Tension
Monday, during lunchtime, lance joined them asked about “baby keith” since he remembered the story his dad told which made Keith feel a little…warm.
Luckily, he left out any details of his mom so he didn’t have to deal with that.
He still had to listen to embarrassing stories about his childhood though. But that wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.
The whole week went like that and Keith was really enjoying himself. Even practice was kind of fun again since he had hunk to talk to. Yeah, it was exhausting but the good kind.
Regular practice already started again since the playoffs were coming up and the coach has been yelling to them about them. He hasn’t said anything about Keith getting 5 stars which he’s really glad about. He doesn’t want to deal with that kind of attention right now.
I mean, he hasn’t even told shiro yet.
Saturday, Pidge had texted him asking if he wanted to hang out with everyone and of course, he agreed and started getting ready.
But now that lance is speaking to him and he knows he’s gay, he feels the need to look better than usual.
He did say the kiss meant nothing though…so maybe he’s just stupid for thinking anything could ever happen.
He just dressed how he normally does and waited for them to get there—because Pidge very heavily insisted that they hang out in the van again.
So when he heard it pull in, he walked outside and Pidge was already opening the door for him.
”I’m gonna get high so if you wanna smoke you’re gonna have to roll one for yourself”
Keith just shook his head and laughed, not surprised anymore at her boldness. When he got in, he saw lance sitting in the back, looking a little nervous. He smiled though which is a good sign.
”We’re gonna drive to McDonald’s first and then go to a nice scenic place”
”You’ve thought this out”
Pidge shut the door “The scenic place was hunks idea he says he’s nervous about the playoffs or whatever”
”They’re stressful!”
”That’s why we’re going to the pretty place” Allira said as Keith sat down next to her.
”Pretty places calm everyone down” Hunk said, driving.
”So does weed” Pidge laid down and closed her eyes.
”You’re an addict” Lance said, laughing.
She just shrugged though and continued smoking.
Keith said he didn’t care and he’s been acting normally the whole week like he doesn’t but Lance still feels…scared. It was terrifying telling his friends who he knew liked him—he hasn’t even told all his family because that relationship is the most important thing to him and he doesn’t want to ruin it.
Only his sisters know—and he thinks Luis but he hasn’t said anything yet. He doesn’t even know when he’ll tell his mom.
But anyway lance still hasn’t gotten over that kiss. Because yeah, it was kind of in the moment but…when it happened it’s like some new sense surfaced. A sense he never realized he had. And sense he’s had for a while now though.
Because maybe his annoyance with Keith before and this inexistent rivalry between them was just lance having a cru—
Luckily, before he could open that can of worms, hunk parked and said he was going in to get food. Lance pointed at him and opened his mouth but hunk waved his hand “I know what you want” he left and they all waited and talked about random things.
Lance stayed out of the conversation for the most part though because yeah, he trusts Keith but…what if it’s still awkward to him? What if that stupid kiss ruined everything?
”Lance, you okay?” He jumped at alluras voice and she laughed and he shook his head, laughing his weird feelings off “Uh—Yeah, sorry I’m kinda spacey today”
She nodded and they continued talking about whatever they were talking about and lance spaced out again.
When hunk got back, they decided to all eat when they got to the pretty place.
After hunk parked, he moved to the back to sit with everyone. Lance was a little less spaced out but he was still nervous as hell.
”So when we were doing the presentation, she was supposed to change the slides but she just ‘accidentally’ deleted the whole thing”
Pidge was angrily ranting about some girl in her class, mostly to Keith because they’ve all heard about her before.
“Since I’m not an idiot like her, I managed to fix her mess and we got an A. She got an F though since she didn’t even do her part of the assignment”
”That’s probably why she pretended to delete it”
”Yup—“ she groaned “God I hate her so much”
Lance ate a few more nuggets before nudging Pidge, who was sitting beside him and now listening to allura talk about the same girl. He gestured for her to give her the joint but she scoffed “Make your own, you know where the stuff is”
He whined “You know I suck at it though”
”Practice makes perfect” she smiled condescendingly and he looked away and frowned—well, pouted.
He reached in the small compartment under the seat and got pidges bag. He took out the rolling papers and listened as allura started talking about something different.
”If it’s the off season, why are you still going to practice?”
He kind of listened more as Keith spoke, still struggling with the papers.
”I’ve never really stopped going to practice—mostly because the coach gets pissy when I don’t”
”So you don’t take any breaks?”
”Not really”
Allura laughed “No wonder you have five stars then”
Lance looked up and it seemed that everyone else was just as shocked. Allura pursed her lips “You guys didn’t know?”
Keith looked embarrassed and hunk shook his head “No! That’s awesome man!” He pat him on the pack and Keith looked down, smiling. It’s kind of cute how embarrassed he is.
”Wait that’s like, super rare, right?” Pidge said, also staring wide eyed.
Hunk nodded “Like, one in thirty high schoolers become 5 star recruits”
”Okay—it’s not that big a deal” Keith waved his hand and Pidge scoffed “It totally is??”
“The coach probably hasn’t told anyone cause they’d all get pissed that people are going to be watching him during the playoffs” hunk laughed and Keith smiled, shaking his head.
Lance looked back down and continued trying to roll this stupid joint. They started talking about something else so lance spaced out again.
But then he heard his name.
”Okay—I’m sorry—lance, what the hell are you doing” allura said, frowning at lance, who was getting weed everywhere. He already wasted 2 papers. He’ll pay Pidge back……someday. He probably won’t.
He just looked up, feeling called out “huh?”
”Pidge, help him he’s making a mess”
Lance gasped “I’m not a toddler”
”You look like one right now”
”A toddler can roll a joint?”
”No, but neither can you—Pidge, help him”
Pidge was laying down “Nope”
”See? No one else knows like she does so what else am I supposed to do?”
She just rolled her eyes and started talking again.
After a few more minutes, Keith sighed and got up to sit next to him “Give it to me”
Lance looked at him, offended—he’s lost his privileges or something?? “What? Why?”
