I'll Love You For A Lifetime [Heartstopper, Tara x Darcy]

Year 9: George

Tara's pov

"Can I come over to yours after school?"

Darcy had looked pretty down the entire day today so I couldn't turn down the suggestion.

We walked to my place after school, both of us in our ugly old uniforms, my arm looped through hers. Darcy looked pretty under the weather so when we reached an empty block, I raised myself on my toes and pecked her softly on her lips. She gave me a surprised little smirk, "Hey gorgeous."

"Hey," I said, slipping my hand in hers, "you seem upset. Something's up?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "yeah, I wanted to tell you something."

"Okay," I nodded. "After reaching home?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

By the time I unlocked the door, I realised I could feel butterflies anxiously flapping around in my stomach, and not in a good way. What was Darcy so worried about?

We plopped down on the bed. "So," I said, crossing my legs on the bed, one hand undoing the absolutely obnoxious tie, "what's up?"

I noted Darcy's hand moving up and down the buttons of her shirt, her nails hitting them. She always does this when she is scared of something but refuses to admit it.

"I don't know how to say it," she said, she hand tugging at her collar now.

I took her hands gently in mine, rubbing circles on her skin with my thumbs. "Start from the start," I said, "what is it about?"

"Well," she said adjusting her fingers in mine, "you know about Georgina, right?"

"Yeah, your little sister, I know," I said nodding, "Did something happen to her?"

"No," Darcy shook her head, "that's not - she's not my sister."

I frowned at her, "I don't get it."

"He is my brother. His name is George," she said and I felt her hands going clammy from how tightly she was squeezing mine, "he came out to me last night and I- I am so worried, Tara."

I looked at her, another person who tried to hard to be tough and strong, but had so much pain in her.

"My parents are never going to accept him," she continued, "I mean, look at me, I am a lesbian and they make life hell for me. He is turning 13 next month and it's not long before his body- " she winced, "his body starts undergoing the wrong puberty. How will he live through it all? There is no way in hell our parents are going to let him take hormone blockers. I don't think they are even going to let him cut his hair short if he wants..."

"Oh, Darcy," I said as she teared up, wrapping my arms around her.

"I am so sorry," she said, pulling away from me and wiping away her tears hastily, as if embarrassed of them, "I didn't mean to cry. I- I just-"

"Shh," I said, pulling away her hand and rubbing away her tears with my own fingers instead, "stopping you from crying is my job, not yours."

She looked at me, her eyebrows raised and pinched together in the most endearing expression. "I'm so glad you are in my life," she said, "I don't know how George will tell our parents..."

"Uh-uh," I said stopping her mid-sentence, "coming out to people and deciding who to come out to is his job, not yours. Don't try too hard to help him. Just be there for him and respect his decisions."

Darcy stared at me quietly for a while. "You are right," she said, "I should talk to him about what he wants to do next. About how he wants me to address him around family and friends and..." she took a deep breath, "yeah. It's up to him."

"Yes," I said, then dropped my voice a little, "everyone is not as brave as you. Some people might prefer to stay safe than being out."

Darcy huffed, "There is nothing brave about it. It was a stupid decision."

"Yet here we are," I said, smiling, "had you not been out, I would have never known what this feels like."

"What feels like what?" Darcy said, grinning teasingly.

"What you feel like," I said, tugging at her collar. She got the cue and leaned in to kiss me.

"You know what I do when I am sad about something?" I said, intertwining our fingers together and pulling her out of bed.

"What?" she said, looking at me quizzically.

"Dance," I said, placing a hand at the small of her back and flushing our stomach together.

"Oh," she said, blushing all of a sudden, "uh, wasn't expecting that."

"Expect the unexpected, baby," I winked.

She chuckled. I guided our movements so that we were swaying in a smooth rhythm.

"What music are we dancing to?" Darcy said, leaning into my shoulder.

"Anything you want it to be," I whispered.

And we swayed to our invisible music trapped in our private little bubble, until...