#and then he and keith KISS!

[calo-wav]

me when the guy i’m in love with’s dead gf is haunting the narrative

[jicklet]

Megamind Rules! - S01E16 “Thrilling Conclusions!” (2/2)

[bluemantics]

Transcript quotes from a VLD ghost hunting au (in the style of The Office)

(Interviews)

Hunk: Keith and Lance decided to go ghost hunting last year. Keith wanted to find ghosts, but Lance just thought Keith was hot and was willing to follow him to shady places.

Lance: any place is a makeout spot if you have enough determination.

(show)

Keith: I’m taking out the EMF reader.

Lance: HA, an Emo Mother Fucker reader.

Keith: ….

(interviews)

Keith: Sometimes I feel like Lance doesn’t take this seriously.

(show)

Lance: Do you think if I start banging these pans together a ghost will yell at me to stop? loudly hits pans together

(Interviews)

Keith: I’m starting to think he doesn’t believe.

(interviews)

Lance: Oh, yeah. I never believed in ghosts. The things you do for hot men… unspeakable.

(show)

Keith: Ms. Petunia, if you can hear me, turn the flashlight on and off.

Lance: I could turn YOU on!

Keith: Sorry, what?

Lance: Uh, I was talking to the light

(interviews)

Lance: I was not talking to the light.

(show)

Keith: it looks like the ghosts aren’t active tonight.

Lance: DARN, guess we’ll have to go for dinner and a movie! What a shame.

Keith: I guess we can. Do you want to see the new horror film that we watched the trailer for?

Lance: …sure.

(interviews)

Lance: I hate horror.

(interviews)

Keith:

He hates horror, but if he wants to get in my pants that badly, he’ll have to endure “Blood on Shore 3” first.

*Someone speaks off camera*

Keith: Yeah, I know it’s a date. I just like fucking with Lance. I’ll kiss him at the end, he’s earned it.

(Later interviews)

Lance: my subtle plan worked!

[ruenii]

klance comparing their hand-sizes but both of them are pining in horribly different ways.

Lance, (internally squealing and adoring Keith): Oh look our hands are the same size!

Keith, (ready to pounce him): …yeah.

[gaytkachuk]

the thing about mattdrai is leon is humble, but he knows he's good, so he can be cocky when he wants to be. but matthew is not 'humble', he's self depricating, and sometimes, especially on the ice, he uses cockiness as a defense against his own insecurities. and yeah, leon gets annoyed by that because, before he gets to know matthew, he thinks it's fucking annoying that he's so cocky.

in reality, matthew is over there, all false bravato, just praying that no one else notices that he doesn't belong, that he has never been good enough to be where he is. when he gets glimpses into matthew's imposter syndrome it's fucking eye opening. like matthew giving himself the 85 rating is not a silly little joke he genuinely fucking believes that's his nhl24 rating. and like i can imagine leon making that little joke "oh, i dunno probably 85, eh?" with a cheeky little grin. but that's not matthew. like sure! you can totally read it as him being humble but it's NOT it's him REALLY TRULY believing it. it's him playing a stanley cup game in a run he practically won for his team with a broken sternum bc he still had to prove himself (????) and the thing is like why else do you play a stanley cup game when you couldn't even get yourself dressed in the morning??? like he saw that as letting his team down and that's fucking DEVASTATING. and no one around him thought "oh! maybe just this once we should tell him 'matthew, you don't need to prove anything. you did fucking amazing. you got your team here, but you need to heal now though. you need to lay your ass back down and fucking HEAL because YOU are more important to us than a fucking TROPHY." AND YES i know he'd worked his LIFE for that moment but one has to wonder what that does to someone. to constantly chase that glory and to never feel good enough until then?? and THEN even when you reach the peak, you will feel like you still were not good enough, you didn't deserve it, you never will. and there is NOTHING you can do to fill the emptiness. not even the one thing you thought you needed most in the world. because. fuck. the thing you needed most is actually someone to give a shit. about YOU. not your perceived value on a team. not your accomplishments. but YOU. when you are laid up in bed, can't move, hurt. when you are waking up slow. when you aren't doing anything at all. when the mask is off and you're just breathing. that's what you need. and. fuck. leon can give that to him. because leon isn't thinking about those things. he's thinking about how matthew is brightest when he isn't performing. when he's there, curled up with a book in an oilers sweatshirt he'd never be caught dead in. when he's telling leon how much he loves him. when he lets himself breathe.

