Who didn't love Friday's episode and the strange little fashion show with the two guys from the newspaper? Also, I really dug that awkward and cute not-a-date dinner between Audrey and Nathan. As for Duke, he should just run around shirt-less all the time. Again, thanks to everyone for the reviews and interest in the story, I love reading people's thoughts and seeing all the alerts. I wish I had the time to update more since writing this is fun, oh well. Also, Mr. Hanson, the bookstore owner, is a product of my imagination since Haven writers are stingy with the backstories.-

Waking up in an unfamiliar place was something that Audrey had grown used to over the years. It wasn't unusual for her to open her eyes after a few hours of sleep and look around a room in confusion, trying to place where she was exactly and how she had gotten there. Between her childhood, which consisted of numerous foster and group homes, and the traveling required for her job with the FBI, she hadn't ever really found a place that felt like home. It was hard for her to admit but she was really glad that she would be staying in Haven for awhile. Maybe it was the possible connection to the woman who might be her mother or all of the weird phenomenon she was investigating that got her blood pumping, but Haven, Maine, was one of the few places where she felt like she belonged. While she wasn't sure what home felt like since she'd never really had one, she knew that the comfort she felt here was a step in that direction.

Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she lifted her arms and pointed her toes in a full body stretch only to groan as pain flared up in certain spots, mainly her stitched up arm and the right side of her body where she had landed after jumping out of a window the night before. Carefully dropping her arms, she looked around an unfamiliar bedroom. Judging from the lack of knickknacks and the dark furniture and bedding, it had to be a man's bedroom. Nathan's bedroom to be exact. She recognized the smell of his soap surrounding her and a small pile of his clothing which had been left carelessly on the floor.

Glancing at the digital alarm clock on the small bedside table next to her, she saw that it was late in the afternoon. She could also hear sounds of a T.V. with the volume turned down and the crinkling of paper meaning that Nathan was probably in his living room doing paperwork instead of going to the office as she had insisted that they both do earlier when they had arrived at Nathan's house. In fact, they had gotten into an argument over when she would be returning to work which led to another argument over who would be sleeping where. Audrey had insisted that she take the couch and Nathan could keep his bed while Nathan told her that she would be taking the bed and he would be sleeping on the couch. The argument had lasted through Nathan changing the sheets on the bed she had declared she would not be using, her unpacking the stuff she had purchased in town into drawers he had cleared in his bathroom and practically empty hall closet, and her taking a couple of pain pills and flopping down on the couch she intended on claiming as her own. Stretching out, she had smiled in victory, knowing that once asleep, Nathan would not wake her. If she could show him that she was fine on the couch for a nap then she would be fine sleeping there through the night. She had not anticipated him waiting until she was dead to the world before moving her to the bed. That sneaky bastard.

Audrey carefully rolled out of bed, keeping her injured arm tucked against her chest, and quietly made her way to the small bathroom located on the right side of the narrow hallway between the bedroom and living room. Ducking into the room and shutting the door before Nathan would have the chance to get up and check on her, she mechanically looked at herself in the mirror which caused her to freeze. She looked horrible. Her face was pale and there were dark circles under puffy blue eyes, her hair looked like she hadn't washed or brushed it in a week and there were ugly bruises and scratches everywhere that wasn't covered by the t-shirt and athletic pants she had put on before eating breakfast. Her throat still felt scratchy and her head ached from all the smoke she had ingested.

"Audrey, you okay?" Nathan yelled through the closed door after softly knocking.

"I'm fine, just going to jump in the shower," she replied, checking to make sure the extra towels he'd drug out of the same small closet she had put her few belongings in were still sitting on counter near the sink.

"All right, the Chief's going to be stopping by in a little while to get your statement about the fire and then we'll talk about dinner."

"Sounds fine," Audrey said, waiting until she heard his footsteps walk away from the door.

Slowly undressing so that she wouldn't hurt herself, knowing a sudden yell or groan would cause Nathan to rush back to the door in concern, she stepped into a surprisingly clean shower and ran the water as hot as she could stand it. That was the thing she had noticed about Nathan's home. While there were spots of disorder and clutter here and there, like clothes on the bedroom floor, some dishes in the sink, papers and books littered across the kitchen table and coffee table in the living room, it was very clean otherwise. No dust, vacuumed floors and spotless sinks, counters and bathroom.

The water felt incredible. Audrey hoped that Nathan had a decent water heater because she planned on staying in the shower for as long as she could. Keeping her bad arm away from the spray, she shampooed with her other hand and thought back to the previous night.

