Chapter Text
Keith decided to go to college to make Shiro happy. He didn’t have much of a passion for learning in a school setting and he didn’t have a knack for socializing. He was ready to spend years just waiting for each day to be over, getting a degree he wouldn’t know what to do with. He couldn’t have been more wrong. It took a few months, but he actually started to really enjoy his classes. It turns out he actually quite likes learning now that he’s past his rebellious high school phase. And most surprisingly, he’s made friends. That’s something he didn’t expect.
“So… are you busy tomorrow?” Veronica asks. Keith sighs, easily recognizing the tone of Veronica’s voice.
“Depends what you need from me,” Keith says, “last time you asked for a favour I had to do Ryan’s laundry for a week.” Veronica chuckles and there’s a hint of sadistic joy in it.
“This isn’t that bad, I swear,” Veronica says, “plus, I’m having Liv and Ryan over for a bit of a housewarming thing.”
“Hopefully I’m invited?” Keith asks. Veronica scoffs.
“Will you help me or not, asshole?” Veronica asks. He should say no, since she still hasn’t said what she needs help with, but dammit, he’s learned that he actually likes helping his friends. What a change from high school.
“Fine, whatever,” Keith says, “what have I been roped into?”
“Just helping move me and my brother into our new place, that’s all,” Veronica says, “you go to the gym all the time, we could use the helping hand.
“You have another brother?” Keith asks, “why have you never mentioned this to me? Cause surely you’re not talking about Marco unless he decided his degree in sports therapy wasn’t enough?”
“I’ve literally talked about him before,” Veronica says, “I swear you never listen to me. He’s two years younger than us. I guess I’ve never shown you a family picture before. I have a huge family.”
“Well, helping you move furniture isn’t the worst thing ever,” Keith says, “any booze at the party?”
“Hell yeah,” Veronica says, “see you tomorrow afternoon, then?” Keith sighs and looks at the clock. He should probably get to bed at a decent time for this.
“Sure, yeah,” Keith says, “you owe me one, though.”
“I always do,” Veronica says, “later loser.” With that, she hangs up, leaving Keith to wonder just how many siblings she actually does have.
–
Keith looks at the trees swaying violently in the wind and glares. It’s cold as hell for early September and it’s times like this that he really misses his motorcycle. Sure, the wind would be colder on his bike, but at least it would take him five minutes instead of thirty to get to Veronica’s new place. And look, he really doesn’t deserve to have his motorcycle. He’s the one who crashed it after deciding to drive it home after getting the shit beat out of him. Oh and he was drunk. High school was not a good time for him, but he’s changed a lot since then. Still not enough for Shiro to trust him with a motorcycle, though.
And yeah, he’s a grown adult and he can get a bike if he wants, but he can’t afford it without Shiro’s help. So for now, he has to walk in this stupid wind that blows his stupid hair in his face and makes his cheeks burn. It really shouldn’t be this cold, especially with the sun practically blinding him. When he finally gets to Veronica’s place, he knocks and quickly shoves his hands back into his pockets. Veronica is grinning when she opens the door. “Aw, you look so adorable when you’re cold.”
“Let me in, you ass,” Keith says, pushing past her. She’s managed to score a little house pretty close to campus and Keith is honestly jealous. He does like his apartment and he loves living alone, but a house would be nice. He wouldn’t have to hear his neighbours fucking 24/7 if he had his own house. That would be nice.
“What do you think?” Veronica asks, walking him to the kitchen. The place is mostly unfurnished, but it looks really nice. It’s still a student house and it’s falling apart in a few places, but it’s cozy.
“I think it’s really cute,” Keith says, “and perfect for having guests over.” Veronica raises an eyebrow and looks at the empty room.
“What happened to being a lone wolf?” Veronica asks. Keith waves her off and sees himself down the hall. Might as well explore the place while it’s empty.
“When is your brother and all the shit getting here?” Keith asks. Veronica follows him into the master bathroom and leans on the counter as he snoops around.
“Probably the next twenty minutes or so. Excited to meet my brother?” Veronica asks, wiggling her eyebrows. She’s quite aware of how much Keith doesn’t like meeting new people, especially family members he has to like.
“Super duper excited,” Keith says sarcastically, “I’m gonna have a smoke before we lift all this shit.” Veronica shrugs and backs out of the doorway to let him through. She has made it quite clear how much she dislikes this habit of his, but she’s gone on about it enough that she knows he’s not giving it up any time soon. Keith’s not an olympic athlete, his lungs don’t need to be perfect. He walks a reasonable distance away from the open front window and digs them out.