He just took the bag from his lap and pulled out a new paper. What, he thinks he can do better? Lance crossed his arms, frustrated at himself and now Keith, who thinks he can do it better than him.
Everyone else was still talking and lance kind of tuned them out, watching Keith do his thing.
He rolled it a little and brought it up to his mouth to lick the edge of the paper. Lance noticed how it made his stomach flutter a little.
Once he was done, he held it up to lance, who was stunned. It looks just as good as when Pidge does it. He grabbed it and looked at it “How’d you get so good at that?”
He looked up at him and Keith was smiling “Practice makes perfect” that made his stomach explode so he looked back down.
He frowned and mumbled something vaguely mean towards Keith, not really meaning it. He’s definitely just jealous.
Before he lit it though, he looked back up at everyone “Can I open the back doors so we can see the pretty view?”
Hunk smiled “Yeah, just put that stuff away first”
Lance nodded and put everything back in the bag and back in the little compartment. Since the back seats needed to go down, him and Keith got up and Pidge groaned as he put them down “You better put them back up before we leave!”
He just waved his hand at her and when they were down, he opened the doors. “Pretty!”
Hunk got up and moved to the back of the van and sat down. Pidge laid down behind him and they both looked at the view.
Allura moved next to hunk and since the back seat was taken up by Pidge laying down now, lance just sat on the floor, putting his legs up on the seat across from him.
Keith sat the same away, facing the opponent direction. He held out his hand and lance assumed he was asking for the joint so he handed it to him. He watched as keith took a lighter out of his pocket and lit it.
He had to look away and look at the doors because he didn’t want to stare. But weirdly, the view was disappointing compared to Keith. So he looked back.
They passed it back and forth a few times before keith spoke quietly “I’ve been thinking—“ he handed it to lance, who’s heart slowed down at his quiet, kind of hesitant, voice—what’s he been thinking about? The kiss? Oh god, what if it’s the kiss? What if it’s the fact that he’s gay—what if he liked the kiss and he—
“If you’re gay why’d you kiss nyma at that party?”
Oh.
Lance smiled and shrugged “Drunk”
Keith smiled back “Aren’t you more yourself when you’re drunk though?”
”Yeah and it turns out I’m susceptible to peer pressure”
He handed it back and watched him smoke it. He really doesn’t think anyone has ever looked more attractive while smoking.
“Nyma does have a weird way of pressuring people”
”So…are you friends?”
Keith took another drag before handing it out to lance. Lance just shook his head so Keith held it “I don’t know—I guess so. She’s kind of the only person who ever gave a shit to talk to me about things other than football or going on a date”
Lance looked at him, feeling a little sad “Was she your only friend?”
He shrugged “Pretty much”
Lance smiled “We probably could’ve been friends earlier if I didn’t think you were trying to be better than me”
Keith looked at him and lance continued.
”I used to think you’d try to one up me with everything—I used to hate it but it started to become more fun than anything.”
He smiled “I only knew your name because people kept telling me that you were jealous of me”
Lance opened his mouth, beyond offended “Jealous?”
”Yep”
He crossed his arms and slouched down, mumbling “I wasn’t jealous”
”You sure?”
Lance sat up and gasped “I have a lot going for me, I am not jealous”
”What’s going on?” Pidge turned around and lance pointed at Keith “He says I’m jealous”
Pidge just raised her eyebrows as if she agreed so he gasped again. “Allura!” He put his feet down and faced the back of the van to look at allura, who looked confused “What?”
”I wasn’t jealous of Keith!”
She smiled “I know”
Lance smiled back “Thank you—“
”It was more of a crush” she added, very condescendingly.
Once again, betrayed by his best friends, he stood there, gaping at them.
“I mean, you did kiss him” Pidge said, stirring the pot.
Pidge had found out on her own that he kissed him even though he never told her. He only told hunk because he’s the best at giving support after making dumb decisions. Allura didn’t know though. He was gonna tell her though, obviously.
”What??” She looked at him and he shrugged, now feeling defensive.
”It was a spur of the moment type thing!”
”I’m sure it was…” she raised her eyebrows and he opened his mouth again, hurt.
Okay fine, they wanna act this way, he’ll go along with it. He smiled at her innocently “Okay, fine—who wouldn’t find him attractive? I mean, you almost had sex with him on pretty much your first date”
Now Allura looked shocked—and a little amused at his sass. He looked at Keith, who also looked shocked and a little flustered. He smiled ”I can get worse, you don’t wanna play this game with me”
He looked flustered for a few more seconds but then sat up, smiling “What, you didn’t like the kiss then?”
He crossed his arms “No—“ he pursed his lips and looked away for second “You didn’t even kiss back so…”
Keith smiled, smugly “I just thought you’d be jealous that I’m a better kisser than you”
Ignoring the obvious butterflies in his stomach, he was overwhelmed by competition. Because no way he just said that.
”I am a way better kisser than you. I even have witnesses that you can ask—I am an incredible kisser”
“Probably not better than me—I also have a few witnesses.”
Thinking about the only person who has kissed both of them, everyone looked at allura. She frowned “Ok—wow”
”Who’s better, me or him” lance said and she scoffed “The last time we kissed was years ago how can I possibly remember that”
“It wasn’t memorable?!”
”Not really, you had braces”
”Ok, fair but that was out of my control so it doesn’t count”
“Then there’s no way to compare it” allura shrugged and laughed “Unless you kiss again”
Lance gasped and smiled “You’ll kiss me? Finally?”
She raised her eyebrow “Guys are so stupid—no, you two are the ones competing”
Lance frowned “Oh”
He looked at Keith and he looked back. He squinted at him and Keith had a kind of blank stare—smiling just a little.
Lance shrugged, throwing out all his inhibitions “Im down”
Keith laughed “Of course you are”
Lance opened his mouth, offended again. These people are mean.
