Chapter Text
A gush of wind made the door move and creak. His phone felt hot against his ear as Lance listened to Coran ramble again, biting the tip of his pinky finger (a nervous habit he’d developed thanks to Keith) and watching his live subscription count because holy shit.
Somewhere in the background he could hear the thump thump of Keith hitting the keys of his keyboard. He’d plugged his headphones in as to not disturb Lance during his phone call, something Lance lowkey hated. Every once in a while he’d hear Keith mumble to himself or scribble something down, and, again, Lance hated that he was unable to fully witness Keith writing his music.
Instead he was in a call meeting with Coran and the executive producer, Kolivan, he’s been in contact with.
“I’ve listened to the files you’ve emailed me, Mr. McClain,” Kolivan began on and Lance’s heart thumped loudly when the last three digits of his subscriber count hit 750. “There’s definitely a spot for you two in the performing arts. Mr. Kogane’s talent for writing is something I haven’t seen in years and it’d be a waste not to give him a chance. You were right to promote his channel.”
“He found Keith all on his own,” Coran added cheerfully. “Means he’s got an eye, or should I say, ear, for this sort of thing, don’t you think?”
“Yes.” Some shuffling, Keith mumbling something to himself and the numbers going up. “So, Mr. McClain, please note that my assistant will email you and Mr. Kogane as soon as possible and that we’re working on a draft contract. I’m hoping the four of us can schedule a meeting as soon as possible and go over the details. As you’ll read in my email, I’m confident about you two and about my team, but I wanted to make sure that you realize that the music industry is different from the YouTube community. You can’t rely on things such as “clickbait”, trendy topics and misleading thumbnails, although the latter could technically be applicable to an additional music video.”
Okay. This was starting to feel like a personal attack, even though Lance was never really the person to use any of those things. “I don’t—”
Apparently Coran thought so, too. “Oh, I can assure you that Lance became known for his original ideas for fun activities, charismatic personality and talent for special effects make-up. Lance and I have gone over these types of, ‘scuse my bluntness, cheap tricks before our partnership, and he’s well aware that I’m not a fan of them.”
“It wasn’t an accusation,” Kolivan said calmly and Lance pressed his lips together, awkward. “A mere warning. I’m not saying that the music industry doesn’t have these types of, as you wisely called them, Coran, cheap tricks, because there are artists who rely on those. The message that I wanted to convey is that he’s about to enter a different industry than he’s used to and that I’m advising him to prepare for that. Again, I’m very confident in my team and both him and Mr. Kogane.”
Lance cleared his throat, slightly taken back by all the praise. “Thank you— ‘hem, for your kind words and advice. I appreciate your confidence in our abilities and I’ll make sure to inform Keith about the upcoming email.”
Creeeak. Keith came out of his closet studio, hair disheveled as if he’d continuously run his hand through it and one arm stretched, revealing a taut stomach that almost, almost made Lance lose it. He appeared to be looking for something, shooting Lance a quick smile as he scanned his room. For a second, a split second, his eyes stayed fixated on the silver plaque, his award for reaching 100K on YouTube, and Lance saw the corners of his lips curling upwards.
Cute.
“I look forward to hearing from you, Mr. McClain,” Kolivan shook him out of his gay thoughts. “We’ll be in touch. Excuse me.”
A small beep and he was gone. His gay thoughts came right back after Keith plopped down right next to him with a notebook he’d grabbed from his desk and, oh, laid a hand on Lance’s knee, hello. The hand was rather innocent, though, and its touch was almost absent, because Keith seemed to be focused on flipping through his notebook.
Coran was still there, though. “A fine gentleman, isn’t he?” he chirped, no malice behind his words because Coran was the definition of sunshine. One of the reasons why Lance picked him.
“Thanks for stickin’ up for me, even though it turned out to be unnecessary,” Lance mumbled, still kinda flustered about that, and started stroking Keith’s back so he had something to do with his hands. It was hard to sit still in these types of situations.
Not that Lance was at all scared to voice his thoughts, no matter who he was talking to, but Keith was involved and he didn’t wanna ruin his boyfriend’s chances with his big, stupid mouth.
“Of course! As I’ve said before, you’re one of my best clients and I’m very, very proud of your achievements. In fact—” Oh, yeah, there it was. “you’re about to hit ten million, aren’t you?”
Yep. 9,999,846 now.
“… I am.” He was stupidly playing with the baby hairs on Keith’s nape and almost snickered when Keith, in turn, kissed the corner of his mouth. Damn hormones were in the way.
“Congratulations on that, Lance. And don’t take Kolivan’s compliments light heartedly, okay? He’s been in the field for over twenty years, so he knows what he’s talking about. You deserve the praise. We both know that you’ve wanted this for a while now and it’s finally here.”
Help. Compliments. Kind words. Lance’s face was heating up and this, sadly, didn’t go unnoticed by Keith who was eyeing him suspiciously.
Not now, dang it.
“Yeah,” he sighed smartly and playfully pushed Keith’s face away from his with a supposedly threatening frown. “Still hard to believe that this is happening and that Keith ‘n I are—” Good, now he had his attention. Keith stopped his advances (Lance had felt a shiver of excitement, though, dang it) and stared at him with curious eyes. “given the chance to record our own song with a team of professionals. I’m seeing him later today, so I’ll discuss everything with him then. This meeting, the email, everything.”
Dumbface practically launched himself off the bed to grab his phone and Lance pinched his own arm to keep himself from laughing.
Coran chuckled. “Good idea. I’m happy to hear that your relationship with him is as genuine as always.” Silence. Lance already knew the question was coming. “Lance, it’s been months since your collaboration with him and I know that I’m not in charge of what you upload, but have you considered my earlier suggestion? You see, going over the contract, having your song approved, finding and hiring a crew, booking the studio— if all goes well, it’ll possibly be another six months before you can record your song, let alone release it, let alone talk about this project on your channel. It’s important to let your audience know that you and him are still working together.”
“I know,” Lance mumbled, fully aware that Coran was indeed right. “You’re talking about us starting a channel together, right?”
“It’s probably too early for that still. I meant that I think now’s the time to film another video with him as a small ‘reminder’, if you will, for your audience. We need to build our way up to your possible song release,” Coran explained carefully and typed something on his computer. “And don’t worry, I saved that list of video ideas my assistant and I made, so I’ll send it to you just in case. It doesn’t have to be your next upload, but I suggest you make a video with him by next month or the one after that at the latest. I’m assuming that you two are comfortable with each other and confident in your masculinity and would therefore have no problem filming any of these.”
