Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alpha, Beta, Omega

Alphas: 15% of the worlds population are alphas. Alphas are very tall and strong they can have a very intense aura around them and they give off a very intense pheromone smell. A lot of people are afraid to get on an alphas bad side. A lot of alphas are owners of large companies and CEOs everyone respects alphas. But of course they get a lot of pressure on their shoulders to achieve great things.

Betas: 80% of the worlds population are Betas. Betas are pretty much just an average person they can smell the pheromones of both alphas and omegas but they themselves don't produce pheromones. Pheromones also don't affect them like alphas and omegas. Betas can also achieve great things but it can be difficult if alphas are involved so they mostly just stick to the basics of work and stuff. t

Omegas: 5% of the worlds population are omegas. 4% are female and 1% are male. Male omegas are very rare so many people actually praise them but they are also very sexualized and many people use them cause their heats are stronger then female heats. People don't hire omegas because they go into heat once a month so people think that its a liability towards their company so many omegas are left unemployed so they choose to either take heat suppressants or they live off of an alpha. Male and female omegas can get pregnant though male omegas aren't very fertile except for their heat, during their heat they have almost an 100% fertile rate.

Heats and Ruts

Rut: A rut of something that only alphas go through about 3 times a year but it only lasts about 3-5 days. During this time the alphas body starts to produce a lot of pheromones and the body sweats. They get so hot that they take off all their clothes and still can't cool off. Alphas in rut are constantly aroused they don't calm down and the only thing they wanna do is mate with an omega. They do get stomach cramps when they don't mate with an omega but they aren't that strong so a lot of alphas actually choose to just deal with it a home without an omega.

Heat: Heats are much more intense then ruts. During heats an omega will start to sweat and they will start leaking, omegas have the ability to self lubricate doesn't matter their gender. They admit a very strong pheromones and they are also constantly aroused. If omegas don't mate with an alpha they too have stomach cramps but theirs are much more stronger and worse they won't be able to move from the pain and its worse for male omegas cause of their weird balance of hormones being very out of wack.

Bonding and Suppressants

Bonding: Bonding can only happy between alphas and omegas. Although betas and still easily maintain a healthy relationship with either sub-gender. There are three different types of bonding for those who can:

1. One way bonding: this normally occurs when an alpha takes advantage of an omega in heat and bites them. This type of bond is easily broken, because of the one way connection the bond is weak. These bonds tend to last maybe a week at most before the bond is broken. This bond is easily over bitten by a different alpha.

2. Two way bonding: this happens when both a alpha and omega bite each other, creating a strong bond between the two. Sense both have to bite its normally consensual between both parties. However if the couple fall apart the bond between then can slowly dull and break. This can be overbitten after the bond has been broken.

3. Fate bonding: this can only happen if the alpha and omega are fated to be together. This only happens about 2% of the time. The couple starts with a two way bond however their scar will heal white, and will look that way forever. A good way to tell if you are meant to be together even before bonding, the couples connection will be very strong and they will start to pre-bond. Meaning that their bodies are creating a small bond without having to bite each other. This type of bond can never be broken and can never be overbitten. However with that being said if an alpha tries to overbite an omega that is fate bonded its creates a ripple in original couple that just causes a pain that feels like their bodies are on fire.

Heat Suppressants: These are pill that omegas take to suppress their heats so they don't have them so then they can go out and get a job. Omegas will have to take them everyday to prevent their heat. Thought these pills are very dangerous if taken long term they can kill omegas cause their body will slowly start to build an immunity to them and a lot o omegas who take these end up overdosing or some even take these pills to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy.

Rut Suppressants: Alphas also have a type of pill that they can take to reduce the pain of their ruts however because most alpha ruts are fast and not that bad, normally only alphas who have already bonded and can't get the help from their omega their ruts a little more painful so they do take suppressants. They also help reduce their anxiety and hormones when coming to their omega so they don't become too overprotective especially when their omega is pregnant.

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“Shiro, everything is fine. It’s only lunch, I still have two more classes to go.” Keith giggled a little, standing at their local university of Seattle. Shiro has always been proactive with his younger brother especially when Keith came back into his life. “How’s the nanny doing with Leo?” Keith asked, adjusting his stance, giving Shiro a more concerned tone in his voice. He can’t help but love the child even though Leo isn’t legally his nor was he much of a kid person unless they were his brother’s or his own.

“They’re doing great, they had breakfast, played chase, and hide n seek. She said she’s making lunch now.” Shiro excitedly explained to his younger brother wh couldn’t help but smile. “But seriously… how are you feeling?” Shiro spoke with much more seriousness and concern. Keith took a deep breath before speaking.

“Yea I’m okay. A little anxious here and there but the jacket you scented his helping and knowing that Adam is here if I were to ever need him.” Keith explained with a slight smile. He couldn’t be more grateful for how much Shiro and Adam have been helping him with everything after randomly stumbling into their lives two years ago with no warning.

“Good, I’m glad it's helping. I’ve got a meeting so I’ll let you go. Love ya.” Shiro murmured, Keith responded before hanging up. Just as he thought his day wasn’t more exciting he suddenly heard a loud gasp and someone screaming his name. Keith jumped, slightly frightened by the sudden outburst till he turned and saw his childhood best friend Pidge running towards him. Biting back his tears he caught his short friend giving her a tight hug. Pidge wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck.

“Where the fuck have you been!? You disappeared on me without saying anything. I thought that asshole foster father killed you or something!” Pidge exclaimed holding tightly on Keith afraid that if she let go he would vanish again.

“I…I’m so sorry! But I can’t explain yet… I just can't okay. But I’m here and I’m not going anywhere ever again!” Keith spoke, hugging her tighter, laying his head on her shoulder.

“Pinky promise?” Pidge questioned. Moving her head back to look at his face which had matured since the last time she saw him. Keith gently let her down and let go, holding out his pinky.

“Pinky promise.” Keith muttered, Pidge wrapped her pinky with his sealing their promise. Something the friends have done since they were little. They both start laughing at the childish promise but it was anything but.

“Hey Pidge, who is this?” Hunk asked, looking at the two having just watched their touching reunion. Pidge turned to look at them with a smile.

“Hunk, Allura, and Lance, this is Keith, my childhood friend. Keith, this is Hunk. Allura. And Lance.” Pidge introduced them one by one allowing Keith to put names to faces.

“Wait, is this THE Keith?” Lance questioned looking at Keith. “He’s kinda cute~” Lance stated, causing Keith to blush slightly. Keiht knowing Keith he couldn’t let Lance's side comment get to him. With him still recovering from his past he knew he couldn’t get attached to the handsome alpha.

“The one and only. Enough about that, let's just go eat some lunch.” Pidge proclaimed, grabbing Keiht’s arm. Dragging him to their normal lunch spot. Taking a seat, Pidge looked at Keith wanting to ask so many questions but he had told her that he wasn't ready. “ So, why didn’t you call? How long have you been in Seattle?” Pidge started flying questions through Keith, who couldn’t help but giggle at the girl's small interrogation.

“I lost my phone, including all my contacts. And I’ve been in Seattle for two years. I currently live with Shiro and Adam, I also told them that I wanted to settle into the city more before he told Matt. Time ended up getting away from us so now… here we are.” Keith explained looking down at his hands which he was anxiously messing with.

“Oh… okay that makes sense I guess.” Pidge murmured while taking out her lunch along with everyone else. Then she remembered something Matt told her. “Oh… How’s Leo? Matt told me that Shiro and Adam had a kid, since you live there you must spend time with him.” Pidge stated excitedly, successfully making the atmosphere less awkward. Keith looked at her with a smile.

“Leo is great, such a cute kid. Today is his first day with a nanny. Normally I would watch him while Shiro and Adam were at work but since I decided to actually attend college we had to get a nanny… wanna see pictures though?” Keith said as he was already pulling out his phone. Keiht looked at everyone else and decided to put his phone on the table for everyone to take a look at.

Everyone was aweing and cooed at all the baby photos of Leo that Keiht showed them. “He’s so cute. How old is he now?” Lance asked, looking at Keith. Finishing up his slideshow Keiht put his phone back in his pocket.

“Leo just turned one back in July.” Keith explained, finally starting his lunch. Everyone awed at the thought. The group spent the rest of lunch chit chatting about different things. They learned that they all shared one class together, Pidge and Keith shared one class, Allura and Keith shared one, and Lance and Keith shared two together. Both classes happened to also be the last two they had that day.

After lunch everyone agreed to meet tomorrow at the same place for lunch. Everyone split walking to their next classes. Keith and Lance having the same classes ended up walking together. “So how are you liking Seattle?” Lance asked, glancing at Keith who was shyly looking at the ground.

“I like it, I’ve always been a fan of the rain.” Keith murmured looking around, eventually looking at Lance. Keith couldn’t help but notice that the alpha had a strong jawline which showed a small stubble.

“Oh yea, then you’re definitely in the perfect place.” Lance laughed. Keith glanced at Lance seeing that he had a pretty smile and a contagious laugh. Keith couldn’t help but slightly laugh with him. After some small talk later they made it to their next class.

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The end of the school day couldn’t come faster to Keith even though he had to stay later anyways with Adam being a literature professor and all who also happened to be his ride. Keith was walking around campus exploring areas he hadn't before. Eventually coming across the football field, which had practice going on and low and behold there was Lance.

Keith could definitely see the alpha being on the football team. He continues to watch as the tram practices, learning that they actually were really good. And worked well together. Lance being at the center for it all by being the quarterback for the team, so he gets to call all the shots. As practice came to an end, everyone was heading towards the locker rooms to shower, change and go home. Lance couldn’t help but notice that Keith watched most of the practice. Keith blushed heavily when he realized Lance caught him and walked straight towards him.

Lance’s hair was dripping with sweat, making it look like he just got out of the shower, gross. He also held a musky scent that mended with his normal beachy type smell. “Like what you see princess~” Lance teased as he stood beside Keith, smirking at the smaller omega.

“N…no, you guys played very well, your teamwork is amazing.” Keith continued to stare at the now empty field.

“Why thank you. It took a while for the guys to trust me but we got there eventually.” Lance said, gesturing for Keith to follow as they headed towards the locker room. Following Lance Keith took the chance to get to know the guy.

“So, how long have you been playing football?” Keith questioned, keeping his eyes ahead of him.

“Since freshman year of highschool.” Lance answered, smiling at the memories of his highschool life. “I actually got a full ride scholarship because of it.” Lance added, at this point they were already close to the locker room.

“That’s actually really cool, plus just from watching for one day I can already tell that you’re pretty talented.” Keith exclaimed, glancing at Lance with a small smile. Lance couldn’t help but blush from the compliment.

“Thank you. That means a lot actually.” Lance remarked, stopping right in front of the locker room door. Keith already could smell the alpha pheromones so he took that as his que to leave. After saying bye to Lance, Keith walked back to Adam’s lecture room. He groaned while sitting on one of the chairs next to Adam’s desk.

Adam was in the middle of planning tomorrow's lesson when Keith walked in clearly on edge about something. “What’s up? You look tense.” Adam questioned, shutting his laptop to give Keith his attention.

“Nothing, just a really hot alpha that plays football and shares half my classes with me.” Keith proclaimed running a hand through his hair, not knowing how to feel about this situation. “It doesn’t help that he’s a huge flirt but really nice at the same time. I literally just met him today and I already feel like this. God haven’t I already learned my lesson about trusting alpha’s too quickly.” Keith murmured, he couldn’t help the tears threatening to escape or his body starting to tremble.

Picking up on this Adam walked over and gently pulled Keith into a hug. “Take some deep breaths Keith, everything will be okay. I’m not saying date him, but take things at your pace. Get to know him first before deciding to push him away. But no matter what you will always have us Keith, we won’t let anything happen to you again.” Adam explained not letting go till he felt the other calm down. “Why don’t we head home, I can get Shiro to pick up some Chinese food and we can watch a movie?” Adam questioned pulling away from Keith to look at him.

“Sounds like a plan.” Keith said with a slight smile, but he couldn’t help but think of Lance, could he be just like his ex or will they grow to treat each other right?

