Chapter Three – Audrey's POV – Twilight Troubles
Duke and I arrived at the station just before noon. The officer at the front desk confirmed that Nathan was in his office. I started down the hall and abruptly stopped short a few feet in front of the closed door to Nathan's office, causing Duke to bump into me from behind.
"What's wrong, why'd you stop?" Duke asked me. I hesitated before responding.
"It's just, Nathan made it pretty clear he didn't want to see me earlier. What if….I mean, maybe I shouldn't go in there". I turned to Duke, "Maybe you should go in and tell him and I'll just wait out here." I said shuffling my feet and looking down. The idea that Nathan wouldn't want to see me hurt me more than I cared to admit. Even though I knew it was because he was a vampire now and that he just didn't want to hurt me, it still felt like a rejection.
Just then the door to Nathan's office opened, I smiled, thinking maybe he had heard us with his new found vampire hearing but my smile quickly disappeared when Jordan stepped out of his office. Nathan came out just behind her, his back turned to me. Jordan said something I couldn't hear and reached a hand up to touch his cheek. Nathan took her hand before he could touch him and brought it down to hold between them. He said something to her but I couldn't hear it over the blood pounding in my ears. Their interaction looked so intimate, and he clearly had no problem being near her.
It felt like my heart dropped out of my body. All my doubts, fears and insecurities crashed down on me at that moment. Watching them, I knew that he could find happiness with her if I left. If I left, and went into the barn, Nathan, Duke, Jordan, all of them would be better off. Tears filled my eyes and I had to look away. I felt Duke put an arm on my shoulder and he pulled me into a hug. I buried my face into his chest and let the warmth sooth me for just a moment before I pulled back and looked up at Duke. I was resolved now; I had to keep it together. If Nathan or Duke thought for a moment that I didn't want to leave they would never let me. I took a deep breath and turned around in time to see Jordan smile at Nathan before she turned and walked away in the opposite direction.
Nathan slowly turned around, deep in thought, and looked up with surprise when he saw us standing there. It still stunned me how incredibly handsome he was. Not because of the changes in his appearance now that he was a vampire, he was always beautiful. I steeled myself and tried my best to keep my feelings from showing on my face. "Nathan, I need to talk to you, do you think you'll be able to control yourself if we talk in private for a minute? I asked. Nathan frowned before responding, "Of course Audrey, come on in". I turned to Duke, "Could you just give us a minute?" I asked. Duke gave me a long searching look before he finally nodded. I'll just wait outside, give a shout if you need me, and Audrey….as much as it kills me to tell you this. He cares about you, don't ever doubt that."
"I know, thank you Duke….for everything" I said before turning and following Nathan into his office. He closed the door behind him and it felt like all the oxygen was sucked out of the room. The air felt like it was charged with electricity and even with my back to him I was hyper aware of his presence.
He came around to stand in front of me "Audrey, listen, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about what you just saw." Nathan started to say but I cut him off shaking my head "No, listen Nathan its ok, I understand. I'll be quick, I know you didn't want me to come here but I just have to tell you something". I stopped midsentence because Nathan laced his fingers through mine and brought my hand up to place a gentle kiss on my palm. I could feel myself starting to lose my control, and my mask started to slip so that when I exhaled it was shaky and I had to look down so he wouldn't see the pain in my eyes. I tried again "Nathan I just have to tell you".
"Audrey stop." He said, his voice firm. "Look at me." I shook my head. I couldn't look at him, not if he was going to tell me he still had feelings for Jordan. "Fine, Audrey, you don't have to look at me but you're going to hear me out." I shifted uncomfortably, this was torture, I flicked my eyes up to meet his and beg him to stop but what I saw stopped me. He was smiling, his eyes bright and dancing with amusement.
"Nathan Wournos, are you laughing at me?" I asked, annoyed, and snatched my hand out of his. He chuckled and grabbed my hand back. "Yes, Audrey Parker, I'm laughing at you, you are the most stubborn, tenacious woman I have ever met. You just saw Jordan and me together and you immediately thought that something was going on." I looked up at him guiltily, "Maybe" I said. He laughed again. "Let me guess, you were thinking about going into the barn so that Jordan and I could be together. Audrey there is nothing going on between me and Jordan. She came here to apologize for planning to use me against you. I told her that I understood why she did it but that it would never have worked. I told her that you, Audrey, are the only one for me and I'll move heaven and earth to keep you."
It was everything I'd always wanted to hear from him but it didn't change the facts. I took a deep breath and said the thing I'd been dreading to ask him. "But Nathan, if I leave, if I go into the barn, all the troubles will be over for everyone. You'll be able to feel anyone, not just me. Don't you think that would change things?" I asked.
Nathan's smile vanished and he cupped my face with his hands "Don't you get it? It doesn't matter if I'm stuck with my trouble forever. Because even if I could feel everyone and everything, Audrey, you're the only person I want to be able to feel."
"Nathan..." I started but he cut me off. "Wait Audrey, there's one more thing I have to say and then you can say whatever you want, OK?" I nodded.
"I love you Audrey, I'm not sure when it started, all I know is that every morning I wake up thinking about you and when I close my eyes all I can see is you. Every minute that we're apart all I can think about is when I'll see you again. So you see, you can't disappear, because wherever you go I'll follow." I didn't realize I was crying until he wiped a tear away from my cheek with his thumb. "Are you ok?" He asked.
