Tate Langdon x Dead!Reader

Chapter 6

After that day, he became very careful with me. As if I was a fragile butterfly. He would shield me from the harshness of the world. If I ever asked how he was or how his school day went, he would avoid the question and instead put the spotlight on me. I went along with it for awhile but I got to the point that I couldn't really take it anymore. It felt like he was shutting me out.

So I waited as I normally did for Tate to return home from school. I felt like I needed to talk to him about this. It was like I would explode if I didn't.

The familiar sound of the door knob turning alerted me to the fact that he was finally home.

"Hey (name). How has your day been?" He walked around to his side of the couch and plopped down next to me.

With a sigh, I turned to face him. "Tate, we need to talk." Fear immediately filled his eyes. "It's nothing bad Tate. We just need to talk." I gave him a small smile and he seemed to relax a little. "Tate, why are you keeping things from me? It's like you're shutting me out and it hurts."

He pulled me into a hug and began to stroke my hair. "That's the last thing I want to do baby. I'm just worried about you," he sighed heavily before speaking again. "After hearing what happened to you, I don't want you to get upset if I talked about the things that were happening to me."

I pulled away from the hug and looked into his eyes. They were filled with sadness and concern. "Tate, it's really important that you talk to me. I didn't have anyone and this house can do terrible things to you. I told you that I'll always be there for you. You don't have to hide your feelings from me." I gave him a small smile and placed my hand on his cheek. "I love you and I don't want you to feel so alone in this awful world."

He moved his hand to rest on top of mine and closed his eyes for a few moments. "I just didn't want to hurt you."

"You certainly wouldn't by telling me what was going on in your world. Please be honest with me Tate." I put my other hand on the other side of his face and pulled him in for a short and sweet kiss.

"Okay," he sighed, "I will be more honest with you. Just tell me if anything I say is hurting you." He stroked down my cheek gently. "I care more about your feelings than mine."

I pulled him into a hug and we sat there for several minutes, basking in the love we felt for each other. He was beautiful and perfect and nothing could change that image of him for me.