Author's Note: I don't usually put these, but I figured I should since it's been literally two months. Let's just say that life took over, so please take this ridiculously long chapter as an apology! Also, I anticipate there being two more chapters after this, so enjoy!

They often say that time moves slowly when you're in it, but then when you look back, it feels like it's gone really quickly. Or, you know, something like that. There's probably a simpler way to put it. But Lance had to agree with this "they" person.

Their year of finishing up school felt like it flew by in a blur. It reminded him of the past several years in war…how while they were in all that mess, it felt like it would drag on forever without a light at the end of the tunnel. But now looking back, it didn't seem so bad.

And things were especially improved now with his querida by his side. There was no doubt about that. But even then, time with her was never enough. They'd spend every second they could together— he'd walk her to classes (then inevitably be late to his own), sneak into her room to watch their favorite tv shows at night, have every meal together, hang out with their lions on the weekends.

Those were the good days. So good that he thought he wanted the entire rest of his life to be that way.

Katie felt like she was about to burst with excitement. She was running, running as fast as she could, and it was in that moment she cursed her short legs and the ridiculous length of the hallways in this castle.

The doors she was looking for were down the long stretch of sleek white floors. It felt like an endless tunnel, but finally, panting and completely out of breath, she made it. The doors slid away smoothly, and she saw him.

She managed to quell her excitement enough to turn her run into a casual stroll. Lance, of course, heard her footsteps immediately and turned around. He gave her the usual smile— the huge, bright one where his eyes sparkled.

She was yards away.

"How was Thanksgiving?" he asked with a knowing grin.

Several feet away.

She shrugged, but her heart was racing. "Too political."

One foot away.

His grin broadened. "Same."

Without hesitation, she crashed her lips into his, and she let out a contented sigh. Thanksgiving break had sucked without him. Had they been texting constantly? Yes. Had they chatted for hours each night on video chat? Yes. But it wasn't the same as being with him.

Lance wrapped his arms around her tightly as he responded with his usual passion— the one that never seemed to die out. She could feel him smiling against her lips, and she broke off the kiss with a laugh.

"I told you I missed you, didn't I?" she joked.

"I know," he replied, pecking her lips once more. "But I like it when you do that. You should do it more."

Katie just giggled and squeezed him as hard as she could, nuzzling her face into his chest. "It's good to be back," she mumbled against his t-shirt.

"And you're just in time," he informed her. "Dinner's in ten minutes."

She sighed. "Dang it, I wanted more time with you."

She felt his lips press against the top of her head. "Don't worry—" he said as he began to let her go, "—we'll have time later. I brought the new Smash Horror 2 game for us to play."

Her eyes widened. "With the new power saw attachment and everything?"

"Yup," he popped, eyes twinkling.

Katie leaned up and kissed Lance on the cheek. "I love you," she stated.

"I love you, too," he laughed. The pair intertwined their hands and started down the hall, content once again in each other's presence.

After a few moments, Lance looked over at her. "So what did your family get into a debate about this time?" he teased.

Katie rolled her eyes. "The usual. Republican versus Democrat, first amendment rights, whether AUMF should be revoked, blah, blah, blah. I feel like they make a big deal out of everything, and they don't even realize that there are bigger problems in the universe than the inflation rate."

Lance hummed understandingly. "We didn't have that perspective either until we left, but I know what you mean. I heard the UN's trying to create a more collective global alliance. We need unity while the universe is recovering from the Galra Empire."

She took in his thoughts, then leaned her head against his shoulder. "Do you ever wonder what would've happened if the Galra had reached Earth?" she wondered aloud. "I think about it a lot sometimes."

"I wouldn't have met you," he joked lightly. She couldn't help but crack a grin. Lance smoothed his thumb over her hand. "But I think about it, too…and all I can say is, I'm glad they didn't. Who would've defended the universe if they had?"

Katie shrugged as they turned the corner toward the dining room. "Different paladins. Different planets. Different alliances— maybe the rebels or the Blades. It'd be an entirely different reality."

"Ugh, you're starting to remind me of Slav," Lance groaned, making the couple burst out laughing.

"Please tell me no one invited him."

Katie's eyes switched from Lance to Shiro, and she snickered when she saw their leader's horrified expression.

"No, I made sure not to," Princess Allura spoke up from the head of the table, and Shiro's shoulders slumped with relief.