Bzz bzz
That was fast.
It wasn’t like he didn’t want to make a video with Keith, but now it’d become an obligation to keep their friendship alive. His audience hadn’t let go of their possible romantic relationship and the risk of the internet finding out grew with every social media interaction and video, so yeah, Lance was a bit worried.
Keith walked back into his room, eyes glued to his phone, looking beyond helpless and Lance knew he was supposed to feel guilty, but this was way too much fun. And he needed Keith to take his handsome face somewhere else, okay.
“Thanks for the list, Coran, and everything else you’ve done for me today. I’ll forward the email to Keith,” Lance spoke, as professional and polite as ever while thumbing at his phone, selecting Keith’s email address. “I’ll do my best to get our collab up as soon as possible.”
“You’re welcome, m’boy,” Coran practically sing-songed. “I take it we’ll be seeing each other at the contract signing soon. Tell Keith I’m looking forward to meeting him in person!”
Lance’s lips curled into a wide grin. “I will. Think it’s safe to say that the feeling’s mutual. Have a good one, Coran.”
“Cheers!”
Click.
The number was at 9,999,866 now, but he couldn’t focus on that now because Keith walked up to the bed until he was standing in between Lance’s legs, brows forever furrowed.
“What email were you talking about.”
Ha, dumbfounded Keith. Lance wanted to enjoy it for a few more seconds and, as if to show compassion, he playfully brushed his foot up Keith’s leg. “The one I just sent you, babe.”
‘Twas way too funny to see Keith get even more confused, sue him. “What. The one with all those clickbaity video ideas?”
“Aww, you don’t think, lemme see—” Lance tapped the email and pretended to read it. “’Guess The Body Part’ is a perfectly good idea for a video? Just bros bein’ bros? Heterosexually letting the other touch a random part of your body while he’s blindfolded?”
That one wasn’t even on the list, but it popped into his head nonetheless and he couldn’t not use it. Lance was failing so hard to keep a straight face. His mouth kept twitching and he was pretty sure his eyes were glittering with mirth. Obviously Keith was not having it and oh, closed his laptop, put it on the nightstand and took its place on Lance’s lap, hello.
“You’re right, I’m all for that,” Keith played along, face blank now, and Lance should’ve known better. Then, to emphasize his point, Keith leaned in closer, held onto Lance’s shoulder for leverage and it took Lance every ounce of mental strength not to react. “In private.”
Damn it. Um. Lance had to step up his game because Keith’s smirk was starting to affect him and he couldn’t let him win.
Wait.
“You’ve finally admitted it!”
Blink, blink. Keith’s nicely shaped brows furrowed and he sat back on his knees, confused once again, and giving Lance a breather. “That I wanna touch you?” More blinking and an unamused snort. “Lance, do we need to go over the whole platonic-touching-thing again?”
Now it was Lance’s turn to smirk because he got Keith right where he wanted. “The blindfolded part.” He kissed Keith, who was still very much confused, on the nose and whispered, “You’re into BDSM.”
A second passed. Two seconds. Three. Then Lance saw the expression on Keith’s face morphing into something very dangerous and braced himself. He hadn’t played that card in a long time.
Keith let out this incredibly hilarious noise of frustration and pushed a guffawing Lance off of him, the tip of his nose a lovely shade of red. “For the love of all that is holy and— that’s it. I’m breaking up with you. We’re done, bye.”
He got up to leave and Lance, still weak from laughter, struggled to gasp out, “Nooo, Keith, my man, babe, mi vida, come back!” Rolling over to the edge of the bed, he managed to grab the back of Keith’s shirt, which, hey, was his shirt, pfff. “I love and accept you for who you are. There’s no kinkshaming in this house.”
“Lance.”
“Yes, dear?”
Okay, maybe he’d taken it too far. Keith turned, grabbed his wrist and, gently but firmly, urged him to sit up until they were somewhat on eye-level. These types of banters weren’t new and the whole BDSM thing had been an inside joke from the start, and Keith had never earnestly complained about it, so why—
Oh. No.
His words. Fuck.
Keith’s eyes sparkled with both amusement and worry. An odd yet alluring look. “Did you just tell me you love me?”
He did.
“… No.”
“Yes, you did.”
He fucking did.
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
Abort. ABORT.
“Nuuupe.” Lance practically launched himself off the bed and did not shriek when Keith tried to grab him. “Ack! Don’t touch me— no, stay back, I didn’t— you didn’t hear anything!”
Death couldn’t be here any sooner. Keith was enjoying every second of this torturous moment and Lance hated him so much right now.
They’d reached the kitchen, Lance almost tripping over Kosmo on his way there because he was walking backwards like a maniac, and uh-oh, he’d backed himself into a corner. His face was on fire and he couldn’t stop himself from squirming. This was so embarrassing. “Don’t.”
“Lance—”
“If you come any closer, I’ll-I’ll…” Think, think. “I dunno, I’ll do something and—”
“Lance.” Keith’s gaze had grown softer and he took a tentative step closer, leaving about an arm-length of distance between them. No teasing, no mischief, just warmth. It freaked him out even more, if he was perfectly honest. “It’s okay.”
Pouting, Lance covered his face with both hands because eye-contact was a no go. “No, it’s not. I wanted it to be at least a tiny bit romantic, y’know?”
Gentle hands pried his own away and Lance was forced to look into Keith’s dark and inviting eyes. It managed calmed him down. “Weren’t you the one who said you didn’t have to make it that big a deal? That you don’t have to worry too much about it?” Shit. Keith’d been there when he said that. “I mean, not gonna lie, you kinda caught me off guard, but… I’m glad you said it.”
Oh. Oh, okay.
Lance’s heart was being unhealthy, beating like there was no tomorrow, and he let out this odd sound. “Uh, you are?”
Nod. “Yeah. ‘Cause,” a breath and another step. Chest to chest. Fingers intertwined. “I love you, too.”
Oh. Oh, yeah, this was happening.
“… Great. Good. Glad we established that,” Lance continued to humiliate himself, much to Keith’s enjoyment. “Now can you please let go of my hand so I can run off screaming?”
