"so ur really ok w/ not bein there?" Nona's thumbs fired off the text with expert precision, asking Alex for what was probably the fifteenth time. Asking her whether she was really fine with the fact that she and Clarissa were going to see her parents without her. Asking if Alex could live with not being able to hold her hand while she came out to her parents and grand-mother. But then... she and Clarissa were actually dating. Alex was a confusing third wheel who didn't have to put up with the worst parts of being a third wheel.

Poor Alex had tried her hardest to educate Clarissa and Nona about poly relationships, but there was a lot of... stuff involved, and for now, she was having a hard enough time just admitting that she and Clarissa were dating officially. As much as it made her feel like a complete and total bitch, she had to put that confusing extra business on the back-burner until after this was dealt with.

Her phone finally buzzed with Alex's reply, "yeah dude u have my full support, but I can stand outside the window with pompoms and cheer if u want" causing Nona to give a little laugh.

Clarissa looked over at her with a knowing grin, that same knowing grin when she first watched Alex kiss Nona at their 'sleepover' (none of them necessarily felt comfortable using that word, but it was the only one that really fit). She truly didn't seem to mind watching another girl get all flirtatious with her girlfriend. Maybe some day that would stop seeming like such a surprise. "Hey, we're here. You might wanna stop bugging her for now. We can get all snuggly later. For now, though... Wait, you're a car short in the driveway."

Nona finally pulled her gaze away from her phone and looked in surprise to see that only her grandmother's car was there. She sighed softly and began climbing out. "I actually managed to work up the courage to do this and I'm not postponing. We'll just... We can talk to grandma first and then wait for mom and dad..." It was way less flawless and shit than the original plan, but life had a way of being messy, didn't it?

Clarissa moved over to her and offered her a hand, smiling sympathetically. "As many times as you need, girl. Come on"

The two were finally able to hunt down Nona's grandmother up in her bedroom. She greeted them with her usual friendly attitude but was probably super aware that something was going on – mostly since Nona was holding Clarissa's hand like it was all that was keeping her calm. Mostly because it was. "What can I do for you ladies?" The woman got comfortable on a nearby rocker while Clarissa led the two of them to settle on the edge of her grandmother's bed.

"Gram-gram... Um, I-I uh... I'm... gay."

"Yes, go on."

Nona sat there stunned for a moment or two, as though her grandmother's response just didn't even make sense in context. But the elderly woman just smiled pleasantly at her and resumed working on the bit of knitting she had going. Nona fiddled with her and Clarissa's hands awkwardly, but her girlfriend could only offer her a shrug. "Um, that was all. I just... We're dating now. And... it seemed like I should come out. So that is... what I'm doing?"

"Oh." Said the elderly woman, looking far less surprised than Nona was expecting. "I had assumed you and Clarissa were already quite familiar with one another. I apologize for the misunderstanding."

"Um, Gram-gram? I just. I um. I guess I sort of figured... I mean I wasn't expecting you to be so... chill." That may have been too much honesty, but she didn't seem to mind.

She just kept right on knitting and smiling as she spoke. "Your great-grandmother told me often about being shuffled off to an internment camp back in the day, before I was born. It was a horrible experience, born almost solely out of corruption and judgment. My brother got the everloving snot beaten out of him weekly until he realized he could be the 'smart Asian kid' who did his bully's homework. Your mother, bless her heart, was told by her first boyfriend that she was 'pretty for a-'" She stopped herself here, apparently not even having the heart to actually say it. Besides, Nona got the point. "Your grandfather could be a real ass sometimes. And your father inherited that from him. But I promise you, if he reacts poorly, you send him to me. Because I didn't raise him to be a judgmental little shit. Life is too short, and your girlfriend is too pretty." She began to chuckle, and Clarissa joined in, leaving poor Nona to sit there with growing embarrassment. This explained... a great deal.

"So I'm like 'Okay, well I'm going to wait around so I can tell mom and dad too' and she's like 'Hoho, don't worry about that, I'll take care of it!' and then she gives me this mysterious wink and basically shoves us out the door before we can argue about it." Nona shrugged and huddled herself up between Alex and Clarissa on the girl's bed, feeling warm and comfortable and safe. It was a feeling she honestly hadn't felt in ages.

"Holy shit, you apparently have the coolest, most badass grandma ever. Not many people would do that kind of thing. And even fewer people could be trusted with the job. Sounds like she'll do just fine." As it turned out, the knitting Gram-gram had been working on was a new hat for Nona, which was presently resting on her head.

But it was whisked away by Alex who admired it while Clarissa played with her hair. "Yeah, 99 times out of 100 I would say that letting someone else come out for you would be a stupid idea. But Gram-gram is not to be fucked with. And you were... still pretty stressed out. I guess she figured you didn't need the added anxiety of waiting around for your parents to show up until who-knows-when."

Frankly, Nona was too contented at the moment to care. This was a moment she had been dreading forever. The events at Edwards Island, as much as they worked out in the end, had only made her feel more anxious and afraid. And, most depressing of all, she had basically just learned the same lesson twice. The monsters in your head were the most powerful. She had become so obsessed with the picture in her mind of grandpa looking disappointed in her from beyond the grave. But by sheer luck she was able to trust her grandmother first, who showed that amazing, deep family love without a second thought.

And now here she was, settled with her two girlfriends (even if only one of them was official, at the end of the day it was still the three of them together), and in no time it would be prom and finals and graduation and life beyond. And Nona was finally unafraid.

[A/N: Hey everyone, so I'm sorry for the kinda short chapter, but doing 'coming out' scenes aren't always super easy for some reason. Hopefully doing prom and wrapping things up will be more fun~!]