Okay, so in the chapter Acceptance, I know I mentioned Kathrine meeting Mr. Foley. That's what this chapter is about. It's also going to be similar to the episode where Virgil meets Mr. Foley for the first time.

WritingIsAGift: I'm really glad that you enjoyed it.

BowStringPrincess: Thank you! It's really flattering to hear you say that and I'm glad that you like the characters so much!

Disclaimer: I just want to throw this out there. Mr. Foley is going to use a slur, but I don't approve of using slurs at all. Also, lots of swearing.

.:Line Break:.

Richie Foley combed his hair for the seventh time that evening and cleaned his glasses for the ninth. Nervously, he wiped his sweaty palms on the front of his sweatshirt.

He couldn't help but feel anxious. Tonight was the night that Kathrine was going to meet his parents for the first time and he really wanted everything to go smoothly. He didn't really anticipate any problems. His mother would love anyone he brought home and he was fairly certain that his father would just be happy he was dating a girl. Still, he couldn't stop the worry gnawing at the pit of his stomach.

The door bell rang, bringing him out of his thoughts. He made a mad dash for the front door, slipping past his amused mother on the stairs as he yelled, "I've got it!" Panting, Richie opened the door and smiled.

There, on the other side, was Kathrine Blake, his girlfriend. She was smiling at him, wearing her regular clothes and holding a bouquet of red roses.

"Do I make you breathless, Richie?" she joked, seeing that he was out of breath.

"Sometimes."

"Only sometimes, huh?" she smirked teasingly, "I guess I'm not trying hard enough. I'll have to fix that."

The blond blushed and decided to change the subject as his mother made her way to the front door. "So, uh, who are the flowers for?"

Kathrine gave him a blank stare, feeling that the answer should have been obvious. "Really, Rich? Aren't you supposed to be the smart one? They're red roses. Who else would they be for?" She extended her arm, offering him the flowers.

Although surprised, he accepted the bouquet, "They're for me?"

"Of course." she answered, smiling, "I don't give flowers to just anyone, you know. Only the people who are special to me."

"Thank you..." he said quietly, embarrassed. He still wasn't used to Kathrine's habit of saying embarrassing things so bluntly.

"Oh, what lovely flowers!"

Richie jumped at the sound of his mother's voice, unaware that she had come up behind him.

Kathrine bit back a laugh at the blond's expense and instead looked to Mrs. Foley. "They're from my sister's garden. She takes very good care of everything she grows and let me have some of her flowers. And... it's nice to meet you, Mrs. Foley."

"It's nice to meet you too, Kathrine." Mrs. Foley greeted warmly, "Richie talks about you all the time."

Kathrine glanced at the genius impishly, "Oh, does he now?"

Richie felt his cheeks burning. "Mom!"

Mrs. Foley laughed and took the roses from her son, "I'm going to find a nice vase for these. I'll call you two when dinner's ready."

Richie, still blushing, grabbed Kathrine's arm and led her upstairs to his room.

"Aw, but I wanted to hear all the things you say about me."

"Please, shut up..."

.:Line Break:.

It was about twenty minutes later when Mrs. Foley called the two teens down for dinner. The moment she entered the kitchen, Kathrine felt Mr. Foley's eyes on her. He was openly scrutinizing her and, judging by the deep frown on his face, he wasn't very impressed. Suddenly Kathrine, who never really cared about what other people thought of her, felt self-conscious.

"Dad," Richie began nervously as he took his seat, "this is Kathrine, my girlfriend. Remember, I told you about her."

Kathrine held out her hand for Mr. Foley to shake, but he gave her a once-over and said with disdain, "Not nearly enough."

Kathrine clenched her fist, withdrawing her hand. She tried not to show how much his remark hurt as she sat down.

"Sean!" Mrs. Foley said warningly as she served dinner.

"So, Kathrine," Mr. Foley began, picking up his fork, "how did you and Richie meet?"

Kathrine glanced at Richie, who nodded, before turning to Mr. Foley, "On the first day my sister and I transferred in, we saw one of the school bullies giving him a hard time. I... intervened."

Mr. Foley's brows rose, "You protected him?"

"Kinda, yeah."

Mr. Foley actually seemed irritated by the information, making Kathrine feel uneasy. Had she said something wrong? She glanced at Richie, but he only shrugged. He wasn't sure what was wrong either.

It was then that Mrs. Foley returned to the table, this time with a vase containing the roses Kathrine brought. Mr. Foley eyed them curiously as Mrs. Foley sat down.

"Where'd the flowers come from?" he asked.

"Aren't they beautiful?" Mrs. Foley smiled, "Kathrine brought them for Richie."

