Well You Look Like Yourself But You're Somebody Else

“Dumb.”

It was just a game. It was a game, yet why did it hurt so much when none of his friends defended him? Maybe he was the dumb one. Maybe he was dumb; he wasn’t like Pidge who could hack into space shit like she was born with that skill and literally did not need to exert any effort whatsoever—a clear-cut genius, right? Maybe he was dumb; he wasn’t like Hunk who could keep up with Pidge as they talked about coding. Maybe he was dumb; he wasn’t like Allura or Coran or Shiro—he couldn’t be a leader like them, couldn’t keep his cool under pressure just quite like them, couldn’t quite possibly have the experience they had, couldn’t be a hero, couldn’t be wise, and couldn’t be elegant and poised. Maybe he was dumb; he couldn’t be like Keith, who—despite his dumb haircut (which wasn’t even dumb, Lance could grudgingly admit within the solitude of his own mind)—was way more talented than Lance could ever aspire to be. Keith had always been better than Lance. He was better as the Red Paladin than Lance, and was the better paladin even when Lance was the Blue Paladin. It would’ve been better if Lance had been the one to leave. Allura was a better paladin than him. Keith was a better paladin than him. Why keep dumb Lance around?

Here was where the dull ache would transition into a burning sensation. It would start in the back of his throat, and it would spread to his eyes until they stung with unshed tears. He would gasp and try to speak, but the words would be choked and his throat would burn from the exertion. When he would finally cease his efforts to force out words to fill the silence, his throat would still ache like something sharp was lodged into it until it hurt to even breathe.

When Keith came back, Lance had thought maybe, just maybe, things would work out. It was a brief moment of hope, a light in the darkness that had been suffocating Lance for so very long. That hope was shattered as soon as Keith brushed Lance aside, because Lance wasn’t worth the time.

Lance wasn’t important. He wasn’t a significant part of Voltron. People didn’t worry about him, because he was replaceable. He was just that lucky nobody who had somehow managed to snatch fighter pilot status due to Keith being kicked out of the Garrison. He was just that lucky nobody who somehow managed to snatch up one of the lions, becoming a paladin of Voltron. He was a lucky nobody. And who even had time for a nobody? What was a nobody like Lance even doing around a bunch of somebodies anyway? They all had something going for them; they were all going places. But Lance? He was on the long winding track to nowhere. He was a nobody. He was insignificant. So, it made sense he wasn’t worth anyone’s time.

This was where the ache that had dulled over time would flare up again, a pain of cold ice. It was the pain of the cold realization and the gradual acceptance of his worth. It was a freezing sensation that had his hands quivering at his sides, his entire body producing a cold sweat as he went dizzy from the acknowledgement of just how insignificant he was—and had he always been that way? How could he have been so blind?

As the team formed Voltron to fight their newest enemy, the pain lingered—a dull ache buzzing beneath his skin. Lance would wonder from time to time about when it would act up again. And each time, he would fabricate an ounce of hope that maybe this time someone would comfort him, reassure him of his place on the team—that someone would notice his pain, embrace him with warmth. That hope would disintegrate and develop over and over and over again.

And Lance was still waiting…

“And so, I thought maybe a young and beautiful, strong witch like you could take care of our village’s little curse,” the sleazebag leered, fingers digging into the cloth that acted as a barrier between the man and the smooth, soft skin of Lance’s thigh.

Keith watched the minute twitch of Lance’s eyebrows, the way his lips quivered with the effort to keep the forced smile present. It took everything in him to keep from lashing out. Lance was holding back his irritation, Keith could try and do the same for the sake of the job. They hadn’t come across one in a while—traveling the roads for a longer duration of time than usual. And they needed money soon. They were running out of supplies.

However, the longer the man kept his hand rested upon Lance’s thigh, the harder it was for Keith to hold back the possessive fury bubbling beneath his skin, a slight jealousy of I should be the one touching Lance. Nobody but me should touch him. Fortunately, before he could throw all restraint to the wind and lunge across to tear the man away from his witch, the man retracted his hand and stood up to walk towards a drawer off to the side of the room. He jiggled the knob a few times, cursing as the drawer was jammed shut. As he struggled with it, Keith met Lance’s eyes and they shared a silent conversation.

