Archive of Our Own

"I swear our T.A. has it out for us," Lance muttered as he and Hunk finally exited the lab room. "This is like the fourth time we were the last ones there. I bet he's giving us faulty equipment." He took his goggles off, roughly wiping the sides and top of his face in hopes that the goggle marks would go away faster. Lance already wasn't a big fan of organic chemistry and the fact that the lab was three hours long didn't help. At least he had Hunk with him, else he'd probably go crazy.

"You act as if the solution spilling wasn't your fault," Hunk chuckled. Lance just glared at him. Okay, so maybe he did cause some mishaps every now and then, but it wasn't all the time!

"I can't believe the betrayal I'm experiencing right now," he sighed. "After all we've been through... all those hours spent trapped in that lab room..." Lance checked his phone for the time.

"Oh shit!" He shoved his phone into his pocket and ran down the hall, waving bye to Hunk as he shouted, "I've got class in five minutes!"

Lance practically ran into the room, making it seconds before his professor began talking. He found a seat in the back, opening his computer to shield his phone from his professor's eyes. It's not that he was one of those students that never paid attention in class and hated doing any work, it was just the fact that his organic chemistry lab had melted his brain and this was Public Speaking. He could pass this class blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back.

The words "partner project" caught his ear and he glanced up at the projected slides. He saw a basic rubric for what looked like another presentation.

"In your course, you should be able to see who your partner is. I would advise exchanging a form of contact before class ends so you can start working on your project as soon as possible." Lance rolled his eyes as he opened his course and went to his groups, scrolling past the many, many groups he had been put in this semester. Seriously, how many group projects was this guy going to assign? He reached the last group and once he saw the name, he audibly groaned.

Keith Kogane.

Although the two didn't interact much, Lance still basically hated the guy. He had tried to strike up a conversation with him once freshman year but he was completely ignored. And then to make things worse, the next class Keith had literally sat as far away from him as possible. What a dick.

Lance didn't bother waiting around to get Keith's information once the professor dismissed them. If he wanted to pass this stupid project, Keith would have to talk to him first. 

He walked out of the classroom, trying to avoid the students filtering in for the next class. Thankfully, this was his last class of the day, so he could go back to his apartment and just relax with Pidge and Hunk. And probably complain to them about his project partner.

"Keith!" Lance practically jumped at the name, realizing that he would have to move faster if he wanted to avoid said partner. His eyes moved towards the voice and his jaw almost dropped when he saw who it belonged to.

No. Fucking. Way.

Walking straight past him was Allura, one of the most beautiful girls he had seen. She was in his government class freshman year, and what first caught his eye was how gorgeous her long, almost white hair was. And not only was she pretty, she was so passionate about the class, always staying engaged and conversing with the teacher about the current state of the government or simply asking questions to further her understanding of the topic. He still remembers Pidge laughing at him when he talked about her, especially because he never really tried to engage in any sort of conversation with her.

Lance's puppy crush was gone now, but he couldn't help but wonder how Keith out of all people knew her. And she waited for him to get out of class? Were they dating? There's no way, Allura was insanely out of his league.

Lance practically sprinted out of the building before Keith could catch up to him.

~ ~ ~

"Keith!" Keith's ears perked up at the sound of Allura's voice. She was walking towards him, a drink and a small bag in her hands.

"Were you waiting?" Keith asked while he took the bag that Allura held out for him.

"Not for too long. My class got cancelled and I remembered your class was in the same building, so I figured I would wait out here for you. I couldn't remember exactly what you usually order, so I just got you a bagel," Allura said as the two continued to walk.

"You know, you didn't have to," Keith said. He took a bite of the bagel as they walked outside. 

"Nonsense, you're always grabbing me a drink after my class. Besides, I did make a promise to Shiro to make sure you're properly taking care of yourself." Keith groaned at the mention of his older brother. He had a rough start freshman year and Shiro had to practically force food and sleep into him. He'd been doing better this year, but Shiro was always worried he'd fall back into his old habits.

"He's just paranoid, I swear I've been doing better." Allura smiled.

"Well I'm very glad. How have your classes been? It feels like it has been a while since we've talked."

"Yeah, sorry about that, the EMT training I've been doing has been keeping me busier than I thought. They've been going good, my professor just assigned like our fifth group project of the semester though." Keith took a pause and scowled. "I forgot to find my partner. I... kind of don't know who he is."

Allura laughed. "Haven't you been in this class for a few weeks now? I would think you'd know the name of your classmates." Keith rolled his eyes. The two continued to walk outside, occasionally dodging bikes and electric scooters. Keith wasn't exactly sure where they were going, but he didn't have much to do today, so he figured he would just follow Allura.

"There's like thirty of them, I can't keep track. Anyways, his name is like Lance or something," Keith said as he took another bite of his bagel. "I feel like I've heard it somewhere, but I can't exactly remember where." Allura's eyes perked up.

"Oh, I think I know him! I believe he was in one of my classes last year. Although, I'm not sure how you would be able to contact him," she said, taking a sip of her drink. Probably a matcha, Keith guessed. "When is your project due?"

"In two weeks, so I at least have time to find him," he said with a shrug. 

The walk back was mostly quiet, with some commentary from Allura every now and then. Keith wasn't exactly talkative and Allura respected that, even in high school when the two first met.

Eventually, the two reached Allura's apartment and said their goodbyes. Keith continued to walk back to his apartment, checking his phone as he walked. 

Shiro: Can you grab some butter and milk on your way home? Adam didn't think to check the fridge before he started cooking.

keith: *thumbs up*

Shiro: Ugh you and your dad responses

Keith walked into the apartment and carefully took his shoes off at the door, grocery bag in hand. He set the bag down onto the counter next to Adam and Shiro and flopped onto the couch. 

"Rough day?" Shiro asked with a laugh.

"Got assigned another group project. I think my professor is out to get me," Keith muttered as he stripped his fingerless gloves off and tossed them onto the coffee table.

"It can't get any worse than your last group," Adam said. "Didn't you almost punch one of them?"

"Ugh don't remind me. I don't even know who my partner is this time, so it's not like I can start it now."

"I'm sure you'll find him next class," Shiro said. "Either that or you go stalk him on Instagram." 

Keith just rolled his eyes as he reluctantly got up from the couch and made his way to his room. The more he thought about it, the less crazy of an idea it seemed…

~ ~ ~

loverboy: guys

loverboy: pls kill me

chef: oh boy

gremlin: what did you do now

loverboy: excuse you i didn't do anything tyvm

loverboy: it's my stupid prof

loverboy: we got assigned a partner project and i have to work with KEITH

loverboy: he like totally hates my guts

loverboy: AND NOT TO MENTION

loverboy: he's apparently friends with allura or something like that

loverboy: ALLURA OUT OF ALL PEOPLE

chef: like allura from gov last year?

loverboy: YES

loverboy: i honestly don't get how she associates with... him

gremlin: oh come on he can’t that bad

gremlin: have you even talked to him before

loverboy: NO BECAUSE HE IGNORES ME

gremlin: correction: he ignored you once and now you have some sort of hatred towards him

loverboy: he literally sat as far away from me the next class

loverboy: how does that not scream hatred

chef: well you're gonna have to work with him lance

chef: or you'll fail the project

chef: plus it's been a year, i'm sure he's changed

loverboy: well idk and i don't want to find out

loverboy: maybe i can fake my own death

Lance opened the door to the apartment, hanging his keys at the front and taking off his shoes. He could see the top of Pidge's hair on the couch and the sounds of Mario Kart and yelling filled the room.

