On Your Tail

by raelee514

When Keith and Lance meet, it's lust & love from first sight... But Lance has a past...will a past enemy and a past boyfriend cause trouble for the two before they even become the heroes they're meant to be? How does it effect Sven and Keith's friendship? Lance's friendship with Hunk and Pidge?

4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Keith never had walked into a public place before holding another man's hand, he was out sure, he thought he told people he was gay, though his conversation with Sven earlier had him wondering. But he'd never held a man's hand anywhere but in a gay bar, and usually they were strangers and the handholding lasted as long as it took to get to the dance floor and then was lost to dancing, and then he never saw them again. He wondered if it was his dancing, not more than once. Lance though had him in a good strong grip, Keith could feel his callouses from where he held onto the throttle in their training fighters, and few others in places that Keith found himself imagining came from working on the Kessel. He hoped their handholding didn't cause any sort of fuss, he hated worrying about it, but he couldn't help himself he worried, he'd been at his end of homophobic crap far too often in life not to worry.

Lance pushed through a glass door, walked up to the woman who was in charge of seating - who was in the middle of seating another couple, kissed her on the cheek and casually asked.

"Did we get ocean view? I requested ocean view?"

The woman rolled her eyes, looked at the other couple with an apologetic smile and then looked back down at her chart. "You're late," she said.

"Katie's fault, not mine," Lance said.

She raised an eyebrow. "Really, you're going to blame my little sister?"

"Oh yeah, she promised me home in fifteen minutes, will look after Pidge, they got back in thirty. Call her, if you don't believe me."

"Okay, fine, I can still give you an ocean view," she muttered, she then smiled at the other couple again. "Just a few more minutes, this is a very valued customer. He's going to build the archway my sister is going to get married under. Design, construct, nail, paint, the whole thing, starting soon I would think, given the wedding is soon. You didn't forget that did you Lance?" she asked as she grabbed to menus and started walking ahead of Lance and Keith.

Keith watched the exchange with interest, his mind grabbing onto two things right away. Pidge, was the nickname he'd heard a few people call Darrel Stoker the six or seven year old genius in their class. Keith had always been a bit fascinated by him, and a lot intimidated by him at the same time. They were in a few classes together, and Keith was spending hours upon hours studying trying to keep up with the kids ability to learn and process. He knew that first year there had been something that happened in the dormitories that led to someone who was not responsible for him, asking to be responsible for him and moving him off campus. Keith didn't think it could possibly be Lance though, wouldn't that have come up in rumor? The second thing that intrigued him was the carpentry, that sounded interesting and he got instant vision of Lance in nothing but jeans hammering, he wasn't even sure what Lance was hammering in his mind. But it was a good visual, he smiled.

"Introduce me?"

"Keith Kogane, this is Farah Jeremiah, she's my roommate Katie's older sister and a complete nag," Lance said.

"Hello, Keith, how long have you two been dating?" Farah asked.

Keith eyes widened and he looked at Lance, his mind whirling, he looked at their hands, why would she think there was dating going on.

"It's our first date, don't freak him out," Lance said and Keith felt a pull, toward a booth that over looked the ocean.

"Oh. I just... huh," Farah stopped talking. "I'll send, Sara as your waitress."

"Thanks," Lance said. "Sara is the best unobtrusive waitress ever,' he said, finally letting go of Keith's hand to slide into the booth.

Keith slid in across from him and he looked around. "So, uh, you live with Darrel Stoker?"

"Oh," Lance's face fell into an odd expression.

Keith wished for a rewind button for his mouth, then a delete function and then he could put something else in where he'd said that. "I said the wrong thing," he blurted out.

"No, no, I mean it's a normal question. Everyone asks it the second his name comes up and it always does, I mean it has to come up. It's just... ugh," Lance shook his head. "I love the kid, I do, don't get me wrong it's just I hate the responsibility. I'm still waiting to foul him up beyond repair, like something is going to happen on my watch and his IQ is going to drop to average or something."

"You're the one who took him out of the dorms?" Keith asked, his voice giving away his doubt, which he then felt instantly horrified about. "I mean, I didn't mean for that... crap."

"Hell no, I didn't suggest it. Hunk did."

"Hunk Garrett?"

"Yeah, he was my roommate first year. We were across the hall from Pidge and Stella Dewey. She was vetted by the Garrison as the right girl for the job, to keep an eye on a five year old, orphaned genius. On paper, maybe, they forgot to find out if she was you know a good person. She was a bitch to him from day one and then she started dating that ass, Fargate Gaskill."

