Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis.

and they are nine

A nine year old KT sighed under the shade of her favorite oak tree. Her favorite book, The Giving Tree, was clutched in her right hand as she sat down on the dewy grass and closed her eyes. She loved coming to Britain to visit her aunt during the summer, but there was no one to do anything with here and after a while, it got really boring. Her Aunt Pamela had often joked that her best friend was the oak tree, and most times, KT had silently agreed. It wasn't that she wasn't sociable- she was, or at least she would be if there were any other nine year olds on the block to be sociable with.

KT opened the front cover, reciting the words under her breath as she reached the first page. She had memorized this book a while ago, but she still loved reading it. Maybe she was a bit too old, but it's not like anybody would really take notice of her here anyways. Under the oak tree was her private spot, as in nobody came there, as in-

"Hello?"

Her head whipped up at the sound of somebody's voice. KT stood up and put the book down, looking around carefully, unsure of whether to go inside or investigate. She couldn't see the owner of the voice anywhere.

Then, a huff from the other side and a brief glimpse of a pale boy, "Hello?"

KT coughed in surprise- that…that voice belonged to a kid. More importantly, it was high pitched and squeaky, signifying that it couldn't be one of the older boys in town.

"Hello?" she said carefully, approaching the fence and peeking through a hole. The fence had rotted away so there was a hole as big as her eye where she could see the neighbor's backyard. KT had never made it a point to look through, since she felt weird and creepy when she did, but this boy was obviously trying to get her attention.

"Um, hi," the boy breathed, crouching down to the hole just like her. Their eyes locked, brown on dark blue, and KT waited. "I'm, um, new. I just saw you…and…" the boy looked down for a moment and then stared back through the hole. He seemed shy as he spoke again, "And I, uh…never mind." He moved to back away and KT's eyes widened. This was the first time she had talked to someone her age in weeks, and now he was leaving. She wanted to call out, but it seemed inappropriate considering she didn't know him.

"There's a new boy," KT informed once she went back inside the house, book safely tucked under her arm. "We should go say hi, don't you think?" Her aunt nodded eagerly, muttering something about a welcome basket before heading towards the kitchen. KT grinned and looked down at The Giving Tree- maybe, just this one summer, she'd have something else besides this.

Someone else besides an oak tree and a book.

It was a comforting thought.

"Hello, Andrea!" KT's Aunt Pamela chirped as she held out her hurriedly put together welcome basket. Andrea Rutter, the young and unmarried twenty-eight year old on the street that KT always saw the older boys whistle it- why, she didn't know- greeted them and ushered them in.

"Pamela," KT looked elsewhere as her aunt and Ms. Rutter conversed, trying to spot the boy. Maybe he was hiding? She peered down at her book and hugged it closer for comfort, hoping that she and the boy could become friends. To do that, however, he had to come out and see her first.

"Ms. Rutter," KT interrupted, smiling. "I saw someone my age in your backyard earlier-"

"Fabian!" Ms. Rutter beamed. "Oh, yes, he's my nephew, would you like to meet him? He's probably in his room, first door to the left." KT nodded shyly and Pamela gave her an encouraging nod, so she stood up and headed towards the stairs. She had been in Ms. Rutter's house before, but today it felt different. So she held her book just a little tighter and marched up the stairs, pushed forward by the prospect that maybe Fabian would like her and they could have that nice boy-girl friendship she'd always dreamed of, and they would spend the summer under oak trees.

"Come in," Fabian called, and KT stepped into the room and gave him a small wave. Fabian's eyes widened at the sight of her and she ignored how sweaty her hands were from holding her book so tight. "H-hi."

"Hi, I'm KT Rush," she introduced herself, inconspicuously wiping her hands on her jeans and outstretching a hand. "I'm your neighbor. Well, okay, no I'm not, I'm visiting my aunt just like you are probably, but you know what I'm saying." She gave him an expectant smile and even though it took a moment, Fabian suddenly rose and grasped her hand, giving it a firm shake. Maybe too firm, considering it felt like her arm was being ripped off, but she looked past it.

