Archive of Our Own

“Mom, dad! I'm home.”

The brown-haired boy hangs his jacket and scarf on the clothes hanger by the front door, before placing his shoes atop the rack beside.

When he receives no response, however, he raises a brow; strange, his parents are usually downstairs when he arrives home. Though, he assumes that they were just doing something upstairs.

“Mom, dad?”

He calls out again as he begins his ascent up the stairway, before catching sight of light coming from his bedroom. Huh, were they doing some cleaning again?

He smiles subtly at the thought — his parents are quite the perfectionists when it comes to cleanliness, even the slightest speck of dust would freak them out, not to mention his mother's horrendous dust allergies; if anyone did so much as pull a book out of an old shelf, it's safe to say that she'd be sneezing for a whole day straight.

However, his thoughts are quickly cut short by a rather frustrated sounding yell.

“No, I refuse to believe that my son wrote these things!”

“Honey… his signature.”

“Well, maybe one of his friends influenced him, or—”

Leaning on the door that was left ajar, he accidentally causes it to creak, garnering the attention of the two inside.

“Luke?” He hears his father speak, surprise evident in his tone, and so he pushes the door open completely to see his parents seated on his bed.

“Uh… sorry, am I interrupting something?” He murmurs, awkwardly rubbing the nape of his neck and shifting his feet. “I… could leave—”

He gestures towards the exit, but gets cut off by his mother, “No, you aren't.” She crosses her arms before getting to her feet. “In fact, I would quite like an explanation, Luke Peterson.”

The boy in question swallows at the mention of his full name; whenever his parents used it, it meant something was terribly wrong. Sure, they were strict, but the last time they'd actually called him by his full name was… what? Three years ago?

His mother walks up to him, a book in hand as she extends her arm forward, a loose page slipping out and drifting to the ground. “Care to explain?”

Luke's eyes widen.

“M-My diary,” his breath hitches as he stares at the book — that's been flipped to an open page — before glancing up at his mother, “You read through my diary?"

When she's faced with nothing but disbelief in the other's tone, she lets out a sigh, “It fell out while we were doing cleaning,” her brows furrow, “I thought we established no secrets in this household, what happened to honesty?”

“I-I…” Luke's shoulders tense up, the words catching in his throat, “Mom, it's… not like that—”

“Please tell me that everything written in this very book is but a sick joke.” She cuts him off once more, her lips pursing, as if hoping what she'd just said was the truth, even if she knew it was unlikely.

The fear is clear in the brown-haired boy's eyes as his gaze flickers elsewhere, hands clenched into fists as he attempts to find the words to say. He could lie, so as to keep his parents’ trust and approval, but he didn't know how long he could keep this relationship a secret; it's been months. Plus, would they even take his word for it?

“…I'm sorry.” He whispers, his voice barely audible to the two other people in the room, and he doesn't even have to glance up to know what his mother's expression probably looked like.

“You're joking, right?” She asks, but before he even gets to respond, she raises her voice. “Zander, of all people? The boy we took care of all those years back as if he were one of our own? The boy we welcomed with open arms whenever his parents would argue?!”

“Dear…” His father comes up to place a hand on her shoulder, his eyes filled with nothing but concern.

“Yes,” Luke affirms, his voice cracking, “That very boy.”

He hears her let out a huff — that's more of disbelief than mockery — as she crosses her arms. “I thought you knew better than this, Luke; it seems I overestimated you.” She glares at Luke this time, nothing but betrayal in her eyes. “Once you turn eighteen, it's out of the house with you."

“What?” The word slips past his lips, as if he didn't mean to say it at all.

“You heard me — you're dead to me, Luke.” She shoots him one last glance, dropping the book onto the ground before beginning to walk out of the room.

“Wait— mom!” Luke extends an arm out, only for her to move just out of his reach. “Dad…?”

The person in question stops in his tracks, right upon the threshold, “I'm sorry, son. But your mother is right,” he turns to face the boy with a disappointed frown, “I… expected better from you.”

With that, he leaves the room, his footsteps slowly fading away, and the words are like a stab to Luke's heart; he'd always looked up to his parents, and they'd always been so close, sharing everything with each other and promising to stay together.

