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“I’m telling you you’re wrong.”
“I am not wrong!”
Hunk glanced over his shoulder at the two who entered the kitchen area. “What’s going on?”
Lance scowled, crossing his arms. “Pidge says I couldn’t make someone like me with my pick-up lines and natural charm.”
“Oh.” Hunk nodded a little. “She’s right.” He turned back to whatever he was baking.
Lance fumed and turned to Pidge, who looked smug. “I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW I’M A CATCH. I COULD GET ANYONE IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY WITH MY FLIRTING TACTICS!”
Pidge crossed her arms, smirking. “Oh really, anyone?”
“Yes, midget. Anyone in the whole galaxy, you just name them.” Lance told her confidently.
Pidge rubbed her chin in thought for a moment. “Okay…” She gasped. “I bet you can’t get Keith to kiss you by the end of the month!”
“KEITH!?” Lance shrieked, jaw dropping.
Hunk smirked. “What’s the matter Lance? I thought you said anyone.”
“ANYONE EXCEPT KEITH, OBVIOUSLY!” He protested.
Pidge shook her head a little. “Oh, I guess your flirting tactics really aren’t all that, well, not that there was any doubt.”
Lance scowled. “Okay, fine, you know what? I’ll bet 200 bucks I can get a kiss from that Mullet jerk by the end of the month.”
“You can’t just ask, you’ve gotta earn it!” Pidge told him simply.
Lance scoffed. “No problem, and when I win, you’re gonna be sorry.”
Hunk laughed. “Hey Pidge, wanna team up? If we win, we split the money, and if we lose, which we won’t, we’ll each pay him 100.”
“Deal.” Pidge smiled. “I look forward to getting 100 bucks, I must say.”
Lance crossed his arms. “You just watch, Keith is going to get swept off his feet like nobody’s business.”
“Do you believe in love at first sight? Or should I walk by you again?”
Keith looked over at Lance, who was leaning against the wall with a flirtatious smirk on his lips, arms crossed. He was watching Keith train.
Keith’s eyebrows furrowed in pure confusion. “What?”
“I was wondering if you had an extra heart, mine was just stolen.” Lance winked.
Keith frowned, tilting his head. “No…I don’t collect organs.”
Lance wheezed a little, leaning over and smacking his knee as Keith continued to look lost.
“Why are you laughing?” Clearly, he didn’t get it.
Lance grinned. “Okay, let’s try this a bit more directly.”
Without warning, Lance walked up to Keith and grabbed his chin, lifting his head up to look Lance in the eye. Keith’s eyes widened a little. “I think you’re cute, but the question is, what do you think of me?”
“I think you’re ill.” Keith admitted, putting a bit of distance between him and Lance. “Is this like, a joke I don’t get?”
“Nah, nah, I just suddenly realized what was right in front of me.” Lance wiggled his eyebrows at him.
Keith seemed suspicious. “Right…” He walked out of the training room without another word.
Lance pouted. Okay, this might be a bit more difficult than he first thought.
“Can I borrow a kiss? I promise I’ll give it back.”
Lance’s pick-up line gains multiple reactions, most of which are looks of disbelief and shock because his pick-up line was directed at Keith.
Pidge and Hunk just snorted, looking amused at the endeavor.
Meanwhile Keith was choking on his meal, to the point where Shiro had to pat him on the back a few times.
“You okay?” He asked with worry.
“I-I think so.” Keith winced, wiping his mouth.
Lance grinned. “You know, I think something’s wrong with my eyes, I can’t seem to take them off you.”
“Somethings wrong with your brain.” Keith hissed. “Is nobody else questioning if this is really Lance with us?” He looked around for some assistance.
“Seems normal to me.” Pidge told him unhelpfully
“Yeah, same weirdo.” Hunk shrugged.
Allura frowned. “This is…interesting. But if he’s done flirting with me, I’ll welcome it.”
Keith fumed. “GUYS!”
“What’s the matter Keith? Or, actually should I call you mine.” He winked.
Keith left the table at that one.
Two weeks went by with Lance trying multiple different pick-up lines throughout the day, nobody knew what to make of it, but they were all quickly getting use to it as the new normal.
Even Keith, as annoying as he found it, he just figured it was some sort of joke he didn’t get.
