Next morning, as usual, Newt was the first one to wake up. He enjoyed getting up early; it was peaceful. He went to the forest, which they called Deadheads, for his usual stroll. It was the only place in the Glade which had the beautiful greenery. Listening to the sound of the small river flowing there, his mind started wandering around Thomas. There was something about him, something he couldn't put his finger on, but there was... something.
It was time for other Gladers to wake up, so he returned out of the Deadheads. He went back just in time for when Alby and Frypan wake up. As usual, Frypan went to his kitchen to prepare the meals for the Runners. And Alby was going towards the homestead to give Thomas tour of the Glade. Before he could reach the place where he was sleeping, Newt caught up to him. "Let me give him the tour. You go help the runners."
"It's my turn this month." Alby replied, looking a little confused.
"I know, I just wanted to give him the tour myself." Newt shrugged.
"And why's that?"
Newt said nothing. He didn't know what to say. It didn't occur to him why he wanted to do that, but he just felt like it. "... I... uh... "
After seeing him not able to respond, Alby took a guess and responded, "Look, I made a really shitty impression yesterday. Lemme just take him to the Names wall. You take him anywhere you want after that."
Newt raised his eyebrows in confusion at the last line but nodded and made his way to help the Runners.
He met Minho, who was already ready and waiting for Ben, the other runner, to get ready.
After 'the incident' Newt and Minho didn't spend that much time together as they used to before. Minho changed after that incident. He stopped talking to everyone for some days after what happened. If it wasn't for Alby, maybe he and Newt would still not talk to each other. Eventually, they started talking to each other again, but it was not just the same as it was before. Minho became so serious and only kept to himself. He only talked to Newt, Alby, and some runners. Newt sometimes missed Minho's old, reckless and goofy self. He deep down felt guilty about the fact that it was his fault Minho changed.
Whenever they got time, they exchanged anything interesting that happened to them. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes after the gate closed. That was how they kept their friendship strong.
As they were waiting for Ben, Newt told him about Thomas. Everything, from the moment he came up to the moment he went to sleep yesterday.
It didn't occur to Newt, but after halfway through his talking, Minho started getting annoying. However, he got happy when Newt reached the part where Thomas was wrestling Gally.
"Yeah, I saw that. I was there too." was the first thing Minho said in a really long time."That shank really showed Gally." Minho laughed mostly because he knew Newt's story was about to end.
Newt got delighted to see Minho laughing. He saw him like that after a really long time. It was not a lot, but it was enough for him to give him hope that everything will be alright. Seeing his friends happy and safe was the only thing that made him keep going.
Minho knew Newt would stop talking now, but he groaned internally when Newt again started talking about how much scared Thomas was and how he was keeping himself together.
Minho immediately cut off Newt in mid-sentence and smirked. "So, you like the new Greenbean."
It was after a long time that Minho gave him his mischievous smirk, which confused Newt. "Uh.. Yeah. He seems... decent."
Minho rolled his eyes, as his oblivious friend didn't give him the reaction he was looking for.
Before Newt could start talking about Thomas again, Minho said, "What is taking Ben so long?" They both went inside the map room to look for him, but he wasn't there. So both of them went to Frypan, who gave Minho his lunch pack and told him that Ben already left. Minho groaned and ran into the maze, leaving Newt and Frypan alone.
Newt helped him until the other cooks came. Slowly, Gladers started coming for breakfast and Newt saw Alby and Thomas coming towards him.
"I've got some things to do. Newt here will show you around." Alby said as they approached Newt. He observed Thomas was quiet.
After having breakfast, Newt took Thomas to a really long walk around the Glade, showing him all the places inside it. As they were walking, Newt looked at him. "How are you holdin' up?"
"I'm okay." he replied in a whisper.
Newt knew he was lying. He grabbed his arm, making him stop walking. He saw Thomas avoiding his eyes.
"I.. just... I..." Thomas sighed and looked Newt in the eye. "Yesterday, for a moment, I thought everything is going to be okay, that I can survive this thing, whatever this is supposed to be-"
"You'll survive this." Newt said seriously.
Thomas continued "-But after I saw all the names on the wall... I... "
"Always thought showin' Greenies that wall first was a bad idea."
"I'm not scared!" The brunette said quickly.
"Then, what is it?" The older boy asked.
"I just want to get out of this place. I want everyone to get out and be safe, safe back at their homes. I hate what everyone here is been going through. I want..." He was about to say something, but he didn't.
He wants to be a bloody runner. Newt knew and waited for him to finish, but he said nothing. He removed his hand from his arm, put it on his shoulder, and squeezed it lightly.
