"Lance! No!" Lance faintly heard Keith scream as he threw himself in front of Keith and his lion in an attempt to block the blow they were about to take. The blast hit him like a hurricane, whirling Blue and him around and around until he was far away from the rest of the team. He could hear the others shouting his name, Keith loudest, but he couldn't get any words out.

At least Keith's okay.

During the time Lance was spinning around, he had been thrown out of his seat, hitting the top his lion. Now, he was lying on the floor, a throbbing pain in his side, and the feeling of a hot and dark liquid surrounded him.

The last thing he remembered before blacking out was seeing Keith's sparkling eyes in his mind – or was it real? – and hearing his friends calling his name one last time.

Lance? Lance!

Was it someone calling him? Or was he still in the dream state he seemed to be stuck in? Lance tried moving his arms, but they didn't work. In fact, no other part of his body seemed to work. Was he still in his lion after the crash?

He tried opening his eyes, and through the slits he saw a tall figure with black and white hair, mouth moving with words Lance couldn't hear. Next to Shiro stood Hunk and Pidge, with Allura and Coran behind them. Each of them looked equally worried, and Lance realized with a start that it was him they were worried about. His eyes whipped around the room as far as they would go without needing to turn his head, and he didn't know what he was looking for until he found it. Keith. He had his head slightly turned away from him. He was wringing his fingers around his wrists, and his leg jiggled from – what was it? Nervousness? Why would he be nervous? Keith was the reason Lance was in the healing pod – if that was where he was, that is. He vaguely recalled what had happened. A blast, some spinning, and lots of yelling, but the details he couldn't remember. Lance was pretty sure it was Keith he was trying to save, but he didn't know why.

Before he could dwell on his thoughts any longer, something in front of him gave way and he was falling through the air, waiting to feel the hit of the cold ground.

But it didn't come. Instead of a hard surface, he was in warm arms cradling him. Hunk lifted him up carefully, saying something like 'I'm so glad you're okay, Lance.' Pidge hugged him too, scolding him for making such a rash decision. Shiro placed a hand on Lance's shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Pidge is right, Lance," he said, and Lance looked up to his face. "You shouldn't just jump in front of someone." Allura came from behind Shiro and nodded,

"I understand you were scared for your fellow paladin, but you must understand the danger you put yourself in. You're lucky you survived." She said the last phrase softly.

"Hey, I'm fine now, aren't I?" Lance tried to lighten the mood, but all he got was a tight smile from Allura, a frown still shadowed in her eyes. "What? Am I not okay?"

"You are now, Lance, but you weren't before," replied Coran, his usually cheery aroma gone. "I don't think you understand how serious the situation was."

"How serious was the situation, then?" Lance asked, frustrated that none of them were giving him a straight answer.

"You were in the healing pod for over a week, Lance. That's not normal. You lost a lot of blood since part of your lion was embedded into your side," Shiro explained, and Lance winced at the thought. "You were in critical condition when Keith took you to his lion."

At the mention of Keith, Lance turned his head in his direction, seeing that he was looking his way now, the common scowl on his face switched with a soft expression and upturned brows. When they made eye contact, Keith turned away again, the familiar frown returning to his face.

Lance returned his gaze to the rest of them, mumbling an apology. But in truth, he wasn't sorry. He would do it all again if he had to, to save Keith.

"You were about to die, Lance. Don't joke about it." Lance whipped his head in time to see Keith storming out of the room after his sudden outburst.

Shiro called out to him but got no reply, and as Lance began to walk out after Keith, Allura held him back.

"I'm sorry, Lance, but we've got to double check on your vitals, and it is very important that you get your rest." Lance groaned at that, and Hunk gave a comforting pat on his shoulder. He would have to talk with Keith later.

"Keith, are you in there?" Lance called through Keith's shut door, knocking softly. "Please, Keith. I just want to talk."

He heard a soft groan before the door opened, revealing a messy haired Keith behind it. Lance felt a blush creeping up his face.

How could he look so cute?

Lance cleared his throat and forced a smile. "Did you have a nice nap?"

Keith scowled at him, but let him in. Lance resisted the urge to ruffle his friend's dark mullet.

"Are you mad at me?" Lance asked, his forced smile falling off his face, fiddling with the worn ends of his dark green jacket. He looked up at Keith through his eyelashes, nervous to make eye contact.

Keith kept the scowl on his face, and turned away from Lance, not saying anything. When it was clear he wasn't budging, Keith sighed.

"I- I mean. I'm not mad. You just…scared me. A lot. Scared all of us." He ran a shaking hand through his dark hair, still not looking at Lance. In a much quieter voice, he added, "We didn't know for sure if you'd make it. You almost died, Lance. I- I don't think you understand how important you are to the team. Without you, we fell apart. You're the glue that keeps us all together. Thank god we didn't get an attack from the Galrans; we wouldn't have survived."

