It gets better (Sweden x Finland)

It Gets Better

It was the day before school was a starting and Maya was preparing to tell their mom something they hoped wouldn't go wrong. "Maya honey,can you come down?'' sighing Maya walked down the stairs and ran their hands through their short blonde hair "Why is there a box for you here?'' Maya's mother asked,concerned "Oh..it's uh for an art piece?" their eyes darted "okay.''. Maya sucked in some air "Mum,I need to tell you something...please don't be angry." Maya's mum sat down and patted the area next to her.Hesitantly Maya sat "Mum I'm not a girl. I'm a boy..and I always have been." Maya's mom did nothing "My name is Berwald,and-and I'm your son." This is when his mother lost it. "You're a girl! You always will be! I have a daughter! Not a son." Berwald was near tears "Get out of my house! You have an hour." She screeched. Panicking Berwald ran to his room,grabbed a bag and started frantically putting clothes,food and toiletries in the backpack,not forgetting the package that had a binder and packer in it.Berwald grabbed his phone,credit card and charger as he was putting on boots and a few sweaters. "Don't ever come back!'' she screamed as Berwald rushed out of the house in a terrified frenzy.
The sun was starting to set as Berwald walked to a nearby park,the pine trees and rippling water was calming,even if something terrible had just happened. Berwald's icey blue eyes shimmered as tears ran down his pale face "Why?'' he repeated over and over again,his voice cracking.Once it was dark Berwald started to prepare for the night ahead of him as he grabbed a blanket and propped himself up against a tree for the night. It was around 3am when Berwald woke up to screams and hissing,the streets were still lit up as he started to pack his things and plan on where to go next. After about 2 hours of daydreaming Berwald had settled on heading into the city to get some food.After an hour of walking he had reached the city,he walked by a building and saw a poster "LGBT music event at the remedy café" he decided this would be a safe place to go as well as it being close by. Berwald headed in the direction of the café. As he opened the door the hot air blew on his face. Calm alternative music played as Berwald walked to the cash register and noticed a young man around 17 or 18 with a beautiful smile and hair so blonde it was almost white.As Berwald got his drink and sat down he found himself taking in every inch of the person next to him,his small stature and beautiful purple eyes. "Hi,what are you looking at?" the small blonde asked,snapping Berwald from his daze,his face covered in red from embarrassment "Oh..I guess I zoned out." He nervously smiled ."Ah,okay..well I'm Tino,what's your name?'' Tino smiled brightly.Looking to the side Berwald shakingly answered "I'm Berwald" Tino was taking in his appearance ,the icey blue eyes and blonde hair of this man who looked no older than 17, concerned Tino asked "what are you doing here?shouldn't you be in class?"Berwald's face covered in something that almost resembled dread "Oh,my mum she...didn't take to well to the fact that I'm transgender or that I'm gay..so she kind of kicked me out" Tino's small face was dripping in sorrow as he knew what it was like to be kicked out of your own home for being who you are. Tino sucked in a breath "I know what that's like..." suddenly Tino got an idea "Hey,why don't you stay with me for a while,I have my own place."
