Title: Friends To Lean On
Fandom: Haven
Author:
klutzy_girl Word Count: 1,161
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Audrey, Nathan, Duke, Audrey/Nathan
Spoilers: Up to Spiral.
Disclaimer: I don't own Haven and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Summary: Nathan and Audrey are still reeling from recent events, so Duke steps in to help.
It’s been a week since everything happened, and Audrey Parker is still reeling. She still can’t believe it. She was never actually Audrey Parker to begin with. And the real Audrey Parker left after her boss showed up and explained everything. The real Audrey Parker hadn’t really believed it at first, until something had happened to convince her.
And then Nathan was dealing with his father’s death. He and the Chief hadn’t really gotten along, but Nathan had still loved him. He missed his father. He was also still trying to accept the fact that the Chief hadn’t been his biological father.
Duke was trying to be there for both Audrey and Nathan. His friends needed him, and Duke was stepping up to the plate. He wasn’t going to let them deal with their issues alone. And Julia was staying away, per Nathan and Audrey’s issues.
Audrey had temporarily moved into Nathan’s apartment with him so they could help each other out. Duke privately thought that it was going to be a permanent living situation. That is, if Nathan ever told Audrey he was in love with her. He was pretty obvious about his feelings for her. The only person who didn’t see that Nathan loved her was Audrey herself.
Audrey smiled at Nathan as he got up to get the TV remote. “What are you doing?” she questioned. She and Nathan had been playing games all afternoon.
“I’m tired of playing games, Parker. Let’s see if there’s a movie on.” He smiled back at her. Nathan just wanted to keep Audrey’s mind off Lucy. And his mind kept going over his father’s death, which was driving him insane. He needed more distractions.
“Okay.” Audrey grabbed his hand and then leaned her head on his shoulder before they started to fight over which movie to watch. It ended when Audrey grabbed the remote and put on a movie she had been arguing for.
“I will get you back for this, Audrey!” Nathan glared at her, but then turned his attention to the movie. He might as well watch it.
“I’d like to see you try, Wournos.” Audrey didn’t mean to taunt him, but it seemed like fun. This was a coping technique.
“Remember those words. You won’t expect it when I finally do get you back.” Nathan shut up and let the movie play. He and Audrey fell asleep halfway through a second movie, one that Nathan had chose.
The next morning, Nathan and Audrey tried to ignore the awkwardness between them once they went to work. Audrey dove into research about her former life as Lucy Ripley. She couldn’t remember a thing from her past, and she had no idea why she become Audrey Parker in the first place.
Nathan’s mind turned back to his father. He had lost his biological father and the man who had raised him on the same day. All that mattered to Nathan was that the Chief had loved him and raised him, even though they had fought for most of his life.
Duke strode into the police station with an agenda. He wasn’t about to let Nathan and Audrey, and he knew that was exactly what they were both doing. “Come on. Let’s go out on the boat and have a party.”
Nathan and Audrey exchanged a look. “We have to work, Duke,” Nathan reminded his friend. He was hoping for a case, actually. Nothing was going on, though, which annoyed him. Was it too much to ask for a distraction?
Duke looked around. “Everything’s fine here and out there. Come on, you two. Let’s get out of here and have some fun.”
“I have to look into Lucy’s past.” Audrey didn’t want to leave the police station when there was research to be done. And it was still weird to think of herself as Lucy Ripley. She had to keep reminding herself of that fact.
“You can do that any time. Nathan, come on!” Duke wished they would just hurry up and accept their fates today. It would be easier.
Both Nathan and Audrey sighed. “Let’s go.” The two cops stood up. Nathan followed behind Audrey, and they drove over to Duke’s together.
“Okay, first of all, let’s set some things straight. Audrey, you’re Lucy Ripley. Stop researching so much and maybe your memory will come back. Nathan, you lost your father. And can feel Audrey’s touch. Now, we’re not going to deal with any of those today, so get your crap out of the way now.” Duke was completely serious. He didn’t want today ruined.
“I think I may be immortal and I don’t know how to deal with this,” Audrey confessed to Nathan. And technically Duke, but he was pretending that he wasn’t listening.
“I miss my dad so much, Audrey. And believe me, I never blamed you, but I had to lash out at someone. And I don’t care that you’re Lucy. I really don’t.” Nathan beamed at her.
“I’m glad you don’t care. And I really am sorry about your father. I know you two didn’t always get along, but he loved you. And I know you loved him. Are we going to talk about the fact that you can feel me?” Audrey beamed back.
Nathan sighed, not sure if he was ready to get rejected by Audrey. And he would get rejected. Why would Audrey love him? And besides, she had her own issues to deal with it. She might not be able to handle the truth. Nathan went for it anyway. “I’m in love with you and have been for awhile,” Nathan confessed.
“I know you’re in love with me. That was pretty easy to figure out. I’m in love with you, too. And God, I’m technically a cougar. Do you know how old I really am? I’m never going to age, Nathan. At least I don’t think so. Why would you want to be with me?” Audrey was afraid of losing him, but Nathan had to know the truth.
Nathan grinned. “I’m glad you love me, too. And I don’t really care that you’re old or could be immortal. We’ll deal with it. I’m here to help you figure out things about your life.”
“And I’ll help you do with your dad’s death.” Audrey wasn’t going to leave Nathan alone. He needed her right now.
Duke rolled his eyes. “Stop being so sappy and make out already.” It had been really hard to stay silent during that conversation, especially when they were being disgusting, but he had managed it.
“You heard the man.” Audrey gasped as Nathan walked closer to her and kissed her. The two made out for a few minutes.
It had been an extremely emotional week for Audrey Parker and Nathan Wournos, but they’d get through their problems together.
And with Duke’s help. At least according to Duke, anyway.
All that mattered was that the three friends had each other to lean on.