pretty eyes ~ newt

chapter 7: the limp

TW: mentions of attempted suicide
(buckle up y'all, this is a long one)

"tell me more, i would give all my time"
amelie, gracie abrams
—

"Let's go then Newton," I hop up to my feet, offering Newt a hand with a grin and helping him up. He takes it, shooting me a disgruntled stare at the nickname.

Minho blinks. "Did you just call him Newton? As in, Isaac-shuckin'-Newton?"

I see Aris stifle a laugh next to him, his eyes light with amusement.

"Yup. Newton just has a better ring to it, dont'cha think?" I smirk, sending Newt a playful wink.

Minho gives me a look of glee, his lips already curving up into a sly smirk. "Holy shit, Isa. You're a genius, I'm totally gonna start calling him that now—"

"Mate, if you start calling me that I'm gonna slap your face off," Newt cuts him off, crossing his arms indignantly.

"So Isa gets to call you that, but I don't?" Minho pouts slightly, looking an awful lot like a child. "I thought I was your best friend Newt."

Newt rolls his eyes in exasperation. Aris and I share a silent glance, trying not to laugh at their nonstop bickering.

"I never said Isa could call me that either," Newt shoots me another aggravated look. "It's not even my real name, I just said it could be what Newt stands for."

Minho huffs petulantly, clearly still sulking. But before he can retort back, Aris cuts in quickly, his tone exasperated. "Anyways, you two should probably get going now before the sun sets. Find some good food for us, yeah?"

"Yessir," I nod in agreement, grabbing Newt by the arm. "Alright, c'mon Newt. We can't let everyone go hungry, can we?"

He sighs, letting me lead him out of the cave. "I suppose so."

I give Aris and Minho a small wave as we leave, letting go of Newt's arm as we walk side by side in the thick sand.

"I guess we should just keep our eyes out for anything that would be okay to eat then," Newt breaks the comfortable silence between us, his eyes on the sand below.

I hesitate briefly before replying, brow furrowing as I notice a strangely warm feeling low in my stomach. But it's...nice.

"...Yeah," I nod quickly, mentally slapping myself for zoning out. "I have a small dagger with me too, so if you see a rabbit or chicken or something, just holler."

We keep trekking farther away from the cave where we had set up camp, and ten minutes had gone by with little to no luck. We'd found a few edible-looking plants and tossed it into Newt's pack, but without Fry here with us we have no way of ensuring if it is actually safe to eat.

Just then, Newt stoops down to examine something, and I assume he's picking another plant. But when he stands back up, sweeping his dirty blonde hair out of his eyes, I see that he's holding in his fingers a small flower. I recognize it as a lily, delicate white petals surrounding a pale yellow center.

"It's lovely," I tilt my head, eyes tracing each small petal in interest. It's a wonder that such a beautiful little thing is able to survive, even thrive in the harsh environment of this barren desert.

His lips curve up into a faint smile at my words. And before I can process what's happening, he uses a hand to gently tuck a lock of hair behind my ear, softly sliding the lily in place as he does so. His touch is feather light, lingering over my heated skin.

"Not lovelier than you," he grins mischievously, warm brown eyes gazing into mine.

My heart melts, almost stunned into silence by the sweet gesture. I blink twice, before smiling back bashfully.