They watched the dancing crowd for some time before Newt leaned closer again.
"It's a bit loud in here. You feel like getting some fresh air?"
Thomas felt Newt's arm casually resting on his shoulder as the blonde boy leaned on him and pointed towards the exit.
"Sure, why not?" Thomas nodded and followed Newt through the crowd.
Outside, they were greeted by fresh air that smelled like salt. It was a welcome change after the stifling heat inside the club. Newt led him to a sun deck at the stern of the ship from where you could watch the white trail of waves the ship left in the ocean like footprints. Newt sighed as he sat down on a lounger near the ship's rail. He looked up at Thomas expectantly and patted the lounger besides him.
"Come on, Tommy. I don't bite," he said matter-of-factly when Thomas hesitated. Thomas still did not know what to think of Newt's behaviour. The nickname and the touching threw him off but he could not say that it really annoyed him. Thomas rolled his eyes in mock annoyance at the remark and dropped onto the lounger next to Newt.
"So you said this was your first time," Newt started and leaned back onto his elbows, "What do you usually do?"
"I study aerospace engineering in New York," Thomas replied and pulled his legs up to sit cross-legged, playing with his now empty beer bottle. Newt whistled appreciatively.
"Nice! That sounds interesting. All I used to do all day is go to a boring boarding school. And now I go to a boring university to study boring economics," he said and made a face. "My parents expect me to take over their company one day."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Thomas cocked his head to one side as he looked at the blonde boy. "What kind of company is that?"
"Oh, some bloody boring stock trading thing," Newt sighed. "I really don't want to do it but it looks like I have no choice."
"You always have a choice," Thomas said seriously. "Never let your family decide what's best for you. It's your life; you should do what makes you happy."
Newt smiled at that.
"Wise words, old man, wise words."
"Hey! How old do you think I am?!"
"Hmmm… I don't know. Maybe twenty-five?" Newt shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
"I am hurt, Newt," Thomas sighed dramatically and clutched his chest. "I just turned 20!"
Newt's eyebrows shot up.
"Really? Me too! I could have sworn you were older than me."
"Yeah, because you got a real baby face, that's why," Thomas snorted.
"You're just jealous. Who wouldn't love to have a pretty baby face like mine," Newt dead-panned.
"I don't know man," Thomas replied dryly, "I am pretty happy with my own face."
"Yes, it is quite nice. It suits you." Newt nodded. Thomas wasn't sure whether the other boy was still joking or not so he just laughed awkwardly.
"Gee, thanks. I am so relieved to hear that you like guys who apparently look like old men."
Newt only flashed one of his oddly heart-warming smiles again. Then he sat up and looked at the black water that surrounded the ship. For a few minutes, the two boys just sat there in silence, shoulders touching and enjoying each other's company.
"So are you going to be a pilot one day?" Newt finally asked, returning to the subject of Thomas' studies.
"Well, I did a few lessons in the flight simulator but that was mostly for fun. I will be the person designing all the fancy new planes of the next decade and hope they don't fall from the sky."
"Still nice though," Newt mused, "I always wanted to fly a plane but my parents are boat fans, so all I learned was how to drive their yacht."
"If you want, you could drop by my university after the holidays and I'll introduce you to one of my friends who is a pilot. I think his parents are quite rich and have a little four-seater plane. I bet he would take you for a flight."
Newt's face lit up like that of a little kid on Christmas morning.
"Are you serious? That would be amazing!" he exclaimed excitedly and jumped up and down on the lounger, making it creak dangerously under their weight. Not even waiting for a reply, Newt got off the lounger and grabbed Thomas' hand to pull him up.
"Hey, what are you-"
"I said I wanted to show you around, didn't I?" Newt explained, still holding onto Thomas' hand. The warm touch sent tingles up Thomas' arm. "Come on, this is the perfect time for it. All the little kids and senior citizens are asleep; we will have most of the ship to ourselves."
Thomas followed Newt but pulled his hand away. If Newt wanted to object, he did not show it. Instead, he went along, chatting about all the amenities of the Mirage and explaining what was the most fun and how to find everything.
The ship was so huge that they would never be able to look at everything in one night. So when Thomas stifled a yawn after an hour of walking around, Newt suggested to relax on one of the huge couches that could be found all over the ship in front of big windows and were perfect to watch the ocean during the day. Thomas grabbed them two cans of soda from a nearby vending machine and they made themselves comfortable on a soft couch, propping their feet up on a little table in front of it.
They kept talking for a long while, chatting about their studies, their families and the pets they used to have as kids. Slowly, Newt seemed to be nodding off, his head falling onto Thomas' shoulder. For a moment, Thomas thought about waking up the other boy and going back to their cabins, but the warm body against his was strangely relaxing. He listened to Newt's even breathing for some time before dozing off himself.
Suddenly, Thomas was torn from his slumber by a loud noise. He jolted awake and saw that Newt was being grabbed by a huge man in a weird protective suit. The man had his arms around Newt and tried to restrain the boy who was yelling and kicking viciously.
"Tommy! Wake up!" Newt yelled, "Let me go! What are you do- "
Newt's last words were muffled by the big man's hand clamping down over Newt's mouth. Thomas jumped up in panic and dove forward to jump onto the man. But before he could even get up completely, two strong arms grabbed him and pulled him back.
"What's going on?! Who are you-" Thomas started screaming before a hand holding a cloth shut him up as well. He struggled as hard as he could but it was no use. His attacker was too strong. He could only watch helplessly as Newt went limp in the other man's arms. A few seconds later, the world began spinning around Thomas. Then everything went pitch black.
A/N:
Things are finally happening!
I hope you don't mind that I made both boys a few years older than in the books.
It felt more appropriate for what's going to come in the next chapters.
Please let me know what you think. c: