Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money; I just do it for fun.
Author's Note: This was written for Week Three of the 10 Weeks of Nate/Sophie on nathan_sophie (Team Sophie). The prompt I used for this fic was 'honeymoon' (prompt #6), and it's a sequel to my fic Nothing will ever stay the same. It's set post-series with spoilers for the series finale.
###
The ceremony in the judge's office didn't last long. They had previously chosen to have the short version, neither of them really willing to go through all the motions again. And well, there was only so much time five thieves were willing to spend in a court house.
Once outside, they stopped at the bottom of the stairs. It was a sunny day in Portland, and Sophie was appreciating it; if it had rained on her wedding day, she would have really started to think that the city's weather had it in for her. She hadn't lied to Nate the other day: she was really starting to like Portland, but she could really do without the rain. Moving would be harder for her this time around, but as she told him, they couldn't stay. They hadn't decided where to go yet – Nate was still insisting that she be the one to choose this time but she made him understand that she needed his input – but one thing was certain in her mind: the weather would be fairer.
"So what now?" Hardison asked. "I mean... You're not leaving right now, are you?"
"No," Nate replied.
"You'll have to bear with us for a few more days, I'm afraid," Sophie added with a smile.
"Hey, I wasn't saying that because..."
"We know," Nate interrupted him before he could go any further.
"So you have time for lunch?" Parker checked with them. "Or maybe you want some time alone to make..."
"Hey hey hey!" Hardison exclaimed, earning curious looks from a few passers-by.
"What's wrong with you?" Eliot asked.
"What? I was going to say 'to make some calls'. What were you boys thinking about?"
Sophie couldn't stop herself from laughing. She had to bury her face into Nate's shoulder not to make a scene right there on the sidewalk. But really, the look on Hardison and Eliot's face had been priceless. She had to admit though that her mind had gone to the same place as theirs when Parker had started talking. And given how high Nate's eyebrows had risen and how red the tips of his ears still were, he had been thinking the same too.
The suggestion of the two of them having some time alone was something Sophie could approve of. Although that time alone wouldn't be spent making calls, of course. No, she had one perfectly formed idea of how they could spend this alone time, and it didn't involve a lot of talking. They were married now, and she was sure she could get Nate behind the idea of a little celebration of their own.
Her laughter having died down, Sophie turned back to look at the team. Hardison was trying very hard not to look at them, and she heard him mutter 'nasty' a couple of times. Parker, no doubt proud of the effect she had on her friends - you couldn't make Sophie believe that the thief hadn't chosen her wording very carefully to provoke exactly that kind of reaction -, was smiling brightly while Eliot rolled his eyes at her.
"'Making some calls'?" Nate repeated Parker's previous words. "What kind of calls should we make?"
"Well, all of this was pretty sudden, and there are people you hadn't had time to tell about it, like Tara, or Maggie. I'm sure they would like to hear about it from you and not some strangers. Or Sterling," she added with a wince.
"Why would Sterling..."
"Yes, but we'll call them later," Sophie interrupted him, squeezing his hand. "Now, you were talking about lunch?"
"Yes! Lunch at the brew pub. You're coming?"
Sophie and Nate looked at each other for a second before nodding at Parker. The younger woman was practically beaming at their positive answer, and they worried for a second about what it meant. But soon enough, she was dragging Hardison and Eliot away, calling over her shoulder to meet them at the brew pub in an hour.
"What was that?" Nate asked as they started walking in the direction of Sophie's car.
"I'm not sure. But we'll find out in an hour, I guess."
"Do you think we have some time to..." he trailed off, but she knew what he meant.
"As much as I'd like to say yes, darling, I'm afraid that if we are only one minute late, we're going to have to deal with a very angry Parker."
"Yeah. Sorry again for earlier."
"It's alright," she reassured him, releasing his hand to thread her arm through his. "You arrived right on time. That's what was important in the end."
"I thought that the important part was us being married now?"
"Well, that too," she conceded. "We're married, Nate."
"I know. I was there too when the judge pronounced us man and wife."
