#voltron blurb

so keith is a truck driver and is usually on the road at aaaalllll hours of the day/night. he’s always tired and exhausted and sometimes doesn’t even get to go home because of where he’s delivering to, resulting in him resting in crappy hotels (paid for by his job), and only getting a few hours of sleep if he can. he’s a very careful truck driver even if he’s surrounded by other reckless, idiot drivers, and takes his job very seriously. although he misses home, he enjoys life on the road and has traveled to some cool places all over the country. and sometimes, he gets to take his giant wolf-dog kosmo with him for company. he brings back cool souvenirs for his friends/family when he does return to his small but cozy home in the desert and doesn’t have too many complaints.

until one morning, as he’s driving on a busy highway, he runs into ‘before work traffic.’ he’s stuck in front of some fancy blue car and the owner is driving like he’s under the influence or something. the owner keeps swerving to the left, sometimes getting honked at, and keith has to drive so slow, most of the time not at all, because the guy stops moving and it’s pretty hard to break when keith isn’t prepared for it AND can barely see the tail of this blue car in his big, tall truck. so keith stays on high alert, praying for anyone to get in between him and this possibly intoxicated weirdo who’s going to cause an accident! things begin looking up when the traffic starts moving smoothly and the a-hole in the blue car starts driving like he means it. and keith can finally begin his cruise to his destination that’s 2 hours away so he can get back home. all cars around him are driving like they should be and keith feels a little of his nerves start to dissipate.

but of course that quickly goes out the window because the fancy blue sports car suddenly slams on their brakes and keith is nowhere near prepared for it. he rear ends the blue car, not too hard but definitely not gentle, which causes him to slam on his own brakes to prevent anymore damage. he hits his forehead on the steering wheel in the process and nearly blacks out.

everything horribly wrong runs through keith’s veins and he proceeds to get over onto the shoulder lane of the highway, following the banged up sports car. keith takes a deep breath and when it’s safe to do so, opens his truck door and climbs out of it. he walks around to the front of his truck, too afraid to look at the damage to the sports car. his truck barely has a scratch.. but it does have the sports car’s goddamn license plate stuck to it..

before keith has the chance to form any kind of apology, a figure is slowly getting out of the sports car. keith’s eyes hesitantly float to the figure. and he’s tall, dark, and handsome. he’s got silky bronze skin and sapphire blue eyes that leave keith hypnotized. great. he feels even more guilty now. wiping his sweaty palms on his dark jeans, keith goes to approach the good looking guy but is immediately stopped by him.

“holy crow!” the guy shouts. keith winces, assuming the obvious. fancy car dented like a can of sardines, license plate damn near glued to keith’s truck like a hood ornament. goodbye job, hello lawsuit. but when keith opens his eyes, he realizes that this godlike guy is staring.. at him. he straightens his posture, and when he goes to speak, the guy speaks over him. “are you alright, man!?”

“m-me?” keith asks like an idiot because of course he’s talking to him. who the fuck else is around!? butterflies ravage around keith’s insides because this sexy piece of art is walking towards him and boldly gripping him by the shoulders, keith has no time to think because this guy’s elegant, angelic scent enraptured keith like a long overdue hug, leaving him infatuated.

“oh dude, you’re bleeding!” the gorgeous guy with the piercing sapphire eyes exclaims. keith can’t be bothered by it though, he’s too busy being shot by cupid’s arrow. this guy has the most perfect skin keith has ever seen, it shines so radiantly in the sun that keith swears he can see his own reflection. getting a good look at him, keith notices how faultless his face is. this guy has the most symmetrical face ever. his nose is long and pretty, and freckles dance along the bridge going from one springy cheek to the other. with a piercing through his septum, decorated with diamonds, keith nearly melts into a puddle. peach fuzz sits just underneath that freckled nose, resting on his plump, pink upper lip and if keith inhales, he can smell the faintest bit of cinnamon, most likely a balm of some sort. his lashes are long and satiny and the way he bats his eyes, keith swears he can feel a tiny breeze coming from them. his hair is a light brown, resting just above his chiseled jawline, extra curly and bouncy from the way the subtle breeze is blowing through it. and those eyes. keith could die in those eyes. he wishes he could wake up to those eyes. there isn’t the slightest bit of imperfections on his godlike face anywhere. no wrinkles or crows feet or old scars. no moles or beauty marks. just.. heaven.

“dude!” a pinch to the arm has keith snapping out of it, dragging him back to the harsh reality that he just rear ended this angel’s expensive ass sports car.

“h-huh?” he says because he doesn’t know how long he was under this guy’s spell and because what are words?

“i said you’re bleeding!” the guy reaches up to keith’s forehead, slightly moving keith’s long, shoulder length hair out of his face, and touching his hairline with two fingers. he pulls them down to keith’s view and low and behold. red. that just about snaps keith back to their current situation and he jumps back, away from the angel.

“jesus!” he yells, holding himself. “i-i’m sorry!”

“for bleeding?” the blue-eyed guy speaks, his voice raspy and deep. “yeah, dude, it’s cool.” he smirks in a devious, yet playful way. keith’s heart sinks to his stomach.

“uh,” keith swallows hard, “f-for hitting on you! i-i mean-!” he babbles, he stutters, he hiccups, “y-your car!! for hitting your car!”

the guy says nothing as keith yaps on and on about insurance and paying for the damages and even apologizing for getting his blood on the guy’s fingers. he can’t stop himself from the word vomit but somehow, mystery man doesn’t seem to care. he just smirks even more until it blends into a smile that keith can’t bother to look at.

his heart falls to his ass now.

“dude?” the guy says, shushing keith. it works. of course it does, keith would shut the fuck up a million times if this guy said to.

“hm..” keith swallows hard.

“i don’t care about the car.”

keith’s mouth falls open. “you don’t!?”

the guys smiles again, so unearthly that keith’s heart is now between his feet.

“no. i only care about the gash in your head.” he chuckles. fuck. “it’s pretty deep. i can go with you to the hospital..”

keith is at a loss for words! this gentleman sent from god just had his fancy, million dollar sports car crushed by keith’s 7,000 pound truck filled with useless mattresses (his delivery this week), and all he cares about is.. keith’s bleeding forehead!?

ain’t no fucking way.

“no!” keith yells and the guys kinda flinches. “i mean! y-your car!! i-! your car is-! i didn’t mean to..”

god, here he goes babbling again. like seriously? it gets the guy smiling AGAIN and keith can’t handle it. who the fuck put this man on the planet???

“sir?” he says. fucking sir. he reaches for keith’s tensed shoulders and keith melts. literally. “relax.” their eyes lock and keith swears he will never look at anything else again because there is nothing on earth that is more captivating.

“o.. kay..” keith nods, looking up at his angel. he’s about 2 inches taller than keith, but that’s alright with him. a light blush fills his nose and soon his cheeks when he realizes how close they are again.

“you seem really distraught by the whole thing. allow me to introduce myself. my name is lance.”

keith nods again, unable to speak because his angel has a name and it’s just as beautiful as him.

“and yours?” lance asks.

“k.. k-keith..” keith forces out.

lance smiles AGAIN for fucks sake, keith is going to be reduced to ashes if he keeps doing that.

“it’s nice to meet you, keith.” lance moves his hands from the top of keith’s shoulders down to his forearms, giving them a gentle, reassuring squeeze. keith would like to step out onto the ongoing traffic that’s still going on beside them because all of this is literally happening on the side of the fucking road!

“mhm.” keith squeaks. like actually. lance removes his hands and keith gets so cold. he moves over to keith’s truck to assess the (nonexistent) damages and almost laughs.

“you know, you really did me a favor,” he says, placing his slender hands on his taught waist. keith squeaks again.

“oh.. how so?” keith walks over slowly, looking from the sports car to his truck that barely has a dent in it.

“i’ve been wanting to get rid of this car since i got it three years ago.” lance says. “my fancy rich parents got it for me for my twenty-third birthday and i’ve always hated it.” he looks over and finds keith’s eyes.

keith goes beet red.

