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Not Your Average Teen Pop Star (DarkDreamer9110 x MsBloom)

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"Why not," Leon said with a shrug.
"Who decided that only females of any kind, trans or cis, get to wear certain clothes?" he asked and looked at the camera.
"And also, Male does not mean not-feminine. People are so stuck on traditional gender expressions. Wearing clothes like these ..."
He stood up and turned around to let the camera see his outfit from every angle.
"... does not in itself make me female, or mean that I want to be female. I am still 100% secure as a male, maybe more so than most cishet men who would perhaps feel feminised or sissified if wearing an outfit like this. For me it is mainly about the aesthetics, and comfort as well."
He sat down again.
"And isn't that what is important? That you look good in what you wear and that you are comfortable in what you wear?"
He smiled and looked around the table and the camera followed his eyes until they settled on Ellie.
"What so many people don't understand is that presentation does not equal gender identity. If that was the case then why don't you ask Ellie, for instance, why she is dressed in such a masculine way with her jeans and t-shirt if she is a woman. There is when you think about it nothing specifically feminine in her outfit."
It was not Ellie's turn to stand up and show that Leon was in fact right. She wore nothing that was specifically feminine, at least nothing that was visible.
"And I am as far as I know, as cis as he is," she said.
"Not even if I cut my hair short people would question my gender because of this outfit."
She paused and looked first at Dusty and then at her partner before continuing.
"I mean as you our drummer here knows as well as yourself Adri (who was off camera of course ... It is easier for an AFAB to get away with presenting male than it is the other way around because in the end ... trousers and a shirt are mostly considered unisex. No one raises an eyebrow at an AFAB NOT wearing a skirt or a dress while and AMAB does draw attention if they are wearing anything other than trousers, and it can't be any trousers either, they cannot be too feminine."
She made air quotes around too feminine to indicate that perhaps there was no such thing.
 
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Cassie smiled as Léon and Ellie spoke to emphasize that gender presentation didn't equate to gender identity. She nodded as Ellie mentioned that no one would question her identity despite her dressing masculine. And then Ellie went further, emphasizing that even trans and non-binary AFABs were generally not mocked for dressing in clothing that wasn't explicitly feminine-coded.

"And on the flip side, you have me. I dress high femme. I am all about the feminine look. I am the girliest girl in this band. And yet the people who wouldn't bat an eye at Ellie or Dusty or Adri dressing in "masculine" clothing are the same people who would call Léon things like "sissy,' or 'girly,' or homophobic slurs, or insist that I must be a dude just because I was born with the wrong factory default hardware. It's a whole double standard of BS." She said.

"It's honestly just misogyny. Because what's actually so bad about someone born with a penis wanting to dress in clothes that aren't conventionally masculine? Why aren't cis women berated for dressing masculine? It's because of course a woman would want to be seen as less feminine because femininity is punished, looked down upon, treated as lesser. And conversely, for a man or AMAB to intentionally give up that masculine presentation, to choose to dress as the "lesser" gender, is seen as some kind of mental illness or perversion because why would anyone want to go down the rungs of the ladder of socially imposed gender hierarchy." She added, then looked at André.

"Look at André here. It's agender, and yet because it prefers to dress in conventionally masculine attire, which also happens to align with its AGAB, most people are just gonna accept that it presents masculine."

André nodded. "And just like my twin brother chooses to dress feminine because he likes it despite being very cis, I choose to dress more conventionally masculine because I like it despite being agender. It's comfortable to me. And I'd say that, while Léon brought up both looking good and feeling comfortable in what you're wearing as being important, I'd contend that the latter is actually more important. It doesn't matter if someone else thinks you look bad in something that you feel really comfortable in, that you feel good in. As long as you feel good, as long as you like how you look, that dipshit judging you can get fucked."

Ember nodded. "That all makes a great deal of sense. Thank you all for your perspectives about it." She said. "So you're a very queer band. Three of the five of you are gender-expansive, at least two of you, Cassie and Ellie, aren't straight. I say at least, but I'm not gonna ask any of you who might not be out to out yourselves unless you want to."

André chuckled. "I'm not straight, either. Even if I'm into women, I'm not straight, because I'm not a dude."

Dusty nodded, glancing at Léon. "And I, uh, I'm into men. I may be AFAB, but I'm a trans man. And a guy exclusively into guys is gay. I'm gay. So that's four of us, at least."

Ember chuckled. "Damn. Léon, are you gonna come out and make it unanimous that all five of you aren't straight?" She said, then quickly added, "That was rhetorical."

After giving Léon a chance to respond, however he chose to, Ember nodded. "So my point is, how does a band like that happen? So much queerness in one group."

At that point, Andi walked by, and Cassie waved her over. "Honestly, thank Andi here. She actually approached me and Ellie after our last livestream Q&A, wanting to give us the chance to do some studio work. And the rest went from there."

Adri nodded, glancing at Andi. "So, Andi, you "discovered" Funhouse Sweethearts. But at that time, there were only the two girls. I know Dusty came along not long after, but how did André and Léon happen to get involved?"
 
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It was of course no coincidence that Andi happened to be walking by as the band did their presentation stream. She had been invited to appear and to talk about the band and her involvement with them. Not only was there a point in it that related to her importance to their success but also in the question Ember actually asked, about how she thought of suggesting André and Léon join Cassie, Ellie and Dusty.
"As a record producer I am always on the look out for new talent and when I stumbled onto Funhouse Sweetheart's YouTube channel I knew I had hit gold. The first thing I heard was Heart of a Dreamer and it immediately had me thinking of Blondie."
Andi now smiled at the camera and elaborated.
"To those of you out there who don't know Blondie they were this little outfit from New York back in the late 70s early 80s who managed to combine sweet pop music with the energy of punk, just the same way Ellie and Cassie did. They have of course evolved and grown a lot since then, musically speaking. Partly because Ellie has had more freedom to experiment with her ideas in my studio but also through the addition of first Dusty on drums and percussion and then André and Léon, whom I discovered at about the same time when they were the driving mechanism of a band called Rats in a Can, a rocky outfit that were absolutely brilliant live and could have been so much bigger than they, sadly, are now."