“If you’re unwilling, you forfeit and I win” lance smiled, a little cowardly, but worth it—he’s competitive.
After a few seconds keith just shrugged and leaned up to put his hand behind his head, pulling him closer to kiss him.
A little shocked at first, lance froze. But realizing that this isn’t really an actual kiss, he needs to win this. So he did the same and almost immediately lance knew he lost. Lance has never been kissed like this before. He knows Keith is probably rushing cause they don’t have the luxury of having actual feelings—at least on Keith’s side—but he was already using his tongue. But weirdly, it didn’t feel rushed—just……passionate? And oh, so wonderful.
“Okay! Gross! That’s enough—you’re gonna give me nightmares” Pidge said, kicking Keith away with her foot. Reassuring his belief that Keith doesn’t have any feelings towards him, he laughed.
Cause lance can barely even breathe—if Keith felt anything he would not be so nonchalant. Keith looked at him, smiling and kind of breathing heavily “So?”
Lance took a deep breath and looked at allura, shoving her a little “Why the hell’d you leave him??”
She just smiled and shrugged and lance took another moment to calm down and take a deep breath. “I’m confident but you definitely win this one”
”You weren’t bad either”
That didn’t help the flutter already in his chest. Now it’s like his heart is gonna fly away.
“Y’all are nasty” Pidge scoffed and laid back down. Allura laughed “and high”
Lance laughed and nodded “Very high”
They all talked for a bit and looked at the pretty view from where they parked.
Lance heard keith move so he laid back. But he didn’t move as much as he thought and he ended up laying down on his lap.
He laughed “Sorry—“ he was about to sit up but keith laughed, sighing “I don’t care”
Lance smiled and laid back down, trying his best to shove down the giddy feeling. He held out his hand for the joint but keith smiled down at him and held it up to his mouth for him.
Lance didn’t expect it but laughed and let him hold it for him. It made the giddy feeling a million times worse though. But it felt good so he didn’t stop him.
He also likes how he’s looking at him. And he liked the way he looked at the sunset while he smoked, even better. And unfortunately he was too high to look away. But who cares?
When he got home, he felt giddy. Yeah, it was mostly because of the weed but also because of the kiss with lance.
He tried his best to be quiet when he went inside since his dad is home but the lights were on and he was sitting in the living room.
He looked up and smiled “Hey! Where were you?”
Keith couldn’t hold down his smile “Uh—I was hanging out with my friends”
His dad smiled back “Have a good time?”
He pushed down his smile “Yeah”
Heith laughed “What?”
Keith wiped his nose to hide his smile “What?”
”You seem really happy”
Keith started walking to his room but stopped at the hallway “I am”
His dad just smiled at him and he went to his room. He changed out of his clothes and laid down, still not able to stop smiling.
He hugged his pillow and put his face in it to not laugh out loud.
God, he really likes him.
Next week, they all still ate in shiros room and now, it’s Wednesday and they’re talking about animals and shiro joined into the conversation since he’s a science teacher.
“Aren’t dolphins whales?” Lance said, after arguing for 10 entire minutes straight about how dolphins are the worst animals.
Shiro nodded “Yep”
”Wait, really?” Hunk said, confused.
“Yes, they’re all cetaceans”
”And a roly poly is a crustacean—like a tiny baby lobster” Pidge added, kind of unrelated, but still cool.
Keith doesn’t know anything about any of this so he’s just been listening to them talk about it.
”Wait—Keith what’s your favorite animal?” Lance looked at him and it kind of caught him off guard.
”Lion—he used to always talk about how cool they were”
Feeling kind of called out, he squinted at shiro, who was just smiling cheekily.
”That’s convenient—now you are a lion” Lance said, talking about the football teams name.
Keith smiled “It kind of ruined them for me though.”
”Why?” Lance frowned and Keith shrugged “I think of douchebags when I think of lions now”
”You’re not a douchebag though—neither is hunk?” He smiled like he proved him wrong.
”I am kind of a douchebag” he smiled back and lance kept smiling and shrugged “You got me there”
Keith laughed “Aren’t you supposed to disagree?”
”Friends are honest”
”Then you’re not my friend”
”Okay fine—“ he bowed a little “You, Keith, are the least douchey guy on the football team—besides hunk”
”Thank you”
”At least your name isn’t the ‘dolphins’. I would literally hate you if you were”
”What about me??” Hunk said, frowning and lance smiled and grabbed his hand “Sorry, hunky but I despise dolphins”
They continued talking until lunch was over and Keith felt a little weird with how shiro was looking at him when he left. What was that about?
The days were the same until Thursday when shiro told Keith he needed to talk to him. He said to see him after school and something seemed off so the whole day Keith was really nervous.
But when the last bell rang, he went straight to his room and shiro was putting away stuff.
”Hey—Sorry for being so ominous I just…” he sat up and smiled—also looking a little nervous “I just have something I want to tell you”
Now even more nervous, Keith nodded, slowly “Yeah…?”
Shiro laughed “Do you wanna come by for dinner again? It’s been a while and what I want to say is kind of important.”
He took a deep breath, now scared “Is everything okay…?”
Shiro looked up at him, quickly. Then he smiled “Oh! Yeah—no—nothings wrong—it’s good news, really good news, just important is all”
Keith nodded, still feeling a bit weird “Okay…yeah, of course”
”Alright, great! I’ll see you later then”
Keith nodded and they both left and Keith drove home, just getting more nervous the more time passed.
At about 5, Keith got ready and headed to shiros house, not able to calm his nerves. He’s never invited him over to talk about something specific. So it must be pretty big.
He parked and walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. After about 2 minutes, the doorknob moved and it opened.
If Keith wasn’t so familiar with the house, he would think he went to the wrong one. Because some guy he’s never seen before answered.
The guy smiled and Keith smiled back, kind of awkwardly “Uh—hey…?”
”Hey! Come in, Kashi is still cooking” Keith walked in. Kashi…?
