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Lance dashed down the corridor, three boxes precariously hoisted up on his shoulders as he searched for his new apartment.
“Hurry up, Hunk! We gotta get in before our roommate shows up, or else he’ll get the good room!”
Hunk groaned as he lugged up three suitcases and pushed a box of cookware with his foot. “We’ll be fine, dude. Every room is literally the exact same.”
“Wrong! The best room is the one farthest away from the kitchen, since we don’t have to smell all the nasty food and dirty dishes!”
Hunk made a distressed noise. “You’re supposed to do your dishes if they smell bad, Lance!”
Lance just tossed a wink and a haughty laugh over his shoulder, breaking out in a sprint as he spotted their dorm room number. “Hurry up, hurry up! You have the key!”
Hunk sighed, giving the box a mighty kick as he fished around in his back pocket for their keys.
The dorm was nothing special. A tiny kitchenette greeted them first, with only an old microwave sitting on the counter as their provided appliance. The oven was electric, though, which was way safer than gas, especially around college students.
The living room was a bit further inside. No carpet, which was (again) probably a good thing when it came to college students. The only furniture was a ratty, dark cloth couch that was probably 90% stain and 10% patches, and a TV stand that had notches all along the legs, as if someone had took a switchblade and just went to town on the thin wood. No TV, but that was fine, since both Lance and Hunk had brought their own.
The pair lugged in their boxes and suitcases, and Lance quickly abandoned Hunk to snatch up the “best” room as his own. Not that the other minded, much too busy fussing over the sub-par cleaning of the kitchen counters.
Honestly, did they even disinfect the place after the last tenants left?
He heaved a sigh, placing the few boxes for the kitchen in the corner and dug around for his cleaning supplies. It’d be much easier to clean up while they waited for their other roommate, and that’s exactly what Hunk planned to do.
Lance wandered back through half an hour later, apparently having staked out the entire place. He’d chosen the room closest to the kitchen, after all, because ‘the bathroom was bigger than the others.’
Hunk just gave him a soft peck on the forehead and shooed him off to unpack.
An hour or so later, the counters were sparkling and the oven looked fresh and new. There was not a speck of dirt to be seen, other than on the rag he’d used. And the floor, but they’d just have to buy a vacuum later.
With a triumphant sigh, Hunk collapsed on the couch, just as the front door creaked open. A gust of cold wind hit him directly in the face, even from so far away, and he shivered as he sat up again, squinting his eyes against the bright fluorescence of the corridor lights. They were so far away from the stairwell that no natural light reached them, other than from the windows of the apartments.
“Oh.” Came the voice, and they quickly scuttled in, clinging a stuffed-full backpack to their chest.
“Hey, roomie!” Hunk grinned, jumping up. The chill stuck to his skin, but he made up for it with his warm look. “I’m Hunk. It’s nice to be living with you for the semester.” He held out his hand, and the other boy regarded it blankly for a tense few seconds before Lance jumped out of his room.
“Roomie’s here?” He yelled excitedly, and barely waited for a response before he was grabbing the other boy by both his hands and shaking them excitedly.
Rather, he would have if the new tenant didn’t immediately back off, shoulders hunching all the way up to his ears as he stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket.
“Hi.” Came the curt greeting. “Which room is mine?”
Lance and Hunk shared a look. It was rare they made friends with their dorm-mate on the first day, but this wasn’t a very promising start.
“Um, here. Let me show you.” Hunk gestured for him to follow, directing him to the room to the farthest end of the hall.
“I never got your name.” Hunk mentioned conversationally as he slid open the door for him, stepping out of the way.
The dark-haired boy slipped his hood off, warily sidestepping Hunk’s personal space before he stuck himself in the barest corner of his room and awkwardly stood there. “Keith.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Keith! I hope we can be friends.” Hunk said warmly, hardly deterred by the attitude or lack of enthusiasm. “I’ll leave you alone to unpack now. Do you need any help bringing up any boxes or anything?”
“No.” Keith responded, and then winced at the bluntness. “This is all I have. Uh... thanks, though.”
Hunk’s eyebrows rose, but he quickly smoothed over the expression. “Oh, sure! Let me know if you need anything, yeah? I hope we have a good year together.”
With that, he slid the door shut. From behind it, he heard Keith sigh.
Hunk wasn’t very sure if it was from relief or not, but he tried not to let it dishearten him too much.
---
“I’m telling you, he’s a serial killer. No wait, an alien!” Lance ranted, shoving fistfuls of popcorn in his mouth at a time as they waited for their movie to buffer on his crappy laptop.
“You’re gonna eat all the snacks before the movie even starts, dude.” Hunk said from the bathroom, patting his face dry with a fluffy towel. “Besides, maybe he’s just shy.”