“Hm,” Keith pretended to contemplate and placed a featherlight kiss on the corner of his mouth. Lance’s poor heart couldn’t take it. Didn’t matter that Keith had already done it a hundred times. “No. I wanna stay here—” A looong kiss that was seriously damaging Lance’s health. “and kiss you.”
Patpatpat. Apparently Kosmo disagreed. He’d joined the scene and was nudging Keith’s calf with his nose, sniffing and whining and Lance snickered when Keith blinked comically at the interruption.
“What is it?” Keith turned to his husky and bent through his knees, smile widening when Kosmo whined again, nosing Keith’s cheek and neck, making him laugh quietly. “Okay, you wanna go out, I get it.” He rose back to his feet and Lance’s heart fluttered some more when he took ahold of his chin. “I’ll be back in twenty.”
“Are you scared we’re gonna bang in the park if I come with or somethin’?”
Back to the way they were. “Something like that.” Whatever that meant, ha. His hand crawled up until he was holding Lance’s cheek. “Don’t run off screaming while I’m gone.”
Another kiss. A much softer one this time as it involved nothing more than a few lazy movements of their lips. It lasted several heartbeats in which Lance squeezed Keith’s waist and mumbled, “Not going anywhere,” and Keith responded by circling his arms around his neck and laying their foreheads together.
“I love you.”
Hmm. Lance bit down a grin and failed. Hard. They were swaying back and forth a little, something they’d never done before. Today was a day for a lot of firsts, it seemed. “Love you, too.”
And that was how Lance ended up sitting on the bed like a loser gay who’d just accidentally confessed his love to his boyfriend while making fun of him. Life was absolutely fantastic.
No, it actually was because:
9,999,971.
He got out his phone so he could capture this moment for his social media. It was only a matter of minutes before he’d reach ten million and he had every reason to gloat and show off, right?
Right.
After fixing his hair and shirt in the selfie camera, he switched cameras and started recording.
“Guys, look, look!” he babbled aimlessly and zoomed in and out a couple of times, too excited and hyper to say or do anything coherent, so going off like a child it was. “Can you believe this is happening? ‘Cause I certainly can’t, oh my god, I’m about to reach ten million subscribers!”
“Keith Releases his Inner SFX Make-Up Artist on Me”
----------------------------------------------------------------------
AnxietyFueled 1 hour ago
i fucking spat out my coffee when keith smeared blue facepaint all over lance with his bare hands
365 thumbs up
----------------------------------------------------------------------
beesRimportant 7 hours ago
THESE TWO ARE SO INTO EACH OTHER ISTG #klance
5.2k thumbs up
----------------------------------------------------------------------
pancakesloveme 9 hours ago
it’s not queerbaiting if they’re already a couple guys calm down
6.8k thumbs up
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wea Boo 3 hours ago
Congrats on hitting 10m Lance!!! we STAN our cuban cutie ❤️
#mcdreamer #klance
210 thumbs up
----------------------------------------------------------------------
flowercrownqueen 7 hours ago
lance sweetie ur gay is showing
5.5k thumbs up
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pidgy: congrats on the 10m loverboy
Me: !!!!!! thank youuuuu <33
Pidgy: can i just say tho
Me: what
Pidgy: u guys were literally giggling throughout the entire video
Pidgy: GIGGLING lance
Me: finding humor in the little things is important
Pidgy: there was nothing straight about that video and u know it
Me: that was the Straightest™ video I’ve ever made water u talkin about
Pidgy: smfh
It was like Lance had hopped on a high-speed train and was unable to fully, consciously take in every stop. His days seemed too short, even though his alarm would screech him out of his sleep at five and he’d go to sleep at twelve. Coffee pumped through his veins to keep him from falling asleep during the day, like, he was pretty sure he was sweating caffeine and Keith was just nice enough not to complain about it because he was such a gentleman. Yes, they’d started going to the gym together, which was one of the best and worst things ever for several reasons.
Poor Lance had to run around like a headless chicken because of the Summer Specials – three videos per week to keep his audience, mainly teenagers, entertained and interested now that they had lots of free time.
On top of that, they’d gone over the new contract with Kolivan and had to go through several more processes before they were allowed to come near a studio. The good news, though, was that Kolivan seemed to be interested in recording a music video, too, so that was one of the main reasons why Lance and Keith were practically living in the gym now.
After that, they were sent on their way back home, but not before Coran had grabbed Lance’s elbow and pulled him into his private office.
Peachy.
“What’s going on?” Keith had asked with a small frown once Lance came back out, sunglasses perched on top of his head and twirling his car keys around his index, easy grin plastered on his face.
Instead of answering, Lance swung an arm around his neck and lowered his sunglasses. “All in good time, buddy.” Keith, skeptical, opened his mouth to retort, but Lance cupped his hand over his ear dramatically and murmured, “Wait, shh, shh, you hear that?”
Both were silent for a solid five seconds in which Keith looked around in the empty hallway curiously and Lance kept his eyes fixed on a random corner. Nothing but white noise.
“… Hear what.”
“The sound of you shutting up.”
The chase to the car was totally worth it.
Somewhere in between all the chaos, he’d celebrated his birthday, Skyped with his family and um, introduced Keith to them. It wasn’t as intimidating as he thought it would be thanks to everyone reacting with adorable enthusiasm and Keith’s grounding presence next to him. Before Lance could cut in, his mom had invited Keith over for Christmas because, “Lance takes time out of his busy schedule and visits us every year during Christmas and New Year’s Eve, so why don’t you come with him? We’d love to meet you!”
And of course, Keith being his somewhat awkward self, nodded with a small, “Sure.”
So, that was a thing. Keith was gonna meet his family. Totally not a big deal, or anything. Ugh, Lance was already mentally preparing for Veronica’s endless amount of teasing, his mother’s overly sweet compliments, Rachel’s meaningful looks, his cousins’ inappropriate questions, and oh no, he was not looking forward to this.
No time to dwell on those annoying worries, though. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Lance could barely keep up with the clock and had come to the point where he needed to set alarms for lunch and dinner. He constantly had meetings with Coran, with Kolivan and his team, had to get a new camera and mic somewhere along the way, come up with new video ideas, work on his own songs, and oh yeah, find time for his social life.
