The day that everything goes to hell doesn't isn't any different than any other day in Anubis House. There's nothing that sets it apart. Every day in Anubis House is slightly out of the ordinary, but really, that's par the course for its residents. So no, nothing hints at the nuclear explosion that the day brings. It doesn't start out particularly bad or extraordinary.
It starts like this:
"Alfie Lewis, get back here!"
Nina's eyes snap open at Amber's shrieks. She blinks and sits up enough to glance at Amber with the one eye that will stay open this early on a Saturday morning.
"Amber, what-?" Nina is cut off by Amber whirling around, a tornado of blonde hair and flashing blue eyes.
"Alfie," Amber hisses. Nina buries her head in her pillow. "He stole my new stockings! To make a slingshot. Who does that, Nina? Who?"
"Your boyfriend," Nina grumbles. But, with her face smashed in her pillow, it comes out as: "Yer bffnnn."
"Even better, then. I'm dating a moron."
Nina rolls of the bed, taking her pillow with her. She pulls her blanket off her bed and wraps it around her shoulders before standing up and grabbing her pillow off her bed, "You knew that before you guys started dating the first time."
Nina starts to shuffle to the door still cocooned in her duvet and clutching her pillow.
"Where are you going?" Amber asks.
"To Eddie's room," Nina calls casually over her shoulder. "See you later." She doesn't even turn around to catch Amber's confused expression.
"Don't you mean Fabian's room?" Amber asks, but Nina is already halfway down the stairs. Amber shrugs and writes it off as an early morning mix-up.
Nina stumbles sleepily into Eddie and Fabian's shared room, not even bothering to knock. Ignoring Fabian's empty bed, she immediately throws her pillow down next to Eddie's and then falls on the bed next to him, nudging him over with her shoulder. Eddie cracks an eye open, then seeing that his new bed partner is Nina, closes it again.
"What happened?" Eddie asks, throwing an arm around Nina's waist. Nina briefly nuzzles her face sleepily into the crook of Eddie's neck before sighing.
Nina turns over so they are laying face to face, "Amber and Alfie."
"Okay, say no more," Eddie says. Nina's already half asleep again, though, so Eddie buries his face in her hair and joins her. It is really early, after all.
-.-.-.-.-
Fabian loves the morning.
Most teenagers hate mornings. They hate waking up and leaving the warm comfort of their beds. Mornings mean waking up for classes. Mornings mean suffering the chilly post-nighttime air and getting ready in semi-darkness. They mean walking to class in brisk air and weak morning light. Mornings are generally insufferable for most people without a healthy dose of caffeine, taken intravenously if at all possible.
Fabian is one of the dreaded Morning People. He isn't overly chipper to the point of being annoying. But the mornings don't impact him negatively as they do the majority of people. Fabian genuinely enjoys the crisp, clean quality of the morning air. He likes waking up to watch the sun rise completely. The bleary eyed contempt that mornings inspire in most people seems to skip over Fabian completely.
After having spent the night at his uncle's flat to welcome him home after his return to the country, Fabian was itching to get back to Anubis House. So when Fabian's uncle had woken at his usual crack-of-dawn time, Fabian had been content to join him. They had enjoyed a light breakfast before Fabian had set off for home. It was an hour long taxi ride from the city to the relatively secluded school campus, so by the time Fabian arrived the sun was just about over the horizon, about 7 am. The taxi dropped him off at the school gate, leaving him with a ten minute walk across the grounds to Anubis House.
Fabian took his time, enjoying the quiet offered by the early hour. The grounds were usually crowded with groups of students hurrying to class or to meet friends. It was almost eerie to see them void of life other than twittering birds and Fabian himself. The finely landscaped greenery was still dusted with dew and a light fog clung to the campus, giving the whole place an otherworldly, grey feeling.
As Fabian made his way along the school footpaths, he took in the landmarks around the campus. He seldom had the time to enjoy the quiet beauty the school grounds offered. He was usually too busy rushing around after ancient Egyptian myths and demigods. Fabian happily noted the archway where his parents had bid him farewell on his first day, the tree that he and his friends often lounged under on the odd warm day, and, of course, the patch of grass he had been reclining on when he first met Nina.
There were so many places on campus that were important to how his life had turned out. The school and its residents were intricately interwoven with every misadventure and decision that had lead Fabian to his current position in life. He had great friends, a fantastic girlfriend and more than enough stories to tell his future grandchildren. Fabian thought about how his time at this school was nearly over. Soon, he would be headed off to university and the real world. The madness and mystery that surrounded the school would just be a memory, a story that few would believe.
There was one thing that Fabian hoped wouldn't change with finishing school: Nina. He wanted her to be a constant in his life and vice versa. He couldn't imagine not spending his days without being able to look across the dinner table and see her smile or share an exasperated glance with her when Alfie and Jerome were concocting some scheme.
