Lance got off the train and walked to the diner, head bowed into his phone reading the directions. Destination is on your left, his screen announced in bold lettering.

"Left?" he muttered to himself, glancing up and realizing he was on the wrong side of the street. The diner's nondescript front was easy to miss. He would never have spared it a second glance if he wasn't looking for it. He crossed and peered inside through the windows to see if Keith had arrived. His eyes were scanning the booths when a low voice tickled against his ear,

"Looking for someone?"

Lance jumped forward with an undignified yelp and wheeled around to find Keith standing there with a hand on his hip, actually smirking at Lance's reaction. He tried to fix Keith with a 'that wasn't very nice' glare, but it was hard to manage when warmth was still tingling down from his ear to pool in his belly.

Clearing his throat when his voice came out too high, Lance finally answered. "Yeah actually. Someone promised me lunch and a coffee. You know anything about that?" That came out a little fast, but still pretty smooth. Of course it did. Flirting was Lance's thing, after all. Even if Keith's eyes boring into him right now was incredibly distracting.

"No," Keith said casually, "you were promised lunch and a tea." He stepped past Lance to open the door for them, and gestured inside.

Lance walked through, to find a second door. He held it open for Keith and followed him inside. It was simple, but cozy, with booths along the right, and the counter to the left. Keith was telling him about how nice the food and service were, when Lance decided to ask,

"How did you find out about this place?"

Keith answered with a genuine smile as they settled into the booth by the window, "I wandered off campus one day and I happened to be passing it when I realized I was hungry."

Lance raised his eyebrows. "Serendipity?"

Keith chuckled. "I guess it was pretty lucky. I come here pretty often now. I once—" He was interrupted when a waitress put a couple of huge menus in front of them, before dashing off to another table.

Lance opened the menu, and hummed for Keith to continue.

"Yeah, I used to go to this other place a bit closer to campus, but once I went there for dinner and I was the last person left. I was taking my own sweet time, eating dessert and finishing my drink."

"Drinking at a diner? Aw man, we need to go to a bar next time."

"It was juice, with my dinner. Will you listen?"

"Right sorry." Lance planted his elbows on the table, his crinkling eyes the only evidence of the smile behind his clasped hands.

"And when I finally left around 10, I realized their closing time had been half an hour before."

"You held everyone back after closing time?" Lance giggled at Keith's past predicament. "How do they not hate you?"

"No one said anything! I didn't even realize." Keith shook his head, cringing at the memory. "So yeah, I could never go back there again. I had to find somewhere else."

"Keith, you have to go back! Just find the server, apologize, get something and tip them extra," Lance reasoned with an easy smile. "Who knows; you might make a friend."

Keith looked befuddled and mildly horrified by the concept.

"We'll work on it," Lance promised casually before turning back to the menu, not noticing his date fluster in response. "So what's good here."

"Literally everything."

After some indecision, Keith got his usual order of breakfast for lunch (a waffle sundae). Lance tried the chicken wrap, but he didn't register whether or not he liked it. His senses were preoccupied with Keith: the way his eyes lit up innocently when he looked at the strawberry ice cream and whipped cream piled atop his waffle; the way he lost some self-consciousness as he ate; the way he looked impatient to take the next bite, even as he was still chewing the first.

When Keith started to look up, Lance hurriedly tore his eyes away. He buried his smile into his wrap, probably taking a messier bite than necessary, but at least he hadn't been caught staring with a vacant smile. After he wiped his mouth with a napkin, he decided to try and make Keith feel better about his social disaster. Because despite making light of the incident, he clearly still felt awkward about it. So Lance would outcompete him in the social debacle department, but not before dragging him some more first.

"So after your other diner horror story, what made you want to brace the waters at this place?"

Keith didn't miss the fondly teasing tone, but he still answered honestly with a smirk, "It's open 24 hours."

