Chapter Notes: This is the next day, yes.
Warnings: Transphobic language, suicidal and depressive thoughts.
If you wish to skip this chapter because it might be harmful to your mental health, go ahead, I will give a safe summary at the top of the next chapter.
A large yawn overcame Kit as they forced themselves out of the warmth of their bed, woken up earlier than they would have wished by their alarm. They moved sluggishly to put on clothes for the day, even though there was an enticing aroma of food cooking coming from downstairs. A quick look in the mirror brought a grin to their face and they tugged lightly at their new hair before heading down to have some food.
Kit stopped against the frame of the kitchen entrance, leaning against it. "Good morning."
Gran turned from the oven to return the favor, but when her eye caught Kit's figure, the pan in her hand slipped to the floor, shattering upon impact. "Oh, Lord."
Kit immediately jumped back from the entryway with a step into the kitchen, arms out and eyes wide. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"What the hell did you do Kathlene!" Gran's voice was filled with an anger that Kit thought was foriegn to it.
Kit looked down at themselves, at the normal jean and shirt combination, and lacking shoes at the moment. "I don't understand, what's wrong?"
"Gran is everything okay?" Sookie came bounding down the stairs, but froze at the sight of Kit. "Oh my God."
"Kathlene, I could handle it when you told me you were a type of gay, but this is a bit much don't you think? Cutting off all your hair?"
Kit turned their attention back to Gran, who took to ignoring the mess of food on the floor to focus on them.
"I feel more like myself with my hair this way, why is it such a big deal?" Tears pricked at Kit's eyes, but they kept them away; what once had been excitement had turned cold.
"More like yourself? You were such a pretty girl, with such pretty hair. Now, you look like one of those abomination trannies."
"Maybe that's because I am!" Kit's unsteady voice raised to match Gran's, and tears broke away from their eyes. "I'm non-binary. I am not a girl and I was sick of looking like one."
Gran's features stiffened, face growing stony. What had once been anger behind her eyes shifted to hate. It was cold and Kit could feel it.
"Get out." Gran's voice lost it's volume, instead it was calm and steady.
It scared Kit.
"What?" Their voice cracked under the emotion, tears falling freely from their face onto the cool tiles.
"You heard me. I won't have something so unnatural in my house. You have three hours to pack and leave before I call the police and have you arrested for trespassing. You can use the empty storage bins in the attic if you need to."
A pained gasp tore it's way from the tight confines of their throat, and a renewed flow of tears began. They turned away from Gran, who had started to pick up the pieces of glass from the floor, and met Sookie's eyes.
"Kathlene?" She was caught in the same web of emotion that Gran had spun, but there was still an air of shock.
"That's not my name." It hurt to speak. "My name is Kit."
They were glad for their car, as it was the only thing that sheltered them at that moment. They weren't able to drive very far, only making it to the end of the road before they had to pull over.
With a breath they steeled themselves, burying their emotions down, stilled the tears, just enough to continue on. While their hands still shook, their eyes were clearer, they were sure they could drive safely, so they did.
Lafayette sat up straighter with an ear towards the window when he heard the sound of tires coming up his driveway. He closed his laptop, knowing he could pick up where he left off later, and looked out his blinds to see who his unexpected visitor was.
Seeing the familiar Toyota, he rushed out the door, instinctively knowing that something was very wrong. Kit never showed up without texting first, never.
"Kit?"
As soon as they parked and shut off the car, they launched themselves into Laff, uncaring of his shirtless state. Lafayette, though surprised, caught Kit as soon as they touched him, nearly holding them up as their legs grew weak.
"Kit, what's wrong, honey child?"
Laff's voice, so warm and comforting in comparison to the last voice that had spoken to them, broke Kit open again, a torrent of emotions and tears coming back with renewed vigor and strength.
Laff looked passed them, at the car which stored their belongings, and seemed to realize what had happened. "Oh, sweet child."
"Gran kicked me out." Their voice was broken, weak, marred by tears and emotions that could not be controlled.
Laff tried to hold them tighter, to try to give some semblance of comfort. "Let's get you inside, or at least sitting on the porch."
True to his word, Lafayette was able to guide Kit into their favorite chair of his, though it made little difference in calming them.
"It hurts, Lafayette." Kit tucked themselves into their nest of a chair. "They were supposed to love me, supposed to be my family. I wish I could just go away, that way I don't have to deal with this anymore."
"Hold up there. You can and you will deal with this. If I have to drag your ass through this world kicking and screaming." Lafayette took a breath after his voice raised, but it wasn't in anger that Kit had witnessed before, but fear and love. "Look, the Buddha weren't lying when they said life is suffering. It don't mean you get to check out early and leave me here. Got that?"
"'M sorry." Kit mumbled into their arms as a new wave of fierce sobs racked their body.
"Don't be sorry for feeling what you feel. Just know that you are wanted here."
Lafayette sat down in the chair with them and pulled them against his chest, holding them until their shaking sobs became ragged breaths.
The calm state between them was broken by the ringing of Kit's phone. They pulled it out of their pocket to glance at the number, fully prepared to decline, but sat up quickly and answered it at seeing the caller.
"Eric?" They sniffed, trying to clear their head. "What's wrong, you never call during the day? It's too early for you to be awake, I know you rise early, but still—"
"Are you okay?" Eric interrupted, the uncharacteristic sound of panic laced within his voice. "I can feel you so strongly. I can feel your pain as if it is my own."
