Thomas had fallen asleep two hours into the ride. Newt noticed because he wasn't singing along to the songs anymore. Newt gave Thomas the aux which he accepted happily at the beginning of the trip.
Newt snuck a glance at him and smiled. Thomas' head was against the window, his beanie fell over his eyes a bit and he was snoring softly. He was probably exhausted from traveling literally all day. Newt turned the music down so it wouldn't wake up Thomas.
Newt's hands were sweaty on the steering wheel. They'd been driving for a few hours and were honestly getting pretty close to where they were going to meet Teresa. It was almost six then, which meant they were making decent time.
Thomas liked similar music to Newt which was nice. They had a good time screaming and singing in the beginning. It was actually a lot easier than Newt expected, switching from online to real life. I mean now he had to resist staring at Thomas' stupid face for creepy lenghts of time, but the hugs made it worth it.
Newt yawned a bit and shook his head. Driving was also boring without Thomas to talk to. Thomas' hand was on his stomach and Newt wanted nothing more than to hold it, not that he'd ever held hands with someone romantically but he figured it'd be nice. Well, it'd probably be like normal hand holding but it would be with Tommy so it'd be different.
Newt sighed and drummed his hands on the steering wheel a long to the song. He was actually really excited to see Teresa. He still had no idea what she looked like, they probably should have gone over that before they started driving but Newt guessed it didn't matter too much. He was still able to find Thomas quite easily despite having no idea what he looked like. It was probably better that he didn't know what Thomas looked like beforehand because he probably would have hid in his closet and left him at the train station.
Newt never even saw this stupid crush coming. He'd known Oben for a while but as soon as Oben became Tommy his chest tightened whenever he thought about him.
Thomas stirred next to him and groaned softly as he sat up. "Oh fuck, I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"It's okay, I hope my awful driving didn't make you up."
Thomas laughed at that. "No oh my god it's my fuckin neck. Sleeping in cars is always the worst."
"You got that one right."
Thomas rubbed his neck and adjusted himself in the seat. "Did we even find a place to sleep for the night?"
"Teresa said she had a hotel bookmarked, but hopefully we find out where the fuck Minho is and we can stay at his place."
"I'm guessing the hotel sucks."
Newt nodded. "Yup, but it's only seventy five dollars for a night so we could afford it but there's only one bed so your neck would hate you even more."
"I feel like Teresa kicks in her sleep, I bet you twenty dollars she does."
Newt laughed. "She's definitely aggressive."
"In like a badass way though. Like she's definitely too cool for all of us."
"I can agree with that."
Thomas sighed as he looked out the window. "Minho should be here with us. He wanted to meet up in person the most."
Newt frowned. "I know, but we'll find him then he can give us the deathly tight hugs he always talks about."
Thomas turned to look at Newt who really couldn't look at him because he was trying to get them there in one piece and keep his eyes on the road.
"You know this isn't your fault at all right? I know deep down you still think it is but it isn't Newt okay?"
"Okay," Newt said softly.
"We wanted to do this. We have to do this, I mean they're killing kids and we know stuff! I mean we can save lives!"
"Yeah," Newt breathed out as he signaled and got off the throughway. They were close to the meeting point.
"I mean if WICKED is really behind this an-"
Realization hit Newt like a brick in the face and he slammed on the breaks.
"Newt what the fuck?!"
Newt pulled over to the side of the road and turned to face Thomas. "Bloody hell Thomas, it's not WICKED."
"What?" Thomas looked at him confused.
"It can't be WICKED."
"What are you talking about?"
"The numbers, the code, it's not a code Tommy. It's an address."
_______
When they pulled into the school parking lot, they were the only ones there which made it kinda creepy.. Their awful fucking plan was to call Minho's grandma and try and scam calling her into giving her address so they could find which house was Minho's. Then they were gonna visit and say they were Minho's friends from class or something. If all that went to shit, they were going to message some more people on facebook, but Minho had like seven facebook friends so they had almost no hope of that working. They got Minho's home number from an old ass phone book that Teresa used to use as a stand for her plants in her room. Even though this was very fucked up, Newt felt like a detective which was kinda exciting in its own way.
"Come on," Thomas said as he opened his car door.
"Where are you going?" Newt asked as he turned off the car anyways and opened the door.
"Waiting to meet our queen." Thomas smiled at him and Newt thought he'd do anything Tommy asked if he smiled at him like that.
Newt followed Thomas to the hood of the car and watched Thomas hop up on it. He patted the spot next to him. "Come on."
Newt hopped up next to him and let out a breath. "We're gonna get arrested."
Thomas laughed. "For hanging out in a school parking lot after hours? Probably."
Newt yawned and rubbed his eyes. He was always tired after driving and he'd never driven that far before. He really hoped they had a place to sleep tonight because trying to pass out in the backseat of the car didn't seem too appealing.
