So sorry I have disappeared for so long... Long story short, I had to get my head down for my exams and finish my year at college without distractions. But I'm back and I have all summer with you guys. I hope that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Tate took it upon himself to call the police. The two women promptly disappeared, but he didn't have the mental stamina to question it. Too many things in his life had become a question.

The cops stayed for a couple of hours questioning Violet and Tate and then removing Vivien Harmon's body from the upstairs bedroom.

"So where is your father now?" one of the policemen asked Violet gently. She shrugged in response and muttered something about him disappearing. The other officer tried to keep from rolling her eyes and scoffing.
"He must be somewhere, Violet. Which way did he go?" she asked impatiently. Violet shrugged again.
"She's tired. You won't get anything else out of her tonight," Tate took control of the situation. Violet was slumped against him in one of the chairs tucked under the wooden dining table. "She'll call you if she remembers anything." He looked at the officers pointedly and the patient man took it as their cue to leave. He placed a sympathetic hand on Violet's shoulder.
"We're terribly sorry for your loss," he said with the formality that his job required, but laced with true sincerity. "Please, if you think of anything that could lead us to your father, don't hesitate to call us, no matter what time." He shook Tate's hand and both police officers left, leaving the house silent after the front door clicked shut.

Violet looked up at Tate with exhaustion in her eyes. She knew she had so much to explain to him: everything about her father, her mother... She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. Tate shook his head and put his arm around her tiny shoulders. "You don't have to explain anything now. Come on," he jerked his head towards the stairs and towed her along gently behind him, heading in to the bathroom. He put the lid down on the toilet and sat her down; she was so drained she could barely walk. Tate put the plug in the bath and turned both taps to begin filling the tub. "Wait here," he whispered, kissing the top of her head before slipping down the corridor to her mother's bedroom. He sighed as he surveyed the room from the doorway, before covering his hand with his sleeve and pulling the door shut. He didn't want Violet to have to look in there anymore.

He returned to the bathroom and poured some bath product into the steamy water, creating fragrant bubbles along the surface. Neither of the couple said anything for a few moments, both just listening to the water fill the porcelain tub. It was brilliant white with gold-coloured faucets and golden claw feet. When the water was deep enough, Tate turned off the taps and dipped his hand in the water to make sure it wasn't too hot.

Satisfied, he walked over to Violet and helped her stand. "Lift your arms," he prompted softly, like one would with a sleepy child. Tate undressed her gently and helped her step into the bath, which she immediately sank in to. Almost instantly, she began to relax as she inhaled the lavender fragrance of the bubbles. After a few minutes, she sat forward and folded her hands on the edge of the tub, resting her head on them. "Are you coming in?" she offered hoarsely.
"Would you like me to?" Tate swallowed. Violet nodded wearily. He began to strip, feeling self-conscious as Violet didn't take her eyes off him. To be perfectly honest, he'd never been naked in front of anyone before and the thought of it made his stomach knot. He kicked his clothes to one side and Violet slid forward, making room in the tub for him behind her. He stepped in the water and slipped down, sitting Violet between his legs. She leaned back, lying against his chest and holding the hands he'd wrapped around her waist.

Violet allowed her eyelids to flutter shut and felt her stress evaporate with the steam coming from the bath water. Everything that had happened in the past few months felt like a long, tedious dream. She knew the police were suspicious of her now; she'd already been in trouble for Travis' death and now her mother had suddenly dropped dead in her house, without witnesses? No living witnesses, anyway, she muttered internally. She knew this could be it for her. She sighed wearily.

Tate lifted his head, leaning forward and kissing the top of Violet's head. He wanted to make all of this shit go away. Truthfully, Tate was nervous about what Violet had to tell him. He adored her, but she was unpredictable. He questioned just how much he knew her at all.

"Want me to wash your hair?" Tate asked softly, causing Violet to sit up and crane her neck to face him. Her initial expression was one of confusion, as though no one had ever suggested such a thing to her in her life. Tate raised his eyebrows to show he was serious and Violet's expression softened. She nodded with a small smile on her lips.

Tate grabbed a plastic cup from the side of the tub and filled it with water, letting it gently cascade down the back of her head and allowing her hair to soak up the warm liquid. When her hair was soaking, he poured some shampoo into the palm of his hand and massaged it into her hair, letting it lather up before rinsing it out.

Reaching forward, Tate pulled the plug out of the tub and climbed out, wrapping a towel around his torso. Padding back to the bath, leaving wet footprints on the wooden floor, he helped Violet out and swathed her in a fluffy white towel like a baby. Violet found herself wishing she could slip away down the drain like the bubbles and bath water.

After drying herself off, Violet shuffled into her bedroom with her owl-patterned flannel pyjamas. They were her comfort pyjamas; flashbacks of her binge eating her feelings whilst wearing them played at the back of her mind. Swallowing, she clambered into bed, shortly followed by Tate. Shuffling down under her sheets, she turned on her side, allowing Tate to tuck his knees behind hers and drape an arm around her waist.

"You're the little spoon," he whispered in her ear, making her laugh. "I'm the big spoon." His sing-song voice made her smile. It felt like an eternity since she had smiled.

"I'm sorry, Tate," she began speaking until Tate hushed her.
"Sleep," he ordered softly, humming lullabies into her ear. Violet closed her eyes and breathed in his smell.

"Hush, hush, time to be sleeping," he sang softly. "Hush, hush, dreams come a-creeping. Dreams of peace and freedom, so smile in your sleep, bonny baby."

OKAY so I totally got carried away with writing about cute things I wish Tate would do for me. Another filler chapter (I'm sorry) but I don't want to rush this story like I have a habit of doing.
I hope you are all well and I'm sorry for disappearing. I'm back :)