After a light meal with Chuck, the two leaders promptly informed her to meet her in the second floor of the Homestead. The fact that they were anticipating her with semi-threatening looks was extremely nerve wracking for her, so she skipped dinner and opted for water and a few slices of apple. After the first couple of bites, she surrendered and offered the fruit to Chuck, who thankfully didn't intrude.
"Not hungry?"
Theo forced a half-smile. "The fact that you're eating is making me full enough."
"Gross, stop being so cheesy." he made a face, and returned to digging into his potatoes. "I'll be alright, you should go on ahead if you really need to talk to them."
"You sure? They can wait." but she wasn't entirely sure if she could wait, the anticipation was eating at her as fiercely as Chuck was making his mash disappear.
"Go, but," he sighed, his fork patting against his meat, "I probably won't be able to sleep tonight."
"I'll find you after, okay?"
"Thanks." he smiled shyly, and ushered her out the shack.
Theo rubbed her hands against her grey shirt, her thumbs wearing away at the fabric as she reached the Homestead. The sky was already melting away into a dark blue, and the air misted away into a comfortable coolness. Newt was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs, leaning his one elbow against the rickety banister, throwing her off with a simple half-smile. But simplicity could be handsome, or maybe it was just him. "My room." he said, and led the way.
Even their footsteps seemed amplified as they walked down the hallway.
"And stop looking so tense," he swatted away her hands which were still deadlocking her shirt, "it's only us."
"I can't help it." she half-whispered, stretching at the fabric once more.
"Well, it's making me nervous!"
Maybe he had a right to feel nervous. He opened the door to his bedroom, and Theo took a second before allowing herself in. She felt even more intrusive being in Newt's room than Alby's. The space was smaller, there wasn't any room for personal decoration but the yellow light from the glass lamp was warm and intimate.
"Theo, sit." it came from Alby, who was propped on a stool, his expression passive. She wondered how close these two were, considering how casually he offered her to sit on Newt's bed.
She carefully sat on its edge, and with the two boys' towering height, she already felt like she committed a heinous crime.
"How's your schedule with Minho?" Alby asked lightly, and from the confused flicker in Newt's eyes it was easy to tell he was only vaguely aware of her plans. However, he didn't interrupt.
"Slow," she confessed, running a hand through her ebony hair, "kind of unbearable, but I wanna go through with it."
He nodded, "Good. So, you know something."
She exhaled, knowing there was no turning back. "Yeah, I do." she felt like a little kid being caught red handed.
Alby's hands were knitted together. "For how long?" he asked tersely.
"A few weeks." she squeaked out, and Alby seemed really, really upset.
"What happened to trust, Theo." he said, eerily calm. "From the very beginning, I made it clear that keeping secrets would only make things worse." he got up, his weight shaking the bed as he made fierce, strong eye contact to Theo. "How are we supposed to trust you?"
Guilt started eating her up with every passing moment, and she felt her hands start to get clammy. "How I was supposed to trust myself, I thought I was going crazy." she reasoned, almost desperately. When Alby didn't respond, which was far worse than him speaking out, her shaky fingers reached inside her pocket, pulling out the the mangled piece of paper. "I found this in my inhaler, I thought it was a mistake at first but," she couldn't breathe, at least not without any effort, "It couldn't be."
Newt carefully extracted the sheet from her fingers, "Remember the variables," he read, "what the bloody hell does that mean?"
"I don't know." she admitted softly, shaking her head.
"Don't play dumb, Theo." Alby gritted out roughly, clasping her hands on her tiny shoulders. It didn't really hurt, but the closeness felt incredibly antipathetic. "You know something, otherwise the Box wouldn't have directly contacted you. Now tell us what you know!"
She hated herself, "I really don't!" she exclaimed, her hands flying to her head, as if she could salvage whatever underlying thoughts she had. "I wish I did, which was why it was so hard to tell you guys." she shook her head, nothing rung a bell. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."
"If you're so sorry, then you should've done us all a favor and told us when you first discovered it." the older one stressed, his shoulders heaving with each breath. He was trying so hard to stay together. "Because of you, we've wasted so much time, like idiots. Now, think, think harder!"
"Alby," Newt said temperately, in order to quell the already burning fire. "Calm down, she really doesn't know."
