Lance woke up with sweat decorating his forehead and his lungs burning for the lack of air and he sat up, filling his lungs with short breaths. Shit, he ran his hand through his damp hair, he brought his hand down, staring at it as he shook with anxiety. He turned his head and glanced at the clock, it was just past four in the morning. Great, just what I need. He turned his head slightly and let his eyes fall on the sleeping boy next to him.
His hair was scattered all over his face, spread across the pillow, his mouth hung open slightly and his arms were snugged underneath a pillow. His breathing was soft and kinda peaceful to listen to and Lance gave a small smile at the boy.
At least he’s sleeping, he dragged his hand down his face and placed his head on his knees. He focused all of his attention on his breathing and waited patiently for the pain to subside. After about ten minutes he finally pulled his head off his knees. He smoothed his hair back and leaned down to give Keith a quick kiss on the head before carefully climbing over him, his feet landing softly on the fluffy carpet.
Keith didn’t move at all and Lance nearly sighed with relief and he slowly crept out of the room, gently shutting the door before releasing the breath he was unconsciously holding. Okay Keith is still asleep, that’s good, he slowly slide his hand across the wall, feeling for the light switch that was not far from his door before hitting it with his index finger. He quickly flipped the switch and tiptoed down the stairs, switching off the light when he reached the bottom. He entered the kitchen, grabbing a quick glass of water before finding home of the leather couch, man I practically live on this thing. He laughed silently at his own joke and placed his cup on the coffee table, a frown slowly falling on his face.
I can’t do this, he grabbed at the short strands of his hair and fell forward slightly, he felt his heart rate begin to increase and he swallowed around the dryness that started to consume his throat. I’m not ready for this, this is all moving too fast. He slide his hand down the back of his head and sat up straight when he heard footsteps slowly emerged from somewhere in the house.
Lance rechecked the clock and scowled slightly, who would be up at this hour? He prayed that whoever was up was simply going to the restroom and heading back to bed but he quickly discovered that it wasn’t going to be that easy. It better not be Keith, that boy needs his rest. The footsteps began to get louder but they didn’t sound like they were coming from upstairs. In fact the sounded underneath Lance and the sound slowly got louder as the owner of the steps slowly made their way towards the living room.
A slight hummed filled the room and soon a taller figured opened a door that Lance had never even noticed and Ashley emerged from there, her hair tied up in a messy ponytail and her skin glistening with sweat. She continued humming her song, gently closing the door behind her before locking her eyes with Lance, a confused smile growing on her face. “Morning, you’re up early.” She took a few steps towards the tanner boy, grabbing the towel around her neck to wipe her forehead.
Lance gave her a stare, “I could say the same thing about you,” he took a gulp of his water.
“I’m always up at this hour,” she walked towards the kitchen, reappearing a few moments later with a tall glass of water, guzzling most of it in a few seconds.
Lance raised his eyebrows slightly, what normal person is up at this hour? He nodded at the new information, “may I ask why?”
Ashley walked towards him a bit more, gesturing at the spot on the couch with her eyes. Lance nodded quickly and she slumped down next to him, “I work out.”
“You have a gym?” Lance couldn’t even sound surprise anymore, with the money she had, she could own seventeen houses for all he knew.
Ashley nodded as she sipped on her water, “yup, it’s pretty basic but it has what I like.”
Lance stared at the floor and bobbed his head slightly, he wasn’t in the mood to talk but he wasn’t in the mood to be alone so he used all of his energy to make sure Ashely did not disappear. “Why so early though?”
She didn’t respond for a few minutes, letting the silence fill the atmosphere around them. “I have no idea really, I’ve just always been an early riser, plus working out helps me think. So whenever I have a problem I just work out. It’s been my routine since I was around sixteen. Every morning at 3:30am I wake up, workout, shower, and cook if I’m feeling up to it that is. Sometimes I clean but lately I’ve been drawing new tattoos and things like that.”
“That's awesome, good for you,” Lance knew that his voice sounded dead and he cursed himself for it. Come on, put some emotion into Lance.
“Thanks,” she chuckled and took another sip of her water, “so what about you? I’ve never seen you up this early before.”