Chapter Text

***Four years ago***
Keith was asleep on the couch in his foster family's house. He knew he had to cook dinner but he pulled an all nighter the night before to cram for a midterm. He figured he could take a 30 min nap before getting started, however those 30 minutes turned into 3 hours.
His foster family found him sleeping with no dinner ready for them, needless to say the father was pissed. He walked over to the sleeping omega, grabbing by the hair he dragged Keith into the basement. This sudden movement caused Keith to jolt awake realizing the situation he was in. The foster mother heard Keith apologize and plead for forgiveness which was never given in that house.

“You useless omega! No alpha will ever want you for how much you rebel! You can’t do anything right! This is the thanks I get for giving you a place to live, food on the table, a bed! It’s about time I put you back in your place, you worthless omega!” His foster father yelled, dragging Keith deeper into the basement to an area that was left unfinished, an area he knew all too well.

“Please have mercy! I’m so sorry! I…I can make it up, please let me make it up!” Keith begged while the older man tried his hands to a post and cut the omegas shirt off exposing his skin to the cold air. “P…please sir, I…I’ll do anything. PLEASE!” Keith continued to beg only for him to hear the end of the bullwhip drag across the cement floor. Tears are already falling and his body trembling waiting for what's to happen next.

“Your punishment is 50 lashes, you must count and if you dare make a singular mistake the count starts back over. Do you understand?” His foster father explained very sternly in a deep voice only scarring Keith more.

“Y..yes sir.” Keith stuttered, and with that his foster father raised his arm and with a loud SNAP his punishment had begun.

“O…one”
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Keith jolted awake covered in sweat, his eyes darting around, his breath staggering, until he realized where he was. He was at Shiro’s in a completely new state. Keith took a couple deep breaths trying to center himself, eventually calming down. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand beside his bed, turning it on and seeing that it was 5 am. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep now.

Keith decided it would be a good idea for a shower. Getting out of bed he walked into his bathroom that’s connected to his room. Turning on the shower to the coldest water setting. Not just because the water would wake him up more but because he was someone who couldn’t handle heat well.

Finishing up his shower he turned off the water, stepping out, he grabbed a towel from the rack above his toilet, and wrapped it around his waist. Walking over to his sink he grabbed his toothbrush. After spitting, he looked up at the mirror which was void of any fog. He couldn’t help but stare at himself in the mirror, standing completely still, seeing all the scars that littered his naked body. He took a couple deep breaths and continued getting ready for the day.

Emerging from his bedroom, Keith went downstairs and poured himself some coffee he of course put in his creamer and sugar, his perfect concoction of his morning joe. He took his coffee and sat down on the couch in the living room and decided to watch some My Hero Academia. Suddenly his phone started to buzz beside him. Grabbing his phone he saw that he was added to a new group chat.

Pidge: Hey! Let’s all meet up at the Starbucks in the cafeteria in school around 8am.

Lance: Pidge it is way too early to be texting me, you know i need my beauty sleep 😭😭😭

Hunk: Count Shay and I in, we’ll never turn down coffee and croissants

Keith: I’ll be there anyways, so sure why not.

Pidge: I see your anti-social ways haven’t changed Keithy

Keith: I told you to stop calling me that Pidgeon

Lance: OMG KEITHY, that's my new nickname for you!!!!

Keith: Don’t you dare, I will not hesitate to kill you

Lance: I’d like to see you try ;)

Keith: I’m ignoring you now.

With that Keith muted the group till Adam and Shiro came down getting ready to leave for work. Keith joined Adam in his car heading to campus. “Have you had any more thoughts on this handsome alpha of yours Keith?” Adam questioned wanting to break the silence.

Keith instantly blushed and looked out the window not wanting Adam to see it. “Y…yea, I want to get to know him, but I mean I had an amazing relationship with…h-him for three years before everything went to shit.” Keith stammered. “I want to believe that this guy is different and I mean Pidge seems to trust him. I just… I don’t know.”

“Keith you’re scared, which is completely valid given your history, but give him the benefit of a doubt, he isn’t Lotor. This guy is completely different and I mean knowing the Holts they don’t trust those easily. If Pidge trusts him then you should give it a chance. Talk to Pidge about him and see what she has to say and if you want I can even ask Matt, we both know how close those siblings are.” Adam chuckled thinking of Matt and Pidge.

“Yea I guess you’re right. I’ll talk to Pidge.” Keith murmured looking down at his lap. Adam soon after turns into campus parking in the professors designated area. After exiting the car the duo split and went their own way, it was 7am, Keith had time to kill so he went to Starbucks early to just relax before the group came. Putting in his head phone, he grabbed his notebook and started working on his songs.

About 30 minutes later, someone dropped their books right in front of Keith causing him to jump. Looking up at the culprit, glaring seeing Lance and his stupid smile and he laughs at Keith's reaction. “You idiot, why would you just scare me like that?!” Keith exclaimed, trying to get his heart rate to go down before it gets dangerously too high. Lance now sees how Keith went from 0 to 100 really fast.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would react this way.” Lance went over to Keith, he grabbed one of his hands and put it on his chest. “Breath with me and match your heart rate to mine.” Lance explained while taking deep breaths to help calm Keith. After a couple minutes of deep breathing. Keith moves his hand away finally able to breathe normally again. Keith sat down still getting his head back on Earth.

“S…sorry, I try not to panic like that in public. T…thank you for helping me.” Keith stammered, not daring to look at the alpha standing right next to him. Lance sat down next to him, being gentle with his movements so as to not scare the omega again.

“Hey, hey there's no need to apologize, sometimes the panic takes over and that's okay. I had some troubles with anxiety when I was younger. My mother showed me some techniques to help calm myself down and others. She used to do that same technique to me all the time. It helps when I find my triggers and learn to stay away from them or to face them head on and not let them bug me, tho I guess you can’t do that to all triggers.” Lance explained, looking over at Keith he gently touches his shoulders to get his attention fully. Keith tensed at the sudden touch but relaxed realizing that it was just Lance. “So, what’s your triggers?”

Keith looked at Lance with wide eyes. With a sigh he explained “Loud noises, dark cramped rooms, basements, sometimes touch, sudden movements, and ummm fire.” Keith explained looking away from Lance, he hated his PTSD, he didn’t want people to see him just as weak as he sees himself sometimes.

“O…oh. I’m sorry. I’ll refrain from doing anything that may trigger you. I’m sorry for slamming my books on the table.” Lance apologized looking at Keith, who could see that the alpha was being genuine.

“It’s okay, you didn’t know. But let’s just keep this between us. Pidge knows but I would rather not have others know. I’ve been working on it for a while but I guess there's still things that need to be worked on. Thank you however, you have really been a big help.” Keith stated still looking at Lance, hoping that he wouldn't say anything towards the group.

“Of course I won’t say anything, that’s your story to tell, not mine. Anyways, completely off topic but why are you here so early, I thought Pidge said 8 but its 7:35 right now?” Lance questioned, still looking at Keith with admiration.

Keith has a slight blush from Lance looking at him so intently. “Well, you know our literature professor Dr. Shirogane?” Keith asked, looking at Lance as he nodded. “Well he’s my brother's mate and my ride.” Keith stated with a slight laugh. Lance couldn’t help but want to make the omega laugh more often. He for some reason felt like he should be there for him through everything. Yet Lance has only known this omega for less than 24 hours and yet he already feels such a strong connection towards him. “What about you, why are you here so early?”

“Oh well we had morning practice today. Coach wanted us to run through our strategies again before our first game this Friday. Which you should totally go to. Ya know support me from the stands and not just watching our practice.” Lance explained.

“I mean I would, but Fridays are Shiro’s and Adam’s date nights so I stay home and watch Leo after the nanny leaves. Sorry, I’ll just have to show my support by showing up to after school training then.” Keith smiled looking at Lance. Both couldn’t take their eyes off each other. Lance kept thinking about how much he was starting to like Keith and the weird connection he feels being with him. He just wants to be the one to comfort the omega and protect him. He wants to show Keith all the amazing things in the world and grow their lives together. He wonders if Keith feels the same way.

Chapter Text

*** A few weeks later ***

“Ugh, I don’t understand this.” Lance expressed, glancing at this calculus homework, acting like a child throwing a small tantrum. “Someone help me please?” Lance whines. “Let’s meet up after school pwease?” Lance asks, glancing at everyone giving them puppy dog eyes.

“Sorry bro but Shay and I have a date.” Hunk expressed, feeling bad that he can’t help his friend.

“Don’t look at me, Matt and I have a video game to dominate.” Pidge explained.

“Ugh, you guys are no help. Keith, what about you?” Lance looked over at the smaller boy who had earbuds in and couldn’t hear him. As he was about to tap his shoulder to gain his attention he suddenly remembered the conversation they had a few weeks back about his triggers. Instead of giving the poor omega a jump scare he decided to text Keith to gain his attention.

Lance: Ya know it's rude to ignore your friends Keithy 🤣🤣🤣

Seeing Lance’s text Keith took his earbuds out and gave Lance an annoyed look. “What do you need now?” Keith said. Lance acted like he was just shot.

“Oh Keith you wounded me. AH.” Lance acted.

“Stop being dramatic and answer the question… Lancey.” Keith said, crossing his arms over his chest, sitting back in his chair. Lance slightly blushed upon hearing the nickname.

“You’re no fun Keith. Anywayyyyyyys are you free after class?” Lance asked, looking at Keith. He couldn’t help but admire him.

“Ummmmmm today is Thursday so no.” Keith said, looking at Lance confused. “Why?”

“Oh well, I’m stuck in calculus, it’s not making sense to me. Can we study together?” Lance asked with puppy dog eyes again.

“I mean sure, but fyi puppy dog eyes don’t work on me.” Keith said, however Lance’s puppy dog eyes were totally working on him.

“SWEET! Let’s go somewhere quiet, maybe your house?” Lance asked.

“I mean there is a baby there so it’s not that quiet but the nanny is there till 7pm so either way I don’t care. But do you have a car or something cause it’s not super close you forget Adam drives me everyday.” Keith explained.

“Oh yea, I have a car. You can ride with me. Just let me know where I’m headed.” Lance said with a bright smile on his face. Keith couldn’t help but stare at Lance being so happy. However that alpha’s smile is so bright Keith swears every time he sees it he goes blind.

“Cool, I’ll message Shiro and Adam, that way we can register your car for the gate.” Keith stated. Lance was confused by what he meant. Did they have security, why would they need such safety precautions. He couldn’t help but think about what he’s about to get himself into with his new found crush.

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School couldn’t have come to an end fast enough. Lance didn’t have practice that night because he had it the next morning instead. The duo head to Keith’s house and soon Lance learns what Keith meant by gate. They live in a heavily secured neighborhood, clearly Keith’s brother has money to afford a place like this. After passing the gate and some twists and turns they finally land and the house… or should we say MANSION.

“Holy shit Keith, why didn’t you tell me you were rich.” Lance said in awe of the house the omega seems to live at with his brother. Keith giggled at the comment.

“Lance, Shiro is rich. I just happen to live with him. He’s the CEO of the Garrison Security Company.” Keith explained grabbing his bag and getting out Lance's car after he parked on the driveway.

“WHAT! He got a CEO position that fast after graduating college.” Lance expressed in shock at the new information.

“Lance, he knew the previous CEO, Shiro, worked under him since he started college to learn the company. It’s one of the reasons he came to Seattle in the first place, not just because of the college but because he was recruited.” Keith explained while they headed into the house.

“Oh I guess that makes sense. So wait where are you from then. Lance questioned.

“A small town in northern California.”

“Cute, your parents must be happy that you decided to follow your older brother's footsteps by attending the same college then.” Lance expressed. Keith froze at the entryway upon hearing the mention of his parents. Lance turned around when he noticed Keith stopped. Walking back over to him he took Keith’s hand making sure that Keith saw his hand before touching him. Keith only slightly flinched but nothing too serious. “Hey hey, I’m sorry. If I said something wrong I apologize.” Lance said calmly releasing calming pheromones to help relax Keith.

