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Since Keith started dating Lance, he did his best to separate their relarionship from the previous ones he's had. Lance was leaps and bounds better than his past boyfriends. He was sweet, thoughtful, sassy and playful. Not the asshole, cheating, abusive types he somehow ended up with time after time again. He was thankful for that-- despite how rocky their friendship started.
He was hesitant at first. Keith felt he had too much baggage that Lance should be dealing with. Experiencing such shitty relationships left Keith scarred with trust issues, paranoia, and an ugly jealous streak. Who could blame the poor boy though? The wash, rinse, and repeat cycle was back to back bad boyfriend's. Even with the "this one's different" argument, it would back fire on him ten times over. So yea, he had some issues.
But Lance, being the sweet and understanding guy he is, looked beyond those things. All he cared about was the Keith in front of him; right here, right now. He promised Keith he wouldn't do anything to hurt him. And if he did? Keith had every right to be upset with him. Lance just hoped Keith would have it in him to forgive him and still call him his. Which was now being tested.
Keith sees Lance getting a little too friendly with one of the merchants at their pit stop. Keith glared at Lance and the pretty, tall saleswoman at her supply booth. If Lance only knew that Keith was burning holes right through him.
"Hey buddy, everything alright?" Keith jumps when he sees Shiro standing right next to him. "W-What? Yea no I'm fine. Why do you ask?" He looks back at the pair he had been staring at before. Shiro follows his gaze, observing the trouble stirring between the young couple.
"Because it seems like you're planning Lance's death in your head," he jokes. Shiro laughs lightly, but Keith still has a sour look on his face. "So what if I am?" Keith spits back, turning away towards the ship. "Keith, wait. Don't be like this," he tries to stop him. "Keeeiiith! It's probably not what you think!" He calls out to the red paladin.
Keith is having none of it. It's perfectly obvious what was happening between those two back there. And it wasn't the first time either. Keith has seen Lance do this almost every time anywhere they go. He doesn't have a problem that Lance is bisexual. It doesn't faze him in the slightest. All he asks for is that he and Lance remain faithful to each other for as long as they're together. Which Lance agrees to-- he's a firm believer in being monogamous to whomever he's dating. Or so he says...
The Korean boy tries his best to settle his nerves by thinking everything through once he reaches him room. He can't compare Lance to his ex-boyfriends. That wasn't fair to him. He knows his boyfriend is really outgoing and tries to make friends no matter where he is. It's just in his nature. 'Yea! It's his personality. Lance can't help that.' And Keith wouldn't want him to change for anything in the universe. He was perfect the way he was. Perfect. Everything he's ever wanted...
At first Keith is content with that last thought. But as he changes from his suit, he's realized something...Why does he feel so unsure about it? Why is it that he has to convince himself of these things? Yea sure, they were true, but it didn't steer him away from what he repeatedly sees from the blue paladin, or from what he just saw.
Something deep inside reached out and voiced to Keith about jumping to conclusions without any definite action. Which, his voice of reason was correct-- he can't conjure up any ideas. He should at least talk to his significant other at the least and bring up his concerns. Lance communicated consistently with Keith; they talked about everything. This shouldn't be any different, right? Keith knew he had to bring up the subject delicately. There have been plenty of times where Keith came off rather rude when he was blunt about something. And the last thing he wanted was another fight-- despite their petty bickering, this wasn't something to take lightly.
A knock at the door brings Keith out of his plan of action. The door hissed as it opened, letting Lance in. "Hey babe, ready to head down? I'm starving," he said.
"Is it dinner time already?" Keith questions, looking at the Earth modified ticker. He hadn't realized they had left their pit stop shortly after he had stormed up to his room.
"Yea come on, let's go," Lance grabs Keith's crop jacket, as he liked to call it, beckoning him to head down with him. Once he's helped into it, the pair leave together.
"Where you you by the way? I didn't see you walking around earlier," Lance asks. "I was helping Hunk load up some equipment Pidge haggled," Keith replies. Which was true-- he had been helping the entire time until he spotted Lance flirting with the shop keeper. Lance hums, nodding to the reason why he hadn't seen his mullet boyfriend.
"Where uh-" Keith clears his throat, "where were you?" Keith prompts, knowing exactly what he was doing. "Oh, me? Well, ya know-- just getting friendly with some of the merchants," Lance replies almost too confidently. And with a stupid smile nonetheless. 'Yea, gettin' friendly to get in that girls pants,' Jealousy thought.
By some miracle, Keith is able to hold his tongue by the time they reach the dinning hall. Everyone else is seated and chatting away about their most recent stop. The boys take their seats across from each other and listen in on the discussion.
"I can't believe I got that much equipment for the trade of some of those gems we found a while ago. I mean, I don't know how much they were worth but it was a steal I tell ya!" Pidge exclaims. "Don't worry, those gems look the part of rarity however, they're quite common. At least, they were on Altea," Allura shrugs.
