(( Just a little heads up, Keith and Lance have their first major fight in this. It was painful to write omg. And also, Wattpad deleted one of my oneshots out of the blue and I'm really hoping nothing like that happens to any of my other books. So, I decided to put everything I'm working on in Google Docs so it won't be GONE GONE if Wattpad deletes it. It took me about three hours in total, but I didn't want everyone to be devastated, so I did it. If anything ever goes missing from my profile, I will make a new book and copy and paste in my chapters for you all. Let's just hope that things don't come to that. P.S. I am also in the process of making an ao3 account as well. That way I can post works there too. I'm doing everything I can to ensure you all have access to my stories.))

" What am I even supposed to wear? I've never done anything like this before." Keith nervously looked in Lance's bedroom mirror.

" Man, I don't know. If you show up too formal that's bad, but if you're too casual it's even worse." Lance said, searching through Keith's suitcase, as well as the laundry basket they'd brought up.

" Not helping." Keith grit his teeth. " What if Josh-or wait. Am I allowed to call him that? Or is it boss? Or Mr. Keaton?" He talked fast out of anxiousness.

" I think you're overthinking it." Lance found a pair of black slacks, as well as a nice button up shirt. It was blood red, but it suited Keith quite well.

" Maybe you're under-thinking it." The omega retorted, debating if he'd have to pull his hair back or not.

" I'm pretty sure that's not a thing." Lance chuckled, handing Keith the shirt.

" Now this is too formal." Keith sighed.

" Not if we roll up the sleeves and leave it untucked. Maybe instead of slacks you could wear black skinny jeans or something." The alpha suggested.

" Why is this so hard?" Keith groaned.

" I don't know, but we can't keep wasting time. You'll be late if you don't decide what you're wearing. That would make you look worse than any outfit could." Lance said, finding a pair of skinny jeans for Keith. Thankfully they didn't have any rips, so they would be acceptable.

Keith began putting on the shirt, and soon he squeezed into the pants.

" See. It looks nice." Lance smiled, helping to roll the sleeves up Keith's forearms.

" Whatever." The smaller boy rolled his eyes. He would much rather be wearing a comfy pair of shorts and a baggy t-shirt. But no dice.

After finding an appropriate pair of shoes, the two boys were going down the stairs. Keith was dreading this. He was awkward. How the hell was he supposed to do this without fucking something up? Maybe if he was lucky, Josh would be laid back.

" Off to the interview?" Camila asked them. She was busy getting ready for work, but paused to talk to them for a second.

" Yeah." Lance answered. " I'm going to walk him there."

" Have fun." She smiled, sneaking past them to go up the stairs.

" Right." Keith muttered. He really wasn't looking forward to this. But, hey, money was money. And they needed it.

The walk there was muggy and the air was their worst enemy. Keith regretted wearing pants already, and he could feel his hair getting sweaty from the humid weather.

" This sucks." Keith said as they stood in front of the Starbucks.

" You'll do great, okay? I'll be right here waiting for you." Lance leaned to press a light kiss on his boyfriend's lips. Keith still looked like he was pouting somewhat, but a tiny smile was tugging at his lips.

" Love you." Keith mumbled. And Lance sent him a fond smile before he walked in. There was someone there waiting for him right away. He was tall, had a brownish colored goatee, and his hair was fluffed up on top to provide a voluminous appearance.

" Are you Keith?" He asked.

Keith awkwardly nodded.

" Yeah." He said, and the man extended his hand for him to shake it.

" I'm Josh, nice to meet you." Josh smiled, and Keith shook his hand.

" Nice to meet you too." The omega tried to act as though he wasn't shy as hell.

" Follow me. We can talk in my office." Josh led Keith into one of the back rooms of the Starbucks, and he felt like he was getting a special look into how it operated. It was like he wasn't supposed to be back there, but not in a creepy way, more in an exciting sense.

" Have a seat." Josh gestured to one of the chairs across from his desk.

" Thanks." Keith did as he was told.

" Do you want anything to drink before we get started?" The boss asked.

" No, thank you. I'm okay." Keith crossed his legs nervously.

" Alright then. So, standard procedure. We have to go through some rules. We run a very tight ship around here." Josh pulled out a book full of company policies. " There will be no loitering, no malingering, no-"

Keith sat up stiff like he was in boot camp, and Josh chuckled upon seeing it.

" Nah, man." He closed the book and shoved it away. " I'm just joshing you. Welcome to Starbucks. I promise I'm not that uptight." Josh laughed.

Keith tried not to make a face at the horrible pun.

" Okay." He said, happy to know that this guy wasn't a drill sergeant. Keith breathed a sigh of relief.

