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Everyone had always assumed Tori Spring would dress up as Wednesday Adam’s for Halloween. Every. Single. Year. Even after she cut her hair. Apparently she was her ‘spirit animal.’ Tori was sick and tired of explaining why that was a stupid thing to say. She just met that statement with an eye roll and audible groan now.
“We’ll be back around midnight.” Her mum told her as Julio held out her coat to put on. “Olly’s had dinner earlier. I just put him to bed and turn off the front light so no trick or treaters wake him up. Your father already brought the pumpkin inside.”
“Yes mum.” Tori monotoned. She’d babysat Olly countless times before. She did not need to hear this speech. Again.
“And Charlie is staying at Nick’s tonight, he’s still upstairs getting ready, but maybe if you can check in on him.” Jane said, loitering in the doorway as Julio tried to lead her outside to the uber waiting for them.
“Yes mum he’s already agreed to let me know when they’re home safe.” Tori sighed, eager for her mum to stop hovering and leave her to a night alone in front of the TV and some one on one time with her tumblr feed.
“Jane, the uber won’t wait much longer.” Julio called.
“Have a good night.” Tori said as her parents finally left.
She had two maybe three minutes of peace when there was a knock at the door and the inevitable sound of Charlie rushing down the stairs to answer the door to his boyfriend.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
If Tori had a pound for every time she’d endured listening to those two saying hi or the odd change up to hey, she would be a rich woman who could afford to skip student loans and the misery that was filling out student finance forms.
“You look…amazing.” Tori heard Nick say lowly as they continued to hug each other in the doorway. “I told you dressing as a pirate would make you look even hotter.”
“Nick,” Charlie giggled. “My sister is right there. But you make a hot cowboy.”
“Oh right, hi Tori.” Nick called out to her, his arms still around Charlie’s waist.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us Tori?” Charlie asked, slipping free and walking over to his sister leaning over the sofa, “it’ll be fuuuuun.”
Tori could not imagine anything worse. Especially since Michael was still out of town training with a coach up north to help with his journey to compete in the Olympics and teaching little kids to skate. She was proud of him. The last thing she wanted to do was watch Charlie and a group of his friends couple up and act nauseating all night long while headache inducing music played and cheap vodka was dished out.
Why would anyone pick that when they could have an evening alone?
“Someone’s gotta watch Olly.” Tori pointed out.
“We could drop him off with my mum and the dogs.” Nick suggested, although she knew he was trying to help she did not have the energy to argue with each suggestion these two were going to throw her way.
“He’s asleep and besides I could not think of anything worse than a party with your drunk friends.” Tori grinned as Charlie playfully held his hand to his chest acting offended. “Go, have fun.”
“Bye Tori.” Nick called as he led Charlie from the house.
“I’ll text you when we’re back at Nick’s.”
Tori settled in again, lazily eating popcorn as she scrolled through endless Halloween options to watch. Horror movies seemed to have taken over for the night, she didn’t mind them but with Olly upstairs she opted for a more tame option and chose Beetlejuice.
Tim Burton was her favourite director when she was younger. She’d seen Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Mars Attacks and Corpse Bride countless times. She’d watched the new Wednesday series because of his involvement and had listened to the Sweeny Todd soundtrack for weeks.
Her tumblr feed was filled with Halloween edits and GIFs from the latest episode of Dr. Who. Nothing too interesting. She didn’t want to be at a party right now but she did wish Michael was here to read to her or even just to tell her about his day.
She looked down at her phone, staring at his name in her contact list, sliding to their texts. The last time she’d heard from him was the night before. He’d sent her a funny meme he’d seen on Facebook featuring minions and she’d called him a boomer.
In a moment of what was so out of character she must miss him more than she thought, Tori considered opening one of the money TikTok’s Michael had sent her that was rarely opened. He would often find her inbox overflowing and sit and show them to her one at a time. Now he was away it never happened.
