A/N

So I wanted to say a few things before we get into the chapter, the first being yes I am a Christian but I do believe it is very wrong to persecute people because of their sexuality. That being said, I know a lot of people distrust the church and so I felt like I should say this chapter does involve going to church and the sermon is briefly talked about though no very in depth. I hope people will be willing to read through the section but I understand some people might want to skip over so I felt like I should warn people. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

Fred anxiously paced his room as he got ready on Sunday morning. What should he wear to Tadashi's church? The one he used to go to was very formal, the men wore suits and the woman wore nice dresses, but he'd also seen churches where everyone wore jeans and flip flops. A part of Fred wanted to ask Tadashi, but another was afraid of getting laughed at. It was stupid, how did he not know what to wear to church!

"Almost ready Fred?" Tadashi asked, knocking on the door.

"Almost!" Fred called.

"We need to leave soon so hurry up!" Tadashi called. Groaning, Fred decided to go with the fancier route and pulled on his dress pants, button up shirt and jacket and carefully combed his hair before slipping on a pair of dress shoes

"I'm ready to go!" Fred declared, stepping out of his room and freezing when he saw Tadashi who was dressed in regular pants a t-shirt, blazer and tennis shoes. The only thing Tadashi wasn't wearing was his hat.

"Uh Fred you look nice but are you going to a funeral or something?" Tadashi asked with a laugh.

"I-uh….isn't this what people wear to church?" Fred nervously asked.

"Uh I guess some but the one I go to is pretty casual," Tadashi explained.

"Oh um then I can go change-" Fred said, turning to go back into his room.

"No!' Tadashi exclaimed, grabbing Fred's arm. "I mean you look nice." Blushing, Fred said,

"Oh um…thanks."

"Let's go," Tadashi said, taking Fred's hand.

Fred was a bundle of nerves as Heathcliff drove them to Tadashi's church, bouncing his leg nervously beside Tadashi. Sensing his nerves, Tadashi laid his hand on top of Fred's bouncing leg and whispered,

"It's okay, you don't need to be nervous."

"I'm not nervous!" Fred exclaimed. "No why would I be? I'm only heading back to the place that chased me out after…after…" Fred trailed off. Tadashi didn't know exactly why he got chased out, just that he did.

"After you came out?" Tadashi asked.

"Something like that…" Fred muttered.

"What?" Tadashi asked as they pulled up to the church.

"Later…" Fred mumbled, pushing the door open and stepping out.

"Will you be joining us Heathcliff?" Tadashi asked as he unbuckled Hiro.

"I was not sure if I would be welcome to join you," Heathcliff informed them, momentarily looking surprised by the question before forcing his face to become neutral again.

"Of course," Tadashi said, grinning. "Why wouldn't you be?" Heathcliff didn't answer so Tadashi said,

"Well I'm going to go and take Hiro over to the kids room you two ca-"

"I'll go with!" Fred cried, not wanting to get to far away from Tadashi.

"If you would like I can hold seats for you," Heathcliff offered.

"That would be fantastic thanks!" Tadashi exclaimed, beaming at Heathcliff. Heathcliff nodded with a small smile and walked into the building while Tadashi led Fred and Hiro over to the kids' room. As Fred walked through the church, he started to feel ridiculous next to everyone who was dressed so casually. He should have insisted on changing. At least he didn't have a tie on; maybe he could ditch the coat and roll of the sleeves of his shirt or something to dress down a bit.

Thankfully everyone seemed too excited by Tadashi's presence to notice Fred's attire. Fred tried to figure out why their where so many people with nametags standing around. All they seemed to do was say hi and talk to people. Regardless of what they did, they all seemed to know Tadashi and would stop what they were doing to say hello. None of them said anything to Fred, something he didn't really mind at all.

The line to check Hiro into the kids' area thankfully wasn't that long, but they were stuck in front of an elderly woman who seemed to know Tadashi fairly well. Fred could tell though that she was upsetting Tadashi but he couldn't do much about it.

"Sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral," she was saying for the fifth time since she got in line behind them. "I just got so terribly busy and all that. You know how it is."

"Yea…" Tadashi said, stiffly nodding his head and leaning down to hold Hiro. Hiro started nuzzling his brother, sensing how upset his brother was. How many times did she need to bring up the damn funeral? Who does that?

"Who's this? A friend of yours?" The woman asked, finally noticing Fred.

"Uh…well I'm Fred…" Fred awkwardly introduced, uncertain as to what he should say he was. Was it appropriate for him to call himself Tadashi's boyfriend? Would that cause problems? Did they even know Tadashi was gay?

"He's my boyfriend," Tadashi coldly said causing the woman to gasp in horror,

"Boyfriend?" Catching the attention of everyone waiting. "That's disgusting! You'll go to hell for this!" Fred winced, waiting for the onslaught of attacks from everyone standing around them, but to his surprise a woman standing in line in behind them snapped,

"That is rude! We are at church! We should be accepting of one another, not condemning anyone to Hell!"

