Apparently the others in the House had a huge problem with Nina switching partners, because she found herself sneaking around campus with Fabian that night. They hadn't let her switch.
She held the list, all of which held random outdoor objects like leaves from a particular tree or a rock from the walkway at the entrance.
It was weird; Nina hadn't seen any of the others running around on the scavenger hunt. But, she figured, the must be really good so as not to get caught.
She and Fabian hardly dared to whisper outside. Or use a flashlight (or 'torch' as Fabian called it) because the night was still fairly young and other Houses were no-doubtedly still awake.
It was going to be 10 O'clock soon and Nina and Fabian needed to head back soon before Victor missed them. They were at the far end of campus and were hurrying back, arms full of random objects. When a few groundskeepers walked by (What were they doing there that late anyways?), Nina and Fabian jumped behind a row of bushes and lay as flat as they could. They tried to stay as quiet as possible, which was rather difficult considering they had been running all over campus and were out of breath.
Soon the groundskeepers left- a lower classman teacher came walking by with their French teacher. Nina and Fabian knew that they Victor was probably giving the five minute warning as they lay there in the bushes waiting for the adults to leave.
Fabian felt a drop on his arm and looked up at the sky to see the rain just beginning. He saw the sky light up with a flash as boom quickly followed it. The teachers hurried indoors. Nina and Fabian jumped up, abandoned their scavenger hunt items and began moving quickly towards the House.
"Wow, they've been gone a while," said Amber.
"WE KNOW!" shouted everyone. (Amber had been saying that at regular intervals for the past half hour.) None of them had actually gone on the scavenger hunt. They just gave the list to Nina and Fabian, and off they went. It was an 'instant date' as Amber called it.
The others remained in the common room.
"With any luck, they are snogging right now or at least professing their eternal love for each other," said Patricia sarcastically (but maybe a bit hopefully too).
Mick and Mara sat doing biology at the table. Mara continually glanced at the window as she said worriedly, "I hope it doesn't rain."
"Nah, it won't," said Mick ironically as thunder boomed. Trudy bustled in from the kitchen and closed all of the windows.
Victor came in a few moments later and after yelling at Jerome for having his feet on the sitting room table, he threatened them to all get to bed.
"Five minutes! You have precisely five minutes, and then I want to hear a pin drop!" He said dramatically as everyone rushed off before Victor could yell at them some more.
"What shall we do?" said Mara worriedly, "They are going to be stuck out there in the rain!"
"I'll worry about that. Leave it to me," said Patricia. The girls looked relieved and asked no questions because when Patricia said she got it, she for sure had a plan.
After lights were out Patricia crept downstairs.
She stood quietly at the top of the steps as she watched Mick walk out of his room and unlock the door for Fabian and Nina.
As soon as Mick turned the corner, Patricia crept downstairs and relocked it.
As she was about to turn back to go upstairs she sensed someone behind her. She whirled around and came face to face with Jerome.
"Jerome!" she whisper-screamed as she gave him her fiercest glare.
"Ah, locking Fabian and Nina out…. are we?" he said nodding knowingly.
"I have my reasons," she responded coldly.
"Perhaps to give Nina and Fabian a chance to spend some real time together?" he asked. But really, Jerome didn't 'ask' he just said it as a question. He knew what she was up to. And when Patricia didn't answer he continued.
"That's cold. And that's coming from me. The best idea you had was to lock them out in the rain? Just like your best idea was to set fire to Fabian's old clothes so you could give him his new ones?"
" THAT was definitely not my idea," hissed Patricia forcing her voice to stay low.
"Nonetheless, you obviously seem desperate," he threw back at her.
"Just because it's harsh doesn't mean it's not effective," she replied with confidence.
Jerome was impressed. Jerome was RARELY impressed.
Patricia's cell phone vibrated from inside her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the screen.
Incoming Text (1): Nina Martin: Plse opn the door! Itz raining!
Jerome looked from the phone and then at Patricia.
"Tell them that the door is being watched by Victor. I'll unlock it for them in an hour," said Jerome giving Patricia a wink and then walked back towards his room.
"The door is being watched!" reported Nina to Fabian.
They were huddled under the Anubis House doorstep, keeping out of the rain.
"When will they open the door?" he asked.
"An hour- How are we supposed to last until then? And we can't stay here, what if someone comes out and finds us here?" said Nina.