A knock at the door sounded just as Lydia was about to say “I myself am strange and unusual.” Tori huffed, pausing the movie quickly so she could rewind to watch the iconic line when she got done with telling the trick or treaters off for knocking on their door when the light was off and they had no Halloween decorations up. She was somewhat relieved Olly did not seem to have stirred.
“Why are you knocking this late dickhead?” Tori said as she swung the door open not expecting one tall curly haired glasses wearing Michael Holden to be on the other side. “Michael? Michael Holden?”
“Victoria! Victoria Spring! In the flesh.” Michael grinned, slipping past her inside, not waiting for her to invite him in or for her to step aside, bringing with him a paper bag from McDonald’s. His hair was wet from the rain, he did a little shake in her doorway to dry off.
“What are you doing here?” She asked, slowly closing the door and following him back to her sofa.
“Treating you to a gourmet meal obviously.” Michael said as he pulled out her exact McDonald’s order, even remembering the no cheese on her quarter pounder.
Maybe she had been thinking about him so much that night and since the day before that she had summoned him somehow. Much like saying Beetlejuice in a row her mind could bring him to her when she willed it most.
“No I mean, you told me you wouldn’t be back until December.” Tori asked as she sat down, forgetting all about her night alone and her movie. She would only admit it under great duress but she was over the moon to see Michael so much sooner than she had expected.
They ate side by side for a while, neither saying much of anything to the other. Tori was still in a minor state of shock. Michael kept glancing at her while she pretended not to pay any attention.
When the food was finished Tori threw the rubbish away and turned to Michael.
“So did you miss me?” He asked with a big smile, waggling his eyebrows up and down.
“We talked on the phone.” Tori shrugged. The more she told everyone that talking and texting was the same as seeing Michael in person the more she was sure this was never going to be true. But she couldn’t turn back now.
“I missed you too Tor Tor.” Michael beamed. Tori rolled her eyes, too happy to see him to bring up the awful pet name.
Fine Tori had missed Michael. Just a touch. Okay maybe more than a touch. Maybe she missed him a drop. Or a whole downpour.
Tori pressed play on the movie right as Lydia said her iconic line, silently saying it with her. They watched in silence for a while, save for Michael’s giggles and comments.
“Are you ever tempted to just do it?” Michael asked, grinning as Barbara said Beetlejuice three times in a row.
“Do what exactly, Holden?” Tori asked, side eyeing him hard. With anyone else he would suspect this was some kind of innuendo. But this was Michael, it wasn’t going to be quite that sexual. Or simple.
“Say Beetlejuice three times in a row, spoken unbroken.” Michael grinned even wider.
Tori rolled her eyes hard enough for them to turn into fingers. “You are such a child.”
“Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice…Bbbbbbeetlejuice.”
“Oh wow, nothing happened, I am so surprised.” Tori said, with the thickest layer of sarcasm she could muster.
Michael was undeterred as he tried a further three more times, his head whipping from side to side as he looked dramatically around the room. Tori didn’t mind the fun though, even if she acted like it bothered her. Michael had been gone too long for her to be bothered by his antics yet.
“So what have I missed then?” Michael asked just as Beetlejuice entered the mini nightclub.
Tori went to say not much. Charlie was doing okay and was as sickenly in love with Nick as ever. Olly was in swimming lessons, school hadn’t changed from one day to the next. Her parents were still annoying as parents often were.
“Charlie is Truham’s head boy.” Tori shrugged. And okay she was leaving out one very big development she wanted to share with Michael. She had gone to write out a text message to him about a very specific development several times over the past couple of days. But she’d changed her mind each and every time and just deleted the words and sent something meaningless or a simple Hi instead.
“Yeah you told me, that’s great,” Michael. “And now the thing you want to say but didn’t.”
“What thing?”
“There’s a thing.”
“There’s no thing.”
“Definitely a thing.”
“Why are you making this thing a thing Michael?”
