Chapter Text
Keith laughs as they all attempt to pile into Shiro’s tiny car. Pidge climbs on top of Hunk and Lance get squished somewhere beneath Allura’s thigh and Keith is being crushed underneath it all, somehow. Bringing only one car to Lance’s graduation ceremony really wasn’t the best idea, but Hunk didn’t feel like driving and Keith’s car is currently undergoing some major construction (courtesy of himself) so Shiro was really the only volunteer. And nobody is really complaining, because they are all too happy to care.
After eight long years at school, Lance has finally graduated. Keith can’t even find it in himself to feel annoyed at Pidges bony elbow, digging into his thigh. Because Lance is grinning so brightly that it’s contagious. It fills Keith with warmth and pride blooms in his chest.
Lance has spent the last two years as a player on Team Altea at his university. After he started playing for them, he quickly became the most well known player on the entire team. His success was unparalleled. He continued to practice, even outside of normal games and practices. Keith would sit with him in the court for long hours--over weekends and late into the night, watching him play. Watching him improve. Most importantly, keeping him company. By the end of last year, Lance had already been featured on the local news three times. The points that he alone gathered were already enough to push Team Altea to number one in the region. The team was undefeated all year. It was everything Lance had wanted, and more.
And now that Lance has somehow managed to pass all of his classes too, he’s pressed up against Keith in the back seat with a bright blue cap and gown on and a huge, proud smile plastered onto his beautiful, beautiful face.
“That ceremony was great , right?” Lance says excitedly. “I mean, I was the oldest person there by like four years but it was still awesome!”
“Dude I can’t believe you finally did it!” Hunk says. “No more classes! No more paying for classes! No more studying for classes! You’re an adult, now!”
“Does that mean I have to join you in the workforce?” Lance asks. “Because your job looks exhausting. And horrible.”
“Being a nurse is awesome , man. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hunk says. “Bartending, however, was exhausting and horrible.”
“I resent that” Keith muffles from behind someone. Hunk laughs.
“I’m kidding, Keith. If I didn’t bartend then we never would’ve had out spontaneous heart to hearts.”
“More like not-so-spontaneous shit talking sessions.” Pidge chimes in.
Keith laughs. Shiro joins in. “Speaking of the workforce…” He starts, looking at Lance in the rearview mirror. “What are you planning on doing now?”
Lance hops excitedly in his seat. “Oh, I’m glad you asked. There was a scout at the last game. You know, the one at that school down south of here?”
“A scout?” Allura asks, though the pain of being squished.
“Yeah! Like a recruiter. Anyway, I totally didn’t know he’d be there. But then I get this call from an unknown number yesterday--”
“Isn’t that something you should know before the game?” Hunk asks, confused.
Lance sighs tiredly. “Obviously they told us but I wasn’t paying attention . God, Hunk. Keep up. Anyway , so I get this call from a unknown number and I answer it and boom! It’s the scout! And he tells me that he’s got me a slot in tryouts for the state team!”
“The state team?” Pidge asks, incredulous “Like, professional basketball?”
“Yes!” Lance shrieks, dancing in the seat despite the lack of room. “I might be going pro!”
The only reason Keith isn’t freaking out is because Lance told him this yesterday. He showed up at his apartment and didn’t even say hello before tackling Keith to the floor and kissing him all over his face, screaming “I’m going pro I’m going pro I’m going pro!”
“Doesn’t that mean you’ll be travelling a lot?” Allura asks.
Lance shrugs. “Well, yeah, but only for a few days at a time. I think most of the games this coming season are home games anyway. But I have to make the team first, obviously.”
Keith rolls his eyes. “You’ll make the team, Lance.”
Lance grins for the millionth time. “I think I will, too.”
They arrive at the restaurant, where they are having dinner to celebrate, and promptly tumble out of the car when the doors open. Keith is the last to stumble out of the open door, being pulled against his will by everyone he was glued to during the ride. He almost falls onto the pavement but Lance catches him around his waist, pulling him into a hug.
“Hello.” He mumbles into Keith’s hair fondly. “I haven’t gotten to hug you yet today.”
Keith blushes, rolling his eyes because sometimes Lance is so sweet that he doesn’t know how to handle himself. He presses his nose and lips into Lance’s chest, humming.
“I’m proud of you.”
“You better be. I worked my ass off.”
