Time To Spare, Part 2
Five hours and two liters of Mountain Dew later, Natalie found a hotel, got herself checked in and managed to sling her bag in the corner without too much of a whump. She pulled her alarm clock out of a side pocket and plugged it in, setting it to her watch, and considered when she wanted to set the alarm for. It was seven in the morning now, which meant she had about eleven hours to shut the blinds and let herself be dead to the world. She smiled and put on the DO NOT DISTURB sign... *without* adding "under pain of beheading", much as the idea tempted her. She thought about it, but she decided she did eventually want her room cleaned, and terrorizing the housekeeping wasn't the best way to do endear herself to them. She was barely able to pull off her most confining clothes and flick on the alarm before she fell back on the pillow, fast asleep.
She woke to the alarm in her ear, the clock radio bellowing out the fact that she'd overslept, and not just a little. She sat up with a gasp. 6:50. "Ohhh, no no *no* no *NO*!" She leaped from the bed and into the shower, praising her foresight in at least having picked out the clothes she'd wear to the concert beforehand. She'd only be about fifteen minutes late. Only.
*Come on, Natalie, Nick doesn't even know you're coming. It's not like he'll be disappointed if you don't show up on time.* But if she got there late, she might not be able to get a good seat. She still hadn't been able to decide between sitting in the back so she could watch him a while and approach him in her own time, or to march up and sit right under his nose, just to see the look on his face.
As she battled the last of rush hour, she rechecked her directions on the back of the flier. She turned it over, looking again at Nick's face, framed by information about the piano concert he was featured in. She'd gotten the flier in the mail, even though she was two thousand miles away at the time, and she hadn't thought anyone knew where she was. She decided Adam must have sent it, he was the only one who could have traced her steps. She'd always thought it was kind of spooky how easily he could predict her.
The whole thing seemed very strange, though. If it was Adam, he'd surely be the last person encouraging her to reappear in Toronto so soon after she'd left. It was totally impossible to know what he was thinking, of course... but she still trusted his judgment, even when she probably shouldn't, so she didn't try to analyze his actions. She simply took the surface advice and made her way to Toronto without question. He was right, after all. It was time.
The sun reflected blindingly through the rear view mirror for a moment as she made a turn, and she couldn't help but wonder why the concert started so early. She couldn't imagine that Nick would voluntarily agree to perform before dusk, and this was several hours before. At least it was in a downtown locale, he could take the sewers without having to expose his vampire skin to the sunlight... but it still begged the question: why go through all the trouble? She always knew Nick could be a beautiful pianist if he wanted to, but he always seemed to brush off his talents, and never took advantage of them. Why the sudden change of heart?
Twenty years, Natalie. Who says the change was sudden? It might just be a change of pace, and don't think you haven't made a few changes of your own in the same time. Besides, with luck, you'll find out for yourself soon enough.
Well, it seemed at least the seating decision had been made for her. She grimaced, wandering aimlessly through the parking lot of the small auditorium, searching for a space. She'd be lucky if she could find some standing room at the door. But she did, gambling by slipping through a side door, and she found, to her surprise, that she actually didn't have that bad a view.
But all that had moved to the back of her mind once she laid eyes on him. He'd already started playing, she checked her program to see it was his third song out of five. With a practiced eye, Natalie examined Nick from afar. Part of her mind was surprised, and saddened, that he didn't look as she remembered him. She shook herself and looked harder... he seemed all right, a little tired. His head was bent slightly in concentration, and he looked exactly as he did those few times he played for her in the loft, in a happier time. That pose, just so, she remembered as easily as her own name.
And the music! The notes seemed to come alive as they poured from his fingers, thundering fury one moment, soft, almost hesitant the next. Dancing, playful tunes melted away as the song fell seamlessly into seriousness, then a dirge pounded out its anger and despair.. A pause... the playful melody quietly returned, to be swiftly drowned out by the furious harmony. The melody returned though, and this time would not be drowned out, but somehow added to the low harmony, changing its focus, drawing out the strength and the power while leaving behind the despair, creating a tower of strength that carried the listener through the song and seemed to linger still, even after the last note fell.
