Keith was on his millionth imagining of how the night might go. Time seemed to be passing painfully slow. Keith guessed that his eyes had been glued to the front door for about an age when in reality Lance had only left for his delivery about 20 minutes prior. No words had really been exchanged between them save for the usual teasing remarks that Lance usually made when he greeted Keith. Keith had awkwardly handed him the bouquet of tiger lilies that he had arranged, fixed the milk crate to his bike and then Lance was on this way. Nothing had been said about their plans to hangout that night. Keith wondered if Lance had forgotten. It wouldn't surprise him. 

Outside of the shop, the downtown area appeared to be getting busier. On a Friday night the residents of Altea Bay could be found anywhere: on the beach, at the restaurants or the pubs, or in The Alley: a little cubby of shops surrounding a greening copper fountain. Keith wasn't one for "going" out but it being his last summer in Altea, he figured that it would be fun to give a try. He was sure that Lance and his friends had done that before. 

Further way he sea glistened once again with the setting sun: Keith's usual closing shift show. The sunrise looked a little different that evening, it was a more vibrant orange with accents of pink. The streaky clouds emulated the sea foam that was gathering on the beach. Kelli had left the door to the shop open that day, and the breeze that waded in carried the scent of salt water married with the sweet smell of the flowers surrounding the silent boy. The serenity of the evening almost let Keith forget everything that he had been overthinking. 

Lance's bicycle bell chimed in the distance causing Keith to jump in his stool. Hurriedly he took off his red apron then put hon his hoodie. The shop had a few more minutes till closing but he figured that it would be okay just to leave a little early, maybe it would give us a little more time... In his head Keith hoped that no one else was intending on visiting the shop 10 minutes before 7:30. 

Keith locked up the front door before Lance could even walk in. The delivery boy skidded to a stop in front of the store like he ways did: it was his own type of grand entrance. His chest rose and fell ferociously as a crazed expression lit up his face. Lance took his delivery jacket off and shoved it to conform to the box shape of the milk crate on his bike. Lance took a tanned arm and swept sweat from his forehead. For the first time Keith noticed that he had freckles adorning his shoulders and his arms under the coral colored tank top he had worn that day. They suited him. 

"Aren't you glad that I didn't wreak the flower box thingy again?" Lance slapped his hand on Keith's back, causing him to recoil a bit. 

"Knowing you it'll happen again." Keith frowned. 

"I accept this challenge." Lance proudly nodded. "No more wreaks or I'll owe you..."The boy's brown eyes floated upwards in thought. 

"I'm not expecting you to pull this off." 

Lance paused after a moment moment of thinking, a mischievous grin growing on his face. "You have to do The Poppy Dance"

"NO." Keith's face tuned bright red. The Poppy Dance was this performance put on by the older folks in town at the Poppy Festival during the middle of the summer. They performed it for the whole town as a type of tradition.  "If I have to do the Poppy Dance so do you!" Keith cringed at the thought. 

"Deal! I don't care about doing it but I'm sure that you do," he winked. 

Keith shyly looked away. There was no way that he could rival Lance's unbridled confidence, Keith felt majorly out of his league. 

"Well, what do you say to getting some food before I crush you in some of your nerd games?" 

Keith's head snapped back. "They're not nerd games." 

"You keep telling yourself that bud." Once again he slapped his hand of Keith's back. 

Keith found the gesture really strange. Is this what friends do to each other? He straightened himself and gave Lance a slap back which surprised him. 

"I think you mean when I hand your ass to you when we play my nerd games." Keith tried his best to emulate Lance's smirk and give it back to him. 

Lance's eyebrows rose. Keith could have sworn that he saw Lance's cheeks turn rosy. Overhead a group of seagulls cawed on their way towards the water. Behind Lance the setting sun's glow made him look almost ethereal: his chocolaty brown hair appeared lighter and golden at the tips. He really was the sunny boy of Altea Bay, or at least to Keith he was at this one moment more than others. 

"Come on Flower Crown, I think I know where we should go." Lance walked past the other boy and gestured for him to follow. 

Hands shoved in his pockets, Keith trailed behind. 

