*smut warning*

7:23 pm

Lance checked again.

7:23 pm

And again.

7:24 pm

Lance sighed. Could time move any slower? He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and peeked at the house above. With a minor adjustment to the rearview mirror and another glance at the time, he huffed and sat back in his seat. He hated to be late, especially when meeting new people, feeling it left a bad impression. Even still, they're supposed to be there at 7:30 pm, only five short minutes from now and it takes roughly ten to drive there.

Lance pursed his lips and hovered his hand over the horn before retracting it. He didn't want to rush her, he knows it would turn her mood sour. Allura and him only just started dating. Lance had asked her out a total of fourteen times before she finally agreed, not without reluctance. So even now, he feared making the wrong move or upsetting her in any way so that she may break up with him without really giving him a chance. He treated her to nice dates, always tried to do the most gentleman-like course of action, and he was honey sweet. That wasn't enough for Allura though, and maybe that's why Lance likes her. She's classy, and sassy, and tough. She knows what she wants and doesn't hesitate to take it. She's motivated and powerfully willed. Lance believed he could learn a thing or two from her, maybe some of these qualities could rub off on him. He was far more of a pushover, a real people pleaser if you will. He cares what others think of him and it drives him crazy when someone doesn't like him. His success is overabundant but he feels lost in life, unsure of where he should go or what he should do. He's skilled, but uncreative—just waiting for someone to tell him what to do so he can accomplish it to perfection and more.

Maybe it's also for the reason of his character that he is so nervous about making the best impression. Today he'll be meeting Allura's friends, whom she talks about often. A small gathering in an apartment. Apparently Hunk and Keith live there, and Shiro, Romelle, and Pidge will be joining as well. Lance is just ready to put names to faces. According to Allura, Hunk is the equivalent of a cinnamon roll, Pidge is sarcastic but fun, Shiro is very dad-like, Keith is aloof, and Romelle is kind of a ditz but in an endearing way. Lance briefly wondered how Allura described him to her friends. He pushed the question away and immediately raced out of the car when he saw Allura walk out the front door. He opened the passenger side for her and greeted her with a large smile. She looked stunning as always, never a hair out of place.

There was a knock at the door and everyone paused and glanced in its direction. "I'll get it." Keith volunteered, eagerly taking the excuse to leave the conversation. Pidge and Hunk were talking about mechanical science and Keith was following along well... until he wasn't and settled for just nodding and agreeing.

He bypassed Shiro and Romelle's conversation and opened the door with less enthusiasm than he probably should have. But he froze seeing an unfamiliar face staring back with wide blue eyes. He perked up forgetting his lazy attitude and blinked owlishly at the stranger. His blue eyes flicked to his feet before meeting Keith's again, almost unsure or shy. "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Lance."

And then Keith had to face shaking the delicate hand between them. His honey-tanned skin was smooth and flawless and when Keith shook his hand, it was soft to the touch and warm. "I'm Keith." He spoke, but it came out a soft murmur. He was pleased at the pretty contrast of his own porcelain skin and Lance's sun kissed beauty. Keith's eyes flicked back up to look at Lance and found something in him melting at the soft freckles dusting his cheeks and a mole just above his right eyebrow. Lance had short coco brown hair and it curled just on the ends making him look fae like.

When their hands pulled away, Keith let his eyes do the same and he caught sight of Allura standing next to him. "Hi Keith," she spoke offhandedly and slid inside leaving Lance there. Lance seemed to notice as well and quickly followed after her like a puppy. Keith let out a long breath like he just got punched in the gut and shut the door.

So that was her new boyfriend. When asked, she described him as annoying and clingy, but overall kind and boisterous. Keith glanced at him again and felt a string of resentment toward Allura. She has more handsome men throwing themselves at her than she knew what to do with. Did she have to have them all? Could she not leave a few nice men alone, or did she insist on breaking all their hearts. He looked at Lance with pity. Shame, he looks nice too. Soon enough he'd be heartbroken and dumped like the rest. Keith offered him a silent 'good luck'.

Lance sat next to Allura quietly on the couch. She had jumped right into conversation without even introducing him and now that they were talking, he felt he had missed his chance. The longer he sat in silence listening to the conversation, the more he felt like an outcast. He glanced at Allura's hand and thought about holding it to make him feel more like he belonged, but Allura didn't care for hand holding so he decided against it. He felt a dip in the spot next to him and he found Keith had joined.

"Everyone, this is Lance." Keith hitches a thumb at him and everyone paused to smile and greet Lance happily and introduce themselves. Immediately Lance felt a bit better.

As the night went on, Lance quickly learned that he very much liked it there. He first had started chatting with Pidge, and once he figured out a dynamic with her, they seemed to get along like to two peas in a pod. Hunk soon joined and it wasn't long before they were all laughing loudly, Pidge even letting out a loud snort that received the attention of everyone else in the room. At one point he was talking to Shiro and while they didn't get a chance to talk long, the guy was really friendly and he immediately agreed with Allura's claim that he had dad energy. Romelle and him were talking animatedly, happy to find they had a very similar sense of humor in cheesy jokes and pop culture references. It was then that Lance felt a tap on his shoulder.

He turned around with a wide smile beaming at his beautiful girlfriend who leaned in closer. "I'm getting sleepy, can you take me home?"

Lance nodded, but he felt a little deflated hearing that. He really did want to stay and chat longer. At first he was afraid he'd be attached to Allura's hip the whole night, too shy to act himself around complete strangers. But her friends were so kind and accepting that he quickly let go of those fears and was able to enjoy himself. On their way out they said goodbye to everyone hand in hand.

The next time they all hung out again, it was only a little less than a week later. Lance was far more ecstatic showing up to the apartment and when he knocked on the door, Hunk answered. Allura and him sat on the couch for a while deep in conversation. Everyone who was there last time was here again, except Keith. When he asked about the missing person, Hunk briefly said he was tired from work so Lance dismissed it, naturally.

Lance liked to present himself as energetic and social but he tended to drain his social meter often. When doing so, he would try taking small breaks by excusing himself to go to the bathroom or finding a quieter area to reside for a moment. Deciding now would be a good time for one, he excused himself to use the bathroom. He moved down the hallway which had three doors, one of which was open and presented itself as a bedroom. He looked to one of the closed ones and committed charging inside and shutting the door with a sigh of relief.

Lance realized it was another bedroom, not that it mattered, he just needed somewhere quiet. But then it did matter because the room was already occupied. Keith stares at him with wide, violet eyes from the bed. He was laying on top of his sheets in just boxers and a black tee, his ink black hair pulled into a low ponytail, and a book in hand. "Lance?"

Lance's eyes raked up and down the guy's milky white skin, the subtle bulges of muscle making themselves known, his legs all the way up to his sculpted thighs, and when his eyes dared to venture to the outline in his boxers, he looked away quickly. His face was a dangerous red and Keith noticed both the flush to his face and the way he had been staring. Keith briefly reminded himself Lance was straight and dating Allura.

"Uh, are you looking for the bathroom?" Keith asked, it really being the only logical reason why Lance would suddenly barge into his room.

"Yeah. Well sort of." Lance rubbed the back of his neck passively. "Just somewhere quiet."

"Oh. Well it's quiet in here." Keith said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah. I noticed you weren't with everyone else. Hunk said you were tired from work." Lance tried to make conversation. He could leave, that was also totally an option. He was kind of invading Keith's privacy and destroying his quiet time. But it's cool, just two straight dudes hangin out, one without pants. Totally cool. Lance is chill.