“i got into a fight with said parents about it a few days ago and kinda prayed that something bad would happen to it.” lance continues, crossing his arms over his chest. “guess that makes you like my angel or something?”

what. the fucking. hell.

keith goes all the way red, so red that the blood from his gash blends into his face almost perfectly. lance just smiles wide and cheekily like he knows what he’s doing and keith knows he does.

“kidding.” lance says with a laugh and a smirk. he walks away to his car and proceeds to open the drivers side door, grabbing a backpack and a rather large duffle bag from the small backseat. he grabs a few more things from the cupholder, the armrest, and reaches over to the passenger side for the glove compartment, shoving all those items into his duffle bag. he grabs the keys out of the ignition and closes the door, pressing the lock button twice. pulling his phone from his back pocket, he takes a picture of the damages to his car and nods his head. “alright, sent.”

“what??” keith’s eyes grow wide. “you just-!”

“i just sent a pic to my annoying parents. yeah, man.” lance is smiling and keith is falling hard. he reaches over to the front of keith’s truck and peels off his license plate, smiling at it. “this will make a great mantelpiece above my parent’s fireplace. what do you think?” he smiles at keith and raises one of his perfectly arched eyebrows.

keith can’t help but smile back. this man is devious. “i.. think it’s badass.”

lance’s eyes do this thing where they light up like a christmas tree and keith can’t fucking feel his jelly legs!

“that’s my boy.” lance fucking purrs and okay yeah keith is 100% sure he moans.

a lot happens in those next few minutes because words are exchanged and the next thing keith knows, his drop dead gorgeous angel is in the passenger seat of his giant truck and they’re driving to the nearest hospital for keith to get stitches. after a good look in the mirror and the adrenaline leaving his veins, keith realized that his gash was actually that. a deep one. it was bleeding down his face and crusting and he concluded that he needed to get it checked out. at least he could play the hurt card and get out of work for a day, maybe two. after he finished his delivery, he’s not that hurt.

as for lance? well.. let’s just say that he was pretty happy holding keith’s hand while he got stitches. and talking up the cute nurse at the front desk to lower the bill for keith’s stitches. and paying said bill for keith’s stitches. and finishing the delivery with keith. and even driving all the way home to some fancy gated community full of giant mansion-like houses with big swimming pools and porcelain fountains.

it’s about 2pm when they finish their little adventure as keith parks his truck just outside of the gated neighborhood. he reaches up to touch the gauze on his forehead and receives a slap to the hand.

“no!” lance yells, “don’t touch! you gotta let it heal properly.”

“right,” keith nods nervously, fidgeting with the dark leather gloves on his hands. lance seems to notice them and points.

“aren’t you hot in those?” he asks. “it’s like eighty degrees out.”

“nah,” keith shrugs, staring at his hands, “i pretty much lived in the desert, so im used to the heat.”

for some reason that makes lance smile. not too much but enough to make keith realize that he would do anything to make him smile over and over.

“yeah, being used to the heat must be nice and all,” lance shrugs, “considering how hot you are.”

an actual jolt of electricity runs up keith’s spine so hard that he has to subtly arch his back away from the leather seat because he’s pretty sure it’s getting hot in his truck and he doesn’t mean the temperature.

lance seems to notice because his smile doesn’t falter. it hasn’t faltered all day. not after the accident. not at the hospital. not at keith’s delivery site or the long drive back to lance’s home. he’s been smiling all day considering his precious car being totaled and his wealthy parents most likely being furious with him.

“i apologize for being so forward but,” lance sighs like he’s been dying to get this off his chest, “can i.. get your number?”

keith chokes on air. “m-my… number??”

lance nods. “yeah. like, your phone number.”

“.. why?” keith fucking blurts out like a goddamn idiot!!! his face seems to match the screaming voice in his head because lance continues to smile, chuckles even. he’s so beautiful.

“so i can text you for your insurance information, duh?” lance smirks. when keith takes his sarcasm seriously, lance rolls his eyes. “oh my god, so i can call you sometime!.. m-maybe..”

“me!?” keith can’t believe this. “you want to call me?”

lance nods, turning his body towards keith so he can face him. “yeah. is that.. cool?”

“yes!” keith nods rapidly, “i mean.. sure.”

“cool.” lance bites his lower lip as he reaches for his phone in his lap. they exchange phone numbers and lance goes as far as to take a picture of keith for his picture in his phone. when keith tries to hide stating that his long hair is messy and the bandage on his head looks dumb, lance reassures him that he looks cute and how he wanted to remember keith just like he is now. ‘sexy, yet adorable’ he said. keith literally can’t keep being tortured like this.

it was keith’s turn to take a picture of lance. his hair was a perfect kind of messy and his lips glossy with cinnamon lip balm, a scent that filled the air in keith’s truck. he smiled big, so big that his eyes kind of closed and turned into crescents. he was just so insanely gorgeous that keith didn’t know what to do with himself!!! he saved his name as guardian angel lance with a blue heart emoji to match those hypnotic eyes. his favorite eyes.

as their time came to an excruciatingly sad end, they said their goodbyes. lance opened keith’s hand and placed something inside before reaching over and planting a scorching hot kiss to keith’s cheek, thanking him for the eventful day. keith was a stone cold statue as lance happily made his way out of the truck and into his gated neighborhood, putting in some kind of PIN code before the rather large gates opened up to let him in. he turned to wave goodbye to keith before he disappeared down a hill.

when keith came to, he looked down in his hand to see the cinnamon lip balm sitting in the palm of his hand, waves of exhilaration and adoration swimming along the insides of his stomach. his heart did a small little pang and he had to clutch his chest at the unfamiliar feeling.

is this.. love?

to be continued..?

Lance giggles like a fool as he stumbles into the house, a dumb smile on his face as he runs into just about everything.

Making too much noise in the process.

A tired, and shirtless, Keith walks out of his bedroom, hair mused up in a way that has Lance laughing.

“Where have you been?” Keith asks, his voice deep from sleep. Lance hums to himself as he walks over to him.

“With Pidge and Hunk. We went to a bar. I had a drink,” Lance replies as he leans against Keith before continuing. “Why are you in my house?”

Keith ignores his question, deciding to just comment on the first part. “A drink? You had more than just one,” Keith argues, trying to gently push him off.

Lance goes quiet, staying quiet for a long moment.

“I have something to tell you,” Lance mumbles against Keith’s shoulder. Keith stops trying to push him away at that, going still.

“I like you,” Lance says after a moment, pulling his face away to look up at him.

They both go quiet at that, making Lance’s skin itch with the need to keep talking. “I think,” he trails off, trying to gain confidence. “I think I’m in love with you,” he whispers.

Keith suddenly starts laughing, making Lance gape at him. Lance pushes him away, being too drunk to do it hard enough to get him more than a couple inches away.

“Stop laughing! I’m serious! Why would you laugh at a time like this? I just confessed my love to you!” Lance shouts angrily, starting to swirl into despair.

Keith only laughs harder. Lance’s eyes start to water, his chest starting to feel heavy.

It was a mistake. He shouldn’t have said anything. Now, Keith is going to hate him.

Keith calms down when he sees how upset he is, getting close to him once more and wrapping his arms around him.

“Hey, stop that, you dope.”

Lance tries to push him away again as he sniffles, but Keith doesn’t let him.

“We’re married, you idiot.”

When Lance doesn’t reply, instead just gaping at him, he continues.

what a crazy day.

after returning his truck to work and explaining to his boss the events that transpired, keith was able to get 3 days off from work to recover from the accident. although he didn’t really see it as an accident. he did get a pretty boy’s number and a kiss on his cheek. compared to any other boring day, it was great day for him.

but just like lance having to tell his parents about the accident, keith had to tell his older brother. he wasn’t ready for all the lectures about being safe and careful.. so he told his brother-in-law, adam, instead. who ended up telling his brother. and about half an hour later, keith was getting picked up by shiro, who was worried sick.

“i can’t believe you got hit!” he exclaimed. keith wasn’t even halfway in the car yet before shiro had his big hands all over his face and body.