Lance and Katie made their way to their usual seats next to Coran. Before them laid a delicious looking feast, and Katie's head turned when she heard the door to the kitchen open.

Hunk came out holding a large turkey on a platter, and he smiled when he saw them. "Pidge! You made it!"

"I'm here, too," Lance mumbled.

Keith, who had just entered, raised an eyebrow. "You've been here all day, Lance."

Katie's boyfriend just stuck a tongue out, while she snorted and shook her head. Keith and Hunk sat down in their chairs next to Shiro, and Katie looked around the table.

"Wait, where's Lotor?" she asked.

Allura's head tilted. "Lotor is on a goodwill mission in the phi-mu sector. He hopes to return tomorrow to express his thanksgivingness."

All the earthlings smiled at her misuse of the word, but they didn't bother to correct her.

"I think that's a great idea for all of us," Shiro said. "How about we all go around and say what we're thankful for?" Everyone nodded in agreement, and he cleared his throat. "I'll start. I'm thankful for my new professor's assistant, because without her I wouldn't have gotten the papers graded in time to come here."

Shiro looked at Hunk, who seemed to be in deep thought. "Hmm…I'm thankful that I got to see my family this week for Thanksgiving break," Hunk decided. "It had been so long, and they all made an effort to come see me— even my cousins from Samoa!"

It was Keith's turn now, and for some reason, he blushed. "Well, um…I got to go see Charlotte a few days ago, and I met her family, so…I'm thankful for that," he finished quickly.

Katie smiled encouragingly at Keith, but then she realized it was her turn. "Oh! Uh, I think I have a lot to be thankful for. I got a 4.0 this semester—"

"Not a surprise," Lance coughed.

"—and I have this idiot," she said, patting Lance's shoulder as she rolled her eyes. Everyone laughed at that. "But I'm mostly glad to be back here, with you guys, because you're my family, too, and Thanksgiving felt weird without you."

Lance's hand grabbed hers, and he squeezed. "I'm thankful for Katie, and that I passed my pilot simulation last week," he stated firmly. Katie squeezed his hand back, and they shared a smile.

Coran cleared his throat. "I, for one, am very thankful for this earthling holiday. It is always important to remember what we have, even while we cannot forget what we have lost."

Finally, Allura stood up from her chair. "I would like to echo Coran's words. I am sure you paladins are not aware of this, but…this day happens to be when my mother died several millennia ago." Her eyes fell to the ground. "I am thankful to have such good friends by my side on a difficult day like this."

She sat down, and a respectful silence fell upon the group.

A moment passed before Shiro said, "We've been through a lot, team. But I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm thankful we're still together."

Katie heard a light sniff to her left, and she turned to see that Lance's eyes were glassy. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. He gave her a watery smile and mouthed "I love you."

He was positively giddy. It was his most favorite day of the whole year (well, besides his birthday, of course), and he had an ingenious plan. So ingenious that he was honestly surprised he came up with it. It was unthinkable, mind blowing, practically impossible—

Fine, maybe he was just surprising Katie at her house for Christmas, but he thought it was a great idea, okay? Stop judging.

His heart felt like it would beat out of his chest as he snuck up to the house. He'd parked Blue way out in a field and walked the rest of the way, praying that she didn't see him land. He'd made Blue promise she would keep the bond closed, or else that would be a dead giveaway.

Lance's entire body was buzzing. If he'd thought Thanksgiving break had been torture, Christmas break was worse. It was way too long, and he'd been tempted more than once over the past two weeks to come see her. But no, he had to be patient.

She kept asking why he couldn't come for Christmas, and near the end, he was starting to run out of excuses. Family always seemed to be the easiest cover up, and thankfully Katie was always understanding. Still, it had been hard to keep this secret from her. Lance hated secrets with a passion, but he knew that for this to work, he had to act completely innocent. He wanted it to be a surprise, after all.

He was at the back door now— the one that he was pretty sure Matt said he would leave unlocked. Lance turned the knob, and sure enough, the door opened. He tip toed in as quietly as he could, then shut the door softly. He laid back against the wall to give himself a moment to calm down, but then he heard it—

Katie laughed.

Lance's heart ached. His entire body was telling him to run toward that magical sound, but he held himself back. He had a mission, and he wouldn't ruin it after he'd come so far.