Natalie found her eyes brimming with tears as she watched him, and knew now why he was always so reluctant to perform: ironically enough, it was because he was so good at it. A true performer didn't just play the music, he *felt* it, and in performing managed to convey some of that feeling to his audience, to give them some small understanding of what the music said to him. In some, they conveyed this through their gestures as they played, their posture and the way they caressed the keys. With Nick, it was in his expression. Natalie could see his face clearly from where she was, and she saw all the rage, sadness, teasing and joy, every emotion the music brought out in him clearly reflected on his face, for all to see. And the acceptance she saw in the closing notes, well, that was the reason she was doing her wide eye-opening and deep breathing routine again to banish the tears from her eyes. *Twice in one day. I do need more sleep.* Funny how this time she didn't seem to mind.
Nick rose and bowed while the audience clapped politely. She was ready to glare at them in annoyance at their lack of response, until she saw that she couldn't see a single dry eye. Smiling thoughtfully, she turned and did some polite clapping of her own, just a little louder than those around her. She was far enough out of the his line of sight that there was no way he could see her, anyway.
It wasn't till he had settled in for his next song that she saw the open window across from her. In the time since she'd come in, the setting sun was casting a beam of sunlight on the stage. It had already come dangerously close without her noticing, and from the way the sun was angling down, it would only be getting closer as time went on. Even now, it was three quarters of the way up the piano. Natalie didn't know how to get across to close the blinds... hadn't he told them about his skin condition? Or was this the curse of another well-meaning bystander throwing open the blinds at the last minute?
Natalie cursed inwardly, but Nick had already started his song, it was too late for him to excuse himself now. He was stuck there for a few more minutes. Well, he only had two more songs left, how bad could it be? And with the music calling to her so softly, she couldn't help but fall back under its spell for a little while longer. She watched his mobile face, captured completely in the song, and couldn't help but wish he'd allowed himself this outlet to his feelings more often, instead of shutting them out, shutting everyone out. But looking at his face now, not only allowing all those feelings to exist, but to share them with others... something had happened to this man. Something important.
She snapped out of her reverie to the sound of the polite clapping, this time a bit more forced, as if they knew too that their applause was sadly lacking, and were trying to compensate. But the sunlight was getting dangerously close, and it was time for Nick to take his final bow. She moved to get ready to leave and intercept him before he ducked through the nearest manhole, when her heart froze in her chest. She simply stared, too surprised for a moment to move as he sat back down in his chair and waited for the applause to die as his hands moved to begin the next piece! And the very instant she regained her voice to call out to him, to warn him, something, *anything*... that was the moment that the applause died out and the first notes began.
Natalie stared hard at the leading edge of sunlight and debated the improprieties of simply walking across the room to shut the blinds, or physically getting up on stage and dragging him to safety. But to do either would bring attention to herself, and to him. She wasn't sure if she recognized any of the faces in the audience, but she wasn't going to find out by making a spectacle of herself and just hope no one would recognize her. If the positions were switched, she'd thoroughly despise someone who appeared alive before her, after certified dead years before. No, that wasn't the answer.
And so she waited in the background, watched the light progress, and sweated. The light slowly arched its way across the highest keys, the ones hardly ever used. But it didn't stop there. Natalie glanced at the program, but it didn't give approximate times for the pieces. Not that it would have helped anyway, she was too nervous to have kept track of how long he'd been playing. The first time his hand darted in the sunlight, she jerked as if she'd been slapped. But then almost immediately he was back in the shade, safe.
Natalie could only watch. There was no excuse now, no matter how involved he was in the music, he had to see his danger now. He had to leave immediately, before it really was too late to hide.
But still he played.
And finally, the sunlight progressed enough to hit his fingers, and stayed there. Natalie caught her lip and closed her eyes, her nails biting into the palms of her hands in sympathy for the searing pain he must feel, and she waited for gasps to turn into screams, murmurs into shouts as Nick's skin began to burn in the sunlight.
And still the music played.
She opened her eyes slowly to see... something she could not believe. His hand... his hand moved rapidly in the sunlight. It cast a shadow along the polished black wood of the piano. His hand was moving in the sunlight.
And nothing was happening. Nothing at all.
A hand flew to her mouth, to remind her not to make a sound, not a sound, he was still playing, she could laugh and cry and let it all out later, but for now she couldn't make a sound... oh my god, oh my *god*, no be quiet...
