Two weeks before the wedding she realized she'd forgotten to buy a dress.

She called Duke in a panic. Dave was hardly an option anymore, considering, and the prospect of making this decision on her own when she'd already practically ruined it was paralyzing.

"I need your help," she demanded, breathless.

"What's the Trouble this time?" he answered, immediately serious. Serious Duke always set her on edge, reminding her that almost everything in their lives was life and death now.

This wasn't quite so urgent. "No Trouble. I'm just the idiot who forgot to buy her wedding dress."

"Wow. Nathan gave you one thing to do for this wedding and you forgot. You're like the opposite of a bridezilla." But Duke's mocking actually soothed her, and that was half the reason she'd called him.

The other half was she honestly didn't know how she'd pick out a dress on her own.

"Just shut up and help me," she quipped, rolling her eyes.

Two hours later they pulled up to a little bridal shop in Derry. She'd been the one to insist they leave Haven. "Everyone in town hates me," she'd declared, and although that still hurt she was used to it by now. "If they find out me and Nathan are getting hitched they'll probably show up and throw tomatoes. Or rocks."

"I wish I could say you were over exaggerating," Duke replied. "But you guys do seem to be the town pariahs. It's kinda weird not being the one everyone hates most."

"Thanks for coming with me," she said sincerely as they exited his Jeep. The bridal shop looked like a fairytale cottage, down to the thatched roof, cobblestone path and flower gardens. "I don't trust myself to make this decision on my own."

"Wait a second." Duke stopped in his tracks and grimaced. "I'm your maid of honor, aren't I?" He sounded horrified at the prospect, but his eyes were twinkling. "Nathan's asked James to be his best man, I'm sure. And since I'm the only other person you guys ever socialize with—"

"I wasn't going to say it out loud," she teased. Truth be told she'd forgotten about that too. She really was awful at this wedding stuff.

"I'll stand up there and hold your flowers. Even give you fashion advice. But I draw the line at wearing a dress. Don't want to show you up on your big day."

She chuckled, unable to stop a few absurd images from filtering through. Nathan would die. "No need to scandalize the townsfolk any further."

"And absolutely no details about the wedding night, please. You really need to find some girlfriends."

"Maybe once the Troubles are over I'll get on that."

He held the shop door open for her, and once she stepped inside and saw the racks and racks of white dresses it all became impossibly real.

She was getting married. To Nathan. In two weeks. Her. Audrey Parker. Self-identified loner and commitment-phobe extraordinaire. She needed a chair. Or a paper bag. Or some time to actually sit down and think about all this. She needed –

"How can I help you, dear?" The saleswoman's face looked younger than her gray hair suggested. At her simple question Audrey's mind blanked.

The last time she'd been around so much white she was in the Barn.

"Ummmm–" she managed, not quite sure what was happening to her. Was she having a stroke?

"She needs a wedding dress," Duke explained, shooting Audrey a funny sideways look.

The woman eyed him warily. "When's the happy day?"

Once again Audrey waited for Duke to answer. "Bout two weeks."

The shop woman's eyes narrowed. "That doesn't leave much time." She glanced between the two of them and her disproval cut through Audrey's paralysis; finally here was something she was familiar with. "It's bad luck for the groom to see the dress before the wedding."

The color drained from Audrey's face. "Oh no. He's not – That's just Duke," she stammered. She thought she saw Duke grimace, but everything was kind of a blur.

"We're going to start looking," Duke declared, his usual charm falling flat. "Not much time before the wedding and all." Then he pushed her toward the back of the shop.

"Stop freaking out," he advised as soon as they were out of earshot.

"It was that obvious, huh?"

"Sweetheart, that was embarrassing. I thought Nathan was the one without any social skills. How the two of you interrogate suspects successfully is beyond me."

"Stop it," she said weakly, spotting a bench in between two of the racks and sinking down on it, burying her head in her hands as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Do you want to marry Nathan?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered vehemently, not even having to think about it.

"Then what's all this about?" He made a circular gesture toward her mental and physical state of dishevelment, and then sat down beside her on the bench.

She took a deep breath and tried to figure it out. "This is actually happening. Like, soon. The Troubles have been so active lately I haven't had time to think about the wedding. But seeing all these dresses makes it real."

"Why does that scare you?"

She stared down at her hands. Was she supposed to get a manicure? Did she need to find someone to do her hair and makeup?

