Chapter Text
**This is just some background info that may or may not be stated in the story, so I would recommend reading it but skip over it if you want, it shouldn't matter too much.
Character Descriptions(at the beginning of this fic):
Lance McClain
- Age 20
- Junior in college
- Astronomy major
- Goofy/energetic
- Insecure
- Hopeless romantic
- Functioning bi/disaster bi
- Meme lord
- Roommates with Pidge
Keith Kogane
- Age 20
- Junior in college
- Astronomy major
- Emo/lone wolf
- Insecure
- Disaster gay
- Cryptid enthusiast
- Only cooking skill is making canned ravioli
- Shiro’s younger bro
- Roommates with Hunk
Katie “Pidge” Holt
- Age 18
- Freshman in college
- Computer science major
- Literal tech wizard
- Also cryptid enthusiast
- Meme lord
- Asexual
- Feisty gremlin
- Roommates with Lance
Hunk Garrett
- Age 20
- Junior in college
- Engineering Major
- Super nice and lovable
- Cooks for everyone always
- Really smart
- Kind of a coward but a lovable one at that
- Straight ally
- Roommates with Keith
Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane
- Age 26
- Out of college
- Works as an RA at UCLA and bar tends
- Keith’s older bro
- Overprotective brother and dad to the younger children
- Adam’s boyfriend/soulmate
- Great guy all around
- Has a prosthetic arm bc he used to be in the military
Adam “aDAM” Wakim
- Age 27
- Out of college
- Works as a lawyer at a big firm
- Is very proper
- But also a nerd
- CO-brother and parent alongside Shiro
- Functional gay
- Shiro’s boyfriend/soulmate
Mathematics “Matt” Holt
- Age 26
- Out of college
- Works at google
- Is super duper smart
- But a huge nerd
- Meme lord
- Weeb
- Really funny
- Pidge’s older bro
- Straight ally
Allura Altea
- Age 26
- Out of college
- Works as an actress on a hit tv drama about doctors
- Is super fancy and extra
- Many gorgeous much attractive
- Is an actual goddess
- Pansexual
- Carefree
Shay Balmera:
- Age 20
- Junior in College
- Journalism major
- Super nice
- Likes gardening
- Very reserved
- Likes to read
- Friends with Hunk but doesn’t really know the rest of the group
- Roommates with Nyma
Nyma Beezer:
- Age 20
- Junior in college
- Cosmetics major
- Acts like a bitch
- Because she is a bitch
- Interests include being a hoe
- And also a bitch(surprise!)
- But honestly really loves makeup and has a successful BeautyGuru YouTube channel
- Wants to get with Lance
- Lance is obsessed with her
- But Nyma plays hard to get
- Straight
Setting:
- Laguna Beach, California is where Adashi and Allura live in neighboring apartments
- UCLA for the kiddos still in college, they live in the dorms - Lance and Pidge live together and Hunk and Keith live together. Their dorms are down the hall from one another.
- Set during present time
- Basically everything is the same except for the whole soulmate thing, daily life goes on as normal
Chapter 1: Coffee and Comfort
“Lance! Get up, we have school!”
Lance groaned and sat up in his bed. He wiped the drool trailing down his chin on the sleeve of the baseball tee he wore to bed. Swinging his legs over the bed, he yawns, stretching his long arms above his head. Running a hand through his hair he glances at the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand next to his bed.
“SHIT!”
He leaps out of bed throwing on a fresh baseball tee and some jeans. He grabs his favorite forest green army jacket and sprints out to the kitchen of his small dorm room. He’s met by Pidge, who is sitting at the table, sipping from a cup of coffee and watching Lance scramble to get ready from behind her large circular glasses resting atop her nose. Lance is running around their dorm, throwing bread into the toaster and pouring a cup of coffee for himself, trying to get ready as quick as possible..
“Are you incapable of helping me?” he asks a smirking Pidge while he tugs on his light up white and blue high tops.
She just shrugs and goes back to looking at her computer screen, her smug smile still plastered on her face. Lance flips her off as he walks over to the counter to get his toast. He takes a couple swigs of his coffee and a few of toast. He shrugs on his jacket and bolts out the door shouting a goodbye to Pidge. He walks to the end of the hall where Keith and Hunk are already waiting for him. They all have an early morning class in the same building as they found out after the first week of school, so they eventually started carpooling to save gas. The only problem was: Lance drove them. As everyone knew, Lance was a terrible driver. It was a miracle he hadn’t been in any accidents - though he had been close a few times.