"These two disgusting fag-" The old woman began but the other woman exclaimed,

"Don't you dare say that word!"

One of the teenagers helping check in snapped, "Ma'am I'm going to have to ask you to not use that kind of language. There are young children down here including your grandson." The woman huffed in disgust and refused to speak to them. Tadashi seemed more relieved than upset by this however.

Thankfully since two people were working the line Tadashi was soon setting Hiro down and sending him off. Before Hiro ran inside he whispered,

"You okay Dashi?"

"Yea buddy," Tadashi assured, kneeling down and ruffling his hair. "Go have fun okay?"

"Okay…" Hiro tentatively mumbled, kissing Tadashi's cheek and running into the room. Tadashi tiredly stood up and groaned,

"Let's go sit." He looked so drained already.

"Excuse me, Tadashi?" a middle aged woman asked.

"Yea…" Tadashi grumbled, looking like he was mentally preparing himself for another attack.

"I'm so sorry that cranky woman said that stuff," she said. "That was wrong and…we should be loving everyone, not hating. You two aren't doing anything wrong and I think your boyfriend is adorable." Smiling Tadashi said,

"Thank you, that means a lot. Fred kind of got chased out of his last church and that was not what I wanted him to see…"

"What a b-at…" The woman said. Fred had a funny feeling she was going to say something else but chose not to comment. "I think it's adorable that your boyfriend dressed up so nicely for church," The woman continued, smiling at Fred. "He's a real cutie."

"Yea, I got really lucky with him," Tadashi admitted, flashing Fred a smile that could thaw ice.

Fred blushed and mumbled, "I-uh…thanks. My old church dressed up fancy and I-uh didn't realize that wasn't normal…"

"Well I think you look spiffy," the woman informed him. "You match one of the greeters Larry!"

"Who?" Fred asked.

"Larry, he's been with the church for a long time and he wears a suit and tie every week," Tadashi explained.

"I'm going to head over to listen to the sermon but I just wanted to say I really hope that woman didn't scare you two away…"

"No," Tadashi assured. "Well, not me at least…"

"I'd like to give the actual pastor a chance before leaving," Fred said, causing both the woman and Tadashi to start grinning. "So umm, shall we?"

"Oh yea let's," Tadashi said, taking Fred's hand and walking back towards the main sanctuary. As they walked they received a few dirty looks but for the most part people just waved at Tadashi and continued on minding their own business.

Once in the main building, Fred tried not to gape at how large the room was. The seats where almost identical to movie theater seats as opposed to the bench like seats at his old church, and their where four sections of seats facing a stage that stretched across the entire room.

"Come on I think I see Heathcliff," Tadashi informed Fred, walking down the middle aisle About halfway down Tadashi slid into the row followed closely by Fred. The pair only had time to quickly wave at Heathcliff before people started walking onto the stage. Rather than everyone sit down, those who were already sitting stood up.

"Worship," Tadashi whispered to Fred as a man carrying a guitar walked onto the stage followed by several other singers.

"I thought that usually involved a full choir…not a band…" Fred whispered as they started playing.

"Yea…some churches do that and it's not a bad thing, we just don't do that," Tadashi explained with a laugh before turning his attention back to the stage. Fred didn't know any of the songs they were singing and he felt a little strange watching the band worship. Everyone was really getting into the music, holding their hands in the air or swaying to the beat of the music. Fred wasn't sure what to do, so he focused on Tadashi's voice, he had the best voice Fred had ever heard and wished he would sing more.

The singing lasted for an uncomfortably long time for Fred, and he was relieved when they were asked to sit as the offering was collected. Fred didn't know much about offering besides the fact that it was used to help fund the church so when the basket was passed to him he dropped a twenty in it causing Tadashi to beam as he threw in a couple of bills.

After that the pastor, a surprisingly young man probably no older than thirty with blond hair and brown eyes, climbed onto the stage and prayed before saying,

"Hello, I'm Pastor Whitmore, first off I would like to say welcome to any new guests who are here today. Now, will you turn with me to Psalm 1…" Fred tried to focus on Pastor Whitmore's words, but he could feel the old woman from earlier glare on the back of Fred's neck. Fred cautiously looked over at Tadashi who looked relaxed and was smiling as the pastor spoke. It was a surprising change from even minutes ago when Tadashi tensely walked through the halls of the church, ducking his head to avoid some of the glares he received. How could he be so relaxed when their where people who were so mean?

"Look at verses three and four with me, 'He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

4Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away' Now according to the text, a follower of Christ will prosper in anything they do…" He was saying. Well that's a lie… Fred darkly thought. Tadashi's a Christian and look at what all's happened to him! How could he stand up there and say that? Fred glanced over at Tadashi once more he was intensely taking down notes.

