A father's advice [H/C - "Sag mir doch, was los ist..." - für mich]

[peterhforalpha.livejournal.com]

Team: Sonne
Challenge: H/C - "Sag mir doch, was los ist..." - für mich
Titel: A father's advice
Fandom: Haven
Charaktere: Nathan Wuornos, Jean (Mitchell)
Wörter: ~1000 Wörter
Sprache: Englisch
Anmerkung: Das ist Teil eines AUs, in dem Audrey ganz normal in die Scheune gegangen ist, und Lexie nach 27 Jahren nach Haven kommt. Auf AO3 könnt ihr den ersten Teil finden, aber die sind alle relativ unabhängig voneinander ;)


Jean looked up when a green coloured beverage was put in front of her. She gave Nathan a small smile. “Thanks,” she whispered but didn’t reach for it although it was her favourite.
Without an invite Nathan sat down. “Just tell me, what’s going on.”
Jean blinked a few times. Normally Nathan wasn’t the one who noticed such things. Her father was way better at it although they both could still learn a lot in that department.
She let out a long sigh and reached for the martini glass. “I was thinking…”
“About what?” Nathan leaned forward and seeing that he gave her his full attention made her feel a little better.
“I should go to Nebraska.” It was the first time she said it out loud and it hurt so much. She loved Haven, that’s why she had chosen to stay when she had visited her father after college. Something about this town was fascinating. She didn’t want to leave but Jean feared she had no other choice.
Nathan though didn’t seem to get what she was trying to say. “Visit your family? You should do that!”
Jean just shook her head. “No, I mean go back there for good.”
For a moment there was complete silence. Jean feared that she had caused a heart attack but Nathan was just staring at her. “You want to leave?” he asked in the end.
Jean blinked a few times, feeling tears filling her eyes. She didn’t want to cry, especially not in front of Nathan. He always seemed so strong. “No, not really, but Audrey is back. The Troubles are back. You told me how it gets worse every time she is in town. Troubles pop up everywhere. And now she is here for over a week now. I just don’t want to hurt him.” So much for not crying, she could feel the tears running down her cheek.
Nathan immediately laid his hand on her own and gently squeezed it. “That doesn’t have to mean anything. I can still feel you. The activation of a Trouble is always connected to a strong emotion.”
Jean scoffed. “Like being scared of it happening? Nate, I’m terrified.”
For a moment she could see the same fear in Nathan’s eyes that she was feeling for several days now. She had avoided her father, afraid that seeing him would be the last trigger to activate her Trouble. That was probably also the reason why Nathan had been looking for her. It was rare that she sat in another bar than the Gull.
Looking at Nathan now she knew that she could make him understand. They were very different people but they had one thing in common. Duke Crocker was their most important person in life.
“Do you really want to risk it? I don’t!”
It was clear that Nathan was wrestling with this problem but he still wasn’t ready to give in. “We don’t know if this will happen, Jean. We don’t know how your Trouble exactly works. Maybe you just affected him as a baby. We have no way of knowing. Duke is the only father who ever survived. You just want to leave on a theory?”
“When we know for certain it’ll be too late.” Jean wouldn’t risk her father’s life. When Duke and Nathan first told her what the Troubles were and what her story was, she swore herself she’d never let that happen again. She was a baby back then, couldn’t control it, now she was an adult. She had a choice.
But Nathan still remained stubborn. He shook his head. “You can still leave when Duke shows symptoms. It worked before.”
Jean knew the stories. Duke got better after she was taken away. “This was 30 years ago, Nathan,” she argued. “He is older now. How do you know he won’t be dead in hours? I can’t take that risk. I’ve made my decision.”
Finally Nathan seemed to resign. He leaned back, took a big sip of his beer and let out a sigh. “You’re as stubborn as your father.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Jean adored her father. She was always happy to get compared with him.
Nathan showed a crooked smile. “Of course you do.”
For a while they just sat together, silently drinking their drinks. Nathan was good for that. Jean could sit with him for hours without actually talking. It always calmed her. It calmed her now. “I don’t actually want to leave,” she admitted quietly. “Don’t want to leave him or you. Don’t want to leave this town when the Troubles are back and you could use every help you can get. I don’t want to go but what choice do I have?”
Once again Nathan took her hand. “I can’t take this choice from you. I just know that Duke would gladly take this risk if he could still be with you a little longer.”
Jean sighed. “I know.” Duke was someone who thought about others first. He wouldn’t want Jean to be unhappy, not when he could change that. “I know,” she repeated, the tears threatening to come back. This didn’t make the decision any easier. Nathan scooted closer to her and put her arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. Jean nudged into his shoulder. “You’re gonna tell him about this?”
“We don’t keep secrets from each other, not anymore, but if you ask me not to tell him until you had the chance to figure this out on your own and then speak to him yourself that is a completely different matter.”
A small smile played around her lips. “Thank you,” she whispered. Nathan might be not her biological father but he sure as hell was a dad to her.
“You can talk to me anytime,” Nathan said and pulled her even closer, giving her a kiss on her head. “Just don’t skip town without saying goodbye.”
“I wouldn’t do that, promise!”