The second Katie opened the door, she was met with a blinding smile.
"Good morning, my little ray of sunshine!" Lance greeted cheerfully.
She raised an eyebrow, glancing at Hunk suspiciously. "That's a new one. What's got you so smiley this morning?"
He wrapped an arm around her and squeezed her to his side. "Can't I smile because I'm happy?"
"Keith slipped in the bathroom," Hunk supplied helpfully.
Katie gasped, turning toward Lance with wide eyes. "Did you get pictures?"
"No," he pouted as they entered the mess hall. "I'll get pictures next time, though. What's your schedule for today?"
"Mmm, advanced calculus first," she started, picking up a tray and getting in line. "After that, history of communication, sub-atomic theory lecture, and radio techniques. Oh, and PE," she said, sticking her tongue out.
She expected Lance to look amused, but instead, he looked sad. "So basically, we have no classes together this semester," he sighed.
Katie frowned and placed a gentle hand on his back. "We're in separate programs, sweetheart. And we're past standard courses now."
"I know," he said with resignation. "But I still want to see you. It won't be the same without you."
She gave him a smile as they sat down at their table. "It's okay, Lance, we'll still see each other. It's not like I'm gonna be on Arus or something."
"Yeah!" Hunk agreed. "We'll all get to hang out on weekends at the Castle!"
"Perfect!" Katie smiled. They all ate their breakfast in relative silence, occasionally commenting how weird it was to be eating real Earth food regularly again. Then, the warning bell rang, and Katie knew she had to get going before she was late to class.
She stood up from the table and grabbed her bag, taking in Lance's pained expression while she did so. Katie glanced around quickly, then ducked down and kissed his cheek.
"We'll find time to see each other, I promise," she told him. "I won't be far away if you need me, okay?"
"Feels like it," he mumbled, and her heart broke a little at how sad he sounded. He gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head and a smile that she knew was forced. "I'll see you at dinner, okay?"
"See you then," Katie replied. As she turned and walked away, she found herself praying that her classes wouldn't keep her too busy.
"I'm gonna punch her in the face with my bayard."
Lance wanted to snicker, but he held it in. "No, Katie, you can't hit Professor McDougall."
Katie huffed loudly, throwing her hands up into the air with exasperation as they walked along the trail in the new Garrison gardens. "But she gave the assignment with no parameters, and then said she was disappointed because none of our papers were over six pages long!" she repeated for the millionth time. "Like, I'm sorry, Professor, but how was I supposed to know you wanted six quiznaking pages when you didn't explicitly say so?!"
"I know, I know," Lance sighed. He reached his hand out to hold hers, and she gave her hand over reluctantly. He knew she sometimes just needed to be mad, but right now, he wanted to try to calm her down. He'd been planning this little outing all week, and he didn't want it getting started on the wrong note.
They spent the next few minutes in silence, Lance running his thumb over her hand, and Katie taking in deep calming breaths.
Finally, she squeezed his hand. "Sorry about all that," she muttered bashfully. "It just made me really angry."
"It's okay!" Lance said brightly. "I was mad at a professor the other day, too. He wouldn't listen when I tried to explain how our wormholes work— he said that there's no such thing as magic, but how else would you describe what Allura does?"
Katie's face scrunched up in concentration, and he knew he'd succeeded in distracting her. "Well, I personally believe that her crown acts like an interface with her quintessence, and that in turn flows into the panels she puts her hands on, which activates the crystal."
"Huh, I'd never thought of it that way before," Lance thought aloud as he lead her around the corner of the path.
She nodded. "Exactly, it's kind of like those crowns they gave us on Olkarion-"
She stopped, her eyes going wide. Lance snickered and turned to wrap his arms around her from behind. Before them lay a big picnic blanket with an assortment of flowers sprinkled all over it. But that wasn't what his girlfriend noticed.
"Are those…peanut butter cookies?" she breathed.
He grinned broadly, nodding. "Yup."
Katie spun around in his arms and pressed her lips against his. "You're the best!" she laughed, rushing over to sit down and enjoy.
Lance sat down on the blanket beside her, gazing at her fondly as she savored the cookies he'd slaved over for hours the night before in the community kitchen.
"Is anyone else starting to hate all the attention we're getting?"
"No, Lance, you? Hating attention? What has the universe come to?"
Lance rolled his eyes at her, and she snickered to herself. Honestly, she couldn't blame him for being annoyed right now. It was only the third weekend they'd come back to see their lions at the airbase, and it seemed that news had spread quickly.
All around the barricade were paparazzi. The cameras flashed and questions were being shouted out, and all Katie wanted to do was go back inside. But, she'd promised Green some fresh air, so there she and Lance were, sitting up against Green's paws and trying their best to ignore the racket. Blue was on their left blocking most of the mayhem, and Hunk and Keith were there with their lions, too, forming a neat little circle of protection for their paladins.
"Maybe I can fire a warning shot," Keith muttered darkly.
"OR," Hunk cut in, "We could just ignore them and hope they go away."
"Meh, I'm on Keith's side," Lance said with a shrug. "All of my lions are getting more irritated by the tick."
Katie looked up at Green. She could feel the annoyance coming from her lion, too, but that still didn't warrant threatening the press. They were just doing their job.
"Maybe if we actually set up more press conferences with them, they'd leave us alone."
"Shiro!" the younger paladins exclaimed as their leader walked up.
"Thank goodness you're here," Katie said. "Lance and Keith are ready to start a fight."
Shiro raised an eyebrow, settling down on the ground with the rest of his crew. "Not what I would suggest, but I can't blame you for being upset. I think it's high time we give in to all those requests we keep getting."