”I’m Adam by the way—“ he held out his hand and Keith shook it “I’m his…roommate”
Not really noticing the pause, Keith nodded. He did notice how ‘Adam’ seemed kind of nervous though.
”He’s here!”
Keith could smell what he was cooking and he noticed how the house looked the exact same as it always has. Except for a few new things here and there.
”I’m almost done, you can sit at the table if you want!” He yelled from the kitchen and Keith and Adam went to the dining room and sat down.
Adam smiled again “I’ve heard so much about you! It’s so nice to actually meet you”
Keith smiled awkwardly again, still not knowing this guy.
”I know he hasn’t mentioned me, don’t worry—you don’t have feel awkward”
”When did you move in?” He hasn’t really been to shiros house in a while. Maybe about 4 or 5 times since he moved back in with his dad.
”Uh—a while ago, not long after you moved out”
Keith nodded, not really knowing what else to say.
Finally, shiro came in the dining room with two plates.
”Alright, that’s my cue to leave—it was nice meeting you!”
”Uh—you too”
He left and shiro sat down, laughing. He sounded nervous “Uh—sorry, he was excited to meet you”
Keith nodded again and looked at what shiro handed him, laughing “Is this all you know how to cook?”
Shiro rolled his eyes “No, I just thought you’d like something familiar.”
”Hopefully the taste isn’t” he said, teasing him. Shiro smiled and scoffed “Be quiet”
They started eating and Keith looked at him “So what did you want to talk about? You have cancer or something?”
Shiro rolled his eyes “No, it’s nothing like that. It’s happier”
”So…? You’re stalling too much”
Shiro smiled “So…uhm……I just want you to know how proud I am of you and the person you’ve become—“
Keith frowned “Stop being cryptic and tell me already”
”I’ll completely understand any reaction you have…but…I’ve met someone. For, well, for quite a while now and they’re genuinely the love of my life—“
”Seriously, just tell me already!” He said, a little impatient.
”Adam—he’s my partner—my boyfriend”
Unexpectedly, he choked on his food and shiro went to get up and help him but Keith shook his head and coughed.
”I was scared to tell you because I don’t want to ruin our relationship—and I don’t know how your dad raised you to feel about things like this so…” shiro looked down and Keith coughed again.
He looked at shiro, frowning “Shiro, you raised me too?”
Shiro looked at him and Keith could see his eyes watering “So…you’re fine with it?”
Keith kept frowning and shook his head “I don’t care?”
Shiro smiled and got up. Keith rolled his eyes as he hugged him “Shiro—“
He shook him and Keith couldn’t help but laugh “Stop that”
”Nope, you’ll get all the hugs”
”I don’t want them”
He pulled away and kept smiling “Thank you—really”
”Why’d you even think I’d care about something about that?”
Shiro shrugged “I don’t know—you just never know.”
That made Keith’s stomach hurt. If he thought he would hate him because of it—how does Keith know who wouldn’t hate him because of it?
Adam came back, looking nervously “Hey…”
Shiro smiled “Come here, you two should meet properly”
Adam smiled and sat down across of them. They talked about their life and how they met etc. and adam told Keith about himself and Keith ended up really liking him.
He’s the reason shiro hasn’t invited him over in a while so shiro said he’s definitely going to invite him over more often which Keith liked. He’s missed it here. It feels more like home than his home.
For another week or so, he went to his house for dinner and since his dad was home, he stopped him “Where are you going?”
”Shiros”
He nodded and smiled “Tell him I said hi, alright?”
Keith nodded and drove to his house. Things with lance have been a little…tense. Keith has masked it pretty well though but it’s starting to get overwhelming.
When he got in, it was a lot more natural seeing Adam there so he didn’t feel awkward. They all decided to eat and watch a movie and since they’re all gay, they chose to watch interview with the vampire.
During the movie, adam laughed and looked at shiro “My first crush was absolutely Tom cruise”
Shiro pat him on the shoulder “He was everyone’s”
Keith smiled, completely relating to it.
Adam, looked at Keith “Sorry, it’s hard not to act gay around him—I’ll tone it down though”
Keith laughed “you’re not only the gay people I know”
Adam gasped “Really? Why didn’t you tell us?”
Keith shrugged “I mean lance acts gayer than both of yo—“
Realizing that he just outed him, he froze. Shiro paused the movie and Keith died a little inside.
”Don’t worry, I knew—it’s obvious.” He laughed “Well, to gay people”
Keith frowned “Not to me?”
They both looked at him now, shocked. It took Keith a moment to realize what he just said.
Oh
He just outed himself.
He froze again, this time terrified. His stomach is in pieces by now. He’s pretty sure he’s bleeding internally or something.
There’s no going back now. But what does he say?? Maybe they didn’t interpret it correctly?
”…Keith?”
He looked at them and shiro looked really wholesome. Fuck, he interpreted it right.
”………yes?” He smiled awkwardly and shiro smiled.
”Keith”
Keith frowned “Ok, what”
”Do you wanna talk about it?”
“No” he kept frowning.
”Keith…”
Not wanting to but also really wanting to he looked down “It’s a lot”
“That doesn’t matter, you could talk for hours if you needed to—so if you want to—shoot” he turned the movie off and sat up.
Keith sighed and rubbed his face, kind of desperate to talk about this. So the so-called ‘word vomit’ came out.
“I just feel like I’m lying to everyone I care about. But it’s not like I can tell them the truth because what if they hate me? Cause i finally have good friends and I don’t want to lose that, you know?”
Shiro and Adam both nodded and Keith sat up, feeling more passionate about talking about it “And like—“ he shook his head “I told allura—it’s the reason we started talking in the first place because things were getting pretty heated after homecoming but I freaked out and told her and she said that she was fine with it so we became friends and then we pretended to date so people wouldn’t assume anything but now that we’re ‘broken up’ I’m just terrified people will find out.”
Shiro opened his mouth to speak but Keith stood up and kept talking “And lance—oh god, don’t even get me started on lance. I’ve been trying to get over him for months but everything he does just makes me like him even more??”
