A/N: It picked stuff both from the movie and the books to write this.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, all the rights belong to James Dashner.
At the sound of the pounding alarm, all the Gladers headed towards the box, watching it come up with the usual supplies and the new Greenie, who'd doubtlessly ask a billion questions in the following hours. Alby shook his head, anticipating the questions, but he'd simply tell him the usual stuff: shut your shuck mouth, follow the rules and stop asking questions. That's it, that's all the green bean needed to know, the rest would follow quickly. Most of the time, what really bothered the Newbies wasn't even the actual Glade and the fact that they were trapped, but their slang which they couldn't understand and confused them at first. Newt jogged to catch up on him, his steps slightly uneven because of his limp.
"You go greet the Newbie," Alby told him before Newt even got the chance to say anything. The blond boy nodded and then ran off to the box, getting there at the same as Gally. Both of them opened the grids. Slowly, all the Gladers gathered around the opened box, hiding the sun an diving the box in the shadow.
"Is he asleep?"
"He's dead!"
"I can't see him!"
The voices around Newt whispered as the boys' curiosity grew. The blond boy jumped into the box, but even that didn't make the Greenie move. He was laying on his face. He's got short light brown hair and was dressed just like the others, a shirt and a hooded sweater, along with brown trousers and worn-out leather boots.
"Turn him around!" Alby ordered and Newt carefully pushed the body with his foot, causing the Newbie to roll around so his face was visible. A concerto of whispers and shocked expressions made the blond boy look up, squinting his eyes when a ray of sun blinded him.
"What's the matter? Why are you all bloody whispering about?" He asked, annoyed.
"The Greenie doesn't look like a boy," Frypan shook his head. Newt knitted his eyebrows together and Fry tried to explain. The boy brought his hands to his chest and faked to squeeze breasts. What the shuck?
Newt glanced down and knelt beside the unconscious body so he wouldn't have the sun in the eyes anymore and suddenly he saw it. The greenbean was a she-bean. She had delicate features and she definitely wasn't flat-chested. In some way, Newt felt uncomfortable when he realized it was a girl. He had that odd feeling that he shouldn't be that surprised, as if he hadn't seen a girl before – even if in a way, it was the case. It didn't make any sense! They've been here for almost a year now and apart from the ten of them who came there together, they've only ever gotten a new Greenie every month – and always a boy!
"What are you waitin' for, slinthead? Bring her out!" Gally groaned, as if he wasn't half surprised a girl just came up in the box – and unconscious. Alby stepped in front of Gally, not taking any of his klunk.
"Take her out, we'll bring her to the Medjacks'," he decided and Newt shook he head. Something was wrong about this. "Get back to work everyone!"
Most of the Gladers turned tail and went back to their work, but some tried to stay and see her more closely, immediately chased by Alby who told them to move their arses and get something done. She was kinda small and Newt was surprised she didn't weigh more, it didn't put him in any pain to carry her out. Her head fell back against his shoulder and he would've sworn he heard her sigh, but Alby told him to hurry up and so he obliged. He stepped out of the box and walked to the Medjacks, Alby and the others already gone to their respective business. Suddenly, Newt felt a grip on his arm which almost made him drop the girl and when he looked at her, he met two big brown eyes staring right at him.
Most of the time, when a new Greenie was sent to the glade, the first questions he would ask were "Where am I?", "Who am I?", "Why am I here?" but instead of falling into an endless rambling of questions which wouldn't been answered, the girl kept her eyes bored into Newt's and asked him one simple question before waiting patiently for his answer.
"Who are you?" Her voice was kind of smoky, as if she'd had a cold or hadn't spoken in a while. It took him a few seconds before answering.
"I'm Newt. Who are you?" He then asked, not realizing he was still carrying her.
"Well Newt, could you please put me down?" Her gaze went from him to his arms and he apologized, letting her go and walk on her two feet. Everybody was busy with their work and nobody had noticed yet that the girl was awake. She scratched the back of her head and frowned, probably realizing she couldn't remember anything.
