Charlie('s) Hope(less)

It's growing, it's killing what matters to me

TW/ misgendering and shit.

Charlie jolted awake when he felt someone tap his shoulder as the bus came to a stop. "Mrs. Hope?" A soft voice said.

Charlie felt rage bubble up in him, he wasn't ever listed as a Mrs. Hope, even when he and Ben had gotten married, he was always Mr. Hope. Ben had insisted that they only referred to Charlie as a man, they had cut out "You may now kiss the bride." entirely for that very reason. Charlie had said that if they couldn't he understood, he just wanted to be Ben's husband, that he viewed the terms the officiator used as not important.

He said that he'd be too invested in looking at Ben to care anyway, looking at his gorgeous husband on their wedding day.

Even after, Ben insisted that Charlie turn around while they consummated their marriage so he didn't get dysphoric. Truth be told, even though they had sex multiple times before, Charlie never thought about dysphoria beforehand. But of course, that didn't mean he didn't get dysphoric during the act itself.

Most people would assume that Ben didn't want to see Charlie's face, but Charlie didn't assume that at all. Mostly because Ben spent his time that day trying to make Charlie feel loved.

A complete polar opposite to their sex life now. Ben just seemed to want to hurry up. Charlie rarely, if ever, initiated sex. He was more than happy to just lay in his husband's arms.

"Mr. It's Mr. Hope." Charlie snapped, sitting up and grabbing his bag. He heard the other person hiss as they cringed at their mistake, "I'm so sorry, sir- Malcolm's other dad only referred to you as his wife or Malcolm's mother- I thought you were- uhm... Like, fine with that title?" Charlie grumbled as he stood up, "He probably did that in case you were an-" He stopped himself, "In case you weren't very understanding." He brushed some hair out of his face, not bothering to look at the other person.

Charlie pushed by them as he moved to Malcolm's seat and began to help him unbuckle his seatbelt. "I can do it myself!" He protested. Malcolm fumbled with his seatbelt, his fingertips turning white as he struggled to press down on the buckle hard enough to get the seatbelt to unlock.

Charlie sat on the seat beside Malcolm, "Do you need help now?" He chuckled, "No, I'm good!" Malcolm replied. "Ooookay..." Charlie chuckled as he watched Malcolm try (and fail) to unbuckle his seatbelt. "Malcolm, hurry up. Everybody is waiting on you." The soft voice from before was back again. "I'm trying, Mr. Nelson!" Malcolm pouted as he struggled with the seatbelt.

So, that was who misgendered Charlie. He clenched his jaw. He knew he probably should be understanding, he probably would trust Ben's words over Malcolm's, after all, some people prefer titles that don't match their gender or their gender presentation when it comes to their kids, but still. It hurt anyway.

After a few more minutes, Malcolm finally managed to get his seatbelt off. He hopped out of his seat, shoving his DS into Charlie's hands. "Save it for me!" He yelled as he ran off the bus, "Malcolm! No running! You'll fall and scrape your knee!" Charlie yelled back. He navigated through the menus to save Malcolm's game and turn it off, putting it back into the front pocket of Malcolm's Bluey backpack. Charlie heard Mr. Nelson clear his throat behind him, he sighed to himself as he zipped up Malcolm's bag and turned around. "Yeah, what's up?"

Mr. Nelson rubbed his wrist, "I just wanted to apologize for misgendering and deadnaming you earlier, Charles-" He winced, "Is- Is Charles okay? I couldn't tell if Charlie was a nickname reserved for friends or co-workers or just your husband, so..." Charlie nodded, "I would prefer Charlie, to be honest." Mr. Nelson nodded his head, "Cool. Cool. It suits you better, anyway." A smile tugged at Charlie's lips. He did like getting complimented on his name every now and then. "Yeah- I just wanted to apologize for that." Mr. Nelson looked up at Charlie, "Let me know if anyone gives you trouble, okay? Some of the parents can be... ignorant. Especially when it comes to kids with two dads or two mums."

"And that's putting it kindly, since... I'm not allowed to badmouth parents while on the clock. Or swear." He bit the inside of his cheek. "But don't worry about that! I usually shut them down, and I'll be nearby enough to hear anything said." Charlie nodded.

"Thank you. That- means a lot." He slung Malcolm's bag over his shoulder as he stepped out and got off the bus. Charlie caught up with the group, standing next to Malcolm and grabbing his hand.