Lance had not been expecting that, and he nearly choked on a mushroom from his sudden laughter. "Okay, listen. That story was pretty embarrassing, but I'm about to blow your mind. Now, I don't have many flaws, but prooobably, maaaybee," he suggested slyly in a voice that up until that moment would've had Keith rolling his eyes; but right then, it made the corners of his mouth tighten in fond amusement, as Lance continued,

"...sometimes I might talk too much." He shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes as if it was hard to believe. The dramatics had their desired effect as Keith put down his fork to laugh. His eyes clamped shut and his nose scrunched up so cutely that it made Lance realize, he would make any manner of fool of himself for more chances to watch that laughter. For now, he went on with his story,

"So I was getting lunch from the campus Starbucks, and as soon as I handed the sandwich to the cashier, I told him to please heat it up for me. But it must've come out too loud, because I heard him saying a jerk chicken to the barista, who turned to look at me and laughed."

Keith's eyes widened in mortification, drawing a chuckle from Lance.

"I mean it was fine. I couldn't just ask him if he'd called me a jerk chicken. I just tried to be extra nice while paying."

Once the second-hand embarrassment started to wear off, Keith was actually amused. "Is the point of this story that he's one of your best friends now?"

"Oh no," Lance waved his hand dismissively. "The point was that you're not the only one with cringe-y service industry experiences," he winked.

Lance ate as he went on to talk about how that cashier likely didn't even remember him, since he happened to work when Lance didn't usually frequent the shop. Keith's eyes shyly took in how expressive Lance's face and hands were. The conversation turned to their majors and post-graduation plans, when Keith's phone vibrated with a text.

He threw a glance at it where it sat next to his plate, and glimpsed Shiro's name before the screen darkened again, piquing his interest. Lance was drinking water, and Keith took that moment to check his text.

➤Why aren't you eating your food?

Confusion furrowed his brows as he typed back,

➤What?

The response was immediate.

➤Look behind you

➤Wtf

Keith turned around despite none of this making any sense, and his eyes widened in horror. Lance was saying something, but it bounced right off Keith's ear; his neurons were preoccupied processing the sight before him. Shiro was seated in the booth behind him in a hoodie and aviators, looking down at his phone. A beautiful woman with glowing dark skin was giving Keith a mischievous look from her spot cuddled comfortably against Shiro. She had long, fluffy, cotton white hair tied up in two buns, and she was rocking a varsity jacket. A pair of pink heart sunglasses was perched coolly against her head.

Keith's brain was still struggling, when his phone vibrated in his hand again.

➤You said you wanted to see a picture of my gf and I wanted to see ur bf :)

➤Remember how I said I'd do you one better than a picture

Keith bolted upright, waist knocking against his plate loudly.

"Keith?" Lance was confused and, frankly, a bit worried.

"Um, we gotta go." He was already stuffing his phone into his pocket and digging out his wallet.

"Is everything okay?"

"We need to leave; I'm compromised. I'll explain outside." He dropped enough money on the table to cover their bill and tip, then grabbed a thoroughly bewildered Lance's hand and pushed his way out the doors, the retreating sound of hearty brotherly laughter goading at his back.

Keith was trying to reconcile indignation at Shiro's betrayal, with intense pride in the fact that his brother was dating someone who looked like that. Needing to distance himself from the possibility that Shiro would come outside to embarrass him, Keith made a beeline for his bike parked on the sidestreet. Lance's voice brought him back to his surroundings. "Not that I'm not totally into you dragging me around by the hand, but what is going on?"

"Shiro," said Keith cryptically, by way of explanation, and handed Lance the spare helmet. He'd set out with the intent of giving Lance a ride home, and if he'd still had his wits about him, he would've appreciated Lance's reaction to his bike.

Lance looked from the helmet now grasped in his hands, to Keith, to the bike's small seat, with increasing degrees of panic. The reason for their sudden departure momentarily forgotten, Lance gulped. His crush of three years was a biker! How had he missed that? As hot as that was though, Lance felt he needed to share some pertinent information. "Um, Keith? Just so it's out in the open, I've never ridden on a bike before."