"I-I'm Fabian, Fabian Rutter."

"I saw you in your backyard," she grinned, loosening her grip on the book.

"Er, right, yes," Fabian blushed and looked down, to his shoes and his hands and his bed and everything but her eyes. KT frowned slightly- did he not want to talk to her? She was a fairly likable person, right? "Sorry about that."

"No, it's fine," KT assured. "Did you…did you just get here?"

"No," Fabian shook his head. "I've been here for two weeks, I just don't go outside."

"Oh. Right." An awkward silence fell over the two and KT thought about bidding him goodbye, because he obviously didn't want to talk to her and she was embarrassing herself-

"The Giving Tree?" Fabian raised an eyebrow and pointed to her book. "That's a good book."

"It's the best," KT enthused, taking the book and setting it down on his bed. "You like it?"

Fabian took a seat on the edge of his bed and patted the bedspread in a sign of invitation. KT grinned- showing him her book had seemed to open him up in a way, and she set it down between them and opened to the first page.

"I can recite it by memory," she beamed proudly, and Fabian looked impressed as he combed through the pages, familiarizing himself with the story once more. "I usually read it under the oak tree in my Aunt Pamela's yard."

Fabian nodded as he handed the book back to her and smiled, "Isn't it a sad book though?"

"Well, yeah," KT shrugged. "But not everything can be perfect, can it? I don't really believe in magic." Fabian chuckled a bit at the statement and KT started talking again. "We could be friends, maybe. If you want to.

"But we both have to go home when summer ends," Fabian frowned.

"So?" KT asked. "We'll meet up the next summer, and then the summer after that, and the summer after that-"

"Okay," he cut her off and outstretched his hand. It wasn't a rude interruption though- he looked shy and awkward and adorable. "Friends. You're the first friend I've ever had," he confessed, and KT frowned. It was making her unhappy that he was unhappy.

"Well, friend," she patted his back. "First order of business: you have to meet my oak tree. He was the one keeping me company before you."

and they are fifteen

A fifteen year old Fabian Rutter looked over at his best friend as they sat under the shade of an oak tree. She was reading a book- not The Giving Tree, as she had when they were younger, but a thicker book and he himself was supposed to be reading too. They had both agreed their school assigned summer reading would be better in each other's company, but something about KT distracted him to the point where he almost wished he was alone in his room so that he could be productive.

"KT?" he muttered shyly, and she cocked an eyebrow and looked up. It was now or never, right? He had liked her for two years now, and maybe this would be the perfect time to say it. The weather was nice, the birds were fluttering, and they were under her favorite oak tree. "Say there's a guy."

KT furrowed her eyebrows and Fabian continued. "And he likes a girl. But he's not quite sure if she likes him back-"

"Fabian, are we talking about you?" KT chuckled. "Who's the girl?"

Fabian scratched the back of his neck and tapped his foot against the grass. "You," he whispered before looking up. "KT, I want to be more than best friends."

and they are eighteen

And then it was summer after senior year, and KT and Fabian were going strong and to the same college. She traced a finger over the trunk of the oak tree, where, as clichéd couples do, they had carved their initials in a heart. (Or at least they tried to- it wasn't that definite.)

And Fabian, ever so sweet, grasped her hand and swung it as they walked around the backyard. "You know," he said. "That oak tree's like our giving tree. It gave us a beginning."

And KT nodded before laughing, "You make it sound like some kind of princess story, like the tree magically came to life and granted us powers."

"I thought you didn't believe in magic?" he teased, nudging her.

"I don't," KT stuck her tongue out and Fabian looked down shyly, reminiscent of the first time they properly met.

"You should," he said with finality.

"Why?"

"Because you are magic," he smiled warmly and KT bit back a grin. "You are magic, KT."

And he repeats the same words when he places a ring on her finger.

And KT bites back the same wide grin.