It was hard to focus on not over-seasoning sauce while simultaneously trying to run through the many directions an upcoming conversation might go. When that dreaded conversation was centered around explaining an unexpected child to a girlfriend, there felt like infinite possibilities, and many of them did not end positively.

Nate missed when he was a liar. Things felt easier then.

He might have been living at the Mansion now, but his quarters as a teacher were more than adequate. Staff housing was more accommodating than student dorms, which was fair since they were the first line of defense when a mutant child had a nightmare and accidentally set a room on fire. His cooking space was more of a kitchenette, but it would do just fine to prepare a simple pasta dinner.

Nate had known about his daughter Norah for some time now, and if he waited any longer to break the news to Sarah, that would only be one more suspicious thing for him to explain. Dinner seemed like the best way to introduce a difficult conversation, (even if he ignored that the last time he did that, it was the anniversary dinner where his relationship with Quin ended.)

Sarah would be coming by to the Mansion soon, and security was given the heads up to allow her entry as his guest. While he waited, all Nate could do was tend to his sauce, the meatballs, and the pasta, while preparing himself for best-case and worst-case scenarios. At least Norah was not the product of an affair, right? Instead she was a product of his mysterious criminal backstory.

…Okay, so the worst-case scenarios were only looking worse and worse the more time he had to consider them. Nate eyed his door again, waiting to hear the knock so he could move from trial runs to the real deal.

While somewhat excited about the evening, Sarah was also rather nervous. She and Nate had a good thing four years ago. At least she thought so. She thought so then and apparently he had thought so too. But the artist couldn't stop the small worries. She knew they had both changed during those years he was in prison. (Which was still something she could barely wrap her head around) The real question was if those changes had made so much impact that they wouldn't work as a couple. She knew she wasn't as happy-go-lucky as she had been. Her father's stroke and subsequent death were hard on her whole family. But did that really mean she shouldn't at least give this a chance?

Shaking her head, the brunette greeted the security of the school. These were not thoughts she should be thinking right before going to have dinner with Nate. Shoving them away, she moved a bit quicker to her destination.

Which was Nate's room. Because he was apparently making dinner for them. Which was both a nice treat and a little worrying. She couldn't remember a time he had done something like this before. But again, they've both changed.

And how much did she really know Nate? She had been completely blown away by his dis- and then reappearance and the reasons for it. She knew she hadn't scratched the surface of who the man really was. Or even had been. He was good with children. She had seen that years ago. The students had loved him on their field-trip. Though, he was their art teacher. She couldn't think of a time she hadn't liked her art teachers.

A set of running feet and laughter drew Sarah from her thoughts. Whoops. She peeked around to see if anyone had caught her just standing outside Nate's door. It didn't look like it. Shaking her head, at herself and the last thoughts, she knocked to let him know she was here.

"Hey," she greeted when the door opened. "Sorry if I'm late."

Nate was just finishing adding sauce to the pasta and the homemade meatballs when a knock came at the door. His heart sank, which was the wrong thing for it to do when his girlfriend was at the door. He was dealing with nerves, which was to be expected. He just had to get through this, and surely, they would be fine on the other end of everything.

Walking through his Mansion apartment, Nate gave little thought to how bare the place seemed now. Much of what he owned had already been moved over to the apartment he would be moving to in Haven, once Haden finalized his approval for transfer. The move was, naturally, another thing he had yet to tell Sarah about. In light of his other news, it did not even occur to him to mention.

Opening the door, Sarah greeted him with a smile, which he returned. She was as lovely as ever, and it felt like ages since they had the time to even see each other again. ”You’re right on time, hun.” He leaned in and kissed her, and it was sweet, but there was a moment of apprehension in his body, like he was not sure if he deserved to kiss her yet until he came clean. ”Come in, please.”

Leading her into the space, Nate returned to the kitchen area to start plating some pasta for the both of them. There was no sense in talking before bringing the food out; last time he tried that, he was left with an anniversary dinner he had no taste for. ”It’s nice to see you again. Feels like we never get the chance to do this anymore.” Sarah was busy being one of the hot new names in art, which came with events and commitments. Nate, meanwhile, was splitting his time between art, teaching, Haven business, and a secret child he had yet to tell her about.

