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When Lance was seven his older sister’s friend, Shiro, got a new brother. He was adopted and the older kids already planned to introduce the two younger at their next summer work session.
"He's a pretty rough kid and he's a little older than you, but he'll be in the same grade because he missed a lot of school last year. I want you to work your charm on him okay? He could really use a friend." Veronica explained to him. Lance of course smiled that big McClain smile of his, proud that his sister trusted him with such an important task to help her friend.
Shiro came over the next day with a pouty, mop haired kid, and Lance lit up.
"Hi, I'm Lance." He dropped one shoulder, sticking his head down sideways to get a look up under the other boy's long bangs. "You have really pretty eyes! Will you let me brush your hair? You should really keep it out of your face so people can see you better."
The other boy's eyes went wide and a blush crept up his face, all the way to his ears. He dropped his head only barely glancing up at Lance.
"S-sure..." He mumbled, but that was plenty enough for Lance. He grabbed the boy’s hand and pulled him along, back to his bedroom.
"Wow, I tried to get him to brush his hair before we left. He told me he didn't care what other people thought. Lance really is an amazing kid." Lance smiled even wider hearing Shiro's comment before they got all the way down the hallway. He was overjoyed that he was already doing a great job.
Once they were through his bedroom door, Lance put his hands on the other boy's shoulders. He guided him to the center of the rug next to his bed, spun him about ninety degrees, and pushed him down to the floor.
"Sit here. I'll be right back." Lance walked over his dresser that had a vanity mirror and picked up his blue sparkly hair brush. "What's your name?" He asked as he returned and sat behind the boy.
"Keith."
"Oh, I like that! Sounds tough." Lance pulled the brush down Keith's jet black hair, careful not to pull too hard. He'd practiced a lot on his sister, cousin, mamá, and abuela. "Let me know if I pull too hard okay?"
"It doesn't hurt."
"Good! So, you're gonna be in third grade too?"
"Yeah, I got into tons of trouble and moved around a lot last year so I couldn't pass." Keith suddenly sounded very sad and that isn't what he wanted at all.
"That's okay, that just means you'll be in the same grade as me. We'll get to be best friends."
"I've never really had friends."
"Well I'm your friend, right?"
"We just met."
"Okay, well, you know my name is Lance. My favorite color is blue. I have a big sister and two big brothers, and I really want a dog."
"Okay..." Keith replied slowly.
"Now tell me about you."
"I'm Keith, I like red, and I like hippos?"
"Great, now we're friends!"
"Is that all it takes?"
"Pretty much."
"Oh."
"Soon, you'll get to meet Katie and Hunk. They'll be in our grade too. Katie's super smart just like her brother Matt. They both skipped grades. She went from first to third grade! Matt only got to skip third grade and she keeps talking about how she's gonna go to college when she's ten. I don't know about that though. Matt's fifteen and he still has to do highschool so I bet she will too." Sometimes when Lance got going it was almost impossible to get him to stop talking. He didn't always realize he was rambling until other people got annoyed and then he would feel bad because they didn't want to talk to him anymore.
"Sorry, I talk a lot sometimes..." He apologized.
"It's okay, I liked listening."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I don't talk much. I hate when people keep trying to get me to talk more. If I have something to say, then I'll say it."
"That makes sense." Lance scooted around to sit in front of Keith and brush out the last little bit of his bangs. "Why is your hair so much longer in the back?"
"I dunno. It just grows like that."
Lance styled his hair so his bangs wouldn't be in his face so much. "There!" He sat back and admired his work. "Now everyone can see how pretty your eyes are."
Keith's face went red again. "What's so 'pretty' about black eyes!? Everyone says they're boring."
"But they aren't black?" Lance furrowed his brows and leaned in close to get a really good look at the other boy's eyes. That made him blush even harder and lean back ever so slightly.
"Well they kinda are more like a really dark gray. But they have this really dark blue around the black middle part. And if you look really close,” He said as he leaned in even closer, cupping Keith’s cheeks in his hands. “Some of the gray almost looks kind of purple."
