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Honestly, Keith doesn’t even know how he got to this point.
When Adam and Shiro had first offered him a part-time job at the daycare center while he was “figuring things out”, he’s pretty sure he laughed in their faces. It’s not that he didn’t appreciate it, because he did—more than they knew—but a job working with kids? Keith? The idea itself seemed laughable. But Adam and Shiro had insisted, and Keith didn’t exactly have anything better to do, and the next thing he knew he was practically begging them to be a full-time employee.
He can’t really explain it. He’s never been very good with people, but for some reason he and the kids just click. Shiro says it’s because he treats them like he would anyone else. They like being taken seriously by the people they look up to. Adam says it’s because he always does whatever they want, whenever they want. Literally, he can’t say no to them. They’re both right, probably.
So that’s how he finds himself sitting on the floor surrounded by paper and markers with one of the kids a half hour past closing time, because her dad is running late and he didn’t have the heart to leave even though Adam and Shiro said he could. Besides, she asked him to stay, and he’s not a monster. Also… well. He has his reasons.
“Mr. Keith, look!” Keith doesn’t have much of a choice as a bright pink piece of paper is thrust into his face. “I drew outer space!”
“Oh, did you?” Keith laughs at the enthusiasm, gently lowering the arm that’s been stuck in his face so he can actually see the drawing. Really, it’s just a bunch of multi-colored dots that he assumes are supposed to be stars on a pink piece of paper, but it’s perfect nonetheless. “It’s beautiful, Liliana. I don’t think the sky is pink in space, though.”
Liliana beams at him, then purses her lips. “Have you ever been to space?”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Then how do you know the sky isn’t pink there?”
Keith raises his eyebrows at her. “Point taken. Well played.”
The bell at the front door rings to signal someone’s arrival, and Keith turns to look over his shoulder at the sound of voices speaking back and forth in the lobby behind them. All of them are familiar, but one is a recent addition that makes his heart skip a little with excitement. Not that he would ever admit that. Sure enough, he sees the person they’ve been waiting on standing in the lobby talking to Adam and Shiro, looking a little frazzled but otherwise alright.
Listen, Keith knows a good-looking guy when he sees one. This one in particular just happened to catch his eye on his very first day here. And the next day, maybe. And the next. It’s possible that despite not really knowing anything about him other than his name, Keith has developed a bit of a crush over the weeks. His eyes are always so bright and expressive, and he moves his hands through the air when he talks and there’s just something about him that’s very charming even if he’s not trying to be. He’s never managed to start much of a conversation other than telling him and Liliana to have a safe trip home, but maybe now is his chance to change that.
He caps the marker he’s holding and climbs to his feet, stretching his arms over his head with a sigh. If there’s one thing he had to complain about while working here, it’d be the back pain from sitting in places that aren’t made for sitting all day. It’s an occupational hazard, he supposes. “Looks like your dad’s here. Ready to go?”
Liliana immediately drops what she’s doing and gathers all of her various drawings, hopping to her feet and taking Keith’s hand when he offers it. She doesn’t hold on for long though, because the second they walk into the lobby together she catapults across the floor toward her dad. “Papi!”
“Lili!” The man’s face instantly lights up and he bends down to catch her, hoisting her into his arms and peppering her face with kisses. “Princesa, mi cielo—mmmwah!” He gives her one last noisy kiss on the cheek and she giggles, waving her legs in the air. “I’m so sorry I’m late. Did you miss me?”
“Yeah! Papi, look what Mr. Keith drew me today!” She pushes one of the papers in his face, much like she had just done to Keith. “Look, it’s a lily! Like me!”
“Wow! It’s beautiful, Lili. Almost as beautiful as you.” He pokes her in the stomach and she giggles again, throwing her arms back around his shoulders.
Keith watches the entire exchange with butterflies in his stomach, smiling to himself. His face is still a bit warm from the subtle compliment on his art, which is ridiculous because he’s never cared what other people think about it, he just does it because he likes to. Still, it’s nice to know that this guy seems to like it. He doesn’t realize he’s staring until he is rather rudely elbowed in the side by Shiro. He makes a mental note to kick him in the shin later.
The man looks back up to Adam and Shiro, his smile suddenly a little pained. “Thanks again for waiting on me. I’m really sorry I’m late, I had a work meeting get canceled so I went home early to take a nap, but then I slept longer than planned and I didn’t think to set an alarm and—”
“Lance, breathe,” Adam interrupts, putting a hand on his shoulder and laughing when Lance obediently heaves out an enormous breath. “It’s okay, really. You clearly needed the rest. Besides, we’ll take any excuse to spend more time with Lili.”
