Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gran died two days after Nina turned eighteen.

She hadn’t been in her best health for a long time, but she still insisted on celebrating Nina’s birthday. Her granddaughter had holed herself up at home over the past year after leaving Amun and all her friends behind; she deserved a fun day, even if it was just with her grandmother.

They went out to eat at a snug little restaurant they’d frequented over the years, passing around breakfast food and trading answers for the daily crossword Gran had brought with her. Nina got a couple happy birthday texts throughout the day, almost the entire House of Anubis save for Mick, whose number she’d never gotten. Amber left her a cheery voicemail with the promise of a gift arriving in the mail soon. If Nina couldn’t be with her friends, then this was the next best thing. Overall, it was a pretty perfect birthday.

And then, two days later, Gran was gone.

Nina had knocked on her bedroom door at half-past ten, confused as to how she’d slept in so long. She’d made coffee and a few scones, her fuzzy pajama pants clinging to her legs in the summer heat as she did so. Only after she’d called out that breakfast was ready for the second time did she head into the hall. As soon as she opened the door and saw her gran lying in bed, eyes closed and the sun shining off of her like an angel, she knew. She checked for a pulse, of course, but she knew.

xxx

In her heart of hearts, she understood that it should be better, easier knowing Gran passed peacefully in her sleep. It wasn’t another car accident. It wasn’t a spirit dragging her to Hell. 

Even knowing what she knew, it hurt just as much.

xxx

Contacting the funeral home turned out to be the quickest thing to deal with, much faster and more clinical than when she called 911. She was eighteen, the last surviving family member, and she lived in the same house: who else was to take care of this? The funeral director assured her they’d discuss everything in person the next day and get it all squared away. She was too tired to ask for any more details.

Money wouldn’t be a problem. At least, not yet. Nina knew she was alone, the last Martin alive, and while it gnawed at her mental stability it also made the process simpler. Once they’d unearthed Gran’s will, where—of course—everything went to Nina, it was all a matter of getting things done. She had everything, and she had nothing.

xxx

Gran passed in the middle of the week, so it was perfectly acceptable to have the services on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Nina wasn’t sure how she was going to manage three days of this.

Their family might have been scarce, but Gran had made a lot of friends over the years. She’d helped out at their resident polling place and assisted students in middle school, as well as a brief stint at the post office. Every time Nina left her house and even when she didn’t, there was someone hugging her, giving her flowers, homemade foods, a few offering anecdotes and pictures and what they thought was helpful insight into who her gran was. She wondered how rude it would be to tell everyone she encountered to save it for the funeral.

She did this once already, although that was a double funeral. She hadn’t let herself imagine repeating it for this very reason.

On the third day without Gran, she’d given up on leaving her house except for the first wake that afternoon. She had enough food for ages, and as much as she’d love to keep Gran’s garden going, it was already dying. She didn’t have a green thumb. She just had a broken heart. 

She stopped answering the door, too. Either the person would come back, or leave whatever it was they brought on the porch, or she’d see them at the wake. She really didn’t want to deal with the first part of a two-day wake, but god, her gran was popular. It all would’ve been a little more heartwarming if half the people who visited didn’t immediately call to voice their concerns.

That damn phone wouldn’t stop ringing. The landline, Gran’s cell because no one considered how heartbreaking it was for Nina to hear a Spice Girls ringtone going off every five minutes, and the doorbell here and there. She wasn’t cut out for this. She wasn’t cut out for it when Gran took her in all those years ago, back when her grief was over two people instead of one. She was fourteen and scrawny and had folded in on herself as fast as she could when the paramedics took her parents away, but she still had Gran. She still had one person who would love and care for her, and she’d given up Anubis to do the same for her.

And now she didn’t have her either.

The third time the loud trilling sounded within fifteen minutes, she whipped around and stomped toward the landline, furiously swiping at the tears under her eyes. She didn’t necessarily want to turn away those who were also grieving and just offering condolences, but did anyone think maybe she needed to process this for a second? Take a moment, just one single moment to pretend that this hadn’t happened. That Gran was happily waiting for her in her room, awake and doing her crossword puzzle. That she wasn’t all by herself.

But the landline wasn’t lit up. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she glanced toward Gran’s cell phone, as silent as could be. Definitely not the doorbell. Finally it clicked.

Her cell phone had long since fallen onto her bedroom floor, wedged between her bed and the wall. Nina settled on the floor, her back against the mattress. She gasped out a sob before flipping over the phone.

Eddie.

Her mind froze for a second, and then she was answering the phone.

“H-Hello?” she managed, knowing it sounded like she was in the middle of crying. But she was. What was the point in hiding that?

He hesitated before saying carefully, almost in a fragile tone, “Hey. How are you doing?”

She rubbed at her nose, sniffling. It was probably a good thing she wasn’t dressed yet. “Oh, I’ve been better.”

He’d texted her on her birthday (even though it felt like a lifetime ago), a silly photo of him and Patricia in a bakery in London, both poised to throw celebratory confections at each other. Ready to duke it out over not being able to see you turn legal, it’d said. She’d broken into a grin as soon as she’d read it, typing back a quick thank you and several laughing and heart emojis. It’d been one of her favorite messages that day.

Now, she didn’t know what was going on, and he wasn’t offering any explanations.

“What’re you calling for?” she asked, voice sounding nasally. She sniffed again. “Normally you text. Weird pictures in public places and all that.”

He didn’t chuckle like she’d expected him too. She heard him take a breath, and then he jumped right into it. “I had a vision, er—not really a vision, more of a feeling,” he fumbled, voice strong and familiar and yet so far away. 

“A vision?” she asked, confused.

She pictured him shaking his head. “It’s like the voices, ya know? That’s how it works for me now.” Ah. That made sense. She almost smiled, but then he continued. “But it was like some kind of vision, of you… crying.” He paused, and she was sure if she wasn’t already sitting down then her legs would’ve given out.

Her voice croaked when she said, “Yeah?”

Another pause. And then, “Well it… it kinda sounds like you were. Are you alright?”