She had gone to the only bookstore Haven had after getting off of work. It had a shockingly large selection so she had picked out an armload of books while speaking to the owner. He was an older gentleman who was pleased to have another avid reader moving into the community. Reading was a popular past time in this town, where the weather could keep people in doors without electricity for long periods of time, according to Mr. Hanson. He had boasted that what he didn't have in stock, he could order for her at a fair price if she wanted. He noted that while she liked many subjects she seemed to have picked out a lot of books over the supernatural.

"You've come to the right place, young lady," he's said, giving her a wink while he rang her up. "Haven is a very mysterious place to live."

Now, she would never get the chance to read those books. Well, she could buy others to replace them but not those same exact books. She felt her eyes start to pool with tears when she thought of how all her books were gone now. She shook her head before sticking it back under the water to rinse out the shampoo before it dripped into her eyes. She was being stupid, they were just books. But that was what was so hard about being a foster kid. You could only drag around so many possessions from place to place so Audrey always had to leave most of her books behind whenever it was time to leave. After a while, she would just go to the local library instead of wasting money on buying books, but borrowing wasn't the same as owning a book. She knew it was strange but it felt good to know that once she read a book she could either keep it and read it again later or give it away, donating it to a library if she didn't like it. Sure, it was all about her having control over something as an adult that she didn't have control over as a child, but it was such a harmless eccentricity to have. Now, out of everything that had happened, it was the one thing that was making her cry.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Chief was waiting for Audrey in the living room by the time she was done showering and getting dressed. As she studied her reflection in the bathroom mirror while brushing the snarls out of her blond hair, she noted that while she felt better, she didn't really look better. She sure as hell smelled better, though, so that would have to do.

"Audrey," the Chief greeted. "You look like death warmed over. I hope Nathan's not planning on making you sleep on the couch."

Nathan, sitting in a recliner on the right side of the couch that she and the Chief occupied, rolled his eyes but said nothing. Audrey noticed that Nathan didn't really argue or even use a rude tone when speaking to his father. He usually just ignored him or treated him like a stranger that he had to tolerate because he was his boss.

"Of course not, Chief. Nathan is very hospitable," she said. "Whether I like it or not."

At this, Nathan spoke up, "You're injured so that means you get the bed. The end."

"For now," she said, narrowing her eyes at him before turning back towards the Chief with a large smile plastered on her face.

The Chief looked back and forth between the two of them, forehead wrinkled in confusion. Then, he seemed to come to some kind of conclusion that he must have found very entertaining because he suddenly gave both of them a big grin.

"Well, I don't want to take up the rest of your evening so Audrey, let's get started," the Chief said, pulling a tape recorder out of his coat pocket. He laid it on the coffee table and pushed the record button, then asked her to go over the evening of the fire.

Audrey talked about going to the bookstore after work, not thinking about how that had upset her only a few minutes earlier, before going home. She explained that once she got back to her apartment, she made herself dinner, ate in front of the T.V. and got ready for bed. She stayed up for awhile reading, and then turned in for the night.

"The smoke alarm woke me up. Smoke was everywhere and I couldn't breathe very well. I got out of bed and went to the door but it felt warm so I didn't open it. I ran to the window, unlocked it and tried to get it open but it wouldn't budge. I used a lamp to break the window and climbed out until I was sitting on the window sill which is how I cut my arm; I didn't get all of the glass cleared out. I noticed the bushes underneath me and made sure to jump so that was where I would land. Some of the firefighters saw me jump and helped me to the ambulance which was where they checked my injuries. Then Nathan showed up and you know the rest," she said.

The Chief nodded, taking notes as she spoke. "No strange noises or anything out of the ordinary?"

"Nope."

"That's fine for now, we'll need a more detailed account later but that can wait. We're still waiting on the fire inspector to give us his findings," the Chief said, sliding a small, thin notebook back into his pocket along with the tape recorder he'd turned off.

"You think the fire was deliberate?" Nathan asked, which was the same question Audrey had on her mind.

"Could be but who knows, could have been bad wiring or someone's kid playing with matches," the Chief said, standing up and giving Audrey a little pat on the shoulder. "You need anything or if my boy gets to be too big a pain in the ass for you, just give me a call."

Nathan watched, surprised as his father nodded at him and then left the house without another word.

"So, are you planning on explaining to me how I fell asleep on the couch and then woke up in your bed," Audrey asked, eyebrow raised as she prepared for round two of their couch versus bed argument which she was determined to win.