She paused briefly and looked over at the twins.
"Even sadder is the reason the band fell apart," she continued.
"I will let André and Léon elaborate further on what happened but I will say that the reason why Rats in a Can fell apart is also to a very large extent the reason I thought of presenting André and Léon to Funhouse Sweethearts. It was of course not the main reason, that was because I could see the potential of what they could add to the band, and from what has been released so far and from what I know they are working on I would say it couldn't be a better match. Léon and André really pushed the limits of what was possible for Funhouse sweethearts and also opened up for Ellie to put her creativity into sixth gear."
 
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André nodded at Andi's statement about why Rats In A Can fell apart.

When Andi finished her statement about how André and Léon had added to Funhouse Sweethearts, Ember nodded. "I've been in those sessions, and yeah, it's really amazing how the two groups synergized so well. Absolutely cranked their music up to eleven. That was a great call." She said.

Adri looked at André. "So, would you and Léon like to elaborate on what happened to Rats In A Can?"

André nodded. "So, yeah, basically what had happened is, I had been working on figuring out my identity, y'know. Since Léon was always dressing in a more feminine style, I was always getting called more manly, more masculine, "more of a man than Léon," and that wasn't sitting right with me. I didn't feel manhood fit me. But neither did femininity or womanhood. But anyways, what happened is I stumbled upon being agender, and I just ... It felt right. There was a creator on TikTok I followed who used they and it pronouns, and the it part resonated with me.

"I came out to Léon and Ember, who were both naturally accepting, and then to the rest of the band. And, uh, apparently being a bedicked individual who didn't identify as a dude was a bridge too far. Nevermind that Léon was showing up in outfits that would make Ziggy Fuckin' Stardust look masculine. Apparently dudes can dress genderfuck, but someone who was AMAB denouncing manhood while dressing in conventionally masculine clothes was their line. Our lead singer, Clay, he basically told me that if I was too scared to consider myself a man then I should "dress like a fucking twink so real men knew they could fuck me." Nevermind that I'm only really into more fem-aligned people." It said, then glanced at Léon. "You want to take it from there?"
 
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"Sure," Léon said and nodded.
"I think one of the issues Clay had with André's gender identity or lack thereof, as I am sure he saw it, was that André didn't present femme or at least non-masc. I mean like it said I was walking around in outfits that would make Ziggy Fucking Stardust look masculine ..."
(And as if this explanation was following a manuscript ... which to some extent it was ... he took out his phone and held up an image of David Bowie from the mid seventies as he stood up to show off his own outfit once again. Before sitting back down he swiped to another image of Bowie from the same era.)
"... but apparently a male-presenting person rejecting its masculinity without showing any hint of femininity was a step too far for Clay and even if he didn't really say much I think also for Jake, our drummer, who was actually openly gay but totally cis. I think they both would have had a much easier time accepting me coming out as trans-femme than they did with André rejecting gender identity altogether. So ... well ... before Clay had the chance to throw us out of the band we basically told him to go fuck himself, or rather you did Ember, and that's when Andi approached us about what she called queerest band in town."
He paused and looked around the people gathered at the table with a smile before concluding.
"And well ... here we all are, the queerest band in town. And this being LA that says a lot."
 
Ember chuckled. "Hey, he fucked with my peeps. Y'all are like my kid siblings. Course I'm gonna look out for you. Clay was a sack of shit, and Jake was your typical cis white gay guy, looking down on the -TQIA+ crowd. Honestly, I hope those two haven't had any luck finding replacements. And if anyone watching is a musician they've approached, just know, if you're outside acceptable bounds of queerness, they're gonna treat you like shit and you're worth more than that."

Cassie nodded. "The fact is, cis white gay men are in a position of relative privilege and a significant amount of them have this sense of superiority and entitlement about it. They join in the discrimination and persecution of more marginalized parts of the Alphabet Mafia as a way to sort of "buddy up" with the cishet white men. They protect their privilege by witch hunt rules, stoking the fire against more vulnerable targets to keep the leopards from eating their faces. "Oh, we're not the problem, it's all these people trying to break down gender norms and sexuality entirely. They're too queer for us. We're trying to live our lives without rocking your boat, but these people, they're trying to capsize the entire thing." That kind of bullshit." She said.

Ember nodded. "So, as everyone who's been following you for any amount of time already knows, you and Ellie are a couple. The classic childhood best friends turned lovers. But as anyone who knows anything about band dynamics knows, a relationship between band members could tear the whole band apart if it went south in a bad way. Are there any other intra-band relationships going on that might have people placing bets on Funhouse Sweethearts breaking up because of a nasty breakup?"

Cassie chuckled. "Ellie and I have a very strong, very stable relationship, with plenty of support. It's not gonna be our relationship that tanks the band. As for other relationships going on in the band, that's not my place to say."

Dusty nodded, sharing a questioning glance with Léon before speaking. "Drums and bass are the two main rhythmic throughlines of a band, the beating hearts that pump the songs forward. So is it really any surprise that those two hearts are drawn together, beating in tandem, their own rhythmic love story?" He said, taking one of Léon's hands and leaning in to kiss him, getting gasps and whoops of celebration from the audience.
 
After the kiss, that drew out for a while, Léon looked up, still holding Dusty's hand.
"I don't know about the whole bass and drums thing really, I mean sure it is the pulse and heartbeat of the music, and I did feel a connection the very first time we played together but ... for me it was more like I understood for the first time what André and it's partner had, that connection that just defies everything and creates a sort of world within itself. That's how I felt when I first saw Dusty ... and sure, I suppose the music played a part because we really clicked as musicians right off the first bar."
"And they are so cute together," Ellie said with a giggle and winked at the couple.
"Who knows maybe in a year or so we'll have a big double wedding, with perhaps a few additional, complimentary ceremonies on the side."
She said nothing more about but the smiles she presented to both Adri and Ember might perhaps have been clues to what she meant to anyone who knew that the romantic relationships within the band was a bit more complex than they had so far indicated.
"And well ... Unless there is anything else you want to ask I think it is about time we got ready for the musical treat we have in store for you ..."
 
Dusty blushed as Léon spoke. "Yeah. The chemistry was ... Undeniable. Things just clicked. It's our own amazing love story. And Léon is really just ... An amazing boyfriend. I can't imagine anyone else measuring up. I am so blessed to have him." He said.