“What’cha working on?” Keith nearly jumped out of his seat and turned to look at Lance, who was staring at him with genuine curiosity.
It was the middle of the night, and Keith was in the kitchen area. In his hands were a stone and a small looking hammer.
“Why are you up?” Keith frowned, watching as Lance walked over to the kitchen.
“Thirsty.” He replied, letting out a slight yawn. “So? What is that?”
Keith bit his lip. “Stone carving. I figured I needed a hobby for when I’m too tired for training, I grabbed some rocks on the last planet we were at.”
“Huh, can I see?” Lance asked curiously.
Keith raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“I’m interested, is that bad?” Lance pouted.
Keith grew hesitant, and then sighed, looking away from him. “I’m still new at it, so if you’re just looking to make fun of me, buzz off.”
“Give me some credit, I can tell you care about this.” Lance insisted rather gently, maybe his tiredness made him soft.
Keith’s eyes widened a little, and before he knew it, he was slowly handing the rock over to Lance.
Lance took it carefully and his eyes widened, he choked out a gasp.
On the stone was a carving of Allura, and it was almost as beautiful as the princess herself.
“Jeez, you’re just good at everything aren’t you?” Lance smiled a little, glancing up from the rock to look at Keith.
Keith’s eyes widened and he looked away, a tint of pink resting on his cheeks. “No…that’s…that’s not true.”
Lance noticed his expression and couldn’t help the pound in his chest.
Was he actually making progress?
A couple days passed, and the others could tell something had shifted between Keith and Lance. They weren’t having their normal fights or leaving snippy comments about each other, hell, they were actually starting to talk like normal people.
It was almost enough to make Pidge a little nervous, not that she’d ever admit it.
It wasn’t until the middle of one faithful night however, that really caused a shift.
“AHHHHH! AHHHHHH!” Lance, who had been out of his room watching movies in the living room, bolted up from the couch with a start, looking around and sweating bullets as he had been awoken from his sleep so forcefully.
He heard loud screams coming from down the hall, and hurried to find the source.
Eventually the screams lead him, shockingly enough, to Keith’s door. He pounded on the door. “Keith? Keith open up! Are you okay?” When he got no answer, he frowned. “I’m coming in!”
He waited a few seconds before opening the door, where he found Keith moving around a lot in his sleep, sweat running down his face as he squirmed.
“Keith?” He mumbled gently, kneeling down onto the floor. “Buddy? Hey, it’s okay.”
He placed a hand on Keith’s hair, an action he use to do for his younger siblings when they had nightmares.
“Mmmph- No…” Keith whimpered in his sleep, ramming his face into his pillow.
Lance bit his lip with worry. It wasn’t a nightmare, it was a night terror.
“You never make anything easy, do you?” Lance questioned softly before getting up onto Keith’s bed. Keith thrashed around as Lance lifted him up partially, but Lance made sure to keep a grip on his arms to keep him from hurting either of them.
He sat himself against the wall and pulled Keith into his arms, lying his head against his chest. Keith whimpered uncontrollably and shook around in Lance’s hold, but Lance just ran a hand through his hair and mumbled gentle reassurances, despite knowing they were useless.
His sister use to have night terrors, usually nothing could help, all they could do was ride it out, but sometimes being held would cause his sister to relax a little.
And Keith seemed to be the same, as his thrashing turned into just trembling, and screams and yelps became weak whimpers.
Lance isn’t sure how long things stayed like that, but eventually Keith was opening his eyes and looked around in a slight daze, clearly confused.
“Hey.” Lance spoke quietly.
“Lance?...” Keith mumbled. “What’re you doing here?...”
Lance smiled sheepishly. “I was out in the main room watching movies and I heard your screaming, I got worried, then I saw you having a night terror and…I dunno, I wanted to help, comfort you if I could.”
Keith frowned, looking around and noticing his position. He quickly lifted his head off Lance’s chest. “Well I’m awake now, you should go-“
“Hey, Keith it’s okay.” Lance frowned, eyes growing concerned. “You don’t gotta try and be tough, just rest, you obviously need it. My sister use to get night terrors all the time, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
Keith seemed conflicted, half wanting to throw Lance out of his room, and the other half wanting to comply.
