IT WAS A RAINY THURSDAY MORNING WHEN NEWT SCAMANDER DECIDED TO ASKED HIS NEIGHBOR OUT ON A DATE.
He nervously paced around the living room gathering his thoughts while Jacob was siting excitedly for Newt's announcement. For Jacob he knew how nervous Newt could be but this time it felt completely different because this time it was about a woman. A woman named Tina Goldstein of course. And Jacob couldn't have been happier for his best buddy Newt.
For the past two weeks Newt either left to Tina's apartment for some cup of tea or Tina came over to Jacob's to check on the cats that Newt rescued a month ago and have a nice pastry Jacob baked in the last minute. One thing for sure was that Jacob wasn't aware of Newt's promise to Tina but he did knew something amazing was blossoming between the two.
"What do I say to her? Where do I even take her? What should I wear?" Newt ranted on and Jacob tried to listen every word.
Jacob sighed as he continued to watch Newt hopelessly pacing back and forth unsure of his plans. "You know Newt, it isn't where you take her or what you wear. It's where you two will enjoy each other's company. It can be a homemade meal and watch a movie together on the sofa. Nothin fancy." Jacob explained carefully for Newt to understand.
Then something clicked in Newt; a fantastic idea.
All the worries left him and gave Jacob a hug as a thank you for his help. Jacob was taken aback but smiled almost immediately.
"So you want me to prepare a nice meal for you and Tina," Jacob said excitedly. "Oh I can't wait-"
"-Actually Jacob I was wondering if you could teach me how to cook for her." Newt replied nervously.
Jacob's smile grew bigger. "Of course I will...but try not to burn my kitchen. I know I'm only a baker but I do make a damn good pasta." He said with a chuckle.
So for the rest of the afternoon, Jacob encouraged Newt to finally ask Tina out. Every single time Newt was half way through the front door, in the last second he walked back inside and sat down on the couch. "Nope can't do it,Jacob." He said each time it happened.
At this point Jacob was beginning to lose hope.
"Oh come on, Scamander!" Jacob said, grabbing Newt's attention. "Clearly this girl likes you. Go for it, I believe in you buddy. If you don't I'll kick you out of this apartment...wait maybe I'm too harsh. Hm okay no dinner? No no no....you know what I mean. Take this one shot, what can you lose?"
Newt stared back at him with wide eyes. "I don't know Jacob, maybe her friendship? I really like her but what if I ruin what we already have? I mess up on everything and you're aware of that. Bloody hell..." Newt replied in misery.
Jacob sat next to him on the couch. "Listen you won't know if you don't try. I'm sure nothing bad will come in between if she says no. I got your back. Wanna try again?" He said with an supportive smile.
Newt nodded and stood up. He took a deep breath and walked out through the front door without looking back. Jacob peeked his head out the door before closing it, not wanting to know the answer. He was nervous for his buddy after all, but did have his fingers crossed.
Meanwhile Newt stared hard into the closed door of Tina's debating what he would say. He thought once again what Theseus said to Leta when they first met. That he felt nervous asking Leta out to dance at first. It made him almost smile at the lovely memory and imagined them dancing that night. He needed to take a chance...so that's what he did.
He knocked once. There was no answer. He knocked a second time and then a third, but no one answered. All the encouragement Newt build up was fading already and was prepared to run back safely on the couch. He waited until he finally decided to leave. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He turned around hoping to find Tina but it wasn't.
It was a young blonde woman dressed in pink. Her pink dress was covered in daisies and loosely hugged her slim figure. Her hair was in a high messy bun which mostly caught Newt's attention since it like a massive animal laid on top of her head. She carried a purse in hand which she pressed her hands tightly as she took tiny steps up through the remaining stairs. She walked toward his direction and stopped once to get a good look at him. She gave him a confused and curious look at him.
"Excuse me?" She said in a loud voice.
Newt turned to face the blonde woman. "Yes?" He replied as confused as she was.
"Sorry to bother you but is...Tina Goldstein home by any chance?" She asked, lowering her voice. Her eyes were turning watery as she spoke. She clutched her purse tighter and she nervously stood awaiting for Newt's answer.
