Work Text:
THE FINCHES GROUP CHAT
late wednesday/early thursday
gretchen: hey hey hey
a gay needs our help
12:48 am
mom💙: What with???
12:52 am
weird bro: what are you doing
12:53 am
gretchen: remember margareth from high school
she had a shitty coming out
i wanna show her support
y'know
12:53 am
annoying bro: do you even like marge
12:53 am
mom💙: Yes of course!!
12:54 am
gretchen: we're kind of friends
well
she's probably gonna be pissed at me after tonight
12:54 am
annoying bro: when isn't she pissed at you
12:55 am
gretchen: but she'll come around to it
i just think she doesn't deserve to have a shitty experience just bc she happens to have a shitty family
12:55 am
weird bro: that's the nicest thing you've ever said about her
12:55 am
gretchen: feels weird. also shut up
12:57 am
dad💜: Just as long as it's a weekend our doors are open, like always!
1:02 am
mom💙: Yes yes yes the three of us agree Kati doesn't have her phone with her at the moment
1:04 am
gretchen: thanks!! you're the best
@reggie @altair call ur partners
gonna ask hatys to come too
1:04 am
annoying bro: okay then
1:07 am
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thursday morning
“So,” Annelise started, sliding her plate of waffles on the table and sitting next to Margareth and trying to ignore her mild headache. “yesterday,”
“What about it?” Marge yawned, sipping on her mocha coffee and scrolling at something on her phone. Both girls were sitting at the round breakfast table for six, the late morning sun creeping through the tall glass doors from the sunroom, lighting up the place.
“Gretchen invited both of us to a sleepover at her place.” She took a bite of her dish. “God these are amazing .”
Margareth raised an eyebrow at her. “A sleepover? At Gretchen’s? ”
“I know what you’re thinking but I swear it’s not an orgy.” Annelise interrupted before she could say anything. “It’s supposed to be a movie night.”
Marge took another sip of her coffee, thinking. “Like, just the three of us? Out of nowhere?”
“I…” Annelise shoved some waffles on her mouth, giving her time to think without looking suspicious. “I think she mentioned some other people as well. It’s something she does every year as like, a fun thing, movies with friends, popcorn, you know.” She lied.
“Oh.” Margareth shrugged. “Ok. Did she tell you when?”
“This weekend. Thankfully I’ll still be here!” She smiled. “I thought it was sweet of her to invite us.”
“Hm. Yeah.” Marge stole half a waffle from Anne’s plate. “It’s gonna be fun. If my mom asks, We’re sleeping at Veronica’s.”
“Who’s Veronica?”
“No one. It’s just one of the names I tell her when I go to Hatysa’s.” She smirked, finishing her coffee.
“Got it!” Annelise smiled at herself confidently at her little secret.
✥ ━━━━༺♔༻━━━━ ✥
friday evening
Gretchen clapped her hands twice, like she saw Eliza do a million times, but it didn't work as well.
"Guys! GUYS!" she yelled, eventually getting everyone to stop talking. "Headcount!"
The gang eventually paid attention to her. The Pride boys are so much easier…
"Altair!"
"Here, and Andy's here too." he gestured to his boyfriend, who seemed to be hanging on to him for dear life.
"Great! Hatysa!"
"Here!" their victim's girlfriend did a mock-salute as a greeting.
"Reggie!"
"Here as well." he said, not looking up from his phone.
"Aaaand Vincent?"
"Here, too!" he perked up from next to his husband.
"Great! The whole gang's here." She clapped once again. "So, we're gonna get to the house at around 3 pm, so that gives us time to, like, chill a little and then get to preparing. Annelise and Marge are probably gonna get there at around 5 or 6, so we gotta have it all ready by then. Everyone got pillows, blankets, pajamas, toothbrushes?"
Various noises of agreement went by the small crowd. Gretchen grinned.
"Time to hit the road, then!"
The trip went fine. Two hours of a bunch of queers inside a van with the gayest playlist they could make was very fun, in Gretchen's opinion, and very noisy for everyone else, probably.
It didn't take long from the town sign until the Finch home, and soon enough they were all spilling out of the car, stretching and still talking. Agnar opened the door for them and greeted them all with a handshake and a hug, like the big teddy bear he was. Gretchen loved her dad's hugs - so warm and cozy.
Ekaterini had already baked them something, by the smell coming in from the kitchen, and she and Anna hugged the young adults as well.
"Well, how the hell are ya?" she asked, motioning for everyone to sit down while she went to get more chairs. "There's a young gay that needs support, I hear?"
"Remember Marge, from school? The dean's daughter?"
"Oh, yeah!" she yelled from another room.