Goosebumps were popping up along her arms and she brought a knee to her chest to rest on it. Of course. The Osirian was to protect the Chosen One, even when they were on different continents and hadn’t seen each other in a year. Her heart thumped painfully against her ribcage. She wondered just how badly Rufus’s lust for power had to have been to have abandoned Sarah.

“Nina?” Eddie’s voice brought her back, or rather, his urgent tone did. She wished she could laugh.

Instead, she mused quietly, “I’m just thinking… You have a vision of me crying and upset the same week my gran dies. What are the odds?”

He sucked in a breath at that. “Oh,” he whispered, clearly piecing together how purposeful this was. “Oh, I’m— so sorry, Nina.”

The apology didn’t sit uneasily like all the others had. Eddie hadn’t even seen her gran, had never gotten to speak to her while she was lodging at Anubis House. Maybe it was awful of her for thinking it, but this apology felt better. It wasn’t so much for Gran as it was for her, and god did she need someone to focus on her. She needed someone who only knew their friend was hurting, who only knew one of the parties, and still felt the need to reach out. She didn’t want to be alone.

She shook her head to herself, staring at the spot where the floor met the wall. “Yeah. Yeah, me too.”

“Are you—” No, no she wasn’t. He seemed to reconsider his next question. “I mean, is anyone there to help you? Preparations and everything?”

“Eddie, my entire family is dead.”

“Oh.”

She made a snort-like noise. “Sorry, that was… pretty blunt.”

“No, I get it, that’s your—that’s your reality…”

Nina smiled despite herself and let him off the hook. “I get the feeling you’re not used to dealing with deaths.”

He sighed into the phone. “No, not at all. Like, my dad left and I had to navigate starting a relationship with Patricia. That’s pretty much all my trauma.”

Her smile widened on its own accord. “Hey, that’s a lot. Especially Patricia.”

“Oh, don’t I know it.” 

Her hair framed her face, sheltering her happiness in the moment from the sadness she felt outside of it. Just hearing from someone she missed was doing wonders. She missed Gran immensely, and she always would, but at least she didn’t have to miss her friends. Mentally she vowed to make an effort to interact with them more.

She hadn’t even realized they’d both been silent for a few minutes until he was speaking again.

“Listen, I uh… I’ve got some things I have to handle right now, but take care, alright? Anytime you need to talk, I’m here, and Patricia, and literally all of the Brits.”

Nina nodded before realizing he couldn’t see her. “That’s fine,” she spoke carefully, expecting to feel the tears well up again. They didn’t. “Thank you, for calling. Your Osirian senses must’ve known I needed it.”

Eddie shuffled around on his end. “I don’t think the Osirian part had everything to do with it.”

She smiled, her eyes misting in a good way for once. “Thank you.”

She could envision the smile he sent back. “Hang in there.”

After they’d hung up, she watched her phone turn to black before she leaned further into the mattress at her back, just breathing. She closed her eyes, listening to her inhales and exhales slowing to something much more normal than they’d been since Gran passed. 

In a few hours she’d need to drive over to the funeral home and receive hugs and tears and probably food from those who chose not to leave it on the porch. She’d need to be dressed and try her very hardest to keep it together, at least enough to hold back from snapping at Gran’s friends.

She exhaled one last time and opened her eyes, grasping at Eddie’s phone call for strength, and then she stood.

xxx

The second visitation day passed much like the first, only her phone was flooded with texts from Anubis members in place of a phone call from Eddie. Alfie sent her recipes of comfort food he’d learned she liked over the years, something so unique to him that she teared up just thinking about it. She hadn’t had to touch the stove or a mixing bowl a majority of the week, but some of the recipes had her wanting to jump back into it. Normalcy was good. Friends were better.

Amber’s birthday present arrived the morning of the funeral. It was too bittersweet for Nina to open it just yet.

The drive over to the funeral home was just as empty and hollow-feeling as the previous two days. Nina had half a mind to fear she’d always come back to this feeling when she drove alone, but when she checked her phone after parking, Mara had texted her a step-by-step attack plan for making it through the funeral, often punctuated by hearts. She had nothing to worry about.

Predictably she was the first inside, aside from the director. He walked her through all of the choices they’d made and also the choices he’d decided for her once she’d broken down crying during their first meeting. He was a nice enough man, but she hated seeing him. He could only be associated with one thing.

Everything was already set up: the chairs, the podium, tissue boxes acting like decorations. The casket was closed now. There was nothing left to do except tidy up nonexistent messes and hope against hope that whoever arrived first wouldn’t make her want to pull her hair out.

Thankfully, it was the priest. The funeral director led him to Nina, leaving the two to go over what needed to be done. She planned on delivering the eulogy, the paper folded up and at the bottom of her purse, but accepted his offer to take over should she get too emotional. She explained in a roundabout way that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to start it in the first place, but it wasn’t a joke and he knew that. She knew she was about to fall apart at the seams.

The priest squeezed her shoulder politely before he left her to prepare herself, but she still felt absolutely drained. This whole thing was sapping all of her remaining energy. She didn’t even know she had any left after the past few days.

She went over Mara’s steps in her head. Arrive in one piece. Get a feel of the room and the priest. Look over the eulogy and possibly determine if it’s too much to handle. Greet Gran’s friends. Cry when it feels right. All of that was manageable. She could get through this if she took it one step at a time and thought of her friends in the UK the whole time, giving all the love in the world.

The one thing she wasn’t expecting was to look up and lock eyes on the entrance at the exact moment he got to the top of the steps. Her breath was stolen from her lungs, and then she was all but running for the front door.

They’d never hugged before, but Eddie caught her when she threw herself at him. He kept both of them from tumbling down the stairs, her arms tightening around his neck as she let her eyes fill with tears. Faintly she could feel his hands rubbing up and down her back, saying both nothing and everything at the same time.

Time seemed to still as she stayed pressed against him. Mara’s steps went out the window, Alfie’s recipes flying with them. She couldn’t remember Amber’s birthday present waiting for her at home like a poorly-timed punchline, or how the house itself was empty, or even that she was likely expected to welcome Gran’s friends as they arrived. All she could focus on was her friend right in front of her, holding her, keeping her together in all the ways that mattered.

