Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It's the third time in the last two weeks that Lance does the journey to the animals shelter, but once again, he finds himself perambulate in front of it instead of going in like a normal person would do.

It may be stupid, but he's nervous. When he was still living with his family, they never adopted any pet, there was so many of them that a pet would just have been too much. But now, Lance lives alone, and he's lonely, and he always dreamed of having a cat, so really, nothing should be stopping him.

He can almost hear Hunk's voice in his head telling him to "fucking go in that shelter, Lance", but still, he's just really scared because he has no idea of how to take care of a cat, let alone a kitten.

Lance takes a deep sigh and makes his decision. This is stupid, he can always ask for help or look on the internet if he's not sure, no big deal. He can do that.

He turns around to open the door when another guy passes in front of him to do just that.

"Huh, rude." He can't help but comment, and as the guy turns to look at him, he wishes he shut his mouth for once because the guy is probably the most gorgeous person he had ever seen in his life.

He looks at Lance, surprise on his face, impossible indigo eyes wide opened, an eyebrow slightly raised, and kind of long black hair framing his traits.

"What?" He asks him, confused, and Lance realizes his mouth is slightly opened, so he hurries to close it, sending the guy his best grin.

"Nothing, man, you must be hearing voices. Are you going in there or do you think the air conditioning is working just for fun?" He makes fun of him, and the guy rolls his eyes before entering the shelter, not holding the door for Lance who almost gets hit.

"Okay so now that's really rude." He says, catching the door just in time.

"Thought I was hearing voices." The guy answers, not even bothering to look at Lance as he walks in the shelter, and Lance can't help but chuckle.

"Thought you didn't understand what I said." He says right back, pleased with himself.

He swears he can hear the guy rolling his eyes again, groaning slightly.

"Hello, gentlemen, how can I help you?" A woman asks behind a desk, standing up to greet them, and Lance is almost startled. With that guy, he forgot where he was or why he was there. At least his nerves calmed down.

"We're not together." The guy hurries to clarify, as if the idea of going anywhere with Lance is disgusting. He's almost wounded. "And I'm here to adopt a kitten." He adds, but Lance is not having it.

"What?! No, no no no. I'M adopting a kitten. I swear to god, if there's only one kitten and you give it to him-"

The guy turns to look at Lance with annoyance, and Lance hates how pretty he still looks. This is not authorized. Nope. He definitely hates this guy, he won't let him steal his kitten. Never. Not in a million years.

"What's your problem?"

But before Lance can lists all the problems he has with the very existence of the guy, the woman interferes, preventing Lance to make a scene. Blessed woman.

"Gentlemen, please. We actually have two kittens so if you can just calm down I can take you to them?" She offers nicely, but with a bit of annoyance in her voice, as if she's about to snap at the next one who'll act stupid. Not that it's what Lance is doing. It's all the guy's fault.

"Works for me." He says, relieved that he won't have to fight for the kitten, but also stressed because it's really happening now. After that, no way of going back to when he didn't have a kitten. His life is about to change.

"Same." The other guy adds, following the woman in the corridor leading to where the animals are.

Lance hurries behind to catch up, walking next to the guy, but a bit in front of him still. He wants to be the first one to see them, he wants it to be an evidence, he wants the guy to be jealous because Lance and his kitten have such a great relationship right away.

Lance looks at him in the corner of his eye, trying not to be noticed but unable not to look at him. He's still frowning a bit. Maybe it's something he does often, without thinking about it.

Suddenly, it turns into the fondest look Lance has even seen in his life, a slight, unconscious smile to go with, and Lance feels his heart going crazy because this can only mean one thing. This fucker dared to see the kittens before him.

Mad at himself, Lance looks around and is fast to locate the pen where the two tiniest kittens ever are sleeping, nestled against each other. It's almost a crime they have to be separated, never to see the other one again.

The woman steps aside, letting the two young men getting closer to take a look at the kittens, and Lance forgets completely about the other guy as he feels himself melt at the sight of the kittens. One of them is of the most mesmerizing ginger, almost like fire dancing as he moves a bit in his sleep. The other one is of a light grey with reflections that make him looks almost.. Blue. Lance's favorite color. He feels warmth invade him, and he just knows he has to get this one.

He throws a look at the other guy, still looking at the kittens like they hold the secret to happiness, and Lance feels his stomach knots because what if the guy just fell in love for his blue kitten? He absolutely adores the ginger one too, but he just feels it in his guts that the other one is his and his only.

Lance is too panicked to notice that the guy stopped looking at the kittens to turn his head over him, and pretending he wasn't already looking by looking away would make it seems like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't do, which he wasn't, so he just wait for the guy to do the next move, ready to fight.

"So, which one do you prefer?" He asks Lance.

"No, I'm not telling you. You're going to want the same one!" Lance panics, before mentally slapping himself because maybe if he just told the one he wanted, the guy would have accepted to take the other one and it would have been done with.

The guy sighs. "What about we tell which one we want at the same time?" He offers, and Lance can see the woman shaking her head as if she never saw something more tiring in her whole life but he doesn't care.

"Deal." He answers, praying all gods that this will turns out okay. He really wants the blue kitten.

"On three. One.. Two.. Three!"

They speaks in the same time:

"The blue one!"

"The red one!"

They both look at each other like they were watching an alien, and if the woman sighs, relieved, Lance ignores her once again.

"How is it red? It's fucking ginger, man! Dark, but still orange!" Lance says, outraged, so loud that the kittens startle, waking up slowly. Lance feels guilty, but is mostly amazed by how cute they look, all tired and looking around to see what is happening.

"Good job." The guy comments, glaring at Lance, who rolls his eyes back. "And you know what? There's a name for dark orange and it's red. By the way it's a cheeky comment for someone who calls grey blue."

Lance opens his mouth to reply with a smart comment but the woman doesn't give him the chance, coming right between them as if she's scared they would hit each other. "That's enough! Can't you just be happy each of you can have the one he wants? Look at you, arguing like an old married couple. You should be ashamed of yourselves."

Lance blushes furiously, as much at the comment in itself than because he's getting yelled at by a stranger for yelling at another stranger. The guy isn't looking better either, thankfully.

"Sorry." He mumbles, and the guy does the same, refusing to look at Lance again. Weirdly, that annoys Lance. Crazy how everything about this guy annoys him.

The woman shakes her head. "I'll get the adoption papers. You can start to get to know them without fighting."

They both nod vigorously like kids reprimanded by their mother, but the moment the woman leaves the room, Lance can't help but look back at the guy mischievously.

"I bet I can get my kitten to come in my arms before you." He challenges him with a tentative grin, and the guy immediately grin back.

"You're so on."

And then, the fight begins. Lance goes right away for the most logical strategy by offering his fingers to the cat to smell, making small noises with his mouth to get its attention. The kitten naturally wonders what it is, and smells gently Lance's fingers before rubbing its tiny head on them. Lance takes the opportunity to scratch its head carefully, smiling softly because it's the cutest thing ever.

Suddenly, the ginger kitten catches his attention by making a little jump backward, and he laughs as the other guy pulls him arm back rapidly.

"Shut up." The guy tells him, looking down, clearly disappointed. Lance is about to tease him but realizes he doesn't really want to because that face is so not meant to be sad and maybe his kitten is making him too soft but he can't bring himself to be cruel to a guy who just got rejected by his kitten.

The woman comes back with the papers, a professional smile on her face. Lance is pretty sure it's fake but can't blame her for that.

"Okay, so, who are we starting with?" She asks with a severe look, daring them to argue to go first. And Lance is totally going to go for it, just to have the pleasure to take his kitten in his arm first.

"Go on, I'm not in a rush, I can wait." The guy says, not letting Lance the time to call first and he's so offended because what? They're supposed to be rivals, he's supposed to fight Lance, not just let him go first without a fight!

"What?! You arrived first, you're supposed to want to go first! It's called logic!" He argues, and the guy looks at him like he's crazy. Okay, maybe he should have dropped this one. Good thing he'll never see him or the woman again after that.

"You were in front of the shelter before me, even if you waited outside for some reason! And I thought you'd want to go first." The guy explains.

"Oh I totally want to go first." Lance says, petting his kitten's head, sending a haughty look at the guy who still doesn't dare trying to touch his own kitten again. Yeah, Lance definitely did the right choice with that blue cat.

"Do you guys really have to disagree to agree?" The woman asks, annoyed, and Lance sends her his most charming smile to be forgiven.

"Sorry about that, this guy's really trying to get on my nerves." He falsely confides in her, pretending the other guy isn't there or can't hear him.

"Whatever." She says. "Name?"

"Lance McClain, but you can call me anytime." He winks at her, but all he can see is the other guy rolling his eyes. He probably wishes he was as smooth as Lance is.

"Okay, I'm not doing that. Here, write your infos yourself, please." She decides, holding out the paper to Lance. "You too." She adds, giving one to the other guy too.

"I wouldn't hit on you." He declares, not taking the paper.

"But I'm sure you know how to write." She retorts, and Lance snorts, finally, he likes that woman just fine.

The guy huffs but is smart enough not to say anything. He just takes the paper begrudgingly, and starts writing. Curious, Lance looks to catch his name, but the guy feels his look on him and switch the pen he's holding on his other hand to hide his answers.

"Aw, man, don't ruin the file with shitty handwriting just for me." He teases him with a smirk.

The guy doesn't even stop writing when he answers: "I'm ambidextrous."

Well, what's Lance supposed to answer to that.

They filled the papers silently after that, but Lance makes sure to finish first, giving the paper back to the woman with a proud smile she doesn't return. Whatever. The guy's done too, and the woman takes a look at it like she did just before with Lance's before bursting into laughing for a second, stopping right when she can control herself again.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Lance yells, trying to grab the papers, but she puts them into a drawer behind her.

"Nothing. Do you have a cage to take them home? They're both females, if you gentlemen care about that." She changes the subject, and Lance lets her because damn, he didn't think one time of asking that. Is he a bad father already? But it's not his fault, she's so cute that he can't think straight right now.

He exchanges a look with the other guy, who looks equally ashamed of himself. Good.

"Oh, that's great. I mean, I don't really care as long as she's healthy but—"

"I don't have a cage. Can you lend one to me? I can bring it back tomorrow or something." The guy cuts him, and the woman nods tiredly as if she wasn't expecting anything different anyway. Rude.

"I'll lend you both a cage, yeah, no problem." She assures, and Lance is grateful he doesn't have to ask himself. "Follow me. With the kittens."

And with that, she leaves the room. Lance immediately kneels down, offering his hand once again to his blue kitten. His kitten. Wow, that's a weird thought. She smells him, and he takes the opportunity to grab her under the tummy to lift her. He cradles her gently, looking at the other guy who's still trying to approach the ginger kitten.

"You're so terrible at this, I feel sorry for her." He can't help but say.

The other guy just glares at him and Lance is weirdly disappointed.

"You don't have to stay here and make fun of me, you know. You can just leave already." He finally says after a few seconds of Lance watching him, and Lance feels himself blushing.

"Yeah, right, I'll just.. Yeah." He stammers, walking slowly to the door and back in the main room where the woman is waiting with the cages.

He puts the kitten in one gently, closing it. He pays the adoption fee as slowly as he can, but the other guy is still not there.

"I'll go help him. Goodbye, take care of her!" The woman says as if reading into his thoughts, and Lance turns around grudgingly, disappointed he can't have a proper goodbye with the other guy, just to make fun of him one last time, of course. But he doesn't have an excuse, and there's no way he's waiting outside because that would just be too obvious, and it's not like he has the day to lose anyway.

He walks to the subway, unable to stop himself from watching his kitten every two seconds. Then it hits him. He has to give her a name. Gods, how did he not think about that earlier? He looks at her again, thinking. Then he realizes he already named her, unconsciously. Blue. Of course. The other guy would be pissed. Lance likes that.

He enters the subway, slowly and with difficulty as he passes the cumbersome door. He makes his way down the stairs carefully, and swears when the tube leaves right in front of him. He looks at the table, and of course, the next one is only in seven minutes. Great.

He sighs and sits, waiting with Blue's cage on his lap. She looks at him with her eyes wide opened, as if she's asking him what is going on. She's the cutest and maybe he's not supposed to love her that much that fast but gods, does he loves her already.

"Hey, Blue. Everything's okay, we're just going home. It'll be a bit scary but it's the only way to go, it would take forever to walk there and I don't have the money for a car." He explains her, and if she can't possibly understand him, she looks more relaxed, maybe just by the sound of his voice.

He smiles at her, putting his fingers inside her cage to touch her. She doesn't seem to mind, even leaning into the touch.

When the tube finally arrives, he stands up, going in as soon as the doors open to sit, Blue's cage on the seat next to him. Thankfully, there's not a lot of people so he can allow himself to take two seats.

The doors close, and he thinks he'll be able to just chill when someone sits in front of Blue, placing a cage in front of Lance. He looks and can't help but grin because it's that guy again, looking a bit out of breath, cheeks pink, heavy breathing.

"Missed me already?" He asks, unable to stop himself.

The guy jumps, surprised, before looking at Lance with shock in his purple eyes. He sighs, collapsing on his seat, closing his eyes as he tries to catch his breath.

"I'm too tired for this shit." He mumbles, and Lance almost doesn't hear him because it's so noisy in there.

"Aw, come on, stop being so rude! Glad to see you finally caught her, she didn't look so pleased to come with you." He makes fun of the guy, who just ignores him. Okay, maybe he's really hurt by Lance's comments? "How did you name her?" He adds, trying to play nice.

The guy must says something, as his lips move softly, but with the noise of the tube braking, Lance can't catch anything. The tube stops, and it's Lance's chance.

"What was that?" He asks again.

"Red." The guy answers, opening his eyes to straighten a little bit and look at her with a fond smile.

And Lance can't believe his ears because what. And then how dare he.

"No. No! You're so not stealing my cat's name!" He yells, attracting the looks of the few people that are here too, but he doesn't care.

"You're naming her Red..?" The guy asks, skeptical.

"No, Blue."

"Then what is your problem again? Red and Blue are really different names you know." The guy says, smirking at Lance and gods how Lance wants to take that smirk away.

"It's the idea!" He clarifies, annoyed the guy has to pretend he doesn't understand.

"I didn't even know your cat's name so how the fuck would have I cheated or anything? You're not making any sense."

Lance glares at him, unable to find a good comeback.

They make a good job at ignoring each other as the stops pass, Lance hoping that the guy would just go already so the awkward moment would be over. Then, realizing he isn't stopping any time soon, he finds himself wishing for his stop to just come faster.

Finally, they're slowing down to his stop, but as he's about to take Blue's cage to stand, the guy does just that. Lance's mouth falls open and he stands rapidly.

"Why are you following me?" He asks, more aggressively than he expects.

The guy looks at Lance as if he's dirt on his shoes and walk away, exiting the tube while shaking his head. Lance bits his lips, a weird feeling on his inside. He doesn't like it.

The alarm of the tube goes on, and Lance realizes with a start that he needs to get out now. He runs a bit and the door closes right behind him. He hurries out of the platform, catching up on the other guy as he pushes the heavy exit door. He looks behind, and holds the door when he sees Lance, who smiles shyly.

"Thanks." He mumbles sheepishly, but the guy already turned around, walking fast up the stairs.

Lance catches up thanks to his long legs, and takes a great pleasure to overtake him, the muscles of his legs slightly burning but so worth it. He can hears the guy huffing. That makes Lance smiles.

He walks along the road, checking in every shop window if the guy is still following him. When he arrives at the dead end where his building is, he's almost disappointed. Until the guy follows in. Lance can't help but turn around.

"Are you going to murder me?"

And maybe he is. Lance doesn't know anything about the guy after all. Maybe he messed with the wrong guy and is about to pay the price. But he seriously doubt it. He saw the way the guy looked at the kittens, he couldn't be a psychopath.

Or could he?

"I exited the subway before you, what the fuck is wrong with you?" The guy snaps, clearly annoyed, and Lance doesn't know where to put himself.

"I— It's just, since then, you've been following me!" He accuses, knowing it's ridiculous, but unable to stop.

"Why don't you just stay here until I'm home so I can't see where you live? Like that, we're sure we'll never see each other again." The guy is out of patience, and Lance wishes the ground would just swallow him whole.

"That's dumb, man." Because it is. Their whole conversation has been.

"You're dumb! Go fuck yourself, man, seriously." The guy says coldly, and Lance has trouble seeing what he found attractive in the stranger earlier.

He watches him leave, mouth opened in shock. He knows sometimes his strong personality annoys people, but never in his life a stranger yelled at him like that. He doesn't know if he wants to cry or punch something, but only the little meowing of Blue makes him move again.

He walks to his building's door, opens it, and goes for the elevator when he notices the guy waiting in front of it. He realizes then he didn't even look behind what door the guy had disappeared, so nothing had prepared him for that. The guy sees him and sighs.

"I'll take the stairs." He mumbles, putting his foot on the first step, but Lance stops him.

"Don't. I.. I'm sorry, okay? Didn't mean to be rude or anything. I can wait for the next one or something." Lance says, looking down at the floor to avoid the guy's eyes.

He sighs deeply, but comes back in front of the elevator. "Don't bother, it's okay. I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have lost my temper."

Lance nods, an uneasy feeling on his inside. He can't wait to be home, and really doesn't want to wait for the elevator to come back again. He just wants to be in his flat and introduce Blue to everything he bought for her the last couple of weeks.

When the elevator arrives, the guy squeezes himself as much as he can away from the door, and Lance would have been offended if the thought of making the guy as uncomfortable as he felt didn't bring him joy.

"Imagine if we get trapped inside." He says once the doors are closed, eying the guy, testing his reaction. It's not his fault, he just needs to get under his nerves, to test his limits.

"Don't." The guy answers, but there's no animosity. Just tiredness. Lance looks at him, and notices the dark circles under his eyes, and remembers how he looked about ready to fall asleep in the tube. He wonders what put him in that state, but he knows better than to ask.

They stay silent for the rest of the ascension, both going out on the 5th floor. Lance goes out first, stopping in front of the first door on the left, and watches with shock as the guy passes him to stop at the second door, right next to his own.

They looks at each other for a moment, not believing their eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me." Lance comments, unable to stop himself because what were the chances, really. What were the chances that another guy would want to adopt a kitten just when he did, and that the guy would stop at the same stop of the tube, then on the same building, same floor, just to live right next to Lance.

Lesson of the day: don't be rude and start fight with a stranger, he could turns out to be the guy next door.

The guy chuckles and puts his cage on the floor, taking his key out of his bag to open the door. As he's about to close it behind him, Lance comes out of his trance and takes a step to the side, looking at the guy.

"Hey, I bet I can make Blue learn her name before Red does." He declares, a hopeful smile on his lips. Or the guy would tell him to fuck off and he'd just have to try and avoid him forever, or he would take the bet and.. Who knows.

"You're so on, McClain." He answers, smirking, and Lance feels so many things at once that he has trouble breathing because damn, that smirk is hot, and does that mean they're cool? Or is it war? What the heck is going on?

The guy starts to close the door again, but Lance can't just let it ends like that.

"Wait! I never got your name!" He calls back, but the guy just laughs and shut the door at Lance's nose. "Asshole."

Shaking his head, he finally opens his front door and lets Blue out of her cage.

He's so going to win this.

* * *

"Baby, I'm home!" Lance yells as he closes his front door, letting his keys fall on the kitchen counter. He puts his bag on the floor and takes his shoes off. It's warm enough outside that he doesn't need a jacket.

He makes a few steps inside his living room, looking around for Blue. She's not on the couch (she generally prefers sleeping there than on her tiny bed he bought for her), or eating, or on the balcony (he lets it opened so she can go to the litter without making his whole flat smelling like poo, but of course, he made sure she can't fall or run away), and after checking over the bookcase, Lance would have started to worry if he hadn't see her tiny head stepping out of his bedroom.

She looks at him with her wide eyes, her head slightly tilted, and he just melts.

"You're too cute, I can't handle it." He announces, dropping to his knees in front of her to pet her. He only had her for three days, but it's crazy how important she became in his life. She's now his wallpaper on his phone and computer, and he refused a date with some girl from work just to get back to her first. Okay, the girl wasn't really his type, but still.

He lifts Blue, holding her in his hands until he reaches the couch, where he lets himself fall. She immediately huddles against him on his lap, purring happily. She's starting to fall asleep when someone knocks loudly on the door five times.

Lance sighs, considering ignoring them for a moment. Okay, it's rude, but he just got back home and he really doesn't want to deal with anyone right now. He checks his phone in case someone told him they were on their way and he didn't feel his phone buzz, but nothing.

They knock again, and Blue sends him a strict look. "What? Don't make me stand up, please, daddy's tired, honey."

"I know you're in there, McClain, I heard you!" They yells, and Lance stands with a start because holy shit it's his stranger. The stranger. His neighbor. The one he still doesn't know the name of but who's still way too much in his thoughts.

"Coming!" He answers, an octave too high.

He places Blue on the couch before almost running to the door, breathing out deeply before opening the door.

"Hey, asshole! And yeah, I'm going to call you that until you— Aaaah, what are you doing?"

The guy didn't wait for Lance to be done with his greeting to grab him by the wrist, forcing him to follow. Lance just have the time to close the door to prevent Blue from running away before he's rudely dragged into the flat next door.

It feels weirdly cozy, a real home he wouldn't have expected from that guy. He stops once they're in, letting go of Lance who only registers then that he touched him.

"What are you—" Lance starts, but is stopped by the guy's finger on his lips, urging him to shut up. Lance can't resist the urge to lick it away.

And it works. The guy immediately takes his finger away with a disgusted noise. "Ugh, what the fuck, man, that's gross!" He complains, wiping his finger on Lance's shirt.

Lance chuckles. "What are you, five?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing." The guy retorts with a severe frown.

Lance just grins, looking around. "Listen, as much as I enjoy being kidnapped, what are we waiting for again?"

He doesn't know what he expected, but it certainly wasn't for the guy to just smile with the most satisfied smile he's even seen. It looks good on him.

"Red?" His neighbor calls, and Lance understands what is going to happen right before it actually happens. And as expected, the tiny ginger kitten arrives, running to her human friend from nowhere, looking at him with the same adorable eyes Blue always looks at him with.

The guy kneels in front of her, petting her tiny head, and she purrs so loudly Lance is sure the whole building can hear her. The guy smiles softly at her, and Lance feels himself melt until he understands what that means. He lost. How could he lost?!

Okay, maybe he shouldn't always call Blue pet names instead of her actual name, but it's not his fault, she's so cute that they come naturally. He thought he had more time, the guy was terrible with Red just three days ago! How could he suddenly be the cats whisperer?!

"Dude, how?!" He asks, outraged, and the guy just dares to look at him with that adorable smile and Lance is so so furious.

"I just actually call her by her name." He teases, standing back up to be at Lance's height.

"Okay, first of all, stop spying on me, second, it's not my fault Blue's so cute, and third, how did you do that? She hated you three days ago!"

The guy glares at him, crossing his arms. "She didn't hate me! She just needed to get used to me, she doesn't just open up to everyone right away, there's nothing wrong with that!" He defends himself, and okay, maybe Lance was a bit harsh, but he just hates losing so much.

"Geez, calm down, I never said it was, I'm just surprised, that's all." Lance answers calmly, holding his hands up in surrender.

But the guy just frown, not settling at all. "Anyway, that's all I had to show you. You can leave, now." He informs Lance.

"Oh, okay. I'll just.. Bye, then." Lance says, embarrassed, turning around to open the door for himself and closing it again behind him.

What the heck was that about?

He shakes his head, not even knowing what he's feeling right now. He tries to open his own door, but it's locked. Of course it's lock. Lance has been living there for months now, he knows fully well the door locks itself without the key when you close it.

"Shit." He mumbles, letting his head bangs against the door, staying like that for a few seconds. He just wants to cry. Stupid. Stupid him, stupid hot and rude neighbor, stupid door, stupid keys.

He slips his hand on his pocket to grab his phone, but can't find anything. Of course, he left it on the couch with Blue when he checked for a text or call. Great. Amazing. Perfect, really.

He could still try to convince someone to let him borrow their phone, but it's not like he knows Hunk's number by heart (he's the one who has his spare key), and it's not like he can go very far with only socks on anyway.

He hits his head on the door once again, panic rising fast in his chest. What the hell is he supposed to do? He can't call a locksmith, it would cost him more than he can afford (that, and the fact that he still doesn't have a phone). He can't go down and try to climb from the bottom of the building, he would definitely die. And he can't just ask a random neighbor to let him pass by their window or balcony to go back home, he doesn't know any and they'd think he's crazy.

Unless..

Well, he definitely knows guy-next-door now. He hates him, sure, but he knows Lance. And it's totally his fault if Lance is in this situation right now. Without him forcing Lance to leave his apartment, not letting him the chance to grab his keys or phone, he'd be home, cuddling Blue without a worry in the world.

Okay, he can do that. He doesn't have much of a choice anyway.

Slowly, he walks to the other door again, rises his fist, and knocks twice. He exhales deeply, hoping against all hopes that this is going to turns out fine.

Then, the door opens and he's met with purple eyes he could never get used to, intrigued first, and then his stranger is frowning again. Typical.

"What—"

But this time, it's Lance who doesn't let him finish.

"Here's the thing. When you kidnapped me, I didn't have my keys or phone on me, so now I'm trapped outside and I can't afford a locksmith because I have a cat to feed, man." He starts to explain, hoping his neighbor will stop being an ass just for once and help him.

"Shit, ugh, I can kick the door opened for you if you want but—"

"Wait, what?! No! I'm not.. No. I just need to climb from your balcony to mine!" Lance stops him again, shaking his head violently because what the hell? True, his neighbor is muscled enough to force his door opened but.. Damn, why did he have to notice these muscles too now?

"Oh because that's totally less crazy! We're on the fifth floor!" The guy remarks smartly, and Lance rolls his eyes. He doesn't have much of a choice, does he?

"Listen, I have a very good balance and there's like.. One meter between our balconies, I have long legs, I can totally do that." He affirms, confident.

"Why were you so worried the other day that I would murder you if you have a death wish anyway?" His neighbor is back at crossing his arms, and Lance doesn't understand why he's so stressed about this if he hates Lance. Maybe he just doesn't want to see him crushed on the road five floors under them. Yeah, pretty traumatizing if you'll ask him.

He's about to answer when he hears the door of the elevator opening, and in panic, he pushes his stranger to enter his home, closing the door rapidly behind them.

"What the—"

"Don't. It's not like you didn't force me in ten minutes ago. I'm totally authorized to do that. And I don't know about you, but I really don't want to explain this to a stranger." Lance says, eying the door suspiciously, as if it's about to open and reveal his awkward situation to the world.

"But I'm a stranger." The guy remarks, looking at Lance like he's a mad man that escaped the local psychiatric hospital.

"A stranger who's in this situation with me, who even cause that situation. And you wouldn't be if you'd just tell me your name." Lance explains, trying to stay calm but really, he just wants to go home.

"And where's the fun in that?" The guy asks with a grin. At least he didn't dare pretend he's not responsible for all of Lance's problems.

"Just let me go through your balcony so we're done with this, please."

Not waiting for an answer or a direction (he can guess that much, it's not big), Lance walks to the door leading to the balcony, ajar like his own is, probably for the same reason. And it's a good thing because if not, he wouldn't be able to get in once he's on his balcony.

"Hey, wait! You can't just do that!" His neighbor yells, running after him to try and stop him. But it's too late already, Lance is determined, and no one will prevent him to do that.

"Too bad, because it's the only way I'm leaving your apartment." He announces, now outside on the tiny balcony. And okay, he's still totally determined to do that but in his memories, the two balconies weren't that far away from each other, and the fifth floor wasn't that.. High.

Oh lord. I'm going to die.

"Stop! I don't want to be charged for murder!" The guy begs him, trapping Lance between his arms to prevent him to move and wow, he's really strong. And smells good, not that it's important right now but.. Yeah.

Lance doesn't even think of trying to free himself. "Better help me not to die then." He mumbles, turning his head slightly for his neighbor to hear him.

The guy blushes and lets Lance go, looking down so his hair falls on his face, hiding him. Lance wants to run his fingers through it to put it away.

"How am I supposed to do that?" He asks shyly, still not looking at Lance.

Lance runs his eyes around them, trying to figure out a plane to do that as safely as possible. If his neighbor is okay to help, maybe they can make this work.

"Hm, maybe if we move a chair for me to stand on, then you can hold me while I reach my balcony to stabilize me?" He offers, still thinking because even if he pretends he's confident in his plan, he's actually almost sure he's going to die really soon.

"Yeah no, we're not doing that." The guy says, shaking his head, apparently arriving to the same conclusion as Lance. "Wait here. Don't move."

And just like that, he's gone, back in his flat. But Lance only has to wait a couple of minutes until he's back, carrying a small ladder in his arms, looking proud of himself. Lance likes that look on him.

"We can put it as a bridge between the balconies." He explains, hesitant, as if he fears that Lance is going to make fun of him, but it's actually a pretty good idea.

"Why the hell do you have a ladder in an apartment?" He still asks, perplexed.

"For my bed, it wins place." The guy answers, embarrassed, looking down at the ladder to avoid Lance's look. Why does he keep doing that?

"Is it strong enough?"

The ladder is in wood, not really big, pretty slim, but then again, it doesn't mean anything. Lance is himself quite lanky but able to carry huge stuff if he wants to.

"Huh, I use it twice a day and it holds so I guess?" The guy offers, and Lance nods.

"Good enough for me."

They install the ladder between the two balconies, using scarfs to tie it on the guy's balcony, a last attempt to make this at least a little bit secured. It's hard to maneuver around each other on the small balcony, but they make it work, surprisingly good at working with the other when they're not busy arguing.

They put a chair next to the ladder to help Lance up, and stress rises as he realizes that it's done and he has to try it now. Suddenly, his will to go back home is really nonexistent and he just wants to wait there that Hunk understands he's missing and comes with the spare keys to check on him.

Unfortunately, he knows that wouldn't be for hours, and he's not sure his neighbor would be pleased to welcome him in his home for so long. And Blue's waiting for him.

He exhales deeply and puts a foot on the chair, his hand on his neighbor's shoulder to steady himself. The guy's hand finds its place on Lance's hip naturally to help him, and between that and the fear, Lance feels like he's going to explode.

"Any last word?" He asks Lance in a breath, a worried look in his eyes, but a playful smile on his lips.

Lance doesn't even have to think about it.

"What's your name?"

Because that's definitely something he wants to find out before he dies. Of course, he doesn't really believe he'll die, or he wouldn't do it, he's not that stupid, he knows it's just the fear talking, and that the guy is just teasing him, moved by the same apprehension. But still.

He looks right into those gorgeous indigo eyes, and catches the glimpse of a smile on his stranger's lips.

"Keith. Kogane." He mumbles shyly, waiting anxiously for a reaction from Lance.

He smiles. "It was nice knowing you, Kogane." He declares, adopting the equivalent of how his.. Of how Keith calls him. That makes him smile back so Lance guesses it's a win.

"Same here." Keith admits, a slight blush on his cheek, which is the second cutest thing Lance saw in his life, after Blue, obviously.

"Okay, I can die happy now, let's go." He jokes, and lifts his leg still on the floor, bending it to put it on the ladder slowly, testing its resistance. To his surprise, it doesn't even curve a little. Good. He knew Keith wouldn't voluntarily put him in danger even if he doesn't like him, but he feels better being sure of it.

"Please don't die, I don't want to have to clean the mess." Keith jokes back, his hand on Lance's hip sliding to the small of his back, sending shivers in Lance's whole body. He notices his other hand on the ladder, steadying it.

"Don't worry, the time the elevator gets you down it'll be done already." He remarks, and Keith chuckles, knowing as much as Lance that their old building doesn't offer advanced technology to avoid the stairs.

