Lance was freaking out, Keith was going to pick him up in less than an hour and he still didn't know what he was going to wear on this freaking date. He rifled frantically through his closet rejecting shirt after shirt, too casual, too casual, not casual enough, why the hell did he even still own this shirt, too casual, not casual - oh, god why was this so hard?

Ten minutes later he'd managed to pair his options down to two. Option one: a dark blue button-up with the sleeves cuffed at the elbows, nice jeans and dark brown leather loafers. Option two: a dark blue Star Wars t-shirt with a blue suit jacket and pants and blue Converse high tops.

Hunk.
He needed Hunk to make the final decision.

He knocked on the door to Hunk's room, both outfit options folded carefully over his arms. Hunk emerged from his room and seemed to know instantly what Lance needed.

"Hunk, my buddy, my man, my absolute favorite person in the world"

Hunk interrupted,"Lance, you don't have to butter me up to get me to choose an outfit for your date tonight. You're my best friend, of course I'm gonna do that for you. Just show me what you got."

Lance laid the two options down on Hunk's bed and stepped back to let his friend take a look and consider both outfits.

"I'd go with the button up, the last time you wore that shirt the girl in the apartment next door wouldn't stop staring at you. I also overheard her saying something about how it apparently did things to your shoulders."

"Thanks bro!" Lance yelled while running to his bedroom to change and throw on a last-minute face mask.

Keith was practically pacing a hole in the floor of the living room, much to Shiro's annoyance.

"Are you absolutely sure about this outfit?"

"Yes Keith, you look great and I would know, I picked it out.

"Do you think I should get him flowers, or would that be weird?"

"Do you think he'd like flowers?"

"Yes."

"Then buy him flowers, or do I have to pick those out too?"

"Shiro, I'm being serious."

"Keith, relax. He clearly likes you. I mean, he did ask you to ask him out."

"What if it's a prank?"

"It's not a prank."

"How do you know for sure?"

"He wouldn't be keeping it up for so long if this is a prank."

"Yes but do you know that."

"KEITH!"

"Fine, fine, fine, whatever." Keith took a deep breath. "'m okay, I'm fine."

"Listen, Keith, if it somehow is a prank, witch it absolutely isn't by the way, then he's a jerk and not worth your time are your sadness, okay?"

"You sound like one of those stupid inspirational text posts mom and her friends post on Facebook."

Shiro laughed. "Hey at least you're not freaking out anymore."

"Yeah, thanks for the pep talk. I should go now if I want to get him flowers."

"Okay, text me when you're heading home."

"I will"

"If you're taking your motorcycle remember a helmet!"

"Yes mom," Keith huffed rolling his eyes

"Hey, this is a direct order from Mom. If she finds out I let you ride on that thing without a helmet she'd kill me. Slowly and painfully"

"Okay, okay I'll bring the helmet!"

"And bring the spare one for Lance."

"Okay," Keith replied impatiently

"I'm just worried about you. As your big brother I kind of have to be, it comes with the job"

"Goodbye Shiro."

Keith parked his bike in front of a little flower shop and walked up to the checkout counter. There was an old woman behind the register. She looked sweet, plump, vaguely grandmotherly, and was wearing a straw Hat and floral shirt. Exactly the kind of person you'd expect to run a little flower shop.

"How can I help you, dear?"

"I need to buy flowers for a date."

"Aw, who's the lucky lady."

"Um, it's not.. it's not a lady. He's not a lady"

"Oh my mistake, terribly sorry did you have something in mind?"

"Um, not really This is actually a first date but we've been kind of talking for a while. so I know that his favorite color is blue, I think he mentioned licking Hydrangeas. I don't know that much about flowers"

The lady laughed. "Well then it's very good that I have a bouquet of blue Hydrangeas on hand."

"I'll take those then."

After the flowers were wrapped and paid for the lady smiled at him. "Good luck on your date dear."

"Thank you."
And with that Keith's set off to Lance's house.

The doorbell rang and Lance shot up from the couch to answer the door.

Wow.
Just wow.
If Lance thought Keith was gorgeous in that ridiculous uniform he wasn't prepared for the way he looked dressed up for a date.

He was wearing a dark red button up, a leather jacket, tight fitting black jeans and black boots.