"You brought flowers for our son?" Again, he was using that tone that made her feel as though she did something wrong.

"Yes, that's right."

"Why?"

"Why?" she parroted, confused. The question caught her off guard, but she gathered from his expectant stare that he was waiting for an answer. "I don't think... that you need a reason to show someone you care about them." she responded slowly, feeling as though she was already treading on thin ice.

Mr. Foley frowned and turned his attention back to his plate. Kathrine winced, it felt like she had somehow given the wrong answer. She looked between Richie and his mother, only to find them staring down at their food, looking embarrassed. Kathrine turned to her own food and slowly started eating. It smelled good, but she wasn't very hungry anymore.

"Kathrine," Mr. Foley began again, eyes back on her, "do you listen to any of that rap music?"

"A little bit." she admitted quietly, "I listen to a lot of different music, but I guess that I mostly like rock and metal. Anything with heavy guitar, really."

By this point, the man's frown morphed into a scowl, causing Kathrine to shrink back in her chair. "Any hobbies or interests?"

"Well, I like playing basketball, soccer, and hockey, and I'm pretty good at them. I like comic books and I'll make runs to the comic stores on the weekends with Virgil and Richie. I also have an interest in geology."

Mr. Foley's brow furrowed and his scowl deepened. It seemed like he had heard enough. Finally, he sighed and turned to his son. "Richie, why are you doing this?"

Richie glanced nervously at Kathrine, then turned to his father. He had a sneaking suspicion that tonight was not going to go as smoothly as he had wanted it to. He was getting flashbacks from the first time he had had Virgil over. "What do you mean, dad?"

"This! I know I wasn't thrilled when you first told us, but we're okay with you dating MEN. You don't have to pretend."

A choked noise drew Richie's attention to Kathrine. Her eyes were glued to her plate and she looked as though she had been physically struck. It was obvious she was upset, the pain was clear in her green irises.

"Sean!" Mrs. Foley said again, also noticing Kathrine's reaction.

"Dad, I'm not pretending!" Richie stated raising his voice, "I really like Kathrine, it's not an act! I told you, I'm bisexual!"

"And what exactly am I supposed to think when only a few months ago you told us that you had no interest in girls?"

"I like Kathrine!"

"Whatever, Richie." he sighed, "It's your choice whether or not to live a lie."

Richie wanted to argue that he wasn't living a lie, but one look from his father told him that the conversation was over. The rest of the meal passed in an awkward silence.

.:Line Break:.

"Look, about my dad... I'm sorry." Richie told Kathrine once they made it back to his room. "I honestly had no idea that he'd be like that. I..." he flopped down on his bed, burying his face in his hands, "I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't worry about it." Kathrine tried to assure him, hiding how much Mr. Foley's remarks bothered her, "He only said it because he cares about you. He wants to make sure that you know that he supports you and wants you to be happy."

Blue eyes gazed up at her skeptically. Kathrine fidgeted and looked away, looking for an escape route to avoid continuing the conversation.

"Hey, I never got a chance to wash my hands after dinner. Your bathroom is just down the hall, right?"

"Yeah..."

Kathrine nodded and left the room, sighing as she shut the door behind her. She lingered there for a moment and ran a hand through her hair.

This was the first time she had ever bothered to meet the parents of someone she was dating. She loved Richie and she knew that he really loved his parents, so she had been hoping to make a good impression. Mrs. Foley had seemed to like her well enough, but Mr. Foley... No matter what she said, it was like everything about her displeased him. She was starting to understand why Virgil reminded her that she could call him to talk anytime after he found out that she was meeting Richie's parents.

Shaking her head, she began walking to the bathroom.

"This is unbelievable! Did you see that punk?"

The sound of Mr. Foley's angry voice made Kathrine halt. She stared at the closed door to her left, which she could only assume was Mr. and Mrs. Foley's bedroom.

"Keep your voice down!" Mrs. Foley quietly urged.

"First he tells us that he likes men, then he says he likes both, now he brings someone like that home!"

"Kathrine is a very nice girl, Sean."

"Girl?" Mr. Foley scoffed, "Open your eyes, Maggie! That was no girl! That punk's a dyke! I would have preferred it if Richie brought home a man instead of a punk pretending to be one!"

Kathrine staggered, eyes wide. Surprisingly, Mr. Foley's remarks hurt, a lot more than she thought they should have. She had been called much worse many times and she had never cared before. Yet this time it felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Suddenly, she felt like she was suffocating. She had to leave. Now.

Kathrine turned around, only to find Richie standing behind her, a mixture of shame, embarrassment, and guilt on his face. He had heard what his father said.

