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A loud banging on Keith's front door woke him from a restless dream where he was riding on the back of a giant golden hippo. He sat up too fast and got dizzy, clutching his head with a wince. He'd fallen asleep on the couch next to a half-eaten, sad-looking pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia and his TV screen displaying "Are you still there?" over the Criminal Minds episode he'd been watching. 

The loud banging came again, followed by "KEITH! I know you're in there!" Keith tilted his head to the side. He knew that voice. 

Keith stumbled up from his couch and slumped to the door, yawning as hee peeked through the peephole to see Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge standing at his door. "What do you want," Keith glanced at his watch, "At 8 a.m. on a Saturday?" he called through the door. 

"We're going on a road trip!" Pidge said, looking unusually excited for someone who was usually so... unexcitable, especially concerning matters that didn't have to do with geeky technology.

Keith made a face. "Hell no. Not today. Too early. You guys have fun."

"Too bad you don't have a choice!" Pidge looked pleased with himself, digging through his backpack for something.

"Keith, you've been depressed about Lance for a week. You need to get out of this apartment," Hunk said gently, trying a different approach. It was true-- Keith had been dragging himself through the week, guilt and frustration at himself consuming his head. That and thoughts of Lance, of course. He was always thinking about Lance. 

He hadn't been able to bring himself to text the boy once and their paths hadn't met. Keith had avoided going to Hunk's on mornings he knew Lance would be there and he went out of his way to dodge going to the gym with Shiro, choosing to run around the neighborhoods by his apartment instead. It didn't stop his head from constantly reminding him how much he'd fucked up, though, and he'd spent too much time laying in bed, unable to sleep, nothing but cerulean eyes on his mind. 

"I still am depressed about Lance. Let me be depressed," Keith muttered, resting his head against the door. His heart hurt.

"Aha!" Pidge said triumphantly, finding what he'd been searching for in his bag. "I brought a taser," he announced, holding up the small, boxy weapon. He zapped it a few times at Keith's door threateningly. 

"Where the fuck did you get a taser?" Keith exclaimed in alarm. 

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and Pidge flashed an evil grin up at the peephole where Keith was watching from. "Shiro gave it to me," he said coyly. 

"SHIRO!" Keith yelled, and Pidge laughed maniacally. 

Shiro held up his hands in innocence. "I thought he'd need it! He told me about all the shady shit he does for his company and I thought he could use it! Just for self-defense..."

"Oh my god," Keith whispered, rubbing his temples. His brain flashed to that one Vine... "What do you have?" "A knife!" "NO!" Why could his brain perfectly replace the toddler in the video with Pidge? 

"If you're not outside in 15 minutes, I'm coming in," Pidge threatened Keith through the door, clutching the taser in his small hands. "And I am armed and dangerous."

"What the hell... It's too early for this shit." Keith rubbed his eyes and looked back at his couch wistfully. What he'd give for 15 more minutes of sleep... "Whatever," he grumbled, annoyed. Sleep could wait. 

16 minutes later, the four were piling into Hunk's van, Shiro in shotgun and Keith and Pidge stuck in back. Behind them, band equipment sat idly from their last gig, which made Keith's heart squeeze. It must have been years ago and Hunk still hadn't cleaned it out? He caught Hunk's eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled. Hunk's eyes crinkled at the edges and he turned up the music. 

"Where are we even going?" Keith asked, messing with the tank top he was wearing. He'd picked a random outfit from his closet because he hadn't had time to dig through his clean laundry and had forgotten that the tank was way too loose, showing the sides of his ribs and flashes of his chest when he moved. He felt a little uncomfortable, but who was gonna see him?

"You'll see," Shiro said cryptically, sneakers resting on the dashboard. Keith examined the outfits of his friends, trying to deduce their plan, but came up with nothing. He sat back in the seat, looking out the window as they drove along the coast. From what he could tell, they were heading into the city, but before long, he felt his eyelids become heavy and he drifted off before they were out of town. 

...

