Bad Dreams | Newt x Reader (Being Edited)

Chapter 50- And the Clock Strikes Eleven

Newt's POV

"The kids probably triggered memories of Lillian," Nik explained after we moved her to a safe place.

I brushed some of her hair out of her face. "I wish she'd talk to me."

"She'd talk all damn day with you if you let her," Nik deadpanned.

I gave him a look. "I just hope she'll trust me enough to tell me about her past."

Something darted across Nik's face before it was slammed behind the cheerful mask he wore. He gave me a reassuring smile. "She'll come round, give her time to process. It may have been over a year ago but she had very little time to process what happened in Denver and with Lillian."

I looked down at her. Her chest rose evenly, lips parted slightly as she slept.

"Why's there blood on your neck?" Nik asked.

My hand rose to touch my neck, finding were there was a rough patch of dried blood. "I don't know. Y/n was bleeding, a bit must've got on me."

Nik didn't look convinced and I wondered what he thought had happened. That Y/n had started kissing my neck after seeing a murdered family?

I strained my memory trying to remember anything else I needed to tell him. Everything was clear, I had left nothing out. Still, I felt strange as nausea built up in my throat. Worry for Y/n, I told myself.

As dawn broke the next morning and the camp woke, so did Y/n. She jolted up, nearly falling off the stretcher she had been sleeping on. Nik, sitting in the ground next to her with dark enough patches beneath his eyes that I knew he'd been up all night.

In the early morning light, Y/n seemed even more pale and lifeless.

"Y/n?" I asked, reaching touch her.

She slapped my hand away, which startled me more than hurt. I jolted back a step as she untangled herself from the blankets and practically dragged Nik away with her.

"That was weird," I said to Alex who had come over.

"Nightmare, maybe," Alex suggested.

Nik's POV

I helped her sit down on a rock as her body shook violently with sobs. She clung to me, hands gripping on my shirt as I held her close.

"You're okay," I murmured, brushing her hair gently away from her face. "Tell me what happened."

"I did something stupid," she confessed, hiccuping as she tried to slow her heaving gasps of air. "I had to alter their memories."

A stab of fear shot through my stomach, twisting hard. That wasn't stupid, I decided. Though I couldn't be sure what had prompted her to do that. "Why?"

She shook her head. "It triggered me, the Wraith's power slipped out."

I moved back so quickly that she nearly fell. A faint red hue hung over her watery eyes, reflecting so much of the fear I felt. She had erased their memories, they didn't know.

"You have to promise me, Nik," Y/n pleaded, hopping off the rock. "You have to kill me when the time comes. You're the only one I trust to do it."

I pressed a violently trembling hand to his mouth and turned away from her. The words were ringing in my ears.

Kill me.

You have to kill me.

"You can't change what's going to happen, Nik. Nothing can save me now. Damned French Weirdo said that only I can save myself but I can't."

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, appearing out of nowhere with Newt in tow. "Vince wants to get going. Nik?"

I envisioned shoving every sliver of screaming emotion into a box and locking it. By the time I turned around, I was able to offer a smile.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Y/n had a nightmare about me dying and well, I was beginning to wonder if she was going to die of dehydration."

Alex immediately wrapped Y/n in a hug. "You okay?"

"No," she whispered, meeting Newt's pained eyes over Alex's shoulder. "I'm not."

Alex tightened his hold and she visibly relaxed against his shoulder. He released her a moment later and Newt took his place. Soon enough, she was pulling him back toward camp, but not before she gave me a look over her shoulder. Alex headed after them.

I turned around, pretending to be checking my gun. I waited until the crunch of gravel faded from hearing before the first dry sob choked out of my throat.

"Nik?"

I forced it down, blinking furiously before I turned around.

Alex hadn't left after all. He was frowning at me from a dozen steps away. "Nik, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just got something stuck in my throat," I replied, the lie slipping easily from my mouth. "Forgot how dusty it is out here."

In the time it took for my heart to thump painfully three times, Alex was in front of me and wrapping his arms around me.

The effect was instant, my eyes burned almost as much as my face did with embarrassment. My throat constricted, leaving me barely able to breath. A rather pathetic whimper escaped me and I reluctantly leaned into his neck.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked again.

I rather liked that he was taller than me, making it easier for him to engulf me.

"I miss my parents," I managed to say. "Lillian."

My legs felt weak and soon they gave way, forcing Alex to gently lower us towards the ground. I don't know how long we spent together like that.

Y/n's POV

"I'm sorry about earlier," I mumbled, rubbing his fingers gently.

"It's okay," Newt said, slowing to a stop. "What were you and Nik actually taking about?"

I managed a weak smile. "Nik told you."

Newt winced. "But that wasn't the truth."

His face turned away, looking towards the sky.

"Kiss me," I said impulsively.

Newt's eyes slid shut. "That isn't going to solve anything. We need to talk, Y/n, not just make out every time we say we're going to."

"I much rather prefer making out."

Newt sighed tiredly and drew me closer. His hands slid over my hips and up to press against my lower back. His eyes opened. The sun caught on them, leaving them a beautiful golden brown.

He dipped his head and kissed me gently. Some of the nervous tension wreaking havoc on my body drained away as my fingers slid into his hair.

The kiss itself was far less desperate and passionate than the last few ones we had shared as we snatched fragments of time alone together. It reminded me of days long gone, mornings spent lazing in bed and afternoons spent in the cool shade of the Glade.

"Oi!" Nikolai hollered and I broke the kiss to glare at him. "Stop eating each other's faces and come help!"

Newt sighed again, pressing a quick kiss to my forehead as he went to go help Tommy and Fry.

I met Nik's eyes. He only shook his head at me and turned away.

I had broken something between us.