The Girl in Charge | Newt

23 | Declarations of love

Blue skies and green fields was all that Vera could see. Occasionally bursts of colour were dotted in between where the patches of flowers were. She was sat on a picnic blanket with a few boys and a girl her own age.

It was a day off from their routine. The government officials had allowed it to give them a small shot at a childhood. Those men were sat in the far distance, keeping a watch out for any trouble that may end the trip.

Vera was not looking for trouble.

The girl with her was at eating a pack of strawberries that they had found in the kitchens. They were playing a game of tag before they all had gotten tired, so now they were making daisy chains, threading them all together in one of the last known places of grass.

It was all strangely familiar to Vera: the faces, the area, the memory, but she couldn't figure out why.

Just as she almost got there, the scene changed and all Vera could see were blinding lights. White covered her vision, but noises filled her ears. People were talking all around her and she could hear snippets of a multitude of conversations.

The white started to fade and she turned to see people in white coats holding metal objects. A steady beep could be heard to her right. She counted the beeps to focus her mind on the surroundings.

In front of her, she looked down to see her chest open and the people had their hands inside. A blue sheet was positioned around the hole, but it had spots of blood on it.

"Her heart is almost gone. She's lucky to have stayed alive this long," a person said.

"She won't stay alive much longer if we don't do anything quickly!" the one to his left retorted.

To her left, a girl stood holding her hand, tears falling down her face. She had brown hair that hid parts of her eyes. A baggy jumper covered her upper body and she wore a pair of jeans that hugged her legs tightly. There was a deep sense of familiarity around her, but Vera couldn't quite place why.

"Stay with me, Sage," the girl cried. "I can't lose you."

The beeps got faster as Vera tried to focus on the girl beside her. Her breathing got more unstable, causing the doctors to start to freak out. People ran circles around her, desperately trying to figure out what was happening.

"We're losing her," one of them said.

"Put the machine in. It will keep her alive for a while," another instructed.

"What's happening to Sage?" the girl beside her asked.

"She's dying and you're in the way," the first person said.

"Don't let her go. Please. She's all I have left," the girl screamed as she got dragged out of the room.

Vera's vision started to blur again and the white light became blinding. She blinked hard to try and regain her vision, but she was too far gone.

"How long will she have left?" the first person said, grabbing the last bit of her attention.

"4 years. She goes in there now," and just as the second person had said it, Vera blacked out completely

***

She sat upright in her bed in the isolation room. Next to her, Newt was holding her hand, watching her with concern and a small bit of sadness.

With no hesitation, she bent down and kissed him. He paused momentarily while confusion sunk it, but quickly shook it off and kissed her back. His hands slipped to the side of her face, holding her gently as if she was about to break. Her stomach did flips inside of her. There was no denying that he still made her all nervous and make it so that she got covered in goosebumps.

He moved closer to her, pulling her in and resting a hand on her lower back. She felt him sit down on the bed next to her when the bed dipped slightly. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she smiled against his lips.

Slowly, Newt pulled away, his eyes glancing over every part of her face like he was trying to memorise it. A soft grin was tugging at his lips and it made Vera laugh a little. His hands moved back to cup her cheeks and he looked her straight in the eye.

"I love you. I'm sorry if it's too soon and all that, but I had to say it because you mean everything to me," he said, watching her reaction to his words. "You mean everything and it kills me every time I have to watch you in pain. I want to protect you so badly because I am head over heels for the sassy, sarcastic, kindhearted, funny and beautiful person that you are." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I know you're dying - you talked as you went through the changing. I don't care how long I have left with you. I just want to make it count."

Vera was speechless. To her, it felt sudden and she didn't want everything to go too fast. But, after learning that she was dying, she didn't have time to lose. She went to say something back, but Newt started to talk again.

"I have been falling for you ever since I found you in the Maze after we were shown a Griever. I cannot lose you, V. I can't."

"I can't lose you either," she cried, but it wasn't because she was upset.

It was the opposite.

"Why? Because I love you too," she said, closing her eyes as the tears left them. "I need you so that I can live and while I may not get time, I'll get to be with you and the boys who are going to be the figurative death of me," she joked.

Her energy was starting to get a little low, the excitement and surprise of the conversation taking its toll on her. Newt noticed almost immediately and managed to persuade her to lie back down. He climbed beside her, wrapping his arms around her chest and tugging her into him.

He pulled the blanket over the both of them as he kissed her on the cheek. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep and once she had, Minho came into the room.

"Did you do it?" he asked, smirking at the two cuddled up in the isolation room's bed.

"I did," was all Newt replied with.

"Did she say it back?" Minho pushed. He was desperate for an answer and had been since Newt said that he was planning on admitting it to V 5 days prior when she had first been locked into the room.

"I think you know the answer to that," Newt winked and that was enough for the other boy.

A/N: it's been a while :0 sorry for that. i honestly hadn't meant for it to be so long without me updating, but mental health can really take a toll sometimes and i needed a break before i got into too bad of a place again.

since i have last updated, we've hit 3.8k reads! thank you so much to everyone who's read this story, voted, commented or added it to a reading list. i just want to let y'all know that i love you so much.

stay safe and i hope everyone had an awesome easter!

love izzy :)