Lance has never been early to anything in his life. He should be used to the panic and adrenaline when rushing off to something, but he probably never will.

Hunk had arranged a meeting in the park. Summer had set in and they had pretty much finished their junior year of college, so it was a means for celebration. Hunk had invited a lot of his friends out and they invited more and now it was a thing. Lance's tardiness would probably go unnoticed, but he had seen how excited Hunk was about it, so he couldn't let him down.

Luckily, the park that Hunk wanted to meet at was only a fifteen-minute walk from his dorm. Somehow, he and Hunk had left from the same place, yet Lance was still running behind. Honestly, Hunk should've expected it.

The green from the park peaked around the buildings and cars and Lance picked up his pace. There was a small playground with a few kids playing on it, their parents sitting on the bench a few feet away watching them. There was the odd couple scattered around the lush green, but other than that it was relatively empty.

Lance noticed the bright orange bandana wrapped around Hunk's head and dashed toward him. He wrapped an arm around his and gently tugged him, "Hunk, I'm so sorry! I raced over here and threw on whatever I had, but somehow I was still late and-"

Hunk laughed, "Don't worry about it. I gave you the wrong time anyways. You're early."

Lance squinted, "I feel like I should be peeved about that, but, honestly, I'm glad someone has finally found a way around my shit."

Hunk grinned, "Why thank you. It only took me, what? Eleven years?"

Lance chuckled, "Twelve at this point."

Hunk's eyes drifted away and then back, "Oh! Lance, this is Shiro, Adam, and Keith."

Lance turned his most blinding smile to the trio, "Hi, it's nice to meet you!" He met their eyes, one by one, and froze when he met who must've been Keith. Or as Lance had taken to calling him the last few months, Mystery Guy. Even though he had been mourning his lost love for months and should be overjoyed at finding him again, all he could think was that he had a mullet.

Shiro snickered and Lance belatedly realized his motormouth had gotten the best of him, yet again, as that thought wasn't kept up in his head. Keith's face spasmed like it wasn't sure what to do and Lance winced, "Shit, sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

"No, please, continue." Shiro encouraged, "I love watching him get humbled."

"I've told him I don't know how many times to cut it, but he doesn't listen to me." Adam complained.

Shiro turned to him and nodded in agreement, "Though, to be fair, he doesn't listen to anyone."

"Okay," Keith finally spoke, "why am I getting ganged up on?"

"Because you make it so easy." Shiro answered easily, then suddenly turned to Lance, "You know, you look really familiar, have we met? Were you in one of my classes before?"

"Uh, no? I don't think so." Lance titled his head, "What classes do you teach?"

"Astrophysics."

"Hell no." Lance shook his head quickly and Hunk laughed loudly beside him. Lance shivered, "I tried that out my freshman year. Never again."

Hunk grinned at Shiro, "We had the same class with Iverson. Worst experience of our lives."

Shiro nodded in understanding, "Yeah, Iverson…sucks."

"Massive dong." Lance muttered to Hunk who suppressed a snicker, "I tried it out," Lance replied louder, "but apparently, I'm not the best at math and I don't care enough to get better."

Shiro chuckled, "Fair enough, so what do you study?"

"Marine biology!" Lance answered with a bright smile, "It was either astrophysics or that and, well, I'm pretty happy with it. I've always wanted to explore and if I couldn't reach the stars than I'd figure out what the fuck is going on on our own planet."

"Some of the facts he tells me about after class…" Hunk shuddered then turned to Shiro and Adam, "Anyways, could I borrow you two?"

Adam and Shiro nodded and made to follow, but Lance grabbed Hunk's hand, "Where are you going?"

Hunk grinned conspiratorially at Lance and pulled his hand away, "Just over there," he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards a set of picnic tables close to the playground that were piled with food, "we'll be back soon. You and Keith can…entertain each other." He winked not-so-subtly and disappeared completely from Lance's side. Lance wasn't sure whether to thank him or lock him out of their dorm.

Lance turned to give Keith an apologetic smile. He was watching Lance closely, brow furrowed and arms crossed over his chest. Lance tried to not be distracted by the new expanse of skin he was showing off, and the muscles that came with it, but it wasn't easy. He wasn't showing much, just his forearms and a hint of his biceps. He was wearing a black shirt with some art of maybe some band he liked, dark brown cargo pants, and white converse. His black hair was down now, strands curling beautifully around his face and following the line of his jaw. The scar on his cheek was somewhat hidden in the shadows of his hair, along with his eyes. They were so dark that Lance could almost believe they were black.