"We're heeere~" Hunk sang happily, pulling Keith out of his slumber. His eyes flashed to the window and he immediately recognized the city around them. Tall skyscrapers with the morning sunlight falling through the shafts between them, the sounds of the city; taxis honking, the rumble of the subway, music and voices, surrounding the van as it turned down another block. 

Keith realized that there were more people than usual walking on the sidewalks and they all seemed to be heading in the same direction, the direction that Hunk was driving the van towards, too. He was about to ask what was going on when they turned down another street and the world erupted in color. 

Everywhere Keith looked, there were signs, flags, balloons, people wearing rainbows and glitter and boas and, most of all, banners strung between the apartments on the street reading "HAPPY PRIDE!". Shiro turned in his seat and met Keith's eyes. He was asking something. He was asking if this was ok. 

Keith looked out at the scene again.  A group of pretty, bedazzled boys walked by the van, laughing, and Keith peered at them through the tinted window. Could he be like one of them? Could he like one of them? No, he liked Lance... and Lance was a boy. And Keith was a boy.

Boy plus boy equals gay, right?

He looked back at Shiro, who was waiting patiently. Biting his lip, he nodded slightly. Shiro smiled and turned forward again, taking his feet off the dash and pulling out his phone, scrolling through the event details. Keith glanced over at Pidge, who was pulling a bucket hat out of his backpack with the trans flag colors tie-dyed on it. Keith looked down at himself. He wasn't really wearing pride attire. 

Hunk found a parking spot in a garage not far from the parade's starting point and the four boys headed down the street to where most of the crowd was gathering. Pidge pointed out a Starbucks on the side of the street and casually persuaded Shiro into buying them coffee. Hunk grumbled that his was better (and they all agreed) but they headed into the bustling shop regardless. 

However, as Keith entered the shop and he scanned the patrons as they got into the line, his eyes caught on someone who was looking right back at him. Keith's mouth went dry. Lance was sitting at one of the tables by the front windows, long legs stretching down from the stool, his chin resting on his palm as he stared at Keith neutrally. 

Pidge cleared his throat behind Keith and, with the most innocent face he could muster. "Oh my god, that is such a coincidence. I had no idea that Lance would be here, did you guys?" Hunk and Shiro shook their heads, mirroring Pidge's expression. Hunk cracked a little, though, and a small giggle escaped his lips. Keith didn't know whether to be relieved or nervous or anxious or... Before he could decide, though, Shiro gave him a gentle push towards Lance, who was now gazing out the window casually. 

Keith felt his heartbeat speed up as he walked over to the table. Seeing Lance like this, in person, after a week of his image flooding his mind every waking moment, was surreal. Lance was wearing baggy mom jeans and a tight crop top, his eyes framed with eyeliner and pillowy falsies. White Converse high tops with rainbow laces caught Keith's attention and again, he realized how plain he looked compared to everyone else here. 

Lance didn't look at him as he arrived at the table, so Keith cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hey." Blue eyes slid to meet his, the emotions behind them unreadable. Lance didn't say anything. 

"Can I... sit here?" Keith asked cautiously, gesturing at the stool that stood on the opposite side of the table. Lance nodded, watching Keith's every move. 

Sitting, Keith sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look, Lance... I'm really sorry. For everything. You were right. I'm really bad with admitting I'm wrong, even if I know that I am, so I wasn't able to say anything in that moment. I knew you were right then and I do now too, but it's just... hard for me."

Lance was watching, listening, and Keith forced himself to keep eye contact, pushing himself the way he should have when Lance had walked out. 

"I've never done this before. I've never felt the way that I feel when I'm with you with anyone else. I don't know how this is supposed to go, and I'm so nervous that I'm gonna mess it up... like I did... that I end up doing nothing. I didn't even know that I-" Keith looked around, then felt guilty for being self-conscious about saying it, "liked boys... until I met you."

"I know that it's not an excuse, but Lance..." Keith reached forward tentatively for one of Lance's hands, palm open, "please, I'm asking for a second chance. I'll do better. I'll show you that I... I really care about you. And I don't want to let this go." 

Lance looked from Keith's eyes down to his hand and sighed. Slowly, he took Keith's hand and Keith felt relief wash over him. Lance frowned. "You're lucky you have really good friends." His voice was small. 