                                                                                             ~*~

Lance had lead the both of them to the Alley to a street vendor selling tortas. Lance claimed that they were the best in town (and not to tell his mother that). The kind older man running the stand greeted Lance as if they were old friends and the two conversed in beautiful flowing Spanish. Even though Keith couldn't completely tell what they were saying he stood there and nodded politely as Lance introduced him. Somehow, Lance's tone of voice sounded a little different when he spoke in another language; like another part of his identity was shining through. It seemed so natural to him. 

Once again, Lance paid for Keith's food and Keith almost didn't notice it becuase he had been wrapped up in Lance's words--trying to see if he could translate a word or two. After he paid Keith didn't want to make a scene in front of the vendor. 

Lance handed him his sandwich and lead him to the copper fountain towards the middle of the Alley. Around it benches were arranged in a semicircle.  The air wafting from the fountain smelled metallic and little bits of mist seemed to shower around them. Dusk had begun and they sky was now almost a blanket of navy blue. Above them, string lights flashed on and illuminated the evening with a white glow. Music from inside the bars and restaurants echoed outside of their doors creating a weird clambering of noise, but Keith didn't take notice to it. 

The two quietly ate their food, only leaving space for a couple remarks here and there about how good the food tasted. Keith wanted to talk more, but he couldn't figure out to say; Lance looked perfectly happy just sitting there as they were. After a while, Lance crumpled up his trash and turned to other boy, sighing deep before he spoke. 

"You ever get tired sitting in there all day?" Lance's eyes didn't leave their gaze upon Keith who couldn't look up. 

"Not really, I don't really get bored. Is that what you mean?" 

Lance shrugged. "Maybe it's just me but I couldn't just sit there for hours without my head wanting to explode. Dude you're there for like, hours." 

Keith folded the corner of his torta wrapper and unfolded it. He had never thought about working at the shop as something that was painful. "I water the plants, re-pot, arrange, do the bouquets..." 

"Come on, the shop is never really that busy." 

"I watch the people walking b--" 

"You watch people?" 

Keith's head whipped up, suddenly embarrassed. He felt even more embarrassed upon seeing the look Lance was giving him. He looked confused with a twinge of disgust. 

"Keith," Lance placed a hand on Keith's shoulder while his expression changed. "Listen, I know I'm one to look at the girls, but just...staring at people on the street all day long? That's creepy." 

For a moment the weight of Lance's hand on his shoulder felt heavy and warm. It was the only thing that Keith could think about before responding. He shook it off. 

"It's not weird, I just wonder about where they are going, what their lives are like...I think it helps me pass the time." 

"Yeeah, that's not helping your case." Lance smirked and shook his head. 

"Wait! It's not like that!" A growing anger grew in the back of Keith's throat. 

"Come on, let's go." Lance stood up and held out his hand to Keith sitting on the bench. 

The dark haired boy stared at the other's tanned and freckled hand. He was dumbfounded. What does that mean?? Inside of his rib cage Keith's heart started to pound. What the hell is he doing? Over him, the taller boy stood expectantly,head held high with his eyes closed and his hand unmoving. Keith's mind ran blank trying to figure out what the gesture meant. He thought that it could only mean one thing.

 Hesitantly, he stretched out his fingers towards the hand across from him, his pale fingertips just barely touching Lance's palm. Immediately Lance took his hand back. 

"What are you doing?!" 

Keith's eyes were wide and frozen. 

"You idiot, I'm trying to take your garbage from you, not your hand! What the--" Lance snatched Keith's sandwich wrapper from his other hand and marched towards the trashcan. The boy had turned around so quickly that Keith couldn't apologize, or catch the tiniest smile that had flashed on Lance's face. 

                                                                                              ~*~

On the bike ride to Keith's place the two rode silently. The lights on their bikes illuminated the pavement before them as they glided down hills and rode back others. Every time Lance would ride over a pothole the bell on his bike could make a little ding. Keith was lost in his thoughts and silently cursed himself for being so stupid to think that Lance--who he had only just started really talking to--wanted to hold is hand. It wasn't a date, they aren't together...not to mention Lance would never want to hold my hand, unless I had white hair and was that dumb angel girl he was talking about. Lance hates me. He thinks I'm boring, he thinks that I'm creepy, stupid freakin' Flower--

"So are you gonna tell me where you live or what?" 

