warning: this chapter includes mentions of sex please read at your own risk. strictly mentions as I don't write smut lolol

Lance knocked on the door again. "Romelle just open the door," he pleaded. His words did nothing to persuade her. The door remained stubbornly locked but he could hear his friend sniffle on the other side. He felt utterly stupid as the minutes dragged on and he was sure her neighbors were probably sick of him. "Please open the door," he tried to reason.

"No."

Lance rolled his eyes at Romelle's reply. He sighed and brought up his hand to show the peephole the bag he was currently holding. If there was anything that could make a sad girl feel better it was definitely ice cream. In order to fix breakups, you needed ice cream or at least some other sweets. He helped his sisters through countless heartbreaks and this always worked for them. "What am I going to do the ice cream I bought then?" There was a beat of silence that allowed Lance to bring the bag back down. He tapped his foot impatiently.

"What kind?" The soft reply from Romelle made Lance grin.

"Ben and Jerry's," Lance supplied. The condensation from the melting ice cream made the bag feel cold so he shifted the bag to his other hand. "I know it's your favorite." More silence followed his statement.

"What flavor?" Lance laughed at her question. He finally felt like he was getting somewhere with his best friend.

Lance made a show out it and exaggerated rifling through the bag to look at the two pints. He knew exactly what he bought but the slightly muffled giggle made it all worth it. He held up the pint for her to see through the peephole if she was even looking. "Milk and cookies." The door unlocked and Lance pushed his way inside. Her apartment was lit by a sole lamp that casted everything in a warm glow. Romelle stood near the door with tissues in hand. He smiled when he saw her.

"Hey sunshine," he shut the door with his foot. She was wrapped in one of the many blankets that were found scattered throughout her apartment. Her hair was a mess and knotted in places and her eyes were red from crying. It broke his heart seeing her like that. "How are you doing?"

"Bad," she said tearfully. Her voice sounded hoarse and she used the side of her hand to wipe a stray tear that was beginning to work its way down her cheek. Lance wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face in his neck. They stayed like that for a minute as Lance tried to think of what to say.

"I'm sorry Melle," he whispered and used his free hand to rub her back. It was the only thing that came to mind but he knew it wouldn't make her feel better.

"I really liked him–like him. I think I could have been in love with him. I still do," she said pitifully, "And I keep telling myself to stop crying because we weren't even together and I should have expected something like this to happen." Romelle hiccuped and Lance just held her.

"Matt is..." he couldn't find the right words. "Matt is Matt," Lance concluded. "No one knows what's going on in his head but him," Romelle tearfully laughed at that. "It's his loss that he gave up on someone as beautiful and as amazing as you are," Lance let her go and looked at her fully. "He sucks and doesn't deserve you," Romelle nodded and weakly smiled. "But if we need to drown the heartbreak in ice cream, lets." Lance led her to the couch and went to grab two spoons.

"Thank you for this," Romelle opened his pint and handed it to him before she opened hers. "I haven't really had someone like you in a long time," she took a scoop of ice cream and closed her eyes to savor the taste. "This is so good."

Lance had to agree. There was just something about eating ice cream out of the pint that made it taste better. "Can I ask how and more importantly why?" The doctor to be glanced at her as he ate.

"How and why what?" Romelle asked. She was digging into the ice cream and only paying half attention to him.

"Matt," Lance said simply. Romelle sighed. "It's good to just let it all out. It might make you feel better just talking about it considering you spent some time hiding it," he added bitterly and she winced.

"Lance that's not what–" Romelle trailed off like even her own words were lost on her. "It wasn't like that."

"You kept it from everyone and blatantly lied to me," Lance attacked his ice cream with his spoon.

"Actually I didn't lie because we never talked about it," Romelle quipped back and Lance stopped stabbing his dessert. "I did keep it from you but it was never my intention to hurt you," she said softly. "It's kinda hard to bring up the fact that I'm letting my best friend's friend bang my brains out every other day." Lance choked.

"Every other day!" he exclaimed and she laughed which made him too.

"Okay it wasn't every other day but it was a lot," Romelle said after she finally caught her breath.

"So is Matt any good in bed?" Romelle groaned at his question. "What?" Lance laughed. "I can't help that I'm curious!"

"I don't really wanna talk about this with you but yeah he is," Romelle flushed red and immediately shoved some ice cream in her mouth as Lance lost it. "It's not a crime to like good sex!"

"So how'd you guys meet?" Lance asked, turning back to his dessert.

"It was a complete coincidence," Romelle began. "I was in the mood for some Starbucks so I went and the barista called out my name and I guess Matt happened to be there and when I was leaving he grabbed me. My name isn't that common and he must have recognized me from my profile picture," she offered him part of the blanket she was using and Lance gladly took it. "God I don't want to say it was love at first sight but I've never felt that way about anyone ever," Romelle whispered the last part and she sounded incredibly sad again.