"Still." Keith says in a breath while Lance raises his other leg from the chair, slowly putting it next to his other one.

At first, he doesn't move, testing his balance, then he takes a first tentative step, shaking hands moving forward, then knees. Okay, that seems alright, he can do that. The hand on his back leaves as he's out of reach from Keith, mi-way between the two balconies, and he suddenly feels very lost, so much aware that he's suspended so high above the ground.

Don't look down. Don't stop moving.

And he doesn't. It feels like hours, but after only a few seconds, he reaches the other side of the ladder.

There's no chair, table or arm to help him out, but he manages, nearly falling down but on solide ground. He can hear Keith relieved sigh, or maybe it's just his own, but he's so happy he doesn't know if he wants to laugh or cry.

He turns around to look at Keith, sending a thumb up and a proud smile. His neighbor smiles back, shaking his head slightly. Then he starts untying the scarfs to take his ladder back on his own balcony.

"This better not happen again." He informs Lance as the ladder touches the ground.

"Then if you want to kidnap me again you better make sure to kidnap my keys too." He jokes, kind of hoping this is not his last encounter with the boy next door.

"Don't worry, I won't do it again." Keith says sheepishly, looking down to hide a light blush (something he seems to do often, Lance notices), before exiting his balcony without a last look for Lance.

Well, here go his hopes.

Lance sighs and opens his door, glad to finally be back home. Blue's still sleeping peacefully on the couch, unaware of what just happened, and Lance can't help but think it's better for her.

He lets himself fall next to her, waking her up but making her forgive him by petting her behind the ears.

"Red is a step ahead of you, you know. Maybe I can let him know too when you learn your name?"

She tilts her head, as if wondering what he's telling her. He smiles. She's so adorable.

"Then again, he doesn't want to see me again. He even threw me out. He looked so mad. But after he helped so.. I don't know? He's just so confusing, Blue. Maybe he thinks I was bothered or angry and that I didn't want him to come again?" He asks, suddenly hopeful again because that makes so much sense! Of course, he wouldn't have comme seeking for Lance in the first place if he didn't want.. Whatever that is.

"I don't know." He repeats, thoughtful. "I guess I'll just have to teach you your name and see." He informs her, determined.

He had to teach her her name anyway, may as well brings him an excuse to annoy his lovely neighbor.

* * *

"Blue! I'm—"

Lance stops himself in the middle of announcing he's home to Blue, noticing a piece of paper folded in two on the ground.

"What the.." He mumbles, frowning a bit as he kneels to pick it up.

He stands up to close the door, looking down at the bottom. Did someone slide this under it? Why did Lance do to deserve that?

He looks around, searching for Blue, suddenly fearing she somehow ran away or something, but there she is, licking herself on the couch, eyes on Lance as if wondering why he's not already petting her like he always does when he gets home.

Reassured, Lance gives his attention back to the paper in his hand, opening it with a mix of excitement and apprehension. He's met with a pretty handwriting he doesn't recognize.

Hey. I know what reward I want for winning the bet. — K

He smiles at the paper. He hasn't talked to his beautiful neighbor for a few days, except that time they cross each other at the elevator while Lance was going to work in the morning and Keith was coming back from whatever he was doing out this early. But they just had time to say hi before Lance had to go, and Lance had missed him.

Not knowing if Keith is home or not, he decides to use the same communication way, grabbing a pen to write under his neighbor's words.

Hi! And what is it? :) — L

He hurries to go back in the corridor, careful to let his door open, and slides the paper under the door next to his own. He considers knocking in case Keith is here, but decides against it. He prefers the excitement of the wait, and if he's home, he'll probably hear Lance and guess he answered.

And trustfully, Lance just has the time to collapse on his couch next to Blue before there's a knock on his door. This time though, he doesn't feel too lazy or tired at all and jumps on his feet, almost running to the door with a big smile on his face.

"Hello, Kogane." He greets him as he opens his door with a wide grin, and he definitely wasn't ready for the sight he's welcomed by because holy shit he put his hair into a ponytail and it shouldn't be that hot but it is.

"McClain, hi, are you free for the rest of the day?" Keith asks right away, looking adorably embarrassed and Lance can't breathe because why is he asking that?

He tries to keep his cool. "Sure. Are you asking me out on a date?"

Keith blushes furiously but chuckles as if that idea is the most ridiculous thing he ever heard. "No! I just need to be somewhere in like.. Half an hour, for a couple of hours I think, but I don't want to leave Red alone, and as she knows Blue I thought she'd be comfy here if you're okay to babysit." He rambles, clearly nervous, and Lance wonders who he's so nervous about.

So he's definitely going on a date, huh? Just not with Lance. Not that he's jealous, they're just rivals, neighbors, strangers that could be friends some day. He doesn't get to be jealous, it's not fair, it's not like he likes Keith, he just finds him pretty, and he finds a lot of people pretty, Keith is nothing special. Right?

"Wait a minute, how did you do the other days?" He asks, noticing that it's weird Keith suddenly doesn't want Red to be alone when he can't possibly had taken her wherever he goes in the day.

"What other days?" Keith asks, confused, tilting his head and oh gods that reminds Lance of Blue.

"Since you adopted her, you don't take her out with you, do you?"

Okay, some people do that, but it'd be dangerous with a kitten you don't know that much yet, right?

"Ugh, I only left a few minutes to go grocery shopping, or taking the trash out." Keith explains sheepishly, and under Lance's perplexed gaze, he adds: "I.. I work from home? So I don't need to go out that much."

There's that slight blush again and Lance has so many questions, so many things that are intriguing him about Keith and that he just wants to know but can't because he's just the guy next door who happened to adopt a kitten in the exact same moment than him.

He remembers how Keith got mad a few days ago, so suddenly, when Lance teased him about not being loved by Red right away, how Keith said there wasn't anything wrong with not opening up easily, and he wonders if that was really about Red. He feels stupid for his comment now, but he couldn't know, right? Maybe Keith works from home because he's not confortable with leaving his home, maybe that's why he's so nervous right now. Or maybe he just does a job that is naturally done from home. Who knows? Not Lance. But gods know he wants to.

He smiles at him, hoping he can reassure him. "You're lucky, I don't have anything planned. You can bring her in whenever, I'm sure Blue will be glad to see her."

Keith smiles brightly right back at Lance, nodding. "Thank you so much!"

Then, without anymore words, he runs back to his door, and Lance just stays here, waiting in front of his own door, deciding it would be rude to close it. He considers going after Keith to help, but maybe that would be intruding?

Luckily, he doesn't have the time to overthink much about it as Keith comes back with a backpack and a ginger kitten in his arms. He puts her in Lance's hands, who takes her by automatism, and hurries to open the bag.

"Okay so there's her food for tonight, she eats at 6, and a few treats, her favorite toy - don't lose it please -, the fluffed hippo she always sleeps with - don't let Blue steal it from her -, and one of my shirt because for some reason, she only sleeps on them." Keith mumbles, flustered, showing everything he mentions to Lance before putting them back in the bag and giving it to him.

Lance nods, taking it. Everything his neighbor just mentioned is just too adorable to handle but somehow, he manages. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her." He tries to reassure him, not sure if his nervousness is because of whatever he needs to be doing in a few minutes or because he has to leave Red to do so.

"Great, thanks again." He looks at his phone while it buzzes. "Shit, I need to go. Bye, Red." He leans to kiss Red's head, who purrs at the attention, then straightens, pink on his cheeks. "Bye, McClain, see ya later!" He adds, waving awkwardly with his hand before exiting, running straight for the stairs before Lance can say or do anything. And maybe it's for the best because it was so not a good time to ask for a kiss too.

He pushes his front door closed with his foot, both hands busy right now, and walks to his couch to place Red on it next to Blue. They both jump, but when they smell each other, they relax and rub against the other, purring.

Lance hurries to take his phone out to take pictures and videos, sending them to Hunk because he needs to share how cute this is and, well, he doesn't have Keith's number so Hunk is second best choice. Then seconds later, Hunk calls him and Lance bits his lips. Maybe he should have wrote something to explain.

"Why the hell is there another kitten on your couch?" His best friend asks right away.

"Hello to you too, Hunk. It's Red, you know, my neighbor's kitten." He admits, feeling hot in his cheeks because Hunk totally knows. Lance spent hours telling his everything about his neighbor after all.

"And what does she do there? Please tell me you didn't introduce yourself into his apartment to steal his cat because I won't be on your side if—"

"Geez, calm down, Hunk, who do you think I am? I'm his rival, not his enemy, and I wouldn't do that even to my worst enemy." Lance says, rolling his eyes. Who's cruel enough to steal a kitten?

"Yeah, his rival, sure. And you don't have a worst enemy, you're too nice for that." Hunk remarks, making Lance chuckles. True, he likes to annoy people sometimes but he's not a bad person and would have helped Keith no matter what, bet lost or not.

"You got me there, Hunk. I'm actually babysitting Red, he needed to go somewhere and was scared to leave her alone. Because he never left since he got her. Crazy, right?" He asks, still bothered by that knowledge without really knowing why. The guy can do what he wants, it shouldn't bother Lance.

"Don't judge, Lance, he must have his reasons, you can't—"

"No, I know, it just makes me kind of sad, I guess? I mean, he seems like a nice guy, everybody would be lucky to have him as a friend but he never gets out and I have never heard anyone comes.. I mean, they can come during the day when I'm out, that would make perfect sense but.. I don't know." He rambles, thinking a bit too hard about it.

"Oh my gods, Lance, you totally like him. I wasn't sure but damn, man.." Hunk says, a smile in his voice, and Lance shakes his head furiously even if his best friend can't see him.

"No. No, no, no. No. I'm just too nice, you said it yourself." He argues, using Hunk's words against him.

"You're babysitting his kitten." Hunk remarks.

"Because I'm nice! And because it's his reward for winning the bet. Or course he won the bet, if he was home all day repeating her name!" This is totally cheating, right?

He can hear Hunk chuckles on the other side of the phone. "Bet you made to have an excuse to talk to him. And it's not a bad thing, Lance! If he went all the way to show you he won, then came for a reward, maybe he wanted to see you again too! You guys could so be friends!" He says excitedly, and Lance can't bring himself to be mad. It actually makes sense.

"Maybe.. And maybe it can work again!" Lance thinks out loud, a sudden idea coming into his mind. "I'm gonna buy a harness. And a leash. And bet him I can teach Blue to go on walks before he does with Red!"

He would totally win this one, he loves going on walks and Blue seems docile enough to let him. But if Keith isn't an outside person and Red isn't one to let herself be tamed easily.. It's almost already won.

"Or.. You could offer to try and teach them together." Hunk remarks smartly and damn distance because Lance wants to hug his best friend right now. What a genius.

"Hunk." He simply answers.

"I know. Love you too, bro."

They hand up a few minutes later as Hunk needs to make dinner for his girlfriend and himself, but Lance can't stop grinning. This is why Hunk is his main man and will always be. He's just the best.

He empties Keith's bag, taking the food in the kitchen to prevent the cats for stealing it, then grabs Keith's shirt, putting it on the couch for Red. She immediately sniffs it and sits on it, looking expectingly at Lance who then remembers Keith's words and takes the fluffed hippo out. He gives it to Red, who grabs it between her paws, her head on it like a pillow. So cute. Apparently she's in a mood for sleeping, so he lets the toy in the bag and sits on the couch too, on Blue's side.

She steps on him right away, nestled against him, and Red adjusts herself to touch his lap too. Then Blue expands one of her front paw to rest on Red's back and Lance wants to cry of happiness. It's just too much to handle for one guy.

He takes pictures and videos again, and once he decides which one is his favorite picture, he puts it as his new wallpaper. He also sends a few to Hunk, and Shay answers for him that it's the cutest thing ever and that they now want one too.

He watches tv for an hour or so, relaxing, until Red wakes up, looking at him expectingly, and he wonders what she wants because he doesn't know what that look means in Red's language. She seems to understand he has no clue, because she pushes Blue with her nose, meowing, and Blue turns to Lance with that look before turning her head to the kitchen.

He grabs his phone. 6:03 pm. Oh.

"Sorry, on it." He announces, extracting himself from under Blue to get the food. He doesn't normally feed Blue until 6:30, but he doesn't want to make Red wait and knows better than to feed one and not the other.

They eat, Red a little faster, eying Blue as if fearing she'd try to steal her food. But his girl isn't like that, and Red waits until she's finished before starting running so fast Lance can hardly see her. His heart jumps in his chest, but then she stops in the middle of the living room, looking at Blue, who runs after her.

Okay, playtime now.

Lance takes Red's toy out, a tiny mouse, and chuckles because he bought the exact same one for Blue but in another color. He decides to give them all the toys he has, and if they like playing with each other, they won't let him not play with them so he does just that, stopping from time to time to take photos and videos.

At some point, Blue is running after Red, and to escape, the ginger kitten just climbs on Lance with her claws until she reaches his shoulder.

"What the heck, Red? What does Keith teach you?" He laughs, kneeling to be sure she won't hurt herself by jumping down or falling.

She meows and jumps back in the game, taking her mouse before running as fast as she can. Blue tries to run after her, but Red is definitely faster even if she's slightly smaller than Blue.

Blue catches up on strategy though, hiding from Red before jumping on her by surprise and running with the toy. Lance thinks back at Keith's words, but it was the hippo Blue couldn't steal, right? He can't remember, but as Red doesn't seem bothered, he lets them play.

When they finally got tired, they go back to the couch, and Lance cleans a bit, putting Red's mouse back in the bag before joining them. They immediately both come near him in similar positions as before, and Lance lets himself relax in their warmth, slowly closing his eyes until he's asleep.

Even if his neck hurts a bit, Lance feels safe, warm, sleepy, and really doesn't want to open his eyes. He's slightly aware that there's light behind his eyelids, he must have forgotten to turn it off before falling asleep, and his eyes are totally not ready to face that.

But there's a hand who decided otherwise for him, shaking him softly on the shoulder, and Lance groans as an answer. He really doesn't want to wake up. He can vaguely hear a voice, or more like a whisper, but it brings a shy smile on his lips unconsciously.

Then, he's suddenly conscious enough to realize that holy shit there's someone in my apartment, and he jumps awake brutally, making the other one startled, taking a step behind to avoid getting punched. In the meantime, Blue's claws are deeply sunk in the skin of his lap, and all he can see of Red is a flash of ginger flying and disappearing from his sight.

But he ignores the cats, more worried about the other human in his home until he recognizes Keith, a hand on the back of his couch as a support, the other one on his heart as if trying to calm it down.

You and me both, buddy, Lance thinks.

"Damn, Kogane, way to wake up a man." He says in a breath, an amused smile on his lips that Keith is fast to return.

"Shut up, you almost gave me a heart attack." Keith straightens, and the hair that was partly hiding his face disperses to reveal a dark bruise on his left cheek, almost on his jaw.

Lance's mouth falls open, his calming heart going crazy again. "What the hell is that?!" He yells, raising on his feet in a jump after pushing Blue out of his laps.

"Shit." Keith mumbles, craning his head down for his hair to fall back on his face. Lance then notices that his ponytail is now a mess, and he never needed answers more than in this moment.

Because he cares. He fucking cares so much for this guy he didn't know a week before that it's scaring him. But he does, and if he can do anything to help him, nothing is going to stop him from doing it.

"It's nothing." Keith adds, not meeting Lance's eyes.

"Doesn't look like nothing to me. Did you at least put something on it? Ice?" He asks, not daring coming closer, but unable to move away.

"No, it's okay, it looks worth than it is. It'll be gone in a few days." Keith says, a hand on his bruise to hide it from Lance. As if he could forget it just because he couldn't see it anymore.

"You sound like this happens often.." Lance notices, stomach knotted with worry. Is he going somewhere dangerous to fight? Is it why he looked nervous before leaving? Or was he attacked somewhere on his way? Does he at least have someone he trust with him?

"Not that often anymore, I'm getting better, I just got distracted." Keith confides, cheeks a bit pink, a soft smile of his lips, and Lance doesn't understand anything anymore. He tilts his head, confused, and a look of realization appears on Keith's face.

"Oh. Oh. Shit, sorry, must looks weird. Ugh, I do martial arts with my friends. One of them accidentally hit me in the face. Well, not really accidentally. I mean, he thought I was going to avoid his fist, but another one was talking to me at the same time and.. Boom." He explains, voice fond when talking about his friends, and Lance is so so relieved. So Keith has very good friends, and he's not getting in trouble, more like learning how to defend himself. Good.

Lance smiles. He likes hearing Keith tell him about his day, about his life. He wants to know more. Everything.

"Good, you scared me for a minute. You sure you don't want that ice, though?" In front of Keith hesitant face, he adds: "I'm getting you some ice. You can sit if you want. Or try to find where Red is hiding."

Not that his apartment is big or that there's a lot of places to hide, but still, Keith must have missed her.

Lance goes to the kitchen, taking some ice to put in a small packet. When he's back in the living room area, Keith is sitting on his couch, Red half on his shoulder and half on the back of the couch. It's so cute Lance has a hard time not taking a photo. Maybe he should stop taking pictures all the time to avoid an awkward situation where he couldn't stop himself.

"Here." He says, giving the ice to Keith who takes it thankfully. He applies it on his cheek and sighs.

"Thanks. It actually feels better already." He smiles softly at Lance, grateful.

"You're welcome. Your friend should have given you some, not very nice to punch someone and not taking care of them afterward." He jokes.

"Oh no, he's the best person I know. Just.. He was so sorry I told him it was nothing so he stops feeling guilty. Then I kicked him so we're even." Keith says proudly, and Lance laughs.

He's almost jealous of that guy who Keith called 'the best', even if it's stupid. They just met each other, what is wrong with him?

"You're something else." He says without thinking, cheeks hot, and decides to change the subject before things get awkward. "Red and Blue still love each other, by the way, so if this is something you do regularly, don't hesitate to bring her here. Just let me know if there's a schedule so I don't plan anything."

Smooth way to go, McClain.

Keith nods. "Thanks, it's every week, actually. That's great that they get along, I was scared Red would get lonely with just me. Blue can come too. I'm a painter so I'm almost always home." Keith explains with a smile, looking as Red jumps from his shoulder to his lap to smell Blue who just jumped on Lance as he sat on the couch next to Keith.

"That's so cool, could I see some or your work? Or is it like something super personal you don't want to show anyone?" He asks, not wanting to intrude but also so curious.

"I mean, I sell it to strangers so it's generally pretty generic. I have some more personal work though, that I don't sell, but it's more for training or for friends. I'm actually painting a big portrait of Red for my living room at the moment, but it's slow because I have to do my commissions first. Sometimes I spend the whole night at it and can only sleep like.. Two hours. Sorry, I'm rambling." He says, but Lance furiously shakes his head because no, he's not letting him do that thing when people talk about something they're passionate about then apologize because they think they're annoying.

"No, don't, it's cute to see how passionate you are about this, makes me want to know more, to see it for myself. Also that explain the dark circle." He replies, adding the last thing more for himself than for Keith.

"Dark circle?" He reacts right away, a slight frown on his face.

"Oh yeah. The first day we met you looked about ready to fall asleep right there and now in the tube." He develops sheepishly, remembering that tired face he wondered so much about. Then already, he just knew there was something special about the guy in front of him.

Keith chuckles slightly. "Oh no, you just made me really tired that day." He teases Lance who can't help but laugh loudly, rapidly joined by Keith.

"Why are you always that rude?" He asks, still half laughing.

"I don't know, man, you just made it really easy."

Their laughters continue a few seconds before they slowly calm themselves.

"But yeah, I needed to finish a few commissions to clean the day for Red, and I knew I would need time for her the next days so I did as much as I could the days before and.. When I got home I felt asleep right away. I woke up in the middle of the night, Red asleep on my back." Keith tells him, looking fondly at Red, now sleeping peacefully on his lap.

"That's so cute!" Lance comments with a smile, each one of his hands petting a kitten because that's probably the only reason he has two hands anyway.

"Not really. I thought she was a sleep paralysis demon." Keith says with a grin and Lance has no idea of if he's joking or not but he doesn't really care. All he cares about is that he gets to witness that smile.

"I mean.. She's a bit of a demon, she climbed on my shoulder from the ground while I was standing." He suddenly remembers.

Keith giggles guiltily, taking the ice off his cheek to try and hide his face with his hand that is not petting Red. That other hand moving so close to Lance's one, busy doing the same thing.

"I'm so sorry for that!" He doesn't sound very sorry at all, probably imagining Lance's shocked face when it happened, and Lance isn't bothered by that at all. "I taught her to do that for when I'm too lazy to lean over and catch her myself."

I have feelings for you, Lance thinks. Then holy shit I have feelings for him what the fuck.

"I don't know if I should laugh or cry." He says instead, as much about what Keith just revealed him than about what he just realized.

"Don't judge! I'm sure you do plenty of weird things with Blue." Keith says, chuckling as he puts the ice back on his cheek.

That reminds Lance of his conversation with Hunk.

"Actually, speaking of that, I had an idea." He announces, testing the weather. He hopes he's reading into all of this right, that Keith is enjoying his company as much as he is, at least as potential friends.

"I'm terrified." Keith jokes.

"Shut up. So, I think we should train them to go on walks. With harnesses and leashes, of course. We'd have to accustom them inside first, but then I'm sure it could work outside too." He explains, a bit anxious while waiting for Keith's reaction.

"That's.. An interesting idea, we totally should give it a try. Do you want it to be a new competition you'll loose?" Keith smiles playfully.

"In fact, I was thinking we could do it together? I mean, one guy trying to walk his kitten is weird. Two, though, it becomes funny. And like that, you're forced to actually work during the day." Lance answers, hoping he doesn't sound desperate or anything.

"I'd like that." Keith says simply, and Lance breathes a sigh of relieve. Good. That's good. Hunk's going to be proud of him. "I should go, though. I'm tired and I'm sure you are too, if I believe how deeply asleep you were when I got here."

Lance chuckles, starting to nod when it finally clicks in his tired brain. He stops petting the kittens, looking at Keith as if he's seeing him for the first time.

"Wait a minute. How the hell did you get into my apartment?"

Keith just looks down, embarrassed, but there's the ghost of an amused smile on his lips. Lance turns his head around, looking at his door, but thank gods no, Keith didn't kick it opened. At that, Keith definitely laughs.

"Oh my gods no, I wouldn't do that!" Keith rassures him.

"How, then? Can you pass through the walls? Is that your superpower?" He jokes, still very curious, but weirdly not more worried than that that his neighbor found a way to introduce himself in his home. It's not like he doesn't trust him.

"Remember when you were locked outside your apartment?" Keith asks, and of course Lance remembers, they had to find another way to get in and.. Oh no he didn't.

They eyes meet, and Lance knows it's the truth, Keith isn't joking anymore. He really..

"Oh my.. You can't just do that! Are you fucking crazy?! There was no one to help you! You could be crushed on the road right now!" He yells, and all trace of laughters and good mood is gone, but Lance doesn't care. He's pissed. So fucking pissed by the thought of what could have happened.

Keith looks shocked by Lance's reaction, mouth slightly opened, eyes wide opened, not daring to move.

"I.. I'm sorry, okay? I knocked for five minutes and you didn't answer the fucking door! I was worried." Keith admits, and Lance is mad at himself for yelling. In his situation, he would have done the same thing.

"Sorry, I must have been more tired than I thought." He says, wishing he could go back to before Keith closed himself. But it's too late now.

"Okay. I better get going then." Keith stands up without letting Lance time to say that it wasn't at all what he meant, but Lance finds himself unable to say or do anything.

He watches Keith putting Red's stuff rashly into the bag, swearing before holding his left wrist, clearly in pain, but just for a moment. Then, he's back at it, even if it's obvious with how he moves that it still hurts.

"Are you—"

"It's fine." He cuts Lance harshly, and puts the bag on his shoulder.

Lance tries to pretend his heart is not hurting as Keith takes Red into his arms, wondering if everything they seemed to build that day is destroyed. He doesn't move either when Keith walks to the door, too tired to bring his body to do anything.

Keith opens the door, and stops there a few seconds too long, maybe considering saying something, or letting Lance the chance to say something. But he doesn't. He really can't think of anything to say to make it better. He's just done with the day.

So Keith closes the door and Lance feels more lonely than he's ever felt in his entire life.

* * *

When he checks his mailbox, Lance doesn't wait anything in particular. It's not the period of the bills, and no one ever wrote to him, all his friends and family know his phone is practically glued to his hand. So yeah, he generally only has a few ads and that's it.

But not today. Today, he's greeted by a very realistic drawing of Blue, posing like a queen in a throne-like version of Lance's couch, a tiny crown on her head. On one of the armrest, there's a small Lance, maybe a third the size of Blue, looking at her like she's the most wonderful thing he's ever seen.

Lance can't help but burst into laughter, joy filling his chest because he 100% knows who did this, who took the time to do this instead of just knocking on Lance's door to talk like a normal person would do. But Keith isn't your average person. He's so much better. The drawing isn't signed, but it's just the same.

Lance is so excited and in a hurry to see Keith that he ignores the elevator and starts running in the stairs, reaching the third floor before collapsing against the wall, out of breath. Okay, maybe he should take the stairs more often.

Unable to continue any longer without dying, Lance decides to wait for the elevator to take him to the fifth floor, which takes forever, but gives him a bit of time to think about what to do. Should he go home first? No, Keith would probably hear him and think he's ignoring him. He can't have that. Okay, maybe he wouldn't, but it's what Lance would think, so maybe..

The elevator finally stops, and Lance makes his decision right there, unable to wait any longer. He knocks, wishing the door would just open, but nothing happens. He waits for what seems like forever but is probably more like 30 seconds before knocking against, strongly this time. Maybe he didn't hear?

"Coming!" He hears his voice, muffled by the door, but just as much reassuring.

Okay, good. He's here, and he's planning on opening the door, probably knowing it's Lance because he must have known it's the result he'd get after the drawing, right?

He hears footsteps coming closer and his heart beats faster as the door opens. The wondering looks on Keith's face turns into a smile as he sees Lance, but Lance wasn't ready for the sight. Keith's hair is once again up in a ponytail, several locks of hair framing his face, some of it with paint stains of various colors on. There's the same kind of stains on his face, making his bruise looking like one of them. Lance likes that.

He wearing a blue jean overalls with a red shirt, both pieces of clothes full of the same paint stains. It's adorable.

"McClain, hi." He says, smile fading a little as he probably fears Lance's reaction, and Lance definitely can't let him hanging like that.

"Hey, thanks, for the drawing, it's beautiful." Lance smiles at him to let him know everything's okay for him, and Keith smiles back. "You could have signed it, though, could worth a lot of money someday." He adds jokingly, unable to stop himself.

"Okay, bye!" Keith laughs, faking closing the door, and Lance stops him.

"No, don't! I was joking, it's perfect." He says honestly.

"I'll sign it one day if you deserve it."

"You'll sign it if I get Blue to walk with a leash before Red does?" He asks wishfully, already knowing he's going to win this one.

Keith pretends to think about it, humming loudly. "I thought this one wasn't a competition." He reminds Lance.

"It can be if we want it to be." Lance says smartly, daring Keith to say no.

"And what would I get if I win?" Keith asks, crossing his arms, leaning on his wall.

"Dude, have you seen Red? You're not going to win." Lance laughs at him and Keith mouth opens in fake shock.

"Rude! And if it was true, then why should I agree with this?" Keith grins, so sure he managed to trap Lance. But Lance is a professional at getting what he wants. He trained during his whole childhood on his whole family to be assigned the less horrible chores, and it's not Keith who's going to win at this game.

"To prove me wrong." He answers simply, and Keith is the trapped one, having as only two options to accept the competition, or to admit out loud that Lance is right. And Lance already knows which one he'll choose.

Keith sighs loudly, and Lance knows it's done. "You're on, and you're going to regret this because as you're so sure you'll win, if I win, I get anything I want from you." Keith announces with a grin. Lance doesn't like that, but it's the game, and he's not risking anything because he knows the kittens and there's no way he's losing this time.

"Anything except Blue." Lance objects, not really fearing that Keith would ask for her, but never too careful.

Keith rolls his eyes. "Come on, McClain, as if I'd ask for her, have a little faith in me."

"Deal, then?" Lance asks, offering his hand for Keith to shake.

"Deal." Keith answers, shaking Lance's hand a bit too long.

They let go, looking away awkwardly.

"When do you want to.." Lance starts, stopping himself because he has no idea on how to formulate that without sounding too needy. Instead, he makes a vague gesture with his hand, hoping Keith will understand.

He does. "Ugh, I'm free right now if you want." Keith saves Lance, still not looking at him, and it's a shame because Lance hates when he's not authorized to look into those deep purple eyes.

"Oh, weren't you painting?"

Lance immediately wants to slap himself. Way to go, McClain, now he's going to think you don't want to go and are trying to find an excuse to postpone.

"I.. was. But I can stop? I finished commissions for today, I was just painting Red. But if you have something to do it's okay, we can do that another day of the week. Maybe not tomorrow but after that I'm—"

"Now is good!" Lance almost yells before Keith rambles so much he postpones their plan next year.

Keith jumps slightly, surprised, and Lance feels his cheeks turning red. Great.

"O-okay! Ugh, let me just put some shoes on." Keith stammers, looking around for shoes.

He finds some red baskets after a few seconds of looking through the mess in his apartment, puts them on, almost runs to the door, stops himself mid-way, turns around, grabs a bag, hurries back to Lance, and closes the door, slightly out of breath.

All Lance can think is cute. Very much adorable.

"Sorry." Keith says in a breath.

"It's okay." Nothing has ever been more okay than that. But of course, Lance can't tell him that, so instead, he just presses the button to call the elevator.

Once they're out of the building, Lance starts looking around, having no idea of where the closest pet shop is as he did all his shopping for Blue with Hunk next to his and Shay's place.

"This way." Keith guides him when he notices how lost Lance is, and he follows docilely, liking how domestic and natural this feels.

Like he belongs there, walking next to this guy who didn't hesitate one second before rushing out with him, paint strains all over his face, hair and clothes but not giving a shit about it and still looking so good anyway. Yeah, Lance is in so deeply it's scaring him, but slowing down is the last things he wants to do when it comes to Keith.

"You think I should have washed my face before leaving?" Keith asks suddenly as if reading Lance's mind, but Lance laughs it off.

"Nah, you're good, it gives you a style." He answers, not trusting himself to say more.

Keith hums, not totally convinced. He looks behind to look at Lance, bright eyes on him. "You just want to make fun of me, don't you? Well, it's your lost, you're the one with the weirdo." He teases, and Lance wonders how anyone could ever be ashamed of being seen with Keith.

"It's just gonna brings out my own greatness." Lance teases Keith with a fond smile he hopes is enough for Keith to understand what he really means, what he thinks deep down.

And Keith chuckles, shaking his head. "You're really something else, McClain."

You're the one talking, Kogane, he answers in his head, not trusting his voice anymore.

The pet shop is only a few minutes walk, and there's not a lot of people in. A seller looks a bit too much at Keith for Lance to be comfortable, but Keith doesn't seem to notice so he lets it go.

They go straight for the harnesses, looking at them from every angle to try to decide which on is the best.

"You should take the orange one, we won't be able to see it on her." Lance says, pointing an orange harness with his finger.

Keith glares at him. "She's not orange, stop it." But a few minutes after, he shows a blue one to Lance, telling him: "Look, you should take this blue one! We will totally be able to see it on her." And Lance really wants to make him shut up by kissing him.

Instead, he punches him slightly on the arm, and Keith laughs. Lance feels like they're alone in the world.

Finally, Keith chooses a dark brown one, and Lance a black one, with matching leashes.

When they exit the shop, Keith tells him: "Race you to the building?" But Lance answers: "Hell no, we're gonna get hit by a car." So they walk back home, easy conversation between them.

