Seattle, Waaaay Late Sunday Night

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie had... probably intended to head to Fandom, upon leaving Sunnydale which was yet to be posted. For a moment. And then, scheduling her portal, she'd picked Seattle instead. It wasn't a good idea. She knew it wasn't a good idea. It may well have been the worst idea she'd ever had, in fact, as there was very little chance she would be leaving Seattle without having broken Sam's heart.

But she was here anyway. She didn't want to go back to Fandom and the dorms yet, and she couldn't go home and deal with questions. It was basically the middle of the night, and she was carrying her cat, and it would not look good if she went home like this. And she didn't feel great to begin with, so... If things were going to go badly here, at least she didn't have a long way to fall, emotionally.

She called Sam's phone once she was at the door, not wanting to wake anyone else up in case they were asleep.

[ooc: NFB, for the the boy who won't like this! Up early 'cause SP and timezones.]

Comments

[necroslacker]

Sam had been dozing actually but he'd been on the couch and the television was flickering quietly in the background. It didn't take him long to rouse from that sleep and reach for his phone.

"Hello?" he mumbled, sounding sleepy but moderately alert.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie just sounded tired. In her own neutral way. "Hey, it's me, are you home?" she asked. "I'm outside your front door."

[necroslacker]

"I'm home," he said, already pushing himself to his feet and stumbling towards the door. "What time is it? Are you all right?"

[whenshewasnice]

"It's late, I've been in California all weekend. Gentleman monsters took everyone's voices and some hearts. It's solved now." Succinct as always. "I'm tired."

[necroslacker]

"...right," Sam said, pulling the door open and blinking at her. "Gentleman monsters?"

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie put her phone away. "They were wearing suits."

Mr Moxy meowed at him.

[necroslacker]

"Should I even ask for details?" Sam wondered, stepping aside so she could come in. "You all right? Hurt? Hungry?"

[whenshewasnice]

"There may have been some goo involved when their heads exploded." Yes. She moved past him, cradling the cat in her arms. "But I cleaned it up. I'm just tired."

[necroslacker]

"So, you came here just looking for a place to crash?" he asked, sounding amused. He shut the door and turned back towards her.

It was automatic to try and slip an arm over her shoulders to try and provide some comfort to her.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie didn't move away, although she didn't move closer, either. She hugged Mox tighter to her chest and exhaled.

Her voice was quieter, when she spoke again. "Figured I should use one of your guest rooms."

[necroslacker]

"The guest rooms?" Sam asked, shaking his head. "You can use my room. You came all the way to Seattle, don't you wanna sleep with me?"

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie wasn't really sure what the right thing to say here was. "We need to talk, Sam," was what she settled on, glancing over. Something else edging into her weariness. "And I'm too tired to do it right now."

And she was trying to keep him from hating her in the morning.

[necroslacker]

"Talk about what?" Sam asked, meeting her glance. "What's the deal here, Natalie? You're tired and you've been through something and I wanna be there for you and you...don't want that tonight?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I do." Oh boy, did she ever. She always did. And that was sadly part of the problem, the bigger one. "I'm just not sure it's smart."

[necroslacker]

"I don't understand," Sam asked, stopping any walking he'd been doing and looking at her a little more steadily now. "Why not? It makes you feel better and I wanna do it. How is that not smart? I wanna take care of you."

[whenshewasnice]

"Because if I let you ––"

She cut herself off, and pursed her lips, and shook her head at herself, looking down at her cat who was peering up at her like he knew she was being stupid about something.

And she was.

[necroslacker]

"If you let me...?" Sam asked quietly. "What were you going to say, Natalie? You're scaring me here."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie turned more towards him on instinct and out of need to hide somehow, burying half her face against his shoulder. "If I let you take care of me, I don't know if it's fair," she said, quietly. "Because we really need to talk. And you won't like it."

She was starting to realize coming here had been a bad idea, yeah.

[necroslacker]

"What do we need to talk about?" Sam asked, taking a few quick breaths instinctively. A part of him probably knew but he was ignoring that part of him. "Why did you come here tonight?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Because I needed a safe place. And I love you."

She was not too keen on answering that first question. If she said those words aloud, everything would go straight to hell.

[necroslacker]

"This place is safe and I love you too," Sam told her, frowning. "I wanna be here for you. You've been there for me after I've come home from things. I can't do the same for you?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I just need you to not hate me later." She remembered asking for that before, too. In his kitchen, the morning they'd decided to try this again. She looked up. Straight at him, from the close proximity. "Because I do want all your comfort. Kisses, hugs and sex included."

She was selfish, yet somehow not selfish enough.

[necroslacker]

"Saying you want comfort but putting the disclaimer in there is confusing, Natalie," he said, reaching to cradle her cheek with one of his hands. "You're confusing me. What's going on?"

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie nuzzled his hand. She looked tired, and a little sad. Just that little bit of it bleeding out. "Can't we please talk about it tomorrow?"

She'd said all the wrong things tonight.

"I know that's probably unfair to ask, too." She knew she already had him worried. "Guess I can't avoid being unfair today."

[necroslacker]

"It's pretty unfair," Sam told her because it was. "And not something I really appreciate all that much."

He kept his hand on her cheek for a second longer before dropping it.

"Take any guest room you'd like," Sam told her, sounding sad and almost resigned. "You know where I'll be."

He turned to wind his way to his room.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie was taken by surprise by the sudden urge to cry. She didn't, though. Not even though she could feel the tears stinging already.

But she did have to take a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," she called out after him, not sure it would help... with anything.

[necroslacker]

"Go to sleep, Natalie," was all the acknowledgement Sam gave her before disappearing down one of the endless halls the estate had.

Her apology hadn't helped.

[whenshewasnice]

The urge to scream 'well fuck you!' was a new one, too. She didn't go with that one, either. If anything it was a sign that she really, really needed to sleep.

She hugged Mr. Moxy and went to look for a room to pass out in, not looking forward to the morning.