"I'm no good at things like this. Fancy, girly stuff. I wanted to get married in City Hall and be done with it. But Nathan wants a real wedding. He's good at romantic gestures, and he thinks this is important. I don't want to disappoint him."

"First off, I highly doubt Nate's any good at romance. Secondly, I'm pretty sure you're the best thing that's ever happened to that man. It's sickeningly obvious to everyone that he worships the ground you stand on. You could walk down the aisle in a sheet and he'd be thrilled."

"I can't walk down the aisle in a sheet," she scoffed, but Nathan had basically assured her as much when he first proposed. The sheer number of dresses in the shop made that idea somewhat appealing.

"That's why you have me. Who do you think is actually planning this wedding?"

"Nathan said he knew someone who could take care of the details," she recalled with dawning realization.

Duke smirked. "Like I said, you guys have a very small social circle. But you have nothing to worry about. The wedding's going to be nice, but nothing extravagant. I've already decided against the ice sculptures."

"Because it's August."

"Nah. Because it's Haven. Don't want you guys to see them and think you have a case."

"If all goes well there may not be any more cases." She didn't let herself dwell on that often, because if marrying Nathan didn't end the Troubles and appease the Guard she didn't know how she'd survive the devastation of their last hope failing, let alone the fallout. She couldn't lose him right when they were supposed to be starting their life together. She didn't want to lose herself either, not anymore. Maybe her terror wasn't so much about dresses as it was about the fact their continued existence hinged on this wedding being more than just a ceremony. It didn't matter how good she looked if he couldn't feel anything afterwards, because they were running out of options. She needed to save him, and she had to take Lucy's word that this would do it.

Trouble was she now knew Lucy hadn't been particularly sold on the idea.

But Nathan was so certain the wedding was the key, and she trusted him. It was just hard to hold on to his faith when he wasn't beside her.

"Wouldn't that be something," Duke said wistfully. She forgot, sometimes, that the Troubles affected him too, in ways she and Nathan didn't have to cope with. And he might be just as dead as the two of them if this didn't work. "Now let's get this party started. You pick a few dresses and I'll tell you what I think."

She grabbed the first five dresses in reach in her size and brought them with her to the dressing room. She wasn't used to zippers, clasps and bodices, so it took her a few minutes before she emerged again.

She wasn't sure if Duke's reaction was a grin or a grimace, but it certainly wasn't encouraging.

"What?" she asked indignantly, fingering the lace on the sleeves.

"No. Just no."

The second dress spurred only a frown and a head shake.

"Take that off."

The third dress fared no better. "Absolutely not."

By the time he'd rejected the fifth dress she was aggravated. "What's wrong with this?"

"Do you hate Nathan or something? Cause that has got to be the ugliest dress I have ever seen."

"I'm thinking of uninviting you to the wedding," she snapped, halfway serious.

But Duke just grinned. "Obviously you need me."

"I need you to actually be helpful and give me some advice!"

"All right. No sleeves. You're not sixty years old. Plus, it's gonna be hot. Show a little skin. You're an attractive woman – play it up. You're not trying to find the exact dress Prudence would have worn when she first came to the New World. Also, no cream. That's just weird. Stick with white."

"Anything else?" she asked, her hands on her hips. The dress was scratchy and misshapen, and she felt overheated and she'd only been wearing it a few minutes, but she'd be damned before she admitted Duke might be right.

"Yeah. Why don't you try actually looking at the dresses before you try them on instead of just grabbing anything in reach?"

She fought the urge to growl at him. Nathan must have been rubbing off on her. "I hate you a little right now."

"And I'm not sure how Vince and Dave had the patience to help you with this before."

She turned back into the dressing room, grabbed a hanger, and flung it at him.

He caught it deftly and smirked at her. "God, Nathan's in trouble when you get pregnant."

She'd try on a million dresses if they could only get to that point.

"Next time I'll just shoot you," she deadpanned.

She did try to take Duke's advice the second time around, passing by anything that looked too matronly. But once the sleeves and the color were considered, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking for – or avoiding. Strapless dresses seemed like a lot of work, but they would show off skin. She'd never worn anything with sequins or beads, but was that the kind of finery Nathan was expecting?

Duke's comments were less disparaging with this set of dresses, but he still didn't approve any of them.