Finally his last song, a quiet gentle piece, drifted to an end, and the audience, finally allowed to express themselves without the anticipation of another song, was as loud and enthusiastic as Natalie or anyone else could have possibly wished them to be. Nick bowed again, but did not smile. His eyes seemed to do that for him. He left the stage, and everyone started to pick up their things and leave. They were all leaving, and they never even knew the miracle they had just seen. A miracle she never thought she'd live to see.
And then they were all gone, and Nick came back out to gather his things, getting ready to leave himself, when he noticed the one person still there in the auditorium with him. She had sunk into the nearest chair, but otherwise she hadn't moved. Still frozen, with had one hand to her mouth, her eyes still wide with shock.
"Natalie?" She came out of it with a start, and her eyes locked with his. That's right, she was supposed to be nervous about this moment, wasn't she? She wasn't supposed to be sure what he would think about her coming back. A laughable thought, for she had already flung herself into his open arms.
After a long moment, she pulled away to look at his face. She couldn't hold back the tears that tracked her cheeks as she brushed her fingers across the lines that had deepened around his mouth, the crow's feet that had appeared beside his eyes, eyes that looked younger than she had ever seen them. And his face was so warm, warmer than she had ever felt it... human. "Oh god, Nick, why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, as he quietly dried her tears.
He opened his mouth to respond, and just looked at her a moment, as if a hundred conflicting answers were fighting to the fore. Then he glanced out the still-open window, and smiled. "Come on. The sun's going to set soon, and we don't want to miss the light."
He pulled her out the door, and together they sat on the grass and watched the sun fade behind the city skyline. Or at least, that's what he watched. She watched him, watched the sunlight fade slowly on his face. But even when he was finally in full shade, with only the afterglow of the sunset to see him by, his eyes remained bright, defiantly so. And no darkness could take that from him. Never again.
The two continued to sit and watch the sky as it darkened to orange, purple, then finally black. At last Nick rose and the two of them walked silently to her car. She had a thousand questions, but from the apprehensive look on Nick's face, she could tell he wasn't ready to answer them. She knew he'd tell her everything she wanted to know, but in his own time. So she was silent. She wondered idly when exactly it was that she'd gotten so good at reading a man whose thoughts used to constantly elude her...
"Why are you smiling?" Nick's voice broke the silence, and she started, then suddenly laughed and rubbed her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I was miles away."
"Yes, you *were* miles away, but now you're not. Now you're here." He smiled in simple happiness, that turned just a little wistful at the end. "I missed you."
Natalie glanced back at the many long years that had stretched between them, years that she had never thought would matter, nothing in the face of their immortality. How could she have been so wrong? "I missed you, too."
Their eyes caught, and... and more things were said right then and there than either was quite ready for.
Nick blinked. With determination. "So!" He even clapped his hands together for good measure to make sure the moment was well past. "Where are we going?"
*Moment? What moment? Well for once, Nick, I agree with you...* She returned his bright smile just a bit late, but she managed. "Beats me, Nick. It's been twenty years, for me. You're the one who lives here."
His eyebrows lifted as he glanced at her. "The city hasn't changed *that* much."
Hmm... Natalie tapped her finger on the armrest idly, trying to think of a suitable place to talk... inspiration struck on cue, and she snapped her fingers. "Is Carl's still around?"
"Right where you left it." Nick started the car, idly commenting further as he pulled out of the parking lot, "Though I heard they nearly went out of business when you disappeared... not to mention the nosedive of the Canadian ice cream market..."
Natalie glanced at him through slitted eyes. "Nick, don't start..."
"They called you in as a missing person after three days..." His perfect mask of innocence was starting to crack at the edges. Lord help her, those really were laugh lines on his face, every last one of them.
"All right. For that, you're buying." *Laugh* lines... she restrained herself from touching his face again, but she couldn't help staring.
He glanced away from his driving, seeing her eyes on him. "Nat, just out of curiosity... why Carl's?"
That changed the subject perfectly, and Natalie's eyes gleamed. "Nicholas Knight, I've waited over a quarter-century for this..." Her jaw was set, even though she was laughing. "Tonight, I am going to sit down and *watch you eat* a hot fudge sundae."
He looked back at her with amusement, chuckling. "That, I think I can do."
