Knots: A Fab Moretti Fanfiction

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2006- NEW YEAR'S

It is nearly an hour after midnight, the first hour of the New Year, and Ana is spending it the way she wishes she had spent the last five New Year's: With all of her best friends, her favorite people. After midnight, all of the boys and their significant others gathered at a table to talk as a group and enjoy a drink together. Now, Ana is falling in and out of sleep as she listens-- a smile on her face the entire time-- to her friends tell stories and joke and laugh together.

"You tired?" Fab, who Ana is sitting next to, asks her.

"A little bit," she chuckles lightly, "It's been a long day. I mean, I was still in California, like, twelve hours ago."

"Good point," he smiles, "Want me to take you home?"

"No, no. I wanna stay," she insists and vigorously shakes her head to wake herself up, but it doesn't work, because after she gets back into listening to the conversation, she is falling asleep again, for good this time. Her head falls slowly onto Fab's shoulder as she dozes off. He looks down at her, her peaceful expression as she sleeps, and smiles. He then stands, and the conversation stops, everyone looking towards him.

"Where you going, buddy? Leaving already?" Nick asks.

"Yeah," Fab smiles, "Ana's falling asleep, I think I'd better get her home... Hey, Julian, do you mind if we catch a ride from you?"

"Fine with me. What about you, honey?" Julian asks Juliet, and she nods her head.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm ready to go."

"Alright," Julian sighs and rises from his seat, Juliet doing the same.

"Hey," Fab leans down and gently shakes Ana's shoulder to wake her up, "Ana."

"Hmm?" She coos, barely opening her eyes to look at him.

"I'm gonna take you home," he whispers.

"Huh? Okay," she mumbles, clearly confused and disoriented.

"Come on," he says, taking her hand to help her up from her seat as she groggily rubs her eyes.

Julian observes the two of them together, much as he had when he was dating Ana so many years ago, where he, or anyone else, had to be a fool to not see that they had feelings for each other. He finds that, despite everything-- all of the time gone by and the years without seeing each other, weeks without even talking-- this has not changed. The way they move around each other-- the familiarity, the intimacy-- has remained the same. Fab is still just as tender with Ana, as if she is a delicate flower whose petals will fall off if you don't handle it with care, but is nevertheless the most beautiful flower in the entire field. And Ana is still so effortlessly comfortable with Fab, as if his body, even his mind, is her own, but this time, Julian notices, even more so; She is notably more affectionate-- both in the platonic and romantic sense-- she is more physical with him, touching him, lingering even closer to him than she had before.

"We're ready," Fab announces to Julian now that Ana is awake and standing.

"'Kay. See you guys later," Julian says and waves goodbye to his friends.

"Later, man," Nick says.

"Bye, guys," says Nikolai, and the rest of their friends remaining at the table echo this.

They walk to the elevator where, on the ride down, Ana-- already half-asleep once more-- rests her head on Fab's shoulder again, their hands still clasped together, their fingers intertwined. To all of their astonishment, she makes it to the car, the chilly bite of the now-January air forcing her out of her groggy state. But once they are in the car, she sits next to Fab and subconsciously slips her hand right back into his, and he is so warm, the feeling of his hand placed tightly in hers so comforting, that she is lulled to sleep again, lowering herself into his lap and letting the last bit of sleep overtake her.