Stardust - Thomas - Maze Runner

Chapter 13 - Promise

After their talk with Aris, Thomas had stepped out to cool off. Newt had expected something like that from his friend, of course. As soon as Aris had revealed Minho was, in fact, in one of the wagons and they only hadn't been able to save him because they had chosen the wrong one, Newt knew Thomas would blame himself. He tended to do that a lot, Newt knew and he guessed it had something to do with the fact that he had worked for WCKD before being sent into the maze, as if everything that had happened to them was his fault, somehow.

Newt knew better though. He didn't blame Thomas at all. Not for the maze, not for the dangers they faced in the Scorch, not for the misstep they took regarding their plan of rescuing Minho. Even more, Newt didn't - and would never - blame Thomas for all the losses they faced. Alby, Chuck, Gally, Winston, maybe Minho... Newt would mourn for them of course and he would miss them. But never... Never would Newt blame Thomas for anything.

Thomas blamed himself, though, so it came as no surprise that he had decided to lock himself in his dorm as soon as Aris and Sonya were done talking, most likely to sulk to himself for a while. Newt let him go, knowing going after him would take him nowhere now, but, as he stood in the room with Harriet, Sonya, Aris and Frypan, Newt took notice of the way Selena watched as Thomas left, sighing under her breath as she stood up as well.

"I need to go back to work." She said when Harriet asked her where she was going. "I... I had an experiment going and I... I need to check on it."

And they all knew that wasn't entirely true, but, just like Thomas, they decided not to argue. Because, just like Thomas, Selena had the tendency of taking everyone's burdens to herself. And, most likely, it had to do with a completely opposite reason than Thomas did it, but, just like Thomas, whenever things got too overwhelming, Selena would hide from everyone and throw herself into work as a form of distraction.

So, that day, Newt decided he'd be the one to check on Selena for dinner. Because, with the way Thomas had been working so much on his new plan to rescue Minho, Newt was pretty sure his friend wouldn't go to Selena that night. So, instead, while Thomas went to talk with Vince, Newt picked up a plate of food for Selena just like Thomas usually did and walked across the compound toward her small office.

Balancing the plate of food in one hand, Newt used his other to knock on her door. It took Selena a few moments, but, as soon as she noticed Newt standing there, she frowned.

"I brought you dinner." Newt said, all but shoving the plate into Selena's hands as the girl widened her eyes at him but grabbed the food anyway.

"You didn't need to." She said, stepping aside to let Newt inside as the blonde just shrugged, moving over to Selena's desk and tapping a finger over it, in a clear sign to have her sit down. She smiled at his gestures, but shook her head and walked over to her desk. "And you definitely don't need to stay with me while I eat."

"I'm not gonna leave you alone." Newt shook his head, sitting over a box just beside her desk as Selena smiled gently again. "Now, sit down and eat, yeah?"

Selena didn't argue anymore. Instead, she nodded, sitting down on her desk as she grabbed the fork Newt had brought with him as she sighed, looking down at her food as she played with it a little.

"I thought you'd be mad at me." She admitted, as Newt frowned, absolutely shocked by her confession.

"Why?" He asked.

"I don't know..." She mumbled. "I thought you thought of me the same way Thomas does. That I want to leave this place just because we have Aris and Sonya back and that I don't care about Minho or any of you boys."

At her words, Newt sighed. If he was being honest, he should've known that was the reason why Selena would think he was angry at him. But that was a thought so far from him, most times Newt didn't even consider it at all.