He realized he was pacing but didn’t stop.
“It’s just—no matter what I do, I can’t stop it. I tried hating him but that didn’t work so I tried being his friend and now it’s a whole lot worse—we’ve even kissed—twice. But the first kiss was because he was sad and I helped him but I didn’t kiss him back and he didn’t talk to be for a week after and then said it didn’t mean anything and then I kissed him because I was high but he still thinks I’m straight—but to be fair, I told him I was kind of but I can’t risk making things awkward or losing his friendship cause that would mean I lose everyone else. Cause, my friends are his friends.”
”So you’re gay?” Shiro said, probably shocked.
Keith froze again, thinking that maybe he didn’t need to say all that. Maybe he didn’t even think that……
”Uh……yeah”
“And lance is gay” he said, not seeming shocked…?
Keith nodded and shiro shook his head “Keith, if you’re both gay, there’s a pretty big chance he’ll like you—especially if you’ve already kissed. Everyone says ‘it didn’t mean anything’ to someone after they kiss them unexpectedly. I’ve said that before to a guy I’ve kissed. Because I was scared it would ruin something.”
Adam raised his hand and nodded “Me too”
”So……it might have meant something?”
Shiro smiled “Keith……sit down, we should talk about crushes—I don’t think you’ve ever had a conversation about this”
Keith crossed his arms, feeling a little defensive “So?”
“So, you don’t know how to deal with it—and I can help you”
”How are you so sure”
”He’s got a great sense for this stuff” Adam said, standing up. He smiled at them “I’ll go make tea—this convo needs it”
He left and shiro pat the cushion next to him and Keith sat down. “I can’t just tell him I like him…”
”I know that, that’s why you send signals”
”Signals…?” He frowned.
”Yeah, like getting super close and staring a bit too long and touching him more”
”That sounds creepy”
”Look, when a crush does that stuff, it’s not creepy—it’s only creepy if some random old dude does it”
Keith smiled and Adam came back with the tea and sat next to Keith.
”You’re a quarterback, right?” Adam said, getting comfortable.
Keith looked at him and nodded “Then I’m sure everyone likes you—everyone likes a jock. Especially gay guys”
“That doesn’t help—even if he does like me, I still can’t just tell him.”
”Adam, he teases him—and lance smiles and laughs. What does that tell you?”
Adam smiled and nodded “He likes you”
Keith frowned “Stop acting like a teacher and just tell me what to do”
”I can’t do that, it’s all up to you. The easiest way is to just tell him but you won’t do that so just send signals until he realizes.”
”What if it comes off as awkward”
”Then be confident—confidence is everything when it comes to flirting”
”Flirting? You said signals”
”Flirty signals”
”You’re confusing”
“Just…be yourself”
Keith shook his head “Alright, you’re not helping” he stood up “I’m gonna go home and sleep”
Shiro “Thank you for telling me this—and think about what I said—it’ll work I promise”
He rolled his eyes and left. When he got home, he unfortunately did think about it. He thought about it a lot.
Shit, he should look up signals to give a crush.
“Good job, I didn’t expect you two to work so well with each other”
On Monday, the teacher finally handed them their graded paper and they got a 92 on it. She knocked off some points for the handwriting.
”That was my good handwriting…”
”Really?”
Lance frowned “Yeah”
”I mean, at least you can read it” lighthearted teasing was on the list of signals and since he already does that, that’s what he started with.
”Shut up” he kicked him, not hard, and Keith laughed.
”I kind of have something to admit” Lance smiled at him, making his heart flutter. Keith just smiled back “What”
”I only asked to be your partner because Pidge told me I couldn’t be your friend—we kind of made a deal”
Keith raised his eyebrows “And?”
”And I think I won. And got extra credit”
”Extra credit? For what”
”For creating an actual friendship”
Keith smiled and leaned closer to whisper “And you kissed me, so…”
Another one was joke about them being together—check.
Lance kicked him again, this time harder. Keith laughed and rubbed his leg and lance squinted at him.
“You’re an ass”
”Don’t you like that?”
Lance pressed his lips together and looked away. He looked like he was trying not to laugh though. “I‘d kick you harder if we weren’t in class”
”I’d say it louder if we weren’t in class”
”You’re testing my patience”
”You’ve been testing mine since we first spoke—I think I have the right”
Lance looked at him and smiled “You’re mean and I hate you”
“Yet we’re still friends”
”Yeah” he shrugged and when the bell rang they went to their next classes.
The next day, the teacher gave them a passage and quiz and let the students discuss it with a partner so obviously, Keith and lance stayed where they were.
Keith moved closer and casually put his hand behind lances chair, slightly touching him. Their legs were also slightly grazing.
Lance started reading and Keith could barely pay attention. All he’s focused on is the fact that their legs are touching. Is it too much? Should he move? If he moves will it make it more obvious? Or awkward?
”she told me I needed to be more honest with people around me. I told her I hated her shirt and she stopped talking.”
Lance laughed and Keith started paying attention “Hm?”
”What?” Lance looked confused and Keith pursed his lips “What”
”Have you not been listening?”
Keith looked away for a second “…Yeah”
Lance rolled his eyes “I’ll just do the assignment for you, jeez”
Keith frowned “No, I can do it—“
”Who’s the main character”
Keith opened his mouth but since he didn’t have an answer he closed it. Lance smiled “Exactly”
Already knowing he didn’t have a pencil, Keith gave him his. Lance didn’t even think about it and took it and started writing.
Keith watched him work, hoping that counted as a signal.
He’s been sending signals every day now and nothing has changed. So he needs to step it up. When he saw him in the hallway in the morning, he went to tell him he looked nice that day but chickened out and walked to his class.
When it was their class together, he already had a pencil out, ready to give it to him. When lance sat down and smiled at him, Keith handed it to him.
Lance looked confused “What?”
