#flashback sequence

Extra:

Roman had greeted him at the door, of course, with Virgil already standing beside him with an arm around his waist and the couple had offered Logan something to drink. It was strange, seeing Virgil fairly comfortable in such a crowded atmosphere, as such a thing usually would be quite the fight with Virgil’s heightened anxiety. But Logan supposes that by Roman’s side, Virgil felt a lot less vulnerable. It was nice, seeing his emo friend coming out of his shell, but it couldn’t take away from the fact that he was alone at a party he didn’t wish to be at.

He’d spoken with the couple briefly, as well as caught up with Patton and Janus. That was strange, too, seeing the two of them together so intimate, all things considered. Janus’s presence in the friend group for a long time was almost nonexistent. Janus and Virgil had been in a relationship some time ago that had turned rather sour. Logan didn’t know the particulars as to why, nor was it any of his business, but they all hadn’t gotten along with Janus very well for quite some time. He was known quite infamously for being a deceitful, lying person and was not welcomed in their presence.

But with time, it seemed that the old wounds between Virgil and Janus had healed for the most part and everyone was beginning to give him a chance. Logan had never had any particularly ill-feelings about Janus. He supposed wearing gloves all the time was a little strange, and there was that one time where Janus had impersonated him for a prank, but for the most part Logan was okay with him. Additionally, he made Patton happy, happier than Logan had seen him in such a long time and Logan could find no issue with that. Having known Patton for as long as Roman and Virgil, it was quite nice to see how Patton warmed up to Janus and eventually cultivated a romantic relationship with him.

Despite how sickly sweet the two couples are, they paid very little attention to Logan, spending time with one another and socializing with the other guests. Logan found himself standing alone in the kitchen, nursing half of a bear that he didn't particularly like before he felt a rather hard tap on his shoulder.

He turned around to see Remus grinning widely at him, clad in the most hideous neon-green shorts, a black sequin shirt with puffy sleeves and dark green flip-flops. Needless to say, it wasn't the wildest thing Logan’s seen him wear.

“Hello Remus. I wasn’t aware you were in attendance.” He attempted to smoother the gratefulness that seeps into his tone, but to no avail. Remus’s grin only seemed to broaden.

“Oh, I wasn’t invited,” Remus announced proudly, pulling himself up onto the counter so that he was sat beside Logan and had a better vantage point to fiddle with his tie. Logan pushed Remus’s hands away and smoothed out his tie. “I thought crashing my bro-bro’s party would be fun but what a bore this is! I’m so bored I could light myself on fire!”

It didn't surprise Logan that Remus wasn’t invited, seeing as his and Roman’s relationship was so fractured, but he didn't comment on it.

“That doesn’t sound like a very good idea,” Logan replied. Remus huffed.

“You’re no fun!”

“That’s interesting, seeing as I seem to recall you having a great deal of fun when we went to the science museum.”

“Well –,” Logan didn't fail to take in the adorable, err, intriguing way that Remus struggled to come up with a response, his face squeezed up in an exasperated expression, “Well that’s different! The museum was fun, not you!”

“Right, of course,” Logan said, knowing Remus was lying through his teeth, “how foolish of me.”

“Exactly. Speaking of fun, it doesn’t look like you were having too much of it before I showed up,” and oh, there was a delectable look in Remus’s eyes as he said it.

Logan wasn't an idiot, he knew there was a spark between them. Remus flirted shamelessly; then again, Remus flirted with everyone. But it felt different with him, more-sincere.

“You know me.”

“I do.”

“Parties aren’t my scene. Roman invited me, and I did not wish to hurt his feelings by not attending.” Remus pressed a pointed finger to Logan’s nose, a teasing smile painted on his face as Logan felt heat flush over his neck.

“Boop!” Remus chimed, pressing his finger again, knowing Logan wouldn’t let anyone else be so up in his personal space. Remus liked that.

“You ever told my brother we talk?” Logan noted that Remus doesn’t say “we’re friends.” He said talk and talk, well, that could mean so many things.

“No, I don’t believe I’ve mentioned it,” – Logan’s fully aware he’d never mentioned it –, “I suppose I figured that you two have a troubled enough relationship as it is.” Remus cocked an eyebrow.