Newt wasn't sure whether to say something or not. It was the way she looked at Newt with big eyes full of hope and excitement that he decided to answer her question.
"I-I believe she isn't at the moment. I tried knocking several times but she hasn't answered it." Newt said sadly. He looked away to avoid her fallen face. She was hoping to find her as much as he was. But for their bad luck Tina was absent from her home.
"Who are you?" The woman said as she took a step back away from Newt. "I never seen you here before. I-I used to live in these apartments."
Newt began scratching the back of his hand. He was awfully quiet at the moment. The woman clearly seemed curious about him,he did looked misplaced for living in these parts of New York. "Actually I'm n-new from here. I'm from London you see. Mind me asking what you want with Ms. Goldstein?"
The woman smiled widely at him. "That explains the accent," she giggled briefly but fell almost immediately. "I hoped to talk to her. I was close with her but not anymore. Can I ask you the same thing?"
Newt turned his head sideways and chuckled to himself. "I was hoping to catch a date." He said finally.
"Oh? I think she'd say yes if she was present. I think you're more of her type than the other guy before her. Now he was just awful to her a-and toxic and..."
Newt turned brightly red and his eyes widen, causing the woman to let out a soft sigh. She realized she shouldn't of said that and pressed her lips together.
Newt gathered his composure and continued to say, "If you don't mind me asking...were you very close with her?"
"Something like that but I don't think we anymore...."
Newt stopped himself for asking any further questions. The woman looked sadder than ever before. Her eyes lost the light she had when she laughed every time. It almost reminded him of Theseus. Yet again anything now a days reminded him of his brother. They stood in silence until the woman began to walk away.
"Thank you anyway- what you say your name was? It is hard to understand you Brits, sorry don't want to be rude or anything." The woman said, looking over her shoulder in order to hide the tears. Newt knew the woman was upset about not seeing Tina but there was nothing much he could do about it. He was taking longer than he hoped.
"Newt Scam-"
"Please don't mention I was here, Newt. I would appreciate it. Have a lovely day." With that the blonde woman was gone. She quickly head down the stairs and he watched her messy bun bouncing all around her head. Newt stood alone once again in the hallway and returned to Jacob's. When he opened the door, Jacob was sitting patiently on the couch with a smile as big as the woman had been.
"You were taking a long time out there. So? What did she say? Please tell me she said yes, Newt!" He said excitedly. Newt hate to break the news to him and sat in the chair across from Jacob.
The depressing look on Newt's face already made a clear picture in Jacob's mind that it didn't go well. Now he felt bad for pushing Newt to ask Tina out.
"Hey it's alright Newt. She doesn't know what she's missing with a great fella like you." He said in his regular cheerful voice.
Newt shook his head. "She wasn't home, Jacob, but thank you for the help. You're a true friend." He replied with an honest smile.
"Wait so if she wasn't there, what took you so long then? Were you seriously standing out there knocking?"
"No no of course not...I spoke to another woman-"
Jacob gasped. "Another woman!?" He exclaimed which took Newt by surprise.
"What I mean is that that other woman was also searching for Tina. She said she was someone who was once close to her."
"Who is this mysterious woman then?"
Newt paused for a moment to think. Tina never mentioned anything about her past but recently she began to open up to him. Not once had she brought up of an old friend. Maybe it wasn't the right time to have that conversation yet. He didn't know who she was but did it even matter?
"To be honest with you Jacob, she said they don't talk anymore. I suppose she wanted to see if she was doing alright. But she did mention Tina dated another guy which she seemed to disliked a lot. What does it mean then?" Newt said the last part more to himself. It didn't bother him that she dated before, he was wasn't surprised since she was an amazing person to him. What made him questioned it was that the woman mentioned it was toxic. He felt bad for her being trapped. He never realized how hurt she might of felt.
There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that didn't went away throughout the day. He remained inside his room thinking of new ideas for his book. Wrinkled pieces of paper scattered all over his room as well as a half eaten sandwich Jacob made for lunch.
