Tears of Gold: House of Anubis

Fabian XXII

The date with Joy had gone as well as to be expected, reflected Fabian. Not that it was a date, since he still had feelings for Nina... at least he thought he did. Fabian was almost a hundred percent sure that she returned his feelings. He had only agreed to the breakup because she hadn't wanted to date anymore but seeing how Nina reacted to his "date" last night, she totally wanted to get back together.

Amber was obviously at the end of her patience with the situation, but Fabian wasn't about to drop Joy because she made Nina uncomfortable. Despite her being away for a year, she was still the same girl who broke Jerome's nose for stealing his calculator when they were 12. They had laughed all the way to Mr. Sweet's office about the look on the cocky boy's face. Fabian had felt so happy and blessed to finally have a friend!

Of course wherever Joy went Patricia followed. Fabian had been scared of the loud girl when they first moved into Anubis house. Her growing friendship with the house tricksters was also an off-putting factor since Fabian seemed to be their favorite victim. But as he got to know her, the more he started to like the punk girl. She was the one who introduced him to music, real music, such as Sick Puppies and Cradle of Filth. Not that anyone could know this of course, he had a reputation to maintain. The trio quickly became inseparable doing everything together for years, until that fateful fall day. September 13th will be forever ingrained in Fabian's mind, the day that half his world disappeared and the day the amazing American firecracker that was Nina Martin entered his life, blowing all that Fabian knew to hell.

Nina Martin, every time her name was said it felt like an incantation. The girl was a whirlwind goddess who crashed into his life and opened his eyes to so much more. From their first meeting, her crashing into the immovable Patricia, he was captivated by her. The brunette had captured his heart before he had even known it was happening.

Fabian spent the year pulled between his residual feelings of duty to Joy, his first friend who he knew had been developing feeling for him, and his growing love for Nina. As the months passed without news of Joy or her return his guilt began to disappear and Fabian threw himself wholly into his growing relationship with the mysterious American girl.

It wasn't fair, he reflected, that he brushed aside what he had been building with Joy so easily but love rarely is fair. Nina was like a fire who consumed all in her path as her influence spread in the house. She befriended or made alliances (in the case of Jerome) with all but Mick and Mara. Fabian had never felt more alive than he did that year, as the Sibuna Club raced against time, The Society, and Rufus Zeno to retrieve the missing puzzle pieces and assemble the mythical Cup of Ankh. When it was all said and done Fabian had felt slightly empty; the quest was over and they had gotten Joy back, but something was missing.

Kissing Nina, Fabian finally felt complete, he didn't care that it was in front of all their friends he finally had his Chosen One. The following weeks were weird and nice at the same time. Not a lot changed between them, except that they now occasionally kissed and he didn't have to hide his desire to hold her hand. But before the pair knew it exams came and went, and it was time for Nina to return to America.

The pair decided to exchange letters over the summer like the protagonists of their shared favorite historical novels. Sure they had cell phones and laptops but there had been something that seemed so romantic about an exclusively letter-based correspondence. Looking back, that could have been where things began to go wrong. They had both kept up with their letters but being an ocean away placed a strain on the still developing relationship. Fabian's letters tended to consist of stories about his sister Olivia and the trouble the pair got into on his parent's estate, tales about working in Uncle Aide's shop, and most frequently how much he missed Nina. Nina would regale him with content about her Gran, the latest protest she took part in, her job at the local library and how she wished to be back in England with them.