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1.
Keith knew that there was a pretty good chance this was going to end badly.
Brad, Brandon, Bob whatever that guy’s name was had been trying to ask him out for the past few days and Keith felt like there were only so many times you could avoid a person before they inevitably caught up with you.
Keith grabbed his coffee from the counter, hoping that the guy got the hint before he had to let him down to his face.
Usually Keith wouldn’t have a problem being blunt and telling him that he was definitely not interested but just his luck, Barry, Blake, Brody was actually going to be his partner for a big project and he did not want to spend his hell of a project with another added layer of awkwardness.
And honestly what kind of Professor doesn’t allow them to choose their own partners for a project? Keith thought he was done with all this forced group project bullshit in school but apparently Sendak did not get that particular memo.
Keith almost considered straight up bolting when Benjamin (at this point he’s not even going to try to remember his name) came up to him, waving.
“Hey Keith!”
Keith had to agree, him being so oblivious and optimistic would be cute if he also didn’t know that it would probably be the reason anything they might’ve had between them would crash and burn.
“Hey… Brian.” Brian smiled back at him, though looking a little more confused than before. “It’s actually Beck. Your project partner?”
Ok he fucked that up.
Keith shifted on his feet, hoping this conversion would be over or at least the earth would swallow him up. One can only hope. “Oh yeah, I remember. Did you want something?”
Beck straightened his shoulders, looking up to meet Keith’s eye. “I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to the park near our campus?”
“For our project right?” Keith said, desperate at this point, trying to do anything to get away from the obvious implications. “Yeah we can meet up later for that.”
Apparently not cluing in on Keith’s (frankly pathetic) attempt, Beck continued. “Oh no! I meant like a-”
Suddenly long slender fingers smoothly slid into Keith’s hands, brown skin and blue flashing in his peripheral. “Hey babe, you ready to go?”
Wait a minute. What?
Keith could practically feel his face heating up. Babe? He looked beside him to see a (holy shit gorgeous) guy around his age, a wide smile filling his face as his eyes locked on Keith (blue,blue,blue) ,trying to tell him something.
That snapped Keith out of his daze when he realized what was happening. Holy shit. He was actually trying to help him get out of this awkward situation and Keith was still standing there like an idiot.
He quickly straightened up, trying to sound like a nice boyfriend instead of a panicking dumbass. “Uh yeah… babe, I’m ready.” If possible, Blue eyes’ smile turned even more besotted. How the heck did this guy’s fake smile look so good?
Beck was looking at them both with huge eyes and awkwardly averted them when they looked back at him. “Ok, I’ll see you later Keith, for the project. Bye!”
Keith waved back at him, still in a daze when the guy beside him slumped with a huge sigh. “Oh man. That was awkward. But still, not too heart breaking.”
Keith kept staring at him in shock when Blue eyes’ smile suddenly dimmed.
“Oh shit. Did you actually want to go out with him? You looked like you were about to bolt and I wanted to help you but shit, I fucked up didn’t I? Oh my god this why I should not assume anything before-”
“Whoa no, no, no!” Keith awkwardly tried to place his hands on his shoulder when he realized they were still holding hands. Holy shit.
Valiantly ignoring his red face, Keith tried to placate him before he spiraled. “Uh you were right! I didn’t want to go out with him and he was my project partner so I didn’t know how to reject him, but uh yeah, you definitely helped me. Thanks for that.” Keith trailed off, rubbing his neck with one hand when the guy perked up again.
“Oh ok, that’s good that I didn’t botch up anything so yeah, anytime.” Keith watched as his smile grew even more large, a light flush in his cheeks. He resisted pouting when warm hands slipped away from his (how long had they been holding hands?)
“I’ll see you in class?” Wait what?
“Wait what?” Blue eyes furrowed as he looked closely at him. “Uh yeah? Astro? And Physics. Sendak’s hell class?” His eyes abruptly widened. “Wait you don’t know who I am? The name’s Lance. I sit behind you in every class for almost a year?”