"My name's Jane, I think..." She seemed to be unsure, but who could blame her? Jane gave a look around her, her eyes traveling from Newt, to the homestead, to the Deadheads, to the other Gladers, to the Glade's hundred meters high walls and the huge opened doors, but she didn't ask any questions. "Well, looks like bloody trouble to me." She then muttered, placing her hands on her hips and frowning slightly. And that's when Newt decided that he liked her.
This day started normally and now,
now they had a bloody girl.
[Almost one year later]
"C'mon! It's not fair!" She groaned but obeyed nonetheless. "You owe me!" She shouted before walking away from Minho and the runners. They just had dinner and as they all sat together, chatting and relaxing after another long day of hard work, Minho and Ben decided it would be a good idea to make a bet with Jane.
"The last one who reaches the woods has to do the others' laundry," Ben said, knowing the girl couldn't refuse a good dare and even if it was losing battle, her ego would make her agree. So they finished eating and did it. And of course, Jane was the last one. She was pretty good at running though, but Minho and Ben were runners, they were just more experienced and had longer legs.
"One year, and you still can't beat us," Minho pointed out. Jane made a face and grabbed their dirty shirts, walking away to the little pond in the woods, groaning and swearing out loud.
The other boys kept eating and laughing around the fire, but Newt's eyes followed the girl's figure until she was out of sight. Someone bumped into his shoulder. Frypan.
"If you like the chick you should tell her," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing. The blond boy didn't answer right away. "Hey don't give me that look, shuck face, everybody here knows it!"
Newt shook his head. "I don't remember asking for your bloody advice Fry," he grumbled. Not even slightly offended, Fry stood up and walked back to the kitchen for another ration.
As they finished eating, most of the Gladers went to their bunk and soon, Newt was sitting alone, leaned against a tree trunk with a goblet of Gally's secret receipt drink in hand. He was ruminating dark thoughts alone after what Fry just told him. He did kind of like her, but who didn't ? She was the only girl here among twenty-three guys, every one of them tried to flirt with her, but she just kept acting like she didn't see anything, like she was one of them. Newt knew she'd had a hard time here at the beginning, and now that she was integrated, she didn't want to screw it up or to be the reason for them to argue or whatever. She'd just act like a boy all the time. He knew it because he was her friend. Bloody hell, he was probably even her best friend! She couldn't be more out of reach for Newt, he was most definitely friend-zoned beyond everything imaginable. He sat there, lost in his own thoughts for so long that she came back before he even moved.
"Here sintheads," she laughed, throwing Ben and Minho's stuff right in their faces. "All cleaned up, now quit being shanks and give me a drink!" She demanded and Chuck who was always happy to please her in any way, brought her one. It was an unusually hot day and the air was still thick. Jane put her hair together and tied them into a bun so it wouldn't stick against her neck.
"Your hair grew pretty fast," Chuck said. It was the first time ever since she arrived that someone said something about her hair, but it only occurred her now. He was right though, when she came up through the box, she had short hair, like all the boys, but in a year, they grew long enough for her to put them in a ponytail if she wanted to. She never even thought about cutting them again, it wasn't really the number one of her priorities.
"Yeah now you almost look like a girl," Minho teased her, earning a punch in the shoulder. Newt smirked when he saw him act like it didn't hurt and then rub his arm.
Having enough of watching her from afar like a creeper, Newt stood up and walked to his room. Being second in command had its perks.
The next few days, Jane became abnormally quiet, but all the boys seemed to think it was the bad period of the month and didn't ask any further questions, but it worried Newt. It was the middle of the day and yet, he couldn't find her. Alby asked him to find Jane because they had a few clothes to repair, and she was the only one who was slightly good at fixing clothes. Though he also wanted to see her just because he missed her.
"Zart, have you seen Jane? I can't find her anywhere!" Newt asked his friend and Zart, her Keeper, just shrugged and went on with his work. Well, that was bloody helpful, Newt thought before walking away. Nor Fry neither Gally have seen her and Newt was growing more and more worried, but he eventually spotted her. She was sitting in the grass, behind the pit.
