The night was clear, stars could be seen. It was almost like every other night here at the coast. Almost. Desmond was standing on the porch, looking out to the sea. A faint breeze was blowing and the assassin shivered slightly. He was only dressed in shorts after all, since he just came right out of the bed.
2012 was over, they won the war, he was living with Nathan in his summer residence now. They met coincidentally back then. Desmond had lost Lucy and the assassins needed help and this was when Nathan appeared. After all, lost treasures and temples were his specialty.
But this wasn't actually the only kind of help Nathan provided for the group. Desmond was broken by Lucy's death. Rebecca and Shaun had to watch him having no motivation and strength to do anything, let alone save the world. The team almost split up back then. But then there was Nathan, as charming and vibrant as ever, pulling Desmond out of his depressed state. Despite being freshly divorced himself, he managed to fix the team, they found the temples, they beat Abstergo.
Desmond was broken at that time and so was Nathan. Though, they somehow fixed each other, they helped each other getting over it. Nate's cheery type rubbed off on Desmond so much and Desmond's reticence back then made him just more interesting for Nate. The treasure hunter tried to see what was behind that depressed appearance of Desmond. Somewhere in the process, they fell in love.
Everything seemed to be good now, right? No. Even though Desmond was over Lucy now, he still blamed himself for her death. And this night was one of those where he just couldn't stop thinking about her. Desmond found no sleep in these nights, he was standing here for a while now, just staring out to the ocean. It was so calm, the rushing of the water was the only sound to be heard. Desmond wondered, what his life would have been like if she was still alive. He didn't know, couldn't really imagine. Would he have ever met Nate? Would the world still be okay?
After a while, he heard the faint shuffling of bare feet over the ground, but didn't turn around. The french window got pushed open slightly and a moment later, he felt broad arms around his chest and a kiss on his neck.
"Another one of these?" the treasure hunter murmured lowly, but Desmond didn't react right away. He sighed and kept looking out to the sea.
"I.. I wonder if she's up there somewhere, watching over me.." he said and added a silent "..and judging me." He didn't care about how silly it must've sounded.
Nate smiled and shook his head lightly. "She better does. I mean, I'm sure she would be so proud to watch you save the world."
Damn, Nate alway had the right words. But somehow.. "That's not what I meant-" he started, but got cut off by the other.
"Listen Desmond. I.. I had a friend once. We became close so fast, eventually fell in love and even married." he said, although he had told him about Elena quite often already. "I thought I would spend the rest of my life with her. She would've done everything for me, but in the end.. she noticed that letting me have my freedom meant letting me go. She loved me enough to accept that, just to see me happy." he murmured, while his warm breath ghosted over Desmond's neck.
"You saved the world, Desmond. You won this war. You finished what she was fighting for. You've done it and are happy now – well at least I hope you are with me." he added quickly, trying to hold back a light chuckle. "She would be happy for you, I am sure of that. Just stop.. blaming yourself. And come back to bed, please."
It was amazing how Nate made everything seem to be easier and always found the right words to cheer him up. Desmond turned around. Golden eyes met blue one's. He leaned in and softly pressed his lips on Nathan's. The pouty look he earned made him laugh lightly. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." the assassin spoke and smiled at his lover. Yeah, it would still take time to heal completely.. but with Nathan at his side, he was sure he could do it.