Chapter 2

Lance happily belly-flopped on his comfortable bed and buried his face in his pillow, taking a moment to de-stress after another long day at school. He didn't want to think about homework (even if it was only to review stuff for exams) or classes or college in the fall or anything like that. All he needed was a moment to breathe.

He turned his head to face his bedside table, where two framed photographs rested. One was of him and his family from their last big family vacation. The other was of him and Pidge from their freshman year, just after she chopped off her long hair for the shorter style she continued to maintain. They'd taken more since then, but that one remained his favorite.

Lance sighed as his thoughts turned to his crush, as they did more and more as of late. He'd thought it was a passing thing at first; another moment of noticing someone and entertaining the thought of dating them, before his attention was inevitably drawn to someone else. He hadn't even considered telling Pidge about it until three months had passed and his daydreams of holding Hunk's hand still had butterflies fluttering around in his stomach.

It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

For the first time, he had no idea what he was doing. He couldn't approach Hunk like he did everyone else. Hunk deserved something more special than his usual cheesy pick-up lines. And he couldn't bring himself to ask Pidge (or anyone else) for help, no matter how many times she offered.

Lance rolled over on his back and stared up at the ceiling. One thing was for certain: he was running out of time.

.

.

One Year Before

(Junior Year, May)

"I told you, it's for my progra—look, we'll be done soon. And then we can hang out whenever you want, okay?" Pidge said, sounding exasperated.

Lance crossed his arms over his chest, looking none-too-happy about what was happening. "So who's this 'Hunk' guy you have to work with? Is he one of those awful car guys who rev their engines in the parking lots all the time? 'cuz I hate those guys."

"He's not one of those guys," Pidge assured him. "Hunk's... kind of sweet, actually. And a better partner for this project than I could have dreamed of. Except he keeps bringing food and getting crumbs all over my notes. You'd like him, Lance. He loves to cook, and you love to eat! It's a match made in heaven."

"Ha ha," Lance said dryly. "I'll have you know that I have standards, and I only love good food."

"Well then, you're in luck. His food is some of the best I've ever eaten," Pidge teased. "But seriously, it's only two more weeks and then we present our project. After that, I'm all yours."

"Aww," Lance batted his eyelashes.

Pidge rolled her eyes and gently shoved him. As she did that, she caught sight of someone over his shoulder and lifted her hand in a small wave.

Lance righted himself as he turned to look and see who she was waving to. He'd assumed it was Allura until he saw the dark hair and yellow shirt of a boy in their grade, just before he vanished around the corner. It took him a moment to process that Pidge was waving to the best friend of Keith Shirogane, her personal nemesis. (And to a lesser degree, Lance's number one rival in everything.)

"That's Hunk," Pidge explained.

Lance looked flabbergasted. "Really? Mullet's friend? Hes the one who's your partner? And you haven't complained about him once! Well, aside from the crumbs on your notes thing. And... AND you have the nerve to suggest that's we're—what was it you said? Soul mates?"

"A match made in heaven."

"Same thing!" Lance made a show out of reaching out to touch her forehead with the back of his hand. "Are you feeling alright?"

Pidge brushed his hand aside. "Quit that. I'm fine. Now lets get to class before you make us late again."

"Hey! Last time was your fault, not mine!"

.

.

Lance didn't think much about Hunk as he threw all of his energy and focus into studying for final exams. Every now and then, he'd catch a glimpse of the other boy from the corner of his eyes, but there was always something (or someone) there to distract him. It was only months later, as summer vacation waned and everything became preparing for going back to school, that he had a dream.

It wasn't something he was unfamiliar with. Lance had had a lot of dreams about a lot of people.

Pidge was in most of them. Usually she was just hanging around, making sarcastic comments or being the single voice of reason in an otherwise bizarre and confusing world. Which, if he was being honest, wasn't all that different from how she was in real life.

Allura had been in a few. At first, those dream had been of a more romantic nature, but as time wore on and his crush faded, she became just a friendly face featured in his dreams.

Then there had been that one involving Keith... He preferred not to think about that one. (Keith may have been his eternal rival, but he was pretty, okay? Lance was comfortable admitting that much.)

His dream about Hunk hadn't been so different from any of those.

Except he had it again the next night. And then another a few nights later. And then another and another, until he found himself dwelling on those dreams during the day.

By the time they began their senior year of high school, Lance was nursing the tiniest bit of a crush on a boy he'd never spoken to. It was something small and manageable and he knew better than to try and pursue it. His crushes never lasted and he wasn't going to try and start something that would only cause problems.

Lance spent three months trying to convince himself he didn't actually like Hunk. All the while, his dreams persisted, occasionally crossing over into daydreams that left him dazed and distracted during class.

"Lance," Pidge whispered, poking her friend with the eraser end of her pencil. She got no response, so she spoke his name a little louder. "Lance."

He lifted his head and blinked blearily, chasing away the fog filling his mind. "Huh?"

Pidge raised an eyebrow. "Is everything okay? You've been way more of a space case than usual."

"Uh, yeah. Yup. I'm good. Why wouldn't I be okay? I'm great!" Lance rambled, avoiding meeting her eyes. "Where were we again? Question five?"

"Three," Pidge corrected. She set down her pencil and stared at Lance. Keeping her voice low, she said: "Are you sure nothing's bothering you? You can tell me, you know that, right?"

Lance flashed her a grin. "Of course! Are we going to finish this or what?"

Pidge stared at him for a moment longer and then sighed and went along with him. If he wasn't ready to talk, she wasn't going to force it.

.

.

Two days later, in the middle of decimating Pidge in a round of their favorite video game (Defenders of the Universe), Lance took her up on her offer to talk.

"I have a crush on Hunk and it's all your fault."

Pidge went from hunched over, glaring at the screen, furiously punching at the buttons on her controller, to sitting up and staring at Lance in shock, controller gripped loosely in her hands. "I... what? Wait, Hunk as in Hunk Garret? Who was my partner last year? Keith's friend? How is that my fault?!"

Lance continued to play, never once looking away from the screen. "Well, y'know. You were all like 'Hunk's a great partner! You'd love him, Lance!' And... and have you seen him? He's gorgeous! How could I not? Okay, and I know I've never actually talked to him, but I've heard him talk! In class and stuff. And wow, what a voice..."

Pidge's expression softened from disbelief to understanding. "I could introduce you, if you'd like."

"No!" Lance blurted out in mild panic. "I mean, uh, nah. I got this! Besides, it's just a dumb crush. We don't need to make a big deal about it."

"Maybe, but I've never seen you get like this over anyone. Not even Allura." Pidge made a half-hearted attempt at sniping Lance's character, but fell off the wall she was perched on instead. She scowled at the screen, her fingers rapidly tapping buttons in an attempt to recover.

Lance quietly sniped her the moment her head rose back over the wall.

Pidge sulked while waiting for her respawn period to end. "If you change your mind, let me know. It doesn't even have to be a 'Hey, Hunk, I've got a friend who really likes you!' sort of thing. We can play it cool. Like, 'Hey, Hunk, wanna hang out with me and my best friend?' See? Completely covert."

"Yeah..." Lance murmured. "Thanks, Pidge."

She smiled. "Anytime."