"Can't you just tell me what I should try on?" she demanded. It felt like they'd been there for hours, and she'd left Nathan at the station going through a stack of his father's files to identify the family of a Trouble Dave had mentioned seemed familiar.

"Do you really want to tell Nathan that I picked out your wedding dress?"

She was so desperate she almost didn't care. "It could be our little secret."

"That's a slippery slope I'm not going down. Try again. What do you want to wear? Let the dress speak to you."

She rolled her eyes. "Unless whoever made them's Troubled, I'd need to be drinking pretty heavily for these dresses to say anything."

He perked up. "Think that'll help? Cause I might have something in the Jeep that'll do the trick."

"If this goes on much longer I may need to take you up on that. Can't I ask the saleslady to help me?" she whined.

"The one who's been glaring at us the entire time because you're a wreck and I'm not your fiancé? If you really want Mrs. Judgypants's opinion…"

"Okay, okay. I'll keep trying."

She was on her fourteenth dress when she looked in the mirror and felt something besides the usual apathy. She smoothed her hand over the soft material, but it fit so well nothing shifted. She'd need some taller shoes, but the way it clung to her body made her feel beautiful. The straps took away the worry she'd have to cope with a wardrobe malfunction while allowing the neckline to dip in the front and the back enough to satisfy Duke's skin criteria. The skirt flared out, but it didn't make her look like a ballerina. There was some sort of shimmery pattern on the bodice that caught the light but wasn't gaudy. She twisted around in the mirror to see the back of it, and when she turned she could picture Nathan waiting for her in a sharp black suit, eyes wide and mouth gaping.

"Everything okay in there?" Duke called, startling her out of her reverie.

"Yeah." She took one last look before opening the door. "This is better, right?" she asked tentatively, so worried he'd dismiss this one too that she almost missed the look on his face when he saw her – eyes wide and mouth gaping.

Oh shit.

He recovered quickly and was Duke again, cavalier and disarming, but he didn't make fun of her this time. "Wow, Aud – that's – that's gorgeous."

But suddenly this wasn't about finding a dress at all. She was so distracted and oblivious and that made her a terrible friend. "I'm sorry, Duke," she apologized, suddenly ashamed of herself.

"Wait, what?"

"You're in love with me."

His eyes widened, and for the first time Audrey saw him blush. He looked away, running a hand through his hair, and when he turned back to her he seemed scared.

"Look, I'm not going to do anything to mess this up for you, so you don't need to worry."

"Of course not," she interrupted, the thought never having crossed her mind.

"I do care about you. Probably always will. But I'm not carrying a torch or anything. There's no need to tell Nate and get him all upset right before the wedding."

"Nathan already knows." Nathan knew, and she'd known, and still she'd been so damn blind. "He told me months ago that you admitted it right before I went away. I believed him, I guess, but it didn't sink in until right now. The way you looked at me in this dress—I'm a horrible person. I never should have dragged you here to watch me try on wedding dresses for another man. I didn't even think – but I'm so, so sorry."

His deep breath shuddered through him. "You're not a horrible person. A little self-centered, maybe. But who am I to judge?"

His absolution was too easy, and his tone too self-deprecating. He wasn't self-centered – not anymore. "I'll change. We should go. I can call a cab if you want some space."

He reached out to catch her arm but dropped it quickly. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not leaving you stranded in Derry."

"I'd deserve it." She had never meant to wrong him. But she'd taken him for granted, and she'd never once considered how hard it must be for him to have her so close yet out of his reach – even though Nathan had asked her flat out to keep that in mind.

It wasn't always herself she'd been focused on. But this town, the Troubles, the time clock on all their lives – she was so constantly wrapped up in mysteries sometimes she missed what was right in front of her.

"It's always been you and Nathan. Not saying it doesn't sting, but I stopped being shocked a long time ago. It took me awhile to accept it, but the evidence has been right there since the night you stood me up."

"I didn't need to flaunt it in your face."

"That's true," he conceded. "And if you wanted to dial it back a little I wouldn't argue."

She tried to imagine how she'd cope if she was in Duke's shoes. She'd barely been able to be in the same room with Nathan when he was with Jordan. Helping him prepare for a wedding to someone else would have been unbearable. "You could have told me. Or at least come up with some excuse not to come dress shopping with me."

"I considered that. But you were in a panic. You needed a friend. If I can't be anything else to you, at least I can be that."