Lance just huffed through his nose, taking a long, loud sip of the soda straight from the 2 liter bottle. Hunk blew a raspberry at him, and Lance threw a popcorn kernel in retaliation.
“Hey! I just cleaned this room, you.” Hunk admonished, throwing a pillow at his boyfriend.
“Yeah, well… Maybe you shouldn’t make obnoxious noises.”
Hunk didn’t bother to respond to that with his own quip, instead choosing to climb over Lance’s skinny legs to nestle against the wall.
Lance offered him the pillow that was just thrown at his face, already stealing Hunk’s arms to cuddle against. “Ready, Freddy?”
“Yep. To Narnia!”
---
It was a few weeks later that Lance and Keith had their first argument.
“That was my coffee, dude!”
“I told you, I didn’t drink anything! I don’t want any of your shitty brand, anyway.”
Lance gasped, and nearly threw the entire coffeepot on the floor in offense. “Don’t you dare talk about my coffee brand, you… you…!”
“Person with good taste?” Keith crossed his arms, levelling a glare past his shaggy bangs.
Hunk had heard them arguing about twenty feet down the hall, and he couldn’t help his sigh as he unlocked the front door, shopping bags shoved under his arms as he shook snow from his hair.
“What’s going on, guys?”
Lance rounded on Hunk, reflexively snagging the groceries to put away as he continued his rant. “Keith drank my coffee!”
“No, I didn’t.” Keith grumbled, straightening as Lance gave him a dark look.
“Actually, he didn’t.” Hunk winced, rubbing the back of his neck. “It was past the expiration date, so I tossed it out… I meant to tell you, I’m sorry. That’s mostly why I went to the store so early, since I knew you liked it so much.”
Lance froze, and Hunk bit his lip as the two of them gave Keith a guilty look.
“Oh.” Was all Lance could manage.
Keith just shook his head, stomping off down the hall without another word.
---
Lance and Keith made up later that night when Hunk sent the former down the hall with a peace offering: Hunk’s special coffee blend.
(Keith became a big fan of Hunk’s culinary crafts soon afterwards).
---
A few months later, and the three of them became easy friends. It took a lot of prying to get Keith to come out of his shell, and even then he only actively joined in their conversations if they asked him something directly.
That is, until, they started inviting him to their weekly movie night.
“Dude, we never did put that TV in the living room, did we? This is a perfect chance to use it!” Hunk excitedly called from the kitchen over the crackling of the stove-top popcorn. Keith just silently nodded his head in agreement.
“You can even choose the movie.” Hunk offered, and Keith lit up at that.
He ended up choosing some sort of indie-genre that left Hunk and Lance more confused than not, but they didn’t complain.
They couldn’t, not when Keith’s excited grin lit up so brightly at their questions, throwing himself into monologues that took up most of the plot-points.
They ended up having to rewind many, many times, but it was completely worth it.
Plus, Keith was pretty cute when he was smiling.
---
Months after that, Keith found out that Hunk and Lance were dating.
“You seriously didn’t know?”
“I thought you were just really touchy with each other.” Keith grumbled. He’d endured hours of Lance’s teasing looks and jeers, and he’d barely been able to restrain himself from tossing the exuberant boy out in the cold hall.
Hunk gave him an apologetic shrug. “Well, sorry to hide it from you.”
“Yeah! You aren’t homophobic are you?” Lance narrowed his eyes, and Keith’s head jerked violently left and right.
“Of course not!”
(They later found out that Keith himself was gay, and Lance apologized profusely for the comment.)
---
And, nearly one month after that, Hunk invited Keith to brunch with him and Lance.
“Are you sure?”
“Yep! We rarely hang out now that it’s midterm season. Besides, you and Lance need a break from school. When’s the last time you even had a good meal?”
“When you made dinner that one time.” Keith mumbled, and Hunk gave him a deadpan look.
“That was like two weeks ago.” He shook his head. “Now I know you have to come. It’ll be fun!”
Keith rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess…”
“Good!”
Which was how Keith found himself soaked to the bone the next morning, after having gotten caught in an unannounced thunderstorm. His hoodie, his favorite hoodie, would probably never get dry again, he silently lamented as he shoved his way through the double doors of the tiny cafe that Hunk had insisted he join them at.
Water was dripping so heavily from his eyes that he didn’t notice Lance and Hunk meeting him at the door, and he ran straight into them with a wet smack, soaking both of their shirts through almost instantly.
“Oh!”
Lance let out a strange, choked gasp as Keith righted his balance on the slippery linoleum.
“Sorry I’m late, I…”
The two of them were staring at his chest, and his eyes drifted down to see it glowing a vibrant red, blue, and yellow, visible only because of the heavy rain. His soulmate mark, that had only ever glowed his color, red, was painting a brilliant picture across his skin. It had never done that before.
