CHAPTER 10 ALREADY! To mark the occasion, it will include lots of cute, fluffy stuff - YOU'RE WELCOME lol. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed, followed or favourite'd this story. It means so much to me and I want to encourage you all to continue!

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Love, LadyFantasy13 xox

I didn't look back until I reached the entrance to the Mess Hall - at which point I realised Newt wasn't actually following...

Glancing at the table, I found saw Minho and Ben in conversation again.

I frowned, continuing to walk around the back of the Hall - maybe he's waiting there, I thought.

After turning the second corner, I heard a faint scuffle and was about to whirl around when a pair of strong arms circled my waist -

"- Gotcha" A soft voice whispered from close behind me.

I jumped and felt myself tense up, then just as quickly relax into the embrace. Who else could it be?

"You scared me" I complained, in no hurry to go back to dinner now.

"I'm sorry, love" Now his warm breath touched my neck lightly as a shiver ran down my body. "I could make it up to you?", Newt suggested innocently into my ear.

I elbowed him, causing a snigger.

"Did you eat?" I could sense him grinning.

"Hmmm..." That was the most I could manage as he brought his mouth to my earlobe and began sucking gently.

Oh my God, I thought, closing my eyes. That feels good. But wait, why are we here? -

"Newt..." I attempted, but only got a broken moan in response.

"We... we need to talk - " I tried again, beginning to detach myself from his arms.

He sighed and reluctantly let go. I immediately felt cold and empty as I folded my arms and turned to face him.

I took a deep breath and before he could say anything, I blurted out;

"So I'm a girl - "

He smirked at me "Really? I had no idea"

" - The ONLY girl," I continued, glaring at him. "And sometimes people will forget what's alright and... what isn't"

"Resa, what are you getting at?"

"Its Harry"

For one nerve-racking moment he just stared at me. I was about to ask him to say something when he murmured, "What?"

"You heard me" I peeked at his reaction, through my eyelashes. Shocked and startled but not quite angry, I noticed in relief. I decided to elaborate.

"Its not what you think, Newt - he was just confused, that's all - "

" - Wait hold up, what did he do?"

"Nothing!" I said firmly. "I stopped him before anything happened - just listen" I made my voice as soothing as I could - this couldn't go wrong. "He wasn't thinking straight - he..." I paused, unsure how NOT to blame Harry. "...He felt something for me, but it wasn't what you think! He even came and apologised later - saying it was a mistake" I closed my eyes in frustration. This was harder than I'd thought.

I heard Newt take a breath before grasping my shoulders firmly. "Okay Resa, look at me"

I glanced up, my eyes pleading, willing him to understand.

He nodded, mostly to himself, then said seriously, "So you guys DON'T fancy each other?"

Boys will be boys, I thought in disgust.

I rolled my eyes, sighing. "No you idiot. He realised that he cares about me - he's like a brother"

Newt nodded again, relaxing visibly. "You had me worried there, love" he smirked at me.

Narrowing my eyes, I replied smugly, "Well, I guess some competition is healthy"

That surprised him as he blinked, releasing my shoulders "Oh really? Is that what you think?"

"Mmh" I looked off into the distance dreamily, trying not to giggle as he got his jealous expression under control.

Newt had a glint in his eyes then as he strolled around me, teasingly slow. "I AM second in command - no-one would DARE compete with me"

I raised my eyebrows as I felt his fingers skim over my arms. "Well, I'm glad to see you're so confident"

"Do I have a reason to NOT be confident?" Now I could feel his chest up against my back, and I had to stop myself leaning into him.

"You never know..." I struggled to keep my voice neutral when Newt's fingers gently travelled up to my neck, shifting my heavy dark hair aside to expose the skin.

When I shivered, it wasn't just because of the cold air.

Finally, his lips met my neck and I sighed against him, grasping his free hand tightly in my own.

It was becoming unusually hot, but Newt didn't seem to notice as he planted butterfly kisses from my neck to my collarbone, humming quietly in the process.

