"of recoil and grace" and "heartbeat to the void" [durham county]
Author: sionnain
Fandom: Durham County
Characters: Sadie Sweeney, Mike Sweeney
Rating: T
Word Count: 300 each
Prompts: Insomnia, Now That It's Over
Warning: spoilers for Durham County. Set after Season 1, but the year that precedes the beginning of Season 2.
Summary: insomnia, times two.
AN: Thanks to waltzforanight for the beta! Titles from the Smashing Pumpkin's song The End is the Beginning is the End.
of recoil and grace
The night before they move out of their house in Durham, Sadie can't sleep. Her stuff's all packed up in boxes.
(Again.)
She walks downstairs, past Maddie's room, past her parents bedroom. Her dad's been sleeping on the couch, but he gets up early in the morning and goes to the bedroom like maybe she and Maddie won't notice. Which is stupid, because it's obvious her parents aren't getting along. They haven't been since they moved here, not really, and Sadie doesn't think anything's going to change just because they're moving somewhere new.
Houses are just houses. It's the people inside that fuck everything up.
The Prager house is up for sale. Traci took off a few weeks ago and no one's seen her; Ray Jr. is living somewhere by himself, Sadie doesn't know where. Her dad doesn't want her to talk to him, so she doesn't try and find out. She thinks about that night they were together, trying to imagine how it was between them, so frantic and desperate and sweet beneath the trees. But her mind always flashes on Nathalie LaCroix's body lying dead on the grass, hears the sound of water in the distance, and it makes her want to throw up.
Her dad isn't asleep. He's standing at the window, looking outside. Sadie moves over and stands next to him. He doesn't say anything, but he looks down at her and nods, once. It says a lot, that nod. Right now Sadie doesn't think of him like her dad. He's someone else who can't sleep, someone else who's thinking about death and water and blood on the ground. In the morning, he'll tell her to be nice to her sister and help her mom carry boxes, but tonight--
Tonight, he doesn't say anything at all.
heartbeat to the void
Mike stands at the window and stares outside. They're moving in the morning. Audrey insists, says she can't live here after what happened. He's not sure if she's referring to Ray Prager or to Nathalie--both, probably. It's all tangled together, anyway--betrayal and lies and death.
Mike agrees and puts the place up for sale. No one blames him, how could they? Audrey finds the new place, and they hold hands while they walk through it together, trying so hard to find whatever it is they've lost.
He's not sure they're ever going to get it back, but he owes it to them all to at least try. It's not like he wants to live here, either. He could do without seeing the fucking Prager house every goddamned day. He tries not look when they pass by, but he does, every time. Whenever he's in the car with Sadie he notices she looks at it, too.
If Mike could burn it down he would; he'd stand on the street and watch the flames turn that motherfucking place into ashes.
Sadie comes downstairs, quiet and ghost-like, and stands next to him by the window. Mike almost asks if she's okay, if she needs anything. Of course she's not okay. And what she needs, you can't fucking give her. They're two of a kind, him and Sadie, drawn to shadows more than they should be. Mike could tell her to go get some sleep, that everything will be fine in the morning, but he doesn't because it's not true and he doesn't believe it, and he's so fucking tired of lying. She won't believe it, either. She's too much like him for that.
So he nods at her because there's nothing he can say she'll believe, and waits for morning.
Fandom: Durham County
Characters: Sadie Sweeney, Mike Sweeney
Rating: T
Word Count: 300 each
Prompts: Insomnia, Now That It's Over
Warning: spoilers for Durham County. Set after Season 1, but the year that precedes the beginning of Season 2.
Summary: insomnia, times two.
AN: Thanks to waltzforanight for the beta! Titles from the Smashing Pumpkin's song The End is the Beginning is the End.
of recoil and grace
The night before they move out of their house in Durham, Sadie can't sleep. Her stuff's all packed up in boxes.
(Again.)
She walks downstairs, past Maddie's room, past her parents bedroom. Her dad's been sleeping on the couch, but he gets up early in the morning and goes to the bedroom like maybe she and Maddie won't notice. Which is stupid, because it's obvious her parents aren't getting along. They haven't been since they moved here, not really, and Sadie doesn't think anything's going to change just because they're moving somewhere new.
Houses are just houses. It's the people inside that fuck everything up.
The Prager house is up for sale. Traci took off a few weeks ago and no one's seen her; Ray Jr. is living somewhere by himself, Sadie doesn't know where. Her dad doesn't want her to talk to him, so she doesn't try and find out. She thinks about that night they were together, trying to imagine how it was between them, so frantic and desperate and sweet beneath the trees. But her mind always flashes on Nathalie LaCroix's body lying dead on the grass, hears the sound of water in the distance, and it makes her want to throw up.
Her dad isn't asleep. He's standing at the window, looking outside. Sadie moves over and stands next to him. He doesn't say anything, but he looks down at her and nods, once. It says a lot, that nod. Right now Sadie doesn't think of him like her dad. He's someone else who can't sleep, someone else who's thinking about death and water and blood on the ground. In the morning, he'll tell her to be nice to her sister and help her mom carry boxes, but tonight--
Tonight, he doesn't say anything at all.
heartbeat to the void
Mike stands at the window and stares outside. They're moving in the morning. Audrey insists, says she can't live here after what happened. He's not sure if she's referring to Ray Prager or to Nathalie--both, probably. It's all tangled together, anyway--betrayal and lies and death.
Mike agrees and puts the place up for sale. No one blames him, how could they? Audrey finds the new place, and they hold hands while they walk through it together, trying so hard to find whatever it is they've lost.
He's not sure they're ever going to get it back, but he owes it to them all to at least try. It's not like he wants to live here, either. He could do without seeing the fucking Prager house every goddamned day. He tries not look when they pass by, but he does, every time. Whenever he's in the car with Sadie he notices she looks at it, too.
If Mike could burn it down he would; he'd stand on the street and watch the flames turn that motherfucking place into ashes.
Sadie comes downstairs, quiet and ghost-like, and stands next to him by the window. Mike almost asks if she's okay, if she needs anything. Of course she's not okay. And what she needs, you can't fucking give her. They're two of a kind, him and Sadie, drawn to shadows more than they should be. Mike could tell her to go get some sleep, that everything will be fine in the morning, but he doesn't because it's not true and he doesn't believe it, and he's so fucking tired of lying. She won't believe it, either. She's too much like him for that.
So he nods at her because there's nothing he can say she'll believe, and waits for morning.