5. Shiro

Pidge's POV

I take a deep breath to prepare myself as I step forward, my hand raised to knock on the door to Shiro's room. I gulp. Coran was tough, but not too bad, and Allura was easy enough. But how will Shiro react? Will he be mad, or will he accept it? I guess there's no choice but to find out. I put my hand forward and knock.

It only takes a moment for him to answer the door. Shiro looks down at me, a smile on his face.

"Hey, Pidge. What's up?"

"Well, uh..." I begin, my voice fading. I can do this. I can do this! "I wanted to talk to you," I say finally.

"Great!" He grins. "I've been meaning to speak with you too." He crosses his arms and leans against the doorway. I furrow my brow.

"Okay. What...what did you want to talk to me about?" I ask. Shiro shrugs and says,

"I know it hasn't been easy for you. With your brother, and Commander - your father. That's a lot at once. Are you holding up okay?"

Something in me loosens at his words.

"Yeah," I say with a smile. "I mean, it's been hard, but a few weeks ago I never thought I'd see either of them again. I mean, I had hope, and I was searching, but..." I shut my mouth to stop myself from rambling. Shiro smiles wide.

"I'm happy for you. You deserve your family back."

I stare up at him for a moment. The corners of my mouth twitch up. Then, with a mental slap, I remind myself what I came here for in the first place. Lance!

"Uh, Shiro?" I wince as my voice cracks. "I wanted to tell you something."

"Is this what you've been telling everyone else?" He asks. I raise my eyebrows. "Don't worry, I don't know what it is," he says. "Coran just told me you and Lance were going around sharing some news. Good news, I hope?"

"Yeah! Great news!" I say.

"That's a relief," he says, visibly relaxing. "So what is it?"

I close my eyes for a second and let it out.

"Lance and I are going out."

"Dating?" He says, raising his eyebrows. "Huh." He looks off into the distance.

"What is it?" I ask, a sudden knot in my stomach. Shiro takes a breath, and smiles wryly. He looks down at me after a few moments, and I blink at the tenderness in his gaze.

"When I met you Pidge, you were so nervous, so unsure. It felt like...like you were holding your breath. When I knew you were Matt's sister, some of that cleared up. But I still knew you were tense, more nervous than you should be at your age. You're a genius, don't get me wrong, but I knew you were taking on a lot. Too much."

Tears well in my eyes, but I bite my lip to hold them back. "I hope you get to relax now, Pidge. I can see it already. You look happy!" He grins. "With your family, and all that's happened, you deserve a break."

Before I can stop, a sob squeaks out of me. Shiro's eyes widen, and he reaches out to me. In an instant I rush toward him, wrapping my arms around him. After a few seconds of awkward silence he puts his hands on my back.

"Thank you." I mumble into his shirt. "For...for understanding."

"No problem, Pidge," he says. "No problem."

We stand like that for a few moments, until a throat clears and I shove myself away from Shiro as Lance puts his hands on his hips, an expression of mock seriousness on his face.

"Shiro, you weren't trying to steal my girlfriend, were you?" he says.

"No, no." Shiro laughs, shaking his head. "Just giving her a hug." Lance's eyes widen as he sees my face, and I realize how much of a mess I must look.

"Pidge!" He cries, running up to me. "Are you ok? What happened?"

"Yeah." I nod. "Just...talked about my family a bit. You know."

Lance wraps me up in a bear hug before I can speak a word further, and I smile into his shirt. I'm so lucky to have Lance as my...boyfriend, I guess I can call him now. The term sends shivers up my back.

"Have fun, you two. Congratulations," Shiro says, and Lance and I turn to look at him. He waves and steps toward his room. "Oh, and Pidge?"

I perk up as he says my name.

"Yeah?"

"Could you ask Allura for some more medicine? I've got that weird headache again."

"Sure," I say with a smile. Lance taps me on the shoulder and I wave goodbye to Shiro, wrapping Lance's hand in my own. "We're lucky to have this team, aren't we?" I ask. Lance looks down at me with a soft grin.

"Yeah. We are."