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Lance considered himself as a ladies’ man. He liked cute girls, he liked flirting with them, he had dated some of them before: he liked girls.
There was no other possibility.
Yet, when he had entered the Garrison, there was this stupid mullet-boy in his class that he just couldn’t get out of his head.
Keith Kogane was his name.
Lance immediately hated Keith, because Keith was popular with girls without trying and without noticing, top of his class in every way, the best pilot destined to have a great carrier while Lance would only ever drive cargo ships, socially awkward to the point no one talked to him but he was fine with that, liked by the teachers even though he was a troublemaker.
So Lance decided that Keith was his ultimate rival. The day he would beat Keith, that day he would become the best. Being better than Keith was his goal.
He talked a few times to the guy, but not much, b ecause Keith wasn’t talkative, and because Lance didn’t like the idea of talking to him.
He hated him. He was his rival. They shouldn’t be talking together.
Yet, buried beneath thousand layers of “rivalry” and “hatred”, there was this little, tiny feeling making his heart beat faster each time Keith would draw a rare smile. This small, faint sensation making him fluster when their eyes would cross. This tenuous, quiet need to look at him, to think of him, to get closer to him, that would always, always linger in his mind.
Lance loved girls, he was sure of it. Yet, he had developed a crush on Keith. When, where, why? He didn’t know. Truth was, he hadn’t really realized it. He didn’t want to. It was like walking on a road, taking a wrong turn and knowing - feeling - it but as there is no other proof than your intuition, constantly thinking “I took the right turn” to persuade yourself that you did because hey, it’s impossible that you got that one wrong, is it?
Well, he only got a grasp of what was happening to him the day when, after a difficult exam, Keith got booted away from the Garrison.
It should have made Lance feel better, but it didn’t. Because the day just before the exam, he had told Keith that he was going to beat him, to score higher than him, and he was sure of it: he had done well during the exam. The next day, he couldn’t wait to compare his grade with Keith’s, to see if he had finally beaten his rival.
To see if he could finally be acknowledged.
To see if he could finally give into his crush.
But the next day, Keith wasn’t here anymore.
And Lance, without really understanding why at that time, had felt very, very disappointed, as if something inside of him was slowly cracking down to pieces.
He had then learnt that with Keith’s depart, he had gotten a place into the pilot program. He wouldn’t have to drive a cargo ship, he could realize his dream, wasn't that great?
It should have been. But it wasn’t.
Because Lance hadn’t gotten there thanks to his own abilities, but only because Keith wasn’t there anymore. It sounded like an accident. It tasted like a bitter defeat. Like a failure.
During the following year, Lance couldn’t stop thinking about Keith, comparing himself with his eternal rival, feeling pressured and disappointed.
Disappointed in Keith.
Disappointed in himself.
And that tiny little crush had been broken down, trashed away, and Lance had stomped and stomped on what was left of it, because no one, not even himself, should ever know that he had been in love with his rival.
He tried to forgot about him, but found himself unable to. So he let time flew by, hoping that one day Keith would get out of his mind, since they were never to see each other again.
But fate decided otherwise.
That day when the alien ship containing Shiro crashed on earth, Keith and Lance met again, Lance discovering that his rival was still as vivid as ever in his mind, and Keith discovering with great surprise that there was one person that hadn’t forgotten about him during that year.
However, their reunion wasn’t pleasant. Keith was the same as always, even grumpier and lonelier, and Lance, instead of seeing his tiny crush flooding back, became overwhelmed by all the feelings of inadequacy and minor jealousy he was holding for Keith.
They discovered the blue Lion, Voltron, Zarkon, Galra, Allura, Coran, but even though these events should have made Lance forget about his anger, all the bitter feelings that had been filling him during a year took over.
Sour.
That was the word to describe their relationship at the beginning.
They were always arguing, always bickering, always disagreeing. Their relationship was sour.
But it began to change.
The first change was after the food battle. Lance realized that despite the fact that he still disliked Keith, he didn’t hate him as much as before. Keith could be a funny guy too, sometimes. He wasn’t haughty or pretentious, just extremely socially awkward. Sure, he was still Lance’s rival and he still wasn’t a friend.
But hey. It was already an improvement.
He really discovered that Keith just didn’t really know how to act with people when they visited the Arusian village. Keith didn’t really like physical contact and he was always tense, too serious, fearing an attack, but he gradually relaxed and accepted to have fun with his teammates and the villagers. It had been funny to watch, for Lance.
Then they had fought the Robeast, Keith had proved once more that he was so perfect he could save the day, and Lance felt jealous again.
But this jealousy was tainted with admiration. He wanted Keith to acknowledge him, to acknowledge that they could work well together, to say something that would mean they didn’t have to be rivals anymore.
So he was still a bit bitter and jealous, but those feelings were gradually fading away. The guy wasn’t that bad after all. He could be nice. He was just weird. Lance was beginning to understand him better, and they were able to fight together, which wasn’t such a horrible thing.
Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, Coran and Allura were better buddies than Keith, but Lance wasn’t hating him anymore.