"I swear you're cheating!" a voice over the phone said. Matt, he remembered. Pidge's older brother. Pidge laughed as they turned around to greet Lance.

"Hey Lance, no work today?" They asked as they set the controller down. 

"Hi Lance!" Matt said over the phone.

"Hey Matt. And nah, they've been scheduling me less. I think they've gotten some more employees since exams are coming up pretty soon," Lance said, shrugging his backpack off and heading to the kitchen area to get a drink. "Not like I'm complaining, though, chemistry's been kicking my ass."

"Me too!" Hunk yelled from his room. "There's too many things to memorize. There’s like a million different structures." Hunk walked out of his room, bag slung on his shoulder. "Anyways, I have to go to my food science lab, so you two are on your own for dinner today." Hunk waved goodbye as he exited the apartment.

"So," Pidge said once they hung up with Matt. "Keith."

"Don’t remind me," Lance said with a frown. 

"I don't get why you dislike him that much, haven’t you only interacted with him like once? I'm sure he was just having an off day or something," they said, moving towards the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal.

"Well still, he never apologized or anything!" Lance complains as he also grabs a bowl of cereal. What can he say, it’s their go-to meal when Hunk isn’t home. "I swear he always looks mad too. It's like he's permanently got a stick up his ass or something. And somehow Allura is friends with... that!" 

Pidge smirked at the mention of Allura’s name. "So what you're saying is you're jealous." 

Lance almost spit out a mouthful of cereal. "Absolutely not, what the hell Pidge?!" Pidge laughed as Lance struggled to keep the cereal from falling out of his mouth. "But still, what does she see in him?"

"You say that as if they're dating," Pidge said, raising their eyebrow. 

"I mean, I don't know, maybe they are. Wait, I don't even care, stop talking about it!" Lance's face had been turning redder and redder and all Pidge could do was laugh at him.

"Well, put your rivalry aside cause you're gonna have to talk to him whether you want to or not. Unless a 0 on this project is something you're willing to risk." Lance just mumbled something under his breath as he crossed his arms. 

He knew Pidge was right, and he also knew there was no way to get out of it. At the beginning of the year, his professor specifically said that they would have to work in whatever groups they were assigned, no matter how well they got along. Something along the lines of "learning to compromise".

He should’ve dropped the course when he had a chance.

~ ~ ~

Laying in bed, Keith mindlessly scrolled on instagram. He could hear Shiro and Adam’s laughter from his room as some movie played. Probably some stupid romcom Shiro picked out.

He thought about Shiro’s earlier words and inched his finger towards the search bar. I mean, it’s not like I’m actually doing anything wrong. I just need to figure out what he looks like so we can start working on this project. 

He tried to ignore… whatever thoughts were trying to get him to actually agree with Shiro. He tossed his phone to the side of his bed, getting up to take a seat at his desk. He opened up his computer to start his homework, but his mind started to drift towards his phone.

After 5 minutes of debating, he reluctantly caved in and looked him up. His name wasn’t exactly common, so he clicked on the first profile he saw.

He stared at his profile picture. It was a little dark and hard to make out things clearly, but he could see a blurred figure with a blue background, almost like an aquarium if he had to guess. Looking at his bio, he could tell it was at least the right Lance McClain since he attended the same school. There couldn’t be that many Lance McClains, right?

Keith clicked on the most recent post. The first photo has three people in the frame. To the left was a guy with an orange bandana wrapped around his forehead. He was holding a whisk that was covered in some sort of cream or batter. To the right was a person that Keith recognized from his government class, though he couldn’t seem to be able to put a name to the face. They had short brown hair and what seemed like flour all over their face. 

Once his eyes found the person in the middle, he froze.

At first glance, Keith couldn’t help but think that the guy was insanely attractive. Like, top ten guys he’d ever seen attractive. In the photo, his eyes are closed, but his smile was so wide it almost looked like it was going to fall from his face. He had batter on his face and flour in his dark brown hair. The caption read: “finally 19” with more emojis than Keith had ever used in his life. Against his better judgement, he continued to scroll through the post. 

The second photo was Lance’s two friends throwing flour at each other while Lance took a selfie. He wasn’t fully in the frame, but he could see his smirk near the bottom of the photo. The third was a photo of a poorly decorated cake with what he assumed was 19 candles on top. It looked like there were multiple people trying to decorate it at the same time, with globs of frosting sitting in odd places. In the last photo, the cake sat in front of Lance, all the candles lit with a ton of people in the back. Maybe his family…?

Keith resisted the urge to look through the other 20 posts that were on Lance’s account and instead decided to finally start on some homework.

(If he went back to his account at 3 am and scrolled through every post and tagged photo, no one had to know)

~ ~ ~

Lance sat in his usual seat near the back, watching as the students trickled in. Since he didn’t have his lab today, he didn’t have to haul ass to make it on time. He wondered if Keith would actually talk to him today, or if he’d be stuck doing this entire project alone. Or maybe Keith would do the project alone. Whatever, it would be better that way anyways, cause then at least Lance wouldn’t have to see his stupid face. 

He pulled out his phone, ready to complain about who knows what, when he heard a voice next to him.

“You’re Lance, right?” Looking up, Lance saw the face he had been dreading the past few days. 

Keith didn’t seem to have changed much since the previous year. He still had that ugly mullet and the random fingerless gloves, though it was mostly hidden by his hoodie sleeve. 

“Uh yeah. You’re, um, Keith?” Lance wasn’t sure why he was so hesitant. Of course he knew it was Keith, the guy he’s hated since freshman year. The guy who was now actually talking to him.

Keith nodded, taking the seat next to Lance and pulling out his laptop as their professor began his lecture. Lance, rather than spending his time on his phone the whole lecture, decided to suck it up and take notes. He couldn’t let Keith one up him.

~ ~ ~

Why did I sit here why did I sit here why did I sit here. Keith was tense, his fingers sitting over the keys of his laptop but not actually typing anything. He felt as if he was going to combust sitting next to Lance. Why didn’t he just wait until after class to find him? 

He took a small glance at Lance, who seemed to be focused on the lecture, typing away as their professor spoke. Keith tried to force himself to listen, but the professor just kept on talking about the most random things. In fact, he wasn’t even sure what Lance was taking notes on, because the only words he was processing were “robot” and “sugar cane”. He wasn’t exactly sure how those were related.

Once the lecture was finally over and everyone began leaving, Keith saw Lance hold out his phone.

“Here. We can figure out when to work on the project and get it over with,” he muttered, his phone open to a new contact page. Keith quickly inserted his name and number and passed his phone back to him. 

