{ TEA TIMEEEEEEEE

*kettle screeching*
*pours cup*

Yum. }

That last week had been a whirlwind of discovery. Each person in Lance and Keith's inner circle had many huge developments in their lives, whether good or bad.

It had all started when Lance went on his Instagram Live and told everyone to stop speculating about he and Keith, and that a multi video series would be coming soon enough. Basically, in the most mature terms, he'd told everyone to shut the fuck up and leave his omega alone.

Keith had gone home, home where Krolia and Kolivan were no longer staying. Of course they had jobs and personal things to get back to and had said farewell to their son sweetly, hoping to be back for Thanksgiving later that year. But most differently for Keith, he had accepted a request from his sister.

" Keith, I know this is a lot to ask... but I've decided to move closer to LA. Can I stay with you until I find a new place?" She asked, having given him puppy dog eyes and knelt down before him. And Keith, being the understanding and caring person he was, had told her yes. And that was how less than a week later, Romelle had managed to take over Keith's guest room and move her stuff.

Allura and Lotor (despite not being in the inner circle) also had shit going on. They had been spotted arguing in the Starbucks drive thru and speculation was swirling around them, but Allura had made a video about Lance to take the attention away from it.

" A lot of people have been asking me for my input on Lance recently... and his... absence, of sorts, from YouTube. Though I'm no longer close with him... I have to wonder if maybe he and Keith are playing at something." She said during the video, one disguised as just a fall makeup tutorial. She'd snuck the comments in there just enough times to get the attention off of her and back on them.

Keith thought about everything as he sat in his house, his trusty dog by his side. It had been a week and somehow... James was still on the loose. Besides all of the standard Allura drama, he had that to worry about. And he had to admit... even if just to himself, without Lance in the house... he felt more scared, more vulnerable. If James did ever come back, he wondered if he would just freeze. Like the last time, he'd thought he could fight him off, but it had ended in disaster.

He shook his head and shoved the thoughts away, not wanting to hear anymore about it from his anxiety.

Keith jumped when he heard the fridge door close, then peeked up over the couch. Just Romelle. Only Romelle.

" Hey. Oh-... did I scare you? Sorry." She apologized with an awkward chuckle following after.

" It's fine." The older brother told her, and Kosmo yawned while stretching out and over him. He petted the husky's head and smiled lightly in relief.

" So... what are you up to today?" Romelle asked, setting down the glass of juice she'd poured for herself only a minute before.

" Well... Lance wanted to start filming the series today. I think he already is at his house, but like... his side of things." Keith explained. If he was being honest, he was nervous of what his audience would do and say about this series. It was something way different than they were used to. All Keith used to do on YouTube was SFX makeup, conspiracies, and other random videos he felt like doing. He didn't touch on serious topics that much unless it was necessary.

" I see..." Romelle came over and sat next to Keith, noticing his nerves about it. " Well I think you'll do great and we'll get this all cleared up."

" I fucking hope so..." Keith sighed. " I'm sick of being the victim. I want to make normal videos again... you know? Like maybe a drunk boyfriend tag with Lance, or Halloween videos in October, or even just a stupid closet tour. I want to be normal again..."

" You will. But Keith, you went through a lot. This is your way of getting justice." Romelle rubbed his shoulder supportively.

" It's hard to really have justice when they still can't find him..." Keith told her honestly. He thought back to when the detectives had called him. Someone had come forward with a tip, but they were still on alert and looking for him wherever they could think of.

" I know... but if you focus on that, you'll never be able to get better."

There was an awkward silence for what seemed like forever.

" I don't want to talk about it anymore." Keith told her. " What are you gonna do today?" He changed the subject and turned to her.

" Well..." Romelle blushed and looked down. " I was going to meet a friend for lunch. Then I'm not sure."

Keith's eyebrows rose in surprise.

" Woah. You have a friend?" He teased, just wanting to get off of the dark subject matter they'd been discussing.

" Shut up." Romelle rolled her eyes.

" What's her name? Do I know her?" Keith asked.

" N-... not a she."

