Niwan Halloween Challenge
Chapter Five: It's now or never, Awan
Summary: Can dishes and dirty cups fill up the silence?
Warnings: Explicit language.
Notes: It's here, the final chapter of Our Party! I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed creating this little story :) Thank you!!
Darrel’s eyes followed Awan as he strode to the improvised dance floor in the middle of the living room. Realization hit him as his eyes landed on Nina and Royce and a grin spread across his face.
Finally! “Yeah, yeah, go for it, Bitsui!”
As Awan shouldered through the couples dancing, his heartbeat spread throughout his entire body, making him feel like a walking drum. He tried to tell himself to calm down and calm down and calm down but it only seemed to produce the opposite effect, with the beat inside him becoming faster and louder as he approached Nina and Royce.
When he finally got there, more of Darrel’s words echoed inside his stormy mind: At the end of the day, Nina’s a human being just like you and not some sort of mission you have to complete.
“Hey Royce,” Awan didn’t even bother looking at the man, his gaze focused solely on Nina. “You wouldn’t mind if I have this next dance with Nina, now, would you?”
Nina was slightly taken aback by Awan’s request. After that night’s strange interactions with him, this was the last thing she expected of him. Maybe the thing with Grant brought him back to normal.
But more than that, what was really taking her by surprise was his gaze. There was something new about the way he looked at her, something resolute, obstinate, almost hungry about the way his eyes took residence on hers.
In front of her, Royce took notice of this and a small pit started forming in his stomach. Deep down, he had always known Nina didn’t reciprocate his feelings; that she only saw him as friend, no matter the number of things he’d buy her or the places he’d take her to, or the celebrities he’d present her to. And now, observing the silent conversation happening between her and Awan, he finally realized where her eyes were truly set on.
“Yeah, yeah, sure, dude.”
He took one last look between the two and left, neither of them apparently noticing his exit. Awan took the empty spot in front of Nina and in that moment, the rest of the room vanished. Nina was all that mattered.
“I thought you’d never ask.” Nina smiled, seizing Awan’s hands and firmly placing them on her hips and hers on his shoulders, as “I Want You” by Marvin Gaye started playing in the background.
A flush crept up Awan’s neck all the way to his cheeks as he realized how close he was to Nina and that he was actually holding her. Is this okay? Am I too close? Are my hands too low? I should bring them up a little, just in case.
As soon as his eyes fell down on Nina, he forgot about whatever worries had been plaguing his mind just a second before. There she was, smiling as she mouthed quietly the words to the song, her soft gaze resting on him. A small part of Awan wished she was mouthing the lyrics directly at him, but he quickly shut down that possibility. Let’s maybe not get ahead of ourselves.
Maybe his wish was actually being granted, who knows?
Completely shut off from the rest of the world, Nina and Awan didn’t realize they had two happy pairs of eyes focused on them.
“Attaboy”, Darrel muttered as he took a sip of punch.
“I knew he had it in him. I just didn’t know Grant showing up uninvited was the boost of confidence he needed. Thanks Grant, I guess…” Jessica scowled, smirking at her friends.
The lights above formed a sort of glass bell around them as their bodies moved in perfect sync and about twenty minutes later, the last song on the record came to an end. Only then they woke up from their little dream.
“That was nice”, Nina smiled, an unusual shyness taking over her as she realized what had just happened.
“Yeah, you’re a great dancing partner”, Awan bashfully responded as he discreetly flexed his hands on each side of his body, trying to linger to the last remnants of Nina’s warmth.
After Nina was done putting on another record, the two made their way to their friends’ mischievous smiles.
“What, guys?”, Nina scowled, furrowing her brows at Jessica.
“Nothing, nothing!” Jessica and Darrel smirked, both quickly looking away for something else to focus on.
Eventually, the four adults settled into conversation, only this time something was different. Every now and then, both Nina and Awan would try and glance subtly at each other. Some times they’d even lock eyes on accident, which would result in them quickly adverting their eyes and try to mask the heat in their faces by taking a sip of their drinks or fake cough.
