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writeonthrough · 2 months ago

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Namy Nuggets: A fanfic collection of interconnected one-shots of Amy and Nathan scenes from CBC's Heartland.

Nugget #1: Birch Tree Meeting Place

Amy slows Shadow down as she turns him from the spanning Heartland fields into a cluster of birch trees. The sound of the nearby brook babbling along calms her after she raced Shadow to arrive on time. She follows the curve of the brook further into the woodland until the water spreads into a small pond. As she dismounts, she spots the blanket laid out on mossy grass and the cowboy standing waiting for her.

“Hey,” she greets Nathan with a slight smile. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Aw,” he reaches for her. She enters his encircling arms. They kiss briefly. “You’re not late. I was early.”

Amy chuckles. “I’m pretty sure I was late. But you’re kind.”

“I try,” He releases her waist, slides his hand down her arm, and guides her to the blanket. He sits comfortably and Amy finds a seat on the blanket between his legs. She rests against his chest while his arms return to their place around her.

They sit for a minute, cuddling in silence, letting the sounds of the babbling brook and the two horses grazing fill the air.

“This is nice,” Amy confesses. “Heartland is so busy. So many people in the house. It nice to get a breather.”

“Too many people?” Nathan questions. “You’re so close with your big family and you’re such a natural with people. It seems like you enjoy being around people.”

“Oh, no,” she turns in his arms to face him. Though her expression is serious, Nathan catches her lighthearted tone. “More than once I’ve been accused of preferring horses to people.”

Nathan smiles into her neck. “Really?”

“Like often,” she emphasizes. “It’s people’s go-to insult about me.”

Nathan chuckles, squeezing her playfully and rocking her from side to side. “Their go-to insult?”

“Yes!” Amy exclaims. “You’d think people would stop after a while.”

“I wouldn’t take that as an insult.” Nathan shrugs. “I prefer horses to people.”

“Hmm, maybe that’s what I like about you,” Amy teases. “I couldn’t figure it out before—” Nathan teases her back with one more squeeze. She sits up in response, pulling away to look at him. “But now it’s clear. That must be the one thing we have in common.”

“The one thing?” He asks, raising his eyebrows.

“I don’t know anything else we have in common,” Amy continues to interplay between her serious and lighthearted tones. “It couldn’t be the ranching—your business is cattle and mine is horses. Those are totally different. It couldn’t be our social lives—You just have Molly to follow you around while I am constantly surrounded by people. So, obviously, I couldn’t possibly enjoy the quiet. Our families are in direct competition with each other and probably would not be happy if they found us here together.” Nathan’s smile fades at her last comment, but she continues, “I mean, all this time we’ve been hanging out, I had no idea what I liked about you.”

“Is that what we’re doing?” Nathan turns serious. He searches her gaze. She notices the vulnerability in his eyes. “Hanging out?”

Amy takes a deep breath and grows somber in his arms. She ducks his gaze by leaning back against his chest. Nathan adjusts his position around her, but only finds comfort again when she speaks. “Hanging out is what we started off doing in our open adjoining fields. Now that we’ve found this new beautiful spot hidden in the middle of these birch trees, I don’t know what I’d say we’re doing.”

“Hmm,” Nathan withholds any further reply. He chooses instead to trace her arm up and down with his fingers and bury his chin in the curve of her neck.

“Whatever we’re doing, it’s important to me.” Amy nuzzles against him. “You’ve made me feel things I haven’t felt in years.” She brings a palm to his cheek and turns him to her. “I’m in this, Nathan.”

He matches her intensity and sincerity as he promises her, “Me too.” He strokes her face with his thumb, bringing her closer. “To all of it.”

Before Amy can respond, Nathan leans down to capture her lips. She meets his kiss with enthusiasm, raising her fingers to the nape of neck and into his hair to pull him closer. His hand lowers from her cheek and wraps around the small of her back. Their kiss deepens and their surroundings disappear. The sounds of babbling brook, the crickets hidden in grass, and the horses’ tails whipping the flies away all fade away as they embrace.

Nathan pulls back first. Amy gives him a kiss on the cheek before returning to rest against his chest. His hand returns to her cheek as she gives him a small smile.

He hesitates before speaking. “As much as I love it, here, with you,” his arm lowers to her shoulder. She searches his face, anticipating his point. “We can’t hide out here forever.”