“And you figure you’d trouble it more?”

“I…well…I don’t –.”

“Oh, stop sputtering, Nerdy Wolverine. Doesn’t matter anyway, this way it’ll be a lot easier to fool around with you a little without Roman suspecting a thing.” Now that brought the color out in Logan’s cheeks. He cleared his throat, keen to notice the look of satisfaction that brought Remus. While Logan was not always too keen to pick up when someone was flirting with him, it’s impossible to miss it with Remus. Subtlety really wasn't his forte.

“Very funny,” he chose to say, his brain failing to come up with a more suitable answer, deciding instead to change the subject, “Are you going to get something to drink?”

“Nah,” Remus responded, surprising Logan a great deal, “Me and alcohol don’t really mix all too well.”

“Oh, really? I can’t help but be surprised with that. I was under the impression that you’d enjoy drinking.” Remus’s lip quirked in a lopsided smile as he shruged his shoulders.

“Yeah, you’d think so. But nope, it kind of tends to bring out the worst of my behavior. Not to say that I’m not a bit of a handful most of the time.” Logan couldn't help but smirk at that.

“A bit?”

“Fine, I’m a lot of a handful all of the time,” – Remus punctuated the “lot” by making a squeezing motion in front of his chest as if he were clutching a pair of invisible breasts – “I don’t see you complaining.”

“Not most of the time, I suppose.” Remus chuckled.

“Right. But anyway, the last time I got really, really wasted I climbed up on the roof and decided jumping from it into the pool was a real swell idea.” Although the idea of Remus doing such a thing wasn't by any means surprising, it’s still incredibly upsetting to contemplate. He could have been so severalty injured.

“My god.”

“Yeah, it was pretty wild ‘cuz I actually made it in the water. But if I hadn’t? I woulda splat all over the pavement.” Logan crinkled his nose.

“That’s not a very pleasant image.”

“Just my blood and guts everywhere, all goopy on the pavement.”

“Remus –.”

“You think maybe my head might’ve turned the other way around? Or, or if I woulda broken all my bones and my arms and legs would have been all bent this way and that way and –.”

“Remus!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop,” Remus said before grabbing Logan’s hand. “Hey, this party stinks. You wanna hang out outside? I don’t think there’s anybody out there.”

Honestly, the offer was quite tempting. Logan had barely gotten a word in with his other friends and he had just been considering calling it a night before Remus bumped into him. Additionally, Remus wasn't exactly on the guest list and it wouldn’t be odd to imagine Roman being a bit irritated to see his brother in his home.

“Sure, I suppose that sounds adequate,” Logan answered, certainly not because the idea of spending some alone time with Remus is compelling. No, that isn’t it at all, he merely wants to escape the part atmosphere.

“Goodie!” Remus declared vociferously, hopping off of the counter with more force than necessary. Before Logan could even grab the drink he’d been nursing that he did’t particularly want, Remus dragged him through the living room. A few of the party-goers did a double take, most definitely at Remus’s appalling outfit, Logan certainly can’t blame them. But as they push open the sliding-glass door to the backyard, Logan is emediately elated to see the backyard empty, just as Remus had said.

“What’d I tell ya? Nobody’s around,” Remus grinned devilishly before letting go of Logan’s hand – Logan most certainly didn’t miss the lack of contact immediately – and all but collapsed in the grass. Logan sighed at the antics of his friend, watching him pretend to make Snow Angels on the lawn before deciding to lay beside him, ignoring how dirty it would get his clothes. That’s what always seems to happen when Logan spends time with Remus, he momentarily forgot things like how filthy he might get, or silly he might look, or feel. Remus, knowingly or not, made Logan let his walls down.

“Too bad we can’t see any stars out,” Remus said after a brief moment of silence, as Remus was almost never silent, “I bet you could tell me a bunch of nerdy facts about the stars.”

“Well,” Logan said, suddenly feeling strangely nervous as Remus’s fingers brushed against his own, “I suppose, that is to say if you wanted to, we could go to the planetarium together sometime.”

“If I…wanted to?” Remus repeated questioningly. Logan averted eye-contact, casting his gaze to the Star-absent heavens.

