"Five!" Lance exclaimed, "Suck it losers!" He moved his piece five spaces.

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance, were playing their homemade version of candy land. Keith sat on the couch beside them watching, he insisted he didn't want to play.

The slams began to blare and Allura's voice cut in through the speakers. "Paladins! To your lions now! We're under attack!"

They were already tearing through to get to the hangers. Together they flew out of the castle to see three battleships, all getting closer by the second. The castle's particle barrier activated behind them making the situation feel more real.

The battle hadn't been going long, nearly twenty minutes; they managed to down one of the battleships and destroy an unimaginable amount of droids.

Pidge blasted three droids simultaneously and swung around prepared to do it again. She was taken off guard when Lances lion slammed into hers, pushing her out of the way of a deadly blow. There was a loud boom and from the cloud of debris, Lances lion floated in zero gravity.

Lance could hear the distant yells of his teammates but he couldn't make them out. His head pounded and his vision was blurry, he wasn't even sure of where he was.

Lance woke up in a cryopod. He pushed his hand against the glass and in response, it opened. He fell out but was caught before he could make contact with the floor.

"Are you Okay?" It was Keith's voice. Lance stood up exhaustedly, his drained looking eyes wandered before climbing up to meet with Keith's glossy and worry filled ones.

"Yeah," Lance groaned, "how long was I in there?"

"Three years." Keith said seriously.

"WHAT?!" Lance screeched in disbelief, "SERIOUSLY?!"

"No, try four days." Keith chuckled.

"Asshole." Lance huffed hitting him in the shoulder; it wasn't very hard, still weak. "Were my injuries bad?"

"You broke your arm, had a severe concussion, and bruised a few bones." Keith helped him to sit down.

"Yeesh..." Lance breathed, "What about Blue?"

"A little damaged; Pidge got her fixed up though."

"Good." Lance smiled.

"You're probably hungry, do you want anything?" Keith asked.

"Heck yes!" Lance said excitedly. His stomach made a grumbling sound in response.

Keith supported him standing up, but Lance tripped over his own foot and fell into the raven haired boy.

They were really close, and they could feel each other's breath. Keith leaned hooking his arm under Lances legs lifting him up bridal style.

"Woah, Keith!" Lance exclaimed immediately clinging to him tightly. His arm was wrapped behind Keiths neck and the other tightly gripped his opposite shoulder.

"Relax. I'm taking you to the kitchen." Keith said taking them out pf the room.

When Lance realized how effortless it was for Keith to carry him, he relaxed a bit. His hand slid down from his shoulder and instead rested pressed against Keith's chest. Lances head, heavy with sleep, laid on Keith's shoulder; his eyelashes tickled Keith's neck.

Lance was half asleep when they made it to the kitchen. Keith set him down to sit on the counter. He watched Keith sleepily as he made a PB&J. He handed the plate to Lance and he ate it quickly.

Lance made a happy noise, "Thanks Keith."

Keith seemed to stare at him a moment, "Yeah, no problem."

"Now that I think of it, where are the others?" Lance asked.

"Oh, they went out, Coran needed to get a new modulator. They can't go back to the same space mall we went to, so I think they went to this other place. The name slipped my mind." Keith informed, resting his elbows back on the counter across from Lance.

"Oh," Lance yawned. "Why did you stay?"

"In case you woke up." Keith cleaned up the mess.

"Thank you," Lance said again. He slid off the counter and stabilized his legs.

When Keith turned around, Lance brushed some hair from his face. Keith's eyes widened a little. Lances fingers tangled into the raven locks and their faces both leaned in slowly.

Their lips pressed together and they pulled each other closer. It lasted a while both finally getting what they'd wanted for years, not ready for it to end. When they parted, they stared at each other with smiles. To see the the other enjoyed it just as much as them had felt like a victory. They kissed again and again, still not believing it had finally happened.

Lance was incredibly sleepy, and although Keith wanted to do this for eternity, he knew Lance needed rest. Keith pulled away, both boys breathing heavy. "You need to sleep."

"It can wait." Lance pushed it away holding Keith's face kissing him all over. His cheeks, forehead, nose, anywhere he could make contact with Keith's pale skin.

"No..." Keith continued to be tempted. After getting lost in it for another few minutes, he pulled away again. "No. You need to sleep."

"Fine." Lance huffed.

Lance had better control of his legs and could now walk on his own. He suggested Keith carrying him again still, despite expecting a no. He felt Keith sweep him back up in his arms catching him off guard.

Lance smiled and cuddled his face into the crook of Keith's neck.

When the others came back, they found the cryopod room empty and knocked on Lances door. Keith opened the door. "Oh, hey guys. Didn't realize you were back."

"What are you doing in Lances room?" Shiro asked.

Keith put his finger to his lips and slipped out shutting the door. "Lance is sleeping. He asked me to stay with him."

"Oh did he now?" Pidge wiggled her eyebrows.

"Hah. Hah." Keith glared at her.

The door slid open and Lance, still wearing his pajama bottoms, walked out groggily. His arms wrapped around Keith pulling his body to his chest and his chin rested on his shoulder.

"You were keeping me warm." Lance whined.

Pidge looked like she was dying and the others were both confused and thrilled.

"Oh, hey guys." Lance smiled rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Are you two a... thing?" Hunk asked barely able to contain his excitement.

