A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating, the holiday didn't leave me much time to write. I get a little descriptive in this chapter, so have changed the rating for the piece. I didn't go too far, but I hope you enjoy anyway.

Audrey was aware that Nathan hesitated at the door, again. She wasn't offended. Instinctually, she knew it was coming from a different place than it had a couple of days ago. Part of her was nervous, too. She felt weirdly like they were on some kind of date, but the awkward, blind date, set up by a friend of a friend, kind of date. She pretended to not know that he hovered just outside the doorway for a minute before following her in, and she went over to the fridge and grabbed two beers. She was right, she definitely had more of a taste for them since her melding with Lexie. She walked over to the couch, kicked off her shoes and sat down on one side, with her legs across the rest of the cushions.

Nathan had finally followed her, also walking over to the couch. He picked up her legs, sat down and placed her feet in his lap. He rested one hand on her ankle, needing the skin on skin contact to reassure him. He reached out his other hand and motioned for Audrey to pass him the other beer.

They sat there for a minute, until Nathan spoke. "Why are you, you?" he asked, emphasizing the last word.

Audrey looked at him, confused. "Why am I what?"

"I've been wondering this since you came back," he said apologetically. "Why do you have your memories? Why aren't you actually Lexie?"

"William said I would cross the doorway and be the person I most wanted to be, deep down," she explained.

"How did you know you wanted to be you if you didn't know who you were?" Nathan asked.

"Wow, scary thing is that I actually followed that," Audrey said, a little laugh in her voice. Then, she got a bit more serious. "I remember your voice, you called to me through the door."

Nathan looked at her, surprised. "You heard me?"

Audrey nodded slowly, "I did. There was so much emotion in your voice, so much pain, so much heartbreak. You were looking for someone, and you needed thatsomeone." When Nathan didn't say anything, she continued. "Just before I jumped through, I decided I wanted to be the person that was loved so much, that you were calling through time and space to find her."

Nathan took his hand off of her ankle and found her free hand. "You are," he said.

"Hmm?" Audrey asked wonderingly, distracted by recalling her escape from the barn.

"Loved," he said softly. He put his beer down on the side table, took hers from her hand, also setting it down. He turned his body so that she had her legs wrapped around his sides. He looked into her eyes, registering the emotion that was welling up in them. "You are loved," he said. Audrey caught her breath, but he wasn't done. "I have loved you from almost the first moment I saw you. I think it was when we were pointing guns at each other," he smiled at the memory.

Audrey was quiet, she didn't want to interrupt him, and she desperately wanted to hear more.

"You looked at me like I was an idiot," he continued. "I told you to keep your hands where I could see them and you asked me if I thought you were going to pull out another gun."

"I remember," Audrey said quietly.

"You were funny, gave me such hell, and gave me something to think about," he said. "I had saved you from going over that cliff, but you weren't even afraid. It's like you were more annoyed at the situation. So many people would be paralyzed by what was happening, but not you."

Audrey just sat there, willing him to keep going. She was afraid now, afraid that if she interrupted him, he might not open up again.

Nathan knew then it was all or nothing. They had come so far, dealt with so much and been such idiots, this was the time, this was when it all would be okay. "I didn't want you to leave Haven," he admitted.

"Even then?" Audrey asked.

"Even then," Nathan responded. "There was something about you, I kept thinking about you when you weren't there. When you stayed, I was happy, but I didn't really understand it. I didn't realize how I felt until later."

"Well, you were with Jess," Audrey commented.

"I realized that I was just going through the motions there," Nathan admitted. "It's nice to have someone that likes you, and I didn't really have too many dates after my Trouble kicked in. But," he continued. "It wasn't going to happen. I knew that after you called and interrupted our evening that one night. I was happier running off to help you than I was staying with Jess and finishing what we were trying to start," he blushed a little at the memory.

Audrey took his hands into her own. "You were always there for me. I found myself counting on you more and more, and that wasn't anything I was used to," she confessed.

"And now," Nathan said. "I don't want to do anything without you. Not work a case, eat breakfast, go to sleep, nothing. I thought the world ended when you left. I didn't know how to be without you."

He fell silent, head lowered, like he was considering what life would be like without his partner. Audrey's heart went out to him. "That's why I was so set against your solution to the Troubles," she explained. "I can't think about what my life would be without you." Nathan looked up, hope in his eyes. "As much as you infuriate me sometimes," she smiled before continuing. "I have waited for a long time for you to talk to me, tell me how you feel. You aren't the most effusive person, you know."