"Hey, what's up with you?" Newt asked, causing her to jump in surprise. She shot him a glare, trying to look upset but betrayed by her growing smile.
"Newt, you scared me!" She elbowed him as he sat down next to her and he laughed. "Don't you have something else to do?" She asked.
"Want to get rid of me?" He faked to be hurt before becoming serious again. "Is everything alright ? You look... different."
"Yeah, it's all good, I just... I don't know, I guess I have a day off." She stared at the ground as her hands distractedly played with her hair.
"You mean a week off?" Newt raised an eyebrow and Jane sucked in her lower lip, no answering. "C'mon, I know when something's wrong, you can't lie to me," he insisted, trying to get her attention.
"Look, Newt," she started, titling her head towards him. "I don't know what to say! It just hit me that I've been here for a year now, and I might still be here next year and the year after that, and it's all a little depressing, you see ?"
"Why would you have such bloody thoughts?" He asked, making her crack a small smile. She always smiled when he used the word 'bloody'. It was their thing.
"Well, I bloody wish I knew," Jane sighed. Silence settled in for a couple of minutes, before she let her head fall on Newt's shoulder.
"I miss this," she muttered.
"What?" Newt asked, enjoying this short moment of privacy they had.
"Talking with you. We haven't had much time to talk lately. I miss it." Her confession suddenly made him feel really content and he wrapped an arm around her small shoulders.
"Good that," he simply said.
"You know what else bothers me?" Jane asked after a while, sitting straight up and looking him in the eyes. "I don't even know what I look like! It's silly, I know, but it still bugs me."
You're beautiful, Newt wanted to say, but of course, he didn't, and waited for her to continue.
"When I came here, I had short hair, but I can't even tell how I actually looked with it!" She continued.
"Most of us wouldn't want to see our own faces," Newt smirked, trying to make her laugh. It worked.
"You know what I mean," she said, still smiling. "Do you want to know what you look like?" Jane blurted out when Newt didn't answer. He looked away, avoiding her gaze.
"I don't know," he sighed. "I already know I'm the best looking around here, I don't need to know anything else."
"You bloody show off," Jane ruffled his hair. "No but, seriously... I could tell you," she offered him. Newt thought about it for a while. He never really cared about his looks until a girl suddenly came out of the bloody box, and even now, he still wasn't really interested in knowing what he looked like. But he was curious, and he wanted to know how she saw him.
"Go ahead," he finally said. Also, he wanted to see her smile, and he knew it'd make her happy if he agreed.
"Well, for starter, you have blond – slightly reddish – hair. I'm surprised you don't have freckles," she said, looking at him closely, as if she was studying his features. "You have dark brown eyes, and here," she said, her fingertips brushing over his right cheek, right under his eye, "you've got a beauty spot. You're tall – or maybe I'm just short, I don't know. And you're fit. It's usually not visible that you have a limp, but when you're tired or cold then it's more obvious." And so she went on and on, describing every one of his features until there wasn't anything more to say.
"You forgot the most important though," Newt smirked when she shot him a confused look. "Am I hot?" He asked, causing a huge smile to spread across her face. He was just teasing her of course and didn't expect her to actually answer that, but she did.
"You're handsome, Newt."
The blond boy swallowed with difficulty before clearing is throat.
"Do- Do you want to know what you look like?" He asked her, knowing she'd say yes. He didn't even know what he was going to say, because everything about her was pretty. She nodded.
"I guess you already know your hair's light brown, so let's just move to your eyes... they are brown too but when you look closely, there's green in them. You have quite big eyes, and long eyelashes which makes it look like you're absolutely marveled by everything you see," Newt chuckled. "You too have a beauty spot, but it's on your nose, just here," he booped her nose. Jane brought both her hands on her nose with a horrified expression on her face.
"You're bloody kidding right?"
"Yes I am," Newt said, reassuring her and she laughed lightly. "You have dimples when you laugh and it's the cutest thing ever," he then continued. "You do have freckles, but only a few, and you have really pink lips. Your upper lip is a little smaller than the lower one, but it's nicely shaped into a 'v'. And your skin's always pale, even after a year working in the gardens, you have pale skin. And yeah, you are short, but you're a girl so it's cute. Plus, it's not like you lack of anything." He finished, shooting a quick glance at her body and earning a little slap on the shoulder.
