Night Visions (TMR) (Newtmas)

22

Thomas didn't want to see her. He didn't want to see anybody.

As soon as New set off to go and talk to the girl, Thomas slipped away, taking advantage of the general excitement, and headed for his place in the Deadheads forest. Leaning against the ivy, he threw his blanket, which he had forgotten that morning, on. It seemed like a way to leave Teresa out of his mind. After a few minutes, he managed to calm down. His heart stopped trying to break free from his chest.

"Forgetting about you was the worst part."

At first, he thought that it was another message in his head; but no. He had heard it with his ears, not with his brain. Feeling a shiver tickle his spine, he slowly lowered the blanket.

Teresa leaned against the massive stone wall to his right, now awake and alert. With her long-sleeved white shirt, the blue jeans and brown shoes, her fair-skinned face framed by long black hair, blue eyes shining, she looked even more stunning than when he saw her in the comma. "Tom, do you really not remember me?"

"You mean... You remember me?" he asked, ashamed at the squeak that escaped on the last word.

"Yes. No. Maybe. I can't explain it." She shook her head. "I remember remembering. Feelings, emotions...., like I have all these shelves in my head, labeled for memories and faces, but they're empty. I know I know you from before we came to the Maze. It's mostly empty, like I said. But I remember that you're my friend."

Thomas pulled the blanket completely off, in a daze, and leaned forward to shake her hand. Somehow, Teresa gave him a warm feeling. "I like how you call me Tom." Great, shank. You couldn't have said anything dumber.

Teresa rolled her eyes. "That's your name, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but most people call me Thomas. Well, except Newt—he calls me Tommy." When he grinned at that, unable to avoid his muscles from pulling his lips back, he felt Teresa's intense eyes on him. "Tom makes me feel like... I'm at home. Even though I don't know what home is," he added.

Teresa smiled to him, the way a mother smiles when she sees her child getting a prize or playing with his friends. "Who home is, for you." Thomas almost had to look away, as if he didn't have the right to look at her. Teresa's words touched him. Maybe... maybe she knew about the visions. Maybe she knew what happened before the Maze. Maybe she could help them. Newt and him. "Yeah, we're messed up. And I'm scared."

"So am I, trust me," Thomas assured. Such an understatement of the day. "What do you mean?"

The girl's smile was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. It was as if she didn't belong to such a dull place as the Maze. "I don't really remember, Tommy. I'm sorry. But I have a feeling that, for you, home and happiness are a person. Someone. And I also feel that you went here to find them. Answers. Something. You're here to find something important, Tommy."

Thomas couldn't help the warm flutter in his stomach. According to the visions... Was Newt his home? Maybe he came to save him. Maybe he came to fulfill his promise. Maybe they were destined to find a way to escape the Maze.

"And..." Now that the Questions and Answers was open, he wanted to take as much advantage as possible. "How... did you talk to me inside my mind?"

Teresa shook her head. No idea—I can just do it, she thought to him. It's like riding a bike here—if they had one. I bet you could do it without thinking. But do you remember learning to ride one? It's kind of like that. You didn't tell anyone, did you? They'd think we're crazy."

"Well... When it first happened, I did. But I think Newt just thinks I was stressed out or something." Thomas felt like he'd go nuts if he didn't move. He stood up and started pacing in front of her. "We need to figure things out. That weird note you had about being the last person to ever come here, your coma, the fact that you can talk to me telepathically. Any ideas?"