The One I Love || Newt-TMR

Chapter 30

"You do know that I'm going to have to ask you a few questions about last night, don't you?" Alby asked as we lined up for breakfast.
"It wouldn't be the Glade if you didn't." I responded with a cheeky smile as I wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead. This morning was a particularly hot day, the burning hot sun that you could never seem to locate already scorching down on the Glade. The bump that had formed on my head from Jack had almost disappeared, with only a small, deep purple bruise present.
"Do you mind if I come while you're working? I have quite the busy morning." Alby explained with a little chuckle. It was strange seeing Alby like this; he seemed so normal. I was used to the fearless leader, not the regular teenager.
"Sure, that's fine! But may I ask what has gotten you so busy?" I pried, stepping up further in the line. I just caught a glimpse of Newt stumbling out from the Homestead; his hair a golden birds nest with hair sprayed in ever direction. It was actually quite cute to see.
Wait hold up, what did I just say? Or think, whatever!
As he clumsily stumbled towards the bathroom, he yawned and almost ran into a younger Glader. Newt obviously could tell I was watching, because after apologising to the boy, he turned and gave me an embarrassed nod, and then continued on towards the bathroom; this time much more alert of his surroundings.
"Is Rosie in there?" Alby's voiced brought me crashing back into reality. Before I could even answer, he followed my line of sight, and it was as if a lightbulb lit up above his head.
"So you do like the shank, aye?" Alby pried, a hint of a smile wrinkling the corners of his brown eyes up.
"Hmm? Oh no, Newt just caught my eye!" I tried to explain.
"Yeah, he did didn't he?" Alby muttered under his breath. I had built the courage to glare at Alby, but when he didn't react, I resorted to my next plan.
"Sorry, what were you saying?" I steered the conversation away from me.
"Oh, just that I have been trying to settle a few little uprisings here and there. I'm honestly surprised you've heard nothing of the buggin' slintheads. But that obviously means I'm doin' my job." I looked at Alby confused as he stepped aside and let me get my breakfast first.
"I'm sorry, but why would I hear from them?" I asked.
"It's the same usual thing. Gally is desperately trying to turn the Glade against you; with little success. I've just had a few of his minions starting arguments with other Glader's about you. " Alby elaborated, seeming to morph back to the stern, emotion void man I knew him to be. The differences between Alby and Newt were phenomenal. You'd never believe the two were best friends.
"Wait, people are fighting over me? Shuck, if I knew I'd be this much of a trouble to the Glade, I'd have stayed in the Box!" I exclaimed as Alby and I walked over to the table. Just as we sat down, Newt appeared from the bathroom, looking much fresher and awake.
"Say, does Newt always look that tired in the morning?" I pointed out, noticing the dark circles under his eyes as they glazed over the area, finally landing on my eyes. A small smirk spread across his lips, and he awkwardly waved towards us while grabbing a plate and joining the queue for food.
"No, not usually. He gets these terrible nightmares that just keep him up all night. You must be a deep sleeper to not hear him thrashin' about. The poor shank has 'em every night." Alby remarked, already digging into his pancakes, one of Fry's specials.
I remembered back to my first night here, when I woke up from the dream where I remembered my name. I remembered Newt telling me that he gets nightmares too. I felt so stupid and selfish for only talking about my problems.
How kind can someone get? Newt literally can't sleep from nightmares, and when I had one, he was willing to listen to all of it and comfort me.
"How bad are they, if they make him thrash around?" I asked, but didn't really want the answer.
"Dunno. He never told me what they're about. Hey, Greenie? Ya never heard this, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah I got it." I confirmed, frowning as I watched Newt thank Frypan for his food, and began to walk over to us.
Last night just have been much worse to make him look like that. I thought as I began to eat some of my pancakes.
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The rest of the day ran fairly normal, compared to how it could have been. I was glad for the normalcy of the day, and thanked whatever and whoever decided to keep it that way.
