Archive of Our Own ^beta

The hot day slowly slid to a mild Friday night as darkness crept along the city. At this time, many people were heading off from work or school, and taking this time to get into their ‘weekend phases’. A day when most people would either be hunkering down to relax for the weekend, or at a bar drinking their brains away till they returned to work again on Monday. Due to the weather being how it was, more people decidedly took the nightfall as the time to venture out.

Four teens, however, decided that murdering one another sounded like a far better idea.

Inside their own respective homes, the boys all started to set up, choosing their weapons and picking their protection carefully. This was a match to the death, and none of them were going to give up without an extreme amount of effort.

“Hey guys,” came a voice over the headset the brunette had finally managed to find hiding under his bed and plug in, “I’m just letting all you shanks know that I will be the last one standing.”

“Yeah right, over my dead body.” came the voice of another, barely audible over the white noise that traveled over the microphone as he spoke.

“Exactly!” the first boy responded with a gleeful laugh. “And dang it Gally, get a new mic already!”

Shaking his head, Thomas nestled down into his plush gaming chair and stared at the screen before him, as the splash screen for the pvp game loaded across it. This had become a ritual for the boys, every Friday night. The group of them would all sign on and play varying games together well into the late afternoon on Saturday, when sleep would finally declare that it was time to quit. Sometimes they would be at each other’s houses when they played, but they found that it tended to be smarter during the days they would play first person shooter games or varying other competition battle games, to stay at their respective houses. They got way too competitive.

Especially since Minho and Thomas had a bet going.

Glancing up at the crinkled piece of paper pinned to his wall, Thomas smiled. They kept a running tally on that paper, and currently, he was in the lead. Only by two wins, but if he held on, those two wins meant that Minho would lose for his third month in a row.

With a determined smirk, he looked up to the screen once more to pick out his equipment and begin prepping for battle. Or in this case, war.

***

“You shank! Are you camping?!” Gally shouted over mic as his character name displayed on the screen as being killed yet again. The only response was a soft laugh as Minho was also taken down unsuspectingly.

“Damn it Aris, I almost had Thomas! My spawn point is a ways away. Now I have to cross map again and hopefully get there before this round ends!” Minho cursed.

“Thanks buddy!” Thomas laughed out as he reloaded his weapon and darted behind a broken electrical box. Sometime during the last couple sessions, Aris had taken Thomas’s side and was doing all he could to keep him alive. If only to try and kill him himself later on, but still. So long as he survived longer than Minho, he stood a chance of winning the round and the bet. Thomas wasn’t quite sure why, but he was not about to sever their unusual alliance.

Thomas and Aris had become friends through unusual circumstances.Thomas had been dating Teresa since freshman year of high school. They had been friends for much longer and acted quite domestic around each other, so dating just seemed the most natural next step. Many people had even said so on a number of occasions before they had made it official. They had been doing fairly well, though for some reason she was never as into the relationship as he was. However, she was pretty and kind and because they were friends they got along well enough without the stressful ‘courting’ part, so he was happy to have started dating her. In Junior year though, Aris came into the picture.

Aris had moved from his high school, not much further away, to theirs when him and his mother moved from their little apartment to an actual house, which put him firmly in a new district for school. As such, he now attended the same school as Thomas. His first year there he had been in most of Teresa’s classes. Despite being quieter than the others, the two of them clicked instantly and talked all the time. It wasn’t long after that did Teresa break up with Thomas, and not much longer still than did Aris and Teresa start dating.

It was an awkward and slightly painful time for Thomas. Sure, they weren’t crazy lovey-dovey like some other couples, but he still felt like they were good for each other. The fact that she dumped him hurt. Plus, with Minho’s nagging suspicion that Teresa had been cheating on Thomas with Aris for some time before the official break up, Thomas had felt a bit burned. He had never confirmed if that was true or not, and at this point no longer cared, but the suspicion was enough to have him reevaluate Teresa’s and his's time together. However, despite feeling betrayed, they did their best to work it out and remain friends.

After spending time with Aris in the picture, Thomas had found that he wasn’t really a bad guy. Soft spoken and a little awkward, but still friendly and was trying hard to make amends with Thomas. He understood that he played a part in the male's broken heart, whether intended or not, and so he wanted to make amends. Minho, despite everything that happened, seemed to change his mind and like him too, so that settled it for Thomas and he accepted being friends with the kid. After a little bit, they invited him to play games with them, and after kicking many of their asses, he was officially incorporated into their group. Gally even liked him and Gally didn’t like anyone. Then again, Gally thrived on the competition too, and Aris was a good competition. Much more than Frypan or Winston were at least.

As they were completing that round, neither Thomas or Minho winning, Aris muted his mic, which was unusual. He may not speak much over mic unless he was softly taunting someone, but he still remained on. So that way, if needed, they could talk. It just made them all seem that much closer in regards to their game. They weren’t random strangers, so they weren’t going to keep silent like they didn’t know each other. After a moment, though, his mic popped back on.

“Hey guys, Teresa just reminded me,” he began, “Harriet had wanted me to ask, an old friend of hers is coming into town sometime next week and her brother is coming with her. Her brother doesn’t really know anyone and, according to Harriet, could use with some social interactions. Do you think he could join us in our next gaming session? I heard he plays.”

Thomas watched the lobbyist idle screen as they were waiting for Minho to change something about his character, thinking it will give him an advantage. Should they add some complete stranger to their game? The next week was the last weekend before the end of the month, it was the most important time for the bet. The make or break moment of whether or not it would be Thomas or Minho suffering the humiliation of losing.

“Is he any good?” Came Gally’s voice over the constant feedback from his end. “Or will it be more of a pity play like when Winston joins?”

“Hey now, Winston is good!” Minho said, coming to his friend’s defense.

“Yeah at Flappy Bird maybe.”

“He’s better than you.” Minho retorted.

“Hey, I’m good!” Gally growled.

“Yeah at dying.” Aris slid in with a laugh before he steered the conversation back, “I can ask Harriet if you all want, but since he’s new and could use a friend or two, maybe we should let him play, good or bad.”

Thomas found himself agreeing with that comment. Especially when he remembered back to the first time he had accepted Aris into their group. It was rough, but the relief on his face when they began to include him, was worth it. Sometimes all a person needed was just to belong.

“Yeah he can play.” Thomas found himself saying, over the top of Minho and Gally’s bickering that had started back up.

“You just think that adding another player will distract me and increase your chances of winning don’t ya shank?” Minho asked, diverting from Gally for a moment.

“Oh please, I’m still two ahead of you, I have nothing to worry about. You’re the one who will need all the help you can get.” Thomas teased back, making Minho growl at the challenge and insist he was ready and to begin another round. Thomas just smirked, taking the challenge in stride.

***

A couple of times during the following week the boys would meet up to hang out around their odd schedules; between sports practices, club activities as well as general school work. Often the times including ordering food and short gaming sessions. However, none of these sessions would compare to the intensity that was to come that Friday night. It was the last weekend of the month, that meant whatever happened that day would decide the winner of the reoccuring bet.

As usual, Thomas had yet to plug in his headset while he set the system up and got settled in. He was normally the last one to connect, giving himself a couple moments of peace before his ears would explode from the crazed boys’ shouts on the other end. He loved his friends but they were a handful, especially when put together. He knew, though, without even plugging in the headphones, that Minho was already talking smack, trying to pump himself up and bring Thomas down in hopes that he would break his losing streak.

Once it was connected, the Asian’s taunts poured into his ears along with Aris’s and Gally’s tormenting, causing him to burst out laughing. Aris and Gally were thoroughly enjoying the prospect that Minho might lose again, and they were not letting his taunts slide without some snide comment in return. Keep him grounded, that’s what it was. Thomas was only in the lead by one now, but it was still causing Minho to get worked up. After the last two fails, he was determined to get revenge.

Flipping his microphone on, Thomas opened his mouth to interject with his own taunts when another name popped up onto their campaign list, causing everyone to fall silent. Frypan and Winston usually didn't partake in gaming with them on the competitive Fridays. They usually had other things to do and preferred to not be mauled in their excitement. Nor did any of them want to accidentally get sucked into the bet. Knowing Winston's luck, it would be him and he would lose every time. Because when Minho and Thomas were working together not against one another, they were unstoppable. So it couldn't be one of them.

They had nearly forgotten that there was supposed to be a new person joining them this weekend. Aris had mentioned it the week before, but it hadn’t come up in conversation since except a brief mention that they had gotten into town. So all of them had completely spaced.

Now the name sat on their list, reminding them that they had agreed to a new addition and this meant the craziness of their bet might just get crazier. It was far more challenging with more people, plus they didn't even know if the new guy was any good. They had no idea what his style of gameplay was. He could just slow them down and ruin their groove.

Staring at the name on the list, Thomas decided not to to let it bother him, he would just have to strategize around this newcomer. So long as he didn't lose his small lead, he didn't care.

[Gravitational_Amphibian]

“Oh yeah,” came Aris’s voice, finally breaking the silence that drew out while waiting for the other to enter the game lobby and get situated. “This is the guy I mentioned last week. The one who’s related to Harriet's friend.” It was apparent that they had forgotten, Aris included, and had the newcomer had his headset plugged in, he might have heard how they had reacted. It was clear that it was odd to have someone new join their group, and it could easily come off as if they didn’t really want to have him there. Like he was trespassing. They may have accepted that he was joining in when it was brought up the previous week, but it didn’t mean they were 100% okay with it. Nor did it mean they remembered and planned around the change. After all, today was the most intense day of the month, a new person could throw it all off.

After a few moments of silence again, the group waited to see if this person would attach a headset and speak to them. Despite being a total stranger and everything, they were eager to try and get to know the newcomer. It was guaranteed that Minho probably had some smack talk up his sleeve to throw at him too. However, when the icons popped up showing his headset and microphone were connected, the line quickly appeared through the mic icon, indicating that he had muted himself. This caused Minho and Gally to both groan.

It was always odd when one of them was muted even if only for a moment. Sure, every so often one might mute when they were talking to someone like their parents, but even when that happened they tended to keep them on leading to everyone hearing a one sided conversation. Not that anyone minded. It became sort of an unspoken thing between them. Not a rule per-say, but something that bonded them all. Kept them connected. Even if they weren't in the same place they were still together. It was odd, sure, and no one really brought it up, but no one complained; they liked it all the same.

Especially since it allowed them to talk smack and not cross the line to feeling like they were fighting when they did it. If anything came out of the trash talk that sparked any hurt feelings or something of that nature, it was far easier to bring up and talk about with the context of gaming. Mention something about ‘hey remember when we played this and this happened, yeah super funny, and remember you said this? Yeah don't say that shit again’. It was easy that way and they managed to keep it pretty clean as possible so it didn’t become hurtful or cause a lot of bickering.

