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It wasn’t really quiet when Keith woke up, the unfamiliar din of traffic and voices of New York morning bleeding through the closed windows of the hotel room. He tried to sit up, stopping however, when he felt Lance shift next to him on the bed. Lance had his arm wrapped around Keith’s waist and was pressed against his side. Keith smiled down at him -- at the messiness of his hair and the way he snored softly -- and leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Lance, babe, it’s time to get up.”
Lance groaned, pushing his face further into Keith’s side, and Keith chuckled, running a hand through Lance’s hair, his fingers catching slightly as he did. He felt more than heard the noise Lance made, and he did it again, this time scratching at his scalp a little; something he knew Lance enjoyed.
“Keith,” Lance sighed, burying his face ever further into his side, almost nuzzling into his armpit. The arm around his waist tried to pull him back against the bed, but Keith stayed where he was, chuckling at the whine that came from Lance.
“Babe, come on, if you don’t get up, we’re going to miss breakfast,” Keith said, hoping the prospect of food would rouse him.
He was sadly mistaken. “So we’ll get something while we’re out. Five more minutes.” He tried to tug him back down, and this time Keith let him. Lance smiled sleepily in triumph, but that was short-lived. Keith kicked the blanket off of them and all but rolled off the bed. Lance whined loudly, blindly grabbing for where the blanket had been.
“Keeeeeeith,” he whined again, finally sitting up. Keith watched him rub his eyes and blink a few times before looking up at him. Lance tried for annoyance, but Keith could see the smile he was trying to suppress.
He walked around the bed and stood over Lance, taking his cheeks in his hand. The sunlight coming in through the curtains glinted off his ring, and he smiled softly at it, love swelling in his heart. He looked back at Lance and leaned down, giving him a soft kiss.
Lance leaned up into it, and Keith smiled against his lips before pulling away. “Your breath stinks, go brush your teeth,” he said softly. Lance sputtered and Keith stepped away, laughing. “And hurry, cause I’m hungry.”
“You’re lucky I love you,” Lance grumbled, standing and walking to the bathroom. “Otherwise I wouldn’t spoil you like this!”
“Yes, because brushing your teeth is spoiling me!” Keith laughed. Lance made a noise, peering out at him through a slight glare. “Besides, I’d hope you love me. Otherwise it’d be pretty awkward that you married me.”
Lance shot back into the bathroom, but not before Keith saw the blush spreading over his cheeks. They’d only been married for a week, but it still felt like a dream. Keith turned and flopped onto the bed, half hanging off with his feet touching the floor. Memories from their wedding flashed in his mind; all their friends sitting in front of them, the way both he and Lance cried while giving their vows, the cheers they got when they kissed. He smiled, closing his eyes and reliving them.
The bed dipped and Lance’s head rested on his shoulder. “I thought you said you were hungry?” Keith hummed, opening his eyes and turning his head to look at him. “What are you thinking about?”
“Our wedding,” Keith said quietly. Lance laughed softly, his eyes shining a little where the sunlight caught them.
“I love you, Keith,” he said.
Keith smiled, leaning down and kissing the top of Lance’s head. “I love you too, Lance.” Lance smiled back at him, looking at him with love filled eyes, and Keith kissed him again. “Come on, I wasn’t lying about being hungry.”
Lance groaned sitting up with him. “You ruined our moment!”
“We have a lifetime for moments, babe. We only have an hour for breakfast.”
-.-.-
Breakfast wasn’t anything spectacular -- waffles with too much syrup and coffee that was a touch too bitter -- but it didn’t matter much to them. They’d just needed to eat something before starting their day since they didn’t have any planned times to eat. Not because they had a packed schedule -- they only had three places they wanted to see today -- but because they wanted to get the most out of those places.
Keith hailed a taxi, pulling Lance into the backseat with him, and told the cabbie that they were headed to the Statue of Liberty. It was slow going -- they’d been warned that New York traffic was a hassle and that they should plan on taking the subway most places -- but it gave them time to look around at the city as they went.