“Uh, yeah, I’ll see you around.” Keith practically jumped out of his seat as he heard Lance say something under his breath that sounded like an insult.

What the hell was that??

keith: allura

allura: Hello Keith, what’s up?

keith: i’m about 90% sure lance hates me

keith: or something like that

keith: he seems to be really annoyed

allura: I’m sure he’s just tired. Or perhaps you read the situation wrong. Don’t worry, I’m sure things will work out well

allura: And if not, at least there are not too many weeks left in the semester. So hopefully you will not have to see him again

keith: that’s true

keith: thanks

allura: Of course, Keith, anytime

~ ~ ~

“Ugh, he’s so annoying!” Lance yelled as he walked into the apartment. Hunk looked up from his phone and raised an eyebrow.

“Who exactly are we talking about?”

“Keith!” Lance tossed his bag onto the floor, grabbed a granola bar from the pantry, and took a seat next to Hunk on the couch. He slung his legs over Hunk’s and let his back fall onto the arm rest. “We had class today and he just… sat next to me! Like, what the hell, he hadn’t acknowledged me for the past year, and now he starts? Not only that, but he practically ran out of the classroom once the lecture ended. Did he hate sitting by me that much??”

“Well, you two are working on a project together,” Hunk said, returning his attention to his phone but making sure to take out his earbuds to let Lance know that he was still listening. “And maybe he had a class to get to.”

“I mean yeah, but still! Ugh, he just pisses me off.” Lance crossed his arms as he scowled. “Which, I still need to text him to actually start the project,” he muttered.

Hunk rolled his eyes with a small laugh. “Have you even had an actual conversation with him yet?” From the look on Lance’s face, it was clear what the answer was. He sighed as he put his phone down on the table and turned to Lance.

“Look, just try to get along with him at least. I’m sure he had reasons for freshman year. Plus, if he is a huge dick, you don’t have to talk to him for the rest of the semester. It’ll be like that one guy from last year that you and Pidge talked about or something.”

“James,” Pidge hissed as they exited their room. “I will never forget him.” 

Lance groaned. “Ugh, don’t remind me of him. He was so egotistical!” Hunk just laughed at both of their sour faces.

“But yeah, exactly. I don’t get why you’re so hung up on Keith not liking you anyways. Clearly you didn’t let James or whatever affect you.”

Lance thought about Hunk’s words. He was right, why exactly was he so annoyed at Keith specifically not liking him? It’s not like he was the first person to ever ignore him.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Now, since we’re all here, how about a game of Mario Kart?” Lance asked with a smirk. Pidge immediately ran to the couch while Lance moved his legs to make more room on the couch.

“Oh you are so on!”

~ ~ ~

lance: hey, this is lance

lance: i know the project isn’t due for a while but i figured we could work on it early

lance: just let me know when you’re available

keith: okay, i’m free every day besides saturday this week basically, though it would have to be sort of late sorry

keith: like after 7

keith: or i’m free any time on sunday

lance: sunday works with me. 5 pm at the library?

keith: sounds good

lance: hunk

lance: do you think aliens are real

keith: i’m sorry?

lance: oh shit my bad i meant to send that to my friend

keith: i sort of figured

lance: but now that i’ve sent that

lance: what is your stance on aliens

keith: seriously? do you not have anything better to do?

lance: wow rude

keith: sorry, i didn’t mean it like that

keith: it’s just 3 am and most sane people are sleeping

lance: i’m usually asleep i’m just cramming for this stupid ochem test

lance: i think my head is going to explode

keith: are you in ochem 1?

lance: yeah

lance: ugh it’s like a never ending story of compounds

lance: so i’m taking a break

keith: i’m taking it next semester, i’ve heard it sucks 

keith: i’m lucky enough to live with a ta though, so i’ll basically get free tutoring from him

lance: whatttt that’s so unfair

lance: me and one of my roommates are in the same class at least so we usually study with each other

lance: but enough about that

lance: i need to know your stance on aliens

keith: why…

lance: i’m bored and no one else is up

keith: i’m asleep.

lance: haha very funny

lance: stop avoiding the question

keith: …

keith: yes

lance: yes you believe in aliens?

keith: mhmm

lance: no way

lance: you’re not one of those crazy conspiracy people who think things like big foot are real are you

keith: no comment

lance: NO WAY

lance: literally how

lance: it’s all so fabricated

keith: there’s literally so much evidence on it wtf

keith: i bet you’re just too dense to look at any of it

lance: um no i’m reasonable enough to see that it’s fake

lance: unlike you apparently

keith: ugh god forbid i have opinions

keith: but you should really get some sleep

keith: staying up isn’t gonna necessarily help you on your test

lance: yeah yeah i guess so

~ ~ ~

loverboy: i was right about keith

loverboy: he’s a horrible person and shouldn’t be in college

chef: what happened??

loverboy: HE BELIEVES THE STUPID CRYPTID THINGS

loverboy: LIKE BIG FOOT

gremlin: …and you know this why?

loverboy: not important

loverboy: it’s clear he’s not right in the head

chef: so you’re just being overdramatic, am i reading this right?

loverboy: NO IM BEING SERIOUS

gremlin: aren’t you meeting him in a few minutes

loverboy: yeah yeah i’m walking to the library right now

loverboy: dreading every second

loverboy: i bet he won’t even show up

Keith sat at a table in the library, quickly sending a text to Lance that he had arrived. Looking around the library, he realized that it was emptier than what he was used to. Usually there were a lot of students cramming for tests or projects, but today there only seemed to be a few student workers around. Keith just shrugged it off as he opened his laptop.

A few minutes later, a small thud hit the table across from him. He looked up from his screen to see Lance grabbing his laptop from his bag.

“Alright, let's get this over with,” he said with a huff. Keith raised his eyebrow, but Lance paid no attention.

The two of them worked in silence for the next hour, only talking when necessary. Once the clock started nearing 6pm, a student worker came up to them and cleared her throat.

“Hi! Uh, I just wanted to come over and remind you both that the library will be closing soon. Since it’s Sunday and all…” The two looked up at her as she turned and walked away.

“I didn’t realize they closed early on Sunday,” Lance muttered. “Sorry, that’s on me, I probably should’ve checked the schedule.”

“You’re good. We can just find somewhere else to work, or work on it another time,” Keith said as he began to pack up his stuff. 

“I’m free Tuesday if that works for you?” 

“I’ve got training that day so I won’t be able to. Maybe Friday?”

“I’ve got work, no can do. What about over the weekend?”

“I’ve got something over the weekend.” The two looked at each other in defeat.

“So, I guess that means we have to work on it today.”

“Yeah.” They walked out of the library, Lance waving bye to the shy student worker. Keith crossed his arms as they stood at the entrance. “I mean, we could work on it at my apartment? I don’t think my roommates would mind.”