Theo looked away, disappointed in herself. She felt Alby's touch disappear like a burn, but she still didn't feel like she deserved to look up. She heard the faint, quick whispers of Newt and Alby's voices, not meant for her ears.
"We'll give you a minute." was what Newt said in passing before leaving the room.
"I understand why you did it, Theo." Alby confessed, his eyes fixated on the ground, his body half in and out the door, "but next time, don't be selfish and think you can solve this on your own. Next time this happens, you tell us, or you'll be in the Slammer."
Both boys had already left by the time Theo was able to gather herself, and the only action of acknowledgement was a mute nod. Really, either way it would've been a mess. She kept trying to convince herself, and there could be worse consequences than a stern talk down. They were having a hard time, they all were, and she could understand how much on edge Alby was for having the one girl in the Glade called upon like an Angel from the box. It was too constructed, she was too threatening to their peace.
She sighed, and kicked off her shoes, and without even thinking, slipped her body under the bedsheets. When was the last time she slept in a bed? It wasn't the most comfortable mattress in the world, but it felt a hell of a lot more warmer than the Homestead floors. She drifted deeper and deeper into the covers, never once considering until now the alone time she craved. Eventually, the subtle scent of fresh grass and morning sun sent her into a much needed rest.
She didn't know how long it had been since then, but when she woke up, terror zapped through her body.
"Finally, you're awake."
Newt was sitting in one of his chairs, his legs dangling from the back of it. His hand was in his chin, his eyes glazed over. Part of his tousled blond hair was sticking up, probably from running his hands through it too much. It looked like he had been sitting there forever.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she gushed, moving to step out of his bed but Newt promptly stopped her.
"It's fine," he insisted, waving her back down. "It's only been a couple hours."
"Hours!" she remarked, ripping the covers away. And to support Newt's statement, the sky was a bright navy, the only light between them was a lamp perched against the sill. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
He shrugged, "You looked so peaceful."
A furious blush crept up her cheeks, and she felt her legs start to grow warm and jelly-like at the thought, thankfully she was still sitting up. "Where's Chuck?"
"Asleep." he paused for thought, "yeah, those potatoes knocked him right out. Probably the first good night he's had in days."
"And Minho?"
"Shuckin' passed out after I told him you fell asleep."
"It's so late." her mental clocked screamed at her, and willed her to return to the faithful bed, but she forced herself to stand. "I'll let you get some sleep, I'm sorry again."
"I want you to take Alby's words to heart, do you hear me?" Newt said suddenly, his eyes staring her down. His gaze had an underlying power that soothed every nerve in her skin, and Theo couldn't help but sit back down. "Next time, tell one of us. The only thing it can do is help. Alby's my best mate, and he knows more than anybody here."
"I will," she replied with conviction, her hands balling into fists under the sheets. "Sorry."
"Stop saying sorry, what's done is done." Newt chewed the inside of his cheek, and smiled wryly. "You can keep the bed for tonight, it looks like you enjoyed it. It'll be a nice break for being cooped up with all the boys."
She shook her head, no matter how tempting the offer was. "No thanks." she got up, and tried straightening the covers. "In another life, you were probably quite the gentleman." she said modestly, and she really could imagine Newt being the real charmer, attracting all the ladies without a care in the world. She had a feeling girls probably liked the endearing boyish type.
He laughed, genuinely enthralled by the notion. "Maybe I was."
Theo liked how easygoing he was, it made conversation so much easier, "I had a dream." she confessed.
That seemed to interest him, and he lifted his head slightly, only to let it rest comfortably against the chair. He looked like a little kid awaiting his storytime. "Really? Do you remember it?"
"I don't know, I was just reading a book of some sorts. A fairy tale, probably." she thought back to the hazy dream. She was wearing a faded daisy dress, with just as faded lace socks. The words were fuzzy and blurred, but she could make out the vivid watercolor pictures. "It's probably irrelevant, but I was little when I read it."
"At least you dream about your past, no matter how incomplete. My dreams aren't all that cute." he toyed with a playful grin.
"What do you dream about?"
"Zart's snoring."