Keith smelling Lance's calming scent he moved forward a little and laid his head on Lance's chest listening to his heartbeat. Lance wrapped his arms around the small omega comforting him.

“M… my mother left us when I was four years old and my father died when I was thirteen in a house fire. H…he was a firefighter and he got called in on an emergency while he was out with me. He p…parked in the front of the burning house, I could feel the heat from the car even though I was on the street. He helped rescue that family yet before he himself could get out the house collapsed right on top of him. I could faintly hear his dying scream before he inevitably died there.” Keith told Lance quietly, speaking into his chest. Keith was loud enough for Lance to hear however. Lance was stunned to say the least, he was glad that the omega opened up to him but to hear such a tragic story he couldn’t help but wonder what else Keith was hiding.

Lance couldn’t do anything but hold Keith while he cried after telling his story. They both stood there till Keith calmed down his cries turning into sniffles.

“I…I’m sorry. You’re here to study, not listen to my tragic backstory.” Keith pushed off Lances chest still not looking at him. Lance put his fingers on Keith’s chin to tilt his head up to look at him. Even with tears in his eyes that he refuses to let fall, Keith can tell just how much Lance felt for him even if it was just the beginning of his story.

“Keith, there’s nothing to be sorry for. You went through something traumatic at such a young age. If there is anything and I mean anything, please don’t hesitate to call or text me. I don’t care if its the middle of the night. I want you to know that I will be there for you. You don’t have to go through anything alone. You have me know, okay?” Lance murmured, pulling Keith back to his chest. He leaned down slightly to lean his head on Keiths shoulder, holding him close.

“O….Okay. Thank you Lance.” Keith stuttered, he wrapped his arms around Lance holding him tightly not wanting to let go. After some time they pulled away from each other and grabbed some drinks from the fridge before settling in the living room on the couch.

“So, is that why you’re afraid of fire?” Lance questioned, still looking at this homework and some of the notes Keith took that for some reason make sense to his brain.

“Yea, everytime I see fire or even feel the heat of it, it brings me back to that night. I just can't get his scream out of my head.” Keith explained, taking a small glance at Lance before going back to his own home work. They didn’t talk too much after that. The nanny came down after a while and said hello to the boys before heading to the kitchen to cook dinner.

“Wait, she cooks dinner too?” Lance asked, looking at Keith.

“Yea, she cooks for us cause Shiro and Adam don’t get home till later and with my thing about fire I can’t cook on a gas stove so she cooks us dinner. She makes enough for everyone including herself so she eats some before heading home.” Keith explained looking and Lance with a slight smile.

“So wait, you get a home cooked meal every day?!” Lance exclaimed.

“Well yea besides Fridays and the weekend. She doesn’t work those days because those are the days I don’t have class and they are off on the weekends, so Fridays are my days to babysit. But for today Shiro messaged her that you were gonna be coming over and to make extra so.” Keith nonchalantly explained.

“Sweeet, its been so long since I had a home cooked meal.” Lance stated, getting excited about dinner. He looked like a puppy that just heard the word treat. Keith couldn’t help but laugh at the alpha and smile at his antics. This guy really knew how to make Keith feel better and laugh, something he never thought he would be able to do again.

“Wha-what’s so funny Keithy?” Lance whines crawling closer to Keith on the couch. Keith just bursted out laughing at Lance.

“HAHAHA omg, you’re so cute. You’re acting like a puppy who just heard the word treat or outside.” Keith continued to laugh. However, that cute comment did not go past Lance.

“AWWWWWW Keithy thinks I’m cute!” Lance exclaimed, Keith instantly stopped laughing and developed a bright red blush realizing what he just said. “AHHHHHH! Now you’re blushing!!” Lance said, poking Keith’s cheek.

“S…Shut up!” Keith exclaimed, pushing Lance away. Well trying to and failing, the alpha is clearly stronger than he is. Lance eventually stopped fighting and laid on Keith’s chest. Keith couldn’t help but run his hand through Lance’s hair. Keith realized that Lance had really soft hair and he couldn’t stop running his hand through his soft locks. After a couple minutes Lance shifted moving up to put his face right in front of Keith. Both boys blushing madly at each other. Both slowly leaning in, glancing back and forth at each other's lips and eyes.

“WHAAAAAA!!” Leo screamed suddenly waking up from his nap. Lance moved off Keith who started getting up to take care of the crying baby considering that the nanny was still cooking dinner. Lance curiously followed Keith to Leo’s room.

“Heyyyyy buddy.” Keith said, picking up Leo, bouncing a little to calm him down. Leo slowly fell back asleep in Keith’s arms, laying his head on his shoulder.

“Who would’ve thought that Keithy was so with kids.” Lance quietly said, walking more into the room.

“It’s only for Leo, I guess because I’ve taken care of him since he was brought here, we have a slight connection.” Keith smiled looking at Lance. “It’s around his wake up time anyways, he’s probably ready for dinner soon.” Keith started walking down heading towards the kitchen table knowing dinner was close to being finished.

To Lance Keith was a big mystery with a troubled back story. He couldn’t help but think what else was the omega keeping to himself, he knew there had to be more to his story. Not to mention that he went missing for 3 years before coming to Seattle. But Lance would have to be patient letting Keith come to him. It would take time for the omega to finally come out of his shell, but there is one thing he knows for sure. Lance was definitely falling head over heels for Keith and after their almost kiss he can’t help but think that Keith felt the same way.

Chapter Text

*** One week Later***

Pidge: Can I ask you something?
Lance: Sure, what’s up?
Pidge: Do you like Keith?
Lance: Yes, he’s a cool friend a little emo
Pidge: No you oblivious doof. Do you LIKE Keith?
Lance: O..Oh
Pidge: Well
Lance: I mean, yea, I guess so
Pidge: Yes or No
Lance: Yes
Pidge: How did you know to text Keith?
Lance: what?
Pidge: When you got his attention at lunch last week
Lance: O..oh, well he told me about his triggers once so I knew to text him instead of tap him.
Pidge: How did you know?
Did he actually tell you?
Lance: Well, I kinda sent him into a panic attack once by scaring him by accident.
Pidge: YOU DID WHAT!!!
Lance: Hey calm down, I help him after realizing. He told me his triggers then, so now I’ve made it a point to try not to trigger him.
Pidge: O..oh okay then. Did he tell you why?
Lance: no, and I didn’t ask. I assume he’ll tell me when he wants too
Pidge: yea okay. Listen Lance, Keith is someone who has really been through it, I don’t know everything. But go at his pace okay, I know he likes you a lot too, just go easy on him okay. He’s someone who need reassurance
Lance: ummmmm okay, I'll keep that in mind then. I was actually planning on talking to him about it
Pidge: Good, he needs something and someone good in his life ;)
Hurt him and you’re dead
Lance: That was blunt, but if I ever did, I’d want you to kill me. I don’t wanna hurt him, I want to help him and protect him. I want to show him what love is, I feel like he doesn’t really know
Pidge: Good, NOW GO GET HIM
Lance: OKAY OKAY

Lance turned his phone off, laying on his bed. He kept thinking about what Pidge meant by Keith having been through it. Could it be why Keith had such bad panic attacks and such specific triggers? Would he be able to break down Keith’s walls and show him that there's nothing to be afraid of. He would have to be patient and wait for Keith to show him.

Lance sat up, time to get ready for school. He’s gonna have a long day thinking about what he wanted to say to Keith. After practice couldn’t come fast enough for him. Though the thought of confessing to him couldn’t bring a brighter smile to his face. Today is the day of the start of their journey together and Lance couldn’t wait to have that omega by his side all the time. He wants to be the reason for his smile and his laugh.

Today was gonna be long indeed and the omega had no idea what was waiting for him at the end of the day, but oh boy was Lance excited.

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Keith was watching Lance’s practice as per usual after classes were over. He sat in the bleachers and was writing in his notebook. Not even paying attention to the game, without realizing Lance’s practice was over and he sat down next to him after showering. Snapping out of his writing trance he looked up and saw Lance sitting there. But instead of Lance’s goofy energy and his signature beachy scent, it smelt like a thunderstorm was approaching.

“Lance, is something wrong?” Keith questioned putting his notebook away to give Lance his full attention.

“No, not exactly. I just want to talk to you about something.” Lance said, looking at Keith with all seriousness.

“Nothing bad, I hope.” Keith giggled a little trying to calm his nerves. He couldn’t help but think that Lance was gonna ask him to leave him alone and that he isn’t interested in him. Keith couldn’t help the thoughts going in his brain, did Lance see what his foster families saw and his ex? Did Lance finally see how useless and worthless he is, as they all said. No one would want a used and abused omega covered in constant reminders that his past shaped his future.

“No, nothing bad, I promise. I just wanna tell you something and I need to tell you everything before you respond. Is that okay?” Lance asked, he could smell how Keith’s scent went a little sour so he released some calming pheromones to calm the little omega. Keith couldn’t say anything but smelling Lance’s scent he couldn’t help but push those thoughts away letting the alpha continue.

“Keith, I like you!” Keith’s eyes went wide hearing Lance’s confession. “Look I still don’t know you, however, you’re a complete mystery to me. I want to get to know you, the real you. I wanna be there for you and protect you, I wanna take care of you. I wanna be the one you wake up too and come to for comfort. I want to hold you. I can’t help but feel a connection to you and it makes my inner alpha crazy. I just wanna be around you all the time.” Lance couldn’t help but blush during his confession. Keith can’t stop holding a shocked face. Lance never took his eyes off the little omega, however the silence was getting to him.

“I…I” Keith didn’t know what to say. Was he ready for a relationship? It has been 2 years already, could he open his heart up again to an alpha. Keith looked down, he was scared, he couldn’t help the flashbacks to his foster family’s and his ex from high school. But he remembered Shiro and Adam, how happy they were. Adam’s words in the car telling him to just try. Will he ever be able to love again? Should he try?

Keith looked up at Lance, he’s trembling, but determined. He never looked away from the alpha. Taking a couple deep breaths, he reached out to hold the alpha’s hand. He smiled at how warm Lance was, not surprising Lance always ran warm.

“I like you too!” Keith exclaimed. “But, I don’t know how ready I am for a relationship. I have a strong connection to you too but my last relationship didn’t end well. Even though it’s been a few years, I’m still scared of giving myself to someone like that. But I’m willing to try with you.” Keith trembled slightly, never looking away from Lance.

“Of course, we’ll go at your pace. But please give me a chance okay. We don’t have to put titles on us or anything just as long as I can have you by my side.” Lance said like an excited puppy. Finally showing his goofy side again. Keith couldn’t help but laugh, and Lance could never get enough of the omega’s precious laugh.

“Thank you, Lance. For willing to be patient with me.” Keith said, calming down from his laughing fit. He never let go of Lance’s hand, squeezing it tighter never wanting to let go. Lance, using the leverage of already holding his hand, pulled Keith closer to his chest. Keith let go of his hand and stayed close to Lance as the alpha wrapped his arm around Keith.

The couple sat there just watching the sky change, slowly becoming evening. As boring as that sounds to everyone else, it was the best for them. They stayed close together even if they weren’t doing anything, they had each other and that's all that mattered. After a while Keith looked at Lance putting his hand on the alpha’s chest. Lance looked down, still smiling. Keith couldn’t stop drowning in Lance’s ocean blue eyes.

He saw himself and Lance at the beach, running around, laughing. He blushed as he envisioned the alpha in a bathing suit. “Let’s get some coffee?” Keith asked, never taking his eyes off Lance’s.

“Sounds like a date.” Lance said with a bright smile.

Chapter Text

The morning after their confession was one of the only mornings he woke up to his alarm and not from a horrific nightmare from his past. He woke up with a smile on his face and was excited to see the brunette alpha. The coming days went smooth, they spent time with friends and occasional study sessions at Keith’s house.