The real change was when Lance got wounded by the explosion. Well, it wasn’t at this moment, but when he was in coma, he was dreaming about Keith. He was seeing Keith, his eyes, his rare smiles, his attempts to be more sociable, Keith, Keith, Keith.
And then a thought had occurred him: Keith wa s in danger.
The thought got more precise: not only Keith was in danger, but all his friends, so Lance managed to get his fuzzy head more or less straight and wake up to shoot Sendak. He was so, so tired, and the pain pulsing in his body was making his head spin, but he knew he had to stay awake. He had to save them all.
Then he remembered Keith, Keith kneeling next to him, Keith taking his head, Keith worrying about him, Keith’s arms around him, his own words “we are a good team” and Keith agreeing with him with a smile.
“We are a good team.”
“Yes.”
That’s all he needed.
When he had woken up, he had regretted a bit being so close to Keith at that moment, because he was a bit ashamed, but he had realized that he had become increasingly fond of Keith. He didn’t dislike him anymore. Keith was still his rival, but as they had said before, they were a good team.
The tiny, little feeling was back again, getting stronger and stronger. But their life in space wasn’t like their life in the Garrison, and Lance had very little time to think about his own feelings, too busy saving the world, flirting with cute aliens, trying not to miss his home too much.
So that tiny feeling, Lance misinterpreted it. He thought “Oh, I no longer hate this guy and now we’re friends. Cool.” and completely didn’t notice the huge change in their relationship.
Such a difference in their dynamic couldn’t be ignored. Everyone saw it. Everyone, except Lance, who, too busy living in the now, mentally classified his relation with Keith as “A Really Tight Broship”.
Even though he was way closer to Keith. Even though they were chatting nicely with each other more often. Even though Keith accepted physical contact coming from him. Even though he was flirting with Keith at times.
Even though he always thought of Keith, always, and was feeling his heart beat faster when he was around.
Despite everything that screamed “You love him” Lance was still convinced that it was just a very intense broship.
Oh, Lance.
Keith beat him again at something: he was the first to notice the change in his own feelings. Keith knew first.
He had always been a loner, he had always spent his time living in his mind. And damn, he had lived one year alone in the desert, with his thoughts, with his questions, his reflexions as sole company. Keith was surely socially awkward and he had never realized the real motive behind Lance’s actions back at the Garrison, but he had immediately noticed the change within himself, the second his internal clock had changed. Sure he didn’t act on it. But he had noticed. He knew, after a day spent looking at Lance’s unconscious body in the healing pod, that there was something different.
But Keith wasn’t used to that, and surely wasn’t used to interacting with people, that’s why he brushed it off like Lance, thinking “huh, I guess this is friendship” and didn’t think too hard about it.
Time flew by, things happened, and Keith realized the subtle differences between his relationships with the others and his relationship with Lance.
He loved his friends dearly, but Lance was… something else. He was Lance. And Keith couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but between his friendship with the rest of the team and his so-called friendship with the Blue Paladin, there was a huge difference. It was a completely other kind of relation. He didn’t know what it was, but his instincts were screaming about something .
And this bothered him. This bothered him a lot. The more he was spending time with Lance, the more this something was getting stronger.
He realized he didn’t like Lance flirting with aliens because they looked all like girls, and he was afraid Lance couldn’t be interested in something else than females, and he also didn’t like the thought of Lance being with someone.
And by that he meant: someone who wasn’t Keith.
It was horrible, this feeling of jealousy , of fear of losing Lance. He was preoccupied by his feelings a lot, and as usual when he was occupied by something, he tended to withdraw from the others and get back to his shell.
He was eating quickly, to be the first to get back to his room. He was always training alone and refused every proposition to do something with the others. He had difficulties focusing to form Voltron. The bonding trainings were harder because he was acting on his own. He wasn’t talking much, dismissing any worry, and was avoiding his teammates as much as he could.
This was getting problematic, and Lance had decided that this would not do for him. He was going to make things right, since it was probably his fault, as Keith was avoiding him the most.
He began to work hard for Keith to get involved again, barging into his training with the whole team to fight the Gladiator together, asking him to give him piloting advices, making Hunk prepare him his favorite dishes, letting Pidge improve his Lion, leading him to clean the castle with Coran, leaving him and Shiro alone to talk, suggesting new bonding exercises to Allura for them to all be together again, etc.
It was tiring for Lance, but it was worth it.
However, it was not enough, and Lance had enough of feeling so lonely and so bitter when one of his plan was failing, when he was rejected by Keith. He was the only one Keith was still wary of, and it was painful. Strangely painful.
So Lance had a plan to make it stop, the stupidest plan ever, but it had to work else he was going crazy.
He knew Keith was usually taking a walk late at night, to watch the stars by one of the huge bay windows, and that night it didn’t take him long to find the Red Paladin, standing by a window, gazing at the sky.
“Hey mullet-boy!” he exclaimed. Keith jolted, turning toward him as if he had been spotted by an enemy. He didn’t relax when he saw it was Lance. He didn’t even answer, turning back to look at the stars again. Lance winced but stepped next to him nonetheless. “Say, Keith, what do you do if you see an aggressive alien?”