"It's okay," Lance leaned back into the couch. "Before I met Keith I had never felt that strongly about someone before meeting them," he said nonchalantly but Romelle brightened when she heard Keith's name.

"Yeah but you and Keith aren't fucking," she said slyly. "Unless maybe you want to be," she teased and Lance flushed scarlet. "Do you have a crush on Keith?!" Romelle exclaimed.

"What!? No, no, no, no." Lance tried to defend himself but that only seemed to make his situation worse. Romelle had completely abandoned her ice cream and turned to face him.

"You totally have a crush on Keith," she cooed at him and he shook his head.

"I'm seeing James remember?" he forced a laugh.

"Boo James," she stretched and grabbed a tissue to blow her nose. "Imagine being under Keith. Ugh, what a man," Romelle teased him.

"Stop talking!" Lance covered his eyes but the image burned beneath his eyelids and his imagination was running wild.

"You're thinking about it!" she giggled and Lance decided to take another spoonful of the Ben and Jerry's so he wouldn't have to answer. "Anyway, Matt and I met and then we started talking more and more. I don't how it happened but then we were hanging out and one thing led to another and..." Romelle trailed off but he knew exactly what she was talking about. She threw her used tissue on the floor and grabbed a few more. Lance watched her carefully. "I'm not a slut and I'm not easy but I just really liked him." Lance could hear in her voice that she was beginning to cry again. He set down his ice cream so he could grab her hand. She used the crumbled tissue to wipe away her tears.

"No one said that and nobody is thinking that," he tried to comfort her but she just held his hand tighter. "Romelle you're not. Please don't think badly about yourself. You liked a guy that's all." She cried a bit harder and Lance scooted closer to her and brought her to his chest. He was reminded of when Keith had held him that night. He hoped that he was providing her as much comfort as Keith had to him.

"I thought he liked me," Lance squeezed her tighter and she clung to him. She sounded so heartbroken and he didn't know how to fix it. If it was as easy as buying more ice cream he would in a heartbeat but real life was a bit more complicated than a simple transaction.

"He liked you Romelle. We all saw it in the chatroom and how he interacted with you." Romelle nodded with his words. They sat in silence because there was nothing else to say. Lance's leg fell asleep but he didn't dare move. He just wanted to be there for his friend. An urgent knock on the door broke them from their embrace. "Are you expecting someone?" Lance looked toward the door.

"Not that I know of. I turned off my phone earlier though," Romelle wiped her eyes and tried her best to clean herself up while Lance answered the door. He looked in the peephole and sighed. "Who is it?" Romelle asked. She had gone back to her ice cream but he noticed her voice sounded tearful again.

"One of your neighbors I think. One sec," Lance stepped outside and closed the door. He took a deep breath before beginning. "Dude what the fuck are you doing here?" he whispered yelled at Matt.

His friend was panting and leaning against the doorframe. "I came," Matt coughed. "To apologize and explain." He stood up straight.

"Why are you panting?" Lance sighed. "And why are you wearing two different shoes?"

Matt rolled his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The elevator was too slow so I ran up the stairs and I left in a hurry and couldn't find a matching pair." Lance narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Please just let me see her."

"Nope. Nada. Never. Denied," Lance held his arms out in front of himself as to stop the other male from advancing. "You really hurt her and I don't want your stupid face to make her sad again," he practically hissed.

"Can I at least explain it to her. I could care less what you think of me but Romelle deserves the truth." His logic was sound and Lance couldn't think of a good enough reason to say no. She did still like him. Lance groaned.

"Stay here and don't make a sound or I swear to god I'll throw you down the stairs myself," He slipped back into the apartment to not show Matt the inside of the apartment. The doctor to be shut the door and nearly screamed when he saw Romelle right there. "You can't do that!" He whispered at her.

She didn't seem to care about nearly giving him a heart attack. She just leaned back into the door to look through the peephole. "You could have told me he was here. I wouldn't have been hysterical," she said sadly. There were tears dripping from her cheeks onto her shirt. His chest hurt just looking at her.

"Do you want me to tell him to go?" Lance asked slowly.

"What does he want?" Romelle whispered, she tore her eyes away from Matt. They were shiny with tears.

"Mostly to explain but I think a more selfish part of him just wants to see you," he grabbed her shoulder and made sure that she was looking at him. "You don't have to see him right now. I can tell him to fuck off and we can try again some other time," Lance said firmly. A sob caught in her throat and she nodded. "Just tell me what you want to do. I'll respect any decision you make," he pulled her in for a hug.

"I want to see him," she cried softly. "My heart just aches and aches when I think about him. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts," Romelle gripped onto him like if she didn't he would disappear.

"Go clean up," he kissed her hair. "I'll be with you every second," Lance promised. She left and he took a second to let Matt in. True to his word he didn't make a sound. He stepped in and waited to follow Lance's lead. "Hey, can I ask you something?" Lance asked.