"Hi Oh these, these are these are for you," he he stuttered holding up a bouquet of blue Hydrangeas.

"I love Hydrangeas, My mom has them in her garden. Oh and they're blue, blue is my favorite color! You remembered."

"I'm glad you like them."

"Let me go get a vase for these. Come in and sit down on the couch while I go find one."

When Lance finally found a vase for the bouquet - it was tucked away on one of the highest shelves, he literally needed a stool to reach it he placed it on the counter for a minute to take a look .Keith had gotten him Blue Hydrangeas. He'd actually remembered Lance talking his favorite flowers and color. Could this guy possibly be any more amazing?. He smiled to himself before checking the time on the stove clock. 'Oh shit if we don't leave now we're going to be late!

Lance walked away and Keith sat down on the couch only to be greeted by a tiny girl with short brown hair and a tall dark-skinned dude who looked like he could be a linebacker, Lance's roommates, Keith presumed. It was good to finally put faces to names and voices.

The girl-Pidge, if he remembered correctly leaned closer narrowing her eyes menacingly.

"Listen here, dude. Lance may be an idiot but he's our idiot and he's one of my best friends. You know the deal, if you hurt him we will destroy it?"

The big guy Hunk presumably, nodded along, "Seriously, I usually hate violence but you don't mess with my friends."

"Oh, okay."

"And if you think I'm scary, he has four older siblings and like a whole bunch of cousins. You don't even want to know what they'd do after I'm done with you"

"I'm not going to hurt him, I swear!"

"I'm going to take you on your word. For now."

"Um, th- thank you I guess."

At that point, Lance walked back in from the kitchen with the Hydrangeas now in a vase and placed them on the side table by the couch.

"Hey so we gotta leave now if we're going to make the five o'clock movie," Lance said and reached for Keith's hand.

Together they began to walk towards the door. Keith took one last look back only to see Pidge Shot him an "I'm watching you" gesture".

They arrived at the movie theater on Keith's motorcycle. Yes, Keith had a motorcycle and Just when he thought Keith couldn't get any hotter. Lance had already bought the tickets so all they needed to do was present the printed out receipt to the bored looking teenage girl at the ticket booth.

She sighed and rolled her eyes but didn't even bother to look up at them. "What movie do you want to see?"

"Moana please, we already bought our tickets, here's a receipt. They told me to give it to you so you could print out the physical tickets."

"Okay fine whatever, just give me the receipt and…" she stopped halfway through her sentence as she finally actually looked up at Lance. She perked up instantly and immediately went to print out the ticket while looking up at Lance every couple of seconds.

She grabbed the tickets and handed them to him obviously attempting to touch Lance and giggled. "Enjoy the movie, Sir, I hear it's super good," she said dreamily while wrapping a lock of hair around her finger.

"Um...Thank you?"
Lance might have been flattered by her flirting if it weren't for the fact that, one, she couldn't have been older than sixteen and two, it was incredibly obvious he was on a date.

Once she was out of your shot Keith began to laugh. "Okay what was that about?"

"Seriously, it's soobvious I am on a date with you,' Lance said, indicating their intertwined hands.

"Let's go in before anyone else decides to hit on you."

"Besides you, of course." Lance winked at him.

"Oh, obviously."

The movie was, as predicted, incredible. The animation was gorgeous the music was great and Keith was genuinely surprised at how much he liked Dwayne The Rock Johnson as Maui.

Lance definitely seemed to agree as he emerged from the movie theater dancing and singing an odd fragmented mix of whatever he could remember from "How Far I'll Go" and "You're Welcome". Some people, including his teenage self, might have found it annoying but honestly, it was quite cute. Besides, any excuse to watch Lance was a good one, especially now with him all dressed up. The shirt hugged his shoulders just right and showed off his arms and his pants made his legs look a mile long.

They walked along towards the restaurant, Lance stopping his impromptu concert so they could chat about the movie.

"Can you believe Auliʻi Cravalho is only 16? Imagine being able to sing and act like that at 16! I did theater in high school and I can think of like four different girls who would legitimately have killed a man to get a voice like that at her age."

Judging by his few interactions with the theater kids in high school Keith wasn't sure if that was much of an exaggeration.

"Yeah she was great. I was mostly surprised by The Rock, who knew he was so talented?"

