Work Text:
When Lance was three, his mom tried to teach him the word ‘friend.’ She said it was someone you liked, and who liked you back. He’d wondered why he needed a separate word for that when he liked everyone and they seemed to like him back too. Couldn’t he go on calling them by their names, like mommy and daddy and abuela? When he didn’t understand, she told him a friend was like Keith. Someone who wasn’t family but you felt like they were.
When Keith was six, he finally started school. He was supposed to start the year before, but he’d been so shy his dad thought it best to home-school him for a while. But after a year of not having Lance around during the day, and then hearing Lance tell him stories about how fun it was as they sat in the evenings in their blanket fort, Keith wanted to go too.
After all his assertions that he was a big boy now and ready for school, when the first day came, he was scared. What if strangers tried to talk to him? He wouldn’t have his dad to hide behind. But then Lance came out of nowhere, just like he always did when Keith needed him, and held his hand. And Keith walked into school hand-in-hand with his best friend, ready to face every challenge head-on.
When Lance was in fifth grade, a seventh grader shoved him around a little. Lance tried to shrug it off, but his composure was shaken. Later that same day, Keith got suspended; and the bully was sulking around the halls sporting a bruised lip. When Lance got home, he found Keith proudly wearing a black eye and a swollen nose. Lance hugged him as gently as his emotions would allow.
All the bullies left them alone after that.
When Lance was a junior in high school and homecoming rolled around, he was practically bouncing with excitement. He asked nearly every girl in school to be his date, and they all turned him down. Every last one of them. Lance didn’t get it; he knew he had game. Then Nyma told him he was cute but she didn’t want to cause drama with his boyfriend. Lance was very much single and tried in vain to convince Nyma of this. He would’ve stressed about it more, but then he found out Keith wasn’t planning on going.
Lance then made it his personal mission to get him to change his mind, ultimately ending up taking Keith himself. From across the room, Nyma shot Lance a knowing look that made his cheeks go inexplicably warm.
When Keith was in college, he started making a lot more friends than he’d ever before felt the need for. But when Lance came to visit, everyone else took a backseat. After months of not seeing him, Keith suddenly had him close enough to touch again. Keith held himself back, but when Lance started talking animatedly, his whole face glowing as if lit from within, Keith couldn’t help himself. He screwed his eyes shut, leaned forward, and pressed his mouth to Lance’s.
When he pulled away, Lance’s eyes were blown wide. For a terrible moment, Keith thought that he’d overstepped. But then Lance’s lips turned into a smile happier than Keith had ever seen before.
And everything was as it always had been, just more complete.