Born Again

Chapter sixty two

Newt had to leave a few minutes later.

   He said he should go see Sonya but Minho didn't want him to climb down the tree again.

   The muscular boy crouched in front of Newt, gesturing for him to get on his back.

   "This is such a bad idea," Newt grumbled, climbing on.

   "Stop complaining," Minho teased, hoisting him up. "It's fun!"

   "Yeah," Newt scoffed, clinging to Minho's neck as if his life depended on it. "Just like the time you pretended to drop me and I nearly had a heart attack."

   "Exactly."

   Thomas snickered, saying his goodbyes to Newt as they left out the window.

   Once they were gone, he sat on the floor. He started playing with Minho's plush carpet as he waited for his friend to come back.

   Maybe they could play video games or something less boring than just sitting around. Though Minho's parents probably took those away as well.

   Minho smirking face popped in through the window a moment later.

   He walked over and sat directly in front of Thomas, staring at him silently.

   Thomas looked up and raised an eyebrow. Minho continued to stare unfazed.

   "Can I help you?" Thomas asked.

   "I was just wondering," Minho said after a moment.

   "Wondering what?"

   "When you were going to tell us," Minho said, staring intently into Thomas' eyes.

   "Tell you what?" Thomas asked, having a sinking feeling in his gut.

   "Whatever you're keeping from us," he answered quietly. "In your dreams."

   Thomas looked down, avoiding his gaze.

   "Thomas," Minho prodded gently. "You can tell me, you know. Whatever it is, I can take it."

   Thomas shook his head, feeling tears form in his eyes.

   He couldn't tell anyone.

   Not yet.

   He wasn't ready.

   "Thomas?" His friend asked.

   Thomas looked up and that's when the tears started spilling out.

   Minho moved over to sit next to him, pulling his friend into a hug. He rubbed Thomas' back comfortingly.

   "Hey, it's okay," Minho said, keeping him in a tight grip. "What happened?"

   Thomas shook his head, burying his face in Minho's chest as the silent tears fell.

   He couldn't tell his friend.

   He couldn't.

   "Do I die?" Minho asked quietly.

   That sent a jolt of pain through Thomas' heart. He was only able to get one word out:

   "Newt."

   Minho didn't respond for a while. He just pulled him closer closer, for Thomas' sake or his own, Thomas couldn't tell.

   "Does he know?" Minho finally asked.

   Thomas shook his head again, too choked up to respond.

   Minho let out a long sigh. "You have to tell him."

   "I know," he was barely able to get out.

   "You know, we can still fix this, Thomas," his friend said, rubbing his back again. "We can."

   Thomas didn't know what to say to that. In his dreams, Newt said it was about rescuing Minho and to not worry about him.

   But here, it was all about saving Newt.

   "Hey, Thomas, look at me." Minho pushed Thomas back and gripped his arms, bending to try looking into his eyes.

   Thomas looked up, trying and failing to control his tears.

   "We are going to try," he continued. "Whatever happens, we're going to try. Promise me that."

   Thomas nodded. "I will. I promise."

   Minho gave a satisfied nod before pulling Thomas into his arms again.

   They sat like that for a while, until Thomas broke the silence.

   "I'm sorry," he sniffed. "I should've told you sooner."

   "Yeah, you should've," Minho replied but Thomas could hear the smirk in his voice.

   "Thanks."

   Minho gave a light chuckle. "But seriously, man. You know you can trust me with anything."

   "I know," he replied. "I just couldn't bring myself to talk about it with anyone. How he died . . . it's-" He started breaking down again so Minho just shushed him.

   "Calm down. It's okay," Minho said gently. "Take your time. Tell me how it happened."

   It took a long time to retell the story. Much longer than it should've because Thomas kept breaking down every other sentence.

   Minho didn't loosen his grip on him once, for which Thomas was thankful.

   He didn't think he could have told the story otherwise.

   Minho let out a long sigh when he was finally done telling both versions.

   "We'll stop it," he stated. "I'm not going to let my best friend die. We'll break the pattern. Okay?" He said it with such confidence that Thomas almost believed him.

   Almost.

   "Okay," Thomas answered anyway, his voice still weak.

   Minho gave him one last squeeze before pushing back. "You still have to tell Newt though. He deserves to know more than anyone."

   Thomas shook his head vigorously. "I can't."

   Minho grabbed his hands and made Thomas look him in the eyes. "You can, Thomas. I'm not saying you have to do it now. Maybe tomorrow after school. But you have to. And I can't so don't ask me. Understand?"

   Thomas wanted to disagree but he knew Minho wouldn't let it go. He nodded.

   Minho gave him a small smiled and opened his arms again. "C'mere."

   Thomas fell into them.

   He was thankful that, whatever happens, he'll always have Minho by his side.