Work Text:
-
Scott’s never been the most masculine person, Melissa’s always known that, she’s never felt the need to make Scott pretend to be something he wasn’t.
And maybe that’s why she leaves the box of clothes set in front of Scott’s room for an extra day or two. She had found it while cleaning out the attic, there were actually a few boxes of old clothes from when Melissa was younger herself but she chose this one in particular. It’s filled with things that look like they could fit Scott now, tank tops, long sleeves, a few t-shirts, and a plethora of skirts.
There was a phase in Melissa’s life where she would only wear skirts, there has to be one of every kind in that box, but if she remembers there’s the most amount skater skirts. She always adored how they moved with her body, not staying pressed to her legs like a pencil skirt or too long like the ones that almost touched the ground. She always loved those skirts, and Scott’s a lot like her, so she leaves him the box.
After three days and a noticeable difference in the amount of clothes in the box, she tells Scott she’ll drop it off at the donation center after her shift at the hospital. One more chance to grab whatever it is he wants.
Scott of course nods and pretends like he’s not glancing at the box every few seconds, Melissa lets it slide. Her sons love of feminine things has always been something he’s tried to hide away, tuck under the bed and leave it there to collect dust. But he starts his sophomore year soon and he hasn’t seemed excited, if anything Scott seems to be dreading it, eyes dropping anytime Melissa mentions him going back, she hates seeing that look on Scotts face.
She’s hoping the clothes will help. Maybe Scott will even notice that Melissa left them there purposely, maybe he’ll finally tell her whatever it is that goes on in his mind. She can see how the gears turn anytime they pass by a woman’s clothing shop, or how he’s started to watch Melissa do her makeup in the bathroom the same way he did as a child. Back when his cheeks were chubby and his hair was a tousled mess of curls, he’d lean his elbow against the bathroom counter, pressing his face into his hand and staring up in a daze as Melissa applied each product.
He has to know her whole makeup routine by now, and she can say with certainty that he’s at least tried her lipstick. The balled up dry tissues of red smears in the trash can and the red stain on Scott’s lips that night is all the evidence she needs. She wishes he’d come to her with it, open up and ask questions, she tries her best to show that she’s supportive of whatever Scott does but this will take time and all she can do is wait.
-
Though a warm smile instantly makes its way onto Melissa’s face when she creaks the front door open. She was able to come home early today, she didn’t tell Scott and figured she’d get them some takeout and surprise him. Though the sight in front of her is quite a surprise, one that she loves to see.
Scott has some of Melissa’s old clothes on, a long sleeve stripped black and gray shirt, a red colored skirt that pops against his tan legs, and a pair of tall black socks. He spins around the kitchen floor, the skirt flowing with his movements. Loud music blares from Scott’s speaker set on the counter, he holds a spatula as a microphone and hasn’t noticed Melissa’s entry as he’s too busy singing the lyrics.
‘Uptown Girl’ , Melissa recognizes, it makes her grin wider, this was no doubt stolen straight off her playlist.
She slowly makes her way more into the house, sliding the bags of takeout onto the kitchen island as she sits in one of the stools. Scott has his eyes closed and keeps spinning in circles so he’s oblivious, honestly Melissa is glad, she wants to cherish this moment of seeing her baby act like his pure self.
“My uptown girl—.” Suddenly Scott stops in one full motion, nearly falling into the counter as his socked feet slip on the wooden floor.
“Mom!? I- I didn’t think you’d be home…” His cheeks turn red in seconds, quickly reaching to click his speaker off and then dropping his hands in front of the skirt, a desperate attempt at hiding what he’s wearing that they both know isn’t working.
“I got off early, figured I’d bring us some takeout for dinner.” She smiles, patting the still warm box of Chinese food through its plastic bag. Scott’s staring too hard to nod along, his eyes are wide and mouth moving silently.
“Scott, it’s okay, you can go back to singing if you want to.” He has always loved to sing along in the car, that goes all the way back to when he was still sitting in booster seats with a lisp that slurred each lyric he sang out.
“Oh baby-.” Melissa jumps off her chair the moment she hears Scott sniffle, she can’t pull him into her arms any quicker. Her heart aches hearing him cry, clinging his hands to her pink scrub shirt and nuzzling his face into her chest.
“It’s okay Scotty, you look beautiful baby. Shh, it’s okay.” The words repeat too many times to count as Melissa tries to calm Scott down, rubbing her hand down his back in time with the shushing she says softly.
“Mama I- I- .” She cuts him off, pulling his face into her hands and brushing the tears off his cheeks with her thumbs.
“You don’t need to say anything baby, I know, I already know.” Scott’s bottom lip wobbles, as it did when Melissa would pick him up after he scraped his knees falling off his bike on weekends as a kid, holding him to her waist and running her hand through his unruly hair with a kiss to his forehead and promise to fix his knees up. She wishes this was as easy, this can’t be fixed with a Disney princess themed bandaid. All she can do is hold her child close to her and tell him it’ll all be okay, that she’ll always be here for him, that she loves him more than anything.