"You don't remember?" The moment the question left Keith's mouth he regretted it. Why would Lance even bother?

"Nope," Lance paused, "It was dark that night I drove you back, I'm no good with getting places in the dark." 

Keith felt an odd sense of relief. He pedaled a bit faster to lead the way. 

Since then he had forgotten that Shiro might be there when he returned to the house. Shiro wouldn't mind, but he didn't necessarily want him butting in. Keith hadn't seen his cousin since the Wednesday night that this had all began. The older boy would do this sometimes which never worried Keith. Shiro would always come back. He always just figured that work had called him, although the two of them never discussed his disappearances; it was some kind of unspoken promise that the two of them had. Keith would miss him though when he would have those warm summer nights to himself. Sitting in the dimly lit kitchen by himself, he would still wonder what Shiro was doing, or why he wouldn't say. 

Today was different. Keith found himself wishing that Shiro wouldn't be there that one night. 

The two boys turned a right and they pedaled up the hill leading to Keith's house. He had biked it hundreds of times so it didn't take too much effort. Behind him, Keith snickered at the sound of his companion huffing and puffing up the hill. They then wheeled their bikes behind the small house upon the hill into the small backyard occupied by a hammock and a couple lawn chairs. On the side of the house the sleepy outline of dark trees and bushes hugged the frame. Keith's backyard also looked upon the vast expanse of the ocean, which now glowed with the light from the waning moon. It was brilliantly white on that evening; beautiful--a thought that Lance kept to himself. 

The house was dark and empty as well as dead silent. It felt foreign to Lance who was used to the constant hustle and bustle of family members in his home. To Keith, the quiet of the house was calming, and sharing it with some else who wasn't Shiro was exciting. 

Keith opened the back doors with the jingle of his keys. Lance carefully followed behind him as Keith confidently threw down the keys into the dark and onto the table in front of him. Keith flicked on the kitchen lights to reveal the messy kitchen counters and table. Both of which Keith had forgotten to clean. With two boys living in the house, cleaning wasn't something that they went out of their way to do. After seeing Lance's tidy home, Keith hurriedly starting moving items around: books, glasses with 1/4 an amount of liquid in them, sketchpads, and used paper plates. Lance took notice. 

"You got anything to drink? I'm parched after that hill. I don't know how you do that everyday." 

The other boy rushed to the fridge praying that he did have something for Lance to drink. There were so many things that he had forgotten to picture during his play-through's of what would happen at this very moment.Luckily he did have something, but he would rather not give it to Lance at all. 

"Waoh there! Strawberry Kiwi? You reading my mind or something? This is my favorite flavor!" 

Keith hadn't noticed that Lance was expectantly waiting behind him. The sunny boy snatched the juice pouch from the fridge and opened it excitedly, sipping on the yellow straw with a satisfied look on his face. In moments he had sucked all the juice out and held his hand out for another. This time, Keith knew what they extended hand meant for sure. 

He passed him one. "It's my favorite flavor too." 

"Glad we can agree on something here Flower Crown." 

"Yeah..." 

"Where's your set up? Whatcha got going on here in your nerd cave?" 

The smallest sense of connection that Keith had just felt towards the other boy dissipated. 

"Follow me." The dark haired boy lead Lance further into the dark house, not bothering to turn on the lights. He then said, "So I can destroy you at your own game."  just quietly enough for the other boy not to hear. 

                                                                                                   ~*~

In all his years in living in Altea Bay, Keith had never had a friend come into his home, much less his room. Now there he was, standing at the doorway to his room. The place that he felt safest, and now he would be letting someone else inside. For a split second, Keith wanted to turn around, tell Lance that they could hang out another time, maybe that way Lance would forget about it later. Just like the pie. He wouldn't care too much. Maybe if he did care, he would have said something about the pie...Pie? 

Lance was inside Keith's room before he could let him. Keith gulped. 

