The faint sound of clanking pots and pans echoed throughout the glade that night. The gladers, as usual, lined up with their eating utensils ready to have their supper. At the infirmary, Newt watched Holly walked around the room busy lighting every lantern she found making the room all warm and cozy. She then grabbed a clean blanket from under the table, spreading it wide and covered Newt's body with it to keep him out of the cold.
"I'll get you some food, alright?" she smiled and gave him a kiss.
Newt kissed her back softly and nodded a bit. "Come back soon"
Holly walked out of the infirmary and was surprised at how dark it was already. She had been inside the room for hours that she hadn't notice the sun went down. She quietly walked towards the kitchen's table, wondering what kind of food was there for the night— there were roasted pork, grilled fish, and steamed corn ready for the gladers. They all looked appetizing but they didn't seem to be the kind of food a patient such as Newt could eat yet. Fry Pan was slicing up some of the roasted pork when he saw Holly looking around like a curious little girl standing outside of a restaurant.
"Well, I haven't seen you since this morning" Fry Pan pointed out with a grin. "How's Newt doing?"
Holly smiled at the younger Fry Pan, amused that he hadn't changed a bit from past to present. "He's doing well. Uhm, just give me little food. I don't think he'll have the energy to even chew"
Fry Pan took the plate away from her shaking his head. He went inside the kitchen and came back out with a bowl of hot steamy chicken soup. Holly held it with both hands carefully and was intoxicated with the delicious smell of the soup.
"This smells wonderful, Fry!" she complimented, holding it carefully as not to spill and burn her hands.
Fry Pan smiled proudly and continued slicing the piece of pork. "I made it especially for Newt so he can recuperate fast" he grinned.
Holly smiled widely at his kindness and thanked him for the special soup. Just as she was walking along the dark courtyard on her way back to the infirmary, she stopped after a great idea popped in her head. With Newt injured, she thought it was the best time to give him the vaccine for the Flare without being suspicious. She quickly made a turn and headed to the homestead still holding the hot bowl of soup. A majority of the hammocks were vacant since a lot of them ate their dinner outside in the open. She placed down the soup on the table for a while and opened her purple bag that was hidden under her pillow. She looked inside and opened the cold metal box containing at least two dozens of syringes with vaccines and medicines for the deadly virus. She took one vaccine and hid it inside her back pocket. Just as she was closing her bag, Minho passed by holding his empty plate and stopped to say hello.
"Thank you for earlier" he said sincerely, sticking his forearm forward to show off his bandaged injury.
"You're very welcome, Minho" she replied smiling.
"Are you taking that to Newt?" he asked as soon as he saw the bowl of soup beside her on the table.
The young girl nodded and looked at the soup that was still piping hot. "I am, actually. I'm just about to go there"
"Well, since you'll be pretty busy looking after him, I'll fill in for your tasks until whenever you want me to"
"What, really?" a hint of excitement and shock escaped her voice.
Minho smirked. "When you won over our little game I told you I'll pick a day on whenever I'll do something for you, right? Well, I think this is a good opportunity"
Holly squealed and jumped into his arms, almost knocking him down. Luckily, Minho was able to balance himself. He hugged her back with one arm and was startled when Holly tiptoed to kiss his cheek excitedly.
"Thank you so much, Minho" she said gratefully with a very big smile, letting him go and taking the bowl of soup from the table. "I'll repay you as soon as I can"
Minho laughed and was startled to receive a kiss. It was unexpected but it did make him happy.
"You're welcome" he grinned. "Now go on. Your boyfriend needs you"
Holly giggled and stuck her tongue at him playfully as she walked away from the homestead with the bowl of hot soup on her hands. When she entered the infirmary, Newt had pulled himself up to lean on his elbows, grunting at his aching head.
"Feeling any better?" Holly asked, walking towards him while carrying the bowl of hot soup.
Newt managed to lean back against his pillow and slightly grinned. "Dizzy but, I can manage"
"I got you some soup. Fry made it especially for you" she said as soon as she sat on the edge of the bed beside him.
"Well that's very thoughtful of him" he smiled at the thought of his loud snoring friend. Just as he was about to reach for the soup, Holly moved it away from his reach making him confused.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, keeping the bowl away from him.
Newt raised an eyebrow, unsure of what Holly expected him to do with a bowl of soup. "Uh, I'm guessing I'm about to eat my supper?"
"Alby assigned me to look after you therefore I'll be the one to feed you" she replied confidently with her cheeks slightly turning pink.
For the first time ever, Newt blushed. He wasn't expecting that Holly would do such a thing for him. He just smiled and let her do whatever she pleased. Holly stirred the hot soup with a silver spoon and blew it, making sure it wouldn't burn Newt's tongue. She scooped enough of it to fit on the spoon and carefully fed him. Newt opened his mouth and felt the hot soup go down his throat filling his empty stomach. He was delighted and had already expected a great meal from Fry Pan. He continued to eat every time Holly fed him which made her happy.
"Have you eaten?" He asked after another spoonful of soup.