Keith snorts, stepping away from him. All of their friends have disappeared into the restaurant, leaving them by the car. After two years of dating, their friends and family kind of know when to leave before the PDA gets too unbearable. Keith has never been one for PDA but for some reason, when he is with Lance he barely realizes he’s doing it. They’ve just always been drawn to each other like that. And now, their relationship is approaching two years, and Keith still isn’t tired of burying his face into Lance’s neck and hugging him tightly in every public place they manage to find themselves in.
It’s disgustingly cliche. But Keith has been through too much shit to not relish in the simple happiness he feels around this boy. So fuck it. It’s corny and he loves it.
They intertwine their fingers together. Lance smiles softly at him.
“Ready to face your family?” Keith asks, mostly joking. Lance’s family is at the restaurant already, and Keith knows , from getting to know them over the past two years, that they are most likely going to cause a massive scene upon seeing Lance in his grad robes.
Lance sighs, rolling his eyes fondly. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Keith tugs his hand and they walk forward, pushing through the front door. He can already hear Maria screaming before he sees her. He smiles.
It’s going to be a long afternoon.
****
After an enormous amount of hugging, screaming, and the shedding of numerous buckets of tears, dinner starts to come to a close. Keith always loves the time he spends with Lance’s family. He barely got a word in, with all the screaming. But that’s how it usually goes, even if nobody is graduating and he’s just spending the weekend with them. He’s a quiet person, and always has been, so just merely observing their family dynamic is enough to keep him engrossed for hours. He watches Lance’s face light up as he laughs. He loves how Lance looks when he is happy; when he thinks nobody is watching him. Keith doesn’t think that Lance realizes how much Keith looks at him. It’s been two years but Keith is still a little shocked whenever he looks at Lance. He can’t believe that something so beautiful is his. And when Lance is smiling and laughing hysterically, with a happy flush on his cheeks and his family by his side, Keith thinks it’s even more unbelievable. He couldn’t be more thankful.
He knows that if Lance goes pro, he will be out of the state a lot. But somehow, it doesn’t seem like something that will change anything. Because he feels like he and Lance have been through worse. He feels like there isn’t really anything that can truly mess them up. And it’s a scary realization as much as it is a comforting one; realizing that no matter what, he’s willing to make it work. That nothing could possibly tear them apart. It reminds him how serious he is about Lance. It reminds him how vulnerable he is.
But it’s also a really nice concept to him. Like an embrace. Like falling into a warm, puffy mattress; the one Keith used to have in his parent’s house, before he moved it to his new apartment above his car garage.
Lance and Keith get up, waving goodbye to their friends. Lance’s mother agrees to drive them to Keith’s place. She’s been around a lot; always finding reasons to visit Lance now that the family drama has decreased significantly. Keith doesn’t ever grow tired of her though. And he likes her car; it smells like Lance’s house did when Keith first visited. When he barged through the door with his nerves in a bundle and his heart on his sleeve. The seats in her car are worn and soft and it just makes Keith think fondly of Lance and his family. Everything about them tells their story. They may not have all the fancy things, but Keith admires the history and preciousness held in everything Lance owns.
Of course, Lance will very soon be able to afford all of the fancy things. The roles will be reversed, someday. Keith will be the humble pedestrian living in an apartment above a garage and Lance will be a sports celebrity; making thousands upon thousands of dollars and modeling for athletic apparel. But Keith doesn’t mind, because with all the work Lance has done? He deserves it.
They walk into Keith’s apartment, tired but still buzzing with happiness from the exciting evening. Keith thinks about texting his parents and letting them know how it went. They were both really curious and told him to congratulate Lance. Keith’s parents have come a long way since they found out about Lance two years ago. His father has really proved to be a kinder, more understanding man with every month that passes. He invited Lance over for dinner at their first month anniversary. He made lobster. Lance loved every bite of it and Keith loved the feeling of his family, finally together, walls down, with Lance somehow being included.
His mother has been harder to convince, but she is coming around, slowly. She speaks with Lance about business and the weather. She smiles brightly when she sees him, instead of the strained, polite smile she used to sport when they met. Keith can see that she has thawed, almost completely. Because how can someone meet Lance and not love him?
Lance immediately walks into Keith’s room, like it’s muscle memory. Keith hears him flop onto the fluffy mattress. He follows him inside and lays down next to him.
“My hat is in the way.” Lance mumbles sleepily, turning towards Keith. “I can’t lay down all the way.”
