~Third Person P.O.V~

The car ride was silent, uncomfortable silence at that.

Old school music filled the car with a soft hum, Krolia quietly sung along to the words that Lance barely understood. 

His mother had put him and his siblings in English classes ever since they could talk, she wanted them to be ready for whatever career choice they chose. Lance knew English, yes, but he still had some difficulties with the language. Especially when it came to spelling.

Lance pulled out his phone, holding down the side button until it came on with a dulled glow. He checked a few notifications, nothing too major- just some social media apps.  

It was six o'clock in California, meaning it was 9 o'clock in Cuba at the moment. He quickly went to his contacts, clicking on his mother's icon to call.

"Hola! ¿Cómo estuvo tu vuelo cariño? ¿Dónde estás?" Rosa's voice rang on the other end, her tone filled with curiosity and exhaustion. 'Hello! How was your flight honey? Where are you now?'

"Mi vuelo era bueno, agotador... pero bueno supongo. Estoy en el coche ahora mismo, el Kogane parece... Amable. ¿Cómo están las cosas en casa?" Lance asked, leaning back into the cushions of the seat. 'My flight was good, tiring...but good I guess. I'm in the car right now, the Kogane's seem...friendly. How're things back home?'

He heard his mother sigh, letting out a few phrases in Spanish spill from her mouth. "Nadia and Sylvio are taking you leaving the hardest right now, they wouldn't go to sleep last night until midnight." Rosa groaned, her accent heavy as she switched to English.

Lance let out a hefty sigh, he had expected the younger set of twins to have struggles to this whole ordeal. He was the one who put the two to sleep, and has been ever since they could crawl. His hand subconsciously reached for the tattered stuffed animal his stuffed in his backpack.

"Put the on the phone." He instructed quietly.

There was a few muffled movements as well as some squealing, from Rachel he guessed.

"¿Quién es?" He heard Sylvio's faint question. 'Who is it?'

"Tu hermano, ve a buscar a Nadia y dile que Lance está al teléfono." Rosa said, Lance could hear his brother's excited shouts and footsteps departing- only to come back with a second pair a few moments later. 'Your brother, go get Nadia and tell her Lance is on the phone.'

Placing the phone down, Rosa turned it on speaker phone for the two children- watching in amusement as they had looks of delight adorning their faces.

"Hola Lancey!" Nadia beamed, letting out a soft giggle.

"¿Cómo estás? ¿Es bonito donde estás ahora?" Sylvio asked, lightly bouncing on his hands and knees on the bed he and his sister sat on. 'How are you? Is it pretty where you are right now?'

Lance chuckled, his eyes trailing off to the window as he drank in all of California's wonders and beauty.

"Sí, es muy bonito por aquí. ¿Cómo es que ustedes dos le han estado haciendo pasar un mal rato a mamá, hm? Lance asked, cocking an eyebrow, even though they couldn't see. 'Yeah, it's real pretty over here. How come you two have been giving mom a hard time, hm?'

He heard them sigh, mumbling a few things to each other before answering.

Nadia bit the inside of her cheek. "It's hard to go to sleep without you here..." She sniffed, her throat swelling as she felt tears prick her wide eyes.

Lance groaned, a bittersweet smile twisting onto his mouth. "I know, cariño, I know. But can you two try...for me?" He asked sweetly, knowing the two should have been in bed thirty minutes ago,

Sylvio looked over to his twin sister, the two both nodding their heads in some unspoken agreement.

"Will you sing for us?" Sylvio pleaded, placing the phone on the nightstand that separated his and his sister's bed.

The blue-eyed Cuban let out an annoyed groan, but a small smile tainted his mouth. "Fine."

And so he sang a few lullabies their grandmother had sang to him as a child, eventually he heard their soft snores come through on the other end. He hung up the phone, only to be met with the curious stares of Krolia and Christopher.

His face flushed a bright red, as he looked down at his hands. He hadn't realized that the car had stopped.

"You have an amazing voice Lance." Krolia beamed, being stunned by the Cuban's ability to sing.

Lance chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "Gracias- I mean...thank you." He breathed out, his face going redder by the minute.

"Who was that you were singing to?" Christopher asked, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

"My little brother and sister, this is the first time they've went to sleep without me there." Lance said, gnawing on the inside of his cheek.