“ow! shiro, stop!” keith pushed him away, sending him a deadpanned look. “this is exactly why i contacted adam and not you!”

shiro scoffed, driving away from keith’s job in disbelief at his little brother’s sentence. “adam and i don’t keep secrets from each other. that’s how marriage works.”

keith fake gagged and stared out the window as shiro gave him his famous lecture on marriage and how to be in a successful relationship blah, blah, fucking blah. keith only pretended to listen as he thought about his day. it was barely night now as the stars began peeking out from the clouds and he couldn’t help but be mesmerized by them. he loved the stars ever since he was a little boy. he always dreamed of being up there one day, just like shiro. but reality became too real for him and that dream faded into the background.

“keith??”

a tap to the leg and keith is reeling back in from his thoughts.

“huh?” he looks over at shiro who’s got his eyes on the road and one hand on keith’s knee.

“i said are you sure you’re okay?” shiro repeats. “did you go to the hospital?”

“yeah,” keith nods. “i got a few stitches in my forehead-”

“what-!?” shiro damn near swerves the car trying to whip keith’s head around so he can see.

“-but im fine!” keith pushes his hand away. “fucking hell, focus on the road.”

it’s a long drive back to keith’s apartment. he explains to shiro the subtle details of the accident and leaves it at that. he doesn’t say much about lance or how amazing he is, just that he was a kind stranger who took care of him. shiro said something along the lines of how keith could’ve been killed talking to strangers like that and keith had to remind shiro that he was a twenty-eight year old man who can take care of himself. if lance tried anything at all, keith would have been ready to slice him up.

after being dropped off at his apartment, and reassuring shiro that he didn’t need a babysitter, keith settled into his home immediately. he showered, changed into his pajamas, and even ate a tv dinner while watching some gameshow marathon. he doesn’t get too many channels on his old tv so he takes what he can get.

after dinner, keith settles into his bed. he had a long day. he didn’t have a concussion or whiplash, surprisingly. just a gash. and stitches..

stitches that are really fucking itchy.

keith reaches up to scratch at them and suddenly feels someone slap his hand away. he jumps when he realizes it’s lance’s hand.

the memory of lance’s hand, anyway.

keith sits up in his bed and reaches into the pocket of his black pajama pants, grabbing his phone to unlock it. he takes a breath and goes to his contact list, finding lance’s name.

guardian angel lance.

it’s weird how keith really thought that of lance just after a few hours of being in his presence. there was something so.. good about him. something that was right on the surface that made keith want to drop everything just to be near him again. it was unusual..

he made keith feel unusual. but not in a bad way. just in a way that had keith’s stomach twisting in knots and feeling like he needed to puke the tv dinner digesting inside of his stomach out onto his bed.

what’s that feeling called..?

he didn’t know.

what he did know is that his palms were getting sweaty. he was staring down at his phone, at the contact he pulled up, wishing for some sort of miracle to happen. he wasn’t the best at initiating things and didn’t have a plan in sight on what to do.

should he call? do people still call others and talk on the phone? what do they even talk about?

maybe he should text? texting isn’t his strong suite either.. he can’t even remember to text shiro back until three days later cause he replied in his brain, just not in his phone.

fuck, why is this so hard???

because he doesn’t want to seem needy. or desperate. or like.. some stalker or something.

taking a deep breath and holding it, keith bites his lower lip and clicks on the name. lance’s picture is the first thing to catch his eyes.. god, he’s so hot. the option to text or call comes up. keith opts for the text option and promises that he won’t be lazy or forgetful. how can he be when it’s someone like.. lance.

letting out his breath, keith’s thumbs move across the keyboard rapidly. he doesn’t know what he’s doing, just letting his body take control, and before he knows it, he’s pressing send.

his phone makes the sound of the message being sent and he instantly panics. it’s a simple ‘hi’ but it’s enough to have him freaking out.

“oh… o-oh, my god!??” he yells, throwing his phone across the room. literally. it hits the navy blue painted wall just next to his bedroom door. he freezes, staring at it. like finding a bug on the wall. like maybe if he doesn’t move, his phone can’t see him. and that message will unsend.

one minute turns to two..

three..

keith hasn’t moved. he can’t. he’s precisely frozen with fear. and he feels.. stupid for it.

his body grows hot. he can feel the warmth travel up his neck and to his face, filling out his cheeks. then up to his ears. his heart is throbbing against his ribcage over, and over, and fucking over. he sits up in his bed and tucks his knees to his chest, feeling the thrumming against his thighs. he wraps his arms around himself and frowns. it’s been four minutes..

what if lance doesn’t.. care anymore..? what if lance forgot all about him?

it wouldn’t be the first time someone’s forgotten all about him. it’s pretty easy.

this whole thing was a big fucking mistake.

bzz!

okay, maybe it wasn’t!!

keith hops out of his bed like a madman and rushes over to his most likely cracked phone. he dives to the ground, landing on his stomach and chest, and picks up his phone. he waits two seconds, agitation filling his veins, then flips the phone over.

New Message

Guardian Angel Lance 💙

OHHHH MY GODDD!!!!

he texted baaack!!

keith’s heart was beating into fucking next week!!

okay okay! chill out!? just!! CHILL!

oh my god..

keith closes his eyes and holds his breath. he taps on the screen and unlocks it with his four digit password, going straight into messages. lance’s message.

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

hey! thought you'd never text me :) how's your head?

received 8:34PM

keith’s chest is heaving up and down. he bites his lip. he doesn’t think. he can’t really think. he texts back.

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

Good. My head is good. Itchy.

Sent 8:34 PM

Sent.

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

i bet. >_< but no more scratching!

received 8:35 PM

keith smiles, touching his head. it’s tender. he stands from the floor and types back, sitting back onto his bed.

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

Okay. No promises though

Sent 8:35 PM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

wow. it’s only been a few hours and you’re already willing to break promises. that hurts keith.

received 8:36 PM

the corner of keith’s mouth lifts up. it wasn’t as scary as he thought..

so they continue to talk through text and get to know each other a little better. they talk about their hectic day. about cars. lance drives a bmw in the color ‘long beach metallic blue.’ a gift from his parents, keith remembers. keith has a motorcycle but it’s sitting in shiro’s garage waiting for keith to fix her up. so for now, he either takes ubers or walks. or has people he knows drive him places. he always offers to drive, but he doesn’t really do well with others in the car watching him. with trucks, it’s different. they talk about their jobs. keith is a certified truck driver but after today, who knows. he’s been a driver for four years and loves it. he hopes to ‘retire’ and find something else soon. lance states he’s in between jobs right now but is trying to save up his money to get his own apartment as soon as he can.

they talk about pets. keith mentions his dog, kosmo, who’s half german shepard and half wolf. or something. keith doesn’t know, he found him as a pup (or a cub?) one day 2 years ago, outside in the rain, all alone. so he scooped him up and took him home and he’s been keith’s trusty companion ever since. they go everywhere together and he’s the greatest guard dog ever. he enjoys sleeping outside of keith’s door, guarding him just in case. and although his apartment doesn’t really allow dogs of kosmo’s size, keith’s landlord is terrified of him and doesn’t say anything. kosmo is perfectly harmless. when he likes you. lance mentions his cat. an orange cat who hates everyone, including him. her name is red because she was born with red-orange fur. he actually sends a picture of her, which prompts keith to send one of kosmo..

lance goes on a rant about how kosmo is nothing close to a dog whatsoever and that his landlord has every reason to be afraid.

keith laughs.

they talk about food. lance has a very strong love for italian food and says that if he were to die, his last meal would be a big bowl of pasta with the butteriest garlic knots and a giant pop. he says his best friend’s family is italian and that her mom makes a special meal for lance’s birthday every year. every year. keith feels dumb after hearing that but answers that fast food is his go to. growing up with a dad who was always busy and not very good at cooking will do that. Lance sympathizes. and promises to teach keith to cook, stating that cooking is in his blood and that in cuba, where’s he’s from, everyone can cook. everyone.

keith holds him to that promise. lance hearts his message.

they talk about video games. lance explains how retro video games are his all time favorite and how he used to play the killbot phantasm series with his siblings growing up. keith didn’t really have time for video games throughout his life so he doesn’t know much. he’s been to the arcade a few times but it was mostly to beat shiro at air hockey. which he always did.

they talk about friends. lance has three best friends named hunk, pidge, and allura. hunk is his age, twenty-six, and is a chef at a restaurant with his wife, shay. pidge is twenty-three, and works for nasa. yep, that nasa. she’s always away so lance barely gets to see her, but she’s the coolest friend in their group for sure. and allura. she’s a twenty-eight year old florist with her uncle coran and her best friend, romelle. keith talks about shiro. his half brother. he used to be an astronaut and even went to mars. yep, that mars. unfortunately, he lost his arm in the process on a mission gone rouge. after his recovery, he went back out in the field for a few more years before he retired. and since the accident, he could retire. very well. he talks about matthew, who’s shiro’s best friend, college and astronaut buddy. he gave up the astronaut gig and is an astrophysics teacher up at some college. and how could he forget his best friend, acxa. she’s twenty-nine and in the military. fighting for the country as a major. but she’s basically the lieutenant commander.

after five hours and almost a hundred text messages, keith dozes off, but not before saying good night to the only person he could talk to for a hundred more hours.

