Rules

Three

Everyone at the breakfast table was silent. Lance was resisting the urge to laugh, Pidge was smiling, and Hunk had melted into a pile of "feels goo" within a few seconds. Shiro froze, he didn't know how to react. Allura and Coran has yet to get to breakfast, having been working on the castle. Keith's face was bright red, his ears burning as he blushed. He opened his mouth, stammering out an apology.

Shiro's face softened.

"You... you see me as a father figure?" He questioned, trying to ignore the longing for all the Paladins to call him dad at that moment. Keith groaned, "Y-you aren't like pa." He whispered.

"Of course, I would never try and take the place of your biological—" Keith interrupted Shiro's sentence.

"You're better. You don't hurt, the punishments aren't punishments, a-and I eat everyday." Keith has tears in his eyes, face still red. Shiro couldn't tell whether it was from the tears starting or the paladin's embarrassment.

"I neve-never had that before. S'nice." His last word came out quiet. He looked down, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

Hunk finally spoke as silence nearly took over.

"You didn't eat everyday?" His voice was in a hushed whisper. Keith bit his lip, then looked around the table. He let out a shaky exhale, his hands were clutching each other to where his knuckles turned white.

"Yeah? Bad boys don't get food." He sounded confused. Lance wasn't trying not to laugh anymore. Pidge was shocked, and paled.

"Did your ... Pa, ever hurt you? You said Shiro didn't hurt you." Pidge questioned. Anxiety running through her system as Keith stopped for a moment.

"I-it wasn't bad. A few lashings, a few broken bones, there are only a few scars. I'm okay." He insisted. Hunk resisted the urge to start balling.

"Do you know why he hurt you?" Shiro seemed calmer than everyone put together. Keith sniffled, returning his teeth to gnaw on his bottom lip. He decided he didn't want to talk anymore, so he shrugged in reply.

"Keith," Shiro said firmly.

"Please don't hurt me." Keith blurted out. His hands were in fists, and he had bitten through a layer of skin on his lip. "Keith your bleeding!" Lance shouted.

Keith brought a finger to his lips, running it over the bloodied area. He checked his finger, the digit damp with blood.

"He hurt me because I was bad. It was the drinks he took, they mixed with his meds. It was okay, it was only a few times." Keith dismisses, trying to get out of the conversation.

"Shiro, I'm sorry I called you dad. Can we drop it?" Keith began to get defensive.

"Keith we can't just drop this," Shiro explained, his shoulders were tense. He was trying to control the rage directed at Keith's father.

"Yeah!" Lance agreed, standing up. "Your dad is a drunk who hit his kid, that's abuse!" Lance exclaimed, Hunk wincing at his word choice. Keith's eyebrows furred.

"Shut up," he growled.

"I'm fine, I was a bad kids. Bad kids get locked in closets, bad kids get chained up and beaten with a whip, bad kids loose their vir-virginity for their 5th birthday, it's normal. You guys were all good kids. Bad kids live in an entirely different world."

Time seemed to stop.

"He... he took your virginity?!"'Shiro whispered, loud enough for the team to hear. Keith shrugged.

"Keith, I need a yes or no answer."

"Yeah. But it's okay, I deserved it." He dismissed.

"Nobody deserves that!" Pidge screamed, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"I'm gonna go train." Keith stated, leaving before anyone could stop him.

"Shiro...?" Lance spoke.

Shiro had his alien arm in a fist, his jaw had clenched, tears stinging the back of his eyes.

"I'm gonna kill his dad." Pidge told Shiro, hoping it would get Shiro to laugh. Her 4"2 frame and all, usually made her threatening to kill someone funny.

"That bastard died. You missed your damn chance, Katie."

Shiro stormed off after that. Breakfast was over before it had started.