Chapter Text
When Lance was younger, he liked to think that he knew what love was. Getting married one day was his biggest dream right after becoming a fighter pilot and going to space. He often fantasied about what his future partner would be like. His sister, Veronica, and him had a love for romance comedies, he read dozens of romance novels, and he would watch novellas with his mother almost nightly. He thought that he knew what falling in love was supposed to be like.
That is until he met Jenny Shaybon.
When she walked in the classroom on the first day at the Garrison, Lance thought Jenny Shaybon was really cute. With her dark hair and her piercing eyes, she could have easily been one of the most attractive cadets in their year. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little smitten.
Jenny shared many of the same classes as Lance, so he saw her fairly often. He would catch her chatting with friends or going over the homework assignments. She also studied in the library with her friends fairly often, and that may have motivated Lance to visit it more frequently. He never worked up the courage to speak to her then since he was sure Jenny was approached by other guys everyday. As much as he’d love to say that he managed to grow a pair and talked to her first, that wasn’t what had happened.
Lance was just about ready to throw his notes across the library. He had already been studying for hours, poring over each bullet point again and again, but none of it was really sinking in. He buried his face in his hands, elbows resting on the table, and let out a deep sigh of frustration.
Now, Lance certainly wasn’t stupid, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have to bust his ass to maintain his GPA . A lot of things had a tendency of slipping his mind, especially if it was something he thought was boring. For instance, while Lance had a passing interest in the history of aviation, the fact that Enrico Forlanini created the first unmanned helicopter in 1877 was completely irreverent to his career. And, yet a year-long coarse about aviation predating the first maned Mars landing was mandatory for his pilot certification .
Seriously, ask him anything about the standard types of military planes America used during the Second Cold War, and he’ll spew out facts that weren't even in the textbooks the Garrison issued . Hell, he can also go on for hours about the abandonment of many space programs in the early 21st century had delayed humanity’s advancement in space travel by at least a century. But, no. They just had to know at that Nicolas Louis Robert suffered damage to his ears after his second attempt at flying the hydrogen balloon he created with his partner, Jacques Charles, and never flew again.
Lance was debating whether or not to call it a day. If he stayed any longer he just might set himself on fire. He was also getting pretty hungry; internally screaming was great for burning calories. Dinner wasn’t going to served for another hour, though. Maybe he and Hunk can swipe something from the kitchens? Lance was so lost in his musing that he almost didn’t catch the soft “Hey, Lance” the come up from beside him. He snapped back into focus and turned only to meet the warm brown eyes of Jenny Shaybon.
“I noticed you looked a bit stressed. Do you need help with anything?” Jenny asked gently.
Lance blinked up at her in surprise. He never had the chance to see Jenny that up close before. Too close, she was too close. He can feel the heat slowly rise to his face. He caught faint giggling coming from behind Jenny, and he leaned over and saw that not far from them was a small group of girls watching them intensely. Seeing that Lance had spotted them, they quickly scrabbled to appear as if they had been working the entire time, though their wide smiles were a dead giveaway.
Lance looked back at Jenny who’s smile was now faltering slightly. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and one hand fiddled with the loose papers notes that she cradled against her chest.
“If you don’t, I’ll leave you alone-“ Jenny said in a hurry tone. She turned on her heel, getting ready to book it before Lance impulsively caught her arm.
“Wait.” Lance bit his lip anxiously then manages to give her a small smile. “I wouldn’t mind having some help.”
Jenny’s cheeks became dusted in a soft pink. She happily pulled up a chair next to him, and laid out her notes. She spent the next hour going over the readings with Lance, skimming a majority of the text and highlighting only the important points. She shared some of her favorite study tips, like marking things in certain colors and having Lance repeat a section back to her. As the two of them got more and more comfortable, Jenny inched closer and closer to Lance and he did the same. By the time dinner rolled around, their legs were touching underneath the table, and they were only just a few inches apart.
The two of them walked to the cafeteria together, hands bushing up against each others. As they enter the large loud room, Lance thanked Jenny again for her help. Even though they had only gone through about a quarter of the material, Lance felt way more confident about the exam. He asked if she wouldn’t mind meeting up again to study, which she agreed. With the time and place set up, they apart ways.
