#shit it about ot hit the fan

Description:Nathan Drake is not the exact definition of an unhappy man. His job is steady, his friends still see him from time to time, he plays football, but his marriage is his main problem. Many things will change when a special person comes to his life.

Part Summary: One text has the power to change everything - from making you the happiest in the whole world to crying on your couch in the morning. And the worst part probably was that the situation was only starting to get complicated.

Word counter: 3.6 K

Tagging:@missdictatorme​​,@flavorishy​,@decadentwinnerjudgedream​

Series master list: H E R E

Nathan’s playlist: H E R E

When do you both have time? The text started quite simply, luring you into a false sense of safety before blowing everything into bits. Elena is back in town and she’d like to meet you both. Dinner is on us, just like we talked about it.
Feeling your heart sinking into your stomach, you caught your phone in your palms, leaning your elbows into your knees as you fought the urge to scream out loud. Mike was still sleeping, it was his day off, and even though everything that he has done to you, you didn’t plan on waking him up like that. What you couldn’t stop was the tears rolling on your cheeks as you felt your heart being crushed to absolute pieces.

Nathan wasn’t doing any better than you.
The days were slowly dragging by as he tried to continue with his daily schedule - yet since you asked him for privacy, which he was to respect, you were no longer there to fill each second with happiness and laughter. You two weren’t even texting at that time, which made everything even worse. The man’s food was barely edible (at least in his eyes) since there was no love nor happiness that he’d be pouring into it, he was laughing way less and he was reading through your text chain longingly, hoping a new text would pop out any second. Yet you remained silent, pulled away, in the shadows.

After a week of silence, Nathan was walking down the street with vegetables in his hand, looking around - almost bumping his shoulder into a woman he hadn’t noticed. It was almost late when she put her small palm on his forearm, dodging out of the way. At first, the woman with fiery hair wanted to pull out her best Irish insults to scold Nathan, yet as soon as she noticed who was standing in front of her, she calmed down and observed him a bit closer.
To Florence, he was looking like a fossil; lifeless, pale, and petrified a bit. The man didn’t even register who she was as he started to mumble apologies, looking away from her. - “My oh my, aren’t you looking horrible, love?” - The woman whispered, smoothing his cheek, making Nathan look at her and finally realize who he bumped into.  - “Oh crap, I haven’t even noticed you, Flo, I was lost in my thoughts. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“Other than you almost making me end up on the ground?” - The woman asked with a grin, taking it back as soon as she saw the shy look Nathan’s blue eyes gave her. This man was not in the mood for jokes. - “I’m alright Nate, don’t worry about me. You don’t look too fine tho. Is everything alright?”

For quite some time, Nathan was standing there, thinking about what should he say. First off, was Florence even the right person to discuss this stuff with? Wouldn’t someone else be better in that regard? They were good friends, Nathan and Florence, by that point; but that didn’t mean Nathan would entrust her with her deepest, darkest secret right away.  To which she’d say is understandable.
“Depends. Yes and no.” - Nathan answered evasively, already leaning away from Florence. How long was he like this for? True, she nor Victor had talked to Nathan in almost two weeks, but what monstrosity had to happen for Nathan to suddenly look like that? The sight of him was making her worried. So much so that she pulled a small diary out of her bag, writing down an address of sorts for Nate. - “You need to go there right now.” - Florence smiled and pointed the tip of her finger to the name of the establishment. - “I’m on my lunch break and I was supposed to meet Victor there, to talk about businesses and stuff, but you need it much more than I do. He’ll be happy to see you, kiddo.”
“That’s nice of you, but I don’t wanna exactly talk to him at the moment.” - Nathan shook his head, giving the paper back to Florence. But the woman wasn’t the one to give up easily. Instead of that, she caught Nathan’s palm in both of hers, looking him in the eyes.
“You don’t want to, but you need to. He’ll be glad to see you, he always talks about you and wonders about how you are, he worried about you cause you’re his family. You don’t necessarily need to talk about what’s on your mind, but you can just hang out, huh? I need to take a break as well… This won’t be the first nor the last time I didn’t come to a date with Vic. Do it, for me.” - The woman said, smiling at Nathan.

