Author's Note: WARNING: contains spoiler for the end of Series 1 and bad language.
Had this idea for months - since I first saw the end episode of Misfits with Nathan in the coffin. So at last, here it is! =)
Wake Up
The little light was fading, soon it would disappear completely and only darkness would be left.
Nathan shook his iPod, which was his only source of light, swearing quietly under his breath, "You call yourself a fucking iPod? It's been barely half a day and you're almost dead! If I ever get out of here, I'm suing Apple! The fuckers!"
He continued shaking and the device automatically shuffled itself. Nathan stopped the shaking, waiting impatiently for his last song before the iPod died. The slow quiet music began and Nathan's heart sunk as he realised what song he was listening to.
"Celine fucking Dion? You're joking me! That's my last song? God, no. Anything but this shite! What the fuck was I thinking when I put this song on?" Celine's sad voice wafted into Nathan's reluctant ears, telling stories of lost loves and hurt.
He had no choice but to lie back in the cramped coffin that had become his home since he'd woken up after being impaled through the chest a few days earlier. It was then he had discovered his power. First he'd been relieved, then excited and finally dismayed when he realised that he had been buried alive. As well as that, he was immortal, meaning he could expect an eternity of lying six feet under in a tight, dark and uncomfortable coffin.
The song was loud in his ears though it wasn't too loud that it didn't allow Nathan's mind to wander. The song spoke of love, something Nathan thought he knew for a while. It could have been with the most unlikely of people, a chav, in his own words. Yet, it was only toward the end he began to realise how he felt and his pre-judgement of her had blinded him.
Kelly stood next to the grave, a tissue in her hand pressed up against her tear-stained cheek. She usually tried not to show her true feelings, wanting to keep up her hard and impenetrable front but there was no one around. The graveyard was empty and silent, in more ways than one to the telepath.
Curtis, Alisha and Simon had all paid their respects and were currently trying to move on though it wasn't as easy for Kelly. Amidst all the taunts and jibes from Nathan, she actually found herself liking him, as much as she hated herself for it. It was impossible that he would feel the same. She had listened to his thoughts in the beginning and they weren't much better than the things he said aloud.
I'm going to be stuck in this fucking coffin for the rest of my god damn life, aren't I? Such a fucking joke.
Kelly jumped and turned, wiping away her tears quickly, ready to punch the person who dared to sneak up and mock her, "Oi - I'm -" she began to say, her face screwing up into a fierce look.
The graveyard was empty, not a person in sight. "Someone playing a fucking joke on me," Kelly shouted angrily, though her voice was quieter than she intended.
Who was that? Is someone up there? They better have a charger for my iPod. Fuck that, they better have a bloody shovel! And a cheeseburger.
"Nathan?" Kelly whispered, not believing what she was hearing - or rather, what someone was thinking. It sounded just like him, how could it not be him? But Nathan was dead. "You're just imagining it, Kelly. He's gone," she told herself firmly and picking up her bag, she walked briskly away from the grave.
That night was filled with nightmares and bad thoughts for Kelly. She barely got any sleep. Dreams replaying Nathan's death scene filled her head and she couldn't concentrate on anything other than that. Tear stained tissues covered her bedroom floor.
The sun was barely rising the next morning when Kelly left her house, heading straight for the graveyard. She kept her head up straight, ignoring the various morning thoughts that streamed endlessly into her head, some even dreams. It felt wrong hearing all these most private thoughts but she couldn't stop them - she hadn't learnt how to yet and she had no idea if she could anyway.
Standing there for a few minutes, this time tears did not fall. Kelly stared at the grave in front of her, watching it, almost frustrated. "Nathan?" she whispered eventually.
There was no sound.
She wouldn't give up that easily though. "Oi; Nathan," she repeated, this time louder.
Nothing.
"Urgh, are you fucking there or am I just going insane?" she yelled at the top of her voice, stamping on the grave repeatedly, out of anger.
