ᵒⁿᵉ 𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 ⁿᵉʷᵗᵐᵃˢ ᵃᵘ (ᶜᵒᵐᵖˡᵉᵗᵉᵈ)

Four

Newt yawns, sitting at his desk way too late, doing overdue history homework. His brain is tired and his hand is tired and everything hurts. He rests his head on the desk, desperate not to fall asleep. He drums his pen on the side of the desk, bored. Then, his phone rings.

He looks at the number and his face turns white. 

"Fuck." He mutters. 

Newt clicks the decline button, sending the caller straight to voicemail. His hand starts to shake as he turns over the phone. That's when he realizes tears were falling down his face. He wipes them away angrily. 

He stands up, his stomach spinning. He walks over to his bed and draws the covers up. He doesn't even bother turning off the light. He lies awake all night, shivering.

The next morning, he's woken up by his mother, Amelia. 

"Newt." She says. "Time for school."

"Do I have to go?" Newt asks hoarsely. 

Amelia furrows her eyebrows. "Are you not feeling well?"

"Something like that." He says, pushing himself up.

"You do look pale." She says. She puts a hand to his forehead. "Hmm...you don't have a fever. I'll call the school. You go back to sleep."

Amelia walks out of the room, shutting the door behind her. 

Newt closes his eyes and takes a deep breath when his phone rings. His eyes widen and his stomach constricts in fear. He checks who's calling. It's just Thomas.

"Tommy." He says, relieved.

"Newt, where are you?" He asks.

"Oh." Newt says. "I'm...I'm not feeling well."

"You've never missed a day of school because you were sick." Thomas says. "You came to school when you had the flu once. What's really going on."

"Nothing." Newt says. "I'm sick, Tommy."

"Know what?" Thomas says. "I'm coming over. I'll miss school too."

"Tommy, no!" Newt says. "No, please, Tommy, don't." He begs. 

"Newt, there's something wrong with you." Thomas says. "I'm here for you. Just let me be." And he hangs up. 

Newt starts to shake. Thomas can't know. He can't. Newt starts to hyperventilate. Then, Thomas walks in. Newt looks at him, eyes wide.

"Newt, calm down." Thomas says.

"I...can't." He pants. "I can't."

Thomas walks over to him and sits on his bed. Then, he hugs him. 

"Tommy, let me go!" He protests but Thomas doesn't release him. 

Tears fall down the other boys face as he struggles against his arms. 

"Tommy!" He cries. "Tommy, please let me go!"

Thomas does but he takes the other boys face in his hands. "Tell me what is wrong."

Newt breaks. He wraps his arms around Thomas and sobs into his shoulder. Thomas puts a hand in his hair. He hugs him. 

"Newt, please, tell me what's wrong." Thomas says quietly. 

Newt just hugs him tighter. "P-please don't make me." He says, voice shaking. "Please, Tommy."

Thomas pulls away and Newt looks at him, eyes red. Thomas looks at him sadly. 

"T-Tommy, I can't." He says. "I can't. I can't."

"It's okay." Thomas says. "You don't have to tell me."

Newt squeezes his eyes shut and two tears fall down his face. Thomas grabs his hand and Newt holds it tightly. 

"I'm sorry, Tommy." He whispers. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have come."

"No." Thomas says. "I'm glad I did." Thomas leans against the back of the bed. 

When Newt opens his eyes, Thomas realizes just how tired he looks.

"Newt, did you sleep at all?" Thomas asks. 

Newt shakes his head. "I can't." He whispers.

"Come here." Thomas says. "Just...I'll be here. You can sleep with me."

Newt nods and lets the other boy hold him. He rests his head on his chest and listens to his heartbeat. 

"Thank you, Tommy." He mumbles.

Thomas wraps an arm around him. Newt falls asleep almost instantly, his breathing even. Thomas smiles at the sleeping boy. His hair falls around his face and he has one hand on Thomas's chest and one tucked under his chin. Thomas brushes a strand of hair out of his eyes. He sighs. 

Thomas takes out his phone and starts scrolling through Instagram, letting the other boy sleep. 

After about a half an hour, Amelia walks in.

"Thomas, what are you-" She starts.

Thomas puts a finger to his lips. "Don't. He's sleeping."

Amelia shuts her mouth. She sighs. "Alright." She whispers. "But I'm going to have to tell your mom where you are."

Thomas nods and she shuts the door. 

Newt stirs in his sleep. Thomas looks at him. Thomas kisses his forehead. He hums contentedly. Thomas sighs. He really wishes he could find out what's wrong with the boy. 

Then, Newt wakes up. He blinks and pushes himself up. 

"Hey," Thomas says. "Are you doing okay?"

Newt shifts. "I'm fine."

Thomas rolls his eyes. "Alright, listen, you don't have to tell me what's wrong, but I do need to you to tell me what I'm supposed to do, because I can't watch you like this."

Newt looks at him. "I'm sorry." He says quietly. 

Thomas sighs. "You don't have to apologize, I just want to help you."

"You can't." Newt says.

"But-" Thomas starts.

"No, Tommy." He says. He sighs. "Just go."

Thomas looks at him. "I can't just leave you like this."

"You can." He says. "And you have to."

"But, I-" 

"No!" Newt shouts. "No! Just go away! Leave me alone!"

Thomas gets up and walks to the door. "Call me, okay, if you need me."

Newt doesn't say anything and Thomas walks away. Newt's phone dings. He starts to breathe faster as he reaches for the phone. A new message. His hands start to shake. He can't listen to it, not now. He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to calm himself. He shouldn't have sent Thomas away. It was so, so stupid. 

He reaches for his phone and calls the other boy. 

"Newt?" He says. 

"Tommy, I'm sorry." He says, tears falling down his face. "Please, come back. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sent you away."

"Okay." He says.

Newt nods and hangs up.

After a few minutes, Thomas walks into his room. 

"What's wrong?" He asks. 

Newt doesn't say anything, he just walks over to him and hugs him. Thomas hugs him back.

"I'm sorry." He mumbles. "I shouldn't have sent you away."

"It's okay." Thomas says. "I'm here now."

Newt nods but doesn't say anything. He just stays in his arms.

A/N: *evil laughter*. Okay, but, I won't kill anyone. Anyway, thanks for reading. Love you. <3.