"Yes, yes, but..."
"I know," he said again, and this time, she knew he really understood what she meant.
The rest of the walk towards her car was spent in a comfortable silence as they both contemplated how much things had changed since that day in Prague just a bit more than 15 years ago. Neither had imagined that her swiping of a Degas would bring them here more than a decade later. But somehow, it felt right.
She handed him the car keys and made her way to the passenger's side. They had some time before they needed to be at the brew pub, and so he drove around for a while before stopping at the harbour.
"You're not thinking about going back at sea on your boat and leaving me to walk the widow's walk again, are you?"
"No," he reassured her as he helped her out of the car. "But maybe, one day, you'd consider taking a trip on the boat with me?"
"It might take some convincing but maybe."
Walking here, hand in hand, it felt very much like they were back to their first day together in Portland. They stopped right at the spot where Sophie had been waiting for him on that day. She would never tell him that she had been there for hours when she finally spotted him, just like he would never tell her what it had meant for him to see her there. Sure, he had informed her – and the rest of the team – of the date of his arrival in Portland, and sure, he had hoped that she would be there when he disembarked, but she was Sophie Devereaux and for all he knew, she could have been halfway around the world at the time. But she had been there, and it had just served to cement his plans further in his mind.
Unconsciously, her fingers started running against the cool wedding band on his finger. The first time she saw him, he had also been wearing a wedding band on his finger. It had been the symbol of his love for a woman she had been sure at the time she would never meet. It had also symbolised a line she would never cross no matter how much she flirted with him; she had just never been that kind of woman.
And now, more than 15 years later, he was wearing another wedding band, one she had slid here less than half an hour before, and matching the one she was wearing on her left ring finger. Life was really full of surprises; it was the least she could say.
Nate released her hand, and wrapped his arm around her waist. She leaned against him, her arm going around his waist. She rested her head against his shoulder, and felt his lips press a kiss in her hair. Even though he couldn't see her, she smiled and wrapped her other arm around his waist, linking her fingers together. They continued looking out at the docks, with only the occasional bird and the waves crashing against the boats breaking the comfortable silence.
Other people were there, working on their boats, cleaning them and making sure everything was ready for their next outing, but no one came their way. From their spot, Sophie could see Nate's boat; it would certainly be nice to spend a few days, weeks maybe out in the sea, on this boat. Maybe Nate would even teach her to sail, though she wasn't sure it would ever come in handy. But she could let herself be tempted if he had the right arguments.
"We should probably go," he said after a long while.
She hummed but didn't let go of him. She knew he was right; she had no idea what time it was, but she guessed that they didn't have long before their hour alone was up. Reluctantly releasing him, she threaded her arm through his, and let herself be led towards her car.
###When Nate and Sophie arrived at the brew pub, it was to find it empty. They found it strange as there were always a lot of people for the lunch hour.
Only one table was set, with a bouquet of white roses sitting in the middle of it.
"This is weird," Sophie said.
Parker, Eliot and Hardison were nowhere in sight, but by the smell that was flooding the brew pub, they guessed the hitter was in the kitchen, cooking.
"I think I know what's going on," Nate said.
"I'm starting to understand too. Did they really do this?"
"It certainly looks like it."
"Hey, you're here!" Hardison exclaimed, coming from the back rooms. "Parker had to run a last minute errand, but she'll be back in a few."
"What's all this?" Sophie asked, even though she and Nate suspected what Hardison's answer would be.
"We thought that you should have a wedding reception, even if it's just the five of us."
"And by we, I suppose you mean Parker," Nate added.
Hardison nodded; they all noticed how the young thief was attached to wedding traditions. Sophie could only hope that the hacker would remember all this when they came to this point in their relationship.
At Hardison's urging, Nate and Sophie sat on the barstools while he went to the kitchens to see how Eliot was doing on his own. Sophie took another look at the room and noticed more details: there was a screen against the far wall and a projector on one of the free tables. Three tables had been brought together and covered with a cream-colored tablecloth, probably ready to receive what Eliot was cooking in the kitchens.