"Even so, we got a lot of good stuff! Coran, did you get enough groceries?" Hunk asked. "More than enough for the next couple of weeks, don't you worry!" Coran winks.
"Heh, yea well I think I did pretty well for myself too," Lance chips in. "Yea? What did you get?" Pidge asks. Keith looks over to Shiro, who seems to be preparing himself for what exaggeration will come spewing from the Latin male.
"Well this really cute shop keeper I talked to hooked me up with a huge supply of beauty products," he explains. "Think I have enough for everyone to treat themselves with," he looks over to Keith and winks. Keith can feel the disgust look on his face forming.
"Oh yea? And why would this cute shop keeper give so much away, huh Lance?" Hunk teased. Lance leaned back with his arms behind his head, "Ladies can't seem to get enough of Lance-- the hottest protector of the universe," he says with pride.
Shiro looks over to Keith, who seems to be gritting his teeth judging on the flexed muscle in his jaw. And not to mention the way he was holding his knife tightly in his fist...
"Uh, Lance," Shiro tries to warn. "Oh puh-leez! You're so full of it," Pidge insists, rolling her eyes. "No, no, I'm serious!" Lance jumps up, "she was like, all over me!" He yells, throwing his hands in the air. "Wouldn't let me go anywhere else either. She was grabbing at me and stuff-- which, I mean, she was pretty hot so whatever. I think she has a thing for me," he says suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.
A loud slam on the table rattles the plates and glasswear, causing everyone to jump. They turn to Keith, whose dinner knife was sunken in deeply into the surface. You could hear the angry breathing entering and exiting through his flared nostrils. The way his brows were furrowed clearly indicated he was pissed.
"Keith? What's wrong?" Lance asks gently. "What's wrong? What's wrong! You're over here mouthing off about some girl you just met-- talking about how pretty she is and how you think she likes you," Keith yells.
"Keith, I-- I was just--" Lance stutters. "Just what, Lance? Huh? Joking? Well guess what? It's not funny. What, do you not care that you do this kind of thing? Like, all the time?" Keith presses on.
Lance puts his hands up, trying to reason with Keith. "Hey, come on, I don't do it all the--"
"Yes! Yes you do, Lance," Keith retorts. "You do this kind of stuff so much, I don't even think you realize you're doing it,"
Lance drops his arms, falling back to his sides. He looks torn, not sure of what to do. He looks at the rest of the crew with sad eyes. "Do....do I do that a lot?" He asks them.
At first, everyone is quiet. They all look at each other, trying to see if there was some way out of the couple's argument. This was enough of an answer to Lance. He looks back at Keith, who isn't there for some reason. A hiss coming from the entryway shows Keith leaving without another word. Lance is frozen for a moment before he runs after Keith, calling out to him.
Lance catches up to Keith and reaches out for his hand, "Keith wait,"
Keith tears his hand away, "Don't touch me!" He growls. "Keith, baby I didn't mean to hurt you," the darker boy croons, walking alongside his lover. "Yea, well you did," he says short.
"Keith would you stop," Keith walks faster, trying to surpass the blue paladin. "Keith, stop-- would you hold on for a second?!" Lance grabs Keith's forearm, yanking him back to meet the other. "Ow! Let go, that hurts!" Keith hisses.
Lance releases him quickly, "I'm sorry, I just needed you to stop," he says. Keith pulls back his arm, cradling it from Lance's harsh pull. They stand in the hall in awkward silence before Lance breaks the ice, "I didn't know you felt that way back there,"
Keith laughs, "Really? You think I'm okay with my boyfriend flirting with some random alien chick? Let's not forget to mention the fact that you let her practically throw herself at you,"
Lance leans away from Keith a bit, taking the blows as they come. "Yea, I love questioning your loyalty to me, Lance,"
An offended look spreads over his face. "Seriously Keith? You think I'm not loyal to you? It wasn't like that-- I don't get why you're so insecure all of a sudden," he scoffs.
Keith feels heat rush his face as red blinds his vision. "If I'm insecure, it's because you made me this way, Mike! All you do is think about yourself!" He shouts in his face.
Wait-- Mike? Why did he picture Mike just now? Did he actually say his name out loud? Lance doesn't have short blonde hair or green eyes. Lance is nothing like Mike. Lance has never done the things he has. Lying to him about the people he was with. Telling him what he wanted to hear so he would just shut up already about the rumors he heard about being with some girl. Being pressured into giving up his virginity. Getting laughed at when he would threaten to dump him. Letting the hurtful words sink in about not being good looking enough to move on from what he had then. Or even worse, walking in on his boyfriend having sex with another guy at a party they both showed up at. Mike and many others were the reason why he was insecure. Not Lance.
Tears come flooding in, blurring Keith's vision now. His whole body shakes over the realization of what he just did. Shame and embarassment is all he feels right now.