Keith made a face, he had hated Gaskill, he was an idiot, he got by on his father the Senator's name and his mother the the well decorated hero Captain on her way to becoming an Admiral status in the Garrison. He was stuck up, a bully and average at best at everything he did but thought he was great, but had to prove it by putting others down. "Hate that guy."

"He pretty much ring mastered most of the crap Pidge put up with in the dorms. There were nights, I had to sit on Hunk to stop him from beating the guy up. Pidge would lecture Hunk on why it was irrational and dumb, and I would sit and agree. Pidge handled it all better than Hunk really. You've met Hunk right, he's in some of your classes."

"Yeah, he's huge."

"You should meet his brothers," Lance laughed. "He's teddy bear around kids, he took to Pidge fast, made friends with him, the second he found out about the bullying he wanted to smash faces. But Pidge told him he's used to it. I mean it was freaky, for the first three months of knowing the kid I felt like I must've somehow taken some drug or something. Because you have this five year old, and he'll be in your dorm room watching a cartoon, then he'll look at you and say: You have to talk to Hunk, he was talking about smashing the faces in of those buffoons who can't handle that I am simply just smarter than they are. I keep telling him, I do not take it personally, I do realize it is their problem and not mine. They are insecure. Don't let him get in trouble on my account, Lance. Anyway it would just make the bullying worse, I learned that lesson the hard way at the orphanage on Balto. Oh, awesome look, Scooby Doo Classic is back on!" Lance paused for a moment. "Or, something like that I mean he can give you a complex, because he is smarter than you, a third your size and way younger. But he is still a kid."

Keith shook his head. "Wow, so what finally made Hunk do what he did?"

"I got kicked out of the dorms indefinitely, nearly out of the school, but Pidge and Hunk both cried foul on that and made sure the Chancellor heard all sides. A couple other kids in our dorm spoke up on my side too, or least I heard they did, they never admitted it in public."

Keith waited, he had a feeling if he stayed quiet that Lance would tell him the whole story. Suddenly two beers fell onto the table. "If you, don't like beer," a woman was telling, him just let me know. "Have you two looked at the menus are you just flirting?"

"Penny, where is Sara?" Lance said.

"She had to go home," Penny said.

"Beer is fine," Keith said.

"Good. He's cute," Penny said to Lance. "Look at the menus," she said again and walked away.

"Sorry about her, she's a bit of a nosy one," Lance sighed. "Anyway, you're wondering how I got permanently disallowed to be in the dorms, aren't you?"

"I get the kicked out, but the no entry?"

"That's just Gaskill's parents making noise, and the Garrison letting them. He didn't get that awful personality from nowhere."

"Gaskill? The ankles? Was Gaskill?" Keith asked, his mouth starting to curve up, normally he would never smile at another persons misfortune but this wasn't just some other person. This was a grade A asshole and bully that Keith couldn't stand. "Please, tell me yes."

"Oh hell, yes. He went to far."

"With Stoker?"

"Yeah. Hunk was off for the weekend, with his parents, they live nearby so he did lots of family things. He tried to talk both me and Pidge into going, but we both were trying to keep arms length from Hunk still, at the time, turns out to be impossible, really. I was came in early from a really tragic date with this guy I met at the beach, and I found Pidge in the hallway in a ball crying over this torn up stuffed bear."

"Crap, what happened."

Lance sighed and squirmed. "I hate this story, it makes me look better than I am. Really it does. It's just I'm the one who came home and found him. It would've been Hunk otherwise you know. It should've been. Anyway the kid never cried, they could pants him in public, they could take his glasses and hide them, they were always locking him out of the room, he could get back in. They'd stolen his clothes, they'd ripped up his homework, stolen his computers, they'd done awful things. Never saw a tear, just anger, hurt and disappointment. This was different, I'd seen the bear a few times, usually on his bed, sticking out from under his pillow. Anyway, I picked him up, because he wouldn't budge and brought him into my room, put him on Hunk's bed. He cried for while longer, then he looked up at me, his glasses all wet and smeared, with cotton from the bear on it and said. 'It was all I had from them, the bear, it's all I had from them.' I ask who, but I think I already knew. He says his parents. That's when I saw red, it was just too much, it was bad enough guys my age were tormenting a kid, even one as bright and more grown up than then they or I even could be. Stella was't stupid, she had to have figured out the bear was a treasured keepsake, even if she didn't know the whole story. So I asked exactly who tore up the bear. He wouldn't tell me, he saw I was pissed, he actually stopped crying and started trying to talk me down. But I was too mad, and a little drunk, and I told him no, it had gone too far and stormed out of the room and up two floors to Gaskills room where I knew I'd find them."

