Newt short stories

Midnight swim

"Y/N? Y/N?!" Newt whispers loudly next to me in our bed, violently shaking my shoulder. I sleepily grunt and push his hand off, but he places it back on me, trying desperately to get my attention.

"Newt, leave me alone." I groan, "let me sleep, please. It's the middle of the night."

"Exactly." I hear Newt say. "Perfect time for swimming."

I reach up to flick on the lamp on the table next to the bed and flip over to look at him. He's propped up on his elbows looking down at me, his hair sticking out in random tufts and a massive grin on his face.

I roll my eyes. "I wish I had your enthusiasm at 2 in the morning."

"So are you in or not?" Newt says, stroking the hair out of my face. I lie there, contemplating if I should leave my nice, warm bed to go swimming out in the icy sea in the middle of the night.

"Fine." I finally agree. "But this is the last late night thing we're doing for a while, alright? I need sleep."

"Whatever you say, love." Newt smiles, his voice coated in giddiness. He climbs out of the bed and pulls me up with him, before heading towards the door of our hut.

"Woah, we're not going swimming in our pyjamas are we?" I ask, stopping him before he can walk out the door.

Newt turns to me and shrugs. "Of course we are. It makes it more fun."

I sigh and look down at the clothes I'm wearing- only a simple white t shirt and blue cotton trousers.

"Come on." Newt complains, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the hut. I wince as my bare feet make contact with the cold stone path as we make our way across the safe haven along towards the beach.

It's the twilight hour of the night- everything is cast over with an eerie, dull light. The whole safe haven is silent, apart from the sloshing of the waves gently hitting the sand.

Newt gently pulls me along onto the beach and down towards the water. My feet relax under the sand as it trickles in between my toes.

"You get in first." I say once we stop by the edge of the water.

"What? No!" Newt says shocked, turning back towards me.

"Um, yes." I say. "This was your idea! I'm not getting in first."

"Why don't we get in together?" Newt suggests, tugging me slightly towards the water.

"Fine." I say, "but slowly, alright?"

Newt nods and gets a better grip on my hand before pulling me into the sea.

I gasp as the freezing water hits my skin and soaks through my clothes as we wade further in to the dark water.

Soon Newt lets go off my hand and we start treading water as the safe haven behind us becomes smaller and smaller.

"Newt, don't go too far out." I shiver. "I'm bloody freezing."

"No, this is perfect." He says, coming to a stop.

I look back at the safe haven, which I can only see a faint outline of due to the darkness. We've swum quite far out- to the point where my feet no longer touch the sea floor.

"Isn't this perfect?" Newt says from beside me, looking up in amazement at the stars above us.

I laugh slightly and wrap my arms around his neck, using him as a balance.

He looks down at me and smiles. "So, are you happy you came out here?"

"Of course I am." I say quietly, putting my head against his chest. "It's just bloody freezing here."

My clothes are completely soaked and stuck to my skin, and I can feel goosebumps rising all over my arms and legs.

Newt reaches to me and rubs his hands up and down my arms to try and warm them up, but he has little success.

"It's not working." I laugh, shaking my head.

"We can go back if you want?" He says, looking me directly in the eyes.

"Not yet. I want to stay here for a while." I dismiss. Although I couldn't feel my feet anymore, there was something refreshing about being in the sea when it was this cold.

"Look how far away we are from everyone." Newt whispers, pointing to the little dot in the distance which was the safe haven.

I simply nod my head and rest my head back on Newt's chest again. The water soaking through his T-shirt presses against my ear as he pulls me in tighter, gently spinning us back and forth so the water lap around my thighs.

My teeth start to chatter as I move my feet back and forth through the water, trying to get the blood flowing again.

"Ok, I think it's time to go back now." Newt says, noticing my shivering.

I look up at him. "What? But we haven't even been here that long!"

"Y/N, if we stay out here any longer you'll get hypothermia." Newt laughs, pulling me through the water as we swim back to the shore. "But we can come back here again, I promise."

Once we reach the beach again I immediately throw my towel around my shoulders and start making my way back towards the hut, with Newt limping close behind me. I slow my pace to match his, and we walk side by side through the rows of huts back to our own.

Once we're inside again, I go back into the bathroom and strip off my soaked pyjamas and hang them on the radiator before putting on a dry pair.

The tips of my hair are wet from the sea, so I quickly wring them out with my towel before going back into the bedroom.

Newt is changed into a new pair of pyjamas as well, and we clamber back into the bed before I reach up and switch off the lamp, surrounding us with darkness.

I start to feel waves of sleepiness crash over me as Newt slips his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him, nuzzling his head in my damp, salty hair.

"Goodnight, darling." He mumbles.

I smile to myself and reach down to squeeze his hand.

"Goodnight Newt."