"Have you seen Keith's newest post?" Pidge asked from the floor, Lance looked down at her then quickly looked away.

"I got the notification for it, but I have to finish this math work. If I get on Keith's Instagram there's no chance I'll get off anytime soon." He adjusted himself on the bed and stuffed the pillow under his chin. Hunk looked at the two of them as he slowly opened the chip bag. Despite his efforts, the crunching of the bag caught Lance and Pidge attentions. Hunk smiled shyly and put the bag down.

"Since when do you keep tabs on Keith?" Hunk asked, he took out his phone and began typing.

"Since he made an account and followed me. Ever since then, I've gotten a chance to see that he's not as cool as I thought he was." Pidge put down her phone and took her glasses off. Lance looked over and gave her a look.

"He's plenty cool, I mean he is a model," Lance said in his defense. Pidge raised an eyebrow at him and began putting her hair in a ponytail.

"Yesterday, he posted a picture of his entire toe covered in nail polish."

"Accidents happen..." Lance was fully distracted and put his pencil down.

"And the day before there was just a minute video of him gushing over some new Jet." Pidge continued, with her hair successfully packed she slipped on her glasses and picked up her pencil.

"Planes are cool..."

"Oh, I saw that video. He knew the history, the model number, and the first person to fly it. I mean he sounds smart but he's also a total nerd." Hunk chuckled, he put down his phone and picked up the chip bag again.

"Okay fine, he's kind of a loser, but he's adorable. He's also my boyfriend so I can't complain. Keeps him in my league." Lance sat up and pushed off the bed until he was sitting upright. He reached underneath his pillow and pulled out his phone.

"What happened to having to complete your math?" Pidge asked Lance shrugged. He slipped down to the floor with them and pulled up Instagram.

"I would have given up eventually so there's no point in pretending to do any work." He went to Keith's public account and scrolled to the newest photo. He sucked in air and felt a blush on his cheek.

Keith wasn't wearing any designers that Lance could decipher, but what he did have was the cat Lance had gifted him. He was wearing regular clothes but held the cat in his lap. His eyes looked bigger and more innocent than usual, there was a small smile on his lips. In the first few pictures, he was relaxed on his home couch. Lance favorite picture was of Keith kissing the side of the cats head. The greatest part of each shot was the tag around the cat. It wasn't exactly the one Lance had put on the cat's neck but it looked very similar. The words from Lance were very prominent. The caption of the photo was a heart with a rainbow flag. It said enough for Lance, he wondered if Keith had actually posted this one himself.

"You look stupidly happy, did you see the photo shoot?" Pidge asked, already knowing the answer.

"I don't think there's a folder big enough to fit all my photos of Keith." Lance murmured saving all four of the new pictures. His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. "He's so freaking amazing." As he looked at the pictures he could hear Hunk and Pidge snicker near him.

"Huh, cute cat. You won it at the carnival?" Hunk asked, he had his phone in his right hand and his left hand was in a bag of chips.

"Yeah, it was worth every spent dollar."

"You ended up technically paying 30 dollars for a 15 dollar stuffed animal."

"Hush, it felt good winning it. And it made Keith happy so that's all that matters to me." He began scrolling through the comments. He only indulged himself occasionally, he just liked to see how many people agreed with how beautiful he found his boyfriend.

"How did you even send it to him? I doubt he just gave out his address to you, internet boyfriend or not." Pidge asked, her phone was resting on the floor next to her open textbook.

"Yeah, I didn't bother asking. I didn't want to put him in that situation where he has to tell me no, they had a P.O box address on the top of his Instagram. I sent it there, and I assumed at some point they got it with the rest of Keith's fan mail."

"Was it in the state?" Hunk asked him. Lance shrugged unsurely, he scrolled through the comments faster.

"I didn't pay attention, I just gave them an address and a scribbled the P.O box number down. I didn't recognize the name but our state is pretty big." Pidge rolled her eyes and scooted closer to Hunk, she stole a few chips.