and that's the thing!! leon is so so good at motivating the people he loves to love themselves by just. believing in them? and i think that belief would change matthew's whole life. i think he'd start maybe believing it too. that maybe all the shit he's gotten from the people who he trusted the most was not fucking true. that maybe he is worth everything that leon is telling him he's worth. that he can. that he will. that he IS.

i think leon gets choked up when matthew says something good about himself. he'd never admit it, but he does. and i think to be loved by matthew would be the most overwhelming thing in the world, because it is utterly selfless. disregarding of anything. because that need of matthew's, that one to be loved with no conditions? it comes out subconciously in the other direction. it is unavoidable. it's fucking pure. and when he loves, he loves hard. leon almost doesn't know what to do with it, until he realizes it's a gift, and he will never ever deny it. in fact, he will work his entire life to carefully wrap his own love in gift paper, and give it to matthew at every possible moment.

send post.

[alohaasaloevera]

Pidge: YOU GUYS WERE NAKED WITH EACHOTHER?!1?!1

Lance: wait NONONO IT’S NOT LIKE THAT!!! I PROMISE LET ME—

Keith: only half naked

Pidge:…what?

Lance: what

Keith: what?

[holysheithyall]

high school au sheith where shiros the loser

[ambrozjas]

check out my fucjing boyfrienf

[autisticlancemcclain]

Lance sighs. “Dude, this isn’t going to work if you’re awkward about it.”

“I’m not being awkward,” Keith says, lying like a liar. He crosses his arms, setting his jaw like the stubborn ass he is. “I’m being normal.”

“Right,” Lance says, raising an eyebrow. “That’s why you keep looking at me and getting all flustered and looking away again. That’s certainly going to sell it for us.”

“It’s going to be fine! I’m not being awkward. You’re being picky.”

“Keith, the Ernlea are not going to believe that I’m your concubine if you go redder than a virgin every time you look at me. Come on, dude. You have to make it at least a little believable.”

Keith goes bright red. “I’m not a virgin! And don’t — it’s believable!”

Lance grins, brown eyes narrowed and teasing. “Could’ve fooled me.” He pulls at the red lace top (lingerie. It’s lingerie) and adjusts the see-through gauze harem pants the Ernlea attendants have set out for him to wear to the audience with the queen. “What, am I distracting you?”

“They didn’t even get you a sweater or anything. You’re going to freeze,” Keith says instead of answering, pointedly looking at Lance’s face and face alone. “It’s — it’s ridiculous. They gave me three shirts to choose from, and each of them goes to my wrist.”

“Because the queen thinks I’m your concubine,” Lance explains patiently. Again. “And this makes her trust you more, remember? You just have to play it off for the next couple hours. If they find out I’m not actually your concubine, they’ll feel all scorned, and then we’ll be in real trouble.”

“It’s disrespectful,” Keith insists.

Lance inclines his head. “A little.”

“Why are you so fine with it, then?”

“Because I don’t care what this queen thinks, Keith. I care what you think. I care what the team thinks. I care what my mom thinks. But this random queen who we’re going to meet for two hours and then maybe see again, like, twice in our lives? She can think whatever the hell she wants of it’ll get her signature on the Coalition papers. She has four thousand fleets to offer us, Red. I’d pretend to be the team’s jester if that’s what she fuckin’ wanted. That one might hurt my feelings, though. The concubine thing is hilarious. She thinks I’m too pretty to be a soldier. That is a compliment to the highest degree.”

“Yeah, well, it’s still dumb,” Keith mutters petulantly. “And I hate it and her.”

Lance tilts his head. He stares at Keith for a few moments, scrutinizing him. Keith shifts uncomfortably. He hates it when Lance tries to beam through his skull and read his thoughts.

(It’s very annoying, because he often sees right through Keith’s shit, and how dare he do that? Who gave him permission?)

Finally, Lance snaps his fingers, eyes bright with an idea.

“Kiss me.”

“What?” Keith exclaims, startling. “No!”

“Yes. Kiss me. It’ll make it less awkward, give us more chemistry.”

“No! That’s not going to — no!”

“Kiss me kiss me kiss me kiss me kiss me kiss me —”

“No! I’m not going to do it like this!”

“Kiss me kiss me —” Lance blinks, cutting himself off. “What does that mean?”

Keith clamps his mouth shut. “Nevermind.”

“No, no, tell me. What do you mean, ‘not like this’?”

“Nothing. I didn’t — it didn’t mean anything. I just mean I’m not kissing you.” Keith glances down at his wrist, face burning. “We’ve got to — we’re almost late. Let’s go.” He hurries for the door, brushing by Lance and speedwalking away.

