Random stories I do

Acceptance

★ Warning: Transphobia, suicide, and hinted domestic abuse ★
~~~

Penny growled as she stormed into her house after a long day of school, a new bruise on her face as she threw down her bag and screamed into her pillow. It was February 8th, 2002. Penny was in her second year of high school, her older brother just two years ahead of her.

She sighed and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Lucas, her brother, was at work by now, unloading hay probably. She looked at her short cut hair in the mirror, how big her chest looked to herself, how big the bruise on her cheek was. "Penny!" Her father yelled. "Come out here and help your mother with dinner!" The girl sighed and took one last look at herself before walking to the kitchen, her parents not even noticing the bruise on her face.
~~~
Penny walked to school about two weeks later with her boyfriend, cringing at every touch. Her eyes were tired, her appearance declining as she now wore baggy hoodies and jeans. She got teased for it, of course she did, everyone found one reason or another to hate her. She made it to class without a scratch that day though, and the next class, and the class after that.

She was on her edge, what were her tormentors planning? To drag her to the bathroom and ruin her bag? To push her in the hall and step all over her? To push her tray out of her hands at lunch and then say she didn't need to eat with how fat she was? She was terrified as she walked around the school, waiting, watching, hoping. Then, in fifth period, theater, her favorite period, she walked in and was immediately attacked, her head being covered in white chalk and the entire class laughed at her, the teacher wasn't there to save her now.

She dropped her stuff and ran, she didn't know where, just ran, ran from the school, from the tormentors, from her boyfriend, from the teachers, everyone. She stumbled and fell in the woods, laying there for a while, maybe an hour, maybe ten minutes. She got up eventually and walked home, knowing her way around the woods. She walked inside and immediately went to her room, closing and locking her door and going to her bathroom.

She threw off her hoodie, along with her tank top under it and looked at her wrapped chest, panting heavily. She ran her hands over the ace bandages, feeling and seeing how it hid her chest but not the heart underneath it. Penny broke down fully, falling to her knees and sobbing, holding herself.
~~~
"Hey Lucas..?" Penny asked softly on the ride to school one morning, now a year later. Penny thought long and hard about what she wanted to say, what she wanted Lucas to know, and what he would hopefully accept. "Yeah?" Lucas asked as he kept his eyes on the road, the leather seats of his black mustang suddenly feeling uncomfortable to her. Silence took over the car for a few moments.

"Nevermind."
~~~
It was now Penny's last year in high school. She kept her head low, avoiding what she could and facing what she couldn't. Lucas had been kicked out of college for fighting, so he helped on the family farm still. Penny stayed in the kitchen with her mom, wishing for another life or body, praying for God to make her mind right, to make the seed of evil in her head go away, to make it better, her prayers were never answered. One night, she finally mustered up the courage to confront Lucas.

"I-I-" She stuttered and tried to find her words as Lucas stood in front of her. "Just breathe little sis, what you're telling me won't make me love you any less." Lucas said with a smile and gently rubbed Penny's cheek. She took a slow breath. "I… I wanna be a boy…" She finally got it out and looked down. "I wanna be called Mark…"

There was silence for a moment before Penny was pulled into a gentle hug. "Alright then Mark." Lucas said softly and tears burned their eyes as Mark let out a small, choked cry and held onto Lucas, breaking down in the arms of his older brother.

The celebration was short lived.
~~~
"No!" Mark's father boomed and threw a beer glass at the wall next to Mark as Lucas rushed to his brother's side. "You're not a boy! You're Penny, a girl! Someone who belongs in the kitchen and doing laundry and cleaning!" He yelled and Mark shook as tears rolled down his cheeks. "You are nothing more!" He slammed his hands on the table as Lucas yelled back but Mark couldn't hear, his mind in another place before he ran off, back to his room, his bathroom.

Lucas slammed on the door with his shoulder, trying to break it down while his mother screamed at her husband. Finally, he got in only to find a blood bath. Mark laid on the ground, motionless and his eyes fading. "MARK!" Lucas cried and rushed over, yelling to his mom to call an ambulance. The next thing Mark knows, he's in a hospital with Lucas sleeping by his side. He was the only one who stayed or even visited.
~~~

It's now 2020, the year of 2010 pushed to the back of Mark's mind as he laid in his husband's arms, playing his beard and giggled. Simon smiled down at Mark and ran a hand through his hair before their massive lab jumped up into their bed and barked, yapping about how it was time for her walk. "I'll get the collar." Mark said softly and kissed Simon gently, their wedding rings glowing in the sunlight that poured in from the windows.

He was happy, finally happy. Lucas carried him through the hardest time of his life and Simon showed up a little after, helping Mark through his top surgery and the healing process. As he stepped out onto the soft grass of the house they had far in a field, close to some nice wood's that were perfect for walks, hikes, and picnics.

Mark gently took Simon's hand and walked with him and his big, blonde lab, smiling brightly as the sunlight poured in front the trees above. He could put 2010 behind him, his parents, everything, because all he needed was Simon, Lucas, and Brittany (his dog), and that simple life was good for him too.