Red

Chapter Thirteen

Missing him was dark grey, all alone

Fabian sat at his table as he watched the Mick and Amber glide across the dance floor. There were many other couples on the dance floor, also, but Fabian focused solely on the bride and groom. He was genuinely amazed at Mick's dancing. Amber had mentioned signing them both up for dance classes, but Fabian didn't think she was really being serious.

Tearing his eyes from the couple, Fabian watched Nina as she smiled and chatted to her little sister, holding Maeve, Jerome and Mara's newborn, while they were on the dance floor.

Fabian could see Danny and Charlie running around, curving in and out of the tables. Logan was sitting at Nina and Payson's table, stuffing his face with what looked like rice. Alex was dancing in the dance floor with an imaginary dance partner, most likely pretending that this was her wedding.

Fabian finally built up his courage and crossed the ballroom in which the Amber and Mick's wedding was being held to ask Nina to dance. He wasn't exactly sure how she would react, or how he would control himself from not kissing her again.

"Hey, Fabian! I didn't know that you were here," exclaimed Payson as she jumped from her chair to give him a hug. He hugged her back, of course.

"Y-you're Payson's teacher?" Nina spluttered. She was thankful that she hadn't taken a sip from the glass of water that had been only a couple centimeters away from her mouth, or else she would have done a spit take.

"Yes," Fabian said uncertainly. He wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that. "I'm her homeroom and first hour."

"Oh, well… I just… didn't think it was you…" said Nina.

Payson's heart was fluttering. Over the course of the last two weeks, a small crush on her favorite teacher had bloomed. She knew that it would be very, very stupid if she let it slip. For a moment, she was glad that she didn't go into depth about her favorite teacher. She would have been so embarrassed.

Just look at them, Payson thought. Of course they knew each other. I'd asked him yesterday, but there wasn't a guarantee that he knew her—there are millions of Nina Martins in the world. But I bet they dated. No, I know they dated. What happened? Why'd they break up? They seem like a cute couple.

People would call her stupid for wanting her crush with her older sister. However, Payson had a good head screwed on her shoulders, and she knew the difference between realities and fantasies. Fabian was twenty-eight; Payson was twelve. He was her teacher; she was his student.

Payson knew that it was just a small, measly crush, anyway. It would disappear eventually.

"Um-uh, I came over here to ask you a question, Nina," said Fabian. His hands were becoming clammy, and he subtly wiped his hands on his pants.

"Shoot," said Nina.

Fabian's heart started racing twice as fast as it had before the second Nina used her American slang. It was something that used to pull Fabian's heartstrings as if they were the rope in tug-of-war. He smiled nervously. "I was just… wondering if you would—um—accompany me to the dance floor?"

Nina was surprised. Of course she'd cooled down since the last time she saw Fabian, and if he was trying to be friendly and stay friends, then she was all for it.

"Of course."

"It's okay, I under—you said yeah?"

Nina nodded slowly.

Fabian stuck out his hand to her. She took it, and they both felt the electricity as soon as their skin touched.

Her hands are so smooth, Fabian thought as Nina lead him to the dance floor.

Fabian caught Amber's eye and she winked at him. He internally groaned.

"So, um, Nina… How have things been going?" he said as his eyes rested on her.

Our faces are so close; how am I going to not kiss her?

"Great," said Nina as they began to glide across the floor. "I just figured out that my dead sister is actually alive."

Fabian raised an eyebrow. He still remembered every detail that Nina had told her. Really, he didn't know why he hadn't come to this conclusion earlier—Nina had a sister that had died only a day or two after being born. There was no one else in the world that looked so much like Nina, and there were so many ways that a mistake could have happened. Payson could have been switched at birth, having another person's baby die in the place of her while she'd stayed with the other family.

"Really? How?" he was genuinely curious.

"Well, see, Payson was born prematurely, so she had to stay in the hospital's custody because there were problems with her heart; they weren't exactly minor, but they were big enough to have her stay there. Anyway, my parents had to leave her at the hospital, because of her problems, while they were on their way to get me from my gran's, where I had been staying the week prior. My gran couldn't bring me to the hospital because her car was getting an oil change.

"And my parents, they… on the way to pick me up, they got into an automobile accident and were Dead on Arrival. Well, Gran and I just took the bus to the hospital a few hours after the accident to check up on my sister, as well as see her for the first time. When we got there, a nurse told us that my sister's heart had failed," Nina's expression was blank. "You know this story."

