House of Hathor

by Ejays17

Nina / Fabian. It's a difficult thing, being a shy teen with a crush. Features Nina, Fabian, Amber, and a few original characters.

House of Hathor

(A House of Anubis fanfic)

AN: I don't own the characters / setting / mysteries of House of Anubis. Canon up until about House of Hoax, then goes wildly off-canon. So spoilers until then, I suppose.

AN 2: This whole story pretty much came about from the single scene where Nina kissed Fabian on the cheek after he swapped the DVD of the security cameras.

HOA HOA HOA

Gids!

I need your advice. I know, not something that you'd ever thought you'd hear me say (or write), but it's something you've got loads of experience in.

There's this girl here in the House that I want to know better, but I have no idea of how to. Seeing as it'd involve actual speech… She's new, from America, and Patricia hates her. She's sure that it's Nina's fault that Joy's left school. With the way she's been carrying on about it, you'd swear that Joy was her girlfriend, not just her room-mate. And as she keeps on accusing Nina of things, none of the others in the house are talking to her. Nina, not Patricia, I mean. Patricia could do with someone telling her to shut up about it all. It won't be me though, she's nasty when she's crossed.

Anyway, what all-knowing advice can you give me, o wise one?

Later!

Fabe

X X X X X X

Fabes!

My little bro all growing up and getting interested in girls! It brings a tear to my eye, so it does! You do know that I reserve the right to tease you for years over this, right? The joys of being a big brother!

In semi-seriousness, you will have to talk to her to make any sort of impression. Find out what she likes, and talk about that. And also let her talk about things, don't talk all the time – not that you do anyway!

Ask her to sit with you in class, if Patricia is being the bitch to her I know she can be, she's probably lonely and will take any friendly gesture. And that'll break the ice, so to speak, and you'll be in.

Later!

Gids

X X X X X X

Hey Jenny-Penny,

Writing this while hiding in the garden, even though it's getting dark and I'm going to be called in for dinner soon. And why am I hiding in the garden, I hear you ask? Shouldn't I be in the common room with my new-found bestest-friends-ever? Well, it started off badly with my room-mate accusing me of getting rid of her old room-mate – if I'd been the old room-mate, I'd've asked to change after the first week – and she's got the rest of the house on her side, and none of them are talking to me beyond the bare necessities. It's a bit lonely, I miss all you back home, but I'm not going to give Patricia the satisfaction of chasing me out of the house! She upended a jug of orange-juice over my head this morning, for no reason except she doesn't like me! Patricia's my room-mate, in case you didn't guess. There are 4 girls, 4 boys, and the 2 adults in charge. Victor's really weird, we've got a 10pm curfew, and at 2 minutes to ten every night he stands in the hallway and shouts: "It's nearly 10 o'clock. In 2 minutes time I want to hear a pin drop!" And then at 10pm he drops a pin, and if he can't hear it drop on the floor, its detention for the whole house! But Trudy is lovely, she does the cooking and cleaning and stuff like that.

I s'pose you want to know about the rest of them, seeing as I've already complained about Patricia. She seems to be the leader in the house, certainly the loudest and bossiest. And she's obsessed with her friend Joy and that she doesn't call or email or whatever. If I were Joy, I'd be thrilled to get away from her, and would have deleted her contact details immediately!

Then there's Mara, who's the smart one. She gets asked for help with homework a lot. I haven't really spoken to her all that much, so I don't really know anything else about her. She seems nice though.

The last girl is Amber – she's just like Chelsea Strangways, but blonde. If schools here did Prom Queen and King, she'd win hands-down. She's even got the Prom King boyfriend, Mick-the-sporty-one. (I'm having troubles with the boy's names, so they're labelled at the moment, Sporty One, Quiet One, Funny One, and Tall One *lol*)

The boys are pretty typical boys really; they don't seem to change even though I'm half a world away. That sounds terribly far away when I say it like that; I'll try not to think about it too much, I'll get homesick.

