Harry paced around the room nervously. He debated texting Peter. Everything would be better if he did and he knew that logically. Peter would walk him through how stupid this whole thing was and they could create a back up plan. Everything would be fine.
Expect it wasn’t. Expect he shouldn’t have to worry about Norman but he’s fucking always worried about Norman. How to keep Norman’s approval? Never mind that. How the fuck was he supposed to keep Norman around? He thought about it his entire childhood. What should Harry do to keep the peace? To make his father stay?
But he no longer wanted his father to stay. Maybe somewhere deep down he did but not this time. This time he needed to be alone. He needed to get this stupid school award and not have it with his deadname in big letters. He needed it to be addressed to Harry. He needed his voice to be said for all to hear. He needed to be recognized as himself. For once in his entire goddamn life, he could be seen as himself. He could grab that school award and see Peter in the audience cheering for him. But instead he’ll have to ask to be deadnamed. He’ll have to ask to be misgendered so that Norman can sit in the fucking crowd and be pleased. For Norman, he’ll have to give up a part of himself.