Keith shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

The two of them walked in silence the entire way. Lance pulled out his phone to shoot a quick text to Pidge and Hunk.

loverboy: are you guys home

loverboy: pls say no

gremlin: we’re both here

gremlin: why, you bringing someone home?

chef: no way, he’s just been out working on his project right

gremlin: oooooooo are you bringing keithhhh homeeeee

gremlin: good to see you finally put that rivalry aside

loverboy: shut up

loverboy: we got kicked out of the library and need to work on our project still

loverboy: DO NOT EVEN SAY ANYTHING

loverboy: i just need to be done with this project already

gremlin: i can’t promise anything

chef: i also cannot promise anything

loverboy: you both suck

“My roommates are home, but hopefully they aren’t a bother,” Lance said once they got closer to his apartment.

“Don’t worry. My brother and his boyfriend are the most annoying roommates in the world, I don’t think anything will top that.” Lance let out a little laugh as he looked over at Keith.

And wow.

Lance felt his face warm up. Studying Keith’s face, he realized that the other looked a lot better without the scowl he always wore in class. The slightest bit of pink dusted his cheeks and he could even see the dark purple that swirled in his eyes. Almost like a galaxy.

He immediately turned away when his brain caught up with his thoughts. What the hell, where did that even come from? 

Lance avoided looking over at Keith after that. He just chalked it up to being tired after working 8 hours straight. And apparently unable to think straight.

Once they finally made it to Lance’s apartment (he swore the walk wasn’t usually that long), he opened the door, revealing the two people Keith had recognized from Lance’s instagram. 

“Hey,” the shorter one said with a wave. “I’m Pidge. Nice to meet you.” They were sitting at the counter with their laptop open while the other person stood in the kitchen, wearing an apron that read “Kiss the Chef”. 

“I’m Hunk.”

“Nice to meet you both. I’m Keith,” he said as he shut the door. Lance kicked off his sneakers and made his way towards the couch. Keith knelt down to take his boots off and followed Lance.

“We can just work here, my room is kind of a wreck right now,” Lance said with a laugh. Keith wasn’t exactly sure what to say, so he just nodded and he took out his laptop again.

After another hour of working, Lance let out a loud groan. 

“Ugh, why is this taking so long,” he complained, letting his head fall onto the table.

“Well, our professor did give us two weeks to do this. I’m not surprised.” Lance glared at Keith as he stood up.

“I’m gonna head to the restroom real quick, I’ll be back.” 

Keith watched as he walked away.

“So Keith,” Pidge started. He turned towards the two in the kitchen. “What major are you?”

“I’m an environmental science major. What about you two?”

“I’m computer engineering and Hunk here is a food science major. Which means we get to be his guinea pigs for every dish he makes,” Pidge said with a laugh.

“Environmental science, huh? Are you planning on being a park ranger or something?”

Keith scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, sort of. I mean, I mostly wanted to do search and rescue, but there’s not much of a career in that. Besides the military, and I didn’t really want to do that,” he said, a little lower than before.

“Oh wow, that’s really cool,” Hunk said over the sounds of his cooking. “Like, that’s such an awesome thing to do.”

“Um, thanks,” Keith said. “You said you were a food science major right? Are you wanting to become a chef?” 

Hunk grinned and said “Yeah. It’s been my dream since basically forever.”

“His cooking is so good too,” Pidge interjected. “Like five star restaurant type cooking.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s that good-”

“Uh, it absolutely is that good!” Lance exclaimed as he entered the room. “Don’t try to sell yourself short at all.”

Keith chuckled as the three argued (or well, it was more of Pidge and Lance yelling at Hunk). Once the three died down, Keith asked, “Do you bake as well, Hunk?”

“Oh absolutely! He makes the best cookies and eclairs. And one time he tried to help us all bake a cake for Lance’s birthday, but it didn’t end up super well,” Pidge said.

Hunk shrugged as he turned off the stove. “I mean, I do it a lot when I’m stressed or bored. Plus, this one here especially has a sweet tooth,” he said, nudging Lance who was digging through the fridge.

“Well, if you’re ever looking to bake for a bit of money, I know the fencing team usually does a huge bake sale before competitions. My friend usually helps run the stand,” Keith said. 

“That… I might actually look into that,” Hunk said. “I always make too much and just end up giving them away to our neighbors.”

“I didn’t even know we had a fencing team,” Lance added. Pidge nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, we don’t do a lot of advertising for it. But Hunk, if you’re interested in the bake sale, just let me know. Our next competition’s this weekend, which is sort of close, but we have a few more later this month.”

Hunk enthusiastically nodded. “That sounds good!”

Lance scowled as Pidge gave him a funny look. How come they’re getting along so quickly, what the hell? Well then again, who could ever be mean to Hunk. But still! Wait, did he say we?

“Well, we should probably finish up our project,” Keith said after exchanging information with Hunk. “We should only have a bit left.”

“Oh yeah, right.” Lance walked back and took a seat on the floor. Keith couldn’t tell if he was dejected or just tired, but he didn’t want to ask.

After thirty more minutes of working, the two finally finished their project. Lance sighed in relief.

“I was starting to think we would never be done with that,” he said, stretching his arms and standing up. Pidge had retreated to their room and Hunk was scrolling on his phone as he waited for something to bake.

“Yeah, it took longer than expected. Thanks for letting me come over,” Keith said as he got up and headed to the front door.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just glad we’re done with that.” He lazily waved bye to Keith, who said his goodbyes to Hunk and disappeared.

“What was up with you?” Hunk asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“You were scowling like, half the time me and Pidge were talking to Keith. And then barely said bye when he left.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lance insisted. “But I am going to go to my room and sleep for the next 10 hours.”

“Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes.”

“The next 10 minutes then.”

~ ~ ~

hunk: hey keith! this is hunk, lance’s roommate. i was wondering if you had any more information about the bake sale you were mentioning?

keith: yeah, let me go ahead and ask my friend to make sure it’s alright first and then i’ll give you her number

hunk: that sounds great, thanks!

keith: yeah of course

keith: i’ve got five things to tell you

allura: What’s up?

keith: 1. i found someone who is interested in participating in the bake sale this weekend

keith: 2. i finished that stupid project

keith: 3. i went over to lance’s apartment

keith: 4. i think i befriended his roommates?

keith: 5. i’m now 99% sure lance doesn’t like me

allura: And all of this happened in three hours?

keith: yeah

allura: Well, let’s start with the most pressing matter

allura: Who is the one interested in the bake sale?

allura: I just had someone drop out and have been desperately looking for someone else

keith: his name’s hunk, he’s one of lance’s roommate. he was wanting more information, so i gave him your number

allura: Excellent!

allura: Now, onto the second matter

allura: Why do you think Lance dislikes you?

keith: i don’t know, like i was talking with his roommates and it looked like he wanted to shoot my head off the entire time

allura: Ah, I see

allura: You could perhaps talk to him about it? I’m sure it’s all just some sort of misunderstanding

keith: yeah i guess

allura: If you don’t mind me asking, why do you care so much about his opinion about you?

keith: huh?

keith: what do you mean by that

allura: I mean, there’s plenty of people you know that don’t like you, and you seem unfazed by it

allura: Yet it seems like you’re caught up on Lance specifically not liking you

allura: Is there any particular reason why?

keith: are you implying something??

allura: I’m not quite sure what you mean :)

allura: All I’m saying is that you seem to talk about him quite a bit compared to your other group project members

Keith’s face was bright red as he stared at his phone. He laid under the covers, trying to ignore the movie playing from the living room. There was no way Allura was implying that he felt some sort of way towards Lance. Sure, he was attractive, but that didn’t mean anything. Plus, he was acting like such a dick whenever they worked together.

keith: hell no

He tossed his phone to the side and stared at the ceiling. Oh well, it’ll be over soon anyways.

