still sleeping in, he was the only one who had to work weekends.  The kitchen was eerily quiet as he made himself some breakfast from leftovers in the fridge.  He couldn’t help checking his phone again as he sat down to eat, he’d really been hoping Keith was up too.

 “Oh well, guess I should get going.” He hummed to himself, rinsing off his dishes and grabbing his things as he head out the door. About halfway to the shop he decided that he was just gonna have to text Keith first. 

Loverboy;  good mmmmorning, did you dream about naked classical artists at all? 

He giggled a little to himself and put his phone away, not expecting a response so soon that early in the morning. 

Keef; haha you’re sooo funny

Keef; i did not dream about naked classical artists last night 

Lance was surprised to feel his phone buzz that fast and grabbed it to see if it was actually Keith. When he saw that it actually was Keith, a small grin spread across his lips. 

Loverboy; you’re up early 

Loverboy; i didn’t take you for a morning person 

Keef; i like a lot of time to actually wake up before i do things 

Loverboy; makes sense, what do you have to do so soon on a saturday? 

Keef; i like to get to the gym early before the obnoxious people show up 

Lance stopped in his tracks. The idea of Keith working out had never occurred to him and for some reason he simply could not picture it. 

Loverboy; you work out? but you’re so,, little 

…

Keef; i’m just gonna ignore that

Keef; and yes i work out

Lance grinned a little, a devious idea forming in his head. 

Loverboy; mmm i don’t believe you 

Keef; ?? what ? do you mean 

Loverboy; i don’t believe you 

Loverboy; prove it 

For a while Keith didn’t respond and Lance worried that maybe he had pushed him a little too much, until his phone buzzed in his hand again 

Keef; one attachment 

Lance opened the message and his jaw almost dropped. It was a picture of Keith in one of the gyms full body mirrors.  His face wasn’t in the frame but a few wisps of his hair were visible around his collar bones.  He had a fairly tight fitting t-shirt on over some grey joggers, and his hands were wrapped in boxing tape instead of his usual black half gloves.  Lance felt a blush creeping up his neck the longer he looked at the picture, which he may have saved, just y’know, as friends do. 

Loverboy; oh i guess you do work out

Loverboy; unless you get all dressed up just to take pictures at the gym and deceive me >:3 

Keef; why would i ? 

Keef; know what never mind 

Keef; you’re a pain 

Loverboy; thanks i try :) 

He smiled to himself and put his phone back in his pocket as he unlocked the door to the shop, the bell above the door jingled gently as he walked in, pausing to flick the lights on.  Lance set his stuff behind the counter before setting up a few things, it was usually slow in the morning, so he sat behind the counter on his phone, hoping for another message from Keith, but his phone was silent for at least an hour.  

After a while and only a few customers going in and out, Lance was bored out of his mind. He’d cleaned just about everything he could think off when finally the doorbell jingled again.  Immediately Lance put his phone away and looked up at the door, not yet registering who it was. 

“Welcome to Juniberry Thrift can I help you find anything today?” 

“Uh no I think I’m just looking.” 

Lance looked at the customer for real now, that voice was way too familiar.  It was Keith, standing in the doorway with two coffees in his hands, still wearing his gym clothes. 

“Oh uh hi Keith!  What uh, what brings you to the shop?” Lance tried to look confident, apparently Keith didn’t notice as he walked closer to the counter. 

“Just thought I’d stop by,” he shrugged, setting down a whipped cream drowned coffee in front of Lance. 

“Is that for me?”  Lance asked, kind of confused and perhaps still a little flustered. 

“Yeah, thought you could use the caffeine,”  Keith was looking away, taking a sip of his coffee.  Truthfully he was just as nervous and flustered as Lance, he was just better at hiding it.  Lance didn’t notice of course and just took the drink with a smile. 

“Thanks Keith, you didn’t have to but thanks,” he smiled as he took a sip, it was the same drink he’d ordered on their study “date.”  Keith must’ve remembered it?  Lance looked down so Keith wouldn’t see how embarrassed he was. 

“It’s uh, kind of slow today if you want to stick around,”  he offered, glancing up at Keith and accidentally making eye contact.  Lance had never really gotten a good look at Keith’s eyes and boy was he missing out.  They were a cool blueish grey, one that could easily be mistaken for purple if he looked too fast.  They held eye contact for a second longer before both boys looked away, Keith coughed awkwardly and moved to look through a rack of dark colored clothes.  

Lance watched Keith mosey through the store out of the corner of his eye.  He didn’t want to seem creepy or look like he was staring but well,, he couldn’t help it.  Keith was possibly the prettiest boy Lance had ever met. 

“Find anything you like?”  He asked when he noticed Keith had been lingering near a certain rack for a few minutes.  Lance got up from behind the counter and wandered over to where Keith was, sort of lingering behind him to see what he’d found.  He was holding a faded black t-shirt with a large drawing of mothman in the middle, underneath it said “Point Pleasant, est 1794.” 

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you like supernatural stuff don't you?”

Keith jumped a little when Lance had asked that, “Jesus when did you get there?”  He looked mildly startled and perhaps a little flustered. 

“Few seconds ago,”  Lance shrugged, reaching around Keith to grab the shirt off the rack and brought it up to the counter. 

“What’re you doing?”  Keith asked, following behind him and clearly confused.  

“Getting your shirt with my employee discount,”  he grinned, scanning the tag that was tied around the label on the collar. 

“Wait no you don’t have to use your employee discount on me it’s just a shirt,” Keith protested but Lance just grinned over at him. 

“Too late, already swiped it.”  He smiled and tossed the shirt at Keith after snipping the tag off.  Keith caught it and frowned a little bit. 

“Well at least let me pay you back,” he mumbled, reaching for his wallet in his side pocket. 

“Nope! You bought me coffee so I bought you a shirt. Even Steven.”  He grinned, moving so he could sit on the counter again.  Just as Keith was about to protest, the bell above the door chimed and a girl with long blond hair pulled into two ponytails walked in, and apparently she didn’t see Keith yet. 

“Lance what have I told you about sitting on the counter when we’re open? What if a customer walked in and saw you?”  She huffed, stomping over to Lance and grabbing his foot to pull him off the counter. 

“Wow Romelle getting physical with an employee, what would our customer think?”  Lance said with a devious smirk, nodding his head over at Keith.  Keith waved a little awkwardly and Romelle froze, her cheeks turning bright red. 

“Lance what the hell! why didn’t you tell there was someone here before I grabbed your foot oh my G O D,” she paused and turned to Keith, “I’m terribly sorry my coworker thinks he’s funny, can I help you with anything?”

“Ah no I’m okay, thanks,” Keith smiled a little, trying not to laugh at Lance making faces behind Romelle.  “Yeah Lance can be a pain.” He added with a grin. 

“Hey! I just bought you a shirt!”  Lance complained, hopping off the counter finally.  Keith just shrugged with a little grin. 

“Guess I’ll see you later Lance,”  he said with a little wave as he walked out the door, sitting on his bike parked in front of the window that Lance had somehow missed, his back towards the store.  He looked strong in that shirt..

“Soooooo was that Keith?”  Romelle smirked, leaning in close to Lance’s face, since they were around the same height.  

“Oh my god you are the worst!”  Lance laughed, pushing Romelle’s face away from his playfully. 

“Look at your face, you're bright red!”  She grinned, poking his cheek with a slender, ring covered finger.  Lance just groaned and walked behind the counter, deciding not to answer her and slumping into the chair. 

“I can see why you like him, he has a nice ass.”  

“ROMELLE N O!”  Lance yelped, looking out the window where Keith was still idling on his bike, drinking his coffee and watching the afternoon traffic.  He had to use every ounce of willpower not to let his eyes wander down past Keith’s waist. 

“Oh my god you are actually the worst why would you say that?”  He whined, “Now I’m gonna subconsciously stare at his butt all the time I hate you.”

“No you love me,” she grinned, sitting on the desk next to him. “You can go on break now if you wanna, since I’m here. Maybe go talk your man into giving you a ride on his bike .”  She grinned, wiggling her eyebrows as if she was talking about something besides the bike. 

Lance groaned and grabbed his things, walking towards the door. “I am gonna go talk to him but Not because you brought it up.”  She just grinned and waved a cheeky goodbye.  

… 

The thrift store bell jingled softly behind Keith as he sat on his bike finishing his coffee. 

“I’m sorry about Romelle, she can be a lot.” 

Keith turned towards the door, surprised to see Lance standing there. 

“She was fine, what’re you doing out here?” 

“I’m on my break now since Romelle’s there, I’ve got an hour before I need to be back.” 

Keith looked at him for a second before he understood what Lance was “asking.”  He smiled a little and grabbed the spare helmet from under his seat and handed it to Lance, 

“Well how about some lunch then?” 

Keith didn’t miss Lance’s grin as he pulled his helmet on, turning the bike on finally. “Anywhere you wanted to go?” 

“Uhmm, surprise me?”  Lance asked as he climbed on behind Keith, hesitantly placing his arms around his waist again.  Keith thought for a minute before pushing the kickstand back and pulling out onto the road.  

“Ever tried Korean?” He asked above the bikes rumble, to which Lance shook his head no. 

“Perfect.”  He grinned, driving away from the downtown area towards a cluster of apartment buildings. 

…

Lance held onto Keith’s waist as they wound through the streets, confused why they were leaving the downtown area.  The ride was over sooner than Lance wanted to admit, and he was only more confused when he looked around and didn’t see a single restaurant. 

“Uh Keith? I don’t see any restaurants here?”  He asked as he got off the bike, setting his helmet on the seat.  

Keith laughed a little as he pulled his own helmet off and stuffed his keys in his pocket, “Thats cause there aren’t any. You don’t mind homemade, do you?” 

Lance blushed a little when he realized just what Keith was asking. That meant that this must’ve been where Keith lived. He didn’t know they were that close yet?  He tried to control his blush as he followed Keith to the front doors of an apartment building where they had to be buzzed in.  Lance’s imagination was spiraling out of control as they climbed the stairs to Keith’s apartment. 

