Those Days [Newtina]

Chapter 37: Meteolojinx Recanto

Tina couldn't will herself to sleep.

She drifted in and out of her thoughts, swirling through her mind in a giant whirlpool.

The way he had hugged her close, tucked her hair back, Mercy Lewis, Newt had carried her back to her room...

Tina felt her ears turn pink, and she smiled bashfully at the memory.

He'd said he was leaving on the first- that was today, Tina realised with a sinking feeling, but she hoped that they'd all be able to spend most of the day together, before he boarded his ship in the evening.

She grunted to herself and rolled over to check her bedside clock. Mercy Lewis, it was early. 4:47 and she hadn't slept at all, bar the few hours before-

Tina shook her head to clear all of her thoughts. There was only a kernel of... whatever it was going on between her and Newt, if that. Nothing more.

Tina rubbed her eyes and pushed back the blanket. There was no point in trying to sleep now.

She grabbed her wand from the bedside table and slid off her bed, landing lightly on the carpet with her near-silent feet.

Nudging the door open, Tina slipped out of her room and crept onto the balcony just outside the living room.

Only to find that she wasn't alone.

She wasn't sure if he had seen her yet. She didn't think so.

But Tina didn't falter a step as she walked up to Newt and stood by him, watching the night sky fade slowly into day.

Slashes of orange and pink and red marred the sky, as if someone had carelessly swiped a giant paintbrush across a dark canvas. A tiny gold sliver was visible just above the horizon- the sun was rising. Stars were still twinkling faintly, spread haphazardly across the sky like a sparkling spray of glitter. Tina drank in the view, gazing awestruck at the sunrise.

A voice wrenched her back into the real world.

"Did you sleep well?"

Without tearing her eyes from the cityscape, she answered him in a quiet voice.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Me neither."

They both knew why.

Neither one had the courage to turn and face the other, so they didn't. The pair stood side by side and watched the sky, unsaid words laid between them, but no words needed to be said. This moment- this precious moment in time- would stay with them forever. Neither of them would admit it in a thousand years, but the more time they spent with each other, the closer they became, the more of that mysterious, new feeling they experienced.

They only had to figure out what it was.

The sun rose higher into the sky, announcing the beginning of another day. The usual sounds began to fill New York City- the quiet, purring car engines, citizens having friendly conversations, the rustling of work bags and coats being pulled around freezing bodies; it was the first day of 1928.

"Newt... you're leaving today, aren't you?"

He paused for a moment, as if he'd forgotten, then turned to face her.

"Yes," he replied. There was a slight edge of sadness to it, which Tina was sure echoed in her own voice.

"Is there anything you want to do? Y'know, for your last day in New York?"