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

Good night Lance.

Sent 1:54 AM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

night keith. talk to you later?

received 1:54 AM

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

Yeah. Of course.

Sent 1:54 AM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

promise..?

received 1:55 AM

and keith can’t help but smile, a light pigmentation of pink dusting his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

I promise.

Sent 1:55 AM

lance hearts the message.

keith falls asleep..

something wet and cold touching keith’s face causes him to stir awake, reaching for the knife underneath his pillow. he opens his eyes to see kosmo there, sitting ever so politely, dark eyes focused on his owner.

a deep breath and keith can relax.

“hey boy,” he greets his dog with a deep, raspy voice. he reaches out and smooths kosmo’s soft black fur back, scratching behind his ears and underneath his chin. “what time is it?”

kosmo only whines, opening his big mouth to clamp down on keith’s wrist and drag him out of bed.

“oh!” keith lets himself be pulled, out of his room and to his kitchen. kosmo stops at the pantry, scratching the door with his claws. keith yawns and stretches his arms over his head. “alright. let’s eat.”

he opens the pantry door and grabs kosmo’s bag of kibble food, setting it on the counter. he pours a little of it inside as the base for the raw food. then he walks over to the fridge to grab some other things to put inside kosmo’s food. he grabs three quail eggs and crushes them up, shells included. he then grabs a container full of cooked cod and grabs a fork, cutting up a slice of that and dropping it into the massive, ceramic dog bowl. rabbit heart and two frozen duck feet are next and keith is surprised he never gags from any of this. he throws in some chicken hearts, a few sardines, a scoop of fermented veggies, some pineapple chunks, and two homemade frozen dog treats, shaped like cute little paws, made from raspberries, beets and parsley. a few drizzles of coconut oil and keith is done. the contents in the bowl could look gross to anyone else.. but keith is used to it. and kosmo loves it. he is a growing boy after all.

walking over to kosmo’s designated eating area, keith places the dog bowl onto a small, propped up dog table. kosmo sits down next to the bowl and waits for keith’s command. keith pets kosmo’s head once more, scratching behind his fluffy ears and underneath his chin before he gives the command.

“eat.” he says. and kosmo digs right in.

it’s ten o’clock, keith discovers, and he’s extremely tired. but he does have the rest of the week off, technically giving him a five day weekend from the accident so he could sleep in all day and watch some crappy tv. or he could go to the gym with shiro and adam.

you could text lance the voice in the back of his brain says.

keith gets a pang of butterflies so hard in his stomach he has to stop the cringe and the second hand embarrassment from preventing himself from doing it.

he could text lance. if lance was awake. yeah.

sure.

keith walks to his room and plops down on his bed, grabbing his phone from behind his pillow. he checks the screen. one message from shiro. one from matt. a notification about the weather today. the highest will be 70 degrees and the lowest will be 50. gotta appreciate this spring weather.

keith opens shiro’s message about meeting up at the gym at 11 and how his head was doing. he opens matt’s message asking if keith would like one of his famous protein smoothies before their workout. keith replies to both.

To: Grandpa brother

Yes just woke up. Getting ready now. My head is fine. Itchy.

Sent 10:14 AM

To: Yoga Matt

Thank you. No banana. And if you’re going to do banana, a small slice please.

Sent 10:14 AM

keith sighs when he doesn’t see a message from lance. he’s probably still asleep. but that’s okay. keith has no problem texting first. it’s not bad to text first right? it shows he’s interes-.. cares. it shows he cares..

but.. he should take a shower and get ready to go first. yeah. he can do that.

“how’s your head, wet hair?” shiro asks, reaching over to touch keith’s head. keith is quick and slaps his hand.

“im fine.” he grumbles, reaching up to touch his exposed stitches. “matt said he’d patch me up at the gym..”

shiro gives a hum of approval. keith sighs and stares out the window, biting his lower lip. he swirls his mouth around, playing with his tongue ring. it’s sore from keith taking it out for a few hours so he could have a break from it. it doesn’t bother him too much but some days he could do without it. it’s a stupid piercing for him. he was a dumb, angry teenager and knew for sure shiro would be furious if he came home with it. he was right and the result was satisfying. but now he has to live with the hole in his tongue. all because of a little angst.

what a fucking punk, he thinks about his teenage self.

he thinks about lance’s septum piercing and how it had diamonds on it. he considered them to be fake, just a decoration, but when he mentioned the whole rich parents fiasco and seeing the rich neighborhood with his own eyes, keith would not be surprised if they were real diamonds. he wonders if lance got the piercing to piss his parents off, too.

keith smiles to himself, rolling his eyes. he fiddles with the cinnamon lip balm tucked away in the pocket of his sweats.

at the gym, keith, shiro, and matt sit in the men’s locker room. matt is patching up keith’s forehead by applying some soothing ointment and a fresh bandage that’ll stick to his skin for a few hours.

“thanks.” keith mumbles, trying not to squirm. it hurts a bit and he’s itching like crazy.

matt smiles down at him, trying his best to be gentle. “this wouldn’t be the first time i had to patch up a kogane, hm?” he eyes shiro, who is sitting beside them wrapping his hands and knuckles with gauze and tape. he’s going to be boxing today.

“won’t be the last,” shiro answers, now side-eyeing keith. keith sends a smirk his way, looking up to meet eyes with matt. but matt is smiling down at him, stifling a giggle.

an hour and a half in and keith is covered in sweat, drenched in it. he did his regularly scheduled workout but decided to push himself a little more. so he got in the ring with matt. they spared for a little while before matt switched places with shiro to take a phone call. keith visibly tensed at the switch and when shiro noticed, he scoffed.

“what’s with the face?” he asked, putting on the huge punching mitts. keith raised his eyebrow, squinting his eyes.

“i think you know,” he answered, crossing his arms. shiro stands there, staring hard.

“i won’t go easy on you,” he holds his right gloved hand up, “honest.”

keith cracks his neck, rolling his head and shoulders around. just before he can charge at shiro, matt is coming back quite frantically.

“guys!” he yells, pointing to his phone. “m-my sister is back in town!! she’s at my parents house, we gotta go!!” shiro and keith share a look before they look back at matt.

“you have a sister?” keith says, now earning crazy looks from matt and shiro.

“seriously!?” matt sighs, “my baby sister, who i’ve only mentioned a hundred times since we’ve known each other? shiro’s met her.”

“okay, i haven’t,” keith shrugs, twisting his tongue ring around in his mouth. shiro and matt look at one another and share a look that reads ‘oh, maybe he’s right’ and it has keith rolling his eyes. of fucking course he’s right.

