He kept telling himself he wasn't nervous. No, it totally wasn't that. He just felt jittery because he was…excited! Yeah, that was it. His heart was racing and his palms were sweaty and his head felt dizzy from…excitement.

Yeah, Lance knew that wasn't the case. For some reason, he was beyond anxious this morning. And he knew why— it was Pidge. Well, not really her, but this new thing that they were in. He wanted this to work more than anything he'd ever wanted before, and the thought that it could crash and burn terrified him.

But, he couldn't stay in his room forever, and besides, he wanted to see if she was feeling better from last night.

Lance gave his reflection a determined look, nodded, then turned on his heel and walked out the door. One step, then another. What would they be like this morning? He shook his head. Another step forward. What if it was awkward? What if she didn't even look at him? A frustrated growl. Two faster steps.

What if…what if she'd already gone home without a goodbye?

Panic was seizing him now, and he was practically running to get to the kitchen. When he reached the door, he screeched to a halt. What if she wasn't there? Would his heart be able to take it? Quiznak, what if she was there? What did he say? How did he act? He hadn't told anyone else what had happened between him and Pidge last night. Did she? Should they keep it a secret for a while?

He felt like he could hardly breathe, let alone think rationally. Lance took in a deep breath to steady himself. He could do this. He was Lance McClain, the guy who could flirt with a brick wall. Why was he getting so worked up over talking to a girl?

…you know what, don't answer that. He already knew why.

Swallowing hard, he reached a shaky hand forward and pushed the button for the door to open. It felt like everything slowed down to half time. The doors parted, and his eyes scanned the room— Hunk waved, Shiro and Keith glanced toward him, Matt nodded, Allura smiled, Coran gave a mock salute, and—

She was there, he realized with a sigh of relief. Even better, the chair next to her was free. She was working on something in front of her, an adorably determined look on her face. But then she blinked, looked up, and raised an eyebrow.

"You just gonna stand there?"

All of his nerves began to melt away at the sound of her voice. Lance smirked, walking forward and plopping down in the chair next to her.

"Just wanted you guys to have a great view to start off your day," he said with a wink.

Pidge snorted. "It's a shame I didn't run into you before Shiro gave me this paperwork- it's not what I wanted to see first thing this morning."

Lance shifted closer, looking over her shoulder at the papers she referred to. "What's that for?"

"Matt," she sighed with a slouch. Her eyes glared over at her brother. "Someone was presumed dead for several years."

Matt gave her a nervous smile. "Really, sis, I gotta hand it to you, you're so much better at understanding all that government mumbo-jumbo than I am-"

"Shut it," she snapped, though it lacked bite. "You're just lazy and didn't want to do it."

Lance cut in before an argument could get started. "Need any help with it?"

Pidge's eyes widened a bit, and she nodded quickly. "Please, I hate this sort of thing."

Chuckling, Lance scooted his chair nearer to hers. He stared down at the jargon filled papers, occasionally munching on the breakfast that had been waiting for him. "Mmm, you missed a section-" he pointed out, and Pidge peered down at the where his finger was resting. "You need another signature on that dotted line, plus his social security number."

"Ugh," she groaned before calling out, "Matt, what's your social security number?"

Matt scrunched his nose. "Crap…I think it was 756-43-967?"

Pidge shrugged. "Let's hope so."

For the next few minutes, the pattern continued. Lance would scan through the papers, occasionally showing her if she missed a spot. After the last page had been turned, Lance settled back into his chair, not thinking twice when he reached for her hand resting in her lap.

They froze at the exact same time. Had he really just done that? With everyone around?

Shockingly, Pidge recovered first, threading their fingers together under the table and turning to ask Matt another question. As for Lance, it was probably a solid thirty seconds before he managed to comprehend what just happened. But when he did, a warm feeling spread through him, and he squeezed her hand.

He felt giddy now, like a kid in a candy store. Oh man, maybe he was already on the sugar high! He rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand, marveling not only at how smooth it felt, but how tiny and delicate her hand felt in his. Quiznak, he was growing wings this second, getting ready to soar up into cloud nine with—

"So Lance, when's the flight tonight?"