Lance made his way over to Hunk who had saved him a seat. He shot Lane a knowing glance and asked about Jenny in a smug tone. Lance laughed and waved it off saying Jenny was just trying to help, but he knew that the brightness of his face betrayed him. Hunk let it go soon after, but still elbowed him in the ribs whenever he Lance staring at Jenny’s table.
In the days leading up to the exam, Lance found often himself studying in the library with Jenny. They usually met right after class was dismissed and worked right up until Dinner. Jenny was very patient with him, going over the same chapter over and over again until Lance got it. Lance found he preferred Jenny’s method of teaching. He wondered if she even considered tutoring part-time. With every session he spent with Jenny, the fluttering in his stomach grew.
Finally, the day of the exam came, and Lance woke up that morning bright and early. He quickly got dressed, and headed for cafeteria, flipping through the flash cards he had made with Jenny. All during breakfast, his body was almost vibrating with both excitement and anxiety. He really wanted to wish Jenny luck before they went in for testing, but he knew she trying focus just as hard as he was. Even as Hunk was quizzing him as they eat, he kept glancing over at Jenny from across the cafeteria.
She still looked cute with her brows furrowed in concentration. The fluttering in his stomach was back, but Lance ignored it. Instead, he went over his notes again with Hunk
Once the exam started, Lance flew through with relative ease. He surprised himslef with how quickly he was able to answer each question. Even the easy question didn’t give him much trouble. Lance felt like a boulder was lifted on his shoulders as he set down his pencil. A wave of relief flooded through him as he relaxed in his desk waiting for the time that allotted to them was called.
Finally, the cadets were dismissed, and Lance left the testing room with a big smile on his face, which only got bigger when he spotted Jenny leaving hers. He excitedly waved in her direction. She spotted him, returned the smile, and waved back before being tugged away by her friend down the hallway. Lance watched her leave until her was out of his line of sight. A frown made its way onto his face as he realized that he doesn’t have an excuse to keep meeting up with Jenny anymore. The thought left an ache in his chest.
He really liked Jenny. She was incredibly smart and organized, she was patient with Lance even when he was his most frustrated, and very cute. Honestly, Lance didn’t want their little meet-ups to end.
Lance bucked up. He didn’t need to an excuse. He was sure that Jenny liked him just as much as he liked her. Surely, she wouldn’t mind hanging out again. He just needed to work up the nerve to ask her out directly.
That was easier said then done. Unlike before, Jenny seemed to never be alone anymore. Every time Lance would see her, she would be busy with something. Whether it was a mountain of schoolwork, running an errand for a professor, or hurrying to at a club meeting, she always had somewhere to go or something to do. Lance was getting close to pulling out his hair. He never noticed how much Jenny did on a day-to-day basis. Though, it did make Lance feel a bit special that Jenny had taken the time to tutor him when she had so much on her plate.
About a two weeks had passed before the results finally came in. Each cadet was instructed to look at their online bulletins for their grades. While Lance was confident during the exam, he was still nervous about his grade and was hesitate to check his bulletin. However, he took a deep breath, and logged into hi bulletin. There at the top of the recently graded list was an A-.
He ace it. He really aced his exam! He was so elated he almost jumped out of his seat. He wanted to show Jenny as soon as possible.
Lance was practically vibrating the rest of the class period. He kept checking the clock, watching each second slowly tick by and willing it to move faster. Eventually, the bell rings and Lance flew out of his seat, barely remembering to take his bag with him. He barreled down the hall, barley dodging oncoming cadets. He made it to the cafeteria in record time, and skidded to a stop. He spotted Jenny settling at her usual table, and ran towards her. Jenny was barely able to greet him before his flung his arms around her.
“I aced it!” Lance said, squeezing her tightly to his chest.