"How 'bout now?" he wanted to know when I leaned back to make it easier for him.

"Mmh, yeah sure..." I murmured groggily, biting my lip.

He chuckled, "What's that, love?"

Frowning at the loss of contact, I realised I'd forgotten the subject of our conversation. "Doesn't matter" I managed vaguely, feeling him shake as he laughed into my hair.

Right, that's enough of his teasing, I decided, moving around to face him directly.

His dark eyes immediately caught mine while mine darted down to his lips. He took the hint and we collided for the second time today.

Except this time it was faster - more intense, I noticed, smiling against his lips. His hands were steady at my waist, locking me in place.

His inviting mouth forced mine open and I gasped when his tongue entwined with my own. I tasted sweat on his skin, as my hands roamed up his body.

I grabbed his strong shoulders as my head spun, making it a challenge to stand up. The muscles rolled and tensed beneath my grip.

As if on cue, he pushed me up against the Mess Hall and I ran my fingers through his dark-blond hair - which still felt unbelievably soft - just as he dug his fingers into my hips, pulling me even closer.

"Newt..." I whimpered against his mouth, causing him to moan right back at me.

Just then, there was the sound of a foot on concrete and we froze - deadly still - in each other's arms.

Guilt immediately engulfed me. What had we done?! I couldn't help thinking - no matter how good it was - that we'd behaved inappropriately somehow.

My pounding heart drowned out every other sound as I slowly detached myself from Newt's embrace, throwing him a confused look.

He frowned quickly at me before turning into the darkness - we were still breathing far too heavily for polite company, I noticed sheepishly.

"Resa?...Newt, is that you?"

My mouth fell open as a small figure emerged from the shadows of the building.

"Oh my goodness" I breathed, squinting at the figure. "Chuck?"

Newt moved infront of me, leaning forwards. "What the hell? Chuckie, is it you?"

Apparently it was.

Light from the torches illuminated his body as he stepped towards us. Oddly, he had an apprehensive look on his face. It was almost scared, I thought.

"Were you guys fighting?" He wanted to know, looking up at us.

I blinked. Oh of course he'd think that...

Newt jumped in. "No, what makes ya say that?! He laughed slightly, ruffling his hair - my hands had made it stick up at weird angles.

"I dunno - I heard noises..." Chuck trailed off uncomfortably.

"Um, its nothing like that - " I swallowed. "I, erm, lost my bangle. We were just trying to find it" That sounded daft, even to my ears but Chuck nodded, seriously.

"Did you find it? Was it beside the wall?"

I blushed hard, remembering us pressed up against each other... Good thing it was dark.

Newt cleared his throat. "Yep, we got it" He grabbed my right wrist, showing Chuck the silver that glinted there"

"Oh, good" Chuck smiled. "Well could I just...?" He began to walk past us to the back door of the Mess Hall.

We moved apart to let him through and Newt mussed his hair playfully. "See ya tomorrow, kid".

X_X_X

We waited a few moments until Chuck closed the door then relaxed.

"Bloody shucking hell" Breathed Newt, leaning against the wall.

"Ugh tell me about it, he almost lost his childhood innocence"

He snorted, catching my eyes. The memories of what we were doing a couple of minutes ago came flooding back to me as I stared back at him.

"So, erm, about Harry?..." I attempted quietly. I couldn't tell if Newt was still angry about that.

He blinked, as if just remembering, then sighed. "Have you forgiven him?"

I immediately nodded "Definitely - I don't want any arguments because of me" I pursed my lips thoughtfully. "Promise you won't mention it anyone - including him"

Newt turned away as his expression changed to one of annoyance. "I can't do that, Resa" I frowned. "He broke a rule - Alby has to know..."

" - Could Alby keep it to himself?" I asked, hopefully. Newt ran a hand through his hair again, glancing at the dark sky.

