AN (pre-chapter) - So this is getting posted waaayyyy later than I wanted, but I got busy, so here it is! I will TRY to post the next chapter when I originally wanted to, but I'm not sure how likely that is going to happen. Thank you to Trapped in a Shadow and Fir3danc3r for the comments, they made my day. Thank you to Autumn CanterNot, Nivesica13, and Hopeismythingwithfeathers for the follow/favorite! Reviews, follows, and favorites are what keep this story going.

For the first time since I started this story, I do not have the next chapter written yet, so as I said before, I will TRY to update when I want to.

I do not own Voltron or the characters, and I'm sorry if they're a bit OOC.

ENJOY!

Friday December 19 - Shiro's Christmas Party (Lance's POV)

'This can't be happening. There's no way this is happening.' I stand on the edge of the dance floor, complete opposite of what I did at the last party; also the farthest spot possible from the DJ booth, staring at the ravenette at the booth, spinning music. I look down at my arm, where there is our conversation from this morning;

Hey, are you DJing again?

Yup. My brother guilt tripped me into it this morning when he woke me up, saying he would've told me last night, but I was too exhausted to listen.

Cool, I guess I'll be able to find you quickly.

Mhmm

"Lance? Hello? Earth to Lance?" Pidge is waving her hand in front of my face.

"What?" I look down at her small form; she's not quite as small as she was at the beginning of the year, and she's starting to fill out nicely; she probably about 5'7", with a small waist, hips, and bust, just like Rover. Rover however is only 5'4".

"What are you staring at?"

"No one. Go dance, midget."

"I'm not a midget!"

"You are to me; you're, what, 5'6"?"

"I'm 5'7" you jackass."

"Right, well you're a midget compared to my 6'0" height."

"Whatever. Besides, Shiro's about to announce each person your present goes to."

"Wait, I thought we were to give it to him?" I look at her with wide eye. Before she can respond, Shiro starts; after going through about 20 names, he calls the one I've been staring at, "Keith Kogane." Keith grabs a rather large but slim package from under the DJ booth before hopping down and walking over to Shiro. Most people aren't paying any attention, still dancing and listening to the music that's playing,unless their name gets called. After about 5 minutes, my name is called. Clutching the package in my hand, I walk over to Shiro, but Keith isn't there. 'Maybe I was wrong.'

"Lance, look. Your soulmate is Keith, but when I told him that you were his, he ran off. He's probably down in the dojo on the first floor. Go talk to him, before he regrets it. I know he will, and if you refuse to go, you'll regret it too. And take your present with you."

"If he doesn't want me, then why should I go find him?" I huff.

"Because, I know you've been excited about this since beginning of year. And don't even deny it, Pidge and Hunk already told me." he continues fluently when I opened my mouth. "He may not show it, but he's been excited too. Even before the connection appeared, he's liked you. And I have found you guys cuddled together, not once, but twice. Keith doesn't cuddle with anyone; he doesn't like a lot of physical contact."

"I've noticed during soccer." I nod knowingly.

"Now go, before he does something stupid." Shiro smiles slightly.

I just nod and rush down the stairs, I step into the dojo section, but I don't see him. After checking the entire floor, I'm about to head back up when I realize there's a back door that's partially open, a thin present beside it. I walk over to the door and see Keith sitting there, his head buried in his arms so I can't see his face.

"Keith… buddy?" I ask, unsure how he'd react to my pet name for him.

"Go away, Lance."

"I can't. Shiro sent me." I sit down next to him, careful not to touch him because he's been known to lash out physically. "Is it that bad that we're soulmates?" When I get no response, I continue, "You know, I've actually been hoping for the past few weeks or so that you were my soulmate. Partially because all my family loves you, partially because I've wanted more between us in the past, but didn't know how to tell you since I've created this 'rivalry" between us. Of course, I didn't want to scare you off because of my curiosity, so I never asked. But, yesterday, and in front of the fireplace; the way your body seems to fit against mine, and then today when I saw you in the booth, I was curious. Of course I was also telling myself that there was no way it was you that was my soulmate, but a little part of me was hoping." I take a chance and glance at him out of the corner of my eye, he still won't look at me, but at least he's staring straight ahead. "But, I think I've always hoped. Ever since I was old enough to understand soulmates, I've been fascinated with the idea. And I think that when I really started to think about it, I've always felt this weird connection to you, like I was drawn to you. I just figured it was because you lived in the same apartment as me. But here we are, and it turns out I was drawn to you because we're soulmates." At that, I hear him snort in amusement, but I continue anyways, "I think I've subconsciously always known that we were meant to be together, whether soulmates or just friends, mi amor. Like, that note in 1st grade, and I quote, "You're really cute when you're angry." Second grade, when you looked all sad but content while staring out at the rain right before the spring recital, but then when we got on stage, and you saw Shiro, you smiled, and it was really attractive, but of course I didn't know it at the time. I wanted to be the reason you smiled like that. Or, like, my 10th birthday when you made that drawing for me, which I still have, I might add. It's just stored away from prying eyes."

