Unlikely // Tate Langdon (AHS)

• Chapter 1 •

Tate?"

Tate lay sprawled on his back half way down his bed with his legs dangling over the edge. He had his eyes closed as he nodded in time with the music playing through his CD player.

"Tate!"

His hands rested delicately on his stomach as his leg bobbed in time.

"TATE!"

Tate's eyes opened slowly as he sighed, his mother's voice coming into earshot. "What?", he yelled back.

"Can you come down here! I've been shouting of you for God knows how long! Christ, you're going to deafen the whole damn street with your music that loud." Constance fumed.

"For fuck sakes." He breathed as he sat up and allowed gravity to reorientate his head, closing his eyes as he became lightheaded and nausea overtook him. This only lasted a second, as it usually does, and he stood, making his way out of his room and down the stairs.

He entered the kitchen to see his mother standing beside the table where his sister, Adelaide, sat flicking through a magazine filled with pictures of models she aspires to be. He once found her arranging some pictures she cut out of these magazines in a collage on her bedroom wall. She had informed him that they were inspiration. Upon inquiry he discovered that she would "be a pretty girl" one day and these pictures would help her achieve that. Tate wasn't going to argue with Addy. He liked her drive. And the fact he now got glimpses of very attractive women every time he walked passed his sisters bedroom.

Tate's father was seated at the head of the table glaring at him. Hugo was old fashioned and Tate wasn't quite the super star football player in the making or the soon to be lawyer. He was a 17 year old kid who wore a lot of black and smoked and drank way too much. So it's safe to say he wasn't his fathers cup of tea. Or coffee. Or water. He was the bleach.

"Right, we're all here. Tate, will you sit down. What are you doing?" Constance questioned, exasperated. Tate knew he was testing her patience and he hadn't even tried.

"I'm getting some coffee. Is that alright, Constance? Or should I submit a request form before I do that?" Tate replied nonchalantly. Tate took his time and strolled over to the table casually with his coffee and collapsed into the seat next to Addy before laying his head face down on the table in exhaustion.

"Tate." Hugo spoke. His tone was calm and even but contained a hint of warning, poisoning his whole name. Addy looked up from her magazine and toward their father before switching her eyes to Tate to see what he would do. Constance, anxious about what her husband, might do walked around the table to Tate and pulled him up abruptly, gripping his shoulders hard. Tate allowed her too. He was actually glad she forced him up. Tate would never submit to a demand made by his father which often got him in a lot of difficult situations. He knew what the consequences would be, and he felt sick thinking about those consequences, but he still couldn't allow himself to back down. Now wasn't the time to be difficult. Tate drank his coffee as his mother began speaking;

"All this effort just for a family meeting, honestly. Okay, so tomorrow night I need you all to be available. You guys remember, uncle David, right?"

"Is he that really old man that smelt like moth balls?" Addy questioned.

"Oh are we going to a funeral? That guy was old." Tate added looking from his sister to his mother.

"Wh- Tate, no. He's having an eightieth birthday party and we're all going. As a family. We don't spend enough time together and I think this is the perfect excuse." Constance ordered.

"umm yeah unfortunately you're gonna have to go on without me. I have plans. Can't get out of them. Very important." Tate asserted taking another sip of his coffee.

"No, no excuses, Tate. I don't care if you're meeting the President. You're cancelling your plans." Constance dictated, fixing him with the quirked eyebrow.

"Tate, do you know any pretty girls? I'll need help getting ready tomorrow. I wanna look like them." Addy questioned hopefully.

"Addy, we can throw on your red dress, you will look just fine in that." Constance commanded before turning to her husband and inquiring carefully, "Hugo? Are you okay with the plans for tomorrow?"

"Well, I guess I'm going to have to be aren't I, Constance." Hugo spoke passive aggressively. Silence filled the room. Hugo got up and left the room having heard all he needed to hear. The front door could be heard opening and slamming closed as Hugo left. Constance stared at the door her husband just disappeared through as she lit herself another cigarette.

"This is such bullshit. Why should I come just to be a pawn in your game of happy families. I don't want any part in this." Tate yelled slamming his hand on the table.
Tate knew why his mother wanted to go so badly. She had a major complex in which she was so unhappy with her life as it was that she liked to pull the fake-it-until-you-make-it scenario with the extended family and friends. She could pretend for one night that her life was perfect. She would be deemed a martyr for caring for her darling Addy and seem the relatable mother as she spoke about her rebellious teen son Tate. She would display proudly her diamond earrings and matching necklace bought for her by her loving husband, making sure everyone knew just how expensive they were. In reality, she was a failed Hollywood actress who had four defective children and a husband who cheated on her for years and thought buying expensive jewellery would make up for all the heartache.

"Oh will you get over yourself! It's one night, Tate. You better be there." Constance snapped in her southern drawl.

"You're unbelievable." Tate mumbled against his hands as he rubbed them over his face. He rose from the table and headed back upstairs to drown out his annoyance with his music.

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A/N:

I hope you guys enjoyed my first chapter! Sorry it's short but I had to get the story started some how.

M x