Chapter Text
Thomas was running late. He was so damn late that if there was a possibility to push back time, he would do it as fast as he could, for at least an hour. He could feel his heart rabbiting in his ribcage, breath ragged and sweat breaking on his forehead, but it wasn’t enough, he was just not making it. Not when he had to stop by at his girlfriend’s flat to take the promised clothes and then run back to the city and the shopping mall for the meeting. He already texted them he was going to be late, but the late changed more into a year later with this pace.
He fell through the main door into the house and ran up the stairs, almost spitting out his lungs at top of it when he was unlocking the door to Teresa’s flat. The clothes were ready on the table as she promised, folded neatly, and he thanked the heaven above for it, since he couldn’t afford anymore delay than he already had. He didn’t even took down his shoes when he rushed through the place, just grabbed the stuff and ran back out, and he was pretty sure Teresa was going to kick his butt for it.
On his way back he almost knocked down a blond boy standing in front of the door in the second floor, coughing terribly, but managed to avoid him in the end by an inch, muttering an apology and continuing for a moment, until his legs slowed down under the sound of the devious coughing he heard from the guy.
“Are you alright?” he stopped completely, looking up from the lower floor. “That sounds really bad.”
“It’s f-fine,” the blond barked at him, wheezing a little. “I’m f-fine.”
“You sure?” Thomas returned few steps up, watching him with a worried expression. Such coughing sounded like from a very ill person, he heard it a lot in the hospital. It usually came from the infection control department, and this guy definitely didn’t look healthy. He was rather pale and his blond hair on the back of his neck was pasted together by sweat. He seemed to be shivering as well, like he was running high fever, and Thomas wondered what he was doing out in the first place. He seemed like a serious case for a hospital stay.
“Sure!” the blond growled and apparently got back to the fighting with the lock to the flat, like he didn’t have enough strength to open the door. It seemed so pitiful Thomas just couldn’t leave, no matter how late he was.
He hopped back up and put the bag with clothes next to the wall before he approached the apparently ill person with caution. It looked like the guy barely registered him in his quest to get inside of his home, how he was rattling with the unresponsive handle and trying all kinds of positions of the key. Or maybe he was a burglar and just tried to get Thomas off his track?
Well, he doesn’t look like can lift a paper in his state, not to mention valuables.
“Lemme open that for you?” Thomas offered calmly, extending his hand for the keys, and the blond stared at him with wide, brown eyes like had saw him for the first time in his life. They seem kind of hazed and definitely very tired, and Thomas seriously considered calling an ambulance, rather than his home. He was so thin and sick looking it was a wonder he was still standing, his skin was basically transparent – or it would be if you took him out under the sun. He was slightly shaking and breathing rather heavily, and Thomas found himself to his own dismay that he was unable to tell if the blond was about to pass out or just had a very bad progress of a common cold.
“What…?” A focus returned into the brown eyes in a second.
“The door,” Thomas elaborated and pointed at the locked obstacle. “Seems you have troubles with it?”
“I can open my door just fine,” the guy replied with a frown, and his coughing finally ceased, even though his voice remained rather scratchy. That and also sort of… British?
“Yeah, seems like you do,” Thomas uttered, watching him fight with the handle that wouldn’t budge. “Flawless work.”
“Shut it,” the blond growled and his movement became erratic, like he was running out of patience and Thomas’ presence was making him super nervous. “I can handle this, so can you p-please just leave me b-be?”
The coughing was back and it stopped him from any other attempt to open the door, so Thomas snatched the keys like he was taking a lollipop from a baby and with one quick move opened the impenetrable fortress.
“There you go,” he gestured towards the opening with an encouraging smile and handed him back the keys. “You’re welcome. Go get some rest?”
“Jerk,” came a rude reply and before Thomas could even respond, the blond disappeared in his hideout and shut the door behind him like a safe, leaving Thomas standing there alone.
“Huh,” Thomas let out lamely. “What a charming guy.”
One look at his watch told him that if this one was charming, then he was pretty much dead. He never came this late to a scheduled meeting in his life.
***
“Are you for real, Thomas?”
“I’m sorry,” the brunet apologized when he finally crashed into the seat next to a brown haired boy, and put the clothes on the table. “Lots of stuff happened and I had to stay longer at work.”
“One and half hour late!” Aris whined and Thomas had to admit if he was on his place, he would leave already. He could see the remains of eaten food and empty glasses, and let out a sigh. “Harriet and Rachel already left, just so you know what a precious friend you have in me.”