“Really? Congratulations!” She maneuvered her own arms out from being pinned to her sides to wrap them around Lance’s shoulders.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.” Lance rested his head on her shoulder, leaning into her embrace. He relishes in the warmth that radiated from Jenny. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel a fluttering in his stomach but rather a soft feeling in his chest. It felt the same way a winter blanket felt when it had just came out of the drier. He wanted to hold on to that feeling for as long as he could. Suddenly, they both remembered where they were and prompted pulled out of the hug, much to the amusement of Jenny’s friends. Jenny’s face was red, and Lance was more than positive that his was, too. Jenny folded her hands behind her back, and awkwardly kick the floor.
“You probably could have done it now your own, but I’m glad I was able to help.” Jenny said after regaining her composure. “So, I guess I’ll be seeing you around?”
Lance fiddled with his fingers a bit as he look down at the floor. It was now or never. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d liked to hang out sometime. You know, like a date?” He hope he didn’t sound too nervous. He made himself look up to meet the Jenny’s dark eyes, and to his surprise they were absolutely glowing.
“I’d love to.” She flashed a dazzling smile. If Lance’s face wasn’t red before it certainly was now.
“Cool,eer, thats great!” He was smiling so widely that he started to feel an ache in his cheeks, but he was too happy to care. He began to walk backwards, shooting finger guns at her. “I’ll texting you about it later.”
“Don’t you need my number to text me?”Jenny giggled as she took out her phone.
“Oh, right! I am most definitely going to need that!” Lance fumbles for his own phone, only slightly embarrassed. Nothing could ruin this moment for him.
Later, Lance never felt more nervous. This wasn’t just his first date with Jenny, but his first date, period. He was sure that he knew what to do on a first date, but it wasn’t like Lance could take Jenny to a movie theatre or out to eat in a nice restaurant. The Garrison had very strict rules about the younger cadets leaving the campus; as in they just weren’t allowed to without being release to a parent or guardian. However, that certainly didn’t stop Lance from trying to plan a perfect first date. After hours of literally driving himself up a wall with first date idea Hunk made the suggestion of simply finding a place in the courtyard to watch a movie together on Lance’s laptop. Lance will admit that he was hoping to do something more worthy of a Hallmark special, but as long as he got to spend time with Jenny he was happy, and they would be less likely to be interrupted in the courtyard than in a lounge.
On the day of his date, Lance took a long time picking out what he was going to wear. It was the weekend, so uniforms weren’t required, but that left him with far too many options. Personally, he thought he looked great in all his casual clothes, but he wanted to look his best for Jenny. He kept checking face as if he was going to start breaking out any second, and brushed his teeth about three times already. After for what seemed like forever, he finally was satisfied with his appearance. Wishing himself luck, he left his dorm.
As he made he way down, he became more anxious. Lance tried his best to keep his breathing under control, and had to stop himself many times from breaking out into a sprint. The last thing he wanted was to show up smelling like an old gym sock. Jenny would probably think he had some type of condition. That would just be his luck, would it?
But, Jenny thinking he has a sweating problem isn’t the worst thing that could go wrong. She could think that his outfit is lame or maybe really hate the movie he picked out. The weather could decide to be a dick, too. It was the fall, so it could rain on them even if they were in the middle of the desert. Or, maybe maintenance will turn on the sprinklers while they’re watching the movie and ruin his laptop. A tsunami of worst-case scenarios rushed through his head. They swirled around, dragging him deeper and deeper into self pity. They were threatening to drown him by the time he made it to the meeting place. The moment he laid his eyes on Jenny, all his worries faded away into the back of his mind.
Lance stopped a few meters away just out her line of sight. There Jenny was, leaning back against the wall while scrolling lazily on her phone. He took in the sight of her. He hadn’t seen her look so relaxed before, like she hadn’t a care in the world. The sunlight bounced off her hair, making a fire-like halo around her. Her hair was done up in a half ponytail, held together in a clip. Her dark eyes were framed by long thick lashes with the slightest flick of a wing in the corners. Her cheeks had a dusting of pink, giving her a healthy flush of color. And, her lips were frosted with a lipstick only a shade or two pinker than her natural lip color. Lance stood silently where he was,looking at her, probably looking like a creep or something. He almost wanted to take out his phone to take a picture.