Before he could reply, I continued, "We don't need another Gathering, Newt - trust me, it wasn't harassment"

He took a deep breath and looked at me carefully. "Right, fine - the others won't know... I'll have to tell Alby, but I'll convince him not to make a bloody big deal about it, happy?"

Thank goodness, I thought, smiling gratefully at him. "For now, yes - thank you"

X_X_X

Frypan's booming laugh echoed across the Glade late that night. A grin slowly spread on my face as I watched the boys wrestling beside the bonfire.

A smallish blond boy called Knox had been convinced to go up against Gally.

The Keeper of the Builders was like the 'King of the Ring' I thought with a smile. "Never been shuckin' beaten" Minho had grumbled to me earlier.

Knox however, was holding his own quite well - considering the size disadvantage. Darting in and out of Gally's iron grip, he managed to gracefully avoid the worst of the blows.

The smaller boy reminded me of Newt - a younger, more serious version. But they were both smart, cautious and well, blond.

I remembered when Knox had run up to me as we joined the bonfire, proudly recounting his progress in the Gardens today. Newt had clearly been pleased, ruffling his hair as he played the big-brother figure.

When he'd introduced us, Knox had flashed me a smile that was both shy and cheeky at the same time. Just the thought of that made me grin.

"You think any harder, greenie, and you're gonna faint" Minho collapsed like a damsel in distress when I punched him.

"Shut it, Minho - sure you're not talking from experience?" I retorted. Aidan laughed at the abashed look on Minho's face as Ben handed me another piece of honey-glazed chicken.

"How old is Knox?" I wondered, diving into the meat.

Ben put his feet on the fallen tree trunk, leaning back with a sigh. "Huh must be what, fourteen I think?... He's a bit older than Chuck anyway"

I nodded sadly. "Too young for this place then" It wasn't really a question, more an observation, but the boys answered anyway.

"Way too young, greenie" Aidan said, looking away. "But then again, none of us should be here"

X_X_X

I lay in my hammock after the bonfire had died down that night.

What had actually happened today? It was almost too much to get my head around.

Fortunately, me and Harry were on the same page, but I definitely couldn't say the same for Newt and me...

Obviously, it wasn't the best place to develop our relationship, I thought. We were trapped here, with no memories of our past life or the people we had to live with now - expected to get on with it.

I was stubbornly trying to push away the feelings I'd had when he touched me, whispered to me, kissed me...

Clearly, I'd been affected - I couldn't deny THAT. It was like a fire in my chest - it burned, but it was nice.

Shaking my head, I turned onto my side and closed my eyes - waiting for the warm embrace of sleep.

NEWT POV

Holy shucking klunkballs...

I was draped on my stomach across my hammock, feet and head hanging off the edges. My mind was on one thing - the Greenbean.

Honestly, I'm not even exaggerating! She's been here for like 4 days and its like she's my bloody soul mate?! I barely knew her - although that wan't too bad, 'cus we barely knew ourselves.

For all I know, Resa could just be taking pity on me. Yeah that must be it. We're a bunch of female-starved shanks in need of a bloody fix...

'Though, that's probably why she was alright with Harry slipping up once - so what?

I'd spoken to Alby quietly during the bonfire. The shank didn't even look surprised! - even after he KNOWS how I feel about her!

I understood though. Resa was the only girl - not only that, but she was brave, smart, funny and just plain beautiful...

Most of the Gladers just wanted her 'cus of the first bit. But there was me (and maybe a few others, I admitted gruffly) who actually appreciated her as a person.

For the hundredth time, my thoughts drifted to outside the Mess Hall. She was in MY arms! Saying MY name!

I cursed my stupid hormone-driven needs. Get a bloody grip, Newt you shank.

Rolling my eyes in disgust, I flipped over onto my back and gazed at the thatched ceiling.

She deserves better.

SWITCH POV

So I know that chapter was mostly dedicated to developing their relationship, but I promise there will be more of a plot in the next one :)

Hope you enjoyed it - I know jealous Newt is heart-breaking, but its so funny to write about haha!

Love, LadyFantasy13 xox