It was the day of the funeral, and Shiro couldn't be there.

Instead, he spent his time meticulously cleaning his diner, and drilling Lance to do the same. He had arranged with Teddy's family that everyone would come to the diner for coffee and lunch when the service at the funeral home was done, free of charge. It was what they thought Teddy would have wanted, and Shiro felt it would be wrong to charge the family of the man who had been like a father to him for eight and a half years. They expected a lot of people, so Shiro had made sure to get up early and make thirty pots of coffee, to be kept warm in a large, stainless steel tank, and upwards of fifty sandwiches before Lance even showed up for his shift.

"Man, that must be one long service." Lance complained as he leaned on his mop. After three hours of intense cleaning, he was sure there would be blisters on his hands. "What time was everyone supposed to be here?"

"Half past eleven." Shiro replied simply.

"It's noon." Lance sighed, checking his watch.

"They're grieving people, Lance. You can't rush them."

"His kids didn't seem too worried about rushing you."

"I'm fine." Shiro answered to a question Lance didn't ask.

"Oh, look, there they are!" Lance said as a man in the black suit came through the door. Not the attorney from the other day. No, they recognized this man from the funeral home. Though, to their surprise, he was alone.

"Uh, not to be rude, but where is everyone?" Lance asked almost immediately when the man walked in.

"They're not coming." The man told them simply. "The family decided to have the lunch at the eldest son's house. But don't worry, a caterer from Carlsbad is taking care of the food and coffee."

Lance glanced at Shiro. The patient, kind and loving Shiro that was understanding of everything. The Shiro that said 'patience yields focus'. The Shiro that always tried (and succeeded) to be the bigger person. The Shiro that had been put through a wringer various times in his still very young life, and this last week had been no different as he scrupulously planned this afternoon with people he knew hated him in memory of a man he knew loved him.

And now they weren't coming.

For a minute, something changed in Shiro. And Lance wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"'Don't worry'? 'Don't worry'?!" Shiro snapped.

Lance recoiled, he had never seen the man like this.

"I've been here since six o'clock, working my head off to make sure everything was perfect. I missed the funeral so the lunch could be here!"

"H-hey! Ever heard of 'don't shoot the messenger'?" The man complained, backing out of the building with his hands raised. "Geez."

"Shiro? Are you okay?" Lance asked carefully.

The man drew a shaking breath before he answered. "Go to the back and call the gang. Have them invite anyone they want. It would be a shame if all this food would go to waste."

"That doesn't really answer my question…"

"Just go. I'll be fine, I just need a minute."

Shiro sighed as he let himself fall onto the couch of one of the booths. Deep down, he knew why he wasn't told the lunch had moved. Teddy's oldest son had never liked him. Or rather, he had hated the idea that his father would so readily accept a Jap to work at his diner when he, himself had applied as well. The man hadn't been afraid of telling Shiro exactly that.

The fact that Shiro had now inherited the restaurant and the plot of land it sat on from the man's father must have been the final straw. Shiro knew the man wasn't dumb, either. He must have put the plot in place in order to both keep Shiro away from his father's funeral and make Shiro lose as much money as possible in one swift move.

Upon that realization, Shiro let his tears flow for the first time that day. The grief, the anger, every emotion he had kept bottled up in the last week came pouring out as a sob shook his entire body. It was at that moment, absolutely the worst moment possible, that the bell rang. Someone had come into the restaurant. He couldn't deal with this right now. The man could only hope that whomever just came in didn't spot him lying in the booth, soundlessly crying his eyes out.

"Um, excuse me?" Called a voice Shiro didn't think he'd ever hear again. "Is Shiro here?"

"Okay Shiro, everyone is on their way." Lance said as he returned from the back of the restaurant.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a girl kneeling in front of Shiro, holding his hands. She had beautiful, long white hair and her dark brown skin was just about flawless. The girl held Shiro's hand in hers, as well as a used handkerchief. Had she been consoling him here this whole time?

She looked up when she heard Lance come in. "Who is this?" The girl asked.

"Uh, Allura, this is Lance. He helps me out around here." Shiro explained. "And Lance, this is Allura. I met her some years ago, and frankly I didn't think I'd ever see her again."

"It's nice to meet you, Lance." Allura smiled, extending her hand.

Lance smiled as he shook it. "Nice to meet you too, Allura. Shiro is very lucky to have you show up on a day like this."

"Lance, do you think the others would mind if Allura joins us for the rest of the day?" Shiro asked on behalf of the girl.

"Not at all." He smiled.

"So, what do you guys think about the new girl?" Lance asked, peeking over the edge of the booth. Shiro and Allura had been sitting at the counter all day, just talking. He hadn't expected Shiro to be actually laughing out loud, merely three hours after shouting at the guy from the funeral home.

"She's cute." Katie said as she took a bite from her free sandwich. When she noticed the boys staring at her, she spoke up with her mouth still full. "What? I have a pair of working eyes."

"She's right, though." Hunk noted. "Lucky Shiro."

"I don't know…" Keith mumbled. "There's something about her that's just… off to me, you know?" He said before downing his coffee.

"Do you mean her hair or her makeup?" The girl next to him asked.

"No, there's something else about her. Some weird vibe she gives off or something... I can't put my finger on it." He answered, never losing sight of the girl. "I'm not sure I trust her."

"Look, I know Shiro is like a brother to you and you wanna protect him, but can't deny that this girl is making him happy." Hunk argued. "Maybe just let him have this."

Keith groaned, still staring daggers at the woman.

"Keith, baby, come on." Lance said, taking Keith's hand. "Just for one day, let him have this. Then you can go back to your usual distrusting ways."

The boy in red only sighed. How could he go against his boyfriend, after all?

"Okay, fine. But just today."