Azure• the maze runner

5

The next morning Aria woke up to realize she was still wrapped up in Newt's arms. She let out a sigh as she now felt awkward to be laid up with someone she felt like she had just met. Yes, she could recognize his face but until she knew from where it felt almost as if Newt was a stranger. That thought made her sad. She wanted to be able to remember someone, anything.

She felt Newt start to stir beside her and she sat up, quickly swinging her legs over the bed, and stood up.

"Uh, Aria? Oh... good morning." Newt sleepily mumbled as he sat up in bed.

"Morning Newt. Um, thank you for taking care of me last night. I didn't mean to drink that much, or at all even." She thanked him as she started going through her bag of belongings.

"Of course. I am your babysitter after all." He joked as the two laughed. He watched as she continued to pick items out of her bag.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I'm going to shower. I'll see you at breakfast." She told him as she grabbed her clothes to change into before leaving homestead and walking to the little hut that was built with a shower, toilet, and sink. It has a few small windows for air and a door that unfortunately for her, didn't lock. She did start putting a stick under the handle to try and jam it from the inside just in case.

She was quick to get undressed and slip in the shower. She let the warm water rinse her off of all the dirt and smells that the glade was. She quickly washed her hair and rinsed her body before stepping out and drying herself off.

She quickly changed into new clothes before removing the wood she stuck in the door and left the shower room to see that Gally stood guard outside.

"Uh, Gally? What are you doing?" She asked as he turned to face her.

"Uh, just standing here..." He trailed off.

"Okay, and why are you standing here?" She asked again.

"Some of those shuckface's were talking about coming to take a peek in the window so I stood there to make sure it didn't happen." Gally finally caved and told her.

"Oh, uh. Thanks Gally." She thanked him with a smile on her face.

"Uh, no problem. Don't mention it. Seriously, don't mention it." He said again, causing her to let out a giggle but nod. She gave him a slight pat on the back as she passed him and walked back to her shared room with Newt as she pushed the door open, quickly spotting a changing Newt in the room.

They both let out a squeal as she turned around and he practically fell over from being startled.

"Uh, I'm changed. You can come back in..." She heard Newt call out as she pushed the door open again.

"Uh, I'm sorry about that. I thought you were already at breakfast..." Aria apologized as he sent her a small smile with a blush evident on his face.

"It's fine. I ended up falling back asleep when you left so I was behind schedule." Newt said with a chuckle as she smiled at his words and put her clothes away.

"Well I am going to breakfast now, are you coming?" He asked as she nodded, following him out.

The two walked in silence before Newt broke it.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked.

"Sure."

"Why weren't you, like, really afraid when you woke up? You had a lot of questions but you weren't petrified like I was." Newt asked.

"Uh, I'm not sure. I guess I felt safe?" She wondered as he looked down to give her a look.

"You felt safe? Here?" He questioned as she shrugged.

"Not really feeling safe here, but I felt safe once I was able to see something. It calmed me."

"What did you see?"

"You."

"Me?" He questioned, feeling himself grow red as did she.

"Yeah. I uh, I knew you and I knew I would be safe so I was able to calm down." She quietly said, feeling awkward at their conversation.

"You did? Well, uh, I don't even know what to say..." Newt spoke out.

"Yeah..." She whispered out before they got to the line for the kitchen.

Soon, Aria and Newt sat at a picnic table eating their breakfast when Gally, Minho, and Ben sat around them.

"Aria, good news." Gally told her as he sat.

"And what's that Gally? You are going to become my new full-time bodyguard?" She joked as he playfully rolled his eyes.

"Bodyguard?" Ben asked.

"Yeah. He stood guard for me today." She laughed again.

"Yeah, yeah. Some slinthead's were trying to peek in on her shower, I had to do what I had to do." Gally said with a straight face.

"My hero." Aria teased him again as he playfully rolled his eyes, the other boys trying to hold back a laugh.

"Anyways, Aria, what I was originally going to tell you. We are working on your own room off of homestead. It'll be between Minho's and Newts." Gally told her.

"Isn't that a closet and a hallway?" Newt asked.

"For now. We're gonna knock some walls down, ya know, build some stuff. It'll be good." Gally said as everyone nodded.

"Well thank you Gally. I'm excited to see it." Aria thanked him.

"Or are you just excited to finally not have to share with Newt?" Minho teased as she let out a small giggle.

"Hey! I'm an excellent roommate!" Newt quickly retorted, giving Minho a small glare.

"Oh, I bet you are. I peaked my head in this morning to ask you a question Newt..." Minho trailed off as both Newt and Aria's eyes widening.

"Shut it Minho." Newt quickly told him.

"What? Why? What happened Minho?" Ben quickly asked.

"Well, a certain Aria was curled up in someone else's bed." Minho quickly told the group as Ben let out a gasp and Gally's eyes went wide.

"You lot are so dramatic. It wasn't like that." Newt quickly dismissed as Aria nodded in agreement.

"It was just cold." Aria mumbled out.

"Oh, I'm sure it was freezing. Dammit, next time your cold Ben, make sure you come to cuddle too." Minho teased with a laugh as the three guys laughed at their expense. Arias' eyes quickly met Newts as they could both see a red tint on each other's faces.

"Hey shucks, what are you laughing about?" Frypan asked, sitting at the table as the group let out a loud laugh again, causing him to look confusingly at everyone.

The six spent lots of time that morning, almost pretending they weren't even in the glade, as if they were just normal friends in the normal world and it felt nice.