"'M sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." Their throat grew tight again.
Laff recognized the wobble of Kit's bottom lip and pulled the phone from their hands, allowing them to have a reprieve to let the tears out again.
"Eric? This is Lafayette, from the other night. Kit's with me, and they safe."
"What is going on?"
"Kit got kicked out. And right now they're hurting deep."
Eric sighed, running a hand through his hair, stopping his pacing about the room. "I will be there as soon as I can after the sun sets. Please let them know that."
"I will. You still have my address?"
"Yes." Eric ended the call.
He sat down at the end of his bed, still rubbing at his chest, at the heartache that had traveled from Kit to himself. It shouldn't have been so strong, he had only given them a drop of blood, nothing to allow a passage for the intensity of emotion that was flowing through. He could only wonder if the bond was still as is, and that Kit's emotions would be worse still.
A bead of red landed on his thigh when he looked down. A quick touch to his cheek came back with fingertips red. He had shed a tear.
Kit must be breaking.
The sudden appearance of Eric in front of Lafayette made him jump, nearly throwing his vodka infused coffee out of the mug. Kit had fallen asleep some time ago, curled in their chair after Laff had vacated it, and he let them be.
Laff took a sip to calm his nerves. "You know it's alright to wake them up."
Eric looked at Kit, the ache in his chest nearly gone. "If it gives them peace to sleep, then I loath to break it."
"I know, I don't like to see 'em hurting either."
Eric pulled Kit into his arms and then sat down in the space that they had been in. As expected, the movement had stirred Kit from their sleep, though they were slow to come to full awareness.
"Eric?"
"I'm here, liten räv (little fox)."
Kit pressed themselves further against Eric, their forehead tucked into his neck. Eric was content to hold them against himself, give them comfort until they felt that their voice was strong enough to speak. It was a comfortable quiet that the three lapsed into, no pressure mounting for one to speak.
"I got kicked out." Kit spoke, sounding so much more hollow than Eric had ever heard.
"I know."
Kit took a breath, still shaky, but clear. "Gran freaked out at my hair, started yelling, saying I looked like a trans abomination. I yelled back, outed myself as non-binary. I never thought she was capable of such hatred. She told me I was only allowed a few hours to pack my things before she called the police, so now, I'm here."
Eric looked past Kit to their car. It seemed so empty for someone whose entire livelihood existed within it. The meager amount of belongings showed how truly little they belonged in that faded yellow house. Eric ran a hand through their curls.
"Live with me."
"What?" Kit lifted their head. "I can't do that. I can find an apartment, I'll—"
"No." Eric softened his tone, "Please. Let me take care of you, come live with me."
Kit sunk back down against Eric. "I don't want to be a bother."
"You could never be a bother, honey child." Laff interjected after a sip of his drink. "Now, take the fine man up on his offer before I do."
Kit let out a quiet snort. "Alright."
"Good." Eric rested his cheek on the top of Kit's head.
Eric stayed where he was, arms wrapped around Kit and allowing them to drift off to sleep again. Laff had taken his cup and Kit's into the house in that time, giving Eric and Kit space for a few moments. When he returned to the porch, Eric was standing with Kit in his arms, still settled into unconsciousness.
"Thank you." Eric spoke to Lafayette. "Kit put a great amount of trust in you, after all, you were the first one that they fled to, so I am willing to extend an olive branch of my own, despite your past misgivings. I ask that you don't tell anyone of this, of where Kit is or who they are with, nor of my demeanor with them. You can't even tell Sookie. My top priority is their safety and comfort."
"I promise. I care for them too." Laff took a breath. "Glamor me."
"What?"
"Not to forget, just to not remember when Sook is around, that way she can't poke in my head for information."
"Alright."
"Your house is beautiful, Eric." Kit slid from Eric's arms, feet touching the ground again.
"Thank you. Are you ready to see inside?"
"Yeah. But what about my stuff?"
"I will have Pam retrieve it later. I left your keys with Lafayette."
Kit nodded and allowed Eric to lead them through the house, explaining as they went. He took note of their grin at the size of his library, and was nearly certain that this was going to be one of their favorite places.
"Pam has her own room here, but she also keeps an apartment for her own space and so she can bring home lovers. I ask that you don't share the location of this home to anyone I have not authorized. This is my resting place for the day, where I am most vulnerable, and I'd rather not have someone take advantage of that."
"I won't tell anyone, I promise."
"Thank you." Eric started leading Kit to the bedrooms. "I will write down information for you later, like the Wi-Fi password, etc. I will also be giving you my dayman's number. And before you ask, a dayman is a trusted human that I use to perform tasks during the daytime, so he will run errands for you should you need anything and don't wish to leave the house. He will be by in the day to drop off some essentials for the kitchen, but if you want anything specific, you will need to make a list or text him directly."
"Alright."
They stopped outside a door and Eric opened it to reveal a bedroom. "This will be your room. Decorate it how you want to, anything you want can be changed. Every bedroom also has an attached bathroom."
Kit walked in and Eric watched as they looked around.
"Of course, you are always welcome in my bed." Eric spoke with a grin on his face.
"Can I take you up on that offer?" Kit's weariness returned to them. "When we go to bed for the day, I don't want to be alone."
Eric's grin softened into a comforting smile. "Whatever you wish, liten räv (little fox)."