Keith: Hey, so I was wondering… would you like to get dinner after your practice on Thursday??
Lance: Like a date?
Keith: Y…yea, I know a restaurant that we can go to and it’s not that far from my house.
Lance: 1. I would love to go
2. I’M THE ALPHA I SHOULD’VE BEEN THE ONE TO ASK YOU OUT 🥺🥺🥺
Keith: 1. Great I’ll take for you by the fountain after practice
2. Oh shut it loverboy. I beat you to it! Suck it up alpha man, the omega won! HA
Lance: You wound me! Only a hug will heal the wounds you give me.
Keith: Well then you better hurry up and get to school then, starbucks. 8am ;)
Lance: I’ll be there
Keith: And I’ll be your knight in shining armor
Lance: 😕😕😕

Lance never got dressed that fast before, nor has he ever wanted to be at that school so fast in his life. Man he wished he could just teleport over there! Pulling into the student parking deck located on the campus grounds, he parked and ran to the Starbucks in the cafeteria. He used the entrance near the faculty parking, already seeing Adam’s car parked in his usual spot he knew that the omega was there.

“Took you long enough.” Keith expressed smugly at Lance giving him a small smirk. Lance sighed, putting his bag down, he gently grabbed Keith's hands and pulled him up, giving him a hug, leaning his head down on Keith’s shoulder smelling his smoky wood scent. Keith chuckled, hugging Lance back, resting his head on Lance’s chest. “Feel better?” Keith asked in almost a whisper.

“Much, your hugs do that to me.” Lance whispered in Keith’s neck, sending shivers down in his from Lance breath on his neck. They stayed like that till they heard other students arriving and walking to the Starbucks. Keith pulled away first still not comfortable with a lot of PDA. However, get him alone in a comfortable environment with the alpha and he was the polar opposite, he couldn’t leave the alpha’s side.

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***Thursday***
“How was practice?” Keith asked as they walked to Lance’s car about to head to their first date.

“Okay, still some stuff to work on, but it’s getting there.” Lance said, holding the passenger side door open for Keith to get him. Keith blushed at the gesture and got in putting his bag in between his legs.

“That’s good, you guys still look really good. Then again I don’t know much about football so I wouldn’t really know.” Keith giggled as Lance got into the car, backing out of the parking spot and headed in the direction that Keith gave him.

“Yea, that’s okay. You being there supports me enough.” Lance says with a smile. They quietly head to the restaurant, Keith keeping his eyes at the window watching the buildings go by as they drive, occasionally giving Lance directions on where to go. They eventually pull up to this old dinner a little outside of the city. It didn’t look decrypted however it definitely wasn’t the fanciest place. It was cute, the sign said “Marmora Dinner” in bright purple sign.

“Where did you find this place?” Lance asked, pulling into the parking lot and parking in the front. The lot wasn’t empty. People other than workers clearly are there but not many.

“Shiro did in college. He took me here all the time once I arrived in Seattle.” Keith said with a smile as they got out of the car to head inside. “It might look small but trust me they make the best food.” Keith exclaimed.

“Well, it’s a good thing that I do trust you, at least to not give me food poisoning.” Lance laughed and Keith just rolled his eyes. The host greeted them then took them to a booth in the back. The couple sat opposite of each other glancing at the menu. Lance couldn’t help but take a couple glances at Keith who clearly already knew what he wanted. “So, what are you getting?” Lance asked, putting his menu down.

“Grilled Cheese,” Keith smiled. Lance couldn't help but giggle at the simple meal. Seeing Keith’s smile was the best image Lance could ingrain into his brain. He wanted nothing more than to make Keith smile more.

“So simple.” Lance said never taking his eyes off Keith. “Tell me about yourself?” Lance asked after they put in their drink orders. Keith getting water and Lance getting sprite.

“Like what?” Keith countered looking at Lance, resting his elbow on the table with his head resting on his hand.

“W…well, I don't know much about you, so I guess what do you like? And like what’s your hobbies?” Lance explained, trying to think of other things he wanted to know from the omega, trying to narrow down all the questions he had.

“Well, I mostly watch TV in my past time. I don’t really get out much honestly. I guess I do write a lot as well, it’s a good way for me to express a lot of emotions I feel when I get overwhlemed.” Keith explained looking to the side. Lance could tell from his expression that there was something bugging the smaller male.

“Oh, is that what you’re doing with that notebook you have?” Lance wondered.

“Y…yea. Tho I have never put anything I write out there.” Keith stated playing with his jacket sleeves.

“Well I guess I should ask, what are you writing, stories or journals?” Lance asked as the waitress came back with the drinks.

“Oh ummm songs actually. When I was younger my father taught me how to play guitar and I played percussion in high school, at least for a little while. So from that I know drums, however I don’t think Shiro would appreciate it if I drummed in his house but he did give me a guitar for my birthday last year.” Keith answered, looking back at Lance, taking a sip from his water cup.

“That's so cool! You gotta let me hear your songs one day, when you’re ready of course!” Lance said getting more comfortable in the booth.

“Y..yea. One day definitely. What about you, tell me about yourself.” Keith said as their food arrived. Keith getting his simple grilled cheese and Lance getting the biggest burger available.

“Well I guess I’ll start with my family. There’s my mama, Carmila. Then my 4 siblings. There’s Veronica, Marco, Me, Luis, and Rachel. We have a big family.” Lance smiled thinking about his family back home, suddenly getting a little homesick.

“Oh wow, it’s always just been Shiro and I. It must be crazy in your house. Where are you from?” Keith questioned.

“Cuba, my mother lives there now, we have a small farm. Nothing too fancy.” Lance started taking a bit from his burger. “What about you, where are you from?”

“A small town in northern California, but you should’ve known that from Pidge.” Keith chuckled.

“Ah I keep forgetting that you guys knew each other from childhood.” Lance giggled. “So how many people have you dated before me?” Lance asked, getting more bold with his questions. Keith was shocked by the expression. His eyes slightly darkened thinking back to his previous relationship.

“Only one other. We met when we were freshman in high school and stayed together. We dated for 3 years till I ran away.” Keith said quieter than he was earlier. Keith was thankful he only took a couple bites from his food, he felt like he could puke up just the little bit he ate…though after that he wasn’t really hungry.

“Oh wow. Well I’m honored to be the second. Whatever happened back then, things will be different. From your expression I can tell that something must’ve gone wrong towards the end. I just wanna say that you can trust me, okay.” Lance said with a small smile. He reached out his hand for the omega to take. Keith hesitantly took Lance’s hand. Even with all his fears from the past resting on his shoulders, he felt like he could actually trust Lance. He didn’t understand why, but his gut told him that he was telling the truth and he’ll be okay as long as Lance is by his side.

“O…okay. I trust you. How about you, how many have you dated before me?” Keith questioned relaxing, not letting go of Lance's hand.

“Well let's see…about three others. Two in high school, they weren’t flings but they didn’t last long and one in college. Actually it was Allura. However we only dated for maybe 6 months before my football schedule got annoying to her.” Lance said, finishing his burger with one hand.

“Well then, that's kinda interesting. I mean I can see you and Allura but the fact she left you for that is just sad.” Keith said, finally able to eat his grilled cheese again.

“Yea, well she started to get really famous at that time so she wanted to go out all the time and do all these parties and fancy things. But because I am on scholarship I don’t have the luxury of ignoring school and my obligations. It annoyed her that she couldn’t practically use me as arm candy. So we ended it. It’s tricky with our friend group but we keep it civil. She now dates a model but she won’t tell us who” Lance sighed, he moved over to the other booth sitting next to Keith. Holding his hand wasn’t enough for him and he needed to be next to the omega. Keith blushed slightly at the new position, but we didn’t complain. Being next to Lance gave him a sense of safety, something he hasn’t felt in a long time. He leaned closer to Lance just wanting to be as close as possible. Lance wrapped his arm around Keith trying to be cool, Keith just giggled at him a little.

“That’s sad, I guess both of our last relationships didn’t end very well.” Keith said staying close to Lance. They didn’t say much after that. Lance quickly paid after fighting Keith about picking up the bill. They decided that neither wanted the day to end so they decided to go to Keith’s to watch a movie. However, both boys couldn’t stay awake long enough to finish the movie and ended up falling asleep cuddling each other in Keith’s room for the rest of the night. That night was the most peaceful sleep Keith had ever gotten in 5 years.

Chapter Text

Keith woke up the next morning first, hearing his alarm go off. Keith groggily blinked his eyes, slowly waking up. He felt warm and safe. He tried sitting up but he realized that someone's arm was wrapped around him pulling his back down. He wanted to move away and run, but he smelled the ocean, like he’s sitting on the sand with a slight breeze blowing the salt water smell all over, the sun shining and making his skin warm. Keith realized that Lance was sound asleep next to him, had they fallen asleep with each other during the movie?

Keith shook his head slightly and laid back down, laying his head on the alpha’s chest. He wanted to stay in Lance’s arms for a little while longer, the taller male was just too warm. Eventually Lance started to wake up and he just pulled Keith closer to himself, kissing the top of his head. Keith tilted his head up feeling Lance wake up and gave him a soft smile.

“Good Morning Loverboy.” Keith quietly said.

“Good Morning Princess.” Lance said, just as he was basking in the warmth of having Keith right next to him he realized what he just said. “Wait, it’s morning?”

“Y…yea, I guess we fell asleep during the movie. It’s the next day. It’s only around 6:30am though, my alarms go off at 6am so we still have time to get to classes on time. However, you have to get through Shiro and Adam first. HeHe.” Keith said cringing, a little worried about how Shiro would react. He knew about the alpha and his feelings towards him. But he didn’t expect for him to sleep over so fast after getting together.

“Should I be scared, you did say he was an alpha right?” Lance wondered, keeping Keith close.

“Yea, he’s nice when you know him. But he can be pretty protective, however he has a reason to be I guess. Either way I know he’ll like you, it just might take its time.” Keith explained nuzzling closer to Lance. Keith and Lance stayed in their embrace for a little while later till they had to get up for school.

Keith sighed, sitting up stretching his arms. Lance groaned not ready to wake up, usually he couldn’t wait to get to school to be next to Keith again but now that he has a taste of what it was like to wake up next to him, he doesn’t want the omega to leave his side.

Eventually they both got us, got dressed, and ready for the day. Lance had to wear what he wore the previous day but it didn’t bother him. Keith made his way down the stairs first with Lance following behind him. Shiro and Adam were sitting at the kitchen table, Shiro didn’t look happy but he didn’t look pissed.

“Morning,” Keith said quietly, going over to get some coffee. He got a mug for Lance too, who just stood next to Keith awkwardly.

“Morning.” Adam said cheerfully, he was rooting for the two to get together and be more comfortable with each other. He was proud of Keith for coming out of his shell.

“Morning.” Shiro said coldly, shivers rolled down Lance’s spin he was sure the older alpha was gonna snap him in two just by talking to him.

“Shiro, be nice.” Adam said not phased by the alpha’s slightly threatening voice.

“We fell asleep watching a movie, it wasn’t planned. Do please be nice, okay?” Keith quietly asked, walking over to Shiro, putting his hand on his shoulder. Shiro knew that look, he saw that look two years ago, when Keith told him he wanted to go through with his pregnancy.

With a loud sigh, Shiro got up and walked to the other alpha. Shiro could easily tower over Lance, which totally isn’t scary to Lance. “Hi, my name is Shiro, the other man sitting there is Adam, my husband. I’m only gonna be nice to you because I trust Keith, however, if you ever hurt my little brother you can kiss your football career goodbye.” Shiro threatened. Lance was shocked and scared at first but he had a look of determination on his face letting those words sink in.

“With all due respect, I would never hurt Keith. If I somehow do, I would let you cause at that moment I have failed him not only as his boyfriend but as an alpha. I will do anything I can to protect him.” Lance said. Keith had never seen this side of him, if it was anyone else giving those threatening stares he would've fallen into a panic attack but since it was his brother and alpha he was completely okay… wait did he just call Lance his ALPHA.

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They all sat at the lunch table, Keith and Lance of course were right next to each other. Though they never told anyone about their relationship yet. Keith has expressed that early on he really didn’t want anyone else to know, mostly because he knew how Pidge would react being the little gremlin that she is.

