Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sonya did not run through the hotel corridors.

Mostly because she didn’t want to, but also because she was pretty sure that if she did run then all she’d manage to do would be to increase the speed at which she got lost. She and Newt had only checked in about half an hour ago. Newt had been the one who’d led the way to their room, where they’d claimed their beds and dumped their bags. Newt had also been the one who’d led them down to the hotel bar. Sonya hadn’t needed to engage her brain at all.

If she’d known that she was going to forget to bring her phone downstairs with her, and that she’d have to venture back to their room alone to retrieve it, then she would’ve paid more attention to her surroundings.

The corridors twisted and turned and seemed to go on forever in some places. Why were hotels like this? Sonya didn’t think she’d ever stayed in a hotel that didn’t try to emulate a maze with its interior layout. She didn’t understand the point of it.

She found her room eventually. Her phone lay on top of her bag, mocking her like the asshole it was.

At least, she thought, it would take less time for her to find her way back to the bar than it had taken for her to find her way to the room. All she needed to do was retrace her steps, minus all the wrong turns she took along the way. Surely that would be easier.

It was not easier.

But finally, eventually, after much struggling, she reached the bar on the ground floor of the hotel where she’d left Newt – she checked the time on her phone – over twenty minutes ago. Great. This was exactly how she’d wanted to begin her holiday. Gold star for Sonya.

Newt wouldn’t even be annoyed at her for it, and perhaps that was the most annoying part of this whole thing.

Taking a deep breath, Sonya entered the bar.

It was packed.

She didn’t think it had been this crowded when she’d left to retrieve her phone, but then again she’d only been inside for all of three seconds before she’d realised her error. That probably wasn’t enough time for the number of people around to register.

Sonya didn’t mind crowds, per se. They were just harder to navigate.

If Harriet were here, she’d have managed to get them both to the bar before the crowds had turned up. If beating the crowds counted as a superpower then it was a superpower that Sonya’s girlfriend for sure possessed. Alas, Harriet was not here, having been obliged to accompany her parents on their semi-annual trip to the States instead of being able to join Sonya for her birthday trip to Italy, and so Sonya had been left to stumble her way into an already crowded bar all on her own.

Well. Not all on her own. Newt was around here somewhere.

She couldn’t see him anywhere.

wheremst? She messaged him as she scanned the faces in the crowd, hoping to spot him quickly.

“Hey.”

The voice came from closer to Sonya than any of the other voices around, and a lot clearer than the general hubbub. She turned to see a guy looking right at her.

And she made eye contact with him. Goddammit.

The guy took her eye contact as an invitation to step closer. Sonya readied herself to plunge into the crowd. There was a gap just in front of her that she thought she was probably small enough to squeeze through.

“Are you okay?” said the guy. “You look kinda lost.”

Sonya did not plunge into the crowd. She looked at the guy’s face and saw what looked to be genuine concern. His hair was too messy for him to have put any effort into styling it, so the chances of him hoping to impress anyone this evening were low, although he was wearing a nice looking shirt so she couldn’t say for sure. Going by his accent, he was American, which told Sonya absolutely nothing about what he wanted from her.

“I’m just looking for my brother,” she said, her voice carefully neutral.

Her phone picked that moment to buzz in her hand.

Back corner by the window

“Want me to help you find him?” said the guy with messy hair. “My sister would probably kill me if I made you push through this crowd alone, the people getting served right now got kinda rowdy earlier.”

Sonya relaxed a little.

When guys in bars had tried to hit on Sonya before, their opening lines generally didn’t come with any mention of a sister or any concern for Sonya’s safety. This guy was probably alright.

“Sure,” she said. “He’s just said he’s in the back corner.”

Messy hair nodded. “Follow me.”

He managed to clear a path through the people with what seemed like total ease. If getting to places before the rush was Harriet’s superpower, then navigating said rush after it had formed had to be this guy’s, because there was just no way that Sonya would’ve been able to get through it so smoothly without him.

Newt, as it turned out, wasn’t just in the back corner by the window, but had even managed to snag a table and two chairs. He had with him two glasses – one next to him and another, more full one next to Sonya’s empty seat.

He looked up from his book – because of course he’d anticipated this and brought a book down with him – and waved Sonya over.

Messy hair let Sonya pass. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

Sonya turned to thank him for his help, but he’d already disappeared into the throng of people.

Huh.

Sonya shrugged and sat in her chair.

Newt looked past her at the crowd behind, searching for something but unable to find it.

“Who was that?” he asked.

Sonya reached across the table and stole Newt’s glass.

Newt’s attention snapped back to her.

She took a sip.

He pulled a face.

She grinned.

He held out his hand.

She gave him his drink back.

“I don’t know,” she said, tracing her finger around the rim of her own glass. “Just some guy. Didn’t even get his name, he just offered to help me get over here. He’s probably staying at this place, though, so we might see him around.”

“Yeah,” said Newt. “Maybe we will.”