There were days where Hunk had to drag him away from his laptop and force him to sit his ass down and watch a movie with him. There were days where Allura would call him up and complain about the fact that he hadn’t come over to visit her on the job. There were days where Pidge, of all people, followed him into his room and quietly sat on the bed before he’d give in and give her attention.
“Aww, I knew you loved my hugs.”
She squeezed him tighter and buried her face in his chest. “Shut up.”
Keith insisted on practicing vocals whenever he could to avoid any more “rustiness” and to prepare Lance for the recording. It was, what Lance liked to call it, heavenly hell. Sitting in Keith’s small closet studio, having his boyfriend touching him in the most casual yet teasing ways to get the best— results.
Seriously, being able to nail a D5 had been totally worth it. Especially because Keith looked so proud and kissed him for a good two minutes, whispering, “Fuckin’ knew you could do it, you’re amazing,” over and over and over again.
Ah, life. ‘Twas good sometimes. Especially when an oblivious Keith had come back to his apartment to walk into a surprise party and had dragged Lance out to the hallway to thank him in private, which had turned into a little more than that until Shiro cleared his throat loudly and told Keith to get in and unwrap his presents.
Life also came with other kinds of surprises, though.
Honestly, he should’ve seen it coming. And it wasn’t like Lance hadn’t worried about it earlier, but there it was.
“You’re moving out?”
A minute ago he and Keith were making out in the hallway and now—
“Yeah?” Hunk’s grin was stuck between faltering and widening. Both hilarious and kinda disturbing. “Well, I mean, not right now, but we’ve starting looking for a new place—”
“Wait, you don’t wanna live here?” Lance pointed at the floor of their living room for emphasis and blinked at him. “I thought that-that you guys would take over this apartment and that I’d have to move out. That’s not the case?”
He’d had several inner monologues about this. Yeah, he hadn’t even told Keith about the possibility of having to move out because, well, he didn’t wanna scare Keith away by saying, “Yes, hello, I know I just told you I love you. By the way, I probably have to move out soon,” and running the risk of Keith reading way too much into that rather innocent statement.
“We’ve considered it,” Hunk admitted and ran a hand down their dining table with a sentimental look. “but I’ve wanted to move out of this apartment for a while now, y’know. It’s been almost six years. Don’t get me wrong, you’re a great roommate and I love living with you, that’s not the problem.”
A giddy smile found its way to Lance’s face. “’course you do. I’m a joy to be around.”
Hunk’s face fell. “You are and I’m really gonna miss you.”
Ow. It was starting to hurt. Lance cleared his throat and folded his arms over his chest, shifting his weight to one leg. “So, um, you guys find anything yet? We gonna have to call the landlord and everything?”
“Not to be that guy, but with your income—”
“Hunk—”
“I’m serious!” Hunk threw up his hands in defense while Lance felt the heat creep up his neck. “You can easily afford to live here by yourself. Like, you reached a new milestone and got a new sponsor recently, didn’t you?”
He did, ha. There was also a new, popular brand that had contacted him a couple of weeks ago and Lance had nearly fainted when he saw the email. And called Coran because wow.
And, heh, his bank account was definitely throwing a party.
So was his subscriber count.
Things were going really well with Lance’s channel and yes, he was happy about that, but he couldn’t help thinking that he’d reach his peaking point soon.
“Yeah,” Lance sighed, his face a little more flushed than usual. “I did. Still, I don’t think I’m allowed to live here by myself. I’d have to call the landlord to make sure.”
He didn’t like the look on Hunk’s face. “You could ask Keith—”
“No.”
“Lance—”
“Nu-uh, it’s way too soon, dude!” Lance sat on the edge of their couch, starting to feel a little sentimental from the casual action. He fingered the cushions and toyed with the edges, feeling nostalgia creeping up on him. Hunk practically crumbled under his watery gaze. “Hunk. Who’s gonna take the couch?”
There were a few seconds of dramatic silence before Hunk sniffled and pulled him close for a deadly hug. “Aw, man! I’m gonna miss you!”
“Me, too!” Lance yelled back, but tugged on his sleeve nonetheless. “I’m serious about the couch, though.”
“Lance!”
“It’s my favorite couch!”
The front door burst open and Lance nearly toppled off said favorite couch for the umpteenth time in his life while Hunk made some weird ass ninja move with his arms in defense.
“Yooo, why the fuck are we yelling?” Of course it was Pidge. She was totally rockin’ the new, shorter hair, though, and Lance was not afraid to inwardly brag to himself that he was the one who suggested a new haircut. Okay, anyway, she loosened her scarf, reached into her bag and fished out a pile of paper. “I have news! Y’all better sit down and—” It was then that she noticed their position. “Did I interrupt a bro moment?”
They must’ve looked really weird, so Hunk awkwardly took a step back and Lance made a show to straighten his shirt. “Nothin’ wrong with a little manly hugging, right, Hunk?”
Never mind, Hunk was practically vibrating with excitement again, just like when Lance had gotten home. “Shay and I are gonna move in together!”
Pidge’s mouth twitched. Her hand holding the pile shot up. “I got an internship at the lab!”
Okay, so Lance did hit the floor this time because his inner drama queen was losing her shit. Hunk wasn’t doing any better. “What?!”
“Congrats!”
“You, too!”
Both Hunk and Pidge stared at him. Lance stared back from his spot on the floor, not caught up. “What.”
“Your turn. Any life-changing news you wanna share with us?”
Well. Um. He and Keith had said their “I love you”s, they’d finally recorded their single the other day, Keith had quit his job (“I’m making enough money now. I don’t need another source of income anymore and can use the extra time to focus on writing and helping you with your vocals.” Sniff. “Keith, I’m so happy for you, oh my god.”), Kolivan and Coran were arranging everything for a possible music video, Lance had plans, and yeah, that was about it.
“Oh, y’know…” Lance began, all vague and mysterious, unsure whether he should keep everything a surprise or not. “Keith ‘n I are doing great, he’s gonna celebrate Christmas with me and my family— stop looking at me like that, and we’re um, I’m— we’ve been working on our own single.”
Lance was forced to spend the night with them so they could truly catch up and they ended up falling asleep on that stupid couch.
