Return to New York

Moving On

Tina woke up with a headache. She felt sick to her stomach. Shoving her covers off her, she rushed to the bathroom, hoping that, if she threw up, she could get rid of the nauseous feeling in her stomach, but she couldn't. She slumped to the floor, leaning against the wall. 

There was a tap on the door. It opened and Queenie came in. She crouched down beside her sister and pulled her into a hug.

"Shh, Teenie, honey," she murmured. "It's fine. Why don't you go back to bed? I'll let people know you're not coming to work."

Tina nodded wordlessly and her sister helped her back to their room. She climbed back into bed, pulling her covers up to her ears. Queenie cast a healing spell and her headache lessened. 

"I've got to work now, Tina. Are you gonna be okay?"

Tina nodded. She was still in shock. How could he? And he gave no explanation. He just continued to act as if nothing was wrong. She wished it had all been a dream but she knew it wasn't. For one thing, she no longer had on her engagement ring. Her finger felt naked without it.

"Teen, why don't you write to him? Ask him what's going on. Maybe he'll tell you it's all a mistake." Queenie was standing in the doorway, looking down at her sister.

Tina shot upright, a stab of pain shooting through her head. "No, I'm not writing to him. He's not worth it." The look on Queenie's face was enough to tell Tina what she was thinking of. "And don't you dare write to him either," she said, her voice rising to a shout. "If I find out that you wrote to him, I will hex you to next year!"

Queenie sighed. She usually had no problem doing things her sister had asked her not to but this time she knew Tina was serious. There was nothing she could do.

Tina stayed in bed all day but she went to work the next day. She worked quickly, filling out paperwork faster than she ever had. She was furious and she wanted to distract herself. She wanted to forget about Newt but she couldn't.

Halfway through the afternoon, Tolliver came in with a question he should have known the answer to. Usually, that kind of question annoyed Tina but today she welcomed the distraction. She answered it as cheerfully as she could. He thanked her and turned to leave.

As he walked away, Tina had an idea.

"Achilles, wait," she called. The man stopped and turned, an expectant look on his face. Tina sighed slightly. "I was thinking, maybe we could go get coffee after work," she suggested.

Achilles's face light up. "Really? That'd be great." He frowned slightly. "Wait, I thought you had a boyfriend."

Tina gritted her teeth and shook her head. "No, I don't."

"Okay then," Achilles grinned. "That'd be great!"

When work was over, Tina and Achilles found a busy café and ordered coffee. They found a seat at a table in the middle of the room and Achilles piled sugar in his coffee, while Tina sipped her bitter drink. They talked together for a long time, Achilles telling many stories of when he was working as an Auror in Ohio. As Tina had suspected, he wasn't the best Auror, but she didn't care. When they were finished, they left the café.

"What do you want to do now?" Achilles asked.

"Can we go to a bookstore?" Tina asked without thinking. Even though she wanted to forget Newt, she wanted to see his book.

"A bookstore?" Achilles asked.

"Yes, a magical bookstore," Tina clarified.

"But you already have so many books."

"I just want to see something."

Achilles nodded. "Okay then." He slipped a hand around her waist and they made their way to an alley where they Apparated to the magical bookstore. Tina moved towards the shop. There, in the window, was Newt's book. She let out a quiet gasp. It was beautiful.

Tina ran inside. Achilles followed her a moment later. She picked up a copy and ran her hands over the cover.

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," he read over her shoulder. "I've heard of this book. What's the big deal?"

Tina shrugged. "It's probably a good book." She quickly purchased it and they left the shop.

Achilles took Tina home. They stopped outside the building to say goodbye.

"Maybe we can do this again sometime," Achilles suggested.

Tina nodded. "Of course. That would be great."

"Okay, then." Achilles pulled Tina into a hug. She hugged him back. When they pulled away, they stared into each other's eyes. Achilles was shorter than Newt, about the same hight as Tina. Before she could tell herself that this was a bad idea, she had flung her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his lips. Achilles started but returned the kiss eagerly. They kissed for a minute before pulling away.

"What was that for?" Achilles asked.

"I'm not sure," Tina said. She tried to offer him a smile. "I'll see you later."

Tina dashed into the building and up to her apartment. Then she pulled out Newt's book and opened it. She didn't know why she still wanted to read it but she did. She was hesitant to look at the dedication page but curiosity got the better of her. What she saw surprised her. It was still dedicated to her. In fact, it was the exact dedication she had read before.

She felt oddly pleased. Here was something, some proof of their relationship, proof that could be seen by millions of people and that could be used against Newt.

And, she realized with a dark chuckle, I bet Leta is not going to like this.

A/N: Guys, this is going to go on for a while. Still, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please vote and comment.

I've got to go to school soon but I'll have the next chapter up as quickly as I can. I don't have time to edit this so I hope there's no mistakes.

Have a good day!

Bye!

Written January 21, 2019.