"I understand what you're feelin'. One day, we will get out of here. All of us, together. We just have to patiently do our parts and we will find a way out of this maze. Don't stress yourself too much about it."
Thomas nodded, but said nothing. Newt knew he couldn't change his will to become a runner, but he could delay it until he is ready, so he changed the subject. "So, I showed you everything and everyone. Where do you want to start from?"
He thought for a second. "Zart seems nice."
Newt turned around. "Then let's do some gardenin'."
"You're coming too?"
"You don't want me to come?" Newt raised one eyebrow.
"No, I didn't mean that. I meant don't you have some other important things to do like second-in-commandy things."
They started walking towards Zart's garden.
Newt grinned. "The most important thing for me to do right now is to help you find somethin' you're good at. So, I'll just go wherever you'll go, Tommy."
"And what happens when I find something I'm good at. What do you do then?" he looked at Newt.
"Then I'll help wherever I'm needed." He shrugged.
"So, you get to work wherever you want."
"Wherever I'm needed." Newt corrected him. "There are some who do over one job here."
"So, if I ever need you... "
"I'll be there." Newt finished his sentence.
Thomas's questions didn't end, and Newt didn't mind answering them.
Both of them reached the Garden. "Hey, Zart. Looks like we're startin' from here."
"Good that." Zart replied. "I need help with these." he pointed at the plant lying down near him.
Zart explained to them how they needed to work in garden and then started collecting the vegetables for Frypan. He gave Newt a really complicated task of getting the plants to grow straight using the support from a wooden pole.
"What do you want me to do?" Thomas asked.
"You go get the fertilizer." Zart replied.
He looked at Zart, then at Newt and then again at Zart "Are you sure, guys? I can't help in any other way?"
"No, just get the fertilizer." Zart said, smiling at him.
"You'll find it there. " Newt told him, pointing at the Deadheads.
Thomas looked at him is disbelief.
Newt smirked and removed his shirt, revealing the before partially visible tank top lying underneath. He tied it around his waist before starting his job. Thomas stared at him, looking at the fine muscles of his arms he presented him with. His tank top pressed to his skin, giving Thomas the outline of his fine abs. Even working in the field, he looked like a model. He did everything in a charismatic way, and it looked like he didn't even try.
"Do you want to say something, Tommy." Newt asked, bringing him back to the reality.
Now, out of the thoughts his mind was playing for him, Thomas just stood there, feeling like an idiot. He just gave Newt a speech about how he wants to protect everyone here and he is asking him to get fertilizers from the middle of the woods.
Does he really thinks so low of me? Thought Thomas.
Zart looked between Newt and Thomas with interest. Thomas looked at Zart, then again at Newt.
"You know what, Yes, I have something to say."
Newt regretted asking Thomas that question. Apparently, he can talk for hours and can create questions out of thin air. He was halfway done through his work, and Thomas was still asking questions. Newt patiently answered all of them until he asked that one-
"Has anyone tried climbing to the top?"
"Tried it. The ivy doesn't go all the way to the top. And besides, where are you gonna go from there?" Newt replied in a little harsh tone.
"And what about the Box? You know, next time it comes up-"
Newt was getting really annoyed "No, we tried that. The Box won't go back down with someone in it."
"Okay, what if we-"
He already knew that Thomas was going to ask about building a ladder.
"No, we tried it, all right? Twice." He said a little loud. "All right? Trust me. Anything you think of, we've already tried. The only way out of here is through the maze." Newt sighed. "Now, look, you wanna be helpful? Here." He threw a basket at him. "Go dig us up some more fertilizer."
Thomas obeyed and slowly turned towards the woods and almost tripped, making Newt chuckle. He's a bloody idiot.
Newt noticed Zart was enjoying the show he just saw. He totally forgot Zart was there, too.
Zart laughed, "You two talk like a couple fighting."
Newt didn't understand why he blushed at the mention of the word 'couple'. "Slim it, shuck-head."
This statement made Zart laugh even more. Newt ignored him and returned to his work.
Something after five-ten minutes, he heard a scream coming from the direction where Thomas went. He got up and saw Thomas running towards him, screaming for help, followed by Ben. As a reflex, Newt took his spear and ran towards them when he saw Ben attacking Thomas.
He reached them and swung the back of his spear across Ben's face, moving him away from Thomas.
"What the hell happened?" Newt yelled, trying to get a hold of Ben.
"He just attacked me." Thomas's high-pitched voice answered. Newt looked at him and saw that the other Gladers had surrounded them now, helping him to hold Ben down.
A/N: I know this chapter was short. I'm sorry. The next one will be longer, I promise. From now on, I'll update this story weekly.