All in all, even though it lacked some decorations – and really Sophie didn't mind, it was perfect as it was – the room really looked like one you would use for a wedding celebration. There was even a free space to use as a dance floor, and Sophie was sure that Hardison had everything ready for just that.
"Parker really seems to take all of this seriously," Nate said.
"And why shouldn't she?" Sophie asked, teasingly. "I mean, sure, this changes the plans I had for us this afternoon, but I like that they did all this for us."
"I like it too. And what exactly were your plans for the afternoon?"
"You, me and a bed."
"I like your plan. Maybe we can implement it later."
"Oh, we definitely will, darling."
She smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. After a moment, his lips left hers, and trailed down her neck, nipping and kissing her skin. Sophie knew she should stop him – they weren't alone after all – but she didn't want to. Aside from the hour before they had to come here, they hadn't had a moment alone since the day before, and she wasn't used to that anymore. Not to mention that his ministrations were quickly making her forget where they were.
She moaned as he hit the sensitive spot right behind her ear. Grabbing at his head, she brought his face up to hers and captured his lips once again for a slow, sensual kiss. The part of her mind that still retained some thoughts wondered if there was any chance they could slip away before someone came into the room.
But the kitchen door opening stopped that thought from being fully processed.
"Oh, y'all nasty," Hardison started complaining as soon as he saw them. "Do you have to do that here?"
Nate and Sophie looked at him, then at each other and smiled.
"What are you smiling about? No, you know what? I don't want to know. Just don't do that, alright?"
"You're telling me that I can't kiss my wife whenever and wherever I want?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hardison opened and closed his mouth a couple of times and was saved from answering by Parker's entrance.
"Good, you're here! Here, help me with that," she said, handing Hardison the bags she was carrying. "Take this to Eliot and tell him we're ready to start whenever he is."
"A wedding reception, Parker?" Sophie asked, as the hacker left the room.
"I thought it was a good idea. You like it?"
"We do," Nate answered for the both of them. "Thank you."
Eliot and Hardison came into the room, the former holding a tray full of appetizers and the latter a bottle of Champagne. He held it out to Nate, who opened it while Parker passed Champagne coupes around.
"To Nate and Sophie," Eliot toasted once their coupes were full.
"To Nate and Sophie," Hardison and Parker repeated.
Nate and Sophie looked at each other before he leaned down to peck her lips. He turned towards Hardison then, and dared him with a look to say something. The hacker just shrugged, smiling at them. They clinked their glasses together before taking a sip. Then, Eliot started passing the tray of appetizers he had brought from the kitchen.
###
They had just finished eating the main course and Eliot was clearing the plates. Hardison got up from the table and went to the back rooms. He came back with a laptop he hooked up to the projector.
"This was Parker's idea," he clarified as Eliot took his seat.
Somehow, this clarification didn't reassure Nate and Sophie, but they weren't sure it was the hacker's intent. He had probably just said that to make sure they knew he had nothing to do with it. And sure enough, when he pressed play, they understood.
The video was a montage of what the security cameras of their different headquarters had picked up over the years. Moments they shared together were displayed on the screen. From the moment where Sophie confronted him about mixing up Paris and the Tuscany to Nate's proposal, it was all there. Well, almost, and for that, they were both grateful to Hardison; they certainly didn't want the team to see some of their most intimate moments. Thankfully, they had almost always thought of erasing those from the recordings, and those they forgot didn't make it into the video.
The video ended with their wedding as filmed by Hardison just a couple of hours earlier. Sophie couldn't stop a few tears from escaping from her eyes. Nate saw it, and dried her cheeks with his thumb, and pulled her as close to him as their chairs allowed.
"Thank you, guys," Nate said as the screen faded to black. "It was very thoughtful of you to do that."
"It's nothing, really," Parker replied. "We just wanted to give you a wedding gift."
"It's quite a lot, actually, Parker," Sophie said, putting her hand on the thief's and squeezing it. "The video, all this," she gestured to the room, "it means a lot to us that you went to these lengths for us."
