+ v. ❝I·ᴠᴇ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇᴠᴇʀ sɪɴᴄᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ᴡᴇ sʜᴀʀᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴀɪʀ.❞

Thalia had taken up writing about her day-to-day experiences in a diary, so when she rummaged under her bed and her search came out clean, her blood ran cold. Before her mind could completely dissolve into a stream of curses and 'oh no's', she quickly left the room. She stormed outside, focused only on getting back her diary. Once in the open, she stopped dead. It took her a moment but she noticed the group of boys most likely responsible for the disappearance near the logs. They sat there with their newest accomplice, Thomas. Without another thought, she strode straight towards them. It didn't take long before all the boys' heads popped up and they saw the angry girl headed their way.

"Alright, who has it?!" she yelled before she had even reached them. Snickers ran throughout the gathered crowd. Then, Minho spoke up.

"Newt does."

"Newt, what the hell, man?" Alby feigned distaste and all the boys laughed again.

"Newt?" she called, moving to stand in front of him. He looked up at her in what she could only call an almost smug manner.

"Yeah?" he replied calmly, his brows raised. She dropped into his lap then, wrapping her arms around his neck, shocking him. Thalia leaned as close as she could while trailing her hands lightly along his skin and through his hair.

"I heard you have something of mine," she whispered into his ear, causing a shiver to run down his spine. He pulled back slightly in an attempt to keep his composure.

"Did you?"

"Mhm," she said, beginning to move around in his lap. Now this shattered his stony expression; a blush rose from his neck into his cheeks and he broke their eye contact. She heard laughter from behind her. Thalia realised how public and overtly sexual she was being and bit her lip to stop her cheeks from going red. This was Newt she was teasing; far beyond anything she'd ever thought herself capable of doing. Hell, she was pretty much giving him a lap dance.

"Are you looking for this?" came Gally's voice, and she immediately looked over her shoulder. There stood Gally, her diary in hand. He began to open it, painstakingly slowly. Thalia disentangled her limbs from Newt clumsily, her previous embarrassment concerning her boldness already forgotten. She jumped up from Newt's lap and then went after him. She tackled him with as much force as she could, and it surprised her that Gally fell. She landed on top of him with a thud and wasted no time in making for her property. However, she was pushed back and they rolled over to a chorus of cheering. Now he had her pinned beneath him.

"Gally, give it back!" she cried, desperately reaching for it, although he soiled her many attempts. And then the diary disappeared again. Thalia didn't realise how close they'd actually been until Alby, Thomas and Minho pulled Gally off. She sat up, trying to soothe her hair and clothes before she saw what the other boys had; Newt stalking away, his expression sullen. Oh, Newt, she exhaled to herself.

Dinner had started off quiet but eventually escalated as the boys tried to cover Newt's lack of appearance. Thalia was happy to go along with the charade, seeing as she felt partly guilty for his hasty departure. Afterwards, she was simply ready to flop into bed and forget the day's events. However, upon going to her bed, she found that her diary had been placed on the pillow. She smiled feebly; Newt must have been the one who saved it from Gally. She felt a little better knowing it had been in safe hands. Well, she decided after a moment, it would be a waste not to enjoy what was left of the night. So, after hiding the diary in a more secure place, she left for the welcome party that was being thrown for Thomas.

Thalia walked around for a while, basking in the atmosphere of the bon fire. She wanted to find Newt, albeit being a little nervous. Unfortunately, she was having no such luck. She sighed; it seemed as though he was hiding. Thomas interrupted her pity party then, stepping in front of her with a friendly but brief smile. "Newt's over there," he said, jerking his finger behind him. She looked past him, and sure enough the blonde was draped over the same log from earlier, drinking a jar of Gally's secret stuff. "Careful though, he's uh, had a lot of that crap..."

"Thanks, Greenie." He smiled again and then let her pass.

Thalia only took one step before she was halted by Newt's gaze. His eyes landed on her, boring into her, and she tried her best to hold it. He looked more tired than usual, and his hair was all ruffled, and he hadn't stopped drinking from the makeshift cup. She didn't feel the same compassion he usually projected. Instead, it was cold and distant. She started forth once more, only to see Newt hop up and over the log and stumble away. She watched him depart, her heart sinking. Thalia's eyes trailed him and she soon realised where he was going: to Gally's fight club. She groaned. Idiot.

She pushed through the ring as the pair mutually broke apart, both sporting wounds, although Newt looked worse for wear. Thalia quickly entered the circle, past the dispersing crowd, and over to Newt. He was limping more than usual, and now he was bleeding from his nose, and she thought there may have even been a cut on his jaw.

"Newt," she called out, latching onto his elbow. He turned around, a loopy smile etched into his features. Somehow he managed to obtain another jar in the fleeting moments after his fight. "Come on," she sighed, dragging him to the homestead so she could clean him up.

When they got there, she forced him onto the counter, which was far from easy. He had kept trying to struggle out of her grasp and instead fetch more liquor, before he'd even finished what he already held. Once Thalia managed to convince him to sit down, she fetched some tissues and shoved them into his waiting hands. He tilted his head back and pressed them to his nose. The blood had trickled down his neck and she watched his Adam's apple bob every few seconds. When she was satisfied he wasn't going to move again, she went back to rummaging through the cupboards for a clean towel and some bandages. Someone ought to clean this place up, she thought to herself, knowing that it would most likely end up being her.

Thalia came back to find Newt sipping from the jar. She rolled her eyes and wrestled it from him. Newt just pouted at her. She took a gulp for herself and then drenched the towel in the rest of it, and smirked at him.

"What?" he mumbled, leaning forward.

She pressed a hand against his chest for good measure. "This might hurt." Then, she dabbed the cloth at his injuries, and sure enough he flinched. They went on in silence; Newt resigned to watching the brunette with curious eyes.

Once he was cleaned up, Thalia attempted to fix his hair. She slowly dragged her fingers through the unruly curls, putting them back into place. His arms had ended up wrapped around her waist as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Lia," he whispered into her skin, but she cut him off.

"You're a stupid slinthead."

And then he sighed, his breath cool against her neck. "I'm a stupid slinthead who's in love with you."

She let out a dry laugh, "I know."

When Newt leaned back to look at her, he also knew he never wanted to stop hearing that laugh. His thoughts moved to something else, though. His mouth tugged upward when she answered the unvoiced question she saw in his eyes.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

AN: Check out the song Air by Hellberg, Tegg & Taylr Renee, as it's what inspired me to write OTTW!

So I'm kind of sad to be posting this, since it's the '+1' of the story and I have definitely grown attached. I've enjoyed writing this and I hope at least someone has enjoyed reading it, lmao. I plan to write a Gally fic next, and perhaps eventually a Minho one if I can scrounge up enough ideas. I have also been considering writing some imagines/self-inserts, since I have a few ideas for that. Let me know if you would read them. Be sure to follow my account for more stuff!

Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to jenwalters for (probably unknowingly) keeping me company during all the times I was working on the story.