Whether it was because he was tired, or because he felt a little safer around Lance, neither of them knew, but slowly, Keith lied his head back down against Lance’s chest and allowed his eyes to flutter shut.
Lance smiled softly and let his own eyes close, keeping his hold on Keith firm.
When the two awoke later, they wouldn’t speak of it to anyone. It would be their little secret.
Keith was just planning to grab a snack and head back to his room, but then he spotted Lance watching a show on the TV.
Things had gotten…weird between them, and Keith really didn’t know what to make of it.
At first, Keith figured Lance was telling him dumb pick-up lines as some sort of joke, but after that one night where Keith showed him his stone carving, he had stopped using them, like a switch had been flipped.
And things were also…softer, between them. Instead of fighting, they had normal conversations, and even occasionally joked together.
It was all so strange to Keith. He’d never acted this way with…well, anyone, not even Shiro.
Hell, nobody had even held him the way Lance held him that one night with his night terror, and ever since then it’d really messed him up.
A part of him deep down, a part he was kind of disgusted with, wanted to be held like that again.
But how did he even make that happen? Keith would never ask.
“What are you watching?” He questioned awkwardly, walking over to look at Lance.
Lance glanced at him briefly. “Frozen.”
Keith’s eyebrows furrowed. “You’re cold?”
“No-“ Lance snorted. “The movie, Frozen?” Keith stared at him. “The Disney movie?” He blinked. “One of the most beloved Disney movies to ever exist?” Keith looked just as lost as before.
Lance frowned. “You seriously have never seen it?”
“I didn’t really watch movies growing up.” Keith admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s not…I’ve never been with a family big on that sort of thing.”
Lance’s eyes widened. “Okay, that’s just wrong, sit down.” Lance grabbed the remote and was already rewinding the movie. “Seriously, sit down.”
Keith made his way over to the couch and hesitantly sat down at the end, keeping a distance between him and Lance. God why was he so awkward? Where should he put his hands? In his lap seems awkward, but so does not having them there.
“Um, what are you doing?” Lance asked with narrowed eyes, noticing Keith’s strange position. He was sitting perfectly straight, his hands sitting uselessly in his lap and staring straight ahead.
Keith frowned, looking over at him. “Sitting here?”
“No. No no no no no, you look like you’re waiting to be scolded, okay-“ Lance thought for a moment, then leaned back against the couch and opened his arms. “Come here.”
Keith’s eyes widened. “Oh, I’m really fine, you don’t have to-“
“Keith just come here.” He sighed.
Hesitantly, Keith complied and moved over to sit next to Lance, who tugged him into a cuddle position. Keith found his head resting against Lance’s chest once more, and a blush sprouted across his cheeks.
“Okay, so this is Frozen, now you’re going to be confused when they burst into song, but just roll with it, it’s serious magic.”
Time was running out, with only a week left before the bet would come to its end, and Pidge had to be honest, she felt confident.
Pidge smiled as she dug out the collection of dvds from the cabinet, then she turned to the others. “Alright, move night, who’s turn is it to pick?”
Nobody volunteered right away, seeming content with whatever, so Pidge looked at Keith, who was on one of the couches by himself, hugging his knees and staring off into space. “Keith?” His head snapped over to her. “Do you want to pick?”
“M-Me?...Um…” Keith shrugged helplessly. “I-I dunno…I haven’t really seen a lot, anything is fine.”
Lance rolled his eyes. “Put on something Disney, he was deprived as a child.”
“Lance.” Keith groaned.
“It’s true, you need to see the magic of Moana.” Lance insisted, collapsing on the couch next to Keith and pulling him into a hug from behind, resting his arms around him and his chin on the top of his head.
The others couldn’t help being in awe at the display, especially when Keith seemed to relax into his touch without trouble.
“M-Moana it is…” Pidge commented awkwardly, putting the dvd in before joining the others on the couch.
It was a stunning sight. Shiro hadn’t seen Keith looked this relaxed around somebody in a very long time, but it was a sight he would always welcome.
Whatever would make Keith happy, that was Shiro’s priority.
“I’m telling you; I got this bet in the bag.” Lance told Pidge confidently as they played video games.
Pidge smirked. “I’ll admit, you seem to have Keith flustered, he’s definitely let his guard down around you, but it’s one thing to do that, it’s another to get a kiss.”
Lance scoffed. “You just wait. Soon enough, you’ll be paying me 200 bucks.”
Just then, Keith approached the two, looking a little on the shy side. “Hey…um…Lance, er…can we speak? Privately?”
“Ooh.” Pidge teased, wiggling her eyebrows. Lance shoved her.
Pidge laughed and hurried out of the room.
“What’s up?” Lance asked kindly.
Keith fumbled with his gloves, refusing to make eye contact. “Um…I want to…to do that.”
Lance blinked, tilting his head in confusion. “That?”
“T-The thing people do.”
Lance’s eyes widened, he flushed red. “You what?”
Keith jumped in surprise; eyes wide. “I-I said I want to, you know, hang out with you…like how you um, you hang out with the others.”
“Oh.” Lance calmed down, realizing what Keith was trying to say, then his eyes widened. “Oh.”
If he didn’t know any better, this was Keith’s way of asking to spend time with him.
It was actually kind of cute.
The two sat on Keith’s bed awkwardly, a painful silence fell over the two.
“So um…” Surprisingly, it was Keith who spoke first. “What exactly do people do? To hang out?”
Lance chuckled. “Jeez, haven’t you ever had any friends, Mullet?”
But his attempt to lighten the mood backfired, as Keith looked down rather sadly, eyes dulling. “No, not really. I grew up in the foster system, nobody wanted to be friends with someone like me.”
Lance wince. “Oh man…s-sorry, I-I didn’t know.” He admitted softly. How did he not know that?
Then again, what all did he really know about Keith in the first place.
Keith swallowed hard. “So? What should we do?”
Lance bit his lip in thought, before a mischievous smile crossed his lips. “Hey…if you’ve never had friends, you’ve probably never been tickled before.”
“Excuse me?” Keith’s eyes widened, he backed away from Lance on instinct.
But Lance pounced him and Keith struggled against him, letting out whiny protests. Lance just laughed and wrestled against him, pressing him down into the bed and straddling his waist.
“Got ya!” Lance declared when he pinned Keith’s arms down on either side of his head.
The two boys found themselves panting from the sudden fight, but Lance tensed up when he realized.
Their position had gotten…much more intimate than Lance had intended.
Keith stared up at him, a bit in a daze with his mouth partially open, almost curiously. “Lance?” He breathed.
Hesitantly, Lance leaned down, moving a hand off Keith’s arm in favor of setting it on his face. Keith’s eyes widened as Lance caressed his cheek, and then suddenly they were only inches apart…
Keith suddenly yelped and looked away; eyes shut tightly. Lance stopped instantly, eyes widening.
“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” Lance asked in surprise, lifting his head up to give Keith a little space to breathe.
Keith’s cheeks were flushed red as he refused to make eye contact with Lance, instead staring at the wall intently. “I-I’ve never…I just…”
That’s when it dawned on Lance.
“I grew up in the foster system, nobody wanted to be friends with someone like me.”
“Keith…have you never kissed anyone?” Lance asked softly.
A heavy silence followed, and Keith gave a small shake of his head a few moments later.
This information settled deep into Lance’s chest, and only one thought crossed his mind.
‘I really want to be his first.’
But as if Keith knew what he was thinking, he spoke up shyly.
“I um…I don’t think…I’m ready…for that…yet.”
Those words finally snapped Lance back to reality, and he got off Keith and put some distance between them, smiling awkwardly and waving his hands around. “O-Of course! That’s totally fine, I don’t want to pressure you, wow I’m so sorry, I just completely got all up in your space!”
Keith slowly sat up, looking embarrassed. He stared down at his lap. “It’s um…It’s fine…” He blushed slightly.
Lance sighed in relief and leaned back against the wall, trying to cool off a little.
“Hey Lance?...” Lance looked at him. Keith looked back at him. “Do you like me? The way that friends do?”
Lance’s eyes widened. “…No.” He breathed. Keith shared his surprised expression. “It’s more than that, Keith.” He admitted. “I like you in the way people who are more than friends do.”
“…Like boyfriends do…” Keith mused.
Lance grinned a little. “Yeah, like boyfriends do.”
Pidge and Hunk could bite it. If they wanted their money, fine. Lance couldn’t care less about it, he had something much better.
