Chapter Text
Newt was sitting by the window, watching the sun sink below the towers on southern campus, sighing to himself. Yet another night, where he wouldn't be sleeping. He barely sleeps now for more than one reason. One of them, probably the most prominent, is his brain. It wont turn off, he's always thinking about his sister Lizzy or Sonya. He shudders. Sonya was the name they forced on her. Newton was his, but he preferred Newt. He had to leave her behind when he was sent to this stupid, tiring, shithole of a school. And worse, it's all boys.
The other is his maddening roomate Thomas, who won't shut up. Just thinking of him makes Newt's head ache. Thomas was immature and loud, and he didn't even want to start thinking about the boy's friendship group. Almost worse than Thomas himself. They all acted higher than everyone else, in the apparent social status hierarchy, Newt was at the bottom, and Thomas was at the top. Maybe he was a nice enough boy, but Newt had never been interested in finding out. Newt just detested his sappy hazel eyes and his messy brown hair which he always flicked away from his eyes. Ew.
"Newt?" Speak of the devil. He rolls his eyes before turning round to face him.
"What is it, Thomas?" He asks, projecting the lowest amount of energy possible.
"Principal Paige told me you have to go her office, now."
That's weird, He's never been called to the principle before. He nods. "Thank you"
He smiles and turns on his heel and walks toward his friend waiting at the end of the corridor. Gally. Another one of his loyal followers. He lets out a yawn, and checks his watch. 5pm. Huh. The lack of sleep catching up to him, finally.
He makes his way down the hallway, his shoes silent against carpeted floor, running his hands against the wooden panelling on the walls. The principals office sits at the end of the hallway. Principal Ava Paige is engraved in a golden plate on the door. He inhales and knocks.
"Come in Newton!" She says, her voice ringing in his ears.
He pushes open the door and closes it behind him.
"Take a seat by my desk. Would you like a drink of water?"
"No thank you Ms Paige. I'm alright."
She nods, clasping her hands in front of her. "So, you're probably curious as to why you're here, am I correct?"
He nods. "Don't worry. It's nothing bad. You're not in trouble."
"I wasn't worrying." She glares at him for a moment. He looks at his feet, suddenly embarrassed. His wit got the better of him.
"Teaching staff have being airing their concern that you're excessively tired, and you aren't applying yourself in classes. Is anything going on?"
He wants to tell her about Thomas, but he actually hasn't done anything to disrupt his sleep, it's rather the thought of him and how infuriating he is that's keeping Newt up at night.
"Nothing is wrong Ms Paige. I just find it hard to fall asleep. Don't worry about me." He says. But he's not sure that nothing is wrong. He's different here, he doesn't know how but he is. He doesn't fit in. The other boys act differently around him, like there's something he's missing. Like he has some disease.
He is so wrapped up in thought he forgets he is being spoken to.
"Newton, are you listening to me?"
"Yes, I'm sorry. My mind is someplace else."
She inhales sharply. "Just promise me Newton, no matter what changes in your life in the next few years or-" She stops to shudder. "or months, trust yourself. Trust Thomas too, you'll need him.
Thomas? He frowns and a small bubble of anxiety creeps into his stomach. Why Thomas? Why him? Of all the people on the planet he has to place his trust in someone he detests? Great, he thinks. Life is looking fantastic.
"I promise Ms Paige. Thank you"
She smiles and beckons for him to leave. He walks away and closes the door slowly behind him. The bell rings for dinner, so he turns right and head down to the canteen. He bumps into the one person he wanted to avoid.
"Watch it Newton." Thomas says, sudden hostility possessing him.
He rolls his eyes. "Whatever mate. We need to talk later, as much as I'd rather not. Before bed."
"Alright. It better be worth it." He says flicking his hair from his eyes and walking past Newt. He watches him as he walks away. His hands are tucked into the pockets of their black school blazers. He turns his head to look into a mirror on the wall. His cheekbones are prominent, and his jawline is sharp. He's still looking in the mirror. Another reason to dislike him, he's vain too.
He shakes his head and stops looking at him and continues making his way to dinner, focusing on how hungry he was and not thinking about Thomas.
"God, the food here is terrible" Frypan says, looking at his plate in disgust. His name was weird, Newt thought. Why Frypan? They could have stuck with his true name, Toby. Newt liked that better.