Keith, now also distracted from the abrupt end to their lunch, finally looked at Lance, who was nervously eyeing the bike, bottom lip caught between his teeth, as if unsure of his words. But Lance, being Lance, couldn't stay silent for long.

"I mean, I've ridden a bicycle, so I'm not completely… I'm just saying, you know, so that you're aware…"

So Lance rambled when he was nervous. Cute. Keith figured he should say something to put him at ease. "Shut up and trust me," he managed, and immediately cringed. He tried again more softly, "I won't go too fast. Just hold on tight, and you'll be fine."

"Hey, I'm not scared!" Lance shoved the helmet on, and gestured impatiently for Keith to get on.

Keith resigned himself to the knowledge that this boy was ridiculous. Smiling to himself, he mounted his bike and put on his helmet. He flipped a switch, and it roared to life beneath him. A moment later, Lance got on behind him, and brought his hands to rest on the sides of Keith's waist. Keith smirked. It was good enough for now, but he knew Lance would have to hold on tighter once he took off. He decided to let Lance cross that bridge when he got to it. He rolled the throttle and let out the clutch. The bike started moving, not even that fast, and Lance yelped, snaking his hands around Keith's stomach and drawing closer. He'd been expecting it, but the suddenly intensified feeling of Lance pressed up against him, clinging to him, racked a shiver through his entire body, and he nearly lost control of the bike. Pull yourself together, he chided himself with a scowl, gripping the handles so hard his knuckles turned white. He chanced a look in the rearview mirror, and saw Lance blushing and trying to contain a smile. Keith was struck with the sudden dual urge to just watch but also to deepen Lance's blush further. Seeing Lance so affected was bringing some of his own confidence back; and as he drove, he found himself grudgingly thanking Shiro. His brother had unwittingly helped him avoid the awkwardness of asking Lance if he actually wanted to ride with him. Keith's solution may have been a bit crude, but it got the job done. Speaking of which, Keith still owed Lance an explanation. So, when they stopped at the next light, he filled Lance in on what had gone down back at the diner. Watching Lance's reaction in the mirror, Keith saw his face go from 'interested' to 'amused' to 'absolutely gleeful' as he took in the details.

"Oh my god, your brother really is a memelord!" Lance shouted over the roar of the wind when they started moving again, and buried his face in Keith's shoulder, his whole body shaking with laughter. Once he sobered up a bit, Lance lifted his head from Keith's leather-clad shoulder, but then rested his chin there instead. Despite the wind rushing around them, Keith felt warm beneath him, and Lance wasn't too willing to give up that contact just yet. Lance always made the best of every situation, and as long as he had an excuse to keep Keith wrapped in his arms, he would take every advantage.

Much too soon for either of them, they arrived at Keith's dorm, and Lance was proud to say he was steady on his legs getting off. They were all shy smiles and awkward shuffles on the way up to Keith's room. Lance willed his heart to be calm with the notion of going inside Keith's room (!), while Keith racked his brain trying to remember if he'd actually tossed his laundry into the hamper that morning. He just hoped Lance wasn't about to step on a pair of his boxers as he opened the door and let Lance in.

Lance was not sure what he'd been expecting Keith's room to be like, but what he'd just walked into was undeniably Keith. The bed was unmade, Lance's jacket hung from the bedpost (a sight that settled warmly in Lance's chest), the desk facing it sported the average college student amount of clutter. There was another sparse desk and bed across from Keith's; Lance made the connection to Keith once having mentioned a roommate who was never around. But what really drew Lance's eye was an old-school cork bulletin board mounted above the desk. He walked over to it while Keith closed the door and set down his keys. The bulletin board was full of papers tacked on haphazardly, overlaid with bright yellow post-its. Lance tried to make sense of it, but the handwriting was nearly illegible. It looked extremely cool, but maybe Lance was biased in everything Keith-related. He turned back around to find Keith watching him. He raised his eyebrows in question and pointed over his shoulder at the board behind him.

