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Keith was watering the plants in the sunroom of the Arboretum when he heard the bells of the front door jingle, signaling a customer, followed by someone's cheerful voice calling, "Good afternoon, Mullet! I brought coffee!" 

Keith strolled into the main room and allowed a small smile to grace his lips when he recognized Lance examining an aloe vera plant by the front window, two coffees from Hunk's in his hands. "Hey, Weirdo," Keith greeted shyly, untying his dirty apron and hanging it up on it's hook by the door. "I'm not sure how I feel about that nickname, by the way," he added, taking the coffee Lance held out to him. "Thank you."

Lance smiled, then quirked an eyebrow at the hair that fell down past the nape of Keith's neck. "I'm not wrong," he pointed out. "If you didn't like it, you'd cut your hair."

Keith flushed, self-consciously reaching back to run his fingers through his hair. "I can't cut it on my own..."

Lance giggled, "Obviously."

It was the Monday after graduation and the first time the boys had seen each other since that morning. They'd texted here and there, but Keith wasn't good at keeping track of his notifications and his texts were usually pretty bland and spaced apart, even though he was trying to be better for Lance's sake. 

Lance hadn't brought up the events of the night, so Keith had reluctantly figured that the memories were only his to keep, though he still wasn't sure how he would be able to bring it up to Lance when he had to. He felt bad for lying, but didn't want to come off as a creep and every time he thought about it, he ended up sending himself into a spiral of overthinking and guilt. 

Keith opened the lid to his coffee and smiled-- Lance had remembered how he liked his coffee. Lance wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I don't understand how you can drink it black with no sugar. Are you a psychopath?"

Keith hummed and look a long swig of the coffee instead of answering, closing his eyes in bliss as the hot liquid met his tongue. "Perfect," he murmured, regarding Lance over the top of the cup. "What have you been up to?"

The energy in the room shifted slightly. The brunette walked over to the counter and hopped up onto it, rolling his shoulders, setting his palms behind him and leaning back. He slid his eyes, half-lidded and glinting in the afternoon sun, over to meet Keith's, his expression the same as the night he'd pinned Keith up against the door. It sent shivers down the florists spine and he took another sip of coffee to avoid looking at the boy, knowing he'd have to explain his blush if he made eye-contact. 

"The usual;" Lance said casually, "dance practice, of course. I've picked up a few more classes as an assistant coach. You should come watch one of our performances sometime, Mullet." His tone was light, but Keith could feel Lance's eyes on him, the same amused, sultry expression in them. It was a test, he could feel it. Lance was seeing how far he could go. 

The thing was, Keith wasn't sure if he could pass. 

"Um, yeah, I'd love to." Change the subject, change the subject... "Speaking of which, has Adam mentioned anything about Shiro? Between the two of us, I think they'd be really good together." Keith risked a glance up at Lance and caught the slight lift of one of the brunette's eyebrows. Shit, wrong answer. 

Lance hummed. "Yeah, actually. Adam told me they were planning a date sometime this week. I think Shiro's pretty oblivious, though. Adam's the one who's been making all the moves." Keith had a feeling that they weren't actually talking about Adam and Shiro. 

"I think Shiro's just nervous. He's not used to..." Keith trailed off, biting his lip. Lance didn't respond. He slid off the counter, eyed the door to check for incoming customers, then slowly walked up to Keith. His eyes were set and Keith couldn't look away. Lance stopped right in front of Keith, then leaned down slightly, pointing out the height difference between them. Flustered, Keith stepped back and bumped into the table that displayed the shop's selection of jewelry. He fumbled to place his coffee on a clear spot on the table.

"Why can't you just tell me what you're thinking? This won't work if we can't communicate. It takes two and sometimes I feel like I'm the only one talking, the only one willing to talk. I want to make this work, but you're making it so hard for me, Keith. I'm trying, but I don't know if you're willing to put in as much effort as I am." Lance searched Keith's face desperately, asking for the answers that Keith didn't have, the answers Keith had been trying to find since they'd met in the very space they stood in now.

Before he could stop himself, Keith blurted, "Why can't you just remember?", immediately slapping a hand over his mouth even though the damage was done.

Lance blinked, taken aback. "Remember... what?"

Shit. Now he had to explain. He had been meaning to, but not like this. He would have thought out how he was going to say it, how he would have chosen his words and gone over them in his head all day until he was able to say it the right way. But now Lance was in front of him, waiting for an explanation.

Taking a deep breath, Keith started slowly, "The night of the graduation party, after we got back to my apartment, we were both really drunk and..." he paused, wishing that Lance's memories would fill in without him having to explain it. Lance just stared at him expectantly, clearly upset. "And I thought you would remember it but you didn't and I didn't want to sound like I was a creep so I didn't tell you..." Lance's silence was like death and his expression grew icier with each word Keith spoke.