"It's weird," Jane eventually uttered, Newt almost didn't hear it.
"What's weird?"
"I don't feel the way you describe me," she tried to explain, frowning her brows.
"I agree, you're not what you look like. You seem to be fragile and delicate, but in reality, you're strong, and you don't need no one to get your shit together," he said. Jane nodded slowly, trying to figure out why she found that nice when obviously she should have been a little offended. "But it's you. It's the way you are."
"Thanks Newt," the girl took his hand in hers and squeezed it. Newt gulped.
"But it's only a subjective description I guess.. I mean, it's just the way I see you."
"Well, isn't it the most important? The way you see me..." If Newt wasn't too busy staring at their laced fingers right now, he would've seen her blush when the words tumbled off her tongue accidentally.
"I have one more question..." She added, causing him to look up. "What suits me the most, long or short hair ?"
That night, Newt struggled to find sleep. The conversation he had with Jane earlier did bother him more than expected. It's only when she started describing him his every feature that he realized she was right – he did wonder what he looked like. And now that he knew, he felt like it wasn't right. Just like she said, he didn't feel like the person she described was him. But the way she said it pleased him.
You're handsome, Newt.
He knew he wouldn't forget about those words even if those bloody Creators tried to erase his memory again. He really, really liked Jane. And sometimes, it weighed on his shoulders because he couldn't tell her without risking rejection. He should be content with being her closest friend, but he simply couldn't wrap his head around that idea. Almost an entire bloody year, and he didn't find the guts to tell her how he felt towards her. It made him sick to his stomach, and the silence soon became unbearable. Alone in his room, Newt suddenly found himself wishing he was with the others, in the hammocks or the small bunks. Just to hear them snore all night long, really anything that would break the silence of the night. But deep down he knew it wouldn't make anything better, because he wanted to be with Jane.
When he was alone with his thoughts like tonight, he always tended to over think stuff. Most of the time, he couldn't sleep because of nightmares. His dreams always somehow brought him back to the day he had his accident. That's something he kept for himself. Apart from Alby and the Medjacks, Clint and Jeff, nobody knew. Not even Jane, he couldn't bring himself to tell her. He was afraid she'd look at him differently. With pity, with shame, and he couldn't bear being a coward in her eyes, yet he hated keeping that away from her. He wanted to tell her just to get this off his chest, and because she deserved to know. She never directly asked him, it was obvious he had an injury and she wasn't nosy. But he still felt like he owed her an explanation. Then again, just like his feelings for her, Newt hid it from her. Maybe it was time to swallow his pride and just baldly say the truth?
Unable to sleep, Newt stood up, throwing his blanket away and sneaking out of his room, silently making his way downstairs and heading to her room. When he stood there, he hesitated.
It was a shucked idea, but now it would be stupid to turn around and go back to his room for a sleepless night. Newt knocked on the door hoping she was still awake, even if it seemed to be past midnight. Surprisingly, the door opened, and she was standing there, in a large boy t-shirt as a pajamas, looking beyond tired. But what startled him the most was her hair. She cut it short again.
"Can't sleep?" They both asked at the same time. Jane giggled and stepped back to let him in. It was a cold night yet Newt felt feverish when he sat down next to her mattress. She didn't have a real bed, it was just some kind of thin mattress and a blanket, but she did have a room on her own, since she was the only girl.
"Nightmares?" Jane yawed as she snuggled back under the cover. Newt shook his head, looking as though he was staring into the void. "What's on your mind?" She asked further.
Not responding, Newt just sat there sucking in his cheeks and rubbing his arm as though he couldn't form the words.
"Hey," Jane whispered softly, shifting out of her blanket and next to Newt. Suddenly, he felt another hand cover his own and comfortingly rub his arm. The girl curled up against him, wrapping her other arm around him, causing him to smile, but it was a sad smile.