"You deserve all of it, and more," Parker said.
"This is the only copy of the video," Hardison assured them when he handed Nate the DVD.
"You're telling me that you don't have a back-up, just in case?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't. But I sent one to both your e-mails, just in case. It's not for me to keep," he explained as he sat back down beside Parker.
"Thanks again," Nate said looking at all three of them in turn.
"So, where are you going for your honeymoon?" Parker asked, changing the subject.
"We haven't thought about that," Nate answered, looking at Sophie.
"I actually have an idea."
"Are you going to share it with the rest of us?"
"Not yet."
If she was honest at least with herself, Sophie didn't really know where this idea came from. But it slowly formed in her head in the past couple of days. She had dismissed it at first, but the more she tried to stop thinking about it, the more it came back to the front of her mind. She really wasn't sure that it was a good idea, but maybe it was needed.
She felt Nate's eyes on her, and she turned to look at him. He questioned her with a look, and for a moment, she wanted to tell them, right there and then, what her idea was. But she stopped herself; there would be time enough for this later, and she wasn't ready to face the questions that were likely to come up if she told them. She reassured Nate with a smile, before turning back towards the others.
Eliot was giving her a look that said he had figured it out, and she wouldn't be surprised if he really did. They were quite alike she and Eliot, it was only normal that he understood what she planned before she was even done planning it. As it was, he nodded imperceptibly at her, probably trying to convey the thought that she should go through with her idea. She nodded back and smiled.
She could see from the corner of her eye that Nate had picked up on that silent exchange, but she knew that he wouldn't ask, and wait for her to be ready to talk to him. And she would tell him, later, when they were alone.
"So what now?" Sophie asked Parker, knowing that the thief had everything planned.
"What about some dancing before dessert?"
Sophie nodded while Nate groaned slightly beside her; she knew that he wasn't fond of dancing. Their first dance together at the high school reunion had been awkward to say the least. From then on, unless it was absolutely required for a con, she would let him get away with it. But it was their wedding, and she wouldn't take no for an answer this time. She deserved her first dance, after all.
She got up from her seat and held her hand out to her husband. He took it, not without sending her a pleading look first, and she led him towards the cleared floor space.
Hardison had gone back to his laptop, and soon after, music came from the speakers. Nate and Sophie immediately recognized it as the song they danced to at the high school reunion, and they sent a knowing look at Hardison. He just shrugged, and nodded for them to start dancing.
In any other wedding, the newlyweds' first dance was almost always choreographed, or at the very least, there was some dance lessons ahead of time. It wasn't the case for their wedding, but it wasn't like their guests would mind. While still holding onto her hand, Nate wrapped his other arm around her waist. Her free hand wrapped around his neck as he brought their joined hands towards his chest. They were swaying more than dancing to the music, but this was alright.
Sophie rested her cheek against his, and he took advantage of the close contact to whisper something into her ear. His breath more than his words made her shiver, and she wondered, not for the first time, if the others would really mind if they left earlier than planned. But at the same time, she didn't really want to move.
Another slow song started when the first one ended, and she saw Eliot grinning as he pushed Hardison towards Parker. The two younger members of the team soon joined them on the dance floor, as the hitter took place behind the laptop. After another dance or two with Nate, Sophie would go ask Eliot for a dance; there was no reason why he should stand aside.
But for the moment, she was just planning on enjoying her time in her husband's arms.
###
When Nate and Sophie came back to his apartment, it was almost midnight. When they had initially thought of leaving early to have their wicked way with each other, they ended up staying late. They knew that it was probably their last time together in a long while, and neither had wanted to leave until it was just becoming ridiculous to stick around any longer. Saying goodbye this time had been even harder than when they left the team after he proposed. This time, it felt more final. Maybe because it was; Nate and Sophie had no guarantee that the team wouldn't be out of the city on a con when they left Portland for good.
