Short Maze Runner Stories

Baby Gladers pt4

Newt is sulking.

As a real responsible adult, Minho should not want to clasp his hands together and mutter about how cute it is, but he does.

When other children sulk, they are obvious about it, dragging the atmosphere of the entire class down with them. When Newt sulks, he tucks himself into a corner and tugs petulantly at his hair and pouts. He pouts a lot.

Of course, Minho is not a monster. He doesn't enjoy it when his kids are unhappy, even if he knows that it's nothing serious and so he sidles his way over and crouches down next to Newt when the class is under way. "What's wrong, Newt?"

"Nothing," says Newt, tongue sticking out slightly as he concentrates. They're doing balancing exercises today, which means placing wooden blocks on top of each other and seeing how many they can manage.

Minho puts his hands on his hips. "Oh, really?"

"Really," says Newt, huffing.

Minho pulls out the empty chair next to him and sits down in it, and waits. Sure enough, out it comes. "You can't sit there!" says Newt, pushing at Minho with one tubby hand. "That's Thomas's seat."

"But Thomas isn't here today," says Minho. "So it's okay."

"No, 'snot," mutters Newt, nearly knocking his tower over as he lets go of a block too early.

"Is that what's wrong? Thomas's not here today?"

Newt crosses his arms, which would be more effective if he could actually cross his arms. He can't, so it's more like pressing his forearms together across his stomach and looking murderous. "I don't like it," he says in a tiny voice, which means that even Newt knows that he's being irrational about it

"Oh? Do you miss him?"

"Yes," says Newt. "The other kids won't play with me and it's boring playing by myself."

Newt has troubles relating to other children, Minho knows this, whereas Thomas easily gets along with all of the other children in the class. With Thomas away, Newt loses his gateway into connecting with other people.

"Do you miss Thomas just because the other kids won't play with you?" asks Minho slyly.

"No," says Newt immediately. "I miss him." He looks at his tower block and wilts a little. "I bet Thomas's block tower would be really nice. Mine's ugly."

Minho ruffles his hair. "It's working out pretty well so far. You've got eight bricks on top of each other. Why don't you see if you can make it ten?"

Newt gives him a shrewd look, because he is a precocious child if nothing else. "You can't be Thomas even if you try so you should go away and sit in your own seat," he says reproachfully.

Minho takes that as the subtle hint it's meant to be, and gets up out of Thomas's tiny chair. His knees were starting to ache anyway. "Thomas's down with a cold today," says Minho. "His mama said that he's coughing and sneezing and has a bad headache.

"Is he going to be okay?" asks Newt with wide eyes.

"He'll be fine. He just needs to stay in bed and get lots of rest. When we have drawing this afternoon, why don't you make him a get well soon card?"

Newt nods enthusiastically, and Minho leaves him to his tower building.

-

When Thomas gets back, two days later, Newt flies through the classroom before he's even taken his coat off, and wraps himself around Thomas. "You're back!"

"Hello," says Thomas happily, if still a little blearily, "Newt, I can't breathe." He doesn't look too bothered about it though, as Newt clutches his head to his chest and won't let go.

"I made you a card," announces Newt eventually, tugging Thomas over to their table and evidently seeing nothing wrong with giving someone a Get Well Soon card after they've already recovered.

As much as he hates to interrupt their reunion, Minho has to gently remind him: "Newt, we take our coats off and hang them up before coming in here."

Thomas helps him wrestle the coat off, and the moment he has one arm pulled out of a sleeve, Newt latches back onto Thomas again, as if he might immediately succumb to illness and be whisked away before his very eyes.

"I made you a card," Newt repeats, coat trailing on the floor behind him by the other arm, and Minho decides that perhaps it'll be better to remind him again after he's presented the card.

Newt pulls the card out of his little drawer with a flourish, and hands it over. It's bright and covered in crayon scribbles and Newt spent a good five minutes painstakingly copying the 'Get Well Soon' that Minho had written out for him first.

"Ooooh, thank you," says Thomas with delight. "I like the blue dinosaur."

The blue dinosaur looks like an alien with a tail and Minho had had to ask Newt what it was yesterday. He has literally no idea how Thomas can tell it's a blue dinosaur.

"Oh, and the cat," says Thomas, pointing at what Minho had assumed to be a teddy bear.

Newt puffs up with pride as Thomas carefully closes the card and places it in pride of place on the very top of his drawer, and gives Newt a big squishy hug.

"You can't be sick anymore," says Newt very seriously. "I don't like it when you're sick." He steers Thomas into his seat.

"It's not my fault," protests Thomas. "I didn't wanna be sick."

"From now on, if you're sick, you have to tell me," says Newt, patting the top of his head. "I'll make it better."

Minho, who is definitely not eavesdropping, makes a noise which may have started out as a laugh but was very hastily turned into a cough.

Newt looks over. "Are you sick too, Mr Minho?" he asks, eyebrows jumping high on his face. "You should have Mr Alby kiss you."

Minho squawks. "What."

"That's how it works. Gally told me. You have to kiss someone and they'll feel better."

"I - I'm not sure that's how it works," says Minho. Newt scowls at him. "I mean, yes, of course, what was I thinking? Good advice. Excellent. I'll just... Oh, look, someone's calling me." He flees. Damnit, outplayed by an infant.