"Maybe for today we should just have them getting used to wearing a harness before taking them out." Keith offers with reason as they arrive to the building.

"You just say that because you know Red is going to give you hell for that." Lance says, knowing better. He opens the door for Keith, who rolls his eyes but doesn't comment as they get in.

"Don't think Blue's gonna accept it calmly, they're not dogs." Keith remarks, calling the elevator.

"She knows I know what's good for her, she'll listen. Red, on the other hand, is.." He doesn't finish, searching for the right word, but Keith completes his sentence for him.

"Red."

"Yeah, that."

They laugh, getting inside the elevator that starts to bring them slowly to the fifth floor.

"Would you still be mad if we were trapped in here?" He half-jokes, not meeting Keith's eyes.

Keith huffs. "Yeah. You're not that bad but I'd be mad being trapped with anyone honestly."

And okay, that's maybe not a perfect answer, but it's already something, right? What does "not that bad" even means? Like, is his company not unbearable but Keith would rather avoid it? Or is this a way to say he likes Lance better now that he knows him? He doesn't think that going for the second one is wishful thinking, Keith did let everything down to hang out with him after all.

When they exit the elevator, Lance stops at his door, looking at Keith who's opening his.

"Take Red and come in, I want to see that." He teases, grinning at Keith who rolls his eyes.

"And why don't you come in, then?" He asks, falsely annoyed.

"Cause your place is a mess, which is a shame when you think about the fact that you're in there all day, having plenty of time to clean it up."

"I especially have more time to mess it up. It's easier for you, you're not there often so you do less things in there." Keith argues, and Lance laughs, shaking his head.

"Man, why are you like this?" Lance asks, amazed by the guy next to him. How did he get so lucky that he got to meet him and spend time with that guy?

"Why are you?" Keith asks back right away, and Lance chuckles before opening his door to enter his apartment.

He lets to door opened, knowing Blue won't run away and trusting Keith to come anyway, even if he complained about it. He's pretty sure his neighbor likes their bickering as much as he does, and that realization does something weird to his inside.

"Baby Blue, I'm here!" He calls his kitten, who immediately comes at him from his bedroom. Great, he'll probably find at least one sock completely destroyed. He really needs to work on that before he's forced to go to work sockless.

"I have presents for you." He announces, putting his bag on the counter of the kitchen to look for scissors. He cuts the prices and turns the harness around, searching the way it's supposed to go. This thing looks so weird, why did he choose that one again? Oh, yeah, because Keith was making fun of it.

"You have no idea on how to put it on, do you?"

Lance jumps, turning around to see Keith, Red in his right hand, the harness and leash on the left. He has a mocking grin on his pretty face, but Lance can't bring himself to be offended. He's the one who's going to laugh in a few seconds.

"Laugh at me as much as you want, Kogane, it won't change that I'll win." He retorts, taking the harness to Blue confidently, as if he knows what he's doing.

But it's okay because Keith definitely has no idea of how to convince Red to come near her harness. She's that kind of cat who knows exactly what she likes and what she doesn't like, and today, she decided she doesn't like the harness.

Keith is also too gentle with her, not daring to force her into it like Lance does with Blue, and as Blue is generally opened to new things, she's on her harness in only a few minutes when Red is running around the living room, not letting Keith anywhere near her.

Blue struggles against the harness, trying to get it off of her, but when she understands it's not happening, she gives up and lies on the couch, licking herself.

Lance smiles proudly as he turns to Keith, but his neighbor doesn't seem to notice as he tries to catch his kitten, cheeks red.

"Need any help?" He offers.

Keith finally looks at him, then at Blue, and swears loudly. Lance bursts into laughters but decides to help Keith anyway, chasing Red until she runs right into her human's arms. He catches her before she realizes the mistake she just made, but as she tries to escape, she moves violently and Keith suddenly lets her go, holding his left wrist with a whine of pain.

It's over in a moment and Keith tries to pretend it never happened, but Lance is worried now, kneeling next to Keith to take a look at his wrist.

"It already hurt last night, right? What happened?" He asks, taking Keith's wrist softly. There isn't any visible sign of injury, but Lance knows sometimes the worst wounds are invisible.

"It's when I was fighting with my friends, I made a mistake and hurt my wrist. It wasn't hurting anymore this morning so I painted with it all day, which was stupid, so now it hurts again. It'll be fine with a bit of rest, I just keep forgetting it's hurt." Keith explains, not taking his wrist away from Lance's hands.

Lance nods slowly, thinking. "But aren't you ambidextrous? Why not painting with your right hand?"

"I am, I just paint faster with my left one, for some reason." Keith tells him sheepishly.

"Wait here." Lance just answers, letting go of Keith's wrist grudgingly to stand up and run to his kitchen. He opens his medicine cabinet and grabs a strip of cloth.

He's back at Keith's side in a few seconds. "I'll band your wrist so it heals better and faster. And like that, you won't forget it's hurt anymore." He explains as he starts unrolling the strip to place in gently on Keith's wrist.

"You don't have to." Keith mumbles, a slight smile on his lips.

"You'd rather have me to kiss it better?" He dares asking, thankful Keith then turns so red that he hides his face with his right hand, not seeing Lance's own red cheeks.

"Oh my gods." Keith just whispers as if not believing his ears, but not answering Lance's question. That's fine, his reaction tells him enough already.

He finishes wrapping Keith's wrist in silence, then looks around for Red. He sees her the moment Keith opens his mouth to call for her, and his only reflex is to put his hand on Keith's mouth to make him shut up. He doesn't expect Keith to lick it, but he does. He immediately takes his hand away, torn between acting disgust and laughing.

"Ugh, who's the gross one, now?" He teases, and Keith chuckles as an answer. He points his couch with his finger to show him Red, somehow now lying next to Blue. "I'll catch her by surprise by pretending I'm coming for Blue. Once she's controlled, you come with the harness to put it on." He explains his plan, not wanting for Keith to hurt his wrist again and counting of the cats to think he'll come for Blue.

"Okay, but why are you telling the plan in front of them?" Keith asks seriously, and Lance finds himself out of words.

"Because they don't speak English?" He offers logically, half hoping Keith is just joking.

"How do you know? We speak English to them all the time." Keith looks so lost it would be cute if it wasn't slightly worrying.

"But they don't speak back, they're cats, they can't English." Lance tries to explain, but it's so logical that he doesn't even know how to explain that. It's just common knowledge, right? Everyone knows that.

"Maybe they can understand it but not speak it. They come when we call for them, they understand." Keith contradicts him.

"Just a few words! But they can't understand full sentences, Kogane." Lance tries to keep his calm, but Keith looks so confused it's hard.

"But—"

"Did you hit your head too, yesterday? Other than on your cheek." Lance cuts him, unable to suffer from this conversation any longer, and a bit worried Keith is actually concussed.

"What? No?" Keith answers, tilting his head in confusion and okay, so he's serious and not even on the verge of dying as an excuse.

"Okay, good. We'll talk about this later. For now, let's just try with the plan, yeah?"

Keith nods, and Lance stands up, looking straight to Blue. He walks to the couch, not giving one look to Red, and kneels in front of his kitten to pet her. She immediately purrs, and Red, jealous, stands to rub her head on Lance's hand. He slowly takes one of his hand out of Blue to pet Red, who leans into the touch until suddenly, both hands are grabbing Red around the tummy.

"Keith, now!" He yells, forcing her to stay still.

In a second, Keith is by his side, forcing the harness around her head as she looks right into Lance's eyes, betrayed.

"Sorry." He apologizes, feeling guilty.

"Thought she couldn't understand English." Keith mumbles, now forcing her front paws into her tiny harness. She tries to stab him with her claws, but he has good reflexes and manages to avoid them.

"Don't." Lance simply answers.

Finally, the harness is attached, and they can leave.

Luckily, the corridor and elevator are free from any other neighbor, but once outside, there's people everywhere, some looking at them with judgmental looks, some finding the kittens cute.

It takes them fifteen minutes to get to the park which's normally a three minutes walk, because people are always stopping them to pet the kittens, always asking questions like "how old are they?" Or "are they siblings?" And it's cool at first but now Lance just wants them to leave him alone with Keith.

"So, how do we do that?" Keith wonders, and Lance shrugs. Sure, they should have look on the internet for tips before going, but it's too late now.

"I'd say we just walk and see if they follow?" Lance offers, and Keith nods, putting Red down.

She immediately runs as fast as she can, only stopping when she's out of leash, thankfully hold strongly by Keith's right hand. "Wow, Red, calm down!" He says, walking in her direction to try to reassure her, but she just runs away again. "This was a terrible idea." He announces to Lance.

"Probably." Lance answers, putting Blue down too.

She's the opposite of Red, just standing there like a stuffed animal. Lance decides it's still better than Red's reaction, and tries to walk, calling for her to follow, but she just stay right there, not moving at all.

He kneels next to her, petting her to make sure she's okay, and she jumps on his lap, sitting there.

He looks up to Keith, who calls for Red, and when Red sees him and climbs on him until she reaches his arms, Lance can't help but laugh. Attracted by the sound, Keith looks at him too and joins him in his laughter.

"If Red moved with the leash on, does that mean I win?" He asks, hopeful, and Lance wonders what he chose as a reward to hope for it like that. He's pretty sure he prefers not to know. Or maybe he hasn't planned anything yet and just wants to win.

"Nope, sorry, her running around like a mad cat is not walking her." Lance decides, and Keith pouts.

"But it's impossible!" Keith whines.

"We literally tried for less than a minute." Lance deadpans.

"And they make it feels like hours." Keith complains, leaning down to put Red back on the ground. She immediately runs to Lance lap against Blue. Keith laughs and Lance almost falls down.

"Yeah no, we're not doing that, I'm not a taxi for cats." He says, trying to push them away unsuccessfully.

"A catxi." Keith comments.

"Not helping."

Keith shrugs and walks to Lance, grabbing Red to place her on Lance's shoulder like a parrot.

"Hey! Still not helping." Lance says unnecessarily.

Keith takes a step behind and takes his phone out to take a photo. Lance blushes furiously because what? They're authorized to do that without it being awkward? Keith should have warned him.

He puts his phone back in his pocket, and takes Red back, putting her on the ground where she starts running around again, slower, but still looking a bit crazy.

Lance puts Blue down too. There's no way Keith is winning this. But Blue is still not motivated by moving, and just looks at Lance. He walks a few steps, calling for her and forcing her to move, but then she just lay there.

Red is not doing any better, as she starts climbing a three, stopped by Keith just in time before she's out of reach.

After half an hour of training, they made a few progresses, but no kitten is close to what they need to win the competition, and both humans are too tired to continue.

They collapse on a bench in the park, their arms touching, cats on laps, not wanting to move again anytime soon.

"I could fall asleep right here and now." Keith announces, eyes already closed.

"Didn't sleep well? Or just because of Red?" Lance asks, taking advantage of Keith closed eyes to look at him, really looking. He didn't notice before, but the dark circles under his eyes are back. He was too distracted by the paint stains earlier, but now that he's paying attention, it's all he can see.

"Didn't sleep at all." Keith whispers, already half way gone.

"Why?" It's only a whisper too, as if Lance is scared of the answer. Maybe he is.

"You.." Keith starts, but falls unconscious before saying more, his head tumbling on Lance's shoulder and he can't breathe anymore because what the heck is happening right now?

He doesn't dare to move or say anything, waiting. Waiting for his heart to calm down, or for Keith to wakes up, whichever comes first.

He lets his head rest on Keith's after a few seconds of hesitation. It feels good. Natural. Like it belongs there. He sighs slightly, wondering what Keith would have said in his half conscious state if he stayed awake just a few more seconds.

You. Him. Lance. Keith didn't sleep at all last night because of him. Why? Because of their fight? Was is even a fight? Did he stay up all night drawing that portrait of Blue for Lance? Or did he lay on his bed for hours, overthinking everything?

Lance wishes he'd have come to him to talk. Even in the middle of the night. He wishes he'd said something when Keith stopped at his door before leaving, obviously waiting, hoping for Lance to say something, anything. He wishes he could reassure him, make sure he sleeps well every night.

A stupid car beeps on the road going along the park and Keith jumps awake, same with the cats. He looks at Lance, sleep in his eyes, rubbing his hands on them to chase away tiredness.

"Sorry." He mumbles.

"It's okay." Lance just answers, too scared to ask what he really wants to ask.

Blue jumps on the ground, starting to walk, and Lance's heart jump in his chest. Is she..? He stands up right away, taking a few steps next to her, and she continues to walk as if it is something they do all the time.

Lance grins. "Looks like I win!" He declares proudly and Keith pouts, clearly disappointed.

"Guess you did."

Lance holds him a hand to help him on his feet. "Come on, don't be grumpy, you knew you couldn't win! What were you going to ask, though? I'm curious now."

Keith takes his hand to stand but immediately let go when he's on his feet to carry Red with his good hand.

"Doesn't matter now."

He smiles sadly at Lance, and for the first time, Lance regrets winning. He frowns, a bit worried, but Keith forces his smile to look more natural.

"Come on, let's go home, I need to sleep for the next two days."

He's pretty good at pretending everything's fine, but Lance knows better. He knows how it looks like when you pretend you're not upset for the sake of the people with you. He wishes Keith wouldn't feel the need to do that with him. He doesn't push, though. It wouldn't do any good.

"Okay, we'll teach Red next time, I'm sure with Blue as an example she'll get it." He tries to reassure him, and Keith nods.

"Yeah, next time."

* * *

Lance waits outside the locker rooms while Keith is getting changed with a mix of apprehension and excitement. A part of him fears what he'll see, but the other one can't wait to discover more about Keith and that side of him.

Three days ago, Keith asked Lance if he could babysit Red, because the club where he's doing martial arts is organizing a competition between its members. Nothing big, but apparently, it's fun to fight against other people than his regular group, so he wanted to go, except it takes the full day, so he was embarrassed to ask Lance to babysit for so long.

Of course, Lance got excited by the idea, but not for the reason you can think. Yeah, having two kittens for the day would be great, but what would be greater would be to go with Keith to watch the competition. And watch him fight. Lance can't help but think it'll be extremely hot.

So he asked Keith, who looked completely caught out of garde, thinking Lance wanted to fight, then he blushed furiously when he understood Lance wanted to watch him before nodding his approval.

After that, Lance called Hunk, and him and Shay accepted to babysit the kittens at Lance's place as a test before they adopt a kitten themselves. So they briefly met Keith, who was amazingly awkward, but Hunk and Shay were so nice it went smoothly (that, and the fact that Lance talked so much about Keith to his friends that they likes him already, then he talked a lot about Hunk and Shay to Keith to convince him he could trust them with Red).

So now, here is Lance, right before the competition starts, excited about seeing Keith fights, but really not wanting to see him take any hit. Especially against one of him friends, because then, he would have a hard time liking them, and for some reason, he really wanted to get along with them (just like he wanted Keith to get along with his friends).

When they arrived, they didn't see any of Keith's friends, so now, waiting, Lance can't help but look at every person coming in, wondering if they're one of them.

Then, Keith exits with another man, more muscled than anyone Lance has ever seen, and he just lose it because damn, that's the kind of person Keith hangs out with?! And Lance is just there, hoping, looking like a stick. Great.

Keith waves at him. "Hi, sorry for keeping you waiting. Ugh, this is Shiro, my best friend. He's the one who punched me in the face." He introduces the guy, who laughs at Keith's words.

Imagining the dude who hit Keith, Lance had created someone looking mean, but he couldn't have been more wrong. The guy has a great smile, and as Keith said, looks like one of the nicest person ever. Like a protective big brother. Lance hopes it's what he is for Keith.

"And there I was hoping to make a good impression. It's nice to meet you, Lance." Shiro offers a hand to Lance, who shakes it, trying not to think too much about the fact that Keith didn't have to tell Lance's name. As if he talked to Shiro about Lance before.

"It's nice to meet you too. And don't worry, just don't do that again." He answers, knowing he couldn't do anything against the dude, but still wanted to show that he wouldn't let anyone hurt Keith.

"Believe me, if I don't do my best against him he'll kick my ass." Shiro says, and Keith scowls at him as if daring him to say another word. Then, his eyes are attracted by something else.

"Look, Adam is back! Don't be gross." Keith points at some guy behind Lance, looking as much muscled as Shiro, and Lance wonders how Keith manages to fight against men like that.

Shiro smiles brightly, and Lance doesn't know what kind of 'gross' he should expect until he kisses the Adam dude. His mouth opens, and Keith pretends to be annoyed but Lance can see him looking fondly at them.

Before he can ask, they're both back. "Lance, this is Adam, my fiancé! When we first met he knocked me unconscious, then kept apologizing during the whole ride to the hospital." Shiro tells him proudly, Adam laughing at the story, and Keith groans.

"You're so embarrassing." He mumbles, but there's the ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Guess you can say you fell for him, then." Lance comments.

"Oh my gods, Keith, I like him already, we're keeping him!" Adam says excitedly. Lance wonders what he means with that, but he's too scared to ask, and too happy to say anything about that. Is he doing it? Is he really making Keith's friends liking him?

He looks at Keith, wondering if he'll answer, but Keith is just blushing, and two other people arriving save him from having to say something back. Damn.

"Hey, guys, ready to kick some asses? I really hope I'm against James, I want to punch that kid." One of them announce, resting his elbow on Keith's shoulder and what the heck does he think he's doing. Lance sees red and has to resist the urge to push that elbow away.

"I hope he's against Keith, I want a legal rematch of that fight." The other one says, and she's literally a miniature version of the guy she arrived with.

Lance really wants to know who that James dude is and what is the story with him but more than anything, he wants to know why the guy thinks it's okay to be so close to Keith.

He cleans his throat to introduce himself, as Keith is too busy scowling at them to do it, but the girl notices him, her mouth opening in a 'o'.

"Oh. You must be Lance." She tests, eyes going fast between him and Keith.

"Yeah? Nice to meet you, ugh..?" He prompts, waiting for her to introduce herself, but she just looks at the guy who's probably her brother, with the scariest look Lance has ever seen.

"Katie, but you can call her Pidge. And this is her brother, Matt. They're genius but also the dumbest persons alive. And they share a brain." Keith says for them, not meeting Lance's eyes.

"We do not!" They answer at the same time before glaring at each other, them bursting into laughters. Keith rolls his eyes, finally looking at Lance as if saying I told you so.

Lance laughs.

"I changed my mind, I want to fight Keith, now." Matt says, pouting, but still resting his damn elbow on Keith anyway.

"You do not, he could kill you in his sleep." Pidge laughs at him.

Matt sighs. "Yeah, true."

Everybody laughs, and Lance finds himself joining them, more relaxed. They seem like a nice group of people.

"Alright guys, we should go warm up, the first fights will be announced in fifteen." Adam announces, and everyone nod.

Adam and Shiro leave hand in hand, followed by Matt, who finally removes his elbow from Keith's shoulder, then Pidge, after she sent a meaningful look at Keith that Lance is dying to know the meaning of.

"Sorry about them, they're a lot." Keith says anxiously, and Lance understands that he fears they scared him off.

"I think they're great." He tells him, and Keith smiles brightly at him.

They join the others who are already warming up, except Pidge. She walks to Lance as Keith starts his exercises with the others.

"I'm glad I'm not alone in the bleachers, for once." She says as a conversation starter.

"Oh, you're not fighting?" Lance asks, looking at her gym clothes. Yes, she's super tiny, but that doesn't mean she can't be strong, and with her clothes and how she seems to fit so well in their group, he just assumed she was in the competition too.

"Are you kidding? I'm a brain, not muscles. And I can actually use my brain enough to know that." She answers, eying her brother. True, the guy looks like he has nothing to do in a fight, but Lance learned not to judge on look, people are surprising.

"Don't judge a book by its cover."

She nods at that like he just said something super deep. "I'll try." She says, looking at him from top to bottom, smirking slightly.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Lance yells, making her laugh.

"Nothing, I'm just trying to figure out what your intentions are with Keith, that's all." She admits frankly.

Lance feels his cheek getting hot. There's no way she'd imply stuff like that just because of the few interactions she saw between them in the last minutes, right? Keith must have say something about him, maybe he talked to them about him, maybe he..

"Don't look at me like that, dude. I think Matt's gonna have a burn on his elbow because of how you looked at it." She answers his thoughts, and Lance isn't sure if he likes her or not. "He has a girlfriend, by the way." Lance's heart stops beating, and it must show on his face because she adds hurriedly: "Matt, I mean!"

Lance's smile is so big he normally would be embarrassed, but he's too relieved to care right now.

She chuckles, and Lance tries to suppress his smile but it's hard.

"Shut up." He says.

"So, who do you think will win today?" Pidge asks, eyes back on the people training.

Lance follows her look. There's a few people who look really strong, but not that much.

"Hm, probably Shiro or Adam." He guesses, as no one is as muscled as they are. Maybe more Adam, as he apparently can knock Shiro out, but seeing how Shiro looks at Adam, maybe this incident had more to do with love at first sight than fighting skill.

Pidge giggles. "Who's the one judging by the cover, now? Shiro's often in the last ones but Adam never is. This kind of fighting is not only about muscles, you know."

"Come on, it's easier for you, you watch them all the time, it's the first time for me! And I'm sure Shiro can kick everyone's butt. I can't see how anyone could win against him." He defends himself, looking at everyone again. Yeah, she's probably just trying to confuse him.

"Hey, what's going on here?"

Lance jumps as Keith arrives in front of them. He was so busy arguing with Pidge he lost sight of Keith for a moment.

"Lance bets on Shiro." Pidge informs him right away, and Lance glares at her. Great, tell him I don't think he can win, go on.

Keith chuckles. "You don't think I can win?"

He looks right into Lance's eyes with his beautiful purple eyes and damn, Kogane, you already won my heart, isn't it enough?

"I.. I just.. I mean.." He stammers, but Keith just laugh it off.

"It's okay, I get it. But you'll lose your bet." Keith announces.

"Yeah? And who are you betting on, Kogane?" He asks with a grin. He feels like they're the only two left in the world.

"Myself. You can only trust yourself to win a bet." He says confidently and it's just so hot. "If I win, I can get anything I want from you except Blue. If Shiro wins, you can have anything you want except Red."

"You're on. But you not authorized to talk to Shiro before the end, I don't trust you not to ask him to lose."

Keith huffs. "Are you kidding? He'd give his best to win if he knew. But deal, and some goes for you."

They shake hands.

"You two are so ridiculous it's scary." Pidge says next to them, and Lance almost jumps because he totally forgot she's here. Looking at Keith's pink cheeks, the same goes for them.

"Hey, guys. They announced the first fights. You're against Kinkade, Keith." Shiro announces as him, Adam and Matt join them.

"Can you ask him who he's against, Pidge?" Keith asks his friend without even looking at Shiro. "Oh, and thank him for info, please."

"What the..?" Shiro starts, but Pidge cuts him, repeating Keith's words with an amused smile. Shiro doesn't answer, too confused, looking between Keith, still ignoring him, and Pidge, on the edge of laughing.

"He's against Adam." Matt says eventually.

"What?! That's so not fair!" Lance yells, feeling betrayed by fate.

"Come on, Adam never wins against him!" Keith yells back, crossing his arms.

"He's his fiancé! He won't hurt him!" Lance continues, ignoring the group around them.

"It's not about hurting people, if you do it well, no one is hurt!" Keith explains-yells.

"Them why were you hurt the other day?!" Lance asks, thinking back at the bruise that had nothing to do on Keith's pretty face.

"Because I made a mistake! It wasn't his fault that I got distracted!" Keith reminds him, throwing a quick look in Shiro's direction as if to make sure he doesn't feel guilty again.

"Yeah, that was actually my fault." Pidge mentions, and that brings them both back to earth because oh yeah, we have an audience.

"Anyway, what are Keith's chances against that Kinkade dude?" Lance asks, embarrassed.

"Pretty good, actually, dude must be crying right now." Matt says with a gently smile.

"So he sucks?"

"Oh no, he can hold himself, Keith is just one of the bests." Matt explains, tousling his hand on Keith's hair. Keith immediately fights against it, and Lance has to remind himself he has a girlfriend, he has a girlfriend.

Then, an alarm announces it's time to start the firsts fights, and everyone disperse. Pidge follows Matt, and Lance naturally does the same with Keith, the excitement to watch him fight back with the anxiety to see him get hurts. And okay, he said it isn't something that happens a lot, but it does, and that's scary.

"Kogane, hi!" A guy greets with a big smile that reminds Lance of Hunk.

"Hey, ready to lose?" Keith greets back playfully.

"Come on, can't you let a guy hopes for victory?"

"Never."

With that, the fight begins. Lance doesn't understand a lot about what is going on, not being familiar with the moves and rules, but he can tell it's a fair fight, that no one is playing dirty. His heart races a few times when Kinkade comes a little to close to hit Keith badly, but he can rapidly see that Keith is winning this, taking the advantage second by second until his opponent is on the ground.

Keith comes back all sweaty, drying himself with a towel before drinking some water while Lance makes his way to him.

"Congrats, it looked cool." He comments, and Keith answers with a soft smile that has nothing to do with the controlled brutality of the fight that just happened.

"Thanks, I hope you're not too disappointed." He jokes, and Lance shakes his head.

"Nah, I'm rooting for you." Lance says trustfully.

He doesn't really care about the bet this time, he just wants to see that joy and proud smile on Keith again and again. And he can't help but think back at Keith's sad face when he lost the competition the other day. He kinds of hope he'll lose today so Keith can ask that anything he wants from Lance. He wants to know so badly.

The next fights are announced a few minutes later, and Lance is only half happy when he hears Shiro's name being called for another fight. According to Keith, it's really not a surprised. Apparently, it's another easy fight, but almost any opponent is an easy fight for Shiro. Keith loses his smile when he's called against that James dude, though.

"Is that guy a jerk or something..?" Lance asks Keith as they're making their way to the fight. He catches Shiro looking worriedly at Keith a few meters away, and Adam leaves his side to follow Keith and Lance.

Okay, if Adam comes to see this fight instead of his fiancé's, it must be bad.

Keith shrugs. "You can say that." He doesn't explain, and Lance doesn't ask.

Adam arrives, putting a reassuring hand on Keith's shoulder. "If you don't want to fight him—"

"Oh I totally want to fight him." Keith cuts him, not even looking at him, and oh oh, this sounds like something that's about to go wrong.

"Yeah, maybe a little too much."

"I won't fight dirty if he doesn't." Keith mumbles between his teeth.

They make their way through, and this time, there's no playful greeting. The guy simply nods at Keith with cold eyes, and Keith does the same. Lance doesn't like that look in his eyes.

"Be careful." He asks, and Keith's look turns soft as his eyes lands on Lance. Okay, this is good.

"Don't worry."

He squeezes Lance's arm and leaves his side. In the meantime, Matt and Pidge arrived next to him and Adam.

"Already out?" Adam teases Matt.

"You're the one talking."

They both chuckle, but there's no real joy. Pidge frowns at James, and Lance dares ask her: "What's the story?"

She seems to think about her answer for a few seconds before opening her mouth. "They had a fight, a real one. James said something to Keith that was unacceptable and suffered the consequences. I can't tell you much, it's Keith's story to tell if he wants to, but the blame is all on James." She says loyally, and Lance nods, reassured.

Until the fight starts. It's brutal, and unlike what Keith said, it gets dirty pretty fast. He doesn't break his promise though, keeping thing in the rules until James doesn't. No one stops him as he tries repeatedly to hurt Keith, and as it's not like him to accept hits without giving them back, he lets go of his control on himself and hits.

Lance looks at Keith's friends, wondering how he's supposed to react. If no one says anything, it must be authorized, right? Adam looks worried, but not as if he's about to interfere, so it's already that. Matt is looking cautiously, and Pidge has a thin smile on her face. She feels Lance's gaze on her though.

"Keith is going to win." She predicts, her eyes not leaving the fight for one second, but Lance knows she's talking to him.

"How do you know? That dude is.. Savage." He says, half yelling because of all the cheering around them for the different fights taking place.

"James is an excellent fighter when he's in control. With Keith, he's not. And Keith is great when he thinks about his moves, but when he fights with his guts, he's unstoppable. That's probably why he bet on himself. You're totally losing that bet by the way." She informs him, still looking at the fight, and Lance does the same, finding himself unable to tear his gaze away anymore.

"We'll see." He answers with a smile, and at that, she sends him a quick look.

"You look too happy for someone about to lose a bet." She notices.

"Losing that bet doesn't mean I won't win." He says as Keith manages to throw James on his butt, jumping on him to push him against the ground.

When he's declared winner, Lance sighs deeply, relieved that it's over. Keith shakes James's hand, but doesn't even look at him, hurrying back to his friends. Adam immediately hugs him.

"You did so well." He congratulates him.

"I want to be like you when I grow up." Matt adds, bumping his fist against Keith's arm. Keith rolls his eyes as Matt is obviously older than him, but smiles at his friends.

He looks at Lance and seems a bit worried, waiting for his judgement, and Lance understands he fears Lance won't look at him the same after seeing this. And he's right, he won't see him the same. He just likes him even more, because whatever James did to him in the past, Keith still managed to keep his nerves and win this.

"It was amazing." He says, and Keith smiles fondly at him and his heart goes crazy in his chest because that smile is not allowed.

"Keith!" A familiar voice yells behind him, and Lance turns around to see Shiro running to them. "How did it go?"

Keith sends a questioning look at Lance, and he understands that Keith wants to answer, but doesn't want to break their no-talking-to-Shiro deal.

"Go ahead." He immediately gives his authorization, not that Keith really needs it.

"The final hit made him cry a bit." He announces proudly, and Shiro chuckles, shaking his head slightly.

"You're impossible."

After that, the general mood is more intense as the winners will make it to the final. Shiro leaves with Adam and Matt, and Pidge and Lance stays with Keith as he waits for his next opponent, a man named Lotor. Keith made a face when he heard the name, but apparently, not because they don't get along or anything. No, he's just one of the rare who can put Keith down.

When he arrives, Lance has to fight to keep his mouth shut. The guy is tall, like, really tall, he has very long hair, and looks like some kind of prince who just fought a dragon without sweating at all. He walks like he owns the place, confidently, looking at others like they were his subjects.

He makes a beeline to Keith, smirking down at him.

"How does it feel to know you already lost?"

Keith scowls at him while also rolling his eyes, which gives a result that shows pretty well how annoyed he must be. And Lance totally gets it because that guy seems super rude.

"I don't know, you tell me." Keith retorts, and Lotor smiles coldly.

"I heard your dominant wrist is still weak, and you ordinarily need to give everything for a chance to compete with me. You know you don't stand a chance." He says, looking down at Keith's wrist menacingly and Lance swears that if that guy dare hurt it or something he's going to punch him himself.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, don't count too much on that, though." Keith answers confidently, crossing his arms nonchalantly.

"You guys are so annoying." Pidge suddenly interferes, and Lance jumps a little. He had almost forgotten she was there, too taken in the pre-fight taking place behind his eyes.

"Come on, Pidge, don't be like that, there's more than one way to warm up before a fight." Lotor explains, and Lance notices Keith's smile and what is happening?

They're called to fight, and as they walk away, Pidge turns to him. "They're always doing that but they're actually really good friends now. At first, they were like rivals, but they figured it out because spoiler: you can be friend with someone you're in competition with."

Lance nods, liking this better than his previous idea of Lotor being another jerk.

"Will he fight dirty?" He still asks.

"Which one?"

"Lotor, of course."

"Nah, he's like.. Mister rules. He knows them all by heart and makes sure everyone respects them. He also knows how far he can go. Like, he'll probably try to take advantage of Keith's wrist, but would never hurt him, for example." She explains, and Lance is thankful he has her with him to give him the information because damn, this is complicated.

