Ada watched the majority of the keepers file out of the gathering, barely keeping her anxiety in check as she waited for Newt to emerge or at least for one of the others to make eye contact with her.
None of them seemed eager to except for Minho who flashed her a thumbs up as he passed, shooting her what she supposed passed for a friendly smile though his steps didn't slow anymore than the rest of them.
"Relax, Greenie," Gally ordered, giving her shoulder a shove just a tad too rough to be ignored. "I told you, you're not getting banished over this."
Ada forced a deep if shaky breath of air into her lungs at his words, nodding with a confidence she didn't feel.
What she did feel was the slightly increased prickling of pain at the edges of her head that implied that Newt had moved at least a little further away from the interior wall and by extension her. She hoped that meant that he was about to emerge and offer her the only words of reassurance she was prepared to believe at the moment but there was also the possibility that it instead signified he had stepped deeper into the meeting place to talk privately with the only other present glader she hadn't seen exit.
Alby.
The leader had been good to her so far, helping to keep the others in line, making accommodations so that she could stay close to Newt and relatively pain free. He was also Newt's best friend and even after only a week of knowing him the second in command's opinion was one that she valued highly for its own sake. Newt trusted Alby so Ada had trusted Alby.
At the end of the day it was really as simple as that.
Unfortunately the cresting wave of anxiety inside of her was pointing out that what she needed to worry about was that it could be just as simple in the reverse as well.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
Science.
But maybe it applied to people too.
So maybe if Alby no longer trusted her…his best friend…Newt…wouldn't either.
And the thought of trying to survive in the Glade without Newt on her side was too terrifying to contemplate, not that the terror was stopping her from doing just that.
Ada allowed herself to briefly imagine a scenario in which Newt looked at her with not mild exasperation and budding fondness but distrust and even hostility.
How was she supposed to survive here without her biggest advocate?
How was she supposed to survive here if the person she was literally tethered to didn't want her around?
Ada shuddered involuntarily, a shiver passing through her despite the previously pleasant warmth of the sun still beaming down on her from above.
"Seriously," Gally interrupted her still spiraling thoughts. "You need to get it together. What exactly are you so scared of?"
It struck Ada as an odd question to ask of anyone stuck in the Glade, not just her.
They were trapped in a tiny (mostly) survivable space surrounded by ominous walls that opened and closed to allow them access to a maze populated with half mechanical monsters bent on killing them at any given opportunity. There was no way out or even an easy way to determine why they were there at all.
Add on the extra layers of her being the only girl, crippled by excruciating pain when she stepped too far away from a boy she barely knew, and the seeming increasing suspicion towards her from the people she needed to help her survive and the question went from odd to downright comically stupid.
Maybe not for Gally though.
He was respected by the other gladers, even the ones like Newt who didn't always appreciate his opinions.
He was big enough, strong enough to protect himself if anyone did decide to mess with him.
And of anyone she had met since she came up in that box he seemed the most content with their lives in the Glade. It wasn't that he didn't have any interest in getting out or any questions about their predicament but he seemed capable of compartmentalizing in a way she doubted she ever would be.
The Glade was their home, for better or more likely worse.
Gally just wanted to keep it safe.
Any day it stayed that way was a good enough day for him it seemed.
But Ada had a feeling being trapped wasn't something she could ever get used to even if it did feel oddly familiar in a way she couldn't pinpoint.
She was too curious for her own good and she needed answers.
But first she needed to feel secure and not panicked over the possibility of being shoved out to her inevitable grisly death.
"Took you long enough," Gally interrupted her thoughts, speaking over her head as he hauled himself to his feet.
Ada whipped her head in the direction he had spoken seeing that Newt had finally emerged from the meeting place, his expression infuriatingly neutral and hard to read though his reluctance to look directly at her spoke volumes.
Before she could work up the courage to ask him what had been decided, Alby pushed his way outside and his expression was decidedly easier to interpret.
He frowned down at Ada and it was pretty clear.
Alby didn't trust her.
"Nothing's changing for now," He explained briskly, his tone contradicting that statement. "Stick close to Newt and report it right away if anything else…unusual happens."
Ada bit her tongue and resisted the urge to snap back that everything she had experienced in the last week surely qualified as unusual.
She settled for nodding, a gesture she wasn't sure Alby even saw as he had already turned on his heel and walked off in the direction of the mess hall.
Newt watched him go with a sigh and Ada silently willed him to look in her direction.
He was close enough now that the buzzing in her head was a barely noticeable flicker at the edge of her consciousness but she didn't think she would feel true relief until Newt just looked at her.
As if he could her silent plea he finally did just that, his gaze drifting in her direction.
She suddenly wished she wasn't still sitting on the ground because he looked even more impossibly, intimidatingly tall from this position and the sun was behind him keeping her from being able to meet his eyes easily.
