#eugh....

You and your dad had a pretty good relationship

Don't get me wrong

he's BUSY

but he shows up when it counts

You know a lot of the things your dad should be at, some GDA intern shows up to instead

but there's the intent, and they always come with a personalized message from Cecil.

He wasn't there to get photos of you in your prom outfit with your group/date, but he made sure there were plenty of photos being taken

All in all, things weren't bad, you had dinner whenever he could spare an hour or so, and sometimes, in the super chill months, Cecil would even take you to things like the movies

and you'd always been a good kid

A/B student, a "pleasure to have in class", a bit of a backtalker but it came from a place of curiosity and a natural born sense of leadership

if the worst he got from you was the occasional sass when you asked a teacher why you had to ask to use the restroom, that was alright with him

What WASN'T alright with him, was the first day of your junior year of high school

he'd been called to the office and assured this wasn't something that could happen over the phone

Not even the GDA can sway the power a public school front office lady possesses.

So there he is, in some public high school's principals office, with his crisp grey suit crunching into the plastic of the underfunded office chair he sat on

"Mr. Stedman, your child was... distracting in class today, to say the least. A blatant violation of the dress code-"

Cecil cut him off, a sharp bitterness in his voice "You called me here because my child was wearing the wrong clothes? Really?"

The principal coughed "Well- Y/n responded to their disciplinary waring with extreme hostility, calling the teacher an-" he checked the papers in front of him before cautiously reciting "'ornery fucking prude' were their exact words."

Cecil's eye twitched "Where are they, then? What was so bad that they had to be disciplined in the first place?" his waning patience was obvious.

The principal responded by using his telephone to call the front office "Send Y/n Stedman in."

You were wearing a tanktop. Not a low cut or particularly inappropriate tank top, mind you, a regular cut two-finger strapped tank top. God. Forbid.

Cecil was furious with your Principal and took you home immediately

"What a prude-" Cecil stated decidedly, ranting about the insanity of it on the car ride home.

You just had poor administration.

Or so he thought

Two months later Cecil got reports that you were being driven home in a cop car

He supposed he couldn't really be surprised, after all, in the last two months you'd already exceeded the normal limit on missed days, Cecil having to pull the government card to keep you enrolled

He teleported home right as the cop knocked on the door

"Hello officer, how can I help you?" he levelled a glare at you: what have you been getting into?

Your eyes responded with a roll: nothing, get off my back

the officer was blissfully unaware "Uh, sir, we caught your kid here spray painting the CVS down on Dupont Circle.

"....spray painting?" Cecil's tone was genuinely confused

of all the things?

"Yes sir, spray painting. Nothing obscene, seems just like tagging, but criminal nonetheless." The cop gently released his grip on your arm, allowing you to step inside your home "The manager of the building has decided not to press charges, but they are expected to clean the building. Please get in contact at your earliest convenience."

With a tip of his hat, the cop left

leaving Cecil with his newly convicted child

"Really, Y/n? Petty vandalism?"

You scoffed "Dad, it was just art! I wasn't doing anything wrong, this whole city is covered in graffiti-"

He groaned "It isn't just the 'art'-" he mocked you with finger quotations "It's the skipping, the blatant disrespect to your teachers, god... Y/n next thing you know I'm going to find you in cahoots with the Mauler Twins on national television!"

You folded your arms, lowering a glare at him "That's low, even for me."

"Ugh-" Cecil flopped defeatedly into the dining room chair across from you "Why are you doing this?" his frustration broke into defeat "What's going on, kiddo?"

Your eyes warbled back and forth as you stared at him for what felt like forever

before you let out probably the biggest, most pent up sigh of your life

and you laid your head on the table unceremoniously

"I don't know, Dad. It's not like I'm trying to get into trouble." You looked askance, your face pressed into the hardwood of the table

"I just want to have some fun, wear what I want, and be a normal teenager that does normal teen rebellion stuff."

Cecil could empathize with this, but conversely:

"And normal teenagers get in trouble when they do normal teenager stuff, Y/n. Like right now." He gapped the distance between the two of you, resting a fatherly hand on your shoulder

"I love you, kiddo, and getting in trouble for breaking some flimsy dress code is one thing, but you gotta keep it within the law. I can't protect you when you do dumb stuff like this."

"I know..." you mumbled, not wanting to meet his eyes

Cecil sat next to you, pulling his chair over "Look, you and me are gonna disagree on a lot. and that's fine, we don't have to agree on dating or clothes or anything. But on stuff like this, you have to trust me. You're my child and I want you to have fun in high school, but I also want you to graduate and get OUT of high school."

his words broke through to you a little, and the guilt of being sent home by the cops crept up through your spine, spreading through your nerves until you felt nauseous

"I'm sorry, Dad....."

Cecil's expression softened, his eyebrows raising and his eyes widening "It's okay, kiddo. Just do your best, that's all I ask of you."

He pulled you into a brief hug, before letting you go