The Funny One and the Tall One share a room, and are forever getting into trouble with Victor for being too noisy or whatever. The two of them would get detention every night of the week if the Quiet One didn't play Lookout for them on occasion. He's nice, like Mara is. He doesn't sound like the rest of them, they've all got the same accent but he doesn't. I like listening to them talk, when they're not shouting at me anyway!

The House is really old – I thought the place I live in at home was old til I came here! There's a brick in the kitchen fireplace – the stove is new but in an old fireplace – which has a date from the 1800's carved in it, and Trudy was telling me that the kitchen is considered to be the "new" part of the house! So you can imagine how old the rest of it is! But it's all been updated, so I don't have to go to bed by candlelight or anything like that.

Dinner's being called, if I don't go now I'll have to sit opposite Patricia, and her face will turn me off my food. Tragedy, I know!

Miss you all loads, say Hi to everyone from me, and I'll write again soon.

Nina-in-Exile

X X X X X X

Hi Victoria, or may I call you Posh?

You don't know me, but I thought that you're the best person to give me advice as we're so similar.

My name is Amber, and my boyfriend's an athlete like David. He plays football like David does, and does running and other things too. I was wanting to know how you get rid of the girls who follow David around all the time? It's just that I think one of my house mates wants him to be her boyfriend, and I don't know what to do. I've told her lots that he's my boyfriend, and to leave him alone, but she won't listen to me.

And he's asked her to help him with homework, he says I'm not smart enough to help him. That wasn't very nice of him was it?

I hope that all your boys are good and are enjoying Los Angeles. I'd love to visit Los Angeles one day, see where all the famous people live!

Love and Hugs XX

Amber Millington

House of Anubis

England

X X X X X X

Hi Jenny-Penny,

I've had such a weird week! It started with Patricia and the rest of them daring me to go up into the attic – which is totally out-of-bounds, mind you! – except for Fabian, he's the Quiet One, and he said that I didn't have to, that I don't have to let Patricia push me into something I don't want to do. It's alright for him to say, he doesn't have to sleep in the same room as her and listen to her going on all the time about Joy.

Up in the attic there was loads of old stuff, but the best thing was a secret room I found by accident! I told you about the old lady, Sarah, who gave me the locket? The locket opened the secret door, which was a good thing, as I nearly got caught by Victor! I wouldn't have put it past Patricia to "accidentally" let it slip that I was out after curfew to get me into trouble. I thought I was locked in the attic, but Fabian had been keeping Lookout, and unlocked the door after Victor had gone downstairs again. He's nice, he doesn't seem to be under Patricia's thumb like the rest of them. And he'll talk to me about stuff that I'm interested in, stuff that no one else knows about, or understands. It's like he's taken the time to learn about me. It's not the same as being at home, but at least he's trying.

And I've got a new room-mate. Amber and Mara were sharing, but it turns out that Amber and Mick broke up because Mara kissed Mick and Amber isn't speaking to Mara because of it. And as Patricia loathes me because of Joy, she and Amber have swapped rooms, so Amber is my new room-mate. I already feel more comfortable in my room, I just have to get used to Amber's non-stop chattering, and I now seem to have less cupboard-space due to all her extra non-school clothes. Which she has offered to lend to me if I want them, but as I'm a bit taller, and differently-shaped, I don't think she really needs to worry about it.

Tell me all the goss from home. Miss you all!

Nina-in-Exile

X X X X X X

Dear Victoria,

I hope that you have received my last letter, as things have gotten worse since then.

Mick broke up with me because of Mara, and I don't know why. I've tried to be helpful with everything he's doing, and making plans for dates with him, and it doesn't seemed to have helped in any way.

I don't know what she's got that I don't. I'm much prettier, and much more fun than she is, and I'm not boringly into schoolwork like she is. I just don't understand.

I hope that you and your family are all well.