It was around 12:30 am when the guests started slowly emptying out Nina’s apartment.
“Thank you guys so much for coming!” Nina said, tightly embracing Gen and then Royce. “And again, I’m so sorry for that little…situation with my colleagues.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, baby. They were in the wrong and they know it.” Genesis reassured her.
Royce nodded his head. “Exactly. If they bother you again, just give me a call me and I’ll be here with my dad’s guys in five minutes tops, okay?”
Nina smiled at Royce’s unfaltering gallantry. “My hero.”
“You know what, it’s better if you call me, this one here can’t even fight a 5-year-old.” Genesis scowled as she playfully bumped her brother’s shoulder. “But anyways, are you sure you don’t need help cleaning up? It’s not that late for us.”
“Don’t worry about it, Gen, I got it all covered!” Nina reassured, trying not to think about the fact that she would probably spend the entire weekend cleaning each and every inch of the apartment.
“Besides, you guys are already helping me by taking some leftovers. There’s no way I could finish all this food by myself.”
“Okay. C’mere then.” Gen demanded as she pulled Nina in for another hug. “Goodnight, babe.”
“Yeah, goodnight, Nina”, Royce said, imitating his sister’s gesture.
“Goodnight, you guys!” Genesis shouted and waved at the group back in the living room. They shouted goodbye back, waving at the siblings.
Nina closed the door and turned on her heel to the living room. Jessica, Darrel and Awan were busy cleaning the place. She could hear Jessica in the kitchen washing the dirty dishes while Awan scurred the room for dirty napkins and plastic cups and Darrel emptied the food table, taking the leftovers to the kitchen.
“Guys,” Nina sighed and placed her hands on her hips. “You don’t need to do this! It’s so late and Jess, you live so far away!”, she shouted in the kitchen’s direction. “I don’t want you driving alone so late.”
“Okay, okay, miss Hayes, I’m almost done!” Jessica shouted back.
About one minute later, Nina heard the kitchen sink tap turn off and right after, Jessica came out of the small kitchen straightening the rolled-up sleeves of her dress.
“Nins, are you really sure you don’t need help? It’s a quite a lot back there.” She said, pointing back at the kitchen.
Darrel joined the two women shortly after, after moving back the food table to its regular place. Awan was still busy looking for hidden trash.
“I’m one hundred percent sure, Jess. But thank you anyway, you guys are the best.” She smiled at the two and glanced over to Awan, trying to figure out if he was already done or not.
“Awan, don’t worry about the trash, I’m going to vacuum and dust the entire room tomorrow anyway.”
That made Awan stop in his tracks like he’d just been caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing. Up until then, he’d been laying low, hoping that Nina would perhaps take a little longer to send them away but he forgot how stubborn his partner could be.
He was on his knees on the floor next to the coffee table looking for invisible trash when he lifted up his head to find the three other adults peeking at him over the sofa.
“Oh, uhm, I was actually thinking,” Awan stifled a groan as he lifted himself up from the ground. “Maybe I could stay and help you clean everything, Nina. Maybe there’s no need for four people, but two can take care of everything.”
Jessica and Darrel exchanged looks as they tried to conceal their smiles and Nina blinked in surprise. He’s on a roll tonight.
“Awan, you’re really sweet but I can– “
“Nina,” Awan straightened his shoulders and met Nina’s eyes. “I want to help you. Really. It’s a lot to clean and you’re tired. Let me help you, please. Just this one time.”
His gaze held up the weight of his words. He was almost begging her, trying to make her understand that she didn’t need to do everything alone. They were partners. Just this one time, Awan was asking Nina to let him prove himself to her outside of the office, outside of their friendship and partnership.
Nina wanted to say yes to everything. She didn’t want him to leave, not just yet, maybe not ever. But another part of her just wanted him to just go away. The last thing she wanted was to risk breaking her own heart by deluding herself into thinking he actually wanted to be alone with her. What if he was just being nice and just wanted to help her clean up the apartment and nothing else? But then again, after that night’s events and the way he handled Grant, the dance they shared, plus the mysterious thing he wanted to talk to her about… There was a small part of Nina that kept tugging at her sleeve, screaming that there was something more and she should let him stay.
