Hunk was so excited about cooking for his best friend's birthday that he insisted they go shopping for supplies. So the whole team went back to the space mall and spread out, Hunk and Pidge went together while Allura and Coran went off to find decorations for the strange new earth custom. Shiro and Keith took Lance to wander around, the blue paladin feeling a little better after his talk with Keith.

"Why did we need to come here so urgently? Hunk looked so excited."

Shiro slung an arm around the kids shoulders, unaware of how much it reminded Lance of his older brother. Lance smiled a little at the gesture and Keith watched those eyes shine as Shiro spoke.

"He wants to try out some new recipes and I thought we could all use a little break. Anywhere you wanna go today?"

Lance shrugged and turned to Keith.

"I don't know, maybe we could get a haircut for mullet man?"

Keith snorted and elbowed Lance, as he laughed.

"My hair's fine, what about yours? It's getting pretty long." Lance made a face, because Keith was right. His hair was long enough to fall over his forehead, little tufts curling over his ears. Keith lifted a hand without thinking, smile turning into a blush as he met Lance's eyes. He carefully brushed the hair back behind Lance's ear before dropping his hand. He hadn't even thought about it, and now his mind couldn't stop screaming at him about how embarrassing that had been.

Shiro dropped his hand from Lance's shoulder, trying to hide the way he was smiling at the two blushing boys. Keith looked at the ground, grumpy a himself, while Lance was trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach.

In fact, he was kind of freaking out. Who just goes and does something like that? He can't honestly expect that it wouldn't make Lance melt and feel all stupid and warm.

Shiro quickly found something to distract them.

"Hey look, a pet store. We should check it out maybe they'll have some proper food for Allura's mice. I think it's a pet store? Maybe it's a day care."

Lance and Keith followed Shiro, carefully avoiding eye contact with each other until they got into the store and lance squealed in excitement.

"Yuppers!" He ran towards a crate full of giant puppy looking things, picking one up and holding it against his chest as it licked his face. It was huge, half the size of Lance, and heavy enough that he needed both arms to hold it up. He laughed and cuddled the creature to him as Shiro looked into the crate.

"Are these like that pet you tried to steal from the galra base?"

The yupper gave a small 'yup' before lance could and Shiro laughed, picking one up himself.

Lance rubbed his nose against the yupper he was holding, smiling as its tail wagged.

"They just say that all the time, watch. Do you love me?"

"Yup"

"Am I the best sharp shooter in the galaxy?"

"Yup"

"Is Keith a butthead?"

Keith rolled his eyes as the yupper replied its usual sentiment, but he was smiling and Lance looked happy for the first time in a few days. Keith wandered over to another crate, this one full of purple cat looking creatures.

They crowded around the side of the cage where Keith stood, their big eyes staring at him and he smiled at the tiny creatures. They weren't much bigger than his hands and he carefully reached down to pick one up. They had huge fluffy ears like the galra and soft round tummies.

He pulled the little one to his chest and cradled it as it purred and lay in its back in his arms like a baby.

Lance came over and cooed.

"Aww is that your galra baby? It's so cute. Where are your purple ears?"

Lance went to ruffle his hair but Keith pushed his hand away with a laugh.

"I have normal ears, Lance. And I think this is a cat."

Lance rubbed a finger on the kitten's tummy as it curled its paws around his hand and made noises.

"Your half galra, does that mean your half cat? Are you gonna purr if I pat you."

"Don't you dare" Lance laughed again and Keith couldn't help but smile at the way Lance smiled with his whole face. He didn't look away this time, just kept talking with him, allowing himself to be happy and actually dwell in the feelings he had for his team mate.

This crush of his was getting out of hand but he couldn't deny how everything felt perfect when Lance was smiling. And he just wanted to feel perfect for a while.

After a while of playing with yuppers and galra kittens, the trio left and found Coran and Allura.

"Keith, we could use your help with the deco- with the supplies. We aren't exactly sure what balloons are." Allura was holding a box of what looked like pufferfish on string and seemed very upset. Keith groaned and pushed her and Coran off to another shop, throwing an apologetic look over his shoulder to Shiro and Lance.

