"Oh hey guys."
They looked up and were both shocked and contended to see their fellow Gladers. They didn't think they would ever get to meet them again. But all forgotten, they were glad to be reunited with them.
"Where were all of you?" Newt asked.
"We were here only. We thought you guys left us." One Glader replied.
"Are you nuts?" Minho said, "Of Course we didn't."
"You all went missin'. We were really worried." Newt told them.
"These people sent us to watch some documentary about our history." Another Glader said. " We've been watching it for god knows how long."
"We just finished it." One Glader added.
"All of you alright?" Newt asked.
The Gladers all agreed they were alright, and only then did Newt breathed an air of relief. "Good that."
All of them settled down and started eating their lunch. While they were eating, the Gladers narrated all that happened to them while they were gone in detail.
"Wait." Thomas interrupted. "What about Teresa?"
"What about he-" The Glader got distracted by someone calling out his name.
All the people in the canteen turned in the direction from where the sound came and found out that it was Janson. He started calling out names of the people who would be going to the safe place. Most of the names that he called were of the Gladers who they just got reunited with.
All the Gladers except Winston, Jake, Frypan, Minho, Thomas and Newt, stood up from there seat in joy and started walking towards Janson.
"Wait!" Thomas called out.
The Gladers whose names were called turned around and looked at him, waiting for him to say something.
"I... I don't think... I don't think youshouldgo." He blurted in a hushed voice so that only the people at the table could hear it.
Everyone looked at him with shock.
"Why not?" They asked him, to which he had no response. Minho and Newt understood his concerns, however, the Gladers thought he was being jealous and wishing for them to not go to a safe place before him.
None of them said anything and just looked at Thomas with disappointment. One of the youngest Glader, who clearly didn't read the room, came forward and said. "Don't worry Thomas. You'll meet us again soon."
"That's not-"
"Enough," One Glader said. "We have to go." And then all the Gladers left, leaving the previous six alone at the table.
"Maybe there's really nothing bad about this." Frypan reasoned. "I mean, we got nothing really against these guys."
"I hope so." Newt said, as they watched their friend's happy faces, being taken away by the soldiers.
"Cheer up guys." Frypan encouraged the other people. "Soon we'll be on a free land too."
"We should be optimistic." Winston, who was looking at the floor, looked up at them. "Can't feel all the negative emotions all the time."
Maybe he was right. Maybe we are thinking too much. Our friends are going to a better place. We should be happy for them. This was the thought flowing inside all of their minds.
They went back to their lunch while trying to get their mind on not to think too much about this people and just enjoy the life they finally got will have.
After the lunch the soldier took them back to the library on the request of Frypan, Winston and Jake. The other trio just agreed to it and went with them.
"But what're we gonna do here?" Minho asked.
"Watch a movie with us." Jake excitedly took Minho to the computer cabinet without waiting for his reply.
"They've got some really good ones." Frypan told them while entering the cabinet.
When they entered, they saw Minho typing some command in the computer.
"What're you doing?" Thomas asked him.
He didn't reply and just moved to the side from in front of the computer, shocking everyone, as now they could see the movie on the wall in front of the computer. Basically he turned on the inbuilt projector on the computer, but to all the other Gladers it was an amazement.
"How did you do that?" Winston asked.
"..." He didn't know how he did that.
"Man, we've been fighting over to get closer to the screen, and you could just do that." Frypan said.
"..." Again, he didn't know he could do that.
"Come on, Let's watch!" Jake hurried them as all of them turned the chairs around and settled on them.
Newt tried really hard to focus on the movie but got distracted again and again. Sometimes he thought about his friends, wishing a good life for them. Sometimes reminding himself on not to trust the people here, and sometimes contradicting this thought.
After a while, he just couldn't take it and decided he needs to do something that requires the full focus of his brain. So, he told the Gladers and went outside to read a book. He went to the fiction section of the library and pulled out a mystery novel.
Between the two shelves against the wall, was a little space with some cushions lying on the floor. Newt made himself comfortable by putting the cushions between his back and the wall and crossing the legs lying straight ahead and started reading the novel.
He didn't even complete the first page when he heard someone approaching him. Looking up from his book, he saw Thomas who almost broke his neck looking at the books on his left side, then at the right, at the moment their eyes met. He kept searching for something, then randomly grabbed a book and went near Newt. He stood in front of him with a book in his hand, not knowing what to say. Thankfully, Newt didn't let him suffer for long.
