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Lance walked into the dining room looking exhausted for the fourth time that week. Slumping down in his chair, he looked close to passing out. Hunk side-eyed him with worry, but said nothing. Well, he would've, but Shiro beat him to it;
"Lance, you look horrible."
Lance looked up for a moment, though he was right. He did look horrible.
"... just having some trouble sleeping, that's all. What about it, anyway?"
Shiro raised his eyebrows as he heard Lance, snap. And immediately after, he looked at Hunk. Hunk shook his head and tried to leave, but sat back down when Shiro sent a deadly glare in his direction. Carefully, he started to speak.
"Hey, Lance buddy, let's go train, yeah?"
Lance looked at him for a moment before slowly getting up and leaving, Hunk trailing behind him.
When they got to the training center, Hunk placed his hand on Lance's shoulder, who turned around with a confused look in his otherwise exhausted eyes.
"So why can't you sleep?"
Lance froze before pulling his shoulder away and laughing nervously.
"We're still on that, buddy?"
Hunk nodded, looking him in the eyes.
"Why wouldn't we be?"
Hunk stepped closer and grabbed Lance's arms, making sure he couldn't leave. Lance looked in his eyes fearfully but eventually sighed.
"I... I can't really sleep well without someone there with me."
Lance looked embarrassed as he looked at the ground. Hunk's grip loosened as he stared silently, his mouth parting slightly (much to Lance's silent pleasure; he often imagined how soft and kissable those lips were).
"Oh."
Lance fidgeted, and Hunk shook his head in an attempt to refocus.
"Why are you ashamed of that?"
Lance looked up in shock.
"But aren't I just being unnecessarily needy?"
Hunk shook his head.
"Nope. You're talking to the guy who still has stuffed animals, man!"
Lance huffed a laugh, remembering the worn stuffed animals Hunk had snuck from home into the Garrison all those years ago. Hunk smiled at the mood change and walked further into the training center.
"C'mon, let's get something done."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Later that night, Lance crawled into bed. It had been an hour since he had said goodnight to the others, and he was dreading another sleepless night. Sighing, he pulled the covers over himself.
Suddenly, he heard his door slide open. Looking up, he saw Hunk slip through it and close the door behind him.
"Buddy?"
Lance sat up in confusion. Hunk spotted him in the dark and smiled. Walking over to the bed, he motioned for him to make room. Scooting further towards the wall, Lance swallowed thickly as he saw Hunk climb in, so close he see the smooth, dark olive skin of his arms. When he got comfortable, Hunk turned to look at Lance.
"So what do you want me to do?"
Lance was struggling to breathe, fantasies of increasingly dirty proportions floating into the forefront of his mind at those words. Hunk's kind face and big, strong arms stole his breath away - twice over.
"Oh, man... What I want you to do would wake the whole castle up," Lance thought. He didn't dare say that, though. Instead, he stumbled over his next words.
"D-d-do what you want!" he squeaked.
Lance rushed to lay down and pull the covers over himself to try and conceal the fact that he felt like he was about to explode. Hunk looked confused for a moment before shrugging and laying down beside him. After a couple minutes, Lance was almost calm enough to nod off, when Hunk slid his arm around his waist from behind. The sudden, solid weight startled Lance, who jumped at the contact. Hunk pulled him back against his stomach, and Lance was practically vibrating with the sudden onslaught of so many different emotions swirling through his mind.
"This ok?"
Lance drew in a sharp breath and tried to nod as smoothly as he could. He could feel Hunk smile against his neck. Lance's heart was pounding in his chest, but he found that he was more relaxed than he had been in weeks. Drifting off, Lance would only remember a small, delicate kiss being placed on the back of his head.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Waking up the next morning, Lance could still feel the solid warmth of Hunk still behind him. Gently and carefully, he untangled himself from his hold and stood up. When he looked back, his heart skipped a beat. Hunk looked as peaceful as ever, a hint of a smile flashing across his face.
Hunk started up and looked around when he couldn't feel Lance in his arms anymore. When he spotted him, he beamed.
"How'd you sleep, bud?"
Lance smiled and sat next to him on the bed.
"Great, actually."
Hunk's smile widened as he enveloped Lance into a strong embrace.
"Glad I could help."
Lance smiled more and hugged Hunk back, patting his back and feeling his heart quickening.
"Thanks, buddy."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Later that night, Lance walked up to Hunk as everyone was heading to bed.
"Hey, bud."
Hunk turned around and smiled when he saw who it was.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Could you, um... Could you come to my room again tonight?"
Hunk stared for a moment, and Lance could've sworn he saw a dash of pink sprinkle across his face for a moment, but Hunk chuckled and nodded.
"Sure."
