A/N - OK! So, just a little one-shot that I decided to write up. Definitely not my best work. - I'm not great with Nathan's personality, and even worse with Kate's, but I wanted to write this anyway because Kate x Nathan is a pairing that has seen almost no love, and I think if the right person wrote a fic of it, it could be really sweet. Nathan's redemption, Kate becoming his angel. I think it'd be adorable, personally! This was a really, really quick write-up of an idea that I just came up with, mainly for the purpose of getting the pairing out there in hopes of seeing more of it, but I do hope you all enjoy it nonetheless. Short and hopefully sweet. :3
Kate sat in her hospital room, the same room she had spent the last few days in. Not that she minded too much. - She enjoyed having time away from everything, everyone. Time to think and relax, and focus on something more positive. Like her prayers, or her drawings.
She was better, all things considered. This week had been.. well, she didn't really have words to describe it. It felt like what she considered hell would feel like. And she almost.. almost didn't make it through it. But she did, thanks to her closest friend. Max deserved so much more praise than she received, for giving her the strength to step down like she had. She was truly the friend she needed, guiding her back into the light through all of the darkness. She needed to let Max know that, next time she visited.
Today had been slower than usual. The enjoyment of having alone time to think was dying out, and she needed something to keep her mind busy. She had just finished up with her latest.. book? It wasn't really a book. It was sketches for children's books, something that she spent a lot of time on and enjoyed. She had spent most of her time here working on her latest one, when she was allowed the equipment to actually draw.
But now her hand was sore, and she had little else to do but sit around and lose herself in her thoughts, something that she was terrified of only a few days ago. ..It still bothered her. It would for the rest of her life, probably. But she had faith she could, can, move past it enough to allow it to become an old memory. Something she could move past.
With a soft sigh she laid back in her bed. It was a hospital bed. - Nothing like home, but comfortable enough. She had her phone now, but it was getting quite late in the day, and she didn't want to bother anyone. People still had school, after all, it didn't all stop for her. Which, of course, she had no problem with. The sooner people move past this week, the better. With another soft, more relaxed sigh she closed her eyes, brushing her cheek against the warmth of the surprisingly comfy pillow she had.
Nathan moved through the halls of the hospital with fast-paced steps, ignoring most of the staff members that tried to stop him along the way. Visiting hours were over, but Nathan was a Prescott, a family that even had ties in the hospital. He had free reign within these halls, whether the people working here would like to admit it or not.
Still, he was far more nervous than usual. And with the nerves came the anxiety, and with the anxiety came the shaking, and.. Fuck, it was just an endless line of issues that, for the most part, made him look unstable. It isn't like he could help it, he was taking medication already. The looks annoyed him. Just.. bothered him, really. The crazy rich kid, fucking Prescott boy. The nerve people had..
Right now wasn't the time for that, however. Right now he was on a.. mission of sorts. To do something that even he couldn't believe, but he was desperate. Things were getting harder, and he knew something was up. Something was going to happen, and there was this pull in his chest urging him to make up for his wrongs. ..At least the ones he could still make up for.
He came to a stop, lost in his thoughts up until this point. He was here, the door leading into Kate Marsh's room. ..Was he really doing this? Yes. He had to, he needed to. Fuck what people would think of him, he needed.. He needed to do this. With a nod he turned to the door, pushing it open without so much as a knock. ..Probably a bad idea.
Kate jumped, eyes wide as the door opened up and a shaky, tired-looking Nathan stepped in. She paled almost instantly, scooting closer to the edge of her bed, as if ready to run on a moment's notice. " Na- Nathan? " She asked in a soft, scared tone, staring at the boy who had stopped in his tracks only a few inches into her room.
" ..Marsh. " He muttered quietly, crossing his arms in an attempt to ease the shakiness. " I- Uh-.. " He blinked, unsure of what to say. Out of everything he could have planned for, he didn't plan for this. The talking part, at least. Fuck. " I just.. uh.. Hey, don't.. " He took a step closer as Kate went to slide out of her bed, extending a hand towards the scared girl only to pull it back when she flinched at the movement, even from across the room.
" Wh- What are you doing here, Nathan? Visit.. Visiting hours are ov- over, and I don't think you.. I don't want you to be here. " She stated slowly, but gained enough composure to let it be known. She didn't want him here, not after.. Not after what he did. Nathan frowned, deciding to slide his shaky hands into his jacket pockets instead as he took a step back.