"Oh, yeah, I was inking for like twelve hours today." Keith was putting his book away now, like he was giving Lance his full attention.

"Inking?" Lance moved from the doorway to sit in a chair under the desk beside Keith's bed. He gave him  a 'do tell' sort of look.

"I'm a tattoo artist." Keith explained.

Lance's eyes lit up at the information and he scooted closer in the chair. "Can I see?"

"You mean like...?"

"Some of your work." Lance finished.

Keith nodded and reached for his phone. Lance drank up the view as he watched the muscles flex and relax beneath his skin. He pushed down the invasive thoughts and reminded himself he was here with his girlfriend that he was very lucky to have. When Keith handed him the phone—actually handed it to him—Lance's jaw dropped. Beautiful artworks and tattoos of all kinds. He was scrolling through the album on the phone with careful concentration.

"I can't believe you made these..." Lance trailed off as he scrolled. Pictures of snakes, dragons, dogs, trees, skulls, you name it. All different and unique styles, some having color and others in greyscale. There were even some done as watercolor which Lance liked the best.

Keith bit back a smile. "Yeah well, I'm good at stabbing things, might as well make money off it."

"This isn't just blindly stabbing things. This is... amazing." Lance looked up and blinked at Keith. However, Keith was mildly taken back by Lance's words. He's gotten complements and praise before, but Lance's reaction was so full of wonder and astonishment that he couldn't help but feel shy. "Do you have any?"

Keith leaned forward showing off his back right shoulder. It was the outline of a dragon in red ink and it was full of immaculate detail. It was incredibly cool and Lance reached out brushing his fingers along it bringing goosebumps to Keith's skin.

"It's amazing—so cool."Lance said in wonderment. And kind of hot, he thought in addition. As a straight dude, he could totally admit that Keith was a solid 10/10.

"Some people think it's weird I don't have more considering I'm a tattoo artist, but I'm just selective." Keith was then pulling his boxers down slightly on his right leg to show off a blue wave with amazing white highlights. It was placed on his side, right where his leg met his hip. "I did this one on myself."

"No way! On yourself!" Lance squeaked, using the surprise to cover up the flush in his cheeks. Deeply trying to ignore the very edge of his V-line and the very clear happy trail poking out under his shirt.

"Have you got any?" Keith asked releasing his boxers back to their normal position.

"I really really want to get one, I'm just nervous about the pain. I've thought about getting like a honeycomb design on my shoulder. When I was younger, my mom was a beekeeper and she'd always call me her bee." He smiled fondly.

Keith opened his bedside drawer and pulled out a sketchbook and pencil. He opened to a blank page and wordlessly started light strokes on the paper. Lance watched in awe as a beautiful sketch of a geometric honeycomb design came alive. "Are you thinking more realistic? Like it's almost your skin?"

"That sounds sick." Lance scoots his chair closer.

"Color or black and white do you think?" Keith asks.

"Uh... what kind of color?" Lance blinks at him.

"Well, we could go for a gold yellow kind of look and I could add highlights to make it look like honey. Or I could use a more colorful pallet. It's your first tattoo and color might be a lot, but if you're set on it there's never any harm in doing two sessions with your artist. Another thing to keep in mind is your skin tone. Since you have slightly darker skin, color will need to be built on to make it more vibrant. Plus, a couple years down the line, if you think you change your mind and want color, it's easy to add." Keith explained.

Lance thought about it. "I think greyscale would be better. It would probably make it look more realistic too."

Keith nodded and bit his lip. "Would you like to add anything else? Like a bee or two?"

"Yeah!" Lance was now hovering over Keith's shoulder as the guy sketched and shaded. He waited patiently until he was done and then he presented it to Lance.

Lance took the sketchbook in both hands and stared at the drawing. "Keith. I need this on me." He blinked at the larger bee and a smaller one, his mother and him, he was sure Keith did it on purpose. They were beautiful and detailed bees.

Keith chuckled. "I'm glad you like it. If you want to use it go ahead, tweak it however you want."

"Will you tattoo me? Please." Lance begged while holding the sketch close.

"I mean..." he rubbed the back of his neck, "I usually try to avoid tattooing people I know well."

"Please Keith. I refuse to let anyone else touch me. It has to be you. Please." Lance said the words thoughtlessly, but they had Keith's stomach doing acrobatics.

"Sure. Yeah. Okay." Keith blushed deeply. "Here," Keith wrote down his number on a loose card and handed it to Lance, "text me and I'll get you set up."

And Lance did text, and the appointment was set.

The next time the group met up, it was to go to the outdoor mall. Allura was adamant about finding a nice dress for an upcoming wedding she was attending. "You should really find something nice to wear too," she added. "You're my plus one and you can't be looking shabby." She laughed.

Lance smiled, "Me? Shabby?"

"Oh can it, just find something?" She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. She'd been warming up to him more lately, and Lance was more than ecstatic about it. There was still a great disconnect between them that he wasn't blind to, but things take time. Lance was sure the 'spark' talked about in movies and books were a thing of fiction. Love was difficult, it took work, and effort. It doesn't come naturally, of course. Surely?

They met in the food court and Lance brightened seeing his friends and his heart skipped a beat when Keith looked up at him. "Hey,"

"Hey," Lance breathed out like the air was punched from his lungs.

The group branched off and Romelle and Shiro went with Allura to find her a dress. Pidge and Hunk were looking at the tech, and of course that left Lance and Keith. "She said to find something spiffy enough for the wedding."

"First of all, I'm positive Allura didn't use the word 'spiffy'. And second, you're in luck, because I can barely dress myself." Keith smiled as they walked into the first dressy clothing store they spotted. The comment made Lance laugh out loud and he quieted when a worker approached with a smile.

"Hi gentlemen, anything in particular you're looking for today?" She asked, hands clasped in front of her.

"Yeah, he's looking for something to wear to a wedding." Keith answered for Lance who seemed to hesitate at first.

"Oh, come with me and we'll pick out a few things to try. Your boyfriend can sit over there by the changing rooms." She pointed.

"He's n-" Keith quickly went to correct her but Lance smiled and just said "Okay!" like it was the most natural thing. It had Keith stuttering momentarily.
"You heard the lady, go sit down babe." And then Lance had the audacity to wink at him. Stupid Lance was oblivious to the effect he had on Keith, making butterflies ascend in his chest.

Keith sat by the changing rooms scrolling idly on his phone as Lance and the employee grabbed clothes off the racks like candy. Suits, ties, button up shirts, and all the junk. Keith looked up from his phone when Lance was promptly squeezed into a dressing room with way to many clothes to be reasonable. "Why so many?!" Keith laughed aloud.

"What do you mean. This is the only reasonable method for finding the best outfit." Lance said ending with a grunt as he struggled out of his pants and into some nice slacks.

"If you say so..." Keith rolled his eyes and kept scrolling through his phone. But when the dressing room door opens, he's quick to put his phone down and look.

Lance struts out in a blue suit and shoots finger guns Keith's way. "What'd ya think?" He flashes a charming grin.

Keith laughs aloud. "What is this? The 80's? Next."

Lance pouts and moonwalks backwards into the dressing room. When he comes back out, he's wearing a black suit with a white button up and a tie. "I just noticed you noticing me and I just wanted to give you notice that I noticed you too." Lance did a cool lean against the dressing room door and gave Keith a mock flirty look.

Keith snorted. "Too much. Way overdressed."

Lance twirls back into the dressing room with ease. Keith tries to will the large grin on his face away, but the effort is fruitless. Especially when Lance is waltzing out in a plaid suit saying: "I like your last name. Can I have it?"

