Author's Note: Thank you so much for the reviews I got! I need that if I'm going to keep motivated to update often, that's for sure.
Alby didn't say anything until after Newt had finished explaining what little he knew about what was going on between him and Ada.
His expression didn't so much as flicker when Newt laid out each of the events that led him to believe that Ada wasn't entirely wrong about her seeming need to stay close to him.
His expression didn't change, but Newt knew his friend well enough to know exactly what was going through his mind.
So it came as no surprise when Alby's first words after he finished were, "You know that's jacked, right?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Newt acknowledged, dropping tiredly onto a nearby stool. He glanced over to make sure his new position hadn't caused Ada any discomfort and seeing that her expression and position seemed unchanged, allowed himself to slump back down, head buried in his hands.
"But," Alby continued firmly. "I believe it."
Newt's head shot up and his eyebrows reached even further upward. Now that had managed to surprise him.
"You believe it," He repeated skeptically.
Alby shrugged, then dropped onto the other stool.
"Think about it man," He said. "It's crazy, no doubt about it. It makes no sense. But neither does anything else in this shucking place. Someone is clearly running the show and it's not us. After everything else they've set up here nothing seems impossible. Unfortunately."
"Yeah," Newt agreed, softly, his throat feeling suddenly scratchy though he'd barely used it for the past few hours.
There was a moment of silence before Newt broke it with an almost involuntary groan earning him a laugh from Alby.
Why did the new greenie have to be a girl?
Why did she have to be in danger of passing out every five minutes?
And why, why, why did the previous two have to involve him so shucking intimately?
"Well, at least that solves one problem," Alby offered, amusement coloring his tone.
"And what would that be?" Newt demanded disbelievingly.
"Where the greenie's going to sleep," Alby stated all together too matter of factly, failing to entirely hide the grin that threatened to erupt on his face.
"Alby..." Newt protested, seeing exactly where his friend was going with this.
He couldn't possibly be serious.
"She has an aneurysm every time she's out of your sight, Newt," Alby pointed out almost comically patiently.
He had a point.
Newt refused to tell him that though.
"So that's the solution? Join us at the hip 24/7? For how long?" He demanded, reaching up to tug at the hair at the nape of his neck, giving away his anxiety more than he would have liked.
"Until we find a better one," Alby shrugged.
It was a sensible answer, and probably the only one they could hope for at the moment when they understood so little about what was bloody going on.
That didn't make Newt like it anymore.
He frowned and let the silence stretch between them until Alby decided to break it with a decidedly unhelpful comment.
"You know, most of these shanks would be begging to bunk with the greenbean."
Newt rolled his eyes, glancing over at Ada's still prone form to make sure she wasn't recovering her conscious state at a very inopportune time.
"Yeah, well I'm not most of these shanks." Newt huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back as far as the stool allowed without feeling like he was in danger of falling off.
"Nope," Alby agreed, shaking his head sagely though the glint in his eye gave away the enjoyment he was getting out of this conversation. "And that's why you're in charge when I'm not around."
Newt scoffed.
"Good thing you're always around."
"Yeah, Alby smirked, leaning forward to slap Newt's knee affably. "Good thing."
Alby had left soon after, spouting some klunk about being a very important leader with important leader things to do before leaving Newt alone to wait for Ada to wake up.
He took the opportunity to take in her appearance in a way he hadn't allowed himself to before.
Dirty blonde hair, puffed out around her head like a fuzzy pillow.
A fuzzy pillow that could use a good brushing.
Maybe it was the color of hair that term brought to his mind, maybe her hair was just blonde...and dirty...but it wasn't like her hair color made shuck all difference to him so he moved on.
Eyes...well, they were closed weren't they? So no information to be gleaned there.
This was going bloody wonderful so far.
She had a face that was kind of...sharp? But not too pointy or anything just not very...round?
Yeah, he wasn't exactly in the habit of describing girls and he was finding himself woefully unprepared for the task now.
His eyes drifted down past her chin and quickly skimmed over what was obvious below that.
So yeah...she had...those. Right. Good. Move on you, pervert.
She was slim. Short. Shortish. Definitely short compared to him. Her overall appearance was pale, slight, almost fragile but not quite.
She was pretty he supposed.
Well, of course she was pretty. He just didn't have anything to compare her to. She didn't make him forget his name just by looking at her or anything, but she definitely was a sight for sore eyes after being stuck with nothing but shanks like him for visual entertainment up to this point.
Newt allowed himself to lean forward slightly and reach out tentatively to brush a finger across her arm.
Girls were supposed to be inherently softer than guys right? That was a thing wasn't it?
She didn't seem particularly softer than he would expect any of the greenies who hadn't spent years in the harsh conditions of the Glade to be. Maybe her face...
Newt leaned forward even more reaching that same tentative finger towards her cheek this time when her eyes suddenly snapped open locking onto his as he froze in horror.
"Well, this could have gone better," flashed through Newt's mind, embarrassment flooding him.
It wasn't the only thing flooding through him though.
The biggest feeling was simple and uncomplicated.
Relief.
Ada's first thought when the darkness in her mind suddenly gave way and her eyes popped open wasn't really much of a thought at all, more of an overwhelming, instinctual feeling.
Newt being far away was bad.
Newt being far away hurt a lot.
But Newt wasn't far away anymore, he was close.
