Title: The Apartment
Author: GageWhitney
Rating: T
Pairing: Nathan/Audrey
Disclaimer: Very much not mine.
Summary: It's so much better than living at the bed and breakfast.
Note: Ignoring the Chris storyline. Because I hate him.
Audrey Parker kind of loves her new apartment.
Sure, it takes her a good two weeks before the sounds from the bar downstairs start drifting to the back of her mind, the constant chattering and music a sort of white noise, and Duke plays the role of Nosy Landlord quite well. It doesn't matter, though, because it's hers and she's got a beautiful ocean view and it's so much better than living at the bed and breakfast.
Even if she has to start staying at work late on karaoke nights.
There's a pair of cardboard storage boxes in the center of her desk when she comes in one morning. She raises an eyebrow at the likely culprit – her partner – as he wanders in and leans his lanky self on the wooden frame of the door.
"Nathan, what's with the boxes? Someone do a little digging in the archives?"
He shrugs, crossing his arms over his flannel shirt. "I've been cleaning out the Chief's place a little at a time. Thought you could use some of this stuff for your new place."
She flips off the box tops and peers in, seeing that he's filled them with assorted glasses, plates and flatware, all packed up nicely between old, crumpled copies of the Haven Herald. She lifts out a heavy stoneware plate, running her fingers over the smooth surface and admiring the deep blue glaze.
"These are great. I could really use these," she tells him genuinely, gently replacing the dish. "I'm getting so sick of paper plates." She pats his hand. "Thanks, Nathan."
"No problem," he says, dragging his eyes away from where she'd touched him and back to her face. "If you can think of anything else you need, let me know. Everything's just getting tossed or going to Goodwill anyway."
"To be honest, I haven't exactly done a ton of shopping, so I could definitely use a few things," she admits. "Actually, this may be a stupid question, but did the Chief have baking sheets by some chance? I've been craving freshly baked cookies."
"Chocolate chips?"
"You know it. Out of a container, but still."
He looks thoughtful for a moment. "I'm sure my mom had some that he never got rid of," he reasons. "But I want in on that chocolate chip action." He says it so seriously that she can't help but laugh.
"Deal." She puts a hand on his shoulder to boost herself up and plants a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thanks again. I'm going to go get some coffee. Want some?"
"Yeah," he replies.
She turns to ask if he wants a doughnut and catches him touching a hand to his cheek.
Nathan digs up baking sheets and a blender and a wok that he tells her was probably given to his parents as a wedding gift, because he sure as hell never saw it get used. After work, she hits the little grocery store on the way home and stocks up, making a special detour to the frozen cookie section.
It takes a while to get used to the quirks of the old oven, but eventually she ends up with a few dozen chewy, gooey, golden chocolate chip cookies.
Nathan polishes off his tray before noon the next day.
She's trying and failing to convince him that it's all right for the new interim Chief to leave work at a reasonable hour ("People expect me to be here, Parker") when she comes up with the perfect plan.
"You haven't been to my apartment yet," she says. "Why don't you come over for dinner? I'll even cook."
He eyes her, a twinkle in his eye for the first time that day. "You'll cook?" The corner of his mouth turns up into a smirk.
"Yes. What? I can cook."
Before she can protest further, he's out of his chair, shrugging into his jacket. "Okay. Let's go. I'll help," he says, a hand at the small of her back as he steers her out of his office.
"I'm a good cook," she insists, waving goodbye to Laverne as they walk through the station. "I don't need your help, Wournos."
"Mmm hmm. We'll see."
It turns out that she does know her way around a kitchen a little bit, though Nathan insists on helping her slice vegetables and hovers at her elbow as she watches dutifully over a wok full of chicken stir-fry. She swats at his hand with a laugh and a shout as he reaches in to pluck out a piece of meat.
They load their food onto his father's dinner plates and take them out onto the deck with a couple of beers. She'd gotten a little wrought iron patio set at the local Goodwill a few days before, and they settle in to eat and watch the sun go down over the water.
"So? Did I poison you?" she asks. She gently prods his hand with her index finger.
He shakes his head. "No," he admits around a mouthful of stir-fry. "It's very good."
"Told you."
They eat mostly in companionable silence, listening to the wind chimes and the sea gulls, and for the first time in a good, long while, she feels herself relax completely.
"Nathan's been coming over a lot," Duke says. Something in his tone makes her immediately wish she'd left her rent check in his mailbox.
"Sometimes we have dinner and hang out after work," she tells him with a shrug. "We're friends."
