Single-Blind - Newt (TMR)

Chapter 66 - Old & New

I found enjoyment in unlikely places all the time, maybe it was a symptom of the maze or just a way for my mind to distract itself from the scientific project I should be working on. Regardless, watching Sonya crumble under Gally's gaze was a highlight of my daily routine.

"You were in the other maze, huh?" Gally leaned against the desk Sonya was working on. His weight nearly knocked the candle over in the center, and she stumbled to keep it from tipping, not helping the obvious nervousness.

Sonya glanced around, unsure if he was talking to her. "The Spring-" She tried to tuck her knife into her waistband and missed, nearly slashing a hole into her pants. "That's what we called it."

"The Spring." He hummed, she just stood there nodding her head until he spoke again. "Sounds nice."

She chuckled, looking anywhere but at him. "It was cold." She found her sheath this time. "Really finching cold."

"The Spring was cold? Why didn't you name it Winter?"

Her mouth hung open for a second. At some point, she gave up and finished, "Wishful thinking, I guess."

"Oh- alright."

Sonya left quickly, finding me giggling as she passed. Gally's confused face followed them as Sonya grabbed my arm and dragged her into the room.

"How do you do it?" Sonya whispered, looking over my shoulder.

I tinkered with an old piece of equipment, trying to force the dust out of the ports. It served as a great tool for pretending not to eavesdrop. "Do what?"

Sonya rolled her eyes for the millionth time in Fiona's presence, "Are you really going to make me ask?"

"Ask what?" I played dumb beautifully.

Sonya's shoulders sagged. "Talk to them?"

"I would say be yourself, but your normal self is quite rude." I set the piece down and looked at her fully. Her cheeks were growing redder by the second.

Sonya picked up the pen beside her and threw it at me. I rubbed my arm dramatically, but Sonya still remained headstrong on the current problem. "Typically, a conversation starts with a question and is followed by the opposite answer. Then the cycle continues as a fun little game."

"You are the least helpful person on the planet, do you know what?"

"We have been over the genetic enhancement of my brain to save the world from the race-ending disease, right? Therefore, the most helpful person on the planet."

"I have yet to see a cure..."

My turn to throw the pen. "Goodnight, Sonya."

The ladies of the Spring got out three days earlier than us and with fewer casualties. I think of how different my life would have been if I had gone to the right maze. They discussed the possibility of a cure and made their decision together. They decided they had given enough of their bodies to science, and it was time to take their chances alone. They lived and died as a group; they made the choice together that they would no longer search for a cure. Their original decision was made when they believed all of them were safe. I wonder if their opinions would change once they found out who was and was not immune.

"The first thing I did when I met Gally was punch him in the stomach," I recalled my first day in the glade. I smiled at the memory, enjoying how easy it was to recall. The improvements in my memory flowed consistently back to me now. They no longer felt like mental attacks.

"Fiona. I am asking for an ounce of seriousness." She nearly pleaded.

"I am being serious, Sonya. Speak to him as you are speaking to me now. He is not a griever or a shade, you have no reason to fear him." I shrugged.

"What do I say?"

"Sonya!" I groaned, "I find it of more pressing importance to go talk to Newt than Gally! You haven't even told him that-"

She held up her hands in defeat, hoping I wouldn't speak too loudly in any direction. "I will. I will."

I rolled my eyes, returning to my work. "How is it that you can annoy the daylights out of me and refuse to speak to anyone else. Isn't that a large characteristic of siblings?"

"Shhhh!" She hurried closer, "News flash, Fiona. The entire male gender is a mystery to me."

"I promise you. They are way more afraid of you than you are of them. I have set a stellar reputation." I smirked, putting my goggles back on. "Now go. Pick one and have a human conversation."

"That's not fair."

I scoffed, "What's not fair is you asking me to withhold life-changing information from the person I love."

She stomped out of the room. Leaving me frozen with my own thoughts and the thing that I just admitted so casually. It was natural and without protest. Or had I decided long ago that it was enviable? Because it was Newt. Not because I'm almost sure I loved him before. And not because he was always there or he fought for my memories harder than I did. But for every reason in between. When chaos hits and the whole world keeps spinning like nothing happened, Newt stands still. He balances my instability and smooths the sharp edges. The world has been unkind and unforgiving, but I can forgive that because it gave me him.

I took my goggles off and turned off my lamp, leaving the science behind for the night. Knowing damn well I can't focus with him lingering in my mind. I go all the way to the end of the hall in this abandoned building, turning into his room. His hair was wet from the makeshift shower across the hall as he pulled a shirt over his head.

"Got enough room for one more?" I ask,

His shoulders drop with relief. "Darling, if I ever say no to that, the world truly has ended."

I crawl into his bed, not missing the chill of the lab for a single second.

"Any reason? Is everything alright?" He asks as he slides next to me and pulls me closer in one fluid motion.

"No reason."

--

I love and also find it hilarious that many of you would love smut in this book. I really wish I could provide that for you lol. This might be new info to a lot of you but I did once upon a time write smut, I wrote the absolute hell out of it and stepped out of my comfort zone to expand my writing. Wattpad took the book and all 80,000 words and shoved it right into the banned books category. Then they threatened to take my wattpad account away. Paper frogs now lives on AO3. SO YES, I would love you give you what you desire and IM NOT WITHHOLDING IT I PROMISE I HATE THE FADE TO BLACK JUST AS MUCH AS YOU DO, but I also adore having this platform to share.