Holly was about to lie but the grumbling of her stomach made her shook her head. "I haven't. But it's okay. I can eat later"
"Nope, you have to eat now" he ordered, taking the bowl from her and placing it on top of the table. "If you want to look after me, you have to look after yourself first"
Holly couldn't help but to smile at his sweetness. Since the first day, he had already been sweet and caring towards her. She eventually agreed and told him that she'd be back in a few minutes after grabbing something to eat. Giving him a peck on the lips, she walked out of the room to get her own food. Newt smiled to himself and was about to rest for a bit when he saw something strange beside him. It was a syringe that had fallen when Holly stood up.
By the bonfire, Holly ate her dinner with Alby and the rest of the keepers. She was completely hungry since she never had the chance to eat both breakfast and lunch. Gally watched her eat and was pretty amused with her big appetite.
"Whoa, with that appetite, you'll have a body good enough to be a builder" he joked, making everyone in the group laugh.
Holly blushed and didn't realize that she had eaten so much already. Alby smiled and patted her back, insisting her to eat as much as she wanted.
"You need to eat for you to work" he smiled and looked at the infirmary's direction. "How's he doing?"
"Pretty great, he was just eating earlier" Holly shared to them the condition of their second leader. "He's still a bit dizzy after what happened but, he's alright"
"I'm sure he'd be doing great in no time especially having a girlfriend around him" Winston teased.
The other keepers joined in teasing that made Holly blush like mad. The word girlfriend was weird to her but she liked it. She liked the fact that she was now Newt's girlfriend but disliked it that everyone kept on teasing her, especially Chuck. She quickly got up dusting off the dust on her legs and remembered that she had to go back to the infirmary to look after Newt.
"I-I'll get going now" she said with a shy smile pointing at the infirmary.
"Take good care of him" Alby said as she dashed off.
With a full stomach, Holly went back to the infirmary to keep an eye on Newt just as what Alby instructed her to do. She reached inside her shorts' pocket while shutting the door behind her and gasped. There was nothing in her pocket, the syringe had gone missing.
"Looking for this?" Holly stopped looking at the ground as soon as Newt spoke and held a syringe high for her to see.
Newt's face was expressionless as he looked at the red liquid inside the syringe—not sure if he was mad, curious, or anything but he did want to hear a plausible explanation. Holly slowly walked to him, worried that he might take it the wrong way.
"I-I can explain" she uttered, standing beside the bed.
"Alright, go on. I'm listening" Newt said with a stern look and kept the syringe with him.
"It is medicine to get you back in shape" she shared which was half the truth. True that it was medicine but not for the injuries he attained when running out of the maze earlier that day. She couldn't tell him that it was a vaccine for the Flare because he wasn't even aware of what it was and that he had it. It wasn't her job to tell him about it.
"Medicine" he mumbled and played with the syringe, staring at the red liquid inside of it. "Where did you get it?"
"It was inside my bag when I arrived here. You don't have to take it if you don't want to" the latter part was a lie. She did want him to take it but, she wouldn't force him either.
There was a brief moment of silence in the room making them hear the faint laughter coming from the homestead. Newt kept his gaze at the syringe he was holding. He didn't know if it was really medicine or what it could possibly do to his body. He closed his eyes for a minute and carefully handed the syringe back to Holly which kind of surprised her.
"You never really gave me any reason to doubt you" he explained, the familiar smile coming back to his face. "I trust you."
Taking the syringe, Holly sat down on the bed and kissed him lovingly, thankful that he trusted her. She slowly pulled down the blanket to his stomach and took his arm, gently injecting him with the vaccine. Newt watched and didn't feel any pain. It was just like a red ant that had bit him. He looked at her and could tell that she was glad he agreed to take the so called medicine. He reached for her face with his bandaged arm and gently tucked her hair behind her ear to take a closer look at her beautiful face.
"I love you" he said out of the blue which he had been dying to say for quite some time already. Three years in the maze and he hadn't heard those words and had no one to tell it to.
Holly's eyes widened after hearing something unexpected. Her heart pounded and had a weird fluttering feeling grow inside her stomach once again. It had a different vibe compared to when her brother would say it to her. She began to smile, a wide smile that delighted the young man and replied, "I love you too"
Newt pulled her to lie down on the bed beside him, kissed her lovingly and locked her in his arms making sure that she was close to him. Holly wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled into the kiss. Everything between them was unexpected but she liked it all. They stayed still on the bed, cuddled in each other's arms. Holly's head was pressed against his bare chest and could feel his warmth and heard the wonderful beating of his heart. She suddenly felt grateful that TAIMN was created, grateful that she could go back in time to help people and grateful for having the chance of meeting someone wonderful such as Newt.
Newt played with her brown locks that had a whiff of lavender and kept her close to him. From the day he had met her, he already had a weird feeling for her even though he tried to deny it several times. He thought it was just a common reaction after seeing a girl after three long years. But the feeling grew each day they were together. And now that he could kiss her and say words such as I love you, he was glad to be alive.
A/N: How is it so far? It might take a few days or a week for me to upload the next chapters because it sucks not having an internet. Hahaha. But please do look forward to it! ^~^