Lance smiled and hurried to his room, jumping into bed and getting everything ready for Hunk. By the time the latter walked into the room, Lance was shaking with excitement. Hunk noticed and stifled a laugh as he climbed into the bed and under the covers.
"Happy to see me?"
Lance froze as his face turned an embarrassing shade of pink.
"S-sorry."
Hunk just smiled in the dark and wrapped his arms around him just like the night before. Lance could feel the warmth of his hand on his stomach through the thin fabric of his shirt, and he shuddered. His heart quickened, and all his blood seemed to be rushing through his body at an alarmingly fast rate. He could hear Hunk's steady breathing behind him, signaling his unconsciousness, and he tried to get some sleep as well, though it was easy. He would have to deal with his "problem" later...
"Or," he thought, "maybe someone else could." Lance quickly dismissed the idea, though, and shut his eyes tight, determined on getting some semblance of sleep that night.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Waking up the next morning, Hunk groaned as he tightened his arms around the warmth in front of him. Thinking it was his stuffed animal (he wasn't quite awake), he nuzzled his face into the shoulder of it. When he felt the figure jump, however, his mind finally cleared.
Well, shit.
He immediately scooted away from him, spewing apologies as he went. Lance didn't turn over, and Hunk thought for a moment that he was still asleep, until he heard him speak.
"C-comfortable?"
Hunk's face flushed, and he was at once for a loss of words. Lance slowly turned over to face him, looking down and fidgeting a little. Hunk felt like he couldn't breathe. Lance's face was so CLOSE, so close that if he just leaned in a little bit...
Lance looked up to see Hunk staring and his eyes widened. Hunk's arm was stiff at his own side, unmoving, but he knew that it had to be uncomfortable. Lance took a deep breath before scooting closer, laying his head on his chest, and pulling Hunk's arm back over him waist.
"I'm going back to sleep."
Lance could hear Hunk's breath hitch before he felt his arm tighten, his palm spreading to wrap around his entire waist. Damn, his hands were so BIG, it made him feel so small. Lance didn't know if he was ever going to get back to sleep, not with Hunk's own heart quickening under his ear, his solid warmth grounding as he felt like he was going to float away.
He didn't go back to sleep, instead just laid there for an hour, feeling the warmth of the man he had imagined being like this with for so long.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
After that it became a routine; every night, about 15 minutes after everyone else goes to bed, Hunk would sneak into Lance's room to sleep with him. It was the same thing every night, Lance facing the wall as Hunk wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him back against his back. The tension changed every time, however, the mood getting more and more awkward as Lance resisted turning over and kissing him silly and Hunk fought the urge to place kisses along the back of his neck. But all of that changed one night, about a month after they started this whole routine.
Hunk had just climbed into the bed next to him when Lance spoke.
"Hey... buddy?"
Hunk looked to him, his eyes soft and tired.
"Yeah?"
"I... I have something to confess."
Hunk stayed still for a moment before turning his body to face Lance, who had sat up and criss-crossed his legs.
"Alright, buddy, what's on your mind?"
Lance fidgeted for a while, and Hunk finally reached out and grabbed his hands to still them.
"You can talk to me, Lance."
Hunk saying his name in that deep voice of his sent shivers down Lance's spine.
"I..."
Hunk could sense his nervousness and squeezed his hands, communicating his reassurance. Lance took a deep breath to calm his nerves, though it didn't do much. Lance could feel his brain trying to overload.
"I really really like you!"
Hunk froze for a moment upon hearing those words and seeing Lance's face, his eyes squeezed shut and his face a bright shade of red. He could feel the blush rising up his neck and opened and shut his mouth in an attempt to say something but finding himself speechless. And when he saw Lance look up cautiously, his heart melted.
Lance could feel his heart trying to beat out of his chest, and he almost looked back down, ready to play it off as a joke before Hunk surged forward and trapped him in a hug, squeezing him and burying his face in his shoulder. Hunk couldn't believe it, he had wanted to do this for so long, and it was finally within reach. Lance couldn't breath as he felt Hunk breathe against his neck, swallowing thickly.
"Lance, oh my god, are you being serious right now?"
Lance didn't trust his mouth as he simply nodded to answer him. Hunk was at a loss for words as he continued to latch onto him. Lance attempted to force his shaking arms around Hunk to reassure him. Hunk smiled and pulled back to sit on his knees. Lance looked at him, his face still a dark shade of red. Hunk leaned in slowly, kissing him (albeit slowly and very - VERY - nervously) and placing his hand on his cheek. Lance couldn't believe what he was feeling. It was nothing like what he imagined.
It was so, so much better.
Before Lance could overanalyze it, however, Hunk pulled back and smiled.
"Good?"
Lance huffed a laugh and laid his head on Hunk's shoulder.
"Yeah... Yeah, that was definitely 'good'."
Needless to say, his sleeping problems were very quickly resolved.