“Thank you,” Lance sighs, chuckling a little in spite of himself but still looking incredibly apologetic. “I really appreciate you guys. It won’t happen again.” Then he turns and smiles at Keith. Like, directly at him, which he was not prepared for in literally any capacity. At all. “I guess I have you to thank for keeping Lili company, huh? I don’t think I remember your name.”
Keith blinks, still processing. “Oh. Oh, uh—I’m—”
Liliana laughs. “That’s Mr. Keith, silly!”
Lance is laughing along with her, but it’s like he doesn’t register what she’s saying until several seconds later, upon which his eyes go wide and his mouth quite literally drops open. “Wait. You’re Mr. Keith?”
Keith doesn’t even know why that makes him blush, but it does. Immensely. When he told himself that today was his chance to have a proper conversation with Lance, he hadn’t exactly imagined it going like… this. “Um. Yes?”
“The Mr. Keith? Like, super nice, really funny, incredible artist Mr. Keith?”
Shiro raises an eyebrow. “Nice?”
“Funny?” Adam echoes at the same time.
Keith shoots them both a glare. Lance doesn’t really seem to notice, still staring at him like he’s some sort of celebrity. “Sorry, I don’t mean to—it’s just, she never stops talking about you.” He adjusts Liliana so that she sits comfortably against his side, her arms folded back around his shoulders. “I swear you’re her idol.”
There’s suddenly a lot of attention on Keith that he doesn’t quite know how to handle. It was already a lot to manage when it was just Lance, but now all four pairs of eyes are on him and of course that’s when his brain decides to forget what words are. “Oh. I’m… honored? I think.”
“Don’t worry, you should be. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.” Lance smiles again, tilting his head slightly. “At least now I’ll remember you for sure.” Keith doesn’t even have time to be more flustered than he already is before Lance continues, as if he didn’t just figuratively sucker punch him in the heart and inject his entire body with butterflies. “Anyway, we should probably be going. It won’t be long before Lili gets hangry.”
Liliana frowns in confusion. “But I thought you said you’re the one that gets hangry.”
Lance shushes her, gently pressing a finger to her lips. “Hush, hija, you’re making me look bad in front of Mr. Keith. Thanks again, guys!”
“Bye, Lance.” Shiro waves at them as Lance retreats to the door, pushing it open with his back. “See you both tomorrow!”
“Bye Mr. Keith!” Liliana shouts over Lance’s shoulder.
Keith is at least self-aware enough to lift his hand and wave, watching them go in a daze. Lance flashes one last smile at them, and then the door falls shut and they’re gone.
“He’s single, you know.”
Keith jumps at the sound of Adam’s voice directly beside him and he spins around, instinctively going on the defensive. “I didn’t ask!”
“Oh, but you wanted to.”
“Well, I don’t remember asking for your opinion —”
“Calm down, Keith,” Shiro snorts, locking the door that Lance and Liliana had gone through just moments ago. “He’s just trying to help you out.”
“With what?” Shiro levels a very specific look at him over his shoulder and Keith’s face flushes. “Don’t answer that.”
“We’re just saying, you haven’t exactly been subtle. What are you waiting on, anyway?”
Keith opens his mouth to argue, but he realizes he’s fighting a losing battle and deflates. “He didn’t even know my name until today,” he grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest.
Adam hums. “Well, did you ever try to actually introduce yourself or have you been too busy staring?”
Shiro attempts to disguise his laugh as a cough and Keith scowls at them. “I thought you were helping.” Adam just shrugs, and Keith sighs as they all begin to gather their things and head toward the back exit of the building. “I mean, I can’t just—I literally take care of his kid every day. Isn’t that like… I don’t know. A conflict of interest?”
“Well, now you’re just making excuses.”
“I’m serious!”
“You don’t need our permission, if that’s what you’re asking.” Shiro turns out the lights and opens the back door, keys dangling in his hand. “Look, no one’s telling you to do anything if you don’t want to. All we’re saying is, if you wanted to ask Lance out, and you clearly do, you have our full support.”
He winks at Adam and Keith rolls his eyes as they both snicker, but there’s a tiny part of him that’s relieved to have their approval. Today hadn’t exactly gone the way he had hoped, but maybe now things will be different. Either way, he’s still got a chance.