Cassie chuckled at the double wedding idea. "Maybe. Hell, maybe a triple wedding. André, you gonna put a ring on your girlfriend's finger?"

Mel, who was sitting in a table off to the side, chuckled. "The only ring it puts on me doesn't go on a finger!" She called out with a smirk.

Cassie snorted a laugh, and André smirked. "Yeah, it goes on something a bit lower. And sometimes she puts that ring on me." It said casually. "And let me tell you, if it gets stuck or difficult to remove, lube. All the lube. Ice cubes and cold water, too. Helps shrink things enough to slip it off."

After the round of laughter subsided, Cassie spoke. "So yeah, I think that's everything, and we do have quite the musical treat planned to end the evening off. You're about to witness the first live performance of the Coming Out EP." She said as the band got out of the booth and headed towards where their instruments had been set up in the performance area.
 
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Most of the band chuckled, giggled or outright laughed at Mel's comment and André's reply and then they all got up and walked out of the camera's view for a moment. Before following them the camera focused on Andi who was now sitting all along in the booth.
"It has been a joy and a trip to ride along on this first leg of the second part of Funhouse Sweethearts' journey towards I don't know what heights they might eventually reach but the buzz is on and it is getting louder with each day, hour, minute ... So to all of you newcomers out there ... if you want to be able to say you were there, and a fan, at the beginning tonight might be your last chance to ge onboard the train because it is about to take off like a rocket. This is the first time the play live as a full band and I for one cannot wait for them to get started."

The camera now panned around the restaurant until the stage, and on it the band, came into view. They were all set up with Cassie front and centre, Ellie on her left side, Léon on her right with André and Dusty slightly in the background behind their instruments. The camera zoomed in on them one by one as they were still preparing, Ellie was fine-tuning her guitar, Léon was plucking random notes, Dusty had already begun a steady beat by tapping his right stick against the rim of the snare. It was an image of a band full of nerves but also of expectation who didn't quite know how their new material would be received live. It had of course had quite a few unique listeners on Spotify but still. It was very different from what they had previously done.

"... 3 ... 4," Ellie whispered and the band began.
 
Of course, the band got their "Funhouse Sweethearts forever" ritual out of the way as Andi spoke, and were in position in time for the camera to focus on them

Cassie's own zoom in would show her at the mic, clenching and unclenching her fist around it as her eyes scanned the crowd, forcing herself to breathe normally as her other hand tapped the mic to check it was on.

Ellie counted them in, and the band started.

It was an experience to be performing the songs live as a full band, for multiple reasons, not the least of which was that this was the fulfillment of a long-held dream of Cassie's, a major milestone on a long road that still stretched ahead of them. Their futures would hopefully be bright.

As they played, Cassie's inner performer kicked in, and soon she was dancing around the stage, moving between and around the other band members, the passion in her voice and the others' performances evident.

While Not Your Average Teen Girl was arguably the true passion project of the songs, Out Of The Closet, written as it was directly based on the experience of Cassie's public coming out at school and that entire day's drama, was where Cassie truly got into the zone. It was like the rest of the world disappeared, the band, the stage, and their music the only things that mattered. Her voice shifted tone as each emotional transition occurred in the song, bringing the emotions out in her voice as well a sthe lyrics. Her mind flashed through each moment of the day, from the moment of terror when Keith slammed her into the locker, to the relief as she escaped, to the moment before the assembled school as she spoke about who she was, through the events of the rest of the day. Her heart and soul bared through her music, as the last notes rang out, Cassie returned to the present, staring out at the crowd, which remained silent for a moment.

And then cheers and applause erupted through the restaurant, and Cassie smiled.
 
Ellie could barely be happier once the nerves faded as she began her first solo of NYATG and though she still remained mostly in the background on stage she took a few beats to lift her right hand from the neck of the guitar and let it touch Cassie's hair as she danced by. Léon was much more extrovert on stage, dancing around with Cassie when she passed him, taking the front stage by her side to help excite the audience and even if it was Ellie, from her background position who was leading the band musically, it was Léon and Cassie who were driving them forward with their energy. She did join the group at the front of the stage for the middle section, and so did the main composer/lyricist of that section, having kept herself perhaps even more in the background than Ellie usually did. She quickly withdrew again as the bridging solo into Out of the Closet began, and with it the performance seemed to lift to an even higher level. Everything just flowed and the intensity grew, even in the softer parts of the song there was so much energy, so much pure joy of performing and by the time of the last burst of energy with every instrument just making as much noise as possible with Cassie wailing like a banshee over it Ellie was exhausted, blissful but exhausted (and sweating as if she had run a mile as fast as she could).

All she really wanted when they walked off stage was to go back to the dressing room, shower and just close her eyes, but suddenly a reminder of what stardom would be like, now that they were on the verge of a breakthrough, presented itself in the form of a very androgynous kid in the early to mid teens ho came up to Cassie as the band were still hanging around the stage, not wanting to seem like they were rushing off.
"Can I..." the kid began and looked really shy.
"... take a selfie with you ... or more like ... if one of my dads could take a picture of us, like the whole band but ..."
The kid looked up at Cassie with starstruck eyes.
 
It was quite interesting to see Léon taking a more extroverted role in the performance, dancing and using his stage presence much as Cassie was. As the songs progressed, their movements would periodically bring them closer, and Cassie couldn't help but appreciate the passion and energy, catching herself staring at him more than once as he played his bass. Their eyes caught a couple of times, the energy between them undeniable, both pouring their hearts into their craft, Cassie's words weaving an image as Léon's bass drove the feelings home.

As they finished up the performance, Cassie smiled at her other bandmates, holding Léon's gaze for a moment longer than the others'. "That was incredible." She said.

And then the kid was there, excited but nervous, going on about wanting a picture with the band. Cassie smiled, glancing at the others before nodding. "Sure thing, kid." She said happily, looking around to see if she could spot the kid's parents. "Tell you what. We'll take the picture, then your parents can text or email me a copy, and we'll print that off, sign it, and mail it to you. So that way you get an autographed picture with us. Sound good?"
 
