(A/N: I'm trying to be sensitive about warnings, so there is a suicide attempt mentioned)
I lifted my head up towards him. "Newt, you don't have to talk about it."
"No," he said, "I want to talk about it with you. I need to talk about it." He put an arm under me, and one over my waist, pulling me close to his chest. I nuzzled my head back into his neck, taking in his scent. He somehow smelled good, like pine, even after sweating all day.
"I used to be a runner. I miss it. It's a lot more thrilling than picking plants out of the earth everyday."
I laughed softly, and I felt his chest move as he chuckled with me.
"When I came up in the box with all the other boys, I was scared, like the rest of them. Didn't know where I was, didn't know who I was. But, they boys and I, we adapted. Built ourselves a home here, made it our own. No matter how much we got settled here, though, I just felt... empty."
He paused, and readjusted his arms, somehow pulling me closer to him. He took a deep breath, breathing into my hair.
"I don't know if any of the other boys felt like that. Maybe they did. But even with my memories gone, I... I just knew that something was missing. And I couldn't have that. I couldn't take it. So, one morning, I got up early and I went out into the maze. And I went and I found the tallest wall I could, and climbed up there, and... and I jumped off it."
"Oh, Newt," I said softly.
"No, it's okay. I wanted it to kill me then, but when I landed on the maze floor, I was still alive. Snapped my leg in three different places. I was helpless on the floor; I thought that was it. Then Minho found me, somehow. And he picked me up and took me back to the glade. He gave me a second chance. No one but he and Alby, and you, I guess, knows what really happened. The gladers learned not to ask about it."
"I'm sorry. I-"
"No," He said, interrupting me, "Don't apologize for something you had no control over. But," he said slowly, as if calculating each word, "I don't know what this means, but the second I saw you in that box, that feeling of something missing, it just went away."
I didn't say anything as anxiety exploded in my stomach. Did we know each other before the maze?
Newt cleared his throat. "Like I said, I don't know what that means. But I do know that all the other gladers are asleep now, and you should get some rest."
I nodded. Snuggling closer to him, I listened to his heartbeat. It was calming, and lulled me to sleep.
~~~~
I woke up, still in Newt's arms. Over the course of the night, both of our legs became tangled, one of my legs draped over his waist, and the other encased by his.
I didn't want to leave his side this morning; he was warm and comfy.
This was just what friends did, right?
Because he was still asleep, I decided that I had time to think.
Newt tried to kill himself? I couldn't imagine the boy beside me doing that. Why would he tell me what happened, and no one else? And, why would his emptiness go away when he saw me? Did we know each other before the maze? Did he think of me as more than a friend?
Did I think of him as more than a friend?
I moved my head away from him to get a better look. He was handsome, no doubt about that. His blonde hair was disheveled from sleeping, but it suited him. As he breathed in and out, he blew a small cowlick of his hair up and down.
I felt heat rising to my cheeks, suddenly aware of our closeness.
He must have felt me move, because he began to stir. Eyes fluttering open, he looked down at me and smiled.
"Morning, sleepyhead," I said.
"How are you feeling?" He asked in a rough, morning voice.
"Fine."
He raised an eyebrow at this.
"Trust me, I'm okay. Just hungry." As if on cue, my stomach growled.
"I bet. You haven't eaten in two days."
I sighed. "I don't feel like getting up."
Newt grinned. "I didn't know that you liked my company so much."
"No," I said, burying my face into his chest, "I mean I don't feel like working today."
"Sorry, Love," he said, rubbing my back, "Everyone's gotta contribute something."
I allowed myself a few more seconds of enjoying his embrace before we awkwardly untangled ourselves.
Newt stood up. "Let's get some breakfast, and then we can go talk to Minho. Are you sure you feel up to working and walking?"
"Newt," I said, swinging my legs over the bed, "I told you, I'm fine."
"If you say so."
I followed him out of the room and down the hallway. I stopped in my room and grabbed the sweatshirt that Newt had given me that one night, after the first vision. I was cold without his body heat.
The glade was cold with a morning breeze. It tousled his hair, making it even messier.
In the pavilion, the boys were already eating their breakfast of eggs and oatmeal. Newt and I grabbed some from Fry and sat at our table, were Zart was.
Zart grinned and shook his head. "Man, Y/N, when I said you could take a break, I didn't mean the entire day."
