Atticus Finch X Reader

My Atticus Finch

After eating dinner with Maudie, I sat on the steps outside waiting for Atticus. I didn't want to disturb him. Perhaps he was still at dinner or started to work on his newer case. Either way I sat outside to enjoy the stillness of the evening. I closed my eyes for awhile to hear the crickets chirping in the tall grass, and the distant radios from neighbouring houses. I felt the coolness in the air kiss my skin, not enough to grab a sweater but enough to keep me in this moment and not my endless thoughts from the exhausting day. 

As I was enjoying the calm evening, I heard a screen door open and close. I didn't have to open my eyes to know who it was. I began to hear footsteps clicking louder and louder until they were right in front of me. 
"May I?" the thunderous voice asked. I simply nodded. I rubbed my hands together, getting ready to hear what he had to say to me. Whether it was good or bad, I needed to hear it from him. 
I finally opened my eyes and turned to my left. I only was able to look at his knees. 
"I reckon they told you what happened today?" I finally looked at his surprisingly calm face. He nodded once. 
He tried to begin to comfort me with "Don't kick yourself over it-" 
"No. How was I supposed to know that you can't give Walter Cunningham money for his lunch?" I felt the tears and the embarrassment pierce through again. 
"That's just it Y/N." I covered my face to hide from him if I could help it. He tried removing them but gave up and wrapped his arms around me. His left hand was firm and began brushing through my hair while the rubbed my shoulder. His head rested on top of mine. 
"You didn't know. It's alright. It's alright." 
I moved a bit to face him. I could feel the shameful tears enter their way back. "I was so horrified Atticus! I wanted it to be a perfect first day, especially with this being my first real job!" 

He started to rub both my shoulders now and began shushing me to calm me down. 
"Hey. Hey! You think my first day as a lawyer went well? Let alone my first case? I meddled all my words together, tripped on the chair from standing up and sitting back down. Get this! My voice even cracked horribly in the middle of my closing remarks that it echoed throughout the entire courtroom!" 
I began to giggle. I couldn't even imagine what that would sound like. That thunderous voice and then out of the blue, squeak! The more I thought about it, the more I giggled, which then turned into full laugh. Atticus tried to tell more of his tale but was swept into laughing with me. As he laughed with me, he reached into his pocket of his pants to hand me a handkerchief and handed it to me.  Still laughing and barely able to see due to now happy tears taking over my eyes, I took it from him. I began wiping my eyes while our laughter died down. Atticus' laughter turned into almost a hum. He reached for my head and gave it a kiss for perfect ending of comforting me. 
I turned my head up to look at him. His right hand remained against my head and I leaned into it and smiled. "Thank you." 
He smiled back at me while gently rubbing my cheek. 
I looked down at the handkerchief to fold it and hand it back but something caught my eye. The initials "E.F" in cursive with little forget-me-nots accompanied by wild flowers and leaves surrounding the corner. I turned it to show him and silently asked him where he got it. 
He smiled lightly and said, "It was my wife's. Eleanor. It's one of the few things I have left of hers. I keep it with me always." He stopped for a moment. His throat started to bob. "I keep it with me so that I know that she's always with me. With Jem. And Scout. All of us." 
I grabbed his hand and gave it back to him, now knowing the meaning behind it. 
"I'm sure that she's grateful that you still have it. What was she like?"

We ended up talking on the step for a couple of hours, Atticus told me many stories about his Eleanor. When they met, how they began courting all the way until Scout's birth.
I noticed that he wanted to stop after that. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable with pushing him on how he lost her so I rested my head against his shoulder. We sat there for awhile just staring at the stars.
Being held by such a man, I never felt more safe in my life. With every exhale, I felt myself sink in more into his sturdy chest. Just being in his presence, I felt butterflies. His touch set me on fire. Talking with him felt natural now. The fact that he trusted me enough to tell me about his late wife, made my heart burst just thinking about it. The realization that I can talk to him about anything and everything. Even though he's a lawyer, I would never be judged. What a relieving feeling. 
That's when I began to realize that I was starting to fall in love with him.
Atticus Finch.
My Atticus Finch. 

Quick one but more to come! (I realized that I do a lot of short chapters, I guess it's because I'm not used to writing! I'll try my best to make them longer next time!)