The plan was simple: keep Victor up all night with their shenanigans, wait until he falls asleep, and take back the amulets.
And now it was their turn.
Fabian and Nina ran into the kitchen. He turned to Nina, and a realization suddenly hit him.
"Where are we going to hide?".
Nina glanced around the kitchen, understanding the bread oven was out. Panicked, she bent down and threw the darkwood cabinet under the sink open.
"Here", she gestured to the cabinet space, filled to the brim with Trudy's cleaning supplies.
Fabian looked at the space, back at Nina, and back to the space again.
"You are absolutely nuts", he laughed, nervousness creeping into his voice again.
This space is quite small, and they were quite… not together. Especially after the Joy and the dance incident, their relationship rebuilding had taken a major hit. But Sibuna had a mission, and Fabian would be absolutely damned if he was going to stand in the way of making Nina safe again.
"Let's clear this out real quick"
The two went to work passing off items to one another and throwing them into the nearby pantry. The cabinet space was quite big, now that there are no other clearing supplies and assorted hindering objects in there. They received their signal when Nina received a text from Amber simply saying:
"Go"
Nina showed Fabian the message and quickly shoved him inside the cabinet. Nina waited until Fabian was settled before she made her way into the cabinet as well, both closing their respective doors.
Both of their hearts were pounding for several reasons. Causing immediate chaos was a new game to them, but the thrill of the chase was absolutely addicting, especially if it meant beating Victor at his own game and getting Senkhara off of their backs for another day. But the other lingering reason…, they sat as far apart as humanly possible. It was dark in the cabinet space, the only sounds being their breath. Neither of them dared to speak for a while. Nina felt for the remote in her pocket.
"Are we ready?" Nina whispers, gripping the remote harder.
Fabian reached over and caressed Nina's hand, soothing her death grip on the poor device. Nina looked up at him, his face only illuminated by the small crack by the hinge. "We got this". He smiled, gently, encouragingly.
Nina smiled back at him, taking a deep breath. She settled back onto the wall, attempting to be slightly comfortable. She lifted her hand in front of her eye.
"Sibuna".
And then she pressed play.
Loud rock music blasted through the speakers, set conveniently on the window ledge and on the island. Fabian and Nina opened their doors and waited for Victor to make his appearance. And they did not have to wait long. Almost immediately as the music started, Victor's booming voice could be heard from his office.
"That's it!"
They heard him pacing down the stairs exclaiming, "Yes, yes. Very clever."
Fabian saw Victor enter the living room first. A smile spread across his face, excitement that their plan was working. He quickly tapped Nina on her leg, silently gesturing to Victor. Nina glanced at Fabian before following his gaze and immediately became drunk with excitement.
She gave Fabian a sly smile as Victor requested, "Turn that racket off or there would be consequences".
Fabian grabbed the remote, which was now resting on the cabinet floor, and turned off the music. Victor paced around the living room, looking for any source of sound or for any lingering bodies. He loudly inquired, "Who is it? Well?"
Fabian leaned over to Nina, a playful smirk on his face. "Second verse, same as the first". He leaned out of the cabinet to continue the loud music.
The continuation of the music only sent Victor into more of a fury, ravaging the living room and kitchen for the source of the loud screeching music.
"Point two, Sibuna", Nina smiled at Fabian, both shutting their doors at the same time.
When Victor eventually cleared out, they both sighed, releasing their breath they did not realize they were holding. Fabian began to laugh, relief flooding his system. Nina smiled at his loose-ness and joined in his laughter.
"That was so brilliant!" Fabian managed between fits of laughter.
"Did you see his face? We got him good." Nina smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Fabian sighed, finally getting ahold of himself. He tilted his head back against the cabinet wall. "Who knew that breaking the rules would actually be…"
"Fun?" Nina suggested.
Fabian looked up to her, "Yeah, fun!"