Honestly, compared to all the shit he took in high school, it’s a damn good thing the only bad habit he brought with him was cigarettes. He takes a drag and looks out at the street. It’s a side street, so there aren’t a lot of cars passing by and it’s quite peaceful. Keith does plan to spend a decent amount of time here, since his apartment can start to feel a little stuffy when he’s studying. Plus, studying with other people around actually helps him. For some reason ignoring the conversations around him helps him focus better.
As he’s taking a particularly large drag, a u-haul van pulls into the driveway. He watches, blowing out a billow of smoke as the driver side door opens and slams shut. All he sees is a glimpse of light brown hair before Veronica’s brother disappears behind the truck. He hears the back door slide open and just leans back patiently, waiting for her brother to make his appearance. Right as he’s blowing out the last of the smoke and stomping out the butt, her brother comes around the van.
Keith’s breath catches in his throat. Veronica and Marco look like twins, so Keith expected the same from this one, but he’s own person entirely. He must take after the dad Veronica never talks about. He’s tan and tall and his cheeks are dusted with freckles. His eyes are bright blue and bounce off of his green t-shirt quite nicely. He looks over and catches Keith's eyes and smiles. His grin is a bit lopsided and reveals a dimple in his left cheek. He’s hot. Now he’s really pissed Veronica never showed him a family picture. “You must be Keith?” he says, walking over to him.
Keith clears his throat and looks down to make sure the butt is out. When he looks back up, her brother has his hand stuck out between them. Keith sucks in a small breath and reaches out to shake it. “And you are?” Keith asks.
“Lance,” he says, still smiling in that dashing way. He wraps his hand over Keith’s and shakes it firmly. His hand is warm and soft.
“Sorry about the smell, I thought-” Keith starts, imagining Lance has the same opinions as his sister.
“What? The smoke?” Lance asks. Keith nods and stuffs his hands in his pockets, feeling a bit guilty.
“Well yeah, your sister hates that I do it,” Keith says, “I thought you’d be the same. Do you not care that I smoke?” Lance shrugs and leans back on his heels slightly.
“Sure I do, but I’m sure you’ve had enough people tell you it’s bad for you,” Lance says, “it’s not like I’m going to magically make you stop. And hey, this is less embarrassing than vaping, so I’ll give you that.” Keith chuckles despite himself and scuffs his shoe on the ground. For some reason, he finds that all so charming. It’s refreshing to have someone spare him the lecture. He’s not stupid, he knows it’s bad, he’s just doing it anyway.
“Guess we should start moving things in?” Keith says. Lance nods and brushes past his shoulder softly to get to the door. He follows behind him after a moment of hesitation and they find Veronica in the kitchen washing her hands.
“Lance! You made it in one piece?” Veronica teases. Lance rolls his eyes and walks over to her to give her a quick hug. Keith smiles as the two quickly catch up before turning their attention back to him. “Alright, guess the heavy lifting starts now,” Veronica says, “feeling pumped, Keith?”
“You bet,” Keith says, trying to be as corny as possible. It makes Lance chuckle, so he counts it as a win.
–
“Can you grab that corner? I don’t want to mess up the carpet,” Lance asks. Keith is walking by his room to go make another trip to the truck, but he stops dead in his tracks.
“Sure,” Keith says. They’re just about done moving everything in and Veronica is in the kitchen getting stuff ready for the house warming party. He grabs the side of the dresser and helps Lance lift it to the opposite wall. He definitely doesn’t look at Lance’s bare, flexed muscles. Not at all. “You having anyone over for the house warming party?” Keith asks.
“Just a few people,” Lance says, “Roni wanted to keep it small since the place is tiny.” Keith hums and looks at the room. Lance has barely started decorating, but it’s already looking cozy.
“Need help with anything else?” Keith asks. Lance shakes his head and turns towards the boxes on his bed.
“Roni probably needs a hand in the kitchen, we should go help her,” Lance says, “have you ever seen her in a kitchen before?” Keith shakes his head. Somehow, he’s avoided that. “I’m sure Ryan has told you, but she’s scary in the kitchen. She gets all Gordon Ramsay for some reason.” Keith is glad he’s avoided that for so long.
“And you’re willingly going down there?” Keith asks. Lance looks at his bed, then back at Keith.
“I suppose we could start unpacking a few things,” Lance says. Keith smiles and walks over to Lance’s bed. Spending some time helping him unpack doesn’t sound bad at all. Especially not when Lance smells like the ocean and lemon. Keith is either delusional or horny, it’s hard to tell.
