runnerette || the maze runner fanfiction **UNDERGOING EDITS**

❥ 2.2

//Happy New Year everyone!\\ -Cristina

"Uhm hello?"

Newt and I untangle ourselves from each other and turn around to see Thomas laughing. I glance at Newt to see him pink in the face, biting his lip. I graze my own and look at Thomas to hear what he had to say.

"Great shuck, you two look like I just caught you making out."

I grow pink this time. Newt gets even redder.

Thomas gasps. "Did I!?"

"No!" We shout back.

He laughs and jumps over the middle of the bench and seperates us. "I didn't say to stop hugging."

"Aww." Newt mocks, pulling Thomas in. I hug his other side.

"My boys." I mumble into Thomas' shoulder.

Newt stands up. "C'mon men! We're burning daylight!"

"Newt we don't have to do our jobs today." I inform. "Ours got cancelled due to griever."

"That doesn't mean you can't help around the Glade for a change." Newt snaps back. I put my hands up in defense.

He takes them and pulls me off the bench. He then limp/runs towards the gardens, myself in tow. "Well come on then!"

~.~

We worked for awhile, against my will, I might add. Thomas didn't even follow us, not even pretending to go help Newt. When Newt finally felt like quitting, we went back to the bench and started drawing words in the dirt with sticks trying to come up with jokes.

"Hey, hey I've got one." Newt says, licking his lips as I laugh from the previous joke. "What do you call a fake noodle?"

"A fake noodle?"

"Just go with it sweetheart."

I grin widely, the familiar butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. Wait . . . did I just say familiar? Hang on a second, hold the phone.

When did I start this crush on Newt?

I shrug and act like nothing major just clicked in my brain. "I don't know, what do you call a fake noodle?"

Newt opens his mouth to say something but erupts into giggles, holding up one of his fingers. When he calms down, he opens his mouth again. "An impasta!"

We both look at each other for a second but then start laughing so hard we cried.

"I don't have any more." I say, wiping away a tear.

"I think I'm fresh out too." Newt says, putting his arm along the bench around my shoulders. The butterflies start to smack right into the walls of my stomach.

With his free hand, Newt draws his name over and over again in the dirt with his stick.

"Why don't you try this?"

"What is there to write?" I say, laughing.

Newt hands me his stick. "Just go with it."

We both laugh as I absentmindedly draw a letter in the dirt. I snap my head up at him and we stare at each other. Then we stare at the letter in the dirt.

It's a C.

Newt stares back at me as I continue to stare at the letter in the dirt. Suddenly a jumble of letters fly out of nowhere in my brain and combine to form a name.

My name.

"Caroline." I mutter, almost inaudible.

"I'm sorry, what?" Newt leans in closer to me.

"Caroline!" I shout. I abruptly stand up and yank Newt up after me by his shirt and hold his face close to mine. "Newt I remember my name! It's Caroline!"

"No bloody way." Newt says, exasperatedly. He cups my face as we laugh that weird laugh you do when you accomplish something big while fireworks explode in my stomach.

Newt digs in his pocket until he finds a knife and hands it to me.

"What's this fo-AHHH."

Newt scoops me up bridal style and runs, carrying me all the way to the wall with the names on it.

Some people were starting to notice and started pointing at us, which then followed by everyone dropping what they were doing and sprinting after us.

Newt sets me on my feet and sweeps his arm toward the wall. "I know you've been waiting for this moment for a whole month now."

I nod and smile at Newt as he steps away. Everyone surrounding us still didn't know what my name was, so they were all holding their breath, waiting for me to start carving letters into the wall.

I pick a nice open spot towards the bottom of where all the names were. I start to carve the letters of my name and I hear everyone that could see what I was engraving trying to sound out the letters as I carved them.

I step back and let everyone see CAROLINE carved neatly and deeply into the wall.

"CAROLINE!" I hear Frypan cheer loudly.

I hear a few more people start chanting my name at first, but then everyone joins in and a chorus of of shouts fills the entire Glade.

Thomas pushed through the crowd and gives me a side hug and fist punches into the air. I search the edge of the crowd for Newt. He meets my gaze and winks at me. I feel my cheeks grow pink as I look away and smile at the crowd. When I look back at Newt, I see him looking down at his shoes pink in the face, biting his lip.

This time it's Alby's turn to push through the crowd. "Alright everyone settle down and go back to work after greeting Caroline. She has set the new record of going 29 days without knowing her own name. We will celebrate her and the new greenie when they come up tomorrow. Until then, work extra hard." He walks up to me and hugs me. "Congratulations Caroline."

With Thomas by my side, I greet all the Gladers by their names I've been used to hearing for a month as they greet me with a name we only just found out.

Newt was the last person in line. He rushes and pulls me into a hug, kissing the top of my head. The kiss sends warm waves cascading down my body.

"What did I tell you love? I told you you'd have a name as pretty as your face." Newt says, pink in the face.

I blush and look down at my shoes. "Thanks."

"Hey Caroline, umm I was wondering if you ever wanted to go do some . . . things with me. Not the stuff that we normally do, but we can still do all that, just more, and then maybe we could do some other physical stuff like holding hands and-"

I'm laughing while he's saying that. "You're asking me out on a date?"

Newt nods.

I walk up to him and kiss his cheek. "A thousand times yes."

His face lights up. "Really?"

I nod vigorously, laughing.

Newt, gaining some confidence back, takes my hand and pulls me away from Thomas. "Good. Our first date starts right now."

"Hey!" I look back at Thomas and he gives me the double thumbs up.

"You kids be careful!" He shouts at us as we run further away. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Newt and I look at each other and laugh, then I let him lead me wherever we're going for our first date.