“does he live alone? oh my god is this a date? i hope he’s not a serial killer or something,, oh my god i thought this was gonna take way longer,,” 

“This is me,” Keith said, pulling Lance out of his thoughts.  What sounded like a large dog barked behind the door as Keith unlocked it. “That’s Kosmo, don’t take him too seriously, he's just a big baby.”  Keith smiled a little as he opened the door, and waiting right there for him was a Huge fluffy dog.  He had to be some sort of mutt, maybe a malamute or something. 

“Oh my gosh he’s so cute!”  Lance grinned, momentarily forgetting to be nervous and crouching down next to Keith’s knees to pet Kosmo.  

Keith smiled a bit and stepped around Lance, kicking his shoes off by the door and after a moment Lance followed suit, with Kosmo practically glued to his side.  He looked around as they walked in, trying to imagine Keith going about his daily routine there.  It was small and cozy, the furniture actually matched which Lance wasn’t used to, and the kitchen looked way newer than his own.  “You have a really pretty place,” he mumbled, which earned a little laugh from Keith. 

“Thanks, it’s not really fancy or anything though.”  

“Fancier than my house” Lance smiled a little, taking a seat on one of the barstools, coincidentally, it was the plaid red one, Keith’s favorite. 

“I thought you said we were going to get Korean food?” 

“Well I didn't say we were going to get anything, I thought I’d make some lunch if that’s okay?” 

Lance blushed a little at the thought of Keith making something just for them, sure he was used to homemade meals but this felt different. 

“Sure! I didn’t realize you cooked?” 

“It’s not much,” Keith hummed, grabbing various ingredients from the fridge and cupboards.  “Mostly recipes my Mom taught me.” 

“That’s really cool, I cook with my mom when I can.”  Lance grinned, moving around the island to see what Keith was doing. “So uh, what’re you making?” 

“Chicken bulgogi, it’s basically just barbecued chicken but Korean style. It was the first recipe she taught me, actually.” 

Lance smiled and walked closer to stand next to him, hoping he wasn’t making him uncomfortable. “Do you need a hand with anything?”

Keith paused and looked over at him, his cheeks were ever so slightly pink but of course Lance didn’t notice that. 

“You could mince this garlic and ginger if you want, knives are in that drawer and cutting boards are over there.”  Keith pointed to where Lance could find what he needed, and Lance set up his spot right next to Keith. 

“I’ve never had Korean food before, I’m

excited.”  He grinned, squishing the garlic with the flat side of the knife like his mom had taught him. 

“I hope you like it,”  Keith said softly, glancing at Lance out of the corner of his eye.  

They worked next to each other for a little while, Lance offering to help here and there and Keith insisting he just sit down cause he was the guest. Lance did as he was told and just watched Keith work.  He almost didn't hear the front door open until there was a new voice in the apartment. 

“Keith I’m home!  Is that bulgogi I smell?”

Lance turned to look at the doorway and almost did a double take cause Woah Who Is That?

“Hey Shiro, I'm making lunch for me and a friend but there should be enough for you.”  

The new comer, Shiro apparently, walked into the kitchen with a smile.  Lance couldn’t help but stare because Wow that was a pretty man.  It must run in the family.  His eyes kept being drawn to the little shock of grayish white hair at the top of Shiro's hairline. 

“A friend huh?” Shiro smirked, wiggling his eyebrows at Keith. 

“Oh my god why are you like this?”  Keith groaned, Lance chuckled a little at their interaction. 

“Hi, I’m Lance,” He smiled when Shiro turned to him, offering his hand, only to be taken aback when a metal prosthetic shook it back. He did his best to hide the shock and just gave him his best “meeting the family” smile. 

“Hi Lance, I'm Shiro, Keith’s brother, but you probably already figured that out. You have any classes with Keith?” 

“Uh no we don’t have any classes together, well we sort of do but I’m just the teachers assistant so?”  He shrugged a little and Shiro chuckled.  

“Well It’s nice to meet you Lance,” he paused and turned to Keith, “I’m actually heading back out in a few minutes, so no need to save any for me.” 

“Oh?”  Keith looked at him quizzically, “Where are you going?”  

“Matt asked if we wanted to come hang out but I’ll uh, tell him you’re busy today.”  Shiro had a little smirk that was not missed by Lance, who quickly turned a soft red. 

“Oh my god just go,” Keith groaned, throwing a little piece of cooked chicken at him. Shiro just laughed and disappeared into the apartment, presumably changing out of his work clothes. 

“I didn’t know you had a brother?”  Lance asked as Keith set down a plate in front of him, sitting on the blue leather stool to his left. 

“Well technically we’re only half brothers, but who really cares about all that.”  He shrugged, scooping up a forkful of chicken.  

“That’s true. This smells really good by the way,” he smiled, following Keith’s example and letting it cool a minute before trying to eat. 

“Oh thanks, I hope it tastes as good as it smells,” Keith smiled a little awkwardly, he wasn’t used to eating with someone aside from Shiro.  

Lance smiled and took a bite, pausing for a minute as he tasted it. 

“Oh my god it’s delicious,” he mumbled, grinning at Keith around his chicken. 

“Really? I didn’t think you’d like it that much.”

“This is so good oh my gosh, you were holding out on me!”

Keith chuckled a little, still not letting his full laugh out but Lance was pretty sure he could get it, someday. 

“Well uh take as much as you want, you can have some leftovers if you want them.” 

“I can’t believe you made this holy shit,”  he mumbled around his food, trying his best to savor it. 

“Thanks Lance,” Keith smiled, he seemed a little shy but Lance didn’t mind.  

“Alright I’m leaving again, try not to destroy the place huh?” Shiro said, suddenly behind them, making Lance jump a tiny bit. 

“Haha Shiro, very funny. Say hi to the Holts for me.”  Keith rolled his eyes, ignoring Shiro's sarcasm. 

“Will do, bye Lance it was nice to meet you, see you around?” 

Lance smiled a little and waved, “It was nice meeting you too Shiro, see you later.” 

Shiro smiled at them and left, and aside from Kosmo snoring on the floor the house was quiet again. 

“Well I’ve still got a while left on my break,, did you have anything else in mind?”  Lance asked once they’d finished their food, Keith was washing their plates off and sort of froze for a second when Lance asked that. 

“What do you mean?”  He asked, glancing at Lance from the corner of his eyes.

“I dunno like a movie or a video game or something?”  Lance shrugged, not noticing Keith’s sigh of relief. 

“Sure we could play a game if you want, you down for Mario Kart?” 

Lance lit up like a christmas tree at that suggestion, practically bouncing with excitement. “Hell yeah I’m down for Mario Kart!”  He beat Keith to the couch, grinning excitedly and patting the spot next to him.  He wasn’t about to tell Keith that he played with his niece and nephew every time they were over and well, he kicked ass. 

…

Keith set the last plate on the drying mat and walked over to the living room where Lance was already waiting expectantly.  Keith was a little rusty at the game but he wasn’t about to tell Lance that.  Instead he just sat on the floor in front of him once the tv was on, looking back at Lance with a little smirk. 

“Ready to get your ass kicked McClain?” 

“In your dreams.”  Lance grinned, leaning forward slightly over Keith’s head as the game started. 

After like five rounds Keith groaned and leaned back onto the front of the couch. “What the hell Lance? You hustled me.” 

“Aw poor Keith,” Lance grinned, looking down at him from his character's fifth victory lap. “I live with two little kids at the house and we play, like all the time, you should’ve known I’d be great at this.”  He had a smug little grin that had Keith’s heart beating perhaps a bit faster than usual, so he looked away with a huff and a plastered on scowl. 

“I still think you cheated,, somehow.” 

“I think you just don’t like losing,” Lance grinned down at him. 

Keith was looking through his phone now, just ignoring Lance’s taunts and texting someone named “The Pigeon King.” 

“Hey Keith?” 

“Hm?” 

“What time is it?” 

Keith paused his text and looked at the time displayed at the top of the screen, “It’s almost one why?” 

“ohSHIT” Lance yelped, jumping off the couch and running to get his shoes on, almost kicking Keith in the process, “I was supposed to be back like an hour ago!” 

“Oh shit,” Keith mumbled, getting up and following him to the door, tugging his boots and jacket on as quick as he could before grabbing his keys off their hook. 

“Wait where are you going?” 

“Uh,” he paused, looking back up at Lance from his shoes, “Bringing you back to work? Did you think you were gonna walk back?” 

“Oh uh well I guess? I dunno?”  Lance looked mildly embarrassed and Keith just chuckled a little. 

“Grab your helmet let’s go,” he walked past Lance with a small smile, he was kind of glad he got a little extra time with him. 

When they were back on the bike Keith tried not to pay too much attention to the way Lance’s arms were wrapped around his waist, or that his hands were clasped in front of him, effectively trapping Keith there in his arms.  Stopped at a red light in town he could have sworn he felt Lance arms tighten around his middle just a little, but surely he was just imagining that. 

“Okay Keith just chill out, jesus christ man get a grip on yourself.”  He mumbled just under his breath, hoping the idle of the engine would drown him out enough. By the time they got back to the shop he’d had just about all he could handle of Lance pressed against his back, and didn’t bother taking his helmet off to say goodbye.  The last thing he needed was Lance to see how red he was. 

“Thanks for the ride Keith, you really didn’t have you y’know I could have walked just fine,”  Lance said with an awkward little smile, which only made Keith smile more. Thank god for his helmet. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll see you ‘round then?”

“Yeah sure, I’ll see you later Keith.”  Lance waved a little as Keith pulled away from the curb.   

…

Lance didn’t hear the shop's bell jingle behind him as Romelle snuck out, suddenly jumping up behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. 

“Oh my GOD you’re head over heels for that guy!” She grinned, spinning him around and squishing his cheeks between her palms.  “Look at how red you are Lance holy shit!”  She giggled when Lance pulled her hands away, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff and pointedly looking away from her. 

“You’re ridiculous, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Aw come on you know I’m riiight,” Romelle grinned, poking his cheek once again. 

“You’re insufferable,” he groaned, shimmying past her and into the shop, just trying to escape her teasing. He had enough on his mind already, Lance wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this crush under wraps, especially if he and Keith hung out more. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 13: Keith

Keith didn’t really see Lance much in the next few days and he did his best to stick to his regular routine, but now there was something else distracting him from his schoolwork, that is, besides the chatty brunette who was currently blowing up Keith’s phone.  Keith grabbed his phone from the desk, shutting the vibration off and stuffing it in his pocket so it wouldn’t disturb any library patrons. 