。·:*:·ﾟ★。·:*:·ﾟ☆
Lance never would have thought that the best part of every day would end up being at the daycare center after work. It always is—the enormous smile on Lili’s face as she comes barreling toward him when he walks through the door is something he’ll never get tired of.
But lately he’s been spending just a little more time at the daycare than he used to. He’s been making a point of talking to Keith every day before he leaves, ever since he finally (officially) met him. To be fair, Lili’s been talking his ear off about “Mr. Keith” for weeks, and what parent wouldn’t want to get to know the guy their kid is obsessed with?
And the more he gets to know Keith, the more he understands why Lili loves him so much. Their conversations felt a little awkward at first, but he could tell that Keith was trying, and once they got through the small talk phase it was like getting to know him for a second time from a whole new perspective. For example: he’s pretty blunt, but only because he’s honest, and it makes him funny even when he’s not trying to be. Sometimes Lance’s jokes fly right over his head, but it’s because he’s a good listener, and he takes what people say seriously. And he might seem a little standoffish at times, but as long as someone else is willing to initiate then he’s happy to talk.
Lance thinks it’s all very sweet. He finds himself wishing more and more often that he had an excuse to stay and talk to Keith for longer than seems necessary. Lili loves him, so it’s not like she would mind. It’s just that Keith is very genuine in a way that’s hard to find, and Lance is thoroughly charmed. Not to mention he’d always thought Keith was cute, even before he knew his name. It’s hard to find anything not to like about him.
It only gets harder. Lance walks into the daycare one Friday afternoon and is greeted by the sight of Keith, sitting on the floor surrounded by a small circle of kids. As always, Lili is sitting right there beside him, happily scribbling away across some construction paper while Keith reads to the others. One of the younger girls is curled up in his lap, looking as though she’s seconds away from falling asleep, and a couple of the boys are sprawled on their stomachs with their arms draped across Keith’s legs. Honestly, it’s like the kids are all just as infatuated with Keith as Lance is.
Something about him today seems a bit different, although it takes Lance a moment to put his finger on it. He realizes after a few moments of watching Keith that his hair has been pulled back into a braid, one so messy that it must have been done by one of the kids. And then he spots the bright glittery hair clips scattered across his head—the very same bright glittery hair clips that he’d helped Lili put in her hair this morning—and the delighted smile that begins to creep across his face is one that simply cannot be contained. He swears his heart is literally melting.
“Oh, Lance! Hello!” Lance is forced to tear his eyes away from Keith as Adam’s head pops up from behind the computer at the front desk. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t even see you. Want me to get Liliana?”
“Nah, I can wait a couple more minutes.” Lance smiles, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. “I don’t want to interrupt the story.”
Adam follows his gaze toward where Keith and the kids are sitting in the middle of the room, chuckling when he sees them. “Fair enough.”
“Where’s Shiro?”
“One of the kids got cranky, so he’s back in the nursery. I’m just trying to catch up on emails, so Keith got kid duty.”
“Well, they sure don’t seem to be complaining.”
Adam glances at him over the rims of his glasses. “Exactly.” He smiles as Lance laughs, adjusting his glasses. “Anyway, just call him over when you’re ready to go.”
Lance nods, settling back against the wall as Adam returns to his work at the computer. A few other parents come and go as he waits, some that he recognizes but none that he really knows. He’s not really paying attention anyway, a bit more preoccupied with the way that Lili lifts her newest drawing to show Keith, and he smiles and nods his approval at her even while he’s still reading. Lance is almost disappointed when he gets to the end.
Luckily he doesn’t have to do anything to get Keith’s attention, because he spots Lance in the lobby as he’s getting up to put the book away. His face lights up with a smile and he offers a small wave that Lance returns, his heart warm as he watches Keith walk back over to Lili and patiently wait for her to collect her things. As always, they walk into the lobby together hand-in-hand, and as always, Lili lets go and shoots across the room the second she sees Lance.
“Papi!”
“Hey, Lili—oof!” Lance overdramatizes the effort it takes to stay upright as she crashes into him, latching her arms around his shoulders. “Are you excited to see me?”
“Yeah!” she cheers.
Lance chuckles as she squishes her cheek against his, perking up as Keith walks up to join them with a smile. “Good afternoon, Mr. Keith. Looks like you guys have been having fun today.”
Keith scoffs good-naturedly, his cheeks turning slightly pink. “I told you, it’s just Keith.”
