Imprisonment (Childe x Fem!reader)

Chapter Twenty One: Would You?

It had been about a week or so since the whole incident with the murder. You weren't completely over it but you definitely had your guard up whenever you left the house. It had seemed that the cops gave up on searching the murder. Nothing was on news anymore, the articles didn't mention anything else beside on what they found. You guess if they found less evidence, they would stop searching as much.

You also stopped receiving calls and messages from your ex boyfriend. This felt kinda weird considering how he is and what he would do, but you were glad to get that weight off your shoulders.

Work was going smoothly and the project was time consuming but it didn't matter to you. You were excited to be in this and prove to your other colleagues that you could do more. Zhongli offered to take the team out for dinner and who wouldn't say no to that?

As you sat there around the table with everyone else, Zhongli nudges you to get your attention.

"Have you talked to Xinyan recently?"

After her accusing Childe of murder, you stopped answering her phone calls and messages. You were still upset with her and wanted to be away from your friends for a little while.

"No, why?"

"Well, she told me that you stopped talking to her. How come?"

Zhongli wasn't the type to meddle with female drama or any type of petty shit for that matter. But when it came to you, he wanted to make sure everything was okay and that everyone got along in the friend group.

"Hey boss! Isn't this you?"

One of the colleagues hands him the phone to see Zhongli as a high schooler. So young and cute. He chuckles and hands the phone back.

"Yes, that is indeed."

People around the table were shocked on how such a scrawny little kid can become such a handsome rich man. To you it was no surprise since you've already seen the pictures. He turns to look at you.

"Maybe we can talk about this later if that's alright with you."

Considering how deep the conservation might get, you were around other people who could possibly listen in and put their two-sense in. You nod your head and continue to enjoy your night.

________________

"Get home safely everyone!"

You stand next to Zhongli's car as he makes sure everyone gets in theirs or catches a ride. As the leader, he makes sure everyone is gone before heading out himself. Once everyone was gone, he heads over to you.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tipsy maybe? But not drunk."

"I'll drive you back to your car. Did you say you parked far?"

"Yeah it's a few blocks down."

You both get in the car as Zhongli drives off. You decided to start the conversation first.

"Xinyan was disrespecting Childe and accusing him of murdering the waiter. Now I know Xinyan can be extreme sometimes and tells me straight up she doesn't like who I'm dating, but she went way out of line with that. I mean, how can you say that so casually and not expect me to get mad at you?"

Zhongli was a good listener. He's always been. Anytime you two had a deep conversation, he would always listen to everything you had to say before he could say anything.

"I know this is childish and petty and I'll talk to her when I'm ready. It's just everyone has been saying that Childe isn't what he seems. It's like, they try to find a reason to tear him down or our relationship. Childe has been too good to me and treated me with such care. He's always there when I need him and I truly love him."

"Would you still love him if you found out how cruel he was?"

You turn to look at Zhongli. Surely he wasn't going that far right?

"What do you mean?"

"How he hurts others, manipulates them, tortures them. Maybe become obsessive perhaps? Would you still love him if you found out he did all of that?"

You sit back in your sit, shocked to even hear such words. You knew no one was no Angel in this world, but the thought of Childe doing something so bad, so cruel, it didn't sit right with you.

"I don't know..." you mumbled.

Zhongli spots you car and parks it behind yours. He takes his seat belt off and looks at you.

"Why don't you talk to Xinyan? She's been worrying about you."

"I'll uh..I'll give her a call tomorrow.."

Zhongli could tell you weren't in the mood to talk anymore.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Get home safely, alright?"

You look at Zhongli as he gives you a light smile. Before you got out of the car, you turn to ask him one last thing.

"Would you Zhongli? Love them still after finding out what they've done?"

He makes a face and leans back in his seat.

"There's a reason for everything. Once I find out that reason, that's up to me decide and no one else."

It's like he knew something. You didn't want to believe Childe could hurt people or maybe have a different motive he didn't want you knowing. But with people saying this and that about Childe, maybe you should take it to consideration.

"Thanks Zhongli. I'll see you tomorrow."

Although the conversation wasn't as deep as you thought it might be, you definitely saw that something might be wrong.

You get out of the car and thank Zhongli one more time. As you get in the car, you get a message from Xiangling.

Hey! Ik it's kinda late but the girls wanted to go to this club on Saturday and was wondering if you could come :)

As much as that sounded fun, you had work early that morning and a draft that needed to be submitted by the end of that day. You text back, letting her know that you couldn't make it. You set your phone down and begin to drive off. With everyone saying their suspicions about Childe, maybe it was time for you to open your eyes and see what was really going on.