Chapter Text
Lance is laying on his floor staring at the ceiling when his phone buzzes next to him. He doesn’t answer right away, rubbing at his eyes before searching the floor around him for his phone. He doesn’t look at who it is before he answers, he just brings it up to his ear. “McClain speaking,” Lance says as professionally as possible. He gets a sigh in response that he immediately recognizes as Pidge.
“Are you laying on the floor again?” they ask. Lance sighs. Damn his friends for knowing him so well.
“Yeah, and what about it?” Lance huffs. They graduated a couple weeks ago and Lance has been… lost. He just doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. Sure, he has plenty of opportunities, the high science program and volleyball definitely opened doors for him, it’s just… too much.
“You’ve been moping since before graduation,” Pidge says, “none of us know what we wanna do.” Lance sighs and sits up. He’s sick of thinking about this. “Anyways, what are you doing this week?” Lance looks at his very empty calendar. The only day marked is his birthday.
“Not much, I mean I was gonna invite you guys over for my birthday or something,” Lance says, shrugging even though Pidge can’t see him.
“Well, pack some bags, we’re going to a cottage,” Pidge says, “we leave on Monday.” Lance’s energy immediately picks up and he presses the phone harder against his ear.
“Really? How’d you pull that off?” Lance asks, “aren’t all the cottages booked up by like february?” He hears Pidge chuckle and he can picture the grin on their face.
“You know the art teacher you had first semester?” Pidge says, not waiting for Lance to answer before starting again, “well, she has this massive cottage that her and Mr. Coran inherited when her father died. It’s like… it’s basically a castle.”
“I don’t see how this helps us. I’m happy she has a cottage?” Lance asks dumbly.
“You idiot, she invited us to come to the cottage, apparently she and Shiro are really good friends,” Pidge says, “ everyone is invited. Well, our version of everyone anyways.” Lance finally sits up completely straight at that. Excitement courses through him. As fun as the summer has been, he’s spent so much of it worrying about what he’s going to do with his life. A week at a cottage sounds like a really good way to forget about it. And with all of his friends. And Keith.
“I’m there,” Lance says, “send me the details.”
“And uh- don’t think we forgot about your birthday, okay?” Pidge says. Lance smiles softly.
–
Lance is pacing his room, quadruple checking that he has everything packed. He’s always been like this. He hates the idea of forgetting anything, so the only option is to rip his bags apart time and time again to make sure everything is there. As he’s pacing though, Keith reaches out from where he is on Lance’s bed and grabs his wrist, looking at him with soft eyes. “I promise you have everything,” Keith says. Lance instantly relaxes and walks to stand directly in front of Keith.
“Pinky promise?” Lance asks, sticking his pinky out. Keith chuckles, but he hooks their pinkies together. He then pulls Lance forward so they’re both on the bed, landing with a huff. Lance giggles and hides his face in Keith’s neck. “You’re so hot,” Lance mumbles. He feels Keith’s laugh vibrate through them and it makes his entire body warm. Keith runs a hand through his hair and Lance melts into it.
“You’ve mentioned,” Keith says. Lance can hear the smirk in his voice and he just has to look up. That smirk is the hottest thing that has ever existed on this planet.
“It’s really not fair. I mean you’re like… you’re like a greek god,” Lance says, “and you don’t even try! Like you just wake up looking like this. You didn’t know how to use conditioner until you met me! How is your face so… soft?” Lance traces his fingers over Keith’s face, smiling when Keith’s eyes flutter closed. It will never not surprise him that he has the ability to turn Keith into a melted lump.
“You’re biased,” Keith hums, “I think you’re the one who looks like a greek god. I mean, your bone structure… yeah that’s pretty damn beautiful.” Lance groans as his cheeks flush and he lets his head drop to Keith’s chest. He’s probably never going to get used to the compliments from Keith. They immediately put him in shambles.
“It’s not fair when you say things like that,” Lance grumbles into his chest. Keith just laughs and starts tracing shapes on Lance’s back.
“What, like how your hair is the softest thing in the world? Or how your freckles are the cutest thing I’ve ever seen?” Keith says, voice low and soft, “or how when I look into your eyes, I get lost and don’t want to find my way back?” Lance scoffs and looks up at him.
“Keith Kogane, when did you get so poetic?” Lance asks. He leans forward and kisses the corner of Keith’s mouth, grinning when Keith tries to chase him for more. He’s somehow got this guy wrapped around his finger. “Nuh uh, we need to finish packing,” Lance says, pressing a finger to Keith’s pouting lips.
“No, you need to pack. I need to sit here and watch you pack,” Keith says, “not that I’m complaining about the view or anything…” Lance smacks his chest and stands up.