"Tired?" Thomas asked. Newt nodded at that. Thomas laughed softly and motioned his hand for him to come closer.
Newt scooted closer and Thomas put his hand on his lower back. "Here my shoulder is your pillow."
Newt willed himself not to die inside as he leaned on Thomas' shoulder. It was harder because Thomas was shorter than him, but Thomas wrapped his entire arm around Newt's back which made him slot against him comfortably. Newt was too tired to process what the hell was even going on so he just closed his eyes.
"I owe you for all the math help right?" Thomas laughed softly.
Newt just hummed in response. God if only Lizzy could see him now, she'd be losing her shit right about now, maybe even crying.
Newt jumped so high he almost fell off the car as a horn sounded loudly in front of him. Newt barely had time to calm his racing heart before a girl was flying out of the other car that was not in the parking lot.
Newt knew it was Teresa. He felt the excitement bubble in his chest and he and Thomas hopped down.
Teresa had medium length dark brown hair and light skin. Her eyes were ice blue but Thomas only saw them for five seconds before she was throwing her arms around Thomas and basically screaming.
Thomas had on that stupid smile again as he grabbed her around the waist and hugged her back tightly.
Teresa pulled away after a second and yanked Newt to her. She threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him so tightly he could barely breathe.
"I-it's nice to see you," Newt stammered out as he tried to subtly gasp for breath.
"I love you!" Teresa basically yelled as she tightened her grip impossibly so.
Newt looked at Thomas and mouthed help which made him crack up.
Finally Teresa let go and put her hands on her hips. "Well aren't you too fucking hot, warn a girl goddamn I shoulda stepped up my game."
Teresa was in sweatpants that she rolled up at the top and an oversized shirt that looked like she cut it short herself with a pair of scissors.
"You look gorgeous," Newt found himself saying without even thinking about it. In his defense he wasn't lying, Teresa was beautiful. If only Minho knew that a girl like that was head over heels for him.
Teresa smiled. "You flatter me so...Thomas said you had something to tell me?"
"Oh yeah!" Newt exclaimed as he pulled out his phone and opened up his notes. "Whoever is hurting the kids, it isn't WICKED."
"Wait what?" Teresa asked as she contorted her face in confusion. "I thought we were assuming it was WICKED? Because they bought the game?"
Newt shook his head. "No, it can't be. So look at this." Newt showed her his phone with the address of the mental hospital on it. "Jorge was in a psych ward for months before he died, this is the address where he was staying."
"A psych ward? Jesus," Teresa whispered.
"Anyways, psych wards are super top secret, like they don't release records for adults because it's illegal. WICKED couldn't have known that Jorge was there because this was happening before he was admitted."
Teresa frowned. "I'm confused."
"Look at the numbers in the address then the numbers in the code. They're the same."
Teresa's eyes widened. "Do you think Jorge was trying to get people to break him out?"
Newt shrugged. "I have no idea, I haven't had time to look more, but I really don't think it's WICKED."
"How did Jorge sell the game if he was in the hospital?" Teresa asked as she bit her lip.
"He has a daughter," Thomas pointed out.
"He has a daughter?!"
"That's what I just said." Thomas laughed and Teresa flipped him off.
"Suck my dick Oben."
Thomas put his hand on his chest. "Damn, demoted to the gamer tag. Shit hurts T."
Teresa shook her head before turning back to Newt. "So that's all we got right? WICKED couldn't have known where Jorge was in the past, what, half a year? Give or take?"
Newt nodded.
"Why the hell would WICKED buy the game then?" Thomas wondered out loud. "And who the fuck sold it if Jorge was in the hospital, or dead by that point I guess? I doubt that they have a time slot for selling multi billion dollar gaming series."
"Also who the hell killed Jorge because he died somehow and I highly doubt it was a suicide." Teresa asked.
"Yeah and why?" Newt added in.
"Does WICKED even know about all the deaths? I mean how could they not?"
Teresa rubbed her head. "God it's been five minutes and I already have a headache."
"What's his daughter's name?" Thomas asked.
"Brenda."
Thomas was quiet for a moment as he tapped something on his phone. He made a face before turning the screen around to show it to them. "This is her, I guess. Might be adopted."
"Or she got all of her mom's genes?"
"She might not even know about any of this," Newt said. "I mean, she might not even be in contact with Jorge anymore. I know she was listed as one of the game creators but it's been a long time since the game launched and I don't think either of them expected it to blow up that much."
"I'm with Del," Thomas said. "My head hurts."
"Gamer tag bitch!" Teresa snapped at him which made Thomas laugh.
"Was anyone able to reach Minho's grandma?" Thomas asked. "I've been traveling all day long."