“Awan, you’re really sweet, but how are you going home after?” Nina tried to sound as firm as possible.
“I can take a cab or something, it doesn’t matter.”
His unwavering attitude was crumbling Nina’s internal defenses and her heartbeat was starting to pick up pace as she tried her hardest to ignore what her heart really wanted.
“Actually,” Darrel chimed in. “I was thinking that maybe I can drive with Jess and Awan keeps my keys. I don’t really need my car this weekend, anyway.” He smiled innocently at the two and turned to Jessica. “You wouldn’t mind that, would you?”
“Oh, yeah, no problem!” Jessica exclaimed, pleased with the idea of Nina and Awan spending more time alone and her spending some more time with Awan’s lovely friend.
Nina sensed that there was a secret ploy about her going on between her friends that she wasn’t aware of. As an FBI Agent, she didn’t take much joy in it, but now she found herself out of arguments and to her despair, her heart wasn’t planning on slowing down.
Jessica and Nina shared a heartfelt hug. The latter looked up at her friend, her eyes singling out the restlessness swimming inside her. Jessica cocked her head slightly and answered her friend’s silent plea with a small but genuine smile. You got this, babe. Nina smiled back and then turned to Darrel, who was holding two boxes of leftovers.
“Goodnight Darrel, I loved having you here”, she said as she hugged him. “You two have a safe drive and please, take care of Jess for me.”
“You have nothing to worry about, Nina.” Darrel smiled and stretched his neck to the man back in the living room. “Bye, buddy!”
Nina glanced back at Awan, who was back at trash duty. He was smiling and waving back at the door when his face suddenly dropped and his eyes became as big as saucers. Unbeknownst to Nina, Darrel and Jessica were behind her puckering up their lips and mimicking smooches while pointing at her. Nina cocked her head in confusion at the sight of Awan’s expression and turned back to find her friends smiling like innocent children.
“Hmm,” Her eyes narrowed as she studied their expressions. “Goodnight then, guys.”
She closed the door slowly, her eyes never leaving the two.
Nina then let out a sigh and turned around to the living room. It was just Awan and her now. There, in her apartment. She stayed near the door for a while, just following Awan’s movements as he scuttled from one side of the room to the other with a black trash bag in his hands.
“Okay, this bag is full so I’m gonna get another–“
Awan’s words died in his mouth as he looked up to see Nina with her arms crossed, staring at him. He suddenly became aware of the fact that they were alone.
He never thought he’d get this far, so now what?
“Uh, everything alright?”, he asked as he felt a familiar warmth blossoming on his cheeks.
“No, yeah, sorry.” Nina blinked fast, coming back to earth. “Here, let me help you.”
The next forty-five minutes were spent washing dishes, taking out the trash and moving the furniture back into place. Eventually, conversation flowed between the two, most of it being about the party and the obvious chemistry between their best friends, with Awan asking every now and then what goes where. However, above their seemingly casual conversation hanged something else. That night, something had definitely changed in their friendship. They both felt it but who was actually going to make the first move?
The sofa was being moved back into place when they both finally decided to garner up all their courage.
Their eyes shot up from each side of the sofa and they started giggling, the tense atmosphere lightening up a little. “You go first.” Awan smiled as he nodded at Nina.
They placed the sofa back on the floor and Nina motioned Awan to sit down.
“No, it’s just that,” Nina sat down and lifted her arms to take off her mask. “I wanted to thank you again for the thing with Grant. You’re amazing, Awan.”
A crooked smile formed in the man’s face. “We’re partners.”
Nina tilted her head and smiled back. “Well, thank you, partner.”
They stayed there for a moment, just looking at each other again, like they’d done a few hours before. Their hearts’ paces picked up and each wondered if the other could hear it, until Nina broke the comfortable silence.
“Right, uh, by the way,” Nina straightened herself and started fidgeting with her mask. “What did you want to tell me before Grant and Minor got here?”