Lance opened and closed his mouth a few times, quickly debating if he should tell the truth or attempt to throw her off his track. His mind was filled with the conversation that he had with her a few days prior when she saw right through his “bullshit” as she put it. He sighed quietly and formed a weak smile on his face, “I kinda had a nightmare.” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck in awkwardness.
Ashley face immediately fell with concern and she sat up on the couch, “that's no good. What was it about? If you don't mind me asking,” her voice was quiet and she looked like she wanted to hug him but remained where she sat.
“Keith wants me to meet his parents, and I don't know how they're going to react. Like I just keep thinking that they won't approve of me. I mean I can't blame them, I did punch their son the first time I saw him.” Lance knew he started to sound hysterical but he couldn't bring himself to care.
“So was that what the nightmare was about?” Ashley questioned as she rubbed her legs with her hands.
Lance bobbed his head and lowered his neck. “I just dreamt that they were standing around me and I was sitting in a chair. I couldn't move and they just talked down to me like I was nothing. They were telling me that I didn't really like Keith and he deserved better and I can't help but think that they right. I really don't deserve him.” His eyes started to burn and he filled his lungs with more oxygen.
Ashley nodded her head in thought, she was silent for a few minutes, the only noise filling the room was their breaths and eventually she stood from the couch, turning to face the tanner boy. “I don’t think that, that will happen, I can’t promise that they won’t be a little salty at you but if they are mature adults they won’t hold that against you for the rest of your life. Once they see how happy Keith is with you they will drop whatever beef they have against you, they will accept you.”
Lance twiddled his thumbs, not even sparing a glance at the women in front of him, “how can you be sure? How do you know that Keith actually likes me?”
Ashley shrugged and started walking back towards the kitchen, her empty cup being held by her fingertips. “Well I don’t think he wants to hurt you or that he’s faking his feelings. He would be really dedicated to his plan if he made you fall for him, agreed to date you just to bring you to meet his parents and crush you. Yeah that won’t happen, believe me it won’t.”
Lance waiting until Ashley came back from the kitchen before opening his mouth, “so you think that Keith really likes me?”
Ashley smiled while she nodded a few times, “yes, I see the way he looks at you when you aren’t looking. He’s completely infatuated with you, and he should be you’re an awesome dude.” She walked behind the couch and ran her hand over Lance’s hair like a older sibling to their younger sibling before stepping on the first step of the staircase. “So don’t worry about it, just be you and everything will be fine alright? I’ll see you at breakfast,” she took a few more steps before stopping yet again, “also you know that the main T.V is connected to cable right? If you don’t want to go to bed you can watch T.V, but if Cam ask what time you woke up it was 6:30 alright? She’ll kill me if she learned that I let you stay awake at this time of day.”
Lance nodded before giving her a friendly smile, his eyes following her till she disappeared from sight. He slumped back against the couch and stared at the T.V. He quickly scanned the dim room before his eyes spotted a remote control on the far end of the coffee table. He stretched his arm out and grabbed it quickly before curling up on the couch and turning on the T.V, a bright light filling the room. He squinted at the light and quickly surfed the channels, selecting a random action movie before placing the remote back on the coffee table.
He wasn’t even watching the movie he just needed something to fill the silence as he replayed the nightmare in his head. What if they don’t like me? What if they don’t want me to be with Keith?I need to respect them but what if Keith fights them, I don’t want him to get kicked out as well. I haven’t even thought about how Shiro will react, the way Keith was talking he doesn’t particular like me either. I mean I can’t exactly blame them, I am just the boy who punched their son and brother and then started dating him. Shit, why do I feel like this isn’t going to end well?
---
Lance sat up as he heard footsteps slowly come down the stairs, a small yawn filling the air, “oh Lance, you’re awake….why? It’s nearly 8am on a saturday and you aren’t upstairs cuddling your soulmate.” Camillia stretched her arms above her head as Lance turned to face his sister.
He shrugged and cracked his knuckles, “I’ve only been up for about 20 minutes,” he gave his sister an awkward smile, despite the fact he just told a white lie to her.