“well, do you want to?” matt offers. “my parents are getting her from the airport as we speak and should be arriving in an hour.”

keith shrugs again, removing his red boxing gloves and sweeping his sweat ridden hair back. “i need to shower bad. plus kosmo is waiting for me. rain check?”

matt nods happily as keith and shiro step out of the ring and make their way to the men’s locker room.

keith has to wait outside for matt and shiro to finish their showers. he doesn’t trust gym showers or any shower that’s not at his apartment since his juvie days and that’s that. the car ride back to his apartment is filled with matt telling stories about his sister and what she does. her name is katie and she works for a big space company, just like he did. she’s been gone for two years and will be back for six months to take a small vacation. keith hasn’t met matt’s family, but they’re all really into space and stuff like shiro. keith’s only known matt the same amount of time that he’s know shiro, i.e. 4-ish years, and he’s never really been interested in knowing any of the other holt’s.

because keith didn’t have a family. his dad died when he was nine and his mother abandoned them. he went though the remainder of his teen years in and out of foster homes and when he was thirteen, in and out of juvie. he barely finished high school and college was never an option. he went straight to finding a job and landed three of them at three different mechanic shops around the city. that’s how he afforded his motorcycle parts and his old apartment. he eventually moved to the apartment he is in now and has been living in for four years, along with the trucker job he has now.

that was also around the time when shiro tracked him down, almost beating down his door, to tell him that he’s his half brother and that they have the same father. keith was so in shock that he punched shiro in the face. and then fainted. and then gave himself a stomach virus from all the stress and shiro had to take care of him. literally. add in matt stopping by to meet him and being very much in shock at how much they look alike, and the rest is history.

so yeah, keith’s never really heard of this katie. but her job must be quite the catch if it’s kept her away for two years.

stopping in the parking lot at keith’s apartment, keith grabs his duffle bag and hops out the car.

“thanks for the ride, shiro,” he nods to his brother. “and matthew, for repairing my head.”

matt rolls his eyes as shiro lets out a chuckle, covering his mouth.

“it’s matt and fuck you.” is all he says before he’s flipping keith off. keith smirks and gives him the finger back.

“see ya, keith,” shiro smiles. “take it easy. text if you need anything.”

“sure.” keith nods before they’re driving off and onto the road.

after his much needed shower, keith plops down on the couch in his living room and lets out a loud sigh. he pulls his phone from his pocket and checks the screen.

2 New Messages

Guardian Angel Lance 💙

keith is sitting up so fast, he almost breaks his neck from the speed.

“oh, shit,” he whispers to himself. he opens the messages, tucking his long, washed and wet hair behind his ear.

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

hey! how’s it going?

received 12:36 PM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

busy day for me.. sleep good?

received 12:36 PM

keith smiles. his stomach does that weird drop thing again.

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

Hi. I’m good just got back from the gym. And yes I slept okay. How are you?

Sent 12:36 PM

lance doesn’t waste any time replying and keith revels in the attention.

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

exhausted. i forgot that i had to plan a bbq party thing for my friend pidge and had to wake up early.

received 12:37 PM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

2 hours of sleep in my veins. im tired keith. im dying

received 12:37 PM

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

Gross. To lack of sleep and planning bbq party things. Are you resting now?

Sent 12:37 PM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

:) fortunately yes! the party is done and the decorations are amazing thanks to me. but im sleepy. currently hiding in my car to take a quick nap

received 12:38 PM

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

Smart. Don’t let me keep you up though. You should sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up

Sent 12:38 PM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

:D really? you will?

received 12:38 PM

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

Yes Lance I will

Sent 12:38 PM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

do you promise?

received 12:39 PM

keith lets out a content sigh, a small blush making its way to his cheeks and the tips of his porcelain white ears. there is something so pure about making and keeping promises with lance. it’s like they’re little kids on the playground swapping secrets and promising not to tell anyone, something that’s just theirs. keith can’t recall a single time in his life that someone has ever made him promise anything. it feels.. special.

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

I promise. Go to sleep.

Sent 12:39 PM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

okay. but before i do, you should come by! be my guest. there’s free Italian food, free homemade cake, a BIG swimming pool

received 12:40 PM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

and it’ll be nice to see you again.. yknow.. and i could check on your stitches for you too man

received 12:40 PM

record scratch.

keith is standing up now in the middle of his living room with kosmo laying by his feet, staring up at him.

the room is suddenly very hot.

lance wants him to be his guest. like.. a friend?? or a date??

A DATE!?????

keith ejects the idea out of his brain and throws it out the fucking window! he didn’t say date! he said guest!

but.. it is a party. and don’t people usually bring dates to parties???

wait, how would he even get there!? and how many people are going to be there?? what does he even wear!? it’s springtime but is everyone going to be in their bathing suits or bbq attire??

and what about matt’s offer to meet his family?? his sister? keith can’t blow that off. he’d feel too bad. but maybe he can do both! he can quick swing by lance’s party for a few hours and then ask shiro to pick him up and go and meet matt’s family and sister.

yeah! he can do that. but what does he wear????

fuck!

and of course keith is replying before his brain has a chance to finish exploding.

To: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

Sure! Do you think you pick me up in about an hour?

sent 12:42 PM

From: Guardian Angel Lance 💙

hell yes dude!! send me your address and i’ll be there!

received 12:42 PM

and keith does just that..

he types in his address to his apartment and actually sends it to lance.

he’s going to a bbq party thingy with lance.

lance, this stranger he literally just met a little over 24 hours ago.

to a second location. all alone in his car. with him.

to a party with tons of people.

with lance!

what the fuck could possibly go wrong..?

to be continued.

what a crazy fucking morning. scratch that. what a crazy fucking week. lance’s parents were on him about his stupid car, again. take it to the car wash, lance. get your tires rotated, lance. don’t forget your wax appointment, lance. at this point, they cared more about the car than they did their own son. lance had WAY better things to do than take care of some car for fucks sake.

he hated his car. it was a present for his twenty-third birthday three fucking years ago! lance was a little naive back then, thinking a fast, sexy bmw in his favorite color would get him laid every night. thank god he grew out of that phase after five months of nothing.

after his parents nagged him about the car, he was fed up. like actually the last straw. so he left that morning with hopes that when he returned home, the stupid car didn’t. he prayed on it. and although he was a little bit reckless and fucking dumb, his prayers were answered when he saw a big truck heading his way. he wasn’t proud of this in the slightest, but.. he needed this.

so he slows down, real slow. the highway is busy as everyone is on their way to work. it’s perfect. lance looks around for any cops because he’s about to ruin this car for good. he hopes he doesn’t die. he prays again for an angel to watch over him. then.. he becomes a maniac.

he swerves a little to the left. a car honks at him and he gets back into his lane. he goes a little to the right, heart beating fast in his chest. at times he slows down so much that he’s barely even driving and man does he feel dangerous!

maybe too dangerous.

okay, no, this is CRAZY!! he could get himself killed!! and probably injure the truck driver behind him! or others! yeah, this is fucking idiotic.

so lance changes his mind and.. goes with the flow of traffic. he starts driving like he means it. where is he going? he doesn’t know but maybe if there’s anything interesting near by, he’ll stop.

he decides to think of another way to get rid of this car. maybe he could leave the keys inside and go to the mall and just never come out. that could work. or maybe let some random person take it for a joyride and hope they take it forever. maybe. lance gets so lost in his thoughts that he misses the idiot car that cuts him off and break checks him. his foot becomes a little too heavy on the brakes and before he can get his bearings, BOOM!

he gets rear ended..

by the fucking truck.

lance’s heart beats a trillion times a minute because if anyone was watching or if the truck has a dash cam OORRR if the truck driver was a cop!? lance would be over.

he checks his body for any bruises or injuries. he’s good. his back will probably be sore but he’s so hopped up on adrenaline that he can’t focus on that right now. it’s clear that other cars have seen the accident and are moving out the way so they can merge over to the side of the road. lance goes and when he sees the truck following him, it becomes real what he did.

everything horribly wrong runs through his veins as he proceeds to get over onto the shoulder lane of the highway, the not-so-banged-up truck following close behind. lance takes a deep breath, then another one. he looks in his side mirror to see the truck driver getting out of the truck, looking visibly shaken up. guilt wracks lance’s brain as he takes another deep breath and gets out the car.

the first thing he notices is the bumper. totaled. that’s a good thing, his parents will be devastated. now, whether they’ll be devastated for the car or lance’s safety is questionable.

no it’s not. it’s the latter.

the next thing lance notices that gets his breath taken away is the sight of blood from the stranger. his heart begins to beat fast again as more horrible things run through his mind.