"It's for my P-chem final paper. I did some original research, and writing out my variables and results like that helps me visualize what I need to put in my discussion. Behind that is just, older stuff."

"Chem major, huh? Figures."

"What do you mean?"

"Just that you always seemed like the smart bookish type."

"You're smart too, even though you don't seem to show it."

"Hey!"

Of course Keith's compliments came out wrong. He backtracked. "I just mean that you have this whole 'yolo' attitude going on, but you're secretly really smart. And that's really cool."

"Oh," Lance said eloquently, as the tips of his ears went pink. "Um, thanks."

Keith realized they'd been standing up the whole time, gazing at each other from across the room. He cleared his throat self-consciously, and offered Lance his desk chair, before asking, "You study…"

"Aeronautics," Lance answered.

"See? Smart."

Lance decided to deflect before his self-consciousness got the better of him. "So are you gonna show me any of your magic tea, or are you just all talk?" he redirected.

"Just wait and watch." Keith walked into the corner of the room that served as a tiny kitchen, with a two-range stove, a mini fridge, a microwave, and minimal counter space. Keith pulled a small all-purpose pot out of the cupboard, and started filling it with water. He glanced out toward where Lance was sitting, leafing casually through Keith's books, and considered what kind of tea he should make. As someone who barely even liked coffee, Lance ought to be a sencha man. But Keith also recalled Lance disliking tea for not having enough flavor. He would probably like something a bit heavier. Keith had to work with what he had here. He picked up up the box of authentic Indian chai and dropped a bag into the pot with some milk. He put it on the stove, and stepped back to wait with his arms crossed.

The tea was still brewing when Lance got impatient and wandered into the kitchen. "Something smells good." He waggled his eyebrows.

"That's the sweet aroma of your defeat," Keith threw back without missing a beat.

Lance's smile faltered a bit, before he caught the twinkle in Keith's eyes. He raised his eyebrows and smiled despite himself. "Yeah, yeah. We'll see."

The kitchen was far from big enough for two, but that didn't seem to bother Lance. He leaned against the counter next to Keith for a moment before pushing off and turning around to open cabinets. He examined the package of chai closely before moving on. When he opened the second cabinet, an unassuming cereal box stared him in the face. "Corn Squares?" Lance sputtered.

Keith looked at Lance's flummoxed expression, and his own brows knit in confusion. "What? I just buy whatever's cheap. Got sick of sugar from the lucky charms so I bought corn flakes."

"Okay, but Corn Squares?" He practically yelled that last word.

"Yeah?" Keith's own voice was rising in response.

"They're not even… square! They're just flakes!"

Lance was struck by the pure sound of Keith's laughter for the second time that day, the dry sound he'd been smitten by that night at 3 AM in front of his dorm building. He grinned at the snort that slipped out of Keith. Was cereal talk really the key to mullet man's heart?

"Okay, what's your favorite cereal?"

The question unexpectedly sobered Keith, though a cheery air lingered around him. "I don't know if I have a favorite," he said, "but I always come back to Special K."

Lance turned to face Keith with his hip still resting against the counter. He crossed his arms and scooted closer, waiting for an explanation. Keith chuckled, and continued,

"It's embarrassing, but when I was little, my parents would try to get me to eat their health cereals, but I hated them. Then Shiro convinced me that the 'K' in special K stood for Keith, and that it was a special cereal just for me."

"Oh my god I need to meet Shiro!" Lance snickered. "I can't believe I missed my chance at the diner." He couldn't have reigned in the fond look he was giving Keith even if he'd wanted to. His feelings were way out of his control at this point.

"No. I do not need you two ganging up on me."