I knew she wouldn’t let go of it. “Oh, right. That.”
Awan’s hands instinctively searched for something to hold on to but there was nothing, apart from Nina’s tempting hands.
“Yeah, you said it was something about you, and I quote, since we started working together.” Nina chased Awan’s fixed gaze on his disquieted hands. “Is everything okay? Like, are you sick or someth–“
Awan’s eyes shot up. “Oh no, no, it’s nothing like that, I promise!”
He turned his torso in Nina’s direction and tried to soothe himself by rubbing his hands on his thighs. “It’s actually something a little stupid.”
Nina looked at him confused. “Stupid? What is it, then?”
For almost a year now, a garden had been growing inside him. At first, he tried to fight it, to cut down the trees and set fire to everything. He thought it was just the thrill of finally being out in the field, of having a new partner – a terribly charming and smart one at that. But with every passing day, every passing hour, it seemed, his feelings became stronger and bigger and harder to ignore. He hated clocking out of work now, he despised the weekends, wondering what was their purpose when he could just go back to the office to his partner, and he had even started to look at his poor car with a certain contempt because he knew Nina wasn’t on the driver’s seat waiting for him.
What was the point of these things if they prevented him from seeing Nina’s pretty eyes light up behind her glasses as she cracks something new on a case, from talking with her about everything, from work stuff to their upbringing and their favorite movies, if they kept him away from the honey that dripped from her voice when she laughed at his dry jokes, or the way her doll-like lips would blow on her hot Sanka every morning? It honestly hadn’t taken long for him to realize he was absolutely gone for her and that there was no going back. His feelings quickly became as sure as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. She was the gardener of his heart and he was tired of trying to fight that.
And with that, he took a deep breath. “Nina.”
“Do you remember when we first went to the rez and afterwards we had that talk about our fathers?”
Nina nodded, expectantly.
“Later that day, as I drove back home, I finally decided to confront headfirst some stuff that had been tugging at my heart for the past weeks. When you first arrived at the office, you came in like thunder. You were fearless and intelligent and persevering, and you wouldn’t bow down or suck up to the other guys in the office like they did with Grant. But more than that, to me, you arrived like rain in the Arizona desert. I was so done being benched and finally being able to actually work on cases was really thrilling, so I thought that’s were my growing fascination with you was coming from. For a short while, I tried to ignore and fight what I kind of always knew was already a lost war, but every day I’d go to work and just seeing you would wake up my heart like a drum, and then getting to spend the day with you? I couldn’t ask for anything else. I love talking with you. I love the way your brain works. I love how you actually see me for who I am and how you really listen to what I have to say. I love and hate how you always know when something’s up with me. I hate being away from you. I get crazy worried when you start being a little reckless when we’re working on a case and after tonight, I hate, absolutely hate, seeing you uncomfortable. I want to protect you, to shield you from morons like Grant. I know you can take care of yourself but if you’ll let me, I want to take care of you as well, in every way you’ll allow me to. There’s no one else that has set my soul alive like you and never will be.”
Awan leaned in, carefully taking Nina’s hands into his. “You are my heart, Nina Hayes.”
The world fell silent for what seemed an eternity. Awan’s words lingered in the air like the final note of a symphony and his eyes never strayed away from Nina, whose expression was undecipherable.
“Nina? Are you okay?” Awan furrowed his brows, genuinely scared that he might’ve sent her into a catatonic state. “Nina?? Hey–“
“Sorry, sorry.” Nina blinked fast back into reality. “It’s just that… I wasn’t expecting that at all.”
I can’t remember how to breathe.
Nina’s brain rushed with endless questions. Since they started working together? How did he hide it so well? He’s an FBI Agent, but she’s one as well, so how did she never suspect anything? What the hell? Awan liked her? Awan liked her? Awan liked her! She had been so busy trying to bury her increasing fondness of her partner that she never even took time to conjure up the idea that maybe he liked her back. She always thought it was just his kind-hearted nature, nothing else, and because of that, she had spent every day of the last seven or eight months trying her hardest to not delude herself and ignore what wasn’t showing any signs of shrinking back down. The way a genuine friendship had quickly blossomed between the two, way they’d speak so easily with each other, his never fading smile when they were together, the way he’d force himself out of his comfort zone whenever she needed him to, the times she’d caught him gazing at her… She had always thought that was him just being his gentle self.