After a few pictures had been taken with the band in different poses and one or two with just Cassie Ellie decided that enough was enough and politely explained that the band was tired and needed a bit of time to themself.
"As much as I do love the attention the band is starting to get it can be really exhausting at times," she said almost apologetically in the back room before walking into one of the two smaller shower rooms, undressed and showered for at least fifteen minutes with smile on her face. She was happy not only that the performance had been good, better than good if she was honest, but also that with the way Léon had so naturally taken to the front Cassie now had a partner live that she could feed off and bounce her stage presence off. Ellie had never been able to fill that role, nor had she ever had any desire to. She wanted to focus on the music.
"I'm not going to go all Brian Wilson on you but that was such a relief to see you perform like an actual pop star," she said to Léon as she came back out still drying her hair.
"And I don't know about everyone else but I could eat two of Dad's lasagnas all by myself."

That said she walked over to Cassie and gave her a kiss.
"Great show babe. See you outside."
She walked back out of the dressing room and sat down with Adri, a blissful smile on her face from the gig.
"That was unexpected," Adri said and then leaned in for a kiss.
"Yea maybe I did come off a bit ... I dunno ... bitchy?
"Not the kid, they were fine and got more than they expected," Adri said.
"I meant Léon."
"Maybe. I too tired and too happy to think," Ellie said and called for one of the waitresses to order a small snack while waiting for the rest of the band to join them for dinner.
"And a Mojito."
"I'll just have water," Adri said.
"I'll take the same as Ellie," said Andi and joined them.
"Look L," she continued as she sat down at the table.
"What happened back there is part of the job y'know. Soon I expect you might actually need some sort of ... I dunno ... guards to handle a growing crowd of fans just like that kid. I think you will learn in time. Cassie probably last among you. She is so free and generous with her love for the fans. Perhaps a bit too much."
 
Cassie had smiled bashfully at Ellie when the guitarist had chivvied the band towards getting cleaned up and settling down from the performance. It had been such an experience to actually be engaging with fans, and Cassie had gotten a bit carried away and wrapped up in making the experience fun and enjoyable for the kid, who's name, it turned out, was Kai, and they were non-binary and had, like Dusty, been inspired to come out because of Cassie.

André had pulled Cassie aside while Ellie was in the shower. Apparently it, like Ellie and probably almost everyone else, had noticed the way Léon and Cassie had meshed onstage. "Seriously, the two of you ... If I didn't know you were a lesbian, I'd think there was sexual tension between you two. As is, there was definitely chemistry. You two, you're born performers. And you synergize really well."

Cassie shrugged. "I mean, I guess. It really was neat to have someone I could play off of more. Ellie ... Ellie's never really been the frontperson type. She just wants to make music. Me ... It's about the performance. It's about the attention, about showing the world who I am. I thrive in the limelight. And Ellie ... She'd rather be like Ember was in the performance, showing up to do her bit and then fading out of view. And even when she's out there, she's not interested in the attention. Léon ... I mean, it felt like I was performing with David Bowie or Freddie Mercury. It ... It was strange. I liked it."

When Ellie returned, Cassie took her turn to get showered, and then as the other bandmates cycled through, Cassie found her Mom and pulled her aside to talk.

When they found privacy in Eric's office, Madison looked at her daughter. "Okay, honey, what is it?" She asked.

Cassie sighed. "I liked getting to meet that kid, Kai. It's ... Strange to have fans that I'm directly interacting with. But in a good way. It just ... I have to be a good role model. I have to be someone people like me can look up to with pride. I'm on the verge of potentially becoming a household name, one of the big trans people. That's a lot of responsibility. I have to be someone worth looking up to, someone who deserves that trust."

Madison nodded. "Cassie, you were terrified of coming out to your dad and I when you were a kid. But you faced that challenge with your head held high. Unashamed. It took strength to do what you did. You have only grown stronger as a woman since. You have never backed down from a challenge, you have always risen to the occasion. You have never stopped fighting for what's right. You are going to be a light for so many people like you. You are going to fight for them with everything you have. I know you will, because that's who you've shown yourself to be." She said, pulling Cassie into an embrace. "And I know your dad would tell you the same."

Cassie nodded. "Thanks, Mom, I needed to hear that."

Madison nodded. "Now, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Cassie blinked. "Uh, sure. What it is, Mom?"

Madison chuckled. "Your bassist, Léon."

Cassie groaned. "God, does everyone think that he and I are together now? We work well together onstage. That's it. There's respect, yeah. Admiration, sure. Chemistry, definitely. But it's entirely platonic. We are not fucking!" She said exasperatedly.

Madison smiled. "Honey, I know. You're a lesbian, and quite uninterested in him that way. But you two should definitely consider coordinating your choreography for concerts and stuff. The energy you two bring together, the way you work with each other ... The performance you can give would be elevated by it significantly."

Cassie blushed. "Sorry. You're not the first one to point that out. André had a talk with me about him. It feels like everyone's going out of their way to tell me how amazing Léon and I are onstage together. I just ... It's weird. I've got some thinking to do. I'll talk to people about it when I'm ready, whether that's you or dad or Joan or Sabrina or all of you."

"I know, dear. And we'll be here to listen about it." Madison said. "No go hang out with your band."

One perk of her dad owning the restaurant was that they always got peak service, and when Cassie joined the others, the last one to do so, she smiled as one of the waitresses came over immediately to get her order.

André, who had made it a point to keep an eye on the band's social media stuff, smiled. "That livestream did pretty good. A lot of comments about the performance, lots of praise for Cassie and Léon, and more than a few about the "mystery guest vocalist" we had on backing vocals and during the Come Out segment. Seems Ember got quite a lot of people's attention."
 
That evening as the restaurant was about to close and the rest of the band was getting ready to leave Ellie hung around wanting some time alone to talk to Eric about something that had bothered her since the barbecue incident as she had begun to refer to it as in her head. She wanted to make a point, to the world and to Luke and Gloria, that what they had done was in no way shape or form ok. She wanted to make a personal statement, a very public but personal statement and in what little alone time she had since Adri moved in with her and Cassie she had written long random texts about the experience, her feelings of being disowned by a man she no longer had any form of respect for, nor any desire to have any further contact with. At the top of one of the pages she had written #EricIsMyDad. Within this there was also a lot of thoughts about Alice and her situation (growing up as a closeted lesbian in a bigoted family that would almost certainly reject her the moment she came out. At first the idea had perhaps been to let Cassie rewrite it all into a song or two but it had grown beyond that and she was starting to lose perspective on her notes.
"I just don't really know what to do with it all," she said as she sat across from Eric nursing a large cup of coffee after having told him all about what she had written, read him some passages and talked at length about her worries for Alice's imminent future.
"I mean I know there will be consequences if I go public with this but the world needs to know. I need the world to know, and don't tell me to talk to my moms about it because of the potential legal issues for slander and what not. I'll talk to them once I know what to do with all this."
 
