Just Your Average College Life

Chapter 9

Saturday, 26th October, 12pm:

Keith stood at platform 9 with clammy palms and an expression of masked worry. And his worry truly was well masked, seeing as he was scowling and had a murderous tint in his violet eyes. Lance, according to his text, was running late (for some reason Keith found that unsurprising) and wouldn't get there for another 10 minutes, which gave Keith's anxiety 600 extra seconds to work itself up. Perfect. The young college student wasn't sure why he was so nervous, with Shiro it had been easy- though that was probably because their first few 'dates’ were full of theorising about their other soulmate, making pages of evidence for different potential boyfriends (okay, that was more Keith but Shiro only said it was a tad creepy once). And Keith loved theorising, he loved conspiracies so he could focus on that instead of the stupid stuff like: 'do I look good? Am I being annoying? Should we have gone out to a movie?’. By the time the couple actually got round to having a conventional date Keith knew Shiro well enough not to feel shy and awkward. With Lance, however, he didn't have that luxury.

“I'm so sorry I'm late! Allura took ages deciding what I should wear, even though I definitely told her not to bother and that no effort was needed, and then Pidge gave me the 'dad’ talk like they're my parent or whatever whilst I'm at college but I'm here now!” Lance rambled happily, not really meeting Keith's gaze until he finished talking and was stood directly facing him. “So… Where are we off to?”.

Keith pondered the question for a second, he'd kept it a secret until now but it wasn't exactly a jaw dropping surprise. Then again, from what Shiro had got out of Matt Lance actually liked surprises, unlike Keith who kept his birthday (that had happened 2 days ago and he was now 20) a secret from everyone, including Shiro, to avoid a surprise party. Or a party altogether really. Whilst thinking he managed to take in Lance's extremely attractive appearance, he didn't focus much on the outfit, though it's blue hues did match Lance's eyes, but more on his charming smile and beautiful skin. Truly a masterpiece if Keith had ever seen one, and he seemed to be wearing very subtle but effective makeup too.

“Dinner and a movie, or lunch I guess. What do people call the mid day meal they eat?” Keith said, deciding to be vague, as he led Lance onto the correct train and found a seat for them. For a Saturday the vehicle seemed pretty deserted, only them and a few other college students on board, as well as two elderly ladies holdings hands at the back.

“Dinner and a movie, hmm? Went with the classic I see.” Lance smiled dazzlingly, seemingly brightening the world around him and definitely making Keith blush stupidly. “Didn't know you were so romantic, Keith.”

“I'm not. I googled it.” He replied bluntly, looking down at his lap to hide his face but glad Lance was trying to make a pretty casual conversation, unlike the awkwardness of their and Shiro's conversation on Monday.

“Well, at least you tried. Hey, how long is this train journey?” He asked, he was speaking in a kind tone but he had a teasing edge to his words, like he wanted to banter but didn't want to inadvertently hurt Keith's feelings.

“It's 30 minutes, and I don't see you trying. I had to come up with this entire date on my own. Shiro didn't even buy the train tickets!” Keith only realised he was whining more than he was bickering after he had spoken, but he paid no attention to that and instead looked into Lance's eyes in a challenge. He'd always been a little competitive (okay, a lot competitive) so this was a great way to get rid of some of the tension.

“What? The poor, little, starving artist Keith Kogane needs his big, bad boyfriend to pay for his stuff?” Lance teased, seeming less afraid of saying the wrong thing thanks to Keith's earlier response.

“You realise he's your boyfriend too, right? Or did you miss that whilst you were unconscious in his arms?” Keith bit back in retaliation to the comment on his height, slightly nervous to take it too far but Lance just squeaked both indignantly and dramatically as a reply and turned away from the shorter man, all the while sporting a smile on his face.

1:00pm:

The two of them sat down at a small but delicious smelling diner, Keith's favourite, after a 20 minute walk from the train station. A walk Lance seemed unable to stop complaining about, and though it was endearing and cute to begin with, now it was just annoying. Okay, maybe his pout was still a little cute.