"Aww, come on, it'll be fun! Twice the love," he suggested without thinking. He was saved from the implications of his word vomit when Keith pushed away from the counter towards the stove saying,

"Tea's almost ready." Keith didn't want to admit to himself how the words Lance said so casually sent shocks through his heart. He pulled the pot off the stove, and swirled the tea. He only had one mug, so he poured half out into it and the other half into a glass. He added a spoonful of sugar to each and pushed the mug toward Lance.

"Smells goood," Lance hummed, before bringing the mug up to his lips and taking a cautious sip. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment but otherwise, his face was uncharacteristically blank as he processed the taste.

Just when Keith was about to prompt him, Lance spoke up. "Are you sure this is tea?"

"What? Of course it is."

Lance sipped some more, no longer bothering to hide his pleasure. "It just doesn't taste like any tea I've ever had before. It's more…" he trailed off, considering, taking another sip. "Full-bodied," he concluded. Keith bestowed a good-natured but smug smile on him. The look awakened Lance's competitive spirit, and he added, "I still prefer my caramel frappes, mind you."

They made their way out of the kitchen, and Lance settled into Keith's chair again, Keith taking the ever-absent roommate's chair. Lance kept up his commentary as they drank,

"It has this natural sweetness I wouldn't have expected. Like it's totally apart from the sugar."

"Given your penchant for vanilla-syrup-diluted coffee, I figured you might like this blend."

"Yeah man, I'm getting mocha vibes from this. Where'd you get it? I don't think I've ever seen that brand in store."

"My brother got it for me when he went to India last month."

In response, Lance asked more about Shiro. Keith told him about how he always made time for travel despite his work at the academy. Lance in turn told Keith about his own family, about missing them–missing Varadero Beach, and his mom's hugs, and her cooking–while he was away at school. The topic moved quickly to their hometowns, and Keith was struck by how easy conversation was with Lance. He didn't feel awkward having this almost-stranger in his room. He wondered if it was the complete lack of awkwardness on Lance's part–his openness–that made Keith's anxieties dissolve. Whatever it was, Keith found himself craving more. Lance was still here with him, in his room, talking to him, but Keith was already thinking about how much he'd want to see Lance, to be around him, after he left today. Keith took a big gulp of the tea to calm his overzealously beating heart.

Keith's worry turned out to have been a bit premature. The empty mug and glass long-abandoned on the desks, the boys talked some more, swapping horrible-professor stories and telling each other about their favorite TV shows.

Keith, it turned out, almost exclusively watched detective shows and social issue documentaries. Lance found himself inexplicably smitten by this tidbit. But the trashlord within him made Keith promise to watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with him someday, basically securing a second date when Keith agreed. Keith may have only said yes on the premise of proving to Lance he wouldn't like the show, but he'd agreed to hang out just the same, so Lance decided to count it as a win. And on the second date, Lance would casually mention studying together–not together together, because they were in different classes, but just motivate and keep each other company. And before Keith knew it, they'd be officially dating. Lance thought it was rather brilliant, if he did say so himself, (and he totally did). Not bad, especially considering he'd been talking about something unrelated the whole time he was coming up with this plan.

"Hey, we should do that bar date next time that you suggested earlier," Keith said when there was a natural lull in the conversation, and just like that, undermined Lance's whole game plan. But he couldn't find it in himself to mind when it meant Keith was just as eager as he was to continue this–whatever this was that they had going.

"Hell yeah, we should!" And Lance's smile was so big, and so unaffected, it warmed Keith's heart. All he could do was smile at his hands and avoid admitting that he didn't normally frequent bars but wouldn't mind going anywhere at all with Lance. The thought had him about to flush all over again–just when he'd gotten his heart to calm down a notch–when Lance sighed and leaned back in his chair, before hauling himself up to his feet.

Keith watched him with fond interest as he walked around the small room, taking in the little tidbits of Keith's personality scattered about, like the original Star Wars IV: A New Hope poster on the wall above his bed, and the British History notes stuffed under his pillow. Then, he ran a finger over his own jacket on the bedpost, and turned to wink at Keith.

