The next day in class Keith found himself shifting uncomfortably in his chair. He ignored Pidge and Hunk's questionable glances as he could only imagine what a complete jerk he was if they had already spoke to Lance.

The morning had certainly been a difficult one to process. When he awoke Lance was still holding him tight, facing each other, their bodies flush together. Keith felt something well up in his chest and in a blur of adrenaline he shoved Lance away from him. He pushed him harder than intended, causing Lance to fall to the floor with a loud 'thump'.

"Ouch, what the hell?" Lance mumbled as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

"I thought I told you no last night to the whole wanting to hold me thing."

Lance's face flushed red as if he suddenly recalled what happened. "I mean, it's a small bed, I didn't mean... err..." He stumbled over his words.

Lance jumped to his feet as Keith stood up from the bed. Lance opened his mouth to say something but stopped, letting out a huff of air. "Let me get your clean clothes." He mumbled and walked out.

He returned moments later with Keith's clothes neatly folded in his hands, handing them to him. "Here... and I guess i'm sorry."

He could tell Lance was seriously trying. Don't be sorry, Keith thought. Lance didn't do anything wrong but something was stopping Keith from saying that. This was all because of this damn string, if only he could get rid of it forever. Then he wouldn't have to feel guilty, and without it Lance likely would have never cuddled him. Somehow that thought hurt.

"So uhhh..." Lance scratched the back of his head. "You wanna eat breakfast, maybe meet my family?"

Keith furrowed his eyebrows and responded without thinking entirely clearly. "No thanks." He knew deep down he shouldn't get closer, he shouldn't push things, he didn't want to string Lance along. "I'll return your clothes later." He said dully as he put on his shoes and left, thankfully he was able to slip out the front door without anyone seeing him.

Now here they were in class together, neither of them particularly brave enough to look at each other. Keith glanced down at his backpack, he brought Lance's clothes back for him but he wasn't sure if he should approach him and give them back or just give him space. As class was dismissed Lance jumped out of his seat and ran out of the room before Keith could stop him. Great, he thought, he's pissed.

"Hey Lance!" Hunk shouted at the top of his lungs, not caring who was nearby.

Lance jumped and spun around to greet him. "Oh, hey Hunk, how's it going?"
Hunk let out a loud sigh as he caught up to his friend. "Me? How's it going for you? You shot outta class faster than I've ever seen."

"Hmm I guess I did, huh?" Lance rubbed his chin inquisitively. "Well I might have screwed up."

"What do you mean, buddy?"

"Keith ended up spending the night last night, on account of him falling asleep in my room and all. I kind of woke up hugging him, weird right? I mean, I kinda just... hugged him and didn't let go, yeah."

"Okayyy, so you cuddled this dude?"

"Hmm." Lance narrowed his eyes as if thinking really hard about what he was saying. "Yeah but that's not the problem, well it kind of is, but he got super pissed at me. Like kicked me out of the bed and stormed out all like 'Ohhh I'm too good for you Lance'."

Hunk seemed to be processing the conversation before responding. "So let me get this straight, you the skirt chasing, womanizing Lance cuddled this dude and now he's mad. Is there a possibility that you like this guy? Like, really like?"

"Pft!" Lance laughed. "Like? He just looked so adorable all curled up in my bed, like cuter than the cutest girl I could imagine. There's no way I could..." Lance trailed off, he suddenly stopped walking. No, no, no, that was absolutely not the case. But the more he thought about it, the more his feelings made sense. Actually all he could think about that afternoon was wanting to cuddle him again, and how hard he had been rejected.

Hunk raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh huh, I see."

"Lance." Keith's voice shot through his chest like an arrow, causing Lance to gasp as he spun around to see Keith shouting to him from a distance away.

Hunk patted Lance's shoulder and shot him a smile. "He doesn't look too mad right now, just go talk things out. I'll text you more about everything later."

"Thanks bud." Lance gave him a smile in return and waved to him as he turned back around to walk over to Keith.

"Hey Keith, what's up?"

"Hey. You wanna come over to my place for a bit? We should probably talk."

Keith's heart could have stopped in his chest watching the genuine smile spread across Lance's face. He stifled his own excitement.

"Oh, I knew you couldn't stay away from me for too long." Lance winked at him. And just like that the mood was gone as Keith rolled his eyes.

Something deep down told him that inviting him over was a terrible idea, on the other hand he did feel he should suck it up and apologize. He would apologize and be done with it, then he would find a way to get rid of this string. Lance hummed while smiling behind him, practically skipping the entire way to Keith's home.

"Ohhh you live in a fancy apartment." Lance remarked as they approached the building.

"I guess."

They entered the large, modern apartment. Everything was very minimal and clean, almost too clean. It didn't even look like anyone lived there. The only thing in the large living room was a plain white couch, table and a TV mounted to the wall.

"You can have a seat." Keith pointed at the couch.

Lance's eyes were still darting around the room as he sat slowly down. "This place is super fancy, what the heck do your parents do for a living?"

Keith turned away from him. "You want something to drink?"

"Sure."

He walked into the kitchen and returned with two small cans in his hand, setting them on the table before sitting on the opposite side of the couch from Lance. Lance grabbed the can before pausing to stare at it.

"Gross, beer? Also you never answered me." Lance set the can down, making a gagging face.