~ ~ ~

Lance sat at his desk as he thought about Hunk’s words. He didn’t think he was acting that rude towards Keith. In fact, it was more like he was returning the energy that Keith gave him.

Except, since they had been working on the project, he hadn’t really been acting rude towards him. And he got along with Hunk and Pidge. 

Maybe I am the bad guy here, Lance thought as he stared at his phone, open to the chat he had with Keith. Before he could let his thoughts talk him out of it, he sent a text.

lance: hey i know it’s like i’m just really sorry if i’ve been acting rude the past week

lance: it’s just been a long week i don’t mean to have an attitude 

Lance immediately throws his phone across the room. Why did he do that? He silently prayed for the internet to shut off so the texts wouldn’t go through and he could just go through the rest of his life withou-

He heard a buzz from his phone and scrambled to grab it. 

keith: don’t worry about it

keith: i get it some weeks are just rough lmao

lance: oh thank god

lance: i didn’t even realize it hunk had to point it out

keith: my friend does the same thing

keith: she says i have trouble making friends because of my “permanent rbf”

lance: i meannnnn

lance: she’s got a point

keith: i do NOT have an rbf

lance: have you ever seen yourself in our lecture

keith: that class is a different story

keith: and that’s not an rbf it’s more of an “i’m going to shoot myself” face

lance: at least you don’t have an ochem lab right before it

lance: with a ta that genuinely has it out for you

keith: dude what?

lance: MAN IDK i’m always the last one out i swear he’s got something against me

keith: or maybe it’s just you

lance: IT’S NOT

Keith laughed as he and Lance continued to chat. It was almost… freeing, in a way.

keith: jk he doesn’t hate me

allura: Did you finally talk to him like a normal person?

keith: maybe

~ ~ ~

“Remind me why I’m here again?” Lance muttered as he and Hunk walked into the rec center. 

“Because you’re my emotional support. And Pidge couldn’t make it because of their robotics club meeting, so you were the only option.” Lance hadn’t been to the rec center much, but it was huge. Since they didn’t know exactly where to go, they just followed the crowd of people and prayed that they ended up in the right spot. 

“Wait, I think that’s Allura,” Lance said, pointing to a small booth up ahead. Sure enough, Allura sat alone under the tent, checking her phone every two seconds. 

“Hi, Allura, right?” Hunk said once the two reached the tent. 

Allura jumped up.  “Yes! Hunk and…”

“Lance.” Hunk set down the box of treats to shake Allura’s hand.

“Ah yes, you’re Keith’s project partner. Anyways, thank you so much for showing up. I was worried no one was going to come,” she admitted. “I have been trying to do this for multiple competitions but I suppose fencing isn’t a huge sport.”

“Honestly, before Keith mentioned it we didn’t know we had a team,” Hunk said. Allura gave a small smile. 

“Yes, I’m sure their media department needs to work harder. Speaking of Keith, he is on the fifth strip I believe. If you would like to watch him, Lance.” Lance raised his eyebrow. What was a strip? What did she mean by “watch him”?

“Watch him? Like-“

“He is competing.” 

“Oh wow!” Hunk exclaimed. “He actually never explicitly mentioned he was competing.” Allura giggled, hiding her smile behind her hand. 

“He always gets embarrassed about it for some reason. But yes, he should be over there. I believe his brother is over there too, Shiro. Hunk, you’ll unfortunately have to stay until we sell out.” Allura looked over to Lance. “Of course you’re welcome to stay as well, I have nothing against that.” 

“Honestly I’ve never watched a fencing competition and I’m kind of curious,” Lance said as he scratched the back of his head. “I just- could you point me in the right direction?”

Allura pointed to the far end of the hallway, where he could vaguely make out some numbers. Lance waved while he walked that way. 

Once he got to what he assumed was the “fifth strip”, whatever the hell that meant, he sat down in the second row of the stands. 

He watched as the competitors warmed up and eventually found Keith, standing to the side with his uniform on and his hair is tied back and holy shit he looks really hot-

A whistle blew and Keith and another competitor walked to the middle and talked to who Lance assumed was a score keeper or something. Lance wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe he should’ve read something about fencing competitions before showing up. 

~ ~ ~ 

Breathe.

Tournaments weren’t always stressful for Keith, but today felt different. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but it felt like the hair on his neck was standing up. He looked to the stands as he stretched, seeing Shiro sitting in the front row as always. Keith had always told him that he didn’t have to show up for every tournament, but he did. He always did. 

Keith gave a small wave and Shiro returned a grin. 

Looking slightly behind Shiro, Keith caught a glimpse of someone he recognized. 

Lance.

What was he doing here? He knew that Hunk would be here for the bake sale, but he didn’t also expect to see Lance, and definitely wouldn’t have expected him to be watching the tournament. 

He turned away and shook his head. He couldn’t let himself get distracted, especially not when he was about to compete. 

The whistle blew so Keith and his opponent went to talk to the score keeper and listened to the same script he had heard hundreds of times before. When it was time to begin, he took one last glance at Lance before shoving his mask onto his face.

About two hours into the tournament, Lance felt someone sit down next to him. 

“How’s Keith doing?” Hunk asked. Him and Allura now sat to his right while Lance tried to figure out what was going on.

“Honestly, I have no clue,” he said with a frown. “I should have looked at the rules.” 

Allura tapped on the man’s shoulder in front of the three, earning a confused look from Lance and Hunk. When he turned around and saw Allura, he smiled.

“Ah, Allura, you made it after all,” the man said. He looked older than the three, probably close to 25, with short black hair and an intimidating face.

“Yes, I was running the bake sale so I was only now able to watch. These are some of Keith’s friends, Lance and Hunk,” she said, gesturing to the two. They gave an awkward wave as the man raised his eyebrow, particularly looking at Lance.

“I see. Nice to meet you two, I’m Shiro, Keith’s older brother.” He held out his hand and shook both of theirs. 

“How has Keith been doing?” Allura asked as the two of them turned their attention back to the gym floor.

The two continued to talk about the competition as Lance whispered to Hunk.

“I feel like we’ve seen him somewhere before, I just can’t put my finger on it.” Hunk shrugged.

“I don’t know, man. Maybe it’s just because you’ve been sitting behind him for the past two hours.” Lance looked like he was contemplating the other’s words before saying, “That is true.”

Another 30 minutes passed and the gym was basically silent. 

“Which round is this?” Lance whispered to Allura. She had to practically pry her eyes from the gym floor.

“The semi-finals. If Keith wins this, he’ll be competing in the finals. Else, he will compete for third,” she said. Lance nodded and turned his attention back to where Keith stood, re-tying his hair and putting his mask back on.