"Pennsylvania isn't that big, and this isn't our state. You're from Florida so I don't trust your location detecting skills." Despite the trash talk from Pidge Lance was too absorbed in reading the disgusting comments.

"Pidge listen to this piece of shit comment; who the fuck is Lance? You better not be bouncing on anyone else dicks slut." Lance felt a tight anger in his stomach.

"Aren't you his first relationship?" Hunk asked, Lance, looked up and nodded at him.

"It gets worse, he's called the F-word a couple times. Some freaks are asking who Lance is in a not so nice way, a couple people are surprised because they didn't think he was gay, some people are saying they're disappointed." Lance scoffed and gripped his phone tightly. "Disappointed? Do these fuckers know what Keith even does, he doesn't have time to cater to the needs of a couple of miserable bullies over Instagram a--"

"Woah, calm down Lance. Put the phone down, and do not reply to any comments." Hunk warned Lance contemplated his options for a moment. He put his phone down too harshly, deciding it was a better alternative than typing full-on essays about how amazing Keith was.

"Why do people even care? They don't even know if he's gay or not, he just posted a rainbow flag!" He looked between Pidge and Hunk, they both looked skeptical but sympathetic. "Okay so it's pretty clear what the flag meant, but why is it an issue? They should be talking about how thick is eyelashes are, or how nice his hair looks, or how pretty his eyes are."

"Not all of the comments were bad, I think your eyes are just filtering out all the good comments and are seeing just the bad." Hunk nodded in agreement with Pidge's statement. Lance crossed his arms and shrugged, his cheeks puffed.

"Doesn't make the jerks any less jerky," Lance grumbled, he threw his phone on his bed.

"Why don't you talk to your boyfriend and stop being grumpy." Pidge offered, she took a large handful of chips and tried stuffing them into her mouth. Instead, several chips fell from the side of her mouth. "Damn, Matt always manages to pull that off."

"Matt's also an expert," Hunk reminded her, "Even I haven't completely mastered that skill." His handful of chips was smaller than the amount Pidge attempted to eat.

"My boyfriends probably enjoying his last free day until the summer." Lance sighed and laid on his back. He stared up at the ceiling tiredly. He swore he could see division symbols floating in the air. There was a buzz from Lance's phone on the bed.

Lance sat up, his head nearly colliding with the edge of the bed frame. He scrambled up the bed and checked the screen. It was a messaging notification from his favorite person. He found himself adjusting his hair before opening the text.

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Good morning>

<Me: It's afternoon but you're up pretty earlier on your terms anyway lol>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: I did a quick morning shoot for Shiro then I went back to bed. But we're going out for pizza soon, I'm pretty sure we'll live stream it>

<Me: Oh? I get to hear words come out of your mouth in real time? What a treat.>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Oh you get to see me do that anyway lol we video chat every night. I'm pretty sure I'm burning out my laptop battery>

<Me: Good only means our relationship is amazing. Anyway speaking of shoots...>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Yes?>

<Me: Did I ever tell you that you were the most beautiful human being that I will ever have the pleasure of meeting.>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Yes you have actually>

<Me: Well have I told you that the moon reflects off of you and that reflections beg to hold your image?>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: mhm>

<Me: Gee I really need to step up my game. But the point still stands that was freaking amazing. You were genuinely so beautiful and radiant, and you were holding my present!>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: I posted it myself, I even added the rainbow flag. I didn't read the comments, but I assumed a lot of people think I'm gay rn>

<Me: Crazy that they'd think that especially seeing as you are gay.>

<Me: Btw don't read the comments they're shitty. If you do read them make sure you're on the phone with me so I can fill your head with only good things.>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Lol don't worry I'm not on that account enough anyway.>

<Me: Yeah U really seem into your private account>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: You see that?>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Oh yeah you'd see it on your dashboard, I'm idiot.>