Before he make that decision, Jenny spotted Lance out of the corner of her eyes. She quickly put up her phone to wave him over with a large smile. Lance waved back, took a deep breathe, and walked up to her.
Despite everything that Lance thought could go wrong, nothing actually did. It didn’t rain on them nor were the sprinklers turned on. Even Jenny loved the movie he picked out for them! Turned out she was actually a big fan of old-school sci-fi. The two of them spent a majority of the time poking fun at movie; questioning the logic behind characters actions, laughing at how awkward the camera work was in certain scenes, but it was all in good fun. Later, they went to have dinner together in the cafeteria.
Afterwards, Lance walked Jenny back to where the barracks. He held her hand tightly in his and was swinging them back and forth. Stopping where the girls barracks began, they turned towards each other. The both of them had large smiles on their faces.
“I had a really great time today.” He said, softly. “I hope you’d want to do this again?” Jenny nodded, pink raising in her cheeks.
“I loved to.” She said.
Lance nodded, pleased. He looked down shyly, unsure of what his next move should be. This was usually where the boy kisses the girl, at least according to all the rom-coms he’s seen. But, does Jenny even want to kiss? A full on mouth kiss would be too much, right? Plus, it was Lance’s first kiss! What if he’s terrible at it and Jenny laughs in his face?! He really didn’t think about this part!
Then a pair of soft lips grazed his cheek. He looked at Jenny with wide eyes as she lean back. She gave him a soft look, one that could set a person at ease.
“Good night, Lance.” With that, she turned and walked off to her dorm.
Once she was out of Lance’s sight, he placed hand on his cheek where she kissed him. The warmth in his chest spread to rest of his body as a goofy grin appeared on his face. His mind was in a bit of a daze on the way back to his own dorm, but he was pretty sure he had started skipping at some point.
For the first few weeks of their relationship, Lance was practically walking on air. He woke up every morning beaming. The first thing he would do was to wish Jenny a good morning They’d meet up in the cafeteria to have meals together. When Lance walked Jenny to her classes, he would always carry her books like a gentlemen. He’d text her late into the night. He loved Jenny’s laugh the most, so he was often try to make her laugh with jokes. Slowly, it evolved to using the most ridiculous pick-up lines he could think of. Bonus points if it was a pun.
They spent as time outside of class as they could. They would often watch movies and TV shows in the lounge area, eat meals together in the cafeteria, or even just meeting up to talk. While Lance would have loved to take Jenny out somewhere nice, he was still just as happy to be spending time with his girlfriend. And at the end of everyday, he and Jenny would kiss each other cheeks while saying good night. Each time, it was light and soft, almost feather-like.
Talking how amazing Jenny was soon became a favorite pastime for Lance. He’d to rave about her to anyone who would stand to listen. Hunk, unfortunately, had to endure the bulk of this since the two of them shared a room,but he honestly couldn’t help it. He just loved to gush about his girlfriend. Jenny was so cute and smart and organized and sweet and everything Lance could want in a girlfriend. Lance was the luckiest guy in the whole world!
Not long after they first started dating, Lance worked up his courage and decided to finally give Jenny a real kiss. He wanted to feel the spark, that magic that all the movies and romance novels talked about, and he was certain that he would feel that with Jenny.
He started planning for their next date with enthusiasm. While they still couldn’t leave the campus, he could still put together something really special.
First, he needed good place for it all. He couldn’t just take her the courtyard again. It was too open, and they had hung out there on multiple occasions. He needed some place new, some place more private. So, the courtyard off the table and the rest of the Garrison ground were being no better if not worst, that left no other choice but to go up.
Lance spent days walking around the campus looking at roof from different angles from the ground, trying to find blindspots for when security made their rounds. It didn’t take him too long before he finally found the perfect spot. No one could see them the ground and it was a bit out of the way, so the odds of security seeing them was low. And, the view of the desert from it was breathtaking. He could see miles and miles of red sand and rock formations.
