Writer's Club

Family

It was a sad, sad, thing when your big brother started hanging out with you. Also, the best thing ever, because he always brought Oreos and - never tell him - was kind of cool. Maybe. Just a bit nice to hang out with.

Danny loved his friends. They were genuinely cool, not in that shallow way where they did cheerleading and had flat bellies and looked like they were extras from a nineties chick-flic, and they were nice. They were always there, and would always be there for him. They were the right thing for him, and probably the right thing for Oscar.

Oscar had come out when he was thirteen, Danny had come out when he was four. Both the boys were from their dad's previous marriages, but their dads had been married since before Oscar had turned three. They hadn't been the best at trans stuff, but they genuinely wanted to learn. That was a lot more than most of Danny's friends straight parents.

They still saw their respective mums sometimes. Danny's mum had moved to Australia, and Oscar's mum called him his old name and told him that he was a girl when she saw him. She hadn't called in months now.

Danny loved his dads, more than anything, but he knew that his friends were his family. They were his everything, his ride or die, the people who would always be there - even if he killed something. His dads had made sure that the boys knew about queer chosen families, and they still saw theirs every Christmas. Benji and Alex were closer to the boys than any of their uncles and aunts. If Oscar was going to be hanging out with them, that was all the better.

He had this very vivid memory, his favourite memory. He'd bring it out when he was sad, or the rare occasions his dads fought, or when he was alone on the bus at night.

It had been New Years Eve, the clock spinning into 2018. He'd been thirteen and at Drake's house. They'd gone into his back yard and lit sparklers. Lying supine in the black grass, waving their lights above their heads and linking fingers and telling sweet nothings. Laughing and remembering the best parts of that year.

Cady, to Danny's right, had started the school a few months before and was starting hrt when she turned seventeen in five weeks. She'd reaped the rewards of having mostly trans AFAB friends, and was wearing the dress that Alex had worn to their grandma's funeral the year before and Drake had used Oscar's makeup on her. She squeezed Danny's hand, and he turned to Drake.

He traced a D for Danny in the air - although it might have been D for Dick - as they counted down the minutes to a new year. Fireworks had exploded overhead and they'd all screamed and whooped and woken up Drake's little sister. He'd leant over and kissed Danny, his first kiss, to bring new beginnings and happier times. Cady had squeezed his other hand, and Drake had pulled away.

That was the exact moment that Danny discovered two more kinds of love. The deep, powerful, undying love that comes from friendship and family and the blurred lines between the two. And the kind of love where you want to say vows and put a ring on someone's finger and hold his hand in the street and be buried, Survived by Husband, Drake Noah Woods Ramirez-Mitchell. He wanted to kiss Drake at a concert and drag him into the shadows as they stumbled out. He wanted to introduce him to his dads as his boyfriend, and watch Drake try to answer their questions and keep a straight face when they told him about the importance of protection - even though neither of them had dicks. He wanted Oscar to be the protective big brother, slamming open doors at odd moments to see if he caught them within five metres of each other and threatening Drake that if he broke Danny's heart, Oscar would literally return the favour.

Nothing could come of that. It was a stupid crush, a high school dalliance into a perfect fantasy life.

"Hey, stranger. Watcha thinking about?" Alex snapped him out of his thoughts, bumping his shoulder. They were on their way to their shared English class, and he'd been somewhat distracted.

He'd been in another dimension.

"Lunch." He replied. Well, he'd ended up thinking about something he wanted to eat. "Dad made the most amazing lasagne last night and Oscar took all the leftovers, so I'm going to have to steal it back. He has bio this period, and they have to leave their bags outside. I can go to the bathroom and nick it back."

"How are you going to get your bag out?" Alex asked.

"I'm trans. The teachers don't want to know shit about how I go to the bathroom, darling." Danny said.

"Fair." Alex said. "Oh, Ms Johnston asked me which bathroom I go in the other day."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I almost told her that I'd piss on her laptop if she didn't shut up."

"What did you say?"

"That's not an appropriate question, Miss."

"Nice." Danny said. Alex grinned. He reached over and ruffled their hair.