"Hell, that drawing was horrible." I can hear the exasperation and humor in his voice, despite it being muffled by his arms.

"Well, 10 year old me didn't think that. And then when you came out as gay, I realized it was alright to like the same gender; and in 7th grade, I realized my feelings for you, but then the whole soulmate thing happened… I guess what I'm trying to say, is I've felt this way about you for the longest time, and now that it's true, I definitely feel bad about how I treated you."

He sighs before lifting his head and starts speaking, "I guess you could say I felt the same way. Despite how you tormented me, I couldn't help falling for your soft sides. I guess that's why I never fought back; why I kept all those things from elementary, and why I hated that I admitted to Shiro that I liked you." I smile, and he shivers, "Oh! Here. Your present. You'll probably be grateful for its use against this cold." I hand him his present, and he unwraps it, "No way. You made me a sweater? How'd you get my size?"

"Pidge. She said to make it big enough to fit me, and it'll fit my soulmate." Keith slips on the sweater, "It's perfect." I realize at that moment, that it fits exactly like his others. "It's amazing. Oh! Come on." Keith stands and holds his hand out to me. I let him help me up and we go inside where he picks up his present to me, "Here." I take it, and unwrap the gift. Inside is a painting, of me. "Is this… me?"

"Yeah, it's how I saw you when you ask if I would dance with you at the Halloween Dance. Although I originally didn't know your eye color, when Shiro saw it, he told me your eye color."

"This is amazing. Thank you, mi amor." I pull him into a hug, and he goes rigid. As I'm about to pull away, I feel his arms hesitantly wrap around me.

"We should probably head back up." Keith mumbles into my sweater. I let go, and take his hand, "Is this alright?" Keith smiles slightly and nods.

We head back upstairs, and everyone is dancing; Shiro is at the DJ booth, Allura and Coran are dancing right in front of it, Pidge and Rover are near us, and Hunk and Shay are at the refreshments table. Pidge notices us and drags Rover over, "Look who finally met their soulmates." Rover smirks. "Man, getting your guys' Christmas presents all those years ago looks like it was worth it." I look at her, "Christmas presents?" Pidge smirks, "That blue clip you got for Christmas back in Sophomore year?" "Wait, I thought you said it was from a family member?" Keith looks at me.

"Well, we weren't exactly close enough to be telling you I got it from my Soulmate."

"No wonder it looked so familiar! It was the clip I bought for my soulmate. Which means the headband I got for my birthday came from you." I just nod, and before I can reply Hunk and Shay come over, "So, what are your tats like?" Hunk's expression is completely open. My eyes widen at the mention of our Soul Tats. "I completely forgot about those! Where do they usually show up?" "It can be anywhere, but it's typically a sharp pain when you finally get it." Shay supplies an answer. I look at Keith and he shakes his head, "I didn't feel anything."

"Might've been because you were outside." Allura pops up on my left, since Keith's on my right, "It's been known to happen when either party is very cold. The only thing you could do is wait until you go home." I nod, and pull Keith to the dance floor, "Wait, what are you doing Lance?"

"What, I can't have you to myself away from our friends?" "I… uh…" before Keith can reply,the soccer team captain comes over, "Well look at that boyssss!" he chortles, a bunch of the others from the team behind them, "Lookssss like you all owe me 20 buckssss each!"

"What are you talking about, Chad?" Keith asks, eyes narrowing at his slurred speech.

"The fact that no one believed me when I ssssaid you two had to be ssssoulmates with how you dance around each other. You've got to be oblivioussss to not notice how you guys look at each other." Chad throws an arm around each of our shoulders, and I am hit with the stench of alcohol.

"Chad, how much have you had to drink?" I ask him directly, letting go of Keith as I shove his arm off of me, and look at him. Keith wanders off to the direction of the DJ booth.

"Mmmmm…. A couple bottlesss or so. Nothing biggie." My eyes narrow at the co-captain, "Xavier, how much has he had?" Said boy breathes deeply before answering, "Chad has had 2 bottles of beer, and half bottle of vodka. The rest of the team has had 1 bottle of beer, and split the other half of the bottle of vodka. I'm the designated driver." Shiro comes up beside me, "Well, at least you have a designated driver. Despite that, I'm going to have to ask you guys to leave."

"I've been trying to get them to come with me. I even tried to convince them to stay home as soon as I realized they were all hammered, but I'm just one person against the team."

Shiro nods before turning to Keith, who is in the DJ booth. He catches Keith's eye, and makes a sawing motion across his neck, telling him to cut the music. He does. Everyone starts to look up at the booth, looking like they're about to mob it. Shiro wolf whistles to get everyone's attention, "How many of you have been drinking tonight?" he hollers. After about 30 seconds, most of the crowd starts raising their hands. I hear Shiro sigh, "Allura, can you tell who exactly has been drinking?" I didn't even notice Allura had come up behind the team, "Yes, and their school keys are already calling Uber."