”You never bring a pencil so just keep that one”
Lance looked at the pencil and then smiled “Thanks”
Not really thinking about consequences, he asked “Do you wanna hang out today?”
Lance looked at him, already smiling “Yeah, where?”
”Your house” he likes his house.
Lance smiled more “You sure?”
Keith smiled and nodded.
He drove to his house in his truck and walked up to the door and knocked. He heard shouting in Spanish before the door opened. It was lance and he looked very annoyed and…pretty? He has makeup on.
The door immediately shut and Keith stood there, confused. What…?
The door opened again, slowly. Lance was smiling awkwardly “Hey, sorry, I forgot you were coming and I let Rachel put makeup on me—she likes to see what would look good on her…….on me…we look similar”
Keith took a moment to process before smiling “Then I’m sure she looks great in what you’re wearing”
That came out really flirty which….is good?
Lance laughed and pulled him inside. Rachel walked down the stairs “Come on, I need to try this shade—oh!” She smiled and quickly walked up to Keith “You like what I did?” She gestured towards lance, who looked unimpressed.
Keith smiled “Yeah, it’s great”
“Alright, since he’s here, I’m gonna wash this off” he went to leave but Rachel grabbed his arm “Ah!” He scoffed at her and she shook her head “Uh-Uh no way, I still have lipsticks I need to try on you”
”They can wait”
”Yes, but I can’t”
”Well too bad, you’re gonna have to”
They started walking up the stairs and Rachel followed them. When they got to his room, Rachel shoved them in and closed the door behind her “Sit down and Keith, you’re gonna have to deal with our makeup sesh”
Keith shrugged “I don’t mind”
”I hate you”
Rachel dragged him to the floor and Keith sat down next to Rachel and watched as she wiped the lipstick he had off him and put on a new shade. His lips look soft. So does his skin.
”Do you like that one?”
Keith nodded and Rachel nodded too “Same, I’m gonna try a whole new look”
She wiped all the makeup off him and lance huffed “Come on, can’t we be done?”
”Nope, you promised”
”You know what all this stuff looks like though!”
”Yeah, but doing your makeup is still fun”
”For you—you’re not the one who has to wash it off and feel nasty the next day”
Rachel gasped and looked at Keith “Keith! Do you wanna do his makeup?? I love teaching guys about makeup”
Keith smiled “Sure”
”Why aren’t you my side?”
”Because this sounds fun”
Rachel handed him a tube of something “This is concealer, put it under his eyes, his nose, chin, and forehead.
He did and then she handed him a sponge “Now blend it out—by tapping”
He did and when it was done, she handed him a different tube “Now put the foundation everywhere—cover up them freckles”
Keith looked at lance and looked at his cheeks and nose “The freckles are nice though”
Lance smiled and Rachel laughed “Yeah but not on me—so cover them up!”
He did and as he was blending it out, she was called by her mom.
”Ugh—Alright mamá!” She got up and looked at Keith “Lance will tell you how to finish—I wanna see how you do”
He nodded and she left and closed the door.
”You don’t have to finish”
Keith smiled “I am” he continued blending it out and put the sponge down “Now what do I do”
Lance sighed and pointed to another tube “Blush, it’s liquid so use your finger”
”What if you just blush naturally? Wont it be too much?”
”No, that’s what the foundation is for”
Keith smiled and moved even closer “So if you blush I wouldn’t be able to tell?”
Lance glanced down at their knees which were now pressed against each other and shook his head “No”
Keith put some on the back of his hand and used his finger to put some on his cheeks.
”Are you sure? I wouldn’t want it to be distracting…” he moved his hands down to his neck.
”You don’t put blush there”
Keith looked at his eyes “I don’t have blush”
He felt lance swallow “Then what are you doing”
”What do you mean?” He moved his hand more down near his collarbone, and kept staring at lance. He saw his cheeks get redder.
Lance lowered his voice “Keith…”
Keith pulled his hand away and smiled “I can see you blushing”
Lance sighed and frowned “Really?” He shoved his arm and laughed “I really hate you”
“No you don’t, now what else do I do”
Lance coughed and pointed to a pallet “Eyeshadow”
He gave Keith some brushes and told them how to use them and the order of how to put on eyeshadow and Keith tried his best to listen and do it.
It ended up kind of a mess but lance still looked good. Just because he looks good.
”Now lipstick”
Keith picked the color he thought would look nice and opened it. As he started to put it on him, he thought about the other time lance put lipstick on him. But now he isn’t drunk and Keith is putting it on him. Weird.
”I have something to admit”
Not able to move his lips lance just responded “Hm”
Keith smiled, focused on making it look nice “When you were drunk, I did let you put lipstick on me”
Lance tried not to smile but ended up anyway. “I bet you looked really pretty”
You kept trying to give me kiss marks”
He laughed “Did I?”
”Yeah”
”What about you? Did you give me a kiss mark?”
Keith smiled and shook his head, fixing the lipstick “No”
”You want to?”
He stopped and looked at him. To hide his feelings his laughed “I bet you want me to”
”Maybe” he shrugged.
Keith smiled and capped the lipstick “Ok”
”Let me put the lipstick on you—so it’ll be pretty”
Keith handed him the lipstick and lance shook his head “It’s gotta be a brighter red” he looked around and picked up a red lipstick.
”Come closer”
Keith leaned forward and lance started putting the lipstick on him. I can’t think of any more metaphors for a heart so I’ll just say it was revving up.
”Ok—“ he turned his head and Keith had to take half a second before leaning even more forward and kissing him on the cheek. It lasted a second longer than it should have but lance smiled and looked at him “Do you want one?”
Keith didn’t even think before smiling and turning his head. Just as he was about to kiss his cheek, he turned his head a little, making him kiss a lot closer to his mouth—not on it though.
Lance laughed—sounding a little nervous “Sorry”
Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Keith just stared at him. He wants to say something. He wants lance to say something. He wants lance to kiss him. And mean it.
They were both silent, neither moving from the very close position they were in. He could kiss him right now. And….he will…as he turned his face a little bit, the door opened and they both moved back.