Sonya knew her brother very well, but she was pretty sure than even a total stranger would’ve been able to understand that, at this particular moment, when Newt said, ‘maybe we will,’ what he actually meant was, ‘I really really hope so because I am hopelessly gay and that man there might have just walked out of my wildest dreams.’

Sonya loved and respected her brother more than she loved and respected anyone else in the world. She could also admit that Newt was easily distracted whenever a hot guy was involved. It was a character flaw, sure, but an endearing one, and one that hadn’t led them to disaster yet, so as far as Sonya was concerned there wasn’t any harm in it. Sonya was in no position to judge whether or not Mr. Messy Hair was attractive; it was plain to see that Newt thought he was, and that was all that mattered.

She was still gonna be a little sister about it.

“He’s American,” she said. “We’re in Italy. If you’re gonna hook up with anyone while we’re here, wouldn’t it make more sense to focus your efforts on the Italians?”

Newt rolled his eyes. “You can shush.”

“I hear they’re really good in–“

“I said shush!”

Chapter Text

Thomas did not speak any Italian, but he was more than willing to try ordering coffee and pastries from the café that he and Teresa had just walked into anyway. He was fairly certain that cappuccino and espresso were said similarly enough – if not exactly the same – as they were in English, and that he could point to the various things in display cases with more than enough competence. He could supplement the ordering process with smiles and ‘please’s and make it through unscathed, or at least with minimal confusion.

Maybe he should look up how to say ‘please’ in Italian first.

He was in the process of getting his phone out of his pocket to do that when he looked around at the café’s other patrons and spotted the girl from last night.

She was sat across from a man with the same sandy-blond hair that she had, cut shorter than hers but still pretty long for a dude. Thomas hadn’t stuck around to get a good look at her brother the night before – he’d been too eager to get back to Teresa – but going by the hair color alone this was probably him. Thomas couldn’t hear what the girl was saying from this distance, but he could see her wide smile and animated gestures, contrasting her brothers more languid posture.

The girl looked over and spotted him.

Somehow, her face lit up even more than it had already been. She waved to Thomas, and said something to her brother, who turned around to look at him.

Oh.

Sure, the girl was pretty, but her brother was in a league of his own.

Thomas stared for just a little too long before he remembered that he still needed to wave back.

“Who’s that?” asked Teresa.

“That’s the girl I helped find her brother last night.”

Teresa made a noise of acknowledgment, then said, “How about you go over and say hi? I can order for us.”

“You sure?”

“Tom,” she said, with the endless patience that could only come from putting with with his antics their whole life, “I am not letting you embarrass us like you did at the hotel check-in yesterday.”

Thomas had to admit that was fair.

Trusting Teresa to handle the acquisition of coffee and food, Thomas made his way over to the table.

“Hi there!” said the girl, gesturing for Thomas to sit down. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“The town isn’t that big,” said her brother, a fond tone to his voice. “It was bound to happen sooner or later.” He shifted in his seat so he was facing Thomas more than his sister. “I’m Newt. That’s Sonya. Thanks for helping her out last night, and sorry if she was rude or caused you any trouble.”

Thomas waved him off. “She was fine.”

The dude was British.

Obviously, he was British. When Thomas had spoken to Sonya the evening before, he’d noticed that she was one of the many British tourists staying at their hotel. It hadn’t registered to him as being anything of note. She was a British girl. So what?

But Newt?

With him, it was definitely of note.

There was a beat of silence.

“Oh,” he said, realizing that they were waiting for him to introduce himself. “I’m Thomas.”

“Nice to meet you, Tommy,” said Newt with a smile.

Sonya shot her brother a look that Thomas didn’t understand. He didn’t try to decipher it. His and Teresa’s friends had complained to them plenty of times about their habit of communicating with one another without words, and he recognised it in action when he saw it. It was a sibling thing.

“You said you were here with your sister?” said Sonya.

“Yeah,” Thomas pointed to where Teresa was waiting at the counter for their drinks to be ready. “That’s her over there. She’ll come join us in a minute.”

Sonya’s phone buzzed where it lay face-down on the table, and she picked it up and glanced at it.

“All good?” asked Newt.

“Yeah,” Sonya replied as she tapped out a response to whatever it was and put her phone down again. “Just Harri checking in. My girlfriend,” Sonya added, by way of explanation. “She’s visiting family in America right now.”

“It’s gotta be, like, five in the morning over there,” said Thomas.

“She wakes up early.” Sonya wrapped a lock of hair around her finger before dropping it and reaching for her coffee cup. “I don’t know how she does it, I’m so not a morning person.”

“You want to go talk to her?” asked Newt.

Sonya shook her head. “We’ll call later when she doesn’t have to worry about waking anyone else up.”

Teresa appeared by the table, a tray carefully balanced in her hands.

“Am I joining you or am I taking my brother away?”

“You’re joining us!” said Sonya, pushing the last chair out for her to sit.

Everyone introduced themselves over again, Teresa included this time, as Teresa handed out coffee and pastries to Thomas and herself.

