Why Can't I Tell You

Cliff

The door to the Scamander Manor shut loudly as Tina ran in.

"Mrs. Scamander!" Tina panted. Agnes Scamander ran into the foyer.

"Tina dear! What's wrong...where's..." Mrs. Scamander began.

"There's no time to explain. Where does Newt go when he's hurt, scared, embarrassed or..." Tina started to question.

"His case, or you know, he could be at the ocean in Sussex. He went there all the time after he was expelled..." Mrs Scamander started to ramble on, a concentrated expression on her face.

"Thank you!" with a crack Tina had Disapparated.

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As soon as she looked around, Tina realized this was the perfect place for Newt to be. The wind blew bitterly across the green-strewn cliffs. The ocean rushed below, its waves loud enough to hear hundreds of feet up. The stars in the sky were brighter than she'd ever seen them in America. Close to the edge of the cliff, curled up on a large, jagged rock overlooking the ocean, was a familiar silhouette. Tina drew in a breath and exhaled, she hadn't even had a proper moment to digest what Newt had said to her. Sticking her hands into the pockets of her coat Tina walked over.

"I've never seen the stars shine so brightly," she said standing a little ways behind him. Newt quickly turned around, tear-streaks were evident on his face. His eyes brimmed with fear and worry.

"Tina..." he swallowed, slipping down from his rock. Before he could say anything more a brutal force pinned him to the boulder.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO ME NEWT. YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO ME. YOU DON'T TELL ME THE WORDS I'VE WANTED TO HEAR FROM YOUR LIPS SINCE YOU LEFT NEW YORK, AND THEN RUN AWAY. YOU DIDN'T GIVE ME A CHANCE. I KNOW YOU WERE SCARED, I WAS SCARED. BUT YOU KNOW, DON'T YOU, YOU KNOW THAT NO MATTER WHAT YOU CAN TELL ME ANYTHING. I WON'T JUDGE YOU, I WON'T GET MAD AT YOU. MERCY LEWIS, I WON'T REJECT YOU.  I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN HURT, I KNOW PEOPLE HAVE DEGRADED YOU AND FILED AWAY YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE. I KNOW YOU FEEL UNWORTHY OF THINGS IN YOUR LIFE. THEY WERE WRONG TO DO THAT AND YOU WERE WRONG TO BELIEVE THEM. I'M NOT LIKE THEM. YOU HAD ME WORRIED SICK. DO YOU KNOW WHY I HAVE NIGHTMARES? I'M AFRAID TO LOSE YOU. I CARE ABOUT YOU, NEWT, MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOW- BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" Tina bellowed, panting heavily. She loosened her grip and collapsed into his chest, sobbing.

"I'm so sorry Tina. I'm so, so sorry," Newt choked out. He wrapped her in his arms, rocking slowly. "I never meant to cause you so much pain." He stroked her hair, still in waves with glowing flowers, though slightly disheveled. "Here," Newt said helping her onto the rock. Tina put her head into his lap and curled into a ball. Newt raised his wand and a silvery jet flew out materializing into a porcupine. It scampered around the two. Tina reached out gently to touch it, but it was gone.

"What was hard, Newt?" Tina asked shakily.

"Hmmmm?" Newt asked confused.

"You said it was 'so hard,'" Tina replied drawing quotation marks in the air.

"Oh," Newt said, "it was...it was...you see...walking around. Everyday. And seeing you. And hearing myself admit that...admit that...I... l...love you," Newt swallowed, "but thinking that...you...that you didn't feel the same. At all."

"Sing to me," Tina said, "Please."

"I...I can't," Newt replied.

"Yes you can," Tina encouraged, "I've heard you sing to your sick creatures."

And so he did, twisting her hair between his fingers, rearranging the flowers. Tina fell asleep to the sound of the waves and Newt's voice, all under the twinkling stars.