Despite driving roughly over a couple manholes and going over the curb once, they make it to UCLA without crashing, which is always an accomplishment when Lance is driving. They all walk through the doors together, Hunk chatting amiably about some chick in his Calculus class. Shay was it? Lance can’t remember, he kind of zoned out while Hunk was talking. Keith on the other hand was listening intently, though you wouldn’t be able to tell by his crossed arms and expressionless face.
Eventually they split up, Hunk going to his engineering class and Lance and Keith going to their astrology class.
Keith and Lance always sat next to each other, but they never talked unless it was to bicker. They didn’t hate each other, but Lance was convinced that Keith was always trying to one up him. Keith knew he was better than him and Lance was sure he beat him at things to make him look stupid. Lance even created this fake rivalry of sorts. In reality, it wasn’t Keith’s fault that he was just better at certain things. He didn’t even “beat him” on purpose. It’s not like he gloated or anything either, Lance just always pointed it out whenever Keith did something better than him. Keith played along sometimes, teasing him or throwing out an insult since it seemed to be what Lance wanted, but he didn’t by any means hate him. He actually kind of liked being around the boy. He was funny and kind, and in those rare moments when he would actually shut up for once, he could actually be a good listener. Plus he was hot. But Keith didn’t like him like that. He couldn’t.
Lance was obsessed with Nyma anyways. He flirted with her any chance he got. Which was a lot considering that they saw each other basically every day. They had a lot of classes together. Which was fine except there was one problem - Keith was in every single one of those classes.
It wasn’t that Keith is jealous or anything - because he doesn’t like Lance so he can’t be jealous - he just thinks it’s stupid that Lance flirts with her. She always brushes him off and treats him like shit. She’s obviously not interested and he can do so much better than that hoe. Under that goofy, flirtatious exterior, is an amazing human being. Lance is such a good guy, he deserves so much. But Keith doesn’t like him. Definitely not.
oOoOoOo
All throughout class, Lance thought about his soulmate. What they might look like, how they might act. He even thought about writing on his arm. He had never tried it before, and was curious to see what his soulmate would do. He had seen all the movies and heard all the stories about what it was like to write and receive things, but every time he thought about doing it, he chickened out. It had been 4 years and he hadn’t written anything. Even though he was a hopeless romantic. Nobody thought that though because of all his shameless flirting, but he truly was. He wanted to settle down with the one more than anything. He had always hoped that his soulmate would be someone he knew, like Nyma. He really liked her, but she didn’t seem to return his feelings. He always thought Allura was pretty too, though she was older and when he thought of dating one of Shiro’s closest friends, he got a weird feeling in his chest. So he easily ruled out that one. But Nyma was gorgeous. With her blond, flowing hair and almost purple eyes, she always took Lance’s breath away. Her personality was… not the best but Lance thought maybe he could learn to love her. If they were, in fact, soulmates then they should be meant to be together, right?
Although Lance normally pictured himself with girls, he sometimes imagined being with guys too. He knew he was bisexual, and had for a while. It was obvious he was attracted to guys too, as he did flirt with them sometimes, though not as often as girls. Everyone knew he was bi, it’s not like he tried to hide it. Guys would seek him out and he never shied away.
Although he tried to portray himself as super flirtatious and outgoing, it wasn’t who he really was. It was all a mask - a disguise. He really just wanted to love someone who loved him back. And Lance hoped that that person was his soulmate.
Sometimes Lance would stare at the tan skin stretching along his toned forearms, wondering why his soulmate had never written anything. Some people thought that the whole idea of soulmates was stupid. Is that what his soulmate thought? Maybe they were just scared. Or maybe his soulmate already hated his guts. Maybe Lance would never get to meet them, or maybe-
A hand placed itself on his shoulder and shocked Lance out of his head and back into reality.
“Hey man, you alright?”
Oh, it was just Keith.
Lance nodded, feeling the anxiety and insecurities slowly slipping away, though the tight feeling in his chest remained.
Lance felt the hand retract. He frowned slightly at the cold, empty feeling that replaced Keith’s warm hand. Keith gave him a concerned look, but didn’t say anything. Lance was grateful.