"You don't even know my last name." Keith snorted.

"Yes I do, it's Kogane. I noticed it on a tag in your room." Lance said matter-of-factly.

"Okay, but that suit is tacky." Keith fired back.

"Fine, fine..." Lance turns to walk back into the dressing room but stops. "Oops, my contact fell out." He bends over at the waist and pops out the booty. He shoots Keith a jokingly coy look over his shoulder as he pretends to pick it up off the floor.

"Oh my god," Keith snorts but can't deny the flush in his cheeks, "please get out of that."

"So forward!" Lance winks before erupting into laughter and rushing to change, leaving Keith a mortified mess. "Okay, okay, how about this one?"

Lance steps out and Keith finds his breath is catching in his throat. Lance was... hot. Smoking. He was sexy. A dark grey suit over a maroon red turtleneck. So simple, yet it had Keith looking him up and down with guilty pleasure. "You look..."

"I don't know. I like it, but does the red suit me?" Lance asks, looking at himself in the mirror timidly.

"Yes." Keith says quickly. "That looks—you look... you're a catch." He'll be eye candy to everyone at the wedding including the bride.

"You're not just saying that?" Lance gives him one last worried expression. But Keith shakes his head, "Lance, you look like a billion bucks."

"Just a billion?" Lance sticks out his lower lip and Keith pushes down the urge to want to bite it.

"A trillion."

"Now we're talking." Lance smiles, but it seems more shy now.

"Oh wow! You look so handsome!" The employee praised as she passed by. Lance thanked her and scrambled back into the dressing room. "You're a lucky guy, I'm almost jealous." She flashed a dopey smile at Keith.

"Yeah, I am." Keith smiled and bit down on his lower lip.

Lance came out holding the suit with the turtleneck and walked it to the front desk to buy. All the while, Keith took the moment to talk some sense into himself. Lance is straight, Lance is taken, Lance is not interested, Lance likes girls. But all his walls melted back down when Lance glanced at Keith over his shoulder with a sheepish smile.

They walked out together, Lance holding the bag triumphantly. "Where to now? Allura is super picky about her dresses, so we should still have a while." Lance nudged Keith. Keith offered a shrug, but then he was being pulled into another clothing store. It was more casual wear and Lance was determined. For what reason, Keith was certain he didn't want to know.

But then, Lance was picking up the ugliest pair of pants—cheetah print to be exact. "I've gotta try these on." He laughed.

"Yes." Keith agreed, "But not without this." Keith held up a button up shirt with a goose pattern on it.

"Deal. But if I try this on, then you have to wear..." he looked around before pointing at a shift with a dinosaur on it that read 'dilf'. Keith snorted and snatched one up in his size. "But, you'll need pants of course." Lance held up a pair of white fringe jeans with lots of little dangles like cowboy pants.

"Oh god no."

"Pidge told me you were born and raised in Texas, cowboy."

The two were laughing so hard they could barely keep themselves standing. After several outfit changes, Lance was in a fur coat, and leather pants, while Keith was still wearing the white cowboy pants with a button up cowboy like shirt and hat, and even boots. "You look ridiculous!" Keith struggled for breath.

"Me? Take a look in the mirror, cowboy!" Lance picked up a pair of sunglasses and slid them on his face as he spoke.

"I'm Asian, I couldn't look less like a cowboy." Keith snorted and made a dash for the dressing room.

"Hey wait, let me see the hat!" Lance chased after him and they ended up in close quarters with Lance making grabby hands for Keith's hat. So naturally, Keith took it off and held it out of reach, flaunting his extra height. Lance made a lunge for it, knocking their chests together and making their faces come close enough that they could feel each others breath.

Keith slowed as their eyes met, smiles drained away and settled for something more serious. Keith slid the hat on Lance's head and pulled off the sunglasses so that he could see those baby blue eyes staring back with a strange intensity.

And then Lance's lips were rushing forward those last few inches to capture Keith's. It was eager and Keith was quick to reciprocate. His hands traveled down the length of the faux fur coat and buried themselves underneath to find those lean hips. Lance's right arm was wrapped around Keith with his hand buried in his hair and gently scratching at his scalp and playing with the dark silky locks. His other hand was balled up tightly in the button up shirt, keeping Keith close.

And wow. Because Keith's brain was misfiring under the intensity. And Lance's stomach was doing summersaults in excitement and his chest swelled with a feeling he couldn't explain. Was kissing meant to be like this? Had he been doing it wrong all this time? Cause never had his body felt like it was on fire and yet freezing all at the same time. It was so much he needed to pull away, and still, he felt like if he pulled away, he'd die.

The initial uncertainty and hesitance faded and allowed room for more passion to tear through them. Keith licked into Lance's mouth and Lance made a noise he never would have thought would come out of his mouth. And he reveled in the way his body was pressed firmly between Keith and the mirror. The mirror. Lances eyes slipped open and with a glance to the side, he saw himself and Keith totally lost and gone to the sudden intimacy.

Holy shit.

Holy shit!

"Keith..." he mumbled into the kiss. It was meant to do something, stop it or encourage it—he doesn't know.

And then someone was clearing their throat. "Apologies but we don't allow people to share changing rooms. Specifically for this reason. Public place and all." An employee said quickly, all the while averting her eyes from them. The two pulled away so quickly, it could have been light speed.

"Sorry," Keith was quick to apologize to her.

Lance's legs felt wobbly, and when the initial haze of 'oh my god that was amazing' passed and was replaced with 'oh my god what have I done', he thought he was going to pass out.

When the woman walked away, Keith turned back to Lance. He gave him a sincere look of worry, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Uh... I..." Lance couldn't put thought into words—more like, he had too many thoughts to articulate them into words. Is he okay? Well, he's pretty sure he just kissed a guy, and cheated on his girlfriend by doing so. Lance was always on some level aware that he found men objectively attractive—okay maybe attractive attractive. But how is a relationship with a guy supposed to even work? He'd never even put much thought into it. And why should he have to when he had a badass hot girlfriend who he'd been trying to get to date him for months!

So why in the heat of the moment, did he just jeopardize all of that for a guy no less. Okay, a really hot guy. Okay, a really hot and funny guy. Okay, a really hot and funny guy who also made Lance feel like he's floating just being near him. Lance shook his head losing track of where his brain was going.

"Look, it's... it's okay." Keith said almost hesitantly.

"That's the last word I'd use to describe this." Lance said quietly and dropped his head into his hands. "Is there any way we could pretend that... I don't know... that didn't happen."

"Yeah..." Keith felt his chest tighten. "Sure. It was an accident."

Lance blinked at him. "An...accident? Yeah, an accident." He nodded slowly. He had a hard time accepting the word 'accident', because if it was, he shouldn't want to do it again. When he looked back up at Keith, he felt his stomach do flip flops again. "Keith, I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what? Nothing happened remember?" Keith flashed a small smile, but it seemed fake.

Lance chuckled, "We look ridiculous."

"Yeah, and who dressed us exactly?" Keith laughed pushing the cowboy hat further on Lance's head.

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure I recall the ugly fur coat being your idea." Lance stood up and took the discarded sunglasses to put them on Keith.

"That's debatable." Keith tilts his head. "And if anyone asks about this," he gestures to the fashion disaster, "I'll deny it."

The two picked up where they had before, rather seamlessly. But that didn't mean they would forget about the kiss so easily. Because long after having changed back into normal clothes and going home. The two—while miles apart in different homes and in different beds—relived the same moment over and over again as they stared up at the ceiling.

Keith huffed as he rolled over in bed. His decision to basically tell Lance to forget about it was probably the better one, but he wanted to be selfish. Really wanted to be selfish. He wanted Lance, even if that meant stealing him from a good friend of his. And then he was tossing and turning wondering if that made him a bad person or not. Lance was handsome, he was charming, sure. But there were plenty of handsome and charming men. None, however, were like Lance. None could make Keith laugh so much, and when he's around Lance, he worries he'll be stuck smiling forever. He loves the way Lance sees things, he's so hopeful and optimistic. He's just as stubborn as Keith, but Keith keeps finding himself budging. All because he wants to see Lance's bright smile and the dimple that only appears on his right cheek.

"Fuck." Keith slaps his hands on his face and drags them down. He has a crush.

Lance laid on his side biting at his thumb. What he'd done today was stupid. And crazy. And crazy stupid.

What had he been thinking? That's just it! He hadn't been thinking. And look where it got him. It jeopardized his relationship with his girlfriend, and friendship with someone he really admired. Not admired in a romantic way, in like a 'I really admire you bro' kind of way. No there was no way to make that sound better.

Guilt ate at his soul. Should he tell Allura? That would be the right thing to do. It would probably make him feel better too. But then he worried it could cause problems between Keith and Allura. What if he told Allura he kissed a guy, but didn't say who. He rubbed his eyes. No, it was just an accident, it wasn't going to happen again. There's no reason to upset her if it didn't mean anything, right?

Lance played with the bedsheet between his fingers. Why exactly had he kissed Keith in that moment would probably be a better question to get to the bottom of. He thought about the moments leading up to the kiss. They were laughing, they were being idiots, Keith looked ridiculous...

He remembered lunging for the hat and their chests brushing together, and the feeling of their faces being so close. And he remembered the way Keith's eyes seemed to soften for a look that seemed almost endearing and fond. His body had ignited under the new gaze. Keith's eyes were so gorgeous and he felt drunk on the way Keith was looking at him. And then he was pushing up into Keith's grasp to meet his lips.

His body shivered as he recalled the feeling. He's kissed many women—a total of seven to be exact, and he's never been so at ease kissing before. Every other time, he'd been so worried if he was doing it right, if the other person was enjoying it, or he'd be focused on something completely different that shouldn't matter in the moment. But when he kissed Keith, his mind had gone blank, and all he wanted was to keep doing it. He wanted Keith to kiss him deeper, to hold him closer, to hold him tighter. And Lance wanted to explore Keith, maybe because it was all so new, but he wanted to touch his hair, his face, trace his hands along Keith's taller and stronger frame.

Lance then remembered the way Keith had him pressed against the mirror, the way they had looked making out. Despite them looking ridiculous, they looked hot. And the blazing hot touch of Keith's hands on his hips still lingered. Lance turned on his stomach and buried his face into his pillow. And he became all too aware of the hardness in his boxers. He groaned in frustration and tried to think about his girlfriend.

Allura kissing me.

Allura touching me.

Allura having sex with me.

But when he pictured hands on him, they were Keith's hard square hands, thick and calloused. He imagined them running down his body and stopping at his ass to deliver a teasing squeeze. And then he thought about Keith's body hovering above
him, the tattoo on his shoulder visible and his muscles flexing beneath his skin. If he squeezed his eyes shut and focused, he could imaging Keith saying his name... low and breathy in his ear.

Lance didn't realize he was rocking into his mattress until he did. He let out a whine. "Keith..."

He imagined Keith saying sweet things to him as he pulled down his boxers and gave his ass another light squeeze. Those hands raking up and down his body and grabbing him by the thighs to pull him closer.

And then Keith would keep touching him, getting closer and closer to the entrance there. And then he started to wonder about other parts of Keith... specifically his package. He tried to picture the feeling of Keith dragging his dick down the crest of his ass. What it would feel like if Keith entered him.

Lance came suddenly and he gasped aloud gripping his sheets hard. "Keith, fuck... holy shit." And when he came down from his high, he was overcome with embarrassment. He leapt up and changed and stripped his bed trying to rid of all evidence of what he'd just done. He shoved his sheets in the washing machine with the difficult realization that, yeah, he just came while fantasizing getting dicked down by Keith Kogane. He's got a problem. He's got a crush.

The next morning, Lance opened his laptop and turned off his wifi moving to incognito mode. And then, he took to answering some questions. Asking the internet about his attraction to men. Men and women. What that attraction meant. And then he fell down a rabbit hole.

It was in the middle of watching gay porn that he finally shut out of all tabs and closed his laptop. This wasn't really getting him anywhere. Yeah, it gave him answers, but he wasn't sure if he could trust them. How does he know what he's feeling is legit? What if it's a fluke?

Lance sighed and decided it didn't matter anymore. He was dating Allura and that was that. All those other thoughts and feelings that were confusing him didn't matter. He just needs to focus on his girlfriend and his life.

And all things Allura related were actually going well. They went to the wedding together—Allura was stunning. She complimented his outfit and said he looked handsome. At the end of the night, they even kissed. But it left Lance feeling empty, unfulfilled, and, even more guilty because he felt that way.

They soon after went on a date and it couldn't have gone better. They laughed, they held hands, they joked, and even kissed a few more times. See? It wasn't a big deal! He could move past his accident, and things were righting themselves again. They hung out with her friends, and Lance and Keith joked like normal—like nothing happened. So what if Lance kept sneaking looks at Keith. So what if every time their skin brushed, Lance would get goosebumps and feel like he's on fire. So what?!

Him and Keith were cool. They were chill. Just two bros! Two bros who accidentally kissed that one time, but are still cool, because that's what bros do! Him and Allura weren't over just because he had some confusion with his sexuality and liplocked with her friend once. It's fine!

Him and Keith were so cool in fact, that they texted like every day throughout the day. Keith wasn't just a bro, he was becoming a best bro! That's how cool and normal everything was. In fact, his bro was supposed to be giving him his tattoo soon. As a bro would.

"Keith's going to give me a tattoo tomorrow," Lance grinned.

"Really?" Allura raised an eyebrow. "Of what?"

Lance showed her the honeycomb design and explained what it meant earning a smile from her thin pink lips. "Very nice, you two have fun."

Lance's heart skipped a beat. "We will, but not too much. Just a regular normal amount of fun. Besides, how much fun can you have being stabbed over and over with a needle." He laughed nervously.

"I suppose you're right." She smiled and shook her head. "Anyway, Romelle and I are going to go to the mall in the meantime. Pedi's, Mani's, facials, haircuts, you name it. She had a rough week at work, nothing some pampering won't fix."

"Sounds fun," Lance chuckled and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Lance walked into the tattoo shop nervously. It was clean and orderly inside, but he always felt like he didn't belong in such a place. That it was meant for large burly men and women who wore leather. But when he spotted Keith sitting up to a desk at the far end of the room, he relaxed. It seemed like Keith was working on another design and Lance hesitated to bother him. "Uh, hey."

Keith turned around and smiled. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Uh, nervous." Lance admitted.

"Don't be, I've been told I'm a very gentle tattooer." Keith grinned and began spraying down the chair and making sure everything was clean and sterile. "Take off your shirt."

Lance swallowed and pulled his shirt off quietly. He felt a little self conscious, especially since Keith was Keith and Lance looked like a string bean.

"Take a seat." Keith held up a thin paper with the design in purple on it.

"What's that?" Lance asked sitting in front of him.

