delicate • a collection of the music freaks oneshots

True to Yourself

💛: Music Club
💗: Lander
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At first, it was just for laughs.

When he was 14, he'd go through Hailey's clothes and put them on, putting on ridiculous makeup and posing in front of Hailey and Luke like a model to make them laugh.

It meant a little more when Sean saw him and said that he looked pretty in a dress. Maybe he stared at himself in the mirror a little longer that day when he went to take off the dress. Oh, he does look pretty.

The time his mom, Hailey, and he went to shopping for clothes together. Zander had never been gladder for their height similarity, putting a dress he liked in the cart under the pretense it was for Hailey. When they got home, Bethany came out and whined about wanting to take a dress they just bought, allowing Zander to sneak the dress along with the rest of the clothes they bought for him.

It wasn't anything extravagant. Just a white skirt paired with a blue top. But it meant more than what he could express. He looked so pretty. He twirled around in the dress, it made him feel so... happy.

He never told anyone about the dress.

♡

"Hailey?"

Hailey didn't look up from her homework. She hummed, showing him she was listening.

Zander fiddled with his fingers nervously. He had no idea how he would word it. All he knew was he needed to vent. "Can we talk?"

Hailey noticed the tension in his voice, sliding her science notebook away. "Of course."

"So... I might..."

He fell silent. Hailey's hand closed around his, squeezing.

"I like to wear skirts."

Hailey nodded, not at all judging. She stood up from her desk and hugged Zander. His shoulders sagged, relieved.

"Do you want to try wearing some of mine?"

Zander didn't tell her about the skirt he already had in his closet. "If you don't mind?"

♡

"Wait, that guy—"

"What a weirdo."

"Freak."

The whispers followed throughout the halls and Zander didn't care in the slightest, wrapping his arms around Jake's shoulders protectively and glaring at anyone who pointed at Jake.

"Zander, you don't need to do this," Jake laughed nervously, his tone indicating that Zander definitely needed to do this as he fixed his skirt self-consciously.

"No, I need to do this," Zander said simply to avoid getting cheesy.

They both scurried to the school field quickly, Jake breathing a sigh of relief immediately.

"Are you still feeling bad?"

Jake fiddled with his fingers, unable to meet Zander's eyes. "Not that bad since you were there, but it was still..."

Jake didn't say how exactly it felt. He fixed his skirt again, too aware of the lingering gazes of the low amount of bystanders.

"I'm proud of you."

Jake looked at Zander through surprised misty eyes, the weight of his words crashing down on him, almost bringing him to tears.

Zander sat him down on a bench, his fingers playing with Jake's. "I'm proud of you, okay? Be true to yourself. If this clothing makes you happy, then no one can tell you you're wrong. Don't let them tell you you're wrong."

Jake pulled Zander up immediately, embracing him, and Zander accepted it.

"Thank you."

Thank you, for making me realize I'm not wrong.

♡

"So for Christmas, you're going to wear something red."

"No," Zander refused immediately, and Milly shoved at him playfully.

"Red matches best with your hair! What, would you rather wear green?"

"I'd rather wear purple—"

"You're so boring!"

They both huffed. Their eyes met, and they started laughing, for no reason.

"Okay, fine," Zander resigned. "Just for one day."

They browsed through the men's section, Milly selecting a bunch of tuxedos for herself. She frowned at Zander when he didn't pick anything.

"Don't tell me I'd have to force you to get something red," Milly joked and Zander only looked at her, unsure.

He braced himself. Milly would never judge him, right? "I was just wondering if we could go to the women's section instead..."

Milly stared at him for just a second before smiling brightly, "Fine. But you're still going to have to get something red."

Zander tried to not show how relieved he was, but the way the tension slipped away from his shoulders gave him away. "What's with you and your fixation on red?"

"Well, red is the best color—"

"Absolutely not, it's purple!"

♡

"Mom pleaseeeee? Can we unwrap the gifts now please please please please?"

Shannon sighed, looking down at Bethany. "Fine, you all can."

The little girl cheered, almost throwing herself at the gift Sean had sent her. She missed him a lot.

Zander, Luke, and Hailey too sat on the floor beside Beth, unwrapping the gifts addressed to them. Zander picked up the gift box that Luke brought here when he arrived, looking at it curiously.

"If it's something extremely cheesy, you won't ever hear the end of it," Zander teased him, bumping their shoulders together. Luke flushed, and Zander's curiosity only grew.

He tore the gift wrapper, opening the box. He stared at what was in the box, slowly pulling it out.

"I noticed how you look at skirts whenever we go out together, so I thought that you'd... like it..." Luke broke off, staring worriedly at Zander's completely blank face.

And then Zander broke into a huge smile, looking at Luke with those stars in his eyes that make him feel like he's the center of his world.

"Luke, I don't know how to express how much I love it."

"Well, a kiss will do for now." And Zander kissed him, a small tear falling down his cheek when he closed his eyes, and if Luke noticed it, he didn't mention it.

"I love you. So much. Thank you."

♡

It took people in the school some time to get used to it, but eventually, they just didn't care anymore.

Zander couldn't be more grateful for his friends, Luke too wearing skirts for him. (He was never especially into it, but never against it, either.)

And then one day he saw Elliot wearing a green skirt, and when he waved at Zander shyly when he noticed him looking, Zander felt like he'd made a positive change in this world if only the smallest.