He nods, as if he's considering her response. "You are. It's nice. You and Nathan are friends."
She doesn't know what else to say, so she goes with a simple, "Yeah. See you later, Duke."
He smiles mischievously. "See you, Audrey."
It's a Saturday night and they're down at the Gull, having a few beers and attempting conversation, except for the fact that the local band Duke hired for the night has the volume cranked up to 11.
"It's way too loud in here!" she yells in his face. He nods his head, wincing and looking toward the makeshift stage. "You want to come upstairs for a while? It's quieter!"
"What?" he shouts.
"Upstairs?"
"What?"
She scoots closer, cupping a hand over his ear. She pays attention to the way he flinches and freezes up before relaxing into her touch.
"Do you want to come upstairs for a while?"
He shivers as her breath hits his ear, but seems to recover when she leans back. He nods his head in the affirmative. "Let's go!" he says, a hand at her back as she rises from her seat.
The bar is packed wall to wall with people, so he follows closely, trying not to lose track of her. When the crowd swells around them, she reaches back to grab his hand and laces their fingers together. He's smiling when they reach the flight of stairs leading to her apartment and she doesn't let go.
When they reach her door, she puts her key in the lock and turns to say something when she realizes he's still hovering somewhere right behind her, never having fallen back after they got out of the bar. He stares down at her, looking like he's considering moving back, but stands his ground anyway. Challenging her.
Challenge accepted, she thinks. She stands on her toes and grabs his jacket, searching his eyes, giving him one last chance to back out before she kisses him hard on the mouth.
After a few moments, he pulls slightly away to look at her. His fingers grip her hips. "Audrey." His voice is low and gravelly.
She moves her hands up to his shoulders, tugging him closer. "Hmm?" His hands map her back, one tangling in her hair.
"What are we doing?"
"I don't know. I don't care."
"Me either."
And then he's pushing her against the wooden door, kissing her with such intense concentration it takes her breath away. She winds her arms tightly around his neck, lifting herself up, and he takes the opportunity to slip a leg between hers.
She pulls her mouth away from his long enough to say, "Inside." He reaches behind her and twists the key in the lock, letting them both in and shutting it just as quickly.
She falls asleep that night to the sound of her wind chimes and the distant, thumping bass and Nathan's soft breathing in her ear.
Things start to get a little awkward when Nathan starts sleeping over. For the first time ever, Audrey wishes he had a silver Civic or a black Camry or any other car that wouldn't call attention to the fact that it was his and it was left in the bar's parking lot all night.
It's not that she's ashamed or embarrassed that she's sleeping with her best friend. Slash partner. Slash boss. (Yikes, when she thinks about it like that.) She just doesn't want to deal with the comments she knows are coming from Duke (and, by extension, the rest of the town).
Of course, he catches her attention one day as she's running late to get to work.
"So, I noticed Nathan's car was still here when I left last night," he says, leaning on the wooden handle of a broom, shit-eating grin firmly in place.
"Oh, yeah?" She pretends like she's looking for her car keys in her bag.
"Yeah," Duke says, studying her actions. "It was after three in the morning."
"Oh, yeah. We were going over a case," she lies. "Burning the midnight oil, you know? These cases aren't going to solve themselves."
"Mmm hmm. Just out of curiosity, what case?"
"Why?"
"It's just that it must be some case for you guys to put in all this overtime on it." He's got her against the ropes and she can tell he knows it.
She freezes for half a second, so close to spilling the beans and telling him to shut up and mind his own business, before she decides to go with, "Sorry. That information's need to know." She glances at her watch. "I've got to run. See you later."
She feels his eyes on her as she leaves and thinks that she's got to talk to Nathan about staying at his place more often.
(They do, and she discovers it's just as awkward when Duke catches her sneaking back up the stairs in the morning.)
When her year-long lease is up, she breaks the news to Duke that she's going to be moving out.
"Where are you going?" She stares at him pointedly, and he nods his head with a smirk. "Shacking up with Tin Man, huh?"
She grins, squinting into the sunlight at the water beyond him. "Yeah. It didn't make sense anymore to keep two places when we're spending every night together anyway."
"First, ew. Come on. No details please," he says, and she laughs. "Second… congratulations. And I mean that, seriously, because despite our issues, Nathan's a good guy. I hope you two will be happy together."
"Thanks, Duke." There's a tear in her eye when she stretches to hug him.
"Even if you are leaving me with a vacant apartment," he teases.
She punches him in the arm.