Lessons in Lesbianism - 17 (Patreon)

Knight In Shining Armour

The days after Halloween were wonderful. Spending time with Eliza whenever she could left Olivia feeling the happiest she’d been in years. The only thing that had compared had been when she’d first understood she was a girl.

Sadly, however, she’d only had the one week before Reading Week and her flight back home. She wished she hadn’t promised to go, but she had. The silver lining was that she’d only be leaving for half of Reading Week.

“Do you really need to go?” Eliza asked as they cuddled the night before her flight.

“My parents already paid for the plane tickets. It’s too late to cancel… and I do want to see Portia,” Olivia replied.

Eliza let out a bit of a sigh, but nodded. “Spoil her for me, alright?”

“I’ll do my best, but she’s two and a half. There’s only so much spoiling I can do for her,” Olivia said. “And even less my mum will allow.”

“Fair. Very fair,” Eliza replied, ruffling her hair and then kissing her on the forehead.

-

In the end, Eliza took the ferry with Olivia on Saturday morning, accompanying her to the Victoria airport. Olivia wasn’t sure if it made leaving easier or harder, having more time with Eliza. After Olivia checked in, Eliza pulled her into a kiss. She made sure it was (fairly) chaste, as Olivia too frazzled to give in to any of Eliza’s probing for more. Not somewhere as public as the small airport.

Eliza let out a slightly disappointed noise when Olivia pulled away, and continued to wear a sad expression as Olivia headed towards security. There was a final wave goodbye and a blown kiss from Eliza. Then the line moved enough that Olivia couldn’t see her anymore. She was inside the security screening room, and dragged into the flow of people heading through the various checks.

Then she was stuck in the waiting area, no good way to look back and see if Eliza was still around. Thankfully they both had phones and were able to continue messaging one another. Messages that mostly consisted of various heart emotes, which was enough to make Olivia flush with joy.

It proved enough to help the half hour until boarding pass quickly, and then she was filtered onto the plane itself. Somewhere she couldn’t send text messages anymore.

Or watch a movie this time, as it was an older and smaller plane than her last flight. Thankfully she’d brought a book, just in case. The seat beside her was also empty, which was much nicer than an odd smelling old man, like she’d had on her last flight out.

-

In the end, she ended up napping on the flight. That certainly helped it go by more quickly, even if it probably hadn’t been the best move for the jetlag.

Exiting the airplane took too long, as it always did. Then it was the long winding walk through the Hammer City airport. Even though it wasn’t that large of an airport, it was big enough for her to wonder if she’d taken a wrong turn between some of the signs directing her towards the exit.

When she finally found her way out she was glad to see both her parents and Portia waiting for her. She had not been looking forward to another long and awkward drive alone with her father. Her mother was better about keeping things polite, while Portia was genuinely nice to be around.

“Libby!” Portia called out, squirming in her mother’s arms.

“Hey Porti-y,” Olivia said, walking over to her family with a smile, mostly for Portia’s sake.

“How was your flight, dear?” her mother asked.

“Long, but it was alright,” Olivia replied.

“Shorter than the train was, at least,” her father replied flatly.

“Well, yes. The views and food weren’t as good, though,” Olivia said, trying to strike a friendlier tone.

After all, she wanted to get things off on the right foot to make what was coming later flow more easily. It wasn’t going to be easy to come out to her parents. Not after everything…

She didn’t think they’d disown her or anything, but she was preparing for something of an argument as she followed them out to the SUV. She made sure to sit in the back, beside Portia. Her parents both were happy to let her be back there, entertaining the toddler with conversation, portable dvd watching, and anything else she could think of for the roughly hour long drive back to Stratford.

As they were pulling into town, her phone vibrated, surprising her.

It was a text from Eliza, reading: [What’s your address again?]

Olivia sent the answer, but found she had to asked why.

[It’s good to know. For, like, Christmas Cards and such,] Eliza replied.

That seemed a bit of an odd reply for early November, but Eliza was odd sometimes. So Olivia dismissed it and instead focused on the fact she was arriving at home. She did her best to help her father with her small amount of luggage, carrying it upstairs.

She was allowed some time to shower before her mother announced dinner would be soon. While it felt rather too early for dinner, Olivia hadn’t managed to have much of a lunch on the flight so was happy to eat.

After a quick half hearted offer to help cook (which her mother dismissed, insisting she should rest after travelling), Olivia went over to play with Portia. There wasn’t much time before dinner, but it was too long for a toddler to be left with nothing to do.