“Oh, right. Hello, Just Keith.”
“Yeah, alright. I walked right into that one.”
“That you did,” Lance nods, grinning as Keith rolls his eyes. “Nice hair clips, by the way.”
Keith frowns, brows knitting together in confusion. “What do you—oh.” His eyes widen and his face goes even pinker as his hand flies up to his hair, clearly having forgotten about them. “Oh, yeah, we were—Liliana wanted to do my hair, and—sorry, I should give them back—”
“No, don’t take them out!” Lance interrupts, reaching out to swat Keith’s hands away from his head. “Believe me, we’ve got plenty more. Besides, they’re cute on you.”
He’d be lying if he said he didn’t revel in the way that Keith’s face flushes after that. Honestly, if Keith’s face gets any pinker he’ll be able to give Lili’s stuffed flamingo back home a run for its money. He should really stop torturing the poor guy.
“Mr. Keith,” Lili whispers loudly, so that it’s not really whispering at all. “You’re gonna give Papi his present, right?”
Keith laughs softly, nothing but a quiet puff of air. “Yeah, Liliana, I’ll give it to him.”
Lance raises an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between them. “Present?”
“Uh, yeah.” Keith looks away, scratching the back of his neck. “We were drawing during craft time today, and she wanted me to draw something for you, so… anyway, here.” He holds out a piece of light blue construction paper, still avoiding eye contact as Lance carefully takes it from him. On the page is a rough but surprisingly detailed sketch of a beach landscape, complete with towering palm trees and swirling waves crashing against the shore. Lance takes a moment just to admire it, marveling at the way that each delicate stroke comes together.
Keith clears his throat, drawing Lance’s attention back toward him. “Liliana picked out the color. She said it’s your favorite. And—well, she said you like the beach.”
“I love it.” Lance smiles, holding the paper to his chest. “The beach, and this. I’m honored to have my very own piece of Mr. Keith art.”
Keith smiles back, but there’s something just a little strained about it as if he’s eager to get off the subject. “I’m glad you like it. Anyway, um. I should probably get back to the other kids. Duty calls, or whatever.”
Lance isn’t sure why he seems to be in such a rush all of a sudden, but he doesn’t want to push. “Or whatever,” he agrees, grinning when Keith huffs at him. “Have a good weekend, okay?”
“You too.” Keith takes a step back, offering a small wave. “Bye, Liliana.”
“Bye Mr. Keith!” Lili shouts, throwing her hand out to wave back. In the process, she knocks the paper clean out of Lance’s hand and sends it sailing down to the floor.
Lance gasps dramatically. “Lili! My Mr. Keith art!”
“Sorry!”
The paper falls face down and Lance quickly bends down to retrieve it, careful not to drop Lili while doing so. But as he scoops it up, he notices something scrawled in black ink across the back of the page in the bottom corner. He looks closer and sees that it’s a row of numbers—ten of them, printed neatly along the bottom edge of the page. When he realizes what it is, his heart skips a beat and the smile on his face grows until his cheeks hurt.
“Hold on a second. What’s this?”
Keith freezes in place, slowly turning around from where he’d been trying to sneak away. His face has gone from its usual pink to bright red, expression torn between horror and resignation. “That’s—uhhh.” Lance raises an eyebrow expectantly. Keith looks a little bit like he’s going through all five stages of grief simultaneously. “That—would be. Um. My phone number?”
“Huh.” Lance can’t help but grin, holding up the mostly blank side of the page. “Do you sign every drawing like this?”
“I—no,” Keith manages. “Just… just yours.”
Lance hums, and he really should stop teasing the guy but he’s already on such a roll and Keith is still so cute when he’s blushing. “You know, if you wanted my number that badly, all you had to do was ask.”
Poor Keith looks like his brain might short-circuit if he has to so much as think of something else to say, so Lance finally takes pity on him and decides now would be a good time to make his exit. He flashes his brightest smile and spins around to head for the door, waving his hand in the air. “See you later, Mr. Keith! I’d say see you Monday, but for all we know it could be sooner. We can talk about it when I call you later.” And then he turns and winks, pushing his way outside before anything else can be said.
He manages not to look back until he’s already halfway to his car, and when he does he can see Keith through the glass, bent over the front desk with his face pressed to the counter, and Adam laughing silently with his head thrown all the way back.
“Papi?” Lili asks.
“Hm?” Lance hums distractedly, still smiling like an idiot as he turns his head to look at her.
