So I spontaneously wrote this oneshot and decided to share it with you guys!
Disclaimer: I was very inspired by chapter 12 of Newtina By Night by Bellarsam Chrisjulittle on this very site (an amazing story - it's a collection of Newtina oneshots for every day of the month of June and IT'S GIVING ME LIFE). I have messaged the author and they have agreed to let me publish this oneshot because it does use the same basic plot idea.
Sorry if anyone is out of character but this was too good for me not to write.
Enjoy!
"Lumos."
A soft glow emanated from the end of Tina's wand. She hadn't meant to fall asleep – all she was doing was reading in bed while she waited for Newt to finish his writing. She hadn't dared disturb him – the deadline for the book's third edition was in a few days and he'd been very stressed about it for the last week despite claiming that he wasn't a worrier.
The light from the end of her wand illuminated the face of her alarm clock next to the bed. It was well past three in the morning. "Wow, I must have been tired." she muttered to herself. Instinctively she turned to face where she would normally find her husband lying next to her. When she found the bed empty, like she had done on so many other nights this week, she sighed, put her wand out, placed it back on the bedside and got up. This needed to stop – he was going to kill himself out of exhaustion. She understood that he was under pressure, but he was also barely sleeping. Some nights he wouldn't come to bed until 4am, and would then be up at 6am to feed the creatures. He kept saying he was fine, but Tina could see the dark circles under his eyes and repeatedly caught him yawning when he thought she wasn't watching.
She made her way into the one place she knew he would be – the case. He liked to sit at the desk in the shed with the door open and claimed that this helped him write. She didn't even bother knocking, like she normally would when he was working. His actions over the last week had finally tipped her over the edge enough to throw politeness out the window.
He glanced up very slightly at her as she stepped down from the ladder into the case, evidently surprised that she didn't knock. That should've told him that something was wrong. Without saying a word Tina crossed the shed and shut the door before turning to face her husband of nearly two years. Now he stopped, put his quill down and turned to look at her. "What did you do that for? You know that helps me write." There was an edge to his tone.
Tina decided to be nice to begin with. "Honey, do you know what the time is?" she asked gently, starting to walk towards him.
"Yes." He answered sharply.
"Then why haven't you come up to bed?" Tina pretended not to notice his tone.
"I just needed to finish this chapter…it's proving to be longer than I thought." This time he wasn't quite as sharp, but there was still an edge to his voice.
"Newt, this needs to stop. It's not good for you to keep staying up so late."
He laughed incredulously. "You're a fine one to talk."
Tina paused for a second. Of course, he was right. She had stayed up until some ungodly hour finishing putting together a case file or writing up a mission on far too many occasions. But she stopped doing that when she'd found out that she was pregnant three months ago – depriving herself of sleep so often would surely not be good for the baby. But his incredulous tone was maddening. "Yes, but I haven't done it for several months now, have I? Because, you know, I'm pregnant with your child?" she finally snapped, and silently regretted it.
"Yes, Tina, I am perfectly aware of that fact. But my staying up late isn't doing anything to the baby, is it?"
Tina groaned audibly, "That's not the point! The point is you're killing yourself – and I understand that you're stressed, but depriving yourself of sleep is not going to make it any better!"
"And you would know, would you?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I would. I didn't stop just because of the baby. I also stopped because it was not helping my work stress."
"That's you, not me."
"I haven't noticed you getting any less stressed over the last week. All I've noticed is that you're more tired than usual. So evidently this," she gestured towards his desk, "isn't working."
Tina could tell she was starting to get to him, but the thing about Newt was that he was the most irritatingly stubborn man Tina had ever met. Which, combined with the fact that she was also very stubborn, had the potential to lead to fights like this. "Tina, I'm fine." he insisted, "If I don't finish this on time…"
"They'll cut your contract, I know! You keep on saying that – it's almost like you care more about selling books and getting money than any other aspects of your life. Such as, you know, me. And the baby." Once Tina started she couldn't stop. She'd been keeping this to herself for so long it all just came tumbling out.
"Tina, you're being ridiculous."
"Oh, I'm being ridiculous? I'm not the one working myself to the brink of exhaustion while my wife deals with everything else whilst carrying a literal human being!" She paused for a moment before continuing, "It's just selfish, Newt! I am putting up with my own workload, cooking, cleaning, shopping and carrying a baby while my husband does nothing to help me - because his work is apparently more important. I'm sick of it!" She was practically screaming at him now, and tears had started to escape from her eyes.
"Tina-" he started, standing up and slowly walking toward her.
She could see that his expression had changed from determined to win the argument to softer and more apologetic, but she was too angry to care. "No. I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear any more excuses. I'm going back to bed - you stay down here if you want and work yourself until you collapse. See if I care!" With that she climbed up the ladder and out of the case, slamming it shut behind her, before he had a chance to say another word.
As she climbed back into bed Tina could not shake the feeling of guilt for just screaming at him like that. She had plainly seen that he'd given up, and was about to apologise, but had just continued her tirade anyway. While she felt guilty, though, she also still had that part of her that told her he deserved it. This small part of her conscience was what stopped her going back into the case and apologising.
