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Keith never claimed to be someone who loved lightly. I mean, hell, he’s almost killed himself for Shiro on multiple occasions. He loved hard and intensely. He loved his brother, he loved his mom.
And he loved Lance. God, he loved Lance so much. And it was now, watching Lance do the most mundane things, that he felt it the most intensely.
Lance was just working. He was working on paperwork, absentmindedly chewing on the end of his pen, glasses nearly down to the tip of his nose. And yet, Keith’s chest swelled with adoration. His lips curled up into a fond smile and he could feel his face stuck in a lovesick expression. And he didn’t even care.
“I love you.” Keith said. Lance’s brows furrowed and he looked up, smiling.
“I love you, too. What was that for, hm?” His face was amused but confused, too.
“Just- I love you.” Keith punctuated the sentence with a lovey sigh. Lance chuckled and took his glasses off. Internally, Keith cried.
Leave them on, he thought. But Lance was speaking and Keith focused on his voice, god his voice.
“Okay, cupid. You’re being awfully cheesy.” Keith hummed, taking this as a doorway to talk a bit more.
“I dunno,” he started, “I just get so overwhelmed sometimes, thinking about you and how much I adore you. But overwhelmed in the best way.” Keith ran his fingers through his hair and smiled, unable to stop it.
“It’s just like- I love you so much. And I love how you make me feel. I love that I’m comfortable enough to just… be with you. You’ve made me feel so safe. I’ve never felt safe with anyone like I have with you, Lance.”
“Keith-”
“And I love that I don’t have to be anyone when I’m with you. I don’t have to be a member of the blade, a Paladin, a pilot. I can just be Keith, and that’s enough for you.” His eyes started to brim with tears, and he looked at Lance. “For the first time, I feel loved. Completely, wholly loved. And I feel that way because of you. You make me feel that way.”
“Keith, stop, I’m going to explode-” Lance was blushing furiously and it was clear he didn’t know how to handle such open affection.
“You and your brown hair, and your gorgeous blue eyes, and your smile that I swear lights up the room and, jesus Lance, the whole building. And your laugh, god I could listen to your laugh for hours. And when I make you laugh, it feels like I’m on top of the world, and my chest feels warm and my stomach does flips and I think I want to make you laugh for the rest of my life, Lance. I- I want to be the one who holds you when you wake up from nightmares, be the one you reach for. I want to make you pancakes in the morning and bring you soup when you’re sick.”
“Keith! Please!” Lance laugh-yells the words, and Keith chuckles too, still not stopping but beginning to feel giddy at the sight of his boyfriend flustered.
“I want to be the one who makes that pretty little blush tint your face, want to be the only one who holds hands with you, who kisses your head, who kisses your cheek. I just adore you, Lance, in all of your entirety. I enjoy the gorgeous things about you and I adore you when you think you’re not able to be adored. I adore that you trust me, and I adore that I trust you.”
“Keith!” Lance has scrambled out of his chair to cover Keith’s mouth and both boys are giggling, a blush dusting both their cheeks(one more so than the other).
“God, I love you so much.” Keith squeezed Lance and pulled him into a hug.
“Yeah, I think I got that.” Lance laughed, hugging Keith back just as tightly. Keith peppered Lance’s head with kisses and ran his fingers through his hair.
They settled comfortably into each other, Keith sighing deeply and closing his eyes.
“So… you want to make me laugh for the rest of our lives, huh?” Lance had a smirk on his face and Keith’s eyes opened slowly, staring down at his boyfriend.
“Yeah, I do. Take that as you will, Sharpshooter.” Keith closed his eyes again, and ignored Lance’s shocked gasp and screeches that may or may not have included the word ‘marriage.’
Hm, Keith thought, that had a nice ring to it. ‘Marriage.’