“Does this mean you’re gonna marry Mr. Keith?”
Lance bursts into surprised laughter, and she giggles along as he tickles her stomach. “Slow down there, chiquita. Let him take a guy out for dinner first.”
。·:*:·ﾟ★。·:*:·ﾟ☆
The thing is.
The thing is, Keith had been hoping that Lance wouldn’t notice his number written on the back of the page until after he’d left the daycare. The idea was that Lance would take it home, find it written on the back and then either call him or laugh himself to tears. At least that way, if Lance wanted to let him down easy they could just carry on like normal and pretend nothing had ever happened, and Keith could make himself feel better by telling himself Lance must have not seen it, that’s all.
Needless to say, his plan backfired. He just knows he’s never going to hear the end of it from Adam, who’d had a front row seat from his place at the front desk. Shiro won’t stop lamenting about the fact that he wasn’t there to witness it all himself. Heck, it’s only been a day and neither of them will shut up about it.
But the thing is.
The thing is, Lance had actually called him later that night, just like he said he would. Lance called him , and now here Keith is walking alongside him while the sun is setting on the very next Saturday night, talking and laughing as they head back to Lance’s apartment after dinner. So really, the joke’s on Adam and Shiro.
Lance had wanted to let Keith choose where they went, but his only requirement was that it was within walking distance from his place just in case something happened and he needed to get back home to Liliana. He’d seemed kind of embarrassed about it when he said as much over the phone, but Keith thought it was really sweet. Lance had a couple friends babysitting Liliana for the night—their names were Hunk and Pidge, they seemed nice enough, even if they had basically interrogated Keith the second he walked through the door—so it was unlikely that anything would happen, but Keith still understood.
“Okay, okay,” Lance starts, still laughing about something that Keith had said earlier (namely, the fact that his favorite animal is a hippo, which Keith thinks is perfectly respectable). “Let’s see. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?”
Keith wonders if it’s a bad sign that several things immediately come to mind. They’ve been asking each other random questions all night, just trying to get to know each other outside of their usual context. It’s been really nice, getting to know Lance as a person and not just the cute dad from the daycare. “Uh, well. I kind of stole Shiro’s car once? When I was like… nine, I think.”
Lance’s head whips toward him, his face lighting up with an incredulous grin. “You did what?”
“It’s a long story,” Keith grimaces.
“One that you’re definitely going to have to tell me next time,” Lance insists, chuckling. Keith would probably protest if he wasn’t so busy dealing with the butterflies in his stomach at the idea of Lance even wanting a next time. “Man, so you guys go way back, huh? I knew you were close, but I didn’t realize you grew up with him.”
Keith sighs. “Nearly two decades and I have yet to find a way to get rid of him.”
“Oh, please!” Lance snorts, nudging Keith in the side. “I don’t think you’d get rid of him even if you could.”
“No, you’re right,” Keith smiles, looking down at his feet. “I still wonder how he’s put up with me for so long after some of the stunts I’ve pulled.”
“Don’t tell me that’s how you met. When you stole his car, I mean.”
“Not exactly.” Keith hesitates before he continues, debating how much he wants to share without eliciting too many more questions on the topic. “Shiro was part of this Big Brother program when he was in college that partnered with some of the local foster homes. I just happened to be the kid that he was paired with, and the rest is history, I guess. He basically raised me, but he’s always been more like an older brother than a dad.”
Lance hums thoughtfully. “I didn’t know you were a foster kid.”
Keith shrugs, trying to sound nonchalant. He doesn’t really want to talk about it, but he doesn’t want to come across as rude. “Yeah. It doesn’t come up very much.”
Luckily Lance seems to get the message, because he doesn’t press. Instead he changes the subject just as nonchalantly, and Keith kind of wants to kiss him for it. “So, how’d you end up at the daycare? I don’t remember you being there when I first started taking Lili there. Otherwise she’d have been talking my ear off about you for much longer than she has already.”
Keith’s face flushes a little. He still doesn’t know what he did to make Liliana like him so much, but he’d be lying if he said it didn’t make his heart warm and fuzzy every time someone mentions it. “I didn’t actually want to work there at first,” he admits. “Shiro and Adam offered to give me a job there, because I’m still… you know. Still figuring things out. I honestly thought I would hate it, but then I got to the end of the first day and I realized I didn’t want it to end.”
Lance smiles at that, like he knows the feeling. “What changed?”
“Hm?”