Lance was speechless. His mouth was slightly open, eyebrows upturned, intently looking at Keith as he spoke. Never before had anyone said something so honest, so open, and he least of all expected it from Keith. His heart ached to see him like this, broken, trying to stop the tears from falling down his lightly freckled cheeks. Lance hadn't noticed them before – they looked adorable. He mentally slapped himself. He was supposed to be comforting his fellow paladin, not thinking about how freaking cute he was. He scowled at himself, feeling heat creep up his neck and face. Carefully, he put an arm around Keith, pulling him close as soft sobs escaped him, hoping the motion wasn't awkward.

Luckily, instead of pulling back Keith moved closer, burying his face in Lance's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I should be the one comforting you, not the other way around," he said between sobs and hiccups.

"Nonsense. When would I ever pass up a chance to cuddle?" The words were out of Lance's mouth before he even thought about them, and it was too late to take them back. His hand suddenly stopped rubbing Keith's back, the realization of what he had said dawning on him. If possible, his face reddened even more, and he was sure Keith's bed was covered in his sweat.

Keith's sobs also ceased, and he pulled back a little to look at Lance. He had a look of shock on his face,

"Did you just flirt with me?"

"No-nope! What are you talking about? I always cuddle my friends. Yup. Just-just ask Hunk! He'll tell you just that, y'know. I'm the cuddly type. With friends. Yeah." Lance babbled at him, trying not to bury his face into the pillow on Keith's bed and scream for eternity. His next thought was how that pillow would smell like Keith, but he immediately dismissed the thought.

Keith smirked softly at him, wiping the tears off his face with the hem of his shirt. When he did that, Lance spotted part of his toned abs peeking through the exposed skin and made him want to wrap his arms around him. He coughed loudly and suddenly, startling Keith and turning his smirk into a worried frown.

"Are you okay?"

Lance nodded quickly. His face was probably as red as the ripest tomato, and he cringed at himself.

"I'm fine, sorry," he said, trying to recover quickly, which clearly didn't work since Keith raised an eyebrow at him. Luckily, he dropped the subject, but they ended up in an awkward silence.

After an agonizing three minutes, Keith turned to Lance and spoke so softly he almost didn't hear him over the incredibly loud beating of his heart.

"Just, Lance, please don't do that." His voice sounded so broken that Lance couldn't help but pull him into a tight hug. Keith seemed startled at first, but he relaxed a bit and hugged Lance back.

He's so warm, Lance thought, more heat rushing into his cheeks. In an even quieter voice, Keith whispered,

"I don't want to lose you."

Lance swore he had a heart attack. His breath hitched in his throat, and all his mind seemed able to do was bury his head in the crook of Keith's neck.

"You know, if I hadn't done what I did, I might have lost you."

This time, it was Keith's turn to freeze up.

"You can't just say things like that," he mumbled, his face turning red. Lance, feeling satisfied with flustering Keith, decided that he wanted to see Keith blushing more often.

They stayed like that a bit, until Lance felt Keith's breathing even out, and let him lie down on his bed. He stayed for a bit, watching Keith drift into a peaceful sleep, when he caught himself. He quickly got up and left Keith on his own, his face almost as red as before.

God, he was so fucked.

The next few days, or what were considered days in Altean time, passed with Lance trying not to confess his feelings every time he saw Keith, usually ending in a blushing mess. The others must have noticed something strange because they constantly asked him if he was okay, or if anything had happened between him and Keith. He dismissed them, only hoping that Keith also didn't notice him acting strangely.

However, a few days after his discovery of his crush, Pidge and Hunk decided they had had enough. After another one of his flustered sessions, Pidge, saying nothing, grabbed him by the elbow and led them to the common room, empty except for them.

They sat him down, glaring daggers at him.

"Do you, perhaps, have anything to tell us?" Pidge asked, taking a seat beside him.

"Uh… I'm guessing you won't believe me if I say no?"

Hunk crossed his arms, sitting down on his other side. "No, we won't. Now, will you please tell us what the heck is going on with you and Keith?"

"Um. Well, you see, I'm pretty sure there's not anything wrong with him, but…"

"But…?" Pidge urged him to go on.

"But, I think I might maybe, just maybe, like him?" Lance's voice squeaked at the end, and Hunk looked at him patiently, a faint smile on his face.

Lance sighed, he wasn't going to get out of this. "I have a horrible, terrible, awful, gigantic crush on Keith. Happy now?"

Pidge grinned widely, pumping a fist in the air, "Ha! I was right! Shiro, you owe me five bucks!"

Confused, Lance whipped his head back and forth, "But Shiro's not here?"

"Sorry kid, but it was Pidge's idea," said a manly voice from behind, and Lance knew it was unmistakably Shiro. He turned his head to look, and beside Shiro stood a sweetly smiling Allura.