"I always knew there was something about that girl…" Ekaterini said, with a sly smile on her face, at a much lower volume than the rest of her family.
"She's my girlfriend, actually." Hatysa raised her hand, and picked up a cookie when Ekaterini gestured towards the tray. "That's why I'm here."
"That's absolutely lovely!" Anna commented. "Shit, it's been a while since we did one of these, eh?"
"Yeah, Gretchen decided to be nice to Marge out of nowhere." Reggie quipped, and the rest of the college kids in the room snickered.
"I- listen!" Gretchen started to defend herself. "It's not because I make fun of her that I don't like her! Also, she was really upset after the whole thing happened. Tell'em, Hatys." she grumbled, not liking the idea of sharing something like genuine feelings in front of so many people.
Hatysa shifted on her chair, a little uncomfortable about the situation. “Well, her mom is not the most… kind person per say. But basically she took her phone without Marge’s permission and found some pictures from the halloween party, that we went together to. You can figure out the rest.” She breathed. “It was a shit show.” She complemented with a bitter tone, a little quieter.
"Oh, the poor girl…" Ekaterini muttered, and everyone else made little agreeing noises.
"You see! I can't just let that be like that, so I invited her."
"The lesbian superhero, Gretchen Finch." Vincent joked.
"That's me. But yeah, that's why. Get off my ass."
"But Gretchen, that's so nice of you!" her mom said, in a joking tone. "Who knew that you could be so nice and caring?" she kept going, smothering Gretchen in a hug. It immediately lightened the mood, with her pretending to be annoyed but really, just embarrassed, and her friends all laughing at her.
"Well, you kids know where the mattresses and sleeping bags are." Agnar said, pacifying the room. "Do you want some decorations?"
"Apart from the giant poly flag over the entrance?" Altair quipped.
"There's some rainbows in the garage." Ekaterini helped. "Also, please eat more cookies, kids. I made enough for everyone."
"Thanks, Mama. I'll be getting the stuff, then." Gretchen said around a cookie, which made everyone wince as she ran out of the kitchen.
✥ ━━━━༺♔༻━━━━ ✥
“Do you think you got everything?” Annelise asked, zipping her pink backpack and sitting on Marge’s bed, watching her walk out of her closet with a small pile of clothes and stuffing them in her bag.
“Uh. Help me think here. I know I’m missing something.” Marge brought a finger to her lips, pensive.
“Pajamas? Underwear? Toothbrush? Socks? Wallet? You never know if you need it.”
“Yes for all.”
“More clothes? Hairbrush? Deodorant? Pills? Your face stuff?”
Margareth snorted at ‘face stuff’. “I got the face stuff . And the others as well.”
“You on your period?”
Marge shook her head as if saying ‘no’ while Annelise tried to think.
“Phone charger?” Annelise raised an eyebrow, after two seconds.
“Phone charger!” She crouched next to her bed and unplugged it from the socket. “I think that’s all.” She said, getting up and packing it into her bag. “Let’s go. Let me just say goodbye to Alex first.”
After walking across the house towards the east wing where her little sisters’ and parents’ bedrooms were, Margareth carefully knocked on the white wooden door before hearing a ‘Come in!’ from inside.
She creeped her face in to see little Alex doing her homework on her desk, removing her headphones as she looked back at her. “Me and Annelise are gonna be away for the weekend. If you need anything, if anything happens, call me ok?”
“Ok! Where are you two going?”
“We are visiting a friend out of the town, not far from here. You take care ok? Don’t forget you have cello tomorrow morning.” She reminded.
Alexandra chuckled. “Won’t forget. Have fun there!”
Marge blew two kisses with her hand before saying “bye bye!” and closing the door while Annelise said “bye Alex!” over her shoulder. “Where’s Mary?” She asked Margareth.
“In daycare. I think my mom is out to get her.” She responded, while walking out of the windowed corridor.
As they both walked down the white marble stairs towards the garage, Annelise fetched Gretchen’s address and put it on the GPS, while also opening a chill playlist she had arranged for the trip.
And as a good co-pilot, Annelise guided Marge out of the city and up the northern road, watching through the windshield as the landscape changed from the suburbs to the crumpled city center and into fields of green, sunlit by the cold afternoon November sun and sprinkled with grey and white sheep.
The pleasant two hour trip felt way less shorter than it really was. They both talked a bit but also enjoyed comfortable silence for a moment, appreciating the calm music that complemented perfectly with the bucolic view, until they got into the town. The sun was already almost completely set, disappearing behind a skyline of houses, leaving behind only the navy blue sky and a few orange tinted clouds.
And with the last ‘turn left’ of the GPS, they found themselves in front of a beige two-story house with a brick wall and chimney, decorated by a garden of white daisies and a rainbow painted mailbox next to the front door.