“Yes,” Logan said, and though he wasn't looking he could practically see the smile that was spreading across his friend’s face, “If you wanted to. I know I tend to, uh, nerd-out, as you or Roman might say, when it comes to those things. But knowing the conversations we’ve had, I suppose we both nerd out about a lot of –.”

“You know I like you, right?”

Any of the words Logan had intended on saying come to a grinding halt as his eyes suddenly met Remus’s.

“I-I…uh…”

It isn’t as though Logan wasn’t aware of that. Remus had been making it fairly evident for some time, he just hadn’t expected it to be blurted out so brazenly. Looking back on that, though, he shouldn’t have expected anything different. Remus was a shameless, bold man who always said what he thought regardless of what ridicule might come of that.

“I like you a lot,” Remus continued, flipping on his side that their lips were only inches apart and Logan could feel Remus’s breath on his face. “And I know I can be a real pain in the ass. But you make me feel really special, Logan. Almost no one makes me feel special anymore, and it’s been so long since I really felt this way about someone, but I like you.”

Logan wondered if the light in the backyard is dim enough to hide the blush that’s crept over his face, but knowing his luck, probably not. Logan felt himself beginning to shudder, a nervous response that’s so unlike his usual self. His breath hitched but Remus gives him time to collect his thoughts, a small kindness that isn’t lost on him.

“I…I like you too,” Logan admited finally, “I like you quite a bit, Remus.”

It would be a lie to say that Logan hadn’t thought of what kissing Remus might be like. He’d been imagining it quite a lot lately, but this didn’t quite fit the bill. He was expecting it to be rough, somewhere edging on violent, with far too much teeth. That isn’t to say that it was gentle, either. As Logan’s lips interlocked with Remus’s his friend returned the gesture enthusiastic, his hands suddenly all over Logan and mustache tickling his upper-lip just slightly. Tangled in his hair, roaming down his waist. It was open-mouthed, and hot and driven by more passion than Logan would have given himself credit for, but with as heated as the osculation is, Logan found himself overwhelmed by the tenderness that seeps through.

And when Logan found himself pinning Remus into the grass, his hair mussed up and eyes shining with infatuation, his hands straddling Remus’s waist, Logan couldn't help but grin.

“Oh, Dragonfly,” and oh heavens, Remus had certainly never called him that before because he liked that, “I could get used to you on top of me.” Logan kissed him again, strong and unyielding, feeling all sense of his usual composure slip away.

Remus isn’t the man he was expecting, or even looking for at all, but now that he was here he couldn't seem to imagine any other possibility. All intentions of staying for the duration of the party fell away as Logan climbed off of Remus and stumbled to his feet, high off of the pleasure, and the enjoyment and all of the many, seemingly irrational feelings that flooded his mind. Usually, such an infiltration of strong emotion and the dizziness that they cause would terrify Logan but now he wasn't scared. He was thrilled.

“In that vein of thinking,” he said breathlessly, offering Remus a hand as he helped him to his feet, “Maybe we should continue this back at my place?” The flash in Remus’s eyes was positively devious.

“What? You don’t want to continue this here? Think of all the people who could walk out and see us?” Logan sputtered for a moment before seeing the teasing expression on Remus’s face.

“I’m kidding! Come on, nerd. Let’s blow this pop-stand.”

Remus held his hand tight as they walked through the yard and slipped out the back-gate, Logan’s mind running circles as they made it to his car. Logan was overjoyed for taking Roman up on his invitation, to not go to this party would have been a grave mistake.

“Is it really that weird to you?” Keith asked.

Shiro eased himself onto the edge of Keith's bed, trying not to jostle his schoolwork too much. “A little. It's a good weird, though. You've got to remember, the last time Matt and I were home was back in winter when the two of you started a food fight during Christmas dinner.”

“Katie started the food fight,” Keith corrected.

Shiro raised an eyebrow.

Keith sighed. “And I went along with it. And ruined dinner.”

“Ruined is a bit of a strong word.”

“I threw a handful of peas at Mr. Holt,” Keith reminded him.

“And Katie threw mashed potatoes at mom. Luckily, they both thought it was funny,” Shiro said. “But seriously, Matt and I thought you two were going to kill each other before the new year. We even considered holding an intervention. So to come back and find you not only getting along, but dating as well? It's a little concerning.”

