Another Love // Klance AU

CHAPTER 1

You've got a message from Pidge:

Yo, Keith?

Keith, who was working on a project for his class, opened his phone to reply at Pidge.

What is it Pidge?

Pidge is typing...

Can you come and pick Lance up?

Keith was glaring at his phone screen.

Can't he just walk with his own two feet? It's literally one floor to walk.

Pidge is typing...

It's not that simple. Please, Keith.

Keith frowned and put on his red jacket above his shoulders and headed out of the dorm.

***

Keith was walking down the second floor, were loud music was playing. It was a Friday night and the seniors had a habit of throwing parties every single week. Keith would never attend any of the parties and since the music would play all night long, he would spend his time doing his homework.

However, the past few weeks, he would be interrupted by Pidge and Hunk. Lance developed a habit of getting wasted at every opportunity given, so either Pidge or Hunk would call him to pick up Lance.

As he was walking down the hallway, he noticed Lance curled up in a corner with Pidge and Hunk looking concerned. Hunk was holding a glass of water and Lance's head was laying on Pidge's lap.

"Lance, I think you should drink some water" said Lance as he leaned closer towards Lance.

"I don't want water, I want Allura" mumbled Lance.

Hunk and Pidge felt Keith's presence as he was staring at Lance. As soon as he got the message, he felt annoyed that this had happened all over again. But after witnessing Lance's vulnerable, he couldn't help but feel sorry about him.

"Look who is here Lance. It's Keith! He came to pick you up" said Pidge while she was fondling Lance's hair.

"Keef? Keef decided to come to the party? Hooray..." said Lance in a low voice.

"Come on buddy" said Keith as he kneeled down to Lance's place. "Let's take you back to the dorm".

"But you just caaaaame! With your arrival, now we can get this party started!".

Keith responded by lifting Lance up. Despite Keith's slender figure, he was able to carry Lance with no particular difficulty.

"Bye guys" said Keith as he carried Lance back to their dorm.

***

Keith placed Lance gently on his bed. Lance had fallen asleep on Keith's shoulders as Keith was carrying him back to their dorm and Keith didn't want to wake him up. He then covered Lance's body with his own blanket; a blanket full of hippo prints, which Lance made him fun of. Keith stared at Lance to make sure he was okay and then returned to doing his homework.

The next morning, Keith was woken up by Lance's retching. He had fallen asleep on his desk. Keith quickly run to the bathroom, to find Lance leaning on the toilet seat. As soon as Lance stopped vomiting, he leaned his back on the wall, with his eyes closed.

"You alright, Lance?" said Keith.

Lance opened his eyes and stared at Keith. "Allura got back with Lotor".

"Oh" said Keith.

After that, there was an awkward silence between them. Lance was gazing at the bathroom ceiling and Keith was standing awkwardly at the door.

Keith finally broke the silence by saying "I'll make some coffee".

***

It took some time for Lance to get up from the bathroom floor. When he arrived at the kitchen, Keith had already prepared two cups of coffee and was preparing breakfast.

"You know that I hate black coffee".

"Stop whining and drink it" said Keith without turning his back to look Lance.

Lance forced himself to take a sip of coffee and placed it back on the counter.

"I'm sorry" said Lance.

"For what?"

"For all the trouble. Look, I know it's stupid and I shouldn't have reacted this way, but..." Lance stopped for a second trying to find the right words. "I want Allura to be happy. I really do. But... but when she announced me that she got back with Lotor, I... I just couldn't handle it. I know she will never like me the way I like her, yet I'm still hoping that maybe one day... it's stupid".

There was a moment of silence between them. Keith didn't turn his back for a second, but Lance didn't expect him to respond. Keith had every right to not want to involve himself with his affairs.

Keith interrupted Lance's thoughts by placing a plate with an omelet right in front him.

"Don't underestimate your feelings, Lance" he said and gently patted Lance's head. Whenever Lance was feeling down, Keith would fondle his hair as a sign of comfort - Lance naturally loved that. "It's not stupid. It's okay to feel like that, really. But you could definetly handle it better. So, next time, instead of acting recklessly, you can just talk to me. Or Pidge and Hunk".

Lance looked him with a surprised expression and chuckled. "I don't know. I don't want to bother anyone with my problems".

"You won't be bothering anyone. If it's hard for you to talk about it to Pidge or Hunk, you can always talk to me. We are best buds for life after all".

Lance's smile widened at the sound of Keith's words. He immediately forgot his worries and the reason why he was a mess last night. Keith really has a way to cheer him up and he would never be able to express his gratitude in words.

"Thanks, man".

***

Keith and Lance weren't always that close. In fact, when they first met each other, they instantly despised each other.

They met through Pidge and Hunk, who were mutual friends of theirs. For both Hunk and Pidge it was unbearable to watch their on-going rivalry. Everything was a competition; video games, grades...

But that change as soon as they were put in the same dorm together. It wasn't easy at first, but they learnt to co-exist together and help each other. They had lots of time to develop their friendship and accept each other's flaws. Lance might seem to many like loud and obnoxious and Keith certainly isn't considered to be the most friendly and likeable person by many. However, living together under the same roof was an eye-opening experience for both of them. Keith showed Lance a softer side of him that not even Pidge nor Hunk had ever witnessed. And Lance's confidence was nothing but a stunt; he had created this persona of being the notorious Loverboy Lance, while in reality, he was actually hiding his insecurities with this act.

Lots of things unraveled during their cohabitation. But they were both grateful to have each other.