It wasn’t long before Hunk moved out and Lance stayed behind in their apartment. The landlord had absolutely no trouble with Lance living in a two bedroom apartment by himself as long as he was able to pay his rent, so there was that. Hunk had been right in saying that Lance could easily afford it, but…
It was kinda lonely. Having the bathroom and his kitchen to himself was great, not to mention the extra room he used for all his YouTube equipment— didn’t take away the fact that it was quiet.
So, um. Lance had given Keith a key.
Yeah. A key. It wasn’t like they were living together, or anything, ha, no. Keith just had a key to his apartment. And in turn, Lance got a spare key to Keith’s apartment. It wasn’t a big thing, no, because they still lived a couple of hours away from each other, but they decided it was symbolic.
Or something.
Again, not a big deal. Pidge also had a key in case of emergencies—
Okay, maybe it was a big deal. Shut up.
Anyway, it was Friday night and Lance was lounging on that very special couch Hunk had left him, nose literally buried in one of his favorite Harry Potter books, because he was basic like that, lost his glasses and he finally had a day off, okay. And, of course, didn’t hear the door opening and closing. Or the distant patpatpat.
“Are you making out with that book?”
Dignity whomst. Lance threw the book up in the air with a high-pitched screech, leaped off the couch and was ready to attack whoever had disturbed him in his—
Oh, it was Keith.
That thot was standing there, hair and shoulders covered in snow, that damn key in one of his gloved hands, and holding his guitar case with the other.
Was this a… surprise sleepover? Calm down, Lance. They were both adults and in a relationship, pfff.
He had yet to think of a comeback/explanation/recovery. Couldn’t think of anything, though, so he opted for pouting. “Shut up, I dunno where my glasses are.”
Kosmo had found him and was trying to climb him to show him some love and Lance was so invested in giving the husky his well deserved cuddles, that he didn’t notice Keith coming up behind him and kissing his nape.
“Don’t worry, it’s cute,” he mumbled and Lance was weak.
“You stayin’ here for the weekend?”
For a minute there, he thought he spotted some hesitance in Keith’s stance. Holding onto the strap of his case, worrying his bottom lip and giving Lance a somewhat uneasy look through his eyelashes. “Well, you texted me that you don’t like being alone and I had to drop Adam off for another conference again, so, uh, if you’re busy, that’s fine, too, obviously.”
Sometimes, meaning once-in-a-blue-moon-sometimes, Keith would do this. And by this Lance meant become somewhat shy and tentative, vulnerable even, something Lance had only ever seen twice or maybe three times in their time spent together.
“Keith, if you, for some silly reason, think that your presence is a nuisance to me, then you’re completely—” Keith’s lips were already curling into a smile and then Lance decided to be mean. “… right.”
It was the calm before the storm. Keith eyed him for a good five seconds, dark eyes slowly but surely narrowing down to slits while Lance snickered uncontrollably, which became panicked shrieks of laughter when Keith slowly put his guitar case down, face expressionless except for his pursed lips, turned to him, and whispered, “Run.”
The timing couldn’t be more perfect. A weekend off with Keith was everything Lance wanted, needed and more. It was oddly endearing to watch Keith brush his teeth while Lance changed into his PJs after their (ahem) shower, something he’d seen over a hundred times already, but it felt different now that Hunk didn’t live here anymore. Now that Keith had used his key.
Sap alert.
Lance went to the living room to turn off the lights, smiling at Kosmo who was curled up on a blanket he’d bought, and climbed into bed afterwards. All nice ‘n snuggly. Mm, happy noises. More happy noises when Keith joined him for cuddles and lazy kisses. Like, he was close to purring like a cat and slung a leg over Keith’s hips, practically trying to smoosh himself into his boyfriend.
Eh, it’d been a stressful couple of months. He could use a break and Keith was more than happy to oblige, letting his fingers glide over Lance’s spine in soothing circles while placing small kisses on his forehead and cheek.
Neither of them spoke.
Until, well, the kisses became a little less innocent. Lance honestly wasn’t sure who started it, all he knew was that Keith was now on top of him, kissing him in between sharp intakes of breath, and Lance was drowning in it.
‘Twas all part of Keith’s privilege as his boyfriend. He could demand kisses and attention whenever he wanted and who was Lance to deny him of said privilege?
Surely, after a few minutes, he noticed that Keith was losing composure and that he was grinding down, which made them both pull back for a bit. Lance felt it, too. The urge to move his hips, press his groin against Keith’s and kiss him more aggressively. Maybe Keith simply wanted to return the favor for what Lance had given him in the shower, hm.
No time to think. Lance rolled his head back when Keith’s lips found his neck, suckling on his pulse point, causing Lance to become more incoherent by the second.
“Keith. We’re gonna make a-ah mess,” he slurred, voice small and fragile.
“Mm, don’t care.”
Keith’s natural raspy voice had become even raspier and breathier, fueling Lance’s desire. His hands on Keith’s waist traveled down to slip under his PJs and boxers, firmly grasping his ass and making Keith gasp and press their bodies closer together. It drove Lance to lightly bite into his shoulder and dig his nails into Keith’s skin, which was enough for another stutter of Keith’s hips, almost sending him into overdrive.
Within less than three seconds, he’d turned the tables and was now on all fours, staring down at Lance who was doing a rather good job at keeping it cool.
“Taking control again?”
Keith shut him up by leaning down and taking his fleshy bottom lip between his teeth and tugging ever so slightly, to which Lance responded by gnawing on his cupid’s bow and enjoying the low growl he got in response.
Fingers pulled at the drawstrings and Lance complied, lifting his hips so Keith could take his pants off and lay his palm against Lance’s obvious erection through his boxers. Lance, flushed and sweaty with arousal, eyed him accusingly and Keith clicked his tongue, leaning down again.
“Yes,” he whispered against Lance’s throbbing lips. “Sweet. Fucking. Control.”
Fuck everything. It was only a matter of seconds before they were both undressed and Lance’s breaths came out as lousy, shuddery puffs.
Every single nerve was on high alert, causing his skin to tingle like crazy. His plump lips were red and covered in small marks due to him biting them ever since Keith started kissing his neck. Blood pounded in his ears and throat, making it even harder to breathe properly.
More soft and gentle kisses were placed all over his collarbone and chest, lingering on every spot to gave it the proper amount of attention before it became slightly red. Keith made sure to keep massaging his trembling thighs, his thumb dangerously close to his inner thigh as if to make sure he wouldn’t be driven over the edge just yet, but Lance was already seeing stars.