"How did you figure out that she was your sister?" he asked.

"Well, I found her in the park crying when I was taking the kids—Alex, Danny, Logan, and Charlie—to the park after they blackmailed me to take them there," she said.

Fabian was about to ask her about the black mail, but she beat him to it. "Don't ask," she said, smiling weakly.

"I had been watching the kids play on the playground when I felt someone sit next to me. I turned, and there she was. The first thing I thought was, 'That's me.' I asked her if she was okay and she said she was fine. Then, a few minutes later, a woman in one of the most slag-like outfits I'd ever seen was coming up to her with a brown paper bag in her hand. Then she started yelling out all kinds of things out to Payson and that moment, I knew that she was being mistreated at home.

"I ended up taking her home to Amber's with me because it was the right thing to do. I also filed for a court date, listing all the problems she had at home, and I was given temporary custody of her until they got everything sorted. Anyway, the other day when Pay and I were unpacking everything into her room, she found the black pea coat that she hadn't wore since the day I found her. Inside one of the pockets, there was a picture of her and her 'mother' the day after she'd been born.

"I knew it was Payson because my father had texted me that very same picture of Payson on February fifteenth, the day after her birthday. And by that time, it had all clicked—she had been kidnapped. The nurse lied to us and stole Payson. We don't know exactly why, but she'd taken my baby sister," a stray tear was on Nina's cheek and Fabian quickly brushed it away.

"I'm sorry, I really shouldn't hav—,"

"It's okay. At least I have her back, now," Nina smiled weakly.

There was an awkward silence after that and they were still dancing around the floor. Fabian looked away and watched the other couples.

Amber and Mick danced as if it was going to save them from dying, but still managed to make it look graceful. Mara and Jerome were just doing a simple waltz, much like Nina and Fabian. Patricia and Eddie were doing the waltz, also. There were maybe five or six more couples on the floor, and Fabian recognized one of them as Mick's cousin, Sandra dancing with her husband, Jacob. Fabian didn't know any of the others.

While Fabian was distantly staring out into space, Nina was having an internal struggle.

She was well aware of Fabian's hands on her hips and it was driving her nuts. She didn't know how long she could control herself enough before she jumped his bones, but that was just her physical attraction talking.

Her mind was in a jumble and she couldn't believe she was talking to Fabian as if they were friends. How'd this happen, anyway?

She was feeling nauseous and needed fresh air. It was probably because they had been on the floor for quite a while. It was a long story she'd told him.

"I-I need to get some air. Excuse me," said Nina as she stepped out of Fabian's grip and started outside.

Nina sat outside by the fountain and stared through the crystal clear water. There were so many coins at the bottom. She hoped everyone's wishes came true, but she knew they probably didn't. If she had thrown a coin in there and wished for something ridiculous, she was sure it wouldn't happen.

But, however, being the stupid girl she was, Nina dug into her purse to find a coin. Once she found what she was looking for, she threw it into the fountain and made a wish.

I want to find happiness again. Sure, I'm happy right now and I'm not taking anything for granted, but I want happiness—I wish for love.

Nina knew nothing would come true, but she attempted to blindly believe in it. She knew that it wouldn't happen, but what's so wrong with pretending?

"Hey, I thought I might find you out here," Fabian's accent warmed her eardrums.

Nina smiled and nodded.

"You remember Valentine's Day of Senior Year?" Fabian sat across from her.

Of course. How could she not? That was the first day someone that wasn't related to her, or her best friend told her they loved her. More importantly, it was the day Fabian told her he loved her.

It was also the day she let her heart and soul out to him, the day she realized she loved him, too.

It was a beautiful day and it was permanently etched into her mind forever, never to be forgotten.

"Yeah," Nina tore her eyes away from the water and into Fabian's eyes of the same color.

"Well, remember how I promised you I'd never leave you?"

Nina nodded. He broke it, though. She didn't want to admit it to anyone, not even herself, but the real reason she was hurt by him was because he broke that promise. If it wasn't for her strong feelings about promises, her gran getting hurt, and Fabian breaking his promise to her by ignoring and eventually, breaking up with her, Nina wouldn't have ever left.

But Nina pushed those thoughts away, closed her eyes, and gently allowed the memory to come anyway, just like that night a couple weeks ago when she was experiencing tsunami tides of Fabian Memories.