“Oh, you got the honey cornettos as well!” said Sonya, gesturing at the pastries Teresa had brought. “They’re great, I’m obsessed with them. I might go get another one.”

Thomas looked at his pastry. It looked like a croissant.

He picked it up and took a bite. It tasted like a croissant as well, but admittedly an excellent and very sweet one. He put it down and gave her a thumbs up.

The group got to talking as Thomas and Teresa drank their coffee – an espresso for her and a cappuccino for him – and ate their breakfast.

Newt and Sonya were both in college back in England. Like Thomas and Teresa, Newt was about to start his third year, but unlike Thomas and Teresa his third year would be his last one. He was studying English Literature, and had been since he started. Thomas hadn’t even picked a major yet, and if he’d had to commit to one before applying to college then he probably would’ve ended up picking something he hated. But when Thomas asked Newt what he thought about his classes, Newt had nothing but positive things to say about them.

Sonya, despite being a year younger than the rest of them, was going into her second year of medical school. Because apparently British medical schools let people in straight out of high school if their grades were high enough.

“Not everyone in my year is as young as me,” she said in response to Thomas and Teresa’s shocked reactions. “There are a few people who took a gap year first, some who did a foundation year, some mature students, and a few who did a related undergrad degree before applying for medicine. But, yeah, there are also a bunch of us who got in right away.”

“Don’t make the mistake of thinking this makes her smart,” said Newt. “She’s still the dumbass who once tried to pay for the shopping with an old Legoland driver’s license she got when she was five.”

Sonya made a frustrated sound. “It was one time! Are you ever going to let it go?”

“Hmm,” Newt pretended to think, “I don’t think so. What was it even doing in your wallet?”

“It seemed like a good place to keep it!”

Teresa caught Thomas’ eye and let out a small laugh.

Despite Newt’s words implying the opposite, it was plain to see that he was immensely proud of his sister for what she’d achieved. Jumping on the opportunity to tell people about an embarrassing moment in her life was just his way of keeping her humble. Thomas and Teresa were no stranger to doing that to each other, though Thomas had to admit that it was easier for Teresa because she had so much more material to choose from than he did.

As the conversation continued, they soon learned that Newt and Sonya were visiting Tropea to celebrate Sonya’s birthday tomorrow. They’d wanted to go somewhere warm, with plenty of things to see and do, but that wasn’t going to be filled with families or with people who were solely there to party.

“Don’t get me wrong,” said Sonya, “we’re definitely having a night out tomorrow, but I wanna have a good time during the day as well.” She gasped as if an idea had just struck her. “Do you guys have plans already?”

“Today or tomorrow?” asked Teresa.

“Either. Both.”

Teresa shook her head. “We don’t have an itinerary, we figured we’d wander around and see what we stumbled across.”

“You can join us, then!” said Sonya. Her voice rose in volume as she spoke, getting more and more excited. “We’re gonna go see the Santa Maria sanctuary when we’re done here, and you’re more than welcome to come too! And you have to join us tomorrow as well. It’ll be way more fun with more of us!” She stopped, then said, “Only if you want. You don’t have to.”

Teresa looked across at Thomas. “Sounds good to me.”

Uncertain, Thomas glanced at Newt. Even if the birthday girl said it was okay, Thomas didn’t want to impose if it turned out not everyone was fine with it.

“What’cha looking at me for?” said Newt with a smirk. “I don’t mind. It’s up to you, Tommy, so how about it? Are you coming?”

Before today, Thomas wouldn’t have thought himself to be someone who was affected by someone’s accent. He especially wouldn’t have thought that a British accent specifically would do it for him. British accents had, to him, existed solely in the realm of movie villains and the occasional fictional spy, so he’d had no real concept of the effect that it could have on him when coming out of the mouth of a gorgeous guy with deep brown eyes and a playful smile trained solely on him. He hadn’t been prepared for this scenario. Some warning would’ve been nice.

As it was, there was no way he could refuse anything Newt suggested to him. He would do whatever Newt asked, no question, and if that meant trading his and Teresa’s intended organic exploration of the town for whatever Sonya wanted to do for the next few days, then that was fine with Thomas. He was sure he’d have a good time anyway. Especially if it meant getting to hang out with Newt for even longer.

The group exchanged phone numbers and Instagram handles so they’d be able to contact each other easier. Thomas didn’t let himself linger on Newt’s page, but even the quick glance he was forced to give it as he hit follow was enough for him to spot the rainbow flag emoji in Newt’s profile description.

That emoji meant that Thomas had a chance.

Chapter Text

Before they left the café, Sonya ordered three more cornetto integrali al mieles, inhaled one, and put the other two in her bag. “Breakfast tomorrow,” she said with a grin.

Teresa couldn’t help but point out the obvious. “Why not come back here in the morning and get them fresh?”

Sonya snapped her fingers. “That’s smart,” she said. “Guess I’ll just have to eat these ones tonight instead.”

