CHAPTER FIVE
It's Nice To Have A Friend
September 1907.

     Connell Barclay seemed to follow Elska everywhere she went. Elska was peacefully walking through Piccadilly Circus like every Tuesday morning when she bumped into him again. The bumping seemed to make him laugh as he uttered: what a coincidence!

"I am going to start thinking that you are following me, Connell," Elska told him with an arched eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, well five minutes away really," he replied with a shrug. "But what brings you here?"

"Groceries," Elska replied, showing the bag.

Before Elska could continue, Connell scratched the back of his neck and said, "Would you like to go eat something with me?"

"Sure, when?"

"Today?"

Elska smiled, "Sure. Let's meet here at noon?" Connell nodded happily as she waved at him, heading back to the flat. For the first time in a while, Elska smiled at the thought of meeting another man.

When she reached the flat, Newt was working in the living room and she carefully put the bag of groceries on the kitchen table which caught his attention.

"Hi, Elskie," Newt said tenderly, petting one of his creatures. "Puff was looking for you today," he then added. "What got you so cheery?"

"What do you mean?" Elska asked with a frown as she unloaded the bag. "I am always cheery, Newt."

"No, not like this," Newt said.

Elska sighed, putting the bottle of milk down as she threw her head back, "Oh, I loathe it! I cannot hide one single thing from you. I saw Connell Barclay today."

"Oh, Theseus hates that bloke, I reckon," Newt blurted out. "I am sorry, it is not the right time to talk about Theseus, is it?"

"No, Newt. It's never the right time," she told him. "But Connell asked me on a date and I've said yes," she added as Newt's eyes grew wide in shock. "What is it?"

Newt opened his mouth to say something but stopped, "Nothing, it is really grand, Elska. When is the date?"

"At noon," Elska said, checking the cloak above his head. "Merlin, I need to get ready."

Elska ignored Newt's stare and hurried to her bedroom. Getting ready and being on time was not Elska's speciality. Running a hand through her hair, she groaned, pulling at them quietly as she grabbed two dresses from her closet. Thankfully, the weather was still warm enough to wear dresses but she could not choose the colour. Hurriedly, she yelled for Newt and he came right away.

"Which one? Green or yellow?"

"Er, yellow. It suits your skin tone," Newt answered rapidly though she suspected the only reason was that it shouted Hufflepuff but she threw it on anyway.

By eleven thirty, she was kissing Newt's cheek, promising to be home before dinner. Piccadilly Circus was a little walk from their flat but still, she wanted to be early and to not be the last to arrive or else, she would find it awfully awkward. To her relief, Connell was not there yet and she even managed to find a bench to sit on so she could read.

"Well, someone was here early," Connell's voice echoed from above as he hid the sun, suddenly making Elska shiver. "Hello again, Elska."

"Hello to you, Connell," she replied, rising to her feet so she was almost his height. "Where are you taking me on this fine day?"

Connell's eyes ranked her up and down, his tongue licking his lips slowly as he finally reached her eyes, "You look beautiful," Connell whispered and Elska found herself lost for words. "And a restaurant. They serve the best fish and chips there."

"Thank you," Elska uttered after a moment, hoping he hadn't seen the difference between her blush and her makeup. "So you are a fan of fish and chips, eh?"

"Surely," he hummed seriously. "It is the best dish to ever exist."

Elska laughed at that. Who liked fish and chips the way he did? She could not even name one. As they walked, Elska found herself spilling little facts about her life and then he'd do the same. Connell Barclay was a surprising character, if Elska thought about it.

Reaching the restaurant, they both followed the waiter to their table and Connell was quick to pull out the chair for her, "What a gentleman," Elska teased, thanking him.

Connell sat in front of her, a smile on his face, "I was well raised, Elska."

"I assumed," Elska chuckled.

Connell did his best to keep up the conversation until Elska felt comfortable enough to speak as well. Surprisingly, Connell was an interesting character and Elska was almost disappointed to not have known him during Hogwarts, surely she could have used a friend like him.

"How was the fish and chips?" Connell queried as the waiters took back the plates.

"Pretty good, Connell," she replied with a hum as he looked at her with a look that said 'i told you so'.

Connell cleared his throat, leaning on the table, "So, how did you find yourself working for Travers?"

"Er, my best friend works on the fourth floor and he told me about it," she said softly. "His name is Newt."

