A/n: Yay more chapters! : D

✨TW✨

•transphobia
•guns

Patton took a shaky breath and prepared. He tried to calm himself. Who cared what his mom thinks?

He was in his car with his dad, and they were driving home. His dad tried to comfort him, and as he drove let Patton talk about how he felt. His father didn't interrupt, he just..let him vent.

Patton appreciated that-usually people were the other way around with him.

The radio was turned on, and some soft music was playing quietly in the background as they talked. His father had read some articles and talked about them with his wife. She still didn't accept it.

'Mike, this isn't okay!! She needs help!'

'No, he doesn't!' He yelled back, putting emphasize on the word 'he.'

"Did you know that 40 percent of transgender people commit suicide?! Having an un-supporting family does nothing but aid into that horrible act!"

"Well, even if we support her, that doesn't mean others will!"

"No, it doesn't but it does mean that we can be there for him, and support him when he needs it! Besides, would you rather have a dead daughter, or an alive son?!" He shot back.

She stomped off, not saying anything, because deep down, she knew he was right.

He shook the memory off. He, unlike his wife, tried to understand.

He accepted it, and was ready to support his child unconditionally.

He made sure that Patton knew he could take everything at his own pace. He would tell Patton that if he wanted things such as binders or mens clothes, than he'd be more than happy to provide them.

As they drove, Mike was deep in thought. He was so, so worried about slipping up with the pronouns and 'dead name' as one of the articles called it. It was anxiety-inducing.

What if one day he was talking accidentally said "she" or "her" or "Pamela?" He would probably cry.

He didn't want to see the look on his son's face if that happened, and he didn't want to disappoint him because he hadn't remembered.

He felt like a horrible parent, and he hadn't even done it yet.

He was worried that if he misgendered Patton, then Patton would feel ashamed or embarrassed. He didn't want that, he wanted his son to be confident with his body, and his decisions no matter what.

He was so afraid that Patton would think he was transphobic if he slipped up. He didn't want that. He didn't want Patton to think that he had just "memorized his pronouns" he wanted him to know that he truly saw him as a man.

Maybe if he accidentally did it, Patton would understand because he wasn't doing it on purpose or trying to be mean? ..But he also knew that it could add up, and everybody else doing it, on top of his father, could grow to be too much.

Maybe he should tell Patton how he felt about it, because he didn't want him to misunderstand anything.

"Hey buddy, I wanna tell you something."

"Yeah?" Patton responded.

"If I were to..misgender you, accidentally of course, you wouldn't hate me right?" He asked.

"I wouldn't hate you dad" he answered carefully, "I understand, it might be hard to remember after seventeen years of having a daughter, and then suddenly they tell you, "hey! i'm a boy now!"

"Patton, this shouldn't be a taboo subject..and you shouldn't be ashamed of it. I'm proud of you for telling us, even if your mother was un-excepting." He said.

"Thanks dad.." Patton replied, a smile on his face.

"You know, how your mother talks about transgenders kind of really infuriates me" he said, not sure if he should tell his son the tidbit of information that he'd kept to himself.

"Yeah.. me too" Patton sighed.

"You know" he began, "back in my day, this was a much more uncommon topic..nobody really knew what it was, and if anybody expressed feelings like the ones you're having, they would have been forced to some sort of church camp or bullied relentlessly, until they just came to terms or pretended to stop."

He continued, "I had a friend. Best friend since seventh grade—and in sophomore year of high school, she told me she felt like she didn't fit in. She felt disgusted in her own body, dysphoric. Junior year she came out as trans. She was Male to female. I won't say her dead name out of respect, she hated it. Everything masculine about her just-just didn't add up for her.."

Patton gulped, not liking where this story was going. He had never heard of his dad being friends with this person.

"People at school found out. Bullied, beaten both by her parents and the bullies-she had such a horrible itching feeling in her own skin, he had to be a woman." He stopped for a moment, continuing, "it got too much for her-we don't need to get into the nitty gritty, but that summer, right before senior year, she took her own life."

Patton'a eyes widened as he stared at his father.

"Your parents like your mother are why kids like you and her, -Katie by the way was the new name she chose-feel like they can't live on this Earth" They pulled up to his house, and his father parked, before looking at him in the eyes, "I don't want you to end up like her. I don't want you to feel unhappy, unsafe or afraid in your own home. I want it to all feel normal."

"I never truly understood Katie. It was a different time, though I always supported her. I was the only one she wrote a letter to before she took her life, and I still keep it with me to this day" he said.

He turned impossibly more serious as he took the keys out of the ignition, "I love you, so, so much, and I want you to know that whatever happens in there, whatever your mother says-it won't change anything."

  Patton nodded, hugging his father over the seat, and with tears in his eyes, he whispered, "Thank you so much..I love you dad."

"I love you more son."

He took a deep breath as he stepped out of the car.

He walked up to the front door, and opened it, his father trailing behind.

His mother was inside, knitting. As per usual, probably making a scarf. That's something he'd always enjoyed about his mother. It was relaxing to just be in the living room, watching his mother knit, and even teaching him how to do it sometimes.

She was a professional knitter, it was amazing.

"Hey..mom" Patton said sheepishly.

"Hey..Pam" she muttered.

Patton's face sunk, looking down. He didn't really expect much. He shouldn't have been surprised.

His mother looked angry, and kind of ashamed. She had an embarrassed look on her face, so either she must've realized how much she over-reacted, or she was wondering how she could have gone so wrong with her daughter.

"Actually, dear, our son would like to go by the name Patton now, Pat for short, he/him pronouns. Thanks for your understanding" Mike clarified, smiling.

She continued knitting, and gave a hum of acknowledgement. "Alright" she said.

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Remus, Janus, and Bryce snuck back into town. They went and grabbed some supplies. They all had little hand guns. They knew that police would hesitate, and give them that "put the gun down!" Warning. They would make sure to shoot them before they could even get the warning out.

They were still waiting on their purchase of bullet-proof head caps to arrive. They already had the vests, which they stole, of course.

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"So, do you still like girls clothes? Dresses, skirts, heels?" Mike asked Patton as they began to cook dinner.

"I mean, it's not that I hate them..it's just, it's been beat into my head for most of my life that I had to wear that kinda stuff, because I was a girl. I felt pressured to wear it, so now that I don't have to, I don't want to." Patton said.

"I understand. I wasn't sure, because i'm not really hip with the youngsters these days. From this thing, tic tac? No-it was tik tok, I see a lot of videos that express, 'clothes don't/shouldn't have a gender' so I was just wondering." He explained.

"Yeah, but people are still different. I think that people should be able to wear whatever they want and stuff, but i'm just not that dressy/skirty type of person."

His dad nodded. He was learning something new every day, "well I think it's wonderful that you can finally express yourself how you want to."