Keith glanced towards the stands. Allura gave him a thumbs up, while Shiro softly smiled. He smiled under his mask and made his way towards the center of the strip.

“Semi-finals round 1. Kogane, Keith versus Luttrell, Acxa.”

He stares at his opponent, the blank mask staring back at him. Keith gives a quick glance towards the audience, only snapping his attention back once he realized that the match had started. It was too late, however, as his opponent had taken advantage of his distracted state and lunged forward.

Well shit.

Keith ended up finishing in third. After the announcements, Keith went to find Shiro and his friends, stuffing all of his gear into his bag. He walked out of the gym and spotted Shiro first.

“Congrats,” he said, patting him on the shoulder. 

“Thanks.” 

“That was so cool!” Hunk exclaimed. “I didn’t realize you were on the team.” Keith looks at the group. There’s Hunk, Allura, and Shiro…

“Lance said he had to get to work,” Allura said, almost as if she could read Keith’s mind. “But he gives you his congratulations as well.”

“Thank you all for coming,” Keith said. He tried to not sound disappointed but from Allura’s look, he knew he didn’t do a good job of hiding it.

“Of course! It was really fun to watch.”

The four of them said their goodbyes, and Keith gave one last wave as he and Shiro walked to the parking lot.

“I’m glad you made some more friends,” Shiro said.

“You make it seem like I don’t talk to anyone,” he muttered. 

“Well, you do only really talk to Allura,” he said with a small laugh. Keith just rolled his eyes.

~ ~ ~

lance: sorry i had to leave kind of quick, i had work

keith: it’s no problem. i didn’t realize you were going to watch

lance: oh um yeah i went to tag along with hunk at first, but then allura told us you were actually competing

lance: which you should’ve told us dude that was cool to watch

keith: i thought i had implied it but i guess not

lance: yeah me and hunk had no idea

lance: how long have you fenced for??

keith: i think i started in like high school or something?

keith: i don’t really remember, i sort of did a lot of sports growing up so they all blur together

lance: wow, i didn’t think you were the sporty type

lance: what did you play? like baseball or something?

keith: no, not sports like those. more like martial arts and stuff

lance: ohhhhh that actually makes a lot more sense

lance: yeah i can totally see that then

keith: did you play any sports?

lance: i mean

lance: i did soccer when i was way younger but that’s really it

lance: and that was only because my older sister joined

lance: they just weren’t much my style i guess

keith: yeah that makes sense

keith: actually my brother’s the one who got me into martial arts

lance: oh, shiro right? me and hunk met him today

keith: yeah

keith: he’s been to like all of my tournaments even though he really doesn’t have to go

lance: that’s kind of sweet though isn’t it

keith: i mean i guess

keith: sometimes he’s annoying about it though

keith: ugh one time he was like screaming from the stands during a wrestling match, i thought security was going to haul him away

lance: really???

lance: dude i would’ve died laughing

keith: it would’ve been funnier if it wasn’t me he was yelling at

lance: wait you mentioned you wrestle??

lance: are you on the wrestling team too?

keith: hell no

keith: shiro’s the coach and i already see him enough as is

keith: plus it was just way too much for me to keep up with

lance: yeah idk how you keep up with all of that stuff

lance: i tried to join clubs this year but i literally have no time

keith: well i mean, don’t you also have a job?

keith: that’s a lot of time too

lance: yeah but like

lance: i’m only working like 10 hours a week

lance: so it’s really not that much

keith: where do you work at?

lance: why are you asking?

lance: planning to stalk me at work or something?

keith: yeah i’ll come and harass you the entire time

lance: i’ll just kick you out

keith: that’s no way to treat your customers

lance: it is in my book

lance: customers are not allowed to harass me or have ugly mullets

keith: my hair isn’t ugly wtf

lance: agree to disagree

keith: absolutely not the fuck

keith: you’re just jealous

lance: yeah yeah whatever helps you sleep at night

~ ~ ~

Pidge and Hunk stared at each other while Lance, for probably the third night in a row, spent dinner basically glued to his phone.

“Alright Lance, this has gone on long enough, who the hell are you always texting?” Pidge asked. Lance looked up, eyes wide as if he were a deer in headlights. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. His phone was still in his hand, lightly buzzing every second.

“C’mon Lance, you’ve been glued to your phone for the past three nights now. I’m starting to think you’re trying to find a new roommate,” Hunk said with a huff. 

Before Lance could say anything, Pidge lunged across the table and snatched Lance’s phone.

“Hey- What the hell Pidge??? Give it back!” Pidge leaned back in their chair as they scrolled (but didn’t actually read) through the messages.

“Awwwww, looks like someone’s been buddy-buddy with Keith~” Pidge said with a smirk. Lance’s face turned bright red, still trying to frantically grab his phone.

“Shut up Pidge!” he hissed. Pidge laughed, eventually handing Lance his phone while shedding a fake tear. 

“You’re so easy to make fun of, it’s almost like a repeat of last year-” The statement makes Pidge freeze. “Oh my god.”

“Pidge, whatever you’re thinking, it’s wrong!” 

“Wait, what’s going on?” Hunk asked as he watched the two stare at each other. “Are you guys communicating telepathically?”

“Lance.”

“No!”

“Lance!”

“Ugh okay fine! So maybe I think Keith is cooler than I originally thought and he’s kind of cute and I don’t actually hate him!” Lance yelled, throwing his hands up in defeat. He slumped back into his chair with his arms folded in front of his chest.

“You… like Keith?” Hunk asked, pointing in the air as if to connect to invisible dots.

“I don’t know, I’ve only known him for like a week? Two weeks? Ugh, I don’t even know anymore!”

“Didn’t you like Allura the moment you saw her?” 

“Okay but that was different! This is like, I don’t know!” He buried his face in his hands. Hunk stood up and patted him on his back. 

“Hey, it’s not like you need to have it 100% figured out right now. Besides, it’s not like there’s a minimum time you need to know someone in order to like them.”

“I guess,” he muttered.

“Well, whenever you’re done panicking or whatever, you should invite him over,” Pidge said. “He was fun.”

“Are you trying to kill me?” Lance shouted with a bright red face.

“What? He’s been here before. And this time you can be nicer.” Lance pouted as Hunk collected the dishes. 

“They’re not wrong, Lance, last time was… pretty bad.”

“Please don’t remind me,” he said with a groan.

Lance laid in bed, ignoring his marine biology homework that was due in less than 24 hours. He tried to think about how he felt about Allura the year before, and then compared it to what he felt with Keith. 

It didn’t really feel the same. With Allura, he was just always watching her in awe, almost like everything she did was amazing. But he was terrified to ever talk to her, almost like she was something unattainable.

But Keith was here. The same level as him. Where they could joke around and make sarcastic marks to each other. Besides, just a week or so ago, he hated his guts!

Lance looked as he stared at Keith’s private instagram profile, something he had found himself doing more often the past few nights. 

