The Boy In The Box (Newtmas au)

Chapter 3

Newt's POV

The sun is shining through my window when I wake up. The smell of food confuses me at first, but I quickly remember my guest, who was staying on the couch. The delicious smell leads me to the kitchen, where I find Thomas baking pancakes.

"What are you doing?" I ask. Dumb question. He answers: "I'm making breakfast. It's the least I could do. Sit down." I do as I'm told and sit down on one of the chairs. Thomas hands me a plate with a pancake on it. I put it in my mouth and can't help the gasp. It's delicious. 

"What? Didn't expect me to be able to make such delicious pancakes?" he smirks. That smirk. What the... I shyly shake my head. I honestly didn't expect it. "It's delicious", I say. The two of us make small talk about nothing, when suddenly a phone rings. I don't recognize the sound, so it must be Thomas's. My assumption is right when I see him grab  his phone. He picks it up and the name Teresa flashes across the screen.

Oh.

There goes my chance. Of course, I couldn't have expected him to be gay, let alone like me. I'm not even sure if I like him, but I do feel like something is different with him than with other guys.

"Hey", he says to this Teresa girl. He listens and answers: "No. I'm okay. Don't worry, sweetie." She says something else to which he replies with: "I'm sorry but I'll have to call you back. I can't talk right now." He hangs up the phone and says to me: "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay", I say, but deep down, I am not okay. I should have known it could never work out between us. I hope he doesn't notice the sad look on my face.

"I should probably go now", Thomas says. I glance at him. "You can stay, if you want to."

"No, I don't want to be a burden." He picks up his jacket, but I stop him: "Wait. Give me your phone. I'm going to give you my number. If you ever need anything, someone to talk to or a place to sleep, just call me." I put my number in his phone and send a text to my own phone.

"Alright then", he says. I give a small smile and he walks away from me. I close the door and immediately send Minho a text:

Newt: Call me if you're awake. I need to talk to you x

I always send x-es to Minho. It's kind of our thing, you know. A few minutes later, my phone starts buzzing. Minho's name appears on the screen and I quickly pick up. I hear his voice.

"Miss me already, Newtie?" I can hear his smirk in his voice.

"Shut up. I need your advise." 

"Woah, woah, calm down there bro. You need my advice? Remember, you are the smart one of the two of us. Why would you need my advise?"

I hesitate before saying: "It's about a guy."

Minho laughs: "Oh, so I just left yesterday and you already found my replacement? How nice of you."

"Shuck, Minho. You know you're my best friend, but I met this guy yesterday, and he is so intriguing. He's mysterious, and handsome, and I feel things that I am not supposed to feel."

"And what do you need my advise for?"

I gulp. "I think he has a girlfriend." Minho is silent on the other side of the line. He then says: "I really don't know what to say about that. I believe you should find out if he really has a girlfriend first, then maybe you'll get somewhere." I nod, even though he can't see me. 

"Okay, thanks, I've got to go", I quickly say, but Minho interrupts me: "Wait! I need to know some things, Newt. What's his name? Where did you guys meet?" But I ignore him and hang up. I can't tell Minho how we met yet. He would probably think bad of Thomas and maybe even me. Or he would be worried about me, but I don't want him to. He needs to have his new beginning.

I decide to go out for a walk and to do some grocery shopping. In the shop, I buy things to refill my fridge, the things Thomas used this morning for the pancakes. Two girls with dark hair look in my direction and giggle. I look around, but nobody else is in sight. They look straight at me and I stand frozen. One girl says to the other: "Come on, we've got to go."  Both of them start walking away, but not before the second girl winks at me.

She bloody winked at me. What is happening. I hear them laugh from behind the corner, but I just shrug and go pay for my stuff.

After the grocery shopping, I decide to make a small walk in the park. I usually come here to clear my mind, and today isn't any different. My thoughts run to Thomas again, like they have been doing all day. There is something so different about him, I just cannot seem to stop thinking about him. 

I sit on a bench, watching people, for the rest of the afternoon and when I start to get hungry, I go home. As I walk down the streets of the city, I coincidentally walk past the alley from yesterday. I want  to run, run away from this place as fast as I can, but just like yesterday, it seems like I'm unable to. I walk in the alley to the spot where I found Thomas.

I kneel down on the spot and find a few blood stains. Poor Thomas. He doesn't deserve this. I think. Who knows what he did to deserve this. Who knows what he is hiding.

Just as I'm about to walk away, three men dressed in dark clothes turn in the alley. I start walking in the other direction when one of them says: "Wait up there, young man." I slowly turn around and can't hold a gasp from coming out of my mouth. It's the same man from yesterday: the bald one with the piercings. 

The men slowly walk towards me. I want to run, but my feet seem stuck on the ground. The man continues: "I saw what you did yesterday. You are the one who took Thomas Greene away. Let me tell you, one does not just help Thomas Greene. Especially not someone as... how should I place this... innocent as you." 

I gulp. Anxiety is creeping up my veins, and I start to get very scared. Another man says: "Do you know what we do with people who help our opponents?" I don't move. "Well, you're about to find out." They smirk and the bald man's hand connects with my jaw. I fall to the floor. The other two kick me all over my body. The man stops them though: "Stop that. We still need him if we want to get to Greene." 

Unable to move, I feel my body being placed in some kind of trunk of a car. After a while, they pull me out again. I find out that we're in an abandoned warehouse of some kind, and the men are tying me up to a chair.

One of the men says: "Do you want to know why we brought you here?" I nod. "Well, your friend Thomas promised us something, but he didn't give it to us. And we need it, don't we guys?" He looks at the other men, who nod at him. "And you are here to help us get him. It's simple, if we get him, you're free. If you don't help us, you die."

I look at him shocked. The scared expression on my face must be so clear, cold sweat is all over my body. I don't know what to do. Should I risk my life not doing anything, or should I risk the life of my beautiful stranger to get both of us out of this mess?

"Well? What's it going to be?" one of the men asks. I answer by taking my phone and searching his name. He picks up.

"Newt? What's up?"

"Thomas. I... I need your help."