Keith rolled close on his wheely chair and carefully positioned the paper on his shoulder. "It's transfer paper. Having the design on you makes it easier for me to keep track of where I'm at and what I'm doing. Makes the lines cleaner too."

Lance shivered at how chilly it was and the weird feeling of the paper peeling off. "Is it going to hurt?"

"Yes, but not bad. Especially not right away." Keith grabbed his arm. "Hey look at me. If it hurts too much, we can split up the sessions. Don't push yourself too hard. I believe in you, I think you can do it in one. But if it starts too hurt to bad, just tell me. I'm patient, I'll stick around as long as it takes."

Lance swallowed. "Okay. Yeah, alright. I feel better."

Keith cleaned the skin and got his equipment ready. At the sound of the needle tuning on, Lance flinched. "Hey, you're doing fine." Keith smiled warmly.

Lance was laying on his stomach with his head facing Keith. There was a bar down below for him to grab onto and Lance was gripping it tightly. Keith leaned in and hovered the needle above the honey tanned skin. "You ready?"

Lance gave him a nod and Keith grinned. And then he felt something like a small bee sting. He was startled and grabbed Keith's leg under the table, but he stayed somewhat still.

"Okay?" Keith checked.

"Yeah, that wasn't so bad." Lance let out a breath and let go of Keith leg. "Sorry."

"Hey, if it makes you feel better, grab my leg all you want. Just no arms, unless you want a blotch on your back." Keith joked making Lance relax. Keith moved back in to keep inking and Lance was better at expecting it and he grabbed Keith's leg again, just with not so much of a death grip.

After a while of inking, Lance could say the pain was definitely worse in the areas that were tender, but still manageable. Keith worked fast, making clear precise strokes quickly. Lance found that studying Keith's face was a good distraction. While working, he looked serious with his eyebrows pinched together in concentration. He was gentle, careful, and every once in a while, his eyes would flick to Lance to see how he was doing.

"Okay, I'm going to have you sit up." Keith said turning off the machine. He needed to ink the parts on the top of the shoulder and the front. Lance lay on his back and Keith wheeled around to the other side so he was next to the shoulder again. This time, Lance was able to watch Keith better since he's laying on his back, and when he reached out to grab Keith at the knee, their eyes locked. "Doing okay?"

"Never better." Lance said, and it came out quiet. With Keith hovering above him and working his magic on his shoulder, Lance just idly looked up at the ceiling and admired the way he could see Keith doing his thing in his peripheral. In fact, that way he could pretend he wasn't getting a tattoo and instead just relaxing... with Keith by his side. Or something like that.

Keith reached the soft little well where muscles and tendons met and Lance grunted and winced. Keith looked up at him from his hunched position and smiled. "Want a break?"

Lance nodded and Keith turned off the needle. Rolling his chair he grabbed his water bottle off his desk and offered it to Lance who thanked him and took a few swigs before handing it back.

"So, is it as bad as you thought?" Keith asked wheeling back up next to him.

"No." Lance shook his head. "I mean... some spots are, but as a whole, no."

"Good." Keith said as he stretched his wrist and fingers.

"Is it always this empty?" Lance asked glancing around the vacant building. There were a few other stations but they seemed to be the only ones there.

"No," Keith leaned on the table and took off his gloves. "We all kind of choose our hours, we work whenever we want. No one really likes working Saturday mornings,"

"Except you?" Lance tilts his head.

"Well, I don't usually, but I thought since it was your first tattoo, you'd feel more comfortable if there wasn't a room full of people watching." Keith stretched his arms.

"Oh, thank you," Lance paused, "you're right actually."

"Want to keep going?" Keith looked away.

"Yeah." Lance sat still for him again and watched as Keith dug for another pair of gloves. "Keith?"

"Yeah?" Keith responded absently as he finally located the box of latex gloves.

"Do you... do you like guys?" Lance finally asked the question that had been nagging at the back of his head since the day they kissed.

Keith froze and his eyes flicked to Lance. "Yes..." then he cleared his throat and pulled on the gloves, "why do you ask?"

"I was just kind of wondering ever since... you know." Lance kept his gaze on the far side of the room. It was quiet a moment and Keith let out a breath. "How did you know?"

"Know what?" Keith applied pressure to the petal and the needle started back up with its background buzzing.

"That you're gay." Lance said the word 'gay' a little hesitantly, like he wasn't sure how it would sound in his mouth or if it would roll off the tongue right.

"I like boys and I don't like girls, it's always been that way." Keith said plain and simple. That made Lance deflate a bit, maybe talking to Keith wasn't the best idea. "Although, it's not that simple for everyone."

"Huh?" Lance winced at a particularly painful spot.

"Well, some people don't realize until much later in life, or don't realize until they have an experience that make them think they could be something else besides straight." Keith explained as he trained on the spot he was inking.

"Well, that's kind of stupid isn't it? I mean, how do you live so long and only just realize you are gay." Lance let out a small chuckle in disbelief.

Keith's eyes flicked up to him and back to the artwork beneath. "No, it's really not. Some people repress, especially if they didn't grow up in a welcoming family. Or some people like the opposite gender still so they never consider their attraction for the same gender until much later. Some people go about believing every straight person deals with the same thing."

Lance's eyes widened a fraction.

"And that's just to name a few." Keith finished.

"It sounds... confusing. Besides, how do you know it's not just a fluke. Like, if you like girls, so what if you find a guy attractive or something? That doesn't mean you're gay." Lance laughed a little nervously.

Keith paused and reached to get more ink for the needle. Lance blushed watching Keith's bare arms flex and reach above him. "I mean, that could always be true. But it could also mean that one is bisexual—that whoever it is, is attracted to both men and women. I mean, there's like what? Over two-hundred sexualities now?"

"What? Why so many?!" Lance frowned. "How's anyone supposed to navigate through that! It sounds stressful."

Keith shrugged. "Labels are for our benefit. If they stress you out, then you're doing something wrong. They're there because someone was sitting thinking that they were the only one who felt a certain way, and then they googled it and found others just like them. Slap a name on it and you have a community of people who understand each other to some degree. The best advice I can give anyone, is sort yourself and your wants out first, worry about what it's called later. Because in the grand scheme of things, labels make things easier to explain, but they don't really matter."

Lance blinked up at Keith. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Keith raised an eyebrow as he looked down at him.

"You make things that seem impossible sound so manageable and easy. You could make a bank heist sound like a simple feat." Lance caught Keith's eyes and smiled.

Keith's face flushed, "I don't know, maybe you just make things sound too complicated." He fired back.

"You wound me." Lance put a hand over his heart.

"So what struck this sudden curiosity about sexuality? I'm assuming you're not asking for a friend." Keith was getting close to being done, so he took his time unintentionally. Making sure to pause a moment between getting more ink or readjusting.

"I don't know. I guess I've always been curious as being an outsider to all of it." Lance shrugged.

"You're not an outsider to it. Everyone has sexuality, and it doesn't make us all that different. I guess, the best deciding factor I could think of, is at the end of the day... when you're going to bed and you roll over to come face to face with your significant other... who do you want to see? At least, that's a good starting place." Keith found his gaze meeting Lance's again. "But it's not like I'm an expert or anything."

Lance seemed to think about Keith's words and mull them over in his head. The natural answer should be Allura of course. Of course. He loved her.

"Who..." Lance began and his eyes flicked away almost shyly, "who do you want to see?"