Theo laughed at the thought, and wow, it felt so good to laugh. She had to thank Newt for that, but maybe some other time. Sleep was beckoning her, and the dream was still lingering in her mind. Backing away towards the door, she slipped on her shoes. "I should go back downstairs now."
Newt complied, and got up to open the door for her, his movements just as sluggish as hers.
"Sure thing." he drawled, drooping his head so their faces were parallel to each other.
She didn't want to turn away from his gaze, which was all too inviting and tender, so she took baby steps backwards. "Good night."
It took a second for him to reply, trying to lag the moment. "Night."
When the door finally shut she released a breath she didn't know she was holding. Theo had felt breathless before, but not being able to breathe never felt that good.
The following days were painfully slow.
At one point, she was selfishly hoping that Gladers would be vying for her attention once more so she'd be preoccupied with more than just the charming, blond haired second-in-command. Days soon trended into routine, and at one point she, Jeff and Clint were dozing off in the middle of work, sleeping in patient cots. It was a good thing that Gladers weren't hurting themselves left and right, but the result was terribly boring.
Theo eventually found refuge in running.
"I swear, you're improving."
Huff huff huff.
"Okay, what I mean by improving, is that you can at least run in a straight line without cursing my name out."
Minho was her trainer of sorts, and was either extremely encouraging or insufferably sarcastic when it came to their morning and evening runs. He was like the annoying brother she never wanted. The Keeper eventually moved on from breathing exercises and made her jog again, gradually increasing pace and time as the days went on. In the afternoons, she'd get away with napping and perfecting inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. During the early and late hours, she'd run with Minho. He hadn't given up on her yet. Minho promised that by the time they escaped, she'd run faster than when Newt was a Runner a few months before she arrived ("Trust me when I say that" he said in-between a cooldown, "that shank was faster than me at one point, I hated him for months.") While she found that hard to believe, it did make her feel better, and that these exercises weren't pointless.
Other times, Chuck would follow her around like a baby duckling, whenever he wasn't too busy cleaning. He was a Slopper, and he was quite disappointed knowing it was the best he could do. Regardless, he performed his task dutifully like any other worker. At most times made sure to shower before meeting with her, and Theo trusted him enough to stand in front of the bathhouse when she had to freshen up. It was annoying at first, but Theo learned to accommodate to it, as long as he didn't get in the way while she worked she'd deal with it.
It was better than being alone, where she felt extremely vulnerable to over-thinking.
"You look like you were made for the job."
Her shoulders contracted together in shock, far too into checking the Glade's medical inventory. Newt was leaning against the doorway, and from the looks of his lax position, he'd been standing there for awhile. His slightly yellow tank bubbled over his belly, and it was kind of cute because he was so slender. He flipped his hair, probably without even knowing it, but she still felt appalled by how impossibly good he made it look.
Theo lifted an eyebrow, "Is that supposed to be a sexist comment?" she thought back to previous Gladers, who relished in the fact about being doted on by a young lady.
"Not at all." he replied smoothly, and pushed his body forward."You just look like someone to rely on, someone who'd take great care in another."
"Slim it." she said hastily, hiding her face with her clipboard.
He chuckled, the low rumble in his throat impossibly charming. "It's adorable when you try to speak like a Glader."
Please, please go away. She repeated in her head over and over, because she wasn't sure if she could handle her palpitating heart any longer. Theo liked it all too much. "Well, then I'm sure Gally sounds just as adorable when he says it." she countered.
Newt snorted, "Who knew you had a sense of humor."
And just as they started to get comfortable, the moment was shattered instantaneously. Their gazes hung like drying laundry, and all at once pulled into a sleepless nightmare. Clint and Jeff stormed into the Homestead's infirmary, with Minho and Alby in tow. The four of them were heaving a body into one of the cots.
"Ben's been stung!" Minho said quickly.
"In broad daylight." as if Alby couldn't believe it.
"Hold him down while we prepare the serum!" Jeff ordered, filing through the drawers as fast as possible.
The strangled, painful grunts and cries of Ben deafened the group's ears as he tried to fight against him. His face was unbelievably pale and sunken, but hideously contorted together, with purple eye bags and veins popping from his neck. He convulsed and screamed, thrashing around the cot like a wild animal.