Annelise popped out of the car and stretched immediately, and then opened the back door and carefully fetched the chocolate cake they had bought on the way for the sleepover, while Marge got their bags from the trunk.
As soon as she rang the doorbell, waiting in front of the dark wooden door, they heard someone yelling ‘coming!’ from the other side.
Gretchen opened the door, wearing a large tank top and bright red booty shorts, her hair even messier than usual. “Hey! You’re here! Come right in, princess.” She looked over at Annelise and wrapped an arm around her shoulder in a quick hug, squishing her. “Hey Anne! Oh, you brought a cake! Let me take that to the kitchen and leave your shoes at the entry.” she finished, already picking up the cake.
Margareth looked at Annelise with one raised eyebrow once Gretchen was gone, getting rid of her boots. “Anne?”
“What?” Annelise shrugged. “Considering she’s seen where the sun doesn’t hit-”
“Alright!” Margareth shushed her before she could continue, making her friend chuckle. “ Anne. ”
When Margareth looked up from her blue woolen socks and to the living room, the whole place was decorated in rainbow flags, which wasn’t exactly how Margareth expected Gretchen’s house to be, but she wasn’t surprised. Until she saw-
“Hatysa??” She exclaimed, in a mix of amazement and happiness to see her girlfriend sitting on the sofa. The woman turned around when she heard her name being called with a huge grin on her face, immediately getting up and running to tackle Marge into a hug.
“You didn’t tell me you were coming! I could have given you a ride!” She laughed, circling her waist with her arms.
“Haven’t you noticed anything else?” Said a familiar voice from the floor. When she looked down, she saw Vincent sitting next to Reginald, and on the other side Andy and Altair, reading what looked like a foldable star map.
“What do you mean?” Margareth said with a blank smile, looking around the environment.
“It’s a Finch family tradition.” Gretchen said from behind her, with two middle-aged women and a very big man next to her. “When a friend has a bad coming out experience, we throw them a queer sleepover of fun and acceptance. Have you met our parents?” she gestured to the people next to her.
Margareth felt her smile fade in confusion, and turned back at Annelise, looking for answers. The blonde grinned at her, squeezing her hand. And then glanced at her friends, and then back at Gretchen and her moms. “What? How do you… Who told…” She managed to let out shaking her head, feeling her heart beating faster.
“Well, that was Annelise, but don’t blame her. She was just worried about you, and so was everyone else. I mean, you went clubbing with us , something was clearly not normal. Marge-” Gretchen stepped forward, looking her straight in the eyes. “I know you might not like me, but it’s… you deserve better than to have this happen to you. That’s why I called the people I did, ‘cause you deserve to be accepted.”
“I…” Margareth brought her hand to her trembling lips as her disbelief turned to realization as she looked over to her friends, smiling at her from over the couch, and then back at her girlfriend, smiling tenderly at her. Without being able to complete her sentence from the lump growing in her throat, and when no words came out of her mouth, she let out a sob.
Not from anguish, not from anger, but for the first time, she cried from relief . And she let pour all the tears she had bottled up, immediately feeling arms around her and the smell of Hatysa’s favorite lavender perfume on her sweater.
She knew she had friends. Good supportive friends. But she had no idea she also had a family too. A family that loved her no matter what, that wasn’t disgusted or disappointed by her existence. She had a mom. Two moms. A dad. Even though they had just met, took her as their own without questioning, smiling proudly at her.
Proud of her, and that’s all she had always wanted from her own parents. Because no matter how good her grades were or how well she played, it never seemed to be enough. She was never enough, not compared to her beloved eldest sister. And when her mom found out she was gay, she became a disgrace on top of that.
Margareth let herself violently sob on her girlfriend’s shoulder, holding her tight like she was gonna lose her, feeling a hand on her hair like she always did when she cried, slowly calming down, slowly letting all out, coming back to reality.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a sandwich hug between Hatysa and Annelise, and chuckled at the situation, face puffy and red from crying. She looked up at Gretchen, standing close to them, and extended her arm, bringing her into the hug.
Gretchen smiled, surprised, and hugged her too. After a few moments, she tapped her back and asked “Do you want a glass of water? Mama made cookies earlier too, if you want some.”
“That would be lovely.” She emerged from the group hug, using her sleeve to dry her cheeks. “Thank you.” She said a little more serious, looking at Gretchen with a beam, and then followed her to the kitchen.
She gestured to her parents, starting with the shorter blonde woman. “This is my mom, Anna, my mama, Ekaterini, and my dad, Agnar.” she finished, introducing the taller olive-skinned woman and the big bearded man. They smiled at her, and Ekaterini spoke up, with a heavy Mediterranean accent:
“Hi, dear. Your hair looks absolutely lovely, I must say.”