Keith; lance oh my god i’m at work what do you need? 

Lance; oh sorry i didn’t realize you were at the library!

Lance; we should hang out again sometime

Keith; you wanna hang out again? 

Lance; well yeah why wouldn’t i? 

Keith set his phone down for a moment when he heard the office door click closed behind him. 

“So Keith how’s your new man?” Asked a sarcastic voice behind his chair. 

“Haha,” Keith deadpanned as he spun around to tap Pidge in the shin with his foot. “He’s not ‘my man’ we’re just friends.” 

“Uhhuh suuure you’re just friends, but you two looked awful lovey dovey on your motorcycle in town the other day.”  Pidge had a shit eating grin, despite only being like five feet tall they had no trouble being intimidating. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He huffed, spinning back around to type something into the computer book log. 

“You’re a liar and you know it. I saw you two on your bike leaving town and going towards your house the other day and then you didn’t come over to hang out with Shiro like always, so you’ve got some explaining to do mister.”  She sat on the desk next to his computer, still wearing that shit eating grin. 

“What are you, the cops? I don’t have to explain anything,” Keith huffed, sticking his tongue out indignantly. 

“You’ll mess up someday and I will be there to see it.” She grinned, hopping off the desk and disappearing into the shelves. 

Once Keith was sure she was gone he picked his phone back up, there were more messages from Lance. 

Lance; i mean it’s alright if you’re too busy to hang out i just thought it was really fun the other day

Lance; want to meet up after classes maybe? there’s a food truck near campus today if you like hawaiian food 

…

Lance; it’s alright if you don’t wanna tho 

“Crap,” Keith mumbled, quickly typing a response, he didn’t want Lance to feel rejected at all. 

Keith; sure, i haven’t had Hawaiian food before but i’ll try it 

…

Lance; oh awesome! what time do you wanna meet up? i can come to the library if that’s easiest

Keith chuckled a little bit, thinking about hanging out with Lance again made the time inch by slower with every second, it didn’t help that Pidge wouldn’t stop pestering him about “his man.”  A little bit before his shift was over the front doors opened, drawing his attention away from his homework spread out on the desk. 

“Hey Keith!”  Lance grinned, keeping his voice at a stage whisper. 

“Hey Lance, I’m almost done if you wanna just hang out or study or something.” Keith smiled a little, watching Lance as he wandered off into the library.  A few students filtered in and out of the library throughout the last bit of his shift, and when there was nobody at the desk he would steal glances at Lance, who had fallen asleep at one of the round tables.  Lance was still asleep when Pidge came over to take over Keith’s position at the desk, and boy did they look smug. 

“So not your man huh?” She smirked, setting their feet up on the desk by the computer. 

“You’re a menace,” he huffed, grabbing his things and walking over to Lance, who had started to snore very quietly.  Keith couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth and shook Lance’s shoulder softly.  

 “Come on Lance, nap times over.” He chuckled a little as Lance tried to swat Keith away. “Didn’t you want to go check out that food truck?” 

After a moment Lance sat up with a groan, squinting up at Keith and stretching his arms out. “Alriiight I’m up,” he groaned again, standing up from his chair and stretching his arms up over his head.  Keith did his best not to look at Lance’s now exposed hips and just turned around, walking towards the doors. 

“Come on I don’t want to get stuck in a huge line,” he said, looking back at Lance and well, Keith could have sworn he saw Lance’s eyes shoot up from a much lower point than he expected.  He shrugged it off and waited by the door for him. 

…

Lance kept his eyes down as he walked out of the library with Keith.  He was like ninety percent sure Keith had just caught him looking at his ass, he could only pray he was wrong. 

“So Lance, how come you’re so excited for this specific food truck?” 

Lance looked up from the ground with a grin, “My best friend is working on it with his dad! They're both amazing cooks and I really wanna help them get this truck like off the ground yknow?” 

“That’s really cool,” Keith smiled at him and Lance could feel his heart practically skip a beat.  Who would have known under that scary persona Keith had like,, the best smile ever.  Boy was Lance falling for him. 

“You know where on campus they’re parked?” Keith asked after a few minutes of semi-awkward silence, stirring Lance from his thoughts. 

“Oh yeah! they’re over by the arts and literature buildings today, makes sense yknow.”

“Yeah, art kids are probably the most likely to try new food.” Keith chuckled a little, turning to take a detour through the green instead of sticking to the path. 

 Lance followed dutifully behind him, doing his best not to let his eyes wander down past his shoulders again. Stupid Romelle, making him think about Keith’s butt.   Lance tried to distract himself from the temptation by striking up conversation. 

“So the other day you mentioned a slideshow about art history, what’s your major?” 

“I’m double majoring in illustration and art history, it’s pretty interesting actually.” 

“That’s neat, I’m majoring in marine biology but I don’t know if I’ll stick to it. I might switch.”  He shrugged, catching up to Keith as the smell of fresh Hawaiian food wafted through the air. 

“I think we’re close,” Keith smiled a little, picking up speed just a bit and Lance could have sworn he heard Keith’s stomach growl.  

Lance quickened his pace to keep up with him, and as they rounded the corner they were greeted by a pastel blue and yellow food truck with incredible smells coming from it.  The line was only a few people long and it didn’t take much time for the pair to reach the counter where a burly young man was waiting, fixing the orange bandana around his head. 

“Lance! You’re here!”  He grinned, leaning forward on the counter, pausing when he noticed Keith, “Oh hey you’re the librarian right? Pidge’s friend?”

“Uh yeah, Keith, you know Pidge?”

“Hell yeah!  We’re in the same AM class, they’re super cool.  She talks about you a lot but don’t tell them I said that. Oh I’m Hunk by the way.”  Hunk smiled and offered Keith a hand, which he shook briefly.  “So what can I get you guys?” He asked, turning back to Lance. 

“Uhhhh what do you recommend?” Lances brain was honestly a little overwhelmed with all the options, not that there was a lot he just had zero idea what most of them were. 

“Well if you haven’t tried Hawaiian food before and you don’t have anything about certain textures, I’d seriously suggest the poke, but if you’re picky about textures the laulau is really good too.”  

“I’ll try the poke,” Keith ordered before Lance had a chance to finish scanning the menu. 

“What’s the kalua pig?” He asked, looking over his other options. 

“It’s kinda like pulled pork but it’s really smoky and it comes with rice, no barbecue sauce.” 

“I’ll try that,” Lance smiled, reaching for his wallet. 

“Wait, you're paying for both?”  Keith paused, mid reach for his own money. 

“Uh yeah? unless you don’t want me to.”  He paused, mildly confused. 

“No uh, that’s fine. Thanks Lance,”  Keith put his wallet away and glanced off to the side, his cheeks were slightly pink but the only one to notice was Hunk. 

“Alright I’ll call your names when the food’s ready,” he grinned, disappearing into the truck where his father was cooking. 

Keith walked off to the side to wait, Lance following close behind. “Thanks again, you didn’t have to pay for me.” 

“Sure I did, it was my idea to get food so of course I’ll pay,”  Lance smiled, sitting down on the cool grass.  After a moment Keith sat down too, keeping a friendly amount of space between them, not that Lance minded.  He grabbed his phone from his pocket while they waited, fully aware of how awkward the quiet suddenly felt.  Thank god the silence was broken by Hunk calling their orders. “I’ll grab them,” he offered, mostly just wanting to get to a friendly face. 

“So I take it he didn’t kill you for being loud the other day?”  Hunk smirked at him when Lance got up to the counter. 

“Ha Ha very funny, I think we’re friends now? I don’t know why he got so awkward when I offered to pay for his lunch.” 

“Cause that’s what you do on a date.”  He deadpanned, watching Lance turn Bright Red. 

“OH Mygod you’re right,” Lance caught himself before he yelled it too loud, “do you think he thinks this is a date?” 

“I dunno man maybe?” He said with a shrug, “If you’re worried just clarify it when you get back over there.”

Lance groaned and grabbed their food, “Thanks Hunk, pray for me buddy.” 

“Sure will dude, Next!” Hunk called up the next in line as Lance walked back to his and Keith’s spot. 

“Here’s yours, I didn’t know poke was like, fish and stuff, did you?”  He asked as he handed Keith his bowl. 

“Mhm,” he hummed, scooping up a mouthful and answering around his bite, “I’ve had sashimi before and I figured they were similar. You can try a bite if you want.”  Keith looked over at Lance, offering his bowl casually.  

Okay he must not be weirded out any more, Lance thought, smiling and shaking his head politely. “I’m okay, I’m not a huge fan of like,, seafood textures.  I tried sushi once and I wasn’t a fan.”  

Keith just shrugged and took another bite, “That’s alright, how’s your pork?” 

“It’s pretty good!  You wanna try some?” Lance offered him his fork with a smile.  Keith hesitated a moment before taking it, grabbing a small portion to try.  Lance watched his expression as he tried it, for some reason he really hoped he liked it. 

“That is pretty good,” he decided, handing Lance his fork back.  Lance grinned and they finished their meals in comfortable silence, the white noise of the campus green filtering in around them.

“So uh, anything you wanna do?”  Lance asked once they had gotten up, tossing their bowls into a recycling container. 

Keith looked up at the sky as he thought, Lance noticed him doing that a few times now, “Um, I didn’t really have anything in mind but we can hang out more if you want.” 

Lance tried to suppress his smile a little bit, thinking of something they could do that wouldn’t make this feel any more like a date. “Wanna see a movie?” Shit. He could feel the blush creeping back up his neck, Keith didn’t seem to notice. 

“Uh sure, is there anything good playing right now?” 

“I don’t know, we could always go to my house and find something good on netflix, my parents are at work and the twins aren't there so it’d just be us.” SHIT.  Good luck getting out of that one Lance. 

…

Now it was Keith’s turn to turn red, was Lance seriously suggesting they go to his house, alone, and watch something together?  Usually that implied something else.  “Sure we could do that, we’d have to go back to the library first to get my bike.  You don’t have any more classes today?” 