“Aww come on man!” Minho said in a loud, almost whine, “You gotta chat with us! That’s how we strategize!”

“You don’t strategize,” Thomas cut in with a laugh, “You just button mash and hope to kill me.”

“Oh yeah!? It’s on!” Minho shot back over the other two’s laughter, “Get a load of this new strategy!” He said as he indicated that he was ready to start the campaign. Quickly after, all of them were ready and the game began.

***

Two minutes. That was all it took after the game began and they left their spawn points. Two minutes and [KingOfSnarkA7 was killed] appeared on the screen.

“Damn it!” Minho shouted into his mic, “What kind of klunk was that?! Who’s the shank who sniped me?”

The response that came was not one over mic. Instead [Escape_Futile was killed] appeared on the screen quickly after, gaining a flurry of curses from Gally in response.

“Nice.” Thomas hissed with a grin. He had the distinct feeling that it was the newcomer, and it made him all the more excited to have included him. So long as he could take the guy down, it meant an easier win over Minho and another bet win under his belt. He mostly figured it was the new guy because, if it was Aris, a lame attempt at trash talk would be whispered through the mic after each of the deaths. Since none came, it couldn't be him.

Thomas had decided, if he could get this ‘Gravitational’ dude on his side and not just the awesome additional party who just so happens to be assisting, he would snare another month of wins. Of course, if Minho would stop threatening him for that kill for a minute, he would probably realize it would be best to have the guy as an ally try to do the same thing Thomas was considering. It hadn’t even been that long since the game had started, and he showed that he was a great player. Well, Thomas hoped it was that he was a great player, and not that the guy had gotten lucky in his spawn and shot the others. Which had happened a couple of times. Frypan was adamant that he was simply ‘just that awesome’ but all of them knew he had gotten lucky with his spawn point since he couldn't replicate it.

“It’s up to you man.” Aris said, undistinguished as to which side he was rooting for, as [totlelottlelittle was killed] displayed on the screen. Now it was just the new kid and Thomas. Time to see what he was made of.

With a deep breath, Thomas shifted forward in his chair, elbows on his knees and feet firmly planted on the floor as he focused. After all, it is well-known with gamers the more you lean the better you play; and he was determined to play his best.

It took Thomas a couple minutes to find the new guy as the guy had quickly taken to the rooftops to stay out of sight. It was actually a really good strategy because, from the few rooftops available, the whole map was visible. There has yet to be a spawn point inside one of the buildings so it was usually a race across the empty terrain to be one of the first ones inside. Because in this desert scorched landscape, if you weren't in the collapsing buildings or on the roof, you were out in the open. There, anything could happen.

That's one of the reasons why some of their games didn't last very long; because they would run into each other out in the open and whoever managed to get the first shot off would win. Once they were in the city, though, it was a little bit more of a challenge. After all they were far more places to hide.

Thomas was still making a mad dash for the buildings, his spawn point much further away than the other player's. He was determined to get in the building's cover before the newcomer could get a shot off. He knew once he was there, it would become a game of cat and mouse. If Thomas could get to the rooftop quickly, before the other decided to move and got down from it, he could get an advantage over the new guy and possibly sneak up on him. However, if the new guy came down from the roof before he could get up there it would then become like a maze; with plenty of places to hide and forcing them to navigate through the varying, closely set buildings of the long abandoned city in hopes that they could see and kill the other before they disappeared around a corner.

“Where are you?” Thomas muttered softly into the mic as he scanned the building he was in while making his way up onto the roof, peeking through glass-less windows and gaps in the crumbling building walls. He made sure to keep himself in a low crouch as he walked, trying to keep himself out of sight. Once he got to the roof, he held his breath trying to keep quiet and focused, as if that would help him. A shot rang out loudly and whizzed by his character, luckily not hitting him, but landing no more than five feet to his left. Smirking, Thomas let out his breath and muttered “Found ya.” as he readied his weapon.

Inching closer to the edge of the building’s roof he carefully peeked over and spotted the head of the others character duck behind a rooftop electrical box. Knowing this was his chance, he got as close as he could and waited. After a minute or two the character looked out which left him wide open. Taking that split second opportunity he let off a shot.

[Gravitational_amphibian was killed]

Thomas jumped to his feet and punched the air with a triumphant “Yeah!” another win under his belt. Reaching up, he added a tally to the paper, under his name, grinning wildly. Over Mic, Aris and Gally could be heard both congratulating Thomas and taunting Minho, because now he had yet another game he would have to catch up on if he even dreamed of winning.

Minho was heavily protesting.

As they readied for another round, Gally spoke up trying to fill the other one in on the reason for all the excitement. “Just letting you know, these two losers have a bet going so that is the reason for all the intensity. They are going to go hard, so I'd watch your back.”

“Today is the last day,” Minho cut in, “and there will be no mercy.”

The group was met with silence while the other still remained muted. Thomas shrugged and prompted that he was ready for the next round with everyone else joining in almost immediately. It's almost a given now that they would have to get to the city quickly or and some form of cover the moment they could, or else risk being hunted down by the new guy because he seems to have picked up a good strategy really quickly. Thomas figured that he must play frequently, either with his friends back home, or random open campaigns.

They managed to last a little longer each time they played against the stranger but he came out victorious more often than not and all of them were complimenting him. Clearly he had a knack for it and wasn't just luck. However, it made them all that much more competitive, especially considering the bet going on. It was almost a good thing that he wasn't also a contender, Thomas and Minho would lose each time and suffer the fate of the bet. This thought made the teen give a fake ‘shudder’ before laughing softly at the idea. If that were to happen, Thomas would just work extra hard to make sure he kept his winning streak.

Another thought crossed Thomas’s mind about the new kid. He wondered how long he was in town for and if he was planning on joining them for more sessions. If the guy was going to play with them for more than one or two weekends perhaps they could start making teams and strategizing since now there were enough skilled players and one wildcard that it wouldn't become stagnant. It would make things more interesting and maybe even give Minho a decent chance to win for once. That idea alone caused Thomas to smile. As if that would happen.

There wasn't much clarity, though, on how long ‘gravitational amphibian’ and his sister would be in town for. There really wasn't much to go on about them in the first place. Heck, they didn't even know his name! Well, Aris might, but still. So, for all they knew this could be the only time they even played with him. Sure, he could probably join from then on out from wherever he lived; but it didn't seem likely. He would play while he was there, then go back to his own life and his own friends. So they couldn't really rely on the chance that he would remain an active part of their group. After all, he had only been invited in the first place because he had come into town. As such, the chances of ever meeting up for gaming session were slim. Slimmer than they already were at least. And slimmer yet for him to continue once he left.

Perhaps, though, if he was still here through the week and next weekend they could meet up in person and play something that wasn't a fighting game. That would be fun and they could meet him and not have him remain the ambiguous floating name and additional character. Not to mention, Aris had mentioned that Harriet thought he could use some friends and this was the easiest way they could bond. Whether it was just while he was out here visiting, or in general, there was no telling.

“Hey Aris,” Minho began while they milled about in the game lobby deciding on their equipment for the next round, “do you know how long this guy will be in town for?” Thomas smirked at the question, it appeared Minho may have been thinking the same thing Thomas had. Or somewhere along the same line at least. The two of them had always surprisingly been on the same page. Heck, even when Thomas asked a question Minho dubbed stupid, more often than not, Minho had been itching to ask it too but held too much pride in himself being the ‘logical’ one to do so.

“I'm not sure.” Aris replied

“Well you should ask his sister, since the shank won't talk to us.”

“He should totally unmute,” Gally jumped in, clearly smirking just based on the sound of his voice.

Minho took the cue and jumped in with some taunts of his own, agreeing about how he should unmute and talk to them. Thomas was just as curious as the rest of them as to why the male had attached a headset, clearly wanting to listen in on the conversation but refused to participate in it himself.

He wondered what it might take to get to know the newcomer and make him feel like he could talk to them and not be made fun of or judge like often times many other groups of random players would do. If the game had the option to talk via text, like a chatroom, would he have used that instead? Or was he that far removed from them that he was avoiding talking at all; after all, they had been through several games now and they still didn't even know his name. Thomas wasn't even sure if Aris knew his name. After all, he was a friend of a friend's brother.

As Thomas returned to the present from his thoughts, he laughed lightly at the chant Gally and Minho had begun, in unison, shouting at the other male, “Unmute! Unmute! Unmute!”

“Guys, shut the hell up! He doesn't have to!” Aris said, practically shouting to be heard over the two of them as he jumped to the defense of the new guy.

The defense was lost on them though as they continued to chant, “Unmute, unmute, unmute!” Thomas laughed some more before joining in the teasing, setting his controller on his lap so he could clap along with their beat.

After another minute of chanting from the trio, the microphone icon next to Gravitational's gamertag flipped on, the line disappearing, showing he was no longer going to remain silent. After yet another almost never ending moment of complete silence, some feedback came back over the mic as the male fumbled with it, probably connecting the actual mic piece to his headset and not just turning it on.

“You really don't have to,” Aris said softly, able to be heard now that the chanting had stopped. He was trying to be comforting to someone who may not understand their brash natures and incessant personalities. The group of them could get kind of pushy sometimes. Heck, the group had managed, through a repeated amount of pressure, to convince Frypan to join a monthly cooking subscription and group meetup. He kept saying that he thought about joining and wanted to but never really had the backbone to follow through. He was super comfortable in his kitchen, so the chance of something or someone else invading his space was not a huge desire of his. He was extremely content and meticulous in his own kitchen and that was that. However, everyone else thought he could do with the external influences he kept shying away from. Turned out that branching out was one of the best things for him. He couldn't be happier.

Ever since that success, the group took every opportunity they could to ‘pressure’ others into things. Never anything that was harmful like drugs or anything that could hurt another person and/or cause huge issues for anybody. Just things that would be good for the person, something to make them happy. Besides, in the end, if whatever they were trying to push for remained a firm no, they would back off; albeit a bit disappointed sure; but would still back off. They knew when lines were best to remain uncrossed. They always made sure it remained in good taste.

They felt badgering to get the new guy to talk, fell into that category. Not harmful, and something that could be good. After all, what could possibly come from just talking?

“You really don’t have to Gravi…” Aris reassured again, proving what Thomas had thought earlier, that even Aris didn't know his name. Which seemed a bit odd since he knew the person's sister. Thomas didn't think too much into it though, wasn't his business why.

“No,” came the voice after another moment of delay, “I-It’s ok, I’m just nervous–”

Everyone remained completely silent, all practically holding their breath, at the voice that rang through their headphones. It held a twinge of an accent that proved the newbie wasnt from around there, let alone that country. In fact, it sounded more like he was from somewhere in Europe, England or something.