"I..." She struggled to find something to say, to make light of the situation and make Richie feel better, but she couldn't think of a damn thing. Averting her eyes to the floor, she brushed past the blond to head downstairs. "I need to go."

Richie followed her to the front door. "Kat..."

"It's still early, so I shouldn't have any trouble walking home." she told him, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Kat, please..." Richie pleaded, grabbing her wrist. Reluctantly, green eyes met blue. "... don't... don't leave yet. We-we could talk to my mom and-"

"And what, Richie? You heard what he said. I highly doubt he's going to take it back or change his mind just because he hurt my feelings! He..." She stopped herself, shaking her head, "Look, maybe this wasn't such a great idea."

"Kat-"

Kathrine placed a hand on the blond's cheek, effectively shutting him up with her crestfallen expression. She leaned forward and planted a bittersweet kiss on his lips.

"I love you." she told him as she pulled away, gently tugging her wrist out of his grasp.

"I love you too..." The fact that she still told him that she loved him gave him hope that maybe this incident hadn't completely destroyed their relationship.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." Giving him a forced smile, Kathrine opened the door and left.

"Hey, what's going on down there?"

Richie clenched his fists and glared at his father, who was standing at the top of the stairs. "Well, dad, I hope you're happy! That's the second person you've driven away! Kathrine's the first girl I ever liked and I thought that you'd be happy for me, but no! She's not good enough for you! Nothing's ever good enough for you! I hate you!"

Richie stormed up to his room and slammed his bedroom door, locking it behind him. He heard another slam followed by his mother knocking on his door. He ignored it and packed some of his clothes in a bag. He didn't want to stay here, not tonight at least. Grabbing his shock vox and the spare key to the Hawkins household, he decided that he was going to spend the night with his other family.

.:Line Break:.

The next morning, Katrina Blake awoke at six, as she usually did, and made her way downstairs. She was surprised to find her sister, who normally slept until noon, already awake, dressed, and sitting in front of the living room window. Her head was leaning against the glass, her eyes staring blankly outside.

Katrina took a guess, "Couldn't sleep?"

"No, not really." the elder sister admitted before glancing over at her, "Hey, thanks for staying up and listening to me last night."

"It's not a problem, really." Katrina assured her with a smile, taking a seat beside her, "But it's still bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?"

Kathrine sighed, "I don't get how Richie grew up with a father like that and turned out so well."

Katrina took her sister's hand in her own and gave her a pointed look.

"Oh, yeah, right..."

The healer smiled and nodded, releasing her hand.

"But... what I really want to know is, why did what he said hurt so much?" Kathrine continued, "I mean, I've been called way worse and I've never cared or lost sleep over it. So why did the opinion of some racist, sexist asshole bother me so damn much?"

"Maybe because that "racist, sexist asshole" is Richie's father?"

Kathrine stared at her questioningly, waiting for her to explain.

"You care about Richie a lot. He's important to you and you meeting his parents was important to him. That's why you agreed to it in the first place and why you tried so hard to make a good impression. That's also why Mr. Foley's comments hurt so much. Not only did you feel that he was saying that you're not good enough for his son, but you felt like you had let Richie down by not gaining his father's approval."

Kathrine stared at the floor, knowing her sister was right, as usual. "Richie told me before that his father was trying to change his ways, for him. I think I made things really tense for them when I left." She looked her sister in the eyes, "What would you do in this situation?"

Katrina paused for a moment. A wide smile spread across her face as she answered, "No."

Kathrine slowly nodded, then did a double take. "No?" she repeated, narrowing her eyes, "What the hell do you mean, no?! That's not an answer to that!"

"That's because you're asking the wrong question. The question shouldn't be, "what would Katrina do", but rather, "what would Kathrine do"."

She stared blankly.

"Kathrine, you're the one Richie is dating. Those same reasons Mr. Foley dislikes you are some of the same reasons why Richie likes you so much. No, you're not the picture of femininity, but I honestly don't think that you and Richie would be dating if you were. You love Richie and Richie loves you, so in the end, I think Richie's opinion should be the only one that matters. Now then," Katrina smiled, "what would Kathrine do in this situation?"

There was a determined fire in Kathrine's eyes as inspiration struck. "Do you mind if I borrow the kitchen for awhile?"

.:Line Break:.

It was about noon when Richie found himself on the doorstep of the Blake household. Steeling himself, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door, hoping he was still welcome.

Kathrine answered the door. He noticed that she was dressed differently than usual. She wore a white button up shirt with sleeves that went to her elbows, a black waistcoat with white pinstripes, black dress pants, and shiny black dress shoes. There was also a black silk tie fastened neatly around her neck.