"Rumor I heard was you dangled him off the roof?" Keith asked, because he wondered.

"Yeah, I don't know who started that, or how it went to that. It was just the tenth floor, well not just..." Lance shook his head and looked a little sick when he said. "I kicked in the door, which almost made me lose my lunch, because that is what my dad did when he was pissed at me. He'd kick in my door..." Lance sighed. "I kicked in the door, and demanded to know about the teddy bear."

Keith nodded. "What happened?"

"I demanded to know about a teddy bear, Keith. They all started to laugh hysterically."

"Screw them," Keith thought, his brain on the idea of a kid losing his only heirloom to his parents. He'd lost his parents too, if he'd lost any of the things he held dear that he'd inherited he didn't know what he'd do. He didn't know what he'd do at all. "I take it that made you more mad?"

"Pretty much," Lance said. "Gaskill's roommate at the time was Bradley Elias, notice he doesn't hang out with that crowd anymore. Well, he was mostly with them because he was his roommate and he didn't know how to not be one of them, yet. Well, I knew that he'd lost his mother recently, because I'd overheard it by accident. And this was not one of my better moments but I pissed. I saw this portrait of her, it was painted, I knew it had to be his mom because it wasn't Captain Gaskill. I grabbed it, and held it over my head. Bradley leapt up to defend it, grab it, no one else tried to help him. I asked him, how'd he feel I destroyed it, if I took it away from him, right now so soon after she was gone. He was falling to pieces, he was a wreck. Then I said, sucks, right, then why the fuck did you let them do the same thing to Pidge with the bear, did you know it was the only thing he had that was a connection to his parents. The one thing. Just one thing. I destroy this painting, you have all those pictures, Bradley. Then I slammed the picture back at him. As I spoke I heard Stella actually gasp and a few of the other girls, too. But Gaskill was still just laughing. I was pissed, I saw the open window, and I don't know why but I tackled him, then I manhandled him out the window, until I was holding him by his ankles and I kept it up until he admitted it. He had two other friends in that room, they didn't even try to help him, Stella and the girls left. Bradley just stayed on his bed, looking at the painting. Overall it was just a big stupid mess, I mean I had no game plan, it didn't accomplish anything except maybe make Elias think, because he requested a new room after that from what I heard. He never looks me in the eye though and I feel like ass whenever I see him, for doing that to him."

"Uh, the waitress is coming back," Keith said, instead of what he wanted to say. That he probably would've reacted in anger to, maybe even more violently because of his own past, he couldn't be sure. He wouldn't know until it happened but he couldn't blame Lance for being so angry at Gaskill, Stella and their friends for all the things they'd done for Pidge. The bear being the last really big straw to break the camel's back.

"The cheeseburger is good, want to get that?" Lance said.

Keith nodded.

"Great, and more beer," Lance grinned, drinking down what was left in the beer, he'd been drinking as he told the story. Keith looked and noticed he'd drank his own as well, one more wouldn't hurt him.

"Hi, boys. What will be?"

"We'll both have cheeseburgers and more beer."

"Okay," Penny said, looking at them. "First date, really?" She said looking at Lance. "And here?"

"What's the big deal?" Lance said, rolling his eyes at her.

"It's interesting," she turned around and walked away.

Keith leaned forward. "Do you not bring many first dates here?"

"Truth is, you're the first date I've ever bought here," Lance said.

"Oh." Keith was surprised and kind of flattered, he looked around the place again and out at the ocean, the sky filled with stars. "I like it."

"Me too," Lance said, but when Keith looked back at him all Lance was looking at was him.

Keith blushed. "So, uh, the Gaskills made a huge fuss about the ankles."

"Yeah, I mean I could've dropped him, I don't recall ever feeling like I would, or feeling him slip, but he was sure he was slipping the entire time," Lance rolled his eyes. "And well, I refused to bring up the bullying of Pidge to defend myself. Because I didn't want to make it worse on Pidge than I already had. I knew Gaskill take it out on him."