Keith furrowed his brow in confusion. “You're worried about us?”

“I'm just trying to understand how this happened,” Shiro explained. “Is it just because the two of you are working together on this Hunk and Lance thing or-?”

“No,” Keith bluntly interrupted. “It's more than that. I really like her, Shiro. Maybe we started out like that—just working together to try and help our friends—but it's different now. I don't know how to explain it.” He looked away and fell quiet, uncomfortable trying to express his feelings, even to Shiro.

Shiro let his posture relax. He recognized the signs of his little brother trying to retreat from their conversation and knew not to keep pressing. “So, have you got any plans for the summer.”

He did, but he wasn't sure how much he should tell Shiro about them. Keith knew he and Katie would have to tell someone about their plans, but it'd be better to wait until they had a better idea of exactly where they were going. He settled for the vague answer: “A few.”

“Do... do you think you could find time in your busy schedule to come see the apartment I'm renting?”

Keith frowned. “But I thought you and Matt were staying in the dorms for another year. You two get tired of being roommates?” He watched his brother shake his head and started to realize he was witnessing something he rarely got to see.

Shiro was nervous.

Shiro took a deep breath in and then slowly let it out. “I'm going to ask Allura to move in with me.”

Keith quickly sat up a little straighter, his blue-violet eyes wide in surprise. “You're—wait, you're serious? Already?”

“We've been together for two years. Is it really that much of a shock?” Shiro looked worried. “Maybe you're right. It is a little soon. We've only talked about it once or twice, but it was only a possibility for the future. She's probably already gone to look into dorms...”

“Even if she has, it doesn't mean she's already requested one. What if she's waiting to see if you'll ask? Just talk to her about it. See what she has to say,” Keith suggested.

Shiro nodded, looking a little more sure of his choice. “Yeah, I will.” He stood and made his way to the door, where he paused. “Hey, Keith, one more question?”

“Sure.”

“You're not taking anyone to prom, right? Since Katie is going with Lance?” He asked, just to double-check.

Keith scowled at the reminder. “That's right.”

“Allura's really pushing for the school to make an exception so I can take her, but I don't think they're going to budge on the age restrictions. Would you take her for me? I know she's been looking forward to going, otherwise I wouldn't ask.”

“I...” Keith almost said 'no'. It just sounded like a bad idea. But Allura was his friend, and while it'd be awkward, at least they could keep each other company. “Alright, Shiro, I'll ask your girlfriend to prom. Since my girlfriend is going with her best friend, because he and my best friend are too chicken to talk to each other!” He threw up his hands in exasperation. “Senior year sure is great!”

Shiro chuckled as he walked away.

Once his brother was gone, Keith flopped back down on his bed and rearranged his study notes until they were they way he had them before. He stared at the pages without really reading any of the words for a few long minutes before giving up and reaching over to grab his phone to send a short message to Katie.

Just had an interesting talk with Shiro.

It didn't take long before he received a text back.

From: Katie | Probably not as interesting as the one I'm having with Lance over skype right now. Currently: “We should perform the cha cha slide at prom”

Keith chuckled. Sounds entertaining. Hey, quick question: what are the odds I could convince Lance to ask Allura to prom instead of you?

From: Katie | Alarmingly high. Do not recommend.

From: Katie | I thought she was going with Shiro. Did something happen?

Just the usual. Shiro's over the age limitation and not even Allura has the influence to get the school to change its mind. He just asked me if I wouldn't mind taking her.

It took Katie a few minutes to reply. In the mean time, Keith read over his notes and scribbled a few additions in the margins of the paper.

From: Katie | Awkward.

From: Katie | Speaking of, Lance keeps asking why I keep looking at my phone and smiling. I'm tempted to tell him I'm texting Hunk. Just to see him freak out.

Better yet, tell him you're texting your boyfriend.

He could hear the sudden bark of Katie's laughter through his open window. Keith sat back up and was amused to find she'd done the same with hers. For a moment he toyed with the idea of getting up to stand at his window and make weird faces until she or Lance noticed. Either that or he could write rude signs and hold them up.