When she finally managed to detangle herself from him, she brushed back her hair and let out a laugh that was more air than sound. “What—What the heck, Eddie?”

He merely tucked his hands into his pockets and smiled. “Surprised?”

“You were in London two days ago,” she said slowly, eyes lingering on his suit and his eyes, trying to discern if this was really happening. Normally she didn’t hug air, but she’d done weirder things.

“Yeah, and two days ago you told me what was going on.” Eddie shook his head, moving to hold her forearms. “No contest, Nina. Who cares about London when you’re dealing with this?”

She didn’t have to think before she’d stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him again. She inhaled carefully, focusing on how her chest was slowly becoming less shaky and more solid, like the boy she was holding onto. She didn’t know how to stop hugging him. She told him so, too.

“I mean,” he said close to her ear, almost shrugging in the hug. “I didn’t expect to be the one you got all excited over, but this is still pretty sweet.”

She leaned back and looked at him, uncomprehending. “What do you mean?”

And then he turned her out toward the front, sweeping an arm out in a grand gesture. She didn’t know what she was looking for until she caught some movement from around the corner of the funeral home. Her eyes widened as she hurried past Eddie and down the steps to the whole of Anubis House.

Fabian was in the middle of offering his condolences, but Nina tuned it out, focusing on her heels clacking against the pavement instead. She’d heard enough condolences for a lifetime. She controlled her urge to leap at him, but just barely. As soon as she was in front of him, she pushed her arms under his and tucked her face into the crook of his neck. Instinctively he went to hold her, still whispering everything she didn’t need to hear. She just needed him here, and he was.

She hadn’t realized she’d closed her eyes until they were open, and a halo of blonde hair was in her line of vision. A sob escaped her mouth in the shape of Amber’s name. Once Fabian let go, her old roommate and best friend stepped forward and held her gingerly.

“Oh, Neens…” she said sadly. “I love you, and I’m sorry.”

Nina shook her head, pulling back just enough to laugh and wipe at her face.

Amber removed herself from the embrace, rummaging around in her purse for a moment before coming up with a makeup wipe. “I know you’re not wearing any makeup, but this’ll feel nicer than a tissue,” she said comfortingly, dabbing at Nina’s tears.

No sooner had Amber cleaned her face up than the rest of the House enveloped her in a group hug, squishing her to them in just the right way. She could smell Jerome’s signature cologne as well as Mara’s sweet, sugary perfume. Patricia’s hair and Alfie’s jacket clouded her vision, so she looked down, feeling emotional at the sight of their shoes all pushed together. Joy was wearing heels for once.

Alfie pressing a kiss to her temple brought her out of her reverie. She separated from the group enough to single him out for his own hug, her head filled with memories of magic tricks and alien scares. She’d always known she’d miss Alfie, miss all of them, but their reunion felt even more important than she’d imagined.

He kept his arm over her shoulders when she was stable enough to address the rest of the group, her eyes shining and face glowing with warmth she hadn’t felt in days. 

“What are you all doing here?” she gasped out, focusing on each individual face. She saw Sibuna, but also Joy, Jerome, and Mara. She saw everyone she needed to see.

Mara fixed her with a stern yet soft look. “You didn’t really expect us to let you go through this all by yourself, did you?”

Jerome’s arm around Joy confused Nina more than when he said, “Eddie told us what happened right after your phone call, and from there it was as easy as planning a prank.”

Nina’s eyebrows furrowed, smiling funnily at him. “How is flying eight people out to the middle of Illinois in two days easy?”

Amber flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Daddy’s credit card, of course.”

Nina laughed so she wouldn’t cry.

“It was an authorized purchase, by the way,” Joy piped up, leaning close enough to nudge Nina’s arm.

Amber smiled. “First time in years.”

“First time ever,” Patricia teased, earning a gasp from Amber and loud, tinkling laughter from Nina. People were passing by and heading up the stairs, letting her be since she was clearly preoccupied.

Fabian smiled at Nina, his heartbreak for her evident. “I’m sorry the first time we’ve seen you is for such a sad reason.”

She simply shook her head. “I’m not. This is just what I needed.”

Mara and Joy urged everyone into another hug, their body heat alone assuring Nina she had everyone she needed in her corner. Mara’s attack plan was good, but it was nothing in comparison to this.

Nina didn’t have to look at her watch to know the funeral was starting soon. She cleaned her face once more with Amber’s makeup wipe, rolled her shoulders back, and flicked the hair out of her face. She meant to suggest they all go inside, but what she ended up doing first was hauling Eddie in for another hug.

His grasp was less intense than earlier but still comforting all the same. She whispered wetly, “Thank you for protecting me,” hoping it could convey just how much this meant to her.

Eddie rubbed at her back again before moving to hold her at arm’s length, nodding once with a hint of a twinkle in his eye. “Anything for the Chosen One.”

She found it in herself to usher all of her friends into the building, leading the way with Fabian at her side. She slipped her hand into his before she could overthink it, and he squeezed it back to let her know there was nothing to worry about. Amber’s arm looped through hers, Patricia, Alfie, and Eddie at her back with the rest of the House following right behind.

Maybe it was the way Fabian’s hand never left hers during the service. Maybe it was how Amber kept feeding her makeup wipes and, reluctantly, a tissue when she requested something drier. Maybe it was how the chairs surrounding her weren’t her gran’s friends, but hers, or how Eddie said the word ‘anything’ before they came in, or the fact that eight members of the House of Anubis flew from England to be there for her, but she knew she could get through this. She could get through anything as long as she wasn’t alone, and they would make sure she wasn’t.

Chapter Text

The drive back to Nina’s house was easily the best ride she’d had in a long, long time. The group already had two rental cars that would fit them all (and their luggage; someone must’ve convinced Amber to pack light), but Amber, Fabian, and Alfie piled into Nina’s car as soon as the service ended. Joy and Jerome staked out the first rental and Patricia, Eddie, and Mara took the other, following the easy back roads to a home that was about to feel a lot more lively.

Pulling into the driveway that evening felt a lot like entering an alternate universe, what with Alfie belting along to pop music even after the engine was off. Patricia climbed out of the driver’s seat (clearly, Eddie had lost Rock Paper Scissors) and immediately hollered, “How is that squealing supposed to help?”

