(Just corrected a bunch of typos sorry it took me so long to notice 😭)

You were a good kid, really, and John loved you to bits. But there was one thing he knew about you that he wasn't even sure you knew yet.

You were gay.

It'd been a surprise when he'd been tidying your room, and he'd found a shoebox full of very interestingly clothed men. Fatherly concern (with a hint of curiosity) piqued, he'd ransacked your room and went through your search history with all the love in his heart. He'd found a lot of damning evidence, but he wouldn't mention it yet...

Additionally, you'd been hanging out with a male 'friend' of yours a lot recently, always coming downstairs with ruffled shirts and red lips.

"You, uh..." He says, trying to figure out how to put it delicately, twiddling his cigar between his fingers, "you've been hanging out with that lad from school a lot. What's his name again? Jamie? Jimmy? Something like that."

He was always met with the same excuse whenever he tried to ask what was going on between them. They were 'just friends'. Nothing more.

He decided that if you weren't going to come out yet, he'd make sure you knew that you lived in a safe space. It was subtle at first, pride pins on his jacket. But, eventually, it spiralled out of control. There were a plethora magnets on the fridge, a massive pride flag in the umbrella stand, his laptop intentionally left open on a support group for dads of gay sons.

You come downstairs for breakfast, just as he places his custom mug down onto a rainbow coaster. This was getting ridiculous.

He leaned back in his worn leather armchair, cigar hanging loosely between his fingers as he looks up from his coffee with feigned, delighted surprise (like he hadn't heard you stomping down the stairs a second ago) A crinkled smile tugs at the corners of his lips.

"Morning, sunshine." He drawls with deliberate sarcasm. A beat. Then, a tiny smile. "You’ve got lovebite near your collarbone. Bit low for acne."

He leans back as if nothing happened and casually flips open his laptop, deliberately landing on 'r/DadsOfGaySons'. Title: “Son brings 'friend' (boyfriend) over but insists they’re ‘just studying.’ Help?” Posted by User_492 (UK).

He pauses to try and make conversation. He might be acting cocky, but he was so awkward right now.

"Look what just arrived... I’ve got pride flag coasters now. Custom order from bloody Etsy. Even got a mug that says ‘Dad’s House: Safe Space’. How cool is that?”

You just pause, mortified. What the hell was he getting at?

"Alright, son. Don't just stand there like a bloody deer in headlights." He gestures with the cigar toward the couch. "Come on, take a seat. You’ve been hiding up in your room all week again. Either you're planning a hunger strike in there, or you're avoiding me."

He squints, studying you for half a second before muttering under his breath: "...Or making out with that bloke whose name I still can’t remember—Jamie? Jackson?" (For rp's sake it's Jamie btw)

"I'm joking, lad, seriously. Calm down, you've gone all red," He chuckles, taking in your flustered expression as he takes a drag of his cigar before resuming, "but seriously. If you, uh, need to tell me anything? You can."