A/N: The trailer released at comic con left me so unsatisfied with where Newtina are headed in Crimes of Grindelwald, hence this fix. I know with all my heart this won't be how things go for them, I honestly don't think COG would be good for our favorite magizoologist and fierce auror. But here's something to relieve that Newtina thirst we've had since we last saw them at the harbor saying goodbye to each other. This is unbetaed and pretty rushed (for me), so please bear with all the mistakes. Enjoy!
The last thing Newt remembered was Tina walking out on him. He didn't know what he did wrong, he was always clueless when it came to people. He understood beasts, but not people.
He continued to stare after Tina, a ghosting sensation of her touch against his skin. He wanted to go after her, ask her what he did wrong and how he could fix it. But before he could stalk off after her, another woman walked right up to him, her hair in disarray.
"I thought you'd be gone by now," she remarked, her eyes staring straight ahead, taking in the people walking across the street who were oblivious to what had just transpired inside the French Ministry of Magic.
"I was about to," Newt admitted, avoiding Leta's gaze. "but then you showed up."
Leta Lestrange. Yet another person he had difficulty trying to figure out. He didn't know what happened between the two of them; how they went from being the best of friends to this, awkward and estranged. He wished everything would go back to normal, that he could have his friends back because it was pretty amazing to have people you care about who cared about you as well.
"You should go after her," Leta says after a long silence settled over them, turning her head away from Newt, staring back at the crowds that she had previously observed.
She looks back at her friend, trying to gauge his reaction to what she had just said. But what met her was a confused look, a look she had always seen on Newt's face when he had to deal with the people around.
"Tina," she confirms, looking at him even harder, urging him to look at her so that he would understand. "You should go after her."
"Why do you think I should do that?" he asks automatically, curious as to why she would say that.
"You were always so clueless when it came to people," Leta says with a chuckle.
"I wasn't the only one," Newt replied bitterly, turning his head away from her and looking back at the crowd.
Newt knew he hit a nerve by the way Leta's face had contorted into an expression of hurt. He started to move towards her in an effort to apologize but she stopped him before he could.
"I always knew," Leta says, her hand held out to keep a healthy distance between herself and Newt. "I knew you fancied me."
Newt turns away, his jaw tightening at the admission that Leta had just made for him regarding the feelings he had for her in the past. He wanted to say something, to deny her allegations but his mouth went dry. He knew that he could deny anything Leta had said because they were true. He loved her. He's not entirely sure that those feelings have gone away.
"But I never saw you as anything other than a friend, Newt," Leta continues, looking back at Newt, who finally had the courage to look back at her and listen to what she has to say. A single tear started to form in his eyes, his face painted with so much sadness and heartbreak because he knew what she was going to say next.
"You're too good, Newt," Leta says sadly, guilt starting to settle inside her because she knew that her next words would hurt him but might finally set him free. "You never met a monster you couldn't love."
Newt looked at the woman beside him, sadness etched across his features when he understood that Leta had just called herself a monster for falling in love with his brother.
The day he came back and found Theseus and Leta engaged was one of the worst days of his life. The happiness and excitement he had just felt after leaving New York had instantly evaporated when he was greeted by the happy couple. An apology was etched across Leta's face because she knew how inferior Newt felt to Theseus growing up. He had found out that the woman he had loved for so many years had decided to marry the one person who made him feel so small, and he thought he wouldn't feel anything more painful than what he was feeling then. But right now, standing beside her and listening to what she had to say, there was no greater heartbreak.
Newt sniffed sadly as he wiped off the stray tear that was threatening to escape his eye. He then turns away from Leta and grabs his case before saying, "I have to go."
"Newt," she calls after him, Newt already a few feet away from her. "go after her."
He considers her for a minute before walking away, not once looking back at the woman he used to call his friend.
Newt didn't know why he was even here. Before Tina had left the French Ministry, she made it very clear that she didn't want to see him again. But he had to talk to her, about what he wasn't sure, but he knew that Leta was right when she told him to go after Tina.
He was approaching the door to the house where Tina was staying in while doing her investigations here in Paris. He had a mind to knock but didn't know if she would answer if she knew it was him. His clenched knuckles hovered over the polished wooden door that was separating him from her, but he didn't knock. He simply sighed heavily and apparated into the house, hoping that he wouldn't land on anything that was breakable and cause mayhem like the time he met Tina.