"She looks good..." he idly thought.

Kathrine stared at him, puzzled. "Did we... have plans for today?"

"No, we didn't. I... I wanted to talk about last night."

She said nothing, opening the door wider while gesturing for him to enter. As soon as Richie set foot inside, he was hit by a heavenly scent that he couldn't help but smile at.

"What's that smell?"

"Strawberry cake." she answered, shutting the front door, "It's going to have two layers and when it's done baking it's going to be coated in chocolate frosting."

Richie subconsciously licked his lips, "Sounds good. It smells good too."

"Thanks." Kathrine said, returning to the kitchen, "I try my best."

The blond blinked, not sure he had heard his girlfriend correctly, and followed her into the kitchen. He watched her put on a white apron and tie it around her waist as he took a seat at the table. He saw various mixing bowls, utensils, and ingredients spread out on the counter. "You bake?"

Kathrine smirked at him from over her shoulder, "What, you got a problem with that, Foley?"

"No. It's just... unexpected."

She turned back to the oven, her smirk falling from her lips. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Anyway," he began, awkwardly staring at the floor, "I wanted to apologize for last night. If I had known, I... I never would have put you through that."

"You didn't do anything wrong. You have no reason to apologize."

Richie sighed, running a hand through his blond locks. Logically he knew that he didn't do anything wrong, but that didn't stop him from feeling awful about it. "I really hate him sometimes." he whispered heatedly, "I know he loves me, but I just can't help but hate him sometimes. He said that he'd change, and then he goes and does something like that!"

"Let me handle your father." she said, gazing out the kitchen window, "And don't be too hard on him. People don't change overnight, it takes time. Besides, you should be grateful that your father loves you enough to try to change his ways." Kathrine sighed, her voice then dropping to a whisper, "It's a hell of a lot more than my father ever did for us."

Her words greatly concerned and disturbed him. Richie looked around, the implications of what she said causing his genius mind to run a million miles a second. "Kathrine," he said cautiously, "where are your parents?"

Several minutes passed where she remained silent, simply staring out the window. Richie vaguely wondered if he had crossed a line.

"... Did I ever tell you when our birthdays are?" she asked suddenly, startling him, "Mine and Katrina's, I mean."

"... No."

"I was born on the 18th of April. Katrina was born June 22nd."

Richie's brow furrowed in confusion as his brain processed the information. "But you're the same age. How can you be the same age while being born two months-" He stopped short, eyes widening as realization struck, "Different mothers?"

Kathrine nodded, making her way over to the table and plopping down in a chair. "That's right, genius. Katrina and I are technically half sisters. My mother was our asshole of a father's wife, Katrina's was his mistress."

Guilt, shame, and regret swirled in her green orbs, causing Richie to hesitate before asking, "What happened?"

"The two women found out about each other and dumped us on him when we were just babies. Then they fucking up and left us, the worthless bitches. Dad... he hated 'Trina. He blamed her for his wife leaving him, even though it was his own fucking fault. He'd scream at her and hit her and made her do all of the work around the house, like a fucking slave!"

Kathrine inhaled deeply, shuddering, eyes clenched shut. Her face contorted in pain as she dug a hand through her hair, gripping a handful so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"And I am no fucking better than him!" she choked out, self-loathing evident, "I'm so fucking worthless! I hurt her! I screamed at her, insulted her, hit her! And after all of that abuse and torment, she just forgives me like I hadn't been making her life a living hell, all because I said I was sorry! How she doesn't hate me, despise me after everything I put her through is beyond me. I don't understand how she can love me after what I did..." She paused, the grip on her hair lessening, "I'm convinced that she's secretly an angel or something. I've never met anyone else that forgiving or genuinely kindhearted."

Kathrine slowly opened her eyes, her hand falling onto the table. "When I realized that how we were treating Katrina was wrong, I begged my dad to be nicer to her. In his eyes, I was his only daughter. He loved me, so I figured he'd listen to me." Her eyes darkened and she sneered, "But I was wrong. When I talked to him, do you know what happened?"

Richie shook his head.

"He fucking laughed! He told me that he was glad I was so nice, but I shouldn't waste it on her! He called her worthless and even had the nerve to say that she didn't have the right to exist for causing so much trouble. I wanted to hit him and yell at him. I wanted to tell him that Katrina didn't choose to be born, that it was his fault, but..." Kathrine clenched her fist, "... I was too much of a fucking coward to do any of that! I... I tried my best to take care of her and protect her. I tried to make sure that she ate, that she had clean clothes, that she was safe, but I... I couldn't be with her all the time. I really tried, but I just couldn't!"

