They trekked their way back to the cabins, by which time it was already afternoon, and took turns having showers.

It was difficult enough already- the bathroom was cramped and the shower head was broken... it felt more like being poured on by a hot bucket of water than a warm rainfall, but at least it wasn't cold.

Showering in itself was a hassle. At one point, Queenie forgot her shirt outside when she went in, and Jacob had to try and throw it over the top of the door, since she (understandably) wouldn't let him in.

Eventually, the six sorted themselves out and sat down to a mediocre dinner in the cafeteria. Queenie admitted that she'd sneaked in an enormous bag of marshmallows, and that was more or less how they ended up roasting marshmallows after dinner.

It was a peaceful atmosphere- the six of them seated on logs, huddled around a crackling orange fire holding sticks with marshmallows stuck on the ends.

Jacob had somehow managed to find a broken rake in one of the cupboards of his cabin, and he'd stuck marshmallows on each of the twelve prongs so he could toast them all at once.

Insects filled the silence by buzzing around them, and occasionally hovered irritably around the six. Nobody really cared too much, though.

"We should tell scary stories!" piped up Tina suddenly, perking up. All pairs of eyes drifted toward her.

"Yeah, we should!" chimed in Theseus, sitting up straight. "Okay, I'll go first. One day I met all of you. The end."

"Oi!"

"Hey!"

Theseus smirked and withdrew his stick from the fire before yanking the marshmallow off the end. His was a perfectly- roasted, bronze-ish colour. He gave the marshmallow an experimental squeeze before popping it in his mouth.

Newt gave a contented sigh, slowly turning his stick to spit-roast the marshmallow. Tina sat to his side, using the same technique.

He found his eyes settling on her, and he subconsciously stopped turning his stick. Tina glanced back, then did a double-take, offering him a smile. Newt grinned back, trying and failing to disguise the blush rising across his cheeks. Tina chuckled softly, giving a slight shrug.

"What?" she asked him playfully.

"I- sorry, nothing... you just look pretty..."

Her smile grew wider, and she tilted her head ever so slightly, hiding her own blush.

"Thank you... Your marshmallow's burnt."

"Huh?" he reeled out of his trance, eyes snapping downward at his marshmallow. Red flames were aggressively licking up the side of his stick, already burning his marshmallow black.

"Yikes!"

Newt leapt off the log, dropping his marshmallow stick out of shock. It landed in the fire and caused a roar that made everyone jerk back. The flames began ravenously devouring the stick, and within moments, it was no more than ash and dust, carried away with the wind.

"Oh..."

Jacob chuckled wryly, pulling off one of his twelve marshmallows and offering it to Newt.

"Here, pal, you can have one of mine."

~

One by one, they all turned in for the night and fell asleep in their respective cabins.

Well, almost all.

Despite it being her birthday, and sleeping in the good bed on top of that, Tina couldn't drift off no matter what she did.

She tossed and turned under the sheets, unable to gain even a wink.

On the verge of giving up completely and staying awake, Tina eventually got out of bed. She stole a glance at Newt, who'd somehow managed to fall off his bed completely so he was curled up on the floor under a blanket.

A slight smile quirked on the corner of her mouth.

She began to shove open the curtains, revealing a black as pitch night- then stopped cold in her tracks.

A creamy paw print smudge lay on the outside of the window.

Tina couldn't see much. It was black outside, and there was an ominous paw print on the window... if she strained her eyes, she could spy claw marks around the edge. Had something tried to claw its way in?

Her imagination ran wild, dreaming up illusions of feral beasts smashing into their cabin. Tina quickly curled up under her blankets again, trying to ignore it.

It was probably nothing. If she tried hard enough, she might've even been able to get a few hours of sleep until morning.

But then the tapping began. It was quiet at first, like a fingernail drumming impatiently against glass, and Tina went and stupidly looked at the print again from her pillow.

There was a second one next to it.

Her breath hitched in her throat- there was something still out there. The tapping noises ricocheted through her ears, feeding her fear.

Tina slowly shuffled as much as she dared toward the edge of her bed.

"Newt," she whispered timidly.