“I thought you wanted to keep things between us,” Amy responds thoughtfully.

“I do,” he assures her. “I do. I just want to be sure on we’re on the same page before someone somehow figures it out.”

“Okay. That’s fair,” She reflects for a moment. “I think we’re on the same page here. I mean we just said we’re in this—together, right?”

“Yeah,” He strokes her arm in reassurance. “We are.”

“Okay, so?” She turns back to him, waiting for him to explain further. When he doesn’t, she offers. “Things don’t have to change, Nathan.” Amy reassures him. “We can still meet here.”

“Amy,” he says softly. “We can’t keep meeting here every day and then pretending we barely know each other around our families.”

“Okay,” Amy catches the slight edge to his words. “And would you like that to change? Because,” she keeps a neutrality to her voice, hoping to sound curious rather than accusatory, “Last time we talked about it, you didn’t.”

“It was a mutual decision,” Nathan corrects her.

“Okay,” Amy nods in his reply. “And now it’s not?”

“No. Yes.” He detangles this bodies and throws his arms in air. “I don’t know.” He plants his hands behind him and leans back. “I don’t know how much longer we can keep hiding this. And I don’t know how we’re going to start to being seen together—”

“Oh, there’s no starting.” Amy interrupts, “Once one person in my family knows, everyone is going to know—”

“Yeah,” Nathan nods. “Kind of my point here.”

“Okay…” Amy repeats herself again, still trying to figure out what he wanted. “So…do you want to start telling people?”

“No,” he tries to speak seriously. “I don’t want to tell people. What I want is for people to know we’re together without having to explain or defend anything to anyone.”

“Ah. Very admirable goal,” Amy smiles, repositioning herself across from him. “Good luck with that.”

“Yeah,” he laughs. “That’s what I thought.”

“There’s probably a middle ground,” Amy offers, hesitating slightly. “Where we don’t have to be as private about it and we don’t say anything either.” She notices him perk up at the idea. “But people are going to start asking questions sooner or later.”

“So, we ease into it,” He leans forward. “I kind of like that.”

“There’s no guarantee it’ll work, through,” she warns. “One person could catch something right away and the inquires could come on as an onslaught.”

“Yeah,” he agrees with a nod. “They could.”

For a moment, they sit in silence, letting the magnitude of the change in their relationship and the change in their decisions about it sit between them.

Amy scoots closer to him. She extends her leg out so her foot nudges his leg in reassurance. “As long as we know we’ll get through it together, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Together,” he leans forward for a kiss. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Good,” Amy settles it.

“So…” Nathan imagines being around her whole family this coming weekend. “What does that mean for the cattle drive tomorrow?”

“Oh,” Amy starts seriously. She crosses her legs on the blanket, sitting up straighter. “I’m not going on the cattle drive.”

“What?” He retreats in surprise. “Why? Is it Lyndy?”

“No, no. Lyndy is coming with me,” Amy points across the field. “I’m doing a horse clinic. I’ll be gone most of the day.”

“Oh,” Nathan quiets in reflection. “I thought you’d be there tomorrow. I was looking forward to it.”

“You’ll just have to tolerate my dad and grandpa without me,” Amy smiles, “Sorry.”

“You’re leaving me to the wolves, huh?”

She chuckles. “Lou will be there. It shouldn’t be that bad.”

“It just…” he searches for something to say. “It won’t be the same without you.”

“It’ll be fine,” she promises. She uncrosses her legs, “Speaking of tomorrow, I actually have to go prep some things,” she stands and brushes off. “I wish I could stay…”

“No, no,” Nathan stands after her, “I should go too.” When she steps off the blanket, he tugs it up and rolls it together.

Amy starts to mount Shadow, but then turns back to him, her long hair flipping around her. “Umm…” she reaches for him and he steps into her arms. “Thanks for the people break.”

He smiles, “Anytime.” He leans in for a kiss and she meets him a final time, stroking his cheek as she does so. “I’ll see you later.”

“See you,” she promises. She looks at him once more before turning and mounting Shadow, riding off, out of their birch tree-covered hideaway.

#heartland #namy #amy x nathan #amy fleming #nathan price #namy nuggets #i wrote this series over the summer #i hope someone enjoys it #if you do-feel free to reach out and fangirl with me #namy made me so happy this summer #i hope they make someone else happy too

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