Disclaimer: We do not own VLD.


Chapter 4: I Actually Don't Hate You Right Now


The hustle and bustle of the local diner was no match for the excitedness in Lance's voice.

"Dude, I totally kicked your ass in that final race!"

Keith shrugged and offered a sly smile. "You beat me in one race. I creamed you the first six times, or did you conveniently forget that already?"

Lance scoffed from across the table. "Whatever, man. It's not my fault you don't play by the 'all or nothing' rules"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever makes you feel better."

"Just admit defeat already, would you? I beat you. Plain and simple."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Can we just order? We were racing for, like, three hours, and I'm starving. "

Lance flipped open the plastic menu and scanned the daily specials. "Well, well, well, changing the subject now, are we?"

"You really know how to push my buttons, you know that?" Keith huffed.

That much was true. Before today, Keith had always found Lance a bit of a nuisance in class. Lance's off topic questions had the tendency to put Keith on edge. The evening had started out rough. Keith had arrived at Montgomery's Raceway early and had hidden himself, half-afraid and half-hoping that Lance would actually show up. When Lance finally walked up to the front of the building, Keith had hesitated, watching Lance sweat as the boy worried about Keith's attendance. Leaving his hiding spot, Keith put Lance out of his misery and had been eager to end their excursion and be done with it. He anticipated that Lance would get on his nerves before they even started their evening, and at first, he hadn't been let down. Even during their races, Lance had seemed like an expert at riling Keith up. However, Lance didn't quite stack up to what Keith had thought. The loud and obnoxious classmate Keith had grown accustomed to was actually kind of fun to be around. Emphasis on the 'kind of'.

Lance's voice was the first to cut through the silence. "You know, in all honesty, I had a lot of fun today. I know we usually don't hang out, and I didn't exactly leave the greatest impression, but I'm glad we decided to do this."

Keith looked up from his menu. "You know what? Me too."

Lance assumed a shocked expression. "Keith Kogane, did you just agree with me?"

"Me? Agree with you? Keep dreaming," Keith exaggerated.

"But, you just, oh come on!" whined Lance.

"Come on, you crybaby. Let's order."

Lance jutted out his bottom lip in a visible pout. Keith chuckled quietly before raising a hand to flag down one of the servers idling by the cash registers. Both Lance and Keith gave their orders, which happened to be identical, and didn't speak again until their server was well out of hearing range.

With a quick glance around, Lance reached into the nearby worker's station located behind their booth and swiped two kids menus off the second shelf.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Keith inquired as he took a sip of his water.

Before Keith could even get a response from Lance, a red crayon was tossed in his direction.

"Race ya!" Lance yelled enthusiastically.

It took a couple seconds for Keith to realize that Lance had started on the maze located on the reverse side of the menu. Lance had already dragged his waxy blue crayon a couple of inches into the maze before Keith picked up his own crayon. It was so on.

Even though he was sure of himself and his guaranteed victory, Lance snuck a quick peek at Keith's paper just to make sure that he was still behind only to find out that Keith had already finished the maze and was waiting patiently for Lance to finish his own.

"Wha..? How did you? You cheater!" Lance pointed accusingly.

"Again with the cheating thing?" Keith groaned good-naturedly.

"What? Too soon?" Lance smirked as he crumpled up the paper menu containing his unfinished maze on the back.

Before Keith could cut back with a smart remark, the server returned with their order and muttered a monotone 'enjoy your meal' before retreating back to the counter.

"God, I don't know why we suffer through the Garrison meals when we have this amazing spot literally five minutes away," Lance stated in between mouthfuls.

Keith hummed in agreement as he shovelled seven french fries into his mouth. As much as it pained him to admit it, Lance was right. Tucked away in the inner corner of a small plaza, the diner was a favourite spot of his. The low buzz of the neon lights offered a sense of familiarity and comfort while the decor, though synonymous with the tackiness of the 80's, provided just enough visual stimulation to always keep your interest. Even if it did tend to get busy on Friday evenings, Keith still savoured every moment. Sure, he wasn't necessarily one for social interaction, especially when it came to being in a crowded area, but the food was definitely worth it.

Eating with Lance was a mildly quiet affair. Lance made the odd comment about their meal or the location, but they mostly enjoyed the deliciousness of diner food in companionable silence. Keith wasn't sure if it was because they were both ravenous, or because Lance was trying to be considerate and allow Keith to eat in peace, but he appreciated it. The quiet let him think, and the small talk they shared as they ate allowed Keith to feel like he wasn't being the worst person to have dinner with. He may have never liked Lance, but he didn't want to be overtly rude. Although, Keith thought wryly, he'd had every reason to be rude considering their history of negative interactions.

"Hey, Keith?"

Keith glanced up at Lance, who had stopped eating and was watching him with a curious expression on his face. Keith swallowed and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"If you must."

"It's a very serious question."

Keith rolled his eyes and leaned back into the vinyl seat. "I highly doubt that."

Lance folded his hands and set them on the table. "No really, hear me out, okay? It's actually super important."

"Well, spit it out then." Keith motioned for Lance to continue, reaching for his iced water.

"So, I've been thinking, when was the last time you had a decent haircut? Like, honestly, how can you live with that mullet sitting on your head?"

Keith just about choked on his drink. "Would you quit making fun of my hair? It's getting old, and frankly, quite immature," he managed to sputter out in between the resulting coughing fit of having icy cold liquid slide down his windpipe.

"Oh my gosh, you should have seen your face," Lance snickered as he pointed a finger towards Keith's direction. "That was pure gold."