She was overwhelmed by the feeling swelling up in her chest. It wasn't the all consuming passion she felt for Nathan, but it was powerful and sure. She felt tears prickle behind her eyes. "You're a good man, Duke."

He didn't shake off the compliment like he usually did. "You're the only one who's ever thought that about me. You and Lucy. And even when you were just some hot, pain-in-my-ass fed I wanted to be that man you thought I was."

She had watched him turn into that man. Maybe she'd been the catalyst, but the power to change had come from within. "I'm not the only one who can see it now. One day you're gonna find a nice, uncomplicated girl without any past lives and she's gonna appreciate you for who you are. And I'm going to be so, so happy for you."

Maybe it wasn't fair, but she couldn't help herself – she stumbled forward and threw her arms around him. He returned the gesture, his arms steady across her back. He smelled like the sea, and a life she'd never have.

"It kinda helps to know you two were meant to get together and end the Troubles," he confessed, still caught in her embrace. "Who am I to argue with fate unless there's a Guard tattoo involved? But if Thaddeus and Prudence hadn't been all star-crossed, I would have totally stepped in with my roughish good looks and swept you off your feet."

Truth be told if Nathan wasn't around he very well may have. But that wasn't the life they lived, and they'd never know.

She pulled away and swiped her hand over her eyes. "Should I try on another dress?"

"No. I think that's the one. I don't need to burn my eyes with the sight of you in another one of those monstrosities. Though I don't think you're supposed to cry in your dress before your actual wedding day."

She wiped her eyes again. "That woman isn't looking, is she?"

Duke smirked. "Oh yeah. And she definitely thinks something's going on. Shotgun wedding, maybe?"

"She's not exactly wrong about that," she said wryly, shuddering at the thought of the trigger happy Guard. "Let's get out of here."

"Wait a minute. Don't you need to get that hemmed?"

She glanced down at the dress dragging on the floor and swore. "This wedding thing is a real pain."

"I know I'm a little late in the game to suggest this, but I've found eloping to Aruba to be a lot less trouble."

The humor was back in his voice, and she knew they were going to be okay. "You never did tell us about that."

"Not gonna start today," he said flippantly. "A man needs his secrets."

The night before the wedding she left Nathan to square out the last few details with Duke as she headed home to try on her dress.

"I'm here to kidnap you," said a voice from her couch, and she had her gun drawn and was a few breaths from pulling the trigger before she registered that it was James.

"Woah, Mom," he said with outstretched arms and wide eyes.

"Not a good idea kid," she scolded as she holstered the gun and tried to still her racing heart. It wasn't his fault his wife had done the same thing with far more sinister intentions, but she'd never take home invasion casually again. "How'd you get in here?"

"You gave me a key."

"Right." She ran her hand over her hair and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry.'

"I'm the one who should be sorry, apparently. Are you all right?"

"Yeah. But word of warning, do not sneak up on a cop."

"Gathered that now. Worst Lucy could do was hit me with her camera."

"Why are you lurking in my house?"

"Told you. Here to kidnap you." He held up a black blindfold. "Duke's orders."

She thought of the dress in her cupcake room which she'd just picked up this morning and was itching to try on. "Now? The wedding's tomorrow."

"I think that's the point. He said something about a party."

"Good Lord. I can only imagine."

"Won't have to imagine if you just come quietly. I think he's collecting Dad now."

"Duke's going to try to kidnap Nathan? This isn't going to end well. If either of them have a black eye at the wedding I'm going to be so mad." She started toward the doorway, anxious to diffuse the situation before it blew up, but James cleared his throat and called her back.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He shook the blindfold at her, and she rolled her eyes.

"You're really serious about that?"

"Promised I would be."

"Fine," she obliged, coming close enough that he could tie it around her head. "But you better drive fast. I won't be able to see the speedometer, so you won't have to worry about me pulling you over."

"Okay Mom," he said with a chuckle, leading her carefully out the door.

James refused to reveal where they were going, and they took too many turns for Audrey to guess. But she could smell the salt water when James opened the car door for her, and she knew she was at the marina.

From the commotion she heard, she also knew Duke's plan wasn't going well.

"All right boys, break it up," she commanded, marginally aggravated by the fact she could hear scuffling and arguing but couldn't see what was going on.