Keith continued to stare at him, and when Lance was met with silence, he looked back at Keith. Keith tried to speak, but nothing came out. His adam's apple bobbed and he noticed the way Lance was looking at him. Almost expectantly, almost urging something from him. And then Keith was impulsively swooping down to press their lips together. Lance was hesitant for only a fleeting moment before his hand snaked up into Keith hair and pulled him closer. Keith was happy to oblige and move closer, hovering above him now propped on just his elbow as he dipped his head to catch those pretty lips with his mouth. When Keith would move up for air, Lance would lift his head as if to chase him. Keith had moved his leg up onto the table, keeping himself up on his knee planted between Lance's legs. His fingers danced up Lance's side and brushed the soft skin of his cheek. Lance was more hasty with his touches and slid his hands up Keith's shirt reveling in the soft sturdy muscle there. Keith leaned further into the touch causing his thigh to brush Lance's groin and the boy beneath him shivered and writhed to get the same action again. Keith had sighed into the kiss feeling Lance hard against him and whining for him to touch him, to relieve him. And Keith really wanted to, really.

But Keith pulled back and raised his hand to his hair to push the bangs from his face as he panted. He was on his haunch now and it took away most of their skin to skin contact. When he felt he had calmed himself enough, and that the starting of an erection was no longer posing a serious threat, he let himself look at Lance. And then the threat came back. Lance was flushed a deep red and breathing heavily. His eyes were half lidded and he was looking up at Keith with both a look of guilt and need.

Keith decided, rather than confront Lance, or try to talk about this, he'd rather do something he knew he was good at. He doesn't move from where he was, but he reached over and plucked the needle off the cart and gathered more ink. His foot that's still on the ground shifts to find the pedal, and then he's leaning down over the boy to finish the tattoo. Only then, it was intimate, in a way that had their bodies on fire. Keith couldn't describe it, but if he had to give an example, it was like he was Jack and Lance was Rose. And instead of drawing him like a French girl, he was drawing on him. Permanently.

Keith's face hovered, their bodies pressed close again, except, this time there was more passion and less immediate lust clouding their brains. Lance didn't take his eyes off Keith as he stared up at him with more than admiration, more than any feeling he could describe. It swelled in his chest and he couldn't alleviate the emotion. He just desired to pull Keith close to him, to feel those arms wrapped around him. He didn't care if Keith was loving him, kissing him, or hurting him—just as long as it was him and he was close. Lance felt a tear slip down his cheek and the pad of Keith's thumb was quick to brush it away. "Want me to stop?" It came out a low whisper.

"Please don't." Lance swallowed. "Keep going." He didn't want to tell Keith that he wasn't crying because of the tattoo. In fact, he didn't know if he had the heart to come clean why he suddenly felt the need to cry. But Keith didn't push, instead, he kissed him long and tenderly. Lance felt himself melt, inside and out.

"I'm finished." He said after a moment.

Lance could hear his heartbeat in his ears, but when Keith shifted to get off Lance, he reached up and grabbed him by the shirt. "Just... one more minute?"

Keith set down the needle and took off his gloves. He carded his fingers through Lance's hair and leaned down to kiss his cheek. "Told you you could make it in one session."

Keith felt arms wrapping around his torso and when Lance was pulling him into a tight hug he let it happen. He carried on petting the brown locks and tracing his other hand up and down the smooth tan back. He was careful of the fresh wound, both literal and figurative.

And then Lance was letting go muttering an apology. Keith wiped the tattoo down as gentle as he could be before he started wrapping it. Facing Lance's small back as he did so, he leaned down to deliver a soft kiss to Lance's neck. "It's okay." He assisted Lance in getting his shirt on and he noticed the way Lance's hands were shaking. "Do you want me to drive you home?"

"I-it's okay. I'll be fine." Lance stuttered.

"If you need anything, call me."

And then they parted ways feeling as though they lived a thousand romances in just a few hours.

That night, Allura came over to his apartment saying she wanted to see the new tattoo and show off her new haircut and nails. They ended up staying up late and watching a movie together. All the while, Lance felt a bit of guilt, but it faded quicker than he thought it would. Especially when he thought of the closeness him and Keith experienced. It almost seemed to transcend everything he ever knew about love and romance and understanding another person. They didn't have sex, they didn't even really kiss all that much, but Lance had never felt so close to another person. Like he was lost and couldn't find where he ended and Keith began. Like he was holding another soul or another life in his hands and he felt the way it moved and buzzed and it collided with his own. Does he... love Keith? Was that hasty? Was that insane?

Lance felt himself awaken and his eyes scanned the dark room. He rubbed his face and turned over in bed only to startle when he found Allura's face illuminated in the pale moonlight seeping through the window. He had nearly forgotten she stayed the night because it was too late to drive home by herself. She must have felt him staring and her eyes fluttered open. "Lance?" She yawned and blinked a few more times as if waking herself. "Is something wrong? You look distraught."

Lance looked at her another moment and pushed a hair out of her face. "Have you... been in love before?"

She hesitated. "Are you worried I don't love you? Because I—"

"It's not that. I just..." Lance felt his fingers brush over where the tattoo was, "I think I've been wrong about it."

"What do you mean?" She nestled further into the pillow, but listened intently.

"I used to think that if there was someone you were sure you were a good match with, that you could beat and thrash and work it into existence. Now... I'm not so sure." He stared into her gentle eyes and she seemed to smile sympathetically.

"What do you think now?" Allura took his hand that was laying at his side and caressed it with her own.

"I think love is something natural, that it can't happen by choice or depending on what you want. I think it's too strong to repress, too loud to ignore, and too important to fake." His heart swelled in his chest again. "I think there are way more forms of love than I initially thought. I thought there was familial love, love for friends, and romantic love. But I think there's a lot more to it."

"I think you're right." She brought his hand up and kissed the back of it. "So? What's your conclusion?"

"I think I love love you." He said and gave her hand a squeeze. "Though, I think I love you in a way that I understand you, I want to be close to you, I want to rely on you and I want you to be reliant on me. Just..."

She urged him on by rubbing circles in his hand and holding it close between them.

"I don't think we're meant for each other. Not romantically at least." Lance let it out and felt as though the air had been pulled from his lungs.

Allura looked up at the ceiling and then back to Lance. "I understand you. I think all this time, I've loved you enough to want to be with you... but it feels different. Like trying to fit two pieces together that don't fit. I care about you, deeply. But I think, that's it for us."

Lance nodded and leaned forward kissing her forehead.

"Can I ask? What made you come to the realization?" Allura let her fingers brush Lance's arm, stroking it with a calmness and understanding they never had before.

"I think I'm in love... with Keith." Lance admitted.

Allura's eyes widened a moment before a smile snuck its way on her face. "Keith? Is that so? You two have been getting along well for a few months. When did that happen?"

"I mean, we started off just as acquaintances, but we so quickly became friends. There was always that lingering feeling there, but it just kept getting stronger and stronger. Until finally, like today, I thought I was going to die. It felt like I was going to burst into a thousand pieces. It was so strong, that feeling in my chest, it was going to split me open and destroy me." Lance breathed as though just the thought of Keith brought him closer to death. "If I can't have him... Allura... I think I'll die. Or something, I don't know. I just can't bear the thought of it. I need him."

"Then what are you waiting for? If you need him, then tell him." She gazed at him with true concern, and it made him feel better to be loved.

"Because... because if he rejects me. Allura, I think it would be the end of me." Lance grabbed his chest and gasped at the full ache. "I love him so much it hurts. Can you believe that? It hurts. Real, physical pain."