That voice was unique. Thomas felt his face heating up at the sound. He couldn't really explain the sensation but his heart began beating out his chest with just those few words. The voice was smooth, silky and alluring. That voice could make him do things.

“W-what's your name?” Thomas blurted out, breaking the silence at almost a shout. He just had to hear the male speak more.

“Um… Newt.” came the soft, accented response.

“Like Newton?” Gally asked.

That would explain his gamertag. Gravitational for Sir Isaac Newton, the guy who discovered gravity, and amphibian for, well, a newt. It was adorable; and far more thought out than any of their names.

“Yeah.” he replied.

“Where are ya from Greenie?” Gally asked before Thomas could, probably just as curious as he was.

“England.” was Newt's simple answer not going into much detail. He didn't even specify where at, just the broad expanse of land. Probably because, even if he did, many of them would have no idea where it was actually at. Most people knew of the main cities, none of the smaller ones.

“How long you staying for?” Thomas asked, their game clearly forgotten for the time being in favor of finally having the new person speak.

“Not sure yet. We may be moving out here for a few months or so, it all depends on… back home.”

Despite the slightly ominous history that lingered in the air with that statement, Thomas felt himself smile and get excited at the possibility. Perhaps they could include Newt in more games; maybe even get the opportunity to meet him in person. Especially if he was going to stay here for more than a week or two. While he wasn't sure if the guys would want to include in, nor how to bring it up, he still wanted to. Besides, with the way he played and how good he was, they just couldn't say no to him joining their group sessions.

“Ah, dude,” Minho spoke up, probably on a similar train of thought Thomas was, “if you're going to be here while you should join us some more gaming sessions. You're really good we could use more talented players I'm getting tired of always destroying these shanks.”

This caused Thomas to choke on a laugh as his eyes darted to Minho's name that bolded as he spoke; a feature in the game to let those who were strangers know who was speaking. Especially in randomly spawned campaigns. “Excuse you,” the brunette interrupted with a sarcastic tone, “who is it that has lost the bet for the third month in a row?”

This caused the other two, who were knowledgeable about the bet to start laughing, their line of questioning for the new guy forgotten. The jabbing at his expense causing Minho to practically growl.

“Oh slim it ya slinthead, there's still time to squeeze in a few more rounds, I could still kick your ass.”

“I'd like to see you try, I'm three ahead now,” Thomas taunted, and, with a smirk, indicated that he was ready for a new round again. The others quickly joined in and Newt decided to remain on mic, even if he didn't talk too much. Just the fact that he did was enough for them.

***

That coming Wednesday was a short day at school, so they all decided to meet up at one of their houses to hang out with some food, and an in-person gaming session. They used to meet up all the time to hang out but now it was becoming harder and more uncommon to have days during the week they could meet up to play and spend time with each other; between club activities, school work, and the strain of graduation looming closer each day, it slipped to the backburner. Even over the weekends, things were still going on and usually most of them found themselves too busy to even switch on their consoles. If they did have a chance, their time was always short, what with a full school day and homework to do. Those times were usually spent more chatting than playing, and the games they played were simple enough they didn't have to worry about not having the whole night to play it.

That's why Friday's were always nice because there was no strain of school the next day and, while some of them may have things to do the next day, they weren't needed till the evening or Sunday, so they could play late into the night. Plus with the bet now firmly in place for the foreseeable future, they had more incentive to at least try and make time.

However, half days from school were always valued and they would jump at the chance to hang out in person.

It was Aris's turn to host their meetup, so they all began to gather there. As Thomas walked up towards the house he was shoved away and to the ground below by Gally who just gave him a challenging smirk over his shoulder before racing up to the door to be the first to knock. Thomas simply rolled his eyes, getting used to his annoying actions, and dusted himself off after standing up before trotting up the steps behind him.

The door opened to reveal Mrs. Jones, Aris's mother, in her work attire, clearly in the middle of getting ready for an evening shift. She was completely flustered but lit up with a bright smile when she saw the two of them.

“Hello boys! Come in, come in!” she chirped as she ushered them in with almost a shove as she shut the door quickly behind them. “They are downstairs.” she informed them before scurrying away around a corner to finish getting ready. She gave a quick glance to the clock and a trail of flurry of muttered profanities with a couple comments about ‘shift schedules’ and ‘time management' followed her out.

Thomas just gave a soft, understanding smile in her direction. His own mother worked two jobs at the moment, determined to save money up for him for school, despite his protests about how 'he could work one too' instead of her stressing out so much. Despite him informing her about how 'he would be aiming for a scholarship' which, if it went well, would mean far less payment for whichever school he went to. Despite that little feeling in the back of his head, which he had yet to tell her of... that he may not even go to college. At least not yet.

However, any of the comments he gave on the matter were met with rebuke. She was having none of that. Told him it was her ‘job as a mother’ to provide for her child. Told him that it was best to focus on his studies so he could get into a good school instead of stressing over a job. Told him that if he wanted a scholarship, he would need to put in the work at school and the applications for them and not for an employer who couldn’t possibly give him much in the way of a future in the business. Told him to have fun with his friends while he can because college will likely be a time when they’ll be too busy and too far apart to see each other as often. Especially since going out of state for schooling was on the table for a number of them.

Honestly, to Thomas, she had an archaic way of thinking.

He still tried to talk to her about it and wanted to do what he could to help out. However, each time she found out he was planning on applying places, she would get upset with him. They would go round and round in an argument each time. Thomas would usually deflate and concede to her. He hated arguing with her when she was trying so hard for him. So, to avoid too many arguments, he accepted it. Worked hard in school, hung out with his friends when they were free to do so, took the simply one-day-jobs that would pop up here so to have some extra money saved, and quietly wished she would take some time for herself instead of working herself practically to death. He would make it up to her somehow, he was determined to.

“Teresa is probably here,” Gally said, pulling him out of his thoughts as the shorter of the two boys gazed at the space that Aris's mom once occupied. Thomas looked to him confused and tilted his head slightly, not following the conversation. Gally just rolled his eyes before responding, “she said ‘they’ so that must mean Teresa is here." he told him slowly, albeit a bit condescendingly since Thomas was a bit slow on the pick up, "Since Minho is undoubtedly late and Frypan is giving Winston a ride later on after his cooking group lets out, it’s got to be her.”

It was always interesting to Thomas, how different things were between when Thomas and Teresa had been dating and when Aris and Teresa have been. Back when she was with Thomas, Teresa next to never came over during the game nights. She found them dull and would rather be anywhere else. However, now that she and Aris were dating, she tended to hang out during those nights. She'd be there more often when the nights were at Aris's house but other times at someone else's too. She was just content being around him, in a way she wasn't with Thomas. With Thomas she was always wanting to do something. Fidget, move, get up and do something. Keep moving, keep learning, keep… something… Having a night in was rare with the two of them.

Their arrival and descent into the basement that served as Aris's room was made apparent by their always loud footsteps. Clomping down the stairs and into the room, they both grinned.

“Hey Aris, hey Tere-... sa….” Gally trailed off as he stopped just inside the door. As per usual, coming down the stairs, Thomas had been paying more attention to his feet than to the boy in front of him. So when he had stopped suddenly, the brunette barreled into the back of him, not seeing him freeze. Gally stumbled a couple of steps further into the room before turning partly towards Thomas and shoving him back with a frown.

Thomas took a moment to gather himself from being pushed. Straightening his shirt he glared at the taller boy, “The heck man?” he shot at him before he realized Gally was still staring into Aris’s room with a quizzical expression. Following his gaze into the room he noticed that there were far more people than normal, and despite their earlier thoughts, none of them were Teresa.

Aris had been sitting in his gaming chair, turned away from the TV, to chat with the other people in the room. Along with him were two girls. One dark skinned girl Thomas had recognized as Harriet from the few times she hung out with Aris when they came by and another blonde girl whom he didn't know, plus a sandy blonde boy who was turned with his back to the door, listening as the other three gossiped about something to do with school.

When Aris finally noticed them, his face lit up and he waved casually at them as he turned his chair the rest of the way towards them before he stood up, “Hey guys!” he said cheerily as he ushered them further inside since both Thomas and Gally were still firmly planted by the door. “Get in here! I wanted to introduce you. Where's Min-” before he could finish the question, the person in question loudly came barreling down the stairs behind them. He was shouting something about slippers not being a good choice or easy thing to walk in while going down stairs. It was hard to hear exactly what he was complaining about though, over the sound of bells jingling with every move he made.

As he entered the sounds all made sense. It was apparent that his outfit was either not thought out at all, or it was a form of torture. In truth, it was the stipulations of losing the bet. Whoever won got to decide the losers outfits the entire next month. Sometimes the outfits were good, meant to make them look better than they usually do and things they may not have chosen in the first place, when they totally should because they look great.

Sometimes insane...

On the first day of his third month losing, Thomas felt Minho deserved something extra ridiculous.

As such he was now dressed in the ugliest sweater possible, which was actually a Christmas sweater, despite being out of season, complete with two trees making up each of the sleeves. Tinsel, bells and baubles decorating the trees were the reason he was making so much noise. In addition, there were actual working lights that danced across the athletic boys chest, spelling out ‘the present is me’. His pants were skinny jeans and vivid neon orange, with a belt covered in bells to match the shirt. His shoes were house slippers in the shape of pigs, with no traction on them whatsoever. He wore a fanny pack around his waist and on his head was a purple zebra striped fuzzy wide brimmed ‘pimp’ hat.

Thomas had provided him a coat to wrap around himself while in class so as to muffle the sound of the bells so he wouldn't be kicked out for disruption. Though the fact that it was also vivid orange and crazy puffy, may have also been part of the plan…

As Minho made it to the room, he pushed his way in behind them without waiting for them to move and turned to shut the door, “What's wrong with you shanks, what are you just standing here for?” he asked before grinning wildly, “Awaiting my grand entrance?” with that comment he pretended to strike a pose, all of the bells upon his outfit ringing loudly as he did so.

It took him a moment to realize it wasn't just their usual group in the room and he looked around blankly, “Oi, Aris, what's going on?”

Aris, having finally quieted down from the fit of giggles he found himself falling into each time he saw Minho in his ridiculous outfit, cleared his throat before speaking up “Guys,” he said, a laugh still escaping on his breath as he spoke, ushering to the unknown pretty blonde girl, “This is Harriet’s friend, Sonya.” She smiled and waved at everyone when she was introduced, “She is the one I mentioned the other week, about coming into town and all?” he continued, reminding them of their previous conversation before the new guy had joined their gaming session. Pointing to the other new person among them he gave a quick nod, “And this is her brother, Newt. You know, Gravitational Amphibian.”