"So.. He's a nice dude?" He asks to be sure.

Pidge seems to think about it for a moment. "He's a fair dude."

Well, it's better than the other way around.

The fight begins, and it's everything Pidge said it would be. Lotor's attacks are mostly directed against Keith's left side, but either he's really not hurt anymore, either he's stronger than Lotor thought because he doesn't even flinch, attacking back strongly.

If Keith's style is fast, brutal, determined, Lotor is all in strategy. Every move he makes seem to be thought about, even if they happen in the moment, and it's like he can guess Keith's moves before he decides them. It's getting on Keith's nerves. He starts making mistakes, is less precise, until Lotor finds a way in and throws him on the ground.

Lance closes his eyes for a moment, his heart going crazy in his chest, but Keith is back on his feet in a second, attacking more fiercely than before. The fall seems to have brought him back in the game though, and he doesn't make any more mistake.

A few meters away, Lance hears cheering, letting him guess the other fight is over, but he can bring himself to care about it. He doesn't care about the bet anymore, he just wants Keith to win.

And after a few more seconds of eternity, he finally does.

Then, everything goes crazy. Everybody's yelling and Keith has trouble making it back to them. Adam and Shiro arrives with Matt around the same time, and everything is just one big hug, so messy Lance doesn't even know who dragged him into it, but glad they did because he feels so accepted he wants to cry.

He looks at Keith in the middle of that mount of affection, and is positively surprised to see he's already looking at him. And contrary to what Lance thought, Keith doesn't look away. Instead, his smile grows softer, warming Lance from the inside.

He doesn't want that moment to end, but it does as the two finalists need to get ready.

"Guess we'll see if the student has surpassed the master." Shiro says, grinning at Keith who just has the biggest smile ever at that news.

"What master?" Keith still teases, even though it's clear how much he admires the man in front of him.

"I'll get you for that." Shiro answers before turning around to take a break with Adam before the fight.

Keith immediately turns to Lance.

"So, what do you think? Enjoying yourself so far?" He asks a bit nervously, toying with his fingers and Lance has to fight the urge to prevent him to do so by taking his hands in his own.

"Actually yeah, it almost makes me want to try." He admits. The thought has crossed his mind as he saw how Keith seemed to be so.. Relaxed, so fully himself as he was fighting. It was like seeing another face of Keith, so different from the one with painting all over himself but still so.. Him.

"Really? I could totally give you a lesson if you want. Or I could ask Shiro, he's a way better teacher than I am." Keith's face breaks into a grin, and Lance didn't know he could be the reason of that, but he likes it.

"I think I'd be more at ease with you." He says honestly, and for the pleasure of seeing Keith's blush.

"Then I'll do it."

"Cool. I'll thank you with ice cream afterward." Lance promises. Great way to spend more time with Keith, really smooth, McClain.

Keith smiles. "Works for me. It's a—"

"Fucking drink some water, Keith, the final is in 2 minutes!" Pidge yells at him, shoving a bottle of water in Keith's gut violently.

He looks away from Lance, docilely drinking the water Pidge brought him, and Lance has to resist de urge to strangle her. Why couldn't she wait three more seconds before forcing Keith to hydrate? Sure, it's great she thought about it, Lance should have, damn, Keith should have, but if only he had the opportunity to end his sentence.. He was about to say 'it's a date', right? There's no way he wasn't. It was about to be official. But she had to come and..

"You okay, McClain?"

Lance jumps back into reality at Keith's worried look, not even wanting to know what kind of face he was making. All he knows is that Pidge is smirking, sending him a knowing look.

"Yeah, yeah." He mumbles, forcing himself to smile reassuringly.

He's not sure Keith believes him, but before he can try to convince him, him and Shiro are called back. Keith gives the bottle back to Pidge and starts leaving, so when Lance acts, it's totally on the impulse. He catches Keith's arm before he's out of reach, forcing him to turn around, surprised readable in his beautiful eyes.

"I.. Just.. Good luck. Not that I think you'll need it, I'm sure you'll do great." He stammers a little, not finding the right words to express what he wants to say, but Keith's soft look is the best answer he could have dreamed of.

"Thanks."

Lance squeezes Keith's arm before letting go, and Keith's gone, joining Shiro. They exchange a polite nod, but their affection for each other is obvious. They don't smile at the other, their expressions are closed. They're concentrate on giving everything to win, it's not playful, it's a serious fight, not a training, and it shows. But still, Keith looks different from how he looked on his other fights.

Maybe it's because he learned with Shiro, because he fought so much with Shiro that he knows his style so well he's totally relaxed. Maybe it's because he trusts Shiro so completely he can be himself with him. Or maybe it's because they fought so many times against each other they know it won't have any incidence on their friendship.

"Still on Shiro's side?" Matt asks Lance, suddenly on his side and of course Pidge told him about the bet.

Said Pidge just snorts hearing that. "Matt, please."

"What?! He saw how good of a fighter Keith is, he could change his mind. Just because Shiro won most of their fights doesn't mean—"

"That's not what I meant. And I'm not referring to probability on this one." She answers, confusing Lance even more, which is scary with Matt knowing look.

"Oh."

"What?" Lance asks.

"So he was never on Shiro's side because.. Oh." He repeats, completely ignoring Lance.

"What does that 'oh' means?" Lance asks again.

But no one answers him because at that moment, Keith tries to force Shiro on the ground. But Shiro uses his impetus to make Keith fly over himself before throwing him strongly on the floor. There's a lot of cheering and yelling from all around him, but it's like Lance can't hear them as his heart jumps in his throat, going crazy.

He doesn't care who wins or loses at this point, he just want to know if Keith is okay. He needs to know he's okay.

Shiro wouldn't hurt him, right? He's his best friend, he would never.. Lance wasn't even worried, not like with the other fights. He thought.. But Shiro already hurt him, right? That bruise on his cheek, his messed up wrist..

It all happens in a moment. Shiro lowers to keep Keith on the floor, and Keith does that same throwing-his-opponent-over-himself thingy Shiro just did, taking him by surprise as he thought Keith was down.

Lance hears someone chuckling next to him, and is surprised to see Adam, a hand over his mouth as he looks his fiancé being brutally thrown on the ground. The perplexed look he sends him mustn't stay unnoticed as Adam looks away from the fight to look at Lance.

"Keith does that all the time. He lets Takashi - ugh, sorry, Shiro -, think he's winning, then turns the situation around. It's mostly like that that he gets hurt, when he lets him falsely win on moves too easy to avoid that Shiro was sure he'd be stopped." He explains, and Lance nods, reassured. So he's stupid to worry that much? Maybe it's because he's not used to it like Adam and the others are.

He feels better having someone explaining things to him, so he's thankful for Pidge and Adam.

"Who do you think will win? Honestly." Lance asks him. It's the first time he sees Shiro fight, so he can't really compare this fight to his previous ones like he does with Keith. And Adam has seen them fight for years now, it must be easy for him to tell.

"I have absolutely no idea." Adam admits to Lance's surprise. "With them, it could go either way in a second."

True to Adam's words, Keith and Shiro are once again rolling on the ground, giving their best to get the upper hand. And true to his prediction, the outcome arrives at a glance. As if it's in the meantime the hardest and easiest thing ever, Keith just stops on top of Shiro, blocking him with his left arm on Shiro's throat.

And just like that, it's like the room explodes. Everyone run forward, and Lance can't see Keith or Shiro anymore, even Keith's other friends are gone from his sight, as they run to them as soon as the fight was declared over while Lance was still trying to comprehend what just happened.

Luckily, Lance is tall, so he manages to locate Shiro and Adam, the tallest of the group. He hurries in their direction, but mid-way to them, he's stopped by someone suddenly crushing against him, arms wrapping around his neck. It doesn't take half a second before Lance hugs him back, wrapping his arms around Keith's hips.

It feels so natural, so right, that when Keith nestles his face in Lance's neck, he just forgets everything else and kiss him on the top of the head. Keith freezes, moving his head back to look at Lance, and Lance's heart just stops because what if he interpreted everything wrong? What if he just ruined a great friendship?

But in Keith's eyes, he can see the same hope he's feeling, holding the boy next door close to him as if he never had anything more precious between his arms in his entire life. And when Keith smiles at him, he knows he's definitely something special, something he never had but always dreamed of having.

"It's what I want, for winning the bet." Keith announces him weakly, a bit out of breath.

"What?" Lance asks, unsure, scared to make a mistake.

"A kiss." He clarifies, looking back and forth between Lance's eyes and his lips.

Lance removes on of his hands from Keith's hips to cup his cheek, kissing the other one, feeling himself blushing furiously but not caring, forgetting everything about their audience as Keith chuckles softly, shaking his head slightly.

Lance tilts his head, confused as Keith takes Lance's head between his hands, caressing his cheeks with his thumbs, and Lance feels like he's going to explode because he wants that man so much.

"I really have to do everything myself, huh?" He says quietly, for only Lance to hear.

Lance half opens his mouth, about to ask Keith if he means what he hopes he means, what he thinks he means, but Keith doesn't let him. Because he shuts him up with a kiss, gentle at first, then deeper, passionate, almost hungry.

Lance runs his fingers in Keith's hair, messing up his ponytail a bit more, but none of them care. He vaguely hears cheering, but no one really exist right now except Keith. Keith and the warmth he's sending through Lance's whole body as if he's brought back to life, as if he's waking up for the first time.

He doesn't realize he's out of breath before Keith leans back, breathing heavily. He smiles shyly at Lance, not totally daring looking at him in the eyes, and Lance rests his forehead against Keith's, smiling widely.

"It's real, right? It's not just the euphoria of the victory or—"

"Lance." Keith cuts him and Lance freezes because..

"You called me by my first name." He remarks, wondering why it feels so good, why it makes him so happy.

"Yeah. Though it was about time, don't you think?" Keith jokes, bumping his nose against Lance's.

"Yeah." He pauses. "Hey, Keith?" He tests the name on his mouth. He likes it. He wants to say it again. And again. Forever.

"Hm?"

"Kiss me again." He asks, and Keith is happy to supply.

After that, the group of friends decides to go in a restaurant, most of them hungry because of the competition, but Keith passes, saying he doesn't want to go because he's too tired, and Lance feels relieved because all of this starts to be a little too much for him and he just wants to go back home.

And they do just that, hand in hand, until they reach Lance's apartment. They speak a bit with Hunk and Shay, but they leave after a few minutes, and Keith just collapses on Lance's couch with the kittens on his tummy as Lance heats up the food Hunk left for them after eating with Shay.

It's domestic, it feels good, natural, and when they slowly fall asleep on the couch against each other, Lance doesn't find in himself the motivation to fight it.

Chapter Text

When Lance wakes up, he doesn't know where he is. He's laying, but it's tinier than his bed, less comfy, and cold because he doesn't have his blanket. Also there's too much light for his eyes to handle, and his back and neck hurt. The only comforting thing is Blue's warm weight on him, even if it doesn't feel totally right, much more heavier than usual.

It's what force Lance to finally open his eyes slowly, carefully, to see Blue sleeping form on his stomach, nestled against the sleeping form of another kitten Lance grew to love and care for so much. He smiles slightly because cute, then everything that happened the day before comes back to his mind and Lance freaks out.

He straightens in an almost sitting position, careful not to drop the kittens on the floor while doing so. He looks around, but no Keith in sight. He tries to ease the feeling of fear that is rapidly making itself at home inside of him, but he can't because it looks like he's been abandoned like a cliché of the date who leaves in the morning before you wake up as they realized you weren't that great after all.

Lance listens his surrounding, wondering if Keith could have just left to take a shower, but it's dead silent. The rational part of his brain tells him that hello, he would never leave without Red and he's not like that, plus, it would be stupid as you live right next to him, but the scared part is just screaming he left you, you're not what he wants, you were just a one-day/night-thing so loudly that he has trouble ignoring it.

The kittens slowly wake up with Lance movements, and jump on the floor to walk to the kitchen, Blue meowing to Lance to get his attention. Like on auto-pilot, he stands up, making his way to the kitchen to grab two bowls to put cat food in.

He watches them eat, then takes back the bowls to put them in the sink, as a problem for future-Lance. It's only then that he notices a piece of paper on the counter, so much in evidence that he doesn't understand how he missed it before but now his heart is racing in his chest and his hands are shaking as he holds out a hand to take it.

I'll be right back! It says, with a tiny doodle of a cat sending a kiss and okay, Lance is totally keeping this until the day he dies.

Reassured, it's like the fog in his brain dissipates, allowing him to properly think again.

He decides to make coffee, and while it's in the making, he decides to cuddle the cats. He starts with one hand on each, but discovers that Blue is a bit jealous as she constantly puts herself between Lance and Red. Her kitten-friend isn't blind nor patient though, and she's rapidly annoyed, so she jumps on Lance lap to put herself out of Blue's reach.

Lance chuckles, still petting a cat with each of his hands, perfectly content right now. Then, his door opens, and Lance forgets how to breathe because Keith is back. He still has his clothes from yesterday, but his hair is now only half-up and it's so pretty Lance wants to cry. He has a paper bag from a bakery in one hand, and Lance's keys in the other like he belongs there in Lance's apartment, like it's theirs.

"I can't believe you stole my keys." He says, letting go of the kittens to stand up.

Keith puts the keys back on the counter, giggling.

"Good morning to you too. And it was for the good cause, I brought food." Keith unnecessarily tells him, a waiting look on his face, and Lance understands he's waiting for Lance to make a move.

They're on a bonder between two types of relationships, and the next seconds could make them go in one way of the other. That thing they have, the kisses, the cuddling, it could stay a one-time thing in the moment, in the euphoria of the competition. Or it could be more. It could be real, permanent. All that Lance needs to do to have that is take a step forward and take it, show Keith it's what he wants.

He doesn't even really decides to move, it's like his body is going for it anyway. He walks to Keith, stopping just a few centimeters away from him before kissing him gently on his cheek, a hand on Keith's arm to steady himself.

Then, as if it's the most natural thing ever, he takes the bag from him, opening it to look inside.

"Thanks babe, it looks delicious." He says, taking the food out to put it on a plate. Just then, the coffee machine announces its job is done. "Coffee's done." He adds, eying Keith to check if he broke him.

He's still standing there, his face so red Lance is almost worried, but the huge smile on his face tells him everything is okay.

Amused, Lance goes back to him, guiding him to the table by the shoulders. He lets him sit by himself and brings the plate and the coffee with two mugs and sugar. When he's done, Keith seems back to himself, still a bit red, but functioning.

"Do you wanna go walk training after that? I'm sure Red can learn from Blue." Lance offers, not ready to let go of Keith yet, and they already talked about it last time, right? It's something they planned to do, why not now?

"You really like seeing me suffer, don't you?" Keith asks with a teasing smile, looking down at his breakfast to avoid Lance eyes, as if he's too nervous to look at him. He's definitely the most beautiful person Lance has ever seen in his entire life and he has no idea on how he managed to convince him Lance is good enough for him but he's so thankful for that.

"No." He answers, giggling. "I just think she has a lot of potential, believe in her, Keith."

It's Keith's turns to laugh. "Oh, yeah, sure, that's funny coming from the guy who kept telling me I'd never win that competition because Red would never allow me to walk her."

Lance smiles, amused. Well, he can't deny that, can he? "And I did win, but I don't think she can't learn at all, I just knew Blue would be faster. Can you tell me now what you'd have asked, though? If you won that?"

He's still curious, still remembering too much of Keith's disappointed face, how he refused to tell him what he wanted. Maybe now that they know each other better Keith is more comfortable?

Keith is embarrassed, smiling but red on his cheeks and gods, Lance really wants to know now. He passes a hand in his hair to put it in the front to hide his face, but when he finally raises his head to look at Lance, he's smirking.

"A kiss." He says simply, waiting for Lance's reaction.

Lance's mouth drops opened. "So.. You mean we could have been together all this time if Red was less stubborn?"

He looks in Red direction, glaring at her. Damn, what a shame.

Keith chuckles, shaking his head. "I like how it happened alright, don't worry."

And Lance realizes he said it out loud. Does that mean they're really together, then? Would he look stupid asking for a confirmation?

"And it's good for me, for today, I mean, we can teach her. But you're not authorized to make fun of me." Keith adds, and Lance's chance is gone.

"Aw, come on. Just a little if she's really being a piece of shit." Lance negotiates, knowing he'll be unable to stop himself anyway. It's their dynamic, he can't control it.

Keith sighs, probably arriving at the same conclusion. "At least I tried."

After breakfast, they separate to get ready. Lance is going as fast as he can, already under the uneasy feeling of missing Keith. It's stupid, but he can't do anything about it, and it feels good in a way, to be so well with someone that you miss them right when they leave your side.

He manages to put Blue's harness on without too much of a fight, then the leash, but he carries her in the corridor to Keith's door. You never know what can happen when there's an elevator not far.

Lance knocks on Keith's door, only to hear his boyfriend yelling "It's opened!" And why isn't his door locking itself like Lance's? This is totally not fair. And dangerous, anyone could come in. He needs to talk to Keith about safety.

He opens, and he's not even in that Keith is yelling against, this time it's "Be careful!" Because Red thinks it's a good idea to run away through the door to avoid Keith and the harness. Luckily, Lance is fast and closes the door before she's out.

Lance kneels, putting Blue on the floor, and Red stays to sniff who's there. She rubs her head against Blue, and without a hesitation, Lance catches her. She meows furiously at him, but Keith is already there, forcing the harness on her. Lance notices several scratches on Keith's arm.

"You need to disinfect that." He announces, knowing Keith won't do it by himself. Keith tilts his head, not understanding what Lance is talking about until he follows his eyes down to his arm.

"That? It's nothing." He passes his hand on the blood to make it disappears. "See? Can't even see it anymore."

Then he stands up and Lance shakes his head. It's a terrible way to take care of a cat scratch, but he doesn't want to start a fight, so he drops it.

They take the stairs, not wanting to risk being trapped in the elevator with two kittens (Lance doesn't think there's a risk but apparently Keith doesn't trust elevators at all), and when they're out of the building, Keith switches Red from one hand to the other to take Lance's hand in his.

Ok, maybe this is enough of a confirmation.

He moves his hand a bit to intertwine their fingers, bumping his shoulder against Keith's, making him giggles. He's unable to stop himself from smiling, and he doesn't want to anyway.

They walk to the park like that, and when they arrives, Lance doesn't want to let go so it's Keith who breaks the contact. He tries not to pout, but it's hard.

Things go a bit like last time: as soon as Keith frees Red, she starts running like a mad cat, and Blue pretends to be stuffed when Lance does the same with her.

"Aw, come on, don't do that!" But Lance is a step ahead of her and takes some treats from his bag to lure her to walk. It works, and she makes a few steps beside him as he always puts the treat a bit more far away. She's not so patient though, and meows at him unhappily, so he gives her the treat after kneeling next to her, taking another one.

"I'm not sure you're supposed to give it to her when she's being moody." Keith teases him, and Lance looks up to him to see Red is back at being perched on his shoulder, weirdly balanced. Keith doesn't even seem worried about her falling, as his arms are crossed.

"Are you a pirate?" He doesn't wait to tease back.

Keith frowns, perplexed. "No.. Why?"

"Oh, I don't know, take a guess.. Ugh, maybe because you have a cat on your shoulder?" He grins, but yells when Keith pushes him, just enough to send him laying on his ass. "Hey! Rudest man ever, I swear." He adds, shaking his head but still smiling.

Keith leans to hold him a hand to help him back on his feet. Red takes that opportunity to jump from Keith to Lance, failing to find her balance back on Lance's shoulder and falling lamely on his lap. She hisses, indignant, and jumps on the ground to sit next to Blue.

Seeing that, Lance has an idea.

He puts Blue's leash in Keith's hand, who takes it even if he's clearly confused, having been waiting for something else but still going with whatever Lance is doing.

Lance takes another treat in his hand to have one in each hand, and moves a bit to be right in front of the two kittens. Then, he lets them smell the treats before taking a step behind the best he can without losing his balance.

"Come on." He whispers, shaking his hands a bit to keep the kittens attention on the treats, and soon enough, Blue is taking a few steps to get to the treat.

"Give it to her." Keith commands in a breath as if he's too scared to talk out loud and break the moment. So Lance obeys, and right away, Red is walking to him too to get her treat. He doesn't wait for Keith to open his hand and let her take it.

They do that again a few times, Lance going a bit farther each time, and each time the kittens going for him. He regularly exchanges fond looks with Keith who follows patiently, understanding that even if it's not properly walking them, it's already making them walk almost normally with the harnesses on.

Finally, Lance tries to do the same but standing, and they continue, still having treats here and then. Until Lance completely stops, walking in front of them but without treats. Blue stops walking, sitting on the ground, but Keith doesn't stop walking, and Red doesn't either, so Blue begrudgingly follows, meowing, making Keith and Lance laugh a little.

After an hour and few progresses, they decide to give up and go back home, kittens in arms because the streets are definitely too dangerous for them.

Keith accepts the use of the elevator this time, and when they're back at their floor, they stop a second in the corridor, one question heavy in the air: what now?

Keith is the first one to break the silence. "Huh, I actually need to work a little but you can come if you want? I can show you my work." He offers, looking hesitantly at Lance as if there is a chance he's going to say anything else than hell yes.

"I'd love that." He says.

He goes back to his flat a few moments to grab a few things and enters Keith's flat, looking around once again like the previous times weren't enough. And to be honest, they totally weren't to see even a half of the mess there's around him. It's obvious it's a home, Keith's safe place. On the walls, there's a lot of pictures, most of them with his friends through the years, others with people Lance assumes are his parents and sister.

"Hey, enjoying the view?" Keith asks, making Lance jumps. He turns around to see Keith leaning against the wall, arms crossed, but smiling, amused.

Lance looks for a few seconds at Keith, eying him from top to bottom before answering honestly: "Yes, very much."

And right in front of Lance's eyes, Keith turns into the deepest shade of red ever, trying to hide behind his hair and hands like he always does, but Lance is not having it. So he walks to Keith, stopping in front of him to take his wrists and guide his hands away from his face. Then, with one hand on Keith's chin, he forces him to look up at him. When those beautiful indigo eyes finally meet Lance's, he unable to not lean into a soft kiss.

He can feel Keith smile into it, rising his hands once again to roll his arms around Lance's neck. Lance's hand that was on Keith's chin finds its place naturally on Keith's cheek as his other one goes on the small of Keith's back, bringing him closer.

Out of breath, Keith breaks the kiss, but nestles his head on Lance's neck, breathing deeply, and Lance feels like crying because it's probably the best moment of his life.

"I could fall asleep right here and now." Keith mumbles, his hot breath tickling Lance's neck.

"I'm wounded that you didn't sleep well even with me." He whispers back, feeling it's not a moment for talking normally. It's like they're in their bubble, away from everything else in the world. He wants to preserve that at all cost.

"You're a great pillow, don't worry, I just never really sleep well. And on a tiny couch with two kittens.. Yeah, not the best place to sleep soundly." He explains, mumbling just loudly enough for Lance to understand him.

"Oh, because standing here is better?" Lance teases him.

There's a few seconds of silence in which Keith probably considers the logic of Lance's remark. Then: "No.. I'd probably collapse on the floor, you'd have to catch me and carry me to the couch, cause my bed's definitely too high."

"But then, it'll be the same as last night, except that you wouldn't have the best body pillow ever." Lance can't help but add, amused by sleepy Keith.

"You'd just have to come with me. My couch is comfier." Keith declares before kissing Lance's neck softly and Lance is just losing it because this is it, this is how he dies. This guy is definitely going to be the death of him right here right now.

He lifts his hand on Keith's back a bit, then takes his other hand down to lift Keith off his feet and carry him to the couch. Keith immediately screams, clinging on Lance's neck for dear life.

"What the hell are you doing?" He yells, now perfectly awake.

"I'm carrying you to the couch." He explains, taking a tentative step because damn, Keith is heavier than he looks, especially as he's struggling so much to get back down.

"I was kidding, Lance, put me down!"

Lance does. Not that he really has a choice as he half drops Keith on the ground, who steady himself with his hands on Lance's shoulders.

"Never, ever, try to carry me again." He says in a breath, an amused smile on his lips telling Lance it's okay, he's not mad.

"Except at our wedding." Lance negotiates without thinking, because he always dreamed of carrying his significant other at their wedding, and right now, that forever partner can only have Keith's face. Lance just can't imagine anyone else.

He's scared he freaked out Keith for a moment, but his boyfriend shakes his head, chuckling. "We'll see about that." He answers, putting his hands away from Lance's shoulders only to take his hand in his own, bringing him to the room he exits before their conversation.

"Come on, I want to show you my work." He changes the subject, but Lance doesn't mind because it totally is too early for that yet, and Keith kind of agreed anyway, right?

When he enters Keith's bedroom, he understands the need of an elevated bed as there's furnitures everywhere, most drawers not closing anymore. Lance can see painting and drawing materials, drawings, and between the furnitures, paintings at every place big enough to fit something. There's also blank ones in a corner, and under the bed, what Lance guesses is where Keith puts his personal stuffs. It's a mess, but he doesn't doubt that Keith knows exactly where everything goes.

He turns to look at Keith, who's standing with apprehension next to his easel, which is totally unnecessary because Lance already saw how he draws with his gift and loved it. But the paining is different from what the drawing with pencils looks like. It's deeper, as if Lance could touch the real Red by touching her portrait. He can't take his eyes off of it, realizing after a moment that his mouth dropped opened but not really caring.

"Man, I so want a matching one."

At that, Keith laughs. "So demanding."

Lance tears his eyes from the painting to go back to Keith, who now looks released like there was an actual chance that Lance wouldn't like it. Lance bumps his finger on Keith's nose, making him jump slightly. "It's not my fault if my boyfriend is so talented."

This time, it's Keith who surprise him by stealing a quick kiss and damn his elevated bed because Lance really wants to cuddle right now.

Instead, Lance finds himself helping Keith carry his stuff on the living room, as it turns out he really needs to work if he wants to sleep tonight and he's smart enough not to paint in his bedroom, where the smell would be annoying.

As he starts painting, Lance lets himself fall on the couch next to the kittens. Blue immediately climbs on his lap, but Red prefers to stay on the shirt Keith probably let for her. He zaps absently, going from one channel to the other in half a second.

"What are you doing, by the way?" Keith asks suddenly, and Lance stops himself like a kid caught red-handed.

"Zapping? I'm sorry I didn't ask, I—" But Lance is stopped once again by Keith laughters. He looks at him, confused. Did he do a mistake or not?

"I can see that, yeah, and you totally can do whatever you want here. I meant in general, like as a job." Keith explains with difficulty as he's still trying to stop laughing. His right hand is in front of his mouth, and when he takes it away, there's a few stains of paint on his face. So this is how it happens.

"I write. Like, as a journalist. It's fun." He answers, not mentioning how annoying his boss is. He'll probably complain about him enough in the future.

He notices Keith stopped painting at some point, turning away from his painting to look at Lance, giving him his full attention. Lance's not used to be treated like that, not while growing up in a big family where his parents' attention was always called somewhere else. He's used to scream for attention, not for it to be given to him like it's the most natural thing ever. It's scary, but good.

"Yeah, I can't see you doing something where you can't express yourself." Keith says with a fond smile, and Lance feels himself blushing. "What do you write about?"

"Culture, I guess? Expositions, movies, books, whatever I want as long as it's easy to read and funny."

Keith nods, thinking. "Paintings?"

"Yeah, that too."

"So you're an expert." He teases, and Lance chuckles.

"Not as much as you, I think." Lance answers truthfully. He's not being modest, he knows a lot about a lot of things, but he doesn't really have a specialty, he doesn't know any topic deeply like Keith does. "But I could totally write about you." He adds, suddenly excited.

Keith's cheeks go red. "Oh, no, I wasn't asking for publicity!" He panics.

Lance laughs. "I know! I want to, though." He says seriously, meaning it and wanting Keith to know that.

"Will you say nice things?" Keith jokes, a playful smile on his face.

"I don't know, you'll have to convince me." He winks at Keith, who approaches him slowly, a mischievous smile on his lips.

"Yeah?" He stops next to the couch, leaning to Lance, who closes his eyes in anticipation. But the contact he's waiting for doesn't come on his mouth. No. It's on his nose. And it's not the warmth of Keith's lips, but something cold, wet, stinking..

Lance's eyes open as he jumps behind, glaring at Keith. "I'm so writing a bad review."

But Keith doesn't seem to mind, climbing on the armrest of the couch, his paintbrush leaning to Lance's face. "Keith, no, think about what you're doing!" He yells, trying to push away the paintbrush without touching it.

"Oh I'm thinking." Keith says, putting the paintbrush behind his back to win Lance's trust and kiss him. But as they're almost there, Lance keeps an eye opened to see the paintbrush coming back. So he doesn't hesitate and steals it from Keith, who jumps in surprise, but too late, because Lance is coming for him and in a moment, Keith's cheek is crossed by a reddish line.

But he doesn't pout, just smile softly at Lance, and for a moment, they're just kids playing around and getting dirty without a care in the world. The cats leave after a few seconds of them fighting, Blue hissing at them, Red just running as fast as catly possible.

Keith ends up laying on Lance, who's on his back on the couch. He tries to prevent Keith from coming closer by wrapping his legs around his waist, a hand on each of Keith's wrist. Then, the paintbrush falls on the ground and the game is over. Breathing heavily, they stay like that, Keith resting his head on Lance's chest.

"Waw." Lance says in a breath.

Keith raises his head a bit to look at Lance, frowning. "What?"

"Was that your master plan to try your new body pillow on your own couch? Because I have to admit it's comfier than mine." Lance jokes, tousling Keith's hair gently.

Keith smiles, putting his head back on Lance's chest, sighing comfortably. "Maybe."

"And what do you think?" He's only half teasing, wondering what Keith is going to say. His stomach is a bit knotted in anticipation.

"I think I'm going to keep it." Keith mumbles, and Lance is happy Keith can't see how red his face is right now.

He's pretty happy in general actually.

* * *

"This is the dumbest thing I've ever done." Lance announces as Keith hangs up.

His boyfriend puts his phone down on the coffee table, glaring at him but with an easy smile. "It's not dumb! And it's a daring thing to say for someone who crossed the space between our balconies on a ladder." He retorts smartly, letting himself fall on his couch, petting Red and Blue sleeping there.

They just got back from Lance's first fighting lesson, but they missed the kittens to much to eat Lance's promised ice cream, so they went back. He convinced Keith to let Red without human supervision by putting Blue with her, and the two cats didn't seem to have moved the whole time they were gone. But Lance still wanted ice cream as a promise is a promise, and Keith offered to order some online which is crazy because who does that? But apparently Keith does that, every time he wants some.

"Okay, so maybe it's not the dumbest thing I've done, and it's not even a thing I have done as you're the one who did it, but—"

"Lance."

He looks down at Keith, as he's still standing next to the couch. "What?"

"You have fifteen minutes before ice cream is here so if you want to take a shower, maybe hurry up doing that. I'd like to do that too by the way so.." Keith looks patiently at Lance, waiting for him to make a move. He opens his mouth in a 'o'.

"Yeah, I should probably do that." He nods, making his way to the door as Keith stands up. He stops in the doorway, turning to Keith. "And lock the door behind me. I'll wait at the door until it's lock."

Keith sighs, amused, but still comes to the door, locking it behind Lance, who then runs to his apartment to take the quickest shower he has ever took. It's only been ten minutes when he's done, and he runs back to the corridor to knock on Keith's door.

It opens in a few seconds, Keith's polite smile disappearing when his eyes land on Lance. "Oh, it's just you." He says as a greeting, faking deception, but Lance knows better because Keith can't prevent that look to appear in his eyes.

