one year later

"I don't want to go to school tomorrow, I don't even know what it is," Violet was sprawled on her bed, laying on her stomach while Tate sat in the chair that belonged to her desk. She was complaining about school and he was trying to make her feel better about it. He hated school when he was alive, but he wanted to be as positive as he could be for her.

"You might have fun. You'll probably just read books and do some spelling or something. And you'll meet a whole bunch of kids your age. You'll probably make lots of friends," Tate was convinced she would do well. She was incredibly smart for a girl her age and she was very likable. She always found a way to make him smile and he knew she could do that for the kids at her school. The only thing he wasn't positive about was the idea of her no longer being home all day. He wouldn't be able to see her as much and that would be enough to ruin his day.

"But I won't see you all day Tatey. I wish you could come to school with me," she was looking at him with puppy dog eyes and he was fighting the rising smile on his face. He adored the nickname she had graced him with as of late. She had decided Tate was too short and "not fun" to say, and that Tatey, or Tatey Bear, sounded better. She had also decided to officially name her teddy bear Tatey, after him. He loved it. He also loved how she was just as upset as he was about being apart for 6 hours a day. They were the best of friends, always talking and laughing together. There were a few times in the past year that Violet's parents had heard them or walked in on them being a bit loud and he was glad she had never accidentally outed him. She always told them that it was the T.V. or a book that she had been laughing at. It was obvious that they didn't always believe her, but they disregarded it as her just being a normal and "obnoxious little kid" as they liked to call her. Tate seethes when he hears them say that under their breath. She was the sweetest little girl on the planet, she didn't deserve such careless and heartless parents. At that thought, Tate stood up from the desk chair and stepped over to her bed, gesturing at himself with his hands.

"Hug?" Violet smiled and sprang up, bouncing on her bed a bit. The leverage that the bed gave her made her the perfect height to easily wrap her arms around Tate's neck. He picked her up and spun her around, then fell onto his back on the bed with Violet still in his arms.

"I can't go to school with you darlin'. But I'll be right here the second you get home and you can tell me all about your day and all of the kids you meet, okay?" Tate smiled comfortingly at Violet, beginning to sense a bit of nervousness flowing through her. As much as he wished for the summer to be endless, it was coming to a close. It was getting late and he knew her mom and dad would be putting her to bed soon. He lifted her small body off of his torso and placed her on her feet, sending her to find a bedtime story for the night. A few moments later she returned with her favorite, a short story called Goodnight Moon, that he knows almost by heart. He then asked her to change into her pajamas while he stepped outside of the room. When she finished, she made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and comb her hair. When she was all done she trotted back to her room, reluctant to go to bed, knowing what the morning would bring. She climbed under her covers and spoke quietly with Tate, who was sat at the end of her bed, waiting for her mother and father to bid her goodnight. When they finally came in, she hugged and kissed them both quickly, ignoring their forced excitement and cheesy pep talks that they dumbly thought would make her feel better about her first of day of school.

Tate, who had disappeared upon their arrival, reappeared as soon as her light was shut off and the door was shut behind her parents. He was pleased that they had actually made a semblance of an effort to comfort her about school. In attempts to further that effort himself, he turned to her and tried to take her mind off of it all, beginning to read her favorite story. When he saw her eyes droop half-way through his reading, he closed the book and lightly made his way off of her bed. He brushed her long caramel hair out of her face and smiled at her, murmuring a good night that she was too tired to return. With that, he made his way to one of the guest rooms that he had called home ever since the Harmon family moved in and Violet took his room. He went to sleep (if that's what you would call a ghost's form of resting) and got ready for the day ahead.

Promptly at 7:30 a.m. the next morning, Mrs. Harmon pulled the shades open in Violet's room and called her name, awakening her immediately. Violet groaned and sat up while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She was making her way out of bed when her mother cheerfully asked her what she wanted to wear. Violet said she didn't really care, and made her way to the bathroom. She did her business and made her way back to her room where a flowy lavender dress and plum headband was waiting for her. She closed her door and moved to the bed where the outfit had been placed, when she sensed his presence.

"Tatey Bear," she whisper-yelled excitedly, making sure her parents wouldn't hear her from their bedroom down the hall. Still pajama-clad, Violet bounded over to where he stood in front of her bedroom door. His arms were held open for her and she took advantage of that, jumping into his arms with almost enough force to knock him over. He chuckled at her, hugging her for a moment before putting her down.

"I know you have to get ready but I wanted to wish you good luck today. You're going to do great, I know it."

"Thank you Tate! I'm nervous, but I'm excited. I'll miss you though!"

"I know, it's okay, I'll see you in a few hours," he tried to be positive to keep her from crying again. He had noticed her begin to tear up when he was reading to her the night before, but chose not to say anything as he didn't want to make a big deal out of it.

"I know! I can't wait until the day is over so we can read or play checkers again. I know I'll beat you this time!" Violet was trying to change the subject. She was trying to delay the inevitable. She had to go to school, whether she liked it or not. She didn't like it. When she told Tate that she was excited, she was completely lying, and he could tell. He didn't want to cause any problems though. She had to go to school and learn, she couldn't be with him for every second of her life. Sure, she had gone to the store or other close places occasionally with her mom, and she had gone to visit her grandma and grandpa twice since the Harmons moved in, but this would be different. She would be gone for over six hours a day for five days a week. It would take some getting used to, for both of them.