Eric wasn't surprised that Ellie wanted to talk to him. Aside from the fact that Eric had always been a father figure and surrogate dad to her, he had always made a point to make himself a safe person for her to talk to, and the two had, courtesy of the unorthodox family dynamics of the Spencer-Clayton clan, had many conversations over the years about how Ellie felt about having basically been raised by her best friend's dad. In fact, on more than one occasion the idea of trying to talk Luke into surrendering his parental rights so Eric could formally adopt Ellie had been raised. That was, of course, a moot point now that Ellie was legally an adult.

As they spoke, Ellie talking at length about her feelings around Luke and Gloria and the entire ugly mess around all of that, Eric listened intently.

When Ellie finally asked him for advice, he smiled, reaching out to take her hand before speaking. "Ellie, you know I have been there for you your entire life. Even before Luke left, even before the rift between you two started, I was always there for you. I first held you in my arms the very day you were born. I changed your diapers. I watched your first steps. I heard your first words. I have loved you as my own daughter, as the daughter I never thought I'd have before Cassie came out to us. I helped raise you from day one. I am going to be there for you now, whatever you decide. If you have to do this, you have to do it. I will back you up. I will support you. I love you, Ellie, as much as I love Cassie. Unconditionally, unfailingly, unashamedly. You are my daughter in all the ways that matter to me. I am your dad in all the ways that matter. I am honoured to have you in my life, to help you with whatever you need. You are my daughter. You always have been."

"I know you like music, instrumentals moreso than lyrics. What is important to you about this statement you want to make? Do you want to convey the specifics, or do you want to convey vibes? Maybe an instrumental track that sounds like what you feel, with a single powerful declaration at the end, either denouncing him as your father or proclaiming you aren't his daughter? And I can do a counterpart track where I claim you as my daughter?"
 
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Ellie nodded. It was in many ways a brilliant idea an even as Eric offered to do a counterpart to claim her as his daughter ideas were already popping into Ellie's head.
"I think I might need to buy a new distortion effect for that though," she muttered to herself before looking up at Eric and giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks dad. I know exactly what to do now. I just need to talk to my moms first about y'know ... potential legal issues.

Half an hour later Eric dropped her off outside her house and then parked the car on the next drive way.

Adri was in the shower by the time Ellie came home and even though she had already showered once she snuck into the bathroom, undressed and then stepped into the shower with her lover just resting her head against their chest.
 
Cassie had opted to help André, Léon, and Dusty get their equipment back home, taking the opportunity to get a chance to talk to Léon about the way the two had played off each other's energy during the performance.

"So yeah, there was definitely a chemistry between us up there on stage. I mean, not a sexual one, obviously, because I'm a lesbian and, as femme as you are, you're still a very cis dude. But chemistry nonetheless. My mom suggested we play into that for our future performances and stuff. Our concerts and the like. Choreography and stuff. Lean into how we play off each other. And I think she's right." She'd said as they helped Dusty unload his drums at his house.

Once that was done, Cassie looked over at Ember. "How are you doing, babe?"

Ember smiled. "Good. It was ... It was good, getting up there and performing with the band. First time I've done anything like that in public in years." She said.

Cassie nodded. "Do you want me to go to your apartment with you three, stay with you tonight?"

Ember shrugged. "I mean, if you want to stay. But it would feel weird having you to myself after a performance. I think your other partners might want you."

Cassie nodded. "Okay, babe."


Eric smiled as he watched Ellie go into her house before he went into his own. As he made his way into the kitchen, he saw Madison and Joan at the dining room table, Madison smiling over a cup of tea.

"So, what did Ellie want to talk to you about?" She asked.

"Stuff about Luke. It's not my place to say more, but she's going to be talking to you two about it soon enough. In the meantime, though, there was something else I wanted to check with you two about. Something I want to do for her, if I can and if she wants it."

Madison cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Like what?"

Eric smiled. "She's my daughter in every way except blood and the eyes of the law. We can't do anything about the blood thing, but the legal perspective ... I know when she was still a minor we couldn't legally change that without Luke giving up his rights, but now that she's at the age of majority, is there some way we could do something similar?"

Madison chuckled, setting her tea down before standing up and walking over to Eric. "Eric, Joan and I are civil and family attorneys. if there were such a way to do that, we would probably have encountered it before, maybe even handled a few ourselves." As Eric's face began to fall, Madison smirked. "Fortunately, there is just such a thing, and Joan and I have handled a couple before. It's called adult adoption, and it doesn't require parental consent, only that of the adopter and adoptee, and any spouses involved. Plus there's some paperwork if Joan wants to keep her legal status and rights as Ellie's mom. But the point is, as long as you both want this, it can happen. We can talk to the girls, draft up the letter to file, and get all that rolling." She said.

Eric smiled, nodding. "I want to do it. We can talk to them tomorrow." He said.


Cassie had arrived not long after Eric dropped Ellie off, and upon hearing the sound of the shower, walked to the bathroom. She smiled as she saw Ellie and Adri embracing. "You two look great together." She said happily.
 
While Ellie's mind had been filled with all kinds of rather serious thoughts, many of which were depressing to think about - Luke and Gloria and the way they had treated Cassie, not only the complete lack of acceptance of Cassie as a person but the total disregard of how it would affect her and the already very fragile relationship she had with Luke (her biological father) and with her half sisters (She really hoped Alice was alright and that Andrew had her back against the FARTy TERFness that permeated her home and that he would help her come out to her parents when he felt ready for it) - but the moment she saw Adri's naked form in the shower these thoughts were thrown into a box and hidden in the basement.
"I don't know how you make me feel so safe when you hold me," she said without looking up at her lover, who aid nothing in response because they felt it unnecessary.
The truth was after all that they had not known each other all that long but still Adri's arms was the safest place Ellie knew, even safer than when Cassie held her but in a very different way. She only just had time to think to herself how fortunate she was to have so many wonderful people in her life, Adri, Cassie, their moms and dad and at the thought of that almost had started to cry because her sisters did not have this in their family.