Alfie countered by getting all up in her personal space and trying to spin her out. It didn’t work, but Nina did laugh until she was on the verge of tears. Joy bumped into Fabian until he did some awkward dance move to the incorrect lyrics Alfie was following, Mara smiled and urged him to try harder, and Jerome just took pictures. Amber stood by the door, waiting for Nina to unlock it.

They all had hotel rooms, once again courtesy of Mr. Millington, but if the house could accommodate them then they had no intention of leaving. Nina was far past denying them their wish. Every bed, couch, and chair would be utilized, all except one.

“There’s enough food for an army, so if anyone’s hungry—” Nina had barely gotten the sentence out before Alfie and Eddie zoomed past her, except Patricia snagged Eddie’s jacket and smacked his arm. No one bothered stopping Alfie.

Mara fiddled with her fingers before saying, “I really hope we’re not intruding by wanting to stay.”

“But we are staying,” Amber insisted, arching an eyebrow in Mara’s direction. “Sorry, Neens, but best friend authority wins out.”

Nina blinked quickly and shook her head, fighting off a more emotional reaction. “I’m perfectly fine with that, I promise.”

“You have angel food cake?!” Alfie exclaimed through a mouthful of five other dishes. “Oh my god!” Eddie gave Patricia a pleading look, but she wasn’t to be won over.

“Alfie, I’m willing to bet she has just about everything,” Fabian said carefully, glancing around the overflowing kitchen even as his eyes widened. “Wow, yeah, this is a lot. Your gran really did have a lot of friends.”

Nina nodded. “I still don’t need this much food, though.”

“I do!”

Everyone had individual reactions to Alfie’s appetite then, each so fitting and amusing that Nina was overcome with emotions yet again. Eddie finally broke free from Patricia to snag some food himself, Fabian, Amber, and Mara continued to chastise him, and Joy simply rolled her eyes, glancing at Jerome with a knowing look from under his arm. Staying in America for the last year of Gran’s life would never have been the wrong decision, but Nina let herself feel just how much she missed this. This normal behavior of housemates who felt like family, this positive energy rejuvenating her soul. She waited until Alfie had stopped yelling before she spoke, feeling much like she had when she’d gotten up for the eulogy. 

“I know I’ve said it, like, five thousand times today, but…” Nina looked around at everyone, meeting some eyes but mainly just admiring the fact that she wasn’t seeing them through a computer screen. This would be the cruelest kind of dream, but it was real. They were really with her. The thought gave her enough strength to finish the sentence. “I can’t tell you how much today meant to me.” She blinked a couple times, her vision blurring. “I love you guys.”

Jerome was the only one who moved, so her gaze snapped to him. He tilted his head in mock disbelief, silently asking if the sentiment referred to him as well. Patricia glanced his way too; Mara seemed to be making a very careful effort to not look at him.

Nina laughed immediately, moving toward him. “Yes, even you, Jerome.” Back at Anubis this would have been foreign, but she didn’t have to think before wrapping her arms around his middle. 

He returned the hug, arms lightly encircling her. “Always the American,” he murmured gently, his jaw moving against her forehead.

She couldn’t help but laugh again, a more watery one this time. His own small laugh reverberated from his chest to her cheek. “Always the American,” she repeated just as quietly, pulling away to smile up at him. They’d been through a lot, him and her, but whatever he’d done in spite of Sibuna’s plans didn’t matter. It was impossible to meet Jerome and not connect with some part of him.

After that, there was a natural pause allowing everyone to head over to their rooms for the night. It was already eight, as the later service had been chosen with churchgoers’ attendance in mind, and Nina didn’t know about the rest of them but she was exhausted. She said goodnight to Patricia, who squeezed her arm, and Alfie (after stealing several brownies), who ruffled her hair lightly. Jerome smiled at her before trailing after them, Amber not far behind after they hugged again. Nina had just enough time to pick up the beginning of what seemed like an ongoing conversation about cashews—a relatively normal topic, when compared to… anything else they’d dealt with—when Joy stepped into her sightline.

Nina blanched for a moment, unsure if she was just moving past her to help clean like Mara was or organize the food like Fabian and Eddie were. (‘Organize’ being a loose word; she caught Fabian slapping Eddie’s hand away at least three times.) 

But then Joy swallowed and said with all the bravado she was capable of, “I wanted to apologize for something.” At Nina’s surely confused expression, she added, “The article I wrote about your gran.”

For a moment Nina was grateful for Mara’s presence, her tidying up allowing for something to watch when she looked away from Joy. “I remember,” she said once she realized Joy was waiting for a response.

There was a shaky breath. “I know we talked about it back then, but… that was way out of line. I want you to know I recognize that and I’ve felt bad about it for a while now. I know you cared for and loved her, and she did too.” Nina was looking at her now, so she saw how Joy’s eyes flickered across her face, gauging how she was taking this in. “So I want you to know I’m sorry, and I was wrong. I was a little worried about coming here because of it, actually.”

Instinctually she shook her head, already dismissing the notion. Junior year Nina would have hated the thought of Joy Mercer in her house, but eighteen-year-old Nina saw a white flag and a grown woman in front of her. She liked to think she had grown too. “No, I’m glad you’re here. It’s nice to see everyone, and Anubis wouldn’t be Anubis without you.”

Joy smiled, and then Nina realized her eyes were a little shiny just like hers. Everything was so overwhelming today. “I know you probably don’t want to think about all that today, but you deserved a real apology.”

“Thank you,” Nina said, and she meant it. Thinking about the slander article didn’t even have a negative effect on her right then, not when Joy was in front of her sincerely apologizing for it. 

Fabian’s voice rose above their conversation, drawing attention as he pointed to an open container and back at Eddie, who had obviously shoved a big piece of something in his mouth. He tried to argue back, but he sputtered out crumbs and then Mara was walking over with a level of exasperation similar to Trudy’s.

But looking at Fabian while standing with Joy brought up their rivalry once more in Nina’s mind, so she couldn’t help but glance the other way down the hall. Jerome and Alfie were messing around from their doorways, staking out rooms but not leaving each other alone quite yet. Nina felt herself smile.

