Title: Sunday
Author: MissForsythe
Disclaimer: not mine
Summary: In a freak accident, Nathan is sent back to 1963, he meets Sarah and hopefully she'll provide an answer as to how to bring Audrey home.
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Part 3: Sunday
Nathan is awoken a second time by very loud churchbells outside the window. Perhaps it's because he's been living on the outskirts of town, but he doesn't remember them ever being this loud. He can hear a flurry of noises downstairs, including Dave Teagues' very annoyed voice about having to wear a tie. He can hear heels clicking outside his room, as though she's hesitating to come in. When he opens the door, the first thing he notices is how incredibly blue her eyes are. How familiar they are.
She mumbles something about being late for church before disappearing down the stairs.
He watches her walk away for two seconds before he runs back into the guest room, to put on the suit that's been hanging on the closet door. It's a bit big on him, but it would do for church. Suddenly, he remembers that conversation that they had about Sunday Mass once.
„But then I wouldn't be able to sleep in"
„You never sleep in. You're physically incapable of it"
"Well, even if I wanted to go to church on Sundays, which I don't because of all the not sleeping in, I'd have all these childhood memories of long preaches and Billy Knowles smacking gum and trying to put it in someones hair"
He'd laughed so hard he had to pull over on the side of the road until he was calm enough to continue. Even now, the memory makes him smile.
xxxx
The Good Shepherd Church is even more frightening in 1963 then it is in 2011. It's much darker and much colder, and the cold stare of the man up front doesn't help. The Rev isn't the spitting image of his father, but close enough for Nathan to recognise him in the front pew. A pale teenager, with a dour look, either of boredom or lack of sleep. He hears Sarah whisper something to Vince, and the look he gives her makes his gut wrench in envy. She giggles and rests her head on his shoulder.
As they leave, Sarah and Vince light a candle, her small hand on top of his. He looks away, feeling strangely pained by the sight.
Xxxxx
Afterwards, they head over to the Herald office, where the brand new type writer is treated with the utmost care and respect. Sarah chatters about a stenography course in Bangor that she wants to take next fall. He hasn't really said anything since they left the church, his head swarming with images of Audrey in a white dress and lighting a candle and her small hand on top of his.
„You're awfully quiet, the Rev make that much of an impression?"
He sits down in the easy chair in the corner, thinking of what to do or ask next.
Dave, clearly not in the mood to be here right now, asks him if they please can get on with it, and Vince snits something back that he doesn't understand. After Dave leaves and Vince chases after him, the atmosphere in the room changes. Sarah watches them until they disappear around the corner, and then turns back to him. Something about the way the light falls in behind her back gives her something almost angelic.
Next, she's asking him for a picture of his sweetheart, and he sheepishly admits that he doesn't have one. She doesn't believe him, he can tell, but she schrugs and gets out a notepad. She asks him non descriptive questions, until they get to part where he saw her last.
"I'll see you tomorrow night?"
"Yes, pancakes, right?"
"Right"
After that, they'd been too busy with booking the Rev's followers and doing the paperwork for Kyle Hopkins to really get into the subject again.
He knows that she wore heels, because he'd found one of them on the carpet when he first came in.
Thinking of Audrey maybe someday coming across this article, he conjures up an image of a green wrap around dress and high heels and her hair put up in a loose bun. Sarah writes down everything he tells her, including the part where he was late because the Bronco wouldn't start and several tries to put the key into the ignition.
"That special, huh?"
He nods, and watches her walk over to the typewriter.
He carefully inquires about the wedding, and for some reason, she's not that willing to talk about it. She mumbles something about a dress, but nothing more. Much to his surprise, she's much more interested in everything that comes after. She and Vince are planning to move to Boston, grand plans that involve city life and bigger things then Haven and covering small town politics and charity picnics.
When she's typed out the story, she hands him the sheet so he can add corrections, but what he reads is pretty coherent. In time, perhaps he could persuade Dave to show Audrey the article, so she'll know. There's a bright flash and the click of heels on the tile floor.
She attaches the polaroid to the paper and leaves on the desk where everything is marked „DAVE" with big black letters.
She suggests heading over to Laverne's, where Vince is probably balking over the fight with his brother, and for a late lunch. He helps her put on her coat, and when she puts her arm through the sleeve, his hand brushes the bare skin of her shoulder. The sensation almost makes him shiver. It's only because the doorbell clangs loudly that he doesn't lay his palm fully on her upper arm.
He doesn't recognise the woman that just stormed in, but he can tell that she's pissed over something. Outside, the sunny weather suddenly turns dark and stormy and heavy rain beats against the window. Sarah takes the woman into a back room, and he can hear faint arguing about keeping something under control and the womans husband being untrustworthy.
He watches the rain dissipate as the voices grow calmer, and he thinks that some things do not ever change, no matter how messed up things get.
Then he sees the lonely figure across the street, soaked to the bone, observing the office. Or more likely, observing him. He'd know those blue eyes anywhere, even though this set is younger and less weary. He nods at the man who will one day trade his rookie uniform for a more official one, and to his surprise, Garland Wournos nods back.