Keith blinked, surprised, then frowned. “I don’t know,” he said, “I guess it depends on the situation.” He carefully waited for Lance to talk, since the brunette looked like he wasn’t expecting a long answer.
“You give him some space,” Lance said with a goofy grin.
It took Keith a minute to answer, and his face went from surprised to a “wtf, Lance, are you serious about this” kind of expression.
Well, here was Lance’s plan. He was about to let loose the cheesiest, most groan-inducing set of bad puns ever heard by Altean and human ears. He loved puns, but he was apparently the only one of the team to appreciate them. They were described by the others as “awful”, so awful that once someone puzzled through them, he was always guaranteed to take a pillow in the face. Which was a shame: his puns were always excellent. It was just that no one knew how to appreciate them.
Puns were like refined wine, you had to be a specialist to enjoy them - well, that was what Lance was thinking.
Fortunately for him, right now, there were no pillows around, though Keith’s eyes searched frantically for one.
“You really planned that one out,” Keith rolled his eyes.
Lance winked. “Yeah, when I want something, I planet carefully.”
There was another moment of understanding, and a new eyes rolling. “That one was awful.”
“It wasn’t awe-full,” Lance protested, “not completely. So I’d say it was awe-some.”
Keith groaned, already annoyed. No pillow, really? No pillow. “You’re really an idiot, man, you’re crazy,” he grunted.
“Yeah, I’m an astro-nut,” the Blue Paladin answered playfully, earning another desperate noise from his friend. “Lately, I was reading a book about anti-gravity, and it was impossible to put down!”
“Lance, you’re the one who’s impossible!” the black-haired boy exclaimed.
“You don’t understand the gravity of this situation!” Lance shot back, serious. “You need to lighten up, Keith!”
“It’s because I have heavy thoughts floating around!” Keith growled, pissed off. Lance looked at him and blinked. The Red Paladin froze when he realized what he had just said and put a hand on his mouth. “Oh, no,” he whined.
“Oh, yes,” Lance replied with a huge grin on his face.
“I didn’t say anything! You didn’t hear anything!” Keith yelped.
“Okay, okay,” the brunette agreed, shrugging, “but at least take that hand off of your mouth so I can hear you better.” Keith hesitantly obeyed, his eyes narrowed, not really knowing what to expect. “It will be a constellation prize,” Lance explained.
It was too much for his friend, who cracked a smile. The Blue Paladin felt proud, having managed to coax a smile out of Keith.
Well, he hadn’t smile because it was funny, but more because he knew Lance was acting like a fool for his sake. He also smiled, because he had just seen all their friends, taking a sneak peek of them, thinking they were well hidden behind that door, checking on him because they were worried.
He chuckled. He really had the best team ever.
Lance’s face lightened up, and he answered with a grin, and even though Keith know their friends were watching, this moment felt like something private for just the two of them, and Keith thought-
Oh.
OH.
Oh .
Then the words came out, unexpected, out of blue, escaping Keith’s lips : “I love you.”
As soon as he said it, he felt his face burning, his doubts and questions coming back, and Lance looked so shocked, so stunned, that he immediately regretted it and ran away.
“Wait!” Lance shouted.
He ran after his friend, because he didn’t want to lose him. Because when he heard Keith saying “I love you” it triggered it all in his mind and he finally, finally understood that his feelings weren’t just a brotherly friendship, but love .
He had a crush on Keith, since they met at the Garrison. He had a crush on Keith but Keith had misunderstood his silence, and he was about to lose him.
They were both running in the corridors, now, with Lance calling Keith and Keith trying to escape him. But unfortunately for the Red Paladin, he hesitated a bit too much between to corridors, allowing Lance to catch up.
“Wait!” the brunette yelled, jumping on him.
The two boys crashed on the floor. They stayed in this position for a moment, catching their breath, looking at each other, unable to talk. Lance’s hands were restraining Keith’s wrists, his knees around the Red Paladin’s hips.
“Wait,” he whispered. Keith opened his mouth to talk but Lance was faster. “I love you”, he blurted out.
The black-haired boy blinked, surprise clear on his face, then he flushed, his cheeks bright red, and he looked away shyly. “Y-you don’t,” he hesitantly said.
“I do!” Lance exclaimed, sounding desperate. “I had a crush on you, back at the Garrison, but it was like, buried deep down beneath our so-called “rivalry”, and then when you disappeared I got bitter, and I came to hate you, but now that we’re a team I realized I didn’t hate you anymore, you’re just too cute, I fell in love but I didn’t realize it until you told me you loved me, and-”
“Kiss me.”
That cut Lance off, making him blush deeply. “Wh-what?” he spluttered.
Keith was as red as he was, equally embarrassed. “Kiss me,” he still repeated.
Lance stopped thinking - Keith was just too cute. He let go of his wrists to intertwine their fingers, then leaned forward and slowly pressed his lips against Keith’s.
The kiss was soft, gentle and hesitant, but they both quickly gained confidence and parted for a second, to look in each other’s eyes before kissing again.
Hidden behind a wall, their teammates decided that it was time to let them some privacy and slowly backed away.
“Still, you all owe me and Allura ten bucks,” Pidge noted. “It’s Keith who asked for the kiss.”