Disclaimer: Haven is not mine. If it were, there'd be far more Audrey/Nathan/Duke triangle-ness going on every week. Love it!
A/N: This was written for the Haven Comment Fic post over on the LJ comm HavenMaine.
It's only grilled cheese and tomato soup, but it's the best damn thing that Audrey's tasted in days.
The first cold snap of the year has set its hooks into the landscape and she's been shivering all week. Fall in Maine she's found, despite her now permanent three layers of clothes, and fall back home are two very different things. So, after much prodding, she finds herself sitting in the galley on Duke's boat late one Saturday afternoon, listening to the rain as it continues pouring on the deck above them, choppy waves crashing all around them.
"If I'd known that a change in the weather was all it took to get you over here for dinner, I'd have ordered a temperature drop weeks ago."
Audrey almost chokes through her laughter, her limbs finally beginning to thaw as she scoops another spoonful of soup out of the bowl in front of her, "Yeah, well, everything seems to close earlier here now that the tourists are gone and my fridge was empty. I was desperate."
Duke scoffs, meeting her teasing grin with one of his own. It's times like this, when they're alone and he lets his guard down, that she realizes exactly why she's drawn to him. He's a charming bastard when he wants to be. Sitting across from her in the tiny space, the inside of his calves barely brushing her legs under the table as he munched thoughtfully on his sandwich. A game of give and take.
"So, you're saying that you would've died without me? Why Audrey," he says with a hint of mocking in his voice, "I'm touched."
She chuckles, tossing one of her crackers at him, "You should be, buddy. Grilled cheese is serious business. I don't let just anyone cook it for me."
She notices that the smile has begun to melt off of his face, a moment of vulnerability shining through, not quite able to meet her eyes. It's odd, but not totally unheard of for him, usually leading into some sort of jealous retort or comment.
"Oh, really? You uh- you ever let Nathan make you grilled cheese before?"
There it is, right on cue- jealous male posturing. Audrey has to fight the urge to roll her eyes. Some things never changed in this town.
"Of course not," she dabs the corner of mouth demurely with her napkin, standing as she gathers their dishes and piles them into the sink, "he prefers pancakes instead."
The expression on his face is priceless.
Sometimes, they were both such easy marks.
End.