Lance decided to bite the bullet, "I'm sorry for earlier." He tried, "I kind of have a motormouth and, as hard as I try, I can't seem to fix that." He laughed slightly and watched as Keith's face colored a bit.

He shook his head, "Hard to believe you have the motormouth." Keith's voice was soft and he spoke slowly. Maybe trying to avoid the mess he had become at the store. If he even remembered, "I think that honor goes to me." Or maybe he did?

Lance's smile widened slightly, "I wouldn't say that." He tried to feel him out, "You don't seem to be as much a rambler as I am. I mean, ask literally any of my friends, they'll tell you that you could say three words and I'd talk for three hours without breathing." Lance ran a hand through his hair with a laugh, "Or when I'm nervous. Hunk has this super embarrassing story of when I first met our friend Allura…God, it would've been better if I tripped over my own two feet and ate shit. I just kept going on and on and on. Hunk literally left, like, halfway through because he couldn't stand it." A smile slowly spread on Keith's face and Lance clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms, "Like I'm doing right now. Damn, I never learn."

"Guess you were right about the motormouth thing then." Keith's pace picked up, words stringing together better and shoulders relaxing, "At least we're in the same boat." There was a flash of something across his face and Keith leaned forward slightly, "I met a hot guy Valentine's day and just shoved my foot in my mouth. I still haven't lived it down with Shiro or Adam. I don't think I ever will."

Lance tried not to scream his lungs out. He fucking remembered. And judging from the look in his eyes, he definitely recognized him. Lance played along and laughed, "That's funny. I actually met a hot guy on Valentine's day too. He was a mess."

Keith's face colored deeper, but he seemed determined to push through it, "What a crazy coincidence."

Lance nodded, "What sucks is Hunk and I chased him out of the store so I could try and get his number, but he was gone before I knew it and I moped for weeks afterward. I think Hunk was on the verge of kicking me out of our dorm and making me room with Pidge. That would've been a nightmare. Pidge is friends with all the spiders and roaches in their room since they never clean. They would've made them crawl into all my little nooks and crannies."

That gave Keith pause, "Oh, you- uh…" He laughed a little breathlessly, "You-you wanted his number?"

Lance nodded, and gave Keith his best smile, "It's a shame I couldn't catch him. We would've been going on a date that weekend. Or hell, that night."

Keith's eyes glittered, the shades of blue making their appearance, "What about three months later?"

Lance pretended to consider it, "Well, it'd be one hell of a rain check, but I wouldn't say no."

Keith hummed, "Shame you didn't get his number."

Lance sighed heavily and nodded, "If only the Universe would give me a break and let me run into him somehow."

Keith laughed gently, "Would you, um, would you like to go on a date?" He asked softly, nerves bleeding through, "With me. You- uh, maybe this weekend?"

Lance smiled widely, heart thumping loudly in his chest, "I'd like that a lot." He held out a hand, "Here give me your phone and I'll put my number in." Keith obeyed, pulling out his phone and placing it in Lance's hand, "You can text me all the details and I'll try and not send you paragraphs upon paragraphs of my ramblings." Lance put his name in the contact and put a heart next to it.

Keith shook his head as he took his phone back, "I'd like to read your ramblings. It'd be better than whatever I said."

Lance laughed, "I'm pretty sure anything a dog says would be better than what you said." He teased.

Keith nodded in solemn agreement, "Lucky for me, I think you'll do just fine at keeping the conversation going."

Confidence spiked in Lance and that's what he blames for what he said next, "Wow, we're a match made in Heaven. True soulmates."

Keith didn't respond for a while and Lance felt a boulder fall into his stomach. Keith's head tipped forward and his bangs hid his expression, "I guess so." He murmured, "Good thing the Universe is on our side." He met Lance's gaze through his bangs and Lance wondered once more if he was really this down bad for someone with a mullet.

"Or who knows," Lance shrugged, "maybe the Universe is playing with us. Maybe aliens will invade before our date and kill us all."

Keith watched him for a moment, quiet, then burst into a fit of laughter, "You're right. We are a match made in Heaven."