"I doubt anyone will be leaving the House this late at night, and in this weather," said Fabian sensibly.
This isn't so bad. All things considered, aside from being a little wet- Fabian was glad to spend some time with Nina. Since they had plenty of time, he may even get a chance to tell her how he felt about her.
Fabian sat down in front of the door and leaned against it to prepare to wait. Nina stayed standing doubtfully. She was obviously thinking of ways to break into the House and get inside.
But then, the front light flickered.
Nina stared at it. It flickered again and went dead.
In the darkness that followed, Fabian felt Nina quickly jump down to sit next to him.
"Scared of the dark?" he teased.
"This House is so weird," she said in wonder. Why did the light go off at the very point when she most needed it? Now she had to sit with Fabian AND in the dark no less. She quietly groaned.
They were silent then. It has seemed that they had worn out every conversation in the past few hours of talking while on the scavenger hunt.
At first Fabian was self conscious and tried to think of something to say to her, but after a while, he reflected that the silence wasn't necessarily bad. In fact, it was relaxing just to be with someone and not have to say anything. He could still say millions of things to Nina, but here and now- he felt he didn't want to say anything.
They were both really tired. And wet too. Fabian remembered his manners with a start when he saw Nina had no jacket, and gave his to her.
She tensed up, "No Fabian, then you won't have a jacket," she protested.
"No, I'm fine," he insisted.
"How about we share?" she suggested. And with that she draped it across each of their shoulders, which inevitably forced them to get even closer together.
There was silence again. Nina was obviously really tired and Fabian watched her head continually droop. He wished she would just lean her head on his shoulder, but he was too shy to point that out to her.
Minutes ticked by, and they both quietly mourned the loss of each one that passed. This was an opportunity, they each realized.
Fabian enjoyed the excuse to stay close to her and sat contemplating what he was going to say to her. Whatever he was going to say, he had to say it right.
Nina likewise secretly cherished these moments with him, but at the same time she felt a sense of guilt. Was this a betrayal to Patricia in any way? She wanted so much to convince Fabian that she was the right girl for him, not Patricia- but Nina had made a promise to herself and she would not break it. It would not be fair of Nina to take advantage of this opportunity with Fabian.
Nina must have fallen asleep because when she woke, she saw that the time was almost up. It had gotten colder outside and she could now she their breaths in the air. But because she and Fabian were so close, she was actually rather warm.
She heard the door unlock and they slowly stood up.
She was about to open the door when she felt Fabian take her hand. She looked back at him confused as her stomach dropped. Her heart picked up its pace.
"Nina?"
"Yes?" she replied.
"If I asked if we could kiss. Right now. Would you say yes?" These were the hardest words Fabian ever had to say.
So was it fair that the hardest words he ever had to hear came right after them?
"No," she replied her voice in barely a whisper. She wanted to burst into tears. No, she didn't want to do that- she WANTED to kiss him right then and there. But she couldn't. She shook her hand free of Fabian's as she began to make her escape.
"But why?" he asked. Not showing the emotions that were going on inside him. He felt sadness combined with the feeling of lost hope that can only come with having felt hope before. He had thought Nina like him. He had allowed himself to hope that his feelings towards her were mutual. He had never been in this position before. He didn't know what to do except to ask why.
"Why?" he asked again as Nina hesitated with the answer.
"I think you know why," she replied before making her escape into the House.
Frankly, I don't really approve of writing comments from the author at the end of the story- because I feel that a story should stand on its own. BUT- I am going to be a hypocrite because I really wanted to respond to some reviews.
In reply to everyone's comments: Yes. Nina is being rather stupid. I want to shake her and say- "NINA! GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT! YOU KNOW WHAT ASSUMING DOES! (It makes an *** out of you!) But alas- I think that this is fairly realistic because they are obviously rather shy about their feelings in the show (why else are they moving so slow? Don't answer that. It was rhetorical).
In addition, it's refreshing to write about a conflict that is not even there (as Water Wolf 100 so rightly said- they seem to create the drama themselves). My last story, Trapped in a Warehouse, was all about real/outside issues, so this is a nice little change for me.
Lastly: GodHatesBaguettes, thanks for the imagery there- I'm glad I helped inspire you to envision "little Fabian pieces" – your response greatly entertained me. As did many other reviews.
Keep reviewing everyone- And I'll keep writing!