Unseen Scenes— Book One, Chapter Fifteen (Nat) (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 Nat 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 she’d imagined. Smaller than she’d imagined. Yet, she can feel their presence on every surface and inch of the room, so being encased by that is certainly not something she’d complain about.

“Nat.” Her name makes her look over at Rebecca who’d called her. 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.”

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

Standing up slowly, she ignores the wary inspecting gaze Ava is throwing her way and strides the whole ten feet to the bedroom door.

She lifts her hand, hesitates, then knocks.

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

“Rebecca is talking to the techs back at the lab,” she 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 Nat 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 Nat moves closer to the Detective to warm up. The effect is instant. 

She 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.” She twists her 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 Nat licks at his lips to avoid breaking the quiet with words she 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 Nat is.

“I’ll be sad to go,” she says finally.

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

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

Temptation be damned…

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

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

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

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

Nat leans closer to the Detective anyway.

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

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

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Nat'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