What the hell was that? I'm trying to sleep here, you dicks!
"Hey - you! Stop that!" a voice yelled from behind her. Kelly turned to see an old man stumbling toward her, waving his hand angrily at her but Kelly had turned her back on him again, to stare instead at the grave in front of her, in complete disbelief at what she'd heard to pay any attention to the man approaching her.
"If you don't pay the proper respect to this gravesite, then I suggest you leave, young lady," the man fumbled into view, shaking his finger at her like she was a child that had just taken a cookie out of the forbidden cookie jar.
Kelly scowled, she had never liked being told what to do, which was part of the reason she was always in trouble. She stuck up her index and middle finger at the man, "Fuck off."
The man's face hardened and he produced a long cane he'd been using to walk over to her. He shook it about threateningly, "You kids are all the same. In my day, a good smack around the ankles would set us right."
"Don't you fucking touch me with that," Kelly warned, pointing at the stick. "I don't give a shit how old you are; I'll break your leg if you put that stick anywhere near me."
The man scowled at her angrily but did not say anything more to her. He scuffled off angrily, muttering quietly under his breath about 'kids these days'.
Annoyed by the situation and slightly unnerved by what she had discovered, Kelly once again left the graveyard, shivering slightly, though not from the cold.
"I'm serious – I heard him," Kelly argued, glaring at Alicia over the table, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Kelly, you're imagining it. You're just upset over his death, you really need to move on," Alicia told the girl in front of her, her voice surprisingly soft but firm. She attempted to pat Kelly's arm awkwardly, but it was quickly swatted away by the other girl.
"Move on? He's been gone for barely a week and it's time to move on? As if he'd never even been here, right?" Kelly could feel the anger boiling up inside her and she could barely control herself, her hand curling into a fist as she spoke. "What the fuck, Alicia?"
"Fine then, I give up," Alicia told them, standing up and going over to the bar to collect another beer, meaning she could also escape Kelly's anger at the same time. 'Crazy bitch,' she thought to herself.
"You're a fucking whore, Alicia. I fucking heard that!" Kelly shouted at the girl's departing back, ignoring the stares she received but no one dared say anything to her.
Curtis spoke up at that point, leaning forward across the table between them, "Look, Kelly. No one expects you to be completely unaffected by what happened. We all are. It's not easy but we've got to try to move on, like Alicia said. She didn't mean to be so harsh, it's just how she is. Nathan would want you to-"
Kelly interrupted, her face turning red as she spoke, "You've got no fucking idea what Nathan would want. You barely knew him! And I know what I heard, I didn't fucking imagine it! Crazier shit has happened to us; why not this then?"
"Maybe it's his power," a little voice from next to the two said. Kelly and Curtis turned simultaneously to face Simon, who held a small pint of beer in his hand and was staring back at them with wide eyes. "His power," he repeated. "Nathan never found it out, yeah? But he must've been affected."
Kelly smirked slightly, she had always been fond of Simon, like a younger brother. She had defended Simon many times against Nathan, who seemed to think Simon's name was actually Barry and funnily enough, his last words were "Save me, Barry!". The memory made tears prick at Kelly's eyes but she brushed them away quickly, disliking the thought of showing vulnerability in front of other people. "What do you mean?" asked Kelly, not fully understanding what he meant.
There was a small hint of a smile on Simon's lips, he liked Kelly. She defended him and gave him a chance to speak, something people didn't usually do for him. He was keen to present his idea to the group, as Alicia had just returned with another round of beers. "What if Nathan's not actually dead? What if he's... immortal or something?" Simon suggested, taking a large gulp of his beer for courage.
"That's impossible," Alicia commented, disregarding his suggestion immediately with a shake of her head.
"No, it isn't," Simon told her firmly, lowering his voice slightly. The others leaned in closer, in order to hear him. "You can make people want to have sex with you; Kelly can read minds; Curtis can reverse time; I can turn invisible. We're impossible. So what's strange about Nathan being immortal?" Simon said, staring right at Kelly while he spoke. "You read his mind. We don't know how far your range is yet; what if you can hear thoughts from six feet under? That couldn't be so hard for you, right? He could still be alive."