“holy crow!” he shouts, walking a little closer and staring the guy down. he can’t be much older than lance is. how did he become a truck driver???? aren’t there rules and regulations for that kind of thing?? nope, not important. “are you alright, man!?”

“m-me?” the dark haired guy answers and lance feels all the guilt twist in his gut. he clearly has whiplash. or.. something. but lance didn’t know that car was going to cut him off! if anything, he saved his own life. he’d rather be the rear-ended one than the rear-ender if that makes sense. lance moves even closer and continues to stare at the guy, searching his eyes for any signs of a concussion. he grips him by the shoulders and that’s when he sees the blood.

“oh, dude, you’re bleeding!” he exclaims, heart beating faster. he stares down this guy and for a second.. something happens.

it’s like time goes slow or something? it’s got to be the adrenaline in his body because the way this guy is staring at him is making lance feel kinda weird? he continues to examine his face and neck and eyes. no signs of whiplash but this guy is staring up at lance like he’s the greatest thing he’s ever seen. it has lance’s stomach flipping and makes the examination all the harder. but while he’s at it, lance takes a good look at him. he’s got clear pale skin, almost porcelain like, not a pimple, blemish, or whitehead in sight, and it makes lance wonder what his skincare routine is. thick and bushy eyebrows sit atop his eyes and when lance looks into those eyes, they’re dark. almost violet but not. maybe ultramarine? they’re mysterious yet.. mesmerizing. his eyes are kinda almond shaped and they’re the prettiest eyes he’s ever gazed upon, even with the light traces of eyeliner around them, making them more bold. his lashes are ten times prettier than lance’s own as they fawn out over and around his eyes. his black hair is styled into a messy mullet type thing and as much as lance doesn’t like mullets, it suits this guy fucking good. a little too good. lance inhales and gets a whiff of him, and he smells about as good as an abercrombie model would. fresh and earthy. like pine.

lance snaps out of his trance when the smell of blood hits his nose and tries to shake the guy a little because it looks like something is wrong. he’s got this empty look on his face and he hasn’t blinked for at least a minute.

“dude!” lance pinches his arm near his elbow and that gets him back.

“h-huh?” the guy says, blinking a few times.

“i said you’re bleeding!” lance reaches up to touch the dark haired man’s forehead, moving his long, soft shoulder length hair out of his face. lance touches his hairline with two fingers and holds them in the stranger’s eye view to show him the blood. that just about does it for him as he snaps out of whatever funk he was in. he jumps back a few feet, a light blush filling his pale cheeks. lance can’t help the small yet subtle smirk that breaks across his face.

“i-i’m sorry!” the stranger says, holding his arms around his body.. his beefy body.

the smirk on lance’s face doesn’t falter for a second. “for bleeding? yeah, dude, it’s cool.” he replies in a lighthearted tone. that gets the dark haired man squirming and damn near foaming at the mouth with words. lance can only stand there, finding his nervousness adorable. he jabbers about, mentioning things like car insurance, paying for the ‘horrible damages’ to lance’s bmw, and even going as far as to apologize for the blood on lance’s fingers.. from his forehead.

it’s cute. he’s cute.

“dude?” lance sends a charming wide smile his way. he shushes mr eyeliner and it actually works. his mouth zips tight into a line.

“hm..” his sexy adam’s apple bobs up then down. his dark eyes focused on lance’s own.

“i don’t care about the car.” lance admits, a little too nonchalantly. he watches as this hot ass guy’s mouth falls open like he’s just said the most out of pocket thing in the world. and he probably has. rich parents problems.

“you don’t!?” the dark haired man damn near yells. but lance smiles at him, moving a little closer.

“no. i only care about the gash in your head.” lance can’t help but chuckle because the look on this guy’s face is priceless. it’s like he’s expecting the absolute worst thing to happen. “it’s pretty deep. i can go with you to the hospital..”

lance wants to go with him. he doesn’t want to go home. he didn’t really have any plans today other than to get rid of the one thing that’s keeping him weirdly tethered to his parents’ love or something. and hey, it worked. car totaled.

“no!” the cute stranger suddenly yells and it makes lance flinch a little. he wasn’t expecting a no. he continues to stare at this nervous little angel until his babbling comes back. “i mean! y-your car!! i-! your car is-! i didn’t mean to..”

lance has never smiled this much in one day. especially lately. it feels nice to have his facial muscles hurt from smiling instead of frowning or.. crying. and almost like a lightbulb floating above his head, lance has an idea.

“sir?” he says, reaching for his violet-eyed angel’s tense shoulders. he can feel the exact moment when those strong shoulders slouch and go lax under his hands. “relax.”

lance feels his eyes gravitate towards those mysterious indigo ones and he’s instantly locked in. once again, time slows for him. he feels like his body is moving backwards while the rest of the world is moving forwards, kinda of like how he feels at the beach in between the sand and the waves. his heart begins it’s slow incline of pounding beneath his chest and it’s a new feeling for him. this beautiful stranger is making him feel things.

“o.. kay…” the long haired man nods, eyes never leaving lance’s own. it’s such an intense thing, staring into another person’s eyes and not feeling awkward or weird about it. lance catches the small blush start on the long haired man’s porcelain skin, filling his nose and out to his cheeks until he’s full on red. lance’s heart goes faster.

“you seem really distraught by the whole thing.” lance says, eyes quickly darting to his banged up car. “allow me to introduce myself. my name is lance.”

sexy mullet man only nods, mouth slightly open.

“and yours?” lance asks, eyes scanning over every ounce of that pretty face.

“k.. k-keith..” pretty dude stutters out.

keith! lance smiles, a chill of relief going down his spine. “it’s nice to meet you, keith.” he says, trying the name out on his tongue. he carefully moves his hands from the top of keith’s shoulders down to his forearms, experimentally giving them a gentle squeeze. lance inhales a little. god, he’s fucking ripped. he’s only about an inch or two shorter than lance, which doesn’t mean anything because lance is 6’0 tall, but the imagination is there. keith wears a black t-shirt with a black long sleeve underneath but even that’s not helping. keith has to have a six pack. he can’t have beefy arms like this with no six pack.

the literal ongoing traffic snaps lance out of his thoughts. right. side of the fucking road.

“mhm.” keith hums, batting those pretty eyes. lance curses himself. he removes his hands from keith’s body and lets out a small sigh. walking over to keith’s truck, he looks over to his car and examines the horrendous state it’s in. and a laugh churns in his gut.

“you know, you really did me a favor,” he sighs out, placing his hands on his hips. the soft material of his blue jeans underneath the palms of his hands does something to him. anger..?

“oh..” keith walks over to him a little hesitantly, looking from lance’s unrecognizable bmw to his giant truck. “how so?”

anger. lance feels anger. “i’ve been wanting to get rid of this car since i got it three years ago. my fancy rich parents got it for me for my twenty-third birthday and i’ve always hated it.”

he looks over and finds violet eyes. pale skin turning red. “i got into a fight with said parents about it a few days ago and kinda prayed that something bad would happen to it.” lance says, feeling selfish. he’s so happy about his car being crushed like a soda can that he hasn’t had any time to think about the fact that he could have been hurt. or worse. he doesn’t want to think about that. he crosses his arms over his chest and pushes the feeling down. “guess that makes you like my angel or something?” he flirts.

and it works because keith’s pink face goes a few shades darker and lance’s heart goes fast again, hooked on this feeling of making this total stranger squirm under his words. he smiles big again. “kidding.”

he walks to his car that’s about two feet away and opens the door. he reaches inside and grabs his backpack then reaches in the backseat to grab his fully packed duffle bag. he reaches into the cupholder and grabs his cinnamon flavored lip balm, tucking that into his pocket. he grabs his wallet, phone, and gum from inside the armrest and tucks those away into his pocket. he reaches over to open the glove compartment to grab all his little papers, knick-knacks, and emergency snacks, shoving those into his duffle bag. he grabs his keys and closes the door to his precious little car. he locks the door and gets a sick idea in his brain. lightbulb! he takes out his phone from his pocket and walks around to the back of his car. he focuses the camera onto the irreversibly dented backside of lance’s bmw and takes a pic. the anger is back and it’s going through his veins. he looks at the pic on his phone then goes to his messages.