" I.. I know. I don't want to fucking be here either, but.. " He started, only to cut himself off and shake his head. " No, I.. I did want to be here. ..Fuck, I'm sorry! " He growled, his apology coming out in a far more threatening tone than he had hoped for. Kate jumped, and fell off the bed that she had been sitting on the edge of. She hit the floor with a whine, managing to catch herself before completely face-planting the cold floor.
Nathan's eyes widened slightly as she fell, and without much thought he rushed around the bed to make sure she was okay. " Oh- fuck, shit.. " He growled to himself, his anxiety defaulting to an angry tone. He was quick to extend a hand to help her up, but the moment she noticed him her eyes shot wide once more and she shoved herself back, away from his hand and into the nightstand beside her bed. " Pl- Please!.. Nathan, please.. just... go. " She whispered towards the end, tucking herself into a ball. " You've done enough.. " She added softly, pushing her face into her knees to hide her expression.
Nathan took a cautious step back after she jerked away, quietly cursing to himself after acting without thought. " I- I know, K- Kate.. I fucked up. I've fucked up a lot of things, an- and I don't know what is going to happen now, but.. " He closed his eyes, brushing his fingers up through his slicked back hair. " I.. I had to apologize. I never meant for this to happen. - I.. I never wanted this. I never wanted -any- of this! " He threw his arms in the air with another growl, causing Kate to jerk back again.
" I.. fuck, FUCK! " He covered his face with his palms, shaking his head. " I don't know what I am doing anymore, K- Kate. I never meant to hurt anyone.. I just.. I wanted.. " He shook his head, not even sure himself what he wanted from all of this. His shakiness ends up getting the best of him and he falls to his knees, brushing his fingers back through his hair again as his eyes moved back to Kate's own fearful hues, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks.
" I- I don't expect you to forgive me for.. for what I did. For fucking this all up, for causing.. th- this.. " He leaned forward, resting his palms on the cool floor. " But if.. if something is going to happen to me, I need to let you know. I need you to know how much I fucked up, how much I regret.. regret hurting you. " He continued, his voice dying down into a sad whisper towards the end.
Kate was shocked and afraid, especially at first. But as Nathan went on, apologizing and ranting, she.. she almost felt sorry for him. It was hard to feel sorry for someone who had.. had done this to her, and forgiving him?.. She hadn't even considered the thought yet, as much as she should have. But he was here, crying on his knees and apologizing to her, telling her how wrong he was. And.. she felt sad for him. She felt the emotion in his words, and reacted more on instinct than rational thought.
She scooted closer, slowly, and moved to gently wrap her arms around the crying boy, pulling him into a cautious hug. She wasn't sure what to say. She could say that she forgives him, but that would be a lie. For now, anyway. Maybe someday, but not today. So she just held him, resting her chin against his shoulder as he cried in her arms like she had the past few days. Lost, afraid, doubting herself and her beliefs. She saw a lot of herself in him right now.
Nathan had broke down into just tears at this point, lost in his thoughts about what he had done. Not only to Kate.. To everyone he had wronged, to everyone he had helped bring to.. to that sick monster who was like a father to him when his own father wasn't there for him. He had trusted him, believed in him without a doubt up until this point.. But now? After everything he had done.. He couldn't accept that this was right. This -wasn't- right, and he also knew that Jefferson had seen that doubt. He was going to pay for his sins.. He was going to pay for all the people he had wronged, he just didn't know when.
He wanted closure, though. He wanted some.. level of closure, to know that he hadn't fucked up everything. So there he sat, in the arms of an angel that he had wronged, an angel that should hate him without a doubt. And there she was, comforting his sorry, mistake of an ass in her arms. He had felt so cold up until now. So alone, so lost.. and even though this wouldn't last, even though he could never truly make up for what he did.. this warmth, the warmth of her gentle, caring embrace was enough to set his mind at ease.
No screams, no voices, no hate, no.. fear. His mind was empty for the first time in years, and even though he knew it wouldn't last for more than a few minutes at the most, he allowed himself to embrace it. To embrace her. He brought his arms around her smaller form, feeling her twitch at his surprisingly gentle touch, then rested his face against her shoulder.
" I'm so sorry.. " He murmured, over and over, holding her in his arms.