Keith turns to him and raises an eyebrow. “Then...take it off?”
“Absolutely not. Do you know I happy I am to be wearing this thing? I’m never taking it off. I’m literally going to shower with it on.”
Keith laughs, “Fair enough.”
Lance sits up, adjusting his hat. “Oh my god, I totally forgot to open my grad presents!” He says happily. “Do you think people will mind if I open them without them here?”
“Nah, you’re good.” Keith sits up too. “I think I put them in the kitchen.”
Lance dashes out of the room and Keith shakes his head fondly. That boy has way too much energy right now. Keith feels like he’s about to collapse. It’s just been such a busy day.
Lance returns with a huge gift bag, panting because he ran up the stairs so fast. “Damn, this thing is heavy.” He says. “I wonder what’s in it.” He plops down on the edge of the bed next to Keith and rubs his hands together excitedly. “Okay. here we go.”
Keith nods. “Here we go.” He says teasingly. Lance rolls his eyes at him.
“I’ll just pretend you’re excited too.”
Keith laughs, shoving Lance’s shoulder. “Come on , open them already.”
Lance tears open the first box; a tiny little cube. “This one is from Maria.” He says softly. From the small box, he pulls out a thin, colorful bracelet made from yarn. Lance hums. “Aw. She made this. She’s always been so good at making these things.” He holds it up to Keith’s face. “Look at that detail!”
Keith smiles a little too softly, studying the bright colors weaved together. “Wow, it’s really nice.”
“Remind me to thank her.”
Keith nods, watching Lance smile gently as he puts the bracelet around his wrist. He looks wistful for a moment, with distant, blue eyes. Then he glances at Keith and his gentle smile turns into a bright one. “Next up?”
Keith hands him the next present. It’s from Pidge and Hunk. Lance gasps loudly when the ripped wrapping paper reveals a framed, professional photo of him at his first Team Altea game.
“Oh man! This is legit !” Lance shrieks. “It makes me look so important!”
Keith grins, crossing his arms over his chest. “You are important.” He says.
Lance flips the frame so Keith can see the picture. “Maybe. But this level of importance? Probably not.”
Keith scans the photo of Lance in his Team Altea jersey. “You look good.” He says, a little robotically, to avoid any meltdowns. Seeing Lance in his uniform does very embarrassing things to his brain. Lance knows this, too. Which is why he doesn’t push Keith to keep talking, and just laughs instead.
“Thank you for the high praise.” He snorts, pinching Keith’s cheek. Keith groans.
“Just keep going. Jeez.” He says shyly, still managing to blush after two years of dating this boy. “I’m growing old over here.”
Lance giggles, grabbing a handful of envelopes from the bag. “You are way too sassy today.” He says, biting his lip.
He receives money from a lot of relatives. There are a few envelopes with gift cards, a few with tearful, encouraging words, and a few with pretty impressive bundles of cash. Lance is almost vibrating with excitement. He smiles brightly at Keith and Keith is struck with the urge to grab him by the face and kiss him, so he does. Lance has gotten used to it by now. Keith is pretty reserved with how and when he chooses to touch Lance, but he is also impulsive enough not to stop himself when he really wants to; even if the situation doesn’t call for it. The first few times he did it, he was immensely self conscious about it. It always turned him into a blushing mess. But Lance assured him that it was “literally the cutest fucking thing ever”, which made Keith feel a little better about his surprise ambushes in the future.
After about half an hour of tearing open presents, the floor is littered with fragments of crumpled paper and Lance and Keith are laying back down on the bed again, with their heads turned to face each other.
Keith will never get tired of the smooth, dark skin of Lance’s face. He will never stop loving the blue of his eyes, the random spatter of freckles on his nose, the delicate bow of his lips. People have told him, time and time again, that love fades. That beauty fades. That the “honeymoon phase” can only last so long. But Keith really doesn’t understand what those people are talking about. Because it seems to be going the opposite direction for him. Every day, he loves Lance more, and more, and more. Every day, he finds one more thing that is beautiful about him.
Lance blinks slowly at Keith. Sleepily. “And you?”
“Hm?” Keith mumbles back, happily.
“What is your gift for me?” Lance’s voice is soft. A little teasing.
Keith just stares for a little bit. He has a gift for Lance, but he’s far too nervous to present it to him. It a familiar nervousness, like when Keith first realized he loved him. It’s a vulnerable, aching kind of nervousness. “I have something for you.” He says gently.