He didn't move from his position, curled up contentedly underneath the slightly moth-eaten blanket.

"Wake up, we have a problem," she whispered again, shaking his shoulder. He didn't so much as stir.

The tapping finally ceased enough for Tina to gain a scrap of courage back.

She took Newt by the shoulders and shook him, hissing, "Newt, there's a handprint on our window!"

"Huh?" He finally cracked open bleary eyes, and rolled over. "It's probably Theseus, go back to sleep..."

Just as the words left his lips, even more tapping sounds reverberated through the room. As Newt and Tina both looked up, they were met with a singularly terrifying sight.

Two glowing yellow slits appeared outside, staring straight at them from the darkness.

"HOLY MERLIN!" Newt yelped, scrambling backwards. Tina leapt backwards back into her bed, and Newt scrabbled up beside her.

They clung to each other tightly, hearts hammering against their chests. What was that thing?

The pair held on to each other for dear life for the next few hours, praying that whatever was outside would just decide to ignore them and go away. After a long while of cold fear, though, they huddled together under the blankets and eventually fell asleep.

~~

Inevitably, Tina woke up again a few hours later. It was still dark outside. She didn't know what time it was exactly.

She was only vaguely aware of a distant trickling noise... like running water.

Through her fuzzed mind, she willed herself to go back to sleep... surely she could get a good two hours before sunrise. To her dismay, the sound only got louder.

Agitated at being woken from her slumber, she staggered out from under the sheets to find that Newt had completely gone.

He wasn't in either of the beds nor the floor. Panic washed through Tina's fogged brain. Had the creature from outside gotten him? Was it responsible for the trickling water as well?

She considered for a moment, then picked up one of her shoes from underneath the bed, just in case she needed to defend herself. Treading quietly on the floor to mask her footsteps, Tina carefully followed the sound of the water, which (understandably) seemed to be coming from the bathroom. Tina hovered uncertainly before the creaky bathroom door, unsure if she wanted to open it or not.

Before she could decide, it suddenly swung open from the inside.

"Aaaghh!"

"Aaaghh!"

Without waiting long enough to see whatever was inside, Tina threw her shoe at it and slammed the door shut. She fell heavily against it, spreading her arms across to hold the door in place in case the creature decided to smash it down.

"Owww!" groaned a voice from inside. Hold on... Tina knew that voice.

"Newt?!"

She whipped the door back open.

Indeed, Newt was hovering in the doorway with a bath towel around his waist. He was cringing in pain and rubbing his head, looking as equally miffed as Tina.

She looked her fill, scowling in confused irritation at him. He scowled right back.

"Wha- what the-" Tina gestured emphatically at him. "Why- You woke me up!" she snapped, unsure of how to approach the situation.

"Sorry!" he replied irritably. Now that Tina had overcome her initial fright, she could properly see him. Newt's hair was wet and sticking up everywhere, and he was topless, exposing his scarred chest and arms. And his completely red face. Dragging her eyes back to his, Tina could feel herself blushing fiercely as well.

"Wha- what the hell are you doing?!" she snapped next, trying desperately to keep her tone sharp.

"Um..." Newt shifted uncomfortably in his feet, dropping his gaze to the floor. "... I was taking a shower."

A beat of silence echoed between them. Tina somehow found it difficult not to look at his hundreds of lashed scars, and spoke up again to distract herself.

"You were taking a shower." It wasn't a question.

"Uh- yes."

"At 3am in the morning."

"Yes?"

Tina gestured again, disbelieving.

"Why?!"

He only shrugged nonchalantly.

"I wanted to. I'm sorry for waking you up."

Tina ran her hands through her hair, sighing heavily. Her head was spinning, and the gnawing fear of the creature outside was beginning to return.

"Okay. Well- I- put a shirt on, first," she muttered, turning on her heel. Behind her, she could already hear rustling sounds, and Tina fought her blush again.

"I'm going back to sleep," she muttered, sliding under the covers again. She didn't look back to check if Newt had actually worn a shirt before she drifted back off to sleep.

~~

Well, there we go. I hope you enjoyed :3

Next chapter is by fangirling_puff, as per usual.

Thanks for reading! <33

~ Cat