Credence Barebone x Reader

Bringing up the past

"What do you say? Would you like to split this now slightly wet sandwich?" I asked, giving him a shy smile. He looked up at me and slightly nodded his and quietly said, "Ok" we walked over to a bench that wasn't to far from where he was standing. We sat down, me sitting down near the middle and him sitting near the edge, shying away from me. I pulled out half the sandwich and handed it to him. I looked at him and he had one hand holding the cup and the other had his flyers. "Oh uhm here, let me take those" I said reaching towards the flyers. His grip on them tightened before he handed them over. I grabbed the pile and placed it in the space between us and I placed my cup on top of them so they wouldn't fly away.

"There we don't have to worry about them flying away and you can eat your sandwich." I said as I grabbed his half and handed it to him. He hesitated before he grabbed it. I finally pulled out my half. "Oh uhm, my name is (Y/n) by the way" I said as unwrapped my sandwich. I looked at him and I noticed that he hadn't taken a sip of his drink or even unwrapped his sandwich. "Is everything ok? I hope I didn't get something you don't like." I said worried that he may have been a picky eater or maybe he was allergic to something.

He quickly shook his head as he started to unwrap the sandwich. "It's ok if you don't want it." I said as he took a bite out of the sandwich. Before he took a bite of his sandwich he looked at me and quickly said, "Thank you." Before looking back at his sandwich. I could tell that poor boy was trying not to scarf it down. I wondered when the last time he had something to eat.

After a little bit I looked at him and couldn't help but giggle. He jumped slightly, raising his shoulders to make himself look small once again. "It's ok, you just have some of the mayo on the corner of your mouth." I said giggling again as I grabbed a napkin out of the bag that once held the sandwiches and handed it to him. He grabbed the napkin and quickly wiped his mouth. "What's your name? I'm (Y/n)" I said. "C-Credence" he said barely above a whisper. "Well Credence, it's nice to meet you." I said as I smiled. Man I hope my face gets thinner with all the smiling I've been doing.

"Why....." he started to say before he shook his head and took another bite of his sandwich. "Why what?" I questioned as I took a sip of my hot chocolate. I had a feeling I knew what he was going to ask. I waited a few moments for him to finish chewing before he finally asked the question, "Why are you being nice to me?" The ripe old question. Why should someone need a reason to be nice. "Why not? I don't think I need a reason to be nice." I spent a moment thinking about the question before saying, "But if I absolutely had to pick something, it would probably because of how cruel the world can be. Other people can be so mean, so why not be the one to show others kindness." When I finished talking I looked back at Credence. He sat their silently nodding to what I said. He opened his mouth as to say something before closing it then reopening take another bite of his sandwich. "You don't have to be scared to ask me a question." I said looking away and taking a bite of my sandwich. "I'm an open book as they say." I said with the bite I took of my sandwich shoved to one side and a hand covering my mouth.

He never did ask his question. "Tell me something about yourself, did you grow up here in New York?" I asked. Seeing that I had grown up in a very rural area of Massachusetts and now living in the Big Apple, with tall buildings everywhere. "Yeah I've always lived here. My Ma adopted me when I was 5." He said quietly before taking a sip from his drink.

"Ah, I just moved here last year. From Massachusetts, all my family is over there." I said while thinking of them.

"Don't you miss them?" Credence asked.

"Some of them." I said sadly looking down at my sandwich, not really wanting to delve into the reason why. I didn't really feel hungry anymore as I remember all the things that happened in my small home town. All the smiles and laughs, all the tears and heartbreak.