Keith never wanted to see Lance uncomfortable. He hated that even though he was present, he had done nothing to prevent it. Even if Lance preferred it this way to avoid complications with their client. Lance tore his gaze away from Keith when the man began making his way back, handing Lance a small bag of gold.

“Go to the medicine woman’s hut. She will inform you of all you need to know,” the man directed. However, as Lance stood to meet Keith by the door, the man reached out and grabbed a hold of Lance’s wrist. He brought Lance’s hand up to his lips and brushed a kiss across the witch’s knuckles. “I hope to see you soon, beautiful. I wouldn’t mind adding something extra to your reward.”

The sight of the man touching, kissing, leering, and speaking so suggestively to Lance caused something within Keith to snap. Lance was at his side in a blink of an eye, dragging him out of the building as the werewolf snarled viscously, snapping his jaws at the bewildered and somewhat frightened client. 

The job had been short. Keith didn’t even need to do anything, simply standing back to watch Lance perform a quick enchantment on a cursed stone that was plaguing the village with sickness and restless nights. It was no surprise that his witch was powerful enough to cancel out a curse with a simple enchantment. Now not only was the curse overturned, but the village was also protected from evil spirits.

“How long was the village cursed?” Lance asked curiously as they received the rest of their payment from their sleazeball of a client. Keith didn’t miss the way the man let his fingers linger against Lance’s hand as he passed the small bag of gold over.

“Oh. Just a week. But thank you. Now we can rest and those sleep-deprived people can stop nagging me,” the man rolled his eyes. Lance tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing.

“How come everyone in the village seems sleep-deprived except for you?” Lance asked, eyes sharp as the man stilled before laughing awkwardly.

“Ah, well the job is done. Thank you for saving my village. Would you like to stay the night?” The man asked, ignoring Lance’s question to leer at him. “I have plenty of room on my bed for you.”

Lance’s face flushed, eyes widening at the man’s perverted smirk and the way he ran his eyes over the witch’s body as if he were undressing him in his mind. Keith moved swiftly, clawed hands gripping the man by the neck and lifting him three feet off the ground. He growled and bared his teeth at the man. Before he could spit out threats, Lance was resting a hand on his shoulder and whispering soothing words to him. He sighed and dropped the man, taking silent pleasure in the way the asshole’s knees hit the ground with a loud thud. The client looked up and flinched at the expression Keith wore on his face.

“Now, how about you answer the question Lance asked,” Keith all but demanded, crossing his arms.

“I bribed the old hag, alright! Is that what you wanted to hear? How I asked her to spare me from her anger? That I took her to bed so that I wouldn’t have to suffer under her curse like those other fools?” The man yelled. Keith growled loudly and stepped forward, causing the man to scramble backwards.

“Keith,” Lance reached out, placing a hand against his back. He huffed, but didn’t go through with his plans of tearing the man to shreds. Lance turned his gaze to the man, beautiful blue eyes going dark with a subtle threat. “Maybe I should make sure that you don’t ever do something like this to the people who look to you as their leader.”

The witch took a step forward, hand pulling away from Keith’s back as he raised it in front of him, finger pointing at the quaking man before them. Keith smirked in response to Lance’s witch, flashing his fangs at the sleazeball.

“No, please,” the man begged, eyes shining with fear.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t,” Lance stated. “After all, you had no trouble subjecting your people to a curse. Even if it were for a week.”

“I searched for someone to get rid of the curse, didn’t I? I wasn’t going to just leave them to suffer forever!” The man cried out.

“You weren’t looking,” Lance glared. “We just happened by and asked around until the people begged us to see you about the curse. You were even going to turn us away!”

“But I didn’t,” the man said.

“Only because you wanted to bed me,” Lance muttered darkly.

“Still do,” the man let slip, causing Keith to lunge forward and slash the asshole’s skin with his nails. The man was screaming by the time Lance managed to calm Keith down. “Get that monster out of my village!”

