We Were Born To Die

Promises

“Tate Langdon, what on earth do you think you’re doing?” Alice followed the boy out of the room, her hands grasping the skirts of her dress and holding them off of the floor. She had to nearly run to keep up with his long strides, as he walked down the hall with a purpose. “Tate!”

“No one is allowed to talk to you like that, Alice.” Tate replied simply, as if the girl should have known that. He didn’t stop or even slow down until the petite girl finally grabbed his arm, pulling him around as forcefully as she muster.

“Tate, stop. Whatever it is that you’re planning to do, it won’t help anything!” She looked at him meaningfully, hoping that it could somehow change his mind.

“I can’t fucking let them get away with this shit!” He muttered as Alice took both of his hands in her own much smaller hands. She kept her eyes on him, hoping that she could at least be somewhat soothing. 

“Tate, it is okay.” She spoke softly. This was such a typical Tate thing to do. When people bullied her, he always wanted to go ‘deal with’ whoever it was. Alice’s lips tugged into a small smile. “I don’t need you getting into more trouble, now do I?”

Tate just looked at her, surprised that she was the same girl he found so upset in the bathroom not long ago. “You amaze me sometimes.” He muttered, letting the blonde lead him back to his room.

--An hour earlier—

Curled on the bathroom floor, Alice regretted her actions immediately. She knew how disappointed Tate was going to be with her, and how angry he was going to be with the kids at school. The blood had dripped from her arm, staining the floor tiles below. The blonde just stared at it hopelessly, mentally lecturing herself not to be so weak. 

“Alice? Are you here?” Alice held her breath at the voice, instantly recognizing the voice as her friend’s. She forced herself to stop crying and rubbing the tears away quickly as she heard the bathroom door creak open. She instantly hugged her arms around her, hoping it hid the gashes on wrists.

“Alice? What the hell are you doing? You never skip school!” He walked in to the bathroom and froze as soon as he spotted the girl curled in the corner. “What’s wrong?”

The girl blinked at his sudden mood change, chewing on her bottom lip. “Just some kids at school. I never wanted to skip the last two classes. I just… I couldn’t stay there any longer.”

“Who was it this time?” Tate walked across the room in a second, kneeling beside the girl carefully. “What did they do?”

Alice couldn't help but smile at her friend’s determination to protect her from the world. “I know what will happen if I tell you.” She said softly, forcing herself not to start crying again as she held her wrist behind her knees. Tate stood up and was about to offer to help Alice up when he noticed the drops of blood that remained on the floor and immediately stopped.

“I’m sorry…” She whispered, the guilt she felt for upsetting Tate evident in her eyes, more dominant than the pain that had caused this. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to… It’s just a habit…”

“Alessandra.” He spoke seriously, walking to the sink and opening the cupboard to get some gauze. Alice flinched at the use of her full name, knowing that only meant Tate really wasn’t happy about this. “What happened?”

As he made his way back with the bandages and cleaning supplies, she explained quietly. She told they boy of the cruel words they had said to her, the nasty things they called her. “I’m just a burden to everyone. That’s why my parents hate me…” She mumbled at the end, looking at the ground between her and the messy haired boy in front of her. He had just finished wrapping her wrist in gauze, but kept a light hold on her hand.

“You are not a burden, Alessandra Fairbain. Your parents are just seriously fucked up.” He responded immediately, helping the girl to her feet. He hated the kids at school, the ones who had nothing better to do with their lives than to torment the innocent girl. Did they know that this is what happened when she came home? Would they still continue their bullying if they knew how close she was to ending it all? People were sick, but the thought of anyone knowing how bad they were hurting Alice, and continued to do it, was too much for Tate to believe. He led the tiny girl back to his bedroom, helping her into the bed. It was only around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, but he could tell that she was exhausted. As she curled up in a ball under the covers, Tate sat on the edge of the bed and brushed her hair away from her face. She didn’t deserve this. She was nothing but kind to everyone.

“Alice, promise me you’ll never cut yourself again.” He said quietly, looking down at her with a serious but soft expression. The small blonde girl just opened her eyes and looked up with a weak smile. “Only if you promise you’ll never leave me.”

“Deal.” The boy smiled before his memory replayed the things Alice had said the kids at school said to her. He felt the rage building up inside, and within moments he found himself opening the door and stepping into the hall.

 -----------------------

Alice was back in bed, curled up in a ball. Her head was resting against Tate’s chest as she rested peacefully while her friend read one of his many Stephen King novels. She was glad she had managed to calm him down from what she feared was a darkness that threatened to one day take over the boy. She noticed, every now and then, he would snap, and nearly do something terrible. She couldn’t imagine what he would have done if he found the kids from school, but knew it would not be good. He was protective over her; she knew that. Constance even knew it.

She had nearly drifted to sleep when she heard Tate’s bedroom door creak open. Tate must have fallen asleep as well because there was silence until she barely heard Constance whisper the boy’s name. He must have been asleep or at least pretending to be, because the woman never got an answer. Alice vaguely heard her say something about how cute it was before she finally drifted to sleep as the door clicked shut.