He couldn’t remember being this aroused. Ever. It was almost painful. He was shaking all over, barely able to breathe, all his other senses clouded because he was so incredibly in love with the feeling of Keith’s mouth on his body, treating him so gently and making sure that he could enjoy every single second. Goosebumps had appeared all over his body, from head to toe, enhancing his sense of touch even more, making every single movement of Keith’s lips ten times more intense.
“Jesus, you’re way too good at this,” Lance babbled breathily and opened his eyes to see his boyfriend smirking up at him.
“I know.”
They intertwined their fingers, squeezing them tightly for support. Lance was clutching the duvet with his other hand, gripping it every few seconds for dear life before he let it slip through his fingers again because he couldn’t muster up any leftover strength.
His hips bucked involuntarily every now and then before they slowed down into gentle rocking motions, unconsciously moving them closer to Keith’s hand, which finally slipped under the elastic band.
With a choked gasp, Lance threw his head back against the pillows, clenching Keith’s arm between his sweaty thighs as he let out a rather loud groan. His rapid heart that was hammering against his chest did a small jump before it went back to its unusual fast pace, creating continuous jolts and spasms throughout his body.
“It’s okay,” Keith muttered against his neck and suckled lightly on his already hardened nipple while he started to pump him. “You don’t have to hold back for me.”
Those words caused Lance’s breathing to get even harsher and he reached for the bed’s headboard to grasp it tightly for support. It was as if someone had lit a fire in his stomach and it was spreading rapidly to his groin, his pelvis responding to it by leaning into Keith’s hand to create more friction.
Their hands separated, only for Keith to focus on his other nipple. Lance couldn’t stop a broken moan from escaping upon feeling the devilish yet delicious combination of Keith jerking him off while touching and sucking on his chest. Curling his toes, he bucked his hips a few more times, feeling himself getting closer and closer to edge.
Lance gritted his teeth as Keith sucked a bit more aggressively on his skin while increasing the speed of his hand, his overstimulated brain not able to process everything happening at once, making him lose the ability to think straight. He could only feel Keith’s teeth grazing his nipple, the other one being twisted between his forefinger and thumb and his dick getting taken care of by his boyfriend’s moist hand.
“Feels like I’m on f-fire,” Lance whispered to no one in particular.
“Good.”
Hot breath ghosted over his chest before he could feel Keith’s lips closing around his almost painful erection. The headboard creaked loudly as Lance pressed against it with both hands, heels digging into the duvet, knees shaking and heart hammering so aggressively against his chest he honestly thought it was gonna burst. His eyes rolled back and his mouth fell open to gulp in the much needed air.
Hands rubbed over his chest and ribs, eventually going to hips to hold him down because his bucking was starting to get desperate. Lance practically slammed his hands against the wall, something he’d never done before, but he was losing complete control of his body’s movements. All he could think about was the way Keith licked him over and over again, thumbs caressing his hipbones in a soothing way, which kept him somewhat grounded, but his arousal was engulfing him.
Lance whined quietly into his arm, too overwhelmed at this point to function properly. One of Keith’s hands crawled up to his stomach, stroking it in a reassuring way and Lance grasped it, holding onto it as some sort of leverage.
“’m close,” he managed to croak out. A particularly hard suck pulled another whine out of him. “Ff— ooh, keep going, keep going.”
He was desperate for just a few more seconds. So close, so close. Gritting his teeth, Lance’s upper body involuntarily shot up, breaths coming out in messy huffs as the pull in his abdomen became almost overwhelming. His abs clenched and unclenched, over and over again, and his mouth dropped open, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
All of the signs didn’t go unnoticed by Keith. His teeth grazed Lance’s pulsing dick for the briefest moment and pulled back with a lewd yet sexy hum before he wrapped his free hand around Lance and gave a few more sharp tugs.
“Holy shit,” Keith murmured to himself, or Lance, he couldn’t tell. All Lance knew was that Keith was right and that he was probably about to have one of the best orgasms of his life.
Almost, nearly there. He was about to lose his mind.
“Ngh, Keith, holy— god, don’t stop, don’t—”
His hips shot up one last time as he came in several spurts, dribbling all over Keith’s hand. Black and white spots danced in front of his eyes, his entire body relaxed and he felt himself practically becoming one with the mattress. Lance’s chest heaved as he panted like an animal, still holding Keith’s hand as he continued to enjoy those few seconds of pure bliss.
Keith stroked his thigh as he basked in the afterglow of his orgasm and Lance vaguely noticed him reaching for the nightstand to grab a tissue to clean them up. His nerve endings were still on red alert, so he gasped when he felt Keith gently cleaning up his stomach.
Didn’t matter that they’d done this many times already. It was still fairly new and something he had to get used to.
“Sorry,” Keith chuckled and pressed a chaste kiss on the spot afterwards, laughing even harder when Lance buried his face in one of the pillows to hide his red cheeks, only able to form incoherent words.
Because tummy kisses, what.
He threw his arms up, his body still a bit shaky from their intense moment and looked up at Keith who was hovering above him on all fours with a lovely smile. A hand reached out to brush his sweaty bangs out of his eyes before Keith leaned down and kissed him, cupping his jaw with both hands and whispering sweet nothings against his wet lips, making Lance melt all over again.
“Mm, you’re amazing at that,” he murmured, still hazy, lashes fluttering because he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
Keith’s rumbling laughter ghosted over his bitten lips as he carefully dropped himself next to Lance, eyes never leaving. “You already said that.” Humming, he nipped at the bite marks on his cupid’s bow before he draped the blankets over their bodies. “Makes me wonder if I overdid it.”
“Noo, you didn’t,” Lance reassured and mockingly glared at his ass of a boyfriend who started laughing even harder, obviously joking. “Taking advantage of the weak, I see. I’m dating a horrible person.”
“A horrible person wouldn’t have given you a mind-blowing orgasm.”
Somehow arrogance looked good on Keith. Made him more interesting and attractive. Probably because he often didn’t let it show that he knew he was good at certain things (ha) and ugh, it made Lance feel really special. Made his heart dance and his insides curl.
Their proximity didn’t exactly help. Nose to nose, forehead to forehead, breathing shakily into each other’s mouths and Lance couldn’t handle it.
