Within the Script (A Stanathan Fanfiction)

Chapter Nine: Breaking Out

"Come on, I'm ready," Nathan groaned from his wheel chair. After another 24 hour observation period, Nathan was finally cleared by his doctors, put on restrictive bed rest and had the best volunteer nurses ever. Molly had no projects, and "The Tourist" had an "understudy" for Stana, who neither needed the money nor wanted to give up being there for him for just a simple movie role. As ready as Nathan was to get out, goofing off in his wheelchair like a child, Molly wasn't quite ready to let him out the door, and Stana wouldn't keep Molly from asking her questions.

As Molly questioned the doctor, Stana stood against the wall and watched Nathan continue to be a two year old with a smile on her face. He rolled about, wheeling one wheel back and forth as he pouted, staring at his feet as he beat the canvas tennis shoes together. "My feet are going numb," he stated, "I've been sitting here for too long."

"Nathan, you've been sitting there for maybe two minutes," Stana claimed, "There is no way that in two minutes the chair put your feet to sleep when a week in bed didn't."

Nathan then looked up with a boyish smile over his face. "Maybe I just didn't have a reason to move then."

"Maybe you're just being a baby," Stana teased from the wall. Molly then joined the pair with the doctor and the four of them made their way to Molly's father's car, which Molly had borrowed to take Nathan home in. Once they were at his loft, the ride had partially tuckered out the man child and he had lost interest in speaking too much. As per his request, Stana pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped a picture of Molly and him on the couch so he could tweet a "Home, Sweet Home" tweet.

As soon as he was set and comfortable on the couch, she poured him a glass of water and gave him the first wave of pills the doctor had prescribed for pain and another to ward off infection. He weakly took them, and once he was finished, she slumped down on the floor in front of him as Molly cuddled up to his uninjured side.The three tossed in a movie and watched until the two on the couch crashed. Looking up to the pair behind her, Stana rolled her eyes. She knew at this point, a tsunami couldn't wake Molly, so she took the chance and adjusted the young girl to lay opposite Nathan on the other side of the couch to relieve pressure from his left side. She then propped a pillow on the other end and guided Nathan's half-conscious self into the pillow. Finally they were taken care of.

Stana then lifted herself onto the arm of the chair near the corner of the couch, watching the pair sleep. A thought then crossed into her mind, and she couldn' resist. She snapped a picture of the two of them, laying there, both asleep and precious as always, then tweeted it. "Like TV father, like TV daughter. They had a long night."

Immediately, as always, replies began pouring in, but she didn't much care. She was too caught up in watching Nathan sleep so sound and so adorably. It wasn't as though she hadn't seen either of these two sleep before. Molly, when truly exhausted and not filming, occasionally slept in her trailer or on set somewhere for a while before she was needed. And Nathan hadn't been completely innocent of napping on set after certain sleepless nights, but to be honest, she had only really ever seen him deeply asleep in the hospital for the last few weeks. But this time was different. This time, she couldn't stop watching his peaceful expression as he laid there, finally at home, finally at rest, finally completely safe... aside from the drugs and fragile state. Still, it was better than him being in the hospital.

Knowing she couldn't leave, she made herself comfortable in her chair and began scrolling twitter, wishing she was doing something active. With nothing better to do,  no other options available, Stana paced while opening a good book on her phone. As the words on the page began to sooth her need for motion, she was slowly lulled into comfort as she took her seat at his bar stool. By the time Nathan raised his head, she had nearly soothed herself to sleep.

"You look exhausted," he told her, head raised as he watcher her sit alone.

She looked up from the phone and weerily told him, "I didn't realize you were awake."

"I wasn't," he replied with a grin.

"Do you need anything? Water? Tea? Are you in pain?"

"I'm fine."

"You should probably be taking your pain meds again," she stated, looking down at her watch with concern in her eyes.

Nathan smiled, "Stana, relax. I'm not in pain and they said I shouldn't take it if I didn't feel like I needed it."

"Are you sure?"

He knew she wouldn't believe him if he didn't prove it. For her benefit, he lifted himself off the couch, struggling to stand, forcing himself to find balance, all the while holding a bright smile on his lips. While he struggled, she darted toward him, rushing his way to help support him. "See? I'm fine," Nathan insisted.

Her hands were still on his sides. "Nathan, sit down."

He again swore, "I'm fine!"

"Come on," Stana stated sternly, amused by his actions, "Sit down. You're going to hurt yourself."

He smiled and shook his head as he remained standing. "You really are being overly cautious. I'm fine."

"Nathan, you were beaten, smashed in the head at least three times. You forgot who you were. I'm not going to risk it," she explained passionately. He saw the deep severity in her eyes and suddenly understood why she was being so protective. He sighed and gave in, entirely for her sake as he slowly lowered himself into his seat. "Now, do you want something to eat or drink?"

His eyes gleamed as he told her, "No, I'm fine. I'd rather see you sit down and relax a little."

"I was almost asleep twenty seconds ago," she answered. He just watched her eyes, not letting a single word fly from his lips. As he stared into her, he flet any tension in his body go complete numb. For some reason, her gaze seemed new again. It was as though he was back to season one, back when just seeing her smile and hearing her laugh could make him melt for her. Her hazel gaze, currently that golden bronze that was always so gorgeous, encased him and held him close, comforting him like no other had before. For a moment, he pondered the thought of returning to their hospital activities. His eyes flashed to her lips and back to her eyes. The action didn't go unnoticed.

Stana immediately stood, saying nothing more than, "I'm kind of thirsty." She didn't want to actually think about the action he'd took. He was her friend, and that was it. She wasn't going to do anything that could potentially put the show at risk. No, she couldn't give in to that entrancing crystal gaze. She couldn't just change the course of their friendship or risk the show simply because he was making her heart race just by looking at her. She wouldn't do anything to risk their relationship. Nathan was just- confused. He was still caught up in the delusion. He was drugged up and still not fully back to normal. No, they had to go back to being normal and taking advantage of him in this state would be wrong, no matter how much the thought of him wanting her made her weak in the knees.

With her back turned to him, however, she didn't see him watch her as she walked away. She didn't see the pain in his eyes as he assumed she wasn't interested. She didn't see how much he wanted to stand up and tell her flat out that he wanted her. With her back turned to him, she missed his desire, the same desire she held for him.