Lance threw himself into his notes for the few remaining minutes left in class, trying to distract himself. Anything to keep him out of his head and the thoughts churning there. His thoughts from earlier put him in a bad mood and all he wanted to do was go back to his dorm and watch sad rom-coms and cry into a pint of chocolate chip ice cream. He needed to get out of there so when their professor dismissed them, Lance grabbed his things and took off down the aisle, going two steps at a time trying to get out of that classroom as fast as possible. But right before he reached the door, he heard someone yell his name. He stopped in his tracks, whipping around. He scanned the room, looking for the person who had called out to him, ready to shout at them for disrupting his escape. But then his eyes rested on Keith who was looking down at him, struggling as he tried to simultaneously cram his textbook into his backpack while zipping it up and flying down the steps of the forum room. Lance laughed a little at the sight of Keith being flustered. He considered just ditching him but ultimately decides to duck out of the herd of stampeding students and wait for Keith.
When Keith reaches him, Lance notices that his breathing is a little heavy, probably from all the effort it took to get down to Lance at the speed he did. Lance gives Keith a minute to catch his breath as they start walking together toward their dorm building, their strides syncing up almost effortlessly, though neither boy realizes it. They walk in comfortable silence for a while before Keith breaks the ice, asking, “Are you okay, Lance?”.
“Yeah, yeah, of course I’m fine.” Lance brushes off the question, knowing damn well he wasn’t fine but refusing to admit that to Keith.
“Are you sure? Because you don’t look fine.”
Lance scoffs. “Wow, thanks Keith.”
“Come on, Lance. You know that’s not what I meant.”
Lance doesn’t respond, keeping his eyes trained on the ground, hearing the crunch of the leaves as his high tops crush them into the pavement.
“Lance, I know we aren’t super close or anything, but-” he pauses, taking a second to collect his thoughts. “But, you know you can talk to me, right?”
Lance laughs darkly, trying to lighten the mood, but failing. The tone of his voice is harsh and accusing.
“Please, like you’d want to listen to all the shit in my head. No one ever does.” He mutters the latter, thinking Keith wouldn’t hear him, but he does.
“Lance, I do. Especially if it’ll make you feel better. And I know it will, because you’re the kind of person that pretends to be happy all the time but keeps your true emotions on the inside until it all gets too much and you explode. Getting it all out is the only way to clear your head.”
“I’m not pretending, I’m fine.” Lance says, knowing he’s lying and knowing that Keith knows that too.
Keith gives him a knowing look, making Lance look at the ground again.
“It doesn’t matter.” he mumbles.
That’s when Keith grabs Lance firmly by the forearm, stopping him from walking away. Lance stares up into Keith’s eyes, waiting for him to say something. “Lance, it does matter.” Keith says seriously. “ You matter.” he says, never breaking eye contact.
Lance’s face twists into a pained look and he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.
im back, trying
Keith searches Lance’s eyes frantically, trying to find some sort of reaction. Lance is wringing his hands, looking like he wants to do something, but not sure if he should.
“Lance?”
Lance looks up at Keith, his eyes shiny with tears ready to fall. And before Keith can say another word, Lance is throwing himself into Keith’s arms, wrapping his own tightly around Keith’s torso.
Keith tenses, clearly shocked, and a little uncomfortable by the action, but quickly composes himself. He wraps his arms around Lance’s thin frame and hugs him, trying to calm down the fragile boy.
“I’m sorry, Keith. I’m so, so sorry.”
Keith rubs small circles into Lance’s back, trying to comfort him as Lance’s arms tighten around him.
“For what?”
“You were just trying to be nice and I was being a dick to you because I’m stupid. I’m so so stupid-”
“Lance, stop. You’re not stupid.”
Lance stops rambling, but doesn’t let go for a couple more moments. Being the middle child in such a large family, he didn’t get a ton of attention. The older kids were busy doing their own thing and his parents were busy dealing with the younger ones. He didn’t have anyone to talk to. So he learned to keep his emotions to himself. He didn’t want to be seen as a burden. The others were more important than him, anyways. So he bottled it all up and put up the goofball act to hide what he was truly feeling. He wouldn’t admit this to Keith, but he had described him to a tee. Which was kind of odd, as they barely knew each other.
“Lance?” Keith asked timidly.
“Yeah?”
