Thank you all for so much support it means so much! This is sadly the final chapter, let me know if you like my voltron writing, as this is my first ever voltron fic. Check out (mimi_l_imim) on insta!

The statement hung in the air.

Everyone could feel the panic and confusion radiating from the two cuffed boys. Shiro decided they needed a break before they combusted, and quickly guided the duo into a more private area.

"Ok so that was a pretty big bomb to drop." Shiro said. "Why don't you two just take a minute and we can regroup in a bit."

He left the two alone in a room that held only a table and three chairs. For a long time they didn't move or speak. There was a lot to process, too much really. Too much for one morning, too much for one lifetime. An awkward silence settled over them. Lance wracked his fried brain. What do you say to your teammate-turned-soulmate?

He thought over all of their experiences with each other, every interaction. How they'd bonded and grown away from rivalry and toward friendship, how they'd been able to turn to each other in times of need. In actuality, Lance had already acknowledged his feelings for Keith, but was there a chance that Keith could like him? He thought of how he'd felt when Keith left. Betrayed, hurt, angry. Devastated. When Keith left, he took part of Lance's life with him. And since he'd been back they hadn't had much time to continue growing together with Lotor and the Galaxy throwing everything they had at Voltron. But now, Lance could actually see their relationship building back up. Sure, the, *cough*, circumstances had hurried up the process, courtesy of the space wolf, but it would have happened eventually.

Well, Lance thought. At least I have the universe cheering me on. And there's only one way to get these stupid cuffs off, so either way it has to happen.

"Okay." Lance said quietly. Keith snapped his head up to look at him.

"Okay?" Keith's eyebrows knit.

"Okay, so, your space wolf says we're meant to be together." Lance said, shrugging.

"Yeah." Keith frowned. "I got that part." Lance flinched. Did that mean Keith...didn't like him back? That he didn't want to be his soulmate?

Lance's lip quivered, but he pushed down the knot rising in his throat. "Do you-" He paused to take a breath and maybe stop his voice from sounding so broken. "Do you think she was wrong?" Better. Still shaky, but better.

Keith's eyes snapped up and scanned his face. The small frown pulling at the sides of his mouth, the freckles littered across his face, those deep blue eyes that he could get lost in forever. Lance took a breath, steeling himself for rejection. "No." Lance's eyes popped open. "I think she was right. I think that we're meant to be together. But you don't feel the same way, so I guess we can just try to forget about this."

Lance was in shock. Was Keith confessing his love or rejecting Lance's? He could hardly tell. A loud cracking noise split the silence, like ice shattering. Lance's eyes travelled down to their cuffed hands to see that there were long cracks spider-webbing across Keith's cuff, an ominous glow radiating from both their cuffs. He was even more surprised to see the tear trailing silently down Keith's face. So Lance did the only thing he could think of.

He brought his free hand up to cup Keith's chin and gently tilt his face up so he could kiss him. He felt Keith tense beneath his touch but didn't pull away from the already-feather-light kiss. In an instant, Keith had wrapped his arm around Lance's waist and responded eagerly to the kiss, deepening it and adding fuel to the fire.

That's when their shackles exploded.

Lance and Keith sat thigh to thigh on the couch in the common room. Now that their hands weren't cuffed they didn't need to hold hands constantly. But, of course, they still did. It had been about three weeks since the incident, and things were almost normal again.

After the explosion had taken the wall of the small room out, they'd had to repair the ship for two days on a small planet close by. Surprisingly, neither Keith nor Lance had been hurt by the blast, so they'd been well enough for Lance to nervously ask Keith out on their first date. The planet had been having a ceremonial festival when the paladins had dropped by, and Lance found out the village had many activities and festivities available for them.

They'd been walking down the pier, hand-in-hand, eating the closest thing to ice cream they'd gotten in space thus far. They stopped at the end, waiting with baited breath until, WOOSH! A bright light spiralled into the night sky. It reached its peak and exploded into color. They sat and watched the fireworks, the booming in their chests not only from the fireworks. Lance looked over at Keith, eyes wide and smile prominent in the red light of the firework. Keith looked over to find Lance gazing at him, a sweet smile on his face, intense blue eyes illuminated in the blue light from the firework. A heavy air gathered around the two as Lance's eyes flicked to Keith's lips. They leaned in, stopping a breath away before Lance slanted his lips over Keith's. The fireworks were long gone, as now they'd found something much bigger, brighter, louder to rock their world.

Keith squeezed Lance's hand gently, bringing him back to the present. Shiro had been discussing the importance of stealth and secrecy in returning to Earth. Right. Lance glanced over at Keith.

Keith sensed he wanted to talk about something- something serious based on Lance's face.

"Shiro I need to gay." He blurted before tugging Lance up from the couch and out of the room.

"That's not an excuse!" He heard Shiro call incredulously at their backs, but they were long gone. Keith pulled him into Lance's room and sat down on the bed.

"Ok that was a huge embarrassing mistake that's going to follow me around forever." Keith bemoaned, rubbing the heels of his palms into his eyes. Lance burst out laughing at that.

"I have to admit," Lance said, wiping a tear from his eye. "That was out of character."

Keith groaned and flopped onto the bed. "Anyway. The whole reason for that was to see what you wanted to say. So... say."

Lance took a deep breath. "Well, since we're going back to Earth and all..."

"Yeah?"

"And you don't exactly have a house..."

"Yes?"

"Would you... maybe want to stay with me in Cuba for a while?" Lance winced. "I mean I know you lived out in the desert and we should totally go there so you can see your home too but I really want you to meet my family since I've already met yours and I want to introduce you as my boyfriend if that's okay and-"

"Lance."

Lance shut his mouth.

Keith chuckled, moving from the bed to Lance, taking his hand and putting the other on his cheek. "Is that you asking if I'll be your boyfriend?" A glimmer of hope shone in his violet eyes.

Lance gave a goofy, love-sick grin. "Yeah. Will you be my boyfriend, Keith?" He asked.

Keith grinned. "Yes. Will you be my boyfriend, Lance?"

Lance just kissed him.

"Oh and by the way." Keith pulled away, placing a small peck on Lance's lips. "I'd love to meet your family."

Lance's ridiculous grin grew impossibly larger. "Keith?"

Keith hummed happily in response, settling their foreheads together comfortably.

"I think I'm in love with you."

Lance had never seen Keith smile so brightly.

"I love you too, Lance."

Keith's space wolf teleported onto Lance's bed.

Keith whirled on her. "You are so busted, Missy!" He cried.

"Get her!" Lance shouted. The wolf just snickered and dodged them, leading them on a chase through the castle.

She didn't care about the consequences. Her ship had sailed and that was all that mattered.