“Not if I eat them first,” said Newt, as he held open the door for everyone to pass through.

“If you eat my cornettos I will never forgive you.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Teresa and Thomas shared a look. They’d only known these two for an hour or so, but that was enough to know that if Newt did steal Sonya’s cornettos then he’d never hear the end of it, but also that it wouldn’t damage their relationship one bit.

Newt might have been joking when he threatened to eat them before her, but Sonya had practically dared him to do it. Teresa didn’t think those cornettos stood a chance.

Santa Maria dell’Isola stood atop a large sandstone rock, sitting right on the point where the sea met the shore. Even from the ground it looked stunning, and Teresa was sure that it and the view that its vantage point would offer of Tropea would be nothing short of spectacular.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a road leading to the top. The only way up was by climbing a very long staircase.

Sonya was the only one who didn’t hesitate as they started their ascent.

However, as they climbed, Sonya didn’t rush ahead like Teresa thought she might. Instead Sonya was careful to keep pace with the rest of the group, to not push anyone to go faster than they were already going, and every fifty steps or so she even suggested they take a break. It was totally at odds with the exuberance and excitement she’d shown throughout the morning. Teresa didn’t know what had changed.

Then she looked over at Newt, and she understood.

Newt was walking with a slight limp.

He wasn’t saying anything about it, and his look of focus told Teresa that he was trying not to let it draw anyone’s attention, but it was more and more noticeable with each step he took.

Of course Sonya was tempering her enthusiasm. Vacations weren’t much fun if someone got hurt.

Eventually they reached the top, all in once piece and no one any worse for wear. Sonya spun around to look at the town behind them and just about squealed with delight.

“I’m gonna see what it looks like from the roof,” she said, starting towards the church.

Newt didn’t look all that excited at the prospect of yet more climbing, but went to follow after his sister anyway.

Teresa jabbed her elbow into Thomas’ side to get his attention and sent him a silent meaningful look.

Their twin telepathy could be dodgy at times, but it worked when it needed to.

“Hey,” Thomas called out.

The Brits both stopped walking and turned to listen.

“It’s only three euros to go in the museum and garden. I kinda wanna do that. Anyone want to come with?”

Relief was clear on Newt’s face as he nodded. “You can meet us after, yeah?” he said to Sonya.

“Sure,” said Sonya. “I’ll probably come join you in a bit.” She looked to Teresa. “You coming up with me?”

It didn’t come across like Sonya minded either way, but Teresa thought that letting Thomas and Newt have some time alone could only be a good thing, so she followed Sonya into the church.

If the view of the town from outside the church had been stunning, the effect was only enhanced by the extra height offered by standing on the church’s roof. There weren’t many other people around, which Sonya took full advantage of by running a lap of the roof before handing her phone to Teresa and asking her to take pictures while she posed.

“I’ll do the same for you,” she said. “And we can take selfies together! Ugh this place is just so gorgeous.”

Teresa obediently took many photos.

“How are you finding med school?”

“Huh?”

Sonya hand up a hand to shade her eyes from the sun as she looked over to Teresa.

“It’s just,” Teresa said as she kept taking photos, “With the credits I’ve got so far, it’s not impossible for me to switch to pre-med, and I’m considering it. I think I’d like being a doctor. You know, helping people? I just figured–“

Sonya kept her body facing Teresa, but turned her head to look out at the town. It didn’t look like a deliberate pose, more like she was taking a moment to think about her response, but Teresa took another photo of her anyway. In Teresa’s experience, candid photos were always the best.

“I won’t lie to you,” said Sonya, turning back towards Teresa. “it’s a lot of work. I have way more classes than a lot of my friends, and when I’m not in class I basically live in the library. I could also get kicked off my course if I have too many unexplained absences. Newt technically doesn’t have to go to any of his classes if he doesn’t want to, the uni doesn’t care what most people do because they’ve got their money either way, but those of us studying things with external regulations are under a lot more scrutiny. Maybe it works differently in America, but it’s hard, and it’s not a course I’d recommend just anyone go for. But it’s also so rewarding. We’ve already done a round of placements where we shadowed a GP, and I thought it was fascinating. I’ve wanted to be a doctor since forever, so to me it’s all worth it.”

Teresa nodded. “I’ll think on it,” she said.

They swapped phones and positions so that Sonya could return the favor.

“Definitely let me know what you end up deciding,” said Sonya. “If you do go for it, I’d love to compare notes.”

“You could tutor me for the MCAT.”

“I could tutor you for the MCAT!”

Once they’d finished taking their photos and joint selfies, the girls sat with their backs against a wall as they sorted through them.

After a few minutes of that, Sonya said, “I wish Harriet was here.”

“Your girlfriend?”

“Mhmm.” Sonya sighed. “We’ve been together about half a year. Her parents would’ve killed her if she’d tried to ditch the family holiday so I’m not even mad about it. I just miss her is all. I’ll call her later.”

Teresa shrugged. “My girlfriend is also on a non-negotiable family vacation. Her dad’s dragged her to Brazil to visit grandparents.”

