TMR/TBS Imagines

Newt // Limp (Pt.2)

* Here's the part 2 as promised! It has a cliche ending kinda but I don't hate it :) *

Only one day Clint could give me in the Med-hut before he kicked me since I wasn't in any real pain. He told me he would help keep this secret from Newt, which wasn't too hard since Newt hadn't left my side since the day I fell.

--

Newt's arm was wrapped tightly around my body so that half my weight was being held by him. He whispered encouraging words as he helped lift me off the bed and onto the floor.

"It's gonna hurt love, but you'll be fine. I'm right here," Newt assured me, setting my slowly on the ground. I winced when the jagged pebble dug into the heel of my foot, this way my foot was bent in a way that kept pressure off it. I needed to sell it so putting a rock in my shoe would definitely make him believe I was hurt.

"It's alright, I got you." Newt was holding most of my weight up, since he felt sympathy for me having this new 'injury'. Guilt ate at my insides, but I hoped seeing him hate his limp less was worth the guilt.

"I think I got it, Newt," I told him, sending him a kind smile. He returned it and let his hands loosely fall from my hips.

The limp wasn't hard to fake, thanks to the rock sitting at the bottom of my shoe. I could easily lock my knee when the rock poked my foot and whined in pain that was somewhat genuine. Newt was caring over me in a way that I knew was wrong, but the selfish part of me was drinking up the way he was looking over me. I might never get this opportunity again and I was gonna use it.

"Newt," I cried out, and immediately he joined at my hip. His arm slid back under mine where he used himself as my support. If he could, he probably would have swept me off my feet so that I wouldn't have to walk at all.

Newt looked down at me nervously, like he was staring at a precious animal that needed constant protection. "Maybe we can stick to easier stuff today, yeah?"

--

The rest of that week and half the one after were spent the same way; easy work was getting done and limited movement from my part. The best thing about this though was the fact that I hadn't heard a negative thing about his limp all week. Maybe my plan was working.

But my plans don't always work out the way I want to, especially when other people don't contribute in helpful ways. Unfortunately, Chuck was one of these ways.

Newt left me at the gardens while he went to get more fertilizer, something that he said was too much for my hurt leg to handle because of the long walk there and back. I continued to do my work, but was distracted by the small yelling of a boy from the Homestead.

Chuck appeared out of the Homestead as if he was running from something. My instincts kicked in, and I raced off towards him to help, losing my shoe with the pebble in it to run faster.

When I caught up to Chuck, I forced his attention on me and checked him for any injuries. When he seemed perfectly unharmed, I questioned what was the matter.

"I saw one of this beetle blades out by the bathrooms and it scared the klunk out of me!" He explained while pointing in the direction of the bathrooms. Only, when I looked that way, someone else was standing in the path towards the woods.

Newt's face was mixed with only three emotions: confusion, betrayal, and anger. He dropped the bucket he was holding and marched his way over to me.

When he reached me, his mouth stuttered as his mind tried to come up with the first question to ask me out of the hundred possibilities. He finally figured it out when he scoffed and pointed down at my leg.

"So you think it's funny to make fun of my bum leg, don't ya?" He hissed, his voice laced with venom. He had never spoken to me in such a tone, and it felt like a stab to the chest as my blood ran cold throughout my body. "You get your kicks out of making fun of me, huh?"

As I floundered for an answer, Chuck had rushed off to avoid this situation, while a few other boys gathered around. Clint looked at me sympathetically while trying to fight the urge to say 'I told you so'.

"No, no it's not like that," I finally muttered, my nervous voice was too quiet for all the boys to hear. Newt scoffed again and threw his arms over his chest.

"Is it? Then tell me, love, what's it like? Someone dare you to do this? Someone bribe you? Or were you so pathetic that you came up with it on your own?" He spat, his face turning a darker shade with anger. His knuckles were white as they squeezed against his biceps.

"I-I did it because I knew how much you hated your limp. I th-thought that if you saw someone else with a limp, you wouldn't mind yours as much." I had a hard time getting the words out with the lump in my throat but Newt seemed even more angry at my explanation.

"So you think it's okay to lie to me? To pretend that you have something wrong with you like I do? This is the most pathetic thing you've ever done!" Newt must have finally noticed the drawing crowd and lowered his angry demeanor. "Don't talk to me again." He turned and stalked off towards his room, leaving me frozen in place.

I didn't even realize I was crying until the salty tears fell into my mouth. He had never yelled at me before and especially never told me he didn't want me to talk to him again. How could I handle not speaking to him again?

Clint was the first person to approach me, my shoe in his hand. He opened his mouth but I put my hand out to stop him.

"Please don't say I told you so. I know you were right." I took my shoe from him before walking in the direction of the deadheads where I could get a few minutes of silence, and hopefully calm myself down.

I rested my back against a tree and pulled my knees into my chest, hugging them tightly. The words replayed in my head as I attempted to control my staggered breath.

I laid against that tree for hours, hearing the movement of the boys in the glade not too far from here and the gentle flow of the small stream in front of me. Maybe if I hid here long enough, I would just disappear and this mess would be over. Sadly, this was real.

The crunching of leaves had my breath hitched and my body on high alert. Nobody comes in here because they're too scared, so who was coming here now?

Newt's figure appeared from behind a group of trees as he rushed towards me. Tears filled his swollen eyes and his cheeks were soaked with them. He looked a wreck.

He collapsed on the floor beside me and threw his arms around me. He pulled me carefully into his chest, his crying continuing as he held onto me.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," he cried into my hair. "I can't believe you did that for me. Pretended to have a limp so I wouldn't hate mine."

I was at a loss for words. I was still a little shocked that he had been the one to rush out an apology since I was certain it was gonna be me. Still of unsure of how to act, I wrapped my arms around Newt and cried into him, that way we were both crying into each other.

"That is that most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me." He took a deep breath that eventually calmed his heart enough to calm me down. Now we were just lying against this tree, my head over his heart and listening to its soft beats and him holding his hand inside my hair.

"You were right. I saw you with a limp and I was focusing on making you feel better that it made me accept mine. I don't hate it as much."

"That's all I ever wanted- to help you," I replied, moving in closer.

I might not have had a limp, but Newt did. And I would do everything I could to get him to understand that his limp is a part of him, but it doesn't define him. I could show him he was hurt, but not destroyed.