“He’s not a monster,” Lance glared. “If anyone here’s a monster, it’s you. And I think I’ve found the perfect punishment for you.”

In the next hour, the sleazeball was exiled from the village and a new leader was appointed for the village. The villagers were all happy with the change in leadership, thanking the werewolf and witch for their help.

“So, where to next?” Lance asked as he tossed an apple to Keith. The werewolf caught it with his left hand and took a bite, smiling at the sweet taste.

“I hear the town two miles from here has a nice waterfall.”

“Really?” Lance asked, looking up at him with sparkling eyes.

“Yeah,” Keith nodded, reaching out to take the witch’s hand. “Want to go?”

The next two hours were spent lazing around in bed, kissing and cuddling. Then, after another hour of bantering, talking, and packing, the two left the small inn. The roads were empty, no other travelers in sight. It had Keith a bit on edge. However, a touch of Lance’s hand against his bicep had the tension leaving him faster than it came. Lance always had a soothing effect on Keith. To Keith, Lance was his stability. And furthermore, Lance was his universe. They shared a brief smile and continued down the road. Keith kept his ears open to any noises so that they would not be caught off guard.

They spent the next five minutes walking without any interruptions when Keith heard something whooshing through the air from behind them. With his quick reflexes, he managed to grab the item that was aimed towards them. He turned the item in his hand, before breaking it in half. An arrow.

“Who’s there?” He snarled, eyes darting to the empty carriage in the middle of the road that hadn’t been there before. He tugged Lance behind him and kept his gaze on the carriage. A young male stepped out into the open, hands raised slightly. His eyes tried to peer around Keith, but he wouldn’t allow this hunter to catch a glimpse of his witch. He settled into a fighting stance.

“Oh,” the hunter said, eyes trailing up and down Keith’s form. “A werewolf and a witch.”

“Who told you?” Keith demanded. There was no way he could ascertain that Lance was a witch, not unless someone had seen him perform his magic and tattled on them. Discerning Keith as a wolf wasn’t that hard though, not when he couldn’t control the flash of red in his eyes whenever someone put Lance in danger.

“The innkeeper. He saw your pretty witch boy making a potion for one of the ill children. Only costed a pretty silver coin to gain information from him. Didn’t matter that you helped that old fool’s child from the brink of death, he’d sell you out in a heartbeat. The guy’s a nasty bastard,” the hunter explained with a roll of his eyes.

Rage filled Keith as he realized Lance had gone behind his back to help the child when Keith had explicitly warned him—but now wasn’t the time to scold the witch. He kept his eyes on the hunter who was fastening an arrow for another shot.

“Nothing personal. Just doing my job,” the hunter shrugged and aimed. Keith snarled viciously and ran full speed at the man. As the hunter released the arrow, Keith shifted into his full wolf form and snapped the arrow in half with his jaw. Then, he descended upon the man and tore his throat out in one swift motion, the hunter’s hand barely wrapping around his knife. Keith dropped the bloody corpse and shifted back into his human form, whipping around to glare in Lance’s direction. The witch was standing where he left him, shifting on his feet, eyes casted towards the ground.

Keith released a deep growl that had Lance snapping his eyes up to meet his own furious eyes. He marched towards the witch in brisk steps, hands landing on the teen’s shoulders as he shook him slightly.

“What were you thinking! I told you—I warned you about that innkeeper. I told you that you shouldn’t put yourself on that sleazebag’s radar! And what do you do?” Keith shouted angrily.

“Keith—”

“No!” Keith snapped, fingers digging into the thin material of the witch’s shirt. He was too blinded by his anger and desperation that he missed the Lance’s wince. “I can’t have you putting yourself in danger like that! I told you not to help the girl, Lance! I told you that old man would have noticed!”