Nathan smiled. "I know," he admitted.

They sat like that for a few more minutes, facing each other, holding hands. Audrey decided it would be nicer if she scooted closer, so she nestled into his chest, resting her head on his shoulder. Nathan sighed at the closeness, wrapping his arms around her back. He tipped his head to the side, and kissed the top of her head.

"What now?" he asked softly.

"No more arguing, no more tension, no more hiding how we feel from each other," Audrey decided.

"I'm not spending another night without you," Nathan declared. "I don't care about the Guard, Vince or Jordan."

Audrey looked up, her face just a few centimeters from his. "I don't either," she admitted.

Nathan hesitated just a fraction of a second before he leaned down and kissed her. It was the most amazing feeling as the nerves flared back to life in his lips. His heart started racing, he felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. It was a slow, passionate kiss, one that spoke of how long they had waited for this moment.

They broke a apart a few minutes later, and Nathan struggled to catch his breath. Audrey was a bit concerned at how he was reacting. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Nathan nodded, unable to form a coherent sentence. He saw the worried look on her face, and sought the words that would explain how he was feeling. "It was intense. I know it wasn't our first kiss, but with how close we are to each other right now, the sensations were really overwhelming."

Audrey thought about how her heart and stomach both had felt like they were doing jumping jacks when he kissed her. She was used to feeling things, and she felt like every molecule in her body was going to fly apart. "Maybe we need to take things slow," she said.

Nathan didn't want to take anything slow, he wanted to feel more, and keep feeling it. He grabbed her shoulders and looked her right in the eyes. "No," he stated, firmly. "No more waiting, no more tiptoeing around what we feel and what we want. I know how I feel. If you want me, I'm yours, forever." He waited anxiously for her to respond.

Audrey met his gaze with equal intensity. "I am yours," she echoed his words. "I want you now and I don't see that ever changing."

Neither one of them remembered who moved first, but suddenly they were a tangle of hands and legs as their mouths crashed into each other. Nathan maneuvered himself out from between her legs without breaking their kiss. Still bending, he scooped her up off the couch into his arms.

Audrey's need to be connected to Nathan was overpowering. When she thought he was going to stop kissing her, she wrapped her arms around his neck. As he lifted her into the air, her hands found their way to his back, untucking his shirt from his pants.

Nathan carried her across the room towards the bed. Any doubt about what he was doing completely disappeared as he realized she was making little moaning sounds of anticipation. He released her mouth only for a moment as she forced his shirt up over his head.

Audrey inhaled sharply as she felt Nathan's mouth slowly graze over her collarbone and up towards the side of her neck. They fell in a tangle of bodies onto her bed, and she took off her shirt, revealing the short, lacy tank top she was wearing underneath. She needed to have as much of her skin touching his as possible, she wanted to overload his senses.

Nathan thought he was going to explode as he felt Audrey's bare stomach against his. He couldn't stop touching her, his hands running over her back, arms and shoulders. He wanted to kiss every part of her at once and he didn't know where to start. Suddenly, it didn't matter as he was so overcome he couldn't move. Audrey had ventured away from his lips and was slowly trailing little kisses along his chin, moving downwards towards the vein in his neck.

Audrey knew she was in complete control as she watched Nathan inhale sharply and stop moving. She pushed him down on the bed, straddling his waist. He looked up at her, the feelings plain in his eyes. She placed her hands on the bed, on either side of his head and lowered her lips back to his neck. He trembled softly as he closed his eyes and surrendered to the feeling of fire that followed the path her lips traveled. She slowly kissed behind his ear and down the side of his neck. She reached the small hollow between his collar bone and neck as she traced the bone with the tip of her tongue. Once she had reached his left shoulder, she went back to where she started and traced the same path to his right shoulder.

Nathan could barely restrain himself, waiting until she had completed her torturous path. He reached up and grabbed both sides of her waist. In seconds, their position was reversed, and he was hovering over her as she was pressed into the blankets.

Audrey was happily caught off guard as she felt the world spin around. She didn't mind the loss of control as a small giggle escaped her. Nathan smiled down at her, understanding that her mirth came from happiness and a lightness of spirit that they both had been missing for so long.

"You laughing at me, Parker?" he asked with a menacing tone that was actual more playful than threatening.

Audrey reached up, lacing her fingers together behind his neck. "Never," she said seriously as she drew him back down to her lips.