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Newt got out of his thoughts with knocks on his door. For the third time today. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to calm down so his voice would sound as kind as possible to his mom.
''Come in, mom."
It didn't sound as peaceful as he wished but it'd do. It's not like he had tried to hide his bad mood these past few days anyway. The door opened and his mom stood there, with Minho, for Newt's surprise.
''Hey man. Glad to see you're not dead."
''Newt, you have to stop this. It's been a week. You don't go out, you barely speak or eat, you don't go to school nor physiotherapy, and now Minho shows up to our house worried you might be dead, because you haven't shown any sign of life lately. This can't go on."
Anita's tone was pretty serious. Not worried, but serious and maybe a bit angry. She had been worried the first days after the date, she had been the kindest mom possible, but Newt didn't show any sign of effort. He wasn't sad - or else he would talk to her about it, eventually. Anita could tell he was angry. He took it out on her and she couldn't accept that, especially since it wasn't fading away. And also because he was angry over a misunderstanding.
''I'm sure if you talk to Thomas, everything will work out." she said, well aware of the storm she would cause, but at this point, Newt needed to hear those words.
''I don't want to talk to him. How many times do I have to tell you that ?!" Newt said, his voice cold and harsh.
His mom sighed, coming into the room and taking a seat at her son's desk ; Minho stood awkwardly next to the door, not knowing quite well what to say or do.
''Newt... You can tell me I'm wrong all you want but I know you care about this boy and he cares for you too. And you made huge progress with him. Don't be stupid. You can't shut everything out over a misunderstanding."
Newt, sitting on the bed, looked up to her and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing, before he let himself fall on his pillow.
''Do we really have to talk about it in front of Minho?"
''Yes. Because he's also worried about you."
''Man, I thought you were missing. You haven't answered me in days. You gotta talk to us." Minho said quietly.
''Well sorry, I didn't feel like talking to anyone." Newt mumbled, pulling the blanket up to cover his chin.
''Next time, you can tell me. At least I'd know you're alive." Minho answered, clearly annoyed. "Come on man. Have you even showered ?"
''He didn't. I'm sick of it, Newt. Either you call that boy or I'll call him myself." Anita said to her son, causing him to shrug his shoulders as if he didn't care. Which wasn't the case, Anita knew.
''Call him. I don't care."
''Oh my god."
Anita stood up and walked towards the door, turning to face her son before stepping in the hallway.
''You're acting like a child, Newt. Listen, I know you're hurting and I know it isn't easy for you, but you're my son and I know you like the back of my hand. And I know Thomas made you happy."
Those words caused Newt to sit back up immediately.
''And you also know he lied, mom! I'm tired of being like this! I can't dance anymore, I can't go out for long or else it hurts, I can't do ice skating, I can't run, I can't even walk properly !" the boy cried out, losing his temper and made up confidence. ''I trusted him to fix me."
''Newt, honey...You don't need fixing. All those things, you can still do. You just have to learn how to do it differently and I'm sure you could, if you gave Thomas a chance. He didn't even know all of this. Don't be so hard on him."
Anita spoke softly and left the room, closing the door behind her. She didn't know if she had made her son understand, but now she knew she had to call Thomas. Because Newt could pretend he didn't need him all he wanted, Anita knew it wasn't true.
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Thomas had worked mechanically for the whole week. Somehow doing his job right when his mind wandered somewhere else. He would welcome his patients, smile, shake hands and sooth the people's pain, say goodbye and all on a loop. He would often close the door and come back to his senses, wondering how he could have done his job without his brain recording anything of it. And it wasn't okay to work like that. Someday he could hurt a patient accidentally.
But he couldn't bring himself to think about anything else than what happened with Newt. And that now, he wasn't coming to the hospital anymore.
Teresa often checked on him. Passing by the hospital to have lunch with him, or later at his appartment. She had ideas, to solve the situation, but Thomas couldn't bring himself to do anything with Newt's words still doing loops in his head.
