Hey everyone!
Thanks so much to Latch Is Who I Am for your review! I tried my best to create a one-shot out of your idea, so I hope you like it!
I've done sort of a modern AU where Newt, Minho, and Thomas are roommates (I decided not to go the romance route).
I hope to see some more suggestions for one-shots that I could write!
- Plerfstacks :)
Newt walked downstairs, his bare feet padding against the hardwood floor of the hallway. He brushed his long, tangled hair out of his eyes as he trudged into the kitchen, yawning, and grabbed the coffee grounds from the pantry. He filled the coffee machine with water and turned it on, and sat at the counter to wait for it to brew. He heard footsteps at the doorway and turned to see Minho walking into the kitchen. His roommate nodded blearily at him and flicked the light on.
"It's so dark in here," he said, pulling up the barstool beside Newt's.
"Good morning to you, too," Newt replied. Minho grinned. He glanced over at the coffeepot, which was steaming and already filled with dark brown liquid.
"Nice," Minho said. "Did you make enough?"
"Well, if a whole bloody twelve cups is enough for you, then sure," Newt replied. Minho nodded and poured a mug for himself and then one for Newt.
"Where's Thomas?" Minho asked, as if just now noticing. "He's always the first one up." Newt shrugged.
"Dunno," he responded. He took the mug of coffee that Minho offered and set it on the counter. "He's probably upstairs."
Minho and Newt lapsed into a silence that lasted for about five minutes before Newt broke it.
"I'm gonna go wake him up," he decided. "He has to get to work."
Thomas worked part-time as a waiter at a small local restaurant down the road from their house, and his boss didn't take too kindly to having his employees arrive late. Once, Thomas had been only twenty minutes tardy and had been threatened with being fired. Newt figured that it was in his friend's best interests not to lose his job, so he headed up the stairs. He crept over to Thomas's door and knocked softly.
"Hey," he whispered. "Tommy? You awake?"
There was no reply from inside, so he turned the knob and tiptoed softly inside. Thomas seemed to still be asleep, so Newt shook him gently and whispered,
"Tommy. You're gonna be late to work again. You've got to get up."
Thomas opened his eyes blearily and rolled over, moaning something unintelligible. Newt rolled his eyes.
"Hey, it's not my bloody fault you have to go to work."
When he didn't reply, Newt frowned. Thomas was one of those people who, ninety percent of the time, was able to jump right out of bed and be in the car within twenty minutes. He didn't even drink coffee.
"You okay?" Newt asked after a moment. Thomas replied by coughing and curling into a ball. "Alright, that's a no, then."Newt muttered to himself. Then to Thomas,
"Okay, I'm gonna call your boss and tell him you're not coming to work."
Thomas shook his head.
"No," he said hoarsely. "I'm okay, I swear." To prove it, he rolled back over and climbed out of bed to stand beside Newt. Though he tried to pass it off as brushing his hair out of his face, Newt saw him wince and touch his temple.
"No, you're not. Get back in bed right now," he commanded, putting his hand on his hip. Thomas tried to protest, but after a moment he crumpled back onto his bed and pulled the covers up to his chin, shivering.
"You just stay there, alright?" Newt said gently, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. Thomas nodded, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Can you leave the door open?" he asked as Newt walked out.
"Sure," he replied.
Newt walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Where's Thomas?" Minho asked, turning around expectantly.
"Upstairs."
"Why isn't he coming down?"
Newt sighed.
"I think he's sick," he replied. "When I walked into his room, he was still asleep, and when I tried to wake him up he was coughing and I couldn't get him to wake up completely, so I told him to stay in bed and that I'd call his boss."
"Oh," Minho said. "Well, then we should probably mother do that, then."
Newt nodded and grabbed his phone off of the kitchen counter. He dialed the number of the restaurant that Thomas worked at, and waited awkwardly for them to pick up.
"Hello?" the tinny voice on the other side asked.
"Uh, hi," Newt said, subconsciously taking a lock of his hair in his fingers and twirling it awkwardly, the way he always did when he talked on the phone. "I'm just calling to tell you that my roommate Thomas isn't coming into work today. He's… come down with something, and I don't think he should be at your restaurant coughing all over the food, so…"
"Okay," the voice replied. "I'll tell the manager. Thank you."
Newt nodded, and then realized that the woman on the other end couldn't hear him. "Alright," he hastened to say. "Goodbye."
He hung up the phone and turned to see Minho laughing at him.
"Shut up," he said. "It's not my fault that I'm awkward on the phone."
Minho shot him a smirk and was about to say something else when they both heard a very unpleasant noise from upstairs. Newt's eyes widened and he turned around and rushed up the steps, followed closely by Minho, and ran into Thomas's room. He found his roommate hunched against the wall in the bathroom, his face ashy pale and his arms wrapped around his knees.
"Hey," Minho said in an uncharacteristically kind voice. "You done puking?"
Thomas nodded. Newt knelt down and helped him up while Minho turned on the fan in the bathroom. Newt practically carried Thomas back into bed and turned back to face Minho.
What do we do?, he silently asked. Minho shrugged.
Go back downstairs, I guess, he mouthed.
"What're you talking about?" Thomas muttered from behind Newt.
"Nothing," Newt replied. "Just go to sleep. Minho and I'll be downstairs."
"Okay," Thomas said, his voice tinged with delirium.
Newt and Minho walked downstairs, where they mentally prepared themselves for a very long day.
Once Thomas had gotten to the point where Newt and Minho were almost one hundred percent sure that he wouldn't throw up in the car, they wasted no time in driving him to the doctor's office. There they were informed that Thomas was going to be fine; all he'd had was a bug he'd probably picked up at work. Newt was unexpectedly relieved at this news. He hadn't realized it until that point, but he really had been worried about his roommate.
Minho drove them home, and within the next couple days Thomas was on his feet again. He seemed very grateful to Minho and Newt, and, as his own subtle way of saying thank you, he joined them for lunch at his work between his shifts (free of charge, of course). Newt didn't really think that all this fuss was necessary, but he did quite enjoy not having to pay for lunch.
"You should get sick more often," Minho said to Thomas as he was about to get back to work. "Ya know, if it means free food and all."
Thomas grinned.
"I'll try my best," he replied. "But no promises."