"Movie's not to your likin'?" He asked.
"Yeah," Thomas replied. "It's boring. Mind If I join you."
Newt chuckled at that sentence. 'As if I'll ever mind your company.' He motioned for him to sit.
The space between the shelves was only for a single person, so Thomas sideways leaned at the bookshelf on the right side of Newt, folding his legs beneath him.
"Do you need a cushion?" Newt asked.
Leaning back on a straight wall is fine but leaning against the bookshelf must not be that comfortable, that too sideways. 'He'll surely get neck-pain later.'
But before Newt could hand him a cushion, Thomas stopped him. "It's fine. I don't need that." He said that as he sat straight and turned around without getting up, with his back towards Newt.
Newt looked at his back and then jumped a little as Thomas leaned back and rested his head on Newt's lap. He didn't say anything and just stared reading the book in his hand with a blank face, making him seem very focused.
Newt, not wanting to break the silence also went back to reading his book. After remembering what had happened in the morning, he was glad that Thomas didn't feel uncomfortable around him. He didn't realize when he unconsciously started moving his one hand through his hair.
A long time passed, after which he decided to take a break from reading and look down at the boy in his lap. He was surprised to find out that Thomas had long gone to sleep. It was then that he realized about his own hands moving along Thomas's hair and stopped his movement.
He kept his own book aside and decided to do the same for Thomas when he saw that the book Thomas was holding was upside down.
'What?... What was he readin-'
Realization hit him before he could form the sentence in his mind and made left him flustered. He facepalmed himself, both at the endearment he was feeling and the stupidity of Thomas.
'Did he... Did he come here just to spend time with me?'
He heard a soft groan from the boy below and looked at him. Thomas turned around and hugged Newt, hiding his face in his stomach without waking up from his sleep.
Newt's hand again reached for his head and gently started moving along his scalp. He was lost looking at Thomas's features that he got startled when he heard, "Cute." and threw Thomas's book straight towards where the sound came.
Minho caught the book and smirked, looking at the scene. Newt glared at him with a little embarrassment, as if he had been caught stealing.
"What?" He whispered in anger.
"Wake him up. Guard's here to pick us up for dinner." And with that he simply walked away satisfied, making Newt feel annoyed for giving Minho a reaction.
"Tommy." He said softly. "Wake up."
"Mm?"
"We've to go." He pushed Thomas and got up, pulling him up too.
Thomas, who was still in a daze from his sleep. Just let himself be pulled by Newt, who took his hand and walked out.
"Jeez, What did you do to him?" That was Frypans voice which got Thomas out of his sleepiness.
"What do you mean?" Newt's voice pitch got a little higher. "I didn't do anythin'."
Thomas was confused as to what the topic of the conversation was, while everyone stared at both him and Newt.
"What're you all thinkin'?" Newt frowned and everyone just ignored him walked out of the library, following the guard to the canteen.
Newt took the wrist of still confused and very much awake Thomas and rushed after them. "Hey! He was asleep. That's all."
"Okay, Newt." Minho replied.
Thomas looked at him as Newt let go of his hand and looked annoyed with a red face and silently continued walking. Thomas chuckled at his expression, which got him a really shocked and then flustered Newt. And Thomas tried not to think about the beat that just skipped inside his heart at his expression.
They all had a little meeting in which they decided to finally let go of the suspicion they had against these people. Thinking like that about the people who were feeding them made them all feel guilty. So, with being satisfied at heart by the food and the entertainment, they all went back to their dorms.
Quickly getting done with their nightly routine, they went to sleep. All of them were already settled on their beds except Newt, who was still in the bathroom.
Thomas was lying on his bed waiting for him. His heart was going crazy. It's not like it's the first he'll sleep with Newt, but for some reason the thought made his heart race really fast tonight.
All while he was dreaming about Newt with his eyes open, he heard a noise. "Psst."
He tried looking around for the source of the noise when he heard it again. "Hey. Down here." It was coming from under his bed.
He looked under his bed upside down and saw a face of a guy. The sight shocked him. "Oh, my God."
"Come on." The boy under the bed and said and retreated back into the vent from where he came. "Follow me."
"What?" Thomas was puzzled, but he still got down to his feet.
"Hurry, this way." The boy said before disappearing into the vent.