Filled with renewed determination, Lance headed up the staircase to the left. Matt said her bedroom was the one on the right…Lance opened the door, and grinned when he saw her clothes scattered all across the floor.

He walked into the room in a daze. It was fascinating to finally see her room…and it suited her, of course. There were science posters everywhere, and it was in its usual messy state. Part of Lance was dying to clean it all up, but he shook his head— he had to focus on the mission.

He shut the door, took his backpack off, and got to work. The plan was pretty simple: cover the room in string lights and hang mistletoe in every single possible spot. The only problem was the time constraint— he had about thirty minutes before Katie would come upstairs to video call him at their usual time. So he had to hurry.

The next half hour flew by in a flurry of near panic. When it was getting near eight o'clock, his heart rate started to speed up. His palms were sweating, he checked his hair a thousand times in the mirror, and he was honestly starting to wonder if any of this (especially the horrendous Christmas sweater he was wearing) was a good idea.

But then he heard steps on the stairs, and he froze.

It was time.

As nimbly as possible, he ran over to sit criss-crossed on her bed. He grabbed the bow he'd laid aside earlier and stuck it on his head. His heart was racing with each step closer, but he was smiling, too. She just had to like it, right?

Finally, the door opened.

He caught her expression in the Christmas lights— shock, confusion, and then overwhelming joy when she saw him.

"Lance!" she cried before she ran across the room and practically threw herself at him. Their lips met in a rush of surprise and familiarity, and when they pulled back, their eyes were shining.

"I didn't even have to point out the mistletoe," he teased.

Katie rolled her eyes and flicked the bow on his head. "I should've known you'd pull a stunt like this," she grinned. "How long have you been planning it?"

"Mm, a month?" he guessed. "Matt helped with the details."

Her eyes acknowledged this fact, but she didn't reply, opting instead to snuggle into him as much as she could. He wound his arms around her and held her tight, sighing contentedly.

"Merry Christmas, Katie," he whispered.

"Merry Christmas, Lance," she mumbled into his neck. Suddenly, she jolted upright. "Oh! I have to get your present!" she said, then proceeded to scramble off him and run over to her desk.

Lance sat up and watched her with a dopey smile. He knew now that this had been the right choice. When she turned around to face him, she had a bag in her hands. Blue tissue paper was sticking out of the top haphazardly, and he chuckled. She gave him a look— she always could read his mind perfectly— and thrust the bag into his lap.

"You know I suck at wrapping," she said with her tongue poked out.

He just shook his head and smiled. "I know." With that, he tore into the present. At the bottom of the bag was a little blue box with a smiley face drawn on top. He pulled it out and popped off the top, eyes going wide when he saw the gift.

Katie scooted close and rested her chin on his shoulder. "You never know what time it is, so I thought a watch would be good," she explained, reaching a hand over to push a button. "Plus, I linked it to my headphones you stole, so it'll connect wirelessly to control your music. Do you like it?" The mix of hope and worry in her voice was clear as day.

"Like it? I love it!" Lance declared. He took the watch out of the box and put it on his wrist, marveling when it snapped together all on its own. It tightened to fit his wrist snugly, and the screen lit up with a little "hello" on it. Lance admired it for a moment more before he leaned down and captured his girlfriend's lips with a kiss.

"Thank you, Katie," he whispered. "I'm sure you have plenty of stuff you wanna tell me about it, but we can do that later. Can I give you your present? I've been waiting forever," he pouted, wiggling anxiously

Katie laughed and nodded her head. Lance moved to grab the box off her nightstand— it was a miracle she hadn't noticed it yet. When he shifted back so that he was facing her directly, he saw that she'd closed her eyes and held out her hands. His heart racing, he set the tiny green box into her palms.

Her eyes flashed open, and she grinned. "Looks like we both had the same idea with the color coordination," she snickered.

He gave a nervous laugh. "Guess so."

Katie heard his insecurity— she always did, really— and leaned up to peck him on the lips. "I love you, Lance," she reminded him in a sing-songy voice.

"Just open it," he pleaded.

To his relief, she did. She opened the box slowly, taking her time to delicately peal away the tissue paper. When she got to the bottom, her mouth dropped open. Her fingers reached within the box, and when they came back out, they held a little pin.