<Me: Yeah lol, what's your thing with drag queens lately, You follow a ton of them>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Idk I like their aesthetic it's weird, should I not like them?>

<Me: No no go ahead like them if you want it's your account, don't worry you also like a lot of cool plane pictures so it makes up for it ;)>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Ok good I thought I was bothering you and your friends>

<Me: It's okay Pidge has a boner for young an upcoming Genius accounts.>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Yeah I see a lot of those on my dashboard lol>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Hey we're leaving soon and I guess we're streaming the car ride too.>

<Me: Aw can't you text and stream at the same time?>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: I barely talk on streams, l the least I can do is be present. Besides Shiro uses my phone to stream most of the time, better front camera.>

<Me: I guess I'll just have to sit in my room alone, with Pidge and Hunk, and watch your stream>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Poor you, but don't you have class in like ten minutes?>

<Me: SHIT I do, wait how did you know?>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: You always leave around this time on Mondays>

<Me: Oh you got me there lol, I'll watch your stream if I have enough time. Video chat tonight?>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: Of course bye>

<Me: Bye ily>

<Pretty Boy with a Mullet: <3 >

"Okay guys and gals we have to get a move on." Lance stressed, he stuffed his phone into his pocket and stood up. Pidge and Hunk looked at him strangely. Pidge looked at her phone clock and swore.

"Damn we've got to make it to economics." She knelt up and began stuffing her books into her backpack. Hunk looked equally as distressed, he grabbed his bag of chips and rolled it up. He stuffed it into the front pocket of his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"How did all three of us not look at the time. We were all on our phones." Lance grabbed the sweatshirt hanging off of his top bunk and slipped it on. He picked up his bag and hung it on one of his shoulders.

"I was reading an online book, so...that was my excuse." Hunk said in his defense. Lance went to the door and slipped on his sneakers without untying them.

"I don't know about the two of you but I was talking to the love of my life, so excuse me for being mentally absent." Pidge rolled her eyes and opened Lance's door.

"I was actually doing math work, I was using my phone as a graphing calculator," Pidge said stressing the word math, Lance cringed internally. He was still so far behind in his work.

They followed Pidge out the door, Lance carefully shut it. "Why am I always later to the classes I have with you two?" Pidge asked mostly to herself.

"Probably something to do with them being boys." Lance looked behind him to see Allurah with several containers of paint balanced on her hand. She was wearing a painters apron, with several paint splotches on them. Lance looked at her intently for a moment, he was able to safely say that she was beautiful. But mental images of Keith began floating around and he knew he didn't even have a crush on her anymore.

"You're probably right," Lance admitted. Pidge grabbed Lance's sleeve-tugging him forward.

"We're late for class, there is no time for flir-- talking to...other people come on." Pidge began speed walking at a breakneck speed. Hunk and Lance fought to keep up.

*****

Lance slowly slipped his earbuds out of his backpack. He glanced over at Hunk who sat next to him. Hunk was fighting to keep his eyes open, his face was leaning against the palm of his hand as he slowly scribbled down notes. Lance looked to his other side, Pidge wasn't giving the teacher a single thought. She was scribbling down complicated math equations with arrows pointing to a vague technical looking shape she had drawn.

Lance leaned even closer to her and dropped his voice. "Hey, are you recording what she's saying?" Pidge turned slightly to him, her hand still placing numbers and symbols on her page.

"Yeah," She tilted her head towards her laptop. "Audio, and visual." Lance smiled and opened up his phone.

"You're the best." He put an earbud in his ear and went onto Instagram. Pidge glanced at him only once then continued to work on her paper. Lance put the phone on the area of the table between Hunk and himself. He left one earbud available incase Hunk decided to tune in at any time.