"Let's look back at Psalm 73 verse 12 'This is what the wicked are like- always carefree, they increase in wealth.' In this verse, Asaph is being very honest with God…" Yea the he gets it. Fred thought. One of the many things that always bothered him was how bad people got away with doing bad things and good people only seemed to get hurt. How was that fair, why did God let that happen?

Fred chanced another glance at Tadashi who was earnestly nodding his head, a look of deep concentration on his face. How was he following all of this? How was he staying focused with people glaring at him…Fred was also at the slight disadvantage of having a gorgeous man sitting right next to him who seemed to look adorable no matter what he was doing. Fred wasn't sure how long he spent staring at Tadashi, but at one point Tadashi glanced over at Fred who started blushing when he finally noticed Tadashi looking at him and quickly turned his attention back to the stage just as Whitmore was saying,

"Now whether or not Psalm one is telling us the truth depends on how you define prosperous. If you define it as wealth in this life then no, Psalm one is not. But looking at Eternity it is…" Eternity? How could people continue to worship God if he let his people suffer while on Earth? Why even put them here if he supposedly loved them like Fred was always told? Fred glanced over at Tadashi again whose head was bowed, eyes shut. Fred tentatively looked around and realized Pastor Whitmore was praying. How had he missed the whole sermon? Soon everyone was standing so Fred awkwardly followed suit as Tadashi asked,

"So what did you think?" He looked so hopeful. Could Fred lie to him and say it was just okay or did he just tell him he didn't hear most of it? Fred was saved from answering by Pastor Whitmore walking up to them saying,

"Tadashi! It's so good to see you! How have you been?"

"I'm good," Tadashi said with a smile.

"I've heard people talking saying you brought your boyfriend here today," he continued, "Is that true?"

"Yea…" Tadashi sheepishly admitted, "This is Fred. He us used to go to church until they found out he was Bisexual and they kind of chased him out…"

"Well, that's unfortunate," Pastor Whitmore said, turning his attention to Fred. "It's not right to chase God's children away simply because we think they've sinned. I hope you both know God loves you both very much and that you both are more than welcome at my church."

"Thank you," Tadashi thanked, "That means a lot."

"I hope to see you boys next week."

"Don't worry I'll be here," Tadashi assured, turning his attention to Fred with a hopeful smile on his boyfriends face. Why did he have to look like a puppy when he did that?

"Me too…" Fred said before he could stop himself.

"Wonderful!" He exclaimed. "Well then see you next week!"

"Let's get Hiro an-"

"I have Hiro," Heathcliff declared, walking up to the pair with Hiro walking beside him.

"Hey Dashi!" Hiro exclaimed. Fred wasn't sure when Heathcliff went to get him, but was eternally grateful for him getting Hiro so quickly.

"Well then I guess we can go," Tadashi said, grinning. Fred was partially relieved but also felt guilty. He basically lied to Tadashi about liking something and it didn't sit right with him at all. He didn't dislike it but… he hadn't followed along at all. He knew he needed to talk to Tadashi, but he didn't know how….much sooner than Fred would have liked, they pulled up to the mansion and the four of them walked inside, Heathcliff going off to take care of….whatever he did when not attending to Fred while Tadashi turned to Hiro saying,

"Can you please head upstairs to our room and play in their?"

"Okay!" Hiro said, happily running up the stairs. Once it was just the two of them Tadashi asked,

"Hey Fred? I uh…I didn't want to say anything while we were their but…you didn't like the church very much did you?" Tadashi couldn't look at him when he said this and Fred felt his heart freeze. Great, he'd noticed.

"It's not that I didn't like it!" Fred exclaimed. "I-I…honestly I kept losing focus…I just got really lost…"

"I'd be happy to answer any questions," Tadashi shouted, blushing and adding in a calmer voice, "If uh….if you'd like." Fred stared at Tadashi in shock. He was willing to work with Fred and help him with all of this? He didn't hate Fred for not understanding? But….he wasn't sure how he felt about all of this. Did he really belong in the church anymore or was he just going along to make Tadashi happy?

"Tadashi I…I appreciate the offer I just… I don't know…"

"Do you even want to go back again?"

"I…maybe...can we maybe talk again later this week? I just….this was a lot and I'd just like to…think maybe do something fun or something…."

"Sure," Tadashi said with a warm smile. "Wanna go play some video games or something?"

"That would be awesome actually," Fred agreed, grinning.

End Notes

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and if not I am very sorry and hope you'll still enjoy the fic. I know people may hate that I wrote a chapter like this but I felt it was something that should be talked about some. If you have any questions about the church, the chapter or anything in general feel free to review/PM me. Have a great Labor Day everyone!