author's note: okay, well you guys have been asking for another cameron-as-niff's-kid fic for the past few weeks. like, obessively. i think i've gotten over ten anon messages on tumblr. it's actually super flattering, you guys are awesome. so, without further ado, here it is! this one's a little heavier than the last one, and cam's a little bit older. hope you like it, let me know whatcha think :)
disclaimer: i don't own anything you recognize. lyrics belong to mayday parade.
now son, i'm only telling you this
because life can do terrible things.
you'll learn one day, i'll hope and i'll pray
that god shows you differently
Nick's walking home from work when someone grabs him by the arm and pulls. His first reaction is to turn around and punch whoever it is, because this is New York City and it's not like he hasn't been mugged before. Nick yanks his hand back and spins around, only to see that it's Jeff, standing there and trying not to laugh at him. "Hey, babe," Jeff says, cheerfully enough. Nick rolls his eyes.
"You scared the hell out of me," he narrows his eyes, accusingly. Jeff just takes his hand and hums happily, threading their fingers together. Nick waits for a sarcastic remark—probably something about him being a girl and needing to grow some balls. When Jeff only leans in to kiss his cheek, Nick's immediately suspicious. "What did you do?"
"Oh, it's not what I did," Jeff practically sings, swinging their arms back and forth as he leads Nick down the street. He takes a sip of the soda in his hands and offers it to Nick, who shakes his head and waits. "I'm just trying to keep you in a good mood so you don't murder our son."
They pass Cameron's favorite bakery, and Nick realizes that they're walking in the direction of their son's school. "You're kidding me," Nick says flatly, because they were just there two weeks ago, when Cameron thought it would be funny to start a food fight by shoving spaghetti down Rory Hummel-Anderson's pants. "What did he do?"
"Gave some kid a black eye," Jeff says, almost off-handedly.
Nick stops walking all together. "He did what?" he demands loudly, eyes bugging out. Someone behind him makes a disgruntled noise and pushes past him, muttering curses under their breath. Nick flips the guy off, almost automatically. "Yeah, fuck you too!" He yells. Jeff slides an arm around his shoulders and forces him to keep going.
"Okay, look, it's probably not as bad as it sounds—"
"Jeff, he punched someone!" Nick hisses, grabbing the soda out of Jeff's hand. He throws it in the trash can when they pass one, earning a frown from his husband. "How can that possibly sound good?"
"Uh," Jeff says, scratching the back of his head. He sighs. "Look, I don't know, but the principal sounded weird. It's not like all the other times he got in trouble—" Nick snorts, "Yeah, okay, well what do you expect? He's our son. You remember all the times we almost got suspended from Dalton."
"Yes, but we never punched anyone," Nick reminds him.
"No," Jeff agrees, "But we did tie all of Wes' underwear onto the chandelier in the dining hall. And we definitely set one of the couches in the choir room on fire. Also, I'm pretty sure we tied Sebastian to a tree—"
"It's not like he didn't deserve it," Nick mutters, looking at everything but Jeff.
Jeff nudges him with his elbow. "Maybe this kid did too," he says quietly, "Have a little faith. Cam's a great kid, he just likes to screw around," Jeff pauses, then adds, "And if he doesn't have a good reason, I'll take away his guitar. He'll freak out, it'll be so funny."
When Nick opens the door to the main office, Cameron's sitting in one of the chairs. Nick stops so abruptly that Jeff stumbles into him from behind. Cameron's head snaps up and his eyes go wide. "Yeah, you better be scared," Nick hisses, crossing his arms. The secretary glances up, unfazed.
"Good to see you two again," she says, dryly. Her bright pink fingernails click against the keyboard.
"It's been far too long, Doreen," Jeff gives her a charming smile and winks. "And may I say, your hair is looking extra high today."
Doreen smiles at him and pats her hair, says, "Thanks, hon. Just got a perm yesterday."
Cameron makes a face. "Can you not have an office romance with Mrs. Norris in front of me? You're gay, Dad, and she's like…fifty."
