𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓬𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓫𝓸𝔂 // 𝓷𝓮𝔀𝓽𝓶𝓪𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 ✿

Swimming Hole

Once Chuck leaves I breathe.

"Did you just admit you're in love with me?!" I exclaim as I flop back onto the bed.

"To be fair, I believe I already mentioned that." He says matter of factly.

"Newt I love you too." I breathe.

I bunch up a fistful of sheets and bring it to my nose and inhale his soft lingering scent.

"Tommy how the hell did this happen?" He asks, bewildered.

"What?"

"This, look at us. Just yesterday you were scared to put your hand on my leg."

"You noticed?"

"How could I not, you're quite terrible at masking your emotions."

"Come here Thomas."

I obey eagerly and hop out of bed following suit.

"Now, enough of this lazy morning, I have something wonderful to show you." An eager grin spreads across his face.

He grabs my hand and yanks me out of his room. But not before I tug him off course of the door frame and gently into the wall. I pin him back against the wood. In seconds he flips around and has me up against the wall.

"I'm stronger than you." He taunts, then his act diminishes when he has to stand on tiptoe to give me a kiss.

I laugh and we walk out of the homestead. We stay an acceptable distance apart until we are a couple yards into the Deadheads. He reaches for my hand and I gladly accept it.

"If it's the tree, I've already been there." I say jokingly.

"Nope." He keeps it a surprise.

"So," I say after the silence is unbearable.

"What do you think happens to Alice at the end of the book. I mean surely this place can't be real, at least not in her world." I finish.

"Oh I've read the book dozens of times. It has a very clever ending." He grins.

"How come I never knew you read?" I whine.

"Not sure. I guess the subject just never presented itself." He says calmly.

He leads us deeper into the forest, twisting and weaving to avoid gnarled stumps and braided roots. After maybe 15 minutes he stops and covers my eyes.

"If I fall this is your fault!" I warn.

"You're fine." He sighs, I can hear his smile tinged upon his words.

He leads me another couple slow steps forward and turns me to face the left.

"Ok open Tommy."

He pulls his hand away and when my eyes adjust to the grandeur I sweep him into a hug. Before us lies a swimming hole of sorts. It looks to be almost spring fed from a nook in some boulders to the left of it. That ensures it will be freezing. Although I'm not sure where the spring itself would come from. Probably just another piece in the creators board game. Nonetheless it's beautiful. The branches are a bit less closely woven above the pond. offering for some light to dapple upon the water. It's incredibly clear, and the air is bright and crisp.

"How did you find this?" I marvel.

"Not sure, but I think I'm the only Glader that knows about it. Unless it's just some unspoken yet well known place. Which I doubt it is, so consider it our spot." He smiles warmly towards me.

I tug his arm, both of us stumbling until I pull us both in. The freezing water locks in around me, momentarily taking my breath away. Then I realize how rejuvenating it feels, it's clarity. Me and Newt burst to the surface at the same time. I tackle him and he gives me a lingering cold kiss. The droplets from our foreheads fall onto our lips, and he giggles into my mouth. It's all so breathtaking. I lay on my back and observe the canopy above. I look through the crystal water as Newt dives to the bottom to retrieve something. He gasps as he comes up. but then shows of a handful of white dirt.

"It's sand." He explains.

His grin fills me with pure joy.

"It fascinates me, we never see it around the Glade."

And with that he lets it dance back to the floor. The rest of our time there consists of diving for various rocks and sand, finding perfect spots for jumping, and lots of cold pretty kisses. By the end we were both exhausted and soaked. We trudged back to Glade, which gave us just enough time for our pants to dry so we didn't arouse any suspicions. What other wonderful activities shall this lazy monday morning bring.

I learned it was hardly morning anymore when I arrived back to the Glade to find out we had missed lunch. Luckily we were able to sneak into the kitchen while Fry was busying himself  gathering vegetables in a wicker basket. We grabbed several apples, a small loaf of bread, and a leftover mug of stew.

We take our findings out by the rest of the guys for once. Our distance kills me, not being able to feel his warm presence is utterly unsettling. Thankfully lunch was only small talk and didn't take long, afterwards we headed into the homestead for a much needed afternoon nap.

Newt locks the door when we get into the room this time, I wonder if this would come across as strange to the other Gladers, but any sensible person locks the door when they're taking a nap right? I quickly strip off my shirt as Newt locks the window and draws the curtains. He too is shirtless as we huddle close. there is just enough light that I can make out his face.

"Goodnight Tommy."

"I guess it isn't really goodnight" He rethinks.

"Oh well, good night Newt." I sigh, being too tired to function, and quickly fall asleep.