‘sorry about your precious baby. i’m fine by the way.’

he nods his head and hits send.

“alright, sent.”

“what??” lance looks over to keith’s eyes growing wide. “you just-!”

“i just sent a pic to my annoying parents,” lance frowns, but a smile soon cracks through. “yeah, man.”

keith’s eyes bore into lance as lance smiles through his anger. he smiles like everything is okay. and it is because the way keith stares at him is enough to make lance believe that heaven is right here on earth and it’s standing in front of him, staring at him with intense dark eyes and a fucking mullet.

another idea. lance turns away to reach over and grab his license plate from the front of keith’s truck. he smiles at it in his hands. “this will make a great mantelpiece above my parent’s fireplace. what do you think?”

he turns to smile at keith, raising an eyebrow. keith returns the smile, something skittish reflecting in those hypnotic orbs known as his eyes.

“i.. think it’s badass.”

lance feels his blood boil in the pit of his stomach, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. he’s relieved to hear someone say anything other than negativity or he’s “crazy.” it ignites a spark in his veins. keith is the spark.

“that’s my boy.” lance hums, sounding crazy. but it’s okay. he’s pretty sure keith dies a little.

lance wants to go with him. he doesn’t want to go home. he doesn’t want to go with his friends. he doesn’t want to go anywhere but with a total stranger in his big ass truck. so lance does what he’s good at and talks his way into going with keith. in a short few minutes, lance is flashing his charm and charisma and climbing into the passenger seat of keith’s truck. first stop, the hospital. lance felt really bad about keith getting seriously hurt and offered to drive, but apparently there’s certain rules to driving a semi and keith couldn’t take that risk.

a quick pop by the hospital for keith’s stitches had lance happily holding keith’s (weirdly) gloved hand while an attractive male nurse fixed the wound in keith’s pretty forehead. it was interesting seeing him squirm when lance grabbed his hand, but not from the giant ass needle they put inside his head to numb the pain. lance was the one who almost hit the fucking floor! still feeling the guilt in his chest, lance used up some of his reserved charm for a certain dark haired man with magical eyes for a cute nurse at the front desk and got keith’s bill lowered to a decent price. then lance paid for it, despite keith’s protesting. it was the least he could do. he even went with keith to finish his delivery and got to see how that whole thing works.

but like all good things, their time had to come to an end. keith drove lance all the way home to his rich and snobby ass prison of a neighborhood. watching keith’s face go from neutral and nervous to awe at all of the fake ass, dusty porcelain water fountains around lance’s gated community was the funniest thing. if only keith knew the truth behind those rusty gates..

putting his truck in park, keith settles into his seat with a sigh. he reaches his hand up to his bandaged forehead and before he can scratch, lance reaches over and slaps his hand.

“no! don’t touch!” he yells. keith is caught off guard. he’s so cute. “you gotta let it heal properly.” doctors words. he’s supposed to get his stitches out in a few weeks and lance doesn’t want keith to have to go back before then.

“right.” keith replies, nodding. he’s nervous, lance notices, and can tell by the way he’s squirming and pinching at the tight leather gloves on his hands.

lance points to them. “aren’t you hot in those? it’s like eighty degrees out.”

“nah,” keith shrugs, focused on his hands. only his hands. “i pretty much lived in the desert, so im used to the heat.”

that has lance smiling for some reason. it’s such a random thing to say and yet it leaves lance wanting to know more.

“yeah,” lance shrugs, trying to hide a shit eating grin. “being used to the heat must be nice and all, considering how hot you are.” and he means it. keith is truly the hottest guy he’s seen in a while and he hopes it doesn’t weird keith out. lance cannot tell lies.

it seems to do something because keith is sitting up straighter and his exposed ear begins to change from a sparkly white to a rosy pink. lance can’t help but to smile. he’s been smiling so much all day that he’s not used to it. it’s been so long since he’s smiled genuinely and it kind of hurts. in a good way. also, just considering the day he’s had, he should be crying or screaming. he knows the second he leaves this truck, the second he leaves his gorgeous emo angel, it’s back to the real world. and the real world fucking sucks.

so he sucks up his pride and does what he’s been meaning to do all day. he lets out a shaky sigh and tries not to bite his tongue. “i apologize for being so forward but can i.. get your number?”

his heart beats like crazy. what if keith says no?? then what??

keith seems to cough a little, barely making eye contact. “m-my… number??”

lance is feeling nervous now. he nods. “yeah. like, your phone number..”

“.. why?” keith asks and lance all but melts in his seat. keith is so cute and innocent. his response should’ve scared lance to death but it only makes him smile, laughing a bit.

“so i can text you for your insurance information, duh?” he jokes, smirking as he waits for keith to laugh. but keith doesn’t. he sits there, body tensing in seconds and when lance realizes his sarcasm went over keith’s head and out the window, he rolls his eyes. “oh my god, so i can call you sometime!.. m-maybe..”

“me!? you want to call me?” keith’s eyes widen and he sounds so shocked like no one has ever asked for his number before. lance refuses to believe that.

instead, he nods and decides to be a little vulnerable, turning his body towards keith so he can see that yummy face of his. “yeah. is that.. cool?”

“yes!” keith blurts, nodding his head fast. lance really really thinks he’s so cute! “i mean.. sure.”

“cool.” lance lets out a nervous breath and bites on his lower lip. he grabs his phone and exchanges numbers with keith, going a little out of his way to get a picture of keith’s angel face as his contact photo, because there’s no way anyone would believe him when he tells them about the day he saw an actual angel. keith had the absolute nerve to try and hide that pretty face because of his patched up forehead and fucking messy hair. lance wanted to slap him. instead, he reassures him by commenting on how cute he looked and how he wanted to remember keith on this day the way he was right now.

“sexy, yet adorable.”

keith’s cheeks turned red and puffy again. fucking hell, his hotness is just a joke to him. does he even know??

when keith decided to take a picture too, lance only smiled, knowing that as long as he had keith in his eye’s view, he wouldn’t worry about how he looked. keith was the greatest thing he could look at and with a man like him, lance couldn’t bring himself to care about his own looks.

he smiled big and happy for the first time in weeks, months, because keith was staring so purely at him that it made his insides turn to mush. what a feeling. he missed feeling anything other than anger or unhappiness. keith made him feel like he could fly.

lance saved keith in his phone as the sexy yet adorable emo angel and although a long name, it suited him. he added a purple heart emoji for keith’s eyes and it was saved.

time was ticking. lance’s phone was secretly blowing up with texts from his family, from his parents, and he couldn’t hide forever. this was it. pulling his cinnamon lip balm free from his pocket, he opened keith’s gloved hand and placed the tasty balm inside and then leaned over and surprisingly kissed keith square on his cheek.

“thanks for the eventful day..”

he smiled before opening his door and hopping out of the truck with his things in hand. he walked over to the large gates of his neighborhood and put in the four digit PIN that resided with his family. as the gates opened slowly, he turned to keith, waving goodbye, before he began his walk down the hill and to the street of his parents’ home.

he thought about keith the entire way, hoping that he wasn’t too forward by asking for his number and kissing him. he needed a way to keep himself inside keith’s head so that he could see him again. he had to see him again. just thinking about it sent lance’s skin ablaze. how did his shitty day turn so lovesick puppy in the span of a few hours? how did keith do that?? lance’s stomach did that thing where it dropped to his ass and his heart sped up so fast, he felt as if he were going to pass out. his hands got sweaty again, so sweaty that he had to sling his bag over his shoulder because it was getting harder to hold. waves of uncertainty and exhilaration bounced around in his stomach and he had to put a hand over his chest to try and calm his arrhythmic heartbeat.

no.. no way? lance has to literally laugh at himself.

he can’t.. be in love with this total stranger?

can he???

to be continued..