Five hours and two liters of Mountain Dew later, Natalie found a hotel, got herself checked in and managed to sling her bag in the corner without too much of a whump. She pulled her alarm clock out of a side pocket and plugged it in, setting it to her watch, and considered when she wanted to set the alarm for. It was seven in the morning now, which meant she had about eleven hours to shut the blinds and let herself be dead to the world. She smiled and put on the DO NOT DISTURB sign... *without* adding "under pain of beheading", much as the idea tempted her. She thought about it, but she decided she did eventually want her room cleaned, and terrorizing the housekeeping wasn't the best way to do endear herself to them. She was barely able to pull off her most confining clothes and flick on the alarm before she fell back on the pillow, fast asleep.
She woke to the alarm in her ear, the clock radio bellowing out the fact that she'd overslept, and not just a little. She sat up with a gasp. 6:50. "Ohhh, no no *no* no *NO*!" She leaped from the bed and into the shower, praising her foresight in at least having picked out the clothes she'd wear to the concert beforehand. She'd only be about fifteen minutes late. Only.
*Come on, Natalie, Nick doesn't even know you're coming. It's not like he'll be disappointed if you don't show up on time.* But if she got there late, she might not be able to get a good seat. She still hadn't been able to decide between sitting in the back so she could watch him a while and approach him in her own time, or to march up and sit right under his nose, just to see the look on his face.
As she battled the last of rush hour, she rechecked her directions on the back of the flier. She turned it over, looking again at Nick's face, framed by information about the piano concert he was featured in. She'd gotten the flier in the mail, even though she was two thousand miles away at the time, and she hadn't thought anyone knew where she was. She decided Adam must have sent it, he was the only one who could have traced her steps. She'd always thought it was kind of spooky how easily he could predict her.
The whole thing seemed very strange, though. If it was Adam, he'd surely be the last person encouraging her to reappear in Toronto so soon after she'd left. It was totally impossible to know what he was thinking, of course... but she still trusted his judgment, even when she probably shouldn't, so she didn't try to analyze his actions. She simply took the surface advice and made her way to Toronto without question. He was right, after all. It was time.
The sun reflected blindingly through the rear view mirror for a moment as she made a turn, and she couldn't help but wonder why the concert started so early. She couldn't imagine that Nick would voluntarily agree to perform before dusk, and this was several hours before. At least it was in a downtown locale, he could take the sewers without having to expose his vampire skin to the sunlight... but it still begged the question: why go through all the trouble? She always knew Nick could be a beautiful pianist if he wanted to, but he always seemed to brush off his talents, and never took advantage of them. Why the sudden change of heart?
Twenty years, Natalie. Who says the change was sudden? It might just be a change of pace, and don't think you haven't made a few changes of your own in the same time. Besides, with luck, you'll find out for yourself soon enough.
Well, it seemed at least the seating decision had been made for her. She grimaced, wandering aimlessly through the parking lot of the small auditorium, searching for a space. She'd be lucky if she could find some standing room at the door. But she did, gambling by slipping through a side door, and she found, to her surprise, that she actually didn't have that bad a view.
But all that had moved to the back of her mind once she laid eyes on him. He'd already started playing, she checked her program to see it was his third song out of five. With a practiced eye, Natalie examined Nick from afar. Part of her mind was surprised, and saddened, that he didn't look as she remembered him. She shook herself and looked harder... he seemed all right, a little tired. His head was bent slightly in concentration, and he looked exactly as he did those few times he played for her in the loft, in a happier time. That pose, just so, she remembered as easily as her own name.
And the music! The notes seemed to come alive as they poured from his fingers, thundering fury one moment, soft, almost hesitant the next. Dancing, playful tunes melted away as the song fell seamlessly into seriousness, then a dirge pounded out its anger and despair.. A pause... the playful melody quietly returned, to be swiftly drowned out by the furious harmony. The melody returned though, and this time would not be drowned out, but somehow added to the low harmony, changing its focus, drawing out the strength and the power while leaving behind the despair, creating a tower of strength that carried the listener through the song and seemed to linger still, even after the last note fell.
