They didn't stop running until they'd made it halfway through the third field and the shelter was completely out of sight. Thomas was the first to come to halt, as he sucked in deep breaths and clutched his nose. Newt started to search the boy's blood-covered face but soon gave up and pulled him into a warm hug instead.
"Are you okay?" He asked, slightly muffled with his head buried in the crock of Thomas' neck.
"Yeah. Just a bit saw, " Thomas answered as he gently pulled away from Newt.
That's when Minho came over and shook his head at the brunette. His face showed sympathy but his eyes said 'idiot' as he spoke, "what were you thinking?" He paused as Thomas was about to answer but cut him off and continued in a lighter tone, "You know what, it doesn't matter. Let's just keep going."
Minho moved to the front of the group again and carried on walking, as Gally jogged to catch up. Frypan smiled kindly at Thomas but he too moved on forwards. There was a quiet lull over the group but with each step away from the barn, their mood improved slightly.
"Why did you let him do it?" Newt whispered as he walked next to Thomas, who was trying to wipe away the blood from around his mouth but to no avail.
He gave up trying to clean his face and said, "I had no choice. They would've only done something worse if I hadn't let them beat on me. Also, it is kind of in their rights. We were trespassing."
"He would have killed you. Don't tell me you would've been fine with that." Newt said slightly louder.
"Of course I wouldn't but at the same time, he was allowed to. I'd rather he killed me and left you alone, than him hurting all of us." Thomas answered as the wind picked up even more, causing the boys in front to talk louder.
Hurt flashed across Newt's face, "but I would rather you lived. Shuck the law. He didn't have any right to try and bury a bloody tool into your head."
"He sort of did."
"No, he bloody didn't. There is a big difference between shooting someone on your land and impaling a chisel into someone's skull. I thought you knew this!" Newt exclaimed.
Now it was Thomas' turn to look hurt. Newt instantly regretted what he'd said as he looked at the brunette.
"Sorry, " he whispered, "I was just worried. And I get defensive when I'm worried."
"I'm sorry, too, " Thomas said over the noise of the wind, as he pulled Newt into a side hug, "Why don't we join the others now. They sound like they're having fun."
"Okay."
Thomas and Newt trudged over to the three boys who were now laughing and eating candy again. When Minho saw the two boys, he wolf whistled and smiled at their discomfort. He handed them a packet of Starburst and said, "According to Google Maps, the building is about six fields ahead of us."
"How long will that take?" Newt asked as he opened the bag of candies and picked out a strawberry one.
"I don't know. It took us like forty-five minutes to get through seven fields, so probably another thirty if we're quick and don't get distracted again." Minho said.
Thomas reached out and motioned for the pack of Starburst as Newt replied to Minho. He buried his hand in the packet and pulled out a handful of different colours, then handed the rest back to Minho. Giggling quietly, Thomas whispered, "sugar, " before undoing the separate wrappers of several candies and shoving all of them in his mouth at once. Newt and Minho stared at him in a mix of concern and confusion. However, Thomas just shrugged and continued eating as the other two boys carried on talking.
The group was only a few meters away from the next field when they saw what was in it. It was full of corn plants at least six foot tall if not more, that swayed with the wind. Bright yellow corn cobs stood out against the rich green of the stalks and leaves. They looked almost ready to pick but they weren't what got Minho over excited.
"We can play hide and seek tag!" He exclaimed.
"I thought you said no more distractions?" Thomas asked, still with Starburst in his mouth.
"I never said we shouldn't have any more distractions, I just said we will get there quicker without them."
"Minho, " Gally started, " what the shuck even is 'hide and seek tag'."
"Well, it is what it sounds like. It's like hide and seek but if the seeker finds you, they have to tag you. You can run away from the seeker but if they tag you, then you're the seeker." Minho answered.
"Sounds good."
They'd made it to the fence as the wind got even stronger, to the point where they had to lean against it stay upright. Newt creased his brow in confusion as he spoke, "I don't know, Minho, we've been messing about for a while, maybe we should just get to the building already."
"It will only be a short game. Also, we have plenty of time." Minho said, " Now come on!"
The boys slipped through the wires easily after so much practice and stood in front of the corn, waiting for someone to start the game. Rain had begun to fall again, though it was only a short shower. It fell at a diagonal angle, forced by the wind, as it stung their faces and soaked into their clothing. After what had happened before, the boys didn't even think about finding shelter. They would much rather be completely drenched than suffer again.
Minho shouted to get everyone's attention, "Ok, the seeker's going to be the person who picks out the strawberry Starburst."
They clustered in a loose circle as Minho put his hand in the packet. He drew it back with an orange flavoured candy and smiled with success. Then he gave the packet to Newt, who pulled out another orange. The next was Thomas. He almost dropped the whole pack on the ground as he grabbed a yellow one and cheered.
Gally was the next in line and it didn't go as well. He pulled out a strawberry Starburst. He moaned in annoyance as he handed the bag to Frypan, "might as well see if we have to battle it out to be the seeker."
Putting his hand in, Frypan produced a green candy. He smiled at Gally, "sorry, it's still you."
Gally placed his hands over his eyes, "One, two, three..."
"What!" Minho shrieked as he sprinted for the edge of the corn stalks. The other three boys ran in different directions in their mad panic. They became emerged in the foliage as Gally's counting got quieter and the wind got stronger.
Thomas smacked stalks out of his way as he ran. They rustled and whipped into his face but he didn't stop until he was several meters into the field. He stood there as he caught his breath and listened as best as he could. He turned in circles as he constantly scanned the tall plants for Gally or a new seeker.