He had Keith.
Lance and Keith were cuddling on the couch, watching another movie, this time it was Tangled.
Coran walked in just in time to see Lance press a kiss to Keith’s hair. He beamed and clapped his hands, startling them both.
“Ah, I see you’re finally together, congratulations Lance, I must say I didn’t think you’d win.”
Keith quirked an eyebrow, his content smile still on his face, but not as wide. “Win?”
Lance’s eyes widened, he shot up from the couch, practically shoving Keith off to do so. “Coran didn’t the Princess need you for something?”
“Not that I recall.” Coran tilted his head in confusion.
“What’s he talking about?” Keith questioned, standing up from the couch.
Lance chuckled nervously. “Um, I have no idea, maybe he’s nuts.”
Coran frowned. “My boy, did you hit your head? I’m talking about the bet you made with Pidge and Hunk that you could get Keith to kiss you by the end of the month.” Keith’s eyes widened. “They told me all about it.”
“Aha, um, no, I think you’re mistaken.” Lance spoke through gritted teeth, pleading for Coran to just shut up and leave. “I don’t recall anything like that.”
Coran’s eyes narrowed. “I’m beginning to think you have a memory problem. The bet was for 200…of whatever your money is called. Wasn’t that the bet?”
“CORAN WOULD YOU SHUT UP!?” Lance exclaimed in frustration.
“Bet?” Lance spun on his heel to look at Keith, who was staring at him with eyes full of shock, heartbreak and humiliation.
His lip quivered as his hands began to tremble. “It was a bet?” He asked quietly.
Lance’s mouth fell open in horror. “Keith-“ He started.
Keith bolted from the room.
“KEITH WAIT A MINUTE!” Lance pleaded, running after him.
Coran frowned, rubbing his chin in thought. “Was it something I said?”
“Keith come on, open the door, please Keith, Keith-“ Lance pleaded, pounding on the red paladin’s door.
Finally, it swung open and he came face to face with Keith’s scowl. “I don’t want to talk to you, would you leave me alone?”
“No!” Lance exclaimed, stepping into the room against Keith’s wishes. “Not until you listen!”
Keith fumed. “I don’t want to listen to you!”
Lance ran his hands through his hair. “Listen to me, it’s not- well I mean it was, but, but it’s not. Not anymore.”
“You made me fall for you for a damn bet, there is NOTHING you can say to ever make that okay.” Keith hissed, fighting to keep tears from his eyes.
At this, Lance’s eyes widened. “Keith, please, I-I’m sorry, I didn’t- I would never want to hurt you-“
“Just stop.” Keith put his hand up, shaking his head. “I don’t want to hear it. It’s my own damn fault, I’m the one who let my guard down…” His gaze turned sad, almost disappointed. “This is why I hate trusting people…”
“Keith…” Lance started in a mumble.
Just then, Keith stepped forward and grabbed Lance by the collar of his shirt, pulling him into a kiss, much to Lance’s shock.
But it was over in a flash, and Keith looked positively heartbroken, it was enough to nearly make Lance cry on the spot.
“There, congratulations Lance, you’ve won your bet.” Lance choked out a gasp.
Keith pointed a shaking finger at the door. “Now please get out.” His voice was strained, as if he had a lump in his throat.
Lance stared at him, and then the door, and then back at him. Finally, he shook his head and stepped towards Keith. “No.”
“Lance-“
“Shut up.” Lance grabbed his arms and pulled him forward, entrapping his mouth with his own. He felt Keith’s strong exterior waver against his touch, placing the gentlest hand on Lance’s cheek to deepen the kiss.
Lance broke the kiss, only enough to murmur against Keith’s lips. “This? This is not for any damn bet.” He deepened the kiss once more, pulling Keith impossibly close against his body.
Keith melted against his touch, and allowed himself to be pushed back onto the bed in the room. Lance hovered over him, never allowing their mouths to disconnect. His knee pushed itself between Keith’s legs and rubbed against him mercilessly. Keith let out noises Lance didn’t even know a human was capable of making until now.
His hands, which were resting on Keith’s hips, dared to move up, to go under his shirt. Keith’s eyes shot open, he broke the kiss in surprise, cheeks flushing a deep pink as he panted for air.
