The longer the season went on, the less it hurt when they didn’t show. His mom, and some of his siblings would, and that’s what really matters. Some of his friends from class did, and that was nice. And his team was always there to keep his head in the game. He was grateful to have become close to so many of them.

Everything was going great, at least he thought they were.

They were having one of their study sessions in Shiro’s room, Keith and Lance studying chemistry while Shiro, Matt and Allura were studying for their Calculus 3 exam, and pidge and hunk doing some lab report for their molecular biology class. Keith was having trouble with one of the problems, huffing loudly every time he got stuck.

“You okay, man?” Lance asked, looking up from his notes.

Keith huffed again, “Yeah, I just can’t get past this fucking thing, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

Lance leaned over to look at the problem, the lightbulb in his head lighting up full force when he recognized the question. He spent the next few minutes explaining to Keith how to approach the problem and walking him through it before Pidge interrupted.

“I thought you sucked at Chem!”

Lance laughed, “I do, but I had the same trouble with it, and my tutor taught me how to do it.”

“Since when did you get a tutor? I thought they were all too expensive?” Keith asked

“Um...the baseball team pays for a tutor for whatever class you need.”

“Wait,” it was Shiro this time, “You’re on the baseball team?” the entire room looked at Lance with a mixture of confusion and shock.

Lance reached up and rubbed the back of his neck before sighing, “Yeah, I told you guys the day the list came out.” he said simply, he didn’t know why, but he was starting to feel a little embarrassed about the situation. So he kept his eyes from looking directly at anyone. “I..um...even invited you guys to a few games at the start of the season…”

Pidge broke out into a fit of laughter, “What? No you didn’t!”

He didn’t mean to wince at her outburst, but he couldn’t help it. It hurt. And he was ashamed that he was able to show it so easily in front of his friends.

“Yeah, I did. You said something along the lines of ‘but it's literally soooo boring’” Lance let his shoulders sag before pulling his phone out of his sweater pocket and checking the time. “Honestly, its no big deal, but I do have to go. Got practice before the game tonight.” he quickly packed up his stuff and made a hasty retreat from Shiro’s room, mumbling his goodbyes.

The group sat in the silence for a few too many seconds. Their eyes trained on the door that their friend all but ran out of. How did none of them realize it? How did they not know? Lance, the guy who literally never stops talking, who’s so excited to share his most recent life update. If what he said was true, then what kind of friends were they?

Lance went to as many football and soccer games as he could to support his friends. Was always up for celebrating Pidge’s success, and never failed to congratulate Keith on his recent exam score.

Matt was the first one to speak, “Anyone else get the feeling that we’ve  royally fucked up?”

“What do we do?” his sister asked, it was clear that she was the one who felt the most guilty, she remembered saying just that to Lance. She didn’t mean anything with it, she was just talking, and it was true, she didn’t really like baseball. But he seemed so hurt by it.

Shiro got up and took his phone off of the charger that sat on the other side of his bed.

“Shiro?”

“I’m checking the game schedule.” He said, typing into his phone. “He has a game in two hours.”

Everyone took that as the deciding factor. They were going to continue studying for another hour before heading down to the baseball field. They were finally going to watch their friend play.

It was much too easy for Lance to forget everything that had happened in his friend’s room once practice started. He went through the drills and ran his laps with a clear head, his teammates joking along with him.

He was way too engrossed in practice that he didn’t even notice his friends make their way to some seats behind home plate, snacks in hand.

They watched him through practice, none of them really knowing what was happening.

“They all look the same.” Keith grumbled, “Which one is he?”

Hunk looked at the program he had managed to grab on their way in, “Number 15, damn, apparently he’s starting short stop and plays 2nd and Left field!”

“I’m going to be honest, Hunk” Shiro laughed, “But 90% of us don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Hunk joined in on the laugher, taking a bite out of his warm pretzel which definitely needed more salt “All you guys need to know is he’s really good.”

Hunk was right, once the game started, it was clear that Lance was insanely good. The times that a ball was hit to him, you could count on that guy getting out. He never dropped a catch, all of his throws were precise and even from where they sat, they could hear the power the ball held once it hit the target glove.