Victor was right about her the first time - she was acting like his mother despite being younger than Nathan himself. But it was something she couldn’t exactly help herself with.
It was undeniable that Nathan and Victor were most likely the closest members of a family to each other - Nathan had an older brother Samuel (according to what Sullivan told Florence), yet due to Sam’s long absence, Sully replaced that figure in Nate’s life for quite some time. He was not a brother to Nathan; Sullivan was the father figure Nathan needed and deserved. And Nathan, despite Victor’s best efforts, became his son as time went by. Which, funnily enough, put Florence in a motherly position (according to herself and herself only).
The woman never dreamt of being a mother, she was never exactly inclined towards motherhood and all the stuff that went with it, but this was as natural as breathing. She could be Nathan’s great friend, offering him care and patience. And Florence was all in with it. Sure, this was one hell of a weird dynamic this untypical family had, yet it was the one they all chose willingly and which suited them well.

“Fine. But next time he’ll ask me to go out drinking with him, you’re the one taking my place.” - Drake mumbled, making Florence grin.
“I outdrink him any time of any day, so, sure - why not? Tell him I’m saying hi, yeah? Bye!” - The woman cried out, running to the other side of the street. Before Nathan had any chance to answer, Florence was already long gone, rushing off; which was impressive in itself since she had high heels on.

With an unhappy sigh, Nate put the address into his phone, realizing it’s one of the expensive steak spots - that made him scoff, seeing Victor is one hell of an expansive fancy dates guy. Looking at the time, he hoped he’d at least put the food away at his place before meeting up with Sully - yet then he realized, Florence said she only had her lunch break to meet up with her old guy; meaning Nathan was to go now since Sully was surely already waiting for you.

It felt kind of funny - Nathan walked into the door of that fancy restaurant dressed up in one of his old, comfortable denim jackets and khaki linen pants, holding a paper bag filled with veggies close to his chest. The hostess, dressed up in her uniform consisting of a white shirt, black vest, and formal black pants widened her eyes at Nathan; yet he didn’t catch the part where she looked him in the eyes and smiled upon seeing how handsome the man was. Goofily, Nathan took a deep breath in and walked right in front of the lady, giving her one of his clumsy smiles.
Nathan Drake was a lot of things, but when it came to women, he was never an idiot. He was an absolute fool and clown when it came to you, true, but you didn’t have the chance to see the ladies man Nathan could be when he tried to. He especially used it on his working trip, when he knew he’ll get out of the situation without any consequences. This man wasn’t exactly the guy who’d pick up a chick just to have a one-night stand with her; Nate enjoyed flirting, but if someone had to be called the ladies’ man, it was definitely Sullivan… At least before he met Florence.

That made Nathan well aware of his charm, of his knowledge with the right usage of his voice and body, yet it made him able to stick to his internal moral compass. He’d never cheat on the woman that he loved… Until he got to this pickle that was making him unable to sleep.
“Hi.” - The man said quietly, making the hostess smile as she put a strand of her hair behind her ear.
“Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?” - The woman asked sweetly, playing with one of the guestbook’s pages in front of her.
“I am supposed to meet an older man here, in his best years, with neatly cut hair and mustache. It’s also possible that he’s wearing some kind of a disgusting guayabera…” - Nate described, but then he giggled. - “Victor Sullivan.” - He disclosed, making the girl giggle too. To repay the joke, the woman smiled at him, leaning her head towards her shoulder.
“I suppose you’re Florence Carter, then?” - She asked, making Nathan chuckle as well. Looking through the guestbook swiftly, she found the table. - “The reservation was made by her yesterday.” - She explained, giving him the table number before she said her goodbye. Banters like that always made Nathan feel a bit better. He also was pretty positive about that young lady being attracted to him, but to be frank, he couldn’t care less; no woman could reach you in his eyes, especially the way you held him, kissed him, moaned for him, and the way you were being a best friend to him… Not even Elena could, he was afraid.