“Oh, thank you!” Margareth grinned, her voice a little nose-y from crying, and little shy from the compliment. “You have such a beautiful accent.”
“Thank you! I’m Greek, that’s what it is.”
Anna interjected, with her own, more Nordic accent. “That’s how we met, you know? She came over as an exchange student, and then, you know-”
Gretchen groaned from the water filter and interrupted her mom. “Mom, she knows me , you don’t have to go into details.”
“Oh, don’t mind her.” Marge grinned. “Do tell.” She rested her chin on her hand.
Anna laughed boisterously. “Right, right. We went to the same school as you, Gretchen takes quite a bit after me. A few months before I got pregnant with Reginald, I met Kati in a class - I pretended to be a teacher’s assistant just to talk to her more - and then we started dating and Agnar was fine as a peach with the whole thing. We started the Pride, you know?”
“Oh god!” Margareth lightened up. “That’s super cool actually.”
“Isn’t it?” Agnar responded. “I was the first president, technically, but Anna started the… culture.”
Gretchen looked both resigned and terrified. She wordlessly handed Margareth the glass of water, and stared at her mom.
“Darling, she’s enjoying the story!” Ekaterini interrupted, clearly also teasing. “The three of them were born while we were still in college, can you imagine?”
“Oh wow!” Marge exclaimed, impressed. “You’re very brave.” She sipped on her water. “And a very good mother, I’m sure.”
“She is.” Gretchen interrupted, enjoying the change of subject. “They all are, except when they want to embarrass me.”
Anna waved her off. “Of course, it was easier to take care of three babies and go through college at the same time when there were two other people helping me out.” She leaned against her husband and held her wife’s hand. “Can’t live without ‘em, ya know?”
Margareth smiled tenderly at them, and then heard someone calling from the living room.
“Guys!” Altair called. “We’re gonna put on the movie soon!”
Agnar put a hand on her shoulder. “Do you feel better?”
“I don’t think I’ve felt this good in a while. It feels like a weight off of my chest, as cliché as it sounds.” She said, quiet, but with a cordial smile on her face.
“That’s good, that’s good,” he said, reassuringly. “Now go have fun with your friends.” he smiled warmly.
Gretchen led her back to the living room, pointing out a door on the left. “That’s the bathroom, so you can go change into your PJ’s.”
Margareth fetched her bag and changed into comfortable warm red sweatpants and a hoodie, and cozied up next to her girlfriend on the sofa. Annelise, like the social butterfly that she is, was already making friends with everyone in the room, asking about college and their lives, drawing laughs from her jokes.
“Gretchen!” Annelise called. “Come’re, can I braid your hair? Please? ”
“Do you really wanna go through all of this ?” Gretchen asked, grabbing her mass of hair and shaking it.
“Yes!” She grinned, excited to put her hands on her mass of blonde curls.
“Alright then.” Gretchen laughed at her excitement. “Don’t be afraid to pull.”
Annelise raised an eyebrow, trying to contain her laugh. And when Gretchen sat in front of her, she whispered, only loud enough for her to hear. “Don’t worry, I ain’t drinking tonight.”
Gretchen lunged forward, snort-laughing. As an explanation to everyone else’s confused faces, she simply said “Don’t worry about it.”
Annelise started sectioning her hair to the best of her abilities without the help of a hairbrush or a comb, and then did the arm-tiring task of braiding her curls into a loose dutch braid while Altair put ‘Clueless’ on the TV.
The gang cuddled up in a pile, a mess of limbs on the many mattresses sprawled on the living room floor, couples with fingers intertwined, watching the chick flick and booing at Cher when she kissed her step-sibling. Hatysa laid on Marge’s lap while she caressed her head, the feeling of peace taking over her body, feeling like she belonged, and she was right where she was supposed to be.
In the starting scene of the next movie, Gretchen - now with her hair braided - leaned on her shoulder and looked up at her.
“How are you?” She asked, softly.
“I’m feeling very good.” She gave Gretchen a sleepy smile. “I can’t believe you of all people did this for me.”
“I…” Gretchen seemed to be at a loss for words. “I don’t hate you. And when I heard what you went through, I… wanted to make it right. You’re a good person.” She punched her arm lightly. “Hate to see bad things happening to good people.”
“I don’t think I can thank you enough.” She gulped the growing knot on her throat, looking into her eyes with a corner smile. “Really. You’re a very good person Gretchen Finch.”
“I do what I can. So.” She straightened up, looking directly at her. “Do you happen to have any other cute, bi-curious friends, or…?”
Marge slapped her arm, biting her smile. “Dream on about it.”