“Nah today’s pretty slow for me,” Lance was red too and Keith definitely noticed it, oh god was he really thinking about a movie or like, a movie ?  Keith just nodded a little awkwardly and turned to lead the way back to the library, trying to get those embarrassing thoughts out of his head before Lance said anything else.   He managed to calm down by the time they reached the library so he wasn’t so red when he handed Lance his helmet. 

“So uh, your house or the theatre?” He asked softly. 

“I checked the movie listings while we were walking and they’re not playing anything good today so let’s go to my place,” Lance said way too casually as he took the helmet. 

The blush threatened to stain Keith’s cheeks once again and he pulled his helmet on before Lance could ask any questions, trying to stamp down the butterflies running rampant in his stomach.  Lance climbed on behind him after he got his helmet on, wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist again which Keith was All Too aware of.  “This boys gonna kill me,” he thought as he pushed off into the road, taking the scenic way again so he’d have time to calm down.  

He didn’t calm down much by the time they reached Lance’s house.  The driveway was empty just like Lance had predicted and Keith felt his heartbeat pick up yet again. “We’re just watching a movie” he promised himself silently as he killed the engine, getting off rather quickly.  He followed Lance to the front door, waiting awkwardly as he unlocked it and led him inside.  

“We can watch in my room, my tv’s bigger than the one down here,” Lance chuckled a bit, kicking his shoes off into a pile and wandering off into the house. “Help yourself to drinks if you’re thirsty.” He offered. 

Keith shook his head politely and followed Lance up the creaky old stairs off the side of the kitchen, trying not to let his mind wander too much. “It’s just a movie it’s just a movie with a friend,” he thought, trying to reassure himself even though he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks.  

Lance opened his bedroom door and Keith almost did a double take, it was less of a bedroom and more like a small apartment, it even had its own bathroom and a sky light above his bed.  There were tie dye tapestries hung on the walls, and a bookshelf with a few books, knickknacks, and little stuffed animals. A beat up looking skateboard and pair of scuffed rolled skates leaned carefully against the bookshelf.   Mounted on the far wall across from a small couch was the tv and Lance wasn’t lying, the thing was huge. 

“Holy shit,” Keith mumbled, walking in and looking around a bit. “You’ve got your own bathroom? Lucky.” 

“Haha yeah, I’m so glad I’ve got my own.  Don’t get me wrong I love the twins but they’re messy.”  Lance laughed a bit and flopped onto his bed, fishing the remote out from the covers and switching the tv on.  Keith stood to the side awkwardly, not sure where he was supposed to sit. 

“You can sit on the bed if you want, I don’t bite.”  He grinned, earning another bout of blushing from Keith. 

“Uh okay, if you’re sure,”  he sat down on the edge of the bed, not sure what to do with himself.  Was Lance gonna start something or did he expect Keith to make the first move?  

“So, what do you wanna watch?” 

“I like horror movies,” he mumbled, glancing over at the inch of caramel colored skin that was showing at his waistline.  Did he even like Lance like that?  Definitely not right?  He was just somebody he happened to be watching a movie with, alone,, on his bed,,, oh boy.  

“Horror movies,, horror movies, hmm, oh this one looks neat,” Lance paused to read the description, squinting a little to see the text better. “It’s a ghost movie, sound good?” 

“Uhuh sure,” Keith mumbled, mildly distracted and incredibly embarrassed. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. 

“You can lay down if you wanna, it would probably be more comfy,” Lance offered, scooting closer to the wall to give Keith room. Thank god he had a queen sized bed otherwise Keith may have simply passed out.  After a moment of hesitation he laid down on his stomach next to Lance, still keeping a little buffer of space between them.

 Finally he was able to calm down and just focus on the movie, now that he wasn’t in his head quite so much Keith realized he had seen that movie before and it was honestly pretty scary, even for him.  He didn’t even think to ask Lance if he liked scary movies and looked over to see how he was doing.  He seemed fine so Keith looked back at the screen, allowing himself to get lost in the plot.  That is until Lance suddenly yelped at an especially scary scene and buried his face in Keith’s shoulder without warning, almost making him short circuit. 

“Uh Lance? You okay?” He asked quietly, afraid his voice would crack if he talked above a whisper. 

“Yeah yup, totally great, definitely fine and not scared at all.” 

“We can watch something else if it’s too much,” Keith offered, looking around and pulling a loose throw blanket over them both. 

Lance shook his head and moved away from Keith’s shoulder, pulling the other half of the blanket up to his neck and keeping a bit closer to his side, grabbing a round and very squishy looking plushy from the end of the bed and stuffing it under his arms. “No it’s fine, it’s not that bad.” 

Keith rolled his eyes a bit because he was clearly lying but for some reason set on watching the movie, so he settled into the blanket and just tried not to think about how close Lance was. He could feel Lance shivering next to him for the entirety of the movie, and he honestly kind of felt bad.  Sometime around halfway through Keith realized his side was way warmer than before, and he looked over to see that Lance had shimmied up to him.  Keith hesitated for a second before setting his arm over Lance’s shoulder, not daring to pull his eyes away from the screen. 

“Keith uh? What’re you doing?”  Lance looked over at him, his cheeks were a little red and he looked pretty confused. 

Keith kept his eyes fixed on the screen, praying that his face wasn’t as red as it felt. “You uh, looked a little chilly,” he didn’t say scared cause he wasn’t sure if Lance would get upset. 

“Oh uh yeah I was a little, chilly.” He mumbled. 

Keith could feel Lance’s eyes on him still  and was doing everything he could to not turn the same color as a tomato.  For the rest of the movie Keith left his arm around Lance’s shoulders, he couldn’t focus at all any more but he didn’t really mind too much.  Lance was really warm against his side. Almost too warm. 

“I think I just heard the front door close.” Lance mumbled, sitting up a tiny bit. 

“I didn’t hear anything,” Keith shrugged, keeping his eyes on the movie.  Lance seemed a little uncomfortable but eventually settled back down after a few minutes.  Neither of them heard the stairs creak over the sound of the movie, and Keith kept his arm in place, only now it was resting across his lower back.  He hadn’t meant it to it just sorta slid when Lance sat up.  Out of nowhere Nadia popped up next to the bed and yelled, at the top of her lungs, 

“ABUELA LANCE HAS A BOY IN HIS ROOM!!” 

Keith jolted back so hard he fell off the bed with a thunk and Lance shot up and away from him, the stuffed animal flying off the bed and landing next to Keith. “NADIA! Get out of my room!” 

Nadia skipped away with a grin, chanting “Lance has a boyfriend Lance has a boyfriend!”  

Keith groaned from the floor and sat up, holding the back of his head where it hit the hardwood. “What the fuck was that?” He grumbled. 

Lance sighed and offered Keith a hand up, “Sorry about her, mom doesn’t care if I have people over she’s just a shit head.” 

Keith groaned again and sat back on the edge of the bed, rubbing his face in embarrassment.  “I am never having kids,” he mumbled. 

“What seriously, you don’t want kids?” Lance sat up straighter now, looking at Keith like he was crazy. 

“Uh no not really, not that I could have kids anyways” he chuckled a bit. 

“Oh I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have uh assumed anything. I hope it’s nothing bad,” Lance mumbled, looking down now. 

“What? No it’s not like a medical thing.” 

“Oh?” Lance looked confused again and Keith just raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s that look for?” 

“Lance, Lance I’m gay.” 

Lance stared at him for a second before going bright red again, “Oh my GOD i’m a dumbass” he groaned, covering his face with his hands.  

Keith laughed a little and pat Lance's head softly. “You’re not a dumbass Lance, you're fine.. You seriously couldn’t tell though?”

“I didn’t want to assume!” He whined from behind his hands.  Keith could see a tinge of red at the tips of Lance's ears and couldn’t help laughing a little. 

“I’m an art history major Lance, I think it would have been a fair assumption.”  He chuckled, watching Lance peek at him through his fingers. 

Lance just groaned and fell back onto the bed, covering his eyes in the crook of his elbow. Keith reached around him for the remote to pause the movie, he’d hung out with Lance long enough to know that his dramatics would go on for a bit longer. 

“I can’t believe I didn’t realize it,,” he mumbled under his arm. 

“It’s fine Lance really, I don’t care.”

“It’s not fine though cause like I should know these things,” Lance groaned. 

“Oh? Why should you know these things?”  Keith raised an eyebrow, chuckling a little to himself. 

“Cause I’m bi, I should have known.” He grumbled, peeking over at Keith slightly. 

Keith could have sworn the floor fell out from under his feet, Lance was bi??? “You’re bi?” He paused and looked around the room, only just then noticing all the little pops of pink, blue, and purple.  There were stickers and mini flags and hanging on the ceiling above them was a giant pride flag. 

“Guess I’m not the only oblivious one,” Lance smirked at him, sitting back up to gloat.  Keith groaned and reached towards his chest, earning a confused look from Lance, that is, until Keith pushed him back over onto the bed so he couldn’t see his smug face.

“Are we gonna finish the movie or what?” Keith grumbled, turning back towards the tv and ignoring Lance's baffled pout. 

“Yeah sure,” Lance smiled a bit and moved so he was laying next to Keith again before starting the movie again.  They had gotten just past halfway through it, and Keith knew the second half was pretty bad, but he was still surprised when Lance ended up clinging to his waist and his face buried in Keith’s side. 

“Uh Lance? Do you want to watch something else?” He paused the movie yet again and looked over at Lance, at least what he could see of him.  

“No it’s okay, you like horror movies it’s cool.”  Lance's voice was quiet and kind of shaky. 

After a moment Keith let his arm rest across Lances back again, grabbing the remote and started looking for something else to watch as his thumb traitorously rubbed small circles against Lance's side.  God his side was soft.  Keith was gonna have a hard time not thinking about that. 

“What’re you doing?” Lance looked up at him, confused and still pretty spooked. 

“I’m gonna find something else to watch, I honestly forgot how scary that movie was.  Probably not the best first movie night option,” he chuckled a little, finally settling on something he figured they would both enjoy.  “Ever seen Zombieland?” 

Lance shook his head no, not fully looking at the screen yet. 