The buildings were massive, stretching up higher than either of them had ever seen. Floors and floors of glass windows reached up into the sky, the sun glinting off of them where it broke through the spaces between buildings. Keith could only imagine the view the people on the higher floors had. He thought about adding the Empire State Building to their list of things to do while in New York, if only to see the view. He’d talk to Lance about it later.
Even this early in the morning, there were quite a few people milling about on the sidewalk, clogging up the crosswalks, going to wherever they needed. There were also a variety of ethnicities there -- too many for Keith to keep track of -- and it astounded him just how many different cultures would live in one city.
After a while, they were finally let out of the taxi. They made the short walk to Battery Park, passing by the gardens that were there. Lance stopped, pulling Keith with him. “Can we get a few pictures in the gardens while we’re here?” he asked, already pulling Keith with him.
Keith checked his phone, seeing how much time they had before they had to be at the ferry. The still had half an hour before it left, and Keith could see the port not too far from them. “We can spend a few minutes here,” he relented with a smile, letting Lance pull him further into the garden.
Even with his knowledge of flowers, there were quite a few that Keith couldn’t identify. The further they went, the more flowers there were. Most of them were in full bloom, their colours spreading everywhere. It was a breathtaking sight to see, and Keith had to admit that he was glad Lance had asked to take some time to look around.
They kept going until they found a bench along the path. Behind it stood purple flowers that Keith couldn’t find a name for. “I know this is cliche, but the flowers are literally our colours mixed together. We have to get at least one picture here,” Lance said, sitting on the bench. Keith sat next to him, leaning his head against his shoulder.
“Cliché or not, I think it’s fitting,” Keith said, looking up at Lance. Lance smiled down at him, pulling his camera up. Keith looked at the phone, smiling along with Lance. They took a few pictures like that, and Keith moved to stand, only to have Lance pull him back down.
“One more,” he said, his free hand cupping Keith’s cheek.
Keith felt his face heat up a little, but he leaned into the touch. Lance leaned forward and kissed him softly, and Keith kissed him back. He heard the clicking sound from Lance’s phone and knew that he’d taken a picture of them like that, but he didn’t care. All he could think about was Lance kissing him.
They pulled away from each other, suddenly aware of the people walking by, and they stood. Lance’s face was flushed red, and Keith could feel his own burning. “We should--” Keith started, unable to form words.
“Yeah,” Lance agreed, taking his hand and backtracking down the path. They walked to the port and boarded the ferry, standing near the railing. The ferry left a few minutes later, and in that time, they were able to relax and calm down from earlier.
“So how long is the ferry ride?” Lance asked, taking Keith’s hand and lacing their fingers together.
“If I remember right, it should only be about fifteen minutes,” Keith said, looking out over the water in front of them. Lance laughed suddenly, and Keith looked over at him. “What?”
“All I can think about is that scene in Titanic where Jack is holding Rose while they look over the water,” he said with another laugh.
Keith couldn’t help but laugh with him. “Let me guess, you want to do that too?”
“How did you know?” Lance said in mock surprise.
“I had a hunch,” Keith responded in mock knowing. Lance shook his head and laughed.
They resituated themselves so that Lance was against the railing, his arms out to his side, and Keith was behind him, his hands on his waist. “I’m flying!” Lance half yelled, causing Keith to snort with laughter as he hid his face in his shoulder.
“You are such a dork,” Keith laughed, feeling Lance’s shoulder shake as he started laughing.
“Yeah, but I’m your dork,” Lance said. Keith shook his head and looked up at him.
“That you are.” Keith’s arms wrapped fully around Lance, and Lance turned to face him. With the sun behind him, it looked like he was glowing, and the fleeting thought that Lance was an angel flitted through his mind. He leaned up, kissing him quickly before letting, laughing a little as Lance stumbled.
Lance opened his mouth to say something, but instead got splashed with a bit of spray that drifted up with the wind. Keith snorted, watching Lance flip off the water below. “Next time you’re the one getting hit with the spray,” Lance grumbled. Keith shook his head and smiled.