A few moments passed and before long she felt him slide into bed next to her and put his arms around her. She had half a mind to push him away, but didn't. Instead she turned over and glared at him half-heartedly. It was through doing this that she noticed that he was now shirtless, and the sight of his beautifully toned and freckled but scarred torso was enough to cause any shred of anger she had left to dissipate. But this in itself was also maddening. She loosely wrapped her arms around his neck and groaned again, "Why can I never stay mad at you for more than ten minutes?"
To her surprise he grinned cheekily. "I could ask you the same question."
Well someone's changed his tune. "What, that you can't stay mad at me or that you want to know why I can't stay mad at you?"
"Both."
When she paused he just continued to grin at her. "Come on. Why can't you stay mad at me? Because I'm obviously incredibly selfish..."
She smiled a little and raised a hand from his neck to lightly punch him in the shoulder. "Shut up!"
"I will when you tell me why you can't stay mad at me."
"How about you tell me first?"
"No."
"Yes."
"No. Or do I have to tickle it out of you?" he was starting to laugh now. "Don't forget I know all your weak spots." He leaned toward her as if to prove his point.
She giggled and lightly pushed him away, "Hey, you're supposed to be careful with me."
"Oh come on, Tina. When has this," he tickled the back of her neck – her main weak spot - causing her to squeal and instinctively lean her head back onto his hand, "ever been something you can't do to a pregnant woman?"
He continued to tickle her neck until she gave in – which didn't take long. Giggling, she pushed him away again, "Okay, okay."
He moved back to look at her again. "Well?"
She smiled. "This is gonna sound super corny, but it's because I love you too much. Everything about you is just…perfect. Yes, you're stubborn and frustratingly disorganised and untidy, but you're also the most wonderfully kind, hardworking and loyal man I've ever met." She paused for a second to cup his face, and she felt him lean into her hand. She smirked, "Not to mention you have the most amazing accent and are very nice to look at." She let her hand drop onto his chest and started to trace his scars.
The beginnings of a smirk began to creep across his features. "Is that so?"
She murmured her agreement, continuing to trace the scars lacing his torso. After a few moments she started to press gentle kisses to his neck and along his shoulders.
In response to this he gently ran his fingers through her hair. "I take it I'm forgiven then?"
Tina looked up. She'd momentarily forgotten their fight only minutes before. Then she grinned at him, "You haven't apologised yet."
He smirked. "How's this for an apology?" he asked before leaning down and kissing her deeply. She responded immediately and ran her fingers through his hair, which, as it always did, caused a sound like a cross between a purr and a growl to escape his throat. She pulled slowly away, giggling breathlessly. "Apology accepted. And that," she said, indicating his response to her hands in his hair, "is another reason why I can't stay mad at you."
He simply laughed in response, shushed her and kissed her again, only for her to pull away soon after. He glared down at her indignantly and she laughed before going serious. "In all seriousness, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I guess you could say I've been feeling your stress and my own."
He moved one hand from her hair and cupped her face. "Apology accepted, but I'm so sorry you felt like that."
"So you should be." she said seriously but then smiled again, "No more late nights. Promise?"
"What do you call this then?" he chuckled.
She laughed, immediately knowing what he meant. "Oh, this is fine. I meant no late nights doing work." She paused, lifted herself up so that her knees were either side of his hips, then added an afterthought, "The only thing you're allowed to stay up late doing is me."
"I can live with that." His voice was low, and he started to pull her towards him but she stopped.
"Not until you promise no more late nights working."
He grinned, "Promise. But how am I supposed to get more sleep if you're keeping me up all night?"
She smirked, "I might let you lie in later."
"But who's going to feed the creatures? You have to go to work." He asked seriously.
"Not if I'm too sick to go in." she said, winking.
He laughed again, "You are such a rebel sometimes."
"You're a bad influence."
"True." He murmured before pulling her back down to him, and she didn't stop him. She smiled into the deep kisses that followed and could feel him doing the same. Then she realised something.
"You still haven't told me why you can't stay mad at me." She said between kisses.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes." She leaned back slightly.
He sighed light-heartedly. As he spoke his next words he slowly unfastened the buttons on her pyjama top. "Because I love you, my Tina. Yes, you're just as stubborn as me, but you are the most extraordinarily beautiful, funny, dedicated and just generally wonderful woman I know and will ever know. Not to mention incredibly sexy." As he added the latter point he slid her pyjama top from her shoulders. The feel of his hands running down her arms made Tina shiver in the best way.
She smiled, and in response to his last point asked, "Really?"
In answer his voice went very low and deliciously husky, "Yes. Let's just say I've got this thing about Aurors."
"Oh you do, do you? Let's test that theory." She grinned.
"Gladly." He grinned back and this time when he pulled her towards him she didn't pull away at all.
Hope you enjoyed this little oneshot of mine - if you did, feel free to hit that favourite button (and you can also give me as an author a favourite if you like xD)
Reviews are welcome as always :)