Ok he fucked up again.
“I, uh sorry the class is really brutal and I don’t really talk to, uh, anyone really. But we can see each other again?” Hopefully.
Lance smiled back at him, his easy-going demeanor back in place. “I’ll let that one slide mullet. So…”
They both started walking out the door at the same time, the warm air settling around them like a blanket.
Keith looked back at Lance, his eyebrow raised a little, anticipating. “Were you not interested in dating that guy or in dating at all?”
Ten minutes ago his answer would’ve probably been no one but he looked back at blue eyes and wide smiles and felt a tinge of warmth in his heart and hand.
Keith looked back at him, feeling his grin come out. “I’d be interested.”
Lance hummed, idly kicking his legs. “So if I asked you on a date would I look like an idiot or...?”
Ok this was definitely happening.
Keith rested his eyes on him, trying to resist a laugh when he saw Lance squirm under his gaze.
“I think I’d like that.”
Lance suddenly grinned back, almost blinding him with how bright his smile was. “I’ll see you later then!”
He gave one last squeeze to his hand before leaving Keith to stand in front of the coffee shop, a dopey smile in his face.
Holy shit.
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2.
Lance knew he was panicking but he couldn’t help it.
“Hunk what do I do? What if he doesn’t like the date spot I picked? What if he decides he doesn’t want to date me at all? Do you think I scared him of? And where did all my date outfits go?”
He definitely wasn’t handling this well but holy shit he had a date with Keith!
Keith-I-scowl-so-hard-I-could-burn-you-alive-Kogane
Keith-with-the-very-pretty-pout-and-eyes-Kogane
Keith-definitely-out-of-your-league-Kogane
Keith-who-is-going-on-a-date-with-him-in-literally-five-minutes-Kogane
Ok maybe there was still an hour remaining for his date and maybe he exaggerated a few things but Lance was having a crisis!
Hunk sighed from the bed, giving up on finishing his essay which Lance would feel bad about if it was due anytime this week and if he could just find that one cute pair of jeans-
The jeans hit his head with a smack and Lance almost sang in relief. Hunk got up from his desk, going into ‘tame the wild Lance in the room’ mode. “Lance you’re not having a crisis.”
Lance spluttered, indignant but Hunk raised a finger before he could continue.
“Keith will definitely like the date spot you picked because somehow you found another person as weirdly competitive as you. And he is not scared and definitely wants to date you if your million texts mean anything. And go for a casual look; wear the tiny shark-dotted t-shirt and your patched jean jacket because it’ll be cold inside. And Lance?”
Lance looked back at Hunk’s kind face and felt some of his panic go away.
“You guys are gonna have a great time.”
The arcade was in full swing by the time they arrived.
He could feel Keith’s eyes light up when he saw where they were. Keith turned back to him, excitement clear in his face. “Where did you find this place?”
Lance grinned back at him, happy that Keith seemed to like the date spot. “Allura introduced me to this place. Her uncle runs it. It can be pretty hard to find but definitely worth the effort. So what do you think?”
Keith smirked back at him, his eyes taking on a familiar glint. “You’re going down, blue.”
Lance felt their competitive spirit burn bright and winked back at him, grinning. “You’re on red.”
It was almost an hour before they both called it quits, tired after competing in literally every game they could find.
Keith looked back at him, his face flushed and grinning. “That was fun.” He had tied his red flannel to his black jeans, revealing a black tank top.
Keith totally obliterated him in every racing games but Lance had a lot of fun seeing Keith’s gob smacked face when Lance hit every target in shooting games.
Lance bumped shoulders with him, feeling a giddy smile take over his face. “I think we’re the only ones who’d enjoy our first date being a competition. But it was nice.”
They were both walking to the small ice cream shop, a little hungry and not really willing for the date to be over just yet. Keith was holding a small purple hippo that Lance got him and Lance held the blue shark Keith got him.
