age 16
Luke shook Michael awake. He wasn't able to go to sleep.
"Luke, what's wrong?" Michael mumbled, turning around.
"I love you." Luke whispered, and Michael sat up.
"I love you too. What's going on, Luke?" Michael asked.
"Do you have a pair of pants I can put on?" Luke asked, looking at his bare legs.
"Of course." Michael said, and stood up, walking over to his drawer. He pulled out a pair of leggings from the drawer of Luke's stuff.
"N-No. Like, boy pants." Luke said, trying to cover his panties.
"Sure, but why? You never sleep with pants on." Michael laughed, throwing a pair of pajama pants over to Luke.
"I just- I don't like showing my legs." Luke said softly, and Michael sat beside Luke and frowned.
"What are you talking about? You love wearing dresses." Michael told him, nudging his arm.
"Not anymore.." Luke muttered.
"You look beautiful in whatever you wear, but this isn't you, Luke. You can wear pants for the rest of your life, and I will still love you the same, but the amount of confidence you display when you wear your dresses is really beautiful. Do what makes you happy, Luke. Not what someone else wants you to do." Michael told him, holding him close.
"I want my dad to love me." Luke whispered.
"I know you do. I understand. I want my dad to love me too, but he hasn't even bothered to meet me. We've made it so far without them. I love you, my mom loves you, your mom loves you. Why do you need him?" Michael asked.
"I don't. I just- when he first came here, I was so excited. I should've been mad because he abandoned me, but I wasn't. I spent all day trying to get ready and I put on my favorite dress, and you couldn't get me to stop smiling even if you tried. But when he saw me, he laughed. I was just a huge joke to him. He thought we were playing a prank on him but when he saw my room and my school pictures, he got so mad. He said I was disgusting and he's glad he was never a part of my life. I just wanted him to say that he loves me, even if he hasn't been there for me, I wanted to know he cared." Luke cried, holding onto Michael.
"Don't let him do this to you. You are so strong. He can't tell you that you're disgusting. He has no right. You are so unbelievably beautiful, Luke. Everything about you is amazing."
"You don't really mean that. You're just saying it to make me feel better."
"Luke, if I didn't mean it would I be sitting here at 4:00 in the morning holding you, trying to make sure you're okay?" He said, and Luke let his tears soak into Michael's shirt.
He softly shook his head, and Michael kissed his forehead, holding him tighter.