Not that he and Nina were exchanging many looks nowadays anyway, exasperated or otherwise. More often than not, when Fabian glanced over at Nina, he would see her with Eddie, heads bent together and whispering. If Nina was exchanging exasperated glances with anyone, it was Eddie. They were seldom seen looking at anyone else if the other was in the room. Even when Eddie wasn't in the room with him and Nina, she was usually at least exchanging the odd text with him every now and then. But then, they weren't often in different rooms anyhow.
Fabian shook his head. They were just close friends, brought together by circumstances. He couldn't begrudge them finding each other in all the madness after the Mask Incident. And anyway, he didn't have anything to worry about. Nina was his girlfriend. Eddie was Patricia's girlfriend. Neither relationship was being threatened. Right, Eddie and Nina were friends and that was okay. Fabian was okay with it. Patricia was okay with it. Everything was okay.
The front door of Anubis House loomed before Fabian suddenly. He pushed the door open and headed directly into the kitchen. Trudy was already nearly done with preparing breakfast.
"Oh, Fabian, hello, I didn't expect you back so early," Trudy said, fumbling a hot pan of muffins onto a cooling rack.
"Hi Trudy. Neither did I, but here I am. I'm dead tired though," Fabian said. He glanced up at the ceiling when a muffled shout and stomping echoed through the house. "What's going on up there?"
"World War Three, probably," Trudy said distractedly, pouring another batch of batter into a muffin tin.
"Right," Fabian muttered, making his way to down the hall to his room. He ignored a door slamming upstairs and opened his own door. The bedroom was still dark and Eddie was snoring. Fabian threw his jacket onto his desk chair and collapsed face first onto his bed.
When he woke up again, Fabian felt much groggier than he usually felt when waking up. He was sniffling and his throat felt scratchy. Maybe taking a walk in the cool fall weather in only a light jacket had been a bad idea. Fabian felt terrible and knew that by afternoon, he would be laid up with a full-blown cold, sneezing and all.
He glanced over at Eddie in the light that was finally filtering through the window, probably around 9 am. Fabian turned away before doing a double take, nearly giving himself whiplash with the speed of his head turn.
Eddie was still asleep, which was unsurprising. No, what was shocking was that he wasn't alone. And it wasn't Patricia who was curled up half on top of Eddie. It was Nina who had Eddie's arms wrapped around her. It was Nina, still in pajamas, sleeping in Eddie's bed with him.
The secrets and study sessions and closeness were things Fabian could deal with. He could handle them texting and talking and hanging off of each other. And sure, friends sometimes fell asleep together. And maybe Nina had stumbled into the room looking for Fabian and, upon realizing he wasn't there, settled in Eddie's bed in early morning confusion. But there was something more to this, Fabian was sure. It was too intimate. Nina was more relaxed in Eddie's embrace than she had ever seemed in Fabian's. There was something in their positions that told Fabian that even if he had been in bed when Nina had entered their room, she would still be curled up with Eddie.
So maybe Fabian did have something to worry about after all.
As his head started pounding and he watched Nina nuzzle Eddie, Fabian decided that he really hated mornings, after all.
-.-.-.-.-
Nina jerked awake. She wasn't sure for a moment why she had woken up so abruptly. She blinked her eyes open, waiting for her vision to clear up. All she could see was Eddie's ear and the hair at the base of his neck, still un-gelled and un-styled and soft this early in the morning. Nina smiled slightly and closed her eyes, breathing in deeply.
"Nina, wake up! And Eddie get your hands off of my girlfriend!"
Nina's eyes snapped open. Oh. Fabian. That's why she was awake and not still asleep with Eddie.
Oh no.
She leaned away enough to meet Eddie's gaze. They seemed to come to some sort of agreement and Eddie's hands gave her hips a light squeeze before releasing them so Nina could move away. Once she was off of Eddie, they both sat up and turned to face Fabian.
"Fabian, this isn't—" Nina started.
"Listen, dude, I—" Eddie began.
"Hey, Fabian could you please—woah, why is Nina in Eddie's bed?" Jerome asked as he surveyed the scene. Then his eyes widened before he broke out laughing.
"Oh, Mara will never believe this," he mumbled as he backed out of the room.
Fabian hadn't even registered Jerome's entrance and was still looking at Eddie and Nina expectantly. The two in question were still looking at the door Jerome had just disappeared through as though they desperately wished they could follow him. They glanced at one another before steeling themselves and returning Fabian's unwavering gaze.
Fabian ground out, "Nina, what the hell?"
Nina's eyebrows furrowed and she looked at Fabian imploringly. She shifted her weight closer to Eddie, feeling the mattress shift as he did the same. Fabian didn't seem to notice. Nina opened her mouth to deny everything the Fabian was surely thinking. They hadn't even been doing anything (this time) and if they were going to be found out and ostracized as cheaters, it wasn't going to be for something as innocent as sleeping together. They even had their clothes on! However, Nina's explanations died in her throat as the door burst open again. Nina was grateful for the interruption.