Oh, and they were maybe, sorta holding hands.
Lance felt his heart do a little tap dance every time he thought about that. Honestly Lance felt a little ridiculous at the fact that he was acting like a blushy teenager at just holding hands but he couldn’t help it. He just really, really liked it.
It was a little bit awkward, Keith’s hands were smaller and firmer, while Lance’s height didn’t help with the fact that he also had long hands. Their palms weren’t aligned exactly right but then Keith fingers curled a little more against his hand, Lance felt like everything was right in the world for a minute.
Later in the night, he went to home, with strawberries in his mouth and the warmth still in his hands.
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3.
Keith knew that this was going to be a shitty day.
He woke up late after working on an essay for Astro till 3 in the morning, Sendak had failed him on his test, he didn’t get any breakfast and it was almost 4 in the afternoon, and now the last call was still fresh in his mind.
“Wait what? You’re not coming home?” Keith could feel the panic seeping into his voice but he didn’t care because-
Shiro’s warm voice filled his ear but he was starting to feel worse. “I’m sorry Keith. The only day they gave me off is Christmas and not the whole week. I really do want to visit you but…”
Keith really could feel how sorry Shiro was, he probably did try to get the week off, but being one of the best nurses in the hospital really came with a lot of responsibilities. Shiro probably tried his best to get even a few days off but-
“It’s, it’s fine Shiro. You don’t have to apologize. I know you tried your best but its only one Christmas and I can manage yeah? You don’t have to worry we can, um, we’ll try to meet up on New Year, yeah? It’s fine.” Keith felt like it was getting harder to talk. This was fine. Keith could spend one Christmas alone. Even though he was really looking forward to see Shiro again, after months-
“Um, I’ll call you later Shiro. Bye.” Keith could hear Shiro’s protests before he hanged up; almost dropping the phone like it was on fire.
Shit. He really had been trying to hold it together for the whole day but this, not seeing Shiro too.
He had been really looking forward to seeing Shiro, they were going to spend at least a whole week together, he was going to introduce Lance to him (holy shit they’ve been dating for almost six months) and then Lance would leave to meet his family in Cuba-
Keith sunk down his chair when he realized Lance won’t be there with him either. He was going to Cuba and Shiro would still be away and- pathetic a voice started ringing in his ears pathetic they all have their own lives and you’re the one being desperate-
“Keith? Hey baby? Hey c’mon Keith breathe for me yeah? Come on, try to breath with me.” Long hands reached up to firmly hold his hands.
Keith felt like everything around his was muted. It was drowning him. Lance
“Yeah come on. Just like that yeah. Just concentrate on my breathing. You’re doing great.”
“Lance” Keith looked up at Lance, his face looking back at him, concerned.
“Yeah, yeah it’s me. Are you alright?”
Keith gulped a mouthful of air, feeling his insides burn. “Shiro’s not coming for Christmas.”
Lance blinked at that, his face falling when the realization hit. “Shit. He couldn’t get the week off?”
Keith nodded, trying to stop fresh tears springing up again. “Yeah. They only gave him the day off on Christmas. So he can’t come.”
Lance sat down beside him, gently rubbing his shoulders. His eyebrows were furrowed as he took all that in. Suddenly his head snapped up, blue eyes taking on an excited glint.
“Shiro has the day off on Christmas right?”
Keith nodded, not really knowing what Lance was getting at.
“What if you go to him?”
Keith shook his head at him in disbelief. “I can’t really afford a two-way ticket Lance. Even if I put in extra hours at work. And I don’t think you can even get a ticket this close to Christmas.”
But Lance pressed on, his face growing more and more determined. “Pidge can definitely hook us up on a ticket. She did that for Hunk last time, remember? She might even find a cheap one if she really tried. And…” Lance looked at him, suddenly shy. “I think I can give you an early Christmas present.”
Lance shifted a little closer to him, the grip on his hands growing a little stronger.
