"Lance, could I speak to you for a tick?"

Lance looked up from his desk to see Allura hovering over him. She looked sad, maybe a little uncomfortable. Lance's brows drew together, concerned.

"Yeah, of course," he replied.

This really wasn't a great time if Lance was being honest. He was still rattled over what had happened at the bar last night. He was having trouble wrapping his mind around it. Keith had been so close. And that look in his eyes… It sent shivers up and down Lance's spine just thinking about it. Had Keith really been about to kiss him? More than that, had Lance actually wanted him to?

He couldn't exactly deny the way he'd responded. He'd hardly pushed Keith away. If anything he'd encouraged him, spurred him on even. Everything about his body language had been giving Keith the green light to close that gap. And honestly, Lance was a little disappointed that he hadn't.

He'd have to have a talk with Hunk and Pidge about reading the moment and knowing when not to open their big mouths.

His brain was a jumbled mess, and now Allura wanted to talk to him? And with that worried look on her face. Lance's anxiety level was somewhere around 11 at this point.

The two of them walked down the halls of the Garrison in silence for a while. Allura seemed unsure of how to approach whatever it was she wanted to talk to him about. They reached the landing pad outside where the Lions resided and she stopped and turned to face Lance, determination set in her soft features. She always seemed to feel more at ease around the Lions.

"Lance, I want to apologize."

Lance stared blankly at the princess, mind trying to process her words.

"What could you possibly have to apologize for?"

"I haven't been considerate of your feelings as of late. I've been selfish, and I feel bad about it."

Lance was still having trouble comprehending Allura's meaning.

Allura could see Lance still wasn't getting it. She could practically see the little gears turning in his head. She smiled.

"I've seen the way you've been looking at Keith lately. I should have noticed it earlier, but I was blinded by my own desires." Allura approached Lance, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. She could feel the tense muscles underneath. His entire body was rigid. "I just wanted you to know that I'm not going to pursue you any longer. It is clear that the feelings you once had for me have faded. Your friendship is more important to me than anything, and I only want you to be happy."

There was no longer any sadness in Allura's eyes. The look she now wore was one of warmth and acceptance. Her feelings for Lance had been growing, there was no denying that. But as Allura watched Keith and Lance over the past few weeks, she'd realized that her feelings were not the same as those that the two of them clearly shared for one another. She wanted to politely bow out, in case Lance was holding back with Keith for her sake.

Lance still hadn't spoken. He had this gobsmacked look on his face that was honestly pretty funny. Not that Allura would let her amusement show, lest she embarrass Lance further.

Allura leaned into Lance, giving him a friendly hug. She pressed a light kiss to his cheek, then pulled back, a sunny smile on her beautiful face. Then she was gone, leaving Lance to stare into the open expanse of desert beyond and ponder over their conversation. If you could call Allura talking, while Lance gaped like a fish, a conversation.

What the hell just happened?

X

Lance was in a daze. There was so much new information for him to process that it felt like his brain was going to explode. It was affecting his daily life. He was spacing out in class and during drills - when he wasn't doing his best to avoid being alone with Keith that is.

He'd made sure that the only interactions the two of them had were around other people. He wasn't ready to talk to Keith about the near-kiss. Not yet. He needed to talk to somebody, though. Lance worked through problems best when he had someone to use as a sounding board. Usually that person was Keith, but clearly, that wouldn't work in this case. There was one other person he could confide in, though.

Shiro heard a knock at his door. He rolled over to check the time. 2 am. He groaned, rolling out of bed and trudging toward the door as another soft knock rang out.

He cracked the door open just enough to see who it was.

"It's the middle of the night, Lance," Shiro said groggily.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just that I…"

The look on Lance's face told Shiro all he needed to know. He let out a sigh and opened the door wider.

"Come in."

Shiro sat patiently on his bed and listened as Lance recanted every detail of that night at the bar. He couldn't sit still. Lance paced frantically around the room as he spoke, his voice sometimes rising to a pitch that Shiro swore only dogs could hear.

"Lance, you need to calm down," Shiro said gently, getting up and placing a comforting hand on Lance's shoulder. It stopped him from moving if nothing else.

"I don't know what to do." Lance finally sat down in Shiro's desk chair, spinning from side to side. Lance fidgeted when he was anxious or nervous, he couldn't help it.

"What do you want to do, Lance?"

Lance wasn't really sure how to answer that question. "I've never felt like this before. I've never felt this way about a guy before."

"Felt like what, Lance?" When did I turn into a therapist?

"Like-like… I don't know," Lance groaned, running a hand through his hair. He was frustrated. The way he was feeling was hard for him to define. "It's… It's like how I felt about Allura," he admitted sheepishly.

"Felt? As in past tense?"

Lance frowned. He thought back to the talk with Allura earlier. It had brought certain things to light, things he was still having trouble wrapping his head around. He understood why his interactions with Allura had felt so off lately, so awkward.

"I don't know. I just - it's not the same. Six months ago I would have sworn up and down that Allura was the love of my life. I would have done anything for her - I still would, just not in the same way." It was a reluctant admission, but his chest felt a little lighter after the words were out. "I don't think I love her that way anymore."