Allura wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. "Oh Lance." She glided her thin fingers through his hair. "It will be alright. If you do nothing, you'll only live like that forever. In heartache and agony, wondering what could have been. But if you give it a try, you risk the biggest reward. And if he does reject you, then at least you know, and from there you can try to heal."

Lance felt tears run down his cheek as he hugged back. She was right. "I will. I'll tell him." He kissed the top of her head. "You're the best not-girlfriend a guy could have."

He felt her laugh at that. "This is how we were meant to be."

One week later...

There was a knock at the door and everyone gave pause to glance at it. "Must be Allura and Lance." Hunk smiled getting up to let them in. Keith eyed the door but tried not to look too desperate. He and Lance hadn't talked in a week, and they hadn't exactly parted in a reassuring way. He assumed it would be like before, pretend like nothing happened. He felt that familiar ache in his chest and he pushed it down.

"Hey! Hunk!" Allura brightened and pulled Hunk in for a small hug. Lance followed in briskly after her, "Hey my man!" Lance clapped him on the shoulder.

"Lance! How's it going?" Hunk beamed.

"Fantastic! Never better." And he looked genuine in saying that.

Keith had to bite down the pain building as he watched the happy couple. For a week he paced his room and lay awake in bed at night pondering if Lance had felt what he felt that day, or all this time for that matter. Seeing them now, he supposed it was just him.

Lance's eyes perused the room until they found Keith and he smiled wide and gleeful. Keith couldn't take it. He flashed a weak smile back, but it was like he was crumbling on the inside.

Lance spun around to say something to Allura and Keith took the opportunity to head to his room. It was too much to bear.

Lance took a deep breath with Allura. "Hey, you got this. If you need me, I'll be right here." She squeezed his hand and ruffled his hair.

"Hey!" He squeaked.

"Right, right, sorry!" She laughed helping him fix it. "Okay, you look good. Now go get him Loverboy."

Lance turned back around and frowned at the empty dip in the couch. He hardened his resolve and marched down the hallway to the room he knew was Keith's. He rested his hand on the doorknob and drew in a deep breath.

Keith startled when the door opened, and then his heart began to hammer in his chest at the person standing in front of him. Lance had a plan, he knew he did, but now that he was standing in front of Keith his mind was a blank slate. "Keith..." he reveled in the swell of his chest finally being alone with Keith again.

Keith cleared his throat and tried to be nonchalant. "How's the tattoo healing?"

"It's finished peeling and all." Lance stepped forward and slipped his arm out of his shirt and lifted to show off how it was healing so far. "It was so itchy it was driving me crazy."

Keith looked at it closely but he kept enough control of himself to keep his hands off. "I bet it was." He sighed and sat on his bed picking up his book. "Looks like you took good care of it."

"Are you tired from work?" Lance asked seeing Keith settle against his pillow and flip to his bookmark. It was a silent way of saying: 'I'm doing my own thing, please leave'. But Lance didn't work up all this courage only to wimp out now.

"Not particularly." Keith muttered as he started reading.

"Can... can I join you?" Lance wrung his hands. He could tell Keith wanted him out and Lance had to act fast, but he needed to build to the conversation. His heartbeat was wild in his chest and he needed to control it before he could trust speaking.

"I won't kick you out." It was sort of passive. A clear 'leave me alone please, but I'm not going to fight you about it'.

Lance nodded and took a deep breath wandering the room. He's been in Keith's room on a few occasions, though it had always been more on the brief side. Now, he let his hands brush the spines of books on his bookshelf paying close attention to the titles. He picked up nicknacks that caught his eye and turned them over in his hand. A blade had caught his eye which was on display, a small black metal knife with purple stones. It seemed old and he didn't dare touch.

"It was my mothers." Keith said without giving Lance the satisfaction of his attention.

"It looks really cool." Lance eyed it curiously. He waited a few moments before continuing his wandering.

"Are you done snooping? I can't concentrate with you slinking about." Keith peered at Lance over his book and it came off annoyed.

"Yeah, sorry." Lance folded his arms self consciously. He was losing confidence to confront Keith, and fast. There was a knock at the door followed by it immediately being opened.

"Hey! We're gonna go get pizza, wanna come?" Hunk asked.

"I'll stay here." Keith said looking back at his book and he thought he saw him flinch when Lance said he would too.

"I think I'll stay t—" Shiro began, but was promptly cut off when Allura grabbed him by the ear.

"No, you're coming too." She said with finality and reached forward pulling the door closed.

Lance let out a breath, and didn't inhale again until he heard all their friends leave the apartment. His eyes slowly worked their way to looking at Keith who was staring at him already. "What do you want Lance?"

"I need to talk to you." He said, it didn't come out as certain as he hoped it would.

"Look, spare the break up talk. It's not like we're dating." Keith held up a hand shutting him down quickly.

"Keith. I need to talk to you. So just like shut the fuck up and listen for a minute. Damn." Lance snipped. Keith quieted and stared at him expectantly in response. But despite the attention finally being won, he said nothing. How exactly was he supposed to do this? What should he say?

"Well?" Keith put his bookmark in his book and set it aside. "Talk."

Lance started but it died on the first syllable. So he wrung his hands and glanced around the room just to find an excuse to break his gaze from Keith.

"Get on with it Lance." Keith sighed in frustration.

"Look. I'm trying. Just give me--fuck! Keith, I've never done this before and I need a minute. You know, if you want me to leave, I'll leave. Actually I won't. But—fuck." Lance scrubbed at his face with his hands and sat on the edge of Keith's bed.

"Lance, I don't know what you want from me." Keith leaned forward and sat so he was sitting on the edge as well.

"I think you could take a wild guess." Lance gave him a coy smile.

"I'm not doing that anymore. Lance, that was an accident. That's what we agreed to the first time. The second time, that was taking it too far. Once can be excused, twice can't." Keith shook his head.

"Hear me out." Lance shifted so he could be sitting facing Keith directly.

"That's all I've been trying to do. Lance, I can't—" Keith let out a frustrated huff.

"Look, I've been thinking it over. For a while. I talked with Allura." Lance began.

Keith sucked in a breath and felt his heart pound in his chest.

"I love Allura." Lance said and he opened his mouth to say more but Keith cut him off.

"I don't need to hear this." He snapped and stood up. "Just leave or—"

Lance grabbed Keith's hand quickly. "Fuck Keith shut up. I already told you, I'm not leaving until I get this off my chest. When I do, if you still want me to leave I will. I'll do whatever you want. But god, be quiet for a minute will you?" Lance squeezed the hand in his grasp. Keith nodded frustratedly. "I love Allura. I'm close to her, but we talked about it. We agreed there was no romance behind it. We care for each other, deeply, but there's nothing more than that. We broke up the same night you gave me the tattoo."

Keith's eyes widened slightly. And then he's pushing Lance back on the bed and crawling on top of him. He's kissing Lance's neck and and ears and cheeks. "Why the fuck didn't you start with that asshole. That should've been the first thing you said walking through the door."

Lance laughed, "Wait, I still have more to say."

"Of course you do." Keith kept up his attack on Lance.

"I'm serious." He grabbed Keith's head and pressed his cheeks together. "I want you to hear this." He retracted his hands and pouted a little when Keith slid off him settling at his side. "Keith, these few months with you have been the most amazing and yet the most confusing of my entire life. I mean, I thought I was fucking straight. And look, maybe I'm being hasty, jumping from one thing to the next. But all I know is if I miss my opportunity with you, I'll still be cussing myself out by the time I'm on my deathbed. Maybe I'm bisexual, maybe I'm not—I don't know. But I'm figuring out what I want first before I care about the other stuff. God, I just know that I've never felt like this before, not about anyone. Keith I'm love with you." Lance forced the words out, terrified how they might land.