She turned back to Joy and waited until their eyes met to say, “And I’m glad you’re happy.” She didn’t gesture at Jerome so much as she used a knowing tone, one Joy flushed over.

Joy turned her head to watch the boys joking around, a content smile gracing her features. It was small, but not like any of the smiles Nina had seen back at Anubis. This one was real. “Yeah. I am too.” She patted Nina’s arm for a second, offering, “You will be too again, I promise.”

Another thought pricked at her, piercing through the moment. “Also,” Nina said in an undertone, “I literally killed you. Apologies are necessary both ways.”

Joy covered her mouth to stifle a snort, both of their eyes darting over to Mara. But she was preoccupied, and Joy was clearing her throat. “Well I’m alive, so let’s chalk that up to mythological bullshit.”

“Oh my god, Eddie, don’t choke!”

“Was this not exactly what we were warning you about?”

“No, you just wanted to yell at me! She told us to eat!”

Mara brushed past the girls then before turning back and giving Nina a hug. “Sorry, I just can’t deal with boys tonight. I’ll be… anywhere else.”

Joy laughed at that, raising an eyebrow at whatever her boyfriend was doing. “Yeah, I better shut that down, too. Goodnight.”

“Night,” Nina said through her own laughter, watching them take very different routes down the hall. Mara stepped into the first room she saw once Jerome noticed her, and Joy bid Alfie goodnight before pushing Jerome back into their room. Nina hoped Mara had found Amber and they could complain about the guys together.

Eddie and Fabian came up to her then, the former indeed looking a little worse for wear. “Sorry Eddie caused a commotion,” Fabian said, sounding so much like a father chastising his son that Nina had to focus on schooling her expression.

Eddie made no attempt to mask his eye roll, much like a rebelling teen. What was this? “Sorry for nearly dying.”

There was a sudden pause at the wording before Nina waved it away. “No, no, it’s fine. That was funny.” She spared Eddie a sympathetic glance. “Well, maybe ‘funny’ isn’t the word.”

Moving past the silence, Fabian touched her elbow and asked, “Are you hungry? I’m no chef, but I’m sure I can figure out how to work the microwave if you tell me what to find.”

Nina had started to protest when Eddie cut in. “Nah, that’s a good idea. Fabian handles the kitchen instead of tearing his hair out over me, and we can just chill in the living room.”

She liked the idea. “There’s chicken noodle soup in the top right of the fridge, I think,” she said to Fabian, motioning for Eddie to step into the living room. 

Fabian smiled warmly at Nina, then disappeared into the kitchen. She’d never imagined her ex-boyfriend microwaving leftovers for her in her home in America after her gran’s funeral, but there were a lot of things she hadn’t imagined happening today. Like most of them, she wasn’t opposed. Instead she just felt loved. (And hungry; she hadn’t eaten all day.)

While he was in the kitchen, Nina and Eddie settled on the couch, close together but with enough separation to give her space if she didn’t want physical consolation. Everyone had been so amazingly considerate today, and she thanked him again. Just like at the funeral home, he brushed it off. “No contest.”

Deciding to steer off the topic of Gran, Nina hugged a throw pillow to her chest and got comfortable. “How was leading Sibuna for you?”

He didn’t even hesitate before saying, “Chaotic. And fucking terrifying, half the time.” She grinned, all her teeth on display as she laughed at his explanation. Sounded about right. But then he sat up straighter, turning to dig through his coat pockets. “That reminds me…”

Some part of her brain froze when she first saw it, the chain making a noise as it coiled in his palm before the Eye of Horus reared its head. It didn’t look any older than before, shockingly, and even as he folded it into her hand she felt herself fighting back a completely new wave of sadness.

“I guess this is pretty much useless now, huh?” she murmured, pressing the locket into her skin. The metallic wood combination was so familiar she half expected a hole in her wall to start shining, begging for her to unlock another secret.

“There’s still the memories,” he insisted, tugging at part of the chain slipping through her fingers. “And it’s a nice thing to keep. It’s yours, not mine. Not really.”

Dozens of memories from Anubis House flooded her mind then, every time the fake oven opened to them and where the Cup of Ankh resided for a short period of time before Senkhara arrived. She longed for the Cup suddenly, for the tunnels, for Victor and Trudy—even for the Mask of Anubis and all the trouble it caused.

Wiping under her dry eyes, Nina sniffed and said quietly, “I’m already so tired of crying.”

Eddie took the hint and shifted over on the couch, wrapping an arm around her frame. Her head dropped onto his shoulder, sighing into his jacket. Tears were building up behind her eyes but she just let her body relax, focusing on the comfort from a friend. 

Then something happened. Her entire body thrummed with unshed tears and the connection she had with the locket still in her hand, reopening something in her from back at Anubis. She’d never lost her sense of adventure, but this definitely felt like she was regaining it, or at least a piece of it. It was a similar sensation to being taken over by Senkhara, but without the total possession and hatred. She remembered the glow and the sense of belonging as she ascended the stairs; that was what it felt like now. In that moment, everything was okay.

“You know,” she began shakily, unsure of her own stance on the topic. All she knew is something was happening and it had to be because of Eddie. “I never really gave much thought to auras, and maybe it’s stupid, but—” 

“No, I can feel it too,” he cut in, sounding as amazed as she was. He just breathed for a moment before gesturing to her. “Yours is distressed I think. But it’s starting to calm down.”

She offered a small smile against his shoulder. “It’s calming because yours is like… enveloping mine.” It felt right to lean back and tell him, “I’m really glad we met,” even if it coaxed the tears to start falling. He pulled her into another hug as her crying gradually died down. She wasn’t sure if they were bittersweet or happy tears, an unknown emotion swallowing her whole.

Maybe it was just how it felt when an Osirian protected his Chosen One.

Fabian entered then, balancing a bowl of soup on a tray and his worried expression on his face. Nina laughed and pulled back to rub at her eyes while Eddie assured him everything was alright. “I just gave her the locket and she got all sappy,” he teased, clearly enjoying the incredulous look she threw at him.

