Hi there! I'm sorry about all these delays, it's just that the laziness of summer has been pulling at me, telling me to go back to bed, while my conscience tells me that I should write something. But here, it is, my entry for TooBeingAnAwkoTaco's contest, Fear. It should be about five chapters, and many of the characters will be OOC. Sorry! But I couldn't resist a great plot bunny...you'll see as you keep reading! Disclaimer: I own nothing of House of Anubis. Season four would be out already, trust me.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Chapter 1

And so here he was, in the complete and utter darkness, in a room he had never been in before. There was a distinct drip, drip coming from the corner behind him, and the cool, muggy air felt like it was seeping into his skin. But that didn't really bother him. Not when there was a more real threat.

He stared down the barrel of the gun with a steady, unmoving gaze. He didn't flinch. He didn't dare blink. He had to keep reminding himself to breathe. The urge to give up was now gone, replaced by a sense of determination. Each second seemed to drag on for hours, his whole life moving in slow motion. But if he could take this bullet, all would be put to rest. No more worries, no more running away from life's struggles. Although he quite liked the idea of living, spending time with the ones he truly loved, and starting a family, had to do this

Click.

"Fabian? Fabian! Fabian Rutter! Darling!"

"Coming!"

"Oh, so you don't respond to your real name, but you respond to terms of endearment that could be meant for anyone?"

"Isn't that how it works?"

"Just get over here and kiss me! I didn't call you over here for the fun of it, did I?"

Fabian leaned down to meet the crystal blue eyes belonging to his lovely girlfriend of nine months. He took a minute to fully look at her. Dark brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, while a simple blue shirt and jeans covered her petite body. Her smile was genuine and conveyed a mood of complete happiness. There was a small glow inside of him, causing him to warm up with pride at the thought of having such a wonderful person in his life.

"Now, if I kissed you, that wouldn't be very fun, would it? I'd lose the leverage of the tease."

"Fabian, you know that I'm at least six inches shorter than you. Isn't that tease enough? And you know that you enjoy kissing me, otherwise we wouldn't be living together."

"Hmmm, you make a good point. However, I still need time to decide, so I think I'll just walk into the other room-"

"Come on, you know you want to. What's the point in denying yourself the nice things in life?"

"Because it's fun to see you beg, that's why."

"Sometimes I wonder how we even fell in love in with all this teasing and not kissing. I definitely remember more kissing in the beginning."

"Oh, alright, but only if you stop bothering me."

"Done."

He smiled, content at least for a little while. Bending down ever so slightly, Fabian kissed the forehead of the woman in front of him. For a moment, the world stayed still as he held his girlfriend. The peace only lasted for second, however, because there was a knock at the door.

"You tricked me!"

"Samantha Crest, you promised not to pester me anymore. Now, I've got to get the door. It's going to be Jerome and Eddie. You remember I told you I was going out with tonight?"

"I think so. But I insist that you give me a proper kiss, because you led me to think it would be a better one than that!"

"Like you can stop me! Now, I've got to go. I might be back home pretty late, knowing how crazy they can get. Especially if I have to drive either, or both, of them home."

"Okay, just don't get into any trouble. Those boys seem to be magnets for it, and I get worried sometimes. For yours and their sakes. And I expect the rest of my kiss tomorrow."

"Don't worry, Sam, I won't forget."

"Bye. Have fun. And please, please, please be careful."

"Calm down, babe. I'll keep my guard up. In fact, I always have my guard up. Why should tonight be any different?"

"Eddie, that's enough. You've had seven drinks already and none of them were in the least bit small."

As usual, Eddie had lost track of how many beers he had consumed and was on his ways to becoming terribly drunk. Blonde hair was sticking out of unusual places, as though he had just rolled out of bed. His vibrant hazel eyes were misted over, out of focus die to the amount of alcohol. Obviously, the man's brain had been clouded over and his thoughts were not strung together the way they normally were.

"Aw, come one, you're not my dad. Lemme do what I want!" Eddie whined, sounding a lot like a disappointed five-year-old.

"You've drank more than Fabian and I combined. What's the deal? You've never downed more than five beers since last year, when…oh no…don't tell me Patricia dumped you," Jerome concluded.

Fabian flashed back to the night about a year ago, when Eddie had drank so much he passed out at the bar. The reason: his girlfriend Leila had confessed to have been cheating on him. So, in order to forget his troubles, he practically drowned himself in alcohol. At first, he seemed fine. Eight beers didn't look like it affected him much. But Jerome and Fabian had barely known Eddie for that long, and what they didn't know was that it took about ten minutes before effects of the booze because to kick into Eddie's system. One moment, he was the life of the party, and the next, he was falling all over himself and speaking nonsense words.

"She said I was too…what's the word…demanding. I was too much work for my own good," he explained, he vowels slightly stressed and some of the words starting to slur. The two friends could only assume that the "she" was Patricia Williamson, his current- well, maybe not so current- girlfriend.

"Hey look, she was probably in a bad mood and said some things she didn't-"

Fabian stopped his sentence, because across the room, leaning against the dingy walls of Rob's Bar and Grill, was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever laid eyes on. Her skin was as close to flawless as it gets, almost shimmering in a stinky place like the one he was in. Guilt shot through his mind, but he pushed the image of Sam out of his head. There was something calling to him from this girl, like a magnet.