Just after our lunch break, Alby came to see me about the incident with Jack. I was more than happy when he asked me to follow him outside, because the Medjack room was completely empty and I had nothing better to do otherwise.
As we walked outside, I gawked around; observing everyone busy at work. I hardly ever got out of the Medjack room during the day, so it was quite the pleasant change. My skin began to complain in the intense heat of the sun, and my muscles ached with a fierce fire as we lapped around the Glade.
"I don't get to talk to you much Greenie. It seems everyone has has made good friends with you, and you're still a stranger to me." Alby chuckled, scratching the side of his thick, masculine arm that was shiny with sweat.
"Well, nearly everyone." He added under his breath. I hardly heard him as his words were swept away with the sudden breeze that seemed like heaven along my red and hot skin.
"Yeah, well I guess you're quite busy. But it's nice to talk and get to know you." I admitted with a genuine smile.
"I never got to ask you, but how are you fitting in and all?" Alby questioned, not really looking at me. His attention was drawn in by a couple of boys hustled together over a withering tomato shrub; Newt among them. His shoulders hunched over in the heat, and he had both hands resting in his hips as he examined the bush. Even from a distance, I could see the sheen of his sweaty and dirty skin as an arm dragged along his forehead in attempt to rub of sweet, but only smeared dirt across his forehead. The group seemed to be discussing the fate of the plant, and was obviously a big deal by the way some's arms swung in the air in disagreement.
"I guess I'm fitting in fine. I've got Minho, Newt, Clint, Jeff and Fry as fiends who are always willing to back me up. I also have you as a friend too." I shot him a toothy grin, which he was quick to return.
"That's good to hear. Now about Jack." Alby paused to face me, his arm slung across his head to shield his eyes from the scorching sun. "First of all, I need to know why you decided to go and visit him."
"I don't really know why I wanted to. I guess I just wanted to prove to Newt that I was capable of looking after myself; which didn't turn out how I wanted it. I was also curious and concerned about Jack, and I just wanted check up on him." I explained struggling to recall the foggy memories of the night. It had all kind of turned into on blur.
"Okay. Did he say anything to you, or was there anyway you provoked him?"
"No, not that I know of. All I did was walk into his room, and when I realised that he wasn't strapped down in his bed, he attacked me. He did say something though. He said that this was all my fault, and I shouldn't be here." A shudder ran down my spine as I remembered his icy hiss; the clearest part of that night for me.
"What's going to happen to him, Alby?" I added, barely audible over the clamorous sound of cattle mooing and chickens bustling about.
"There's only one thing we can do; banish him." He replied with a dead tone in his voice. My stomach twisted into a tight knot with just the word.
"What? No he can't!" I retaliated. Alby turned to stare at me; a mixture of shock and confusion plastered on his face.
"Are you saying you don't want the boy who attacked and almost killed you banished?"
"Of course not! Look, I know he tried to hurt me; but that wasn't him! Newt said that when people go through the Changing, they lose themselves. And I can tell you that when I looked into Jack's eyes that night, there was not a trace of him in there." Alby seemed to think about what I said as I waited.
"I'm sorry Rosie, but we can't have a buggin' maniac like Jack running around after that. He needs to face the consequences of what he has done. I know it sounds harsh, but without order, we wouldn't be where we are today. Order is what has kept us together, and what is going to help us get out of here." Alby lectured. I tuned out, too sick to listen to him
How can Alby just hand out death sentence like that? Sure, Jack attacked me; but he didn't know what he was doing. And even if he did, that doesn't deserve a Banishment.
"You in there Greenie?" Alby asked.
"I uh, feel sick. I have to go." And without another word, I broke out into a sprint towards the Homestead.
I didn't care about the weird stares I got as I stammered across the Glade. I didn't care about the tears that burned and threatened to spill over my eyes. Heck, I didn't even care that Newt was chasing after me, calling out my name.
All I could think about was how cruel this place was, and how all I wanted to do was leave and never come back.