Til Death Do Us Part || Tate Langdon

gone again

2013, third grade

      Tate had come to school with his busted lip on Wednesday, and by the following Monday, the previous week's shenanigans were bygones and the two of you sat peacefully again in your nest. You had to rebuild it every other day, but it was good quality time, so you guys didn't mind. You never brought up what those girls told you he'd said; you didn't want to embarrass him.

   You two had snuck some notebook paper out with you to recess, and were playing tic-tac-toe at your place under the slide when he asked, "What did those bitches say when you went over to them?"

   You were surprised to hear a curse word come from a 10 year old's mouth, but shrugged it off. "Nothing," you lied. "I yelled at them and asked them what they were saying to you, but they wouldn't tell me. They said you ran off before they were finished." He nodded in relief at you with a timid smile. You looked at his lip, which was almost healed fully now, and suddenly curiosity got the best of you.

   "Tate?"

   "Yeah?" He looked back up at you after taking his turn on the paper.

   You drew an O with your turn, and asked, "What happened to your lip?"

   He drew another X, but didn't respond. He kept his gaze low.

   "Those girls didn't do that... did they?" you continued. You feared you knew the answer, but didn't want to assume anything that'd upset him. He finally looked up at you. You took your turn, drawing your second O, and he finally responded.

   "My mom said I shouldn't push girls," he said ashamedly. "And my dad didn't like that I ran out of the playground."

   "They hurt you like that?" you looked to him with sympathetic eyes. You had an urge to always protect him for some reason.

   "My mom just yells. It's my dad that actually does this," he referred to his lip. "But it's okay. I'll pay him back one day."

   The wicked look in his eye as he swore revenge on his father startled you a little, and you thought he must've noticed. He gave a reassuring little grin, then said, "Hey, take your turn. I'll be right back."

   He ventured from your nest of safety, which he seldom ever did, and headed toward the small hill next to the blacktop in pursuit of who knows what. You scribbled another O onto your almost full tic-tac-toe board, and Tate returned a moment later, a hand behind his back.

   "Tsk tsk," he shook his head at you playfully, and marked his final X on the board, effectively winning the game. You frowned, and crossed your arms as kids that age did.

   Your disappointment was squashed only a second later, as Tate revealed what he hid behind his back. From the small hill, he'd retrieved a wad of hand-picked, purple Sky Lupine flowers, and held them out to you. You looked shyly from his hand to his blush-colored cheeks, and accepted his gift happily. All of a sudden, these were your favorite kind of flower.

OCTOBER 2023

      It dawned on you as you put two-and-two together that Connie was actually Tate's ever-absent mother, Constance. Any time you visited his house as a child, there was not a parent to be seen, only a careless teenage babysitter. Aunt Thea and Connie's heads whipped to face you when you spoke the boy's name. The color drained out of his familiar face when he saw you looking at him in bewilderment. You and your friends had all grown slightly taller and visibly aged since 2020 when you last saw him, but Tate.. he stood right in front of you looking exactly the same as he did two years ago.

   "You know him?" Aunt Thea asked, and looked between the two of you. Constance suddenly seemed panicky, but attempted to disguise it.

   I began with a shaky voice, "Y-Yeah, we used to--"

   "Perhaps you've seen each other in the halls of school before," Constance cut in. "Maybe you graduated together. That's a good memory you have, Y/N."

      This suggestion seemed to ease a bit of the tension and be sufficient explanation for Aunt Thea. You blinked rapidly, extremely confused, but got the hint to keep your mouth shut. Something was up here, you just had no idea what. Tate hadn't taken his almost-black eyes off of you: but you couldn't tell what he was thinking.

   "Tate honey, could I speak privately with you for a moment?" His mother asked, but it wasn't a request. She awkwardly excused the two of them, and they disappeared into the office building.

   "Weird," Aunt Thea commented. "Did you graduate with him?"

   "I must've," you lied, and noticed you could see Constance's back through the glass door. "How old did you say he was?"

   "Your age, eighteen I think. Why?"

   You shrugged innocently, and she let it go. Tate would have to be 20 at this point, why was Constance lying about his age? Not a moment too soon, another one of your aunt's coworkers distracted her in boring conversation, and you snuck your way over to the doorway in hopes to catch some of Tate and his mother's conversation.

   "What are the goddamn odds," you heard Constance say in a frustrated tone.

   "Sorry, I thought an office festival with a bunch of old fucks wouldn't include people I know."

   "So help me god you'd better act like you've never seen that girl a day in your life," she ordered coldly. "You hear?"

   You didn't hear a response, so you assumed he nodded.

   "I'm gonna get us the hell out of here as quick as possible," she continued. "Just keep your mouth shut and your head down--"

      Their voices were getting closer, so you took large strides in the opposite direction, getting far enough from the door to look innocent just as they reemerged. Constance flashed a phony smile and only offered a cordial nod to your aunt. You inconspicuously kept your eye on the two of them as they made their rounds in saying goodbye, though the function was only just beginning. You excused yourself from Aunt Thea's side, much to her annoyance, and stood close to the exit hoping to catch one last glimpse of your old friend, and let's face it, crush.

   Constance's eyes burned holes through you as she passed, and she called behind her, "Stay close Tate, let's go."

   He followed behind her and stopped next to you while she wasn't paying attention, for only a second to say, "Nice to see you, as always."

And then he was gone again.