Chapter Text
The stairs creaked as Darcy descended down the dark stairwell, the lights turned off for now. She could hear the clattering of dishes in the kitchen, likely the table being set for supper, her mother seemed annoyed today. Maybe that was why the plates were being set down so aggressively.
"Darcy? Is that you?"
She entered the kitchen, the soft glow from the stove lights illuminating the cluttered space
"Yes mum, I'm here. Do you need any help with dinner?" Darcy rushed to offer help, not wanting to upset her mum more
Ms. Olsson shoots her a glance
"Get out the silverwear, would you?"
"Of course mum"
Darcy finished laying out the utensils
"Dinner's ready, go get your father, Darcy."
She nodded, and quickly exited the room, not wanting to be near her mum for longer than needed
*Dinner*
Their family doesn't talk much... deep down, Darcy knows why. Why everything changed. Why they no longer looked at her with love, with care. Like she mattered. but... . . . did she really want their love...? When they wouldn't even accept her for who she is? When at least once a week, she would rather sleep on that rusty swing in the playground, with nothing but the clothes on her back? It wasn't like they cared anyway.
But they used to
a little voice called in the back of her mind
don't you want that....again, Darcy?
"Ahem" a voice pulled Darcy out of her thoughts "Darcy. Were you listening?" Ms. Olsson glared at her, with a stern expression painted on her face. As usual.
"Oh, uh- sorry mum, what'd you say?"
"God Darcy, would you just pay attention? Stop fantasizing about that...girl."
Darcy flinched at the disgusted tone in her mother's voice
"I- I wasn't mum! I swear!"
"Then what, pray tell, were you thinking about?"
.
.
.
lielielielielielielielielielie
She blurted out the first thing that came to mind
"I have a boyfriend!"
She stared at her parents shocked faces. Well. Fuck.
"Oh really? I'm so glad! I was really worried you were...ehem...sick in the head." her mother smiled, for the first time in...who knows how long.
"U-uh, yeah! I'm not sick!" she wasn't sick. Being lesbian isn't being 'sick'.
"So, who's the lucky guy?"
"Charlie" Wait, fuck. No. Stop digging your own grave, Darcy!
"And where did you two meet?" Her parents seemed really interested in this...what has she done...
Darcy sighed
"We met on sports day, when the two schools merge."
...she's gonna need to talk to Charlie about this...and Nick..shit, Tara too
"Well Darcy, when is he coming over? I want to meet this...Charlie that stole my little girls heart!"
Oh God...she looks so happy...
"Ahaha...yeah, yeah he'll uh- I'll see if he can come over on Saturday?"
"Do invite him over, we must meet him. You're excused."
Darcy got up from the table, quickly ascending the staircase
"And Darcy? I'm glad you aren't chasing your delusional thoughts of...lesbianism anymore. It's better to just accept how things are meant to be. I'm glad you've realized that."
She felt like crying because of her mother's words. Why couldn't she just...leave her alone...
*Friday, at school*
"Darcy! Hi!" Tara ran up to Darcy, throwing her arms around her. Darcy returned the hug, unusually quiet
"Hey Tara."
Tara stared at Darcy, clearly worried, but brushed it off.
She noticed Tara's staring, and threw on a smile, she didn't want to worry Tara. She'd..she'd tell her soon.
"Taraaa I'm finee. Stop looking at me like I'm about to faint. I'm fine, I swear."
"Well...alright. But remember, I'm your girlfriend, you can tell me when there's something wrong, ok?"
"I know, I know." She would most definitely not do that, Tara didn't need more problems. It's best to just...not worry her.
"Let's just go to class, yeah?"
The day went on as per usual, whispers of their relationship followed wherever they went, people avoided being near them, sending disgusted or scared glances their way.
This was...this was fine. She could...she could handle this! This happened everyday anyway. As long as she has Tara, everything is going to be fine.
"Tara..." Darcy pulled Tara into a more secluded spot after school. She had to tell her..