From: Katie | He'd never believe that for a second.

Secret boyfriend.

From: Katie | Even less believable, however true.

It's still not too late to come clean and tell them. Though at this point even Hunk would think we're faking it just to get them together. Keith sent the message and then thought of a good addition, which he quickly typed up. Why are our friends so dumb?

From: Katie | I've asked myself that every day since third grade and I still don't have the answer. Also, we'll have to at least tell them by summer. Because it's just a matter of time before Lance finds out I plan on spending part of vacation camping with you in the woods of Galra County, searching for a giant purple monster-cat

I almost told Shiro about that earlier. I figured I should wait until we actually plan out what we're doing.

From: Katie | He probably would handle it better than anyone else.

Or we tell no one and just fill them in after the fact.

From: Katie | And mom thinks YOU'RE the good influence of the two of us. She has no idea you're the rebellious one.

That's me. The rebel.

From: Katie | Lance is now annoyed that I'm spending more time texting than I am talking to him. I've gotten a whole string of frowny faces in chat. I think he's sulking.

I'll let you go, but I have one last thing to tell you.

From: Katie | Okay, what is it?

Shiro's going to ask Allura to move in with him.

The shriek of surprise from the next house over made Keith grin. He tossed his phone aside and refused to answer any of the texts sent to him. Every buzz of the device brought him closer and closer to giving in to laughter, knowing the lack of response was driving his girlfriend crazy.

It took Katie a grand total of five minutes before she shouted: “I'll help you form a conga line the day you ask Hunk on a date! Now goodbye, Lance!”

Minutes later, he heard the front door open, a confused murmur from his dad, and the sound of footsteps racing up the stairs before Katie appeared in his doorway, her face flushed and her hair looking surprisingly unkempt.

“You!” She gasped.

“Me,” Keith agreed.

“You can't just text that to a person and then not respond!” Pidge crossed the room and joined him on the bed, looking more excited and out of breath than angry. “So it's finally happening?”

Keith nodded. “Before the fall. He already has a place picked out.”

Pidge smiled. “Allura's going to be so happy! She didn't look at all that thrilled when she was talking about the girls dorms at Galaxy U. I haven't even bothered looking into them for myself since then. Not even the co-ed.” She sighed. “Talking about it with Lance is near impossible. We've always talked about how cool it'd be to be roommates, but he's so convinced he won't get accepted anywhere and keeps changing the subject! What about you and Hunk?”

“Hunk's cousin suggested a place. It's off campus, but they offer specifically to students. Decent price, decent lodgings. I think we're going to go for it,” Keith said with a shrug. “I can get the number for you, if you're interested.”

“Absolutely! Imagine if the four of us end up living in the same building,” Pidge said excitedly.

“At least then we'd have more time to sneak around and try and get those two to talk.”

Pidge groaned in despair. “Oh no, don't say that. I don't actually like hiding the fact that we're dating, you know. What we need is an end date for this. A deadline. And at the end of that, whether we've succeeded or not, we tell everyone.”

Keith thought for a moment. “Prom?”

“Sounds good to me,” Pidge agreed. “Now, we just need to come up with an idea... Do you have anything new?”

“No, not...” Keith cut his sentence short as a thought came to him. It was sneaky and more than a little underhanded, but they were getting desperate. “I think I have something, but it's more of a last resort sort of thing.”

Pidge eyed him with suspicion. “It doesn't involve any kind of closet, does it?”

Keith chuckled. “No closet, but it might take some time to set up. In the mean time, if you have any ideas...”

“Not yet, but I'll think of something,” Pidge said confidently.

With that settled, the two ignored the papers strewn about the bed to get in a little cuddle time.

Later, after Pidge headed back across the lawn to her house, Keith cleaned up the paperwork strewn across his bed and thought back to the first time he'd really taken notice of his girlfriend. It hadn't changed his mind about hating her at the time; it was simply a glimpse of the girl he would one day come to care so much for.

-10 Years Earlier-

Keith knew the signs.

The way conversations went quiet or abruptly ended when he walked into the room. The way the adults would greet him with such sweetness in their voice before sending him off to play. The frequent phone calls.

It wasn't the first time he'd been relocated to a new foster home.

