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By the time you were 17 years old you’d had a few boyfriends. None of them lasted very long of course, a teenager wanted at least some privacy when it came to their boyfriend or girlfriend right? It was hard to get that when you were dating the daughter of the president and had the attention of America on you wherever you went. Yes, you were definitely into guys.
Little did your family, and the nation, know, you were very much just into women as you were men. You’d only just figured it out for yourself three months prior, you’d always found women attractive but had never acted on it until you had been staying at your friend Mary’s house. One thing led to another and the next thing you knew, Mary and yourself were making out. The two of you had been dating secretly ever since.
You were now ready to tell people, at least your family and you were determined to start with the one person who you knew would take it well. The rational part of you didn’t think anyone in your family would actually take the news badly, hell no one cared that Uncle TJ was gay, why would they care that you were bi? There was that small part of you that doubted though.
Uncle TJ was the first person you needed to tell, not only because he’d gone through it himself, but because of how close you still were. Daily phone calls and text messages were exchanged when he was in New York running the club he owned. He visited as often as he could and when he couldn’t, you went to him.
You spent as much time in New York with him as you could, when you weren’t in school you’d pack up your books and a secret service agent would drive you to New York, you hated flying and figured it was cheaper this way on taxpayers. Usually you were with him every other weekend. Kind of like a weird custody agreement between him and your parents.
Due to exams and your uncle being fairly busy you hadn’t visited in over a month and neither had he. School had ended for the year however and the first thing you’d done was tell Mary that you were spending the next month with your uncle, and that you’d be asking for advice so that they wouldn’t need to hide.
You had arrived an hour earlier and were hanging out on his balcony with a book, waiting patiently for him to return home from a meeting, his husband, your Uncle Cameron, was making dinner in the kitchen and had told you to go relax. When the sliding door opened, you practically threw yourself at your uncle’s arms with a squeal.
“Hey there Bug, missed you kiddo.” He squeezed you tight, kissing the top of your head. You squeezed him back, humming happily before pulling away and grinning up at him.
“Missed you too, Uncle Teej, do I spy some grey up in that hair old man?” You laughed before sitting back down on your lounge chair, legs crossed. He glared at you, pointing accusingly at you.
“Listen here little miss, I’ve got a hell of a lot less grey than your father and if you’ve gotten either of our genetics, you’re next! Enjoy that pretty h/c hair while you can.” You stuck your tongue out at him while he moved to sit beside you on your chair, moving your book out of the way before settling in. “So, Cam said you had something you wanted to talk to me about. Do I have to kick your dad’s ass again?”
You shook your head before leaning it on his shoulder, looking out at the city. “No, not this time, I don’t see him enough for him to do anything wrong, unless you count the not being there.” You paused for a moment, gathering your thoughts before finally just coming out with it. “When did you decide you were ready to come out to the family?”
You looked up at him as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder, he was looking down at you with a knowing smile. “I was just sick of hiding who I was, blurted it out during dinner one night when Granny was asking me for the millionth time why I didn’t have a girlfriend. A week later the press caught me making out with some guy and the rest is history.” Squeezing your shoulder, he chuckled a bit. “Is this your way of telling me that you finally figured it out?”
You nodded a bit, smiling shyly before cluing into what he said. “What do you mean finally? That makes it sound like you knew already!” His grin grew if that was even possible.
“Sweetheart, I’ve watched you check out men, I mean hell, you help point them out for me and Cam, which I sure as hell appreciate, and I’ve watched you check out women since you were 14. Trust me, of all the people, the one you aren’t fooling is me. Besides, who else knows you like I do Bug? I’m proud of you though, figured it out a hell of a lot earlier than I did.”
You didn’t know why you’d been nervous waiting for him to respond. You also shouldn’t be so surprised and you knew it. He was right, you never really tried to hide it when around him, you never had to. “Should have known I couldn’t hide it from you Uncle TJ, but thank you, really. If it weren’t for you I think I’d be more scared of telling people, I knew out of anyone you’d get it.”
“Bug, I’m only going to say this once, even if I weren’t gay, I wouldn’t care. I want you to be happy and be who you really are. If you want to fuck a guy, fuck a guy. If you want to fuck a chick, go nuts. And if you want to fuck both? All the power to you.” He nudged you slightly and chuckled as you took a drink from the water bottle you had beside you. “I draw the line at horses though, then I’m sending you to therapy.”
The water you had been drinking left through your nose and you tried not to choke. “Oh my god! Uncle TJ what is wrong with you?” You were laughing. “Jesus, Uncle Teej, bi, I’m just bi!”
He was full on laughing now, your Uncle Cam poked his out of the door. “Everything okay out here? I thought I heard my husband dying.” Uncle TJ just shook his head and tried to catch his breath while you looked at him like he was crazy.
“It’s all good, Uncle TJ is just proving he should be in the nuthouse again.” You said before cracking up. Cam shook his head, before going back into the penthouse, muttering about how dinner would be ready soon. The two of you stayed where you were, calming down and then sitting in silence for a few minutes. Uncle TJ stared up at the sky while you occupied yourself by playing with your fingers.
Finally, you spoke again. “If-if I tell everyone, the family, I mean, would you come along? I know you’re not really big on being around them a lot but it’d mean a lot to me and I’d feel better if you were there.” Hesitating for a beat, you continued. “Logically I know it should go fine, like I mean it did with you right? But there’s a small part of me that worries that they’ll hate me for it.”
You looked up at him, your eyes pleading with him a bit in hopes that he’d take pity on you and deal with his parents for a few hours just to support you. You were more than happy to see the smile on his face.
“Bug, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I promise you, no one is going to hate you, no one is going to be angry, and honestly, other than my mom and dad, I don’t think anyone else is going to be surprised. You really don’t hide it well.” He chuckled, patting you on the shoulder. “If, and this is a big if, however, someone is an asshole about it, they can deal with me alright? You’ve got nothing to worry about. I will kick their ass, and when America finds out, because god knows that the press will eventually find out, I’ll not only be by your side, but I’ll kick their asses too.”
He stood then, pulling you into a tight hug. You hugged him back just as tight, a weight lifted off your shoulders when he let you go. “C’mon kid, let’s go help Cam finish up dinner, I’m starving, been dealing with nothing but assholes all day.”
You nodded and turned to collect your stuff as he opened the door. “Hey Uncle TJ?” He paused, turning slightly, eyebrow raised and waiting for you to continue. “I just…thank you, it having your support really means a lot.”
He stepped back outside, pulling you into another hug. “No problem Bug, I love you, it’s what I’m here for.”