Keith finally shoved him back exhaling heavily like he'd been holding his breath. It wasn't a hard shove but Lance tumbled backwards onto the floor.
"How can you even talk about my eyes when yours are this awesome blue! They look like the sky just before it gets dark, when the sun is setting and there's only this little stripe of orange left, but just enough so it's not all turned black."
Now it was Lance's turn to blush. Sure people had told him his eyes were pretty before, but no one had ever gone to that much detail. By Keith's warm little smile, it felt like he had pulled that description out of a fond memory.
Once Lance pulled himself back together he showed Keith around his room. Lance would talk about his things, explain where he got them, why he put them in that place in his room, and what he liked about them. He talked almost endlessly and Keith seemed perfectly content to listen. Only speaking up occasionally to add a small comment or ask a question. After they had done the full tour of his room, they decided to draw together. Keith was a quiet kid who liked quiet activities, and that was fine. Until he started to doze off on his creation, and Lance let out a big yawn as well.
"Wanna take a nap?" Lance asked. Keith barely nodded and crawled up onto Lance's bed.
"Make some room, this is my bed ya' know."
The dark haired boy slid away until his back was at the far wall, then rolled onto his tummy, face down in a pillow. Lance plopped down next to him laying on his back. He turned his head to Keith.
"Can you even breathe like that?"
His head turned slightly so his sleepy eyes could look at Lance's.
"Yeah?"
Lance laughed and it actually got Keith to chuckle. Then they both yawned again.
"Sleep well." Lance spoke through his yawn and Keith let out an agreeable noise.
When Shiro came in to take Keith home about an hour later he was greeted by the sight of them sleeping together, limbs in a tangled mess. In the short time Keith had been living with him, he seemed to struggle with nightmares but right now, he looked so peaceful. He almost didn't want to take him home. Their parents would not be happy with that though, so he carefully walked over and scooped the dark haired boy up. He was out cold, but the untangling stirred Lance awake.
"Hmm? Shiro?" Lance mumbled as he rubbed the sleep out of his eye.
"Shh, you can sleep some more, I just need to take Keith home with me. Thanks for taking care of him for me."
Even Lance's lazy sleepy smile was dazzling. "No problem! I hope we can hang out and play more before school starts!"
"I'll make sure of it buddy."
And with that Shiro left to carry Keith out to the car. He gently placed him in the back seat and buckled him in. He managed to sleep through his door closing, but when Shiro got in and closed his own he jolted up. The teenager caught sight of it in the rear view mirror.
"Crap, sorry Keith, I didn't want to wake you."
"Where's Lance?"
Shiro chuckled, "We're in the car pal, Lance is inside. We need to head home for dinner."
"Oh..." It was such a small sound and it almost broke Shiro's heart.
"Lance asked me to make sure you guys could play more before you start school. Would you wanna come back and meet everyone this weekend?"
"Everyone? Like Katie and Hunk?" Keith was a bit nervous at the thought.
"Yeah, Lance's birthday is Saturday, so we're all gonna get together."
"It's Lance's birthday!?"
Shiro smiled seeing his brother light up before he finally backed out of the driveway.
"Yup. I can put your name on the present I got him. It's just a pair of sli-"
"No." The boy in the back seat cut him off catching Shiro very off guard. There was no way this kid had a gift idea after only spending just a few hours with the, soon-to-be, birthday boy.
"Is there something you want to get him?"
Out of his periferal, Shiro saw Keith nodding in the rear view mirror.
"Okay, well, I'll ask Haha and Chichi when we get home if they'll give you a little money and let us use the car tomorrow too. We'll go to the mall so we can find whatever it is you're looking for, sound good?"
"Thanks Kashi."