I nodded, while I tried to find my voice, finally I looked up at him "Better than ok Nathan, you have no idea….everything you just said…." I smiled thinking about this morning when I couldn't get his face out of my mind, he meant so much to me and there weren't words to describe those feelings but there was one thing I was sure of.
"I love you too Nathan." I said, my voice cracking as I choked back a sob. Nathan leaned down swallowing the sob with a kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him with everything I had, pouring everything I couldn't say into that kiss. Nathan's hands went to my back pulling me closer. I moaned into his mouth, it wasn't close enough; I needed to feel his skin. I pulled at his shirt, freeing it from his pants and ran my hands up the skin on his back. Nathan pulled back breathing heavily, "Audrey, I'm sorry I pushed you away this morning, I promise never to do that again, but it's really, really hard not to bite you right now."
I groaned, I had forgotten about our little sparkly vampire problem. Nathan laughed "Once we have this vampire problem solved I'm going to take you somewhere far away, lock us in a room and make love to you for at least three days." I laughed and he leaned down and kissed me again, gently this time, our lips just barely brushing. I looked up into his eyes. "Make that a week and you've got a deal." I said grinning. We were both grinning at each other like idiots when there was a knock at the door. I started to pull away but Nathan held me against him. "Come in" He called.
Duke poked his head in and smiled when he saw us. "Glad to see you two worked things out." "What do you want Duke?" Nathan asked impatiently.
"Well, while you two were busy making up I thought I would look into where our troubled girl is. Her cruise stops in St. Thomas tomorrow morning. There's a flight out of Bangor in a few hours that'll get us into Miami tonight and then we can jump another plane to St. Thomas. If we make those flights we should get to St. Thomas before her boat gets into port. We can meet her at the dock and Audrey can talk to her and get her to change us back."
"Good work Duke" I said then hesitated. "Duke come in and shut the door." Duke stepped inside and quietly closed the door. "What's up?" Nathan asked.
"Nathan, I'll explain to you the trouble that caused this later but listen if we do this then there's a good chance that I won't make it back in time for the meteor shower and that I won't make it into the barn. That could mean that the troubles won't go away and a lot of people aren't going to be happy about that, especially the Guard." I said.
"I don't care about anyone else," Nathan said. "If anything, this is perfect, it keeps them from forcing you into the barn."
Duke nodded his agreement. "He's right Audrey, putting a couple thousand miles between you and the Guard might not be such a bad thing."
"Ok" I said. "But the Guard is going to be on the lookout for me trying to leave, especially after what you just told Jordan, Nathan. We have to be careful getting out of Haven."
"Right, Nathan said. If they see Audrey and me together they might think something's up. Duke, you take Audrey back to the Gull and both of you pack a bag, I'm going to run to my house and pack a bag and I'll meet you at the Gull in half an hour, then we'll leave for the airport." Nathan turned to me and put his hands on my shoulders. "Be careful" he said and brushed a quick kiss against my lips. "You too." I said smiling.
Thirty minute later we were all at the Grey Gull packing our bags into Nathan's truck. Nathan jumped into the driver's side and I was climbing into the passenger side when I heard a woof. Nathan looked out his window. "Seriously Duke, do you really think this the best time to play games?" He asked. I shook my head "He likes to stick his head out the window while the truck is moving" I explained. Nathan looked at me and rolled his eyes but got out and opened the door so Duke could jump in the back seat and rolled down the window.
We were on the highway heading out of town when I noticed the cracks in the road up ahead from when I had first arrived in Haven. I smiled remembering the first time Nathan and I met. I was so caught up in the memory that I didn't notice when Nathan slowed down and stopped in front of the cracks. I looked up startled when I heard him open the truck door and jump out. He came around to my side and opened the door offering his hand to help me out. I took it looking at him quizzically.
"Why are we stopping?" I asked as he led me over to the side of the road. I realized this was the spot where my car had gone off the road.
Nathan turned to me, his skin shimmering softly in the sunlight. "Do you remember this spot?" He asked.
"Of course" I said. "How could I forget?"
Nathan smiled. "I thought you might, that's why…" He said taking a deep breath and getting down on one knee, "I wanted to bring you here, when I asked you to marry me." Nathan reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. It was a simple gold band with a small marquis cut diamond. "It was my mother's" he said, looking down at it. "She would've liked you Audrey." He said and gave me his heartbreakingly beautiful shy little boy smile. I finally recovered enough of my motor functions to smile back at him but the ability to speak still eluded me.
"I want you to know that I'm not asking you because I think you might disappear in a couple days, or because you're the only person I can feel. I'm asking you because you are the most beautiful, passionate, selfless, person I have ever met. I'm asking because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't care if that's days or months or years, as long as I'm with you I'll be the happiest man in the world." He paused for a moment visibly choked up but then he collected himself and met my eyes.
"Audrey Parker, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"
Tears were falling freely down my face and I nodded until I finally found my voice.
"Yes, Nathan, I'll marry you." I said. He smiled and slipped the ring on my finger before standing and pulling me into his arms for a kiss. As we kissed the ground started to tremble and when we looked down, the cracks in the road had repaired themselves leaving smooth concrete and undisturbed dirt. We looked at each other both wondering what this could possibly mean.