Well, he wasn't going to stick around where he wasn't wanted.

He waited until the sun had set and then put his plan into action, packing a small bag with the few things he felt comfortable with calling his own, along with the bit of food he'd smuggled into “his” room over the week.

When he was sure no one was paying attention, Keith sneaked downstairs, slid open one of the unlocked windows, and climbed out into the darkness.

The grass felt strangely comforting beneath his bare feet.

Shouldering his small bag, he set out across the lawn, keeping away from well-lit areas the best he could. It was as he crossed over into the Holt's property—the shortest distance to the forest (a patch of trees)—that things began to go awry for him.

“Are you running away?” A high-pitched voice cut through the silent air.

Keith startled so badly he nearly dropped his bag. Readjusting his grip, he spun around in search of the owner of the voice. That was when he spotted Katie Holt in her pajamas, sitting on the picnic table in her yard, holding a squirming puppy.

He scowled at her. “Mind your own business!”

Katie just looked at him. No judgment. No glares. “You shouldn't run away. That would make people sad.”

Keith scoffed and started walking away. “No one would be sad. They don't want me, so I'm leaving.”

“That's dumb.” Katie lowered her gaze to the puppy in her arms. “Shiro would be sad. And if he's sad, then Matt's sad. And then I will be too. So you shouldn't run away.”

Keith slowed to a stop and then turned to look at her again. “You'd... you'd really be sad?”

“I guess,” Katie said with a shrug.

He thought hard for a moment, awkwardly shuffling his feet in the grass. A full autumn moon hung suspended in the sky, bathing everything in pale light. Katie seemed to glow, like some sort of strange, ethereal creature.

Keith looked down at the ground, a fierce debate waging in his mind. After a few intense minutes, he came to a decision. “Just so you know, I'm not staying because of you!”

“Good,” she replied, hopping up from the picnic table. Without another word, she walked back into her own house.

Keith stood there for a moment longer, midway between his house and the trees (which looked more foreboding than he initially thought), and then turned and went back the way he came.

For the first time, he had no idea what he was doing. He couldn't approach Hunk like he did everyone else. Hunk deserved something more special than his usual cheesy pick-up lines. And he couldn't bring himself to ask Pidge (or anyone else) for help, no matter how many times she offered.

Lance rolled over on his back and stared up at the ceiling. One thing was for certain: he was running out of time.

One Year Before

(Junior Year, May)

“I told you, it's for my progra—look, we'll be done soon. And then we can hang out whenever you want, okay?” Pidge said, sounding exasperated.

Lance crossed his arms over his chest, looking none-too-happy about what was happening. “So who's this 'Hunk' guy you have to work with? Is he one of those awful car guys who rev their engines in the parking lots all the time? 'cuz I hate those guys.”

“He's not one of those guys,” Pidge assured him. “Hunk's... kind of sweet, actually. And a better partner for this project than I could have dreamed of. Except he keeps bringing food and getting crumbs all over my notes. You'd like him, Lance. He loves to cook, and you love to eat! It's a match made in heaven.”

“Ha ha,” Lance said dryly. “I'll have you know that I have standards, and I only love good food.”

“Well then, you're in luck. His food is some of the best I've ever eaten,” Pidge teased. “But seriously, it's only two more weeks and then we present our project. After that, I'm all yours.”

“Aww,” Lance batted his eyelashes.

Pidge rolled her eyes and gently shoved him. As she did that, she caught sight of someone over his shoulder and lifted her hand in a small wave.

Lance righted himself as he turned to look and see who she was waving to. He'd assumed it was Allura until he saw the dark hair and yellow shirt of a boy in their grade, just before he vanished around the corner. It took him a moment to process that Pidge was waving to the best friend of Keith Shirogane, her personal nemesis. (And to a lesser degree, Lance's number one rival in everything.)

“That's Hunk,” Pidge explained.

Lance looked flabbergasted. “Really? Mullet's friend? Hes the one who's your partner? And you haven't complained about him once! Well, aside from the crumbs on your notes thing. And... AND you have the nerve to suggest that's we're—what was it you said? Soul mates?”

“A match made in heaven.”

“Same thing!” Lance made a show out of reaching out to touch her forehead with the back of his hand. “Are you feeling alright?”

