A Battle With Hope (Newtmas)

Chapter 15

The next morning Newt awoke disoriented. He glanced around blearily trying to distinguish his surroundings when the events of the previous night came flooding back. He and Minho had not returned to the gardens that night, instead all of the boys slumbered in the middle of the Glade around their usually eating spot. Thomas had still been unconscious when Newt and Minho finally lay down for the night and turning to the side, and Newt could see that his condition hadn't changed.

Newt dragged himself upwards, not at all surprised to see almost every Glader still unmoving around him. He wasn't sure that anyone had the slept the previous night, Newt himself spent the night curled on his side tears streaming down his face as he listened to the soft sobs of the Glader's around him. Sometimes it was hard to put on a brave face in this place, and if anyone knew that, it was Newt. He cringed, thinking of that fateful night he had leapt from the wall a year earlier and rubbed his face vigorously with his hands, determined to not let those thoughts invade his mind again. He was doing better, he had Thomas, he had Minho and he had a job to do.

By the time the rest of the Glader's rose several hours later, Newt had begun to create a sizeable pyre off in the large stretching field of green grass. One by one the rest of the Glader's came to his aid and eventually the Glade was buzzing with rough voices and soft laughter. Newt himself couldn't help a small smile playing on his face, these Glader's were tougher than he had remembered. Of course they were going to get through this.

Eventually the Glader's stopped for lunch and Newt took it as an opportunity to go and check on Thomas and the rest of the injured being tended to by a very miserable looking Clint, with the assistance of a very determined Chuck. As Newt made his way to the temporary infirmary his ears perked up and he picked up his pace. He reached the infirmary unable to contain the grin on his face. The object of his attention turned to face him and returned his grin.
'You're awake.' Newt said softly, making his way over to Thomas as he sat cross legged next to Chuck.
'I sure am,' Thomas responded, 'Chuck here fixed me right up.' He said, clapping a grinning Chuck on the back.
'No, you've got the wrong person here,' Chuck protested, 'It was all Newt, without him neither of us would be here.'
This comment seemed to surprise Thomas, so Newt assumed he hadn't been awake for long enough to hear the retelling of the previous night's events.
'Is that true?' Thomas asked looking impressed.
Newt shook his head. 'No, Chuck's just talking me up, he had as much to do with saving you as I did.'
Chuck beamed up at the blonde boy and then at Thomas.
Thomas grinned right back, before turning his attention to Newt.
'Is there anything I can do to help?
Newt shook his head.
'The pyre is almost finished, we're going to have a memorial service tonight before we get back to work tomorrow.'
Thomas nodded slowly, and the two boys locked eyes. Newt studied Thomas' face, and struggled to keep from beaming at the boy across from him. Newt could have looked at Thomas all day, but the teens were interrupted, forced to drag their eyes from one another.
'So Newt, when does work resume?' Chuck asked, failing to notice the glare Thomas threw him. Newt stifled a laugh, turning to the younger boy. 'Tomorrow,' Newt responded, 'And speaking of work I better go grab some lunch before finishing off this pyre.' Newt let his eyes linger on Thomas' noticing the small smile that played on Thomas' lips before forcing himself to spin around and head to where Frypan was distributing the lunch.

Newt didn't see Thomas again until later that night, a solemn occasion for a meeting. The remaining Gladers crowed around the pyre, blank face. One by one Newt spoke the names of the boys they'd lost and Adam took on the job of chiselling these names into the side wall of the maze. A stench filled the air, turning the stomachs of the younger boys. Newt screwed up his nose and spun on his heel, marching off towards the gardens. What's done was done, and he had planning to do. He stopped by the small structure in which the runners kept al of their supplies to pick up some paper and continued on. When he reached his haven he dropped to the ground and began to scratch out notes by the moonlight. His paper looked something like this:
1. Investigation- How did the fire start?
2. Clear- Start clearing rubble from homestead immediately
3. Rebuild- Assign Glader's to rebuild homestead as soon as possible
As Newt scratched out the last word on his paper he became very aware of someone standing directly behind him. He slowly lowered his notes, spinning quickly and grabbing the knees of the person behind him.
'Argh! Hey! What are you doing you shank?' Newt stopped where he was, wrestling with the person underneath him. He peered closer, using the moonlight to identify Thomas. Thomas laughed at the surprised look on Newt's face.
'I tried to get your attention but you seemed pretty engrossed.' He said, still chuckling. Newt grinned down from his position on top of Thomas, pinning his arms beside his head. 'You look a lot better' he commented, and it was true. Thomas was looking much healthier after a day of rest, the colour restored to his cheeks. 'I feel it too.' Thomas responded. Silence followed. Newt rolled off Thomas, settling down to lay beside him. 'Are you okay?' Thomas asked softly. Newt didn't answer immediately, reaching down to grab Thomas' hand without quite knowing why. Thomas seemed to understand, giving it a soft squeeze. 'I am now' Newt thought.
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Hours later, Newt awoke, a heavy object on his chest. He raised a tentative hand, only to find Thomas' head. Newt smiled, and put his hand to Thomas' hair, gently running his fingers through again and again.