Okay then. What?! Keith's eyes bulged. Romelle couldn't even handle talking to guys in high school that weren't family. She would blush and get all flustered and it would just be a mess, so now she had a guy friend?

" Who is it?" Keith asked.

" Keith, don't worry. I'm fine." She assured and stood up, slamming her orange juice back and then scurrying back to her room. She was going to have to get dressed out of her pajamas if she was going to meet him.

Keith facepalmed and Kosmo made a noise while looking up at him. Even the dog could tell the vibe and that was saying something. But whatever, he couldn't control who she went out with. He had his own problems to worry about.

...

" When you head over there, you can't say anything... promise." Matt said, putting his hands on his sister's shoulders. This was serious... she was the only one who got the inside knowledge before everyone else did.

" I won't." Pidge insisted. " Remember that time where you were singing Justin Bieber music in the shower and I heard you? Yeah, I didn't tell." She teased.

Matt blushed a deep red color from how embarrassed that memory made him. There were some things in life that he just never wanted to think about again, and that was one of them. But still... she made a good point.

He gave her a hug before she left he and Shiro's mansion, having been the only one they'd let in for the past week. They had kept everything on the down low, but things were about to be official.

Shiro appeared in the doorway with a Gucci backpack and then wrapped an arm around Matt's waist.

" Ready to head out?" He asked, then nuzzled into the omega's neck in an affectionate gesture. It didn't matter that he had to bend down a bunch just to reach Matt's neck so long as he got to be by the other's comforting scent.

" Yeah..." Matt looked down to his shoes and blushed more. He couldn't believe that they were about to know for real. The doctor would be able to give them better news than they'd ever heard before.

" Don't be nervous... this is a great thing." Shiro whispered.

" I know."

...

" And Keith thinks that he's coming over to explain everything right now... really..." Lance talked to the camera, which sat on a tripod in his bedroom. He wasn't really sad or moping around, but he wasn't all peppy and lively either. He was the inbetween, not wanting this series to be depressing. He'd already talked a lot about what had happened, though, only from his side. " I just want to chill with him... show the world who we really are as a couple. We aren't abusive like Allura says... not toxic... we just love each other."

He perked up when he heard the doorbell ring, taking the camera with him.

" I'm pretty sure this is Pidge getting here."

Opening the front door, Lance saw his short friend standing there. He pointed the camera down on her and chuckled.

" How's the weather down there?" He joked.

She rolled her eyes.

" Hello to you, too."

" So... are you gonna be my assistant?" Lance hopefully asked. She seemed to get a little more scared, not knowing what she'd agreed to.

" For...?"

" I wanna cook Keith Korean food to surprise him and I need someone to film." Lance didn't bother switching off the camera while handing it to her, knowing he could edit out extra parts later.

" Isn't that why I'm here? To film? Fine, I'll do it... but only if I get some food out of the deal." Pidge smirked mischievously.

" Bet. I bought everything already and I got some advice from Hunk on cooking. I hope it doesn't turn out bad..." Lance said while scratching the back of his neck.

" What are you making?" Pidge asked.

" Japchae... it's basically like stir fry noodles with vegetables and stuff. I don't know if Keith has ever made it before... but... still. I want to do something nice for him." Lance explained. He really felt flustered already if he was being honest, since Keith was so important to him.

" See, this is the kind of shit people need to know about you two."

The world was just crazy in the way rumors started and things got out of hand. Nudes, charges, trauma... everything was so insane and it had all stemmed from their relationship. And somehow it had made it stronger than before. That was the really crazy thing.

...

Allura sat in the bathroom on the side of the tub, staring down and her eyes beading. There was only so much that a person could process all at once, and this might've been the biggest news she'd ever gotten.

Ever.

Lotor was going to be back soon, and she hadn't even figured out where he'd gone off to yet, but it didn't matter. She felt like she had to tell someone, anyone about it. Tweeting it might've been too controversial even for her, but she didn't have many close friends.

She thought about who to call, but then it hit her.

Dialing his number, she held the phone up to her ear.

" Hello?"

" James." She said.

" Hey... you never called me after your heat." He said from the other side.