It was almost as though he heard her thoughts again because the next thing she knew his hand was reaching down to her and she was taking it and she was being pulled to her feet. She stumbled slightly after his sudden tug and she took some comfort in the fact that he at least did reach out to steady her, one hand catching at her lower back while the other still gripped hers. His efforts left her closer to him than probably either of them had intended and Ada blinked up at him, finally able to get a proper look at his face.
He swallowed hard, opened his mouth as though to say something then apparently thought better of it and snapped it shut again.
Ada decided it was probably down to her to say something.
"So," She started, her voice softer than she really had any explanation for other than the fact that she was only inches from Newt's face and the moment somehow felt like something that shouldn't be broken. "Nothing's changing, yeah?"
She didn't really believe Alby's words.
She wanted to believe that Newt did though.
"Ahem."
Gally clearing his throat was enough to startle Newt into dropping all contact with Ada, the two of them springing a few steps apart as though some kind of electrical charge had gone off between them.
The irony is that he had almost felt like there was a surge of static electricity traveling through his limbs a moment earlier, the points of contact with the greenie tingling in a way that wasn't unpleasant per say but was definitely disconcerting.
Maybe it was another side effect of the weird connection keeping Ada stuck to his side.
Maybe it was just that he couldn't ever remember touching a girl in any context up until a week ago and he was just a bloody pathetic shank about it.
Maybe…no.
He had enough to think about, not the least of which was Gally staring him down with that annoyingly knowing grin, one eyebrow raised as if in silent taunt.
"Thanks for watching her," Newt said, hoping he could get rid of Gally as soon as humanly possible.
"Because I need a guard now," Ada said with a sigh, her tone lighter than her tightly crossed arms would suggest.
"A babysitter," Gally corrected. "And you're welcome."
"You seem awfully…cooperative," Newt pointed out skeptically. "I figured you would have decked Alby for suggesting you sit out the gathering."
Gally shrugged, that irritating smirk still firmly in place.
"First of all, didn't want the greenbean running into the maze thinking it was better to take her chances with the grievers than you lot," He offered, earning him a frown from Newt before continuing. "Second, now Alby owes me one and that's a good position to be in."
He leaned in to finish directly next to Newt's ear, his voice dropping down to speak his last reason just for the two of them.
"And I knew which way the vote was going to go from the start, Lover Boy," He patted Newt firmly on the shoulder. "Luckily we're on the same side on this one."
Then he was walking off across the Glade, the shank having the audacity to whistle as he went.
Newt could feel that he was blushing but he hoped that Ada would mistake it for a reaction to the sun. It wasn't exactly very likely since the sun was sinking lower in the sky by the minute but he could hope.
"What did he say?" Ada asked, snapping Newt out of his unhelpful embarrassment.
"Nothing important," Newt deflected, waving his hand as though he could physically wave away the question. "Come on, it's time for dinner."
He turned without waiting for her confirmation and headed in that direction and trusting that she was trailing behind him.
It wasn't like she had much choice in the matter.
It wasn't until they had almost reached their destination that her voice rang out again stopping him in his tracks.
"Newt, I…I'm not hungry," She insisted as he turned to face her.
Newt didn't buy that.
He may not have had much experience with girls but he had plenty of experience with gladers who were uncomfortable or worried or scared.
And the way her eyes were darting to the building behind him and the boys trailing into it?
That was scared.
He couldn't exactly blame her.
Meal times were full of gossip about her and guys trying to catch a glimpse at the best of times, at least so far. After everything that went down today? He couldn't say he would be eager to share a table not knowing which one of his neighbors had voted to send him to his death.
Still.
She needed to eat.
Newt took one step closer to her and offered what he hoped was a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"What do you say we eat in the Homestead tonight?" He asked. "I'm pretty beat too."
She nodded gratefully, her face instantly relaxing and he felt a little of the tension in his own body drain out too.
"Come on," He nodded towards the entrance and guided her with the hand still on her shoulder to a spot just outside it. "I'll be right back ok?"
He knew that separating from her like this was a risk, that it would mean pain for her and that was the last thing she needed. He didn't plan on going far though.
He took only a few steps inside the building and shouted at one of the first boys he saw to bring him some food. His face must have given away that he was in a hurry because the kid was almost impossibly quick, reappearing in front of Newt, his arms full of two sandwiches and an apple.
Newt scooped up the food gratefully and closed the distance between him and Ada doing his best to leave no room in his mind for thoughts of anything beyond the task of getting them back to the Homestead.
Maybe there he would have the room to think a coherent thought and process what had happened.
He let Ada lead the way, the fading sun casting a golden glow that reflected off of her blonde hair in a way that tugged at his non-existent memories for a moment before fading into oblivion just like anytime he tried to cast his mind back to before.
Newt shook his head.
One girl popped out of the bloody box and his mind went to absolute klunk.
"First food," He reminded himself with tired determination. "Everything else can wait."