"Oh, I've heard of him!" Connell exclaimed with a wide smile. "He's Theseus' brother, isn't he?"

Elska wished he hadn't pronounced his name because she had managed to make him go away, or at least hide in a corner of her mind. But she could not hold him accountable for telling his name, after all he did not know.

"He is, yeah."

"It seems that I have hit a sore spot," Connell told her, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Elska smiled. "Nothing too bad, worry not."

Connell hummed softly and said, "Well, I really enjoy being with you. You're a bright mind, Elska."

"That's nice of you to say this," Elska smiled. "Thank you for inviting me."

"Sure."

After the lunch and the time spent with Connell, Elska had made up her mind on two things. First, Connell and her would be nothing more than friends for now and second, she was not ready to be fully committed to a relation.

"So this is it," Elska said, releasing a breath and stopping before a building.

"Right," Connell said, smiling.

Before Elska could utter another word or offer him another shy smile, his hand had found her cheek and he was leaning down to press his lips on hers. Completely shocked by the gesture, Elska let it happen and even found herself kissing back. When he pulled away, her cheeks were slightly pink and she reached to touch her lips with the tips of her fingers.

"I'm sorry," Connell said after a while. "I shouldn't have done that."

"No, no, it's quite alright," Elska breathed out, running her hand through her hair. "But...I'm not sure I am ready to—"

Connell cut her off, "Oh, Merlin! Of course, I'm sorry. I just," he paused, hiding his face in the palm of his hands. "I just thought."

"It's me who should say sorry, Connell," Elska said softly. "But I really enjoyed today. Do you reckon we could be friends for now?"

For now was enough for Connell. He hummed, agreeing to her request.

"Right, well, see you soon then," he uttered, waving.

Elska waited until he was out of her sight to unlock the front door of her building and join Newt. Unsurprisingly, Newt was writing in his journal about creatures he had seen. Elska tried to help him from time to time as her love for creatures kept increasing with time, but sometimes work overtook her life and it was rather difficult.

"Hello, Elskie," Newt said with a smile.

"Hello, Newt," she replied, kissing his cheek and sitting down next to him. After a moment of silence, she said. "Aren't you going to ask me how it was?"

Newt shrugged, "I figured you would talk about it on your own. Was it good?"

"I reckon but—" she paused with a grimace. "He kissed me and Merlin, it felt so wrong."

Newt hummed, "Well, perhaps he is not the right person for you."

"It is not that! He—I'm just not ready for that kind of relation. I told him and he was alright with it," Elska told Newt. "We said we would stay friends."

"Well, friends is better than acquaintances, is it not?"

Elska nodded with a little hum, "Perhaps."

Quietly, she escaped the kitchen table and traded the wooden chair for her comfortable bed. As she laid in it, she could not help but picture how it would be if Theseus was there. Perhaps he would her and kiss her on the forehead. With a groan, she rolled on her side and hoped to stop daydreaming about him. There was no reason for her to stay stuck on those stupid little memories that have so little signification, but she could not help herself.

Then Connell's face appeared and it made her all warm inside. She could still recall the feeling of his lips on hers, how soft and delicate the kiss was. Was she a fool for refusing Connell's advance?

Rapidly, she rose to her feet and grabbed a piece of parchment, "Newt, is Lola here?"

Lola was their owl.

"I reckon, yes. Why?"

"I feel horrible for refusing Connell's advance," she admitted quietly. "So I am going to send him an owl to say sorry."

Newt snorted, "You are too kind for this world, Elskie."

"Shove off," Elska muttered, scribbling a few words on the parchment, and  Newt watched as she rolled it and tied it to their owl. "It's just nice to have a friend, Newt."

"Am I not enough for you?"

"That's not what I meant, Newt," she sighed, resting her head on the palm of her hand. "Someone else than you."

"I know, I know," he whispered, kissing the side of her head. "I am joking."

Elska decided to help Newt with creatures as she tried to take her mind off things. By the time she was getting ready to go to bed, an owl knocked on her window and Elska hurried to let her in. While she read the kind words that Connell had sent back, she gave the owl some treats and smiled to herself.

It felt nice to have a friend.

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authors note, the idea of newt being sooo lovely with his family is an idea that i ADOREEE. also this is a little filler but kinda marking the beginning of connell and elska...well, more precisely connell's friend zone era 👻