With You It's Different (Nathan Prescott x Reader)

Sacrificing Arcadia Bay

"(Y/N). It's time."

I pulled away from Joyce who was still heart broken.

"We are going to fix this. Don't worry."

She cried louder.

I jumped over the counter and held Max's hand.

"Let's fix this mess."

Before I knew it, I stood in a white place. No one. Nothing. I turned around but was losing all sense of direction.

"What the shit..."

"(Y/N)?"

I looked around until I saw a familiar tall and grumpy looking boy.

"Nathan!"

I ran to him, but he disappeared before my hand could grab him.

"No! Please, come back!"

Where? Where?! Where did everything go?

My body fell to the floor. I've never felt so lost.

So alone.

So scared.

I rubbed the tears from my eyes and face and managed to look up. In front of me, behind me, surrounding me were photos. Most were blurred, some burning, some clear as they could be from the point of view of my still watery eyes. Silently they moved around.

At first, the story they formed seemed to follow the events of the week, but I noticed the changes. The small changes that seemed of no significance. My brain didn't wrap around the purpose until the couple last photos.

Nathan's jacket wasn't on the couch. He's okay! HE'S ALIVE!

I shot up and ran as fast as I could to the blank photo.

"Max.. Thank you.."

I stepped into it and everything flashed white.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Max and Chloe sat across from me- hand in hand. Usually cute couples like this would make me sick to my stomach, but I have Nathan with me which makes it bearable.

After the storm ended, Max, Chloe, and I drove through the left overs of Arcadia Bay. Nathan found us trying to scavenge what was left of our belongings. The amount of joy I felt when I saw him cannot be described by a few words. We haven't let go of each others hands unless absolutely needed.

With his money and Chloe's truck, we left town and made a place for our selves in L.A. Max and Chloe got jobs of their own- Max a photographer for advertisements and her own shows, and Chloe a model for an edgier store plus her side 'bidness'.

Nathan uses his money to make more money- magic I swear- and I'm satisfied with my coffee shop job, which Nathan was very against. He bought a surprisingly large house for him and me and is paying for Max and Chloe's home a few blocks from us. Honestly, everything still feels surreal, and it's been a pain to get our lives on a vague track. Sometimes I let myself think of all the lives lost from the storm. All the friends and families. But Max and I agreed on no more time nonsense. No changing things anymore.

Every month we all go to visit Arcadia Bay and watch the slow clean up and reconstruction of the town. We visit every funeral we can, help identify bodies.., donate money to help.  Our stay is very short. There are too many memories and the constant nagging that its our fault that they're all gone.

But I have two good friends and the man I love with me...

I have yet to question if it was worth the sacrifice.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Momma! What is this word?"

I could hear my daughter Kate calling me from the kitchen where she does her reading. She just turned four and her love for words seems endless to me.  My heels clicked as I made my way across the tile to look over her and at the book she has begun.

"Hamartia is the character flaw of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall."

She looked at me with wide eyes and back down at her book.

"You know so many words..."

I picked her up and, gently placing her in my lap, sat in the chair. I held up the book so both of us could see it and held her closer.

"I also speak two other languages, but I have a lot of time to learn this stuff," I ruffled her hair and smiled when she giggled, "You have a lot of time too! I could even teach you some time."

She popped out of my lap and turned towards me. "Really?! Please oh please oh please!"

She continued saying please and bouncing on her toes until I held my hands up in defeat.

"Alright! Alright! I'll teach you anything you want," I looked at the clock before turning back to her, "It's almost time for daddy to come  home! I'm going to start dinner, so you can go wait for him at the door."

Kate ran as fast as her tiny legs would take her.  Not long after, I heard the sounds of my husband and child doing their usual loud greeting.  The foot steps grew louder as did the voices.

"-hero that leads to his downfall! And then momma said-"

Nathan booped her nose with his finger to pause her thought.

"Let me tell her hello and then we can unpause."

Kate nodded with a huge smile as she sat in her dinner seat.

Warm arms wrapped around me and pulled me against a solid body. A familiar dress shirt met my eyes when I turned around until I looked into the eyes of my soulmate.

"Welcome home. How was work?"

He gave me a gentle kiss before placing his chin on my shoulder.

"As stressful as always. People are so dumb..."

I laughed and ran my fingers through his neatly combed hair.

"Well you're home now! So go dress comfy because dinner will be done soon."

He hummed and kissed me one more time.

Kate giggled and pretended she didn't see anything when I raised an eyebrow at her in a joking manner.

I put the food on plates, and as I looked up I was met by a calendar with the 11th circled. It was on a Friday this year, so Nathan leaving work early shouldn't be an issue. I need to remember to order all the flowers and call the nanny before then.

Six years have passed.

The four of us have never missed it..

We miss everyone we left behind too much.