Street Racing- Klance

twenty two

Once Lance and Allura got to his apartment, they headed to his room, Lance sitting down on his bed and Allura pacing around the room slowly.

The whole ride to Lance's house was silent. It wasn't awkward, but it wasn't comfortable either. Lance was considering heavily whether he should listen to Allura and give up street racing, or whether he should continue despite the fact he might lose to Keith today.

It was rough, deciding between responsibility and happiness. On one hand there was growing up, taking up his career full time and being the responsible adult he knows he needs to be. But on the other was having fun, living for the thrill and risk and doing something that made him happy.

Everyone looked at Lance as the dumb goofball. His friends, family, teammates. Everyone. And sure, Lance loved to crack jokes that weren't actually that funny, and sure, Lance often downplayed his intelligence, but those qualities weren't his only ones. And they definitely weren't the ones he wanted to be defined by. He wanted to be known as the best racer, both in street and auto racing. But most of all, he wanted to be known for his kindness and ability to make people smile. But not because they were laughing at him, but because they were laughing with him. Because they genuinely liked him and understood him. That's what Lance wanted most of all. Approval.

"Alright Lance. Let's get to work." Snapped Allura after a minute or so.

Lance quickly looked up at her, breaking out of his train of thought, signalling at her that he's listening.

"Where's your suit?"

"Where it always is." Lance replied back, with slightly too much attitude. He didn't mean to. That's not who he is. It just came out.

Allura raised an eyebrow at that, but she let it slide for now, knowing Lance didn't mean it to sound the way it did. She walked up to his wardrobe and opened it, revealing the absolute state that it was inside.

Allura practically gasped in shock at how messy and unorganised everything was. She gave him a look, showing her expression. Lance just shrugged.

"Okay, this is a problem for another day. You go get showered and I'll lay everything out for you."

"Alright." He said bluntly, just wanting to get out of there as soon as possible so he could be by himself and not say something he'd really regret.

"Lose the attitude." Pleaded Allura, in a ferm yet some how still kind tone. She knew Lance was just having an off day, but she wasn't going to let him carry on talking to her like that.

Lance looked her in the eyes, questioning whether he should apologise or just leave. He knows the right thing to do is to apologise, and so he did. "I'm sorry Allura. Bad day."

Allura put her hand on his arm, letting Lance know she's not upset. They both tried for a smile.

Lance took a vest top and boxers from his drawer and went into the bathroom, leaving Allura rummaging through his clothes to find his suit.

Waiting for the water to warm up, Lance started thinking about what Allura told him again. Would it really be for the best if he just quit street racing? But if he can't win against a bunch of drug addicted cheats, and Keith, then why bother racing at all? Maybe racing just wasn't for him anymore. Maybe he should quit altogether.

The whole time he was in the shower the thoughts just kept getting worse and worse. He was a disappointment, he should have never started racing to begin with, maybe he should've just stuck to auto racing, or what if he picked a different career altogether, his life has just been one big joke, who is he lying to, putting up the whole act of being cocky, funny and put together? That wasn't him at all. In reality he was stupid, reckless and a waste of space. At least that's what he told himself for the duration of his shower.

After probably way too long, he finally got out, dried himself of, put on his vest top and boxers and went back to his bedroom. Allura was sat on his bed, scrolling through her phone. Lance assumed curiosity got the best of her and she was probably reading comments on his and Keith's tweet. What he wouldn't give to go through them too, but Allura put him on a ban from social media until the event is over. And for good reason. If his worries of everyone turning against him were confirmed, he wouldn't be able to show his face. Or well, his mask, since he doesn't actually show his face, but you get the point.

"Right, cheer up Lancey. You look like everyone you know has just been murdered." Allura tried to joke.

Lance gave her a half arsed smile. She sighed, getting up from his bed and passing him his racing suit. He swiftly put it on and turned to look at himself in the mirror.

At first, he was quite hesitant. Whenever he's in a bad mood, he hates looking at himself. He makes himself feel so much uglier and just worse in general than he actually is. But suddenly, as he checked himself out in his suit, all the good memories of winning races and talking to his fans and showing off his best tricks came flushing into his mind. He smiled, genuinely this time. This is what he lived for. This is what made him happy.

He reached out for his mask, put it on, and an even bigger smile appeared on his face.

"There he is. There's my Lance." Said Allura, looking at her best friend finally feeling better.

"I'm so ready." Stated Lance.