Klance soulmate au //COMPLETED//

Chapter 4

   Unfortunately, in all the weeks that had gone by, Lance had still not been able to win the fair Allura. He had flirted, taken her on dates, showered her with affection and adoration, but still she refused to recognise any feelings but a hesitant friendship.

She didn't know how she was affecting Lance. She didn't know how long he stayed awake at night, thinking of his shortcomings and how he wasn't good enough for a soulmate-- much less Allura. She didn't notice how little he seemed to be eating lately, his comings and goings of obsessions with things, his lack of caring about all things but Allura. Or maybe she noticed, but just didn't care.

***

Lance waited for Allura in the same cafe as always, straining to keep his eyes open, keeping them trained on the door. Allura had expressed her adoration for this cafe, and although Lance didn't like it all that much, he remained. For Allura. Of course, he had to ignore Keith's frequent stops here, but it wasn't hard-- his prize was Allura.

"Sorry I'm late, Lance," A familiar voice said. "I was speaking to a friend."
Lance jumped, moving his eyes to follow Allura. In his sleep deprived state, he hadn't noticed Allura walk in. "Oh, Allura." Lance sank back into his seat tiredly. "You're here, I'm glad."

Allura's gaze rove up and down Lance's rumpled form, "You look... well..." She said uncomfortably.

Lance waved her comment away, "Oh, you know me. Always looking my best. I'm gonna go up and order. You want anything?"

"Yes. I'll have a muffin and perhaps a tea. Do you think green or ginger?"
  
"I--"

"Yes, I think so too. Green tea it is."

Lance shuffled slowly up to the front, fighting to keep his eyes open. "I'll have my usual. Extra topping to the latte, actually." He said tiredly, not bothering to look at his server.

"Lance?" Hunk's voice asked incredulously from over the counter. "Man, I haven't seen you in ages. I've been busy with jobs, I got a whole bunch. In fact, this is a new job. Also, I mean, I guess it would be cuz you've been with Allura a lot lately. How is she? Is she well? What are you--" Hunk began a barrage of good natured questions, before stopping abruptly. "Are you okay, Lance? You seem... tired. Colourless."

Lance nodded. "Yeah, I-- I'm fine. I just need a coffee."

Hunk looked concerned, but nevertheless went into the back to prepare Lance's order. Doing this, he was deep in thought, thinking about his long-absent friend. He snuck a glance over at Lance and Allura, wherein Allura talked animatedly and Lance sat, absorbed in her words. He didn't attempt to speak, and she didn't offer him a chance to.

Something was wrong. He didn't have much experience with soulmates, but he knew it was a two-way street, where both loved one another equally. Allura seemed to have no feelings for Lance, while Lance was infatuated.

"Order up, guys." Hunk grinned, walking happily to where Lance and Allura sat together. He deposited the food into the table where it cleaned invitingly.

   Lance picked up his latte, simply holding it in his long fingers, soaking up the warmth before taking a long draught. Unfortunately it would take a far more potent brew to ease his tiredness.

   "So... you guys reckon you're soulmates, huh?" Hunk asked suspiciously into the silence.

   "Yep," Lance replied, while Allura stayed silent.

   "Well, I have to get back to work," Hunk said hesitantly. "I'll see you later, I hope. Lance, you have to promise that we'll meet up soon."

Lance began his walk to the old cafe. The one he had loved so much for so long. He hadn't been there in a long time, although it was no fault of Lance. Allura didn't care much for Lance's favoured cafe, and he adored her too much to go against her wishes.

"Lance! Wow, you're actually here. I mean, I never doubted your loyalty or anything, it's just I thought you'd be busy with Allura," Hunk's nervous voice said from their usual seat.

"Yeah, I'm here," Lance smiled, with only a hint of his usual enthusiasm. "Sorry it took so long, is there something going on? Your voice sounded pretty stressed before on the phone."

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Hunk smiled nervously. "I just... I don't think Allura is your soulmate."

Lance blinked, his smile fading. "Hunk, I don't know what you're talking about, but I don't wanna hear it," He snarled. "Is this what I get?" He drew a hand over his face, his expression dripping with fatigue. "I'm sorry I haven't seen you a lot lately, Hunk, but she's my soulmate."

Hunk's expression grew sad, "Lance, I would never lie to you— you're my brother. I'm sorry this isn't news you wanna hear, I truly am, but I feel that I have to save you."

Lance stood angrily, "You know what, Hunk? I don't have to listen to this anymore! You don't know how it feels to be around her, she's my soulmate - I can feel it."

Lance was at his new job, and to be honest? He wasn't entirely sure how he had gotten another so fast. He had been fired from his previous job after acting up; namely getting annoyed at his boss's homophobia.

Homophobia hit a little too close to home for Lance, seeing as he was bisexual. He hadn't come out to many people, not even his friends, now another person to add to the list of who knew.

So yeah, he had just arrived, and to his dismay a certain other person was also there. Keith. Just Lance's luck.

At first the only notice Lance payed to Keith was a constant glare, until his eyes got a little tired. He had to admit, Keith was kind of cute, if not annoying.

Lance shook his head irritably - he shouldn't be thinking this about his rival. But hey— he had eyes. It should have helped that Keith didn't even look at him, but it didn't. It just made him even more annoyed, and he had no idea why. He shouldn't have cared, but he did, and that fact itself annoyed him beyond reason.

So he continued his work, fighting to keep uninterested in Keith. What a useless endeavour that turned out to be.

Lance's boss walked over to the two, an eternal frown on his face, "Keith, this is Lance. Lance, this is Keith. I'm introducing the two of you now because you'll be working together very closely in the near future."

A//N— hey guys! I adore this chapter cuz Klance is blooming!