Fabian’s gaze shifted back to the kitchen before he admitted, “I might have made a bit of a mess.”

Nina bit back a grin. “You’ll figure out the microwave, huh?”

The tips of his ears went red, but Eddie’s roaring laughter took the attention off him, giving him a chance to set the tray down in front of Nina and settle into a chair adjacent to the couch.

When she took the first bite of the—admittedly delicious—leftovers, Fabian offered her a real smile as Eddie exaggerated her appetite. Fabian immediately took that as an invitation to share some of Eddie’s food excursions during senior year, and it nearly startled Nina how she didn’t feel left out. This felt right, hearing about and catching up on what she’d missed at Anubis. She wanted to know every single detail, Sibuna included.

From food they switched to how messy their room was, Victor stories, and updates on the romance. Bits and pieces she’d heard already, whether by Amber through the grapevine, or Patricia’s limited mentions of Eddie, or Alfie’s singular frantic text that read “i think i like jerome’s girlfriend but he already has 2 so this is fine rite nina tell me this is fine idk who else to talk to.” Her name was Willow and they were together now, which made her grin. She was happy for them. Happy for Patricia and Eddie, and Joy and Jerome (which she still had a lot of questions only they could answer in full), and selfishly thankful Fabian hadn’t found another girlfriend. 

If she thought too long about the reason they were here then she got upset, yes. But focusing on everything about the Brits brought a long-forgotten smile to her face. This was everything she needed. They had always been more than enough.

Chapter Text

The next few days solidified something in Nina’s mind.

Being in one house with so many of her old housemates again rekindled her love for Anubis, even more than initially seeing them had done. The comfortable quiet and ever-present love in the air living with Gran she was used to, and she loved and missed that so much, but having eight friends living in the same space again was something she had forgotten how much she enjoyed. Nina was by no means the biggest extrovert, but she didn’t mind the constant buzz in the air, the regular conversation. It reminded her that she had people there for her.

She remembered when someone accompanied her to the door—every time, without fail—when one of Gran’s friends dropped by with more food and condolences and checked in. She remembered when she inadvertently introduced them as her family from boarding school, instead of her friends. (Amber was beside her then and nearly squeezed the life out of her at the declaration.) 

She remembered when Mara continued to tidy up the place, even three days after their arrival. She remembered when Amber kept lightly suggesting (i.e. loudly coaxing) that her birthday present be opened. She remembered when no one had a concrete answer as to how long they were staying, letting the question dangle in the air, like if she allowed the silence to go on for long enough then she’d forget and they wouldn’t have to return home at all. She even remembered when Alfie volunteered to mow the lawn, and Jerome nudged him and offered to tag along, and Patricia full-out tackled them before they’d made it out the front door.

All of this combined to make a decision for her, one she had been putting off thinking about previously but now had a solid plan of action. A plan of action she actually liked, nonetheless.

“You’re selling the house?” Joy asked, her eyebrows pinched together from her perch on the couch. Jerome’s fingers stopped their drumming against her leg, joining the rest of the room in staring at Nina.

She spread her arms out. “I mean, it’s not like one person needs this many rooms to deal with, especially not at eighteen.”

Amber scoffed. “See, that’s how I know this is some sort of excuse.”

“No, Amber, even a mansion like yours houses more than a single body.”

She blinked. “Unless Daddy gives it to me. Or buys me one of my own.”

Patricia turned to her, an incredulous look bordering on disgust crossing her face. “Are you kidding? I get you’re all about ‘luxury’ and ‘the finer things’”—here she used air quotes—“but a whole other mansion all for yourself?”

Amber just blinked again. “I don’t see the problem.” Half the room groaned.

Fabian sidled up to Nina then, adopting a softer tone as the Amber discussion went on. “But, Nina… there are memories here, and all.” It was clear he worried how bringing it up might affect her, but it warmed her heart that the pull was strong enough anyway. He just wanted the best for her.

So she smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. “Yes, there are memories here. But my parents used to live here too. I’ve spent my entire life apart from Anubis in this house and now everyone’s dead.” She squeezed, letting him know it was okay. It was just a fact. “I want to make new memories somewhere else, not ghosts of ones.”

“And you see enough of those already,” Eddie murmured, and then Nina realized the rest of the room had tuned in to what she was saying.

Mara leaned forward from her spot on the coffee table to whisper, “That’s hardly something to say to a grieving person, Eddie!”

His face turned red. Nina got the distinct feeling that he was more frustrated over having to play it off for one person’s benefit rather than actually aggravated with Mara’s comment.

Nina took the pause to jump in and finish with, “It’s been so nice having you all around these past couple of days—and don’t think I haven’t noticed no one has a flight booked back home yet.” 

Alfie laughed sheepishly. “Would you believe I let my last-minute tendencies spread?”

She pointedly glanced at Mara, and then back to Fabian. “No. No I would not.”

“Alright, so we came here without a set date to leave,” Jerome cut in, relaxing back into the couch. “You gonna kick us out?”

Patricia nudged him. “Maybe you should, but start with Jerome.”

Before their jabs could get too far, Nina shook her head. “That’s my point. I’ve missed having my friends around, and I’ve missed England. Sticking around here with all of Gran’s friends isn’t going to make me feel any better. I’d much rather be with my friends.” My family, she felt tugging deep in her core, but she didn’t say it. She didn’t need to. The look they were giving her indicated they felt the same anyway.

xxx

From there, Amber called her dad to fast-track the selling process (also using it as an excuse to opt out of the cleaning and prepping she otherwise would’ve been subjected to, but that was neither here nor there). Nina wasn’t quite sure exactly what Amber’s dad did beyond having an extensive amount of money; no one was sure, actually. Mara pondered about it at least three times during a single phone call Amber had with her father to no avail. Regardless, it didn’t really matter: the Martins’ home was close to being sold, and Nina almost had the go-ahead to leave the country.

In their time between speaking with the realtor and selling furniture and wiping down every surface known to man, they focused on catching up—both with life events and with the quickly diminishing fridge contents. Alfie and Eddie had really jumped on that duty.