At the introduction, the male rose from where he had been sitting with his back to the door, looking over his shoulder when they entered, and turned to face them giving them a full view now of himself. He was a tad taller than Thomas, slender and quite good looking. Though a bit gangly, he still held a sturdy undertone; a cautionary confidence emitting from the sharp set of his jaw all the way to the tense posture he possessed. Sticking a hand out to the nearest person, he nodded and gave a smile that didn't quite reach his dark brown eyes, “Nice to officially meet you all.”

Thomas could hear the blood rushing through his ears loudly at the sound of Newt’s voice. It was hard to hear anything aside from the blood rushing through his body as his heart was rapidly increasing it’s pace. Just like when the male spoke over the mic the first time, Thomas just floundered and his heart began to race. Now that he could actually put a face to the sound, he felt his stomach drop and his mouth become dry.

It had been a long time since a person had this impact on Thomas. Even while they were dating, Teresa didn’t ever make his heart flutter as much as it was at that very moment. After all, dating her just felt like the obvious next step since they were basically acting as if they were long term boyfriend and girlfriend anyway. It was quite domestic between them and almost too natural. So she had never quite made his heart want to leap from his chest.

Last time he had reacted this way, it was to a kid he would pass every day in the hallway at school that he could also see from afar during their lunch breaks. Though he had never gotten up the nerve to actually talk to them, and simply admired them from afar. However, that was beside the point.

Now, standing before him, was a face to match the voice that made his head spin and they matched brilliantly in his mind. As if there really hadn’t been another face that would have quite fit. It just worked.

Thomas had all but quit functioning the moment that the male stood up, so Gally took the pause to step forward and take Newt’s hand in a firm handshake. “The name’s Gally. I’m ‘escape futile’.” he introduced, including his gamertag so Newt would have a better idea of who was who from the group he had played with. Newt nodded, making a mental note of the names, so if he played with them again he could remember who was who and attach a face to the character.

“The one with the bad mic.” he ventured to say causing Gally to frown and Minho to burst out laughing loudly behind the two of them.

“Told ya you needed a new mic!” he exclaimed and with that, Minho stepped forward, jingling the whole time as he slapped a hand hard on Newt’s shoulder with a big wild grin. “Nice to meet ya greenie. I’m Minho, ‘King of Snark A7’.” he introduced.

Newt stumbled a bit at the forcefulness that Minho had introduced himself with and took a moment to steady himself again. Minho was always the big presence in the room and it often would make the most confident person falter for a brief moment when they were approached by the guy.

“Is this…” Newt began carefully, “Normal attire for you?” he asked as he gestured to the entirety of Minho with a slight smirk and a raise of an eyebrow as if taunting him. Minho just ‘harumph-ed’ in response, folding his arms over the lights blinking on his chest.

“This is the stipulations of the bet that Gally mentioned to you when you played with us last Friday.” the Asian informed him, “Winner gets to pick the loser’s outfits for an entire month.”

Turning to Thomas with a glare that was a small part serious, but mostly playful, he nodded at him, “And this shank likes to dress me up in the most humiliating things that he can find. Which, between the lot of us, is quite the array of klunk if you ask me.” With that, he gave Thomas a light, playful shove with his elbow as he turned back towards Newt and broke from his pretend glare into a bright grin. Despite the outfit that most anyone would find embarrassing, Minho was hardly a shy person so it didn’t get to him. Besides, he knew it was all in good fun so he couldn’t really be mad at his friend for it.

The nudge brought Thomas back to the reality he found himself spacing out of quite frequently lately and he looked between the two of them with a slight, open mouthed grin. Giving Minho a light shove in return, he chuckled, “Well, if you weren’t so terrible as to lose for three whole months in a row,” he said putting some teasing emphasis on the amount of time as he stuck a finger in Minho’s chest, “you wouldn’t be stuck wearing that!” He teased before shaking his head. “I mean, hell man, I’m running out of things to put you in. Besides, sometimes I dress you nicely.”

“Yeah, but not nearly as often as you dress me like I just rolled through the dumpster of an eccentric costume designer!” Minho whined before Thomas and him locked eyes, holding the stare down for a moment before breaking out into laughter. Gally rolled his eyes at the two friends’ outlandish behavior and Aris smiled at them.

Sticking a hand out toward the blonde finally, Thomas turned his smile to him. He was a little more at ease after having joked around with Minho and his breathing was under control once more. “I’m Thomas, I’m ‘Subject_Immune’.”

Newt looked over to him suddenly, as if thrown off by Thomas finally speaking to him. His eyes danced from Thomas’s face, down to his feet and back up again, before he reached over and returned the handshake with a warm smile. Unlike the last few he had given, this one had actually enveloped his whole person, reaching his eyes, and crinkling the sides of his face. “Nice to meet ya Tommy.”

Thomas floundered about, unable to form new words while his brain control-alt-delete, reboot, because that smile shut him down. Fucking hell, what a smile. It caused Thomas’s stomach to drop again, clench up and bring his heart with it. If he smiled like that at him again, if he called him ‘Tommy’ again with that voice... Thomas was certain his heart would stop completely.

He rolled his shoulders a moment as he tried to force down the childish crush he could feel forming as he let the other male’s hand drop, having been holding it for what could be considered a moment too long. Looking towards Sonya with a smile of his own, he nodded at her, “Nice to meet you as well.” He choked out over the din to her, not wanting to make her feel left out from the group. Plus, it gave him an excuse to look away from the blonde and force his heart to shut up yet again. It was ridiculous, what was he five? She simply smiled and waved in return before turning back to the conversation she had been having with Harriet, totally fine with not being drawn into the gathering of the boys.

So much for the distraction.

Aris had started a conversation with Gally and Minho about a handful of games that were being released soon and Thomas tuned into that quickly, focusing on that instead. He liked games, plus he liked the chance to ‘run away’ in a way. Even when he had developed a crush on that kid during his lunch period, he had managed to keep the ‘school ground-esque’ feelings at bay and continue to function. At that time though, he hadn’t been in such a close proximity to that person, only seeing them in passing, so it was easier to keep feelings stashed away. Now, here he was standing next to a person who made his heart race the moment he heard him speak; made his brain short circus and say ‘holy mother of fuck I’m in love!’. Thomas found this made it much more difficult.

“So what are we going to eat?” Harriet interrupted their pow-wow, bringing the group out of their game chatter and back into the current moment.
They all looked between one another before it dawned on them. It wasn’t just the boys this time, they couldn’t just ignore their stomachs as per usual. They couldn’t just keep putting off eating, snacking only, until it was super late and there wasn’t anything but cheap pizza places open and they had to rush to eat before they needed to be home. Most normal people didn’t function like that.

While everyone was staring at each other blankly, Minho noticed that they were still all mostly standing, so he took the moment of distraction to invade the chair Newt had been sitting in. It was one of the few chairs that Aris had, and they had long determined that once someone gets up, it becomes fair game. So when they were together to play, many times there was also a game of musical chairs going on in the background. He flopped down on it like it was his throne, tossed a leg over one of the battered arms, and hooked a ‘treed’ arm over the seat back while he looked up at the ceiling ‘deep in thought’.

“Careful Minho,” Gally said with a smirk as he sat down on the bed next to Harriet, avoiding Sonya’s legs that were kicked up onto the bed beside them, “We’ll start smelling smoke if you keep that up.”

“Yeah, don’t think too hard, you’ll hurt yourself.” Aris jumped in with a small laugh. Minho simply flipped them both off in return but there was clearly no real hostility behind it. The smaller male parked himself back in his usual seat, and Thomas took up residence on the floor to lean against the bed since every other place, including the folding chair Aris usually stashed away, was taken. Newt looked between all of them for a moment before joining Thomas on the floor, their shoulders touching as he was leaning a bit closer to avoid Gally’s leg that was draped over the edge.

“We did pizza last time, do you want that again or do you want to go with Chinese?” Minho asked as he continued to stare at the ceiling, swiveling the chair back and forth with the foot that wasn’t draped over the arm.

“Well, I don’t feel like running out to pick something up, so whatever we get will have to be delivered.” Gally ventured with a shrug.

“I’m okay with Chinese, we can get more variety from them so long as people order different things.” Aris offered to which everyone nodded in agreement. “Let me go get the one that delivers here from the kitchen.” he said as he hopped up from his chair again and left the basement, taking the stairs two at a time.

“So, what brings the two of you out from the land of the queen?” Minho asked two blondes as he looked away from the ceiling towards them, “Family?”

Sonya looked down at Newt on the floor who fidgeted a bit as he looks back at her before she answered for the both of them, “Sort of.” Short, undescriptive, and very unhelpful. However, as Thomas looked between them, wanting to ask more, he instead held his tongue for what was probably the first time ever. He would usually spit out every question that came to his mind, often annoying people, but something told him it was wise to keep quiet. It was probably the way that Newt seemed to get uncomfortable at the question. Something about his home made him anxious.

Well, Thomas hoped that’s why.

However, Gally was having none of that. “What kind of answer is that?” he shot. Ever the abrasive one, not taking silence as an appropriate answer.

“Dude, lay off. They don’t have to explain it to your dumb ass.” Thomas defended with a snap, causing Minho to look at him with a raised eyebrow. He knew full well that Thomas was usually the one probably for any and all answers he could possibly get, so the fact that Thomas wasn’t, had him a bit curious. However, instead of jumping to Gally’s defense and asking the pair to explain more about the situation, he just went with what Thomas had said. He figured he would probably find out what Thoams was doing later.

It was another reason that they were such good friends. They may question each other’s thoughts or actions sometimes, but no matter what, they would still always back one another up knowing full well that, while sometimes stupid, their intentions were always good. Newt, beside him, gave Thomas a small appreciative smile and a slight nod, which he returned with a bright smile of his own.

Minho looked between the two of them curiously before he finally spoke up with a grin, causing both of them to look away from one another, towards him, “This dumb shank probably couldn’t understand it anyway.”

Gally frowned and opened his mouth to say something in retort but was interrupted by Minho who changed the line of questioning, “How are you liking it out here? I’d imagine it’s warmer out here than where you’re from.”

Sonya nodded, “Yeah a bit, but it’s nice. It has been a nice change to come out here. Plus, this is our first time visiting the states.”

“Well then why aren’t you out there looking at cool things, touring museums or seeing the sights?”

“We will, it’s not like we’re in a huge rush. Harriet already offered to take us to the Art Museum this weekend.” She responded as she looked to her friend who nodded, “Can only work around the schedule of people who can give us a ride and show us around.”

“Well, if you want to see some amazing ‘sights’ let me know, I can give you a tour.” Minho winked which caused Harriet to roll her eyes at him and shake her head.