"But why?" Hunk inquired.
"Yeah, all they're going to do is twist our words or say we're crazy!" Lance pouted. Katie frowned and reached out to put a comforting hand on his back. She remembered when that reporter had singled Lance out— calling him nuts and saying that it was all a figment of his childish imagination. It took vargas to calm Lance down after that incident.
Shiro gave an understanding look. "I know, but we can't label all of them as bad just because of one person. We know what happened— they can't change that."
Lance's face indicated that he still wasn't happy with the idea, so Katie leaned in close. "We'll be right there with you this time," she whispered, squeezing his hand. "I won't let someone say that to you again."
His eyes met hers, and he managed a small smile. "Okay."
Lance was upset, plain and simple.
They'd been at the Garrison for just over two months, and already he felt like he barely saw Katie. Sure, they had their weekends together with the lions, but that was with everyone else, too. They never had any time just the two of them— not since that picnic, at least, and that was over a month ago now.
Occasionally they'd pass in the halls, and sure he'd see her for maybe ten minutes at each meal, but that was it. And he couldn't take it anymore.
That was why he'd come here. He knew she'd said she was busy. He knew she'd said that she had to work on this project. He knew she couldn't be distracted, but…
Lance sighed, staring at where she was sat at her desk typing away endlessly. He had missed her so much lately, and he knew that she missed him too, but that still didn't make up for all the time they didn't have together.
He let his eyes wander over her, taking in her adorably focused expression and the way her hair fell across her shoulders. He had to hold in another sigh. All he wanted to do was cuddle with her, hold her for eternity, and kiss her. But no, he was sitting here staring at her like the lovesick idiot he was, not knowing how to tell her that his heart had been aching for weeks now.
Feeling himself caving, he got up from her bed and wandered over, setting his chin on top of her head and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
"I miss you," he murmured into her hair. "I feel like I barely see you anymore."
He heard a sigh, and the clicking of the keys stopped for a moment. "I know, Lance, but I have to get this done," she was saying, and his heart dropped. "Can you give me ten more minutes?"
Lance didn't know what to say. He wanted to be supportive and tell her that yes, of course, he understood, and she could have all the time she needed, but he didn't understand. All he wanted was her, and it seemed like she was so focused on school that he'd been forgotten.
He didn't answer. Instead, he decided to lean down and nuzzle his nose into her neck. Then, without fully thinking it through, he kissed her just below her ear.
Katie's fingers, which had been reaching back toward the keyboard, froze. Her heart was beating wildly out of control, and her brain couldn't process what had just happened. All she knew was that it sent a shiver through her body, and she wouldn't mind if he did it again.
Which, thankfully, he did, and this time his lips lingered.
She shivered again, and tingles spread throughout her body. Why did it feel so good to have his lips on her neck?
Katie turned around in her chair slowly, taking in his expression. He was looking at her with half lidded eyes, and something in them was begging her to kiss him that moment. So she did.
She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed her lips against his. The reaction was instantaneous, with him cupping her face and pouring all of his emotion into the kiss. Understanding came over her as she felt his lips pressing more fervently into hers than ever before. He really had missed her. She felt a warmth spread through her, but then suddenly, Lance broke it off.
His breathing was labored, and she noticed dazedly that his hair had fallen in front of his eyes. And they were gazing into hers with such intensity, such passion, that she grabbed him again.
This time, it was different. A spark was lit between them, and there was no stopping it now. She ran her hands through his hair, and he let out a soft moan. Suddenly, she was being lifted out of her chair, and she found herself desperately wanting to be as close to him as possible, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.
He was moving them, but she was too distracted by his intoxicating taste to care where. He had one hand behind her head now, and it stopped her from getting hurt when her back hit the wall.
The warmth was deeper now, and she angled her head to intensify the kiss. Lance responded in kind, parting his lips and licking her lips deftly. She sighed into his mouth, happily opening to allow his tongue to dance with hers for the first time.
Then suddenly, his lips were gone. She nearly asked why, but then she felt it— his lips were on her neck again. She moaned, fisting his hair in her hand as his lips slowly, tantalizingly worked their way down to her collar bone and back up again. Unable to stand it anymore, she grabbed his face and smashed her lips against his, and he groaned lowly into her mouth.
It felt like it could go on forever, and honestly, she wanted it to. But whether it was the building heat between them or the fact that she was getting dizzy for lack of oxygen, they had to stop.
They broke apart panting, the pent up passion between them dying down slowly. His wide blue eyes met her honey ones, and then, inexplicably, they burst out laughing. Her head fell back against the wall as she laughed, and she covered her blushing face with her hands. He was laughing, too, poking at her hands with his nose to get her to move them. She did, wrapping them back around his neck and staring into his eyes happily.
"Well that was unexpected," he chuckled, leaning in and pecking her on the lips.
Katie savored his taste once more, unashamedly letting out a disappointed moan when he left. She sighed, leaning back against the wall and taking in her lovely boyfriend's face. She'd missed him more than she'd thought, she realized.
"You're right," she hummed, brushing a hand through his hair to fix where she'd messed it up. "We do need to make more time for each other."
"We do," he murmured softly, his eyes sad. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his again.
Now, it was different again. The passion they'd experienced was replaced by solemn sincerity as their lips moved slowly against each others. It was a silent promise that she'd make things better, she really would. She'd make more time for him, she'd stop being so busy, she'd let him know that he truly was loved even if she was sometimes bad at showing it.
"I love you, Lance," she whispered when they parted. "I'm sorry for being so busy lately."
He sighed dreamily, setting his forehead against hers. "All is forgiven when you kiss me like that," he teased adoringly, and she burst out laughing again.