Sonya’s eyes lit up. “What’s her name? How long have you been together? Can I see what she looks like?”

“She’s Brenda,” said Teresa. “We’ve been together for a few months, but we met during freshman year. And only if you show me what Harriet looks like.”

“Deal!”

Teresa navigated to a point in her camera roll that was made up of a cluster of pictures that she and Brenda had taken of each other during a trip to an amusement park, then swapped her phone with Sonya. Sonya’s phone showed a picture of a Black girl whose curls were bursting free from where she’d tied her hair on top of her head. Her open lips were painted neon green, and if the crinkles around her eyes were anything to go by, this picture had been taken while Harriet was mid-laugh.

“She’s beautiful.”

“So’s Brenda,” said Sonya, handing Teresa her phone back. “We must be the luckiest girls in the world.”

“Our girlfriends would be here with us if we were the luckiest girls in the world.”

Sonya huffed a laugh. “You’re so right.”

“What do you think our brothers are up to?”

If Sonya was thrown by Teresa changing the subject on her, she didn’t show it.

“Getting to know each other. Flirting, at least on Newt’s side of it.”

Teresa tapped the side of her phone case. It had been impossible for her not to notice the way that Thomas had fallen totally under Newt’s spell. Sonya was probably the person who knew Newt best, so if she said Newt was into Thomas then it was probably true. Sonya being so upfront with it was a relief. It meant that Thomas wouldn’t be spending the next few days pining helplessly.

“I wish I could say Thomas would be flirting back.”

A look of concern flickered across Sonya’s face. “You mean–?”

“No, not like that! Trust me, he’s very into Newt. I just mean he’s not very…” She trailed off as she searched for the right word. “Outgoing? About these sorts of things? I don’t think he’s ever asked someone out himself. I don’t really get it, it’s not like he isn’t brave. He and his roommate are constantly pulling stunts and getting into trouble, and you’ve gotta have guts to do half the things they do. He just can’t ever bring himself to tell the people he likes that he likes them. He claims it’s a bisexual curse, but his roommate is bi as well and doesn’t seem to have that problem.”

Sonya smirked. “Sounds rough. Can’t relate. Good thing us lesbians have things figured out.”

Teresa was about to agree, but then remembered a very crucial point about her own relationship. She and Brenda had spent months dancing around each other, their mutual crush painfully obvious to everyone who knew them but neither of them doing anything about it. Eventually, during spring break, Brenda had snuck two shots of whiskey from her dad’s supply and used the resulting boost in courage to spit it out. If Brenda hadn’t done that, there was a good chance that she and Teresa still wouldn’t be together even now.

Teresa and Thomas were twins. Twins commonly shared similarities with each other, even fraternal twins like them. Teresa hadn’t realized before now that this was one of their similarities.

She explained as much to Sonya.

“Well,” said Sonya, once Teresa had finished her explanation, “hopefully Newt will prove that he’s related to me, and he’ll make a move so Thomas doesn’t have to.”

“Yeah,” said Teresa. “Hopefully he will.”

Chapter Text

On Sonya’s birthday she declared that she wanted to spend the day at the beach. At first Newt was worried that they’d wind up fighting other tourists for a good spot; something like that always seemed to end up happening whenever Sonya was left solely in charge of the itinerary. He breathed a little easier when Sonya told him that Harriet had researched the town from the other side of the world and had directed them to a specific bit of beach that would hopefully be more manageable. As far as Newt was concerned, that girl had magic powers of some kind.

Harriet’s recommended beach – the Rotonda – had plenty of space for the four of them to lay down their towels without bumping into anyone else. Newt’s hand brushed the sand as he placed his towel down and was surprised by how slippery and soft the grains were to the touch. He pressed his fist against the sand and pushed, watching in delight as the ground offered little resistance before swallowing his hand to his wrist.

“What are you doing?” asked Sonya, popping up at his shoulder.

“The sand feels nice.”

“Does it?” She immediately crouched and copied Newt, sticking her own hand into the sand. “It does!”

Newt pulled his hand free and stood upright, shaking the last grains of sand away as he did so.

“I was gonna say that the sand here is kinda pale,” said Thomas, standing from placing his own towel, “but I think you two might still have it beat.”

Sonya’s head snapped up. “Hey!”

Newt stifled a laugh. “S’not our fault we don’t tan as fast as you two.”

Thomas and Teresa’s skin had noticeably darkened since yesterday morning. Newt’s and Sonya’s had changed far less dramatically, and if they made it through this holiday without burning then Newt was going to call it a win. The sunscreen they’d brought with them would be empty by the time they headed for home. Newt had managed to burn during winter before, so they needed it.

Skin woes aside, however, Thomas was right about the sand.