It was their typical Voltron pin, the wide set V outlined in silver and colored according to its paladin in the middle. But where only one color should be, there were two— green and blue. The stripes were tangled together, woven so as to never be separated. Just like he had asked for.

He watched anxiously as she examined it with wide eyes. "I-It's, um…I got it custom made," he swallowed. "I-I thought that, well…it's a symbol. Of you, and me. We, um, we're together, and I wanted a way to show it— not just to you, but for everyone else to know, too. I, uh, I have a matching one, too, if you…you know, if you want to wear it together."

Katie tore her eyes away from the pin to stare into his. "A symbol," she repeated in an awed whisper. "You wanted…the green and the blue…together…"

"Uh, yeah," he trailed off. "That's what I just said. Don't tell Red," he joked awkwardly, then coughed. "Do you…do you like it?"

She nodded quickly, and that was when Lance noticed that her eyes had gone all watery. On impulse, he reached forward and gathered her in his arms. She clung onto him.

"You're so quiznaking sweet," she sniffled. "I don't know what to say."

Lance let out a relieved sigh. "I'm just glad you like it, querida."

Katie nodded, her hair brushing against his neck. After a moment, she lifted her head and laid her forehead against his. "I'm gonna wear it every single day," she promised. "Because I want everyone to know you're mine, too."

His heart soared, and he pressed his lips against hers. She responded with fervor, and before they knew it, they had fallen back onto her pillows. He broke away and began a trail of kisses all over her face.

"Te amo, querida," he murmured.

She looked up at him with warm honey eyes. "I love you too, Lance. Merry Christmas."

Lance laughed and nuzzled his nose into her neck. "A Merry Christmas, indeed."

It was ridiculous. Utterly. Ridiculous.

All she saw was pink. And purple. And glitter. And hearts. And cupids. And roses.

And she was this close to losing it.

"I just don't get it," Katie huffed. "Why does there have to be one day dedicated to love? It's so stupid. Love exists every day. It doesn't have to be constrained by the laws of time."

Lance was at her side snickering, and even Hunk and Keith were sharing a chuckle at her statement. She'd been ranting about her confusion over Valentine's Day all through breakfast, not letting any of them get a word in edge wise. It wasn't that she hated love or relationships or couples— she was in love, for quiznak's sake. She just didn't understand why everyone suddenly had to make such a big deal out of it for one day.

"If it helps, Katie, I don't get it either," Keith was saying.

"Yeah, me too," Hunk shrugged. "It does seem weird that we picked an objectively random day on the calendar to celebrate one of the most widespread yet confusing emotions in the known universe."

Lance gaped at them. "Oh come on, guys, it's a great day! You get to give flowers and chocolate and tell people you care about them—"

"But you can do that any day!" Katie cried. "You gave me a candy bar just last week!"

Keith leaned over. "But it wasn't wrapped in pink and covered in hearts," he whispered conspiratorially. Hunk and Katie laughed at the joke, and Lance rolled his eyes.

"You guys are just bitter and can't accept the fact that Valentine's Day is one of the best days of the year," Lance huffed.

Hunk's, Katie's, and Keith's eyes all met. "Yup," they chorused.

Lance groaned, and Katie leaned up to kiss his cheek. "It's just how we are, honey," she teased. "I gotta get going to class, now, okay?"

His blue eyes brightened. "Can I walk with you?"

"And be tardy again?" Keith scoffed. "Not a chance."

"Yeah, you can't really afford that," Hunk added on. "Iverson's only gonna let you get away with so much."

Katie's boyfriend pouted, and she gave a sigh. "I'll see you at lunch, okay?" she said. When he still looked sad, she gave the little pin on his uniform a tap. His eyes lifted, and a smile broke out on his face. Ever since Christmas, their pins had become more than a symbol of their relationship— it was a way they always carried each other with them. They were always together, even with distance.

The paladins had coo'ed over it, of course. They thought that it had been so incredibly adorable, and Lance had preened with pride. Katie knew that everyone's approval always meant so much to him, and knowing that they thought he was being a good boyfriend was the highest honor imaginable.

With their silent promise made, Katie grabbed her backpack and walked off to class. The journey felt lonely without him, sure, but she pressed on. It'd be wishful thinking for her to want him constantly by her side—

A scream echoed down the halls.