Before anyone else could say something to dig Minho further into the hole he tossed himself into, Aris returned, coming down the stairs rambling something about the placement of menus they saved and how little room they had in the drawer. There were more things mixed in his mutterings but they were lost on most of them because he had started the conversation long before anyone could hear him, leading to a one-sided conversation that no one was really interested in.

“What took you so long, did you have to go to Mars to get the menu?” Minho asked as he shifted in his seat to sit a little more properly and held his hand out for the menu.

Aris didn’t reply to him as he just handed over the munu and flopped down into his chair. “I’m going to have the mu shu pork.” He said as he spun his chair around to start gathering his gaming stuff to start setting some game up for them. Connecting the two wired controllers and setting up the wireless ones, he glanced over his shoulder to look at them, “What are we playing today by the way?”

Each of them took some time to look through the menu to decide what they want. They talked amongst themselves about what they could get and who would share what if they got it, none of them responding to Aris yet since they wanted their food sooner rather than later. Once that was all settled, Harried got up from the bed and stepped out of the room to call and place the order while they all set up.

“So what are we playing?” Minho asked, getting a loud huff through the nose in response from Aris as Minho just looked at him confused.

“How about something casual and not insanely competitive?” Thomas asked.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Gally asked though gave a small nod, agreeing with his statement. Their days during the week in which they could actually get together and play games were supposed to be casual. Well, as casual as could be with the lot of them. It was near impossible to find a game that wouldn’t get competitive, but they still knew some would be better than others. That’s why a couple of games had been ruled out of ever playing together in person.

“Then how about Mario Kart? I know we sometimes get crazy over this one but we can get 4 players at a time with that and rotate around. Or we can hop onto Overwatch if we all want to play at once… But I just got the new Mario Kart the other day and would like to check it out... ” Aris commented, holding up the game to show them.

“I’m down for that. Mario Kart and rotate is fine.” Newt replied as he have Aris a small, half lipped smile, cutting any snarky responses that may have come up off before they could be said. Everyone looked to him, causing him to raise an eyebrow in confusion, before they all shrugged or nodded in agreement.

Harriet wandered back into the room, clicking her phone off as she looked up to them and smiled, “Food will be here in about a half hour.” She informed them, “Also, Winston just texted that he and Fry will be here in about a half hour too.”

“Why did he message you and not us?” Minho asked, throwing a hand over his heart and pretending to be offended.

She rolled her eyes at his dramatics and shook her phone at him in reply, “He said he messaged you guys first but none of you were responding, ya stick.”

Each of the boys looked between one another curiously for a moment, as if trying to process the information, before digging their phones out of their pockets, flipping them on and looking at them.

"Will ya look at that." Minho said with a laugh before his fingers danced across the phone screen to reply.

Thomas shook his head with a soft chuckle as he pocketed his phone and watched Aris turn from them to start up the game.

"We can get a few levels in before they get here, then." He remarked as he gathered up the controllers.

Aa the game's splash screen filled the TV and music began to play, everyone began to buzz with excitement. This was their element. Even the girls were joining in on future rounds so to make things exciting and offer new challenges to the veteran players. “I’m going to destroy you greenie!” Minho taunted loudly as he dove for the controller Aris had offered to him.

“What did I do?” Newt asked cautiously.

“He thinks you ruined his potential win.” Thomas informed him as he handed him the second controlled he had grabbed. He glanced to Minho to see if he was listening in or not before he leaned in closer to Newt so that he could hear him as he whispered with a smirk, “Though he is just in denial that he was already going to lose, even before you joined in.”

“Relax green bean,” Gally said, jumping into their conversation, startling the two boys, “this one isn’t as competitive or violent as the other game. At least, not right away.”

Newt just looked between the two of them who just smiled at him and nodded. “Alright…Well, you lot are going down anyway.” he hissed out with a challenging grin. Thomas laughed at that as he took the challenge, leaning forward to focus while they chose their characters and jumped into a round. Aris, Thomas, Minho and Newt playing the first round.

***

The night had begun to wind down and it was clear that they should wrap it up soon. Winston and Frypan had shown up only moments before the food was delivered. Harriet and Sonya relinquished their controllers to them, finished eating quickly and left to do their own thing. Once everyone was sufficiently fed they dove back into games. They got more intense as the night went on so they ended up switching a couple of times so as to not get too carried away.

Especially Minho, who would get so excited that he tended to kick and flail about as he played. So the limit was set into place. If one or more of them were getting too excited or two angry to keep calm and not risk potentially breaking something, they would switch games or quit playing all together. No one wanted another broken lamp.

Getting the group of them in the same room easily lead to ‘anything you can do I can do better’ pissing competitions. So they had to be careful.

Plus they had school the next day, so at some point they would need to wrap it up far earlier than they would if it was a Friday, if only for that fact.

Presently, Gally and Minho were attempting to finish up the final round of whatever game they had switched to that Thomas had long since tuned out of. Aris had fallen asleep in a heap on his bed, and frypan was settled back next to Winston, tuning out everyone else. They surfed the web on their phones and quietly whispered to one another so as not to disturb anyone else, Winston half asleep himself.

Looking around at everyone and the trash that had been left behind, Thomas rose from where he had still been sitting on the floor and stretched, his joints cracking as he did so. Quietly as he could, he wove his way around the splay of boys, deciding to try and pick up their food mess to make things easier on Aris later on. He always felt a little bad at how much something could get messed up simply because a group of people had invaded a small space.

As he gathered up their plates and containers, one was picked up from in front of him before he could grab it, startling him. His head shot up and he made eye contact with Newt who’s warm eyes locked with his own as he smiled softly at the brunette.

“Want some help?” he asked quietly so as to not wake Aris or disturb the other boys.

Thomas returned the smile appreciatively as he nodded and the two set to work. When Thomas's hands were full, he turned to walk up the stairs to take the trash to the kitchen. Newt trotted along right at his heels, not knowing where everything was like Thomas did. His hands weren't as full since Thomas had grabbed most of it beforehand but he still was trying to help.

"Today was… fun." Thomas commented as he tossed the trash in the bin underneath the sink. He wanted to try and start some sort of conversation with the guy and see if he could get to know him, especially now that they were not around everyone else to talk over one another. He just wasn't sure where to start. Leaning against the counter, he watched Newt dump his own handful of trash away. "It was awesome to be able to meet you in person and play with ya."

Newt nodded in response as he brushed his hands together to get off any dirt he may have gotten on them from the trash. "Do you guys do this often?" He inquired as he eyed a curious, sticky piece of something that had appeared on his right wrist.

Thomas shrugged as he watched Newt make his way to the kitchen sink to wash off the offending spot. "We try to either play over headset or meet up in person at least once a week if we can. We used to hang out or play games almost daily, though that isn't as easy anymore. Everyone just has a bunch of things on their plate." he scratched at the back of his neck as he shrugged again, "Hence why we made the bet, it gave us an extra incentive to at least try and make time for one another so we don't drift too far apart. But all of our schedules aren't easy to work around, plus with school…" he trailed off, letting the fact that they would be graduating soon and separating longer in the air between them.

The end of school so often saw the end of friendships. Thomas knew that. When people didn't have the opportunity to see one another every day, via class or work or something, they tended to drift apart. Love just got in the way. And, like they say, out of sight out of mind. It was depressing but not uncommon. Plus, with the likelihood of most of them moving to various different places for college, easily putting them in conflicting time zones, the chance to talk more than just a quick ‘hey, what’s new? Not much what’s new with you?’ that leads nowhere and repeats frequently was… too much for Thomas’s liking.

Sure, some friends stayed friends even after the time and distance separating them, but since there was never a guarantee, it had Thomas worried. So times like these, where they could hang out and still connect, were important to him. Just in case.

Newt seemed to understand what was left unsaid as he let his eyes linger on Thomas’s form while Thomas looked at the counter across from him, deep in thought.

“Well the camaraderie you all have is great. It’s nothing like back home.” Newt said trying to comfort the other before realizing he had said more than he intended to and quickly looked to the floor embarrassed. He wasn't quite ready to explain anything, especially to people he hardly knew. He had a feeling he could trust Thomas and tell him anything he would ever want to know, but that still didn't mean he was ready to do so right at that second.

Thomas looked to him and noticed the change in demeanor as Newt played with the hem of his shirt trying to gather his thoughts and figure out the best way to explain things since he knew the questions were going to start. The brunette decided not to ask, despite the fact that, with that set up, anyone else would have. Why he was holding off questions when he would normally let them all fly, just for the sake of the new guy who looked uncomfortable at the prospect of explaining? He rarely ever held back questions, often times annoying people with his constantly curious nature, but here he was, staying quiet.

Instead of taking the unintentional bate, he simply folded his arms over his broad chest, crossed his legs at the ankles, and smirked.

“Would you believe that Gally and I hated each other at first?” He asked, changing the subject for Newt’s sake, much to the blonde’s surprise. He looked up and shook his head, to which Thomas just nodded in return, smirking some more. “Yeah. Still have times where I can’t stand the shank, though we do get along much better now... But we weren’t always friends.”

“What happened?” Newt asked with a tilt of his head. The simple motion caused his hair to fall slightly over his eyes and made him look rather cute. Thomas felt his face flush a tad, just by looking at him. Not so much an embarrassed flush, nor a turned on flush, more of just a glow of happiness that pooled in his chest and glowed. The brit was a nice guy, and he seemed interested in talking to him instead of brushing him off like many often would. This alone made Thomas’s heart flutter; even more so at all the things that Newt did that he thought were even the slightest bit cute.

Letting his eyes dance over the slender boy’s frame, much like he had done to Tomas earlier, he took a moment to pause, sort out his thoughts, and clear his throat before beginning the story.

He told him about how, when they first met, they had gotten into a huge fight. Gally had gotten into his head that he had some semblance of a following and some 'power's amongst the people in the small group that Minho had introduced Thomas to. Why any group of kids really needed a 'leader', let alone a leader like Gally, was beyond him. Still, they had a way of doing things, a style in which they hung out and behaved. So in Gally's mind, the newcomer, and one as equally as stubborn as himself, would throw it all off. Naturally, Gally balked. Not one too happy for change. Thomas, being just as strong headed -okay hard headed- did not like the confrontation coming at him right out of the gate. He just met everyone for crying out loud! At least let him accumulate. However, no matter what anyone tried to say to reason with him, Gally thought Thomas was going to ruin everything. How, Thomas had no idea, but in Gally's head, he would.

