Heroes: Six Drabbles
Title: Five days Nathan never had and one day he did.
Author: druinsanity
Fandom: Heroes
Characters/Pairing: Nathan
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I don't own them. It's just for fun.
Summary: Six 100 word Drabbles
Nathan leaned up on the tips of his toes to try to see over the other kids as he sang with them ‘Fifty nifty United States’. This was his first school play and his parents had promised they would attend.
Impatiently he fidgeted, knowing he could get a better look when he stepped forward to sing his part. And finally his gaze scanned the small crowd. “New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York.” He stepped back in place and looked down to the floor as he sang the rest of the song. No one was here to see him.
**
The other parents and teachers were used to seeing Nathan there at ‘Parents Day’ for Peter. They cast him sympathetic looks along with sad smiles. But he knew that none of them could even begin to comprehend the Petrelli household dynamics.
He sat quiet with an air of practiced confidence until his turn. Walking to the front of the classroom, he turned to wink at Peter before he spoke. “I’m Nathan Petrelli, Peter’s brother. I’m currently in college studying pre-law.” Doing this had never bothered him. He knew what it felt like to have no one there on Parents Day.
**
During each football game, Nathan found himself looking up into the stands only to come up disappointed. There was a pit in his stomach at this disappointment though. Each Friday he reminded his parents of the game. They always prattled off a list of other things that needed to be done. This was the first time he hadn’t said a word and part of him broke at that fact, at the knowledge that it made no difference one way or the other.
They never attended a single game. As his mother had said, the sport just looked good on paper.
**
He stepped off of the plane to cheers and cries from family members. Emotional homecomings that resembled ones he had imagined were all around him and yet his gaze roamed around for something familiar… any familiar face. He swallowed hard over the lump in his throat when he saw the limo driver standing to the side.
Thankful for the dark sunglasses he still wore, he made his way to the man. “Officer Petrelli? Welcome home.”
He nodded slightly and toyed with a button on his uniform. He wasn’t sure what he had expected; anything, everything, and most certainly not nothing.
**
Each time he did this, it was always a mixture of emotions. The youth recreational centers were his, something he did with his own money and his own time. Every opening of another center, he informed his parents of the time and the place wishing for their presence… for them to see what he was doing only to come up lacking.
He had been wishing for their presence in his life for years upon years. Wishing for something aside from the push in this or that direction, wanting something more than expectations and scrutiny until one day… he quit wishing.
**
It was a landslide victory. Whether won in an honest fashion or not he wouldn’t trade this moment for anything. Despite Peter’s absence the rest of his family was there, Heidi and the boys. And more importantly, his mother was present. He had never in his life seen that smile on her face or that look in her eyes.
She was proud of him… obviously and overtly so. It was that look that he had pushed and strived for his entire life. And in Nathan’s mind, he liked to think that somewhere, his father was finally proud of him also.
Author: druinsanity
Fandom: Heroes
Characters/Pairing: Nathan
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I don't own them. It's just for fun.
Summary: Six 100 word Drabbles
Nathan leaned up on the tips of his toes to try to see over the other kids as he sang with them ‘Fifty nifty United States’. This was his first school play and his parents had promised they would attend.
Impatiently he fidgeted, knowing he could get a better look when he stepped forward to sing his part. And finally his gaze scanned the small crowd. “New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York.” He stepped back in place and looked down to the floor as he sang the rest of the song. No one was here to see him.
**
The other parents and teachers were used to seeing Nathan there at ‘Parents Day’ for Peter. They cast him sympathetic looks along with sad smiles. But he knew that none of them could even begin to comprehend the Petrelli household dynamics.
He sat quiet with an air of practiced confidence until his turn. Walking to the front of the classroom, he turned to wink at Peter before he spoke. “I’m Nathan Petrelli, Peter’s brother. I’m currently in college studying pre-law.” Doing this had never bothered him. He knew what it felt like to have no one there on Parents Day.
**
During each football game, Nathan found himself looking up into the stands only to come up disappointed. There was a pit in his stomach at this disappointment though. Each Friday he reminded his parents of the game. They always prattled off a list of other things that needed to be done. This was the first time he hadn’t said a word and part of him broke at that fact, at the knowledge that it made no difference one way or the other.
They never attended a single game. As his mother had said, the sport just looked good on paper.
**
He stepped off of the plane to cheers and cries from family members. Emotional homecomings that resembled ones he had imagined were all around him and yet his gaze roamed around for something familiar… any familiar face. He swallowed hard over the lump in his throat when he saw the limo driver standing to the side.
Thankful for the dark sunglasses he still wore, he made his way to the man. “Officer Petrelli? Welcome home.”
He nodded slightly and toyed with a button on his uniform. He wasn’t sure what he had expected; anything, everything, and most certainly not nothing.
**
Each time he did this, it was always a mixture of emotions. The youth recreational centers were his, something he did with his own money and his own time. Every opening of another center, he informed his parents of the time and the place wishing for their presence… for them to see what he was doing only to come up lacking.
He had been wishing for their presence in his life for years upon years. Wishing for something aside from the push in this or that direction, wanting something more than expectations and scrutiny until one day… he quit wishing.
**
It was a landslide victory. Whether won in an honest fashion or not he wouldn’t trade this moment for anything. Despite Peter’s absence the rest of his family was there, Heidi and the boys. And more importantly, his mother was present. He had never in his life seen that smile on her face or that look in her eyes.
She was proud of him… obviously and overtly so. It was that look that he had pushed and strived for his entire life. And in Nathan’s mind, he liked to think that somewhere, his father was finally proud of him also.