Leon Urie (Adopted By The Uries) ~COMPLETE~

Chapter One

Leon sighed, tucking his long hair into a beanie and adjusting it so it peeked out like short hair. He put on an oversized hoodie over his baggy long-sleeved shirt and turned to the side to check his body. Still feminine. Oh, well. With his voice, he wouldn't pass anyway.
  That day, even more than usual, Leon wished he had been born a boy. No one would want to adopt this scrawny girl who thought he was a boy.
 There was a quick double-tap on the door. “Girls, twenty minutes! Hurry up.” The finicky voice of the orphanage director, Mrs. Hank, called from outside. She was stressed and in a rush, as usual on an adoption day.
 Leon's roommate, Maddie, rolled out of bed, groaning. “No one's gonna adopt either of us anyway, Estelle.” She slapped the back of Leon's head in passing.
  Leon hated her. She was a bully, as scrawny as Leon but bitchy as all hell, dead-naming Leon with glee at every chance.
 “Shut up,” Leon spat.
  “You see, I don't try anymore. The orphanage can give me their food and money until I'm eighteen, then I'm getting the hell out and fucking some shit up.” Maddie put her manky black hair in a high ponytail and headed out the door, not bothering to change out of her pyjamas.
  Leon took one last glance at his reflection and followed his roommate reluctantly. The truth was, he didn't try much anymore, either.
  The cafeteria was a mess of sad underage girls. The ones who still had a little hope left had dressed up. Leon saw neat cardigans and pleated skirts and cutesy dresses, and ratty jeans, pyjamas, ripped t-shirts.
  Leon slurped down his cereal as quickly as he could, and then sat and listened dully as Mrs. Hanks gave the typical briefing for days when a visitor was coming to adopt. The people coming today were interested in a girl in the range of twelve to thirteen, which narrowed the pool to just eleven people, including Leon. When Mrs. Hank was done, Leon filed into line with the rest of the orphans his age and walked with them to the bright, clean classroom where adopters came to look at and talk to would-be adoptees. Leon had his hands shoved deeply in his pockets, and he curled his shoulders in protectively, head down. He sat down in an empty seat and rested his chin in his palm.
 “Posture, love,” Mrs. Hank told Leon gently, putting a hand hand on his shoulder. Leon jumped, then cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter.
  Leon was always startled when someone touched him unexpectedly. He also freaked out at sudden loud noises and among crowds of unfamiliar people.
  “I'll go get our guests,” Mrs. Hank told the girls and Leon. “Wait here quietly, please.”
  “Psst, I bet Lana's gonna get picked.” Maddie hissed in Leon's ear. Leon jerked away, grimacing as he tried to keep his heart rate down. Maddie continued, “What do you want to bet it's an old witch? Or a child molester?”
  “They don't let people like that adopt,” Leon hissed back. “They do background checks and stuff.”
  “You really think a background check really means anything? It's a form they have to fill out. It doesn't actually do anything.” Maddie seemed overjoyed by this.
  “Leave me alone, Maddie,” Leon muttered.
  “Whatever you say, Essy,” Maddie giggled as the door opened, and Mrs. Hanks came in, leading two people, a man and a woman, both looking like they were in the prime of their life, young, fit, beautiful. The kind of couple who you immediately thought were too good to be real. They seemed vaguely familiar to Leon, but he couldn't place it.
  “Please welcome Brendon and Sarah Urie, girls,” Mrs. Hank said, a slight smile on her face.
  “Hey, everyone,” Brendon, whose black hair was in a slightly messy quiff, looked around at them all. He had glasses and a warm smile. “So, which of you like music?” He asked, grinning a little at the confused whispers that erupted from the small group. A few hands raised, and Leon was surprised to find his own hand in the air. It was true, he did like music a lot. He had a hotchpotch collection of second-hand, skipping CDs and an ancient, also second-hand CD player. The CDs were mostly old jazz recordings, a My Chemical Romance album, an unlabelled, probably illegal copy of an album called A Fever You Can't Sweat Out by an artist unknown to Leon, and some sixties crooner recordings. His favourite CD was another probably-illegal copy called Nothing Above, Nothing Below.
 “Which of you like Frank Sinatra?” Brendon asked, a slight unreadable smirk on his face.
 Leon looked around and realised he was the only one left with his hand in the air.
 The three adults were smiling at him. “Hey, let's start with you, then.” Brendon said with a smile.
  “This is Estelle,” Mrs. Hank said when they'd left the room.
 “Great to meet you, Estelle,” Brendon said, and Sarah smiled gently.
  Leon knew it wasn't Brendon's fault he was dead-naming Leon, but he had to force himself not to cringe when he did so. He didn't know why it bothered him more than usual, but somehow it did.
