Archive of Our Own ^beta

Keith never thought he would remember his days at the Garrison. Sure, he could hang with his friends and laugh with them as they told stories of prank wars and horrible teachers, but nothing really resonated in him- nothing really stired the nostalgia in him. It was like the time he’d spent at the school was erased from his memory, never to be revived again.

Of course, ‘never’ seemed to be a loose word in his vernacular.

He had been arguing with Lance about something stupid when it happened. Really, he loved the man, but those endlees blue eyes always found a way to get him unbelievably heated. He was fuming as he turned to walk out the room- his fists clenching out of time. Lance’s words became muddled in his head. He could hear his pleads to just sit down and talk, but he couldn’t. His legs didn’t seem to cooperate with the anger boiling through his blood.

He couldn’t think when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He couldn’t think of Lance and how much he really loved him- think of how he would never hurt him.

He felt his hand move on its own accord. He felt it on the hard planes of Lance’s broad chest only for a moment before he pushed the man back, off of his feet.

He heard Lance’s sharp intake of breath, and just like that, his anger left him. He watched in horror as his boyfriend stumbled backwards and fell to the floor, his hands barely caught him.

Keith was on his knees in that moment- a million apologies falling from his lips. Lance smiled at his attempts, cooing and wrapping his arms around him.

“It’s okay, baby.” He murmured. “You didn’t mean it.” Lance tenderly ran his fingers through Keith’s hair.

“Its not okay, Lance.” He insisted. “I could have hurt you.” He felt Lance giggle before he heard it- his chest reverberated with the light noise.

“Trust me, I’ve had worse than a little shove before.” Keith stopped his gentle nuzzling into Lance’s chest. He moved to sit up and look at him. The light air that Lance was trying to display was sucked out of the room with his words.

“Who?” Keith said simply- trying to keep the conversation airy for his boyfriend’s sake.

There was a beat of silence before he spoke.

“Everyone.” He said so quietly Keith had almost missed it. The word fell and sat heavily on Keith’s chest. This time, he pulled out of Lance’s embrace to cup his face in his hands. He saw the poorly masked sadness in his face as he carefully rubbed his thumbs across his cheeks.

“Yeah,” he continued, trying to find his laughter again. “I really wasn’t a fan of the Garrison.” Keith sighed before locking eyes with the boy before him.

“Did I,” He tried to say the words but his mouth couldn’t form them. Lance grimaced and looked away, his hands moved to wrap around Keith’s waist, thumbs rubbing circles into his hip bones.

He sat back on his knees as the memories flickered behind his eyes.

He remembered looking down on Lance’s beaten and bloodied form, Shiro sneering beside him. He remembered snickering with Pidge as they posted a video of him, very obviously drunk and incoherently babbling about some boy-

“I outed you.” His eyes widened. “Pidge and I outed you.” He brought his hands up to his face to find hos cheeks wet with tears. “How do you deal with us?”

“Well,” He started. “We’re a team. We’re family. We all have to get along.” His lips twitched. “I know you guys didn’t mean it. You didn’t know what you were doing.”

“But we were so wrong,” Keith argued.

“We’re all wrong sometimes. That’s life.” Lance spoke softly. “Hey,” He smiled, gently pulling the obstructing hands from Keith’s face. “I love you. That person back then? He was someone who didn’t give two fucks about anyone. You’ve grown. You’re not the same kid from before. You are the man I love and adore. And I love you.”

Keith pressed into him- their lips connecting feverishly. For the first time in his miserable life he thanked every single god out there for blessing him with a man like Lance. He sure as hell didn’t deserve him, but he made a promise to anyone who cared enough to listen. He promised to never let anyone hurt Lance the way he already had. It wasn’t enough, but it was a start. He never wanted Lance to feel unloved ever again.