“Or, we can just sit and not re-enact Titanic scenes next time,” he said, taking Lance’s hand and pulling towards the seats. Lance muttered something to himself, and they sat, looking out over the water.
Keith could see clouds in the distance, and he pulled out his phone, checking the weather. “Looks like it might rain later. If it does, we’ll have to adjust our plans for today,” he said, showing Lance his screen.
“Good thing we’ve got all week to see everything,” Lance said, looking to where the clouds were. “Be a shame if we missed something.”
He hummed in agreement, watching the radar. If it was correct, they’d be inside the MET before the rain hit. But he also knew that the weather was always unpredictable, so there was no guarantee that it wouldn’t come sooner.
-.-.-
He was right to question the unreliability of weather forecasts. After the typical touristy pictures they got at the Statue of Liberty, they were walking around the gift shop trying to decide on what to get their friends when they saw the sky start to darken. The clouds had come faster than Keith had anticipated, and stepping back outside to head to the ferry, he could smell rain on the wind.
“Maybe we should head back to the hotel. I don’t trust that the weather will hold long enough for us to get to the MET, nor do I think that it’ll break by the time evening rolls around,” he said, trying to keep his dejectedness from showing through. He’d really been looking forward to the plans they’d had for the rest of day, and to have the weather ruin it really did upset him.
“I think that might be best. It just means we can spend the rest of the day in bed,” Lance said, pulling Keith into his side. He cracked a smile, letting out a small laugh, and Lance beamed down at him, winking quickly.
The sky continued to darken on the ride back to Battery Park, and the wind grew colder as it swept off the water. They felt the first raindrops as soon as they got off the ferry,
“Well, so much for beating the rain,” Keith grumbled, pulling Lance with him as they walked to the street. The sidewalks were less crowded than they were getting there, people having the forethought to have gotten inside before it started to rain.
Not them, though. The sky seemed to open up right as they hailed a taxi. The minute the doors closed, it started downpouring, and loud cracks of thunder sounded around them. The world around them was awash in grey with brief flashes of light as lightning stretched between the clouds.
The rain pounded against the taxi and the windows, deafening any sounds from outside, leaving them in the warm bubble of the taxi. “I was really looking forward to spending the evening in Central Park,” Keith said, deflating a little and sliding down in his seat.
Lance’s hand found his, squeezing it a little. “I know you were babe. I was too. But you know, we could always save it for last. Spend our last evening there. Make it as memorable as possible,” he said, his thumb running over the back of his hand.
Keith looked up at him, but Lance was looking outside, his features softened in the light that could make it into through the clouds and into the taxi. It made Keith’s heart stutter a little, and he looked away, choosing to lean against him instead.
“I think I’d really like that,” Keith said quietly. Lance kissed the top of his head, the only signal that he’d heard him.
He leaned further against him, and Lance wrapped an arm around his shoulders, holding him close. “Thank you for taking me here Keith,” he breathed, leaning his head against Keith’s. “I’ve always wanted to come here.”
Keith’s face flushed a little. “I couldn’t think of any place better to take you.” There was a pause. “Well, maybe Paris or Venice. But my point still stands.” Lance chuckled, squeezing his hands. “I’d take you anywhere Lance. Hell, I’d take you to the moon if you asked me to.”
“You would?” Lance laughed.
“If I could find a way to, I would take you there in a heartbeat.”
Lance laughed again, and Keith smiled. “I don’t think I’d ask you to take me to the moon. Even if I love you to the moon and back.” Keith’s face flushed again. “Being anywhere with you is far better than some fancy honeymoon we could’ve gone on.”
Keith looked up at him, finding Lance looking down at him. “I love you, you know that?”
“I do. But I don’t mind being reminded of it,” Lance said, kissing his forehead. Keith hummed happily. “And I love you too, just so you know.” And he did know. Of course he did. The ring on his finger reminded him of that every time he saw it. It would always remind him that Lance loved him. Forever and always.