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Former pageant queen, Cybill Harrington was told by her husband that they could have ONE child. She was disappointed when she had a boy; she wanted a girl so she could be a beauty queen just like she was. So she secretly bought a few dresses when Steve was little and dressed him up, but only while his father was out of town.
"This will be our little secret, okay?" She'd whisper while zipping up the back of the dress.
Steve loved the dresses and always looked forward to the times his father would be away so he could spend time with his mother and feel pretty with her.
Until his father found the dresses.
He burned them all in front of Steve and his mother, telling them that this is what happens to people who don't follow societal expectations and that he was going easy on them. Next time he wouldn't be so nice. The next time his father left for a trip, his mother went too.
Steve was alone for the first time at 11 years old. He didn't want to be in the house alone so he wandered to the nearest park and sat on the swings until the sunset. Then the fireflies came out. Steve stared at his shoes and cried until he heard footsteps.
"who's there!" Steve yelled, a bit too loud.
"Why are you crying in my backyard" said a soft voice.
Steve was silent until a boy stepped out from the shadows into a beam of a streetlight.
"I'm- I'm not crying. Boys don't cry" Steve scoffed, turning his head away from the stranger.
"That's stupid, everyone cries."
Steve furrowed his brow, pressing his lips together.
"What do you do when you're sad?" The boy asked.
Steve shrugged.
"You should cry. You could like, explode or something if you try to keep it all in. Like when you try to hold in a sneeze or fart or something."
Steve burst into giggles at this and the boy smiled.
"why are you crying?" The boy asked again, his smile turning sad.
"It's stupid" Steve said.
"If you tell me, I promise to tell you something stupid too."
"Yeah, right."
"Cross my heart!" The boy said, drawing an X over his heart.
Steve sighed. "Whatever I don't care if you do, I guess I'll tell you"
The boy's face lit up and he sat on the ground in front of Steve, hugging his knees.
"My dad burned all my dress-up clothes," Steve said quietly.
"Like, playing pretend clothes?" The boy asked.
Steve didn't want to explain so he just nodded.
"I do that too!"
"R-really?" Steve's heart skipped and he almost fell off the swing.
The boy nodded excitedly and jumped to his feet, his arms flying around as he rambled excitedly.
"I put on plays and play all the characters and they all have different outfits so I have to put them all on so it's very elaborate." The boy explained.
"I'd love to see that," Steve smiled.
"I've... never put on a play for anyone else before" the boy said, looking at his feet.
"well it sounds awesome," Steve said.
"You really think so?" The boy tugged on his sleeve nervously.
"Yeah. You wanna hang out?" Steve asked.
The boy beamed, nodding and Steve felt hope bloom in his chest.
"Awesome! I can come back tomorrow? I'm Steve."
"That sounds great, Steve. I'm Eddie."