The inside of the house was dark, no lights were turned on and if he was to be honest he was pretty sure someone might have just ambushed the place. A feeling of panic and protectiveness started to fill Newt's entire being at the thought of someone attacking Tina in her own house.
"I don't recall inviting you in," a voice said from the corner of the room, a single speck of light illuminating her angry features. "or inviting you over, for that matter."
Newt turned towards the voice, bracing himself for the harsh lash of words that Tina would have prepared for him by now. He gulped, fear spreading throughout him as he saw the venom and anger etched all over her face. She had one hand on her wand, which she used to give light to the otherwise dark room, and in the other, she had a glass filled half-way with what Newt would guess was any form of alcohol.
Tina stands from where she was sitting, waving her wand so that all the lights in the room finally flickered on. She tucks her wand inside the pocket of her pants as she walks painfully slow towards Newt. "I meant what I said at the ministry. I want nothing more to do with you."
A pain Newt had never felt before shot to his heart. This was the reason he never liked interacting with people, it was so complicated. With his beasts he could simply offer them food or rub them in a certain spot and everything would be fine. But with people, you had to make a real effort to show that you're sorry, to show that you care. And he didn't know exactly how he would do that. All he knew was that he would try his damnedest to fix what he has broken between them.
"I still need your help," he said with all the courage he had left in him.
"And why would you think that I'd ever help you again?" Tina exclaims in disbelief, chugging down the remaining contents of her glass before putting it down. "After what happened at the ministry earlier, do you really think I would rush to your side and help you with whatever law you're trying to break this time?"
"I don't think, Tina," Newt replies sadly, feeling his heart breaking into a million more tiny pieces at the anger laced in her words. "I hope. I hope you'd help me see this through 'til the end despite whatever it is I did to you."
"You don't even know what you did wrong," Tina scoffs in disbelief, shaking her head as she paced back and forth in place.
"I'm not good with people," Newt states, unsure of what else to say in the situation. "I never have been. I never had friends until I met you, Queenie and Jacob in New York last year. I only ever had Leta."
Newt saw Tina's composure change at the mention of Leta's name. She had hardened her expression, trying not to show him how hurt she was when he mentioned his friend and soon-to-be sister-in-law's name. For someone who wasn't good at understanding people, Newt was pretty good at reading Tina.
"That's why I had to help her," Newt continued despite seeing the pain he was causing Tina. "and I didn't know anyone else better fit to help us but you."
He was hoping that his last few words would finally bring Tina around, but they had the opposite effect, they infuriated her even more.
"Did you ever think of me when you came to that decision?" Tina asks sadly, feeling sorry for herself because of how pathetic Newt was making her feel. "Did you ever consider how I would feel when I saw the two of you together?"
"I didn't think it mattered," Newt answers bluntly, his eyes holding onto Tina's as he spoke.
Tina felt defeated upon hearing his words, finally accepting the fact that she meant nothing to Newt. What was important to him was to use any means necessary to help the woman that he loved, even if meant breaking her in the process.
"You need to go," Tina says with finality, wiping the angry tears that were streaming down her face.
Newt tries to approach her, but Tina held out a hand to keep the much-needed distance between the two of them. "Please go."
"I don't want to leave things this way," Newt says as he walked towards her, ignoring the fact that she was still keeping her distance from him by stepping backwards, inching farther away from him. "broken."
"But there's no way of mending it," Tina says sadly, holding herself together so that she won't break down again, like the way she did before Newt showed up at her doorstep. "at least not anymore."
Tina felt pain at the thought of not seeing the Newt she fell in love with again. She felt sad that all she would ever have of him was those few days they spent together in New York hunting down his escaped beasts and trying to save Credence. They were broken, everything about them was broken. And instead of fixing it, Newt had come to her home and broken them even further with his words.
"Oh bugger," Newt swore as he scratched his head in the adorable way that usually made Tina smile. "I thought you'd understand."
"Understand what?" Tina questioned fiercely. "That I don't matter as long as you get to use me to help the woman that you love get what she wants? Yes, Newt. I got that. I heard it, loud and clear. No need to tell me again."
Her sadness disappeared after that, anger starting to reform inside of her as she walked past Newt towards the door, holding it out for him, hoping that he would just take the hint and leave. She watches as he walks hastily towards her, his trusted suitcase in one hand while the other reached for the door.