Sophie kicked off her shoes near the door and went straight to the bedroom, knowing that Nate would follow. She felt his arms wrapped around her from behind as soon as they cleared the room's threshold. She intertwined her fingers with his, and he swayed them gently from side to side. The room was dark, the only light coming from the outside, but neither felt inclined to turn on the lights.
"So, what are your plans for our honeymoon?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I thought you would want to talk about my plans for the evening, first."
"Well, that too, but you could say I'm curious." He waited for her to talk, but when she didn't, he prompted. "Where do you want to go?"
"London. I want to show you my London."
She didn't have to say anything else for him to understand what she really meant. She wanted to show him a part of herself he didn't know yet. It wasn't about the Sophie Devereaux he knew, but about the woman she was before she created Sophie Devereaux and met him.
"London sounds good," he said. "We didn't really have time to visit the last time we were there."
"That's one way of putting it," Sophie replied, remembering that their whole time in London had been spent conning Keller. "But this time we will enjoy it, won't we? No work, just the two of us, nothing and no one to bother us."
"Just as it's meant to be for a honeymoon, Mrs. Ford."
"Mrs. Ford... It will take some time to get used to it, but I like the way it sounds."
"I like it too," he said, planting kisses on her shoulder.
"Since this is settled then, what do you say we have our own little private celebration of the wedding now?"
"I would say that I like your way of thinking."
Sophie turned in his arms, and wrapped her arms around his neck. With a hand on his nape, she brought his face down to hers. The kiss started as a slow one, but it soon picked up in intensity. His hands were in her hair, loosening it from the clip that was holding it up. The fingers of one hand started combing through her freed locks, while his other hand went to the zip of her dress, lowering it slowly.
She hooked a leg up around his hips, bringing their lower bodies closer. His hand ran up her thigh and beneath the skirt of her dress, until he felt the lace at the top of her stockings. He brought her leg back down, both of his hands going to her hips. Without breaking the kiss, he backed her towards the bed, and pushed her down gently. He left her time to settle at the top of the bed before he lied down over her, supporting his weight on his forearms.
He kissed her again, once, twice, always pulling back when she wanted to deepen the kiss. After a moment, she let out a frustrated growl, and looked him in the eyes.
"Stop teasing, Nate," she whispered.
He complied, knowing better than to make her wait even one more second; if there was just one thing he learned about her since they started their relationship, it was that a frustrated Sophie would always take her frustration out on him. And he didn't want that tonight.
Sophie smiled against his lips, happy to have won this round. Her smile soon disappeared though, when her mind registered where his hand was headed.
###
Tom and Sarah Jane Baker arrived in London at 12pm local time, and an hour later, they were checked in their hotel. While Sophie hated that they had to use aliases for this particular trip, she also know that she was still wanted by most European police forces, including the City of London Police, and it wouldn't do for her to get arrested now. So aliases it was.
They might not be using their real names, but at the very least, they were staying quite close to the truth: they were newlyweds on their honeymoon. The hotel concierge, upon learning this, upgraded them to the honeymoon suite, and if it hadn't been in any of their plans, it wasn't something they could refuse.
"I have to say that this honeymoon started the best way it could," Sophie said, as her head rested on Nate's shoulder.
"Are you talking about the room upgrade or...?"
"'Or', darling, definitely 'or'. Even though the room upgrade was nice too."
"One of the perks of being newlyweds, I guess. We'd better enjoy it because it's only for this one time."
"Oh, I plan to enjoy it thoroughly," she replied, rising on her elbows and lowering her head to kiss him. "Very thoroughly," she said against his lips as she straddled his waist.
"Again?"
"Are you saying that you're not up for it?" she asked, pulling back slightly and raising an eyebrow.
"I'll show you if I'm not up for it."
Wrapping his arms around her, he rolled them over until he was on top of her.
Sophie's last coherent thought was that they were probably not going to leave their room for the rest of the day. It was alright though; they had a whole week in London for what she had planned for them.