“Keith, you’re not wearing a watch! Hey! Wait for your concubine, you douchebag! God, what kind of leader doesn’t wait for his concubine?”

———

“Good job, team,” Shiro says, smiling softly at them. “The queen signed. Lance and Keith — good job on you two, specifically. I don’t know why she needed you two to play couple so badly, but you rolled with it, and I’m proud of you.”

“I’m just that pretty,” Lance preens, just as Keith mutters: “Define ‘rolled with it’.”

Lance rolls his eyes. “Oh, you big baby. So what I had to sit on your lap? I’m not that heavy.”

Keith harrumphs. “Whatever. I still don’t understand why she was so convinced that we’re — a thing, or whatever.”

“Maybe because on that call with her, after we saved her planet, you looked at Lance with the softest look in the world and said you ‘couldn’t have done it without your right hand man’?” Pidge suggests.

“Fuck right off,” Keith says hotly, ears going red as the rest of the team giggles. Only Lance is on Keith’s side, looking at Pidge in confusion.

“He says that all the time. How was that weird?” he asks.

Pidge stops laughing abruptly, blinking at him in shock. “You’re — you’re fucking with me, right?”

Lance continues to look at her oddly. Pidge exchanges a look with Hunk and Allura, and all three of them sigh.

“Alright, guys,” Shiro says, clapping their hands to get back their attention. His mouth is twitching. “I can tell you’re all done for today. Good job, again. Wind down for the evening, meet me in the common room at nine if you want to watch a movie. I think it’s Coran’s turn to pick — he said something about a home movie?”

He dismisses them to loud, half-playful groaning.

“Those are so embarrassing,” Allura complains.

“The embarrassment is the best part,” Hunk argues, because if nothing else then he lives for drama. “The issue is the length.”

“Nuh-uh. The issue is the camera quality! It’s, like, one pixel!”

Keith takes the opportunity to slip away as the team argues, walking quietly back to his room. Today was a — day, that’s for sure. He might skip movie night, just because Lance always sits next to him at movie night, and if he has to spend any longer pressed close to Lance and smelling his floral shampoo he might collapse into nothing.

“Hey, Keith, wait up.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Who is writing his life? When are they going to give him a fucking break?

“Hey, Lance,” Keith says, trying to keep the weariness out of his voice. It doesn’t work, but luckily Lance doesn’t think it’s about him.

Lance grins wryly. “All that politics wear you out, Oh Introvert Of All Introverts?”

Keith huffs a laugh. He is so grateful that for all Lance’s observational skills, sometimes he’s as dense as a brick wall.

“Something like that.”

“You gonna skip movie night, then?”

“Yeah. I need to sleep and contemplate what I did to deserve this life.”

Lance laughs, bright and high-pitched, and Keith has to physically fight the besotted smile that’s begging to force itself on his face.

Fuck. Why can’t he go back to being annoyed by that sound? Huh? This whole whipped-for-Lance business is getting out of hand.

“Dork. I’ll walk you to your room, then. Gotta get my Keith fill of the day.”

Keith firmly tells his brain to shut the fuck up and not make the dirty joke it wants to make. Lance is a horrible influence on him. He never used to make that’s-what-she-said jokes before they started hanging out, and now his brain thinks them on reflex.

“I think past you would shoot you in the head if he heard you say that.”

“You got me,” Lance teases back, grinning. They come to a stop at Keith’s door, and his smile gets softer around the edges. He looks up at Keith, and squints, because one of the sunlight-simulator lights is on right behind Keith’s head, shining right into his eyes. It makes the brown in his irises glow into something almost amber, like drizzled honey.

“Night, Fearless Leader.”

Keith can barely make his tongue work, mouth suddenly drier than the desert.

“Night, Lance.”

Lance reaches out and pats Keith’s bicep, turning slightly and stepping away. And Keith —

Something in Keith goes absolutely rigid, and then snaps.

He grabs Lance’s forearm, pulling him back towards Keith, then leans down and presses their mouths together so hard their teeth clank. His other hand cups Lance face, tilting it so their noses aren’t smushed together.

For a split second, Lance is tense, unmoving. Then he lets out the faintest “oh” noise, like it’s involuntary, like it came up from his chest without his permission. And then, faster than Keith can register, he moves his arm from Keith’s grip and wraps both of them around Keith’s shoulders, yanking him closer and kissing him harder. Keith curls his newly freed hand around Lance’s waist, squeezing tightly as he tilts his head again and opens his mouth to lick against the seam of Lance’s lips. He responds immediately, gasping on his next breath as Keith runs his tongue along Lance’s teeth, the roof of his mouth, just — anywhere he can reach. Tasting him. Devouring him.