Tina braced herself as she waited for Newt to say his final goodbyes. But she was heavily disappointed. Instead of walking out the door, he closed it shut bringing Tina along with him who was holding onto the doorknob for dear life. His hand went from where it rested on the door frame to on top of her resting ones on the doorknob. That was the first time since New York that they had touched because she made sure that they wouldn't even come close to any contact while they were at the ministry trying to help Leta Lestrange.
Their faces were only inches apart, she wasn't aware that he had gotten this close since she was too busy trying to figure why he wouldn't just leave. She could feel his breathing mingling with her own.
Tina was frozen in place, stuck between the door and Newt Scamander with no chance for escape.
"That's not what I meant," he says, not moving one inch, his eyes roaming Tina's face taking in what he could. "I meant it didn't matter because Leta and aren't together."
Tina simply blinks in disbelief, confused as to why Newt would say this when she heard lots of people saying that there was to be a Scamander-Lestrange wedding in the spring.
As if understanding what was going on in Tina's head, Newt says, "She's engaged to Theseus."
Realization finally settled in when Tina heard those words. All the anger that she had held against Newt instantly evaporate the minute she heard that Leta was engaged to his brother. Those murderous, hateful, angry thoughts were immediately replaced by thoughts of concern and care.
Tina was about to apologize but was immediately interrupted by Newt.
"It's fine, I'm fine" Newt says with a shake of his head, trying to tell her that that was not the most important thing to discuss right now. "and in any case, that's not the biggest reason why I said it didn't matter what you felt when you saw us together."
"Oh bugger," Newt muttered again when he realized what the words that came out of his mouth meant. "I didn't mean it like that. Of course, I care about how you feel. I don't like seeing you hurt and sad. It's just…"
"Newt, I get it," Tina interjects, trying to calm down Newt from his blubbering so that he could finally get to the point and she could finally be free of the position they both were in, a position that was testing her self-control and restraint.
"I just meant it didn't matter because I had you," Newt finally says with a little hope in his eyes.
This admission from Newt caught Tina by surprise. Was this how Newt Scamander told you her liked you? She couldn't help but smile and raise her eyebrows at Newt's boldness, feeling a little giddy and cocky because of what he just said.
"What makes you even think that you have me?" Tina asks curiously as she smirked at Newt playfully.
"You came to help us, didn't you?" Newt answered her with another question. "You didn't know that the Scamander engaged to Leta was my brother and not me, but you still came to help even if you didn't have to."
"That's true," Tina admits, nodding her head at Newt and not breaking eye contact with him.
Tina felt Newt getting closer and closer to her. With her hand still on the doorknob, she tried to increase the space between their bodies until her back was pressed against the door. Now she knew she was stuck with no way of escaping. Before she could make up an excuse to free herself from the Door-and-Newt sandwich she found herself in, Newt spoke.
"And you have me," he said simply, locking eyes with the beautiful brunette in front of him. He smiled hopefully at her, fully aware that their faces were only inches apart. Tina returned his smiled, amused at the way Newt Scamander finally admitted that she was indeed special to him.
For a split second, neither of them moved, happily comfortable in the position that was previously awkward for the both of them. They both realized that there was almost barely any space separating the two of them but neither of them moved to change that. They looked at each other for quite some time, deep into each other's eyes asking a silent question of whether or not they should act on what they were feeling right there and then.
Their heads drew closer to each other, their faces inching closer and closer, filling the space that was separating them. Their lips met in a chaste kiss, both of them enjoying the new sensation of feeling the other's lips on their own.
Only a few seconds passed before Newt and Tina broke apart, eyes immediately looking for the other's. Their eyes locked immediately as a smile formed on Tina's lips.
"Took you long enough," she commented through her smile, unable to hide the glee that she was feeling.
Newt simply chuckled at her, his smile just as bright, relishing in the emotions that were flooding through him at the thought of finally getting to kiss the woman that he wished he had kissed back at the docks in New York. He ducks his head again and musters up all the courage he had left before planting another kiss on Tina's lips, a kiss she gladly returned. Smiles and giggles were shared between the two, both of them forgetting about what had transpired earlier in the day, their minds and hearts only focused on what it felt like to finally be together.