Camillia didn’t fight Lance on what he said and simply rubbed her eyes from tiredness and made her way to the chair adjacent to the couch, nearly falling down into it. “Okay, as long as you got some sleep,” she laughed and stated to fix her messy bun, running her hands through the tangled locks.
Lance nodded, “same to you sis,” he sat up on the couch and leaned forward slightly, stretching the muscles in his upper back with a silent sigh.
Camillia squinted her eyes at her brother and crossed her legs un underneath her. “What's wrong?”
Lance blinked rapidly at his sister and forced another smile on his face, “no-nothing wrong. Everything's a-okay.” he released a nervous giggle and Camillia frowned at him.
She unfolded her legs and stood from the chair, pointing at her brother with her index finger as she walked towards the kitchen, “we’re discussing this after coffee.”
Lance released a small breath and quickly considered making a run for it but knew that Camillia would find a way to have this conversation with him no matter what. He listened to the small clanks that came from the kitchen and he started to tap his foot with anticipation. Come on, just tell her the truth, she calm you down. He heard footsteps start to come back, she’ll know what to say.
“I hope you still like hot cocoa with whip cream and cinnamon,” she placed a white mug in front of Lance and perched back in the chair with a black mug in her hand, sipping happily at whatever was in it. “Now bro, tell me what’s wrong.”
Lance released a small breath and quickly considered making a run for it but knew that Camillia would find a way to have this conversation with him no matter what. He listened to the small clanks that came from the kitchen and he started to tap his foot with anticipation. Come on, just tell her the truth, she calm you down. He heard footsteps start to come back, she’ll know what to say.
“I hope you still like hot cocoa with whip cream and cinnamon,” she placed a white mug in front of Lance and perched back in the chair with a black mug in her hand, sipping happily at whatever was in it. “Now bro, tell me what’s wrong.”
Lance released a small breath of air and took a sip of his hot cocoa, enjoying the small hint of cinnamon he got. “Long story short, Keith asked me to meet his parents tonight and I don’t know how they’ll react or what they even think of me.” He felt his heartbeat increase and he took a few deep breaths in hopes to slow it.
“Ah that is definitely an issue,” she took another sip from her mug, “had Keith said anything about how his parents feel about you?”
Lance shook his head, “he hasn’t really mentioned me to them yet, like they know that he has talked to me and they most likely know that we’ve been hanging out but I have no idea how they feel about me.” Lance began to think about Shiro and he swallowed down the anxiety that began to fill his veins yet again.
“That didn’t help me at all,” Camillia laughed slightly and stared at the ceiling, “Does he have any siblings? A sister or brother?”
“He has a brother, apparently he isn’t too fond of me either.” Lance made a small laughing coughing noise before scratching his head.
Camillia tilted her head slightly, “why do you say that? Have you met him before?”
Lance shook his head again, “I’ve never seen him before in my life but according to Keith he wasn’t too happy that we started dating. Something about Keith ‘caving too fast’ which I suppose makes sense.”
Camillia nodded at the new information and took a swig of her drink, sighing at the taste. “They seem to be judging your character a lot don’t you think?”
Lance shrugged, “not really, they only know negative things about me.”
“Are you referring to the punch? Because that seems like the only bad thing you’ve done to Keith. And don’t get me wrong I’m aware that punching someone is terrible but it’s not the worse thing ever.” Camillia looked towards her brother, frowning slightly at him.
Lance’s mind was filled with nearly every moment he had ever spent with Keith and he fought back a shiver at some of the memories. “I’ve done more.” His voice was barely loud enough to reach his own ears and he fought the urge to hug his legs.
Camillia looked as though she wanted to pry but her eyes moved to the top of the stairs as a pale figured slowly moved down the steps, his eyes squinting around the room before making his target the couch where Lance was sitting. “Good morning Keith! I hope you slept well.” Camillia’s voice sounded too preppy for talking to someone who had just woken up and Keith grunted in response, sitting next to Lance on the couch.
Lance smiled at the other male and leaned over to kiss his forehead, before wrapping his arm around him and pulling him closer. “When did you wake up? I didn’t even hear you get up.” Keith’s voice was a bit strained and Lance fought back a laugh.
