( Newt ) P.O.V.
*Flashback to right after the fight*
Thomas trudges up to his room, disappearing from my sight. Y/n is currently on top of me, smiling wide. “Did you guys work everything out?” She asks, her big eyes looking at me intently.
Nodding, I brush her hair back with my fingers. “Yes, we did. I think he was just so used to looking after you that he didn’t know how to handle things. We talked it out and agreed on my death if I hurt you.” I explain, making her giggle. “You?”
“Mhm. Thomas apologized and we’re good, now.” She tells me. Scanning her face, I can’t help but notice all the delicate details of her appearance. She’s absolutely beautiful in the most unique way.
We meet eyes and she begins to speak again without breaking our contact. “We were kind of interrupted earlier, you know, with T barging in. So….” Her voice trails off and blood rises to the apples of her cheeks.
“Yes?"
Y/n pulls me to her, meeting my lips and I make a startled noise from the unexpected gesture. Pulling back, she speaks just loud enough for me to hear. "I love you, Newt.”
Those four words convinced me that, no matter what happens as we continue together, we will be okay. We will make things work. Feeling overwhelming affection for the girl before my eyes, I bring her to me and wrap my arms around her.
Just having y/n with me, being able to feel her breathing against my chest, calms me instantly and I continue to hold her, not wanting to ever let go.
****
Yesterday was hectic, which led to y/n and me falling asleep very soon after Thomas had left us for his bed. Having recharged after everything, all of us had to work today. Thankfully, I finished up in enough time to go pick y/n up from her shift.
Y/n happily greeted me before we went home. Thomas was still at work but that reminded me that I wanted to talk to y/n privately, anyways. So, after we settled into the couch, I turned to y/n and asked if we could talk.
“Yeah, of course. What’s on your mind?” Her voice echoing through the quiet room.
Pulling her hand to me, I intertwine my fingers with hers before speaking. “You’ve mentioned that something had happened, in your past, to make Tommy protective. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable and I won’t push you to tell me but I- I just want to understand.”
To my dismay, y/n’s face falls and I can tell that she’s thinking about it. I mumble and apology before she pulls my chin up, making me look at her. “It’s okay. I want to tell you, I want you to understand too.”
Inhaling deeply, she readjusts my hand to lay on her knee and rests hers on top. Instinctively, I trace shapes onto the exposed skin that’s peaking through the rip of her jeans. This seems to calm her down a bit, so I continue my actions as she begins.
“When I was much younger, guys started to notice me - like I’ve mentioned before. Don’t get me wrong, I noticed guys and crushed on a few too. But nothing ever came from those besides the sadness that comes with rejection.”
Y/n pauses for a moment, seeming to gather up the courage to talk about what happened. Patiently, I wait for her to start once more. “Then, one day, I met a friend of Thomas’. He wasn’t extremely close to T but they hung out fairly often.”
“To be honest, I thought he was cute and he started flirting with me anytime he was over. With time, he started calling me his girlfriend.” She tells me.
As her she goes forth with explaining, I can sense her hand tremble and her voice shake. “Thomas wasn’t worried and as far as I knew, he had no reason to be. Being the kid I was at the time, I wasn’t comfortable with having a boyfriend so I went to tell him.”
“He didn’t care and continued to harass me, frame me with lies and threaten me. Thomas didn’t know because I was too scared to tell him. I was stuck. One day, Thomas overheard him yelling at me, the same threats he often said, and T came to help me.”
“But when I went to school, the guy had told everyone horrible things about me. At the end of that day, he had a broken nose and Thomas had bruised knuckles with a sprained wrist. It made me feel more alone than ever and Thomas began protecting me, making sure I never felt that way again.”
As y/n finishes, her eyes are focused on our hands and I spot a tear drop onto her skin. Without saying anything, I pick her up and hold her. I feel her body lurch with sobs but I rub my hand across her back to soothe her as she calms.
“I’m so sorry, love. It hurts me to know what you had to endure that. I will never, in a million years, ever hurt you like that.” I whisper into her hair. She calms down a bit and steady’s her breathing. Y/n pulls back but only enough to look at me.