Lance a throw blanket he could use tucked away under his bed. It wasn’t a picnic blanket, but it’ll do. Plus it was thick, so it would make the floor much more comfortable to sit on .Lance had a large backpack that he used as a carryon from when he first moved to the States, and it could easy fit everything he needed. Lastly, Hunk helped him sneak into the kitchens to make a delicious meal. Well, Lance more or less just grabbed a bunch of snacks while Hunk actually cooked.
Now that he had everything he needed, he just had to persuade Jenny to stay out passed curfew. Understandably, she wasn’t too keen on risking getting a demerit, and Lance wasn’t too fond of that either. But, Lance managed to set her mind at ease as he explained how he already thought about that, and assured her they wont get caught. Eventually, she gave in and agreed to meet him before dinner.
The next day after class was dismissed, Lance quickly ran back to his dorm, and started packing everything he needed into his backpack. Hunk helped to carefully place the food into the bag so it wouldn’t get crushed on the way (there was no way he was going to let his effort go to waste). With everything packed neatly, Lance snuck his way to the roof. Once there, Lance got right to work setting up the picnic.
He spent a long time arranging and rearranging the setup. He wanted everything to be perfect. He wished he had some flowers to put in a vase or to scatter petal everywhere. Candles would have been amazing, too. At least the sunset and the night the star were going look incredible.
As the sun began its descent and the dinner bell rang, Lance took one final look at everything. Satisfied with his work, he made his way down to get dressed. Lance walked with a spring in his step, nearly bursting with excitement, all the way into the barracks. He put on his favorite blue dress shirt, making sure no odd stains were present, and paired it with dark jeans. He made sure his hair was shiny and styled to perfection, and that nothing was stuck to his teeth, either.
Now clean and neat, he headed to the meeting place. He spotted Jenny just outside the cafeteria. He smiled as he greeted her, before taking her hand and leading her to the stairwell. As they climbed up, Jenny kept looking back down, nervously checking to see if any professors would come by and catch them. Lance assured her that they would be fine.
When they reached the top, Lance told Jenny to close her eyes. She giggled and did as he asked, but Lance still cover her eyes with his hands just to be safe. He reached around her and opened the door. He nudged her forward, and his smile widened as he listened to the laughter she was making.
Lance stopped Jenny only a few feet away from the picnic. He removed his hands and told Jenny to open her eyes. Jenny blinked to adjust her eyes to the sudden bright sunlight. As her eyes focused on the sight in front of her, she gasped.
“Lance, I love it!” she said, eyes glittering in the sunlight. Lance left out a large sigh of relief. He seated his giddy girlfriend on the soft blanket.
As the sunset over the red sands of the desert, Lance tried his very best to put on a show for her. He presented her each dish with eccentric gestures, poured her fruit punch like it was fine wine, and even jokingly sung the bridge of Be Our Guest. Jenny lapped it up, playing along and acting like a regular at a five-star restaurant.
The sun dipped under the horizon, the stars began to slowly shine. To Lance they seemed to shine brighter then he had ever seen before. They laid down next to each other facing the sky. They took turns naming every star they could see and drew their own constellations. Lance talked about how he wished to fly among them one day, to travel farther than anyone had before. Jenny told him how she wanted to become a famous inventor, to increase the Garrison’s efficiency and perhaps improve the quality of life on Earth.
Lance turned on his side to look at Jenny.She didn’t noticed at first, still looking up at the glittering night sky. He could see the reflection of moon in her eyes. Finally, she felt his eyes on her and looked up at him.
“What?” She said.
“Oh, nothing.” He shrugged. He then sat up, prompting Jenny to follow.
“Come on, tell me.” She leaned in closer, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “What are you thinking about?” He turned to her with a warm smile.
“I was thinking about how lucky I am to have met you.” Jenny faced turned pink, but Lance wasn’t finished. “I was also thinking about how smart and hard working you are. Like, I’m genially surprised you haven’t skipped a year or two. I also can’t get over how pretty you are.”
“Stop!” She pushed Lance a bit, clearly embarrassed.
