Live ➳ Newt

21 | home base

Bailey

➳

"Hey guys?"

Teresa and I turned around, now looking directly at the boy in the doorway. Chuck stood there calmly, simply staring at us. I smiled, raising my hand into the air to wave at him.

"Chuck, right?" Teresa asked, resting her hands on her hips, "You can come in, you know."

He took a step forward, only letting himself inside for a moment. "Right, sorry. Alby told us to stay out of your hut."

I rolled my eyes, "Cool, cool. Not like I needed that or anything."

The small boy chuckled lightly and waved his hand around, dismissing my comment. "Thomas and the guys should be coming back soon. If you want to come greet them with me."

I nodded slowly, a small sigh escaping my lips as I thought about Newt, "Alright, lead the way."

Teresa tilted her head at my reaction, "Is Thomas the guy you like?" she whispered.

I laughed, before speaking in a hushed tone, "Hell no."

A smile returned to her lips, "Thank god, I was kind of trying to grab him myself. I think he's kind of cute."

I gleamed at her, "Seriously? You guys would be so adorable together!"

"You think?"

"One hundred percent!" I smiled, glancing over at Chuck. He was standing patiently in the entryway, "Oh! Sorry, Chuck. Let's get going."

➳

"What happened?" Alby asked as we ran up to the West Gate. The three boys walked into the glade slowly; holding Newt on each other's opposite arm. His leg hung loosely beneath him.

"The hell you do now, Thomas?" Gally questioned; his strict tone coming out harsh and angry.

I stepped in between the boys, wrapping Newt's arms around my much thinner body. He almost rejected the idea by moving away at first, but he soon relaxed against me. I rubbed small circles into his shoulder; telling him that I wasn't going to let go. Thomas sighed through his nose, "We found something," He paused, looking over at Alby, "A new passage, we think it might be a way out."

Alby and Gally's eyes widened with shock. They glanced at each other quickly, before the third command's brows narrowed. "Minho? Newt?" Alby turned his gaze to the other gladers.

"It's true. We opened a door, I think it's where the grievers go during the day," Minho stated, glancing over at Newt and I, "You should get Newt to Jeff though, his limp was acting up in there."

Newt shook his head against my collarbone, "I want to stay with you for a moment, love."

I smiled weakly and kissed his forehead before Thomas spoke again, "Their way in could be our way out, Alby."

Alby nodded sternly, "Let me go talk to the other keepers. I'll be in the homestead."

As the leader walked away; Gally scoffed, glaring at Thomas, "So what you're saying is, we could all get eaten by grievers?" He rolled his eyes, looking at the rest of us, "The thing is, Thomas doesn't know what he's done, as per usual."

"Yea well, at least I did something, Gally," Thomas growled in reply, "I mean, what have you done? Besides hide behind these walls all the time."

"Let me tell you something, Greenie," He let the glade term roll off his tongue, "You've been here a couple of days, alright? I've been here three years."

"Yea! Three years and you're still here, Gally! What does that tell you?"

Teresa stepped in from behind me, holding her hand out in front of the two fuming boys. "Cut it out, you guys!" She shouted, grabbing hold of Thomas's hand, "Everyone go."

Thomas glanced down at their intertwined fingers, before he looked back up at Teresa. She smiled at him until he returned the happy gaze. Gally rolled his eyes once more, before he stalked away.
The second in command squirmed next to me, his nose grazing across my neck. I jumped slightly, his sudden touch startling me, "Oh shit, sorry."

"It's fine." He replied.

➳

I entered the med-jack tent slowly with Newt by my side. I helped him sit up on one of the beds and moved around the hut slowly, "Why do you have a limp anyways?" I asked, sitting on the cot across from his, "I mean, if it's ok to ask."

He shook his head, "It's fine. I just don't like talking about it."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I want to." He replied calmly.

I smiled at him and leaned over to grab his hand. He held my palm in his own for a moment, resting his thumb upon my knuckles. It was silent for awhile. The sound of our steady heartbeats and breath was the only thing I could here before he started to talk again, "It was way back in the maze. When I had come up in the box, just like the other guys. But, even though my memories were gone, I could still feel something was missing, you know? I felt empty." He paused, looking down at our hands. A small grin flashed across his face and he glanced back up at me. I smiled caringly in return, squeezing his palm lightly. "I couldn't handle that. I couldn't take being empty. So, one morning; I got up early. I snuck into the maze and found the tallest wall I could. I went up there and.."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "And I jumped off it."

My heart sank. I watched as the boy in front of me started to shake, obviously trying not to relive the memory. I got up and sat next to him. I placed my arms underneath his and hugged him; resting my head in the crook of his neck and closing my eyes.

A feeling of comfort washed over me as his arms repeated my action, pulling me closer to his chest. "Of course, I got completely tangled up in all the ivy. Snapped my leg in three different places and landed hard on the floor." He stated, trying to make me feel better by joking about it.

It didn't work.
I inhaled deeply and hugged him tighter. "I thought that was it, that I was gone, but Minho found me somehow. He picked me up and took me back to the glade. We never told anyone what really happened."

I looked up at him, his gaze meeting my own, "But, I have something to live for now and I'm not going to take any chances to lose it."