Sully was just as surprised to see Nathan there as the hostess; with his eyebrows risen, Sully put his paperback on the table, watching Nathan marching right to the table with vegetables in his arms. The older man was at least dressed appropriately, and he was looking sharp Nathan had to admit and caught off guard.
“Goddamn, kiddo.” - Sully sighed as Nathan set that bag down, sitting down on the other side of the table. - “What the hell are you doin’ here, huh?”
“Your gorgeous girlfriend bumped into me twenty minutes ago and stated that I look like trash, so she sent me here to talk to you. You can thank her later.”
“Looking at you…” - Sullivan straightened in the chair a bit, massaging his temples. Of course, she’d do that, that sounded exactly like his Flo. A few days ago, while Sully was watching a documentary about submarines, they were both sitting in the living room - he was splayed all over the couch while Florence was sitting at the dinner table with her laptop open in front of her. As she took her glasses off, she turned her head in Victor’s direction, telling him that she was worried about Nathan. He and Y/N used to spend basically every evening there and now, two weeks have passed without them being seen. Sully just hummed at that, not being too alarmed. And now he got exactly what he, at least according to Florence, deserved. - “She wasn’t wrong, yannow? She’s rarely wrong with this stuff. So what is it kiddo?” - The older man asked with concern, putting his palms on the table in front of him.

Nathan sat there, piercing his eyes through the table, trying to figure out what to tell Victor. And what would be the way to express all the fireworks and sudden fall that happened inside of him in the spawn of 12 hours - the evening you made love and the morning you told him you needed to take a breather. His mouth kept on opening and shutting close as he watched the luxurious plates in front of them, he started to furrow and the small wrinkle between his eyebrows came out… And with that, Sullivan knew something serious had happened.
Either Nathan found a new gig, or something bad happened to you or to El… Maybe Sam told him some bad news? Maybe Nathan got fired? Sullivan licked his lips and almost spoke out loud until a waiter interrupted this small moment.
“What can I get you?” - The young man asked, giving them each a menu. Nathan snapped back to reality, looking right at the waiter. - “Do you have any tequila?”
“Well, of course, sir. We have Patron, Sierra, Don Julio…”
“Give me five shots of the strongest one, thank you.” - Nathan ordered and gave the waiter back the menu. Victor was watching it all with serious concern; whatever this was supposed to mean, it was not a good sign. - “Oh, and a medium-rare steak with mashed potatoes, thank you very much.” - After Sully gave the man his order too, they both sat there in silence. Nathan needed the alcohol to speak out, so the issue was personal and he was ashamed of talking about it - even to Sullivan. Whatever happened, it shifted something deep inside of Nate, something that probably couldn’t be repaired easily.

Watching Nathan drink the shots one by one, in the spawn of a few minutes, was pretty impressive. Usually, it was Sully who was the drinker and party starter - so it was pretty interesting to see the roles reversed. Both men sat at the table in silence. Sully knew better than to pressure Nathan into telling him what was wrong. He needed his time ever since he was a teenager - he always came to consult Sully with his trouble in the end, no matter how much time he needed to encourage himself. But then, Nathan suddenly blurted it out.
“We did it. Me and Y/N.” - He said, exhaling out loud while leaning his back into the chair. His heart was in his throat, his eyes were all over the place and his cheeks started to warm up. To say that Victor was confused was an understatement - the man sat there with his lips opened, trying to figure out what the “it” exactly was. Usually, Victor had impressive intelligence to sense this sort of stuff, yet now, he was just confused. Florence would’ve known immediately, without doubt; but Victor didn’t have a single clue. - “You did… What exactly? Went to see a movie in the cinema, to Seaworld, or to the ZOO?”
“We drank and she decided to stay over, during that hurricane. And then we kissed and… I made love to her, Victor, I cheated on Elena with her.” - Nathan blurted out with desperation, not believing that those words left his mouth. After a moment, he continued. - “And I don’t regret a single thing about it, which is the part that terrifies me the most. I haven’t been that happy in such a long time, I haven’t felt this much love in… Years. It was like I wasn’t alone for that one night, she was there with me, kissed me and smiled at me… And I knew she was feeling the same about it. And when the morning came, I kinda told her I love her and she asked me for some space and hasn’t texted me since. I can’t get it out of my head. I guess I wouldn’t mind if she’d ask me to pretend it never happened just to be able to see her and talk to her again. Since Y/N disappeared, it feels like the world stopped. I’m not happy at my work, I feel more alone than ever. And I think nobody can help me now.”
“When did this happen, Nathan?”
“Two weeks ago.”