“What made you realize you didn’t want it to end?”
“Oh.” Keith takes a moment to genuinely consider his question. Lance is as patient as ever, walking quietly beside him with his hands tucked casually into his pockets. “I don’t know. The kids all really seemed to like me, and I really liked them, and it was just—different.” He clears his throat, glancing sideways at Lance and then away again. “I… didn’t exactly get along with most of the kids my age when I was younger.”
Lance remains quiet, in a way that shows he’s perfectly content if Keith just wants to leave it at that, but also leaves room for him to continue if he’s comfortable doing so. Keith swallows, rubbing the side of his index finger with his thumb. “I kind of had issues as a kid. I’m just lucky that Shiro came along to help me through most of them. But I still feel like I could be better, and I guess I started to see this as my chance, you know? Like, that I could be someone for the kids to look up to, so whatever they might be going through at home is a little easier, and then maybe I could help keep them from turning out like I did. I don’t know.” He lets out a small huff of embarrassment. “It sounds dumb when I say it out loud.”
“That doesn’t sound dumb at all,” Lance says softly. “And for the record, I think you turned out just fine.”
Keith opens his mouth to reply, but he stops when he feels Lance sliding their palms together, fingers tangling between them. He stiffens slightly, face going warm, but when he looks over Lance is smiling at him with such a gentle and understanding expression that Keith instantly relaxes.
“Thanks for trusting me with that.”
Keith smiles back, his heart fluttering as he fully reciprocates Lance’s hold.
They spend the rest of the short walk to Lance’s apartment in a comfortable silence. Keith can’t help but feel disappointed as they walk up the stairs outside to his unit, not wanting the night to end just yet. They’ll see each other again on Monday, and the day after that, and the next and so on, but this was different. He just hopes that Lance is feeling the same way.
Lance turns as they reach his door, leaning back against it slightly but still not letting go of Keith’s hand. “Well, I’d ask if you want to come in and say hi to Lili, but she should be in bed already.”
Keith laughs softly, shaking his head. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome, anyway.”
“Trust me, you wouldn’t be. Maybe next time.”
There it is again. Next time. Keith clears his throat, absent-mindedly tucking a piece of hair behind his ear. “Yeah. I, um. I’d really like to do this again sometime.”
Lance smiles. “Glad to hear it.” And then he looks away, rubbing the back of his neck in a way that’s so uncharacteristically shy that it kind of catches Keith off guard. “Listen, I know I’ve probably asked you a million questions tonight already, but I have one more.”
Keith’s brow furrows. “What is it?”
Lance looks up at him through his lashes, his grip tightening on Keith’s hand just the slightest bit as if he’s worried about scaring him off. “Thoughts on kissing after the first date?”
Oh. Keith feels the exact moment that his brain stops and then restarts. Lance is watching him in that same quiet sort of way of his, giving Keith plenty of space to make his own choice without forcing his hand. That alone makes Keith want to kiss him, which isn’t much of a surprise given the fact that Keith definitely started wanting to kiss him a long time ago.
It gives him the courage to step forward and close the small amount of space left between them, his hand instinctively going to rest on Lance’s waist. He doesn’t miss the way that Lance’s expression shifts, so shy and hopeful in a way that’s such a far cry from his usual confident, teasing demeanor but no less sweet. Keith has to tilt his head back ever so slightly to look up at him, heart racing as Lance’s hand finds his shoulder, and then he’s leaning in.
Lance is smiling when they kiss, and it makes Keith’s heart flutter wildly in his chest as if it wasn’t already. His hand trails along Keith’s shoulder until it rests against his cheek and Keith can’t help but lean into it, feeling a little light-headed at how softly Lance kisses him back. It’s so gentle in a way that Keith can’t quite explain—it just feels right, given everything that he knows about Lance so far. For someone who feels like he’s been running at full speed all his life, suddenly all Keith wants to do is take his time.
He finds himself clutching at the front of Lance’s shirt without really meaning to, crowding him against the door in his own efforts to keep himself upright. When they finally break apart he has to take a moment to catch his breath, his eyes slowly fluttering open as if awaking from a trance. Lance’s shirt is a little rumpled, but from the contented look on his face, Keith is pretty sure that he doesn’t mind. “Does that answer your question?”
Lance laughs brightly, and Keith has a good feeling that he’s going to be hearing much more of it from now on. “Yeah,” Lance answers with a smile, squeezing Keith’s hand in his. “Yeah, I think it does.”