“It’s good, more funny than scary really. I think you should like it well enough.”  Keith smiled at him quickly before looking back at the tv across the room, after a few minutes he felt Lance move next to him and looked down to see him laying on his stomach, still pressed against Keith’s side, but propped up on his elbows and watching the screen too.  And of course, he realized that he still had his arm around his waist.  He felt the heat rising up his cheeks and looked away, pretending to check his phone quickly and praying that he wasn’t too red, but Lance hadn’t seemed to notice before so maybe he was in the clear.  

They were able to finish their second movie in peace, Rosa had most likely kept the kids from going upstairs which Keith appreciated but at the same time made him a bit nervous, what did she think they were doing if she had kept the twins away so well.  When the movie ended Lance sat up next to him and stretched with a soft groan, and Keith would be lying if he said he didn’t think it was the most attractive thing he’d ever seen. 

“That one wasn’t bad! I liked the Columbus guy he was really funny.”  Lance grinned down at him just as Keith ripped his gaze away from Lance’s waistline. 

“Yeah it’s uh pretty good movie, I used to watch it with my mom all the time.”  He smiled a little, rolling over to sit at the edge of the bed. “I’m surprised the kids didn’t come back up?” 

“My mamá is good at keeping them occupied when I have someone over..”  Lance paused a moment and turned red, suddenly flustered, “not that I have people like over a lot! or at all! that’s uh, not what I meant..” 

Keith snorted a little bit, trying not to laugh at Lance's dilemma but he couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing, falling over on his side in front of Lance.  “Ohmygod did you really think I would

assume that?” He asked between laughing fits. 

…

Lance couldn’t do anything but stare.  He’d never seen Keith laugh so hard out of nowhere like that.   He couldn’t pull his eyes away from the boy laying in front of him, on his bed, with his hands clasped over his stomach as he totally lost his composure.  He was pretty sure he was blushing yet again, both out of embarrassment and well, Keith had a really good laugh. 

“Oh my god, I haven’t laughed that hard in forever,” Keith sighed once he caught his breath, still laying on his back in front of Lance.  His hair fell away from his eyes and Lance was finally able to get a good look at them. 

“You have nice eyes.”  He mumbled, not thinking too much about it until he saw Keith turn even more red. 

“Oh uh, thanks,” he mumbled, looking the other way towards the door.  After a moment Lance realized how that probably sounded and groaned, covering his face with his hands again. 

“I didn’t mean it like that, I mean you do have nice eyes but I didn’t mean that the way you think I meant it and I-“ 

He was suddenly cut off by a leather gloved hand covering his mouth, his eyes went wide when he looked over at Keith, who was sitting up and facing him, with his hand clamped firmly over Lance's mouth and a sharp look of determination on his gaze.  “I think you have nice eyes too.” 

Lance simply froze.  Keith pulled his hand away again and for a moment they just sat there in awkward silence. Lance had no idea what just happened nor did he know what to say.  All he could hear in his brain was tv static.  Eventually he settled on, “You have a really nice laugh, I don’t think I’ve really heard it before.” 

“Oh, thank you. I suppose I don’t really laugh out loud that much.” 

“You should,” Lance smiled at him again, “I’d love to hear you laugh more.” 

Keith blushed a little bit but smiled, faintly. “Uh thanks.  Did you have anything else you wanted to do today?” 

A million different thoughts and scenarios ran through Lance's mind all the sudden and he scrambled off the bed “Uh hang on I’ll be right back!” He tried to steel himself and not sprint into the bathroom, if Keith saw how red he’d gotten just then he’d had to know what sort of  thoughts had just gone through his mind. “Calm down Lance,, he didn’t mean it like that he just meant like a game or something.  Sure he’s pretty but holy shit I don’t want to do,, that? Do I? He is really pretty though, and his hair looks really soft..” He trailed off, getting lost in thought till there was a soft knock on the bathroom door. 

“Lance you okay? You kinda just ran in here all the sudden, do you need anything?” Keith asked from the other side of the door, pulling Lance out of those thoughts. 

“Oh no I’m- I’m fine Keith it’s all good! Nothing to worry about!”  He really hoped Keith couldn’t hear the embarrassment in his voice. 

“If you’re not feeling well I could go home?” 

“No I’m okay! I’ll be out in a minute!” Lance was beet red, he couldn’t believe he let his mind get carried away like that.  He splashed some ice cold water on his face and pat it dry, staring at the mirror for a moment.  “You do not think of him like that, he’s just a friend,” he thought, taking one last moment to gather his thoughts before opening the door.  Keith was sitting on the bed again, legs crossed underneath him as he scrolled through his phone. 

“You sure you’re alright?” He asked when he saw Lance come out of the bathroom. 

“Yeah I’m all good,” he chuckled a little awkwardly, trying to keep his thoughts in check, “sorry I didn't mean to worry you.” 

“It’s alright,” Keith smiled, scooting back towards the top of the bed so Lance had room. “Glad you’re okay.  Did you want to play a game or something? It's still pretty early in the day.” 

“Honestly I kind of want to watch another movie, if that’s okay with you?” 

“Sure, you can pick this time.” Keith smiled at him again, moving so he could lay on his stomach and watch tv again. 

Lance laid down next to him again, maybe a tad closer than before, scrolling through the movie and trying to decide on one.  Eventually he settled on something that he didn’t necessarily want to watch, another horror movie, but he had a plan.  A short while into the movie, when things started to really get scary, Lance grabbed Keith’s arms and buried his face into the crook of his neck, partially because he was actually a little spooked and partially because he just wanted and excuse to be close to Keith again.  After a moment he felt a gentle weight on his back, and Keith actually pulled him closer to his side with just one arm.  He didn’t say anything, which Lance was fine with, and just left his arm around Lance's waist.  

He grinned into Keith’s shoulder, enjoying the warmth radiating from his side. He stayed like that for a while, peeking out at the movie occasionally then “getting scared” again and hiding against Keith’s side. 

“You know we don’t have to watch just scary movies right? It doesn’t seem like you’re enjoying them that much.” 

“That’s okay,” Lance looked up at him again, “I should broaden my horizons.” 

Keith raised an eyebrow at him but turned back to the screen.  After a little while Lance had an idea. 

“Hey Keith?” 

“Yeah Lance?” 

“What if we had a scary movie night once a week?” 

“Oh?” 

“Yeah you could come over, or I could go to your house, and we watch one of your favorite horror movies until we’ve seen them all.” 

“I thought you didn’t like scary movies?” Keith asked, visibly confused. 

“I don’t love them, but I want to enjoy them! And I figure watching a scary movie every week should get me there in no time!”  Lance grinned over at him, hoping Keith wouldn’t see through his plan. 

“Uh sure, we could watch the next one at my place if you want?” Keith looked confused but was going with it, he’d probably go along with any of Lance’s ideas. 

“Okay,” Lance grinned, he could text him the details later, and just turned back to the tv.  It wasn’t long before he was huddled against Keith’s side again, wrapped in blankets and the same cinnamon-cedar smell he had noticed the first time he sat on Keith’s bike.  Lance was falling, hard. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 14: Lance

Lance stood on the creaky front porch, waving as Keith pulled away, a fond smile creeping across his lips. He certainly hadn’t expected to spend a better part of his day lying in bed with a boy, let alone a pretty boy with a mullet of all things, but he certainly wasn’t about to complain. He pulled his arms tighter around his torso as a crisp autumn breeze blew past, and all he wished was to be cuddled back up to Keith’s side, but that was gonna have to wait until their next movie night.

“Lance mijo, you’re going to catch a cold
out there!” His mom called from the kitchen window, jerking him out of his daydream. As if on command a sharp chill ran down his spine, standing all his arm hairs straight up. He sighed softly and turned back inside, after watching Keith disappear from sight.

“I’m sorry Nadia got in your room dear, I kept them out the rest of the afternoon as best I could.” Rosa smiled as Lance walked into the kitchen. He could smell her favorite lemon scented cleaner and just smiled at her.

“Thanks mom, we were watching scary movies so they wouldn’t have stayed long if they came up anyways,” he chuckled a little, he could hear the twins playing in the living room accompanied by the cooking channel his mom played in the background.

She paused in the middle of wiping down the table, looking at him with a raised brow. “Since when do you like scary movies?” Lance could have sworn she was smirking at him as a light blush fanned across his cheeks.

“Just trying to widen my horizons you know!” He chuckled nervously and hurried out of the kitchen, he couldn’t handle that look on his mom, who just laughed as he scurried out.

“Make sure you stay safe mijo!” She called after him, a teasing tone in her voice.

Lance sputtered under his breath, slouching into the plush living room recliner. Sylvio grinned up at him and Nadia turned around, a confused look on her face.

“Lance, why did abeula say be safe?”

Lance’s brain short circuited for a second, grappling for an answer that was appropriate for a six year old. “Because uh, we were watching scary movies and she doesn’t want us to get frightened.” He smiled, luckily Nadia would believe that without a doubt, she’d believe just about anything Lance told her.

“Lance lance!” Sylvio interrupted, he’d turned away from his beanie babies to look at Lance. “Tío I’m not afraid of scary movies can I watch them too?”

Lance chuckled a little at him, “Not yet little man, you have to be at least twelve to watch scary movies with your cool uncle, it’s the law. And besides you have to get good sleep before school tomorrow, can’t have you staying up all night with me.” He grinned at him, watching the gears turning behind his big green eyes.

“Okay Lance, I’ll watch scary movies with you later,” Sylvio shrugged and turned back to his beanie babies, carefully setting one on top of the other until he had a small tower of them. Lance watched them play for a little while, intervening if they had a disagreement, until his phone buzzed in his back pocket, once, then twice.

Keef; made it home in one piece

Keef; i think kosmo misses you :(

Under the second text was a picture of Keith’s massive dog laying by the front door, his nose buried in the spare helmet that Lance had worn on his last ride with Keith. Lance grinned and saved the picture, immediately messaging him back.

Loverboy; guess that just means i’ll have to come over again >:)

Keef; guess so, can’t have kosmo sad that would be horrendous

Lance snickered to himself a bit, they had hung out practically all day and yet Keith had messaged him as soon as he got home. “Don’t look into it that much Lance,” he thought, fingers hovering over the screen, “we’re just friends that’s all.”

Loverboy; when do you want to have another movie night?
…

Keef; i don’t have much for classes on wednesdays, just one in the morning, that work?