It was right about then that enough of her processing prowess kicked in that she was able to take in the fact that he was quite close, like really, really close.
His upper body was hovering over hers, his eyes level with her own, his finger outstretched and hovering just over her cheek.
Ada frowned, confusion seeping in enough to cloud her feeling of joy at the pain being gone by this point.
For his part, Newt seemed frozen and Ada watched with a bemused fascination as he took one, two breathes in and out.
"What are you doing?" She eventually whispered. She didn't know why whispered her question. The moment seemed fragile somehow, and besides there was still a residual headache pulsing through her head as evidence of the ordeal her body had endured mere hours earlier.
At least she though it was mere hours earlier. It could have been ten minute or two days she supposed, for all she knew.
She really had to stop losing time like this.
Her question appeared to be the impetus Newt needed to regain his senses and he hoisted himself upright quickly, coughing into one fist for no obvious reason other than to cover his discomfort in the moment.
Despite everything Ada had to swallow a smile at that gesture.
That wasn't obvious or anything.
"I was checking your pulse, Greenie," He explained hurriedly. "Can't have you dying on my watch."
He seemed to grimace slightly as soon as the words had left his mouth and she wanted to tell him she hadn't almost died on his watch, not really. Neither of them understood what was wrong with her and how much of a solution he was. He didn't know her. She didn't know her. She wasn't his responsibility.
Still. She'd prefer not to totally eliminate his guilt if that was what stood between her and agonizing death.
So she didn't say any of that.
Instead she pushed herself up by her elbows and shot him a teasing look, as light and playful as she could manage at the moment.
"You were checking my pulse on my cheek?" She teased. "Didn't think you'd have more luck elsewhere?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, did you suddenly remember a medical degree you forgot to tell me about?" He countered with false offense, though the smile he offered her seemed genuine. "Yeah, yeah," She rolled her eyes.
Neither of them said anything for a moment and Ada took the opportunity to take stock of herself. Aside from the residual headache, she seemed to be in one piece.
"So..." She waved her hands in a helpless gesture that didn't really indicate anything beyond her awkwardness, though it was too late to take it back now. "I'm not dead."
"No," Newt sobered again at her words. "Not dead."
"But I'm pretty sure my theory about our physical proximity is looking more and more plausible," She forged ahead waiting for him to protest.
He didn't.
Apparently her latest horrifically painful and equally mortifying episode had gone along way to convincing him.
"We need to figure out what's happening to me," Ada said as decisively as she could. "And we need to know what it has to do with you."
"Well, sure, why didn't I think of that," Newt mocked. "Figure out what's happening, right. While we're at it why don't we just figure out how to beat the maze and get our memories back too? If it's not too much trouble."
"Maze?" Ada, furrowed her brow at the passing mention. "Those walls around the Glade is a maze? Is that the way out?"
Newt sighed, one hand coming up to massage his forehead. Maybe he was the one developing a headache at this point.
"I keep forgetting you're such a newbie," Newt said. "We need to get you a tour, and you need to audition for the keepers to get your job assignment and..."
"I need to touch everyone in the Glade," Ada interrupted, the next step to solving the mystery surrounding her suddenly becoming clear in her mind.
This had potential. If she could just gather everyone up at once and...
"What?" He was staring at her as though she had completely lost her mind.
"I need to see if it's really just you that has this effect," She shrugged. It seemed pretty obvious to her. "I've already been in contact with Alby and Clint and...what's his name? Jeff. So none of them have any result. But everyone else is inconclusive so far."
"Yeah, but it's not like your head is exploding when you're too far away from anyone else," Newt protested.
"True..." Ada mused as she hopped off of the table and stood shakily, swatting away Newt's hands as he attempted to steady her. "But we don't know that no one else's closeness solves the problem. We don't know enough to make any kind of educated guess about this weirdness yet, we've got to gather more information."
Ada took a couple of wobbly steps toward the cabin door before Newt regained his voice.
"By touching every single glader?" He demanded.
"To start with," Ada agreed, her mind already racing with other tests she could conduct. The idea of regaining some tiny scrap of control over her situation lending her renewed energy.
The next thing she knew Newt was in front of her, one arm braced on either side of the doorway blocking her escape.
"Not bloody likely," He snapped, taking her by surprise.
"Why not?" She asked, confusion once again marring her expression.
"Let me get this straight," Newt's voice was almost eerily calm, and one arm came up to point behind him towards the door and glade beyond. "You want to just line up a bunch of teenage boys and invite them one by one to touch the first girl they've ever shucking seen?"
Ada frowned.
Oh.
"When you put it like that..." She admitted quietly.
Newt shook his head.
"What am I going to do with you, Greenie?" His voice was tired and Ada felt a stab of guilt penetrate her disappointment.
She hadn't given up on the idea of testing her reaction to physical proximity with other gladers. Nor did she have any ideas to stop experimenting until she found an answer to what was wrong with her. And after that, despite Newt's sarcasm at suggesting it, maybe she could put her mind to figuring out everything else about this place that made no sense.
But for now, for now she owed the boy in front of her one.
"Well," She answered softly. "I heard something about a tour?"
Newt seemed to visibly relax at her suggestion, apparently closer to being on comfortable footing with that scenario.
"Ok, Greenie," He pushed open the door behind him and gestured for her to follow him out which she did, her legs feeling more and more willing to keep her upright. "There's three rules you need to know..."