"You just did." Lance glared at him and he winced. "Sorry not the time," Matt sighed. "Yes."

"Why did you do it?"

Matt froze. "I don't know," he looked at the floor. "I guess I don't think I deserve it–her I mean. I don't think I deserve her and before things went south I wanted to have someone else to fall back on."

Lance flicked his forehead. "You're a fucking liar," he seethed. "I know about your other girlfriends. If you lie to her I will tell her." Matt bit his lip and nodded. Lance walked to the couch and sat down. He picked up his partially melted ice cream and began enjoying it again.

"I was hoping to talk to her privately," Matt said awkwardly.

"I'm Romelle's person, we're a packaged deal," Lance shrugged. At that moment Romelle decided to emerge from the bathroom. It looked like she had brushed her hair and splashed water on her face. Matt's face softened when he saw her.

"Hi," he said softly. She stepped so they were facing each other. Her brown eyes were sharp with hurt. Lance watched in interest, his ice cream tasted exceptionally good now that he had something to watch.

"What do you want?" Despite wanting to sound put together Romelle's voice broke. Matt flinched, a defeated look crossed his features.

"I'm not going to Houston," Matt began. "I haven't even graduated college and I have to have years of experience in my field before I can even apply to become an astronaut," he rushed out barely pausing to take a breath. "So at least not anytime soon! Shiro wants me to start looking so I can begin to plan ahead. I was going to tell you but it wasn't happening in the next few years so I thought I would have time!"

"Okay," Romelle said simply. "Is that all?" Her eyes fixed on something behind him. She couldn't look at him.

He instantly deflated, dropping to his knees in front of her and clutched at her legs. Lance tensed when he saw a flash of panic in his friend's eyes. "I'm sorry about everything," he said. "I'm sorry about keeping things from you. I'm sorry about seeing other people. I just... I just..." he trailed off, unable to finish. "Please let's just start over and let's pretend none of this happened," Matt sounded close to tears and Lance suddenly felt guilty about intruding in their moment.

Romelle shakily took a deep breath and brushed some hair from his face. Matt leaned into her touch. "We can't. I can't. I can't keep doing this with you when I know it will end the same." Matt shook his head.

"It won't. It won't," he promised. Lance looked down into his ice cream unable to watch the scene any longer. "You're it for me. There won't be–"

Romelle cut him off. "You broke my heart." Her thumb traced his cheek bone. It was gentle and soothing and something a lover would do. "I need time. You need time. We need to sort things out before we can even think about seeing each other again." He shook his head but she tearfully nodded. "Maybe there will be a time when things are right for us. Maybe there won't ever be. Maybe our time is in another universe," she laughed sadly. "It's just not now."

Matt took a sharp breath and Lance stood and cleaned up so he could escape to the kitchen area. He didn't want to be there any longer. It was much too sad. Some softer things were said but Lance couldn't hear the words over the running water. When he was finished Matt was standing alone and Romelle's door was shut. The silence was deafening. Lance dried his hands with the towel that hung from the oven handle. He leaned on the counter and looked at the other male. Matt stood numbly near the table.

"Thanks for letting me in." His cheeks were red and blotchy. He couldn't meet Lance's eyes. "Could you," he paused like he couldn't form the words. "Could you stay with her tonight?" Lance rose an eyebrow at him. "She's really sad and I don't want her to be alone right now." Matt's words were barely audible but Lance nodded. "And make sure the curtain in her closet is closed all the way. She gets upset when it isn't and I don't want her to wake up and see it open. She might have already closed it but just check to make sure." Lance felt guilty about not knowing that about Romelle. "I'm going to go." Matt stood there for a moment and Lance waited for the next thing he was going to say. "She likes lavender when she's upset. Just three or so drops in the diffuser." Then he was gone.

Lance stood there in the kitchen for a few moments letting everything he said sink in. In his own way Matt did care about her.

Lance knocked on Romelle's door and when she didn't answer he went in anyway. She was crying into her pillow. He laid down beside her and gently rubbed her back. "It's okay Melle," he tried to soothe.

She turned to face him, her cheeks were wet with tears. "He told me," she struggled to breathe. "He told me that he's going to change." The look on her face told him she didn't believe Matt but wanted to badly. "He said that he would never stop trying to win me back," she sobbed. "Lance I don't know what to do." He pulled her to him and let her cry into his neck. He felt the way her chest shook and her tears trace his collarbone. "I love him. I want to love him but-" Romelle couldn't finish.

"It's okay," he rubbed her back. "We'll get through this. It's you and me against the world, remember?" Romelle nodded. "I love you Romelle," he added because he felt like she needed to hear it.

"I love you too," she tried to stifle her cries but couldn't.

Perhaps they were both a little broken but at least they had each other.