Rachel sighed “Sorry, anyway—oh wow! You did a pretty good job—is that a kiss mark? That’s cute—mamá is making me leave you alone so give me my makeup.”
Lance laughed and put everything up and handed it to her. She left and lance looked at Keith “Let’s go to the bathroom to clean this stuff up”
Keith smiled and followed him to the bathroom. Lance turned the faucet and looked at Keith “gotta wait for it to get hot”
Keith nodded and looked at all the skin care bottles on the counter. Lance picked up one showed it to Keith “This is mine—it’s how I have such soft skin” he smiled smugly and Keith rolled his eyes, grabbing it to look at it.
He opened it and smelled it “It smells good!”
Lance nodded and felt the water. He got a rag and handed it to Keith, scowling jokingly “Wipe that shit off your face” he said it in a country accent which made Keith smile “You’re the one that looks like a drag queen”
”Okay, and I’m serving”
He started to wash his face and Keith wiped the lipstick off. Since it’s really red, it just kind of smeared instead of coming off.
When lance was done, he looked at Keith and snorted “here—“ he put some water and the face wash on the rag and wiped Keith’s mouth. He wet the rag again and wiped the soap off.
Instinctively Keith licked his lips and winced. Lance laughed “It tastes bad”
”Really bad”
”It’s chemicals”
”So are some foods—but they don’t taste bad”
”Then these are the nasty chemicals”
”Why are you putting them on your face then”
”Just—come on” they left and went back to his room and just talked about random stuff for a while.
It was dark outside now and lance got up randomly. Keith frowned “What”
”Come on”
Not questioning it, Keith got up and walked with him to the doors leading to the balcony in his room.
”Maybe we can see the stars”
Keith smiled and immediately started shivering when he opened the doors. It’s a pretty small balcony but it has a nice view and like lance said, they can see the stars.
They sat down and let their legs dangle down from in between the bars.
”I like sitting out here when its cold”
”So that’s why you’re always so cold?”
Lance laughed “Maybe”
”It’s pretty”
”Yeah, I know”
They looked up and after a few minutes, lance put his head on Keith’s shoulder. After a few seconds though, he leaned up “Do you want a blanket?”
Keith shook his head “No, I’m fine”
Lance frowned “You’re shivering”
Keith shrugged and lance rolled his eyes, getting up. He went inside and came back, putting a blanket over Keith’s shoulders.
He sat down next to him and Keith looked at him “What about you?”
”What about me”
”Come here” he put the blanket over both of them and lance laughed “The blanket plus you—I’ll be overheating soon”
“I’ll have hypothermia”
”You’ll feel warm at some point then”
”Right when I’m about to die”
Lance laughed and put his arms around his waist, squeezing “No, don’t die!!”
“You’re like an ice cube so hugging won’t help”
”Too bad” lance put his head back on his shoulder and kept hugging him. Keith looked back up at the sky and took a deep breath, still smelling the face wash. And tasting it a little.
But…he hasn’t felt this good in a really really long time. And he wants more of this. He laid his head on lances.
He also wants more of lance.
“He’s just so fucking oblivious! I’ve done shit I’ve never done with anyone else—I’ve complimented him almost every day and he just plays it off like it’s casual—I’ve even been sitting closer to him!”
It’s been two weeks and yet again, Keith is pacing in shiros living room, ranting about his situation. Shiro obviously doesn’t mind, he thinks it’s really adorable. He likes this new side of Keith that he never knew existed. When he told Adam, he called it ‘the gay side’ which…yeah, pretty much.
Shiro glanced at adam, smiling. They both find it adorable.
”I think you should just tell him” adam said, making Keith stop walking. He sighed “Yeah, I’ll just tell him—like it’s fucking easy”
Adam kept smiling and shrugged “Look, some guys are just oblivious. You either have to step it up even more or just tell him”
”How do I even step it up?”
Shiro laughed “You’ve told allura, right? Talk to her about it and see what she thinks—she knows him more”
Keith frowned “But…that’s embarrassing”
”It isn’t, I’m sure she’ll appreciate you talking to her”
Keith groaned and sat down “I’ve only talked to her about it once—and I’ve never mentioned it again”
”Then mention it again? Keith, I know it seems hard but when you get it done, it’ll get easier”
Keith sighed and they talked more about it. It didn’t really help but he liked the support.
”I like Keith”
”Yeah?”
”Yeah, like really like him”
”Yeah?”
“But he’s straight”
”Yeah?”
”And it sometimes feels like he’s making fun of the fact that I’m gay—but in a straight friend kind of way”
”Yeah?”
”Pidge, are you even listening”
”Yeah?”
He kicked her and she dropped her controller “Ow!”
”Did you hear what I said?”
She scoffed and picked up the controller “God, yes—I know you like him—not like you try to hide it”
Lance scoffed “I hide it very well”
She snorted and continued playing the game “Sure”
”Alright even if I didn’t—I still do and I don’t know what to do about it”
”I mean, do you genuinely like him or do you just like him cause he’s hot and you’re super gay—because that happens a lot with you”
”Genuinely”
Pidge paused the game and sighed, putting down the controller “Really?”
Lance nodded, biting at his nails nervously. Pidge laid back on her headboard and crossed her arms “So what do you mean he’s been making fun of you”
”Like, he does that straight guy thing where he gets all close to me to get me flustered and then moves away like ‘sike bro, no homo’.”
”So……he flirts with you…?” She seemed unimpressed and lance shrugged “Yeah but not actually”
”You sure?”
He opened his mouth to say yeah but froze. Wait—shit, now he isn’t sure!?
”Wait—so he might actually be flirting with me??”
Pidge rolled her eyes “You’re so oblivious”
“What?? Is that a yes or a no”
”You need to figure this out on your own—I’m not intervening.”
”Intervening what??”
”Nothing” she started playing the game again.