So Gally would shoot down anything Thomas had said from that first moment on, even if they were good ideas or just random comments in the conversation. This caused Thomas to get annoyed and rebuttal. However, Gally never really liked being talked back to, so when Thomas began to fight back, it made him that much more upset and he decided the best course of action was to tackle Thomas. Soon it was a full on brawl between them, both of them taking their frustrations out on one another, which meant a lot of hard hits. It took five of the guys from the group to get them pulled apart and held back from launching into another fight. For quite a while after that, all they did when they were around one another was argue and shoot venom at each other. They nearly threw fists a couple of times but each time someone stepped in and had them walk away from each other to let the steam off.

Neither of them were ever quite sure exactly what had caused the turn around in their relationship, but one day, amidst their usual arguing, Thomas realized their spats weren't as powerful as before, didn't hold as much disdain and venom, almost like they were doing it just because it was all they knew how to do anymore. One day, they just stopped fighting and started actually talking like normal people. A bit miffed and uncomfortable with their conversations, but far better than before when they were ready to deck one another at any given moment. It wasn't long after that, they even started to agreeing with things and getting along.

The relief in their group of friends was evident. Everyone would accept that they would still butt heads now and again, as old habits die hard, but they were thrilled that there wouldn't be any more bloodshed.

Newt laughed lightly at his story, “Well he does seem like a right git, but I don't suppose he’s all that bad.”

Thomas smiled and couldn't help but nod in agreement, "Yeah, that first fight was quite intense though." He stated with a shrug, "Gally ended up with a black eye, a broken nose and a sprained wrist. I had a split lip, injured shoulder and the top of my ear was cut open where he caught me with his nails. I still have a scar from that one.” He brushed the hair away from his left ear to show the boy across the room the aforementioned stretch of skin that was paler than the rest of the surrounding flesh from the injury.

Newt crossed the kitchen in three long strides to get a closer look at the scar he was talking about. Thomas felt his heart leap into his throat at the sudden closeness but willed it to calm down. With how loud it had become at such a rapid pace, Newt surely heard it, which made Thomas's cheeks redden at the thought. Jeez, what was happening to him?

After peering at it for a moment, Newt seemed satisfied and took a step back and leaned against the counter next to Thomas, letting the quiet drift between them. They stood in companionable silence for a while, both of them unsure if they wanted to keep talking or just enjoy being content in each other's company instead.

Thomas kept stealing a quick, sideways glances at the Male, who in turn was stealing glances at Thomas. When the two of them swiped glances at the same time and locked eyes, they held the gaze for a moment before both broke it quickly, embarrassed at having been caught.

“You, uh…” Thomas began, clearing his throat, wanting to break the silence, “you enjoying your time out here so far?” Way to go. The most generic and overused question possible. He just wanted to hear Newt talk more. His accent was alluring and, while he was enjoying the comfortable feeling he had just standing there with him, he still hardly knew anything about the foreign boy. He figured this was as good a place to start as any.

Newt shrugged, leaning back on his elbows against the counter, “It hasn't been bad. I am suppose to pick up my last semester of school while I'm out here so we'll see how that goes, and until I start, it's been a bit boring just hanging around the house.”

This was something he hadn't mentioned in the basement when they were interrogated earlier and Thomas's head shot up to look at him with wide eyes.

“Oh? So you're going to be out here long enough for school?” This peaked Thomas's interest. So it wasn't just a short trip! Maybe they would be in the same school, maybe even some of the same classes and he could see him more! He was probably getting ahead of himself but wasn't about to stop now. “Where are you going to go? When do you start? Are you looking forward to it? You said last semester? So you're a senior too? Are you going to stay out here for college?” he shot off all at once, the words just pouring out of him before realizing he was flooding him with questions. The moment his brain caught up with his mouth he snapped it shut and immediately fell silent; a slight tinge of embarrassment flooding his cheeks as he cleared his throat and looked away to the floor.

Newt laughed at his excitement, his smile again crinkling the corners of his eyes, “Bit excited aren't we Tommy?”

The nickname, once again, sounded wonderful spilling from the British boy’s lips. Normally Thomas didn't care for nicknames, they always made him feel like a small child being coddled by his mother. So he would deliberately not respond when someone called him by a nickname, or he would correct them, which he always felt a twinge bad about. After all, the person usually meant no harm and would become flustered.

For the longest time, Teresa had been the only one to call him anything other than Thomas, and that was simply ‘Tom'. He didn't exactly mind it for a while. It sounded a bit mature coming from her, making him sound older and more respected. Plus, he wasn't sure she would listen if he corrected her. She was quite stubborn after all. Now it was a bit odd to hear her call him that, almost too personal after their history together.

However, Newt giving him a nicknamed seemed so natural, seemed so right.

“Yeah, well, that's the plan anyway.” Newt continued with another shrug as he looked up at the ceiling while he spoke. Thinking everything over carefully before he said anything. “I figured that if I'm going to be here a few months like everyone has planned for me, might as well finish school. I don't want to just not graduate. I-” before he could finish his thought though he was interrupted by a troop of boys wandering into the kitchen looking tired.

“Hey guys,” Minho said, his voice deep and gritty from exhaustion as he stifled a yawn and stretched his arms above his head, “We're calling it a night. Aris is asleep, I'm about to crash and Gally has some last minute studying to do.”

Thomas and Newt both nodded simultaneously, having already figured the night was just about over anyway.

“I'm going to give Minho a lift home.” Gally said as he shoved a thumb in the direction of the boy who was yawning yet again. “Thomas I know you live just down the road but do you want a lift too?”

Thomas just smirked and shook his head, “Like hell,” he scoffed as he grinned at them, “Minho may be okay putting his life in your hands, but I ain't risking it. I know how you drive. I'll walk.”

Gally shot him a frown as he gave a soft ‘harumph’ but decided not to retort as he looked towards Newt, “How about you Greenie?”

Newt looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment before shaking his head with a small, almost apologetic, smile. “No, thank you,” he replied, “I don’t live that far off either. I’ll walk with Thomas.”

Gally shrugged as he shoved his hand into his pocket and fished out his keys, “Your loss. Fry, you okay taking Winston since you brought him? I know you have a further distance to drive than we do.”

“Yeah I got ‘im.” Frypan nodded as he gave Winston a pat on the back who simply gave a weak smile in return, appearing sleepier than Minho. No doubt going to fall asleep on the drive home.

Gally simply grunted in response, and Thomas wondered if he was a lot more tired than he was letting on. Him holding his tongue was just as uncommon as Thomas not asking questions. He might not get the chance to study tonight if he was. He'd probably crash out the moment he got back to him house. Thomas could sympathize.

The entourage made its way to the door, Thomas bringing up the rear, and they stepped out into the crisp night. Reaching back, Thomas made sure to lock the bottom lock on the door before it shut completely so as to give some security for the sleeping boy inside. While a couple of them had given another person in the group a copy of their keys, with parental permission of course, for when they stayed late, or just in case of emergencies, Aris had yet to give anyone his. So just locking what they could before they left worked well in the meantime. Hopefully no one forgot anything; they wouldn't get it back till at least the next day if Aris had seen it.

“Is Aris going to be okay?” Newt asked cautiously as he looked back over his shoulder at the house they were walking away from.

“Oh yeah, this happens all the time, he'll be fine.” Gally replied as they reached where the cars were parked and he unlocked his car and opened the door. “Plus his mom will get home around one am if she's not working a double and check on him.”

With a casual wave, both him and Minho climbed inside the car and within moments had driven away, following Frypan out to the main road, leaving Thomas and Newt waving after them.

Shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans, Thomas looked to Newt, who had been staring at Thomas in return. Ushering with a quick jerk of his head toward the direction he was going to walk, Thomas hoped they were headed the same way so they could spend a little more time getting to know one another. Stepping forward to start walking, Newt nodded with a light smile and fell into step beside him as natural as the day.

They remained silent for a while, the only sound between them was their footsteps in the quiet night air.

"So, I take it you live nearby?" Thonas ventured, trying to spark another conversation as they walked. When Newt nodded, he bit at his lip nervously, "So… does that mean you'll be going to Glades High?"

Once again, the blonde nodded as he shoved his hands into his pockets, probably feeling a little chilled like Thomas was, "That's where they mentioned my transfer papers would be heading so long as I plan to continue my education while I'm here. If all goes well, I am supposed to start the week after next."

Thomas grinned at the statement as they continued to walk along. “Good that.” He muttered. So more time to get to see him, and a slight chance of even having some classes with him.

Thomas was only partially headed towards his home at that point. He was content to just wander in the general direction and would be perfectly fine if they just kept walking right past his house, or even turned and walked in a completely different direction. So long as he got more time to chat with Newt. He was enjoying the company of the stranger and wanted to take all the time he could, to get to know him. He knew it was silly, and the ease he was feeling just being with the other could be seen as unmerited. Do people actually feel so drawn to another the first time they meet? Or was something like that just a thing that happened in stories. He couldn’t remember anyone clicking so well with someone else before. Not even his own parents. Though, his mother hardly spoke of his father, so maybe once upon a time they did.

Either way, Thomas had more than one night; now that he knew that they were going to be in each other’s vicinity for longer. He would more than likely have more opportunities to talk to him. Still, something kept him just… walking.

From the relaxed way Newt appeared to be wandering beside him, Thomas had a feeling that Newt was also enjoying the company. Neither of them wanting to end it just yet.

“Good that.” Newt parroted quietly.

They walked in silence for a few moments. Thomas was stealing the occasional glance to the blonde, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like Newt had a bit of a limp and he almost wanted to question it, though he figured it wasn’t the best time to start in on things that were far more serious like that. Instead, he looked up to the sky and thought of something else to say instead.

“You know, we made up these words.” He began with a light chuckle, “like some childish club really, but we made up these words and this speak… you know, shuck, shank, slint, greenie, klunk… and really it was because we felt it wasn’t really appropriate to swear at each other so violently. So many others in online gaming do, and it was always uncomfortable to hear the long strings of profanity from people. We were ridiculous but they stick. Plus, our parents never liked the swear words. So we started changing out the harsher words for those, and it took off the bite. Now it’s all good fun and while, yeah, they still technically mean the same thing as the swear words, they almost don’t… in their own way… Plus it just makes the situation seem that much more silly…” he explained before he realised he was rambling and talking about something that was actually pretty dumb. Oh well, he would own it, dumb or not, at least it was something to talk about.

He looked to Newt to see what he thought, “If… that makes any sense.”

Newt watched him as he spoke, not minding the rambling at all as he gave him a soft smile of understanding. It made enough sense, despite the contradiction, and he didn’t want Thomas to feel like he was floundering as much as he really was.

“So…uhh…. Yeah…. So...” Thomas began as he looked away from the male who was still smiling at him, his face growing hot as he tried to find a new subject to discuss. He racked his brain for something that he could touch upon that wouldn’t cause the other to shut down. After the uneasiness that occurred earlier when Newt and his sister were asked about why they left home, or the way that he had tended up when he let slip something about it in the kitchen, Thomas figured it was a taboo direction to head and that it was best to not ask too much about his home life or being here.

