Back to Thomas POV
Half a day had passed since our return. Newt had wanted to call a keeper meeting immediately, but Minho and I persuaded him to let us rest for a day. So today, I had nothing to do except relax and rest myself. Which, ironically, was exactly what I was supposed to do.
Throughout the morning, I had been hearing strange things in my head - a girl’s voice or something. But I just dismissed it as a figment of my imagination. After all, I was pretty shaken up by my Griever encounters.
But of course, no one really expected me to just sit there and do nothing. I hung around Newt, trailing after him like a puppy. He didn’t seem to mind, which I was relieved about.
Speaking of Newt, I still couldn’t explain what had gone on between the two of us that morning. Was I seriously expecting him to kiss me? I didn’t even know if he liked me; maybe he was only being nice like a normal friend. But to me, he was anything but. It was quite pathetic, really; I pretty much had a crush on him since the moment I laid my eyes on him when I woke up in that shucking box.
Woah, was I starting to use Glader slang now? I suppose my time with Minho had really influenced me.
Anyways, back to Newt. I always assumed it was just a passing crush, though I had my doubts now… I leaned into him in the morning (though of course I had no idea what I was doing), but he leaned into me too… Didn’t he? Doesn’t that mean he liked me at least enough to kiss me? Or was it just my eyes playing tricks on me? I knew for a fact that he blushed afterwards, though that might of course be just because of his worrying for me.
At least he liked me enough to worry about me…
“Hey, Tommy, quit staring at the floor and come with me. The girl’s awake and she wants to see you,” a voice, Newt’s, said behind me back. I whirled around and followed him when I heard the mention of the girl, barely noticing the poisonous traces of jealousy laced within his voice. Almost from instinct, he reached for my hand and I let him hold it, dragging me across the Glade. A warm feeling surged through my entire system, leaving my heart jumping with joy or nervousness, I didn’t know.
Soon, we reached the bottom of the treehouse-like hut near a wall of the Glade. A group of boys seemed to be huddled underneath it, including Chuck, Frypan and a few others. They were covering their heads with various cardboards, wood planks and other random things, and currently being pelted by rocks.
“Seriously?” I turned to Newt and asked, as I dodged a pebble.
He nodded. “She wants to talk to you, she won’t talk to any of us. Been calling your name since she bloody woke up,” he said, then looked away, frowning. He seemed almost angry, and who I didn’t know, but I decided the girl was more important at that moment.
So I walked up to her. When I reached the top, I almost walked straight into a knife. The girl was holding it, her hand shaking and wobbly. She was beautiful - with jet black hair and striking blue eyes, though of course no one could compare to Newt. “Tell me why I don’t remember anything,” she started, her voice wavering.
I sighed, then began to tell her everything Newt or Alby had told me, since I couldn’t do anything with the knife pointing at me anyway. Halfway through, however, I finally convinced her to put it down. I learnt her name was Teresa - not one I was familiar with, though at the back of my head I felt like I had seen glimpses of her somewhere before. Finally, she allowed me to lead her down onto the ground. held her hand as I lead her down, and I wanted to release it once I was on the ground, but it seemed that she had other ideas. She gripped my hand tightly, and it felt kind of wrong. I didn’t feel the kind of nervous warmth I felt while holding Newt’s hand.
When we walked down, the first person I looked for was Newt. I saw him not with the other Gladers but alone, leaning in the hottest way possible against a wooden pole of the farm. I waved to him, and he smiled, but it promptly disappeared when he saw our linked hands. His eyes seemed to widen in shock or disbelief, vaguely blushing. I tried to ignore his sudden weird behaviour, but I couldn’t.
Tom, do you know that guy? I heard the voice in my head again. Alarmed, I looked at Teresa. The voice was hers.
How… did you do tha-that? I tried to think the words, formulating the letters in my head. She seemed to get my message, because she smiled a little.
I don’t know, I just can. She paused a while before continuing. I can only do this with you though, I think we knew each other before. Maybe we were lovers?
I sensed a slight joke regarding her last sentence, but my heartbeat still seemed to quicken. I found myself hoping that wasn’t true.
“Are you guys done staring at each other like bloody lovers?” Newt said, breaking me out of my telepathic conversation with Teresa. I blushed; there was that word again. Lover.
He glared at me and I returned his look, puzzled. Why was he acting like I had done something wrong? Anger surged in my heart. "Newt, come with me, we need to talk. Teresa, go look for Minho or someone in the Homestead, that big building over there," I said, trying to contain my sudden urge to hit something, grabbing Newt's arm and pulling him towards the Deadheads.
When I reached there, I slowed down, panting. My anger had died down a bit, though I was still extremely confused. "Newt," I began, "why are you acting so bitter towards me all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong?"
He suddenly looked surprised, as if only just realising his attitude. "Well, for starters, you bloody tried to kill yourself in the maze-"
"But I didn't, right? And look, Alby and Minho are both back," I tried to reason with him. He gave me a look that told me to shut up, and for once, I did.
"That's not the bloody point. The point is, I was worried about you, okay? I care about you, so you should bloody take that in mind the next time ya throw yourself into a death pit." He took a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair. "Look, I'm- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be angry... I just..." He sighed, looking away, unable to continue on.
A sudden understanding and realisation overwhelmed me. I recalled his hostility towards Teresa and his reaction when he saw us holding hands. "This is about Teresa, isn't it? But why? Do you... like me or something?" There. I said it. I looked away, blushing, immediately after I said that, somewhat unable to believe such idiotic words had just come out of my mouth.
"Well... You don't like her, right?" He asked, uncertain, discreetly avoiding my second question.
"No, I swear we're just friends. I don't like girls anyhow," I replied confidently, smiling when I saw that whatever troubles that had plagued him previously had seemed to vanish. "Actually, I kind of like this guy..." I trailed off, not sure if I really wanted to reveal my feelings.
"Really? What is he like?" Newt asked, seeming enthusiastic, though possibly a little down, if those two could even go together.
I hid a smile and slowly started, my heart starting to beat faster. "Well, he has blond hair, is really cute and has a limp. He's basically perfect, in every way possible..." I trailed off again when I saw him lean towards me, his dark eyes locked onto mine. Closer... Closer...
And bam, a figure crashed into my side, bringing me down and off the tree stump I was sitting on. The last thing I saw before I passed out from whatever he - it was a human shape - had hit me with on the side of my head was Newt slitting his throat with a machete.
~
(small tiny) NEWT POV
I didn't know what had come over me, or what to do as I paced back and forth in the room, occasionally glancing at the still unconscious Tommy on my bed. My still unconscious Tommy. His long dark lashes framed his pale face, and he looked almost asleep.
Ben had attacked him in the afternoon, breaking him away from our little ...escapade. I was 90% sure he liked me; and about 500% sure I liked him back. Maybe something could transpire between us... I blushed at the thought.
Smiling, I reached over and kissed him on the cheek before settling down into my own mattress next to his bed. I wasn't going to leave him... Not now, not ever.
~
A/N: Sorry for the long break >< School is just really busy now, so I may not be able to post another chapter for the next few days... I had to write this in class lol. So I'm sorry if it isn't very good ._. I'm also aware I got the order of events completely wrong oops
I'm also gonna start a Newtmas one-shot collection. I really wanna write them, but I'll probably only have time to start when I'm not so busy, which may only be in like June... I really hope its earlier though :X I honestly have no idea why I'm so busy.
Anyways I hope you liked this chapter!! If you did please vote and comment your feedback <3 Thank you!!!