I mean, we’re friends, right? I don’t think it’d be weird if I followed him. Or would it be? Wait, what if we’re not even friends and once the project is over he never talks to me again?

Lance shook his head. No, he wouldn’t do that. After texting almost non-stop the past few days, it seemed like Keith was actually starting to like him. Maybe?

Before he can think about the situation any more, he gets an instagram notification.

New follower: keith kogane

Lance stared at his phone, took a deep breath, and immediately closed instagram. Nope. I’m going crazy. That’s the only explanation because there’s no way that just actually happened.

He lasted about five minutes before going back to instagram to click the “follow back” button.

His request was granted almost immediately. Now, Lance was no longer being taunted by the lock icon. There were a total of two posts. Man, talk about a private life.

The most recent post was from over a year ago. Keith’s hair was a bit shorter than now, but it still had its mullet shape. In the first photo, he stood in the middle of the frame, holding his diploma. He wore his graduation gown, with a few cords laying around his neck. His smile was awkward, but cute. 

In the next photo, he had three people around him. Shiro stood to his left, while a woman almost identical to Keith stood to his right, and a man with black hair and cowboy boots stood next to Shiro. Must be his parents.

He swiped to the third photo and his jaw almost dropped. Standing next to Keith in an identical graduation gown was Allura. 

She looked exactly the same, with her long hair pulled back into a bun. She had one arm holding a large bouquet of flowers and the other snaked behind Keith, making bunny ears behind his head. 

He hadn’t realized the two of them had been friends for that long. In fact, he sort of assumed they had just become friends, considering he had never seen Allura interact with Keith before the past week. 

The last photo in the post was the front of a building at night, presumably his high school, and Keith sticking his middle finger up at it. Lance gave a small chuckle at that. 

He scrolled to the second post. The first photo was a red motorcycle inside of a garage. Lance raised his eyebrow. Did Keith ride a motorcycle? As he swiped, he came to the realization that not only does he ride it, but he actually built it. The photos showed the progress of the motorcycle, all the parts slowly being added and modified.

The last photo, however, took Lance completely off guard. Keith leaned on the motorcycle, helmet under his left arm. He wore a black tank top and a red and white jacket tied around his waist. There were a few dark smudges on his face but holy shit. Keith was smirking in the photo, a sight that almost made him look… smug. Like he knew he looked that fucking hot.

Lance’s face burned brighter as he stared at the photo. Then, he squinted at it, zooming in and scrolling back to the last post, doing the same thing.

He let out a laugh, one loud enough to bounce against the walls of his room. He heard a small banging from the other room and he shouted a quick “Sorry!” before returning to his phone.

In every single photo, Keith still wore those stupid fingerless gloves.

~ ~ ~

“Holy shit, that presentation actually went well,” Lance said as the two walked out of their class. Students around them were basically running out, all worried that their professor would try to squeeze in another presentation if they didn’t get out soon enough. 

“Yeah, thank god. I think it helped that the pair before us were horrible,” Keith said with a laugh.

Their partner project was finally over, and Keith realized the two really had no need to talk anymore. Would Lance just stop talking to him?

“Hello? Keith? Did you hear me?” Keith snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Lance.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I asked if you had any plans next weekend for Halloween.” Keith paused. He almost forgot this weekend was Halloween, he had been so preoccupied with all his school work.

“Not really. I’ll probably just stay at home and watch crappy movies.”

“Why don’t you join me and my roommates? Me and Hunk always dress up and watch scary movies, even though he hates it,” Lance said with a laugh. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind. You could also bring Allura if you want as well.”

“Sure, that sounds great,” Keith said with a smile.

Guess my question was answered.

~ ~ ~

A sharp knock came from the front door. 

“I got it!” Lance yelled, walking towards the door. 

Standing in front of him stood Keith, dressed in a black suit and a white puffy shirt, half of a white mask sitting on his face. 

“The Phantom, nice choice,” Lance said, allowing Keith to step inside. He took off his shoes and followed Lance to the living area.

“Thanks. Also, Allura says sorry that she couldn’t make it,” he said to Lance and Hunk.

“No worries! She mentioned being pretty sick earlier this week. I just hope she’s recovering well,” Hunk said, taking out a batch of cookies.

“Yeah, she’s doing a lot better, she just figured it would be better to stay at home and not accidentally get anyone sick.” Hunk, dressed in a zombie outfit, walked towards the living room and placed a plate of cookies onto the table. 

“Alright guys, no need to brag, but I think I’ve got the best costume here,” Pidge said as they entered the room. They had a white sheet draped over them and a pair of sunglasses sitting on top of it. The three stared as they watched Pidge stumble into the room.

“Can you even see with that on?” Lance questioned. 

“Of course I can!” they insisted, but after bumping into the same counter twice, it was obvious what the answer was.

Keith turned to Lance.

“Uh, what exactly are you supposed to be Lance?” Lance brought his hand to his chest as if Keith had just insulted his entire family.

“I’m a siren! See, the scales, seashells, irresistible charm,” he said with a smirk. Keith rolled his eyes.

“More like a fish out of water.”

“Hey!” Pidge and Hunk snickered as they took their seats. Hunk sat at the edge of the couch while Pidge, who had discarded the sheet by now, took their place on the single couch. Keith sat on the opposite side of the couch and Lance plopped in the middle, holding up the remote to the TV.

“Alright, which movie are we watching first?”

The first movie they watched was more comedy than horror, with all of them but Hunk finding themselves laughing at most of the scenes. Hunk, of course, jumped at every obvious jumpscare, making Pidge laugh even harder. 

As Lance pulled up a second movie, Keith was suddenly too aware of how close he was to Lance. How when Lance moved to bring his legs up onto the couch, his knee brushed his own and it sent shivers down his spine. How when he laughed, he leaned just ever so slightly toward Keith, his laugh sounding like honey to Keith’s ears.

Keith’s face burned bright as he thought about it more. The second and third movie went by in a blur, and once the credits of the last movie was rolling, he looked to his right to see Pidge and Hunk asleep. 

Lance seemed to notice Keith’s gaze and followed to where he was looking.

“Those two always fall asleep when we watch movies,” he whispered, carefully getting up so as to not disturb Hunk. He disappeared into his room and came out with two blankets, draping over each of his roommates.

Checking the time, he whispered to Keith, “I know it’s sort of late, so you can stay here if you want. You can honestly just take my bed, I’m probably gonna crash out here.”

Keith’s face somehow turned even more red. “Yeah, sure, that sounds great.” 

Lance gestured for Keith to follow him. “Here, don’t worry, my room’s clean now,” he said with a laugh, referencing to when Keith first came over. “I… uh, assume you want to change out of that?” 

Keith looked down and remembered that he was in fact in his Halloween costume and could definitely not sleep in a suit. At least, not sober. He nodded as Lance dug through some drawers and tossed a shirt and sweatpants to him.

“Here, you can use these. My bathroom’s just right there so you can change there.”

He walked into the bathroom, closing the door and letting out a long sigh. Holy shit I’m actually staying here. And wearing Lance’s clothes AND sleeping in his bed. As he slipped into the clothes Lance had given him, he realized that they sat a little looser than his own clothes. 