“I envy your collection of dolls, you know that?” Olivia said, as she helped her young sister set up a ‘stage’ for her toys to have a talent show.

“It is a very good collection,” Portia said, nodding authoritatively to herself.

“You’re getting better at talking too, do you know that?” Olivia replied.

“Mhm. We are a family of lesbians after all,” Portia said, causing Olivia to burst into a snorting laughter.

“Thespians, Portia. The word you’re after is ‘thespians’,” she said, once she got her laughter under control.

Portia stared at her. “That’s what I said?”

“I… well, close enough,” Olivia replied, stuck wearing a smile.

“Could you set the table, dear?” her mother called out from the kitchen.

“Oh. Sure!” Olivia said, hopping to her feet and hurrying off to get the silverware.

“Also, we’re having a guest over, so do set out an extra place at the table,” her mother replied.

Olivia blinked, but gave a nod. “Sure… who’s coming over?”

“Ah—it’s someone your father invited,” her mother said, dodging the question slightly.

While her mother’s tone indicated she was hiding something, Olivia wasn’t sure what. The most likely theory to Olivia was that it was someone her father worked with that Olivia disliked. Or was at least bored by. Which didn’t really narrow things down. Too many of her father’s business associates were questionable in how they treated Olivia (whether due to casual mild transphobia, being terrible with teenagers, or specifically being terrible with teenage girls).

Either way, Olivia was not ready for who her father brought in after answering the door a few minutes later.

“Carl?” she said, her eye twitching.

“Hello, Liv,” he replied, standing beside her father.

“We met up the other day,” her father said. “And Carl told me some interesting information about how, exactly, your break up happened.”

“Ah,” Olivia said, feeling like her knees were getting ready to give out.

This was not what she needed. She only had the energy to handle one major confrontation today.

“Your dad explained to me that your worries were ungrounded,” Carl said, wearing a smile that left her feeling like a prize he felt he was about to win.

“I know you’ve struggled with self confidence sometimes, Olivia, but you should talk about your worries before you act on them,” her father said.

“It’s true, dear,” her mother said, coming in with some of their dinner. “Now, come on, let’s sit down. Carl said he’d be happy to patch things over.”

“Mhm, I’m quite happy to pretend the whole misunderstanding never happened,” Carl said, seating himself at the table.

“Of course you are,” Olivia muttered, staying standing.

Everyone stared at her, confused by her apparent error in etiquette.

“Dear,” her mother said, setting Portia into her chair.

“He was happy to break up over the idea he wouldn’t get the family business. That’s what he’s after. I’m just a means to an end,” Olivia replied, crossing her arms.

“You know it’s not like that,” Carl said.

“Isn’t it? Not that it matters, I don’t want to get back together either way,” Olivia replied.

“Olivia Miranda Bishop!” her father hissed. “Sit down! Be polite. And don’t accuse Carl like that. He’s a very patient and understanding young man, and you should be thrilled he’s interested in you, all things considered.”

She remained standing, her eye twitching slightly at the reminder of how her father saw her. Not only had she ‘taken’ the son he never had from him, but he didn’t even see her as a proper daughter to make up for it. She was just damaged goods in his eyes.

Her father was clearly confused by her disobedience, as well. She could see him processing it and hunting for something to say. Her mother and Carl both seemed to be fishing similarly for a comment, while Olivia tried to build up the confidence to speak her own mind.

Before anyone could say anything else, however, there was a loud knock at the door.

“Who on earth is that at this hour,” her father grumbled. “It’s the middle of dinner.”

“I’ll go see,” her mother said, hurrying off, leaving Olivia alone, with her only support being Portia.

Who was clearly worried about all the tension and raised voices. If it continued for much longer she might start crying.

Olivia wavered on the possibility of temporarily surrendering, for Portia’s sake, when she heard her mother let out a mildly indignant ‘excuse me’. A moment later, Eliza strolled into view, causing Olivia to blink in surprise.

“Sorry about coming in with my shoes, but I heard shouting,” Eliza said.

“Eliza?” was all Olivia could manage, followed by deepening confusion as two other women.

One looked rather a lot like Eliza, though she was a little bit shorter (though still tall) and wearing a baggy hoodie. The other was, impressively, a few inches taller than Eliza, as well as being East Asian. All three looked rather dashing.

“Who are you?” Olivia’s father asked, getting out of his chair.

“Eliza Haliwell,” the woman in question replied. “Your daughter’s girlfriend.”

“What?” Carl replied, standing up as well.

Only to pale slightly when he realised how much taller than him Eliza was. Not to mention the muscles she’d built between sports and working out.

“Uh… I hadn’t told them I realised I was gay quite yet,” Olivia said, wearing a slight grimace.

“Ah... Oops,” Eliza replied.

“A girlfriend?” Olivia’s father asked. “Are you saying the whole ‘being a girl’ thing was just… what, a lark?”

“Huh!? No. I’m a lesbian,” Olivia replied.

“That seems—why would you do that when you could have just been a normal guy?” her father asked.

“Because she’s a girl?” the shortest of the new arrivals (the one that looked so much like Eliza) said, surprising Olivia by having a deeper and more masculine voice than she’d expected.

Her father’s face turned an intimidating shade of red, which caused the women of the Bishop family to grow nervous. Her father’s anger had really gotten worse in recent years.

Portia was the first to respond, however, bursting into tears.

“I’m sorry,” Olivia said, hurrying over to her little sister’s side to give her a hug. “I’ll leave. I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean you’ll leave?” her mother asked, sounding utterly confused.

“It seems I’m not wanted. I’ll grab my suitcase and then I’ll leave,” she replied, hurrying off before she got a reply.

She’d expected this whole thing to be a mistake, so she was glad to have an excuse to leave early. It didn’t take long to rush upstairs, grab her suitcase, and hurry back down. On the way back down the stairs, she saw Eliza and her taller friend were both blocking the hall, cutting Carl and Olivia’s father off from intervening.

Carl, at least, seemed to be having a crisis in confidence about his masculinity, being out-heighted by two muscular butches.

“Good to go?” Eliza asked, over her shoulder.

“I just need my shoes,” Olivia replied, grabbing them on her way out.

The car parked out front was very generic. Clean and looking fresh off the lot.

“It’s a rental,” Eliza explained as they headed over to the car.

“Eliza’s the only one of us that can drive,” the maybe-boy in the group said.

They were still probably 6ft, though, and so notably taller than Olivia. Even if they were the shortest in the group. Which Olivia would have normally taken as a gender indicator, but Eliza and now her new friend were shifting that expectation.

The tallest woman, meanwhile, was truly impressive. Surely pushing an even two metres.

“I’m Kevin Fujikawa, by the way,” the guy said, opening the door for Olivia, so that she could sit in the passenger seat. “Eliza’s cousin.”

“Oh, um… good to meet you,” Olivia replied, taking a seat as the others put her suitcase in the trunk. “I can definitely see the resemblance.”

Then the others filed in, Eliza taking the driver’s seat and the others sitting in the back.

“Vivian Wong,” the tall woman said, just as Eliza started pulling away.

“Oh. A fittingly gentlemanly name for such a gentlemanly woman,” Olivia said, nodding slightly as the realisation of what she’d done started actually sitting in.

“Pardon?” Vivian replied, looking at the others.

“Vivian,” Olivia said. “Without the extra ‘n’ and ‘e’ at the end… that’s a man’s name? My great-uncle in Birmingham is named Vivian”

“It is?” Vivian replied. “I… I was named after my grandmother.”

“…huh,” Olivia replied.

That was followed by a bit of an awkward silence as the group drove onto the local highway, back in the direction of Hammer City. Eliza turned the stereo on, then flipped channels a bit until she found something that wasn’t country music.

“Um, so… where are we going?” Olivia asked.

“My aunt in Hammer City said I could crash at her place for a bit,” Eliza replied.

“Mhm. Dad’s probably going to faint when he gets home, but… that’s just what he does,” Kevin said.

Olivia nodded again, before another question hit her. “And, um… where did you come from, Eliza? You were in BC last I saw you.”

The woman in question shrugged as she drove down the highway. “I had a bad feeling as you were getting on your plane. So I bought a ticket on the next flight to Hammer City, and called in the cavalry.”

“Since she’s short and needed backup,” Vivian said, with a grin.

“Ah… well… thank you. But that seems a bit expensive, even if it was romantic,” Olivia mumbled, cheeks turning hot as she thought of the romantic dedication it implied.

“… yeah. Probably. I might have to mooch off of you for textbooks next semester,” Eliza said, blushing slightly.

“She’s even more impulsive than I am,” Kevin added with a grin.