Natalie found her eyes brimming with tears as she watched him, and knew now why he was always so reluctant to perform: ironically enough, it was because he was so good at it. A true performer didn't just play the music, he *felt* it, and in performing managed to convey some of that feeling to his audience, to give them some small understanding of what the music said to him. In some, they conveyed this through their gestures as they played, their posture and the way they caressed the keys. With Nick, it was in his expression. Natalie could see his face clearly from where she was, and she saw all the rage, sadness, teasing and joy, every emotion the music brought out in him clearly reflected on his face, for all to see. And the acceptance she saw in the closing notes, well, that was the reason she was doing her wide eye-opening and deep breathing routine again to banish the tears from her eyes. *Twice in one day. I do need more sleep.* Funny how this time she didn't seem to mind.
Nick rose and bowed while the audience clapped politely. She was ready to glare at them in annoyance at their lack of response, until she saw that she couldn't see a single dry eye. Smiling thoughtfully, she turned and did some polite clapping of her own, just a little louder than those around her. She was far enough out of the his line of sight that there was no way he could see her, anyway.
It wasn't till he had settled in for his next song that she saw the open window across from her. In the time since she'd come in, the setting sun was casting a beam of sunlight on the stage. It had already come dangerously close without her noticing, and from the way the sun was angling down, it would only be getting closer as time went on. Even now, it was three quarters of the way up the piano. Natalie didn't know how to get across to close the blinds... hadn't he told them about his skin condition? Or was this the curse of another well-meaning bystander throwing open the blinds at the last minute?
Natalie cursed inwardly, but Nick had already started his song, it was too late for him to excuse himself now. He was stuck there for a few more minutes. Well, he only had two more songs left, how bad could it be? And with the music calling to her so softly, she couldn't help but fall back under its spell for a little while longer. She watched his mobile face, captured completely in the song, and couldn't help but wish he'd allowed himself this outlet to his feelings more often, instead of shutting them out, shutting everyone out. But looking at his face now, not only allowing all those feelings to exist, but to share them with others... something had happened to this man. Something important.
She snapped out of her reverie to the sound of the polite clapping, this time a bit more forced, as if they knew too that their applause was sadly lacking, and were trying to compensate. But the sunlight was getting dangerously close, and it was time for Nick to take his final bow. She moved to get ready to leave and intercept him before he ducked through the nearest manhole, when her heart froze in her chest. She simply stared, too surprised for a moment to move as he sat back down in his chair and waited for the applause to die as his hands moved to begin the next piece! And the very instant she regained her voice to call out to him, to warn him, something, *anything*... that was the moment that the applause died out and the first notes began.
Natalie stared hard at the leading edge of sunlight and debated the improprieties of simply walking across the room to shut the blinds, or physically getting up on stage and dragging him to safety. But to do either would bring attention to herself, and to him. She wasn't sure if she recognized any of the faces in the audience, but she wasn't going to find out by making a spectacle of herself and just hope no one would recognize her. If the positions were switched, she'd thoroughly despise someone who appeared alive before her, after certified dead years before. No, that wasn't the answer.
And so she waited in the background, watched the light progress, and sweated. The light slowly arched its way across the highest keys, the ones hardly ever used. But it didn't stop there. Natalie glanced at the program, but it didn't give approximate times for the pieces. Not that it would have helped anyway, she was too nervous to have kept track of how long he'd been playing. The first time his hand darted in the sunlight, she jerked as if she'd been slapped. But then almost immediately he was back in the shade, safe.
Natalie could only watch. There was no excuse now, no matter how involved he was in the music, he had to see his danger now. He had to leave immediately, before it really was too late to hide.
But still he played.
And finally, the sunlight progressed enough to hit his fingers, and stayed there. Natalie caught her lip and closed her eyes, her nails biting into the palms of her hands in sympathy for the searing pain he must feel, and she waited for gasps to turn into screams, murmurs into shouts as Nick's skin began to burn in the sunlight.
And still the music played.
She opened her eyes slowly to see... something she could not believe. His hand... his hand moved rapidly in the sunlight. It cast a shadow along the polished black wood of the piano. His hand was moving in the sunlight.
And nothing was happening. Nothing at all.
A hand flew to her mouth, to remind her not to make a sound, not a sound, he was still playing, she could laugh and cry and let it all out later, but for now she couldn't make a sound... oh my god, oh my *god*, no be quiet...