"Audrey," Nathan called, the relief in his voice more desperate than she'd expected.

"Yeah, I'm here," she answered, wanting to reach for him, but she wasn't close enough.

"Your fiancé's being a real baby," Duke lamented. "Honestly. I'm trying to throw you a nice bachelor/bachelorette bash, and this is the thanks I get."

"You could have sent an invitation instead of ambushing me with Dwight," Nathan snapped.

"Quit your bellyaching. Kidnapping the bride and groom is a time honored tradition. Besides, it was fun until you started swinging at me."

"I get this blindfold off, I'm gonna start swinging again."

His petulance seemed a little extreme until James started leading Audrey to the docks and she realized its cause. Without his sense of touch Nathan relied heavily on his other senses – and with sight obscured and no way to feel his surroundings the loss of control must have been terrifying.

She was sure Duke didn't realize. But she couldn't let it stand. "Go help you father," she whispered to James.

His hand on her arm was shortly replaced by Dwight's. "Howdy, Audrey," he greeted. "Sorry for all this. Duke insisted."

"It's all right," she said. And it would be, just as long as they all got there in one piece. "As soon as we get on the boat get me next to Nathan, all right? I'll calm him down."

"Will do."

Nathan had stopped muttering curses by the time they'd been escorted to one of the benches on Duke's boat, but his heavy breathing made him easy to locate.

"Hey," she said soothingly, reaching out until she found him hand. He jerked at her touch and then held on tight.

"I don't like this," he said miserably, and her heart turned in her chest. She could image him groping blindly for the fabric over his eyes, but he wouldn't be able to tell if he found it. She wanted to yell at the smuggler for doing this to him, but she knew Nathan wouldn't want attention drawn to his weakness.

"I know." She reached her free hand toward the sound of his voice, searching carefully until she found the edge of the blindfold and tugged upwards. "Better?"

But she already knew the answer; she'd heard the relief in his long, heavy sigh.

"Thank you."

"Anytime, partner."

She felt him tugging at her own blindfold, but she reached up and grabbed his wrist. "Leave it. Some of us know how to have a little fun."

"I couldn't—" he began, and his tone of voice told her everything his words didn't.

"I know," she said softly, squeezing his hand. "It's okay now."

He pressed his forehead against hers and she could feel his warm breath on her face. She closed her eyes and breathed him in, his presence steadying her. She'd been nothing but nerves for so long, but in that moment the world contracted to just the two of them, safe and straightforward and full of possibility.

"We're getting married tomorrow," she marveled, and for once she didn't worry about whether it would work or last.

"Yeah." The single syllable was infused with such unfathomable reverence that she grinned, wishing she could see his answering smile. "If Duke doesn't dump us in the ocean first," he added dryly.

"He probably wouldn't have brought an audience for that," she countered smartly, pleased when she heard his amused chuckle.

Eventually the boat's engine stuttered to a stop and she heard footsteps approaching. "Hey," Duke protested, probably noticing Nathan's uncovered eyes.

"Leave it," Audrey warned.

"Spoilsports," he teased. "I should take you both right back home and forget it."

"Fine with me," Nathan countered.

"Stop," Audrey said, elbowing him in the side. "I want to see what kind of party Duke Crocker throws."

"For you two – an epically boring one. But that's not my fault. I knew that if I got strippers of any variety one of you would shoot me."

"Smart call." Nathan certainly wasn't allowed to ogle any other woman, and she had all the man she needed.

"So I figured, since you're an outsider, I'd treat you to one of Haven's finer traditions."

Nathan took her hand and guided her carefully off the boat. The smell of burning wood assaulted her and she froze, her mind imagining horrors in the flames, stripped bones and the cry of a woman she'd promised to save, a woman who'd already been dead.

"Hey," Nathan whispered in her ear. "It's all right." He slipped the blindfold off and suddenly she was blinking in the light of dusk and the bonfire Dwight was stoking.

"And before Nathan gets all Chief of Police on me, this beach is private property which makes this totally legal."

"Whose private property?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Never you mind."

Once she could see the fire she knew it bore no resemblance to the blaze at the Inn. Nathan tugged her gently toward one of the logs set up around it and she followed. She hadn't been able to smell the ocean at the Inn. Here it invaded her senses as the waves broke fifteen feet down the shore and the air was damp with ocean spray.

"Haven tradition, huh?" James asked, bringing a second box from the boat.

