A few weeks pass since that night Peter had the nightmare. August rolls around, and that means it's time for Peter to start school.

Peter dreads the day he will have to start school again. Despite always having done well academically, school was always a place Peter loathed. The kids were rude, and some of the teachers disliked Peter for reasons even he didn't know. Overall, he didn't like the way school made him feel.

When the first day of school arrives, Peters stomach ties itself in knots, flip-flopping all over the places.

He sat at the table, kicking his feet nervously, sucking down a glass of orange juice. He tapped his fingers incessantly against the wood of the table, his whole hand trembling.

He pulls himself out of the chair and began pacing around the bottom floor of the house, unable to do anything else to distract himself.

Tino comes around the corner quickly, still in his pajama pants and tee shirt. He stops short when he sees Peter nervously pacing around the house, his face down and scrunched up in discomfort.

"Peter? What's wrong?" Tino asks.

"I don't want to go to school, Daddy."

Tino frowns slightly. "Why not?"

"I don't like it... The kids are always so rude..."

Tino sighs sympathetically, moving towards Peter and getting down on one knee in front of him.

"Peter, I know it's scary, but school is important..."

"I know... I do fine in school, but the kids always tease me and call me names. It's so mean, I hate it so much."

"Oh, Peter, I know kids can be rude, but you'll be okay..." Tino says softly. "You'll make it through, I know you will."

A tiny smile grows on to Peters face. "How do you know?"

"'Cause you're strong! You're just like a Viking. You know, like the ones Berwald and I tell you about in those Nordic stories?"

Peter nods, his smile growing slightly.

"You're just like a strong Viking, I know you can make it."

Peter face breaks into an all out grin, throwing his arms around Tino. "Thank you."

Tino scoops Peter up and hugs him tightly, wondering how he got so lucky to get such a wonderful son. "Any time, Peter." Tino kisses his forehead.

Just as Tino sets Peter down, Berwald comes into the room, with a crisp white dress shirt and a sleek red tie. He smiles at Peter, who flashes him a grin right back.

"I'm a Viking, papa."

Berwald's mouth curves up in amusement. "Are you now?"

Peter nods. "I'm not a very good one yet, 'cause I'm still a bit scared, but I think I can make it though school!"

Berwald nods approvingly. "Good boy, Peter," Berwald smiles. "You'll do great."

Tino glances out he window and sees the bus coming up the street. "Peter, the bus is almost here."

Peter nods, and Berwald leans down to kiss his cheek.

Peter waves behind him, a bit nervously, as he runs down the driveway towards the bus. Tino and Berwald are both smiling widely as he climbs the bus steps.

...

Despite all of Tino's reassuring, Peter returns that afternoon with his face scrunched up sadly, close to tears.

Tino opens the door with a smile at first, but when he sees Peters face, he immediately begins to frown. Peter sulks as he drags his feet through the door, and he takes a seat on the bottom step.

Tino goes to his side and takes a seat next to him.

"What happened, Peter...?"

"I was right... All of the kids hated me..."

"Oh, Peter..."

"They made fun of me all day! They made fun of my clothes, my accent, and the fact that I'm adopted... And because I have two dads..."

Tino's heart sinks. A part of him had worried about that very thing happening, but he had hoped if it ever happened, it wouldn't happen as soon as it did.

Tino put an arm around Peter, allowing Peter to lean into him. "I'm so sorry, Peter..."

"I don't want to go back..."

"Peter, you need to go to school..."

"I don't want to go through that again... They're so mean."

"I know that they can be mean, sweetie, but what I said about you being strong is still true. You're stronger than they are."

"I don't think so..."

"I do. I know you are Peter, you've been strong your whole life."

"You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not. I made a promise before we made any attempt at adopting a kid that I wouldn't lie to them to or make false promises. I'm telling you the truth."

"I'm still scared..."

"I don't doubt that. Life can be scary... But it's all worth it."

Peter opens his mouth to speak, but he is interrupted by Berwald coming in the front door.

"Hey, I'm back-" Berwald's face grows somber. "What happened?"

"All the other kids made fun of me." Peter says. "I don't want to go back..."

Berwald takes a seat on the floor in front of the steps where Peter and Tino sit. "I'm going to tell you a story, okay Peter?"

Peter nods, a bit unsure.

"I felt the exact same way when I went to school. I was made fun of all the time in middle school and high school, for a number of things. They made fun of my voice, my height, and the fact that I was gay. They hardly ever let up. In eighth grade, I got to the point where I felt the same way as you do now. I didn't want to go to school, I didn't think it was worth it." Berwald sighs lightly. "Despite all of that, I went to school anyway, and I met a boy who became my best friend."

"Who?" Peter asks.

Berwald smiles lightly and nods towards Tino. "Him."

Tino smiles, his eyes lighting up.

Peters eyes go a bit wide as he begins to understand. He waits for Berwald to continue.

"Tino and I became the closest of friends, and he was always there for me when I needed him. Whenever I didn't want to go to school, I would just remind myself that he would be there, and it would inspire me to go." Berwald loses himself a bit in the memory. "Eventually, we began dating, and he became my entire world. And ten years later, here we are."

Peter smiles as he glances back at Tino, who is smiling widely, but also fighting back prickling tears of joy.

"So, you see what I'm saying? If I had given up, I wouldn't have ever met Tino. We wouldn't have gotten married, and we would have never adopted you." Berwald gives Peter a tiny smile. "I know I sound like a huge cheese ball right now, but what I'm saying is true. If you give up now, you might miss out on meeting someone truly amazing."

Peter manages to grin. "I understand. I'll try making it work, okay?"

"Good. That's all we want. We just want you to be happy." Tino says.

"Well, I am! I really like living here."

"I'm glad, Peter. We love having you here. Having a kid has been a dream of ours for so long, and we couldn't have asked for a better child." Berwald says.

"And I couldn't have asked for better parents!"


A/N: Well, I hope this chapter works out like I hoped! (Despite it maybe being a bit too cheesy?) I hadn't originally planned on making this a chapter fic, but I found that A) I really like writing for the Hanatama family, and B) People seemed to like the idea, so hey, why not continue?

I wrote outlines for this story (I'm though chapter 4) so hopefully I'll be able to write chapters quicker. Usually, with fan fiction, I just rely on very basic outlines in my head. Hopefully concrete outlines will make it faster!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Stick around for more if you did, and thanks for reading!

-KayDubs