Chapter Text
Newt played with the ring on his left ring finger, a gesture that betrayed his nervousness. He had had to gather a huge amount of courage to come back at that place and now that he was actually there he was remembering how much he had grown up. He was not the same scared young adult he had once been. He was a whole new person. He still had scars on his body to remind him, but it was not important now that... A warm and familiar hand slid in his, interrupting his thoughts. He remained still, his eyes stuck on the house in front of him, but his body relaxed.
“You have no idea how proud of you I am.” Thomas said, his gaze also on the house.
Newt did not feel like getting closer for the moment so they stayed there, side by side, watching the burnt house from a safe distance. Newt's parents' house had burnt almost three years ago, a year after Newt and Thomas had left town. The house was still standing even though the roof had disappeared and the second floor was no more than a memory. The only thing that remained was the walls – not all of them, but enough to guess a house had been standing there before.
Newt had no idea if his parents had come back to town or even if they were still alive: they had moved a week after Newt had stopped coming back home and he had never heard of them again. Newt hated how he had reacted when he had found out, shocked to see that his genitors did not even care the slightest about him. He had felt a little abandoned when everything he had ever wanted was to break free. Thomas had been here to put him back together. Like he had always done.
His fiancé squeezed his hand gently, not urging him closer but bringing him back to reality. Newt finally turned his head and his eyes locked with Thomas'.
“Thank you for coming with me Tommy.”
“Like I was gonna leave you alone in such a moment.” Thomas answered lightly.
“Touché!” Newt laughed and the smile on Thomas' face made him warm up from the inside. It was amazing to see that, after already five years of relationship, they could still have such an effect on each other.
There was a reason for their presence here. Both of them were now working in the artistic field: Thomas had learnt to paint, and he happened to be incredibly good at it. Newt had continued to draw for his own pleasure and had found a great interest in photography. He had an exhibition in a few weeks and had been thinking about a new project. He had talked about it with Thomas and the brown-haired young man had immediately accepted to help him and Newt had to admit he was glad to have Thomas by his side no matter what: he was an amazing support.
“How do you feel?” Thomas asked next to him.
“Nervous.”
“You don't have to be, you're okay.”
Newt thought about it for a few seconds, analyzing his feelings. It had been a long time since he had freed himself from fear and he quickly found out why he was nervous. It was all about his project – their project. He wanted it to represent everything he could not put into words.
“I want it to represent what happened to me. How you saved me. It's gonn' be bloody hard to do that...”
Thomas let go of his hand and Newt let his lover shift him a little so that they could face each other.
“We're gonna make it perfect.”
Newt smiled and nodded, letting Thomas' arm slide on his waist, bringing their bodies closer. They kissed shamelessly in front of Newt's old house and Newt felt at peace. Because it felt right, because it was right, because he and Thomas were meant to be and there had never been any reason to be scared of love, no matter who you were in love with.
When Newt withdrew, when he met Thomas' eyes, he suddenly remember the first time he had met this beautiful gaze. He recalled the feeling he had had at that time. It had overwhelmed him and from the beginning, he had known he was going to fall in love with Thomas.
Because it had been a feeling he had never felt before. It had been... As if he were finding out the world was okay again.