"Ah, right- your mother mentioned briefly about her other children. How many siblings do you have?" Krolia asked, trying to make conversation.

"Six, I have six other siblings." Lance smiled softly.

Christopher chuckled, taking a sip from his coffee. "You're the oldest, aren't you?" 

Lance nodded, a fond grin on his face widening as he thought of his other siblings.

Finally, he looked out the window to find that they were in the driveway of a two story house. It wasn't too small, and not too big. The neighborhood was quaint, and fairly quiet, only the sound of tires slowly combing past the cement roads. The two adults got out, Lance following as Christopher helped him with his bags.

The inside of the house was just as quiet as it was outside, except the occasional soft thud from the floor above. Footsteps, Lance guessed.

"Well here we are, the kitchen is right through there, and I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." Krolia exclaimed, ushering Lance all the way inside. "Keith, Shiro come down here please! Keith is around your age Lance, when school starts back up you'll be in the same grade as him." Krolia whispered to the taller teen.

Lance nodded his head, unzipping his thin black jacket and tying it around his waist securely.

There was a more louder thud that echoed from upstairs, followed by Shiro bounding down the steps with his face flushed red, a lanky young man with light brown hair coming down as well.

"Oh, I didn't know you were here as well Adam!" Krolia smiled at the brunette boy.

Adam nodded sheepishly, rubbing his sore back. "Oh- is this the new exchange student you told us about?" He asked, sending Lance a warm smile.

Keith was down there now, his hair a mess, and he only wore a pair black basketball shorts and socks. 

"¡Hola! Me llamo Adam, encantado de conocerte... Lance, ¿verdad? ¡Espero que lo disfrutes aquí!" Adam greeted with a toothy grin, offering his hand out to Lance- who shook it fondly. 'Hi! My name is Adam, it's nice to meet you...Lance, wasn't it? I hope you enjoy it here!'

Lance raised a surprised eyebrow, Shiro and the rest of the Kogane's doing the same.

"¡Encantado de conocerte también! Tengo que decir que me sorprende que sepas español." Lance said, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a smirk. 'Nice to meet you as well! I have to say, I'm a bit surprised you know Spanish.'

Adam laugh sheepishly, turning his gaze back onto the others who looked dumbfounded. "What?" He asked innocently, tilting his head.

"You know Spanish." Keith stated, pressing his lips into a thin line.

Adam blushed, ducking his face into the side of Shiro's shoulder. "I thought you all knew, I took it all four years of high school!" Adam squeaked.

"Damn, if it were me I probably would've gotten bored or something." Lance said, earning a chuckle from Adam- only for it to turn into the same dumbfounded expression as Shiro and Keith.

"And you speak English, wonderful. That makes life a hell of a lot easier!" Keith deadpanned, extending his hand for Lance to shake. "I'm Keith."

"Lance. Lance McClain."

Christopher cleared his throat, nudging Lance a tiny bit with his index finger. Lance looked at him, his eyes owlish for a fraction of a second before he realized what the gesture meant. He followed Christopher, as well as Keith, Shiro, and Adam up the steps- the older man leading them into Keith's room.

"I hope you don't mind, our guest room needs to be cleared out- we mainly used that space for storage as well as other things." Christopher said nervously.

Lance nodded, being used to sharing a room already. "Nah it's fine, I have to share a room with my two younger brothers- at least this room is clean." He chuckled, sending a small smile to Keith.

After a few trips up and down the stairs all of Lance's things were successfully in Keith's room, stacked neatly in the far corner of the room.

Keith pivoted on his heel, shutting the door as he did so. "Uhm...make yourself at home- seeing as though it kind of will be for the next school year. I honestly don't care what you do, just don't go through those two drawers over there- and don't leave dirty clothes on the floor." Keith said dully.

Lance nodded, his eyes immediately going over to the white T-shirt scattered on the carpet below. "No dirty clothes?" He mused with a joking smirk, pointing towards Keith's shirt.

The raven-haired boy laughed, quickly going over to pick up his shirt and placing it in the hamper.

"No dirty clothes."

Hello Cricket cultists!!

I'm feeling nice so Y'all get a double update today! Is anyone prepared for some angst I have in store? No?! Well too bad!!

Until we meet again!!!