“I mean it!” Lance took her hand in his, gazing deep into her eyes. “You are an incredible person. And, I’m so happy being with you” Jenny wrapped herself around Lance’s arm, hiding her face in his shoulder.
“I’m happy being with you, too.” She said in a soft voice. She lifted her head back up, looking into Lance’s eyes.
Everything seemed to go still, and all Lance could hear was they soft breathing. Jenny eyes drifted closed, waiting. Lance bit his lip. Jenny’s lips looked so soft and kissable like the delicate pink flower petals. It was no or never. Lance leaned in and carefully pressed his lips against Jenny’s. And, he felt—
Nothing.
Lance’s face almost scrunched up in confusion. Where was the spark? There was supposed to be something, anything to let him know she was the one. Maybe it took a bit longer to feel that magic. Lance leaned into the kiss for a few more moments, squeezing Jenny’s hand. Still there was nothing. But, that can’t be right.
Lance leaned back, ending their kiss. Jenny’s eyes fluttered open. She looked up at him with a warm smile and a pink face. Did she feel anything?
Lance returned the smile, not wanting to let her know about the confusion and disappointment he felt. The rest of the evening went by uneventful, and soon it was time to pack up. He walked Jenny back to the barracks as he usually did, but this time he could help feel as if he missed something.
Jenny turned to face, wishing him good night as she had done every other night. She closed her eyes and leaned in, lips slightly pursed. Lance hesitated, but only for a second as a thought passed in his mind. Maybe the first time was just a fluke. The spark would surly be in the next kiss. He leaned in and kissed her just as he did before.
Still nothing.
Lance headed back to his dorm, feeling very conflicted. He was so deep in thought that he almost didn’t catch Hunk welcoming him back. Instead, he just flopped face first into his pillow while telling his best friend that he was tried. A hundred questions still floating around his head, but he wasn’t in the mood to try to answer them that night. He closed his eyes, and fell into a restless sleep.
The next few days were a bit more dull if Lance was being honest. He was still hung up on that kiss. Why didn’t he feel anything? Was it his fault? Maybe Lance still wasn’t the best boyfriend. Or, maybe he was just a bad kisser. But, that wasn’t his fault! It was literally his first kiss. Lance was wracking his brain trying to figure out what went wrong, but he couldn’t think of an answer. After a while, Lance figured that it meant he and Jenny still needed to spend more time together. He pushed the kiss into the back of his mind, not wanting to waste anymore time dwelling on it.
He focused his attention on helping Jenny with a side project she had been working on for a long time. Lance wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but it was supposed to help with data collecting. Some sort of long distance remote probe not unlike early NASA rovers, only made with special materials to withstand the intense gravitational pressure of gas planets. He didn’t understand a lot of what Jenny was talking about, but he liked the sparkle in her eyes when she got excited. Jenny usually made a cute huff when she realized Lance had zoned out on her. Unsurprisingly, Lance wasn’t that much help with the probe thing, so Jenny stopped asking him to after the first few time.
To make up for that, Lance invited Jenny to sit in the simulation with him while he practiced. There was smaller one open for cadets to schedule time for whether they’re training to be a fighter or cargo pilot. Jenny loved going in with Lance the first few times, and Lance loved showing off for his girlfriend though he crashed more times then he’d care to admit. As Lance rambled on about the different procedures he needed to learn with every session, he notices that Jenny would be shuffling through her notebooks. She did have a large work load, so Lance figured he should have know that he couldn’t expect to be free for all his practice flights.
They both a lot of responsibilities, but they made the effort to make time for each other. To Lance, everything was going well between him and Jenny.
But, somehow something had changed between them.
It started out small, forgettable moments, things that could easily be over looked. Leaning out of him touch, moving her hands out of the way so he couldn’t hold them, and so on. At the time, Lance didn’t notice anything wrong. He figured that Jenny just wanted some space, and he was fine with that. Then Jenny started ‘forgetting’ to text back, and would ask for a rain check on date nights. That in itself wasn't a bad thing since people might want some alone time once in a while, but that fact it was happening more regularly left Lance feeling a bit hurt. However, he didn’t press the matter and opted to ignore the gnawing pain his had in his heart. But, as the weeks went on, Jenny began distancing herself more and more.
