Back at it again with the nice fics lol. For those of you reading "I'm Proud of You, I Love You" it says complete, but I'm slowly planning more chapters. Until then, enjoy!

Lance was the one who started it. Well, and Hunk, too.

As their missions got harder, messier, and more complex, Lance found it harder and harder to sleep. He tried headphones, he tried eye masks, he tried counting sheep. None of it helped. Most times, he could toss and turn himself until he was too exhausted to, catching a few hours of sleep before they had to get up to start the day. More often than not, though, he found himself just lying with his eyes closed, floating just under consciousness but never truly sleeping. He was careful in hiding his lack of sleep - it hardly affected their missions, he made sure of it. But Lance wasn't sure how long he would last.

He later found he wouldn't have to worry about it for too much longer.

Yawning, Lance headed toward the kitchen, dessert the only thing on his mind. Hunk had surprised them all with a cake after dinner, a vanilla one with a sweet frosting and lots of fruit. Lance had held back tears as he ate it, and as he looked around the table, the other paladins seemed just ad emotional - even Keith. He knew, deep down, that he wasn't the only one who missed Earth; but the other's hadn't shown much emotion over it until then. Hunk had sent them all off to bed with warm milk afterward, but once again, Lance found himself lying awake, even with the milk and cake sitting satisfyingly in his stomach. After a few hours, lying there became too much. If was going to be awake, he might as well satisfy his cravings.

He wasn't expecting anyone else to have the same idea.

He paused in the hallway when he heard quiet sounds coming from the kitchen. Slowly, he padded forward, peeking in. He relaxed when he saw it was only Hunk, digging through the fridge.

"Couldn't sleep, buddy?"

Hunk jumped, nearly dropping the cake plate. He put it down before turning to face Lance. "Hey! Uh... No, I couldn't. What about you?"

Lance shook his head, going to lean next to the counter. "Nah. Came for some cake, just like you."

Hunk smiled, getting two plates and cutting them both slices before putting the rest back. Lance took a big bite of his cake, humming in delight. "You spoil us, Hunk, really."

The yellow paladin chuckled. "Cooking helps me relax. I'm glad you all enjoy it."

They stood in silence after that, eating cake and enjoying each other's company. Lance eyed Hunk as they ate. The larger boys movements were sluggish, and he could see the formation of dark circles starting under his eyes. Lance remembered that Hunk had a hard enough time sleeping back at the Garrison, far away from his family; he could only imagine how hard it was for him to be away from Earth. Lance siddled closer to him, leaning against Hunk's arm.

"Hey, big guy?"

"Hm?"

"How are you holding up with," Lance gestured vaguely with his fork, "all of this?"

Hunk's fork froze in front of his open mouth. Closing his eyes, he lowered it back to his plate. "I've... been better."

"Oh?"

"I just... I miss home, you know? Nothing serious. Just makes it hard to sleep sometimes." his eyes widened. "It won't affect the missions, I promise!"

Lance shook his head. "No, no, I understand. It's been the same way for me for a while now." The extra sugar wasn't sitting well with him anymore. He put the last of his cake on the counter. "I've tried a lot of things, but nothing helps as much as it used to."

Hunk finished his cake, taking Lance's plate and scraping the remains of the cake off the plate before washing them in the sink. When he was done, he turned around. "I know one thing we could try."

Lance raised and eyebrow, and Hunk looked away, wringing his hands together. "Remember how when we first started bunking together, and we couldn't sleep, so you'd crawl in my bed and we'd lay together and talk until we were tired?" he rubbed his arm. "Maybe we could try doing that? We don't have to talk, but just being near each other would help, I think."

For a heartbeat, Lance didn't say anything. Then, he grinned.

"That's a great idea, Hunk! You really are a genius."

Hunk's cheek darkened with a blush, but he smiled. Lance took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "My room or yours?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows, and Hunk snorted.

"Well our beds are about the same size, but if we want to keep the spirit of it, then we should go with my room."

They headed out of the kitchen, and back to Hunk's room. Lance felt an invisible knot loosen in his chest as they stepped inside. Hunk's room was organized chaos - neat piles of all manner of things took up space. It was oddly comforting. Hunk took a moment to neaten his sheets before getting in, pulling Lance with him. It was a tight fit, but they made it work.

Hunk sighed quietly. "This feels better." he whispered.

"Yeah." Already, Lance could feel sleep pulling at him, and he curled further into the warmth that was his best friend. "Think we should try the talking part?"

Hunk yawned. "Nah. We're good."

Lance's lips moved, but no sound came out. He closed his eyes, letting sleep drag him under.

The sound of the morning alarm pulled him back to consciousness. Yawning, he started to stretch, pausing when his arm bumped against something. Opening one eye, he smiled when he saw Hunk slowly waking up beside him. The blue paladin rolled out of bed, stretching.

"Morning." He said. Hunk blinked up at him before smiling. "Hey. Morning." He yawned and sat up. "How did you sleep?" he paused, eyes widening. "Hey, we slept!"

Lance laughed. "Yeah we did!" He shot forward, throwing his arms around his friend. "Thanks, Hunk."

Hunk hugged him back. "Thanks to you, too. I really needed to sleep." Lance let him go, and he stood up.

"I'm going to go change for breakfast. Same time tonight?" Lance wiggled his eyebrows again, and Hunk laughed.

"Sure. See you at breakfast."

With a wave, Lance left the room, heading to his own. He froze when Pidge's door slid open, the tiny paladin rubbing her eyes.

"Lance?"

"M-Morning, Pidge." Lance rubbed the back of his neck. Pidge's eyes narrowed.

"Where were you late last night? I went to talk to you but your room was empty."

"I was in Hunk's. We were talking and I guess I fell asleep. He let me stay the night."

Pidge considered him for a moment, then shrugged. "Oh. Okay." She went past him, and he watched her go, her gait slower than usual.

"Hey, Pidge?"

She stopped. "Huh?"

"What did you want to talk about?"

She shook her head. "Wasn't important. I just… couldn't sleep. No big deal." She kept walking, and Lance watched her go, heart squeezing painfully in his chest. It seemed he and Hunk weren't the only ones struggling.

He guessed he'd have to fix that.

Turning around, he kept going to his room, a plan already forming in his head.