"I love you," Fabian said abruptly, his voice cutting through the comfortable silence.

My eyes widened and I stared at him. It was the first time he'd said that to me.

This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.

"No, no, no, no, no, no," I whispered. "You can't love me, Fabian."

He looked hurt. "You don't love me back?"

"I-I do, but you can't love me…" I sniffled and tried to blink back tears, but they seemed to have a mind of their own.

He sat us down on a nearby bench.

"Now tell me, what's wrong?" he hugged me, rubbing circles into my back.

I sniffled, trying to compose myself. I told him everything, from my parents, to my gramps, to my sister, to everyone's snide remarks, to my reason for not wanting him to love me.

"Why don't you want me to love you?"

"Because everyone I've ever loved has left me, except for you and Gran.

Fabian wiped away a stray tear.

"I won't leave you," he whispered. "I promise."

"Sure?"

"Positive."

That day was back before Nina's gran passed. Just thinking about her gran made upset.

"Well, I was thinking about it a few minutes ago, and I realized something."

"What did you realize?" Nina asked.

"I kind of… broke the promise I made you," he said. He sounded ashamed.

Nina stared back at the water in the fountain. "It's okay. I'm used to it—no one can stay forever, Fabian."

"Nina, I was an idiot," he apologized. She looked at him, and then back to the water. "I was too focused on getting into college and doing extra work. I really, really wanted to get a job as a teacher as soon as possible, even though I knew the process took a couple years. I just, I got so caught up in getting a good GPA that I forgot the real reason I was working so hard…"

Nina looked up into his blue eyes. His expression was regretful, distant, and longing at the same time. "What was that reason?" she asked.

The corners of Fabian's lips pulled into a small smile as he stared intently at her.

"I was preparing for our future together—I know how much making sure we were stable and being able to support ourselves meant to you."

Nina was tearing up. He remembered. He knew she was scared to make the same mistakes her parents had. He knew that she wanted to save herself from all of the obstacles they'd have to go through if they weren't ready for something. He went through sleepless nights, losing friends, so much extra work, all for… her.

A labor of love.

Nina wondered, really, what was stopping her from loving him back? Why were they still friends? She understood it, now, what he had been doing for her. And still, she had ignored it all.

Fabian had made a mistake. Everyone made mistakes. Nina has made quite a few of them in the past. What made Fabian any different?

So, Nina did the most reckless thing she'd ever done in her life. She knew that maybe she shouldn't be so quick to take him back, but nothing was stopping them. Maybe he didn't want her back, and was really just apologizing for breaking his promise. But taking risks was what life was all about, right?

Because playing it safe had caused her lots of suffering, going against what she really wanted.

Nina leaned forward and pressed her lips against Fabian's. He was surprised at first, but kissed back.

Nina didn't realize how much she'd missed this, missed him, since the last time they'd shared a kiss when they were both completely and utterly in love, ten years ago.

After they were both out of breath, Nina leaned her forehead against Fabian's.

"I love you," she whispered to him, smiling as she pecked him on the lips once more.

"I love you, too," he whispered back. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for that?"

Nina giggled and looked into his eyes. She noticed she'd been doing that a lot lately.

They were in a light embrace, and they both felt secure, like they were in a safe spot, far away from the cold, brutal harshness of the world. Neither of them wanted to move from where they were, in complete comfort and security.

They couldn't be more elated than they already were; they'd found each other again.

I hope I caught all of the mistakes…

How do you feel about this chapter? What do you think of Payson's crush on Fabian? How about getting some Fabina action where they're both willing? (Finally!)

Um, if you wanted to know, you can find all of the memories in Chapter Ten...

Please review! They make me happy and smiley and very two-updates-in-one-week-ish! (Hint, hint)

Anyway, thanks for all the favorites, follows, reviews, and story traffic… It means a lot to me. Ugh, I sound like the story is ending! Trust me, there is quite a few more chapters to go before I end this thing… Don't forget to review! Can we make this the most reviewed chapter that I've ever had for Red? The most is 15, and that was for chapter 11. Can we get this chapter up to twenty?

After, all, Fabina DID get back together...

Um, I won't be home on Saturday to update, so I'm posting this today. I planned to write IGU and LIAHHR's chapters for this week tonight but I won't be home.