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

Year 10: Boys and Men

George's pov

"Nice to meet you too, young man. It's George, I'm assuming?"

I tried to keep eye contact and not smile too wide as my heart exploded with hundreds of feelings at the words 'young man' and 'George'; one of the many feelings that I could distinctly recognise as the one I had craved for so long...gender euphoria.

Darcy and I sat down in one of the couches with Mr.Jones at our left and Tara in front. They all started talking and laughing and I decided that I really really admired the man in our company.

He had a kind smile which crinkled up his entire face, but especially his eyes so that they were practically closed. And he smiled often too. I had almost never seen my own father smile like that.

After a few moments, Tara and Darcy went upstairs leaving both of us and an electric fire crackling beside us.

"So, shall we play a game of chess?" he asked rubbing his palms.

"Sure, sir."

He brought in a small version of the chessboard made of either glass or plastic, I genuinely had a hard time telling. We played two games, both of which I won and celebrated heartily too.

"You enjoy defeating other people, don't you?" he said, comically raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, sir," I said, absent-mindedly rolling a pawn in my palm.

I looked up and saw that he was smiling at me.

"I must say, I do admire your sense of style, sir," he said, "I think we should go shopping someday. I really need to up my fashion game now that I have three kids with a formidable fashion sense under my roof."

I looked at him quietly as he talked. That was probably not the best move if I wanted to make friends with him, but I had no idea how to react. I did not want him to dislike me, but i did not know how to make him like me either. So I just sat there, silent, almost timid. I had generally noted that elders in my family liked quiet kids.

But this man was a bit different, wasn't he?

"Yes, sir."

He sighed and stood up, and as a reflex, I sat straighter, more alert.

He gave me a sad little smile and got down on his knees so that he was level with me.

"Look, son, you don't have to call me sir. You are family, just like Darcy is. I tell her to not call me sir, but she never listens to me," he chuckled, "you are a special little thing so you can call me pa or uncle or whatever you want, okay."

He put a hand on my head and I felt my throat choke up.

I had dressed up today so that I looked more like a man, so that Tara and her father saw me as a man, but I felt nowhere close to a man at he looked at me with those soft eyes. I felt like a boy. I felt like the boy I was. There was no need to pretend around him. He knew who I was better than my father ever could.

So, I said, "yes," then paused, "pa."

"My little boy," he said, and I felt tears cascade down my cheeks. His arms were immediately around me, "There, there."

I sobbed my heart out. "This means so much to me," I managed to say finally, "no one has ever treated me like this before."

"Oh but son, this is the bare minimum," he said, wiping my tears with his thumb, "don't ever forget your worth. Don't ever let anyone treat you any less than this."

The fact that I met him ended up becoming the biggest turn of fate of my life. He changed me as a person. He was the one who was always willing to lift me up when no one else held my hand. He made me believe I could conquer the world. He was the reason I turned from a hurt and scarred boy to a man with courage and compassion.

He is my father.

***

A/n

We needed the pov of our favourite trans boy, didn't we?