In that moment, for some reason, he felt so small. He’d never had these types of intimate moments of aftercare with anyone. Sure, it involved some kissing and cuddling, but he and Keith were kind of just— staring at each other. Keith was absently rubbing his side while Lance held onto his hand, palm probably sweaty.
“I love you.”
Lance hummed happily. “I love you, too.”
He looked down at their intertwined fingers, eyes fixed on the small scars once more, but he didn’t open his mouth. The timing didn’t feel right. They were both tired, not to mention high on hormones, and Lance didn’t want to ruin it by bringing up those scars.
Keith followed his line of vision and shifted, the tips of their noses bumping. “You can ask if you want.”
His voice was unnaturally calm and Lance, for some reason, felt vulnerable in his presence. They were both still naked, their sweaty legs entangled, surrounded by the smell of sex and Lance heard the distant snoring of Kosmo in the background. The situation was odd yet familiar. As if they’d been together for years upon years and were having an everyday conversation about the grocery list, but something was still off.
“I can?”
A nod. “Mhm.”
Lips parted but no words came out. Deep breaths. He gnawed on his throbbing lower lip and closed his eyes. “What happened to your hand?”
For some reason Kosmo’s muffled snoring became deafening. It filled the silence between them for Keith had yet to answer. Lance looked down at the sheets, listening to the sound of skin brushing against the duvet as their feet touched. Grounding and reassuring for both of them.
“I punched a brick wall when my dad died.”
Lance kept his eyes closed this time, too scared to open them. He didn’t know how to respond, other than a typical, “I’m so sorry,” but he wasn’t sure whether Keith needed any kind of response in the first place, so he remained silent, squeezing his hand.
“He was my dad and I couldn’t— I’m—” Sigh. Lance’s chest felt hollow. “I couldn’t do anything. My mom was stationed overseas and my dad was a firefighter. The memories that I have of my mom mainly consist of flashes of her face and voice because I was barely four or five years old. My dad was basically a single father and did his best to take care of me, but I, of course, kept asking him about mom and when she’d be back. His eyes would fill with dread ‘n— it still fucks me up to this day. He’d always tell me she’d come back and that I had to be patient, but one day he told me that she, um, wouldn’t.”
Pause. Keith’s hand was shaking against his and Lance was having trouble regulating his breathing. It was warm under the blankets, but he was cold.
“The house was deadly quiet. I was six, barely knew what was going on, didn’t really have anyone to talk to outside of school, and did my best to lighten the weight on his shoulders. He was miserable, I could tell, even though he never once shed a tear in front of me. Not even at her funeral. He simply stood there like a statue, staring ahead and it’s just— it’s beyond messed up,” Keith continued on, voice thick and hoarse. “I thought I didn’t cry because I didn’t even know her that well. Could barely remember what she looked like, but I didn’t cry because he didn’t.”
His jaw ticked. “You didn’t know,” Lance whispered.
Keith shook his head and scrunched up his nose. “I didn’t.” He cleared his throat and looked back up at Lance, dark eyes rimmed red. “I think he was trying to be strong for both of us, that there was no time to grieve— he still had me to take care of. He never remarried or got a new girlfriend, because he didn’t wanna betray her, which I get, but it was like he was punishing himself for something he didn’t do. Didn’t allow himself to be happy and on top of that, he didn’t allow himself to hurt. The only thing he could do was drop me off at school, go to work and let me hug him while he watched TV at night until um… you know.”
One single tear slipped out and trickled down the bridge of his flushed nose and Lance wasn’t doing any better.
“I was seven. Dragged to an orphanage. Didn’t have time to process until I was put in a small room, told that someday a warm, new family would adopt me and that they were so sorry for my loss,” Keith continued and the grip on Lance’s hand tightened. It hurt, but he didn’t dare to let go. “My roommate at the time asked me what my story was and that’s when it hit me, I guess. That I was alone because both of my parents were fucking good people and died risking their lives for others. That I was powerless and at a loss.” A very unsettling chuckle that sent shivers down Lance’s spine. “I remember this part so vividly. My eyes were filled with tears when I finished telling him my story. I was so confused, not sure what to think or what to do. That kid saw that I was about to bawl my eyes out and said that big boys don’t cry. That it’s weak.”
Ah. Something Lance could relate to. Sadly.
“My dad’d never cried in front of me, either, and I don’t think I ever saw the boys crying at school, so it kinda made sense to me. Instead of crying like a normal person, I forced myself to calm down and tried to sleep it off, but everything fucking hurt. And it didn’t go away, no matter what I did. It felt like there were hands wrapped around my throat, that there was a-a heavy weight on my chest, a hole in the pit of my stomach— it was driving me insane. Didn’t matter that the people at the orphanage were nice to me and were there for me, because I felt like I was all alone there. After a couple of weeks, I— snapped. Punched a wall until my knuckles were bleeding, but apparently I was sane enough to stop myself before I broke my wrist.”
“Keith, that is so fucked up.”
“The gloves are his.” Lance remembered that from their very first conversation. “Said they were his dad’s and that he wanted me to have them. It’s kinda ironic that I wear them over the scars, don’t you think?”
“It makes sense,” was all Lance could say and Keith nuzzled his forehead with a small, defeated noise. “It does. All of it. You bottled everything up for so long and you were young and impressionable. You didn’t know what else to do.”
“Yeah,” Keith breathed and gave him a watery smile. “I’m not emotionally constipated, though. Not anymore. A year later I got adopted by Shiro and his parents. After Shiro heard what happened, he took me to this deserted place and told me to… cry and not hold back any longer. Said he’d wait until I was done, no matter how long it’d take.” Frowning, Keith squeezed his eyes shut for a second and sucked in his bottom lip. “Think I cried for, I dunno, maybe three or four hours. He’d take me there every time I had to cry because I never felt comfortable crying in front of anyone else.”
“Is that,” Lance started, tentative, quiet, and ran his other hand up Keith’s arm to comfort him, but he was unable to look him in the eye. Everything felt so very fragile. His voice was barely above a whisper. “why you started writing music?”
But the wall was already down.
Keith nudged him with his nose to bring back the eye-contact, his smile becoming more earnest. “Yeah.”
Lance thought about that one song Keith uploaded on New Year’s. The first song that had lyrics, raw lyrics, that had made Lance curl up on his bed and hug his pillow close.
It’d been an escape.