“Only about 20 minutes, I didn’t want to wake you up.” Lance smiled and Keith sleepily nodded against his shoulder.
Camillia giggled slightly at the two boys and stood from her chair, “you two want pancakes?”
---
Still not right, Lance slide the comb over his hair for the 30th time and nearly screamed at it. Come on! Just go in the right place! He combed through it again only stopping when Keith entered his bedroom.
“You almost ready?” He took a few steps into the room, leaning against the wooden desk in the room. The clock was just going on 5:30 pm and they were suppose to be there at 6 o'clock.
Lance shrugged and turned to face his boyfriend, “does this look….okay?” Lance gestured at his outfit, he wore a nice pair of blue jeans, a dark blue flannel and black high top converse.
Keith nodded, and he took a few steps away from the desk to hug his boyfriend, “you look amazing, don’t worry about it.”
Lance closed his eyes and slowly wrapped his arms around the paler boy. “Thank you, can you tell I’m nervous?” He chuckled, attempting to keep his voice light.
Keith smiled in the other boy’s shoulder, “not at all.”
---
“Should I know anything before I met your parents...properly?” Lance spoke over the hum of the engine as he turned onto a sidestreet, Keith directing him on where to go.
“Hmmmmmm I don’t believe so, just be polite and try to advice controversial topics, turn here.” He pointed at another road and Lance flipped on the turn signal, slowing down before turning.
“So treat it like a normal family dinner?” Lance asked as he pulled into the driveway that Keith pointed to. He switched off the engine and filled his lungs with air, fighting any anxiety that threatened to consume him. This is it.
“Basically, but try not to be nervous,” Keith reached for the other boy’s hand, entangling their fingers together. “Everything will be fine.”
Lance gave Keith a pained smile and lifted his hand to kiss the back of Keith’s hand before opening the door with his left hand. He shut the door behind him and looked up at the two story cream colored house. It had a wrap around porch with a swing hanging on it and a dark brown wooden door. Lance wanted to run, he wanted to fall down and cry but he didn’t, instead he waited for Keith to stand beside him, grab his hand and lead him to the door. Keith opened the door, sending a quick smile to Lance before returning his attention forward. “Mom, dad, I’m home!”
Lance straightened down his shirt with his free hand as he listened to footsteps come from different locations from the house. After a few seconds a shorter women made and appearance, her long jet black was tied up in a high bun and she wore black business pants, with a red blouse. “Keith, I’m happy you’re home.” She pulled him in for a hug and Lance reluctantly dropped Keith’s hand, giving him his arm to hug his mother.
“It;s good to be home,” he pulled himself away from her and opened his mouth before shutting it when a taller male entered the room. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and blue jeans and he opened his arms for Keith. “Hey dad, it’s good to see you.” Keith wrapped his arms around the wider male and mumbled a few incoherent words to the older male. He eventually pulled away from the other male and stepped a few feet backwards and gave Lance a small look. “Mom, dad I want you to met Lance. My boyfriend.”
Lance had never felt more awkward in his entire life, he could feel their eyes digging into him, tearing him down piece by piece. Nobody said anything, nobody moved until a small pinch exploded on Lance’s forearm. Right, manners. Get it together Lance! “Hey, I’m Lance. It’s nice to met you two.” He stuck his hand out, waiting patiently for someone to shake it.
Eventually the women reached for his hand and took it in hers, “nice to met you Lance, we’ve heard a lot about you.”
Lance nodded and gave her the warmest smile he could muster before his hand was dropped and immediately taken by the male. He didn’t say anything but after a few firm shakes Lance’s hand was dropped.
“Do you mind if we go to the living room?” Keith asked quickly and as soon as his mother nodded and started pushing Lance down a hallway. They both ended up in a smaller room, bookshelves covering in a few walls and a couch with a chair by the window.
“Well that went pretty well,” Lance walked around the room, examining the different books that were placed on the shelf.
Keith nodded and took a seat on the brown couch, “I agree. Dinner should be ready soon, I figured that you wanted a small break before dealing with that.”
Lance nodded and sat down next to the other boy, rubbing his hands together. “Is your brother here?”
Keith shook his head, “no, but he will be here soon and I can already tell that he will be difficult since well you know.” His voice trailed off and Lance bobbed his head.