 “Nice to meet you, too,” Leon said quietly. He always found it hard to look into people's faces directly, and this was no different. He looked at the shoulder of Brendon's denim jacket.
 “Love, why don't you take off your hat? You look so pretty with your hair down,” Mrs. Hank said fussily, trying to take Leon's hat. Leon grabbed it and held it onto his head.
  “I- I'd rather keep it, Mrs. Hank.” He stuttered, not looking at Brendon or Sarah.
 “It's okay, you look very nice either way,” Sarah said gently, and Mrs. Hank abandoned her attempts. “So, you like Frank Sinatra, Estelle?”
 “Um yeah, I- I have a CD. I love his vo-voice.” Leon replied awkwardly, lowering his hands from his hat.
  “You wanna see something?” Brendon unbuttoned the cuff of his jacket and pulled up his sleeve.
 “Whoa,” Leon breathed, impressed, when he saw the tattoo of Frank Sinatra's face on Brendon's forearm. “That's awesome.”
  “Thank you,” Brendon chuckled, pulling his sleeve back down. “So, what else do you like to do other than listen to music?”
 “Um... just... music, really.” Leon glanced at Mrs. Hank hovering at his shoulder. “I don't have lots of hobbies...”
  “You do some art, don't you, dear?” Mrs. Hank prompted.
  “Um... sort of. Just sketches,” Leon blushed. He remembered when Mrs. Hank had snooped into his stuff uninvited. He was still a little angry with her about that. “I- I don't really share it much cos...” Leon trailed off, shrugged.
  “That's okay. As long as you enjoy doing it, you don't have to show anyone if you don't want to,” Sarah said softly, reaching out to touch his shoulder. Her hand hovered for a moment, asking for permission, and Leon smiled at her thankfully and nodded slightly.
  “Well, why don't we go back to the classroom. Mr. and Mrs. Urie, would you like to speak to some of the other girls?” Mrs. Hank asked after a few seconds of silence.
 “Sure,” Sarah said, and her warm hand left Leon's shoulder. Leon came back to reality, and the heavy truth that Leon wouldn't be the one the beautiful people picked to adopt made him bite his lip as he followed the adults back into the classroom and sat down in his seat. One by one, the girls all went into the next room with the adults. When Maddie came out, she smirked at Leon as of she knew just how desperately he wanted to be picked. When the final girl had come back into the classroom, the Uries retreated to talk with Mrs. Hank alone for a moment. Everyone in the classroom, even Maddie, were straining to hear what they were saying, but the door muffled the voices too much, and when Mrs  Hank appeared in the doorway, looking around at them all, none of the children had any idea who was about to leave their midst.
  Mrs. Hank smiled. “Estelle, why don't you come with me,” she beckoned to Leon. Numbly, not quite registering it yet, Leon stood up and followed her into the next room. As he did so, he looked back at Maddie and saw her shocked face.
  The Uries were waiting for Leon, smiling invitingly.
  Leon opened his mouth and said, a little slowly, “So… so you want to adopt me?”
  “Is that something you'd like?” Sarah asked. Brendon smiled hopefully.
 “I- yeah, of-of course,” Leon stuttered, coming to life. It had finally hit him. “Oh my g-god. Yeah!”
 “It's decided, then,” Brendon grinned broadly and turned Mrs. Hank.
 “Lovely- Estelle, did you pack this morning?”
  Leon shook his head mutely. He hadn't even considered that he might get adopted.
  “Well, go on and do that then, love, and meet us in the lobby. Mr. and Mrs. Urie, please follow me. The paperwork is in my office.” Mrs. Hank patted Leon's shoulder affectionately and led the Uries away.
  Leon walked up to his room in shock. He couldn't believe he'd been adopted, and by such good-seeming people. He only hoped with all his might that they wouldn't freak out when he told them he was a boy.
  He didn't have much to pack, only his other pair of boy skinny-jeans, two short sleeved t-shirts, one long-sleeve, pyjamas, some underwear and (hated) bras, a dark green army jacket that he had gotten at a bargain price at a second hand store, his old ratty sketchbook and a ballpoint pen, and his CDs. He put this all in an old duffel bag, and then unplugged his CD player, wrapping the cord carefully and taping it to the back so it wouldn't drag. The CD player's name was Frank, in honour of Frank Sinatra, and had gone through a lot with Leon. He put the old plastic thing under his arm and looked around to check if he'd left anything. He set his things by the door and did his bed neatly, feeling a little sentimental, to his surprise. He'd always hated the orphanage, but now he was leaving so suddenly, he thought he had never appreciated that it was his home despite its faults. The mattress squeaked as he knelt on his bed to straighten the pillow, and he smiled.
  He glanced at the mirror and sighed, tucking his hair into his beanie again. This was going to be scary, but he felt as ready as he'd ever felt.