“What do you think about getting some coffee?”
oOoOoOo
After about a five minute wait, Lance and Keith finally made it to the front of the line. Caribou had been busy so they found the nearest Starbucks instead. Lance, being the basic hoe he is, ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte with a straw, because apparently, ‘it’s a necessity, Keith’. Keith ended up ordering straight black coffee, saying it represented his soul or some shit, whatever the hell that meant. Once they got their coffee, they found a table for two on the patio outside the store. Keith took a sip of his bitter brew and watched Lance’s lips purse around his straw, sucking up some of the beverage as he looked at the scenery around him. It was early October, so some trees had green leaves and others had oranges, reds, and yellows. It was truly stunning.
Lance’s eyes traveled past Keith and to the busy street behind him, and the small shops around it. He spotted one of the vintage stores he really liked and a smile slowly spread itself out on his face. His gaze traveled further until he was brought back to Keith, who was watching him intently.
“Can I help you?”
Keith chuckled, his shoulders shaking a little as he laughed. Something tugged in Lance’s chest but he wasn’t quite sure what it was. It was probably because of all the stress from earlier. Yeah, that must be it.
“So.”
“So.”
“Are you going to tell me what got you so worked up in class today?”
Lance winced, thinking of the self deprecating thoughts that forever swirled in his head. Keith noticed and his eyes softened, wanting to help the boy but not knowing how. He wasn’t very good at this whole… emotions thing.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I just thought it might help a bit to talk to someone about it.” Keith backtracked, trying not to pressure Lance into telling him what was bothering him.
Lance sighed. “No, no, you’re right. It’s just- it’s stupid.” He looked down again, something Keith noticed he did whenever he said something bad about himself.
“Lance.”
“I know, I’m an idiot.”
“Lance, you’re not-”
“You don’t have to pretend you care, I don’t even know why I thought-”
“LANCE!”
Lance’s head shot up, a hint of fear in his eyes at Keith’s tone. A couple of people even glanced at them at the yell, but it was the only way Keith could think to get Lance to stop rambling.
“I was going to say that it couldn’t have been stupid if you got that worked up over it. Plus, I’m not pretending I care, so I would appreciate it if you stopped saying that I am.” he said with a small smile on his face.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop saying sorry, you have nothing to be sorry for.” Keith’s tone was gentle, no traces of harshness at all, which was unlike him. He was being uncharacteristically nice to Lance, but he didn’t care that he was going soft. Not when it came to Lance.
“Sorry- shit, right, okay.”
“So you gonna tell me? Or are we just going to sit here and drink our coffee in silence?”
Lance told Keith everything. About not writing anything for the past 4 years, why he’s scared to try, and his anxiety about what could happen if he did. Keith didn’t say anything while Lance talked - only listened. Which was what Lance really needed. Keith only spoke after Lance had finished speaking, and he waited several moments to make sure he was done.
“It’s not stupid Lance.”
“You don’t have to say that, Keith. I know it is, it’s stupid that I’m so scared.”
“Well, if it’s stupid, then I’m right there with you.”
Lance looks up at Keith, eyes hopeful but confused.
“I’ve never written anything either. Or gotten anything, for that matter.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Lance let out a deep breath.
“I thought I was all alone. Like I was some freak or no one wanted me or-“
“Lance, please stop.”
“Why? It’s true!”
Keith sighed, palms dragging down his face with the last bit of his patience barely hanging on.
“Lance, why do you think so low of yourself?”
Lance’s head dropped as he suddenly became very interested in his latte. But Keith waited, knowing Lance would answer eventually.
“I guess,” he started out, taking quietly, “I guess I just don’t think I’m important. Everyone’s better than me at everything, especially you! I always tried to beat you in everything, even the stupidest things like who could chug a can of soda first because I wanted to prove I could be good at something.”
Keith was shocked at the words he was hearing. Lance really thought that he was better than him?
“Are you serious?” Lance looked confused.
“Yes?”
Keith laughed. “Dude, you are so much better than me at so many things. For one, getting dates and picking up people at bars and shit. Just talking to people in general, really. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of a loner. And you’re just so kind and caring to other people, and you don’t expect anything back when you’re there for them. It’s incredible really. You’re so amazing, Lance.”
“You really think that?”
The look in Lance’s eyes pulled at something in Keith’s chest. It was intense, but lasted only a second. Maybe he was having a stroke? Could 20 year olds even get strokes? Whatever, that was probably what was happening. It seemed plausible.
“Of course. I think so highly of you, Lance. I actually get kind of jealous sometimes. You’re just so good with people.”