“I was actually saving up for your Christmas present but I think that’ll be enough to boost the money we have. I know how much this means to you and I wanted you to have the best Christmas so… what do you say? Are you ready to meet Shiro on Christmas?” His whole face had lit up with happiness at this point, leaving Keith breathless.
He must have looked as overwhelmed as he felt because Lance squeezed his hand again. “I know this is too much to process at once and yeah it kinda feels like it’s too good to be true but I think we can make this work-”
He was cut off when Keith suddenly hugged him, pulling him closer till the air around him was filled by the smell of coconut and there was no space left between them.
“Thank you. It really means a lot to me that you’re here too.”
Their hands stayed together too.
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4.
Lance knew that he should have gone grocery shopping sooner but he swears they would have lasted longer if Pidge didn’t go on a rage-filled coffee and red-bull fuelled quest to demolish every single thing she set her eyes on.
Honestly how she even fit so much caffeine and junk food in her tiny, tiny body was beyond Lance.
But to be fair they were all blind-sided by their exams and didn’t leave the house until their shitty coffee machine broke and they were forced to do all the coffee runs.
Honestly all four of them deciding to share a small apartment their junior year was probably one of the best decisions they made, finally done with shitty dorms and even shittier floor mates. Between the four of them, living together was actually really fun, ranging from silent companionship to crazy days.
Lance would probably feel more grateful about it if he wasn’t being forced to go grocery shopping on a Sunday morning.
“It’s your turn to grocery shop Lance.” Keith’s wry voice quipped in.
“It’s your turn to grocery shop Lance” Lance grumbled, one hand reaching out to pick the ramen packets, as he held Keith’s hand on the other.
Keith was looking at him fondly, his eyebrows raised, as if he found his woeful complaints endearing. Ok he probably found them ridiculous but c’mon! Shouldn’t he be a good boyfriend and help Lance instead of making fun of him?
He picked out the milk; the normal one and the lactose free one for Keith. Even Lance had to admit he was getting a taste for the lactose-free one. Trying to balance both of them, he nudged the cart with his knee, hoping he didn’t drop them.
“Uh Lance-”
He heard Keith’s confused voice but then spotted that one jam Hunk asked for. “Just a minute babe.” He switched hands, grabbing Keith’s hand with his right and reaching for the jam with his left.
Keith should really start to moisturize his hands. Sometimes Lance felt like his hands were becoming even rougher than his Papa’s beard. Maybe he can convince him to get at least one moisturizer from Sephora-
Lance grabbed the peanut butter jar for Pidge too, turning to face an adorably befuddled face. That confused pout should be illegal. Paired with the light blush Keith had. A shot in the heart.
“What’s wrong?”
Keith gave him a bewildered look of you really didn’t realize? which what? Did he grab the wrong milk? He was pretty sure he grabbed Keith’s favourite brand.
Switching hands again, Lance turned to look at the cart, nothing out of order. Huh.
“I don’t get it? Did I miss something?” He absent-mindedly rubbed his finger against Keith’s thumb, thinking. If possible, Keith’s blush got even brighter.
“You know you can use both hands to shop right? Um, you don’t have to keep holding my hand.”
Ohhh. So that’s what this is about.
“Well, I can.” Lance turned around to fully face him. “But, I can also keep holding your hand while I shop. Because I want to.” Lance weaved both of their hands together; grinning at the sight of Keith’s abashed face. Honestly he didn’t even completely notice he was doing it but there was no way he was letting go now.
“Unless you’re uncomfortable with PDA. That’s ok too.” He added, as Keith averted his eyes a little.
God he still can’t believe they’re blushing over holding hands.
“That’s fine. We can hold hands. Just don’t drop anything dumbass.” Keith finally looked up at him, a tiny smile in his face. Lance was about to wink at him when they both heard someone clearing their throat.
An old lady was looking at both of them, a dry smile in her face. “As adorable as that was don’t stop on my behalf. I’ll just grab the jam and be on my way. Do continue.”