There was a long pause, in which everyone thought this over. It was a lot to take in at once, especially for Curtis and Alicia, who had never once considered this idea before. Kelly had an inkling but wasn't sure voicing it would help, so she was grateful that the usually silent Simon chose to instead.
"He could still be alive," Kelly whispered quietly to herself, hardly daring to let herself believe this. She hated false hope and didn't like disappointment. What if Nathan was alive? And she'd wasted so much time doubting herself and him too. Her heart almost leapt with joy at the thought of Nathan being alive.
Curtis was the first to speak, his voice slow and unsure, "What do we do?"
No one wanted to say it aloud but they all shared the same thought, knowing exactly what had to be done if their friend was still alive. Kelly answered him. "We dig him up," she said simply, giving a tiny shrug of her shoulders, her face blank.
"When?" Alicia spoke now, her voice was doubtful but she couldn't back out of it; if Curtis was going to do it, then so would she, no matter how crazy it sounded.
"Tonight. We need to do it soon. It's dark now," Simon said, already standing up. He liked the sense of taking charge and wasn't eager to relinquish his role. "I get the equipment and we'll meet in the graveyard in an hour, okay?"
Alicia frowned. "You mean, like, where the dead people are? At night?" she shivered, hating the idea completely and not at all looking forward to digging up what would most likely be Nathan's corpse.
"What the fuck do you think?" Kelly fumed; she was still annoyed at Alicia but was slowly calming down, thoughts of helping Nathan filling her head. She hated herself for feeling this way, so used to not showing anyone her vulnerable side to anyone.
"Okay, it's settled then. Meet in the cemetery later," Curtis didn't want a fight to start in the little pub, they were already in enough trouble as it was and even more public attention wouldn't help either. The best thing to do would be to get this over and done with, whether or not Nathan had actually been buried alive.
The rest of the group stood, taking this as a signal to leave and said their goodbyes to each other, their plan set.
The graveyard was empty when they entered; there was no sign of the old man that had scolded Kelly earlier that day nor anyone else. The sky was pitch black and Curtis held the torch, shining it out in front of them as they walked.
Simon was invisible, walking ahead of them, in case someone was hiding in the bushes but there wasn't a single person in sight. Nathan's grave was near the centre of the vast graveyard and it took a few minutes to reach the correct grave, especially in the poor lighting. The grave's flowers were still fresh and still but other than that, there was no change to the grave.
The group of four stopped next to the grave, staring down at it with a regretful looks. A soft sob escaped Kelly's lips but none of the group reacted to it.
After a few minutes, Kelly coughed slightly, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, grateful for the darkness that concealed her tears. Her voice was low but commanding, "Come on; we have to get started. Anyone could show up at any moment." She took a shovel from Simon and began digging into the ground forcefully, and the others followed suit.
About half an hour later, they all stood around a large rectangular hole that contained Nathan's coffin. Patches of dirt covered the shiny red coffin, and Curtis jumped down, landing next to the coffin. "Here we go," he whispered to himself as he pulled open the coffin lid and let it slide to the dirty ground with a loud slam.
An audible gasp went through the ground when their eyes rested on the figure of their old friend. His eyes were closed but they weren't close enough to see if he was actually breathing.
"Oh my god, he's dead. We fucking dug him up and he's dead," Alicia said, her hand covering her mouth. She looked sick and turned away from the coffin, unexpected tears appearing at her eyes. "Holy shit, I can't believe we did this."
Kelly squinted down at the body from where she stood, her heart sinking. "I was wrong... I'm sorry," she said in a weak voice, closing her own eyes. "Curtis, close the coffin. I can't bear to look at it anymore. Please," she added.
"No!" Simon said, jumping down into the hole to join Curtis. "He's asleep – look!"