“You perv,” Lance says playfully, “now help me shove this all in here, Hunk is going to be here soon with the van.” About ten minutes later, Hunk pulls up with the van and they make their way outside. They walk up to the van, hand in hand, lugging their bags with them. Pidge sticks their head out the passenger window and rolls their eyes.
“Do you guys ever not hold hands?” Pidge asks playfully. The door behind them opens and Shiro sticks his head out with a bright smile.
“Ignore them, you guys are adorable, now get in the damn van, we’re running late,” Shiro says. With a grin, Lance makes his way to the van, shoving his and Keith’s bags in Matt and Shiro’s direction. He and Keith squish into the backseats with the rest of the bags and buckle in.
“Alright, to infinity and beyond!” Lance says. He gets a few groans in response, but the van starts moving and all of his worries seem to get left behind with his house. He’s going to have fun this week.
“Dork,” Keith mumbles. Lance just smiles and leans forward to interrogate Shiro about his friendship with Allura.
–
Despite the car ride only being a couple hours, Lance and Keith both manage to fall asleep. It’s not the most comfortable, but if he’s with Keith, Lance genuinely can’t find anything to complain about. They’re woken up by a pair of shoes being tossed at them and an evil cackle from Pidge. “Ugh, my neck hurts,” Lance says with a pout. Keith groans and stretches out his arms, purposely hitting Lance in the face.
“Oops, sorry, didn’t see you there,” Keith says playfully. Lance grumbles, but he’s too drowsy from being woken up to do anything about it.
“We’re here, you gotta see this place,” Pidge says, “it’s even cooler in person.” After some more grumbling and shuffling, they make their way out of the van, lugging their bags with them. When they look up at the cottage, they suddenly feel completely awake. Pidge wasn’t lying, it literally looks like a castle. It’s massive, with floor to ceiling windows, pillar like rooms on either side, and a beautiful, massive balcony that seems to wrap around the entire second floor.
“Holy shit,” Lance says in awe. Keith is next to him, staring in the same awe as him.
“Come on, we need to see the inside, it’s probably insane,” Pidge says. The next hour consists of looking at every single room in the cottage. It’s insane. There’s a theater, gym, game room, two common rooms, an amazing kitchen, two spiral staircases and even an indoor pool. Outside, there are numerous kayaks, canoes and paddle boards in the shed and Lance can’t wait to get out into the water. The view from the back is amazing. They’re super close to the water and even have their own private beach. Lance wants to live here.
After the tour is over and they’ve explored everything they can, they pick their rooms and settle in. Lance and Keith’s room has a large window looking out at the water. Lance falls onto the bed and when Keith walks by, he reaches out and wraps his arms around him and pulls him onto the bed. Keith huffs, but laughs once he settles on Lance’s chest, letting Lance squeeze him. “Look at the view,” Lance says.
“You gotta stop saying that every time you look at me,” Keith says. But he’s blushing, like he does every time Lance says anything cheesy.
“But you do that every time,” Lance says, kissing his cheek, “I’ll stop when you stop reacting like that.” Keith huffs and hides his face in Lance’s shoulder. They stay there for a while, just existing within each other's bubbles.
“It’s nice to see you happy,” Keith says after a while. He props himself up on Lance’s chest to look at him. The sun is just starting to set, and it looks beautiful in Keith’s eyes. It sparkles and Lance can feel himself getting lost in them.
“What do you mean?” Lance asks. But he knows what Keith is talking about. There’s no secret that graduating has been really hard on Lance.
“You’ve just been… tense,” Keith says, “it was like the second we got here you just… relaxed.” Lance smiles, but he starts to feel a bit guilty. He didn’t want his friends to be affected by his stupor.
“I’m sorry,” Lance says with a frown, “I didn’t… want to make you feel like… I don’t know. I sound stupid.” He shuts himself up. He doesn’t really know what he’s trying to say.
“Hey, don’t feel bad,” Keith says, brushing hair from Lance’s forehead, “you’re allowed to be upset, you’re allowed to not know what you’re doing. And I know I still make you happy, before you say anything. Okay?” Lance smiles softly and kisses every part of Keith’s face that he can.
“Pinch me,” Lance says. Keith rolls his eyes and rolls off of Lance. Lance pouts at him, so Keith kisses his cheek before standing up and offering out a hand.
“Come on, I’m sure everyone’s already setting up the Monopoly board,” Keith says. Lance groans, falling back onto the bed. “Come on, we can be on a team, it’ll be fun.” Lance sits up and glares at Keith.
“Last time we were on a team, you lost all of our money in the first five turns,” Lance says, “you’re too impatient to be good at Monopoly.” Keith rolls his eyes and yanks at Lance’s arms, forcing him off of the bed.
“I’ll let you call the shots, okay?” Keith says, pulling Lance out of their room.
“Mmm, really? You never let me do that,” Lance says with a smirk. Keith just huffs.
“Don’t think that’s going to change,” Keith says, “I know you like it that way anyways.” Lance just flushes and does his best not to let his mind wander to dirty places when their friends are waiting out there for them. He’s got to keep it in his pants long enough for a board game. He can do that. When they get to the common area, Pidge is on Hunk’s shoulder, trying to wrestle something out of his hands. Allura and Matt are giggling over a couple glasses of wine, and Shiro is doing his best to stop Pidge and Hunk. Although best is a bit of an overstatement. He’s mostly watching with amusement.
“Ah! There you are!” Hunk says, thrashing under Pidge, “can you remind this gremlin that I always play the thimble?” Lance puts his hands up in surrender and makes a beeline for the wine.
“Do not involve me in this,” Lance says, “last time I tried to argue with Pidge, they nearly took my arm off.” He turns his back to them, smiling fondly out of their view. He finds their fights to be quite comforting. He stops in front of Allura and Matt, who both turn to him with slightly flushed cheeks. He needs to catch up.
“Looking for some wine?” Matt asks, trying to sound as fancy as he can. Lance nods, and just then, Keith slides up next to him, wrapping a hand around his waist, tucking his fingers into Lance’s belt loop. Sure, Lance might be under the legal drinking age, but that’s never stopped him before. Besides, it’s just a glass of wine. He’ll be fine.
“You sure you want red?” Keith asks softly, “last time you had some, you had a migraine for hours the next day.” Lance leans into him, pressing his cheek to his shoulder.
“Always looking out for me,” Lance hums, “you’re such a simp.” Keith grumbles, but Lance finds it adorable. Keith is probably right, he should avoid red wine for now. “Matt, do we have white?” Matt soon walks over with two glasses of wine, handing one to each of them. They soon make their way to the table, finally deciding their pieces after some mild arguing. Pidge ends up with the thimble.
“So, should we go for big properties or small ones and hotels?” Lance whispers as Shiro hands out the money. Keith just shrugs. They’re both on the couch, next to Pidge and Hunk. Keith has their ankles locked under the table, and he’s leaning closer to Lance than he has to.
“You’re calling the shots, you tell me,” Keith says.
“You’re not going to help me at all?” Lance asks with a pout. Before Keith can answer, a hotel hits Lance square in the temple and he doesn’t even have to consider who threw it. He glares at Matt. “What?”
“It’s your turn to roll dumbass, stop being all gross with your boyfriend,” Matt says. Lance squints at him, at the way his shoulder is pressed firmly against Shiro’s.
“Hypocrite,” Lance mutters, grabbing the dice. To no one's surprise, the game takes about an hour longer than it needs to, and there is a lot more arguing, negotiating and blackmailing than necessary. It’s the most fun Lance has had since the summer started.
–
When Lance wakes up, he’s surprised to see Keith still sound asleep on his chest. Normally, Keith’s up way before him, out on a run or doing some other psycho stuff. It’s nice. He kisses the top of his head, happy to feel his weight and warmth against him. Keith looks so peaceful when he’s sleeping. It’s not that he doesn’t when he’s awake, he’s gotten a lot better at relaxing, he’s just… different when he’s asleep. The sun is streaming through their window, still low in the sky. Keith hums and shifts, blinking his eyes open softly.
“Morning beautiful,” Lance says, tucking hair behind his ear. Keith, still hardly awake, leans into the touch, flushing slightly. “You’re adorable when you’re sleepy.” Lance hums. Keith smiles and looks up at Lance.
“What time is it?” Keith asks, voice slurring with sleep. Lance shifts them so he can grab his phone, shocking even himself when he sees the time.
“Jeez, it’s six thirty,” Lance says, “I don’t think I’ve woken up this early without an alarm for years.” Keith just smiles and hides himself in Lance’s chest further.
“What time do you think everyone is gonna wake up?” Keith asks. Lance can hardly hear him, he feels the words more than anything.
“We were up pretty late, probably at like nine,” Lance says. When he looks out the window, an idea strikes him. Hunk is going to make them an amazing breakfast, but until then, Lance wants to do something. Not that laying in bed with Keith isn’t something amazing to do. “How opposed are you to getting wet right now?” Keith looks up at him with a glare and Lance just sighs, waving him off. “Get your mind out of the gutter, it’s too early for that kind of shower. I wanna go paddle boarding.”
“So it’s too early for shower sex, but not for paddling along the lake?” Keith asks.
“Hey, you’re the one who goes on five am runs every day,” Lance says, “I don’t wanna hear it. Come paddle with me. Please?” Keith tries to hold his ground, but he gives up pretty quickly and he lets Lance drag him out of bed, into their bathing suits, and over to the water. As much as Keith complains the entire time, once they’re at the dock with their boards, he can’t stop himself from smiling.
“Wanna race to the other side of the lake?” Keith asks, pushing his board into the water. Lance does the same, holding in place with his foot.
“Oh, you’re on mullet,” Lance says, “first one there and back wins, loser has to…
“Help Hunk make breakfast,” Keith supplies. They both shudder. Hunk is a human teddy bear… until he’s in the kitchen. Then he turns into Gordon Ramsay. It’s like his inner demons all come out and attack you for cutting an onion into slices that are slightly too big.
“On three?” Lance says. Keith looks at him, grinning. Lance has a feeling Keith isn’t going to wait until three. And right of cue, Keith rushes into the water, getting a head start on Lance. They both paddle like their lives depend on it, making sure to sabotage each other every chance they get. Lance can hardly breathe by the time they get back, laughter and exertion taking all of his energy. He gets there just seconds before Keith.
“You cheated,” Keith says, laying on his board. Lance pushes their boards together and does the same, holding Keith’s hand so they don’t drift apart.
“You’re the one who got a head start,” Lance says, “I don’t want to hear it. You lost fair and square.”
“You hit me with your paddle,” Keith says.
“And you splashed me when I was laughing, that’s attempted murder Keith!” Lance says, sitting up. Keith does the same, and they realize they’ve drifted quite a bit from the dock.
“Want to go to that little island thing?” Keith asks. Lance isn’t sure how long they’ve been out here, but he doesn’t see any movement through any of the windows, so he nods. They paddle next to each other, talking idly about what imaginary flavour of Pepsi would be the best. The island is closer than they thought, which means it’s also smaller than they thought.
“You think it can support both of us?” Lance asks. Keith rolls his eyes and climbs onto the island. It’s about the size of a basketball court. He pulls his board up with him and helps Lance do the same. They spend the next while exploring the little space, wondering how the little insects and critters survive so far from any trees or real land. Lance feels like his inner child is coming out and it feels really nice.
“Hey, look at him,” Keith says, ruffling through a bush. Lance comes up beside him, pressing their shoulders together. Keith pulls something shiny out from the bush, brushing the dirt off of it. Lance can’t help but giggle when he sees what it is. “What the fuck?” Keith murmurs, turning it in his hand. It’s a pink heart made of glass, just about the size of Keith’s palm.
“Awww, someone probably buried this here with their partner,” Lance says, “that’s adorable. It’s like carving your initials on a tree or something.” Keith considers this and places the heart back down gently where he found it, brushing some dirt over it.
“Probably best we don’t mess with it,” Keith says, grabbing Lance's hand, “we should find a tree to carve our initials into.” Lance smiles at him and squeezes his hand.
“Really? You said that was way too cheesy the first time I mentioned it,” Lance says. Keith just shrugs and starts pulling them towards their boards. They need to get back before the sun burns them to a crisp and their friends start worrying.
“I guess I just get it now,” Keith says, “it’s not cheesy when you’re with the right person.” Lance scrunches his nose, but Keith is right. Nothing really feels cheesy when you’re in love. All those sappy, cringy couple things just become natural. Lance stops them just before the boards. The sun is warm on his back, his skin is tingly everywhere. Keith’s hands naturally find Lance’s hips when they face each other.
“I love you,” Lance says. Keith smiles and knocks their foreheads together. How could Lance ever feel lost when Keith is right there to ground him. Who cares what his future holds, as long as Keith is there with him.
“Love you too, blue,” Keith says, “come on, I can feel the sun burning me.” Lance chuckles, pecks him quickly, then shoves his board into the water. When they walk inside, they don’t expect to see anyone, but they’re immediately met with the delicious smell of omelets.
“Jeez, there you are,” Pidge says, nursing a cup of black coffee, “Shiro was about to start a search party.” Shiro sighs and shakes his head, but he doesn’t deny it. Matt just laughs at him from the kitchen where he’s busy cutting up peppers for Hunk.
“The water was calling for me, I had to answer her,” Lance says, pushing Keith towards the pot of coffee. Keith smiles and busies himself getting coffee for both of them, “besides, I woke before Keith for once, I had to take advantage of that.”
“So you dragged him into the lake?” Allura asks.
“Yes, and I’ll have you know he had a lot of fun,” Lance says, crossing his arms with a huff.
“Well, this just means you’re helping make dinner tonight, so I don’t really care,” Pidge says, “Hunk has been bossing Matt around for the past hour.”
“Have not!” Hunk yells over the sizzling of the pan he’s holding. Lance smiles as he looks around at all of his friends. Everyone looks so peaceful and happy. It’s nice not having to think about the future for a while. He just gets to be a person without any outside stress. He gets to argue over Monopoly and dunk his boyfriend in the lake. Maybe he just needs to take things a day at a time and stop worrying so much about the future. It’s going to happen regardless, at least he has good people there with him.