Nepenthe (TMR FF) UNDER EDITING

Chapter 10

"What the hell? You can't just banish him!" I shouted, glaring at Alby.

"He hurt another Glader and a girl one at that. He clearly broke one of our rules." He stated, his tone holding as sense of formality in his words. I groaned, throwing my head back. He can't be banished.

"I hit him first!"

"I know that, Emma. And that's why you're spending a couple of nights in the lock up." My stomach dropped when I heard that, but I nodded anyway. They knew that if I spent another night in the Maze and survived, that I might not come out whole again. I still get nightmares from the first time.

"Can't he just spend a week in the lock up?" I tried to convince him, but he just sighed and shook his head.

"This was his last strike, Emma. In the two and a half months that he's been here, he's picked around ten fights, and he's never had a consequence. There's something wrong in his head, Em. He just snaps at any moment without notice. We can't have that happen anymore. It's dangerous for all of us." He explained, looking at me sadly. I tried my best to fight away the tears, but it was no use. Ethan was getting banished and it was my fault. If I didn't hit him then maybe he wouldn't have hit me back. I was the one who provoked him, and yet all I have to do is spend the night in the lock up. He was one of my best friends. And now he has no chance at surviving at all. Builders aren't exactly the smartest people, and I doubt that he could last a night in the maze.

"Okay." I whispered, giving up. Alby wasn't going to change his mind.

"He'll get banished at sun down." Was the last thing he said, before turning his back to me and walking away. I watched as his figure retreated into one of the shacks and I sighed, my shoulders slumping. An arm wrapped itself around my waist, and I instantly knew it was Newt.

"He deserves it, Emma." He said, making me look up at him. I held his stare, before looking away.

"No one deserves to spend a night in the Maze."

~

It was quiet without Ethan around. He got banished a couple of hours ago. I couldn't watch. If I did, I was scared that I would run in there after him. But I couldn't do that. As soon as the sun went down and the doors shut, we could hear his screams. It was horrible. He only got here two months ago and now he's been taken by the Maze. It was deathly silent now.

"Are you still awake, Love?" A voice from my right said. I rolled over from the spot I was sleeping and looked at the figure beside me. It was dark and hard to see clearly, but I knew straight away that it was Newt. No one else has a British accent after all.

"Yeah." I said softly, not wanting to wake up everyone else. My throat was sore from crying, but I did my best to keep a neutral tone. Newt sighed, moving closer to me. He was only a couple of centimetres away now, and I could basically feel the warmth radiating off of him.

"You should go to sleep." He whispered, placing an arm over my body. I shiver went down my spine at the contact, but I was a lot warmer now then I was before. He pulled me closer to him so that our bodies were pressed together. A blush crept onto my face and I silently thanked god for the darkness.

"Yeah." I said again, letting out a sigh. It was silent for a moment.

"It's not your fault, Emma. You need to stop beating yourself up about it." He told me, playing with a strand of my brown hair. I scrunched my nose up, and looked away.

"I shouldn't have hit him."

"He called you pathetic. I'm pretty sure that's a good reason to hit someone."

"That's not why I hit him, Newt."

A silence filled the air as I wanted to shrink down and melt into a puddle of nothingness. I basically just admitted that I punched Ethan because he said that I loved Newt. How peachy.

"So it wasn't true, then?" He asked, his voice laced with an emotion I couldn't decipher. I looked away, not wanting to have this conversation. If I answered him, everything would change. He'd either like me back or not like me back. If he liked me back, then cool. That would be great. But if he didn't like me back, then things would be awkward between us. I don't think I could handle that.

"I'm going to bed now. Have a good sleep, Newt." And then I turned over and closed my eyes, in a desperate attempt to avoid the topic. Newt let out a quiet laugh, adjusting his arm so that he was still confortable. My back was pressed up against his chest and I shivered when I felt his breath on my ear.

"Emma?" He asked.

"Mmm?" I replied, my eyes drifting shut.

"I think...I think I love you." And then I fell asleep, a smile permanently plastered onto my face.

~

"God dammit, Newt! Would you stop stealing my spaghetti?" I shouted, running after the boy. He laughed, using his crutches to hobble away. I rolled my eyes, catching up to him easily.

"You're getting slow there, Blondy." I joked, nudging him. He turned to glare at me, but it was soon replaced with a smile.

"Hey, don't tease the injured kid."

"Don't steal my spaghetti."

"Psh, you love me, just admit it."

"Nuh uh."

"Yuh huhhhhhh."

"Nope."

"Yup."

"Sorry, but nah."

"You're mean." He pouted, looking away like a child. I giggled quietly, rolling my eyes.

"Psh, you love me." I said, repeating what he said moments before. Newt smiled, looking into my blue eyes.

"That I do." I froze, my jaw dropping. We had completely avoiding the conversation that we had last night on purpose, and now he's basically throwing it in my face. How do you reply to that?

"I-I-"

"You what?" He came over to me, so close that our bodies were basically pressed against each other. He stared down at me with smirk. "Come on, Emma. It's not that hard. 'I love you too, Newt.'" He mimicked in a high pitched voice.

I narrowed my eyes at him, crossing my arms.

"That's so not what I sound like." I pouted.

"Yeah, It kinda is."

"I hate you."

"I love you."

"Shut up."

"Nope."

"You're a shank."

"Yeah, but I'm a lovable shank." And with that, he leant down and kissed me cheek, before hobbling over to the Track-hoes.