Shiro just watched Lance for a moment. He looked more at ease, but there was obviously more weighing on his mind.

"Do you love Keith?"

Lance's head snapped up so fast his neck cracked. He was going to feel that for the next couple days. How could Shiro just ask something like that? So casually? It wasn't that simple.

Shiro took in the panicked look on Lance's face and decided that perhaps that hadn't been the best approach. He tried again. "You've always considered Keith your rival, has that changed?"

"No." The answer came quickly and effortlessly. "That guy still gets on my nerves, always trying to show me up. I bet he thinks he's so much better than me."

Shiro chuckled. "But you do see him differently than before, right?"

"I mean, yeah. He still bugs me, but it's not the same. I actually kind of look forward to the bickering. Seeing Keith all riled up, it's kind of endearing."

There it is.

"I think you need to accept that you might like Keith as more than a friend or a rival."

"But I - I've never," he paused for a moment, the continued. "I've never felt like this about a guy before. What does that mean? Am I-"

"It's okay to like both, you know," Shiro said, interrupting Lance's babbling before he could work himself into a panic.

"What?"

"You liked Allura, and that's fine. You like Keith now, and that's okay, too. It doesn't have to be one way or the other." Shiro wished someone had been there to tell him that the way he felt was okay, that there was nothing wrong with him when he was younger. He'd never had any doubts about who he was, but people could be cruel. He didn't want Lance to feel like he had to hide.

Lance took that in. He was quiet for a long while, processing things, working through his own emotions. He hadn't realized how afraid he'd been. How much he'd needed to hear those words. It's okay.

"Thanks, Shiro," Lance said finally. He looked more relaxed, more like Lance. Shiro smiled.

"Anytime."

X

Lance did a lot of soul-searching that night. He didn't end up getting to sleep until around five, which meant he got a whopping three hours of sleep before he was rudely awakened at eight o'clock on a freaking Sunday.

"This better be good." If looks could kill.

"It is." Pidge stood in the doorway, devilish smirk firmly in place as she stared up at a very cranky Lance. Lance stared at the little gremlin through slitted eyes, deciding whether to trust her or not. It was always a gamble with this one.

"Fine."

Lance got dressed and did his best to tame the circles under his eyes. He followed Pidge down the corridors of the Garrison. "Where exactly are we going?"

"The Hangar."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

Lance groaned and crossed his arms over his chest in a show of annoyance. He was too tired for this.

He heard muffled voices as they approached the hangar. They seemed to be arguing, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Pidge swiped her access card and the doors to the hangar bay opened with a mechanical whine. The grin on her face as she motioned Lance inside was concerning. Still, Lance went with it. He was too tired to argue at this point.

"Hunk, this isn't funny!"

Is that Keith?

"I don't know, man. It seems pretty funny."

Lance stepped around one of the fighter jets and the first thing he saw was Hunk hunched over, laughing vigorously. Next, he saw Keith.

He tried to hold it in, he really did, but the laughter bubbled up in his chest and refused to be withheld. Keith's head whipped around in Lance's direction. First, he looked shocked, then a mix of anger and embarrassment took over.

"How?" That was all Lance could get out between bouts of laughter.

Keith had somehow managed to get his foot tangled up in the belts of one of the fighter jets. In attempting to get out of the cockpit, he'd tripped, and was now hanging upside down against the side of the jet. The position didn't allow for him to reach his foot to free himself, and Hunk and Pidge had apparently thought it more important to find more people to laugh at him before helping.

"Told you it was good," Pidge said, snickering at his side. Lance was no longer upset with having been woken up. This was so very worth it.

Lance approached the plane, stopping beside Hunk and leaning against the hull a couple feet from where Keith was dangling. "How's it hanging, Samurai?" Lance teased, smirking deviously.

Keith groaned. "Wow, nice one, Lance. Very funny." Lance was having a field day with this.

"Really, though. How?"

"Like I'd tell you," Keith replied with a tone something akin to a kid sticking his tongue out in defiance. "Can someone get me down now? Please?"

Pidge and Hunk looked at each other, shrugged, then turned and walked out, conversing casually as if everything was totally fine. Keith gaped as his teammates retreated. Traitors!

Even Lance thought that was a little cold. He turned back towards Keith, whose face was starting to turn funny colors. Oh, right. Should probably help with that.

"Calm down, Mullet. I'm coming," Lance said as he climbed up into the cockpit. Keith's ankle was wrapped up pretty thoroughly. How he managed this level of clutsiness was beyond him, especially since Keith was usually the picture of grace, unlike Lance. Not that he'd ever admit that.

Lance was in a pretty awkward position as he worked to free Keith's foot; half in and half out of the cockpit. As he was finishing up, his foot slipped against the side of the hull, bringing both of them crashing to the ground.

Keith groaned. He knew how to fall, but all that hanging upside down had made him light-headed, so the impact had been a little worse than it usually would have been. Keith went to sit up, hand going to the back of his head where he'd impacted the concrete. It wasn't bad. He might have a pretty gnarly headache for the rest of the day, but he didn't think he needed to worry about a concussion.