Newt and Minho held down Ben's legs, while Alby was strapping down one of his arms with a leather bind. Clint practically threw all his weight onto Ben's right side, as Theo hastily attempted to cut open his shirt. As soon as the fabric pulled away, she was greeted with unnatural, furiously scrawled purple and red blood and yellowed pus. The Griever strung spread across his torso and to his naval, practically eating his body. Green ropey scars tinged his blistered skin. Theo had never met Ben before, but that moment definitely the worst possible way to greet anyone.
"Clint! Where the hell is the syringe stopper! If we give him too much we'll kill him."
Clint hurriedly flew to Jeff's side, causing Ben's head to snap forward like a rocket, his skull crashing against Theo's. "Get away from me!" he barked, his eyes wide with fire, but it didn't quite reach her ears as pain flooded to her head.
"Watch it, shuckface!" Minho yelled, now responsible for holding Ben's entire bottom half.
Newt immediately took Clint's place and held his body down, no time for words as he grit his teeth together.
"Stand back!" Jeff warned, pounding a blue colored spring syringe into Ben's chest.
The Griever-stung body had immediately relaxed, and Ben finally succumbed to unconsciousness, his limbs dropping like deadweight. Alby and Minho took this opportunity to strap his body to the bed, trying the leather together so hard that they were risking blood circulation.
Once they were in the clear Newt rushed over and dropped to the ground, where Theo was slumped over. "Are you alright?" She moaned in response, and tried opening her eyes but all she could see was black and white dots. His eyebrows knit together, trying to shoo away the hair from her forehead. "Can you hear me?"
"Newt, Clint and Jeff will take care of her. You need to come with Minho and I." Alby said authoritatively, wiping the sweat off his brow. "Keep a watch on Ben at all times, I want a report every hour." The two fully conscious Med-jacks nodded in understanding, and went to cleaning up the mess of thrown supplies and pushed papers.
As much as Newt wanted to, he knew that Theo had to wait. He watched as Clint scooped her into another sleeping mat, talking to her to make sure she wouldn't fall out of consciousness. "I don't think we're going to survive this week." he muttered to Minho, who wordlessly agreed.
"Ben is such a hardhead for going out into the Maze like that. Get it, hardhead?" Frypan guaffed at his own joke, only to cause Theo's headache to worsen. She forced a smile, and hurriedly thanked him for the take-out meal, Frypan eventually making his way back to the Shack. Clint assured her that Ben's head only caused minor bruising to hers, and it only looked so bad because it was her temple that got hit. It still scared her, but regardless tried her best to help out, even if it was just bringing dinner to them.
"I think I'll throw up if I start eating." she remarked, handing Jeff the large picnic basket.
"Go ahead and rest, Alby will understand if you take a break." the Med-jack pressed on, hurriedly eager to eat his dinner.
Theo wasn't so sure, and stole a glance behind her friend, where Ben was resting. "But—"
"Don't be stubborn, Theo. You did a good job today, but Ben practically knocked the hell out of you. Just go."
"I can just stay—"
"No," and for a split second she could've bet money that Jeff knew more than she did. "besides, someone's been waiting for you."
"Slim it." An accented voice said to her right. Theo was already starting to feel lightheaded, and it wasn't because of Ben. "C'mon, some fresh air will do ya good."
"Hurry, you kids be nice." another playful shove and she felt her wrist being tugged away by Newt, who for some reason seemed inescapable.
It was dark, and the Glade seemed more spacious than usual. Newt led her to the Gardens, making sure to slow his pace so she wouldn't overexert herself. He patted a patch of grass and urged her to sit, and she happily did so, finally being able to rest her body. The Glade was tranquil, and devoid of people. It was strangely quiet, but she liked being able to lean back and not worry about Track-hoes running back and forth.
"But maybe they do need my help." she said to herself.
"Hush, those two will be fine handling Ben."
"I'm okay, really."
"Thea, please relax."
"Maybe I am losing it, because I distinctly remember my name being Theo."
Newt was sitting next to her, his long legs stretched out so far it made hers look like stubs. "What's wrong with Thea? It can be my nickname for you, and you can call me…" he rattled off names in his head, bobbing his head back and forth. "Darling?" he tried, a gummy grin infectiously leaning towards her.
She scoffed, and shifted slightly when she realized that their thighs were practically against each other. "Please, your attempts at flirting are so obvious."