Now, they were anything but.

✧✧✧

“Alexander, could you get that?”

Zander begins to walk down the stairs with feigned annoyance as his mother calls his name, “Oh for goodness’ sake, stop calling me that!” He lets out a grunt, before reaching the bottom of the stairway.

Peering through the peephole, he catches sight of brown hair paired with scarlet red, and he blinks in surprise. Why was Luke here at this hour?

Opening the door, he doesn't even get to react when the other drops the umbrella he was holding to the ground with a thud, and stumbles forward, wrapping his arms around the purple-haired boy.

“H-Hey!” Zander stutters in surprise as the other begins to sob, “What happened? Are you okay?!” He begins to inquire, but he receives no response.

He slowly moves his arms to wrap them around the other's trembling body, taking note of how some parts of his jacket had gotten wet, which wasn't surprising. After all, it was pouring out.

“Zander?” Hailey yawns, halfway down the stairs. “Who's at the—” Her eyes widen when she sees Luke, whose face is buried in Zander's shoulder. “—door…”

Zander turns around and shakes his head, both to signal how clueless he was as to why the other was crying, and for Hailey to not interfere, so as to not make things worse.

“Let's… get you inside.” Zander mumbles before closing the door and, slowly but surely, guiding Luke to the couch, taking a seat next to him.

“I'll… go make some hot chocolate.” Hailey makes her way down the staircase, before disappearing into the kitchen.

Pulling out a couple of tissues from the tissue box on the coffee table, Zander hands them to the other boy. His frown only deepens at the sight of the brown-haired boy’s red rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks; Luke didn't cry often, so to see him like this…

After a moment, Hailey returns with a mug of hot chocolate, before setting it down on the coffee table in front of Luke, and sitting down on the nearby couch.

“You…” Zander trails off as he watches the other wipe his tears away, before gently helping him to get his jacket off of his shoulders. “…wanna talk about it?”

After what seems like forever, those pale yellow eyes drift toward him, weary and glistening from tears. “I…” Luke begins, before closing his eyes and letting out a shaky sigh, as if to brace himself for what he was about to say. “My parents… they found out. About us.”

Hailey lets out an audible gasp, and Zander's eyes widen. “What…? But… how?” He utters out.

“They read through my diary,” Luke explains, “And… I just…” he trails off, voice hoarse, “…don't know anymore.” He directs his gaze towards Zander. “It feels like I disappointed them…” his gaze flickers to Hailey, then to the mug on the table, “How am I meant to face them… now that they know the truth?”

Zander just stares, listening intently, and he feels his heart ache a little more with every word that comes out of the other's mouth. He felt bad, so bad, but he didn't know what to do or how to help.

“You did not disappoint them, Luke.” Hailey's brows furrow, leaning forward in her seat. “Whether they accept you for who you are… is not within your control.”

At this, Zander smiles, “I agree with Hailey,” he places a gentle hand on the other's back, “And I hope you know that I'll—” he glances towards Hailey, “No, we'll always love you for who you are. Me, Hailey, Bethany, and my parents; all of us.”

Hearing this, Luke stares for a moment, before the littlest of a smile tugs at the corners of his lips, a grateful one. “What would I do without you guys…?”

“You'll never have to think about that possibility.” Hailey reassures, and Zander nods.

So, as the marshmallows bob around in the mug, the three of them come close for a group hug.

✧✧✧

“Feel free to come over, Luke.”

Shannon places a hand on her hip, an inviting smile on her face, “You're welcome to stay the night here anytime.”

“…Mrs. Wickham, I couldn't possibly—” The boy in question waves his palms about before himself, reluctant to accept the offer.

“No no, I insist,” she cuts him off, “And ‘Shannon’ is just fine.”

At this, Luke lets out a huff, seemingly hesitant. “A-Are you sure…? I wouldn't want to trouble you or anything.”

“Of course not, you're never a bother, dear!” Shannon crosses her arms, and it's clear that what she's saying is genuine. “After all, you're practically part of the family now. Plus, we have a spare room that we never use.”

“I… can't thank you enough.” Luke offers her a warm smile, rubbing the nape of his neck as Zander walks up to them, having just gotten to the second floor.

“Just make yourself at home,” Shannon glances towards Zander, “I'm sure Alexander has some spare clothes; that is… if they're not too short for you.”

“M-Mom!” Zander clenches his hands into fists, his cheeks flushing slightly. Sure, he was shorter than Luke, but he wasn't that short.

“I'm kidding, I'm kidding…” Shannon lets out a chuckle, watching as Hailey makes her way upstairs too. “Anyway,” she lets out a yawn, “Bethany and dad are already asleep, so bedtime everyone!” She grasps the handle to their shared room, before turning to glance at Hailey, whose focus was on her phone. “No staying up to play Project Sekai or anything, Hailey.”

At the mention of her name, Hailey glances up, “W-Wasn't planning on it!” Her brows knit together in embarrassment.

“Right,” Shannon shoots her a knowing look, before turning to the other two, “Night everyone, get a good night's rest.”

“Night.” Hailey smiles, before entering her room and closing the door.

Once the other two have gone into their respective rooms, Zander and Luke make their way into the guest room.

“This room was meant to be for Bethany,” the purple-haired boy switches the lights on, before gesturing towards the wall covered in unicorn and princess stickers, as well as the fairy lights hanging from the ceiling. “But when she actually tried to sleep here, she got scared ‘cause she needed my dad's help to sleep, apparently.” He turns the air conditioner on, his tone unamused.

Luke lets out a chuckle, “It's pretty.” He murmurs, voice still slightly hoarse from all the sobbing he'd done today.

“I'll go fetch you some more comfortable clothes,” Zander sets the remote back into its holder, before turning to walk out the door, “Wait here.”

Luke nods, before directing his gaze towards the room around him. He walks around, taking note of the unicorn figurines on the little pink vanity, before staring at his reflection in the mirror. Yikes, he looked horrible; his eyes were swollen and his hair was a mess.

He could only hope that sleep would fix… whatever this was.

“Here,” he gets snapped out of his thoughts by Zander's voice, “They're probably… not your usual style, but they're comfortable.” In his hands, is a shirt and leggings, both purple in colour, just different shades. Luke wonders if that was the sole colour in the other boy's closet.

“Thank you,” he receives the clothes from Zander, before placing a kiss on his crown, “I love you.”

“Love you too.” Zander mumbles, and Luke finds the smile on his face at that very moment to be rather lovely, just like all of his other smiles. “Night, sleep tight, don't let the British psycho monster get you.”

“I won't.” Luke smiles as the other turns to walk out the door, but Zander notices how the smile doesn't really reach his eyes.

“Luke?”

“Yes, Zander?”

“Don't… think about it too much, okay?” His hand lingers on the door handle, a worried glint in those lavender eyes of his.

“…Of course.” Luke mutters after a moment of silence, before the other finally closes the door, his footsteps growing softer and softer, followed by the sound of his own room door closing.

The brown-haired boy lets out a sigh, glancing down to stare at the clothes in his hands as a smile tugs at the corners of his lips — one that was tired, but not quite willing to give up just yet.

✧✧✧

“Oh, almighty prince, please help us!”

The purple-haired girl pleads, her hands clasped together as her crimson cape swayed behind her.

“The princess has been cursed,” she throws her head back in a rather dramatic manner, “Whatever shall we do?”

Lying down just beside her was Zander, wearing the puffiest dress Hailey had and didn't wear anymore, tucked in on a bed. His face had an array of colours, some blue on his eyes, some red on his lips and maybe even a bit of purple here and there. To put it simply, Bethany had asked him to play princesses with her in exchange for a certain peanut sticker that she'd given him a week prior; it was safe to say that Zander was never borrowing any of her stuff ever again. In fact, he questions why he had been so foolish to have done so in the first place…

He opens his left eye, catching a glimpse of the scene before him. While Bethany goes on with her dramatic monologue, Luke is clearly trying to stifle a small laugh behind his fist as Hailey sits at a corner of the room, ready to attack at any moment. After all, she was the ‘super scary dragon’ as Bethany had assigned.

“Well…” Luke murmurs, before glancing towards Zander, who instantaneously shuts his eye again. “What do all princes do, Bethy?”

“Hmm…” The girl in question places a thoughtful hand to her chin, pretending to think. “The only cure to any curse is a true love's kiss.” She waggles her eyebrows.

Luke lets out an awkward chuckle at just how cliché that was, “Is that so?”

“Roar.” Hailey mumbles, clearly unamused at the role she was assigned as she moves her fingers about, as if they were claws.

“Yes,” Bethany places her hands on her hips, “Now, you go save the princess,” she draws her wooden sword from the belt — that definitely wasn't falling off due to how big it was compared to her waist — before pointing it in Hailey's direction, “I'll take care of the dragon!”

“Best of luck, courageous knight of Rosemeadow Kingdom.” Luke grins, as the girl charges into battle, and he makes his way up to the princess’ bed. “Hmm, a true love's kiss, huh?”

Zander's eyes open ever so slightly, “Trust you to take this seriously.”

“Can't disappoint our faithful knight, now can we?” Luke murmurs, before hearing giggles coming from behind.

He turns to see Hailey, having tackled Bethany to the ground, tickling her tummy; her wooden sword lying a few feet away.

“Hah— Hey!” Bethany manages to sputter out between laughter, “Prin— ce! Haha— urry up, I don't know—” She scrambles about, trying to stop Hailey, to no avail. “How long I can— fend the dragon— ohohoff!”

“On it, Bethy!” Luke lets out a hearty laugh, before turning back to Zander, who'd closed his eyes amidst the mayhem. “Well then, princess; it's time to wake up.” He teases, and he can see Zander's brows furrow, his face flushing ever so slightly before he places a gentle kiss on the other's lips.

The purple-haired boy finally opens his eyes, sitting up and pretending he'd just awoken from a long slumber. “Where… am I?” He rubs his eyes, gaze flicking towards Luke. “Prince… Luke?” He whispers, placing his gloved hand onto his lips, and he internally cringes a little at how cliché this entire ordeal was.

For Bethany's sake, he supposes.

They both hear a gasp as Hailey finally stops tickling the purple-haired girl, “Yay! The princess has been saved!”

“Aw man,” Hailey pretends to act disappointed that her ‘evil plan’ had failed, but the smile tugging at the corners of her lips betrays just how much fun she was having. “I thought I had it this time.”

“Heh,” Bethany places both her hands on her hips, “Told ya I make a great knight, right Luke?”

“Right.” The two give each other a high five, as Zander begins to get off of the bed, letting out a frustrated sigh.

“Are we done yet?” He asks, crossing his arms. “I don't know how much longer I can stand wearing this dress.” In truth, he didn't mind it. But it was making his whole body itch, either because of the texture, or the severe amount of… glitter, or just how long it's been in the closet, who knows?

Before Bethany can answer his question, however, the door clicks open.

“Hey, movie stars!” Michael walks in, grinning at everyone in the room.

“Dad!” Bethany darts towards him, before wrapping her arms around him, eliciting a chuckle.

“Anyway, your mother and I were wondering if the four of you were interested in visiting a pride parade this weekend.” He ruffles Bethany's hair, raising a brow.

At this, the purple-haired girl lets out a gasp. “Yeah, let's go!”

“A pride parade?” Hailey hums, “Well, I don't see why not.”

“Sounds fine to me.” Zander replies, a subtle smile on his face, before realizing that Luke hasn't said anything. He turns to find the other boy zoning out. “Luke?”

“Huh? Oh—” He finally seems to snap out of it, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. “Uh, that sounds… wonderful! Count me in.”

“Alrighty,” Michael shoots everyone a thumbs up, before glancing down at Bethany, “Come on, let's go tell mom that we're all going!”

Bethany giggles, before following suit and exiting the room.

“I'll… leave you two be.” Hailey shoots the other two a knowing look, trying to get the last of the paper claws Bethany made off of her fingers while she too, walks out.

Once she has left the room and closed the door, Zander glances towards Luke, who seems to be avoiding his gaze.