Her gratitude lasted exactly six seconds as Patricia's face poked around the door.
"Jerome told me you needed me Ed- oi, what's going on here?" Patricia's face was instantly enraged. Her eyebrows lowered in anger and confusion and hurt. The corners of her lips turned down as she scowled.
"Patricia, it's nothing," Eddie started only to be interrupted by Fabian. Fabian kept his gaze steady on the pair who were still perched on Eddie's bed in their pajamas.
"I got back this morning and found these two together. In bed. Together," Fabian emphasized. Patricia closed the bedroom door and came to stand next to Fabian, arms crossed in front of her.
"Guys, it really wasn't anything. I came in early this morning when Amber and Alfie were being loud and woke me up. I must have gotten into the wrong bed. It wasn't Eddie's fault Patricia. It was my stupid mistake. I'm sorry," Nina explained.
Patricia's expression eased as Eddie nodded, corroborating Nina's story. Fabian's expression remained stony.
"Nina I need to talk to you," Fabian said. He did an about face and walked out the door without looking back to see if Nina was following. She did, glancing at Eddie when she was out of Patricia's view. She widened her eyes at him and he shrugged almost imperceptibly as Patricia assumed Nina's vacated spot on Eddie's bed.
Nina walked out into the hallway, shutting the bedroom door behind her. Fabian was leaning against the opposite wall, looking at her.
"Fabian—"
"No, Nina, I get to talk, you get to listen," Fabian said, "I ignored you spending time with Eddie. I tried to be okay with how close you were. I let you have your secrets with him. I tried, Nina, I really did. I told myself you were just friends."
"We are just friends Fabian. I'm allowed to have friends!" Nina protested. Fabian raised his hand to silence her. Her mouth clicked shut audibly.
"Nina, whatever you are, friends or whatever, I can't deal with it. I thought I could but I can't. Okay? This morning just sealed the deal."
"Fabian, what are you saying?" Nina asked in a small voice.
"I think we need break. I need to get my head together and you and Eddie need to figure out what you're doing," Fabian said.
"We're just friends, Fabian!" Nina exclaimed again.
Fabian gave her a long look, "If you really believe that, you're even better at denial than I am."
He walked away; leaving Nina slumped in the hallway. A few seconds later, Patricia exited the bedroom, not giving Nina a second glance. Nina moved back into the bedroom, making sure to lock the door, rejoining Eddie on his bed. He pulled Nina into his arms.
"Well?" Eddie said.
"It's over," Nina said. She wasn't crying but she wasn't exactly happy either. "We aren't doing anything wrong, are we Eddie?"
"No way. It's what's supposed to happen, Nina," Fabian mumbled, "You know that. We just didn't want to hurt them." Nina nodded. It was a good thing that Fabian ended it without actual proof that she was cheating. Not that Nina really considered it cheating. That word would taint what she and Eddie share. How could something so pure and absolute be called something so wrong and dirty? It couldn't, they had decided a while back.
"What did Patricia say?" Nina asked, meeting Eddie's eyes.
"She was pissed, but she'll get over it. She bought your story," Eddie said. He suddenly grinned at Nina.
"What are you so happy about?" Nina grumbled.
Eddie's grin widened, "I'll be the only one touching you from now on." He waggled his eyebrows.
"Sex, that's what you're taking away from this? Really?" Nina rolled her eyes.
"What else?"
"You're awful." Nina laughed. Eddie pecked her cheek.
"Seriously though, you're okay with this, right Nina?" Eddie asked her. She looked at him, taking him in completely. His blonde hair and bright blue eyes, his shit-eating grin and broad shoulders, god, even him smell was right.
"Yeah, it was going to happen obviously," Nina said, "I just didn't expect it to happen like that. Honestly, I though Patricia would break it off first."
"Ha, who would break up with me? My charms are irresistible!" Eddie laughed.
"Oh my god, I'm just like Amber." Nina said, pushing Eddie back down so they could lay down.
"How's that?" Eddie asked.
"I'm dating a moron."
So the day everything went to hell (for Fabian, at least) started off normally. Fabina was officially back 'off' and Patricia was miffed. Everything was par the course, really. EddieandNina were still attached at the hip and things were mostly settled, if tense with anger and hurt. Still, it was early and no issues in Anubis House were ever resolved before breakfast.
-.-.-.-.-
A/N: So here's chapter 2. Thank you for all of your lovely, lovely reviews! Oh my goodness, you're all fantastic and I hope this lives up to expectations. It was a bitch to write, but I think it all came together in the end.
Also, I've officially graduated high school, so I should be able to update more frequently. I would love to finish this before fall, but I'm really not sure how long it's going to go. Some days I see it as a 3-5 chapter story and the next day it's transformed into this massive, 20+ chapter monster in my head. So, we'll see.
Hope you all like it!
