⚠️ Trigger Warning: This chapter contains emotional distress, references to trauma, and crying. Please read with care.
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Scene: Y/N sat in her quiet space—the one Newt built for her. Ivy walls. Lanterns. A journal tucked beside a blanket. It had become her sanctuary.
Newt joined her, silent for a while. Then he spoke.
"I used to have a little brother," he said. "Before the Maze. Isaac."
Y/N turned to him gently.
"He was sick. I'd read to him every night. I thought if I kept him laughing, he'd stay."
Newt's voice cracked. "One day, he stopped laughing. And I stopped believing I could protect anyone."
Y/N reached for his hand. "You protect me. Every day."
He nodded, tears in his eyes. "But I still hear him sometimes. In dreams. Asking why I couldn't fix it."
She leaned into him. "You didn't fail him. You loved him. That's what he needed most."
Later that week, Y/N found Chuck crying behind the crates. He'd had a nightmare—his parents yelling, the Box, the fear of being forgotten.
She sat beside him. "You're not alone."
He sniffled. "I don't want to be weak."
"You're not," she said. "You're brave. You're still here."
She gave him her journal. "Write it down. Let it out. That's how I started healing."
Chuck hugged her. "Thanks, Y/N."
That night, Newt found her in the quiet space again.
"You helped him," he said.
She smiled. "Because you helped me."
Newt's Reaction (retelling the moment):
"I told her about Isaac. About the guilt I buried."
"She didn't flinch. She held it with me. And then she passed that strength to Chuck."
"Because healing isn't a straight line—it's a circle. And love is what keeps it turning."
