Overwhelmed (Angst oneshot)

Oh poor Atticus..

Y/n's POV:

"Y/n!" I hear Atticus yell from the house, I was outside playing with Jem and Scout; it was almost sun down so I assumed he was calling for something Scout or Jem related.

"Yes Atticus?" I call out making my way to the door, I peek my head through and surely Atticus wasn't in the dinning room, "Hey cal, do you know where Atticus is?"

"Why yes, he's in his bedroom y/n." Calpurnia was far too busy making lemonade for the kids to pay much attention to me so I decided not to bother her and made my way to Atticus's bedroom.

I reach the end of the hall and I was faced with his door. It's just a door, nothing to get all anxious about. I turned the knob and peaked into the room to scope out Atticus. "Atticus?" I call out.

"One minute y/n!" I hear his voice far away, most likely coming from the bathroom. I assumed he was changing or something of the sort so I walk over to his bed to sit and wait. "Why did you call for me Atticus? Is something the matter?"

I look around the room as if I hadn't already memorized every item on his desk or every picture on the wall, just to keep my self entertained. "I just wanted to ask what you were doing? I didn't see you when I came back." He calls out from the bathroom, water almost drowning out his voice.

"Oh I was playing with Jem and Scout, they dragged me into it." I chuckle at the thought of the two, they were quite a handful. After a while Atticus walks out of the bathroom, sniffling and wiping his eyes. "Atticus," i ask studying his face, "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am y/n, how are you this evening?" He answers clearly hiding something. "I'm doing good... " I respond, yet my mind was set on something else. He walks over, sits next to me and messes up my hair, "Hey!" I laugh trying to fix it, Atticus smiles at my annoyance.

"But Atticus, are you Really okay?" I stay persistent and ask again. "Y/n I said I am okay. Stop pushing it." He says sternly, I of course don't listen and continue.

"Atticus, I've known you for almost two years now, I can tell when you're lying and when there's something wrong." I stare at him, he turns his head away from me; I hear a quiet sniffle come from him.

I reach my hand out, place it on his cheek, and gently turn his head to face me. "Atticus, please talk to me. What's wrong?" He doesn't answer, tears welling up in his eyes, he wipes them away.

In all the time I've known him, I have never seen him cry, or be this distraught. I knew he always hid his feelings from people but this is, suprising. "I.." he starts to speak but stutters , trying to keep it all in. "It's alright, take your time.." I reassure him.

He takes in a deep breath and starts again, "I lost a case, that was very important to me-" he sniffles, "and i'm just so overwhelmed lately, work, jem, scout, and I'm just so tired. I find it so hard to get up in the mornings now, I don't know what's wrong y/n.." he wipes his now red eyes and his head falls into his hands.

Silence washes over the two of us, the tension unbarring. I get up and leave Atticus for some time with himself, and I go into the kitchen.

"Hey cal, Atticus and I aren't eating dinner, something happened.. so please take care of the kids." Calpurnia nods, i could tell she was confused about what the situation was, but so was I; I figured it was best not to spout Atticus's business to anyone, wasn't my place to do so.

I get a glass, fill it with water, and walk back to Atticus's bedroom. I walk in, he was still in the same position as when I left, I sit back down next to him and shake his shoulder gently, "Atticus, head up I got you some water, it'll calm you down."

He does what I asked, takes the cup from me and drinks about half before bringing it down to his leg. I take the cup and put it on his nightstand, "Are you okay now? Calmed down?" I look at him intently, he just nods his head.

"I'm sorry I don't know how to comfort you Atticus.. But I'll try my best, I'm here to listen or be here just to be here." I say still staring at him, he looks me in the eye.

"I'm... I'm going to sleep." He says quietly and starts to move to the middle of the bed, he lays down and closes his eyes. All I can do is stare at him, this was definitely the Atticus I knew, always avoiding what needed to be said.

Even when I had no idea what to do I knew I had to at least be there for him, in anyway I could. I crawl over to where he was sleeping and move so that I was hugging him with my face in his chest. I feel his arms move to wrap around me, I smile to myself, and look up to look at his face.

He looked so peaceful, a tear rolled down his face, only god knows what's going on in his head in this moment. I cup his cheek wiping away the single tear, I feel his arms loosen, a bit limp, and I knew he had fell asleep; I didn't want to bother him, god knows he needs the rest.

Eventually I had fallen asleep as well, i hoped that Atticus had fallen asleep knowing it was all going to be alright, but at the end of the day I know Atticus would overcome whatever he was going through; he is Atticus after all.