"You just might! But you better get ready, don't want your mom yelling at you for being late on your first day, do you?" Tate put his hands on her shoulders, turned her toward her bed and gently pushed her in that direction. She reluctantly walked over and picked up the dress with a look of slight disgust. She loved the color, it was her favorite, but she had never liked that particular dress. Something about it being too "frilly" and "girly" if Tate remembered correctly.

"Alrighty darlin'. Time for me to go and you to get ready. I'll see you soon enough. Promise to at least try to have a good day? For me?" Tate gave her a sweet smile.

"For you Tatey. Bye bye," she waved her tiny hand at him and watched as he made his way out of her room. She turned to her outfit with tears in her eyes. She quickly got dressed and ran downstairs to her mother who was just placing breakfast on the kitchen table. She ate half of it and got up to brush her teeth, waiting for her mother to braid her hair for her. When Violet was all ready, she grabbed the backpack her mother had bought her just three days earlier and made her way to the door where her mother was waiting to drive her to school. When she reached the door, however, she stopped suddenly. Without warning, she began to cry, her gentle tears quickly turning into full out sobs. She threw her backpack on the ground and made to run upstairs, no doubt in search of Tate, when Vivien wrapped her arms tightly around her. She whispered comforting words in Violet's ear, trying desperately to calm her down. The words were not comforting or calming to Violet in the slightest. When Vivien realized her strong-willed daughter would not give in, she picked her and her disregarded backpack up and carried her to the car, strapping her in quickly and sliding into the driver's seat, beginning the short drive to the local elementary school. When they arrived less than 10 minutes later, Violet had calmed down quite a bit but still had tears streaming down her face. Turning to see her better, Mrs. Harmon asked Violet what was wrong.

"Why are you so upset honey? You seemed fine last night and earlier this morning," Vivien inquired.

"I'm going to miss… being at home mom," Violet responded.

"Oh you'll be home before you know it sweetie. Don't worry, okay? You'll have fun today," Mrs. Harmon said to her daughter as she made her way out of the car. She moved around to Violet's side of the car and helped her dry her tears. She held out the backpack for Violet to easily slide her arms through and led her into the school. She hugged her and said her goodbyes, Violet secretly wishing she was hugging Tate. She loved her mom, but Tate was the one who was always there to make her smile and talk to her about the silliest things. Her mother cared about her a great deal, but there was always something else that seemed to be more important than spending quality time with her.

Violet released her mom and turned to walk down the hallway to her classroom. A teacher who was standing nearby helped to guide her to the room she would be spending the next six hours in. The room that would be effectively keeping her away from her mom and Tate.

Six hours had come and gone like a flash for Mrs. Harmon who was waiting to pick up her daughter at school. As for Violet and Tate, however, the day seemed to drag on and on with no end in sight. When the bell rang to release the students, she sprinted to her mom's car and jumped in, buckling herself in and requesting her mother bring her right home.

"Hey, hey, hey, slow down hon'! Tell me about your day! Did you meet any nice kids? Do think you got a nice teacher?" These questions were annoying Violet but she knew she couldn't yell at her mom and figured the quicker she answered, the quicker she would get to see Tate.

"I only talked to the girl who sits at my table in class and the boy who sits at my table in class. They were nice but I don't like the same movies and T.V. shows that they do. Ms. Lanna seems nice I guess," Violet rushed the words out. Her mother was pleased with her answers and turned around in her chair, making her way towards home. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, Violet took her seat belt off and grabbed her backpack, opening the car door and making a mad dash for the house. As soon as her mother unlocked the door, Violet placed her backpack on the hook in the entryway and hugged her mom, quickly muttering an "I love you" and ran up the stairs to her room. She threw the door open and found Tate sitting cross-legged on her bed with a book in his hands. He turned toward her and grinned, getting ready for her little body to slam into his. She jumped onto the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck tighter than ever before. Before he could even ask her how her day was, she answered for him.

"School stinks because you aren't there. But it's okay because you're here now. And I can tell you all about it and we can do fun things and we can do it all over again tomorrow and the next day and the next day and every day for the rest of forever, right Tatey Bear?" Violet looked at him through her lashes, her eyes glossy with unshed tears that she knew would spill over if he didn't say yes. Seeing these tears in her eyes, he smiled at her softly, pulling her arms off of his neck and shifting them so their legs were dangling over the edge of the bed, Willow perched on his left leg. He looked at her intently and gave her the answer she wanted to hear.

"Of course we can Vi. I'll always be here for you, okay? I love you darlin'," he admitted.

"Good, love you too, Tatey Bear." Violet had a smile on her face for the rest of the night.

Hey guys! I see quite a few of you are enjoying this story! I'm glad! It's been lots of fun to write and I'm excited to finally have a Tate and Violet story in the making. I love the pair and I've felt truly unsatisfied with Murder House's ending for almost 5 years now. I'm hoping this story can give fans of the show something to hold on to when it comes to this intriguing pairing whose end came too quickly... or did it? Have you heard the news? We're getting a whole season about Murder House and Coven! How exciting! Anywho, I'll shut up now. I hope you guys like this chapter. Read, review, follow, favorite, whatever your heart desires! I love seeing the feedback! The more I get, the more motivated I am to update! Love you guys!

Casey