“Oh. I always thought you hated me because you always tried to beat me in everything. With that whole rivalry thing.”
“Lance, are you joking? I thought you hated me ! You’re the one who started the rivalry!”
“But you were still part of it! Hell, you even started it at times! It takes two people to be in a rivalry, ya know.”
“I only did that because I thought you wanted me to! I was just playing along!”
They stared at each other in silence for a moment before bursting out laughing. The whole situation was just a big misunderstanding. It was kind of ridiculous.
When both boys calmed down, they just sat there staring at each other with smiles still plastered to their faces. Lance was the first to look away, feeling uncomfortable with staring for so long. But it didn’t take long before they were comfortable again, falling back into easy conversation about school, and work and just everything.
“I can’t believe we could’ve been friends this whole time.”
Lance’s face fell slightly at that.
“Were we not friends before?”
“I mean, I wanted to be, but I always thought you hated me so I just kind of kept my distance.”
“Oh.” Was all Lance said. Keith noticed Lance looked a little upset and that feeling in his chest came back. He felt the urge to make Lance stop hurting. He needed to do something.
“But I’m glad we worked through that so we can get closer now. You’re a really good guy, Lance.”
Lance’s eyes widened at the praise, a strange look taking over his face.
“Lance? Are you okay?”
“Oh, uh yeah. It’s just weird.”
“What’s weird.”
“Getting complimented like that.”
Keith felt a sharp pang in his heart. The thought that Lance never got complimented ate him up inside. No one deserved that, but especially not Lance. There was so many things to compliment him on, it shocked him that no one had taken the time to tell Lance just how amazing he really was. No wonder Lance was so insecure.
“Well, get used to it because I’m not going anywhere and you deserve it. I’ll make sure you know just how incredible you are.”
Lance blushed slightly, not at all used to the praise he was receiving, but loving it nonetheless.
“Thank you, Keith. It means more than you know.”
Keith just smiled, pleased with his ability to make Lance feel better. Usually, he didn’t care about other people’s feelings, but when it came to Lance, everything was different.
They left the shop shortly after, both having homework to get caught up on, and tests to study for. They walked back to their dorms together, Keith walking Lance to his door. They both stood outside of it , neither wanting to leave each other’s company. Keith wanted to say goodbye, but it didn’t seem like enough. A handshake seemed to formal, and a hug… was it too personal? Keith wasn’t sure how Lance would feel about it and he didn’t want to-
Lance interrupted his thoughts, hugging Keith. Apparently he didn’t mind. Keith recovered faster than their first hug, holding on tighter since the boundaries between the two were starting to become blurred. They had become a lot closer today, learning more things about one another, things not many knew. It connected them, bonded them together in a way not many people had. So of course, a hug was okay.
Keith hesitantly pulled back after a couple moments, not wanting to let go but knowing he had to. Lance let go reluctantly too, standing awkwardly.
“Well, I should probably get going.” Lance started to turn around but Keith grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“Wait.”
Lance turned back to look at Keith, waiting to hear what he had to say.
“Give me your phone.”
Lance cocked an eyebrow, but handed over the phone anyways.
Keith typed away for a few seconds before handing the phone back.
“Now, if you ever have something you need to let out, you have someone to talk to. Don’t hesitate to text me. I’ll see you in class tomorrow, okay?”
Without waiting for a response, Keith turned on his foot and walked down the hall and stepped into his dorm room.
When he made it inside, he closed the door and walked to the kitchen table, finding a note that read:
I figured you’d be hungry, so I made dinner for you. It’s stir fry, your favorite! It’s in the fridge waiting for you :)
-With love, Hunk
Keith smiled, silently thanking Hunk for being so amazing. He warmed up his food and went to his room to study.
Meanwhile, Lance sits in his room staring at the new contact on his phone.
Keith Kogane(Your Best Rival❤️)
Lance wasn’t sure what this meant, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he and Keith were now friends. He had never felt so okay in his life. For once, he wasn’t feeling depressed or anxious or useless. He felt good. And it was all thanks to Keith.
He really hoped Keith wasn’t joking about all the things he said today. He wasn’t sure how long Keith would be able to put up with him. Most people found him annoying and left after a while. The only friends who hadn’t were Pidge and Hunk. But one thing he knew for sure. He was going hold on to Keith for all he had. Because now that he had him, he never wanted to let go.