"Always so rude." Lance laughs, leaning to kiss Keith, who doesn't wait to reciprocate, giggling a little until the door of the elevator opens. Lance jumps like a kid caught in the fact, and hurries to hide behind Keith's back, then the front door, as Keith tries his best no to laugh when the delivery boy arrives.

"Oh, hello, ugh.." He opens his bag to take a plastic bag, reading a tag. "Keith Kogane?" He asks.

Keith nods. "Yeah, that's me. Hello. I was waiting for you, I heard the elevator so—" Lance shuts him up with a kick on the foot. "Anyway, thanks for the delivery, have a good day!" Keith adds, removing the bag from the boy's hands before almost slamming the door at his face.

Then, he leans on the door next to Lance, sighing deeply.

"So this is why you don't go out much." Lance comments, impressed by Keith's lack of social skill.

"Shut up. You literally ran away and hid. You have no legitimacy to talk." Keith answers, putting his head on Lance's shoulder, who raises a hand to tousle Keith's hair.

"Okay, maybe you're right. I panicked, okay?" He chuckles, leaning his head on Keith's.

"Almost looked like you're ashamed of me." Keith says jokingly, but Lance straightens.

"What? No! Keith, babe, I'm so so proud to be with you, you're amazing, you're the most gorgeous man I've ever seen, and you're funny, and everything you do is just adorable but in the meantime you can be super impressive but then you just smile and I know I can trust you totally and—"

Keith shuts him up with a hand on his mouth. "If you continue like that I'm going to die. Seriously."

Lance kisses Keith's hand.

"Okay that's not authorized either. I mean, it is, it's totally.. Good, great, I just.."

Lance moves the hand from Keith's hair to his wrist, freeing his own mouth. "Too much in one go?" He offers, grinning.

Keith nods. "Yeah, that."

Lance chuckles and kisses Keith's hair before taking his hand to lead him to the living room. "Come on, ice cream's gonna melt."

They ordered a big pot with several flavors, unable to choose, and after giving a spoon to Lance, Keith sits on the couch next to him, their legs and arms comfortably touching. Keith opens the pot, and Lance immediately goes for the chocolate flavor.

"Mmm.. So good." He comments, closing his eyes.

"It's boring, try this." Keith demands, holding his spoon in front of Lance's mouth, prompting him.

It's really too pink to be honest but Lance can't resist Keith so he tries it anyway. It's fruity, but it's not a surprise given the color. He tries to remember everything they ordered, but there's a lot and he's pretty sure Keith added some flavors behind his back. He frowns, making Keith laughs.

"Are you brain frozen?" He teases Lance, taking a spoon of the same ice cream himself.

"No, this is my thinking face." He informs his boyfriend, pouting.

"Oh.. Good thing you don't do that a lot then." Keith jokes, tilting his head to hide his face behind his hair.

Lance punches him slightly on the arm, knowing better than to take him seriously.

"So, what is it?" He asks, because he's never going to guess that, is he?

"Aw, not even going to try and guess? Fun killer. It's pomegranate." Keith says, taking another spoon.

"Are you for real? I didn't know it was an ice cream flavor."

Lance doesn't remember ever seeing it anywhere, but it's a shame because it's really good. Now it'll always remind him of Keith. He notices a bit of ice cream above his upper lip and smiles because it's so cliché before raising a hand to take it off gently. Then, he licks his finger, a bit embarrassed but happy because that gorgeous guy in front of him is the best thing that ever happened to him.

Keith blushes furiously. "I.. Well, I'm glad you like it." Then he takes a spoon of another flavor, yellow this time, holding it to Lance, who shakes his head, closing his mouth hermetically. "What?" He asks in a laugh, but Lance refuses to open his mouth, even to answer, not willing to risk that Keith forces it in his mouth. "What?!" Keith asks again.

Lance puts his hand in front of his mouth as a shield, letting just enough space to be able to talk without risking unwanted ice cream inside his mouth. "I'm allergic to lemon." He pretends.

Keith frowns. "No, you're not. You told me you had no allergy three days ago, dumbass. Come on, open your mouth, for me." He demands.

Lance groans, cursing his past-self for being too stupid to say he's allergic to lemon. Then again, he really doesn't want this relationship to start on lies so he would never do something like that.

"I hate lemon, please don't make me do that." He begs, giving Keith his best puppy eyes.

"But you haven't try this lemon ice cream." Keith argues, prompting him to finally eat the damn ice cream. But Lance can be as stubborn as Keith, especially on food he knows for sure he won't like.

"All lemon ice creams taste the same, Keith, and it's the taste of fucking lemon, which is disgusting!" He half-yells, his hand still hiding his mouth.

"I mean.. Lemon in himself isn't good, but you're not supposed to eat it like that." Keith remarks smartly, and Lance chuckles because thanks captain obvious.

"Yeah, well say that to past-me." He mumbles, remembering that awful moment of his childhood. "One of my older brothers dared me to eat a stupid lemon so of course I did." He explains, and Keith bursts into laughters. It's a great view. Then the moment is gone, and he's suddenly serious.

"Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"I dare you to eat that ice cream." He announces, smirking.

Lance rubs his hands on his face, preparing himself. It's crazy how he can hate and love someone that much. "Keith, please. We're adult now, we're past that." He says as a last try, even if he knows he already lost. Why did he have to tell this story to Keith?

"Are we now? Because if you prefer, I can't just buy that lemon lips balm I saw in the store the other day and put it on my lips all the time." Keith threatens laughingly.

At that, Lance doesn't give him the chance to react and takes the spoon out of his hand, putting the cursed ice cream in his mouth. It's disgusting, a living nightmare, like he's back at that terrible moment of his life where he did the worst choice ever by giving in to a stupid dare. Just like he did right now. He hurries to take a spoon full of that delicious chocolate ice cream in the hope to suppress the terrible taste.

Keith's laugh is almost worth it, but maybe not that much. "It's not that bad, you big baby."

"This is the worst ice cream ever." Lance argues, eating another spoonful of chocolate ice cream.

Keith smirks. "I thought chocolate was your favorite."

Lance glares at him. "Don't make fun of me now. Lemon ice cream is banned from my mouth forever." He declares, crossing his arms.

"I think Blue wants some." Keith remarks, looking down at the kitten, standing on her two back paws, the front two on the couch, sniffing the air next to the ice cream pot. Keith comes closer with his spoon, a bit of lemon ice cream on it, but Lance uncrosses his arms to catch him before he reaches Blue.

"What the fuck, Keith? No." He yells, shocked.

Keith tilts his head, confused as of why Lance is yelling at him all seriously so suddenly, and the flash of hurt in his beautiful eyes soften Lance.

"You can't give ice cream to animals, babe, it's bad for them, like poison sometimes." He explains calmly, using his hand still on Keith's arm to fondle him with his thumb.

"Oh." Keith says, bumping his own finger on Blue's nose. "Sorry little one, daddy said no." He informs her, making Lance smile.

In the end, they eat half of the pot before stopping, too full to eat just one more spoon. They fall in a comfortable silence, Keith drawing on a pad of paper, Lance writing on his computer. Sitting there, on his neighbor's couch, the guy's warmth against him, their kittens nestled against them, it's easier than ever to write the article he jokingly promised him but is now determined to write. So he does.

He talks about everything that the paintings make him feel, rewriting some parts several times because it seemed too obvious how in love he is and he doesn't want Keith to feel like it's too much too fast, even if it feels like they've been together forever. So he tries to concentrate on the actual amazing art his boyfriend is doing, especially when it's happening right next to him.

"Careful, you're gonna make burning hole with that gaze." Keith tells him without stopping his drawing or looking up for even a moment. He doesn't even stop when Lance puts his computer on the coffee table to lean over him, wrapping his arms around Keith's stomach, pressing himself against him.

"I don't want to go home." Lance mumbles, because even if it's late and he has to go to bed, he just wants to stay with Keith. It feels stupid, to say that an empty apartment is his home when Keith is right there, feeling more like home than anything ever did before.

"Then don't?" Keith offers simply, still drawing.

"I can't, I need my beauty sleep! And I have to be at work at 9, we can't all spend the night up." Lance reminds him, doing nothing to go though. "Don't do that by the way, go to bed too please." He adds, starting to know his boyfriend well enough now to know he could come back at 4 am and Keith would still be in the same place doing the same thing.

"No promise." Keith just answers, a playful smile on his face letting Lance know that he's totally spending his night painting or drawing.

"Keeeith." Lance whines, holding tighter on the other guy as he knows he really needs to go now. But Keith just chuckles, ignoring his complaints. "You're sure you're okay with me deposing Blue before work? It'll be around 8:30, I don't want to wake you up if you don't have too."

"I can just let the door unlocked."

"No."

"Then just take the spare keys." Keith offers like it's nothing, but Lance freezes because always being at each other's place is one thing, having a key to enter said place is another one. He would be lying if he said he didn't think about giving his own keys to Keith, but he never thought Keith would be the first one to take that step.

Then, when he doesn't get a reaction from Lance, he finally stops drawing, looking in Lance's direction. "Was that too much? Did I break you?" He worries.

"N-no, I.. I'll do that. Like that I can make sure it's locked." Lance answers, taking advantage of the fact he finally has Keith's attention to kiss him.

Keith puts his pad of paper on the floor, turning fully to Lance to hug him back. Lance smiles at that, kissing Keith's neck. They really should just make a hole on the wall and join their apartment. Damn it being too early, Lance hates not being in the same place as Keith.

"Have a good night and a good day tomorrow." He whispers in Keith's ear, placing a kiss on his jawline as he's there.

"You too."

After one last kiss, Lance finds the strength to go back to his place with Blue.

The next day, he goes to work with a happy smile, knowing his boyfriend will wake up to a printed version of all the good he thinks about his art, accompanied by a note telling him all the good he thinks about him.

Well, almost all of it.

And maybe he also let a spare key for him apartment, just in case he's ever stuck out of it again, of course.

* * *

When he wakes up, Lance goes right to his coffee maker. Then, while he's waiting, he remembers Blue wasn't in his bed anymore, and as he didn't see her in the living room, he tries to find her. After looking inside the bathroom, he makes in way to the balcony, stopping when he sees that there's someone on the balcony next to his.

He checks carefully if it's not some criminal or burglar but no, he's only ever seen one person that pretty and he's lucky enough to call him his boyfriend. Lance frowns, because Keith is never up this early on a Saturday when he doesn't have something planned with his friends, but he didn't say anything about Lance having to babysit Red or him going away or having people at home at all. And it's not like he has to tell him everything but Lance just likes to know stuff about Keith's life.

He goes back to his kitchen to grab some coffee before heading to the balcony with his mug silently, wanting to surprise Keith. When he's in front of the ajar door, he hears him talking. Frowning, he gets a little closer, trying to understand.

".. Come and help me later?" Keith asks, and when Lance sees Blue on the ground, looking up to Keith. Lance smiles, opening the door enough to be able to enter the balcony.

"Help you with what?" He questions as Keith jumps, a bit of his drink landing of the floor and what the heck is he drinking. The mixture is frozen (seriously who drinks cold in the morning) and so light it can't hold a lot of coffee (how does someone who barely sleep can live with so little caffeine).

"Damn it, McClain!" Keith swears, looking down to check his drink didn't get on his clothes. Luckily, it's only on the ground and Keith looks relieved. "Good morning to you too, by the way."

"Aw, am I retrograded to 'McClain' again? I'm wounded." He fake sadness, but can't really do that when Keith's in front of him, even when he's rolling his eyes so hard Lance is almost worried they'll get stuck behind. "And good morning, babe, you're up earlier, I'm surprised." He adds, still hoping for answers without having to ask too much.

Keith nods, taking another sip of his drink before answering. "I'm up late, actually."

Lance raises his eyebrows, wondering if his boyfriend's clock is broken, then he understands what he means and frowns, not liking what he's hearing. "Keith, babe, light of my life, what the fuck?"

He was actually hoping to spend the day with him, maybe to go see that exposition Hunk told him about, or just go on a walk with the cats (Red and Blue are doing so much better), but now, Keith is probably going to sleep all day and Lance is annoyed.

Keith's cheeks are bright red now, and maybe it's good he keeps drinking that frozen abomination to cool him down. "I was so close to finish Red's portrait I couldn't sleep! I tried, I swear, but I just couldn't. I didn't even drink that much coffee." Keith defends himself sheepishly, and Lance feels his resolution to be mad melting. He can't just stay mad at this man. Plus, now he's excited too.

"You did? Okay, I need to see that." And after that, he's out of the balcony, Blue in one hand, coffee in the other, walking as fast as possible without spilling coffee everywhere.

He manages to open his front door with his foot, trusting the damn thing to lock itself and Keith to be there to open his own door. In the corridor, he's not disappointed as the door's already opened, Keith smiling fondly at him. He kisses him before letting him in, locking the door behind Lance. That makes Lance happy.

He makes a beeline to the living room where he guesses the painting is resting. And there is it, Red in all her greatness, the real cat calmly sitting on the couch, probably just waking up if Lance believes her tiny tired eyes. He puts Blue down next to her, and they immediately sniff each other before relaxing. Keith arrives next to Lance, playing with his hands, and Lance realizes he's nervous.

"It's so amazing, babe! How are you so talented?" He wonders, only looking away from the painting to look at Keith, squeezing his hand.

Keith smiles, relaxing in front of Lance's eyes. "Thanks. I'll make you a matching one." He promises, probably remembering Lance's demand when he first saw the painting as it was unfinished but already so beautiful.

"Really? Thank you so much!" He kisses Keith's cheek. "I'll pay for it, of course, there's no way you spend so much time on something for free." He clarifies, not wanting for Keith to think he wants free art. Not after he saw how much time and efforts it took for Keith to be done with this one.

Keith shakes his head though, maybe thinking it's one of those cases when someone pretends they'll do something just to be polite, waiting for the other one to insist, but Lance is very much serious.

"No, really, I respect you and your job too much for letting you do that for free." He adds seriously, hoping Keith will understand that it's important for him.

He seems to, but in the meantime, he looks embarrassed. "But Lance, there's no way I ever accept money from you."

And Lance gets it, he really does. He already refuses to do the sums with Hunk, letting the fate do its job so they're even. But he needs to do something in exchange.

"What about I offer you something too? There's no way it'll be as good as yours will be but it'll be something, at least." Lance offers, and at that, Keith smiles brightly.

"I love it already."

They stay silent a few moments, just content in each other's presence, drinking their respective drink, until Lance breaks the silence again. "So, why did you need Blue's help for anyway? Now that she's here, let her be useful." He says, implying he's himself here and ready to help with whatever.

Keith giggles, petting Blue's head affectionately.

"I'm gonna hang the painting on the wall, but before, I'll add a few new pictures I printed yesterday." Keith explains, and Lance's eyes go automatically to the pictures he notices on the walls one of the first times he came here. He loves it, it feels so personal, so much like a home. He thought about doing the same, but when he's finished with work, he either wants to sleep or see Keith, and never has the time to go through his hundreds of pictures. But apparently, not sleeping at night gives you that kind of time.

"Well, I'm not sure Blue can help with that but I don't have anything to do if you need." He offers, as it's better than to just say 'can I help please please please'.

"Sure." Keith answers with a smile.

They decides to eat their breakfast while starting, Keith having emptied a pack of cereals in which they pick a handful whenever they feel like it. It's comfortable, natural, it just feels right. Not for the first time, Lance thinks he wants that for the rest of his life. He wants Keith to be his forever.

He takes a moment to look at him, pretending he's only eating some cereals. His boyfriend is frowning a bit, looking at his wall, a picture in his hand, wondering where to put it. His hair's a mess, he only wears an old t-shirt and sweatpants, but he looks perfect.

Suddenly, he stops frowning, his eyes catch by Lance for some reason as he turns his head to look back at him. Lance is almost embarrassed, but not really, because he has every right to stare at his boyfriend, and he would be damned if he didn't with a boyfriend looking like that.

"What?" Keith asks, chuckling slightly.

Lance walks to Keith, hugging him from behind, his arms around his middle, face nestled against Keith's neck, breathing in his perfume. "You're just too perfect for me." He whispers in Keith's ear.

But then, Keith grabs his wrists, forcing his arms off him, startling Lance because what did he do wrong. Keith takes advantage of his freedom by turning around to face Lance, frowning a bit, but taking both of Lance's hands in his own. This isn't bad, right?

"What are you talking about?" Keith asks. "I don't want you to ever think you're not good enough or whatever shit you can be thinking sometimes, okay? You're crazy good looking, so much I couldn't not stay away from you even after you've been a dick to me, and I've never regretted it since then. Because I discovered that no only you're the most gorgeous person in this world, but also that you have an amazing personality to go with it and it just makes me want to know everything there is to know about you. Wait, shit, why are you crying? Don't do that."

And Lance honestly hadn't notice he started crying until Keith said something about it, too overwhelmed to notice something as insignificant as water running from his eyes. Keith hands let go of his to wipe the tears away, a concerned frown on his face. He smiles though, to let Keith know it's okay, he's okay.

"Sorry, sorry, they're happy tears, I swear. I just.." He stops himself, realizing he was about to do it. To say the word. The L word he's been dancing around with Keith for some times now, never daring to tell it. The romantic in him wanted to confess that during a fancy date, after a good restaurant, maybe while doing a walk in a garden, with fireworks above them. But this, right here, right now, it's so much them. It's simple, but genuine, true. "I love you." He finally says in a breath, unable to keep it to himself for another second.

Keith mouth opens slightly, eyes wide opened as he looks at Lance and Lance's heart misses a beat before Keith's look turns softer. It's that loving look he so often has when looking at Lance, that look that makes him melt in the inside. And then there's that smile. That smile that Lance loves so much, but that he wants to make disappear by kissing it.

"I.. I love you too. Lance, I'm so in love with you." Keith confesses in turn, his voice shaking with the emotion. He has tears in his mesmerizing eyes, but thankfully, they don't drop. He chuckles wetly. "Now kiss me."

Lance giggles at Keith's demand, but doesn't hesitate to give him exactly what he wants.

"Come on, we still have a lot to do." Keith says after a few minutes, separating from Lance who pouts but nods.

He turns back to the table where Keith put all his pictures, and is surprised but pleased to recognize the photo Keith took of him the first day they went out together with the cats, when they both climbed on Lance. He takes it, bringing it to Keith, simply giving it to him without saying anything. Keith takes it, looking at it before smiling.

"It's one of my favorite photos, it's actually my phone's wallpaper." Keith admits without a shame, just smiling happily, and Lance is glad he doesn't feel the need to hide it.

"Yeah? Since when?"

At that, Keith looks a bit embarrassed, but keeps his smile in place. "I'm not telling you." Keith decides, pinning the picture on the wall next to one of their double date with Shiro and Adam. It was a great night, and after it, Lance managed to convince Keith to do another one with Hunk and Shay. He's always surprised to see how shy he can be with others, as he's so freed with Lance.

"Before or after we got together?" Lance asks, not letting this go.

"Right after it was taken, okay? Well, after you left, but that day. I mean, it could have been after we got together if Red had the courtesy to win that damn bet.." Keith admits, taking another picture to avoid Lance's eyes on him. It's a photo of Matt piggyback riding Pidge on a beach, Adam laughing in the back. Lance is almost mad he wasn't around yet when it was taken.

"As a handsome guy once told me: 'You can only trust yourself to win a bet'." Lance quotes smartly, winking at Keith who's cheeks take a pleasant pink hue. Totally worth the elbow Lance receives on his stomach.

"I mean.. That was true, wasn't it?"

Lance nods, smiling. Yeah, luckily it was. He points his finger to the picture Keith just pinned, still curious. "When was that, by the way?"

Keith thinks for a few seconds before answering. "Hm, beginning of summer? We left for 3 days, slept on the beach, almost got eaten by mosquitos. Matt and I were red for days because of sunburns. Shiro and Adam were smart enough to use sunscreen and Pidge stayed under the parasol the whole time. Here."

He turns to the table, moving a few photos until he finds the one he wants, holding it out to Lance. He takes it, looking down at a Keith crossing his arms but smiling brightly, Matt's arm around his shoulder, his other hand doing a peace sign.

"Babe, that looks terribly painful, are you traumatized?" He worries, because that would really suck.

But Keith doesn't understand it like genuine feelings, glaring at Lance. "Shut up, it's not funny."

"I'm not laughing! I'm very serious! It would really bother me if you were because I love the beach very much and.. I don't know, it's somewhere I want to go with you, you know?" He explains seriously.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't understand. And no, don't worry, I had too much fun to keep bad feelings. But.." He starts, playing with his fingers, and Lance immediately separates his hands by taking them in his own. Keith chuckles, not doing that consciously (Lance asked).

"What is it?" He prompts, looking at Keith, and he's glad when his boyfriend's eyes meet his owns.

"My friends want to rent a huge house for New Year, in some mountain or something, and I know you'll want to spend the Holidays with your family, but maybe if you're available after Christmas you could come with us? I mean, if you want, no pressure or anything, I'd get it if it's too soon or if you want to stay longer with your family. And maybe my friends would be too much. Well, Hunk and Shay could come too, if they want, the others would love them. But they probably have plans on their own, maybe you do too, I'm sorry, I—"

Keith only stops his tirade when Lance puts a hand on his mouth. He's totally for letting Keith expresses himself but this was becoming too painful as he saw the guy he loves crumpling in front of his eyes as panic took hold of him. Realizing its panic, Lance removes his hand.

"Keith, breathe." He orders, and Keith nods, doing as Lance says. "Okay, good. It's time I admit something: I really hate spending time away from you. If I want to go to the beach with you, I totally want to come wherever you'll take me. And your friends are great, I like them, and Hunk and Shay will like them too if they can come but even if they can't I will. Because just going home without you is going to be hell and I'll just want to see you again. Damn, this sound wrong, because you're my only real home, Keith." He stops himself, realizing he's rambling, but it's just too important for him not to say it.

Keith's head lands on his shoulder, his hair hiding his face from Lance, but it's okay, he knows.

"Okay. I'll tell Shiro you're in." He mumbles.

Lance chuckles. "That's all you have to say?" He's not upset, he knows Keith too much for that.

"You're my home too. And I might miss you when you're not around." Keith adds, unexpectedly, and Lance laughs really this time.

Keith punches him weakly on his chest. "Shut up."

Lance stands on tip-toe to kiss his boyfriend's forehead. "I'm still taking you to the beach though, maybe we can bring everyone, marry our friends groups and everything." If they're going to spend New Year together, better all meet up before that to break the ice and avoid awkwardness.

"Marry our.. What?" Keith frowns, a mocking smile on his lips.

Lance looks at him like it's the first time he sees him but really it shouldn't surprise him that much from someone who thought their kittens could listen to them and actually understand. Okay, maybe this isn't as obvious, but still.

"Like, you know, for a couple to be successful, we need to marry our friends groups so it becomes one big group of our friends. My friends like you, your friends like me, and that's great, it's the first step. But now, our friends need to like each others, you know?" He tries to explain, but Keith's expression only grows more confused.

"But.. Why? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for our friends to become friends too and be one big group of friends or whatever but.. I don't see why it's important for us as a couple. If your friends didn't like me, would you consider our relationship to be a failure?" Keith asks worriedly, and Lance hurries to shake his head because that's not it at all.

"No. No no no. Never. It would be annoying because I want to be able to spend time with my boyfriend and my friends at the same time, but I'd manage and would try to make things better. Yeah, that's it, it would make things better. Like, things are great, but the more the merrier, right? And I always wanted to have the same group of friends with my boyfriend." He explains again, and this time, Keith smiles to him.

"Yeah, I guess I get it. We should choose a weekend and ask everyone if they're free." Keith decides, turning away from Lance to go back to pinning his photos. Yeah, maybe he would be done already without Lance's help.

"Oh and we could bring the cats!" Lance adds excitedly. He's sure Blue will like the sea, she's always so curious when Lance has water running.

"What? No way."

Lance follows Keith across the living room, trying to get his attention to make him understand how great of an idea this is.

"Come on, babe, imagine them playing on the sand—"

"Burning their paws.."

"We'd only bring them when it's cooler!"

"And risk for them to run away, never to be seen again.."

"They would never, they love us! And what's your plan, letting them to some stranger we can't trust? They can't trust? They would 100% run away then." Lance argues, and when Keith finally stops walking, an expression of horror on his face, Lance knows he won.

Keith nods. "Okay, we're taking the cats." Then he starts walking again as if nothing happened, and this time, Lance decides to actually help instead of just being a distraction.

* * *

Their late afternoon started like almost any other. They just didn't know that after that day, nothing would ever be the same.

"Hey baby Blue, missed me?" Lance asks right away as he closes his front door, spotting his cat standing on his kitchen counter for some reason only she knows. He looks around, but nothing seems different, so he gives up the idea of reprimanding her.

Instead, he rubs her behind the ears, making her purr loudly. She must have been lonely today, as he didn't have time this morning to pass by Keith's apartment to drop her off. He completely forgot they had a special meeting starting earlier than usual working hours, but at least he's home early. He's actually surprised Keith didn't come by to take Blue himself, but as Lance didn't text him it was okay to do so, he understood: having each other's key doesn't mean they can go whenever, even if Lance wouldn't be bothered at all.

But when he hears a key being inserted to open his door, he's not surprised at all. It's the semblance of a rule they have about this keys exchange: it's okay to come when they want as long as the other is there. They never talked about it, it's just what they naturally do.

"Hey, you're home early." Keith simply say, and Lance turns around to kiss him hello.

"Yeah, special meeting I woke up too late for so Blue had to stay on her own." He explains right away, and Keith nods.

"So, does that mean you're free for the rest of the day?" Keith asks, playing with Lance fingers, because that's something he does now, as Lance always stopped him from playing with his own fingers. Turns out it doesn't bother his when it's this way.

"Yep, all yours. Are you done too? You slept, right?" Lance is suspicious, but with reasons. Keith laughs it off though.

"Yes and yes. I have so much paintings to send, ugh, they're lucky I need the money."

Lance chuckles, shaking his head slightly. "I'll help you carry them if you need."

Keith nods happily and Lance is pretty sure he was complaining only to get Lance to offer his help. It's stupid, he knows he can ask Lance's help any day for whatever, but it's not Keith's style to just admit he needs help.

"What about we watch some movies?" Keith offers, passing by Lance to pet Blue and she immediately purrs, closing her beautiful dark blue eyes. It's funny how different she acts when she's around Keith than when she's around Lance's friends and family. She's more at ease, as if she accepted him as her second human dad. He likes to think it's the same for Red, if he believes the screaming he heard the first times Keith's friends were at home to see her (not that he listened, he just happened to be on his balcony and Keith also always lets his balcony door opened so yeah).

"Ooor.. We could go on a walk? They make so much progress!"

"Remember that article you send me at 1 am once about how it's criminal to take animals on walk when it's too hot because it burns their paws? Well it's definitely that hot." Keith argues with reason, but Lance still pouts.

"We could—"

"No cat shoes." Keith cuts him off severely.

"You're no fun. But movies are fine I guess." He pretends to accept grudgingly, even if he actually loves watching movies with Keith because if the movie is crap, he still has a good time as Keith is the best pillow ever. That, and the fact that Keith can't help but comment everything. He's gonna insist on watching something, then complain the whole time. It's a rare talent.

"You place or mine?"

"I don't know, best tv or best couch?"

Keith thinks about it a few seconds before answering: "Best tv, I'll bring pillows and Red, it'll make your couch better. Do you have popcorn?"

At that, Lance laughs because who the hell just randomly has popcorn? "No?"

Keith pouts. "Shit, I'm craving popcorn since this morning."

Lance smiles. "Go at the shop quickly then? I need to change anyway. Let me know when you're back and I'll help you with the pillows." He offers, bumping Keith's nose with his finger just because he can and because somehow it always makes Keith do that smile.

"Okay, I'll be back in ten. Or fifteen because the elevator is slower with the hot weather for some reason. Or twenty if I can't find where they put the popcorn in the shop like, is it with the vegetable?"

Lance laughs, wrapping his arms around Keith's neck to bring him closer into a hug because he just loves him so much. "I don't think so, babe. Maybe try the snacks?"

He feels Keith nods between his arms, but he really doesn't want him to go now. He wants him to stay here as he's getting changed, then he wants to come with him to the shop, then come back with him home and cuddle with him for the rest of the night. And then maybe convince him to stay the night because those are the best nights.

"Lance." Keith prompts him, tapping Lance's arm with a finger. But Lance ignores him. "I need to go now." This time, Lance answers. By groaning.

He squeezes Keith hard, trying to get enough of that guy before they have to be apart for terribly long minutes. When he breaks the hug, it's only to kiss him hard, hungrily. Okay, maybe he'll try to convince him to do something else tonight after a movie or two.

Lance feels his heart twinge when Keith exits his apartment a few moments later, wanting more than anything to call him back, to ask him to wait for him, but it's stupid, right? They'll see each other in less than half an hour, and Lance really needs to put something more comfy on.

He takes a quick shower, knowing his hair would be dry in only a few minutes thanks to the summer heat. He puts his comfier shorts on and a simple t-shirt. He considers staying barefoot, but remembering he'll need to help Keith bring his stuff and not a fan of his feet touching the same ground as all his neighbors's dirty shoes, he decides to put his baskets back one. He's half way through that when he hears screams.

He freezes, straightening a bit from his couch he's siting on, hands still on his second shoe, ready to tie it. Then he hears the fire alarm and his heart stops. What the fuck? He hears doors opening from everywhere around him, people shouting and screaming all around him, but weirdly muffled by the alarm. Somehow, his eyes lands on Blue, hiding under the coffee table, looking at him with fear in her eyes, and Lance finally reacts.

He ties his shoe as fast as he can with shaking hands, trying to think, but his brain is foggy with panic. He needs to get out of here. He needs to get Blue out of here. He needs to.. If he thought he was panicking before, it's nothing next to the pure terror he feels right now because where is Keith. How long is it since he left? Maybe ten minutes? Fifteen? When did he say he'd be back? Around that time, right? What if he was already back in the building when the alarm went on? What if he's stuck in the elevator?

Lance wants to cry, but he knows he can't. He needs to move. The footsteps are still going, what if the fire in under them? What if they're trapped to die up there?

Okay, breathe, Lance.. Yeah, that's it! He needs to protect his breathing. He runs to the kitchen, taking a cloth napkin he puts under cold water until it's completely wet. He puts it on his nose and mouth, trying to convince himself he's feeling better. Okay, out now, it's the best way to figure out how to escape this hell.. If he can.

He runs to the closest backpack he can find, wearing it on his chest instead of his back before kneeling in front of Blue to grab her. He forces her into the bag, knowing she won't like it, but not having another choice. He closes the bag, going to his front door. He knows it's going to be a mess, but he can't wait for everyone to be gone, he needs to get to Red. Because he's meeting Keith outside, and because there's no way he's the one who'll have to tell Keith she's gone.

So he grabs Keith's key and opens the door, but nothing could have prepared him to that. There's people screaming everywhere, pushing others to try and get to the stairs quicker, but there's already people from the other floors trying to do the same, and when something collapse above their heads on the upper floors, the few public spirit that was left is gone.

Lance tries to convince his lungs to breathe, but between the toxic air, the heat and the panic, he starts to feel dizzy. He looks at Keith's door, which always looked so close but now feels like it's miles away. There's just so many people between him and it, so many people determined to crush everything that stands between them and the stairs. Like Lance, for example. But he won't give up on Red. Never.

So he starts to force his way on the opposite direction of everyone, tiring himself so much, so fast, but determined. He tries to protect Blue with his arms, pushing as strongly as he can to create a passage for himself.

"What are you doing? It's the other way, idiot!" A neighbor yells at him as Lance forces him out of his way, but he doesn't have the strength to make a smart comment right now, so he just ignores the man, rolling his eyes.

He groans as a woman digs her elbow into his side, but he's almost there. Just another step and..