Keith looked over at his friends, who did a bad job of hiding the fact that they were spying on him and Lance. Keith smiled softly. "Yeah, I am. How did they...?" Lance pulled out his phone, opened it, and showed his most recent text to Keith. It was from an unknown number and it read, in bolded letters:

five reasons why u should forgive keith for being stupid

1. he's rly sweet even if he's dense. he knit us beanies one year for christmas and i guess it took him like a month because he kept messing up but wanted to make them perfect

2. sometimes he wears socks or these stupid fingerless gloves he has to bed and someone needs to stop him

3. he can't bake for shit and we're worried about his health. i think he survives off a diet of take-out chinese food and coffee

4. hes good at singing and playing the guitar and writing sappy emo boy love songs. hes probably written one for you already

5. things are gonna get awkward if shiro and adam start dating and you guys have to pretend that you're friends

Below it was the Starbuck's address and the date and time. Keith suppressed a grin, pressing his lips together. "How'd they get my number?" Lance asked, sipping his coffee. 

Keith laughed a little, "Pidge, the one in the bucket hat, is like, crazy good with technology stuff. He probably hacked into my phone to get it." Lance's eyes flicked to Pidge and Keith felt a weird nervousness in his stomach. He wanted Lance to like his friends. He wanted them to get along. 

Lance smiled. "Pretty impressive." He looked back at Keith and quirked an eyebrow. "You don't really look like you're dressed for pride. Did they tell you that you were coming here?"

Keith shook his head sheepishly. Lance rolled his eyes and hopped off the stool, not letting go of Keith's hand as he wove between patrons and led Keith to the back of the store, ducking into the bathroom and pulling the florist in after him. Lance locked the door and began searching through his baby blue Kanken, pulling out a few makeup products and dumping them in the sink before pushing Keith up against it. Lance grabbed the eyeliner and held Keith's chin steady in his hand, warm, warm, warm, his fingers on Keith's cheek as he drew above his eyelashes.

"Stay still," Lance instructed in a whisper, "and close your eyes."

Keith smiled. "Yes, sir," he replied in a low voice and was pleased to hear Lance's breath hitch slightly in his throat. Lance slowly worked over Keith's face, drawing thick lines above his eyes, brushing out his lashes with mascara, laying highlight over the tip of his nose and the tops of his cheekbones. 

But, after standing still for so long, with Lance right in front of him, Keith started to get a little restless. As Lance reached behind him for another product, Keith took the opportunity to wrap his arms around Lance's waist and pull their bodies together, smiling at the tiny "oh!" that escaped Lance's lips in surprise. 

Keith lifted his chin to whisper in Lance's ear. "Stay still... and close your eyes." Lance's eyes fluttered close and Keith smirked, kissing Lance's ear for good measure before moving down his neck.

"Keith," Lance sighed breathily, hands squeezing Keith's biceps lightly for balance.

Keith slid his hands over the bare skin between the hem of Lance's jeans and his crop top. It was warm, soft with peach-fuzz, firm with muscle. His breath soft and fast, Lance ran his hands through Keith's hair, knotting his fingers in the dark strands.

Keith brought his face back up to Lance's and brushed their noses together, leaning back against the sink. "Keith," Lance said again, and their lips barely brushed, not a kiss, even if it sent Keith's heart into overdrive. 

"Hm?" Keith opened his eyes, pressing their foreheads together. Lance smiled slowly, eyes still closed. 

"Do you..." Lance let go of Keith's hair and let his hands fall to cup his cheeks instead, "really want our first kiss to be in a public restroom?"

Keith laughed softly, pulling Lance into his chest and hugging him tightly. "Not really," he admitted, a little ashamed at how eager he'd been, a little disappointed anyways. 

Lance pulled back and kissed Keith's cheek, letting his lips linger for a moment more than usual. "You look gorgeous, love. C'mon, the parade's about to start."

...

ahaeheheheheheheheehehe i had a little bit too much fun writing this ch not gonna lie,,,,

um anyways lol

qotd: what's yourrrrrrr favorite flower?

love u guys <3