《 Skip a Beat 》

Aren't friends just wonderful?

Tina woke up a lot earlier than she normally did. It wasn't early enough to go back to sleep, but it wasn't early enough to get out of bed and start getting ready for the day.

She groaned and buried her face in the sheets.

They were moving the second mattress into her room in a month's time. Tina was determined to savour the extra space and solace until then. If she rolled over, she could see, among the stack of work files, the framed photo of the four of them.

A few months ago, she would've hated that photo. She would've cried if she saw it. It would've reminded her of how perfect things were, of how horrible things had become since then. But now... now, whenever Tina saw it, she smiled. He was coming home. Even if he never walked without aid again, he was coming home. Things could go back to how they were. Things could go back to being normal. To being perfect. Tina smiled to herself and slipped out from underneath the covers, not bothering to change out of her blue pyjamas.

She wandered into the kitchen, intending to make something to eat. It was still dark outside, but the sky was tinted orange-pink. It was almost dawn.

She lightly flicked her wand and sent some bread into the toaster. The kettle started boiling, and an knife hovered above an orange before cutting it into neat slices and levitating it onto a plate for when the others woke up.

Tina subconsciously spread butter on her toast and curled up in an armchair after wolfing it down. She pulled a half-filled out sheet of paperwork and numbly began to finish filling it out.

Tina worked steadily for about an hour before someone else walked into the living room. She glanced up.

Leta was making herself some coffee in the kitchen.

Tina hadn't been properly introduced to Leta yet. A quick "hello" as soon as she'd arrived in London, and they were off. She was probably the person she'd talked to least on the trip. Of course, Tina had gotten to know Leta quite well over the past few months, especially under the... circumstances, but she wasn't overly comfortable having a one-on-one conversation with her. Everything else- all the other times they'd spoken... that was different. There was always someone else there.

Tina pretended to be concentrating on her paperwork. It didn't feel right trying to casually strike up a conversation with Newt's childhood friend. Especially since he'd been hurt by her, and still didn't want to talk about it, after all these years. A part of her didn't want to forgive Leta, though she knew that all the pain caused was unintentional. From what she gathered. Another part of her had forgiven Leta a long time ago, and she'd grown to quite like her- as a close friend. A third part of Tina felt guilty for picking sides. She didn't know what had happened all those years ago- it wasn't her place to judge.

"Coffee? You look tired."

Tina was wrenched back into the real world. Leta was watching her expectantly, hovering behind the kitchen table clutching a pale blue mug. She nodded vaguely.

"Sure." Tina watched her retrieve a second mug, then added "Thanks, Leta."

She inclined her head slightly in thanks before filling the second mug with hot water.

Tina looked back at her files in distaste. She wasn't going to work now. She placed the sheet she was filling out on the carved wooden table next to the armchair and watched as Leta brought two mugs of steaming coffee and handed one to her.

She cradled the hot mug and let the scalding ceramic bite into her fingers. Tina was grateful for the heat- mornings weren't half as cold as this back in New York.