And the ceiling falls on their head.

He automatically kneels around his bag, praying for Blue to still be okay in there. There's dust flying all around him, making him cough violently even if the napkin is still on his face. Maybe it's ashes for all he knows, he doesn't really care as either of them could possibly asphyxiate him in the following minutes.

For a moment, everyone is silent, unmoving, waiting. Lance lifts his head to try and take a look, and he's relieved to see there's no flame, but a piece of the ceiling on the floor. Good. Okay. You can do that.

Before the others realize it's okay to start yelling and pushing again, Lance takes the opportunity to stand up to open the door, sliding the key with shaking hands. He collapses inside, unable to stand anymore, trying to breathe, but unable to do that either.

This is it. This is how I die.

He can feel tears dropping along his cheeks, from panic or from the dust/ashes hurting his eyes, he doesn't know, doesn't care. It'll be dry fast enough anyway.

He hears Blue meowing inside the bag, and it's what gives Lance the will to start moving again, even if it's like his body isn't his own anymore, like it's old, broken, non responsive. He sees Red on the balcony, reminding him why he's there for, and understanding there's no way he's walking to her, he starts crawling, thinking it's his last move with every one he takes. Until he reaches the door and a blast of air finds its way to his lungs and Lance feels like he comes alive again.

He breathes deeply for a few seconds before taking the bag off to put it on the balcony so Blue has some air too. He opens it a bit, but not much so she can't escape. Red walks to him, sniffing him before rubbing her head on him. He doesn't have the strength to pet her, tears running down his cheeks.

He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want them to die. He doesn't want to leave Keith. To leave his friends, his family. He doesn't want to think about how they'll feel. About how Keith must be feeling right now as their home is burning and he can't do anything to stop it, to make things right. Lance doesn't want to think about the possibility that Keith isn't safe because he has to be.

This time, it's the sobbing that prevents Lance from breathing, but fighting is just too much to ask from him. He can't. He just can't. He manages to move his hand just enough to let Red know she's not alone, and she looks at him right in the eyes with that demanding look, as if ordering him to do something, but he can't.

"I'm sorry, Red." He whispers, voice rasped, but it's not like she can understand him, despite what Keith believes.

Thinking about him sends a pang of guilt in Lance's heart. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, but he never thought it would that short. He thought they had years in front of them, time to go on hundreds of dates, on holidays, time to present him to his family, time to marry him, or just time to watch that damn movie. There's so much things he wanted to do with Keith that thinking about never being able to do them makes Lance furious. He'd give anything to have this life, and he's going to give everything he still has to at least try and fight for it.

With a renewed force, still weak, but allowing him to move slowly, Lance catches Red, who's weirdly docile, trusting him. He opens the bag, and she goes in it voluntarily, maybe because she saw Blue in there, maybe because she likes hiding places. He still closes the bag, even just to protect them, and forces his body to cooperate because he's fucking going out of here to his boyfriend.

Everything hurts. It's like being betrayed by his own body. But Lance ignores it. He stands up on shaking legs, using shaking arms and hands to put the bag back on his chest. He goes to the kitchen and drinks water, putting some on his face, wetting the napkin again. He moves automatically, not authorizing himself to think he can't do it. He can. He will. He'll see Keith again.

The corridor is still hell, but people are mostly gone now. Lance can hardly see a thing with the smoke omnipresent, the smoke that burns his eyes, making him cry, fighting his body's reactions not to close his eyes. It burns his lungs too, even with the napkin, already hot again, but Lance knows better than to abandon his weak protection. He walks slowly to the stairs, finding his way more thanks to his memory than to his sight.

He puts a careful foot on the first step, testing his balance, gripping the handrail with his almost inexistent strength. He sighs, trying to prevent himself for coughing too much, fearing the effort would kill him. He raises his other foot to start going down, but without a warning, something huge collides with him and the terror of having the ceiling collapsing on him makes him wants to throw up. All he can think about is that he needs to stay on his feet, so he grasps the handrail like his life depends on it, because it definitely does.

"I'm so sorry!" A girl yells above the alarm, sending him a sad look before running down the stairs. Lance notices a huge bag on her back as she disappears from his view. Okay, it's okay, it's just someone else, not the ceiling coming to kill him a bit sooner.

Lance shakes his head, trying to get rid of the black spots dancing in front of his eyes, but he knows that in staying here, he's only condemning himself, so he goes against his body's wish and starts getting down, one step at a time, his hands never leaving the handrail like a lifeline. He notices he somehow let go of the napkin, but it's not like he's able to look for it anyway.

He manages to reach the fourth floor, then the third, finding his rhythm, when he hears another part of the building collapsing above his head. He automatically closes his eyes, feeling like the world is turning around him. He tries to force his eyes opened, but there's just too much smoke and it's stinging so much it's unbearable. But it's okay, he tries to convince himself, because his hands didn't leave the handrail, so all he needs to do is to follow it and it'll bring him down. Then, he'll just have a few meters to cross and he'll be out. Yeah, he can do that.

"Wait! Stop!" Someone screams not so far from him, and Lance freezes, a foot still up, not knowing where it's okay to put it down, or even if it's to him they're talking too. But for the first time in what feels like forever, the panic in his chest seems to ease even just a little because there's someone out there, and they sound like they want to help.

Lance jumps when he feels hands land on him. "It's okay, Sir, I'll help you out, you just need to walk a little bit longer, okay? Careful, there's a hole in the stairs right in front of you. Just follow my lead. Are your eyes hurting?" The man yells in his ears to cover the sound of the alarm, but his voice is reassuring, confident, like he has a plan and doesn't doubt he's going to succeed in saving Lance. And Lance wants to trust him.

"Yeah.. Burning.. Everything's.. Hurts.." Lance manages to say as loudly as possible, but he has no idea if the man can hear him. Not that he manages to give any useful information anyway.

The fireman guides Lance's arm opposite to the handrail around his neck, where he can feel a helmet, his hand staying on Lance's so his arm doesn't drop. He's grateful for that, he really doubts he would have been able to keep it there by himself. Then, he feels an arm steadying him around his back, guiding him to the side to avoid the hole.

Lance feels lighter, only having to move his legs a bit to walk as most of his weight is on the fireman. They go down rapidly, the man going as fast as he can push Lance without him collapsing. He trips a few times, but the fireman's hands never leave him, always there to lift him up, encouraging him and pressing him more and more. Lance wonders vaguely if it's because the building is about to collapse on them, but his brain is too foggy for him to really be able to be scared anymore. He's in survival mode, just concentrating on putting a foot in front of the other.

And suddenly, it's not steps he's walking on, but flat ground, and he can almost breathe, even if he's still making agonizing noises as his lungs are fighting to get some air and make his body working. It's cooler too, even just a little, but not as stifling as before, and Lance dares to open his eyes again, crying so much from the hurt he can barely see between the black spots still present.

It's bright, too bright. But his need to see is stronger than his need to try and relieve the pain. Because now they're going outside, and it's there that Lance's hopes remain. The hope to see Keith, the hope that he's fine, the hope that everything can be okay again. The hope he can have that life with him he dreams about and that gave him the will to move that messed up body of his.

But as soon as he steps outside, he understands things are never as easy as they are when you're day dreaming. Outside, it's almost as hellish as inside. There's firemen in the direct perimeter, and a crowd behind a police cordon, with probably as much of his neighbors as curious people. He can vaguely see lights dancing, guessing it's ambulances as the fireman helping him is guiding him their way.

"You're going to be alright, you just need to get some help with the ambulance men there and probably a trip to the hospital, okay?" The fireman tries to reassure him as Lance is frowning, looking around, trying to convince his eyes to just to their job and see clearly. Of course, the man can't know why Lance is slowly losing it because he needs Keith right now.

"No.. I can't.. Go there.. I need to.. Keith, I have to.." He mumbles, but even to himself, he doesn't make sense. He's just too tired to speak, to think, to stand, to breathe, to see, to live.

The fireman is ignoring him though, still going for the ambulances. But Lance just can't continue. Because the only reason he's still standing is Keith and he's not there and why isn't he here when he belongs to Lance's side? He feels the panic rise in his chest, way worst than ever as he uses his free hand to rub his eyes to get rid of the tears that keep running down his cheeks. He can vaguely see that his hand is almost black with smoke.

Then he hears it. A voice, yelling, begging to be listened, desperate. It's all he can hear, like the alarm and the crowd are muffled. Even the fireman's voice next to him can't get his attention.

".. Fucking live here.. let me.. I need to find.. here! Lance! Lance! Let me.."

Lance can't hear everything he says, but it's enough to give him the strength to lift his head, looking in the voice's direction with hope. And he's not very clear, but Lance could recognize him in thousands others anyway. All of his terror slips away, leaving his body so fast he almost collapse on the ground with the emotion. He's certain he would fall asleep right away if he closed his eyes, but he needs to get to Keith before because he could actually die if he doesn't get to touch him in the next seconds.

"Come on, just a few more steps." The fireman presses him, but Lance shakes his head furiously, refusing to look away from Keith, fearing he'll lose him if he does.

"No, I need to.. Go there." He says with difficulties, his throat burning, hoping the fireman will understand as the policeman preventing Keith to come to him doesn't seem to want to understand. Lance knows Keith would have a pretty good chance in a fight against him and that he'll probably lose his temper and punch him if he doesn't let him pass. And he really doesn't want that.

Luckily, the fireman follows his eyes and nods, calling for the policeman before making a sign with his hand to let him know it's okay to allow Keith in the safe zone. Begrudgingly, the policeman nods and raises the cordon for Keith to pass under. Keith doesn't hesitate before rushing to Lance's side, taking his arm to support him from the other side, touching his cheek with his other hand, not caring for one second about the dirt up there.

"Oh my gods, Lance, are you okay?! You've been in there forever!" Keith panics, but Lance just leans into his embrace, weirdly content despite the situation. "Is he going to be okay?!" He adds for the fireman this time, understanding he wouldn't get anything else from Lance than a groggy smile.

"If he's willing to go to an ambulance now, then yeah, he'll be fine." The fireman answers tiredly.

"What? Of course he is!" Keith says, outraged that Lance refused to be helped before. Then, he helps the fireman almost carrying Lance to the closest ambulance, thankfully empty. They get him in, holding him until they can sit him on a stretcher. Lance doesn't resist, letting himself be taking care of docilely.

The fireman leaves, but Keith doesn't let go of him for one second, holding him close in a tight hug Lance never wants to end. He breathes deeply, feeling at home while smelling Keith's perfume, the first thing he smells other than burning things.

"Sssh, hey, baby, why are you crying? Does something hurt?" Keith asks, drying Lance's cheeks with the hand that's not holding him, preventing him from falling as his whole weight is resting on his boyfriend.

He didn't realize he's crying until Keith notices it, but even if every fiber of his body is hurting, he knows it's not why he's crying. It's happy tears. Because he made it. They made it. And even if they lost almost everything, they still have the most important, they still have each other, and that's what matters. "I'm just happy you're okay. We're okay."

Being happy right now isn't normal at all, but when he looks up at Keith, he knows he understands. "Me too. Gods, me too. I thought I lost you. I don't care about the rest, you're the only thing that matters."

Lance tries to smile, but a coughing fit prevents him. He chases it away quickly though, noticing Keith's worried look. He knows how to make him smile again though. "Really? The only thing?" He asks, his voice broken but not caring about it as he opens slightly the backpack he still carries on his chest for Keith to look inside.

He's happy he's looking at Keith and not down to the cats because when Keith's face brightens, it's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen in his life. Keith uses his free hand to cover his mouth in surprise, tears in his eyes.

"Oh my.. Lance. I love you." He announces, cupping Lance's cheek to kiss him. It's a quick kiss, only a peck, really, probably because Lance must taste like sweat and ashes, but it's okay, as his lungs aren't ready for Keith to take his breath away.

Keith's attention leaves Lance for the cats, petting their heads. It's perfect until the ambulance man arrives to their side, eying the cats weirdly.

"Hi, sorry for the wait. Here, it should help you breathe better." He says, giving him an oxygen mask that Lance takes with a shaking, tired hand. He doesn't hesitate a second before putting it on, breathing deeply. "Most of your symptoms should wear off in a few hours but we need to take you to the hospital to make sure everything's okay. What's your name?"

Lance raises a hand to take the mask off to talk, but Keith answers for him. "Lance McClain."

The man looks at Keith weirdly. "And you are?"

"I'm his boyfriend. Huh, Keith." He presents himself awkwardly as Lance lets his head fall on his chest, closing his eyes, happy to be lulled by the soft rise and fall of his breathing.

The ambulance man nods. "Do you have people we need to warn?"

Lance just shakes his head, too tired to talk. Keith understands right away and specify for him. "His family lives really far away. I'll call them but they can't come so there's no use telling them now." This time, Lance nods so the man knows it's what he meant.

"Okay, we'll leave soon, but you can't take animals with you to the hospital so I'm sorry, sir, but you can't come with us. Except if you want to leave them here."

At that, Keith looks absolutely turned between two things too awful to just be considered. And Lance gets it, because the thought of Keith leaving his side makes him wants to throw up, but there's no way they're leaving the cats to someone they don't know.

"I'll be right back, please take your decision quickly." The man says before leaving.

Lance looks up at Keith to see what he thinks, but Keith just grabs his phone from his pocket, swearing loudly while looking at the screen. "Shiro called me like.. 34 times." He explains to Lance, then taps on his phone as it starts buzzing with a new call, probably Shiro's 35th call.

"Hey, Shiro, sorry I didn't pick up earlier—"

"Keith, finally! You scared us so much. Are you okay?! Is Lance okay?! Where are you?!" Shiro yells, and Lance guesses Keith must be glad he put his phone on speaker instead of bringing it to his ear.

"Shiro, calm down, you're on speaker in an ambulance, look—"

"An ambulance?! What are you doing I an ambulance?!" Shiro cuts him, panicked, and Lance can't help but giggles because Shiro sounds more like a father than friend.

"If you'd just let me talk you'd know already! We're okay, just, can you come as quickly as possible please?" Keith asks, surprising Lance at first. Then he understands what it's about and wishes it works out fine because he really needs the man he loves right now.

"We're already on our way, Adam's driving. We're almost there. You'll be okay?" Shiro reassures him - them - with his dad voice. Lance guesses he wants to make Keith feels better by hiding his actual stress for the situation, but if Lance can tell, he's sure Keith can too.

"Y-yeah, don't worry. When you're there go to the ambulances. If you can't find us just call me, I'll try to answer." Keith says, and it's such a Keith thing to tell that Lance can't help but chuckles a little as Keith hangs up with Shiro, frowning at Lance. "What? Is there laughing gas in that mask?"

Lance shakes his head, giggling. Maybe it's a side effect of the pressure being released, but he feels so good. Keith accepts that as an answer as he shrugs, looking perfectly content just standing there, hugging Lance as if he's never letting go of him.

Until his phone starts buzzing again. He groans, but looks at it, and this time, it's Hunk's name that appears. Lance immediately feels guilty because damn, his friend probably tried to call him but his phone is like, lost forever, so he must be freaking out so badly right now. Especially as Hunk is a guy who freaks out really easily. Keith puts him on speaker like he did with Shiro.

"Hi—"

"Keith! I just saw it on the news, so I tried to call Lance like ten times but he's not picking up and I know he's normally still at work but I remember he mentioned that meeting and now I can't reach him and—"

"HUNK." Keith yells to stop him. When it works, he continues. "I'm with Lance right now, he's okay, but his phone is - was? - in the building so its dead. He can't talk to you because his throat hurts from the smoke but we're going in the hospital in a few minutes to check if everything is healing normally. I'll text you when you can come, okay?" He explains, trying to cover everything while sounding the most reassuring possible. He's good at it.

"O-okay, good, great. You're okay too? What about the cats?" Hunk worries, and Keith smiles.

"We're all okay, don't worry."

They exchange goodbyes and hang up.

Lance decides he got enough strength back to take off his mask just the time to speak. "I don't know what I'd do without you, I'm so happy you're here, I'm so lucky to have you." Then he puts the mask back, rubbing his head against Keith's chest like a cat.

Keith tousles his hair, but Lance doesn't care about his hair being a mess right now. He must already looks like a big mess anyway. It's a miracle Keith still manages to look at him with that look full of love he tries to convince himself he deserves. "Are you kidding? I'm the lucky one. And you literally risked your life to save my cat. That was fucking insane and stupid, by the way. I mean, I'm really glad you're all okay but.. If losing her would hurt like hell, I know I just could never handle losing you." Then he kisses Lance's hair and Lance is losing it.

"I know, I just couldn't think, like I was on autopilot, you know? I just hopped you were okay and not trapped in that damn elevator or something, and then I just.. Kept going I guess? I thought a few times I wouldn't make it. I gave up. But then.." Lance stops to cough, but when Keith tries to force the mask back on him, he shakes his head. He's not done yet. "Then I thought about you, about everything I want to do with you, about the life I need to live with you, and that's what kept me going. You saved my life."

Keith is crying, but it's okay, because Lance understands. He knows. And he feels the same. "I love you so much. You have no idea of how terrified I was when I got back and saw the fire. And then you just weren't getting out and I tried to pass the cordon to just.. I don't know, run inside to find you, but they stopped me and it was driving me insane."

Lance chuckles. "And you dare say I'm the stupid one."

"I said what you did was stupid, and it was. But you are not stupid. And it's not stupid to be ready to do anything to save the person I love most. I'm serious, Lance, when I say I can't handle losing you. I'm really not interested in a life without you." Keith says, and Lance nods slowly, still processing everything. This sound like a serious conversation they shouldn't have in an ambulance because what Keith is telling his is maybe really sweet and romantic, but it's also worrying him. He hates having the power to destroy Keith if something happens to him. Then again, the feeling is more than reciprocated.

Lance raises a hand to Keith hip, stroking his thumb against his skin to try and relax him. "We'll be okay." He tells him, decided to do everything he'll need to do to make them okay again after that kind of trauma.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we need to go in two minutes so I'll have to ask you to exit the ambulance. It's already against the rule that the cats are still here." The ambulance man comes back, startling them in their moment.

Lance feels a nock forming in his stomach, and according to Keith's face, he has the same fear. What if Shiro and Adam aren't on time? Maybe they could drive Keith to the hospital as soon as their arrive, but Lance is actually terrified of going in the ambulance alone, and arriving to the hospital without Keith to make sure everything's fine.

"Yeah, sorry, thanks for everything. The cats will be gone by then, I swear." Keith immediately promises, and Lance wishes he was as certain as he sounds.

The ambulance man nods and leaves once again, and as soon as he's gone, Keith takes his phone back in his hand, not losing time to tell Lance what he's about to do. He's calling Shiro, and like before, he puts him on speaker for Lance to be able to follow what's happening.

"Keith? Is—"

"I really need you now." Keith cuts him, and Lance can hear his panic in his voice.

"Okay, okay, calm down, we're on the main road, I'm going to exit the car right in front of your street in 20 seconds, then run until I find you while Adam searches where to park. Sound good?" Shiro asks, worried, but calm.

Keith nods before remembering Shiro can't see him. "Yeah, that's perfect. Thanks."

"Exiting the car now, leaving my beautiful fiancé behind, running to you now.. Wow, that's a lot of people. Okay, I see the ambulance, are you somewhere I can't see you?" Shiro says, and Lance can hear Keith's heartbeat slowing back closer to a normal rate.

"Yeah, I'm standing.. I see you, stop! Turn left.. Yeah." Keith guides Shiro, and Lance makes an effort to keep his eyes opened to see him. He looks as worried as he sounds, but there's relief on his face as he finally sees Keith.

"Got you."

They hang up and Shiro runs the last meters between them, going easily in the ambulance. He immediately opens his arms to hug Keith, taking Lance in the embrace with him as they're still glued to each other.

"Oh my.. Lance, you look like.." Shiro stops himself, lost for words, or maybe not wanting to be insulting.

"Like he just escaped a building on fire?" Keith offers, and Lance smiles, amused.

"Yeah. What's the emergency?" Shiro asks, not losing time, and Lance is happy about it. He knows they'll have to tell the story to their friends. Hell, they're going to have to tell each other their own part of the story. But for now, Shiro knows it's not story time and Lance really appreciates.

Keith slowly detaches himself from Lance, making him whine in surprise because what does he think he's doing? He thought it had been pretty obvious he wasn't planning on letting go of Keith anytime soon, and he thought it was clear Keith felt the same. So what..?

"I need the bag." Keith explains, and Lance feels hot in his cheeks. Oh. He hopes his face is dirty enough for his blush to go unnoticed.

He lets Keith take the backpack off of him, feeling suddenly weirdly light without it. Keith hands it to Shiro, who looks inside, his eyes widening as he sees the cats.

"Lance saved them, I was out grocery shopping. Could you go to the pets shop to get a real travel bag for them, cat food, and a few toys? They both like the mouse thingy and fluffed animals. Also could you bring them to a vet to check if they're okay with the stress and smoke, please?" Keith asks, his arm naturally finding its place back around Lance, who hurries to glue himself back to Keith.

Shiro takes the bag, nodding. "Of course, I'll take them home, and you know our home is yours, for as long as you need it. We'll figure it out, okay? Don't worry." Shiro says, a hand on Keith's shoulder, and an uneasy feeling finds its place on Lance's stomach as he feels like there's something he's missing with Keith. Something else that's bothering him and making him anxious than Lance and the cats. Was he being too full of himself by thinking he was the only reason for Keith's concern?

"Thanks, Shiro."

Shiro squeezes Keith's shoulder before leaving, saying goodbye to the boys. Lance sends a curious look at Keith, trying to understand what it was about, but Keith just forces himself to smile, and Lance hates that fake smile because it's not his Keith. He doesn't want Keith to feel like he has to pretend in front of Lance. He wants to know what he really feels. He wants to help.

"Ready to go?" The ambulance man comes back, and Keith immediately nods. "Okay, great. Lance, you'll have to lay down during the drive because the road can make you really dizzy. If you need to throw up, just take that bag." He says, giving him a paper back. "You can sit here." He adds for Keith, showing him a seat on the side of the ambulance.

Keith goes to the seat docilely, but as soon as he's in place, he holds out a hand to Lance's stretcher. When he finds out he can reach Lance's hand, his smile is a real one.

Lance adjusts himself into a laying position, feeling weird, but really wanting to sleep in the meantime. They stay silent until they arrive to the hospital, but Lance is really happy Keith is by his side.

Chapter Text

Lance is still half asleep when he realizes a hand is trying to wake him up, shaking him softly on his shoulder. There's also a comforting voice gently talking to him, sweet nothing, but Lance wants it to continue forever because it's his favorite sound.

"Lance, hey, baby, you need to wake up now." The voice says, and Lance is just awaken enough to realize it's Keith's voice. And yeah, he's all for sleeping the day off because he feels so tired, but he also really wants to see his amazing boyfriend now, so he forces his eyes opened, groaning because of the light, raising a hand to hide his eyes.

But Keith's form in front of him disappear in a second, and Lance feels betrayed because he woke up just for him and he's leaving. The room darken suddenly, and Keith comes back to his side, sitting in a chair right next to Lance's bed, his elbows on it while he takes Lance's hand in his own.

"Sorry, I should have close the curtains before. How do you feel?" He asks, a bit of worry still in his voice, but he's smiling softly at Lance and it's a beautiful sight to wake up to.

Lance uses his free hand to take off his oxygen mask. He doesn't really need it anymore, he can talk almost normally, but he can get tired easily, and this thing makes it better. "Good. Tired, though. Why did you wake me up?" He wonders.

"Hunk is in the hall, he's coming right now and I had a feeling he would freaks out less if you're awake when he comes in." Keith explains, and Lance nods. Smart.

"Yeah, good choice." He approves, taking the remote control of the bed to put it in a sitting position. There's no way he's letting his friend see him laying in a hospital bed like a dying man, he would cry. "How do I look?"

"Gorgeous." Keith answers right away without any hesitation, making Lance feels hot in his cheeks because once again, what did he do to deserve such an amazing boyfriend?

"I mean without the lover filter." Lance clarifies, and Keith's mouth opens in a 'o', which is super cute.

"Tired. And bed hair." Keith says honestly, and Lance is glad he woke him up before anyone else can see that. He has terrible bed hair and it's a spectacle only Keith is authorized to witness.

"Shit." He curses, taking his hand away from Keith's to put both of his hands in his hair, trying to fix it blindly. According to Keith's amused face, it's a failure.

"Wait, let me just.." Keith takes Lance's hands off his hair, putting his own up there, moving them clumsily, taking them off to look at the result, then hands back in, and then he's done. "Better." He announces.

"Thanks." Lance holds his hand out in Keith's direction, a silent demand for it to be held again. Keith doesn't wait a second before his hands are closing on Lance's and it's so comfy he feels like going back to sleep right now. Maybe if he moves a little Keith can come on the bed too and..

There's a knock on the door, to which Keith immediately answers by a loud "Come in!". Lance sends him a grateful smile, because he might feel better, but yelling right now seems out of his reach.

Hunk enters the room, or at least, Lance guesses it's Hunk that's hidden behind the biggest bouquet of flowers he's ever seen. He puts the bouquet on the table and runs to Lance, taking him in a bones crushing hug.

"Alright, I'm fine buddy, you can let go, I need to breathe." Lance says, patting his friend's back. Hunk lets go, tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, you just scared me." Hunk admits, taking place on the chair on the other side of Lance's bed.

"I know, but I'm feeling really good, I'll be out tomorrow morning." Lance tries to reassure Hunk, but he just looks horrified.

"Oh gods, you're homeless. Dude, you totally can stay at my place as long as you need. You too, Keith, if you want." Hunk adds, but Keith smiles sadly at him.

"Thanks, but don't worry, I'll stay at my best friend's apartment. It was were I lived before he got engaged and the cats are already there. But I'm sure Shiro'll be okay with bringing Blue for you tomorrow before you leave." Keith answers, and Lance nods because hell yeah he wants Blue, but he's a bit disappointed.

He doesn't know where Shiro lives, or how far it is to Hunk's place, but he's really used to being able to see Keith whenever he wants, knowing that even if they're not in the same room, he's just next door. It hurts to think they'll probably never have that again, it would be too lucky to find two apartments available next to each other and perfects for them and their budgets. He won't be able to just go to Keith's if he needs his help, or just really wants to cuddle. Even if they find apartments that are close to each other, they'll need to be fully clothed, with shoes, coats, they'll have to get out, walk, maybe take the subway, taking the cats with them will be a mess, and he won't manage to just drop Blue at Keith's place before work.

Maybe Keith will have less time for him. Maybe he'll be too tired to come over, maybe when it's not as easy to see Lance, he won't bother and think it's annoying to have to spend time with him. Especially with two of his best friends living with him. If it's easier to just hang out with them, why bother with Lance?

But no. No. He won't allow himself to think so lowly of Keith. He trusts him. He knows what kind of person he is. He knows Keith loves him. He knows Keith found excuses to come and talk to him at the beginning, he knows he'd spend hours drawing something just to make Lance happy. He knows he would come to Lance's place an hour before the time he's supposed to come back from work just to cook him dinner. And he knows he'll do everything for their relationship to work.

"I didn't know you lived with Shiro. What kind of roommate is he? I'm sure he's the dade-roommate. Always telling you to have healthy habits. Oh, I'm sure it's because of him you have a shitty sleeping schedule, like a rebellious thing or something." Lance says, trying to lighten the mood.

"Not at all! He's really chill, never intrude when I'm busy, always ask if I'm free before offering to do something. Sometimes, I didn't even know he was home. And when my sleeping schedule is a mess, he just brought me coffee because he knew I wouldn't listen if he told me to sleep." Keith explains, a fond smile on his face, and Lance can't help but smile too, liking the thought that Keith has someone like Shiro in his life, and had him for a long time.

"Oh, the opposite of Lance then." Hunk comments, and Lance wants to kick him because thanks bro, now he's never going to want to live with me. Not that it's something Lance wants right now, but.. Who is he kidding, he totally wants that now. Now that he realized it's what they almost had anyway, he wants it back and more so badly.

Keith chuckles, and Lance prepares himself for the heartbreak of what he's about to say. "Nah, Lance is  just caring in his own way. Maybe sometimes you need someone to intrude and make their way to your life." Keith squeezes Lance hand, and Lance immediately squeezes back. Okay, this is good.

"Aw, that's cute, man." Hunk admits, not embarrassed at all while staring at them as they're having a moment.

"Yeah, the opposite of what you said, then." Lance mocks him with a teasing smile.

"I'm just telling the truth! But I'm not complaining, you know I love having you around. Oh, by the way, I brought your emergency stuff." Hunk says, showing a bag Lance didn't notice before but is so thankful to see. He always lets some clothes to Hunk's place in case he sleeps there, or in case they have a food fight or something and he loves Hunk for bringing them as all his clothes burned and they had to throw away the ones he had on him that day.

"Hunk, I love you." He says honestly, and Hunk laughs.

"I know. And I have a little something for you, as Keith told me your phone was lost.." Hunk gives him a phone, and Lance feels like crying. "You'll need a more recent one when you have the money from the insurance but in the meantime, you at least have this. I put my number in it, of course, and Keith's, Shay's, and your family's. I hope you called them already."

Lance nods, holding the phone as if his first born child. "Yeah, called my dad with Keith's phone, he told the others. But seriously, thank you so much."

"It's normal, man. I know you can't stay without—"

But Hunk is cut by Keith's phone buzzing, and he immediately lets go of Lance's hand to take it, apologizing before exiting the room to answer the call. Lance frowns at that, but maybe Keith isn't as at ease with having his phone call in front of Hunk as he is with Lance? They don't know each other that much yet. He wonders if he would have left if they were alone in the room. Probably.

"Is he okay?" Hunk asks carefully.

"Yeah, just a lot going on, you know." Lance says vaguely, because he doesn't want to admit he doesn't actually know the answer to Hunk's question. Sure, they lost almost everything, but it will be fine. They'll get money from the insurance and start over. It's normal to be stressed and sad, but he hates how Keith wouldn't talk to him about how he feels, what he's thinking. He's always talking about Lance's health, but Lance isn't stupid. He won't pretend he thinks Keith had it better than him during the fire just because he was outside. He remembers too clearly the panic he felt at the thought of Keith possibly being in the building, so he doesn't want to imagine how it feels to know the person you love is in it. But he feels like there's more to it, and Lance is pretty sure he's not the only reason Keith isn't as okay as he tries to make him think he is.

"I'll talk to him, don't worry. You know me, I won't ignore a problem even if he's begging me to. I know this needs a lot of fixing, but I won't give up. It'll be okay." He adds, trying to sound more confident that he feels.

"Yeah, I'm sure it will. You know what? I'll go buy you some clothes, Shay will be done with work in half an hour so I'll ask her to help me. Then I'll go home to prepare a bed for you. In the meantime, you really talk to your boyfriend. Okay?"

Lance pouts, resisting the huge to beg for Hunk not to leave him. But he also needs to talk to Keith, to make sure everything's really okay and maybe finally relax truly. Well, not that much as he'll still be in deep shit with his current situation, but still better.

"Okay, but don't buy anything Shay says no to!" He orders, trusting his friend with his life but not with clothes. Also he knows Shay is way better at choosing clothes than he is.

"Hey! I take offense to that!"

"To what?" Keith asks as he comes back in the room, and Lance jumps slightly.

"Lance doesn't trust me to buy him clothes. That's what I'm going to do right now by the way, so I'm gonna go now." Hunk announces in a way that is so unnatural that Lance wants to punch him. He risks a look at Keith, and only meets questioning eyes. Yeah, he totally noticed. Great.

Hunk exits before Keith can ask though, so that leaves just Lance. But Keith shrugs, coming closer to take his place back on the chair. He puts his hands back on the bed, and Lance doesn't hesitate to put his own in them, reassured, even just a bit. No, everything isn't fine, but they are, and it's already a good start.