Many years ago, Newt had been one of those little kids who, once he’d figured out that covering half a piece of paper in blue crayon and the other half in yellow crayon created some semblance of a beach scene, would stop at nothing to draw as many of these beach scenes as he physically could. It wasn’t that he’d been obsessed with beaches. It was more that, by colouring his page like that, he’d been able to do the same thing over and over and reliably get the same result. Baby’s first replicable artwork. It had been an exciting discovery for a three year old.

He’d seen a few different beaches across the UK over his life. Not one of them had had sand that was worthy of note. If someone had directed his three year old self to draw any of those beaches then he would’ve been reaching for the same old broken yellow crayon before they’d finished speaking, no additional effort required.

His three year old self would’ve had a real problem trying to draw this beach. The sand wasn’t yellow at all. If anything, it was almost white.

And the water.

Newt was used to murky, greyish seas, that looked just about as cold as they felt. Maybe there’d be a glimmer of blue reflected from the sky on the rare cloudless days, but those were few and far between. His reasons for going to the beach in the UK, whenever it happened, had never once been the sea itself, because the sea simply hadn’t ever been anything special.

If someone had told Newt that the sea he was looking at right now was made of pure sapphire, he would’ve believed them.

He grinned at Thomas as he pulled off his shirt and sprinted for the water.

His leg protested, but the gentle coolness of the water caressing his ankles was worth it. He spun and walked backwards, letting water creep higher and higher, and beckoned for the others to follow.

Teresa was the first to join him, with Sonya quick at her heels. Thomas hesitated by their towels, glancing between them and the group in the sea.

“Don’t worry about it!” Teresa called out to him. “We’re not far!”

“C’mon, Tommy,” added Newt. The water was nearly up to his waist now. “It’s nice!”

Thomas dithered for a second longer. Then he took off his own shirt, dropped it onto his towel, and joined them in the sea.

The four of them swam around each other for a while, marveling at how calm the water was compared to places they’d been before. Sonya threatened to splash the other three several times, but she never followed through with it, opting instead to duck beneath the water and pop up again in a random location. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the water being so clear that Newt could see what she was up to and where she was going while she was underwater, but that just meant he could dodge around her and anticipate her movements, which she seemed to find just as fun.

Eventually the girls decided they wanted to sit on the beach for a bit, leaving just Thomas and Newt in the water.

Newt was far enough away from the shore to pull his feet away from the ground and let himself float.

He hadn’t realised how much he hadn’t wanted to go to the monastery roof yesterday until Thomas had suggested an alternative. Sonya was always as mindful of Newt’s disability as he could expect her to be given that she was far more used to what life had been like before it happened, but the monastery hadn’t been built or located with people like him in mind. The fact of the matter had been that there hadn’t been any other way up there than to climb the stairs. He would’ve gladly done it for her, but he wouldn’t have enjoyed it.

Seeing the gardens with Thomas had been so much better.

There hadn’t been any more climbing. Just a gentle stroll along flat ground, plenty of benches where they could stop and rest whenever he’d needed it, and the opportunity to get to know each other a little better.

They’d talked about their hobbies. Thomas, as it turned out, was a typical track team jock, though with the additional curveball of having a genuine love of puzzles and brainteasers. He’d also been fascinated to hear all about the work Newt put into keeping his many plants alive, and he’d insisted upon following Newt’s art Instagram the moment Newt told him that he had one.

They’d somehow ended up talking about the Die Hard movies, and how people didn’t appreciate the fourth one anywhere near enough. Thomas had been visibly on the verge of an impassioned speech about it before Newt had taken pity on him and revealed that he already agreed.

They also talked about their relationship statuses.

Both single!

And, okay. Maybe that last conversation topic hadn’t exactly come up naturally. But Newt had noticed Thomas’ freckles and caught himself glancing at Thomas’ lips and he’d just had to ask. Besides, asking was the responsible thing to do. Nobody could criticise him for doing the responsible thing. The last thing he’d wanted was a repeat of the Nick incident.

Thomas clearly hadn’t thought it had been weird of Newt to ask. He’d even smiled as he’d answered him, and he’d returned the question. The girls had found them not long after, so the conversation hadn’t gone much further than that, but it hadn’t needed to. They still had a few more days in Italy together. There was no rush.

Newt put his feet on the ground. The sand between his toes was as soft as the dry sand on shore had felt.

He looked over at Thomas.

Thomas was standing at his full height, one arm up to block the Sun from his eyes, looking out at the wider sea.

Newt waded a step closer and let himself take in the view.

Thomas’ hair was plastered against his forehead, several shades darker than the soft brown it usually was when dry. There was dark hair just visible from his armpit and down the middle of his chest. The skin on Thomas’ chest was lighter than it was on his arms and face, and as Newt got even closer he saw that the freckles he’d found so entrancing on Thomas’ face the day before were present on the rest of his body as well. There were droplets of water dripping from Thomas’ hair and trickling down, chasing each other from freckle to freckle, completing their very own dot-to-dot across Thomas’ skin.

Newt had never been jealous of water droplets before.

Thomas spotted him approach, and turned towards him with a smile.

“Hey, Newt.”