"Actually I did know that, this girl who did hairspray with me in high school was obsessed with him, obsessed I tell you. Oh, and speaking of theater kids, did you see the SNL episode with Lin-manuel Miranda? God, he was brilliant! I swear Crucible Cast Party was taken from hidden cameras for my high school theater days."

"Oh yeah, I saw that it was funny. I never really did any theater so I'm not sure if I got all of the jokes but it was still funny."

They continued chatting, with Lance looking down occasionally to check the directions on his phone. The walk to the restaurant wasn't that long, 10 minutes at most - a fact that Keith was thankful for because he didn't want to be out in the cold for longer than necessary. Three years of going to college up north and he still wasn't used to the winters.

When they got to the restaurant Lance talked to the hostess in rapid fire Spanish, apparently she was more comfortable with with it than English. He didn't understand most of it. He hadn't bothered to take a foreign language class in high school. His father had taught him enough Korean before he died for Keith to opt out of it.

The lady seated them at a intimate table towards the back and handed them their menus.

"What do you think you're going to get?" Keith asked.

"Hunk says fajitas are incredible, I'm going to get them with chicken. He also recommends the tamales, will you share an appetizer of them with me?"

"Yeah sure, sounds great. I've never l had tamales before but they sound good. I think I'm going to get the pollo con mole poblano."

"Oh good choice mole poblano is delicious."

The waiter came by to take their order and dropped off a little round pan full of tortilla crisps. Keith hesitantly tasted one. It was warm and surprisingly flavorful, nothing like the store-bought ones.

Lance grabbed one too and took a bite, his eyes lighting up. "Hunk was right, these are incredible! Maybe I should go back and ask for the recipe for him, turn up the Lancey Lance charm." He wiggled his eyebrows at Keith.

"Really?"

"I'm joking! And hey, it worked on you, didn't it?"

"That and you being incredibly handsome."

Lance's cheeks darkened at the compliment."Seriously though, if they wouldn't give it to Hunk they're not going to tell anyone. I swear, that boy is an angel from heaven! Always has been and I've known him since we were kids."

"He seems like it. Your second roommate on the other hand... What's her deal?"

"Pidge, she's a gremlin but we love her. She's actually two years younger than me but she's some kind of genius who went to college at like 16. We actually met at orientation. I mentioned my sexuality to some sorority sister and she made a face and told me that she didn't have time for" Lance's voice dropped to a whisper "sissy f-a-g-s." His voice went back to normal. "Pidge came over and said: "And he doesn't have the time for dumb homophobic bitches but here we are!" Then I bought her a burger and we've been friends ever since."

"I already met your roommates, any other friends I should know about?

"Yes! Hunk's girlfriend Shay. She's also an angel, ooh and she's demi sexual - not really relevant or anything but fun fact. Then there's Allura, she's bi like me. I used to have a huge crush on her. We actually went on a couple of dates but she was getting over a bad breakup and I was really homesick and it just didn't really work out. Don't worry though, that was a long time ago. Then there's her girlfriend Romelle who's a trans lesbian and the nicest person you'll ever meet, aside from hunk and Shay of course. They live in this really nice house because Allura is this fancy British heiress."

"An heiress?"

"Yeah, but she's like really cool and hard-working. She's getting a business degree so she can take over her father's company - well, technically her uncle's company. Her dad died a few years ago and her uncle was like his advisor or something so he took over the company in her stay until she was old enough and also took care of her. He has a weird name. Karen or Kran, something like that"

"Anyone else?"

"That's my immediate circle of friends. I mean Pidge's brother Matt visits sometimes but he graduated already so he's off doing some smart people thing, I don't know."

"They sound great"

"They are. They're also like super queer. I mean I've already told you about the others and Pidge is Aro Ace"

"And Hunk?"

" Hunk is our token straight person!"

Keith shrugged. "Every group needs one."

"Exactly, how about you? Let's talk about your friends!"

"To be honest with you I don't actually have a lot of friends."

"Oh well I'm sure my friends will have no issue adopting you into the group."

"That sounds nice." Keith hesitated for a second before continuing. "Can I can I be honest with you for a second?"

"Yeah, shoot."

"You have to promise you're not going to think of me differently after you hear, after what I have to say."