Meanwhile, panic was spreading inside Awan like wildfire. Nina didn’t like him back and now he ruined everything: their friendship, their partnership, whatever trust she might’ve had in him. I need to leave now.
“You know, it’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I was actually just on my way out and I’m so deeply sorry if I made things awkward by overstaying my welcome, so if you don’t mind, I’m just gonna grab my coat and–“
“Will you let me speak?” Nina stared directly into his eyes.
Nina took a deep breath and proceeded to take back Awan’s hands into hers. “Awan Bitsui, my silly boy.” A smile slowly spread across her mouth. “I like you too.”
Awan felt his heart stop. If this was the way he had to go out, he’d die a happy man.
Nina resumed. “I really tried to fight my feelings for you as well but in the end, I gave up. There was nothing to be done when I’d wake up every day before my alarm and rush to go spend the entire day with you, your pretty face and your constant good mood. You’re just too cute, Agent Bitsui. I love your attention to detail, I love how you relax my heart and pull me down to earth when I start overthinking stuff or maybe start getting a little too hasty. I love how you’re always smiling and how kind you are no matter what. You make me laugh like no one else and I love how easy it is to talk to you. I love how comfortable you make me feel; how respectful and principled you are. I love it when you nerd out about Superman and other DC heroes. I love it when you offer me weird food. More than anything, I love how you make me feel when we’re together. It’s such a weird feeling but I love it. To be honest, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that you like me back, but yeah, that’s it, Awan. I like you and I wanna be with you too.”
Nina’s words hanged in the air and the two of them just stood there taking in all that was said and smiling like two fools.
“Well, uh, what should we do now?”, Awan broke the silence, his hands still firmly guarding Nina’s.
Nina tilted her head, smiling. “I think you should kiss me.”
Awan smiled as he gently cupped Nina’s face in his hands. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Nina closed her eyes as she leaned back into the sofa, welcoming Awan’s love into her life.
It was Monday morning and Jessica-Lorraine was already buried to the neck in phone calls, scheduling meetings and an array of demands of the agents in the office. She was on the phone when she heard the faint ping of the elevator. She heard footsteps approaching and instinctively glanced quickly to see who it was.
She looked back and it was none other than Nina and Awan arriving together. It wasn’t unusual for them to arrive at the same time, but given last Friday’s events, there were definitely things to be debriefed with Nina. She knew she could’ve called her apartment but since she wanted to know everything in person, the two-day wait had been nothing short of tortuous.
She tried to rush the phone call as much as she could but when it seemed like she finally had an opportunity to get up from her desk, another agent appeared out of seemingly nowhere to ask her about a meeting that afternoon. It seemed like everyone wanted a piece of her that specific day, so she stayed stuck in her desk for the rest of the morning.
Every now and then, she’d glance at her friends and she’d always get the feeling that something was different. Nina’s normally stoic expression had been replaced by what seemed like a permanent smile, Awan would get up and get everything for her, from a cup of Sanka to a pen that fell on the floor right next to her, and once, Jessica even caught Awan leaned back on his chair gazing at Nina busy with her work, while he tried to hide a smile with his hand.
At around 12 pm, they both got up to leave for something related to a case. Jessica couldn’t wait any longer so when Nina passed near her desk, she seized the opportunity and grasped her arm.
“Nina! What happened after Darrel and I left? Tell me, please!”
Nina leaned down to Jessica’s ears level and whispered. “Well… Turns out maybe you were right and he did actually want to be all up on me for a while now.”
Jessica remembered her jape about Nina’s costume and Awan’s reaction and her mouth dropped at the revelation. Nina smiled and blinked, and went to meet Awan, who was waiting for her at the elevator, a stupid smile plastered on his face.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
A/N: Once again, thank you guys so much for your support <3