"I-" Tara stared with this stupid, adorable face
"I really fucked up..."
Tara looked concerned, and a bit curious
"I was wondering why you were being so quiet this week...what uhm- what happened? I swear I'm not gonna judge you, ok?"
Her heart was pounding, mind reeling. What if Tara thought she was cheating on her? What if she broke up with her? There were so many possibilities...
"Tara, I-, you know my parents...they're homophobic, ok?"
She watched as Tara's face flickered between confusion, sadness, and anger. Likely not directed at Darcy, but still, it was...unusual to see on her face
"Darcy! Why didn't you tell me? Are you alright??" She didn't generally open up to Tara- or to anyone, for that matter.
"That's not- uhm, that's not the point. See, I might have accidentally said I was dating Charlie..I swear I didn't mean it though! We're not dating! I'm dating you, I wouldn't cheat, and he's dating Nick- and it was an accident! But...they want to meet him tomorrow, and Christ, I just...I felt really bad about this and I just had to tell you..."
The deafening silence was unbearable. She couldn't even tell what Tara was thinking...
"Oh..well...it was a mistake...and they want to meet him..? Look, I'm glad that you told me, really, I am, it's just...nevermind, what are you going to do??"
It was fine, everything was fine. Tara isn't breaking up with you, this won't change your relationship. It's ok. Darcy reassured herself.
"I'm not sure...maybe...maybe I can get Charlie to agree to pretend to date me, just for a day, y'know? Then we can pretend to break up, and all this will be taken care of."
"....Darcy"
"Yeah?"
"Charlie walks home, and it would be better to tell him in person, so go! You have to tell him today, it's friday...Go find him, see if he'll agree."
"OH, YEAH I GOTTA GO"
"Yeah, you do! Go catch up!"
Darcy takes off running in the direction Charlie went
"CHARLIE! CHARLIE WAIT!"
He stops in his tracks, startled by the yelling and harsh pounding of feet on the pavement
She pants, catching her breath, bending over with her hands on her knees
"Charlie."
"Darcy...?" He looks a bit dumbfounded, not expecting this at all
"I need your help. Please." She shuffles in place a bit, which was rather uncharacteristic of her, with her normally loud and boisterous personality. Actually, she hadn't texted in the group chat at all over the weekend, and had been unusually quiet all week. Charlie was fairly worried, but didn't want to push anything
"Ah, with what?"
"So. I may have, just maybe, toldmyparentsweweredatingsothatIcouldgetoutofanuncomfortablesituation-"
". . . sorry? I didn't understand a word of what you just said-"
she took a deep breath, and steeled her nerves
"Told my parents we were dating so that I could get out of an uncomfortable situation."
"...woah. Uh- so- we're what, fake dating..?"
She nods
"If you're ok with that. Just- just for a day...my parents want to meet you...? If you're ok with that, we can 'breakup' right after, and just forget it ever happened, I swear."
"They want to MEET me?? When?"
". . . Saturday"
"TOMORROW??? Darcy, I- I'll help you out here, it was an accident, so..yeah, we'll pretend. We've got this."
"Right. Look, I'm really sorry about this, I'll see you tomorrow."
*Saturday, arrival of Charlie*
Darcy rushed to the door as soon as she heard the knock. She had been a nervous wreck all day, coming up with all the possible scenarios where they could be caught, where she'd be kicked out, where they would just..know. And trying to figure out the story of how they met, and trying to remember details about Charlie, in case anyone asked, and mentally preparing herself for all the subtle insults she knew would be shot her way
"CharChar! I'm so glad you could make it, I've missed you!" She tried to make her voice sound as sweet and convincing as possible, even throwing in a nickname
they made eye contact, Darcy grimacing and slightly nodding for him to say something that could be passed off as a bit more than friends
"Darce! Yeah, I'm here! I'm excited to finally meet the family of the amazing girl I'm dating."