–
“And I completely forgot about it, so my mama opens the microwave and there’s just soap absolutely everywhere,” Lance says, “she yelled at me, but I was just happy it worked. I mean, who expects a bar of soap to actually quadruple in size?” Keith smiles, his knees bumping against Lance’s. They’re sitting face to face on Lance’s bed, only half of the boxes unpacked.
“How the hell did you forget about it?” Keith asks. Lance shrugs and leans back on his hands. He has a playful smile on his face and the low light from the lamp in the room makes his skin glow.
“My favourite cartoon came on,” Lance says. Keith raises an eyebrow.
“What cartoon was that?” Keith asks, “I need to see if it still stands.” Lance hums and shifts around to dig through a box behind him. He pulls out a poster and opens it up. It’s a pretty well loved poster of Avatar the Last Airbender. Lance smiles rather smugly and rolls the poster back up. “Still stands,” Keith says.
“I simply have immaculate taste,” Lance says, wiggling his eyebrows. Before Keith can comment on that, Lance’s door swings open and Veronica glares at both of them.
“You guys were supposed to come help me in the kitchen,” Veronica says, “it’s been two hours.” Lance and Keith look at each other then back at her and burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Lance was right, you’re yelling like Gordon Ramsay,” Keith says. Veronica rolls her eyes and turns on her heel.
“Get your asses to the kitchen,” she says, “I should have known you guys would be trouble.” This only makes Keith laugh harder, which makes Lance laugh harder to the point where they’re holding their sides and wiping tears from their eyes. Keith can’t remember the last time he’s laughed like this over nothing. It feels really good. When they finally gather themselves, Lance pulls Keith off of his bed and towards the kitchen.
–
“Are you sure we need this much food?” Keith asks, putting the last of the sliced fruit on its tray. Veronica looks over her shoulder at the spread of food on the table.
“Absolutely,” Veronica says, “my mama raised me to provide and this is providing. Plus Lance’s friends are monsters when it comes to food.” Lance chuckles from where he’s washing his hands in the sink.
“It’s true, Pidge and Hunk once beat this food challenge at a restaurant and broke the record,” Lance says, “they waddled for a couple hours after, but they tanked the food like nothing.” He turns and flicks his hands, spreading fine drops of water over Keith and Veronica. Veronica just sighs and turns away.
“Is Pidge the tiny one you were talking about from high school?” Keith asks as Lance surveys the food. He hums and pokes at a bowl of chips to move it over slightly.
“Yeah, I think you’ll like her,” Lance says, “she has the same look in her eyes.”
“Same look?” Keith questions, feeling himself flush slightly under his direct attention.
“Like you know something I don’t,” Lance says, “considering that you’re studying to be a high school math teacher, you definitely do.” Keith rolls his eyes, but he has to admit, it feels nice to be acknowledged for his intelligence. Before Keith gets the chance to compliment Lance on his courses for social work, a loud knock echoes through the house.
“Lance! Get the door!” Veronica yells from somewhere in the house. Lance gives Keith a tilted smile and trots away to the door. Keith just absently reaches for a carrot and crunches down on it. It’s been a while since he’s connected with someone this quickly. And of course this someone is hot. When Lance comes back around the corner, he has a large, happy looking guy on his left and a short, intense looking girl on his right. They look like characters out of a sitcom.
“Keith, these are my best buds,” Lance says, “that’s Hunk,” nodding to his left, “and that’s Pidge,” nodding to his right. Keith immediately sees what he means about the look in her eyes. She does look like she knows something he doesn’t. “Guys, this is Keith, my sister's best friend.” Keith sticks out his hand and gets two very firm handshakes in response.
“I think you’ve met my brother before,” Pidge says, “he mentioned a guy with a mullet.” Keith raises an eyebrow and looks up at Lance who just shrugs, “Matt. He’s visited Veronica a few times.” Keith’s eyes go wide and he immediately sees the resemblance.
“Shit, you guys look really similar,” Keith says. Pidge sighs and Hunk chuckles like he’s heard that a few times before, “is he coming over?”
“Yeah, he’s just picking Shay and Nyma up,” Pidge says, “can we start eating?” Keith shakes his head and looks towards Veronica’s room.
“We should at least wait for Veronica, she’s very specific about food,” Keith says.