"I haven't been out here like this since high school graduation," Dwight chimed in.

"Me either," Nathan said. "Used to be the thing to do on a Saturday night."

"And what exactly would a bunch of teenagers do around a fire in the middle of the night?" Audrey asked, finally beginning to relax.

Duke grinned back at her wickedly. "Drink. Dance. Maybe play spin the bottle."

"We will be doing exactly one of those things."

"I brought plenty of bottles."

She stuck her tongue out and tossed a handful of sand at him.

"Is that the way to treat someone who brought you presents?"

Duke retrieved two bags from the box James had brought, one pink and one blue, and set them in front of Audrey and Nathan.

She'd never gotten many presents and she dove in eagerly, pulling out a plastic tiara, a white and pink sash that said "Bride to Be" and a navy t-shirt that said "Hail to the Chief." Turning to Nathan with a laugh, she saw he'd blushed scarlet and was decidedly looking anywhere but as his gifts.

"Can't be that bad," she said, grabbing his bag before he could stop her. Her eyes widened when she saw the instruction manual and the fluffy pink handcuffs, but she wasn't one to be cowed. "Least put this on," she said, snatching out the ridiculous gold crown and settling it on his head. She giggled as he scowled and snapped a photo with her phone before she put on her own crown and the sash. It was stupid and juvenile but she'd never had girlfriends to take out and embarrass, hadn't gone to prom or snuck away with a bunch of classmates to get drunk around a fire. It was shockingly normal, and she was grateful that Duke had gone to the trouble to give her that.

She didn't miss the way Nathan kept looking at her either, his claim to her emblazoned across her chest.

"Now I know how much Audrey loves her girly drinks, so I whipped up something for the occasion."

Duke pulled a tumbler of shockingly pink liquid from the cooler, along with five solo cups. "I call it the Troublebreaker," he said with a smirk, handing the first one to Audrey.

She peered at the color for a moment before taking a swig. At first she only noticed how sweet it was, and she was halfway through complimenting it when the aftertaste hit. "Wow, that's a lot of rum."

"Yep. If you don't want to hate yourself tomorrow, you should probably switch to beer after one of those. Nathan's next."

"I'm not drinking that," Nathan protested.

"Are you really going to refuse your wife-to-be's signature drink? Also, you don't get any beer until you drink it."

"Come on," Audrey goaded. "Just try it."

Nathan relented with a sigh, and she watched him closely as he swallowed it down.

"Forget the rum. Is there a whole sugar cane factory in there?"

She giggled at his incredulity as Duke handed out the rest of the drinks. "To Audrey and Nathan," he said, holding out his cup in toast. "May this drink live up to its name, and may they have a long, happy life together, disgusting everyone around them with their sappy displays of affection."

"Here, here," James echoed.

"To Nathan and Audrey," Dwight said, and Audrey was struck by the fact she'd never before seen the giant man relax.

"We're not sappy," Nathan argued. Back in Boston such a claim would have bothered Audrey Parker, but she was self-aware enough to know it was probably true, and she felt neither remorse or regret.

She wasn't the woman who came to Haven three years ago. Not because that woman was a construct. But because Nathan Wuornos had taken Audrey Parker's loneliness and Prudence White's four centuries of heartbreak and turned her into a real girl.

They roasted hot dogs over the fire and watched the sun set over the water.

"Really is pretty out here," James commented. "That's easy to forget when people are killing each other and turning into things."

"There's no place like it," Duke said. "And believe me, I've looked."

"Gets under your skin," Nathan added.

"It's home," Dwight finished simply. Audrey could feel, somehow, how true all three statements were. She had memories of other places she'd never been, and she spent decades gone, but there was something special about this place and the people who had carved out an existence here despite the strife. She could understand Duke's attraction to the sea, because there was something soothing about that as well. Ohio couldn't hold a candle to this.

She trailed her hand through the sand absentmindedly, letting the damp grains slide through her fingers. She caught Nathan looking at her once with an expression she could only quantify as yearning. It struck her then all the little things he was immune to. It wasn't all pain and pleasure and warmth and cold. A million tiny sensations she took for granted, and he'd been without them for years. But maybe not for much longer. She reached for his hand, deliberately trapping the grains between them so they pressed into his skin, cool and damp and slightly scratchy. She watched him still, wonder stealing over his face, and she desperately wanted to give him everything he'd missed out on and more.

