strings // newtmas au

keep yourself warm

    When Thomas sat down the girl smiled. Her hair was done in a messy bun, she had on a black choker and a big flannel shirt. She looked good, pretty as always.

    "This isn't one of those stupid surprises where I come and then Newt pops out and then I cry right because I don't think I can handle that right now."

    Lizzy shook her head. "No, I'm not that cruel. Honestly I just wanted to see how you're doing. Newt's pretty messed up so I wanted to make sure you're okay."

    "You're his sister, you should be with him."

    Lizzy shrugged. "He's got Minho and Teresa, they're good with him. Who's checking up on you?"

    Rosie, Thomas wanted to say but she wasn't, not anymore. Not since he refused to speak to her.

    "You know it was my sister who leaked the video?" Thomas asked Lizzy softly.

    He didn't miss how her eyes widened slightly, she turned it into a shrug as she sipped her coffee. "Does it really matter anymore?"

    Thomas let out a breath. "I guess not."

    "I'm sorry it turned out this way."

    Thomas shook his head. "Lizzy, please don't. I know it sucks, trust me I know it does, I've been living with it for the past three weeks and it sucks, but don't feel sorry for me. I guess it was a long time coming. You can't date someone in secret for that long."

    Lizzy nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. "You know, I hate what you did to my brother, but I think you're right."

    Thomas swallowed hard before looking at the blonde girl. "Is he okay?"

   She nodded again. "He'll be alright."

    "Does he know you're here?"

    "Yeah, he does."

    "With me."

    Lizzy nodded. "I wasn't going to hide it from him. He'd be more upset if he found out about it later on."

    "That's fair." Thomas let out a breath. "Does Minho hate me?"

    "What? No. Why would you ask that?"

    Thomas shrugged. "He barely talked to me after, he only sent me pictures of Newt and I got kinda upset."

    "None of them hate you Thomas," Lizzy said as she reached over and squeezed his hands. "Not even Newt. I mean hell, he's the most important person in the world to me and I'm still here talking to you."

    Thomas shrugged. "I guess so."

    Lizzy let out a breath. "Listen, you were both right and you were both wrong okay? It wasn't all on you and it wasn't all on him. You had good reasons for breaking up with him and he had good reasons for not giving up the tour. It was a fucked up situation but maybe you were right to get out of it."

   Thomas felt the tears well up in his eyes again. "D-do you know how much I loved him?"

    Lizzy nodded. "That's why no one hates you Thomas. It was obvious how much you cared about him, but it's also okay to put yourself first every once and awhile okay?"

    Thomas blinked away his tears.

    Lizzy hesitated a moment before speaking again. "There's actually a reason I asked you to come here."

    "Yeah?"

    "I wanted to ask you something, but I know you'd say no if it was over text and I thought I'd have a better chance of convincing you if it was in person."

    "Okay," Thomas said skeptically.

    "You know the arena that Newt took you too? The hockey arena? They're playing a show their. After the Blink tour, Janson booked them something there. It's gonna be huge, Newt is freaking out about it..."

    "You want me to come?" Thomas cut in.

    Lizzy nodded. "I think it would mean so much to him."

    "That's not fair!" Thomas snapped, his voice cracking.

    Lizzy cringed slightly at that "Look, I wouldn't be asking you, but I know how much this means to Newt and I know he wants you there. That arena, that's been his dream since we were six years old, since mum and dad..." Lizzy's voice wavered and she took a second to calm herself down. "...since mum and dad used to take us to the hockey games. If you still care about him, even just a little bit, you'll go."

   "He hurt me too," Thomas said feebly.

    "I know he did." Lizzy leaned her head on her hand. "I'm not saying you have to get down on one knee and propose to him, but I just think it'd be nice if you came. And if you don't want to do it for Newt fine, do it for Minho or Teresa because it's their first real show. They're the main act, it's huge, they even sold out."

    Thomas felt a teasing smile spread across his face. "You just don't want to go alone."

    Lizzy smiled then, breaking the tension of the conversation. "Okay, maybe, but I'm serious. Just think about it and let me know?"

    Thomas nodded, feeling his chest lighten at the way Lizzy's entire face lit up.

   She checked her phone, rolling her eyes at the screen. "I gotta go, I promised Newt I'd pick up cat food and drop it off on my way back, he's getting impatient."

    The blonde girl stood up before tugging Thomas to his feet and into a hug. "It was good to see you," she said as she let him go. "Think about it!" She called over her shoulder as she picked up her wallet and took off. Thomas sat back down and stared into his still steaming cup of coffee. Part of him was begging him to go to the show, begging him to go see Newt but the other part, the more rational part, was begging him to stay away from the blonde guitarist. Thomas stared at that mug for a good long while before sighing and picking up his phone. His fingers shook as he typed in the numbers on his screen.

    "Thomas?" the voice sounded from the other end of the receiver.

    "Hey Rosie."

    "Are you okay?" She sounded hesitant which Thomas hated, she was his sister for fucks sake they shouldn't still be fighting.

    "Yeah I'm okay...listen, how would you like to go with me to the WICKED concert?"