"I keep forgetting how cuddly you can be when you're tired," Newt chuckled, pushing away the moment where he'd tell her what he came to tell.
"I don't like seeing you like this, all worried. Tell me what you're thinking about..." she muttered, her voice muffled by Newt's shirt.
"You," he blurted out. She didn't even flinch and just waited for him to continue. "I want to tell you something... No, I need to tell you." He corrected himself, making her frown a bit. She removed her head from his shoulder, only to dive her eyes in his own.
"Relax Newt! Whatever it is, it can't be that bad. It's just me," she tried to reassure him, immediately getting the seriousness of the situation. But Newt shook his head.
"Yeah, and that's why it's so difficult, because it's you..." he sighed, looking down. Again, Jane laced her fingers with Newt's, she knew it'd calm him down. She was sitting in front of him now, but she couldn't manage to catch his eyes, he would look away, anywhere but at her.
"I really, really need to tell you something, but before that, I have to tell you something else." He couldn't be more vague than that, and he knew she was beyond confused by now, but she didn't rush him and waiting patiently until he was ready to talk.
"You don't know how I got my limp, do you?" He eventually asked, knowing the answer. Jane shook her head instead of answering out loud, in fear to make break the moment. She didn't want Newt to decide that finally, he didn't want to speak about it and hurry out of her room.
"I usually don't talk about it – as if it'd make me forget about it," he snickered bitterly. "I was a runner before, you know? It didn't last very long though... I might have been one of the strongest, the fastest... one of the best... but I simply couldn't support it. This place... the lack of memory... everything." Newt saw her swallow and she softy stroked his hand with her fingertips brushing over it. It helped him calm down before continuing his story. He might not have noticed, but he did raise his voice.
"It's normal, no one should be trapped here. We only make it through the day because we have each other," Jane said reassuringly.
"Believe it or not, it wasn't always like that. We weren't organized in the early days, and everything felt like hell. It was bloody awful! The worst... out of everything was that I knew that out there, I had a family, that they were waiting for me... at least, it thought so. I could see it in my dreams, like shadows watching over me, faceless and nameless. It was torture! One day, I lost it..."
Jane could easily guess what he was about to say, and it broke her heart and made it sink to her stomach. Maybe she didn't want to hear it after all.
"You don't need to continue if you don't want to," she said, but Newt shook his head, determined to get over it.
"No, I- I need to. I want you to know. I was running through the maze as every other day, but I suddenly felt sick. Almost claustrophobic, trapped between those huge walls with no way out. I just couldn't take it anymore. I climbed up those shuck walls and jumped right off!" He finally exclaimed, his voice cracking a bit when he said the last part. Jane had brought her hands over her mouth, looking at him in shock.
"But even that, I couldn't do. I badly hurt myself and Alby found me and dragged me out of the bloody maze. I couldn't walk for weeks, and even today, it's not completely healed, never will. I'm a coward, and that's what I needed you to know, before telling you the other thing."
Before he could even finish his sentence he felt the girl's hand wipe away from his cheek a tear he didn't even know he'd shed. The way she looked at him revolted him. Because he was prepared for pity, for condescension, for disgust, for everything but the tender gaze she laid on him at this exact moment. Something in her eyes touched his soul, and Newt broke in tears in front of her. Immediately, she pulled him in her lap, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and rocking him back and forth until he calmed down. Newt buried his face into the crook of her neck and breathed in her scent. She was the single most pure thing he'd ever seen, and even now, she wasn't failing him and simply tried her best to make him feel better. Newt never thought talking about this would make him cry. It was almost two years ago. A few months before Jane arrived.
"I'm so happy you're alive, Newt," she sighed in relief when he had calmed down. When she pulled away and looked at him, Newt's eyes were shot with red, but he was smiling.
In a burst of courage or whatever made him do it, Newt pecked the tip of her nose and watched her puzzled face.
"When I'm with you, I'm happy too," he breathed out, watching her closely, as if he expected her to run away. The corner of her mouth curved into a smile, but a sad one, as if what he said caused her pain.
"Good that," Jane simply said, but it was obvious she wanted to say more. Newt couldn't bring himself to ask the question which was burning his lips, so he changed the topic.