"Oh hey," Adri said and Ellie turned her head to face Cassie.
"We do don't we?" Adri continued with a smile on their face.
"We could look better though ..." Ellie said with a playful smile
"If you joined us."
The three of them embraced briefly before Adri sent their two lovers out of the shower to allow them to finish washing up. They would join them in the bedroom later.

By the time she got there Ellie and Cassie were already quite busy with each other, both of them still vibrating with all the energy from their performance.


They did not sleep much that night. It was already well past dawn when Ellie finally dosed off with Cassie on her left side and Adri's light comforting snore on her right. When she woke up again no more than a few hours later there were two missed calls on her phone (Which she almost never muted when going to bed but had begun to now that she no longer slept alone) from Andrew - the first one was from 7:55 am, the second fifteen minutes later - and five text messages spread out over about half an hour that she assumed were all from him which made it seem rather urgent. Ignoring the texts for the moment she was just about to call Andrew back while the coffee was brewing when the doorbell rang semi-desperately.

With signals going through to Andrew in her ear she wrapped her black silky kimono tightly around her otherwise naked body and went to open the door.
"Ellie ... good ... Is Alice with you?" Andrew's voice came through just as Ellie opened the door and saw her sister standing there with a huge duffel bag and looking like someone who has been travelling a lot by foot, like for instance from Modesto to Pasadena.
Ellie hoped to all that was sacred to her that this was the case and that her little sister hadn't been hitchhiking.
"I took the bus most of the way," Alice said as if she had read her big sister's mind.
"Yea," Ellie said to Andrew and nodded at Alice to come in.
"She looks a bit ragged but she seems ok," Ellie added to set Andrew's mind at peace and then said she'd call him back later after she had talked to Alice.
"I'm sorry," Alice said before Ellie could get a word in.
"Mum's just lost it. She and Dad are constantly yelling at each other about you, Cassie, Andrew and ... me. Apparently Mom can't believe any daughter of hers can be a fucking queer, her words not mine, though she seems pretty damned certain How It Happened. She blames you and Cassie for, what was the word she used again, brainwashing me with your perversions."
Alice took a deep breath and Ellie just stared at her, unable to speak, in shock over what she had just heard.
"Can I stay with you ... please. At least for I dunno ... the summer."
Ellie didn't know what to say or do other than to make breakfast for her sister and then as Alice gobbled down her pancakes and fresh coffee she first went upstairs to wake up Cassie and Adri to let them know before getting dressed to go next door to talk to her moms and dad about it.
 
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The night was a hell of a thing, the energy from the performance still coursing through Cassie and Ellie. When sleep finally came, it wasn't to last. The ringing doorbell started rousing Cassie, and, after several minutes futilely trying to return to sleep, she stretched and sat up before checking the time on her phone. There were a few missed calls and a flood of texts from Andrew (they'd swapped numbers so Cassie would have another way to keep an eye on Ellie's sisters), and as Cassie checked out the texts and voicemails, her eyes widened.

She was at the bedroom door when she heard the voices of Ellie and ... Fuck, that was Alice!

She tried to smile as she saw Ellie coming up the stairs. "Guessing Andrew blew up your phone, too?" She asked, then nodded down the stairs. "How bad is it? Is she okay?"


The Spencer-Clayton-Moore clan (plus Alice) was fully gathered in the parental residence, and after Alice laid out what had been transpiring, Madison sighed. "Okay, the first thing we need to do is make sure her parents know she's here and she's safe. And that she came here freely without any of us knowing. I wouldn't put it past that bitch Gloria to claim Alice was kidnapped or lured here by Cassie, if that FART cunt's gonna spew that 'social contagion' garbage."

Eric nodded. "We'll probably want to get CPS involved as well. If Alice ran away because she doesn't feel safe with Gloria ... What are our options for getting her out of that environment?"

"It depends." Joan said. "A CPS investigation will have to happen, obviously. If it's found that her home environment is unsafe or detrimental to her physical and mental well-being, we can see about getting her removed. Put some words in the right ears, we could maybe swing it to where we get guardianship. Or maybe this will get through to Luke and he'll leave Gloria, fight for custody of the girls. But there's no way Ellie will be able to keep Alice here legally, even for the summer, not without a stable means of supporting her."

Madison nodded. "You know, if Luke finally decides to do right by his kids, fights Gloria for custody, he could use a good attorney. Maybe we can make some recommendations." She said.

Cassie sighed. "I'm sorry. All this is my fault. If I hadn't made such a big deal about my—"

"Cassie, no. It's not your fault. You chose to live your life openly and unapologetically, be your authentic self. Gloria not being able to deal with that and turning out to be a massive transphobe and homophobe is not on you. And let's be honest, even if you and Ellie weren't in the picture, Gloria would still have a problem with Alice being gay." Eric said.
 
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"For the most part I think. At least she isn't physically hurt but I can only imagine the damage my FART bitch step mother ..."
Ellie stopped, shook her head and wrinkled her face in disgust before revising.
"No ... I won't grant that bitch such a title. She may be married to the man who donated his sperm to impregnate my mother, one of them at least, but she has no right whatsoever to be called my step mother."
She took a deep breath and calmed herself down.
"She wants to stay here at least for the summer and personally I would let her stay as long as she wants to, I mean I know it might mean trouble but I can't just send her back in good conscience."


As the clan, or rather the clan's parental units, discussed the issue of what to do legally Ellie sat quietly in a large armchair with Alice on her lap and her arms wrapped tightly around her sister. Alice had begun to cry, almost hysterically, as she told what she realised in that moment was her extended family, all of them: Joan, Madison, Eric, Adri and Cassie, not just Ellie. Even Andrew was in a manner of speaking present on Ellie's phone. Neither of the two sisters liked hearing that it would be impossible for Alice to stay for the summer. Ellie almost offered to get a summer job, maybe waitressing at Eric's restaurant, or maybe a paid internship at Andi's studio. That way she'd be able to combine music with a stable way of supporting her sister, but she also realised that it would probably not be enough for CPS to accept her as even a temporary guardian, at least not without a lengthy process of investigation. Maybe in the long run but not quickly enough to let Alice stay for the summer. Not without at least one of Alice's parents consent.