They all were goofing off, Pidge said something that caused Keith to tickle her, though actions have consequences as Keith was about to find out. Pidge was trying to push Keith off her and her arm swung out knocking her tea all over Keith.

“Ahhhh, Pidge!” Keith exclaimed, he stopped tickling her and grabbed some napkins to try and get the tea to dry before making his shirt all sticky, however he was too late. “Ugh my shirt is all sticky, and I don’t have an extra. This is gonna be a long day.” Keith groaned, giving up on wiping down his shirt.

“I have an extra one, a long sleeve too. Do you wanna borrow it?” Lance asked, looking at Keith with a smile.

“Please, I don’t wanna spend all day sticky.” Keith pleaded, looking at Lance with begging eyes. Lance couldn’t help but laugh a little at the small omega. He stood up, grabbed his and Keith’s bags, and held his hand out.

“Come on, it's in the locker room. You can change there, there are stalls if you wanna change in one of those.” Lance said as Keith grabbed his hand and walked to the locker room. Going through his locker he found his work out shirt, normally it would hug him tightly but for Keith it would be pretty lost. Though now that he thought about it he never really saw Keith’s body, he always wore baggy clothes, except his ripped black skinny jeans, his damn emo omega.

“Here.” Lance said as he handed Keith the shirt and gestured towards the stalls in the locker room.

“Thank you, be out in a sec.” Keith said with a small smile, he walked over to one of the stalls and walked in, forgetting to lock the door after shutting it. Keith removed his shirt, keeping his back to the door as it slowly opened. Lance was quiet, so quiet that Keith didn’t hear his footsteps as Lance approached until he heard him gasp. Keith flinched and turned his head, he saw the look of horror in Lance’s eyes as he saw the scars that scattered all over the omega’s pale skin. Scared, Keith couldn’t move; he just stood there in shock. His secret, something he’s been hiding for so long, he knew Lance was suspicious of something from how much he flinched and when he told him his triggers. He just never wanted to see the face he would make when he actually found out… the face Lance was making right now was the one he hated the most.

“Just ask.” Keith said very quietly barely above a whisper. He looked down still clutching the alpha’s shirt in his hand, he was gripping the shirt so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Keith’s breathing was picking up as was his heart rate. If he didn’t calm down soon he would be in a panic attack in no time.

“W…what?” Lance was finally able to get out. He couldn’t stop staring at Keith’s body. Keith was thin, not scary thin but thin. He had slash scars, burn scars, cut scars, cigarette burns all over his body even on his chest and arms, as Lance looked lower he saw that the scars went into his pants, clearly there was more that Lance couldn’t see. The worst was on Keith's lower abdomen near his V line he could see a part of a symbol, someone had branded him. Lance finally understood why Keith always wore baggy clothes and long sleeves even in the warmer months.

“I know your brain is wanting to ask so just ask Lance.” Keith spat, he couldn’t take the silence and Lance’s stare. Lance took a step back, taking a breath he didn’t know he was holding. So many questions were going through his head and he couldn’t figure out which one to say.

“W…what ha-happened to you?” Lance stuttered, he looked down and clinched his fists by his sides. He wanted to hurt the person or people that hurt His omega.

“It’s a long sad story, are you sure you wanna know?” Keith gently questioned. Finally able to move his body, he pulled Lance’s shirt over his scared body. He could already smell the ocean breeze from the shirt and couldn’t help but sniff more taking in as much as he could. Now that Lance found out he figured that the alpha wouldn’t want to be with him anymore, as those who hurt him said. No one will want a scared omega, he was used and abused.

“Yes.” Lance answered with no hesitation. Lance wants to be with Keith the best he can. He wants to comfort him, clearly the poor omega needed a lot of comfort. All his triggers made sense to him now. Lance looked at Keith’s eyes seeing how dull they had become. Clearly he wasn’t supposed to find out about his body and what covered it. At that moment all Lance wanted to do was see Keith’s smile and his violet eyes shine again. He slowly walked over to him. Gently he pulled Keith into a hug and held him close, Lance bent down so Keith could rest his head on his shoulder near Lance’s scent gland. Releasing calming pheromones Keith buried his face near the alpha’s scent gland, he could never get enough of his scent even in this situation. Lance’s scent to Keith still made him feel so warm and safe.

“I wanna go home.” Keith said. Lance slightly nodded as they walked out, he grabbed their bags and just walked straight to his car. The drive is silent; neither could organize their thoughts to form sentences, but both could feel the tension as they drove. Getting to the house, they walked into Keith’s room. The nanny went out to the park with Leo so they were home alone. Even so Keith closed his door and sat on his bed next to Lance. Keith kept his gaze to the floor, fidgeting with his hands, he was already getting sweaty.

“After my father passed away, Shiro was about to move away for college. He tried to gain custody of me as my legal guardian but he lost. He was moving into a dorm with no job and no money to a new state. So they put me in foster care. I was 13, and being an omega I had to take birth control and heat suppressants until I was adopted. Though where I was omega’s in the foster system were practically just being sold into slavery. I was in three foster homes before I ran.” Keith started to explain, he was shaking slightly at this point thinking about his past and what he went through. Lance was listening, he didn’t wanna miss anything the smaller boy said.

“The first home I was in was okay, they didn’t care so I could practically do whatever. They fostered people for the extra check that the state gave them. They were idiots and got caught so they went to jail for fraud. So back to the system I went. Second home only took me because their maid quit and they needed someone to clean the house. It wasn’t bad but if I missed a spot the father could punch me sometimes. They got tired of me eventually and sent me back, then there was the third home.” Keith took a deep breath before continuing, Lance moved closer to Keith, he grabbed one of his hands to hold soothing the omega.

“They were the worst, they were people who believed that omega’s were property only meant for breeding. If I made one mistake at home or at school they would whip me till my skin was raw. I was with them for three years. It started when I was 15. Then when I turned 16 he started to come into my room. Thank god for birth control, they took everything from me.” Keith trembled but having Lance next to him was helping.

“I…I’m so sorry that people put you through that at such a young age. They took your innocence forcefully. But Keith, as much as I really wanna punch them, I will always be here for you. I don’t care if you have those scars, you are still someone who I want to be with and I find you to still be the most beautiful omega in the universe. I won’t leave you Keith, nothing will scare me away okay.” Lance said as he moved to hug Keith who had tears in his eyes.

“I…I” Keith tried to say but he couldn’t get the words out as he just cried into Lance’s chest.

“Shhhh, just breathe Keith, match your heart rate to him and follow my breathing.” Lance calmed said releasing more calming pheromones. Eventually Keith started to calm down following Lance’s breathing. Seeing that the omega was calming down he decided to start asking some questions keeping his tone quiet and gentle.

“Who knows?” Lance asked, still holding Keith close.

“Pidge, Shiro, Adam and now you.” Keith answered quietly, not moving from Lance’s chest.

“I know that’s not everything, you have scars that from what you said didn’t happen at those foster homes. You don’t have to tell me but I will still be here okay.” Lance said, he started gently rubbing Keith’s back to keep him calm.

“You’re right, that was only the beginning, Pidge only knows about the foster homes. However when I ran away, not only did I run away but I was also held prisoner. That’s where the rest of the scars came from. Shiro and Adam know, but Lance I can’t tell you. Not just because I’m not ready but it's also for yours and my family's safety. However, in time if you still wanna know, I’ll tell you.” Keith explained.

“Okay, I won’t push you. Thank you for telling me.” Lance said, hugging Keith tighter. They stayed there, not leaving each other's side. Slowly the couple laid down still tightly in each other's braces. Keith, exhausted from all his emotions, he slowly fell asleep. Lance held Keith as close as he could to his body. After learning most of Keith’s tragic past Lance wanted nothing more to protect him. He wanted nothing more than to be the person Keith turns to for comfort. Knowing what he knows he now no longer wants to leave Keith alone. Lance couldn’t get the last part out of his head, Keith said that one person caused the rest of his scars, meaning the burns, cuts, cigarette burns, and… that brand.

Chapter Text

Allura was never one to hide in the shadows. After her channel and instagram started popping off, her glamorous life began. She suddenly had no energy or drive to hang out with the same group day after day. During one of the parties she frequently attended for those who have following. She met him, a gorgeous white hair alpha model. She’s been crushing on him since she first saw him cover vogue.

They immediately had a connection and started hanging out a lot more, eventually they started dating but kept it under wraps. It was new and fresh so neither wanted to jinx a new relationship. So they kept their love in the dark of the public eye. It helped that Allura was from Seattle and her boyfriend was from California. Therefore their relationship was mostly online through texting and snapchat.

She would rather be with him then with anyone else in her friends group, and she didn’t like the new omega, Keith. He just rubbed her the wrong way and not only that. She hated the way he clung to Lance. Lance was hers before, even though she doesn’t really have a care for the brunette alpha, she just couldn’t stand that Keith was the one who was by Lance’s side.

Altean_princess: Ugh, this omega started to date my ex. They won’t say it but it’s clear with more much they cling to each other
Galran_prince: So…
Altean_princess: Sooooooooo, I don’t know. He just showed up one day and everyone loves him. I just don’t like him. He’s mysterious and clearly hiding something. I mean from what others have said they say his house is a fortress, like who needs that much security for someone who isn’t famous or anything.
Galran_prince: I still don’t understand why you’re upset about it, tell me more
Altean_princess: I just don’t like his vibe. He keeps to himself and is obviously hiding something. He doesn’t have any socials at all. He barely leaves his house, plus he wears winter clothes in warm months. I just can’t believe Lance will make time for that little omega and he just couldn’t spend time with me at all for the months we dated and he’s been dating him for like a month maybe.
Galran_prince: I can see your frustration, its like that omega is trying to hide from someone. Tell me, who is it??
Altean_princess: His name is Keith Kogane, but he has a brother name Takashi Shirogane, he used to be the quarterback for my college, but they have different last name than each other and his brother is an alpha who has a mate that already took his last name so, I don’t know why Keith would have a different one than his brother. They aren’t half siblings.
Galran_prince: oh dear, this sounds cumbersome. Listen, after I finish this project why don’t I come visit. I can come up for like a month
Altean_princess: that would be amazing baby! I can’t wait!!
Galran_prince: Me too, I’ll go ahead and book the ticket. I love you Allura
Altrean_princess: I love you too Lotor

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***A couple months later***
Lance and Keith’s relationship kept getting stronger and stronger. Their connection is getting closer. Lance barely slept in his apartment anymore, he stayed with Keith most of the time. Slowly Lance gained Shiro's trust especially after Keith told his brother that he told Lance about what happened to him. Lance never left Keith’s side, he walked him to class and drove him to and from school. Keith always attended Lance’s practices to give support from afar. Though they never did anything other than hold hands and cuddle, they never shared their first kiss yet.

Lance wanted Keith to take charge when it came to advancing in their relationship. He doesn’t wanna push Keith, he was keeping his promise to allow Keith to go at his pace. Keith wanted to do a lot more and be closer to Lance, but he was scared and he didn’t know how to initiate anything. Every time he thought about kissing the alpha he froze. He’s not scared of Lance or the alpha that resides in him, he was scared of giving himself like that to someone again. Keith was used to those who promised to protect him turn their backs and hurt him, betraying his trust. Keith was finding it hard to trust again… even Lance.

“Tomorrow’s the semi-finals right?” Pidge asked the two football players at the table, Hunk and Lance.

“Yea, coach has been killing us with all these practices for it. Lance got us to the playoff’s last year but we still only landed 3rd.” Hunk stated a little salty.

“Hey, I tried, if only Jame’s would actually listen to my plays instead of doing what ever the fuck he wanted.” Lance explained getting annoyed thinking of the other alpha. Keith took Lance’s hand in his under the table to give the alpha some comfort, Keith already sensing that Lance was getting irritated.

“Oooooo we all should go and afterwards maybe we can have a party, a small one with just us of course.” Pidge suggested looking at everyone.