At least not yet.

This caused Thomas to fumble. The male before him was an enigma and he wasn't allowed to begin breaking open the puzzle.

“So, uhh, yeah, so…” Newt quoted in return with a slight smirk before giving Thomas a gentle, playful nudge with his elbow, “You always this eloquent Tommy?” he teased.

Thomas just laughed, albeit a bit nervously, and ran a and through his hair as he put on as serious a face as he could muster with as cheeky a grin as he could manage caked across it, “Of course, I am the king of eloquence!” he joked in return, using a deepened fake voice for added effect.

Newt laughed and shook his head at Thomas’s ridiculousness. The whole lot of those boys were a bit wildly, but they still seemed like a far better group than anyone Newt knew of back at home. Thomas, in particular, seemed so good. Like someone who could not only lead everyone around him and gather himself quite the presence, but he did it with care, and passion, and… animation…

Newt eyes the boy who was rambling again. About what, Newt wasn’t sure. He had let his mind wander from the present and anything that was said to him was lost. He almost felt bad for it, since Thomas was so animated when he spoke. Whatever he was currently talking about, it was clearly something he liked. It was endearing; Thomas just lit up as he spoke and his hands flailed about while describing it. However, it seemed Thomas was like that with many things if given the chance to talk. Really talk.

He had noticed it over the mic last week, and more so this time around in person. When he was talking with Minho, he was cocky, loud and fun. When he was talking with Aris, he was soft and careful; which made Newt wonder if there was some sort of history between the two of them. When he was talking with Gally, he was sharp and bristled, even though he was still relatively friendly.

Now though, allowing him to talk without a history behind him, without a reputation, with just a completely empty slate that he could fill with anything he wanted to fill it with, with no conditions, to a complete stranger, Thomas was… well Newt wasn’t quite sure what kind of word he would use to describe him yet. He liked it though.

It seemed more real.

“So what’s your plan after high school?” Newt asked, interrupting Thomas’s babbling, deciding to take the lead in the conversation. He felt it would help give the other a direction to go instead of just floundering through lots of topics all at once with very little room for responses, like he was currently doing.

Thomas was happy for the new, more direct subject, since he was just tossing out all sorts of things. Anything he could think about to describe the school Newt was to attend.

“Oh? Well… uh… I am not sure.” he responded with a shrug as he looked to the ground in front of his feet, “I- I was scouted by a college, but I’m not sure if it’s where I want to go.”

“What college?”

“Western International College of Kubernetes and Electronic Development.”

“WICKED?” New asked, a bit surprised at the mention of it, “That’s amazing! That is supposed to be one of the best schools to get into if you are interested in electronics and technology and the like.”

Thomas shrugged at the comment and shoved his hands back into his pockets before looking to the ground, “Yeah, well, it is completely across the country, plus I’m still not sure it’s where I want to go. Things seem iffy with their programs…”

Newt nodded in understanding, after all, he just traveled to a completely different country for a new school and a new start. He knew how touch a choice was like that was. Or, at least, should have been. It wasn’t too much of a choice for Newt. More of a ‘you have to do it’; plus with the chance of getting away from everything before, Newt knew he would have jumped at that every single time, even without the instance from his folks. However, that was beside the point. His situation was a bit different.

Though he could still understand the nerves.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you go to a community college, or a big fancy university, so long as you are happy.”

Thomas let the comment wash over him and sink in. He felt the tension that was building under his skin and vibrating loudly because of everything he was used to was coming to an end, ease the slightest bit. No one really had made him think about it in that way before. Most of them focused on the now. ‘Do this now because you can’t later’ or ‘have fun now because you might not have time to later’ or even ‘spend time now because I will not be able to see you guys hardly at all later’. It just made it all that much harder. It was one of the reasons he was silently holding on to the time together so tightly. He knew things couldn’t stay that way forever and there was coming the day that he would have to decide what direction he wanted to go to determine his future. But everything was so comfortable and it was so normal, so he wasn’t completely sold on the changes yet.

“Got anything keeping you here? Any...one?” Newt ventured to ask, curious but cautious.

Thomas looked at him a moment, the gears in his head turning as he tried to process what Newt was really asking him. It took a moment, which nearly made Newt snicker at the confused ‘deer in the headlights’ expression he donned, but he squashed it. When it did hit the brunette, his face lit up with understanding.
“Oh! Uh… well no, not really.” he said as he rubbed at the back of his neck nervously while his face started to flush a deep crimson, “Just my friends and my mother, no one else. No one… like that.”

Newt nodded at him as he looked away from the blushing boy trying to hide the small smile that crept onto his face at the comment that he was not seeing anyone, “That,” he responded, clearing his throat quickly since the word came out deeper and more hoarse than he intended, “that makes it a bit easier I reckon.”

“D-do you?”

Newt looked to him curiously, almost thrown off by the fact that the question was returned, even though he should have been expecting it. The look made Thomas instantly regret asking and try to eat his words as he backtracked and looked to the ground again. “Sorry, it’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have asked. Everyone hates when I ask a ton of questions. I have been biting my tongue all night not to ask everything that’s come into my mind but that one just slipped out. Sorry, I can’t help it…”

Newt’s face fell a bit at the fact that Thomas was recoiling like that. While yes, sometimes questions can be annoying, he didn’t mind too much if they were coming from Thomas. Besides, they were strangers, and the only way to get to know a stranger is to ask questions. Not to mention, he asked that intimate question first. It’s only natural that he returns it. But the way Thomas tripped over himself when he thought he had bothered Newt with the question, with all the questions through the night, lead him to believe he’s been scolded a time or two for just having a curious nature.

There’s no harm in a curious nature. Heck, a curious nature is probably how he got to be scouted by one of the biggest schools in the country.

Deciding to ease his worry, he simply shook his head and gave him a gentle, consoling smile, “Naw,” he replied, “and even if I did, I doubt he would be willing to wait and see if I returned from here.”

Thomas’s head snapped up.

He.

Newt had said ‘he’. That meant he liked guys. Well, at the very least, he liked both. This new fact made Thomas’s heart clench and his stomach return to the gymnastics tournament it had been participating in earlier that day. If this kept up, he would be sick just from the building of nerves alone.

“So you like tech I take it?” Newt asked, changing the subject to one of safer ground since neither of them quite knew how to continue traversing into the one they had breached. “Between the gaming and clearly doing something good enough to be scouted by a tech school…”

Safely on a new subject, his heart began to slow it’s incessant pounding and Thomas just shrugged. “I like it well enough. It always came easy I guess. I could spot issues in games like giant red flags and could easily fix them. Coding language is like a second language to me, and one I learned easily instead of struggling like any other times I’ve tried to learn a new language. Heck, you should see when I tried taking French last semester! You’d swear I was like an infant who didn’t even know a single language including english with the way I butchered it!” he laughed heartily at the memory of the class that was required for all students to take.

Newt perked up at the comment, “You took French?” he asked with a smile and Thomas watched his eyes twinkle. Damn this guy was something else.

Thomas laughed nervously and kicked at the ground, “Yeah,” he began, rubbing the back of his neck again, “well, it was required for students to take a foreign language class. I considered taking Spanish at first but Minho had told me the people in French class were far more attractive. Plus, he was signed up to take it too, so then we could at least be able to speak it together.” he informed him as he made a face, frowning as he thought back to that moment in time, “I just never counted on him dropping the class a week into it because he found out that, since his family already speaks a second language, he could test out and not have to take any language class. That shank left me high and dry.”

Newt let out a loud bark of laughter but quickly covered his mouth and looked away, “Sorry,” he said as he coughed, suppressing more laughter. “I shouldn’t laugh at that.”

Despite trying to keep from laughing, he still thought the predicament was funny as his shoulders were still shaking while he kept his gaze diverted. He was really trying though, not to laugh at Thomas’s poor fortune, which Thomas could forgive him for. He supposed.

After taking another moment to regain his composure, Newt looked to him again, eyes shining, “Well, if it were me, I wouldn’t have left ya even if I could test out.” he said before he looked back toward the sidewalk in front of them as Thomas smiled in response.

“Pas si ça voulait dire que je pourrais te regarder plus.”

Thomas almost fell over his own feet as he skidded to a halt so quickly when the other spoke. He stared at Newt dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open a bit while he tried to get his brain to not only try and translate what the other just said, but also process that he could speak French. His voice was already quite attractive, but hearing him speak the ‘language of love’ with what seemed to be a high degree of expertise, was just down right sexy. Made a shock shoot up his spine.

Man, Thomas could listen to this guy read the dictionary and not grow tired of his voice.

Clearing his throat, a blush danced across his cheeks as he looked away, “Yeah, well, lot of good that does now. I can’t even speak the simplest of phrases. No idea what you just said.” He said, his voice a bit hoarse as he tried to calm himself down and began walking again.

Newt chuckled as he fell into step beside him again, "Maybe I'll teach you one day." He offered lightly and Thomas grinned. Now that would be something to see, an attractive fluent speaker trying to tutor a gangle of limbs that could barely form coherent sentences when he got into it because his mouth couldn't keep up with his brain. Someone better videotape that. It would be hilarious.

Thomas wasn't about to say that though. He would happily take the offer of Newt teaching him anything. Though he may turn to jelly during French lessons, because damn was it sexy.

"That'd be cool." He said as casually as he could.

Newt just smiled at him before he slowly came to a stop. “So…”

Thomas had almost missed the fact that the other male was no longer beside him and kept walking, but the lack of extra footsteps had startled him. Turning quickly he saw Newt hesitating in front of the driveway of a house.

“This is, uh, this is me.” He said as he shuffled from one foot to the other as he took a hand from his pocket and pointed at the dimly lit home.

Thomas looked to the single story home blankly before nodding slowly. It seems their night would actually have come to an end. He was enjoying it so much he hadn't really let the idea sink in yet and here they were. Well, at least they could have more than just one night. If Newt wanted to at least.

Looking back to Thomas, Newt gave him a weak smile and Thomas returned it with a small one of his own. It seemed that neither of them wanted to call it quits just yet, despite it getting quite late and Thomas having to go to school the next day.

After a delay, suddenly Newt took a deep breath before he shoved his hand out to Thomas, a strange confidence and assertiveness coming over him, “Let me have your phone.” he said bluntly.

This made Thomas falter and he just stared back at him confused. “What, no, wait, why?”

Newt rolled his eyes and just kept holding his hand out for him, ushering with long fingers to place the device in his grasp, “Don't be a twat about it, just give it here.”

Thomas tilted his head and smirked at the colloquialism before he pulled the slightly busted up device from his pocket and handed it over.