He stopped mid-motion when he felt the solid weight holding him down. Keith's eyes snapped open, landing on the head of brown hair just below his chin. Lance had landed right on top of him.

Oh crap, Lance thought as he realized the position he was in. He couldn't bring himself to look up at Keith yet, though he knew the older boy was definitely staring at him. He'd felt Keith try to get up. He'd also felt it when Keith realized where Lance had ended up. Neither of them were moving. Neither of them were speaking. Shallow, uneven breaths flooded the space between them.

Lance dared a glance at Keith. Bad idea.

Keith was red as a tomato from his ears to his collar, eyes wide, but not panicked. No, this was something else. Embarrassed? No. Uncomfortable? Not quite. Keith's eyes flicked down to Lance's lips and back up, almost too quick for Lance to notice. But notice he did.

Lance's mind flashed back to his conversation with Shiro last night and all the introspection that had taken place after. He swallowed. Time to test a theory.

Lance caught Keith's gaze, holding it for a long moment, searching. Keith made no move to look away, no attempt to escape. Lance leaned in, slow, hesitant. Keith's expression softened, eyelids going heavy as his gaze flitted between Lance's eyes and mouth. Keith leaned up a little more. He was almost sitting, but not quite, still leaning back at kind of an awkward angle.

Lance moved one hand from the ground to Keith's hip, then to his lower back. He pulled Keith a little closer, pressing their chests together. Keith's hand snaked up Lance's arm, coming to rest on the back of Lance's neck. Lance shivered at the contact. Keith smiled, encouraged by the fact that not only was Lance responding to him, but Lance had actually initiated this.

They were so close, eyes locked and breathing heavily. Keith had moved up the rest of the way, putting them both in a much more comfortable - and advantageous - position. Lance was firmly planted in Keith's lap, staring down at the raven-haired boy, utterly hypnotized by those beautiful grey eyes staring back at him. He smiled back, moving one hand into Keith's hair, the other bunched up in the back of Keith's black t-shirt.

He was still hesitating. This was so new to him, and nagging away at the back of his mind was the fear that, should he go forward with this, he could end up messing everything up. Lance was unsure about a lot of things, but one thing he could be sure of was that he liked having Keith in his life, and he'd do just about anything to keep him there.

Keith had no such reservations. He saw Lance struggling, how nervous he was. That patented bravado that Lance sported pretty much 24/7 was hidden beneath layers of uncertainty. But Keith knew Lance, and sometimes all he needed was a little push.

Keith yanked Lance forward that last inch and pressed their lips together. It was a chaste kiss, but one heavy with passion begging to be released.

Lance melted, both hands going into Keith's hair and pulling him closer if that was even possible at this point. Keith smiled into this kiss, tilting his head and molding their lips together with a bit more force.

"Hey, Keith! Pidge said you were in here. I need - oh! Oh god, I'm so sorry!"

Keith and Lance were like shrapnel, moving several feet apart in seconds. They were breathing heavily, and neither of them had taken their eyes off of the other. They were flushed, and hot, and honestly? They were kind of pissed.

Shiro stood beside one of the fighter jets, hand covering his eyes like a kid who'd walked in on something he shouldn't have. Which was pretty much exactly what he'd done. There he was, trying to help those two figure out how in love with each other they were, and he'd just walked in and ruined a very important moment. He was so going to hear about this later.

Keith got to his feet, brushing himself off and running a hand through his ruffled hair. He was still blushing a deep red. "What's up?" he asked, trying to sound casual like he hadn't just been caught sucking face with his best friend.

"Uh, I just needed your input on the scheduling for the -"

"Oh, shit. I completely forgot."

"It can wait until later."

"No, it really can't. I've been putting it off and if I don't do it now I'll just forget again."

Keith sighed, running a hand through his hair again. It was a nervous habit. Could Shiro possibly have worse timing? He glanced over at Lance who was still firmly planted on the floor. He wasn't looking at Keith or Shiro. His gaze was fixed to the floor like it had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world. Keith smiled.

"Need a hand, Sharpshooter?"

Lance looked up to find Keith hovering over him, smiling gently. Lance stared for a moment longer than necessary, captivated. Keith was still a little flushed, and despite his best efforts, his hair was still mussed from Lance's wandering hands. He returned the smile and took his hand, letting Keith pull him up off the concrete.

They stood like that for a long moment, Lance's hand still in Keith's. Neither of them really wanted to let go, but Keith had things he needed to do and the longer they stood there together the deeper Lance's blush was getting.

Keith reluctantly dropped Lance's hand and moved to follow Shiro. He stopped about halfway to the door and turned back to Lance.

"Hey, Lance."

Lance glanced over at Keith. A playful smirk was pulling at the edges of Keith's lips.

"See you later," Keith promised, then winked at Lance before turning and following Shiro out of the hangar.

Lance watched the pair disappear around the corner, eyes wide and a fresh blush tinting his cheeks. Oh boy.