Unseen Scenes— Book One, Chapter Fifteen (Nate) (Patreon)

The weight of tension in the room makes it difficult to breathe. Not only due to the worry, but also due to the fact Nate doesn’t want to disturb the silence which grips them all as they wait. 

The living room of the Detective’s apartment is different than he’d imagined. Smaller than he’d imagined. Yet, he can feel their presence on every surface and inch of the room, so being encased by that is certainly not something he’d complain about.

“Nate.” His name makes him look over at Rebecca who’d called him. She holds her phone away from her ear for a moment. “The technicians think they may be close to finding answers. Will you let [Name] know, please.”

He smiles, holding back another breath, but this time in relief at finally having something to do. “Of course.”

Standing up slowly, he ignores the wary inspecting gaze Adam is throwing his way and strides the whole ten feet to the bedroom door.

He lifts his hand, hesitates, then knocks.

Twisting open the door handle, he dips inside and almost stumbles on his own feet to see the Detective at the window. Not that he hadn’t been expecting to see them, but it’s still a surprise to him the sheer magnitude of the effect they draw from him each time.

“Rebecca is talking to the techs back at the lab,” he explains, stepping further inside and shutting the door. "They think they might be able to figure out what Murphy wants from those slides found at the hospital."

The Detective seems less relieved than Nate had hoped.

“At least that will be one mystery solved,” they reply before turning back to face out of the open window. A chill, damp breeze blows in through the room, so Nate moves closer to the Detective to warm up. The effect is instant. 

He leans on the windowsill beside them, avoiding the temptation to take their hand. “This will probably all be over soon.”

“Will you leave after it’s done?” they ask, their focus trained on the rain-splattered rooftops outside.

“Probably.” He twists his fingers together to avoid temptation once again. “You’ll have your life back then.”

A comfortable silence envelops them both, the patter of raindrops the only sound as droplets drip onto the sill outside, and Nate licks at his lips to avoid breaking the quiet with words he may not be able to take back.

What’s the point in saying anything when they’ll be gone soon?

But that’s not who Nate is.

“I’ll be sad to go,” he says finally.

There’s a small pause before the Detective asks, “Why?” 

Nate shifts his gaze to capture theirs, almost lost in the depth of those eyes. If he did get lost in them, he sure as hell wouldn’t want to be found. “Can’t you guess?”

Temptation be damned…

Nate reaches forward slowly, his fingertips tracing over the Detective’s cheek until cupping it completely. The tender touch sparks a torrent of emotion that almost has him dizzy.

The Detective glances away. “I don’t exactly do well with goodbyes.”

“I don’t think anyone ever does,” he replies, the words stinging at his chest. “But our goodbye doesn’t have to be so sad.”

A small voice—one that sounds very much like Adam—warns him away from what he’s about to do. Warns him how hard it will be to let go. Warns him to stop before it hurts too much.

Nate leans closer to the Detective anyway.

Until a sharp ring sounds about the apartment and makes them both flinch.

Nate drops his hand and comes back to reality. And that small voice lets out a breath of relief, even as his whole body sags.

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Nate's POV during this scene in Book One :D

(Choice chosen by a randomiser, and 'they/them' pronouns to make it easier).

Hope you enjoyed it! :D