Katie leapt into action without hesitation, running down to where the yell had come from. There was a crowd gathered around. She fought her way through, using her short stature to sneak past the other students. A few more people, she was almost there to help—

Only to see that it was just some girl being asked to be some boy's valentine.

Katie rolled her eyes and walked away. There goes reason number three-thousand ninety-eight for why she hated this day.

Throughout her classes, the list grew. With every sudden confession, every girly yelp, every nauseously bright pink heart, and every overdramatic show of love, Katie felt her eye twitch. It was all just so ridiculous and irrational, why could no one else see that? Why did this one quiznaking day suddenly make people go bonkers?

If you really loved someone, she rationalized, you wouldn't need a day to dictate how you treat them or confess to them. You should just love them because you love them, not because the calendar tells you to.

Thus, when lunch rolled around, she was in a worse mood than she'd already been in.

"Pidge…are you okay?" Hunk asked timidly.

She responded by stabbing her fork into her food.

"Yeah, you don't look so good," Keith stated.

She glared at him, and he had the good sense to look away.

Lance, who'd been staring worriedly the entire time, began to open his mouth, but at that moment, a confetti canon went off across the mess hall.

Katie slammed her hands on the table and stood up. "I can't take it anymore!" she shouted. "I'm leaving."

Hunk and Keith stared at her with wide eyes. Lance reached his hand forward. "Katie—"

She shook her head firmly. "No, I'm going to finish my lunch somewhere quiet," she decided. "I want to be by myself."

If she wasn't so angry and annoyed, maybe she would've noticed the sad frown growing on Lance's face. Or the worried looks Keith and Hunk were giving him. But she didn't— she just grabbed her stuff and marched away without a single look back.

Her mood only soured further throughout the rest of the day. There were more hearts, more screams, more proclamations, more drama, more everything. And Katie wanted nothing more than for it all to be over.

She didn't even bother going to the mess hall for dinner. She had snacks in her room, and she would happily survive on that if it meant avoiding the rest of the festivities.

Katie hunched over her homework and stuffed her face with a handful of chips. "Stupid lovey dovey day with its stupid lovey dovey crap," she muttered darkly. At least the day would be over within six hours— then everyone could move on with their lives.

And then there was a knock on the door.

She let out a growl. "I'm not here!"

There was an adoring huff. "Katie, I have a key, you know."

Oh, it was Lance. Katie felt her annoyance start to melt away. She'd hardly seen him all day. Maybe it'd be nice to see him. Yeah, that sounded good.

"Come in!" she shouted. Her door clicked, and the hinges creaked. She spun around in her chair. "Hey—"

She froze. There was a rose in front of her face.

"M'lady," Lance bowed.

Katie blinked. "Huh?"

He kissed her head. "Put on your favorite dress— we're going out."

"Wait, what?"

Lance tucked the rose into her hand and sprinted out the door. "Time's ticking, m'lady!"

The door slammed shut, and she shook her head. What the quiznak was going on? Confused, befuddled, and honestly in a state of shock, she did as he asked. She walked over to her closet in a daze, tossing on that blue dress she bought what felt like ages ago and a pair of sandals.

When she exited her room, he was waiting expectantly. Lance gave her a brilliant smile when their eyes met, and without further ado, he looped their arms together and started off down the hall.

Katie stumbled after him. "Where are we going?" she questioned.

Lance winked. "It's a secret, m'lady!"

Given that she didn't have many other options, Katie allowed herself to be dragged along. She had no idea what he was up to, but she did know that when Lance got all excited like this, it was usually best to just let it play out. He'd explain his antics eventually.

She noted as they went along that he was taking a particularly strange path. It made no sense— a turn here, a turn there, three lefts, then a right. She was pretty sure at some point they'd gone in a loop, but maybe disorienting her was part of the plan. If it was, then it was working, because she had no idea what exit they were walking out of when they left the building.

Katie turned to give him a dubious look, but Lance didn't say anything. He just kept that mischievous sparkle in his eye and a grin on his lips. Thus, Katie turned her attention to the rose in her hand. It offered no answers, either, but it did provide pleasing stimuli to study compared to the barren Arizona flats.

Lance was humming now, a little spring in his step. It took her a moment to recognize the tune, and when she did, she snorted.

"Fly Me to the Moon?" she guessed aloud, even though she knew she was correct.

He nodded. "You know it's my favorite," he replied breezily. "And it always brings back good memories. We danced to it after I told you how I felt, remember?"

Katie felt her heart warm at the memory. "Yeah, I do," she laughed. She took a moment to snuggle into his arm. "You were all blush-y and cute and couldn't stop stuttering."

"You were shy, too," he teased. "I remember you getting flustered just because I put my face close to yours."

She blushed at the memory. "You were coming on a bit strong."

Lance looked up at the sky. "Was I?" he questioned.

"Nah," she laughed. "I think I was just so overwhelmed."

"Well…" he trailed off, making a sudden turn in their path. "Prepare to be overwhelmed again!"

Katie gave him a confused look, "Wha-"

And then, for the second time, she froze.

Before her was a picnic. Picnics had become a typical tradition of theirs recently— it was always a good way for them to catch up and spend quality time together when things got busy. But this was different.

He had glowing, floating lights all around. From the look of them, she could tell they were from Olkarion. When had he found the time to make the trip? Below the lights was their usual blanket, but it was covered in a plethora of scattered rose petals. In the middle on a plate was her favorite— peanut butter cookies, and again, she wondered just when he had the time to do all of this.

She was so in shock that she hadn't even noticed that he'd left her to turn on a speaker. Fly Me to the Moon began playing softly.

Katie blinked just in time for Lance to take her into a waltz position.

"So…do you like it?" he asked gently. "I know you don't get Valentine's day, and that's okay, but…I think it's really cool, and I wanted to do something nice for you. Just something extra, you know?"

A rush of affection ran through Katie, and she couldn't help herself when she leaned up to meet his lips with hers.

"I think I get it now," she murmured when they parted.

Lance gave her a bright smile, then pulled her into a little twirl. "Good!"

He just felt so…happy.

As simple as it was, there was no other way to describe it. He watched from the kitchen window as his family gathered in the backyard. They were milling about as their family Easter egg hunt began— he noticed that Mia and Sebastian kept wandering toward Blue, and he chuckled. They weren't going to find any eggs there, but they were certainly curious about his lion. The incessant purring from the bond told him she felt the same.

But he was just so incredibly happy. He had all of his family in one place, and it felt so good. Including—

There was a bang upstairs, and then a shout.

Lance turned, then made his way up the stairs. He knew he shouldn't have left her up there on her own.

He walked to his old bedroom door and knocked. "Katie? You okay?"

There was a grumble. "You can come in," she called.

He turned the knob, and promptly smiled. She was sitting on the bed rubbing her feet, a pair of toppled high heels on the floor below her.

"Stupid things kill my feet," Katie mumbled. She cast him an apologetic look. "Sorry. I wanted to look nice and stuff."

Lance walked over to her suitcase and grabbed a pair of flats. "It's okay!" he insisted. He came to kneel in front of her. "You look lovely, querida."

She gave a little smile. "Thanks, honey. I don't know why I'm so nervous today," she admitted.

"Because you're meeting my entire extended family, and it's a lot to take in," he hummed as he slipped her shoes onto her feet. Lance stood up and offered her a hand. "I was terrified when I met your mom, remember?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I just feel silly."

Lance chuckled. He leaned down to capture her lips, and she kissed back softly. He could tell she was nervous— usually she wasn't so tentative with him. An idea popped into his head, and he made to lower his lips to her neck.

"Lance!" Katie hissed. "Now is not the time!"

"Mm…I don't know," he drawled, kissing just below her ear. "I told them you got in late, anyways, so they won't expect us soon…"

He heard her stifle a moan, then suddenly, she pushed him away. "No, Lance, we're going to go downstairs and socialize with your family because that's what we're here to do," she said sternly.

Snickering to himself, he replied, "Great, let's go, then!" He grabbed her hand and began to tug her down the hall to the stairs.

"W-Wait, Lance!" she exclaimed. "I'm not mentally prepared!"

Lance barked out a laugh. "You're the one who wanted to meet them!"

"B-But I didn't— you— you tricked me!"

Still snickering, Lance pulled her around the corner and lavished one more long, slow kiss on her lips. She gave a small whimper, and he pulled back so he could stare into her eyes.

"You're going to be fine, Katie," he whispered. "I promise. They already think you're amazing, and besides—" he grinned, looking down at their green and blue Easter outfits. "We're matching."

Katie rolled her eyes, but then leaned up to peck him again. "I love you, Lance, but you're still too much sometimes."

He laced their hands together and started them down the hall toward the back door. "You looove me," he sang.

His girlfriend attempted to look mad. The smile tugging at her lips gave it away, though. So she just sighed and leaned into him. "I know."

The happiness that had been in his heart earlier doubled. It seemed that while he'd been gone, the Easter egg hunt had ended. Lunch was about to begin now, and when they walked out together, all eyes turned to them.

"Sorry we're late," Lance apologized loudly. "She just flew in from Wisconsin."

There was a round of friendly dismissals, and Lance heard Katie laugh awkwardly. He squeezed her hand reassuringly, and she returned the gesture.

His mamá came over and grabbed the pair in a hug. "Katie, so good to see you again!" she greeted.

"Nice to see you, too," Katie smiled warmly. "Is it okay for Green to be in the front yard? I didn't really know where to put her."

Mamá waved a hand. "Of course, I'm sure you picked a good place. Lance, mi hijo, introduce your corazoncita to your family!"

He nodded seriously. "I will, mamá. I just don't want to scare her."

His mamá gave an understanding nod, then turned to Katie. "There is no need to worry, mi hija. We are all friendly here."

Lance felt his ears go hot, and in that moment, he was so thankful Katie didn't speak Spanish. She didn't need to know that his mamá had just given away something incredibly important.

"Katie! Katie!"

The couple turned to the sound of Lance's siblings running up to them.

"Come with us, Katie!" Mia insisted.

"My egg got stuck under Blue's paw!" Sebastian pouted.

Katie let out a theatrical gasp. "Well, we can't let that stand, can we?" The two children shook their heads, and Katie grinned. "Let's go talk with Blue, okay? Maybe she'll move her paw if we ask nicely." She gave him a little wink, and before he knew it, his siblings had taken off with his girlfriend.

The moment she was gone, Lance whirled around to give his mamá an embarrassed look. "Mamá—" he groaned. "You're going to give it away! She can tell if you're acting weird— she's good at that sort of thing!"

His mamá shrugged, making herself busy arranging the food on the tables. "I don't see what's wrong with that," she replied easily. "I think it's better that way— gives the woman time to prepare."

Lance covered his face with his hands. "But I want it to be a surprise when I propose," he mumbled. His hands dropped away to reveal a pleading look. "I want it to be special, mamá."

"Then just go ahead and do it," she said. "I don't see what you're waiting around for."

"We're still in school," he stressed. "And Katie's in the running for valedictorian, and I don't want to distract her with exams so close."

Mamá shook her head. "I don't see how that could be a distraction. You already have the ring— just give it to her. You don't have to plan the wedding immediately."

Paranoid, Lance glanced over his shoulder. Katie was still busy with his siblings, thankfully. "I know, mamá, but—"

His mamá put her hands on her hips and fixed him with a look. "You worry too much, mi hijo," his mamá tutted. "I won't say anything else, but you better get it over with soon before it drives you crazy."

Lance swallowed, then nodded. He lifted his head from where he'd been staring at the ground. Katie was over by Blue, sitting up on one of the massive paws. She was holding her arms out to help Sebastian up— Mia was attempting to climb up on her own. The scene made a soft smile come onto his face.

He knew this was what he wanted. He knew that he loved her, that she loved him. He knew that he couldn't imagine his life with anyone else.

But there was still fear in his heart.

He made up excuses, but he knew why he hadn't proposed yet— he was scared. Was it too soon? What if she didn't want to settle down so quickly? What if she didn't want him? The idea of rejection seemed so ridiculous, but he still worried about it every single day.

And even if she did say yes, there were so many other questions, too. Were they too young? What kind of jobs would they hold? What if they had a family? How would they continue being paladins? Did she even want kids? What if there was another threat in the universe? What if he lost her? What if she lost him?

The idea of it felt so overwhelming, so complicated, but then—

He heard her burst out laughing, and the anxiety melted away.

No, he decided, he'd stop this senseless worry. He'd ask her to be his because he didn't ever want anyone else. They could figure out all the other stuff as they went along, just like they had been doing.

Now he just had to figure out when to ask.