IT STARTED WITH A MAZE - Newt x Reader (F)

- UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL -

The boys let us sleep.

It's the first time I've slept on something solid since arriving, and even then it's just a cot in the Med-Tent, but it doesn't matter - I could've laid on cold stone and still passed out.

Clint and Jeff checked us over first. Minho got stitches along his forearm. Thomas has scrapes and bruises. I'm only sore and half-awake.

But mostly we're tired. Bone-tired.

The kind that settles into your ribs and doesn't leave.

We sleep until the afternoon sun creeps through the canvas above us, but when I step outside, the Glade isn't resting. Gally's voice is already barking out orders, and by sundown, the call for a meeting spreads across the fields like wind.

Everyone's heading to the Council Hut - the large one nestled in the north-east corner of the Glade, half-swallowed by ivy and shadow. Alby's still out cold in the med tent. He won't be joining us. So of course Newt will be there.

He walks ahead of me, his steps even but quiet, his shoulders drawn a little tighter than usual. I don't call out to him. I just catch up, fall into pace beside him, and when the right moment comes - when we're far enough from the murmurs of the others - I reach out, gently tug his sleeve. "Newt?" He stops. Turns. Those tired brown eyes meet mine, steady as they always are. Steady in a way that makes me feel like I'm still tethered to the world. I step closer. "There's something else about the maze," I say, voice soft, just above a whisper. "Something I saw."

"Yeah?" He says, prompting me. He doesn't pry further, just watches me - open, curious, calm. He's always known how to listen, even when he doesn't understand.

I lick my lips. "A vent. Behind some vines. Metallic. Like a grate or something. I found it last night in the rush," I explain.

Newt furrows his brow, gaze sharpening. "What kind of vent?"

"I don't know," I say quickly. "That's the thing. It wasn't just that. There was a Beetle Blade near it. One of the metal ones. It didn't just scurry off like usual - it stayed close," I murmur, my voice trialing off with the theories inside my head. "It was like... it wanted me to find it."

He doesn't react the way I fear he might - no skepticism, no smirk. Instead, he shifts his weight, hands on his hips, thinking hard. I glance down, then back up at him. I haven't told Alby. I would, if he was awake. But honestly... I think I'd have told Newt first even if Alby was conscious. Newt's expression softens. "You think it's a way out?"

"No," I confirm. A thought lingers between us. Perhaps it was a way in. Although neither of us give it voice. "I think if this is a big test, then the exit is going to be a lot harder to find," I admit. Boys overtake us as we make our way to the area.

"It shows that the Maze isn't a perfect prison," Newt voices. We walk again, the soft sunshine beaming down on the Council Hut. I feel his presence beside me - warm, reassuring. Not pressing for more. Not doubting me. Just with me.

"I want to hold on to that hope," I say as we approach the steps.

Newt stops, turns to face me one last time. There's something in his eyes I can't name. Not quite a smile, not quite grief - maybe both. "Hope's a wavering thing," he murmurs, "but it's the only thing keeping us sane."I nod, a lump forming in my throat. His words stay with me as we step inside.

The meeting's already started.

Most of the boys sit on the dug out wooden ledges or crates. Chuck is beside me before I even realize it, wide eyes watching every word. Thomas sits down in the center - as if being judged, as if this is a trial. Minho leans in a dark corner, arms crossed.