Loverboy; yeah! wednesdays would be great :)

Lance was a liar, Wednesday was literally the busiest day of his week, but who cares about his sleep schedule when he gets to cuddle and watch movies with a pretty boy again.

Loverboy; maybe we could do it every week? like a weekly movie night? we used to do those as a family when i was little

Keef; sure that sounds fun

Lance couldn’t suppress his grin as he typed a quick response.

Loverboy; we could switch houses every week, that way you’re not driving all the time.

Keef; that’s a good idea, i have to put my bike away for the winter before too long anyways

Loverboy; how do you get around in the winter then? you don’t seem like a public transit kinda guy

Keef; my car?

Lance's brain skid to a halt, how had he not realized or even considered that Keith may have had a car too, he certainly couldn’t drive his bike in the winter there.

Loverboy; you have a car too??

Keef; yeah? it used to be my dads so yknow, lots of sentimental value. and i don’t have payments which is pretty cool

He could just imagine Keith shrugging causally at the end of that sentence, as if he wasn’t the coolest person Lance knew.

Keef; i gotta go cook dinner lance, see you in algebra monday

Loverboy; aw by keef ;-;

Lance sighed and put his phone away, getting up from his chair and carefully tiptoeing around the twins and their toys, and headed towards the kitchen. Both his parents were there now, Jamie must have just gotten home since he still had his coat on. His mom was leaning back on the counter with her arms wrapped around his dad's neck, his dad's hands were resting gently on her hips and Lance had never seen such a soft look on another man’s face, so of course he was gonna be a shit about it.

“Aw gross I can’t even get a snack without being subjected to pda?” He made a gagging nose and pointed his finger towards his open mouth, only to receive a swat from Rosa’s dish towel.

“Oh hush Lance I don’t complain when you spend all day in your room with your new friend,” she said with a little smirk and he did not miss the way his dads eyebrows rose up on his forehead.

“The friend who came to dinner the other night?” He questioned, turning towards Lance without moving his hands from Rosa’s waist.

“Uh yeah, he came over today and uh, we watched some scary movies and then he went home.”

“Since when do you watch horror movies?” Jamie asked, earning a quiet giggle from his mom.

“Just broadening my horizons,” he responded quickly, grabbing a snack from the cupboard and hurrying out of the kitchen.

“Just don’t forget míjo, one day you’ll have someone you get to gross out in front of your kids!” His mom called after him, the sarcasm thick in her voice. He was just glad they couldn’t see how red his face was as he hurried up the stairs to his room. Once settled on his bed, a cartoon playing on the tv behind him, he decided to call Keith.

…

Keith had managed to avoid most of Shiro's poking and prodding when he got home, until his phone lit up on the counter, announcing an incoming video call from Lance.

“Oh yeah definitely just a friend,” Shiro smirked from the island, patiently waiting for dinner.

Keith shot him a look before answering his phone, setting it up against the coffee maker next to him. Lance's face came into frame with a lot of shuffling, he seemed to be laying on his bed and had a half wrapped granola bar sticking out of his mouth.

“Hey Keith! I can’t see you man turn your phone.”

Keith rolled his eyes a little, wiping his hands on his sweatpants before reaching for his phone, turning it to face towards himself at the stove. He wished he had a little warning Lance was gonna call, we would have put on something a little more appropriate than dirty grey sweatpants and a cropped tank top.

“Hey Lance, what’s up?”

“I’m bored, what are you making?”

Keith started to explain the dish to Lance with a soft smile, missing the way Lance's eyes trailed down to his stomach every time it was in view, which was pretty often.

“Sounds good, you should save me some,” he smirked a little and Keith just rolled his eyes yet again.

“How bout I just make it fresh on Wednesday?”

“Okay! But I'm holding you to that samurai.”

Before Keith could question the new nickname Shiro suddenly appeared behind him. For such a big man he sure was quiet.

“Hey Lance, what’s up Wednesday?”

“Oh hi Shiro! Keith and I are gonna start having movie nights on Wednesdays, so he can show me more scary movies.”

“Really?” Shiro smirked towards Keith a little, who did his best to avoid it.

“I didn’t peg you as a horror movie kind of person?”

“He’s not,” Keith chimed in, taking the chance to embarrass Lance a bit. “He hid under the blanket for most of the movies today.”

“Hey!” Lance whined from his spot on the counter, Keith just snickered a little and turned the burner off.

“What? It’s just the truth.” He smirked at Lance a bit, not noticing the faint red tinge on his cheeks.

Lance groaned and dropped his face into his pillows, ever so dramatic. Keith chuckled a little and handed Shiro his bowl so he’d stop hovering.

“You’re so dramatic,” he hummed, taking his phone with him as he sat at the island across from Shiro.

“I come to you in my hour of need and you heckle me.” Lance whined into his pillow.

“Your hour of need? What’s that mean?”

“My parents were harassing me and now you are too, is this how Caesar felt when his council members betrayed him?”

He snorted around his mouthful of noodles, responding once he’d finished. “Lance I don’t think that’s what happened.”

Lance had picked his face up from his pile of pillows, and the hair at the front of his head was messy and pushed back in all different directions. Keith made a mental note of how pretty he was and hoped he wasn’t blushing.

“By the way, since when do you wear crop tops?” Lance asked, completely changing to subject.

“Oh uh, they’re kinda just pj’s, I don’t wear them like, out in public or anything.”

“You should, it looks good on you” Lance’s teasing smile was replaced by a much more genuine one, Keith was definitely gonna start blushing if Lance kept that up.

“Oh uh thanks, I dunno maybe I will… I’m uh, gonna let you go for now so I can finish dinner ‘kay?”

“Aw okay, bye Keith.”

“Bye Lance.” Keith sighed as he hung up the phone, he could feel Shiro staring at him from across the table.

“So, you spend all day with him and then video chat while you make dinner in your pjs?” There was a smirk on his lips and one eyebrow was raised slightly.

“We’re just friends, I don’t analyze how much time you spend with Adam.”

“The difference is, I’m not in denial,” Shiro grinned, watching the red spread to the tips of Keith’s ears. “Just saying,” he shrugged, getting up to put his dishes in the sink and disappearing into the living room. Keith was dead. Absolutely dead.

Keith’s mind was all clouded and fuzzy for the next few days, he could barely think about anything aside from Lance and with their next movie night on the horizon all sorts of new daydreams were occupying his mind. He was yanked out of a particularly pleasant daydream by a sharp tap of a pencil on the desk and looked up to find Pidge looming over him.

“Keith I’ve been calling your name for like five minutes now what’s up??”

“Oh sorry Pidge, just lost in thought a lot lately,” he smiled sheepishly, hoping she hadn’t needed anything too important.

They just rolled their eyes and sat on the other side of the desk, “You’ve been pretty out of it the last couple days, something happen? Maybe something with Lance?” She was smirking down at him now, a knowing look accompanying their evil smirk.

“No nothing happened,” he huffed, sitting back in his chair away from her accusatory look.

“Uhuh yeah nothing happened, that’s definitely why you’ve been so moony eyed lately,” They grinned at him still, spinning to sit criss-cross on the desk in his direction. “Oh Lance of course I’ll marry you mwah mwah~” She teased, making kissy sounds at him for good measure.

“Oh my god you’re the worst,” he groaned, crossing his arms on the desk so he could hide from their teasing. “We’re not even dating anyways.” He mumbled into the fabric of his hoodie.

“Then why did Hunk tell me you two got lunch on Friday and we’re acting all lovey dovey huh?”

Keith’s head whipped up from the desk, he’d forgotten that Hunk said he was friends with Pidge.

“We were not acting ‘lovey dovey,” he added air quotes for good measure, “We just got lunch together.”

“Yeah and he paid for it, like a date, then you left together, like a date, and if what Hunk told me is right, you went to his house and watched movies together. Sure sounds like a date to me,” She was grinning like a cheshire cat now, a smug gleam in her eye.

“How do you know we watched movies at his house?”

“Hunk told me, apparently Lance was ranting about it all night.” They wiggled their eyebrows under their glasses at him, watching Keith’s cheeks get taken over by a serious amount of red.

“Don’t you have, like, some illegal hacking to do or something?”

“Nah, heckling you is my one and only priority right now. When are you two gonna go on an actual date huh?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed, resting his chin on his arms again. “I don’t think he likes me like that yknow? I don’t want to assume and ruin things.”

“Holy shit are you seriously that oblivious?” She huffed, giving his elbow a slight tap. “He comes to see you all the time and Hunk says he talks about you nonstop when you’re not together, he asked you to have a weekly movie night with him, he trusts you enough to ride on that death trap out there, should I keep going?”

Keith looked up at Pidge with wide eyes, surely that was all just normal friend stuff right.

“Not to mention every time he sees you he grins so hard I think his jaw might fall off. Dudes face is red as a cardinal every time you smile at him.”

“Come on Pidge, you’re over exaggerating.”

“I absolutely am not,” she corrected, jumping off the desk and standing in front of him, “Next time you two hang out make a move and I guarantee he’ll reciprocate.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then I’ll kick his ass and you’ll move on from this crush in like a month, easy peasy.”

Keith looked down at his feet, it definitely would not be easy peasy if Lance rejected him, he was practically all Keith thought about any more, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle it if Lance wasn’t interested.

“Oh and uh it’s your turn to go reshelve,” they grinned, plopping down in the chair as Keith got up with a groan.

“You’re the worst,” he mumbled, only to receive the middle finger and a wink.

“You love me old man, now get shelving!” She grinned, propping their feet up on the desk and pulling her laptop out of her bag.

As Keith disappeared into the aisles of shelves with his cart overflowing with books his mind drift off to something much more pleasant. An image of Lance in the afternoon light filled his brain, the sunlight seething in golden pools on his cheeks and nestling into his hair. God Lances hair looked so soft, what Keith would give to be allowed to run his fingers through his short brown locks. He was so lost in memory as he placed the books on their respective shelves that yet again, he didn’t hear someone calling his name until a slender brown finger tapped his shoulder.

“Hello? Earth to Keith? You in there buddy?”

Keith jolted away, his eyes wide as they settled on Lance’s slender frame just in front of him. He rubbed an eye with the heel of his hand, just to make sure he wasn’t still imagining things.

