《 Skip a Beat 》

Mixed emotions

Theseus sent an owl to the others as soon as he could, letting them know the circumstances. Eventually, Newt shooed them out of the room so they could go home and talk to everyone in person.

Tina decided to give the Scamander brothers some time with each other, and she waited patiently on a bench outside the room.

Newt looked up at his brother once he was absolutely positive Tina wasn't eavesdropping.

"It's Tina's birthday tomorrow," he started quietly, then wondered why he was telling his older brother. He dismissed the thought.

"Do you want me to get her something from you?" he offered awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. Normally, Theseus was good with people, but he hadn't ever had a conversation... like this with his brother. Newt ducked his head shyly, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

"Like what?" he mumbled.

"A ring?" asked Theseus, biting his lip to stop himself from grinning.

Newt whipped his head back to him. "What?"

"What?"

The brothers stared at each other for a minute, unsure of what to say. Newt spoke up first.

"No, it's... Theseus, it's not like that..."

"Don't worry, I get it. You don't want to be in hospital during her birthday."

Newt bit his lip and nodded miserably. He didn't.

Theseus sank down onto the bed next to his little brother. He draped an arm around him and hugged him close.

"It's hard, isn't it? Well, not that I would know, but..." he broke off, seeing Newt's crestfallen expression. He sighed. He wasn't the best at comforting people... to come to think of it, Newt was better at that than he was. He wished he was a legilimens, like Queenie. Then he'd know how he was feeling.

Newt stared at the floor. "I wish I didn't get us into this mess," he mumbled, a tear slipping down his cheek.

Theseus felt torn. What could he say? He wished Newt hadn't been injured either, but it wouldn't do any good telling him that.

"You didn't, Newt. It's not your fault, it's Grindelwald's. You haven't done anything wrong."

He didn't respond, so Theseus squeezed his shoulder again.

"Hey, look. What's happened has happened: there's nothing we can do now except what we already are. I'm sure that hearing you could walk again is more than enough for Tina. You don't need to get her anything, Newt."

His little brother looked up at him, and for a split-second, Theseus saw the helpless ten-year-old Newt flash through his eyes. His heart cracked and fractured into pieces.

Newt wrapped his arms around Theseus, and he reciprocated, letting his brother sniffle into his shirt. He stroked his hair, quietly murmuring to him.

Newt felt hopeless. He'd pretended he was fine, that he was happy, but he wasn't. he felt awful, like someone had punched him in the gut and left him nailed to a wall. The pain wasn't entirely physical, either. Newt wished he would make a miraculous recovery. He'd already done that, but he wished it would happen overnight, not in five months' time. The weight of pretending everything was fine snapped something inside him, and he collapsed into his brother's arms, sobbing to himself.

He was mad that he was injured. He was mad that he made everyone scared. He was mad that he couldn't be there for his family, for his friends, for his creatures. He was mad that he felt worthless.