###
The following days, Nate and Sophie did leave their hotel, and acted like real tourists. They went to Buckingham Palace and watched the Changing of the Guard. They went to see Big Ben and Trafalgar Square. They even took the open-top bus tour to see the most famous tourist attractions. They had a ride on the London Eye, and she pointed at various places she wanted to show him during their stay. She also took advantage of the ride to show him the location of the safe-house she had to abandon after their last job in the city.
"It's really too bad we can't stay there. It was a gorgeous apartment close to Regent's Park. We would have been better there than at the hotel."
"I'm sorry you had to let it and your storage facility go when we were after Keller."
"It's alright. We did something good, stopping Keller. That's what matters the most."
Once they left the London Eye, they took a bus to Kensington Gardens. Although it was sunny, it was rather cold, and combined with it being a weekday, there weren't a lot of people strolling through the gardens. Sophie told him about the time when she was five years old and skinned her knees while running down one of the allées, and about how her mother soothed her cries, and kissed her knees better.
She was giving him a glimpse into the child she was, and it was a gift he wouldn't forget about. She was still secretive about her life when she wasn't Sophie Devereaux, but he didn't ask to know more. She wasn't forthcoming with the information either, but there were times when she let something escape. If she brought him to London for their honeymoon, it was to tell him more about her; although not everything, as she still had to keep some mystery.
Telling Nate about her younger self and her mother was the first step; she knew what the next one would be, but she still wasn't sure whether she was ready to take it or not.
On their fourth night in London, Nate took her to one of the city's top restaurants. When their taxi stopped before it, she wondered how they would manage to get a table as you had to book for months in advance in such a place; and knowing this restaurant, she knew it was even truer than for some other places.
Still, once he paid their driver, he took her hand and led her towards the door. As a true gentleman, he entered first and held the door open for her. They walked to the maître d', and waited until he was done with the couple before them.
"Good evening, sir, ma'am," he finally acknowledged them.
"Good evening. I'm Nathan Ford. I called earlier."
"Yes, sir, of course. If you and Mrs. Ford would follow me, your table is ready."
"Thank you."
To say that Sophie was surprised was an understatement. She wondered how Nate managed to get them a table at this restaurant in a matter of hours, and why he was using his real name while they were in London under their aliases. She would certainly be asking for an explanation. She took the menu the maître d' was handing her, and listened as Nate ordered them glasses of Champagne.
"I'll send a waiter your way with the Champagne. Have a good evening, sir, ma'am."
Sophie didn't speak right away once they were left alone. She took some time to look at the menu; there are been some changes since the last time she had been here, a few years ago, but her favourite dishes were still there.
"You've already made your choice?" Nate asked, as she closed her menu and put it on the table.
"It's not the first time I've been to this restaurant, Nate."
"I know."
"So, are you going to tell me how you managed to procure a table at this restaurant in such a short order, when it usually takes months to do that?"
"The restaurant owner is also an art lover. A Renoir he owns is insured by IYS, and when it had been stolen, I was sent to retrieve it. He is very attached to this painting, and when I gave it back to him, he offered me an open table at his restaurant, saying that I was welcome to come whenever I was in London."
"How come I never saw you here, before?"
"It was shortly before Sam was diagnosed," Nate explained, and she felt a lump in her throat form at the mention of his son. "So, you came here often?" he asked, diverting the conversation from him.
"Not as often as I would like to. It's not as easy to book a table here as you made it look, unless you're someone important."
"I've checked. She's not supposed to come tonight."
"How do you...?" she asked, wondering how he could have understood who she was talking about.
"It wasn't hard to guess, really. And as you said once, I'm clever."
"That's true." She paused, licking her lips, before continuing. "One day, I'll tell you about that part of my life, about Charlotte."
"I'm not asking you anything, Soph."
He placed his hand on hers on the table and squeezed it, just as a waiter arrived at their table with their glasses of Champagne. He took their order, and she took advantage of that time to compose herself. She wasn't lying when she told Nate that one day, she would tell him all there was to know about Charlotte. She just wasn't ready to do it, nor did she know if she ever would. But he trusted her, and the least she could do at the moment, was to reveal a bit more of herself to him.