"Crap."

"See this is why I hate this story, it was stupid, I should have listened to the kid, but I was pissed on his account and just mad. I ran off and was an ass to Bradley and I could've dropped Gaskill. I do things like that all the damn time, it's a wonder I haven't been kicked out yet."

"Vice Chancellor is rumored to hate you."

"Oh she does. Anything I do wrong, she shows up to my detention to make sure I'm doing it right, if not she adds more. But the Chancellor likes me for some reason, whatever that is."

Keith shrugged, but shook his head. "But so, how did you and Hunk end up with Pidge."

"Well, when Hunk got back Sunday, Pidge was still being bullied, the bear was still torn up, and I'd been kicked out of the dorm and was facing being expelled. Stella was looking guilty, others wouldn't look him the eye, Gaskill and his two man pals, never remember their names, were the only ones with the gaul to keep doing things around Hunk. Hunk took Pidge and came up to the Chancellors office and they both spoke on my behalf, then Hunk offered his idea. He'd already been thinking about it actually. His brother Dai and his girlfriend were having trouble meeting rent, if Hunk moved in and got a part time job around his classes he could help out. He figured he could also work around Pidge's classes, and keep an eye out for him. Hunk also said that I was going to be offered the other roommate spot, I'd just need to find a part time job. He told them I didn't deserve to thrown out of the Academy for trying to do what was right, even if I'd let anger cloud my judgement. Really he was just cleaning up my mess, plus giving me a place to live. Anyway, a few others had also told the Chancellor about the Pidge situation and with Pidge finally making a statement, he lessened my sentence. But he kept the dorm ban just make the Gaskills happy, and we all moved in with Katie and Dai. Hunk and I work at the scrapyard part time, which is like heaven for him, kind of boring for me. I mostly work on the bike, and this week I'll start work on the archway Farah mentioned. We had to sign a paper about our responsibilities to Pidge, which is all common sense really, I just...ugh, I still feel like it's insane and not really right I'm on it. Not sure really if it was a favor or a punishment. Don't know what good I do the kid. He's all freaked out now too, because Dai and Katie are moving out after the wedding, and we need to find two new roommates or the Garrets can't help us out. If that happens, Hunk and he go back to the dorms and I...I don't know where I'll sleep."

"I think it's great, I mean, I'd be freaked about it too. In charge of a kid, especially one so smart. He intimidates me, I want to talk to him in our classes but I'm always afraid I'll treat him too much like a kid and offend him, or treat him too much like an adult and allienate him."

"I think you think too much," Lance smiled.

"Maybe there is that," Keith laughed. "Plus, he makes it hard to keep up my grade point average and if I don't keep it up, I lose my scholarship."

"You're here on a scholarship? Wow, those are not easy to get? Full ride?"

Keith nodded. "It's a pain to keep up, but I got to. I mean usually Friday's I'm in the library."

"Seriously, I would think you'd have guys knocking down your dorm room door begging for your time," Lance said.

Keith ducked his head down, praying his cheeks weren't as red as they felt, because they felt burning hot. "No, no, last date I had was a blind date and it was a disaster. And all the dates before then, disasters. I don't know what goes wrong."

"Them, obviously, something is wrong with these guys you went out with," Lance said.

"Well Amelia's cousin, that was all on him. The guy I kissed in high school, I think he just wasn't ready to come out of the closet, so he punched me. It was middle of that term I transferred here. I don't know about the rest, they seem to do fine otherwise, they just weren't...good enough."

Lance's eyes widened. "Good enough? Oh, so you have high standards do you. Good thing, I'm me then. We've got no problem."

Keith smiled, loving the way Lance tipped back his head when he drank his beer, or from the glass of water. He wanted to lick up that neck, he really did, and he really did think Lance was good enough, maybe more than good enough. He wasn't sure about him, he wiped his palms on his pants again, and breathed in a sigh of relief when the food arrived.

"Here go boys, more beer, cheeseburgers, and the dessert menu," Penny laid them all down. "Need anything else?"

"Bye Penny," Lance said.

"Fine, I'll take the hint," she said and she walked away.

"Okay, so you know I live with Hunk, his brother, the brother's fiancee, hang out at this place too much, live with a mega-genius seven year old and work at scrapyard. Tell me about you, can you really kill people with your bare hands? Cause I gotta say, that's kind of hot as hell to know that hand wrapped around that beer bottle has all that strength."