Soon enough Saturday came around and Keith refused to let Shiro see what he had gotten for Lance. He could tell it was small, because the adorable little red bag he had gotten to put it in was about the size of a brown paper lunch bag . Keith had wrapped it in some tissue paper, placed it inside the bag and kept it closely guarded for the past three days. The kid had gone into Clara's of all places, what could he have possibly gotten for a boy who was turning eight in the almost disgustingly pink girl's accessory store. Shiro’s curiosity was honestly killing him, but now he'd just have to wait until Lance opened it.
When Keith and Shiro arrived, Lance was quick to hug Keith before he was wished a happy birthday, startling the boy a bit. He then dragged Keith to the present table.
"You can leave that here."
Keith squeezed it to his chest and shook his head.
"It'll be safe." Lance tilted his head in confusion, but the other boy lowered and shook his head again.
"Okay, if you really want to hold onto it fine. But let's go see Hunk and Katie! I can't wait for you guys to meet." With that, Lance was taking his hand again and dragging the dark haired boy with him to the back yard. That mop looked like there was actually an attempt made to take care of it and Lance couldn't help the swell of pride he felt thinking he was the reason for the change. They went out around to the side of the house away from all the adults and teens, where the other kids were waiting.
"Guys, this is Keith, Shiro's brother I was telling you about." There was a very friendly looking, quite round boy, and a small girl. "Keith, this is Hunk and Katie." Lance gestured to each of them.
"Uh, hey." Awkward.
"Hi Keith, are you hungry? Do you want any snacks?" Hunk held out a plate that held a few finger foods.
"No thanks."
"Wanna play Goblin Defender on my brother's phone?" Katie held the device out toward him.
He didn't play, he was still very concerned about his present, but he watched as the others took turns. Eventually Lance's older brother Luis came and scooped him up. They did their best not to laugh as he struggled in the man's arms. Lance was easily bested though and held at an awkward position somewhat upside down.
"Come on kids. Time for presents and cake."
He marched off with Lance and they followed. Lance opened every present from the table, a game system, Shiro's slippers, some strange alien trading cards, all sorts of stuff. Keith held his present tightly through the whole thing, and Shiro was about to lose his mind.
"Keith, when are you gonna give that to Lance?" He squatted himself down and whispered to his brother. Again, he held it close to his chest. After cake Lance took Keith's hand while Katie and Hunk were distracted by Matt fighting to take his phone back. He led him into the house and to his room.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, you've been holding that like it's gonna try to run away since you got here."
"Oh, right. Here, I just," Keith's face turned a shade of pink. "I wasn't sure if you'd want to open it in front of everyone." He handed Lance the crumpled up bag. Lance is quick to open it.
"These-?" He looked up at Keith who's blushing even more.
"You said you don't like taking Veronica's all the time, but you didn't want to ask for your own. But I think you should do whatever you want, even if people think it's 'girly'."
In the bag were a few different pale colors of nail polish and even a top coat.
"These are really pretty, thank you." Lance pulled Keith into a hug. He was stiff for a moment before relaxing and returning the gesture. It was something small that Keith recalled Lance had shown him when he was giving him the tour of his room.
This became a slight pattern for the boys over the years. Keith always encouraged Lance's interests. The first time Keith got in trouble at their school was for nearly knocking a kid out. He couldn’t take them making fun of Lance's nail polish the first day he was confident enough to wear it to school. When Lance started to get into make up, Keith got him a nice eyeshadow palette online. The group went through highschool together up until it was time to apply for college.
Lance was a pole vaulter on the track team and Keith was taking more and more art classes. Keith decided to apply to the same school that Lance had gotten a scholarship for sports medicine for. Katie went to an out of state school for microsystem engineering while Hunk went to culinary school.
Of course the boys signed up to be roommates, but after only one semester Keith decided to drop out. He wanted to focus more on painting. Dropping out meant that at the end of the semester however, he wouldn't be allowed to stay in the dorms anymore. That led him to move in with Shiro. He had a big place with Matt and Veronica, along with two of their other friends, Adam and Curtis. It was obviously quite full so Keith was offered the basement as a small room to himself. Lance would visit a lot and everyone would tease them about how close they still were even though they seemed to have gotten more and more different over the years.