Having made up her mind, she watched as the waiter left with their order and smiled at Nate. He smiled back, and raised his glass, enjoining her to do the same. She clinked her glass against his, and took a sip before putting it back on the table.
"There's something I would like to show you. I know we agreed to visit the National Gallery tomorrow, but can we do that the day after? It'll still be there, after all."
"Of course. If there's something more pressing you'd like to do, we can change our schedule."
"It's not pressing as much as... I'm just afraid that if we wait one more day, I'll lose the courage to do it."
"Then, by all means, we should definitely do it first thing tomorrow. What is it you want to show me?" he asked.
"I'd rather show you than tell you, if it's all right with you."
"I trust you, Sophie."
"Thank you. I know I said it before, but it really means a lot."
He nodded and squeezed her hand again.
Another man would have probably asked to know the whole story a long time ago, but not Nate. It wasn't just because he was used to her being mysterious, given the circumstances surrounding their first meeting, but because he understood that there were things he would never know about the woman he chose to share his life with.
Their plates arrived before anything more could be said on the subject. They both knew that the door wasn't closed on it, but neither felt like touching it again for the moment. They ate in silence for a little while, before Nate resumed talking.
"So, tell me something. How is it that I chased you all around Europe but never in the United Kingdom?"
"Ah! I was wondering how long it would take you to ask this question."
"And are you going to answer it?" Nate asked when Sophie didn't say anything else but continued eating.
"I worked here, too, but I never stole something that IYS insured."
"And why was that?"
"I didn't want you to come too close to Charlotte's life, or mine," she admitted after a moment.
"I understand."
"Do you, really?"
"Yes. You protected yourself from me. I was chasing you. I tried to stop you from doing your job. It's only fair that you wanted me out of a part of yourself."
"You're right about me wanting to protect myself from you. But where you are wrong is that it wasn't about my job, at least not entirely. It was about me. You had already insinuated yourself in my life, and I needed a place where I was free from you."
"Why?"
"You know why," she just replied, and he nodded. "Alright. I don't know about you, but I'm having the chocolate cake for dessert," she said, changing the subject.
"I have a better idea. Why don't we take our desserts to go, and go back to our hotel room?"
"I like this. Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked as he failed to gesture for their waiter.
"Anxious, are we?"
"No. Just... horny," she said, sotto voce, running her feet along his leg.
He raised his hand in the air almost immediately, and Sophie couldn't help but chuckle; it was exactly the reaction she had hoped to provoke.
###
They left the hotel after breakfast and rented a car. Sophie was the one driving, as she still didn't want to tell Nate where she was taking him. She took the long way to get there, delaying the moment they would arrive. She had no intention of changing her mind, but it didn't mean that she was eager to arrive either. Nate wasn't asking her any question about their destination; he would wait until she was ready to tell him more.
Finally, after a two hour drive, Sophie stopped the car on a road in a residential area. She was sure that by now, Nate knew what was going on, but he was still waiting for her to speak first. She took a deep breath and turned in her seat to face him.
"Do you know what we're doing here?" she asked, and he nodded. "But you want me to say it out loud, right?"
"I think you need to, don't you?"
"Yes. You see this house with the black car parked before it?"
"Yeah..."
"This is where I grew up," she finally said. "It hasn't changed much since then. Or it hasn't changed at all really, aside from a repaint of the outside. It's like going back in time, actually."
"Does your family still live here?"
"My mum and my aunt Emily do. And from the look of it, they're inside."
She had seen silhouettes moving in the window, but from where she parked the car, she couldn't tell exactly who it was. Nate took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. He pressed a kiss on her knuckles, his eyes never leaving hers.
A long moment of silence followed, as Sophie thought about the family who was just a few feet away from her. It was the closest she had been to them in years and it raised all kinds of emotions in her. And at the moment, she didn't know which emotion was the strongest.
"Do you want you go in?" Nate finally asked.
Keeping her hand in Nate's, Sophie turned her head back towards her childhood's home. She looked at it for a moment before whispering a few words that Nate only caught because all was quiet outside.
"I really don't know."
Fin