Lance could feel both their faces heat up as he awkwardly handed her the jam and she chuckled good-naturedly.
They were still holding hands though.
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5.
Keith knew there was no escaping this time.
“Keith, don’t even try. You’re not escaping this time.” Lance didn’t even look up from what he was doing which how? Keith was stealthier than that.
“You’re definitely not. I can feel your feral cat senses going haywire. You’re gonna sit here and we’re doing this.”
Keith slumped down in front of their couch, defeated. “Do we really have to?” he knew he was whining like a child but was this really necessary?
Lance gave him a deadpan look. “Keith when was the last time you moisturized your hands. Your skin is practically flaking down like tears.” Lance punctuated his statement by lifting Keith’s hand up and letting them fall limply. “They’re drier than the place we live in Keith. We live in the desert.”
Before Keith could even be insulted, Lance reached out and squished his cheeks. “You’re lucky that your skin can even deal with this shit. Honestly your skin is way too good for someone who uses the 4-in-1-men’s body wash. A true tragedy.”
Keith gave him a dry look, his cheeks still squished. “A lot of people use that Lance. Not everyone religiously shops at Sephora.”
Lance shudders at the very thought of it. Keith smiles at that, amused. “I use sunscreen though.”
Lance raises his hands up like he’s praying. “Thank the heavens for that. I swear to god Keith if you didn’t use sunscreen I’d definitely break up with you. I won’t be seen in public with a crusty heathen!”
He almost knocks over the numerous bottles beside him, somehow getting more and more passionate at this ridiculous issue.
Keith points this out, endlessly enjoying this. Hey, if he’s going to be forced to do this he might as well rile Lance up.
“Wha- the disrespect!”
Lance suddenly comes closer to him, the coconut shampoo from his freshly washed hair momentarily distracting Keith. He takes both of Keith’s hands in his, placing it in the space between them, their foreheads touching.
“Keith. I love you so much. But I swear to god if you insinuate that skincare is ridiculous, I’ll kick you so hard you’ll astral project to the future where I look like the gorgeous hot piece of ass I am even in forty and you’ll end up looking like a moldy piece of bread, filled with pores straight from your skin-careless, 4-in-1 men’s shampoo nightmares.”
“…”
“…”
Keith couldn’t help it anymore; he burst out laughing, their joined hands knocking all the remaining bottles too. Lance was looking way too pleased with himself, his chest rising and falling in laughter, the corner of his eyes crinkled.
“What the fuck Lance?” Keith met his eyes and burst into laughter again.
“I can’t believe you called yourself a gorgeous hot piece of ass. Does the ego come with the skin care? Will I start talking like this if I do it too?” Keith looked up from where he was sprawled on Lance’s chest, helpless giggles still bursting out.
Lance batted his shoulder, still grinning. “That’s not the point! Also am I hearing you actually agree to do skin care?”
Keith sat up, his mouth still pulled in a wide smile. “Yeah ok. Wouldn’t wanna look like a moldy piece of bread near you now would I?”
Lance shook his head, already grabbing one of the knocked out bottles. “You’re never letting that go are you?”
“Nope, definitely not.”
“Ok then.” Lance grinned back at him, linking their hands together.
Definitely not letting it go.
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+1.
Keith knew the bed was empty before he was even fully awake.
Keith looked at his phone beside his bed, momentarily blinded by the bright screen. 2.15 a.m.
Keith silently got up, shivering a little when the cold air hit him. He padded towards the door, hearing faint notes of music coming from the kitchen.
A quite hush filled the place. Keith could hear Hunk’s snoring but there was no sound of typing so Pidge was probably asleep too. Checking to see if she fell asleep on top of her laptop, he quietly closed the door after making sure she was okay and finally went to the kitchen.
There he was.
It never stopped to surprise Keith, the fact that Lance looked different at night than he did at day. It wasn’t always a bad difference, his loud laugh turning to whispered giggles at night, hushed confessions, how soft his hands became too, whether it was pushing Keith hair off his forehead or hugging him during nightmares, it always felt like Lance was showing an entirely new part of him in nights.