“Coming up to the plate, Straight from Varadero Cuba, Shortstop and Second Baseman, #15 Leandro Serrano!”

Hunk leans forward, his attentiveness surging everyone else to do the same as they watched Lance swing his bat a few times before stepping into the box. He swings his bat a few more times keeping his eyes on the pitcher as he finally settles into his stance.

The first pitch was much too low, Lance knew it the moment it left the pitcher’s hands. “Ball” he heard the umpire behind him. He waited patiently, the guy wasn’t throwing hard, and honestly if he wasn’t so focused he probably would have smiled. If the guy were to throw at the right height, he’d have no problem launching the ball out into the outfield bringing in one, maybe even two runs and leaving him on second.

The next pitch was a little outside, but he knew if he were to skip this one it would be counted as a strike anyways. He watched as his bat tipped it and sent the ball flying to the left, never crossing the foul line. He took a step back to shake it off, loosen up his muscles before reentering the box and taking his stance back up. He heard the count, 1-1 as he did so.

Somehow, he knew the next pitch was his. Something in his stomach just told him that no matter what, he had to swing. So he did, timing it perfectly he watched the ball make contact and fly off of his bat. The second it did so, he dropped the bat and ran to first, looking up as he rounded the base just in time to watch the ball completely clear the back fence. He never stopped running as he kissed the necklace that hung around his neck and pointed a number one up to the sky, the stands erupting into complete joyous chaos as player after player crossed home plate safely.

No one was expecting to see something like that. To say that the group of teens were surprised was an understatement. They cheered and remained in awe of their friend, who seemed so in his element on the field. The first two pitches made them anxious, but the third, man the third sent all of them out of their seats as they joined the rest of the stands to celebrate what the announcer stated as a three run homerun.

As the game progressed, it became evident that Lance was one hell of a player, catching three fly balls, starting three double plays, and launching a throw from left field all the way to home, just in the nick of time to get the runner out.

In the end, Altea U won with a score of 8 while University of Galran made out with a measly 2.

The group of friends waited outside the locker rooms, still jittery from the excitement of the game.

“Who was it that said that baseball was boring?” Keith joked, poking the clearly excited Pidge in her side.

“Hey! All I know of baseball comes from the few times I would walk in on my grandpa watching it on TV, and it was definitely boring then!”

A few minutes later, the team exited the locker rooms, still dressed in their uniforms, but in a much more casual way. They quickly spotted Lance, his jersey unbuttoned and showing his light blue undershirt, shouldering his bag, with a bat in hand. He was joking with some other guys as they walked before he heard his name.

 “Lance! Lance!” 

“Yoooo, you guys came?” He walked over to them, no one missed the way his eyes held a different, happier kind of light. 

Everyone took their turns hugging him and congratulating him on his game, and he'd be lying if he said he didn’t feel like crying of happiness right now. His friends were here, they had seen his game, they sat in the stands and watched him play. It was such an unreal feeling. 

“Dude, how come you never told us you were a fucking beast?” Matt all but yelled, pulling Lance into a tight hug. 

“No wonder you guys are undefeated, they had no chance!” Shiro exclaimed, clamping his hand on Lance’s shoulder. 

In the end, they decided to go out for some cheeseburgers in honor of Lance’s win. Everyone hopped into Shiro’s car, and those who didn’t - Keith, went with Lance. They had walked to the car in silence, not completely awkward, but one that Keith at least thought was a little unsettling. But whenever he looked up at Lance, that stupid beaming smile of his, it pushed the uneasiness away.

 “...You know...that first hit...that was awesome” He said, sliding into the passenger seat as Lance put his bag in the trunk. He almost thought the boy did hear him- almost. Lance quickly slid into the driver’s seat, buckled his seat belt and started the car before turning to Keith.

“Thanks man, honestly I’m so glad you guys got to see that!”

 The burger place they chose wasn’t too far, and soon they were all taking a seat at a table, laughing and joking. Lance being his goofball self. He had just told the most obnoxious yet hilarious joke that had the entire table keeling over in laughter when the cashier called his order number. Keith watched as Lance got up and walked to the counter, he hadn’t even noticed what he was doing until Pidge elbowed him in the ribcage.