Keith pulls back with a shuddering sigh, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on Lance’s. Lance’s hand shakes slightly from it’s place on the back of Keith’s neck, fingers smoothing out constant motions on the heated skin. He’s panting. He’s close enough that Keith can smell that damn floral shampoo, sweet and soft and intoxicating. He presses another kiss to Lance’s lips, close-mouthed and soft, because the scent makes him heady.

“I meant something like that,” he whispers. When he opens his eyes again, Lance’s are still closed, and his chest moves rapidly as he pants. Keith takes another moment to burn the image of Lance’s flushed face and wet mouth into his memory.

“Goodnight, Lance.” Carefully he pulls away, slipping into his room and closing the door behind him. He gets ready for bed without letting himself think of anything, just forcing his mind to be blank. When he finally crawls under the covers and shoves his pillow over his head, he realizes that the hand that was cradling Lance’s head still smells like him.

———

Outside Keith’s door, Lance is standing, frozen, brown eyes wide and mouth dropped open. Slowly, he brings his hand up to his lips, letting his head sag forward.

A small smile upturns the corners of his mouth.

———

based off this video

[alluraaaa]

lance loves loudly and dramatically. he makes declarations and makes moves and lives with his heart on his sleeve. when he likes someone it’s obvious, especially when he likes someone romantically. he’s a hopeless romantic. he’s been planning his dream wedding since he was 7

keith loves quietly and indirectly. he would rather go through arduous torture than say how he feels out loud, especially if what he’s feeling is mushy and sentimental. he’d much rather do things for people. completing tasks is much easier than talking about his emotions. he’s also a massive pessimist romantically. he’ll silently daydream about actually having a crush like him back, but staunchly believe that it happening in real life is impossible

because of this, the two of them often butt heads when it comes to their relationship. keith doesn’t know how to react to lance’s cheesy lines or cutesy pet names. lance thinks keith is sometimes too distant and wonders why he doesn’t say anything back

but also, they’re both very physically affectionate. they love hugs and cuddling and holding hands. and because it’s them they also love wrestling and chasing each other and fighting. there’s a lotta ways in which they’re different, but they both reach across the gap to meet in the middle and hold each other

[clementineskesh]

Transcript:

Here we go again, Baldwin Home AKA Black Screen AKA Mister I Wish You Would AKA Sovereign Community AKA Crysanth Kush AKA All the News That's Fit To Sprint Up To You In The Streets And Tell You What's Really Real, delivering another message to the masses:

You already know what it is!

And I don't mean that rhetorically. You ain't heard the news. 

You lived it!

(from far away) Hey, Black, why do they call it the Bontive Valley?

(close to the mic) They call it the Bontive Valley ‘cause the harvests are high yielding. And bit by bit, they're coming back into hand. 

We're talking more crops. We're talking our land. 

After all, we worked it for 

how many thousand years? For 

how many glass Dukes? We cried 

how many midnight tears? 

It ain't worth it to do the damn calculus. They'll just tell us we needed to use trigonometry instead.

“Your numbers aren't right. It wasn't really exploitation.” 

So let me do some simple subtraction: 

Three minus three is dead. 

Y’all sent out your shooters

from your crystalline castle 

from your beige coloured campus 

from your jewel-encrusted church. 

Well, I got news, I’m the paperboy, open up 

front page story

your shooters was flawed, your Duchess a fraud, and we're really, really them. 

And I know what you're thinking. 

I know where your mind's at. 

You're ready to punch back. You’re gonna find out who caused you all of this pain. 

Poor Stargrave, finger on the trigger

poor prophet, dig a little deeper

poor Mr. Entrepreneur,

we've opened a door 

and you're facing it for 

the first time

ever. 

We made you imagine 

a whole world 

without you. Now, get this. 

We do that 

every 

single 

day. 

And it ain't just a vision, it ain’t pipe dreams and conversation, it ain’t blue sky hypothetical, it’s really, really real. All that talk 

all that violence yet our energy remains. 

We're vibrant while you piss poor tyrants got tired just holding our chains.