After an hour of hanging out at the cafe Tino and Berwald headed to the house. Upon arrival Berwald saw the old pastel yellow house and white painted fence,as Tino opened the door to his house a small white dog hobbled over and started barking at the two. Laughing Tino closed the door and took off his shoes and jacket "Make yourself at home!" he cheered happily as he picked up the small dog. Berwald took off his shoes and outer layer jacket,Tino looked at him and then smiled "here,I'll show you your room." Tino led him down one of the halls to a room with a white door that had paint chipping off and a cold metal handle as Tino opened the door the smell of cinnamon filled Berwald's lungs "you can put your stuff anywhere,this is your room after all ." Berwald set down his bag on a nearby blue stool and started taking off the layers of sweaters and putting them in the closet leaving him in his tee shirt and hoodie. "Berwald,do you want some food?" Tino called out as he was grabbing two mugs for tea "Yeah,sure." Berwald entered the room and walked up to Tino. "Do you want some help?" he asked "sure" after making some warm soup they decided to go on a short walk. As the pair bundled up Tino started humming a song "ready?'' Berwald nodded,as the two were walking down they heard an angry screaming and saw a young boy with thick eyebrows get shoved out of what they had assumed was his house. Tino was infuriated and decided to practically run across the street and to the young boy. "Are you okay?!" Tino asked the boy concerned ,shakingly the boy replied "Y-yeah,I am" Berwald walked across the street almost getting hit in the process "What happened?" berwald questioned "My parents kicked me out...but it's not my fault! I can't stop who I am." Berwald helped the boy and Tino up "what's your name?'' Tino asked "Peter,if you're going to ask I'm 12 years old" Berwald smiled "Why were you kicked out?'' Peter looked down "My parents saw me kissing my boyfriend on the cheek" Tino hummed "Well you can stay with us if you like" Peter smiled brightly "That would be great! Are you sure?" Tino and Berwald nodded. As the trio were walking down the block they started talking,soon enough they had reached the house and were warming up while watching T.V "Da-I mean Berwald what's your favourite colour?'' chuckling Berwald thought for a second "Blue I think" "okay" Peter smiled and went back to watching his show and cuddling up to Tino. They next day Tino walked out and saw hateful graffiti scrawled over the garage door tears filled his eyes as he called for Berwald,as the tall blonde man saw he grabbed Tino and started to tell him that everything would be alright,even though he was fighting tears he was hoping that Tino would feel better,later the two had gotten buckets and rags and were slowly but surely taking off the graffiti,Peter had decided to help them and was bring out their lunch and making sure they were well hydrated. Just as they were finishing two older ladies walked over "We saw that you boys were cleaning up,would you like some help?" one asked as she was grabbing a rag and scrubbing off the last bits. "After would you two like to come in the house?" Tino invited "We'd love to!" chirped the taller lady.After another hour of working the five sat down "So,Tino,we see you have some other people living with you..."the smaller more plump lady smiled knowingly. Tino looked down and blushed "Yeah that's Peter," Tino pointed to the 12 year old "and Berwald." he pointed to Berwald. Peter was playing with the dog while the other four were talking. "Well,we just wanted to let you boys know that we're both here for you if the others give you any grief."After dinner the two ladies went home. Later that night after Peter had gone to bed Berwald and Tino were watching the T.V when Berwald looked over to the blonde man next to him "Tino,we've been living together for a while and I figured that I should tell you that..I love you" Tino looked over to Berwald and blushed "I-I feel the same way..." Tino scooted over to Berwald's side of the couch and rested his head on his shoulder,soon enough the two fell asleep. In the morning Peter walked out of his room and saw the two young men cuddling "Called it.." he muttered to himself as he walked to the kitchen to make some tea. Peter looked out the window while the tea was brewing and saw that the ground had been covered in the snow,his pale face lit up as he rushed into the kitchen,completely forgetting his tea as he woke the taller men up "Guys! Last night it snowed!'' he cheered upon hearing these words Tino sprung up with joy "Yes!" Tino got off of the couch and picked Peter up and spun him around "Do you know what this means?" he smiled to the small boy,Peter practically screamed "Christmas!" Berwald woke up and rubbed his eyes "what's going on?" He asked in a rough voice. "It snowed!" giggled Tino. Berwald smiled "hmm.." he pretended to think "Do you guys want hot chocolate?" Peter's head shot up and nodded. Berwald was making the hot chocolate as he was grabbing the mugs he heard a crash and something sliding up the basement stairs,along with the laughs of Peter and Tino 'oh no..' he thought as he walked to the living room to see Peter and Tino putting up a christmas tree. Berwald laughed as he walked over to Tino and kissed his forehead "what are you two doing?" Peter looked up and grinned "Putting up the tree.". Later that day as Berwald was sitting with his new found 'family' he had realized he may not have gotten the love and acceptance from where he expected but this was for sure far better than that.