"Why'd you cut your hair?" He asked her.
"I asked Minho to cut it for me," the girl said, not answering the question. She shrugged and looked at her hands. "You said you liked it better short."
Newt would have laughed if the mood wasn't so dark. In fact, shuck it! He wanted to laugh, it would make him feel better. Jane's eyes looked at him questioningly.
"I don't even know why I'm telling you this, because you're obviously too good for me, but I'm going to go nuts if I don't say it..." Newt shook his head, still laughing nervously. "I like you Jane."
It took her a couple of minutes to react to that.
"W- why would you think that I'm too good for you?" Well, it wasn't exactly what Newt was hoping her to answer, but it was better than her laughing at him.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm the coward who tried and failed to kill himself and who's now pointlessly walking around the Glade, acting as if 'second in command' was an actual job, just because I can't do shit because of that stupid limp! And you're... you." Newt rambled messily, but his eyes steadily staring at her. She was blushing.
"Yeah, exactly," she said, blinking a few times. "I'm me. I'm the slightly boyish girl who swears all the time and acts like a guy. I'm the awkward girl who can't do shit, and not even because of an injury, just because I'm not capable. I'm the annoying girl everyone's making fun of for being the poor little thing who tries so hard but never succeeds in doing anything," she whispered. "And you think, I'm too good for you? That's ironic," Jane kept going on like that, her eyes bored into the ground as though she wanted to make a hole and disappear in it.
"What are you saying?" Newt frowned, disliking what he heard. "It's been one year I'm trying to gather enough courage to say this, and believe me, I had plenty of time to figure you out," he grabbed her chin and made her look at him. "I know you better than myself, and everything – believe me everything – about you is beautiful. You're a genuine person who speaks her mind and heart. You are selfless and sweet, but not naive or blind, and you know who deserves your kindness, and bloody hell, I still can't believe I'm one of these persons. You're the only thing in this bloody maze that makes me want to live through the day, just because I can't get enough of your silly jokes and your late night hugs when you can't find sleep."
It left her speechless, and before she knew it, tears were spilling up from her eyes.
"No, Jane, don't cry. I didn't mean to upset you, please..." Newt worriedly cupped her face and wiped the few tears away. "I can leave if you pref-" He started but she cut him off.
"No please, stay," she demanded him. "Stay with me."
She didn't need to ask twice for Newt was already wrapped around her finger. He barely saw her cry once or twice before today, and during those moments, she really seemed small. Newt pulled her in a tight embrace and placed her in his lap. As soon as she felt Newt's arms hold her, Jane let her head rest against his chest.
"I love you."
At first, none of them was sure about who said it and who heard it. It felt so distant. But then, Newt's eyes widened. What'd she said? Bloody hell, he must have heard wrong.
"What did you just say?" He asked in disbelief, not trusting his ears. Instead of repeating the words, Jane showed him. Shifting so she was facing him, she placed a kiss on his lips. A soft, chaste one though. Newt's face hurt from the huge smile on it, which was threatening to spread it in two.
"I love you," she said again, smiling as well, as if she'd waited her whole life to say it. "I love you, and I'll keep saying it until you say something," she laughed happily. Newt was marveled and he was frozen on the spot. She opened her mouth to say it again, but Newt captured her lips, shutting her up. It wasn't like the first one, this kiss wasn't chaste, it was eager and passionate because both of them needed to show each other how much it meant. And it meant everything.
"I love you," it was just a whisper in between two kisses. "So bloody much."
Jane was laughing now, her smile not leaving her face as Newt said those words. It was like everything fell back in place and the knot in her stomach was finally gone.
"I really hope this isn't a dream," Newt muttered against her skin as he peppered kisses in her neck. "Because it would kill me."
"I won't ever let that happen," Jane promised. "I'll stick with you." The way she said it made it sound like it was the only thing that mattered to her. She wanted him to be safe and sound, to be happy. "As long as you want me to."
"That would be a long time, you shouldn't make promises like that," Newt warned her playfully and kissed her again.
"I bloody love you."