Finally his last song, a quiet gentle piece, drifted to an end, and the audience, finally allowed to express themselves without the anticipation of another song, was as loud and enthusiastic as Natalie or anyone else could have possibly wished them to be. Nick bowed again, but did not smile. His eyes seemed to do that for him. He left the stage, and everyone started to pick up their things and leave. They were all leaving, and they never even knew the miracle they had just seen. A miracle she never thought she'd live to see.
And then they were all gone, and Nick came back out to gather his things, getting ready to leave himself, when he noticed the one person still there in the auditorium with him. She had sunk into the nearest chair, but otherwise she hadn't moved. Still frozen, with had one hand to her mouth, her eyes still wide with shock.
"Natalie?" She came out of it with a start, and her eyes locked with his. That's right, she was supposed to be nervous about this moment, wasn't she? She wasn't supposed to be sure what he would think about her coming back. A laughable thought, for she had already flung herself into his open arms.
After a long moment, she pulled away to look at his face. She couldn't hold back the tears that tracked her cheeks as she brushed her fingers across the lines that had deepened around his mouth, the crow's feet that had appeared beside his eyes, eyes that looked younger than she had ever seen them. And his face was so warm, warmer than she had ever felt it... human. "Oh god, Nick, why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, as he quietly dried her tears.
He opened his mouth to respond, and just looked at her a moment, as if a hundred conflicting answers were fighting to the fore. Then he glanced out the still-open window, and smiled. "Come on. The sun's going to set soon, and we don't want to miss the light."
He pulled her out the door, and together they sat on the grass and watched the sun fade behind the city skyline. Or at least, that's what he watched. She watched him, watched the sunlight fade slowly on his face. But even when he was finally in full shade, with only the afterglow of the sunset to see him by, his eyes remained bright, defiantly so. And no darkness could take that from him. Never again.
The two continued to sit and watch the sky as it darkened to orange, purple, then finally black. At last Nick rose and the two of them walked silently to her car. She had a thousand questions, but from the apprehensive look on Nick's face, she could tell he wasn't ready to answer them. She knew he'd tell her everything she wanted to know, but in his own time. So she was silent. She wondered idly when exactly it was that she'd gotten so good at reading a man whose thoughts used to constantly elude her...
"Why are you smiling?" Nick's voice broke the silence, and she started, then suddenly laughed and rubbed her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I was miles away."
"Yes, you *were* miles away, but now you're not. Now you're here." He smiled in simple happiness, that turned just a little wistful at the end. "I missed you."
Natalie glanced back at the many long years that had stretched between them, years that she had never thought would matter, nothing in the face of their immortality. How could she have been so wrong? "I missed you, too."
Their eyes caught, and... and more things were said right then and there than either was quite ready for.
Nick blinked. With determination. "So!" He even clapped his hands together for good measure to make sure the moment was well past. "Where are we going?"
*Moment? What moment? Well for once, Nick, I agree with you...* She returned his bright smile just a bit late, but she managed. "Beats me, Nick. It's been twenty years, for me. You're the one who lives here."
His eyebrows lifted as he glanced at her. "The city hasn't changed *that* much."
Hmm... Natalie tapped her finger on the armrest idly, trying to think of a suitable place to talk... inspiration struck on cue, and she snapped her fingers. "Is Carl's still around?"
"Right where you left it." Nick started the car, idly commenting further as he pulled out of the parking lot, "Though I heard they nearly went out of business when you disappeared... not to mention the nosedive of the Canadian ice cream market..."
Natalie glanced at him through slitted eyes. "Nick, don't start..."
"They called you in as a missing person after three days..." His perfect mask of innocence was starting to crack at the edges. Lord help her, those really were laugh lines on his face, every last one of them.
"All right. For that, you're buying." *Laugh* lines... she restrained herself from touching his face again, but she couldn't help staring.
He glanced away from his driving, seeing her eyes on him. "Nat, just out of curiosity... why Carl's?"
That changed the subject perfectly, and Natalie's eyes gleamed. "Nicholas Knight, I've waited over a quarter-century for this..." Her jaw was set, even though she was laughing. "Tonight, I am going to sit down and *watch you eat* a hot fudge sundae."
He looked back at her with amusement, chuckling. "That, I think I can do."