“My legs! My muscles! I'm dying! You might as well leave me here, I'll never walk again!” Moaned Lance theatrically, going as far as making extravagant hand gestures and pretending to limp before outright collapsing into his seat, at least Keith hoped he was pretending to limp- the Cuban man was a good actor, probably from studying drama, and did a scarily convincing fake limp.

“Need Shiro to carry you again?” Keith quipped, successfully shutting Lance right up as he huffed in annoyance. “Anyway, we're here. Order whatever, I'm paying.”

The two actually had a nice dinner, it wasn't fancy or expensive but it was Keith's style, with nice waitresses and good food. Lance told him about himself, probably exaggerating at some points but still making the story seem genuine and entertaining. Keith told the much less alluring tale of his life, his mom moving from Korea to Texas, marrying his dad and having him. Keith mentioned his parents split up but didn't go into the entire depressing story; this was a date after all. They ate their exquisite meal, Lance holding them up 20 minutes since he was apparently a very slow eater, and making Keith worry they'd miss the movie.

“What movie is it anyway? Is it Star Wars? Jumanji? The Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief remake that's apparently way more accurate to the book with better acting and fewer plot holes then the first one? Oh my God, is it The Last Showman?! That one has Zac Effron and Zendaya!... Though you're obviously way hotter than either of them.” Lance guessed pointlessly as they left the diner, side stepping along the sidewalk as Keith strolled normally, his face bright with excitement.

“None of them, though I am looking forward to the Percy Jackson one, the books were incredible. But no, we're going to a Swedish documentary of Mothman sightings.” Keith revealed, certain Lance would be the opposite of happy with this movie choice, but not really caring since they were meant to be getting to know each other and this was something he liked.

“A Swedish documentary on Mothman?... Dude, that's not even a movie! I'll have to read subtitles!” Lance complained, his excitement melting away and starting to walk normally. Despite his decline in attitude he still chose to lace his long, tanned fingers through Keith's pale ones and squeeze his hand, as if to say: 'I don't like it, but I don't hate it. If you want to go watch some geekfest about a cryptid then why not, but I won't be singing from the rooftops about it. As long as you're happy, I'll go’. Though admittedly Keith could have been reading too much into the simple gesture.

The documentary meant being in a dark room, that was mostly deserted since, for a reason Keith couldn't even comprehend, almost everyone else in the world didn't give two fucks about Mothman, and that alone had made Keith super anxious to come here with Lance. He was a good guy but Keith knew he flirted around a lot, had had a lot of relationships and was probably expecting a long make out session in the back of the movie theatre. Whereas Keith had only ever dated Shiro, the guy was his first kiss and even that took a few weeks to get round to after they got together, and no offense to Lance but he wasn't exactly ready to start kissing him on the first date, as stupid as that sounds. Luckily for him, Lance was surprisingly considerate despite not knowing how Keith felt, during the entire movie all he did was hold the shy artist's hand and then fall asleep with his cheek rested on Keith's shoulder when they got to what Lance must have thought was the most boring part of the documentary (it wasn't boring at all). Could this guy seriously not stay conscious whenever Keith was involved? This was the second time!

5:00pm:

The two men got off of the train together, Lance still with his messy hair from his doze on Keith's shoulder and Keith with a small smile on his lips, glad Lance seemed to enjoy their date despite not liking the movie.

“I guess this is where we part ways, huh? I… Had a good time.” Lance smiled happily, squeezing Keith's hand and giving him a quick peck on the cheek, as if sensing Keith wasn't quite ready for anything more.

And with that Lance walked off, waving momentarily and leaving Keith with a pathetic mushy grin on his face, probably surprising the conductors who'd seen him scowling earlier.

(AN) Hi! I don't usually put ANs on Wattpad but I wanted to apologize for no chapter last weekend, it was Christmas etc. And you're welcome for the early chapter this week. Also, I love feedback! I live for it even, feel free to comment, kudos, scream into the void or whatever else you'd like to do. Hope you had a nice holiday season, see you next Saturday! :))