"See. Gross." Duke cut through their moment, but she didn't protest, and she didn't let go of Nathan's hand. She just shrugged.

"So, Pinocchio, what's the first thing you're going to do after the Troubles end?" Duke asked, looking right at Nathan. Panic gripped Audrey, because she couldn't bear to hear his answer in case it didn't come true.

"This may not work," she protested, cutting Nathan off.

"Oh, it'll work," Duke said, nonchalant in the face of her borderline hysteria.

"How can you be so sure?" she demanded.

"Crocker family motto. 'Love conquers all.' That's a pretty curious mantra for a family of killers, don't ya think? But the first Crocker – Prudence's sailor friend – he got it. Knew the blacksmith was being an idiot, shoulda fought for his love. He's obviously the smart one in this story."

"That doesn't mean he knew how to break the curse."

He shook his head at her like she was someone else's misbehaving child. "Stop fighting this and relax. Have another drink."

Nathan had tensed beside her. She knew her hesitancy bothered him. But it wasn't his intentions she doubted. The universe hadn't been kind to them, and she'd learned young to be suspicious of happiness. But his thumb traced a patient pattern across her wrist and his wide eyes implored her to give into the fantasy, just this once.

She took the beer Duke offered her and held her tongue.

"So how about it Nathan? What's the first thing you'll do post Troubles?"

"Probably go to the reception you're throwing us. So no pressure."

His tone was dry, but his smile gave him away. "Har har," Duke responded. "What if it was just a normal day? You could feel again, and you could do anything."

It was a deeply personal question, and Audrey expected Nathan not to answer. He looked into the fire, not meeting anyone's eyes, but he spoke. "I'd go driving along the coast with the windows down. Feel the air and the sun."

Such a simple wish. She took such things for granted every day.

Duke hummed in approval. "I'd go out on my boat. Same idea."

"I'd go skiing," James added. "Just to feel the cold and the rush."

"I'd work in my garden," Dwight said, and Audrey turned toward him with narrowed eyes.

"Seriously?" Duke asked.

"Seriously. I like to plant things. I find it soothing."

It was hard to hold back her laughter at the thought of the massive man tending poesies.

"You're like an onion, Sasquatch. All these layers we've never seen beneath. What about you, Aud?"

She scrabbled for an answer. She didn't have hobbies or a favorite season. She'd want to do everything; she'd just want to be normal. She glanced at the man by her side and knew she'd want to spend the time with him. Whether she'd been able to feel him before or not, she'd want to feel him then, with the world suddenly right around her. Not just sex. She'd want to feel him tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, rest her head against his chest and feel his heart beating against her cheek, grip his arms through his shirtsleeves and feel the strength there. She'd want him to be there when she experienced every sensation – sheets and sunlight and his stubble against her skin.

She'd whisper that in his ear when they were alone, but she wasn't about to say it in front of their friends.

"I'd take a long, hot bath. Then I'd change into sweats and curl up in the sun with a good book."

"Didn't know Officer Agent Parker even know how to relax," Duke teased. "Sure you wouldn't just go to the station and fill out some paperwork?"

"Oh shut it."

"My Trouble won't be the only one gone," Nathan pointed out.

Duke smiled softly, pulling out a bag of marshmallows and deftly spearing one to hold over the fire. "Will be nice not to have people begging me to kill them anymore. Might even turn respectable."

"Weren't respectable before you found out about your family's legacy."

Audrey bumped her shoulder against Nathan's, but he was nonplussed as Duke tossed the bag their way.

"What about you, Sasquatch? Do you know what you're going to do once they're gone?"

Dwight's grin made him seem years younger. "Yep."

They all waited for an elaboration that never came.

"You're not going to tell us, are you?" Duke groaned.

"Nope."

Duke shook his head with a heavy sigh. "Onion, I tell you."

They laughed well into the night, sharing stories of simpler times and dreams of a brighter future. By the time the beer was gone there might have been some off-key karaoke as they sang along with the radio Duke had brought. As the warmth of the fire stole over her, Audrey curled into Nathan's side, his arm draped around her shoulder, and drifted off to the overwhelming feeling of contentment.

The next chapter is the one we've all been waiting for – wedding time! Love to hear what you think, and if you have any guesses or suggestions for the big day.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate.