partners | klance

Ride

Lance's attention was everywhere except on the teacher.

That was his last period that day. He was sitting by the window, his eyes wandering all over the walls of the classroom, to the ceiling, then finally settled on the playground right across the street. A few kids were attempting to have a snowball fight, even though there was only a small amount of snow. Lance spared them a warm smile for their determination.

"-ance. Lance McClain," Lance quickly turned his head towards the teacher, "would you like to explain this play, since you seem very interested in it."

His eyes went wide, sparing a quick glance towards his best friend, Hunk, who motioned his eyes to the blackboard and then back to Lance.

Lance understood Hunk's actions and looked at the blackboard. Written in cursive on the blackboard stood the title of their new assignment.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

Lance was a bigger theater nerd than he cared to admit. Soon, his arms were maneuvering around him as he explained how Hamlet sought revenge for the death of his father to the whole class. He really liked theater, even acted in a few plays himself from time to time.

If he took the time to look around the classroom, he'd be able to see the shocked and amazed faces of his classmates.

His teacher sighed as he finished telling his story. "Just pay attention next time. Don't let me catch you with your attention elsewhere."

"Then, let's hope you don't catch me next time," Lance mumbled, but it was enough for Hunk to hear and giggle a little.

The teacher shot a warning glare at Hunk, who immediately put on a serious face.

"This play, which Lance explained very well, will be your next assignment for an essay. You will be drawing your theme from this box," the teacher pointed on a small carton box placed on his desk, "You will be working in pairs-"

Lance's face lit up. He already turned to Hunk's desk to ask him to work with him.

"-who will be chosen alphabetically." Lance froze. He's going to be working with Keith. He raised his hand to protest.

"No, Lance, I won't change my mind. You can negotiate with Keith to choose which one of you will draw the theme, but that's it."

He was sure this teacher hates him. Everyone knows that he and Keith are rivals. Sure, they have the same friend group and they hang out all the time. Sometimes he even enjoyed his company, but they were rivals nevertheless.

Wearing a frown, Lance turned around in his seat to look at Keith, who was sitting right behind him. Keith was surprisingly calm. Lance expected him to protest about being his partner, but he didn't say anything.

They had a silent agreement and Lance stood up from his seat. He made his way towards the teacher's desk. He drew the first piece of paper that caught his eye out of the box.

"Hamlet's... relationship with Ophelia?" Lance read out loud. Great, he will need to talk to Keith about relationships and feelings. Keith, out of all people. A few snickers could be heard through the classroom.

Lance made his way back to his seat and let the other students come forth and draw their theme.

He decided to wait until class ended so he can plan everything with Keith.

The bell rang soon and Lance quickly put his books in his backpack. When he turned around Keith was already gone.

* * *

"Oh, come on. I'm sure it won't be that bad," Hunk tried to cheer him up while they were making their way towards the exit of the school.

"Easy for you to say, you got paired with Pidge," Lance was pouting.

Hunk sighed. "Yeah, but still. Keith is a hard worker, it'll be easy to work with him."

"It would be easy if we didn't hate each other."

"Gosh, you're so blind." Hunk let out a light laugh.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, there's my mom. Good luck with the project," Hunk smiled and waved at him as he made his way to his mom's car.

Lance waved back and looked around the school parking lot.

There he is, Lance thought as he spotted the familiar mullet, Keith and his stupid motorbike.

Lance sighed and made his way to Keith.

Keith was already sitting on his bike, just about to put on his helmet when Lance interrupted him.

"So, about the project..." Lance started, not really sure what he was expecting to come out of this talk.

"What about it?"

"Well, for starters, whose house are we gonna work at? And when?"

Keith's eyes wandered around for a few moments. He looked deep in thought. Lance never noticed how pretty Keith's eyes are... wait, what?

"There's no school tomorrow because the teachers are going on that trip, so I can- are you okay?

Lance was caught off guard. "Wha-, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"...Right," Keith didn't buy it but didn't comment on it, "as I was trying to say, I can come over at yours tomorrow. If you're free, of course."

"Yeah, I'm free, of course. Um, what time will you be coming over?" Lance is talking too fast. Am I being nervous? In front of Keith? What is happening to me?

"How about 4 pm?"

"Okay. Well, see ya then." Lance was about to turn away and start walking home when he heard Keith call out to him.

"How about I give you a ride home? I-I mean, it's starting to snow again and we are going in the same direction."

Lance tried to ignore the blush on Keith's cheeks. He tried, but Keith just looked so adorable.

"How come you're so nice to me?" Lance was smirking on the outside, but screaming internally.

"If you wanna walk in the cold, that's fine by me. I'll leave you to it."

"No need to get all sassy on me," Lance sat behind Keith, hoping that Keith won't be able to feel his heartbeat during the ride. My God, I have a crush on Keith. I have a crush on Keith? 

Keith handed him his helmet.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, just put it on."

Lance's chest felt all fuzzy. He put his arms around Keith's waist as they took off. Lance always thought that Keith's body temperature reciprocated his personality, but instead, Keith was a living furnace. Lance never wanted to let go of him. He'll think about his feelings later, but for now, he just wanted to enjoy the ride and the heat that radiated off Keith's body.

But all good things come to an end. Lance saw them approaching his house and soon Keith stopped the bike right by the fence. Lance held onto Keith for a moment longer and then let go and got off the bike. He took the helmet off and handed it back to Keith.

"Thanks for the ride," Lance said with a grin.

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow," Keith said with a small smile. He then put his helmet on and left.

Lance watched him go, a small smile remaining on his face.

Until tomorrow.