She perked up a little at the mention of this perhaps being the final straw Luke needed to finally take a stand for his children and do right by them.
"From what I heard from my mom," Andrew interrupted,
"Luke's taken Megan and moved into a motel. Apparently he has given Gloria a month to get out of the house."
"So he finally grew a pair then," Joan said with a smile.
This news did put things in a much brighter light.
"You're both divorce lawyers," Ellie said to her moms giving them both a meaning glance.
"Can't you two help?"
"I can't," Joan said.
"Or rather I suppose legally I can since neither Alice nor Megan are my children but any half-decent lawyer Gloria can get hold of would argue bias. And the same would be true for Maddie as well, considering the fact that Gloria are accusing you and Cassie for having brainwashed Alice into thinking she doesn't like boys. As ridiculous as that idea is there are sadly judges that might actually see it as a reason to rule in her favour."
"I'll just keep running away," Alice suddenly said and sat up straight in Ellie's lap.
"If they try to force me to live with ... her."
Tears then welled up in her already red eyes and she turned her face back against Ellie's chest.
"I swear I will," she sobbed.

"Good thing the bitch doesn't know about me too then," Adri said having been silent for most of the discussion as they felt they were too new a member of the clan to really understand the underlying conflict with Ellie's biological father and his new wife on one hand and the Spencer-Clayton family on the other.
Ellie smiled at her partner and reached out a hand to them. She then looked up at Cassie to confirm what Eric had told his daughter but before she managed to get a word out Alice tore herself away from her sister and threw herself at Cassie.
"NO. Don't you dare take the blame for any of this, not you, not Ellie."
Her face was flushed with anger and wet with tears.
"The only one to blame here is ... my ... mum."
She then burst into a violent sob again this time burying her face against Cassie's chest.

Ellie stood up and walked over to put her arms around Alice and Cassie and moments later Adri joined her.
 
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Cassie smiled as Alice refused to let her take any of the blame for what had happened and returned the hug.

Madison nodded, clapping her hands together. "Okay, here's the plan. Alice, you're serious, right? That you'll keep running away rather than live with Gloria any longer because you don't feel safe around her because you're gay? You're willing to go on record about that? So here's what we do. Eric will call CPS. We'll lodge the complaint against Gloria, get that whole thing rolling on our end.

"Andrew, text Megan and have her tell Luke that he needs to be prepared to give his own statements about if he feels Gloria is safe for the girls to be around. And he needs to be the one to suggest that, given the impending likely to be very messy divorce, the girls would benefit from being in a stable environment like their sister's house for the summer, or failing that, mine, Joan, and Eric's. That will count in his favor in the custody proceedings because it shows he genuinely wants what's best for the girls.

"Joan, we have colleagues who know other lawyers in Modesto who are qualified, right? Start making calls. Find Luke a good divorce attorney.

"Ellie, Alice, you're with me. We're going to call Luke and have a conversation with him.

"Cassie, Adri, you two are on emotional support duty. The rest of us are gonna be doing some very taxing emotional labor the next few hours. It's important that we have some of us staying fresh and emotionally available to help keep the rest of us from getting too stressed or overwhelmed.

"You all have your assignments. Let's go." She concluded.
 
Still clutching Cassie Alice nodded att Madison.
"I will," she confirmed and then turned her head back against Cassie's chest still crying even if it was a lot less hysterical.
"I will go on record to tell the world what a FART my mum is," she added between sobs.
"Maybe not in those words though," Ellie said with a smile as she saw Gloria's stunned face before her when she had spat it in her face.

As soon as Madison had laid out her plan Joan gave an approving nod and withdrew to one of the rooms upstairs, the one that had until recently been Cassie's, and now been made into her home office, right next to Madison's. She had a good idea who to call.

Luke wasn't surprised to hear from his daughters but he had expected it to be Joan with them. It didn't matter though. He listened first to Madison when he presented the reason for them calling and then to his sobbing second daughter as she told hit that she hated her mum, even called her a bitch which normally he would have chided her for, and that she would never accept having to live with her ever again.
"I'll just keep running away Dad," she said unceremoniously.
There was a moment of profound silence before she added that one day she would be old enough that no one could force her to go back. Her voice was harder as she spoke those words than Ellie had ever heard it. The way she said it sounded exactly like a threat.
"I knew she was a bit old-fashioned when I met her," he began to explain, maybe more to Ellie than to Alice of Madison.
"But you must believe me I never imagined that she ... I mean sure I've heard her ... but not like that ... not before ..."
He wasn't doing very well and Ellie interrupted him to say that he couldn't have been that blind, not for that long. Her voice sharp and distancing.
"She's been a really good mum to Alice and Megan until now, and she has tried to be a good stepmum to you too Ellie. I'm not saying it's your fault you never got along, just that she did try but you never clicked I suppose."
Ellie listened impatiently wanting nothing more than to tell him to stop making excuses for his transphobic wife.
"I probably could have done more at that barbecue. No ... I should have ... I was just as stunned as everyone else, I guess, when Gloria said what she said, the way she did and then you on top of that. You know I love you Ellie, I hope you do, and that I am proud of you. I was actually very proud of what you and Cassie has accomplished when Alice first played me your songs."

"Right, Ellie said to interrupt him.
"You wasted your chance with me. I just can't forgive you, no matter why you didn't handle it. It just hurt too fucking much. But now you have a chance to do right by your other two children. Don't waste that one as well. Stand up for them and their rights to be whoever they are, no matter what they are."
Here voice rising a bit as she spoke, rising and trembling.
"Now I want you to give Alice permission to stay with me for the summer, since you and your FART wife ruined my visit to her and Megan."
"Alice can stay with you for the summer as far as I am concerned. It would probably be for the best if she didn't see too much of the fighting, or had to spend any time with Gloria for a while."