They were both trying to stifle laughs at the absurdity of the situation, letting a bit of sarcasm bleed into their voices
"Darcy? Is Charlie here?"
"Yes mum!"
"Ah good!"
Her mom walked into the entrance way, looking at Charlie, seemingly judging every little detail
"Well, I have to say, I'm surprised your boyfriend is actually a boy, Darcy. Not some girl you thought you liked."
She seemed pleased enough with Charlie
He bristled a bit at the comment, seemingly wanting to defend Darcy. She elbowed him in the side.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Olsson. I'm Charlie, Darcy's boyfriend."
He grimaced, but morphed it into a sickly sweet smile before it could be noticed
"It's a pleasure to meet the boy who stole my sweet baby's heart, now come in, come in!"
Oh greattt she's in guest mode. Lovely.
The three of them walked into the dining room
"Make yourself at home, Charlie dear!" Darcy gestured to the space before them
and with that...the questions started...
"So! I'm glad to hear Darcy has a boyfriend, but how did you two meet, exactly? I'm curious, motherly instincts, y'know?"
Charlie's eyes widened. They didn't go over a plan for this together.
Darcy rushed to say what she had told her mum earlier that week
"We met on sports day! Yeah, I uh- I saw him running for the track event and just...yeah, sparks flew. I went up to talk to him and..."
She stalled. She had no idea what to say next. Luckily, Charlie noticed this, and took over.
"...and I saw her in the crowd, and I just fell. Literally. I tripped because she distracted me." He forced a chuckle "And she helped me up, and we just kinda clicked, I guess."
"Aw Darcy, why didn't you tell me? I'm your mother, you know I'll support your decisions. You should have told me, this is adorable!"
That was such a contradictory sentence...and did she really think she'd believe that? After everything?
Why is she even trying...there's no point...her mother will never actually accept her, so there's no point in pretending to be anyone else
"Well maybe I didn't tell you because you never really supported me! You can barely look at me!"
"DARCY! That's no way to talk to your mother, when I have been extremely kind to you, I provide a roof over your head, don't forget that."
Charlie felt like he shouldn't be here...
"No. No, you haven't even done that. You kick me out at least once a week. What kind of mother does that?"
"Darcy. You NEED the punishment, there's something wrong with you! I'm just trying to fix you, to protect you!"
"I'M NOT BROKEN, I DON'T NEED TO BE 'FIXED'! I LIKE GIRLS, OK? THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT!"
"Yes there IS Darcy! It's not RIGHT, you're meant to like BOYS. IS CHARLIE EVEN YOUR BOYFRIEND???"
Ms. Olsson glared at Charlie
He cleared his throat, and started to speak up
"...No, Ms. Olsson....I'm gay."
Ms. Olsson's jaw dropped, stunned, before quickly morphing into one of anger and disgust
"GET OUT. BOTH OF YOU. I DON'T NEED ANY SINNERS IN MY HOUSE."
Darcy and Charlie stood up, grabbed their boots and coats, and left.
"...Darcy..."
Charlie started speaking, but then realized there wasn't much he could say to make this better
"Don't. It's fine."
She laughed a bit, looking down and kicking a stone across the sidewalk
Charlie looked at her like she was crazy
"Well...that was a shit show." She stated, like it was a fact. She was right though.
"Yeah, yeah it really was. What're...are you ok?"
"I'll be fine, Charlie. This happens a lot. Don't worry about it."
"Do you at least have a safe place to sleep?"
The park was a safe enough place...right...? She didn't want to bother Charlie, especially after what just happened
"Yeah, yeah I do. Don't even worry about that. I'll see you on monday, ok?"
"Ok...but we're all here if you need anything, ok? Tara, Nick, Tao, Elle. We want you to be safe."
"...I know that."
"Good."
Maybe...maybe it would be ok. Not now, not for a long time. But maybe one day, if she decided to get help, if she just let them in. Maybe one day.