anyway, don't be a stranger || klance

• chapter four •

Pidge was absolutely right, and Lance deeply hated it when the girl was right about something, no matter how silly it was.

He had no right to feel bad about Keith talking to James and getting along with him, it was only natural that this would happen. Lance knew that one time or another James would end up going to Keith and apologizing for all the times he made fun of the orphan boy and made other people laugh at him too.

But then, why was Lance bothered by this? So bothered by the closeness of the two boys?

Lance thought for a brief moment that it was some kind of jealousy inside him that was trying to get out of his body, but he dismissed it. There were no objective reasons to be jealous of Keith, Lance didn't even like him in a romantic way, for God sake

Keith could relate to other people, of course he could, he wasn't Lance's best friend, much less his boyfriend. But it was inevitable for his heart to feel sad and a little confused about it all.

Lance remembered the Garrison days, how James - even annoying - seemed obsessed with Keith, just like him in those days. He didn't particularly blame James, after all Keith was the new boy and a bit mysterious, not letting anyone approach him with intentions other than the same as Shiro's.

The Cuban couldn't help but smile as he vaguely remembered the red paladin's appearance when they were both just children, how he kept the same ridiculous haircut for so long and didn't even think about changing the strands a little to look more modern. But that cut suited him, and Lance would hate himself until the day he died for thinking that too, even if he would never confess to the other man about that thought.

He remembered how he felt when he saw Keith for the first time and went up to him to introduce himself, but Keith was too busy in the simulator to even notice the Cuban's presence, so he just left it alone and only spoke to him when James was also directing his word. 

God, he remembered what it was like to see James gain all of Keith's attention for himself. He remembered the envy that coursed through his entire body when he saw all the damn times that Keith lost his temper with the American and came at him with mean and defensive words, until the moment when words were no longer enough and Keith punched him in the face. face in front of Iverson, without caring about anything other than defending his parents' honor and his own.

Privately, Lance found it extremely surprising and cool, in a really cool way. Obviously that meant Keith's expulsion, but still... It was fucking hot, and now Lance was groaning in frustration as he paced the Atlas corridors after leaving the meeting room and after giving the details about the last mission.

Talking about Allura and everything that happened was suffocating, Lance felt like he would pass out any time Iverson spoke to him, but when he looked to his side and saw Keith there, he felt strong enough to continue to talk because Keith would be there to be the first to catch him if his body betrayed him and he fell there on the ground.

As much as he hated admitting it to himself in the past, Keith was the only one who always talked to him about his insecurities and the only one he turned to when he thought he wasn't good enough, both for the team and for Allura. But now he saw, he saw and accepted that if he needed something, Keith would be the only one there who wouldn't judge him like he did before and much less talk bad about him like he used to.

So having a bad feeling in your stomach when turning down a hallway and seeing Keith talking to James once again as they stood in front of the red paladin's room and laughing together at something the pilot said was completely normal. Obviously he didn't like seeing the two of them together, especially laughing the way he used to make Keith laugh... But he couldn't do anything but accept this discomfort.