" I... I know. I figured it would've been risky and I wasn't sure if they had my phone tapped, but now I'm sure." She explained, her voice thin. Clearly something was going on.

" Is something wrong?" He asked.

" Well... I don't... I don't know what to make of it." She shakily spoke.

" Make of what?"

There was a moment of silence as Allura stared at the object in her hand.

" It's... it's positive. The test. I... I thought I was just going crazy but I..." She gulped.

" What test?" James asked, his eyes slightly widening as he jumped to conclusions.

" A p-pregnancy test..." Allura gulped. " Lotor doesn't know yet... and I think I should call the doctor..."

" Well... maybe it's wrong? They can give wrong results sometimes." He tried to justify.

" I've taken two..."

For whatever reason... hearing this made James almost... angry. He couldn't exactly identify what he was feeling, but he didn't like it. He didn't like that Lotor had been the one to do such a thing.

There was a time period that seemed to last forever as they sat there, many miles away but yet together at the same time.

Allura heard the front door open and knew that she had to hang up.

" He's home. I'll give you more details later." She told him. And then the line went dead.

...

Keith closed the car door and walked up to Lance's doorstep, his hands in his pockets. He'd actually tried with his appearance since he knew they'd be filming, and he'd done his eyebrows and mascara. Shiro would've been proud.

He was starting to feel like himself again. For a while after James, he hadn't even been able to look at makeup without getting triggered, but now that he was with Lance... he felt like he could do anything.

Before he could even knock, Pidge opened the door while holding a camera. Keith jumped but then awkwardly smiled.

" Hey."

" Long time no see." Pidge teased, and Keith came in. The smell was the first thing to greet him, it being very fragrant and hard to miss. It was spicy and creative and bold.

" What's going on?" Keith asked. Along with the scent, there was a subtle sizzling noise which was filling the house.

" Oh... nothing." Pidge wiggled her eyebrows and smirked. There was no way she would've rather spent her night than filming her best friends being cute together. Maybe that was weird, but whatever. She didn't care.

Keith definitely didn't like the way she was acting. Something was up.

" What's the face for?" He asked.

" Why don't you go ask your boyfriend? He's in the kitchen." She cooed.

" I thought we were filming a video?" He looked around. There wasn't a background or camera other than the one Pidge was holding.

" You are."

The suspense was too much for Keith to handle by then and he made his way toward the kitchen. He was quiet on his feet, not wanting to make it obvious he was coming. He was basically tiptoeing by the time he arrived to the wall and peeked out and around from it. That was when he saw Lance standing at the stove. The sizzling sound was even louder by then and emanating from a saucepan in Lance's hands. He also had on a blue apron which hugged around his torso.

Dinner?

Keith crept out from behind the wall and quietly made his way closer to Lance, approaching him from behind. The alpha was so focused on what he was doing that he hadn't even noticed him yet.

" Babe?" Keith asked once he was able to put a hand on Lance's shoulder. Lance turned his head and was clearly surprised. He took a step back from the pan on the stove, then threw his arms around Keith to hug him. It felt like it had been forever.

Keith hadn't been expecting it, but his arms ended up draped behind Lance as he was lifted momentarily. After setting him down, Lance pressed kisses all over Keith's face and smiled, hugging him and then burying in his scent gland.

" I missed you so much..." He told him.

Keith stood there with his eyes open, but then settled into the contact and leaned by Lance's neck as well.

Pidge kept filming even as the couple pulled back and embraced.

" What is all this?" Keith asked, looking at the pan and then over at the table, which was set for two and decorated with a flickering candle in the center.

" A gesture of my love for you..." Lance smiled in a mushy way and tucked some hair behind Keith's ear. He silently appreciated the effort Keith had put in for his appearance and felt his heart fluttering.

" What about the vid-"

" This is what people really need to see... the way we are around each other..." Lance insisted. " I want people to know the truth about everything, us included."

Keith thought about it and he had to admit... it made sense. Perfect sense, actually. Content for their channels and an excuse to be cute? Sign him the fuck up.

Nothing could tear he and Lance apart, and that was their message to the people.

{ Cue people talking about foreshadowing in the comments lmaooo!! }