Keith fussed hopelessly with his hair, but it was pointless. No matter what he did, it still turned out messy. He almost had the nerve to take some kitchen scissors and chop off the mullet that had been steadily growing at the nape of his neck, but he'd gone this long without a haircut- he could wait one more week until he was home for Christmas and his mother could do a proper job for him.

Sighing, he resigned to tying his dark hair back into a ponytail, trying his best to look presentable. Shiro and Adam, his guardians, were throwing a party and he was expected to be there. Probably because the two men wanted to gush over Keith's accomplishments and such.

Keith loved Shiro and Adam, but they were pretty stereotypical Gay Dads.

His hair wasn't the only thing that was bothering him. His soulmark was itching like crazy, a sign that his soulmate was growing closer, and if he didn't look at least halfway decent for the party, he might spoil his first impression.

Keith was almost certain that he'd meet them at the party tonight, whoever they were. He looked down at his wrist where his soulmark was etched. Three little words, the first that his soulmate would ever say to him, "Oh, I'm sorry."

Keith had thought of hundreds of scenarios of the three words.

Straightening his tie in the mirror, Keith gave himself one more reassuring glance, then walked out of the bathroom and into the throng of party-goers.

As expected, Shiro and Adam quickly found Keith and introduced him to all of their friends, clasping his shoulders with prideful grips, their grins wide as they spoke of Keith's accomplishments and virtues.

"He's the best thing that ever happened to us," Shiro sighed happily to Allura, a beautiful woman with interesting, wavy white hair, who was arm-and-arm with a man who had hair of a matching tone.

Keith had met Allura a few times before and knew that her soulmate, Lotor, was a good man, no matter how intimidating he seemed. He smiled at the couple before slowly drifting off to find some food at the refreshments table.

While he was there, he met up with his own friends, Hunk and Shay, who were, of course, soulmates and who were busy critiquing the catering, and Pidge, who had yet to find her soulmate. Her soulmark read 'Doctor, I must congratulate you on your stunning work in particle theory'. Pidge had always loved her soulmark, Keith knew, and she'd risen to the top of her class with partial encouragement from the words.

Some of Keith's other friends had come too- Allura's cousin, Romelle, Matt, who was Pidge's brother, and Acxa, one of Keith's best friends.

He wandered aimlessly around the party, only occasionally getting caught up in conversations, and enjoyed the food and drinks. He eventually slipped into a conversation with Coran, Allura's uncle and Romelle's father, and had just begun to back away as Coran started on a rant about who-knows-what when he bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

Keith turned quickly, about to apologize to the person whom he'd walked into, saying, "No, my bad."

It was then that he realized what had happened. All of the sudden, he felt a prickling sensation on his wrist. Looking down, he watched his soulmark begin to glow softly. Keith raised his eyes slowly, tracing over the figure's chest, shoulders, neck, face.

The young man had tan skin and brown hair, and his dark eyes caught in the lights that were strung up around the room. Keith could see tiny freckles dotting the boy's cheeks and nose.

The boy wore a similar expression to Keith and when Keith looked down at the boy's wrist, he noticed the words, 'No, my bad'.

The world seemed to go mute around him. Keith inhaled shakily, his eyes scanning every inch of his soulmate's face.

"Hi," the boy said softly, his voice barely a whisper.

"Hi," Keith replied.

"I'm Lance."

"Keith."

The boy smiled a little and Keith felt his heart melt. "Keith," he said softly, echoing the name, "We're below mistletoe."

Keith looked up and, of course, there was an artificial bundle of the plant hanging above their heads by a red ribbon.

"We are," Keith whispered. He felt tipsy.

"You know what that means," Lance said, his eyelids lowering.

"Ha," Keith coughed.

Lance leaned in and kissed Keith softly. It felt like two stars colliding, two magnets snapping together, two puzzle pieces fitting perfectly against each other.

Keith felt numb and all he could do was kiss Lance back, unaware of everything else. Lance's lips were soft and sweet like eggnog, and Keith never wanted him to stop.

But, of course, they had to break apart at one point.

Lance smiled again, beautifully glowing, and Keith felt his lips turn up too. "It's nice to meet you, finally."