“Keith, I couldn’t just let her die! She was seriously ill. She was going to die if I didn’t help her. I wasn’t just going to stand by when I could help. I just…I guess I wasn’t cautious enough, and for that I’m sorry. But I’m not sorry for saving that little girl’s life,” Lance stated, staring resolutely into Keith’s eyes. The werewolf released his grip on the teen’s shoulders and took a step back, breathing out an annoyed breath. He sent the witch one final harsh glare.

“Don’t you dare go behind my back like that again,” Keith growled. Lance scoffed and looked away.

“You’re not my owner,” Keith’s ears picked up Lance’s mutter.

“You’re not some pet,” Keith agreed, “but you’re safety means everything to me. You know that. If…If you’re going to go about throwing away my warnings, then at least let me be by your side while you do whatever stupid thing you have to do.”

“Okay.”

Keith smiled slightly and reached out for the witch’s hand. Lance glanced up at Keith, bottom lip caught beneath his teeth. And then, “I’m sorry, Keith.”

Keith responded by pulling Lance into a kiss before trailing down to his neck where he nipped gently at the skin. This is where he’d leave his mark one day, Keith thought to himself before pulling away. This boy belonged to him. He’d do anything to keep him by his side.

“Ew,” Lance gagged. “You left blood on me. And—oh gross—that was the source of that taste. You got it all in my mouth! That’s nasty Keith!”

He wanted to forget the older teen who had left him without a glance backwards. He wanted to forget the mullet-haired teen who had stolen his heart, who had taken a piece with him when he left. He wanted to forget the person who never called, who never visited, who left him after he confessed his insecurities.

He wanted to erase Keith from his mind. The teen who came back a man after two years lost in space with a woman—his mother—and a wolf. He wanted to forget the man who brushed him aside (“I don’t have time for this Lance!”). He wanted to forget the way Keith didn’t realize how much Lance was hurting when (how long had it been?) not long ago he had always been the first to spot anything that seemed off with him.

Lance wanted to forget love. He wanted to believe that such a concept didn’t exist. Everyone always broke his heart whether it was friends, family, or Keith. He wanted to forget the way Keith had declared that he didn’t want to spend an eternity with Lance. He wanted to forget the way the team had looked at him when he couldn’t recall the names to the projected faces, how to decipher the bi’s and the bo’s and the whatever else there was from that alien. He wanted to forget how despondent Keith was towards him over the few days he had been back.

He thought he was doing quite well, too. But then there were the soft looks, the teasing, the trust, and everything. It was as if he thought that would make everything okay again. And Lance hated to admit it, but he was quick to forgive. And honestly, Lance could never forget Keith. Could never force himself to. Every moment was precious to him.

But every night, Lance woke up to a cold bed. He spent the days feeling a never-ending hurt. And yeah, maybe he was being stupid. Keith didn’t have time for him. Lance told himself to get over it. Voltron was more important. The mission had always been more important.

“Stop,” Lance breathed out, leaning against the door to his room. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He was always susceptible to falling down a spiral of dark thoughts. He knew things weren’t like that, but his mind twisted and warped everything into the most negative way. The positive what-ifs (He didn’t want to spend eternity with me because he wanted me to be free from that gameshow world. He didn’t want to spend eternity with me because he didn’t want to be subjected to seeing me being degraded by the stupid gameshow host. He brushed me off because he was all tense with nerves and business. He brushed me off because he needed to work things through, to spend a moment with me he needed everything to be dealt with first so he wouldn’t have to worry.) morphed into negative what-ifs (He didn’t want to spend eternity with me because he doesn’t love me anymore. He didn’t want to spend eternity with me because he finally realized that everything I am insecure about is true. He brushed me off because I am not important. He brushed me off because whatever I have to say is worthless.), and those clouded his mind, suffocating him under a thick blanket of dark nothingness.

“Lance,” a low voice startled him. Gentle, calloused hands rested upon his cheeks and dark grey eyes clashed with Lance’s blue in concern. The man’s brows were furrowed. Lance took him in for a moment. Keith’s eyebrows were the same, thick and black. His skin was the same, pale white. His eyes were the same, intense and grey. His hair—it was the same—a thick, black mullet. Lance reached out, hand shaking. His fingers touched the ends of the man’s hair. It felt the same.