Lance scoffed and got off her bed “Fine then, I’m going home”
”Alright” she didn’t even look up “Seeya tomorrow”
He left and pet rover before leaving. Jerk.
The next day, lance was kind of nervous to see keith. Now that his crush is out in the open, there’s no denying it.
But to be fair, who wouldn’t have a crush on him? He always hears girls talking about him—and he’s now……one of those girls.
But he’s also his friend so he’s got a step up in the competition! But he’s also a guy so maybe he’s disqualified.
Keith is always there early so when he saw him in his seat, his heart sped up.
He swallowed, trying not to feel sick. He sat down and got out the pencil Keith gave him. He thought for a second about blurting his feelings out but just the thought made him feel nauseous. The only bright side to doing that is that it’s Friday and he can avoid him easier during the weekend.
He should say something though. He turned towards him“I—“
Luckily, the teacher started talking so he didn’t get to say anything. It was luckily because he was about to say ‘I like you’.
As the teacher spoke, lance realized that they were sitting pretty close to each other. I mean, it’s about as close as close friends sit but since lance never thought they would be close friends, it’s still a little jarring.
”We’re doing another project and you can choose your own book this time—any book is fine” she sighed “Obviously unless it’s a kids book—you’d be surprised at how many students try to get away with that”
She kept talking about the assignment but lance tuned out when he felt Keith’s pencil rubbing against his arm. He glanced over at Keith, who looked zoned out and unaware that we was rubbing lances arm with his pencil.
Then Keith looked at it—probably because lance was staring now—and smiled. Lance just smiled back, feeling even worse.
He must have smiled weird because Keith frowned “You ok?”
Oh god—he got that sudden feeling in his throat.
“SorryIhavet—“ he covered his mouth and got up and quickly walked out of the classroom. He ran to the nearest bathroom and threw up.
He used to get nauseous when he was really nervous as a kid but he hasn’t been that way in a while. Luckily, he didn’t throw up a lot though. He leaned against the stall and covered his face, really embarrassed.
Not just because he ran out of the classroom like a maniac—but because of how he actually thinks he might have a chance with Keith. He knows he doesn’t so why does he keep feeling this way??
He’s gotten over guys really quickly before—even the ones he thought he loved—but he’s never felt this…cautious…about a guy.
I mean, besides the obvious reasons anyone would like him, he’s also a really nice person? So he doesn’t want to lose his friendship either. And admittedly, lance is so weak for dimples. And he never liked guys with long hair before him—and motorcycles—
He‘s weak for pretty much everything about keith.
Everyone stopped talking when lance left. The teacher also looked really confused.
But Keith is kind of terrified. Did he do something wrong? Did lance like, find out and now it’s really awkward or something? Is Keith reading too much into it?
”Keith, will you go…check on him…?”
Keith nodded and stood up to leave. He walked out to the hallway and he didn’t see him. He just assumed he’s in the bathroom so he went to the nearest one and when he walked in, he saw a stall open and lance leaning against the side with his face in his hands.
”Uh……what happened?” Keith laughed, still nervous he did something.
Lance looked up and sighed, shaking his head “Sorry—I just felt really sick”
”You good now?”
Lance laughed “Not really”
Keith walked closer and leaned against the wall “Is there anything I can do?”
He laughed again, looking down “Not really”
Keith nodded and lance sighed “I think I’m gonna go home early”
Keith nodded again, still feeling like he might have ruined something.
The door opened and Keith looked at the door and felt his heart sink when he saw who it was.
”Why do I keep running into both of you?”
Neither of them said anything and James scoffed “What? Am I invisible?”
Feeling himself getting angry, he decided not to say anything. Nothing he says will help—it might even make things worse.
“Whatever” he went into a stall and Keith lowered his voice “Come on”
Lance shook his head, also whispering now “I still feel like I’m gonna throw up”
”Do you want me to stay?”
Lance looked down and he saw him glance where James was standing. He nodded and Keith crossed his arms, getting comfortable. He doesn’t care how long he has to stand here.
The stall opened and James walked out and went to the sink. They stayed quiet but James spoke again.
”So are you two together now? Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me, Keith, you’ve always seemed a little gay to me.” He laughed as he was he’s his hands.
Keith still didn’t say anything, not caring to respond. Lance seemed upset though.
”I’m kidding—Even if he was gay, keith is way out of your league anyway”
”We are” He didn’t mean to say it but keith is pissed off now.
James looked at them like he didn’t believe him. “Yeah, sure”
Keith stood up and put his arm around his waist, smiling at him, smugly “What? Are you jealous?”
Now, James looked shocked. But he tried to hide it “Why would I be? You’re obviously with him because you feel bad”
Keith moved closer to lance and kept smiling at James “I don’t feel bad when I’m—“ he did the blow job gesture and lance covered his mouth, snorting.
James scoffed “He’s scared of shit like that—you’re obviously lying”
”You’re obviously jealous”
He scoffed again and looked at lance. Lance put his arm around Keith’s waist and smiled “I’m not scared—he’s just actually good”
James clicked his tongue, trying not to look embarrassed “Whatever” he left and when the door shut, Lance laughed “Did you really have to say that?”
Keith shrugged “I’m sure I would be better than him”
Lance looked down, smiling “Shut up”
Keith remembered that his hand was still around his waist so he moved away. Lance did too and crossed his arms.
“Ms. Loren probably thinks we’re skipping”
Keith smiled “I can tell her you’re leaving if you want”
Lance nodded “Yeah, thank you”
Keith sat up and they walked towards the door. Before Keith could open it, lance stopped him “Keith”
He looked at him “Yeah?”
”Thank you—I know as a straight guy, it was probably uncomfortable pretending to be gay” he laughed and Keith laughed back, hiding how crushing that felt.
“Come on, we’re gonna get in trouble”
They left and the bell rang before he could get back to the class but he still went in and explained that he felt sick and was going home. She thanked him and he continued with his day, feeling awful. How the hell can lance think he’s straight.
He really is so oblivious.