As soon as Lance realized that everybody would be coming to their house, he immediately got to work cleaning up. Although Shiro knew that he was a bit of a clean freak, he had never seen Lance this focused on tidying the house.

"Lance calm down, it's not like its the first time you've met them," Shiro chuckled putting his hand down on Lance's shoulder.

"Nope, just the first time I can actually talk to them," he sighed sweeping across the floor with a broom. Shiro stared at him sadly. All of this was really his fault. He stepped up behind him and wrapped him in a hug.

"Don't worry Lance, they will grow to love you," he said comfortably. "I've only known the real you for a day and a half and that doesn't even compare to the past five years,"

Lance purred affectionately and rubbed his head on Shiro's chest. He chuckled and pet Lance's ears back.

"How's your cheek?" He asked peeling the bandage away from where Keith scratched him earlier. Underneath was clear, unblemished skin. Shiro smiled and threw the bandage away.

"Everything will turn out fine," he said soothingly. Lance was hesitant to believe him but he was willing to give it his best. He pulled away and picked up the broom again. Shiro sighed but turned back to his task as well. He really hoped that they would become more accepting of the familiar. It may not take just tonight but they would accept him whether they liked it or not.

Keith, Hunk, and Pidge stared in awe at the expansive forest that stretched out behind their house. They had never seen so many trees in one place before, living in the city and all. They looked over at their masters and whooped with glee when they gave them a nod of approval. They ran across the back lawn and playfully jumped at each other. Lance looked over at Shiro hesitantly, nervously wringing his hands together. Shiro gave him a reassuring smile and gently pushing him towards the trees.

"Go introduce yourself again," he tried. Lance nodded and quickly walked over to the laughing familiars. As he grew closer the laughter died away and they stared at his approach.

"S-so, um, I-I'm Lance," he rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the ground.

"Yeah, we know," Keith annoyed voice drawled out. Lance flinched and curled up on himself a little bit.

"I'm sorry for earlier before," he said giving him a low bow. He glanced up and noticed the confused eyes on him. He gulped and stood up straight in order to face them.

"Yeah about that, why did you apologize to Allura?" Keith asked curiously. Not that he was complaining, he'd rather throw Lance under the bus any day in order to not disappoint his master.

"Well it was my fault wasn't it?" He asked furrowing his brows. Keith huffed and shrugged his shoulders.

"It doesn't really matter anyway, it's always your fault in some way," Pidge commented cocking her hip out. Lance's ears flattened against his head and looked at the ground again. She was right. He tried but he always messed things up in the end. He looked up when he heard a branch break and saw the three of them walking to the other side of the yard. His shoulders dropped miserably and he sunk to the ground to fiddle with the grass.

It's okay. He could find something to do while they waited for Shiro to finish cooking. He looked around and perked up when he saw his soccer ball sitting a few feet away. With a giggle he jumped up and kicked it into the air, he caught it on the top of his head and keep bouncing it into the air off of several body parts, trying not to let it touch the ground. He kept it up for several minutes, constantly dropping it to the ground but able to pick it up again with a growing smile.

"Hey, Lance!" Someone called. He missed the ball and it bounced on the grass. He looked over to see Hunk looking at him.

"Yes?" He replied hesitantly. Hunk's eyes fell to the soccer ball then back up to him.

"Can we use that?" He asked. Lance's heart swelled with happiness at the question. They wanted to play with him?

"Yeah! Sure!" He said happily with a smile. He kicked the ball over and it sailed between them. They immediately started kicking to one another. Lance walked a bit closer to join but quickly realized that they were once again boxing him out.

"Oh," he breathed out. He should have seen this coming. If they weren't interested in you five minutes ago, why would they be interested now? His chin quivered slightly as he swallowed back tears.

"Guys! Dinner!" Shiro yelled into the darkness of the yard. Lance waited until the others made their way over before finally clambering onto the back deck. There were choruses of thanks to Shiro from the familiars before they snatched their plates and vanished back into the yard. Shiro served Lance with a smile, expecting him to jump off the deck as well. He didn't move from his spot until Shiro was sitting in his seat. He plopped down beside Shiro's chair and leaned onto his leg.

"Lance? What are you doing?" He asked in confusion. He didn't answer, only dug into his food. Shiro sighed and threaded his fingers through Lance's hair, carefully scratching behind his ears. Lance sniffed and put his plate down in order to wrap his arms around his knees. The exorcists watched in sympathy for the demon.

"They don't like me, Shiro," he said quietly.

"They just don't know you yet," Shiro tried. Lance let out a huff of laughter but didn't lift his head up.

"Just try one more time, okay?" He pushed. Lance looked up at him, although he wasn't crying, he could see that they were welling up quickly.

"I don't think can," he said miserably. Being rejected hurt more than he expected. Even though they hadn't liked him for years, it was different now. They could talk to each other, they could understand him. The fact that his own kind were refusing to give him a chance devastated him more than Shiro ever could.

"Come on Lance, one more go and if they don't try to make an effort, than it's their loss," Shiro said hopefully. Lance blinked back his tears and nodded in agreement. Shiro gave him a smile and ruffled his hair. He stood up and hopped off of the deck and slowly started making his way to where he thought they were. As he got closer he could hear their laughter and light-hearted conversation. He stopped in his tracks.

Who was he to complicate their happiness?

Why should they drop everything for him?