“Well hopefully I can change his view on me.” He gave his boyfriend and suresmile and leaned over to kiss him on the lips quickly.
“I think you can.”
---
About 15 minutes later Lance found himself sitting next to Keith at a long wooden table, Keith’s dad at one end and his mom at the other. Plates of salad, bread, steak and hot vegetables filled the center of the table and Lance waited patiently before he filled his plate. Nobody was seated across from Lance or Keith but a plate was placed in the spot directly across from Lance. Please don’t let Shiro sit there.
“So Lance, where do you live?” A female voice filled the air and Lance quickly swallowed the piece of food he had in his mouth.
“I live with my sister and her soulmate, about 20 minutes away from here.” He gave her a warm smile and turned his attention towards the older man as he cleared his throat.
“I take it that is where our son has been disappearing to lately?” He began to cut up his steak and Lance nodded as Keith laughed.
“Yes dad, sorry I wasn’t that specific with the details.” Keith took a bite if his bread, leaning back in his chair.
“You two are in the same class I take it?”
“Yes ma'am, we have a few classes together.” Lance reached for his glass of water, taking a small sip of the cool liquid.
“Oh that’s simply wonderful, don’t you agree huni?” The older man grunted in response and the women smiled again.
Small talk filled the room and Lance was actually having a good time, he honestly believed that he was making a good impression on everyone. Until the front door opened and Keith’s mom stood from the table, excusing herself quietly before exiting the room. Keith reached for Lance’s hand underneath the table and Lance could feel the anxiety roll of him like waves.
He squeeze Keith’s hand back and took a deep breath as their new guest walked into the room, followed by Keith’s mom, I can do this.
“Ah Shiro, I’m happy you could make it tonight, I was worried you wouldn’t.” Keith’s dad spoke quietly and Shiro nodded at his dad, glaring at Lance quickly before sitting down. He wore a standard black t shirt and pants, his bangs falling over his forehead.
“Sorry, I lost track of time,” he looked at Lance and gave a grave smile to him. “You must be Lance, it’s good to finally meet you.”
Lance nodded, “likewise Shir-”
“Takashi, please call me that.” He narrowed his eyes at his brothers soulmate and Lance wanted to crawl under a rock and die.
“Shiro.” Keith’s voice was snappy and held slight anger as he stared at his brother in annoyance.
“What? I only let friends and family call me by that name,” he lowered his brows and took a bit out of his bread.
“I’m sorry I should have asked.” Lance released Keith’s hand and placed it on his lap.
Shiro didn’t respond for a few minutes, he simply began to cut up his steak, silence filling the air. “You two official now?”
Lance nodded, “yes sir, but only for a few days.”
“Have you apologized?” His voice was snappy and Lance couldn't help but feel slightly inferior.
Lance nodded again, “I have.”
“And he just forgave you like that? Kind of pathetic Keith.”
“Shiro enough,” Keith’s mom spoke harshly as she snapped at her son.
“Hey, I’m just curious, I want to make sure my baby brother is with someone worth his time, soulmate or not.” Shiro put a piece of steak in his mouth, his eyes digging into Lance like he was trying to set him on fire. “So tell me Lance, what made you crawl back to my brother? You obviously didn’t like him to begin with with, why do you now ‘suddenly’ like him? Did someones make a bet with you?”
Lance felt as though he couldn’t breath, it felt as though the walls were slowly closing in on him. This isn’t good. He racked his head for any sentence that could help him in this situation but found nothing. “I um I’m not sur-”
“So you don’t like my brother? Who did you make the bet with then?”
Keith’s voice filled the air, his attention on his brother but Lance couldn’t decipher what he was saying. What am I supposed to say? There is no fucking bet! “I don’t have a bet with anyone! I just changed my mind because I realized how great of a person he is. I know I’ve messed up in the past but I’ve been trying to fix and I’ve sacrificed so much to get to where I am now. While you got to keep your family I had to give up mine,” his voice must had been louder than he anticipated because all eyes were on him.
“Lance?” Keith reached for his boyfriend but Lance stood up from his seat, quickly stepping away from the table.