Chapter Text
“You sure we won’t get in trouble?”
“What are they gonna do, send us to bloody prison? Relax Tommy.”
Thomas got tired of Ava’s excuses not allowing him into the library. After confiding in Newt about this, Newt said that he would take Thomas with him and Minho would be a distraction. Simple enough. It really bothered him that Ava still didn’t grant him permission to come.
Speaking of things bothering Thomas, it had been two weeks since the Halloween party. It had been two weeks since he kissed Newt, and neither of them spoke about it after that night. Every time Thomas tried to, the words died in his throat. And Newt never brought it up either. But things weren’t awkward for them. In fact, they seemed better than ever. So...were they dating now? Thomas was never going to get the answer since he will never have the courage to ask. He knows friends sometimes kiss when they get drunk - he would know, he kissed his friend Lydia during his junior year - but it didn’t feel like friends kissing with Newt. Or maybe Thomas was interpreting this all wrong? These thoughts have been on Thomas’s mind non-stop since that night. Newt was so hard to read sometimes.
Apparently it was a family trait because Sonya, who was perfectly fine since her incident, refused to speak about what happened with anyone. Not Harriet or Newt, not even Ava when she questioned the girl. She dismissed it and apologized for scaring everyone, but Thomas and the others definitely know she’s lying. But Teresa told everyone not to push it and let her be. She’ll talk when she’s ready.
Now they were walking towards the library and Thomas was actually excited to be learning about history - which is weird, because he hated it in highschool. Maybe it was the fact that this felt like they were top agents on a secret mission. At least, that’s what Minho said.
They walked through the front door and into the building. Thomas was in awe. There were three floors by the looks of it and the amount of shelves were endless. It’s like every single book that exists in the world were here at this library. Considering there was some schooling here, he figures that’s why.
The woman at the front desk looked up at them when they entered, but Thomas’s face was perfectly hidden behind Newt. Minho made his way over to the woman and began speaking with her. In Minho’s words, he would “use his charms and beautiful physique” to buy them the time to sneak past them. Thomas and Newt kept their steps in sync as to avoid being seen, and when they made it close enough, Newt pulled Thomas into a row of books, slamming the pair against it.
“You think she’s gonna search for us?” Thomas asked from behind the bookshelf where they hid. He tried not to think about the fact that he and Newt were pressed close to one another, just like the night they kissed.
“Nah,” Newt said, his hot breath brushing against Thomas’s neck. “We’ll be fine. Come on, the stuff we need is upstairs.”
Newt pushed off of him and started walking up the nearby staircase, Thomas following behind. It didn’t take Newt long to find the section they were looking for. “Okay, there’s only a few books I think,” Newt said while scanning the shelf, taking out the small USB they brought with them from his pocket. “And then we can download whatever files we need from the archives onto the here.”
“Okay, should we just take them all?”
“Why not,” Newt shrugged.
Fifteen minutes after searching and downloading, they had everything they had needed. But Thomas realized the flaw in this scheme: no extraction plan. “Uh, Newt? “We can’t just walk out of here. We’ll get caught.”
“Who said we were walking out of here?” Newt smirked and started walking away.
Thomas was confused but followed Newt nonetheless. The blonde was leading them upstairs towards the back of the third floor. Along the way, something caught the corner of Thomas’s eye. He turned right to see a podium with a glass case, and inside it seemed to be a crest or a amulet or something. His instincts told him to walk over to it and take a closer peak. In the center of the small object was the element symbols engraved in it, and a fifth circular symbol he didn’t recognize. Thomas placed a hand over the glass encasing, and when he did, the symbols began to glow.
“What are you doing?”
Thomas turned around to see Newt approaching. “It took me thirty seconds to realize you weren’t buggin’ following me.”
“Sorry, I just…” he trailed off. Thomas turned around once again to look at it, but it had stopped glowing. Maybe it never was at all. “What is this?” he asked Newt.
Newt took a step over to him to examine the artifact. “I’m not sure, but I’m sure you figure it out in the stuff we stole, now come on.”
Thomas reluctantly followed Newt once again, the blonde leading him to a quiet corner in the library. After making sure no one was looking, Newt called Harriet’s name. Thomas looked around, but he didn’t see the girl anywhere. Why was Newt -
A whoosh of air sounded in his ears. A purple portal - if that’s what it was - began to open up and Harriet appeared out of thin air. Right. She could teleport. “You guys ready?” she asked.
Newt nodded. Harriet grabbed onto his arm and Newt grabbed Thomas’s hand, which he tried not to freak out about. In the blink of an eye, he saw purple lights blinding him and the next thing Thomas knew he was back in the living room of their house. “Woah.” He just teleported for the first time!
“Thanks again, Harriet,” Newt smiled, and the dark haired girl left the boys alone.
“How did she know where we were?”
“If you ever need her, just keep calling her name. She can sense you, and she’ll teleport right to you and take you wherever you need,” Newt said, placing the books down on the coffee table. “Just don’t abuse it like Minho. He called her at three in the morning as if he was dying just so she could take him to get ice cream.”