He turned back around and ran towards the side of the house and leaped onto the roof. They shouldn't. He wasn't exactly worth it after all. Just a defective demon.

He stared up at the moon. He just disobeyed an order from Shiro. It was either the thousandth time he had done it, or the first. It depended on the way you looked at it. Either way, it didn't feel good. He wanted to be alone though. Well, not really, all he wanted was to become friends with the other demons.

He let out a low whimper as his eyes filled up again. It wasn't so much to ask, was it? Just to have a friendly face greet him when he went into battle. Someone to ask him if he was doing okay while taking hits from ghouls. Someone to say goodbye to when he left with Shiro. He couldn't remember much from when he was in Hell, but he can recall the stinging wound of loneliness distinctly.

All he wanted was a friend.

______________________________________________________

The three of them watched the silhouette on the roof cautiously. Hunk and Pidge looked to Keith for guidance. Ever since Lance started talking to them, it was easier to feel bad for him. They weren't completely sure what happened to Lance that made him act out the way that he did but it didn't excuse the missions that were often messed up because of him. The mission earlier today though, it was one of their quickest successes in their team's history.

"I'll talk to him first, I'll signal you if I need you up there," Keith decided, turning to the two familiars. They seemed hesitant to let Keith go up there alone, but he was their team leader and the most experienced familiar. They nodded their heads and sat down on the grass. Keith took the same route as Lance and climbed up. At the sound of footsteps, Lance looked over at him making Keith stop in his tracks.

In the moonlight, Lance looked strangely ethereal. He was bathed in the moonbeams. His blue eyes reflected the light making them appear glowing. Strangely, even the tears that ran down his face seemed to sparkle. It was bizarre to Keith, he had never felt anything like that before. He looked,

"Beautiful," he breathed out. Lance's eyes widened and he blinked wildly trying to stop his tears from falling. Keith shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts from it.

"Why were you crying?" He asked approaching him slowly. Lance furrowed his brows.

"In case you haven't noticed, everyone here hates me," he said shortly. Keith swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, it's just that you don't talk to us for five years and suddenly you want to be friends with us," he tried to explain.

"I've told you why that was," Lance sighed putting his cheek in his hand. Keith looked down at the ground, he was beginning to see the error of his ways. Pidge and Hunk were basically following his lead after all.

"You're right," Keith agreed quietly. Lance's face slipped from his hand in shock.

"What?"

"I wasn't willing to listen to you," he admitted. He sat down beside Lance and put his hand on his knee, "but I'm ready to start,"

Lance looked at him in absolute shock. Slowly a smile spread across his face and he wrapped his arms around Keith. After a few minutes, he pulled away from the fox with a blush.

"Sorry, I haven't had many hugs over the years," he said with a blush. Keith smiled and got to his feet. He held out a hand which Lance took after a moment of hesitation and pulled him to his feet.

"Well, then I've got a treat for you," he said. He leapt off the roof, never letting go of Lance's hand. They easily landed in front of Hunk and Pidge making them jump up in surprise. Their eyes shifted from Keith to Lance, to their intertwined hands. Immediately, Pidge got a shit eating grin on her face and nudged Hunk with her elbow.

"Keith's in love," she whispered dramatically. Hunk granted her a small smile but still looked at Lance warily.

"Guys, this is Lance," he introduced for him with a flourish.

"Yes, we know," Pidge deadpanned. She wasn't sure what happened between them up there, but as long as Keith had a good enough impression it was good enough for her. Hunk, on the other hand, was more cautious, Keith was known to make bad decisions. At the hesitation from Hunk, Keith decided to chime in.

"So fun fact about Lance, he's had like three hugs in the last five years,"

Hunk let out a scandalized gasp and instantly scooped him up into his arms. Lance looked at him with wide eyes but as the warm started seeping into his skin he melted into Hunk's arms. He rubbed his head against Hunk's chin and started purring contently.

"Oh my god, that's adorable," Hunk gushed with stars in his eyes. He placed Lance back down after a few minutes and put his hand on Lance's head.

"Wow man, five years and nothing?" Pidge asked with a grimace. Lance shrugged and kicked at the ground.

"Well, not just the past five, actually my whole life," he admitted. Hunk choked on his gasp this time when he scooped him up.

"I am not letting you down again," he declared. Lance's purring was interrupted by a sweet laugh as he rubbed his cheek against Hunk's. Hunk kept true to his word and only let go of him when it was time for them to leave. They stood on the front deck as their exorcists gave their final goodbyes to each other. Keith came up in front of him and smoothed his hand down the cheek he injured earlier.

"I'm really sorry for hurting you," he said softly. Lance blushed and pressed his cheek into the palm.

"It's okay, Keith," he said equally as soft.

"I will never, ever hurt you again," he promised a determined look on his face. Lance could see the resolution in his eyes and silently nodded. They stayed frozen like that, staring into each other's eyes.

"NOT IN MY HOUSE!" Shiro yelled, karate chopping Keith's arm making it flop to his side. Keith looked at him with wide eyes as he picked up Lance protectively.

"Don't expect to get everything just because you're the bad boy demon," Shiro said looking down at Keith. He rubbed his arm in pain and looked over at the others. Shiro backed away to the front door, his eyes never leaving the fox demon.

"I've got my eyes on you, Keith," he whispered pointing at his own eyes then pointing over at Keith. He backed into the house and quietly shut the door behind him.

"He's achieved maximum dad-ness," Allura said in awe.