A boy Newt didn't know woke him up early the next morning - it was barely light out. "Dude," Newt grumbled. "What the bloody hell? It's the crack of shucking dawn. Leave me alone." He rolled over, his eyes heavy with grogginess.
"Okay," the boy said, and Newt could hear the smile in his voice. "You don't want to train to be a Runner, fine by me."
Newt was up the next instant. "Hey, I'm Newt. And you are?"
The boy laughed. "I'm Alec. Nice to meet you, too."
"Yeah, sorry, I am not a morning person."
"I noticed." Alec grinned. He was about as tall as Newt with blond hair and was just as muscled as Minho. Honestly, he was attractive, but Newt had eyes only for a certain dark-skinned boy. "Follow me and we'll get you your running gear before we leave."
Newt followed Alec inside the Homestead and into a small closet. Alec slipped something over Newt's head that felt like leather and rested weird on his body. Alec strapped it on him. "This leather will protect you," he said. "You can also keep your weapons in it - comes in handy a lot. Keep it on." Newt nodded. "What size shoes you wear?"
Newt took off his shoe and looked. "Seven."
Alec laughed. "You have small feet, slinthead."
"You sound like Minho, slinthead," Newt commented back through a yawn. "I think he's a bad influence on all of us."
This just earned him another laugh. "Shuck-face works hard, but he can be...yeah."
"Yeah," Newt agreed, and they laughed. Newt didn't mention the soft side of Minho he had seen the night before. "I wonder how he's doing."
"Size seven." Alec handed him a shoebox. "And yeah, me too. Looks like he'll be fine, though." Alec gave him a backpack stuffed with food, extra clothes (including a pair of underwear that Alec called Runnie-undies). The Runner also gave him a watch, explaining that only Runners and Keepers were allowed to have one. Nick and Alby also had one.
Newt followed Alec out to the Maze. This would be the first time he would ever set foot in the Maze. Ever. "You ready?" Alec asked him.
"Now or never," Newt reminded him.
Alec grinned. "I like you already, shank. Let's go."
He took off and Newt grinned back before following him. His long blond hair flew behind him and he put it up in a ponytail as he ran. It was nice at first, but soon Newt's muscles were screaming at him for him to stop and he wondered how long it would be before Alec would let them take a break.
Right on cue, the Runner slumped against a wall, panting. "Hey, you okay?" Newt asked him.
"Yeah," Alec said. "Just been a little...extra tired lately. Dunno. Let's take a break."
They took their food out and ate lunch. Lunch consisted of sandwiches and an apple. "Don't want to get fat," Alec said as he took a huge bite of his sandwich.
Newt rolled his eyes. The shank reminded him so much of Minho, it was scary. Probably they spent a lot of time together. "So, you know Minho pretty well?" Newt said as they ate.
"Yeah," Alec said. "How did you know?"
"Well, you guys are Runners together. And you act a lot like him."
Alec chuckled. "True, I guess I do sometimes. He's rubbing off on me." He looked over at Newt. "Hey, can I trust you with a secret?"
"Of course," Newt said.
"I...kind of like Minho," Alec admitted, blushing and avoiding Newt's gaze. "I mean, like like him."
Newt couldn't help being surprised. "Is everyone gay in this place?"
His new friend grinned. "Pretty much. I mean, there aren't any girls, and put fifty horny teens in a confined space like this, well...you're kinda asking for it."
"God, you sound like Minho so much it's scary," Newt laughed, shaking his head. "I can practically hear him saying that. You guys are like twins."
"I'm glad we're not," said Alec. "Wouldn't be good to have a massive crush on a brother."
"You really like him, huh?" Newt said, feeling happy for Alec, and Minho once the idiot realized that a great guy had feelings for him. Alec nodded. "Just to clue you in a little bit, Minho would probably strangle me if he knew I was telling you this, but he has a soft side."
"He does? Knew it." Alec's smirk looked so much like Minho's it startled Newt. "How did you find out?"
"He showed me," Newt informed him. "Last night." Alec's eyes flared with jealousy. "I was worried about him, because we'd fought right before he almost got stuck out here, and I thought he was dead. He told me not to worry, that he was fine, and he was so gentle and incredibly sweet." Newt smiled. "You're a lucky guy."
Alec smiled. "That stupid shank."
"Agreed." Newt grinned at his new friend. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure," Alec said.
"Do you know if Alby's gay?" Newt asked. "I mean, I think he is because I've seen him with Nick, but-"
"Nick?" Alec asked, a confused look on his face.
Newt felt just as confused. He scratched his head and said, "Uh, yeah. I thought he and Nick-"
"Alby doesn't like Nick." Alec looked as lost as Newt felt.
"The bloody hell?" Newt commented, perplexed. "I swore he liked Nick...
"No, I don't think so." Alec shook his head.
Oh. Well, then.
Newt knew he had a bit of talking to do with Alby when he got back. In the meantime, he had training to do. "Hey, how long have we been sitting here?" Newt asked. "We should probably start running again."
Alec looked down at his watch. "Yeah, you're right. We've been so busy talking about who shucking likes who that I guess we got caught up in it." He laughed. "And we claim there aren't any shucking girls here."
It was scary how much Alec and Minho were alike. Newt knew they would make a great couple. He laughed and said, "Race you."
"You're on," Alec said, grinning at him.
AN: Hope you liked this chapter and please review and let me know what you thought :) Oh and Alec was one of the names on the wall in the movie