The boys looked at each other before nodding shyly. "Yes! My ship! It has sailed! Release the canons!" She marched down the hallway.

Keith embarrassedly shoved Lance back into his room, "Lance needs to get more rest."

"Oh sure 'rest'" Hunk winked.

"What?! No! For real!" Keith panicked. His cheeks were set ablaze.

Lance cuddled up in the sheets and lifted them when Keith walked in. Keith slid under and they pulled each other close.

"It's only been a few hours since we got together and we're already super cuddly." Keith said half asleep.

"Blame it on the cryopod?" Lance mumbled squeezing Keith tighter.

"Blamed." Keith said and Lance wasn't sure if he was even still conscious.

Roughly a week had passed since Lance woke up. Keith and him couldn't be happier. Keith was shy about doing couple stuff in public and in front of their teammates, but on the other hand, Lance wasn't afraid to show the world his cute boyfriend.

Lance jolted awake breathing heavy. His head fell in his hands as he tried to compose himself.

"You Okay?" Keith asked quietly sitting up next to him and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend worriedly.

"Yeah," Lance whispered, "I just had the dream again."

"It's okay." Keith assured. He kissed Lances cheek long and lovingly. "You're right here with me,"

"Yeah, I guess it just felt so real." Lance turned to his boyfriend with puffy eyes.

Every night, Lance had the reoccurring nightmare that he was still stuck in a healing pod. He had no reason for the nightmare, and it didn't happen the last time he used the cryopod.

They both cuddled back into bed and Keith fell back asleep. Lance struggled, worried he would have the dream again.

"Breakfast!" Hunk called. The paladins all filed in excited for Hunk latest creation.

"Pancakes!" Lance exclaimed when he caught sight of the glorious stack.

Everyone began helping themselves, and happily pouring on syrup. Alarms began to blare and everyone groaned leaving behind the helpings of food. They were in their lions ready to fight in a matter of seconds.

A large fleet of hundreds of battle ships were outside. "This... it's impossible!" Lance cried.

He watched as ionic cannons charged, getting ready to fire.

"Lance!" He heard Keith yell.

He watched as several cannons were fired and the lions were torn apart. He watched the red lion as it was blown to pieces and heard the screams of his teammates.

Another blast and white light tore through his vision.

He screamed.

His vision turned blue and he felt like he was falling.

He was caught. His vision became more focused and he breathed heavily. Keith had caught him.

He pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh my gosh, you're okay!" Lance cried.

"Yeah," Keith looked surprised.

"I'm so relieved," Lance sighed pulling Keith into a tender kiss. Keith's eyes were wide orbs.

"Lance!" Keith had a confused and shocked expression.

"Sorry, I guess it was another dream that felt real. There was like a fleet of Galra battleships and they blew up our lions and-..." Lance rambled.

"Did you just kiss Keith?" Pidge asked. Everyone looked dumbfound.

"Yeah? What's the matter? What's so confusing about me kissing my boyfriend." Lance looked annoyed.

"B-boyfriend?" Keith stuttered with a red embarrassed face.

"What are..." Lance looked at him broken heartedly. "Why are you acting so...?"

It then occurred to Lance. It was all a dream. All of it. Tears began to pour down his cheeks.

"No..." he squeaked. "It was all fake? None of it happened?" He pushed himself standing on his own feet. He shakily walked to the door using the wall for support.

"Lance, I can help y-..." Shiro offered.

"No, I can walk myself." Lance insisted quickly leaving the room.

Allura sighed and gave a pitiful look. "It appears Lance had been in something we call 'cryo-lucid chimera'. He may have believed he had already awoken and not realized he was simply in a dream. It doesn't occur often but is possible when using a cryopod." She purses her lips and gave a look to Keith. "I suppose in the dream he had created a safe fantasy. One in which you two apparently had been dating. If it does happen, people are usually ripped from their safe dream state through a tragic accident, as he described with the battle ships."

"That's... terrible." Hunk looked sympathetic for his best friend.

"It could be devastating for him." She added.

Shiro looked at Keith. "You can't tease him for this; he may genuinely be in love with you."

"Shiro, I wouldn't. I... don't know what-..." Keith fumbled with his words. He pushed his friend out into the hallway for more privacy. "I like Lance. I really like him. What should I do?"

Shiro stared at Keith surprised before it turned into a smile, "Maybe you need to tell him that."

"Yeah, but..."

"Keith, think about this carefully. He likes you, he believed you were in a relationship and clearly he cares a lot for you. He had that relationship with you pulled away. He's probably hurting." Shiro put a hand on Keith's shoulder.

Keith bit at the inside of his cheek. "Okay."

Lance sat on his bed holding his pillow tightly in his fists. He should have known it was all fake. Keith was too good to be true. He wanted to scream at his own stupidity.

The light knock sounded on the door. "Hey Lance, it's Keith."

Lance was horrified. What does Keith think? He'd kissed him, and made a complete fool of himself.

Lance quietly stood up and tiptoed to the door. He listened tentatively.

"Look, I know you're probably upset. Allura explained what happened, that you had dreamed you were already awake. I know that we were dating in your dream." Keith started.

Lance remained silent but felt embarrassment and fury bubble under his skin.

"I-I wasn't there for it, I don't know what it was like. But... I want to know." Keith sighed. "I don't know if you feel different about me, but maybe-... maybe your dream wasn't too outrageous."

The door slid open and Lance pulled him into a hug.