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It was your usual night across the Glade. Everyone was settling in to get some sleep, and a low rumble of conversation between Gladers filled the air. Most of the boys outside, some inside. As usual.
Minho sat in his own room in the homestead, staring out the window, which just happened to give him a perfect view of the closed doors to the maze. It frustrated him beyond words that he just couldn't figure it out, but he just huffed and left it. He was getting out of there one day, and he was taking his friends with him.
He sighed and stood up from the bed he was sitting at and headed for the door to go check on Newt. Something he'd did nearly every night since Newt's little attempt at throwing himself off of a wall. It only ended with him messing his leg up, but Minho would always have a fear that his friend would try it again while he was a sleep or something. That was unnacceptable.
He went to knock on the door of the room that was right down the hallway from his, but he stopped when he heard a broken sob from the inside. He knocked silently on the door. "Newt?"
A distinct sniffle was heard, followed by a strong British accent. "Go away, you shank!" The voice was shaky and tearful, obviously.
Minho ignored the order, and walked into the bedroom anyway. "What's wrong?" Newt didn't say a word, and had his face buried into his pillow. He shook a bit violently, and his chest racked with sobs. Something had really upset him. "Newton, what is wrong?" Minho asked, sitting on the bed beside his friend and trying to pull the pillow off of his face.
"Just go away!" He screamed, his face still buried in the pillow.
"You know I'm not going to do that." Minho sighed, and he rubbed Newt's back. Newt did know that, so he gave up on trying to get the other one to leave.
Minho thought for a while, trying to think of anything that could cause Newt to go into a full blown breakdown like that.
Only one thing came to mind. "Did you have a nightmare? Is that what this is about?" Newt just nodded, and he started crying harder, as if it was possible. "C'mon. Let's go to my room." Minho muttered, grabbing Newt's hand and dragging him out of his bed.
Newt didn't argue, just let himself be lead into the other boy's room. Minho lay the other on the bed, and then lay beside him. He threw an arm around his best friend of two years, and lightly kissed the top of his head.
"Slim it. Nothin' in those nightmares can hurt you and you know it. Just calm down." Newt took several deep breaths before he wasn't full out sobbing anymore.
"Sorry. I'm such a bloody idiot."
"Don't apologize." Minho sighed, propping himself up on his elbow so he was looking down at Newt. "At least you're my idiot." Minho's pitiful attempt at a joke got nothing more than a small smile out of Newt, but it was progress.
"You wanna talk about the dream, you shank?" Minho nudged him, but Newt just shook his head. "That's okay. We can just lay here. I'm kinda tired anyway." Minho yawned, obviously hiding his worry. Never been the type to show how he felt.
It stayed quiet for a while, only their breathing and Newt's occasional sniffle and hiccup. Newt finally broke the silence, but only with a whispered question. "Why do you check on me every night?"
"Because I don't trust you to not take your own life. You know that." Minho was blunt with it. He didn't sugar coat, because he knew it was pointless.
"I'm not gonna try and kill my self." Newt sighed, gently shutting his eyes.
"You've did it before. What's stopping you now?" Minho asked, shaking his head at the memory. He remembered just how frantic everything had gotten when Alby brought back Newt from the Maze when he tried to kill himself by jumping off of the wall. "
Two reasons. This place would be madness without me, for one. And two, If I happen to fail at death again, I know you'll beat the living klunk outta me. For now, I'd rather stay here then take a beating from you."
Minho chuckled a little, because yes, it was true, but he didn't want to laugh at something like that. "You're a total mess, you shank."
"I'm your mess though, right?" Newt whispered, resting his head on Minho's chest.
The Asian kissed Newt's head again, and smiled. "Right. Definitely my mess."
"You should get some sleep." Minho said quietly, tracing a pattern on Newt's arm.
"I can't. Just gonna have another bloody nightmare." Newt shuddered at the thought. He didn't feel like going through that.
"You don't know that. Besides, it's just a dream. Some stupid fantasy in your head that'll never come true. And you're in my arms, you'll feel safe." Minho comforted, rolling over so his back was pressed to the blonde's.
"The dream was about you." Newt suddenly blurted out, louder than planned. "You got stuck in the maze and a Griever got you, Minho." Minho sighed and snuggled closer to Newt, kissing the back of his neck.
"It wasn't real, baby. I'm right here. I'm alive."
Newt started to sob again, gripping Minho's arm for dear life. "You can't leave me, Minho."
"Shh," Minho shushed, still pressing gentle kissed to Newt's neck as he tightened his grip.
"I'm not going to leave you. I'll always be here for you, Newt." The other boy nodded. Tried to believe him. "I'm always going to be here when you get sad, and let the sad part of your mind control you, I'm always going to be here when you need help, I'm always going to check on you at night, and I'm always going to be here to hold you when you break down like this. You got it?"
"Minho-" Newt tried to say something back, which just came out like a choked sob, but the more muscular boy of the two shushed him.
"Do you get it, Newt?" Minho asked again, and this time Newt just nodded.
"Okay." He whispered as he readjusted himself and got completely comfortable in Minho's arms. "Goodnight, Min."
"Night, shank. If you have another nightmare, just wake me up, okay?"
Newt nodded again, and smiled shyly to himself as the last of his tears dried. He shut his eyes and allowed himself to fall into a deep abyss of dreamless sleep.
Minho didn't mind being woken up sometimes because Newt just couldn't handle to be alone at some points of the night, or having to talk Newt into eating at dinner because he just didn't feel like it sometimes, or even having to yell at Newt because he tried to do things he knew he couldn't do because of his leg. He didn't mind taking care of him, because he loved him, and Newt was his anchor to reality, and he knew it was the same way in Newt's head.
Newt needed him, and he would always be there for him. No matter what.