Keith dressed in leather and ripped jeans, while Lance wore pastels and lots of accessories. But they were still the same best friends.
Lance had been invited over for Matt's birthday weekend. Pidge, Katie's new nickname, had left hours ago since no one would let her drink. The older guests were getting way too rowdy for Keith's liking, so he and Lance retreated to the basement.
"C'mon kitten, you barely drank at all." Lance was pretty drunk himself. Keith turned bright red at the pet name. Lance had never called him anything like that before.
"K-kitten?"
"Shit, uh, sorry." Lance sputtered an apology and fixed his eyes firmly on the mattress they were sitting on. "Fuck, I-"
"It's okay Lance, it's just, kinda new that's all. I wasn't expecting something like that." Keith placed a hand on Lance's shoulder and leaned down a bit to get a better look at him.
"No. Keith-" Lance looked up and suddenly their faces were just inches apart, he found himself lost between Keith's eyes. Just as beautiful as the day they'd met back when they were kids. He leaned in, closing the distance and planted a soft kiss on the other's lips. Then realization suddenly washed over Lance and he pulled himself back.
"I-" Tears started building and he couldn't stop them if he tried. "I'm sorry. I don't know why... I should leave." Lance stood up to make his way out of the basement as the tears started falling, but Keith caught him by the wrist.
"No, Lance, you're way too drunk to drive back to your dorm."
The warmth from Keith's hand felt incredible, but it was too much at the same time.
"Then I'll sleep it off on the couch or something." He tugged, but Keith's grip was firm.
"There are too many other drunk idiots up there, no way. Stay down here… with me." Keith pulled Lance close, though he refused to turn around. So he hugged him tight around his waist from behind.
"I'm sorry." Lance said,
"Don't apologize."
"But, I just ruined everything."
"What do you mean? You haven’t ruined anything."
"I kissed my best friend, because I'm a drunk idiot who can't hold back how I feel any longer…"
"How do you feel?" Keith asked the question carefully.
"I love you." Lance shook as more tears fell and sobs started to fall out. "I love you so much, and I know you don't feel the same so I tried to hold it in and crush it down, but I fucked up. Now I ruined everything between us. You're gonna hate me and things will be super awkward and you won't trust me anymore and-" Keith spun Lance around and shut him up the only way he could think of, by kissing him hard. It deepened fast and Lance clung on as his legs began to shake. Keith held on to keep him from falling and when they pulled away he guided them back to the bed.
"Why do you think I don't love you too? I have been absolutely head over heels for you since we were, like, ten."
"R-really?"
"Yes Lance." Keith chuckled and wiped the tears from Lance's face.
"And you're just telling me now?" Lance lightly shoved Keith's shoulder in mock anger. "We could've been dating since middle school!"
"Plenty of people think we have been."
"That's not the same. I want cheesy movie theatre dates."
"I'll take you on as many dumb dates as you want. I can even ask Kashi to chaperone if you want a truly authentic feel."
The two laughed at the thought, before Keith pulled them both down to lay on his small bed.
"Tight fit." Lance points out with a smug grin.
"You've never complained before."
"I've never been your boyfriend before."
"I- uh." Keith swallows hard as his face heats up.
"Are you okay with that?"
"O-of course. I just don't know if you'll feel the same when you wake up sober."
"I've sobered up a lot, and I know that nothing could make me stop loving you." Lance gave him a light kiss on the forehead. He couldn't stop himself there, so he landed another one on his cheek and several more as he made his way toward Keith's lips where they shared several small chaste kisses. "But if it makes you feel better we'll discuss it more in the morning." Lance tucked his head into Keith's chest getting ready to sleep.
"I trust you." Keith wrapped his arms around Lance and held him close. "Always have."
They fell asleep like that. Each unaware of the other's smile that they can't quite wipe away. They're too happy to finally know that they really do love each other.