Soon, Jenny wasn’t just leaning away from Lance but pulling away from him. She would take Lance’s arm off from around her, turn her cheek when he would try to kiss her, and would head to class without him. When she did wait for Lance, she didn’t let him carry her things, insisting she was fine in a tone that had a slight edge to it. Jenny wasn’t smiling as she used to. Lance tried to make her laugh, but that only seemed to annoy her even more. It was like she was a totally different person, and Lance couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.
After about a month, Lance finally had enough. Something was obviously making Jenny upset, and for some reason she feels she can’t confide in him. Maybe it was something at home, or maybe it was stress, he didn’t know. But, if he wanted their relationship to go back to normal, and he needed to let Jenny know that he was there for her no matter what.
He wasn’t sure how to bring it up at first , but when Jenny cancelled on him again for the fourth time in a row he decided he couldn’t wait any longer. After dinner was over, Lance waited outside the cafeteria for Jenny. She hesitated for a moment before walking up to him.When Lance asked her if they could talk privately, she looked noticeably tense but agreed. Lance lead her to the stairwell that lead to the roof. He tried not to notice that she kept a distance between them.
The sun had long since fell under the horizon, and the first stars of the night were softly shining in the dusky sky. The air was cool with the autumn breeze, leaving a chill down Lance’s spine. He stood there silently thinking about what to say. Jenny didn’t give any indication that she was going to talk, so he took a deep breath and turned to her.
“Babe, I need you to tell me what’s wrong. Why are you shutting me out?” He kept his voice low, not wanting to come off as too aggressive. Jenny said nothing. Instead, she avoided looking at him in favor of looking out into the desert. He tried again, “I know that something is bothering you.”
“Everything’s fine, Lance.” Her voice was hard like she wanted the conversation to end there.
“Please don’t lie to me, Jenny.”
“I’m not lying!”
“Then why are you acting all weird?”
“I’m not—“
“Jenny.” Lance might have sounded more harsh then he meant to, but he was losing his patience. “We’re not going to anywhere if you aren’t willing to talk.”
Jenny clenched her fists at her sides. Biting her lip, she finally looked at him for the first time since they’ve been on that roof. “I don’t think this is going to work out.”
Lance’s eyes widen, stunned. A heavy feeling dropped into his stomach. “W-What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t think we’re a good fit for each other.”
“Was it something I did? Do you hate me now?” The word spilled from his lips in a rushed panic. His heart began to pound against his chest.
“No, that’s not it at all!”
“Then what is it?!” Lance grit his teeth, his eyes burning. Jenny sighed heavily. She took a few steps closer to Lance, placing a hand on his arm as if it would somehow bring him any comfort.
“Lance, we’re just too different. You have your eyes on the stars, and I want to stay on the ground.” She dropped her gaze, her expression softening. “I knew for a while that we weren’t going to last, and the more I thought about it the more I felt I was delaying the inevitable.”
Lance shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be like that. We can still make this work!” He paused, mind racing. “I can stay on Earth, too, if that what you want.” Those words tasted bitter on his tongue. Jenny’s head snapped back up, eyes trained onto his.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Lance, that is not what I want!” Her hand tightened around Lance’s arm. “I’m not going to let you throw away your dreams for me, do you understand?”
“But, you said we can’t be together otherwise!”
“What I’m saying is that we should want someone who’s chasing the same dream as us.” She let her hand drop. “And, Don’t you want someone who would fly with you?”
Lance nodded slowly. “Yeah…”
“Good, I don’t want you to ever give up your dreams for anybody.” Jenny gave him a sad smile, “I should also say that I’m sorry for how I treated you lately. You didn’t deserve that. I hope you can forgive me.”
Lance didn’t say anything, just nodded again, but that was enough for Jenny. She nodded once in return before heading towards the door only be stopped by a soft “Wait.”
Lance looked at Jenny with pleading eyes, “Is there anything I can do to make you change your mind?”
