Crescendo: A Fantastic Beasts Newtina Fanfiction

Chapter 5

      Newt poked at his spaghetti, which was lying on his plate, only half eaten. He had always felt uncomfortable eating in front of others, unless they were his family or even his creatures. The others, however, were eating freely. Jacob was already on his second serving. He and Queenie were busily chatting away like a pair of sparrows, with Tina occasionally pitching in. The brunette had a bit of pasta sauce smeared across her upper lip, reminding him of the day they met, when there'd been mustard on her lips instead. Newt tore his gaze away, and forced himself to eat another forkful of food, while listening to their conversation. 

       "How's the bakery doing, Jacob?", Queenie asked. 

       "Wonderful! The paçzkis are especially popular, and so are the little pastries shaped like creatures."

       This perked Newt's interest. "Creatures?"

       "Yup," Jacob told him, "I've got Occamies, Nifflers, Demiguises, and Erumpents. They sell like hotcakes on a cold winter day!", he laughed at his own joke. "My customers keep on asking where I got my ideas. And you know what I tell them? I say, 'from this odd friend I know!'", he elbowed Newt, who grinned in return. "But seriously Newt, thanks for those Occamy eggshells. They were great. Mr.Bingley had a hard time believing that I had so much silver!"

       Newt waved off his gratitude, but was pleased that his friend had achieved his dream. Jacob peered at him curiosly. "So what've you been up to lately, Newt?", he questioned. 

       "Well, I've just published my book," he began, "and when I get back to London, I'm supposed to be seeing my brother, Theseus, and Leta, too–". He broke off. Across the table from him, he saw Tina stiffen visibly. Queenie, apparently having read her sister's mind, gave her an assuring pat under the table. 

       "Have you been seeing Leta?", the direct question came from the younger Goldstein sister. 

       Newt's face burned at the idea. "Er, no, not exactly, but I bumped into her a couple weeks ago in Diagon Alley and we talked about some things–"

       Tina abruptly stood up from her seat, knocking her chair backwards. "Excuse me," she muttered, rather shakily, and quickly exited the kitchen. Queenie's gaze followed her out of the room, and she looked as if she were debating on whether she should go after her or not. Jacob looked as bewildered as Newt felt. This was unexpected behavior coming from the usual level-headed witch. Newt glanced questioningly at Queenie, wondering if she could clear up this situation for them, but the blonde shook her head. He wasn't able to tell if Queenie was simply as unknowledgeable about this matter as the rest of them, or if she was staying quiet to preserve her sister's privacy and thoughts. She gestured for Newt to continue, plainly stating in unspoken words that they were not going to talk about what had happened. Newt was inwardly wrestling with himself, suppressing a wild urge to abandon his meal and to race after Tina to see if she was alright.  

       Awkwardly clearing his throat, he started up again, "–and we talked about some things, and it was rather uncomfortable at first, but then she told me that she'd been recently engaged to Theseus...",  he trailed off apprehensively. "And anyway, turns out Theseus'd been keeping this secret, so when I get back to London, he's planning on breaking the news and inviting her over for dinner."

       A look of pure relief passed over Queenie's face. "So you're not seeing her?" 

       Feeling the tips of his ears burning, he replied quickly, "Er–no, seeing as she's my brother's fiancé now..."

       Queenie nodded thoughtfully. "Okay," she said decisively, "I'm going to see what Teen's up to. You two stay here," And with that she left the kitchen, her pink dress whipping behind her.

       Jacob propped his elbow up on the table and turned to face him. "What do you think all that was about?", he asked.

       "Dunno," Newt mumbled, feeling guilty. Something he said seemed to have upset her.

       "Well, Newt, if you ask me, I'd say that you shouldn't mention that girl Leta around her anymore," his friend advised.

       Newt glanced up at Jacob, puzzled. Before he could ask what he meant, Queenie returned, with a very reluctant looking Tina trailing behind. The pasta sauce on her lip was gone, but the rims if her eyes were red, which led Newt to wonder if she'd been crying. An awkward hush fell over the room. Queenie broke it. "Well," she said in a falsely cheery voice, "what say we have some strudel?"

       Jacob's eyes lit up, and he grinned at Queenie. "I'll help."

       Meanwhile, Tina had retaken her seat at the end of the table, opposite from Newt. Both were determinedly avoiding each other's gaze, before Newt found his eyes traveling to her face. Her hair has grown a bit since he'd last seen her, but it still framed her face in choppy brown waves. A rebellious strand of her hair had fallen across the side of her face, as it often did, and Newt was unconsciously reaching over to hook it behind her ear, before he realized what he was doing and grabbed his glass at the last moment, and gulped hastily from it. She hadn't seemed to realize what his intentions had been. Newt exhaled slowly in relief. The air between them was buzzing with tension, despite the amicable voices of Jacob and Queenie rattling on about strudels and pastries in the background.

       Newt didn't realize that he was staring at Tina before she met his gaze with chocolate brown eyes. They remained like that for a split second more before both of them looked away simultaneously, blushes creeping their way up theirs faces. 

       He decided that he couldn't bear the stillness anymore, so he broke the silence. "Are, um, are you alright?", he asked tentatively. Merlin's beard, Newt, you idiot, he cursed himself, of course she isn't, or else she wouldn't've run out of the room, would she? But then he began fretting nervously, remembering what Jacob had said earlier. Was he the reason she was upset? Had he done something? Said something? Jacob had told him not to mention Leta anymore. Yes, it must have been something he said. But how would he fix his mistake?

       A voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "I'm fine, Newt."

       He looked up through his messy crop of hair that was obscuring part of his eyes to see Tina looking at him intently. She certainly did not look fine. Her eyes were still red and wet. She looked like she would be a pretty crier. Newt blinked furiously, trying to clear his head of these unworthy and utterly perplexing thoughts. "Really, I'm fine," she repeated. 

      Gathering up his courage, he said to her, "You can tell me to mind my own business, but–um, was it something that I said? About Leta...?". Why couldn't he just speak to her like a normal person? After all, the last time he'd been here, he was perfectly capable of speech. His stomach hadn't knotted itself up  everytime he'd spoken to her. 

       Tina seemed to be steeling herself, too. "When you left to go back to London, you told me that you didn't know much about what Leta likes these days," she paused, "Is that still true?"

       Newt blinked, bemused. What was she trying to say? Was she...oh. It struck him like a wall of bricks. His green eyes widened. He took a deep breath, not sure if what he was about to say would be right. "I still don't know what she like these days, Tina. And that's the truth."