Knee Socks and Booty Shorts Don't Mix

Chapter Seven: Weird Feelings

"Uhh.... Lance?" Keith was ultimately confused as Lance continued to pull him down the streets.

"Sorry about her." Lance sighed.

"Who- what?" Was Keith's intelligent reply.

"I don't know, after the second practice she continuously pestered Allura, Pidge, and Shiro about you and why they wouldn't let you come with her. She even got violent with Allura." Lance looked over at Keith with worry.

"What happened?" Keith's eyebrows furrowed nervously. He didn't want this whole thing to be his fault, too many things were his fault already.

"I wasn't there for all of it, but Shiro jumped in and forbid her from entering the building. He threatened that if he saw her again he'd go to the police. Allura was pretty damn good in the situation though, she had that girl on the ground in seconds." Lance grinned.

"I-I'm sorry..." Keith looked away, not knowing what else to say.

"It's not your fault. She was just crazy." Now Lance was confused by Keith's reaction.

"But if I'd just dealt with her when she first appeared this wouldn't have happened." Keith half explained weakly.

"If you'd dealt with her, which probably would have meant you going with her, something terrible would have happened. You did what would have been expected of anyone to do." Lance frowned.

"But it obviously wasn't enough." Keith argued.

"It was enough. The team doesn't mind, all we care about is if you're safe and well." Lance stated as if he wasn't showing an entirely different side of himself, a side that wasn't an arrogant and annoying bastard.

"But..." Keith began, but was cut off.

"I don't want to hear it." Lance snapped.

"O-okay..." Keith went quiet, he really didn't know how to react in this situation.

Lance looked to Keith sadly, he knew he had been a bit harsh, but it was worth it. From what he had observed, Keith was someone who was impulsive, and he knew that was dangerous.

"Where's your house?" Lance asked after a lingering silence.

"What?" Keith seemed to snap out of a reverie.

"Where's your house?" Lance repeated.

"Uhh... I... I don't really know how to describe it..." Keith uttered, he'd never known how to describe the way to his house.

"Just take the lead, then I guess." Lance pulled at Keith's arm lightly, pushing him ahead.

"O...kay." Keith mumbled, surprised.

They walked in silence for a while. And by the time they were walking down Keith's street, both had become more comfortable in each other's presence.

"Lance..." Keith suddenly spoke up, strangely anxious as he played with his fingers.

"Huh?" Lance looked over at the shorter of the two, eyebrow raised in question.

"Uhm... weren't we supposed to go to that restaurant after the game?" Keith offered his answer, confidence level rising a few degrees.

"Shit..." Lance cursed, face looking pained.
"They're gonna kill us." He added.

"They should understand... hopefully." Keith reasoned.

"Too late now." Lance shrugged, letting it go surprisingly quickly.

"Lance." Keith sighed. "I'm sorry for shooting the ball into the wrong hoop. I've... I've never even watched basketball with my full attention, let alone played it." He finished.

"It was your first game, you should be expected to make mistakes. Now, I've never heard of a mistake that bad, but I'll let it slide, I suppose." Lance smiled genuinely, playfully sounding as if it was a drag to forgive Keith.

"Thank you... for.. uh... that and helping me out with the girl." Keith pulled for the right words to say in the situation, acting awkwardly, almost as if he hadn't thanked someone in a long time.

"No prob, man, I'd do it for any of my buddies." Lance grinned and they continued down the street.

"This is my house." Keith gestured to the blandly colored front of a house beside them.

"Charming." Lance piped, setting his hands on his hips, eyebrows raised in an amused manner.

"Yeah, thanks, we haven't been able to paint it since... for a couple years." Keith shrugged and began to walk to his front door.

"Hey, mind if I stay at your house for a bit? I don't like being in my apartment. I don't like living alone." Lance asked, undertones of anxiety lining his words.

"What, you too weak to stay in your house all by yourself?" Keith jabbed, walking in and signaling for Lance to follow him.

"I'm not afraid!" Lance whined walking in after Keith and shutting the door behind him.

"Course you're not."

"I'm not."

"I wasn't accusing you of being afraid."

"You insinuated it!"

"No I didn't. What proof do you have?"

"I...I don't have any proof!"

Keith shook his head at Lance's poor argument. How bad could someone be at fighting?

"See?" Keith raised an eyebrow, slumping onto his couch.

Lance just made a sound of anger and sat next to him, despite there being tons of other seating, and grumbled under his breath about how he wasn't scared. Keith had to hold himself back from laughing about how sore a loser Lance was.

"Anything you wanna do while you're here?" Keith asked grabbing the remote to the T.V.

"Nothing unless it's you." Lance flirted aimlessly, as was his natural reaction, his demeanor seeming to change instantly.

"W-what?" Keith blushed, not ready for such a response in the least.

"You heard me." Lance decided to keep it going, basking in Keith's embarrassed reaction.

"N-no!" Keith stuttered, sliding away from Lance.

"Jeez, can't you take a joke?" Lance laughed heartily, watching Keith grow even more flustered.

"I-I..." Keith was at a loss for words, glaring at the taller teen.

"Don't worry baby, we'll take it slow." Lance leaned over, barely managing his laughter, slinging his arm around Keith's shoulder.

"Why are you like this, Lance?" Keith asked, clearly annoyed as he struggled to free himself of the other's arm.

"Because, honey, it's who I am." Lance smirked arrogantly, strengthening his hold.

Keith groaned at his friend's? antics, relaxing, knowing that he couldn't properly fight in the position he's in on the couch. Lance laughed, happily suggesting they just watch Netflix 'till he decides he should leave.

"Yeah, but what do you wanna watch? And could you take your arm off me?" Keith questioned, eyebrows furrowed as he held onto the remote.

"I don't really care what we watch, love. And it's funny that you think this arm's moving." Lance grinned, looking Keith right in his annoyed glare.

"Fine. I'm putting on X-Files." Keith muttered, trying to scoot away but failing as Lance just moved with him, keeping him to his side.

"I'm cool with that." Lance agreed easily, being open to watching and engaging in just about anything.

Keith scowled, submitting to Lance's hold as he started the first episode of X-Files. Lance was happy to be physically close to Keith. He was the kind of guy that valued physical contact, of course. Keith, while annoying and rude most of the time, was someone Lance had quickly come to care for. Almost scarily quickly.

Lance wasn't sure how it had happened, but he felt as if he wanted to be close to Keith. Despite all this, for the time being, Lance had zero idea what to make of his feelings.