Michael stared her down. He’d learned a lot about how to give Tori space and when to back off and let her come to him when she was ready to talk about something. He’d also learned when she just needed a little bit of encouragement.
“Fine.” She groaned.
One day ago
“Victoria, can you come in here for a minute please?” Her mum called out from the living room.
Tori rolled off of her bed with a loud agitated groan and huffed as she made her way down the stairs to the living room to find both of her parents and Charlie waiting.
“Is this some kind of intervention?” Tori chuckled at Charlie's muffled laughter as she sat next to him on the sofa opposite their parents. Tori got the feeling they were in trouble for something but she had no idea what. She’d barely done anything to be in trouble for. Charlie was a whole other kettle of fish.
“Your father and I have been talking. We are aware that in the past we have not handled certain…grown up situations well and we are working to improve on that. So in the spirit of doing so we want to create space for you two to come to us with anything you want and have open and clear communication with the two of you on these matters.”
“Huh?” Charlie said from beside her.
“Yeah, I don’t know what that word salad was supposed to even mean. Try that again and use real words this time.” Tori said, looking at her parents suspiciously. They were both looking far too uncomfortable for this to be about anything family friendly and wholesome. Tori did not like where this was probably heading.
“You both have boyfriends.” Julio stated plainly and simply.
“Michael is not my boyfriend.” Tori snapped, it was almost on instinct to say that exact phrase whenever she heard the word boyfriend at this point.
Jane rolled her eyes, Tori hated that the way she did the gesture was so similar to the way she did. “Fine, you are both in close relationships or situationships or whatever it’s being called online in your generation now.”
Tori settled back in her seat. There was no point in trying to explain her relationship with Michael. No one seemed to get it apart from her and Michael. She didn’t have the energy to even try and help them understand right now. All that mattered was how her and Micahel felt about their relationship and they were both happy being together even if that left them unlabelled.
“I’m starting to feel like this could’ve been a text.” Charlie mumbled quietly to his sister.
“Definitely.” Tori whispered back.
“If you two could just listen for a moment.” Jane sighed. Tori had to stifle a chuckle behind her hand. Charlie wasn’t fairing much better. “It’s time we have the talk.”
“I don’t need The talk.” Tori glared at her parents. It was a little late for the talk anyway. Hell, they'd given her the talk before when she was younger and girls her age were coupling off while she was busy worrying about her younger brother. “The talk from years ago was sufficient enough but I appreciate your…concern?”
Charlie nodded along with her words, clearly wanting an escape from what was about to happen as well.
“This will be brief and you will listen.” Jane said sternly, not wavering. Julio nodded sharply, but the way he looked at Tori showed he wanted to avoid this topic just as much as his children. Jane took a long deep breath before continuing. “We want you both to know you can come to us with any questions or if you’re worried about anything. Not just because you might be exploring yourselves at this age. We’re always here if you want to talk.”
“Yes, even non boy related stuff.”
“Also, we know at this age there can be a lot of pressure. To meet certain milestones because everyone around you is meeting them. And even the people who care about us most can feel that pressure too. We want you both to know that doing things on your own time is okay. You don’t have to use every moment alone having sexual experiences with your boyfriends-”
“I do not have-”
“- Yes alright Victoria whatever young hip label you’re choosing to use.”
Tori got up and left the room. Charlie was right. That could very easily have been a text.
Tori finished recounting one of the most awkward conversations of her life.
“At least no one said Hanky panky.” Michael grinned, nudging Tori’s elbow with his.
“Oh the only silver lining.” Tori tried not to grin as Michael nodded vigorously. Why did she hate how much she loved when he was optimistic about her pessimism? Michael and Charlie were the only people who could bring this side out in her.
“Have you considered maybe telling them?” Michael said in a way that said Tori should know what he was talking about. And she did. She knew. But she wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about this.
“No.”
“Are there reasons as to why, dear?”