"Then it must be working." he egged on, but when she didn't reply his smile faded. They both knew they shouldn't continue like this, especially with Ben being stung in the middle of the day, and a new Glader coming in tomorrow. Another month had passed by all too soon. "The sky would be prettier with stars." he murmured absentmindedly, his eyes fixating on the blank, dark slate above them.
"I was just thinking about that."
"And speaking of pretty, even with that bruise you still are," he coughed to himself, flustered. "you know, pretty."
He was doing it again. Making her go crazy at the most inconvenient times. Theo shook her head, making her dark hair cover her temple. "Newt, I'm probably the first girl you've seen in a very, very long time. You're just saying that because you don't have any other girls to compare to."
His hands moved her hair apart, making sure her bruise was viewable to dismiss her theory. "I know what pretty is, I don't need a million other girls to tell me otherwise."
"Then," she drew circles with her pointer finger, trying to think of the right words to say. "Then I should know what handsome is, and I don't need fifty other Gladers to tell me you are."
"Like the stars?"
"Like the stars."
"Shuck," Newt laughed airily, burying his head between his knees. "If anyone heard us right now, I don't think we'd escape the end of it."
"Shit, I slept through the day!" Theo cried, looking at Clint accusingly. Newt must've dropped her off in the Homestead last night, but by the time she woke up he was no longer there, and the sun was already in its midday haze. "I haven't done any work in forever, why didn't you wake me up!" she was still snuggled in her blankets from her sleeping mat, but quickly waddled to the Med-jacks' room to complain.
"Girl, you needed the sleep." Clint replied unabashedly, popping a piece of bread in his mouth. "Now doesn't your head feel better?"
"It does." she said, pursing her lips.
"Then I've done my job."
"How's Ben?"
"Peachy. He hasn't started the Changing yet, but I have a feeling he'll start convulsing very soon."
"And the new Glader?"
"Dunno, ask Chuck. He's been hanging around him all day." She sighed dramatically, blowing the top of her messy hair. "Quit it, if you're so keen on doing work switch places with me and watch Ben. I'm going to shower." and as if to prove his point, he threw a towel over his shoulder, and walked out.
Theo immediately took refuge in Clint's spot, eating the remnants of his meal. Throwing the blankets off to the side, she stole a glance to Ben, who was in a fitful rest. He looked normal enough from her distance, but she was warned it wouldn't be that way for long. She shivered, and tried to mentally prepare herself for the Changing. If she was going to succeed as a Med-jack, she was going to have to put on her big-girl undies and be tough about it. A slice of pita was still in her mouth when the tent flew open.
It was a boy, around her age. She had never seen him around, but at the same time he had that kind of generic face you could've sworn you saw more than once. He had incredibly long eyelashes, longer than hers, which framed his true brown eyes and his equally messy hair. Tall, but not exactly slender.
Swallowing the rest of her food she said, "You're not allowed in here."
"Why?" he countered, obviously perturbed. He was definitely the new Greenie. "And you're the first girl I've seen around here."
"Unfortunately. You're new?"
"Yeah." he replied, his face terse. He seriously wasn't satisfied with her simple responses, but she was still half-asleep and didn't feel like raising her voice just yet. "I'm Thomas."
"Theo."
Thomas squinted his eyes, as if he were searching for more. It bothered her, she felt like she was being stripped raw like some sort of science experiment. The only difference was the way he went about it, as if he were genuinely confused, searching for something that wasn't there. Sure, the new Glader was more good looking than others, but it was no excuse to stare at her so, intensely.
"I know you from somewhere." he said.
Before she could process the essence of of his statement, the alarms sounded.
(a/n) I have drastically altered the timeline, for future reference. As I write this, I've also combined movie elements to keep up with the quick pace. I spent three chapters in the span of two months and now we're to the main plot when Thomas arrives. I realized I suck at writing action scenes, I have a feeling that the category will change real soon.
But anyway, thank you for all the love this story has received. I haven't posted on aff since I was a freshmen in high school (and one fic a month ago) but this will be one of my longest to date. I don't know much about culture, I'm a regular on aff though, is it normal for me to directly reply back to reviewers? Or common?
See you guys soon!