There’s an emotion I can’t describe that crosses over her features and all I can manage is to watch her. “I’ve always felt out of step with everyone. Literally stumbling through life and never being able to find where I belong. Like I’m trapped in a maze and searching for the exit with my eyes closed. Forever out of touch with what’s around me. When I told you that I felt as if I were screwing up your life, I meant that I didn’t want to fall and bring you down with me. I don’t want to hurt you.”
My heart feels like breaking when she says this. The pain that can be felt in every word causes a tear to fall from my eye. Placing my hand against her cheek, I let everything I feel slip past my lips unfiltered.
“You belong here, y/n. If you can’t find your way, then I’ll help to guide you. Life is a maze and I can’t promise that I won’t mess up along the way, but I will always be there. Honestly, I’ve felt similar to that and what I can promise you is that you aren’t screwing up my life.”
Pressing her cheek into my palm, she continues to watch me as she listens. “You won’t hurt me but if you did, I wouldn’t regret anything and I would repeat it all in a heartbeat. And although you may continue to stumble through life, I swear to you; I will stumble through life with you."
I finish speaking and pray that my feeling were portrayed within my words. Just to drive the message home, I gently kiss her but it’s different from the other ones we’ve shared. This kiss, although soft, holds so much love that it feels like my heart’s beating out of my chest.
Even when I force myself to stop, I plant a kiss on her jaw before burying my face in her hair. "I love you, Newt. More than I can explain.” With that said, we lay down on the couch together and drift off.
****
When I drift back into consciousness, I hear the faint sound of the TV in the background. Opening up my eyes, I spot Tommy sitting in the love seat and watching his show.
My body feels warm and heavier than usual. Looking down, I see that y/n is still asleep with her head resting on my stomach. When y/n is asleep, her eyelashes gently brush her skin as she breathes steadily. Her lips are slightly parted, projecting a small whistle sound and she looks like y/n in the purest form, almost like a kid.
Soft shifting noises bring my attention back to Tommy and he’s now watching me with a knowing smirk. Bringing my hand up, the one that’s not resting on y/n, I offer him a wave.
Tommy slightly chuckles as he gets up and crouches beside my head. “We should probably get her to bed, yeah?” He suggests and I nod. Gently and slowly, we shift y/n off of me without waking her.
Once I’m standing, I pick her up and walk upstairs as Tommy follows. He opens the bedroom door for me and pulls back the comforter as I lay her down in the bed. She moans in protest as her body hits the cooled sheets but she doesn’t wake.
Draping the comforter over her shoulders, I tuck it around her torso and legs. Quietly, from behind me, I hear Tommy chuckle and whisper “Look, it’s a y/n burrito.” Glancing back at her, I grin when I realize that that’s exactly what she looks like.
Leading out of her room, I close the door behind us before going back to the living room. “We talked.” I state, looking at him.
“How’d that go?” He asks, turning his attention away from the television. I realize that it didn’t go badly or well. It was something that brought us closer, so I guess it was a good thing.
“She told me about what happened with the guy. I understand why you were protective of her. If anyone were to do that to her now, I would beat them until every bone in their body were fractured."
Thomas laughs, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, that’s how I felt about it. After all of that happened, y/n entered a really dark place and it was hard for her to trust anyone. She has so much love to give but doesn’t know who to give it to."
"She’s so special, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt her like that. Like you said, she has so much love to give but she’s never had anyone give her back their love.” My face rests into a frown as I tell him this. “That’s what I want for her. I want y/n to feel loved because she deserves all the love in the world.”
Shaking his head, Thomas rests a hand on my shoulder. “You’re exactly right. Now you have to decide whether you’ll be the one to show her that or not.” Glancing over at him, he’s smiling as he gives me a wink.
Not giving me time to respond, he announces that he’s going to bed and jots upstairs. Alone on the couch, his words are set on repeat and I realize that I can love y/n with everything I have and try to convince her that she deserves it.
And that’s exactly what I choose to do.