“OOO that sounds fun, it’ll definitely be nice to let loose after the game.” Lance answered happily, everyone else agreeing. Well Allura said she had better things to do, but Keith hasn’t said anything. “Keeeeeithy, it’s the semi-finals. Please talk to Shiro and try to come. It would mean the world to me if my good luck charm could be there.” Lance asked, well begged for the omega to come.

“Okay, okay. I’ll ask him. Just stop with the puppy dog eyes.” Keith laughed a little at Lance’s behavior.

“Never, princess~” Lance teased looking at Keith with a bright, big smile.

After some convincing Keith got the okay to go to the game Friday. Though he had to check in with Shiro like every 5 minutes but to Keith it was worth it.

“Okay, Shiro and Adam moved their date to Saturday so I can go to the game Friday, so I have to be back home around noon Saturday.”Keith finally said towards the end of their lunch hour.

“That’s fine, I’ll drive you so we can babysit together.” Lance said with a smile, giving Keith’s hand a little squeeze.

“Gay” Pidge said finishing up her lunch, watching the two in amusement. Even if they never said that they were dating it was completely obvious. Those two can never hide anything they were too obvious and they knew it. Keith just gave his friend a death glare, but that never worked on her.

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Lance was running down the field with only 20 seconds left on the clock before half time, only 6 points ahead of the other team. They might be winning but Lance wanted another touchdown before the buzzer went. The crowd was cheering and screaming for Lance, including Keith, his raven haired…boyfriend? They haven’t put any labels on anything yet but they were practically dating so Keith was Lance's boyfriend right?

Pushing the thoughts away focusing on the game at hand, pun intended. He kept running, someone from the other team running close behind him. Thirty more yards he’s so close, when suddenly someone came quickly, someone that nobody blocked from getting to Lance. Therefore, the alpha was tackled right at the 10 yard line. He was RIGHT THERE! Who the fuck didn’t stay in their position, something like that was supposed to be prevented and yet someone didn’t do their job. They had the play correctly yet something went wrong, but more like someone fucked up…royalty.

The buzzer went off and with a sigh Lance got up once the others got off him. He walked over to the water stand, looking furious, thinking back to his ironclad play; he soon saw that James Griffin was supposed to be watching that side and blocked them. Yet there James was messing up another playoffs for him. Despite them being on the same team, James never listened to Lance and kept messing everything up. The coach and everyone sees it but they can’t just kick him off the team. Unfortunately, James is actually a good player when he wants to be, he just doesn’t like Lance because he got the quarterback position when he’s been gunning for that for two years.

“James what the hell dude?! You were supposed to be blocking from that side yet you were nowhere to be found! This is important to the team, not to mention to your career! I don’t care if you hate me or not, but get your head out of your ass, your actions not only affect me but it affects this entire team including yourself! So stop making a fool of yourself and actually play the damn game!” Lance yelled

“Yea whatever, why don’t you get a touchdown like you’re supposed to do quarterback.” James spoke back clearly, not caring about the conversation.

“I would’ve been able to if you had done your job. We’re not against each other James. We’re a team so start acting like it before I get the coach to bench you.” Lance threatened as he walked away not giving James a chance to talk back. Leaving James seething at the threat.

Lance walked off to the sidelines talking to the rest of the team as well as the coach filling him in on what happened with James. Keith and all their friends were in the stands, Keith never taking his eyes off Lance, he can sense Lance’s worry about the game and he can see the seriousness on Lance’s face. Even watching Lance scream at James, Keith has never seen the alpha angry and it scared him.

“He looks so serious, I’ve never seen him like this even during practice.” Keith mumbled to Pidge who sat next to him, munching on some nachos from the concession stand.

“He’s normally like this during games, but he’s seriously taking the heat on this one since it's the semi finals. If they win this they go to the playoffs. So he’s under a lot of stress.” Pidge explained between bites.

“That makes sense, but he screamed at that guy over there, I’ve never seen him so angry before.” Keith speaks quietly, Pidge taking notice she moves closer to Keith.

“Before that brain of yours starts to overthink and go back to the past. Lance isn’t like anyone else, he doesn’t get angry. What he is right now is frustrated because that guy, James. Is ruining the game not just for him but because of him. Not only that but James is purposefully messing everything up for his own team which isn’t okay. He’s not an angry person, nor will he ever take his anger out on anyone. Despite being an alpha, he’s got that in check, even more so now that he has you. He’s a lot calmer when he’s with you. So don’t be scared, okay.” Pidge explained, putting her hand on top of Keith’s to help ground him.

“Y…yea, okay. You’re right. He’s always been there for me. Ya know I told him everything. My fathers death, my foster families. Yet he’s stayed and he doesn’t treat me differently either. If I get scared, have flashbacks, or even nightmares. He’s always right by my side and he doesn’t leave till he knows I’m okay.” Keith said with a small smile, he’s actually falling for Lance. He was terrified to fall for someone again, yet here he was ignoring everything but what his heart wanted. He’s been dealing with everything on his own for so long he became so used to it, but now. Now that he’s with Lance he can’t imagine dealing with anything else on his own, he doesn’t even know how he did it by himself anymore.

Pidge smiled at her friend. Seeing how far he’s grown. But she can’t help but wonder what happened in those 5 years Keith just vanished. Pidge isn’t stupid, she knew where all those whip scars were, but she can see different ones on his hands, wrists and neck. Even though he covers up really well, she knows something else happened after his foster homes.

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“TOUCHDOWN!!!” The announcer yells through the stadium. Everyone cheered and celebrated the end of a long game. “THE LIONS WIN!” Families and friends start running down to the field to congratulate the team and their loved ones. Pidge and Keith run down to see Lance, finding him near the end of the field with the team screaming MVP at him for scoring the final touchdown and winning the game.

“Lance!” Keith yelled to gain the alphas attention. Despite Lance’s already bright smile, it somehow got brighter seeing Keith. Running up to the omega and wrapping his arms around him, slightly picking him up and spinning around. Keith holds on tight to Lance’s neck, both laughing and smiling. “Congratulations! You guys were amazing.” Keith explained, not letting go of Lance even after he stopped spinning.

“Thank you, Keithy, that means a lot coming from you.” Lance expressed, putting Keith back on his feet but keeping his arms wrapped around his waist, both looking at each other's eyes. For a moment everything and everyone around them went silent, like they were the only two there. Keith felt his heart beating faster and faster, he knew Lance wouldn’t make the first move. Keith couldn’t handle not being closer to Lance, he wants to take things further, be closer to the alpha.

Keith laced his hands in Lance’s sweaty hair, pulling him down closer to his height. With no hesitation, Keith closed his eyes and locked his lips with Lance. The alpha taken by surprise quickly melted into the kiss. He pulled Keith’s waist closer deepening their kiss.

Keith was the one to pull away, however he kept his forehead on Lance’s. They didn’t need to say any words, they just looked at each other and smiled. Lance moved and pulled Keith into a tight hug. Everything around them is barely audible, sounds just in the background. It's just Keith and Lance, like it’s meant to be.

Chapter Text

On instagram, Keith was just doom scrolling in his bed before attempting to go to sleep. This was one of the rare days that Lance actually went back to his dorm for the night. Mostly because he was tired of wearing the same clothes so he would bring some different ones tomorrow. Keith’s account is not only private but he’s name isn’t even on it, he’s not zero posts and all he does is like content and follows others. He doesn’t comment, he blends in with the billions of users.

So when he got the notification that someone wanted to message him, questions rose in his head. Clicking on the DM section of instagram he went to the requests. He knew exactly who just messaged him Galran_prince… Lotor. Clicking on the message, he can read it before accepting the message.

Galran_prince: Hello Kitten, you think you can just get away that easily. Have fun with your little alpha while you can, you’ll soon come crawling back to me.

To Keith the world stopped, he couldn’t tell what was going on, everything little thing that happened to him came crashing down in an instant. He couldn’t breath, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t think. He was back in that dark room, naked and afraid, cold and bruised, beaten and bloody. He was screaming and crying without realizing. Suddenly when the door swung open he looked up and only saw a pissed off Lotor coming to hurt him more. “NO…Stop please! Make it stop!. Don’t hurt me!”

“Shhhhh Keith, it’s me. It’s Shiro, your brother, you're okay.” Shiro gently said, he walked into the room but kept his distance knowing how on edge Keith was. He tried pushing out calming pheromones, but it didn’t seem to work. Keith wouldn’t calm down. “Keith, deep breaths okay, just like we practiced.” Shiro kept trying to get through to Keith, but he was completely stuck in his head.

Adam looked around his room, knowing Keith hadn’t gone to bed yet. He was trying to figure out what caused such a strong attack. He found the omega’s phone near the edge of the bed, Keith having moved to the edge of the bed to get as far away from them as possible. Adam walked up and grabbed his phone, the message still there. His breath hitched, he showed Shiro the message with trembling hands. Shiro reading the message he looked at Keith who wouldn’t calm down.

“Adam you stay with him, he’ll feel safer even subconsciously with another omega around. I’m gonna go call Lance. His scent will help Keith.” Shiro explained, taking his phone out and walking out the room. Adam sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at Keith who was sitting in the corner, hugging his knees, his head down, crying, and violently trembling. Adam knew talking wouldn’t get through to Keith so he just sat there letting his scent spread through the room.

Keith slowly started to calm down. His trembling turned into small shakes. His breathing was still short but getting better. “H-he found me. Lotor found me.” Keith spoke quietly, barely able to Adam to hear him.

“I know, but you're not alone okay. We won’t let him get to you.” Adam explained, turning around to face Keith who hadn't moved from his position.

“I was finally moving forward, I was starting to feel safe and sane again. I was getting better and he just had to come and ruin everything. I can’t risk hurting you guys, he’ll hurt you, Shiro, Lance, even Leo. I…I can’t let him hurt you. H…he’ll take my family just because I disobeyed and ran away. He’ll kill me.” Keith’s stuttered, his shaking getting worse again,

“Keith -” Adam was gonna say something before he was interrupted by a loud alpha screaming for Keith.

“Keith!” Lance yelled as he ran into his room, Keith finally looking up from his knees seeing Lance running in. He didn’t move, Lance ran over to him quickly wrapping his arms around the trembling boy, putting Keith face near his scent glands on his neck.

“L…Lance. You’re here.” Keith quickly hugged Lance back tightly.

“Shhh you’re okay now. I’m here okay. I’m not going anywhere I promise.” Lance quietly stated, holding Keith not letting go. Keith sobbed holding on to Lance, he didn’t stop till his body gave out and passed out. Lance laid Keith down, covering him with the duvet. Lance stayed by Keith’s side, sitting on the edge of the bed. Shiro and Adam standing near the doorway watching Keith just sleep. Everyone is clearly tense. “Can someone explain to me how Keith went into an attack? I know about his PTSD but even with nightmares, he never had something this bad before.” Lance questioned, making sure to be quiet so he doesn’t wake Keith.

“Well what do you know?” Shiro questioned not taking his eyes off his little brother. After he left his room and called Lance he made sure that their home was completely secure. When Keith showed up at his door 2 years ago and explained everything, he immediately took action to protect his brother and now that this monster has come back he wasn’t gonna let him get anywhere close to his brother.

“He told me about your father and his foster homes, he did say that that was only the beginning and that something else happened but he couldn’t tell me out of my own and his family's safety. So I didn’t push him, but clearly something has changed.” Lance explained.

“Well, that story is something Keith has to tell you. But something did change. That person found him, Keith’s been hiding in the shadows for 2 years and he was just found. Lance, this guy is dangerous, when Keith came to us, we moved here about 3 months after. We moved here because of how secure this neighborhood is and not to mention why we have such high security in place. Shiro made this a fortress so nothing could happen. Keith because a huge shut in afterwards, he refused to leave the house. He was finally getting out of his shell by going to college physically. Don’t let him go back into that hole, okay. It’s not healthy for his mental health to be trapped in here.” Adam expressed, clearly emotional with everything that’s happening.

“Okay, I won’t. Thank you for telling me what you can, but how dangerous can this one person be?” Lance asked.