"Clearly, your son has not inherited your charm," Doreen raises her eyebrows and fixes Cameron with a steady stare. The thirteen-year-old smiles sheepishly and tries to sink down a little lower in his chair.
Nick doesn't look impressed. "You are in so much trouble, Cameron Sterling."
"What, no hyphen-Duval?" Cameron tries to joke, weakly.
Jeff frowns. "Why is he only my kid when you're mad at him?" The secretary snorts, trying to hide a smile behind her hand. The Sterling-Duval family is her absolute favorite out of all the families she's ever had to deal with. They're entertaining to watch, not to mention the fact that they're all insane.
The door to the Principal's office opens, and a boy around Cameron's age shuffles out. He's got a nasty black-eye, and he won't look at anyone in the room. Jeff leans over and discreetly high-fives his son, whispering, "Nice one, dude." But Cameron's staring at the boy. His entire mood changes the second he sees him, and he looks so angry that it startles Nick. The Principal watches the other boy leave, looking extremely disappointed and very upset. It confuses Nick, because isn't that the poor kid that Cameron punched? Why is he getting in trouble? The boy stops in front of Cameron and mutters, "Sorry for what I said."
Cameron just glares at him. Jeff looks from his son, to Nick, and frowns. "I don't give a damn if you're sorry," Cameron says loudly, and the other boy flinches.
"Cameron," Nick hisses, because even though he can definitely tell that something's up, he'd like to at least be able to show the Principal that he doesn't let his son swear.
"You don't know what he said, Papa," Cameron says, deflating. Now he just looks sad, and in that moment Nick wants to take his son and shield him from the world.
"What did he say, Cam?" Jeff asks softly, dropping down in the seat next to him. He ruffles Cameron's hair and gives him an encouraging smile. Nick takes a second to admire just how much of an awesome dad Jeff is.
Cameron's eyes go wide. "I can't say it," he says, panicked, and Jeff shoots Nick a worried look.
The Principal sighs, holds open his door and says, "I think I should explain. If you'd step into my office, please…" Jeff stands up and drapes an arm around Cameron's shoulders when he does the same. He leads him into the office, with Nick right behind them. The Principal, Mr. Sheldon, moves behind his desk and sits down in his big leather chair. He gestures to the three seats in front of him and says, "Please, take a seat."
Cameron plops himself down in the middle seat, looking absolutely miserable. Jeff and Nick sit down and exchange another worried glance over his head. Nick reaches over to brush a little bit of hair away from Cameron's face and gives him a smile. Cameron just stares at his lap.
"I'd like to start off by saying that Cameron's not in trouble," Mr. Sheldon says, folding his hands neatly on top of the desk.
As much as Jeff likes hearing that, he frowns and asks, "He punched someone…and he's not in trouble?"
Mr. Sheldon sighs. "Under normal circumstances, Cameron would be suspended," Cameron winces as Nick throws him a sharp glance. "However, we have to handle this situation a little more delicately."
"I'd like to know what that kid said to upset my kid so badly," Jeff says, frowning deeper.
"He said the F word," Cameron whispers suddenly, so quietly that Jeff almost doesn't hear him.
Jeff furrows his eyebrows, confused. "I don't understand," he says, "I mean, I get that it's not a nice word and all, but why would you be pissed off when someone says fu—"
"Jeff!" Nick yells, short and startled. He reaches around Cameron to punch Jeff lightly in the arm. "Jesus Christ, you can't just say that whenever you feel like it!"