"Lance. " Keith hissed through pursed lips and narrowed eyes.

Okay, angry Keith equals scary Keith. Lance made sure to make a mental note of that.

"Relax, mullet man, it was a joke," promised Lance, trying to smother his amusement. "You're so gullible, I just can't help myself."

Keith crossed his arms to create an imaginary barrier between himself and Lance. "Jesus, why did I agree to hang out with you? You're insufferable."

"Oh Keithy Boy, didn't you just say it was fun spending time with me? And now, you're calling me insufferable? I'm so hurt." Lance feigned a pouty expression and clutched his chest for extra emphasis.

Keith rolled his eyes so hard he thought his eyeballs would detach from their sockets and subsequently fall out of his head.

The scoff that Keith received in response was soft. "Man, if eye-rolling was an Olympic sport, you'd win gold every time," Lance commented while picking at his fries.

Keith said nothing in return, and the two of them sat in uncomfortable silence before Lance decided to speak up again. It was, after all, partially his fault for creating such an awkward environment in the first place.

"Keith, listen, there really is something I need to ask you. For real, this time."

The sudden change in Lance's tone piqued Keith's interest. He expected him to crack some sort of joke or drop another one of his god-awful puns, but the atmosphere really didn't seem to lend itself to that situation anymore.

Keith sighed. "Okay, fine. What is it? Remember, you're treading on thin ice, McClain. This is your last chance."

Lance took a breath, drawing Keith's gaze, and Keith immediately regretted it. The bright blue of Lance's eyes were filled with more seriousness than he was expecting. He drowned in the colour.

"I know you said that you were having fun earlier, and, you know, so was I. So, I was thinking that we could technically, you know, hang out. Again. Sometime. If you wanted."

Keith's brows furrowed. "Lance, are you asking me to hang out again?"

"Um, is that what it sounds like?" Lance went from serious to downright awkward in 10 seconds. "Because if so, then yes. Yep. That's what I'm asking."

Keith released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. The proposed deal was supposed to involve one equal exchange. One promised hangout in hopes of Lance never bothering him again. So how come Keith couldn't manage to turn down Lance's request? If he was being completely honest with himself, the time they spent together wasn't actually that bad. Strictly speaking, yes, Lance knew exactly how to get on Keith's nerves, but it somehow was never portrayed with malicious intent.

"What happened to only hanging out for one day?" Keith traced the rim of his glass with his pinky finger.

"I know that's what we agreed on, and I have no problem holding up my end of the bargain, but I just really...I don't know...I really wanna do this again." Lance mentally slapped himself in the face. His usual smooth and suave character was nowhere to be found within a two hundred kilometre radius. Why was he so awkward all of a sudden?

Keith looked down at his drink as he thought before shrugging. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Oh my god, is that a yes?" Lance beamed as the twinkle returned to his eyes.

Keith scowled up at Lance. "That isn't a yes. I just asked what you would have planned if we hypothetically hung out again."

Lance plowed forward, completely ignoring what Keith had just said. "Keith, you saying yes is honestly amazing. I can't even believe it."

"I can just take it back."

"No, no, I'm fine. I'm calm." Lance leaned back in his chair, smile just as wide as before. "Let's see. Where would be a good place to go?"

"You'll have to top a raceway. Good luck with that."

"Keith, we could go anywhere and it would be the best time."

"Anywhere?" Keith arched an eyebrow.

"Don't challenge me, Keith." Keith took a sip of his drink while Lance's expression turned more thoughtful. "We could do a coffee shop?"

Keith blinked at him slowly. "A coffee shop?" The idea sounded so normal that Keith was almost inclined to think that Lance had some other crazy combination up his sleeve.

"Listen, I'm sure you drink coffee as black as your hair and probably have zero appreciation for the god-sent drinks that are lattes and macchiatos," Keith rolled his eyes at Lance's theatrics and allowed him to continue, "but the coffee shop just off campus is actually really great. They have these sweets that are to die for. Hunk found a way to copy some of the recipes, and he recreates them every so often. It's amazing."

"Shouldn't I just try Hunk's sweets instead of going to the shop?"

"Keith, Keith, Keith." Lance shook his head. "You need to have the shop's sweets first before you can experience Hunk's sweets. Think of it as a sort of precursor or a rite of passage."

Keith chuckled. "You really are making a big deal out of this, aren't you?"

"If you're gonna do something, you have to do it right." Lance shrugged and resumed his easy smile. "So, what do you say? Coffee?"

And as much as Keith wanted to say no, he really couldn't do it. "Sure, coffee sounds good."

Lance flashed his classic grin and shot Keith a quick wink. "Keith Kogane, get ready for the best time of your life."

Keith tried to ignore the unfamiliar, yet warm sensation that started to bubble up in the pit of his stomach. It spread through his body at an alarmingly fast pace. "Hit me with your best shot."

Lance burst out laughing and doubled over as he clutched at the sides of his stomach. "Holy quiznak, that was the cheesiest thing I have ever heard."

Keith scoffed at Lance's laughter. "I'm sure it is, Lance, but that's not the point."

"And what, exactly, is the point, Mr. Kogane?" asked Lance, the remnants of laughter still stuck in his voice.

"That you have accepted the challenge in trying to show me the best time of my life?"

Lance gestured to the space between them. "Well, I showed you a good time today. Shouldn't be too hard to replicate, don't you think?"

Keith rolled his eyes. "Psh, I'd like to see you try, McClain."

"Ha! You're on."