"Who was it? On the phone, I mean." He asks, trying to look casual.

A weird expression passes on Keith's face, but before Lance can identify what it is, it's gone, replaced by a forced smile. "Just Shiro. He wanted to know about the cats eating schedule." And the lie is so obvious it actually hurts Lance so much he wants to cry.

"Why are you lying?" He asks bluntly, and when Keith lets go of Lance's hand, taking his own hands back on his lap, Lance knows he messed up. Way to go, McClain.

"I'm not lying!" Keith defends himself, raising his voice. Lance hates that. Because even if Keith already yelled at him a few times, it was never that cold, without even looking at him. And maybe it's better because he doesn't know what he would find in those purple eyes he loves so much.

"Then show me your calls's history." Lance demands, annoyed that Keith would just lie to his face and get mad when he points it out.

"Since when don't you trust me?" Keith asks, clearly hurt, and Lance wants to take everything back, but for now, knowing the truth is more important to him than wrapping Keith in bubble wrap.

"Since when are you lying to me?" Lance is hurt too, so hurt. His heart is in his throat, making it as hard for him to breathe as the fire.

"I'm sorry, I just.." Keith looks about ready to burst into tears right in front of him, completely losing it, and Lance feels stupid just lying there on his bed, unable to do something to help him. Why did he have to yell at him instead of treating the problem calmly?

Keith stands up and starts walking, and Lance's heart skips a beat, maybe a few. If he leaves now, if he leaves him, when they're both upset and that Lance has no idea of where he's going or even if he'll be able to reach him, he's going to fucking lose it. And he really hopes Keith won't do that because a relationship where you run away from the other instead of facing the problem together isn't the kind of relationship Lance wants.

Keith stops in front of the window, though, looking outside, and Lance breathe a sigh of relieve. He knows Keith wants to get away from this, and he's so happy he choses to do that by looking outside instead of going there, away from him. He considers saying something, anything to break the silence, but he feels like it's Keith's turn to talk, to finish talking. He doesn't want to press him too much. He wants to know, but only when Keith is ready. If he's still there, it's that he wants to tell Lance, and it's enough for now.

"I'm in deep shit, Lance. This is such a mess." Keith's voice is broken, and Lance realizes he's crying. His words are scaring him, but there's no way he's going to just stay here in bed when his boyfriend is breaking down a few feet away from him.

He pushes away the blanket and slowly puts his feet on the floor. There's black spots dancing in front of his eyes, but they're gone after a few seconds, so Lance decides it must be okay for him to stand. He starts pushing with his arms to get on his feet when the bed squeaks, startling Keith who turns around, now facing Lance with a shocked expression.

He rushes to Lance to stop him. "Hey, what are you doing? They say you can't walk for now, you need to rest."

But Lance just take advantage of their proximity to cup Keith's cheeks in his hands, drying his tears. "I'm sorry I upset you. I just need to know what is bothering you because I can see something's wrong and I want to help you. I get it if you don't want to tell me stuff but.. Please don't lie to me or shut me out because I'm here to stay." He explains calmly like he should have since the beginning, and Keith's look is still sad, but at least it's not mad anymore.

Keith rests his forehead against Lance's for a few moments, then mumbles: "Okay, but you need to lay back down first."

"No. I need to see you, face to face. And I was sitting, just like I'm now so it's authorized." He argues, and he's surprised when Keith huffs, amused, even just for a second. He kisses Lance's nose before straightening, putting a small distance between them. Lance accepts to let go of Keith's cheeks, but when he holds out his hands, Keith takes them into his owns.

"Gods, you're so stubborn. Okay." He sighs, searching for his words, and Lance waits patiently. "I know everyone lost everything today so I feel like I don't have any right to complain because I had the chance to be outside, and you and the cats are okay so I really shouldn't feel that bad but.. I can't help it? I lost more than furnitures, I lost all my works, all the commissions I finished are lost, all my personal works, the back up I had, it's fucking gone for good, as if I never did anything in my life. And I'm ashamed to think about that when you almost died and are hurt, but it's eating me from the inside and I don't know how I can come back from that."

Keith's voice breaks, unable to continue, and Lance pulls on his hands to guide him closer, opening his arms to offer a hug he desperately wants to give Keith but doesn't want to force into him. Thankfully, Keith immediately rushes into the embrace, holding Lance closer than he ever did, sobbing on his shoulder, and Lance holds him as tightly, knowing it'll help to cry.

"Just because others had it worst doesn't mean you're not authorized to be scared or sad. And I don't personally feels like I had it worst than you did. I had it differently, that's all. And now, it'll be easier for me, because I just need to replace clothes and furnitures, but it's good because that means I'll have time to help you." He whispers softly.

"You don't have to."

"I want to, we're in this together, you're not alone, and I'm pretty sure all of our friends will be more than happy to help. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but it'll be okay, I promise." Lance reassures him. He's confident in this, he just knows they can fix this.

He feels Keith nodding against his head, and he hopes he really managed to lessen his fears. Not everything can be okay right away, but he can't handle the thought of Keith suffering that much if he can help it. "Thanks, Lance." Keith mumbles. "The phone call was from that woman in charge of the commissions by the way, she already called me when you were asleep to tell me she heard about the fire and wanted to know if everything was lost. Right now, she called back to ask when I thought I'd be able to finish everything again."

Lance feels rage boiling into his stomach because what the hell is wrong with that woman? "She sounds like an asshole."

Keith chuckles. "Yeah, but she's the one who gave me a chance to begin with so I guess I owe her."

Lance nods, understanding. "Thanks for telling me." Guess we both have annoying bosses then.

"Hey, Keith?" He asks before fear can change his mind. Keith must feel a change in Lance's tone because he breaks their hug to be able to look at Lance and wow, Lance isn't sure he didn't prefer how they were before. Because now he has to ask while looking into those purple eyes, and it's harder than he thought it would be.

"Yeah?" Keith answers, tilting his head a bit. Lance takes his boyfriend's hands in his owns, squeezing them. He smiles when he gets a squeeze back. Keith waits patiently for Lance to find his words and he's thankful for that.

"I know we haven't known each other for so long and that you like having your own space and everything so I totally understand if you don't want to and I won't be mad at all so don't feel pressured or anything but.. I don't know, I feel like living next to you, having each other's key, always being together at one apartment or the other, it was like we were living together and I really don't want to lose that. So, Keith, when we have the money from the insurance, do you think we could, like, look for a place together?" Lance knows he's rambling, but according to Keith's soft smile, it's okay.

"Gods, Lance, you didn't need to give a speech, of course I want that too." Keith says, making Lance the happiest man ever. "But.." Lance's heart stops, his smile freezing. "When I get the money I'll need to buy all my work material first, then finish all the commissions before I can afford to pay rent so I don't think it'll be before like a couple of months or so." Keith adds with a sad smile, but Lance can't let that happen. He needs a real, genuine smile.

"Okay but like, you forget that we won't have to buy new furnitures each, we can buy cheap clothes, and I'll still get payed as usual so I can afford the first rents on my own with the extra money from the insurance. Plus, I owe you something for the painting you'll give me when you're done with everything you need to do for work, so please let me do that for us."

And there it is. That smile. Just for Lance. He can't help but smile too, because at that moment, he knows he won. Keith nods happily, then leans to kiss Lance. It's soft, but true, and Lance feels like he's flying.

* * *

The following days are a mess. Keith brings Blue for him with Shiro and Adam as he promised, wearing something way too big for him. They eats lunch together at Hunk's place, but they leaves rapidly, having to go and buy stuff for Keith. Later, when Keith calls Lance, he learns they bought really cheap clothes and material for Keith's work, as Shiro and Adam have enough money to be able to help Keith with that. Lance requests from Keith that he tries everything on for him and he does, so Lance manages to have him a little longer before he starts working.

Hunk and Shay only have one bedroom, so Lance sleeps on a mattress on the ground with Blue, that the couple absolutely adores. When it's only Lance and Hunk, it's almost like when they were roommates, laughing and playing like kids. Except that when Shay comes back, Lance feels like a kid with his parents and every time they act cute together Lance's heart hurts so much as he misses Keith more than ever.

Keith has to work a lot though, so generally, it's Lance who comes over, sometimes just to cook for him when Shiro and Adam are out. Then, he'd force him to take a break and watch tv with him until he falls asleep as he's so tired. Red would join them, nestled between them, and Lance would pet her, missing her so much as well.

Sometimes, Lance would decide it's enough and force Keith to take a shower, get changed, and go out with him, and he's happy when he learns Shiro is doing the same as Keith wanted to skip their martial arts practice. That day, they drop Red at Hunk and Shay's place and they're all very happy about it.

But if Lance is worried at first about Keith, especially as he's not able to see him as much as he wants to, he notices he looks better as the days pass and the commissions to do are reducing. And when it's Keith that calls him to let him know he's coming to take him out on a date, he knows things are already better.

Keith didn't say where or what they were doing though, so Lance has no idea on how to dress. He knows it's nowhere fancy, they can't afford it, and he knows the only clothes Keith bought since the fire are cheap things he doesn't care to get dirty with paints in (okay, maybe even before it was mostly already like that). So he won't overdress. Maybe that grey jeans and deep blue shirt would do it.

The door's bell rings, and Lance freezes, only wearing his boxer. The thing is, he's alone in the apartment right now, and he's pretty sure it's Keith behind the door. But if it's not and he opens like that.. It's going to be really awkward. When it rings again, Lance almost runs to the door anyway, opening carefully as he tries to hide his body behind the door. When he sees Keith, he's relieved, but also amazed because he brought Lance red roses. It's the first time someone is doing that for him. And he's in his boxer.

At the sight of him, Keith's cheeks turn as red as the roses he's holding, but Lance decides to play it casual.

"Hey babe, they're so pretty. Are they for me?" He asks, leaning in to kiss his beautiful boyfriend. Keith returns the kiss in an automatism, eyes wide opened as if he never saw Lance without his clothes.

Keith nods, giving him the flowers. "Hi. Yeah, of course they are."

Lance takes them, smelling their perfume, and turns around to put them in water. He hears Keith following him, closing the door behind him. "I know I warned you at the last minute and everything but.." Keith stops himself, lost for words.

Lance laughs, putting the vase he put the flowers in on the table. "Like that you can see what you're buying." He jokes.

But Keith just looks confused. "What I'm.. What? I'm not buying anything." Keith raises an eyebrow, looking at Lance as if he's worrying about his mental health.

"You know, when you're wooing someone, you buy them gifts.." Lance points the flowers with his finger. ".. to win their heart." He explains, chuckling because this is so dumb.

Keith still looks confused though. "But.. I already have you.." He talks slowly, still trying to understand, and Lance blushes at Keith's words. He's so precious.

"I know, babe, it was a joke. Anyway, I was wondering what to wear when you arrived." Lance says, changing the subject. He takes a look at Keith's clothes: a plain dark red t-shirt and washed-out black jeans, plus the baskets he had on the day of the fire. Okay, he can match that.

"Oh, okay. We're not doing anything fancy, I just thought we could have a snack at that cute coffee shop Adam told me about? Or somewhere else if you want, I just want to talk to you." Keith explains as Lance searches through his improvised wardrobe for that grey jeans he was thinking about.

"The one he brought that 'best coffee ever' from?" Lance asks, a leg up to get into his jeans.

"Yeah, it was so good, Lance!" Keith assures him, and Lance believes him, remembering that afternoon when Keith called him so excited because Adam brought him coffee from a new place that was apparently the best 'and I so need to go, Lance'. Seems like it's time, and Lance is just happy Keith chose him to test this new place with.

"I can't wait, then." He smiles, now trying to find a clean shirt. "Is there anything in particular you want to talk to me about?" He adds, because these words from Keith woke up his anxiety a little bit.

At that, Keith smiles. "Nope, I just missed you." And he doesn't wait for Lance to find that damn shirt to hug him bare chest, tightly, and Lance immediately hugs back.

As Lance finishes getting ready, Keith sits on the couch next to Blue, petting her. She's purring loudly, rubbing her head against his hand, and Keith is smiling fondly. Lance knows they miss each other, because he really misses Red and he saw her way more than Keith with Blue.

"I'm ready." He lets Keith knows as he exits the bathroom. His boyfriend nods, leaning in to kiss Blue's head. Then he holds out a hand in Lance's direction, and Lance immediately takes it, helping Keith up. Their hands stay intertwined as they make their way to the coffee shop.

Lance wants to order each specialty of the coffee shop. Keith is all for it, but reminds him they're still a bit short on money right now. So they end up ordering three of their special cakes, and Keith takes a frozen hazelnut coffee with extra sugar and caramel extract when Lance prefers a cappuccino with whipped cream.

When they finally sits at a table in a corner, Lance takes the time to look around for the first time since they got here. It's really bright, with huge windows, the furnitures and walls are of a pale wood, and there's a lot of plants everywhere. It's welcoming, but also modern. Lance likes that style.

"I still don't understand how you can drink something hot in the summer." Keith announces, attracting Lance's attention back on himself. He put the strands of hair that are always going in his face behind his ear to be able to drink without his hair going in his glass.

"And I still can't understand how you can handle that much sugar.. Oh no, I know, it's keeping you moving because you don't sleep." Lance teases him to avoid answering. He knows most people can't handle hot drinks in the summer, but it doesn't make him feel any hotter and just prefers it that way. It's probably because he's already at the maximum of hotness.

Keith sticks his tongue out at Lance, then takes a first sip, closing his eyes before nodding. "Mmm, this is so good, you need to try it." Then he pushes the drink in Lance's direction.

It's one of the adorable things Keith does that just make Lance melt: every time he eats or drinks something he likes, he immediately needs Lance to taste it too. Lance doesn't know if he wants to know if Lance likes the same things as he does or if he just wants Lance to taste it because it's good, but either way, it's one of the many things Lance loves about Keith. So he never refuses, even when things really don't appeal to him, just for fear that Keith would stop doing that if he says no. That, and because he never refuses a challenge and wants to know what Keith likes. At worst, he stays with a bad taste in his mouth for a few minutes. At best, he finds a new thing he likes.

But the thing is: Keith loves frozen drinks. Frozen things in general, really. So Lance had already experienced plenty of those weird frozen things Keith likes to order everywhere they go and every time, it's way too sugary and gives him brain freeze. It's even worst when it's Keith who made it, because then, he can't just make a face and admits he hates it.

Lance takes the offered drink anyway, just because Keith is looking at him with hope in his eyes, and Lance really can't handle making those pretty eyes sad. So he grudgingly takes the glass, taking a careful tiny sip, praying it's not enough to give him brain freeze. And okay, this is really cold, and a bit too sugary for Lance, but it's still good, as long as he doesn't drink too much of it.

He nods, giving Keith his drink back. "Not bad. To be perfectly honest, I'd even say it's good as long as I don't drink more than a sip." He admits with a smile, making Keith laughs.

"Wow, I knew this place was special but this is another level of greatness."

"It is." Lance approves, taking a sip of his own drink. After the coldness of Keith's drink, the hot drink is more than welcome to ease him mouth. It feels like a warm blanket, and even in summer, Lance likes to be warm. "Oh yeah. This is so so good, Keith, actually the best cappuccino ever." He comments, sliding his mug to Keith, not having to say anything as Keith would have taste it anyway.

Keith makes a face because of course, after a really sugary drink, everything taste bitter, but after a moment of thinking about it, he actually nods slightly. "You know what? It's not that bad. Good job at choosing something drinkable." Keith compliments him, and Lance rolls his eyes, taking his drink back with a smile.

"How should we proceed with the cakes? Should we task one each then exchange or..?"

"No, we should taste them together, one at a time." Lance says, knowing it'll be funnier because they're like kids in that kind of situation.

"Okay." Keith agrees easily. "Which one first?"

"I don't know. I feel that we should keep the chocolate one for the end though, it's a solid value in case another one taste disgusting and we need to get ride of an awful taste." Lance answers, even though they all look delicious.

Keith nods anyway. "Yeah, you're right. I think we try the vegan cake first because I have no idea of how it can taste. I mean, vegan is not a fucking flavor."

Lance laughs, not arguing as Keith actually has a point. It's him who convinced Keith to try this one, because ever since Pidge turned vegan, bringing Matt with her, they made them taste all sorts of weird food. Keith didn't wanted to take that cake because what the Holts made them eat is always disgusting, but Lance told him that if that place was so amazing, they'd manage to make eatable vegan food and Keith accepted to take that chance.

"You go first, it was your choice after all." Keith decides, and Lance can't really blame him so he takes his fork and goes for it.

Keith looks worriedly at him as he tastes it, as if he fears Lance would drop dead in front of him from vegan food poisoning. Which is valid: he once threw up after trying one of Pidge's creation. After that, he swore to introduce her to Hunk for cooking lesson, but the occasion never presented itself.

Lance's eyes widen as it doesn't actually taste like card-box. It's not ridiculously dry either, or without any taste. It's a similar texture than any other cake, with cocoa flavor and something he thinks is red fruits. He would even say it's good, delicious, would totally take more. But Keith is still looking at him expectingly, and he doesn't plan on letting him taste the cake without the same fear Lance experienced.

"So..?" Keith prompts him.

Lance shrugs. "Try it yourself."

Keith glares at him, but doesn't hesitate before taking his own fork to taste a tiny bit of the cake. So tiny Lance doubts he'll be able to taste anything at all. He looks carefully at his boyfriend, trying to guess what's on his mind, but Keith is just frowning, taking another fork of the cake, bigger this time.

He likes it, he guesses, smiling. They need to give some of this to Pidge and Matt.

"Not that bad." Keith comments. He's taking another bit, and Lance decides to do the same, nodding.

"Yeah, I had worst." Lance agrees. His eyes meet Keith's. They're bright, full of life, and Lance loves him so much it would be painful if it didn't make him the happiest man alive.

"This is fucking delicious, right?" He gives in, and Keith immediately nods quickly.

"Yes, it's like the best cake ever! Why didn't Matt and Pidge give us stuff like that?!" Keith says, outraged.

"I know right? Maybe they like to torture us." Lance offers as they take another bit each, humming happily. "Or they're really crappy at cooking. We need to introduce them to Hunk asap."

"For having known them for years, I can tell you for sure they didn't make anything themselves. I'm pretty sure they told their mom they were vegan now, and she's super supportive so she decided to cook everything vegan she could find, they thought it was disgusting so they gave it to us in order not to hurt her feelings." Keith explains, and Lance nods thoughtfully. That makes sense actually.

"Or they're evil."

"They're definitely evil."

By the time they're done with that first cake, half an hour passed, but they're not in a rush, so they take a quick break where Keith orders new drinks for them. He comes back a few minutes later with a frozen ice tea for himself, and a classic one for Lance.

"To us, and to the new apartment!" Lance offers as a toast, as they should receive the money from the insurance any day now. They even decided to start looking for an apartment the next day as it's the weekend.

"Yeah, about that, I think we should talk." Keith announces before stopping to take a sip of his drink as if he didn't just said the scariest words ever. He looks at Lance, and Lance doesn't know what his face is looking like right now but Keith's eyes widen. "It's nothing bad! I just thought we should get on the same page about our criteria before we go looking for something."

Lance relaxes. Okay, everything's fine, he didn't change his mind or something. "Oh, yeah, sure, good idea. Of course there's the basics: a balcony, an elevator, not in a floor impossible to reach on feet if the elevator suddenly dies, a bedroom—"

"Two." Keith cuts him and Lance freezes, taken aback. Was it presumptuous of him to assume they'd share a bed? He thought it was so obvious that he didn't think Keith could see things differently.

"Oh, okay, two bedrooms then, haha." He says, uneasy, but not daring speaking his mind in the fear to scar Keith away. But okay, they weren't together for that long, but they already shared a bed multiples times, and it's the next step, right? And Lance is pretty sure he's not thinking about kids yet, they're way too young and never talked about that.

"What? You wanted—"

"No, two is good, great, amazing!" He cuts him, way to happy for Keith to ignore that something's wrong. Shit.

"Lance? What's wrong?" Yeah, Keith is definitely not dumb. He's now frowning, tilting his head a bit, and Lance takes a ridiculously too long sip of his drink to win himself some times. It's a success until he chokes on it, coughing violently under Keith's worried gaze. "Are you okay?"

Lance sends him a thumb up, crying a little, trying to ease the coughing as several people around them give him weird look. As if they never choke on something themselves.

"Sorry about that." He says when the coughing is under control.

Keith shrugs. "So, what's wrong?" He asks again.

Lance plays with his straw to avoid looking at Keith. "I don't know, I just assumed we'd.. You know, share." He admits sheepishly, hoping Keith would get his more than vague explanation.

Keith's mouth opens in a 'o', so he guesses he does. Then Lance hears him chuckling and he can't help but look up at him, surprised. He never thought Keith would just plainly laugh at him. "You know I work from home, right?" Keith asks teasingly, and Lance feels so stupid. Of course. "I mean, except if you're on for climbing up a ladder to get to the bed. Then we can totally manage but.."

"Shut up." Lance pouts, but he's so relieved he can't stop smiling so Keith doesn't really take him seriously. Obviously, Keith needs a room for his work, Lance should have thought about that right away. "So, two bedrooms, an opened kitchen, a bathtub big enough for—"

"Don't say that when they ask for our criteria." Keith cuts him, laughing.

"Okay, a big bathtub in general then, what else?" He asks Keith, realizing that except a second bedroom, he didn't ask anything yet, and he's the one who'll be there the most.

"Air-con."

"Yes, that. And a subfloor heating." Lance adds excitedly.

"Isn't normal heating good enough for you?" Keith teases him with a smirk.

"I hate wearing shoes inside, or socks." Lance explains.

Keith nods as if it's an actual good reason. "Okay then, works for me. I'd like the living room to be big enough to invite our friends over, too. At my old place I couldn't invite more than two or three without it being too crowded so we always reunite at Shiro's or the Holts' place but I'd like to be able to repay them."

"That'd be great, yeah. Also if the balcony could be big enough so it's not only useful for the cats's litters that would be awesome." Lance adds, and Keith nods again before taking a notebook out of his bag to start writing down their list.

When he's done, he pushes the notebook to Lance so he can check if he got everything. He did. They let the notebook on the table in case they have other ideas, but for now, their stomachs want food again.

This time, they go for Keith's choice, the chocolate one being by joint agreement. It's a millionaire shortbread, and if Lance trusts the caramel and the milk chocolate on the top, it's going to be the sugariest thing ever. According to Keith, it's the best though, so he's going to give it a try, but he really can't wait to be done with that so he can eat the real chocolate cake.

"Go on first." Keith decides, but Lance shakes him head.

"Nope, I went first for my choice, now you take responsibility for yours." Lance decides, crossing his arms to show he's serious about this.

Keith shrugs, taking the shortbread in his hand to bit into it directly.

"Wow, you forgot your manners, Kogane." Lance teases him, and Keith's cheeks darken.

"It's just a really bad idea to try to cut it because the chocolate is hard." Keith explains as if he needed to justify himself. Lance doesn't actually care, it's not like they never shared food before, he was just surprised and saw an opportunity to annoy Keith.

"Is it good?"

"It's the best. Here, try it." Keith hands him the shortbread, but instead of taking it, Lance grabs Keith's wrist, guiding it to his mouth. "What the fuck." Keith comments, giggling.

"I just don't want to get my hand all sticky." He says before taking a bite and wow, this is so sugary. Like, the sugariest thing he ever ate. "This thing is disgusting, Keith, I'm worried about your health if this doesn't taste too sugary for you."

Keith pouts before taking another bit, and Lance tries to rinse his mouth with his tea. "You're no fun. Sugar is good for health, Hunk said so the other day and he's a pro."

"He said it's good for mental health or something, not physical health." Lance reminds him, glad he actually paid attention to what Hunk was saying. And he knows he's right because Keith shrugs, taking another bit of his monstrosity to avoid answering.

When they starts the last cake, they both agree that it's the best out of the three, eating it so fast they finish it in a few minutes.

"Babe, I miss it already. We should take another one. Or seven." Lance announces, realizing they're basically done with their snack that already took too long for a snack, but he doesn't want to go at all. He doesn't want to come back to a home where Keith isn't there, so if eating cakes delays that awful moment of the goodbyes, he's willing to do it.

"Lance, no. We already ate too much and it's almost dinner time. Plus, Shiro and Adam will order pizzas because they're both coming home too late to have the strength to cook and they forbid me to use their kitchen. Long story." Keith says, playing with Lance's fingers on the table.

"But if they'll be home late, that mean dinner time isn't that soon either. Hunk and Shay like to do date night on Fridays. I'll be alone, so I can eat whenever. And now I really want to hear that story." Lance whines, not giving up on buying himself some Keith-time.

"Really? I didn't know you'd be alone." Keith says, letting go of Lance's hand to grab his phone, rapidly doing gods know what, ignoring Lance's pout.

"Come on, just tell me the story, Keith, don't be that rude guy on his phone ignoring his date." Not only he's refusing him an extension of their date, but now he's not even paying attention to Lance, and Lance is really not okay with that.

So he moves his chair closer, wrapping his arms around Keith's middle, kissing his neck lightly, smiling proudly when he feels Keith shivering.

"You're impossible." Keith tells him, turning his head to kiss him, and Lance missed this so much he feels like crying. Sometimes, he wonders if it's normal to love someone that much. Not that he complains about it, he's perfectly happy with it actually.

Well, he was happy until Keith pushes him away to stand up and this is not okay at all because he didn't get his dose of Keith yet, sometimes he feels like he never will, but a few hours is definitely not enough. But Keith makes a beeline to the seller, and Lance watches him with surprise putting four chocolate cakes in a paper bag before giving it to Keith, who comes back to their table like it's nothing.

"It's for breakfast." Keith answers Lance's silent question, and Lance nods, disappointed. He actually hoped Keith changed his mind, but maybe it's for the best, because even with the best motivation, he's definitely unable to eat that much.

Keith takes his phone back in hand, but only for a few seconds, smiling when he turns his attention back on Lance. "Wanna come home with me tonight?"

Lance's heart skips a beat as he wasn't expecting that at all. "Can I really? I don't want to intrude." He, in fact, really wants to intrude and sleep with Keith tonight.

"Of course, I asked them and they say it's okay as long as I bring breakfast, which they wanted anyway. And they actually said you could have stayed at their place when the fire happened but then Hunk offered before I could tell you so.. Yeah." Keith explains with a smile.

Lance is pretty mad at destiny right now because he could have been 'living' with Keith this whole time? But in the meantime not that much, because he would have feel like he was intruding, and also now he knows how it feels to miss Keith and he'll do everything in his power to avoid ever missing him again that much, perfectly aware of how lucky he is to have him.

"I'd love to, then. What about Blue, though?" He asks. He's okay with leaving her on her own, she knows Hunk and Shay and likes her alone time as well. Even Keith agrees to let Red alone now, like right now as Shiro and Adam aren't home either.

"We'll make a stop at your place to take your stuff so we'll take her as well." Keith informs him, and Lance nods, guessing it means Shiro and Adam are okay with Blue being there too. They did take her home with Red after the fire after all.

After that, Lance is more than ready to leave the coffee shop. He loves it, but getting up on his legs after so long feels good. He takes Keith's hand in his own, intertwining their fingers, letting his boyfriend guide him to the subway. He's just so happy to be able to do something as simple as going home together, even if it's not their real home, that even being in the tube looks great. They sit next to each other, and Lance rests him head on Keith's shoulder, suddenly a bit tired. Keith lets him, letting him know when they need to exit, noticing Lance isn't paying attention at all.

Lance just packs a few things rapidly while Keith puts Blue in her bag. They leave after only a few minutes, more excited about this than they should be. Lance feels like a teenager going to sleep at his boyfriend's house for the first time, which is stupid because they slept together a few times already, but it was never planned, bags were never brought, they just fell asleep there.

When they arrive at Shiro and Adam's place, they go straight to Keith's room to get changed into more comfortable clothes. Red is happy to see Lance again, but especially Blue, as the cats didn't see each other for days now. They immediately leave the bedroom to play in the living room, and Lance takes this as his chance for a moment with his boyfriend.

Keith is seated on his bed, so Lance sits on his lap, an arm wrapped around his neck, the other one cupping his cheek to guide him in a kiss. It starts softly, but Lance is hungry, he needs more of Keith. He deepens the kiss until his boyfriend is laying on his back on the single bed that is definitely not going to be a problem later because if they manage on a couch, they can manage on a tiny bed.

But as Lance's hand slides under Keith's shirt, he's stopped by his boyfriend. "Not here. I could never look into Shiro's eyes again if he saw anything by coming home early or something. And even without that, just knowing I did that in his apartment.. I can't." Keith mumbles sheepishly, and Lance takes his hand away immediately, perfectly happy with just cuddling with Keith.

"You're right, it would be too awkward." He says, not wanting for Keith to ever hesitate to tell him no when he doesn't feel like doing it. "Not Adam though?"

Keith chuckles. "Probably Adam too, yeah, but with Shiro it's different. Adam is my friend and Shiro is too, but he's also like a brother to me, you know?"

Lance can imagine. He could handle Hunk seeing him really making out with Keith, but one of his brothers.. Yeah, no, no way. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean." He answers, hoping one or the other will never happen.

They stay like that, holding each other, until Keith's phone rings, making them both jump. It's Adam, asking for them to order the pizzas, which arrive five minutes after the older couple.

Their evening is quite like their afternoon but with more people. It's playful, testing each other's pizza, watching crappy movies Adam likes and Lance is pretty sure Keith secretly likes too, and a lot of cuddling on the couches.

They go to bed around midnight, and Lance fights not to fall asleep just yet, wanting to enjoy the feeling of home, of Keith feeling so right laying half on him. He doesn't hold long, though, falling asleep as soon as his eyelids close.

* * *

The night before moving in with Keith, Lance barely sleeps, the excitement keeping him awake. He thinks about texting Keith, knowing there's a high possibility that his boyfriend is awake too, but he decides against it, wanting to try and get some sleep anyway, and fearing to wake Keith up.

He wakes up for good at the smell of Hunk's cooking, and after a coffee he's back at being his normal, excited self. They eat quickly and pack what they need to feed everyone for lunch, Lance updating Keith regularly and getting the same kind of excited but stressed messages. Apparently, the Holts are running late because their dog ate the last cleans socks Matt owned, and they're supposed to pick up Shiro because Keith's stuffs take so much place in the car that no one can sit behind. For Lance, it's easier, because he didn't bought much yet, just some clothes, so he can fit with Blue in Hunk and Shay's car with no trouble.

Finally, Keith texts him that he left with Adam and they should be on time, but Shiro might be a bit late if Matt doesn't drive like a crazy person (something he does, apparently). Lance is also on his way, Blue meowing next to him in her travel bag, and he sends some pics to Keith to try and relax him. He's not really worried though, he knows that as soon as they'll all be together it'll be okay.

Lance is the first one to get to their new building. This time, they're on the fourth floor, which gives him less of an excuse to use the elevator all the time, but the apartment is everything they dreamed of. If Lance has a key, he doesn't get in right away, feeling like it's something he wants to do with Keith. Hunk and Shay don't question it, only asking for what kind of car they need to look for.

When they arrive a few minutes later, Keith immediately runs to Lance's arms, kissing him softly, cheeks red.

"Hey, babe, missed you too." Lance says, smiling brightly at him. They haven't seen each other for five days, and it was the longest five days of his life. Hopefully, this day would mark the end of that kind of thing.

Keith lets go of him to turn to Adam, who joins them with Red's bag in his hand. "Adam, this is Hunk, Lance's best friend, and this is Shay, his girlfriend. Be nice."

Adam chuckles. "I'm always nice! It's good to meet you both." He holds out a hand to Hunk, but he ignores him to give him a quick hug, rapidly followed by Shay doing the same, and Lance looks at them proudly.

