Work Text:
Eric tilted his head to the side and put on his best cute eyes. He'd seen Jackie do it for Hyde plenty of times, and it had worked on him every time without fail. "Hey, Maggie."
"What do ye want?" she asked.
"Can I pick the channel?"
Maggie smiled. "Sure." Eric grinned and put on Star Trek. He scooted closer to Maggie. "I like that cute look ye gave me. Don't expect it to work on me like it works on Hyde, though."
"Damn, you caught on. I thought my charming good looks would be enough that you wouldn't notice I was copying Jackie."
"Not enough, no. But it was cute, so I don't mind that ye tried to trick me." She kissed him softly. He deepened the kiss, running a hand through her hair.
Just as the kiss got more heated, the door opened and they heard the unmistakable sound of someone doing the "stomp and cry."
"Think it's Diana?" Maggie asked.
"Probably, yeah," Eric said. "Let's go check it out."
The kids were just inside the doorway, putting their backpacks down. To his surprise, it was actually Jessie doing the "stomp and cry." Tears were welling her eyes and Diana seemed to be trying to find out what was wrong.
"Why won't you tell me what's going on? I'm your sister, you can tell me anything," Diana said.
"Just leave me alone!" Jessie said, voice shaking. She ran up the stairs, followed shortly by the sound of her door slamming closed.
"How was school?" Eric asked.
"It wasn't great for Jessie," Lucas said. "You probably guessed that, though."
"Yeah. Do ye know what happened?" Maggie asked.
"No, she won't tell me! And I am her sister, I deserve to know," Diana said, huffing and crossing her arms.
“Just ‘cause you’re related to her doesn’t mean she has to tell you everything,” Lucas said.
“But I want to know!” she whined.
“Yeah, but you should give her some privacy. She’s having a tough day, let’s give her some space,” Eric said.
“Fine,” Diana and Lucas both said.
~
Eric balanced the plate in one hand and knocked on Jessie’s door. “Jessie, I brought you dinner.”
After a moment, the door opened. Jessie’s eyes were red and she was frowning. “Thanks.”
"Can I come in? I'd like to talk. It doesn't have to be about whatever happened today. Although, it might be good to talk about it."
"You can come in." Jessie took the plate from him and put it on her desk, then sat down in her desk chair.
Eric sat on the edge of her bed and looked around as she ate. He stared at her Guns 'N' Roses poster for a few minutes, trying to remember their names. He knew the redhead was Axl Rose, and the guy with the hat was Slash. Beyond that, he was clueless. That was as good a conversation starter as any.
"Remind me of the other guys' names in Guns 'N' Roses?"
Jessie pointed to each man as she said the names. "Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler."
"Ah, right." He stared at the poster a little longer. "Y'know, Donna used to have hair a lot like Axl Rose."
Jessie giggled. "I bet she didn't pull it off as well as Axl Rose."
Eric smiled, feeling triumphant that he'd gotten her to laugh a little. "No, she didn't. Although, she wasn't a rock star. That might change things."
"Yeah." Jessie stared at her dinner plate. "Betsy came out. She's, um… She's a lesbian."
Eric nodded. "Mhm. How do you feel about that?"
"I don't know." Jessie pulled her knees up to her chest and spun her chair a little to face Eric. "I feel like I might be homophobic? But I don't think I am. But ever since she told me, it's been bothering me a lot."
"What exactly is bothering you about it?"
Jessie swiveled back and forth in her chair slowly. "I might be jealous because she knows who she is and she's confident enough in herself to come out. And I don't really know that much about myself after what happened with you and Mom and Hyde last year. Maybe I just want that self-knowledge and confidence?"
"Maybe."
"Or… I'm kind of scared of her finding new gay friends that are more accpeting and cool. She's my best friend, I don't want to lose her because I'm not accepting enough. And there are probably a lot of people out there that are way more accepting and cool and better than me."
"But none of them are you , and I think that's what matters most to Betsy. You're her best friend too, remember?" Eric smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't sell yourself short."
Jessie smiled a little, but it quickly faded. "Right after she came out, I thought, 'What if she likes me?' But that's kind of homophobic, isn't it? To assume that because she likes girls, she likes me."
Eric shrugged. "Maybe. But if you knew it wasn't a good assumption to make, then you're not homophobic."
"That's good. I was really hoping I wasn't."
Eric chuckled. "Do you want to hear a story? It's about the first time someone came out to me."
"Sure."
"When I was seventeen, I was friends with a guy named Buddy. Buddy and I got along really well. We hung out all the time, went for rides in his car. He had a red Trans-Am. One day, we went to the movies. After, we were sitting in his car and he kissed me."
"Did you kiss him back?" Jessie asked, eyebrows raised.
"No. No, I pulled away. He said he was gay. I was a little freaked out, 'cause I had never been kissed by a guy before. He drove me home, and we didn't talk much after that. Which was too bad, 'cause we were pretty good friends for a while."
"So… did you like him?"
"I…" Eric paused. Had he liked Buddy? He guessed he could have. He wasn't sure. "I don't think so."
Jessie gave him a confused look, but said, "Okay."
"Anyway, my point is… It's okay. Betsy liking girls doesn't change the fact that she's friends with you. If you were in her place, would you stop being friends with her?"
"No, of course not."
"See? Your friendship hasn't ended because she's not straight. My friendship with Buddy could have gone on, but he had feelings for me and we thought it wouldn't go well like that. Sometimes having feelings more than friendship makes just being friends really hard."