Love and hugs XX

Amber Millington

House of Anubis

England

X X X X X X

Dear Diary,

I haven't had a chance to write for a while and I need to work something through that I can't ask anyone else about without looking like an idiot. I think that Amber suspects something is up, from the not-subtle hints she keeps giving.

I was upset yesterday when the others said that they didn't want to keep solving the riddles with me. The girls I can understand, but Fabian I don't get at all. Especially when he stood there afterwards opening and closing his mouth and making sputtering sounds. I thought that we were becoming better friends than just working on the Sibuna riddles all the time. He saves me a seat in class most days, he's rescued me from Victor a few times, the latest when he swapped the DVD recording of me sneaking into Victor's safe. We were squashed together on the couch and when the DVD didn't show me, I forgot where we were, hugged his arm and kissed him on the cheek. My stomach did that fluttery thing again, but he blushed bright red and couldn't get away fast enough.

Sometimes it'd be nice to be like Amber, and have no fear that a boy won't like me.

Later

I can't believe Fabian lost the puzzle pieces! I gave them to him cos he promised to keep them safe, and he lost them.

And not just that. When he told me he'd lost them, he promised that he wouldn't give up on the puzzles, and that he wouldn't give up on me either. He could barely look at me when he was saying this, and I do wonder how much he meant it, and how much he was saying that to keep me happy.

And then when I was setting the table for dinner, I saw him lean across and hug Patricia, and practically shout, "I could kiss you, Patricia!" I went hot, and then cold, and my stomach dropped all the way to my feet, and I felt like I was going to pass out. Why does he do that to her, and he can't even look me in the eye most of the time when it's just the two of us. I'm so confused and I don't know what to do.

X X X X X X

Dear Posh Victoria,

I don't think that Mick and I are ever going to get back together. He and the cow Mara kissed during the play, and they didn't stop even after the curtain closed. It's not fair!

We had a class in Egyptian numberology the other day at school. Do you believe in numberology? I do, which makes what I found out all the more upsetting. I did the numbers for myself – I'm a nine – and for Mick and Mara, who are both fours. Which means they're a perfect number match, and I'm not. It's all so unfair.

Do you have any advice for me? I really need to know.

Love and Hugs XX

Amber Milllington

House of Anubis

England

X X X X X X

Gideon,

I hate you. Never speak to me again.

Fabian

X X X X X X

Jenny-Penny,

I'm so confused, I don't know what to do, and I really need your help. I wish I could talk to you face-to-face, but this is going to have to do.

We're on half-term break at the moment, and so I didn't have to stay at school by myself, Amber invited me to her house for the weekend. She said her mom wanted to meet the person who got her thinking about stuff that wasn't boys or clothes, so if nothing else, Sibuna was successful with that!

Anyway, it turns out that Fabian's family had just recently moved to the same village as where Amber lives, so she organised us all to travel together in the train. She can be quite bossy when she wants to be, and it feels like kicking a puppy if you say no to her. She kept us entertained on the trip, you never quite know what's going to come out of her mouth when she gets going. It was all I could to not laugh at her at times, and I know that Fabian was the same, from the looks he gave me sometimes.

Anyway, I'm avoiding the problem, and you can't help me if you don't know what the problem is, right? Although, you could give some good all-purpose advice, and I can take it from there? Okay?, no, didn't think you'd like that. I'm angry, and upset, and confused, and I don't like feeling this way. Amber thinks that it's just a silly argument, and all I have to do is say sorry, and everything will be okay again. When she's not being mad at me cos I kissed the guy she thought liked her. And I don't think a sorry will be enough, anyway.

And yes, I'm still avoiding the problem, it's taken me a while to work up the guts to actually write to you and tell you what happened. If I could, I would just crawl into a hole somewhere and hope it all goes back to how it was after a week or so.

