Suuuup! Long time no see.

Anyways I'm back from the dead, sorry about my unexplained haitus. I actually don't have any excuse apart from my own laziness, so onto the story.

I still dont own HoA.

Fabian's POV

"And then I was like, 'What do you mean you're going to charge me six and a half thousand pounds for a bloody engagement ring?', and he was like, 'Maybe… six thousand?'. And I mean I usually wouldn't pay that much for anything, but I already had like four missed calls from Patricia and I'm pretty sure she was getting suss, so I paid for it. But then when I got home and I found out I could have got it for five thousand from the store that was right next door. So then I…"

I was trying to pay attention, I really was, but I honestly had more important things on my mind than Eddie being scammed into paying an extra thousand pounds for an engagement ring.

"…and he said he couldn't because it was resale value or something, and then- Fabian are you even listening?"

"What?" I looked up from my cup of coffee and across the bench to where Eddie was standing, having abandoned his attempt at cooking supper. "I mean, yeah."

He just laughed, reaching for a pack of pasta that was sitting on the bench. "I'll take that as a 'no'."

"Sorry, I sighed, putting my spoon back into my mug. "I've got a lot on my mind right now."

"Ah yes, ancient artefacts, Egyptian hieroglyphs, forgotten rulers," he grimaced. "I can't say I miss that."

I gave a shallow laugh. "I wish I could say that was the worst of my problems," I said, and then in response to his questioning glance, I told him, "I saw Nina today."

"Ouch!" Eddie cried as he burnt his hand on the saucepan he was using, evidently from shock at my previous statement. "Damn!"

"Are you okay?" I asked, pushing myself to my feet to see if there was anything I could do to help.

Eddie quickly moved over to the sink and began to run his hand under the cold water. "I think the question is 'Are you okay?'"

"What do you mean?" I asked as I heard the front door to the apartment open.

He was halfway between laughing and crying. "Dude, can you even hear yourself? 'I saw Nina today'."

"Really, you too?" came a voice from the hallway that was distinctively Patricia's. "Because I was talking to KT today, and apparently Fabian-" she cut herself off just as she appeared in the doorway, apparently seeing me at the same time as I saw her. "Oh. Hey Fabian."

"Hi," I said, turning to Eddie as if to say 'I told you so'.

"Wow, you really weren't joking," Eddie acknowledged, surprised. "Are you okay dude?"

I sighed, putting my mug down on the bench. "Well I can't say the reunion went as smoothly as I would have hoped."

"Yeah, I heard," Patricia said, putting her handbag down on the bench. "KT mentioned it was pretty messy."

"'Pretty messy' would be putting it lightly," I snorted. "Anyway, I should probably get going."

"Do you want me to drive you?" Eddie asked. I had opted not to buy a car going into university and instead rely on public transport, and while it was a lot cheaper it certainly made getting around places a hassle, especially at night.

"I'll do it," Patricia offered. "Then you can finish making dinner."

"Are you sure?" the look on Eddie's face suggested that he would much rather that she finish the dinner, but of course he was too stubborn to tell her that he was struggling.

"Yeah," she told him. "I wanted to go talk to KT anyway."

"Okay then," he sighed in defeat. "See you soon."

LINE BREAK

Nina's POV

Matilda walked down the steps, unable to keep the grin off her face as she made eye contact with Daniel, who was standing in the hallway with the other boys and Lucy. As she reached the landing he stepped forward, held out his hand and said…"

I sighed in frustration, slamming my thumb down on the backspace key of my laptop. I could feel KT's eyes on me from the kitchenette, so I glanced up and gave her a quick smile. Or at least I meant it to be a smile, it ended up as more of a grimace.

"Sorry," she said awkwardly after a moment, and I stopped typing but didn't look over at her. If I'd known you were that Nina, I wouldn't have-"

"It's fine," I promised, forcing out a small laugh as I went back to my writing. I genuinely didn't blame KT for what had happened earlier, but it was all a lot to take in. It was stupid really, I'd come back to try to reconnect with my old friends, and now that I had the perfect opportunity all I wanted to do was hide from them.

There was a moment of silence before we heard a load knock at the door. Immediately I tensed up. What if it was Fabian? KT and I shared a glance, and without saying a word she got up to go and answer it.

I couldn't see who was standing there initially, but if the way KT relaxed was anything to go by, it wasn't the person I had been dreading. After a few words were exchanged I immediately recognised the voice, and without really thinking I got up off my bed and moved quickly over to the door.

"So the rumours are true," Patricia said as I reached the doorway. "You really are back."

"I sure am," I said. "Wow, word really does travel fast around here."

Patricia shrugged. "Among those of us who actually speak to each other."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, but as the words left my mouth I realised she was probably having a dig at me. I got why Fabian might be mad at me, but Patricia as well?

She just shook her head, apparently not really in any mood to get involved in that kid of conversation. "It's good to see you again."

"You too," I smiled, a little surprised when she reached over and hugged me. Maybe we'd all changed a little since I'd left Anubis House.

"Do you want to come in?" KT asked from beside me. "I was about to put on some tea."