Jessie's head tilted to the side a bit, and she stared at her carpet. Eric thought about what he'd just said. Buddy had eventually stopped liking him. They'd talked once in a while at school, and Buddy had told him he didn't have feelings for him anymore just a couple weeks later. Why hadn't they continued their friendship then?
The realization came quickly, and Eric saw his own thoughts reflected in Jessie's face. He had liked Buddy. He still liked women, of course. One did not feel the things he'd felt for Donna and Jackie and Maggie if they only liked men. He'd never had the chance to think about his feelings for Buddy. Or men in general. But, he supposed, it had always been there.
"What if… What if I feel weird about Betsy coming out because I like girls too?" Jessie asked, her voice quiet, as if she was afraid to say it out loud.
"Maybe that's it." He smiled at her reassuringly. "I love you no matter what."
She smiled a little. "I love you too." She got up from the chair and hugged him tightly. "Thanks for talking to me."
"My pleasure, Sunshine."
~
"What was going on with her?" Maggie asked when Eric came downstairs.
He sat on the couch next to her, snuggling into her side. "Oh, you know, Betsy came out as gay and she's having a little crisis."
Maggie's fingers wove into his hair gently. "Ah. Did she figure it out?"
"No. She will eventually." He sighed contentedly and wrapped his arms around Maggie's midsection. "I love you."
She smiled softly. "I love ye too." She kissed the top of his head.
"Next time I see Donna, I'm gonna tell her that she could look like Axl Rose if she grew her hair again."
Maggie snorted. "Think Susanne'd like that?"
Eric smiled. "Maybe. Just gotta get her a bandana and leather pants and the look is complete."
The two of them giggled, leaning into each other. Eric was confident that both he and Jessie would figure things out.
~
Donna stirred milk into her coffee and sat next to Susanne at the kitchen counter. Jessie was sitting on the other side, staring into her soda. "How can I support her better?" Jessie asked, talking about Betsy.
"Let her know you're still her best friend. It doesn't change anything. You two can stay friends," Susanne said.
"Yeah…" Jessie chewed her lip a little.
Donna glanced at Susanne. She had a feeling Jessie was questioning her own sexuality. Which couldn't have been fun after finding out about Hyde being her father. Donna decided to tell Jessie a little bit about her own sexuality crisis. It could help Jessie. Or it could just be a fun story. "You wanna know how I figured out I was gay?"
Jessie shrugged. "Sure."
"Susanne kissed me for the first time and it clicked in my brain. I never thought about it until that moment. It was like… I didn't know what was wrong until I felt what was right."
"Huh," Jessie muttered.
"That's so sweet, Donna," Susanne said with a smile. She kissed Donna quickly.
Donna looked back at Jessie. "Everyone figures it out differently. What happened with me probably didn't happen with Betsy. The best you can do for her is respect her. Let her know that you're happy she understands herself."
Jessie nodded. "I can do that." She blushed a little. "And… Hypothetically, if someone were questioning their sexuality, how might they go about figuring that out?"
"Well, hypothetically, they should do some self-reflection. Think about what it would really mean to not be straight," Susanne said. "It's not all about thinking someone looks nice. It's about wanting to date, and having feelings, and having a physical relationship."
"Uh-huh." Jessie smiled a little. "Thanks for the advice."
Donna grinned. "Anytime, Jessie."
~
Eric was sitting on the couch, a stack of tests on the coffee table and a red pen in his hand. He hadn't corrected anything for the past ten minutes or so, distracted by his thoughts. Since his conversation with Jessie, he'd been thinking a lot about his own sexuality, like he presumed Jessie was.
He knew that whatever his sexuality was, it wouldn't change the fact that he loved Maggie and wanted to be with her. Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't like men.
He kept coming back to Buddy. And their one kiss. That was likely because Buddy was the only boy he'd ever kissed. And the only boy he'd ever thought of having feelings for.
When he really thought about it, he had never seen men differently. He admired Mark Hamill the same way he admired Carrie Fisher. He admired them both for acting talent and the characters they portrayed in Star Wars. He also liked John Oates the same way he liked Anne Murray, both for their looks and vocals.
Suddenly, Eric felt very certain of it. He was bisexual.
If he hadn't liked Donna back in 1978, he probably would have liked Buddy, maybe even dated him. But Eric couldn't change the past, and he was okay with that. He was also okay with the fact that his present and future wouldn't change because of his new discovery about himself. He was glad to have found a new label, but it didn't mean he was going to change.
"You've been staring at the void for the past ten minutes," Maggie said. "What's wrong with ye?"
"Huh?" Eric looked up at Maggie, standing near the couch. "Oh, nothing's wrong. Just thinking about some things."
Maggie sat next to him on the couch. "What things?"
"I'm bisexual. Still in love with you, of course."
Maggie smiled. "I'm happy for ye, love. Ye understand yourself better, and that's what matters."
He smiled back at her. "Thanks."
She leaned close and rubbed her nose against his. "No need to thank me."
~
Eric sat at the kitchen table, grading papers. It had been a few months since his conversation with Jessie about Betsy coming out. Eric hoped Jessie was figuring herself out.
Jessie entered the kitchen and sat next to him. "I have something to tell you."
Eric put down his pen and the paper he was grading. "What's up?"
"I'm bisexual."
He smiled at her reassuringly. "Good for you. I love you, Sunshine."
"I love you too, Dad."
He got up and hugged her. "It feels good to know yourself better, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it really does."
Even though he didn't say out loud that he was bisexual too, he had a feeling she kind of knew. Despite not being related by blood, they understood each other very well. Their sexuality was just one more connection, one more thing they had in common. Eric was glad to share it with her.