"Shut up, Zart," I said with a mouth full of oatmeal.
"I'm just teasing you. You're fine."
Suddenly, Gally appeared, pulling a chair and sitting on it backwards. "Hey, Newt. I've been meaning to tell you that we fixed the draining issue."
"Brilliant," Newt said.
"Yeah, I was gonna tell you first thing today, but you weren't here. Neither were you Y/N." Gally shifted his gaze to me.
"We slept in." I said, nonchalantly.
"We?" Gally said, raising an eyebrow, his voice on edge.
"Not in that way Gally." I put my face in my hands, feeling my face turn red.
Newt put a hand on my knee under the table. "Come on Gally. Bloody calm yourself."
Gally just shook his head and stood up, putting the chair back.
Zart just sat there, quiet, the entire time. He had his eyebrows raised and a smirk on his face.
"Not you too, Zart." I said, resting an elbow on the the table. By now, I was so embarrassed that I didn't care if anyone saw my beet red face.
Zart just licked his lips and looked down at his food. "I didn't say anything."
We all sat silently after that, all picking at our food. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Newt rubbing his neck, a faint pink tint resting on his cheeks.
I swallowed my last bit of oatmeal and stood up. "Newt, we should go talk to Minho."
He stuffed a piece of egg in his mouth. "Right behind you."
Zart crossed his arms. "You're coming to the gardens, right Newt?"
"Of course. This shouldn't take too bloody long."
We trekked back to the Homestead and made our way back up to Minho's room. Clint sat there, both of them eating their breakfast.
"Hey, Clint. Can we talk to Min? Should only take a minute."
He nodded and grabbed his plate, shuffling out of the room.
"So, what do you need to talk about?"
Newt and I told him about the first and second vision, and the note.
Minho scratched his jaw. "Well, there is a cliff. It's gray, just like you said greenie. I don't think anyone's every jumped off it, though. I don't know. Thomas and I can check it our after I get back out there."
~~~~
I went the rest of the week without passing out, and Newt and I didn't talk about his limp or that night at all. Things went back to normal, and Newt and I's relationship went back to a regular friendship.
Thomas was staying in the glade today, because it was greenie day. He stuck by my side, helping me gather wood for the bonfire in Deadheads.
"You excited to not be the greenie anymore?"
I grabbed a stray log of of the ground. "Yeah, I guess. It's not that bad."
"What if it's another girl?" He took the log from my hands and put it in the wheelbarrow.
"I don't know. That'd be nice."
Thomas put a hand on his chest in mock hurt. "Wow. Sorry we aren't good enough for you."
Rolling my eyes, I said, "You know what I mean. This is full," I motioned to the wheelbarrow. "Let's bring this to the woodpile."
He grabbed the handles and began to push it through the forest, over the roots and shrubs. I strode along by his side.
"You have to give the greenie the tour, though," Thomas said.
I looked at him. "Sounds easy enough."
He grimaced. "They ask so many questions, though."
"Fair enough."
We reached the center of the glade after walking in silence. I helped him empty all of the wood on the pile, and looked at all of our work. "That should be enough, right?" I put my hands on my hips, looking at him.
"More than enough." He sighed and turned to say something to me as an alarm sounded out.
We both looked to each other, then ran off to the Box.
All of the boys had gathered around the metal closings. Newt stood across from me, waiting for it to open.
It suddenly opened, revealing the Box that I had been in just a month ago.
No one spoke a word, leaving the deafening screech of the greenie alarm to fill the void of silence. Gally suddenly stepped forward, and opened the cage with the help of one of his builders. He jumped in to meet a small, chubby boy with curly hair. He only looked to be twelve or thirteen years old.
He was crying- no, bawling. Fat tears rolled down his cheeks, and his face was bright red. His chest moved in and out unevenly, his breath ragged.
Gally knelt down and put a hand on his back. "Hey there, greenie. You're safe, okay? I know it's scary, but trust me."
The boy nodded, wiping his nose on his sleeve.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Chu-Chuck," the boy spit out.
"Well, Chuck," Gally continued, "Let's get you out of here and into the glade. Y/N will explain things the best she can, and show you around."
Gally helped Chuck up and, very clumsily, out of the box. Newt and I exchanged a look, surprised at how gentle Gally was being with the greenie.
The boys around us dispersed, leaving a few to empty out the box. I walked over to Chuck.