Keith rolled his eyes for appearances' sake, but had to look away to hide his blush.

"Keith."

He looked up to meet earnest blue eyes.

"Thank you for the tea. And thank you for the bike ride. And for lunch." He was rambling again. Best to quit while he was ahead. "Bar date is next, I'll hold you to it."

"You got it," Keith grinned, getting up to see Lance off. Lance was approaching the door when Keith called out to him, olive jacked in hand.

"Hey, it's fine." It was out before Keith could even say anything, and Keith's eyebrows rose in question.

"What, you don't want it back at all?"

"No, it's just… I don't mind y– It's nice to…" Lance was getting redder with each attempt to explain that, "it looks good in your room. It looks…" domestic, he wanted to say, but couldn't because Keith's mouth was on his.

Keith was kissing him.

It was just a soft press of lips against the corner of his mouth, but it was blowing his mind. Like a major short circuit. And just like that, before he could fully process every little detail, it was over. Keith was pulling away to look at a wide-eyed Lance with concern.

"I've been reading this wrong, haven't I?" Keith's mind had finally caught up with him. Of course Lance was straight as a pole, and Keith had gone and made an unwanted move on him. He should've known something like this would happen, he should've been prepa–

"Do you," Lance cleared his throat when his voice came out way too high. "Do you want to try that again?"

Keith blinked, and when he was certain that Lance had indeed said that, he trusted his voice again to say, "Are you sure?"

Lance responded with an ear-to-ear grin and dipped his head to eagerly return the iss. Keith moved against him like Lance was the only thing in the whole world.

The kiss broke when they couldn't hold in their smiles anymore. Lance took a step back, a blissed out look on his face. He tried to articulate, "That was…"

"Really nice," Keith finished, wanting to memorize every expression dancing across Lance's features.

"I should go while I still can," Lance managed.

All Keith could manage was "Bye" with a breathless smile.

After Lance had gone, Keith put on the jacket he was still holding for no reason at all, and tried to ignore the fact that he was still smiling to himself by washing the dishes. When he finished, he came back to his bed to find his phone going off with incoming texts,

➤Lunch, tea, and a kiss?!

➤+1 for Lance McClain ;)

➤wait ur last name is actually mcclain?

➤Ofc aldfkja;ld what did u think mcslain meant?

➤i thought it meant like, u slayed me with ur charms

➤Aww, babe! u think I slayed u? :))

➤It's a pun. That makes u like me more, doesn't it?

➤it makes me question my life choices.

➤Rude.

This was followed by a screenshot of the chat window. Keith's contact name was still a K with an angry red face, but it was now joined by a heart with an arrow through it, a heart with sparkles, and yet more hearts of varying sizes. Keith giggled.

➤ur so embarrassing omg

Three dots indicating Lance was typing came up, and stayed up. This again? Keith looked at what he had typed, and it occurred to him that the text format might've made his words sound not-as-fond as they were. So he sent a ❤ to be safe. Apparently that was all the reassurance Lance needed, sending a ❤ in return. Keith pocketed his phone and faceplanted into his bed. Maybe a power nap would help him convince himself that this was actually happening.

Outtakes: (What was going down in the time it took Lance to say yes to tea in Ch. 2)

-Lancelot sent a photo-

Lancelot:
Omg guys is Keith asking me out?

Gourmunk:
whaaaat! NICE

Lifehack:
bruh. u now owe me 20$.
20$ is now owed. pay up loverboy

Lancelot:
aaahhhh

Gourmunk:
how did you reply?

Lancelot:
I didn't yet ?

Gourmunk:
Lance. omg what're you waiting for dude?

Lifehack:
jfc yru lik dis ?

A/N: It's finally finished! I hope you all enjoyed the ride!

Special thanks to rainingWolf for the idea of Shiro turning up to Keith's date in disguise, to tumblr user ididntwritethatline for the Special K idea, and to tumblr user frozenlance for the stroke of genius that was Corn Squares.