"You okay, Fabian? You sorta got lost in your- Fabian, are you staring at that girl?" Jerome asked, a little concern rising in his voice.

"How can you not?" he answered, his voice breathy and low.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I could resist if I had a steady girlfriend like you do, Fabian Rutter. This is very out of character for you," Jerome argued back. He was not expecting such actions from his best friend, known for being a loyal, caring, and all-around good guy. This was not his normal behavior, and frankly, Jerome didn't really like it.

"I can't not stare at her. She's beautiful."

"Okay, yes, she's very pretty, but she's not even your type!"

"And why wouldn't she be?"

"Have you even stopped to look at the kind of clothes she has on? Before today, you would have almost barfed at that kind of style, but tonight you can't tear your eyes away from her?"

Fabian stopped to thoroughly study what this mystery girl looked like. Her red shirt was pulled tight across a thin stomach, leaving much of her upper chest open and revealing a bit of cleavage. Jeans showing every little curve of her legs covered the bottom half of her body, with black high heels touching the floor. To top off the entire look, she had a black leather jacket on her arms and a look of complete boredom spread on her face.

"Wow."

"Fabian! This is not you! This girl is nothing but trouble. Remember, your tolerance for booze isn't that high."

"Look, Mom, I know what you're thinking. It's not like I'm going to sleep with her. I just wanna talk. There's nothing wrong with that!"

"First comes the talking. Next thing you know, you're renting a hotel room at midnight. Think this through, Fabian. You've got Sam, a great and modest girl who doesn't own a piece of tight clothing in her wardrobe, and yet doesn't need it to take your breath away. She cooks and cleans and works day and night to see you happy. And you're willing to throw that all away so you can mingle with a…a…a girl like that!"

"I'm going to go talk to her, with or without your consent. You have no control over me, Jerome."

"You're completely crazy, dude. I could see Eddie going for something like that, but not you," Jerome tried to reason with him, but Fabian, who had only two beers that evening, could not take his eyes off of her.

Jerome ran his fingers through his nearly brown, but no yet, hair and sighed heavily as he watched Fabian begin to walk towards this girl. He could tell that Fabian probably wasn't thinking straight and his mind was buzzing from the beer.

There was something about sketchy about this girl, something that shouldn't have attracted Fabian, but did.

But then again, his girlfriend wasn't really the exciting type. Sam was a nice girl, but her company could sometimes bore people to death. She could talk, and talk, and talk, and talk about absolutely nothing. It was possible that his friend was getting tired of the routine his girlfriend has put him into. Although, she did happen to be Jerome's cousin, and he really didn't want to see her get hurt. Of all the boyfriends she'd had before, he could tell she liked Fabian a lot.

Meanwhile, Fabian was striding over to the corner where this woman was standing. His hands were becoming clammy and his fingers were trembling, but he managed to at least keep his footsteps steady. What he didn't need right now was to lose balance and fall flat on his face.

"Hi," he blurted out as soon as he got close enough for her to hear him.

"Hi," she replied casually. A thought crossed Fabain's mind as he heard her voice for the first time. Most girls who dressed in dark colors and had this aura of boredom, he had observed, usually had a raspy voice, caused by all the cigarettes they commonly smoked. But this girl…her voice was much more smooth and straightforward, almost as if it belonged to another person, another character entirely.

"I'm sorry. This must seem very awkward, since we've never met, but I felt like I needed to come talk to you," he continued, the drinks taking a little control over his mind and body. Normally, he would never have said something so cheesy and stupid, but no one was next to him, directing his every move. Fabian was completely and utterly on his own.

"No, it's fine, I get it all the time. Honestly, you seem like a pretty decent guy. Although, I hope you're not going to try and invite me back to your place, because your friend doesn't seem to like me very much. If looks could kill, I'd be dead twice."

He glanced over to where Jerome was standing beside a drowsy Eddie, arms crossed and a death stare locked onto the girl next to him. Trying to ignore his best mate's disdain, he turned back to her with an apologetic smile.

"I'm so sorry. He thinks he can make judgments about people based on the way they look, while I try to at least attempt a conversation. So, what's your name?"

"Nina."

"Nice to meet you, Nina. I'm Fabian. Can I buy you a drink?"

"I think I've had enough alcohol for the night. By the looks of it, this party was over long before I got here."

"Yeah, this place is a bit dull. I think there's a game on tonight, so a lot of people are at the more popular bars. I wish I would have stayed home. This whole time, my friend's just been drowning in his own sorrows and practically making himself sick."

"Wanna ditch it together? Or are you afraid your firne won't allow you?" she asked with a smirk on her face. Fabian couldn't help but crack a grin. Jerome was too worrisome when it came to people and their social lives. He didn't like to admit it, but all his friends knew that Jerome was just one big teddy bear who really did care about his friends. He knew Jerome was just looking out for him, but Fabian thought he could handle this situation on his own. Unlike a newborn kitten, he didn't need to be monitored every second.

"Who cares, right? You got a car?"

"Not exactly. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle before?"

"I'll try anything once."

"Good, because that's the only way we'll get out of here and back to my apartment."

"Your apartment?"

"You cool with that?"

"I guess so."

"They let's go. I don't think I can stand the smell of toilet water and vomit another second."