“Is it a kiss?” Lance says, even more teasing. “Or are you going to tie me up again?”
Keith barks a laugh. “That escalated really quickly.” He says, through a grin. “Of course I’ll do that. But...it’s not your gift.”
Lance chuckles. “What could be better than that?”
Keith bites his lip. “Almost nothing. But…” He trails off, focusing on the nervous fluttering in his heart.
Lance raises an eyebrow, teasing expression fading as he reads Keith’s reaction. “What is it? You okay?”
Keith leans over lightly, brushing their noses together. He smells Lance’s familiar, unchanging deodorant. It fills him with warmth, and comfort, and hunger, and love. Sighing shakily, he leans away and then sits up, running a hand through his hair. Lance sits up too, looking concerned.
“Look, Keith. It’s totally okay if you didn’t get me anything.” Lance says, chuckling. “You’ve been so good to me. It’s all I could ask for, really.”
“I have something for you. I swear.” Keith scratches his neck nervously as Lance waits, expectantly. “It’s just a little...it’s dumb. I mean, not dumb , but--”
“Enough with the nervous rambling.” Lance says, rolling his eyes and grabbing Keith’s wrist. He hoists them both up into a standing position and steps in close, wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist. He lifts a hand and pokes Keith’s nose. “It’s not going to be stupid. Come on. I’m your soulfuck , remember?” Keith snorts, ducking his head. “There’s nothing you can’t tell me!” Lance finishes, holding back a laugh.
Keith sighs, planting a small kiss onto Lance’s neck before pulling away. He knows if he stays within that proximity to Lance for more than five minutes, they’ll be naked on the bed in seconds. Tossing a good portion of his inhibitions out the window, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out what he’s been trying to hide all day. He opens up Lance’s hand with his own and flattens the object into his palm.
A small, golden key.
Lance looks down at it, a little stunned. “What...what is this?” He asks, voice hesitant.
Keith clears his throat. “Uh…” Nerves twist mercilessly in his gut.
“Is it, like...the key to your heart or something cheesy like that?”
Keith frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think I deserve a little more credit than that.” He says, a little bitterly. Lance smirks at him.
Keith sighs. “It’s...you know. A key. For you to…”
Lance raises an eyebrow slowly.
“To. I don’t know. Live here?” Keith swallows. “With me?”
Lance blinks at him, a surprise flush dusting his cheeks.
Oh god, here comes the nervous rambling again.
“I mean, you’ve basically taken over my bathroom with all of your stuff, and like, you sleep here a lot anyway. And...I don’t know. I could learn to cook for you. And I know you’ll be out of town a lot and stuff but like, you know, having a place to come home to...with me ...and you know, we cant host dinners for Hunk and Pidge and do all that... stuff that I was always too rich to do and….” Lance continues to stare, unmoving. “And I want to live with you.” Keith says, voice a little desperate. “I want to go to sleep with you. And drink coffee with you in the morning. So.”
Lance’s face melts, and Keith can’t read the expression. “If you don’t want to, you can just keep the key and like, come here whenever you want--”
“ Keith .” Lance breathes. “Keith.” He says again, voice a little choked up. And then Keith is being gathered up tightly in Lance’s arms and he feels Lance’s face in his neck, breathing him in with a shaky, long sigh. “I love you.” Lance whispers into his skin. “I love you , I love you so much.”
Keith wraps his arms around Lance, tangling his fingers in Lance’s soft, wispy hair.
He laughs breathlessly. “I love you too.” He says softly, struck so fiercely with the feeling that he needs to grab Lance harder to stay standing.
“Of course I’ll live with you.” Keith can hear Lance’s smile. “That is the best gift I could’ve ever gotten...” Lance groans. “Even though you never clean your bathroom.”
“I do .” Keith mumbles. “Just not as well as my maid used to.”
Lance grins against his neck. “You don’t . But I’ll fix it, don’t worry.” He says softly.
Keith giggles and his knees feel weak as Lance holds onto him, even tighter. He almost feels the absurd sensation of happy tears, burning behind his eyes. He is overwhelmed with Lance’s smell, in his nose and on his clothes and permanently sewn into his bedsheets. He never wants that smell to leave. He never wants Lance to have any reason to not be here . To not feel at home here. And Keith doesn't really care where here is, because wherever Lance is, to him, feels like home.
And it’s so corny , but it’s so, so true.