“Lance, this person has connections to people that cause trouble. He has connections to get away with anything illegal that he does. His connections are dangerous and he himself is dangerous. He seems like someone who wouldn’t hurt a fly, very kind and caring. Yet he has no love or compassion for others. He isn’t afraid to hurt or even kill people who get in his way. And murder is something that he can and has gotten away with.” Shiro stated, he was leaning on the door, with his arms crossed. He was getting agitated by the situation and pissed off that someone was out for his brother.

“Okay, why do you guys make him sound like the boogeyman? What is this guy like, a part of the mafia or something?” Lance was trying to lighten the situation, when his emotions started getting heavy for him, making jokes and goofing off was his way of coping. A reason why Keith fell for him so hard.

“He is the boogeyman, actually probably worse. And no he isn’t a part of the mafia, at least from what I know. But he does have connections to gangs, drugs, police, the media, and many more. That man doesn’t have to lift a finger for things to get done for him. He can do whatever he wants and no one will bat an eye.” Adam explained, shivering at the thought, remembering Keith's words when he first came to them. Shiro notices the small distress pheromones coming from Adam. He moved closer to his mate and wrapped him in a hug.

“Okay, let’s get some rest for tonight, we’ll talk tomorrow.” Shiro expressed, picking Adam up and heading to their room, which was only a couple doors down the hall. Lance only got up to turn the light off and gently shut the door, he laid back on the bed wrapping Keith up in his arms. Keith moved slightly and turned to bury himself in Lance's touch but he fell back asleep just as quick. Lance however barely slept an hour in fear of what could happen to his omega and what had already happened in the past.

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Keith’s eyes slowly started to open, he kept blinking to adjust to the morning sun that shined through his windows. He felt warm and his nose filled that familiar beachy scent. He snuggled closer to the body that was close to him. “Mmmm good morning sleepy.” Lance gently said, moving his hand to run through Keith’s hair.

“G…good morning. What happened last night?” Keith asked, moving his head to look at Lance.

“Ummm well you had a massive panic attack and Shiro called me over.” Lance explained, looking at Keith. With a sudden realization Keith remembered everything, the message, the flashbacks.

“O…oh right. I have a lot of explaining to do then.” Keith said, moving his back back into Lance’s chest. He felt safer there.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Lance stated, running his hand through Keith’s hair again.

“No, I have too, now that you’re with me. You’re just as much in danger as everyone else.” Keith mumbled into Lance’s chest. They didn’t speak for a few minutes and just stayed in each other's arms. With a sigh Keith moved out of Lance’s arms and sat up. “What time is it anyways?”

Lance grabbed his phone from the bedside table and looked at the time, “Around 11 am” Lance answered, sitting up.

“Okay then, Shiro and Adam are awake then. Let’s go downstairs and I’ll explain.” Keith suggested, looking at Lance he held a small smile, but there was pain in his eyes. Lance just nodded and walked with Keith to the kitchen to grab some coffee before taking their seats on the couch. Keith is sitting super close to Lance to feel his warmth. Shiro and Adam were already sitting in the love seat and Leo was running around playing with his toys. Keith watched Leo a little bit, his smile was getting warmer.

“Okay, the reason behind my massive panic attack. My ex boyfriend found me. I ran from him two years ago and came here. I don’t know how but he found me here in Seattle, and I know he’s got a plan. My ex is someone that always gets what he wants and I’m someone that escaped and humiliated him by running away.” Keith started explaining, he stayed close to Lance, his presence keeping him calm.

“Your ex boyfriend? The one from high school? He’s the one that held you prisoner?” Lance questioned, started to mumble more.

“Yes, his name is Lotor Dibazal. His family owns a modeling agency, so he works as a model for them and occasionally a couple commercials. I trusted him, we dated for three years. When I was 17 I ran away from my foster home. I thought I would be safe with him, he knew what was happening and he always took care of me. He told me I would always have a place with him and his family. So I went there, however I was wrong. He didn’t protect me, nor did he care. He drugged me that night, when I woke up I was chained by my wrists and ankles, completely naked, in a dark cold room with no windows. There was only a mattress on the ground, the walls had hooks all over and the ceiling also had different hooks at different heights. He would use the holes in the chains to tie me to the walls or suspend me to the ceiling, not to mention the bed had the same hooks too. I thought that my foster homes were bad but Lotor, he was worse. All those scars you saw, he gave them to me, I was his prisoner for three years, he would torture me everyday unless he was working our of state or country. It was never ending, I thought I would die there, hell I almost have. He would take things far, bringing me to the brink of death, but he paid off a doctor to nurse me back to health everytime. I didn’t even have to do anything wrong for him to hurt me, he just wanted to.” Keith started shaking a little, explaining everything. Lance pulled Keith into his lap and held him close. This helped ground Keith and allowed him to continue.

“However right before, I had just replaced my birth control implant in my arm, so even through heats, ruts, and the countless times he would rape me. I never got pregnant. But those implants only last three years. My last heat there happened to cycle at the same time as his rut, of course he made me spend it with him. Afterwards he had to leave the country for about a month for work with his parents. So their live-in maid took care of me. It was so peaceful whenever he left, she would bring actual meals instead of the scraps Lotor gave me. She would hang out and we would talk for hours. She would take care of my wounds. She was my sanity, she kept me alive there. She helped me to not give up. But after that heat about 3 weeks later I got sick. I was throwing up at all hours of the day and night. The live-in-maid asked about my heat and she immediately made me take a pregnancy test. It…It came back positive. She knew I had to get out. Now that I was pregnant we all knew that Lotor would mate me or kill the child that was growing in me. So she helped me escape, she got me a bus ticket to Seattle and I went to Shiro.” Keith explained, barely able to keep his eyes off his lap. Lance putting the pieces together, his face was a mix of shocked, sorrow, pissed.

“So, Leo then isn’t your brothers is he?” Lance questioned, tightening his grip on Keith.

“N…no. Leo is my son. But if Lotor ever found me I knew he would get Leo if he knew. So I asked Shiro and Adam to adopt him and we sealed the records and even changed the birth certificate. Lotor can never know that Leo is his. This is my way of staying in his life but also protecting him. Leo became my world when he was born and I will do everything I can to make sure he’s safe.” Keith gained some confidence. He glanced at Leo who was playing with his toys across the room.

“What do you think is gonna happen now that he knows where you are?” Lance’s voice is timid, now grasping the situation.

“He’s gonna come after me, he’s gonna wanna take what's his. To him I’m his property that was taken away. He’ll come after you because we’re dating. He’ll go after Shiro and Adam for protecting me, he won’t stop till he has what he wants. And I will not hesitate to go with him if it means to protect my family.” Keith said, looking at Lance.

“Keith we won’t let that happen, he won’t get to you or anyone else. I think it’s time.” Shiro expressed, looking at Keith.

“I think you’re right, call him.” Keith said, getting more determined. Lance was looking at all of them very confused about what just happened.

“What’s going on now, I’m getting confused.” Lance questioned looking at Keith.

“When I came to Shiro, we came up with a plan if anything were to happen, if Lotor ever found me. I wrote down everything that’s ever happened to me and everything I know about Lotor, his connections, his family…everything. I even took photos of all my injuries, I have all Leo’s documents, adoption papers. I did this so then when the time came, we would contact Shiro’s friend who works for the FBI. I didn’t contact the police when I first came back because I knew they wouldn’t do anything so I had to wait till Lotor made a move to come and get me.” Keith answered, Shiro is already on the phone with his FBI friend.

“Lance, I’m so sorry for dragging you into this. I really didn’t want anyone else to be put in danger because of me.” Keith apologized, resting his head on Lance's shoulder.

“There’s no need to apologize, okay, I will do anything to protect you. I want to be with you Keith. I…I love you.” Lance confessed. Keith shot up, looking at Lance in his eyes. Eyes that were telling the truth, Lance actually loved him.

“I…I love you too Lance.” Keith responded. Leaning down and bringing Lance into a kiss. Adam and Shiro took that as their leave and went to speak further in the kitchen giving the couple their space.

Lance pulled away, even with everything going on he couldn’t help but smile. Keith laid his head back on Lance’s neck. “Thank you for being there for me.”

“Of course, that’s what boyfriends are for. But Keith, with this new development, we need to come up with a plan for college, one you’re still going, two we should probably tell our friends from what you said I feel that Lotor would even target them too, and three I don’t want you out of my sight.” Lance explained looking at Keith with a serious expression. Keith just nodded in agreement, he really didn’t wanna be alone anyways.

They spent the rest of the weekend together, watching movies, playing games. After talking further, everyone decided it would be easier for Lance to just move into Shiro’s house. Keith would talk to their friends at a later date, wanting to just take a breather for a while. Shiro’s FBI friend was scheduled to talk to everyone the next weekend when he’s back in town. Keith would wait for Lance to walk to classes and for practice Keith practically followed Lance, except to the locker room, he was to go straight to Adam’s room once practice was over so Keith would never be alone. Everyone was determined to keep Keith safe and Keith was determined to keep his family safe.

Chapter Text

It’s been a couple weeks and Keith hasn’t received anything else from Lotor. How can he when he blocked the account as well, paranoid he also deleted all his social medias. He’s completely off the grid, at least that’s the goal. Lance can see how tense and on edge the omega is, he can also slightly feel his fear. But could it just be his own? Is he mixing his own fear with thinking he can feel Keith’s as well? Were they really getting that close?

Getting tackled was definitely a good way to get out of his thoughts. With a gunt he gets up, pure frustration fueling him at this point, that and sleep deprivation. With Lotor out to get Keith, even sleeping beside him hasn’t been enough, constantly on edge, thinking something could happen in the dead of night even with living in that fortress Shiro created to protect Keith and Leo. Oh and then there’s that, Leo. He still couldn’t get the fact that Keith has a son through his head. He didn’t understand how Keith can go everyday knowing that he can’t be the mother Leo deserves because of an asshole out to get him. Ugh, why can’t they go back to the peace they had before all this mess. Well they never really had actual peace, Keith was just dealing with everyone on his own with Lance being completely ignorant to the whole situation and now he can’t even tell his best friends. He was really struggling keeping so big from them, especially Hunk, they’ve known each other since high school, that boy practically knew everything about Lance and now he can’t even share something so big.

“Lance!” Hunk yelled running over to his buddy. Holding out his hand to help Lance up.

“Ugh, ow” Lance groaned.

“Dude, what happened?” Hunk questioned getting Lance to his feet.

“My head was in the clouds, I wasn’t paying attention. Sorry.” Lance apologized, rubbing his shoulder.

“Your shoulder okay?” Hunk worriedly asked the other alpha.

“I don’t know, it’s a little sore” Lance mumbled, he tried to rotate his shoulder trying to get the ache to go away, only for a sharp pain to shoot through his arm. “Ah fuck, I think I pulled something.”

“You need to see a doctor Lance.” Hunk demands, walking with him to the benches. Grabbing him a cup of water.

“Yea, yea. This is gonna suck.” Lance groans, he starts taking off his padding so he can rub his shoulder better.

“It will, but you better take care of yourself okay. You act like you have the world on your shoulders, let someone else take some of that load too okay. Besides, we're gonna need that arm for the playoffs.” Hunk chuckled, grabbing their bags heading towards the locker room. Lance laughing beside him, now shirtless, his bag carries all his gear that he had to shed.

Keith happened to see the tackle and carefully watched Lance and Hunk. He couldn’t help but notice as the alpha took off all his top gear leaving him shirtless. His eyes kept close to Lance as he watched them finish up practice and head towards the locker room. Packing his stuff up, getting ready to head to Adam’s lecture room to meet Lance, he couldn’t shake the slight pain he randomly started feeling in his shoulder. Shaking it off he headed to Adam’s.

“Hey Keithy” Adam calls from his position at his desk with his laptop. Glancing up at Keith who walks in and sits at one of the desks rubbing his shoulder. “Did you hurt your shoulder or something?”