The stream had already begun, the phone they were streaming from was propped up on something because both Keith and Shiro were in the frame. Shiro was scrolling on his phone, most likely looking at question suggestions. Keith sat rigidly, he looked like he was posing for a picture. Lance smiled, he could tell Keith was just nervous and that was just his resting on edge position.

"Ah here's an answerable question," Shiro said, he glanced at the phone that was recording. "Keith, do you enjoy wearing makeup?" Lance felt bad for his boyfriend, for a moment Keith looked uncomfortable and unsure. He looked at Shiro and took a breath.

"I..." He tilted his head to the camera but kept his eyes towards the table. "Yeah, it's pretty fun. I think it makes my most boring face interesting. I mean technically for shoots I wear foundation or concealer. But I do like adding a little something extra from time to time." His eyes flickered to the camera from time to time, he looked like he was fighting to keep a blush down.

Lance almost texted Keith to remind him of how beautiful he was but he saw the chat had it handled. There was a fast flowing stream of people supporting him and calling him beautiful. Hunk, tired of pretending to listen took the other open earbud and put it in his ear.

"The next question is..." Shiro looked down then back up. "Does Keith go to college. I can handle that one. He's been enrolled for a while, and he has kept up with the work. But he hasn't been attending any classes, tomorrow, however, will be his first day. I won't be disclosing any specifics, but he'll go to the college that's pretty close to here. Keith crossed his arms as he looked at Shiro. He looked back at the camera pushing back his hair.

"That's true, but I'll still post regularly. Next question." He said it more of an order than a request. Shiro smiled and complied with the command.

Shiro looked down at his phone again. "Do you resent when you have to be shot in more feminine roles?" Keith took a breath, he needed a shorter amount of time to think of an answer this time.

"I don't resent it. There's nothing wrong with femininity, in fact, I think everyone could benefit from it. I'm not saying that I'll start wearing skirts or dresses. But simple things like eyeshadow should be indulged in, I don't know just improve my mood sometimes." Shiro opened his mouth to ask another question but Keith continued to speak. "In fact Lance, sometimes he wears face masks when we video chat. He says it improves his skin health, and he told me the brand. I'm going to try it with him tonight."

Lance smiled proudly at the name drop. The chat's general consensus seemed to be asking who Lance was. Judging from the way Shiro looked at Keith, he wanted to know who he was too. He looked at his phone then back at Keith.

"Who is Lance, and why did he send you a stuffed animal?" Keith looked at Shiro, his eyes slightly narrowed. He looked uncomfortable but slowly began answering.

"He's my...friend." Lance's heart constricted a bit, he understood why Keith said what he said but it was still disappointing. "Boyfriend. Lance is my boyfriend." Keith said firmly. Lance and Hunk both looked at each than back at the phone. Shiro's face was so shocked that Lance took a screenshot of it. Keith had a dark blush on his cheek but continued on. "He won me the cat at a Carnival, he had to mail it to me because he doesn't live around here. He's really great, and supportive and I like him a lot."

The Instagram chat was going crazy, messages were being sent too quickly for Lance to read. He was able to catch a few all caps 'I knew its' but besides that words were a blur. Shiro looked both impressed and shocked.

"Keith I..."

"I love him actually, and the cat. I named it Coran, after the veteran Blue Angels pilot." Keith looked at Shiro the smallest of smiles on his face. "And I'm gay."

Lance felt like crying he was so proud of his boy. If there was a time he wished he could reach over and kiss him it would be right then and there. There was nothing he wanted more than to give Keith the biggest hug.

"Congrats, he's passed the Hunk test o-" Hunk frowned and looked at the screen closely. Keith was now pointing at something on the menu, while Shiro still looked shocked. "I know that Pizzaria...that's the one a few blocks from the school." Lance felt his heart slow to a complete stop before picking up dramatically.

"Wait are you kidding me? They're at Pizza Joes?" Despite asking the question Lance took another look at the phone. Suddenly the seats looked more familiar, and the menu looked just like the one they ordered from a couple nights ago.