“You know you don't have to go if you don't want to, right?” Zander furrows his brows, ignoring how silly he probably looked right now and deciding to focus on how dejected the other looked instead.

“I know, and it's not that, it's just…” Luke rubs the nape of his neck, before letting out a sigh and taking a seat right next to Zander. “Just… thinking.”

The purple-haired boy stares at the boy beside him with concerned eyes, and he doesn't even have to think twice to know what this was about. “About them?”

“About them.” Luke's frown only deepens as he takes a deep breath, taking the paper crown off of his head.

He misses when he was a child, when his parents would actually care for him, unlike now where they won't even spare him a glance.

He misses how they used to have dinner every night; even if they had things to do and were incredibly busy, they'd always make time to sit around the dining table and eat their favourite dishes.

He misses movie night, their long conversations, the decorating sessions they'd have before every big festival just to get the house in tip top shape, be it for Christmas or the New Years; there was never a dull moment with them, and Luke desperately longed for that type of connection, that type of bond again, to not be estranged from the two people he loved and adored most as a child.

Yet, what could he do except hope?

“Luke?!”

He finally snaps out of his reminiscent thoughts as he is shaken back to reality by Zander. “D-Don't just… tear up, talk to me!” The other raises his voice, and Luke can hear the worry in his tone as he glances up to meet his gaze, those lavender eyes begging for an answer.

‘Sorry’ is all he manages to utter out, his voice cracking as he brings a hand up to wipe his tears, watching as the other slumps his shoulders.

“What are you apologizing for…?” Zander purses his lips, finally letting go of Luke's shoulders, before sighing. “For the past few months, all you've done is apologize, when nothing was really your fault to begin with.”

Luke stares.

He analyzes every crack in the other's voice, he analyzes how the other glances away, he analyzes how… it seemed as if the other was on the verge of tears too.

Zander lets out a sigh.

“Luke,” he glances back up, lavender meeting pale yellow, “Ever since they found out, you've just not been yourself.”

Luke tenses up.

Has he really been so obvious?

“You can't keep living like this, Luke.” Zander takes a hold of the other's arms, his voice growing desperate. “You can't let them tell you who you should or shouldn't be; it's completely and entirely your choice.”

“But how can I possibly do that when all I'm reminded of is how they'll never see me the way they used to, ever again?” Luke sputters out in one go, before burying his face into his palms.

Zander's heart tightens; he knew exactly how Luke was feeling. He'd been there too, except it was back when he was but a child, stuck in a household where the only constant was yelling.

He wraps his arms around the boy, trying to stabilize him. “You have to let go,” he murmurs, “As much as I hate to say it… holding on to these hopeless desires will only drag you deeper than you already are.”

He says that last bit in a whisper, as if he himself were reluctant. After all, he'd had a hard time getting over his former father too, and it took him quite the while to adapt to Hailey's. But now that he'd finally done it, he felt so free; like a bird taking flight for the first time in forever after being released from a cage.

He knew that even if it seemed hard, that was exactly what Luke had to do.

“Easier said than done…” The other mumbles, his words muffled due to him still having his face covered up.

“I know it's not easy,” Zander mutters. Nothing is, he thinks, but decides to keep that last string of thoughts to himself. “But I also know that you can do it, just give it time.”

After he finishes his sentence, he hears the other let out a long, deep sigh. Finally raising his head, Luke turns to gaze at the purple-haired boy, his eyes glistening a little, vulnerability evident.

“What did I do to deserve someone like you…?” He whispers, a grateful smile on his face.

“Everything,” Zander pulls the other close, so as to allow him to rest on his shoulder, “You've done so much, and you needn't do anymore; I'm proud of you, Luke.”

At this, there's a glimmer of hope in the brown-haired boy's eyes as he relaxes in the other's warm embrace, and for once, the smile that blooms upon his visage is genuine.

Hearing Zander's words was oddly comforting, it was a word of encouragement, the push that he so desperately needed, especially now.

At that moment, he figures that even if life decides to throw the most challenging of trials his way, so long as he has Zander by his side, he'll be okay.