Unthinkable (Tate Langdon)

002

September 5th, 1993.

Time passed by, as always it did.

In a perfect or just world, things would have looked up dramatically for Evangeline in the following weeks of school, the awkwardness of first days blending into a busy social calendar and a semblance of acceptance.

In reality, however, the first day had been a relatively accurate representation of what was destined to be the rest of her high school career so far as she could see.

She had weasled her way into art club with her talent with a paintbrush, making friends within the crowd, but the merry band of jackasses, as she had fondly termed Sarah Matthews and all of her little drones, did not let up for a minute.

They missed absolutely no chance to rag on the new girl who had chosen to sit with Tate Langdon of all people, day in and day out as though she didn't realize he was a social disease.

Eve was tripped, shoved into lockers, called names - the typical rigmarole of high school bullying. She could have kicked in their teeth, Sarah or any one of them, with the steel toe of her Doc Martens, but resisted the urge daily.

The last thing she needed at home was an actual reason for her mother to be pissed off in addition to the list of imagined transgressions that seemed to grow each time the woman started to drink.

"I told you it was just gonna make things worse," Tate had apologetically pointed out after a week or so of sitting with him.

She had told him to shove it, a crass but well intentioned way of telling him she didn't so much mind. After all, the student body hadn't been fond of her before she began keeping company with him. It was better to have one friend than none at all.

And he truly was someone she considered a friend. His taste in music, his favorite films, even his awkward sense of humor meshed well with Eve's dry sarcasm and interests.

Outside of her personal island of misfit toys that was art club, Tate was her lone comrade in a battle against the daily soul sucking waste that was high school. He even served as a great reprieve from the hell that was home, whiling away the afternoons with her a few days a week.

Whether he was more than just a friend to her, she was still working out. A couple of weeks just wasn't enough time for the Gemini girl to make up her mind entirely, but at that moment, her compass pointed mostly towards platonic friendship.

Unfortunately for her indecisive nature, Tate had other plans.

"Hey," he greeted her, settling down into the sand at the edge of the small patch of beach she sat on.

They regularly used the spot for a place to hang out, away from the unpredictable settings of their respective houses.

"Hey yourself," she answered with a smile. She was tossing pebbles and pieces of driftwood into the ocean, her free arm wrapped around her knees and her chin resting idly on top.

"So, tomorrow's Saturday," he announced, kicking at the sand with the toe of his Chucks. "And that Natural Born Killers movie came out last week."

"Up next, it's Tate with the weather," Eve teased as she snorted at his random assortment of information, elbowing him playfully. "What's with the fact sheet?"

"I was, uh," he paused to clear his throat, brows knitting slightly, "I was wondering if you wanted to go, y'know, see it with me."

She couldn't see it, not looking deeply enough below the surface of his nervous exterior. It may have been obvious to any other seventeen year old girl that she was being asked on a date, but one way or another, Evangeline remained blissfully unaware.

"I can't tomorrow," she answered with a wince that unintentionally turned into a smile. "I've kinda got plans."

"Plans?" Tate choked dryly, the boyish enthusiasm draining from his face like the air leaving a balloon.

Ah, yes. Those plans.

The ones that gave Eve a light thrill of excitement, a few butterflies in her stomach, when she stopped to think about them.

"Adam, the mohawked guy in my art club? He asked if I wanted to go check out this house party," she told him with all the kind of enthusiasm with which one shares such a thing with their best friend.

"I mean, I don't like him, but it's kinda nice, being asked out and all," she continued, smiling to herself as she traced circles in the sand.

---

His chest was tight, his mouth dry.

He could barely breathe beneath the effort of keeping his anger contained.

His mind was all bells and whistles, in full tilt alarm mode. It wasn't right. Not how he planned it. Wasn't how things were meant to go.

He knew how it was meant to play out; he had been over it and over it in his head. He was supposed to casually ask her - had been building courage for days to ask her to see that stupid fucking movie - and she was supposed to be happy that he'd asked.

Because that was what she was supposed to have wanted. He'd known that since the moment she had sat down in front of him, soul-certain after the first time their fingertips touched.

She was supposed to be his.

But instead, she was prattling on like some giddy schoolgirl about a guy she didn't even like asking her out. She was blinded by some douche with flashy hair and a leather jacket, to the point that she couldn't even see him sitting there, making himself vulnerable.

No one ever did. Not his mother, not Evangeline, no one really saw him.

He tried to ignore a feeling in the pit of his stomach, that same gnawing and dreadful reassurance that soon enough, they would all see him. He didn't want to feel that darkness creeping up in his throat like bile.

He bit his lip until he tasted the coppery tang of blood on his tongue, just to keep from screaming and to keep it all inside.

"Hey, earth to Tate, come in Tate," Evangeline's voice called him back to reality, her hand waving in front of his field of vision and bringing his glassy dark eyes back into focus.

He composed the darkness on his face as best he was able.

"Sorry, I must've spaced out there for a second," he apologized lamely, standing up and brushing off his jeans. "I've gotta go."

She looked at him with a puzzled expression, trying to piece together what had happened to cause the mercurial shift in him.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Have fun at your party," he answered, turning on his heel and jogging through the sand.

Already, the wheels of thought were in motion, plotting and scheming on how to set things back the way they were meant to be, the way they had been in his head.

He was going to set things back to the way they were supposed to be.

×××

Added another chapter to help establish the story. I hope you are enjoying this! I know there was a bit of a time jump and a relationship-building jump, but the slow process of two weird kids building a solid friendship isn't always exciting to read. ;)

I hope Dark!Tate works for you guys. I'm pretty fond of him myself. Please don't forget to let me know what you think!