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Imagine: Tina finds out Newt is planning on leaving again.
"Of course not, Newt and I are just friends. That's all we are, and all we ever will be. Honestly, Jacob, I don't know where you and Queenie come up with such ridiculous ideas."
Tina's words echoed in Newt's mind, words he wasn't supposed to hear. Eavesdropping wasn't something he approved of, but once he heard his name escape Tina's lips he couldn't help himself. Darkness wrapped around him, even the brightest lights of the city slowly dimming at the late hour. Newt had spent hours pondering what Tina said. After a plethora of restless hours, he came to the conclusion that he'd made a mistake: falling in love with the raven-haired girl with the bright smile and creamy, pale skin. The girl whose laugh was like angels singing, who's eyes sparkled in the sunlight... he'd fallen in love with Porpentina Goldstein.
But she hadn't fallen in love with him.
+
The sound of a fork clattering onto a plate was ear-splitting, and Newt tried his best not to wince. "You're what?"
Newt had announced his decision over dinner, on a typical Tuesday night. He knew there'd be a reaction, but nothing he'd imagined had Tina acting the way she did.
His eyes didn't meet Tina's as he answered. "I'm thinking about leaving again."
The truth was, he wasn't just thinking about leaving. He was leaving. He'd been planning his departure for the past few weeks. Newt didn't want to leave, but things had just become too painful and complicated to bear. Living with the idea that he and Tina would just be friends, even if they lived together, that she would never love him the way he loved her, was so unbearable he had to escape before the thoughts ended up shutting him down for good. He had almost let that happen with Leta, and he was content with it, because he had his creatures. Yes, he did still have his creatures, but without Tina... they weren't enough to sustain the hole that had ripped inside his heart. She was like his other half, his soulmate, which was a term he solemn used, because after Leta he didn't believe they existed.
"But why? Newt, why are you leaving again?" Tina asked, her voice shrill, a distraught look plastered onto her face. She didn't want him to leave, not now, not when she was finally dawning upon the feelings that had laid dormant for so long, the feelings she hadn't realized she had for him. The feelings she'd suppressed, because it was wrong, so terribly wrong, for her to fall in love with her best friend who was still hung up on the Lestrange girl he'd been friends with for all those years. Not to mention the fact that he was considered dangerous, and it would reflect badly on her as Head Auror. Queenie had had her suspicions, but Tina was skilled in Occlumency and could block her thoughts from her sister's prying eyes.
I can't be around you if we're only going to be friends.
Queenie let out a small gasp, eyes widening as they found Newt's which quickly looked away. He'd never admitted to the younger of the sisters his feelings for Tina and had decided on just waiting for her to figure it out herself. He was surprised it'd taken the blonde so long to finally realize what he had been alluding to for weeks, but it didn't completely astonish her. She knew he had some kindling flames for her older sister, but nothing like this. Nothing that hurt so much it was driving him away from her.
"You can't go!" Queenie interjected, her voice high in pitch. Off Tina's look, which was slightly confused by her sister's panicked reaction, she lowered her voice. "Just... not yet. You've been thinkin' too hard about... well, about what's making you wanna go. I promise you, you won't be able to live with yourself if you leave."
"I won't be able to live with myself if I stay, either," Newt uttered with his teeth clenched, a feeling of agitation with Queenie spreading throughout him. Tina looked confusedly between the two, unable to understand the private conversation they seemed to be having. "You don't know what it's like to-"
"I do know what it's like!" Queenie yelled, banging her hands on the table and standing up. "Have you not been payin' attention? Have you not witnessed me pass Jacob every day, unable to say anything to him because of some stupid law? So don't go sayin' I don't know what it's like, because I do know what it's like to love someone who doesn't love you!"
The room quieted, and Queenie sighed as she sat down. There was a thci, tense feeling in the air, and it took all of Newt's will to not look at Tina. He instead stared at his hands, fidgeting with the maroon placemat that laid before him. "All I'm sayin' is... don't go assuming other people don't know what you're going through," Queenie said softly.
Tina shuffled, and cursed as her fork hit her plate loudly. "Um... may I ask what that was about?"
Newt tensed, and he gave Queenie a pleading look. She simply shrugged ad asked him to pass the butter. As she was buttering her bread, she said, "Newt has been having the same dilemma as you."
Tina was confused. It was evident from the look on her face, but soon the realization dawned on her. "You...," she started, but couldn't finish. "Queenie, you can't be sure-"
"Tina, when have I ever been wrong about anything? Never. It's one of the perks of being a legilimens. Now just kiss and realize you're made for each other!" Queenie snapped.
+
A crisp autumn leaf fell from an above oak tree and made its home Tina's hair. "I believe you've got something stuck in your hair," Newt said, chuckling as he untangled it from her hair. "There."
"Thanks," Tina said, and she tried not to look to put out as they crossed the street and stood in front of the MACUSA headquarters. "You know... I'm really glad Queenie did what she did last night. Straightforward as it was, it was really... well, it helped me a lot."
"It... I'm grateful she did it too," Newt replied, and he smiled as he watched Tina walk off and disappear into her workplace.