Keith walked out of the bathroom, praying that the red on his face wasn’t obvious. Lance, who had also changed out of his costume and was wearing his own PJs, stood in the middle of the room.

It was dark, but Keith could’ve sworn that there was a light blush on Lance’s face.

The two of them stood in the dark room in silence, the only noise being the credits from the TV.

“Well, I’m gonna go head to bed. Or to sleep I guess,” Lance said scratching the back of his head.

“Um. Yeah. Same.” 

Lance started to walk out but Keith felt his own body move before he could stop it.

“Wait.” Lance looked back at Keith.

“What’s up?”

Keith didn’t know what was up, actually. He didn’t know what his body was doing because it was nearly 3 am and Keith clearly wasn’t thinking right and Lance was just trying to go to sleep and-

“I like you. Like, a lot. Kind of.” Keith's eyes widened in horror and he immediately brought his hands to cover his mouth, turning away. “Fuck, sorry, just… just ignore that. Please. I-”

“Do you mean it?” It took Keith everything in him to look at Lance, just to see if he was being sincere or not. But the look on his face wasn’t hate, nor was it pity. It was something else. Something like hope.

A few moments passed before Keith took a deep breath.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

Lance took a small step forward, bringing his hand to Keith’s face, his finger grazing over his jaw before he felt himself pulled into a tight hug.

“Holy shit I’m so happy,” he whispered. Keith relaxed a little, tentatively bringing his arms to wrap around Lance’s waist. 

After a few moments, Lance pulled back, his arms still loosely around Keith’s neck.

“I like you too,” he said with a dopey smile. Keith felt his breath hitch as Lance moved his hands to his face, eventually stopping at his cheek. Lance began to open his mouth to say something, but before he could, Keith closed the few inches between them and slammed his lips onto the other’s.

Lance let out a small gasp before closing his eyes and returning the kiss. He pulled Keith closer, one of his hands moving to his hair, threading his fingers in between the mullet he swore he hated. Their lips moved together as Keith tightened his grip on Lance’s waist. 

“Hi,” Lance said once they pulled apart.

“Hi.” Both their faces were flushed, the shade obvious even in the little amount of light that they had.

“As cute as this is, I really am getting tired,” Lance said with a laugh. “We’ll talk more in the morning?”

Keith nodded as the two fully stepped back from each other, sneaking in one more kiss before Lance turned and walked out the door.

~ ~ ~

“So,” Lance started as the two stepped outside. After their late night confessions and promises of talking in the morning, Lance seemed to have forgotten that he lives with two other people, so it would’ve been hard to have a conversation in that environment. Especially since Pidge was always in his business.

So Lance, the genius he is, decided that he would walk Keith home. 

“So,” Keith repeated.

“You like me.”

“Mhmm.”

“And I like you.”

“Yep.” 

The two started walking, the streets basically empty. Lance didn’t mind, though. There was more privacy for him and Keith. 

“Did you want to try dating? Maybe?” Keith smiled as he intertwined his fingers in between Lance’s. Lance felt himself blush hard, especially when he turned to see Keith already looking at him with the sweetest eyes.

“I’d like that a lot.” 

They spent the rest of the walk talking about random stuff, falling back into the same rhythm they had before, just now they were holding hands and sneaking kisses when no one was watching. Once they reached Keith’s apartment, he stood there before saying,

“Why don’t you come in? Shiro and his boyfriend shouldn’t be home,” he said as he unlocked the door.

“Sure!” 

Walking in, it was obvious that whoever had been living here, they had been living here for a while. There were photos hung on the walls, at least three different blankets draped over the couch, and a small vase with flowers sitting on the coffee table, barely alive. 

Just as the two took their shoes off, Keith heard the bedroom door open and froze.

“Good morning, Keith, La-” the man’s eyes shot open as he registered that Keith was not alone.

Keith stared in horror as Adam walked out of his bedroom, thankfully wearing  clothes. 

“I wasn’t expecting you to be home,” Keith said. He turned to look at Lance who had looked like he had seen a ghost. Confused, he looked at Adam, who had the exact same face.

“Lance??”

“Mr. W?” 

Keith whipped his head back towards Lance.

“You know Adam? What the hell?”

“Of course I know him, he’s my ochem TA!” 

“Morning Keith, morning Lance,” Shiro said, stepping out from behind Adam. “Wait. Lance?”

“I’m going to kill myself,” Keith muttered, dragging Lance past the two and into his room, slamming the door.

“I didn’t know you knew Lance,” Shiro said as he made his way to the kitchen. 

“He’s the one that’s always causing problems,” Adam groaned.

~ ~ ~

“I was not expecting your brother’s boyfriend to be Mr. W,” Lance said, still mortified from the scene before.

“I can’t believe he’s your TA… Oh my god you’re the one guy who’s always fucking up the experiement aren’t you,” Keith said, sitting on the edge of his bed.

“I swear it’s not my fault!” 

“Oh my god I’m never living this down,” he mumbled. “I remember right after we met he said he had a student try to dump all the chemicals together and almost blew up the lab.”

“Okay that one actually wasn’t me,” Lance argued. “That was some random guy in our class. Though it was pretty funny.” Keith let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank god. I think Adam would actually kick me out if I was dating someone that stupid.” He laid down on the bed, his legs dangling off the side. Lance laid next to him, letting his fingers play with Keith’s hair.

“You know, I’m really glad we got partnered up,” Lance said softly after a few moments. “Else I would probably still dislike you.” 

Keith sat up and glared at Lance, who also made his way to sit upright. “What do you mean you’d ‘still dislike me’? I didn’t even know you before this project!” 

Lance raised an eyebrow. “We literally had chemistry together freshman year! Do you seriously not remember??” The two were facing each other now, knees only an inch apart.

“No?” 

Lance opened his mouth, then closed it, and then opened it again. 

“Literally on the first day of class I sat next to you and tried to introduce myself but you didn’t say anything. And then the next class, you sat on, like, the other side of the lecture hall! Dude, I was convinced you hated me or something.” Keith just looked at him as if he were crazy. He furrowed his eyebrows. Then, after a moment, his face sank.

“Oh my god that was you.” 

“So now you remember.”

“Okay, okay, let me tell you why I did that. When you first sat down, I had my earbuds in. So I literally could not hear you because I keep my music like, really loud. I didn’t even realize you were talking to me, I assumed you were talking to someone else. Anyways, I saw this one guy from high school that I really hated and he kept glaring at me the entire lecture, so I ran out and the next class he was sitting there again and that’s why I sat so far away.” 

Lance stared at him. 

“So what you’re saying is… I had imaginary beef with you for an entire year!?” Keith laughed once Lance fully realized. “What the fuck! I thought you were just rude! Oh my god I’m so stupid, I should’ve known that.” Lance buried his face in his hands.

“Oh come on, look at where it got us,” Keith said with a smile, moving Lance’s hands away from his face. Keith placed a small kiss on Lance’s forehead, then another on his lips. Lance melted into the touch.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’d do it all again if it meant we’d still end up here.”