can't change what you don't know

i'll always be here...

*two weeks later*

                   Tatum walked into school to meet Riley, "god I need to stop walking next to you with that tan, you're making me look pasty..." Riley laughed.  Tatum laughed too and looked down at her arms, "I've stopped peeling so hopefully this stays" she shrugged as the pair wandered down the hall to meet Tegan.  Tatum linked arms with the second member of their group but noticed how dull and sad Tegan seemed, "what's up?" She smiled quietly.  Tegan nodded, "nothing, I'm fine" she kept her eyes down.  Tatum didn't want to push, "you sure?" She smiled weakly.  Taken nodded, "mmhmm" she spoke barely over a whisper as the trio made their way into their first class.

                   By lunch time, Tatum still knew Tegan wasn't being her usual perky self, so without attracting any attention to the pair she slid down the line of the cafeteria to speak to her, "are you sure you're okay? You seem a little off" she smiled weakly.  Tegan looked up to her friend then looked around, "I uh, yeah, I'm fine" she shook her head.  Tatum frowned, "hey, if there's something wrong you can tel me..." she placed a hand on Tegan's.  Tegan sighed, "I can't tell you here" she looked around at the school filled cafeteria hall.  Tatum nodded, "well how about you come by my house today and we can talk about it" she opposed, knowing her dad would agree to it since he likes Tegan, he thinks she's a good kid.  Tegan nodded  after processing what she was agreeing to, "sure..." she sighed then moved up the dinner line. 

                   Later that day, roughly around 3:05pm, Tatum met Tegan outside of the school grounds and pulled her phone out to text her dad. 
Tatum: "hey dad, is it okay if Tegan comes over for a while?"
Jay: "yeah that's fine, I'll be at work till around 6 so you'll just have to make yourselves something to eat"
Tatum: "thank youuuu, see you later, I love you x"
Jay: "love you too tink x"

                   Tatum tried to make conversation with Tegan as they walked back to her house but she could tell her friend was still distracted, so she just let it slide and continued getting her to chat and keep her mind on her rather than whatever was bothering her.  It only took them around 10 minutes to walk back to her house and the pair made their way inside, they grabbed some snacks and beverages from the kitchen before running upstairs with their bags just in case they needed them for some reason.  Tatum flopped onto her bed and put the TV on before passing the remote control to her friend to let her pick the film, she smiled when she saw that the film choice was no other than 'infinity war', they both love marvel so much.

                 After about an hour and a half of watching the film, it was now around 5:45pm, and the film was coming to an end, "you wanna talk now?" Tatum turned to face Tegan.  The second teenager sighed but nodded slowly, "please don't get mad or go off on a mad one..." she pre-warned and wished for Tatum to listen to her.  Tatum frowned, "i promise I won't T..." she shook her head and grabbed the girls hand.  Tegan smiled sadly before gulping and taking a deep breath, "my mom left for work this morning but I wanted to talk to them both about something, I decided to just tell my dad there and then, and tell my mom when she gets home since I couldn't keep it a secret any longer, but it didn't really go too well..." she trailed off at the end and looked away from her friend. 

                Tatum frowned, "what it is T? it's alright, you can trust me..." she smiled and brought the girls attention back to her as she squeezed her hand.  Tegan looked at Tatum with tears in her eyes, "I'm bi..." she spoke but her voice was almost broken.  Tatum tilted her head, "okay... that's perfectly okay, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm proud of you..." she brought her friend into a hug as Tegan was brought to tears.  Tegan sobbed into her friends shoulder, "you're not mad or ashamed of me?" She sniffled.  Tatum shook her head, "not one bit T, it's who you are and I love you for that" she rubbed her back, "what happened this morning?" She looked her friend in the eyes.  Tegan sniffled and nodded, "I told my dad but he doesn't accept me, he told me I should think it through and that he doesn't want a daughter who's bi..." she sobbed again. 

                  Tatum shook her head, "don't listen to him T, alright? He's being ignorant and he clearly can't see how much of an amazing person you are, despite what your sexuality. I accept you 100% and my opinion of you is never gonna change, you've got nothing to be ashamed about Tegs, I can promise you that" she brought Tegan back into a hug as the girl broke out into tears again.  Tegan sobbed into the girls shoulder, "I'm sorry..." she shook her head.  Tatum leant on the back of the bed post and shook her head as she held her rather upset friend comfortingly, "don't do that tegs, you've got nothing to apologise for, at all. There's nothing wrong with who you are" she ran her hand through her hair to calm her down. 

                   The pairs chatter must've drowned out the  sound of the door downstairs since jay and arrived home about a minute ago with hailey, "they must be upstairs still..." jay groaned and put his jacket on the peg before wandering upstairs.  He was about to walk into his daughters room when he heard the sounds of sniffling, he stopped at the door where they couldn't see him to just make sure everything was alright, "thanks for being here for me..." Tegan mumbled but it was audible enough for him to hear. Tatum smiled and stroked her hair as Tegan laid on her knee facing the TV, "I'll always be here..." she spoke softly.  Jays heart melted, his child is so selfless and caring, he doesn't know what he did right to deserve her at all.  He stood up straight before smiling softly again then waking downstairs to leave them to it, to leave them to talk through whatever was going on.

Hailey turned around as jay walked back downstairs, "everything alright?" She nodded and handed him a beer as they sat down on the couch. Jay nodded, "yeah everything's fine, it just sounded like they're talking something out. Best just to leave them to it for now" he shrugged and smiled weakly, thinking of everything bad that could've happened. Hailey smiled and nodded, "good idea" she tilted her head. Jay nodded thankfully, she always knows when to agree with him and make his thoughts feel validated. About half an hour later Tegan and Tatum walked back downstairs, "Tegan's gotta go dad" Tatum nodded. Jay smiled, "you needing a ride home hun?" She turned around on the couch. Tegan smiled and shook her head, "no thank you, my moms already outside" she smiled again. Jay nodded, "alright kiddo well I'm sure I'll see you soon" he waved as the teenager left the house, Tatum waving her goodbye in the process.

Tatum closed the door and walked into the kitchen to get some apple juice before wandering through into the living room and sitting down in between the pair, hailey had kind of moved into the house and Tatum was not complaining, she loves her. Jay wrapped his arm around her, "what was that about?" He nodded. Tatum furrowed his brows, "what was what about?" She looked up to him. Jay smiled, "I heard Tegan thank you for being there for her, figured it was best to walk away" he nodded. Tatum sighed but nodded in realisation, "oh yeah, well, Tegan came out as bi but her dad didn't take it very well so I told her I was proud of her and that I accept her, she was just grateful I guess" she shrugged. Jay looked over at hailey and smiled, "is she alright?" He rubbed her arm. Tatum nodded, "yeah, just a bit disappointed in her dads reaction" she smiled.

Jay nodded, "you're a good friend kiddo, never change for anyone" he planted a kiss on her head. Tatum smiled and let out a small laugh as hailey rubbed the teenagers foot which made her laugh even more since she's super ticklish. The trio sat on the couch and watched 'back to the future' for the third time this week then ate dinner, once that was over and done with they played monopoly where Tatum once again couldn't play the game without cheating, she moved her icon out of jail about 10 times even though she was meant to be behind bars and not just visiting. But it was in moments like these when the adults realised how lucky there were, for everything.