"Lance, I love you too." Keith swallowed and reached out taking Lance's hands in his own. "Except when you're being an inarticulate douchebag."

Lance snorted and lunged at Keith. He landed on top and began to pepper a series of kisses anywhere his lips could make contact.

"No really, if you were just pulling me aside to give me the 'I love Allura' talk, I was going to nut punch you." Keith said threateningly, but there was humor in his tone.

"On behalf of my junk, I'm very grateful you didn't." Lance grinned.

Keith paused, "Is Allura really cool with all this?"

"Oh yeah," Lance nodded quickly. "Who do you think hyped me up the whole way here?"

"Oh my god Lance, you're insufferable." He pushed Lance off him and hovered above him instead. Their eyes met and Lance felt a surge of happiness and feeling whole. He reached up and tucked a loose hair behind Keith's ear fondly. "How long ago did they leave for pizza?" Keith asked.

"I don't know, maybe like ten minutes ag—" Keith's mouth swallowed up the rest of what Lance was about to say and he pulled the smaller frame beneath him closer.

They kissed lovingly and Keith sucked harshly at Lance's neck, reveling in the sounds it was drawing from him. For a moment, Lance felt cold air and the loss of Keith and he was tickled to see the man locking his door before making a quick return. His hands swiped under Lance's shirt pulling it over his head. And then he was kissing the smooth flawless skin of Lance's chest. His hand grabbed Lance behind the knee and pulled his leg so that he could slot them together. All the while his tongue flicked over Lance's nipples, pulling out sharp gasps and making the boy squirm.

Lance yanked on Keith's shirt and it was off in a heartbeat. "Keith..." he marveled at Adonis in front of him, his hands wandering to feel each ridge of muscle and knead at the gorgeous flesh.

Keith snapped his hips forward and Lance gasped arching his back and making a quick grab for Keith. "Again." He panted. Keith happily obliged, his hot heavy breath hitting Lance's ear and sending goosebumps across the plains of his skin adding to his sensitivity. He fumbled to grab at Keith's pants, a little too distracted to make a proper attempt, but Keith took the hint.

He pulled down his pants kicking them off and went to work sliding Lance out of his. In just their boxers, they could feel the heat of each others skin and their excitement was nothing to be dismissed. Keith's hand grabbed at Lance's ass with strong resolve and pulled them closer as he grabbed the flesh.

Lance pulled at his boxers and Keith helped him work them off and followed suit. Lance blushed when Keith paused to admire his naked form. "You're stunning." He nibbled Lance's ear.

Lance felt himself flush at the compliment and he hugged Keith against his body. "I'm so much in love with you it hurts." He felt Keith's smile and it made him overflow with affection.

"I love you, Lance." Keith kissed his neck. "I love you." And he kissed again. "I love you." And again.

"Do you have protection?" Lance asked suddenly which made Keith freeze.

"Yeah, are you sure you want to? There's no rush." Keith caressed his face.

"I'm fucking positive." Lance bucked his hips. "I've never been so turned on in all my life."

Keith chuckled and reached into the bedside drawer to pull out lube and the small plastic square. "Turn on your stomach." He tapped Lances thigh. Lance was quick to move and he settled into the soft pillows.

He heard the bottle and let out a moan when Keith started by messaging his ass carefully. His lubed fingers traced down his ass until they settled on the ring of muscle. With a little pressure, his finger slipped pass and entered him. Lance wasn't sure about the intrusion at first, it felt unfamiliar and slightly unpleasant. He let out a gasp when he felt the finger work itself inside him and he understood the pleasure of bottoming pretty quickly. Another finger was added and and winced at the stretch which was short lived, quickly being replaced with more pleasure. "Fuck, Keith..." he moaned into the pillow.

Keith worked a third finger for minute before pulling them out drawing a whimper from Lance. But then he felt something wet between his cheeks and he groaned realizing it was Keith's tongue. Holy fuck, Keith was going to eat him out. Keith's tongue pushed past the muscle and worked inside of him drawing several moans from Lance. "Holy fuck you're unreal." Lance's eyes screwed shut as he was swallowed by the pleasure. The feeling of it working him open as Keith's hands palmed his ass, grabbing the flesh hard enough to leave marks and then massaging them away. After a moment Lance grew impatient, "Keith... want you—ah shit!" He gasped for breath, his hands white-knuckled as they gripped the sheets.

Keith pulled away and opened the condom, making quick work of rolling it on himself. He gave and extra squeeze of lube on his hand and spread it on himself.  "Okay?" He checked with Lance as he tossed the bottle aside.

"Wait, can... can we face each other?" Lance asked shyly avoiding looking at Keith. But the question seemed to strike something with Keith because he seemed eager to flip Lance over and kiss him tenderly. Their lips hovered and they held each other's gaze as Keith lined himself up and slowly pushed in. "Fuck—!" Lance felt a bit of pain and Keith paused waiting for him to adjust before burying himself further.

When he was fully seated in Lance, he studied the boy beneath him. Memorizing the look on his face when he had Keith inside him and the noises he'd make. His fingers raked up and down the length his body, admiring him and kissing him tenderly. He held still as long as his self control could stand. "Please..." Lance writhed under him, begging for him to move.

Keith clasped Lance's hand in his own and buried his face in Lance's neck. He slowly drew his hips back and fucked back into him at a soft pace. Deep and slow, he rocked his hips into Lance.

Lance was seeing stars. Pleasure tore through his body and he gasped for breath as he clung to Keith. "Oh my god... Keith..." he whined.

"You feel so good." Keith said into his ear and Lance nearly came. Finally, he showed mercy and picked up the pace. His movements were precise and deliberate making Lance turn to silly putty beneath him.

Keith reached between them and with two gentle strokes of Lance's dick, he was coming. Lance's vision went black and fuzzy as his body convulsed with the intensity of his orgasm. His toes curled, his hands squeezed the sheets, or Keith, he was a little too far gone to tell, and he moaned out Keith's name like it was his last saving grace.

Keith continued his onslaught as Lance calmed from his release. His body was over sensitive, but the look on Keith's face proved he was close. His eyebrows pinched together, his eyes screwed shut, and as he grew closer his thrusts became sloppy. Lance watched Keith in a happy blissed out daze, and when he heard the front door open his eyes snapped open. He silently prayed for Keith to come quickly before someone hears something they're not supposed to.

"Come for me baby," Lance rubbed his back and he felt a jolt shock Keith and he came immediately. He let out a low groan pushing deep into Lance through his orgasm. And if that wasn't the hottest thing Lance ever witnessed...

Keith panted, struggling to catch his breath. He swallowed and Lance traced the bob of his adam's apple. It took several moments for basic motor function to restore itself in Keith and several more moments before he was pulling out of Lance and falling next to him in the bed.

Thankfully no one knocked on Keith's door, because neither were sure they could trust their voices in that moment. Lance laid his head on Keith's chest and wrapped his naked limbs around the sweaty body. Keith absentmindedly carded his hands through Lance's hair and held the boy close. "I think that's the hardest I've ever come. I think I almost blacked out."

"I don't know if I should be proud or concerned." Keith laughed kissing the top of his head. "I have to admit, I think that was the best sex I've ever had."

"Oh? What was that? Could you repeat what you just said?" Lance teased.

Keith laughed, "Well, now we have to figure out a way to clean up without looking too conspicuous to the others."

Lance remembered the shared bathroom in the hall and shivered. "Fuck."