“I told you I’m sorry, man,” he mumbled. “There was a car accident and we had one heavily injured and two who needed immediate help and I had to stay.”
“That job is gonna destroy your personal life soon,” the younger boy pointed out. “What does Tesa say about it? Isn’t she pissed already?”
“Pissed?” Thomas furrowed his brows. “Why would she be? I’m working. That’s more than I can tell about you.”
“Mean,” Aris snorted and leaned back in his chair. “I’m just concerned, that’s all. You’re usually late, you rarely have time, taking shifts you don’t need to, if I were her, I’d mind you’re not home all the time.”
Everyone knew working in a hospital was a devil’s work – and Thomas wasn’t even a doctor. Being short on staff made a number on their shifts though, and as much as Thomas considered his free time precious, he just couldn’t say no when injured or sick people were piling up and nurses were dropping like flies due to exhaustion. But it was still money – and the more he worked, the more he got, so it was a plus. Maybe also the only one, since the rest usually kind of sucked – and Aris was right about the zero free time and punctuality. But today was the last day of those desperate measures, since there should have been a lot new employees by tomorrow, and Thomas was looking for it a lot.
“Is this a revenge for me being late?” he stared at Aris unhappily. “Cuz seriously, cut it out. I’m tired and I was really trying to get here. Stop being nasty. Teresa is fine, I’m fine, I’m making money and she understands.”
“Mkay,” Aris shrugged, but there was something about him Thomas didn’t like. “You wanna eat?”
“Has she said anything?” he watched his friend in suspicion. “To you?”
“No,” Aris shrugged. “I was just thinking out loud.”
Thomas was pretty sure Aris wasn’t being completely honest, but getting it out of him was basically impossible – at least when the boy was sober. And if Thomas hadn’t been so tired and didn’t need to be ready to get up early tomorrow, he would get him wasted to learn about it without a second thought.
“Well, don’t think anymore then,” he told him sweetly. “If you don’t want me to leave again.”
“Fine, grumpy cat,” Aris rolled his eyes and stopped the waitress to let Thomas order his food.
At least he shut up though.
***
It was almost eight in the evening when he was returning to Teresa’s flat, feeling sated with all he food he ate, but nervous. Aris wasn’t a mean person, and it felt like he was worried, but the cryptic messages what if were weird and made Thomas rather unhappy. Him and Teresa were together for several years by now, and yes, Thomas admitted their relationship wasn’t that good anymore. Or, it wasn’t bad, they weren’t quarrelling or anything, but it just toned down a bit, with the stereotype and routine. They were more like very good friends with occasional perks, and Thomas found himself okay with it – but if Teresa hadn’t been, it wasn’t good.
“Maybe I should talk to her about it…” he mumbled to himself while unlocking the main door to the house and entering. Aris wouldn’t be so vague if there hadn’t been something going on, and since him and Teresa were besties, he had to know at least a little. Or maybe it was only a hunch?
He slowly walked up the stairs, his thoughts mingling, until he reached the second floor with the door he helped to open two hours ago, where he stopped in wonder. And what about this guy? Was he truly alright? He sounded sick and seemed weak – it was making his inner caretaker shiver in fear of what could happen to him if he was there all alone.
It took only about three seconds before he knocked at the door and waited patiently behind them, hoping somebody was there to open them and tell him that guy didn’t pass out on the floor or something.
At first there was nothing, then he heard footsteps until the door finally opened and a blond girl in a tank top and shorts stood in between them.
“Yes?” she watched him with a wary expression and Thomas blinked and took few steps back to check if he was at the right floor, the right door.
“Uh, sorry,” he cleared his throat and quickly counted the levels. No, he was pretty sure it was the second one, and these doors. “I’m searching for a blond guy, he should be living here? Kind of ill?”
“Oh!” her eyes lit up suddenly, like he told her a secret code or something. “That was fast! I was expecting you tomorrow the earliest, come on in!”
Thomas didn’t even know what to tell her, so he followed her inside the place, and got immediately hit with a super hot temperature, almost like in a tropical island. It was a little stuffy, like somebody forgot to turn off the heating and it stilled him like chains.
“Sorry for the temperature,” she immediately noticed his wide eyes when they stopped in the hallway. “He should be in warmth, so we tuned it up a bit. Imagine you’re in The Caribbean.”
“It’s fine,” he assured her, earning a soft smile. “I like when it’s warm as well, so no biggie.”