“What have we said about two pet names in one night?”
“Never ever. Not even on special occasions. If I am very nice, maybe on my birthday." Michael recited by heart. That never stopped him from sliding more pet names in from time to time when the timing felt *right*.
Tori turned back to the movie, just in time to watch Day-o in all its glory. Michael watched with her for a while. He was very good about not rushing her to talk about something until she was ready to. He’d already used the skill once that evening, and it appeared as though his instincts were right again. Tori needed space and the quiet distraction of the movie to think instead of a friendly push to talk.
“They won’t get it.” Tori said, still facing the screen. “They barely get you and I when I try to tell them about us. They are never going to understand what me being asexual means.”
“I get that. I do. It’s not talked about enough. You told me and that went okay though.” Michael pointed out. He held his arm up as an invitation for her to come closer if she wanted. She didn’t always enjoy close physical contact with anyone.
She slid a little closer, allowing Michael to wrap an arm around her. She didn’t mind the closeness, it was comforting for her in that moment, with one of her comfort movies playing it made her feel a lot more at ease.
Tori couldn’t deny she’d thought a lot about telling her parents about her sexuality. They had been accepting and supportive from the moment Charlie had come out to them as gay all those years ago. She could not help but fixate on how this was going to be different though. She already felt so misunderstood by her parents, especially her mum, she could not picture this helping. At all.
“I never thought you wouldn’t understand.” Tori sighed. “You’re one of the most understanding people on the planet. And insistent. And annoying.”
“Okay this isn’t air our grievances on Michael time.” Michael chuckled.
“Don’t get used to this but you are right.” Tori sighed, looking back on the TV again. Sometimes it was easier to talk to fictional characters. “Not just because both my mum and dad have this expectation that every moment I spend with you alone we’re having safe consensual sex. They might understand, or at least they could get on the road to understanding.”
“Want me to be there?” Michael asked, not pushing her for any more decisions like on when or how. She still needed a little more time to figure it out. She liked the idea of just saying it.
The day on the Ferris wheel with Charlie had been a changing point for her. It was the first time she’d come out to anyone other than herself. It was a moment she would cherish always. But with her parents she did not expect the moment to be as poignant. She could just say it over dinner one day. Or as she left for school. ‘See you later mum and dad, by the way I’m ace.’
“I’ll think about it.”
She knew when her parents got home and found out her and Michael had been together, *unsupervised* they would have all these assumptions and questions. So many of each.
“VICTORIA!” Tori woke up the next morning to her name being shouted as loud as possible from her living room. She knew the moment she opened her eyes it was because her parents just found Michael Holden asleep on their sofa.
She didn’t bother to do more than grab Michael’s jumper he had left in her room and headed down the stairs to face the music.
“He slept on the sofa so he didn’t have to try and get home in the middle of the night while it was raining.” Tori said before anyone could say another word. Michael sat awkwardly on the sofa, a blanket in his lap, his hair a mess and glasses still not on. He looked so young to Tori all of a sudden.
“You still do not have him sleep over without our explicit say so.” Jane snapped, before storming from the room. “Victoria we have spoken about this.”
“I’ll calm her down. A heads up next time would be nice.” Julio said, giving them both a soft smile as he left the room.
“I better get going.” Michael sighed, pushing his glasses onto his face. Tori sat down next to him, reaching to tuck down one of his many stray curls.
“Did she shout at you?” Tori asked, feeling guilty her mum might of laid into him before she had been called for.
“Not shouted, but she definitely made some…assumptions.” Michael blushed ever so slightly.
“Sorry. She’s never going to get it.” Tori sighed, feeling a little comforted as Michael put his arm around her shoulders. “Even when I made sure she wouldn't find us alone in my room she still thinks just because we’re young we’re going at it like horny rabbits. They won’t even try to understand.”
“Give them a chance.” Michael whispered, giving her shoulder a soft squeeze.
“I will. One day.”