flatsound || newtmas

eighteen

t.w mentions of self harm, suicide attempts, panic attacks, and sexual harassment.

Newt hadn't come to school for two weeks after that. Nothing he could think of would allow him to stay away; like Teresa told him to. He didn't blame her, he would have reacted the same way.

Teresa said he had the flu to anyone who'd asked, they all believed her. She knew it was wrong to lie to them but she didn't want them to get mad at Newt. Their group tended to be overprotective, she did it for his safety.

***

Athe sat on the floor of her bedroom, looking at the figure above her. Minho laid on the bed with his head off the side, looking at the small girl.

"What would happen if I told them?" he said, the insecurity lacing his voice. "Support you, they already know half of the group is LGBT, what's one more?" Athe told him.

She was right, no one would care if he thought he was pansexual. Even if he was just questioning, they wouldn't make fun of him, right?

"No Minho, they wouldn't make fun of you." It was then that he knew he was talking outloud. Athe got up and paced over to Minho, sitting on the bed.

"Hey, we all will support you no matter what. You're Minho, our Minho. No one will make fun of you or be mean to you. We all love you so much, more than you even know," her words shocked Minho. He's never felt so loved by anyone's words.

"Even if I think I like our slinthead friend?"
"Even if you like Gally, yes."

Minho sat up and hugged the red-haired girl as tight as he possibly could. He wanted to show her how much he really cared about her words, and her.

She smiled before pulling back. "Hey! If you like him, why did you invite them to the movies when you all were out?" she asked. "Because I got scared of being awkward around him so I messaged those shanks to save me."

Minho knew it was weird for him to like the flared-eyebrowed boy with a bad temper but he couldn't help it. The more he hung out with the shank, the more he realized that he's actually sweet and cares a lot about people.

Athe laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "You poor soul," she said, patting his shoulder. "Why did you choose me to tell?" she said. She never really felt like she was in the swing of the group's priorities.

"Because you're one of my best friends," he said, looking at her quizzically. "Really?" Athe said through a smile. "Of course you are," Minho hugged her again.

"Thank you," they both said at the same time before bursting out laughing. They hung out for the rest of the day; watching movies and throwing a ball around the small room.

Minho was laying around before a thought intruded his head. "Hey, have you noticed that Newt hasn't been around for a while?" he asked, turning to Athe. The ball he was throwing in the air and hit the floor softly.

"Yeah, Teresa told me that he caught the flu a week ago," she said while turning her magazine page. "Yeah, she told me that two weeks ago. Don't you think it's a bit weird that the shank hasn't even massaged us?"

It got Athe thinking; usually her and Newt would stay up and rant about the stupid people they went to school with. That hasn't happen in a while, it was odd. "Yeah, it's weird. You think he lost his phone or something?"

The magazine was discarded on the table as she went for her phone to shoot Newt a text. The message didn't go through. "Mine won't go through, mind messaging him?"

Minho texted Newt, only to get the same error as the redhead. "Huh, weird. Maybe he doesn't have service?" "In the middle of New York? I don't think so."