“Is this okay?” Lance asked softly, not daring to move until Keith gave the okay.
He already hurt him once, he wasn’t going to hurt him again.
Keith gave the smallest of nods, something Lance almost missed. Lance tested the waters and slowly raised his hands under his shirt, sliding them up the skin and watching Keith’s facial expression for any signs that it wasn’t okay.
When he got to Keith’s waist, Keith’s eyes shut and he practically whimpered, his blush darkening. He was putty in Lance’s hands.
His expression was what Lance would consider genuinely beautiful. More beautiful than Allura, more beautiful than any of the alien girls he’d met on their journey, and more beautiful than space itself.
And it was for him, and him alone.
Whatever Keith had been expecting, it wasn’t for Lance to suddenly wrap his arms around his waist and pull him into a sort of hug, lifting him up into a sitting position. Keith flushed, their crotches touching and causing mild friction.
But then, Lance’s lips connected to his neck, and Keith let out a gasp. Lance sucked and nibbled on the sensitive spot until it began to change color, and then pressed a gentle kiss to it.
He sighed in content, kissing a spot on Keith’s shoulder. “I’m sorry…” He mumbled, leaving Keith in a mild daze. He pecked his collar bone. “I’m sorry for making you feel less-than.”
Another kiss to his neck. “For making you feel betrayed.”
Another. “For making you feel like you weren’t safe around me.”
Keith’s eyes went impossibly soft. “It’s okay…” He whispered.
“No. It’s not. And it never will be,” Lance’s grip around his waist tightened as he rested his chin on Keith’s shoulder. “But I will spend the rest of my life fighting to make you trust me again, and I won’t stop until you realize how special you are to me.”
Warm tears filled Keith’s eyes, and cascaded down his face against his will. “…You really love me, don’t you?” He asked quietly, his insecurities stinging the words.
Lance leaned back and cupped Keith’s face in his hands, pressing gently kisses to his cheeks and forehead. “So much, Keith. So fucking much.” He pulled him into another deep kiss.
“Alright, you guys win, you can have your money when we get to Earth.” Lance announced as he entered the main room.
Pidge winced. “Lance, Coran told us what happened…look, we were talking and…”
“We feel terrible for what we did to Keith, so, can we just forget the bet? We never meant for it to go this far…” Hunk admitted softly.
To their surprise, Lance smirked. “I’m glad you feel that way, told you Keith!” He yelled the last part towards the hallway.
Pidge and Hunk’s eyes widened as Keith walked through the door, looking a little shy.
“Keith…” Hunk started, then teared up. “We’re so sorry man.”
“What we did was really shitty.” Pidge admitted softly. “We never should’ve made a bet about your feelings.”
Keith’s eyes softened, he looked down. “Do you guys really think I’m that cold? Believe it or not, I do have feelings.” The two flinched.
“We…We know that, at least, now…” Pidge ducked her head down. “We’re really sorry.”
Keith sighed, and was about to speak up, only for Lance to step forward scowling. “Damn straight you’re sorry! How dare you make Keith feel so bad about himself, you should be ashamed of yourselves!” The two winced hard at that.
Finally, Keith placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Lance, it’s fine.” He admitted gently. Lance grumbled and crossed his arms, looking away. “Look it wasn’t…it wasn’t a nice thing to do but…as long as you don’t do something like that again.”
“Never.” Pidge promised.
“Yeah man, that goes without saying.” Hunk nodded.
Keith smiled a little.
Lance clapped his hands. “Great, now that everyone’s made up, I promised Keith a movie night, his pick, so shut up, put the books away and go get Allura, Coran and Shiro.”
“Why can’t you get them?” Pidge raised an eyebrow.
“Because if Coran talked to you, he probably talked to Allura and Shiro. Shiro would kick my ass into outer space before I could even open my mouth.”
Hunk got up and went to go find the others, while Lance collapsed on the couch. He opened his arms and Keith easily slipped into his hold, sitting on his lap and leaning back against him.
Pidge watched the two for a moment, and then smiled softly, looking down at the comic in her hands. ‘They fell in love for real…I’m glad.’
Maybe it would take time for Keith to trust them again, but Pidge would wait, however long it would take, and she’s certain Lance was more than ready to do the same.