"Same here." Shay answers. "When are the others coming? The moving van will be there in fifteen."

"I'd say in five. We should do a first trip with all of this in the meantime." Adam says, pointing vaguely at the cars's trunks.

It sounds easy, but when they try to take everything at once, they soon realize it's impossible. Keith has way too many things he announces to be very fragile, and the cats have to be hold carefully so they don't get hurt. Shay ends up offering to watch over the cars as the others go with as much as they can, which is Lance's only suitcase, the cats, and only half of Keith's stuff.

Lance insists that they open the door together, feeling like he won't ever be able not to smile because this is a dream come true. They put the suitcases in the smallest bedroom, the other one being for Keith's work, as it's lighter and has more room to put all his material. They decides to lock the cats inside the bathroom, as it's the only room the delivery men won't go in as they didn't need furnitures there for now (they decided to only buy what they couldn't live without for now, knowing it would already be a mess to build everything in a day).

By the time they get down, Shiro and the Holts arrived, talking with Shay as if they knew her their whole life. It's a mess as everyone introduce themselves to everyone, but they still have the time to make a quick trip upstairs with the rest of Keith stuff, Shiro and Adam staying in the street in case the moving van arrives.

Pidge decides to stay in the apartment to open the door and tell everyone where each card box is supposed to go, which isn't stupid with how tiny she is.

After a few return trips, Lance's hands are hurting like hell, so he decides to 'go check on the cats', meaning he's hiding in the bathroom, sitting on the floor as they climb on him. His hands don't even have the strength to pet them.

Even if he's not technically doing anything wrong, he still jumps when someone opens the door, but smiles when he sees it's Keith, hair up in a ponytail. He sits against Lance, letting his head fall on Lance's shoulder.

"Pidge told me you were hiding here." Keith just says, and Lance feels outraged even though it's totally what he's doing.

"I'm not hiding, I'm just checking on the cats, I was worried they'd feel lost, but they look good." He answers, trying to change the subject.

"Probably because they have each other." Keith guesses, taking Lance's hand in his owns to play with it. But Lance's hand twitches unconsciously, and Keith frowns, turning it around to look at Lance's palm, still red. "Looks painful." He comments.

"Yeah, a bit. That's why I needed a break." Lance admits, because he doesn't see the point in lying to Keith anyway.

Keith nods, then starts taking his fingerless gloves off. Lance stops him right away, though.

"No, you're not hurting your hands, you need them to paint, remember?" Lance reminds him, knowing he's making a good point.

"Okay, but you should stay here and start unwrapping some stuff. Matt and Shay already started doing that as there's not much left to bring anyway." Keith says, and Lance nods, not seeing the point to argue.

He hugs Keith's arm like a teddy bear, not ready to let go of him just yet. They're seeing each other for the first time in what seemed like forever, but they hardly saw or talked to each other at all, and they've been here for almost two hours.

They both jump when someone knocks brutally on the bathroom's door. "I don't want to know what you're doing in there but move your asses back here right now!" Pidge yells, then leaves before they get the chance to say anything.

"She's too loud for someone who didn't do a thing." Keith jokes, sighing.

Lance chuckles. "Come on, I don't want her to come back with a phone to take photos."

They do, though, take a lot of photos, of everyone, all of Keith's friends and Keith himself, Hunk, Shay and Lance quickly starting doing the same, and Lance thinks about the walls of Keith's former apartment, wondering if this is why they do it or if it's just something they do. He remembers how easily Keith starts taking photos of him when they start seeing each other, and maybe it's just their thing.

When every card box is up, they free the cats, letting them walking freely in their new home, already knowing everyone, and make teams to assemble the furnitures. Hunk remarks smartly that it's best to start with the table, the chair and the couch to sit for lunch, but Pidge argues that they would get the couch dirty, so Hunk offers that they could let the protection on until everything is done, and Pidge agrees, so they do that.

It's a bit slow and painful, especially when Matt crushes his finger with a hammer, but they're mostly having fun, easy conversation making everyone getting to know each other. At some point, as Lance is assembling the last chair, Keith joins him.

"Is this marrying our friends groups?" He asks seriously, and Lance takes a moment to look at their friends. Hunk is debating with the Holts on the right way to put together the couch, and Shay is assisting Shiro and Adam with the table, looking for tools as they need them, talking excitedly about the last show she watched, which is actually the couple's favorite.

"Yeah, this is exactly it." Lance answers with a fond smile, and Keith nods.

"I'm happy then. Does that mean we're a successful couple now?" Keith teases him, and Lance wraps his arms around his boyfriend.

"I'm pretty sure we already were, but yeah, this is couple goal."

When it's all done, Hunk announces he'll start making lunch, and when the Holts volunteer to help, everybody except Hunk and Shay hold their breath.

"What? We're excellent at cooking, you guys are mean." Pidge says, not bothered at all. She looks at Hunk, ignoring the rest of the group. "Oh but we're vegan, do you have anything that would be okay for us to eat?"

"Sure, Lance told me so it's all good." Hunk reassures them.

"Aw, thanks Lance." Matt says, punching Lance's arm as a thank you.

"We have to re-plan the whole wedding buffet because of that." Shiro tells them, his eyes looking far away as if remembering the hell it is.

"Oooh, when is the wedding?" Shay asks as Hunk and the Holts start cooking right next to them thanks to the opened kitchen.

"Next spring." Adam answers with a happy smile. "And Hunk and you are totally invited by the way." He adds, and Lance would have been happy to see he genuinely likes his friends to the point he invites them to his wedding if he wasn't so outraged.

"What? They're invited? I'm not even invited and I've known you for weeks. Months now." Lance pouts.

Adam looks at Shiro, surprised. "We never invited Lance? I thought we did."

"I thought Keith did, honestly." Shiro shrugs, chuckling.

"It's your wedding, it's not my job to invite people." Keith rolls his eyes.

"But you're allowed a plus one." Shiro argues.

"And as best man isn't it you job to help?" Adam adds, taking Shiro's side.

"Yeah, it's not just nice words at the wedding, it's also the acts that count." Shiro follows Adam's lead, putting his arm around his fiancé's neck.

"Oh gods, Keith will have to give a speech. No offense Takashi but I'm looking forward to that a lot more than marrying you." Adam jokes.

"Don't worry, I agreed to marry you just because I had that image in mind." Shiro immediately teases back while Keith seems lost for words as his friends are being so tiring.

"This is so dumb, why won't y'all just admit you thought it was so obvious he's invited that you forgot to do it officially?" Pidge cuts them from the kitchen, and with the huge knife she's holding, no one dares to contradict her.

"We're sorry, Lance, we'll send you an invite. And a new one for Keith, as it.. Ugh, burned." Shiro says awkwardly.

"Way to ruin the mood, Takashi." Adam teases him.

"Shut up, I was just—"

"It's okay, we get it, thanks guys, Lance and I are very touched to be invited to your wedding. Again." Keith cuts them, and Lance nods his agreement. Okay, now he has to find something to wear and a gift. Not that he thought deep down he wouldn't go, he always thought he was naturally Keith's plus one, but they never talked about it, so now that it's official, it seems closer too.

As the others are gathered around the kitchen, Keith distances himself from the group to pet the cats, who are already climbing on the couch, one hand on each. Lance follows him, wrapping his arms around Keith's middle, whispering to his ears: "Good thing you have two hands, right?"

Keith nods but doesn't say anything. Lance tries again. "Do you know what kind of gifts they're expecting for the wedding?"

At that, Keith gives a small smile. "They'll make a list in a deco shop, don't worry."

Lance guesses it's a good idea. Their deco is old, nothing match, a real mess as they probably collected stuff from different places. "Thank gods. You'll go with them? Is it part of your 'best man job'?"

Keith shrugs, making Lance's head move as it's resting on Keith's shoulder. Lance waits, but no word follow. "Are you.. Bothered they invited me? Or Hunk and Shay?" He asks carefully, feeling that it wouldn't make sense, but desperately trying to find a reason to Keith's mood.

His boyfriend's reaction is immediate, though. He turns around to face Lance, forcing him to let go of him, making the cats meowing as they're not very happy he stops petting them. Lance understands, he feels the same. "What? No. Why would I be bothered by that?" Keith asks, frowning, looking at Lance like he's crazy. And okay, maybe that sounded crazy, but at least he's reassured now. Well, only partly.

"I-I don't know, you just look.. Off, I guess." Lance explains, and to his surprise, Keith lets his head fall on Lance's chest. Lance's arms automatically wrap around Keith.

"'Am just so tired. And there's a lot of people so even if I love them all, it's noisy and I'm getting a headache. I just needed some alone time." Keith mumbles, then adds: "You don't count, though. You can stay." And even if he hates knowing Keith isn't at his best, Lance can't help but smile a little. He thinks back at earlier, when Keith joined him in the bathroom to hide. Maybe he wasn't just looking for Lance. In any case, he's glad he's not exclude of Keith's alone time.

"I hope you enjoyed your stupid sleeping schedule because from now one things are so going to change." Lance announces him.

"I know."

"Yeah?"

Keith lifts his head up to look at Lance, but doesn't get away from the hug. "Yeah. Like hell I'm staying up all night when I could be cuddling you."

Lance chuckles, holding him closer. It's crazy how Keith can be moody in a moment, and the sweetest guy in the next, but Lance wouldn't change that for the world.

Lance gets Keith some painkiller from Shay, and they stay in their bubble away from the others until lunch is ready. By that time, Keith seems to almost be back to his normal self, so Lance allows himself not to be worried anymore.

After lunch, they decide to separate between the bedrooms and the living room to have more space each. Keith naturally takes his room, joined by Shay and Matt. Pidge, Hunk and Adam decide to start in the living room, letting Lance with Shiro for the bedroom.

If Lance gets along well with the man, he also must admit he's impressive as hell, and he realizes they never really had a face to face before. They were always at least with Keith, or Keith and Adam if not with the whole group. So at first, Lance finds himself lost for words as they start unwrapping the bed Lance can't wait to sleep in tonight, avoiding Shiro's eyes the best he can.

"So." Shiro starts to draw Lance's attention on him. Lance automatically lifts his head to look at him, sending him a questioning look. "What are your intentions with Keith?" And Lance has no idea of what face he's making, but Shiro laughs. "I'm kidding!" He adds, and Lance chuckles.

"Is it the moment when you tell me that if I hurt him you'll kick my ass? Because don't worry, man, I have no intention to do so, but if I end up doing so, I know exactly what you're capable of." Lance jokes.

Shiro laughs. "It's good to know. He told me about your lessons, by the way. He wants me to give you some because he can tell you don't want to hit him so you're not giving your best. Me, though, I'm really good at forcing people to want to fight." He says proudly, and Lance wonders what he'd use to get him in a fighting mode.

"So you definitely want to kick my ass." Lance says, and they both laugh, struggling with holding the bed's structure as they're shaking for laughters.

"Keith thinks you have potential, I just can't wait to prove him wrong." Shiro teases, and even if Lance sees exactly what he's doing, he still can't help but fall right into him trap.

"Yeah? Well I can't wait to prove you wrong."

Shiro smiles, satisfied, and Lance already regrets it. "Good. Just come with Keith next week for practice."

Great, Lance can't wait to make a fool of himself in front of everyone.

As it turns out, assembling the bedside tables is way more complicated than the bed in itself, and it takes them so long that Keith and Matt end up joining them as Shay helps in the living room. They give the instructions to Matt as he's supposed to be the brain, and he looks at them for a long time, frowning so hard Lance wonders if it's too much even for him. But then, he nods, the frown disappearing.

"Okay kiddos, it'll be hard, but we can do it."

And somehow, they do. They follow Matt's instructions carefully, Lance fearing that someone would lose a finger one or two times, but by some miracle, everything goes fine.

Everything is done in the living room by the time the bedside tables are finished, so everyone gather in the bedroom to see the mess that is going to be the wardrobe. It's huge in order to be able to contain all of their stuff once they'll manage to buy more clothes, and everyone is just so tired of seeing instructions that they don't make sense anymore, not that they ever did to Lance anyway.

By the way Keith's eyes are staring at emptiness lifelessly, Lance guesses his boyfriend isn't even trying at all. It's only when Red climbs on him that he half comes back to life, his movement slow, blinking so little Lance is actually worried he's going to fall asleep right there. He considers moving closer to him to catch him if he falls, but Shiro and Adam are on either side of him so he trusts that one of them would be quick enough.

"Okay so, I think these huge planks are the sides and back, and these slightly less huge planks are the doors." Hunk announces, and everyone just nods. It sounds simple, but after everything they did today, it feels like a revelation they didn't need because that means they'll have to get back to work.

"Seems logical. Okay team, let's get back to work. Except Keith, you go drink coffee or something." Pidge decides and Keith jumps, as if he wasn't expecting to be called out like that. But his friends do pay attention to him, and he's so tired he doesn't even argue.

After he's gone, they get to work. Shiro and Adam are assigned to hold the planks as Matt and Lance are screwing everything together. Hunk and Pidge are making sure everything goes where it's supposed to, and Shay is looking for the right screws.

Half an hour passes before Lance notices Keith isn't back yet.

"Hey guys, shouldn't we check on Keith? He's been gone for too long for a coffee break, right?" He worries a bit, believing they would have heard if he fell or something but not sure enough to be perfectly at ease with the thought of just ignoring it.

"Oh yeah, definitely too long for that." Pidge comments, still looking at the instructions, not bothered at all.

"He's probably asleep on the couch or something. No need to check on him, he'll come back in like an hour or so." Adam adds with a reassuring smile that doesn't totally work on Lance.

"Oh, i need to take a photo of that, I'll be back!" Pidge says, excited, but Lance is reassured because at least, Pidge will know if something's wrong.

She comes back three minutes later, a devilish smile on her face. "It's funny how he always wants to look scary but is actually a big softy when he's asleep." She comments, putting her phone back into her pocket as she joins Hunk next to the instruction.

Lance chuckles. "What do you mean? He's always smiling."

Okay, maybe not at the beginning, but Lance might have been the cause of that, not Keith. And okay, he can be scary when he's fighting, or looking / talking to his opponents, but all its take is for him to look at Lance and it's all gone, back into his smiling self. Oh.

"Maybe with you, and us after months of proving him we're deserving of his trust, but for the average person, he's the kind of person you prefer not the cross on your way back home." Matt comments, and Pidge and Adam nods.

"When Takashi introduced us I thought he was going to kill me but he was just worried I wasn't good enough." Adam adds, chuckling.

"I don't know, Lance talked so much about him before we actually met him that I felt I already knew him. And he was super nice." Hunk says, and Lance is glad to hear him best friend take his side in this debate. According to Shay's nodding, she thinks the same.

"Of course, you're Lance's friends, he wanted you to like him." Pidge argues.

"But I was Takashi's boyfriend and—" Adam starts, but Shiro cuts him.

"He was just your average teenager." He says, smiling fondly.

"Yeah." Adam agrees. "Remember when he stole your car? Just normal teenager's behavior."

They all laugh except Lance, Hunk and Shay, and Lance guesses there's a story he didn't hear yet. And like hell he's going to stay in the dark because what? It's just a joke, right? "Did he really?" He asks, shocked.

"Yep. He wanted to make me run away because he was scared I would anyway." Shiro tells him with a soft smile.

"Shut up, you were just annoying."

They all jump, turning to the bedroom's door, to see Keith leaning against the door, frowning and glaring at Shiro, and Lance could have seen what Pidge meant before if he didn't have Red perched on his shoulder and Blue in his arms.

Lance hurries to take Red, fearing she'd fell, even if it's a worry Keith never seemed to share, and Shiro takes that as an opportunity to put his arm around Keith's shoulder, still smiling despite Keith's evident grumpiness. "Come on, you know you love me." Shiro teases him.

"I hate you so much." Keith answers, but there's the ghost of a smile on his lips.

As he's awake and feeling better, he joins them for the final steps of the assembling of the wardrobe, and the planks are so heavy Lance is pretty sure they're all going to have sore muscles for at least three days. Well, okay, maybe not Shiro or Adam or even Keith, but for the rest of them, it's a given.

When it's finally done, there's still a mountain of empty card boxes to throw away, the floor is so dirty the color changed, and all of Keith and Lance's stuff are still packed. Also, they're all really hungry again. So they decide their stuff could wait until tomorrow to be unpacked, not needing anyone else than the two of them for that, and Lance orders pizzas for everyone before joining Shiro and Pidge in the cleaning team as the others go downstairs to throw away the card boxes. Weirdly, it takes them a long time to come back, and Lance is pretty sure they did that on purpose to avoid having to clean.

It's almost 11pm when their friends leave, and even if the night is still young, they're so tired they don't even need to talk to each other to know it's time for bed. They don't bother finding pajamas and just take their clothes off, only keeping their boxers before sliding under the blanket. They naturally fall into place, holding each other, letting plenty of place for the cats to nestle against them.

The apartment is still pretty much a mess. It's not well decorated yet, not homy, not comfortable. But it's already home because right here and now, Lance has everything he never even dared to dream about.

* * *

"Babe, is it normal my ass still hurts? Maybe it's broken or something."

"I don't know. Maybe it's just because you always let yourself fall dramatically on the couch or the bed." Keith sasses him from his painting room, door ajar to allow them to talk without having to yell, but preventing most of the smell to come to the living room, even if all windows are opened anyway.

Lance straightens on the couch he was laying on (he totally didn't let himself fall dramatically on it three seconds before like the bullshit Keith is saying), outraged. "It's because I'm hurting! And it's totally your fault." He accuses, glaring in Keith's direction even though he can't possibly see him because of the door between them.

"It's so not! It's literally yours! Or maybe a bit Shiro's, but not mine!" Keith says, raising his voice as he's shocked but amused by Lance's accusations.

"Oh, remember who told Shiro he needed to give me a lesson? You." Lance retorts, crossing his arms, once again in Keith's total ignorance. But still, he's sure Keith can tell anyway.

"Because he's a great teacher and you don't want to hit me!" Keith laughs, and Lance wonders if he's really still painting because there's no way he can paint well and laugh like that in the meantime. Even him isn't that talented.

"Well yeah, I really prefer to hit on you." Lance says proudly, unable to keep a big smile off his lips as he hears Keith snorts in the other room.

"Oh my gods, Lance, that was bad even for you." He laughs, and this time, Lance joins him.

"Shut up, you're just jealous you're not as smooth as I am." Lance sits cross-legged as Red is climbing on the couch. She likes to nestle against legs, and like that, there's legs all around her and she's the happiest.

"Sure, believe what helps you sleep at night." Keith says, but Lance knows he actually likes when Lance says stuff like that, he knows it makes him blush.

"Babe, you're the one who helps me sleep at night." Lance continues, a huge smile on his face while imagining the face Keith must be making in the other room. He wishes he could see him so badly.

"Don't lie, you know it's the other way around." Keith says, but there's no teasing in his voice anymore, just fondness, and Lance wants to kiss his pretty face right now. He's so happy that it's the truth, that Keith no longer looks tired all the time or has to take naps through the day because he didn't sleep at night. "You should have told me you were scared of Shiro, though." The teasing is back, and okay, kiss cancelled.

"I'm not, you know I'm not! But he's impressive as hell when he's coming for you like that, ready to tear your head off barehanded!" Lance defends himself, remembering the panic that seized him when Shiro tried to make him fight him.

"He would have hold back, he would never hurt you, you didn't need to try to run away." Keith laughs, and Lance rolls his eyes. Key word is try, as he fell on his ass after three steps backward.

He knows Shiro wouldn't hurt him, but he still can't forget Keith's bruise and hurt wrist, even if he knows Shiro would never fight him the way he does with Keith. So when he saw Shiro coming, he just forgot everything Keith taught him and all he could think about was run. It's different with Keith, he completely trusts him with his life. He's not there with Shiro yet.

"I know, I just prefer with you. Or maybe I could try with Matt? Definitely less impressive." Lance chuckles.

"Yeah, we'll do that next time. If your ass feels better, that is." Keith jokes, and Lance laughs. Yeah, he can manage that much. "Hey, Lance?"

Lance looks at the door's direction, noticing the change in Keith's voice. It's not longer laughing around, but not really serious either. It just contains so much affection Lance doesn't know what to do with it. "Yeah?" He answers with a small voice, not knowing what to do with that sudden change.

"Can you come here?"

And a few seconds before, Lance would have argued that he was comfy, or that Red was sleeping on him so it would be rude to bother her, but now, there was this something is Keith's voice that makes him say: "Sure."

He uncrosses his legs slowly to try not to wake Red up, but it's a lost cause as she meows furiously at him, getting up to jump on the floor, hissing at him before walking to the bedroom. Okay, someone's moody. Lance shakes his head, amused, knowing he'd be forgiven soon enough.

He walks to the other room and opens the door slowly. Keith is facing the easel, his back to the window, smiling anxiously at Lance. He holds a hand out to let Lance knows he's needed on this side of the room, so Lance obeys docilely.

He puts an arm around Keith's neck just before he discovers the painting, and he automatically tighten the embrace, bringing him closer as he looks with amazement at all the details. He understands right away what it is, even if it's not exactly what it was supposed to be. But it's okay, it's even better. It's his painting, the one Keith promised him so long ago. But it's not a matching portrait of Blue, as it wouldn't match with anything anymore.

No, both of their cats are there, playing, fighting for that dumb mouse toy Shiro brought them the day of the fire after Keith asked him too. He doesn't know if it's because he knows them so well or if it's because Keith does and is so talented, but their personality seem so obvious, Red in all her passion, and Blue with her smart mind, the only thing capable of giving her a fighting chance against Red's speed.

He looks at the background, but he's surprised to notice it's not their apartment, or one of their former apartments. No, it's a mix of the three of them. There's Lance crappy couch where they slept together for the first time, Keith's ladder on which they both stupidly crossed the distance between their balconies, the leashes and harnesses Lance insisted they bought, the floor is their current beautiful floorboard, but the walls are from Keith's former apartment, except when Lance looks closely, the photos, bigger than what it was in the real thing so you can see them on the painting, are from their own story, moments of their relationship. There's their first walk with the cats, their fist kiss, dates, double dates, and simple, quiet moments at home.

Lance realizes there's tears in his eyes when he can't see the painting anymore. He rubs them away, and Keith turns his head to look at him, but he doesn't comment, because like Keith doesn't have to explain the painting, he knows Keith understands why he's crying.

"It's so beautiful, I want it in the living room like.. Yesterday. And photos everywhere on our walls." Lance announces, missing seeing memories all around like he did when he was in Keith's apartment.

"We can do that now, if you want, I received the printed photos three days ago but I wanted to wait for the painting to be done before pinning them." Keith explains, and Lance nods, excited. All of their friends sent them every photo ever for them to create new walls of memories, and it was a mess to choose a first lot, but he can't wait to see the result. "That is, if your ass isn't too painful." Keith smirks at Lance, who's just plain shocked.

"Oh my gods, Keith, I didn't think it was possible to ruin the mood but you did." He laughs, taking his arm off of Keith's shoulder, pretending to pout, crossing his arms.

But Keith just laughs, wrapping his own arms around Lance. "I'm sorry, I understand if you don't want to redecorate anymore." He says, but it's clear teasing as Lance can feel the big smile on his boyfriend's face.

"Like hell I don't, give me the photos, I want to see them." He uncrosses his arms, too excited to pretend he's not.

Keith opens a drawer and gives him a card box that Lance grabs before running back to the living room, letting himself fall on the couch to open it.

"Hey, wait for me, I want to see them too!" Keith yells, running after his to sit next to him. Or against him, to be more precise.

"You already saw them." Lance reminds him, holding the box close to him.

"No I didn't, I was waiting for you, dummy." Keith says as if it's the most obvious thing ever and Lance is happy about it.

They go through the photos, sometimes stopping to comment.

"I still can't believe you let Pidge take this one. Or that you insisted on having it printed." Keith sighs, looking at the picture of himself, sleeping on the couch, both cats on him. It's the day they moved in, so Keith's hair is a mess, his clothes are dirty, he's not even on the couch itself as there's a protection on it, and Red is half on his head, but he looks so relaxed anyway.

"It's a great photo, it's my favorite and my wallpaper, don't criticize it." Lance orders.

If Keith rolls his eyes, he's smiling too.

They pin the pictures randomly like Keith always did in his apartment, preferring a homy mess that something too organized, cold, and Lance shares that point of view. As he pins the picture of himself with the kittens on their first walk, right next to the picture of Keith sleeping because he feels they go well together, he's infinitely happy Keith had his phone on him the day of the fire so there's so many photos from before they still have.

He looks over at Keith, who's looking at the wall pensively, a photo in his hand, trying to find where he wants to put it, and Lance's hand naturally grabs his phone in his pocket, discretely taking a new photo of Keith. His boyfriend notices just after it's done and smiles brightly, and Lance is so happy his phone is already ready to capture that. Then Keith walks to him to kiss his cheek, and Lance just has the time to turn his phone on selfie mode before it's over.

"Come on, just a few left and we can hang the painting." Keith tells him, taking Lance's hand in his own to guide him to the table the photos are on.

It's done after a few more minutes, and Keith brings the painting. Its place is pretty obvious, in the center of the wall, above the tv so they can look at it from the couch. Lance takes the painting carefully, holding it on the wall as Keith looks to see if it's at the right place, correcting Lance, waiting a few seconds, asking him to put it a bit higher, then a bit more on the left. Lance is patient though, knowing Keith will be more annoying if it's not perfect and they have to move it again.

When Keith is satisfied, he marks the place on the wall with a pen, and Lance is allowed to put the painting away so they can put some nails on the wall. Keith checks it's straight with a level, and for someone who pins pictures randomly on his walls, he's really perfectionist. Lance gets it though, he wants it to be perfect too.

Keith finally hangs the painting, and takes Lance's hand to guide him to the couch. They sit here for a few minutes, Keith's head resting on Lance's shoulder, Lance's head on Keith's.

"When I exited the animal shelter the day we met, I thought I'd never see you and Red again. I was telling myself I was disappointed for Blue because she seemed to get along with Red so well but really, I just thought you were hot." Lance admits and they both chuckle, remembering that first time their paths crossed, never to separate again.

"Same. That would have been a shame, though. Red wouldn't know how great is it to go on walks." Keith says, making Lance all thinking about everything that would be different if that was the only time he saw Keith ever. It would be faster to think about what would be the same as Keith took such a huge place in his life in so little time.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have had to cross the void between our balcony on your damn ladder." Lance laughs.

"I guess me neither." Keith joins him, but as their laughters stop, Lance's mood changes a little as another thought crosses his mind.

Maybe we would all have died in that fire.

Keith would have been home instead of safely outside, and he often slept on the afternoon, so maybe.. And Lance wouldn't have had to go for Red, but without the thought of this life with Keith, he's not sure he'd have found the strength to keep fighting for his life.

Instinctively, he holds on Keith a bit tighter. "I wouldn't know how it feels to truly be in love." He chooses to say, chasing away his dark thoughts.

"I wouldn't either. But I'm glad we do." Keith lifts his head to kiss Lance's cheek, then puts it back on Lance's shoulder, squeezing his hand, and Lance squeezes back, closing his eyes for his other senses to memorize the moment.

He opens them again when he hears their bedroom's door moving, startled, but it's just the cats, walking glued to each other. Lance giggles at the sigh. These two really are inseparable.

"Who would have known that day these two would end up in the same home? I think the woman working there would think it's a joke if she knew." Keith says, looking at the cats, but there's something in his words that makes Lance straightens suddenly, making Keith fall a bit as his support is gone without a warning, forcing him to straighten too, frowning at Lance. "What?"

"I think she knew." Lance announces, still remembering the scene clearly. He can picture Keith and him filling the papers for the cats's adoptions, then giving them back to the woman who read them and.. "She laughed. She read our infos, with our addresses, and she fucking laughed. Keith, babe, love of my life, I want revenge." Lance explains, feeling betrayed, remembering the scene with a whole new look now. She knew all along they were neighbors and didn't say a thing as they were fighting like kids. The audacity.

But Keith just laughs. "Oh yeah, I remember, you asked what was funny and tried to steal my paper. Why would you want revenge for? It was already too late not to be an ass."

"What?! I'm pretty sure you were the rude one." Lance says, offended, crossing his arms to show how serious he is.

"Are you joking? You were the worst!" Keith laughs, and Lance can't help but join him.

"And yet you still wanted me in your life." Lance mocks him nicely, putting himself back comfortably on the couch against Keith, who forces him to uncross his arms to take the closest to him in his own arms, hugging it.

"Guess I like to suffer." Keith shrugs, resting his head on Lance's shoulder.

Lance huffs, amused. "Yeah, you look like you're in agony right now."

They chuckle, not moving or talking for at least ten minutes, perfectly content with just being in each other's space, watching their cats playing together, Red always running, almost flying everywhere, Blue hiding, driving the other cat crazy.

Then Lance has an idea. "Babe." He says to break the silence, feeling like he needs some kind of authorization from Keith to start a new conversation after being silent for so long. He wants to be sure he has his attention, and made sure by the tone of his voice that Keith would understand he's about to share a great idea.

"No." Keith simply answers, firm and final, but Lance knows better than to discourage himself. He's familiar enough with Keith to be aware that his boyfriend is just messing with him, and even if he's not, he knows he can change his mind.

"No but just, listen, okay? I wanna go back to the animal shelter." He announces, holding his breath as he waits for Keith's answer.

"No. I don't even want to know what kind of revenge you're imagining but—"

"No, Keith, gods, no. I just want us to adopt a dog. Together." Lance admits, not daring to look at Keith's face.

"Lance.." Keith untangles himself from Lance, straightening to look at Lance, who gives him his best puppy eyes. Shit, he really wants a dog now. Keith's look is serious, and Lance is almost nervous. "No." Keith adds, trying to keep a straight face, but whatever face Lance made just makes him laugh.

Lance hits his boyfriend's arm, pouting. "Don't laugh at me while you're crushing my dreams, asshole."

"A dream you had for like five seconds!" Keith retorts, trying hard to control his laughter but failing miserably, tears in his eyes, and it's so adorable that Lance's lips cracks a smile. How is he supposed to fake being mad at someone he loves that much?

"Huh, no, I wanted a dog for like.. Forever! Ask anyone in my family and they'll confirm it." Lance dares, knowing his boyfriend hates talking to new people, and they still haven't met each other's family, as they all live so far away from them.

But Keith holds out a hand, waiting. "Okay, gimme your phone."

Lance blushes slightly, not expecting that. "It's dead." He pretends.

Keith chuckles, knowing the truth perfectly. "Then charge it."

"They're all working right now anyway." Lance decides to say instead, wondering why he didn't start with that.

"Sure, Lance, whatever you say." Keith shakes his head, an amused smile on his lips as he goes back to his previous position on the couch, Red jumping on his lap for a nap. Lance immediately nestles against him, petting Red's head, only moving to let Blue on his own lap.

He lets his head fall on Keith's shoulder. "So.. About that dog?" He dares asking, more as a joke than a real question. He knows they can't right now, they don't have the space nor the time, the cats could not be happy about it, it could be a total disaster. But the idea is growing on him.

"I'll kill you." Keith announces, but the fact that he's resting his head on Lance's, cuddling his arm like it's his first born child while also holding his hand makes his words lose all possible threat. That, and the gentle, loving tone he used to speak said words.

"Nah, you love me too much." Lance contradicts him, happy he can affirms that without a doubt in the world. It's one of the few things Lance is sure of in the world: his mama makes the best garlic nocks, Blue and Red are the cutest cats ever, and Keith and him love each other.

"Yeah, that too." Keith confirms, and okay, maybe they won't have a dog for a while, or ever, but right now, with his amazing boyfriend and their equally amazing cats, Lance is perfectly happy.