"Are they visiting this town or something?" Hunk asked Lance had so many thoughts in his head that he felt like he couldn't decide on what to do.

"No, no a lot of his snapchats are from this place...oh fuck how didn't I..."

"I thought you sent him stuff in the mail!"

"I did! But I figured you wouldn't have a P.O box in the town you live in!" He shut off his phone and stuffed it into his pocket. He began shutting books like a wild man and stuffing them into his backpack.

"Why wouldn't you! Most have there P.O box at least in the same state!" Most of the class was paying attention to them now. Neither Hunk nor Lance had worried about voice control. Pidge looked up confused as Lance slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Where are you going Lance, it's the middle of class!" Pidge asked, the teacher below looked five seconds away from throwing a ruler at Lance.

"Sorry for the disturbance everyone I'm about to meet the love of my life, if you have any questions please consult your local Hunk. I will see you all next week when I'm walking in with a complete babe." With that, Lance pushed out of his chair and descended down the staircase towards the exit of the classroom.

Everyone, too confused to stop Lance, let him go by. Lance picked up the pace going into a speedy jog, the weight of his backpack not slowing him down in the slightest. He ran out of the building and began running down the student pathway. He dodged walking couples, students carrying heavy stacks of books, and he almost collided right into Allurah.

"Woah!" She spun gracefully rebalancing the many flowers she was holding. Lance nearly fell again trying to stop himself. The momentum of his backpack almost brought him right to a tree.

"Sorry! I'm on a mission." He turned back and began quickly picking up stray fallen flowers. His hands shook as he did so, he placed them on the very top of her pile. Allurah laughed a bit, she had gotten most of the paint from earlier off of her face.

"It's okay, but tell me. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"I'm going to hopefully meet my boyfriend." Allurah looked confused for a moment, but a look of realization overtook her features.

"Ah! I wasn't aware you had one."

"Yeah it was mostly over the internet, but I'm about to find him and hug the shit of him." Allurah smiled warmly, Lance figured she had no romantic feeling towards her but he didn't expect her to look so happy for him.

"Here, take some flowers." She offered gesturing to the pile of flowers in her hand with her head. Lance stopped his anxious pacing for a moment, he was genuinely touched.

"Really?" He reached his hand out gingerly.

"Yeah, these were just for my art teacher. She wanted me to buy a couple bouquets for our art class to paint from reference, but she gave me 100 dollars. So I took some financial liberties." Lance looked at the different bouquets carefully, they already looked like something out of a painting. He recognized some tulips and lilies but he hadn't seen any of the others. He just knew that they looked beautiful, and Keith would probably like any of them. "Just on one condition." Lance's hand hesitated in reaching for the flowers.

"What...is it?"

"I better get to meet him!" She said seriously, but there was a wide smile on her face.

"Deal, I'll probably spend the next month introducing him to everyone I know." He took the bouquet he knew had the most red. He liked the way it looked, fiery and beautiful, just like Keith. "I'll talk to you later, I need to hope he's still at the pizzeria!" He began running again, Allurah waved goodbye to him and continued on her way.

A few blocks more of running and Lance was off of the college campus. His chest felt like it was going to explode and he cursed himself for not exercising more. When he felt like slowing down he just visualized Keith's face and continued running harder.

Soon he was outside of the Joe's Pizzeria. He looked into the open window, his heart felt like it stopped for the second time that day. There he was, an actual real human being. He was wearing high waisted shorts and a shirt that said Space. He looked as real as Lance felt he was, everything was there. His mullet, his eyes, his nose, his lips. He drastically slowed as he reached the front door.

He grabbed the handle and pulled it open, the above head bell jingled. He felt like everything was in slow motion like they had reached the climax of a movie. He was so overcome with emotions he could barely call speak. He heard someone behind the counter say something to him but the words were filtered out. All of his senses were focused dead ahead. His favorite mullet-ed loser was sitting in a booth next to a man who looked exactly like Shiro. Lance's heart was beating a thousand times a second.