As I've said, I'm staying with Amber for the break, and Fabian lives in the area, so we've been spending time at his place. His older brother, Gideon, is also on his break from university, and has been hanging round with us as well. He seemed to have taken a fancy to Amber, and she was enjoying the attention, especially after all the fuss with Mick and Mara this term. Last night we were at their place, in the garden enjoying the hot weather – it never seems to get as hot here as it does at home! – and Fabian and Amber had gone inside to get us some drinks. Gideon and I were talking about nothing much, when he suddenly leaned over and kissed me!

But that's not the worst bit. After the first shock that he was kissing me, I enjoyed it. Then there was a shriek from Amber, a couple of glasses smashing on the ground, and now Fabian won't speak to me.

So what do I do? I don't want to go back to the House if neither Fabian nor Amber is acknowledging my existence. Amber will come round, she doesn't keep a grudge for long, but Fabian's a different matter.

Your confused Nina-in-Exile

X X X X X X

Neens,

You're an idiot. Skype I tomorrow so I can give you a virtual kick in the rear.

Fabian's got the biggest crush on you in, like, ever! And you've done just about the worst thing you could possibly do to him. You're right, a simple sorry isn't going to cut it; you're going to have to be creative. You'll have to put up with him rejecting you until his wounded pride heals itself. I'd stay away from Gideon til you go back to school, you don't want a repeat performance.

Unless you do want a repeat with him. If that's the case, you can forget about being friends with Fabian for a while. It's up to you, I can't tell you what to do.

Let me know how things go.

Jen

X X X X X X

What do you mean, he's got a crush on me? He can barely stand to be alone with me, he is always making excuses to leave the room, or asking one of the others to join us. And he freaks out if I touch him, even on the arm or something.

Neens

X X X X X X

Neens,

I offer as "evidence" the last three photos of your group you sent me. If you see the way he looks at you, the way his body is angled and a whole bunch of other things that I won't go into, they all say the same thing. He has it bad for you, and has for months. Probably since just after you started there, really.

And from what you've said, he's shy, you make him nervous cos of how he feels, so even though it sounds stupid, he feels uncomfortable alone with you when you're not working on your puzzles. The puzzles give him something to think about that aren't you.

Just remember that you've hurt his feelings, and that boys are delicate creatures, and let him down nicely.

Virtual hugs for you!

Jen

X X X X X X

Hi Jen,

That explains a lot! And I feel like an idiot for not noticing or realising it earlier. Too busy worrying about the riddles and stressing over my own things.

I'll try to get him to speak to me when we get back to school. I've got things I've got to tell him too.

Thanks for listening to me, it's not as good as talking face to face, but it'll have to do.

Nina

X X X X X X

Dear Mums,

We're back at school again. The trip back was uncomfortable to say the least. When all of us aren't speaking to at least one other person, it made things awkward. Amber's not going to stay mad with her for long, it's just not in her nature. They'll be back to being best friends again in a week or so, and it'll be like nothing ever happened.

I know that you don't know exactly what happened, but it hurts Mums. Gids took something that I wanted, like he's always done, just because he could. And I can't forgive him, not now, maybe not ever. Forever is a long time, I know, but this was the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Must go, it's Pin-Drop time.

Love

Fabian

PS. Tell Gids to stop messaging me, I don't want to hear anything he has to say.

X X X X X X

They had been back at school for a week before Nina finally screwed up enough courage to waylay Fabian after class and not take no for an answer. Fabian had seemed to have developed a sixth sense as to when Nina was coming into a room, as he was usually going out the other door at the same time. And he would be last into their shared classes, so he could sit as far away as possible from her.

Nina twisted her hair nervously around her fingers as she waited for the bell to ring. Finally it signalled the end of class, and the noise level abruptly increased as the rest of the students flooded out into the corridors and towards their lockers. Fabian was one of the last out of the room, for which Nina was very grateful as there was much less chance of a scene in front of everyone.

He wandered out of the room, shoulders hunched in and the vaguely unhappy look he'd had all week more obvious than it had been all week. Nina's stomach turned over at the sight, and she took a steadying breath. She pushed herself away from the locker she'd been leaning against, and stood in front of him.