Richie reached across the table and placed his hand atop her fist. "I'm sure she understands that." he said quietly, "She's not the type to take anything for granted. You made a mistake, sure, but when you realized that you did your best to make up for and fix it. You're not worthless, Kat, you're only human."

"Do you really believe that?" Kathrine asked, looking directly into his eyes.

"Yes." There was no hesitation on his part. "I really do."

She averted her gaze. When she told him what she had done to Katrina, she expected him to be disgusted by her actions. Instead, he told her the same words her sister had, that it was okay, that she made a mistake. Kathrine turned her hand over and laced their fingers together. She really did love this boy.

"'Trina loves sweets." she announced out of the blue, eyes fixated on the oven timer, "Ice cream, candy, and especially pastries and stuff. The bastard never celebrated her birthday, so she had never had a cake. One year, since I didn't have any money to buy one, I decided to bake her a cake myself."

"How did that turn out?"

She chuckled, "It was awful. You could tell just by looking at the damn thing. But Katrina ate it with a smile on her face. Even though the cake was shitty, she was still so happy. So I practiced, 'cause I wanted to see the kind of smile she'd make if I baked something that actually tasted good. And when I finally did, the look she gave me... seeing how happy it made her made all of the effort and hard work worth it."

"You learned how to bake for your sister?"

"Yeah, I'd do anything for her." she paused and turned to the genius, "Just like I'd do anything for you. I love you. A lot. I've... I've never felt this strongly about anyone else before. That's why... that's why I want to go back to your house and talk to your father."

Richie opened his mouth to protest, but the oven timer went off. Kathrine removed her hand from his and got up to retrieve the cake.

"Kathrine," he said, watching as she set the cake on the counter to decorate, "you don't have to do that. You don't have to go back there."

Kathrine grinned mischievously, "I know, but I want to."

.:Line Break:.

Mrs. Foley was surprised to see Kathrine and Richie return to the house so soon.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Foley." Kathrine greeted politely, "Is Mr. Foley home?"

Mrs. Foley glanced at what appeared to be a cake container in Kathrine's hand, though she couldn't see inside because of the opaque lid. She then glanced at her son, who stood nervously behind his girlfriend. It seemed that he didn't know what Kathrine was planning either.

Mrs. Foley stepped aside to allow the two teens to enter, "He's in the kitchen."

Kathrine nodded and made her way into the kitchen, Richie following closely behind her. Mr. Foley sat at the table, reading the newspaper. He looked up at Kathrine when she set the container down, his eyes locking onto hers.

"What's that?"

"A cake. I baked it myself. That's as feminine as I get." There was a clear accusation in her voice.

Mr. Foley sighed and folded up his newspaper, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. After Richie left for the Hawkins household last night, Maggie had informed him that as long as Richie and Kathrine really cared about each other, he should be more supportive.

"Look... Kathrine... about last night... those things I said... I'm sorry."

Kathrine stared for a moment, then nodded solemnly. "I understand. As long as you understand that I'm not sorry."

"What?" Richie and Mr. Foley asked in unison. Neither had expected her response.

"I'm not sorry." she repeated, making certain to maintain eye contact with Mr. Foley. "I'm not sorry that I don't match your definition of what a girl should be. I'm not sorry for my taste in music. I'm not sorry that I'd rather play sports than paint my nails or apply makeup. I'm not sorry for defending someone who's being bullied, regardless of what gender the victim is. I'm not sorry that I prefer comic books to romance novels. I'm not sorry that you don't approve of me, Mr. Foley."

Mr. Foley was speechless. He only gaped at her, shocked.

Kathrine continued, "I love your son, Mr. Foley. A lot, in fact. That's why I agreed to meet you, because it was so important to him. You don't like me, and you may never like me, but Richie does. He likes me just the way I am, for the same reasons you don't. As long as he likes me, then that's all that matters to me. So, I'm not sorry. I'm not changing myself for you or anyone else."

She smiled and took Richie by the hand, "Now, I'm taking your son out on a date to the arcade. Enjoy the cake, Mr. Foley."

Mr. Foley watched, dumbstruck, as Kathrine led his equally as stunned son out of the house. Mrs. Foley cautiously ventured into the kitchen as the front door closed. Snapping out of his daze, Mr. Foley looked at the unopened cake container on the table. Curiosity getting the better of him, he reached for the lid. Then promptly burst into laughter once the cake was revealed.

"Sean?" Mrs. Foley asked, walking closer.

There was faint humor in his voice as he spoke, "She's still a punk."

Maggie finally saw the cake and smiled. Written on top, in bright pink icing, were the words, "I'm not sorry".