“You good man?”

“Ye-yeah I’m fine sorry, you just surprised me.” He let out a soft sigh and set a book on the shelf next to them.

“Sorry,” Lance chuckled, though he didn’t look particularly sorry, “I know we’re hanging out on Wednesday but I wanted to come say hi,” Lance had a faint blush painted across his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, and this time Keith didn’t miss it.

“That’s okay, I’m almost done. Do you want to go get some coffee or something after my shift? If you don’t mind waiting, that is.” He hoped he wasn’t blushing much, and if he was he hoped the low lighting in the library would hide it well enough.

“Oh yeah sure! I’ll go uh, wait over there,” Lance grinned and shuffled back towards the couches in the back of the room. Keith could feel his eyes on him as he worked through the aisles, putting the books away with a bit more purpose now. He was also vaguely aware of Pidge somewhere in the library, probably keeping Hunk updated on their interactions. After what felt like a millennia Keith finally finished his shift and went back to get Lance, surprised to find him awake this time, scrolling through his phone.

“Hey, I’m all done. Ready to go?”

Lance popped up from the couch with a grin, stuffing his phone in his pocket and walking over to Keith, “You bet! This time I’m getting the coffee okay?”

“Yeah sure,” Keith glanced away, remembering what Pidge had said earlier. He had to make a move soon.

Lance chattered happily the whole way to the cafe, it was an unseasonably warm afternoon and Keith had taken off his hoodie, only mildly embarrassed in his turtleneck tank top. He didn’t look bad at all, if anything he looked a little too dressed up to be coming from the campus library, and he could feel Lance's gaze burning into him every time he wasn’t looking.

“So uh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in that shirt,” Lance mentioned after a few minutes.

“I just got it, thought I’d try something new,” Keith shrugged, glancing over at Lance to see a slight redness across his cheeks again. He smirked a little bit, deciding to tease him a bit. “You like it?”

Lance stuttered for a moment, clearly caught off guard by the question, Keith grinned a little, keeping a smug little smirk on his face.

…

Lance could feel the tips of his ears heating up with Keith’s gaze on him, how was he supposed to tell Keith exactly how much he liked that top on him.

“It uh, looks nice,” he blushed, finally arriving at the cafe. “Oh look we’re here better go inside then!” He moved to open the door for Keith, who chuckled a bit at his outburst.

“Thanks Lance.”

Lance shuffled inside behind Keith, keeping his eyes locked with the toes of his shoes. Since when was he so awkward around someone? Being cool and suave was supposed to be his thing. Just whenever Keith was around the butterflies that lived in his stomach got frantic and he never knew what to do with himself. He followed Keith up to the counter, smiling warmly at the barista.

“Hello! Could I have a large uh, vanilla chai with two espresso shots please? Oh and uh whipped cream and cinnamon on top please?”

The barista, Zac, tapped away at his screen, glancing up at Keith from under his bangs. “Uhuh, you two ordering together?”

“Yeah I’ll just have an iced coffee with cream and sugar, large please.”

“Booooring,” Lance chimed in, earning a little eye roll from Keith.

“I’ll wait for them if you wanna go grab a seat?” He offered, handing the barista his card before Keith could offer to pay again. Keith nodded and Lance watched him walk over to a tall table by the front windows.

“Here’s your drinks, I like your boyfriends top by the way,” Zac chimed in from behind, setting their drinks on the counter.

Lances cheeks flushed red as he grabbed them, stuttering out a thanks and hurrying over to their table, not missing the way Keith was staring at his cheeks.

“Something happen?” He asked, taking his coffee once Lance set it down.

“Nope, nope nothing happened nothing at all!” Lance took a sip of his drink right away to stop any further questioning. Keith hummed in response and took a sip as well, turning to watch the cars and pedestrians outside. A soft fall breeze blew by, carrying a handful of leaves and stray papers down the sidewalk. Lance found himself staring too, only not out the window but at Keith. The warm afternoon light illuminated a few faint freckles that rest under his eyes, and the light, almost purplish flecks of color against his soft grey eyes. He didn’t realize he’d been looking just a little too long until those eyes were facing him, looking slightly confused.

“Something on my face?” Keith asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

“No sorry! I just uh zoned out again,” He paused for a second trying to find a new direction for the conversation, “Oh hey, how’d that presentation you mentioned go?”

“Hm? Oh right that one, it was fine I mean I passed.” He shrugged, maintaining total eye contact with Lance and it was making him squirm just a bit.

“I’ve got one coming up but I hate presenting which I know like ‘wow Lance you hate presenting? but you talk so much’ and like yeah I do but presenting sucks yknow?” He huffed finally, glad for the change in subject, and glanced back up at Keith. He has not been prepared for him to be looking at him so intently, with a quiet intensity dancing behind his irises.

“Hey Lance?”

“Uh, yeah Keith?” He made sure not too stutter, something about Keith’s tone made all Lances bones turn to jelly under him.

“Would you wanna stay the night with me sometime?”

Lance froze, straw halfway to his lips. “Stay the night with him ???? oh my god wait he can’t mean it like that right? holy shit holyShit.” Keith was still staring at him, the same steely look in his eyes, chin resting on his folded hands.

“You mean like a sleep over?”

“Yeah, what’d you think I meant?” He smirked at him and Lance could feel the red trickling into his face.

“Nothing! Yeah sure that would be fun but uh, what made you ask that?”

Keith shrugged a bit, taking another sip of his coffee, making Lance fidget uncomfortably as he waited for an answer. “I dunno, I mean we hang out all the time so why not?”

Lance just nodded a little, looking out the window to distract himself from Keith’s gaze. “I um, I could stay over wednesday if that works?”

“Sure.”

He smiled a bit, finishing his drink, not sure if it was nerves or just the espresso making him jittery all the sudden. He stole a glance at Keith, who was looking at his phone now. Lance felt both relieved and disappointed.

“Hey I gotta get going I’m sorry, my neighbor just messaged me says Kosmo got out somehow? I’ll see you Wednesday though right?”

“Y-yeah right,” he stuttered a little bit, getting up to follow Keith out. “I’ll be pretty busy until then so I don’t think we’ll be able to hang out any more, sorry.”

“That’s alright, see you ‘round Lance.” Keith turned and headed back towards the library, not before smiling at Lance in a way that could only be described as flirtatious. Lance waved a little until his back was turned again before slumping into an open seat next to him.

“Oh my god I’m so gay..”

Chapter Text

Chapter 15; Keith

Keith sauntered away from the cafe, back towards the library and his bike.  All the confidence that had previously possessed him was gone now and he was texting Matt. 

Keith; hey so like, hypothetically, what would you do if you had accidentally asked someone to hang out and Accidentally insinuated something else? 

Greengoblin; hypothetically? figure out how i feel about them and then plan things from there, hypothetically of course ;) 

Greengoblin; so who’d you accidentally ask out? 

Keith; no one! i just asked my friend if he wanted to stay the night sometime and he got all weird,,, 

Greengoblin; so you were with you’re friend, who i can only assume is also Not Straight, and you asked if he wanted to stay the night with you? of course he got all weird dude the only worse thing you could’ve asked was if he wanted to rent a movie. DUDE OF COURSE HE GOT ALL WEIRD THATS A DATE

Keith; i just wanted to hang out with him more! 

Greengoblin; alone, at your house, overnight. dude. 

Keith;  god i hate when you’re right

Greengoblin; you love me <3 

Keith; hearsay your honor 

Greengoblin; i am w o u n d e d >:( foods here gotta go have fun with your hypothetical boyfriend ;)

Keith sighed and stuffed his phone in his pocket, pulling his riding jacket back on and digging his keys from the chest pocket.  His motorcycle waiting in the waning afternoon glow, as much as he loved riding by himself, he was pretty sure he liked riding with Lance just a tiny bit better.  As he rode back home his mind drift off, remembering the last time Lance had been on his bike, the weight of his arms around his waist, the faint smell of his cologne when they were stopped, the way he gripped Keith’s sides a little tighter than necessary whenever he hit the throttle.  He felt a blush creep up his cheeks under his helmet, accompanied by a soft smile. He couldn’t wait for Wednesday. 

…

Time could Not move fast enough for Lance. He kept glancing at the clock as he paced around the small thrift store, tidying the racks of clothes and various knick knacks for sale. 

“So are we gonna talk about why you haven’t stopped pacing since you got here orrr?”  Romelle quipped from her spot behind the counter, the glow of the computer monitor reflecting off her twin braids. 

“Okay so that guy Keith right?” 

“Right? Tall, dark, and broody?” 

“Right, well we’ve been hanging out a Lot lately and yesterday after his shift at the library we went to get coffee, a totally normal thing friends do right?” 

“Of course, we get coffee all the time.” 

“I know but then we’re sitting there, drinking our drinks,” He paused his pacing in front of the desk, both hands now resting on the edge and leaning in just a little closer from dramatic effect, “Out of the fucking blue he asks, and I quote here, “want to spend the night with me sometime?”  He took a deep breath and sighed hard, cheeks slightly flushed. 

“Wait he did? Holy shit look at you gooo get it Lance!” Romelle grinned, winking at him dramatically too. 

“Romelle! But like that’s the thing he’s fucking Hot with a capital H, like he played it off all cool and yknow oh we’re just hanging out but he said spend the night with him?  That’s gotta mean something more right? Or am I crazy?”  He moved to sit on the edge of the counter, reaching around the computer for his drink that he’d left at the beginning of his shift. 

“I mean it definitely sounds like a date, but don’t assume too much too soon yknow? Just see what the vibes are when you get there I suppose?  Wear something cute though, if you get my drift.”  She waggled her eyebrows at him, earning a fresh bout of blushing and embarrassed stuttering. 

“I- we, jeez Romelle!” He huffed and got off the counter, walking back out onto the sales floor. 

“It’s a good idea and you know it!”  She grinned, turning as the bell above the door jingled and a trio of older ladies walked in. “Welcome in ladies, today anything with a green dot next to the price is on sale, just let myself or Lance over there know if you need anything!” 

Lance smiled and waved from his corner of the store, glad for the distraction and praying he could figure something out before Wednesday came.  

