Chasing Clouds [a trans steve steddie fic]

Part 12: Day 8

*slurs and heavy transphobia, death

"How long do you think she's gonna stay out there?" Eddie asked. They'd kicked Steve's mom out of the trailer after a hungover, uncomfortable confrontation at 4am that morning. Now, she was sitting in her car outside, and would harass them whenever they tried to leave.

"I don't know, she's tougher than she looks." Steve ran a hand through his hair. "Simon's on his way, he might be able to resolve this." He swallowed thickly.

"How did she even know where you were staying?" Eddie raised an eyebrow, sipping a beer.

"It isn't that hard to figure out, I just didn't think she had the guts to show up..." Steve admitted.
Eddie gently rubbed his back, leaning his head on his shoulder.

"Things are gonna work out, trust me. Things always have a way of working out." Eddie assured him.

"Except for us?" Steve whispered. It was an ugly truth, and it lingered in the air.

"Never say never, darling." Eddie smiled, but it was forced.

***

Simon pulled into the trailer park, stopping his car and getting out. Steve and Eddie stepped outside, ignoring the glaring they were getting from Linda in the car.

"Can you get her to leave, please?" Steve asked his brother, almost frantically.
"I can try."  Simon approached the car, tapping on the window. Linda rolled the window down, and the two shared a hushed conversation, before she began to yell. Things, awful, awful things.

"No! I'm not the problem here! It's that son of a whore tranny lover who's tricking my little girl into thinking she's... she's... a transsexual! My Sandy would never disobey God like that! She's a good little church girl, sung in the choir 6 years in a row!" Linda had tears running down her face now, and so did Steve, who turned and ran back inside, Eddie close behind, pausing to turn to Simon.
"Get her the fuck out of here." He spoke, glaring at both of them. Simon turned back to his mom.

"Mom! Can't you see what you're doing?" She paused to listen to him.  "You're tearing our family apart with your church girl god bullshit!!" She seemed taken aback by her son yelling at her.

"It's that stupid-"

"Go home mom."

"I can't let her her away with this-"

"Go home!" He glared at her hard, his eyes full of disappointment. This woman, who he was to call a mother, was not the person he thought he knew. No, she was something else.  "And never contact me, or my brother again. You're dead to us, you hear? Dead!" He screamed at her one last time, before she huffed in annoyance, starting her car and quickly driving away.

He watched her leave, a single tear rolling down his cheek. The wind ruffled his jacket, and little drops of rain began to splatter onto the ground and onto him. He was in a state of shock, frozen in that moment. He felt someone tug on him, bring him inside, take his coat and hang him a mug of tea, but he wasn't really there. And when he drove home that night, he wasn't there either. Maybe, if he was, he would have checked before he ran the stop sign, and he wouldn't have been killed by the transport truck that night. But he wasn't. And he was gone.