[santeria]

2018 vs 2023

For the lovely @eledritch, an angry lil Keith from their amazing fic, Seal It With A Kiss

Very much appreciate the chance to recreate this after so long [5 YEARS DEAR GOD TIME ISNT REAL] and I'm happy to see so much improvement 😊

twitter

[aiendeeay]

keith kogane, how i want to kiss you on the lips (in a gay way)

[l0ganberry]

Guess who's been watching Hazbin hotel??

Husk is my favorite character so I really wanted to draw him!! And I did and I love him!!! Shit.... you can tell that hands are my major problem/weakness.

But the main reason why I drew this was also because I wanted to create an expression that would match with this.

(Inspired/referenced with @chaoticace2005) I can definitely see him saying that.

[ethereance]

Kallurance au of my alfusion au here wherein alteans have the ability to fuse with others. My brain went ‘what if the Allura/Lance fusion got a crush on Keith’ and rolled with it. Apparently I’m writing an au of my au first. Super specific.

Ⓜⓐⓖⓝⓔⓣⓘⓢⓜ

When Allura and Lance had fused all those phoebs ago, they hadn’t imagined being able to let the other go, not after coming so close to being separated forever, death so close they can still feel breath on their neck, a cold prickle of fear.

And so, they don’t let the other go.

The longer Lallura spends in a fusion, the more independence they gain, able to make their own decisions and try new experiences, becoming more than just their components, Allura and Lance every bit apart of them in the way that foundations are. They chose a new fusion name to go by, a self-given nickname that sticks too well. Lallura turns to Lure.

It suits the face in the mirror, they think. The face that winks back agrees.

Between Lure and Coran, they set to rebuild Altea as it had once been. No, better.

Their new Altea.

It’s in this time that they spend a considerable amount of time running into Keith. He’s trying to turn the blades into a humanitarian effort, as well as trying to deal with the civil unrest amongst the galra. But he stops by New Altea often, helping where he can.

Lure finds themselves looking forward to these visits, fond of his company. Perhaps it should surprise them more than it does, but he has become someone they trust with their life, all of them, wholly and completely. Where there had once been distrust, jealousy, so many emotions that had thrown them at opposite ends of a divide, Keith finally, finally has become someone they can rely on. The kind of person Red and Black had once seen the potential for him to be.

When he leaves, Lure trusts that he will always come back.

Then that feeling grows into something else.

They know what love feels like. They’ve been here before. Still are there, their very self composed of the feeling. They are love, and they are the fear to lose that to death. This fusion is their comfort, their promise, to follow each other across the universe and live long enough to do it.

But here they are. The pull of red and blue.

Feeling it again as Lure. Or something adjacent to, but they know it’s strong and makes their heart quicken with every beat.

They wonder what Lance and Allura would say if they could see them. They’re happy like that, as them. And yet, Lure is yearning.

“Stay safe out there,” they say every time Keith leaves.

And he’ll smile at them something soft, and say, even though staying safe has never been something in his blood, “I’ll try.”

But this time, this time it changes.

“Stay,” they say simply, foregoing the rest. Why oh why they let the mice talk them into this, they do not know. “Please, just a tick. Let me… there’s something you should know.”

Maybe the galra are more cat than just in appearance, because that confused head tilt Keith gives them strikes them as incredibly cat like. And trust them, Lance has adopted enough of those to know what they’re talking about. “… Lure?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I also can. It makes too much sense. You have done so much for me, become so much to me, and I—“ Their eyes meet, his like deep space, and theirs a candy floss sky. They falter. “You’re really activating my particle barrier right now.”

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh no no no.

(Of all the lines, why?

What’s so memorable about this one?)

“Err,” says Keith after an uncomfortably long stretch of silence. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Oh quiznacking crow, yes. I’m fine.” They take a deep, calming breath and try again. “I like you, Keith. You’re the future, but I also want you to be my future. I thought I knew where the future would take me, but I’ve been surprised yet again and it’s by you and your hideous mullet.” A pause. “Well, maybe it’s not quite so hideous.”

“Lure… what?” says Keith, strained, unsure. His eyes dart over their face. “You’re Lance and Allura. Why would either of them want…?”

“Because I do. And I’m them.” They take a step towards him. “And I’m me. And I don’t know how you managed it, not when half of me loves to bicker with you. But that’s just it. There’s so many things I love doing with you that all of me just really, really likes you Keith. We make a really good team. You, me… and me.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I only wanted to let you know. But— please don’t let this push you further away. I’m sorry.”

“No, I—” He frowns. “I just thought you were happy.”

“I am. But you can never be too happy,” they say, light, playful. “If you’re willing, I’d like to let you into my relationship.”