Not that he cared. He barely spoke to Frypan, he didn't like anyone at this bloody school anyway.
Sitting in front of Newt was a plate of beef stew, and rice.
"I could do so much better, my stew would be killer, I know it" Frypan added, before shovelling it into his mouth. He rolled his eyes, standing up from the table and nodding goodbye to the others at the table. Winston and Jeff. They nodded back at him, simply acknowledging his presence, nothing more. He liked it that way.
After leaving his tray in the tray disposal area, he was aware of his mind whurring, he was thinking about what Principal Paige said to him, he was also, — although he really wished he wasn't — thinking about Thomas. Why this boy, who he detests, takes up so much of his mind, he doesn't know. He shakes his head and returns to his room.
He pushes open the door, and there is Thomas, his legs propped up on his desk, a book in one hand, an apple in the other.
"Hi" Thomas says, nodding in his direction, while his eyes skim the pages of his book.
"Hey. What are you reading?"
He looks up from his book, an eyebrow raised.
"Why the sudden interest in me?"
Newt smirks. "So a guy isn't allowed to ask a question without being questioned himself?"
Thomas raises his hands in protest. "Woah okay, okay. I'm reading about this organisation called WCKD, I stole it from the restricted area of the library, it's really crazy. I can't decided if its real or not."
Newt tilts his head and pushes his mind back to his conversation with Ms Paige, he's sure he heard that name before, but nothing clicks. "What does it stand for?"
"World In Catastrophe Kill-zone Department. Sounds intense right?"
Newton nods. "Maybe it has something to do with what Ms Paige told me, if it's real anyway. Do you have time? If you don't have time just because you wanna go play with your hair with your drippy friends, then I honestly don't think you deserve to know what I'm going to tell you."
"There's my Newton, that's the Newton I know." Thomas says, laughing. "I'm just staying here, I have time."
Newt walks over to his bed and sits down, untying his shoes and placing them beside his bed. He's anxious, because he feels Thomas' eyes tracking him, following the movement of his hands. He's afraid to lift his eyes up to meet his.
Newt slowly sits up straight, taking a deep breath and allowing himself to feel confident in front of Thomas, but as soon as they look at each other, the confidence vanishes and Newt anxiously looks at his hands, that rest in his lap. He mumbles some kind of apology under his breath.
"Newt?"
"Yeah?"
"It's okay."
His chest feels warms and light at it's centre and he smiles at Thomas, slightly, nodding a thank you. He realises how distracted he has become. He needs to tell Thomas about what Ms Paige said earlier, before it slips from his mind, though he doubts it will.
"So, Ms Paige, she told me something, and I'll be honest, I zoned out for half of it...."
Thomas chuckled.
"...Shut up. This is important"
Thomas mocks sitting up straight and pretends to straighten his tie.
Newt rolls his eyes and continues. "She basically said no matter what happens in the next few years or months, you have trust yourself and Thomas, because you need him." Newt pauses. "No bloody offence but I fully wanted to throw myself off a cliff thinking about it."
Thomas frowns, pushing his hair back from his face. "Why would you ever need me?"
"Exactly."
"... and these next few years or months or whatever? What does that even mean? .. is the apocalypse gonna start or something?"
"I bloody hope so, maybe a zombie will finally eat me and put me out of my misery."
Thomas raises both eyebrows at him. "Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that freaky brain of yours.."
"The feelings mutual, bloody believe me."
Thomas stands up and walks over to Newt's bed. "Can I sit?" Beckoning to the space beside Newt.
Newt nods. Thomas flops down beside him, bouncing slightly as his body hits the mattress.
"Watch it." Newt says, a small fire lighting behind his voice. Thomas just leans his back against the wall, their shoulders pressed together.
"Can I tell you something?" Thomas says. "Don't ask why I'm suddenly talking to you, but I feel like I can trust you, and apparently I need to, so..." Thomas inhales.
"You know that injection we had, like three months ago?"
Newt nods, pushing his mind back to try and picture the day.
"Well, you know afterwards, everyone kinda went loopy, some more than others, the worse ones were screaming or passing out?"
Newt sees it clearly. He was one of the boys who passed out, but he says nothing and nods.
"Nothing. I felt nothing. I had to pretend to pass out, because in all honesty, I was terrified that I was a freak. I don't want to be a freak, Newton."