Jacob returned shortly after and peaked his head inside Newt's messy room. He watched as his friend walked around then sat down for a few seconds and walked back up again. It was a tiresome cycle.
"Hey buddy, I'll be gone for a little while." It caught Newt's attention. "I gotta do some deliveries back at the bakery. Sorry for leaving you-"
Newt put down his notebook as he shook his head. "Nonsense Jacob, it's you jobs and it's important. I'll be perfectly fine."
Jacob smiled and left. Newt waited to hear the door closing so he can continue writing. As he tried to think of an idea to fit into his mythical story, it kept on coming back to Tina.
Maybe he was still wandering about what Tina's answer would of been if he asked in straight in the morning. That thought never left him. He daydreamed multiple ways how it might of ended, one being rejected by the door shutting on his face. He was truly terrified to ruin their friendship. But he had to know...and that was what he did.
Newt combed his messy hair to one side and changed into a lighter sweater before heading out. He waited until an older man finished their phone call that he was having in the hallway and got back inside his own room. Newt approached Tina's door cautiously, his heart beating harder and faster against his chest. He practically heard his own heart beat. He took one deep breath, finally allowing himself to knock on the door.
He waited nervously.
Newt held on to his breath until the door at last opened and Tina was at the other end. It took Newt by surprise to find Tina's long hair was cut short. Her hair was barely above her chin which gave her a sharper look.
Tina looked embarrassed at herself and stepped backwards. "Oh hi there Newt. What bring you here?" She asked shyly.
Newt studied her face which he found absolutely beautiful. He smiled at her. "I like your new hair, Tina. It makes you look... beautiful. N-not that you were never beautiful to begin with...why weren't you home in the morning?" He stammered in his words more and more., wishing to change the subject as quickly as possible. He feared he messed up and possibly upset her.
Obviously he didn't because Tina smiled brightly in returned and chuckled. "Thank you,Newt. I understand what you mean don't worry. That's why I wasn't around in the morning, I went to get it cut off. I feel like a weight has been lifted. I'm not sure if you understand what I mean." She replied, feeling slightly less nervous about her new hair.
"Actually I completely know that feeling that's why I left London..." Newt knew he was being distracted and changed the subject. He then continued, "Right I wanted to ask you...w-would you....like to maybe you don't have to...but I was hoping if you would like to- why is this so hard?" Newt began and his mind became blank in the worst time.
"Yes I like that, Newt." Tina said, smiling even bigger.
Newt paused for a moment to registered what happened. Tina said yes to him. The answer was yes! Newt never felt happy for a very long time.
"That's brilliant! Movie and dinner? How- when?"
"How about this Saturday? A movie and dinner sounds lovely."
Newt nodded as Tina blushed.
They suddenly heard Jacob coming up the stairs clapping his hands together loudly, startling the both of them. His face was red from walking the up the stairs and he nervously paused, watching Newt and Tina grow red faced.
"Sorry if I ruined the mood!" Jacob exclaimed and rushed passed them. "Continue whatever you two were talking about. I forgot something in my room. Sorry again..."
Tina and Newt laughed and glanced back at each other. His blue-green eyes met her dark brown. Tina slowly looked away first and finally Newt.
"How about dinner at my place? Maybe we can cook together if you like." Tina suggested and Newt decided to go for it. He didn't want to kick Jacob from his own apartment too. So Newt agreed with her plan.
"Okay I can't wait till then. I guess I'll see you later. That's my cue to go." He said quietly, stepping closer to her.
"Or you can just come in?" She answered with a hint of playfulness.
It was Newt's turned to turn red. "It's lovely of you but I don't want to discourage your invitation, but I need to help Jacob make dinner." He said in a honest tone. He hoped it didn't hurt her feelings.
"I understand, at least you get to smell that amazing food. Anyway, have a goodnight Newt." Tina leaned against the side of the door and watched Newt walk back.
"You have a lovely night."
They never realized how fast their hearts were beating once they got back inside their own rooms.
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