Their stomach swoops, a sickly feeling, holding out on a hope they have no idea will come.

Keith’s feelings are a mystery. The way he sometimes looks at him has them wondering, but ultimately, they do not know.

Not for sure.

“Does Lance—” starts Keith, his voice catching. There’s a shine to his eyes, moonlight hung there. “Are these feelings his too?”

“Yes,” they say, something singing in their chest. “They belong to all of me. Lance included.”

Lure reaches out to his face, cupping it with their hand. Keith stills, then relaxes, and the look he gives them, oh ancient stars of cheese above, it’s breathtaking.

“Why?” they say, coy. “Don’t tell me you liked me before you. Can’t I at least beat you at something?”

“Lance, no. Allura, maybe,” says Keith with a smile. “But being fused with the princess is cheating.”

“Is this really cheating?” Lure says, taking their chance, and closing the distance between them. Keith, always having their back, now has their lips too, his warm like the sun that has long since set, dusk now glittering behind them.

Keith lets out this breathy sort of laugh, then deepens it, teeth clicking. It’s not perfect, it needs practice, but they can do that.

And Lure would very much like to do this more.

“So?” says Lure against his lips. They pull away. “Is that a yes?’

“Mhm,” Keith hums somewhat distractedly. “That’s cheating.”

“No. Before, when I asked you if you wanted to join our relationship.”

“Someone’s got a case of Lance brain. I just kissed you back.”

“Hmph. Well, smart people can’t assume.”

“Yeah, okay,” says Keith, rolling eyes ripe with amusement. “I want to give us a try. I’ve liked Lance for some time now, and honestly thought I was jealous of Allura, but now, I don’t know. Allura means a lot to me, she’s—you’re amazing. And you, you mean a lot to me, so… can we see where this takes us?”

This.

This is what Lure was missing.

Their third and final member to chase across the stars.

“Yes, let’s,” Lure says.

It’s a journey worth the risks.

[alohaasaloevera]

How can Keith start dating again if the last boy he loved kissed him like they were the only two in the universe and he would make Keith breakfast in bed every single Monday to “prepare him for the week” and let Keith cry in his arms? How could he even score someone who could even compare to the boy who said “I love you” to him every day in 3 languages; the boy who almost died for him countless times (and did once); the boy who dedicated the last remnants of his childhood to saving the universe while still being able to care and love for Keith the way he did. How can he even wrap his head around the idea that he has to date someone else other than him; the boy who braided his hair whenever he wanted; the boy who did and always will have his back and forever will be his one and only.

He can see in the corner of his eye that said boy and another girl are happily chatting with each other; the boy’s arm wrapped around the girl—just like how he used to hold Keith—how his eyes shine whenever she’s in proximity; how their souls are entangled, intertwined within each other like no other pair has ever been on earth. Keith would’ve never believed love like this was real when he was a kid. But then again, that was before he met Lance. The boy who was no longer a boy but a well-refined man, but still a boy at heart—the boy who loved with all his might, the boy who did everything he could for others.

The boy who saved his life.

Keith pretends that his heart doesn’t leap and land on a spike of uranium after doing a triple-backflip as the boy kneels down on one knee and takes the girl’s hands in his, voice just as smooth and mesmerizing as Keith remembers, reciting meticulously-practiced lines.

Keith pretends that when the girl shrills in pure joy, jumping up and down practically about to combust with happiness, saying “yes” over and over again, it doesn’t feel like his soul has been torn into pieces with a crappy shredder and poorly put back together with an Elmer’s glue stick.

When the wedding comes, he doesn’t object. No one in the world would want to listen to a second his disparage about the newly wed. No one even bats an eye when he excuses himself to go to the bathroom and try to puke his guts out.

Keith doesn’t get drunk. Not even a little tipsy. He uses the fact that he’s been drinking a hell of a lot of alcohol (thanks to you already know who) lately and that the others should be able to loosen up after picking him up late at night so many times he can’t count.

He’s afraid that if he does, his self-control will drop to zero and it’s only a matter of time before he pulls Lance by the collar and—

Nope. Not finishing that sentence.

It’s not until someone playfully punches his shoulder that Keith realizes he’s been completely enraptured in his thoughts for a good 5 minutes. He turns around and instantly freezes once he sees a familiar, lanky silhouette.

Lance.

Lance doesn’t even get a word out before Keith is running, running, running, running for his dear life. He bursts out the obnoxiously large arched double doors and to his car, only one thought circulating through his mind in that moment.

Don’t fuck this up again.