"Fabian, please. We need to talk," she said, resting her hand on his arm. "Please, I want to explain."

"Nothing to explain," he answered flatly. "You did what you did, and there's no need to explain it to me."

"But I need to. I can't bear it any more, us not talking or anything. I've missed you this last week, more than I could have imagined," she said urgently, tugging him by the arm towards the now-empty science classroom.

Fabian resisted the movement for a moment, and then with a small shrug, followed her into the room, closing the door behind him and leaning against it with his arms crossed. "So, explain away."

"Can't we be friends again?" Nina asked, trying to lead up to the real problem gently. Her stomach was tying itself in knots, this was going to be a lot harder than she thought as Fabian was looking everywhere but at her. Jenny had given her some ideas of how to approach things, but it was all dependant on Fabian being a part of the conversation.

She hoisted herself on the teacher's desk, and sat with her legs swinging slightly as she waited for his reply. She noticed that his eyes were following the back-and-forth motion of the swing, as Fabian frowned and made up his mind.

His eyes lifted from her knees to her face. "I dunno," he said awkwardly. "It'll depend."

"Depend on what?" she replied swiftly, almost tripping over her words in her haste to continue the conversation.

"On what you say when I ask you something important."

She smiled at that, almost giddy with relief that he was actually talking to her. She would have agreed to almost anything if it meant that he would continue to do so. Nina had come to realise in this last week or so just how much Fabian's friendship meant to her. And if she was being completely honest, in a tiny little tucked-away corner of her brain that she rarely visited, she wanted more. Like Mick and Mara, but without the Amber-and-Jerome complications. And she knew she'd caused an Amber-and-Jerome complication, just with Fabian's older brother Gideon.

"Ask away, I'll tell you anything you want to know," she promised recklessly.

Fabian was silent for a few moments, obviously deciding on the best way to say what he wanted to. "It's about last weekend, and what happened at my place," he said eventually.

"Yes?"

"Did my brother kiss you, or did you kiss him?"

Nina blinked in surprise. That was not the question she was expecting, but on reflection, it made perfect sense. That was the thing that created the rift between them, so they were going to have to resolve it before they could move beyond it.

"He kissed me," she answered firmly. "We were chatting about stuff, I don't know what exactly, you or school probably, and then he just leaned over and kissed me. I didn't ask him to, and I'm pretty sure I didn't encourage him in any way. In fact, I thought he was interested in Amber, and I think Amber did too, from what she's said to me."

"Did you want him to?"

"What? No! Absolutely not! That wasn't the plan at all. I was going to leave Amber with him, and ask you to take a walk with me somewhere, so we could talk and stuff."

At that, Nina could see the relief flit across Fabian's face, and he smiled at her for the first time in a week. "I see. Can I tell you something else?"

"Sure, I'm all ears."

He took two steps forward and curled his fingers around hers. "I like you Nina, I have since you tripped over me that first day. And I asked Gids what I could do to, um, impress you, or get you to notice me, so he knew that it would make me mad if he made a move on you. I guess I should have done something earlier to let you know my feelings, but I was too shy to."

Nina stared up at him, the thought careening around her head, "Jenny was right, he did have a crush on me, and I've ruined it now. How didn't I know this? It's all so stupidly obvious now."

Fabian's smile faded and he tried to pull his hands from hers. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything," he muttered. "I've just made a complete idiot of myself, telling you that."

Jumping to her feet, Nina flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "You should have said something earlier, for sure. Then all this upset wouldn't have happened, and we wouldn't have spent the last week avoiding each other."

Fabian relaxed into her embrace and clasped his hands around her waist. "Mmm," he murmured happily.

She pulled her head back slightly, so they were almost nose-to-nose. "I like you too, Fabian. And I would like it if you would kiss me before too long," she said, with a small smile.

So he did.