“Lance,” the man repeated. This was Keith. He was the same Keith, yet he was different. The way he held himself—he seemed more confident—and the way his body was larger, more muscular was different. He was more gruff, more grizzled. But, Lance realized as he found himself lost in stormy grey’s, this Keith was still his Keith.

“Keith,” Lance mumbled against the thumb swiping across his bottom lip. He felt his eyes watering, quickly blinking the unshed tears away. Keith pulled him into his arms, cradling him into his chest. Lance could feel his warm breath along the back of his neck. Lance could feel the rough, large hands gripping desperately at his sides. He could feel Keith’s mullet tickling his skin.

There, in Keith’s arms—this was where Lance felt safe. This was where he felt at home. He felt all the distorted thoughts flood out of him, the negative energy leaking away as Keith murmured softly into his ear.

“I missed you.”

“I wanted to know you were safe.”

“I wanted you to realize how important you are. To the team. To me.”

“I found my mother.”

“I have a wolf.”

“Every day I thought about you.”

“I’m sorry I brushed you off. I was stressed, but that’s no excuse.”

“I never wanted you to feel unloved.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“I’m sorry I left you.”

“I love you.”

“I never stopped loving you, Lance.”

And Lance, “I’m glad you found your mother. I’m happy for you. I’m also happy you found another companion, your wolf.”

Then a soft, brief kiss and, “I’m glad you’re safe, Keith. I’m glad you’re home.”

“Come on, Lance. We both know that it doesn’t matter which side the toilet paper faces,” Keith said when he finally managed to pull his hand free. Lance huffed out a breath and strode further into the bedroom, stopping in front of the bed with his arms crossed.

“Yeah, but mamá does.”

Lance let out a startled gasp when Keith reached out, grabbing him by the arm and tugging him towards the bed. The younger man blinked, and when he opened his eyes he was staring up into stormy grey orbs. He felt his face warm as he realized he was sprawled slightly on his boyfriend’s lap. He jerked away, eyes widening as he almost fell off the edge of the bed, but Keith caught and steadied him.

“Keith,” Lance whined dramatically, “You almost made me crack my head open! How could you live with yourself?”

Keith laughed softly and brushed a strand of Lance’s hair towards the side. He cupped Lance’s face with his left hand and leaned in close until their noses touched.

“What was making you stare so hard at your phone earlier?” Lance blurted out, watching Keith’s eyes dart down to his phone and his nose wrinkle in distaste.

“Lotor was making some nasty comments about Allura on that popular social app you had me download,” Keith grumbled. He turned his eyes back to Lance.

“When’s that creep gonna take a hint,” Lance groaned, rolling his eyes. “Did you call him out?”

“Of course.” Keith smirked, hands moving to grab Lance’s hips and situate him comfortably into Keith’s lap. Lance wrapped his arms around Keith’s neck and stared down into his eyes in curiosity. “I fuckin’ dragged him. Pidge and Hunk joined in quickly, too. Then, Shiro even joined in with a few choice words. And eventually, Allura found out and kicked his ass off the app.”

“Wow,” Lance laughed. “So he finally got banned?”

“Yup.”

Lance watched his boyfriend’s eyes dart down to his lips. He smirked inwardly and purposefully dragged his tongue over his lower lip, watching as Keith followed the movement with his stormy eyes. The older man leaned forward until they were centimeters apart, his warm breath coming out in puffs against Lance’s lips.

“Enough with that, though. Where’s my good morning kiss?” Keith questioned. Lance smiled and pressed his lips against Keith’s in a soft kiss. He pulled away to rest his forehead on Keith’s.

“Don’t get comfortable, babe. We still got plans for today,” Lance warned when his favorite mullet-haired man tried to maneuver them into a laying position. Keith let out a long whine in protest.

“Come on, baby. Let’s just stay in today. Lazy day, you and me. And the bed,” Keith tried to whisper in a enticingly deep voice, but his voice cracked and the two of them ended up laughing.