The pair smiled at each other, despite the darkness preventing a clear sight of each other. A comfortable silence fell on the pair. A minute or two go by, Fabian and Nina silently wondering what to say, how to patch things.
"I need to tell you something", they both spoke suddenly.
Both stared at the other, the darkness covering the blood rushing to their respective faces.
"Uh, you go first", Fabian whispered.
Nina chuckled softly, "I really missed this, you know."
"Sitting in cabinets?" Fabian jokes.
"Of course, definitely! Sitting in this cramped, dark cabinet is exactly the type of remedy I need every day." Nina rolled her eyes, and although Fabain couldn't see it, he felt it. "No, I mean doing things together. For the first time, things feel normal".
Fabian sighed, searching for the right words. "Nina, I want you to know I am really sorry. For everything. You only deserve the best, and I promise that you have my unwavering support."
'I trust you and I forgive you. I'm just sorry we got side tracked with things and people who don't matter" Nina grabbed Fabian's hand, tenderly caressing his knuckles.
Fabian gingerly placed his free hand on her forarm. "No matter what, we're going to make it through this. I promise you." He took a breath. "I really…really missed you, Nin-"
He was cut off by the surprisingly quick shuffle Nina took to get to his side of the cabinet. Faster than he expected, her arms made their way around him, embracing him in their first hug since their brief moment in Frobisher's study. His body stiffened, his eyes wide and anxious before he moved his arms around her and held her in a tight embrace, despite the lack of space. Fabian caressed Nina's curls, sensing the overall release of tension from Nina as he did so. He still knew how to make her feel better, even after all that time.
Nina sighed into his shoulder before pulling away to look at him. Their noses were ghosting one another. Nina's head was mere inches below the top of the cabinet. Before either of them knew it, the familiar pull sensation birthed itself within each other. In this darkness, the closeness, the secrecy. Nobody would know. No questions would be asked. For one brief moment, they could remember what their deep connection feels like. Fabian's breath shuttered as she inched forward, painfully and slowly.
Oh, how he waited for this moment again, to have her in his arms and to steal a kiss or two. He agreed too easily when Nina broke up with him. He will forever regret the pain and horror on Nina's face when she watched him kiss Joy instead of her. And his guilt, which haunted him for weeks, kept him up at night, penetrated every thought, and made him closed off from everyone, especially Nina. Now, it was his time to make it right, to finally fix the error of their ways, to finally be with his best friend again.
And the best part, Nina was the one who was pursuing.
Nina's lips ghosted atop Fabian's, teasing him in a way.
"What did you want to tell me?" she whispered.
Fabian gulped as he collected himself, choosing his words wisely.
"Nina, I've missed this. I've missed you. I'm nothing without you, and-"
He was abruptly cut off by the sound of a loud crash, Patricia's laughter from the hallway and Eddie's voice arguing with her. Nina pulled back quickly, hitting her head against the top of the cabinet. Both of them were trying to catch their breaths, shocked at what just happened and what could've been.
She cleared her throat quickly. "We need to leave", she muttered, her emotions completely out of whack since she let herself become too comfortable.
"Uh- yeah you're right-l-let's leave". Fabian quickly scrambled his way out of the cabinet and opened the door, awkwardly clamoring back into the kitchen. His legs were stiff and sore from stretching into the cabinet. Nina was quickly behind him. Silence fell over the two of them, unsure how to move on from almost kissing just moments earlier. Without speaking, they returned all of Trudy's cleaning supplies back to the cabinet and made their way back up to Nina's room.
Fabian put his hand on the doorknob. Nina reached out quickly and held onto his forearm. Fabian's eyes quickly met hers.
"What did you want to tell me earlier?" Nina asked quietly.
Fabian's eyes filled with sadness. He gingerly put his hand on top of her wrist, wrapping his fingers around her. He sighed, looking down at their hands.
