Flashback
Natalie was nervous.
It had been two days since her rooftop encounter with John and she hadn't seen him since. Natalie had spent the next day at the hospital at Michael's insistence getting checked out and John had received a lead on some drug case the LPD had been working on. But both of them were scheduled to be back at work that day which is what made Natalie nervous.
Although she was excited to see John, part of her was worried that he would regret what happened that night, since in the past he had always seemed to push her away after getting close to her.
That night had been magical.
John had told her that he loved her, and then they had kissed. Nothing else had been said, no talk about the past, or Evangeline or even the fire at the Community Center. It had been perfect. They had stayed on the roof wrapped in each other's arms until sunrise, both relishing in the fact they were finally together. That was all she remembered. Sometime after sunrise sleepiness had overtaken her and Natalie had fallen asleep in Johns arms. According to one of the guards at Llanfair, John had driven her home and carried her to her room, making sure not to wake her. And that had been the last she had seen/heard from him.
Natalie took a deep breath and walked in to the LPD, forcing herself to look straight ahead and not towards his office. Moving slowly due to the injuries on her leg, Natalie sat down at her desk and threw herself in to working on sorting and filing the mountain of paperwork in front of her, amazed at the disorganization she saw.
Almost an hour had passed before John came out of his office looking tired and stressed. Natalie looked up from her filing and smiled at him, nervousness over taking her once again. John stopped, looked at her, then turned and walked back in to his office leaving a very confused Natalie staring after him.
Becoming angry she stood up and limped toward his office. Ignoring the shut door she barged in and glared at John who was now sitting behind his own desk. "What the hell was that?"
John grinned and stood up, making his way behind Natalie to close the door. "I wanted to get you alone." He whispered softly coming up behind her. Natalie slowly turned to face him. "And the only way to do that was to ignore me?" she asked raising her eyebrows, unsure whether to be annoyed or amused.
John nodded and closed the distance between them, pressing his lips to hers. All Natalie's fears and nervousness disappeared as she wrapped her arms around him.
After a few seconds of sheer bliss, John broke the passionate kiss and gazed down in to her eyes.
"Are you busy tonight?" he asked, still holding her close.
Natalie shook her head. "Why?"
John remained silent, but Natalie understood. "Are you asking me out?" she questioned, a small smile playing on her lips.
"You know I'm not good with words."
Natalie grinned. "Yes John, I'm free… but on one condition."
John looked down at her, his brow creased in worry. "What?"
"You do not even attempt to take me to the palace, the opera or anything that involves formal dress."
John laughed in relief thinking back to the year he had spent with Evangeline. "You've got yourself a deal." John told her leaning down and sealing their agreement with another passionate kiss.
End Flashback
Natalie turned on to her side and glanced over at the clock on her beside table.
3:47
She had been unsuccessfully trying to sleep for nearly four hours, but kept being flooded by the same memories that had been haunting her for months. Sighing, Natalie crawled out of bed and walked barefoot to her bedroom window which overlooked the street.
He was still there.
Natalie turned away from the window torn. Although she was still incredibly hurt and angry with John, Natalie couldn't deny that she still cared for him. Even after everything he had done, that hadn't changed – a fact which greatly upset Natalie.
She was also scared.
Those pictures had shaken her a lot more then she wanted to admit. Natalie had always prided herself on being alert and aware of her surroundings. It came from years of practice living in low rental areas with Roxy bringing home a different man each night. Yet, someone had managed to get that close, and she had been oblivious.
Shivering, Natalie picked her terry cloth bathrobe up from the floor and bundled herself up in it. She had come to Atlantic City needing to escape. After everything that had happened Natalie knew she needed to be alone and deal with her grief. So, that's what she had done.
Natalie had arrived back in Atlantic City similar to the way she had arrived in Llanview all those years ago – alone, with one suitcase and no where to go. Luckily, she had run into Rob, a friend from long ago whom she had unfortunately lost touch with. Rob had needed a roommate and Natalie had needed a place to crash, so it had worked out perfectly.
For the first month she hadn't worked, instead deciding to spend her time helping out at the local Community Center with troubled teens. Then, Joe had approached her. Before coming to Llanview Natalie had worked at his bar for almost two years, and Joe had hated losing such a great waitress. So, when his usual bartender broke his ankle, Joe practically begged Natalie too fill in, not wanting to go through the hassle of training someone new.
But tonight had been her last shift and Natalie planned on heading back to Llanview and getting her life back on track. Knowing what she had to do, Natalie made her way down to the kitchen and put on another pot of coffee.