Suddenly there was a shout, which was followed by laughter. Thomas spun around quickly, searching in between the corn for any sign of movement but nothing was there. Even so, he began running in the opposite direction again, as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He almost tripped over a root as he went but kept his balance as his heart thumped in his throat. It was only a game but it still sent shivers down his spine, like a creature would jump out of the corn at any second.
Once again, he ran about twenty meters before stopping. His friends shouted and laughed but Thomas stayed completely silent as he waited and watched. The rain had stopped by this point making it easier to here and see. The sounds were coming more from his left, so that's where he concentrated most. However, that meant he didn't notice the corn moving behind him and it wasn't from the wind.
All of a sudden, Minho jumped out from his hiding place and scared the shit out of Thomas, who yelped and stumbled backwards. Luckily, though shocked, his reactions were quick and he sprinted away, swatting the thick plants out of his way as he went. He ran in an unorderly fashion, weaving back and forth and doing everything possible to lose Minho. And it seemed to work.
He now came to a stop in a tractor's tread marks and panted from his third short sprint. He didn't stop moving fully, walking along the track as he scanned the foliage on either side of him. His eyes were drawn to sky as he walked. It was thundery and bubbling with a storm. Just as his eyes locked onto the cause of all the wind and the rain that was approaching, something moved in amongst the stalks of corn. He carried on walking but quicker than before.
He'd barely made it three steps when someone jumped out of the corn and made him lose his balance slightly. He swung his arms out to stay upright, which only made him look ridiculous. The person laughed but didn't use Thomas's misbalance to their advantage, which meant they weren't the seeker. Thomas turned to look at the boy who had startled him and was happy to see it was Newt.
The blond boy had a smile along his pink lips and when Thomas rolled his eyes, he smirked cheerfully. He was also breathing quite quickly, showing he'd been running as well.
"You scared me to shucking death, " Thomas said as he smiled back.
Newt took a step closer, "Sorry about that, " he said as he stepped forward again, " maybe I can make it up to you."
"How are you going to do-" He was cut off as Newt cleared the distance between them, hooking his foot around the back of Thomas' leg and knocking him to the ground. Luckily, the fall wasn't hard but Thomas still yelped in shock.
Newt straddled the brunette's waist as he giggled and lent in to whisper in his ear, "I hope this will do."
A blush covered Thomas from the tips of his ears, right down to the bottom of his neck. His breathing became heavier and quicker as Newt caressed the side of his face. Though he was nervous, Thomas definitely got high on his touch and didn't want to move away. Even when he worried about his sexuality.
Newt had also gained colour to his cheeks after Thomas moved his hands onto the blond's hips and then proceeded to ask, "why do we keep doing this?"
"I don't know. It just feels so good," Newt replied as he bit his bottom lip and tangled his fingers in Thomas' thick brunette hair. His own hair was whipped into his face and eyes by the wind, stinging his flesh but he didn't feel the burn, as he was already hot from the blush.
He began to search Thomas' face, only then realising just how cute his freckles were. There were so many that Newt didn't think he'd ever be able to count them all. He also finally realised just how prominent Thomas' dimples were when he smiled and how utterly adorable they made him look. He was completely fascinated by the brunette boy underneath him.
A sharp pull on his hip brought him out of his daydream. Thomas was smirking and laughed as Newt's blush deepened from a light pink to a deep scarlet. He then tugged on the blond's waist, so that they were even closer, almost inviting Newt to do what he wanted to.
Newt lent in, not wanting to waste any more time by hesitating. Just as their lips came together, the sound of someone running through the corn made them jerk away from each other quickly. Newt moaned in annoyance as he untangled his hands from Thomas' hair and climbed off of him. No more than two seconds later, Minho came barreling out of the green foliage, interrupting them for the third time that day.
He ran towards Newt. Tapping him on the arm, he said, "tag, " with a smile but it soon turned to a thrown as he saw Thomas breathing heavily while lying on the dirty ground. "What the hell are you doing down there?"
Newt answered for Thomas, "He fell over just as I was running past. I was about to help him up." He put his hand out for Thomas to grab and pulled him to his feet.
The two boys then turned and looked at Minho, who still had a thrown and shook his head in exasperation, "Whatever you say, " he said and winked, " Newt, you're the seeker now."
He'd barely finished when a sound like an explosion shook the ground and vibrated through their bones. It was the sound of thunder. The group instantly gawked up at the sky and finally saw what was creating the strong winds and ear-splitting noise. Their jaws dropped as the watched the Supercell cloud spin as it loomed almost over them. Rain poured from its middle as bolts of lightning arced across the dense rotating mass of gray.
"We need to go!" Thomas panicked, "We're sitting ducks in these fields!"
"Where? There's nowhere to go, Thomas!" Newt asked concern lacing his voice.
"The abandoned house. That's our best bet at the moment. And we better get moving." Minho answered as he continued to eye the storm.
Unexpectedly, there was a shout from somewhere in the field of corn plants that made the boys jump. It was either Gally or Frypan. Minho began to shout back over the sound of the storm, calling their names in the hopes that they would find them.
It worked as no more than three minutes later, both Gally and Frypan stepped into the tractor track.
"Did you hear that?" Gally asked.
"It was kinda hard not to, " Thomas retorted back as he pointed at the Supercell cloud, "that storm looks deadly. So we better get a move on and get to that building already."
Everyone agreed as Minho quickly checked Google Maps to see which direction they should be heading, then the group set off across the field smacking corn stalks out of their way as they went. Thunder clapped every few minutes as the edge of the rain band moved above their heads and the first drops of what was to come tarnished their skin.