“Huh, no. It just started hurting. Maybe I slept on it wrong, but it just randomly started hurting like 5 minutes ago, so I don’t know.” Keith responded, laying his head down on the desk. “I wanna take things further with Lance. Ever since he moved in, we’ve been so close but every time I pull away. Sometimes I wish Shiro had won that case and took me away, even if that meant I didn’t have Leo. At least I’d be normal. But I can’t wish Leo away, he’s my son and I gave him life, if it wasn’t for everything he’d never been given the chance at life.”

“Keith, I can’t ever fully understand what you’re going through. But I do know that you truly love Lance as he loves you. Go slow at first, you don’t have to go all the way, but take things up a notch. It’s scary, but you and your body know that you can trust Lance.” Adam explains gently, looking at the other omega whose head is still on the desk.

“I guess you’re right.” Keith mumbled into the desk. Just as soon as Lance walked into the room after showering and changing. He was rubbing his shoulder slightly as he walked up to his boyfriend. Keith already smelled him as he walked in, got up and grabbed his bag saying bye to Adam. Adam isn’t blind he saw the way Lance was rubbing his shoulder, which happened to be the same one Keith was complaining about earlier and weirdly enough in the same spot.

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“Let’s go out.” Lance said suddenly from the couch. It was just him and Keith since everyone was still at work and the nanny took Leo out to the park.

“Ummm okay. When and where?” Keith responded kinda monotoned, he was focused on the game he was currently playing on his phone. His back was leaning on the alpha’s chest with one of Lance's arms wrapped around him.

“How about the aquarium, let’s say Saturday?” Lance suggested, glancing at Keith who put his game away at that point.

“Okay, I don’t think I’ve ever been to an aquarium before.” Lance gasped at the confession from the smaller boy. Lance moved them so Keith was facing him, straddling him.

“What do you mean you’ve never been to the aquarium?”

“Lance, do you forget that my father worked most of my childhood. Then I was in foster care.” Keith retorted, wrapping his arms around Lance’s neck, which made the alpha wrap his arms around Keith’s waist.

“Oh right. Well then I’d be honored to be the first one to take you.” Lance beamed, smiling his big bright smile, the one that blinds Keith every time.

Keith couldn’t help but smile at Lance’s quirkiness. Leaning closer Keith brought Lance into a deep kiss, returning the kiss Lance nibbled slightly on the omega's bottom lip asking permission for him to explore. Keith didn’t hesitate letting Lance’s tongue in. Lance continued to deepen the kiss, never leaving the outside of Keith’s clothes he slowly ran his hands up and down Keith’s sides. Landing on the omega’s hips, he gripped gently pulling Keith in closer.

Keith moved his hands through Lance’s hair slightly tugging it making the taller alpha groan muffled by their heated kiss. Lance was the first to pull away. He stared at the violet eyes, he saw the desperation they held but also the fear behind. “Keith-” Before Lance could say anything Keith wanted to say his piece.

“Before you start saying anything. I…I love you Lance and you know that, but you’ve been so gentle and kind. You’ve been extremely patient with me. As scared as I am, I want to take things further because I want to. I want to be closer to you. However, with that being said I’m not ready to go all the way. Maybe one day though. For now, anything other than underwear and the pelvic region in general.” Keith explained not taking his eyes off the ocean blues that were Lances.

Lance didn’t even need to say anything else as he pulled Keith closer to him pulling him back into their heated kiss. Keith wasted no time in returning the kiss as he took off Lance's jacket that the alpha was still wearing. Lance moved his hands up Keith’s shirt feeling his chest and scars. Keith broke away momentarily not only to breathe but to take off Lance's shirt. He’s seen the tan alpha shirtless before but he never got to upclose. Looking down at Lance’s chest he traced his hands down the tan torso, from his pecs to his abs. Lance might not have been the biggest and bulkiest but you can clearly see the 6 pack abs and all his hard work into his college football career.

Smirking Lance puts his hand on the black haired beauty to tilt his head up.

“Like what you see princess~” Lance teases, he then tugs a little at the hem of Keith’s shirt silently asking for permission. Keith hesitates slightly, not because he doesn’t wanna go further, no it’s because of his scars. He himself finds his scars to be ugly, a proof to himself that he’s unloveable and tainted. He takes off his shirt however. Now it’s Lance’s turn to get a closer look at Keith. He lightly traces some of the really bad scars that littered the omega’s chest, he feels a slight ping of anger in his chest.

“Always.” Keith moves to kiss Lance again.

~
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Saturday came so slowly to the couple, they just wanted to go on their date. But now they walk hand in hand to the doors of the aquarium. Inside they went to all the exhibits, Lance spilling all his knowledge about the ocean to his raven haired boyfriend who just listened happily. They had lunch there and watched the otter and dolphin show. Even though Keith was practically being dragged around by the alpha he didn’t mind. Lance was a Marine Biology major so it made sense to him that Lance knew and was passionate about this.

They walked into the gift shop, Keith looked around mostly at the jewelry. He spotted a simple beaded bracelets with a type of blue quartz, the color reminded him of Lance’s eyes. Best part, it was one of those that gives you a QR code to track an animal that's been released back into the wild. Lances strolled next to Keith with a shark plushie and an otter plushie with his signature bright smile. Lance snatches the bracelet causing Keith to let out a small squeak as he watches his alpha walk to the cashier paying for everything.

As they’re walking out of the aquarium after being there for hours, with all of Lance’s outburst of information thrown at the smaller omega. Hand in hand as they walk back to Lance’s car. Keith couldn’t stop his smiling, he for once was so happy and it was all Lance. Lance had accepted him, never pushed him, loved him, protected him, cared for him. Lance is the one who puts everyone else before himself, but puts Keith above everyone else. Lance the one who didn’t care that he was used and abused, the one that didn’t care that he had a child. Lance the one who is by his side at all times even with Lotor coming after him. Keith couldn’t be happier to call Lance his alpha, he was actually proud to call him that. And he’s happy to be called Lance’s omega.

Keith never thought he could be happy like this ever again, never thought he would find an alpha that would care for him the way Lance does. Noticing the small shift in Keith’s scent Lance looks down at the smaller omega noticing that the omega himself wore a bright smile on his face. A smile Lance has never seen before. It made him so happy to see Keith smile like that and that he was the reason for it, he couldn’t wait to make Keith smile like that more and he would do everything in his power to make sure that smile never fades.

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Pidge was in her brother's living room of his apartment playing video games with him sitting beside her.

“Matt what the fuck! Move before I shoot your ass!”

“We’re on the same team, jerk!”

“Then be a team player and shoot someone!”

The match continues as Pidge carries them both from their team until they ultimately win thanks to Pidge’s ingenious plan of just shooting anyone who comes across from her even her own teammates suffered from her wrath.

Pidge just laughed as her brother pouted, he got up and grabbed a beer from his fridge to drown out his sorrows. Pidge, still laughing her ass off, quieted down when she heard her phone go off from her bag. Getting up she searched through her messy bag to grab her phone, she saw that an unknown number texted her. Thinking it was just another annoying spam text she went to delete the message but she clicked to open it before deleting.

Unknown: Hi, Katie. I hope you remember me. Kitten didn’t answer my message, which really upsets me. Be a dear and remind him who he belongs to and show him this picture for me. Thanks doll. *image attachment*

Pidge knew exactly who just messaged her and it was no spam message. She clicked on the picture to see what he had sent. Once the picture loaded her face paled, she started shaking slightly and tears began to form in her eyes. She dropped her phone and stumbled back suddenly falling on her butt. Matt, hearing the thud, snaps his head towards his sister. He ran up to her, kneeling down and bringing her close to his chest. He’s never seen her react this way before, something really spooked her for her reacting this strongly.

“Hey hey, deep breaths. What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Matt quietly asks, trying to soothe his sister.

“P…picture. Phone. H…he sent a pic-” She couldn’t finish her sentence without more tears falling.

Matt, picking up on the clues, keeps one arm wrapped around his sister while he reaches over to pick up the girl's phone, seeing the picture that freaked her out so much. His face pales and he just holds her closer. He couldn’t stop looking at what was sent even reading the haunting text message sent to her.

The picture showed Keith, he was chained to the bed laying on his back. His face was scrunched in pain, eyes squeezed shut, you can even see his jaw clenched from pain. His chest showed new and old cut scars, somewhere still bleeding. He was completely naked with nothing covering him, the picture was a full body shot, lower you can even see the cuts and bite marks on his thighs, the bite marks were still bleeding clearly freshly made when the picture was taken. But the worst part is you can see a big fresh brand mark on his v-line. The brand was practically still sizzling in the picture, clearly it was given to him right before the picture was taken. It was raised, burnt, and bleeding. Clearly this is the pain on Keith’s face.

Matt turned the phone off, putting it aside as he just continued to comfort his sister. After some time she calmed down, looking at Matt.

“Th..that was Keith. But I’ve never seen him like that. Those scars are new Matt. I’ve never seen them before. He showed me in Highschool right before he disappeared because I was the one to help take care of them. And only Lotor called him kitten. Did Lotor hurt Keith?” Pidge scrambled trying to put her thoughts together. “That’s it I’m calling him I need to understand what's going on.

Ring

Ring

Ring

“Hello.”

“Keith! I need to talk to you, where are you?”

“Ummm, my house, why? Are you okay? Did something happen?”

“I’ll explain when I get there. Is Lance with you?”

“Umm yea, he lives here so”

“WHAT!? Since when?”

“Ummm like right after the Semi finals.”

“Oh okay, why? I mean, isn't that a little fast.”

“Well it’s a long story, but it’s going great so far so I'm not complaining.”

“Okay, well then I’ll see you both in like 30, let the gate know I’m coming.”

“Okay”

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Pidge ran up to Keith’s room after being let in by the nanny who was expecting her. Pidge busts through the door panting, startling the couple that was cuddled on the bed watching a movie.

“Ah, Pidge! Why would you scare me like that, you know how sensitive I am.” Lance whines, cuddling closer to Keith who just giggles at Lance's reaction.

“Oh please, and you call yourself an alpha.” Pidge huffs as she catches her breath. She sat on the bed near the foot sitting crisscrossed. She looks over at Keith who's sitting with his back against his headboard with a whiny alpha in his lap. She looks into his eyes with a sad expression.

“Pidge, what's wrong? You haven’t looked at me like that since highschool.” Keith worriedly asks, looking at his friend. Lance, getting anxious, sits up and wraps an arm around Keith's waist pulling him closer.

“Ummm, what happened when you disappeared? Did you go to Lotor?” She looks down, no longer able to hold a gaze at her friend. Keith flinches, sitting up straighter at the question.

“Why, why do you ask?”

Without saying anything else she takes out her phone and shows her the message. Keith’s breath hitches, he reads the message then looks at the picture. He immediately stops breathing, he can remember the burning feeling, the smell of his burning flesh, the heat, god he hated the heat. He can remember not feeling it at first but then it hit him like a truck and he just screamed and screamed. His mind was going back, it was like a movie playing right in front of him, he couldn’t see anything else other than that day.

“... KEITH! Baby I’m here, I’m here. Just breathe okay” Lance yells, he’s holding Keith close but his eyes went dull which scared him the most. He could practically feel the burning near his v line where he knows that brand is burned into Keith’s skin. Lance holds Keith’s face near his scent gland which is pumping out a fair amount of calming pheromones.

Keith slowly comes back, his eyes aren’t as dull anymore as he snuggles closer into Lance’s neck. He’s trembling badly, but Lance holds him close. He moves Keith over to sit in between his legs with his arms wrapped around him.

“I…what’s happening?” Pidge quietly asks after watching Keith borderline go into a drop.

Lance growls lightly, his grip tightens on his omega as he thinks of what that prick has done to Keith for three agonizing years. Pidge moves back a little hearing her friend growl, something he doesn’t do often.

“Lance, please. What’s going on? Is this why you moved in? Did Lotor do something after Keith went missing? Is he why Keith was missing? I don’t understand what's going on.” Pidge frantically starts asking, looking at the couple.

Keith moves a little, still shaking but not as bad, he turns around so his back is to Lance’s chest with the alphas arms still tightly wrapped around him. With a deep breath, Keith tells her everything…