Nina was pleasantly surprised to witness Joy and Jerome’s more comfortable moments, hands resting on backs and quiet murmurs amidst mundane tasks. Even Mara smiled at them a few times. Nina had meant it when she said she was happy for Joy; seeing it only confirmed it. She was more than ready to get to know Joy as a person and a friend, as well as head back to Liverpool once and for all. 

“Okay, quick question,” Nina started on the fourth day of cleaning. Most of the furniture had been removed, so repainting the walls and touching up the molding was their current focus. Alfie looked up from fiddling with painter’s overalls he had somehow acquired and now wore. Fabian cautiously stepped down from the ladder he was on, eyeing Alfie warily. “Are there any other… romantic things I should be made aware of before heading back?”

Amber flicked a piece of hair out of eyes and blinked. She was giving the paint a very wide clearing. “What else would there be to know? Alfie and I broke up, he’s with Willow, there’s the whole Joy and Jerome unit—”

Jerome’s eyebrows crinkled. “Unit?”

“And you know how that came about,” Patricia offered quickly with a sidelong glance to Mara. Mara pretended not to know what the details entailed.

Eddie clapped a hand onto Fabian’s shoulder, startling him. “KT’s gay, so Fabian’s safe if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Fabian bristled, immediately flushing crimson. “I hardly think that’s her reason for asking,” he said awkwardly, shrugging his former roommate’s hand off.

Nina was equally as red. “Yeah, I was just thinking—you and I flirted before,” she explained, speaking to Eddie. “Obviously that didn’t go anywhere, I’m just wondering what other things like that I missed.”

It was only a weird question to ask if Anubis House’s history wasn’t considered. Joy listed her head to the side, not making eye contact with Fabian but asking, “You mean stuff like me flirting with Fabes junior year, right?”

The room seemed to still in anticipation, but Nina just nodded and snapped her fingers at Joy. “Yeah, like that. Any almosts?”

A long pause ensued. Nina was fully prepared to let the subject drop when Jerome groaned loudly and tossed his head back. “Well, Trixie asked me on a date.”

Patricia gasped and spun on him, abandoning her post cleaning the cobwebs in the corner. “You told me we were ‘meant to be together’!”

“Yeah, to freak you out.”

Amber looked at Patricia, frowning. “Wasn’t that just a ploy? KT told me you did that before you wanted Eddie back.”

Eddie started grinning at the same time Patricia continued her complaints, but Nina put out a hand. “Wait, you two broke up?” she asked, gaze switching between the other American and her first roommate.

“She did the same thing we did,” Eddie supplied, looking all too smug. “Except I chose someone prettier than Jerry.”

Jerome fake gasped, Joy slapped his arm, and Patricia pulled a face. “We get it, Nina’s pretty. But that was all to make us jealous and it better not happen again.” Her eyebrows rose impossibly high. 

Nina figured she had to know that wasn’t a possibility, but then she thought back to junior year and cracked a smile. “I mean, it was kind of real,” she said, a single incredulous laugh escaping her.

Eddie started laughing himself, shoulders hunching inward. Alfie was kind of chuckling as well, but mainly it was just Eddie and Nina.

“Like we weren’t attracted to each other,” she clarified, putting her hands up. She was all too familiar with Patricia’s temper, especially where it concerned her closest people, “but that was real flirting.”

“Also really uncomfortable,” Fabian supplied, the blush still not quite gone.

Patricia dropped her duster where the coffee table used to be. “On that note, this is me really vomiting.”

xxx

Two nights before Nina—and the cavalry, as it were—moved out, she was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the empty living room floor. A notepad was in front of her, scrawled over and over with notes about pricing and placement and belongings she still needed to square away. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but the pink glitter pen from Amber was.

She was in the middle of writing out Where did Gran get those ugly drapes? Can I return them? when someone cleared their throat from the hallway. Lifting her head, her heart settled very distinctly in her chest. “Hey,” she said, a smile crossing her lips.

“Hey,” Fabian said back, voice quiet. “Mind if I bother you for a sec?”

She sighed exaggeratedly. “Well, I guess I can take a break from these crazy important, super engaging homeowner things.” 

Fabian made his way over carefully, his socks stepping over a random paint spot on the floor they’d forgotten to clean up. Nina made a mental note of it as he came to a stop just a foot away from her. “Last-minute donations or something?”

Nina uncrossed her legs and stretched a moment before getting to her feet. “Yeah, just finalizing some things. Deciding which photos to keep framed and which to move into a scrapbook or something.” She wiped off the backs of her jeans. “I just don’t want everything to be a reminder, you know?”

He let out a tiny laugh, something crossing his face for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, I get that.”

She watched him a little longer. “You okay?”

“It’s just…” He started out strong, then purposely tampered off, like he had to gather his thoughts in order to keep them tame. “When you left, I took everything as a reminder. You—Actually, ask Joy: I once went on about the night sky and how you were looking at it too.”

Her breathing stilled. She’d done that, too. Not every night, and not in a while admittedly—she’d been trying to stop—but she remembered doing it. She remembered missing her anticipated move-in date, the dread swirling in her stomach as she shut her computer off, her phone off, everything off to avoid contact outside of her Eddie-approved letter. Which was ridiculous, but she didn’t know a better way. She didn’t know how to confront the situation head-on.

So she didn’t. She let herself be a bumbling teenager, passing a note off to her new American friend, and she watched the stars instead. By the time she’d checked her email and seen Eddie freaking out and subsequently calming down about losing the letter, she’d stared at the night sky for a solid three hours. It was a routine that first week, first month even. It was easier than giving up Fabian immediately.

“Come to think of it… I cut her off when I said that too. I’m not sure what she was telling me…”

Now, Nina felt her admiration grow as she put a gentle end to Fabian’s rambling. “I looked at the sky, too.”

He blinked, seeming to come back to himself. “You did?”

“Mhm.” She nodded. “Like that one night in your room? My first year?”

He looked back at her, every emotion swimming in his eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, just like that.”

It was hard to process. Here he was after a whole year of no contact, standing in her living room in America just a foot away, maybe half a foot, telling her he missed her. That he thought of her a lot, and—with the look on his face—still did. That they’d been apart for so long and could still have such an honest connection. That Nina only needed to ask him how he felt if she wanted to know, and still she already knew. That it was that easy. 