"Sorry guys, I'll catch up with you later."

Lance looked sad to see him go and Shiro patted his shoulder. "Let's go get some clothes, we can't be wearing the same two outfits every day."

Keith took Allura and Coran to some stores, trying to help them find decorations while explaining what balloons were for the tenth time.

"Wouldn't he rather prefer your breath in a plastic sack? I don't think he'd like mine as much."

Keith groaned at Allura's confusion.

"No, it's not the breath that's important, that's just what makes the balloons inflate."

"But what do they do?"

"They don't do anything they just float. They're for looking pretty."

"Oh, well that's just ridiculous. Flowers are much nicer."

Keith decided to just ditch the effort of explaining the concept to them and shop instead.

Meanwhile, Shiro threw another shirt over the dressing room door for Lance to try on.

"Um, I think this one has three arm holes."

Shiro took it back and gave him a different one.

"Oh, sorry, how about this one."

Lance came out, wearing the blue t-shirt he'd picked out. He stood in front of the mirror and smoothed out the fabric over his chest.

"I like it. It's really soft and I think this pocket is for food, look it has a spork in there."

Shiro laughed and took it to add to the growing pile of clothes, as Lance put his old shirt back on. They'd picked out some for everyone. Pidge got overalls and some shorts, Hunk got T-shirts, and Shiro got some shirts for himself as well as pyjamas and some new clothes for Keith.

"I swear, that kid has had that same black t-shirt forever. And he tore the bottom during the last mission. He could do with some new ones."

Lance grabbed a basket and threw everything in, tensing as calm fingers fixed the collar of his jacket, before they moved to his head to ruffle his hair.

Shiro was laughing and Lance smiled a little.

"Keith was right, you could do with a haircut, it's getting a little long." He patted the younger boy on the shoulder as his tone turned more serious.

"And hey, I'm proud of you. You've been getting along with Keith lately and I'm glad to see you two becoming friends. You've grown up a lot even in the short time I've known you."

Lance looked up at him, that proud smile and kind eyes. His dad used to smile like that. He and his dad always got along well, and he remembered wanting to be just like him when he was little. His dad was the one that got him interested in being a pilot.

Then he grew up a bit and Shiro had become his hero, with all the same qualities as his dad. The sincerity and kindness, the way he was so protective of them all and always patient with his shenanigans.

He looked down at the floor as they walked to the checkout. Shiro noticed his smile drop and paused, taking the boys arm.

"Hey, what's wrong? People don't usually look so sad after being given a compliment."

Lance shrugged, feeling stupid.

"Nothing you just…remind me of my dad."

Shiro softened and nodded.

"I'm sorry you had to leave earth without saying goodbye to them. I'll do everything I can to get you and everyone else back home safely as soon as I can."

Lance nodded, sniffing a little. Shiro's heart flooded with empathy and he straightened his shoulders, feeling so suddenly protective of the young paladin that had become so much like family to them all. He gently squeezed his arm, trying to meet Lance's eyes from where they were staring intently at the floor.

"Lance, we're a team now and we all care about you. Everyone is missing somebody. So, if you ever need anything you can tell us. And if you ever need to talk or just want a hug, I'm right here."

Lance's face crumpled and he threw himself into Shiro's arms, pressing his face to the older man's chest as they wrapped their arms around each other. Lance missed his family so much and he was so constantly overwhelmed by everything going on, that it was nice to have someone to guide you in the right direction. Shiro had always been Lance's hero but now that they were friends, family even, the support he got from him meant more than he could say.

He sniffled, voice wobbly, making him sound much younger.

"Thanks, Shiro."

Shiro patted his back and smiled.

"No problem, buddy. How about we get these and then go find the others huh?"

Lance let go and nodded, trying to wipe his eyes without Shiro noticing.

By the time, they'd found everyone, they all had bags full of various items and no one had very good excuses as to why Lance wasn't allowed to see them but it didn't matter, it had been a good day.