Thomas laughed at that. He hadn’t known Minho as long as Newt, but it seemed typical of Minho to do such a thing. “Now come on,” Newt continued. “We have to get ready. We promised that shank we would go to the game.”
Thomas completely forgot. The Gladers - Glade City’s high school football team - were having their championship game tonight. Even though they weren’t in the school, Minho insisted it would be fun to go. Brenda, Teresa, and the others seemed excited about the idea, and Thomas didn’t mind either. But he wasn’t going to go unless Newt did. He figured if he guilted the blonde, it would make him go. Which it did.
He was finally going to hang out with Newt outside the school for the first time. He was thrilled just thinking about it, but he was also upset that it wouldn't be something special. Not like a date or anything. He definitely wasn’t thinking of asking Newt out on a date, despite what Teresa says.
Thomas was never really into football that much, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't having a great time. Their group found a spot at the top of the bleachers where they could overlook the entire field. It was a bit cooler now that it was mid-November, so they were all wearing hoodies and beanies and cuddling up next to someone.Thomas wasn’t complaining, it gave him an excuse to get as close to Newt as possible.
It was the final quarter of the game, with less than two minutes left. The Gladers were down by three points. All they needed was a touchdown to win the game. This left everyone in the stands on edge, cheering louder than ever - Minho especially. Which left everybody laughing at him.
“He doesn’t even go here, why is he so bloody excited?” Newt said through his laughter.
“It’s nice to watch him be so into it,” Thomas said.
“Yeah…” Newt trailed off. His eyes seemed to wander a bit, looking off into the distance. Thomas could tell he wasn’t staring at anything in particular, but rather he was lost in his thoughts. “You okay?” Thomas nudged his shoulder.
Newt turned back to him and smiled. “Yeah, I am. It’s just…” Newt sighed. “This is actually nice. I didn’t get to go to a normal high school. I was fourteen when Ava brought me and Sonya to the academy. I didn’t get to attend a pep rally or be in the school play. I didn’t have a prom to get all dressed up for or get in detention for fooling around with my friends in class. This just feels...nice. Normal, y’know?”
Thomas didn’t even think about that. Yeah, he remembered Newt being brought to the school when he was young, but he never thought about the things he missed out on. He didn’t get to receive a rose on Valentine’s Day or hurry to copy homework in the bathroom before class started. He didn’t get the chance to cram all night before an exam or be in the art club. To the average person, this seems like nothing. But to never have experienced something so simple is actually so unfortunate.
Thomas looked over at all his friends. He saw Minho and Brenda screaming at the game which Thomas wasn’t paying attention to anymore. Teresa and Aris were laughing at something Alby said, probably about Minho since that’s who he was gesturing at. Harriet and Sonya were smiling and cuddling together for warmth. It was likely that none of them had gotten to live a normal teenage life like he and Teresa have gotten. Thomas always thought that his life was bad because he didn’t have powers. He didn’t know that having them would drastically change his life.
“Newt, you may have not gotten to live a normal teenage life, but you know what? That didn’t stop you from becoming this sweet, sincere, caring, genuine, strong person you are today. I’ve been to high school, and while it had its great moments, it wasn’t all it’s made out to be. I know you want something normal, but to be honest, we aren’t and we never will be. But it’s okay to be different you know. We stand out from the rest of them. We’re capable of doing things that they never will. So don’t be ashamed of it, embrace it.”
Thomas honestly didn’t know exactly what he was saying. He was never good at the comforting speeches, but he prayed it did some good. But when Newt looked over at Thomas and smiled, he figured it did the trick. “Thanks Tommy,” Newt said as he leaned his head on his shoulder.
Thomas loved these moments. Any form of physical contact with the blonde made Thomas’s heart race, but it also managed to keep him grounded. He rested his head on top of the Brit and let out a content sigh.
While Newt went back to watching the game, Thomas remembered that Thanksgiving was in a week, and he was leaving this weekend to be with his parents. That means he won’t see Newt for almost a week. He didn’t want that. Newt’s not American, so would he even celebrate it?
“Hey Newt, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?”
Newt chuckled. “In case you forgot, I’m British. We don’t celebrate that stupid holiday. Sonya and I will probably just stay at the school with whoever doesn’t go home this year.”
Screw that . “Why don’t you guys come back with me and Teresa?”
Newt got up from Thomas’s shoulders and looked at him with a frown. “What?”
“Yeah, come back with us. My parents won’t mind.”
Newt seemed to think it over for a moment, looking down at his hands and then back to Thomas. “Tommy, are you sure? Because I don’t want to be a bother -”
“Newt. You are never a bother. Just come. Please.”
Thomas didn’t want to spend a week away from Newt. He already hated not seeing him during the day when either of them had classes or training, so he couldn’t imagine surviving a week without him.
Newt had a grin on his face now. “Alright, I’ll come. Thanks Tommy.”
The two went back to leaning against one another and returned their attention back to the game. It was only another few minutes until the Gladers had won, causing Thomas and his friends to roar in victory with the rest of the audience in the bleachers. It wasn’t the football game win he was really happy about. He had won something far greater with these people right next to him.
Sure, it was nice to experience something normal. But Thomas wouldn’t change this strange and wonderful journey he found himself on with his extraordinary friends.