Bound | Newt Love Story

11 | Rain

I awake with a startle. I gasp loudly and my heart begins racing as I see the sun shining brightly through my sleeping quarters. I missed it. I missed running time. 

I throw on my shoes and run outside, searching endlessly for Minho. 

"Have you seen Minho?" I ask some random Glader that happened to be passing by.

"He's left already." The Glader replies.

I see Newt in the distance, over by the Deadheads. I run as fast as possible over towards him.

"Newt!" I yell out. 

Newt looks up from chopping at a tree with Jeff and looks behind him at me. Thomas and Chuck are perched on a fallen tree, watching Newt and the rest of the Gladers.

I run over to them and look at Newt, anger and worry written on my face. "I missed it." I breathe out. "I missed running time...I'm gonna be fired. I can't just go now, I don't have enough time to finish-"

"Shh, love." Newt says, calmingly, pulling me into him. "Minho suggested you have the day off...because of what all happened yesterday."

I swallow hard and vividly feel my body relax. 

Newt continues, "So I let you sleep in as long as you needed."

"Thank you." I breathe, relaxing more in his arms. 

Newt presses a kiss to my cheek. "You're welcome, love." I pull back and look into his eyes, that are bright and full of love. "How about you sit with Thomas and Chuck? I've just got to finish this tree with Jeff and then I'm all yours today."

"Really?" I ask, hopefully.

"Really." Newt smiles.

I walk over and plop down next to Chuck who is tying some kind of rope. 

Thomas lurches forward, back into conversation, as if I had interrupted them. "Yeah, but why would Alby go into the Maze?"

My eyebrows furrow, "Alby went into the Maze?" I ask, leaning over Chuck to look at Thomas.

Thomas nods, "I saw him this morning." Thomas looks back at Newt. "He's not a Runner."

Newt stops chopping at the tree to respond, "Things are different now. Alby went to retrace Ben's footsteps before sundown." Newt's voice then changes. "Are you gonna help?"

Thomas brushes off his question, "So he's gonna go back to where Ben was just stung-"

"Alby knows what he's doing...all right?" Newt interrupts. "He knows better than any of us." Newt then goes back to chopping at the tree. 

Thomas sticks the knife he has in his hand down into the ground, defeatedly. "What does that mean?"

Newt stops chopping again and scratches the back of his neck, annoyed. "Well it's like you have heard, yeah? Every month the Box sends up a new arrival. But someone had to be first, right? Someone had to have spent a whole month in the Glade, alone. That was Alby." 

Shock takes over me. Why hasn't Newt told me this? Well, I guess, we never really talked about that...but still. 

Newt begins chopping again, "I mean, it can't have been easy. But when those other boys started coming up, one after the other...he saw the truth. And he learned that the most important thing...is that we all have each other. Because we're all in this together."

Thomas falls silent at this and hangs his head low...probably ashamed of asking. He then jumps up and starts helping chop up the tree. 

Thunder crashes throughout the Glade, sending a slight vibration through the Earth. Dark clouds start migrating towards us and light sprinkles of water fall from the sky. 

"Is that rain?" I ask, looking over at Newt confusingly. 

"I think it is!" Chuck yells jumping up from his seated position and thrusting his hands upwards, in hopes of catching a raindrop. 

The rain continues to get heavier and heavier as Newt and the rest of the Gladers attempt to pull everything into shelter. 

"Brooke! Come on!" Newt yells from a few yards across the Glade, referring to a covered area by the Homestead. 

I look over at him and shake my head, dashing off into the storm. My combat boots hit the slushy grass, water flying upwards with each of my strides. And for the first time since I've arrived here, happiness hit me like a truck. Overwhelming and pure happiness. The water sprinkles down on me like a waterfall, over my skin and through my hair. I stick my arms out as I run, trying, full of hope, to catch more water. I finally stop my tracks, what seems like miles, away from the rest of the boys and let my arms fall down by my side. I tip my head back and close my eyes, feeling the raindrops hit my face in perfect rhythm. 

And then I felt a hand. A warm...gentle...soft...strong...hand, embrace my face, pulling my face down slightly. The hand moved and the thumb is right under my cheekbone, the fingers grasping at my jaw. I open my eyes slowly, raindrops dancing on my eyelashes, and see Newt, standing their with wet hair and rain dripping from every muscle on his body. His lips tug upwards once my eyes open and his eyes brighten. 

"You're crazy!" Newt yells out over the noise of the rain. 

I laugh, "It's amazing!" I gaze, looking back up at the rain.

"You're amazing." Newt says, his voice dropping slightly. 

I feel the blush creeping up on my cheeks. "Oh, stop!" I giggle. 

"I'll never stop!" Newt laughs. 

I giggle out of his grasp and start running again, turning my head back ever so often to see Newt chasing after me. It was all in slow motion. This moment. This pure moment, that nothing can ruin. I turn back around, focused on trying to escape him, while still giggling loudly. And then I feel his strong arms wrap around my torso, stopping me in my tracks. I feel my feet lift slightly off the ground as Newt laughs loudly. 

He sets me down and turns me around. His smile is miles wide as he stares back at me. "The rain falling reminds me of you."

I furrow my eyebrows. "How so?"

"Because it's falling hard. And I am too...for you."

I feel the blood, once again, rush up into my cheeks and my smile growing even larger, if that's even possible. I throw my arms around him, pulling myself into him. I smell his scent, sending a chill down my spine. 

"That first night." Newt starts. "When you came to find me in the Deadheads...and we looked at the stars for what seemed like hours. I realized something. You aren't just a star to me...you're my whole bloody sky. I fell in love with you because of the million things you never knew you were doing. You make me laugh. You make me smile. You're smart...and different. You're sometimes kind of crazy and a little awkward and your smile alone can make my day." Newt pulls my hands into his. "Truthfully, I could talk about you all day and all night and I'd still have a million more things to say. But too many words become meaningless, so I'll just leave it at...you're the most wonderful person I've ever met...and I can't imagine life without you. I love you. Like really, really love you."

I didn't even realize I was crying until I felt my tears mix with the rain water. 

"Oh, Newt!" I gasp throwing my arms around his neck and smashing my lips against his. And we were kissing like drowning people breathe—like suddenly we'd discovered something that has never been so sweet before that moment. It was a kiss to level mountains and shake stars from the sky. It was a kiss to make angels faint and demons weep...a passionate, demanding, soul-searing kiss that nearly knocked the earth off its axis. I pull away and stare into his deep, sparkling eyes. "I love you too."