"You-you guys! You can't eavesdrop like that!" Lance pouted, throwing his hands up.

"Hey, it was taking a while for you to admit, and we needed confirmation. Shiro, hand over the money." Pidge put her hand out, other hand on her hip.

"Wh-you guys bet on me too?! That-that is unacceptable! I thought we were friends!"

"Hey, I said you were just acting weird because of your injuries, and Keith's initial reaction," said sweet, innocent Hunk.

"As did I," added Shiro, and Lance sighed,

"Glad to know I have some good friends," he said, glaring at Pidge, who stuck her tongue out.

"Shut up, you love me."

"I wish I didn't."

"Well," Allura interrupted, "when are you telling Keith about your feelings for him?"

"Who said I was telling him anything?" Lance cried, still pouting.

"Lance, I'm pretty sure he feels the same way about you. So, I definitely support the idea of you confessing." Shiro said, putting on his Dad Voice.

"I agree. Have you even seen him around you? He gets almost as flustered as you." Hunk added.

Lance rolled his eyes, "Yeah right. The dude hates my guts." Except for that night.

"Uh, no. You should've seen him when you were in the pod. He didn't budge from in front of you for the first three days! We had to remind him to eat – he almost died of starvation," Pidge pointed out.

"Yes, and he was pretty reluctant to leave too," Allura said, patting his shoulder. Lance covered his face with his hands, blushing profusely.

"But what if you guys are wrong? What if he does hate my guts? What would I do next?"

"You will tell him, or we will do it for you," Pidge deadpanned.

Lance groaned, leaning against Hunk. "Fiiiine. But if he doesn't like me back, you are all dead. R.I.P Space Dad and Mom. Next to them, Hunk and Pidge, almost too young to die. Almost. Death at the hand of Lance for incredibly bad advice."

"Don't be dramatic, Lance," Allura said, a smile adorning her gorgeous face.

"I am the definition of dramatic," Lance shot back, smirking.

"We know, Lance, we know," Hunk sighed, pushing Lance to his feet. "Now go get your boyfriend!" Lance glared at all of them, spending an excessive amount on Pidge, but obediently obliged.

Lance put his fingers to his temples, rubbing circles. Why had he agreed to this? His original question still stood – what if Keith didn't like him back? The others said he did, that it was almost as obvious as him, and Lance knew he should trust them, but he couldn't seem to let the worries go.

He should have been looking where he was walking, but Lance, clumsy Lance, ran straight into something. Actually, more like someone. Someone, more like Keith. Just his luck.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you there," Keith said, clearly startled.

"Sorry, that was my fault." As Keith started to walk away, Lance gathered his courage and reached out for him. Keith looked back, surprised when Lance had grabbed his sleeve. Lance's cheeks reddened, and he loosened his grip.

"Actually, I-I was looking for you," he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the possible rejection as Keith waited patiently, watching him with curious eyes. "You see, I was talking to the others, and I know this is a stupid idea but they encouraged me a lot and so I've decided to go with it. And I'm sorry if it sounds really stupid but-"

"Lance, what is it?"

He sighed, almost curling in on himself. In a soft and quiet voice, he confessed. "I-I really like you, Keith. Like, I like you. And I don't know if you feel the same way because, to me, it seems like you kinda hate me? But the others said I should tell you and see what you feel and oh god Keith please say something." Keith's face was perfectly still, his perfect lips that Lance wanted to pull onto his own so badly parted slightly, and his arm limp in Lance's grip. "Keith?"

That seemed to shake him out of his stupor, and his violet eyes flicked between Lance's eyes and lips. One moment Lance was ready for rejection, and the next Keith was pulling him in, his lips on his own. It was fireworks and stars and the whole universe was pulling them together and Keith was kissing him. Before Lance could kiss him back, Keith pulled back, a dazed smile on his face.

"Of course I like you back, you oblivious idiot."

Lance let himself smile, and soon it turned into a grin, a soft chuckle escaping him before he could stop it. He leaned back in, cupping Keith's face in his hand, and Keith reached up, brushing his hands through Lance's hair, and they kissed again stronger this time.

They breathed each other in until they were gasping for air, soft smiles adorning their faces and bright red flushes across their faces.

"So," Lance smirked, "you really did enjoy my cuddling."

A scandalized look crossed Keith's face, "Oh, shut up," he said, but a blush crept onto his face and neck.

"You know you love me."

Keith's reaction wasn't what Lance expected, because instead of him rolling his eyes, he smiled, "Yeah, I guess I do."

Lance's face burned up, a sputtering mess, "Wh-bu-you can't just say things like that, Keith!" Keith just grinned and pulled him back into a kiss, shutting Lance up, and they sank into it, Lance wishing he could stay like this forever.