The Fire That Sparked My Soul- Newtmas AU

Chapter Seventeen

♫Bury Me Face Down by grandson

~This chapter is slightly shorter and was written very quickly at 12:30 in the morning.

~I'm not losing interest in this story but I've got ideas for another which I want to start writing .

~I started watching skins last week and I've just finished season 5. Effy is my favourite character (obviously) and I highly recommend it even though it is extremely adult but it's probably one of the best TV series I've ever watched (aside from Game of Thrones, Teen Wold, Supernatural, The Walking Dead, Being Human etc).

Thomas's POV

I tumble down the flight of stairs, the corners of books in my bag pierce my skin. There's jeering and laughing echoing around me. My head spins to a stop and I see Ben jump in front of me. His body crouches over mine and his fists grab my shirt. His height makes me feel small and the fire in his eyes forces me to stay lying on the ground and not put up a fight.

Ben was the first to spread rumors about Teresa; she went out with him one night to a club. They had a few drinks which lead to drunk dancing in the midst of a crowd. Ben dragged her from the room and into the bathroom. It started with light kissing, but Ben tried to go further. Teresa, being sensible, pushed him away, and told him to stop. No matter her pleas, he kept trying to force himself on her. She eventually escaped from his grasp and drunken actions and ran.

Teresa sprinted to mine and, when I opened the door, there was mascara smudged under her eyes from crying. She told me about all of this and warned me never to trust Ben. I comforted her until she stopped crying. We shared a bed that night because she was afraid he would find and hurt her. I didn't complain, I just wanted Teresa to be safe.

Two days later, at school, Ben was telling everybody about how Teresa 'begged and begged him for sex'. He called her a slut and shamed before a crowd of hundreds. Her only answer was a solid punch to his face. There was a gasp from everyone and teachers hurried out to see a bloody Ben looking mortified. Even his friends were laughing, but he soon shut them up with a death like glare.

That started the rivalry against us.

"You, Thomas Edison, are one son of a bitch," his gritted teeth showed the anger burning through him. His tight fists seem like they want to punch me. I say nothing, though. "You don't see it, but everybody loves you. They love Newt."

The way Ben spits his name is like poison.

I don't want to hear his words.

I don't want to feel his hate pounding into my body through his fists and feet.

I don't want to live this life.

Giving up seems easy but it's the consequences following after that leave an impact.

Newt's suicide attempt two years ago had us all frightened, and a small part of it still lives with us to this day. He saw the simple way out but he didn't think about how we would feel or how we would manage to live on afterwards.

His mom was too scared to leave him in the hospital room by himself. I was too afraid to leave his side. Teresa was too anxious to bring up the topic so she just brought coffee to us twice a day.

"You're insufferable, did you know that?" Ben pulled my face towards his. I could feel his ragged breath against my face. "You're meaningless. Stupid. Disgusting. You don't matter, you never did, and you never. fucking. will."

He slams me hard on the ground and lets go of my face with a final tug. As I sit up, Ben and his friends -Clint, Jeff and Zart- begin to walk away. The staircase was a small one hidden in the music department. There were doors at the top and bottom that were, of course, shut.