"I did," Teresa spoke up. "She gave me her address, she sounded so sweet I almost felt bad fake scamming her."
"What did you say?" Newt asked.
"I said that her hot water tank needed replacing and I'd be sending a guy over within the next two days to check it out."
"Kinda smart," Thomas pointed out.
"I didn't want to scare her, it seemed like the most harmless route," Teresa admitted.
"You should have asked her about Minho," Thomas said but Newt shook his head.
"If he is missing we don't want her to freak out. If she alerted the police it might freak out whoever is doing this and they might just kill him out of spite or fear."
Teresa and Thomas just looked at him which made Newt flush.
"I watch a lot of criminal minds."
"So what's the plan then Spencer Reed?" Teresa asked with a teasing tone in her voice.
"I think our old one was good, we can show up and say we're Minho's friends from school working on a project or something and maybe she'll give us some information."
Teresa nodded. "Okay, want to go now?"
Newt nodded. "Yeah sure, we can follow you."
Teresa stuck out her bottom lip. "You guys are leaving me alone in my car?"
Thomas nodded. "Sorry I'm legally bound to Newt now."
Teresa laughed. "What does that even mean."
"We're legally bound by Minho's fantasies and we have no place for a third in our relationship."
Newt made a face. "Since when does Minho's fantasies dictate our lives?"
"Since today," Thomas stated which made Newt roll his eyes.
"Okay, give me a second to leave then you guys can pull out after me," Teresa said as she unlocked her car. "Oh and guys?"
"Yeah?"
"It was really nice finally seeing you in person."
"You too Teresa," Newt said and again, he meant it.
_______
Thomas was pretty quiet for the ride to Minho's house. He was staring out the window weirdly which made Newt feel a little uneasy.
"What's on your mind?" Newt asked as he gently tapped Thomas' knee.
Thomas let out a breath. "A lot of things."
"Care to share?"
"Well, Minho most of all. I'm afraid that we'll get there and his grandma will tell us he's dead or something horrible."
"I feel like if he was dead we would have heard about it."
"I mean maybe, but you saw how little the other kids were reported on. It's like the media also knows something is going on and they're trying to hide it...or they don't care about kids dying and I honestly can't tell which one is worse."
"There's a lot we still don't know," Newt admitted honestly. "Right now all that matters is making sure Minho is okay. We're doing all we can."
Newt had his hand resting on the gear shift, just gently drumming his fingers. He jumped a bit when he felt a weight on top of it and flushed when he realized it was Thomas' hand. Newt carefully flipped his hand over as if Thomas was some little animal that he was going to scare away. Thomas carefully intertwined their fingers which almost made Newt's heart stop. His hand was soft and his fingers slotted nicely in between the space in Newt's fingers. Their palms slid together and Newt decided that might be his new favorite feeling in the entire world. Newt's hand was a little bigger which was also nice because it made everything just fit.
Thomas leaned his head back against the window as if nothing was happening and he wasn't just about to make Newt's heart jump out of his chest. He knew he shouldn't be feeling this way about Thomas, I mean Jesus it was Oben but Newt couldn't help the way that his stomach jumped when Thomas did basically anything. Having him in real life was so much harder to manage than online.
In reality Newt knew it was a comfort thing so he lightly squeezed Thomas' hand.
Despite the situation, Newt was right.
Holding hands with Thomas was awesome.
_______
When Teresa's car finally slowed down, they were in a little suburban neighborhood. She pulled next to the curb and turned her car off. Newt pulled his mom's car behind her and turned off his car too.
"Ready?" Newt asked Thomas softly as he let go of his hand.
Thomas nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be right?"
They got out of the car and met Teresa around front.
"Just act normal, she's just a little old lady who we're not trying to give an early death," Teresa pointed out.
"Roger that," Newt said, which made Teresa roll her eyes.
"It's that one," Teresa said as she pointed to one of the houses.
It was getting dark so the porch lights were on but Newt could still make out the house. It wasn't big but it wasn't small, it looked pretty generic and average. The front was covered in red brick and it was two floors. The front door was chipped white and there was a little sign on the mailbox that said "The Parks".
Newt took a deep breath. "Okay guys, let's go."
They walked anxiously up to the front porch and stood in front of the door. No one moved for a while so Teresa rolled her eyes and knocked three times on the door.
They were dead silent, no noise came until a faint yell could be heard from inside.
"I'll get it ma!"
Newt scrunched his face up in confusion but he barely had time to process what was happening because the door swung open.
A young boy stood there wearing a dark blue crewneck and black pants. His hair was a bit spiked on the top like he used a lot of gel and his eyes were warm brown. He was unmistakably korean and he was holding a bowl of what looked like ramen noodles and chopsticks.
The boy made a weird face as he looked at them.
"Who the hell are you guys?"