Jenny looked deeply into Lance’s eyes as if searching for something fair out of her reach. She shook her head. “No, I don’t think there is. Goodnight, Lance.” Jenny turned on her heels and walked down the stairs, leaving Lance alone on the roof.
As the door slammed shut, Lance’s breath became labored. His vision blurred as tear steamed down his face. It was like someone had shoved a rock down his throat, and he couldn’t cough it up. He knelt to the floor, pulling his knees to his chest. The night air felt even colder then before. He didn’t know how long he stayed on that rooftop, but the star had moved considerably by the time he decided to leave. Lance wiped the tears from his eyes, and pulled himself back up. He dusted himself off, took a deep long breath, then began his decent down the stairs.
Lance practically dragged his feet all the way back to his dorm. He was glad no one was out in the hall. He really didn’t want to have to explain why he looks like shit. When he opened the door, Hunk roused from his sleep to greet him with a smile.
“Hey, bud, how’d your date with Jenny go?” He asked in a drowsy tone. Lance said nothing, instead choosing to face plant on to his bed. “Is something wrong?”
“We broke up.” He said, a bit muffled bit his pillow.
Hunk sat up on his bed, giving his friend a sympathetic look. “Dude, I’m so sorry. You guys were so good together.”
“It’s fine though. It was a mutual”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, promise.” Thankfully, Lance’s eyes weren’t red anymore. Hunk wouldn’t have believed him otherwise.
“Okay, but if you ever need someone to talk to I’m always here.”
“Thanks, man.” Lance turned to face the wall. He felt bad for lying to Hunk, but he didn’t feel like talking at all. He just wanted to go to sleep and to let that day be over already. He fell into a dreamless sleep that night.
The next morning was absolutely dreadful. Lance hardly got any sleep, so he felt just as exhausted as the night before. His head was clouded, eyes didn’t seemed to want to focus on anything, and his body ached all over Nevertheless, Lance dragged himself out of bed, and got ready for class. When he went in for breakfast, he couldn’t help but let his gaze drift over to Jenny’s table purely out of habit. She was already there eating with her friends. When she noticed him, she gave him a small wave. Her friends turned to see what had she was looking at only to find Lance standing there. They scowled at him then turned back to their food.
Lance dropped his gaze before heading over to his own table. He plopped down next to Hunk, and put his face in his hands. Hunk pulled him into side hug, patting his back as he let go. Lance smiles up at him, appreciating the gesture. Hunk asked him once again if he was alright. Lance flashed him his signature smirk, and told him he that was already getting over it.
The first few weeks were the hardest, he wasn’t going to lie. Lance had thrown himself back into his work, and put on a bright smile for his friends. He avoiding going to the library to study, knowing that Jenny’s study group was almost always there. He tried his best not to let the breakup get to him, especially since Jenny seemed to be doing just fine. While that did sting a little for her to be so happy without him, Lance wouldn’t wish anything less for her. He was grateful that Jenny didn’t to tell anyone about that she dumped him. It was a small blessing and Lance wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Lance did eventually learn to move on. There were still a lot of good-looking people at the Garrison, and Lance was sucker for beautiful people. He started tossing lame pick-up lines to a bunch of other cadets, boys and girls alike. It really made his day to make a person laugh, and everyone liked to be complimented from time to time. There were those who found him to be obnoxious, but Lance ignored them. It was mostly just Keith and James from flight training who complained, but they were lame anyway so they don't count.
While Lance had dated plenty of people after Jenny, he never formed a relationship that last longer than a month or so. Not he wasn’t trying, but he couldn’t really forget what Jenny had said that day, about being with someone who was chasing the same dream as you. And, Lance really wanted that.
There were many thing he regretted in life, things he wished more than anything the he could change, but Jenny certainly wasn’t one of them. She was way smarter than Lance in many ways, there’s no denying that, and he wouldn’t know just how much he appreciated her being in his life until he was flying amongst the stars. Looking back he supposed Jenny was right and it was inevitable. Some people were just never meant to be. And, Lance had to be okay with that. Jenny may have been his first love, but she certainly wouldn’t be his last.