“We got to go, babe,” Lance giggled, tears falling from his eyes from how hard he laughed. He rolled off the bed onto his feet and reached over to tug on Keith’s cropped jacket sleeve.

“Fine, but you owe me.”

Keith heaved out a breath as he snatched his phone off of the bed sheets and got out of the bed. Lance walked over to the bedroom door. He turned his head slightly to catch his boyfriend staring longingly at his ass. He rolled his eyes and left the room. They walked to the front door and exited the apartment.

“What would I owe you?” Lance asked as he watched Keith lock up the place. Keith glanced over at him before focusing back on the door to finish up. He stepped back when he was done and started walking in the direction of the parking lot.

“Hmm…Kisses.”

“Kisses?”

“Yes. That’s what you’d owe me.”

“Don’t I already give you those? And for free?”

They came to a stop beside Keith’s motorbike. He handed Lance a helmet, holding his own under his arm.

“Yeah, but I can never get enough,” Keith said with a smirk, putting on his helmet and settling onto the vehicle. Lance blinked twice, face heating up as he quickly put on his own helmet and hopped onto the motorbike, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. He muttered softly under his breath about how unfairly hot Keith was and rested his head on his boyfriend’s back.

It wasn’t long before they reached their destination. The town’s local coffee shop was buzzing with life despite it being the early hours of the day. When they entered the shop, Lance immediately spotted his best friend, shouting out happily as many heads turned at the noise he made. He smiled brightly when Hunk stood up and met him halfway, leaping into his friend’s arms. Hunk twirled him around with a laugh.

“Hey buddy!” Hunk greeted, setting him back down. Then, he nodded over at Keith with a smile. Lance turned his head slightly to catch Keith returning it.

“So, where’s the others?” Lance asked as he plopped down into a seat. Hunk shook his head and sat down across from him. The table was a bit small and only two chairs were available. He glanced at Keith and motioned towards a chair at an empty table. His boyfriend nodded and went to retrieve a chair for himself. Lance surveyed the coffee shop to realize most of the larger tables and booths were taken up already. Hopefully the shop would clear out by the time their other friends arrived. If not, they’d have to drag one of the other smaller tables over and steal some chairs.

“I don’t know,” Hunk replied, looking anxious. “There must be something going on. Allura is never late. For Pidge, it’s understandable for a little tardiness since time flies pass her without her even realizing. And Shiro? He’s rarely ever late…I mean, that one time where he was stuck in traffic…and that other time where he got distracted by—”

Keith had left to grab a drink for Lance and himself the moment Hunk began speaking. He was heading back over to their table when he caught the tail end of Hunk’s anxious rambling.

“Hey, hey. Calm down, big guy. They’re probably just caught up with work or something,” Keith said as he placed his drink on the table and handed Lance the other.

“Thanks,” Lance mumbled to his boyfriend. He looked over at Hunk and smiled reassuringly. “They’ll be here soon enough.”

It wasn’t even five minutes later that Lance felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and almost dropped the device when his phone shook from a few more vibrations. He raised an eyebrow in confusion and entered his passcode (y0rack) to view his latest messages.

“Oh. Well, now we know why they didn’t come,” Lance stated, passing his phone over to Hunk. He watched fondly as his boyfriend leaned towards his best friend in an attempt to catch sight of what was on it.

“I knew that guy was no good,” Hunk huffed, passing his phone back. Lance nodded and put his phone in the pocket of his jacket.

“You could say that again.”

“Do you mind sharing the news maybe?” Keith asked moodily. Lance rolled his eyes, and reached over to grab his hand. His boyfriend softened at the touch.

“Lotor cornered Allura on the streets, and long, badass story short: she kicked his ass. Shiro was on his way here when he got caught up in that mess. And apparently Pidge was with Allura when it started and was cheering her on,” Hunk explained.

“Allura said she’ll explain more on movie night,” Lance added.

“So, they aren’t coming?” Keith questioned with a tilt of his head. Lance followed the swaying motion of his boyfriend’s mullet with his eyes. The hand not held within Keith’s twitched with the urge to reach out and touch.

