-Lance-

Seeing it was a different kind of pain than he was expecting. In retrospect, he knew that this really shouldn't have been a surprise. It had already been two months since that night. Two months of regret and self-hate. But it still hurt seeing him laughing, smiling, and in the arms of someone else. Pidge and Hunk noticed the change at the table almost immediately. It only took the geniuses one glance across the room to identify the issue. Their faces carried that same look, the one he hated so much. Pity, sadness, guilt, irritation, and accusation. Not that he didn't deserve some of them, but still he had no desire to have a heart to heart tonight.

"Lance-" Pidge began, but he cut them off with a smile. He knew that it wasn't quite right, not big or bright enough to be convincing, but it was enough to stop her.

"Nope! Nope, nope, nope. With a capital N! Not tonight Pidge! We are celebrating you! And your victorious promotion to Garrison Science Officer!" She seemed concerned but Lance didn't let her sit on it long. He grabbed his glass and clinked it to her soda before downing the whole thing in one go. The burn of the alcohol was a pleasant distraction, hopefully the buzz would hit him soon.

It didn't take long for them to have start having fun, to forget about the more weighty matters in the room. Lance was pleasantly buzzed and everything was going great, until it happened. He was in the middle of getting another drink, when someone bumped into him. He turned around to apologize, when blue met gray. All the air left his lungs like he had gotten punched by an elephant. Keith seemed equally surprised, but his date wore an apologetic expression. He was taller than them both, broad shouldered and reached out towards Lance.

"Oh, I am so sorry! You aren't-" Lance cut him off before he could continue.

"Nope. No trouble! Nothing! I'm fine! Sorry for disturbing your night!" As he spoke his voice took on a squeaky quality. His eyes widened with panic and a lump rose in his throat. Keith seemed to be struggling with his own reaction. The other man seemed to suddenly catch on to the tension. "Anyways! Gotta bounce! You know! Got work tomorrow and all that jazz!" Lance shoved himself from the bar. The other man seemed concerned and tried to stop him.

"Hey, aren't those your drinks?" He sounded concerned too. But one look at Keith let Lance know he had overstayed his welcome. He shook his head violently. And jerked away from the man. "Nah, I probably drank too much, I'll head home now." As soon as he pulled away the room spun slightly but all that mattered was putting space between him at the gray eyed boy who still caused his heart to seize with pain in his chest. He barely made it to their table before his vision was blurred and his breathing was labored. Pidge and Hunk were both alarmed, but he sent them a watery smile.

"Hey guys, I'm not feeling it anymore tonight, Imma head home." He dealt with their almost objections the way he dealt with pretty much everything lately, he dropped some cash on the table, turned around, and headed out the door. If there were any objections to his leaving, he didn't hear them as he broke into a run in the clear air. He didn't stop running until he was at the door of his apartment. He unlocked it with shaking hands and threw himself onto the couch. He curled up into a ball. It shouldn't have been a surprise. They'd left on such bad terms. And he deserved it, but just seeing him there, with someone else. Someone who was nice, kind, gentle, and probably wouldn't ever let Keith get hurt ever, let alone hurt him. The tears and choked sobs leaked from him before he knew it. And it was a long torturous night before the welcomed darkness claimed him.

-Keith-

The night had started so well. A good day at work, Shiro had made a killer lunch, and then a date. A nice date. With a cute guy, a nice guy. And it had been great. All the way until the universe decided to spit in his face again. Of all the places and times to see his ex for the first time in two months, it had to be on a first date, but not just any first date, the first date. Seeing him again was an experience. The first thing was the enormous hurt that flooded his chest. For a split second, the world stopped. Lance's eyes twinkled with that same mirth and mischief that he seemed to exude all the time. Then, in an instant that light was extinguished and seemed hollow and almost broken. It had taken nearly everything in him to not drop his date and take the boy into his arms. Then, Lance saw Alex. The universe must have a special place filled with hate and vitriol just for him. Because Alex was such a nice guy, he started to apologize for bumping into him before Lance hastily excused himself. And that was the end of the good night. Lance looked bad. And that was saying something, he never looked bad, he'd kill someone if they had suggested that he looked less than 100% perfection. Keith wasn't sure what he had expected when he saw Lance again, but it sure wasn't supposed to be longing. Lance plagued his thoughts for the rest of the night. He was sure Alex wouldn't say so, but he pretty much fell apart after that.

And now he was on the couch in Shiro and Allura's apartment staring up at the ceiling. They both seemed very concerned. Shiro finished putting the dishes away before dropping onto the couch opposite Keith. He traded a worried glance with Allura before he cleared his throat.

"So, Keith, how was your date?" Keith continued staring. They traded glances again before they tried again.

"You said you had a date tonight, didn't you Keith?" Allura asked softly. Without changing positions, he sighed.

"Yeah. I did." The answer was gruff.

"And?" She pushed. He sighed again before he answered struggling to keep his emotions from spilling out.

"I saw Lance today."

"Oh." Allura's response was hushed and Shiro tensed. "And how did that go?" Keith let out a humorless laugh.

"Just about as great as you'd expect. My heart felt like it was being ripped in half again, and I'm pretty sure that I was a terrible date who won't be getting asked out again." He turned and glanced at the two of them through barely restrained tears. "I thought I was ready, but I-I," His voice broke and the tears came. Next thing he knew he was sitting upright and caught between a warm tight embrace from both sides. He fought against the wet on his cheeks and the aching in his chest as the two people at his sides pulled him closer.