There was a brief pause where the three of them could hear Luke talking away from the phone, probably with Megan to let his youngest daughter know that her sister was with her other sister and almost certainly wouldn't be coming back before school started again. She could clearly hear him asking if she too wanted to spend the summer with Ellie.
"Is it too much if you take Megan too, for the summer," he then asked knowing fully well that whatever else they might be the Spencer-Clayton family group would support both his youngest daughters and probably take them in as if they were a natural part of the family.
"I don't see why not," Joan agreed.
"She too would probably benefit from not seeing you and the bitch tear into one another," Ellie said without even asking Madison if it was ok.
She already knew it was. It was just how the Spencer-Clayton clan did things.

Before she broke into sobbing herself she took Alice's hand and stormed off back to the emotional support unit and threw herself in their safe comforting arms.
 
Madison couldn't help but smile as Ellie refused to let Luke's excuses sway her. Seeing the young woman she had raised practically as her own daughter stand up to the parent who had failed her made Madison so proud.

She had nodded at the suggestion of Megan being sent their way as well, and after Ellie stormed off with Alice, she returned her attention to Luke. "We'll be happy to take her. Go ahead and get the ticket booked. We'll reimburse you. And, Luke ... After everything that's happened, I hope you do better for Alice and Megan than you ever did for Ellie. You failed her. And if you want to atone for that, you can make sure Alice and Megan never feel the way you've made Ellie feel over the years. Don't fuck this up. Joan and I are happy to help you, for old times' sake and the sake of the girls, but you have to do better. Don't disappoint me."

Cassie had been waiting patiently, making coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and preparing a variety of snacks, along with a playlist of songs. When she saw Ellie and Alice coming back, she smiled, standing up and welcoming them over in a hug. "So, everything in order on that front?" She asked.

Just then, Eric came in from the bedroom. "CPS has been informed and registered the complaint. They're going to be sending someone over to talk to Alice. Now, Alice, they're going to talk to you alone, because they have to be sure none of us are influencing you. It's very important that you be completely honest with them." He said, then looked at Ellie, extending his arms for a hug.

He smiled at her, nodding. "Guessing talking to the sperm donor caused feelings?" He asked, then his face brightened. "Oh, I talked to your moms last night, after our whole conversation. I wanted to formalize things between you and me, some acknowledgement of our relationship and my role in your life. And Madison mentioned that adult adoption is a thing. So, Ellie, would you like me to adopt you?"
 
Luke barely said a word as Madison reminded him just how miserably he had failed at being a dad for Ellie. For a long time he had excused his absence in her life with being so far separated from her that regular commute was almost impossible in any practical way, which wasn't entirely true. He had wanted to be able to pick her up after school, take her to the movies on a weeknight or a concert she wanted to go to but was too young to go own her own. He really had wanted all of that, and still did even if she no longer needed someone to go with her. He had blamed much of it on Gloria wanting to focus on their family but he knew that he could have told her that Ellie was at least part of His family. But no, the blame was entirely his, for not having said no when Gloria wanted to move to Modesto (to get away from his ex as she had said), for letting her exclude Ellie from their family, or rather for letting her fade Ellie out of His family.

As he listened to Madison, a woman he had once shared a bed with along with her husband and his wife, he tried to understand how it had all happened. It had certainly not been a conscious choice. Somehow it had just happened and now, in light of recent events, he knew that if he ever wanted to be able to respect himself again he had to fight with everything he had to make sure that his two remaining daughters were safe and felt that he was there for them, No Matter What.

"Sounds like Luke finally got it," Ellie said and added that he had till tried to make excuses for his lack of action at the barbecue.
"Alice can stay, and he's sending Megan too. So neither of them has to watch their parents tearing each other apart. At least for the summer."
Then Ellie broke the hug and turned around to the man she had always thought of as her dad, the only one she had called Dad since she was five, the one who had been there for all the scraped knees, and cuts from her playing rough with the boys around the neighbourhood, who had even been there when she came home after school with a broken heart because some boy she had liked had rejected her or had kissed some other girl. Eric had been everything Luke had not and now ... despite her being legally adult and no longer needing a legal guardian ... he offered her to officially become his daughter through adult adoption.

Her eyes watered with happy tears and she threw herself at him, almost leaping into his arms.
"Yes Dad. I would love that. So SO much."


The next week was busy at the Spencer-Clayton-Moore residences. First Megan arrived the day after everything had been set into motion. Luke had taken her himself in his car but he didn't stay, just asked Megan to bring her sister's out to the car so he could say hello and talk to them. Only Alice had gone out but Ellie had stood in the window of her bedroom watching them. Later Alice had informed her that Luke had promised to be a much better dad than he had been, and certainly a better one that he had been to Ellie. He had also said that he was hoping for a chance to make amends with Ellie, that perhaps one day they could sit down and talk, and he could yell and scream at him all she wanted until she got everything out of her system. Ellie could under the circumstances not really see it happening but in the back of her head a tiny little voice whispered that if he showed that he was serious about doing right by Alice and Megan then perhaps ... one day ...

CPS sent a woman who could not be more than in her early thirties, probably not all that long out of college, to talk not only to Alice but to the one who had made the complaint and anyone else who might have vital information for her investigation into Gloria's suitability as caregiver to Alice.

It was a whole day of everyone telling their stories about what they knew. Ellie told about the last attempt at bonding between herself and Gloria. How Gloria had seemed to not care one bit that the slurs she used were hurtful to other people, that they had been hurtful to Ellie by proxy, through Cassie. She shared many other minor stories where Gloria had expressed prejudice against any one outside the cishet norm. How once when they had seen two teen boys holding hands (Andrew and his then boyfriend but Ellie did not mention that) Gloria had turned her head to the side and mimicked a gag, as if she was about to throw up from disgust. And so on up until the barbecue incident and how he had found Alice at her door one morning refusing to be sent back home.

Alice had told the CPS woman the same story as she had told Ellie that morning and many many other similar stories. She made it perfectly clear that she did not feel safe being alone with Gloria (as she called her rather than mom) because of Gloria's hateful ways towards what she herself had begin to realise she was, what her older sister was and what her older sister's girlfriend was. Alice had concluded the interview, when asked where she would most prefer to live, that she wanted to live with Ellie and her girlfriend.
 
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