“Don’t we know,” Hunk says, “well, what about we break in the couches?” Keith is more than happy to sit down after moving all day, so he flops onto the couch with a huff. Lance sits next to him and Hunk and Pidge crowd onto the loveseat. They also have beanbag chairs and a lazy boy. Veronica and Lance were clearly planning to have company quite often. “So who’s coming for you guys?” Hunk asks.
“As far as I know, our friends Liv and Ryan. Veronica hasn’t mentioned anyone else, but I’m sure she wants to fill the place up,” Keith says, looking at the food.
“She does love to host,” Pidge says, “she once did a birthday dinner for me and somehow managed to rent out an entire restaurant for three hours. She still won’t tell me how she pulled that off.”
“I don’t even want to know,” Lance says, shivering dramatically. Veronica joins them soon after letting Liv, Ryan and Romelle in. They finally dig into the food and Keith finds himself hovering in the corner as he watches everyone socialize. There’s only so much socializing he can do in one day and he needs a recharge. Veronica comes over to him with a handful of grapes and hands him one.
“You like Lance and his friends?” Veronica asks. Keith hums and swallows the grape.
“Yeah,” Keith says, “and I’m glad you invited Romelle, I haven’t seen her since last spring.” Veronica grins and bumps his shoulder.
“Just wait until you meet Shay and Nyma, you’re going to love them,” Veronica says. As if on cue, there’s a knock at the door and Lance makes his way over, “Shay is Hunk’s girlfriend and she is amazing,” Veronica says, “and Nyma is-” but Keith stops listening when he see Lance pull Nyma over to him and pepper his lips with a barrage of short kisses. She giggles and smacks his face away playfully. A familiar feeling of disappointment sinks in Keith’s stomach. This is what he gets for finding someone attractive.
“Keith! Come meet Nyma and Shay,” Hunk says, waving him over. Keith takes a deep breath and walks over. That’s totally fine. He can be totally normal about Lance dating someone. He totally wasn’t getting his hopes up at all because that would have been sad and pathetic and he’s not sad and pathetic.
–
It’s getting pretty late and most of the excitement from moving in has worn off. Keith is sitting at the kitchen table with Pidge and Romelle talking about conspiracy theories. Lance was right about him and Pidge, he’s getting along with her quite well. In a moment of silence, Keith looks over his shoulder and smiles when he sees Liv and Veronica whispering and laughing in the corner by the window. “Keith, you’re seeing what I’m seeing, right?” Romelle asks.
“Seeing what? Tell me,” Pidge says, following their gazes, looking away when they do. She has a knowing look in her eyes. “Not together but should be?” Pidge asks.
“That’s putting it lightly,” Keith says, “they’re basically together at this point.”
“It’s been like this for a year,” Romelle says, “one of them needs to grow a pair. Even our nudges in the right direction haven’t done a thing.” Pidge grins and pushes back from the table.
“Let me go see this chemistry myself,” Pidge says, “I haven’t properly introduced myself to Liv yet.” Keith watches her go off and his eyes wander over to Lance. He’s sitting on the couch with his head in Nyma’s lap and his legs draped over Hunk.
“Lance is pretty different from Veronica, huh?” Romelle says. Keith snaps his eyes away and clears his throat. Literally no one can ever know how down bad he is for Lance, especially since they met less than eight hours ago.
“Uh, yeah,” Keith says, “different for sure.” Romelle gives him an odd look, but she doesn’t press the subject, instead taking a generous sip of her wine.
“Not drinking tonight?” Romelle asks. Keith has mostly given up drinking, but he does still indulge on the odd occasion. He doesn’t think drinking around Lance is a good idea right now.
“No,” Keith says, “not feeling it.” Romelle nods and pushes away from the table.
“Watch my drink while I piss? Liv has a habit of stealing my wine.” Keith gives her a thumbs up and turns to look back at the room. Pidge seems to be deep in conversation with Liv and Veronica, Matt, Nyma, Lance and Hunk are arguing over some card game and Ryan is outside. Keith pats his pocket and makes his way outside. Ryan is blowing out a particularly large cloud of smoke when Keith walks out.
“Wine?” Ryan asks, raising an eyebrow. Keith looks at Romelle’s wine and shakes his head.
“Watching it for Romelle, apparently Liv steals drinks off of her,” Keith says. Ryan shrugs and holds his joint out in front of Keith. Keith takes it gratefully and takes a few short puffs. Maybe if he’s distracted by being stoned, he’ll stop being a loser about Lance.
“Think Pidge will get Liv and Veronica to make out?” Ryan asks. Keith lets out a surprised chuckle and looks out at the setting sun.
