Single-Blind - Newt (TMR)

Chapter 45 - Good Mornings

Things were different now, I could feel the convergence of two sides of me. One side was bleeding into the other, a slow stream of past and present. Newt was more open than ever, not shying away from the scary or dark parts.  With baby steps, we grew closer. Newt wasn't afraid to fight with me, and thank god for that because he was damn hot while doing it. But I had to admit to liking the challenge, knowing that he wouldn't just follow in line or be blindly loyal.

The sun found us first on the metal roof. It was the farthest thing from comfortable but I didn't dare move an inch to disturb Newt. My hand slipped up to his hair, brushing it away with the tips of my fingers. I didn't withdraw my hand, shielding his eyes from the bright morning light. He looked so serious when he was sleeping. Like he was focusing really hard on keeping himself in his dreams. That's because his eyes were the pathway of all his emotions. I originally believed he didn't look me in the eye because he hated me but it was because no matter what his mouth spoke, his little blue orbs gave all his secrets away.

I started to wonder if I was to fall in love or fall back in love.

"I don't care if the bloody sun is up." His voice rasped, turning over and hiding his face in the crook of my neck. "I'm not."

He froze for a second, suddenly aware of this surroundings and that he was still here with me. But he let out a sleepy groan away, trying to go back to sleep. I giggled, "I'm afraid soon it won't be our choice."

"Shuck the sun. Shuck running. Shuck WCKD. And especially shuck the right arm for being so bloody hard to find." The rasps were like a low grumble in my ear, igniting my stomach.

My cheeks were the next to heat up, and not because of his breath tickling my neck. "Newt?"

"Mhm." He mumbled.

"Did we..." I stuttered before giving in to ask again, much quicker this time. "Did we sleep together?" He sat up quickly, looking at me with messy hair and a narrowed-eyed squint. He blinked twice, confused if he heard me correctly. "I just you mentioned... the hickey..."

"Yes."

"In the maze or out?"

He tilted his head, rolling his tongue on the bottom of his lip to poorly hide a smirk, "Both."

I covered my hands with my face, making him laugh. I pushed him playfully, "Okay go back to sleep now."

"You too, you bloody insomniac." He pulled me back to him, placing a kiss on my cheek before closing his eyes again.

I didn't fall back as easily, nerves doubling. I had already felt at a disadvantage, now I know he had seen parts of me that others would never. If I had known this earlier my fear might have kept us away longer than I'd like to admit.

Newt must have read my mind, "Nothing until you're ready, Love."

And I was able to drift back to the land of the flying sheep.

Life wasn't put on pause though. Now when we walked we would somehow always gravitate to the back of the group, keeping to ourselves without annoying anyone with our constant chatter. I started noticing that his smile always seems to start from the right before spreading across his face and his hair grew blonder each day. The lines between what I knew now and then slowly became blurrier.

After days of destruction, coming across a dirty town in the middle of nowhere seemed unlikely. More than once I asked Newt if we really trusted this Jorge guy to lead us to Safe Haven. Each of us had to face the reality that this was our only lead. The only other option was taking our search through all of the mountains looking for something we weren't even sure existed while WCKD was doing the same. With no direction, we could become the ghost.

Without words we all drifted through the crowds, heading to the main event of the town. A party buzzing with people inside and out. I had grown so used to running, I forgot some not all people had to speak in whispers and watch their every step.

As I stepped up to the door, a woman shoved a glass bottle at me, "Drink."

I looked down at the dusty glass, sniffing the lid knowing damn well this wasn't the moonshine I was used to. "What is this?"

"Where's Marcus?" Jorge cut off our conversation, pushing me behind him.

"No such thing." She swayed back and forth.

Minho and I caught each other's eye, knowing that this drunken girl and her bottle couldn't stop us from getting in. At least not all of us. She stood in front of us, blocking the door alongside a much bigger man.

Aris was the first to step up, talking to the girl with this shy demeanor and southern accent. "We're supposed to drink this and then you'll let us in no problem?"

"That's the deal, honey." She sassed, her voice talking down to him because she was wearing six-inch heels and had a few years on us.

"Alright. Alright." He soothed taking the bottle, calming from my hands. I didn't want to give it up that easily but a determined look in his eye convinced me to release.

He smiled, warily at the woman, making her fake a grin. He stepped to the side, closer to the door, and caught a warning glare from the usher. He took the cap off, throwing back the suspicious bottle into his throat against our pleads to get him to stop.

I didn't know a hundred pounds of skin and bones had the ability to be so bold but Aris's large gulp came right back out. He spits the entire contents at the girl and then spun around and smashed the bottle on the bouncer's head. Aris' chaos was as perfect as it was surprising as we all pushed our way to the door at the same time.

Jorge had his hand on his gun at his waistband, searching the dusty room for Marcus. The music partnered with hundreds of dancing couples made it hard to focus. The smoke stung my eyes.

"Everyone! Out!" Jorge ordered as he pulled the plug on a speaker. It terribly shrieks before its death, making everyone look over at us. "I said, beat it, bottom feeders!"

Groans and swears followed. As the floor cleared, a body in the middle completely unconscious became more aware. The lights had stopped flashing but my eyes still couldn't find the reality in the scene. I reached out for anyone, nearly tripping over the air as a new memory flooded my mind. I recognized Thomas, as always caught up in a bad situation, not thinking before he broke into action. He slammed a pointy metal object into his leg. I could hear myself screaming but my mouth didn't move. My stomach turned, as his lifeless body fell to the ground with a hole in his leg. I screamed for a shot of some kind. Worried Thomas's horrible plans had finally caught up with him in the burning light of the glade.

"Thomas?" I mumbled Newt and Frypan now at my side. Their focus had been on me so they didn't even see our unconscious friend. "Thomas!"

I tripped into a run, getting over to him on the dirty floor and rolling him over. His eyes were shut but I saw them moving behind the lids. I shook him, trying to get him back. I couldn't lose him now, not when I just remembered him.

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