“Nope. Police got involved and it seems like things will take a bit longer to settle,” Hunk said.

The three of them spent half an hour chatting and drinking before Hunk got a call from Shay and had to leave. Keith excused himself to go to the bathroom, leaving Lance on his own. The teen closed his eyes and listened to the soft melodic music playing in the coffee shop. He hadn’t realized they were playing music until then, too distracted by their conversation. However, now that he had his eyes closed and was focusing on the soothing tune, he couldn’t help but breathe in deeply and feel a bit lost in just feeling. A hand rested on his shoulder causing Lance to open his eyes and tilt his head back.

“You ready to go, baby?”

Keith pulled his hand away from his shoulder as Lance nodded, instead reaching over to grab the younger man’s left hand. Lance intertwined their fingers with a soft smile on his face.

“Home?”

“Yeah,” Keith said as Lance stood up and pushed his chair in close to the table. The two of them exited the coffee shop and headed towards Keith’s motorcycle. Lance watched as some cars pulled into and out of the parking lot. An elderly couple was exiting one of the parked cars, both with cheerful grins and loving gazes. The woman placed a kiss on the man’s cheek, whispering something into his ear. The man let out a loud questioning sound that drew the attention of people nearby, but the woman just giggled in response. They seemed happy together, and looking at them made a warm bubbly feeling swell in his chest. It was always nice to see people being happy together whether they were friends, families, or lovers.

“Here.” Keith grabbed his attention by handing him a helmet. They let go of each other’s hand to put their helmets on. Keith got onto his motorcycle and turned his head towards Lance. “Come on. I want my promised kisses accompanied by some cuddling.”

Lance smirked playfully, climbing on behind Keith and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. “That’ll cost you an extra fifty cents, sir.”

Keith chuckled as he started up the bike. The ride home passed by quickly with Lance distracted by daydreams of Keith, the warmth of their home, and the shiny ring he found in one of Keith’s drawers. He didn’t even realize that they were parked until Keith grabbed both of his hands in his own, pulling Lance’s arms from around the older man’s muscular chest. He leapt off his motorcycle, and watched Lance stumble off after him. Lance removed his helmet and handed it to his boyfriend, smiling as the man shuffled around with the items as he secured them to the motorcycle. When his mullet-haired boyfriend turned back towards him, Lance reached out to grab his hand. They walked back to their apartment in a peaceful silence, their connected hands swinging between them.

When they entered their apartment, Lance broke away from his boyfriend to dash to the bedroom. He heard Keith huff out a rather loud “wait for me,” followed by heavy footsteps resounding close behind him. He felt Keith’s breath on his neck before he felt strong arms wrap around his waist. Lance released a squeal as he was lifted into the air.

“Keith!”

The older man just grunted in response as he carried them to the bed, crashing down onto the soft mattress. Lance felt a bit of pain when Keith basically crushed him into an embrace. He pushed Keith until he managed to rearrange them into a more comfortable position—their heads rested on the fluffed pillows, their legs intertwined, one of Keith’s arms under Lance’s head while the other draped over his waist, one of Lance’s hands resting atop of Keith’s on his waist while the other pressed against Keith’s chest, their noses just barely touching, and their breaths mingling—and then he licked his lower lip, smiling slightly when Keith’s eyes followed the motion.

“My promised kiss?” Keith asked, eyes still targeting Lance’s lips. Lance leaned forward slightly to place a chaste kiss to his boyfriend’s chapped lips. He pulled away slightly, Keith chasing after him to steal another, longer kiss. When they finally pulled apart, Lance breathed out a dazed sigh.

“Tomorrow, we stay in?”

Keith didn’t even hesitate before he answered, “Yeah.”

Lance felt his body become heavy with tiredness from a long week, his eyes fluttering as he fought to stay awake. Keith seemed to notice, leaning in until the tips of their noses touched.

“Sleep, Lance.”

“Mmm…Kay. Goodnight, Keith. I love you,” Lance mumbled, eyes sliding shut. He felt Keith press a kiss to his forehead.