 Between work and classes neither of the boys saw much of each other, except in passing on campus and a video call.  Lance had been spending every free second over thinking their night, what he would wear, good movies they could watch, what would happen if something happened.  Not that Lance was 100% opposed to something happening.  By the time Wednesday afternoon finally rolled around he’d cycled through at least twelve different outfits and a million “what if” scenarios.  His current fantasy was rudely interrupted by the roar of a motorcycle in his drive way, shortly followed by the sound of the front door opening.  

“Shit he’s here!” He thought out loud, jumping out of bed and grabbing his bag, checking for the thousandth time that he had his charger and skin care products. 

“Lance your friend is here!”  Rosa called from the bottom of the stairs as he zipped his bag shut. 

“I know I’ll be down in just a second mamá!”  He called back, scanning the room for anything he forgot and bounding down the steep steps, finding Keith waiting for him at the bottom in his riding gear, helmet in hand.  

“Hey, got all you need?” He smiled, leaning casually against the door frame.  God this man was gonna be the death of Lance. 

“Uhuh, just let me say by to my mom real quick.” Lance smiled back, dipping into the living room for a minute before reappearing, a slight hint of red fanned across his cheeks that he hoped Keith didn’t notice. 

“You might want a jacket, it’s a little chilly out today,” Keith said, a crisp breeze blowing through the entry way as he opened the door.  

Lance grabbed a jacket and followed him out, shrugging his bag over his shoulders and taking his seat on the back of the bike, grateful for the warmth Keith was radiating. 

“All set?”  Keith asked, turning to face him as best he could with their helmets in the way.  Lance gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up before looping his arms around Keith’s waist again, allowing himself to sit just a smidge closer than last time and letting the comforting smell of Keith’s cologne and shampoo wash over him, his brain playing all kinds of scenarios the whole way to his apartment. 

…

Keith went maybe just a little slower than usual, it was cold out and he wanted to enjoy Lances warmth against his back as long as he could, but eventually his apartment building came into view and they shortly arrived.  He tried not to show how disappointed he was when Lance pulled away, shivering a little in the chill of the autumn evening.   

“Jeez you weren’t joking it’s pretty cool out today. Aren’t you gonna have to put the bike away soon?” Lance asked, following Keith to the main stairs. 

“Yeah, I’ll have to put her in storage pretty soon here,” he sighed, acutely aware of Lanes gaze as he unlocked the door to his apartment.  “Shiros not here tonight by the way, he’s taking his friend , to dinner again.” 

“Oh okay, that’s cool,”  Lance tried to hide how nervous he was, if Keith noticed he didn’t say anything.   From somewhere inside the apartment was a hefty thud, followed by the sound of four paws quickly approaching the door.  

Keith grinned as he hung his jacket on its hook, “I think someone missed you Lance,” watching Kosmo bound around the corner and stumble into Lance's arms.  

“Aw Kosmo buddy I missed you too!” He cooed, crouching down and hugging Kosmo around the shoulders, scratching his sides at the same time. 

“Lucky dog,” Keith thought, kicking off his shoes and disappearing into the living room, followed shortly by Lance with the hound on his heels.  Keith had planted himself on the couch, sprawling a little bit but still leaving plenty of room for Lance.  “So, wanna watch something or play a game maybe?” He hummed, leaning forward and reaching for the controller on the table. 

“Wanna get your ass kicked at mario kart again?” Lance grinned, ignoring the spot on the couch and sitting on the floor in front of Keith’s legs, Kosmo nestling himself on his lap. 

“Sounds good to me” Keith chuckled, gaze distracted by the short curls and broad shoulders that were now seated in front of him.  Luckily the game was already in the console, all Keith had to do was start it up and hand Lance his controller.  They played a few rounds together, Keith only winning one of them and Lance gloating maybe even worse than the first time they played. 

“Jeez Keith, did you somehow get even worse at this?” Lance leaned back on the cushion, tilting his head back to look at Keith as Princess Peach did her victory lap in the background.  

“Haha you’re so funny,” Keith’s heart skipped a beat when Lance looked up at him like that, he hoped his sarcasm was enough to hide how much he just wanted to lean down and kiss him then and there. 

“Of course I am, wanna go again or did you maybe have something else in mind?”  He still had that shit eating grin and Keith wanted nothing more than to cup his face in his hands and kiss it away.  

“One more round?” 

“It’s your funeral.”  Lance grinned and settled back on the cushion, his attention now fully on the countdown in front of them, that is, until Keith snaked his legs around Lance.  

His thighs rest on Lances shoulders while the rest of his legs held Lance's arms in place.  Keith smirked a little, he definitely saw the blush that was slowly creeping up the back of Lances neck and ears.  Keith won that round. 

“You cheated!”  Lance whined, turning to more fully face him. 

“Did I?”  Keith looked down at him, a slight smirk across his lips.  His own cheeks were slightly pink but not nearly as red as Lances were becoming.  “I didn’t realize sitting normally on my couch was cheating.” 

“Yeah but you, I mean, just look at..” He stuttered, eyes searching over Keith either for an answer or something else. The blush had now turned his cheeks fully red, honestly he looked like he might just die in the spot.  Keith, once again full of a cocky confidence that didn’t usually come to him naturally, decided to have a little more fun with him.  He leaned down closer, setting his elbows on his knees and resting his chin in his palms, their faces now only a few inches apart. 

“Go on,” he smirked still, “I'm waiting.” 

Lance stared, hard, his gaze flicking quickly from Keith’s eyes to his lips, then back up to his eyes like he was afraid of getting caught.  Keith noticed this time.  He bit the corner of his lip, leaning forward just a tiny bit, eyes trailing down to Lances mouth briefly before returning to his. 

“Tell me if you want me to stop?” Keith whispered, their faces now barely a hairs breadth apart.  Lance nodded, barely noticeable had Keith not been paying attention.  His hand left it’s spot under his chin, moving to caress Lances cheek, his thumb ghosted across his cheek bone and he could’ve sworn he saw Lance shiver.  Mustering the last shred of his waning confidence Keith closed the gap between them, his lips meeting Lances, but they were just barely touching.  He hesitated for just a fraction of a second before Lance returned the kiss with a little more force, his hands now resting on Keith’s knees.  It was soft and gentle, as if they were both afraid of startling the other.  

Keith huffed a little breath before his free hand found the back of Lances jaw, pulling him up closer and kissing him for real, but still making sure Lance knew he could back away at any moment if he needed.  A little sound left the back of Lances throat, his hands wandering towards Keith’s waist of their own free will.  He turned the rest of the way to face him completely, doing his very best to not pull away, and sat up a little taller on his knees.  Keith let his eyes peek open a crack as he pulled away for a moment, taking in the beautiful boy below him.  The stark contrast of his pale, cool skin against Lances soft brown cheek.  The freckles that were spattered across his face and, to Keith’s surprise, the tops of his eyelids.  He smiled to himself, moving in to kiss Lance again, more confident than the first.  He couldn’t help noticing just how soft Lances skin was, the invisible peach fuzz on his cheeks tickled his finger tips.  His breath hitched as he felt teeth graze his bottom lip, Lance bit against the kiss ever so gently.  Keith couldn’t help but chuckle at him.  Lance pulled away, red as a beet with a pout on his lips.

“What’re you laughing at?” 

“Nothing, I just wasn’t expecting that.”  He chuckled a little again, unsurprised that Lance would be dramatic even during more intimate moments. 

Lance huffed a little, moving to sit across from Keith on the couch, their knees bumping here and there.  Keith watched him with a fond smile, shifting in his seat so Lance could move closer, which he did.  Keith let his hands rest on Lances sides, just taking a moment to admire him. 

“For the record,” he stated, “this was not my plan when I asked you to come over again.” 

“Uhuh suuuure it wasn’t,”  Lance grinned, “oh Lance, please come over and make out with me cause Im so handsome and broody but I won’t just ask you on a date like a normal person.”  

Keith rolled his eyes, pulling Lance in for another kiss, partially to shut him up and partially cause well, turns out he really liked kissing him. Lance complied immediately, leaning into the kiss and letting his hands rest against Keith’s chest.  Keith hummed a little in the back of his throat, one of his hands leaving Lances waist in favor of tangling his fingers in the short curls at the bottom of Lances neck.  Another quiet groan left Lances throat as Keith tugged the short strands absent mindedly, his legs caging him in on either side.  This was way better than what Keith had envisioned for the night and a surprised gasp escaped Lance as Keith bit down on his bottom lip.  Not very hard, just enough to catch his attention. 

“Hey!” Lance whined, sitting back a little bit with a pout. 

“Hey yourself,” Keith grinned, he didn’t care if it was a cheesy line, he was too starstruck to say anything cool anyways.  The hand that was still holding Lances waist gave it a gentle squeeze, his pinky finger toying with the hem of his shirt.  Keith didn’t miss the way a cold chill ran down Lances back at the sudden contact and he grinned a little. “Are you ticklish?” 

“No! Absolutely not! I’m not ticklish why would you even ask tha-“  He got cut off by Keith again, suddenly grazing his fingers down Lances ribs. When he’d even gotten his hand that far under Lances shirt without him noticing was a complete mystery.  Lance shivered and ducked his head against Keith’s chest, he really wasn’t ticklish at all, just incredibly sensitive. 

Keith chuckled a little bit, letting his hand rest on Lances side again, occasionally brushing a nail across his skin just to see what would happen. “Not ticklish hm?” 

Lance groaned and shifted his weight a little, clearly embarrassed. “Keeeiith stop I’m not ticklish!” 

“Seems like you are to me,” he smirked, running his hand down Lances side again, earning a soft whine from the taller boy. 

“Keith seriously I'm not ticklish.” Lances tone changed and he looked up to meet Keith’s gaze, where the dots finally connected. 

Keiths cheeks flushed as realization dawned on him.  “Oh? Oh! Shit I’m sorry Lance I didn’t like make you uncomfortable did I? I didn’t realize what you meant I’m sorry!” He scrambled for an apology, face getting redder by the second. 

“Keith, Keith it’s okay” Lance laughed a little bit, letting his free hand rest against Keith’s cheek to get his attention again. “I don’t mind it,” he blushed again too, leaning in for a quick kiss.  “By the way I’m starving, what’s for dinner?”