Title: Five Times Audrey Parker Realised Something, and Once When She Didn't
Author: MissForsythe
Rating: fairly safe
Summary: read the title, don't make me type it out again
Disclaimer: Checks and finds that we're still due one more Chris episode, so no, don't own it.
Pairing: Audrey/Nathan, but mostly an Audrey introspective.
When Audrey Parker was five years old, there was a couple interested in adopting her. She can't remember their name now, but it was something bland like Johnson. Not that Parker wasn't a dull name, but Audrey Johnson just didn't sound the same. The Johnsons took her on outings, to the carnival and the movies. Once, she even went to their house. There was a swingset in the backyard, and she remembers being thrilled at the sight of it. If she tries, she can remember the little yappy dog that she played with.
The Johnsons never came back for her. No one ever bothered to tell her why.
When Audrey Parker was eleven years old, she had a crush on Josh Russet. Until she was fourteen and he sixteen, they lived in the same group home. One night, she overheard him confess his love for another girl and on that day, she realised that heartbreak really did hurt worse then flu shots and lashes on fingers combined.
Josh ended up marrying that girl, and divorcing her just as quickly. Audrey just thinks it's a good thing he broke her heart when he did.
When Audrey was twenty-seven, her boss sent to a small town in Maine. Having lived in big cities all her life, the idea of coastal towns and picturesk houses seemed like a distant dream to her. However, the second she crossed the town line, a strange feeling set in her stomach. Like coming home after a really long journey. She'd never realised just how much she'd longed for that feeling until six months later, having dinner on Duke's boat with the people she now considered friends.
That night ended with Nathan walking her back to her hotel room, and her wanting to kiss his cheek for no reason at all.
When Audrey was twenty-eight, she fell in love too soon and too fast. Chris was a wonderful guy, just not the wonderful guy she'd been looking for. She watched her boys share a beer and discuss baseball. Duke looks at her in that wonderful supportive way. Chris and his broken heart don't regard her at all. Nathan regards her with that look that would haunt her every dream for another eight months.
Eight and a half months later, she gets a an invitation for Chris' wedding to someone else. It doesn't hurt as much as she thought it would.
At thirty three, Audrey Parker thinks that she's come such a long way from the little girl that the Johnsons didn't choose.
Their son runs around the backyard while Nathan rakes the leaves and she drinks coffee on the back porch. She's never realized how much she wanted this until this very moment.
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