A/N: Hey! Just a quick one-shot to celebrate my surviving a two week holiday with my parents! Enjoy :]

"Father?"

I stand apprehensively in the doorway to my father's study; he doesn't look up from the messy stack of papers he's hunched over, wire framed glasses just a few inches from the page.

"Yes Ernst?"

I try to start a sentence but I falter and trail off, glancing desperately up at the hundreds and hundreds of books that line the room from floor to ceiling.

"Speak up boy,"

My father has set down his pen and is looking up at my already tearful face.

"For goodness sake Ernst!" he exclaims, "sometimes I think you cry more than all your sisters put together."

"I'm-" I begin, but my voice catches in my throat.

"Sit down," my father draws one of our old kitchen chairs close to his own and motions to it, "What's the matter Ernst? I mean, I'm just about to finish this chapter, it better be important."

I nod my head rapidly, "I'm in love."

"Love?" he questioned, "and is love not a tender thing Ernst?" my father smiles wryly at his own joke.

I blush and look at the floor, I feel hot tears rise again and my throat starts to constrict."

"I'm in love with a man."

My father stays silent for several minutes; he leans back in his chair and slowly takes off his glasses. I sit, numb in my chair, unable to quite believe what I've just done, staring intently at my father's unreadable expression.

"Who is it?" he says very quietly

I stand up and start to back away, trying to work out whether it would be better to take a beating now, or later when my father is drunk on whisky.

He grabs onto my wrist, "who is it Ernst?"

I close my eyes, waiting for the slap to come, "Hanschen Rillow."

It doesn't. I feel a hand connect uncertainly with my cheek but it's softer, my father tilts my face upwards so that my eyes meet his.

"And are you happy?"

I stare at him in disbelief, "S-Sometimes, other times I'm just plain terrified."

"With Hanschen I mean, does he make you happy?"

I nod, "more than anyone, and I know people think that it's wrong but I just," I pause for breath, "I had to tell someone, I couldn't lie anymore even if it meant having to leave this house forever-"

My father raises his hand, "Ernst, no one is going to make you leave this house."

I blink, "they aren't?"

My father shakes his head and sighs, "This isn't going to be easy on you Ernst."

"I know, I don't care." I hold his gaze.

"There will be many people you're going to have to keep secrets from."

I nod, "I know, I just didn't want my father to be one of them."

Something in my father's eyes softens and he places his hands on my shoulders.

"We're defined by our choices Ernst, and although sometimes, I might not understand yours, as long as you're happy it doesn't matter.

My father pulls me into a hug, something he hasn't done for years, I cling to him like a child and suddenly the tears come streaming down my cheeks again.

I thought I'd stopped believing that one single moment could change your life forever.

The end

(dedicated to the people that love us no matter what :] )