Tonight had been a night for working late, due to both Nathan's caseload and the impending wedding derailing his attention during the day. All told, ti wasn't as obnoxious as his mother and Heidi's mother had made their 'formal' wedding, but it was still time-intensive because of the short length of the planning period. Before heading to bed, he ventured downstairs to snag another cup of coffee, but what – or rather, who – he found in the kitchen was much better.
He had known Annie was here, but it had been certainly hectic with one thing or another and he hadn't been able to set aside time to see here. Since she was awake at this hour, it seemed the perfect. He cleared his throat to announce his presence, waiting for the inevitable hiding of her face when she realized she wasn't alone – at least until she figured out who it was, he hoped.
Hi, Annie. Mental communication was as effortless as breathing now after the time spent sharing his mind with Peter, and he had always known she understood that far better, even if she couldn't respond is mental words or many spoke words. On one hand was the impulse to scoop her up, teenager or not, and hug her tightly to make up for the time she had been gone. On the other hand was knowledge backed by experience, which meant he would let her come to him this time. But just this time.