" Okay, I'm not about to sit here and read the whole employee manual. That would be boring and I'm sure you'd probably fall asleep. But I'll run through a few rules." Josh explained, taking a sip of his coffee that had been chilling out on his desk.

" Sounds good." Keith said, trying not to look too closed off. He needed to be more outgoing if he was going to be a barista.

" We have a strict policy against bullying or sexual harassment of other employees. We've had to become way more serious about it due to some... past employees that are..." Josh cleared his throat. " They're no longer with us. So if you see it, or it happens to you, it's mandatory that you report it to my assistant manager or myself right away."

" I'll be sure to do that." Keith commented. He knew exactly who Josh was talking about, but he chose not to make a remark about it.

" Also, hair must be pulled back. So you'll have to put the bottom half of your hair in a ponytail." Josh said, trying to remember any important rules. " No jewelry other than rings-" Keith stared down at his promise ring, then back at the other male. " And we insist that employees keep their makeup to a tasteful minimum."

" I don't think you'll have to worry about me wearing too much makeup." Keith chuckled.

" Well, you never know." Josh smiled. " If you did wear it, it wouldn't be a problem because we like our employees to be diverse and express themselves. But within reason of course."

Keith was surprised yet relieved to figure out that his boss was chill. He seemed really friendly, and that was more than a little comforting.

" I'll give you a copy of the book later, and you can read through it if you want. But it's mostly just common sense stuff." Josh summarized. " So. Keith. Tell me about yourself. Why are you looking to get a job at Starbucks? On your application it just said that you needed money."

" Um..." Keith stammered at first. " My boyfriend and I are... expecting... and need to save up." He answered honestly.

" Oh, I see. Congrats." Josh had an unwavering smile on his face. He had two children of his own, so he understood what Keith must've been going through. " No need to be shy about it. We don't judge people."

" Glad to hear it." Keith shifted in his seat.

" This is my favorite question to ask people. What's your favorite vine?" Josh inquired.

Keith snorted.

" Wait, seriously?" He asked, and Josh nodded.

What the hell kind of job interview was this?

" Probably the one where that guy is on Omegle and is like: 'My favorite emo band is Big Time Rush.'" The omega chuckled a little. And Josh was happy he'd finally gotten him to loosen up. That was the purpose of the question after all.

" Classic. Mine is the 'Adam!' one." The boss responded.

Keith ran a hand through his hair, smiling as he did so.

" So. That's about all I have to ask. When can you start?" Josh asked.

" That's it?" Keith looked really surprised.

" Yep. You seem great. I'm not here to interrogate you or anything." He took another sip of his coffee. " We can teach you everything you'll need to know."

" I can start whenever you want me to." Keith said. " Except for Saturday. That's prom."

" Great. How about Friday?"

" Sure." Keith answered, getting up. And Josh handed him an employee handbook. It was rather thin, which came as even more of a relief.

" You'll want to wear black when you come to work. Otherwise we'll give you the cap and apron-which you keep here." The boss informed him. And Keith nodded.

Lance was waiting outside when Keith emerged from the Starbucks.

" Hey, how'd it go?" He asked hopefully.

" I'm hired." Keith stated with a joyful expression, and Lance was hugging him proudly.

" I told you!" The alpha smiled brightly.

They were walking back in the direction of Lance's house, and Lance took Keith's hand in his own. By the time they reached Lance's driveway, Keith was dying for some air conditioning.

" So... make sure you tell your boss that you need off on Saturday." Keith told Lance, wanting to be one hundred percent sure that they could go to prom without a hitch. They were just beginning to enter the house and take off their shoes.

" Why?" Lance questioned. " It's not like we're going to prom."

" Umm... what?" Keith asked sassily, almost acting like he'd heard Lance wrong when he said that.

" Keith, you're kidding, right? There's not a chance in hell that I'm going to bring you around all those alphas." Lance looked at his boyfriend, wondering why he thought they were still going. Sure, they'd planned on it and everything, but it had all changed when they found out about the pregnancy.

" Lance, this is my one and only chance to go to prom. I didn't get to go last year." Keith dropped his shoe to the ground and stood up to stare at him in shock. " I have a tuxedo and everything... I thought you were taking me..."

" And I thought you understood that I can't. Listen, it's not that I don't want to go with you-"

" Then what is it, Lance?!" Keith exclaimed.

" You're pregnant, Keith! Do you know how many people would love to get their hands on you? It's dark in there and there are too many people, I'm sorry! I can't let you!" Lance felt bad that he was pretty much taking away Keith's chance to go to prom. But what other choice did he have? It wasn't safe there.

" What, just like you won't let me be in my own fucking house without you right there? Or how I can't even walk to my job alone? Or how you keep me locked in here while you're at work and won't let me leave? You act like everything is out to get me!" Keith raised his voice without really meaning to.