Their fingers brushed lightly as Newt retrieved the electronic from Thomas's grasp. He raised an eyebrow at the condition of the phone before he tapped the power button, flicking it on from standby. Luckily for him, Thomas didn’t have a password, so he got into the phone easily. Fishing his own sleek phone from his pocket, he looked between the two of them for a moment while his thumbs danced across the screens.

“What are you doing?” Thomas asked, and Newt just raised an eyebrow again, this time directed at him as if he were asking Thomas if he was really asking such a stupid question. Deciding not to answer, he looked back to the phones and quickly finished up.

Handing him his phone back he smiled, “If you are not busy, after school tomorrow,” Newt offered slowly as he tried to keep the courage he had manifested before while looking at Thomas from head to toe slyly; similar to how he had done earlier that day. “Maybe we can go out?”

Thomas stared at him blankly while he tried to process what the other had asked. Did he just get asked out on a date? When Newt realized how it sounded, he worried he may have overstepped some invisible boundary. With wide eyes he shook his head quickly as his face grew warm under the blush that now dusted his cheeks. He didn’t want to scare Thomas away by implying anything that the other didn’t want, so he quickly fumbled out, “You know, to hang! Like, err… Grab a bite to eat or something.”

Taking his phone from Newt’s extended hand and pocketing it, Thomas just smiled at the male with a nod, “Sure! I’d like that.” With a hard swallow, he took a deep breath and called up some confidence, before looking Newt dead in the eye, “The uh… first thing.”

It was Newt’s turn to stare as his brain rebooted and processed what Thomas had implied. After a moment, his face bloomed into the most attractive shade of red Thomas had ever seen resting just above a blinding smile. They stood there, admiring one another for a few more moments before Newt cautiously reached his hand out towards Thomas. He stopped short of his person, letting whatever he was thinking die on the spot, as his hand dropped back to his side.

Thomas tilted his head in response. He didn’t want to break the silent spell they were under, so he held his tongue and instead let actions speak for themselves, asking him with a look instead of with words, what the other had been wanting. Newt just shook his head in response to that and shifted on his feet, looking him over carefully.

After what seemed like an eternity Newt finally moved again, this time leaning forward, towards the brunette. As quick as a flash, he placed the softest peck on Thomas’s cheek with a smile before he backed up from him and turned to walk up the drive to the door.

Thomas was rooted to the spot, his eyes following the male’s form up the path as his face flamed a bright red. His heart thundered in his chest and he slowly reached up to touch his cheek where Newt had kissed him, replaying the moment in his head over and over. It wasn’t until Newt was almost completely at the front door did Thomas’s brain finally catch up with him.

“W-wait!” he called out to Newt’s retreating figure, “Let me have your number so I can text you when I’m out!”

A lighthearted laugh came from Newt’s direction as he simply gave a wave over his shoulder with the hand that currently still held his phone. Fishing his keys from his pocket, he turned to look back at the teen, his own face as red as Thomas’s. Unlocking the door, he shot Thomas a smile before disappearing into the darkness within.

Thomas stood there staring after him for a few moments longer before shaking his head. The man was a weird mystery. But Thomas always did like figuring out puzzles and how to make things work. With a shrug he looked down at his phone for a moment before back up at the house. Guess he’ll have to see if he has messages open for his gamertag and pester him there when he got out of class. Otherwise he’d have to ask Aris, and that was not an explanation he really wanted to get into quite yet.

A ping disrupted the silence as his phone lit up with a notification. Looking down to it Thomas broke into a big grin as the name “Newt ;-)” displayed across it.

‘you already have it ya arse.’

So that's what he was doing. Of course. Tally another one for Thomas not realizing the obvious. The cheeky shank even put an emoji next to his own name, as if taunting the oblivious boy.

‘Call me a slinthead for not realizing that one.’ he texted back quickly.

Newt ;-) - ‘okay, slinthead’

Thomas just rolled his eyes at the comment and what he could now properly take as flirting. He unlocked it and was about to respond when his phone pinged again with a new message.

Newt ;-) - ‘Quit standing outside my house, the neighbors will think you're a peeping Tom.’

Newt ;-) - ‘Ha! Just caught that’

With a snort, Thomas looked up at the house, squinting in the darkness to see if he could spy the boy and saw the curtains in the front window rustling as someone moved away from them. This made Thomas smirk. Newt not only looked back, but looked again even after there was a door between them. He hadn’t just retreated inside to message him from the safety of his room. This made Thomas’s heart flutter, lighter than the incessant pounding from earlier. Warmer.

Wanted.

Glancing to his phone again to check the time he sighed. He knew he better her on back home. If his mother wasn’t working late, she would likely be worried about why he wasn’t home yet. Not quite worried enough to start blowing up his phone looking for him, but worried nonetheless. She may understand that the days would run long when he was with his friends; and encouraged him to spend time with them, but that didn’t detract from the fact that it was still a school night. Plus he hadn’t let her know if he was planning on not being home, as such, she would still expect to see him before morning.

Thomas, however, still hesitated. Looking back up to the house once more, he gave a curt nod before turning on his heel to continue walking home.

With a smirk, he quickly typed out a message to text back, trying to tease him in return.

**Tommy** - ‘are you watching me, ya creep?’

Newt ;-) - ‘You are worth watching.’

Thomas nearly ate the pavement as he almost fell over himself when he read the message. He managed to right himself before completely face planting the sidewalk, but with a total lack of grace in doing so as he stumbled over his own feet once more before he righted himself again. His face and ears grew hot and lit up like a firework as he tried hard to regain some semblance of motor function. At that moment, he was insanely happy no one was around to see what had just happened, least of all Newt.

It was embarrassing that a simple flirty text would send him spiraling as it did, but he could hardly remember a time that someone had so openly flirted with him. Not even Teresa, who wasn’t too much of a flirt in the first place. So no one could really blame him for flailing.

Still, sometimes their game nights running so late had its perks.

Like now, when he could freak out in peace with no worry that he would upset anyone. With no taunts from Minho. With no abuse from Gally who would take the opportunity to help gravity finish the job, if only to laugh and help him up after.

Now it was just him and his deafening heartbeat.

Rereading the message, he racked his brain to try and figure out how to respond. He wasn’t quite sure and he took a bit longer to respond than he probably should have. This clearly had made Newt worried as he sent another message before Thomas could send one, yet again.

Newt ;-) - ‘Sorry’

**Tommy** - ‘No!’

**Tommy** - ‘Don’t be, I just wasn’t sure how to respond. I didn’t want to say something wrong.’

That wasn’t entirely untrue. He had been pretty sure that up till now, their messages had been some attempts at flirting. However, he was still nervous and talking himself out of that mindset, worried that he may just be reading too much into it. Plus, he wasn’t the best at flirting so he didn’t really want to try too hard and make things awkward by saying something a bit over the line. Last time he had lead to a really awkward moment that he didn’t really care to repeat.

Plus, he was still trying to slow his heart down before he shoved his foot in his mouth and said something back that he would regret later. They were just starting to become friends, and Thomas wanted to be friends with Newt badly, so he didn’t want to mess it up. He wasn’t sure why he was so drawn to the new guy, but he instantly knew that he had to get to know him better so long as he didn’t say something stupid or become too annoying and drive him off.

Newt ;-) - ‘pretty sure the only thing that you can say wrong is telling me to bugger off.’

Newt ;-) - ‘pretty sure I wouldn’t care for that.’

Thomas broke out into a bright smile. Newt seemed to have understood his hesitation and nerves. He even seemed just as interested in getting to know Thomas as Thomas was him. That’s at least a good sign, and a start.

Swallowing the lump that had lodged itself in the back of his throat and starting for home again, Thomas took a deep breath, trying to gather his confidence. He figured he best respond quickly before Newt got the idea that he said something wrong again and would start retreating back to the silent person they knew when he first joined their gaming lobby. Thomas had noticed that he would do that every so often when something uncomfortable came up, or if he felt he spoke out of turn.

They hadn’t even spoken that long and they seemed to have clicked and picked up on queues of one another quickly. Minho and Thomas could do that with each other, but then again, they had been friends for quite some time.

**Tommy** - ‘I would never do that.’

Newt ;-) - ‘I’m glad’

Newt ;-) - ‘Besides, it seems I have a ton of questions to answer first.’

Thomas blinked a few times as he looked at the message, confused. Replaying the night over in his head to try and figure out what Newt was saying, he came up blank. Quickly texting back, he wondered; could he be talking about the moment when Thomas admitted that he was a question fiend and was trying not to be rude?

**Tommy** - ‘Wait, what?’

Newt ;-) - ‘You said you were holding back on a bunch of questions today. I would be happy to answer them.’

Newt ;-) - ‘For you.’

Newt ;-) - ‘Over dinner.’

Thomas felt his heart do the warm flutter again as he smiled at the phone and paused in his walking, finally near enough to his own home that he could see the front door. It was dark, the light next to the window remained unlit, telling him that his mother was working late that night. Well, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about her fretting over him the moment he stepped inside. So he allowed himself another moment to take in all that had happened up till then.

His thoughts lingered again on the kiss. It was swift, and so Thomas didn’t really get the chance to enjoy it too much but he still liked it all the same. Newt’s lips were a bit chapped, but not uncomfortably so. Plus they were plush, which made him wonder how they would feel pressed against his own lips. He shook his head quickly, keeping the thoughts at bay. If he dove down that rabbit hole now, he wouldn’t be able to return. He would begin to wonder how the male’s hands would feel in his own, and dancing upon his skin. He would begin to wonder how the male’s skin felt under his own hand… under his own lips.

He shook his head violently. It was far too soon to even be thinking that. The other male was such a wonder, he didn’t deserve to have Thomas’s mind wander into dangerous territory without getting to know him first.

Looking back down at the cracked screen he clicked the button again to light it back up. It made the small area around him glow and bathed him in a gentle blue-ish light. He could feel his heart finally start to slow down after having been racing for most of the night. He was sure he would die form how crazy it had been going the whole time. Hardly giving it a moment to slow down and relax at all during before it began racing once more.

His fingers tightened around the edges of the device as he watched as another message splashed across it.

He was doomed from the start, he knew that the moment he heard the other male’s voice. Now that he knew a little more about him, put a face to the voice and knew that he was interested in spending more time together, he was certain that it was only a matter of time before his crush got a bit out of hand. As if it wasn’t already. He was never good at hiding how he was feeling. One of the reasons him and Minho always understood each other so well. He wore his thoughts and feelings on his face and was super easy to read. He would try not to, so as not to drive away a potentially great friend, but he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t give himself away. Especially now, when he was smiling warmly at his phone like a lovestruck teenager.

He couldn’t wait to spend time with him again.

Newt ;-) - ‘goodnight Tommy’