Funnily enough, Keith had found a beautiful outlet. Writing and composing music was where he allowed himself to express emotions and god, Lance felt like a train just ran him over.
“Thank you for telling me.”
There was no response, but Lance didn’t expect or needed one.
Everything felt different now. Sure, Lance had written songs about messed up stuff, too, but it felt so minimal compared to this. At least his mom let him cry when he was little and, hell, had put up a video of himself crying over his breakup with Allura for the entire world to see. Keith, on the other hand, hadn’t known crying was okay until Shiro told him and even now, Lance wasn’t sure whether he was holding back because only one single tear had slipped out, but he wasn’t gonna push any further.
“Lance.”
“Mm.”
“Hey.” Lance blinked when Keith slung an arm over his shoulder, hand reaching up to cradle the back of his neck, fingers scratching at his scalp. “I’m okay now. You’re thinking too much.”
“No, I’m not,” Lance defended and pressed his nose in the crook of Keith’s elbow to hide his face. It smelled nice and familiar. “I feel bad, because I can’t say anything to make it better. I’m supposed to be good at comforting people and you’re just lying there with a stupid smile on your face.”
Warm lips placed a kiss above his eyebrow. “Because I’m here with you. S’all I need right now.”
He couldn’t help it. That was one of the most romantic things Keith had ever said. The corners of his lips pulled up and mischievous eyes met tender ones. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” They mirrored the mischievousness and Lance felt a whole ‘nother level of dread washing over him. “Especially since we’re naked.”
Fuck.
“Oh, my god, you totally ruined the moment.”
And finally, finally, Keith laughed wholeheartedly and Lance felt the lovely butterflies in his stomach. “Couldn’t help myself. You looked like a sad, little puppy and I wanted to fix it.”
Lance playfully nipped at the sensitive skin of his elbow and Keith grunted, offended at the sudden attack. “This was about you, not me, idiot.”
“Mm, dunno if you’ve noticed, but I don’t really like bein’ in the spotlight,” Keith countered and damn, he had a point, and Lance clicked in tongue in annoyance. How Keith managed to bounce back so easily— was something they had in common, Lance suddenly realized. “And you do, so…”
Fuck. “Oh, so that’s how we’re gonna play?” Familiar territory and— shit, fingers sliding down the curve of his back, dangerously close to his bare ass. “Seriously.”
He was pulled into a kiss. Their chests touched and Lance let out a long breath through his nose, his tingly lips loving the attention more than anything. He gave into the sensation of drowning in everything that was Keith. His strong arms holding him, the lingering smell of his shampoo and toothpaste, his bangs brushing against Lance’s forehead, the soft fingertips running over the small groove on the back of his neck, his prominent canines digging into his lips.
It was almost too much. Almost like he was getting high on this. His head kept wanting to loll back and make more room for those neck kisses and bites that Keith loved to give, his arms felt heavy from a weightless pressure and something in his stomach twisted uncontrollably.
At least Keith was leaning over him now, chuckling against his sweaty skin and pressing his lips against his jawline, over and over again.
[Processing 73%]
Description was done, the title was perfect and the thumbnail said it all. YouTube had already generated a link that he could post on his other socials, but this video probably didn’t need any promotion. Lance knew, oh he knew this video would make its way into the trending list. Hell, maybe this video would be his most popular one.
Possibly his most hated one.
And that was okay.
That was fine.
[Processing 81%]
It was a twenty-minute long video. No wonder it was taking so long. It wasn’t like Lance’s hands were shaking or anything. Wasn’t like he was breathing heavily and that his heart was going batshit crazy. Wasn’t like the endless amount of processing was making his head spin.
Keith was sitting behind him, squeezing his free hand, keeping him sane and grounded. The grip was strong, but not uncomfortable. His heartbeat against Lance’s heart was not too steady, either.
[Processing 89%]
Neither spoke.
[Processing 93%]
“You’re absolutely sure?” Keith whispered against his nape.
[Processing 96%]
“I am.”
[Processing 98%]
Silence.
[Processing done!]
Lance trembling fingers moved the mouse, set the video to public and hovered near the [Done] button for one more second before he clicked. “There.”
A second passed.
Another one.
Few more.
Deep breath in. Hold for four. Out.
It was only a matter of minutes. Either that, or his fanbase had seen the title and thumbnail of the video on their phone and hadn’t even bothered to tap the notification. This was what Coran had warned him about if he’d decide to go through with this. If that were the case, though, and his subscribers were leaving him, then he’d have to start all over.
Bzz bzz
Bzz bzz
Bzz bzz
Bzz bzz
Bzz bzz
Bzz bzz
… Or not.
His phone started blowing up with notifications and Lance bit the tip of his tongue as he watched the comments coming in at fifteen per second. Ha. That had to be a new record.
His other phone lit up with texts. Their friends were part of the notification squad, too, and Lance scanned his lockscreen real quick.
Pidgy: holy shit lance
Lura: So proud of you
Hunk: !!!!!!!!
Hunk: I DDINT’ KNOW YOU W ER E GONNA DO THIS HOLY MOTHER OF
Even a text from Veronica.
Vero: you’re gonna break the internet you idiot
Vero: good job
“Veronica’s right,” Keith muttered under his breath as he watched Lance’s work phone buzzing endlessly. “This is fucking insane. Don’t you wanna turn it off?”
“No, I’m good.” Lance looked at the computer screen. Looked at the views going up and up and the subscriber count in the other tab doing well, too.
Fingers curled around his hip. “We’re doin’ this.”
“We are,” Lance breathed, having yet to come down from the high of the adrenaline.
Dozens of people were subscribing to their new channel already and Lance couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Their channel, their music channel, was already close to reaching a thousand subscribers and Lance made a small noise of excitement, bringing their joined hands to his face to press his lips against Keith’s knuckles.
Bzz bzz
Pidgy: [image]
“Well,” Keith started dryly as Lance opened the attached image with a laugh. “she’s not wrong.”
It was a screenshot of her YouTube notification, a squiggly red heart drawn around the thumbnail in which they were kissing, different heart emojis surrounding the title “A New Chapter,” and, of course, a caption that Pidge had added herself: “GAAAAAYYYYYY”.
“Yeah,” Lance grinned and cupped Keith’s jaw with his free hand. “Our new chapter has officially begun.”
And he sealed the deal with a kiss.