Wow. It sounded so much worse when he thought of it like that.

Sarah smiled and returned the kiss Nate offered. Though she was a little stiff. The brunette chose to ignore the fact he looked as nervous as she felt. It was good to see him. They hadn't had time together in a few weeks.

She smiled more as he mentioned the same thing. "It has been awhile. How's everything been?" she asked, taking a brief look around before he came back with dinner. "And what happened to all your stuff? Moving rooms on me?" she joked.

It really did look bare. Which was strange since she was pretty sure he was still on probation. Not that they often talked about the whole 'left-a-note-before-going-to-prison' event and subsequent events. She wondered if that was a bad thing. Did the fact they avoided the topic mean something?

Probably. But Sarah really didn't want to look deeper into that. She was here to enjoy an evening with Nate and that's what she was going to do. Her thoughts could just go away for the night.

Nate’s eyes went wide when he realized the news he had accidentally withheld from Sarah. She was curious about the state of his apartment. He had spent the past hour preparing the Norah news, and exactly no time thinking of how to best explain his impending move.

”Right. About that. So you know I’ve been doing work on behalf of Haven lately.” He had the wherewithal to fill her in on that, at least. ”Well, Devon is arranging to have my residential custody moved over to the apartments in Haven Headquarters. I’m… kinda in the process of moving.” Surprise! Hell, not even his biggest surprise, meaning he was off to a great start.

Dropping the news on Sarah brought back the unfortunate realization of what he did to her years earlier. His intentions were “noble” in his eyes at the time, but in hindsight, he was selfish. He should have told her who he was and what he was doing. It was cruel to leave without giving her any closure, deciding what she should or should not know. His new life was about the truth, right?

Nate poured two glasses of wine, knowing they might be necessary soon. ”I’ll definitely show you the new place when I’m officially moved,” he assured her. ”How has the rising star of the art world been?” He was not rushing to get to his news, and he wanted the night to be about more than just his bombshells. Hopefully, he could lessen the blow of his news… somehow.

Sarah was glad she had taken a seat before Nate had answered her (completely joking!) question. Because...

Moving...

If she remembered right, Haven would be... closer. But by the looks of it he was in the final stages of moving. And she was just now finding out. Because she had made a joke.

>>”How has the rising star of the art world been?”

"Good," she answered honestly and without really thinking, "Just a little... stunned right now. How long have you known you were moving?" Green eyes slammed shut as she realized she probably didn't want to know the answer to that. Then again, maybe she did. She knew they had been a little distant with everything going on but... she bit her lip to keep the next question from popping out. 'Were you going to tell me?' That would not help right now.

Nate placed the plates of pasta down on the table, but they suddenly seemed way less relevant or important now. He had hoped to get dinner started before they stumbled into heavier conversations, but was that honestly possible at this point? Sarah forced his hand by reminding him about his move. It would only seem more questionable if he tried to sidestep this argument only to bring up a greater one after dinner.

If they were going to get everything out in the open, now was the time.

Sarah’s reaction to the news of him moving was one of shell-shock. That did not bode well. The tone she used when she asked how long he had known about the move was telling. She did not want to know how long he knew; she wanted to know how long he kept this from her.

Honesty was important, but that did not make it easy or enjoyable. ”A few weeks,” he admitted, wincing slightly as the words left his lips. ”It hasn’t been in the forefront of my mind. I’ve been so busy, it’s become an afterthought.” That was also true.

How did he broach the topic he knew came next? He took a steadying breath; panic would not help him here. ”I’ve still got the Mansion, and my volunteer-work at Sanctuary, my own art, and my work at Haven,” which he always kept vague when talking to Sarah. It was hard to explain exactly what he did at Devon’s corporation without flat-out lying. Those things alone would have kept him busy enough to warrant forgetting about the move (or telling Sarah about it.)

”And… a few weeks ago, I also had a bombshell dropped on me. And I would have told you sooner, but I needed to know things were going to work.” It would have been harder telling Sarah about Norah, only for Natalie to decide he should not be in his daughter’s life. ”We’ve both been busy, and this had to be face-to-face.”