He counted hours and counted days without his favorite boy around and it all felt too much. Thomas didn't even know what went wrong and why. He didn't know Newt's feelings over his leg problems ; obviously he knew it couldn't be easy, but he didn't know it was this hard.
''Maybe I'm just being stupid," he said to his sister when he called her, going home from work on the seventh day without Newt. ''being that down over someone I've known for only a month."
''You're not, Tom, I mean, look at mom and dad.. They met and fell in love in two weeks tops. Resulting in having kids, getting married, being in love for years..."
''I know, I know." he said mechanically, focusing on the road. His phone on speaker, so he wouldn't get in troubles. ''But I have to get over it, Tess, and I don't know what to do."
The screen of his phone lighted all of a sudden which got him curious, and when he looked at it he felt his heart squeeze and his head dizzy. ''Uh, Tess, I gotta call you back. Someone's calling me."
''Be careful To-"
Thomas picked up quick, his breath shaky.
''Miss Isaacs ?"
''Hello Thomas. I hope I'm not bothering you?"
Thomas felt so dizzy and shaky. He took the first opportunity to pull away, so he wouldn't risk an accident. He stopped the car and took a deep breath, slumping further into the seat.
''Uh, no don't worry Anita, you're not. Is um...is Newt with you?" He asked, his heart beating faster in anticipation. Did something happen? Was Newt okay? Why would his mom call him?
''He's not, don't worry. He's upstairs."
''Is he...is he okay?"
''Well that's why I'm calling you, Thomas. He's...I mean he is okay but he misses you. He won't tell me but I know he does."
Thomas looked down to his hands, resting on his leg bouncing nervously. Hearing those words made his tummy do flips, his heart squeeze, his eyes wet.
''Listen, miss Isaacs, em..." he said, opening his mouth for some air, "he made it clear that he doesn't want to see me again. And I, em...I wish it would be different, I really do. But...I don't...I don't want to get hurt again. If he misses me, why won't he talk to me?"
There was a moment of silence when Thomas couldn't do anything besides focus on his breathing. He didn't understand the whole situation, his feelings, nothing.
''Newt can be...stubborn. But I know he misses you. I can tell. He says he's mad at you and doesn't want to talk to you but I know he doesn't mean it." Thomas closed his eyes at those hurtful words. "He says that you lied, that you didn't care, but I know it's not true Thomas. I know you're a good man and you probably didn't even know Newt had such a hard time accepting the situation. He is a very secret person. It's not your fault."
''I know." Thomas said, sniffling and wipping a tear away. "I didn't know any of that. I don't even understand how we got into a fight. I said 'might', not 'will'. There's still a chance his leg gets back to normal."
Anita sighed, from the other side of the phone. "I know. Newt can be stubborn as hell when he's hurt. He doesn't do much since he came back from your date. He doesn't even want to do physio with someone else. He doesn't want to do it at all."
"But...Anita, he's going to lose all the progress we made if he just stops now." Thomas said, his voice wavering. Now he was more worried than sad.
''I know. He needs you, Thomas, both for his leg and because it's you. You know, from the moment he knew you, he changed. His anger went away, he started to smile and laugh again. To talk to me, to go out. His leg got so much better. He's so happy around you, honey. I don't want to let him ruin his happiness and yours over a stupid misunderstanding."
Thomas let out a soft giggle, one of those halfway through sadness, halfway through joy. Maybe Anita was right. Newt was worth giving it a shot.
''I thought you could come by sometimes. Anytime. If you want to, of course. I would understand if you don't."
Thomas took a deep and shaky breath. ''I'll be there in an hour."
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I'm deeply sorry, again, for the slow update. I don't know if you all got my message. I'm going through some stuff and it's a lot to deal with. I'm thinking of you everyday. You give me more than I deserve. I love you all and we'll see each other soon for their reunion❤️