"My parents passed away." Keith answered bluntly. Lance quickly picked the can back up, seeming to change his mind he opened it and took a few large gulps.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't be, I don't mind telling you." He was actually surprised he was saying that, normally he would never tell anyone. He never had a reason to talk about his family, even so it wasn't a comfortable topic, he took a drink of his own beer. Keith leaned over to grab his school bag off the floor, pulling out Lance's blue pajamas he'd borrowed, setting them on the table.

"Actually I invited you over so that I could say sorry. I should have met your family."

Lance's eyes lit up. "Nah don't worry about it, you can meet them anytime." He tried to ignore as Lance slid a little closer to him. "Actually it hurt more that you kicked me, I think I landed on my head."

"Probably not the first time you've been dropped on your head."

"Hey! Rude." That was enough to make Lance chug down more of his beer. "Another." He declared as he slammed the empty can on the table.

"Already?" Keith raised an eyebrow at him, getting up to grab him another. "Okay I guess I shouldn't have kicked you, we did totally have a bonding moment there. And since you're drinking so fast I guess we could watch a movie before you go home? I doubt your family would love you coming home stumbling on yourself."

"Oh my mom would kill me for drinking, movie sounds like a great idea."

Cable didn't provide many options, they found some random cliche action romance and decided it would do. Once again Keith found himself questioning exactly how he got where he was. He probably shouldn't have tempted himself or Lance with alcohol, yet, here they were.

Though Lance had never drank before and he had no idea how to pace himself in any way he found himself in a comfortable spot. He was a little dizzy, but not too much, his feet tingled as he tried to focus on the movie. Though that was completely impossible considering his eyes kept wandering over to Keith. He kept repeating his earlier conversation with Hunk in his head.

"Heyyy..." Keith slurred a little as he leaned closer to Lance, causing him to nearly yelp.

"H-hey." Lance stuttered, his back stiffening as he fixed his eyes back on the TV.

"Would you like to do that with me Laaaance?" Keith pointed quickly at the movie before slumping over and leaning his shoulder against Lance's.

Lance gulped as he watched the couple in the movie crawling into bed together while kissing. He suddenly felt uncomfortable watching it and diverted his eyes to his lap. Don't think about it Lance, he told himself repeatedly in his head. Besides, he figured there was no way Keith was already drunk or anything, right? He cautiously turned his head to look at him.

Keith's face was flushed red, he returned the glance. Lance felt his breath catch in his throat as their eyes met briefly. He didn't know how to respond, he didn't know if he should at all, this was bad. Keith's voice suddenly seemed lower and husky as he spoke once more.

"I'd like to."

Lance melted at that voice, he clasped his hands tightly together to keep himself from pouncing on the smaller boy and smothering him with cuddles.

"I'd like to do this." Keith placed his hand over Lances, gently running his fingers over his. Lance bit his bottom lip, it took everything in him to sit still. It felt like lightning ran through his hands everywhere Keith touched.

"And this." Keith moved Lance's hands apart, holding one up to his lips and placing a soft kiss there. Lance's eyes slammed shut, still in disbelief this was happening at all.

"And maybe this." Keith whispered, Lance could feel his tongue press against his hand and slide up to the tip of his finger. The sensation was almost too much to handle. His hot tongue felt incredibly good, it melted all of his thoughts away. Keith opened his mouth and slid Lance's fingers in, making a soft noise as they pressed against his tongue.

Lance felt a fire inside of him, it would brighten and flicker then dull, over and over. He slowly looked up at Keith. Keith's eyes were closed, his fingers deep in his mouth. Lance gently pulled his hand away, sliding his fingers out slowly. He watching a small strand of saliva smear across Keith's bottom lip. Lance let out a long breath as he leaned away, trying to process what just happened.

As he pulled back Keith suddenly pinned him down on his back. His eyes widened with shock at his sheer strength. This is it, this is really happening, Lance thought. He couldn't hold back, he gripped Keith's shoulders and in one smooth motion flipped him over. Lance was now straddling him, he inadvertently pressed his hips down against him. Keith gasped in response, grinding into him.

Lance leaned down, pressing his lips to Keith's. His lips were rough yet gentle at the same time. He felt fireworks in his stomach as Keith opened his mouth in response, sliding his tongue into Lance's mouth. The kiss quickly became full of passion, almost desperate. Lance felt Keith let out a small groan against his lips and their tongues danced together. He savored how he felt, how he tasted. He wanted to kiss him forever, wanted to feel him more. He felt the desire building deep within him as he pulled away, gasping to catch his breath.

This is really bad. He thought as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, moving himself off of Keith. He actually kissed him, like a real kiss, his very first kiss at that. He whined to himself and sighed.

"I can't do this." Keith shoved Lance back, sitting up.

"Hey, you don't just steal someone's first kiss and then say something like 'I can't do this'!" Lance furrowed his eyebrows.

Keith shook his head, moving out from under him and standing up. "I made a mistake, I think you should leave."

Lance clenched his fists, using all of his willpower to keep himself from snapping at Keith. He pointed at him, "You make me so angry! I hope you really feel like a jerk for this, even if you did have some drinks that's no excuse."

I know, Keith thought bitterly. Lance was completely right. Neither of them said anything else as Lance stormed out, slamming the door behind him. He somehow felt even worse knowing that was Lance's first kiss, and it had to be with someone like himself. He let out a long sigh, falling back onto the couch. He reached his hand up toward the ceiling, staring blankly at the red string. He made up his mind, he would do all he could to break away from this destiny, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed the only person he knew he could confide in.

"Shiro?" Keith spoke quietly. "Can you come over? I need to talk to you."