Losing Hope

Thirteen

I was walking back to the Homestead after getting Newt some food when I noticed that Minho was coming out of the building. I frowned, walking faster.

"Hey, what are you-"

"Can you tell me what the shuck you told him? He kept telling me I shouldn't have told you what he did!" Minho literally hissed at me, and I looked at him with wide eyes.

"I don't know, I was just trying to make him realize that-"

"He apologized a thousand times!" Minho exclaimed, and I shrugged.

"Maybe he realized that what he did was stupid?" I suggested, and Minho shook his head.

"Did you try to make him feel guilty again or did you just scold him?" he asked, and I sighed, looking away from him.

"A bit of both?" I said, looking down at my boots. He nodded, giving a slap on my back.

"Well it worked," he said, and I had small smile, looking up at him, before walking past him and into the Homestead.

Newt was able to sit up, with the help of Jeff and I, so I didn't need to feed him like Minho suggested I did. I got him some more painkillers, that way when he was done eating, Jeff and I were able to change his bandage. This time, Jeff had tied together two flater pieces of wood in a corner-like shape, and we were hoping that it would be more efficient than the one we did on the spot.

Everything went fine, given that this time, Newt wasn't kicking us or screaming at us. In fact, once we were done, he decided that we needed to get away from him and do our 'duty to the Glade'. I rolled my eyes, sitting on the chair that was between his bed and the wall.

"No seriously, get outta here," he urged me, and I cocked my head to the side, staring at him.

"Newt, I'm not gonna leave you alone right now," I replied, and he scoffed.

"Hey. I got it. I'm fine," he said, and I shook my head, bringing my chair closer to his bed without saying a word. I leaned back, resting my head on the wall behind me. I set one foot on the side of his bed and closed my eyes. Newt let out a big sigh, and I heard him shift on the bed.

I felt something brush my hand, which was resting on my thigh. I opened my eyes to see Newt's hand on mine, and I smiled, placing my hand down on the bed so that he would be more comfortable. He smiled too, keeping his eyes closed, and I shook my head, closing my eyes again.

As if he felt I wasn't looking at him anymore, he slowly intertwined our fingers, and I mentally scoffed. I could feel my cheeks heating up and my smile grow bigger by the second. I tried to focus on my breathing, desperate for some sleep after the rough days that had just passed. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I thought I heard Newt whisper something, his voice still very raspy.

"I'm sorry, Caroline."

..................

"Wakey wakey princess," someone whispered next to me and I opened my eyes, groaning sleepily. I looked down and realized that both Newt and I hadn't moved a bit since we fell asleep and I took my hand off his, looking sheepishly at Minho, who was the one who woke me up.

"Don't think I haven't seen that," he said, and I rolled my eyes, straightening up.

"Since when do you call me princess?" I asked, very not subtly trying to change the subject. He smirked at me.

"Since you saved my favorite Shank and you're not too bad at being a Med-Jack, so I can't call you Failure anymore," he pointed out, and I nodded, smiling. I got up from my seat and stretched.

"Mind telling me why you woke me up?"

"Alby wants to see you. And I wanted to check up on this Shank before going on my run," he explained, and I scoffed.

"Damn, how early is it?" I complained over-dramatically, and Minho shook his head, laughing, before walking out. I followed him, seeing that Clint was sitting outside of the room and I knew Newt would be fine with the Med-Jacks, now that he had calmed down.

Alby was waiting for us outside of the Homestead. He exchanged a few words with Minho before he went to the Runner's building, then turned to me. "I heard Newt's feeling better, all thanks to you," he said, his smirk implying something that I wasn't sure I was fully getting.

"Yeah, well, I think we all helped," I shrugged, and he nodded, grabbing me by the shoulder like he was always doing now.

"Humble Greenie. I like it. Anyway, you know it's been a week since you're here, right?" he started, and I frowned.

"Already?" I asked, and the nodded.

"Yup. Hell of a week, if you ask me. But you made it through, and it's time that we decide what you do to help out here in the Glade. After all, you ain't going to wander around or sit next to this boy every day," Alby explained, and I nodded, slightly blushing at the mention of Newt but totally agreeing on the fact that I needed to have at least one stable thing going on at the moment.

"So tonight, once the doors close, we're going to have a Gathering and the Keepers are going to decide what job you're gonna get. Any questions?"

"Yeah, is there a way I can be assured I won't be a Slicer?" I joked, and Alby shook his head.

"No offence, but I don't think you impressed Winston very much," Alby answered and I laughed. "So, I'm letting you stay with Newt for the day, but from tomorrow on, you'll need to work where you'll be assigned, alright?" Alby finished, before letting me go get some breakfast.

Some of the boys I worked with while being a Track-Hoe came and asked a few questions about Newt, but I was quick to tell them that he was quite alright. Once I was done eating, I went to get some food for Newt, then headed once more towards the Homestead.

Newt was awake when I came back in, and he was pretty happy to see food, considering he hadn't had a real meal since the incident. After eating like almost all of his breakfast, he looked up at me with a mouthful. "Oh, by the way, I figured out how I'm gonna call you."

"You do know that I don't wanna see the food in your mouth right now, right?" I observed, and he smirked.

"Not the point here," he said, but chewed down and swallowed his food before speaking again. "Alright. So, like I said, I came up with a nickname for you."

"If you say something as awful as Beanie I'm leaving you alone for the rest of the day."

"It's better than that, trust me," he said, then bit his bottom lip, staring at me. He took another bite of food and I rolled my eyes, leaning back on my chair, arms crossed on my chest. He chuckled, almost choking on his food, then finally spoke. "I've settled on Lily. How does that sound?"

I had a small smile as I looked down at my fingers, fidgeting with the bracelet on my wrist. I looked back up at him and gave him a small nod. "Yeah, I like that. At least it's better than Beanie," I teased, and he chuckled.

"Wasn't that bad. Already better than Carie," he said, and I stared at him, frowning.

"Who told you that?" I asked, and he shrugged, shaking his head.

"Not gonna share that with you. Carie," he said, and I scoffed, holding back my laughter. I stood up, walking over to him.

"Alright, you're done here. Shank," I declared, grabbing his plate and walking out of the room as he protested and laughed at the same time. I vaguely heard him shout a very not heartfelt apology, and I rolled my eyes, walking towards Frypan's kitchen to get rid of the plate.

.............................

Seriously though, how cute are those Shanks?

~Laue