So Florence was right; something was off. And to be honest, Victor didn’t expect this at all.
He knew Nathan better than anyone on the entire planet - this man was loyal, loving, caring, and gentle. He’d never harm anyone’s feelings intentionally (at least of those whom he loved) since that was the kind of a guy Nathan simply was. Whatever Elena was doing, it deepened the trench between them, burying this marriage for good. Because if Nathan not only was fully in love with Y/N, but he also slept with her, his feeling for Elena had changed fundamentally.
“Nate…” - Sully sighed, watching the waiter walking to their table with both their meals ready, smiling at both gentlemen. Because of that, he smiled back and waited until they were alone again. - “Did you tell Elena?”
“How in hell am I supposed to tell her?” - Nathan hissed back, laughing unbelievably. - “Oh hey, I fell for this amazing woman and we kinda had sex. I feel like I can’t live without her, so can we, please, divorce?” - The man mocked him.
“I understand - this situation is fucked up, but you need to tell her. El is still your wife in the end. And the sooner you’ll tell her, the better. She’d understand, son, she’s smart and she will know somethin’ is wrong as soon as she opens the door to your apartment. If you don’t want to stay in that marriage anymore, you two need to talk.”
“I don’t think Elena loves me anymore either.” - Nate sighed, cutting off a piece of meat. Sullivan’s heart sank a bit deeper upon hearing those words. He was at their wedding, watching the two exchanging wows while looking each other deep in the eyes. Sully remembered Nathan asking about marriage advice a few months back, but he seriously didn’t think that the issues could be this intense and this deep. - “Hasn’t called me in a week, doesn’t send me any postcards anymore, no contact, nothing. I simply live in that flat with the ghost of her.”

This made Sullivan lean his back into the chair even harder. This explained a lot - it explained everything, every single smallest detail about Nate, his relationship to you, and how, in the name of God, had Nathan fallen for you as hard and quickly as he did. Sullivan understood.
The entire lunch, the two sat at the table while drinking tequila and scotch, trying to figure out at least a single piece of good advice. That day, Victor just sat there and let Nathan get it all out. He was there throughout the entire breakdown, he listened to how their issues started, how Nathan was desperately trying to fix everything for a long time, and just when he hit his low, you had entered his life… And how everything changed. But neither of them figured out the solution.

By 7 pm, Nathan was walking back to the apartment. In front of the door, he started to take his shoes off when he noticed it - the quiet rambling coming from inside, someone humming a song as they did the dishes. This made him physically sick - and as soon as he opened the door and smiled at Elena, his worst worries were confirmed in mere seconds. He felt his heart sinking and panic starting to take over him as all he recalled everything he and Sullivan talked about that evening. He was feeling sick, like he’s about to throw up.
Elena, his goddamn wife was back home, telling him all the amazing stories she had. And as soon as he opened the door, she gave him a heartwarming smile back as she was setting the dinner table.
The whole evening, she talked about everything that had happened in the past few months, describing Nathan every small detail. But she stopped herself all of a sudden, sipping the red wine out of her glass as she smiled at Nathan. - “I’m sorry, I got carried away - you’d really love Thailand. But tell me everything that happened here. How’s Frazer doing, and what about Cutter? And, of course, that new friend of yours… What is she like? That girl sounds like a really amazing person, you talked so highly about her.” - Elena asked with genuine interest, leaning her elbow into the table while watching the man. She was always like that when she got back home - talking about everything and being all over the place. The man usually loved the enthusiasm, but this time, it was really hard to even look her in the eyes after all that has happened. Nathan did his best to smile back at Elena without choking on his wine as he nodded, trying to figure out what in the fuck is he supposed to tell her. So… He did what he did best - rambled about nonsense.

“Y/N? Oh, you’d love her, without a doubt. You have a very similar sense of humor now that I think about it. She likes to go out and have fun, she’s easy-going and gentle. And smiles rather often, that makes one’s day better…”
“Wow.” - Elena sighed, smiling even more. At first, Nathan almost shat himself - he straightened, looking back at Elena nervously. - “I can’t believe I missed that when I was gone. Can we go on that double date you two planned? I’d love to meet her. Y/N sounds really great. Also… Were you joking about Victor and that young chick, or is that for real?”

And so, Nathan sent you the text while feeling his heart still sinking deeper and deeper.
And because of that, you sat on your couch with your phone in your palms while crying.