"And we-" Keith stopped, searching Lance's eyes. Don't make me say it. Just remember. Please.

Lance crossed his arms, his eyes hard and unforgiving. "We what, Keith? What did we do?"

Keith ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Well, we- we slept together."

Lance took a step back, his mouth snapping close and a rosy blush fanning over his cheeks and ears. "I- what?"

Keith shook his head vehemently, struggling to speak. "No, no, not like that, we just slept in my bed together, but, I mean, still... and you..." His mouth struggled to form words as flashbacks of Lance pinning him up against the door of his apartment, his lips whispering down his neck as Keith stood, frozen... His knees felt weak at the mere thought of it. "you..."

"I did something?" Lance asked, sounding more confused than anything. Keith nodded, cheeks red-hot. "What?"

Keith bit the inside of his cheek, trying to bring himself back into reality. He stepped forward, taking Lance's wrists in his hands and backing him up against the wall. Lance watched Keith carefully. "Um," Keith murmured, feeling stupid as he dropped Lance's wrists and planted his palms on either side of Lance's head, slowly sliding his thigh up between Lance's legs and leaning forward to graze the shell of Lance's ear with his lips. "Something like this," he whispered carefully. Embarrassment washed over him in waves. He had none of the conviction or emotion that Lance had had when he'd done it and he kept his eyes down at the floor, too ashamed to meet the brunettes eyes. 

When Lance didn't say anything, we willed himself to look back up, only to find that the Lance's face was dangerously close to his. Their noses brushed and Lance made a point of lowering his eyes to Keith's lips, then bringing them back up. "Did I do anything else?" he murmured. His face was soft and almost kind. Keith shook his head. "Did you want me to?"

Keith felt his pulse in every atom of his body, hyper-aware of how fast it was beating. The question hung suspended in the taut air between them. He felt Lance press his hands gently to the sides of his waist to then slide down and interlace at the small of his back, pulling their bodies closer. He shivered at the contact and looked away, sweat beading on the nape of his neck. 

He didn't know how to answer- suddenly, everything was moving too fast. He didn't even know how he really felt about Lance. He liked him but... what did that even mean? It was all so new to him and he had no idea what was going to happen whenever they saw each other. The feelings his body was experiencing were unfamiliar and that unfamiliar-ness was confusing. It was especially confusing that they were being caused by a boy. 

Lance waited for a few more seconds, gauging Keith's reaction critically. Then, he released his hands and pushed Keith off him, masking his expression before Keith could read it. "What are we doing, Keith?" he asked, his voice low. 

Keith looked up at the brunette, but Lance wouldn't meet his eyes. "I think I've made my intentions pretty clear, but I feel like you don't feel the same way. If there's something I'm doing wrong, tell me. But I can't do this."

"Do what?" Keith asked quietly, pained. 

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. 

Memories flashed through Keith's head. The way Lance had run his hands down Keith's chest at the fair, the smirk on his lips as he stole his wallet back, how he'd hovered above Keith on the couch and helpfully pointed out how much Keith was blushing, kissing Keith's cheeks and his nose and his neck... Keith realized that Lance was right. Not once had he made a move. Not once had he done anything to really reciprocate the affection Lance had so clearly given him. 

Even when they'd both been nearly blackout drunk and Lance had come onto him, asking for something Keith didn't have the answer to, all Keith had been able to do was close his eyes and stand still until it was over. 

Keith looked down at the floor, shame burning in his cheeks. 

"Do you remember that night of the graduation party, when that guy assumed that we were together?" Lance asked. Keith remembered. 

"You make a cute couple," the man had said, smirking.

"We're not a couple!" Keith had sputtered. 

The man had seen Lance's reaction before Keith was able to. "Ouch."

Lance laughed a little, but it was a sad, hollow sound. "You sounded so offended. Like what he had said was... a bad thing." He smiled ruefully at Keith before looking away and taking his coffee from the counter. Keith couldn't make his mouth form words. 

He drank Lance in, the way his sweatshirt hugged his chest, the way his hair fell over his forehead, the glinting gold chain that lay delicately over his collarbone. He wanted more time with him. He wanted more moments together. He wanted to feel the heat of his skin and the intensity of his eyes, even if just for another moment. Just say something, you idiot. Something. Anything. 

"Lance, I..." I'm sorry? I'll try harder? I'm an idiot? No other words came to him. 

Lance walked to the door, then paused and lowered his head. "I'm sorry for wasting your time, Keith. Have a good day." And, without looking back, Lance walked out of the shop. 

...

ahahahaha oop--

i put a lot of work into this one so i hope it paid off (:

i'm gonna try to write more chapters every week-- i wanna finish before 2021!! i'd guess we're just about halfway through, but i think i can make it if i work hard (:

qotd: what's your favorite movie? i don't think i've asked that one yet,,

love u!!!!!!