"Tell me about it." Newt mutters.
"What do I do? I can't be the only person who feels like this, can I? I can't be alone."
He sees Thomas working himself up into hysteria, and does something unnatural, something old Newton would have shuddered at the thought of. He rests his hand on Thomas' and squeezes.
"You're not alone" Newt says, his usually sharp, bitter voice, softening. He doesn't want Thomas to feel the loneliness he feels often, as much as he dislikes him. He wouldn't wish that upon anyone. "Mate, believe me, you're definitely not a freak. I know what it's like, it's...." Newt pauses. "It's hard, feeling so isolated and judged, and I honestly don't know what it is, but I'm different too. See, I already have a bloody example. You're not alone."
Thomas remains still, but inhales and exhales deeply. "Thank you. I'm sorry, that you uh... feel this way. Life sucks."
"It really does." Newt says. "What's the time?"
"8:30pm"
Newt feels his eyes drooping, and his body aching to lie into bed and sleep for hours, but no, it's only 8:30pm, and he doubts he'll sleep tonight. He has so much to think about. But his brain aches. He actually feels tired, and after a moment he realises how relaxed he is, although his hand is still on top of his enemies, and his enemy is leaning on him.
"Thomas?" Newt says.
"Mhm" The boy mumbles in reply.
"I think I'm gonna get ready for bed early tonight. And I promise you, when I say this I'm being completely honest; I haven't been genuinely tired in weeks. I've not slept more than 3 hours for weeks. I kinda need this."
Thomas suddenly sits upright, and looks him in the eyes.
"How are you alive?"
Newt shrugs, he feels like the living dead twenty-four seven.
"Coffee is a miracle you know."
Thomas shakes his head in a disapproving manner.
"Not to be soft on you, because don't forget we're enemies still." He says, his eyes lighting up with a grin. "But you need to sleep, get changed, I'll shut up for once. If I had any part in keeping you awake I'm sorry, I'm a bit annoying sometimes."
"Now you tell me..." Newton says, rolling his eyes, although inside he's kind of relieved the ice has somewhat broke between them, or the walls that stood between them are slowly coming down. It would be nice to have a friend, or a frenemy. Either is good compared to no one.
Newt starts to loosen his tie and hangs it on the hook on the back of their door. He grabs his pyjamas that are folded beneath his pillow and goes into the bathroom that connects to the dorm next door, and walks to a cubicle and shuts the door, maybe he's more comfortable with Thomas now but not that comfortable.
He's changed in 2 minutes. He's used to this now. It's a part of his routine. Avoiding Thomas was previously his prime motive and the crucial part of his daily schedule, but he hopes he can put that behind him. He realises how stupid he was. Thomas is a boy, maybe a bloody stupid boy, but a boy nonetheless. He's never known what went on behind the styled but messy hair, and the laughing face. Newton makes a vow to himself that he'll change. Maybe he'll finally climb out of his own arse, and look at others for once.
He pushes open the cubicle door to see Thomas brushing his hair in the mirror, he opens his mouth to make a comment, but stops himself, remembering what he thought literally seconds ago. He just smiles instead, and makes his way back into their room to retrieve his toothbrush and goes to the sink nearest to the door, and furthest from Thomas. He stares into the mirror at the pale, sandy blonde haired boy staring back at him. He looks so tired. He splashes his face with water and stops staring at himself and focuses on brushing his teeth instead.
He spits in the sink, washes out his mouth and makes his way to bed, his limbs still heavy, and his eyes still drooping, he pulls back his cover and slips into bed, and before switching off his light, looks across the room at Thomas, who is lying on his bed in a blue t-shirt, and shorts, a book in his hands. Newton smiles to himself and turns to press the switch on his light.
"Goodnight, Newt" Thomas says.
Newt is taken aback. Newt? Thomas has never called him that ever before. It was always Newton, or nothing.
"If we're choosing nicknames, I pick..."
Newt goes over a few in his head. Tom. No, too sweet and personal. Tommo. Nope, embarrassing.
Tommy. That's the one. The perfect amount of sincerity but also a hint of patronising in there somewhere.
"Goodnight Tommy."
He hears Thomas laugh in the dark. He closes his eyes his shoulders finally light and his head clear.
Finally, sleep.