“I hope so,” Keith says. They stay there in silence for a while, neither of them particularly of the talking type. It’s nice and peaceful and Keith’s buzz settles nicely over him. He’s always loved the way weed seems to relax every single muscle in his body.
“I’m heading inside, it’s getting cold, you staying out here?” Ryan asks. Keith nods and hands the wine to Ryan. He gives him a salute and heads back inside. It is pretty cold, but Keith is enjoying the soft breeze and darkening sky. This is the start to his last year of school and he really wants to make everything of it. He wants to prove to himself that he’s a good guy, wants to separate from who he used to be.
When he starts to shiver, he shoves his hands in his pockets and opens the door, only to run right into Lance’s chest. Lance grabs his bicep to stop them from falling and looks up at Keith with wide eyes. “Hey man,” Lance says. Keith looks at him a bit dumbfounded, the weed doing nothing to stop his attraction.
“Hey,” Keith says after a pause.
“I was actually looking for you,” Lance says, still holding Keith’s bicep, “we’re going to play a big game of Uno with all the decks mixed together.” Keith nods and Lance’s hand finally slips from his arm.
“Sounds like fun,” Keith says. Lance grins and holds the door open for him, motioning for Keith to go before him.
“Fun until you have to pick up twenty cards in one turn,” Lance says, “and we’re certain Pidge is a cheater, we just haven’t figured out how.” Keith likes the sound of that. He can watch Pidge the entire time as a distraction and maybe even actually figure out how she’s cheating. He gets a whiff of citrus and his mind starts to wander. He forgot how creative his mind gets when he smokes.
–
“You really didn’t have to help clean up,” Veronica says, putting the last of the dishes away. Keith shrugs and leans against the counter. In all honesty, he doesn’t feel like walking home, so he’s delaying the inevitable. He knows it’s only going to get colder and darker, but at least he’s warm right now.
“Did you have a good night?” Keith asks. Veronica nods and leans against the counter next to him.
“You seemed to be pretty social,” Veronica says, “you’ve come a long way.”
“You act like you saved me or something,” Keith says.
“I was your first friend in college,” Veronica says. Keith rolls his eyes. She does have a point though. For the first couple months, she was his only friend. He does owe her at least a little bit.
“Are you excited to live with your brother again?” Keith asks. Veronica grins and pushes away from the counter.
“You guys were getting along really well,” Veronica says, “that makes me really happy.” Keith sighs and looks down at his feet. Veronica is the last person who can know about Keith’s pathetic feelings.
“He’s cool, I guess,” Keith says.
“What did you think of Nyma? She’s really good for him, don’t you think?” Veronica asks. And honestly, Keith wishes he could say she’s not. But she was really kind and confident and clearly a great match for Lance. Keith reluctantly agrees with her and stuffs his hands into his pockets.
“I should get going if I want to get home before the wolves come out,” Keith says.
“Shit, you walked, didn’t you?” Veronica says.
“Yeah, but I don’t mind, it’s scenic,” Keith says.
“And cold as hell. You should borrow a scarf or something,” Veronica says, “Lance! Have you unpacked your winter stuff yet?” Keith sighs and slumps into himself.
“Veronica, it’s fine,” Keith says.
“Don’t even. You’ll be back here soon enough and I’m sure Lance won’t miss one scarf for a couple days.” Keith purses his lips. Once Veronica makes a decision, it’s final. Lance comes out with a box and a lazy smile on his face.
“Need some fluff?” Lance asks. Keith smiles despite himself and pushes away from the counter.
“Veronica is forcing me to wear a scarf,” Keith says. Lance digs around a bit and throws a dark red scarf at him. It’s soft and warm in Keith’s hands and it will definitely make his walk better. It’s probably also going to smell like Lance and he’s not sure that’s healthy for his brain right now.
“Take good care of her,” Lance says, “my mama made that.” Keith looks at it then back at Lance.
“I really shouldn’t-” Keith starts.
“Take the damn scarf and go home,” Veronica says, “I’d very much like to get to bed.” With that, she walks away and leaves Lance and Keith in the kitchen.
“Thanks,” Keith mumbles.
“No biggie,” Lance says, “I have other scarves if I’m desperate for one.” He pulls out a bright blue one as proof and it makes his eyes shine.
“I’ll see you around then?” Keith says. Lance nods and gives him a soft smile.
“I hope so,” Lance says, “night, Keith.”
“Night,” Keith says. When he wraps the scarf around his neck, all he smells is the ocean and lemon.