"It's okay. It can wait"
"But Fabian, I-"
"I promise, Nina. It's not that important right now". He looked up to meet her eyes, a soft, closed side smile gracing his lips. He squeezed her wrist gently before turning her door knob and opening her door. "After you". He gestured inside the room where Alfie, Amber, and Patririca were waiting.
Nina inhaled shortly before she smiled at her friends, hiding her disappointment.
"Do you think Victor will ever wonder what happened tonight?" Nina questioned.
"I think he'll wonder what Trudy put in our dinner," Fabian laughed against the colorful pillow he laid his head on.
Out of the entirety of Sibuna, Fabian and Nina were the only ones who managed to stay up late enough to make sure Victor was actually asleep. They each took turns, getting up and checking his office for any activity, or the lack thereof. It was around midnight at this point and they both were slowly getting tired, but resorted to natural conversation in order to keep them awake. Nina made herself comfortable under her covers while Fabian sat, more or less, upright against her bed. He used a decorative pillow which she tossed aside as his main pillow and rested his head on the side of her mattress.
Nina pulled the covers over her shoulders, a draft in the room causing her to shiver. "I just have a feeling he's going to be so adamant about figuring out what we're up to."
Fabian chuckled softly, " I don't think he'll know what to do. He'll probably be too tired to even understand what all happened. And, after all, he's pretty high strung".
Nina's face warmed as memories flushed through her head of last year and all the trouble they put him through then. "Remember when I took the attic key and Victor went ballistic?"
"Yeah, back when he was just a crazy caretaker?" Fabian chimed in.
"But, you had my back, even then." Nina couldn't help but feel the blush radiate from her cheeks and down through her toes. Despite everything that had happened between the two of them during the year, and especially within the day, Nina still hadn't mentioned anything about their relationship or her feelings, until then.
"I thought we were all history, especially you", Fabian admitted.
"Me too, his face" Nina's voice became quieter as she recalled that fateful day when everything came together, yet fell apart at the same time. Though the mystery seemed over at that point, the pressure of being the chosen one did nothing to help her stress levels, especially since she is no longer just Nina Martin, but Nina Martin, the Chosen One. Yet, she couldn't help but laugh at how silly her worries felt.
And she smiled when she heard Fabian join in her laughter. She closed her eyes, replaying the joyful sound of his laughter, imagining the smile on his face, with his rosey cheeks. The lovely sight and sound were doing a great job of lulling her to sleep. She tried to fight the feeling, but the safeness and comfort she felt in the sound kept pulling her further and further into the night.
"Funny… good times…" Fabian drifted off.
He was taking in the moment. The two of them were talking, really talking, just like they used to do. And it felt good and natural. No awkward tension and no reminders of Joy or life-altering scenarios. Even in the cabinet today, things finally felt like they both were ready to move on and face the world together. He finally feels that things are in a good place. Perhaps it's time to tell Nina what he wanted to say earlier… before they were so rudely interrupted.
"I miss that you know", echoing her words from earlier.
"What," Nina muttered, her voice laced with sleep..
"You and me… the whole Fabina thing," he steadied his breath, "We should give it another go."
He expected the pause. Really, honestly. It was a huge decision and something he knew she would have to think over. But this pause went on for quite a while.
"Nina?" he asked.
He sat up from the pillow to look at her only to find her fast asleep in her bed. Dread and disappointment filled his body. He finally had the opportunity to make himself happier, yet fate, again, had to push them apart. He willed, hoped, maybe even prayed that she would wake up and respond, but to no avail. He huffed and sighed into his pillow, making himself comfortable. He closed his eyes, holding the tears which threatened to fall. Sleep didn't come easy, but Fabian was not ready to face rejection again, and so sleep was necessary.
Though heavy in sleep, the confusion of dreams versus reality swirled around in Nina's mind. All Nina could recall before sleep pulled her under were Fabian's voice speaking just a few words: Fabina… give… another…go. Her muscles involuntarily pulled up into a nice peaceful smile.