"Keith!" He yelled out, he felt like the entire Pizzaria went silent. The few people who were there turned around. He stood dumbly right next to the entrance staring so hard at Keith that he felt like he could burn a hole through him. He held the flowers tight in his hand, some of the thorns dug into his hand. 

Keith looked up at him confused at first. As he looked at Lance he dropped his menu, his eyes widened. Like in a trance, Keith stood up. Lance began taking slow deliberate steps towards him, he swore he could see Keith's eyes begin to get watery.

"Lance?" He choked out. Lance just nodded. He walked in front of him standing inches apart. He sniffled smiling stupidly wide.

"You're so short," Lance whispered, Keith choked out a laugh. Lance was sure of it now, there were a few tears trailing down the side of his face. Keith touched the side of Lance's cheek just keeping it there. Lance held the flowers between them, the petals resting underneath his chin. 

"You're so....real." More tears fell but Keith was smiling. Lance touched the hand that was on his cheek. He felt his own eyes become watery, but he was able to hold tears back.

"Can I?" He asked moving closer to Keith. Keith looked confused for a moment, then glanced to Lance's lips in realization. He nodded, it looked like he couldn't force any more words out. Lance took a deep breath, his lips tingled, his body knew how important this moment was.

He ducked down until his lips were millimeters away from Keith. He closed his eyes and pressed their lips together. Lance felt heat. It was burning, it was intense, it was filled with long distance messages, and late night wishes to hold Keith. The flowers fell out of his hands, forgotten. He put both of his hands on Keith's back and pulled him closer.

Keith bent his body against Lance's he let his lips dictate his movements. He let Lance lead, tears were soaking both of their cheeks. The kiss was everything they both needed it to be, filled with everything physical they had never done.

Lance was the one to pull away. He looked at Keith and smiled apologetically. They were both panting softly but Lance more so.

"Sorry, I ran here." There was a silent pause before Keith began laughing.

"Weren't you in class?"

"I was, now I'm here. Fuck it's so good to hear your voice, it's amazing." Keith blushed at the compliment and tried to dart his eyes away. "Oh God your blush is even cuter in real life, I want to see it every day of my life." He pressed a kiss to the side of Keith's cheek.

"I'm not that short..." Keith didn't bother to try and look pouty. He felt too much happiness, too much love.

"You're short to me, but it's okay. You're absolutely wonderful, and perfect, and...everything."

"I can't believe it..." They turned to look at Shiro. The phone was turned towards them, probably broadcasting their entire moment to all of Instagram. "I learn about you and meet you on the same day." Lance laughed and shrugged he hugged Keith closer to his chest.

"Nice to meet you, you do some mean photography work." Lance complimented. Shiro shrugged and rubbed the back of his head.

"And you do...well I guess I'll find out." Lance looked back at Keith, still blown away by how beautiful he was.

"So that means you go to my college." Lance smiled, Keith thought for a moment and nodded.

"I suppose I do."

"Which means I'll see you every day. And hopefully every day after that, and after that, and after that until hopefully forever. Sorry, do I sound creepy?" Lance laughed, he couldn't be bothered to put a filter on himself. Keith shook his head rested his head on Lance's chest.

"No it's okay, keep talking. You can talk forever okay? Let's...do you want to get a pizza?"

"Triple cheese, steak and green pepper?" Lance asked he smiled knowingly at Keith. Keith nodded and looked up at Lance.

"Of course, I hope this can be the first of many pizzas's."

"I can guarantee it will be," Lance smiled warmly and ducked his head down close to Keith. "I love you." He whispered softly, testing how it sounded in real life. Keith blushed again and closed his eyes.

"I love you too," He felt Lance's lips press against his own. Lance closed his eyes, savoring the moment, reminding himself that this would be the beginning of something that would last forever.