Keith grinned and sighed at the same time. "I think I can, I've never tested it, of course. But my Master back home told me to not use my full force on anyone who was not the enemy. We did practice drill after practice drill of me learning to hold back, which was odd after him teaching me not too. There are some guys here I don't have to hold back completely with, and the teachers of course. But I feel like I instruct more than anything. And the best sparring partner I have is my roommate, he's almost as good as me."

"Sven right, yeah, he's a good flyer, better shooter. He's in a couple of my other classes, all the ones I have to run out of fast."

"That's for Pidge right? Not cause you have hot dates waiting like all the girls think?" Keith said.

Lance laughed. "Yeah. So how did you get into martial arts?"

"My dad started teaching me the second I could walk, I think, feels that way. I don't know, I was in competitive competition in japan by the time I was six. My parents died then though, and I moved out here, my dad's sister, she kept my dad's wishes and let me keep it up. But there werent' any more competitions. I missed it though, I love a great competition."

"Don't I know it, you keep me on toes."

Keith grinned. "Good, like I said I have to keep my grades up. Can't let you out fly me too easy."

"Like it's easy, but that's why it's a challenge," Lance winked. "Though man your fighter."

Keith winced. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry, about your parents," Lance said after a few beats of comfortable silence.

Keith smiled shyly and nodded. "You haven't really mentioned yours, except uh, the door thing and your dad not being too happy with the boy kissing."

"Yeah, that was an understatement. He kicked me out of the house. I moved in with my grandparents for a few months, then decided to join the GA. I talk with my grandparents, but not my parents. I think my mom would talk to me but my dad..."

"I'm sorry, I wonder what my parents would think, my aunt knows, she was really great, shocked me to hell. She said she'd known since I was ten."

"That's cool, you didn't even need to tell her."

"Yeah, just like I didn't need tell you, or Sven - though I really thought I told him," Keith sighed.

"You did seem a bit put out when I told you the whole campus knows your gay, sorry about that."

"Yeah, and only the girls who know anything about you being bi, or the ones who go to Riff's anyway. I've never seen you in there."

"I'm usually there Friday's, and Saturdays, sounds like thats not when you go."

"No, I go Thursdays when it's a bit more tame, and I have less of a homework load. Get done faster."

"There you go, I have picked up a few girls there, when the guy choices were slim, which really sometimes around here they just are. My pal Cody, who is gay gets pissed when I do that. He is like you're the only guy I know who can pick up a girl at a gay bar and then go get the number of the bartender. I wasn't really trying for the bartender's number, but hell he was cute, I took it."

Keith nodded, he was starting to worry again, that he could do this. Be with someone like Lance, with so much experience, so much dating under his belt. He was bound to notice Keith didn't know what he was doing, and there were no books on this. Well, no books that weren't titled, Idiots Guide Gay Dating, or The Complete Morons Guide to Homosexual Dating Behaviors. Keith picked up his beer and drained half of it in one gulp, and he felt Lance's eyes on him the entire time, watching him drink nervously.

"What is it?" Lance asked.

"Uh, it's," Keith stammered. "I'm doing it."

"It?"

"Turning this into a bad date."

Lance's eyes narrowed. "Okay, what happened, did I fall down on the good enough scale? Should I be flirting more, or less?" As he spoke, Lance leaned forward and grabbed Keith's hand that was playing with his french fries, thumb stroking his skin. "I can always flirt more, less I probably suck at," Lance added with a wink.

Keith laughed, fighting against closing his eyes to relish the feeling of Lance's thumb stroking against his skin, over french fries of all things, he looked down at their hands and he shook his head. "You're great," he said looking back up. "Really."

"Then what the hell is the problem?"

"Bad dates, don't really end with...well with anything good," Keith fidgeted, in his seat, his free hand going to the back of his neck and he found he couldn't quite look Lance in the eye. Lance had such a intense yet open gaze, playful yet there was so much more there, Keith wanted to search it all out, find the answers. He didn't want this to be another bad date, but here he was failing miserably, the fact Lance had let go of his hand spoke volumes.

Keith was about to force himself to straighten his spine, and smile his way through the rest of the date, when he felt solid warmth against his left side. He turned and saw Lance had slide around the booth, so he was next to him, their legs touching. His mouth fell open in shock, Lance's hands were on his face and then Lance's tongue was sliding into his mouth and his lips were pressing against Keith's. Lance was kissing him.