{PINING}

please tell me why lance is the ‘obviously pining from far away’ type

especially when keith’s around

like okay imagine lance and keith are hanging out with all their friends right

probably at some cute, old little diner because lance is always in the mood for a milkshake and keith loves spending all his coins on the pinball machine

of course when they get there, they all cram into one booth even tho shiro and hunk have the broadest shoulders of the group and trying to spread out is a little hard but they always make it work

lance will order drinks and food for the whole table because he’s memorized everyone’s orders and his irresistible ✨charm✨ comes in handy when he goes out on a limb to ask their waiter or waitress for an extra basket of fries on the house

and yeah it works bc it’s lance and he’s so charming and loves the way it gets mixed reactions from his friends like allura giggling, hunk sighing, pidge rolling her eyes, shiro ignoring him but also being secretly happy for the free fries, coran being the proud uncle he is, and keith - blushing like a mad man and trying to hide it bc lance is an idiot

as they’re waiting for their food, lance will ask for a kids coloring page and crayons and color the various pictures with hunk and pidge (and hunk would kick lance’s ass at tic-tac-toe)

keith will wander off with allura and coran as they watch him play on the pinball machine with his pocket full of quarters ready to play for as long is it takes the food to be done

and it’s so annoying how good he is because allura and coran will cheer for him or laugh or praise him and it’ll immediately grab lance’s attention away from coloring his half of the kid’s coloring page

he’ll slowly look up, pretending to be looking out for their food or watching one of the various tv’s playing some funky music video from the 80’s but really his eyes are glued to keith

and lance won’t ever understand how something as simple and played out as a stinkin pinball machine could bring out a side of keith that lance wishes he could see all the time

keith, standing there with his gloved hands on either side of the machine, long black hair tucked behind his ear on one side as his bangs dangle over his stupidly gorgeous violet eyes, his thick eyebrows frowned up as he concentrates on the game

smirk on his face

and sometimes, when the game’s getting good, his eye will light up like lightning flashing across a dark, stormy sky, and his lip will curl into a smirk as he leans closer to the machine because he’s winning

that’s when lance just can’t bring himself to look away because keith looks so cute when he’s winning, like a little kid in a candy shop, his features usually hard and brooding are now so soft and pure and beautiful

and something inside lance will go off and make the hairs on his arms stand up and a chill go down his spine and a small smile spread across his face because keith’s smile is so pretty he should smile more why doesn’t he smile more it’s so contagious lance feels lightheaded

he can’t look away because his heart is beating so fast and if he so much as takes a breath or blinks, he’s afraid he’ll miss these little moments that no one else pays attention to because they’re all too dense to notice just how amazing keith is

how cool keith is

how cute and pretty and wonderful keith is

and lance will let out a lovestruck sigh as he slumps forward and begins to daydream about how great life would be if he and keith ever got together even though that’s literally impossible because lance is very sure keith hates his guts and doesn’t want anything to do with him 😔

but the greatest part is when keith does win! and the small smile on his face turns into something big and real and unfiltered and he balls his gloved fists and shakes them victoriously in the air as coran and allura clap and pat him on the back

and lance will silently cheer from where he sits in the booth, laughing and smiling along with keith, wishing he was over there to celebrate too

wishing he could pat keith’s back or give him a high five or a hug, anything to be near him and to see that beautiful smile up close, to feel the warmth from keith’s happy energy radiating into lance’s bones

oh, how lance wishes to be keith’s

how he wishes he could just drop all the stupid rivalry crap between them and be something more

something real

and of course the moment would be ruined when keith catches him STARING (because he’s been staring for like 5 minutes) and lance’s inner bi panic would activate and he would frown at keith for catching him and reflexively flip him the middle finger as if it was keith’s fault for catching him

keith would frown back and roll his eyes as he turns back around to play again

and lance would sit there, trying so hard to calm his erratic heart, pounding against his rib cage like it’s trying to burst out of his chest

his cheeks and ears would be so red and hot from the flush that came and rose from his neck

and he would try to play it off like it suddenly got hot in the fifteen minutes they’ve been inside

clearing his throat, lance would try to go back to coloring but would stop because he can feel eyes on him

he’d look up to see if they were keith’s but would ultimately find that they are not keith’s

but instead hunk’s, pidge’s, and shiro’s, the three of them staring and smirking at lance who’s been pining so hard from far away

and lance would clear his throat and pretend he had something on his face, wiping his cheek and grabbing his vanilla milkshake and setting it right in front of his face to cool him down

when the food comes, keith will let allura and coran slide into the booth first and sit down so he would be directly across from lance

their friends would engage in small talk as they eat, talking about how good their food is or something else that would pop into their minds

keith would eat his burger and fries in silence, only looking up if someone were to mention or call his name

and lance would do the same, too engaged in dipping his hot, salty fries into his creamy milkshake to pay attention to the conversations going on

but something would catch his attention

a feeling

he can feel eyes on him again

and he would look over to hunk and pidge and shiro, who are all talking over each other all at once

he would look to allura and coran, who are listening and stuffing their faces

and then those piercing blue eyes would look up and across from him

and find those gorgeous violet eyes on him like the skin on his bones

blood would rush to his cheeks but instead of looking away, lance would stare back

and watch keith turn into a flustered mess

lance would smirk and keith would present his signature frown in response

and lance would get a sudden rush of courage in his veins and push his free basket of fries towards keith, offering him some

keith would twist his bushy eyebrows up in confusion, asking lance if he’s sure

and lance would nod, shaking the basket of free fries

keith would relax his features

and smile softly at lance, reaching over his own food to take a couple of fries

something deep in lance would burn low, a feeling of satisfaction simmering within him, knowing that keith is eating his free fries because lance offered them and keith accepted

keith would shove the fries into his mouth and lance would stare shamelessly, drinking his milkshake and daydreaming once again about what it would be like to share every single basket of fries he would ever get in his life with keith

of course keith would pretend not to notice lance staring and ignore the sudden spike in his pulse or the butterflies dancing around in his stomach

and because he’s keith, he would [not so] accidentally brush his foot against lance’s underneath the table just to get a reaction out of the cuban boy

lance would jolt a little and meet eyes with keith in surprise

keith would have that same smirk on his face from when he was playing pinball

and lance would reciprocate the gesture, paying no mind to the voice in the back of his head giving him hope

he would simply smirk back, and quirk his eyebrow in a challenge

Keith stares at Lance dancing in the rain, his heart fluttering at the sight. It then aches because Keith knows he’ll never be able to touch him like the rain can.

Lance suddenly twirls and stops, panting as he stares up at the sky. He brings his head up and makes eye contact with Keith, blushing when he sees Keith staring at him.

Wait, was that a blush? Like an embarrassed blush? Or was that a blush from exerting himself by dancing?

Before Keith could contemplate on it more, Lance smirks at him and shoots him a wink before starting to dance again.

Lance stares at his clock, a pout prominent on his face. His stomach had been hurting all day and so, he’s been in bed all day.

It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair.

Who was going to ogle Keith all day? Who was going to compliment him every minute? Who was going to pinch his bottom when no one was looking? Who was going to send him flirty looks from across the room? Who was going to make him blush as red as his lion?

Even worse, Keith hadn’t even come to see him today. Everyone else had come to check on him—Pidge figured out what was wrong with him, Shiro asked if he needed anything, Hunk made him soup, Allura and Coran were confused on what was wrong with him but still offered support—but there was no Keith.

As Lance finally started to doze off, which took forever thanks to his pain, his bedroom door slid open. His eyes popped open and he sat up straight, which kind of hurt, and squinted in the dark to see who it was. He couldn’t tell who it was until he saw skin as pale as the moon, making his heart flutter as he realized who it was.

He then realized his heart wasn’t allowed to do that right now. He huffs and lies back down, putting his back to him. What he didn’t expect was for Keith to lie behind him and cuddle into him, being the big spoon.

Keith frowns as he watches Lance flirt with a girl from the planet they just helped.

As he looks away, Lance looks at him and pouts when he sees Keith’s frown.

The girl talking to Lance rolls her eyes before pushing him towards Keith.

“Go talk to him already. I can tell you two are in love.” Lance gapes at her as he shakes his head with a blush. “We aren’t-“ “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Go.”