Disconnection • Newt • Maze Runner

8 - Bittersweet Silence

Of all the things Aspen had done in his life, coming up with the plan to leak information from W.C.K.D to the Rightarm was probably the worst.

Thomas had completely thrown him under the bus, to no avail. He begged and pleaded with the guards, with the very workers who he'd worked with his entire life. "I didn't do it! Aspen did! It wasn't me!" They believed him, but they could take any chances, hence why Thomas was also thrown into the Maze.

They'd placed him in an interrogation room, grilling him about the incident of the leaked information.

The large man dressed in a collared shirt and black dress pants smashed his fists to the metal table. "Thomas, you know I don't want to do this, but I need to know. Who's idea was it?"

"Aspen," True, but not something Thomas should've told W.C.K.D. "He forced me, I would never do something like this, come on, Jeremy, you know me."

Jeremy worked for W.C.K.D. and had been there for years. He was a sort of background person in the grand scheme of the plans the institution had. He kept watch over the teenagers and children working for W.C.K.D. Him and Thomas had grown close, Jeremy becoming a sort of older brother figure to the boy.

Jeremy threw any sentiments he had for him out the window that day, though. "That's Mr. Cordova to you. We are not friends, you work for the same place I do, and you helped to betray them. I need to know exactly what went on, what the plan was, and why you did it."

"I told you! Aspen forced me! He manipulated me!" Lies, utter lies.

Sure, Aspen had originally come up with the idea to leak information, but that was only because he was tired of watching those he cared so deeply for be tossed up into the Maze, never to be seen again. He loved those boys, they were family, and yet he'd had to watch them through hidden cameras as they grovelled in the Glade.

Thomas and Aspen had both known it was bad, what they were doing. But they couldn't take it back. To be frank, Aspen had wanted to betray W.C.K.D. for far longer than Thomas had. He'd been taken from his family at a slightly older age, so he remembered more of them.

He remembered his mother, Amelia Vaughn. How she would spend hours a day, hunched over a book of poetry, writing in the margins as she anylized and sometimes cried over such simple wordings. He remembered her reading her favourite poems to him, one in particular which was his favourite. It was so clear.

The course pallet of our love,
Worn out and gritty
Small tears forming
Along burnt edges.

Holding on for dear life
Pleading not to be torn apart,
Its cries and yelps
of agony.

It's only overshadowed
By the overbearing urge
To pull it apart
And throw it away.

Silence the cries.

His mother had never explained what the poem meant, or how she interpreted the piece of literature. She merely read it to get son every night, it causing the young boy to fall into a peaceful rest every time.

Aspen's father, Jeffery Vaughn, was a kind man. He would let Aspen lay in his lap as he stroked the boys hair. He treated the boy as though there was nothing left in the world aside from their love. He loved his son more than he loved his own wife, which was saying a lot, seeing as he wasn't his real father. Aspens real father had left shortly after impregnating his 19 year old mother, leaving her to fend for herself. That was, until she met Jeff.

Their relationship was like none other, they treated each other like royalty, Aspen being the prince amongst a family of kings and queens. They were torn apart when Aspen was gone to work for W.C.K.D. Their love for eachother sizzling out as the glue of the family had been torn away.

Aspen remembered them so vividly, and he missed them dearly.

That's why he'd grown to hate W.C.K.D. so quickly. He'd tried to convince Thomas that what they were doing was wrong, but the boy was too stubborn, and as the years passed, he became far too entranced with Teresa to listen to Aspens pleads for them to revolt.

But eventually, as Thomas and Teresa had grown closer and he was feeling more secure in himself, Aspen had been able to convince him to betray the very place they'd devoted their lives to.

Aspen hadn't a clue why Thomas had involved Teresa.

And he was far more clueless as to why the boy had thrown him under the bus.

Newts hand hovered over Aspens, as they sat in silence atop the treehouse. They had become their spot, since the night of the bonfire. Aspen would go up there late at night when the insomnia hit, or when his thoughts were far too preoccupied with worrying and anticipation for them to quiet enough for him to slip into a slumber. So he would sneak up there, and at times Newt would follow in tow.

They never shared a word, merely sat in a comfortable silence and watched the night sky as the stars twinkled above. They admired the darkened Glade in all its glory, as the concrete walls filled with lustrous ivy towered above.

Aspen laid his head atop the boys shoulder, savouring the sweetness of their interaction. They didn't have to say it, but they both knew they cared deeply for eachother. Call it love, call it friendship, whatever you want. All either of them knew was that they hadn't remembered feeling like this, ever, with anyone. Yet together they shared this electricity. This unimaginable feeling of euphoria as they sat silently in each others company.

It was bittersweet. As they lied peacefully amongst the darkness of the Glade, warmth and comfort radiating off of both of them, the chilling cries of the Grievers could be heard from afar.

Bittersweet silence, but comfortable nonetheless.

A/N:
This is more of a filler to provide some more background and also kind of show you Newt and Aspens relationship more, i hope you like it. <3