But in the same vein, it wasn’t hard to process at all. Why wouldn’t she still love him after all this time?

“I’m sorry about the letter,” she heard herself say, the words tumbling out without a real thought to voice them. “That wasn’t how I should’ve done it, I just didn’t know how—”

“I’m sorry for never coming to the States before,” Fabian interjected, matching her. It reminded her of her reconciliation with Joy, only so, so much different. “It wasn’t cold feet, not really, but I should’ve figured it out. I hope you know how much I wanted to figure it out.” 

“Hey,” she said, letting their fingers tangle together. She swung their hands slightly. “You made it now, right? When I really needed you.”

Fabian’s gaze skittered all over her face before looking down. Not at their hands exactly, but the space still left between them. His thumb brushed over her knuckle once, a small enough movement that she could tell it wasn’t entirely a conscious choice. “You should know…” Of all the ways he could have ended that thought, of every possibility that crossed Nina’s mind, she would always be as emotional over him finishing with, “You’re still my chosen one.”

Nina blinked, her eyes filling with tears almost instantly as the words registered. It had more impact than the first time he told her that, and even then she was struck mute. There was something special, indescribable about being the Chosen One, about that reliance, the god-revered attitude surrounding her just because of when she was born. People followed her because of what she could do, of what power she held—but Fabian only ever followed her because it was her. Nina. His chosen one. In a world where those lusting over immortality blindly attached worth to her, Fabian saw all her faults and her flaws and spent an entire year without her, and he still wanted her.

She realized a moment too late that she’d been silent for a while, getting torn out of her thoughts as Fabian began tugging his hand away. She tightened her hold instead, blinking away some of the tears. “I am?” she asked, not quietly, not weakly, but with strength behind it. She wanted him to know how much this meant to her. How much he meant to her.

He looked back up at her then, noting the tears and her tone and everything in between. He blinked once, then twice, eyes shifting down to her lips for a fraction of a second. But it was enough. The second he leaned in she matched him, attaching their lips and cupping his face with her free hand. He did the same, and the way she was being held—gingerly, like she deserved to be handled with care… she knew this was it. There would be no more breaking up for them, no more separation. Only Nina and Fabian together, as they were always meant to be.

xxx

The final puzzle piece in the life of graduated Nina Martin would’ve been to head to college, but she hadn’t had time to apply in the past year. Too much uncertainty surrounded Gran, and even if Nina hadn’t admitted it at the time, going to school in Illinois for four more years didn’t suit her anymore. She’d experienced Anubis and that would always leave her wanting it back.

Despite this, Mara and Jerome, surprisingly enough, were the ones to needle her about post-high school plans. She explained the circumstances to them patiently, and they understood it on a fundamental level: it went Gran, high school grades, and now the aftermath. She had her priorities straight, to be clear, but it did leave her in a bit of a limbo state now.

“You knowwwwwww,” Amber began when she swished into the kitchen, daintily side-stepping Eddie and Alfie lifting a chair higher above their heads than necessary, “I could ask Daddy to at least get you an interview in Liverpool.”

“That hardly seems fair,” Mara said in a ‘But I won’t tell’ kind of tone. The room’s eyes swung to her, standing with her hands clasped professionally against her pencil skirt. Jerome sent her an appraising look.

“At least an interview, Neens, you’ll let me do that?” Amber continued pleading, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Amber, it’s July,” Nina said, tilting her head. “They can’t just let me in a month before classes start.”

“Then you’ll join for winter term,” Jerome suggested. “Fast-track a few courses and catch up a bit before the spring.”

“Aye Nina, you can join the same time as me!” Alfie called out, followed by “Alfie, no!” and a loud THUMP.

Silence, and then, from around the corner and out the door, “Everything’s fine!” Patricia called out, “No damage to anything other than Alfie’s last remaining brain cell!” It suddenly made more sense why Alfie was taking a semester off.

Fabian entered from the hallway, rolling up the cuffs of his sleeves. “I didn’t know it was his turn for the brain cell today. I could’ve sworn it was yours, Jerome, what will all this university talk.” Jerome made a face at him.

Nina laughed, giving in. “Fine. Fine, I’ll accept an interview if that’s not pulling too many strings. But I won’t accept anything before winter classes.”

“Nina,” Joy asked from the hallway, appearing similarly to Fabian. “Birthday present where?”

Before she could respond, Amber stamped her heel and pointed to the famous birthday present in Joy’s hands. “Neens.”

Nina fought a smile. “Amber, I’ve told you how many times—”

“Just a peakkkkkk—”

“No, I can’t.”

“Neeeeeeens—”

“No, Amber, I want to wait until we get to Liverpool,” she said decidedly but nonchalantly, a casual air to the statement.

Jerome raised an eyebrow. “You know that’ll be fun in Customs.”

Nina shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t want to open it now. I want to wait ‘til everyone’s here, Willow and KT too. I want to be surrounded by everyone I love, okay?”

It took a moment for the declaration to sink in, but when it did, anyone in the immediate vicinity moved to pull her into a hug. When Alfie, Eddie, and Patricia found their way back inside, they joined the huddle. It was a mass of limbs and awkward angles, giggling and groaning, and it sent Nina forward. She could see everything exactly as it would happen.

The plane ride will be uncomfortable because even Amber won’t be able to get them all in first class, leaving Nina sandwiched between Alfie and Fabian and Jerome’s long legs to stick underneath her seat. Mara’s overhead light will refuse to turn off, suiting her and her mystery novel just fine. (Her comment, “Wouldn’t a real-life mystery be so interesting?” will turn a few heads and encourage a couple nervous laughs.) The cab ride to Amber’s will be surreal, the scenery familiar but not at the same time, the company much more memorable than ever before. Alfie’s door will open halfway through, scaring everyone and angering the driver. Patricia will inform them that their cab watched it play out in front of them, unable to do much other than laugh. And then, once Willow and KT make it over, Nina will meet the new girls important in her friend group. 

But she won’t mind. Two more people to add to her family seems pretty good to her.

In fact, it feels like coming home.