"Where's the light switch? Are you a freakin' vampire or something?" Lance padded his hand against the walls. 

"No-uh, let me do it." 

As he had done a million times before, Keith strode up to the right wall and plugged in the lights. In an instant, a soft yellow glow warmed up the room as the string lights wrapped around the rim of the room switched on. Lance was silent and all Keith could do was wait for his response. He did remember to clean his room for this part. In amazement, Lance turned in circles to inspect his surroundings. 

The walls were adorned with all sorts of posters: pictures of spaceships, anatomical diagrams of flowers and other plants, architectural blueprints, photographs of the ocean and other far away beautiful looking places. What caught Lance's eyes were the Polaroids taped up above Keith's bed, and the soft neon glow of the glow stars scattered around the room. Lance wondered if they had been placed to mimic constellations. It was also hard to miss the copious amounts of indoor plants: succulents grouped together, spider-plants, ferns, a bonsi on his desk, a large monstera. On his windowsill, Lance noticed the only flowers in the room, small blueish ones.  

"Before you say something." Keith threw his backpack down and turned on the small TV on his floor. " "Yes, I know that I have flowers in my room, and yes I know that it's typical." 

Lance smirked. "I think you are reading my mind."

"They're African Violets. And...I've had them for a long time." 

Lance slurped in some more juice. "It's uh...nice in here. It...feels like you in here." 

"Feels like me?" 

Lance stammered, "Yeah, like ya-you know the uhhhh vibe. It's the same." 

"I don't know what you mean but okay." 

Keith quickly began setting up the GameCube before he could make a fool out of himself, while simultaneously preventing Lance from doing the same. 

"Lets play some Melee." Keith shoved a controller at the sunny boy who had sat himself right next to him. 

They were close. Close enough where it didn't make a lot of sense. Close enough where Keith felt his focus slipping away from him as he tried his best to demolish Lance. Just to spite him like he had been planning the whole time. To him, it was much more entertaining to watch the faces that Lance would make when he would successfully take one of Keith's lives or charge up a move just right. Lance would yell when he couldn't get out of the way of Keith's attacks or cheer when his CPU teammate would wail on Keith. 

Every once and a while, in his thrill Lance's arm would bump up against Keith's or it would lightly rest against his sleeved arm. Every time Keith would notice it and feel his chest tighten and his breath hold similar to when he would put his hand on Keith's shoulder. It felt..nice, like nothing else was happening in the world, but the two of them in that room, with the yellow light making everything else in the room seem softer. Keith didn't care if he won or if he lost the game to Lance. All that he could notice was the other boy smiling at the TV screen. Lance's sunny smile in that moment expressed the purest happiness Keith had ever seen. 

"Keith! Come on, I'm whipping your butt in your own home? You gonna let that happen?" 

Lance's head turned to look at the boy sitting next to him. He hadn't realized that Keith had already been gazing upon him. Startled, the two boys eyes met. Lance's dark blue eyes stared back at Keith unblinking, their faces only inches away. Strangely, Keith felt a pang in the inside of his stomach and the urge to make the space between them vanish. What if? 

"Lance" Keith whispered. 

Below the second floor, a door slammed and both of their heads whipped back to face the TV screen. Shiro must have gotten home. 

Lance took in a deep inhale. "You're not letting me win on purpose are you?"He resumed playing as if nothing had happened. 

Keith clenched his controller in his hands, his knuckles turning white. His heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears. 

                                                                                                    ~*~

Keith had known that he wasn't attracted to girls. Actually, there had really been no one in his life that he saw that he felt strangely compelled towards: no one's hand that he wanted to hold or even give flowers to. But this was different. With Lance's face illuminated by the blue glow of the TV screen, his smile dripping with confidence and the sunny boy's arm lightly brushing against his; Keith wished time could stop. 

                                                                                                      ~~~

Sorry for the wait! This is also a bit of a longer one but we had a lot going on ;) Did they just have a ~bonding moment~? The next chapter is gonna be from Lance's POV! 

Next time: Lance thinks over everything that happened when he hung out with Keith then gets a little distracted by a new acquaintance.