Strong arms wrap around and pull him in for a tight hug. Keith buries his face into the familiar citrus smell that is his Lance.
"Heyyy, shhhh it's alright babe. I'm here. I'm here," he whispers, cupping the back of his head. Despite the control Lance portrayed to have, he was heartbroken. Heartbroken to just realize this was the baggage his smaller boyfriend tried to explain and warn him about. He felt so stupid. How could he have not realized the way he normally acts, was actually a bad habit? He unintentionally hurt his Keith in more ways than he could have ever imagined.
"Keith honey, I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea-- really I didn't," Lance apologizes. Keith grabs the taller boys arms to help support him. "You're absolutely right though-- I should have never let that girl on to me...I probably shouldn't have done what I did either; talking to her the way I did...but-- I wasn't trying to get with her. Honest...I just wanted to schmooze her enough to get some free crap," he says the last bit lamely.
Keith can't help but sob harder into Lance's chest. Hearing the truth and an apology wasn't something he was very familiar with. And the sincerity in his voice-- God, it was so relieving.
Lance held Keith tighter, trying to squeeze out whatever painful memories his partner had.
They held onto each other for a while before Keith broke away first-- rubbing his eyes harshly to rid any tears that stained his face. Warm slender hands cup his face, thumbing over his high cheek bones. "You okay?" Lance asks in a whisper only Keith could hear. He nods-- he felt a huge weight lifted off his chest just now. To think crying it out was a load of bull...
"Are--" His voice croaks. He clears it harshly, loosening up the tightness in his throat. "Are you mad?" Keith asks sheepishly.
"Mad?" The other asks with a quirked brow. "Why would I be mad?"
"Cause I called you Mike...and I over reacted..."
"No, no, no! Keith, no. Hey, look at me," he lifts Keith's chin, forcing those grayish violet eyes to look into his dark blue ones. "I'm not mad about any of that. I get it. You had really, really shitty boyfriends in the past and that's why you are the way you are when it comes to relationships. I can't hold that against you. I'm just a little hurt that you think I'd be unfaithful to you...but then again, you had your reasons to suspect. But, it's not like that, and it won't ever be like that, okay?" He says calmly. "And do you know why that is?"
Keith shakes his head, sniffling and trying to hold back more tears threatening their way through. Lance smiles and looks over Keith's beautiful face. "It's 'cause I love you, Keith," he says clearly.
A solid five seconds must have passed because that's exactly how long it took for Keith's heartbeat to return. His cheeks were flushed scarlet for a whole different reason now. "You-- what?"
"I love you," he repeats.
Yupp. That's what he said alright.
The speechless paladin blinks a few times before he hears his name being called.
"Helloooo, Earth to Keith? You could like, ya know, say it back or something? Oh God-- did- did I say it too soon?"
He's shut up with Keith's lips against his own, being pulled in by the collar to deepen their kiss.
Keith pulls away and bites into his own smile. Lance stills, waiting for some sort of answer, until Keith confesses. "I love you too, Lance," Keith says, looking up brightly at the taller teen. For some reason it took the blue paladin some time to register what the other said. "You-- you said...you- you said it back," Lance stumbles over his words. Keith looks down as he tucks his hair behind his ear when Lance stares at him in disbelief.
Once it dawned on him however, nothing could wipe off that ear to ear grin he had plastered on his face. "Keith 'The Mullet' Kogane, loves me," he says happily. Keith smacks the side of his arm, "Shut up McClain," he scolds, turning away slightly.
"No way! This causes for a celebration!" Lance exclaims. "Hey everyone! Keith told me he loves me!" He shouts with all his might (but surprise, no one heard him for how far away they both were).
"What? No, nuh-uh, you said it first!"
"Don't recall. Didn't happen. My word against yours," Lance toys.
"Staaaahhpp," Keith whines, trying not to laugh at the inside joke. He covers his face, shaking his head in slight embarassment.
"Heheh, I'm only kidding," Lance playfully pushes Keith with his arm. "Come 'ere," they reach out and hold each other tenderly. Something about the way Lance kisses the top of Keith head brings a complete calm over him. "You're the only one for me, Keith," Lance whispers. "I won't ever do that again. I promise,"
Keith doesn't make him swear to it. He can hear it in his voice that he means what he says. There's no worry to hold him to his word or randomly test him when he least expects it. This much is true.
So the next time they do make a pit stop, a similar scenario happens once more. Only this time, Lance isn't swayed by the trader's charm. Instead, Keith walks right up to the pair and lands a kiss right on his cheek-- claiming his boyfriend publicly to get the idea through everyone's head.
Lance would never admit it but, he kinda liked the way Keith was territorial over him. He too never had good experiences with his ex's. He never felt like he was good enough, and often changed to their preferences. But to see how Keith accepted him for who he was, the way he showed him off and protected him, it was more than enough to know how much Lance didn't need everyone else's approval. That was the only thing worth changing for.