Newt smiled back. “Hey, Tommy,” he said, and he dragged an arm across the surface of the water, sending a huge wave towards Thomas.

Then he darted away, leaving Thomas spluttering in shock.

It didn’t take long for Thomas to recover and eliminate Newt’s headstart before paying him back in kind, but Newt didn’t mind. They were both laughing, and it was a moment that Newt knew, deep in his soul, that he would cherish forever.

No matter how things went between them.

Chapter Text

Once Thomas and Newt had finished getting each other as wet as physically possible, the two of them dragged their now bedraggled selves to shore. Their respective sisters took one look at them and demanded photos, to which Thomas and Newt only put up token objections before obediently posing in place.

Newt had managed to get sand down the side of his face and, if the mischievous glint in Teresa’s eyes was anything to go by, Thomas didn’t think he’d fared much better. He didn’t have to ask to know that she was sending those pictures far and wide, to their parents and to their little brother and definitely to Minho.

Thomas didn’t regret a thing.

He just hoped that Newt didn’t either.

He ran a hand through his hair, hoping he could make it look somewhat presentable, but a glance at his phone camera told him that there was no hope at all. If anything, he’d made it worse. He shook his head in a futile attempt to fling water away, then accepted with a defeated sigh that it would just have to stay coated in sand and sticking in wild directions until they all went back to the hotel so he could shower.

He looked over at Newt, who was in the process of dusting sand away from his face while Sonya chattered about it being one of his best looks so far. Thomas thought he detected a hint of sarcasm in her voice. He also thought that Newt had looked amazing the entire time they’d known each other, whether he was covered in sand or not.

Was it even possible for Newt to look bad? Thomas didn’t think so.

Once Newt had deemed himself as presentable as he was going to get, Sonya said she wanted gelato, so they packed up their things and went off to find some. The crowds along the beach meant they quickly diverted away from the coast and hunted the town in search of somewhere a little less busy.

They only had to walk down a handful of cobbled streets before they came across a shop that looked perfect.

It was a literal hole in the wall, with a glass case facing out on to the street showing countless tubs of all different colors and drizzled with all sorts of toppings, like some sort of rainbow explosion.

Somehow, there were only two people waiting in line.

As their group joined behind them, Thomas felt his phone buzz in the tote bag he’d slung over his shoulder.

looking real good there thomas haha

Thomas sighed and tapped out a response.

send me a selfie right now

Minho’s reply was both instant and expected.

you WOUND me it is seven in the morning i JUST woke up WHAT do you expect from me

Before Thomas could say anything to that, however, Minho sent him another message.

seriously tho funny you should say that cos fit check for tonight

It took another second for the picture to arrive.

For as long as Thomas had known Minho, his friend had only had two outfit categories: shorts and a tank, or jeans and a t-shirt. Maybe a sweater if it was cold enough. And yet, somehow, Minho always managed to make these brainless combinations look as if a professional stylist had paired them together. Brenda always said that Minho wasn’t stylish at all, he was just hot, and his natural hotness did all of the legwork for him meaning he didn’t even have to try, which always put Minho in the hilarious-to-Thomas position of having to argue that he was not, in fact, hot whenever Brenda brought it up, even though every single one of their group knew that Brenda was absolutely unambiguously correct about the whole thing.

In the picture, Minho was standing in front of a mirror, his face uncharacteristically serious with his gaze focused on his phone screen. There were jeans. There was a t-shirt. There was also a deep green button up shirt layered over the t-shirt, left open so the t-shirt’s complimentary colors could poke through. There was a black cord around his neck with a silver pendant hanging from it, resting just above his breastbone. There were a pair of clean, brown shoes that Thomas hadn’t seen before and were a world away from the sneakers Minho usually lived in. There was significantly more product in Minho’s hair than usual, which was saying a lot, and it let the whole look down.

wash your hair. otherwise you look good! what’s tonight?

wining and dining gally ;)

Thomas tapped Teresa’s shoulder to get her attention and showed her his phone screen.

“I think it’s finally happening,” he said.

Teresa took his phone off him and scrolled to the top of their conversation. There was nothing too scandalous in the messages that had been exchanged before today, so Thomas let her do it without complaint.

“Wait, what?”

Thomas looked up to see Newt looking at Thomas’ phone with a puzzled expression on his face.

“My roommate back home,” Thomas explained. “He’s going on a–“ he paused and turned to Teresa. “Does it still count as a date if they’re aro?” Teresa shrugged and handed Thomas his phone. Thomas turned back towards Newt. “Whatever. He’s going out tonight and wanted my opinion on his outfit.”

“Can I see?”

“Why?” asked Teresa.

“Because,” said Newt, “I think I caught a glimpse of him when you were passing it, and, uh,” Newt held his phone up so Thomas and Teresa could see the screen, “your roommate wouldn’t happen to be this guy, would he?”

Thomas looked at Newt’s phone screen, then almost dropped his own phone in his scramble to get Minho’s picture back up and hold the phones side by side.