Here he was now, sitting in the cold kitchen counters at night, his face reflected in the pale light, the radio near him softly playing Spanish music.
Lance looked up, finally noticing him, his mouth opening and closing, not sure what to say.
Keith sat down beside him in the counter, the cold sting chasing away the last traces of sleep.
“Hey”
Lance slumped down a little at that, not really in the mood to put up a façade. That was fine. Keith felt like there were barely any walls between them at this point, the feeling even more strong on nights like this.
Lance rested his head on Keith’s shoulders. “Did I wake you up?”
Keith shook his head, putting his arm around his shoulders so that he could fully lean on him. “Nah. Woke up on my own. Wasn’t feeling very sleepy.”
Lance snuggled closer to him, knowing full well that that wasn’t the full truth but content anyway.
“I, I was just feeling a little homesick. Missing Cuba. And my Mama. That’s all.” His voice cracked a little at that, betraying how much it was affecting him.
Keith hummed, rubbing his shoulders. Lance always felt better by just venting his problems, scared of carrying it for a long time.
“I just suddenly remembered that I’ll never really spend time with them like I used to. We were all always together all the time. Sometimes it was too much but mostly it, it was home. Hearing Mama’s voice shouting from downstairs, Papa’s warm laughs, Nadia and Silvio making a mess, Luis’ tired looks, Veronica’s firm voice as she wrangled in Marco and Rachel’s mischievous grins as we both stirred up trouble. It just felt like we were always going to be together y’know, we’d always be for each other.” He sat up a little rubbing his eyes.
“I know we’re old now and that we can’t always be together. I know it’s kinda childish to say that.” He looked at Keith, his blue eyes earnest. “Don’t get me wrong. I love going to college and being with you guys, I’d never change that in a million years.”
He shrugs lightly, unsure. “I just miss it sometimes.”
“Sorry.” Lance fully sits up, wiping his eyes again. “It’s stupid.”
Now it was Keith’s turn to sit up, taking both of Lance’s hands in his. “Hey. You know that this is definitely not stupid right? You don’t have to apologize.”
Lance looked like he was going to protest so Keith moved closer to him, taking his face in his hands. “It’s not stupid to miss your family Lance. Even after you’ve grown up. I’m the same with Shiro. They all hold a huge part of us and you love them. So, I’m just telling you that it’s definitely not stupid to miss them.”
Keith rubbed the last of the tears near his eyes with his fingers.
“Just know that you don’t have to be sad alone yeah? We’re all here if you need us. You don’t have to be alone.”
Lance smiled at him, his blue eyes still a little wet and bloodshot. “Didn’t know you were such a sap mullet.”
Keith rolled his eyes at that, though he was happy to see him smiling. “You’re the sappy one between the two of us.”
Lance’s smile widened his hands coming up to hold his. “You have your moments.”
Keith smiled back at him, moving a little to settle in more comfortably. Lance turned toward the radio, a wistful look in his face. “Mama and Papa always danced to the radio when I was little. Mostly it was to make me and Rachel laugh but I think they liked it too. I caught them dancing to cheesy songs even after we got older.”
Keith leaned a little against him, trying to imagine a little Lance giggling at his parents, equal parts bashful and enraptured at what they had.
Usually Keith would feel a lot hesitant before offering something like this, but right here, right now, standing in the kitchen at night with Lance at his side, Keith felt the most comfortable.
Hopping off the kitchen counter, Keith held out his hand, his face flushed. “Would you wanna dance with me?”
Lance beamed back at him, his cheerful face immediately erasing any doubts Keith might’ve had. “Yeah. Yeah I wanna dance with you.”
As they danced along to the radio, tripping over each other and giggling at even the little things, Keith hoped he’d always get to hold hands with Lance.
Hoped he’d always get to share his heart with him.
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