“I…”
He saw a similar glow against Hunk’s chest, the outline much clearer through his shirt rather than Keith’s hoodie. Blue and yellow, which he had expected because he and Lance had always shown themselves to be soulmates, but… a bright streak of red slipped and coiled around the other two colors, like a primary-colored shooting star.
A deep rumble of thunder echoed through his ears, and he had no clue if it was his heartbeat or the weather.
“I.”
Lance looked this close to stripping his heavy raincoat and many layers off to look at his own mark, but he was stopped by the iron grip that was Hunk’s hand on his shoulder as his breath hitched.
“Oh, holy shit.” Lance breathed.
“Language.” Came Hunk’s reflexive reply.
“Oh, holey sheets.” Lance corrected himself, and Keith couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up in his throat, even as other wet patrons grumbled and huffed rude words at them for blocking the entrance.
“Uh, here- let’s…” Hunk grabbed Keith by his shoulder, tugging him towards their table where three steaming hot drinks awaited them.
Keith plopped his wet hoodie on the back of his seat, fingers straying to trace the vibrant colors that pulsed across his chest, and Hunk tossed his own jacket across Keith’s shoulders to keep him warm.
Keith kept his gaze on the latte, and he could see the foamy whipped cream melting away and mixing in with the chocolatey brown color. “Thanks.”
Hunk and Lance sat on opposite side of the booth, and he could tell by Lance’s fidgeting fingers that he wanted to bring up what just happened. He probably wanted to yell it from the rooftops that he had not one, but TWO soul mates, just for him.
Keith kind of wanted to do the same.
But he was soaking wet, stressed out from his college classes, and he really just wanted to take a sip of the delicious smelling coffee they’d ordered for him.
So he did.
He wasn’t prepared for the snickers from the other two, once the steam cleared from his vision.
“What?”
Lance shook his head, burying his smile into his mug of hot chocolate. Hunk slid him a napkin, vaguely gesturing to his mouth. “You have a little… whipped cream ‘stache.”
Keith viciously scrubbed his upper lip with the napkin, hiding his flushed face behind his hands and the other two, his soulmates, giggled at him.
“So, are we gonna talk about this, or what?” Lance asked, hooking his hands under his chin as he placed his elbows on the table. “Because… this is pretty damn spectacular, if I do say so myself.” He took a sip of his hot chocolate, hissing as he burned his tongue. Still, he continued on.
“I mean… there’s two of you! Two!” He nearly jumped from his seat to shout out loud, but Hunk pressed his hand against Lance’s thigh to keep him down.
Keith frowned, and buried the twinge in his heart. Jealousy, probably?
“Look, guys.” He started, staring into the swirling whipped cream. “I don’t want to ruin anything you guys have.”
He shut his eyes, robotically reciting words he truly didn’t mean. “I know you already thought you found your soulmate, and I don’t want you to think you have to force yourself to like me, just because of this.”
The clatter of dishes and the sound of the baristas made up an ambient silence that only made Keith nervous. He had never been a nervous person, before his chest had changed colors.
“You don’t want us?” Came the heartbroken response, and when he opened his eyes, Lance looked like he’d been slapped in the face. Keith ducked his head back down guiltily.
Hunk, though, stood from his seat. He took two steps around the table, whirled Keith’s chair around, and dropped on one knee.
Keith couldn’t help the startled gasp.
“Listen, Keith. We won’t have to force anything. Especially when it comes to you. We already liked you from the beginning.”
Keith snorted. “Lance hated me.”
“I did not, Mullet-breath!”
Keith's hands exasperatedly flew up in to the air. “See!”
Hunk shook his head, grabbing both of Keith’s hands in his own. “He doesn’t hate you. I don’t hate you either. Do you hate us?”
“Wh- no! Of course not!”
“Then, can we let this happen?”
Keith wiggled his fingers against Hunk’s gentle grip. Was it okay for him to have this? Could he really let them disappear from his life?
“I don’t know.” He mumbled.
At that, Lance hopped across the table and nearly spilled their hot beverages across their laps. He gripped Keith by the shoulders and held on tight. “You’re such an idiot, dude. Just let us fall in love with you.”
The blunt wording had Keith shoving them away, but they only laughed at his red cheeks and bashful expression, and they quickly settled down before all three of them got kicked out of the cafe and into the thunderstorm.
And so the three of them sat there for hours, getting to know each other all over again.
Eventually, Hunk asked him again.
“Can we let this happen?” He’d reached over, and Keith met him halfway to let their fingers tangle.
“Yes.”
And when the rain finally cleared, and Hunk dragged them home to snuggle up with warm clothes and a hot meal as if it were an everyday occurrence, and Lance put on one of Keith’s favorite independent film without a single complaint; when they were snuggled up under all the blankets they owned and Lance was drooling against his shoulder, and Hunk was snoring so loud that his chest rumbled, Keith couldn’t remember why he was so cautious about this in the first place.