"Hey there, greenie." I said, putting on the best smile I could. I was about to say something else to him before I was called over by Gally.
"Y/N. Newt. Come here."
I held up a finger to Chuck. "One second."
I slipped over to where they were standing. "What?" I said.
Gally stuck something in Newt's hand. "This was next to him in the Box."
Newt opened his hand to reveal a piece of paper. He opened it, and read what was on it. "He's the last one. Ever." Newt looked up at Gally and I expectantly. "Well what the bloody hell does that mean?"
"Probably that there's gonna be no more greenies." I said.
Newt made a face at me. "Well, I know that."
"Guys," Gally said, "Does this mean no more supplies? How long can we last without them?"
"No one was saying that," Newt said, worry etched on his face.
"Well, you guys sort this out, I'm gonna go show the greenie around."
I went back over to a trembling Chuck. "Hey, it's okay. I'm sure you're really confused, so I'll show you around. Stay with me, okay?"
I showed Chuck everything in the glade, and explained the basic situation, just as Thomas did to me. By the end of the tour, he had thankfully stopped crying.
We stood by the pavilion. "So, you're the only girl here?" He asked.
I nodded. "Gets a little annoying." I looked out to the glade, where the boys had just finished getting the supplies out of the box. "Well, Chuck, you're staying in the hammocks. Thomas will get you all situated tonight, after the bonfire. Tomorrow, you'll try out for jobs. That's always fun."
~~~~
The rest of the day went quickly. I was sitting with Newt, in front of the log that I sat with newt, during my first night here. Thomas was with Chuck. When those two met, they kind of clicked. They barely left each other's side.
Newt held a jar with Gally's recipe in it. He looked tired and stressed. When I asked him if he was okay, he just shook his head.
"I think Gally's right. The box hasn't gone back down yet, like it usually does. I don't know how long we're gonna be able to manage without our regular supplies. We're gonna run out of our medical supplies, food supplies, gardening and building tools. The glade's gonna be a wreck." He said, taking a big gulp from his cup.
I began to share Newt's worry. What was gonna happen to us?
"Well," Newt continued, "We're just gonna have to get out of here before that happens." He grinned and stood up, pulling me with him.
"Newt," I groaned.
He just grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the group of dancing boys. "No, come on Y/N. It's the only time of the month you get to get out of work. Shouldn't spend it worrying."
We spent the rest of the night dancing to the beat of the drums, and visiting around with the gladers.
Watching Newt try and dance was adorable. He wasn't very coordinated, and with his limp, he ended just stepping side to side. When Thomas wasn't with Chuck, he was right there with us.
Chuck and Gally had formed a weird, but close bond. Gally didn't really strike me as someone to be gentle with younger kids, but he was. He, of course, did his regular fighting, and Chuck, as the greenie, had to fight him. I was scared that Gally was gonna really fight him, but he was gentle and let Chuck win.
Thomas and Gally fought, and it went on for so long that they called it a draw.
At the end of the night, I was exhausted. Alby yelled for us to get our butts in bed, and I happily obliged.
Newt strode next me, his limp more apparent after the business of the night.
"Is your leg okay?" I asked, looking at him.
"Yeah," he said, "It's just a little sore."
We reached the Homestead, and stopped in front of the door. "Well, goodnight," I said, shivering in the night's breeze.
"Night, Love," Newt said, and pecked my cheek.
A smile crept up on my face, and my hand flew to the place where he kissed me.
He just smirked and sauntered off towards the hammocks.
That night, I fell asleep with a grin on my face that I couldn't seem to get rid of.
A/N: A few things to say (PLEASE READ):
1. As I read back on these chapters, I do notice grammatical errors, so after I finish this book, I will be fixing them
2. I don't know how I feel about the second half of this chapter. I feel that it was a bit choppy and poorly written so I'm sorry for that
3. Please let me know if you are enjoying this so I can try to keep updates more regular, and send me ideas for this fanfic. I have an idea of where it's going, but I'm open to ideas.
4. After I finish this story, should I do Scorch Trials and Death Cure sequels? Let me know. (Edit from six months in the future: I'm honestly too lazy but I have ideas so if any of you with published stories on your account message me and I'll send you ideas if I choose you.
5. Thank you all so much for 400 reads! I did not think I would get this many and it means the world to me. (Also me from the future: girl you're gonna get about ten times that many lol)