Pidge brushed his hand aside. “Quit that. I'm fine. Now lets get to class before you make us late again.”

“Hey! Last time was your fault, not mine!”

Lance didn't think much about Hunk as he threw all of his energy and focus into studying for final exams. Every now and then, he'd catch a glimpse of the other boy from the corner of his eyes, but there was always something (or someone) there to distract him. It was only months later, as summer vacation waned and everything became preparing for going back to school, that he had a dream.

It wasn't something he was unfamiliar with. Lance had had a lot of dreams about a lot of people.

Pidge was in most of them. Usually she was just hanging around, making sarcastic comments or being the single voice of reason in an otherwise bizarre and confusing world. Which, if he was being honest, wasn't all that different from how she was in real life.

Allura had been in a few. At first, those dream had been of a more romantic nature, but as time wore on and his crush faded, she became just a friendly face featured in his dreams.

Then there had been that one involving Keith... He preferred not to think about that one. (Keith may have been his eternal rival, but he was pretty, okay? Lance was comfortable admitting that much.)

His dream about Hunk hadn't been so different from any of those.

Except he had it again the next night. And then another a few nights later. And then another and another, until he found himself dwelling on those dreams during the day.

By the time they began their senior year of high school, Lance was nursing the tiniest bit of a crush on a boy he'd never spoken to. It was something small and manageable and he knew better than to try and pursue it. His crushes never lasted and he wasn't going to try and start something that would only cause problems.

Lance spent three months trying to convince himself he didn't actually like Hunk. All the while, his dreams persisted, occasionally crossing over into daydreams that left him dazed and distracted during class.

“Lance,” Pidge whispered, poking her friend with the eraser end of her pencil. She got no response, so she spoke his name a little louder. “Lance.”

He lifted his head and blinked blearily, chasing away the fog filling his mind. “Huh?”

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “Is everything okay? You've been way more of a space case than usual.”

“Uh, yeah. Yup. I'm good. Why wouldn't I be okay? I'm great!” Lance rambled, avoiding meeting her eyes. “Where were we again? Question five?”

“Three,” Pidge corrected. She set down her pencil and stared at Lance. Keeping her voice low, she said: “Are you sure nothing's bothering you? You can tell me, you know that, right?”

Lance flashed her a grin. “Of course! Are we going to finish this or what?”

Pidge stared at him for a moment longer and then sighed and went along with him. If he wasn't ready to talk, she wasn't going to force it.

Two days later, in the middle of decimating Pidge in a round of their favorite video game (Defenders of the Universe), Lance took her up on her offer to talk.

“I have a crush on Hunk and it's all your fault.”

Pidge went from hunched over, glaring at the screen, furiously punching at the buttons on her controller, to sitting up and staring at Lance in shock, controller gripped loosely in her hands. “I... what? Wait, Hunk as in Hunk Garret? Who was my partner last year? Keith's friend? How is that my fault?!”

Lance continued to play, never once looking away from the screen. “Well, y'know. You were all like 'Hunk's a great partner! You'd love him, Lance!' And... and have you seen him? He's gorgeous! How could I not? Okay, and I know I've never actually talked to him, but I've heard him talk! In class and stuff. And wow, what a voice...”

Pidge's expression softened from disbelief to understanding. “I could introduce you, if you'd like.”

“No!” Lance blurted out in mild panic. “I mean, uh, nah. I got this! Besides, it's just a dumb crush. We don't need to make a big deal about it.”

“Maybe, but I've never seen you get like this over anyone. Not even Allura.” Pidge made a half-hearted attempt at sniping Lance's character, but fell off the wall she was perched on instead. She scowled at the screen, her fingers rapidly tapping buttons in an attempt to recover.

Lance quietly sniped her the moment her head rose back over the wall.

Pidge sulked while waiting for her respawn period to end. “If you change your mind, let me know. It doesn't even have to be a 'Hey, Hunk, I've got a friend who really likes you!' sort of thing. We can play it cool. Like, 'Hey, Hunk, wanna hang out with me and my best friend?' See? Completely covert.”

“Yeah...” Lance murmured. “Thanks, Pidge.”

She smiled. “Anytime.”