After about an hour, most people have left, except; me, Allura, Coran, Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Hunk, Rover, Shay, Xavier, and Chad. "So, Xavier, did you find your soulmate tonight?" I ask, walking up to him, as Shiro is off helping Chad sober up a bit, and everyone else is cleaning up. He smirks, "Actually, I've known since freshman year." "Really? Who?" I look at him with wide eyes, and he nods towards Shiro and Chad. "Wait, Chad?" He nods again, "Yeah. And that's the only reason he doesn't have Uber on the way." "How come?" "He lives with me and my dad. When his parents found out his soulmate was a guy, they kicked him out."

"But you're so… nerdy. And he's so… Chad."

He laughs at that, "Yeah, we kept it a secret until a few weeks ago. No one believed us at first just because we are so different. But, if you think about it, you and Keith aren't much different from us, which is why most of the team didn't believe Chad when he announced that you two are soulmates and just don't know it yet."

"I… don't understand."

"Think about it. Start with basics, you two are different races. Despite our society being accepting of interracial relationships, most still don't think they it's right. Next, you're friends with everyone. Keith has been labeled 'the loner' his entire life. Complete opposite sides of the social ladder. See what I'm getting at?"

I nod, "Yeah. I see it." At that moment, Shiro decides to bring Chad over. "Since most of the kids here had been drinking, Allura agreed to not notify the District council nor everyone's parents. Make sure he gets home safe." Xavier nods, takes Chad's arm and starts taking him out the doors. Keith comes over, "Everything's cleaned up, Shiro." Shiro nods, "Go home."

"Hey, can I ride with you?" I ask Keith. He nods and leads towards the doors. We get into his truck and we start to drive towards the apartments. The radio is on pretty high, I reach over and turn it down.

"Everything okay?" Keith glances at me, I nod, "Yeah, I'm just curious about some things." Keith pulls into a parking lot, and cuts the engine, "What's up?" he turns to face me. I turn towards him, "Did you really mean it? When you said you wished you died with your parents?"

He looks down and nods slowly, "Yeah."

"Why? Did you really want to be gone from this world?"

"It would've been better than how I was treated throughout the years."

I feel the color drain from my face, and my stomach turns, "I'm sorry, for everything."

Keith smiles softly, "It wasn't all bad. Like the night you saved me." He looks up at me.

"Wait...you mean freshman year?"

He nods, "Yeah. I was going to do it right then and there if you hadn't been there."

Without thinking, I pull him into my arms, "I am so sorry, Keith. I wish we had met sooner. I wish I had never hurt you." I start rambling. I feel him bury his head deeper into my neck and take a deep breath. "It's fine. Yes, I wish I hadn't been so afraid to tell you who I was, but -"

"But I made it hard for you. I'm just glad you're here, now."

"Me too, Lance."

"Let's go home, Keith." I say, releasing my grip on him.

He pulls away, "Thank you for saving me that night. I'm glad I'm here too." Before I can say anything I feel his lips on mine, and before I can react, he's pulling away and starting the engine. We drive for a bit further, and we're pulling into the parking lot by the time I find my voice, "You have to come to Christmas dinner, it's tradition that when a McClain finds their soulmate, they come to the next family dinner."

"Would you mind if Shiro, Allura, and coran came too?" he glances at me as we pull into a parking spot for his apartment.

"Of course not. The more the merrier." I smile. We head inside and before we go our separate ways, I pull him into a hug. I release him, and kiss him before he can pull away. His lips are soft, despite not having much to drink for the past few hours or so. We break apart, and his eyes are still half lidded, and I smile. "Goodnight, mi amor." He opens his eyes fully and smiles back, "Goodnight, love." He heads down stairs, and I head to the elevator. I get in and head to my floor. I step out and walk to my family's apartment, unlock the door.

"¿Mamá? Estoy en casa." (Mom? I'm home.) I close and lock the door, and my mom comes downstairs.

"Oye cariño. ¿Cómo estuvo la fiesta? ¿Encontraste a tu alma gemela?" (Hey honey. How was the party? Did you find your soulmate?)

I nod, "Yeah, and he's coming over for Christmas dinner, along with Shiro, Allura, and Coran."

"Why is Shiro, Allura, and Coran coming?"

"Shiro is coming because Keith is my soulmate, and Keith and Shiro are brothers. Allura and Coran are related, and Allura and Sh-"

"Keith is your soulmate?" my mom interrupts me. I nod and she smiles, "I knew it!"

"What? How?"

"I noticed some of the writing on his arm one of the times he was fidgeting and his sleeve pushed up. Later, I saw your arm, and I knew. And even if I hadn't seen that, there was something special between you, or else you wouldn't have explained his situation with his parents."

I feel my face flush red, "I'm going to bed."

"Okay, buenas noches cariño." (...goodnight sweetie.)

I head upstairs, and pass out before the tinging of writing appears.

AN (post-chapter) - Thanks for reading! Please give me ideas for later chapters!