ahhh finally back up to date. im sorry if this reads a bit rushed, guys- i've been writing for a few hours and i'm in a bit of a rush ahaha. also, sorry for the wait, loves <3

"Welcome! Come on in!" Allura exclaimed happily when she opened the door for Lance and Pidge. Inside, the music was blaring and people were everywhere, but there was no mistaking that it was a Christmas party.

Everywhere Lance looked, there was something festive. Red and green streamers, blow-up Santa lawn decorations by the punch, little cupcakes decorated with reindeers and elves. The songs playing were remixes of Christmas classics and, in every doorway, a bundle of mistletoe hung.

Lance and Pidge looked around in wonder. Lance knew that Allura's family was incredibly well-off, but this was a whole other level of extravagance- nothing like the other parties that Allura threw every month.

Lance leaned forward and hugged Allura tightly, shouting over the music how much he loved her dress, which was red and covered in sequins, as well as sporting a plunging neckline. Allura complimented Lance's outfit too- a thin red sweater that hung off his shoulders and black ripped skinny jeans.

"Now go enjoy the party! Someone's been waiting for you, Lance!"

Lance's face immediately flushes pink. Was she talking about...?

Laughing, Allura pushed Lance and Pidge towards the knot of people in the middle of the room, immediately throwing them into the mix of sweating, laughing, partying people.

The music was so loud, Lance couldn't hear himself think, but soon enough, he was enjoying, his hands above his head as he danced with everyone else. While he was in the fray, he bumped into Shiro and his boyfriend, Adam, and Pidge's older brother, Matt, who'd been too nervous to ask Allura to dance all night but was finally gathering the courage.

Sweaty and a little frazzled, Lance headed to the open bar, where he ordered some ginger ale to soothe himself. Not a minute later, he spotted Hunk and Shay walking towards him, both in matching Christmas sweaters.

"My man!" Hunk said loudly, hugging Lance tightly.

They caught up over ginger ales, basically shouting over the music, until Lance decided to brave the storm again and headed back into the throng of dancing attendees. Now, the DJ was playing a remix of 'Winter Wonderland', which sounded a bit odd, but was still dance-worthy.

Unfortunately, the next song that played was a slow song- a jazzy rendition of 'White Christmas'. Date-less, Lance made his way out of the crowd as people paired up. He spotted Hunk and Shay, still by the bar, dancing, and then Matt and Allura alongside Shiro and Adam.

Lance sighed. It wasn't like he was desperate- he just thought it might be nice to have someone to dance with. Lance ordered some water from the bar, snatched a cupcake from the snacks table, and then settled down at one of the barstools to wait out the slow song.

Behind him, he heard the bartender tell someone, "My break's now, can you man this for 10 minutes?"

"Sure thing."

"Kid just ordered a water, if you could grab that for him."

"Yeah, no problem."

Lance spun his stool to face the new bartender and almost dropped his cupcake in surprise when he realized who it was. "Keith?"

Keith Kogane, the hottest emo boy Lance had ever known, and whom he'd had a small crush on since 5th grade, was a bartender? Keith, looking up, jerked in surprise and promptly spilled the glass of water he'd been preparing for Lance all over the counter.

"Shit," he whispered, and Lance couldn't tell if it was because of himself or the spilled water.

Lance quickly grabbed a few napkins from the snack table and handed them across the bar to Keith.

Nodding in thanks, Keith mopped up the spill, discretely checking if he looked okay. Black-button up with the sleeves pushed up his forearms... it could be worse, even if he wasn't exactly festive.

"Sorry about that," he murmured to Lance. And holy shit, did Lance look beautiful. Keith tried not to look down at Lance's smooth shoulders or prominent collarbone, but at the same time, he couldn't keep himself from searching Lance's face.

He looked more handsome, now (even though he'd been handsome since Keith first met him in 5th grade), and Keith even suspected that the Cuban was wearing makeup.

"It's okay," Lance said smoothly, sitting back in his stool, eyes trained curiously on Keith.

Keith felt nervous with Lance's eyes on him, but, eventually, he gained the courage to speak up, asking Lance how he'd been. And, just like Keith remembered, Lance opened up like a flower in bloom. If there was one thing that Lance was good it, it was keeping a conversation.

In fact, once the slow song ended, Lance talked through it. He paid no mind to the dance-y, upbeat song that the DJ played, nor to the next or next. Keith felt like he was melting under Lance's eyes, but he forced himself to stay cool, giving brief answers to Lance's ever-prodding questions, asking Lance about his family or school or whatnot.

A part of Keith hoped that Lance would stay through the rest of the night, but, ever time a new song started, he imagined Lance getting up and saying goodbye, never to be seen again.

As for Lance, he was eagerly catching up with Keith, asking nosy questions because he was good at it, giving Keith sly compliments and smiling shyly. Back in high school, Lance had made a game out of how many questions Keith would answer, trying to get closer and closer to him, but to no avail, but now, here in Allura's gorgeous house with the loud party going on beside them, Lance realized how much he actually enjoyed talking to Keith.

The black-haired, dark-eyed beauty was stunningly intelligent and had a dry sense of humor that was actually pretty refreshing, and Lance felt glued to his spot whenever Keith talked.

In an instant, a new slow song came on. Lance looked around awkwardly, breaking eye contact with Keith as he tried to hide his blush. He wasn't going to lie- of course, he wanted to dance with Keith, but he'd never ask. Plus, he was busy doing his bartender things.

"Lance?" Keith called, and when Lance turned, hopeful, Keith leaned over the bar and whispered in his ear, "Dance with me?"

Lance stayed beside Keith for the rest of the night.