"What could you possibly say that would make me think of you differently?. You don't have some like crazy stalker ex or something, right?"

"No, no. it's just... You know I'm adopted right?"

"Yeah, I already said that doesn't make a difference."

"The thing is, I haven't told you the full story. I wasn't adopted as a baby like most people. My dad died when I was nine and I don't know what happened to my mother. I spent a few years in foster care and I was 14 when the Shirrogaines adopted me."

Lance was quiet for a bit. "Wow, that's- wow."

"I can leave now and pay if you're uncomfortable."

"No, no, I'm not uncomfortable! It's just, you've been through so much. Thank you for sharing this with me."

"Thank you for reacting so positively."

"Wait, did other people react negatively?" Lance tried to keep his voice down but failed. Why in the world would people react badly to that?

"Yeah, a lot of people don't know how to react. Some people just cut me out of their lives all together, it's one of the reasons I don't have a lot of friends."

"Well, forget about those people, they're jerks and not worth your time. You are handsome, smart, funny, kind and you drive a badass motorcycle. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life."

"Thank you, that's actually really nice to hear."

Lance grabbed Keith's hand "I can't pretend I understand what you've been through but I know what it's like to be judged for things out of your control. I'm an immigrant actually, we moved to the United States from Cuba when I was five, my oldest brother was going to go to college in the states and I don't remember exactly why but we relocated with him. When I went to kindergarten I didn't speak English very well because I'd only just learned it and Hunk was the only kid who bothered to talk to me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay that kindness."

"Something tells me you already have."

There was a loaded feeling in the air between them Keith found himself leaning in for a kiss. Before their lips made contact however, they heard someone clear their throat.

The pair jumped apart and looked towards the sound. It was the waitress, she arrived with their food.

They ate their food while continuing to chat, Keith regaled Lance with the continued adventures of olive bro and Lance offered to feed him a bite of his meal which was far cuter than Keith would ever admit. Keith found out that Lance's full name was actually Leandro but he had chosen the nickname Lance after reading about the Middle Ages because his classmates were having trouble pronouncing his full name. Keith responded with a story about one foster kid from a group home who told him to go back to China after hearing him speak Korean and how he'd been utterly schooled by one of the older foster girls. They were so wrapped up in the conversation that they didn't notice the waitress coming over after they were done eating to clear the table, she gave a long-suffering sigh, muttered something about something about young love then walked off to fetch the bill.

Lance had paid for the movie so Keith paid for dinner and they left the restaurant hand in hand.

Keith was about to get on his motorcycle and but Lance stopped him.

"I had a really nice time tonight, do you think we could go on a second date after the winter break?"

"Yeah, yeah that sounds great!"

"Just so you know, there's no waitresses here to interrupt us."

"You're being rather cliche."

"Shut up and kiss me mullet."

"I don't have a-"

He didn't finish the sentence because Lance's lips were suddenly on his.

He lost track of time as they stood there kissing, he couldn't say there were fireworks or angels singing but god it was a really nice kiss. After a while, they finally pulled apart pressing their foreheads together.

Lance spoke first: "Wow."

"I haven't been kissed like that in ages," Keith confessed.

"Oh, who's cliche now, hmm?"

"Shut up," Keith said and then laughed leaning in for another kiss.

This kiss was shorter than the first, Lance pulling back prematurely with a shiver.

"We should probably go, I'm getting really cold."

Keith had been too wrapped up in the kiss to notice but he was freezing too.

"Of course, I'll drive you home now."

When they arrived back at Lance's apartment he couldn't help but notice two figures silhouetted in the window. Apparently Lance was in for a long night.

Lance handed him the spare helmet and Keith grabbed his arm lightly pulling him in for a quick kiss.

"See you after the break."

"Yeah, can I text you while I'm away?"

"Yeah sure"

"Hey, just you wait our next date is going to be amazing, I have an entire break to plan it after all!"

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Good," he giggled.

Lance leaned over for one last kiss, then walked into his apartment

Keith watch him go with a smile.

Nope, definitely not a prank.

Author's note: I have a beta reader now she really helped make my writing sounds more polished and caught some silly mistakes I made so shout out to calliopestories where do such a good job. Hear is Her Tumblr and ao3 /users/calliopestories/pseuds/calliopestories