"What the fuck are you doing?" Kelly shouted when she saw Simon lift up Nathan's hand and with surprising strength, pull him upwards so he was in a sitting position. "Get off him!"
The body moved and grunted. Curtis reeled back, falling backwards onto the wall of the hole, a look of horror on his face that matched the looks on both girls. Alicia had turned around to stare, along with Kelly, as Nathan opened his eyes and stared at Simon sleepily through the dim light.
"Barry?" he asked hoarsely. "What the fuck?"
Simon frowned, annoyed at Nathan for using, yet again, the wrong name. "I'm Simon," he told the immortal boy, letting him fall back into the coffin, Nathan's head hitting the bottom of the cushioned coffin with a small bang.
"Ow, that fucking hurt!" Nathan complained, rubbing the back of his head. "Thanks a lot, Barry."
Before Simon could protest again, Kelly leaped down into the hole, pulling Nathan into a warm hug. "You're alive!" she cried out, hardly believing what was happening and holding him to her close.
Nathan was shocked, to say the least but he did not push away, instead returning the hug and giving her a small peck on the cheek too, along with a cheeky grin. "I'm immortal," he said proudly.
"We kinda figured that out," Kelly replied, her own face aglow with delight, letting go of Nathan and standing back to look him up and down. "I still can't believe it. I thought you were dead," heavy tears poured down her cheeks involuntarily at the sight of him and Nathan took an old, crumpled tissue out of his pocket, passing it to her, which she gratefully took.
A small cough brought them back to reality and they both turned. Nathan's grin turned to a scowl at the sight of them. "You mind? We're having a moment here," he told them, though whether he was joking or not wasn't clear to the others watching.
"Wow, you can stop thanking us now. You know, for saving you from an eternity of being buried alive," Alicia seemed to have recovered from her state of shock and was now back to herself, annoyed at Nathan's attitude.
"You're taking the piss, right? I've been locked up in that fucking coffin for almost a week and I've suffocated and starved over ten times. Do you know how much I've suffered down there in that shit-hole? While you've been living the life up here? And to top things off, my fucking iPod's out of battery and I'm starving. Did you bring a charger or even a sandwich? Nah, of course not. You slimy selfish fuckers. I hope each and everyone of you burns in hell for what you've done!" Nathan ranted angrily, pointing his finger at everyone around him.
There was a stunned silence before Simon decided to speak. "I actually brought a sandwich for you," he told Nathan, producing a sandwich from the bag he had brought. "I figured you'd be hungry."
Nathan stared at the sandwich for about a minute, before lunging forward and grabbing the sandwich, tearing off the plastic wrapping around it. He practically pushed the entire sandwich in his mouth, before spitting out half of it in disgust. "Eurgh, who the fuck likes ham and mustard? Why, Barry, why?" he directed his question at Simon, who sighed, rubbed his eyelids and turned away, giving up on Nathan.
An hour later, the hole had been refilled and the flowers set back in their place, almost as if the grave had never been touched. No one would ever know that the grave was, in fact, missing the most important part – a body.
The group headed out of the graveyard and Nathan was attempting an apology to barely any avail. "You know, I don't really think you guys are selfish fuckers. I mean, Barry, you are a slimy creep – but it's not your fault that you molested your sister. And you make really shite sandwiches. But other that, no offence intended," he told Simon and the others, a genuine smile appearing on his face as he tried to explain himself.
Simon was past the point of even trying to tell Nathan that he didn't have a sister, it would be useless to anyway. He instead chose to just smirk to himself and continue walking silently with the others.
They were halfway out of the gate that led into the graveyard when Nathan slipped his hand into Kelly's, not even looking at her as he did so, but Kelly couldn't conceal her sudden smile, which appeared when she felt his hand on hers.
Author's Note: So what did you think? Reviews are much loved and any questions will replied to! :)
Nathan / Kelly are meant to beeeee LOL
Thanks for reading :D
-Naomily4EVA x