Mr. Sheldon fights to keep a straight face. He understands what Doreen means—they're certainly the most amusing family he's ever seen. "Mr. Sterling-Duval—"
"He called you guys fags," Cameron says, loudly. Everything in the room just stops. Nick freezes, staring at his son in horror. Cameron takes a shaky breath. "He told me it was unnatural and disgusting so I told him that the only thing that's disgusting is the way his man-boobs jiggle when he runs—" If Jeff was in a better state of mind right now, he'd have been laughing his ass off. But his son is practically crying and that's really not fucking funny. "He shoved me and kept saying that word so I punched him. And I told him that he just got the crap beaten out of him by a fag and then my teacher sent us here." A few tears roll down Cameron's cheeks, and his breathing gets hitched. "He kept telling me that you were going to hell, but I know that's not true because you're the best parents ever and you love me and I love you and—"
It takes Jeff about two seconds to realize that the reason Nick's bent over with his head in his hands is because he's crying too. Cameron notices it about the same time Jeff does. "Papa, I'm sorry, please don't cry. He's just a stupid kid," Cameron says, pleading.
Nick lifts his head, looking so defeated that it nearly makes Jeff's heart stop. "Cam, I've been called a fag my entire life," he says, and Cameron flinches. "It doesn't bother me anymore, because I love your Dad and there's nothing anyone can do to change that. But the second someone says something to you…God, I never wanted this for you," The last part is said quietly, like it's not meant for Cameron to hear.
Jeff stands up slowly and envelopes Cameron into a tight hug. Cameron presses his face into his father's shoulder, shaking quietly. "I am so sorry you had to go through this," he says softly, "We didn't—you shouldn't have to. You didn't choose this."
"But I would," Cameron says fiercely. He pulls away and wipes at his eyes. "I'd choose you over any other parents ever. I love you, you're my dads. I'd pick you every single time, no matter what anyone says. Just like you picked me."
Nick pushes himself up by the arms of his chair on shaky legs, reaching to pull his son towards him. "I don't know how we got so lucky to have a kid like you, Cam. You truly are amazing." Jeff wraps his arms around the both of them, leaning forward to kiss Nick's temple.
Mr. Sheldon chooses this moment to clear his throat. "I think that you can take Cameron home for the day. There's only two hours left in the school day, and I'm sure Mr. Hummel-Anderson would be happy to take his homework to him later."
"You should've seen Rory," Cameron laughs, a little bit weakly. "Sugar had to sit on him to stop him from going after the guy. He fights like Aunt Rachel."
Jeff lets out a loud laugh, doubling over, and it breaks the tension in the room. Mr. Sheldon smiles. "Yes, he was extremely adamant that Eric be dealt with accordingly. And believe me, he will be."
"Thank you," Nick says, resting his hands on both of Cameron's shoulders.
Mr. Sheldon smiles. "My daughter and her partner of ten years just adopted their first child. I'd like to make my granddaughter's life as easy as possible, and it starts with protecting your son."
"Well," Jeff lets out a loud breath and says, "Today has been an emotional rollercoaster."
"Today sucked," Cameron sighs, running a hand through his hair. They're walking down the street, heading home for the day. Cameron's half-asleep, leaning most of his weight against Jeff.
Nick reaches over to smooth Cameron's hair down. "I'm so proud of you," he tells him softly, "I mean, this is the part where I'm supposed to tell you that violence is never the answer—and it's not, okay, don't think you can just go around punching people when they piss you off—but I'm proud of you."
Jeff ruffles Cameron's hair. It sticks up where Nick fixed it. "Ditto, kid," he says brightly, and he kisses Cameron's forehead. "Now let's go home so you can fall asleep on something that's not concrete."
"Good plan," Cameron says tiredly.
By the time they make it to their building, Jeff's half-carrying Cameron inside. "You're too big for this," he mutters, trying to keep Cameron upright to the best of his abilities. "Seriously, dude, you're not five anymore." The doorman laughs and holds the door open, patting Jeff's shoulder as they pass.
It's a miracle that they even make it to their apartment, because the second they step into the living room, Cameron falls on the couch. He's out as soon as his head hits the cushion. Nick smiles down at him, drapes a blanket over him. He carefully takes Cameron's glasses off—they're slightly bent, he notices. He doesn't know if it's because of the 'fight' Cameron got in or just because Cameron's not exactly careful when it comes to things he owns. Jeff comes up behind him and wraps his arms around Nick's waist. "We got really lucky," he says quietly, and Nick nods.
"Yeah," he says softly, "We definitely did."