He blinked. "What? Oh!" he exclaimed. "Oh, that. Yeah, my flight leaves at five. We couldn't find anything earlier, and I needed time to pack, anyways."

Keith was giving him a dubious look. "What is there to pack? All you wear is that one baseball t-shirt-"

"Hey, that thing is the softest shirt in the world!" Lance shot back. "And I don't see what your point is, Mr. Tiny-Red-Jacket."

An eye roll, then Keith crossed his arms. "At least I wash it on a regular basis."

Lance opened his mouth to retort, but there was a squeeze. He turned his attention to Pidge, and she was giving him a look that read this-is-not-what-I-need-right-now. He understood immediately, saying a quick "whatever" before he tucked back into his breakfast.

There was a brief silence, as if people couldn't believe that Lance hadn't taken the chance to make a witty comeback, but conversation picked up again.

"Pidge, what about your flight?" Shiro asked.

"Seven am tomorrow morning," she told him, annoyance clear in her tone. "We had the opposite problem of Lance."

Shiro nodded. "Got it. Hunk?"

"Tonight at six," Hunk replied. "I figured I could tag along with Lance until we have to split for our gates."

"Sounds like a plan," Shiro said. "That means Keith and I will be leaving last, tomorrow at noon. I know we're all excited to be back home-"

Pidge ran her thumb across Lance's hand. His heart beat faltered.

"-but try to stay focused, okay? We'll meet back at the Castle of Lions after two weeks, then start our final sweep of the universe."

Keith groaned. "Please tell me there will be no Voltron shows? If there are, Allura can have my part again."

Pidge snickered, "Yeah, same goes for me. I don't think I want to watch Lover Boy Lance do that ribbon routine one more time."

Lance's jaw dropped. "My razzle dazzle was perfection!" he protested.

"Perfection may not be the word I'd use," Hunk joked.

"How about, hmm…dramatic?" Allura offered.

"Overdramatic was what I was looking for!" Coran claimed.

Pidge smiled up at Lance, "Then he definitely delivered."

Shiro chuckled. "No, no shows this time- just checking up on the coalition planets and making sure everything is going okay. It shouldn't take longer than a month or two."

Hunk tilted his head. "And then what?"

Silence sounded throughout the room. They all stared at each other, then down at the table. What would come next? This had been their lives for what felt like forever…what would happen now?

"I don't see why everyone's getting so mopey all of the sudden," Pidge said. Lance looked up, and she had determination written all over her face.

"I mean, we fought for years to get back home, and now you guys are acting like you don't want to be here! Don't you see? Mission accomplished! We can go home! We saved the whole universe! I think we deserve to be able to live normal lives now."

Shiro smiled at her. "No one is disagreeing with you, Pidge. Some people just take longer to adjust back."

She looked around at the table, then lowered her head. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I've just been waiting for this day for a long time."

Lance squeezed her hand, and she looked up. "Me too."

Hunk was smiling now. "Same here! It's been ages since I've seen my parents."

"I've missed the sunrises in Arizona," Keith reminisced.

"And we've been invited to visit your present-dent!" Coran added enthusiastically.

Pidge smiled shyly, and Lance couldn't help but give her hand another squeeze.

She'd never realized how much stuff she had before now. She guessed that's what happens when you just throw stuff everywhere, and now all of the sudden you have to pack things all neat into boxes. Pidge had been in her room for several hours now, and while she wanted to be focused on getting ready to go home, her mind kept drifting back to this morning.

Holding hands with Lance for an extended period of time had been…nice. Really nice, actually. And she couldn't figure out why. Pidge knew that human touch was often considered comforting to most people, but she usually wasn't one of those people. She'd never been called a "hugger." But here she was, contemplating the fact that she was sure her serotonin levels had gone up just sitting there, holding his hand.

It set her at ease, yet it was exciting at the same time. Grounded her, then made her feel like she was floating. All of these sensations were so new, and she had no comparative data to study.