“You’re pretty nice,” she told him simply. “Too bad Newt is such an arse lately.”
Newt?
“Oh yeah,” he sighed and she moved again, probably not even hearing him. The flat was a little bigger than Teresa’s, probably thanks to the fact it wasn’t an attic one, and smelled like chicken broth and something sweet.
“I’m Sonya by the way,” she glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled again. She was sort of petite and really adorable, with sparkling green eyes and pink lips, and for some reason she kind of reminded him of that blond boy. A sister, maybe? They looked a lot alike.
“Thomas,” he introduced himself and she stopped at the entrance, giving him a look.
“Okay, one thing before we go,” she nodded towards the living room. “He’s a little pissy, usually really tired and tries to play it tough. It’s better to use some tough love, otherwise it’s really difficult to deal with him. Please, don’t take anything he says seriously, he’s just kicking around himself and some meds are not too gentle, so he often feels sick after taking them.”
“Does the doctor know about it?” he asked seriously. “Maybe he should get a different prescription?”
“We tried it, but the meds are alright. He’s not allergic or anything, they do help him, just… have those annoying side effects,” she shook her head and her tone was a little apologetic. “Thankfully he doesn’t need to take those as often, so it’s just a warning.”
“Noted,” he nodded, now even more curious, and she finally moved again into the brightly lit room. Thomas spotted the blond guy right away, sitting in a big arm chair with blanket draped around his shoulders and watching TV with an unhappy scowl. He still looked pale and a little sickly, but didn’t cough anymore and Thomas considered a good sign.
“Hey again,” he spoke up before Sonya could open her mouth, and the blond turned to him with surprise. “Glad to see you not passed out on the floor or something. Or locked out of the Scorch again.”
“What are you doing here?” Newt stared at him incredulously and then at Sonya. “You let him in?”
“He’s my replacement,” she shrugged. “And he seems pretty nice.”
“You mean pretty annoying,” the blond snorted, filling up the pissy label. “I don’t need anyone replacing you, I can take care of myself.”
“We already talked about this, you stubborn arse,” she uttered and Thomas felt a pat on his shoulder. “Good luck, Thomas. Don’t take him seriously, he’s all bark, but no bite.”
“Maybe I’m all bite and have rabies,” Newt grumbled and buried himself deeper into the armchair. “Just go already. You’re getting on my nerves.”
“I give you one day until you call and beg me to stop by,” she said sweetly, her pretty eyes twinkling mischievously, and he flipped her off and stopped paying attention.
“Scam, you hag,” only came as a mumble and Sonya grinned and winked at Thomas.
“Best of luck to you,” she wished him, grabbed her bag from the counter and the last thing Thomas knew he was standing alone with Newt in the living room and the main door shut closed how Sonya left.
“You’re not really a caretaker, are you?” Newt suddenly asked without even looking and Thomas crossed his arms on his chest and tilted his head. He was sharp, he had to admit.
“Technically, I am,” he shrugged. “It’s my job. But I haven’t been sent here, yeah.”
“So what are you doing here?” another question.
“Well, you seemed rather sick. Wanted to check up on you,” Thomas took few steps closer. “Sonya opened the door and here I am. If you need a caretaker, I can totally do that for you.”
“I don’t,” Newt finally looked at him, annoyance dripping from his voice. “And as you can see, I can take care of myself, I’m not dying, and you’re bothering me.”
“Am I,” Thomas smirked and approached the armchair next to the blond, where he sat down. “I think you like the company, but you’re too proud to admit it.”
“I thought you’re a caretaker, not a psychologist,” Newt commented dryly.
“I can be whoever you need,” the brunet offered. “Of course, I can let somebody else to come here instead of Sonya, but hey, you already know me a little, maybe it’s better with me?”
“You sound like from a cheap porn.”
“I’m only a high quality porn,” Thomas opposed. “The one you can’t stop watching.”
“Ugh.”
“I’m Thomas by the way,” he extended his hand towards the blond, not really expecting him to take it. “Is Newt a nickname or a given name?”
“I’m Newton.” As expected no contact came, but the name was a progress at least. “Newt for short.”
“Cool,” Thomas let his hand drop with a smile. “So what do you say, Newt?”
“That you’re insane and probably weird for barging into other people’s homes like that, pretending to be somebody you’re not,” Newt averted his eyes again, but it made Thomas laugh anyway.
“I take it that we have a deal,” he pointed out with a smirk and since Newt only scoffed, he considered it confirmed.