“Zacky honey? Have you seen where I put my marking pen?” Brian asked as he walked through the apartment and into the living room, where Zacky was lain up against the couch, patting the couch next to him. He had the red pen held between two of his fingers and he bit his lip, pushing then pen down his shirt.

“Come and get it sweetie” he teased and Brian laughed, crawling on top of his fiancé and grabbing the pen from out of his shirt, before getting up again. Zacky pouted as Brian slipped into a chair at the dining room table and grabbed the papers from the side.

“Come on baby, I want you now” Zacky whined, running his hands over Brian’s muscular shoulders.
“You know I have to grade these papers, Zee. I’m teaching tomorrow, my boss isn’t gonna be very happy with me if I don’t do it” Brian said, wishing he could give in to his temptations and have sex with his fiancé on the couch until both of them passed out, but he had work to do. Even though all Zacky had to do was draw on a couple of t-shirts and he’d make enough to pay their rent for three months- for Brian it was a little harder.

“These are the days I wish I was your boss, so I could call you into my office bend you over my desk and have my way with that sweet little ass of yours” Zacky whispered into his ear, kissing his temple as he disappeared into the kitchen, the sound of the kettle being switched on like music to Brian’s ears. Even on a Monday it had been stressful- looking after Kennedy, and dealing with the repercussions of Matt’s actions at the prison. It looked like he wasn’t going to get out of there soon, like everyone had hoped.

“Bri, do you want tea or coffee?” Zacky called from the kitchen, and Brian looked up from the paper to yell back coffee. It made him feel more like a teacher if he had coffee breath and hated his job. He loved the kids, hell, every single year he’d walk in and feel like he was part of a family. He’d set them the task this week of writing about their families, and he was particularly interested in one little girl called Stacey. She had two fathers, a gay couple who had used a surrogate mother to have a child in their lives.

Digging through the pile, he picked up the neatly written paper and began to scan over the first few lines of the page.

’My family by Stacey. In my family, there is me and my two daddies. One is called Daddy and one is called Papa and they love me very much. I don’t mind that some people have a mommy and a daddy- and my daddies say I’m special because I have more daddies than everyone else. I love my daddies because they teach me to be nice to other people, even though sometimes people say nasty things about them on the street’

“What are you reading honey? You look pretty into it for a page long essay written by a six year old” Zacky asked as he put the steaming mug of coffee on the table and shuffled onto Brian’s lap, smiling when the other man didn’t push him away, like he usually did when he was doing things for work.
“There’s a little girl in my class, Stacey, and she’s got two dads. I set them the assignment to write about their families and what she’s writing is just so…innocent. It’s like she never even realises how much shit her parents go through” Brian said slowly, holding up the paper for Zacky to see.

“My daddies love Mr Haner because he loves a man too. We saw him on careers day and he gave me some candy. I think it’s pretty that Mr Haner and Mr Baker love each other, and I wish that all the other kids could see that they make each other happy” Zacky read slowly, and then looked over at Brian, whose eyes were filling with tears.

“Did you tell them that we were getting married? That you were gay?” Zacky asked and Brian nodded, the horrible events of the day unfurling right underneath him. Truth was, before Zacky turned up, he was ready to pack up his stuff and quit his job right there and then.

The paper Stacey had written, he’d given her an A for, he’d marked it long ago, he’d just wanted to bring it home with him. Of course, the other kids who got crappy grades because their families were terrible to write about went to their parents. And many of those parents were die-hard Christians, who discovered that he was gay and went straight to the principal. She found Brian during recess and explained what their dilemma was.

He had two choices. Break up with Zacky or get fired from his job and never work in a school again.
“Babe, why are you crying? I thought that would be a good thing- now they can accept you for who you really are. Isn’t that what you’re meant to be teaching them?” Zacky asked, watching as Brian dissolved into tears in front of him, burying his head in his fiancé’s neck.

He felt useless, stupid and unwanted. Nobody wanted someone like him working for them, and though he wanted to stand up and not take their crap about his sexuality- he didn’t want to leave his kids. He loved them way too much to let them go to another teacher.

“Because Zack…the parents don’t want a gay man teaching their kids. The principal told me today that…I had to prove that I was straight by leaving your or I’d be fired” Brian whispered and Zacky held him tighter, all of the colour draining from his angry face. And he wasn’t surprised he was angry, because in fact he was downright fuming that they would not only push such an injustice on Brian, but that they would hurt his fiancé like this. Not on Zacky’s watch.

“Brian, we will fight this if it’s the last thing we do. I’ve taken enough crap from that school to last me a lifetime. If I remember anything about law it’s that a company, like a school, certainly cannot force you out of a job because of your sexuality. This isn’t the 20th century for crying out loud!” Zacky said, and grabbed Brian’s shirt, pulling him in for a sweet yet rough kiss, just the way the two of them liked it.

“We’re gonna take those bastards to court, and make sure you get to stay with these wonderful children” Zacky whispered and the two of them kissed again, Brian throwing away his precious pen onto the other side of the room.

“I love you Zacky. I could never give you up, not for any job in the world” Brian whispered and Zacky got off of his lap, taking his hand and pulling him into their bedroom, a smirk across his face.

“I love you too Brian. Now- put on ‘Hot For Teacher’ on and punish me like I’ve been a bad student, Mr Haner” Zacky purred and as Brian smirked, he knew he would fight these people to the death.

But he’d never lose the man he loved.