Whatever had gone on, though, she was sure that she liked it. And now, standing all alone in her bedroom, she missed it. The moment their hands had disconnected when Lance left to start packing, her heart dropped a bit. Now, she was wading through this weird sea of feelings, not knowing what to do with them. Part of her wanted to walk down the hall to knock on his door, but she didn't have a good reason to.

Pidge let out a frustrated groan and fell back on her bed. What was she supposed to do in this…thing? She wasn't a girly girl. She wasn't going to flutter her eyelashes and giggle and dress up for dates and stuff…but she couldn't deny the fact that Lance's affections for her did give her butterflies in her stomach.

She let out a sigh. Surely there was some reason she could find to visit him, right? But did she even need a reason? Maybe that's what being in a…whatever-this-was meant. They could be with each other just because they felt like it. There didn't have to be a specific purpose to it.

Huh, that was a nice thought.

Springing up from her bed, Pidge grabbed her favorite hoodie and tossed it on as she left the room. The walk to Lance's door wasn't long, but it sure felt like it. When she arrived, she steeled her nerves and walked right in—

…wait, what?

The room was completely empty. She raised an eyebrow, looking around the room as though he would pop out of some random corner. She even poked her head in the bathroom, but that too was empty. Where was he?

Pidge frowned, suddenly feeling a lot more sad than she expected she would. She plopped down on the ground, resting her chin on her fists as she sat with her legs criss-crossed. Okay, so maybe he hadn't left yet. Maybe he was elsewhere on the ship. And anyways, that would be weird of Lance to leave without saying something.

She let out a sigh and fell back onto the floor. Lance was consuming all of her thoughts right now, and it was entirely frustrating because she didn't know how to handle it. What did she do? Go scour the entire ship for him? The thought alone was embarrassing. She'd seen him just a few hours ago- why was she in such a rush to see him again? It was almost like-

Swish.

"Pidge?"

"Ah!" she screamed, scrambling to turn around.

There he was, standing in the doorway with his head tilted. "What are you doing on my floor?"

"I-I, well, I was just, ah-" she stammered. "I was, um, looking for you. You know, to say goodbye before you left."

Lance raised an eyebrow and held out a hand. "Guess Shiro told you?"

She accepted the hand up and gave him a confused look. "Told me what?"

"My flight got cancelled, so they found me another one with a layover in Atlanta," Lance sighed. "I have to leave in ten minutes."

Pidge swallowed. "Oh."

"Yeah…" he trailed off, scratching the back of his head. "Just finished loading up my stuff, and I came back to find you."

She stared down at her shoes. "I, uh…I'm not- I don't," she sighed, wringing her hands restlessly. "I don't like goodbyes. They suck. And I know this morning I was excited to go home, but now I don't…I'm just not sure-"

He came forward and wrapped her in a hug. The tension in her shoulders left immediately, and she held onto him as tight as she could.

A few moments passed, and she heard him sigh. "I know how you feel. It's a dream come true, but it's hard to believe it's actually happening." She nodded her head against his chest, and one of his hands left her back to play with her hair. Pidge felt her heart ache. She didn't want to leave this, not for a second. It was all so new and unexpected and honestly really nice and the thought of not getting to keep discovering things didn't settle well with her.

Lance gave her one final squeeze, then released her so he could look into her eyes. "I'm gonna miss you," he told her, eyes sad, but then they brightened. "It's just two weeks. We can get through that, right?"

She found herself smirking. "I don't know, two weeks is a long time-"

Lance laughed and pulled her into him again. "Oh hush," he chuckled. "Admit it— you're gonna miss me too."

"I think I already do," she mumbled into his shirt. He stiffened against her, and she ran a hand up and down his spine. He relaxed, then tightened his grip on her, and she did the same to him.

They could've stayed there forever, but a knock at the door brought them back to reality.

"Lance, you ready?" Shiro called through the door.

"Be there in a minute!" Lance replied. They listened as Shiro's footsteps became distant, then their eyes turned back to each other.

Pidge gave him a little smile. "Guess we should head out?"

Lance returned the smile, gesturing dramatically to the door. "After you, milady."

She laughed, and then, without thinking, leaned up on her toes and kissed his cheek as she passed by. "You weirdo."

It took Lance approximately eight seconds to catch up with her.