" Why are you yelling?" Lance asked, flinching back somewhat.

" Because I'm fucking sick of it! I do everything you ask me to, everything! Even though I think some of it is stupid. Yet, I ask you to do this one thing for me and you won't?" The omega was pissed, and that much was to be expected. After all, he'd had his heart set on going. Normally dances weren't his thing, and he wouldn't have cared. But Shiro had prohibited him from going for so many years, and he was a senior. This was the only prom that he was actually allowed to attend. Only because he would've been going with Lance.

" Me trying to keep you safe is stupid?!" Lance found himself getting angry from the way Keith was talking to him. Maybe it was just his primal instincts talking, but it was really starting to grind his gears. Not everything was his fault like Keith was making it out to be. He didn't chain Keith up in his house and never allow him to leave. It wasn't like he was shackled up. Keith wasn't in some sort of fairy tale where his evil Mother Lance had locked him in a tower far far away and isolated him from everyone and everything.

" Some of it, yeah!" Keith retorted. " Not everyone wants to hurt me and the babies!"

" You don't know that! Anyone could hurt you!" Lance took a step forward.

" You're making me feel helpless..." Keith backed up. " And I'm not helpless, so stop treating me like it!"

" Keith, I love you! Excuse me for trying to keep you safe!" Lance barked, not quite losing his temper.

" Can you two shut the fuck up?" Ronny called from the top of the stairs. " I'm trying to nap."

Keith and Lance both turned to face her then looked back at each other.

" Yeah." The omega bent down and put his shoes back on.

" Wh-what are you doing?" Lance asked.

" I'm proving that you're fucking paranoid." Keith growled, going out the door and slamming it. Lance was left wide eyed, not really sure what had just happened. He opened the door, seeing Keith storming into the driveway.

" Keith!" He called.

" Don't you dare follow me!" Keith yelled back assertively.

Lance wasn't really sure what he'd done. Where was Keith going? Was he coming back?

He was just trying to do what any other alpha would; protect. They had babies to worry about. It wasn't just about some petty point that Keith was recklessly trying to prove.

The motorcycle soon revved and Keith was speeding away from Lance's house.

Lance didn't have a way to follow him even if he tried. Camila and André had taken the car to go to work. And Lance couldn't just leave. Ronny was on heat, and couldn't be left alone in the house for very long.

At least the twins were at their uncle's house with their abuela. Otherwise Lance would've had to babysit them as well.

Keith would be back.

He would.

He just needed some time to calm down, right?

Right?!

...

It had been almost four hours and Lance had tried calling Keith a million times. He'd left nothing short of a hundred voicemails. Not to mention all the texts he'd sent; none of them were answered.

Lance was a nervous, remorseful wreck. He'd take Keith to prom. He'd take him anywhere if it meant he'd come back, or at least tell him he was safe and not dead in a ditch somewhere. The alpha couldn't take anymore of this. And since Ronny was still in her room, and the house was locked up tight, he decided he would go and look for him.

" Keith, please, I'm so sorry. Just come back. Tell me you're safe." Lance talked into his phone while sneaking out the front door. " We can go anywhere you want. Please just call me. Text me. Do something."

Lance crept through the night, knowing that Keith wasn't at his house. If Keith had gone to Shiro, there would've been hell to pay on Lance's part. Shiro would've been undoubtedly pissed at him.

Where would Keith have gone?

Lance had texted everyone. He wasn't with Pidge, Matt, Hunk, Allura, or Shay. And that only made Lance more worried about where his boyfriend could be. It was dark, and the temperatures were quickly cooling down.

He had to find his omega before someone else could.

Lance had never felt this type of fear before. The uncertainty of where Keith was, and the possible danger he was in, it was enough to make Lance terrified for his boyfriend. Any stray alpha out there could stumble upon Keith and hurt him, or he could be kidnapped, or way way worse. There were psychopaths out there, and Lance's alpha instincts were making him paranoid that Keith was going to cross paths with each and every one of them.

He could feel Keith, call it boyfriend tingles, but he felt himself being drawn in a certain direction. Their bond was strong, even if at the moment Keith was steamed at him. Lance was a devoted boyfriend, as well as a caring father to be. And he'd be damned if he couldn't find his omega in a town that small.

Lance walked swiftly down the sidewalk, shoving his hands into his pockets as he did so. Keith. That's all he could think about. And how sorry he was.

The last thing Lance wanted was to be controlling. But apparently Keith thought he was being a douche, otherwise he wouldn't have gone and run off. It was like Lance was having a constant heart attack as he envisioned all the gruesome outcomes that could manifest. An omega off by themselves? At night?

That was how nightmares started.

(( I hate to see them fight. But couples do these things sometimes, especially when one of them is temperamental thanks to pregnancy.))