Patricia started giggling, and neither of us could work out why until she said, "We really have turned you into a proper Brit haven't we? Now we just need to do something about that accent."

KT laughed, moving back into the dorm. Patricia followed her and I brought up the rear.

"So Nina," she said, sitting down on KT's bed in a way that suggested she'd been here before, even if I hadn't seen her. "How have things been?"

"Not too bad," I shrugged, deciding it wasn't really the time or place to go into some of the less glamourous details of the time I'd spent back in America after leaving Anubis. "How has everyone here been?"

She shrugged. "Depends who you talk to I guess. Eddie and I are still together, so are Jerome and Joy, and-"

"Jerome and Joy?" I interject, more than a little surprised. "I honestly did not see that coming. When did he and Mara break up?"

"Jerome cheated on her with Willow," KT explained, bringing me to wonder who the hell Willow was. I really had missed out on a lot and it was bringing me a lot of regrets.

"Woah," was all I ended up saying. "I knew Jerome could be a bit of a schemer but I wouldn't have expected anything that low from him."

"Really? I would," Patricia said, before, "Actually, I dunno. He's always been hard to read as a person. He really hurt Mara though, it all turned her a little bit crazy. She didn't really pull herself together until she and Fabian-" she stopped dead in her tracks.

I looked up sharply, all too aware of what the end of that sentence probably was. A small part of me didn't even want to know, but of course curiosity got the better of me. I tried to keep my voice as steady and nonchalant as possible. "Until she and Fabian what?"

Patricia and KT shared a glance, apparently neither of them wanted to be the one to break the news to me. I was almost glad for the short break, as it gave me a chance to get a hold of my emotions. I really didn't want to have an outburst, or even give the impression that I cared at all about what Fabian had or hadn't done since I left.

"Mara and Fabian dated for a little while over the summer," Patricia explained eventually. "They kissed at graduation but they were only together about three weeks before Mara broke up with him."

It took all my effort, but I managed to keep it together. "Good to hear that he moved on," I forced out. Deep down perhaps I'd known it was going to happen, but I think I'd been secretly hoping that Fabian would have waited, just as I'd done. Then again, I hadn't really given him any hope that he would ever see me again, so I really only had myself to blame.

Desperately in need of something to do, I headed over to the doorway and grabbed my coat off its hook. "I'm gunna go print off some notes I need for one of my lectures tomorrow," I told the two girls. "It was great seeing you again Patricia."

Before either of them had time to say anything I left the room, closing the door behind me. I got outside the building to find that the rain had stopped, but the ground as still damp and I quickly discovered that my runners were definitely not water proof. I had too much pride to go back inside though, so I was just going to have to put up with having wet feet.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get over the idea of Fabian and Mara being together. I mean to an outsider it perhaps would have made sense, they were both studious and slightly geeky and cared about school. But anyone who had lived with them in the way we all had at Anubis would clearly have been able to see that it made no sense for them to date. Mara was unpredictable, she went through boys like nobody's business and was quick to fall in and out of love. On the other hand, Fabian had a much more stable personality. He was shy but loyal, and for that reason the idea of him and Mara together made absolutely no sense. They had practically nothing in common!

Too caught up in my thoughts, I wasn't watching where I was going and before I knew what was happening I had tripped over and was lying in a puddle.

"Nina, are you okay?"

It must have been because of the day's events, but when I looked up I fully expected to see Fabian standing there. He would help me to my feet and we'd apologise and kiss and make up and everything would be fantastic again.

When I did look up, the man standing a few meters away on the footpath wasn't Fabian, but rather Anthony, who I had sat with in my first lecture that day. We had gotten along quite well, exchanged numbers and added each other on Facebook. It was then that I'd decided maybe I'd be able to move on, but after everything that had happened since I was beginning to think otherwise.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reply, perhaps a little late, pushing myself to my feet. I wasn't injured or bleeding, but my clothes were soaked through for the second time that day. A gust of wind blew across the path and I shivered.

"Here," Anthony shrugged of his jacket and held it out to me.

I smiled gratefully and took it, but the action made me think back to the first time a guy had offered me his jumper. I put on Anthony's, but suddenly it felt wrong.

"Shall I walk you back to your dorm?"

Having not actually been intending to go to the library anyway, I figured it would have been rude to decline his offer. "Sure," I half smiled, half shrugged. "Why not?"

We began the walk back towards the girls' dormitories. I intentionally tried to take as long as possible in hopes that Patricia was gone by the time I got back and to support the story that I'd visited the library, but Anthony misinterpreted this, thinking that I'd hurt myself as I fell over.

"We can sit down if you need," he offered as we approached a park bench.

"I'm fine," I shook my head, but he tried to stop me.

"If you walk on it, you'll just injure it more."

I just laughed. We were pretty much back at the girls' dorms. "I'll be okay now," I smiled, making to take off his jacket.

He stopped me. "I don't want you to get cold," he said. "Just give it back to me tomorrow."

I smiled and thanked him before turning around and heading into the building, unable to shake off the feeling that what I was doing just wasn't right.

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