It was the same picture.

“How the–“

Newt huffed in amused disbelief. “This is my friend who I met literally on Club Penguin when we were eight. He just sent me a fit check for tonight.”

For a long moment Newt and Thomas just stared at each other, steadfastly ignoring Sonya’s laughter at this whole situation.

Then, Newt started a video call with Minho, stepping away from Thomas so that Thomas wouldn’t immediately be in view when Minho answered.

“Yikes, how bad is it?” came Minho’s voice though Newt’s phone. “Lay it on me.”

“You look fine, Min,” said Newt. “Maybe the hair’s a little much, but the rest is good.”

“…Okay,” said Minho, his confusion audible even to Thomas. “And you couldn’t just text me that because–?”

“Because,” said Newt, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, “you’re never gonna guess who I met on holiday.”

“Who?”

Newt beckoned for Thomas to join him.

And, when he did, Minho practically screeched with delight.

Chapter Text

New Group: crossover event special!!!!!!

Minho: this is the best day of my life i’m not kidding

Newt: Better than the time that you broke the under-18s 500m state record and your mum got you Five Guys and a slushie bigger than your head to celebrate?

Minho: better

Thomas: better than the time janson had to give you 100 for the presentation you’d spent a whole week stressing over and we could all visibly see how much it killed him inside that he couldn’t dock points for anything?

Minho: better!

Minho: my best friends from either side of the pond have found each other and now they’re friends with each other too

Minho: AND i’m hanging out with gally tonight

Minho: it simply does not get better than this

Newt: You do realise that Tommy and I can share information about you now, right?

Newt: For instance, Tommy did you know that when Minho was eleven he got trapped inside a lift and screamed so much that the firefighter who got him out said they thought he was a yowling cat?

Minho: hey wait

Thomas: no newt i did not know that. did YOU know that in minho’s first week of college he lost a bet and had to wear a banana costume for 48 hours straight no breaks

Newt: :O

Newt: Minho you kept that one quiet

Thomas: would you like a picture?

Newt: I would LOVE a picture thank you so much for offering

Minho: haha i’m in danger

Thomas: [img01]

Minho: girl help they’re ganging up on me

Teresa: I honestly don’t know what you expected

Minho: sooooooo

Thomas: what?

Minho: what do you think of newt?

Thomas: what do you mean what do i think of him?

Minho: oh idk

Minho: it’s just that on facetime you were looking at him like i’ve seen you look at pictures of david tennant

Thomas: SHIUT

Minho: hahahaha

Thomas: clocked me immediately

Thomas: am i really that obvious?

Minho: hate to break it to ya bro but yeah you really are

Minho: why didn’t you send me pics of newt covered in sand >:(

Minho: teresa had me covered for thomas

Minho: also happy birthday 🥳

Sonya: gasp! how did i miss you? here you go have them i am so sorry

Sonya: [img01] [img02] [img03] [img04] [img05]

Sonya: also ty <33

Sonya: also also have fun tonight!! i agree with thomas though wash your hair first

Minho: is it really that bad?

Sonya: yes <3

Sonya: babe

Sonya: babe wake up it’s important

Harriet: Happy birthday Sonya!! I hope you’re having a wonderful day!!

Harriet: What’s up?

Sonya: you know the american siblings we’ve befriended out here? it turns out that newt’s online best friend from childhood is the roommate of the guy who newt’s been crushing on these past couple of days

Harriet: Oh wow! Small world

Sonya: small world!!!!!

Teresa: Has Minho sent you a picture of his proposed outfit for tonight?

Brenda: nope

Teresa: He sent one to Thomas. And he sent one to the British guy we met out here, because it turns out he and Minho are friends as well. There has been a lot of excited yelling and now everyone’s texting each other while also trying not to let our gelato melt before we can eat it

Teresa: The gelato’s great btw! I got a lemon swirl

Teresa: [img01]

Brenda: i need to see this photo of him

Brenda: last night he was stressing about actually wanting to make an effort for a change

Brenda: i think he even bought new shoes

Brenda: gimme some gelato before i go bother him?

Teresa: Sure! *shoves it through the phone*

Brenda: thanks reese you’re the best mwah!!

Brenda: i hear you’re sending out pics of your outfit???

Minho: [img01]

Brenda: dude what is wrong with your hair

Minho: 😭

Minho: ‘tommy’ 👀

Minho: is there any chance that the hot guy you’ve been gushing/venting to me about has been my roommate thomas the whole time?

Newt: Tell him NOTHING

Minho: don’t you worry my sweet salamander

Minho: your secret’s safe with me

Minho: just like his secrets are also safe with me

Minho: hint hint

Newt: You see this is exactly the sort of thing you’re not supposed to do

Newt: But.

Newt: You’re saying I have a shot?

Minho: i’m saying you might as well shoot your shot

Minho: who can say what may come of it? 🤔

Newt: You’re a menace

Minho: a lovable menace i hope 💖

Newt: Yeah yeah 🙄💚